JPS Australia

History

Istoria – The Trance Project

Istoria 1

With the express purpose of uniting the Trance scene, creating memorable experiences and spreading the love of Trance, Istoria made its’ debut at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena followed by a night at the Sydney Showground Halls.

JPJ Audio supplied the equipment for both events with a d&b audiotechnik PA used in Melbourne and an L-Acoustics PA in Sydney.

Operating both shows was Josh Barker who stated that nice even coverage, with a little bit more bottom end, is always a good starting point.

Dealing with a dance party, it’s obviously about creating a good level on the dance floor without blowing the windows out when you open the doors!” he added. “Also, you don’t want it too fatiguing for those listening to it for eight hours at a time …… and that includes me!

Istoria 2Josh commented that he prefers the older L-Acoustic boxes for dance parties adding that the V-DOSC works very well having two 15’s in the mid high cabinets.

It helps keep the kick drum very punchy and all the bottom end detail doesn’t get blurred out,” he said. “I’ve worked with this PA for years so I know it very well. It is always very important to get your subs right otherwise you will be hearing from the noise police on the hour, every hour. Andrew Rogers looked after the EPA consulting in Melbourne and the Sydney show was handled remotely, via SMS. Maintaining that LEQ average and leaving yourself some breathing space for the main act is vital! Otherwise the later it gets, the quieter it gets. These events sometimes run until 6am.

As for mixing a dance party, Josh describes it as almost like remastering the content coming from stage for a big PA in a room or an outdoor setting.

We are well and truly in the digital era as far as the modern DJ/Producer is concerned. Most of the content has been produced and mastered ‘in the box,’ and sometimes it need some warming up on a large system, especially in the large warehouse style venues. I am making adjustments tailored to each track being mixed in by the DJ. I’m really just taming frequencies and making sure there’s a nice healthy level without hurting anybody’s ears. Being dance music, it can get quite nasty at high volume, most of the synth sounds are based heavily around the square and sawtooth VCO’s and they can really poke out when the PA is at battle-speed.

Josh mixed on an Avid Profile console with a Waves Maxx BCL as a left and right insert, a Puigchild and some Midas XL42’s for some analogue pre amps on the front end. On board, he used a Waves C6 multiband dynamic which keeps everything in check when his hands are busy doing something else.

I use the Maxx BCL as the last point in the chain on the output and that’s got a compressor, bass expander and a limiter all in one,” he added. “It’s really good for keeping the level where I need it, especially if the DB limit is undesirable. It allows me to make it sound big at lower levels and maintain the vibe on the dance floor regardless of the restrictions in place. I use the PuigChild over a group to soften things up when I need to without having to bring the level down. I used this mostly during breakdowns/build-ups when things can get very busy and you generally don’t have a lot of bottom end to round it all off.

Istoria 3All Photos: Jimmy James Denouden

Big Day Out 2014

Orange & Blue Stages

Australia’s foremost music festival, The Big Day Out, debuted on the 1992 Australia Day public holiday in Sydney and expanded to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by the following year. The Gold Coast and Auckland were added to the schedule in 1994. As of 2003, it has featured seven or eight stages (depending on the venue) accommodating popular contemporary rock music, electronic music, mainstream international acts and local acts.

JPJ Audio (previously trading as Jands Production Services and Johnston Audio) has provided the sound systems for every Big Day Out show since 1992 and 2014 was no exception. The festival usually takes place in late January and this year was held in four Australian cities: Gold Coast (Jan 19), Melbourne (Jan 24), Sydney (Jan 26), Adelaide (Jan 31) and Perth (Feb 2).

Orange / Blue Stages – FOH Speaker System
  • 68 L-Acoustics V-DOSC Enclosures
  • 48 L-Acoustics SB218 Sublow Enclosures
  • 18 Amplifier Rack, L-Acoustics (4x5002VZ)
  • 4 Amplifier Rack, L-Acoustics (2x5002VZ)
  • FOH Speaker System Delays
  • 18 L-Acoustics Kudo Enclosures
  • 2 Amplifier Rack L-Acoustics LA-RAK (3xLA8)
  • FOH Drive
  • 1 Midas PRO1 Digital Mixing Console
  • 1 L-Acoustics V-DOSC Drive Rack (4xDolby)
  • Blue Stage FOH Control
  • 1 Digidesign Profile Control Surface
  • 1 Digidesign Venue FOH Local Rack
  • 5 Digidesign DSP Mix Engine
  • 1 Midas PRO2C Digital Mixing Console
  • Monitor Speaker System
  • 18 d&b M2 Monitor Enclosure
  • 2 d&b Q-SUB Sublow Enclosure
  • 6 L-Acoustics ARCS Enclosure
  • 4 L-Acoustics dV-SUB Sublow Enclosure
  • 3 Amplifier Rack, 4mix d&b D-12
  • 12 d&b D-12 2ch Amplifier
  • 2 Amplifier Rack, ARCS (2xLA48+366)
  • Monitor Control
  • 1 Yamaha PM5D-RH Digital Console
  • Orange Stage Control
  • FOH Control
  • 1 Digidesign Venue Digital Console System
  • 1 Digidesign Profile Control Surface
  • 1 Digidesign Venue FOH Local Rack
  • 1 Digidesign Venue Stage Rack
  • Monitor Speaker System
  • 16 Clair Bros 12AM Monitor Speaker Enclosure
  • 3 Amplifier Rack, 4mix 12AM (Crown 3600)
  • 2 Clair Bros ML18 Sublow Enclosure
  • 2 Amplifier Rack, ML18 (Crown MA9000i)
  • 6 L-Acoustics ARCS Enclosure
  • 4 L-Acoustics dV-SUB Sublow Enclosure
  • 2 Amplifier Rack, ARCS (2xLA48+366)
  • Monitor Control
  • 1 Yamaha PM5D-RH Digital Console
  • 1 Yamaha PM5D Power Supply Rack
  • Red Stage
  • FOH Speaker System
  • 18 JBL VERTEC 4889
  • 16 JBL VERTEC 4880
  • FOH Control
  • 1 Digidesign Venue Digital Console System
  • 1 Digidesign Profile Control Surface
  • 1 Digidesign Venue FOH Local Rack
  • 1 Digidesign Venue Stage Rack (48in, 32out)
  • Monitor Control
  • 1 Digidesign Venue Digital Console System
  • 1 Digidesign Profile Control Surface
  • 1 Digidesign Venue FOH Local Rack
  • 1 Digidesign Venue Stage Rack (48in, 32out)
  • Monitor Speaker System
  • 14 Clair Bros 12AM Monitor Speaker Enclosure
  • 1 L-Acoustics dV-SUB Sublow Enclosure
  • 1 Amplifier Sleeve, dV-SUB (1xLA8)
  • 2 Amplifier Rack, 4mix 12AM (Crest)
  • Sidefill
  • 6 L-Acoustics dV-DOSC Enclosure
  • 2 L-Acoustics dV-SUB Sublow Enclosure
  • 1 Amplifier Rack, L-Acoustics 115XT HI-Q (4 mix LA8)
  • Boiler Room FOH Speaker System
  • 18 L-Acoustics V-DOSC Enclosure
  • 6 L-Acoustics dV-DOSC Enclosure
  • 8 L-Acoustics ARCS Enclosure
  • 16 L-Acoustics SB218 Sublow Enclosure
  • 6 Amplifier Rack, L-Acoustics (4x5002VZ)
  • 4 Amplifier Rack, L-Acoustics (2x5002VZ)
  • 1 L-Acoustics V-DOSC Drive Rack (4xDolby)
  • FOH Control
  • 1 Digidesign Venue Digital Console System
  • 1 Digidesign Profile Control Surface
  • 1 Yamaha O1V96 Digital Console (16 Mono + 4 Stereo)
  • Monitor Speaker System
  • 14 Clair Bros 12AM Monitor Speaker Enclosure
  • 2 Amplifier Rack, 4mix 12AM (Crown 3600)
  • 4 Clair Bros R4 Mk III Speaker Enclosure
  • 1 Amplifier Rack, R4 (Crown MA9000i)
  • 6 Clair Bros ML18 Sublow Enclosure
  • 2 Amplifier Rack, ML18 (Crown MA9000i)
  • Monitor Control
  • 1 Yamaha PM5D-RH Digital Console
  • 1 Yamaha O1V96 Digital Console (16 Mono + 4 Stereo)
  • DJ Monitors
  • 9 L-Acoustics dV-DOSC Enclosure
  • 6 L-Acoustics dV-SUB Sublow Enclosure
  • 2 Amplifier Rack, L-Acoustics 115XT HI-Q (4 mix LA8)
  • 2 Amplifier Sleeve, dV-SUB (1xLA8)
JPJ Crew
  • FOH System Engineers
  • John Kerns
  • Tim Millikan
  • Brendan Keane
  • Tim Seconi
  • Monitor System Engineers
  • Paul Kennedy
  • Tristan Johnson
  • Tristan Farrow
  • Josh Andre
  • Stage Technicians
  • Duncan Kaye
  • Dean Marquis
  • Matthew Morrison
  • Alex McCormack
  • Aaron Casley
  • Wayne Mulder
  • Jorgia Galbraith
  • Tim Jones


Gallery – All photos ©Daniel Boud

Miley Cyrus 2011

This tour marked Cyrus’ first visit to Australia since being introduced to local audiences as Hannah Montana in 2006. Miley Cyrus has released ten albums and sold in excess of 500,000 singles in Australia.

Dates June 21 – July 2, 2011
FOH Engineer Paul David Hager
JPJ Audio Crew Tristan Johnson
Simon Farrell
Dave Richardson
Speaker System L-Acoustics
Main Hang 32 x K1 Element
6 x dV-Dosc Elements
12 x K1 Sub Bass
24 x SB28 Sub Bass
Side Hang 18 x V-Dosc Element
6 x dV-Dosc Element
Rear Hang 18 x Kudo Element
6 x dV-Dosc Element
Front Fills 4 x ARCS (outside)
4 x dV-Dosc Element
2 x dV-Sub
Amplifiers and Drive 54 x LA8
1 x K1 Drive Rack (Dolby)
4 x Dolby Lake DLP4D12 Processor
1 x BSS FCS-960 Stereo EQ
1 x Motion 1200 wireless tablet
FOH Control System (Support Act)
1 x Avid SC48
6 x BSS DPR 402 (2 Ch Comp.)
1 x Summit TLA 100A Tube Comp
2 x Drawmer DS201 (2 Ch Gate)
1 x Lexicon PCM90 Reverb
1 x TC Electronics D-Two Delay
2 x Yamaha SPX990 Multi-FX
Monitor Control System
1 x Midas Siena 400 40ch
10 x Clair 12AM Monitor Speaker
5 x Lake Clair iO Controller
8 x Crown MA3600VZ
1 x Clair ML 18 Sub Bass
1 x Crown MA9000i Amplifier
8 x Urei 5547A 1/3 Octave
Wireless Microphones
2 x Shure UR4D-Q5 Dual Receiver
4 x Shure UR1-Q5 Beltpack TX

 

Soundwave Festival 2010

This year’s soundwave festival was a sell-out success and rocked Australia. With bands like Faith no More, Placebo, AFI, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, Janes Addiction and many more it made for a huge few weeks.
The festival kicked off in Brisbane and ran over 2 long weekends.

With the 2 overnight festival events, JAS supplied the audio for the main stages 1 & 2 and it was decided this year to tour the systems and duplicate the audio. V-Dosc speakers were used to provide consistency throughout the festivals and sideshows at the Horden Pavilion and Festival hall which both have in-house V-Dosc systems.

JAS supplied a total of 10 Digidesign Profile console systems and also Jamie Davidson as the console tech for the entire run.

Dates

February 20-21, 26-27
March 1

SYSTEM A

Main stage 1 & 2
36 x V-Dosc over 3 x 12 hangs
36 x SB218
12 x ARC

FOH Consoles

3 x Digidesign Profile consoles
1 x Digidesign D-show

Monitor consoles

2 x Yamaha PM5D consoles
1 x Digidesign Profile
1 x Digidesign D-show

Stage monitors

24 x Wayloud wedges
16 x Nexo PS15 wedges
4 x Nexo Alpha side-fill systems

JAS Crew

FOH system tech: Jock Bain
FOH system tech: Nathan McGuinness
Monitor system Tech: Mathew “Boz” Boaro
Monitor system Tech: Dave Leggatt
Audio system tech: Shaun Ayles
Audio system tech: Stephen Brown
Audio system tech: Jamie Davidson

SYSTEM B

Main stage 1 & 2
36 x V-Dosc over 3 x 12 hangs
36 x Wayloud SB218
12 x ARC

FOH Consoles

3 x Digidesign Profile consoles
1 x Digidesign D-show

Monitor consoles

2 x Yamaha PM5D consoles
1 x Digidesign Profile
1 x Digidesign D-show

Stage monitors

24 x Wayloud wedges
16 x Nexo PS15 wedges
4 x Nexo Alpha sidefill systems

JAS Crew

FOH system tech: Peter O’leary
FOH system tech: Josh DeJong
Monitor system Tech: Richie Robinson
Monitor system Tech: Mark Nicholls
Audio system tech: Nahuel Gutierrez
Audio system tech: Otavio ‘Guto!!’ Santos
Audio system tech: Scott Barry

Ronan Keating Tour 2010

International superstar Ronan Keating toured Australia in January 2010 for his first concert tour in six years. The Irish star performed indoor stadium concerts in Melbourne and Sydney, and seven ‘A Day On The Green’ winery events around the country.

JAS supplied a 48 cabinet L-Acoustics V-Dosc / dVDosc system for the arena shows and a smaller duplicate system for the wineries.

Dates

January 20 – February 2 2010

System

36 x V-Dosc
12 x dVDosc
24 x SB218 subs
8 x ARC
1 x Digidesign Profile monitor console
1 x Digidesign D-Show FOH console
12 x D&B M2 wedges

Duplicate speaker system

24 x V-Dosc
12 x dVdosc
24 x SB218 subs
8 x ARC

JAS crew

FOH system tech: Josh De Jong
Monitor system Tech: Dave Leggatt
Audio system tech: Otavio ‘Guto’ Santos

Fleetwood Mac 2009

One of the most celebrated and influential rock groups of all time, Fleetwood Mac, brought their ‘Unleashed’ tour to Australia in late 2009.

Fleetwood Mac played December 1 and 2 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne December 5 at Hope Estate Winery, NSW, December 7 and 8 at Acer Arena in Sydney, December 11 and 12 at Members Equity Stadium, Perth and December 15 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Dates November 28, 2009 – 20 December, 2009
Audio Crew Paul Schofield
Duncan Kaye
Speaker System L-Acoustics
36 x V-Dosc Element
18 x DV-Dosc Element
16 x ARCS Cabinet
24 x SB218 Sublow Cabinet
54 x Crown MA5002VZ
1 x V-Dosc Drive Rack FH1 (Dolby)
4 x Dolby Lake DLP4D12 Processor
1 x BSS FCS-960 Stereo EQ
1 x Motion 1200 wireless tablet
FOH Control System (Support Act)
1 x Midas Verona 400 32+8st
1 x Midas EZY tilt desk stand
6 x BSS DPR 402 (2 Ch Comp.)
1 x Summit TLA 100A Tube Comp
2 x Drawmer DS201 (2 Ch Gate)
1 x Lexicon PCM90 Reverb
1 x TC Electronics D-Two Delay
2 x Yamaha SPX990 Multi-FX
1 x Marantz PMD321 CD Player
Monitor Control System
1 x Midas Siena 400 40ch
10 x Clair 12AM Monitor Speaker
5 x Lake Clair iO Controller
8 x Crown MA3600VZ
1 x Clair ML 18 Sub Bass
1 x Crown MA9000i Amplifier
8 x Urei 5547A 1/3 Octave
Wireless Microphones
2 x Shure UR4D-Q5 Dual Receiver
4 x Shure UR1-Q5 Beltpack TX

 

Sound Relief 2009

The Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria brought out an amazing amount of support from the community to those whose lives had been so greatly affected. The Australian Music Industry has always been there to support in the past and this was no exception.

The idea of Sound Relief was brought to life with the running of two simultaneous concerts at the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Johnston Audio was asked to supply the audio system for the MCG event. What followed was an amazing four week period to produce the event. The story of the event’s development and artist involvement has been well documented elsewhere. We went to work on designing and installing a system for Midnight Oil, Split Enz, Hunters and Collectors, Wolfmother, Jack Johnson, Gabriella Cilmi, Jet, Paul Kelly, Bliss n Eso and Liam Finn to perform in front of the largest ever paying audience for a music concert in Australia.

So with a sold out 82,000 strong crowd at the MCG to cover and a special set of conditions we set about designing a system for the job.

Bruce Johnston and Jock Bain have been doing big shows in big stadiums for a long time, and designed a system that has worked well over the years. This included outer hangs of 15 V-Dosc cabinets and due to the low stage roof height we were only able to fly 12 cabinets per side for the main hangs. The roof also presented an issue with the point positions and we had to fly the main hangs further upstage than we would have liked.
Each outer hang was accompanied by a “tower of power” of 12 flown Wayloud dual 18” subs. A further 36 Wayloud subs – in 6 x pods of 6 – were positioned across the front of the stage.

The delay systems brought their own set of issues to the job. The MCG would not allow a crane on the arena to position large towers, so we were left with no option but to use 8 metre towers for the main delay arrays. Two delay towers were utilised, each with 15 Nexo Geo T cabinets. As the MCG is a 3 level stadium we all knew that the towers would not cover the job properly.
Tim Millikan became involved with the project to design the delay system required and to plot the overall system. Tim was a key part of the audio team at the Days in the Diocese Mass at Telstra Dome in 2008 and his understanding of the requirements of a large stadium system design was of great assistance.

Because of the restrictions with delay towers, Tim suggested that we bring in a delay ring positioned on the outside of the playing surface to throw to the upper levels of grandstands. Norwest Productions came to the party with 42 Kudo cabinets distributed over 14 wheeled carts.

The end result was great coverage everywhere and a great result. We went to the fifth level of the grandstand and were amazed how good it sounded at the very back row!

In the FOH tower, there were 4 DigiDesign Profile consoles – A & B boards, a set up / back up console for engineers to prepare their show, and Midnight Oil were carrying their own console package. Stage left saw 4 x Yamaha PM5-D RH consoles running monitors in the same configuration as out front. The monitor system was Nexo PS 15 wedges with Nexo LS1200 drum subs and Nexo S12 flown side fill.

The system patch was set up under the stage with Matt “Boz” Boaro in charge, with two fully independent stage patch systems to facilitate full line check for FOH, Monitors and Broadcast/Record before each act was rolled on stage into position. The result– not one miss-patch and Broadcast/Record crews saying that it was the best feed and communications design that they had ever encountered.

Sound Relief was an amazing event to be involved in – the spirit of camaraderie and cooperation was outstanding, and the production values achieved were extraordinary. We would like to thank Norwest for supplying their services to help make such a large event happen. Chris Kennedy and Richard Bilinski did not hesitate in offering their equipment and staff for such a great cause.

The Sound Relief Production Team included Nick Pitts as Event Manager with Stig Moor as Production Manger. Assisting Nick and Stig were Larry Ponting , Dugald McAndrew, Howard Freeman, Scrooge Madigan and Geoff Maher.

A huge vote of thanks and acknowledgement of a great job must also go to the Johnston Audio team who were outstanding throughout the event’s build, operation and pull down.

And finally, in a delicious dose of irony, the heavens opened throughout the day – it rained and rained, breaking Melbourne ‘s drought and bringing much needed relief to the final fires still blazing.

Date

March 14, 2009

Audio Crew

System Design

Tim Millikan
Chief System Engineer Robert “Jock” Bain

FOH

Doug Pringle
Josh de Jong

Monitors

Paul Kennedy
Richie Robinson

Stage

Simon Keet
Matthew “Boz” Boaro
Nicholas Brunney
Shaun Ayles
Otavio “Guto” Santos

Main system

54 x Vdosc
60 x Wayloud 218 subs
12 x Arc
6 x Dvdosc front fill

First delay

24 x Nexo GEO T 4805 Array cabinets
6 x Nexo GEO T 2815 Array cabinets

Second Delay

42 x Kudo split down to 3 boxes per cart.

FOH Control

3 x Digidesign Profile consoles.

Monitor Control

3 x Yamaha PM5DRH consoles

Monitor system

16 x Nexo PS15 Wedges
2 x Nexo LS1200 subs
8 x Nexo S12 line array sidefills

Santana 2008

Music legend Carlos Santana toured Australia in February and March 2008. One of the greatest guitarists of our generation, Santana played a series of Arena shows and one at the Tempus Two Winery in the Hunter Valley.

JAS supplied the speaker system and amps for the tour.

Dates

21, 24, 26, 28 February 2008
2 March 2008

System

46 x L-Acoustics V-Dosc
12 x L-Acoustics dV-dosc
28 x Wayloud 218 Subs
Crown VZ5000 and Lab Gruppen4000 amplifiers.

JAS Staff

V-Dosc systems tech: Robert “Jock” Bain
Systems tech: Craig Gordon
Monitor systems tech: Stephen May

Robbie Williams 2006

Johnston Audio supplied the bulk of the audio equipment for the Robbie Williams stadium tour of Australia. The tour was a huge success – 9 sellout shows to more than 400,000 people!

The JAS system and crew delivered everything and more! The preparation and presentation of the system received many favourable comments and Robbie’s FOH engineer Dave Bracey said that the system was fantastic.

Johnston Audio supplied 54 L-Acoustics VDosc cabinets traveling on dollies of 4 to make the setup and pack-down faster. The two front inner hangs had 15 VDosc/side (specially painted cabinets supplied by Britannia Row) and the front outer hangs had 12-15 VDosc / side. There were 2 delay towers of each with 12 VDosc.

The VDosc cabinets were powered by Camco Vortex 6 amplifiers.

The Robbie Williams tour necessitated the design and construction of a flying version of the Wayloud subs. Similar to the L-Acoustics 218, 24 flying-version Wayloud Subs were built for the tour and flown in a vertical hang alongside the outer VDosc arrays. Another 24 Wayloud subs were positioned in stacks of 6 across the front of the stage.

The system design also had 18 L-Acoustics ARCS boxes in pods of 3 across the front edges of the stage.

The whole system was controlled by 16 Dolby Lake controllers and a barrage of computers supplied by Britannia Row.

Sheriff L Babari was the system designer and toured with Robbie Williams.

Dates

30 November 2006
December 1, 5, 9-10, 13-14, 17-18 2006

Johnston Audio Crew List

Robert “Jock” Bain – Crew Chief & Delays
Doug Pringle – VDosc system rigger
Peter O’Leary – VDosc system rigger
Connor Dune – Monitor rigger / operator

System

54 L-Acoustics VDosc
48 Wayloud subs
18 L-Acoustics ARCS
16 x Wayloud wedges
12 x Crown 24×6 amplifiers
1 x DiGiCo D5 112 EX console
8 x Camco Vortex 6 Amplifiers
18 x Crown VZ 5000 Amplifiers

Simple Minds w/ DiGiCo 2006

JAS supplied DiGiCo D1 FOH and Monitor package for Simple Minds Asian and Australian tour.

Simple Minds’ Production Manager John Armstrong called to say that they were finding it hard to get the consoles for the Asian leg of their tour and fortunately JAS was able to supply a package including 2 x DiGiCo D1 consoles, 2 x Local racks, 1 x Stage Rack, 1 x return system and 1 x FOH FX system was dispatched to Hong Kong.

JAS also provided a V-Dosc PA system for the Simple Minds’ Palais Theatre show in Melbourne. The system included 18 V-Dosc elements and 16 Wayloud dual 18’ subs powered by Camco Vortex 6 amplifiers controlled by 3 Lake Contour processors.

Jock Bain was the CVE, Doug Pringle looked after FOH and Adrian Barnard rigged the Nexo PS15 monitor system.

Dates

May 3, 7, 9, 12 2006