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UK - Graham Paddon has fulfilled a life-long ambition and formed his own sales company - Amber Sound. Paddon has spent his entire career in audio; after 18 years at Micron's Audio Engineering he went on to guide Autograph Sales through nearly two decades of trading. Amber Sound offers a wide range of high end products, and aims to make customer support and after care sales its main concern.

Jamie Gosney has joined Paddon at Amber Sound, bringing with him over 20 years of technical sales and end-user experience across all sectors of pro audio. Mike Charman is on board to focus on communication systems and the broadcast market, while Claire Paddon joins the team, bringing with her experience in sales, PR and marketing.

"Amber Sound is something I've wanted to do for many many years," says Paddon, "I've teamed up with some great manufacturers to offer high-end prod

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UK - While small warm-up dates in anticipation of a major stadium tour can often prove a nice appetizer for a band, it can cause havoc for sound crews, forced with shoe-horning the stadium-size wall of sound coming off the stage into small-capacity clubs and theatres bearing a wide range of different room characteristics.

Previewing songs from their new album, Oasis played such unlikely London venues as The Coronet, as well as the Astoria, Clapham Grand and Hammersmith Apollo, with PA provided by top rental house SSE Hire, with Britannia Row supplying monitors and FOH sound engineer Bruce Johnston (Bruce Johnston Audio Services) the FOH control. It was a blessing for system tech Dan Lewis, therefore, when SSE Hire's Richie Rowley announced that he could make the new BSS Soundweb London BLU-80 available to afford him greater control options.

Lewis, who has been working with the

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UK - The Church of Christ The King in Brighton has undergone a refurbishment of its audio facilities, including the installation of a new 32-channel Midas Legend console that also operates as a foldback mixer.

Live music plays a prominent role in the Church's services, and a number of touring Christian music bands perform there, so technical expectations are high. After extensive discussions with Shuttlesound, the Midas distributor in the UK, the Church selected the Legend with 32 mono plus 4 stereo channels, supplied to Modern AV by Autograph Sound.

The Church is based in a large modern building that was previously a warehouse but is now home to one of the New Frontiers group of churches. Its services are held in a large meeting hall on the upper floor with regular congregations of around 900 worshippers.

"The layout of the building didn't provide space for a permanent

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Spain - This year's European AES exhibition in Barcelona benefited not just from the great location and excellent weather, but also from the introduction this year of seminars aimed at the live sound sector - one of which was Sunday's Loudspeaker Line Arrays session that was presented by John Taylor and Ralf Zuleeg from d&b audiotechnik.

This was a three-part seminar that took place over four hours and began with a presentation from John Taylor titled Demystifying audio techniques, which embraced visual images, experiments and practical demonstrations that included the assistance of Daisy the duck*. This part of the session was aimed at expanding the participant's knowledge in order to obtain the maximum benefit from sound systems, concluding with what constitutes a well-behaved loudspeaker and how it affects what we hear. Ralf Zuleeg then took the stage to look at

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UK - The HSL Group is to exhibit at ABTT for the first time. HSL is currently supplying lighting to some major UK theatre tours including Blood Brothers, Joseph & His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Tommy, as well as servicing other major arts events like the Holland Park Opera Festival and providing equipment to TV studios across the UK. HSL is also sponsoring the Bar in the mezzanine level of the Lawrence Hall throughout the show."

HSL is now streamlined into three divisions. HSL Rental is "fully committed to ongoing investment in the latest technology to offer lighting designers and specifiers all the cutting-edge creative tools". HSL Rigging provides bespoke rigging solutions to corporate, theatre and live music events and HSL Sales & Distributions is the sole UK and Irish distributor for Community Loudspea

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The Netherlands - HOF audio - lighting - vision has invested in a complete sound package from Alcons Audio. The system consists of 18 units LR16 ribbon line array modules with ALC4 controller-amplifiers and extensive rigging. An AIM (Alcons InclinoMeter) digital incline levelling system has been added to enable accurate bumper positioning.

The decision to opt for the LR16s was made after extensive testing of the system during a number of high profile concerts with the Dutch Horn Ensemble, North Netherlands Orchestra and the Marines band in such venues as Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Rotterdam's De Doelen theatre.

HOF owner Bart Hof comments: "The projection of the system is impressive, it gives an honest reproduction, perfect imaging, crystal clear response and speech intelligibility is unsurpassed as a result of the ribbon technology. With the LR16 we can now offer a

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UK - Further to the article in this issue on the future problems concerning radio spectrum trading, there have been some new developments that are too late to get written up for this issue. Essentially JFMG has made its future plans public, and contrary to popular belief is not looking to act as a Spectrum Management Organisations (SMO) - essentially a profit making retailer/manager of spectrum for entertainment use. JFMG says it prefers an alternative model where spectrum rights are owned directly by the users themselves, rather than by intermediaries. The concept is described in detail in the JFMG's document Future Spectrum Management for Programme Making and Special Events which is available from the JFMG website here.

M

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USA - L-Acoustics US has enlisted BYZ International to direct its sales efforts within the Latin American market. Based in Fort Lauderdale, BYZ is led by Adinaldo Neves.

Neves' pro audio industry beginnings date back to the early '90s when he started designing concert systems and studios in Brazil. Over the past ten years, he has been involved with sales and marketing for Digidesign, Loud Technologies and other companies in Latin America. He also co-authored the book Tecnologia aplicada à Música (Technology applied to Music).

"We feel very fortunate to have found Adi for this position," says Paul Freudenberg, vice-president of sales and marketing for L-Acoustics US. "His rich background in electronics, sales and marketing, combined with his intimate familiarity with the Latin American market, will undoubtedly afford us an increased presence from Baja Californi

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UK - London-based Sound Hire has just purchased a DiGiCo D1 Live after becoming one of the first companies to invest in the D5 Live back in September 2002. The rental company, founded by Richard Lienard, has continued its commitment to DiGiCo by purchasing the D1 Live to meet their client's increasing demands for a more compact live console that still provides the versatility and sound quality of the D5.

For Lienard, the addition of a D1 to his console stock was the logical step to take. "You can customise the D1 very easily to suit your requirements for a particular show or event," explains Lienard. "It reduces the need for outboard equipment, and consequently space - a real bonus at front of house and during transportation - because the console has such excellent internal effects processing it's not necessary to carry extra racks with you. It has the added advan

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UK - Marquee Audio has supplied London audio rental specialist Blitz Sound with two Yamaha PM1D digital consoles, which have been used for a run of reality TV shows, including the BBC's Comic Relief Does Fame Academy. "We buy a large amount of our stock from Marquee, who also supplied our two Yamaha PM5D desks," says Blitz's Peter Russell. "Following discussions with Andy Huffer at Marquee, the PM1Ds were specified by Andy Groves, CTV's head of sound for Fame Academy; we then bought the two consoles and, since that date, they haven't spent more than a week in our building."

In terms of covering the biggest area and using the most inputs, Fame Academy is the largest of the productions to have used the brace of PM1Ds. The desks have also been used by Blitz on The Games for Channel 4 and on Channel 5's The Farm. Russell says: &

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USA - Northway Christian Church in Dallas, Texas, has a new sound system based around EAW's DSA Series line arrays. These were introduced when acoustical panels had been removed during a general refurbishment and reverberation problems were encountered.

The Church enlisted the services of Fort Worth Electro Acoustics & Video consulted where president Chris Jordan comments: "At first, I was pretty certain the church would have to reinstall the acoustical panels to achieve a more desirable reverb time. However, I'd heard about EAW's DSA Series line arrays, which can steer the output directly at the congregation, and away from the troublesome reflective surfaces. This proved to be an elegant and practical solution to the problems at Northway."

Jordan continues, "The DSAs are incredibly compact and unobtrusive for all the sound they put out, but we made them even le

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USA - Long-established Manhattan nightclub Webster Hall has installed a new live sound reinforcement system, including a full L-Acoustics dV-Dosc loudspeaker rig, in its 1,400-capacity Grand Ballroom.

In recent years, live concerts at Webster Hall have been a rarity, with only a handful being promoted by media giant Clear Channel, and the venue's focus has been almost exclusively on dance music. Now, The Bowery Presents (TBP), a local concert promotion company that also owns and handles shows for the Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge, is bringing live music back to the 120-year-old venue.

Designer Matt Kasha's newly-installed sound system comprises twin dV-DOSC/dV-SUB line source arrays hung to the left and right of the Grand Ballroom stage. Each array has a single dV-SUB with 12 dV-DOSC cabinets flown below and three additional dV-SUBs hung at show trim. To augment the syste

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UK - Sigma Audio Visual has supplied a full DTS 5:1 sound system - consisting of five Outline Micra SP cabinets and an Outline Globesub - to the Tower of London. The system, which is all self-powered is controlled via Millenium DTS signal processor.

The DTS system saw service at the Tower for two weeks from 19 May through to 4 June 2005 in the Tower of London's Salt Tower, which in medieval times was used to store the saltpetre which was used in the manufacture of gunpowder.

Serious Productions commissioned Sigma AV as they were the only company to have a DTS solution for a specific work that was recorded by Platinum Tones recording Studios in Leicester. Tony Platt, producer for the piece, said he was overwhelmed by the quality and attention to detail that Outline and Sigma achieved.

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - Thunder Audio is putting its recently purchased MILO curvilinear array system to work on Robert Plant's 22-date summer US tour. According to Thunder vice-president Paul Owen, 34 MILO cabinets will be employed to fill the houses on the tour, which kicks off on June 15 in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded more than 25 years ago, Thunder Audio is well-known for servicing heavy rock clients such as Metallica and Slipknot, but actually has a diverse clientele that includes the Detroit Symphony.

"I got to use the MILO system with Metallica when we were in Iceland," Owen recounts. "We were coming off of two years of touring with them where we saw just about every kind of system available on the European festival circuit. Now, I take (Metallica FOH engineer) Big Mick's opinion on a system more than anyone else's, having known him for twenty-five years. After using M

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UK - Tyco Integrated Systems (TIS) has been awarded a £1m plus contract by Transport for London (TfL) to provide a new generation integrated emergency communications system for the Rotherhithe Tunnel.

Radio public address will provide information and advice during emergencies by voice break-in direct to car radios via FM, MW, LW and DAB channels. The Rotherhithe Tunnel is believed to be the first tunnel in the UK to provide DAB radio rebroadcast with emergency voice break-in. The DAB voice break-in facility ensures future-proofing as digital radio replaces analogue and DAB vehicle radios become standard features.

Under normal circumstances, 21 analogue stations and all available DAB stations (five multiplexes) will be rebroadcast throughout the tunnel. Listeners in the tunnel will not have to take any action: the break-in announcements will simply replace all the normal progr

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Japan - One of Tokyo's highest profile nightclubs, Space Lab Yellow, has installed an Allen & Heath Xone:92 professional DJ mixer in the main DJ booth. The addition is part of a refurbishment of the lounge and bar spaces, and adds to the club's existing system, which contains an ML5000 VCA console, Xone:62 and Xone:464 DJ/club mixer.

The venue has hosted the promotional night World Connection since 1991, bringing top DJs and performers from overseas and developing new talent. Yellow's sound engineer, Mr. Kikuchi, commented: "In a nutshell, Allen & Heath's sonic quality is in a different class, and when I installed the Xone:92 it was as if I could actually see the sound. The high frequencies are sharp and clear, while the bass feels like somebody is beating a massive kick drum. I'm astounded by the mixer's huge cosmic sound scale - it's absolutely like no other!"

Acco

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Denmark - Nordic Rentals A/S has purchased 36 Crown I-Tech I-T4000 amplifiers, primarily for use in a fully digital monitor setup with a Yamaha PM5. Nordic Rentals A/S is one of Denmark's leading rental and production companies.

Technical Director of Nordic Rentals, Jens Elsborg, comments on choosing the the I-T4000: "The I-Tech Series from Crown is an ideal choice for us as monitor amp for several reasons. Most important is of course the sonic superiority of the Crown Class-I switchmode and PFC technology that makes I-Tech sound better than any other amplifier on the market. The on-board DSP-pack has a lot of nice features, is very easy to use, eliminates the need for external controllers and simplifies the wiring considerably. And the reduced weight makes handling easier for everybody! Furthermore, with digital inputs and TCP/IP networking capabilities, the I-Tech amps ar

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South Korea - Cadac reports the first installation in Asia for the M16 Remote Controlled Microphone Amplifier - at the Yonsei Central Baptist Church which boasts a 13,000-strong congregation. The M16 package was supplied by local Cadac distributor Dreamsound.

The Church's sound engineer, Mr Park, commented, said: "It was vital that we used high performance microphone preamplifiers on all primary sources in order to provide the clear and intelligible reproduction required within a house of worship. We auditioned a variety of microphone preamps and were very impressed by the Cadac M16. The other immediate benefit of using the M16 is that it has integrated seamlessly with our Harrison console."

The M16 integrates 16 of Cadac's classic mic pre-amps into a 19" rack unit, providing three active splits per channel plus a MADI interface. Up to 16 M16 units can be contro

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UK - Allen & Heath has licensed EtherSound and plans to incorporate the protocol in digital audio products. "EtherSound's responsiveness to user requests, and the consequent rapid evolution of this technology have been impressive," says A&H managing director Glenn Rogers.

EtherSound business development manager Jimmy Kawalek comments, "Allen & Heath could have chosen any technology to network its digital audio products. We're very pleased to have them as a member of the growing community of EtherSound licensees, which includes manufacturers of consoles, amplifiers, loudspeakers and safety systems as well as general-purpose and manufacturer-specific network interfaces."

In related news, Bittner Audio has licensed the open EtherSound standard in order to provide digital audio connectivity for its professional power amplifier line. "As live sound moves in

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USA - Dave Keller has been named executive vice president of sales and marketing at Furman Sound. He assumes the role after having been with the company since July 2004 when he joined as vice president of the consumer electronics division, business development, and international sales. Keller's responsibilities will include overseeing the sales and marketing functions for Furman's consumer, professional, and international divisions.

"Furman Sound is in a great position right now," says Keller. "At a time when professional and consumer A/V users are just realising that they have to do something about the very real AC power problems they are facing, we've launched our next-generation technologies that address these issues better than anything else available. I'm looking forward to introducing our latest products to a much larger family of users."

(Jim Evans)

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Canada - Toronto entertainment complex The Docks has expanded its attractions and audio networking capabilities. System designer PA Plus and contractor Sound Dymax paired new rooms with a facility-wide audio system retrofit. "The Docks is the poster child for audio transport and external control for DSPs," says Peter Lima of PA Plus. "This is a facility where size really does matter. Because of its size and technical demands, the limits of external control and distance of audio transport truly test the Cat 5's infrastructure."

With twelve external and sixteen internal zones, the Docks project was a complex operation for PA Plus. Ease of control, flexibility and future expandability were the priorities for Lima, who also executed the original DSP programming and system design. "The number of remotes that were required for installation in the facility was

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USA - Massachusetts-based Scorpio Sound recently purchased seven Lake Contour digital speaker processors, configured as two complete systems, to provide multi-zone speaker optimization of its touring audio systems. Lake Contour's high-resolution DSP-based speaker processing features, which include equalization, crossovers, and limiting, are controlled by Scorpio Sound's engineers using wireless touch screen tablets supplied with each of the two systems. MO

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Europe - Meyer Sound reports that European sound hire companies are "working overtime to keep up with an increasing demand for Meyer Sound systems at festival sites from the Baltic to the Mediterranean".

For Sweden's annual Hultsfred Festival, Starlight AB is powering the four main stages. M3D line arrays anchor the Hawaii and Pampas stages (25,000 and 12,000 capacity respectively), while MILO curvilinear arrays cover 5,000 at the Atlantis stage and M2D compact curvilinear arrays service the indoor theatre.

In Spain, major festivals that are scheduled to use Meyer systems include Metro Rock in Madrid, Festimad Sur between Madrid and Toledo, and the Festival International Benicassim (FIB) on the Mediterranean Coast near Valencia.

Meanwhile, on the shore of Lake Geneva, Switzerland, Meyer is about to notch up its 19th consecutive year as a sponsor of and official sou

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USA - The newly-opened Club Pure in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas features wall-to-wall Turbosound loudspeakers. The 36,000sq.ft club boasts four distinctly different nightlife areas, each with its own audio system, installed by Scott Fisher, owner of The Wave Sound in Las Vegas.

The main dance floor at Pure is a rectangular room flanked on two sides by raised VIP platforms. There are eight Turbosound TQ-315 loudspeakers, four TQ-425 dual 15" subwoofers, and two TSW-718 dual 18" subwoofers covering the dance floor. In addition, Turbosound manufactured six custom horn clusters with four drivers each that hang over the dance floor. An additional four TQ-308 loudspeakers cover the VIP platforms. Surrounding the main dance floor are two more TQ-308s, eight TCS-59s and three TQ-115 subwoofers.

The VIP facility, the Red Room, has a system comprising eight TQ-308s, three TCS

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