Notes from Down in the Desert
Still getting settled in and meeting various people down here. In the last month I’ve visited more people coming through town than in the last couple of years in Seattle. Everyone pretty much comes through all the time. I’ve also been making the rounds and seeing some of the shows that I might not get to see when I was coming into town with a touring act. On most of the shows the production values are pretty impressive. As I was hammering away at a prototype of a new blog search tool called Sphere, I stumbled upon a series of related sites for tech crew in the Vegas area. The first, a site called Bright and Loud hosts a blog and forum that could use a bit more traffic. I know how tough it is to get traction going with a forum. The thing I found cool there was something called Intermod, a Windows based intermod calculator for RF apps. There is also a good little primer on mic techniques for theatrical apps. There is a feed available for those that are using aggregators.
Following a link to a sister site I found Advance Entertainment operated by a guy that mixes one of the large B-way shows in town. There is a listing for gigs in Vegas though the listings were behind by a month or so. Both of the sites have good instructions on the hows and whys of getting a gig down here. It’s the same sort of stuff other locals told me in June when I first started planning the move though it’s handy to have it all in one place on the Web. Pretty much all of the casinos and resorts have gone to an all online application system and the big guns won’t even take apps any other way unless you know someone inside. There is also a reprint of a three part series on making the transition from concert audio mixer to theatrical mixer. When I first started doing theatrical apps some years back I was lucky that we had a couple of consultants who were already well established in the field. That helped my learning curve and this series will let those that wish to make the transition aware of what the differences are between the two apps. It’s always good to meet more locals. If you are down here and want to meet for coffee or perhaps an adult beverage, give me a shout.