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UK - Weston-Super-Mare's beach once again played host to T4 on the Beach on Sunday 20th July, 2008. This year the event attracted it's largest live audience of 45,000 and a total of 30 artists including Kelly Roland, McFly, The Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls, Basehunter, Sam Sparro, Neo, Duffy and the Ting Tings.

Done and Dusted managed the event for Channel 4, bringing in production manager Tony Wheeler of Nine Yards to look after all aspects of the live production. Wheeler comments: "This year's event grew most significantly. We like to keep our team consistent and once again entrusted Power Logistics to ensure there was uninterrupted power, particularly important for an event driven by its live television show. As ever they have been exemplary and taken all of the late changes an event of this nature throws up in their stride."

Tony Harpur led the Power Logistics te

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UK - 27 June saw a number of high-profile artists including Annie Lennox, Leona Lewis, the Sugababes and Will Smith assemble in London's Hyde Park for a concert to mark the 90th birthday of the former president of South Africa ­ and global icon ­ Nelson Mandela.

Organised by 46664, Nelson Mandela's global HIV AIDS awareness campaign, the concert was a celebration of Mr Mandela's 90th year and marked the 20th anniversary of the Free Nelson Mandela concert staged at Wembley in 1988. The concert also raised funds for his 46664 campaign to fight HIV and AIDS worldwide. This was the fifth 46664 concert that Sennheiser has supported, continuing a long standing relationship with the charity.

Working in association with the event's audio production company, Britannia Row, Sennheiser not only supplied equipment but also a high-profile technical team to the event, including Mark Saund

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USA - Hard Rock Park, billed as the world's first rock 'n' roll theme park, is "a multifaceted musical experience that brings to life the iconic music that changed the course of music history and continues to influence generations of music fans".

Located in the Atlantic Coast resort town of Myrtle Beach, this $400 million music fan's dream boasts themed rock 'n' rollercoasters like Led Zeppelin: The Ride and Eagles: Life in the Fast Lane among its 50 rides and attractions, and dedicates entire sections of the park to pop-music movements such as the British Invasion, '70s era rock and even country music.

Peavey worked closely with Hard Rock Park and systems integrator Electrosonic to create an unparalleled music experience. As the first new major attraction built in the US in nearly a decade, Hard Rock Park benefits from the evolution of te

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USA - Allen & Heath's iLive-80 digital console along with an iDR-8 digital zone mixer, and six remote control PL Series wall plates were installed at the Children's Theatre of Annapolis as part of a full audio system recently completed by Dennis Wilson at Audio Plus.

A new construction, the Children's Theatre hosts local and regional productions as well as other events. The iLive-80 provides FOH as well as monitor mixing duties and the iDR-8 takes care of all main loudspeaker, monitors, and zone speaker management. There are a variety of Allen & Heath PL wall plates installed in various locations throughout the theatre providing remote control of the system.

"The iLive/iDR integration is the perfect solution for theatre," states Sales Reps Audio Associates' Charles Cassell. "It is infinitely flexible and has a ton of features that will allow the system to grow w

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UK - W1 Productions has given a high profile baptism to the lowest-profile floor monitors - pressing their new Martin Audio LE1500 monitors into service for 31 consecutive nights at Koko in Camden Town throughout the month of July - the duration of the iTunes Live: London Festival '08 season.

The Festival has included performances from over 60 bands - from established acts such as The Feeling, Suzanne Vega, N*E*R*D and James Blunt to up and comers such as Hadouken! and The Ting Tings.

Stuart Turvill, who runs Bury St. Edmunds-based W1 Productions, says he had planned to upgrade his hire fleet - which already includes a large inventory of Martin Audio components - "but the iTunes Festival provided the trigger, as we needed to move up to a bigger box." And so he purchased 14 of Martin Audio's flagship monitor.

He added, "These have proved very popular and

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USA - Blue Man Group, whose globally successful show is a performance art spectacle rooted in dynamic percussion, relies upon EV mics. Matt Koenig, audio director/designer for Blue Man Group, is responsible for specifying sound reinforcement equipment for all the Blue Man Group productions around the world. Drums and percussion are the driving force of every show and picking the right drum mics is a top priority to ensure consistently excellent sound quality. Koenig explained how he arrived at the Electro-Voice N/D468 and N/D868.

"We gathered a group of mics from various manufacturers, set them up in our studio rehearsal space in New York, and had a shootout," Koenig says. "We soon found the N/D468 and N/D868 to be the best-sounding mics for our application. They won fair and square, and were judged by people who really know drum sound, as that's such a huge part

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UK - This summer has seen the busiest festival season yet for Chris Beale Associates (CBA), whose packages of wireless, site-wide communications have been adopted by many outdoor events including Glastonbury, Download Festival, the V Festivals, Reading and Leeds, Latitude, T in the Park and Radiohead's Glasgow outdoor show, while corporate events have included shows for the Royal Horticultural Society.

The objective of CBA Wireless Events, the networking operations part of CBA, founded by Chris Beale in 2005, is to transform communications between the myriad companies and people scattered across event sites spanning hundreds of acres - Glastonbury's Worthy Farm being a prime example.

Today, Beale says that wireless is in demand across major event sites to an unprecedented extent. "It was our second year at Glastonbury in an independent role, contracted to supply IT, netwo

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UK - fabric has added the Vestax PMC-580 4-Channel DJ Mixer with on-board digital effects and PDX-3000 turntables to its stock of premium DJ equipment. fabric is one of five clubs in the UK chosen to receive a PMC-580 Mixer sponsored by Vestax, organised by exclusive UK distributors Leisuretec Distribution.

Technical manager of fabric, Sanjeev Bhardwaj commented: "This is fabric, our reputation is everything and we have to have to have the best equipment available for our artists. Having road tested the Vestax PMC-580, this mixer is superb."

He continued: "The 580 is a very powerful, high level mixer, making it not just suitable for a large club like fabric, but smaller clubs too.The features are excellent, it's easy to work with and it's not cramped at the back. The 580 has every feature set you could want on a mixer; analogue and digital mode, MIDI, master out

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USA - With sales of over 25 million albums, seven number-one hits, and eleven Grammys in less than a decade in the spotlight, Alicia Keys is at the top of her game. This summer will find her headlining shows and playing festivals throughout the world in support of her third studio album, As I Am.Keys sings into a Sennheiser SKM 5200 wireless mic with a dynamic MD 5235 capsule. Her backing singers use Sennheiser SKM 935 G2 wireless mics, and all of the mobile members of the band, including Keys, rely on evolution wireless ew 300 IEM G2 wireless personal monitor systems.

FOH engineer Larry Mignona comments, "The 5235 has a warm sound without the unnatural high-end boost that's so prevalent in many wireless mics. In my opinion, that high-end boost is there to flatter singers who can't really sing. But Alicia can really sing. In addition, the rejection from a Sennheiser

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France - L-Acoustics has announced the launch of the K1/KUDO Pilot Programme. This announcement follows the recent publication of an interview of Christian HEIL and Stéphane Ecalle at ProLight & Sound 2008 in which L-Acoustics unveiled the V-DOSC sequel and the future creation of a global DOSC Network.

The K1/KUDO Pilot Programme will be proposed primarily to existing members of the DOSC Network - V-DOSC and KUDO owners with an interest in advanced field proofing of the new K1/KUDO/LA8 system architecture for stadium and arena applications.

The K1/KUDO Pilot Programme is expected to last for a period of 24 months, a necessary time prior to the official launch of the future L-Acoustics Stadium line array system. K1/KUDO Pilot rental companies will closely collaborate with L-Acoustics R&D team and technical support. Emphasis will be put on preset validation, stadium syste

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UK - Specialist supplier of audio visual, multimedia and videoconferencing technology, Saville Audio Visual has expanded its commitment to KV2 Audio - by adding to its existing inventory of KV2 Audio ES Series - in a number of the company's 14 locations across the UK.

Saville's Hull office has recently added 14 KV2 Audio EX10 two-way, full-range, active enclosures, all of which have joined Hull's existing four stacks of KV2 ES Series in time for the current 15-week, televised, Premier League tour for the Professional Darts Corporation.

The tour attracts live arena audiences of up to 8,000 per night and is transmitted live on Sky Sports channel. The KV2 Audio system provides the main sound requirement for each event, from the warm-ups, player walk-ons, referee decisions and TV announcements.

A double KV2 ES Series stack either side of the stage, each comprising of two flown E

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USA - One of America's most iconic monuments, the 60ft high carvings of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt on Mt. Rushmore took the sculptor Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers nearly 14 years to complete in 1941. Since that time, millions of Americans and international visitors have travelled to the Black Hills of South Dakota to view this modern wonder and witness its nightly lighting ceremonies and other special events.

In 1998 a massive redevelopment project added an amphitheatre, museum, visitors' centre, gift shop, restaurant and other tourist facilities to the national park. In the decade since, the harsh Dakota winters have taken their toll on the facility's public address system, and Rapid City-based Haggerty's Audio Video was called in to design the system's upgrade and expansion.

"We actually created two separate systems," explains Haggarty's Mike Moo

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Ukraine - D.A.S. Aero 48 units were recently deployed for rock singer and guitarist Vladimir Kuzmin's concert in Ukraine. This was the first of many concerts the singer will be offering as part of his tour which include events in the cities of Odessa, Nikolayev, Kherson, Krivoy, Rog, Poltava, Severo-Donetsk, Donetsk, Lugansk and Dnepropetrovsk.

The Aero equipment was supplied by Ukrainian rental company StormLine, partners of Indigo Music Company, D.A.S. distributor in Ukraine. The Aero 48 provided optimal performance at the concert, of which StormLine owner Yevgeny Shturmin, commented, "The sound was crystal clear and at the same time very powerful. I thought it was a large scale Hi Fi system." Eight Aero 48 units were flown per side and eight ST-32 units were employed as stage monitors. Signal processing was handled by the D.A.S. DSP-26 digital signal processors.

I

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Sweden - Adlib Audio, one of the UK's leading audio rental companies with thriving sales and installation departments, has just invested in twenty of Lab.gruppen's flagship PLM 10000Q Powered Loudspeaker Management systems to control, process, monitor and power their stage monitors.

According to Adlib director, Dave Kay, the company had been seeking to upgrade their monitor systems for quite some time. "We were looking for two things in particular," observed Kay. "Firstly, we wanted to upgrade our processing to a feature set capable of handling the ever-increasing demands made on our monitor systems. Major tours and stage shows are becoming more and more complex, and artists are more demanding than ever before, so monitor systems have to keep pace if you want to keep your artists happy on stage. We were reaching the limits of our current processing solution, so it

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Poland - Home to a classical dance group and offering courses in competitive rumba, tango, and waltz, the local dance hall in the lower Silesian city of Bielawa attracts fans of many different dancing styles.

The venue's owner Waclaw Szwaczka has furnished his 300-capacity hall with lavish appointments. On the audio front, he has opted for two CTA 208 high-/midrange enclosures and two CTA 118 subwoofers from HK Audio. The Polish HK Audio dealer AMTEC installed the units after a live demo.

Waclaw Szwaczka comments: "I had several reasons for choosing the Contour Array. On the one hand, the system's dimensions are compact, yet it provides enough power for this relatively big dance hall. Its sound is articulate and good.

And because it is an active system that does not require a separate rack, amp, or controller, we don't have a mess of cables in the hall. What's more, the

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Australia - The new UniMIX from ARX Systems features six balanced XLR Mic / Line input channels with individual level controls, plus a dedicated stereo RCA jack line in channel and switchable phantom power. Multiple outputs are provided for the main sound system as well as transformer isolated recording and remote monitoring.

Developed in conjunction with the Information Services Department at Melbourne University, the UniMix is designed to allow institutions such as colleges, universities and high schools to provide downloadable recordings - podcasts - of lectures and classes for students to access on a local area network. These recordings are typically taken from the classroom / lecture theatre sound system and saved to a computer in real time.

Several problems are normally faced in this application. Getting the correct recording level is difficult, given that the level requ

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UK - Editors, the Brit Award-nominated band who will be supporting REM across Europe and the UK later this August, will be taking to stadium stages armed with an array of microphones and monitor systems from Sennheiser.

Lead vocalist Tom Smith will be singing into a Sennheiser e840 for the entire tour. "The range of Tom's vocal is very large and rich throughout," explains FOH engineer Nick Ingram. "I needed a microphone that could capture this whilst at the same time as rejecting as much spill from the noisy stage as possible. The Sennheiser Evolution vocal mics have a fantastically smooth frequency response and the e840 in particular has a roll-off in the high frequencies which suits Tom as it counteracts the highly pronounced sibilance in his voice."

For the band's backline, Ingram has found that Sennheiser mics more than meet his requirements. "I ca

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Korea - This year, Shure Incorporated's channel partner in Korea, Sama ProSound, is celebrating its 40th year as a Shure distributor. Mr. Joong S. Inn established the firm and began its partnership with Shure in 1968.

"In today's marketplace, it has become increasingly rare to find the kind of long-lasting, productive, and cooperative partnership that we have enjoyed with Sama ProSound over the past 40 years," said Sandy LaMantia, president and CEO of Shure. "We recognize that our own growth and reputation in Korea is directly impacted by Sama ProSound's interactions with our customers, and we truly appreciate the relationship that we have with Mr. Inn and his staff. They have played a vital role in our success in Asia."

Sama ProSound Company is one of the most successful distributors in the pro-audio industry in Korea. The company currently represents/dist

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UK - DPA Microphones will be unveiling the first microphones from a new range geared towards the MI market at PLASA 2008 and visitors to the company's stand will have the opportunity to win one of the mics in a prize draw.

DPA believes "that musicians deserve to get the best sound possible from their precious instruments when playing live. To this end, they have taken their groundbreaking technology and created a range of cost-effective mics tailored for a wide array of musical instruments, complete with robust carrying cases and gentle, discreet mounting solutions".

On the DPA stand, a live band will be putting these new mics through their paces. Visitors' badges will be scanned and entered into a competition to win one of the new instrument mics.

(Jim Evans)

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Italy - Within a short space of time, Brescia's Piazza Paolo VI was the spectacular setting for two shows - concerts by Giovanni Allevi and Loreena McKennitt.

As well as being a pianist and orchestra conductor, Giovanni Allevi is also one of the top composers on the current international scene. At the Brescia event, a stop on his Evolution Tour (named after his latest album), Allevi was accompanied by the 36-member Symphony Orchestra I Virtuosi Italiani.

Canadian singer/songwriter Loreena McKennitt only played in two Italian towns (Brescia and Udine) on her 2008 European Summer Tour.

Both concerts were reinforced through an Outline Butterfly-based system. Cipiesse Produzioni per lo Spettacolo was the Brescia rental firm responsible for the project. In May, the company purchased a Butterfly rig comprising 16 CDH 483 Hi-Packs, eight Subtech 218, Genius 26 processors an

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USA - Touring in support of his Everything is Fine album, Josh Turner relies on Shure UHF-R wireless for his vocals and guitars well as a Shure PSM personal in-ear monitor system.

"I like to get as close to what you hear on my records as possible," he says of the mix he listens to through his PSM system. "My vocal should be out front to the extent that I can really hear every little nuance in my voice. I've found that helps me sing better in any situation. The rhythm section should be prominent too, but not overbearing. I love hearing all the fills from the steel, fiddle, and guitar."

Covering a wide range, Turner's voice is captured on the road with a UHF-R handheld transmitter equipped with a SM58 capsule. Cutting the cord on his guitar was a feat managed by the Shure UR14D Dual Bodypack Wireless System.

"My wireless stuff has been great,&qu

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UK - HHB Communications has supplied a significant number of RSS Digital Snake multicore systems to BBC English Regions, which have been allocated to local radio stations across the UK. 17 stations will each receive a pair of Roland's new S-1608 Digital Snake multicore systems, teamed with a Yamaha LS9 digital console, to update their multi-mic outside broadcast capabilities.

Martin O'Donnell, HHB broadcast sales manager explains: "The Corporation's engineers first saw and discussed the possible applications for the new small-format RSS Digital Snakes on the HHB stand at IBC last year. Further talks took place at SBES and, with other Corporation OB vehicles using the 32-Ch systems (S4000), the new 16-In/8-Out configuration offered many of the same facilities in an even more compact and lightweight package. With connection options via rugged Neutrik Ethercon on 80-metre CAT5

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Guatemala - Fraternidad Cristiana de Guatemala (also known as Mega Frater) is the largest Christian church in Latin America. Measuring 1,217 million square feet, this massive structure includes a school, restaurant, swimming pool, full television and radio production facilities, a heliport atop an eight-story parking garage, a 12,500-seat theatre in the main sanctuary, a stage larger than most major concert venues, and much more.

To find a powerful sound system capable of delivering even coverage for spoken word and live music material in the expansive room, Mega Frater turned to Guatemala City-based Pro Sound. After thorough considerations by a committee which included the church's senior pastor, Jorge Lopez, a self-powered system based on Meyer Sound's Milo line array loudspeaker was chosen.

"For me, the biggest priority for our sound system is intelligibility," sa

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UK - At this year's Scottish festival T in the Park, local rental company EFX Audio deployed their two Midas XL8 Live Performance Systems at front of house for the Radio 1/NME stage with two Heritage 3000s on monitors. Main stage headliners REM also brought in a pair of XL8s supplied by Rat Sound, plus a Klark Teknik DN9696 hard disc recorder which they've been using for their European tour. In addition, Britannia Row supplied the main stage with two H3000s for front of house and Kings of Leon brought in their own XL4.

"Any misgivings we felt about running a festival on digital consoles were lost after the first day," says EFX systems tech Bill Laing, who worked with the XL8s alongside EFX's Stevie Murray. "First time users found the consoles immediately familiar thanks to the traditional channel strip layout and easy channel access. Bands that already had show fi

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