Sound

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UK - In January 2004, well-known industry PR, Max Kay, celebrated twenty years of public relations, working exclusively in the MI, professional audio and DJ sectors. Over the space of two decades, his clients have included the likes of Gibson, Yamaha, C.F. Martin, Gemini, Digitech, Soundcraft, Parker, Fane, Steinberger, Celestion, B.C. Rich, Premier, Chevin, Guild, Rocktron, Hartke, Seymour Duncan, MTD, Trace Elliot, Rolls, Modulus Graphite, Rivera, Snarling Dogs, VHT, Barcus-Berry, Spector, Fishman and Samson, to name a few. Today, he continues to represent the PR interests of EMG, BBE and G&L, not only in the US, but in the UK, Europe and Pacific Rim too.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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UK - Stanton presented the Third Allies Allstar Beatdown world finals at London club Fabric, which was rammed to capacity as Tigerstyles defeated I:Emerge in the final, after two closely contested opening rounds. Such was the standard that the contest provided a real challenge for the panel of top judges, headed by the Scratch Perverts. Deliberating with them were DJ Craze, Beatdown promoter Tony Vegas and mixologists, Benny and Go.

At the end of the contest, The Allies' Infamous presented the prize of £2,000, the Beatdown Stanton SA5 mixer and a bunch of accessories. The Allstar Beatdown has turned into one of the most respected and prestigious of all DJ battles, drawing audiences of all ages and cultures.

As a team, The Allies have dominated every DJ battle in the world and the Stanton SA-5 2-channel battle mixer, utilizing custom Penny & Giles line faders and crossfaders,

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UK - Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals continue to circle the globe in support of Harper's latest studio release, Diamonds on the Inside. The California-born folk-soul star is on the road for a year long tour of largely sold-out shows with a compact package of audio equipment based around a pair of InnovaSON Grand Live digital sound consoles.

On a world tour that kicked-off in Australia and New Zealand in March, and has taken in multiple legs through Asia, North America and Europe, the cost of transporting equipment could have been astronomical with conventional analogue desks. "It is definitely cheaper to ship the smaller, lighter InnovaSON consoles," acknowledges monitor technician and crew chief, Chris "Grandpa" Rymarz. "Since freight is paid in weight it is just plain cheaper. For Ben Harper, it means the difference between being able to t

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UK - Originally built over an eight-year period then opened in May of 1899, Brighton Pier is arguably one of Britain's most beloved waterfront attractions. Its 1800ft span hosts a pavilion, numerous eating and drinking establishments, a 1500-seat concert hall and further attractions. Rich in history, the pier enjoyed its original heyday in the 1920s and 1930s, slowly falling into disrepair after the Second World War, a victim of both mankind and the elements. The sea's erosion has taken its toll, as have the annual winter rains.

In 1984, the pier was purchased by The Noble Organization, which has invested over £30 million in its restoration. Recently, in March 2003 an arson attack gutted most of the pavilion, followed by a smaller fire in May, which caused minor damage to the concert hall and the Ghost Train ride, which housed the audio amplification system. Brighton-based aud

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UK - Creative Technology has marked the relocation to its new 54,000sq.ft facility in Crawley by announcing a 'single brand' service operation, in which the staging services of MCL London, currently operating from within CT's premises, will now be amalgamated and operate under the CT London brand. At the same time the company has committed to a heavy investment in new inventory and technology. The strategic decision to operate as a single entity, addressing the broad span of market sectors covered by the two companies, was confirmed this month by managing director Mark Elliott.

"Being able to centralize all our resources into a single building has enabled us to further develop full service capability to provide a wide range of resources. This includes video, lighting, audio, and staging equipment, together with our ever-increasing range of indoor and outdoor LED screens.&qu

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UK - Behringer, designer and manufacturer of professional audio products for musicians and sound engineers, recently announced the Behringer Eurorack UB802 was awarded "Best Seller" and "Best Value for Money" at the MIA Annual Conference and Awards in October this year.

Mr. Torsten Notzke, PR manager of Behringer said: "We are honored and delighted to receive these two awards from the UK Music Industries Association and thank the UK retailers for their dedication and trust in our products. The UB Series of mixing consoles bears the initials of our company founder and was designed by Mr. Behringer himself. He incorporated customer feedback whilst guiding the development of the UB Series from the ground up, personally designing every crucial component, from the entire circuit diagram and PCB development to the mechanical concepts. The huge sales success re

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UK - FX Music Control, the sales division of the FX Group, has launched a dedicated Apple support phone line, TalktoaTech.com. The company has also been appointed a direct Apple dealer and has been recognized by the corporation as an Apple Solution Expert.

FX Music Control's managing director Emma Brown said: "We decided to set up the phone line as we were getting inundated with technical enquiries, not only from our customers but also from people who were experiencing problems and had discovered that the store which supplied their system couldn't or wouldn't help."

Now both FX Music Control customers, clients whose 12-month warranty has expired and third parties can call the company if they are experiencing problems relating to Apple Music software, hardware or system issues. The support line will also handle enquiries relating to other music software including Log

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UK - Manchester DJ Mark One is using Stanton equipment exclusively to lay down scratch tracks for Scottish band, Texas, on their promotional TV and tour dates. Mark's conversion to Stanton's new generation technology came via a chance meeting with his old pal, Lamba's northern area sales manager, Denis Phoenix, at the recent PLASA Show in London.

Mark One said: "I had known Denis from when he worked in retail in Manchester - but hadn't seen him for ages. I knew Stanton's reputation for cartridges - but had no idea how good their mixers and turntables were until he invited me onto the Lamba stand." It takes a lot to turn a DJ from the familiarity of his chosen instruments but by the time Mark had finished his demo he had committed to a pair of Stanton's new flagship STR8-150 turntables, fitted with 680HP cartridges, an SA-12 mixer and Stanton Pro 2000S headphones. These

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USA - RCF, a Loud Technologies brand, recently launched its first RCF-branded website for the English-speaking market. The English-language section of the new RCF website follows the Italian-language section launched earlier this month. The new RCF web site is the next step in the recently announced intentions - in September at the PLASA trade show in London - to re-introduce RCF as Loud Technologies' worldwide commercial and industrial audio brand. During this transition, which is expected to complete by the second quarter of 2004, current Mackie Industrial products will undergo a re-branding phase into RCF.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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France - The SIEL 2004 exhibition (1-4 February 2004 at Paris Expo - Porte de Versailles) will highlight line array systems among its wide range of exhibits. During SIEL, a conference will assess the advantages of medium-range line array distribution compared to traditional sound systems. Acoustical engineer Alain Pouillon Guibert will lead the conference, while a number of leading line array system manufacturers integrating the most specialized technologies will be present at the exhibition, including L-Acoustics, Nexo, Adamson, EVI Audio and d&b audiotechnik.

SIEL will also take a look at safety responsibilities in the nightlife industry. The French government is currently reinforcing safety measures intended to make people in France more aware of safety, particularly when it comes to getting behind the wheel of a car. In view of the number of road accidents caused by drunk dr

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UK - The University of Manchester's new £6 million School of Music and Drama celebrated the opening of its purpose-built concert hall, drama studio and recording studio on 21 October 2004. The Chancellor - broadcaster Anna Ford - presided over a ceremony in which writer and comedian Ben Elton, music scholar and critic Michael Kennedy and internationally renowned soprano Amanda Roocroft received honorary degrees.

The building includes the new Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, the John Thaw Studio Theatre, the Lenagan Library, audio/visual facilities, improved performance, workshop and practice spaces, as well as new electro-acoustic music studios run jointly with the Royal Northern College of Music.

Stage Electrics designed and installed the new facilities' sound and lighting systems, created specifically for use by students, with Hills Electrical plc, main contractor - Totty Const

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Germany - The new Dynacord LX 2200 amplifier in the Switch Mode Precision series combines outstanding audio performance with maximum reliability and operating security. And it's light into the bargain!

Weighing 8.15kg, the amplifier, which is two rack units in height, is rated at 2 x 1100W. The secret of its compactness lies in the combination of a switching power supply with Class H technology; Dynacord's developers have succeeded in combining the headroom advantages of a transformer power amplifier with the considerable savings in weight you get with a 'chopper' power supply.

LX Series power amplifiers are robust and will take the bangs and bumps that are part and parcel of life 'on tour' without compromising their reliability. With the full panoply of protections against overheating, overloading, short circuit, HF, DC etc, they also resistant to the bugbears that can jeopar

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UK - The MTV Europe Awards ceremony staged in Edinburgh was one of the more complex events handled this year by London sound company Britannia Row, involving the design of an ElectroVoice XLC compact line-array system which worked on two performing stages, set asymmetrically in the round, inside a circus tent.

Featuring live performances by Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Pink, The White Stripes, the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul, Dido, The Darkness and Missy Elliott, the show was watched by an estimated one billion people in 28 countries. Britannia Row was responsible for the event audio, under the direction of their sound designer Derrick Zieba, with the main system consisting of ElectroVoice XLC.

Zieba commented afterwards: "The circus tent was an incredibly difficult space, but I was delighted with the ability of the XLC system to be a line array and deliver 120 degree cov

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UK - XL Video UK recently supplied projection hardware for Eddie Izzard's 'Sexie' DVD shoot, filmed over three nights of performances at the Congress Theatre in Eastbourne. The 'Sexie' DVD is part of the ongoing world tour, which kicked off in Australasia in July before storming the US. He tours UK arenas in December.

Izzard, who spent a memorable chunk of his schooldays at two different establishments in Eastbourne, wanted to return to his roots for the DVD recording. XL supplied a 26.5ft wide by 15ft high projection screen - 16:9 ratio - that was fed by a flown pair of doubled Barco R18 projectors. Projections were effectively 'the set', with the space dressed with camouflage netting, so video and lighting were essential for creating mood.

XL's project manager Malcolm Mellows was approached by the show's producer Mick Perrin of Perrin Productions, having been recommended by

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Sweden - Broadjam, a leading provider of Internet tools for musicians and music publishers, announced the selection of MI7, a music products distribution firm led by former Steinberg Media Technologies COO Per Larsen, to coordinate product activities in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Larsen's company will be responsible for sales, distribution, marketing, and customer service, focusing initially on Broadjam's new software for the music industry, Metajam.

MI7 is headquartered in Malmoe, Sweden, and Larsen directs a group of international sales agents. As an executive with substantial music industry experience and connections, Larsen will manage key partnerships and core retail accounts as well as provide Broadjam with product development expertise.

Previously, Larsen was the COO of Steinberg Media Technologies, which rose to a leadership position in the growing digital content creat

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UK - Tascam equipment was central to a series of one-off recordings by seminal UK indie band Suede at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) recently. Engineer and producer Julie Gardner deployed a rig of Tascam high resolution DTRS recorders, comprising a Tascam DA-98HR and three Tascam DA-78HRs, in conjunction with a Logic Platinum-loaded Mac G4 Powerbook, to record the unique series of once-only performances of each of Suede's five studio albums.

The performances kicked off Suede's winter tour and were part of the promotion for the band's latest single, attitude, and greatest hits album, singles, released on 20 October 2003. Due to the unrepeatable nature of the event, Gardner decided to augment her usual portable, 32-channel direct-to-disk system. "It's accepted professional practice to double up on formats when you're recording one-offs to any computer-based sys

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UK - Stage Electrics Production Services recently supplied specialist outdoor lighting for the reveal of the London Olympic bid logo on the façade of the Tate Modern in London last week. Working closely with Andy MacDonald, production company The Persuaders, and Dennis Ahern of the Tate Modern, Stage Electrics achieved the lighting at the last minute using Optivision flood lighting on the ground with power supplied by an Aggreko generator.

Account handler David Stewart commented: "We were originally requested to light the logo just for the Monday reveal, and used City Colours which worked really well. The next day we got a call to light the logo for the rest of the week and responded immediately with an even brighter solution using the Optivisions."

(Lee Baldock)

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Hungary - At the end of August, Budapest was the scene of a techno parade with over 300,000 fans in attendance. Pro Audio Systems Ltd provided the sound system for the event using equipment from EVI Audio.

The Hungarian mega-rave featured no fewer than 50 imaginatively decorated floats, each with its own cast of extravagantly attired dancers, all vying for attention. The competition between sound systems was just as hot with the most impressive performance coming from Pacha, Budapest's best-known discotheque. The Pacha float was equipped by the Hungarian sound company Pro Audio Systems Ltd, who used sound equipment exclusively from EVI Audio, with a Dynacord V system taking centre stage. Endre Reh, managing director of Pro Audio Systems Ltd told us: "When the parade was over, the organizer approached us to say that ours was the float with the best sound."

The winning

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Portugal - Portuguese Chameleon distributor Audinova Ltd recently introduced the company's new Atlas digital amplifier range at the Musicália fair in Lisbon, held from 23-26 October. Audinova showed Atlas for the first time on mainland Europe, along with a good selection of other Chameleon products including DP/2, DX and the Studio range of amplifiers. Atlas was shown as a pre-production model and was sent out especially for the exhibition. The four-day show allowed audio demonstrations, giving customers the chance to experience the sound quality of the full range of Chameleon amplifiers.

Nunes de Sousa, general manager of Audinova, commented: "It is amazing, Chameleon is a small company yet has developed technology to produce such a quality digital amplifier. Chameleon analogue amplifiers are well proven and now the digital Atlas range has created great interest during th

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UK - Chris Gunton & Associates, the specialist sound, lighting and video contractor, has recently completed a new bar/restaurant at 50 Dover Street, opposite the entrance to the famous London Ritz hotel. The venue owner, Whid, chose CGA to create a special environment following recommendations from trade. CGA identified that this installation would require quality, discrete sound - capable of background sound and also live music reproduction. In addition, stage lighting and disco lighting that would not infringe on the detailed interior design but that equally would be reliable and easy to use.

To carry the sound throughout all areas- bar, restaurant, stage, reception and toilet areas, CGA used a combination of EV Evid 4.2 speakers, JBL ceiling bass bins and JBL ceiling speakers. The Sound is controlled by the customer using simple Cloud Electronics RL1 controls which go back to

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Australia - Leading Australian electronic live act, Infusion, has upgraded its sound set-up with the addition of a PA28 from Allen & Heath's new PA series of portable live sound consoles. The three-piece band, which has worked with DJs such as Sasha, Junkie XL, Danny Howells, Lucien Foort and Dave Seaman, are currently signed to BMG but previously had releases on Thunk and Marine Parade. They have played in the UK at Fabric, in the US at Spundae, Centrofly and Buzz, in Tokyo at Womb and most recently, at Creamfields in Argentina.

The mixer is incorporated as one of Infusion's frontline instruments, operated by band member Jamie Stevens: "Already the Allen & Heath PA28 has proven its reliability to us in some extreme live situations. It also sounds so clear with very generous headroom which is really important to us when we want to give it that little bit more. It is a great

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USA - During the recent LDI exhibition in Orlando, Florida (21-23 October) ESTA (the Entertainment Services and Technology Association) announced the winners of the 2003 Dealers' and Manufacturers' Choice Awards.

The Dealers' Choice Customer Service Awards offer ESTA's Dealer Members the opportunity to publicly recognize those manufacturers that provide consistently good customer service throughout the year, and recognize high performance in four main areas - Customer Service, Shipping & Billing, Technical Support and Quotations/Project Management. Dealers cast their votes for Manufacturers in each of three categories based on the Manufacturers' number of employees, 1-6, 7-25, and over 25. The winners for 2003 are Doug Fleenor Design (1-6 employees category), City Theatrical (7-25 employees category) and Apollo Design Technology (over 25 employees category).

The Manufacturers'

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UK - A.C. Lighting has been appointed as a distributor of Wharfedale Professional products in the UK. The British audio manufacturer has been at the forefront of loudspeaker technology since 1932 and produces an impressive line-up of professional products ranging from conventional loudspeakers to its innovative LoudPanel technology.

Under the agreement Wharfedale will benefit from A.C. Lighting's position as a leading 'one-stop-shop' for entertainment technology products and services. The deal covers distribution for Wharfedale's professional and systems audio products. A.C. Lighting supplies all major professional audio brands across a portfolio of products which includes loudspeakers, power amplifiers, sound mixers, microphones, processors, recording equipment, as well as an extensive range of audio cables, connectors, stage boxes, stands and other accessories. The company's C

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The Netherlands - Sound Projects, who in 1999 introduced the SP4-Diamond system, which can be transformed from a stand-alone system into a full-blown vertical line-array, have now introduced their latest system, incorporating the patented Wave-Shape-Transformer.

Frank Zaayer, one of Sound Projects' senior designers, told us: "Since we could not be amongst the first on the market, we were determined to develop the best line-array system physically possible, naturally including the obligatory iso-phase wavefront control and cabinet shape that guarantees uninterrupted wave fronts and minimal losses for all frequencies - a combination of demands thus far only obtained by two or three manufacturers."

Zaayer continues: "Many sleepless nights and prototypes later, we ultimately got the vertical high frequency directivity right with help of the Wave-Shape-Transformer -

  1. Flagship RMX amplifier from QSC
  2. Shure Distribution UK at SBES
  3. Amptown installs Nexo at Holstenhalle Neumünster
  4. LDI reinforces optimism for industry
  5. QSC appoints export sales manager
  6. Proel turns up the heat
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