The Netherlands - Attracting fans from around the world, the annual North Sea Jazz festival in mid-July inspires a range of surrounding events. Many of the artists stay at The Hague Marriott hotel where, this year for the first time, the Martin Verdonk Master Sessions was hosted in one of the hotel’s large conference rooms, supported by Yamaha.
First taking place three years ago, percussionist Martin Verdonk and sound engineer Lex Amrein organise live performances which are broadcast on the internet. Initially Martin and Lex invited musicians to take part but, as the reputation of the sessions has spread, artists have asked to participate. The Martin Verdonk Master Sessions aims to capture the pure essence of live performance. Verdonk says: “We play four songs and are in and out in four hours, raw and uncut, with no overdubs or Autotune.”
Normally taking place si

Greece - The inaugural edition of the Athens & Epidaurus Summer Festival (ADD 2018) took place at a warehouse complex and united international acts such as Amelie Lens, Apparat and Red Axes, as well as 22 DJs spread across three stages. The event was hosted at a warehouse complex called Peiraios 260.
RM Audio, Martin Audio’s newly appointed Greek distributor, supported the event by providing a WPC sound system on the main stage, with auxiliary systems on stages two and three.
On the main stage, RM Audio supplied eight aside WPC elements, Martin Audio’s latest optimised line array, with iKON amplifier racks driving eight new SXH218 subwoofers, which provided thumping bass. The stage was also populated with two XE monitors with W8VDQ as side-fills.
Stage B featured eight aside W8LM with eight WSX218 subwoofers, while two Blackline X15 with two Blackline X1

Turkey - Clair Brothers has named Elit Light / Sound Technologies as its distributor in Turkey.
The Istanbul company will sell and distribute the kiTCurve and C-Series loudspeakers as well as other Clair Brothers products such as the 1AM and 1.5AM Series stage monitors, the stackable S2 PA System, and more.
Elit MD Emre Defne comments: “We’re so proud to now be the Turkish partner of Clair Brothers because they give us a renewed ability to build on our mission to be the best live event brand in Turkey.”
Josh Sadd, Clair Brothers chief engineer, adds: “We are happy to have Elit on board with us and look forward to making more contributions to Turkey’s vibrant culture of interesting venues and events. The Elit team brings experience and enthusiasm that will certainly make the future of Clair Brothers in Turkey bright.”
Defne continues: “With Cl

China - Top Plot International has landed a trio of nightclub audio installations in China, all featuring the Nexo STM Series modular line array system.
The projects use the STM Series modular line array, sets of M46 mains and B112 bass modules together with S118 subs. The STM Series main PA is supplemented by a secondary PS10 and PS15 system, and both are powered by racks of NXAMP4x4 amplifiers.
In Guangzhou, in Guangdong Province, The One Club is a large dance club in a warehouse-style setting that blends the appeal of a high-energy nightclub with a modern lounge. Meeting the technical specifications and other requirements to invite top DJs, The One Club has played host to world-class names like DJ Slushii, Adam Trigger, Wolfpack, Diego Miranda, Rehab, JP Candella, Tujamo, Tommy Walker and Timmy, with more slated to come.
The main dancefloor system uses thre

USA - New York’s Stony Brook University upgraded the communication system at the school’s Computer Science’s conference room and has also added a video wall to the department’s main lobby.
John Schappert of Adwar Video turned to ClearOne, opting for a solution based on the company’s Beamforming Microphone Array 2.
Peter Ruland, associate director of operations for Stony Brook’s Department of Computer Science, says: “Academics are not big fans of lapel microphones, as they tend to stand up and move around to talk. One of the challenges in this conference room was that we were having a hard time capturing people’s voices and leveraging the echo cancellation during the video conferencing of our lectures because of the old setup we had.”
Schappert explains: “The audio pickup with the Beamforming Microphone Array 2 is super clear. For a large confe

Malaysia - Mahajak Trio recently deployed a complete Harman Professional Solutions audio system at the Grand Zenith Hotel in Malaysia.
Grand Zenith decided to update its multi-purpose ballroom with an audio system suitable for a wide range of events and performances. The hotel also used the opportunity to upgrade the audio system in its meeting rooms to allow for more efficient inter-staff communication. To achieve these goals, the hotel hired Mahajak Trio, who suggested a complete Harman Professional audio system.
Mahajak Trio outfitted the Grand Zenith ballroom with JBL AC2215/95 loudspeakers and Crown CTs 1200 power amplifiers, as well as new JBL EON610 active loudspeakers for additional coverage. Audio is mixed on a Soundcraft EFX12 mixing console. An AKG GN50E modular gooseneck microphone provides a hands-free solution for speakers, while a WMS470 Vocal Set D5 pr

UK - Event specialists, Light Fantastic Production Services Limited partnered with L'Atelier Five agency on the recent Hublot FIFA World Cup installation and product launch event at Harrods, Knightsbridge.
L’Atelier Five turned to LFPS to handle rigging and technical installation on their installation for Hublot watches in the store’s Hans Crescent entrance atrium. At its centre, the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia themed project featured three large open frame ‘footballs’ constructed from aluminium with integrated LED lighting and video displays.
Finished in red, white and blue to reflect the Russian national colours, the trio of footballs needed to appear to float effortlessly within the atrium. Limited by extreme load restrictions on the rigging points and severe weight limitations on the sloping floor below which precluded the use of traditional lifting methods

UK - London venue Troxy has completed the first stage in an audio installation which will see the new JBL VTX-A12 line-array system installed for the first time in a UK venue.
The art-deco venue will work with Harman and its UK distribution partner Sound Technology to undertake a major investment in its technical infrastructure to service the production requirements of its increasing number of live music events, awards ceremonies, corporate events and private parties.
The system has been specified in collaboration with integration partner SSE Audio Group. It will operate on a versatile digital network and offer incoming productions easy access and universal patching into the system for easy load-ins and quick production turn-around for touring shows.
Tom Sutton-Roberts, general manager at Troxy explains: “This is a major investment for the Troxy team and we h

Europe - BlackTrax real-time motion tracking system was instrumental in bringing the thrills of the Fast & Furious movie to live events in the UK and Switzerland, with further shows planned for the Czech Republic, Denmark, France and Germany.
Fast & Furious Live uses the most advanced technology and fans’ favourite cars from the series to faithfully evoke the most outrageous moments and stunts from the series. Recreating the underground streets of Los Angeles to locations that criss-cross the globe, Fast & Furious Live lets fans relive the most extreme action as precision performance drivers execute pulse-pounding stunts surrounded by blockbuster set design, authentic digital projections and state-of-the-art physical obstacles.
Kate Dawkins, already with a pedigree for creating content for spectacular live shows, was responsible for

USA - One Direction member Niall Horan is in the midst of a major US tour, where live engineers Joe Harling and Daniel Kent are using DiGiCo consoles provided by UK rental company Wigwam Hire.
Harling and Kent both work from DiGiCo SD10s, running at 48kHz, and sharing stage racks.
“I have always favoured front of house mixing,” says FOH engineer Harling. “I don’t have the technical chops, or strength of character, to do monitors. I’d probably end up crying if I did.”
“It was agreed with production that this was an acceptable price point and weight allowance for freighting control around the world; and the SD10 does absolutely everything we need,” Harling explains. “I have mainly worked with DiGiCo over the last few years, as I have mostly been mixing pop music, and DiGiCo is pretty ubiquitous in this genre.”
Harling is quite hands-on

UK - An AV overhaul has transformed a 400+ seat lecture theatre at the Surrey Business School at the University of Surrey in Guildford.
The audio installation, a collaboration between Shure and systems integrator Snelling Business Systems, created a single AV system suitable for lecture theatre / classroom theatre, live events and cinema theatre without the need for prior training or dedicated IT support.
Shure’s technical team created a system designed for switchover from one user mode to another at the touch of a button. The team provided technical support and streaming tests across campus between lecture theatres to asses Microflex Wireless capabilities for RF stability and networked control.
“The vast capabilities of the system are perfect for the range of uses we have, from lectures to live events and conference, as well as a cinema,” comments Rob Purc

Estonia - Estonia’s oldest theatre - Vanemuine in Tartu - received new audio, lighting, video, and communication equipment supplied by Amptown System Company (ASC) as part of a major conversion project.
Berlin-based Ingenieur Gesellschaft Wibbeke & Penders was commissioned with planning and implementing the structural conversion work while Dr. Reiner Chemnitius was responsible for working out the fundamentals for media equipment selection and installation.
Working together with ASC project manager Jan Vandrei and his team, theatre planner Dr. Chemnitius developed and customized the complex redundant audio/video fibre optic system based on Optocore and BroaMan components exclusively for the Vanemuine theatre.
Two management consoles with the real-time capable media control system by adunas were eventually selected. The larger main console to the right of th

UK - Pro-audio provider The Warehouse supplied an advanced audio solution for Edinburgh International Festival’s opening event. The Aberdeen Standard Investments Opening Event: Five Telegrams celebrated the start of the 2018 International Festival and was attended by 15,000 people.
This audio and visual event highlighted contemporary responses to the communication infrastructure of the First World War. The work was a joint commission for the BBC Proms, 14-18 NOW and the International Festival, in association with the Royal Albert Hall.
For the event, The Warehouse worked alongside International Festival’s head of sound Tom Zwitserlood, production manager Murray Boyd, and technical director John Robb, together with Olivier Award-winning sound designer Gareth Fry, who recently won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play for Harry Potter and the

UK - This July saw the return of the Rock & Bike Fest in the historic grounds of Carnfield Hall, South Normanton. This year’s festival welcomed hundreds of campers and show-goers to Derbyshire for a 72-hour celebration of music, bikes and beer.
The live production of the event was provided by HK Audio commercial partners Dezign Audio and Sound Alliance, both of whom super-charged the sound via a fleet of HK Audio speakers and power amps.
Acts including Big Country, Lindisfarne, Fleetwood Bac, Women in Rock, Surreal Panther, Kesia Gill, and Grand Ultra entertained the crowds during the weekend, with the HK Audio Contour, Linear 5 and Premium Pro systems all involved in the set-up on the event's main stage.
Additionally, all performers benefitted from crystal clear on-stage audio thanks to the employment of HK Audio Contour and Linear 5 monitors. To bo

China - McDonald’s latest ‘flagship’ outlets in China feature menu ordering, delivery to the table, a newly-integrated McDonald's App, WeChat applet member points, mobile payment and electronic menus.
Each of the outlets music and public address systems has a Bosch Plena Mixer Amplifier at its heart. This feeds to a LC6-100S-L ceiling mount Compact Sound Speaker System: a complete loudspeaker package. It consists of a high-performance, ceiling-mount, eight-inch subwoofer module with a crossover network to support the four-ceiling mount, two-inch, satellite speakers. Easy connections at the subwoofer support either 4 ohm or 70 / 100V signals.
For each of the floorplans used by McDonald’s flagship restaurants, Bosch has designed a special configuration of the commercial sound speakers to deliver sound. This was developed using acoustic-modelling software called

USA - Effects Unlimited has recently completed the design and installation of a new sound system based around Community E Series column line source and point source loudspeaker systems for St. Nicholas Church in Wilkes-Barre.
St. Nicholas has been a landmark of the Wyoming Valley since the 1850s and the current neo-gothic church with its high vaulted ceilings and reflective surfaces was completed in 1887.
St. Nicholas turned to audio specialist Effects Unlimited to design a system that would deliver high intelligibility and complete coverage in the acoustically challenging space. Specialising in installation, as well as rental and live production services, Effects Unlimited is one of the largest providers of audio visual systems in the region.
Effects Unlimited designed the system using Community E Series loudspeakers, chosen for their audio quality, reliability

Australia - Jay Productions and Events are lighting, vision, sound, staging, and operations specialists, covering AV for the corporate market, activations, and special events. The company has recently added Green Hippo’s Hippotizer Karst to their inventory.
Jason Ghazal, the owner of Jay Productions, comments: “We are increasingly incorporating complex lighting with mapping to LED screens, and projection mapping. We needed a media server that is versatile and easy to use. We got advice from everybody we knew that does specialised work with media servers, and they all agreed that that Green Hippo was the best.”
Jason and the team plumped for two Karsts fitted with the DVI and DP output card option, incorporating Green Hippo’s PixelMapper, SHAPE 3D projection mapping tool set, and Hippotizer V4’s multipurpose pre-visualisation tool into a 2RU, road-ready case.

UK - CPL, working as technical partners for event producers Bright, returned to the Mojo Active Almondsbury site near Bristol for the annual OVO Energy summer party, an action-packed day of fun and entertainment for OVO employees, their friends and family, now in its fourth year.
The project included CPL’s delivery of audio, lighting, rigging and crew for two music stages - Main and Bar - featuring live bands and a DJ line-up respectively, and there were also a few ‘specials’ around the site, including flying a 1m diameter glitter ball flown from the apex of one the conjoined tipis making up the Bar area.
The CPL team was led by Mike Radford, and they worked closely on site with Bright’s production manager Nick Diacre and their project leader, Annabel Harrison.
For the main stage, a d&b Y8 line array sound system was specified, with three flown Y8s a

Denmark - It may be a coincidence, but Denmark’s second-largest music festival Smukfest just happens to be located in the backyard of manufacturer of professional studio monitors, Dynaudio. Now, they have entered into a collaboration to debut Dynaudio’s new pop-up recording studio concept - called Unheard - in August 2018.
“Building a professional recording studio in a huge container might sound crazy to some,” says VP of sales and product manager for Dynaudio’s Pro division, Rune Holst Jacobsen. “To us, music is an expression where every little individual sound has a character of its own, a meaning and a purpose. It’s an intuitive and emotional connector that makes us feel alive. And that is exactly what we always aim to pass on to the producers working with our studio monitors. But now we want to take it a step further and assist in the artists’ purs

Korea - Martin Audio has appointed Seoul-based Sama Sound as its new Korean distributor.
Established in 1969, Sama Sound represents many major pro audio brands in the region, including Allen & Heath, Genelec, HK Audio and Shure.
Sama Sound president, Jason Inn, comments: “Having looked carefully for opportunities to expand our product portfolio, we believe that with the addition of Martin Audio, we can now comprehensively service the market and grow together, increasing market share by developing synergy with our current partners. We are extremely excited about the new journey.”
Martin Audio’s APAC account manager, Andy Duffield, adds: “Sama Sound has enjoyed great success over many years in the Korean market, both in rental / touring and the wider installation market. With Martin Audio’s proactive product strategy generating above indust

The Netherlands - At IBC 2018, Sennheiser will show the wireless Memory Mic for smartphones. Designed for journalists, the tool claims to offer superior sound compared to smartphone voice recording utilities.
Tobias von Allwoerden, senior product manager, professional audio at Sennheiser, comments: “High sound quality remains an important area for differentiation and a hallmark of quality for video content. Currently, there is no other product on the market that is able to compete with the Memory Mic and offer the same fantastic combination of audio quality, price and mobility.
“The benefits for the mobile journalist include audio pick-up in broadcast quality via the free Sennheiser app, one-touch synchronization of audio and video via Bluetooth, no issues at all with range, up to four hours of operating time and convenient recharging via USB.”
(Jim Evans)

Spain - Located close to the azure waters of the Altea on the Alicante seafront - a famous refuge for poets, singers, painters and sculptors - is the renowed four-star Cap Negret hotel.
As part of a recent thorough renovation taking in the major seafront rooms, junior suites and public areas, audio integration company Sonido Limón, working on behalf of the hotel management, chose a variety of Work Pro sound reinforcement equipment. The installation includes BlueLine AoIP audio management systems and the stylish and discreet frameless C PRO speakers, which feature magnetic speaker grilles for fast and easy interior access.
The BlueLine system operates over Cat 5 cable, allowing seamless control of six audio sources across eight different zones via an existing IT network. This is how it is being used at Cap Negret, where the entire streaming audio entertainment and pagi

Finland - With the festival season in full swing, Finnish singer / songwriter, Nelli Matula, has embarked on her summer tour, accompanied by a compact Allen & Heath dLive Wings system for both FOH and monitors.
Supplied by HÖG Light & Sound, the tour set-up consists of a dLive C1500 for FOH and a custom dual-touchscreen controller for monitors, both running in multi-surface mode from a single DM48 MixRack. The system also includes a DX168 expander for remote I/O, Dante card, and a Waves3 card for multi-track recording and virtual soundcheck.
Tour manager and FOH engineer, Temi Kinnunun, explains why dLive was an easy choice: “I'm a long-time Allen & Heath user and I’ve been using dLive ever since it was launched. The best feature of dLive is the user interface and the preamp sound.”
Running the touchscreen system with Director software for mon

France - All of France marks the beginning of the modern French nation each year on 14 July, with events taking place all over the country. As in previous years, Lawo mixing consoles helped deliver the audio for more than 500,000 Concert de Paris spectators at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
The Concert de Paris is one of the largest classical music events held anywhere in the world, and is followed by a traditional firework display. The show – featuring the National Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of Radio France, along with internationally renowned soloists – was relayed to TV viewers and radio listeners in France and beyond with the Lawo setup.
For the central celebrations on the Champ du Mars next to the Eiffel Tower – the highlight of the National Holiday – Radio France used an mc²96, Lawo’s flagship audio production console, for ultimate F

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