South Africa - New Life Church in the affluent suburb of Bryanston, Johannesburg, was established in 1985 and is an important part of the Bryanston community. An impressive building houses a 2000-seat auditorium as well as several seminar rooms, children’s facilities and much more. As part of their ongoing mission to provide the best possible worship experience for their congregation, New Life has recently added live streaming capabilities with a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) based mixing system and upgraded their 15-year-old Yamaha M7CL console to a new Yamaha Rivage PM3, all supplied and installed by Stage Audio Works. Stage Audio Works has developed a strong relationship with New Life Church which dates to 2012 when the company installed the very first d&b V-Series line array system in South Africa into the New Life auditorium. “It was certainly the first
Thailand - When the PUBG Nations Cup, one of the biggest tournaments in esports, returned to a live audience format in June 2022, event producers One Up Solutions and Banana Culture were well-equipped to deliver a dynamic experience. The two teams deployed a hybrid intercom network using the Clear-Com Eclipse HX Pico Digital Matrix and FreeSpeak II Digital Wireless systems for audio communications among technical teams, stage crews and talent. Following a two-year COVID-related postponement of the event, passionate fans were eager to gather again and watch 16 teams of world-class players try to write their names into esports history. The event was held at True Icon Hall in the Icon Siam building on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. One Up Solutions, Clear-Com’s long-term partner in South Korea, provided onsite technical support and equipment specificatio
USA - Northeast of Gainesville, Georgia, lies Hall County School District, home to 37 public schools providing education for nearly 28,000 students. As education facilities of all sizes have faced a tough few years, technical renovations, specifically audio upgrades, are important to enable students to have positive learning outcomes. To aid this smooth transition into a new era of education, the entirety of Hall County School District is currently undergoing a multi-year, multi-location technical renovation, including installing Renkus-Heinz sound solutions across each campus. Working with Nisewonger AV, a Lawrenceville-based education-focused AV integration firm, Hall County School District’s solutions architect, Josh Morton, set out to ensure students and teachers alike have high-quality audio on campus. As part of the renovation, Chicopee Woods Elementary Schoo
USA - Fulcrum Acoustic has appointed MC Marketing as their sales representative for Southern California and Southern Nevada. Based in Las Vegas, MC Marketing will be responsible for Fulcrum Acoustic product sales and support in their region. “The MC Marketing team is thrilled to represent Fulcrum Acoustic in Southern California and Las Vegas," says MC Marketing president, Michael Colon. "Their coaxial loudspeaker designs and well-respected sales and marketing team make them a synergistic partner for MC Marketing. I’m looking forward to collaborating with the Fulcrum Acoustic crew and see a successful future ahead.” "MC Marketing is an ideal partner for Fulcrum Acoustic," says Fulcrum Acoustic U.S. national sales manager Scott Pizzo. "Like Fulcrum, they are customer focused with extensive knowledge of the Pro AV industry and its technologies. MC Marketing will in
Poland - The CEKiS Culture and Art Centre in the city of Skierniewice, in the central Polish province of Łódź, recently completed major renovation, begun in 2019, just prior to the pandemic. The new project’s complete redesign of the facility resulted in a 300-seat multipurpose culture and art centre for concerts, theatre shows and film projection. The tender was arranged in a ‘design and build’ model, allowing contractors to submit proposals for a design and equipment solution, instead of an ‘enforced’ list of equipment, as in many cases. Project leader and technology consultant Piotr Lugowski, CEO of Warsaw-based MBS, states, “Thanks to that, when MBS was invited to design and deliver the technological solution, we were free to propose the client a custom set-up that includes a ‘hybrid’ electro-acoustical system, capable of ensuring top quality concert
New Zealand - Onehunga High School is a state co-educational secondary school serving one of the oldest suburbs in Auckland, New Zealand. Overlooking the Manukau Harbour, it was established on its Pleasant Street site in 1959 and enjoys a strong sense of tradition and continuity. As well as providing a wide-ranging curriculum for its students, the school also provides lifelong learning for the local community through its Adult Learning Centre and English Language School. A significant redevelopment of the school was completed early in 2022 at a cost of approximately $30m, which saw the creation of a number of cutting-edge facilities. Two state-of-the-art teaching facilities were constructed, one of which houses a two-basketball-court gymnasium with exercise room, locker rooms and teaching spaces, the other, a technical block catering to the sciences, woodwork, metalwork, art
USA - Princeton Pike Church of God, in the northern Cincinnati suburb of Hamilton, Ohio, has been around since 1928, and its worship spaces have continually grown over the years. But by the time the congregation began meeting in its newest sanctuary - nearly 3,000 seats in 2001 - it had become clear that its sound reinforcement systems were not keeping up. So, this year, as part of a sweeping upgrade of all its campus audio facilities, Princeton Pike Church of God chose to adopt L-Acoustics L-ISA immersive sound technology for its main auditorium. The decision to go with L-ISA was easy: an immersive system to improve the acoustical and emotional connection between the large stage and the fan-shaped seating area was a strong reason. And the fact that the cost of an L-ISA setup for a venue of its scale was nearly equivalent to that of a conventional stereo sound system reinfor
Japan - The Naha Cultural Arts Theatre is a new cultural centre in the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, the tropical island group south of mainland Japan. Built to replace the aging Naha Civic Centre, the new venue is located in the heart of the vibrant tourist area and contains both large and small theatres seating around 1600 and 300 people respectively, both of which are equipped with Nexo sound systems. Geo M10 line arrays with MSUB15 subs are flown left, central, and right above the stage in the large theatre, with additional clusters left and right and Nexo ID24s used as under balcony auxiliary speakers. Small clusters of Nexo Geo M6 are hung L, C, R in the small theatre, with Nexo PS10s used as side speakers and ID24s again used to cover seating areas under balconies to ensure even audience coverage throughout the venue. Amplification and processing for both syste
Singapore - Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a commercial real estate service provider, has established its new office in Singapore in the Capita Spring building. The project is a step in the longer journey of upgrading JLL’s technology across its APAC offices. The Platinum WELL certified space at Capita Spring was designed to be “human-centric”, with a sense of community and dedicated areas for staff to socialise. Amenities to enhance these spaces include a barista-hosted coffee bar and beer tap that is complementary to all staff. To build the next generation of offices, JLL wanted to optimise every aspect of their new 23,592sq.ft space to create a groundbreaking human centric workplace. One of those areas was sound. RAIL has been installed around the open plan office to provide deep scientific biophilic soundscapes by Moodosnic proven to reduce heart rates and improv
Australia - To elevate its energetic musical worship services, Emerge Church has installed Powersoft’s T Series amplifiers as part of a major upgrade of its audio system. Located in the North Brisbane region of Queensland, the Pentecostal Emerge Church has three locations, with its main church in the suburb of Warner. The Warner building includes a 450-seat auditorium whose AV set-up is key to a typical church service, which includes a full band of drums, bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, and up to six vocalists. The original PA system, which was installed in 2000, when the Warner church opened, comprised four 12” horn (point-source) cabinets (2 per side) and two 18” subs under the stage. “In recent years, we noticed that the system was sounding tired and lacking the definition required for clean and clear vocal reproduction,” says Ash We
Canada - When officials with the Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays MLB team, decided it was time to replace the two decades old PA system back in 2019, they could not have predicted the impending pandemic. Working with AV and design consultant Anthony James Partners (AJP), the venue selected a new QX series PA from Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW). With the building shut down in 2020, the Blue Jays were forced to play the season in the United States. The stadium was unable to reopen its doors due to the lockdown and didn’t have the opportunity to show off its new PA system until the team returned to Toronto for the following season. SF Marketing (SFM), a Canadian-based provider of customised go-to-market solutions for the AV, live entertainment and media production industries, managed the procurement, delivery and testing of the equipment. AJP and a represent
UK - Creative Technology (CT) has invested in multiple DiGiCo SD12s in recent years, with the two it has in its hire stock now including the theatre-specific T software. “Theatre and CT is evolving rapidly and we’re very busy with it and were keen to invest in the T software as soon as it was released,” says CT’s Andy Johnson. “It was the right decision as the SD12T give us the ideal surface in theatre world, allowing a designer and operator to work on it simultaneously. It also gives us a very capable console for monitors, festival FOH and any corporate live sound FOH. In fact, it ticks all the boxes in all our markets.” CT has a long association with the theatre market, with Johnson adding his extensive experience to the team in 2014. Since then, it has seen a continual increase in business, and particularly rapidly over the past two years, with an SD7 also ad
Germany –Europe’s first museum dedicated exclusively to samurai history and culture, the Samurai Museum is the setting for more than 1,000 artefacts collected over 30 years by German entrepreneur Peter Janssen. The museum, situated in Berlin’s main gallery district, opened its doors in May this year and has already made an impression on its visitors. Featuring modern technology and multimedia installations that bring the exhibits to life, the audio experience is delivered by L-Acoustics Syva and X Series sound systems, designed by consulting firm MMT-Network and installed by system integrator PIK AG. Composer, producer and music director Christian Steinhäuser asked Ralf Bauer-Diefenbach, managing director at MMT-Network, to help with the conceptual design of the audio system. “Artistic projects like the Samurai Museum require extensive knowledge in content int
UK - Renovated just over 10 years ago, Ashington Church in West Susex hosts an array of events, from prayer evenings to live band concerts and has been doing everything they can to keep the congregation’s spirits high during the uncertain lockdown period. As the needs of the church have grown of the years, for both live and online services, a new audio installation was needed as the original speakers in the ceiling beams and down the aisle often resulted in ‘dead zones’ and delay issues during performances. “While it did mean we had a better signal to noise ratio, those speakers just couldn’t reproduce the sound we wanted,” explains Simon Barrett, sound engineer and consultant for Ashington Church. “I even had to bring in a sub from time to time just to balance everything out, which wasn’t ideal.” After having several systems installed on a temp
UK - In preparation for the arrival of off-Broadway hit, Oklahoma!, and the world-premiere of Mandela this autumn to the boards of London’s The Young Vic, the theatre’s head of sound Kyle McPherson invested in the award-winning TiMax TrackerD4 stagetracking system from TiMax developers, Out Board. Requests for a TiMax TrackerD4 system to control new Soundscape upgrade for the theatre’s d&b sound system were made by both the Oklahoma! design team comprised of sound designer Drew Levy and Associate Sam Lerner, as well as the forthcoming Mandela sound designer, Paul Gatehouse. The requests sparked a thorough investigation into stagetracking systems by MacPherson and the Young Vic sound team, which subsequently led to the purchase of a TiMax TrackerD4 system with eight sensors and 16 tags for the actors. MacPherson confirmed, “
UK - Active for over four decades, Duran Duran continue to be a major draw on the live sound circuit. For their latest UK and European festival run, the band picked up where they left off with long-time audio vendor Britannia Row Productions, which supplied the crew with a DiGiCo-centric control package, as well as an assortment of microphones and Sennheiser IEMs. “Brit Row have been great in providing the gear we needed, at a time when so much equipment is unavailable,” says production manager Wob Roberts, who first worked with the band in 2008 and returned to the role last year. “Part of this was because we booked well in advance, but the following US tour was a late addition and our account handler, Dave Compton, has managed to source the gear we need without having to ship anything, which is great as we try to reduce the carbon footprint of touring.”
USA - Fulcrum Acoustic has announced that pre-sets for Apex CloudPower amplifiers are now available for download on the Fulcrum Acoustic website. The processor settings work with all Apex CloudPower amplifiers running firmware version 1.2.1 or later. These pre-sets add to an already extensive list of processor configurations available for download on the Fulcrum Acoustic website. "Fulcrum Acoustic is committed to supporting a broad range of processing platforms at a high level to ensure that our loudspeakers are easy to work with and so our customers can achieve the best results possible," says Rich Frembes, senior technologist, Fulcrum Acoustic. "We’re excited to add Apex to the ever-growing list of third-party DSP amplifiers we support." The Apex pre-sets are available as a free download from the support page on the Fulcrum Acoustic website.
USA - Nashville Life is a 10-year-old ministry founded by gospel artist and 15-time Grammy Award-winner CeCe Winans and her husband, Alvin Love II, and their son, Alvin Love III, is now lead pastor. While the church has been in existence for a decade, it has only this year found its own home, a newly renovated former church building in Nashville’s Nolensville Road neighbourhood. Nashville Life has a flexible set of audio solutions to meet its particular needs: a DiGiCo Quantum225 console, buttressed with four Dante-enabled A168D stage boxes along with a DQ-Rack in the amp room, for switching and patching, all on a Dante network, as is the church’s new EAW KF810 sound system. In addition, an even one-dozen KLANG:kontrollers - six connected to Shure PSM 1000 IEMs and six hard-wired IEMs for the band members - provide the church’s musicians and vocalists on stage with a h
USA - AtlasIED has announced three additions to the company, including Graham Hendry, VP of loudspeaker strategy; Mike Ulrich, VP of specialty acoustic projects and Riccardo Balistreri, director of acoustical engineering. The new hires are part of a strategic initiative that will focus on product development, strategy, design, and positioning of new products for the premium loudspeaker marketplace across a variety of industries including hospitality, specialty commercial, corporate, and entertainment. “AtlasIED has significantly invested in talented people, infrastructure, and machinery over the past five years,” said John Ivey, CEO at AtlasIED. “We’ve created a foundation for innovation, and Graham, Riccardo, and Mike are joining us to help propel that innovative culture forward and translate it into solutions and platforms that benefit our industry, clients, and e
UK - Polar has announced the expansion of its team with the appointment of Nick Bellis to the post of business development manager, professional audio. An experienced pro audio sales manager and successful freelance FOH/monitor engineer, with more than 30 years’ experience in the live and installation markets, Nick joins Polar with specific responsibility for its Music Tribe brands. Polar recently entered a partnership to re-introduce direct supply of Music Tribe’s leading brands to the UK market. Polar managing director John Midgley comments, “Nick is a highly respected figure in the industry and knows these brands inside out, having earlier in his career spent seven years working for Music Tribe in European sales. Add to this a hands-on appreciation of the products from his freelance role as a highly regarded pro audio engineer, and it’s easy to see why he is
UK - Following their recent inauguration of a European Experience Centre, Wharfedale Pro continues to uphold a mission of transparency. With the addition of enhanced website navigation and ‘finder’ tools, they are optimising their processes ‘to enable their customers to make more informed, intelligent decisions’. The newly added ‘bracket and rigging finder’ effectively acts as a filterable table or ‘cheat sheet’, that clearly displays which brackets, rigging and poles (X axis) are most suitable for each model of loudspeaker (Y axis), as well as what quantity is required. The entire loudspeaker range is displayed by default, but the selection can be narrowed to a specific model via a search function. It will serve as an invaluable, at-a-glance tool for integrators who are planning installs of any size. Similarly, earlier in August, Wharfedale Pro unveile
UK - Amp-maker Marshall recently constructed a world-class recording studio – boasting a 273sq.m live room and a 40-channel vintage Neve 8048 mixer – next to their Milton Keynes factory. The control room has been upgraded with a Quested monitoring system at its heart. “It was like fitting that last piece into a jigsaw, or getting the right key for a lock,” said Marshall studio manager Adam Beer. “The Quested Q212FS monitors are just perfect for the room, and for the type of music we record. The imaging is absolutely spot on, you can accurately pinpoint everything throughout the stereo field.” The Q212FS design is based on one of Quested’s most popular main monitor enclosures. The free-standing system has been adapted to allow for the Q212 element to sit on top of the QSB118 sub-bass, and be at a perfect height for most mixing consoles, with the acoustic c
USA - There are three campuses of the thriving Hallows Church in Seattle, the latest of which is in the Wallingford area of the city. The church embraces technology to connect with its congregations both in person and through online livestreams, with music every bit as important in the celebrations as the spoken word. To equip the church with a new sound system, The Hallows turned to local AV technology specialists Morgan Sound who have, over the course of 50+ years in business, successfully completed hundreds of similar installations in houses of worship and other venues, undertaken alongside a long-established and busy production services business for live events. Associate engineer Fraser Brearley reports, “The Hallows is a very modern and technology-focussed church, with music at the heart of its services. They specifically asked for a custom-tailored audio and v
UK - For more than 30 years, Bradford-based Pro Audio Systems (PAS) has been supplying professional audio, lighting and AV equipment for purchase, hire and installation. One area which has seen consistent growth on the audio front is the house of worship sector, where PAS has assisted with the supply and design of a number of systems for mosques, both in the city and further afield. Fastline specialises in mosque installations and began its relationship with PAS as far back as 2004. With a background in electrical engineering and a keen interest in sound, founder Wajid Baz felt at the time that audio provision in many mosques was simply not up to scratch. Clarity and adequate coverage are absolute essentials in houses of worship, and in many cases Wajid felt that both elements were inadequate. He created Fastline to deliver bespoke systems that could overcome the difficultie
