China - Hong Kong-based Cosmo Pro AV partnered with AV Stumpfl to deliver a media server solution for Ocean Park’s new theatre, the Applause Pavilion. Ocean Park, Hong Kong’s most impressive theme park, merges education with entertainment. With 44 rides and 7.7m visitors on average annually who come from all over the world to see its attractions, the park first deployed AV Stumpfl’s systems in 2016 for its Cyber Illusion Show, when it rented the Wings Stage Engine and RAW Engine from Cosmo Pro AV. Such was its success that Ocean Park decided to invest beyond renting and instructed Cosmo Pro AV to design a comprehensive, permanent video system using AV Stumpfl technology for its Applause Pavilion. Jason Yeung, sales engineer at Cosmo Pro AV, who project managed the installation from start to finish and trained the staff, explores Ocean Park’s special r
USA - VER has entered into an agreement to merge with an entity controlled by Production Resource Group LLC (PRG). To facilitate the implementation of this pre-negotiated transaction, VER has filed voluntary petitions for reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. These filings only affect the company's North American operations, says the company. The agreement is part of a transaction supported by VER’s second lien lenders, including funds managed by GSO Capital Partners. VER expects to continue normal operation during the restructuring and says clients “can be confident that their project will not be interrupted”. Digby Davies, CEO of VER, comments: "Entering into this agreement and undertaking the court-supervised restructuring process will greatly reduce VER's outstanding debt
UK - PLASA Focus Leeds is bringing the world’s latest entertainment technology to the North of England on 1-2 May at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds. Visitors can expect new releases from top brands, an array of immersive workshops, and leading-edge seminars covering lighting, live sound, rigging, AV and staging. The show is the perfect place to see brand new products for the first time in the UK, including the highly anticipated grandMA3 lighting console. Visitors will also see Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision Series, Vari-Lite’s VL2600 range, Sennheiser’s Wireless G4 System and Robe’s MegaPointe. The seminar programme serves many different tribes, from immersive audio and theatre refurbishment, to festival lighting and set design software. There is something for everyone at the industry leading show. The reinvention of the Chester Storyh
Indonesia - Djakarta Warehouse Project (DWP) began in 2008 as a dance club event by entertainment company Ismaya Live. A hit from the start, the event moved to the Djakarta International Expo (JIExpo) in 2014 and has blossomed, with Clair Brothers as a key ingredient, into an all-out festival that spans two days. In 2015, DWP was crowned 'The Best EDM Festival of 2015' by EDM Sauce. Today, DWP is Asia’s second largest two-day dance music festival, boasting more than 90,000 attendees in 2016, with an estimated 20,000 travellers from 39 different countries each year. It was the move to the JIExpo outdoor stage area that i made clear the need for a sound system that could handle such a large space. Clair Brothers was the first choice of the production company - Live Production Indonesia, based on its partnership since 2012 with Clair Brothers’ rental partner Total Audio.
Singapore - The Lo & Behold Group owns and operates two OverEasy American-style diners in Singapore overlooking the Marina Bay skyline. To improve the overall sound experience for OverEasy patrons, and a permanent solution for outdoor space events, the Lo & Behold Group commissioned Electronics & Engineering Pte Ltd to design and install a new audio system for the One Fullerton Road venue. In addition to a substantial upgrade in audio quality, the owners wanted better zoning and greater level control within each of the zones. The permanent outdoor part of the system also required loudspeakers that could handle all weather conditions, particularly torrential rain and high humidity. Case Woo of Electronics & Engineering Pte Ltd was the audio consultant for the project, tasked to meet the varied requirements for indoors and outdoors with good aesthetics an
Italy - KLANG:technologies has appointed Mods Art as distributor for its advanced range of 3D personal monitor mixing systems in Italy. Mods Art will be adding KLANG:technologies to its portfolio of 15 premium brands, which includes Solid State Logic, Yamaha and Outline. General director and chairman Giacomo Larìa, comments: “I first heard about KLANG:technologies when working for Yamaha Music Europe and have followed its progress closely since then. We chose to distribute KLANG as they are innovative and establish new standards for monitoring. The products also offer the high performance and excellent build quality that are essential for the brands we offer our customers. We work with the best brands in the industry and KLANG is an ideal fit for our business.” Phil Kamp, KLANG:technologies’ head of sales, adds: “We are pleased to welcome Mods Art as our
USA - As the newly launched d&b Soundscape system continues its worldwide rollout, it is finding itself in all kinds of creative and inspirational company. One such liaison is with Berlin-based experimental electronic pop outfit, Mouse on Mars. The creative duo behind Mouse on Mars - life-long friends Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma - seized upon the potential of d&b Soundscape as the tool with which to demonstrate the complex, layered aural dimensions of their multi-collaborative new album, Dimensional People. The album launch event, presented with the aid of percussion-playing robots, took place during a conference presented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) called Dissolve Music. For Mouse on Mars, it was the ideal environment in which to showcase the special ‘spatial mix’ of their new album, through d&b Soundscap
Finland - A Genelec sound system has recently been installed at the Universal Music offices in Helsinki, delivering quality sound to the entire office space. Universal’s two-floor office is located in the Merikortteli building in the trendy Punavuori area of Helsinki. Previously a vast 28,000m² industrial building, Merikortteli has now largely been converted to a host of sophisticated office spaces. When Universal moved in in 2010, they called upon the services of interior designer, Eliisa Korpijärvi, to transform the dark and dingy factory area into a cosy, yet modern, office, with a light colour palette. The open plan space houses more than 20 employees, with two separate offices and meeting rooms, as well as a kitchen and living area. Whilst the renovated space retains its clean, modern feel, the same could no longer be said of the loudspeaker system which was
UK - The recent unveiling of the first statue created to honour the life and work of David Bowie attracted worldwide media attention and crowds of fans flocked to the event. The bronze statue, entitled Earthly Messenger can be found in Aylesbury’s Market Square, the town where he first performed Ziggy Stardust in 1972, and is not just one statue. It’s a compilation of his very varied personas, from his Ziggy days in the 1970s, through a suited Bowie in the 80s and 90s to a more formal look in his later years. Overlooking the many faceted statue are two Bose 802 Series IV speakers which deliver a random selection of Bowie hits on the hour, every hour between 9am and 9pm seven days a week, and marking the contribution the singer made to UK popular culture. The speakers were installed by Bose pro partner, Adam Florio of AV Systems, who realised tha
USA - Allen & Heath digital mixers were once again in abundance at this year’s South by Southwest Music and Media Conference (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. Mixers from the whole range were used in venues across the city, from corner bars and impromptu stages, right up to the British Embassy Music showcase which saw performances from rising stars like Che Lingo, Pale Waves and Idles, as well as established UK artists including Gaz Coombes and Frank Turner. Hosted at Latitude 30, the British Music Embassy showcase sees a new act and engineer every 40-minutes, so having a system that combines ‘walk-up-and-mix’ usability with extensive built-in processing is essential to the smooth running of the event. To accomplish this, British production company, CATO Music, installed a dLive C3500 system and two S3000 systems to cover FOH, monitors and house continuity. Ano
UK - Lincolnshire-based loudspeaker manufacturer, Logic Systems Pro Audio is set to launch its third new product range inside six months, at PLASA Focus Leeds 2018. In a bid to ‘compete with the best products in the global marketplace’ the company’s team has been bolstered by the arrival of experienced systems specialist Ivor Green, who is overseeing the current development programme. “Our new products perform to the highest standards, utilising the latest, innovative technology,” says Logic Systems’ general manager Mickey Edwards, “which is matched with the design of new loudspeaker drivers producing high levels of performance. “Our development work has been significant, resulting in loudspeaker products that offer performance innovations among the best available in the world marketplace.” The first introduction was the Ci Series of cabin
Abu Dhabi - Protec helped deliver the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics IX MENA Games 2018. It opened in Abu Dhabi on Saturday 17 March. After taking a tour of the city, hitting some famous landmarks along the way, the Olympic torch finally arrived at ADNEC to the applause of the waiting 2000 spectators. Once the ‘Flame of Hope’ cauldron was lit, the show began. A video entitled Welcome to my City was played and more than 1,000 Special Olympics athletes from 32 different countries entered the arena in a colourful parade. Protec provided lighting, audio and video as well as some rigging for the show in ADNEC. HQ Worldwide provided their own lighting design and the video content. Project manager, Simon Travis reports, “Due to the openness of the venue, scaffold towers were erected around the grandstand area. For the three big ones on the open s
UK - Sound Technology, distributor of Harman Professional audio solutions in the UK & Ireland, has announced the immediate availability of the JBL Professional Pro SoundBar PSB-1. Drawing on a long history of industry-leading soundbars in the consumer space, the JBL Pro SoundBar is an active soundbar designed specifically for commercial applications. It has an optimised feature set to address the unique requirements of hotel guest rooms, cruise ship staterooms and other commercial environments. The JBL Pro SoundBar supports both fixed and variable source volume, providing compatibility with both fixed applications (where the volume is controlled at the soundbar) and variable applications (where gain is controlled at the television). In fixed volume scenarios, the Pro SoundBar offers an IR Learning capability. This allows the Pro SoundBar to “learn” the IR puls
Europe - Alt-rock outfit Paramore is amidst a whirlwind of a world tour supporting their latest release, After Laughter. For the third and fourth of five major tour legs, which saw them moving from outdoor festivals and amphitheatres to major arenas in Europe and Australia, the band selected an Adamson E-Series and S-Series audio system supplied by Eighth Day Sound Systems. The lengthy run began in Dublin, Ireland in June 2017, hitting a wide range of venues across multiple continents. Regardless of where they’re playing, though, Paramore aims to deliver a high-energy, high-impact show for a ravenous fan base every time they hit the stage, and precise, pristine, and powerful sound is critical to that mission. “Paramore is very much a vocal- and guitar-driven band, and the Adamson system’s low-mid performance and intelligibility made it easy to bring those
Portugal - A new sound reinforcement system has been designed and installed at Capitolio Theatre in Lisbon by Audiomatrix. Capitolio is a well-known space located in the centre of the city of Portuguese capital which hosts a variety of events including live concerts and corporate events as well as theatre activities. Capitolio was looking for a new sound system that could offer high sound fidelity throughout the venue for the 1500 people capacity. The system was specified by Audiomatrix technical director and FOH engineer Marco Esteves. They chose the NEXT-proaudio solution due to “a combination of its versatility, clear sound, coverage capabilities, and the easy tuning using Soundware software”. Marco Esteves used the manufacturer support to design the set-up, which comprised 12 LA122A, 2 LAs118A, as well as six ground-stacked LAs418 subwoofers as the
USA - Dallas, Texas-based Bock Technologies was recently tapped to upgrade the sound reinforcement system at the Main Arena of the Somervell County Expo Centre in Glen Rose, Texas. The Expo centre is the premier location for equestrian events and cattle futurities, industry tradeshows and award-winning performances in the region. “The existing system was worn out and just didn’t provide the coverage the multi-purpose venue required,” explains Pedro Salas, vice president of Bock Technologies. “We knew an EAW QX distributed loudspeaker system would blanket the seating areas while upgrading intelligibility and audio quality considerably. It would be more than capable of handling any event they had.” The Main Arena of the centre is a highly reverberant space, approximately 130 x 254 feet with a seating capacity up to 3,050. The space is used for rodeos, animal e
Germany - HK Audio, one of the leading German manufacturers of PA systems, is preparing to roll out “the largest product launch in the firm’s 35+ year history” at this year’s Prolight + Sound show in Frankfurt. Says the company, “Having mainly focused on PA systems for musicians in recent years, the brand with the ‘made in Germany’ quality seal is set to begin a new chapter in its illustrious history.” The first examples of a new pro audio range will be on display at HK Audio’s main Prolight + Sound booth, located at Hall 3.1 E91. They are the first components of a highly integrative product family which will comprise HK Audio’s portfolio for professional sound reinforcement services, says the company. (Jim Evans)
UK - Ohm has appointed James Jewry as director of technical integration, heading up the new tech integration department. Jewry is an experienced system design technician working with artists such as Kylie Minogue, Tom Jones and the London Symphony Orchestra. Having been involved in audio for nearly 25 years, he has worked with major tour and festival companies, designing and calibrating some of the largest audio projects around the world. Gareth Coleman, director of international sales, comments: “Ohm is focused on building a strong core team, with the imminent release of state of the art DSP software & hardware, the creation of a new technical integration team will ensure our new products have both pre and post sales customer support.” Jewry adds: “I’ve seen and heard some amazing loudspeakers built at Ohm, with over 39 years’ experience behind th
Germany - Visitors to this year’s Prolight + Sound will be able to experience DiGiCo’s much-anticipated Quantum 7 processing, which is making its working debut on Stand 3.1 E40. The company will also reveal further new developments and give visitors another chance to experience the new 4REA4 digital audio networking system. Quantum 7 has been developed with seventh generation FPGA devices that further expand audio processing power, and “ultimately allows DiGiCo to provide its users with an unrivalled amount of flexibility”. Quantum 7 expands an SD7 to over 600 channels of processing in 96kHz operation that can be connected in the outside world to approaching 3000 potential I/Os. The engine is also equipped with eight newly assignable MADI connections and two DMI slots (DiGiCo Multi-Channel Interface) for AoIP and other connectivity options from the complete fa
Middle East - Nexo has announced the appointment of Yamaha Music Gulf FZE (YMGF) as its official re-exporter to the Middle East and Africa. Established in 1997 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha Music Gulf provides its territory with the full line of Yamaha integrated professional audio products offering complete systems solutions for the broadcast, sound reinforcement/installed sound, touring, commercial recording, and post production applications as well as musical instruments and consumer audio products. Jean Mullor, CEO of Nexo, comments: "This new partnership with Yamaha Music Gulf will help us meet the growing demand for our high-quality sound reinforcement solutions in the Middle East, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Our two companies share the same philosophy and we aim to offer the professional audio market something
Spain - An invitation-only masquerade ball takes place each year in the Liceu Theatre within the historically ornate ballroom known as Sala dels Miralls. Live musicians perform while attendees dance and drink and laugh, each person a mysterious character for the evening. Unfortunately, in the past, because of the mirrored and marbled room’s highly reflective sound quality, the details of the music and the vocals were often equally mysterious. So, in its third year in 2018, the promoters of the Círculo del Liceo Masquerade Ball decided to fix the issue once and for all - with Clair Brothers. VTècnics, Clair Brothers distribution partner in Spain, recommended using the new C12 speaker system to combat the daunting acoustical challenge. Explains Josep Maria Serra, VTècnics production manager, “An event that caters to high-society elite is expected to have everyth
USA - The Richard E. Berry Educational Support Centre in Houston, Texas recently completed a major update to its AV systems featuring seven Allen & Heath dLive S Class Digital Mixing Systems and an ME Personal Mixing System. Serving the Cypress Fairbanks Integrated School District, as well as the Houston area at large, the Berry Centre hosts 4000 yearly events in its five multi-purpose venues (arena, conference centre, theatre, and two stadiums). Ford Audio Video Systems provided the Berry Centre’s new AV systems. David Shriver, Ford AV’s Houston Division job centre manager says, “Our big goal in all of this was flexibility because the centre defines ‘multi-use facility’.” Ford AV installed an Allen & Heath gigaACE network and a second Dante network to supplement the existing Dante network. Together, the three networks allow several of the dLi
USA - Esports Arena Las Vegas, which celebrated its grand-opening on 22 March at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, features a Harman Professional installation. The new Esports Arena Las Vegas is a 30,000sq.ft multi-level arena with a competition stage, telescopic seating, daily gaming stations, VIP room, two bars, and state-of-the-art streaming and production studios. The facility also features an interactive area known as The Dome that includes retro games, and a front lobby equipped with gaming stations, a streaming booth and a virtual reality station. Harman Professional Solutions provided a custom audio, lighting, and control solution made up of JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers, BSS audio processors, AMX control systems and Martin lighting fixtures. “Esports Arena Las Vegas is the flagship location of our growing global network of Esports propert
UK - Around 60 of the UK’s leading live mixing engineers, theatre sound designers and representatives of audio rental companies assembled in the legendary Studio Two at London’s Abbey Road Studios in March for an informal workshop on Yamaha’s RIVAGE PM series digital mixing systems. “This was a way of giving key members of the UK pro audio community a chance to informally network and learn more about Yamaha’s RIVAGE PM series systems, in an inspiring location and friendly, low-key atmosphere,” says Yamaha Commercial Audio UK/RoI sales manager Alex Warren, who co-ordinated the event with UK/RoI marketing manager Chris Irvine. After meeting for a complimentary lunch, followed by a bracing walk along Abbey Road to the studios, guests were welcomed by Chris. This was followed by an interesting potted history of the studios by its head of audio products, Mirek S
