Welcome to complete A/V nerdery

THIS SATURDAY - St. Louis Drive-in Movie & Car Cruise!!

Hey dudes, come on out this Saturday, May 21st for the first installment of the St. Louis Drive-In Movie & Car Cruise summer series, brought to you by Clean Cut Creations and St. Louis Snow Cone! Tower Sound & Vision will be there providing audio and video for the film.

This week's movie: American Graffiti

Where: Stroup Field in Rock Hill (map)

When: Saturday, May 21st. Event starts at 6:30, movie starts at dark.

Admission: FREE!

What the heck do I need to bring?: A lawn chair or blanket, a hunger for snow cones, and a desire for good times. And some friends.

For more info: Check out the event's Facebook page, or call 314.968.8377

We'll see you out there!

Arbor Day!

After an eventful (and weird) weekend which featured a huge wedding at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac, and setting up a full scale stage and sound system inside a Foot Locker during a tornado, it was nice to relax and celebrate Arbor Day with the Village of Twin Oaks.

Twin Oaks has been recognized as a Tree City U.S.A. Community for each of the last five years. This means that they have made a commitment both philosophically and monetarily to developing a program for the planting and care of trees. Part of this commitment is met by holding an annual event to raise awareness about Arbor Day. As part of this event, Tower Sound & Vision was asked to provide a podium, microphone and sound system at the unexpectedly scenic Twin Oaks Park, located just southeast of the junction of 141 and Big Bend. With nearly one hundred 4th graders from Valley Park Elementary in attendance, the additional sound was definitely necessary!

Just a quick note about Twin Oaks Park; if you haven't been there, you should definitely spend an afternoon there this summer. It was beautifully manicured and tucked back off of the main roads just enough to feel quiet and peaceful. There are several events in the park throughout the spring and summer, or you could just take a stroll through the trails one quiet evening. Maybe we'll see you there!

TSV Remembers: Mad Men Season 4 Wrap Party

Today we're climbing back into the TSV time machine to take a look at another event from the past. Most television shows have a party for the cast and crew when they finish filming a season. They call it a wrap party, because they have "wrapped" filming. We've provided A/V for several wrap parties, including "Boston Legal," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Brothers & Sisters," and "Southland."

Last year, we got a call to work on the wrap party for a show that puts all of these other to shame. A show that has skyrocketed St. Louis's golden boy, Jon Hamm, to the height of fame. My favorite show: "Mad Men." We were super excited. Our task was simple: to project a 15 foot tall image of the Mad Men logo on the side of a building next to the event, and to use the same projector to show a "gag reel" (a collection of bloopers and outtakes from the season) about halfway through the party. A pretty simple setup:

Two 400 watt powered speakers
An Eiki LC-XT9 9000 lumen projector
A Kramer VP-728 video switcher
A BluRay player
A bunch of assorted lighting to set the mood

The evening was awesome. We got to meet all of our favorite actors and actresses from the show. Since it's a party for the cast and crew to cut loose and have a good time, pictures are discouraged, but we managed to get a few. As you can see, they even gave Collin an official Mad Men fedora, which he attempted to squeeze onto his giant head:

Ok, a little Mad Men Opinion Quiz to help us all make it to the Season 5 premier this fall. Put your answers in the comments section to spark a lively debate!

1) In Season 5, Don Draper will be:

a. Married to Megan

b. Married to Betty

c. Single; once-divorced

d. Single; twice-divorced

2) In Season 5, Joan Harris will be:

a. Joan Harris (married)

b. Joan Harris (widowed)

c. Joan Hathaway (divorced)

d. Joan Sterling

e. Joan Cooper (in a surprising twist)

3) In Season 5, Don Draper will be working for:

a. Sterling Cooper Draper Price

b. Sterling Cooper Draper Price Campbell

c. BBDO

4) What is your favorite Mad Men episode ever:

a. The Suitcase

Labels: Jon Hamm, Mad Men, St. Louis A/V Rental, St. Louis Event, video projection

Intercorp Conference 2/18 - 2/21

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks, and we have all kinds of cool stuff that we've been wanting to tell you about.

Back in February, we had the privilege of helping out with the Intercorp Christian Conference at St. Louis's Marriott West, as churches from all over the country gathered for four days of prayer and worship. TSV was tasked with providing sound systems for the conference's three meeting rooms: the grand ballroom, the teen room, and a room for the kids.

In the main ballroom, we had the unique challenge of working with a worship band made up of professional musicians from all over the world, several of whom were flying in from overseas for the event. These guys are used to first rate gear, and we didn't want to disappoint.

A partial gear list for the main ballroom:

Yamaha M7CL 48 channel digital console
4 JBL PRX615 Mid/High Cabinets
2 JBL PRX618xlf Subs
8 15" bi-amped monitors with 2" horn drivers
1 four mix monitor rack (QSC power, Ashly EQ, Ashly Processing)
Kick - AKG D112, Snare - Beta57, Hat - AT4041, Toms - Beta98s, OHs - SM81s, Guitars - SM57s, Vox - Beta58s and Beta87s, Wireless - Shure ULX P4s, DIs - BSS AR133s

Since no one was too sure what equipment the musicians were bringing in with them, we also got a last minute request for guitar and bass amps, and were more than happy to provide a Fender Twin Reverb, and a Hartke 15" Bass Combo from our backline stock.

We left the system in the capable hands of Chicago's Joshua Lee for the weekend, and by all accounts everything sounded great. With a good band, good engineer, and good system, how could it not?

Check out a few pics:

Labels: St. Louis Backline Rental, St. Louis Church A/V, St. Louis Conference Audio

EdgeCast Networks Video Wall

When EdgeCast Networks told us that they wanted to install a few flat screens in their office, we were pretty excited. When they decided to make it ten 46" LED TVs arranged in a video wall, we got SUPER STOKED!

We settled on the Sony KDL-46EX710 for its combination of style, function, and price. We especially liked the tinted glass trim, and the fact that the unit is only two inches deep. Since EdgeCast will be using these displays to monitor diagnostic reports from their network centers around the world, image burn-in was a major concern, so plasmas were out of the question.

The plan was to have two computers (provided by EdgeCast) driving five monitors each, so we ran HDMI v1.4 cables from each TV to a keystone wall plate with 10 pass through HDMI ports.

We broke out the levels and tape measures, did a lot of math, and here are the results:

It took about five minutes for one of the EdgeCast employees to go out to his car and retrieve an Xbox. We joined in on a few rounds of Call of Duty before we had to hit the road. Needless to say, they're pretty happy with the installation.

'til next time,

TSV

Labels: LED TV, st. louis audio visual installation, st. louis flat screen installation, video wall

Mobile Update: Emerson

We took some time out of our busy schedules to bring you some photos of lighting and sound we provided for Emerson Electric's Annual Investor's Conference here in St. Louis. Here are some quick specs:

65" Panasonic touch-screen display
Folsom Screen Pro II HD Switcher
2 JBL PRX mains and subs
Allen & Heath 16 channel MixWizard
4 Audio Technica 4000 series wireless systems
2 pairs of ETC Leko's

On The Road; LA and VERDEXCHANGE 2011

TSV brings you a mobile entry from LA!

Two weeks ago we headed out to LA to team up with Santa Monica-based WESTSIDE PRODUCTIONS to help setup and run sound and video for VERDEXCHANGE 2011, a conference on green energy and the future of environmental practices in California. Here are some photos of the event:

Welcome to complete A/V nerdery

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

THIS SATURDAY - St. Louis Drive-in Movie & Car Cruise!!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Arbor Day!

Monday, April 11, 2011

TSV Remembers: Mad Men Season 4 Wrap Party

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Intercorp Conference 2/18 - 2/21

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

EdgeCast Networks Video Wall

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Mobile Update: Emerson

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

On The Road; LA and VERDEXCHANGE 2011

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