SHADOW HILLS, CA, DECEMBER 17, 2010 ― The RapcoHorizon Company's Custom Venue Series Snakes and 6x6 Sub Snakes were recently used by Big Production Services for Ozzfest and the Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF). The RapcoHorizon snakes were chosen to support acts such as Black Label Society and Drowning Pool at Ozzfest and Smashing Pumpkins and Slash, who performed with Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, at SSMF.
While the two festivals cater to very different styles of music, the on-stage production requirements were the same. The RapcoHorizon snakes enabled Big Productions to not only ensure a clean setup, by reducing the amount of cabling on-stage, but also helped to make the five-minute turnaround time possible between artist performances.
By utilizing two 16-channel Custom Venue Series Snakes, the company was able to build two separate drum kits. With this setup, as soon as the band on stage finished, the crew could unplug one snake, swap one kit for the next, and hook up the second snake attached to the new drum kit. With just two 6x6 Sub Snakes on stage, Big Production Services was able to transport 48-channels of audio using just one connection. The two snakes were relied on heavily for both shows, as it dramatically cut down on-stage clutter.
“The 6x6 Sub Snake is a great way to clean up your stage for any gig where cleanliness is important, like TV or live theater,” says Rich Bartle, president of Big Production Services. “RapcoHorizon's custom snakes are essential to keeping clear any space where you don't want to have a bunch of cables laying around on the floor.”
This was the first year that Big Productions was called on to produce Ozzfest, which is a high-demand, six-stop tour from coast-to-coast. Each venue features nearly 12 hours of music across two half-day sets. With as many as nine bands per set, Big Production relied on the RapcoHorizon snakes to take some of the pressure off the crew. Impressed by the quality and reliability of the RapcoHorizon gear during Ozzfest, Bartle decided to use the exact snake setup during SSMF just a few days later. Though Big Productions has worked on this event in the past, Bartle debuted RapcoHorizon snakes at this year's festival.
“When you have five minutes to turn a band over, you can't be re-patching,” continues Bartle. “There's no time for bad cables or hoping the patch is done correctly. It is essential to have cables that can be set in place and function properly for every band, and that's where RapcoHorizon was crucial. I plan to use the Custom Venue Series Snakes and 6x6 Sub Snakes on all of my future large-scale events.”
Located in Shadow Hills, CA, Big Production Services is a light, sound and staging company, which has been producing concerts and events for 22 of its 25 years in business. Bartle and his wife, Chase, have been everything from producer to stage manager and production manager to MC for events such as Woodstock '99, SSMF, Ozzfest as well as thousands of other shows and festivals. To find out more about Big Productions, visit: www.bigprod.com.
The RapcoHorizon Company, located in Jackson, Missouri, is one of the world's largest manufacturers and suppliers of audio, video, home theater, data and telecommunications cable in both bulk wire and assemblies. Used worldwide by concert touring sound companies, video and sound contractors, recording studios, system integrators, audiophiles and musicians, The RapcoHorizon Company's products provide optimal flexibility and premium performance. The company's state-of-the-art Custom Shop can modify existing products or build new devices to meet any need.
For more information, please visit The RapcoHorizon Company's Web site at www.rapcohorizon.com.