Sound

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Sweden - One of the largest touring musicals of 2008 has completed a nationwide run, playing 15 arenas all over Sweden. The Sound of Music, starring Pernilla Wahlgren and Tommy Nilsson, has carried full technical production from Malmö to Luleå, including a full Nexo Geo T line array system.

Originally, this production opened in a theatre in Stockholm, using a compact Geo S line array. On tour, the show is on the road for five weeks, playing in ice-hockey arenas to audiences of between 2,000 - 6,000. The sound reinforcement system has been provided by Music & Lights AB, a left/right flown Geo T line array design which varies slightly from venue to venue.

"Although they are all sports venues, we assess each one independently," says Matthias Andersson from Music & Lights. "We consider the needs of each location, especially the sightlines. The Geo T system

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UK - High End Systems Inc, located in Austin, Texas, USA wants to host one lucky winner to an all-expense-paid trip to Austin to visit their facilities and see some of their latest products - including the DL.3 Digital Light, Showgun, and the Road Hog Full Boar, plus many other exciting tools. Austin is the live music capital of the world, full of cowboy boots, margaritas and sunshine . . .

To enter, simply visit www.highend.com/austintrip

One winner will be selected at random to visit HES' world-class facilities for a private demonstration and be treated to Texas-style hospitality. But hurry! Contest ends June 15, 2008 at midnight BST.

Drawing rules: No purchase necessary. Entrants must be 21 years of age or older and possess a valid passport. Limited to one entry per person. Entries must be received by June 15, 2008. Random drawing will be held on June 16, 2008.

The priz

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UK - KT Tunstall will judge the final selection for an innovative new award for aspiring singer-songwriters in the UK - the Shure Creative Award, which will be sponsored by Shure Distribution UK, the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance and Play Music Pickup magazine.

Applicants will be required to upload a video of themselves performing an original song on any instrument to the website www.shurecreativeaward.com, which will be live beginning 30 May. All entries will be judged by the general public and a panel of experts. Tunstall will pick the final winners.

The winner will have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to professionally develop his or her musical talent and skills, including the opportunity to perform in live showcase events in London, by receiving a free scholarship for the Institute's one-year Higher Diploma course in London, which will commence in Octob

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UK - The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama is the first education venue to purchase a Stage Technologies' power-flying system for use with training modules which will be integrated into their curriculum. With an Illusionist control desk on their fly-floor and an additional 28 computers in their PC lab running Chameleon software, the RSAMD can now offer their students offline training on a virtual flying system and a real system to operate in their theatre.

Steve MacLuskie, lecturer of stage technology at RSAMD, comments: "The PC lab is an excellent facility and will allow students to play and experiment in a virtual environment without the worry and safety concerns of the real motors. Once comfortable with the virtual environment it will make the transition to the real desk and the real motors less intimidating."

As well as providing the RSAMD with the latest

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Germany - The International congress centre Eurogress in Aachen, already equipped with a Sound Projects Linex array system, has added a set of Sound Projects' line array in-one-box, DreamLine.

The DreamLines are rigged up on both sides of the main venue's stage and are used as front-fill/in-fill/down-fill. Eurogress also purchased another four Sound Projects X-act monitors. These are being used variously as stage monitor, side-fill or as a simple small PA kit.

* After 12 years in Hilversum Sound Projects' main office has moved to larger facilities and a logistically improved location in the centre of The Netherlands. The new address is: Karperweg 16, 1317 SN Almere. Phone: +31 36 5394570. Fax: +31 36 5300578. E-mail and website remains unchanged.(Jim Evans)

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France - Nexo has recorded one of its biggest system sales into eastern Europe, with the delivery of a substantial Geo T line array inventory, complete with amplifiers and operational accessories, to A-Logic Stage System in Budapest, Hungary.

The sale was handled by World Marketing Associates on behalf of Nexo and Lisys, distributor for Nexo products in Hungary, which supplied the loudspeaker system as well as several digital consoles, wired and wireless microphones, chainhosts, trusses and a full moving heads lighting system to a value of 1.4 million Euros.

A-Logic Stage System is a relatively new company which is setting its sights on top-end international touring shows and large-scale local events. According to WMA's Francis Williams, "Tthere have never been many large rigs in the accession countries as the acts that can attract large crowds generally tour with their o

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Australia - The Olympic Torch Relay arrived at Australia's national capitol Canberra amid much fanfare and media attention. Following incidents earlier in its travels, local organizers worked overtime to ensure that the event ran as smoothly as possible.

The audio specification for the event required systems be provided at two locations, the first at the dawn torch lighting ceremony and the second for the end of relay presentation and concert. Canberra company Eclipse Lighting and Sound were contracted to supply the audio design and equipment for the event. This also included a small system at Canberra airport for the torch's arrival. The whole event saw an extensive array of Electro-Voice equipment used throughout.

The official torch lighting ceremony led by the local chairman Ted Quinlan then saw the torch handed to the first of many runners that took it on a three hour rout

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Germany - The Eurogress international congress centre in Aachen, which had previously upgraded its sound reinforcement system with a Sound Projects Linex array system, has now expanded the system with a set of Sound Projects' "line array in-one-box" - DreamLine.

The main venue of the immense Eurogress, the 'Europa Saal', has a large capacity (2500 standing or 1800 seated) and a large stage with a variable height which can be lowered down to floor level, to give place to an additional 200 seats. The stage also has a variable depth from 3m up to 16m. This variability was the reason for Axel Dresbach, Eurogress technical manager, to add the DreamLines to the existing line array system of 16 Sound Projects Linex cabinets.

The DreamLines are rigged on both sides of the stage and are used as front-fill, in-fill and down-fill boxes. Dresbach explains: "The choice for t

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USA - American Music & Sound reports that Wharfedale Pro has joined the AM&S family of brands effective 1 May, 2008. Celebrating 75 years of producing loudspeakers, Wharfedale Pro joins AM&S with a full lineup of powered, passive, and install loudspeakers as well as amplifiers, mixers, and studio speakers.

"Wharfedale Pro is a fantastic addition to our Live Sound and Sound Reinforcement offering," states Lynn Martin, president of American Music & Sound. "They bring an historic brand legacy and couple that with state of the art manufacturing techniques making Wharfedale Pro a tremendous opportunity for dealers, sound companies, consultants, and installers in the USA."

Daniel Chang, Wharfedale Pro's managing director adds: "American Music & Sound's distribution network and expertise in Pro Audio markets is perfect for our products. We are very excited to

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USA - D&A Collective has installed two Xone:S2 mixers at the Hudson Terrace in New York City to handle both the main dance floor and the roof deck. High above 46th St in Manhattan's Midtown West, the new Hudson Terrace features a 7,000sq.ft rooftop deck in addition to more than 8,000sq.ft of multifunction space, bar, and outdoor patio.

"The Xone:S2 was the perfect choice for the Hudson Terrace for a number of reasons," states D&A's Steve Petrik. "The fader/rotary option makes a lot of sense for this space. I have the faders installed on the rooftop's S2 because the music up there tends to be more hip hop oriented, and the rotary option is installed on the dance floor which is great for club DJs. And, the fader/rotary units can be swapped as necessary to please the performing DJs."

The A/V System at Hudson Terrace, designed by Steve Petrik, is composed of co

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UK - Cirrus Research plc, which specialises in the design and development of noise measurement equipment for health and safety applications has launched its Noise in Action Photography Competition. Cirrus is looking for interesting, unusual or imaginative images of its noise measurement instruments in use, and the winner will receive a pair of Sennheiser PCX-350 Noise Cancelling Headphones. The closing date for entries is 29 August.

James Tingay of Cirrus Research explains, "Cirrus equipment is used in so many different sectors, from mining and industry, to clubs and bars, and we are looking to add colour to our promotional material and website with some really exciting images of our products in use."

The entries can include any Cirrus Sound Level Meter or the doseBadge Noise Dosemeter, and must include the product in use. Full competition rules can be found

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USA - Mackie has announced the appointment of Laz Harris to the position of Asia-Pacific market manager. In this newly created position, Harris will ensure Mackie and Tapco distribution partners are supported through marketing, training, tradeshows, product launches and other activities.

"We are confident that Laz will strike the critical balance between market opportunity, our business objectives and sales team support," said Adrian Bell, director of marketing. "We look forward to continued, explosive growth in our Asia-Pacific markets."

Harris joined Loud in November, 2004 and most recently held the position of product specialist. Harris will be based in Singapore, reporting to Adrian Bell.

(Jim Evans)

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Russia - D.A.S. distributor BossMan opted to install the D.A.S. Audio line array for the Zhara Club in the city of Voronezh. In addition to a dance floor and a bar, it also includes a stage where live music plays an important role.

Designed as a multipurpose location, the club contains two areas - one for live sound and one for background music. In the first area, two clusters that cover the entire dance floor have been installed. Each cluster incorporates six powered Variant 25A line array modules and two Variant 18A subwoofers.

Two powered SML-12A systems have been installed as stage monitors. Three Sub-218G subwoofers were chosen to supply high low frequency sound pressure levels.

In the second area, four powered DS-108A systems have been installed, along with four Sub-18-A powered subwoofer systems to enhance bass response. To achieve a high quality system for messaging

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USA - Turbosound will audition two new product ranges at opposite ends of the sound reinforcement spectrum, as well as a selection of its well established lines at Infocomm08. There will also be an advance preview of a new range of Turbosound sound contracting loudspeaker products.

"InfoComm is an exceptionally good showcase for Turbosound," says Brad Stephens from US distributor American Music & Sound. "This year on we have two very different and exciting new product ranges that we anticipate garnering a large amount of interest."

"We have worked hard to ensure that our product range continues to reflect the needs of the market," adds Turbosound's managing director Simon Blackwood, "and this is borne out by how well Flex Array has already been received. The combination of our new line array technology alongside Turbosound's proven virtual po

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Mexico - For the last 12 years, the town of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state Baja California, has hosted the Baja Prog festival. For the last two years, Nexo has been part of the event. Local PA company Audiomix provides a Geo S8 system for the 20 bands that come from all over the world to play.

This year's system was configured with 10-element hangs on either side of the stage (8x S805 plus 2x S830) with two CD18 subs on either side. Over the four days of the festival, the audience could enjoy an exotic bill of bands from Poland, Italy, the UK, Spain and Mexico. Among the big names were 1970s superstars Focus and Tony Levin from King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, as well as Cast (Mexicali host band), Alonso Arreola (México), Riverside (Poland), Omni (Spain), Rocket Scientists (United States), and the legendary New Trolls (Italy), Le Orme (Italy) and Circa.

(Jim

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USA - The Midas XL8 digital live performance system delivered "impeccable audio performance" at front-of-house for the recent Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

The three-week long rodeo is both the world's largest livestock exhibition and the world's largest rodeo event. Every night after the rodeo competitions wind down, the Rodeo brings on the big name entertainment, making it one of the world's largest live concert event series. This year, audience attendance for concerts by Brad Paisley and Hannah Montana both hit the 73,000 mark.

A veteran sound engineer of 30+ years, and long-time Midas enthusiast, Howie Lindeman worked alongside Houston's LD Systems - whose large deployment of Electro-Voice audio equipment ensures the Rodeo events and concerts sound superb every year - supervising the XL8, which was on hand as the house console for visiting engineers.

Most o

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USA - Shure Incorporated recently presented Advanced Wireless Seminars in four cities on the West Coast. The company is staging the events around the US for its dealers and technicians from major entertainment venues. This leg of the tour included stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.

The Seattle event took place at the Experience Music Project, an interactive museum of rock history. "The Experience Music Project is dedicated to the exploration of creativity and innovation in popular music, and we felt that it was the ideal place to stage this seminar," said Van Browne of Brownstone LLC, the Shure representative for the Pacific Northwest.

Each six-hour Advanced Wireless Seminar covers the fundamentals of radio waves, transmitter and receiver design, RF spectrum and 'White Spaces', frequency coordination, antenna placement, scanning equipment, a

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Portugal - After years of satisfied use of an Outline Doppia point source system, Megafone is changing to Butterfly, Outline's line-array.

Founded in 1998 by Eduardo Machado, Jose Manuel Machado and Miguel Andrade, Megafone is one of the busiest rental companies in Portugal and specialises in sound reinforcement for concerts, festivals, musicals and high profile shows.

The recently purchased Outline system comprises a total of 12 CDH 483 Hi-packs, supported by eight Victor Live subwoofers, all powered by T series digital power amps and processed by Genius 26 DSP.

On the occasion of the changeover to the Outlinearray, Megafone also decided to buy four Outline DVS 10 full-range enclosures for use as all-purpose systems.

Megafone co-owner José Manuel Machado comments, "This is another big step for us at Megafone - as was the case in 2003, when we bought the Doppia

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UK - d&b audiotechnik will be showing the latest additions to its E-Series range of loudspeakers and the new D6 amplifier at ABTT 2008.

"The E8 and E12 loudspeakers and the E15X subwoofer will all be on display," said Stephen (Oggi) Hogg who heads d&b's UK distribution. "These new loudspeakers will be of particular interest to all our friends and colleagues in the theatre fraternity; from our perspective they are the successors for the C6 and E9, performing with the same vocal presence, versatility, musicality and precise pattern control to which we have all become accustomed.

"The use of new materials and driver technology makes for a design that is lighter and remarkable both visually as well as functionally." Hogg continued "The D6 of course, maintains d&b's long history of high-efficiency, lower power consumption amplifiers that coupled with t

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USA - TobyMac, Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Trin-i-tee 5:7, and the David Crowder Band may have been among some of the top honorees at the 39th annual GMA Dove Awards held at the Grand Ole Opry House, but it was Natalie Grant who stole the show when she was named Female Vocalist of the Year for the third consecutive time, and performed her hit Bring it All Together live with country icon Wynonna Judd using Shure UHF-R wireless.

"To hear my name nominated in such company is such a huge honor," Grant told the Shreveport Times, humbly paying tribute to all the other artists singled out for kudos at the event. "My microphone used to be a hairbrush, and my audience used to be stuffed animals. I hold loosely to it all. I may be the flavour of the moment right now, but at some point it will be someone else's turn."

Having traded-in her hairbrush thi

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Spain - Every year for two weeks, the small city of Vinarós in Castellón, Spain, is transformed with the celebration of the Carnaval de Vinarós, a huge fiesta featuring vibrant shows with various themes. Sound reinforcement for this year's recently-concluded Carnaval was led by EAW KF Series line arrays and SB Series subwoofers.

E.J.R. Systems S.L, a sound and lighting rental company based in Benicarló, headed the sound reinforcement effort, collaborating with production suppliers Dodinuf and Yapadú Produccions on a main system featuring 32 KF730 Series small line array modules joined by 16 EAW SB1000z double-18" subwoofers.

"Day after day, I honestly enjoy my job more," states Eduardo Soriano, sound technician and co-owner of Yapadú Produccions. "I'm working with an unbeatable team of world-class brands such as EAW, as well as Lab.gruppen and Dolby L

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UK / Ireland - Sound Technology plc has announced the acquisition of Harman Professional Group's distribution business in the UK and Ireland from Harman International Industries, Inc.

The agreement transfers to Sound Technology a strong team of sales professionals and exclusive distribution rights for JBL Professional, Crown, Soundcraft, AKG, dbx, BSS Audio and Lexicon products in the UK and Ireland.

"Sound Technology is a premier pro audio distribution business in the UK and Ireland with strong market knowledge and a commitment to selling systems across Harman's served vertical markets," said Blake Augsburger, Harman Professional's CEO. "This direct-to-third-party shift provides Harman the entrepreneurial drive necessary to support its international go-to-market strategy".

"We are thrilled to be representing the legendary professional brands of Harm

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Australia / Singapore - Australian-based manufacturer ARX has announced that it will be exhibiting at the inaugural Eventech 2008 exhibition at the Singapore Expo, 25-26 June 2008 (Stand A6) and will be exhibiting for the first time in Asia their new range of USB Audio Interfaces.

These are the USB DI box - a USB-to-analogue transformer isolated audio input interface, and the ePre 2 USB - a true plug-and-play Digital-to-Analogue dual channel mic/line pre-amp to USB interface. Also on the ARX stand will be several additions to its popular AudiBox series of audio tools and its range of signal processing products.

ARX's managing director Colin Park said: "Eventech is a new and exciting exhibition for the Asian region with what looks to be a unique networking format for both exhibitors and more importantly show attendees. ARX's Singapore-based Rob Yeo and I are looking forwar

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UK - One of north London's best-known concert venues, the Mama Group-owned Kentish Town Forum, has been hosting live performances since the early 1980s, featuring a diverse array of artists. In recent years there had been concerns about the venue's sound quality, so a new Turbosound audio system has been installed.

"My job was to deliver products so that the venue can do its business successfully," says Archie McIntosh, director of VMS Live, who the Mama Group brought in to oversee the Forum's refurbishment. "I've used Turbosound Aspect in other projects and it was good to have the chance to use it in such a wonderful venue as the Forum."

The main front of house system comprises both ground stacked and flown elements. Four Aspect TA-880L low frequency, three TA-880H mid/highs and two TSW-218 subs per side are complemented by a pair of TA-500 Aspect Wide cab

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