Pioneer Valley Homegrown Technical Information for Musicians

Welcome to Homegrown!
The GCTV Studio is located on the 3rd floor of 393 Main Street in downtown Greenfield MA, elevator accessable. Homegrown is recorded live before a studio audience every Monday evening from 7:00-8:00pm -- the show is seen live at this time in Greenfield, Montague, Gill, Buckland and Shelburne MA on GCTV Channel 15. Homegrown appears by tape delay for multiple showings on GCTV and community television stations throughout New England as well as via satellite to over 120 million in Europe.

** Please contact your local cable access station to check scheduling or to request Homegrown be shown in your area.

Directions
For Mapquest.com directions to the GCTV Studio, click here

Booking
Interested regional musical acts should contact bookhomegrown (at) gmail (dot) com

Time schedule
Live televions demands a tight time schedule. Homegrown requests that bands arrive before 5:00pm for setup (earlier for acts requiring more than drum kit + 4 channels of sound, large ensembles, etc). An extensive soundcheck will be performed from around 6:00 to 6:30pm and the show will go live to from 7:00 sharp until 8:00pm with no commercial breaks.

What homegrown provides
GCTV and Homegrown provide the following equipment and services:
- a handcart for load in and load out
- a spacious soundstage with good acoustic qualities and visual appeal
- a broadcast quality video capture of the performance with three simultaneous camera operators, a director and an editor.
- all audio monitoring, mixing, and recording with two sound technicians
- full stage lighting
- one DVD video and one CD audio of the performance at no charge, ready within 15 minutes after the show.
- flexible show structure and promotional interview time according to performers needs
- distribution of the performance to multiple access television stations in New England, distribution to WMCB 107.9 in Greenfield and to Youtube as time allows.

Our equipment list
· Mackie 24x8x2 mixing console
· 2 wedge monitors, Crest ca6 amplifier, 2-channel monitor mix
· 2 dbx 166a compressor/limiter
· 2 FMR RNC stereo compressor/limiters
· alesis 3630 compressor/limiter
· alesis midiverb4 signal processor
· 1 proco db1 direct box, 1 DOD direct box
· 8 mic stands with booms
· stage risers and basic studio lighting

Microphones
· 5 Shure SM-57 dynamic
· 4 Shure SM-58 dynamic
· 2 Sennheiser MD-421 dynamic
· 1 Equitec E-100 large diaphragm condenser
· 6 Audio Technica mini-electret condenser
· 1 Beyer N69c Hypercardioid dynamic
· 1 CAD multipattern LDC
· 1 Shure PG-83 condenser
· 1 Oktava MK012 condenser
· 2 ElectroVoice RE10 dynamic

NOTE: We do not own any guitar stands, instrument amplifiers, 1/4" instrument cables, etc.

Stuff homegrown needs from bands

Prior to the performance date, please supply homegrown with the following:
- Website or other contact information
- Number and type of instruments, number of vocal mic's needed
- Musician or band biography (or links to a website with same)
- Stage set up chart (optional)
- CD or tape demo (optional)
- 8x10” photograph (optional)
- Electronic materials can be e-mailed to: tech at valleyhomegrown dot com
- Other materials can be delivered to Jason Mazzarino at 'About Music' in downtown Greenfield, MA.

What you may need to provide, optional:
- Music stands
- Specialized mics (for harmonica, horns, etc.. phantom power available)
- lighting rig (contact us with specific electrical requirements)
- additional direct box(es) -- Homegrown has only one at this time
- stage props

Recording, the monitor mix, and the room mix
The homegrown performance should be approached as a studio recording. The most important factors in getting a good recording is for performers to feel comfortable and have a good time. The musical equipment also has to be given enough volume to achieve proper tone.

Electric bands please note
With the paragraph above said, the stage mix should be just as loud as it needs to be, and no louder. Homegrown can handle everything from accapella to marshall stacks, but best sound quality can be achieved when overall sound level is kept lower and bleed is minimized. If the band needs to be loud in order to have a good performance, then simply let it rip and we'll do our best to get a full sounding capture.

Does my band need a PA?
The Homegrown sound crew will do our best to achieve a reasonable stage monitor mix. Homegrown generally doesn't set up a room PA because extra speakers aren't useful for audio recording. The live audience can usually hear performers well enough with just the stage mix providing sound. If a band anticipates having more than 50 people in attendance, we'll work to get more suitable sound reinforcement for the audience -- please provide Homegrown two weeks notice or more if this is the case.

What to expect
The Homegrown and GCTV staff strive to present acts in the best possible manner. An interview is possible at the beginning or mid-point of the hour and is flexible to performers' needs. Performers are encouraged to have some fun with the show and promote whatever they may be working on or have upcoming. The show is live with no commercial breaks from 7-8:00pm.Performers will receive one stereo hi-fi DVD and CD free of charge. DAT, S-VHS, mpeg-2, mpeg-4, Quicktime, .wav, mp3, or Hi-Fi VHS copies may be purchased at a reasonable cost -- Please contact GCTV Technical Director Scott MacPherson for details.
scott at gctv dot org

Optional Services

Homegrown charges no fee for our normal services. However, for bands hoping to perform additional post-production to achieve a specific video or audio goal, we offer the following services for an additional reasonable fee:

- 3 camera DV tapes in HD
- 8 channel audio capture in 16bit, 44100Hz, WAV format
- Audio and video post-production and mastering services

Legal stuff
Homegrown, a volunteer run not for profit organization, will reserves the right to use the performance, either live or recorded, for fundraising activities, Homegrown promotion and general distribution. All monies raised from underwriting, special events and promotional sales will go exclusively to production and promotional costs, volunteer crew training, and occasional crew events. The remaining balance of all monies will go to a GCTV equipment fund for all GCTV community producers to use.

Musicians retain sole rights to all other material. Homegrown charges no fee for the broadcast and recording services provided and encourages acts to use materials for promotion. Please properly credit production of materials used for promotion to Homegrown and www.valleyhomegrown.com.

Please remember to invite your friends and family
Our studio has plenty of room for a live audience!

The Homegrown and GCTV crews hope performers find the opportunity to be on local television rewarding! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you,

The Valley Homegrown Crew