USA - Based in the foothills of Colorado’s Pike’s Peak, Charis Bible College is the main Woodland Park campus of a Christian school that has more than 70 extension and satellite locations around the globe. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Wommack Ministries, the college’s latest major development is the completion of the Auditorium, a new 3,200-seat worship, performance, and teaching space that now serves as the heart of the picturesque campus and will soon host Charis’ 25th anniversary festivities this September. For the design and installation of the 150,000sq.ft auditorium’s audio, video, and lighting systems, Charis once again turned to Franktown, Colorado-based HOW systems integrator AcousTech, which installed three KLANG:vier immersive IEM mixing systems as part of the project. According to Roland Dutzmann, AcousTech’s president and founder, he had planned t
South Africa - Puleng Maponyane, the director of Ventso Productions, has recently purchased a DiGiCo S21 and D Rack from DWR Distribution. The purchase was followed up with one-on-one training presented by Kyle Robson from DWR. “The training not only strengthened my knowledge, but Kyle showed me some advanced options that have really solidified my investment in the console,” says Maponyane. “I have admired Kyle’s work for many years now and having him teach me some of the more specialised actions has been really cool, he really knows his stuff.” “Puleng’s work ethic and attitude is amazing,” adds Robson. “He is a talented young man and came in wanting to know more. The S21 is a perfect match for Ventso Productions, and with this kind of passion, we can’t wait to see what the future holds.” (Jim Evans)
Poland - Audio rental operation Target Sound has expanded its inventory with a major investment in Outline products, including GTO, C-12, Mantas 28, Superfly, X8 amplifiers and the Newton FPGA processor. Based in the southern Polish city of Chorzów, Target Sound is one of Poland’s largest full-service production companies, providing lighting, staging, multimedia and audio for a variety of events including conferences, live music, festivals and TV. The company is also an L-Acoustics K1 partner and owns a complete inventory of L-Acoustics products. Target Sound’s owner Adam Guzdek describes his reasons for adding Outline: “We chose to make a large investment in Outline products for several reasons. Their systems are characterised by incredible precision in reproducing sound, with unprecedented SPL - the musicality of each of their products is overwhelming, a
USA - Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania has completed the first phase of upgrading its park-wide audio systems. Located in the bottom of an abundantly green valley formed by two converging streams that flow through the very heart of the park, Knoebels is America’s largest free-admission amusement park, with over 60 rides, award winning food, swimming in its 900,000 gallon Crystal Pool, games, and gift shops. Visitors can also enjoy golf at Knoebels’ Three Ponds Golf Course. Drew Kanaskie, Knoebels’ audio technician, was in charge of the project from conception to implementation, with design assistance provided by Moyer Electronics of Pottsville, PA. Kanaskie explains: “The audio upgrade is planned for completion over several years of off-season projects. The first phase of the upgrade was to replace our aging 70-volt system, with a new system that
Belgium - In the heart of Brussels, private members’ bar Impérial oozes with charm and the underground cool of a turn of the last century speakeasy. The vintage atmosphere and jazzy vibe that draws guests in, however, integrates a full, leading edge, AV solution with TiMax SoundHub and dcontrol central to the immersive environment, realised from concept by design and installation integrator, FACE Projects. The vision of Carl de Moncharline, owner and manager of several successful Brussels venues was for an ‘immersive environment creating spherical sound experiences’, as well as a stylish lighting system in keeping with the historical façade and vintage ambience of the venue, that was versatile enough for live jazz concerts, a DJ clubbing experience, or even as a cocktail bar. The challenge to create this in a low-ceiling and small, 300sq.m space fell to long term and
UK - The summer classical concert season is in full swing at a range of heritage sites across Britain. The Proms in the Castle in the grounds of Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire was an evening of music with the West Yorkshire Symphony that took place at the end of June and was witnessed by a capacity crowd of 2,000 people. Local full-service production company, Sound & Light UK, put an EM Acoustics HALO-A large format line array system through its paces for the first time on a live outdoor event. SLUK has been looking after the event since 2015 with an active system that required covered PA towers to protect the internal electronics. The client was extremely nervous about changing the system which, according to SLUK’s Chris Bottomley, had always done the job well enough, but as he pointed out, the opportunity to put HALO-A on the event was too good to miss.
UK - The beautiful surroundings of the Royal Botanic Gardens in south-west London, better known as Kew Gardens, provided the location for the facility’s annual six-day music festival Kew The Music. Now a consolidated part of London’s summer festival tapestry, and with the world’s biggest Victorian glasshouse as the imposing backdrop, it is the quintessential summer event. For the past five years rental company, Capital Sound, and its loudspeaker partner, Martin Audio, have enjoyed a growing presence on the site. Working with promoter, Stuart Galbraith from Kilimanjaro Live, and production manager, LarMac Live director Ian Greenway, Capital Sound again fielded Martin Audio’s MLA for audiences of 8,000 who arrived to see headliners, including Lewis Capaldi, Rick Astley, Garbage, Craig David and Billy Ocean. To provide balanced audio coverage, Capital had t
For 11 years, DiGiCo has supported the Montreux Jazz festival. At this year’s event, the company introduced its latest product development, the new SD7 Quantum console, and the 32-bit ‘Ultimate Stadius’ microphone pre-amp and DAC analogue output cards. In 2019, DiGiCo consoles were installed at all of the festival’s major sites, each fitted with the new 32-bit I/O cards, whilst SD7 Quantum consoles were installed at FOH and monitor position at the flagship venue, Stravinski Auditorium. An SD7 Quantum was also installed in the demo/prep room, a facility DiGiCo provides each year, for visiting engineers to come and explore the new developments. As well as the two SD7 Quantum consoles, the system specified for the Stravinski Auditorium included four SD-Racks and two SD-Mini Racks. Festival highlight Janet Jackson performed her much-anticipated headline show at Stra
Spain - DAS Audio systems returned for the second year to the eighth edition of the Paellas Festival Live 2019 in Alicante. Located at the 200,000sq.m Rabasa Multispace facility near the university, the Paellas Festival offers uninterrupted live music, gastronomy and entertainment from 10am to 9pm to a 30,000-strong audience. Oxigen Sonido e Iluminación was in charge of the installation of the systems in the venue. A main system of 28 Aero-40A was enhanced with 12 Aero-20A for out-fill, eight Aero-40A for front-fill, 24 Aero-40A for delay and 16 UX-221A subwoofers. The audio challenges faced in this edition were different from last year´s since the festival has shifted from being a multi-stage event to focusing on a single stage. On this occasion, the objective was to achieve uniform coverage and high intelligibility all over the audience areas, as well as delivering
Germany - A Yamaha audio and control solution has been installed at the multi-purpose conference room of regional German newspaper Eßlinger Zeitung. The paper publishes in print and online, as well as having an online television channel (ES-tv), YouTube and social media presence. Used for meetings, presentations, interviews, staff and media briefings, the new conference room needed a flexible, high-quality AV system, which could be easily controlled by any member of staff. events creative GmbH - based in nearby Hochdorf and with over 25 years in the AV installation and live production business - was asked to design and install the system. Managing director Markus Zimmer specified a Yamaha solution based on the MTX3 matrix processor and the MCP1 advanced surface-mount control panel, because it could deliver flexible control as well as high quality sound. With up
Australia - After months of anticipation and secrecy, Halo - the light and sound experience designed specifically for Townsville, a coastal city in north eastern Queensland - has opened. Created and produced by Sydney-based AGB Events, Halo transforms Castle Hill, the natural ‘halo’ that hovers above Townsville. Presented by the Townsville City Council, Halo runs in conjunction with the inaugural North Australian Festival of Arts, and has been made possible through the support of the Australian Government’s Building Better Regions Fund. “Townsville City Council wanted to create something highly memorable that would truly mesmerise and captivate the public’s imagination,” says Anthony Bastic, CEO and creative director of AGB Events. “We were thrilled and honoured to be asked to undertake such a prestigious and challenging project. We’re de
UK - Britannia Row Productions continued a busy summer of festivals and tours with a packed roster at Glastonbury 2019. The audio rental company supplied PA and control to the British festival’s Arcadia stage - this year named Pangea - and teamed up with US partner Clair Global to supply bespoke control and monitor packages for a host of major acts, including headliners The Cure. Arcadia, through its Spider and Metamorphosis spectaculars, has earned a reputation for wildly creative, multi-sensory experiences. This year, Pangea - a towering crane structure loaded with dazzling projections, a plethora of pyrotechnics and vivid lighting designs - created a ‘blank canvas in the sky’. The Arcadia team has worked with L-Acoustics for a number of years, and following a recommendation from the loudspeaker manufacturer, Britannia Row was appointed as the 2019 audio
UK - The Broadway hit Come From Away landed in London’s Phoenix Theatre this February. The heart-warming production focuses on the kindness and fortitude of the residents of Gander, Newfoundland; a small Canadian town that welcomed 38 planes full of passengers in the wake of the Federal Aviation Administration closing American airspace on 9/11. The production also marked the first d&b Soundscape show in London’s West End. An auspicious debut, the sound design provided by Gareth Owen, along with associate sound designer Russell Godwin and production sound engineer Andy Green won Best Sound Design at the 2019 Olivier Awards. Using d&b Soundscape, Owen was able to overcome one of the major challenges of a show that features a 12-strong ensemble cast with actors playing multiple characters, often in the same scene: As he explains: “There are so many
UK - Technical production company Maestra Group has launched a scenic division. Based at Maestra’s London HQ, Maestra Scenic will offer services including CNC, carpentry and joinery, fabrication and engineering, painting and finishing as well as integration of other technical detailing - such as lighting, video or audio - into scenic fabrication projects. The new division will employ a team of 20 full-time staff, who will be led by director of production Mark Davies, former director of technical operations at the National Theatre and sales director at Stage One Creative Services. Davies comments: “The goals for good scenic companies are about meeting and then exceeding client expectations in all aspects - quality and build, finishing, being on-budget and ease of installation. It is essential to have the right people and processes all working harmoniously and with
USA - Wisconsin’s Summerfest runs over 11 days in late June and early July each year. Over 700,000 people flock to Milwaukee’s Lake Michigan shoreline to watch more than 800 top artists and bands perform on a dozen stages, earning Summerfest its double-decade-running Guinness World Record title as The World’s Largest Music Festival. The technical challenges behind providing sound reinforcement for such a massive event are numerous, but locally based Clearwing Productions - Summerfest’s long-time primary production partner - keeps the festival roaring like a well-tuned Harley-Davidson engine. According to Clearwing Audio operations and logistics manager Jeff Schauer, a big part of that success has been the company’s now-five-year standardisation on DiGiCo FOH and monitor mixing consoles for all of Henry W. Maier Festival Park’s stages, including this
Thailand - One of Thailand’s largest financial institutions, the TMB (formerly the Thai Military Bank), has recently undergone an audio transformation of its multi-purpose auditorium, centred on an Allen & Heath dLive mixing system. The seventh floor of TMB’s Bangkok headquarters houses the 500-seat auditorium, used for functions and meetings, interspersed with live performances. Due to the size and shape of the venue, a highly flexible and easy to use audio system was required. TMB enlisted the services of Allen & Heath’s Thai distributor, Sonos Libra (in conjunction with Multiline Professional), to deliver a solution. The installation comprises a dLive C3500 surface, a DM0 MixRack fitted with a Dante card, four DX164-W wall-mounted expanders and an IP1 remote controller. Located in a discrete control room positioned at the back of the auditorium,
Norway - Stavernfestivalen is a summer music festival that takes place in Stavern. It began on the town’s southern shoreline in 2001 as a one night, four band event with an audience of less than 200 and has subsequently grown over the years into a major three-day gathering, featuring an international line-up and attracting more than 30,000 people. The 2019 line-up incorporated a wide range of music styles and featured leading international acts such as Swedish House Mafia, Travis Scott, Bastille and G-Eazy. Oslo-based rental company G Production was engaged by the organisers to supply audio for the festival’s Club Stage as well as the VIP Stage and elected to deploy their new Pioneer Pro Audio XY-3B system, recently acquired from lNorwegian distributor First Audio. John Moss of G Production added the system to his company’s inventory having been impressed
USA - Theatrical sound reinforcement and installation company Masque Sound has announced the launch of its Production Services division (MPS). The newly created division provides equipment rentals and production services for live and recorded events for clients outside of Masque Sound’s Broadway theatre productions business. MPS serves shorter term events such as concerts, TV shows, corporate presentations, galas and a range of special events. The idea of creating MPS began when Masque Sounds’ Matt Dale and AJ Nittoli were providing production services and equipment for a Meyer Sound demonstration in South Carolina. In between system tunings, the duo discussed the possibility of Masque Sound providing services like these as a separate business entity. The concept took off from there, and it is becoming a major growth area for the company. Masque’s Production Ser
UK - As the contract for the Hyde Park festival site comes up for renewal, all involved in the production of Barclaycard presents British Summer Time can reflect on seven glorious years at a location that had previously been considered unworkable and unviable. That promoters AEG Live have proven otherwise is due in no small part to the role of their technical contractors, including Capital Sound - whose deployment of the Martin Audio MLA multicellular loudspeaker array technology had proven under test conditions its ability to meet required propagation thresholds, both inside the bowl and beyond the perimeter. Monitored by acoustics consultants Vanguardia, as it has been every year, MLA - optimised using Martin Audio’s proprietary advanced DISPLAY software - was equal to a wide range of performance over the two weekends - extending from Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion
Singapore - AVL Direct has been appointed for rental sales channels for dBTechnologies, part of the RCF Group, while Loud Technologies Asia continues with installation channels and service centre support. Long-term dBTechnologies partner Loud Technologies Asia continues to service the installation and SI channels and officially takes on the service centre role for Singapore, while AVL Direct under the helm of Colin Oliveiro has been appointed to service the rental sales channels. VIO, DVA and other touring boxes require very specialised expertise and a company familiar with the unique needs of the touring market and AVL Direct ticks all the boxes, says the company. “We are happy to partner with a manufacturer that values long term relationships and considers the perception of the customers in the long term,” says Colin Quek, managing director for Loud Technol
USA - The Who are currently between legs of their 2019 Moving On! Tour, which finds them joined by a local orchestra in each city to present different takes on classics and deep cuts from their extensive catalogue. The Who are carrying a sizeable Adamson E-Series system provided by Cleveland, OH’s Eighth Day Sound. Chris ‘Chopper’ Morrison, who shares FOH duties with The Who’s long-time engineer, Robert Collins, says that while this is the band’s first full outing to carry an Adamson system, the choice was informed by previous experiences with the E-Series on one-off and festival dates. “We’ve done a few festivals in Europe the last few years and took note that, if it was an Adamson E-Series rig, it always sounded great. We never had to fiddle with the EQ or anything too much and Robert was always really happy,” the engineer reports. “I knew it would
USA - Like a scene from Star Wars or Blade Runner set in the middle of Brooklyn, Jupiter Disco is a refuge for intergalactic bounty hunters, replicants, and thirsty, trend-setting New Yorkers. Celebrated mixologists Maks Pazuniak and Al Sotack opened Jupiter Disco with inspiration drawn from their mutual love of dystopian science fiction. Danny Taylor, from House Under Magic, designed the sound system for Jupiter Disco, relying on his long history with Danley Sound Labs’ technologies to give the bar impactful, detailed sound with a “grills-off” aesthetic that fits the theme. “This is Maks and Al’s passion project in a scene filled with taste-makers who are very enthusiastic, but also very critical,” explained Taylor. “Sure, they had to put money into it to pull it off, but the real key to Jupiter Disco’s success is their genuine passion. T
Malaysia - Malaysiato’s new Fo Guang Shan Hsing Ma Buddhist Temple recently opened in its southernmost city of Johor Bahru. At its core is a soaring Main Shrine Hall, capable of accommodating more than 1,000 people. The Fo Guang Shan Chinese International Buddhist monastic order is well-known for its use of world-class technology in its temples across the world, including New Zealand, Canada and the UK, and the new Johor Bahru branch is no exception. Its size, shape and materials presented acoustic challenges, leading the technology team to a permanently installed d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker and amplification solution. Kuala Lumpur-based Chan Lee Sound and Light was first on the scene to identify a system that would fit the bill. Having served as Fo Guang Shan’s rental contractor for a number of years, Chan Lee Sound has used d&b systems on several of the
Germany - Lawo has announced the expansion of its executive management board. Effective since 15 July 2019, Jamie Dunn serves as Lawo’s chief commercial officer. Phil Myers is appointed chief technology officer. Both are joining CFO and director of the executive board Claudia Nowak, COO Ulrich Schnabl, CSCO Christian Lukic and CEO Philipp Lawo, who is still on medical leave. “This development reflects the continuous execution of our growth strategy and is a natural step in the evolution of our company’s structure. Building strong partnerships based on staying close and accessible has been a core value of the company since its foundation. My new role recognizes the importance to maintain our customer focus as we continue to grow”, says Jamie Dunn who until recently was serving as global head of sales, a responsibility he still maintains. “Lawo has continually
