Sound

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UK - Bose has introduced the new L1 Compact portable line array system, the latest - and most portable-- addition to the Bose L1 product line. Using advanced Bose technologies, an L1 Compact system fills the room with only one speaker, and can be carried in a single trip and set up in less than one minute.

The new L1 Compact system features an integrated low-frequency enclosure and combines the amplifier, monitor, PA, mixer and EQ into a complete audio system ready for simple connection to an instrument, microphone, MP3 player, computer or other audio device. Like the Bose L1model I and L1 model II systems, the L1 Compact system continues the legacy of the original Bose Cylindrical Radiator loudspeaker - the product to first introduce the company's individual approach to live music amplification. The L1 Compact system was engineered to bring much of the performance benefits of t

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UK - A North East based audio equipment specialist has received endorsement for the quality of its products from the organisation which looks after Britain's rail system.

Network Rail, which runs, develop and maintains rail tracks, signalling and other infrastructure such as tunnels and bridges - together with18 of the country's biggest and busiest stations - has chosen fire telephones and induction loop systems produced by Current Thinking for inclusion in its St Pancras Thameslink Box project.

Many rail stations on the East Coast Main line are already equipped with fire telephones and induction loop systems produced at Current Thinking's Sunderland factory and managing director Tony Smith says Network Rail's (PADS) endorsement follows installation of its products at St Pancras International, as well as Stratford, Ebsfleet and Ashford International stations.

He comments: &q

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UK - For Lionel Richie's extensive European arena tour to promote his latest studio album, Just Go, front of house engineer Lars Brogaard is mixing on a DiGiCo SD7.

Brogaard's relationship with DiGiCo is a long one - he was the first engineer to take a D5 console on tour and was involved from the early days of the SD7's development, helping with BETA testing of the new console to ensure it delivered everything that leading live sound engineers need.

"I'm also Lionel's production manager and my sound company, Major Tom, was awarded the contract to provide sound for the tour," says Brogaard. "We needed to buy a console for this tour and so the SD7 was the obvious choice. Having been involved in helping to road test the console, I felt it was about time I actually owned one."

For more on Lionel Richie's tour, see the May issue of

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USA/Italy - The Adeo Group, Italian distributor for Renkus-Heinz, is to hold a special premiere at Rome's Cuba Garden on 13 May, heralding the launch in Italy of the IC Live portable digitally steerable system, and the VerSys compact large-format / high power line array, as well as RHAON (Renkus-Heinz Audio Operations Network).

"This special event will allow visitors to hear the extraordinary performance of these state of the art loudspeaker systems live," says Adeo's Sasha Defranceschi. "It will be a chance to look at two of the most exciting products from Renkus-Heinz and, above all, to listen to them perform for the first time in Italy."

The event will be hosted by Adeo special guest presenters Ralph Heinz, Renkus-Heinz senior vice president, and Karl-Gustaf Kahlau, export sales manager.

On show will be a full IC Live dual system with two ICL-R (RHAON

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UK - Electrosonic, the AV systems integrator and products manufacturer, has launched a newly redesigned website, located at www.electrosonic.com. The new website provides online visitors with "dramatic improvements" in navigation, content and appearance.

The new website's top page directs users to Electrosonic's products division's global website or regional websites for Electrosonic's Solutions businesses. This new design reflects the products division's recent separation from Electrosonic's AV Systems Integration and Service business.

(Jim Evans)

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China - The Bank of China (BOC) chose a Varizone system for its premises in Wuhan, Hubei. A VAB-Line system has been installed by Wincomn Technology, Klotz Digital's Chinese sales and service partner in the form of a hybrid application.

This means, digital technology has been combined with conventional analogue 100V technology. The system consists of a VAB1 controller and matrix, line managers, amplifiers, and speakers to form a simple but secure and stable PA application. BOC uses the new PA system mainly to supply background music to the corridors at the Governor's office, but also for voice evacuation purposes. Therefore, the VAB1 controller is equipped with an EVAC expansion card to fulfil evacuation requirements, and to ensure highest security in the facility.

The existing fire detection system has been linked into the Varizone VAB-Line. Additionally, it offers interfaces

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Belgium - Vieta's Do Line loudspeakers are playing a key role at the Vorst Nationaal, one of the largest concert buildings in Belgium, where an impressively plush private suite is being heavily marketed as the VIP place to be.

Located in Brussels,the Vorst Nationaal is a 7,000-capacity multipurpose venue that is a principal stop on the European touring circuit. Over the next few months, Bob Dylan, Jean Michel Jarre, Johnny Hallyday, Eros Ramazotti and Steely Dan will all play dates there, and a number of high-profile sporting events will also be staged in the main arena.

Steven Bontinck from Ampco Belgium has just completed an acoustic installation in the new VIP facility. "Our design had to complement the architectural concept of the suite, which is intended to serve visiting artists and music industry events, as well as hosting VIP concert packages for the corporate mar

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Rehearsal Space - Aspiring British bands are being offered the chance to pursue their musical dreams in new rehearsal spaces opened by the government. The first has been unveiled in Knotty Ash Youth Centre in Liverpool, where The Beatles played in 1962. Others will follow in Bristol, Norfolk, Hastings, St Austell in Cornwall and Washington in Tyne and Wear. A total of 10 new rehearsal spaces are due to open by the end of the year using £500,000 of government money. Locations are also being sought in Manchester, Nottingham and Leicester.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said they were located in deprived areas that had few other youth facilities. "These fully-equipped spaces will make a big difference for young people who are looking for somewhere to practise, spend time and find an outlet for their creative skills," he said.

The scheme is being co-ordinated by fo

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Switzerland - Phonak Communications has supplied its guide-U wireless tour guiding system to BMW Welt for use at the company's global headquarters in Munich, Germany.

Produced in Switzerland by the miniaturized device specialist, guide-U now guides groups of tourists, corporate guests and VIPs around the company's huge on-site education centre.

guide-U allows BMW Welt tour visitors to listen to a transmitter-wearing speaker via comfortable receiver headphone sets, ensuring that guides are heard and understood by every guest (including those who wear hearing aid devices).

To date, 180 guide-U receiver sets have been introduced and employed at BMW's Munich site, with these systems being used for both scheduled daily tours and one-off group and VIP visits.

"We are delighted to be associated with such a globally recognised brand as BMW," added Evert Dijkstra, managin

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USA - Marking the 11th anniversary of his late wife Linda's passing to the day with dedications of Long and Winding Road and My Love Does it Good, Paul McCartney opened this year's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival on an emotional and energy-charged note. In a two- hour plus set including two encores, Sir Paul enthralled the crowd from behind his regular microphone of choice, a hardwired Shure Beta 58.

"Paul McCartney has been using a Beta 58 for a long time and this year's opening night at Coachella was no exception," noted Shure West Coast artist relations manager Bill Oakley. "He put on a great show, as did several other Shure endorsers like Henry Rollins, The Presets and Thievery Corporation."

(Jim Evans)

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South Africa - Northwind Recording appointed Gearhouse South Africa to team up, design and supply the largest ever line array PA system to date to be used in the country, for the three-day 2009 Mighty Men Conference (MMC 09), staged at the Shalom Farm, Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal.

Comprising 172 L-Acoustics speaker enclosures - a mix of VDOSC, dV-DOSC, Kudo and SB28 subs - the in-the-round show featured a main stage system and two delay rings at 100 and 180m respectively from the centre, calculated to cover a sound-field radius of 300m/600mdiameter.

The event has become an annual pilgrimage drawing people from all denominations and cultural groups within South Africa as well as Australia, UK and USA.

The goal of the weekend is to gather men to pray, to worship and unite and heal broken families. The ministry and teaching is headed up by evangelist preacher Angus Buchan. The even

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UK - DPA microphones, including the new 4099 instrument mics, have been used for Rick Wakeman's The Six Wives of Henry VIII performances at Hampton Court Palace. Wakeman's solo debut album was released in 1973 but he was refused permission to perform it at Henry VIII's 16th-century palace. More than three decades later, Wakeman finally realised his dream when he was asked to appear to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne of England.

Never before performed in its entirety, Wakeman's two live performances of the album were played out against the backdrop of the West Gate of Hampton Court Palace. In front of the building stood a large stage supporting 30 members of the English Chamber Choir, the 50-piece Orchestra Europa, a rock band and Wakeman himself.

30 DPA 4061 miniatures provided by Wigwam Acoustics were mounted onto the bridges o

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Germany - At this year's Prolight&Sound in Frankfurt, the mipa awards were granted for the tenth time. For the sixth time, the Berlin-based microphone manufacturer Neumann was a winner - with the TLM 67.

Wolfgang Fraissinet, president of marketing/sales of Neumann Berlin, states: "We are particularly pleased with this mipa. It demonstrates that with the TLM 67 we have succeeded in creating an outstanding synthesis of tradition and innovation."

(Jim Evans)

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Sweden - Lab.gruppen has appointed Joakim Hammar to the role of application engineer. A Swedish national living in the UK, Joakim will be covering all European territories where his remit is to provide technical advice, support and training to all PLM and Lake users.

Hammar worked as a sound engineer and project manager at Scandinavia's largest supplier to the event and live music industry, United Audio Starlight, until his move to the UK two years ago. Since then he has continued to consolidate his experience working as a freelance sound/system engineer in Scandinavia and the UK.

Lab.gruppen's European sales manager, Claus Behrens comments: "He's first and foremost a highly skilled systems engineer who has been responsible for some very big systems, so he speaks the same language as his customers. His primary role is to offer technical support and advice, and to bring us

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UK - The charity live event for Cancer Research that PLASA's Ron Bonner and L&SI's technical editor James Eade are currently pulling together for 8 August this year is coming along nicely. Known as Vibes from the Vines, the event was last held in 2006 and raised £32,000 for the charity (if you are wondering about the name, the first event was held in a vineyard!). Offers of help from all around the Industry have been already received with companies and personnel being quick to step up to the plate with huge contributions in time and kit.

Ron Bonner says: "There will be some top quality equipment and expertise on show with Steve Williams of Nippy Industries providing the stage, Martin Hawthorn of Hawthorn Theatrical promising the vast array of Clay Paky lighting and Brian Grant agreeing to provide a top-spec PA from Britannia Row. Ric Salzedo at Avolites is agai

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UK - Il Divo have embarked on another world tour, their dulcet tones backed by a powerful Meyer Sound system provided by UK-based Capital Sound.

The system comprises left and right arrays of 18 MILO line array loudspeakers each, with side arrays of 12 MICA line array loudspeakers each and a center hang of six M'elodie line array loudspeakers, along with four UPA-1P loudspeakers for fills. Low frequencies are covered by 12 700-HP subwoofers, and a Galileo loudspeaker system with three Galileo 616 processors provides system drive and processing.

Capital Sound's Paul Timmins notes: "Capital Sound has worked with the band on their earlier tours, providing sound for their European shows. But this time around they've asked us to cover the full tour. The consistency factor is quite important for them, and by carrying the Meyer Sound system throughout the tour they're assured of

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UK - London-based 10 out of 10 Productions has been appointed as sole UK distributor for the new TM-125 microphone from Bartlett Mics - a replacement for the popular PCC-160. Designed by Bruce Bartlett, one of the original developers of the PCC for Crown, the TM-125 microphone will be available for sale early June 2009.

(Lee Baldock)

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The Netherlands - Bosch Security Systems is introducing a new series of flush-mount Premium-sound ceiling loudspeakers covering the full audio frequency range. The new series is suited for applications where high-quality music is required whilst still meeting the needs of today's most demanding public address systems, says the company.

The loudspeaker series offers a choice of drivers, including full-range units in sizes of 4", 8" and 12", in powers of 30W and 60W. An optional 10" 60W subwoofer is also available to add extra bass. This makes it easy to create and install custom set-ups for a broad range of applications - including health and fitness centres, restaurants, hotels, bars and shops.

Equipped with a waveguide-coupled, titanium-coated dome tweeter and housed in an integrated, fully-ported enclosure, the loudspeakers are capable of accurately repro

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UK - Sheffield-based Cloud Electronics has launched a new range of paging products, designed for use with any Cloud zoner and mixer-amplifier, or that of a third party.

The Cloud PM1 single-zone paging microphone with its heavy-duty moulded base and 300mm gooseneck has an attractive and modern appearance and is supplied with a windshield. Connections are provided for wiring the mic to the mic audio signal and access contacts. The PTT (PressToTalk) button un-mutes the mic and provides contacts (NO or NC) for the host device's access connector.

The Cloud PM range of digital paging mics represents a development of the established CDPM series - with the model number - either PM4, PM8, PM12 or PM16 - referencing the number of zones that can be paged directly from the unit.

The microphone units are designed to be elegant and simple to use, as well as easy to install and configure.

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Belgium - The Belgian national basilica, the Basiliek van Koekelberg, is the country's largest church, (the world's fifth largest basilica) and used for big national ceremonies and services with international acclaim.

Its cross shaped base-form with a 2500 capacity main nave and big side aisles, each with a capacity of some 250 visitors, a depth of 60m. plus the seven seconds reverb made the assignment to provide accurate sound reinforcement a true challenge for audio company Pa-P.A and Alcons' engineer Philip de Haan.

After a first demo-session with Alcons QR36 sets equipped with double RBN1801 pro-ribbon HF drivers: two columns in the main 'national' nave of the Basilica, one column in the 'parish' nave, where it excelled over the existing recently installed beam-steered system in the A/B test, the church management decided to invest in the Alcons system.

"The result

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Sweden - Following the recent acquisition of the Lake brand and associated technology, which was rapidly followed by the announcement of the LM 26, Lab.gruppen's first stand-alone digital processor based on Lake technology, Lab.gruppen has announced a combined training initiative on Lake Controller software and Lab.gruppen PLM Series Powered Loudspeaker Management systems.

"Lab.gruppen's amplifiers and powered loudspeaker management systems are utilised everyday all around the world in all varieties of live productions/concerts and fixed installations," notes Ken Blecher, VP of sales, tour for TC Group Americas. "Due to the diverse technologies employed in these products, we want to make sure all operators, technicians; system and project engineers are completely educated on the Lake Controller software, and the Lab.gruppen PLMs."

The courses aim to provid

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USA - Technomad comes to InfoComm 2009 (18-20 June, Orange County Convention Centre, Orlando) with renewed momentum as the company expands into new territory based on "game-changing products for the general AV, systems integration, education and commercial security markets".

New this year is the Berlin range of narrow dispersion loudspeakers, available in two configurations (90x40 and 60x40). The new models retain the outstanding durability, voice intelligibility musical audio quality and long-distance output of traditional 120x120 Berlin loudspeakers; while giving design engineers, contractors and consultants seeking a more controlled output pattern. Suitable for tightly controlled acoustic environments indoors or in outdoor installations where long distance projection is required - especially large stadiums - the Berlin narrow dispersion loudspeakers will be displaye

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UK - When Midge Ure, Warren Cann, Chris Cross and Billy Currie decided to reform Ultravox for a reunion Return to Eden tour this spring, it was the first time the classic line up of the band had performed together since Live Aid in 1985.

As they would be performing exclusively back catalogue material, converting the classical analogue early '80s synth-driven New Romantics sound into digital, it seemed a natural choice for them to use Midge's long-serving FOH engineer Berenice Hardman and production manager/monitor man, Dave Claxton.

In 'switching codes' to digital Claxton and Hardman opted for the Soundcraft Vi6 for FOH after much evaluation, sourcing their requirements - including a JBL VerTec line array system - from Adlib Audio, with whom they have enjoyed a long relationship.

"I've used most of the digital boards on the market and never been overly hap

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South Africa - Following almost a year of assessing digital mixing consoles, Hatfield Christian Church in Pretoria took delivery of four DiGiCo SD8s at the beginning March 2009.

Tadco, DiGiCo's South African distributor, was approached early in 2008 to quote on the console requirements for Hatfield Christian Church, and during the first discussions it was apparent that the church has some special requirements.

In addition to its normal Sunday services, it also has a radio and television broadcast arm, Impact Christian Media. The Sunday services are broadcast live via radio to Pretoria and are then packaged for worldwide television broadcast to a potential 42 countries.

A further complication is that three to four times a year large events are held in the church which use up to 70 channels of mixing at FOH. The norm would be 40 to 45 channels.

As a result, three consoles we

  1. Safe and sound at Stage Electrics
  2. EAW MicroWedges rock Coachella 2009
  3. Meyer Sound celebrates at InfoComm
  4. NRK buys shotguns for drama
  5. Turbosound arrives in Babylon
  6. Capital Sound and Meyer reinforce Star Wars premiere
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