USA - Experts in hearing wellness at Sensaphonics recently held a Gold Circle Seminar in Chicago to promote hearing protection practices in the music industry. Five audiologists from across the US learned the basics of live sound production along with insights on how to help musicians and sound engineers achieve both robust stage monitoring while retaining their long-term hearing health. Sensaphonics president, Dr. Michael Santucci and sound engineering consultant Joe Tessone of Mystery Street Recording Company, led the two-day seminar. “One of the biggest issues with IEMs is that they aren’t covered in audiology school,” says Santucci. “The Gold Circle Seminar fills that gap by teaching how IEMs work, how they are used professionally, and how they can be used more safely. Where others offer vague suggestions on how to use in-ears safely, Sensaphonics remains u
UK - AV and event production company Blitz has announced that it has added the Sennheiser Digital 6000 wireless microphone series to its inventory. Blitz is also one of the first companies in the UK to add the SK6212 mini-bodypack transmitter to its inventory, meaning it now has an even greater offering for clients. Both Blitz and Sennheiser recently worked in partnership, exhibiting at this year’s ABBT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palace, and had their technical advisors on-hand to give visitors the chance to see the latest products and technology on offer and give advice to help sound designers and engineers boost the sound quality and reliability at events and shows. Aron Ross, director of sound, at Blitz, comments: “We are delighted to be one of the first production companies in the UK to be able to offer our clients the very latest in sound technology from
UK - Following a sold-old run at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Trevor Nunn’s revival of the classic Broadway Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, has taken up residence in the West End at London’s Playhouse Theatre. Sound designer Gregory Clarke was approached by Nunn to design both productions. Clarke chose to use EM Acoustics equipment throughout, based on a main Halo-C line array system supplemented by EM Acoustics’ EMS Series for the wider vocal and orchestra systems. Clarke explains that the design brief for this version of Fiddler was to create an immersive experience for the audience. “A great deal of work was done to modify the auditorium in order to transform it from a familiar West End venue into a plausible Russian village. It looks and feels wonderful but inevitably loudspeaker positions were severely limited. Halo-C was instrumental in miti
El Salvador - Atlona has appointed TelNet S.A. as its distribution partner for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. TelNet will focus on growing Atlona’s presence throughout the region’s community of IT and networking integrators. A long-time Panduit representative, TelNet has built a large customer base in the telecom and datacom markets, where the company regularly supplies and designs network infrastructure and protection systems. TelNet has also fielded inquiries from integrators active in AV-leaning verticials such as higher education. Sylvia Sierra, regional manager at TelNet S.A., comments: “We are hearing from many integrators and end users in schools and universities that want to manage their AV signals over the network, and our long-term relationship with Panduit makes Atlona a perfect fit for our business strategy. Atlona’s OmniStream AV o
UK - Beyond the four Glastonbury Festival stages on which RG Jones Engineering fielded Martin Audio systems, there was also a strong Martin Audio PA presence on the John Peel stage, The Park and Left Field, courtesy of SWG Events (SWG), who have been supplying numerous stages with sound and lighting infrastructure since 1995. For the John Peel stage, SWG sub-contracted elements of the audio supply to Martin Audio MLA partner, Stage Audio Services (SAS). The latter’s MD, Kevin Mobberley confirmed that having fielded MLA Compact previously they upgraded to the full-size MLA this time around for enhanced control, coverage and consistency. With design assistance from Simon Honywill, the main PA hangs comprised 20 MLA cabinets (10 elements flown each side) with 12 MLX subwoofers providing LF extension. Four of the popular DD12’s, positioned on the stage, focused the so
UK - Arcadia’s Pangea, described as “a primordial world of infinite possibility” promised the latest immersive AV, lighting, sonic and pyro adventure created by Arcadia Spectacular under the artistic direction of Pip Rush and Bert Cole. Technical production specialist CPL continued its working relationship with Arcadia by supplying six Barco UDX-4K32 projectors with fibre optic signal and control infrastructure for 360° projections that were integral to the show based around the 140t centrepiece of Pangea. Arcadia celebrated its 10th year at Glastonbury, having previously implanted their 50t spider stage in the hearts and minds of fans for the best part of a decade. Arcadia’s structures are built entirely in scrapped and repurposed materials. The crane, a graceful artefact of industrial architecture, was transplanted from Avonmouth Docks in Bristol, just
UK - RG Jones Sound Engineering returned to Worthy Farm following its fallow year to deploy Martin Audio systems across four major stages of the Glastonbury Festival. While Martin Audio’s flagship sound system, MLA, once again graced the Pyramid main stage as well as West Holts and the Genosys stage of Block9, Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision Longbow (WPL) made its festival debut on the new IICON stage featuring an immersive 6.1 channel surround sound system designed by Simon Honywill. The Pyramid Stage bustled with electrifying performances throughout the three-day festival, with Stormzy delivering an impassioned headline set on the Friday, followed by The Killers on the Saturday and rounded off with a nostalgic tour de force by The Cure to close out Sunday night. Other performers included Sheryl Crow, Liam Gallagher, Janet Jackson, Bastille and Kylie. Th
USA/Europe - L-Acoustics has appointed Greg Kirkland in North America and David Dohrmann in Europe to head the application and installation teams across multiple geographies. Providing location-based technical support will be central to David Dohrmann’s mission of serving installation markets. Dohrmann holds a Tonmeister sound engineering degree and his experience in the industry spans assignments as sound engineer for artists and performances across all styles, from rock to classical. As technical director for an audio manufacturer, he led a team providing support and training across the APAC region. Based in Hamburg, Germany, Dohrmann will lead application support for all installation projects in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. As the technical reference and ambassador for the fixed installation market in North America, Greg Kirkland will contribute to g
USA - With over 100,000 residents, Greeley is part of an urban corridor that populates the front range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The Greeley Ice Haus is a city-owned, indoor, all-season, multi-use skating rink. Senior AV and theatre technology consultant at K2, a Boulder-based AV consulting firm, Kevin Hodgson led the design and worked with the Denver office of Ford AV on the installation of a new sound reinforcement system at the Greeley Ice Haus. Hodgson specified Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers and subwoofers for the upgrade. “The Greeley Ice Haus seats about 1,000 people on one side of the rink, and the University of Northern Colorado team’s fans can fill it up,” Hodgson says. “The previous sound system was well over a decade old and had become increasingly unreliable after the building took a lightning strike and after years of aggressive volumes
France - Nexo’s Geo M10 Series mid-size line array is making its debut in the sporting world as part of a new fixed-installation sound system for the Stade Pierre Brisson in Beauvais, north of Paris. Systems integration company Vidélio has worked closely with Nexo’s in-house engineering team to design, specify and install the system, which will greatly enhance the match experience for 10,000 fans. The Stade Pierre Brisson is a multi-use facility, primarily hosting football matches, and serving as the home ground for AS Beauvais Oise FC. Neighbouring club Chambly FC, which has recently won league promotion, is sharing the stadium as its own ground is not yet registered for Ligue 2 games. The stadium is able to hold 10,178 spectators, in West and East facing grandstands. The time had to come to replace the aged entertainment PA system, and, from the very first
Spain - London and Dubai-based event design, technical and scenic production company Maestra Group is opening an office in Barcelona this September. The new base is being launched in response to Maestra’s increased involvement in live events across Europe, particularly in key areas of Spain, the South of France and the Italian Riviera. Maestra Barcelona will be located 20 minutes from the city centre and 10 minutes from El Prat International Airport. Company directors Tom Clements and Justin Hammond will oversee the launch. Clements comments: “Strategically, it’s a great base for servicing events across the whole of Europe and ensuring that we stay competitive and dynamic in a fast-moving world of product launches, conferences and events.” A multilingual team of seven experienced live events professionals will work across all departments at the Barcelona
South Africa - Saint Thomas Church in Linden sought to upgrade its sound, with a quality solution that would not detract from the church’s looks and not break the bank. They got their solution from DWR Distribution in the form of Quest Audio and Audix microphones. “We didn’t want it to look out of place and we did need to get better sound,” says Gift Chanza the head of Sound Ministry at Saint Thomas, “The Quest loudspeakers were exactly what we needed”. Three HPI Quest speakers were installed in the main hall. The left and right being handled by two Quest HPI8i two-way passive loudspeakers hidden within the Churches woodwork and the centre speaker, a Quest HPI111 compact loudspeaker, hangs from the middle of the ceiling. An additional White HPI5 high output loudspeaker sits in the room adjacent main hall. These speakers have the church fully covered for sou
UK - Allen & Heath’s SQ series has stepped into broadcast with TV sound supervisor, Rob Ashard, working on a number of shows such as Comedians With Friends Watching Football, Al Murray’s Great British Pub Quiz and Race To The Numbers, all of which have vastly different requirements. Ashard, who has previously worked on shows including Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and The Graham Norton Show, chose an SQ-5 - along with a Dante card and DX168 Expander for remote I/O - specifically for his work on smaller-scaled productions, where space can often be at a premium. “Every now and then a TV show comes along where you can’t park a big TV Outside Broadcast (OB) unit and the technical team build the facilities into a smaller room, or rooms, at the location and assemble a load of flight-cased gear on tables, so I needed
China - It might be called the National Centre for the Performing Arts but the Beijing facility is all about the international exchange of culture. Not surprisingly, this is a showcase for Chinese talent in opera, music, dance and ballet, theatre and Chinese traditional opera, but as important are the international festivals and the visiting performers. A centre of this importance needs to have superlative facilities in every area and recording and broadcast are no exception. In company with the vast majority of world-renowned concert halls and opera houses, the NCPA has installed a Merging Technologies solution. Pyramix and its DSD workflow is essential for recording and archiving performances, but the NCPA has determined that having the ability to record and post-produce in 5.1 is also vitally important. This further emphasizes the wisdom of choosing a Merging solut
UK - Gottwood marked its 10th anniversary with a carefully crafted programme of underground electronic music. The festival’s organisers are committed to giving its community the best possible sound and, with that in mind, called in Audio Feed (with a little help from its friends) to deliver Funktion-One systems on all 10 stages, including the first outing for Vero VX. Each stage was curated by the people behind some of the UK’s best parties and music labels, making for a varied line-up of DJ and live performances. Vero VX, which received its global launch at Prolight + Sound 2019 in April, was deployed at The Lawn - the festival’s 3,000-capacity main stage. The system featured four ground stacked Vero VX90 cabinets per side and eight V124 bass enclosures. Power came from MC2 Delta 90, Delta 100 and Delta 80 DSP Dante amps. Funktion-One founder Tony Andre
UK - The PLASA Awards for Innovation 2019 are now open for entries from PLASA Show exhibitors. Products from all sectors of the entertainment technology industry are invited to be entered for the awards by 16 August. Judged independently by a panel of industry experts, the Awards for Innovation are respected throughout the industry for recognising innovative new product design. All successful nominees will feature in the Innovation Gallery during PLASA Show from 15-17 September at London Olympia, culminating in a ceremony at the show on 16 September where the winner will be announced. Product entries must demonstrate a new style of thinking, improve technical practice and safety, introduce new technology, materials or techniques, or offer new commercial advantages. Furthermore, an Award for Sustainability is reserved for products which achieve a significant reduction
UK - Prolight Concepts Group has announced the appointment of Jeff Davenport area sales manager. Davenport will represent the company in the north of the UK including Scotland. He was previously employed as a business development manager for Hawthorn and as a UK sales manager for EMD Music. He comments: “It's a pleasure to now be representing the fastest growing supplier to the UKs event and install industry. With so many event ready products available next day from their huge stock holding, Prolight is a really exciting company to know for every size of business.” (Jim Evans)
USA - Nine-time Grammy-winning jazz songstress Norah Jones, first shot to stardom in 2002 with the release of her debut record Come Away With Me, which has sold more than 20m copies. Today, her record sales have surpassed the 50m mark and after recently completing a tour of Australia and New Zealand, she has embarked on a 24-date North American tour, where FOH engineer Jamie Landry is mixing from an SSL L500 console. The North American tour kicked off on 18 June at Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall. Although the venues can be varied, Landry says for the most part, Jones and her band tend to play in theatres. “It's a nice situation where she can do a theatre in most markets at this point; she doesn't over-reach, which means she can sell 2,000-plus tickets pretty much anywhere,” Landry explains, adding that all of the shows have been or will be sold-out. “She's real
Germany - Barbara Schöneberger released her fourth album, Eine Frau gibt Auskunft in May and has recently presented it with 10 live shows across Germany. The Event-Net GmbH from Halle (Saale) has been working for the singer since 2008 and has been a technical service provider for all tours and various individual shows. The team headed by managing director Kay Schöttner and technical department manager Mathias ‘Hein’ Schroeter was also responsible for the complete technology, the stage management and part of the tour management on this latest tour. In 2004 Event-Net was one of the first users in Germany to invest in Alcons Audio. Since then, a stock of Alcons LR14 and LR16 including BF362 subwoofers has been established in Halle and used for past Schöneberger tours. For the 2019 tour, however, they turned to the larger LR18 pro-ribbon line-array syst
The Netherlands - Dutch singer Marco Borsato performed his anthemic back catalogue to 240,000 fans over five nights at Rotterdam’s De Kuip stadium in May. His dynamic songs and enthusiastic performance style required full spectrum coverage across the entire roof-less stadium, leading the production team to the d&b audiotechnik SL-Series. Borsato is a national treasure in The Netherlands, thanks to a hit-making, multi-award-winning 20-year career. He is one of a handful of artists with the fanbase clout to play five nights at one of his country’s biggest venues - the 51,000 capacity De Kuip (which translates into English as ‘The Tub’- the affectionate nickname for the Stadion Feijenoord). Utrecht-based d&b partner Peak Audio was challenged with providing a system that could deliver full-frequency range in the demanding open-air stadium environment.
USA - Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, ZZ Top - long comprised of the classic trio of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard - are celebrating their 50th anniversary by trekking through a world tour that runs into mid-October. As a thank you to their fans in Texas, where the band got its humble start back in 1969, the tour kicked off with three consecutive shows in the Lone Star state, all of which were reinforced by Houston-based LD Systems with a long throw L-Acoustics K Series loudspeaker rig. Sharing the bill with Bad Company, and joined by opener Cheap Trick, ZZ Top performed to full crowds at Dallas’ Dos Equis Pavilion, Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, and the Austin360 Amphitheater in May, prior to heading to Europe. LD Systems audio crew chief and systems engineer Julian Gates, who expresses his appreciation for S
UK - Production company SFL has just completed the AV requirements for Christopher Wheeldon’s staging of Cinderella by the English National Ballet (ENB) and The Royal Albert Hall, staged at the RAH. “The project was 18 months in the planning,” explains SFL director, Craig Lawrence. “ENB’s technical director, George Thomson, was looking to stage a large-scale production in-the-round. The production required many different changes of scene and the use of projection seemed the obvious answer. English National Ballet had never worked with projection on such a large scale before so turned to SFL to provide that experience.” In the early planning stages, SFL was appointed as technical provider, tasked with designing and installing the AV infrastructure, utilising content provided by projection designer Daniel Brodie, which not only created incredible atmo
Sweden - Astro Spatial Audio (ASA) has appointed Audile Electroacoustics AB as its official solutions partner for Sweden. Audile will provide training and support whilst spearheading the expansion of Astro Spatial Audio’s brand-independent immersive audio technology into the country's entertainment sector. “Our experience with these kinds of systems and the sonic evaluation of our trusted customers have all been clear that this is the best sounding platform on the market,” explains Mikael Collin, sales and project manager at Audile. “More or less all of the larger venues will be investing in this kind of technology to cope with future demands from productions so the number of possible installs over time is huge. We already have a lot of requests for demos.” “We are both delighted and honoured to welcome Audile into our global family,” said Graham Mu
South Africa - Splitbeam, the theatre division of rental company Gearhouse, has invested in a DiGiCo SD7T supplied by DWR, DiGiCo’s distributor for the territory. “Bad sound is as detrimental to a production as an actor forgetting their lines,” says Splitbeam’s MD, Alistair Kilbee. “Good sound feels natural, never taking away from what is happening on stage but supplementing it, giving the sound for the ears to match what the eyes see for the magic of theatre to take place. “Mixing sound is the art of balance - balancing what comes out of the speaker to transform a noise into a recognisable piece of information that feels good to experience. This is where the gear becomes important. Having a console capable of not merely handling the show, but orchestrating it, the engineer acting as the conductor for the sounds, matching, mixing and blending them to becom
