Latvia - In July, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the independent republic was celebrated with an event featuring a choir of 16,5000 voices. Purpose-built in 1955 the Mežaparks Great Bandstand where the event was staged is an open-air venue of unexpected dimensions. Not unlike a Roman amphitheatre, except that the curved stepped crucible is where the 16,000 plus performers are arrayed, facing onto an audience of up to 30,000. With so many voices and the presentational environment, promoter Girts Majors of Positivus Event turned to audio provider UBS to design an audio solution. “The implementation of a d&b audiotechnik system was a key component in making this event truly memorable,” says Edmunds Verners Zazerskis, MD of UBS. “UBS was founded in 1998 and we have been providing sound for different choir song festivals for many years; Nordic; Baltic
UK - London’s Tobacco Dock venue was the place to get the inside track as BBC Introducing staged its annual three-day discovery festival in November. Now in its second year, the BBC Introducing Live event again benefitted from a strong musical partnership with Yamaha. Attracting around 15,000 musicians and industry people to east London, BBC Introducing Live aims to discover unsigned and upcoming artists, as well as helping young people to gain knowledge about the music business. Presented by well-known artists, DJs, managers and A&R people, the wide-ranging programme included over 100 masterclasses and interactive sessions, practical workshops and Q&A sessions, as well as performance opportunities for all levels of talent from amateur rappers to Deadmau5. In addition to providing extensive technical support for the performance and seminar areas, Yamaha show
Portugal - NEXT-proaudio has introduced Audio Tool, a free software for speaker and amplifier systems configuration. This tool includes a database with all NEXT-proaudio passive speakers as well as the company’s digital and analogue amplifiers of the M Series, MA Series as well as Powersoft’s X Series. The databases include parameters that enables the software to calculate the optimum configuration. With Audio Tool the user can, automatically, get the best combination between speakers and amplifiers in order to get the best performance from both devices. Basically the user inputs which speaker model and how many units per amplifier channel and the software sets the recommended amplifier, according to the selected amplifier mode and technology (Stereo/Bridge and Analogue/Digital). Besides that, Audio Tool, is also capable of automatically
South Korea - For the past 13 years, Incheon, has hosted the Pentaport Rock Festival, held in the city’s Pentaport Park for three days each summer. Produced by Yescom Entertainment, it is one of the country’s biggest live music events and covers a wide variety of musical genres. This year, it featured the industrial rock of Nine Inch Nails, the moody electronica of Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, the shifting nuances of My Bloody Valentine, and rocking performances from local favourites including Jaurim and Daybreak. For all of the diverse styles, the L-Acoustics K1 and K2 system, supplied by local rental company Seoul Sound, delivered consistency of SPL and tonal balance across the main KB Kookmin Starshop Stage’sextensive field. When Yescom Entertainment’s An Heung Chan accepted the role of production manager for the festival, he was both honoured and excited
Poland - The church of St Brygida (St Bridget) in Gdańsk recently hosted a televised concert to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s appointment. An Alcons Audio pro-ribbon audio system was the solution to tame the church’s difficult acoustics. St Brygida is a large, brick-built church, famed for its amber altar and its 1980s role as a sanctuary for the leaders of the Solidarność (Solidarity) trade union, when Poland was under martial law. Staged to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Polish national Karol Józef Wojtyła being chosen as Pope John Paul II in August 1978 - the first non-Italian Pope for 455 years - the concert featured Cappella Gedanensis, a vocal and instrumental ensemble which performs traditional music from the region around Gdańsk and represents the city all over the world. The group’s performances often include well-known s
Belgium - A designer boutique hotel in the heart of Ghent is finding value in Dante Audio IP networking from Audinate for the business and entertainment needs of its guests. Designed and integrated by Belgian systems integration firm Round Group Audiovisual Engineering, the Dante network delivers high-quality background music in the hotel's atmospheric 1898 The Post cocktail lounge, as well as delivering pristine audio to all points, including audio support for presentations, meetings and events in a large multi-function room. 1898 The Post is a new venture from Zannier Hotels in Ghent that opened this past summer. Located in the upper two floors of Ghent’s old post office building, the hotel offers 38 guest rooms and public spaces that complement the building’s late 19th century architecture. Round Group was hired to provide a “very high-end sound system” for The C
India - Munro Acoustics recently outfitted The Urban Foundry’s new location in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar neighbourhood with an end-to-end Harman audio system. With several locations in Mumbai and Pune in India’s Maharashtra state, The Urban Foundry is a bar and eatery with an industrial aesthetic that incorporates brick, metal and glass materials. The Foundry’s new location features a performance area for live music, but the highly reflective surfaces in the restaurant made it difficult to control the sound. In order to solve this challenge, management hired acoustic consultancy firm Munro Acoustics to design and install an end-to-end Harman Professional audio system comprised of JBL loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers and a Soundcraft mixer. “We wanted our new location in Pune to be different from the others, so we added a performance space for live music,” said Ki
Ireland - With a burgeoning Irish music scene and ever-increasing demand for rider-friendly consoles, Murt Whelan, owner of named Murt Whelan Sound, invested in DiGiCo. He chose an SD12 as his first console from the brand. But later also added an SD10. “Investing in DiGiCo has worked very well for us,” says Whelan. “Ever since we took delivery the SD12, it’s been our busiest console and has been pretty much constantly out on hire, either for shows we’re working on or for dry hire to other rental companies. It’s been out with Irish bands Gavin James Walking on Cars and Picture This, on the Féile Classical Festival, Independence Festival in Cork and for the Trinity Summer Series in Dublin.” As the only SD12 in Ireland, the console has proved exceptionally popular prompting Whelan to take delivery of a SD10 at the beginning of September. He cont
Italy - HK Audio has increased its presence in Italy by appointing Sisme as its exclusive distributor. Effective immediately, Sisme will add HK Audio’s portable sound product range to a portfolio already including the likes of Sony, Audio-Technica and L-Acoustics. Sisme works directly with system integrators and installers in the pro audio sector as well as partners in the AV and broadcasting fields. The distributor offers integrated solutions, technical and post-sales support, project design and product training. Claudio Bugari, president of Sisme, comments: “We are happy to be HK Audio’s new distribution partner in Italy. In recent years, HK Audio has made significant progress in its product and marketing activities. We are convinced that this brand offers a great portfolio for the Italian market.” Antonio Sciarrillo, Sisme’s national sales mana
Canada - Looking at the 50,000sq.ft complex that is Metalworks just west of downtown Toronto in Mississauga, it’s hard to imagine that it came from relatively modest roots. Starting out as a private studio, the company has now grown into a multi-faceted operation that includes a large commercial studio, production school, and live sound provider with a major investment in L-Acoustics loudspeaker systems, including its most recent addition of a full K2 system. In 2005, Metalworks Studios bought out a pair of live sound companies and launched Metalworks Production Group (MPG), a full-service production house. One of the companies that it purchased was already an L-Acoustics rental network partner, making MPG an L-Acoustics house from the very beginning. “We started with approximately 50 V-DOSC and 100 dV-DOSC right out of the gate,” says Metalworks owner Gil Moore, who i
USA - Completed in July of 2018, Flint Baptist Church’s modern, 1650-seat facility features Allen & Heath consoles at FOH and broadcast with ME-1 Personal Mixers for its band and praise singers. The rapidly growing church, located in Flint, Texas, blends contemporary and traditional worship styles with a large choir, band and praise team leading its services. Flint Baptist’s new audio and video systems were installed by Broadcast Works of Tyler, Texas. Wade Summerford, Flint Baptist’s technology/media director says: “We’re seeing many new church members each week and this growth is what threw us into the planning process. Then, I went to a conference last October and got to put my hands on a dLive and test drive it. I saw the dLive’s flexibility and usability. I can throw a volunteer on our S7000 Surface, give them a crash course and, in five minutes, they c
UK - The end-of-season fireworks display at Legoland Windsor Resort is one of the resort’s most anticipated events on the calendar. Six shows are held over three weekends during late October and early November, with this year’s Legoland Heroes extravaganza, deemed the most spectacular and ambitious yet. Sound designer Dave Shepherd has been looking after the sound for the fireworks display since 2003. This year, following the demos held at LH2 in June, he opted to try out the recently launched HALO Arena large format line array system from EM Acoustics. Shepherd explains that a large percentage of the park is covered with dedicated sound systems for the fireworks display, which is not without its challenges: “There are multiple viewing areas populated with buildings and trees that we need to work around. We also have fairly tight noise restrictions due to
Greece - The Stelios Kyrillidis rental company in Elassona, Larissa, has taken delivery of the first Outline GTO C-12 system in Greece and the rig’s high-profile debut on arrival was a date on Bryan Ferry’s world tour at Thessaloniki’s Dassous (Forest) Theatre. The second event followed just two days later, with concerts by top Greek names Giannis Aggelakas, 1000mods, Active Member and Pyx Lax at the magnificent Vrahon Theatre in Athens. Bill Michailidis of Mega Event (Outline’s distributor in Greece) comments: “The system was a personal choice of Bryan Ferry's sound engineer, Davide Lombardi, who assured me that he preferred this system to others he has worked with over the years. “For this first set up, Giulio Gandini (R&D engineer and tech support and training specialist with Outline) came to Greece and we designed the system for this specifi
USA - Opened in 1892, Ryman Auditorium in Nashville is best known as the home of the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast between 1943 and 1974. Its age and cultural significance led to its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. In partnership with Opry Entertainment Group, JBL, and Yamaha, AV integration company Clair Solutions recently completed a significant overhaul of the Ryman’s sound reinforcement system, which required a lot of upfront due diligence and testing, sensitivity to the venue’s historic interior, and a deft installation to work around the Ryman’s packed calendar. “We installed the Ryman’s previous sound reinforcement system over a dozen years ago,” says Dan Heins, regional vice president at Clair Solutions. “It was a first-generation JBL VerTec system that served them well, but loudspeaker, amplifier, and DSP technolog
UK - Edinburgh-based DM Audio is the latest company to join the Adamson rental partner network, having recently purchased a S10 line array system from Edinburgh certified re-seller, Live Systems. The system consists of S10 line array loudspeakers with S119 subs powered by Lab Gruppen PLM20K44 amplifiers together with a full rigging package. Dino Martino, director of DM Audio, comments: “We had been looking for a new line array system for some time and had evaluated all of the alternatives currently on the market for function, sound quality, rider-friendliness and value. We trialled Adamson line array systems on some of the events that we supplied over the summer and the S-Series really stood out for us as the best system for our client base, with exceptional sound quality, well thought-out rigging and amazing coverage. Another important factor for us is the aftercar
South Africa - DWR Distribution will now be the sole distributor for Audix Microphones in South Africa. Audix has been a well-known name in professional music for over three decades, with acclaimed international artists using its microphones, including Willie Nelson, Todd Sucherman of Styx, and Morgan Beatbox. “Over the past two years, our company has seen tremendous growth in the audio products we offer to the industry,” comments Robert Izzett from DWR. “The one thing we did not have were microphones. Audix is one of the leading brands across the globe, and what makes the company special and approachable is their passion for the end user. By investing in research and development over the past thirty years, and listening to their customers’ needs and requests, Audix has developed innovative and performance driven microphones.” “We are excited to have
UK - On 25 October at London’s St. Bartholomew-the-Great at Smithfield, storytelling singer-songwriter Hazel Iris celebrated the release of her first full-length album, Nine Sisters. Shure supported the event with KSM8, BETA52, SM137, SM81, KSM141, BETA98, SM57’s and SM58 microphones and PSM300 in ear monitoring systems. Peter Junge, engineer in charge of recording and filming the event, comments: “For the Hazel Iris album launch, we used Shure microphones on every instrument. Not only was the live-sound superb but the recording also came out really well. Listening back I was very surprised by how focused it all sounds and how little issue with bleed or ambience we have on the signals. Very often, when using that many condenser microphones in a church, there can be a problem. However, the sound is nicely separated and I’m pleased I'll be able to make a
Romania - Romania’s five-star Black Sea hotel, Nyota, offers luxurious accommodation coupled with conference and theatre facilities to cater for tourism and business. A premium solution was required, according to systems integrator and Powersoft distributor Marius Craiu, sales & marketing manager of AudioVision Store, who spec’d Powersoft Ottocanali power amplification systems to manage the zoning and room audio systems. The hotel needed the AV system to cover all areas, with priority for EVAC announcements and both local and remote control of the zones. Systems integrator and Powersoft distributor Marius Craiu explains: “The hotel’s prime objective was for it to be simple to use and reliable. We began working with the hotel before building was started and although the initial specification was settled early on, there were inevitable modifications al
USA - Fusion band Intocable have enjoyed a 25-year career, winning three Grammy awards and and playing record-breaking stadium concerts. Their latest Highway tour has taken them all over the US since June and culminates in November in Houston, Texas. The band's tools of choice at both FOH and monitors are SSL L300 consoles, and Jose Ramon Quintero has engineered with both, previously as monitor engineer, and now as FOH engineer. "When I started with the L300 on monitors, the band immediately noticed a huge change in the mix and in the 'room image',” he says. “There is a great separation between the instruments, and there’s a much warmer, more analogue sound than the console we were using before." According to Quintero, the band's reaction to the technology was an important moment, as they are all accomplished musicians, and most have their own personal st
UK - Technical event production provider Blitz has invested in Yamaha’s flagship digital mixing system, Rivage PM10. The company has a long association with Yamaha and a substantial inventory of QL and TF series digital consoles, as well as CL5s and the legendary PM1D, one of which was used for over a decade on Phantom of the Opera in London’s West End. As a former touring and theatre mix engineer, Blitz director of sound Aron Ross appreciates the advanced capabilities of Yamaha digital mixers. Working alongside the company’s chief sound engineer, Rob Handyside and head of theatre and sound project development, Martyn Hunt, all were keen to work with the Rivage PM10 digital mixing system. “We are really excited about the new technology and the enhanced capabilities that Rivage PM10 offers,” says Aron. “The Rupert Neve Designs SILK processing i
UK - Pop rockers The Feeling recently celebrated the 12th anniversary of their debut album with their Twelve Stops and Home tour - supported by an Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing system. Supplied by SSE Audio, the full set-up included an S7000 surface on FOH, accompanied by a DM64 MixRack on stage. Both FOH and monitors were mixed from the S7000 with the dLive’s 128 input processing channels enabling duplicates of input signals to be made for discrete FOH - MON processing. Additionally, the MixRack was fitted with a Dante card for multi-track recording. “The 128 processing channels and 64 buses were perfect for duplicating channels for monitors and band members who needed further processing in their IEM’s. I never had to compromise on anything, giving the band what they needed on stage and for what I needed out front,” comments FOH engineer Jon Le
UK - British heavy metal titans Saxon are on the road again, touring Thunderbolt, their twenty second studio album. Jacky Lehmann, the band’s trusted Front of House engineer has chosen to use a combination of DiGiCo’s SD12 and S21, purchased from DiGiCo’s German distributor, United Brands, ensuring the band’s classic sound benefits from the most up to date audio technology. DiGiCo has been Jacky’s choice of console since 2011 and since he joined the Saxon crew in 2012, he has mixed over 300 shows. For the current tour, he deploys the SD12 with a D2-Rack, which he purchased himself, and an S21 and D-Rack for smaller shows and corporate events. “I started with an SD9 / D-Rack setup, which was my main rig for a lot of Saxon shows in Europe at the time,” says Jacky. “I was looking for a smaller console for fly-in shows, so in 2013 an SD11i joined my
UK - Martin Audio has announce the promotion of Bradley Watson to the new position of international sales director. One of the company’s longest serving executives, Watson was instrumental in building domestic sales during the first decade of the millennium before leaving in 2010, but maintaining a close relationship in his capacity as an installer. Presented with the opportunity to re-join the company in September 2016, and assume the new role as sales manager EMEA he described the opportunity as “a perfect scenario”. Speaking of the latest promotion, Watson said, “Since my return to Martin Audio I have been proud to be part of a team that’s been instrumental in bringing over 30 new products to market in just over 24 months. “As EMEA sales manager, I inherited many long-standing relationships and distribution partnerships that my predecessor an
USA - Brave Church, located in Englewood, Colorado, is a church on a mission. This inspired the desire for an impactful sound reinforcement system in their new Broomfield sanctuary that could more than keep up with Brave Church’s unabashedly contemporary services, as well as defining the need to update the audio infrastructure at their main sanctuary in Englewood. “Brave Church had already planned to launch their first multi-site facility in Broomfield in a building that is thirty miles northwest of the main campus,” explained Kurt Butler president of Butler Engineering & Technology Group (BETG) who provided consulting and technical infrastructure design services to church leadership. “BETG designed the audio system using the Clair Brothers kiT12+ and kiT-Sub+ powered loudspeakers and subwoofers. The kiT Series was a perfect match with the performance criteria,
