Sound

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France - One of the world’s most respected opera festivals has been transformed into a fully immersive production courtesy of Astro Spatial Audio, including the creation of highly reverberant, church-like room acoustics in an historic open-air courtyard theatre.
Founded in 1948, the Festival International d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence returns to Southern France each summer with an innovative programme designed to equally challenge and delight the international opera community.
Productions can range from newly commissioned pieces to bold new interpretations of the classics, filling the Théâtre de l'Archevêché with eager audiences. The theatre is literally housed within the courtyard of the former Archbishop’s palace, where some 1,600 spectators fill two tiers of seating surrounded by the walls of the palace with an open sky above.
For the 2019 productio

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Mexico - Grupo Morfo has been named Outline’s exclusive distributor for Mexico. Effective immediately, Grupo Morfo will be responsible for sales, technical support and service of Outline products across all markets, including touring, AV rental, live bands, performing arts venues, hospitality, restaurants, clubs, portable, cinema and stadiums.
“In Grupo Morfo we have found an ideal partnership to strengthen, publicise and launch the Outline name in Mexico,” says Giorgio Biffi, Outline president & CEO. “Grupo Morfo has a solid, strategic approach in the product lines they have represented, as well as a proven track record of responsive service and support. The company principals have a close collaborative relationship with the integrator community, which aligns with Outline’s growing emphasis on commercial installation. At the same time their personal experienc

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Europe - Harman Professional Solutions has announced that Hamid Soufian has been appointed vice-president and general manager of EMEA.
Soufian brings more than 18 years of experience in the Harman organisation to his new role.
“We are pleased to welcome Hamid Soufian to this key leadership role as we continue to improve and strengthen the Harman brand worldwide,” comments Mohit Parasher, president & EVP, Harman Professional Solutions. “We are excited to have someone with Hamid’s expertise to help us grow and bolster our relationships with our valued partners in the EMEA region.”
Prior to his new appointment, Soufian was the VP and GM responsible for multiple European automotive customer accounts forging new relationships and enhancing existing partnerships with the OEMs.
“I’m extremely honoured by this appointment and will be working dili

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UK - Following on from last year’s successful event, Christie is once again opening the doors of its Wokingham office to visitors from the UK and further afield. Held over two days, Christie Connect UK will showcase new projectors for enterprise and cinema, LED displays, as well as content management and processing equipment, all of which highlight the powerful end-to-end nature of the Christie offering. The event coincides with Christie’s 90th anniversary and offers a special seminar programme designed to demonstrate Christie thought leadership on current and future technology developments.
One of the event’s main attractions will be the award-winning Christie MicroTiles LED. For many this will be the first opportunity since its launch at ISE 2019 to see a live demo of the MicroTiles LED. Another attraction will be the Christie D4K40-RGB pure laser projector which wi

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UK - Following a successful premiere at Venice Film Festival’s VR Biennale, Satore Tech’s Cosmos Within Us prepares to bring its 360 audio VR experience to London. The next stop is Raindance, the UK's largest independent film festival, which is dedicated to fostering and promoting independent film around the world.
Cosmos Within Us is a joint production from Satore Tech, a_BAHN and Satore Studio. “From the beginning we knew that the piece was going to be performed live, which meant we had to put an audio system together that would allow for that to happen,” says Tupac Martir, Satore Studio founder and co-founder of Satore Tech.
The VR film viewers are made up of two parts, one headset wearer and four behind the scenes participants. “We knew that we wanted the person in the experience - wearing the headset - to realise different sounds based on their positio

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UK - Twenty years after its inception, Newham Council’s annual free festival Under The Stars continues to pull in crowds of up to 10,000 at East Ham’s Central Park.
Graham Baker of turnkey technology providers, Centre Stage, has been servicing the event for all but one of those festivals. In order to keep the production fresh for a roster of headline acts including Naughty Boy, Norman Jay, Cocojam, Musical Youth and the traditional Sunday showcase of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Baker this year turned to his friends at W1 Productions, knowing they had recently acquired JBL’s new VTX A8 / VTX B18 line array from UK and Ireland distributors Sound Technology Ltd. Both parties agreed that this would make the perfect debut for a rig that could be flown 12-aside, with six B18 subwoofers a side in a cardioid sub array. A further four A8 provided infills along th

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New Zealand - To create a more immersive movie-going experience for audiences, Avid Automation and JPRO recently upgraded the Lido cinema with a JBL by Harman surround sound system with 7 Series reference monitors.
Established in the 1920s, the Lido Cinema is one of New Zealand’s oldest and most prestigious cinemas. Originally opened as a single-screen art house cinema, the Lido expanded with a second 44-seat capacity theatre known as The Lounge in 2005.
The Lido recently decided to upgrade the aging 5.1 sound system in The Lounge to a state-of-the-art 7.1 surround sound system. Unable to place speakers behind the screen due to the rear-projection system in the Lounge, the Lido recruited the help of AV integrators Avid Automation and JBL distributor JPRO to install a custom solution. After surveying the location, Avid Automation and JPRO designed a Harman surround s

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UK - July saw over 100 delegates assemble at the Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre, (one of three theatres within the central London campus of RADA, The Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art), for a review of DiGiCo’s new Quantum Engine and designed-for-theatre T software.
Hosted by DiGiCo and Autograph Sound, the day opened with Autograph’s co-founder Andrew Bruce telling his story from the early 70’s to the present day. This section effectively charted the development of modern theatre sound, using anecdotes and images of legendary West End shows including Starlight Express, Cats, Miss Saigon and many others.
Ably assisted by Autograph sound designers Avgoustos Psillas and Gareth Tucker, plus Tom Williams and Dan Page from DiGiCo, Andrew then spent the remainder of the day walking delegates through the functionality of the T software.
One of the dele

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Australia - Regarded as the ultimate production showcase by long-term technical partner, Novatech Creative Event Technology, the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) South Australia’s annual AHA Awards for Excellence raised the bar once again this year.
With over 30 awards to present, comperes and performing artists, around 200 time-lined cues, all driven by bespoke video content, the technical design required a solid framework. This was provided by Novatech’s suite of Brompton processing and distribution products, which integrated and simplified the whole LED screen system.
“We have been the technical provider for the AHA Awards for eight years now,”says Bryan Goh, video project manager at Novatech. “It’s one of the signature events in our calendar and we love doing it. It’s a very ambitious event, with fresh concepts every year. They entrust us with crea

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UK - As Central London’s largest conferencing and events centre, Central Hall Westminster recently played host to the Oscar Events House Live in London concert with Assi El Hallani and Mahmood El Turki. As the in-house technical production partner at Central Hall, White Light provided the lighting and audio solutions for this sell-out event.
The concert, held in celebration of Eid El Adha, saw both singers perform with their accompanying musicians to an audience of over 2000 people in the Great Hall. White Light were on hand to enhance the event with atmospheric lighting, utilising a combination of LED moving units and haze effects, and to provide full audio coverage and support.
Remon Hanna, director of marketing at Oscar Events House comments: “Central Hall Westminster was the ideal choice for our first London concert and the magnificent Great Hall looked and s

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UK - At the PLASA Show, Shure UK announced Autograph as the recipient of its 2019 Pro Audio Partner of the Year award.
The award was presented at the show by Stuart Moots, associate director, UK Pro Audio Group, as part of their annual programme to acknowledge the exceptional work carried out by Shure partners each year.
This year’s award was presented to Autograph Sound Recording for their exceptional dedication and commitment to wireless best practice that delivers results at the highest level.
“Autograph were an early adopter of Axient Digital and have been a great ambassador for digital wireless technology,” says Stuart Moots, UK Pro Audio director. “They’ve shown unwavering commitment to delivering first-class results at a time when the RF landscape remains challenging - particularly in highly congested spaces like London’s West-End. Autograph d

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USA - A 48-channel Allen & Heath SQ-6 digital mixer landed a role in the Shakespeare Centre of Los Angeles (SCLA) production of Henry IV, one of the Bard of Avon’s most popular historical plays.
Built from the ground up outdoors on the West Los Angeles Veteran Affairs campus under the artistic direction of SCLA founder Ben Donenberg, Henry IV was staged with a cast that included Tom Hanks as Falstaff, Hamish Linklater as Prince Henry, and Joe Morton in the title role. Sound design fell under the guidance of Diablo Sound, an LA-based firm that has brought audio to many of SCLA’s most acclaimed productions.
Diablo Sound president and principal designer Drew Dalzell looked long and hard for a compact console with a feature set and price point that could facilitate the audio blueprint he envisioned for the play. His moment of discovery occurred when

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UK - Leeds Castle in Kent recently played host to the spectacular open-air Leeds Castle Classical Summer Concert in celebration of its 900-year milestone. This gave around 11,000 concert-goers the opportunity to witness the world premiere of the fanfare, A Tribute to Leeds Castle, composed by Tom Hodge, performed by the Band of the Royal Marines and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducted by John Rigby.
Set in this picturesque location, with its natural amphitheatre and the castle as the backdrop, the visitor experience of this setting was augmented by the clarity, and even distribution of the sound, delivered by the Martin Audio Wavefront Precision Longbow (WPL). This was supplied, optimised and controlled by RG Jones Sound Engineering.
Working for concert organisers Heritage Events, the sound production company, under project manager and FOH engineer

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South Africa - Fanie Pieterse of CPS Audio recently acquired an Audix Studio Elite set of microphones which he has used on a variety of events including Classics is Groot 2019, Rand Merchant Bank Sales Conference, FNB Starlight Pops Opera and Band for Bricks.
Already owning a D4 and ADX60, Fanie’s new Audix Studio Elite set, supplied by DWR Distribution, includes D6, i5, D2, D4, SCX1 and SCX25A models.
“I have used Audix Microphones for the better part of a decade now and have fallen head over heels,” explains Pieterse. “The D-series, in my opinion, is the most versatile and natural sounding microphone that I have ever used on a drum kit. The D6 is my staple kick drum microphone with its thunderous low end and punch that can’t be matched. The ADX60 has really impressed me over the past few months. The D2 and D4 have proven to be the most impressive and consis

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India - In August, Grammy and Oscar winner A.R. Rahman staged a concert in his home city of Chennai, relying on Mumbai’s Sound to supply and support the live audio system for the show, which this year was built around Adamson Systems Engineering’s E-Series.
“A.R. Rahman has been a client of Sound.com for the past eight years,” begins Sound.com founder and managing director Warren D’souza. “When we completely replaced all of our tour sound products with Adamson systems earlier this year, we knew we could offer the best possible solution to our high-end clients like Mr. Rahman. This was our first major outing with our new inventory and I think it proved beyond doubt that we made a wise investment.”
The system deployed at the YMCA College of Physical Education grounds for the show included main left and right arrays of 15 E15 three-way, true line source encl

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UK - The official opening of Samsung KX, Samsung Electronics Co’s new ‘digital playground’ in London’s King’s Cross, featured ‘the world's first vertical gig’.
The multi-tiered performance space in Coal Drops Yard was erected as part of the launch of Samsung’s new multi-sensory experience and saw performances from R&B artist Mabel.
The concept was devised by Iris Experience’s creative director Henry Scotland, and realised with support from video rental house Universal Pixels.
The structure itself was fabricated by Star Live using three shipping containers to create a 9:16 format. The finished stage was an impressive 9.1m tall, showing three stories of tech and performance space to the 2,000-capacity crowd. UP provided the vertical 4.5m wide by 7.5m high portrait Leyard CLM6 LED screen with a custom rigging solution and a disguise GX2 media

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India - 7thSense Design and Medialon have appointed Image Engineering as a distributor for 7thSense’s range of products including Delta Media Server and Juggler, the pixel processor, as well as the suite of Medialon show control solutions.
Founded in Mumbai in 1989, Image Engineering provides a wide range of AV services and solutions for applications including cinemas, post-production and recording studio installations, theme parks, attractions and museums.
“We are excited to add 7thSense and Medialon to our portfolio of professional technology brands for India,” comments Nainesh Vora, founder and owner of Image Engineering. “Our network of global partners and manufacturers work with us to offer exceptional, premium technology solutions for attraction, digital cinema, theme park and immersive installations - we are very much looking forward to bringing 7thSens

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UK - During the PLASA Show, L-Acoustics founder and president Dr Christian Heil was announced as the winner of the 2019 Gottelier Award, as voted for by his peers. Named in memory of Tony Gottelier, the renowned industry innovator and commentator, this annual award recognises product developers who have made significant long-term contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology.
Heil founded L-Acoustics in 1984, and the introduction of the V-DOSC line array system in the mid-1990s led to a fundamental shift in the live sound market, and line array systems proliferated for the next decade and a half. Still, Heil and L-Acoustics continue to refine the line array concept: the KIVA ultra-compact system came to market in 2008; the K1 system - seen as the long-awaited successor to the ground-breaking V-DOSC - debuted in 2009; the KARA modu

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USA - ADJ has announced the immediate availability of its new POW-R Bar Rack USB, a power management solution designed to eliminate messy wires and extension cords. Designed for controlling the power supply to lighting and audio equipment, the compact unit is suitable for use in installations as well as at front of house and monitor mixing positions, lighting desks and in mobile entertainers’ setups.
Building on the heritage of ADJ’s popular PC-100A, a power switching unit that has been on the market for over 25 years, the new POW-R Bar Rack USB retains the original tried and tested design but with the addition of dedicated Always On sockets as well as USB charging ports. The new unit expands the ADJ POW-R Bar range which also includes the touring grade POW-R BAR65 utility power block and POW-R BAR LINK linkable power block.
The new addition features eight three-pr

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Australia - After a first sold-out season at the Roslyn Packer Theatre, Muriel’s Wedding has returned with a Melbourne run finished and Sydney currently packing in the audiences. Next stop is Brisbane for the production that has grown and changed a little since the 2017 premiere.
JPJ Audio are supplying the audio equipment with Michael Waters once again in charge of the sound design. Michael won the 2018 Helpmann Best Sound Design for the original production of Muriel’s Wedding.
“Conceptually it’s similar but in terms of delivering the audio, it’s quite different,” Michael clarified. “We have a Clair PA and I believe it is the first time in the world that a Clair Cohesion CO-8 system has been used for theatre.”
The CO-8's diminutive size allows for a high degree of flexibility when integrating into virtually any application. Sydney

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UK - The Den is a new pop-up theatre that forms a key part of the Royal Exchange theatre’s local exchange programme. Funded by a generous £1m gift from the Oglesby Charitable Trust, this inventive performance space was designed by the award-winning architectural studio, Haworth Tompkins as an informal space-within-a-space for residents to make and share theatre and to see work from the Royal Exchange.
Pro audio specialists, Autograph Sales & Installations, provided key elements of the sound reinforcement equipment for the new space including seven EX10 compact, full range active loudspeaker systems from KV2 Audio, and an Allen & Heath Qu-16 rack-mountable digital mixer.
Sorcha Steele, head of sound at the Royal Exchange, was responsible for designing the audio system for The Den, a task she found slightly daunting given the scope of requirements for the spac

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Lebanon - JoeCo has expanded its reach in the Middle East by signing a new distribution agreement with Boujikian Bros. The Beirut-based company will now represent the manufacturer in Lebanon, targeting TV production houses and live event clients.
“We have been searching for JoeCo partners in the Middle East for some time and Boujikian Bros’ name came up a number of times,” explained Graham Murray, business development at JoeCo. “Their experience and technical expertise make them a complimentary fit with JoeCo’s philosophy of providing high quality solutions for audio professionals.”
“We already distribute a number of top pro audio brands in Lebanon, but we had a gap in our range for reliable multitrack players/recorders and audio interfaces,” added Gary Boujikian, general manager at Boujikian Bros. “We knew how JoeCo systems were being used in TV, con

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USA - Evergreen Ministries had put its faith in acoustical orthodoxy when the Hudsonville, Michigan church had its previous sound system installed. However, with the worship space residing in a mid-sized square building with largely metal construction that created reverberation problems, speech intelligibility and musical articulation were a frequent challenge.
“They had a pretty typical flown PA, but it wasn’t really the kind of system they needed for a space like this,” recalls Todd Billin, design/sales engineer at Parkway Electric & Communications, a Holland, Michigan-based AV systems integrator with a long history of working on sound and video designs with houses of worship.
The solution came in the form of the slim L-Acoustics Syva colinear system that is suited to medium-throw applications like Evergreen Ministries’ 550-seat sanctuary. The Syva system

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USA - Fulcrum Acoustic has appointed Chaz Goodman as marketing manager. Goodman will focus on expanding the online presence for Fulcrum Acoustic and will serve as the media contact.
He joins Fulcrum from the non-profit world, most recently as the Communications Manager for Volunteers of America Upstate New York, where he designed and implemented a comprehensive communications plan to increase brand visibility and help the organization adapt to fit a changing digital landscape. Prior to that, Goodman worked in development at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago where he learned the value of targeted marketing to achieve fundraising goals.
"We are excited to bring Chaz on board," says Stephen Siegel, president and co-founder of Fulcrum Acoustic. "It's important that we focus resources into content creation for electronic media. Chaz's experience as a musician and c
  1. Scarlet Lady sets sail with Martin Audio WPS
  2. Crowds return for day two of PLASA Show 2019
  3. Audiologists earn Sensaphonics certification
  4. dBTechnologies expands installations team
  5. PLASA 2019: Bose shows expanded portfolio
  6. Fane International looks to Latin America
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