Sound

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UK - Ofcom has commissioned a comprehensive study into the RF spectrum requirements of the programme making and special events (PMSE) sector. The study aims to assess programme makers' demand for spectrum and the availability of spectrum to the sector, both today and in the future. There is particular emphasis on digital TV switchover and how this will impact the availability of spectrum for wireless microphones.

The study will also look at the economic and social value derived from all uses of spectrum by the programme making and special events community, explore how spectrum can be secured for these uses and consider future spectrum management arrangements. This will inform Ofcom as it prepares to move the programme making sector towards market-based methods of spectrum allocation and management in 2007. The study is to be undertaken by a joint team from Quotient Associates Lt

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UK - Hawthorn has taken exhibition space for the first time at this year's ABTT Theatre Show (15-16 June 2005, Royal Horticultural Halls, London). "The show will give us the opportunity of raising awareness of our Hire, Sales and Installation teams and also give our staff the opportunity to meet the people they talk to on the phone," said the company's Alan Jackson.

Hawthorn was started nearly 20 years ago by MD Martin Hawthorn, hiring equipment out of his garage, and has now grown into an international company with over 85,000sq.ft of warehouse space in Old Dalby, near to Melton Mowbray, at the heart of Britain. "Being dealers for many of the world's leading suppliers and with a team who have many years of professional theatre, events and entertainment experience, we feel we are very well placed to offer all our customers the best advice and product available&quo

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UAE - A Midas XL4 console has been installed into one of the world's first seven-star hotels - the Emirates Palace - situated on the beachfront of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. The opulent establishment opened in February at a rumoured cost of over $3 billion. One of the many facilities the hotel offers is a conference centre, and the Midas XL4 was chosen as the centrepiece of the 1,200 capacity auditorium, where a programme of live entertainment runs alongside conferences and corporate events.

The sound, lighting and stage engineering systems were designed and specified by Theatre Projects Consultants, with Bond Communications winning the tender to engineer, supply and install the sound and communications systems.

"As analogue desks go, the XL4 is superb," says Mark Clay from Bond Communications. "It is normally situated in the control room, b

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Italy - RCF says its new 4PRO 7001-A is a powerful and precise sound system designed to work in concert sound applications, but is equally capable in professional sound situations such as large clubs and theatres. The system is an arrayable, active, medium-throw system that integrates 950W of Tri-Amplification modules, a complete electronic processor section and "full neodymium" RCF low distortion, high power transducers, say the company.

The new 15" mid-bass is the result of the latest developments of RCF's experience in speaker design and manufacture, say the company, offering an accurate and a tight bass response. The processor section includes active crossover, system equalization, transducer phase alignment, limiter and protection functions. The system is visually monitored from four status LEDs.

4PRO-7001 MH is the two-way mid-high system in a trapezoidal

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Germany - The new 1-channel model AX-1121T complements the Axxent T-Series power amplifiers, which are optimized for constant voltage distribution in fixed installations. Beside the constant voltage outputs with 50-, 70- and 100 V taps, the new model also provides an additional low impedance output (4 Ohms), say the company. The rated output power is 120W RMS at all output configurations. This broadband choice of outputs makes the new 1121T an ideal and most flexible choice for fixed installations.

The 19" 1U rack-mount unit features a passive cooling system which guarantees quiet operation, say Axxent. Operating conditions, such as power on/off, signal present and signal peaks close to clipping are indicated with different colour LEDs. The only control on the amplifier's front panel is the input sensitivity. For safety reasons, the potentiometer is detachable and can be re

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UK - A near-capacity 15,000 crowd thronged Trafalgar Square for the recent A Party To Remember Live - a two-hour concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of VE Day. Presented by Eamonn Holmes and Natasha Kaplinsky, the event saw appearances by Will Young, Katie Melua, Katherine Jenkins, Sir Cliff Richard, Dame Vera Lynn and more. With a strong presence by the Royal British Legion, and the event televised live on BBC One, memories of victory in Europe 60 years ago were strongly rekindled.

Sound company System Sound had their own challenges to face as they rigged a powerful Martin Audio line array system for the occasion. Working for production company Mantaplan (with Martin Vanstone as site manager), System Sound director and event sound designer, Simon Biddulph, said that the Martin line array system was always in his mind when the classical event specialists were awarded

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USA - L-Acoustics US has formally recognized Western Audio Sales as its 2004 Rep of the Year. The announcement came from Paul Freudenberg, L-Acoustics US vice president of sales and marketing, who recently presented the firm with an award. Charged with the loudspeaker manufacturer's Southern California territory, Western Audio Sales is headquartered in Costa Mesa and under the direction of Mike Klickstein who founded the firm in 1978.

Freudenberg notes that it was outside sales employee Dave Weidenhoffer who really clinched the award for Klickstein's company. "Dave's dedication to both his customers and L-Acoustics is exemplary," he said. "He is constantly generating fresh ideas to promote our products and new ways in which to meet customer needs. Consequently, we are very pleased to be able to recognize him and the rest of the Western Audio crew for their outstan

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Norway - Norwegian fiddle player Andreas Ljones believes in pushing the boundaries when playing and recording with his two bands by combining the latest technology with traditional instruments. Some of the most recent additions to his armory include a DPA 4088 miniature cardioid headset microphone, which is being used in a somewhat unconventional manner.

Ljones has started using the 4088 traditionally used as a headset mic for vocal applications - for his fiddle when playing live with the Andreas Skeie Ljones band, but turning the microphone boom around so that it points towards the instrument. He has found its cardioid characteristics mean the mic is much less sensitive to feedback when sharing a stage with other amplified instruments, and it can be used with his wireless transmitter to allow free movement on stage.

"I achieved some great results during tests of the 4088

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Australia / Cyprus - ARX Systems, the Australian based manufacturer of Professional Audio Equipment is very pleased to announce the appointment of S&V Mega Sound as their new Distributor for Cyprus. Nicosia-based S&V Megasound was established by Stelios Petrids and Mr Vassos Mouzouras in 2000, and alongside ARX also represents manufacturers including Mackie, Renkus-Heinz, XTA and RCF.

ARX's managing director Colin Park said: "Stelios Petrides and I finalised our distribution agreement, at last month's Pro Light&Sound in Frankfurt. S&V are a very professional company; Stelios and Vassos are very well known in the Cyprus industry as men of integrity and they're both a pleasure to work with. The Cypriot audio industry is a vibrant and growing market, especially with the increased levels of tourism the island is experiencing and having one of the 'big five' Cypriot Distributors

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UK / Belgium - Audient plc has appointed A.S.C. as official distributor for both the Audient and LA Audio ranges of products in Belgium. A.S.C., located on the edge of Brussels, is active in every sector of the live, recording and broadcast markets. Luke Baldry, sales and marketing director for Audient says: "There are many points to consider with distribution in Belgium, not least to find a company who can offer a complete distribution solution for our varied range of products but also to cover both the French and Flemish speaking areas of the country. A.S.C. cover every aspect that we are seeking."

The Audient and LA Audio lines complement the other products distributed by A.S.C., providing high quality pro audio products for a range of applications, say Audient. Etienne Lambert, sales director at A.S.C., adds: "We are very excited about working with the Audient

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UK - Sound Foundation and Allen & Heath have announced that the first showing in the UK of Allen & Heath's new GL2400, GL2800 and GL3800 mixing consoles will take place on the 9th, 10th and 11th of July 2005 at the Sound Foundation in Reading. All sound engineers, musicians and representatives of venues, clubs, theatres and churches are invited to the showing, which will also include the Allen & Heath ML range.

The Sound Foundation can be found at Unit 23 Headley Park Area 10, Woodley, Reading, Berks, RG5 4SW. Further information is available from the Sound Foundation website. To register, please email the address below.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Sound Division used their conceptual experience of lighting and staging to help transform the Sky Bar at the London Coliseum into a 1950s style jazz cocktail bar for a star-studded Tribute To Leonard Bernstein. The party, hosted by Jerry Hall, followed the Sky and Artsworld presentation of the English National Opera's On The Town, and was dominated by a stunning New York skyline - designed by Ed Thorpe and design director Adrian Harrison from the Special Projects team in Creative Services at Sky Television (Sky are season sponsors of the English National Opera). This formed an exhilarating backdrop, which was subtlely brought to life by Sound Division, working through the event's public relations agency Premier PR.

With little space to operate behind the black drapes, the company chose to integrate LED lights into the set itself, providing a twinkling night sky via t

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UK - FX Rentals provided some of the sound equipment for London's first Encompass DJ festival which took place around the hip bars of Shoreditch and Hoxton. The three-day event featured around 100 international electronic music and visual performers including Goldie, DJ Food, Speedy J and Jazzanova. FX supplied DJ packages to venues including Cargo, The Spitz, 93 Feet East, and The Vibe Bar. Among the large amount of equipment supplied were Technics SL1210 record decks, Pioneer DJM600 DJ mixers and CDJ1000 scratch CD players, Shure radio mic kits, Shure and AKG dynamic and condenser mics, Mackie mixers and speakers, plus a range of backline and outboard equipment.

Festival organizer Jon Terry said of FX Rentals: "Their involvement meant we could relax knowing that our extensive equipment requirements were taken care of. In the end, despite last minute additions and the fact

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UK - A fledgling Hull company is reporting continued success in creating a set of high tech equipment which it claims is revolutionising the DJ profession. Computer DJ - set up with the support of business development expertise from the University of Hull - is carving out a niche for itself by designing and producing systems for playing digital music for both the Mobile DJ and fixed installations. All systems are custom-built offering touch screen facilities and biometric fingerprint security.

This innovative blend of new hardware and software, which has cost up to a quarter of a million pounds to develop, allows the DJ to drag and drop their music files into play lists - allowing their full collection to be stored on one complete system. Shaun Minns, managing director of Computer DJ, based at the SHINE Knowledge and Innovation Park in east Hull, got the idea for his unique prod

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Italy - One of Milan's most popular clubs is planning to expand its universe: this summer, the classic La Banque restaurant and nightclub will open a unique outdoor venue, La Banque Estiva, located just a few miles north of central Milan. This new venture by La Banque's owners, the Maiorana family company Progemir, is a contrast to the original venue, which inhabits wood panelled marbled premises in an old city bank: with the large restaurant and lounge bar on the first floor, the disco is downstairs in the old bank vault, and the whole venue is elegantly furnished with deep red curtains and fittings which attract a diverse crowd of all ages. Footballers, politicians, stars of TV and the nearby La Scala opera house can be found alongside fashion models and businessmen.

Franco Maiorana expects the same crowd to follow him to La Banque Estiva, or the 'summer bank', where the cuisi

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USA - Turbosound's Aspect series of loudspeakers recently completed its US festival debut at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. One of the USA's largest annual festivals, the two-day event featured five performance stages, with rental company Rat Sound Systems Inc deploying a 34-enclosure Aspect rig for the festival's Mojave Tent. The Aspect design's accurate, tightly-focused dispersion pattern helped to reduce reflections from the tent's sidewalls, while also limiting the spill into adjacent tents, say the company.

The Mojave Tent was filled to capacity during the festival, with some 5,000 people inside, and a further 1,000 or so listening in at the doorways. Rat Sound's Turbosound Aspect system utilized a total of 12 TA-890H mid/highs and 18 TA-890L (2 x 15") bass cabinets, plus a further four TA-890H units as fills, with their waveguides r

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UK - Lez Patterson, production manager and FOH engineer for the live stage at the London Guitar Show, held at the Wembley Exhibition Centre on 7-8 May, spec'd a stage full of Audio-Technica mics for the event. Patterson, whose sound company, Q Audio, has run the live performance stage for the Guitar Show for several years, spec'd the mics after positive experience and feedback from artists, when he used A-T at last year's event.

Patterson spec'd the AE5400 handheld vocal condenser for all vocal duties, and the AE3000 large diaphragm cardioid condenser instrument microphone, for guitar cabs, acoustic instruments, percussion, overheads, and "anything that requires a natural sound."

"The AE3000 has been a total revelation as a multi-tasking large condenser," says Patterson, "and the AE5400 performs fantastically on vocals for all types of acts, from the I

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USA - Water took centre stage at the Walt Disney Concert Hall recently for the Los Angeles premiere of Water Passion After Saint Matthew, an exotic piece conducted by Grant Gershon and composed by Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun. The work was scored for bass, soprano, violin and cello soloists, in addition to a chorus and three water percussionists who performed on large bowls of water, splashing with their hands and using other devices to draw music from the water itself.

Sound designer Jody Elff turned to DPA's 4052 Compact Omni-directional microphones to capture the dizzying array of musical sounds created by the relentless motion of the water. "The obvious technical challenge is how to amplify a bowl of splashing water," Elff said. "At various points in the show, the water is extremely quiet‹no more than tiny drips‹and yet these sounds are essential to

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UK - Sound specialist Apple Sound has supplied a Sennheiser UHF evolution Tourguide system to the ISIS research facility of the CCLRC (Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils). The government-funded CCLRC operates three world-class research laboratories including the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL). RAL consists of many leading facilities including research into microelectrics, micro- and nano-engineering, the Central Laser facility including the world's most intensely focused laser, space science and technology and ISIS.

Supporting an international community of around 1,600 scientists, ISIS is the world's most powerful neutron and muon source, used to study atomic structure for research in physics, chemistry, materials science, geology, engineering and biology. The materials research at ISIS takes place around the target station, a building of stadium p

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UK - Absolute Music Solutions, the audio retailer based in Poole, Dorset, has announced that they have acquired The M Corporation. The M Corporation was established 15 years ago to provide a high level of customer service to the professional audio industry. Over the intervening years, the dedication and technical ability of the staff established the company as a market leader. In 2003, four of the most experienced staff left The M Corporation setting up Absolute Music Solutions and concentrating on developing new areas. Absolute Music Solutions' acquisition of The M Corporation completes the circle, reuniting key members of The M Corporation team and is a sign of the group's growing strength and confidence.

Alan Barclay, managing director of Absolute Music Solutions commented: "We are very excited by this development. The M Corporation was originally set-up with a very simi

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USA - Neumann microphones and Sennheiser personal monitors figure prominently in Barry Manilow's new long-term engagement at the Las Vegas Hilton, which started at the end of February. Manilow, who has produced over 50 albums during 30 years of performing, is presenting Manilow: Music and Passion five times a week for 24 weeks throughout 2005 and into 2006 at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater.

Front-of-house engineer John Godenzi reports that both Neumann KK 104-S and KK 105-S microphone capsules on Sennheiser SKM5000N handheld transmitters are being used by Manilow and his four backing singers in the traditional Broadway-style show. "We're using four of the 105s on the backing singers/dancers," he says. "Barry uses four microphones in different places on the stage, but the main two are the cardioid KK 104-S."

Manilow: Music and Passion features a

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UK - Klark Teknik's worldwide EQ Amnesty, which offers clients the chance to trade in a previously-owned EQ unit against a brand new DN370 analogue graphic equaliser on a part-exchange basis, has now been rolled out across Italy to great effect. During a one-month period, 178 EQs were traded in for DN370s.

"The operation was very successful and has given many customers the opportunity to replace their existing equalisers with a new, high quality Klark Teknik DN370," says Pierfranco Galeone, owner of Klark Teknik¹s Italian distributor Texim. "This elevates the quality of the services they can offer to rental clients by featuring Klark Teknik on their inventories."

And following a tradition launched by Midas Consoles Holland, Texim also called in some heavy machinery to dispose of the amnestied equalisers (see photo link for details). Features of the DN370 i

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UK - In recognition of the changes taking place across the recording industry, APRS, the Professional Recording Association, has introduced a number of new membership categories designed to address the needs of the smaller professional and non-professional members, as well as the Association's existing established membership.

Musicians and engineers who have an interest in creating music but don't make a living from it are being encouraged to join the Music Maker Category D, which cost £75 per year. Benefits include technical advice via a dedicated e-group, quarterly bulletins, invitations to APRS social events, a copy of the APRS handbook and a listing in the handbook and on the Association's website.

Musicians and engineers who do earn their living from making music can now join the Professional Music Maker Category C, which costs £125 per year. This category is aimed at p

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UK - Carlsbro has developed the Liberty wireless system, a "unique" product, say the company, that allows any powered speaker to be linked to any mixer, without cables. The initial system is supplied with one transmitter and two receivers, although additional receivers are available singularly for larger speaker and installation configurations and will operate from the same transmitter.

The Liberty's uniqueness, say Carlsbro, come from the fact that it broadcasts a 2.4GHz uncompressed signal suitable for multi-speaker and multi-room environments, which means a high quality of output, almost without loss. The Liberty Wireless was developed primarily for the installation and professional PA markets, but is useful in any environments where cables are used, say Carlsbro.

(Lee Baldock)

  1. XTA in Amsterdam's latest music venue
  2. JBL VerTec: Crème de la Cream
  3. Joe Jackson with Sennheiser/Neumann
  4. Intellivox for St Peter's, Belfast
  5. EV solution for Brighton Metropole
  6. EV and Ruton's Moscow Academy
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