Sound

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Australia - The Gold Coast's latest destination is The Envy Hotel, a uniquely different venue in the heart of Broadbeach. Formerly Brannigans, The Envy Hotel houses the Envy Bistro, the Envy Lounge Bar, and the Envy Nightclub.

Situated on the ground floor is the Envy Bar with its modern design including glass stairs to one side and dry bars. The Envy Bar opens out directly on to the very busy Broadbeach mall via large bi-fold doors that allow the wonderful Gold Coast weather to flow through the venue.

"Opening your venue to the elements is a wonderful idea but how do you pacify the sound police in such a built up area? The answer is the revolutionary Jbn Sound Ceiling," says the company.

"I've been dealing with Jbn Sound Ceilings for years as it is such a good product," commented Peter Shaw, managing director of Peter Shaw Electronics who specified and in

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USA - With over 20 years of touring experience with such diverse acts as Rage Against The Machine, Maroon 5, Cypress Hill, Collective Soul, and Weird Al Yankovic, FOH engineer Joel Lonky has seen and solved a wide range of performance issues, but few are so chaotic as his current gig mixing with Rob Zombie.

"The show is chaotic and unpredictable," he states. "I don't have the luxury of knowing what will happen next, so I needed a console that would allow me to stay on top of any situation that might arise. The PRO6 turned out to be the ideal solution."

Lonky changed to a PRO6 between tour legs, and not without some trepidation. "The decision to make a change mid-tour was not taken lightly," he recalls. "Our first show after the break was at Gibson Amphitheatre in LA with Alice Cooper - no place to have a 'learning curve day'. Fortunately, the

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USA - Almost three years in the making, Alan Parsons' 10-hour video series on sound recording is now available in a 3-DVD boxed set format.

Narrated by actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton, the DVDs are divided into 24 sections, starting with A Brief History Of Recording.

Technical sections come with custom diagrams and musical examples and include in-depth looks at EQ, compression, reverb, and delays. Recording equipment is spotlighted in Microphones, Consoles & Controllers, Monitoring, and Computers & Digital Audio, while a set of specific recording guides looks at Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, and Drums. A series of practical recording sections look at Recording Acoustic Guitar with Vocal, Recording a Choir, A Band Tracking Session, Internet Recording, and, most crucially, Dealing With Disasters.

Alan Parsons' career -

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Europe - Since the beginning of May, American heavy metallers Manowar, Guinness World Record holders for being the loudest band in the world, have been performing their Death to Infidels World Tour 2010 around the globe. The team from management company Magic Circle Music, with Jeff Hair from Aggressive Sound at front-of-house, have been with the band throughout. Monitor engineer Achim Lanzendorf and his DiGiCo SD9, provided by production company B&R Medientechnik, joined them for part of the European leg.

B&R Medientechnik has a long-standing association with Manowar, having first worked with them on the VivaLive-TV coverage of Ringfest in Cologne in 2002. Since then, the association has developed, not only between the band and the rental company, but also with Magic Circle Music and God of Thunder Production.

Numerous recordings, festivals, tours and ambitious

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Japan - Clockaudio is preparing to increase its presence and profile in the AV and conferencing market in Japan, with the appointment of a new distributor Onkyo Tokki to represent the brand.

Tokyo-based Onkyo Tokki is a busy and well-known pro-audio equipment importer, bringing in several blue-chip brands from around the world, including EAW, Mackie, QSC and Powersoft, as well as Cadac and LA Audio mixing consoles. Earlier this year, the company was awarded the agency for Bi-amp, which was a persuasive credential for Clockaudio, as the products are often paired together in installation specifications.

Kyozo Ichitani from Onkyo Tokki expects the Clockaudio portfolio to perform well with Japan's TV broadcast companies and in the conferencing sector, appealing to both Japanese and overseas consultants. "Clockaudio has a very good reputation with the Japanese installation com

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USA - beyerdynamic is to debut the world's first wireless ribbon microphone at this week's AES Convention in San Francisco. The RM 510 interchangeable ribbon capsule for beyerdynamic's Opus 900 and Opus 600 wireless systems is billed as "a giant leap forward in ribbon technology and brings a new dimension to live vocal performances".

The RM 510's capsule design features an ultra-light, 3mm thick aluminium ribbon that "delivers spectacular frequency response and exceptional transient behaviour". A unique sound channelling technology provides the capsule with its cardioid polar pattern making the RM 510 the very first ribbon capsule perfect for use on stage with wireless microphone systems, says the company. In keeping with beyerdynamic's manufacturing philosophy, every RM 510 wireless microphone capsule is handmade in Germany.

By employing a sound labyrinth

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UK - Shropshire events production experts have helped to stage one of the UK's most unique festivals. The team from stagecraftuk, in Telford, installed the main music stage at this year's Freeze Festival which was held at Battersea Power Station.

The festival attracts snowboard, ski and music fans from all over the UK, and welcomes the world's very best skiers and snowboarders who compete on a specially erected 32m high, 100m long real snow ramp.

As well as the snow competitions, musical acts perform in a marquee on the site over the three days and this year's line-up included Mark Ronson, and Krafty Kuts & MC Dynamite.

A team of 10 from stagecraftuk was brought in to handle the all-important staging, and as well as installing over 330sq m of main stage, they also installed five drum risers for the artists' drum kits.

Gerald Salt, for the Telford company, said: "The w

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Lebanon The downtown Capitole Roof Top Bar makes for one of the most vibrant nocturnal rendezvous in Beirut.

"Place is everything," said Capitole's co-owner Samer Rizk, "and Capitole's position is spectacular, but creating a successful open air venue in the heart of the city presents its own special challenges. Yes of course we have to consider our neighbours when we put a powerful sound system into the Capitole, and until this year this was a problem for us: and we must also consider our clients."

The Capitole operates as a bar and restaurant until midnight when it metamorphoses into a nightclub. These multiple considerations saw Rizk consult local sound specialist Seebeck Audio, whose director Youssef Aoun attended personally. "I made the preliminary design in 2009; a mix of the new d&b audiotechnik E8 loudspeakers, with E0s used to provide audio lif

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Japan - Turbosound has announced the formation of a new pro audio company dedicated to the promotion and distribution of its professional loudspeaker systems in Japan.

Turbosound Japan, a new partnership between Turbosound Ltd and All Access Inc, will be launched at the Inter BEE show which takes place in Tokyo from 17-19 November. To accompany the launch, a wide selection of Turbosound products will be exhibited - including the Flex Array tour sound systems; the new TFM-560 and RACKDP-50 professional bi-amped floor monitor package; the IMPACT architectural loudspeakers; and Turbosound's complete range of dedicated sound contracting products - with experts from Japan and the UK on hand to advise and demonstrate.

President of All Access Cozy Hattori commented, "I am greatly looking forward to working with Turbosound. The brand has a long and rich history in Japan, and I am

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California Calling - This week's 129th AES Convention in San Francisco will feature a strong element of live sound-based seminars, workshops and presentations. Included in the convention programme is Lunchtime Keynotes which will offer attendees a series of three lunchtime keynote presentations.

Convention co-chair Valerie Tyler reports that, "Lunchtime Keynotes provide an opportunity for attendees to take a break from the hectic Exhibition Hall and concentration-intensive workshops, master classes, platinum and educational programmes and relax as acknowledged industry leaders provide the benefit of their years of experience in a quiet and informal environment. Last year's Lunchtime Keynotes benefited from extremely positive word of mouth, and we're confident that this year's programme will draw appreciative audiences."

Kicking off proceedings wil

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UK - When Welsh National Opera was commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government to host an event at Wales Millennium Centre as part of the Ryder Cup celebrations, they wanted to give their guests something special to remember the evening by.

They decided to make a live recording of the performance of the Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, which would be reproduced during the evening, burned onto pre-printed CDs, placed into pre-printed wallets and handed to each of the 350 guests as they left after dinner. This ambition was achieved in a special partnership with a team of technicians from Sennheiser UK.

The guests included the respective American and European Ryder Cup teams, their wives and partners, management, Ryder Cup sponsor representatives as well as significant VIPs from Europe and America. Sennheiser's team of Dave Wooster (live sound specialist), Andy Lil

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UK - DiGiCo's UK dealer, Stage Electrics, has recently supplied an SD7 digital console to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) in Stratford Upon Avon. With this sale, Stage Electrics completed triple sales of the SD Series which includes the sale of the SD7, SD8 and 2 SD9's.

Since winning the contract to supply all the loose equipment as part of the £112.8m project ongoing at the RST, Stage Electrics business development manager Andy Elsegood, in conjunction with DiGiCo supplied the top of the range SD7 digital console into the RST, which is due to open its doors this month for a series of preview events and activities.

Stage Electrics technical sales manager for audio Vince Borrelli comments, "With a culmination of a lot of work from Stage Electrics sales team, we have been able to demonstrate and supply the whole range of DiGiCo's SD consoles. Clients from differen

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USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers is launching its new Distributed Design Series of ceiling loudspeakers. The line will be officially unveiled at the AES Convention in San Francisco this week. The series debuts Community's Drop-Stop and Twist-Assist features, to make the installation process easier, faster and safer, says the company. Each model is available as a complete unit with everything needed for standard installations. The drive unit and face plate assembly and the back-can can also be purchased separately.

The Drop-Stop feature provides spring-loaded legs which support the back-can on the included rails and C-ring, so that the installer no longer needs to hold the can against the tile while tightening the clamps. If the loudspeaker back cans are pre-installed to a conduit system for termination at a later date, the product's Twist-Assist locking system allows th

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USA - Denon Professional is now shipping its DN-F650R solid-state audio recorder. This product is able to record and read MP3 files and uncompressed WAV files to and from SD or SDHC cards and USB drives as well, which utilise technology that is far more stable and reliable in demanding applications than the 'spinning' CD, says the company.

The DN-F650R is designed for for audio recording in a myriad of demanding applications, including the studio, broadcast, houses of worship, government, meeting and conference recording.

The recorder has RS-232C and USB keyboard control, making it suitable for integrated sound systems. A full host of inputs and outputs from AES/EBU to Balanced XLR in and out allow for its inclusion into nearly every application. Its playback features also include +20% / - 40% pitch control, likewise suitable for dance and aerobics/fitness. Additionally, the o

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USA - The North Dakota State Fair in Minot is one of the largest events in the state, held in late July every year since 1922. Attendance has consistently increased since 2000, attracting more than 300,000 people in 2010.

Dubbed "the entertainment capital of North Dakota," the State Fair Centre complex is home to the nine-day annual event that includes agricultural and livestock competitions, carnival rides and concessions, and concerts. Acts featured in 2010 included Brooks & Dunn, Kiss, and Darius Rucker. Other events are held at the facility over the course of the year, including demolition derbies, drag races, and a collectors car show. And during the summer months, weekly stock car races are run on an oval dirt track on the fairgrounds.

In August 2009, after funding was provided by the North Dakota Legislature, the Centre's old 3500-seat grandstand was demolishe

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Europe - Santana embarked on the European leg of their Universal Tone tour throughout late September and October with an L-Acoustics K1 line source system provided by L-Acoustics rental network agent Satis&Fy. Setting off in Dublin and ending in Hamburg, the 21-date tour did the rounds of Europe's leading arenas, covering hits from Santana's four-decade career.

"The K1 system has met and exceeded all of my expectations," says Robert Mailman, Santana's front of house engineer. "The system's features, combined with excellent tour support from the staff at Satis&Fy, have made the Santana 2010 European leg a great success."

The main system consisted of 14 K1 large format line source cabinets and three dV-DOSCs as down-fill per side, with six K1-SB low frequency extensions flown beside both arrays. The system was driven by LA-RAKs housing LA8 amplified co

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UK - Located on the top floor of London's Millbank Tower, venue Altitude London offers panoramic views of the city and beyond, adding an extra dimension to corporate and private events. With four separate spaces able to host a variety of functions, keeping noise levels down is a priority. This has been solved by the installation of four Apex Audio Argos units.

"We host a wide range of events, which often involve DJs, bands and presentations," says Altitude audio visual manager Jonjo Glynn. "Of course, these have the capacity to create large amounts of noise, so keeping levels under control is very important to ensure that both the adjacent rooms and floors below are not disturbed by both our own and visiting PA systems."

The Apex Argos prevents audio systems from producing excessive sound levels, but without producing unwanted sound degradation.

Using a (

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Denmark - Film location recorder Allan Holmberg has been using a DPA 4017 shotgun mic for Susanne Bier's new film, The Revenge (Haevnen)

"I'd used the 4017 on a documentary I'd worked on, called Blekingegadebanden," explains Holmberg. "The clarity and natural sound of the 4017 was a huge success on the documentary, so I decided to try the mic on this feature film.

"My only concern was that the mic pattern may be too wide, resulting in extra background noise and ambience, but after a short talk with Eddie M°ller, the film's supervising sound designer, we both agreed to give it a try. The film contains some improvisation, and we wanted to avoid dubbing as much as was possible, so that was another good reason for using a wider mic."

Once on set, any misgivings Holmberg had were quickly dispelled. "The 4017 performed excellently, a

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USA - At the 2010 AES Conference, Rupert Neve Designs is launching the new Portico 5024 Quad Mic Amp. With four channels of renowned Portico Series preamplification, independent Silk controls, two channels of DI inputs, and an M-S decoder, the 5024 is a workhorse equipped to enhance the front-end performance of any digital or analogue recording system, says the company.

RND's founder and head designer Mr. Rupert Neve comments, "Transformers have always been a signature component of my designs, and the implementation of custom transformers with the class-A circuit topologies developed for the Portico Series have drawn on countless years of knowledge. As the result of countless hours of experimentation, these preamplifier designs greatly enhance sonic performance, and make listening a more enjoyable experience."

In addition to 72 dB of gain, the 5024's mic pres include

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USA - Renkus-Heinz will present a full schedule of informative presentations during the upcoming Audio Engineering Society Convention at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Centre.

The presentations will cover a wide range of subject matter, ranging from alignment of subwoofers and full-range line array systems, audio measurement tools, advances in modelling and measurement, to practical uses of EASE Auralisation, and a summary of an award winning White Paper on line array simulation.

Presenters will include Bruce Olson of Olson Sound Design, Stefan Feistel of Ahnert Feistel Media Group, and John Murray of Optimum System Solutions, as well as Renkus-Heinz VP of sales and marketing Rik Kirby, national sales manager David Rahn and application engineer Jonas Domkus.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - DM Audio played a key role in the sound and light show The Enchanted Forest: Force of Nature in Faskally Wood near Pitlochry in Scotland. The show brings together the talents of sound designer / composer RJ McConnell and lighting designer Simon Wilkinson to create a site-specific son et lumière promenade. The audio system was supplied and installed by DM Audio, who were appointed as a sub-contractor by main technical contractor Northern Light.

The technical requirements of the project were challenging as they involved the distribution of 24 channels of audio around a kilometre-long promenade for a month of Scottish autumn weather, making reliability as important as sound quality.

The audio system had been programmed and thoroughly tested before travelling to site, minimising the labour required in the forest. The show runs on a continuous loop, with set pieces at

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UK - Providing education for the audio professionals of the future is one of Sennheiser UK's core policies. Early Autumn saw that commitment bringing benefits to 200 first year students at Bucks New Uni, as they enjoyed a Sennheiser-run education day at the British Music Experience, the interactive museum of rock and pop within London's The O2.

Sennheiser UK has a close working relationship with the British Music Experience, which benefits students from a number of educational establishments. This, however, was the biggest session the company had hosted so far, with no less than six coach loads of eager new students on the Music Management and Audio & Music Production courses at Bucks New Uni attending.

As the number of students was so high, the party was split into two halves. The first half of the students toured the museum and its many iconic exhibits, while the other half

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UK - Liverpool-based Adlib is supplying a complete sound, lighting and AV package for the current John Barrowman UK Tour, with Steve Rayment tour managing the operation and Paul Crockford as tour director.

It's Adlib's third tour with Barrowman and a full Adlib crew and sees the debut of Adlib's new Coda Audio sound system.

FOH is being mixed by Walter Jaquiss. The main left and right hangs are 24 Coda Airline LA12s, with 24 LA8s for side hangs (10 a side) and in-fills. There are eight SC8 subs ground stacked in four columns of two across the front of the stage and all of it is powered by Coda C10 amps.

They are using the Coda DNC 260 processors across the system which are very high resolution, and systems tech Kenny Perrin is using the standard Adlib Dolby Lake processing set up for EQ and time alignment.

The FOH console is a 96 channel Soundcraft Vi6, on which Jaquiss is

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USA - The National Association of Music Merchants has announced plans for its Hands-On Training (H.O.T) Zone at the 2011 NAMM Show, offering the broadest educational experience for professionals in the recording, live sound, DJ, house of worship, and stage and lighting industries in the history of the show.

The H.O.T. Zone will offer attendees free one-hour classes on more than 85 educational topics over four days, including Basic Live Mixing Techniques PROTools 101, Social Marketing for Your Music Business and DJ Equipment Integration. On 13 January 2011, the opening day of the NAMM Show, the H.O.T. Zone will be offering Boot Camp Day with an array of basic courses designed to provide foundation-level instruction in music technology and business.

The H.O.T. Zone will be located on Level 2 of the Anaheim Convention Centre and is being held fo

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  2. Yamaha joins AVnu Alliance
  3. Green Hippo enables sensory garden project
  4. Oasis Church invests in Aviom mixing systems
  5. ADB shows desks, dimmers and more at JTSE
  6. Clear-Com takes Party-line to AES
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