Sound

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UK - Early September saw London's Twickenham Stadium eschew its usual diet of rugby in favour of a high profile benefit concert for the Help For Heroes wounded serviceman's charity. With the much-vaunted live 'reunion' of Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow as its centrepiece, Sennheiser equipment and staff were there in force to help ensure this complex event went as planned.

Played to a capacity 60,000-strong crowd, the 12 September event saw Williams and Barlow joined by a high profile supporting cast, providing a day of suitably 'something for everyone' performances. These included The Saturdays, Pixie Lott, Alexandra Burke, Sir Tom Jones, Katherine Jenkins, Enrique Iglesias and, appropriately, the Band of the Coldstream Guards and ex-serviceman-turned-musician James Blunt.

Working closely with audio providers Brit Row and crew chief Derrick Zieba, Sennheiser UK provided a wid

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UK - London's Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in Marble Arch was the venue for the AV Awards dinner held this year on 8 October, with more than 500 AV professionals attending the event. Electrosonic was the winner of both the Consumer Installation Award, and the Business Installation Award.

The Business Installation of the Year for 2010 was awarded to Electrosonic for the World Health Organization, SHOC Room in Brazzaville, Congo. The Brazzaville installation is a companion to similar facilities in Geneva and Cairo, which were also installed by Electrosonic. The project installation includes video conferencing and a video wall and demonstrated Electrosonic's ability to manage international projects, even where communications and transport lines are difficult. Electrosonic's project manager was Colin Rowley and project engineer was Sam Monk.

Consumer Installation of the Year went to

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UK - Blaze has returned with a UK tour. Two years in production, Blaze has been an epic journey for the people involved: the brainchild of Dutch producer Eric Holman of pANdADDY productions, experts in bringing street and roots shows to the main stage have partnered up with dance heavyweight Anthony van Laast to create a spectacle.

Sound for the UK Tour, which follows on from a run in London and a successful tour of Holland, is provided by Cardiff based theatre specialists Stage Sound Services. "Our AXYS system was the obvious choice for this show" commented Phil Hurley, MD of Stage Sound Services. "The show requires a system with huge dynamic range and plenty of punch, but the danger is that you end up with something that's loud with no real definition or fidelity to it.

"From previous experience, on the UK Tour of The Who's iconic rock opera

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USA - As part of a week-long tour throughout Florida to meet with audio professionals and volunteers in the house of worship market, the Soundcraft Studer AKG truck will appear at the Techxplosion conference in Clearwater, Florida on 15-16 October. The truck will showcase the latest world-class audio products from Soundcraft Studer and AKG.

The Soundcraft Studer AKG truck will feature several digital consoles including Studer's Vista 8 and Vista 5 SR and Soundcraft's Vi1 and Si1, while also introducing professionals in the US market to the new Soundcraft Si Compact console, which debuted in September at the PLASA show in London.

The 11th annual Techxplosion is designed for pastors, music ministers, media and tech directors and technicians, providing technical training in audio, video lighting and projections. Professionals of all levels are invited to engage in the multiple ed

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USA - Rolling Thunder Studios in Traverse City, Michigan has installed a 5.1 monitoring system from Genelec.

For its new year-old facility, studio Owner Nick Vasquez has installed five Genelec 8240A Bi-Amplfied DSP Monitors and a 7270A Active DSP Subwoofer, purchased from dealer Sweetwater. The L-C-R array is mounted atop the control room's new Avid Icon D-Command console, and the rear surround monitors are wall mounted.

"These are great-sounding monitors," says Vasquez, who founded Rolling Thunder Studios 17 years ago and nurtured its expansion into new areas such as audio post production and scoring. "I travelled to Sweetwater, where my salesman Brian VanDeKeere and I listened to a lot of monitors, and the Genelecs just sounded better than any of them to me. They are the most versatile, in terms of being able to handle all kinds of music, as well as the most p

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USA - Intelix recently announced the release of the DIGI-V3SD-T4, a professional-grade active distribution amplifier which distributes YPbPr video, stereo audio, and IR or RS232 control signals from a single source to four remote destinations via inexpensive twisted pair cable, such as Cat 5 or Cat 6.

The DIGI-V3SD-T4 features 1080i and 720p video performance, high-fidelity 20Hz to 20kHz audio performance, and IR or bi-directional RS232 extension up to 1,000ft when used with Intelix DIGI-V3SD series twisted pair receivers. In addition, the unit also features local monitor support and is linkable for additional remote destinations.

(Jim Evans)

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Germany - Ahnert Feistel Media Group (AFMG) has released EASE Focus 2. This major upgrade to EASE Focus 1 adds a host of new features, including: 3D direct sound modelling with plan view and section view displays; simulation of digitally steered columns and other configurable loudspeakers, and modelling of multiple systems within a single project.

EASE Focus version 2 represents another stepping stone in AFMG's strategy to provide the pro-audio community with easy-to-use and accurate acoustic modelling software that is inexpensive or even free, says the organisation. The new version combines several years of feedback from Focus 1 users worldwide. In addition to 3D modelling of projects, which can now include multiple systems, Focus 2 empowers users to work with configurable loudspeakers such as digitally steered columns. It also supports the GLL loudspeaker data format and facil

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UK - Graduation Day is a celebration and this year at Loughborough University it was one not to be missed. Bose and Mood Media worked to ensure the audio-visual technology in the Sir David Wallace Sports Hall was superb in terms of quality and sound delivery.

The facilities management team at Loughborough University had often hired a sound system for occasions when they needed to deliver speeches or make announcements in the hall. This year the decision was made to install a permanent system that would perform on Graduation Day, but was dual purpose and could also become the audio system for general sports hall activities and events throughout the year.

In-store media provider and Bose Pro Partner, Mood Media, was brought in to assist with specifying and installing the system.

Following a full day of audio measurements and reverberation tests in the sports hall, Bose enginee

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France - Experienced Paris-based monitor engineer Laurent Midas has been mixing Christophe Maé's Autumn national arena tour for the first time on a Soundcraft platform, using both a Vi6 and a Vi2.

The sound man has been providing a reference mix for the best-selling French singer's backing band, including drums and bass, two guitarists, a keyboard player and two backing vocals. A fully equipped 96-channel Vi6, provided by French rental company Potar Hurlant, is assigned to the IEM's, with sends to the floor monitors (plus additional mixes for guest performers) from a Vi2 (supplied by Soundcraft's French distributors, SCV Audio).

Growing up in the studio environment and then developing his own home studio, Laurent Midas switched to live sound 15 years ago. He quickly made a niche for himself as a touring monitor engineer, winning a number of prestigious accounts. "Y

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UK - Newcastle-based production company NiteLites have replaced their front line inventory of sub-woofers by investing in 24 of Martin Audio's WS218X twin 18in high-output enclosures.

This large-scale system was pressed immediately into service with two high-profile DJ arena shows in front of crowds of 10,000 people - first with David Guetta, who played Edinburgh's popular Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston, followed by DJ Tiesto's performance at Braehead Arena in Glasgow.

According to NiteLites director, Jamie Moore, both were exceptional shows which provided a great baptism for the speakers. "We had needed more subs to do some cardioid stacking - and with these shows coming up, coupled with the start of the fireworks season, we knew we were not going to reinvest in the brand we had been using previously."

Instead he opted for the WS218X. "This is one of the

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Norway - Since founding in the mid '90s, pro audio specialist Presentation Data has established itself as one of the largest AV enterprises in Norway. Based in Oslo, where it has its head office, and Bergen, the service provider undertakes all types of installations - from clubs and bars to conference centres, churches, and hotels.

To drive its installed speaker systems, Presentation Data relies heavily upon Dynacord amplifiers. "They are so versatile, and with it extremely versatile," says Johan Hovde, sound sales manager. "That's why we use them for a very wide variety of installations. So far, we have had only positive experiences with them. The customer feedback, too, is highly positive."

Today, Dynacord amplifiers are providing the power required for announcements and musical playback in a large number of Norwegian fitness clubs.These include SATS and

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Eurovision 2011 - Dusseldorf will host next year's Eurovision Song Contest following Germany's victory in Oslo this year with Satellite by Lena Meyer-Landrut. It beat competition from Berlin, Hamburg and Hanover which all bid to host the event. The contest's three live events - semi-finals on 10 and 12 May and the final on 14 May - will take place at the Esprit Arena. "Dusseldorf 12 points," said Lutz Marmor, of German host broadcaster NDR. "I congratulate Dusseldorf cordially and, just as cordially, I thank the other three cities for going into the race enthusiastically with attractive concepts."

Together Again? - Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason has said the rock band may get back together to play concerts for charity. The group, who have sold 200 million albums, last performed at the Live 8 concert in London in 2005. "I think all of us woul

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Russia - Living up to its name, Paradize is the most opulent of venues; a banqueting complex with three separate dining areas all targeted directly at big, event based dining; an increasingly popular pastime for the bright young things of Moscow, and indeed for their friends and families. "This is not a restaurant for a quiet night out with your girlfriend," said Alexander Kalish of Svetogor, the company charged with enhancing the atmosphere of the venue. "A party of 20 or 30 people is normal."

Paradize provides a decidedly deluxe setting for its clientele. "We are a specialist in lighting and environment," explained Kalish. "The director of Paradize, Mr Nikolay Bredov, wanted something of the old style regal glamour of the 19th Century, mixed with modern high quality technology. But on no account was the technology to be intrusive, it had to f

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UK - Sting's front of house engineer Howard Page is using a large quantity of DPA 4099 clip mics across the string section for Sting's Symphonicity word tour. Accompanied by a full symphonic orchestra, Symphonicity sees Sting performing new arrangements of his greatest hits as well as more unknown work.

Page, senior director of engineering at Clair Brothers, was approached to handle FOH for the tour due to his extensive orchestral experience. Familiar with DPA microphones from Sting's cathedral concerts last winter, Page was delighted with the 4099s purchased by Clair Brothers for the tour. The entire string section - nine first violins, seven second violins, seven violas, five celli and three basses - is miked with 4099s, with several more on radio packs for clarinet and trumpet soloists.

Page has veered away from the traditional area miking method of amplifying

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Czech Republic - The city of Zlin is famous as the birthplace of Thomas Bata, founder of the colossal Bata Shoe empire, which flourished there during the first half of the 20th century. The city is well-known for its governmental, social and cultural connections, and for its prestigious City Theatre, which has just installed a new Nexo Geo S front-of-house PA system with Auvitran network devices to maximise EtherSound network functionality.

Considered to be one of the best regional theatres in the Czech Republic, the 800-seat City Theatre Zlin offers its own repertoire as well as numerous performances by visiting theatrical groups. Installation company Musicdata was asked to take on the renovation project, starting with the specification of a system that would work for all the theatre's productions, from amplified drama to opera and musicals to live bands.

There were considera

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Australia / UK - Audinate has formed a European operation, Audinate Limited, based in the UK. A significant portion of Audinate's OEM partners and customers are based in Europe and this expansion reflects the widespread industry adoption of Audinate's Dante media networking technology. As a result of this new expansion, Audinate has offices in Europe, the USA, and in Australia.

David Myers, Audinate's COO remarks, "Audinate has built a reputation as the best digital media networking solution and we are recognized by our customers and partners for our responsive support. As a result of this expansion, Audinate can provide around the globe support for our OEM Partners."

As part of Audinate's direct presence in Europe, Kieran Walsh has joined Audinate as senior technical solutions manager. Walsh was formerly with Britannia Row Productions where he was responsible for th

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UK - When the New Testament Church of God in Handsworth, Birmingham, recently opened its new £5.2m building, the church took care to ensure that the most modern facilities were installed throughout. One example is a Yamaha M7CL digital mixing console.

Located at the spot where Aston Villa FC was founded in 1874, the new church building features the latest energy saving features and lighting and sound systems in the airy, spacious auditorium. Audio engineer Rowen Spence is a member of the congregation and so was well placed to advise church leaders on the sound specification.

Installed by the Birmingham-based Cloud One Group, the audio system comprises a Yamaha M7CL-48, a Nexo GeoS PA system (comprising S8 and S12 cabinets) with Martin Audio wedge monitors. System control is by a Symnet system, with a touch control panel at the side of the M7CL.

"The church needed

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Korea - The Joongri Catholic Church in Gumi Province, Korea, has recently installed a new sound system, incorporating Entasys column line-array loudspeakers from Community.

Originally built in 2004 at a cost of around $1.2m, Joongri Catholic Church comprises 1,725sq.m over two floors. An auditorium room is situated on the ground floor and the first floor houses the congregation seating and offices.

The original audio system used unsophisticated column loudspeakers, which the church described as "Flat and dry sounding, lacking clarity and difficult to hear for many in the church". They commissioned Bo-sung Electronics to design and install a new system to overcome these problems.

With a long room and highly reflective surfaces, Bo-sung were careful in the selection of loudspeakers. They needed a system that would provide high intelligibility with wide horizontal but

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UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies Audio division is holding dedicated 2012 digital switchover open days on 10 and 15 November in partnership with leading wireless brands Sennheiser and Shure, to advise users on how they can best prepare for the switch to Channel 38 (606-614 MHz).

As a distributor for all major wireless microphone and IEM equipment brands, A.C. Audio has been keenly following the Ofcom ruling with a view to providing impartial advice and recommending the best course of action that will ensure minimal disruption for users.

As part of this service to both its existing wireless equipment clients and potential new customers, the sales division is holding free events at AC-ET's UK offices in conjunction with the manufacturers as follows: High Wycombe (South) with Sennheiser on Wednesday 10 November; Leeds (North) with Shure on Monday 15 November.

The open days

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USA - The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's Irvin L. Young Auditorium recently received an audio makeover that included the very first installation of an IC Live system utilizing the new ICL-R three-tall 'triple' arrays.

As Scott Leonard of Wauwatosa, WI-based Professional Audio Designs explains, audio for the 1300-seat hall offered some special design challenges. "The balcony is steeply raked, giving it quite a bit of height to the seats at the rear wall," he says. "We needed to design a system with a balcony delay but also provide a reference to the stage for localization."

Having previously worked with the IC Live system at Iowa's Luther College Center for Faith and Life, Leonard knew what the system was capable of in terms of fidelity, power and control. It didn't take much to convince David Nees, the Young Auditorium's technical director. "I br

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UK - Orbital Sound, a leading sound and communication systems specialist for the theatre, event and broadcast markets, has supplied the sound systems for The Railway Children production, being staged in London's Waterloo Station. The station's former Eurostar platforms have been transformed into a 1000-seat theatre, with the audience sitting traverse style along a 40m length of platform, either side of the track. Given the audience size and layout, and the constraints of the working-station environment, delivering quality audio required an innovative approach - resulting in four distinct systems, all using d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers and employing complex routing and delays. The show is also among the first UK theatre productions to utilise the moisture-resistant properties of Da-Cappo Micro Microphones, distributed by Orbital in the UK.

Following two critically-acclaim

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UK - Stephen Gilbert runs a successful audio & AV business in the south-west of England, but is looking for a change: would anyone else, he wonders, like to change their lives and take on his business?

"I have been running my own sound engineering business since 1985. The company's main activity is the installation and servicing of commercial and professional sound systems and audio-visual equipment although there is also a largely under-developed hire business as well. Over the years I have built up a solid client-base including churches, holiday parks, theme parks, sports and leisure facilities, pubs, clubs, hotels, government buildings and many more. I also carry out sub-contract work for various national companies as their 'local' engineer.

"Originally based in Falmouth, I relocated to Launceston in 2004 on the Devon/Cornwall border to be more central to my clien

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UK - Adlib Audio provided sound equipment and crew for one of Ireland's latest musical exports, The Script, on their recent UK tour, complete with a fresh FOH mix by Adlib's own Richy Nicholson, who is now on tour with them in the USA. Ian Quinn is at the helm as tour manager with Colin Rogers as production manager.

Nicholson recently took up the FOH engineer's role after coming highly recommended. He says, "They are a great band to work for; totally into their music, very knowledgeable and informed about the technology and what it can do, and all have brilliant personalities."

The UK touring system was L-Acoustics V-DOSC, chosen because it "sounds great" confirms Nicholson, and also because of its flexibility when it came to dealing with the variety of venues, ranging from student unions to London's Hammersmith Apollo. For the majority of shows, the PA had

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Russia - iLive was employed for two large scale concerts organised by Russian-Cuban cultural project Havana Calling, founded by Russian singer and composer Leonid Agutin and Cuban flutist Orlando "Maraca" Valle. The first concert was held on Cathedral Square in Havana and the second at the prestigious Kremlin Concert Hall in Moscow.

Sound engineer, Robert Boim, employed an iLive system at both events for FOH, monitors, and live recording of the full 62 channels via a MADI plug-in card. Two iDR-32 MixRacks were positioned on stage - one for drums, percussion, bass and guitar inputs, and a second managing keys and vocals - digitally split for separate FOH and monitor mixing. Boim used his tablet PC running iLive Editor control software to manage the Havana concert, and a combination of an iLive-T112 surface and Editor at the Moscow concert.

"iLive provides mobilit

  1. Hotel builds audio system around BSS Audio Soundweb London Digital Network
  2. Sennheiser UK appoints Tim Sherratt
  3. Audio-Technica mourns the loss of Ken Reichel
  4. Lab X Technologies' president chairs product design track session
  5. Successful launch of Dynacord PowerMate3
  6. A-T sponsors Parsons DVD training project
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