Our Growing Team

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Chris Rachal joins our growing team here at CareySound as our newest sales and customer service rep. He comes to us with an extensive background in retail audio sales after a 10 year stint at local music store Music Loft where he was responsible for customer service and music technology sales. He also worked over at Notion Music Software for a couple of years editing sound samples and entering scores. Chris is also well known as owner/operator of the local recording and DJ service Spin It On Entertainment which he continues to do in his off hours. Please come by and welcome Chris.

Welcome

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We would like to say welcome to our newest team member Sherri Sims. Many of you probably already know Sherri from Calvary Christian Center where she works as DIrector of Media and from Bennett College where she was the head of AV & IT Services. She joins us as our new rental coordinator and will be head of special projects. Please come by and say hi to her. You can contact her directly at her new email address by clicking here.

A New Chapter

ZZ07DAD73C Aside from Washington politics, all things change and that rule certainly applies to the business side of professional audio.

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In 1927 Radio Engineers partnership founded by Al Kahn and Lou Burroughs to service radio receivers, located in the basement of the Century Tire and Rubber Company in South Bend, Indiana. Three years later they design a PA system to assist legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne on the practice field. Rockne refers to the new system as his “electric voice,” and they are officially incorporated as Electro-Voice.

Three years ago the Bosch Corporation of Germany (the same company that makes all of those high end car parts) became the newest owner of the Electro-Voice family of companies including Dynacord, MIDAS, Klark Teknik, RTS and Telex and they were added to Boschs other communication properties that had all but cornered the market in Europe and rest of the world as leaders in conferencing systems and public address.

As happens with all corporate takeovers eventually, Bosch began reevaluating their various audio companies and brands to create a synergy of technologies and economy of scale. They began by immediately pouring millions of dollars into modernizing manufacturing at Dynacord in Germany and Electro-Voice in the USA. Just this last June they repositioned MIDAS and Klark Teknik in the US by moving distribution form Bosch Communication in Minnesota to JAM Industries. CareySound remains your local MIDAS dealer.

CareySound was one of the first to market Dynacord when it was first introduced into the US in 2001 and quickly became known as the Cobra guys. A year later we produced the "Cobra Six Minute Setup" video that has been viewed tens of thousands of times since. We embrace Dynacords philosophy of "we only build products that are unique or totally superior." We have championed their exceptional build quality, unparalleled reliability and superior engineering with the lowest cost of ownership in the industry.


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In their latest move Bosch is making a major change in the distribution of Dynacord branded products in the Americas. As of December 31 Bosch Communication America in Minnesota will no longer distribute Dynacord branded products to the US market. As many of you might already be aware of, almost all of the existing Electro-Voice branded electronics including amplifiers and processors are Dynacord engineered and manufactured. All of those products will continue to be sold as Electro-Voice branded products however all of the Dynacord branded versions are being discontinued. It's a little different for Dynacord loudspeakers.

Sales and distribution of Dynacord loudspeakers will continue in Europe, however in the US, Dynacord will be sold direct from a select number of current Dynacord dealers of which CareySound is one. CareySound will continue to carry the unique line of Dynacord loudspeakers. All that will change will be the increased lead time for product delivery. We continue to keep spare parts inventory for those rare moments when they are needed.

CareySound as always stands behind the products we sell and will continue to do so during this transition.

Monte Wise

Monte Wise

My friend and colleague Monte Wise past away last night from a heart ailment that he had been battling for a number of years. Monte was a fixture with Electro-Voice teaching at EV Academies and was one of their most ardent evangelists. I will miss him greatly.

I would like to share a few photos of Monte that I have taken over the years at various EV functions.

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Monte was one of the good guys. May God be with his your family and rest in peace my friend.

The Future Begins Now

Twenty-nine years ago, with a table saw bought from Sears on credit in my back yard, I began the journey that is CareySound. This story began with CareySound being a sound company when it was still a something of a novelty in the business world, providing PA systems for local bands and nightclubs. And as with most long journeys it's had it's share of drama along the way.

Ten years ago, most of our customers didn't even realize we had a thriving sales department, so I made the decision to split off the concert production division and took on a partner to form a new event production company. This way CareySound could concentrate on sales and rentals. The plan worked and both companies grew in prominence. Two months ago, my partner of 10 years in the production company, (now let me put this as nicely as possible) decided to follow a different path and we dissolved the business and split up the assets. Which brings me to the present.

After consultation with my oldest son John, who most of you already know, and the encouragement of many friends, team members and clients, we have decided not to abandon the path I began 29 years ago and to continue to offer the community complete event production. It's with a new sense of excitement that we announce the return of event production department to the CareySound family with this new website design.

This next year already promises to be exciting so please stay tuned. The future begins now.

The Long Goodbye

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I very rarely get to go to a show as a patron. Last Saturday was of those rare occasions. Money, Power Moves, Respect 2.0 B-Boy Battle was a great event. Teams from all up and down east coast participated in this breakdance competition. It was better than a three ring circus. I was blown away by the camaraderie of the participants. Take the showmanship of professional wrestling, add the athleticism of olympic gymnastics and add a little attitude and you get an amazing show. I give it a full five SoundMan rating.

The last B-Boy Battle held at the Anvil this past summer taped by Greensboro's Kourthouse Media on New Garden Road. They have made it into a DVD that is well worth the $10 they are asking. You can find them online at www.kourthousemedia.com .

Now for the sad news. The Flying Anvil, voted Best Live Music Venue by GoTriad Readers Choice Awards for 2006, is closing at the end December if they can't find a new owner. This is a venue that was begged for by Greensboro citizens as the missing premier live music night spot and unfortunately there was just not enough support to keep it open. So if you had always meant to go you'd better get there quick. There aren't many events left. You can go to their website www.theflyinganvil.com to see the remaining schedule.

Jim Reese Update

Jim is out of the hospital and back at the helm of Jo Mama's Mobile Staging albeit with a few new bionic improvements. He was well enough to come by the office today and give us a bill for his stage. Yep - Jim's back.

To Friends Of Jim Reese

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I had hired Jim to set up one of his stages for an event tonight in Winston-Salem. As we were finishing the set-up Jim suffered an aparent heart attack. He was taken to Baptist Hospital. The last report I received around midnight from his daughter was that he was stable and that they are expecting him to fully recover. Please pray for his quick and complete recovery.

For those of you who don't know Jim, he is good friend and colleague of mine that founded Audio & Light Rental here in Greensboro and currently owns and operates Jo Mama's Mobile Staging.

Congratulations

Several of CareySound's own, both past and present, deserve a pat on the back.

John Carey and Tommy Martin just successfully completed a week long audio academy in Atlanta and were awarded certificates of completion. The academy was hosted by our friends at Vision 2 Marketing. Among the many industry leaders giving presentations was a personal friend of mine. The legendary Jim Long of Electro-Voice shared his many years of knowledge of audio and acoustical fundamentals.

We just ran into former CareySound general manager Sam Hamlin at Infocomm in Orlando and he told us he is getting married in the fall. Sam is now working over in Aggie Land at NCA&TSU.

And while I am on marriges, our friend Brandon Potter has just informed us of his impending nuptials in July. Brandon is the head audio production guru over at First Assembly of God in Winston-Salem.

I guess this old SoundMan is just going to have to break down and by a suit.

We ran into James Mintz last Sunday at MUSEP. He was there with his family. His dad plays with the Greensboro Big Band that was performing that evening. James was the second amazing intern to come to us from Greensboro Day School. He is studying music and we hope he keeps us in mind when he graduates.

And finaly I just got an email form another CareySound Alumni, Rick Earl, saying that he has just accepted a new job at Elon University as their new Technical Director for Cultural and Special Events. Rick was one of CareySounds finest head audio engineers.

Audio Past

Thanks to Mike Sveda for bringing back some fond memories. I found a picture of my third sound system (the last one I owned before I moved to NC in 1974.) As a matter of fact I brought pieces of it to Greensboro and sold it. Jim Reese found an old tape loop delay I had sold and gave it back to me some years ago. Thanks Jim. I would love to the have the Sound City Mixmaster back if anyone knows where it's hiding. It was my first desk with faders and was sold to someone locally when I lived on Voss Dr. Boy was it noisy and it had a tendency to ultrasonic outbursts that sent my Dynaco amp into protect. The system pictured featured:

Dallas-Arbiter Sound City 10ch Mixmaster FOH desk
Shure Anti-feedback cut only EQ
Home built ocean wave/rain simulator
Dynaco 400 amp
Reel-to-reel tape deck for delay
EV Sentry 4 speakers
Sound City trap monitors
Acoustic mixer/amp monitor amp
EV RE 11 microphones ( I still have one)

The picture was taken in 1971, give or take a year, at the White House in Niles, MI. The Band was Cold Shot. From the looks of that lighting controller I can understand why I had the fire extinguisher handy.

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