The Netherlands - This summer, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and the Dutch Royal Family unveiled the Hermitage Amsterdam, a multimillion-dollar museum complex designed to bring awareness to its world-famous parent in St Petersburg.

Transformed from a 17th century nursing home, Hermitage Amsterdam fuses aesthetic elegance with modern audio technology to offer a heightened experience as visitors journey through the remarkable art collection of Russian heritage. Using Meyer Sound's compact loudspeakers, Duivendrecht-based audio provider Audio Electronics Mattijsen (AEM) has given life to a pristine aural environment while preserving the architectural integrity in Hermitage Amsterdam's main church hall, auditorium, and ambient Neva Restaurant.

"The Hermitage is an exceptionally dynamic and interactive gathering place," says Eric Mattijsen, CTO and system designer at

UK - Orbital Sound has unveiled its latest training programme to take place in October, focusing on practical sound techniques for theatre with hands-on, application-based training. Scheduled to run on 26-27 October, Developing Sound Skills for Theatre is intended primarily for students wanting to extend their operational expertise in theatre sound, and will take place at Orbital's purpose-built 225m2 seminar facility in Brixton, south London.

The course is free of charge, offering students the opportunity to benefit from a wide cross-section of technical disciplines, including communications, networking, loudspeaker system set-up and control, and mixing practices.

The course will be led by Orbital's training manager, Theo Holloway, who explained the rationale behind the autumn training programme, "The popularity of our annual courses underlines the appetite among

USA - Audinate reports that its Dante networking solution was used on the Oasis tour and multiple live events at Hyde Park in London by Britannia Row. Taking advantage of the low latency offered by Audinate's Dante, high quality audio was distributed around the network at these events using the newest addition of Dante enabled products - breakout boxes from XTA.

Dante offers a complete networking solution and provides users a no-hassle, self-configuring digital audio networking experience using standard Internet Protocols over 100Mb and/or Gigabit Ethernet.

The NXBoB8 and NXBoB16 breakout boxes from XTA with 8 and 16 output channels respectively leverage the tight synchronization and very low latency offered in Dante. The breakout boxes easily connect to other Dante-enabled devices such as processors or mixing consoles over either 100Mb or 1 Gigabit Ethernet.

"Dante was

UK - Eat To The Beat has rounded off a festival filled summer with a successful and sunny Bestival on the Isle of Wight.

This is the first year that ETTB has catered for the production team and artists at the event, but the island was familiar territory for Anne Crawford, ETTB's team leader, who said: "The Isle of Wight is a great place to source local ingredients, from meat, the world champion Isle of Wight Blue cheese, to sweetcorn straight from the farm adjacent to the festival. Fresh ingredients make for tastier food and a reduced carbon footprint for the catering operation."

DJ Rob da Bank started Bestival six years ago, with just 2,000 people on site. This sixth Bestival attracted a capacity audience of 45,000, with production management undertaken by Loudsound, who's Festival Director Jim King commented, "Having Eat To The Beat join o

Hungary - Pleasing 390,000 people is a difficult task. It is especially challenging when many of those people are musicians. At Budapest's 17th annual, five-day Sziget Festival, audio engineers not only kept 200 performances on 15 stages running smoothly but they kept headliners like Faith No More, Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, and Placebo more than happy.

"The Sziget system exceeded my expectations of what Meyer Sound speakers are capable of," said Ian Nelson, Placebo's sound engineer. "In fact, I found that I needed to do an almost unheard of act: turn the subs down. I've worked with most of the current speaker systems over the 2009 festival season. Mixing on Milo (line array loudspeakers) again cemented our decision to carry a Meyer system on our forthcoming autumn arena tour, again."

A critical component to making this high-stakes festival run smoothly i

Japan / Italy - Exhibiting at the PLASA09 exhibition in London, Midas and Klark Teknik have announced the formation of Midas Consoles Japan and Midas Consoles Italy - both of which take over as exclusive distributor for their respective countries with immediate effect.

Based in Tokyo the new, brand-orientated division of Bestec Audio is dedicated to the sales and after sales support of Midas and Klark Teknik products in Japan. General manager Takayuki Ozaki joins the company from EVI Audio Japan, where he worked with Midas and Klark Teknik products for 13 years.

"I encountered the Midas XL3 in 1993 when I was involved in the concert sound industry, and I still remember how very much I was impressed by it then," he says. "I joined the EVI Audio Group to sell Midas and Klark Teknik products in 1996 and from that time on, I have been the product manager for the bra

Spain - Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promoter, Bellator Fighting Championships commenced broadcasting nationally in the United States as of April 2009 through an exclusive television agreement with Spanish language sports channel ESPN Deportes. Ballator's championship fights are also broadcast to countries around the world through a collection of broadcast agreements. The surge in interest has resulted in Bellator's events being televised every Saturday from a variety of locations around the US and for every event, the sound reinforcement system of choice is drawn from D.A.S. Audio's Aero catalogue.

Miami Gardens, FL-based Beach Sound was contracted to provide sound reinforcement for the Bellator Fighting Championships. With its existing inventory already committed to a variety of tours, the contract with Bellator prompted Beach Sound owner Andre Serafini to invest in a new line arr

UK - The annual Michael Northen Bursary recognises imagination in design and creativity in lighting design, and once again the level of entry, both quantity and quality, was extremely high. Jack Knowles, organiser of the judging for this year's awards and also one of last year's winning students, said: "Although the three winners stood out clearly from the crowd, there was still a lot of discussion among the judges over the merits of other entries."

However, there was one clear winner, Dan Hill from The Central School of Speech and Drama, whose design for Woyzeck at the Embassy Theatre showed how his research developed and influenced the final production. He clearly described ideas, concepts and influences and illustrated how they translated to the final outcome.

The judges - ALD members David Howe, Anna Watson, Natasha Chivers, Phil Gladwell, Tony Simpson, Ma

Argentina - The musical Young Frankenstein is being staged at the Teatro Astral in Buenos Aires, with a lighting design by Jorge H. Pérez Mascali, a stage design by Alberto Negrin - and an MALighting control system.

Two grandMA lights were used for pre-programming the show which is run via two MA2Port Nodes onPC, two laptops running grandMA onPC software and four MA video stations with the new MA VPU (Video Processing Unit) software. Via the MA VPU it is possible to control video similarly to lighting - it reacts just like another lighting fixture.

"The main reasons we chose an MA Lighting system solution were the performance, the reliability and the support offered by MA Lighting Latin America as well as the exclusive Argentinean dealer, Stage Tech", reports operator Charly Randich. "The MA VPU gave us all the flexibility we needed, making it incredibly

UK - Promoting the understanding and appreciation of British film and television for over 75 years, the British Film Institute's (BFI) screening facilities in London are some of the best in the world. And, having recently added a Yamaha DME64N digital mixing engine to its technical inventory, it has taken a major step towards future-proofing the integrity of its audio facilities.

The DME is installed at the BFI Southbank facility (formerly the National Film Theatre), which screens over 1,000 films a year and caters for a wide variety of film formats, including being the only public cinema in the UK still permitted to show the potentially hazardous nitrate film.

The BFI prides itself on the quality of its screenings. "Cinema is about the whole experience," says freelance cinema consultant / technician Ed Mauger, who plays a key role at the facility. "The prints o

Malta - E/T/C London's Ross Ashton was asked by the President of Malta, George Abela to create a high power video projection show to run right through the two hour Rockestra concert, a high profile fundraising event for the Malta Community Chest charity.

President Abela is the patron of the charity, the largest on the island, and with an enthusiastic audience of 12,000 packing into the Malta Conference and Convention Centre (MFCC), this was the largest ever indoor event to date on the island.

Ross Ashton has a past history of spectacular work in Malta, and for this they wanted some high impact additional visual production dynamics. The concert, under the music direction of Sigmund Mifsud included specially orchestrated versions of rock classics by Queen, the Beach Boys, the Eagles, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, plus instrumental pieces performed by the Malta Philharmoni

Denmark - A large quantity of DPA microphones have been used to record the soundtrack for a new film production of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairytale, The Wild Swans. The production has a strong link with the Danish royal family, as the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, worked on the backdrops and visual designs for the film, using an imaginative technique incorporating decoupage and paintings which, combined with green screen technology, create elaborate and dramatic film sets. The Queen Margrethe, known for her work on many stage productions, also designed the film's costumes.

The film score, written and directed by Sven Skipper, was played by the Odense Symphonic Orchestra, a fitting tribute to the great Danish storyteller who was born in Odense.

DPA's Mikkel Nymand was asked to collaborate on the musical production by Peter Juul Kristensen, who runs Clear Pro

UK - When ETC introduced its iRFR (Radio Focus Remote for iPhone and iPod Touch) four months ago, Luke Delwiche from ETC Tech Services in London suggested that the profits be shared between Light Relief and its US equivalent, Behind the Scenes.

At PLASA09, Luke was delighted to present a cheque for £1,800 to Light Relief trustee Lesley Harmer. In thanking Luke for the money, Lesley said: "This is an incredible amount of money to raise in just four months. We thank Luke and everyone at ETC for their generosity, and for a brilliant idea which will continue to raise money for this worthwhile cause year after year."

When users purchase the iRFR application from the iTunes store, they designate the charity of their choice. The Light Relief or Behind the Scenes logo then appears as the iRFR start screen. ETC software engineer Chris Mizerak developed the application w

Canada - Established in 1961, multi-cultural Willingdon Church located in Burnaby, British Columbia recently installed a new Adamson system. In the 1,200 seat House of Worship where musicals, cantatas, weekly sermons, worship services and concerts are enjoyed by members of the Burnaby Community.

Pastor Ron Clark commented: "After listening to the Adamson system the first time and then reviewing other line array's in the industry, it seemed that they were missing something that could not be pin-pointed, but upon coming back for a final demonstration with Adamson, it was apparent that Adamson fulfilled all sound requirements, and we were convinced it was the right choice."

Willingdon Church purchased 16 Spektrix Cabinets, four Spektrix Subs, one M121.5, and nine CB1's with Lab.Gruppen Fp and C Series amplifiers. The Church's Dynacord 12" stage monitors received a

UK - A group of bikers connected to entertainment on a long fun-ride raising money for good causes, the idea for The First Night Riders (motto Out of the Wings and into the Wind) came out of the tyre tracks of America's Long Reach Long Riders. The initial event for the First Night Riders, in 2010, will raise money for The Theatrical Guild, one of the UK's longest serving theatrical charities which offers support to those working backstage and front of house.

Launched at PLASA 09 by a galaxy of stars, including Brian Conley and Liz Robertson, both currently starring in Hairspray, Issy van Randwyck (of Fascinating Aida), Fiona Mollison and director Edward Hall, the event has already enlisted the following riders (subject to work commitments): Richard Bullimore, Steve Colley, Neil Collins, David Edelstein, George Ellerington, Ric Green, Darrell Hewitt, Simon Le Bon, S

South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa supplied all technical production - including, sound, lighting, power and structures - plus audience seating for the hugely popular 2009 South African Tattoo, staged at Montecasino, Johannesburg.

The extravaganza featured over 600 local and international performers, blending the traditional Tattoo spectacle of massed pipe bands and Highland dancers with a distinctly African flavour. It was the second year that Gearhouse has been involved in the event, working for producers MC Squared. SABC2 also supported the show and recorded it for future broadcast.

This year the show's production and lighting designer Tim Dunn wanted a fresh, vibrant, contemporary feel, and so chose to light the 'Parade Ground' performance area solely with moving lights and LED fixtures.

Sound was designed by Gearhouse Audio's Dave Tudor and mixed by Pierre Slabbert.

UK - The Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries, a new faculty of the University of Glamorgan housed at the ATRiuM campus in Cardiff, brings together several creative disciplines, including Design, Media & Communication and Drama & Music. Recently, the school decided to upgrade its technical equipment with a number of loudspeaker components from EAW. The system was supplied by A.C. Entertainment Technologies.

The equipment list included four EAW JFL210 Compact line array modules and four EAW JFL118 subwoofers. The upgrade was specifically geared toward the school's Division of Music and Sound, which will feature the JFL Series units in a new facility.

Glen Thompson of A.C. Entertainment Technologies was one of the main on-site contacts for the project. He stated, "These JFL210s and JFL118s will be an integral part of the School's music and sound curriculum. They

UK - Packing 12,000 people into London's ExCeL Centre on each day of its five-day conference demonstrates only a fraction of the powerful reach of the Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), one of the largest Christian establishments in Europe, led by Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo. KICC's annual London event - the International Gathering of Champions (IGOC) - is broadcast live to an estimated 55 million followers in Africa, the Caribbean and Europe.

Gospel events make distinctive demands of professional sound reinforcement systems. So says sound system designer and FOH engineer Schon Emmanuel, who has worked with the KICC since 2003. "It requires rock 'n' roll levels, R&B-type production quality, and corporate sensibilities."

In the featureless and acoustically challenging environment of the ExCeL convention centre, the IGOC event serves up dynamic public speaki

Bulgaria - Dance Club Revolution, in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, has recently had a new Community-based sound system designed and installed by ProAudio. Sunny Beach, also known as Slanchev Bryag, is Bulgaria's largest Black Sea resort which has more than 120 hotels and is rich in entertainment facilities.

The 1,000 capacity, 550sq.m Revolution club is situated underground on the main street below the Slam Café, another customer of ProAudio. For the new building, ProAudio was commissioned directly by the owners of the venue. "In this top resort, the competition to be better amongst clubs is high", commented ProAudio's Stanislav Petrov, "So, our brief was for a system that would really enhance Revolution's reputation for the best sound."

"We chose Community for the main system", continued Petrov. "Four SLS960 with two delay iBOX iHP1596 louds

UK - At the PLASA09 exhibition at Earls Court, London, this week, DiGiCo announced that it would donate its 500th SD8 digital mixing system to honour the contribution of two well-known, loved and respected engineers, John Roden and Jim Douglas. "Both showed tremendous support for DiGiCo in the early days of the company, but are sadly no longer with us," said managing director James Gordon.

Having only launched the console at PLASA08, manufacturing the 500th console in May 2009 was a huge achievement - and the DiGiCo team wanted to mark the occasion by putting something back into the industry they are so proud to be a part of.

As well as being known as a first rate engineer and consummate gentleman, John Roden was a friend and inspiration to many. He had an impressive list of credits to his name, but was perhaps best known as Paul McCartney's monitor engineer, a role

Denmark - One of Denmark's most iconic cultural venues, the Opera House (Operaen) in Copenhagen is a multi-million dollar concert venue which opened in 2000. But, though huge resources were put into the venue's acoustics, it has taken a Yamaha digital mixing engine installation to get the perfect result for performers.

Administered by the Royal Danish Theatre, the main stage of the Opera House features five satellite stages for set preparation and training purposes, as well as such conveniences as stage lifts and movable ballet floors. In total there are over 1000 rooms within the building, yet only around 1500 seats in the auditorium to ensure acoustic perfection for audiences.

However, one problem that became apparent for operatic performers was that the onstage sound is very dry. To solve this, audio systems specialists Moto Audio Sales devised a solution using a Yamaha DME

USA - When it comes to intelligibility requirements, very few, if any, productions are likely to be more demanding than providing a PA system for the White House Communications Agency. With that in mind, when US President Barack Obama recently spoke to a crowd of employees, political dignitaries and members of the press at the Navistar/Monaco Coach plant in Wakarusa, IN, Cincinnati-based production company Loud & Clear chose to deploy a small yet highly effective L-Acoustics loudspeaker system.

The rig consisted of three dV-DOSC flown per side, paired with a single ground-based dV-SUB located back by the mix position. Two stand-mounted 115XT HiQ enclosures per side delivered side-fill to the audience, with another pair discreetly positioned under a school bus for VIP area fill. Furthermore, four 8XT coaxial systems were located on the Presidents platform--two providing front-fil

UK - During last week's PLASA09 exhibition at Earls Court, London, Allen & Heath celebrated 40 years of pro audio product design. The British mixer manufacturer marked the occasion with a party held on the top floor of London landmark, the Gherkin, attended by distributors, industry partners and the press.

Allen & Heath took the opportunity to announce its distributor of the year, which was awarded to Audio-Technica in Germany, before introducing special guest, former MD Neil Hauser, who headed up Allen & Heath from the company's inception in 1969 until 1988. Current MD, Glenn Rogers, took the helm in 1990.

"It would not be an exaggeration to claim that I have witnessed innovation on a daily basis at Allen & Heath since I started as a junior engineer in 1983," stated Rogers. "For 40 years, the company has maintained a philosophy of listening to customers and str

UAE - Tannoy's Qflex digital beam steering array system has been deployed to great effect within the highly advanced new Terminal 3 development at Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE.

Formally opened in April 2009, the new AED 1bn (c.£200m) Terminal 3 facility marks a significant milestone in the impressive growth of Abu Dhabi's main airport, expanding the capacity to 12m passengers per annum - an increase of 5m. The 88,000sq.m terminal has been built to serve as a hub for the UAE's national airline, Etihad Airways.

The client (ADAC) appointed acoustic consultancy PMK International which has a regional base in Dubai, to design and specify an audio system that would meet the demands of the expansive airport retail area, and after considering many options Tannoy's Qflex was selected for the project.

A total of five Qflex 32 arrays was all that was required to prov

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