Italy - As part of a project funded by the European Union, a former military barracks in northern Italy has been transformed into a ‘social activation hub’. BASIS Vinschgau-Venosta aims to facilitate the development of ideas in economy, culture, education, social development and is designed to bring people of all ages, backgrounds and experience together. The multi-use space features a comprehensive yet versatile Alcons Audio pro-ribbon audio system. The former Druso army barracks was opened in 1937, closing in the late 1990s. In the summer of 2020, the completion of a long-term project saw the building given a new life as BASIS Vinschgau-Venosta. It’s the brainchild of Hannes Götsch and is designed to host a wide range of events, including theatre, live music, movies and club nights. Hannes knew Wolfgang Sauter, founder and owner of the Austrian audio specialis
Canada - Vancouver-based Promosa has enhanced its 20 year-old legacy in film and television production by investing in disguise’s vx4 and rx machines and undergoing specialist xR training to become the first official disguise partner in Canada to deliver full end-to-end xR stage production. With offices across Western Canada and in Washington state, Promosa is a full-service production management company specialising in large-format LED video screens – the largest inventory in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. They have been used in countless productions, including TV series DC Legends of Tomorrow, A Million Little Things, The Twilight Zone and the upcoming Disney+ series Turner & Hooch. In partnership with Animatrik Film Design their Vancouver headquarters features the largest independent motion capture sound stage in North
Russia - The Palace of Culture “October” is an 850-seat theatre with two levels. Opened in 1966 in Podolsk, Moscow, the venue hosts many types of events from dance to concerts and local shows. RCF Russian distributor ARIS provided a new HDL 28-A line array with SUB 9004-AS for a new and improved sound. The upgrade has allowed the 240- seat balcony to be opened to the public; it previously remained closed due to acoustical issues. Installed more than 10 years ago, the previous sound system was unable to cover the rather spacious balcony properly. This meant that tickets to the balcony during box office concerts were not sold, to avoid complaints from disappointed patrons. When the budget was approved for a new sound reinforcement system, a mandatory requirement from management of the House of Culture was to provide a high-quality sound experience to all secti
France - Audio equipment manufacturer Digigram has announced the appointment of a new management team, effective this month. Three company senior executives step up as directors. Florence Marchal is appointed as director of finance, human resources, and legal affairs. A senior Digigram staff member, Florence has gained a 360° expertise since she joined Digigram in 2000 and became the company’s CFO. Nancy Diaz Curiel is appointed as director of sales, marketing and communications. Since 2010, Singapore-based Nancy has overseen Asian & Pacific operations including products distribution. While remaining in Singapore, Nancy’s new role will include the supervision of teams and projects worldwide, always injecting her legendary energy to create new momentums for Digigram. Xavier Allanic, Digigram’s current VP sales EMEA & Americas since 2018, steps up as
Europe - KV2 Audio has introduced the CS Series loudspeaker range that has been specially designed to deliver ultra-high vocal intelligibility and music reproduction in a compact form factor. A variety of flexible mounting options and easy connectivity make the CS range a candidate for the corporate and rental markets. The range consists of three two-way passive loudspeakers; the compact CS6, the medium sized CS8 and the larger CS12. Voiced for speech and utilising KV2’s analogue delay line first developed in the ESD series, these discrete solutions are able to cover surprisingly large areas with relatively few boxes, providing results in even the most challenging acoustic environments. For rapid deployment the focus was placed on easy handling and quick connectivity. Accessories include a KV2 pole mount for speaker stands, as well as vertical and horizontal brackets
Canada - With its network of studios spanning the world, from the United States to Europe and Asia, Pixomondo (PXO) works extensively as a VFX house. The company has worked on award-winning TV productions such as Raised By Wolves, Perry Mason, Westworld and Star Trek: Discovery, as well as co-produced and provided the VFX for Roland Emmerich's feature film, Midway, and is now working on the filmmaker's upcoming Moonfall. PXO has just finished building one of the world’s largest Virtual Production (VP) studios in Toronto, with Brompton Technology as part of the network of tech partners that PXO has teamed up with on the new facility. “Beyond the prerequisites for a LED processor geared towards Virtual Production, Brompton has shown that it is heavily invested in innovation with a strong focus on quality, which perfectly ali
UK - A recording studio veteran and ardent user of Sennheiser and Neumann microphones, Ola Onabulé has been streaming regular live music performances from his home studio close to London for the past few months. With a career in music recording of over two decades, and having performed at some of world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and concert halls, Onabulé’s name is synonymous with jazz excellence and his deep passion for music technology. When the pandemic started, Onabulé’s first reaction was consternation. “I’d evolved a culture of doing gigs internationally over many years. Most of my shows involved getting on a plane and going to a foreign country where I’d stay for a few days before moving on to the next destination. The pandemic created complete and absolute chaos for this way of working and panic set in,” he shares. “A good friend in Me
USA - Harman Professional Solutions has launched a redesigned and streamlined web portal for its Education Alliance Programme (EAP), available to universities and colleges worldwide. The updated portal gives university and college AV and IT managers more immediate, at-a-glance access to rewards points, account management and an overall simplified user experience. For more than a decade, Harman’s Education Alliance Programme has been rewarding higher education institutions with its exclusive, industry leading customer loyalty program. Members can earn and redeem points for free products, access training and technical support, and gain recognition through sponsored case studies. Visitors to the EAP web portal can join the program, track and redeem their rewards points, and view and manage their account activity - all from a single location. At the newly redesigned EAP
South Korea - Nexo’s installation business has started the new year with good news from South Korea, where the company’s distributor A-Works prosound has delivered an installation project for a new auditorium, owned by the billion-dollar network marketing company Atomy. Following a four-way shoot-out competition last summer, A-Works won the contract with its demonstration of a Nexo Geo M12 mid-size line array system, paired with MSUB18 subs, and extended by a sizeable delay system using Nexo’s super-compact ID24 point source cabinets. The auditorium is located at Atomy HQ in Gongju, and is used for mini-concerts, education, internal events and the Atomy Corporation’s annual awards ceremony. The Geo M12 fits ATOMY’s purposes, specified with eight-module arrays left and right, and a three-module hang in the centre. Twelve of the powerful 18” MSUB bass units a
USA - ASI Audio x Sensaphonics has announced the imminent release of the upgraded version of its flagship 3DME Music Enhancement system. The new version will incorporate Bluetooth connectivity for the included ASI Audio App, enabling set-up and control via any current iOS or Android device. The core 3DME system remains unchanged, using patented Active Ambient technology to give the user natural room sound from their monitor mix, their bandmates, and the audience. The 3DME Music Enhancement IEM System consists of a bodypack mixer/controller and Active Ambient earphones. This new Bluetooth version allows users to pair any common portable device with the 3DME bodypack mixer for untethered adjustment of the system’s 7-band stereo EQ and limiter threshold via the free ASI Audio app. The app also offers access to an Audio Seal Test to confirm perfect IEM fit and allows the savin
Europe - Ausma Lace, a recording engineer from Latvia, has been awarded the Sound For The Future Scholarship, which was set up by UK loudspeaker manufacturer PMC in association with the Audio Engineering Society Education Foundation. This $5,000 prize is given to an audio engineering graduate who is also a member of the AES with the aim of helping them further their studies. In Ausma’s case it is helping to fund a Masters degree in Sound Recording at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Currently in her second year at McGill, Ausma is studying recording techniques for various musical genres. “My course has given me the opportunity to explore different areas of the audio industry, including music production, immersive audio, audio for picture and live sound,” she says. “Recording and producing music is my passion and I am experimenting with the latest a
USA - Harman Professional Solutions has confirmed its line-up of special sessions and product spotlights for the 2021 NAMM Believe in Music Week, taking place now. “Harman Professional Solutions is pleased to be taking place in this historic event while helping to elevate our industry by supporting musicians and industry professionals who have been deeply affected by the pandemic,” said Frank Joseph, senior director, North America Marketing, Harman Professional Solutions. “We are thrilled to bring together a premier line-up of industry leaders and Harman experts to discuss the future of music creation, event production and live performance. Although this is an unprecedented format, we’re confident we can deliver a rich and engaging experience for our customers and partners at NAMM 2021.” The sessions, featuring in-depth interviews and Q&A with leading ex
USA - Meyer Sound will participate in the 2021 NAMM Believe in Music Week virtual show this week, where the company will debut two original content sessions, share product resources, and schedule one-on-one meetings with NAMM attendees. “Meyer Sound has seen great success from the NAMM Show over the past few years as it is a great place for us to showcase our products suited for this audience,” notes Meyer Sound director of global marketing Tim Boot. “Although we are unable to connect with our customers in person during this time, we are grateful that we have this opportunity at the virtual NAMM show to share what we have been working on over the past year, including a new variant of our best-selling loudspeaker and a new solution for the post-production and residential markets.” The virtual booth will feature product information about the award-winning ULTRA-X
USA - The Behind the Scenes (BTS) Mental Health Initiative wants language about mental health and respectful workplaces “to become a part of every toolbox talk or safety briefing because psychological safety is as important as physical safety.” BTS says: “It’s not always an easy subject to talk about, so to make it easier for those delivering these talks we are suggesting topics and providing sample language that can be used as is or tailored to fit individual needs. “It is important to acknowledge the mental and physical stressors and challenges faced by all of us in the entertainment industry and offer your team tools to help them better manage and respond to these challenges. We know that the last months in particular have been very stressful and returning to work is bringing a new set of concerns for everyone. Many people are struggling with anxiety, gri
UK - Martin Audio has announced a ‘special event’ to take place on 16 February, 2021, to start its 50th Anniversary programme. The virtual presentation will provide ‘important updates, including the announcement of major new product and software releases’. The rationale for a virtual event is that with much of the global tradeshow calendar still in doubt, there are very few opportunities in the near future for in-person collaboration to highlight significant additions to the international pro audio industry’s arsenal. Dom Harter, managing director at Martin Audio, believes the event will demonstrate the resilience of the company: “This last year has been a challenging one for the industry as a whole, but at Martin Audio we have continued to invest heavily in R&D, with the positive outlook that companies continuing to create customer value will emerge f
Germany - Prolight+Sound, along with a number of other trade fairs planned for April and May in Frankfurt this spring, has been postponed until April 2022. A statement from the organisers says: “Back in September 2020, a decision was reached by Messe Frankfurt and the industries involved to forgo any physical events at our home base in the first quarter of 2021. Now, following close consultation with customers, it has become necessary to postpone the international physical trade fairs planned for April and May – Prolight+Sound, the International Consumer Goods Show, Heimtextil, Techtextil and Texprocess – as a result of the regulations and travel restrictions that have been imposed. “There is currently no end to the pandemic in sight. Events are effectively banned in Germany, and ongoing international travel restrictions mean that it is impossible to make any t
Europe - Yamaha has announced a new addition to its professional loudspeaker range, the MSP3A powered monitor, building on the sound reproduction and convenience of the much-loved MSP3. Yamaha’s MSP3 has long been a fixture of many different applications, thanks to its audio quality, compact size and convenient, front-mounted controls. The MSP3A builds on this legacy by adding key new features, including Yamaha’s Twisted Flare Port technology, which delivers an even clearer and tighter low-end, with faithful reproduction across the entire audio spectrum. The built-in 22W power amplifier is optimized for the speaker unit, which comprises a 10cm (4” ) woofer and a 2.2cm (0.8”) tweeter, for a clear and natural reference sound. The compact 23.6 x 16.7 x 14.4cm (9.3 x 6.6 x 5.7”) cabinet weighs a mere 3.6kg (7.9lb), making it easy to reposition and move to differe
USA - Audinate is offering a free seminar during NAMM 2021 on the topic of Getting Back to Music Education and Professional Live Performances. The seminar explores how Dante is enabling many different types of live performances while maintaining social distancing and room occupancy safeguards for all. Also available is a new overview of the Dante AV video-over-IP solution from Audinate, and Level 1 and 2 of the popular Dante Certification Course. That means no matter where you are in the world, and no matter your familiarity with Dante, you can gain valuable training and practical insights on using Dante in real-world, AV-over-IP integrations, says Audinate. The seminar and training sessions go live on 18 January, however, video will be available on demand through February. Registration for the events is available now at
Israel - Hagag Group is one of Israel’s leading real-estate developers and has recently completed the construction and installation of a multi-purpose venue as part of a prestigious new inner city urban renewal project in Tel Aviv. At the heart of this high-end complex is Pop and Pope - a restaurant, bar and event space. The venue operators harbour the aspiration of elevating Tel Aviv as a hub for excellence in cuisine combined with the most modern and inspiring of atmospheres and spaces. The desire to provide a high calibre environment for guests and diners includes the provision of quality audio. To achieve this, Hagag Group has worked in conjunction with audio specialist Kahane Group to supply an aesthetically pleasing and high quality sounding Void Acoustics installation for this prestigious complex located in the heart of Tel Aviv’s CBD. Kahane Group
Spain - Since 1975, Madrid’s Juan March Foundation Auditorium has offered the city’s population a rich offering of live music, generally classical, free of charge. The venue recently renewed its digital audio mixing system (supplied and installed by integrator Area Suena), replacing it with a modern solution from Allen & Heath. Based on the dLive and SQ systems, the solution allows the integration of two adjoining rooms in a Dante network, as well as real-time streaming and the recording of live shows for post-production. The decision to renew the audio and video mixing and recording systems (including signal flow management) was made in 2019, to keep pace with the venue’s level of production and in line with current technologies. The Juan March Foundation has long relied on production company Scope Produccinones as a partner for the technical operation
USA - Christie has launched the new Pandoras Box V8 Software Licence for realtime video processing and show control. Featuring a host of new features, a simplified workflow and streamlined licensing, the licence has the full Pandoras Box software family feature suite, allowing it to deliver the high-level media processing performance required for fixed installations, live events, theatres and other entertainment environments, in a budget friendly platform. The simpler, more robust software supports NDI network streams, offers a comprehensive and deep implementation of Notch and accessibility to native Dante audio without requiring configuration. It can be paired with an existing custom setup or any Christie hardware such as the Pandoras Box Server R5, a new hardware solution with powerful components available in different specifications. “Pandoras Box software
The Netherlands - Officially opened in February 2018, This Is Holland was the first panoramic flight simulator in the Benelux countries, costing €18m to develop and build. However, it quickly became obvious that the original audio system was not delivering the desired high quality, dynamic sound. An Alcons Audio pro-ribbon system was specified by Leisure Expert Group, transforming the experience as audiences are ‘flown’ at low level over many of the Netherlands’ best-known landmarks. The 24m (78.7ft) tall cylindrical pavilion is based on the shape of an oil drum, reflecting its location at the former Shell petroleum company site at Overhoeksplein in Amsterdam. The experience combines imagery taken from a very low-flying helicopter, filmed with special permission from the Dutch authorities, taking visitors on a nine-minute virtual flight over Dutch landscapes, c
Italy - Martin Audio’s CDD loudspeaker series, has found another high-profile home - on the Italian Riviera in Santa Margherita Ligure at the Il Covo Di Nord-Est nightclub. The venue features both indoor and outdoor spaces: the main bar is located in the former, while the dance floor and sofas, arranged differently every night, can be found outside. The main DJ area hosts local artists as well as more well-known names in the music industry, and it is here that the ultra-compact 2-way CDD loudspeaker solution was specified. The upgrade had been the result of a storm back in 2018 which had necessitated a complete venue rebuild, including the new audio system, which will now take on new challenges, both indoors and out. Venue owners, Stefano Rosina and Matteo Canepa (from Mito srl) considered several tenders before choosing Vibra Service of Albenga (SV) to underta
UK - For Spectre Studios, virtual production (VP) is not a new field. Prior to the pandemic, the company was already using real-time engines and virtual production technologies for their work on Hollywood blockbusters and, last year, set up ICVFX full-service LED VP studio in conjunction with Big Picture, part of the NEP Worldwide Network, using Brompton Tessera LED processing power to drive ROE LED panels. The climactic moment for Spectre, however, was in November, when the company participated in Epic Games’ Unreal Build: Virtual Production event, where a small number of creative studios across the world were invited to showcase their next-generation tools and techniques which are set to transform filmmaking industry. Brompton Tessera SX40 4K LED processing was used for the video piece that Spectre showed at the event. “Unreal Build: Virtual Production<
