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France - Arbane Groupe has hired Christophe Palluat de Besset as its sales director for France. Palluat will work to create new sales dynamics within the company and develop commercial activity with the APG and Active Audio brands which are both part of Arbane Group.
With over 25 years of expertise in the AV industry, Palluat brings considerable experience working with audio manufacturers and distributors, notably Arbane Groupe’s Active Audio. “I worked in a number of roles before founding pro-audio distribution company Perfect Sound in 2009,” Palluat explains. “At the time, Active Audio’s commercial distribution in France was given exclusively to Perfect Sound, so I know Active Audio very well.
“I spent 11 years working for Perfect Sound as their CEO and came to know and respect the APG and Active Audio brands beyond their reputations,” said Palluat.

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USA - Starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Soviet deep-cover agents in the US during the Reagan-era Cold War, The Americans was a major critical success for the FX cable channel. Four Primetime Emmy, one Golden Globe, two Peabodys, and five American Film Institute awards are just the tip of the series’ iceberg of accolades.
Sound mixer Paul Pouthier, whose credits also include Gossip Girl and Orange Is the New Black, recorded nearly all of the dialogue with a portable bag system packed exclusively with Lectrosonics wireless. Transmitters included four SMDWBs, two HMa plug-ons, and a mix of original SM, SMa, and SMV packs. Receivers comprised four UCR411a plus two Dual SR units, the predecessor to today’s SRc. Set comms were handled by IFB-T4 and UM400a transmitters paired with R1a receivers.
“I sort of fell into the Lectro world,” says
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UK - Shure partnered with SFL to provide a COVID-secure solution to Royal Star & Garter care homes, allowing residents to stay connected to family and friends throughout the pandemic.
The impact of coronavirus has been devastating for the care home industry. The risk of transmission means that family and friends cannot visit care home residents under the circumstances that they are used to. Royal Star & Garter, a registered charity providing care for veterans and their partners living with disability or dementia in their homes wanted to enable residents to stay as connected as possible to their families during this difficult time and so working with SFL Group, they designed COVID-secure visiting rooms.
Sam Jacobs, project manager, SFL comments: “SFL were approached to provide a holistic audio, acoustic & furniture solution to the custom built rooms, havin

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Norway - Despite its rural location, when the concert hall at the Inderøy Kulturhus complex in Norway needed a new sound reinforcement system, its managers were determined that local residents would enjoy the best possible experience. Choosing an Alcons Audio LR7 pro-ribbon system, Inderøy Kulturhus shows that community facilities do not need to compromise on their sound.
Opened in 1990, Inderøy Kulturhus was the first major cultural centre in the historic Innherred region of Norway. As part of a project to add physical education facilities for the primary school and premises for Inderøy Upper Secondary School, a sports hall, concert hall and service areas were built. Operated by municipal limited company Inderøy Kulturhus AS, the concert hall stages a wide range of events to benefit the whole region.
Although this agricultural area has a low population density, t

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Kosovo - Funktion-One distributor 303.bg overcame the geographical challenges of the global pandemic to specify and install one of Kosovo’s first permanent Funktion-One sound systems. Fantazia, in Pristina, which is operated by renowned underground promoters Servis, is a bar and club concept with high quality electronic music, excellent sound and a policy of inclusivity at its core.
Servis was founded in 2016 by Leo Lumezi and Patrik Ukiq as a club night, which has expanded into a platform for different creative concepts and collaborative experiments with its crew of DJs and designers working on projects in the arts, sound, film and fashion
Lumezi explains: “Fantazia, meaning Fantasy, is the realisation of a long-term dream of ours to create a daily running home of music in Pristina, which would bring together music lovers and friends in a weekly curated programme,

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Middle East - Creative Technology Middle East has welcomed two new additions to its operations. Dailos Rodriguez has joined as venue operations manager for the company’s newly-formed venue services department. He has over 24 years of experience in the hospitality and AV industry and has worked across multiple venues. He has secured various high-profile contracts during his time and implemented in-house AV services for some of the Middle East's biggest hotel chains.
Of his appointment, Rodriguez says: "It is a great honour joining the CT team, and I look forward to getting started on the variety of fantastic projects we already have lined up."
Also joining the team is Mark Johnson, who has been appointed business development manager for venue services. With over 19 years of experience in the AV hospitality industry, he brings a wealth of knowledge and exper

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USA - UPMC Cooper Field House is the home arena for most of Duquesne University’s major sports teams, including their NCAA Division 1 Basketball team: the Duquesne Dukes. During a recent renovation of the facility, Daktronics installed a Fulcrum Acoustic-based system to deliver the high impact sound that Duquesne was seeking.
Daktronics mounted Fulcrum Acoustic’s FH15 Full Range Coaxial Horns in a centre cluster above the court. Four FH1596s were selected for their 90° x 60° pattern to cover the lower-tier seating, while narrower-coverage FH1565s cover the upper seats. A fifth FH1596 faces straight down to cover the court. The FH’s extended directional control keeps the sound focused on spectators while minimizing reflections, thus improving intelligibility and overall clarity.
Four of Fulcrum’s Sub218L Subwoofers are suspended from the ceiling in a vertical

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UK - BBC Studios' popular celebrity TV contest Strictly Come Dancing returned for its 18th series at the end of 2020, with new visual content choreographed by Hippotizer Karst+ media servers.
Leading the dance was a partnership of a Karst and Karst+, with the same duo serving as backup. An average series audience of more than 10 million Brits watched as the routines played out in front of a colourful array of visual content. The main stage was constructed as a series of arching LED screens, providing an eye-catching backdrop for the cameras.
The visual content included custom-made content for each performance - created by Potion Pictures and led by David Newton - and a mix of loops, full length time-coded tracks, and live rendered visuals.
These utilised Unreal Engine and nDisplay, with the data fed into the Hippotizer Media Servers by an output splitter.

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UK - Focusrite Group is launching Optimal Audio, a commercial audio brand that will join a stable that also includes Focusrite and Focusrite Pro, Adam Audio, Martin Audio, Novation and Ampify.
The new brand will be introduced to the market on 20 April in a virtual event, for which interested parties can register here.
“It’s a rare privilege to create a brand from scratch,” comments Focusrite Group CEO, Tim Carroll. “The commercial audio sector has grown consistently over the years, and even during the pandemic has been more robust than many. We expect that momentum to accelerate in the coming months, so we feel that the timing is perfect for the introduction of Optimal Audio.”
He adds: “Taking a considered view of the commercial audio sector led us to conclude that it

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To Safely Go - Pilots to assess how small and large-scale events can reopen safely are being launched by the government, which is describing the work as “crucial” for getting venues such as theatres reopened in June under the roadmap. The government said it was working with event organisers and local authorities to get “fans safely around a dozen events this spring”, as part of the previously announced Events Research Programme.
The ERP will provide “key scientific data into how small and large-scale events could be permitted to safely reopen”, the government said, in line with getting venues - including theatres - reopened without social distancing no earlier than 21 June. Major events already lined up for the pilot scheme include the World Snooker Championships, at the Sheffield Crucible, and the FA Cup final at Wembley.
The World Snooker Championships at

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Germany - Audio specialist Pan Acoustics has announced that Johannes Kampert has joined the company as head of global sales. In the position he will be responsible for all worldwide sales activity and will drive continued expansion of the global sales network.
“Johannes brings to us vast experience in international sales of complex audio and video networks. His commercial expertise combined with technical know-how is a real benefit to our organization and we are looking forward to working together,”says Udo Borgmann, CEO at Pan Acoustics.
“At Pan Acoustics I found key values that are crucial to me: quality, experience, passion and fun in what you do. I sincerely believe in success through people and in building long term partnerships. Pan Acoustics has an ideal growth perspective and I’m looking forward to each client who wants to work with us now – and in th

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Denmark - Sound recordists and production sound mixer Jono Cary has switched to Bubblebee Industries’ Sidekick in-ear monitors because they are “so comfortable that they can even be worn underneath headphones”.
“Comfort is such an important factor, especially when you have a long day ahead of you,” he says. “Sidekick fits into my workflow perfectly and makes monitoring the IFB feed when doing ‘lives’ so much easier. I’m able to wear the earpiece all day without any pain or discomfort.”
Designed to be virtually invisible, Bubblebee’s Sidekick in-ear monitor features a micro driver solution where the driver fits invisibly in the ear canal, eliminating the need for acoustic tubes outside the ear. This gives it a small and lightweight footprint and makes it a popular alternative to earwigs. With this IEM in place, the sound crew, presenters and talent

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Australia - Stanley, a new Cantonese restaurant on the waterfront of Brisbane's Howard Smith Wharves, has complemented head chef Louis Tikaram’s mix of locally sourced cuisine, with a Martin Audio sound system.
The restaurant needed help with designing and implementing an audio system that delivered high quality and balanced audio across the two-storey venue, both indoors and out. It also needed a single touch point that would be simple to operate by any member of staff, depending on the atmosphere required, with automatic control to provide specific level adjustments to comply with their licence.
So they turned to locally-based Ampd Electronics to create the appropriate aural environment. Designing, modelling and confirming layouts prior to installation, they were able to deliver a custom, high quality selection of Martin Audio components, based around the CDD (Coax

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USA - Palm Beach Opera has brought joy to Florida’s classical music fans with an innovative opera festival with nine days of performances at the iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. The socially distanced event was the company’s first outdoor, open-air festival which implemented a variety of measures to ensure the safety of performers, crew and audience members alike.
With the outdoor venue not providing the perfect acoustic environment expected at operatic performances, a sound reinforcement system was required to ensure the audience could get the full enjoyment of the event. Sound design for the event called on Point Source Audio Embracemicrophones for every principal performer - allowing each to “self-mic” to observe COVID-19 protocols.
“Every principal got their own microphone,” explains sound designer, Paul Bevan, who has previously used

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Sweden - The impressive, airy Kulturhuset Spira (Culture House Spira) is a seven-story glass-and-wood structure on the banks of Lake Munksjön. Leading Swedish architect firm, Wingårdh, designed the structure that houses four stages and hosts a progressive programme of music, theatre, dance, and children’s programming, as well as serving as the headquarters for the regional Smålands Music & Theatre team.
Spira translates as ‘grow’ or ‘aspire’ and this spirit infuses the team at Spira’s desire to remain at the cutting edge of technology. When they recently embarked on an upgrade to the venue audio system, they opted for L-Acoustics Kara II.
L-Acoustics was the first and final choice of sound system for Spira. When the centre opened its doors to audiences in 2011, it was with a Kara system and it has served well in the intervening years. However, demand

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UK - Last year the Light It In Red campaign saw hundreds of venues, workplaces and landmarks light up in ‘emergency red’ to raise awareness for the plight of the live events industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, in a bid to spread a message of hope and support to individuals in the industry, the campaign is asking everyone to get involved with a week-long show of solidarity from 15-19 March.
Individuals and businesses are encouraged to support the campaign not only by illuminating buildings and structures as in previous #LightItInRed actions, but also by sharing the campaign’s heart logo on social media.
A statement from the campaign reads: “We know the past year has been bad, we don’t need reminding! So we’re not going to focus on that. We’re going to focus on you. We want to bring the live events

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South Africa - Professional audio specialists, Stage Audio Works (SAW) have announced the appointment of Lee Thomson to the newly created role of projects sales manager, with Mike Summerfield taking on the post of distribution sales manager. The move follows the decision to restructure the sales operation into two distinct verticals – namely Projects and Distribution – to better serve both markets.
The Projects team will look after markets served directly by SAW; these include key accounts in the houses of worship, themed attractions and casinos, sports, and performing arts sectors. The Distribution team will manage those markets chiefly served through a reseller/integrator channel; namely corporate AV, education, retail, broadcast, plus rental and staging companies.
“Separate teams will allow us better focus on the specific needs of each vertical, which are quit

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USA - PK Sound has released an installation-focused iteration of Trinity, its flagship large-format line array element.
“Trinity Install delivers the impact and operational advantages of our flagship array family to high-performance installs in a fixed position, with our sleek, clean, and uncompromising new all-black design,” comments Darryl Ross, senior applications support for PK Sound. “The response from our network and clients so far has been very encouraging, as partners can now offer a solution for concert venues, theatres, nightclubs, houses of worship, and other live event spaces that want the full PK experience for their performers and patrons.”
The vertical angles are set during installation using a fixed rigging system, while horizontal angles are locked into one of 22 symmetric or asymmetric configurations throughout a line source. A combination of

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USA - At AREA15, the new art and entertainment district located minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, visitors should ‘expect the unexpected’. Behind the looming exterior façade, the 200,000sq.ft interior houses a collection of themed retail and entertainment options, all surrounded by an air of cosmic mystery.
One principal attraction is a space called The Portal, where, behind imposing metal doors, visitors can plunge into a 360-degree projection-mapped video experience supported by immersive audio enabled by Meyer Sound’s new Spacemap Go spatial sound design and live mixing tool.
The 6,584sq.ft Portal was initially conceived primarily as a large meeting and event space, one that could compete with the hotel ballrooms on the Las Vegas Strip while offering its own ambience. To that end, the projection systems were designed for four-wall coverage allowing surround v

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Sweden - The Rival hotel in the bustling Södermalm district of Stockholm is renowned as one of the city’s favourite meeting spots. A building with lots of history, it has remained dedicated to entertainment and hospitality since its beginnings in 1937.
In 2002, the complex was purchased by Benny Andersson of ABBA along with two associates, and extensive redevelopment work began to shape the complex into what it is today – a luxury 99-room boutique hotel complete with bars, a bistro and café, modern meeting facilities and a theatre.
The latest addition is a new bar named after Benny’s faithful Jack Russell terrier; Watson’s Bar offers food and drinks in a vibrant atmosphere with music at the heart of the experience. A Genelec 4000 Series sound system ensures that the pulse never stops.
Open seven days a week from 11am – 1am except Sundays which has a

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Germany - Loudspeaker manufacturer SE Audiotechnik is expanding its sales department, with the appointments of Manfred Sumfleth and Andreas Mayerl to senior positions.
Manfred ‘Manne’ Sumfleth is now representing SE Audiotechnik in the field as sales manager for Germany. He is a long-standing industry expert and previously worked for well-known professional manufacturers of audio products.
Based in Hamburg, he will be advising sound and lighting rental companies, installation companies and system houses throughout Germany on SE audio technology sound reinforcement solutions. In addition, he will manage his own warehouse in order to be able to organise and carry out product presentations at your premises as quickly as possible.
Since February, Andreas Mayerl has been entrusted with opening up new markets and expanding existing ones as sales director export at

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USA - tvONE has announced the forthcoming arrival of the ONErack Spider, a universal multi-voltage DC power solution which is the latest addition to the company’s ONErack universal rack mounting system.
“Not every rack has enough space for a full ONErack chassis, and the Spider offers the same simultaneous DC voltages but with rear or zero space racking,” says Mark Armon, global product manager at tvONE. “Everyone knows and has experienced the mess just a handful of wall-warts can cause when servicing or installing a system. The ONErack products have proven that there is a better way.”
The ONErack concept is a modular rack mount system designed to ‘vastly improve the installation and serviceability of small devices’. It allows variously-sized, externally-powered devices from any manufacturer to be converted into slide-in modules that can be designed preci

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USA - Christ Fellowship Miami has been the area’s multi-generational, multi-cultural and multi-location church for over a century. In that time, it has grown to six South Florida locations plus an online presence. Three of those sites - Palmetto Bay, Doral, and downtown Miami - have recently become showcases for L-Acoustics Kara sound systems.
The new installations, all designed and integrated by Colorado-based Summit Integrated Systems, accommodate various worship-space configurations and types, while still offering the ease of maintenance and operation, plus the consistency of audio quality of a single sound system across all three campuses.
Christ Fellowship Miami multisite production director Garrett Siljee oversees all AVL-related matters for the church, including campus technology design planning and tech staffing. “One of my primary responsibilities is craft

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Italy - On the terrace of Genoa’s San Martino Polyclinic, the Liguria region’s leading hospital, an Outline loudspeaker system amplified the reading by Italian actor/film director Sergio Castellitto to recall a year of Coronavirus.
Castellitto, accompanied by a string quintet from the Carlo Felice Theatre, read some passages of the book Una lezione da non dimenticare (A lesson not to be forgotten), written by the director of the Infectious Disease Clinic of Genoa’s San Martino Polyclinic, Matteo Bassetti, with journalist Martina Maltagliati. Participants included Governor Giovanni Toti and Genoa’s mayor Marco Bucci.
The audio set-up for the special event was supplied by Show Technologies TM from Recco (Genoa), with an Outline speaker system comprising five Vegas 12 CX point-source enclosures.
Show Technologies TM partner Sacha Bozzo explains
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