GermanyThe Jazz an der Donau ('Jazz on the Danube') festival is not just one of the world's biggest jazz festivals, but also, thanks to its intimate atmosphere, one of the most attractive. With appearances by stars of the calibre of Diana Ross, Al Jarreau and David Sanborn, this year's festival can only enhance the popularity and prestige of the event.

As in previous years, the organizers are relying exclusively on systems from EVI Audio; but this isn't simply a case of favouring the home team, as Heinz Huber makes clear: "The sound reinforcement equipment last year was absolutely sensational. All the musicians said so. In fact, B.B. King's European manager described the Jazz on the Danube festival as one of the best organized and - from the standpoint of sound quality - the most perfect that he had ever attended."

The team led by Ingo Haasch will be using the

UK - Pro Audio Systems' hire division recently managed the sound for one of Europe's largest Mela festivals, selecting an Allen & Heath ML5000 live sound VCA console as the monitor mixer for the main stage.

The 2005 Bradford Mela attracted 300,000 visitors over the two days. From the Sanskrit 'to meet', the Mela originates from the Indian subcontinent and is now a worldwide celebration of the art, craft, culture and community of South Asia, both traditional and modern.

Entertainment ranged from workshops on cookery, dancing and meditation, to a spectrum of musical acts from traditional artists to DJ's.

The main stage hosted fourteen acts over the two days, including the Indie-Bhangra band, Cassava Music; Bollywood-style, Orchestra Music World; Asian-rock band, Trick Baby; pop singer, Faakhir; and the Mercury Prize winning, Talvin Singh Trio.

"The audio requirements fo

The Netherlands - Recently commissioned and based in Amsterdam, the Pure Liner is a floating presentation venue capable of accommodating up to 650 guests for a daylong product launch. Equipped with state of the art lighting, sound and audio facilities, the boat is aimed at companies in Holland, Belgium and Germany who want to make product presentations in a novel environment and is fully equipped to sail to any of those countries.

Included in the facilities is a d&b sound system comprising compact E3 and E0 loudspeakers with Qsubwoofers, all colour co-ordinated to match the black and white theme of the surroundings.

In the main presentation area, a giant screen is surrounded by E3s to provide a T0 point for the sound with E0s front and back in a circular configuration to provide the delays. The system was supplied by d&b's Dutch partner Audio Pro Nederland and was designed by

USA - With six stages hosting over 100 major and emerging musical acts, the Music Midtown Festival boasts one of the most diverse lineups of any festival in the world. This June, for the 12th year in a row, the Atlanta, Georgia, event rolled out the best in southern comfort and hospitality, in addition to a lot of music, to entertain more than 300,000 guests on the 40-plus-acre festival site.

Rock 'n' Road Audio of Tucker, Georgia, supplied the sound for the event. Rock 'n' Road's Roy Drukenmiller and on-site production manager James (Jid) O'Brien worked with Nashville's Spectrum Sound and Blackhawk Audio to ensure there would be enough powerful hardware to guarantee a splendid time for all.

On the Miller Lite/99X/Comcast Stage, alt-rock ruled with a lineup that included the Pixies, Lemonheads, White Stripes, DEVO and Keane performing through a substantial array featuring 34 M

UK - DiGiCo has licensed the open standard EtherSound protocol for digital audio distribution and will utilise EtherSound Authorised Implementor AuviTran to accelerate the development of EtherSound-enabled digital consoles.

"DiGiCo is proud to become an addition to the EtherSound family, utilising this superb data transmission protocol to provide yet another solution to DiGiCo's customers in this ever-changing digital world," says DiGiCo managing director Bob Doyle. Marketing director David Webster explains further, "We wanted to expand our connectivity with other devices. We've already got analogue, optical, AES/EBU, T/DIF/ADAT and others, so regardless of what you want to plug into - you can. EtherSound is appearing on enough devices to make it a strategic addition to DiGiCo consoles in any signal chain."

"DiGiCo's rapid emergence as a leader in digi

Singapore - Following design and construction-supervision projects in Singapore spanning the past twenty years for independent recording and broadcast clients, UK-based Eastlake Audio is again active in the dynamic South-East Asian City-State.

The current client, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, located on the National University of Singapore campus, is constructing a new, world-class music facility with technology-smart classrooms and seminar rooms, practice facilities, teaching studios, concert hall, recording studio and video and Pro Tools equipped media facilities. Eastlake's involvement is with the recording studio and media facilities.

The project is a joint collaboration between the National University of Singapore and one of the world's leading music schools, the Peabody Institute of the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. The Conservatory is working closely

UK - A new service company, Theatrelease, has been created by industry veterans Steve Sunderland and Peter Barnard. It will provide audio design services to provincial and West End theatres and will be be run separately from Audiolease and Barnard's rental company, Sigma AV.

Audiolease's first contract is with the Savoy Theatre where they have designed the sound system for The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas. The set-up centres on Outline's Butterfly array. A total of twenty CDH483 high packs (ten per hang) are flown left and right of the stage; 2 x Outline Victor live sub basses are also used. Stage monitoring features 14 mixes handled by Outlines Micra II self-powered and Outline's HARD 212 SP low profile stage wedges. Side fill duties are via Outline's award winning Kangaroo system. Power and control are provided by Outline digital TP 6.5 power amplifiers.

The FOH desk

UK - The PAI Group (PAIG) has completed the design, specification and installation of full sound, lighting and AV system at the Media Centre Arts Hall, University of Wales in Lampeter. The project included the supply of a full live stage sound system, stage lighting and video equipment to the Arts Hall adjacent to the Media Centre.

The project required flexible and easy to use systems to enable the students to stage a variety of performances from fashion shows to live concerts and stage shows, plus conferences and media presentations.

The PAIG team, led by project manager Steve Timlin chose Logic System loudspeakers, for their ruggedness, quality and cost-effectiveness. They reconditioned and re-used the college's existing cabinets for side fills. The system is powered by QSC amplifiers, and the FOH desk is an Allen & Heath GL3300.

"It was also important to give the stu

UK - For the second year running, KV2 Audio's ES loudspeakers headed up the field as the main FOH system for Channel 4's The Games. Filmed in Sheffield, the brief was to provide a powerful system with high intelligibility in a stadium environment but with a minimum visual impact for the TV film crews.

Robert Beck of Avid AV chose KV2 Audio's ES predominantly due to its performance at last year's show, as well as on several projects since. Supplied by FT Audio Visual of Harrogate and engineered by Sid Arthur, the whole event was a huge success for Channel 4, easily beating previous year's viewing numbers.

This is the second time recently that ES has been used for a prestigious sporting event: Dave Lowton of Sound Support made the same decision for the launch of the new England football kit in Manchester just a few weeks earlier. That experience persuaded him to invest in

Japan - Sound engineer Jon Burton, who was working for Bjork, requested a pair of new Hebden Sound microphones is spreading. to use for her Live8 Appearance in Tokyo. The pair of mics was used for the Celeste, which played a major part in the song 'All is full of love' which was broadcast worldwide. It will also hopefully feature on the DVD. Burton said: "The gig went really well. The mics sounded great and Bjork's manager was admiring the solid Sheffield build!"

Hebden Sound MD David Anderson said: "It was great to be able to help Jon, especially with such an important event. Hopefully it will also increase people's awareness of the mics and help to prove how versatile they really are."

(Lee Baldock)

USA - Peavey Electronics has moved the production of Crest Audio from its previous base in Fairlawn, New Jersey, to Peavey's own specialized factories in Meridian, Mississippi. Citing increased market demand for Crest Audio products in the export markets as the main reason behind the consolidation, Hartley Peavey went on to qualify his decision: "In many cases we had duplicate systems and overlapping operations that were unnecessary and costly to maintain. We're now incorporating the best methods from both operations to give us faster time-to-market and reduced costs, which will benefit the company as well as Peavey and Crest Audio consumers."

With the recent addition of Meridian based sales and marketing personnel for Crest Audio, and the addition of more than 150 employees to the Meridian manufacturing workforce, this move is designed to enhance the Crest Audio opera

UK - Julia Lee has been appointed director of sales and marketing at Community Professional Loudspeakers. Responsible for overseeing the operation of Community's international sales teams, regional sales managers and the independent sales representatives, Lee will also develop and implement the company's market strategy and brand architecture.

Lee has eight years' experience expanding Community's market worldwide, both as inside sales manager and international sales manager. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and recipient of Pennsylvania's Export Award of Achievement, Lee has also worked in the field of international trade law and intellectual property protection.

(Lee Baldock)

France - Renault has opened a new communications and presentation facility at its main plant in Flins, near Paris, installing Allen & Heath products to manage the audio requirements. The new site houses a 350-capacity theatre and 1200sq.m dining/entertainment area, which will be used to launch new vehicles to the Press and VIP, and also as a meeting space for the company's distributors and employees.

The sound system was installed by Bordeaux-based IEC-ASV and includes a 32-channel GL3300 multi-purpose live sound console for mixing live events, and an iDR-8 digital mixing processor and iDR-out expansion unit for audio distribution around the venue. Turbosound speakers are fitted throughout the venue.

The entertainment area and theatre are separated by a stage, and a partition wall enables either side to be closed off, depending on the occasion. The iDR is programmed so that wh

Germany - During the Confederation Cup games between Argentina and Germany and between Germany and Brazil, the new Franken Stadium in Nuremberg proved beyond doubt its credentials as a World Cup venue.

German trainer Jürgen Klinsmann wasn't the only one to draw important conclusions from the matches between Germany and the artists of South American football, Brazil and Argentina. The organizers of the World Cup 2006 were also on hand to assess the state of readiness of the venue, Nuremberg's Franken Stadium, and the conclusions they drew were highly positive: the stadium is more than qualified to play its part in the world's greatest sporting event - certainly in respect of its electro-acoustic systems.

As was the case with most of the venues selected for next year's tournament those responsible for equipping the 50,000-seater Franken Stadium opted for sound systems from EVI

UK - South London-based PA rental company Systems Etc has purchased a new EV XLC compact line-array system, complete with EV's Precision Series power amplifiers, from Shuttlesound.

The company's new ElectroVoice package purchase includes 24 x XLC 127+ line array cabinets, four SLX 118 subwoofers, and 12 x Xsubs from the X-Line range. To power the system, there are 24 Precision Series P3000RLs, the flagship model in EV's top line of remote power amplifiers, which offers 2 x 1300W into 4/2 x 1800 W into 2 Ohms.

"It wasn't a spontaneous decision to buy ElectroVoice," says Systems Etc's Bernard Mani, "we've been researching the market for about two years. We came to the XLC line-array because it was such a good match for the work we're doing, in terms of size and format. Some of the very compact systems are not suitable for our bigger gigs, but the XLC gives us the

UK - Wavelength Stage and Events in the Midlands has filled its work diary through to the end of 2005, which the company says is a direct result of the acquisition of a new Martin Audio Wavefront W8C system: despite adding four stacks of the compact W8C system to a substantial existing inventory of Martin Audio Blackline, Wavelength says it is still sub-hiring Martin Audio cabinets to cope with demand.

Wavelength was set up by Glen Brazil, whose career as a local radio presenter gave him a insight into the business of live radio station events. Originally, Wavelength's business was the supply of staging services, with audio requirements being met through sub-contractors. In January 2005, the decision was taken to supply PA systems directly and sound engineer Dave Abbott joined the company. "I've been using Martin Audio's W8C system for years as a freelance, and have always

France - Digidesign had their new Venue live mixing system in both the FOH and stage positions for Live8 Paris headliners, The Cure. With Craig Duffy production managing, the show at the Palais de Versailles represented one of the highest profile events yet for the new D-Show digital console. Following in a long line of eminent FOH engineers for the headline band - including Jon Lemon, Dave Bracey and Craig Overbay - into the breach stepped the experienced Ian Nelson.

Nelson was also sound mixing his long-time charge Placebo on the same bill. "The way I planned it with both the Cure and Placebo was in order to avoid any worries about the mic levels, I put a stage box on the revolve and all the mics and satellite feeds went straight to the box."

For Placebo, Nelson simply recalled the last show he had recorded on the Venue - down in South America. "We had a brief

UK - Bosch Security Systems based in Denham has announced an expansion of its UK marketing communications team following the recent appointment of managing director Jeremy Hockham.

Samantha Dean has now become marketing communications manager for the company responsible for all advertising, PR, exhibitions, newsletters and general publicity. Previously marketing coordinator, she now heads up the Bosch marketing team, which has also recently been expanded to include Leigh Hutchinson and Christine Cooper as marketing account support executives.

"I'm excited to be joining Bosch at a time of rapid expansion in both people and product ranges - Bosch now has one of the most comprehensive ranges of CCTV, Fire and Intrusion Detection, PA and Communications products in the marketplace," said Dean.

Before joining Bosch, Dean was marketing manager for VLPS Lighting Services.

UK - Recently mixing sound for Morning Glory, the opening act on Coldplay's UK leg of their world tour, Timm Cleasby reportedly had little trouble getting to grips with the new Digidesign Venue live mixing system. Also doubling as tour manager, Cleasby has wide experience of the new generation of digital desks, and was unfazed by the Venue.

Says the sound engineer, who toured with The Darkness for the duration of last year: "I'd had experience of Pro Tools so I knew instinctively what the plug-ins and EQs were going to sound like. With the Digidesign pedigree it's scarcely surprising that the sound is so good."By saving and downloading a number of the band's shows he was able to review his mixes at leisure. For his exposure to the modular system, which supports the industry-standard Pro Tools systems, he can thank seasoned sound engineer Robb Allen (Manic Street Preach

UK/USA - Audio-Technica microphones were used extensively at Live 8 concerts around the world. In particular at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in the US, and at Live 8 Africa Calling at the Eden Centre, in Cornwall.

The Philadelphia event in front of the Museum of Art, hosted by Will Smith and attended by more than half a million people, featured performances by leading artists such as Jay-Z, A-T endorsee Linkin Park, and the legendary Def Leppard, all using Audio-Technica's Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless Systems. The Tokyo Live 8 concert featured A-T endorser Good Charlotte, with Joel Madden performing on the Audio-Technica Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System, and Benji Madden on the Artist Elite AE6100 dynamic vocal microphone.

At Live 8 Africa Calling, Senegalese Griot musician Modou Diouf and his family (O Fogum), the internationally famous ensemble of Sab

USA - Cadac reports the Broadway debut of its acclaimed M16 remote-controlled microphone amplifier, opening last month with the musical Sweet Charity, which features sound design by Peter Hylenski (Little Women, Brooklyn, Ragtime (West End) Olivier Award nomination). Staged at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, the show is based on Neil Simon's book of the same name, with a classic score that includes hits such as Hey, Big Spender and If My Friends Could See Me Now. Directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, the show stars Christina Applegate, Denis O'Hare and Paul Shoeffler. Sound equipment is supplied by PRG.

Peter Hylenski's sound design focuses on creating a warm vintage sound that reflects the show's 1960s roots, as Peter explains: "I wanted to make the music and the sound fit the piece, achieving a warm analogue sound as opposed to thinking di

UK - The Edwardian-built Methodist Central Hall in Westminster boasts elegant marble foyers and sweeping stairways that lead to an extensive complex of halls. It was in the largest of these, the Great Hall - against the backdrop of a pipe organ - that Marquee Audio installed a central cluster of Meyer M1D self-powered loudspeakers. The venue's managing director, Michael Sharp, said that in deference to the building's splendour: "When we were ready to retire the old system we realized we would need something of high pedigree to replace it."

Another contractor had recommended marquee Audio to the project. "In addition, we had heard good reports about the company from a number of other sources, including representatives from the award-winning installation at Cheltenham Racecourse's Centaur conference centre," stated Sharp.

In designing the system, Marquee Audi

Canary Islands - In 2004, Sonilanza of Lanzarote was the first company in the Canary Islands to purchase an HK Audio Cohedra system, and HK now reports that they appear to have started a trend: Rental company Sound Black, already a long-time HK Audio T-Series user, recently invested in a '2 x 8' Cohedra system, consisting of 16 CDR 208 S/T mid/high units, 16 CDR 210 subwoofers, PR 16 amp racks to power them, LSM speaker multi-pair cables and flying hardware. Owner and president of Sound Black Juan Pedro Barrios Glez, says: "Cohedra is the perfect system for us. It is extremely flexible - due to its small size and low weight we can easily fly it as part of a ground support system, yet in spite of its size we can handle fairly large gigs with a relatively small array of only eight mid/high units per side - a decisive factor as an investment for a rapidly growing company like ou

Switzerland - When this year's 16-day Montreux Jazz Festival kicked off on Lake Geneva, visiting sound engineers to the 2,000-capacity Miles Davis Hall were delighted to see the new Digidesign Venue placed at their disposal.

They were given the opportunity to test drive the system's modular, dual-redundant architecture - which includes the D-Show mixing console, Mix Engine and Stage Rack I/O unit (with recallable, remote-controlled preamps) - firstly in the production area, under the supervision of experienced Digidesign engineers such as Bernard Natier (from Paris's Studio Garage) and Ian Nelson. Here they were able to tour the surface's topology and familiarize themselves with the main desk/sidecar arrangement prior to the real thing.

The company responsible for getting the 96-input desk, with full support for industry-stand Pro Tools plug-ins, onto the Montreux rider were S

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