Sound

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Germany - Hundreds of thousands of fans followed the World Cup 2010 matches on giant screens in stadiums and city centres across Germany. As in South Africa, the Electro-Voice logo featured prominently in the festivities.

Wittelsbacher Platz in Munich was a case in point. Up to 2,200 spectators at a time watched all the matches played between 16 June and 11 July, enjoying high definition images on a 37sq.m LED screen - equivalent in size to two soccer goals - placed in front of the Siemens headquarters. The company created its own 'Soccer City' to celebrate the competition, and to make sure the party atmosphere stayed strong, commissioned DJs to serve up a musical cocktail to suit all palates.

The sound was delivered by an XLD line-array system from Electro-Voice, comprising 24 array elements and a battery of EV CP4000S power amps. Sound designer Michael Prinke commented, &quo

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China - Running for 10 days from 28 May 28 through 6 June, the 2010 West Lake (Xihu) Music Festival treated Hangzhou residents to performances from an international artist roster. Featuring international performers, including Angie Hart (Australia), Antaraxia (Italy), Pitchtuner (Germany), Aloha Hula Calles (Japan), and These New Puritons (UK), the 10-day music extravaganza was a mix of rock, folk, electronic, and pop. Local and Chinese acts also participated.

Music performances took place at several venues throughout the city and concluded with a two-day outdoor concert series at the West Lake Tiandi, where the stage setup included an impressive sound reinforcement system comprised of loudspeakers from the Aero Series 2 catalogue of D.A.S. Audio.

Hangzhou Sound Culture Communication Co, the sound services company contracted to provide the SR system for the main stage, assembl

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UK - Allen & Heath, will be introducing the GS-R24 studio recording mixer at the forthcoming PLASA show in London this September, exhibiting on stand 1-E9.

Specifically aimed at busy project studios, the GS-R24 is billed as a high quality analogue console for the key mixer functions of preamp and EQ, combined with a choice of interface modules, motorised faders for automated mixing and MIDI controllers for tactile interfacing with software DAWs.

The first interface module available is a 32-channel Firewire interface with ADAT optical connectivity.

Allen & Heath will also be displaying the latest developments in the iLive digital mixer family, including new I/O hardware, and audio networking plug-in cards for Dante and RockNet.

(Jim Evans)

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South Korea - The official cheering club of South Korean soccer, The Red Devils, named Seoul's COEX Mall as its official 2010 FIFA World Cup cheer venue. To accommodate the 100,000-plus fans, Seoul officials closed off The COEX to automobile traffic and installed LED screens, stages and sound systems. Despite the inner-city venue's challenges, crowds enjoyed quality sound, through EAW's KF740 and KF760 loudspeakers systems.

Elan Korea and TFOS Plus, two leading touring companies in Korea, called upon Chung-Bo Sound Inc., EAW's Korean distributor, to provide sound for the event. "EAW was used on two of the three stages. We needed to provide an incredibly high-output system that could intelligibly broadcast play-by-play action to the sea of red-faced fans," stated Hyungjoon Jee, general manager for Chung-Bo Sound. "These EAW units delivered beautifully."

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China - Located in the Meijiang area in the province of Guangdong, Meizhou's Hakka World Park is a multifunction village stretching on a 2,000-hectare area. Authorised by the People's Municipal Government, it is devoted to several themes such as research, education, culture, leisure, vacations and tourism.

The park is an important element of the latest five-year plan for the creation of Hakka, world culture village in Meizhou where the aim is to increase the citizens' welfare through the tourist industry and introduce the new 'global' Meizhou.

This ambitious programme also involves Proel through Suremax, its distributor for China. Proel installed audio ystems in several facilities in the village.

The 3D movie theatre hosts 3 NEOS152P loudspeakers, a ring of 12 EDGE25PB loudspeakers; two EDGE121SP subwoofers driven by three HPD3000 amplifiers and by four HPD3400PFC amplifiers

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USA - The city of Sturgis, South Dakota is known to motorcycle enthusiasts as home to one of the largest annual motorcycle rallies in the world. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people flood Main Street in Sturgis and ride the breathtaking roads that connect the many towns of the picturesque Black Hills region. This year, the faithful will celebrate the 70th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, taking place from 9-15 August.

The first Sturgis Rally, known as the Black Hills Classic, was held on 14 August, 1938 with a race of nine participants and a small audience. The Rally has since grown into an event that has drawn nearly 13m people since 1990, with another half-million expected to flood downtown Sturgis this year. The full schedule of activities and entertainment this year includes burnout drag competitions, extreme motorcycle stunts, half-mile races and live concerts from ba

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UK - Lancaster-based Low Fold Audio Visual has recently installed a complete Fohhn PA system in the Great Hall at Lancaster University. Six Linea LX-150 line array speakers have been fitted in the main body of the hall, with six Linea AL-50 speakers used as balcony-fills. Two XS-4 subwoofers have also been included for roll out at larger musical events.

Powered by three Fohhn D-4.750 Class D amplifiers, the entire system has been networked and can be remotely controlled from a laptop running Fohhn Audio Soft 3.0 control software.

Supplied by Fohhn's UK distributor Systems Workshop, the new system was installed just in time for the University's 2010 graduation ceremonies. Low Fold director Mark Burford commented, "The Great Hall is used for both speech applications and musical events, so we needed a system that can enhance speech intelligibility as well as providing even f

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USA / UK - Line 6 will be showcasing its new XD-V digital wireless microphone systems at PLASA 2010.

"Since its release, Line 6 digital wireless technology has received nearly unanimous praise for its unmatched performance, simplicity and sound," says Simon Jones, vice president of new market development at Line 6. "PLASA 2010 is the perfect venue to bring its advanced technology and simple user experience directly to audio installation companies, rental companies, production companies, and dealers."

Line 6 will be on-site at stand 1-J12 showcasing XD-V30 and XD-V70 handheld wireless microphone systems, and XD-V30L and XD-V70L lavalier wireless microphone systems.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - A plethora of Midas digital systems were used across this year's three-day T in the Park festival held in Scotland earlier this month. Britannia Row deployed three XL8 live performance systems at FOH on the main stage, while Scottish rental company EFX Audio supplied two XL8s for FOH on the Radio One stage.

Midas digital systems were also very much in evidence as headlining acts brought their own to the festival. These included a PRO6 and XL8 for Dizzee Rascal; FOH PRO6 systems for Faithless and Florence and the Machine and PRO6s at FOH and on monitors for Paolo Nutini. Rap artist Jay Z also arrived with an XL8 system for his appearance on the main stage.

On the Radio One stage, it was in-at-the-deep-end for many of the engineers who were using an XL8 for the first time. EFX set up the two XL8s in tandem, using the 431 active splits to enable them to access all the mics a

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USA - Vulcan has been providing entertainers the ability to record while on the road with built-in recording studios as part of custom bus designs for their touring coaches. Clients of the Birmingham, Alabama area-based company range across all mainstream genres of music, from Willie Nelson and ZZ Top, to Garth Brooks and Timbaland. Most recently, Vulcan provided a coach for seminal hip-hop label Cash Money Records, home to best-selling artists including Birdman, Lil Wayne, and Drake.

The recent Cash Money Studio Coach conversion features Genelec monitoring - the Prevost H3-45 Luxury Coach employs a pair of Genelec 1038B Tri-amplified Monitors as the main monitoring system, augmented with a pair of 7070A Active Subwoofers. Cash Money's Studio Coach hit the road mid-June from its home base in Miami.

The new studio has a rear monitoring wall loaded with Genelec 1038B's, as well

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France - L- Acoustics has announced that is holding a series of demonstrations for its new Kara modular line source/SB18 subwoofer system, currently undergoing its pilot phase. The demos will take place at the company's headquarters in Marcoussis, France and Oxnard, USA, and are being held in French and English.

The presentation days will begin with a company overview of L-Acoustics and a tour of the premises followed by an introduction to the Kara/SB18 system, rigging demonstration, listening session, A/B test with dV-DOSC/dV-SUB and a Q&A session to round off proceedings.

"We are very pleased with the great feedback we've been getting from these demo days, especially from dV-DOSC users," says Stéphane Ecalle, L-Acoustics' marketing director. "With a design inspired by the K1 stadium system, Kara delivers a considerable amount of improvements over the pr

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UK - Netherton lies a few miles south of Dudley, in the centre of the Black Country. It is bounded on three sides by canals, the first motorways of the industrial age and now one of the major tourist attractions of a revitalised area that has brushed off its blackened, sooty past and become unashamedly 21st Century.

This fits the new build that houses the Champions Church at Netherton to a tee. Designed by Level 7, the same team that produced the celebrated Waterfront at the nearby Merry Hill canal basin, their church is defiantly 'now' in design. The venue itself echoes the semi-circular shape of the building which, together with the raked nature of the eight hundred and fifty seats in the amphitheatre, presented the audio installation team with something of a challenge.

A d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker system was chosen by Phil Goldsworthy and Tim Mortimer from Wigwam Acoustic

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Serbia / Romania - When Massive Attack's international tour rolled into Eastern Europe in late June, playing the Belgrade Arena and the Bucharest Zone Arena, the audio production at both venues was a fully-fledged collaboration between two of the region's Synco Europe Network members - Audio Konstruktor of Serbia and Paradigma Group of Romania.

The PA consisted of 50 Synco by Martin Audio W8LC line array loudspeakers, flown in hangs of 16 cabinets per side for the main PA and nine a side as outfield, along with 18 Synco by Martin Audio WS318X triple-18" subwoofers. Front-fills comprised six Synco by Martin Audio W8LM Mini line array units with six Synco by Renkus-Heinz 18 RR subwoofers. The whole loudspeaker system was driven by Synco amp racks with XTA processing, together with a Lake drive rack, and delivered more than 140kW of power.

Dave Bracey mixed FOH for Massive A

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USA - Since launching in 2009, EV-Innovation loudspeakers from Electro-Voice have become among the company's most in-demand products for permanent installation, thanks to their combination of audio quality, versatility, and value, says the company.

Lift AV of Renton, Washington has successfully incorporated all three model types currently available from the EV-Innovation family - EVA (Expandable Vertical Array), EVF (front-loaded), and EVH (horn-loaded) - into complete AV design/installation projects at houses of worship in their region. Justin Friesen of Lift AV described two such recent projects in Yakima, Washington - one of which, at Stone Church, is notable as one of the first US installations to utilise all three EV-I models at a single site.

"Stone Church was a full sanctuary remodel with an extensive audio, video, and lighting installation," Friesen explains.

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USA - For the sixth year in a row, Aviom's Personal Mixers have helped performers at the International Drummers for Jesus Celebration hit a high note. With the number of performers ranging from 20 to 100 and very little time between acts for major setup changes, the Personal Mixers allowed those on stage to create their own customised mix while offering maximum flexibility.

Founded in Dallas, Texas, in 2002, with the first international celebration taking place 2004, Drummers for Jesus is a worldwide network of drummers and percussionists who use their music to spread the message of Jesus Christ. The International Drummers for Jesus Celebration, held by members of this network, is a two-day event that includes a concert, workshops, master classes and exhibits, bringing together some of the top drum artists in the world.

"I've been told that the audio logisti

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USA - Historic buildings tend to go through changes over the course of time. All too often that means they meet an unfortunate end, becoming little more than a collection of fading memories hovering over a new parking lot - which was exactly the fate the McPherson Opera House faced, until it was saved from destruction in 1986 by the McPherson Opera House Preservation Company.

One of the most prominent buildings in the downtown core of McPherson, Kansas, the opera house is known for its acoustics and has hosted everything from Vaudeville shows and films from the golden age of cinema through to political rallies and suffrage meetings. Correspondingly, says Michael Dunn of Sounds Great Music, designer and installer on the project, "They wanted a sound system that performers would find not only adequate, but impressive" - One that would provide not only good, natural sound

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UK - Minister for the Digital Economy Ed Vaizey has indicated that the Government's compensation package to those being evicted from the 800MHz spectrum will only encompass 6% of the frequencies being cleared. This puts the large-scale live events, from the West-End to major TV entertainment shows, on notice because it threatens the small businesses that supply them.

The package covers channel 69, but the Government has exploited technicalities to avoid paying out to those high-end users that tune to channels 31-37 and 61-68, which are also being cleared. It is these additional channels that are needed to produce large-scale events like the Olympics.

Save Our Sound UK responds: The excuse the Government has given is that notice of eviction was given. But what seems to be continually ignored is the fact that no precise alternatives were provided or even now have been published.

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Nigeria - Home Front Technology has been appointed VMB's exclusive distributor for Nigeria. The West African company will be distributing both lifts and audio and has taken stock of various models of VMB lifters, ADP Series cabinets and Lynx line array.

One of their first jobs was to welcome Nigeria's new president, Goodluck Johnson on a visit to Akwa Ibom State. VMB has expanded into the African market in recent years with line array in Morocco, Angola, South Africa and now Nigeria.

Home Front Technology's Segun Adekola commented, "We are really pleased to be working with VMB. We have been following them for some time now and really like the product they have been introducing. The systems sound so good and we are sure that soon the line arrays especially will be a formidable part of the Nigerian and African entertainment market."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - SFL Group has installed an L-Acoustics Kiva ultra compact line source system into the New Community Church Central Hall venue in Southampton, used for prayers and worship, New Community training courses, performance and arts events.

Built as a Methodist hall in the 1920s, Central Hall has been owned by the New Community Church since 1989, and the installation was part of an ongoing renovation project. With a seating capacity of up to 800, the tiered venue has seating blocks at both sides of the stage, as well as raised seating at the back of the hall.

"Central Hall has an intimate, inclusive feel, with people sitting around three sides of the stage," says SFL's technical director Mark Payne. "Sometimes the stage is moved forward so it's almost in the round. The installation called for lots of horizontal coverage as it's very wide, plus a lot of vertical cov

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Hungary - When Liga TV decided to move into HD production for its new Sport 1 OB van, the console of choice was a 32+8 fader Solid State Logic C100 HDS with an SSL MORSE Stage Box. Liga TV specialises in providing production services for live sporting events, large scale music concerts and other live events. The new OB van is the first to offer HD capabilities in Hungary. The choice of the C100 HDS was based on console features, versatility, ease of use and SSL's reputation for reliability and service.

"When we did research on the audio console for the new HD OB van, the SSL C100 HDS quickly rose to the top of our list," says Vilmos Váradi, chief accountant for Liga TV. "Console features were of primary importance in choosing the C100 HDS. This console absolutely fit the criteria for our live broadcast applications, giving us the power to easily handle events as

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UK Eastbourne Music superstore Bonners is hosting a special ' Meet the Experts' day at their Langney Road location on Saturday 21 August to celebrate a major showroom refit in association with Yamaha .

The day promises a combination of expert advice, live music performances and offers a rare opportunity for local musicians to get top tips from some of the UK's leading music production specialists. All experts will be available throughout the day to discuss and demonstrate recording and music production techniques.

The latest professional audio equipment will be on show including the Pocketrak mini recording studio which "is transforming the way many musicians on a budget record music". The company is even inviting guitarists to bring their personal acoustic instruments along, to try out with the latest technology.

Bonners Music MD Tony White comments, " This i

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UK - The first details of this year's extended PLASA 2010 Education & Learning Programme have been unveiled by organisers PLASA Events. The acclaimed programme of free seminars and masterclasses includes top international speakers on industry projects and technologies, sustainability, AV and systems integration and much more.

The Gottelier Masterclass will be presented, as is now established tradition, by last year's Gottelier Award winner - Alex Cooper from Midas Klark Teknik. Entitled Don't Just measure: Listen, the Masterclass will be an appreciation of the power of human perception and spatial awareness, and how they relate to audio - in particular, the fact that just because a piece of audio gear measures correctly does not necessarily mean it sounds good.

InfoComm International will host a seminar theatre dedicated to AV & Systems Integration. Topics over the dedi

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UK - The Australian Monitor Cafe Series speaker system is now available in the UK through POLARaudio.

The Australian Monitor Cafe Series subwoofer and satellite speaker package is designed for cafés, restaurants, boardrooms, bars, retail stores or any installation that demands full range, high quality audio reproduction. The Cafe Series is now available in black or and comprises the Cafe 20 speakers and Cafe 80P powered subwoofer.

The Cafe 20 is supplied in pairs with brackets included and features a 3" woofer and a ½" tweeter. Rated conservatively at 20Watts, it can be powered via a conventional amplifier or from the matching Cafe 80P subwoofer. The Cafe 20's are supplied with a multi angle ball joint style bracket.

The Cafe 80P subwoofer features dual 6.5" drivers. It includes five amplifiers - an 80Watt D Class power amplifier plus four x 20Watt amp

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Switzerland - Acoustic amplification systems manufacturer Schertler has announced an update to its David and Unico amplifiers. Demand from users has resulted in increased power for both amps, with David now offering 100W capability and Unico upgraded to 200W.

This latest development completes a re-imaging of Schertler's popular acoustic amplifier series, which was given a 'new look' earlier this year. The company has also developed a new speaker system for the amps, designed to increase the sound quality and avoid unnecessary sound loss.

The David and Unico amplifiers, along with the Bass subwoofer and Side active loudspeaker now form Schertler's new Classic Series. A Deluxe Series is scheduled for release in the autumn.

(Jim Evans)

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