USA - When Arizona Sound Productions was hired to provide video and sound production for a string of boxing matches across the US, they found themselves with new protocols, different challenges, and time to kill. “Working this year has been interesting to say the least,” said Jared Jasinski, owner and lead engineer for Arizona Sound Productions [AZSP] based in Phoenix. “With COVID restrictions we’ve been forced to be more creative and think outside the box. We’ve had opportunities to create something different for viewers at home, without an audience we can put a boxing ring anywhere [outdoors] and make it look great on camera.” On 15 August, 2020, AZSP set the stage in Oklahoma, making boxing history with what has been called the “street fight” concept. AZSP clients’ Holden Productions and Matchroom Boxing dropped a boxing match in the middle of down
USA - Thousands gathered on Washington’s National Mall in late September for a 12-hour-long event dubbed The Day of Return, a national and global day of prayer and repentance. The Return movement states its aim as being “an end-time movement with one purpose – the return to God, individually, corporately, nationally, globally, and the end-goal of world revival”. Speakers such as Jonathan Cahn, Dr. James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Ann Graham Lotz, Alveda King, Kevin Jessip and many more could be heard both inside and beyond the fenced-in ticketed area. MHA Audio provided Martin Audio’s MLA sound system. The main hang consisted of 11 MLA elements plus an MLD Downfill per side, with 18 MLX subwoofers arranged in a broadside cardioid array. “We were only covering 150ft because it was a small compound, but we also had to cover the crowds outside the compound,” exp
Germany - d&b audiotechnik has partnered with Gareth Owen Sound to launch En-Snap cue automation software, a significant step in advancing the application of the immersive sound experience that is Soundscape. Since its launch in 2018, d&b Soundscape has provided audiences worldwide with an immersive audio reality that shapes deep and intense connections between audiences and artists. "En-Snap allows for even more efficient and seamless Soundscape integration within the wider entertainment technology ecosystem," the company says. Developed by Gareth Owen Sound for d&b Soundscape, d&b is working in cooperation with the renowned sound designer and his team to make the powerful En-Snap tool available free-of-charge to registered d&b Soundscape customers and users. Owen has already used Soundscape and an early version of the En-Snap tool to bring
UK - Production Park has secured a £12million Government loan which it plans to use to expand and develop its Wakefield campus over the next decade. Production Park is one of the latest 11 major arts and heritage organisations across the UK to have received loan offers from the £1billion Cultural Recovery Fund, a combination of grant and loan cash from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), targeted to support a culture sector that has been devastated by the effects of COVID-19. Other organisations to have benefitted from the £165m in repayable finance – and a further £58m in capital funding for ongoing construction and maintenance projects in the sector – announced by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden include the Royal Albert Hall, National Theatre, English National Opera, Alexandra Palace and the Royal Shakespeare Company. “The
Italy - Outline has announced the arrival of the latest member of their Vegas loudspeaker line, the Vegas 4. Designed and manufactured in Italy, the Vegas 4 is a multi-purpose miniature loudspeaker featuring a single-driver design and employing a new 4” transducer created by Outline’s engineers specifically for the product. Its power handling, audio performance (even off-axis, traditionally not a strong point of single-driver designs), thoughtful design and robustness allow it to fulfil a huge range of roles in both fixed and mobile applications. Measuring 12cm x 12cm x 12.6cm and weighing only 1.6Kg (3.5 lb), multiple Vegas 4s can be deployed in projects where high quality audio is required but where minimum visual impact is demanded - for example, delays and surrounds in theatre, in corporate AV, leisure, retail, worship and much more. When combined with Outline
USA - The View at Fountains is a 400-capacity conference and event space in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It occupies the top floor of Fountains at Gateway, a multi-purpose building occupied by office space, restaurants, retail shops, and, in the future, apartment units. Aptly named, The View at Fountains features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking greenspace. All of that glass makes the space acoustically challenging, and that challenge is compounded by tile flooring, an exposed concrete ceiling, and dry wall. Hesitant to upset the visual aesthetic, regional AV integration firm Centerline Audio Visual recommended Danley Sound Labs SH95 loudspeakers, which use Tom Danley’s patented Synergy Horn technology to deliver fidelity while keeping sound from bouncing off the walls and ceiling. “Scott Graby owns the building and is also the sound tech at Franklin Road Bap
USA - The Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre began its life as a motion picture house in 1935 in the growing Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Georgia. Over the years, the location transformed multiple times – the theatre’s website notes it was used for “a number of ventures” across multiple decades. But as age caught up with the theatre, it temporarily shuttered in 2002, seeking new renters. The theatre found new life when a community-led non-profit worked to ‘Bring Back The Strand’ and renovated the space into a full-time public theatre devoted to live performance. It reopened in 2009 after a restoration that reintroduced fantastic red and gold architectural flourishes to the space. However, the venue still had one challenge: the space wasn’t designed in line with traditional acoustical considerations. Reverberant surfaces and a uniquely constructed balcony
Germany - Bewake Studios in Berlin has become the first recording facility to install a multichannel monitoring system fully outfitted with Spacemap Go, Meyer Sound’s for spatial sound design and mixing. The installation of Spacemap Go was prompted by German electronic music icons Jan Werner and Andi Toma. They have been in residence at Bewake Studios since late 2018, and have occupied an exclusive sub-rented space and operated under the moniker Paraverse Studio. Their facility has a separate connection to the 50sq.m main recording room - where Spacemap Go is available - which is shared with Bewake’s other clients. “Andi and Jan first experienced an earlier version of Spacemap Go at Moogfest two years ago, which started an ongoing relationship with Meyer Sound,” notes Adam Kesselhaut, the studio’s co-founder and managing director as well as a producer and so
Europe - The MOSAiC expedition (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) is seen as the largest Arctic research voyage of all time and a milestone in climate research. The expedition set sail from Tromsø in Norway in September 2019 and came to an end with the return of the main expedition vessel, the icebreaker Polarstern, to its home port of Bremerhaven, Germany, in October this year. During the expedition, the Polarstern had docked onto Arctic sea ice and drifted through the Arctic Ocean on a gigantic ice floe. As the ship drifted with the ice, it had contact with a network of measuring stations covering many kilometres. One aim of the expedition was to gain a better understanding of the Arctic’s influence on the global climate in order to make more reliable predictions. One of those taking part in the expedition was Friederike Mari
Europe - Ashly Audio has announced a partnership with COMM-TEC Exertis to extend product availability across Europe. "In order to further expand our range of audio solutions and provide them to an enhanced customer base, we were looking for an outstanding distributor for AV solutions in Europe,” said Jim Mack, CEO of Ashly. “In COMM-TEC Exertis we have found the perfect partner to further expand Ashly's distribution throughout the region. We look forward to many exciting projects and a long-term partnership that will allow us to offer our comprehensive product range to an even wider range of customers.” COMM-TEC Exertis is a full-range supplier of AV/IT media technology across Europe and works to offers its partners the right solutions for almost any application: from live set-up, office space and conference rooms to background sound in bars and restaurants.
USA - When Caesars Entertainment, who operate the world-renowned Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, planned their next expansion phase - Caesars Forum, a new state-of-the-art conference centre - they needed a first-class technical infrastructure for site wide multi-signal transmission over this large facility, and opted for BroaMan, the video and data based sister company to Optocore. Locally based design and engineering specialists, National Technology Associates (NTA) have a long track record working with the Caesars Entertainment family, including LINQ promenade, the High Roller, and many restaurants and venues. Thus they were again contracted, and as their project manager Shane Snell recognized the building was way too big to run traditional SDI cabling, he instead turned to a BroaMan fibre solution. BroaMan offers customised fibre solutions as well as standard d
USA - Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) has added the Tour Series (TS) Helical Antenna to their antenna line. The TS Helical differs from their standard helical versions (available in both the 460-900MHz and 900-1000MHz frequency ranges) because it was designed with a lower profile making it useful for applications that require compact size and easy storage for touring applications. “The TS Helical was a product that we had kicked around for a while,” explains Jim Van Winkle, general manager for Orlando-headquartered PWS. “Touring professionals and integrators were looking for something that was less obtrusive in size and visibility. All our helical units have circular polarization, created by a rigid helix for consistent performance, but the helix on the TS is significantly shorter -almost 7" - than the traditional version." The new antenna offers the same co
Europe Pioneer Pro Audio is expanding its CM Series to include four new units: the 10-inch CM-510ST subwoofer and the IP54-rated 4-inch CM-S54T, 6-inch CM-S56T and 8-inch CM-S58T surface mount loudspeakers. Says Pioneer, “Since we launched the XY Series loudspeakers, installers have told us they’d like to see smaller speakers added to our range to enable turnkey installations at a wider variety of venues. Nightclubs, bars, shops, offices, hotels and restaurants are just some of the environments where more discreet boxes are needed. And, in areas such as corridors, bathrooms and VIP zones, nightclub installations also often require sound in tight spaces where large units are unnecessary or can’t be accommodated. “Drawing on our club loudspeaker manufacturing heritage, the versatile two-way CM-S54T, CM-S56T and CM-S58T, and the Kelton-configured CM-510ST subwoofe
USA - When the leaders at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama green lighted a full renovation of the mega church’s 2,700-seat main worship centre, the job of designing and building a modern, upgraded audio system was awarded to Blackhawk Audio. In addition to quality sound and coverage, Shades Mountain also wanted to ensure that the new system was discrete in that it was contained within a very compact grill cloth area. Blackhawk found the solution with EAW and its ADAPTive line, including its Anya and Anna loudspeakers and Otto subwoofers, as well as its VFR89i Stage Monitors. “One of the biggest selling points of the EAW ADAPTive speaker system was that in addition to its audio quality and excellent coverage, it also was low profile and would not visually overwhelm the sanctuary,” says Blackhawk Audio president Rick Shimer. “The previous loo
USA - Southcrest Baptist Church has remodelled a former worship centre on its campus in Lubbock, Texas, reopening it as The Venue, a multipurpose space outfitted with a new Solid State Logic Live L200 digital mixing console. The new L200 desk is being used to mix front-of-house, monitors and a live stream of The Venue’s Sunday morning service, which features a five-piece contemporary band. The new L200, which was put into service in early November, is the third SSL Live desk to be installed at Southcrest Baptist Church. In 2017, the church opened a newly constructed 46,000sq.ft, 1,600-seat Worship Centre on its campus that is equipped with a pair of SSL Live L300 consoles. One manages front-of-house and monitors and the other handles audio-for-video duties, including live streaming and recording. “We put in a new audio system in The Venue and wanted an SSL board to
UK - The unprecedented challenges that 2020 presented the live music industry has in turn led to the creative use of technology - by venues and other arts organisations - to continue to deliver performances on-line. Among those adopting a forward-thinking approach to the current situation is Wiltshire Music Centre, located in Bradford-on-Avon, which has been running a series of live streamed concerts from its newly-installed broadcast suite - including a recent performance by artist-in-residence Tom Poster and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective. In adapting the venue’s concert hall for streaming, an Allen & Heath Avantis digital mixing system was recently supplied by Plymouth-based Nubsound, to integrate with an existing Dante network and a new camera package for broadcast. “The venue had been running an Allen & Heath GLD for the past six or seven years i
USA - In the shadow of majestic Mount Rainier, Experience Church is part of a new generation of houses of worship, a non-denominational Christian church bringing their message to parishioners via modern music and technology. The 500-seat sanctuary welcomes parishioners with upbeat, amplified music and innovative videos. Installed more than 15 years ago, the church’s sound system was showing its age and in need of an update. Uncertain of the cost and in need of ideas, the church contacted Sumner, WA-based McCauley Systems for advice and consultation. “I’ve had a long-standing relationship with this church, having designed and consulted on the original sound system about 15 years ago,” reports McCauley Systems principal Ryan McCauley. “Fundamentally the system is still in good shape, with excellent coverage and impact, but many of the loudspeaker components in
UK - Silent Seminars (Silent Noize Events), has launched a mobile app designed to allow audiences to listen to live audio using their own headsets. Intended to work alongside their existing physical headset systems, the app allows users choice when accessing audio at live events. By offering audiences the option to use their own headsets, the Birmingham based headset supplier is hoping to generate user confidence and demonstrate that delegate health and safety is being taken seriously. With the option to download the app from either the Apple or Google Play stores, users can connect to the content from their smart phones and listen to the audio using their own headphones. Users can choose which seminar they want to listen to and simply press play to access live events that they would otherwise hear over loudspeakers, or through Silent Seminar’s headsets. The app will
Korea - To create an immersive platform to showcase local culture and arts, Geumjeong Arko Performing Practice Centre partnered with TechDataPS Co to deploy a high-quality sound system from Harman Professional Solutions. With the foundation of a self-sustaining creative ecosystem, Geumjeong Arko Performing Practice Centre is an optimised practice space for performing artists. The venue consists of a grand practice room, two substantial practice rooms, and two small practice rooms. It also provides a showcase space for performing artists and groups. TechDataPS Co reports that the client wanted a high-quality audio system to record and edit audio. They also wanted to maximise the design setup and use the space for both practice and small performances. Such a setup needed the infrastructure and speaker systems to be flexibly configured, providing them with the opportunit
Argentina - In April 2018, the Government of Santiago del Estero, together with the Argentine Football Association (AFA), began drawing up plans for a new provincial stadium that was to commence construction in June. Although its destiny of serving as a host venue for the 2020 Copa América was derailed due to the pandemic, the stadium was still completed nevertheless, its final design complying with all FIFA, CONMEBOL, and AFA standards. The finished Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades consists of a cylindrical covered stadium with a capacity of 28,000 seated spectators, and includes VIP sections, press booths, spaces for catering, and covered parking for 400 cars, as well as a main access plaza and sports museum. The Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades is also the first stadium in the country to be designed with the sound system in mind from the early stages of construc
Canada - Adamson Systems Engineering’s CS-Series powered loudspeakers provided the audio for Big Wreck’s recent drive-in show at Canada’s Ancaster Fairgrounds While drive-in concerts have become commonplace during the pandemic, increasingly they require traditional live sound reinforcement and the ability to transmit over FM, explains Colin Moore of Soundbox: “It’s all about the experience, so it’s becoming a mandatory part of the production specifications, and bands and audiences prefer it that way.” You can still socially distance and have great sound, he continues, adding: “Maybe one out of every 10 cars had their doors closed and the radio on, but most people were listening to the PA.” Big Wreck FOH engineer, Dan Preston adds: “With some rigs, the guitars are producing frequencies through the cabinets that they’re not producing through the act
UK - Austrian Audio and UK distributor Sound Technology have announced the OC818 Dual Set Plus, a kit centred around two of the OC818 large capsule condenser microphones as well as a host of accessories. The OC818 Dual Set Plus is available now. To introduce the new kit, Austrian Audio is offering a free OCR8 bluetooth dongle with every Dual Set Plus purchased, while supplies last. “We have seen a huge increase in demand for stereo configurations, especially from studio users,” says Martin Seidl, CEO of Austrian Audio, “so we decided to offer the complete package that meets all the recording needs of artists, producers and engineers, whether they record at home or in a studio.” The OC818 Dual Set Plus which comes in a stylish carrying case, contains: two OC818 large diaphragm condenser microphones with switchable polar patterns; two OCS8 elastic microphon
UK - Martin Audio has announced new additions and upgraded voicing for its CDD series - as well as improved production capacity - as part of a concerted effort to meet the growing needs of installation applications. CDD was original launched in 2015, bringing engineering innovation to installed applications, combining distinctive curved enclosures with patent protected Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology. Martin Audio further extended the range in ensuing years with both weatherised and marine editions to cater for all outdoor environments including cruise ships. During the pandemic, Martin Audio has seen a plethora of small to medium installations, both indoors and out, to keep sales of CDD extremely buoyant. Bars and restaurants upgraded systems or extended to outdoor areas to better cater for clientele in changing conditions; houses of worship adapted to soc
UK - Flipside Soundsystem has installed a new audio system at the recently opened contemporary Asian restaurant, Blue Jasmine. Based in Southampton, the fine dining venue needed an aesthetically pleasing installation for both indoor and outdoor use, and Flipside met this need with equipment from Yamaha and Apart Audio. Blue Jasmine’s co-owners, Xi and Phoebe Zhao required an audio installation that could be distributed across; the bar, a VIP room, two main dining spaces, a raised dining area and the toilet facilities. With a Yamaha MTX3 acting as the brain of the entire system, Flipside installed a wall panel control for each zone of the restaurant, allowing easy accessibility and seamless coverage. “Usually with restaurant sound system installations, owners are never too specific on how they want the audio to integrate into their design of the space – they ten
