PreSonus Blog

Monthly Archives: April 2013


Recording School Band Rehearsals

John Mlynczak, Education Market Manager for PreSonus, shows us some of the basic ins and outs of recording your school band’s rehearsals via the AudioBox 44VSL. He also shares a bit about the best way to mic the band.

PreSonus LIVE: Got ideas?

PreSonus LIVE has been steadily gaining momentum for a while now, and we’re really thankful for your continued support and viewership—as well as your chat room participation!

We were wondering: What topics are you interested in seeing in future episodes of PreSonus LIVE? Post your suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

PreSonus LIVE—Shoot the Club is now up on YouTube!

In this episode of PreSonus LIVE, Justin showcases the PRM1 measurement microphone and the Smaart Wizard functionality that is included in the StudioLive 16.4.2 and 24.4.2 mixers.

Learn how to use Smaart Spectra to fine tune your live rig to your environment. We also take a look at ringing out your stage monitors using Smaart features.

George Mason University Indoor Drumline Team Places in World Finals With Help from StudioLive

[This just in from Stephen G. Mark from the George Mason University Indoor Drumline. The GMUID team just placed 8th in the WGI World Championships, and we’re proud as a new mom to learn that a PreSonus StudioLive 24.4.2 lent a hand. In fact, per Stephen, the team’s performance was praised for the audio quality of their presentation. Footage of the award-winning performance is below. Running live sound for a drumline is a whole ‘nother animal than running sound for the local Journey tribute band, so I asked Stephen to share some details on the hows and whats and mics. He obliged.]

Hey PreSonus! Just wanted to let you know how things went this past weekend at WGI World Championships. We came in 8th place with a 92.25. We were the only first year world class ensemble to break 90, and the only first year group to be in the top ten, an achievement that hasn’t happened in quite a while.

After the awards ceremony I was told multiple times how our ensemble “by far had the best balance of the entire evening.” I credit being able to manipulate our sound live in aiding this accomplishment, an accomplishment that would not have been possible without the support of PreSonus.

Here’s a video of our finals performance and picture from the performer’s perspective of the 4,000+ audience who watched us perform and listened to that perfect sound that was praised about all night. That audience could definitely see what equipment that we are very proud to endorse.

We miked each marimba with two Shure SM-57 Mic’s, evenly distributed around the individual playing zones. The vibraphones were miked in a similar fashion, but we used only one mic per instrument. We also amplified our drum set, we amplified each piece of the kit, with the exception of overhead mics for cymbals—you can tell from the video that we have enough cymbal sound to fill the arena that we perform in.
 We compete in various gymnasiums and arenas from February to April. Each competition site site is extremely different from one to the next, and we are given no time in that room prior to the performance. Multiple groups compete at each competition and are only given a certain allotment of time to enter the floor, perform their show, and get off the floor. Exceeding the predetermined time frame of 11 minutes can result in a penalty. So needless to say we do not get any time for a sound check! In fact, our sound check is determined by the first notes being played in the performance. In the past, while using analog mixers, we where forced to make best guesses on how the mix would sound in that room and cross our fingers and hope that would be OK. Now the StudioLive allows us to make those best guesses and if there something wrong we can adjust levels throughout the performance.
I believe having this capability allowed us to achieve an almost perfectly blended sound that was the talk of the town after our performance.
Regards,
Stephen G. Mark

KMFDM and the StudioLive 24.4.2

Long-haul industrial band KMFDM has been at it for 29 years. On their current U.S. tour, they are mixing monitors with a PreSonus StudioLive 24.4.2. At the Baton Rouge show, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko cited ease of use and wireless control as primary reasons to choose StudioLive.

See pics from the show over at our Facebook page!

PreSonus LIVE Airs Thursday April 25! 2 p.m. CDT / 3 p.m. EST / Noon PST / 19:00 GMT

Join us for PreSonus LIVE on Thursday! Justin will be showcasing the PRM1 measurement microphone and the Smaart Wizard functionality that is included in the StudioLive 16.4.2 and 24.4.2 mixers.

Learn how to use Smaart Spectra to fine tune your live rig to your environment. We’ll also take a look at ringing out your stage monitors using Smaart features.

http://www.PreSonus.com/Videos/PreSonusLive

Alt-J Relies on the StudioLive 24.4.2 in Recent Tour

[This just in from Lance Reynolds, FOH for Mercury Prize winners Alt-J!]

Well, our tour is nearing its end. We have our last show today in Denver. On most shows for this tour, we used the StudioLive 24.4.2 as a monitor desk, powering our in-ears mixes. Occasionally, we used it at front of house, and in a couple of situations it was used to its fullest as a front of house desk /monitor desk /recording interface.

For example, last week we did a promo event at KRXQ in Sacramento where about 30 lucky fans won a contest to see the band perform a few songs in a very intimate setting. The performance was captured with the PreSonus desk, while also being videotaped. After mixing and editing, the video will be posted by the radio station. Meanwhile, here’s a promo photo we shot after the performance.

Pictured left to right is Joe Newman (lead singer /guitarist), myself (FOH engineer), Gwil Sainsbury (guitarist /bassist /singer), Thom Green (drummer), Ron Sharpless (seated, monitor engineer), and Gus Unger-Hamilton (Keyboardist /singer).

Bleep Blop is coming back for more with the StudioLive 16.0.2: Free livestream April 20

[This just in from Ramon Castillo—Bleep Blop is gaining some serious momentum! If you want to see the StudioLive 16.0.2 run as the beating heart of a symphony of strange hardware electronics, then don’t miss this event! You can view it online at stream.bleepblop.com. 7:30 p.m. April 20.]

Ramon Castillo and Pochun Wang present:

Bleep Blop, Nonduo, Cloud Ludum, Ensemble Robot.

7:30 p.m. April 20th, 2013.

Umass Lowell, Durgin Hall (concert hall) Or view online at: stream.bleepblop.com!

Bleep Blop comes to Umass Lowell with lots of friends and an exciting new program. (Recital Credit offered)

What does Bleep Blop sound like?

  • April 20th, 2013
  • University of Massachusetts, Lowell – Durgin Hall
    35 Wilder St., Lowell, MA, 01854
  • 7:30 pm
  • stream.bleepblop.com

The music will feature everything from electronically manipulated piano, analog synthesis, the Kronos Quartet Drum Machine, dynamically looped mbira, live video, to “third stream” free improvised experimental music, and a robotic glockenspiel controlled by Mike Testa.

Our prior performances have successfully merged the art of acoustic music with the mystique of audio technology, but for this concert, we are going to bring improvisation and technology to a new level.

Music by Ramon Castillo, PoChun Wang, Mike Testa, Loudon Stearns, Raleigh Green, Olga Karaseva, Deepak Gopinath and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

On Facebook
On the web
On Twitter

Selection of works to include:

Wonderland/Bounce for live synthesis and the Kronos Quartet Drum Machine
Gargantuan for violin, guitar, and electronic sounds
Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Tierkeis” (Zodiac) arr. by Olga Karaseva for vibrophones, bass, electric guitar, drums
Six Six for dynamically looped piano
Spores for guitar synthesizer and 16mm projection by NonDuo
Improv for Robot and other things

and more…

The World’s Oldest Melody

So, it turns out that the oldest known melody is really very pretty.

Here is Hurrian Hymn no.6 – c.1400 B.C.

PreSonus LIVE Airs Thursday! 2p.m. CDT / 3 p.m. EST / Noon PST / 19:00 GMT

http://www.presonus.com/videos/presonuslive