UK - Owing to the ongoing situation regarding COVID-19, the decision has been taken to postpone 2020’s BPM DJ show. A statement from the organisers says, “Since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak the BPM team continued to monitor guidance and advice from the government whilst remaining optimistic that we would be able to safely deliver the BPM show this year, however unfortunately due to the restrictions that would need to be implemented, we felt that in the interest of safety to both our staff and the customers, it is best to postpone until such a time as its 100% safe and we can deliver a great show without limitations!” The new dates have been secured and BPM will now take place on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March 2021 at the same venue - Cranmore Park, Solihull. Further details will be issued in due course. If you have already purchased advanced ticke
UK - Similar to other musicians who had found themselves restrained by the coronavirus lockdown, five-piece UK band Mamas Gun, widely known for their album Golden Days, was struggling to find a way for all band members to play together remotely without latency or other issues. A solution was found in the form of Tin Pan Studio, which allows remotely based musicians to jam, rehearse, create, record and perform music together over the internet in realtime. Thanks to this innovative technology, Mamas Gun was able to deliver a successful live stream concert as part of the global #DontStopTheMusic music initiative by Sennheiser. When the pandemic hit, Doug Hunt, live sound engineer and MD of Doug Hunt Sound & Light, had all his work cancelled, so he started looking for ways to help bands perform together remotely over the internet. “Like everyone else, I came up sho
USA - The Audio Engineering Society (AES) has released preliminary details on the upcoming International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality (AVAR), set to take place in its own online virtual venue on 17-19 August. The event will serve as a hub of innovation for the latest research in the fields of spatial audio and technology for virtual, augmented and mixed reality, with a focus on technical solutions and recommended practices in the field. “The necessity to take AVAR 2020 fully online is ideally suited to the Conference content,” says Matt Klassen, chair. “Our attendees can plug in entirely, create an avatar and participate and interact inside a virtual environment. One of the primary advantages of holding the conference in VR is the very compelling nature of the 3D audio for small group conversations - a big step up from flat screen teleco
South Africa - The South African event industry is planning a widespread protest action to highlight the lack of government support for the sector, which has been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Taking place on 5 August, the Light SA Red campaign is calling on anyone concerned about the future of live events to join in by illuminating a building in ‘emergency red’. The campaign is inspired by Germany’s Night of Light and the UK’s Light It In Red. To shine a light on the lack of state backing for the industry, it will take place exactly five months since South Africa enforced a blanket ban on all live events due to COVID-19, leaving many freelancers, venues and businesses out of work. “The South African events industry is dying, and we are being ignored,” say the organisers in a statement. “Our aim is for government and financial institutio
USA - Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has named Erie, PA-based North Coast Marketing as its manufacturer’s representative serving Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. The agreement encompasses the entire EAW product catalogue including EAW’s new ADAPTive Series with its Anya and Anna loudspeakers and Otto subwoofer. “Representing EAW gives us the opportunity to provide the very best cutting-edge pro audio products available on the market today,” comments Dennis Cray, principal owner of North Coast Marketing. “EAW integrates perfectly into our line card, which now includes the very best in microphones and signal processing, amplification as well as the loudspeaker itself. In addition, EAW’s digitally steerable new ADAPTive line of speakers sets the standard that all other manufacturers are trying to achieve. EAW’s product quality and innovation a
USA - GearSource Holdings, operator of the GearSource.com web platform since 2002, is launching in August the G3 Marketplace, the company’s third major generational upgrade to its platform. Founder Marcel Fairbairn comments: “It’s funny, but people have become so complacent in their beliefs that all software should magically perform with perfection, while following advancements in technology you’d see from tech giants including Google, Facebook and Apple. In fact, I remember a customer saying to me, why can’t your search just work - like Google. The obvious answer is that we don’t employ thousands of world class engineers to work exclusively on our search functionality. In fact, we have three great coders, developing and maintaining our entire e-commerce platform,” says Fairbairn. Fairbairn understands the challenges of bringing a complex project to lif
UK - Ripon-based speaker and sound systems manufacturer BishopSound has announced its Support Through Sound campaign, which will see the company giving away valuable professional sound equipment to a healthcare organisation, charity or not-for-profit organisation operating in Yorkshire. From 15 July, BishopSound's customers are being asked to nominate a local healthcare organisation, not-for-profit or charity - be it a local hospital, care home, hospice, arts and music charity, charity supported youth groups, independent charities - of the nominator's choosing. At the end of July the company will pick a winner at random from all the nominations. BishopSound's donation will be a portable Orion 15" Active Speaker worth £199 which can be used inside or ou
China - LED processor manufacturer Brompton Technology has expanded its operation in China, moving to larger offices and hiring three new members of staff to further support its customers in the territory. The expansion follows the development of Brompton’s HDR technology and the successful roll out of its new Hydra measurement system, which unlocks the power of Dynamic Calibration, the enabling technology for Brompton HDR. The new office is adjacent to Brompton’s previous facility in High Tech Industrial Park, Nanshan, in the modern metropolis of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. This facility is double the size, allowing space to calibrate and test prototype panels on site. New calibration support engineers, Alex Guo and John Lee, both have an extensive understanding of the LED screen industry and are well placed to assist Brompton customers in China with Dynamic Cal
UAE - In response to an overwhelmingly positive reception to its #DontStopTheEducation series of virtual conference and training events for AV professionals, Sennheiser has announced that it will host a consultant round table on 16 July to discuss ‘the new normal in higher education and conferencing’. In addition, the company has also announced further interactive online seminars that will explore touchless audio and hybrid learning, and the TeamConnect Ceiling 2 microphone. Embracing the New Normal: Shifting Technology Trends in Online Conferencing and Remote Learning / Blended Learning is scheduled for 16 July 1, 11:00 UAE, 12:30 IST, 15:00 SIN, 15:00 CHN. Over the course of a 90-minute live round-table discussion, the panellists and hosts will take an in-depth look at the ‘new normal’ for corporate meeting spaces and universities and answer some of th
UK - Technical event production specialists Sparq, part of the Saville Group has invested in Hirehop rental software. The company recently adopted Hirehop as the rental software of choice to facilitate the comprehensive management of equipment and critical production assets. Operating on a global scale, the Sparq team identified flexible and powerful software to manage their inventory, productions and day to day operations were required. After researching numerous systems, Sparq concluded that HireHop was best suited to their needs, due to its extensive and flexible range of features, intuitive ease of use and scalability, built around 24/7/365 cloud access. HireHop’s director Keith Jacobs said, “It is an honour to have to have such a well-known, established and respected company join the ever-growing list of HireHop users.” Rob Morrison, Client Dire
Ireland - Exertis Global Operations has announced a strategic partnership with Clear Touch, provider of multi-touch, interactive flat panels and software for education and business. Exertis Global Operations will provide a supply chain solution for Clear Touch’s growing worldwide business. It will manage the vendor’s inbound product and solutions supply chain by assisting in the management of supply partners around the world, reducing time to market, and increasing purchasing scale. Padraig Henry, Exertis Global Operations commercial director, said, “We are delighted to announce this partnership with Clear Touch which is entirely consistent with our strategy to support Pro AV brands with supply chain finance and factory to market solutions. Our innovative range of services will enable them to scale and grow their business by taking advantage of all of the opportu
UAE - Designer and manufacturer of recording and live-sound hardware and software solutions PreSonus has announced the appointment of VV & Sons LLC of Dubai as the distributor of PreSonus Commercial Division products in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Formed in 1993, VV & Sons’ Professional Division is one of the largest distributors of professional sound and lighting products in the region. “PreSonus offers a very impressive, superior-quality line of solutions that enhances the user experience with sophisticated digital and analogue audio for a diverse range of applications,” comments VV and Sons Professional Division Division head Vikesh Thamban. “VV and Sons is the ideal partner to provide the technical expertise and design consultation to ensure customers understand the PreSonus portfolio, while helping them deliver real busine
UK - As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a major impact on the events industry, organiser of The Showman’s Show, Lance Show & Publications Limited, has announced that the 35th edition of the event will not go ahead as planned this October. The Showman’s Show will return to Newbury Showground in 2021 on 20-21 October. Jeremy and Johnny Lance, co-directors of Lance Show & Publications Limited have issued the following statement: “As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our wonderful industry we have taken the extremely difficult decision not to go ahead with The Showman’s Show 2020 this October. “Since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak we have closely monitored guidance and advice from the government and PHE and remained optimistic that we would be able to safely deliver the 35th edition of the show as planned. “The new guideli
UK - The Connecting Culture 2020 virtual conference and expo aims to bring together museum and heritage professionals from around the world, for two days of networking, insight, and learning, on 9-10 of September. Free to attend, at this event visitors will have the opportunity to hear from industry leaders from the world of museums, heritage, and culture, learn about relevant technological developments and partake in discussions regarding future operating procedures post COVID-19. The Expo at Connecting Culture boasts over 20 exhibitors. Networking with exhibitors is made simple, through 1-2-1 video calls, live text chat and exchanging virtual business cards. With on stand demonstrations and downloadable stand content, visitors can experience the latest products and services for themselves, from their laptop, tablet, or smart phone. For more information regardi
Freelance Survey - A quarter of freelance theatre workers have been unable to access emergency income of any kind and a third are considering leaving the industry, a survey of more than 8,000 participants has found. The research also revealed that 36% of the freelance workforce in the performing arts received no support from the government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme or coronavirus job retention scheme. The statistics came from the Big Freelancers Survey, conducted by Stage Directors UK, Freelancers Make Theatre Work and Curtain Call in June 2020. They have been revealed amid widespread calls for the government to ensure its recently announced £1.57 billion support package will reach all areas of the industry, including freelancers. The statistics were published as part of the report Covid-19: Routes to Recovery, which looks at challenges faced by freel
USA - Pliant Technologies has announced a series of free educational webinars on the heels of its recent MicroCom focused presentation. Pliant will host three additional webinars throughout the month of July. Up next is the CrewWare Live! webinar (15 and 16 July), in which the Pliant team will go over the CrewWare software system setup, configurations, monitoring, and device firmware functions. The following webinar will discuss various applications for the specific needs of House of Worship (HOW) communications (22 and 23 July). Additionally, in the final webinar of the series, the Pliant team will lead attendees through an unboxing and set up (a.k.a. Out of the Box) experience for both its MicroCom and CrewCom systems (29 and 30 July). These interactive sessions will be led by Pliant’s vice president of global sales, Gary Rosen, along with market deve
USA - The Audio Engineering Society has declared October 2020 the Audio Engineering Month as the organisation expands its traditional autumn convention technical programme and exhibition showcase into the virtual realm, offering ultimate accessibility to the global audio engineering community. Comprising four weeks packed with audio presentations and activities - from 6 October to 30 October, the AES Show Fall 2020 Professional Audio Convention offers a full technical programme access featuring live and on-demand content, student and career activities, engagement with peers and audio luminaries, the audio hardware and software product showcase and special events throughout the month. Early Bird rates are $99 for AES members and $224 for non-members - the latter including one year of AES membership. Registration is open now at AESShow.com. “Expanding the
USA - ETC has partnered with an award-winning Broadway lighting team to create a new educational challenge: The Hamilton Programming Project. Participants will use real touring paperwork from the hit musical to finish prep on an Eos show file and recreate Howell Binkley’s Tony Award‐winning lighting looks - all in Eos Augment3d. The project stemmed from an idea Hamilton’s programmer David Arch had when he sat down to explore Eos Augment3d, a programming environment (currently in open beta) that allows Eos Family console or ETCnomad users to control and design in a three-dimensional space. As a practice exercise, Arch decided to import the 3D model of the Hamilton set from the pre-vis of the first touring production and add in the lights. With Augment3d as his virtual venue he began to lay virtual focus tapes and cones, focus convention
USA - Each year, WinShape Camps attracts over 30,000 students to its Christian-led summer camps across the U.S. but like most outdoor camps were forced to cancel in-person events this year due to the Covid pandemic. In order to relieve the disappointment and give kids a fun and engaging experience, WinShape has been working with Stacked Hearts Productions to create an engaging virtual experience, ON, that brings the fun of summer camp directly into homes. The virtual experience broadcasts live eight hours a day, five days a week from a gymnasium on the WinShape campus in Rome, Georgia. Peter Streiff, president of Stacked Hearts Productions, a full-service events and production firm based in Atlanta, has worked with WinShape Camps for a number of years. He and his crew have stayed busy through the five-week camp by broadcasting a morning show, an end-of-day show, worsh
USA - Digital signal processing specialist Xilica has announced a new hospitality industry installation with Carte Hotel, a boutique hotel nestled in the Little Italy section of San Diego. J&E Pro Audio specified Xilica with the systems design, which called for a complete AV over IP infrastructure as part of the ground-up construction. While connected to the central IT infrastructure, J&E Pro Audio configured a dedicated LAN with managed network switches to separate all audio and video signals from standard IT traffic. The company selected the Xilica Solaro FR1 DSP to optimize quality and multi-channel performance over the network, while citing its modularity and seamless integration with Dante audio networking as other deciding factors. “We ran our network on the hotel fibre infrastructure, with dedicated switches that run parallel to the hotel network,” s
New Zealand - Every year, Wellington’s Botanic Gardens is transformed into Gardens Magic featuring a free concert series with a mix of music from over 100 performers during 18 nights. As the sun goes down, the Botanic Gardens transform into a wonderland of lights, with colourful installations and displays created by MJF Lighting. This year, MJF Lighting deployed Firefly LED Festooning Lighting to add extra sparkle to the popular event. “We did have some festoon lighting but it was the old school version so it was definitely time for an upgrade,” comments Blair McLaren, MJF’s Wellington operations manager. “Having festoon lighting with an outdoor rating plus LED technology makes all the difference.” Blair added that an important factor when choosing Firefly LED Festoon was the fact that they didn’t have to lamp or de-lamp the strings of festoon
Norway - Norway’s National Theatre has made a major investment in DPA’s 6000 Series of subminiature microphones because the sound team was so impressed with the tiny size of the capsules and their ability to withstand water, particularly in the form of sweat. Kai Priddy, who for the last 14 years has been the theatre’s head of sound, says: “We started using the 6000 Series in 2019 and now have around 30 - mostly lavalier mics (6060 and 6061), but also some 6066 Headsets. We started gradually phasing out our stock of DPA 4000 Series lavalier and headset microphones, which we have been using for many years, and replacing them with the new subminiatures. The fact that the 6000 headsets are physically smaller is preferable visually, plus their resistance to water does prevent sweat droplets from getting onto the membrane. As most sound techs know, this can be very annoyi
USA - The Behind the Scenes Mental Health Initiative has rolled out a number of suicide prevention tools as part of joining the #BeThe1To campaign run by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and its partners. These tools are available at btshelp.org/bethe1to. A BTS survey of the industry revealed that most people want to help if they see someone at risk for suicide but they don’t know what to say or do, or are afraid they will make things worse or damage their relationship with the person. Evidence shows this is not the case and it is critical to reach out. The first part of the campaign is called Know the Warnings Signs because the more familiar someone is with the warning signs of suicide the more likely they are to recognize them. BTS has created posters listing some of the key warning signs in English, Spanish and French and they are available for dow
Argentina - Buenos Aires-based AV services company Mediapro Argentina has recently turned to IP for a comprehensive technical upgrade of their facilities, where ESPN broadcasts sports-related programming for the region in Spanish. The new IP infrastructure has been integrated by Unitetecnic, the Mediapro Group systems integrator and engineering company, and is based on solutions and knowhow from Lawo. Lawo’s video, audio, control and networking solutions were chosen to ensure interoperability and maximum use of resources across the facilities. In a first upgrade stage, Mediapro Argentina and Unitecnic have installed a V__matrix IP video system for edge conversion and signal processing as well as an mc²-based audio infrastructure featuring six mc²56 production consoles, Nova a
