NILES, Ill., February 8, 2012 — With a platinum-selling album, three trophies from the Country Music Awards, and a GRAMMY® nomination for Best New Artist, The Band Perry has risen quickly to the top of the charts. In kind, their trusted engineers Earl Neal (FOH) and Justin Beckstead (monitors) insist on the highest quality gear for the band while on the road. For this, they turned to Shure, as Neal is intimately familiar with the quality of Shure products.
NILES, Ill., Dec. 8, 2011— Shure Incorporated unveiled an innovative new shock mount for its KSM353 ribbon microphone that uses advanced materials and design to deliver excellent isolation with a refreshing dose of style. The accessory was shown at the recent Audio Engineering Society conference in New York.
Even in the lofty stratosphere of serial hit-makers, few producers have a career that spans not only A-list musicians but show business icons. And, it’s all too rare for them to get the chance to sit down and talk shop with a few hundred of their colleagues. At the recent GRAMMY® SoundTables: Behind The Glass event with Phil Ramone, the multiple GRAMMY-winning producer whose clients have ranged from pop icons to iconic politicians, stopped at Shure Incorporated for a chat with Chicago-area producers and engineers.
At the event, co-sponsored by The Recording Academy® Chicago Chapter and the Producers & Engineers Wing®, Ramone shared studio experiences, personal stories, and industry insights. The conversation proved that a producer’s work extends beyond music, running the gamut from psychology to logistics.
From the challenges of working with various talents on Frank Sinatra’s Duets sessions, to dealing with city officials during Simon and Garfunkel’s concert in New York’s Central Park, Ramone related personal stories about working with music icons like Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, and Phil Spector, plus not one but two United States Presidents (Kennedy and Obama). In addition, he spoke about the creative and financial challenges that producers and engineers face today regarding digital formats and new distribution models for music.
“This was one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve had, personally and professionally, in my 20-plus years working at Shure,” said Mark Brunner, Senior Director of Global Brand Management, who moderated the discussion. “The sheer breadth and depth of Phil’s impact on the music industry – artistically and technically – is simply stunning. It was inspiring as well as educational to have him here.”
“This was a wonderful event, and the S.N. Shure Theater is an amazing venue,” said Maureen Droney, Senior Executive Director of The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing. “It was a real pleasure to give producers and engineers this kind of forum to talk about their craft.”
Shure UHF-R® and PSM®900 Systems Help Expanding Church Manage Growth Across Multiple Campuses
Led by senior pastor Kenton Beshore, southern California’s Mariners Church is a thriving, multi-campus house of worship. Its main campus, located in the community of Irvine, houses a 3,400 seat capacity main sanctuary that features a contemporary Christian worship experience. Additional locations are found in Mission Viejo and Huntington Beach, with plans for expansion over the next few years.
To effectively manage this growing operation, the church decided to unify its technology choices across campuses. Its first move in that direction, the purchase of 12 channels of Shure UHF-R wireless, was inspired by necessity. “Our original motivation, if you could call it that, was the recent FCC mandate,” recalls Tom Lenton, production specialist for Mariners Church. “We had a mix of Shure and other brands, and most of it fell in the 700 MHz range. We wanted to settle on one brand, and to get the highest quality product. Based on our experience, there really wasn’t any question in my mind that it would be Shure.”
Working with CCI Solutions of Olympia, WA, the church took advantage of Shure’s 700 MHz trade-in/rebate program to obtain six dual-channel systems, with some extra transmitters. “We bought eight bodypacks and eight handhelds for the Irvine campus. The handhelds are split between KSM9 and SM58® capsules, and the bodypacks are used with either a lavalier or a Countryman E6 headworn mic, so we’ve got a lot of flexibility for different type voices and styles of presentation.”
The KSM9 capsule made an immediate and strong impression. “It’s just such an upgrade in terms of sound quality,” notes Lenton. “We had one worship leader who always insisted on using a certain high-end hardwired mic. The first weekend after we installed the new systems, I told him he needed to use a wireless KSM9. He reluctantly agreed, and then was utterly amazed at the sound of it. He’s never gone back to his old mic.”
The Mariners Church worship experience is contemporary in nature, with the main band featuring guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards. Lead vocals are performed by worship leaders, a team of backing vocalists and, several times a year, a choir. Additional instrumentation such as strings, brass, and percussion are incorporated as needed, based on the songs, themes, and style planned for the week.
“At a typical service, we use ten to twelve channels of wireless,” Lenton reports. “Since we’ve gotten the Shure UHF-R systems, there’s much better clarity in the vocals, and never a problem with frequencies. They’ve worked out really well for us.”
Recently, Mariners Church purchased even more Shure wireless for use at the just-launched Huntington Beach campus, a portable church housed in the theater facility at Golden West College. “We basically have the room for five hours on Sunday mornings,” explains Lenton. “It’s nice because we have a full live performance stage, but we have to work around their theatrical sets, and we have to work fast. Everything in the portable system is designed for fast and easy set up and tear down.”
The portable system includes six channels of UHF-R wireless microphones, four new PSM 900 personal monitor systems, and four PSM 600 hardwired systems. To minimize set-up time, the system uses a single mixing console instead of the dedicated front of house and monitor desks that the church uses in the main auditorium in Irvine.
Mariners Church plans to create additional campuses over the next few years; each starting in a portable facility, then moving into a permanent location after it is established. The portable gear rig will then move on to the next new location.
“Each new location will end up with very similar systems,” concludes Lenton. "By standardizing on the same Shure wireless system, in-ears, and consoles, it makes training our volunteers much more efficient. Everyone will be able to work at any of our campuses. It will make us a better team, and that’s our goal – to achieve excellence in everything we do. Shure wireless is a big part of that.”
rad Paisley, the Country Music Association’s 2010 Entertainer of the Year, got the 2011 NASCAR® season off to a high-energy start with an outdoor performance at one of its most storied and exciting races – the Daytona® 500. Shure wired microphones and wireless microphone systems made sure that Brad’s performance was heard loud and clear by the huge television audience as well as fans at the track.
“Brad’s vocal mic was the Shure UR2/Beta58A® handheld wireless mic,” says Kevin Freeman, Brad’s Front-of-House engineer. “Brad likes to get close to the audience, and that mic works well even in venues where he walks way out in front of the main PA speakers.”
With Brad known equally as a guitar player and singer/songwriter, crystal-clear guitar sound was also a must. Paisley played a one-of-a-kind guitar created by official NASCAR artist Sam Bass. The Fender Telecaster sported Daytona 500 graphics and was equipped with a Shure UR1 bodypack transmitter.
“We used a Shure KSM313 ribbon mic on the guitar amp,” Kevin says. “Brad likes to experiment with different mics, and the KSM313 has a nice, full-bodied sound. I don’t have a secret weapon; my job is to take whatever makes the artist’s performance special and make sure that it’s heard.”
Shure Incorporated has selected BC Electronic Sales of Shawnee, Kansas to
represent its products in the central United States. The company will be
responsible for sales of Shure’s complete line of professional audio products
to retailers and system integrators in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, and
southern Illinois.
“BC Electronic Sales has strong relationships with MI retailers and sound
system integrators,” said Abby Kaplan, Sales Director, Western U.S. for
Shure. “They have a strong team of field sales representatives and inside
support staff, and their professionalism is well-known by dealers throughout
the region.”
The firm prides itself on maintaining close contact with integrators,
influencers, and end users. It conducts frequent in-store product
demonstrations, and authored its own electronic training series – “PA101” –
to help dealer sales staff improve their knowledge of new audio and video
technologies.
“Everyone on the BC Electronic Sales Team is incredibly excited to represent
Shure Incorporated,” said Rick Hanson, President of BC Electronic Sales. “We
have great respect for Shure’s principles, professionalism, and products. We
are proud to be new members of the Shure family and look forward to a great
journey.”
BC Electronic Sales was founded in 1971. Other members of the BC Electronic
Sales team include Sharon Ostermann, Ed Riggs, Michael Sipe, and Dustin
Vavak.
Boston Regional Winner Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet Secures Top Honors and RedGorilla Music Fest Slo
Hundreds of independent artists submitted soundtracks for their shot at stardom. Seventeen bands made it to the semi-finals and were chosen to play at five of the country’s most iconic music venues. Six made the final cut. Fans’ votes have been tallied and Shure is excited to name the Boston regional winner, Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet, the winner of the SM58® Give It Voice Tour.
As the Give It Voice Tour winner, Llama Tsunami will rock the legendary Shure SM58® Vocal Microphone at the RedGorilla Music Fest in Austin, Texas, and will take home $10,000 worth of Shure gear.
“When Llama Tsunami took the stage at the The Paradise in Boston, we were blown away by their stage presence and ability to engage the audience, so it came as no surprise that their strong fan base would help them secure top honors in the competition,” said Terri Hartman, Director of Marketing Communications for The Americas at Shure. “We’d like to congratulate Llama Tsunami on this impressive accomplishment and wish them the best of luck at RedGorilla and beyond.”
To learn more about the tour and to listen to Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet’s winning track, visit giveitvoice.shure.com.
When teacher Glenn Bolin decided to take 38 of his high school media students from Tennessee to Hawaii to document the stories of Pearl Harbor survivors on video, he knew sound quality would be crucial. Bolin’s plan was to have the students preserve forever the memories of some of the remaining 300 survivors of the attack in 1941 while they attended a memorial service and dedication this past December.
“These great men are, at the youngest, reaching into their nineties and sadly, won't be around much longer,” says Bolin. “We didn’t want this important part of history, their personal stories of that day, to be lost and we knew crisp, clean sound was key for recording national history. That's why we chose Shure. We use Shure microphones in our studio at school and knew we could depend on them in the field.”
Shure provided a ULXP24/58 handheld microphone system and seven ULXP14/85 lavalier microphone systems to ensure excellent sound quality for the recordings. The students did all the work for what they later named “Project Pearl Harbor,” from setting up a multi-camera shoot for the Memorial Service to interviewing the survivors one-on-one. In all, more than 40 survivors told their stories on camera, giving the students a lesson they won’t soon forget.
“Watching these kids, wide-eyed as they heard the firsthand accounts of what happened that day – that’s what education is all about,” says Bolin. “They learned history through the eyes of the heroes who lived it, and we’re pleased that we can share these interviews so these brave survivors’ legacies will live on after they’re gone. Shure helped us do that, and we’re so grateful.”
The students plan to edit the footage into a compilation of survivor stories to be donated to the National Park Service and the National Archives next year, which will be the 70th anniversary of the attack.
“We’re so impressed by the students’ dedication to this project,” says Shure President and CEO Sandy LaMantia. “Shure is honored to have played a small part in this very important endeavor.”
The first wireless system that can detect interference and avoid it automatically
Shure Incorporated will preview its new Axient™ wireless microphone system, which can automatically change frequencies, undetected by the user, to avoid interference, at the 2011 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California.
"Uncertainty and volatility in the RF spectrum are the new reality for professional wireless users," said Sandy LaMantia, President and CEO of Shure Incorporated. "They face increasing pressure to deliver interference-free performance even though conditions are more unpredictable than ever before. The Axient wireless system was designed from the outset to withstand interference from the analog and digital sources that exist today and may exist in the future."
The Axient system employs several new innovative technologies that work together to deliver interference-free audio in the most critical live broadcast, theater, music, and corporate events.
"Axient defines a new standard for control and confidence in applications with zero tolerance for failure," said Erik Vaveris, Category Director for Wireless Products at Shure. "This is the first wireless microphone system that can detect interference and avoid it automatically. Today, when unexpected RF interference arises, an engineer is either stuck with dropouts or they can run a backup mic out to the performer. Axient makes that a thing of the past."
The Axient system includes several new features that provide flawless RF performance, stellar audio quality, and unparalleled user control:
"The Spectrum Manager functions as an air traffic controller for the system," said Vaveris. "When the receiver's Interference Detection & Avoidance feature senses interference, the Spectrum Manager assigns a new frequency that it knows is clean. The frequency is deployed to the transmitter by the ShowLink wireless access point, and the transmitter and receiver execute a synchronized frequency change in a matter of milliseconds, making it virtually undetectable. And with Frequency Diversity enabled, there is no audible trace whatsoever."
The Axient Wireless microphone system will be available in mid-2011 with pricing TBD.
