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- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
You can be foggy after 38 years....that's ok...
Phase Linear and Pink Floyd
- Thread starter laatsch55
- Start date
P.L.F.
Journeyman
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2012
- Messages
- 419
- Location
- Poland, Warsaw (Central Europe)
- Tagline
- I love BIG amplifiers!
Thanks premiumplus! For me it is kind of time journey as well... In late 70's I was the 'PA-man' at high school for our rock band, cabaret and other usual school-life activities. Sounds not that unusual provided all happened in one of deep communist countries, where there was a ban on Western music, with no means for decent amps, speakers or mics... Jeez, if I'd tell you what were the PA system components back then in Poland.... Or maybe why not, another time / thread? The only contact with English rock bands music were two radio channels: Radio Luxembourg and Polish Radio 'Troika' - the specific channel for youngsters mixed with obvious propaganda content. Of course, some colleagues had family abroad and got LP's from them sometimes. Each such a chance was the reason to have a party to listen to this 'forbidden music' and dance, even if the LP was of King Crimson for instance
... I remember once, when a friend of mine got "Made in Japan" of Deep Purple and walked down the school corridors with that LP in hands, ALL girls wanted him dating... And not only dating, probably... The impact was 100x stronger that if he came in a Porsche 911 to the school these days... Crazy times! Completely different set of values... Still it is the music, in my case: rock and progressive, that crashed all those iron curtains, walls and bans. And it is fun for me now to read about Phase Linear contribution to what was a dream back then and became passion later on...I'll keep on posting
...
Last edited:
P.L.F.
Journeyman
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2012
- Messages
- 419
- Location
- Poland, Warsaw (Central Europe)
- Tagline
- I love BIG amplifiers!
THE GRATEFUL DEAD'S P.A.
BY MARC SILAG
This article is taken from MUSICIAN magazine Number 36, October, 1981.
[...]
Specs alone have never determined the Grateful Dead's selection of P.A. reinforcement systems. To Dan Healy, the Dead's sound mixer for fifteen years, attitude and philosophy are as important as crossover points and speaker configurations. Over the years the Dead and Healy have made some formidable contributions to P.A. theory and practice.
The Wall ot Sound. the band's first and last excursion into the P.A. business during the mid-seventies was recognized as a major step toward accurate reproduction of stage dynamics and fidelity. The Dead's press kit has nearly as much to say about the band's technical direction as it does about their musical route.
Like many groups who perform in coliseum-type venues. the Dead favor the systems built and maintained by Clair Brothers of Lititz, Pennsylvania. These systems depend on two Clair Brothers exclusives, the S-4 speaker cabinet and the 32x6x2 portable mixing console designed and engineered by Bruce Jackson with the cooperation of Ron Bothwick.
The S-4 consists of two 18" speakers. four 10" lo-mid speakers and two hi-mid horns utilizing JBL 2405 Type Drivers using passive crossovers. The cabinets, when suspended from the ceilings of a typical large venue, are strapped in vertical stacks to promote "Line Source Coupling." This affords Healy with more directionality and forward loudness. Each box requires about 1000 watts of power and Clair provides banks of Phase Linear 700 power amps to drive as many as 64 cabinets, depending on the size and acoustical characteristics of the venue.
The Jackson-Bothwick board is a self-contained unit featuring 32 inputs and six stereo submasters, with two main outputs. Threeband eq is parametric and four effects sends are provided with equalized returns. A unique "bar graph fader" design displays peak _and_ average signal readouts, pre- or post-fader. Steve Dove, an engineer familiar with the board under the duress of touring, has never known one of the six Clair Brothers' boards of this type to fail.
Outboard equipment includes dbx 162 compressor/limiters for each band-width, Crown D-75 power for headset monitoring, a White Spectrum Analyzer/Noise Generator and White 1/6 and 1/3 octave equalizers.
There have been three notable occasions when the Dead have used an altogether different system than the one outlined above. For shows in San Francisco, New York and the Oakland Coliseum, Healy brought three separate audio companies together and fabricated a "super system" so elaborate in its engineering and logistics as to make carrying it on tour an economic impossibility.
Healy's trademark is an open attitude towards new methods of producing full-bodied live sound, eliminating the shackles imposed by electrically produced phase distortion and harsh room reflections that debase the intended sound image. Using documented and patented theories of linear response established by John Meyer and his company, Meyer Sound Labs (MSLI) of San Francisco, the Dead are capable of producing "three dimensional" live reinforcement. Healy is the only sound engineer we've run across who uses the term "holographic" in discussing his work.
McCune Audio of San Francisco supplies the Dead with stage stacks consisting ot twelve 12" woofers, six mid-range horns and thirty tweeters per side. The system, known as the JM-10, incorporates Meyer's theory of linear response in which accurate imaging is dependent on the electrical pre-distortion of the P.A. signal before it reaches the speakers and drivers. In the case of
equipment listed here, speakers and drivers are manufactured in Europe to Meyer's specs. By carefully matching each transducer to the circuitry employed to pre-distort the signal, it is possible to compensate for phase distortion created when the transducer changes electrical energy into acoustic energy. Elimination of phase distortion is the prime mover of this system and both the JM-10 and the Bill Graham Presents System 80 that flies over center stage are "time corrected," using another design of MSLI the Group Delay Equalizer. The GDE shapes the wave forms to be projected by the system(s) by delaying specified frequencies within a given bandwidth, allowing all frequencies to arrive at the listener's ear at the same time. This also makes room reflections more controllable, and the ping-ponging of certain frequencies in a room is greatly reduced. The System 80 is a cluster arrangement consisting of sixty 12" woofers, twelve MSLI horns and twenty-four Heil tweeters. The third company using Meyer's technology is Ultrasound of Larkspur, Calitornia, who provide sub-woofer assemblies Meyer designed for the sound track of „Apocalypse Nowâ€. These cabinets house 18~' ferro-fluid speakers to handle the low end ot the Dead's sound.
In the house, McCune equips Healy with a 22x4 mix console with 3-band eq, augmented by a Tangent 2402 mixer for the drums. Although outboard eq is available, Healy uses it sparingly. Healy claims the only usable form of eq comes in the selection of placement of stage mics. No special outboard equipment is used aside from some special effects, the nature of which Healy would not divulge.
The sound of this system is extraordinary. It played a major role in the recording of the recently released live Dead LP, in that Healy relied heavily on room mics in the mix of the album. For the audio-conscious Deadheads of the world, it is Healy's hope that such a system will eventually join the Dead on tour.
[...]
Attached is the article by JBL on Clair Bros S4 system:
View attachment A%u002520JBL%u002520Installation%u002520-%u002520Clair%u002520Brothers%u002520and%u002520JBL%u00.pdf
BY MARC SILAG
This article is taken from MUSICIAN magazine Number 36, October, 1981.
[...]
Specs alone have never determined the Grateful Dead's selection of P.A. reinforcement systems. To Dan Healy, the Dead's sound mixer for fifteen years, attitude and philosophy are as important as crossover points and speaker configurations. Over the years the Dead and Healy have made some formidable contributions to P.A. theory and practice.
The Wall ot Sound. the band's first and last excursion into the P.A. business during the mid-seventies was recognized as a major step toward accurate reproduction of stage dynamics and fidelity. The Dead's press kit has nearly as much to say about the band's technical direction as it does about their musical route.
Like many groups who perform in coliseum-type venues. the Dead favor the systems built and maintained by Clair Brothers of Lititz, Pennsylvania. These systems depend on two Clair Brothers exclusives, the S-4 speaker cabinet and the 32x6x2 portable mixing console designed and engineered by Bruce Jackson with the cooperation of Ron Bothwick.
The S-4 consists of two 18" speakers. four 10" lo-mid speakers and two hi-mid horns utilizing JBL 2405 Type Drivers using passive crossovers. The cabinets, when suspended from the ceilings of a typical large venue, are strapped in vertical stacks to promote "Line Source Coupling." This affords Healy with more directionality and forward loudness. Each box requires about 1000 watts of power and Clair provides banks of Phase Linear 700 power amps to drive as many as 64 cabinets, depending on the size and acoustical characteristics of the venue.
The Jackson-Bothwick board is a self-contained unit featuring 32 inputs and six stereo submasters, with two main outputs. Threeband eq is parametric and four effects sends are provided with equalized returns. A unique "bar graph fader" design displays peak _and_ average signal readouts, pre- or post-fader. Steve Dove, an engineer familiar with the board under the duress of touring, has never known one of the six Clair Brothers' boards of this type to fail.
Outboard equipment includes dbx 162 compressor/limiters for each band-width, Crown D-75 power for headset monitoring, a White Spectrum Analyzer/Noise Generator and White 1/6 and 1/3 octave equalizers.
There have been three notable occasions when the Dead have used an altogether different system than the one outlined above. For shows in San Francisco, New York and the Oakland Coliseum, Healy brought three separate audio companies together and fabricated a "super system" so elaborate in its engineering and logistics as to make carrying it on tour an economic impossibility.
Healy's trademark is an open attitude towards new methods of producing full-bodied live sound, eliminating the shackles imposed by electrically produced phase distortion and harsh room reflections that debase the intended sound image. Using documented and patented theories of linear response established by John Meyer and his company, Meyer Sound Labs (MSLI) of San Francisco, the Dead are capable of producing "three dimensional" live reinforcement. Healy is the only sound engineer we've run across who uses the term "holographic" in discussing his work.
McCune Audio of San Francisco supplies the Dead with stage stacks consisting ot twelve 12" woofers, six mid-range horns and thirty tweeters per side. The system, known as the JM-10, incorporates Meyer's theory of linear response in which accurate imaging is dependent on the electrical pre-distortion of the P.A. signal before it reaches the speakers and drivers. In the case of
equipment listed here, speakers and drivers are manufactured in Europe to Meyer's specs. By carefully matching each transducer to the circuitry employed to pre-distort the signal, it is possible to compensate for phase distortion created when the transducer changes electrical energy into acoustic energy. Elimination of phase distortion is the prime mover of this system and both the JM-10 and the Bill Graham Presents System 80 that flies over center stage are "time corrected," using another design of MSLI the Group Delay Equalizer. The GDE shapes the wave forms to be projected by the system(s) by delaying specified frequencies within a given bandwidth, allowing all frequencies to arrive at the listener's ear at the same time. This also makes room reflections more controllable, and the ping-ponging of certain frequencies in a room is greatly reduced. The System 80 is a cluster arrangement consisting of sixty 12" woofers, twelve MSLI horns and twenty-four Heil tweeters. The third company using Meyer's technology is Ultrasound of Larkspur, Calitornia, who provide sub-woofer assemblies Meyer designed for the sound track of „Apocalypse Nowâ€. These cabinets house 18~' ferro-fluid speakers to handle the low end ot the Dead's sound.
In the house, McCune equips Healy with a 22x4 mix console with 3-band eq, augmented by a Tangent 2402 mixer for the drums. Although outboard eq is available, Healy uses it sparingly. Healy claims the only usable form of eq comes in the selection of placement of stage mics. No special outboard equipment is used aside from some special effects, the nature of which Healy would not divulge.
The sound of this system is extraordinary. It played a major role in the recording of the recently released live Dead LP, in that Healy relied heavily on room mics in the mix of the album. For the audio-conscious Deadheads of the world, it is Healy's hope that such a system will eventually join the Dead on tour.
[...]
Attached is the article by JBL on Clair Bros S4 system:
View attachment A%u002520JBL%u002520Installation%u002520-%u002520Clair%u002520Brothers%u002520and%u002520JBL%u00.pdf
Last edited:
P.L.F.
Journeyman
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2012
- Messages
- 419
- Location
- Poland, Warsaw (Central Europe)
- Tagline
- I love BIG amplifiers!
Roy & Gene Clair: The Sound of Sibling Success - part 1
The Clairs were raised in Lititz, where their parents owned a grocery store. As Jackson describes it, it was the “wrong side of the tracks” if there is such a thing in a small town in Pennsylvania. Gene says he was around 15 when he became interested in audio, playing with electronics while his brother looked on. When their father bought them a small P.A. system in 1955, they immediately put it to work.
“We were doing very small things on very small stages,” Gene says. “We’d use an inverter to power it off a car battery, the sort of thing you don’t hear of now, but it took 12 volts and turned it into 120.”
Roy says the P.A. included of a horn, a Stromberg-Carlsson integrated preamp, a 35-watt power amp and a microphone. “Our father intended us to do Easter egg hunts and small sock hops with it, and that’s what we did,” Roy says. For their trouble the boys would get $5 a gig, which rather than ending up in the local malt shop’s register, always went into buying more equipment. “It would take us a while to save for a mic — they were about $45 back then, so we’d have to do eight shows to get one!” , he laughs.
Their first business was actually Clair Reconing, where they reconed speakers. This led to experimenting and building their own products. “We did a pretty good job making the speaker cabinets stiffer than most, and that helped propel the sound forward from the speaker rather than leaking from the side and back of the box,” Roy says. “We learned right away that the speakers were more efficient if they didn’t move or vibrate. It’s simple now, but we were on the forefront of that.”
Gene would get a job as a technician for Franklin & Marshall College, a modest liberal arts college in nearby Lancaster, Pa., where he had no way of knowing that the opportunities there would be the launch pad of Clair Bros Audio. The college would call him in for all kinds of things, and that included helping with concert events. “That started the whole thing because we met groups,” Gene says.
The boys made $95 a gig for their efforts. The gear at this point included four Shure 55s, a Bogen amplifier and two columns with six eight-inch speakers each. The school got comfortable with them providing the sound for local bands, so when Dionne Warwick was to do a performance there, they didn’t hesitate to turn to them. Then came their big break: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons came to the college. Their people were intrigued by the system the brothers put together, and Roy saw an opening. He boldly asked to go into their dressing room where he explained why the system sounded so good. After the show, the band thanked the boys, who went home with their usual $95 richer and happy.
“The next day, we got a call from a local DJ saying Frankie Valli was trying to get a hold of us,” Roy says. “And it turns out they wanted us to come down to Allentown, Pa. because the system they were suppose to use was terrible. So we borrowed my wife’s uncle’s truck and did the show. After, I asked the tour manager to take us on the road with them — don’t ask me where I got that idea — and the tour manager said, ‘funny you mention that because we were just thinking about that.”
Between the local events and being on the road with the Four Seasons, the brothers continued to make money at their “hobby” and poured their money into more equipment. More mics, more A7s and two Harmon Karden 75-watt power amps made it into their inventory. Meanwhile, Roy would graduate from college with a degree in electronic industrial arts from Millersville State University. Then he taught school.
They built more equipment and started attending AES shows. They were at the show when the Crown amp was displayed — at 300 pounds and 250 watts, and being all tube, the brothers saw that was likely the trend and they were right. After the show, they talked Crown into selling them that very amp, which had the serial number 101 — as in the first one.
Their reputation grew. Elton John was in the beginning of his first U.S. tour and had a terrible experience with the sound preparing for a Glassboro, N.J. gig. “They got in trouble up there, and Elton freaked out,” Gene says. “We got the call and took off in the middle of the day. After that gig, Elton wanted us to work for him.” Even during this period, both Roy and Gene kept their day jobs and worked seven days a week. “They were long weeks,” Gene sighs.
In 1968, they were in Philadelphia running sound for Cream, Iron Butterfly and Jefferson Airplane, among other acts. “Often the bands would ask if we were from New York or LA,” Roy says with noticeable delight. “When we said we were from Lititz, they couldn’t believe it. Like Jefferson Airplane — they couldn’t believe that two hicks like us put together the best, loudest system they had ever heard.”
They would eventually quit their day jobs. “We’re conservative people, and don’t like to take crazy chances,” Gene says quietly.
[...]
TBC
The Clairs were raised in Lititz, where their parents owned a grocery store. As Jackson describes it, it was the “wrong side of the tracks” if there is such a thing in a small town in Pennsylvania. Gene says he was around 15 when he became interested in audio, playing with electronics while his brother looked on. When their father bought them a small P.A. system in 1955, they immediately put it to work.
“We were doing very small things on very small stages,” Gene says. “We’d use an inverter to power it off a car battery, the sort of thing you don’t hear of now, but it took 12 volts and turned it into 120.”
Roy says the P.A. included of a horn, a Stromberg-Carlsson integrated preamp, a 35-watt power amp and a microphone. “Our father intended us to do Easter egg hunts and small sock hops with it, and that’s what we did,” Roy says. For their trouble the boys would get $5 a gig, which rather than ending up in the local malt shop’s register, always went into buying more equipment. “It would take us a while to save for a mic — they were about $45 back then, so we’d have to do eight shows to get one!” , he laughs.
Their first business was actually Clair Reconing, where they reconed speakers. This led to experimenting and building their own products. “We did a pretty good job making the speaker cabinets stiffer than most, and that helped propel the sound forward from the speaker rather than leaking from the side and back of the box,” Roy says. “We learned right away that the speakers were more efficient if they didn’t move or vibrate. It’s simple now, but we were on the forefront of that.”
Gene would get a job as a technician for Franklin & Marshall College, a modest liberal arts college in nearby Lancaster, Pa., where he had no way of knowing that the opportunities there would be the launch pad of Clair Bros Audio. The college would call him in for all kinds of things, and that included helping with concert events. “That started the whole thing because we met groups,” Gene says.
The boys made $95 a gig for their efforts. The gear at this point included four Shure 55s, a Bogen amplifier and two columns with six eight-inch speakers each. The school got comfortable with them providing the sound for local bands, so when Dionne Warwick was to do a performance there, they didn’t hesitate to turn to them. Then came their big break: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons came to the college. Their people were intrigued by the system the brothers put together, and Roy saw an opening. He boldly asked to go into their dressing room where he explained why the system sounded so good. After the show, the band thanked the boys, who went home with their usual $95 richer and happy.
“The next day, we got a call from a local DJ saying Frankie Valli was trying to get a hold of us,” Roy says. “And it turns out they wanted us to come down to Allentown, Pa. because the system they were suppose to use was terrible. So we borrowed my wife’s uncle’s truck and did the show. After, I asked the tour manager to take us on the road with them — don’t ask me where I got that idea — and the tour manager said, ‘funny you mention that because we were just thinking about that.”
Between the local events and being on the road with the Four Seasons, the brothers continued to make money at their “hobby” and poured their money into more equipment. More mics, more A7s and two Harmon Karden 75-watt power amps made it into their inventory. Meanwhile, Roy would graduate from college with a degree in electronic industrial arts from Millersville State University. Then he taught school.
They built more equipment and started attending AES shows. They were at the show when the Crown amp was displayed — at 300 pounds and 250 watts, and being all tube, the brothers saw that was likely the trend and they were right. After the show, they talked Crown into selling them that very amp, which had the serial number 101 — as in the first one.
Their reputation grew. Elton John was in the beginning of his first U.S. tour and had a terrible experience with the sound preparing for a Glassboro, N.J. gig. “They got in trouble up there, and Elton freaked out,” Gene says. “We got the call and took off in the middle of the day. After that gig, Elton wanted us to work for him.” Even during this period, both Roy and Gene kept their day jobs and worked seven days a week. “They were long weeks,” Gene sighs.
In 1968, they were in Philadelphia running sound for Cream, Iron Butterfly and Jefferson Airplane, among other acts. “Often the bands would ask if we were from New York or LA,” Roy says with noticeable delight. “When we said we were from Lititz, they couldn’t believe it. Like Jefferson Airplane — they couldn’t believe that two hicks like us put together the best, loudest system they had ever heard.”
They would eventually quit their day jobs. “We’re conservative people, and don’t like to take crazy chances,” Gene says quietly.
[...]
TBC
P.L.F.
Journeyman
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2012
- Messages
- 419
- Location
- Poland, Warsaw (Central Europe)
- Tagline
- I love BIG amplifiers!
Roy & Gene Clair: The Sound of Sibling Success - part 2
[...]
The 1970s would see their collective star rise higher. Dick Clark Productions had the Jacksons and the Osmonds touring and used Clair Bros. sound. But it was the acts that were respected for their intricate music that seemed to especially appreciate the sound company: Blood Sweat & Tears used them all the time, including the first American rock band to go behind the Iron Curtain. For the prog rock Moody Blues, once they heard what Clair Bros could do, no other sound company would do. Chicago and Yes would come to rely on them for sound.
“But another significant feature was that we didn’t know what ‘no’ was,” Roy says. “Whatever people wanted, we did it. If they wanted us on some street corner at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night, we did it. Nothing was too much. We were a ‘yes’ company.”
Meanwhile, Franklin & Marshall, the place of the launch of their career, became home to their farm team. They would hire college kids to work for them and one of the first ones to be hired full time was Donald Gehman, who would go on to engineer and produce the likes of R.E.M., Stephen Stills, John Mellencamp, among many others. Otherwise, Jackson laughs and tells as Roy and Gene were wrestlers, they were partial to hiring other wrestlers, some of whom could lift 300-pound speakers by themselves.
Key to their longevity was speed: “We always strived to make the setup faster then what it took at the previous gig,” Gene says. “We specialized in connectors that made it easier and quicker.”
Gene would spend almost all his time on the road as they added other acts, and during the summer, his son Troy would be right along side him in what had to be a young kid’s dream. Roy at this point was focused more on development and the business end.
“The sound company landscape in the early 1970s was very different,” Jackson explains. “It was the exception for a group to take the sound company on tour. This arrangement gave the regionals the chance to be exposed to a string of big acts as they passed through their area. And the companies that gave the best service and delivered the best sound quickly grew to become worldwide touring entities. It was a great opportunity for a small bootstrapped operation to make the transition to the big time,” which is exactly what Clair Bros did.
“Roy and Gene are two quite different personalities,” Jackson continues. “I've been in partnerships and know full well how difficult it can be to see eye to eye on all the different aspects of being in business. The dynamic between Roy and Gene had a lot to do with their success. Roy was very conservative in managing the money and didn't like operating on credit. I recall Clair Bros. always took the ‘prompt pay’ discounts. Gene was far more daring and seemed to thrive on living out on the technological edge.” Jackson says it was Gene who drove the genesis of the ubiquitous S4.
It was 1974, and one of the biggest advances of the pro audio business came out of the Clair Bros barn, and that was the S4. The 4-foot by 2-foot by 2-foot system needed only one connector on the back. It was an influential, great-sounding system that seriously cut the time needed to set up and tear down, all powered by solid state Phase Linear 700 and Crown DC300A.
“We first used the S4s with Rod Stewart, and it was the first show we hung speakers from a grid,” Roy says. “We came up with a hanging device that would allow you to point the speaker where you wanted to. The hardware was beautifully machined, done by local Lititz people. We were the talk of the industry at the time.”
Mick Jagger himself wanted to see it, and came to a Stewart show, making Roy walk with him around the arena during a show to really get a sense to what the hanging S4s could do. Suffice to say he was impressed because he had the Clairs do the band’s1975 tour. Peter Frampton would use them too, as would David Bowie, the Beach Boys, and pretty much everybody doing arena tours at the time.
“After a while, everyone else kept coming up with new speakers, but always comparing them to the S4s,” Gene adds. “It was a compliment.”
The Clair Bros. built the first audio board with a talkback button it. So, rather than the FOH engineer yelling at the band, a button could be pushed and a conversation could be had through the monitors. “Believe it or not, even that simple feature got us a few shows including Yes.”
[...]
The 1970s would see their collective star rise higher. Dick Clark Productions had the Jacksons and the Osmonds touring and used Clair Bros. sound. But it was the acts that were respected for their intricate music that seemed to especially appreciate the sound company: Blood Sweat & Tears used them all the time, including the first American rock band to go behind the Iron Curtain. For the prog rock Moody Blues, once they heard what Clair Bros could do, no other sound company would do. Chicago and Yes would come to rely on them for sound.
“But another significant feature was that we didn’t know what ‘no’ was,” Roy says. “Whatever people wanted, we did it. If they wanted us on some street corner at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night, we did it. Nothing was too much. We were a ‘yes’ company.”
Meanwhile, Franklin & Marshall, the place of the launch of their career, became home to their farm team. They would hire college kids to work for them and one of the first ones to be hired full time was Donald Gehman, who would go on to engineer and produce the likes of R.E.M., Stephen Stills, John Mellencamp, among many others. Otherwise, Jackson laughs and tells as Roy and Gene were wrestlers, they were partial to hiring other wrestlers, some of whom could lift 300-pound speakers by themselves.
Key to their longevity was speed: “We always strived to make the setup faster then what it took at the previous gig,” Gene says. “We specialized in connectors that made it easier and quicker.”
Gene would spend almost all his time on the road as they added other acts, and during the summer, his son Troy would be right along side him in what had to be a young kid’s dream. Roy at this point was focused more on development and the business end.
“The sound company landscape in the early 1970s was very different,” Jackson explains. “It was the exception for a group to take the sound company on tour. This arrangement gave the regionals the chance to be exposed to a string of big acts as they passed through their area. And the companies that gave the best service and delivered the best sound quickly grew to become worldwide touring entities. It was a great opportunity for a small bootstrapped operation to make the transition to the big time,” which is exactly what Clair Bros did.
“Roy and Gene are two quite different personalities,” Jackson continues. “I've been in partnerships and know full well how difficult it can be to see eye to eye on all the different aspects of being in business. The dynamic between Roy and Gene had a lot to do with their success. Roy was very conservative in managing the money and didn't like operating on credit. I recall Clair Bros. always took the ‘prompt pay’ discounts. Gene was far more daring and seemed to thrive on living out on the technological edge.” Jackson says it was Gene who drove the genesis of the ubiquitous S4.
It was 1974, and one of the biggest advances of the pro audio business came out of the Clair Bros barn, and that was the S4. The 4-foot by 2-foot by 2-foot system needed only one connector on the back. It was an influential, great-sounding system that seriously cut the time needed to set up and tear down, all powered by solid state Phase Linear 700 and Crown DC300A.
“We first used the S4s with Rod Stewart, and it was the first show we hung speakers from a grid,” Roy says. “We came up with a hanging device that would allow you to point the speaker where you wanted to. The hardware was beautifully machined, done by local Lititz people. We were the talk of the industry at the time.”
Mick Jagger himself wanted to see it, and came to a Stewart show, making Roy walk with him around the arena during a show to really get a sense to what the hanging S4s could do. Suffice to say he was impressed because he had the Clairs do the band’s1975 tour. Peter Frampton would use them too, as would David Bowie, the Beach Boys, and pretty much everybody doing arena tours at the time.
“After a while, everyone else kept coming up with new speakers, but always comparing them to the S4s,” Gene adds. “It was a compliment.”
The Clair Bros. built the first audio board with a talkback button it. So, rather than the FOH engineer yelling at the band, a button could be pushed and a conversation could be had through the monitors. “Believe it or not, even that simple feature got us a few shows including Yes.”
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
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- 75,382
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- Gillette, Wyo.
- Tagline
- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
Cool stuff Przem, very cool...
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
- Messages
- 75,382
- Location
- Gillette, Wyo.
- Tagline
- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
Thanks premiumplus! For me it is kind of time journey as well... In late 70's I was the 'PA-man' at high school for our rock band, cabaret and other usual school-life activities. Sounds not that unusual provided all happened in one of deep communist countries, where there was a ban on Western music, with no means for decent amps, speakers or mics... Jeez, if I'd tell you what were the PA system components back then in Poland.... Or maybe why not, another time / thread? The only contact with English rock bands music were two radio channels: Radio Luxembourg and Polish Radio 'Troika' - the specific channel for youngsters mixed with obvious propaganda content. Of course, some colleagues had family abroad and got LP's from them sometimes. Each such a chance was the reason to have a party to listen to this 'forbidden music' and dance, even if the LP was of King Crimson for instance
I'll keep on posting
So there was smuggling of music behind the iron curtain?? What would happen if you got caught listening to it??
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
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- 75,382
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- Gillette, Wyo.
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- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
And thanks to Joe , they just keep getting better...
P.L.F.
Journeyman
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2012
- Messages
- 419
- Location
- Poland, Warsaw (Central Europe)
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Oh, that was more complicated... Let me explain briefly. From the perspective of Poland in mid 70's (although among soviet block it was probably the most open minded and therefore stubborn nation to be told what is good or what is bad) listening to so called 'rotten Western music' was not what communists wanted. The official propaganda wished all 'patriotic citizens' were to listen to songs about happy living in socialism and by definition performed by local or any other the communist block's singers... Indeed for some reason neither, say, Led Zeppelin nor Pink Floyd were really taking up such topics when writing lyrics... Of course with literally milions of Polish origin relatives living in the US (Chicago was the second largest city after Warsaw in terms of number of Poles living there), UK, France or other Western countries it was quite difficult to denay existance of The Beattles for instance... Slowly only one official radio station: 'Troika' started broadcasting some great Western music but it was the FM range and there were initially almost no tuners with FM available in shops... You had to cue for one/ two weeks to buy one. So what's left were LP's received from relatives living abroad. The LP's were immediately copied on 'mother tapes' (vinyl was treated like a 'treasure', you did not listen to turntable even if you had one but to reel-to-reel) and then copied further by any friend you had. Why only the music sent over by relatives? Because you could not travel to West and buy some LP's. Nobody had a passport at home, you had to apply to the police to receive your own passport for a limited time, provided you were invited by your family to pay a visit or you bought an excursion from the official travel office - the latter one was rather a domain of rich party leaders or members, not ordinary people...
Coming back to your question Lee, listening to Western music was not illegal back then, you could listen at home but the communist state kept maximum effort to make it more difficult.
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premiumplus
Chief Journeyman
Interesting...I always thought that rock music was totally banned in communist block countries.
P.L.F.
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Correct Dave, totally banned in 50's and partially in 60's. After Stalin died, gradually performing jazz became 'allowed' but not early rock&roll. In 60's first local bands started to play R&R in public, of course provided lyrics were in line with the propaganda goals. An attempt to soften the policy was the invitation for Rolling Stones to come to Warsaw in 1967. They came only for one concert and there were literally riots of thousands of young people who wanted to see the venue. It was not so easy though because tickets were only distributed through communist party offices and to party members or their kids... Funny thing related to that performance was the payment the Stones got: two wagons of Polish finest vodka (I believe Wyborowa) as Polish currency 'Zloty' was not convertible and there was nothing else you could wish to take with...
More read here:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones_European_Tour_1967
and video on YouTube:
http://youtu.be/gOGuML5DPlI
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P.L.F.
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Bruce Jackson - the bright history of PA
[...]
Jackson grew up on the harbor side of Sydney, Australia with a love of electronics and the patience and curiosity to experiment. In 1967, at the age of 18, he and friend Phil Storey threw in $50 each and founded JANDS out of Jackson's bedroom. The company was an instant success, building guitar amps, mixers, and column PA's. While he sold his part of the company two years later, that JANDS is going strong today is a testament to his vision.
In 1969 he hopped a fence at a Blood, Sweat & Tears concert and introduced himself to Roy Clair, who was operating the biggest sound system Australia had ever seen. He would end up working that exact system for a Johnny Cash tour, and later still, go to work in the Clair Bros' shop in Pennsylvania. With the Clairs, he developed the first fold-out console because he was "tired of lifting them out of the case," he told FOH in 2005. More substantially, he was behind the first console to have plasma bar-graph meters, which also displayed simultaneous RMS and peak levels. Also, prior to this revolutionary console, EQ options were limited, and this mixer was the first to feature parametric EQ. This board was in use long into the 1980s.
Jackson would go on the road with the Elvis Presley, serving as sound engineer and designer for hundreds of shows up to Elvis' death in 1976. The pressure to increase seat sales led Jackson to being one of the first to hang loudspeakers on chain hoists for live concerts. Then, in 1978, he went to work for Bruce Springsteen. It was a good partnership, as Springsteen was notoriously particular about the sound quality of his show, and would have his band play while he walked arena floors with Jackson. Jackson would field questions like, "why can't I hear the high-hat from this spot?" Jackson thrived in this environment, using high frequency drivers and designing an overblown set of delay systems, with eight delays up on a pole to solve such issues. He set a new standard for live PAs in stadiums.
After a decade with Springsteen, he started Apogee Electronics Corporation out of his garage in Santa Monica. As he liked to tell, he had gone to Japan in the early 1980s and got his hands on a new device called a CD player, and was sorely disappointed. Most would have merely shrugged it off, but that's not how Jackson's mind works. Through Apogee, he started addressing the shortcomings of digital audio. "We studied the way the Japanese were converting the music to digital," he told FOH Magazine. "And they were doing it textbook perfect, but weren't taking into account the negatives of what the process was doing to the sound." He delivered filters that made radical improvements in the sound quality, and soon his work was standard with every digital recording device.
In 1993, he was approached about handling the sound duties for Barbra Streisand - her first tour in decades - and while it took some convincing, he eventually signed on to the formidable task. He later said he did it because he was intrigued by the assurance that he could do whatever was necessary to create near aural perfection. This included laying the carpets and hanging drapes, and bringing other innovations he had developed into the mix, including custom monitors with soft dome mid range and tweeters. He would be called on to do her 1999 tour as well. In 2000, he had the mammoth gig that was the Sydney Olympics.
During the late 1990s, he formed yet another company with Dave McGrath, Lake Technology, which today is owned by Dolby. There he continued innovating, with his gear adopted by engineers working on many of the top tours.
Legendary sound pioneer and Parnelli Audio Innovator Award honoree Bruce Jackson was killed after his Mooney M020 single engine piston prop engine plane crashed Jan. 29 2011 near Furnace Creek, CA, in Death Valley National Park. The Federal Aviation Association is investigating the cause of the crash and currently lists it as "unknown circumstances." Jackson was alone, flying at 11 p.m. He was 62.
[...]
More interesting reading:
- article: "Name behind the name" on Bruce Jackson contribution to PA industry: http://www.audiotechnology.com.au/PDF/REGULARS/NAME_BEHIND_THE_NAME/AT40_NBN_Bruce_Jackson.pdf
- 30 years of Aussie PA sound: http://www.camelian.com/colinbaldwin/30years3.swf
Attached photo shows PL700B amps in stacks on the left...
[...]
Jackson grew up on the harbor side of Sydney, Australia with a love of electronics and the patience and curiosity to experiment. In 1967, at the age of 18, he and friend Phil Storey threw in $50 each and founded JANDS out of Jackson's bedroom. The company was an instant success, building guitar amps, mixers, and column PA's. While he sold his part of the company two years later, that JANDS is going strong today is a testament to his vision.
In 1969 he hopped a fence at a Blood, Sweat & Tears concert and introduced himself to Roy Clair, who was operating the biggest sound system Australia had ever seen. He would end up working that exact system for a Johnny Cash tour, and later still, go to work in the Clair Bros' shop in Pennsylvania. With the Clairs, he developed the first fold-out console because he was "tired of lifting them out of the case," he told FOH in 2005. More substantially, he was behind the first console to have plasma bar-graph meters, which also displayed simultaneous RMS and peak levels. Also, prior to this revolutionary console, EQ options were limited, and this mixer was the first to feature parametric EQ. This board was in use long into the 1980s.
Jackson would go on the road with the Elvis Presley, serving as sound engineer and designer for hundreds of shows up to Elvis' death in 1976. The pressure to increase seat sales led Jackson to being one of the first to hang loudspeakers on chain hoists for live concerts. Then, in 1978, he went to work for Bruce Springsteen. It was a good partnership, as Springsteen was notoriously particular about the sound quality of his show, and would have his band play while he walked arena floors with Jackson. Jackson would field questions like, "why can't I hear the high-hat from this spot?" Jackson thrived in this environment, using high frequency drivers and designing an overblown set of delay systems, with eight delays up on a pole to solve such issues. He set a new standard for live PAs in stadiums.
After a decade with Springsteen, he started Apogee Electronics Corporation out of his garage in Santa Monica. As he liked to tell, he had gone to Japan in the early 1980s and got his hands on a new device called a CD player, and was sorely disappointed. Most would have merely shrugged it off, but that's not how Jackson's mind works. Through Apogee, he started addressing the shortcomings of digital audio. "We studied the way the Japanese were converting the music to digital," he told FOH Magazine. "And they were doing it textbook perfect, but weren't taking into account the negatives of what the process was doing to the sound." He delivered filters that made radical improvements in the sound quality, and soon his work was standard with every digital recording device.
In 1993, he was approached about handling the sound duties for Barbra Streisand - her first tour in decades - and while it took some convincing, he eventually signed on to the formidable task. He later said he did it because he was intrigued by the assurance that he could do whatever was necessary to create near aural perfection. This included laying the carpets and hanging drapes, and bringing other innovations he had developed into the mix, including custom monitors with soft dome mid range and tweeters. He would be called on to do her 1999 tour as well. In 2000, he had the mammoth gig that was the Sydney Olympics.
During the late 1990s, he formed yet another company with Dave McGrath, Lake Technology, which today is owned by Dolby. There he continued innovating, with his gear adopted by engineers working on many of the top tours.
Legendary sound pioneer and Parnelli Audio Innovator Award honoree Bruce Jackson was killed after his Mooney M020 single engine piston prop engine plane crashed Jan. 29 2011 near Furnace Creek, CA, in Death Valley National Park. The Federal Aviation Association is investigating the cause of the crash and currently lists it as "unknown circumstances." Jackson was alone, flying at 11 p.m. He was 62.
[...]
More interesting reading:
- article: "Name behind the name" on Bruce Jackson contribution to PA industry: http://www.audiotechnology.com.au/PDF/REGULARS/NAME_BEHIND_THE_NAME/AT40_NBN_Bruce_Jackson.pdf
- 30 years of Aussie PA sound: http://www.camelian.com/colinbaldwin/30years3.swf
Attached photo shows PL700B amps in stacks on the left...
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Another good read Przem. Seems like the hi end PA world was rather small.
P.L.F.
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Yes Lee, absolutely amazing how small !!!
pennysdad
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Not so much PL, but more so PF....
Here's a little something I recently wrote on a FaceBook: Sunbury Pop / Rock Festivals 1972 - 1975 appreciation page.
I thought I'd do that before I forgot it.... Sorry if it's OT.
Here's a little something I recently wrote on a FaceBook: Sunbury Pop / Rock Festivals 1972 - 1975 appreciation page.
I thought I'd do that before I forgot it.... Sorry if it's OT.
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Like most threads here it morphs and comes back. If one is too constraining in their content we miss little jewels like this. Thanks for the post BD. And don't EVER apologize for being off topic.....
P.L.F.
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Not so much PL, but more so PF....
Here's a little something I recently wrote on a FaceBook: Sunbury Pop / Rock Festivals 1972 - 1975 appreciation page.
I thought I'd do that before I forgot it.... Sorry if it's OT.
Very nice read, thank you!
premiumplus
Chief Journeyman
Very cool, bd!