Theater With PEAVEY

Peavey Restores Sound at Historic Temple Theater

November 2, 2009

PEAVEY INT'L. HEADQUARTERS — Hartley Peavey's mission to restore the sound of the historic Hamasa Shrine Temple Theater in his hometown of Meridian, Miss., is more than just a professional challenge. It's personal.

Hartley Peavey's grandfather, Joseph Lane Peavey, was very active in the Hamasa Shriners. His name is even engraved on the Moorish Revival theater's cornerstone. Like Hartley, J.L. Peavey was an entrepreneur and an inventor with many patents to his credit.

Hartley inherited his grandfather's collection of hand tools when he passed in 1955, and two years later used those tools to build the first Peavey amplifier. Peavey Electronics Corporation, Hartley's music and sound products company, has since earned more than 180 patents around the world for its innovations.

"My grandfather had a big influence on me and my direction in life," said Peavey. "He helped me understand that everyone has unique talents, and he gave me the guts to pursue mine. While restoring and upgrading the Temple Theater's sound system is a worthy exercise for us at Peavey Electronics, it also helps preserve something my grandfather really cherished."

The 1,550-seat Temple Theater originally opened in 1928 as a movie house, but has also served as a staging center for dramatic productions and live-music performances, with artists ranging from Willie Nelson to Wilco appearing on stage. The theater is currently undergoing a full restoration, beginning by returning classic movie screenings to the marquee.

Peavey took on the task of updating the Temple's 1940s-era projection sound system, which is positioned on stage behind the movie-projection screen in a LCR (Left-Center-Right) configuration, in time for the debut showing of "To Kill A Mockingbird."

When Peavey engineers brought the five towering enclosures to Peavey HQ for analysis, they discovered that over the years the enclosures had weakened and required regluing and additional bracing on the enclosure walls. They eventually rebuilt the antiquated sound system with premium, modern Peavey components.

"These old projection speaker cabinets were built so large because amplifiers could only put out about 25 watts in those days," Peavey said. "The cabinets are designed to maximize the sound and utilize fully what little bit of output power those amps could muster."

Peavey engineers replaced the old paper voice-coil subwoofers in the two huge folded-horn enclosures with a pair of Peavey 15" Low Rider® loudspeakers, each rated at 800 watts continuous power handling, with 4" voice coils and Kevlar® impregnated speaker cones that provide high performance and durability. These speakers are powered with 4,000 watts from three Crest Audio® power amplifiers.

Three of the five enclosures are designed to reproduce mid and high frequencies. For the mid-frequency portion, the engineers employed a pair of 15" Black Widow® loudspeakers, while three MF1-X™ horns mounted to the tops transmit the high frequencies through Peavey's RX™ 22 titanium compression drivers. The horns are coated in Hammertex™, a highly durable coating, and designed for wider dispersion and more thorough coverage than their predecessors.

Peavey Pv10 Mixer

How to Set Up a Peavey Pv10 Mixer

Peavey's PV10 is one of a number of inexpensive compact audio mixers that have become popular in recent years, especially for small home recording projects. Compact audio mixers are usually small enough to rest securely on a desktop and can be connected to a computer or other external recording device. However, they're also versatile enough to use in smaller live audio situations, like solo coffee house gigs, making them popular among musicians on a limited budget.

Instructions

• Place the PV10 in a convenient location, such as on your desktop or near the recording device that you plan to use. Connect the AC adapter to the proper connector on the back of the PV10, then plug it into an electrical outlet.
   
• Connect the mixer's "Tape Out" jacks to the input of your external recording device via RCA cable in order to send the audio signal from the mixer to the recorder. If you want to listen to playback from the recording device through monitors or headphones connected to the PV10, connect the recording device's output to the PV10's "Tape In" jacks and depress the "Tape to CTRL/HP" switch. If you are connecting the PV10 to a computer's sound card, note that most sound cards not designed for pro-audio applications have one-eighth inch input and output jacks rather than RCA. You can purchase an RCA to one-eighth inch cable, but sound cards with RCA inputs and outputs generally provide better sound quality.
  
  
• Connect your studio monitors to the mixer. There are two ways to do this. If your monitors only have one-quarter inch TRS inputs, connect the left and right "Control Room" outputs to the left and right monitors, respectively. If your monitors have XLR inputs, you also can use the PV10's left and right XLR outputs. Note that the "Control Room" output volume is controlled by the headphone volume knob, while the left and right XLR output volume is controlled by the master level faders.
  
• Connect the microphones or instruments that you plan to use to the PV10's six mono microphone inputs or two sets of stereo line inputs. The six mono channels each have an XLR and a one-quarter inch input. Professional quality microphones require an XLR cable, while some instrument amplifiers have a one-quarter inch output, which allows them to be connected directly to a mixing board. If you want to record a keyboard or effects processor with stereo one-quarter inch outputs, connect them to one of the two stereo inputs. If you connect microphones or instruments directly to the PV10 with no external amplification, you will need to switch on the PV10's phantom power in order to get a signal from them.
  
• Set the gain, EQ, effects, pan and volume levels for each channel to which you connected a microphone or instrument. This is largely a matter of personal preference, but there are some tips to keep in mind. Start with the master volume slider for each channel turned all the way down, then turn it up gradually while playing the instrument or checking the microphone. This minimizes the possibility of speaker (and hearing) damage. Second, use EQ and effects as necessary, but sparingly, to avoid making a recording that sounds muddy.
  
• Make a short test recording to ensure that you have set the levels and effects the way you want them. Keep in mind that both the mixer and the recording device that you are using will have their own master volume controls, and neither should be set too loud or too quiet. A good rule of thumb is to watch the level indicators on both devices and try to set each so that the loudest sounds stop just short of triggering the peak indicator. You want to avoid peaks because they will cause the recording to distort, but you also should be sure not to go too far in the opposite direction.

Work With a Peavey Equipment

 How to Work With a Peavey Mixer

Peavey is an audio electronics company that makes many products, from guitars to microphones. Peavey mixers are commonly found in smaller venues, such as coffee shops and churches. As a sound engineer, it is important to have a basic understanding of how to work with a Peavey mixer, because you're likely to work with one at some point in your career. Most Peavey mixers share many of the same features, so once you learn the basics, you can apply your knowledge to Peavey's various models,

Instructions

1. Familiarize yourself with the inputs and outputs of the mixer. Most Peavey mixers will have several mono channels and a few stereo channels. Channels that have an XLR input have preamps. The channels that have only quarter-inch inputs are line level. Some channels may have separate XLR inputs and quarter-inch inputs, or they may have one combination XLR/quarter-inch input. Stereo channels typically have two quarter-inch and two RCA inputs. The outputs on most Peavey mixers are XLR and balanced quarter-inch.
   
   
2. Set your gain. The gain control is a dark gray knob at the top of each channel. The gain determines the input level to your channel. Set the fader to zero while you adjust the gain for optimal signal-to-noise ratio. Turn the gain up as high as you can without clipping. The clip indicator is near the fader and is labeled "Peak" or "Clip."
   
   
3. Adjust your EQ. Peavey mixers typically have three-band EQs with a high, mid and low control. You will also find a low-cut filter near the gain knob on most Peavey mixers. The high and low EQs are shelving type EQs, with the high EQ set at 10kHz and the low EQ set at 70Hz. The mid EQ is a peaking type EQ, and some Peavey mixers feature an adjustable center frequency control for the mid EQ.
   
   
4. Route your signal. Peavey mixers feature monitor ("MON") and effects ("FX") sends. The monitor sends are pre-fader and the effects sends are post-fader. The monitor sends are best suited to send reference sound to onstage or in-ear monitors for lecturers or musicians. The effects sends are best suited for outboard effects like delays and reverbs. The monitor and effects outputs can be found at the output section of the mixer.
   
   
5. Familiarize yourself with the fader section. The fader controls the amount of signal that is being outputted to the main stereo bus. The mute button will cut the signal going out from the channel and will cut the post-fader effects sends. The pan knob allows you to change the direction of the channel in the stereo field. The "PFL" button will let you listen to the signal on the track through the headphone output of the board.
   
   
6. Learn the master section. This section will have the master control faders for the output level of the mixer. You will also find the level LEDs in the master section. Many Peavey mixers will have monitor or group faders in the master section. Some high-end Peavey mixers will have digital effects processing in the master section.