Posts Tagged ‘cxmagblog’
The Merchants of Venice (Airport)
Forget the pound of flesh, how about an ounce of customer service? (attrib. William Shakespeare) Some journeys start off badly but get better. Others start off OK but get worse. This one is the latter! Once again Colin, my partner-in-crime at ARX, and I were heading off…
Read MoreAll change at OpenLive – Master Builder the key
It was the end of a short era and the start of a new one at Australian internet startup OpenLive when the board fired two of the three founders, Gary Dunn and Andy McIntire in April. The startup had raised $1.5 million late in 2014, much of it from friends, neighbours and associates of Dunn,…
Read MoreTHE MILL REPORT: ONE PRICE TO FOOL THEM ALL (& IN THE DARKNESS BLIND THEM)
When you buy a litre of milk at the supermarket, do you only ever pay one price regardless of whether you choose low-fat, non-fat, full fat or soy? Of course you don’t. So why the hell does music sell for the exact same amount regardless of what it is or who made it? Beats me.…
Read MoreMal and me: Memories of working for the late 22nd Prime Minister of Australia
When I used to mix bands full time, and lived the strangely nomadic, semi-nocturnal life of the working sound engineer, casual acquaintances would often ask me, “What do you do for a living?” If I replied that I worked in the Live Sound industry and did the sound for bands, their reaction was usually one…
Read MoreTHE MILL REPORT: SWIMMING IN THE STREAM
Imagine if the car industry were the music industry. Vehicles could be downloaded for free, copied, test driven and replaced at the click of a button. Fewer and fewer people would own cars yet more and more would be driving brand new ones. Doesn’t make much sense does it? Welcome to the music industry in…
Read MoreTax Break for Small Business
The $20,000 accelerated depreciation provision in the 2015 Federal Budget is a dream come true for many CX readers who buy equipment. The provision allows you to buy as much as you like, provided no one item of equipment is valued at more than $20,000. With most moving lights, line array elements and screens costing…
Read MoreMinimum Technical Skills
Sound and Lighting Technicians: what should they know? By Julius Grafton What skills should an entry level entertainment technology worker possess once ‘trained’? Last month we had over 400 experienced crew complete a lengthy survey, and now we have a draft set of skills – one for audio; and one for lighting. The survey revealed…
Read MoreIn memory of Gary Nessel and Strauss Sound Systems
A Celebration of Australian Creativity and Ingenuity Initially, and for sentimental reasons, this was a story I wished I didn’t have to write, however on reflection it was an opportunity and privilege to honour an individual who made his mark and to also celebrate the innate creativity and ingenuity resident in our industry. It was…
Read MoreThe Bamboo Train: More traveller’s tales from the mysterious East
“Sugar Cane ate my brain, when I drove on the Bamboo Train…” (Apologies to Robbie Robertson from The Band for the misheard lyrics from his song ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’) After a couple of weeks holiday in Vietnam, my gf and I organised to go to Phnom Penh, in neighboring Cambodia, since…
Read MoreTHE MILL REPORT: Friends reunited
This is the story of two of my prized possessions: a Neumann U47 FET and valve U67. But no, this is not just another story of how good old Neumann microphones sound. It’s a meaningless rave about how they’ve accompanied me throughout at least half my recording career. I guess it was about 17 years…
Read MoreWelcoming 2015, Hanoi style: A New Year’s Eve traveller’s tale
‘Hanoi rocks, scooters roll, pedestrians just try to cross the road’ Regular readers of this column (who they, Dunk? Ed) may remember me writing a few years ago about how I’d never been to Vietnam, despite the offer of an all-expenses paid trip from the government back in the early 70s. As luck would have…
Read MoreTHE MILL REPORT: It’s Big & Raw & Right Next Door
To say ‘it’s all happening’ down here at The Mill would be an understatement of momentous proportions. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends lately, as well as trying to get the thing to light in the middle. Between the several album projects I have on the go – not to mention the mastering…
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