UK - As cities across the UK jostle for the unofficial crown of 'Christmas Capital', city centre retail experience Liverpool ONE's spectacular 'Switch On' event pulled one of the biggest crowds, with an estimated 45,000 people rocking up to enjoy the festive vibes and a special lighting and sound show - with a little help from Adlib.

Adlib provided lighting and sound for the 12-minute specially composed soundtrack show produced by Liverpool Empire Theatre that preceded the illumination of a giant 30m tall Christmas tree, made up of 280 illuminated LED hearts, located at the end of Paradise Street.

Both lighting and audio systems were designed to ensure that the buoyant crowds could fully enjoy the occasion. "We were delighted to be asked back to work on it this year," commented Ian Rubert, who co-ordinated the lighting installation on site.

Lighting was designed

UK - A special event hosted by the Audio Engineering Society Scottish Group has been hailed one of the most successful to date. The event hosted at Edinburgh Napier University last month focused on Front of House sound. Leading staff from BBC Scotland and pro-audio company The Warehouse Sound Services presented to over 100 students in audio related education and industry professionals.

The AES Scottish Group is headed up by Dr David Moore of Glasgow Caledonian University and Jim Hunter, senior sound supervisor for BBC Scotland. Hunter has been a television sound supervisor for 25 years. He continues to deliver both live and recorded shows, in studios and on outside broadcasts. Dr Moore is a lecturer in audio technology and leader of the BSc Audio Technology degree programme at Glasgow Caledonian University.

The event kicked off with Andrew Britton, operations resource manage

Jordan - Sennheiser has announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Jordan-based Advanced Solutions. As an authorized partner, the reseller and systems integrator will now offer products from Sennheiser's System Solutions range which includes conference and translation, tour guide, and a wide range of wired and wireless microphone systems.

According to Sami Janho, general manager at Advanced Solutions, the timing is now right for the aggressive expansion of Sennheiser's market share in Jordan. He said, "A reasonable portion of the market now demands reputable and reliable products accompanied by a high level of service. Organizations are keen to explore best-in-class solutions which provide a clear long-term roadmap and grow with their business needs. We see this as the opportunity for Advanced Solutions to extend its conversations with existing clients

UK - The second edition of PLASA Focus Glasgow 2016 held at the SECC will see 50% more exhibitors than the inaugural show in 2014. With new exhibitors recently announced including Bose, Hawthorn, Adlib and UK Rigging, PLASA Focus Glasgow promises to deliver innovative solutions to the Scottish market.

Visitor highlights include the chance to discover new and exciting products from over 60 brands in professional audio, AV, lighting, staging and rigging not to mention two days of free seminars and live demos. Industry leaders exhibiting at the show will include both manufacturers and distributors including big names such as Robe, RCF, Chauvet, Elation, Avolites, ETC, TMB and many more.

The recent announcement from VisitScotland shows intent to grow the events market in Scotland. The investment in a new ten-year 'collaborative strategy' to develop Scotland's 3.5 billion events

UK - Following the recent launch of the ZEDi-8 hybrid mixer / interface, Allen & Heath has released two more ZEDi models, the ZEDi-10 and ZEDi-10FX, from its acclaimed ZED analogue console range.

Designed for recording/gigging artists and AV rental and installation companies, the new ZEDi models combine a compact mixer with a 24bit 96kHz 4x4 USB interface, which enables multitrack recording and playback to a Mac or PC or to an iOS device (using a Camera Connection Kit).

The units also have flexible source routing options to adapt to different workflows, and are bundled with Cubase LE music production software and the Cubasis LE mobile music production app.

The ZEDi-10 and ZEDi-10FX feature four mono channels with separate XLR and TRS jack sockets, one stereo channel and a second stereo input for reverb returns or playback. The mono channels include DI high impedance circu

France - The Roland M-5000 Digital Mixing Console has been out on tour recently- mixing FOH on the 23 date Autour de la Guitare which brought together famous guitarists creating one 'super band' to perform at Zénith Arenas across France and Belgium. Led by French guitarist JF Lalanne, the Autour de la Guitare also included Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Christopher Cross, Johnny Clegg, Ron Thal, John Jorgenson, Axel Bauer, Paul Personne, Dan Ar Braz, Michael Jones, JM Ecay and Nono Krief.

Chosen as the FOH console by tour production company Silence!, the M-5000 was specified because of the console's intuitive workflow, flexible architecture and sound quality - plus the fact that so many features came in such a compact footprint.

FOH engineer, Manu Guiot (designer of the Notre Dame de Paris musical amongst other high profile projects) was at the helm

UK - The new Audient Studio has been unveiled to coincide with the start of the new term at the SSR headquarters in Manchester, where a 36 channel ASP8024 console with integrated patchbay and producer's desk now stands proudly at its heart.

SSR's technical director, Tom Aston reports, "Students have been overwhelmingly positive about the Audient ASP8024. They find it well laid out, spacious and logical." This year alone, some 120 students - including those studying for Music Production and Sound Engineering degrees - will get their hands on the console, giving it ample opportunity to prove its reputation for reliability and longevity.

"Having a producer's desk to the left of the master section has allowed us to locate the computer keyboard, mouse and DAW control surface in the centre of the stereo image, producing a much more ergonomic environment than before,

Eagles Return - US rock band Eagles of Death Metal appeared on stage in Paris, less than a month after deadly attacks during their performance in the French capital. The band took to the stage to perform at the end of a U2 concert at the AccorHotels Arena. "They were robbed of their stage three weeks ago and we would like to offer them ours tonight," said singer Bono. Ninety of the 130 people who died in the 13 November attacks were killed at the concert at the Bataclan venue. Bono embraced Eagles of Death Metal singer Jesse Hughes ahead of an emotional joint rendition of Patti Smith's People Have The Power.

School of Rock - Broadway musical School of Rock, written by Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, has opened to mixed reviews. The show, which was a hit 2003 film starring Jack Black, is about a wannabe rock star

Taiwan - Taiwanese pop queen Jolin Tsai's new album Play was given the highest accolade by the Chinese music industry in 2015, winning Best Mandarin Album at the 26th Annual Pop Music Awards. Soon afterwards, her Play World Tour began and immediately became one of the hottest events of the year. After a highly successful three days in Taipei Arena, the tour visited the Chinese mainland.

The production spared nothing. Concert directors Travis and Stacyz, having worked with Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga, were brought in to create an unprecedented audio-visual feast, in turn bringing in the best teams from all over the world to give fans their most impressive production experience to date.

MSI Japan was in charge of the sound production and Martin Audio's award-winning MLA system was chosen for the Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou leg of the tour. With more than 3

UK - Pro audio equipment rental company, RSH Audio has recently invested in a significant upgrade to rental stock to serve their ever-increasing live and corporate workload.

Having received such a positive response to their initial Yamaha QL1 digital console investment which has successfully served their increasing sub-hire market demands, Joe Haycocks, director at RSH Audio was prompted to consider the suitability of the company's other assets for the demands of busy rental and production companies.

"I am keen to continue developing our sub-hire market work which we supply very effectively. With that in mind I looked to Yamaha CL and QL digital consoles and Shure QLX-D digital wireless systems for the solution", comments Haycocks. "On our own shows, we have found the Yamaha and Shure systems work brilliantly for both the live and corporate shows that we do.

UK - When global hotel chain Radisson began planning the refurbishment of their Fire Lake Grill House and Cocktail Bar in Leeds they knew they wanted it have a great atmosphere. Situated on the Headrow in the heart of Leeds, the Radisson Blu restaurant is an ideal escape from the hustle and bustle, where guests enjoy refined dining in chic surroundings.

Reflex were approached by designers to provide a sound system solution that would complement the venue by providing high quality music. From a relaxed daytime atmosphere to a more sophisticated, livelier environment for the evenings and weekends, it had to meet a range of demands.

It was also vital that the system sounded great but was also simple to use requiring minimal management. Equally it was critical that the speakers did not detract from the stylish décor of the restaurant and bar.

When it comes to hospitali

Denmark - Handling over two million passengers each year from both regular and charter flights, Billund Airport is also one of Denmark's busiest international air cargo hubs. Recently the airport's management wanted to add high quality background music to the announcement/voice evacuation system in three of the airport's busiest areas, a difficult task to achieve without multiple types of loudspeaker. The Yamaha EN54-24 certified VXC4-VA proved master of the task.

Billund Airport was originally established in 1961 as a private airstrip by Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, head of The Lego Group, whose company is based in the nearby town of Billund. The current airport opened in 1964 and has been continually expanded and upgraded ever since. Owned by a group of the area's municipalities, today Billund Airport is the main airport for passengers in western Denmark and handles significan

Romania - A NEXT-proaudio system was recently used for Romania's National Day, a very special occasion to celebrate the union of three regions: Transylvania, Moldavia and Romania in 1918.

This celebration took place on Alba lulia for more than 15000 people with 1200 soldiers on parade, trucks and military equipment. Alba Iulia is a historic town and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists annually. It is in the top three of the most beautiful and visited cities in Romania.

For this event, the challenge was to cover a distance of 200m, left and right of the main stage. It was basically a street with two lanes where soldiers paraded and sidewalks were located viewers (tourists).

"We like challenges, but in this case we have tried to primarily ensure the safety of the thousands people who attend to this event. We think for the organization was the most important even

UK - Dave Gilmour's 2015 world tour started in the UK in September this year and continues on to Madison Square Garden in April 2016. The guitarist and vocalist has already impressed fans and critics, drawing on nearly 50 years of Pink Floyd and solo work, with a prominent place reserved for his latest album, Rattle That Lock.

Gavin Tempany is the monitor engineer on the tour and he has chosen an SSL L500 Plus console, having already used it at Front of House on other high profile events. "I had the choice of a couple of consoles," he explains. "They were the only ones that would do the number of ins and outs I needed. I ended up using 186 wet audio paths, and 32 dry, so it was pretty hectic."

The L500 Plus can handle up to 256 audio paths (208 with full processing, and 48 dry), and up to 1008 inputs and outputs. Tempany's set-up on the Gilmour tou

USA - The Frank Gehry designed New World Center is not only a huge asset for New World Symphony audio fellows, it is also a world class performance space available for hire.

It would be a given that the designer of some of the world' best concert halls and a conductor with the stature and experience of Michael Tilson Thomas would make a fantastic design, but no corners have been cut in installing the latest media equipment to cover all requirements. The 756-seat Performance Hall and the smaller Sun Trust Pavilion are fully equipped for live performance and recording and share two multi-track surround capable control rooms. HD video recording and projection is also available for those hiring the spaces.

Originally set up to record 64 tracks at 24bit/48kHz, it became apparent that the majority of the major opera and concert venues had installed Pyramix and Horus/Hapi Networked

Italy - This autumn one of Italy's best-loved pop acts, Al Bano and Romina Power, released their first album in 20 years. The multitrack recording for The Very Best - Live aus Verona was made on Steinberg Nuendo Live, via monitor engineer Francesco Spadaccino's Yamaha CL5 console and Rio3224-D i/o units. It was the first time that a major label album release has been recorded in this way.

Released on Universal Music, the album was recorded at the duo's Arena di Verona concert in May. The show was also broadcast live on Rai 1, Italy's premier national television channel.

Francesco has worked with Al Bano for many years and has used many digital mixing consoles. His favourite is undoubtedly the CL5. "My job is to keep the artists on stage happy and the CL5 is always my first choice to achieve that," he says.

He continues, "This show was huge. We had a

USA - With its backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Anita Park is considered by many to be the world's most beautiful thoroughbred racetrack. It hosts some of the most prominent racing events in the United States including the Breeders' Cup and the prestigious Santa Anita Handicap.

The track's previous sound system, installed in the late 1990s, used four, pole-mounted loudspeaker clusters aimed back at the spectators. However, after a major renovation in 2013 along with a new press box and additional luxury suites, the pole-mounted loudspeaker clusters faced a wide expanse of newly-added glass causing unwanted audio reflections onto the seating and the track.

In 2014, Santa Anita asked AMT Systems of Santa Clarita, California to propose a new system to eliminate the reflections, add audio coverage in some of the newer areas and upgrade the overall sound quality to me

UK - When freelance sound engineer Stu Hunt took over Worcester-based Insert Audio from its owners in January 2014 he not only inherited classic Martin Audio equipment but also a contract to service the technical requirements of 355-capacity local venue, Huntingdon Hall, which is also equipped with Martin Audio components from yesteryear.

"This installation was completed 15 years ago by John Brown's Limit Audio and all the equipment - including W3P, S218, EM15 and LE12JB - is still going strong," says Stu. "We maintain it every year, but have never had a single fault with any of the gear to date. 'Service' generally amounts to little more than cleaning the amp rack, or repairing the occasional pin on the EDAC."

As a rental company Insert Audio also holds a vast inventory of Martin Audio components, including W8C, WSX, WS2A, W3, F12, LE12JB, LE400 and LE20

China - Now in its 8th year, the Hong Kong music and arts festival Clockenflap has turned into one of the biggest events in the region. Staged in a picturesque waterside location in West Kowloon, this three-day festival brings together a diverse bill of international performers and musical styles.

With over 60,000 music fans attending, the 2015 event was the largest to date. For the first time, Clockenflap invited French loudspeaker manufacturer Nexo to be the festival's audio partner, a huge undertaking which meant supplying PA systems to seven separate performance stages (monitoring included) as well as a number of lounges, VIP areas and band common rooms.

The festival was the ideal showcase for Nexo's modular line array system, the STM Series, allowing the four-module system to be configured in four different ways to suit the main PA requirements of four different princip

UAE - Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center (SZGMC) in Abu Dhabi recently appointed Martin Audio customer, Almoe AV Production & Rentals, to provide the Ramadan 2015 sound system for all the indoor areas throughout the mosque - with a peak attendance of 65,000 people.

With strict coverage specifications dictated by SZGMC's audio consultants and in-house sound engineer, the requirement was met in the Main Hall, largely by using Almoe's Martin Audio MLA rental system for the main prayer hall. The promise of MLA being able to deliver the specific coverage from front to back with minimal reverberation was key to Almoe's bid, as was the finished look.

"The only goal we were given was 'to deliver consistent coverage everywhere'," said system designer and technical project manager, Bruno Vitanza. "We showed all the prediction results and calculations in the Display softwa

UK - Loudspeakers from Audica have been used to create an enhanced atmosphere within a new exhibition at the V&A in London. A total of 41 Audica MICROpoint loudspeakers have been positioned strategically around The Fabric of India to create an ambience that is in keeping with the exhibition.

The Fabric of India explores the rich world of handmade textiles from India. Music composed by sound artist Jason Singh complement the spectacular display. Audica MICROpoint loudspeakers were chosen for their ability to deliver high quality sound despite their small size, which allows the speakers to discreetly blend into the background.

Richard Gainsborough, business development manager at Audica, said, "The MICROpoint has been designed to be the smallest possible loudspeaker to deliver high quality audio over a wide area, whilst the softly shaped design ensures it is

Germany - HK Audio is set to make musical history and soundtrack a gigantic world record attempt featuring 10,000 performing musicians - some of them big stars, some of them professional instrumentalists, some of them hobby players, and everything in-between - and 30,000 fans at Frankfurt's Commerzbank Arena.

We're filling the stadium: powered by HK Audio takes place on 9 July 2016 and will see what would be the world's biggest ever orchestra performing four pieces - excerpts from Dvorak's 9th Symphony and Beethoven's 9th Symphony (4th Movement), the Starlight Express musical's title track, and John Miles' Music (Was My First Love) - under the watch of renowned conductor and ECHO Award winner Wolf Kerschek.

Later in the day, celebrated German performers Yvonne Catterfeld, Johannes Oerding and Daniel Wirtz will help the 40,000-strong crowd celebrate their

USA - Two of the hottest musicals this Broadway season are supported by reinforcement systems built around Meyer Sound Lyon linear line array loudspeakers. School of Rock features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and sound design by Mick Potter, while On Your Feet, the inspiring story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, is supported by a system designed by Andrew Keister and Steve Canyon Kennedy of SCK Sound Design. Both shows mark the Broadway debut of Lyon.

With School of Rock opening in early December, Potter says that his choice of Lyon to cover the 1,500-seat Winter Garden Theatre was a matter of scaling up from the Leo Family's newest and smallest loudspeaker, Leopard.

"We workshopped the show at the much smaller Gramercy Theatre, where we had 10 Leopardss per side," explains Potter, who has designed sound for Andrew Lloyd Webber's productions for

UK - Front of House engineer James Gebhard knows the importance of keeping up with the latest technology and having the best tools for the job, so when British indie-rock band Circa Waves announced their UK club and academy tour, he decided that investing in a DiGiCo S21 would be the right solution.

"I think it is imperative to keep your eye on the ball with what is new coming onto the market," he says. "Being back out on a smaller scale tour - something I have not done for a few years - was a great opportunity to see where the more budget end of the market was with mixing desks."

James, a long-term SD7 user, has also worked with a variety of entry level / semi pro consoles, so when he was given the opportunity to use an S21, it seemed a logical step.

"I had only had a basic demo on the desk at DiGiCo HQ, but I was so impressed I pretty much place

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