Analog vs. Digital? How about both.

For many years, within the live sound community, there was a debate about the benefits and pitfalls of moving from analog mixing boards to digital mixing boards. Purists leaned towards analog while forward thinkers liked the promise that digital had to offer. At this point, while there may still be holdouts who just prefer to work on a traditional board, or venues that haven’t switched because they still have yet to raise the capital to replace their legacy analog systems, digital boards have for the most part been universally accepted and continue to gain wider and wider use. 

However, we must remember that there is always new blood learning the science and craft of live sound reinforcement. I myself am in the middle of providing a workshop series to a local high school in order to help them have a better understanding of their audio system. The faculty advisor of the school’s “AV Squad” reached out to me to see if I could come in and provide the students with a crash course on how to properly use their digital mixer, as there were too many instances of feedback, dropouts or just bad sound in general. I asked if the students had any general knowledge in audio and sound production and he confirmed that they did not. I explained that the best course of action would be to first give them a basic understanding of how sound begins at a source (i.e. one’s mouth) and how that sound, through a microphone, then makes it’s way through an entire signal chain until it reaches a listener’s ear after propagating out of a speaker. Ultimately we would take that knowledge and apply it to the system and mixer they had in place at the school. He agreed and the workshop series was booked. 

In preparing for the workshop I realized that I needed to show the students the signal chain as the signal passed through all the components of the system and even the different sections of the mixer. Using a digital mixer, especially the one they had in the school, would not provide the best visual understanding. However an analog board is lined up from top to bottom, in exactly the order that the signal is moving. It’s perfectly suited to providing an understanding of what they are doing to the sound as the signal makes it’s way through the chain and, ultimately, how they are manipulating what the listener hears. I brought in a portable 16 channel analog mixer with a handheld mic and a single powered speaker. The students were able to get not only a conceptual understanding of what was taking place but a visual one as well. For the purposes of learning their craft and honing their skills as potential future engineers, starting on or practicing with an analog board is key. They can then work on the school’s digital board in tandem and have a much better understanding of what they’re doing and provide far better results. 

The great part about digital mixers is that they are easy to use and provide a lot of flexibility for the user. They also allow for more control over the sound and can incorporate features that can replace racks of gear that would be required when using an analog board. But when you get comfortable using a digital audio mixer, it can sometimes feel like you are interacting with a computer rather than a mixer. Learning and honing one’s craft on an analog board can help to provide even better sound reinforcement results when moving to a digital board. 

I realize that this will only feed more of the debate mentioned at the top of this article. But hey, we’re all entitled to our opinions, aren’t we?

Gig Gear Gives Back

BROOKLYN, NY — May 4, 2021 – Gig Gear LLC — maker of accessories designed specifically for music and audio production pros as well as all other live event and entertainment production professionals — has long been a partner of live event professionals, creating products that make their jobs safer and easier. After a difficult 2020 with the shutdown of live entertainment due to the pandemic, the possibility of a return to live events this summer is now on the horizon and Gig Gear wants to help industry workers get back to work.

In response, Gig Gear will be launching its Stage a Comeback promotion. Throughout the entire month of June, live audio and live entertainment professionals can log onto StageAComeback.com and register to receive a completely FREE pair of the company’s Gig Gloves.

After answering a few questions to verify their status in the industry and sharing a photo of themselves working a gig, AV professionals can select their free pair of Original Gig Gloves or the all-black Gig Gloves ONYX. After receiving their Gloves, participants are urged to use the #StageAComeback hashtag to post a photo showcasing their new Gig Gloves on social.

“After more than a year of the live entertainment, live events and live production industries being shut down and decimated due to the pandemic, it seems like we’re finally on the cusp of getting back to work,” said Danny Shatzkes, founder and CEO of Gig Gear. “At Gig Gear, we supply all of the great people that work in these industries and know how hard they’ve been hit. We decided that we wanted to do our small part and show our support of these incredibly talented and hard-working individuals. The ‘Stage A Comeback’ campaign is all about giving a little something to these people who have truly lost so much. We want to lend a hand and be a part of their journey to getting back to work. Safety on the job is always paramount, and with a pair of Gig Gloves on their hands, it’s one less thing they have to worry about as they get back out there. We hope with ‘Stage A Comeback’ we can play a small role in helping so many industry pros, as well as the industry as a whole, to stage a comeback!”

“At Gig Gear, our core customer base was out of a job when the pandemic hit and our industry as a whole was completely shut down,” said Evan Grazi, Gig Gear’s Director of Sales. “On both a personal and business level, having the live industry shut down was a complete blow. At Gig Gear, we strive to provide our customers with top-rated safety gear, and although we had to pivot our company in order to keep us afloat, we’ve never lost our vision. We can now finally see the light at the end of this dark, dark tunnel, and we’re excited to see what the future brings. Throughout this pandemic, we’ve been looking for a way to give back to our industry and now is the time. Through the ‘Stage a Comeback’ campaign, we hope to provide a free pair of Gig Gloves to countless professionals who are finally getting back to work. From the back to the front, the house will be rebuilt even stronger, and we are excited to be a part of that process.”

Gig Gloves are designed specifically for AV professionals and feature strong nylon threading throughout with TPR molding on the back of the hand and fingers to ensure ultimate protection. Fold-over fingertips allow for use of smaller tools and items, and Gig Gloves work with touchscreen devices without needing to remove the gloves. They are available in three models: Original Gig Gloves, all-black Gig Gloves ONYX and fleece-lined THERMO Gig Gloves and come in 6 sizes (XS-XXL).

Gig Gear’s other products include the Two Hand Touch, a wearable iPad and tablet harness that secures to the chest, leaving both hands free to interface with remote mixing or any other apps necessary during live production, and the Cam-A-Lot, a dual-sided video conferencing screen that features a green screen on one side and a white screen on the reverse.

Gig Gear Debuts New Health & Safety Training Initiative at USITT

Gig Gear LLC — manufacturer of accessories designed for theatre techs and live entertainment production professionals — will officially announce its new personal health and safety awareness initiative “Safe and Sound” at next week’s USITT Expo in Louisville, KY, from March 20-23.

As the manufacturer of Gig Gloves, work gloves designed to protect the hands of theatre and live production professionals, the company saw the need to create an initiative that brings personal health, safety and wellness to the forefront of the theatre industry — as well as all production industries. 

While there are many programs and trainings regarding the use of specific equipment or certain processes in production environments, Gig Gear noticed the large lack of information and discussion on how to best take care of a staff’s overall health on a daily basis when working in theatre production. Safe and Sound aims to address this gap by providing content in the form of articles, videos and in-person workshops all aimed at informing and educating professionals on how to best stay safe and healthy while focusing on the various activities and workload one typically encounters in theatre production.

“We at Gig Gear are very excited to finally be debuting Safe and Sound — the only initiative of its kind in the industry,” said Danny Shatzkes founder and CEO of Gig Gear LLC. “Our goal is to help people continue doing what they love for longer. Personal health, safety and wellness are not necessarily topics that come up a lot in our industry, but it’s time that it be given the attention it deserves.”

Two Ways to Train
Safe and Sound will partner with experts in various fields to make sure that the content and information presented is always up-to-date and credible. As an added benefit to the industry, free wellness content, articles and videos will be available at www.safeandsoundblog.com.

For organizations that want to provide extra value to their employees, techs, crews and/or customers, Gig Gear will also offer in-person Safe and Sound workshops that will feature experts who will speak directly to staff with targeted lessons and tips on how to stay healthy and safe in their specific work environment. These workshops will provide dual benefit: to help educate staff on how to continue doing what they love for longer as well as providing companies with an opportunity to re-instill their care for their employees’ well-being and create a healthier workforce that is consequently more efficient.

Information on the in-person workshops can be found at www.safeandsoundlearning.com.  

“We want to put personal health on the forefront of people’s minds,” Shatzkes continued. “It’s our belief that we shouldn’t ‘live to work,’ rather ‘work to live’ and our livelihoods should complement how we want to spend our lives — not the other way around. So, we should make sure that when we are on the job, that we are doing so in the safest and healthiest way possible. This will only serve to enhance all aspects of everyday living. Safe and Sound will address these issues in the theatre production industry that have been largely ignored and will benefit everyone working in the theatre.”

Further information from Gig Gear: gig-gear.com
Further information on Safe and Sound: safeandsoundlearning.com.