France - Based in Ris-Orangis and owned by Communauté d’Agglomeration Grand Paris Sud, Le Plan opened in 1984, with a new venue built in 2014, and was recently awarded the prestigious contemporary music scenes label (SMAC) by the French Ministry of Culture. A hub for Parisian music lovers and a reference venue for first-class sound quality, Le Plan’s audio system has recently been upgraded with L-Acoustics K and X Series delivered by Audiolive, replacing its previous 17-year-old system. Le Plan hosts a varied national and international programme covering the entire spectrum of contemporary music genres from hip hop to pop, rock, and more. Le Plan’s audio team also has a mission of raising awareness of key developments within the contemporary music scene, and hosts specialist courses in live sound recording and mixing for students from EMC University. The venue
Ireland - When the Irish National Opera first started production of Least Like the Other, they had plans to tour the show around Ireland in August 2020. While the pandemic threatened to halt the production and performances, innovation through d&b Soundscape means that the show will go on - in a different form. Least Like the Other, Searching for Rosemary Kennedy is a thought-provoking work of experimental music theatre created by Brian Irvine and Netia Jones. The show traces events in the life of Rosemary, eldest daughter of Joe and Rose Kennedy, sister of JFK, using redacted archive materials only recently pieced together. The show’s original operatic production featured 15 live musicians including, a string quartet, keyboards, wind, brass and an improvisational ensemble. In March of 2020, with growing concerns about COVID-19, the show’s product
USA/Denmark - DPA Microphones co-founder Jens-Jørn Stokholm and R&D manager Ole Moesmann will soon be bestowed with an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Technical Achievement Award for the innovative development of the brand’s high-performance, miniature lavalier microphone technology. The pair’s accomplishment is among 17 scientific and technical achievements to be honoured by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in a virtual Scientific and Technical Awards presentation on Saturday, 13 February. The ceremony will be available on the Oscars website starting at 1pm PT. The Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards honour those whose discoveries and innovations have contributed in significant and lasting ways to motion pictures. First developed by Stokholm in 1996, DPA’s 4060 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphone continues to be a popu
UK - Sound Control Technologies (SCT), the Connecticut, USA based manufacturer best known for their camera extension solutions has appointed CUK Group to distribute their products in the UK where distribution was previously handled by ScanSource. The addition of SCT to the CUK Group portfolio significantly strengthens the company’s video products offering which has grown through the recent addition of several brands and the purchase of York based distributor, Tukans. “SCT products are renowned in our industry not only for the problems that they solve for AV integrators but their rock-solid reliability.” states Stuart Thomson, managing director at CUK Group. “Our focus is to make sure that these products are backed with great customer service, technical support and of course fast delivery from our East Kilbride distribution centre.” Peter Nice, SCT’s b
Ecuador - Martin Audio has appointed Quito-based Mejor Sonido as its new distributor for Ecuador - the first time the British brand has had direct representation in this South American country. The move was confirmed by Berenice Gutierrez, director of Pro Active Latin America and Latam Sales for Martin Audio, who handle all Martin Audio’s sales activity on the continent. “This is the first official distribution partner in the country and I’m proud to get them on board, and into the LATAM Distributor Partnership,” she said. She said the groundswell of interest had been building in the country for some time. “Martin Audio had been approached by several system integrators, rental companies and major distributors due to the wider product catalogue and solutions that the brand has developed in recent years, covering markets such as installation, rental / touring,
UAE - Sennheiser has introduced a free firmware update for its Team Connect Ceiling 2 microphone solution for conferencing audio in business and distance learning applications “We have many happy TeamConnect Ceiling 2 users across the globe, and we asked ourselves: What if they could use their existing tech for even more?” says Jens Werner, portfolio manager in Sennheiser’s Business Communication division. “This was the starting point for designing the latest software update which adds the TruVoicelift functionality to TeamConnect Ceiling 2. It endows the mic array with many innovative features for perfect audio all the way to the back row.” For existing TeamConnect Ceiling 2 (TCC2) implementations, users can now add the TruVoicelift functionality simply by installing the free firmware update (1.6.4) via the new version of the Sennheiser Control Cockpit app (
USA - When Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona decided to renovate its 50-year-old sanctuary, a principal goal was to hold both traditional and contemporary worship services in this one space - but without compromising the music programme for either. At the same time, the church wanted to enhance the acoustical flexibility of the 600-seat sanctuary in order to host a range of special concerts and even classical music recording sessions “We have a very spacious campus, with our sanctuary for traditional worship at one end and a multi-purpose space where we held contemporary services at the other end,” explains Russ Henzel, who served for 15 years as the church’s volunteer AV technician. “Because of the distance between, we had a split congregation with little interaction between the two groups during social hour. Our goal was to bring the contempora
USA - Michael von Keitz has acquired 100% ownership of the loudspeaker company VUE Audiotechnik he co-founded in 2012. Says a statement, “The integration of the entire value-added chain with the group’s significant engineering and manufacturing resources will drive the pace of growth of the brand’s renowned range of industry leading products and technologies. Customers will enjoy a greater competitiveness, a quicker time to market and an early extension of the product portfolio into installed applications. The integration of the sales and marketing departments will lead to greatly enhanced communications and increase the quality of customer support.” The brands now combined under one roof include VUE Audiotechnik, SE Audiotechnik and the high-fidelity product line mivoc. As part of that family Vue will enjoy “enhanced production capacities, larger R&D tea
Thailand - In the current pandemic circumstances, it is rare to hear of the successful staging of a live music festival. But, despite health and safety restrictions, the determination of promoter Mooban Wonder has enabled the Wonderfruit Festival to present most of the events in its December schedule. Audio company Mr Team Productions has been supplying Nexo STM sound reinforcement systems to Wonderfruit since 2014. For the latest edition of the five-week festival, held at the Siam Country Club in Pattaya, Pok Sutat Kohkiat and his staff had to adapt their designs to suit a reduced audience area and smaller attendance. “Wonderfruit attracts an elite international audience,” says Pok, “visitors come from all over south-east Asia for this event, because of the quality of the performers and the diversity of the entertainment, which includes arts, crafts, cooking and
USA - Pliant Technologies has announced the CrewCom CB2 Professional Wireless Intercom system. The latest member of the CrewCom family is designed for small to mid-level applications requiring a reliable, great sounding wireless intercom with excellent RF coverage and range. Available in both 900MHz and 2.4GHz frequency options as well as 900MHz Oceania and 2.4GHz CE compliant models, the system includes the CrewCom CB2 basestation and up to six CRP-12 two-channel radio packs to create a powerful but economical wireless intercom system. This latest solution from Pliant provides customers with two intercom channels as well as interconnectivity to all industry standard two- and four-wire intercom systems. “Ideal for a wide range of applications and budgets, the new CrewCom CB2 is perfect for customers who are looking for an intercom with more capabilities than our Micr
Malaysia - When system integrator Mahajak Trio was given the job of upgrading the audio monitoring, advanced broadcast control and technical display applications for Radio Television Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, the company found the answer it was looking for with TSL Products. The project was led by 20-year industry veteran Lee Chin Kah, general manager for broadcast, Mahajak Trio Electronic. As a full-service provider, the Mahajak Trio team was able to offer a turnkey power and monitoring solution to the Malaysian public broadcaster. “We turned to TSL Products because it is not only one of the most well-known and trusted brands on the market, but all of the audio monitoring tools available, such as comprehensive loudness monitoring, audio metering, phase metering and waveform, feature GUI and panel designs that are amazingly easy to work with,” says Lee. “All functions
USA - Noise Nest, a production complex owned by drummer, producer and entrepreneur Nick Gross, has undergone significant expansion over the last 12 months and now boasts five recording studios - all of which feature PMC monitoring. Based in Los Angeles, this facility chose PMC’s flagship QB1-A in-wall main monitors for its recently opened Studio A, while its remaining four studios use a mixture of PMC IB1S-A, twotwo.6 and twotwo.8 monitors for nearfield duties. “Choosing a PMC QB1 system for Studio A was a no- brainer because they are simply amazing,” Nick Gross says. “They sound clean and rounded, even at very high volumes. They reproduce the audio in such a pure way that you get to hear exactly what you are recording with no compromises.” He adds that everyone who has used the studio has been equally impressed, especially Noise Nest’s HipHop custome
Denmark - GRAS Sound and Vibration is introducing two new products: GRAS 12BA and 12BB microphone power modules aimed at engineers who need to power CCP measurement microphones and would like “seamless integration of microphone sensitivity data via TEDS”. These single-channel (12BA) and four-channel (12BB) USB-powered modules provide integrated TEDS support and are competitively priced for production test applications, saving time during setup and configuration. The 12BA and 12BB power modules can be used with any audio analyser, with TEDS data accessed in two ways. When paired with Audio Precision's APx audio analyzers, TEDS can be read directly via the APx500 software. For use with other analyzers, TEDS data is available through the Mic Power Module App, a command-line interface for TEDS data output. The software and app ensure the accessibility of TEDS data.
Europe - Alcons Audio is to present a new series of online educational sessions, featuring industry personalities and special guests. The programme includes: Introduction to Pro-Ribbon Technology, (28 January, 11,25 February) includes the history of the pro-ribbon technology, features, dispersion characteristics and applications. Introduction to Residential Home Theatre Solutions (9,19 February) includes an introduction to Alcons pro-ribbon technology, residential home theatre solutions (C-series, CRMS series) and a look at applications and projects. The webinars are presented by David Rahn of Alcons Audio USA, with guest input from Alcons users, integrators and engineers, such as Greater Atlanta Christian School AV system tech, Ben Chambless and integrator Alex Fleming from Lodestar Labs. Input for the residential/studio episodes is coming from Wal
The Netherlands - When Intronics, the tvONE distributor for the Benelux region, received an enquiry for a major order of tvONE’s CORIOmaster mini video wall processors, they called on the manufacturer to see what was possible. The request, from a major European integrator, was for 55 of the processors, destined for a single installation project in The Netherlands. It would be the largest ever single order of CORIOmaster mini units, and with just three weeks before the required shipping date, time was extremely tight. And there was an added problem: the order could not yet be confirmed. “Our customer told us that although they were 99% sure of the order, they did not yet have it in writing,” explains Intronics’ technical sales engineer Ben Franken. “Also, we knew that an order of that size would ordinarily take a few months to meet.” However, thanks t
USA - The Sterlington High School Panthers football team was runner up in Class 3A football in the state of Louisiana in 2018, and high school football plays a huge role in the rural community of Sterlington and Ouachita Parish. The Panthers play in Sterlington Stadium, which can pack in nearly 4,000 fans on a good night. After 15 years with a sound system that never quite lived up to expectations, local music store and AV integrator Matt’s Music designed and installed a fully-weatherised Danley Sound Labs sound reinforcement system that delivers intelligibility and big SPLs from an end zone scoreboard. “Sterlington Stadium had a pair of loudspeakers out on the scoreboard that were not working well,” said Tony Cortellini, sales engineer with the contracting division of Matt’s Music. “They had aged, but the school wasn’t able to come up with a budget to repl
Germany - In order to deliver immersive surround-sound experiences for cinemagoers, Filmpalast Kassel equipped 14 theatres with JBL Professional cinema audio systems. Located in the heart of Kassel, Filmpalast Kassel’s distinctive architecture and interior design makes it a popular entertainment destination and tourist attraction. The theatre includes 15 halls with a total of 1,800 seats, featuring IMAX, 4DX and ScreenX technologies. In order to deliver quality sound, Filmpalast Kassel installed new JBL Professional cinema audio systems, featuring over 500 JBL loudspeakers and 100 Crown DCI-N amplifiers. In the Dolby Atmos theatres, Filmpalast Kassel installed JBL 9320 loudspeakers to provide immersive surround sound. Custom painted JBL CBT70J loudspeakers provide even, balanced coverage while maintaining the theatre’s ornate aesthetic. JBL SCS8 and SCS12 loudspe
UK - After a three-year break, the MOBO Awards (MOBOs), the UK’s biggest celebration of black music and culture, returned in December last year – in a virtual format. The 90-minute awards ceremony was brought to life by a LED screen running on Brompton Tessera processing provided by Universal Pixels (UP), that delivered realistic looking, multiple video playbacks throughout the virtual ceremony. Hosted by former BBC Radio 1 presenter Maya Jama and YouTube creator Chunkz, and with performances by Headie One feat. M Huncho, Ms Banks, Tiwa Savage and Kojey Radical, the event was conceived by creative company CC-Lab and delivered by creative agency, Satore Studio. It was streamed live on YouTube, followed by a BBC One broadcast. “CC-Lab wanted to find a new way to present the MOBOs,” reports Tupac Martir, founder and creative director of Satore Studio. “Everyone
China - Christie GS Series 1DLP laser projectors are delivering vivid and lifelike visuals in a new dome theatre located in Xiong’an New Area, a self-sufficient and sustainable city in Hebei province developed by the government to prioritize “green development and environmental protection”. Known as the Five Senses Bubble, it has a diameter of 8.5m and a height of 6.3m and is constructed using air-film reinforced concrete, while its exterior is adorned with golden spirals to create artistic effects that represent the different senses. Inside, the visuals are powered by five Christie DWU8902-GS 1DLP laser projectors fitted discreetly around the dome theatre to display highly immersive images measuring 3.2m height. The projectors are installed and commissioned by Zhongqing Yingye Group, which has been appointed the distributor of Christie’s 1DLP projection system
UK - Car Park Panto partnered with DTS Lighting for their Horrible Christmas tour that reached more than 40,000 people over 15 venues. Coalition Agency sparked considerable press coverage for their UK Christmas tour on December 2020. At the end of a very difficult year for the entertainment industry, it was thanks to the drive-in format that 40,000 people could attend this experience which played Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cardiff. The performance, inspired by the children’s book series Horrible Histories by Terry Deary, explores what lies beneath the holiday season through the story of a young boy who wants to save Christmas. DTS enthusiastically accepted the chance to participate as technical sponsor to the event where the vintage style of this format allowed the public to watch the show from the safety of their
USA - PK Sound has announced the appointment of James Oliver as chief strategy officer. Reporting directly to founder and CEO Jeremy Bridge, Oliver is responsible for ‘the development, communication, execution, and sustainment of strategic corporate initiatives’. Oliver has also joined the company’s ownership group. Oliver comes to PK Sound following a seven-year tenure with Adamson Systems Engineering, most recently serving as director of marketing and sales. Throughout that stint, he spearheaded the development of turnkey system offerings and a sglobal distribution network that led to exponential year-over-year growth for the manufacturer. “Joining PK was the easiest transition of my career. The culture of the organisation and technological advancements of the product line are completely in tune with the live events industry of tomorrow,” comments Oliver.
USA - Commercial A/V integrator Verta Technologies was recently tasked with upgrading Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama with a PA system for its sanctuary and live audio needs. Christian Tuttle, CTS, managing partner, Verta Technologies and his team turned to EAW to deliver the audio to the sanctuary. The audio upgrade included four Anna 3-way full-range ADAPTive array modules, two MKD1064 2-way full range loudspeakers, two SB825 dual drive subwoofers and one UXA4410 Greybox-enabled amplifier. Southwood Presbyterian Church’s sanctuary was originally designed for spoken word, a choir and a pipe organ with natural reverberation in mind. “The result was a beautiful 50ft vaulted ceiling with an untreated tongue-and-groove wood finish,” says Tuttle. “Over the past 20 years, Southwood’s service has evolved to include a live band, and while the sa
Brazil - One of the biggest Brazilian live DJ shows in 2020 took place in xR, as local DJ and musician Alok attracted 750,000 people to his Alive live stream in December, also clocking seven million views on YouTube. The disguise xR workflow drove the music special with a vx 4 media server and two rx platforms enabling the show to incorporate content from render engines Unreal, Unity and Notch. Alok is one of the most prominent players in the Brazilian electronic music scene. Following the cancellations of all his live shows last year, the aim of the xR live stream was to bring a fresh way of broadcasting the artist’s performance to his large fanbase. Project director Fabio Soares from OkeStudio along with TheForce invited Sao Paulo-based, full-service AV company Maxi to provide the xR workflow for the show, along with disguise workflow specialist Tito Sabatin
UK - One of the UK's longest established safari park attractions, Longleat, recently became home to a temporary spectacular seasonal experience, The Land of Light. The Land of Light was a journey through several different areas and featured a host of bespoke creations. Longleat partnered with production and hire company, Zeal, who helped design and bring to life this experience. Steve Hough, Zeal’s managing director comments: “We partnered with Longleat in May 2020 after they had to postpone their regular Festival of Light. The goal was to create a new unique experience from scratch that took consideration of coronavirus during the installation and the event itself. From there, we developed concepts and went on to design, build and produce an experience focused on stimulating the senses that allowed people to immerse themselves in real li
