Greece - Over the past couple of years, Austrian Audio microphones and headphones have become a staple in the toolkit of many FOH engineers. So much so that Austrian Audio mics “are going on tour” this summer accompanying leading musicians and artists. Starting out the series, Austrian Audio mics could be seen and heard in Athens, last month during the Desmond Child Rocks The Parthenon concert. Thousands of people enjoyed an evening in the 2,000 year-old Odeon of Herodes Atticus theatre to see Desmond Child, the Grammy winning and Emmy nominated songwriter-producer. Desmond was joined on stage by Alice Cooper, Bonnie Tyler, Rita Wilson, The Rasmus and many others to voice their support for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece from the British Museum in London. Desmond used the Austrian Audio OD505WL for his own vocal performance, enjoying
USA - To ensure maximum impact and immersive stereo sound across the many dancefloors at Detroit’s Movement Festival, event producer Paxahau and Thunder Audio selected and deployed JBL VTX Series line array sound reinforcement systems. Held in the city considered to be the birthplace of techno, Movement Festival is an annual three-day electronic music festival that brings thousands of fervent audiences to Detroit every Memorial Day weekend. After being postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 marked Movement’s highly anticipated return to form and a chance for the close-knit electronic music community to finally gather in person once again. “Detroit techno was always a dark room and a huge PA - it didn't matter what kind of lights you had or whatever; if you wanted the visceral experience in regards to clarity and a loud sound system, you ca
UK - Swansea-based Total Sound Solutions, founded in 2003, covers a busy calendar of events with a comprehensive inventory of Nexo sound systems, in which Geo M6, M10 and M12 line arrays are available alongside P+, PS and ID Series point source speakers, equipping the company to handle jobs of any scale from community fairs through to multi-stage festivals. In the quieter months, the team at Total Sound turns its expertise to designing and installing fixed sound systems including, most recently, at the 1000-seat Swansea Grand Theatre. Total Sound director Chris Hooke takes up the story. “We’ve been working with the theatre as a client for many years, providing rental systems for one off events. We know the venue well, so when the subject arose of a new permanent system, we were happy to contribute our ideas for a generic configuration which became the basis of the
USA - King Jesus Church in Miami, Florida is taking their production to the next level with a recent upgrade to their Clear-Com intercom system. The upgrade incorporated their existing Clear-Com Encore analogue partyline intercom system and now additionally includes an Eclipse HX digital matrix system fitted with an E-IPA card, FreeSpeak II digital wireless transceivers and beltpacks, HelixNet digital partyline, LQ Series of IP interfaces and finally the Agent-IC mobile app. For over 20 years, King Jesus Church of Miami (KJM) has been highly successful with their ministry in Southern Florida, seeing attendance of 15,000 to 20,000 each week at both their main and remote campuses across the globe, spanning five continents. As the ministry has continued to grow, so has their production - broadcasting online to hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide, many of whom res
USA - The Peach Music Festival at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pennsylvania is known for presenting a diverse, multi-genre array of artists most known for their free-flowing improvisation and danceable rhythms. Headliners for 2022 included Billy Strings, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Trey Anastasio Band, and The Black Crowes, with more than 70 bands total on the bill. From an audio standpoint, the 2022 Peach Music Festival was notable as the North American major festival debut of Meyer Sound’s new Panther large-format linear line array loudspeaker. This year’s Peach Music Festival was also the first for Coatesville, Pennsylvania-based DBS Audio Systems as the principal audio provider. Company president Dave Brotman who served as system engineer at the main stage comments, “Amphitheatres with tent roofs can generate a vast amount of reflections. FOH engineers come i
USA/UK - The new Baz Luhrmann film, Elvis brings the story of Elvis Presley to the big screen. Warner Brothers was committed to ensuring as much historical accuracy as possible, and asked Shure to consult on the microphone models Elvis used. The company was provided photos of Elvis performing, then identified the vintage mics, and offered suggestions on alternative models when appropriate. For decades, Shure has assisted film production companies in identifying and locating historically accurate microphones. While there are a variety of Shure microphones used in the movie, there are three (or four) different types of Shure microphones Elvis used throughout his career: The Shure Unidyne I Model 556 – This variation of the Unidyne I is one of the more recognisable microphones that Elvis used in the prime of his career. According to the 1947 Shure Product Data S
Italy - Wisycom has announced the availability of its new Wisycom App for the Symphony Series wireless microphone system, available for iOS and Android. Accompanying the release of the app are firmware enhancements to the line, which includes the MCR54 four-channel and MCR54-Dual two-channel true-diversity portable receivers, and the MTP60 bodypack transmitter. “We’re excited to release the app for our Symphony Series users,” said Massimo Polo, vice president of sales at Wisycom. “This app brings every critical function of our Symphony devices right into the hands of system operators, improving on the most advanced wireless system available.” Similar to the Wisycom Manager PC software, the new app allows users to monitor, control and manage Wisycom devices through a Bluetooth 5 long-range connection. Users can remotely change device frequencies, monitor and
USA - Overtime Elite (OTE) is a new basketball sports league that offers talented young basketball players a better pathway to becoming professional athletes. Their new 103,000sq.ft facility is where OTE’s players train, study and compete. The facility is outfitted with the Aero, Artec, HQ, UX, and CL series by DAS Audio. AG Production Services of Las Vegas was contracted to build and outfit the new OTE facility. Andrew Gumper, president and chief project manager, oversaw the operation of the project. “It was important to OTE management that in addition to being a cutting-edge sports facility, the venue be outfitted with the best audio reproduction equipment. This is because the announcements and other information must not only be suitable in terms of volume but also be clear and articulate. This led us to deploying DAS Audio”, Gumper explains. “The baske
Korea - Klang Studios, launched by mix engineer Jong-Pil Gu, produces mainly K-Pop music but occasionally joins forces with both hip-hop and R&B artists. It has also collaborated on songs for a TV series. His philosophy focuses on the process of “creative-collaboration” between the musicians, producers, and engineers working on a particular song and also having the ‘right gear’ and infrastructure – including Van Damme cables. Blue Series Studio Grade Multicore Cable was used for the equipment connected through the patch bay. For direct connection between equipment, XKE Microphone Cable and XKE Starquad Microphone Cable was selected. Digitour Series AES/EBU & DMX 110ohm Cable was utilised for AES/EBU or S/PDIF equipment. The project took three months to complete and was finished just before the global pandemic took hold. Working with Gearlounge,
UK - With artistes ranging from the Rolling Stones to Elton John and the Eagles gracing the new d stage and fascia at this year’s American Express presents BST Hyde Park the quality of sound needed to raise the bar at AEG Live’s flagship event. Martin Audio rental partners Capital Sound (part of the Solotech group) have been the exclusive suppliers of the manufacturer’s MLA since the event’s inception in 2013, and were able to respond by providing enhanced site coverage. This year, with its expansion across three weekends, the event broke all records, selling 530,000 tickets across the nine shows. Taking note of the additional 5m height gain of Star Group’s new Titan stage (which now reaches 19m off the ground), Solotech extended the two main PA and side-fill hangs and streamlined the 11 delay towers, introducing their recently acquired WPL scalable line arra
Argentina - Studio owner Jonatan Montes Polack has installed an Audient ASP8024-HE console in his Hard Record Studio based in Arrecifes, a small town near Buenos Aires. The British desk joins an array of equipment including keyboards, sequencers, instruments, amps and a host of analogue gear. “I was always a big fan of analogue sound, that’s why the studio has quite a bit of it,” says Jonatan. Originally coming across the Audient brand when his previous desk broke down, he bought himself an iD4 so he could continue working whilst his old desk was fixed. “It was the first time that I had held an Audient product in my hands. As soon as I looked at the package, the construction, the weight and design, I realised that it was really good. I was really impressed with the quality of the components and how substantial and sturdy it was.” Further investigation
Denmark - The 50th presentation of Northern Europe’s largest and longest-running music festival, Roskilde Festival ran over eight days from 25 June through 2 July and featured more than 290 artists. Performers took to eight stages spaced throughout the sprawling festival grounds with headliners including Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Tyler, the Creator, The Strokes, Megan Thee Stallion, St. Vincent, and Haim, plus more than 130 diverse supporting acts including Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, H.E.R., Black Pumas, Kacey Musgraves, and CHVRCHES. Meyer Sound was the official sound partner for the event. “The sound at Roskilde Festival is essential for us to be able to create the communities and the perfect audience experience that we strive for at every festival,” explains Lars Liliengren, Roskilde Festival’s senior production manager. Nearly 1,000 Meyer Sound loudspea
USA - QSC has announced senor appointments in its newly-created pro audio division. Perry Celia becomes VP global sales and service, David Fuller is VP product development, Ray van Straten is VP brand, marketing & training, and Linda Lee, sr. director, operations. Celia takes the reins of the division’s global sales and service functions after having served at QSC for over 14 years – most recently as sr. director sales, Americas. Van Straten joins the team as a 20-year veteran of QSC, having led the company’s retail sales, marketing, training, and brand functions, as well as previously serving as VP of its live sound business unit. Linda Lee rejoins QSC with 23 years of progressive growth in key operations and supply chain roles, most recently as sr. director of global supply chain and operations at Identiv. “We are ecstatic about the new lea
USA -When the Hawaii theatre opened its curtains in the heart of Hollywood in 1940, it offered a different experience. The theatre had seating for over 1,100, a large lobby and lounge, retail shops, a children’s nursery, and much more. The Hawaii theatre was famous for its "erupting" volcanos of light on each side of the screen signalling the start of a movie. For more than 20 years, the theatre personified the Golden Age of Hollywood. Today, Salvation Army Hollywood - with the help of fellow Southern-California company Renkus-Heinz - is bringing a new vision for the theatre to life. The Hollywood Corps of the Salvation Army Hollywood purchased the theatre in 1963 and converted it into a multi-use community centre. Faced today with an alarming growth of homelessness in Hollywood, the organisation was looking for new ways to generate more resources and provide hope wi
Austrralia - The Showroom at Twin Towns Resorts in the town of Tweed Heads, New South Wales lies on the border with Queensland’s Gold Coast suburb of Coolangatta, where revellers can celebrate the turn of the New Year twice in one night, simply by crossing the street to a new time zone. For decades, the 1,000-capacity Showroom’s location has made it a mainstay in the region’s live scene for vacationers from around Australia who come to enjoy the climate and the nightlife. The club’s entertainment programme in a typical week may include a stand-up comic, an annual general meeting, a tribute band, or a heavy metal show. When the pandemic hit, Twin Towns’ operations and production manager, Lachlan Donaldson harnessed the club’s downtime to upgrade its audio technology. With a reduced promotional and marketing budget after cancelling all the club's entertainmen
UK - Britannia Row Productions has provided a full audio package and crew for the Young Voices UK tour, which saw the world’s largest children’s choir visit arenas up and down Britain for multiple, packed-out shows. The tour featured an unconventional arena setup, with the stage positioned at the back of each room and the Young Voices choir taking the place of the audience. “It’s a very different kind of show in many ways,” says FOH engineer, Gavin Tempany. “Usually, the stars of an arena show are the band, but this time it’s the children in the choir, who are singing to a crowd of their parents. We have a different set of them each day too, so there are between 6,500 and 10,000 children and teachers coming in and out for their performances each night.” Given how damaging a long day of noise exposure could be for both the children and the crew,
UK - Polar has announced the further expansion of its team with the appointment of Mark Jennings to the post of business development manager, integrated solutions. With more than 15 years’ experience of the sector, Mark will be primarily focused on helping to deliver solutions for the education market. Mark Jennings comments: “I’m delighted to be joining Polar and look forward to working with what is a fantastic team. The importance of technology, particularly in further and higher education settings, has become more and more important as educators seek to expand the scope of teaching and learning. I’m keen to share my experience in this area with our customers and help them benefit from the wide range of options in our portfolio.” “Polar managing director John Midgley adds: “Mark joins us at a time when our Integrated Services team is in great demand ac
South Africa - ApexPro, distributor of professional audio-visual equipment for the sub-Saharan African region, has recently cemented a partnership with UK-based HH Electronics, manufacturer of professional audio from within the Headstock Group, UK. “We are extremely excited about our partnership with HH Electronics,” says ApexPro director, Justin Acres. “The entertainment, tourism, and live events sectors in Southern Africa are poised for a much-needed comeback following the restrictions on business imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. As new venues open, and those that survived the lockdowns look to attract new patrons, the demand for high-quality, low-cost, expandable professional audio systems is on the rise. We can’t think of a better manufacturer to fill this gap than UK-based HH Electronics.” Technical director at ApexPro, Mark Malherbe concurs, stating,
USA - Renkus-Heinz has appointed Sebastian Rivas as software development and research engineer. Rivas will work closely with chief technology oficer Ralph Heinz and engineering manager Chad DeFranco. “I had the opportunity to speak with Harro Heinz about the role and found great value in learning about the history of the company and the innovative processes that have put them as the leader in beam steering loudspeaker technology,” said Rivas. “Renkus-Heinz is a leader in the audio solutions industry and I am fortunate to enter the company at a time to contribute to the sound revolution.” Prior to joining Renkus-Heinz, Rivas worked as a professor at St. Thomas University, 2D Software Developer at Sensey Electronics in Mexico, and at Danley Sound Labs developing the Direct Sound System modelling software. “Sebastian’s talent and ambition in the audio
UK - Mash P is getting a hands-on, practical introduction to the world of production thanks to the Audient sponsorship at ICMP. Enrolled on the six-month Music Production & Sound Engineering course, he is building on his talent as a musician. He performed at Glastonbury Festival this year, celebrating the release of his latest music. “I want to say thank you to ICMP for the environment, the equipment, studios and the space for people like me to learn,” he says. “Also, thank you for the equipment given to me from my Audient sponsorship.” Audient provided him with the EVO Start Recording Bundle, which includes EVO 4 audio interface, the EVO SR1 Condenser Mic and EVO SR2000 Monitoring Headphones. Mash, whose given name is Nathaniel Sesay, was captured by civil war rebels when he was nine in his native Sierra Leone. After the brutal civil war was over, he spen
UK - When Capital Sound, part of the Solotech UK Group, conceived the original design for Stereophonics’ homecoming concert at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff for what would have been their We’ll Keep A Welcome Christmas show, the idea of 23 Martin Audio PA hangs (covering both an A stage and 40m thrust to a B stage) was entirely achievable. “The kit was already prepped and ready to go out, when the show was suddenly cancelled,” states Solotech senior technical advisor, Robin Conway. But when the gig was rescheduled for June, there was none of the luxury of pre-production time that had accompanied the original show. Not only did the B stage now need to function as a totally independent stage, with its own PA, (rather than simply as a delay stage), but Friday’s planned production/build-up day suddenly disappeared when the following night’s concert
Spain - Lynx Pro Audio has installed an anechoic chamber within their Research and Development Department in Valencia, the headquarters of the company. The new anechoic room has the latest technologies, being one of the most modern in Europe. The special design of the room offers an accurate measurement of the sound in a complete sphere (360 degrees), with an accuracy of one degree. The chamber has a Four Audio robot to provide better sound measurement and a new space designed for accurate measurements in a free-field acoustic environment. Having detailed information on the acoustic response of a box allows Lynx Pro Audio to model each of their enclosures within the Rainbow 3D acoustic prediction software, offering a simulation that is as real as possible. “In this way, we provide a powerful design tool with which installers can carry out all kinds of sound reinforce
USA - With a total audience capacity of more than 7,000, the imposing Filene Centre is the flagship venue at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, located just outside Washington, D.C. The non-profit Wolf Trap Foundation, recently replaced the aging main audio system with a complete Meyer Sound reinforcement solution. The Filene Centre performance calendar is noteworthy in both its breadth and depth, ranging from classical and Broadway to rock jazz and country. Luminaries such as Sting, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Little Big Town and Elvis Costello highlight popular genres for the current season. An impressive classical programme features the Wolf Trap Opera and an ongoing partnership with the National Symphony Orchestra. “The Filene Centre is one of an elite group of venues able to serve all genres of music without compromise, and we wanted to cement ou
UK - The Killers Imploding The Mirage stadium tour played the UK and Ireland in May and June. For this leg, band, audience and crew benefited from audio delivered through a GSL PA system from d&b audiotechnik’s SL-Series. The GSL system is provided and supported on tour by Capital Sound, now part of Solotech UK Group. As long-standing clients of Capital, the band’s sound team was able to draw on the company’s continuing investment in d&b systems to specify an extensive GSL/KSL setup for this major tour. “The first time I used the SL Series was at a festival in Memphis,” says The Killers’ front-of-house sound engineer, Kenny Kaiser, who works closely with monitor engineer Marty Beath on all aspects of the band’s touring sound spec. “We just turned up and used it, and I was floored – it was awesome.” Planning ahead, the pair wor
