USA - Jim Ebdon has been the Front of House Engineer for Maroon 5 since the early stages of the band's rise to the top rung of the global pop-rock scene.

The most recent tour of US and Europe finishes in July before a new round starts in Texas in September. Accompanying Ebdon throughout this is his new choice of console - the SSL L500 Plus.

On hearing a direct comparison between the L500 and other consoles at a festival, Ebdon was inspired to give the L500 a go. "I'm not choosing a console because it looks pretty or because there is a ton of stuff on it that I'm probably never going to use. I'm choosing a console because of how it sounds, which is the most important thing."

In particular, Ebdon has been impressed with the onboard processing. "The onboard compressors sound great, the gates work really well, the effects are very good. The delay is amazing. I think the en

Turkey - Community Professional Loudspeakers has announced the appointment of Atempo as its distributor for Turkey. Atempo has been established for over 30 years and is one of the leading distributors of professional audio and lighting in Turkey, with a portfolio of brands that includes Shure, DiGiCo, Robe and ETC.

With expanding international demand for its outdoor, distributed and engineered product families, Community has appointed Atempo for the strong synergy it offers in key vertical market sectors.

Volkan Konuralp, Atempo's Istanbul regional director, commented, "We have always known the great brand reputation and product reliability of Community products, especially for outdoor applications such as sports facilities which is a large market in Turkey. The horn-loaded, IP rated systems will also help us to develop a strong presence in the expanding mosque market in T

Spain - Two Allen & Heath dLive systems were recently used at FOH and monitors for a special concert held at Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid by Pl

UK - Appearing at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park Festival (BST) for the fourth consecutive year, Martin Audio's flagship MLA PA delivered its best performance ever - thanks to the new system optimisation created by their DISPLAYtm prediction software, now in its final beta test stage.

From the opening blast of Massive Attack through to the closing weekend with Mumford & Sons, Take That and Stevie Wonder, the event showed that it continues to evolve in terms of technical development.

Credit for this is due to Martin Audio rental partners Capital Sound, who provided the advanced sound transmission infrastructure, including a digital returns system upgrade.

MLA appeared in various guises on the main Great Oak Stage, the second Barclaycard Stage and Sony PlayStation stage - with six areas in all featuring Martin Audio solutions. Providing technical supp

FanFair Alliance - Artists including Arctic Monkeys, Iron Maiden, Ed Sheeran, Noel Gallagher and Little Mix have launched a new campaign against ticket touts. Dubbed the FanFair Alliance, it is calling on the government to take tougher action against websites which resell concert tickets. Launching the campaign, Arctic Monkeys' manager Ian McAndrew accused the sites of "rampant profiteering". He said the goal was to "make it easier for fans to buy tickets" at face value. "Fans' anger, their discontent, is what prompted me to do something about this," he told the BBC. "I hope the efforts of this campaign will put pressure on the government to do something."

The secondary ticketing market in the UK is thought to be worth more than £1bn a year. But the music industry is concerned that fans are being excluded from concerts by "professional" resellers, who scoop up tickets as

UK - Sheffield University's new £81m engineering teaching block, The Diamond Building, was opened at the end of last year, with building work completed on schedule by contractors Balfour Beatty. The six storey building, with its aluminium diamond shaped fa

Germany - Loudspeaker systems manufacturer, d&b audiotechnik, has announced it has joined the AVnu Alliance, the industry consortium that fosters the adoption of AVB/TSN (Audio Video Bridging/Time Sensitive Networking) protocols and an open ecosystem of certified products.

According to d&b product manager Vicent Perales, the move is a logical step for the company. "d&b is known to be a supporter of open standards, such as OCA (Open Control Architecture, recently ratified by the Audio Engineering Society as AES70)," he commented. "Joining the AVnu Alliance and supporting AVB/TSN as open audio transport protocols is another good fit for us."

AVB/TSN is a set of open standards developed by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), and represents an evolution of standard Ethernet to support production quality audio and video, and control data. AVB/TSN provi

Taiwan - Taiwan-based sound company Winly Production Services Int'l Corp. has taken delivery of an Adamson E-series PA, making them the first Taiwanese company to join the Adamson network. The announcement was made by David Dohrmann, technical director, Asia Pacific for Adamson.

"As one of the older sound companies in Taiwan, Winly has an exceptional reputation and the experience to grow the Adamson brand in the area," explains Dohrmann. "We are thrilled to have a company of their calibre working with our organization and see a very bright future with Winly."

Initially the rental company added 24 E12 line array modules and 16 E219 subwoofers, powered by Adamson E-Racks loaded with Lab.gruppen PLM20k44 amplifiers. After extensive testing they decided to expand their Adamson inventory further.

"They are adding E15, S10 and E119 cabinets which should delivered and in use

Japan - Powersoft has appointed pro audio specialists Audiobrains as the company's new Japanese distributor. After initial discussions with Audiobrains' sales and marketing representative, Shin Yamada, the deal was signed with CEO Fujii Shuzo and took effect from mid-June.

Audiobrains already has an A-list distribution portfolio, which includes Martin Audio, Symetrix and beyerdynamic, and they also enjoy dealer status for AVID consoles and d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers. The Powersoft acquisition completes an important part of the jigsaw.

"Powersoft fits comfortably into several professional sectors - both for touring and installation," says Yamada. "This is a great opportunity and we are delighted to be representing the brand."

Another key person in brokering the deal was Powersoft regional sales manager, Arthur Soh. "He opened door for us at Powersoft and talked at le

Korea - Located in the heart of Seoul, South Korea's Dongshin Presbyterian Church recently installed Allen & Heath's dLive digital mixing system as part of the Church's developing digital-based AV system.

Dongshin Church celebrated its 60th anniversary this year, and the building was named as a 'Seoul Legacy for the Future' by the city in 2014.

Comprising a S5000 Control Surface and a DM48 MixRack, the new system replaces the incumbent GL3800 analogue mixer.

"The relationship between A&H and Dongshin Church started with the GL3800, and we also installed a Qu-32 in the Education Centre last year. Migrating from analogue to digital is a big step but we knew we could trust A&H products," said Seongyeon Won, who is in charge of A/V system at the church.

"We did evaluate other brands for the main FOH console but dLive won hands down on product specifications, such as th

USA - API reports that Mount Olive High School in Flanders, New Jersey, has purchased a Vision console for their forthcoming recording studio and audio production programme.

Mount Olive's new audio programme will add to the school's already outstanding curriculum, including a top notch television production programme, an award-winning robotics team, and a music programme touting a 60-piece orchestra.

Superintendent and music enthusiast Dr. Larrie Reynolds brought in consultants who were up to the challenge of creating a professional-level studio; record producer, engineer, and mixer Ron Saint Germain and record producer and recording engineer Tony Bongiovi have been hard at work on Mount Olive's studio since the fall of 2015.

Saint Germain collaborated with Trevor Campbell, who will head Mount Olive's audio production programme, to find the right console. After traveli

Denmark - Danish singer Lukas Forchhammer, the frontman of the band Lukas Graham, is impressed with DPA's new d:facto Linear Vocal Microphone, which is helping the band deliver an exceptionally natural sound during its current European tour.

Lukas Graham's production manager and Front of House sound engineer Frank Gr°nb

Denmark - DPA Microphones has appointed René M°rch as the company's new product manager. M°rch previously worked for DPA Microphones from 2006 until 2009 as the research & development manager.

"We are thrilled to bring René back in this new role," says Thorsten Reuber, interim CEO of DPA Microphones. "DPA has been experiencing exceptional growth and success in presenting new products to the public, and we are excited to continue this prosperity with René. We look forward to leveraging his knowledge and experience in the field to maintain DPA's position as an industry leader."

As product manager, M°rch will act as the bridge between the Sales, Marketing and Research & Development departments. He will gather information from the market through internal and external sources, and will be a part of the team that decides short- and long-term prod

UAE - Zero Gravity, a popular beach club, bar and restaurant situated on the perimeter of Skydive Dubai, unveiled its much-anticipated 2,000sq.m expansion in March, including a 39m glass-fronted infinity swimming pool, 75sq.m multi-use stage and one of the world's first permanent installations of L-Acoustics' X Series, along with L-Acoustics K2 and ARCS Wide loudspeaker systems, which is part of an overall audio-visual system that uses the highest quality equipment currently available.

The expansion - which comprises of 50 sun loungers, 30 x 3m diameter day beds, changing facilities, bar and stage - represents a new instalment in the evolution of Dubai's most-talked-about beach-side spot. "Everything has been custom-made to ensure it fitted our very specific brief," says general manager Peter Skudutis. From top-of-the-range Spanish marble, to the 60cm x 60cm rain showers in ou

Australia - Fairlight.au, the Australian technology development company best known for its professional audio products that are used by major broadcasters and producers around the world, has announced that it is actively seeking a buyer for its Professional Audio technology.

"Over its long history, Fairlight has continually developed highly innovative professional audio technologies that are used by a large number of major content producers around the world" says Philip Belcher, CEO. "With a range of innovative new AES67 compliant audio distribution products approaching release, it has been decided that the potential for Fairlight's professional audio technologies is much larger than can be achieved under the current ownership."

Fairlight is seeking to enter into discussions with organisations that wish to leverage its professional audio technologies to augment their offer

Lost & Found - A 1969 Led Zeppelin session for the BBC that was thought to have been lost when archives were wiped has been recovered from a recording made by a fan. The set went out on the BBC World Service as part of Alexis Korner's Rhythm and Blues programme and was taped from an AM radio in Europe.

It includes the band's only known recording of the track Sunshine Woman. The session recording has been restored with help from guitarist Jimmy Page for inclusion on a new compilation. The Complete BBC Sessions, which will be released in September, is a remastered update of a 1997 collection of tracks recorded for the BBC between 1969 and 1971. It includes eight previously unreleased recordings, including the first broadcast of Stairway To Heaven, from the BBC Paris Cinema in London on 1 April 1971.

Rare recordings of eccentric pioneering radio DJ

UK - Music technology and pro audio distributor Source Distribution has announced the appointment of Darren Power to the position of director of sales and marketing.

Power will be responsible for ensuring continued growth of the business. This includes the responsibility of overall strategy and management of its sales, marketing and admin teams, as well as the development of innovative and effective new initiatives to support, enhance and grow the business and its practice.

Joining Source following his role as European director of Yamaha Music Europe's Professional Music Division, Power draws upon a strong management record, having been responsible for leading pan-European sales and marketing strategic planning, operation, and performance reviews, as well as developing and championing best practices in its sales and marketing teams on a multinational scale.

Commenting

Mexico - With five Billboard Top 20 albums and a wildly dedicated fan base, Ha*Ash, the Mexican sister duo of Hanna Nicole and Ashley Grace, has seen their career take off like a rocket. Responding to this success, the pair have put together an ambitious schedule for their Primera Fila tour, often performing two or three shows a week separated by hundreds of miles across multiple national borders.

Given this fast-paced itinerary, it was essential that the lighting floor package for the tour be compact, rugged and easy to setup. Mexican lighting designer Jonathan 'Goofy' Galicia built the Primera Fila tour rig around 12 Next NXT-1 moving LED panels from Chauvet Professional that were supplied by Meridian Pro.

"Creating the lighting design for the Ha*Ash Primera Fila tour represented several challenges," said Galicia. "Due to the enormous success Ha*Ash has achieved, the tou

UK - Servicing tours with Clean Bandit, Laura Mvula and Massive Attack, CS Audio engineered for Massive Attack at their BST gig in Hyde Park in July. The sound equipment hire company has a strong emphasis on touring control and monitor packages, and particularly IEM's due to company MD Paul Hatt also being a monitor engineer.

KLANG:technologies 3D IEM system had been on Hatt's radar following a discussion with Andy Huffer of HD Pro Audio, the UK distributor of KLANG:technologies. Huffer had loaned a KLANG:fabrik system for a short UK tour but, due to time constraints with late load-in's and no sound checks, Hatt didn't get a chance to fully audition the system. However, he was suitably impressed with both the overall sound and build quality of the unit, commenting, "It felt like a solidly engineered product, with dual redundancy and a generous amount of output mixes. Aside fro

USA - AIMS has announced that Riedel Communications is the latest of the world's leading media technology companies to join the alliance.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Wuppertal, Germany, Riedel Communications is renowned as a leading pioneer of real-time networks for audio video and communications applications; in particular, digital audio matrix systems and fiber-based real-time media network technology.

Their products and technologies, including MediorNet, the world's first fibre-based video network for integrated signal transport, are in common use throughout the world in broadcast, pro-audio, events, sports, theatre and security applications. These include applications in the staging of major global sporting events and within international sports governing bodies.

Commenting for the company on joining the alliance, Lars Hoehmann, product manager MediorNet,

USA - The AmericanAirlines Arena, located in Miami, FL, home to the NBA's Miami Heat, recently completed an entire audio-visual upgrade using Audinate's Dante Audio-over-IP networking solution for low-latency, multichannel audio routing and distribution. The HEAT Group, the marketing and booking group within the AmericanAirlines Arena, has spent the last 15 years renovating and expanding areas of the arena. This latest technology upgrade not only included the arena bowl, but also a recently built exterior performance area.

The 19,600 seat arena that sits on the Biscayne Bay waterfront hosts more than 80 live events annually, including major concerts, family shows and national conferences. The new outdoor entertainment venue, Xfinity East Plaza (XEP) is a 23,000sq.ft covered space located on the east side of the arena. The initial XEP planning focused on the careful placement o

USA - Taking centre stage inside the Lakeland Centre, the 2016 Miss Florida Scholarship Pageant showcased 48 contestants all vying for the opportunity to compete for the title of Miss America. Held in conjunction with the Miss Florida Outstanding Teen Pageant, production designer Trenton Dick was once again working behind the scenes at Miss Florida, and was asked this year to build upon the previous pageants LED video design.

So with an expanded budget and some increased expectations, Dick decided to create three LED video walls for the event using FLEXLite Plus 6.9mm and FLEXCurtain HD 12.5mm LED video technology from Nashville-based PixelFLEX.

"We used the PixelFLEX LED video technology for the first time in our 2015 pageant design and the producers loved it so much they really wanted to expand our video design for 2016," said Dick. "With the opportunity to expand the de

New Zealand - Pink Floyd's legacy of bright, visually powerful stage productions lives on today in New Zealand, thanks to a tribute band formed (quite fittingly) by a lighting designer who uses the colour and intenstity of Chauvet Professional fixtures to create lightshows that do the group's legacy proud.

"We want to celebrate the Pink Floyd experience, not just with music but with lights and the entire stage presentation," said Anthony Macdonald, the LD who created the show. "Lighting was essential to the original Pink Floyd experience, so we try to replicate that feeling, but with the efficiency and intensity of today's fixtures."

Mcdonald has two STRIKE 4 multi-formatted LED fixtures in his band's road rig along with 12 Rogue R1 Spots, two Rogue RH1 Hybrids and five COLORado Zoom WW Tour fixtures. The fixtures were provided by Mcdonald's own company, MDR Sound and Ligh

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