UK - Allen & Heath has unveiled a suite of feature enhancements, designed to make its SQ mixers” the perfect compact monitor consoles”. SQ firmware V1.3 adds a Listen bus, enabling the engineer to patch PAFL to an IEM system, stereo nearfield monitors or a mono listen wedge, with the option to control the Listen level with the master fader. Engineers can enjoy easy communication between FoH and Monitors, thanks to the addition of an External Input to PAFL. V1.3 firmware dovetails with the new SLink card, opening up new possibilities for FOH / monitor splits and remote I/O, or combinations of either of these with a ME personal monitoring system. Digital splits are further facilitated by new tie lines, connecting input and output sockets without running through SQ’s processing. “Space for monitor desks is often super-tight, so we’re seeing a lot of SQ
UK - For nearly 70 years, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has delighted visitors with a spectacular display of music and fireworks from the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. Throughout that time, the show has been seen by thousands of people and has never been cancelled due to inclement weather. In recent years, DPA microphones have a played a key part in delivering the sound for the show. Sound designer Sebastian Frost, who has worked on this event for 23 years, specified a vast selection of d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones, d:screet 4061 Miniature Microphones and d:fine 4066 Headset Microphones incorporating the new CORE by DPA amplifier technology. In total, more than 110 DPA microphones were deployed across a wide range of musicians and performers, including a Malawian choir. “My main task is to amplify lots of different elements and not just the musicians,”
UK - An Audient ASP8024 Heritage Edition is now installed at the new recording studio in LIPA Sixth Form College, Liverpool, where sound technician, John Kershaw - a LIPA graduate himself, therefore fully conversant with Audient products - is very pleased at its arrival. “It is our hope that tech students from LIPA Sixth Form will graduate and gain a place at LIPA HE to study on the Sound Tech degree programme. Having already used the ASP8024-HE in college, they should feel right at home with LIPA’s studios housing two original ASP8024s,” he says. With a variety of courses on offer including Sound Technology and Music, the studio is already enjoying heavy footfall. “We take in around 15 sound technology students every academic year, who will spend most of their time between the recording studio, Mac lab and theatre. All our music students will complete a recording mo
The Netherlands - Amsterdam’s Oranjebloesem electronic dance music festival is one of the city’s biggest parties. It takes place on Koningsdag [King's Day] in The Netherlands, which is celebrated on 27 April every year with a national holiday, heralding the summer season. “We positioned Oranjebloesem as an alternative to the more traditional King's Day festivities and it’s now one of the major house events in Amsterdam,” says Ridder Haspels, co-owner of the city’s events outfit Chasing the HiHat, which organises the festival. Oranjebloesem 2018 was attended by 20,000 people across four stages at Blijburg aan Zee, Amsterdam’s beach destination located just outside of the city centre. It offers underground music lovers an attractive alternative to clubbing in the downtown area, with sandy beaches and spectacular views. However, it is c
UK - Limelight Presentation Systems has ended a long search for a mid-sized loudspeaker array by investing in Martin Audio’s MLA Compact. The delivery of 24 MLA Compact elements and 13 MLX subwoofers ended a journey that had begun many years earlier, when Martin Audio first revealed the MLA platform to audio professionals at Wembley Arena back in March 2012. Having been a Martin Audio house for 10 years Limelight head of audio, Dave Plant had reviewed all the premier brands before deciding that the time was right to invest in MLA Compact. “We service an eclectic mix of events and we’ve been looking at MLA Compact ever since it came out with a view to replacing the LCs, but because of the varied nature of our work - providing coverage for 10,000 people at a festival one moment and then doing a corporate show for 500 the next - we thought long and hard. “S
USA - Media solutions and control specialist ArKaos will be at the LDI expo in Las Vegas next week on the stand of US distributor Elation Professional (# 931) showing their latest range of products, including MediaMaster, ArKaos video servers, GrandVJ and LEDMaster. In a dedicated demonstration room at the Las Vegas convention Centre, the ArKaos team will be presenting two free training workshops on Friday, 19 October, and Saturday, 20 October. The Friday session is taking place from 1pm-4pm local time. Topics covered will include ArKaos’s flexible range of media servers; an overview of the MediaMaster software; the highlights and uses of the KlingNet protocol and Kling-force interface and an overview of the new ArKaos An-Ki remote control and digital content management solution. On Saturday, the workshop are running 9am-1pm and will focus on the MediaMaster wo
USA - Influential New York music venue My Father’s Place has been equipped with a Danley Sound Labs sound reinforcement system as it reopened in the Roslyn Hotel ballroom on Long Island. The venue played a critical role in the New York music scene of the 1970s and 1980s, helping to launch the careers of scores of musicians including Tom Petty, Tom Waits, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oats, 38 Special, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Meat Loaf, John Prine, Charlie Daniels, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Runaways, The Ramones, Blondie, Blue Öyster Cult, Rush, Iggy and The Stooges, Lou Reed, The Talking Heads, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Police and Emmylou Harris. The new My Father’s Place is set up as a 200-seat supper club, a twist that harkens back to an era that massively predates the original venue and gives it a new sheen. The original owner, Michael
Europe - Green Hippo has announced the appointment of Juha Kiuru as international sales manager. Kiuru, who has been working in the lighting and video sector since 2000, will represent Green Hippo throughout northern European territories, including his native Finland. As well as extensive industry experience, Kiuru also brings proficiency with various languages, including fluent written and spoken English. On his appointment, he comments: “I am really pleased to join Green Hippo. I have always been thoroughly impressed with its range of award-winning media servers, and I look forward to helping the company continue its success all over northern Europe.” James Roth, head of sales and marketing at Green Hippo, adds: “It is a pleasure to welcome Juha to the team. This is an exciting time to join Green Hippo and we fully expect Juha’s experience and skills to
Europe - Wireless technology provider LumenRadio has released an update of their embedded operating system for wireless connectivity - MiraOS. One of the main features is the improved ultra-low energy consumption for battery operated solutions where they have “broken new ground”. MiraOS enables products to become smart and connected through large-scale wireless mesh networks. With LumenRadio’s technologies and radio development expertise, product manufacturers can get an ultra-reliable and Future-Proof wireless solution. In addition to decreased energy consumption, the main new features in the MiraOS v2.1 are BLE beacon support, high-precision time-stamping of data and the Mix&Match formation technology. At LumenRadio, low energy meshing mode has been a dedicated focus for their research and development department and their goal has been to reach the
USA - At the Sight & Sound Theatres in Branson, Missouri and Strasburg, Pennsylvania, you’re invited to experience an action-packed musical stage adventure that takes you on “a miraculous journey alongside the most famous person to ever walk the earth and the everyday people whose lives he changed forever”. This is the story of Jesus, brought to life as a stage production in two separate venues. The productions involve A 45-member cast, a zoo’s worth of live animals and more, plus one of the largest LED screens ever used in theatrical production (100’ x 30’), and a Clair Brothers surround sound extravaganza including C8 line arrays, CS218 cardioid subwoofer arrays and a growing collection of monitors. Gary Parke, audio integrator at Sight & Sound, explains: “The venues are almost the same except for one big difference. The control rooms at Strasbu
South Korea - IGodswill Church in Seoul has recently invested in an Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing system and ME personal monitoring system for its Sunday services and weekly festival events. With no permanent building, worshippers travel to a local high school auditorium for the church’s Sunday service. The church holds three services each weekend, which are split based on musical styles; the first service features classical performances, while the second delivers 80’s pop and the third, rock. As such, the church required a versatile and easy to set up audio solution that delivered high quality sound for a wide variety of material. Supplied by Sama Sound, the set-up includes a dLive S7000 at FOH, accompanied by a DX32 expander, Dante card and DM48 MixRack (mounted on stage). Taechan Moon (sound engineer at the church), comments: “dLive's user interface a
UK - Manchester-based tube UK is holding expanded sessions on Yamaha’s Rivage PM7 digital mixing system on 15 October (Monday) at the city’s Albert Hall. The sessions are being run in conjunction with Yamaha Commercial Audio and will be an engineering focussed, hands-on introduction to both the Rivage PM7 and PM10 digital mixing systems. Sessions will begin with an introduction to the key features of the Rivage range by Yamaha’s technical staff, after which both systems will be setup in two areas with virtual soundcheck media, to simulate mixing a live show. The sessions are being held at 2pm, 4pm and 6pm and are strictly on an RSVP, first-come first-served basis. Contact PM7@tubeuk.com to confirm your preferred time slot. (Jim Evans)
USA - Revelation Productions, a Massachusetts-based corporate A/V and installed sound production house, opened their doors 22 years ago with Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) loudspeakers as their mainstay product. Recently the company reinvested in EAW with the acquisition of 20 Radius RSX208L loudspeakers, which are bringing the same value and sound quality to their customers as their first EAW system did years ago. “We were very excited to add Radius systems to our inventory - they have terrific features and offer a tremendous value to our customers, which is very important to us,” explains Anthony D’ Elia, president and executive producer for Revelation Productions. “We do a lot of work up and down the east coast as well as with most of the higher education organizations in our area. The RADIUS system is ideal for so many of these applications.” In addition
World - Yamaha and Audinate are teaming up to present a free webinar entitled Live Multi-track Recording Made Easy: The Power of the Dante-Yamaha Connection. Taking place on 24 October (Monday), the webinar will be moderated by Tom Kenny (content director, ProSound News) and will feature Andy Cooper (manager, Pro Audio Application Engineering, Yamaha R&D Centre) and Kieran Walsh (Audinate director of application engineering, EMEA) and Colin Sheen, a studio owner, recording engineer, composer and musician with many years’ experience of digital audio systems and use of Yamaha equipment with Dante. It will help participants learn how to make successful multi-track recordings and virtual soundchecks using Dante audio networking and Yamaha professional audio products, including the TF, QL and CL series digital mixing consoles, as well as the Rivage PM7 a
Australia - The Gold Coast has done much more than rename its cultural precinct. Nestled between parklands, a lake, and Surfer’s Paradise, the venue formerly known as The Arts Centre Gold Coast, now known as HOTA (Home of the Arts), unveiled its new $37.5m outdoor amphitheatre earlier this year. With aspirations to present art experiences of national and international scale, HOTA’s new outdoor stage required a sound system that could deliver top audio quality for a wide range of events. An L-Acoustics Kara system provided by Gold Coast L-Acoustics sales and installation specialist/integrator con-sol has drawn rave reviews from performers and audiences alike. Underlining the importance of HOTA, internationally acclaimed comedian, actor and musician Tim Minchin launched its ambitious outdoor cultural programme on 17 March 2018 with his only homecoming performance of
South Africa - Rental company, Eventech, showed off its new L-Acoustics systems as well as the technical services they offer by hosting open days from 10 to 12 September 2018. An outdoor stage with lighting, screens and trussing was set up at their premises, but the star of the show was their new Kara modular line source system, purchased from DWR Distribution. In minutes the sound system was in the air. “The days of farming with angles, cabling, racks and battling with networking are over,” comments Wynand Veldsman from Eventech. “As long as you do your homework beforehand, you get to site and it’s plug and play. It is so easy because of the software. And the boxes sound amazing.” PCO’s and rental companies who attended the day, especially those who had never heard L-Acoustics before, were equally impressed. “The Kara just sells itself,” he said. With
UK - London’s Capital Sound Hire supplied sound systems to two of the 30+ stages at his year’s Creamfields event, including a substantial Outline GTO C-12 rig for the Generator Stage. Creamfields 2018 featured a stellar line-up of superstar DJs and artists from the worlds of EDM, house, trance, D&B, and grime, entertaining crowds of up to 70,000 across the August Bank Holiday weekend. Headliners on the Generator Stage included Vini Vici, Danny Howard, Steve Angello, Duke Dumont, Armin van Buuren, Above & Beyond and Alesso. Capital designed a system for the event using part of their Outline inventory, deploying 12 GTO C-12 plus one GTO-DF (down-fill) cabinets per side plus four LIPF-082 modules as front-fills and 24 GTO-SUB subwoofers providing the low-frequency reinforcement essential for dance music. Capital’s design also used Outline’s latest Newton p
UK - From the team behind the Olivier Award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery is a dynamic show focusing on the robbery of Minneapolis City Bank - and everything that goes wrong in the process. The play has run in the West End for three years now at The Criterion Theatre and has been a smash hit with audiences and critics alike. It is now embarking on a UK tour and White Light is supplying the lighting equipment. A Mischief Theatre Company production, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery is produced by Kenny Wax and Stage Presence in association with Birmingham Rep and features a lighting design by David Howe. David comments: “Bank Robbery is a play where the situation really brings the comedy to life. You have an escaped convict set on capturing a priceless diamond from the bank and with him his eccentric sidekick, trickste
USA - Each year, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is transformed into an electronic dance music village made up of multiple live music stages, food and retail vendors, and more than 100,000 resident revellers per day - all there to celebrate a multitude of electronic music genres during the three-day Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). For the 11th year in a row, Las Vegas based 3G Productions was on site to manage audio production for three of the largest stages in the Speedway - Cosmic Meadow, Kinetic Field, and Circuit Ground. Julio Valdez, senior systems engineer for 3G Productions, specified d&b audiotechnik sound reinforcement for each stage to provide the performers and their fans with the best music experience possible. “We used more than 750 d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers, including the new GSL System, for this event,” explains Valdez. “Each stage requir
USA - Void Acoustics will be showcasing some of their latest products at LDI (19-21 October). Those attending can see: the new models of the much-anticipated Bias Q5, Q2 and D1 amplifiers; the ArcM 12 - part of the range of passive and self-powered, multi-purpose loudspeakers that complement the Arcline series; and the Cyclone 8, enhancing the highly popular Cyclone family. All three of the enhanced Bias amplifier designs are eco-friendly with energy-saving efficiency, resulting in low operational costs, power consumption, heat dissipation and carbon footprint. The Bias Q5 (4 x 5,200 Watts) is capable of being driven from a wide variety of supply sources, including single, dual or three-phase supply. Specially designed with versatility and ease of use in mind, it is equally suitable for most low frequency enclosures, as well as high-power, full-range systems in any co
UK - The Inception Group has opened two new venues in London recently, providing an eye-catching showcase for Nexo’s super-compact ID Series loudspeakers. The Inception Group has set a high audio standard for its Mr Foggs bars, of which there are now five in the collection. The AV design company Diamond AV has been entrusted with creating signature sound systems, configuring Nexo sound reinforcement elements to achieve different characteristics for the venues. The two newest venues are Mr Fogg’s House of Botanicals, and Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration, both located in central London, radically different to each other in terms of interior design and target usage. The House of Botanicals is filled entirely with tropical plants, reflecting Mr Fogg’s collection of flora and fauna from around the world. A discreet, barely-seen audio system was required, so Di
Europe - Sennheiser and Neumann have unveiled a limited edition vocal set that combines Sennheiser’s evolution wireless 500 G4 microphone system with the Neumann KK 205 true condenser capsule. Named ew 500 G4-KK205, the kit brings the Neumann sound to a wider as until now the German company’s microphone heads had been reserved for Sennheiser’s 2000, 6000 and 9000 wireless series. Based on Neumann’s award-winning series of wired KMS stage microphones, the KK 205 true condenser microphone head features exceptional clarity and the characteristic Neumann sound. The super-cardioid capsule delivers an immediate, emotional vocal sound with airy trebles and fast transient response. The KK 205 can take sound pressure levels of up to 150dB without clipping, ensures high gain before feedback and offers good lateral isolation towards other on-stage sound sources. Th
Europe - d&b audiotechnnik has partnered with Grammy award winning recording artist Imogen Heap for her first tour in eight years. The live performances on Mycelia World Tour will be presented using its recently released d&b Soundscape system, which allows artists and designers to present more intimate and captivating acoustic spaces for their performances and events. Designed to put sonic artistry at the centre of the sound production process, Soundscape can be used to achieve more natural imaging through source positioning, for sound that resonates with our intuitive understanding of reality, or to create sound art, a work of pure imagination. Imogen Heap recently tested the Soundscape system at her barn in front of an audience of friends, innovators and musicians. “Normally, in a typical gig setup, the sound would be dispersed across a stereo field in fro
UK - During the summer months, London’s Hyde Park becomes a second home for Capital Sound, and their Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker array, as they bookend the summer months with British Summer Time, near the start of the season, and then Proms in the Park and Live in Hyde Park over a single weekend in September. Hosted by Michael Ball, Proms in the Park is billed as Britain’s largest outdoor classical music event, and includes the traditional Last Night anthems as 40,000 voices join the BBC Concert Orchestra to bring to a close two months of music with a spectacular finale. Headlining the event were Gladys Knight. Josh Groban, tenor Joseph Calleja, Matt Goss, Lisa Stansfield, Albert Hammond and The Wandering Hearts. The dust had barely settled when BBC Radio 2’s Live in Hyde Park got underway on the Sunday, the highlight of
