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South Africa - Jazz as Heritage was the theme of this year’s jazz festival held in Johannesburg in partnership with UJ Arts & Culture, The Wits School of Arts’ Cultural Policy and Management and The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts on 2 and 3 September. DWR Distribution was a sponsor of the event which was hosted at UJ and featured a line-up including old-school jazz and diga dancers to performances by Zoë Modiga, Abbey Cindi and Muneyi, workshops and a panel discussion.
“The jazz at UJ concert is a biennial event,” explains Thato Maroga, production manager at UJ Arts & Culture. “We are inspired by the reality that jazz music is a multi-generational cultural experience. Here people from all walks of life and cultural and racia

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UK - The 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, took place at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium in August, Celebrating the rich history, culture and identity of the city and the West Midlands, Unusual played a key role as the contracted rigging supplier.
Working for Gary Beestone, Unusual’s job was to provide all the rigging and install all the lighting for the spectacles. Sam Carter, Unusual’s lead rigger on the project explained: “It’s been a couple of months now since the opening ceremony and the feedback we’ve had ever since has been unreal! We had our work cut out – it was a mammoth event with a modest budget, but the result was two fantastic ceremonies.”
Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium is a relatively new venue, with the west stand just recently built and the north and south stands set up as temporary structures. Big towers were ere

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Austria - Oper Im Steinbruch, the annual opera event set in the Roman Quarry ampitheatre of St Margarethen, has become a summer staple, with production values as big as the stage itself: At 80m wide and 30m deep, it is Europe’s largest outdoor stage. Event sound designer Volker Werner relies on the object-based spatialisation of TiMax SoundHub to ensure the classical opera narratives, such as this year’s Nabucco by Verdi, are simple to follow for the 4700-capacity audiences.
As remarkable as the size and scale of stage and event, is that each year since inception in 2017 the speaker positions are integrated into the main stage scenery. A total of 98 loudspeakers occupy 53 speaker positions on the main stage and these are spatially unified by a redundant system of two 64-channel TiMax SoundHub processors with Dante which handle the spatialisation
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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

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UK - The recent Boisdale Music Awards provided a prestigious showcase for the restaurant group’s Canary Wharf venue in London’s Docklands.
Hosted by Boisdale Patron of Music Jools Holland, this event saw gongs awarded in 14 categories including a Lifetime Achievement Award for Black Sabbath guitarist and founding member Tony Iommi.
Performers on the night enjoyed the use of a newly installed Nexo sound system, a further example of Boisdale’s commitment to excellence in its nightly staging of live music performances.
“We’ve had nothing but positive comments from visiting artists and sound engineers since installing the Nexo system” says Boisdale commercial and marketing director Adam Priestley. “It’s important that performers and audience alike experience the very best live sound, and that’s exactly what they get with Nexo.”
Nexo L15 subs

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UK - As part of its overall sustainability initiatives, Shure is improving its packaging to be even more environmentally friendly. Packaging for new Shure products prioritises the use of recyclable and renewable materials.
New products will be packaged using 75 percent recyclable and/or renewable materials in 2023. In addition, the company is also improving packaging sustainability by:
Committing to source a greater portion of our paper and fibre-based packaging from suppliers that are certified by sustainable forestry organisations such as FSC, SFI and/or PEFC, with the intention to eliminate non-certified packaging by 2030.
Optimising packaging for efficient distribution and logistics (creating packaging that better fits onto pallets and shipping containers to maximise space, which reduces transportation fuel and emissions produced by excess shipments).
E

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USA - UK manufacturer Optimal Audio has announced the appointment of TMP Pro as a distributor in the United States.
Optimal Audio, part of the Focusrite Group, manufactures a one-stop solution of control, amplification and loudspeakers for small to medium sized commercial installations, with a focus on supporting multi-zoned venues.
Based in Connecticut, TMP Pro is the pro audio, video, lighting, and pro accessories division of The Music People, an Exertis/Jam business which distributes more than 200 premium brands across the US. The company’s substantial distribution capacity is based on strong relationships with its brands, allied to a capacity to exceed expectations through the expertise of its certified specialists.
David Henry, national accounts manager, TMP Pro comments, “We are proud, honoured, and excited to offer our US dealers access to the Optima

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Sweden - Martin Audio has announced the appointment of Winther Sound Solutions (WSS) as its new distributor for Sweden.
Although a young company, WSS already has an impressive track record with Martin Audio products having worked as a dealer for the last two years. During this time, they have transacted some impressive business deals, resulting in system deployment in some prestigious sites. One such venue is the recently upgraded Circus in Stockholm where an immersive audio system has brought this theatre arena into an all-Martin Audio domain, with the addition of CDD now supplementing their existing MLA array.
WSS is headed by Mattias Winther, Pontus Svensson and Mårten Ihre - a team with an impressive heritage in the Swedish market. According to Flemming Bjerke, Martin Audio’s sales manager for the Nordic region and Germany, they have more than proven themselves

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USA - Patrick Dierson and The Activity have been involved in the Made In America Festival in Philadelphia since 2014 and this year turned to Elation Professional Proteus, Protron and Smarty luminaires as key elements of a lighting package supplied by 4Wall.
“Our goal is always to provide as many of the various lighting tools that guest LDs expect to find at modern festivals so that we can ensure that the cloning of their existing shows are as seamless as possible,” commented Patrick Dierson of The Activity. “We also have to take into account the proper design placement of all of the elements so that the design has various layers and fills the overall visual space, not just for the attendees but also for the live stream’s camera shots.”
The Activity provided the overall production design, lighting directors for all stages, project manager, art director, and t

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USA - From 2014 to 2017, the University of Houston Cougars football team won 16 straight games on its home gridiron - the John O’Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium - marking the longest active home winning streak in the nation at the time. However, the PA system for the facility, which opened in August of 2014, didn’t share quite the same success, quickly falling victim to the area’s increasingly volatile weather and early component failures.
In response, LD Systems was recently able to step in and remedy the situation with a loudspeaker design from L-Acoustics that offered vastly better audio quality via a streamlined combination of K, A, and X Series products.
TDECU Stadium - its official name derived from the Texas Dow Employees Credit Union, the largest credit union in Houston - is built on the site of the former Robertson Stadium and also hosts the XFL's Houston R

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Singapore - Hope Church in Singapore has invested in a further shipment of Ayrton Eurus Profile luminaires through its exclusive distributor for Singapore, Total Solution Marketing. The new fixtures will complement the Church’s existing stock of Eurus Profile that were first purchased in 2021.
Part of Ayrton’s 6 Series, Eurus Profile is its first multi-function profile luminaire to be launched under the new SLIM-21 TM programme for miniaturising fixtures and reducing their weight, and boasts optics specifically developed for applications requiring perfect image reproduction.
Steven Yeoh, technical director at Hope Church, explains how they came to choose more of this particular fixture, and how the fixtures will be used at the church: “Hope Church Singapore organises various events within our 1,400-seater The Axis Auditorium. Our programme ranges from small scale

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UK - The Neutrik Group exhibited at this year’s Engineering Design Show at the Coventry Building Society Arena, where it showed two new additions to its Fiberfox connector series.
During the two-day event – which took place on 12 and 13 October and is dedicated to engineering, electronics and embedded design – Neutrik unveiled the Fiberfox foxBRID and Fiberfox Rotary Joint.
The foxBRID is an expanded beam multimode hermaphroditic connector module, suited to a vast array of industrial applications, including in automation, robotics and rail transportation. The innovative design – available in two-and four-channel variants – ensures its ability for deployment in the toughest environments where constant performance and total reliability are critical. The module is designed according to the MIL-DTL-83526 standard and fits to other Fiberfox solutions.
The Ro

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USA - Xytech has launched its new Media Operations Platform for content producers across media, broadcast and technology companies. With new executive leadership and strategic direction, Xytech’s Media Operations Platform provides ‘one command centre for all media, broadcast and production teams to create and deliver content, orchestrate people, resources and facilities, and plan logistics on time, on schedule and on budget.’
With the explosion of content creation across both traditional and non-traditional media organisations, there’s an accelerated need for media teams to have a single platform to manage all the people, equipment and assets required for production. The Xytech Media Operations Platform provides the most comprehensive set of solutions to address each entities’ specific business needs, while also maintaining the ability to integrate natively with an

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Belgium - Toyota Motor Europe has had plenty of developments to share with customers and the media of late thanks to its impressive array of recently introduced hybrid and electric vehicles. Now, with the opening of its Brand Experience Centre in Brussels, it also has a sleek and engaging new platform for highlighting these innovations.
Located in a former workshop that has been transformed into a contemporary auditorium complex, the new facility features an event space/theatre, studio, and Sky Lab meeting rooms. Auvicom, which has been a major AV supplier to Toyota Europe for over two decades, was responsible for the design and equipment installation at the new centre in consultation with the D-Side Group event agency.
The facility’s 400m2 events space is fully equipped to stage press conferences, product launches and other live happenings, including recording and l

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The Netherlands - Indie rock stalwarts Kensington have been widely praised by critics for bringing layers of added dimensions to their music without sacrificing any of its immediate power to engage emotionally. For six days this September, the quartet from Utrecht were supported by a light and video show that reflected the multi-faceted appeal of their songs.
The intricate and tightly coordinated show turned the 17,000-capacity Ziggo Dome into an immersive 3D galaxy of images that flowed in perfect harmony to the music being produced on stage. At the centre of it all was a massive 800m² ‘tree’ made of blow-through and solid LED panels that worked cohesively with intense, fast-moving displays of light.
Like the entire production, the mesmerizing video-and-light combination was the product of intense collaboration, as well as some seamless integration between two Ch

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USA - Pliant Technologies will feature its new CCU-08 CrewCom Control Unit for the first time in the U.S. at NAB New York 2022 (Booth 1216). The CCU-08 is the latest addition to the CrewCom system and gives users the ability to use up to eight 4-Wire ports while retaining all the same features of the current companion CCU-22 and CCU-44 products.
Like the current Control Units, the CCU-08 Control Unit contains no radio and is frequency agnostic and can therefore control and monitor any device across CrewNet regardless of radio frequency bands being utilized. With the combination of CrewCom Radio Transceivers, the new CCU-08 supports up to 82 Radio Packs, 18 in Normal mode and 64 in the recently released High Density mode, across all RF bands.
“The CCU-08 is an important addition to the CrewCom lineup, as it is designed for applications that need additional I/O but do

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USA - The New York AES Convention sees Merging combined with new partners, Neumann.Berlin on booth 329 and on its US distributor’s stand 344, both on level 3. Despite a lot of change since the last visit to the Big Apple, the company’s focus has been on improving workflows for immersive audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and forging new partnerships with other manufacturers.
As an integral part of the Merging mixing and mastering solution for Atmos for Music, Merging+Anubis combined with Hapi MKII and Pyramix 14 offers one of the most powerful and flexible solutions available. An extra bonus for Anubis was the addition of SoundID Reference from Sonarworks but hitherto this was only available in stereo. Merging+Anubis is again the first interface and monitoring controller on the market to be able to seamlessly import any multichannel SoundID Reference preset and run it ont

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USA - The forthcoming AES Convention at the Javits Center in New York heralds a welcome return to in-person events for the Audio Engineering Society. It is followed almost immediately – albeit on the other side of the country in Hollywood, CA – by the annual SMPTE Media Technology Summit, a four-day conference event dedicated to exploring advancements in media and entertainment technology. The OCA Alliance – represented by Bosch Communication Systems’ senior scientist, Jeff Berryman – will be presenting at both events.
At AESNY 2022, Berryman will be delivering a presentation on AES70 Control for IP Media. Devices which will summarize the AES70 control architecture for media devices and describe new features in the standard’s upcoming release. It will also introduce available AES70 developer tools and information resources for implementers, most of which are free

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Denmark - Lighting designer Sune Verdier used Astera Titan Tubes and AX3 LightDrops as practical and imaginative tools and vital components of his striking lighting scheme for a revival of the popular Danish musical, Elsk Mig i Nat (Love Me Tonight), which was produced by the One and Only Musical Teater company.
The show features a full-tilt string of Danish chart-topping hits from the 1980s, and first premiered in 2009.
This completely new production of the show was directed by Tomas Agerholm with scenography by Benjamin La Cour. It launched at the Scandic Falconer venue in Copenhagen and then played at the Music Theatre Holstebro and at Vejle Music Theatre over three months. Sune – known for his design style and flair – has worked with Tomas and Benjamin on other projects, and they asked him onboard to light this show.
It was a fun show that

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Canada –With a seating capacity of 2,000, Light Presbyterian Church in the Canadian city of Mississauga is a Gospel-centred church that serves a multi-ethnic and multi-generational community.
The audio environment in the wide, fan-shaped chapel is far from perfect. The stage is not the most acoustically friendly environment, suffering from plenty of reflections, and a second-floor glass balcony railing adds further acoustic energy back into the sanctuary. This combination meant that the congregation was finding it hard to hear and fully understand services.
To solve these challenges, Light Presbyterian Church turned to Abe Son from Benabe ProSound. Having worked with the church on various AV upgrades for a number of years, he knew the challenges the venue presented and had a solution to solve the problem – TW AUDiO’s VERA20i.
“We needed to design an L-R

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USA - Wisycom will unveil its new MTP61 Transmitter, the latest addition to its Symphony product line, at AES New York (Booth 437). Billed as the smallest and lightest multiband bodypack transmitter on the market, the MTP61 has the widest tuning range currently available (470 to 1260MHz). Among the industry’s most powerful transmitters, the compact design of the MTP61 not only makes it comfortable, but also suitable for location sound and theatre applications alike.
“We developed the MTP61 in direct response to market demands,” says Geoff Baynard, product marketing manager, Wisycom. “A cross between our existing MTP41 and MTP60 Transmitters, the MTP61 incorporates all the advanced technology of our Symphony line in a smaller form factor. This includes seamless connectivity via long-range Bluetooth 5 to the new Wisycom App, enabling users to monitor and adjust parame

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USA - Jon Pardi’s Ain’t Always The Cowboy tour features a towering lighting rig, industrial influenced riser, and scenic design.
Chris Reade, KYVA’s lighting designer, credits Jay Ballinger, the company’s set designer with turning their client’s vision into reality. “Jay and Jon really came together on this,” said Reade. “The idea was to project strength through masculine steel beams and rugged structural elements.”
Reade designed a potent Elite Multimedia supplied lighting rig that featured 190 Chauvet Professional fixtures to accentuate and enlarge the evocative set design. “The lighting architecture is boxy to be consistent with the set; and there are some angles that make it feel larger overall,” he said. “Jay's overall concept changed within our process, but we wanted to have a “wall of light” within the set. We have contrast bet
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