Finland - Ilmatar Windpower is dedicated to the supply of clean and affordable wind power as part of the drive to transition to renewable energy sources. The company has recently made their own transition to new headquarters in Helsinki, designed according to sustainable practices with the aim of achieving optimum efficiency and wellbeing. AV solutions experts 4Business Oy were called in to design and implement all the AV technologies for the new premises, which included a Smart IP audio solution from Genelec. One of the biggest issues to be addressed from an audio point of view was auditory comfort in Ilmatar’s open workspaces - an integral part of any modern, activity-based office today. However, one of the inherent problems of any open plan workspace is a lack of privacy and disruptive noise coming from elsewhere in the environment. Ilmatar was determined to create the
UK - Creative Technology supported the live broadcast of a ‘secret’ event from one of the UK’s leading motor racing circuits. The event would be streamed to a small number of top clients for the manufacturer, with security of the broadcast being of utmost importance. CT proposed the use of its Eden platform which enabled two-factor authentication for the invited attendees to maintain a high level of security, ensuring confidentiality of the product. CT were on hand to collaborate with the end client’s IT department and Sprout, throughout the production process, to ensure that all protocols were observed and minimise any issues on the day for the invited audience. CT’s involvement with the project further extended into the ‘live’ environment following Sprout’s decision to broadcast the event on-demand over the weekend of 13-14 March. The on-site e
USA - When the Seattle Symphony orchestra wanted to explore the realms of music through audio and visual representation, they envisioned creation of a space that would immerse the audience into ‘a music experience unlike any other’. The Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Centre is named after Seattle philanthropists James and Sherry Raisbeck, who donated $2m on top of the various public and private donations to transform the former Soundbridge Seattle Symphony Music Discovery Centre into a musical experience to remember. Fusing music and technology, Octave 9 was designed to stretch the boundaries of creative possibility and immerse the viewer in new worlds created with the orchestra’s music. With this in mind, the technology implemented in this immersive space needed to be fully adaptable to match the variety of genres and eras recreated by the orchestra, and able to chan
UAE - Bla Bla Dubai - which boasts 20 Bars, three Restaurants, and a Beach Club all in one venue - was created to offer a full day-to-night experience for visitors, all with views of Bluewaters Island and Ain Dubai, the world’s largest observation wheel. Located at The Beach opposite JBR, Bla Bla Dubai is set to be at the forefront of the city’s bustling social scene, and as a result every area of the venue required an audio system to match - or even exceed - the region’s high standards. Pulse Middle East was trusted with the job of integrating this system after Bla Bla Dubai’s management was impressed by Pulse’s extensive portfolio of work with other venues across the city including Nikki Beach Club, White Beach at Atlantis, LSB, Brass Monkey, and Wavehouse. Pulse opted for a complex three-zone audio configuration driven by Powersoft amplifier platfo
USA - Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has successfully begun assembling its MKD speaker line in-house at its Whitinsville, Massachusetts headquarters. The new dedicated assembly space began operation in November 2020 and has not stopped since, with production of the new MKD1200 Series and customisation of existing products, such as the QX and MK lines. With two stations for assembly, the 2,400sq.ft space is in full operation. “EAW is proud to once again be assembling product in the US and is looking at additional lines that would be a good fit for the new assembly space,” says TJ Smith, president, EAW. “Many of EAW’s products are offered with configurable options, such as multiple horn patterns, rotatable horns and/or transformers all in black, white and weather protected cabinets. Conducting final assembly of these products in Whitinsville allows us to respond
Germany - As part of a plan to increase its presence in Europe, Valencia-based DAS Audio is set to open a new subsidiary office in Germany on 1 June 2021. Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, the manufacturer has branches in the USA, South America and Asia. DAS Audio GmbH will be in charge of sales, marketing and customer service of DAS Audio Germany under the direction of managing director and partner Arne Deterts. Deterts was the head of the German branch of dBTechnologies for more than 20 years, including as the managing director for the last eight and until he left the company. “I came across DAS Audio relatively early on, not really knowing a lot about them,” comments Deterts. “But the more I dealt with DAS Audio, the more enthusiastic I became and the more I realised how well all this fitted together. Great company, great products, great people
USA - After more than 30 years with console manufacturer API, Dan Zimbelman has moved to loudspeaker manufacturer PMC where he is now senior export business development manager. Based in the US, Dan will be working closely with PMC partners and resellers around the world to ensure that they have all the training and support they need to grow sales in their local markets and understand new formats such as Dolby Atmos for music mixing. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, Dan has held many key positions within the professional sound industry, including recording engineer and recording studio owner. During the mid-1980s, he spent three years helping Rupert Neve launch the Focusrite brand of signal processing equipment in the USA, before moving to console manufacturer API where, as director of sales for nearly 30 years, he consistently exceeded sales targets and helped AP
UK - Shure Incorporated has announced the appointment of Duncan Bell, founder of Wideband Consulting, as a consultant on spectrum and advocacy affairs. Bell is a founding member of the BEIRG (British Entertainment Industry Radio Group) organisation and the former financial director of the Autograph group in the UK. He is also a senior member and political team leader of the #WeMakeEvents campaign, formed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Shure has been the leader in spectrum advocacy on behalf of the audio industry and continues to devote significant investments to secure its future,” comments Ahren Hartman, VP of quality at Shure. “We look forward to joining forces with Duncan to secure and protect spectrum for the wireless microphone user community.” “Duncan’s 36-year career in live sound production and industry relations makes him uniquely suited t
USA - Audinate and Analog Devices have collaborated to introduce the availability of Dante Embedded Platform (DEP) for ADI’s SHARC audio digital signal processors (DSPs). The collaboration is made possible by Audinate’s introduction of DEP - which offers Dante audio-over-IP as on-chip software. By adding DEP to a powerful, compact, audio feature-rich, and multi-core application processor - such as the SHARC ADSP-SC5xx - manufacturers ensure they deliver Dante connectivity with high performance, low latency, and deterministic audio processing. The result is a single-chip solution with ‘impressive system design versatility’. “Audinate sees a shared opportunity as the AV industry migrates to products running on standard computing architectures,” comments Bob Ehlers, vice president of product management at Audinate. “The Analog Devices ADSP-SC5xx processors e
World - Green Hippo has released a major upgrade to its Hippotizer software which introduces a new design, pre-programming and content delivery workflow. Version 4.6 builds on the familiar flexibility of Hippotizer’s realtime media manipulation system with planning, visualization and timeline control architecture. “Version 4.6 is the result of some incredible work by our R&D team who have worked their trademark Hippo magic to implement a host of powerful, simple-to-use, project-enhancing features designed with the end user firmly in mind,” says Green Hippo’s product and development director Ryan Brown. “Hippotizer has always been the ‘pocket knife’ of media servers, delivering multiple solutions from a single box. Now, version 4.6 adds so much more. “Version 4.6 combines Hippotizer’s familiar content and design practices with a redesigned, realtim
USA - Now in its ninth season, the Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family showcases crafting, cooking, home improvement, car repair, and all things DIY. Multiple cast members interact with celebrity guests throughout the many rooms of a full-sized house set. This makes the need for many wireless channels and glitch-free reception a top priority, which is why the show recently upgraded to Lectrosonics all-digital D Squared wireless mic system. It comprises four DSQD four-channel receivers, 16 DBu belt-pack transmitters, a DHu handheld mic, and six ALP690 high-performance antennas. “We had been using three Lectrosonics Venue racks and SM-series transmitters since the show started in 2012,” says audio supervisor Mike Dooley, whose CV includes The Biggest Loser and The Price Is Right. “I loved how well supported they were. But when we changed re
Germany - L'Osteria is a branded gastronomy company founded in 1999 with over 130 locations in eight European countries. The operation is based on a three-pillar principle: company-owned restaurants managed by FR L'Osteria SE; joint ventures; and franchise restaurants. According to their own statement, it is “a bit loud [and] lively” in the restaurants, which places high demands on the individual sound systems. Audio installation company i:TECS from Dessau-Rosslau specialises in the gastronomy sector and undertakes all planning and design, based around high quality sound. At L’Osteria they looked to the Martin Audio portfolio, distributed in Germany by Audio-Technica. “We were given the impression right from the start that special focus needed to be placed on premium quality sound,” says Thomas Neumann of i:TECS. "Great value is placed on the standard o
Australia - Written by Australian playwright, screenwriter, and composer Yve Blake, Fangirls is a co-production with Belvoir, Queensland Theatre and Brisbane Festival, in association with Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP). It is the chronicle of 14-year-old Edna, a diehard fan of the world’s biggest boy band, True Direction. Currently touring Australia, the multi award-winning musical recently played to full capacity audiences at Adelaide Events and Exhibition Centre’s Ridley Pavilion, as part of the Adelaide Festival. To deliver all the punch and clarity, music producer and sound designer David Muratore and sound designer Michael Waters had envisioned, Novatech supplied an L-Acoustics system for the festival dates. While Fangirls creators Blake and Muratore, had spent five years developing the production with musical director and vocal arran
UK - After events for the London Climate Change Festival were postponed in 2020, the festival returned for 2021 with a televised broadcast. The specially created concert, titled Song For Nature, debuted on Sky Arts on Earth Day, 22 April. Paul Smith of Apex Acoustics provided audio equipment for the performance and mixed sound using a DiGiCo SD10 console. “The concert grew organically into a much larger event with performances by Brian May, Rob Brydon, Nathan Evans, Kerry Ellis, Janie Dee and Wayne Sleep, and many more along with the ENO Orchestra and choir,” says Smith. “Brian May and Kerry Ellis were only confirmed a few days before the show.” The concert was filmed over three days at an audience-absent London Coliseum, both on stage and in other areas of this storied London venue. The atmospheric theatre hosts the English National Opera as well as bei
Sri Lanka - Dynamic AV Technologies recently outfitted Ceylon Theatres Regal Cinema Dematagoda with a complete Harman Professional cinema audio solution to provide immersive sound quality for moviegoers. Ceylon Theatres is a Sri Lankan theatre chain with an 85-year history that currently operates six locations throughout the country. The latest location is a three-screen facility in Dematagoda which also houses a KFC restaurant and Food City supermarket. In order to ensure an immersive cinematic experience with clear and balanced audio quality for moviegoers, Ceylon Theatres Regal Cinema Dematagoda required modern sound systems for all three screens. Ceylon Theatres hired Dynamic AV Technologies to equip each theatre with a complete Harman Professional cinema audio solution including JBL loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers “Working on a cinema project with Harman is ea
UK - Surrey-based systems integrator proAV has completed an impressive 333 courses at the Shure Audio Institute (SAI) in Waltham Abbey, earning over 150 certifications across 60 members of staff. Staff from across the company including sales, design, technical management, commissioning and service departments, have all taken part in the courses, establishing strength and knowledge across the business. Discussing the achievement, Richard Brookes, managing director, said; “proAV takes certification extremely seriously, as it is fundamental to our business as a leading workplace technology integrator to ensure we are always at the forefront of current and emerging technological solutions. “Our clients expect the highest quality standards and in-depth product knowledge from proAV and SAI certification delivers this assurance.” Regarding the continued deve
UK - Martin Audio has been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation for its Wavefront Precision optimised line arrays. Announced yesterday (29 April), Martin Audio has been recognised for its excellence in Innovation. Martin Audio is one of 205 organisations in the UK to be recognised with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Employing over 60 people, Martin Audio is celebrating its 50th year in designing and manufacturing professional loudspeaker systems. “It’s an honour to win such a prestigious award and very fitting to do so in our 50th anniversary year,” said Martin Audio managing director, Dom Harter. “Wavefront Precision arrays have become our fastest ever selling line array format suitable for both install and live sound applications and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise underlines both its innovation and commercial success.”
UK - Dream is a multi-layered mix of movement, music, visuals, cool technology and narrative magic, an immersive digital performance fusing the drama of Shakespeare with the dynamic worlds of gaming and theatre in a production by the UK’s Royal Shakespeare Company in collaboration with Manchester International Festival, Marshmallow Laser Feast, and the Philharmonia Orchestra (read a full production report in the upcoming issue of Lsi, out early May). Staged physically in the Studio at Portsmouth Guildhall and inspired by the classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the characters were played by six real actors utilising Vicon motion capture cameras, their avatars and effects appearing onscreen - centring around the antics of cocky and capricious mischief-maker Puck. They run amok in the virtual Midsummer forest, hellraising and spoofing four other sprites during
France - L-Acoustics has revealed a revamped approach to the workflow of spatial audio content creation with the new L-ISA Studio software suite and upgraded L-ISA engine. Built with sound designers and mixing engineers in mind, L-ISA Studio is designed for countless creative, immersive audio experiences. Immediately available for download, it takes the power and versatility of the concert-proven L‑ISA technology and puts it into the hands of sound creators, allowing them to formulate multidimensional audio wherever and whenever they are ready to create. “L-ISA Studio grants all sound creators the ability to conceive, create, iterate and experience their work in 3D audio,” explains Guillaume Le Nost, executive director, creative technologies at L-Acoustics. “It is the perfect tool to work on the pre-production of an L-ISA live show or the sound design of a newl
USA - Audio quality is a difficult challenge to solve in any video conferencing application and meeting that challenge was a top concern for Charlie Fiddler, technical events specialist at Asbury Theological Seminary when he undertook the task of upgrading the seminary’s conferencing system. To meet this challenge, he turned to ClearOne. Asbury Theological Seminary is an evangelical Christian seminary located in Wilmore, Kentucky. It is the largest seminary in the Wesleyan tradition and advocates for egalitarianism, giving equal status for men and women in ministerial roles and for ordination. “We wanted to be able to capture the voices of instructors, with or without lapel microphones, based on individual preferences and the questions from students, regardless of whether or not they are located on campus or calling in from other locations,” Fiddler explains. “
Sweden - Blackmagic Design reports that its technology has been instrumental in allowing the creators behind ReaktLive.com to stream performances direct to audiences from its own platform. Based out of the former EMI/Abbey Road Stockholm studio, the live content experience has built its live video capabilities around the Blackmagic URSA Min Pro 12K, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 and Micro Studio Camera 4K with the support of Scandinavian Photo. The full-service streaming studio and broadcast company features a studio design with six small, discreet cameras on robotic rails and jibs, reveals co-founder Nicolas Notini. “The purpose of automation for us was to ensure artists and creators have far fewer distractions and can just ‘do what they do’ more easily. “With our background as professional musicians, this is how we feel it works, and looks, best. After a few mi
China - The BoomBoomRoom is a new fixture of the thriving nightlife scene in Liuzhou City, China, and the latest addition to the growing club empire of Singapore’s Disen Kaine Group. Looking to make a powerful statement with the extravagant 1,000-capacity nightspot, Disen Kaine invested in a production technologies package featuring a venue-wide PK Sound audio system sold and installed by Polar Audio, the Canadian manufacturer’s exclusive Chinese distributor. “We pride ourselves on delivering an elite and luxurious nightlife experience across our growing network of clubs, and high-impact audio powered by PK Sound plays a big part in that at the BoomBoomRoom,” comments Disen Kaine Group’s Mr. Kane Lin. “Thanks to PK Sound’s technology, we’re able to very precisely direct sound to maximize clarity and impact throughout the venue, and the company’s reputation
UK - Loudspeaker manufacturer PMC has strengthened its corporate structure so that it is better placed to deal with ongoing expansion. For the first time in its 30-year history PMC now has a formal board structure, with owner and founder Peter Thomas acting as chairman and former group finance director Jeff Willcocks confirmed as CEO. Also on the board – and reflecting the fact that PMC remains a family owned business – are Thomas’s son Oliver Thomas, who is now commercial director, and Tom Loader, son of PMC’s co-founder Adrian Loader, who is operations director. “PMC is expanding fast and it is not feasible to expect one person to have intimate knowledge of every aspect of the business,” Peter Thomas says. “Having a formal board of directors allows us to tap into the huge pool of expertise that already exists within the company, and across many differen
USA - The new Lavalier Switch Kit from Point Source Audio offers one lavalier mic that transforms into two wearing styles and into three different colour options to help audio technicians meet the ever-changing conditions of mic'ing. At the heart of the kit is the company’s IP57-rated Waterproof Omnidirectional Lavalier. The mic choice includes a low sensitivity option for live stage applications or a high sensitivity option for studio broadcast. This waterproof mic has a low profile at 4mm in diameter, but it embodies all the high-performance characteristics you might expect from a larger format microphone, says the company. “We created the Lavalier Switch Kit to be a ‘grab and go’ solution for audio professionals,” said Point Source Audio’s vice president of sales and marketing, Yvonne Ho. “Having the right accessories can very quickly transform a basic
