Australia - Stampede has announced the appointment of former Hills Limited AV national sales manager Nick Cocks, to serve as general manager of Exertis Australia ProAV, the new name of Stampede Australia that is making its debut at Integrate 2019 (27-29 August). “Integrate 2019 marks the start of the next great chapter in the history of our company in Australia and southeast Asia with the rebranding of Stampede as Exertis, the global AV and IT distribution company that Stampede joined last year when it was acquired by DCC,” says Stampede president and CEO Kevin Kelly. “With this rebranding, we send a clear message to the Australian and southeast Asian region that the combined resources, and commitment, of DCC and Exertis are now being put to work on behalf of our resellers and end user customers throughout the region. Under the leadership of Nick Cocks, our cust
South Korea - To deliver arena-filling sound as efficiently as possible, TechData Co recently installed an end-to-end JBL Professional networked audio system at the Changwon NC Park baseball stadium. Changwon NC Park is a 22,000-seat baseball stadium which opened in 2019, replacing Masan Stadium as the home of the NC Dinos professional baseball team. The stadium features four tiers of seating that curve around home plate, leaving the outfield side open to the air. To deliver premium sound across every seat while minimizing sound leakage to neighbouring residential and commercial areas, Changwon NC Park required an ultra-focused, efficient and highly scalable sound system. To achieve the client’s goals, TechData designed and installed an extensive Harman networked audio system featuring JBL loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers, Soundcraft mixing consoles and BSS signal proc
Denmark - DPA Microphones has introduced the 2028 Vocal Microphone for live stage performances, broadcast and pro AV applications. The 2028 has been designed to provide the same sound as the brand’s flagship handheld mic, the 4018 VL. It has also been optimised, like the 4018, for the challenges of the live stage. “We have seen a need for an excellent vocal microphone that has the sonic qualities of our d:facto 4018 Series, but at a lower price-point,” says René Mørch, product manager, DPA Microphones. “At only $700 USD, this mic is an overachiever - it performs significantly better than anything else in its price range.” The 2028 features a new fixed-position capsule, as well as a specially designed shock-mount and pop filter. It exhibits a supercardioid polar pattern, with the DPA uniform off-axis response. “We've designed this mic so that it so
UK - The d&b audiotechnik A-Series is set to make its UK debut at this year’s PLASA Show (15-17 September, London Olympia), with visitors also able to see the new d&b series at the SFL and SSE booths. The A-Series introduces a new sound reinforcement concept: the augmented array. An advanced loudspeaker concept born from the d&b applied evolution system development philosophy. Combining variable splay angles, two approaches to acoustic optimization, and advanced waveguide design, the A-Series addresses applications where coverage flexibility in both the horizontal and the vertical is paramount. “PLASA Show is a great place to showcase some of the latest innovations, and we are delighted to be able to give our partners the opportunity to bring the d&b A-Series to the show and introduce it to the UK market,” comments Gianni Abruzzese, d&b commer
USA - Although Union College in Schenectady, New York, has only 2,600 undergraduate students, the private liberal arts college’s men’s ice hockey team competes successfully with much larger schools in NCAA Division 1. The Union Dutchmen even won the 2014 national championship over such sports powers as Minnesota, Boston College, and Providence. Four years later, the Upstate New York school brought in AV systems integrators Com Tech of neighbouring Albany to update the video production systems in Frank L. Messa Rink, the home of Union’s men’s and women’s hockey teams. As Com Tech’s owner Chuck Zarriello recounts, the project grew to include designing and installing a new audio system for the venue. “The old system was inadequate, with outdated technology,” Zarriello reports. “It had been slowly failing over the years and had issues with intelligibility
UK - London-based live AV production company, JD Pro Sound, is currently taking on the UK’s theatre circuit with the Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons touring tribute show, Bye Bye Baby, and an Allen & Heath SQ digital mixing system. With more than 15 years’ experience, JD Pro Sound provides AV services for live music shows, private and corporate events, and touring theatre shows. Having worked with Bye Bye Baby since 2015, Jay Dimoff (owner and main touring engineer) has tackled audio needs for the production at 400 theatres around the UK, mixing exclusively with Allen & Heath consoles. Most recently, Dimoff decided to add an SQ-5 mixer to handle the current run of shows. “We’ve been working with Allen & Heath products since 2015 and we just love every single moment using all these fantastic desks and additional equipment,” comment
UK - Martin Audio has reported sales growth following a series of product launches and an overseas expansion. The Buckinghamshire-based business has recorded a 22% increase in sales in its financial year 2017/18, growing from £16.5m to £20.1m. The company is now forecasting a further 20% increase in sales during 2019. Over the same period, Martin Audio has added a number of major global rental clients to its roster, including US-based Soundworks, Southard Audio and Twilight Audio which were part of efforts to consolidate the brand’s footprint in North America, where it is now established as a direct distributor. In addition, Jamaican brand Main Event Entertainment, and Dominican Republic-headquartered Group AR were also added joining the ranks of Martin Audio rental companies that manage tours, corporate events and major festivals including London’s British Summ
Europe/USA - Mark Knopfler is on the road once again, supporting the release of his new Down the Road Wherever album with an epic show presented in L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology by L-Acoustics. Having hit venues throughout Europe and headed to North America, Knopfler has once again raised the rock bar with a 10-piece band, and a 7.1 L-ISA configuration provided by SSE Hire, part of the SSE Audio Group. Front of house engineer Dave Dixon and systems engineer Ulf Oeckel specified L-ISA technology, with Maxime Menelec – an experienced L-ISA operator - joining during production rehearsals to take over systems engineering duties from the beginning of the tour, setting up the initial design with creativity and audience impact in mind. "The idea of moving to L-ISA technology is a direct result of a request made by Mark during the last tour," Dixon recalls. "He as
UK - Music for Dementia 2020 and Live Music Now have launched a new Musical Care taskforce with the aim to make music an essential element of dementia care. The taskforce, which brings together more than 60 leading representatives from across the music, dementia, health and social care sectors, will look at ways to bring music to people living with dementia who are not able to access music otherwise. A wide body of research has demonstrated significant benefits of music for people living with dementia, including reducing anxiety, depression and agitation, providing an alternative channel of communication and connecting people with those around them through shared musical moments. Music for Dementia 2020 is a campaign to make music available for everyone living with dementia by the end of 2020. To create this taskforce, Music for Dementia 2020 has partnered with L
South Africa - MGG is the first rental technical company in South Africa to invest in Braceworks, an add-on module for Vectorworks Spotlight, which helps ensure safety and compliance and is an easy way to assess a temporary structure under load. Gone are the days when a truck would arrive on-site and the technician would quickly chat to the client and only then decide where the stage and gear would be positioned. “Now everything is so well planned, right to the point of where the motors need to go,” explains Kevin Rieck, head of drafting at MGG. “Everyone can see what the final product is going to look like before the truck is even loaded, but with events getting bigger, we had to ensure safety first and this is where Braceworks comes in.” MGG recently took ownership of Braceworks, purchased from DWR Distribution, and have used it on shows such as Miss SA, Clas
USA - At the turn of the year, Lady Gaga kicked off two multi-year Las Vegas residencies at Park Theatre at Park MGM, both of which are presented in L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology from L-Acoustics. Lady Gaga’s first show, Enigma, which has now completed 18 sold-out performances is a nonstop, eye-popping spectacle taking its 5,200 audience members on a full-throttle, futuristic odyssey through two hours of her club classics. Her second show, Jazz & Piano, is a glitzy return to classic Las Vegas style with the artist accompanied by a full big band complete with string section. Alternating between stripped down solo piano and vocal arrangements of her pop numbers and swinging orchestral versions of Great American Songbook staples. Although the two productions could hardly be more different in terms of design and execution, the sound tec
Italy - The Milan Latin Festival is a 10-week celebration of Latin American artists. They converge on the external area of the Assago Forum in Milan for 66 days of celebration from mid-June to mid-August, to deliver a varied programme of concerts to enthusiastic crowds. Artists such as the king of Reggaeton, Daddy Yankee and fellow Puerto Rican, Ozuna, lit up the stage for sold-out shows. At outdoor events such as this, where the hazards of dispersion are more pronounced, the true qualities of an audio system are laid bare and event technology provider Suono e Luci, chose Coda Audio to ensure that every artist performing during the two-month duration of the festival was heard loud and clear. Claudio Saoncella, head of audio at Suono e Luci, customers of Coda Audio’s Italian distributor Decima 1948, opted for a ViRAY solution configured in Bi-Amp. The system was install
Germany - Active Blue, a Bremen-based service provider for lighting, sound and event technology, recently acquired several components of the Vio system, dBTechnologies' most powerful PA system. The Bremen-based company is using equipment from the Italian PA manufacturer dBTechnologies for the first time. The purchase includes 20 VIO L212, 20 S218 SUB and 20 L208 modules. Active Blue has been in operation for 30 years and since and is active Europe-wide. The company is increasingly active with corporate events and conferences, concerts, parties or cultural events. The aim of purchasing Vio components was to expand the stock of large PA systems and to respond even more flexibly to customer wishes. All equipment has to meet the highest standards. After extensive market research, they decided to take a closer look at the Vio system at the dBTechnologies stand during Prolig
UK - Showcasing the latest and greatest music, Hertfordshire festival Standon Calling was the biggest yet, welcoming a record 15,000 people. This year’s headliners across the three-day July festival included Nile Rodgers & CHIC, and Rag’n’Bone Man. Other acts included Friendly Fires, Echo & The Bunnymen, Róisín Murphy, IDLES, Lewis Capaldi, Mahalia, Kate Nash, The Big Moon, Steam Down, The Japanese House, Band Of Skulls, The Joy Formidable and Sea Girls. The festival hosts a range of acts across multiple stages. Adamson’s UK distributor The Warehouse Sound Services designed an Adamson sound reinforcement system for the festival’s main stage. The system consisted of a full complement of Adamson E15 line array loudspeakers and E119 Subwoofers with additional ground-stacked S10 line array loudspeakers on the sides, all powered by Lab Gruppen PL
Europe - Radio Active Designs UV-1G wireless analogue intercom system has passed the EU’s Low Voltage, RoHS, Radio Equipment and EMC directives, the company has announced. The six-channel intercom system that operates primarily in VHF is now available across Europe. “We are extremely pleased to have crossed this hurdle,” explains James Stoffo, CTO, Radio Active Designs. “We have been actively working with European distributors who are excited to bring our product to their countries. We think the European production community will embrace the UV-1G as the true problem solver it is for a crowded RF market.” The RAD UV-1G base station utilises Enhanced Narrow Band technology, which enables the unit to occupy a mere 25kHz of bandwidth in the UHF range, thus minimizing its UHF footprint. The body packs operate in VHF, which has more open bandwidth in Europ
Germany - The new Sprung.Raum trampoline and amusement park in the German city of Kiel features Martin Audio’s CDD speaker series as its featured sound system. The 4,000 sq.m park is the largest trampoline venue in Northern Germany - but in addition to its primary function as a sports venue, it also hosts kids and youth discos and other events. It was therefore essential that the sound system could create a homogeneous background ambience while at the same time having the characteristics of a club PA for special events. The lighting and sound system was designed and equipped by Hamburg-based PM White, who met this challenge with the installation of 21 CDD10W white loudspeakers and two CSX118 subwoofers. The trampoline area is equipped with 19 of the CCD10W, run in pairs off a single amplifier channel, while the remaining two CDD10W were installed in the instruction
Italy - Each summer since 2013, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala has transformed Piazza Duomo, the Italian city’s central square, into an open-air concert hall where the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala give a free classical performance for residents and tourists. An L-Acoustics K Series system was supplied by Italy’s premier rental company, Agorà, which has provided audio and lighting to this event since it first started. Under the baton of maestro Riccardo Chailly, this year’s set list included Dvořák’s Symphony from the New World No. 9 in E minor and works from Italian composer, pianist and conductor Nino Rota, best known for his Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti film scores. With 25,000 concert goers packing the 17,000m2 piazza and the evening broadcast live on RAI 5 in HD, Front of House engineer Fabio Venturi was tasked with designing a system that wo
Germany - A large PA system comprising elements of four different Nexo line arrays has entertained audiences of 60-75,000 per night at the Klassik Open-Air Music Festival in Nuremberg. In Phase Event, one of the primary rental suppliers of Nexo systems in Germany, designed and supplied the system for the event, which is Europe’s biggest classical music open air event. This success story started in 2000, on the occasion of the City of Nuremberg’s 950th anniversary. Three free open air concerts performed by the city’s two major orchestras were intended to be a great party in the Luitpoldhain park. The event was modelled on similar concerts in New York’s Central Park and particularly on the Proms in the Park in London’s Hyde Park. The idea was that even people who normally do not listen to classical music could get together in a relaxed atmosphere, free of charge, to
Bahrain - Event design, technical and scenic production specialist Maestra Group has opened a base in Bahrain and announced a new partnership with the Ritz-Carlton resort and its 43,000sq.ft conference and exhibition facility. As the resort’s exclusive event partner, Maestra will oversee all technical aspects of the new Arena facility, which offers a full set-up and capacity for large banquet receptions and global conferences. Maestra’s Tom Clements comments: “We are extremely excited about this new venture and to be involved in such a high profile and incredibly well-designed event space. For Maestra Group, this is a logical expansion of our work in Dubai, and it will also be the first step in some strategic expansion plans for Maestra Group in the Middle East.” “As Bahrain becomes a global destination for premiere conferences and events in the region
Mexico - Adamson Systems Engineering has appointed Pro Audio Comercializadora, a division of Hermes Music, as its exclusive distributor for the Mexican market. “Pro Audio Comercializadora has been in the professional market for several decades, and in that time, we’ve watched Adamson become a market leader in terms of innovation, product performance, and brand profile,” comments Raul Carlos Uriegas, director of Pro Audio Comercializadora. “The development of their various patented and proprietary technologies over the years makes it clear Adamson is proud and passionate about the audio industry, and that’s exactly the kind of company we want to partner with.” Based in Mexico City, Pro Audio Comercializadora will work in close collaboration with Adamson’s Canadian headquarters to develop educational programming, provide client support, and propel further g
Europe - Belgian audio manufacturer Audac has introduced MK2 versions of the popular ATEO4 and ATEO6 wall mount installation loudspeakers. Externally the product retains the same design that has made it so popular with designers, architects and installers including the CleverMount bracket system, however a number of internal improvements have been made. The most significant upgrade is a new crossover which delivers an ultra-flat frequency response for exceptional audio fidelity. The ATEO range has also been expanded with the addition of 16 Ohm versions of the ATEO4 and ATEO6 without the integral 100V transformer found on the standard 8 Ohm model. These “D” versions of the ATEO loudspeakers offer an even more cost-effective solution for integrators working on small installations where a 100V system is undesirable or not required, allowing up to four speakers to be connect
USA - In the two short years since he released his debut album, This One’s for You, Luke Combs has soared in popularity. Recently honoured as the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry, the North Carolina native is now taking a breather between the first and second North American legs of his Beer Never Broke My Heart Tour, which is being reinforced via Special Event Services’ (SES) L-Acoustics K1/K2 loudspeaker rig. The first stretch of Combs’ arena headlining trek initially ran from March through July and quickly sold out every venue, prompting the musician to add a 29-date fall leg running from late September through early December. “When putting together my production budgets for the 2019 tour, Michael Brammer from SES and I discussed the PA options in their inventory,” notes production manager Jerry Slone. “When I found out that K1/K2 would fit wit
USA - Passaic County Technical Institute is a large vocational, public high school that serves over 3,300 students in northern New Jersey. Its sizable campus is well-appointed, and its programmes are well-supported. Two full-time professional sound technicians number among its staff and oversee operations in its performing arts department and at its sporting events. Until recently however, the PCTI Bulldogs football team played for 1,500-plus crowds using only a portable sound reinforcement system that was underpowered and frequently unintelligible. JD Sound and Video of Voorhees, New Jersey, remedied that for the Bulldogs’ most recent season with the installation of Danley OS80 loudspeakers and OS115 subwoofers. Because they’re designed and built to be fully weatherised, the Danley OS-Series boxes will serve PCTI for a long time. “The Passaic football stadium ha
South Africa - Joburg Theatre’s longstanding technical crew, headed by Enos Ramoroko, have taken delivery of new equipment to complement their busy theatre situated on Braamfontein Hill. DWR Distribution delivered 20 Vari-Lite VL2600 Spots and four Robert Juliat Cyrano followspots to be used in the Mandela Theatre, while the audio in the Lesedi Theatre has been upgraded to an L-Acoustics ARCS Wide and Focus (WiFo) system. “The Vari-Lite VL 2600 Spots met our needs for an LED spot,” says Enos Ramoroko, head of technical at Joburg Theatre. “The full blade shutters will be very useful for theatre applications.” The crew are planning to use the new fixtures on productions like Sarafina, and this year’s annual pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. “The Mandela Theatre’s followspots, which have probably stood the test of time for aro
