Midwinter's Day - Another Year Begins

What a strange year our 2020 has been - the year of standing still. A chance to do more gardening, perhaps? Certainly a good time to have slowed down and enjoyed nature. Many masks were both bought and made, whilst becoming tech-savvy with Zoom etc. Although live music events have suffered more, recorded music and radio show production continued, albeit changed slightly. Here's hoping 2021 will see a return to normal opportunities as we wish you a happy and fulfilling New Year.

Teatime With Trevox

Over the last month on Teatime With Trevox, you would have heard music from these artists - if you missed them on Argyll FM (6pm Fridays), catch up on www.mixcloud.com/trevox:

Agnes Jones, Ariana Grande, Ben's Brother, The Bo Weevils, Britney Spears, Bruce Engler, Bruno Mars, Caffeine, Calling All Astronauts, The Commodores, Croft & Cotes, The Cultures, Deep Purple, Donna Summer, Emma Kelly, EMT, ETAN, Fanni Mayer, Frankie Swain, Greye, Hafdis Huld, The Hot One Two, Jack Francis, Jasmine Bharucha, Jenny Angel, Jessie Galante, Jim Kirkpatrick, John Denver, Johnny Altman, Justin Bieber, K' Jones & LXT, Killing Kenny, Kim Wilde, Kylie Minogue, Lauren Alex Hooper, Laville, Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee, Matinee, Mazz Murray, Melanie Masson, Men Without Hats, Mick Wynne, Mike DeFoy, The Novatines, Ny'a, Paloma Faith, Pamela Sue Mann, The Pasadenas, Paul Alexander Low, Pink Floyd, Project X, Rita Ora, Rowen Reecks, The Senton Bombs, Sinclair, Skins N Bones, Soricah, Stacy Gabel, Stepford Wives, Stephen Wrench, Stine Vega, Sunstack Jones, Tanille, Tenek, The Hollies, The Motors, Tilt, Tin Gun, Tod Almond, Tony October, Two Weeks In Nashville, Wolfberry, Yammerer, Zoey Lily.

Broadband Outage! August 2020 is now a bad month for essential infrastructure. Official.

Power cut!

It went off at 11:38. SSEN say they’re aiming to have power restored by 23 Jul 2020 14:30. Normal service will be resumed a.s.a.p.

Shows live again

After several weeks of just pre-recorded shows, a knock-on effect of the first phase of coronavirus issues, we're back with live production. Listeners to Argyll FM on 106.5, 107.1 and 107.7 (which covers most of Argyll on the west coast of Scotland and reaches parts of Northern Ireland and Ayrshire) can again enjoy my Folk At Five shows daily at 1700 Mondays through Saturdays, and Teatime With Trevox at 1800 on Fridays.

There's a lot of new music to hear, added after audition to the playlists which can be checked out on the web by following the links at trevox.uk. Many broadcast shows are also available there to listen to again.

Change of gearbox pro tempore

The lockdown triggered by the pandemic of Coronavirus Covid-19 continues, meaning that my radio shows are using a pre-select "gearbox" rather than the usual live manual, to use a motoring paradigm. It's not an automatic though, so new music continues to be added to playlists. Thank you to all the artists sending tracks in.

Coronavirus Covid-19

In common with many organizations just now, my radio program production has been disrupted. Hope to be back soon.

Music old & new, & sometimes a surprise or two

The daily Monday to Saturday folk music show Folk At Five is produced and presented live in Campbeltown for Argyll FM by Trevox, along with Friday's Teatime With Trevox. After each show, people can listen again on Mixcloud as well as catching up on the playlists with the programmes' 'blogs. Playlists go back years.
Listen live on Argyll FM from 1700 on these frequencies: 106.5, 107.1 & 107.7.
The tagline "Music old and new, and sometimes a surprise or two" is lived out daily in both the social comment, history and joie de vivre of Folk At Five and the dancey feelgood rhythmic records of Teatime With Trevox. New music is frequently added from the plethora of offerings of musicians the world over, and thanks are due to those who send in new material and re-post our 'blog entries on theirs.

Cluttered web page?

Some web pages have adverts or pop-ups which may obscure the article. Remove the clutter by using Firefox web browser and clicking on the "open book" or "page" icon to the right of the web address. This "Reader View" also sets the page to a larger sans serif typeface that is easier to read, and is also useful for saving the page as a PDF.

Passive loudspeakers can be handy

Because I sometimes do outside events, I have a set of passive speakers which can be covered quickly with poly-bags if it rains, avoiding the need to run power outside and up to powered speakers on poles. For amplifiers, I prefer fanless convection-cooled (e.g. Behringer A500 and now A800), as fans on amplifiers and other equipment can often be noisy. It is possible to replace inbuilt noisy fans with quiet models, but you would need to be confident with the electrical and mechanical work required to achieve it.

Rhythmic records

My September 2019 playlist of "rhythmic records", compiled from 4 x 1-hours shows broadcast on Argyll FM and available also on Mixcloud.com/Trevox:

Phil Collins - True Colours,
Ed Sheeran ft Khalid - Beautiful People (Original Mix),
Aileen Rosario - Tu Amor,
Jason Derulo - Too Hot (Sisco Kennedy Intro),
Eddy Lee Ryder - Silverchain,
Between Suns - Fractured Life,
Them Ones - Good Vibes Only,
Gipsy Kings - Bamboleo (Mauricio Cury Remix),
Beyonce & Calvin Harris - Single Ladies X Slide (Intro Clean),
Taylor Swift - The Man (Sisco Kennedy Intro Clean),
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - Senorita (Original Mix),
Ex-Norwegian - Making Deals (Extended Intro),
Summer Heart - Always On The Run,
Le Cheval ft 220 Kid - Forrest Gump,
John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air (Mauricio Cury Remix),
Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved (Mauricio Cury Remix),
Rihanna vs Tiesto & Dzeko - We Found Love X Rude Boy,
Rainbow - Run With The Wolf,
Al Green - Your Love Is Like The Morning Sun,
Graham Gouldman & Beth Nielsen Chapman - Come To Mine,
Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancing,
Thompson Twins, The - Hold Me Now,
Kajagoogoo - Too Shy,
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (Mcmxciii),
Madonna - Holiday,
Ed Sheeran - Galway Girl (Kay Stafford Club Mix),
Madness - Our House,
Rod Stewart - Baby Jane,
The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral,
Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl,
Deborah Harry - I Want That Man,
Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now,
David Kirton - Worth Holding On,
Parish - Indian Mood,
Liv Austen - Whole Heart,
Soul II Soul - Keep On Moving,
Samantha Mumba - Baby Come On Over,
Monsieur Job - Pica Pica,
Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap,
Girls Aloud - Jump,
Suzi Quatro - Tear Me Apart,
DJ Otzi - Hey Baby!
A.R. Rahman & The Pussycat Dolls - Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny).

Saying goodbye to Windows 10

... goes the arresting heading printed in Which? Computing of October 2019. Probably a misprint, as the article is all about switching from Windows 7 to 10. Check out the online version, informative and minus that error.

Music to the ears, or deafening noise?

A question on Digital DJ Tips in September 2017 went thus: "How Many Watts Per Person Do I Need For DJ Speakers?". Well...

Any 'rule of thumb' relating loudspeaker wattage to audience size is either wrong or at best an over-simplification! Wattage alone does not provide quality or loudness. A set of ground rules for loudspeaker power is proposed below, but first some basics.

People absorb sound and generate alternative sound. Hard surfaces reflect sound. Loudspeakers have varying frequency-dependent efficiencies. There is a helpful noise chart at Noise Help. It indicates that human ears can tolerate exposure to 91 decibels for up to 2 hours. This is a reasonable maximum.

Loudspeaker specifications should indicate their sensitivity as sound pressure level (SPL) in decibels (db) measured at 1 metre with 1 watt applied. (The range of my speakers is 88-98db.) Doubling the wattage increases SPL by 3db. Doubling the distance to the listener decreases SPL by 6db. The critical distance is between speaker and furthest listener.

Rules

1. Minimize the sound absorption of the crowd by positioning mid- and high-range speakers well above head height and angling them down to point at distant head height. That ensures loudspeaker sound can travel direct to audience ears and not be baffled by bodies.

2. No matter how loud the crowd noise is, the SPL at their ears should not exceed 91db. We can use  Geoff The Grey Geek's calculator to determine RMS speaker power for various distances (see table of results for common distances below).

3. Always check sound levels with a Sound Level Meter.

Alesis Monitor One Mk2 Passive (studio)

Distance	Power	SPL
(m)	(w)	(db)
1	1	88
5	100	91
10	398	91 *
15	896	91 *
20	1592	91 *

* N.B. Maximum power for speaker exceeded massively!

Wharfedale Titan 12 Passive (mobile PA)

Distance	Power	SPL
(m)	(w)	(db)
1	1	98
5	10	91
10	40	91
15	90	91
20	159	91

Maxima for Titan 12s

Distance	Power	SPL
(m)	(w)	(db)
10	251	99
25	249	91

Ensure that the maximum power rating of loudspeakers is complied with! If greater distances than these are required, additional loudspeakers would be better than more powerful ones, as the objective is to provide music and not deafen the audience!