So, I'm doing the Facebook exchange thing with a friend of mine. Subject is cooking, and I asked, "Why is it that so many musicians and sound guys I know are the ones who do all the cooking at home?" And her response was immediate and to the point. "Because we have passion for it."

His personal motto says it all: "The stakes are too high for amateurs."

Al Siniscal has a long history of having distinguished himself, not only for his considerable pro audio breakthroughs, but also for his business savvy. Jere Harris of PRG says this about him: "He's the toughest negotiator in the business! And he always had the big picture in sight."

The challenges are numerous and ever-changing for those who slog it out in the pro audio trenches, and really there needs to be an award going out to every company out there who makes it through another year. But you, FOH gentle reader, have selected six who aren't just surviving, but are thriving. Gear, smarts, and passion are the common link, with an emphasis on the passion.

Soundco
Precise Corporate Staging

Venue
Sun Angel Stadium,
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ

Soundco
Crossroads Audio Inc.

Venue
Second Stage, Sonic Stage, Troo Music Lounge, other festival locations
Great Stage Park
Manchester, TN

Soundco
Clear Sound Inc.

Venue
Piazza at Schmidts
Philadelphia, PA

Soundco
Miller Pro Audio

Venue
Eufaula Cove Amphitheater
Eufaula, OK

Soundco
Atlantic Professional Audio, Inc.

Venue
Baldwin Park
Orlando, FL

Soundco
Mix3 Sound Inc.

Venue
Nova Southeastern University
Davie, FL

His is one of the names that comes up first when talking about people who are influential in the migration of studio technology to the stage, but it might surprise people to learn that he designed a system that allowed Tom Petty to record two albums playing with two bands as an ensemble as if they were onstage. In other words bringing the stage to the studio.

Zac Brown seemed to come out of nowhere. I first saw the new King of Country four years ago on a gig called the Rock Boat - a floating festival with about 30 bands and a few thousand fans taking over a Caribbean cruise ship for a week. And I was impressed then. But I thought that with the bib overalls and scruffy longish beard, he stood no chance in a country music world that has become as obsessed with image and fashion as the pop world is. Too bad, right?

I first had a look at the IM8 prototype at the NAMM show a couple years ago, but it wasn't until just a few weeks ago that I had a chance to get my hands on the IM8-40. Back at NAMM, I was told that the console was designed with houses of worship in mind - basically, because the mixing board has enough bells and whistles to satisfy a variety of mixing demands but is still very simple to operate. However, as I looked over the board, I thought it would work well in an array of operations outside of worship.

Up for review this month is the APB ProDesk-4. I hadn't used an APB console before, so I was pretty excited to check this one out. Typically, the items out for review are something on the smaller side, but this one almost didn't even fit in my truck. You know it's a tight fit when you have to get out a measuring tape to see if it was gonna fit! But with a little finagling, we did get it to fit, and I got a chance to put the ProDesk4 through its paces.

How many times have you been sitting behind the front of house console and had someone ask you, "Do you know what all of those knobs do?" If the answer is "No" when you are talking about compressors, then you can get yourself into trouble.

In his January 2010 FOH "Theory and Practice" column, Brian Klijanowicz discussed the concept of subwoofer time alignment. If you haven't read that article (or even if you have) you should revisit the January issue for a refresher. Brian pointed out the fact that venues often have physical constraints requiring less-than-ideal placement of top boxes relative to subwoofer boxes.

Today we will be discussing the subject of house of sound pressure levels (volume). The size and shape of a worship space can affect the overall sound level, but of course the desires of the congregation (and leadership) will determine how much volume will be allowed in a particular worship house.

Digital mixing console? Check. Digital plug-in processing? Check. Digital audio network to stage and monitors? Check. Digital multitrack hard disk recording system? Increasingly, check - and that's a potential checkmate for what was once a thriving sector of the live music business.

Like so many folks involved in the live sound business, pMd Productions president Dave Kuhn got his start as a musician. "Back in high school [in La Puente, California, east of Los Angeles] I was in a bunch of garage bands. All my friends were pretty talented and got better at their instruments-and I did not," he laughs. "But I did have an affinity for our sparkly blue [Naugahyde] Kustom Tuck ‘N' Roll PA. So that's partly where I got the taste for live sound and for equipment."

So I'm guest-mixing in a small club, and the changeover has begun, and it's our turn. I go to plug in the bass channel, and a huge boom goes through the system. I'm thinking, "That's weird; I muted the channel - it couldn't be a phantom power pop..." I go back to the desk, and the first six channels are lit up. Just to see what happens, I push up the snare channel, and sure enough, "Bagunk Bagunk" is the sound that is made as the fader passes through unity...

E-mail is a great work tool, and at this point in time, I cannot even imagine doing business in a world without the service. After all, what would one do without the solicitations to enlarge their manhood or to please every woman by lasting longer in bed? Fortunately, just like every other guy who gets these wonderful offers, I am not in need of what these artful entrepreneurs are selling. Therefore, these e-mails get deleted and sent to my computer's hard drive trash bin, along with every additional piece of digital junk that filters through my spam protector.

Roland Systems Group's S-MADI REAC Bridge, a bi-directional signal converter between MADI and REAC, enables connectivity between Roland's REAC products (M-48 Personal Mixing System) and MADI-equipped digital audio mixers.

Allen & Heath's iLive Tweak, its first iPhone app, provides real-time mobile control of the iLive digital mixing range. The release adds another option to iLive's array of remote control possibilities, which includes laptops and touch tablets running iLive Editor control software, and the PL Series of controllers.

The en•CORE 300 is built upon Blue's custom-tuned condenser capsule technology used in the company's extensive studio line. In the en•CORE 300, this studio-grade condenser capsule is mounted on a rubber suspension system and coupled with a phantom powered circuit tuned to match the capsule for vocal clarity with consistent tone and low noise, regardless of the cable length on stage.

The SKM 5200-II is Sennheiser's latest addition to their wideband wireless systems. It joins the SK 5212-II bodypack transmitter and the EM 3732-II receiver family launched earlier this year.

Renkus-Heinz announced compatibility between their ICONYX Digitally Steerable Arrays and Crestron Remote Controllers.

Gear Box Pro's Power Cube 4E+ 20 amp quad power box features Neutrik PowerCON and Hubbell Edison style power components. A/C is supplied to the Power Cube 4E+ through a 20-Amp PowerCON inlet connector, directly wired to a 20-Amp PowerCON outlet. This permits multiple Power Cubes to be connected end to end on a single circuit.

Flex Rental Solutions is proud to announce the release of Flex 4, the most flexible and intuitive Rental and Inventory software ever designed for the Pro A/V industry.

Royer Labs' R-101 Ribbon Microphone combine high SPL capabilities and low residual noise at a competitive price, for both studio and live sound reinforcement applications.

Clear-Com is now shipping its Tempest2400 digital wireless intercom with a new firmware update worldwide. This update introduces two new modes of operation - Shared Mode and Split Mode, each with features that promise to improve workflow efficiency, such as the ability to connect an unlimited number of BeltStations to a Tempest2400 BaseStation.

Installer's Choice rack enclosures, sold by Liberty AV Solutions, includes the Snaprax, Performance, and Titan Series.