USA/UK - Following the release of her second studio album, The Sun Will Come Up, the Seasons Will Change, Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt has recently completed her headline North America and UK tour, accompanied by an Allen & Heath SQ-5. With a compact footprint, SQ has rapidly found favour with touring acts, as Curtis McKenna (FOH / mons engineer) explains: “I was looking for an easily transportable fly-rig and I love the fact that with SQ, I can have my entire show in a case, jump on a flight and then show up anywhere around the world and not only have the same great sounding show as the night before, but have it up and running within five minutes. It just works right out of the box.” Having been an Allen & Heath GLD user for the past four years, McKenna found the decision to purchase his own SQ-5 an easy one. “I came across the SQ
Spain - Covering 81 hectares of Spanish countryside, Palmeral Resort is a prime location for weddings and other family celebrations. Aiming to create memorable experiences and lasting memories, a zoned Yamaha audio system is deployed. Situated at Talavera de la Reina in the province of Toledo, 140km south west of Madrid, Palmeral Resort is set amongst palm trees, fountains, attractive gardens and a lake. The resort’s management needed to deploy quality sound in all areas, but with the versatility to manage each area independently or as groups, depending on the needs of each event. El Palmeral owner Esteban Robledo reports, "In a resort covering such a large area and with so many different zones, the use of analogue technology would obviously have been a mistake. Digital audio networking gave us the opportunity to centralise the control and the possibility to manage t
Australia - As a long-term user of DPA microphones, the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) has been quick to adopt the Danish manufacturer’s Core by DPA amplifier technology, which has now been successfully incorporated into DPA d:screet Miniature, d:fine headset and d:vote instrument microphones. Already the owner of a substantial amount of DPA stock, STC recently added 75 d:screet CORE 4061 Miniature Omnidirectional Microphones to its inventory and is putting them to good use on a number of productions, including a new version of Tennessee Williams’ classic Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Ben Lightowlers, STC’s head of sound and audio visual, says: “Once the new Core technology arrived, I was keen to put it through the rigours of a regular season at STC. The goal for us in theatre is to not distract the audience with an obviously mic’d tonality but rather aim for a
Denmark - Flipside Soundsystem has designed and installed a Yamaha-based audio system at a new bouldering gym in Copenhagen “Pretty much everyone at Flipside enjoys a fair amount of indoor bouldering, so we were both surprised and excited when Josh Glanville and Francesco Ragazzi of Beta Boulders asked us to work on the sound system for their new 10,000sq.ft bouldering gym,” says Flipside managing director James Cooper. “Our first instinct was to want to achieve something that sounded better than the gyms we all climb in.” Although Beta Boulders has climbing and training areas, it is also much more. With a yoga studio, cafe and co-working spaces, it is designed to bring people from all over the Copenhagen area together. “We connect people through climbing, work, culture and needed an audio system that could be used by any staff member, but flexible enou
Japan - Cho Kabuki: Yoshitsune Senbonzakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees) is one of the most popular kabuki plays in Japan. Senbonzakura itself, a ‘Vocaloid’ song launched on the Japanese video-sharing website Nico Nico Douga, originally became a major hit leading to live stage performances and novels, and creating a new collaboration - Hanakurabe Senbonzakura. This was a kabuki production first, bridging the past and the present, and premiered at the Niconico Chokaigi Festival in 2016. When the ‘Cho Kabuki supported by NTT’ event was held recently at Makuhari Messe Event Hall in Chiba, Martin Audio Sound Adventures system made an auspicious Japanese debut. This is known as one of the main event booths of Nico Nico Super Conference, which is annually held in Makuhari Messe during the May public holiday and is designed with the aim of reproducing
Italy - Italian festival Ralf in Bikini took place on 25 April, offering 12 hours of techno, house and minimal music from Italian and international DJs, including Ralf, the event’s protagonist, at Cattolica’s Bikini Disco Dinner. For the first time, the festival featured an Outline GTO loudspeaker system. Emporio On Stage from Scandicci (Florence) was the rental company responsible for the sound design and the installation of the Outline systems, using GTO as the main rig and Mantas 28 systems for both the beach stage and the roofed zone. Mauro Bianchi, owner of the White Events agency and co-organiser of Ralf in Bikini, stated: “I’d already had the pleasure of listening to the GTO at Rimini’s Music Inside Festival, in an indoor situation, and greatly appreciated its ‘elegant badness’. At Ralf in Bikini, it was the first
UK - Third-year students from Mountview Academy recently performed BOY, an immersive play in which the audience could interact with the actors on stage. Tasked with creating the sound design was student sound designer John ‘JP’ Guerrier, who had become familiar with the TiMax spatial reinforcement capabilities following a training workshop. He decided the technology would be ideal to support an immersive soundscape that every member of the audience would respond to. Mentored by sound supervisor Dafyyd Gough - himself a professional sound designer - JP established a 10.2 loudspeaker system, including a pair of overheads, distributed around the Mountview’s black box studio theatre space. TiMax created live overhead train announcements, supermarket PA effects and also a preacher’s speaker box effect with the help of the onboard EQ. “We used T
UK - London-based technical event specialists Light Fantastic Production Services has announced six appointments at its Borehamwood base. Five of the new additions have taken up technical roles in the company’s warehouse and fabrication workshop, whilst the sixth new team member has joined the project management team. Jed Burns and Taylor Bunn have joined to expand the capabilities of the LFPS in-house fabrication workshop. Lauren Tanner, Joe Bentwood and Pius Yiga have become warehouse technicians, whilst Ned Lay has taken up the role of a project manager. LFPS managing director Rob Myer comments: “It’s always a pleasure to welcome new talent to the Light Fantastic family, particularly during what has been an extremely busy period for us. Adding these new faces to our team adds strength throughout key areas of our business - we are really looking forward t
Germany - DirectOut Technologies has expanded its sales support team with the appointment of Benno Sonder as of 1 June 2019. Sonder will serve as sales support engineer for the German pro audio and broadcast equipment manufacturer, taking on technical support of DirectOut clients. He brings 25 years of experience in television broadcasting to the position, with specialist knowledge of intercom technologies and audio editing. Additionally, his skill profile includes work as a support & application engineer at Broadman/Optocore, specialising in digital multichannel audio solutions. Alongside customer support and trainings, Sonder will assist the DirectOut sales team and the company’s distributors in designing new project concepts. “The introduction of new IP technologies and growing complexity of setups in our industry demands a diverse spectrum of knowle
USA - LEA Professional has released the Connect Series amplifiers with four mid-power models of IoT-enabled professional amplifiers for the professional installation market. The Connect 354, Connect 704, Connect 354D and Connect 704D aim to “provide system designers and integrators simple and powerful solutions to drive their large-scale installations with the capacity to support monthly recurring revenue (MRR) business models”. “Our mid-power models are meant to be the installers go-to amplifier when designing larger, more complex systems for applications like airports, theatres, theme-parks, and stadiums. These are the venues where reliability and simplicity are critically important and that is where our IoT enabled amplifiers will shine.” says LEA Professional founder and CEO, Blake Augsburger. “Installers need to know that their systems are performing perfectly
USA - Danley Sound Labs has announced its new FLX-Series of flexible loudspeakers. The Danley FLX-12 is the first member of the range. It can be pole-mounted, hung from rig points, or lain on its side as a floor monitor. With 94dB sensitivity, a phase-coherent frequency response from 75Hz to 21kHz (+/- 3dB), multi-band Sentinel burn out protection, and 118dB continuous and 124dB peak output, the FLX-12 is at home in any small- to medium-sized sound reinforcement application. “The new Danley FLX is designed by Tom Danley and his team of engineers for customers who need extreme flexibility and Danley fidelity at a cost-effective price point,” explains JP Parker, director of global sales at Danley Sound Labs. “The FLX stands for flexibility without sacrificing Danley’s legendary performance.” (Jim Evans)
South Africa - Event management company Unlimited Events Group has incorporated its Absen D2V 2.9mm panels to various high-profile events in South Africa. The most recent highlights on the Johannesburg calendar include the new Sasol Energy TV commercial campaign launch, which took place at Sasol Place Sandton, the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce Dinner hosted at Emperors Palace Centre Court and a corporate event for the FCA Group, also held at Emperors Palace. Unlimited Events was founded over 20 years ago as a small family business run from a house in Pretoria, and has grown to become one of the largest décor providers in the country. Today, the operation is run from two massive warehouses in Centurion with a staff complement of over 130 people. Three years ago, Alastair Laing, CEO of Unlimited Events Group, joined forces with Marius van Rooyen, owner of
Europe - Audio technology innovator Holoplot has confirmed details of a webinar that will introduce its 3D beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies. Taking place on 3 July at 16:00 CEST, the webinar is free but requires registration, which can be made on Holoplot’s website. With high-profile installations in museums, concert halls, and many other public venues, immersive audio has become a significant global trend during the last few years. But it is often the case that immersive sound installations are time-and cost-intensive exercises involving complex audio design work and multiple loudspeaker positions. Into this emerging market, Holoplot has launched a solution with its technology that offers a simpler and
USA - Powersoft has unveiled Mezzo, a new line of amplifiers designed for the AV/IT market. Mezzo consists of eight amplifier models, each offering different power and connectivity options. The range is suited for corporate, hospitality and educational environments and is a self-configuring amplifier system that delivers power and flexibility in a compact, Class-D technology design that is easy to install and operate. Klas Dalbjorn, product manager at Powersoft, comments: “Until now, AV/IT integrators and end-users might have experienced limited flexibility in existing low power solutions to drive audio in corporate, hospitality and education environments. Our new Mezzo platform delivers the quality and reliability Powersoft is already known for, but with smaller power configurations that are highly adaptable for a range of different fixed installation environments.
USA - Bose Professional has expanded its portfolio with more than 50 new products designed to enable specifiers to “build complete Bose systems without sourcing from different vendors”. Meanwhile, end-users are set to benefit from “a system with components that have been designed to work seamlessly together,” says Bose. Announced earlier this year and being shown at InfoComm 2019 are the new ArenaMatch DeltaQ loudspeakers and ArenaMatch Utility loudspeakers, which bring Bose consistency, vocal clarity and flexibility to outdoor installations through DeltaQ technology. Also introduced this year are 12 models of new, easy-to-install DesignMax loudspeakers in a range of sizes (ceiling and surface models, black and white, with subwoofer options); five new PowerSpace amplifiers (two with onboard DSP); two Commercial Sound Processors with a simplified configura
USA - Coda Audio is launching its ultra-compact two-way Arrayable Point Source N-APS at this year’s InfoComm. Combining the versatility of a point source with the arrayability of a line array, N-APS offers a sound reinforcement system for small to medium size venues by delivering twice the power handling, as well as significantly more low-end, than other comparable sized systems, says the company. N-APS is the smaller sibling of Coda Audio’s APS system. For smaller venues or corporate events where, for example, the geometry of a space might be considered to make coverage awkward, N-APS provides “an unobtrusive, ultra-small, yet phenomenally powerful solution”. Complementing the launch of N-APS, Coda Audio is also introducing N-SUB, a compact 15” high output subwoofer that reaches as low as 30Hz. Like N-APS, N-SUB benefits from DAC which allows it to re
UK - Shure supported West Herts College students at an educational day of seminars and performances at Watford Colosseum. Ahead of Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes third album release earlier this month, the band decided to support the college in their hometown with a masterclass and performance at the event. The day consisted of three seminars. The first was a production talk with Frank and Dean from the Rattlesnakes on their approach to recording their third album with Cam Blackwood. The second talk was with the band road crew and featured the band’s tour manager Ian Dowdell, guitar teach, Elliot Russell and monitor engineer, Will Taylor covering life on the road. The final talk was with the band’s manager Matt Greer, focused on building a profile, the album campaign and developing an artist. Stephen Carter, HND music & curriculum developer, West Herts Col
UK - Cheltenham’s annual Science Festival arrived in June to explore the weird, wacky and wonderful. Production AV was commissioned to design, supply and operate the high-end screen, projection and sound solutions that formed the foundation of the multiple zones that were created in the specially built Festival Village. Hundreds of events took place over the six-day festival, with more than 280 ‘experts’ imparting knowledge, prompting discussion and provoking thought to thousands of visitors, including more than 9,000 school children. Festival organisers asked Production AV to deliver all aspects of audio/visual for the growing event. The team oversaw set-up and technical checks for all of the zones, including the flagship Cheltenham Town Hall space and adjoining Pillar Room, the Helix, the Crucible and the Cinema zone. “We were thrilled to design, set up
USA - Allen & Heath’s dLive digital mixing system played its part at Coachella 2019, supporting sets by breakout pop artist Billie Eilish and Kanye West’s special Easter Sunday Service. Billie Eilish lived up to the hype. Sound Image supplied a pair of S5000 Control Surfaces and DM64 MixRacks to handle both front of house and monitor duties as the teen superstar wooed her fans in two packed and highly energetic shows. Jeff Hawley, Allen & Heath USA marketing manager commented, “Billie has been out with dLive for her last sold out tour and now in support of her Billboard-topping When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? album, with Coachella kicking off the new tour. Engineers like Drew Thornton and Salim Akram (Billie Eilish, FOH and monitor engineers) are out there with the dLive, tackling fly dates with the compact C1500 one day and jumpin
UAE - disguise has announced Creative Technology Middle East has joined its certified solution provider (CSP) worldwide network. The disguise CSP programme is designed for systems integration partners to resell disguise products and services to end customers as part of their differentiated solution. Under this programme, CSPs manage, service and support end customers directly. CT is a long-time disguise user, and CT Middle East (CTME) has been using disguise for more than three years. “CT is always looking at new ways to raise the bar within the industry, and this CSP accreditation is the perfect addition as it enables us to continue to be a vital driving force within the region,” says Andy Reardon, managing director of CTME. “We are pleased to be a part of the disguise CSP programme, allowing us to expand our offering within the industry and move CTM
USA - The all new A-Series from d&b audiotechnik introduces the augmented array: an advanced loudspeaker concept born from the d&b applied evolution system development philosophy. Combining variable splay angles, two approaches to acoustic optimization, and advanced waveguide design, the A-Series addresses applications where coverage flexibility in both the horizontal and the vertical is paramount. Realising all the adaptability of a point source cluster with the extensive control options of a d&b line array, the system comprises the AL60 and AL90 loudspeakers, with ALi60 and ALi90 offering cabinets designed specifically for permanent installation. Using the appropriate frame, up to four AL60/AL90 and ALi60/ALi90 loudspeakers can be flown either in vertical or horizontal arrays. Variable splay angles between adjacent cabinets can be set in five degree incr
USA - Launching at InfoComm 2019, MFX Multi-Function Monitors MFX-12MC and MFX-15MC are passive 12” and 15” two-way coaxial monitors with a performance level engineered to complement the X-Line Advance line array models X1, X2, X12-128 and X12-125F, and corresponding installation versions. MFX Multi-Function Monitors utilise high-output coaxially aligned HF and LF transducers matched with an innovative new Electro-Voice-engineered Constant-Directivity waveguide and a new crossover design. Coverage in monitor orientation is 40° H x 60° V. The dimensions and location of the waveguide interact with the woofer to effectively create a bipole output, enhancing coverage control through the midrange frequencies. In addition to providing a stable sound image as the performer moves off-axis, the compact coaxial design presents a significantly lower-profile footprint on s
USA - L-Acoustics is launching launch the LS10 Avnu certified AVB switch. LS10 which offers an out-of-the box AVB solution for connectivity, providing a simple, reliable networking solution. A founding member of the user-driven Milan workgroup, L-Acoustics is committed to AVB, the only Ethernet standard built to deal with the real-time needs of media transport. Milan, and AVB, ensure that the professional audio/visual industry has a future-proof standard for moving time-sensitive audio and video data across a network. Developed by and for users, based on open standards, Milan is destined to become the industry standard. “We know our users don’t have the bandwidth to be IT experts, spending all their time configuring networks,” explains Genio Kronauer, director of electronics at L-Acoustics, and member of the Milan work group since its founding. “With LS10, you
USA - disguise has announced the official launch of a new gx range flagship server. On booth #521 at InfoComm 2019, disguise will preview its powerful new gx 2c server, designed to “meet ever increasing creative demands and technological advances”. The gx 2c server features even more GPU processing power, more capture and storage, as well as 10-bit and HDR support. Creatives can now build environments with more particles, effects and richer scenes, at higher resolutions and smoother frame rates, says the company. As creative ambition increases, the GPU and memory has been maximised in direct response to user requests for greater real-time content performance. The gx 2c can capture 8x 3G-SDI inputs, unlocking new workflows for broadcast and live events, where they will be able to utilise more live feeds than ever before. The video inputs allow users to capture 2x216
