Blog
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Wedding sound system checklist: what to ask your hire company
When you hire sound for a wedding, the questions you ask up front decide whether the day runs smoothly or whether you spend the morning of the wedding fighting a microphone. The good news is that there are only a handful of questions that matter, and a decent hire company will answer all of them…
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Live sound for community shows: 24 radio mics and a stage full of kids
People assume the big, famous events are the technically hard ones. Often the hardest job of the year is a community show, with a stage full of children, a cast that has never done a soundcheck, and no chance of a second take. We genuinely love this work, and there is real skill in it.…
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Lighting hire for outdoor events: a practical guide
Lighting is what turns an outdoor event from a field with a stage into something that feels designed. But outdoor lighting comes with a set of practical realities that indoor events never have to think about, starting with the weather and ending with where on earth you are going to run the power. Here is…
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Large-scale event production: how to manage AV for 2,000+ attendees
Running AV for a few hundred people and running it for a few thousand are not the same job scaled up. They are different jobs. Once you cross into the thousands, with multiple stages and zones all running at once, the challenge stops being about equipment and becomes about coordination. We have done this work…
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How to hire a PA system for a small event
Hiring a PA system for a small event is much simpler than most people fear. You do not need to understand audio, you do not need a van, and you do not need to spend a fortune. You need the right bit of kit and someone to show you how to switch it on. Whether…
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FOH vs monitor engineering: what’s the difference and why does it matter?
Before founding PSL, I spent years as Technical Manager at the William Aston Hall in Wrexham. One night I was looking after sound for Martha Reeves, of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. The first time she played, I ran front of house and monitors myself from the one desk. No issues. The second time, the…
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Fan zones and outdoor sports events: the AV challenges nobody talks about
Fan zone AV looks, from the outside, like a party. Behind the scenes, it is one of the more demanding outdoor AV jobs you can take on, because it has to be fun, loud, weatherproof, and able to go silent and serious in an instant if there is a safety announcement. We ran a full…
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Working events in churches and cathedrals: the AV challenges nobody mentions
AV for events in churches and cathedrals is some of the most rewarding and most unforgiving work we do. A cathedral is one of the most beautiful places you can ever put on an event, and one of the most unforgiving places to get the AV right. The same stone that makes a choir soar…
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Corporate events in North Wales: venues, logistics, and getting the AV right
Corporate events in North Wales are rarely run in the same kind of room twice, and every venue has its own personality and its own way of catching you out. A cathedral, a theatre, a lecture hall, and a slate museum are wildly different rooms to run an event in. Knowing what each one needs…
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How much does conference AV production cost in the UK?
How much does conference AV cost? It is the question everyone wants answered and almost nobody puts in writing, so here it is, honestly. Conference AV production in the UK can cost anywhere from around a thousand pounds to twenty thousand and beyond. That sounds unhelpful until you understand what moves the number, so let…
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The conference AV checklist: what to ask your production company in North Wales
Most conference AV problems are not caused by equipment failure. They are caused by conversations that never happened. If you are organising a conference in North Wales and your production company has not asked you a lot of questions before the day, that is the first warning sign. A thorough conference AV company in North…
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What to look for when choosing a conference AV company in North Wales
Choosing a conference AV company is mostly about working out, before you commit, whether they actually plan their work or simply turn up and hope. The good ones are easy to spot once you know what to listen for. Here is what to look for in a conference AV company in North Wales, from someone…
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What makes an awards ceremony feel like an event rather than a meeting?
We have all been to an awards do that felt like a long dinner with some certificates handed out, and we have all been to one that felt genuinely exciting. The room is often the same. The difference is the awards ceremony AV, and specifically a few choices that turn a sit-down meal into an…
More Posts
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What does matchday AV management actually involve?
When Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over Wrexham AFC, they held a press conference in the middle of the stands, and then went out to speak to the fans on the pitch. We provided the audio for that moment. The cameras and the broadcast were other people’s job. The sound of the new owners…
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What makes an awards ceremony feel like an event rather than a meeting?
We have all been to an awards do that felt like a long dinner with some certificates handed out, and we have all been to one that felt genuinely exciting. The room is often the same. The difference is the awards ceremony AV, and specifically a few choices that turn a sit-down meal into an…
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Fan zones and outdoor sports events: the AV challenges nobody talks about
Fan zone AV looks, from the outside, like a party. Behind the scenes, it is one of the more demanding outdoor AV jobs you can take on, because it has to be fun, loud, weatherproof, and able to go silent and serious in an instant if there is a safety announcement. We ran a full…