UK - The Sennheiser MKE 1 professional clip-on microphone is now available following comprehensive field tests, the company reports. Particular care was taken to ensure the microphone capsule was fully protected from moisture, enabling the MKE 1 to operate in harsh live conditions longer than many other clip-on microphones, says the company.

"Despite its tiny size, the microphone measures just 3.3mm across, the MKE 1 offers outstanding sound quality; plenty of lower midrange and excellent presence with good speech intelligibility," says Astrid Vettin, product manager for Sennheiser Professional Systems. "It has a user-friendly omni-directional pick-up pattern and the microphone picks up predominantly direct sound with relatively little ambient noise; which is a real advantage for many applications, from broadcasting to theatre and musicals."

Moisture is the

UK - Sound Technology is now offering free BSS Soundweb training at its Letchworth Garden City head office. The courses are designed for installers interested in integrating Soundweb audio networking solutions into their projects.

Two courses are available, one for each of the two BSS Soundweb series - Soundweb Original and Soundweb London. Both are one-day courses and each runs once a month. Full details are available at www.soundtech.co.uk.

Sound Technology plc announced the acquisition of Harman Professional Group's distribution business in the UK and Ireland from Harman International Industries Inc in May this year.

(Jim Evans)

Singapore - The Singapore Zoological Gardens, recently installed an Adamson Metrix line array system in the zoo's Shaw Foundation Amphitheatre. The newly renovated 1,400-seat Amphitheatre is home to a variety of animal presentations and information shows.

Since its opening, the Singapore Zoo has become a home for over 315 different animals, and hosts up to 1.4 million visitors per year. The Zoo, which is set in an open-concept, rainforest environment, encompasses approximately 28 hectares of land that is designed to simulate the natural habitats of the animals in which it houses.

During the renovation of the open-air Shaw Amphitheatre, many additions were made including the construction of a new impressive fabric membrane roof, further rows of seating at the top, and a wide corridor for additional standing room. Purchasing criteria for the new sound system was primarily based

Qatar - La Cigale Hotel in Doha satisfies all the criteria of a modern five-star hotel. Whilst in La Cigale's rooms and suites the international clientele is pampered with luxuries of every description, the Madison piano bar offers entertainment all year round.

To satisfy the many and varied demands placed on the bar's sound reinforcement system, EV's partner in the Lebanon, Hi Fi Services, designed a solution comprising components including Electro-Voice ZX5, ZX1, RX115/75 and SbA760 systems. CP3000S amplifiers, also from Electro-Voice, and a selection of EV microphones round off the installation in the 300-seater piano bar.

"The stipulation was that the sound should match the state-of-the-art ambience of the hotel. With this system, it does just that," says Hi Fi System MD Oussama Mansour.

(Jim Evans)

UK - At London's Notting Hill Carnival Turbosound Aspect loudspeakers and XTA processing saw action on a street corner of London W11 throughout the event.

Jeff Woodford of NBS Audio provided his NineBar Sound System to Pineapple Tribe, whose eclectic mixture of DJ styles - including dub reggae, breakbeat, Techno and drum & bass - makes them a favourite at a wide range of dance-orientated events.

Located on the corner of Ledbury Road and Lonsdale Road, the NineBar Sound System was arrayed as a mono stack comprising eight Turbosound Aspect TA-880H mid-highs on 12 thumping custom-built subs. This delivered the balance of heavy sub-bass and crystal clear mid-highs or, as Woodford says, "A seriously upfront sound."

With an XTA DP448 processor managing the system, it not only delivered quality sound, it was also straightforward to set up.

"We were doing a club eve

UK - In response to a customer's brief to provide a waterproof cover for his EX12s at a marathon running event, KV2 Audio has launched a new range of weatherproof covers for its entire range of EX Series of active, powered speakers. The covers include the use of Saatfil Acoustex fabric for the front covering of the cabinet.

SaatiFil Acoustex fabrics are designed for acoustical applications requiring consistent performance and excellent sound pressure levels. They are precisely woven with polyester monofilament fibres to create uniform mesh openings and are used in applications such as microphone pop filters, speakers and headphones, and also combine a Hyphobe treatment that provides moisture-repelling characteristics.

Initially the covers have been made for the most popular EX12 cabinets as shown in the photograph and include rain hoods for the two cable inlets. All stitching

Spain - D.A.S. reports that Argentina continues to host a large number of live events using D.A.S. Audio Aero systems.

For the 455th anniversary of the founding of the city of Santiago del Estero, an open-air stage was set up for the event at the Aguirre Park in Santiago del Estero, attracting crowds of over 100,000 people. It featured performances by El Chaqueño Palavecino, Néstor Garnica, Peteco Carabajal, Maximiliano Guerra and Juan Saavedra, Dúo Coplanacu, Los Carabajal, Marcelo Toledo and Soledad Pastorutti.

The sound system supplied by Ariel Marti of Marti Audio, comprised 24 Aero 48 systems. 12 were flown on each side of the stage together with 16 of the new LX-218 subwoofer units. Two powered Aero 28A units for front-fill were placed at the foot of the stage, ensuring optimum front-row coverage.

Marti also flew three Variant 112 systems to handle out-fill an

UK - Cirrus Research will be holding a three-day Noise Measurement Workshop at Leamington Spa in November. The workshop is designed for Health & Safety professionals in the entertainment industry and anyone who needs to meet the legal requirements and HSE expectations of the new Control of Noise at Work regulations, which came into force in April this year.

The Noise Measurement Workshop is a practical course that will cover the skills and knowledge required to manage these regulations and provide a pragmatic guide to the current best practice. This will include analysis of case studies from across the entertainment and music sectors, as well as practical work measurement and assessment using both classic and contemporary examples.

James Tingay of Cirrus Research says, "Applying the Control of Noise at Work regulations within the entertainment and music industry can be a

Unexpected News - The Spice Girls have beaten Led Zeppelin to an award for the best music reunion of the last 12 months. The girl group won best live return at the Vodafone Live Music Awards after getting back together for a world tour. It was judged to have been better than the one-off comeback by rock legends Led Zeppelin, with The Verve and James also nominated.

Emma Bunton was the only Spice Girl present, and said she was "a bit shocked" to beat such venerable rock acts as Led Zeppelin. The pop group's victory will raise eyebrows among rock fans, but Bunton told the BBC News website: "The thing is, when you go to a gig, you go for fun and entertainment and a night out. And that's exactly what we did and I think that's why people enjoyed it so much."

Theatre News - Up to 95 publicly-funded theatres across England are to offer free tickets to young adults as par

Italy - A party for Yamaha motorcycle fans was amplified by Outline Butterfly. The eleventh edition of the Yamaha Fest, staged at Misano Adriatico featured 24 Outline Butterfly CDH 483 Hi-Pack (12 aside) backed up by 6+6 Victor Live subwoofers flown at the side of the stage. All were powered and controlled by Outline Series T power amps and Genius 26 processors.

The project was overseen by Planet Service of San Marino, a rental company with a stock of Outline arrays and one of the most qualified European companies in the corporate event field. Fine-tuning the rig was entrusted to system engineer Carlo Gennaro, who carried out the work on behalf Planet Service.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Renkus-Heinz, worldwide distributor of EASE, EASE JR and EASERA, and Ahnert Feistel Media Group (AFMG), the developer of these and other programmes for sound system designers and manufacturers, will demonstrate the latest enhancements to the programmes at the AES convention in San Francisco next month. The new versions will be released later in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"We are continually working to maintain EASE and EASE JR on the leading edge of speed, compatibility and functionality," says Stefan Feistel of AFMG. "Version 4.3 includes significant enhancements to drawing import functions, mapping and room acoustics. With our lifetime licensing policy, current users will be able to download and install the upgrade at no charge."

(Jim Evans)

France - The Francofolies festival, which has taken place every year since 1985 in La Rochelle, has given numerous sound engineers the opportunity to discover and test the Midas XL8 Live Performance System, with four XL8s being used across the event.

The festival organisers chose Fa Musique, first XL8 owner in France, to provide sound reinforcement systems for both stages. Richard Ferriday (Midas brand development manager) made the journey to La Rochelle to assist the French team and provide technical support.

Two XL8s for FOH and monitors were set up for the main stage and a further system was used for the Grand Théâtre stage, where Jean Marandet from EVI Audio France handled technical support. The fourth system was installed in a backstage hospitality suite where visiting engineers could familiarise themselves with the control centre and record their settings before

Colombia - Santiago Perez Sonido Professional, located in Bogota, recently became the newest Latin American partner of Adamson Systems Engineering. Key man Santiago Perez purchased 10 Adamson SpekTrix cabinets, two SpekTrix W's, 6 SpekTrix Subs, and two Adamson proprietary DX6000 processors for his inventory.

A small company with six employees, Santiago Perez Sonido Professional has been in the business of sound and lighting for the past five years. Focused mainly on small to mid-sized festivals and corporate events, Perez's shop now includes Adamson compact sized Line-Arrays, JBL's monitors, Yamaha digital boards, a Soundcraft analogue board, and a small inventory of moving lights.

Perez decided on Adamson after the frequent use of a similar Adamson SpekTrix set-up from a local Adamson partner, Producciones Carlos Vallejo.

Abba Trading technical director Daniel Fernandez fl

UK - During the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the beautiful church of St George's West becomes The World@St George's West, opening its doors to traditional dance forms from around the globe. The shows were the result of a an idea by international show producers Toby Gough and John Simpson, with the support of actor Brian Cox and Peter Gabriel, and were the culmination of much hard work and dedication from a team of volunteers, as well as generous donations from an array of audio and lighting manufacturers, amongst them XTA Electronics.

Featured acts included the Capoeira Knights from Brazil, the Zawose Family from Tanzania, Children of the Khmer from Cambodia and Hemingway's Havana from Cuba. The shows proved a runaway success with The World@St George's West ultimately winning the Jack Tinker Spirit of the Fringe venue award.

As this was a purely voluntary affair, Real Wor

UK - TAO Group companies TAO Productions, TAO Fire, TAO Misc and TAO Medical recently joined forces to supply event production, safety planning, services and personnel to the launch of BT's Imoca 60 Yacht at HMS President on London's River Thames.

The event was a celebration of BT's sponsorship of music and sport and featured the Sugababes performing on the bow of the yacht as it sailed under Tower Bridge, signifying BT's sponsorship of the 2008 Isle of Wight Festival. The sporting side was represented by the naming of the BT Open 60 yacht, The Artimis Transat, crewed by Dame Ellen Macarthur, Globe Vendee participant Seb Josse and BT Extreme 40 Skipper Nick Moloney. The naming was held 14 days prior to the yacht's maiden race; a solo transatlantic crossing.

TAO Productions produced the event, providing staging, lighting, sound and artists, with roles including liaising

Israel - Tomorrow, 25 September, Paul McCartney will deliver a historic performance in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, nearly 43 years after the Israeli government banned The Beatles' show in 1965 for being too subversive. The highly anticipated occasion will be held at the city's Hayarkon Park, the site of concerts by Michael Jackson, U2, and Elton John. Slovenia-based Festival Novo Mesto and Israel's Kilim Electronics will provide a Meyer Sound system for the event.

The main system comprises two hangs of 14 Milo line array loudspeakers each, augmented by two side-fill arrays of 10 more Milo boxes each and several UPA-1P loudspeakers for front-fill. Forty-eight 700-HP subwoofers cover the low frequency and two towers of ten Mica line array loudspeakers each serve as delays.

"Paul's very much a live rock and roll player, and he approaches the songs from a very straightforwa

USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers has appointed JMS Marketing to its network of manufacturer's representatives and distributors across the United States and overseas.

Founded in 1975 by industry veteran Joe Martin, JMS Marketing is an established service-oriented rep firm. JMS will represent Community in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and most of Texas, with Martin based in the company's main offices in Austin, and sales Representatives Mick Anderson, John McDowell, Brad Sellars and Brian Hays covering the field.

"We're very pleased to welcome JMS Marketing as our new sales representative," remarked Rod Falconer, Community's regional manager in the Western US and Canada. "Their reputation as an established and accomplished sales team is a perfect fit with Community's continued growth and expansion as an industry leader."

Joe Martin

USA - At 125th AES Convention in San Francisco next month, TiMax will feature the latest evolution of its audio matrix systems, TiMax2 SoundHub and TiMax Tracker - a range of audio showcontrol and systems integrator products.

In its SoundHub-S audio showcontrol guise, the TiMax2 control software is configured specifically for programming and running live shows and events with cue-driven level, delay, EQ, matrixing, mixing and audio playback.

The SoundHub-R systems integrator version is optimised for more mainstream AV installations needing similar comprehensive audio processing, networking and remote control resources but with less focus on real-time showcontrol or audio animation.

Also demonstrated at AES will be the new TiMax Tracker showcontrol automation product, which uses UWB radar tracking technology.

TiMax Tracker has recently enhanced the sound reinforcement of se

USA - Central Baptist Church (CBC), located in St. Louis, Missouri, has installed two Allen & Heath iLive-80 digital console systems to handle FOH/monitors and broadcast needs. The 750-capacity facility is a dynamic musical church, which, in addition to various weekly services, hosts a number of events including theatrical, musical, and dance performances, community events, guest speakers, workshops and educational sessions. The installation was managed by Drainer Albright & Associates with system integration by Modern Communications and Output Unlimited.

"The church is undergoing a transformation to meet the needs of a media savvy generation," says Michael Drainer of Drainer Albright & Associates. "The iLive system has exceeded CBC's expectations and has been the perfect solution because of its superior user friendliness, flexibility, and functionality."

(

Korea - Cadac Electronics reports that its Korean distributor, Dreamsound, has supplied a 52-input Cadac J-Type Live Production Console to the Kei Myung Artcenter, which formally opens this month.

Located on the Kei Myung University's Seongseo campus in Daegu, the Kei Myung Artcenter has a 1900-capacity auditorium, acting principally as a music and performing arts student facility, as well as hosting a variety of medium and large-scale visiting productions. Involving a total investment of some US $80m, the project commenced in January 2005, and has been operational since February this year.

Following the gala opening, the first major production will be the Korean musical The Last Empress, featuring lyrics by In Ja Yang, music by Hui Gap Kim, and sound design by the celebrated local sound director, Ki Young Kim. The musical Mamma Mia! is also scheduled to run towa

UK - Six enthusiastic members of Prism Sound/SADiE's staff gave up their Sunday morning lie-in on 21 September to take part in the 10-mile Chariots of Fire charity race, an annual event that follows in the footsteps of the famous film, taking its scenic route through the streets and colleges of Cambridge.

A total of 408 teams of six took part, with each team member running 1.7 miles. The Prism Sound team gave themselves the challenge of finishing in the top half of the field and they succeeded with a position of 171 and a time of 1:15:43, which averages out at just under 7.5 minutes per mile.

Prism Sound's sales and marketing manager Jody Thorne says: "We were really pleased with our time and are looking forward to bettering it next year. Our thanks go to everyone who sponsored us - and to Prism Sound for paying our registration fees."

The recipients of the

UK - Dale Hanson took time off the road to handle eight different acts at The Bedford in London and mixed the evening away on a Soundcraft Si3. Along with the other Si3 beta testers covering theatre, touring and house of worship applications in Europe and the USA, Hanson has taken the Si3 through its test paces.

"The show was a bit like live TV with eight acts performing a couple of songs each during the evening without any change over time at all really. Not many digital consoles can cope with that type of challenge but the Si3 worked really well. I found that you can use so many different functions at the same time to be very useful. Having control of EQ, dynamics, bus sends and effects without having to reassign anything was great."

The Si3 is Soundcraft's latest 'mid range' addition to its growing digital family. It follows the Studer Vista 5 SR (Tours including:

UK - With 40-ton tanks clashing in daily battle in the Dorset countryside, an Electro-Voice sound system has been drafted in to overcome the noise of combat and deliver a clear and intelligible commentary to spectators. Complete Production Solutions (CPS) has just completed the PA installation for a new outdoor demonstration area at The Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, which boasts the world's finest and most historically significant collection of tanks in the world.

Featuring tank and armoured vehicle displays, simulated combat and occasional performances by the Light Cavalry Band, the new visitor attraction stages up to three shows a day in the April to September season. For the audience in the public viewing area, EV's weatherproof SX300 and ZX1 loudspeakers deliver a realistic, almost interactive sound experience.

Simon White, installation manager for CPS, has been involv

France - Jérôme Quadri from Avignon, France, is the winner of the Sennheiser Sound Logo Contest. The international jury and the public voted the 31-year-old's sound logo the best of over 2,000 entries.

Sennheiser launched the competition in January. Since then, more than 600 entrants sent in sonic logos and a total of 2,300 people chose their favourites in an online vote.

"Jérôme Quadri's sound logo perfectly reflects the characteristics of the Sennheiser brand," said Susanne Seidel, president of global marketing at Sennheiser. "It is outstandingly clear, instantly recognisable and has great potential for variation."

"I'm absolutely thrilled that I was able to convince the jury and the public with my sound logo," said Quadri on hearing that he had won. "I had a very clear idea of what the name Sennheiser means for me and wha

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