Performer, Electro-Voice and Dynacord Present
Rehearsal Space Rehab
In the last two months, Performer has documented the progress as Electro-Voice and Dynacord transformed Atlanta rockers the Gates of Berlin’s rehearsal space. As the winner of our Rehearsal Space Rehab promotion, the band was awarded $10,000 in new gear, which was delivered and installed by James Edlund and Josh Bartunek.
This month we check in with the Gates to see how things are going and if Electro-Voice and Dynacord’s experts were able to effectively solve all of their live sound woes...
Part 1 Recap:
The Diagnosis
In part one, we met the Gates of Berlin and learned about their sound system woes. The band’s monitors were almost non-existent. Their microphone situation was bleak. And they were starting to realize that bits and pieces of their existing sound system were being left behind at some of the venues that they were playing. With the Gates of Berlin, the PA system takes on a more significant role because they are vocally driven. They’d also recently added keys to their line-up. They were in need of some monitors that they could bring out on the road to subsidize some of the sound systems at the smaller venues they were playing.
Part 2 Recap:
The Treatment
In part two, we met our experts from Electro-Voice and Dynacord and our Rehearsal Space Rehab process began. Our live sound experts, James Edlund and Josh Bartunek, looked at the GoB’s existing PA system, listened to the band’s existing problems, and got to work putting together the PA that would
Meet Our Experts
Josh Bartunek is the Global Product Manager for Electro-Voice Pro Music Speakers. Before working at E-V, Bartunek worked as a sales representative for various instrument and pro audio manufacturers including JBL Professional, Crown International, Sennheiser, dbx, Soundcraft, Lexicon, and Waves. He also worked as a recording studio engineer at Thunderclap Recording in Hammond, IN, and prior to that he was playing guitar in various independent bands.
James Edlund is Public Relations/Artist Relations Manager for Telex Communications and its brands Electro-Voice, EV Blue, Midas, Dynacord, Klark Teknik, Telex, and RTS. Before working at Electro-Voice, Edlund worked on and off as a studio sound engineer, and had stints in live sound and fronting his own indie-rock band, 10w40. Edlund has also lent his talents to other projects, including Captain Yonder, with whom he recorded at Dave Fridmann’s TarBox Road Studios in Casadaga, NY.
Part 3:
The Recovery
Our Experts were posed with four major problems:
PROBLEM 1: Finding the right size PA
Edlund and Bartunek suggest a Public Address that has enough inputs for the band to mic the drums, the amps, and all of the vocals. They use Dynacord’s 16-channel PowerMate as a foundation. This mixer also allows the band to have separate monitor mixes for different members’ needs. Monitors are also key in our experts’ decisions. They suggest using Electro-Voice 15-inch ZX4 monitors for power and durability, which the band says they need at rehearsals and on the road.
PROBLEM 2: Finding the right microphones
Our experts decide to go with mics that can handle the Gates of Berlin’s sound pressure level (SPL) and their aggressive rock style. This is a band that has guitars on full throttle, but still needs vocal harmonies to soar over the crushing distortion. Our experts go with the Electro-Voice N/D967 for vocals. This supercardioid microphone has high-gain-before-feedback, meaning it enables the band to turn it up louder without it feeding back.
PROBLEM 3: Finding the right microphones for the band’s drummer
Our experts say the key factors in their drum mic decisions revolve around durability and dynamics. Edlund suggested mics that are going to catch the band’s heavy attack, but also convey the incredible range of dynamics that the Gates of Berlin’s drummer performs with. For the bass drum, our experts suggest an EV N/D868 dynamic microphone. On the toms and snare, they suggest a collection of Electro-Voice N/DYM and Cobalt family microphones, including the N/D468, N/D478, and Co4. For overheads they suggest Electro-Voice RE200 condensers.
PROBLEM 4: Configuring a PA system with portability
As they state in PROBLEM 1, our experts designed this PA system to be modular from the start. The band can simply reduce the number of monitors and carry one monitor and two main speakers. As for playing larger gigs, our experts tell us this PA is suitable for up to 1,000 person capacity rooms. For crowds larger than that, it would be a matter of simply bringing in a subwoofer or two.
The Conclusion
Finally, it’s time for our experts to be put to the test. And what better test than giving the band a couple of months to work with their new PA system and then checking back to see if our experts actually delivered! It’s been two months since James Edlund and Josh Bartunek configured, delivered, and set up our Rehearsal Space Rehab winners’ system. How are the Gates of Berlin feeling about their winnings? The band’s guitarist, Phillip Barlow reports:
“We can finally hear! Our main problem before was we were not able to hear the keyboards and background and lead vocals. Now, not only can we hear all of those things, but we also have the ability to mic every instrument to get a full, even mix. It’s like [rehearsing] in a club every night.
With the amount of equipment that we received, we are now able to accurately record practices. With the abundance of mics that we have, we can mic every sound. This helps us in our songwriting. It’s great to be able to play through something for the first few times, take it home, listen to it for a few days, and go back to work on it. It’s kind of like [being able to take home] game tapes. It gives us time to cultivate a song. We no longer feel rushed.
My personal favorite thing is the drum fill. We are now able to hear the kick. Before, we relied simply on the snare for timing. Now, we are playing to a full drum sound. Being able to feel the kick makes practice feel more important. It fills the room with a new depth that was missing from our old situation. It makes us feel like we are a real band.
Numerous monitors and our 16-channel mixing board allow for separate mixes. Our band’s two vocalists demand very different mixes than that of the rest of the band. We can now mix to everybody’s liking with our new PowerMate board and ZX4 monitors.
Finally, we love this system because it is versatile and portable. We have always taken our PA with us to live shows for an extra monitoring system. The modular aspect of the system allows us to take the right amount of equipment with us for shows. We don’t have to lug around our entire PA anymore. We can just take our board and a monitor. It is rather compact for easy portability.” µ
For more information on the band check out: www.thegatesofberlin.com
For more information on Electro-Voice, Dynacord, and the whole Telex family, check out: www.electro-voice.com, www.telex.com
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