USA - The Audio Engineering Society has announced the winners of this year’s AES Awards for distinguished achievement in the field of audio and service to the Society, presented during the Opening Ceremonies of the AES Show Fall 2020 Convention on 27 October. The awards were presented in the online ceremony by AES president Agnieszka Roginska. The AES Show opening ceremonies are available on-demand for AES Show attendees at AESShow.com. The AES Board of Governors Award, given to members rendering exceptional service to the Audio Engineering Society, was presented to Jorge Azama, for chairing the successful AES Latin American Conference in September 2019 in Lima, Perú. The AES Honorary Membership Award was given to Imogen Heap, for outstanding contributions to the world of music and technology and to Karrie Keyes, for her leadership in creating opportunities f
USA - Four units from Tracktion’s DAW Essentials Collection of DSP Effects are now available separately - the simple Equaliser, the full featured Compressor, the Reverber8 and the Delay Studio. The Equaliser delivers all the key functions needed to sculpt and mix frequencies making it suitable for even the most demanding of mix engineers. Its ample capabilities include an integrated analyser for rapid identification of frequency ranges, configurable eight bands for precision adjustments and a scalable interface to take advantage of modern hi-res displays and aid visualisation. Designed to be transparent ‘even under the most demanding, dynamic, crushing scenarios’, the clear controls of the mono / stereo chain Compressor allow users to swiftly dial in their desired effects. The expander mode offers further versatility, the central display gives visual feedback on
USA - Danley Sound Labs has presented the BC215, the newest member of the BC family of subwoofers. The BC subwoofer class was developed out of what was a military project with Danley. The design criteria was to have an extremely high-output, low-frequency device fitted between the skids of a helicopter. From that project the BC412 was born and subsequently the BC215 and BC218. The BC215 offers the same low-frequency directivity as its predecessors by utilising the same horn design philosophy, but this version also features multiple horn exit options, which allows for numerous possible configurations. The dimensions (45” x 45” x 24”) of the BC215 allow for it to “stand-up” and fit below a standard 48-inch stage deck or can be configured to “lay-down” and have a 24-inch profile when the horn exit is changed. The “stand-up” configuration allows for the B
The Netherlands - Opened in 1984, Omniversum in The Hague was the first IMAX Dome theatre in Europe. Showing spectacular films on a giant domed screen that makes the audience feel part of the movie, a new, €1m projection system was recently installed to improve the experience. To make sure that the quality of the sound matched the images, a new Alcons Audio pro-ribbon system was also installed. The Alcons Audio pro-ribbon installation complements a new Evans & Sutherland ESX projection system, which uses a blended array of five Christie D4K40 RGB laser projectors to produce a seamless, uniform image across the 23m diameter dome. Delivering high quality sound reinforcement in a dome-shaped room like Omniversum provided many challenges. These included acoustic issues, because the large projection surface also creates a lot of rearward reflection from the speakers,
Germany - MOG Technologies has completed more than 350th installation in the German market, reports the company. With the support of Broadcast Solutions, who’s been a partner for a long time, MOG has successfully delivered its 354th order to Germany with SWR’s latest purchase of 10 units of mDECK Densu X-2. As a solution to increase flexibility in daily operational tasks, mDECK was developed to help production teams to record, ingest, transcode and play multiple channels of any media formats, while supporting file-based and baseband contents simultaneously. mDECK is also able to perform hybrid operations that can vary, according to its different models. “From well known Central Ingest System to Powerful Professional Media Decks, MOG has been present in the German market for years, and we couldn’t be more proud for once more, achieve this huge milestone,” says
UK - LED Creative’s Byte Controller has entered its fourth year of providing some of television’s largest shows with maximum control and small channel footprint. The Byte Controller gives production companies and LD’s the ability to create a pixel map look without the cost of extra processing. This is done by the controller offering multiple FX layers and a background colour layer including adjustable speed, size and copies of the effects, this is all controlled from a maximum of 32 DMX channels driven from a lighting console. Other control options are available to reduce the amount of DMX channels required while still giving the operator the utmost control. New Features include: Virtual Canvas - allowing grouping over multiple controllers, meaning up to 140m of LED can be controlled as if it was one piece; Colour Wipe Effects, and New Channel Mode (32 ch
UK - Sound Stage Lighting Live (SSL Live) has been busy installing a combination of CDD and Adorn series speakers, BlacklineX and ceiling speakers for use in venues ranging from leisure and hospitality to immersive fitness centres. The company, which was set up by brothers Elliott and Jack Smith three and a half years ago, had also added a Martin Audio WPC scalable line array to the company’s events subsidiary pre-lockdown. The brothers are firm believers in Martin Audio. “We liked the clarity of sound, functionality and ease of deployment,” they say. “We also liked the reliability - we have since installed 500-600 installation speakers and there has never been a problem.” All four Martin Audio commercial ranges feature in Red Fox & Peacock’s new flagship Lytham House, a multi-zone bar/restaurant, occupying a prime position on the coastal resort
Spain - With headquarters located in the Murcian city of Cartagena, the Regional Assembly of Murcia is the autonomous Parliament of the Region of Murcia and one of the autonomous communities of Spain. In light of the recent pandemic and guidelines imposed by the country’s health authorities, the Assembly decided to adapt the Patio de los Ayuntamientos building for use with plenary sessions and important debates. Working with the Assembly’s technical department, Cartagena-based system integrator Castellini Audiovisuales and Shure Distribution partner EarPro worked together on a system that met the requirements of the Assembly: wireless with a long battery life, voting and interpretation capability, plus an encrypted audio signal with flexibility to cover a variety of needs and uses, with Shure Microflex Complete Wireless (MXCW) system the preferred choice of all. Wi
Vietnam - Elevating its audio systems, the Van Don International Airport hired integrators Ba Sao Invest Co and their partner Thien Van tech Co to design and install Harman Professional airport sound solution. Located on the west coast of the province Quảng Ninh, Van Don International Airport covers an area of 800 acres and contains a single runway. Handling 2.5m passengers and 10,000 cargo tons per year, the airport is equipped with four jet bridges, four baggage carousels, eight security gates and 31 check-in counters. Wanting to enhance its facility and provide travellers with clear announcements, Van Don International required a modern airport audio system that also helps workers communicate and streamlines productivity. Using JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplification and BSS signal processing, Ba Sao deployed a solution that delivers quality sound acros
Italy - The RCF Audio Academy hosted its first RCF Professional Team certification course. RCF Professional Team certifies pro audio engineers’ knowledge of RCF products. This in-depth training course is creating a team of professionals and companies that guarantee the best sound quality for the listener, and optimum results for the client, when deploying RCF systems, says the company. "We felt the need to certify the best professionals who use RCF products," said Fabrizio Grazia, RCF sales manager and coordinator of RCF Professional Team (Italia). "Although RCF products are easy to use and incorporate technologies that facilitate installation and setup, we also want to educate our customers with extensive knowledge for optimal use of our technologies in every scenario." The first session was held on 19-20 October, 2020 at the RCF Audio Academy, the company's
Denmark - Naturkraft is a new experience centre in the Danish town of Ringkøbing, West Jutland, which aims to increase awareness of nature and the forces that shape our world as a way of encouraging more sustainable behaviour. Visitors are treated to a rich array of exhibitions and learning experiences - outside there are eight different types of natural environment whilst indoors, a 5,500sq.m building designed to integrate into the flat coastal landscape offers a range of exhibitions. Digital experience creators, No Parking, were responsible for the design and development of the main installations inside the Exploratorium including IT and AV equipment. No Parking selected a Smart IP sound system from Genelec as the audio partner for their designs. “Our background is AV production and integration with a focus on experience design,” explains No Parking director, Mo
Poland - Jungla, located within the Forum shopping centre, is a vibrant new restaurant and cocktail-bar in the heart of north Poland’s largest seashore city, Gdańsk. The restaurant, modern and spacious, with tropical décor, boasts a breath-taking view of the city, and needed a sound system that could support not only the restaurant and cocktail bar, but also the live bands that play within. Designing and installing the sound system was Offstage. Przemysław Waszkiewicz, Offstage’s owner, worked with closely Patryk Kozak from Sound Service, who assisted with tuning the system. Together, they created a system that could support Jungla using Turbosound, Klark Teknik and Powersoft products, supplied by Poland-based distributor SoundTrade. Waszkiewicz explained that part of designing the audio system was optimising costs and energy consumption, as it would have everyd
USA - Point Source Audio has named Mac Johnson as its market development manager. Previously, Johnson toured as a production sound engineer on a variety of Broadway productions, as well as working as a sound designer for theatrical productions, music festivals and corporate events. With 30 years of experience in the professional audio industry, Johnson understands where the sound starts and how to capture it. As well as being a mixer and designer, he is also a performer and knows how microphones are an extension of an artist’s instrument. Prior to joining Point Source Audio, Johnson was the managing partner of an event production company in Charleston, SC and became an integral part of Meyer Sound’s team in 2007, where he spent 13 years working in various roles across multiple departments, markets segments and all sales regions. Having championed Point Source Aud
USA - DAS Audio of America has announced the appointment of Scott Pizzo to the position of vice-president of sales - professional audio, North America. Pizzo started with DAS Audio in September and is stationed in Peabody, MA. Pizzo brings considerable experience to his position at DAS Audio. Most recently, he was with Harman Professional Solutions, where he served as national sales manager, production audio. Prior to this, Pizzo was a regional sales manager for L-Acoustics US of Westlake Village, California. He has also worked at EAW and Renkus-Heinz. “Throughout my career in pro audio, I have been keenly aware of DAS Audio and its reputation as a manufacturer of innovative solutions for performers, installers, and audio technicians, says Pizzo. “The company has a solid reputation for its well-designed, sonically superior, and reliable loudspeaker systems that enh
Australia - ARX Systems has announced the global launch of the USB DI-Q USB-Analogue interface. Designed by ARX in response to a specific request from the Australian Court System, the USB DI-Q provides a solution for interfacing and monitoring the playback of audio evidence files in a courtroom or similar environment. The USB DI-Q allows the user to monitor and cue audio files in a closed headphone environment and switch/ enable the audio output to a Public address / sound system as required. The simplicity of the setup of the USB DI-Q means that this product can be integrated easily into the existing AV infrastructure of a building. Once in place, the USB - DI-Q only requires touch button operation and the simple user interface means that it is easy to use by non-technical operators. The USB DI-Q is suitable for interfacing any USB equipped computer (especially note
UK - Martin Audio has announced that it has now started shipping the Adorn series ceiling loudspeakers to Europe and North America (following the first shipments to the APAC territories in September). The extension to the installation series was first announced back in February this year. Along with the ceiling speakers is the availability of the company’s first ever pendant speaker, which comes in black or white as standard. All the new ceiling models have a nominal impedance of 16 ohms, enabling four or more speakers to be driven in parallel by one amplifier channel, thereby maximising efficiency and minimising cost. The new ceiling additions are also fitted with an internal high-quality 70V/100V multi-tap line transformer with a switch to select the output level. For full-bandwidth protection, the low and high frequency sections are individually protected against
China - Out Board’s TiMax TrackerD4 precision stagetracking recently made its Hong Kong debut in a new musical play, The Originals, staged at the territory’s Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The tracking accuracy of TiMax TrackerD4 delivered real-time control of vocal localisation throughout the musical’s fast-paced staging. Provided by Hong Kong’s L-Supply, TiMax TrackerD4 precision stage-tracking enabled the principle eight performers, all eminent stars of Hong Kong musical theatre, to move freely across and around the stage without working strictly to pre-assigned cue-points. Discreet TTd4 Tags worn by the performers are small enough to be secured into virtually any costume location with no interference. Meanwhile, the accuracy of TiMax TrackerD4 not only gives peace of mind to performance directors, but substantially reduces rehearsal times, providing not
Taiwan - While the pandemic has forced millions of music lovers into their homes across the world, the appetite for live shows was clearly demonstrated when Eric Chou’s 2020 How Have You Been concerts sold all 42,000 tickets across four concerts in Taipei, and Kaohsiung in just 15 minutes. Thousands of fans gathered together under the roof of Taiwan’s biggest venue, Taipei Arena, to enjoy the magic of Chou’s performance, brought to life by an L-Acoustics K Series sound system delivered by the team at Winly Engineering & Trading, who had previous experience of working with Chou on his first concert at the arena last year. “It was an absolute pleasure to be working with Eric once again on what became the first large-scale live event in Asia since social distancing measures were first introduced,” says Winly system engineer, Mike Lee, who has contributed to
Poland - JHS has announced the appointment of Grupa ZIBI S.A. as distributor for its brands in Poland. Grupa ZIBI will distribute a variety of JHS’ popular brands including Vintage guitars, Encore guitars, Antoni violins and KAM sound and lighting. Founded in 1989 by Zbigniew Pietrzak, Grupa ZIBI became established as importers of watches, which in turn helped in the rebuilding of the Polish economy, opening its first retail store in Warsaw in 1991. One of the key dates in the company's history is 2004, when ZIBI became the owner of the only music store chain in Poland - Riff stores. Currently, the musical part of the ZIBI Group is its own Riff retail chain, with 16 stores covering the entire territory of Poland and an extensive network of wholesale partners with over 100 leading music dealers. JHS export manager Adam Butterworth comments: “I
USA - Nestled in the Highlands neighbourhood of White Plains, New York sits Bet Am Shalom Synagogue. In 2016, systems integrator Shadowbox Design Management installed a Prism 12x12 at Bet Am Shalom as the heart of a public address/reinforcement system with four main zones - the main synagogue, chapel, multifunction room, and library. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic caused historic changes to common gathering spaces necessitating strict social distancing rules. This unexpected event imposed new rules and restrictions on how the synagogue could utilize their floor space and ultimately resulted in a mandatory halt in services and activities for their congregants. Leaders of Bet Am Shalom contacted Shadowbox Design Management to find a way to upgrade the audio system throughout the facility so the synagogue could continue their services while foll
UK - In these difficult times for the live entertainment industry, Yamaha is working with both practical measures and its #BringingLive2Life campaign to help audiences and performers alike to experience live entertainment again. One of its first successes was playing a key role in helping Boisdale of Belgravia - the first live venue in London to reopen. Boisdale is a chain of four themed restaurants, located in London’s Belgravia, Bishopsgate, Canary Wharf and Mayfair. Before lockdown they featured live music every night, with a number of well-known artists - including Alexander O’Neal, Mica Paris, Natasha Hamilton, Rebecca Ferguson and Omar - booked for the Canary Wharf restaurant. Boisdale managing director Ranald Macdonald has previously worked with Yamaha Music London and, as the national lockdown began to ease, contacted retail operations manager Stephen Davie
UK - 7thSense has announced the completion of its merger with Medialon. In June 2019, the team behind 7thSense acquired the Medialon brand and ShowControl activities from Barco to form Medialon Limited. Since then, the Medialon team and product line has expanded from offices in North America, Canada and the UK. As part of the integration strategy, which became effective on 1 October 2020, all Medialon products have been added to the 7thSense product portfolio and Medialon product names remain the same. All Medialon staff will now join the 7thSense team and continue to work on the development of the Medialon product line. Matt Barton, 7thSense CEO, comments: “The synergies between Medialon and 7thSense have been demonstrated since the 2019 acquisition - this merger is intended to cross pollinate the knowledge and skills of both companies, while maintaining inde
UK - Arts Council England has opened its £18m Developing your Creative Practice (DYCP) fund to a wider pool of creative practitioners in light of the COVID-19 effects on the workforce. Able to apply for a grant this year will be DJs, performer/creators, arts and cultural educators, community practitioners/engagement specialists, movement directors, cultural conservators, creative enablers and creative technicians. “We know that COVID-19 has had a significant impact for individuals, and many will need to develop themselves and their work to respond to the new environment,” says the Arts Council. “We want to support as many people as possible to reshape and redefine their work and continue to make a positive impact on creativity and culture.” The grants, ranging from for £2,000 to £10,000, will be awarded for development activities from practitioners worki
UK - Technological Innovations Group (TIG) has appointed Jon Rhodes as its new European sales director of unified communications. Leading TIG's team of UC sales professionals and focussing on the Enterprise product range from Crestron, Jon will be responsible for growing the UC division. The appointment comes as TIG increases its focus on being able to provide a consistent unified user interface and user experience across multiple devices and media types. On his appointment, TIG CEO Robin van Meeuwen comments: “We are thrilled to welcome Jon to lead our growing team of unified communications specialists. Having worked in the UC and video communications industry for over 20 years, his knowledge of the sector is second-to-none and he demonstrates a range of important skills such as business development, impressive solution selling and fantastic leadership. “It
