Sought After Sound Designer Turns to FBT to Meet High Standards

Sought After Sound Designer Turns to FBT to Meet High Standards

For immediate release

For more information contact: LisaMarie DeSanto

  1. 674. 2927 or [email protected]

Sought After Sound Designer Turns to FBT to Meet High Standards

July 16, 2017 –  Portland, Oregon – Nick Moon is as passionate about sound quality as he is good music. As the owner of three companies – a studio (Tone Proper Mastering), an AV company (Tone Proper AV) and an acoustics business (Tone Proper Acoustics) – he’s spent countless hours working with professional musicians and sound technicians. His days are spent listening to the tiniest details of every note, on projects ranging from recording to live performances. And when it comes to his clients, he’s not willing to give them anything less than the very best a sound system can offer. Not all of his clients have big names or big budgets, though, so Moon used to struggle with the ability to recommend speakers in a lower price range that met his high standards on sound. Thanks to FBT, he says, he no longer faces this challenge.

Moon got his start in 1999 working in studios in Chicago and Texas before settling in Portland and starting his own businesses. Since then, he’s grown to work with heavy-hitting artists like Liv Warfield and Gino Vanelli, record labels like Universal and on well-known television programs such as the Arsenio Hall show. But he also works with musicians, sound engineers, companies and venues who want high quality, and don’t, he says, “have six figures to spend on a sound system.” Moon explained why FBT has become his “go to” brand for clients in these scenarios.

“Every speaker manufacturer ‘voices’ their speakers in a certain way,” said Moon, “and very few really get it right. I prefer brands where what you put into them is what you get out of them. FBT sounds natural and doesn’t require a lot of tweaking. They use B&C drivers and, maybe because they’re an Italian company, they’re as dedicated to design and manufacturing quality as they are to their sound. They’re also the only one of the brands in the lower to mid price range that have a winning combination of strong voicing, construction and customer service. Not every one of my clients can afford a top-of-the-line sound system, but they still deserve state-of-the-art sound. FBT lets me provide that to them, in a price range that they can manage.”

Moon has installed several Mitus 206LA’s in a few local churches, purchased a rig for his own personal use, and has plans to use the brand in several of concerts, festivals and live performances he’ll be doing this summer.

“One of the best parts about working with FBT as a brand is working with John Krupa and Italian Speaker Imports (I.S.I.), which is the distributor for the brand here in the states,” Moon continued. Saying that he prides himself on giving the best to his own clients, he explained why I.S.I.’s customer service is so crucial to his own business.

“If I want to give the best I can to my own clients, it’s important for me to be able to get answers, fill orders quickly, and have access to and a relationship with someone representing the equipment I’m suggesting,” said Moon. “With John and FBT, not only am I dealing with great equipment, I also have the added benefit of being able to actually talk to him directly – and that’s a big deal to me. He takes a personal interest in our business relationship and really bends over backwards to make sure that we have what we need when we need it. Other companies just don’t do that. As far as I’m concerned, if you have a brand that sounds fantastic and the company backing it backs you as a customer – well, that’s just a winning combination.”

Located just outside of Portland, Oregon, Tone Proper Mastering, AV and Acoustics were built from the ground up with a love for all things music. Dedicated to quality, they tout providing “old school ideas” with a “new school approach,” and desire to earn business “the old-fashioned way: by doing a great job.”

For more information, please contact:
LisaMarie DeSanto 845. 674. 2927 or [email protected]

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Everything Old is New Again

Everything Old is New Again

For immediate release

For more information contact: LisaMarie DeSanto

  1. 674. 2927 or [email protected] 

Everything Old is New Again

New York State’s Oldest Surviving Theater Restored and Retrofitted with FBT

July 6, 2017 (Hudson, NY) – When Hudson Hall at the Hudson Opera House decided to renovate their historic building, they were faced with a challenge common to any historic space: retrofitting it with modern amenities and equipment while maintaining its authenticity. There was one challenge, however, that proved to be unique to the performance hall – its sound system. Thanks to FBT, those challenges have been met and expectations exceeded, resulting in quality sound that supports performances by professional artists of the highest caliber, in styles ranging from contemporary and cultural to classical.

The opera house was built in 1855, abandoned in 1962 and, from 1996 until April, was operating at a fraction of its capacity –utilizing just a center hall art gallery and small performance space on the first floor. Fundraising efforts raised the $8.5 million necessary for renovations, including state historic preservation funds, which supported pulling up and reinforcing the original wood floor with steel before relaying it; supporting the truss, roof and foundation; and cleaning up thirty years’ worth of  evidence that pigeons had taken up a tenancy in the rafters. Next steps included fully modernizing the electricity and plumbing, no small feat when considering that maintaining the integrity of the building and its overall structure was a requirement by historical preservation standards.

A significant portion of the renovation funds were, necessarily, dedicated to the building’s historic nature, so by the time the organization was ready to consider their sound equipment, they had to be mindful of the budget they had left. Still, they refused to settle for anything less than a state-of-the-art system. They also knew that they’d need that system to be flexible enough to support musical performances on the stage, dance performances in the round on the hall floor, and everything in between. The round shape of the room was also a major concern, since the sound there had always been muddy before.

Simon Nathan, owner of Audio Production Services and a consultant at Italian Speaker Imports with a wealth of professional theater sound installation experience, stepped in to analyze the organization’s needs. He recommended FBT. Lighter than most, the boxes could be easily reconfigured on a performance-to-performance basis, and positioned to resolve the many issues raised by the room’s curved corners and ceiling. Boasting a price far lower than speakers in a higher price bracket, Nathan assured the staff at Hudson Opera House that not only would the speakers be an affordable solution, the sound quality would rival that of other brands. The decision proved to be ideal.

“With Simon’s guidance, we started by flying two line arrays – three Mitus 206la’s flown on each side of the proscenium.” said Sage Marie Carter, General Manager of Hudson Opera House. “They have a wide cone that covers most of the hall. As for the rest of the system, though, we purposefully kept it very reconfigurable to accommodate the wide variety of performances we present. In total, we have two 118FSA subs, two Stage Maxx 12MA’s and eight Ventis 112a’s that can also serve as wedges when we need more monitors. Sometimes we hang them from the truss or on side pipes when we’re doing performances in the round or on the floor. At others, we use them as center fills when our seating is close to the stage and some audience members aren’t in the path of the line array. We don’t always have a crew to help alter the set up from show to show, but the best part is, the speakers are so light and flexible that I can easily set everything up  myself.”

Smaller and lighter doesn’t mean the speakers are any less powerful, though.

Carter added, “Because the room is such a challenge, architecturally, we were really concerned that we’d never be able to tame it. As soon as we turned the system on, though, I was immediately impressed by its reach and how subtle and true the sound is. This new system allows us to project the sound to every seat in the house, and regardless of where you’re sitting it’s clean, crisp and clear. You can hear and appreciate every nuance – all of the details of a performance; it’s a pleasant concert experience now. We’ve only been open a short time, but the system has really exceeded our expectations. I have no doubt that it will continue to do everything we ask it to going forward.”

Hudson Hall’s mission is to inspire and promote the arts, and to play a pivotal role in the cultural and economic advancement of the Hudson Valley region. Ongoing programs include concerts, readings, lectures, exhibitions, theater and dance presentations, after-school programs, workshops, classes, and large-scale community arts events. For more information about the organization, visit: http://hudsonhall.org.

For more information, please contact:
LisaMarie DeSanto 845. 674. 2927 or [email protected]

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