Spain - Occupying a downtown location just a stone’s throw from the famous Passeig de Gracia, the Khalijia Lounge & Restaurant is Barcelona’s newest nightspot with an oriental twist. Offering everything from Lebanese and Moroccan-inspired food to exotic cocktails coupled with live music, Khalijia aims to cater for a discerning clientele that appreciates quality at every level. Barcelona-based AV systems integration specialists, Silence Electroacústica S.L., were commissioned to design and install the audio, lighting and DMX control systems throughout the new venue. Silence opted for a KV2 Audio system based on the EX Series of active loudspeakers. From an audio perspective, the system needed to handle a wide spectrum of requirements, from extremely high quality, low level music reproduction for the lunchtime and early evening crowds going right through to high
USA - Chicago-based Charles Ford and his business partner Brandon Clark from Creative Live Control have developed a professional streaming production service - lighting, audio, cameras and broadcast - that meets all the social distancing requirements, can be installed and run by the two of them. While the challenges of producing special high impact lighting for community lighting projects like Chicago Unite at Night have been stimulating and fun, Charles and Brandon also need to generate some business as all their touring work has currently been cancelled, so they hit on the idea of the professional live streaming service. The living room of Charles’ condo has been transformed into a pop-up studio space and after a couple of test runs, there is a queue of local artists lined up to visit and use the facilities. Brandon completed all the networking, intern
Albania - Headquartered in Tirana, ASLV (Albanian Sound, Lighting and Video) has operated nationwide since 2013 and, with its team provides sound, lighting, video, staging and structures, as well as creative technical solutions for concerts, festivals, theatre and opera productions, key corporate events, expos and more throughout the country. Specialist services also include consultation and design. Recently appointed as exclusive Outline distributor for Albania, following its corporate policy of ensuring its clients equipment that is technically the best for perfectly meeting their requirements, ASLV has also taken delivery of an Outline Superfly Silver audio package, one of the three turnkey set-ups conceived in recent months by the Italian audio manufacturer. Superfly loudspeaker systems have a true three-way (HF-MF-LF) design, but the dual high-efficiency 10” tra
UK - Seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War in Europe, London’s Royal Albert Hall (RAH) hosted We’ll Meet Again for VE Day 75 with Katherine Jenkins to honour those who gave their lives so that subsequent generations could come to know peace and freedom. Event production supplier, SFL provided the audio and video production for the live performance. The event was organised by TBI Media and Snappin’ Turtle Productions, both long-standing clients of SFL. With the world overcast by the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, the SSAFA armed forces charity and The Mayor of London joined together with the noted London venue, brought the nation together by offering an authentic musical experience. For the first time since The Blitz, the RAH stood empty for an event, but its true life force - the audience - were able to enjoy the performance of Welsh m
UK - Audiologic has reappointed Diogo Scutti as application support engineer. Scutti returns to Audiologic after spending three years as project engineer with SSE, a position that involved complete responsibility for system design alongside a focus on developing exceptional standards of interface management. Over his 20-year career, Scutti has played a major role in both live production and systems integration in many world-famous events and locations, including the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. “It is with great pleasure and delight that we welcome Diogo back into the business,” comments Ben Spurgeon, senior application engineer at Audiologic. “Diogo’s experience in large-scale projects and expansive system design will help to push our technical offering even further and we are thrilled to have him back on
Australia - Assistive living specialist Contacta has appointed Exertis ProAV Australia, part of Stampede and Exertis ProAV, to serve as its value distribution partner to drive sales of its hearing loop and speech transfer systems in Australia and New Zealand. In announcing the appointment, Exertis ProAV Australia president & CEO Kevin Kelly credits the hard work of Exertis ProAV Australia general manager Nick Cocks in forging the new distribution agreement. “Nick’s 17 years of industry experience played a major role in reaching this agreement with Contacta, a market leader in providing assistive living solutions, and this was a top priority of the company.” Amplifying Kelly’s point, Nick Cocks notes: “As a new player in the market with a strong global presence we want to create long term supplier partnerships as a base for our business. We select the com
USA - XR Studios leveraged the latest technology from disguise to bring the future of broadcast to primetime American television when Katy Perry performed her new single Daisies on the season finale of American Idol. The project relied on the collaboration between the creative and technical teams led by XR Studios, with content by Silent Partners Studio using Notch VFX, direction by Silent House Productions and PRG North America as the production vendor. “Started on the #AmericalIdol stage, ended up in a whole new world,” as Katy Perry wrote on her Instagram, the performance has since been watched by over 9m viewers around the globe with over 2m Youtube hits on top of the 7.3m strong viewers on the night. “Having disguise for delivery of this content was crucial. There's simply no other solution out there that I would trust with this,” says JT Ro
USA - Harman Professional Solutions has added 10 free Live Workshops to its Learning Sessions programme in conjunction with Harman Professional University. Scheduled through mid-June, the workshops feature lighting or audio experts who have extensive industry knowledge and experience working with various acts including Earth, Wind & Fire, Janelle Monáe, Lea Michele, Mary Mack, Rae Sremmurd, Rebelution, Sublime with Rome, Tabula Rasa Opera, Tegan and Sara, The Avalanches, Tinashe and others. The sessions now open for registration include: Transitioning Between Studio and Live Environments with Mike Sutherland (2 June), Soundcraft Vi1000 Basic Training with Gabriel Le Roux (3 June), Headroom of a Sound System with Jan van Zyl (4 June), Soundcra
UAE - ARX Systems has announced that Gala Electronics will now handle the distribution of ARX products for the entire Gulf region. Appointed in 2019 as ARX distributors for the United Arab Emirates only, Gala Electronics will now expand their reach to supply Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. With a head office located in Dubai, Gala Electronics is the pro audio division for the AVISS Group of Companies and has, in a short space of time, established itself as one of the leading players for providing professional audio and video solutions in the region. Owner of Gala Electronics, Sanjeev Singh, commented on the new agreement: “At Gala, we have vast experience in designing audio systems for all types of projects and since we took on the ARX brand last year we have been very pleased with the positive response from our market. Expanding our di
Indonesia/China - Generation AV, the company that represents Martin Audio in the APAC countries, has appointed two new distributors to target key markets in Asia. PT Goshen Swara Indonesia has become the exclusive distributor for Indonesia, while Guangzhou Guidance AV Technology Ltd Co will add to Martin Audio’s distribution network in China. Headquartered in Jakarta, PT Goshen is a well-established distribution company, with representation right across the country. “They are a great fit for Martin Audio as they cover all the vertical markets we work in - from touring/rental to all the installation markets,” explains Generation AV founder Dave McKinney. “PT Goshen’s MD, Cunario Suriya leads a terrific team of people, and sales director, Franky Cahyadi runs a highly motivated sales force. They have a highly capable technical team that will be able to provide
Belgium - The 150-year-old Koningklijke Stadschouwburg (Royal City Theatre) is the largest and most prestigious of five venues managed by Cultuur Centrum Brugge (CC Brugge) in the historic Belgian city. In late 2019 the organisation invested heavily in new Yamaha digital mixing systems for all venues, with eight CL and QL series digital mixing consoles, associated I/O racks and Ethernet switches installed on new Dante networks. Opened in 1869, the 700-seat Koninklijke Stadschouwburg was originally designed as an elite temple of culture. Nowadays, together with the Magdalenazaal, De Biekorf, Daverlo and De Dijk theatres, it welcomes a diverse audience to a variety of modern theatre, live music, dance, seminars, movies, presentations and much more. Philip Van Loo of PVL Sound & Light BV is a long-time supplier, consultant and project manager for CC Brugge. He i
USA - American Audio’s APX12 GO BT is a self-contained portable audio system designed for playing music and making announcements ‘absolutely anywhere’. Combining a 12” speaker cabinet, class D amplifier, internal battery, on board media player with Bluetooth and wireless mic receiver, it offers ‘a complete audio system in one easy to transport package’. With a sleek moulded plastic design and matte black finish, the speaker enclosure is fitted with a tough protective metal grille on its front. It features a 12” woofer with a 1.5” voice coil paired with a 1” high frequency driver. An internal Class D module provides 65 Watts RMS of amplification for a peak power output of 200 Watts. The system has a frequency response of 40Hz-18KHz and a sensitivity of 93 +/- 2 dB. The APX12 GO BT’s internal 700mA 12V battery allows up to eight hours of use from a si
Italy - Powersoft has released new plug-ins supporting Mezzo Series and its non-DSP install dedicated amplifier platforms ranges for the Q-SYS and Crestron control ecosystems. These free-to-download plug-ins allow for user friendly network-based control of amplifier functionality via third-party systems. They feature ‘a refined, modern-looking interface, extended functionality, and a high level of user customisability, compared to legacy plug-ins for the format’. In addition, a new Q-SYS plug-in supporting DSP+D versions of Duecanali, Quattrocanali, Ottocanali, X and T series is slated for release this summer with brand new functionality. “Powersoft enables wide-ranging control and configuration of our amplifiers through our own ArmoníaPlus software, but we are also committed to ensuring interoperability with other popular control ecosystems,” says Micha
The Netherlands - punQtum B.V., specialist providers of digital communication tools for the live event and professional audio industry, has announced a series of webinars in order to communicate more effectively with potential customers as face-to-face contact continues to remain restricted for the immediate future. Starting with an introductory session on 3 June at 11:00 CEST, followed by a session on 8 June at 11:00 CEST that explains the punQtum Expert concept and how to become one, the full schedule plus registration details can be found on the punQtum website. The first webinar, punQtum Digital Intercom, is designed as a company overview as well as a demo of punQtum’s first product, the Q110 Beltpack. The Q110 is the first element of a larger networked intercom system that offers up to 32 party lines via standard IP networks and infrastructures. Providing
The Netherlands - 013 is one of the largest and most frequented pop music venues in the southern Netherlands, hosting a slew of international touring acts and popular festivals every year. Now, it features venue-wide live audio systems from Adamson Systems Engineering. Located in the city of Tilburg in the southern province of North Brabant, 013 Poppodium is comprised of the 3,000-capacity Main Stage and 700-capacity NEXT Stage. Following a substantial overhaul in 2015, both spaces boasted custom audio reinforcement solutions from Adamson Systems Engineering, sourced via the company’s exclusive Dutch distributor, Audio Acoustics. More recently, however, 013 augmented its Main Hall system with new components from Adamson’s flagship E-Series and sub-compact S-Series for a more consistent and impactful performance to benefit patrons and visiting productions alike.
Malta - Powerhouse, a Malta-based integrator specialising in lighting, sound, projection and custom-built staging, began working with AV Stumpfl in 2009. For the past year, Powerhouse has been using Vario64 projector screens throughout its projects and recommending them to clients. Currently, Powerhouse has seven different Vario64 screens in total, including: an 8.3m x 3.7m model, a 12m x 4m model, and a 5.2m x 2.8m model. “What is unique about the Vario series is its robust and durable frame and surface, without compromising on ease of set up or mobility,” says Justin Portelli, Powerhouse’s operations manager. “It’s a design that has considered not only the visual aspects of projection screens, but also the practical build aspect. It takes half the time and workforce to set up compared to what we used previously.” When AV Stumpfl entered the rental and sta
Denmark - DPA Microphones has introduced the latest addition to its microphone line-up, the 4097 Core Micro Shotgun Microphone. Featuring the same sonic qualities as the brand’s supercardioid Choir Microphone, the 4097 Core Micro Shotgun has been optimised to pick up speech from a distance. Incorporated into the company’s new 4097 Core Interview Kit, the mic has been designed for use with a lightweight boom and windjammer. This kit is particularly useful for journalists in today’s socially distanced world as it allows users to conduct interviews from up to two meters (6.5 feet) away. It is a plug and play solution that allows users to get started quickly and employ their existing workflows, says the company. The kit features one each of DPA’s new 4099 Cold Shoe Mount, which incorporates a one-quarter-inch thread; DPA MicroDot cable; transmitter plate; lightwei
Thailand - The newly opened Rosewood Bangkok Hotel features a building-wide networked AV system featuring Harman Professional Solutions components. Completed and opened in 2019, the Rosewood Bangkok features a striking modern architectural design that evokes the image of two palms pressed together in the traditional wai greeting. The 30-story tower in the heart of downtown Bangkok contains 159 guest rooms, each with a private terrace and plunge pool. The complex also features two spaces for events and functions: the 3,400sq.ft Pavilion, which can accommodate up to 300 guests or be divided into two separate spaces, and the 1000sq.ft Ploenchit Boardroom. Throughout, The Rosewood Bangkok deployed a range of JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers, BSS signal processors, AMX AV and control systems and Martin Professional lighting solutions. “A venue such as
USA - For more than half a century, Atlanta’s Mount Paran Church has been celebrated by the evangelical world as a beacon of effective ministry and engaged, growing membership, evidenced by its 13,000-plus-member congregation. Mount Paran is forward-thinking when it comes to the technology it uses to communicate its message, a point that was clearly underscored by its recent distinction as the first house of worship to install a sanctuary loudspeaker system built upon L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology. “Good sound is one of the most essential elements in today’s churches, and achieving consistent, engaging audio throughout an entire worship space is mission-critical so that the congregation has a shared community experience,” says Tim Corder, strategic accounts director - house of worship for Diversified, the technology solutions provider that delivered the project.
UK - The Salute the NHS campaign (www.salutethenhs.org) was launched by businessmen Ron Dennis and food and catering expert Nigel Harris, owner of Absolute Taste and former owner of Fresh Direct. It is a not-for-profit initiative that aims to deliver a million free meals to NHS frontline workers over three months. Delivering the initiative has brought together an army of experts and partners from leading food, logistics, packaging and other specialists. These include Dennis’s DreamChasing charity, and three FTSE 100 companies - Tesco, Unilever and DS Smith. As well as Absolute Taste, Yodel, Team Rubicon, Hunter Design and Domestic & General, amongst others. The operation is housed in a former WW2 RAF hanger at the Bicester Heritage site in Oxfordshire. However, it became apparent that the vast space felt daunting for the volunteers from the Bicester community, w
USA - Visix has released version 1.32 of their AxisTV Signage Suite digital signage software with a new Voice Recogniser Widget that turns any screen into a hands-free interactive sign. AxisTV Signage Suite users can drag and drop the new Voice Recognizer Widget (VRW) onto any layout, then set custom parameters that instruct the sign what to listen for and how to respond to requests. It can be used on single displays, banks of screens and video walls in any environment. “Clients no longer have to depend on touchscreens for interactivity, which is especially important in this time of concern about germ transmission,” says Jill Perardi, creative services manager for Visix. “Just as people got used to using touchscreens because of smartphones, they’re now starting to expect a voice user interface like they use with their virtual assistants at home. Now anyone with
The Netherlands - Rental company MHB developed a digital audience platform for MediaLane, based on a curved LED display consisting of ROE Visual Diamond LED panels, to enable a TV show continue under COVID-19 restrictions. With the help of the facilities provided by, MHB, broadcast station BNNVARA was able to continue the popular television programme Even Tot Hier in a corona-proof adaptation. MHB set out to develop a digital audience platform, enabling live interaction between the studio and an audience of 100 people. Using lots of conference connections, the audience is able to participate and intervene live during the show, just like a normal live audience in the studio would be able to. The curved display, measuring 17mx3m, makes the interaction “up close and very natural”. Supported from a custom-made truss construction, neatly following th
UK - Manchester-based Sterling Event Group has opened the doors to the newly-created Sterling Studio. As the events and AV industries face increasing uncertainty as to when ‘business as usual’ will resume and live events can take place again, Sterling Event Group has announced the launch of the Sterling Studio Space. This comes at an instrumental time for the industry as Sterling works to reassure their clients that there are a multitude of alternatives to the traditional live event, says the company. “At this current time whilst live events are on hold, we wanted to offer our clients a solution to continue communicating, engaging, educating and entertaining. The studio allows clients to present their virtual events at the same high standard and production values they would expect from a live event.” comments Richard Bowden, founder and MD. As a company
Mongolia - To elevate its venue quality sound and provide guests a memorable clubbing experience, Eon Clublex Ulaanbaatar recently upgraded to a new Harman Professional audio solution. Eon Clublex Ulaanbaatar is Mongolia’s biggest nightclub and features modern facilities. It consists of the main hall, a VIP lounge and a first-floor lounge. To further enhance the guest experience, the club entrusted ITC Solutions to deliver a premium audio system that provides exceptional sound performance. “The venue needed a robust audio system that delivers even sound coverage and produces a high-end clubbing atmosphere,” said a spokesperson at ITC Solutions. “We wanted a partner that could set up an ideal audio solution and extend reliable customer service post-installation - that’s why we chose Harman.” Meeting the club’s audio expectations, ITC Solutions deplo
