Germany - Mega Audio is to take on the exclusive distribution of Point Source Audio’s products for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The distributor had been looking to add a miniature microphone brand to its portfolio having previously experienced success with this type of product and was keen to find a company that had the potential to grow substantially. “I had heard of Point Source Audio as one of the top miniature microphone manufacturers in the USA and one of the major US brands in the theatre market,” says Burkhard Elsner, CEO at Mega Audio. “When we took a closer look at their product range, we found them to be very interesting and exciting. I am very happy and proud to be able to offer this brand and its fine products as our new distribution line, it means we can now offer some new and unique products to the market. “We believe that Point Sourc
UK - AVer Europe has launched its professional conferencing system, the VC520 Pro, in the UK. The VC520 Pro has been developed by AVer Europe as a solution for various meeting room sizes, alleviating the challenges that teams face on conference calls. The VC520 Pro has an audio pickup range of 15ft and the ability to daisy-chain two additional speakerphones to reach up to 45ft, offering “ultra-clear unparalleled audio even throughout large meeting rooms”. With Sony True WDR capability, AVer Europe’s VC520 Pro offers clear and high-quality imaging even in high contrast backlit environments. With up to 1080p and 60fps even in poor lighting, the conferencing system’s 12X optical zoom with precise detail enables teams to showcase items such as products or documents live in the room on camera. The VC520 Pro’s SmartFrame technology uses face recognition to a
Norway - A 100-year old historical machine hall situated in Oslo is home to Norway’s Design & Architectural (DOGA) foundation, with DOGA responsible for facilitating collaboration between creative talents and businesses, as well as promoting innovation and new ideas on the role of design and architecture throughout Norway. The large main hall, dating back to 1898, needed a versatile and dependable system suitable for conferencing or seminar purposes - from single stage solo presentations through to larger conferencing situations, with multiple presentations held across various locations in the building. For these reasons, Shure Microflex Wireless was selected as the system of choice. The space at DOGA is 340sq.m wide and 8.5m high, which makes it a popular venue for hire when organising large conferences, seminars and parties. As a historical building steeped in
Japan - Martin Audio’s MLA Multicellular Loudspeaker Array played an important role at the Countdown Japan Festival 19/20 at the Makuhari Messe Convention Centre in Chiba. Countdown Japan is one of the biggest new year countdown music festivals in Japan, held over four days at the end of December (and leading up to the final countdown at midnight on 31 December). This major event features between 40-50 Japanese music acts per day. The main stage is the 40,000-capacity Earth Stage, while the other four stages comprise Galaxy Stage, Cosmo Stage, Moon Stage and Astro Arena (some with acts running through until New Year’s Day morning). Furthermore, a shrine is set within the venue, providing a genuine Japanese new year flavour. On the Earth Stage, 19 x Martin Audio MLA and a single MLD downfill cabinet provided the main arrays on each side of the stage, while si
South Korea - Record-breaking crowds attended Seoul Light, where Nexo’s new Geo M12 line array made its debut. Newly-purchased by audio production company Plan 24, the M12 inventory was augmented by long-time Nexo user Way Audio, which ordered Geo M modules especially for this event. Staged at the Dondaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in the centre of Seoul, the festival attracted more than a million visitors. The DDP is the centrepiece of South Korea's fashion hub and a popular tourist destination, Dongdaemun, which features a walkable park on its roofs, large global exhibition spaces, futuristic retail stores and restored parts of the Seoul fortress. The entire outer wall of the DDP building, designed by Zaha Hadid, becomes a gigantic exhibition hall during the year-end and New Year’s period (20 December - 3 January). As the sun sets and the darkness falls, a larg
UK - JoeCo’s Blackbox BBR64-Dante multitrack recorders feature in Spiritland One mobile studio set-up. The four-unit solution provides 256-channel recording and back-up capabilities so that the Spiritland Productions team can reliably capture live sound recordings over long periods of time. Created by two ex-BBC sound engineers, Antony Shaw and Gareth Iles, Spiritland One is a high-end studio on wheels, designed to go wherever live music takes it. For Shaw and Iles, inspiration struck when they took over the technical fit out and management of Spiritland Studio, King’s Cross. “When we mentioned that we would love to build something like this, the team at Spiritland jumped at the idea,” says Shaw. “The truck is designed to record and mix big live events, with a high channel count to capture sound as reliably as possible.” With the Dante network providi
Denmark - Car manufacturer Porsche launched its new electric Taycan Turbo S sports car for the Danish market at the Porsche Centre Copenhagen in January. In keeping with the electric theme, Hippotizer Media Servers powered the electrifying video-mapping of the car’s exterior at the special event, which was produced for Porsche by Capital Events. Copenhagen-based projection specialist 4K Projects, brought in by technical supplier Nordic Rentals, were responsible for the visuals. They supplied a Hippotizer Boreal+ for the playback, along with a second unit as backup. The graphics and video content was fed from a single 4K output, through a Datapath FX4, which split the output into four HD feeds. 4K Project’s production team was made up of Mikkel Samuelsen, Balder Thorrud and Rasmus Linck, who designed the video content to complement a soundtrack created by Porsche es
UK - Shure collaborated with Adlib to upgrade ACC Liverpool’s RF system. The result is a future-proofed system ready for today’s challenging RF environment. The ACC Liverpool is a conference centre situated on Liverpool’s waterfront. The event campus is an interconnected arena, convention and exhibition centre, which plays a leading role in shining a spotlight on the city. The venue has successfully staged a wide array of national and international events, from shows to conventions and business gatherings to showcase exhibitions. Welcoming more than 7.9m people through its doors since they first opened, the venue is home to a flexible layout configuration. A tiered auditorium, break-out rooms, the exhibition centre and an event arena can be split, joined, and arranged in a variety of ways. Owing to the ever-changing configuration of the building, ACC Liverp
India - With redesigned drivers, an all-new rigging system and three flexible models to choose from, JBL Professional VTX A Series line array loudspeakers are quickly becoming a favourite of live sound professionals in the Indian market. Building on the success of the venerable VTX V Series, VTX A Series loudspeakers feature several new innovations. Next-generation transducers deliver high-output performance with improved low-frequency extension. A redesigned Radiation Boundary Integrator waveguide ensures a smooth transition between mid and high frequencies. An all-new rigging system features auto-locking suspension for faster, safer and more precise deployment than ever, and the speakers’ reduced weight makes transporting them easy and efficient. “The VTX A-Series is JBL’s next-generation tour sound solution, and we’re glad to see so many industry leaders ma
Germany - Von Welt spent 18 months in the studio together, writing and producing songs, before publicly launching the band in 2015. Those hours clocked up in the studio in their home area of the Black Forest in southern Germany have produced an interesting hybrid, and it is one that translates equally well to recordings or onto the stage. “Our music is a symbiosis of alternative rock with German lyrics and modern electronic sounds,” responds Nico Kuri when asked to summarise the band’s output. Technology is clearly important to this close-knit unit whose songs and concepts almost all begin on a laptop and are produced digitally at home. Von Welt spent a year assessing which route to take towards developing a more compact and high-quality system for their live work. A friend pointed them in the direction of DiGiGrid, suggesting that it might offer them exactly what the
USA - When Nicholas DeLaCruz, founder and CEO of High Rise Production, a Memphis, Tennessee-based production company that specializes in AVL sales, installs, consultations and rentals, signed on with Beale Street Blues Company, an organisation that manages many of the music and entertainment venues in the Memphis area, he knew that updating the sound system in the B.B. King’s Blues Club would be one of his first tasks. “When I was at NAMM, I had it narrowed down to about three or four audio companies, but meeting Tarik [Solangi, RCF vice president, sales & marketing] made all the difference,” states DeLaCruz. "The RCF HDL 6-A active line array modules are sleek and they don’t take away from the atmosphere of the venue. “B.B. King’s Memphis location is a really cool, vibey place and it’s hard to throw a system in there without taking away from th
USA - Summit Woods Baptist church is a large but relatively young church in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. It moved into its first permanent sanctuary in 2004, a space that it had helped to design. Although most aspects of the 650-capacity, fan-shaped sanctuary (with room to expand to 1,000) were serving the congregation well, its acoustics and sound reinforcement were not. Their blended service style - everything from a contemporary band to choir to orchestral instruments - lacked the impact it deserved. Avoiding the expense, footprint, comb filtering, and destroyed sightlines of a line array, AV integration firm Advanced Sound & Communication, of Kansas City, Missouri, designed and installed a Danley Sound Labs system with intelligibility, pattern control that minimises the impact of the poor acoustics, and a small footprint that maintains a clear view of the video screens
Germany - For the eighth time the open-air festival Electro Magnetic took place in Germany. For the 2019 edition almost 60 DJs and live-acts performed a variety of electronic music - mainly house, techno, trance and minimal - on different floors in the UNESCO World Heritage Völklinger Ironworks, a large industrial compound, developed at the end of the 19th century. In 2019 and for the first time the Electro Magnetic Festival celebrated two nights at Völklinger Ironworks. RCF audio-systems were used on all floors. German event company TRIACS GmbH was responsible for the technical implementation of the main floor. More than 16,000 people met, dancing to the beats of big names like Carl Cox, Boys Noize or Amelie Lens, making the 2019 edition one of the biggest electro parties in GermanyKey to the event’s success were the PA systems from RCF, used throughout all floors
Australia - Event architects Moon Mother Productions, based in Melbourne, turned to Allen & Heath for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, held earlier this month, deploying a number of Qu, SQ and dLive systems to provide live and broadcast feeds across a number of sites and locations. Set in the surf town of Torquay and hosted by the 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, the four-day event consists of multiple bike races, that sees some of the world’s fastest cyclists compete across miles of scenic coastline. Stocking one of the largest hire inventories of A&H consoles and accessories in Australia, Moon Mother Productions (MMP) rely exclusively on them for a range of events, as Tim Dalton, business development manager at MMP explains, “As a very busy and growing audio company we need products that work flawlessly 100% of the time. The variety of A&
Ireland - Nestled in the glorious countryside of Southern Ireland sits the Curragh Race Course. Initially founded in the coffee rooms of Kildare, the Irish Turf Club was quickly established as the governing body for horse racing throughout Ireland. The first recorded race on the plain took place in 1727 and now Curragh is home to Ireland’s five classic races. The Curragh site has recently undergone a 65m euro redevelopment project across its entirety. Works carried out included the stable yard (featuring 135 stables) and the building of a new grandstand with a spectacular sweeping roof. Covering 10,500sq.m, the new grandstand can cater for up to 6,000 people within its four levels - in fact, the site as a whole, has a crowd capacity of 30,000. Visitor enjoyment and responsible ‘crowd’ control during any event at Curragh are equally important to the site owners an
Europe - Adlib supplied audio and lighting production for the UK dates of Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen’s ongoing Dedicated world tour. In addition, Adlib supplied a lighting and audio control package for the European leg. This is part of the ongoing live campaign for her fourth studio album of the same name. Production manager and FOH engineer Zach Snyder had not worked with Adlib before but was recommended to the Liverpool-based production specialist by their tour director, Tony Marino, who’d used Adlib before with Panic at the Disco. “It was a great decision,” states Zach, who was delighted with the service and support from Adlib. He specified an Avid S6L 24d for the FOH console and a DiGiCo SD12 for monitors which was run by Spencer Jones. Lighting designer Charles Ford chose a grandMA2 light as his control desk of choice, f
Indonesia - To deliver clear, intelligible sound for sermons and special events, AV integrator IMS Indonesia recently outfitted GSJA Bandengan Church with a Harman Professional Solutions networked audio system. Established in 1964 under the auspices of the Church of the Assemblies of God, GSJA Bandengan Church has been bringing people together for more than 50 years. Located in the heart of Jakarta, Bandengan Church hosts a variety of events including musical performances, children’s prayer conferences and special events, attracting worshipers from all age groups. The venue features a sprawling ground floor as well as a balcony with extensive seating capacity. In order to ensure pristine sound with even, balanced coverage, Bandengan Church hired AV integrators IMS Indonesia to upgrade their existing sound system with a networked audio solution featuring JBL loudspeak
UK - Sennheiser microphones and IEM systems were recently put into use at the 2020 BRIT Awards. Hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall and held at the O2 Arena in London, this year’s BRIT Awards celebrated its 40th anniversary. Britannia Row Productions, long-time audio supplier for the show, provided the requirements for the audio system. The BRITs always present challenges for the audio team led by live sound supervisor Colin Pink, and this year was no exception, with three stages and two separate flown PA systems designed by Brit Row’s Joshua Lloyd. Brit Row deployed 16 channels of Sennheiser Digital 6000 and 40 channels of 2000 series IEMs for all Sennheiser performers and presenters on the night. Stormzy, the winner of British Male Solo Artist performed a medley of his hits, and was joined by Tiana Major9 and Teni Tinks as well as choir members and danc
UK - Green Hippo has announced that David March and Ryan Brown are to take on new directorship roles at the company. Meanwhile, business unit director and former CEO Emma Marlow is to leave the company after almost seven years at the helm. During her stint, Marlow expanded the company’s international operations and oversaw the 2018 acquisition of the company by US-based Spitfire Creative Technologies. The company says in a statement: “Now that Marlow has successfully overseen the integration of Green Hippo into the Spitfire group of specialist AV brands, she will not be directly replaced. Instead, her responsibilities are being split across new roles shared by staff across the family of companies.” David March, a 30-year veteran of the entertainment lighting and video market, expands the sales and marketing role he took on last year, with his promotion to s
Canada - Frédéric Sujobert has been appointed as general manager of Solotech’s Quebec City office, effective 9 March. Under the joint leadership of Martin Chouinard, president of the live productions division, Canada, and Philip Giffard, president of the sales and systems integration division, Frédéric Sujobert will supervise operational and sales performance for the Quebec City/Saguenay region. He will also oversee the development of new business opportunities while promoting synergy across the company's two divisions. Sujobert has held various management positions over the course of his career, notably as vice-president of operations and general manager at Groupe Le Massif. “Mr Sujobert's versatility, leadership and management skills are clear assets for Solotech. We are eager to leverage his in-depth knowledge of the Quebec City area business communit
USA - When Nashville Underground first opened its doors on Lower Broadway two years ago, the four-level music venue, restaurant, bar, and event space co-owned by singer-songwriter brothers Joey and Gavin DeGraw added a new justification for Nashville’s Music City moniker. Boasting the city’s highest and largest rooftop deck - a double-level one, at that - the impressive space is also home to two kitchens, four bars, and three stages plus a DJ booth that host live music seven days a week. To bring these performances to life, Nashville Underground invested in a new L-Acoustics A Series system provided by Camarillo, California-based Rat Sound Systems. “When Nashville Underground operating partner Joshua Pemberton called me, he was looking to bring more high-calibre artists into the venue. He needed a powerful, high-fidelity sound system, but also needed it to be ea
UAE - For a recent concert performance by Indian singer, composer, actor and all-round megastar, Sonu Nigam, event production specialist Lightech AV turned again to their go-to media server solution from Green Hippo to drive the high-definition screen visuals. The show, designed in collaboration between Lightech AV and Nigam’s own team, was staged at Dubai’s World Trade Centre Arena in January. Lightech AV’s head of video Yevgeniy Karyagin chose to use two Hippotizer Boreal+ media servers as his main and backup systems. Each had a Lightware 16x16 Matrix Switcher with 4K DP Datapath capture card. “For this production, 4K input was very important,” he says. Working in conjunction with Sonu Nigam’s visual specialist and VJ, Arveen Sabharwal, Yevgeniy used the Hippotizer Boreal+ to feed a mix of custom graphics and live Imag footage, triggered from a MIDI contr
Australia - Turnkey event specialist The Music Box has purchased six of Powersoft’s T604 amplifier platforms; the latest addition to its road-tested line of touring products. Patrick Withers, national account & operations manager / production manager for The Music Box, comments: “These are the first Powersoft products we have actually purchased, although we have worked on events where they had been provided by other suppliers and event partners. We have always had a good idea of their product lines, all of which came with great reviews from our industry friends.” The original recommendation came from CX’s Jimmy Den Ouden, who works with The Music Box on events as an audio engineer. Withers says: “Basically, he was sick of pushing our extremely heavy amp racks around! We’re constantly talking about good replacements for the old amp stock and he highly re
UK - Sennheiser Sound Academy training courses for the first half of 2020 are now available to book online. Run by Sennheiser’s Andrew Lillywhite and Joe Mahoney from the Customer Development & Application Engineer (CDAE) team, the courses are designed for RF techs, AV integrators and technicians, sound engineers, designers or consultants, live event professionals, equipment resellers and apprentices, who want to further their understanding of the specific area of each course. A wide variety of courses are now available, including Wireless Mics Monitoring Essentials, held at Sennheiser UK offices in Marlow as well as at Arnolfini in Bristol; RF Best Practice for Production and Touring course in London; Wireless Audio for AV Integrators, held in Marlow and London; Audio For Meeting Rooms & Conferencing, taking place in London and Sc
