Australia - The CMC Music Awards 2016 were held at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), with some of the biggest names in country music including superstars Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line, Australia's own Adam Harvey, and rising country star Kelsea Ballerini taking to the stage to perform.

Broadcast live on Foxtel's Country Music Channel the event celebrated the music and artists who are most-loved by their dedicated country music fans in Australia.

Mandylights were responsible for the production design, production management, stage management, lighting design and operation. Lighting gear came from Crystal Productions, Resolution X and Mandylights themselves.

The event was the first time Scenius, Clay Paky's moving head spotlight, was used in Australia as Crystal Productions had received 14 a few days prior.

"We are among the first companies in Aust

UK - A.C. Audio, a sales division of A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd., is hosting Digital Wireless Days in association with Shure in August, to demonstrate the brand's wireless solutions, decode the jargon, and explain why the future of wireless is digital.

The free events will take place at the company's UK headquarters (High Wycombe) on Tuesday, 9 August, and Northern sales office (Leeds) on Thursday, 11 August 2016.

RF (radio frequency) spectrum for use by wireless microphone operators has changed a lot over recent years. From the digital TV switchover to the rise of mobile phone ownership, demand for clean spectrum is greater than ever.

As the airwaves the industry operates in continue to evolve, so must the technology that is used. Digital wireless systems have much to offer in securing a positive future for wireless microphones through spectral effic

Ireland - Designed to renew and inspire Irish theatre, film and television, The Lir Academy opened in 2011 with a vision to become a centre of excellence for the dramatic arts in Ireland. Developed with collaboration from the Cathal Ryan Trust, and in association with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), The Lir offers first-rate training for the theatre and related professions. This year, the institution has turned its attention to updating its curriculum for technical theatre and lighting design students, leading to a partnership with ETC.

For several years, ETC's Playhouse at Gypsy Corner has been the education hub for the UK and Ireland, necessitating trips to London for Ireland-based technicians wanting to undertake ETC training. In recognition of ETC and The Lir's mutual interest in training technical skills in theatre to the highest possible standards, the two org

Germany - The Scorpions were formed in Sarstedt, in 1965, by guitarist Rudolf Schenker and drummer Wolfgang Dziony. During the decades that followed, the band made history: 18 albums, lengthy list of awards and innumerable tours, which have taken the Scorpions all over the world. Today the group has embarked upon its latest world tour.

Roland Beckerle is the tour production manager and Olaf Schr

UK - Allen & Heath has introduced several key additions to its flagship dLive digital mixing system, with the launch of the IP6 and IP8 fully-configurable and networkable remote controllers, and the Waves V3 and gigaACE audio networking cards.

The IP6 and IP8 are next generation remote controllers for dLive, widening the system's flexibility in installations and live sound. They interface with the dLive mixing system via standard TCP/IP connections and can be networked with other controllers, computers and third party devices using a standard Ethernet infrastructure.

The IP6 provides 6 push 'n turn rotary encoders and colour LCD displays, 19 programmable soft keys, and mic stand mounting options. The IP8 provides 8 motorised faders and colour LCD displays, and 23 programmable soft keys. Both can be configured with up to 6 layers for access to a large number of channels. Th

China - Nearly 30 years ago Cui Jian, the 'Father of Chinese Rock, performed Nothing To My Name during a concert at Beijing Workers' Stadium. That song launched a cultural music movement that celebrated its 30-year anniversary with the Music Power Rock China 30 tour, recently launched at the same location.

An Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) Adaptive Performance system - manned by FOH engineer Jim Ebdon - was on hand to reinforce the notable occasion.

"The arena is an older, round building made up of concrete, glass and metal," explains Ebdon. "There was a festival-like stage set up in one end of the floor, which cut down on available floor space and limited seating to almost half of the arena. Our job was to cover the fans with the best music experience possible, which meant keeping the sound off of the walls and ceiling."

Ebdon - whose FOH engineering resume inclu

UK - London nightclub fabric turned to the winning combination of Pioneer Pro Audio and Powersoft to assemble the sound system for its first-ever outdoor event, Lovebox Festival. Taking place on 15-16 July in London's Victoria Park, the fabric stage is the only stage at Lovebox to commission an exclusive pro audio partner.

The fabric arena is a 2000-capacity, 38m round tent designed to recreate fabric's Room One, giving party-goers the true nightclub experience in a festival environment.

Powersoft's Class D switch-mode K Series was again been adopted by Pioneer pro audio manager, Alex Barrand, to deliver the high octane feeds to their 4 x 3m GS-WAVE dancefloor surround stacks, eight XY-218 18-inch twin bass reflex subwoofers and 12 XY-122 12-inch two-way loudspeakers. But in addition, it took advantage of the Italian company's Armon

Germany - For most people, reggae conjures up images of beaches, palm trees and Jamaica. The Ruhr district certainly does not have those features. Despite this, the Reggae Summer Festival, an annual music event devoted to the Jamaican music genre, has been held on the Ruhr since 2006. Besides reggae, dancehall and afrobeat can also be heard in the Revierpark Wischlingen in Dortmund.

Simon Sonnenschmidt, who was in charge of the show lighting design and programming in the Dancehall Soundsystem Arena, for U-Concert Veranstaltungsproduktionen GmbH & Co. KG, used 13 Clay Paky Sharpys, four Spheriscans and four Supersharpys, together with one dot2 core plus and one dot2 F-wing.

Sonnenschmidt explained, "The Supersharpy is the perfect light for illuminating the glass dome on the roof of the ice rink/Dancehall Soundsystem Arena. I created massive columns of light with the four mo

USA - Meyer Sound and Fantasy Studios have announced a collaboration on the newly re-launched Fantasy Film Centre. Featuring a state of the art Meyer Sound cinema system, the completely refurbished historic Fantasy Film Centre now has a new 5.1/7.1 monitoring system comprised of three Acheron 80 screen channel loudspeakers, 10 HMS-12 surround loudspeakers, two 650-P subwoofers, and a Galileo loudspeaker management system with one Galileo 408 and one Galileo 616 processor for system drive and optimization.

Fantasy Studios' director Jeffrey Wood commented, "Fantasy Film Centre was constructed like a musical instrument. The clarity and detail of the room is beautiful and it's perfect for precision mixing. We are proud to have achieved the re-build in an exceptional way, so that it is compatible and comparable with all of the top mix theatres."

"The Film Centre stage has solid

Switzerland - The Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition was established to nurture and promote talented young singers from all around the world. As sponsor of the competition since its inception in 2003, Shure has announced the winners of the 2016 contest, the finals for which were held on 9 July in the Petit The?

USA - Pennington Entertainment, led by industry veteran Shawn Pennington, has announced a partnership with stage design and production company 44 Designs, headed by concert and event production expert Jeff 'Lava' Lavallee.

"Having worked with Jeff and the 44 Designs team extensively in recent years, I can tell you that there is not a more creative brain trust of individuals in the stage creative space in Nashville," says Pennington. "Every production that I have seen them produce, or been involved with has blown my mind every time! We could not be more excited about this partnership and the ability to deliver amazing production and event services in an affordable manner to the Nashville music community, and beyond."

Nashville-based 44 Designs enters the partnership with over 25 years of experience in lighting, touring and production. As a 360

UK - The Go-Between, a new British musical based on L.P. Hartley's classic novel, is currently playing at the Apollo theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue. Lighting designer Tim Lutkin explained the journey the production took to reach its current location in the heart of London's Theatreland.

"The Go-Between has a pretty interesting history; we opened at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds five years ago, before hitting the Derby Playhouse and Royal and Derngate in Northampton - the reviews were great and we really wanted to bring it to London, but we were aware of the need for a strong actor to play the lead role who could really pull in the crowds. When Michael Crawford said he'd do it, it was the perfect casting, so we started planning to bring the show to the West End."

Tim continued, "The lighting rig we have here in the Apollo is a full mix of what we used in Leeds,

UK - Singer/songwriter John Grant has been using Shure KSM8 and KSM9HS vocal microphones on his most recent UK tour, in addition to Shure PSM900 in-ear monitors.

Grant was the frontman in alt-rock band The Czars in his twenties and thirties, left the music business altogether for six years, and has enjoyed a more soulful renaissance as an electronica and orchestral-driven solo artist on leading independent label Bella Union in his forties, with a string of successful albums to his name.

Following the release of Grant's third solo album Grey Tickles, Black Pressure in Autumn 2015, he took to the road for a short tour of the UK and Ireland which lasted into early 2016. It was on these dates that he began using the Shure microphones, as Ber Quinn, the tour's front-of-house engineer, explains, "The difference once John started using the KSM9HS was startling. A voice as

Germany - Throughout one weekend the airfield of Neustadt-Glewe was the destination for fans of electronic music and the meeting place for the world's DJ elite. 40,000 visitors from 40 nations were celebrating together with the world's top DJs Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Armin van Buuren, Ti

UK - Fast-growing live video, AV and technical production specialist CPL has announced a further investment in d&b audio equipment, underlining its commitment to the brand, with whom CPL has enjoyed a long and productive relationship stretching back 20 years.

CPL MD Matthew 'Max' Boyse states, "d&b has proved a high quality, hugely reliable and consistent solution for our audio needs for many years," adding that as well as continuing their relationship with these latest purchases, it also "steps up a level with a new 'partnership' arrangement recognising our long-term focus on the brand".

The latest deal includes substantial quantities of Y and V series speakers, which replace all CPL's older Q-series stock, and another large amount of E-series - E6s, E8s and B4-SUBS - taking the place of the E3 series and older E products. This is complete with all the requisite rigging a

UK - Performance and visual arts venue, The Lowry, in Greater Manchester's Salford Quays launched its first festival of arts, Week 53, earlier this year.

The 11-day festival, which brought together contemporary dance, visual arts, music and theatre in interactive installations, exhibitions and performances, featured more than 200 international artists, and will be held annually for the next three years with a view to extend into the future. The occasion was marked by the procurement of a new ATMe haze generator to complement The Lowry's 15-year-old MDG Atmosphere.

MDG's ATMe is an evolution of the Atmosphere which is a long-term industry standard. ATMe has an added degree of controllability which attracted the attention of The Lowry's head of technical services, Dave Woodward, and was supplied by MDG UK complete with a portability kit.

The ATMe was brought into use for

UK - This evening marks the world premiere of EXPOSURE The Musical at St James Theatre, London. The new British musical has been written by Mike Dyer and Quentin Russell and stars Michael Greco and Natalie Anderson. Alongside providing the lighting to The Stripper which is currently running in the venue's studio space, White Light has also supplied the equipment for this new production.

EXPOSURE The Musical tells the story of young photographer Jimmy Tucker who faces the biggest challenge of his life when a stranger commissions him to find and shoot the seven deadly sins within modern-day London. Yet, throughout the night, a series of encounters with girlfriends, family history and the world of celebrity reveals there is more at stake than just money.

The lighting designer on the show is Ben Cracknell. He comments, "Projection plays a huge role in E

Australia - The Adelaide Convention Centre has expanded its already impressive fleet of High End Systems consoles with the purchase of two Full Boar 4's and six Road Hog 4's, bringing their inventory to four Full Boar 4's and 10 Road Hog 4's in total.

The purchase is part of the plan for the anticipated mid-2017 opening of their new Plenary Building, a multi-purpose venue built on the site of the original 1987 Convention Centre, with a capacity of up to 3,500 seats. Local production and installation company AJS were selected to fulfil this government tender, and have developed a close working relationship with the ACC.

"This was all part of the Convention Centre's tender process for stock replenishment and the new Plenary Building," relates AJS's Luke Hattam. "We contacted Australian High End Systems distributor Lexair Entertainment for guidance. We were successful in our

Italy - Nine years after his death, Luciano Pavarotti still attracts thousands of fans and followers. The residence of the Master in Modena, Italy, was turned into a museum and inaugurated during last year's Expo in Italy. Now it has become a permanent project.

A few kilometres from the city of Modena, the ancient villa represents an important part of the tenor's life and it contains a vast collection of personal items, souvenirs and scene costumes that Pavarotti was particularly fond of. Unreleased pictures and videos are projected in the rooms where the Master spent his last years, and constitute a great opportunity to get to know more directly the artistic and human heritage of the tenor.

The quality of the audio system is a key feature of the Home Museum. Willy Gubellini, a sound professional who has worked on all editions of the famous charity project Pavarotti & Frie

USA - API has announced its new Miami-based dealer, Wynwood Audio. With a team made up of artists and musicians, and more than 20 years of experience in the music industry, Wynwood Audio is dedicated to providing insight and expertise that helps customers get the most out of their gear.

William Castro, owner and CEO of Wynwood Audio, says, "I've been using API for a long time and being able to now offer it to my clients is very exciting for me. API has been a leader in this industry for many years, and I'm looking forward to supplying their products and helping my clients have a better quality sound."

(Jim Evans)

USA - MUSIC has announced the appointment of Goldsmith Sales & Marketing as its manufacturer representative firm for the Northwest Territory states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. The firm will be promoting MUSIC's Enterprise Division brands - Midas, Klark Teknik, Lab.gruppen, Lake, Tannoy and Turbosound.

The announcement was made by Chris Wildfoerster, senior director of Touchpoint Americas for MUSIC's Enterprise Division. "Goldsmith Sales & Marketing has earned great respect from channel partners and consultants," states Wildfoerster, "MUSIC looks forward to working with Goldsmith Sales & Marketing to continue building on MUSIC's family of solutions and expanding our market presence while increasing sales through our channel partners."

Michael Smith, principal of Goldsmith Sales & Marketing commented, "Goldsmith Sales is proud to be representing one of the most

USA - Midas flagship console, the PRO X, was put to use as America's largest pops orchestra, The Philly POPS, opened festivities for Wawa Welcome America, Philadelphia's citywide Fourth of July celebrations. The 65-piece Philly POPS is the largest pops orchestra in the United States which boasts a repertoire of songs from colonial times up through today's chart toppers.

Against the dramatic backdrop of Independence Hall, the POPS performed a lively score of well-known tunes to the town's crowd, which gathered for one of the main highlights of the week-long patriotic festival.

Andre Houser, chief engineer of Houser Audio, has overseen the sound design and served as FOH engineer for The Philly POPS over the last eight years as the orchestra has grown to serve an audience of over 100,000 per year.

"The Midas PRO X is the perfect solution for the Philly POPS," says Houser.

France - On 14 July, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, more than 400,000 spectators celebrated Bastille Day, the National Holiday in France, marking the beginning of the modern French nation. And to Lawo, it was a further chance to demonstrate the power of their latest live and broadcast technologies.

Having mixed classical music and show tunes in 2015, this year's Bastille Day celebration programme opened and closed with the same pieces - The Damnation of Faust by French composer Hector Berlioz and the French National Anthem - but was a more conventional performance for the 250 musicians of the National Orchestra of France and the Radio France Choir, featuring French composers Bizet, Ravel and Saint-Sa

China - At the domed Dai Show Theatre, built exclusively for producer Franco Dragone's newest themed spectacle, the nightly displays of jaw-dropping aquatic acrobatics are bolstered by immersive music and effects sonically choreographed through a 128-channel Meyer Sound D-Mitri digital audio platform and reproduced by an encircling array of 103 Meyer Sound loudspeakers.

The D-Mitri platform, working seamlessly with CueConsole control surfaces, provides a complete and fully integrated solution for mixing, matrixing, multitrack playback and show control. In addition, Meyer Sound's innovative Space Map software allows dynamic panning of sounds around and across the two rings of individually addressable, self-powered loudspeakers.

"Having D-Mitri integrated with Space Map definitely expanded my creative options," says Corrado Campanelli, hand-picked by Dragone to design sound

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