Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - ABTT (27 May - 5 June)

Sound

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UK - Adam Hall, the UK distributor of US made 'SKB' cases, has recently supplied top UK production duo 'Mint Royale' with an SKB Mini Gig-Rig, Rotoroller and various SKB rack accessories to join 'Mint Royale' on their current international tour.

Mint Royale's Chris Baker approached Adam Hall as an SKB user for many years and specifically wanted SKB cases to complete their live set-up because of superior build quality, weight and strength. The Mini Gig-Rig and Rotoroller is being used to house Chris's mixing console, hard disc and various outboard equipment. Mint Royale have already used their SKB kit at events including Glastonbury, T in the Park and Wakestock and are taking in other events such as Creamfields, V2003 and European Festivals such as Lowlands in Holland and Pukkelpop in Belgium.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Yamaha has increased its PA speaker line-up with the introduction of six models in the completely new Yamaha E (European) series. Built specifically for the demanding European market, the new E series speakers will be positioned to replace the familiar SE series of American speakers. With their proven rugged carpet finish, high quality Yamaha build standards, steel carry handles and lightweight design, the SE series have become a popular model for the price conscious market. The new E series builds on this success, but now offer Speakon connections and a greater frequency response within the top end.

Peter Peck, marketing manager for music production at Yamaha-Kemble, said: "Ideally matched with our new Yamaha P series power amps or EMX powered mixers, the E series is ideal for applications where high quality sound, yet competitive pricing, are required. The Yamaha Pro

Doughty - Banner - ABTT (27 May - 5 June)

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UK - The Bloody Sunday Inquiry into the events which resulted in the loss of 13 civilian lives in Derry on the 30 January 1972, has been one of the most heated and emotive public inquiries of all time. The inquiry, which commenced in Derry in July 1998 and incorporated state-of-the-art virtual reality technology, which won the ICL (Fujitsu Services) Society for Computers and Law IT award in 2001, moved to London in July 2002.

Strabane-based audio consultant, Michael Kielty of MK Audio, who supplied AKG microphones for this inquiry, explained that the most awkward audio problem faced by the inquiry was that some witnesses - as in many courtroom scenarios - were showing a tendency to mutter their answers and statements, in such a way that they were virtually inaudible over the sound reinforcement system. This therefore called for microphones, which were sensitive and clear enough

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UK - Advanced systems solutions provider, beyerdynamic GB, is set to present its diverse, yet complementary range of manufactured and distributed products at PLASA. The focus will be towards showcasing integrated application-led solutions for the installation and contracting markets.

In addition to its extensive range of headphones and microphones, beyerdynamic will present a new range of Opus wireless radio microphones - the 300, 500MKII and 800 systems. The new Opus range benefits from an advanced Auto Scan/ACT function, exceptionally wide frequency response and up to 16 channels, which can be operated simultaneously.

As a new addition to beyerdynamic's distribution range, Bittner amplifiers will be showcased from Slovakian manufacturer, Bittner Audio. An expansive range of high specification amplification products which complement beyerdynamic's range of speakers and DSP ba

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UK - Allen & Heath mixers were used during the fourth annual Wakestock festival, which took place last month in North Wales. With an increased capacity of 10,000 visitors and three arenas of top DJs and bands, Wakestock has become Europe's largest wakeboard music event.

VME Ltd supplied all the technical requirements, including Kling & Freitag speakers, lab.gruppen amplifiers, Martin Professional lighting and a cross-section of Allen & Heath's top-end consoles and DJ mixers. The event hosted live band acts such as Wheatus, Inme, Athlete and Mint Royale, and DJs including Norman Jay, John 00 Fleming, Judge Jules and Eddie Halliwell.

Allen & Heath's ML5000 and ML4000 live sound VCA consoles were used for FOH and monitors, while the Xone:62 and Xone:V6 club mixers were supplied for DJ events over the weekend.

(Ruth Rossington)

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UK - The Renkus-Heinz PNX102 line array system, launched at Frankfurt ProLight+Sound 2003, made its European debut this month with shows in Hertfordshire and London. The first UK show was a classical concert in aid of charity at Great Nast Hyde House near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, mixed by renowned classical engineer Ian Barfoot.

The concert featured the 50-piece London Sinfonia orchestra and leading European soloist Tasmin Little, and was performed on a 10m by 8m Star Hire demountable stage with audio production by Pearce Hire. The audience area measured some 80m by 80m and the weather was very warm and calm, perfect for this type of show. In control were a Spirit 328 with two expansion modules, Lexicon PCM80 and Yamaha S-REV1 effects and BSS Varicurve EQ. Microphones were a mixture of AKG 451, Oktava 012 and a pair of Schoeps for Tasmin Little, along with a selection of AKG and

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UK - When David Azouri opened his first restaurant in Willesden Green specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine, Shish became an immediate and resounding success. The concept is to serve fresh, authentic Middle Eastern dishes in a modern environment, or if drinking rather than eating is the order of the day, there is also a classy cocktail bar where customers can choose from a vast array of original cocktails, accompanied by a selection of mezze dishes. The concept has proved so successful that Azouri has recently opened a second unit in the increasingly trendy area of Hoxton in London, and turned to installation specialist Sound Division to specify and supply the audio system.

Sound Division's audio design team, David Graham and Elliot Patterson, opted for a Crown-powered JBL system based primarily on JBL Control 25AV loudspeakers. "As is the case with so many of our restaura

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UK - Theatre sound specialist Orbital has further underlined its commitment to digital solutions, deploying one of its DiGiCo D5 mixing consoles on the UK tour of Richard Temple's rock and roll musical - Summer Holiday. Directed by Michael Gyngell, with choreography by Tony Award-winning Gillian Gregory, this much-loved British classic is destined for the West End following its Spring/Summer UK tour.

The system, designed by Orbital's Simon Whitehorn specifically to cater for the fast turnaround of provincial touring productions, centred on DiGiCo's mixing console at FOH position. Operated by Gareth Owen, the desk proved to be a highly flexible and robust design tool. Gareth explained: "Digico have really pushed boundaries with the D5 - it's been a pleasure to work with, courtesy of Orbital. There were some challenging moments, but overall the desk provides an extreme

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Japan - Japanese sound company Tokyo Onkyo Tsushin Kenkyusho Ltd (a.k.a. Onken) has taken delivery of a large number of power amplifiers from Lab.gruppen - no less than 132 units of Lab.gruppen's flagship model fP 6400. Each fP 6400 can supply up to 6,400W at a weight of only 10kg (22lbs) per unit, the complete package could produce a total output power of close to 850,000W!

Onken, one of the leading sound providers in Japan, will divide the order between its warehouses in Tokyo and Osaka. The Lab.gruppen fP 6400s will be driving the McCauley Monarc MLA5 line array system that was purchased at the same time. The equipment will be used in varying set-ups, mainly on tours and at large-scale events.

Kiyoshi Yamaki, sales manager of Lab.gruppen's local distributor MTC Japan, said that Onken had always been impressed with the sonic performance of Lab.gruppen amplifiers, adding that

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Germany - London-based Park Avenue Productions collaborated with German sister company Citigate SEA to produce a spectacular live show for the launch of the newly-formed HSH-Nordbank in Hamburg. The event, staged at the city's Colour Line Arena, celebrated the merger of two of North Germany's main financial institutions - Hamburgische Landesbank and LB Kiel.

Whilst the event's logistics were handled by Citigate, it fell to Park Avenue to co-ordinate all the technical and creative aspects of the show, one of the highlights of which, was a dramatic 20-minute aerial display of colour and movement artistically directed by lighting designer Simon Tapping and choreographed by Micha Bergese- well known for his work on the Millennium Dome's Central show.

Park Avenue realized an ambitious immersive environment, which included the tasteful branding of all Colour Line's foyer, public an

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USA - Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, on tour since August 2002, make their final stop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 27 September. Audio Analysts, global tour sound suppliers for the Springsteen tour, recently expanded their JBL VerTec sound system for the stadium leg of the tour, making it the largest VerTec system assembled to date. "We wanted to have plenty of dynamic range, with seamless coverage everywhere," explained Albert Leccese, VP of engineering/touring for Audio Analysts. "We've been extremely happy with the performance of JBL's VerTec ystem."

The stadium-venue system consists of 120 VT4889 speakers and 56 VT4880 subwoofers configured in alternating rows. All are arrayed from the main stage position. No signal-delay towers have typically been required, as Audio Analysts' VerTec sound system design for the Springsteen world tour relies on lin

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UK - Brighton's Komedia has become one of the most popular venues in the UK for the promotion of new talent in theatre, comedy, cabaret and music. It's also become a leading light on Edinburgh Festival's Fringe in recent years. Its theatre and smaller cabaret space pack in over 500 shows a year, a figure that's set to rise sharply with the completion this summer of a comprehensive re-fit.

The theatre's home for the past five years has been a none-too-elegant former Tesco supermarket building in Gardner Street, in the vibrantly bohemian North Laine district at the heart of Brighton. Inside is a different story, with the upper floor a traditional end-on 200-seat theatre complete with a small bar, and the downstairs room a smaller cabaret, music and comedy space.

Director Tim Hawkins explains: "The theatre's only used around three or four days a week, but that's still quite

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UK - Skan PA Hire's attention to detail is immediately apparent on a visit to the FOH tower at Glastonbury, where the Reading-based company has provided PA and manpower for the second stage since 1991. Behind the two Midas Heritage consoles and equipment racks lurks a domestic scene equipped with sofa, coffee table stacked with audio magazines and a fully functioning kitchen built into 19" racks.

"We work with more than 60 sound engineers over the three days of the festival, and we only have a small window to make a good impression," says Skan director Chris Fitch. "Little details can make a big difference." Obviously this principle extends beyond domestic appliances to high standards of equipment, staff training and safety.

When Fitch and co-director Abby Llewellyn bought Skan from founder Peter Howard in 1996 (Fitch had worked for the company since

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France - With the 'Midnight Sun' summer festival tour dates now confirmed, Jamiroquai got into the swing early by playing an unpublicized free concert to race-goers at the legendary Le Mans 24-hour race, on the evening of Saturday 14 June. An audience of 40,000 revelled as Jay Kay and the band gave an unbroken 135 minutes of seriously good entertainment.

The performance was the highlight of an Audi UK-sponsored mini-festival (which lasted considerably longer than their racing car!) with further performances being provided by French and Italian bands throughout the weekend. The event was managed by Indeprod, a live event, video and new media solutions provider, commissioned by Audi UK. The company was assisted by Le Mans-based companies Bebop and Acropolis.

Indeprod's Nigel Dean became France-based, taking on the onerous task of converting a tree-strewn, rubble-covered field in

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UK / US - Sennheiser UK has announced a major distribution deal with US manufacturer, Rane Corporation. The Washington State-based company is a renowned innovator of affordable, problem solving, professional audio tools for the live touring, installation and DJ markets - an extensive range of which will be exhibited on Sennheiser's stand at PLASA 2003 (7-10 September), Earls Court, London.

Both companies view the agreement as a significant strategic move that will capitalize on complementary product lines. Sennheiser UK director of marketing, John Steven, comments: "Rane has an ideal product portfolio to fit with Sennheiser UK's existing brands, providing Sennheiser with an opportunity to offer extended systems integration solutions across a range of its customer markets.

"The RPM family of digital signal processors (DSP), coupled with Drag Net software, is a powerfu

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UK - We're seated in a large sitting room with an impressive mantled fireplace at its centre. Built of massive stone blocks, the room contains small, familiar details. Framed paintings on the walls appear to be in motion; the gargoyles are both terrifying and friendly. Yes, it's the spooky, cosy world of Hogwarts and the 5,000 lucky children surrounding it are in a state of high excitement for the latest Harry Potter story, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, including an appearance by author JK Rowling.

Lighting & Video

Sponsored by Bloomsbury Publishing, and taking place at London's Royal Albert Hall, the event is driven by Clear Channel, as LD Mark Cunniffe explained. "Graham Pullen as executive producer and Katherine Allen from Initial were pivotal to making it work, while Phil Christianson in the production manager's seat did a fantastic job. There were

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UK - The Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland, might be considered one of the least likely locations for a high-profile dance club and live music venue - but that is precisely what Neil Stevenson, who runs Groove Records and promotes bands on the island, has established in the capital of Kirkwall.

'Fusion', as he has called it, is literally that. And to serve bands' and DJs' technological interests, Stevenson has enlisted top-quality project management and leading pro audio brands. This, he believes, will give bands the comfort factor should they wish to play a secret gig prior to embarking on a major tour, and obviate the need to carry their own production, other than backline.

He thus turned to LMC Audio's Birmingham branch, whereupon the experienced Mark Bromfield set about putting together a sound and vision spec, based around Martin Audio Blackline loudspeakers and B

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UK - Following a short spell away from the industry, Adrian Mulcahy has joined the sales team at Leisuretec Distribution Ltd. Mulcahy was formerly employed at Marshall Amplification in the role of Artist Liaison, where he was responsible for product endorsements. Prior to this he was worked for MI retailers Music Village, where he gained experience of the extremely competitive retail market.

Nick Spalding MD of Leisuretec Distribution commented on the appointment: "I am delighted that Adrian has joined our sales team as I believe he is very customer-focused, an element that is crucial in our aim to provide high levels of customer service through our 'Pure Distribution' policy'."

Leisuretec Distribution currently offers in excess of 5,000 products from more than 75 manufacturers to trade customers only.

(Ruth Rossington)

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UK - PLASA Media has learned of the death of Arthur Lampkin, the founder of Wembley Loudspeaker. Paul MacCallum, who took the company over from Lampkin and is its current managing director, has provided us with the following obituary:

Arthur was from a large family of 10, and in his earlier years, life was a huge struggle for all of them. However, he managed a good Grammar School education and became interested with (then still relatively new) radio/wireless. During World War II, he was one of a secret team making concealed radios/transmitters for use by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the airforce.

Following the war, he was asked to set up a new loudspeaker factory in Wales (Truvoice - part of Phillips) and instigated the first flow-line assembly, along with various test procedures. In 1957 he moved back to London area and was the service manager for Goodmans L

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UK - Vestax Europe has announced that it will be pulling together an all-star line up for DJ Sunday at PLASA 2003. The world famous Carl Cox will be launching his mixer, the PMC-CX, whilst Karl 'Tuff Enuff' Brown and Lisa Unique will launch the all-new PMC-500 club mixer, an industry standard of the future.

Meanwhile Andy Smith of Portishead and Dynamo Productions, will be performing his Document 2 album on the new Vestax scratch mixer and visitors will also be able to see DJ Pogo and Dj Biznizz (En4cers) perform on the Faderboard. Plus, the Vestax World Champion DJ Woody will be throwing open a challenge to all comers to show any innovative tricks on the PDX turntable with the opportunity to win a whole bunch of Vestax goodies. The company is also throwing a party on Sunday 7th with DJ Andy Smith and some very special guests lined up.

Vestax can be found on Stand H80.

(Ruth

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UK - The Soundtracs DS-00 digital production console, launched at the NAB Convention in Las Vegas in April, has notched up its first 10 sales since it began shipping last month. The DS-00 breaks new ground in combining a wealth of high-end post-production and broadcast facilities in a compact, modular console at an unprecedented price point.

Among the first 10 customers is renowned songwriter/producer Peter Vettese, whose recent musical collaborations have included Mark Owen, Beverley Knight, Mel C and Annie Lenox's 'Bare' album. Peter is upgrading his Andy Munro-designed production room - Production Suite 2 - at Sphere Studios, south London, having used a Soundtracs Virtua console for several years.

Peter comments: "A lot of production rooms in London are focused around ProTools, which I use at Sphere, but I find that having an external mixing desk with plenty of headroo

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The Netherlands - Rising Dutch singer/songwriter Tasha's World opted to use Trantec's award-winning S5000 wireless radio microphone system from the start of her professional tour 18 months ago. Her unique vocals have caused a stir in Europe, Japan and in the UK with her being awarded an Essent Award in June 2003. Numerous radio and television appearances, coupled with performances at major International Festivals, including The Lowlands Festival and Noorderslag Festival and more recently at the world famous North Sea Jazz in The Hague, have further propelled Tasha's World into a league of her own as one of Europe's most talented 'Hip Soul' artists.

Tasha's World performs live with a complement of eight musicians and two backing vocals. As a veritable 'jazz soul' set-up, Trantec's S5000 MC hand-held condenser microphone operates to maximum effect, providing an ideal complement fo

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USA - UK console manufacturer Cadac is showing its S-Type compact live production console and the R-Type touring live production console on booth 743 at the 115th AES Convention, taking place in New York from 10-13 October 2003. Also on show will be the latest digital developments from the company's R&D team, with the production version of the D20 digital input mix matrix. Cadac will also be demonstrating its new M20 remote-controlled microphone amplifier, designed to operate with the D20 or as a stand-alone unit with the RM20 self-contained remote controller.

Cadac's S-Type console is building a strong international profile, with Cadac reporting orders across a wide range of applications - demonstrating the console's intrinsic flexibility. In the US, Masque Sound has recently deployed both S-Type and R-Type consoles for a variety of musical show and touring projects. The consol

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UK - This year's PLASA exhibition will see the launch of several new products from Mackie Designs Inc brands EAW and SIA. PLASA will be the official UK launch of the new EAW KF730 SLAM (Small Array Module) and the European introduction of EAW's innovative new DSA (Digital Steerable Array) Series.

The KF730 SLAM packs a six-driver, horn-loaded KF Series design into an amazingly compact enclosure, setting a new standard for output per cubic metre. The full-sized mid/high horn fills the entire face of the enclosure, ensuring broadband 110° horizontal pattern control. The unique Phase Aligned LF design extends horizontal pattern control into the LF and a bi-amplified powering configuration (passive mid/high) reduces total system cost and complexity.

Users can quickly and easily construct vertical arrays ranging from 4-18 KF730 enclosures. As with the larger KF760 Series, the size

  1. Retractable Apogee line array at Atlanta's Schwartz Center
  2. Electro-Voice at Olympic Equestrian Center
  3. MC2 Audio to launch new amps at PLASA
  4. Bosch opens new integrated demonstration centre
  5. Charles De Gaulle chooses RCF for Terminal 2
  6. Leisuretec Distribution makes 100,000th sale
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