Taiwan - The central library of Fo Guang University has completed a complex project of Mipro's wireless in-ear monitoring systems. The MI-808 system is a professional UHF-band stereo receiver and transmitter. The system is frequency-agile over a 24 MHz bandwidth with 16 selectable pre-programmed non-interference frequencies. 100 MI-808R receivers, eight MI-808T transmitters, four customised AD-808 Antenna Divider Combiners and 100-set of E8S earphones were installed.

Fo Guang University is a unique institution of higher learning dedicated to providing a traditional liberal arts education of global outlook in the grand Buddhist spirit (students are neither required nor expected to study Buddhism or practice it's tenants). The university belongs to Fo Guang Shan, built in 1967, it is the largest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan today with over 1,000 monastics. Presently Fo Guang Shan

UK - Primal Scream's three-month UK tour mounted an aural assault on fans across the nation. Headed by former Jesus & Mary Chain drummer Bobby Gillespie, this is a band that truly rocks, needs an audio system that truly delivers and front of house engineer Tim Sunderland's choice of Britannia Row's Turbosound Aspect system certainly hasn't disappointed.

Sunderland wanted to use a point source system because of the nature of venues the tour visited, which ranged from the 10,000 capacity SECC in Glasgow through to the 1,800 capacity Bristol Academy. "A line array system's dispersion just wouldn't work for these venues," says Sunderland. "In some of them you're right on top of the band and the stage, so a line array would have been too much of a compromise."

This is Aspect's first extended foray into "really loud rock band territory" as Sunderland pu

UK - Live music venues in the West Midlands are being offered funding to help improve their acoustics in response to a recent report carried out by Digital Central. The report, which looked into audiences' views on the quality of live music venues in the West Midlands found that a high percentage of people (82.3%) felt that the venue having a good PA system is the most important aspect to a great music venue. The report summary also indicates that 78% of audiences questioned felt that layout of the venue was important and considered good acoustics/sound, cost of drinks, quality of atmosphere and view of the stage as the most significant aspects to a great live music venue.

The survey gained responses from audience members with a wide range of music tastes and live music experiences, one of the respondents felt that the most important factor in a great music venue was: "Good

USA - Crown International has ensured its on-going reputation for high quality products by establishing a Strategic Quality Team and upgrading its factory in Elkhart, Indiana, to incorporate a Reliability Test Lab equipped with the industry's most sophisticated and rigorous testing equipment.

Crown has always operated its own test equipment but in recent years its own testing criteria has become more stringent, which meant that some items had to be sent to outside laboratories for evaluation. By establishing its own comprehensive lab in-house, the company can now accelerate testing during the early phases of product development and conduct quality audits on lines already in production.

Heading up the Strategic Quality Team is Crown senior director of engineering Bob Chadderdon, who says: "This initiative has replaced older equipment and supplemented our existing tools wit

USA - Effective immediately, Ableton Inc. will assume distribution of Ableton products to the US dealerchannel. Sales will be made via Ableton Inc., located in New York. To support the US sales and marketing effort, Ableton has established a new office in New York City managed by Dave Hill Jr.

"This is an important stage in Ableton's growth," said Hill. "We look forward to working closely with dealers on how to best sell Live in their markets. For the last few years, I've worked closely with M-Audio in the US market and feel honoured to take this next evolutionary step for Ableton."

"Since 2001, when we began selling Live, we have experienced tremendous growth in the US dealer channel. We are confident that our increased investments in the US market, combined with a dedicated end-user focus, will result in even more growth for our sales partners and ou

UK - UK cable specialist VDC Trading is supporting anew live audio training initiative being established by Wigwam Acoustics inconjunction with the School of Sound Recording in Manchester.

The Charlie Jones Scholarship Scheme, which was launched at the end of 2006, isin memory of Wigwam engineer Charlie Jones who died earlier this year. Charlieplayed an important part in the growth and development of Wigwam over the pasttwenty years and was widely regarded as one of the industry's best live soundengineers, as well as a teacher and mentor to many young, up-and-comingengineers. Charlie not only recognised the importance of education in theindustry, but also enjoyed investing his own time to inspire and develop traineeengineers.

The Charlie Jones Scholarship is linked to SSR's Audio Engineering Course and isintended for young people who would otherwise not be able to afford this

USA - Meyer Sound has announced the MJF-212, a self-powered stage monitor loudspeaker designed to meet critical requirements in professional applications, such as use as a main vocal monitor, high-output drum or keyboard monitor, or as a side-fill monitor in small- to medium-scale systems. Exhibiting flat amplitude and phase responses, full-range bandwidth and exceptional impulse response, the MJF-212 far exceeds the capabilities of conventional stage monitors while offering the simplicity of setup and use provided by self-powered systems.

"We named the MJF-212 in recognition of the role our 20-year relationship with the Montreux Jazz Festival has played in our product development history," says executive vice president Helen Meyer. "The festival has often been the site for the first serious field testing of our new products. At this year's festival, the newcomer

Qatar - Bruce Jackson, audio director for the 15th Asian Gamesheld in Doha, Qatar in December, utilised 10 Dolby Lake Processor, sevenLake Contour and seven Lake Mesa Quad EQ units in the sound system employedduring the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies. The digitalloudspeaker processors, supplied by Australian sound contractor NorwestProductions Pty Ltd. were networked using Ethernet and were used tooptimise large ground-stacked L-Acoustics and flown Adamson delayloudspeaker systems at the recently renovated Khalifa International Stadiumduring Doha 2006.

"The comprehensive remote control over Ethernet of the Dolby Lake Processormakes it invaluable," says Jackson, who utilised similar widely distributedsound systems for the opening and closing ceremonies at the most recentCommonwealth and Olympic Games. "What's nice is that you can prioritise theinputs. T

UK - If you use or work for a small business which you think is worthy of an award, then the organisers of the British Small Business Champions (BSBC) 2007 would like to hear from you. And, if the business you nominate is selected as a regional champion you will receive a bottle of champagne.

To let BSBC know about the business you think is great all you have to do is e-mail: bsbc@fsb.org.uk or write to BSBC 2007 PO Box 335, Lymington SO41 6WJ giving the name of the business, its address, a line or two about why you think it is outstanding, and your name and address. An entry form for British Small Businesses 2007 will then be sent to the business.

The business you nominate must not employ more than 50 people and have been trading for five years or more. Closing date for entries is 31 January 2007.

The annual British Small Busin

UK - A.C. Lighting's Audio division have appointed Andy Orme as audio sales executive, working out of the company's UK headquarters in High Wycombe.

Orme brings over 25 years of audio installation, technical support, sales and project management experience to his new role, which involves providing office and field support for A.C.'s growing range of leading pro audio brands for customers throughout the UK.

Orme joins A.C. from Martin Professional, where he fulfilled a technical sales and support role for the Mach speaker brand in the UK. He's also worked in a variety of audio roles in past years with Kelsey Acoustics, Glantre Engineering, Maverick Presentation Products, Lancelyn Theatre Supplies, The Oxford Sound Company and Elliott Brothers Audio Systems, and undertaken freelance work on projects in many industry sectors.

Projects worked on include leading UK music festival

UK - Ex-public relations professionals Duncan Stirling and Charlie Gilkes have teamed up with designer Ed Godrich to open the exclusive Kitts nightclub in Chelsea's Sloane Square - complete with a sound system largely supplied by Fuzion plc.

Since the bijou, 160-capacity club is situated in the basement of the new Sloane Square Hotel; the operating team knew they had to make every square metre count.

While Goodrich and his team of collectives have provided design inspiration around the perimeter wall, with a million hand-drilled holes, LED backlit to create a kind of pointillist fresco, complemented by silver leaf flecked flooring, a curved bronze bar and discreet booths, Duncan Stirling has come up his own piece of sonic magic.

His father Andrew Stirling is a highly-experienced pro audio design consultant, with a rich pedigree in the studio world. While Stirling Senior does

Belgium - AED Rent Belgium, one of Europe's largest dry-hire rental support companies with headquarters in Willebroek, Belgium and subsidiaries in the Netherlands, France and Germany, has just taken delivery of six Innovason digital consoles packages from Innovason's Belgian distributor, A. Prévost.

AED Rent opted for a total of four Innovason Sy48 Evolution stand-alone packages and a custom configuration of two Sy80 consoles complete with Stage-Box and DioCore that will form one of AED Rent's signature P.A. Kits, capable of handling FOH and monitors for large scale events.

According to AED Rent CEO's Glenn Roggeman and Eddy Van Nuffel, the acquisition makes perfect sense under today's market conditions. "There is no doubt that the digital era has arrived," remarked Roggeman, "and as a service company, we have to ensure that we cater for the demand. Innov

Spain / Italy - Spanish loudspeaker designer and manufacturer Vieta has announced the appointment of Sisme S.P.A to represent Vieta's products in Italy.

Sisme is one of Italy's most distinguished pro audio companies, representing Shure, L-Acoustics and Celestion amongst other internationally recognised brands. Well-known as a distributor of sound reinforcement systems and pro audio products, Sisme has gained an excellent reputation as a partner for equipment dealers, installers and rental companies, say Vieta. The company was formed in 1967, and is located in Ancona, near Bologna.

President of Sisme Claudio Bugari welcomed the appointment, saying: "Vieta's Do Line speakers complement perfectly our existing range of high-quality installation lines, and the new, wireless So Line speakers are a perfect solution for the intelligibility problems associated with corporate prese

Norway - Soundcraft's Vi6 digital audio console has found acceptance at the very heart of European dramatic theatre, installed at the distinguished Nationaltheatret in Oslo, popularly thought of as the spiritual home of Norway's most famous playwright Henrik Ibsen.

Soundcraft's Norwegian distributors LydRommet AS secured the prestigious order through quick reactions: when the theatre's existing digital console failed, spectacularly taking out all the HF drivers on the house PA system, LydRommet's Espen Andersen was able to supply the 32-fader Soundcraft Vi6 within days, according to sound engineer Roy Knudsen.

"LydRommet brought in their demo console on Friday, we had preparation time on Monday, we soundchecked on Tuesday. We exchanged the demo desk for our permanent new Vi6 on Wednesday and started rehearsals that very day."

The six-man sound team at the Nationalt

Belgium - Located in Zwalm, a municipality in Belgium's Flemish province of East Flanders, Calypso Event Production provides sound for a variety of applications, including corporate functions, shows in theatres, and outdoor events. Calypso CEO Serge Cosijns was looking to grow his company and set out in search of a line array system that would meet his needs. His search ended at Meyer Sound, where he placed an order for a complement of self-powered M'elodie ultracompact high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers.

"I was present the first day M'elodie was shown at the Frankfurt Pro Light+Sound Exposition," Cosijns says. "I was immediately impressed by the product and the Meyer Sound philosophy. Later, when I attended the first European demo of M'elodie together with the people of Meyer Sound Belux, I became convinced about the system and decided that my business exp

Italy - In just over two years, Fiera Milano has built an avant-garde exhibition complex that combines record-breaking dimensions and exceptionally flexible use with the highest technological equipment standards. With its 345,000 gross square metres of undercover exhibition area (plus 60,000sq.m outdoors), eight huge halls almost totally free of columns, 74 conference rooms, 84 refreshment spots, and parking for 10,000 vehicles plus another 10,000 planned, the new Fiera Milano is the largest complex in Europe and sets a new world standard for the exhibition sector.

A nucleus of nine conference rooms make up the Stella Polare Conference Center, together with the newly-opened Auditorium, designed by the architect Speroni. This lavish shell-shaped space includes high quality audio management, from local control of all audio variables by a 40-channel Soundcraft MH3 audio console to

Europe - For the promotion of their latest album Feelin' Good, jazz artists Joe Sample (piano) and Randy Crawford (vocals) have been touring through Europe, accompanied by Sample's son Nick on (contra-) bass and Johnny Vidacovich on drums.The band was reinforced by Alcons pro-ribbon line-arrays.

This tour, Paul Mitchell was both sound supervisor and tour manager. Mitchell has worked with several of the great names in contemporary jazz and fusion; He was engineer on David Sanborn's Inside and Marcus Miller's M2, both Grammy award winning albums, but also engineer (& co-producer) of The Rembrandt's hit single I'll Be There For You from the TV show Friends.

Mitchell says: "I always loved the smooth top-end of a specific brand that I've been working with for many years and never thought of the possibility that it could be beaten. I started m

Finland - Two nights at Helsinki's largest venue, the Hartwall Arena, not bad for aboy from the wrong side of Queens. But then 50 Cent has become quite theinternational phenomenon in recent years, even in the frozen north ofEurope. Helsinki might be the capital of Finland, and Finland might beEurope's heavy metal HQ, but that didn't stop seventeen thousand excitedFinnish rap and hip-hop fans wanting to 'get tickets or die tryin'.

The Hartwall concerts were a one-off event, 50 Cent was not on tour, and assuch his Production called upon Akun Tehdas, Finland's leading equipment rental provider, to supply all of50 Cent's sound requirements. "This was a typical large scale event for us,"said Timo Liski of Akun Tehdas, "that meant 100% attention to detail."

Thecompany had just taken delivery of their brand new J-Series line arraysystem from d&b audiotechnik in Ge

UK - Audio-visual sales and service company, Green-i, has marked its fifth anniversary by acquiring the interests of corporate event service company, Canegreen Commercial. The deal was confirmed on December 1, 2006, and becomes effective from January 1, 2007.

Both companies were set up as associate business units to the successful rental production company Canegreen Ltd, established by Yan Stile and Pete Edmonds back in 1982. In 1996 Andrew Frengley spearheaded Canegreen's expansion when the new Canegreen Commercial made an instant impact in the corporate event market. In 2001 Green-i, under Ian 'Woody' Woodall further underpinned the expansion with a vibrant installation division in the industry's growing leisure hospitality sector. Concurrently Richard Brooker Sound Design added a third string to Canegreen's bow.

The new Green-i executive brings the two successful former ind

UK - Britannia Row, Blackout, Creative Technology, PRG Europe and Avolites held their joint Christmas ball, for the second year, at the newly refurbished Victoria House in Bloomsbury Square on Tuesday, 12 December, 2006.

Delighted by the success of the black-tie and flamboyant themed evening, Bryan Grant, managing director at Britannia Row says: "Around 1,200 friends and clients attended the ball during the course of the evening. This was twice the number of guests who were present last year and everyone was expecting it to be at least as successful. Big stress, but our merry band of rascals pulled it off - it was twice as good!"

Jim Baggott used his creative and directorial talents to design the party. Lost Vagueness provided the live entertainment which included Santa's Grotty, The Laundrettas, Dynamo Rhythm Aces, The Fat 45s, Gurlesque and Anna Piana.

Special th

Europe - From September to December, George Michael toured arena venues throughout Europe. Celebrating the two and a half decades of his career in music, the 25 Live tour finished off in style, playing nine huge London gigs - four at Earls Court and five at Wembley Arena.

Throughout the tour, three DiGiCo consoles have been the beating heart of the audio system - a D5 Live on Front of House, another for George Michael's monitors and a D5T for band monitors.

Andy 'Baggy' Robinson has worked with George Michael for the past three years. He is the tour's head of sound and Michael's monitor engineer. He says: "Early on it was obvious this show was going to need a digital desk solution. With 15 in the band, including six backing vocals, plus the lead vocal who has very exacting monitoring requirements and needs large amounts of time devoting to him, it swiftly became ap

USA - When it comes to spectacular shows, few can top these annual holiday season tours of the Eastern and Western USA. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) just keeps getting bigger every year, along with their db/EV rigs. Starting in early November and running through the end of December, the show has grown into a phenomenon that becomes more elaborate every season. For the 2006 concerts, each tour hit the road with a powerhouse 64-box EV X-Array system. Blending a contemporary Christmas narrative with metal-tinged takes on festive classics, these events pack stadiums night after night.

Since visionary composer Paul O'Neill formed the TSO back in 1996, db Sound has brought their sound to legions of fans with EV's X-Array loudspeaker systems, providing a balance of rugged reliability and warm, musical reproduction that have made the db crew and their EV systems a fixture on the t

UK - Following the successful launch of the MICROseries system of electronics and loudspeakers for background music and pro AV applications, the company has introduced a range of aesthetically complementary accessories for greater ease and flexibility of installation.

The first of these is the MFS, a floor stand for the MICROpoint and MICROline loudspeakers. The elegant stand is one metre tall and is designed for meeting rooms with glass or other forms of partition wall where fixed loudspeaker mounting is not possible or desirable. It is also suitable for semi-permanent installations requiring the loudspeaker positions to be movable. Using heavy steel construction for maximum rigidity and audio performance, the stand merges with the style of the loudspeakers and allows for vertical or horizontal loudspeaker mounting with full use of the pivot functions of the loudspeaker's built

USA - Two brand-new rooms were recently commissioned at theCleveland Institute of Music: a recital hall and a state-of-the-art audiocontrol room. Theroom was designed by Dr. Peter D'Antonio, adjunct professor of acoustics atthe Institute, while the installed system was developed by Bruce Egre, headof the conservatory's audio recording degree program with an ATC (AcousticTransducer Company) 5.1 surround system as the cornerstone of the new soundsystem..

The two new rooms were added on to one of the existing buildings at the CIM,with the recital hall on the front and the control room on the back. "Thenew control room was designed and built from the ground up to beacoustically precise," says Egre. "We didn't have to try and fit a squarepeg into a round hole, so we were able to avoid some of the more commonpitfalls of re-fitting an existing space. The institute was ve

Latest Issue. . .