USA - Audio-Technica officially kicked off its 50th Anniversary Year in the US with a special gala event held 19 January 2012, during the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The event featured an all-star music revue produced by Phil Ramone.

Among the featured all-star cast of performers were saxophonist and longtime Audio-Technica endorser Mindi Abair, R&B/jazz vocalist Patti Austin, new age/adult-contemporary superstar and Audio-Technica endorser Jim Brickman, smooth jazz saxophonist Dave Koz, vocalist Monica Mancini, trumpeter/pianist/composer Arturo Sandoval, gospel/R&B music legend BeBe Winans and Canadian jazz-pop vocalist Nikki Yanofsky.

In commemoration of the event, all eight performers have decided to donate their performance honoraria to different music education programmes and institutions, helping promote the importance of music education and assisting studen

South Africa - MJ Event Gear provided the full technical including stage, sets, video, lighting and sound for a Transnet breakfast event held on 10 April 2012 at the Hilton Ballroom in Sandton. Transnet Group CEO, Brian Molefe, provided detail on a R300bn, seven-year investment programme aimed at transforming the country's ports and railways, and changing the state-owned ports and rail company's financial performance.

Much pre-planning and production management by MJ's Otto De Kock saw the team loading in Sunday morning, rehearsals on Monday and everyone set to go on Tuesday at 7am.

"The client, Overend Outsource, wanted a clean, corporate look, " commented Johnny Scholtz, lighting designer, from MJ Event Gear.

The Robins and MMXs were mostly used to create a warm mood incorporating the Transnet colours. "I used the MMX to light the podium and used some animat

South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa, has recently reinvested in more L-Acoustics components to complete its existing inventory of Kudo, V-Dosc, dV-Dosc and Arcs. The new equipment comprises of 48 Kara, 12 ArcsII and 12 Kudo WST line source cabinets, eight SB28 and 24 SB18 woofers and 22 LA-RAK touring racks installed with LA8 amplified controllers.

South Africa is increasingly becoming a regular fixture on the international touring circuit. Combined with an increase in the domestic market, Gearhouse felt the extra investment in L-Acoustics was necessary to service the largest of these events. The company also wanted to update its amplifier platform with the LA-RAK and LA8 platform.

Gearhouse feels the new ArcsII is a perfect extension for the L-Acoustics range it already owns. "The small footprint and options in stacking and flying make it an extremely versatile product

UK - Two leading names in professional audio, QSC and Denon, have got together with UK distributor Batmink to showcase their latest products. This trade only event will take place on Wednesday 9 May, from 4 - 8pm at Komedia in Bath city centre.

Hosted by Batmink Distribution, demonstrations of the QSC K, KW and KLA Series loudspeakers, including a live band performance through the systems, will be followed by an A list DJ putting the new Denon DN-SC3900 through its paces.

Batmink sales director, Grant Thomas comments, "We are fortunate to have live demo rooms at our offices and were all so impressed with both the House of K series and the new DN-SC3900 that we had to find a way to get these in front of our customers. Due to sound restrictions, manufacturers are unable to really showcase their audio products at trade shows and so this is a superb opportunity to put these p

Germany - AFMG, German-based pro-audio software developers, release the new version of their widely recognised real-time audio analysis software SysTune on 1 May. Once again, this update will be free for the large community of existing users. Beyond that, AFMG has changed prices and licensing to make SysTune even more affordable to a larger group of users. To celebrate the release, AFMG has launched a dedicated SysTune Facebook page with a special lottery in May and June.

A large amount of research and work has gone into one of the new plug-ins called 'Delay Analysis'. From a set of captured individual measurements, SysTune automatically calculates optimal delay times between mains and subs or between main and delay loudspeakers, giving precise information on polarity and predicted overall system performance.

"Never before has it been easier to solve the polarity question

Germany - The conversion of Britz Castle in Berlin-Neukölln into a new cultural centre, was recently completed, and includes a 300-capacity concert and theatre hall, installed with Allen & Heath's iLive digital mixing system.

The spec was for a future-proof digital system that could easily be used by sound engineers of guest productions. It also needed to be portable to service not just the hall but other areas in the venue, and flexible and simple to configure, with the option to have wireless control for smaller events.

The iLive system comprises a Dante-enabled iDR-32 MixRack with iLive-T80 Control Surface, plus a PL-10 rotary panel for remote control. iLive's competitive price, built in compressor and EQ, as well as the possibility of the live recording of events via a laptop through the Dante interface, were the main reasons it was selected.

Dirk Förster from inst

India - Any concert dedicated to multi-instrumentalist and record producer AR Rahman - described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer - requires a sound quality nearing perfection.

Meeting this audio challenge at the recent Classic Incantations concerts - presented by the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg across five Indian cities - were Sound.Com.

The Orchestra, conducted by Matt Dunkley, performed original scores and film music written by the Indian maestro - accompanied by the choir and soloists from his own KM Music Conservatory in Chennai.

Once again the sound crew relied on their Optocore network to transmit pristine signals. Sound.Com's Sunil Karanjikar and Joel Dcruz toured the country with FOH mixing engineer Holger Schwark (on a DiGiCo SD10), playing back to back shows, while Sound.Com's MD, Warren Dsouza acted as stand-in systems engineer for th

USA / UK - Ampetronic and Listen Technologies have announced a new partnership to "accelerate the growing adoption of hearing loop technology across the Americas".

Ampetronic's partnership with Listen Technologies will bring "high quality hearing loop solutions and unrivalled support across the USA for the first time". The partnership will give Listen Technologies a full portfolio of assistive listening solutions, in addition to their class leading Infra-Red and FM products.

Commenting on the partnership, Julian Pieters, Ampetronic managing director said, "We are thrilled to partner with Listen Technologies, a company that shares our strong commitment to improving the lives of hard of hearing people. Listen understands the need to deliver a complete assistive listening solution in the Americas, and are excited about the unique role that loop technology

Australia - North Shore's The Stoned Crow has been born again, taken over by the team behind Bondi Pizza.

The bar has been reincarnated with a 'back to nature' vibe following five months of preening. It's now a stylish meeting place with cosy nooks, mood lighting and faux animal hides on the floor and covering the low stools.

The Constant Group were responsible for the audio design in the venue opting for a JBL speaker package that includes the new JBL Control 62P satellite pendant speakers. The speakers are powered by two Crown XLS1000 amplifiers, two Crown CDi1000 amplifiers and a Crown 280A amplifier.

"The idea was to have a great restaurant feel with high quality sound in the background," explained Con Constantinou, managing director of The Constant Group. "However, the venue needed to easily adapt to a chic bar with a relaxed feel as the evening progresse

UK - Liverpool-based Adlib's audio division enthusiastically engaged with the Sea Odyssey Giant Spectacular event, an epic street theatre production created by French large scale puppeteers Royal De Luxe to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's maiden voyage. It was enjoyed and attended by more than 500,000 people in & around the City of Liverpool over three days last weekend.

Adlib was contracted by Liverpool City Council's events department, Liverpool Vision to provide PA systems in the three key gathering points for the colossal promenade performance, featuring the Little Girl Giant and her Giant Uncle. Adlib also installed a sound system on the 'Brocklebank' Band Boat which accompanied the waterborne part of the show.

Adlib's Phil Stoker was the project manager and co-ordinated all of the equipment and crew needed and dealt with the logistics. He coll

UK - West London based lighting and visuals rental company Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting equipment and crew for the latest Orbital UK tour - Wonky - which was designed by Jonny Gaskell from Pinnacle Productions.

Gaskell was delighted to be working with Colour Sound again, "Their kit and the attitude is great," he enthuses, "Nice people and I get premium service every time."

His design - which will also feature at festivals played by the band throughout the summer - featured an intricate video set up and so to contrast this, the lighting was relatively straightforward - bold, in-the-face and in true Orbital style.

Gaskell chose 13 GLP Impression Spot Ones as his main profile lights and 24 Impression Zooms as the wash fixtures. As a layer of specials, he added Clay Paky Sharpies, plus strobes and blinders.

The lighting rig comprised thr

China / Italy - FaitalPRO has appointed Andy Liu as its new sales development manager in China.

Liu previously handled major pro audio account sales in the territory, focusing particularly in the area of Guangdong, the core region for the Chinese pro audio Industry.

"With our China business growing nearly four-fold year on year for the past three years, the timing is perfect for Andy to take on new responsibilities and challenges," said Flavio Naggi FaitalPRO division manager. "He is already very well introduced in the industry and we're excited to have him join our worldwide sales team."

Liu, who will cooperate closely with the FaitalPRO Sales department in Milan, will beresponsible for all FaitalPRO accounts in China.

Liu's efforts will be fully supported by the entire pro audio division at Faital's Italian HQ and assisted logistically through Faital

USA - Having continued successful permanent productions in Chicago and New York, the Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet (MDQ) has hit the road with a North American tour. To accommodate venues seating from 1,400 to over 3,000, sound designer Kai Harada specified a Meyer Sound system based around MICA and M'elodie line array loudspeakers.

"My goal was to give the touring crew a system with a lot of flexibility, so they could adjust coverage angles for theatres of all shapes and sizes," explains Harada. "With the M'elodie centre cluster and MICA side arrays, they have all the power they need for bigger houses, along with reliable consistency of sound-a quality at which Meyer systems always excel."

Inspired by a 1956 recording studio jam session by Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, Million Dollar Quartet captures

USA - Meyer Sound has appointed Jason McCarrick to the position of education programme coordinator. Based at the Meyer Sound Nashville office at Soundcheck, McCarrick will assume the responsibilities for scheduling and coordinating seminar and webinar events, handling programme logistics, and assisting in creating educational content. McCarrick replaces Mac Johnson, who has been promoted to Constellation project manager at the company.

Reporting to Meyer Sound education manager Gavin Canaan, McCarrick's responsibilities also include supporting Nashville manager and touring liaison Lee Moro in organising Nashville-based events and maintaining operations.

McCarrick comes to Meyer Sound with extensive experience in live sound and production, including key mixing, audio tech, and rigging duties involving Meyer Sound systems on tours with Metallica, Celtic Woman, Rod Stewart, and C

USA - Founded nearly half a century ago in Northampton Township, Saint Bede the Venerable has grown to more than 10,000 parishioners. The church recently underwent a $5m renovation and expansion, incorporating a classic Italian marble altar, magnificent stained glass, and a new sound system based around Community Professional Loudspeakers VERIS 8 two-way full-range systems.

As Audiobahn's Tony Hersch explains, the new sound system design called for versatility. "Unlike some of the more traditional Catholic churches, St. Bede offers a mix of traditional and semi-contemporary services, with a choral and live musical accompaniment, as well as traditional organ and choir," he says. "So ultimately we had to design a system that offered more than simply spoken word intelligibility - it had to offer good musicality as well."

The distributed audio system includes 1

Germany - A Midas PRO2 live audio system at FOH and PRO6 on monitors, provided by rental and production company SoundHead Company, commissioned by production companies EBS-Lights and Showplan and sourced from German Midas distributor Mega Audio, took centre stage at this year's Echo Awards, Germany's premier music awards show. The Berlin event's star-studded line-up included performances by Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, Sean Paul, Taio Cruz, Rammstein and Marilyn Manson.

Soundhead Company MD and FOH engineer Tim Ehrenfried, who only recently added the PRO2 to his inventory, explains, "In the past I have had excellent experiences working with XL8 and PRO6 consoles, and I knew I wanted that great warm Midas sound for the event in recognition of the calibre of international acts performing. But the PRO2 at FOH gave me the added advantage of all the features of the big consoles in

UK - Fruit Pie Music has produced its first ever open air live music event and broadcast to be almost entirely self-powered (without using the national grid for the duration of the event) for Imogen Heap, which was broadcast live online on Earth Day 22 April 2012.

Grammy award winning artist Imogen Heap performed a new Heapsong that she wrote during the course of the event. The song titled Me the Machine was written and then performed live using just her hands through musical gloves. The gloves are a prototype musical interface that Imogen has been developing over the last two years with her team of engineers. With them, Imogen can directly interact and control a virtual orchestra by "utilising tens of thousands of unique motions".

Working with Julies Bicycle, Firefly Solar, Bluman Associates, Gaianova Geodesic Domes, Silent Gig and Sennheiser, Fruit Pi

UK - HPSS, the Hull-based sound, lighting and staging equipment hire company, has recently completed a nationwide tour with The South - formed of members of The Beautiful South. LMC Audio visited the HPSS team at the O2 Academy in Birmingham during the tour.

Hugh Jones, managing director at HPSS, said, "The PRO2 is intuitive and accessible and in the smaller venues where the support has to be mixed on our boards it takes just 10 to 15 minutes to get the house engineer working comfortably with it. In acoustic scenarios in particular the set-up is so simple...you only need to do about six things with it and you're ready.

"Feedback has been very good", he continues. "We recently held a demo day at the HPSS warehouse and invited some engineers to come and try out the console. One of the engineers turned up with a show file that he had previously engineered on a

Olympic Countdown - Duran Duran are to play a concert in London's Hyde Park to mark the start of the Olympic Games. The gig will feature headline acts from all four nations of the UK, with Duran Duran representing England and Snow Patrol appearing for Northern Ireland. Stereophonics will represent Wales and Paolo Nutini will play for Scotland. The concert on 27 July will coincide with the Olympics opening ceremony, which will be broadcast on big screens in the park between performances. Another concert marking the end of the Olympics will be held in Hyde Park on 12 August, headlined by Blur.

Royal Rock - Robbie Williams has been added to the line-up for The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace on 4 June. "If this doesn't get me a knighthood, nothing will," the star joked on his website. "I can't wait for the show." His Take That bandmat

UK - Join 11,000 people who have already signed up to visit PLASA 2012 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre on 9 - 12 September 2012. Visitors that pre-register now can gain entry to the entire four-day event for only £10 - a saving of 50% on the full price of £20.

It's Olympic year at last and PLASA is taking the opportunity to celebrate the enormous contribution made by our industry to the extraordinary events in the city this year, including educational sessions exploring some of the most impressive technical aspects.

In addition, a brand new audio professional development programme is being launched this year, with master-classes from the biggest international names in system design, production, recording, mixing and broadcasting.

With over 100 free to attend training sessions, seminars and specialist conferences, there's only one place to be this September!

PL

UK - Solid State Logic has announced that Mark Davidson has joined the company in the newly created role of global systems and solutions business development manager. Based in Munich, Germany, Davidson will be responsible for the SSL global strategic business development strategies in relation to the SSL integration I/O and workstation partner products (WPP) product portfolio, with a focus on, but not restricted to, the broadcast and system integration markets.

"We searched for a long time to find the right person to represent SSL in the global install and integration markets, so it is simply great to have Mark on the team," says Jim Motley, head of business, workstation partner products for SSL. "With Mark on board, we have someone with a proven track record of establishing new routes to market. This capability is a key element for us and we are confident that he

USA - Located in Jupiter, Florida, Guanabanas is an outdoor bar and restaurant which strives to offer "a unique experience". An integral part of that is its live music, so the owners have employed a combination of Apex Hera and Argos noise limiting.

The waterfront venue aims to provide what it describes as "a true Florida experience", with exotic/local plants and trees, Key West styled structures, hand-built chickee huts and fresh Florida seafood. With the live stage - along with everything else - being in the open air, it is important that Guanabanas not only keeps sound levels down to permitted levels, but can prove it has done so.

"Residents will complain to the police if levels are too loud," says the venue's Matt Cahur. "We chose the Hera/Argos combination because the Argos limiter does a great job of limiting the sound levels to the thr

USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers has announced the appointment of Loren Robinson to the position of regional manager for Western US and Canada.

Robinson, a veteran pro audio manufacturers' representative and installation team manager, joins Community after many years with Harman Corporation, where he held positions as national sales manager for Selenium and Western regional manager for Crown Audio.

"We're very excited to welcome Loren to Community," said Julia Lee, director of sales and marketing. "His expertise in installed sound and his solid track record in management are ideally suited for the growth Community is presently experiencing."

"I'm thrilled to be working with such a legendary company like Community," added Robinson. "This is an amazing group of people with an amazing history, and they're still breaking new ground tod

UK - Bristol-based event production company SXS have just finished production for another high profile project - the royal launch of the Cutty Sark, attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The launch took place at the Cutty Sark Gardens in Greenwich and SXS provided sound reinforcement and technical production for the event using their Allen & Heath iLive system, supplied by LMC Audio Systems.

The event included a 90-strong symphony orchestra and a 400-strong choir. Reinforcement was also provided for the Queen's speech and further live feeds from inside the Cutty Sark. Over 50 input channels were used as a well as several groups and matrixes to feed to the four zones around the site. The iLive T112 was used for the main mix and zone matrixes and the iLive T80 was used for a separate live recording mix for later publication.

Johnny Palmer, production manager at SXS co

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