UK - Bose Professional will be showing the breadth of their product portfolio at the PLASA Show (16-18 September, London Olympia), including new EdgeMax in-ceiling premium loudspeakers which combine the superior coverage patterns typical of larger surface-mount loudspeakers with the visually appealing aesthetics of in-ceiling loudspeakers, thus representing an entirely new product category. Alongside, will be the new ControlSpace EX-1280 audio conferencing system which includes a conferencing signal processor and three new Dante-based ControlSpace under-table endpoints (EX-4ML, EX-8ML and EX-UH). Designed with input from leading integrators, the system features connectivity for various types of audio conferencing, including USB, VoIP, PSTN, analogue, and phone headset audio. Bose ShowMatch DeltaQ array loudspeakers for both installation and portable applications will a
Singapore - Singaporean theatre company Pangdemonium! recently staged Fun Home, the multiple Tony Award-winning production renowned for being the first Broadway musical with a lesbian protagonist. Alcons Audio RR12 point source array modules and VR12 mid-sized versatile monitors ensured that every line of dialogue and lyrics was clearly heard by the enthusiastic audiences. Staged at Singapore’s 615-seat Drama Centre Theatre, sound design for the production was by Jeffrey Yue of audio design company Ctrl Fre@k, with technical production by The Production People. The Alcons speakers were supplied by Alcons Pro-Ribbon Network Partner Creator’s Solutions. Being a musical, where every song lyric is as important to the narrative as every line of dialogue, Jeffrey needed to ensure that both the spoken and sung vocals were extremely clear for every member of t
Doctor Atomic, a collaboration between composer John Adams and librettist and stage director Peter Sellars, focuses on the events leading up to the first atomic bomb test in the summer of 1945 and is set in Los Alamos, New Mexico, barely 20 miles from the Santa Fe Opera, which is presenting its new production through 16 August. In advance of production rehearsals, Santa Fe Opera’s audio/visual director, Karl G. Kern, increased the company’s inventory of Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless technology to 30 channels, adding 18 SSM super slight micro belt-pack transmitters and three six-channel Venue2 receivers to its existing stock of SMDa transmitters and Venue receivers. “The quality of Lectrosonics’ products is by far superior,” says Kern of the purchase decision. “They’ve got a very low noise floor and very solid RF, so it helps you to get a very clear
China - When the audio system in Hong Kong’s City Hall began to fall short of its duty, the powers that be called on DMT Pro, Clair Brothers’ Chinese distributor to upgrade the old system in the 463-seat city hall theatre and bring it into the new millennium. After a thorough review of the venue with specific attention paid to addressing acoustical challenges not overcome by the old system, DMT decided to install an L-C-R Clair Brothers system, which consists of two Clair Brothers kiT 12+ two-way, self-powered speakers for each of the L-C-R channels, and two kiT-Sub-mini+ single drive self-powered subwoofers, all supported by two Lake LM44 digital processors. Says Ricky Wan, sales manager at DMT, “The speakers have a DSP function, but for a greater degree of fine tuning we also installed the Lake processors.” “We are very impressed with the quality of Clair
UK - Registration is now open for ISCEx which takes place 5-6 March 2019 at Combe Abbey (https://www.isce.org.uk/iscex-event/) If you’re working in commercial audio system design, integration, project management or sales, ISCEx provides opportunities to learn, engage and discuss commercial audio solutions in an intimate, non-imposing environment. ISCEx is a multi-faceted event that includes seminars, training, networking dinner and an exhibition of the audio industries leading manufacturers and distributors. There are plenty of opportunities to meet up with industry colleagues, share ideas and discuss projects in informal environments. (Jim Evans)
USA - This year’s Electric Daisy Carnival, known to most as EDC, powered into action with a three-day flagship festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. Winner of the Festival of the Year award at the Electronic Music Awards 2017, EDC has grown since its 1991 launch to become one of the world’s leading electronic dance music festivals, and this year’s event, held in the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, cemented EDC’s position as North America’s largest EDM festival. Over 400,000 visitors flocked to Vegas and EDC organiser called upon Tenfeet to help deliver visuals to match festival goers’ expectations. Working alongside Insomniac and LEG, Tenfeet was responsible for the lighting design, media control and supply, as well as programming and operating. Following on from the Vegas event, EDC goes global with Tenfeet adjusting the design into a touring version. Tenfeet knows Gre
The Netherlands - At the end of July, 50 Dutch engineers got the opportunity to enjoy a demonstration of Yamaha’s Rivage PM7 digital mixing system at Hilversum’s Wisseloord Studio. Wisseloord Studio is likened to ‘the Dutch Abbey Road’ having seen an array of major musicians record at its premises. Those include Afrojack, Chris Brown, Elton John, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Steve Aoki, Sting, U2 and many more. On 30 July, attendees were welcomed to Wisseloord with a tour of the studio complex, including its renowned mastering room, conducted by the studios’ chief creative officer Malik Berrabah. This was followed by an introduction to the Rivage PM7 system in Studio 2, conducted by Yamaha’s Ruben van der Goor and Jan Prins. All were then invited through to Studio 1, where Jamiroquai FOH engineer Rick Pope was waiting with
UK - Video production company Media Flare has added three Hippotizer V4 Boreal+ Media Servers to its hire stock of nine Hippotizer V4 and Hippotizer V4+ media servers. Media Flare’s freelance TV lighting designer Tom Sutherland comments: "Our Hippos have never let us down, and with the V4+ models' new features and enhancements providing even more creative flexibility, for us it was the only way to go. It's great that I can rely on a media server which can cover such a range of productions and budgets." Freelancer programmer Nick Hansen adds: "Hippotizer Media Servers are so user-friendly. The Output Manager side is incredibly powerful and flexible, enabling us to handle things when a show's technical needs can change quickly during production. Also, we are really excited by the potential of Notch, which we will definitely be using on future projects to manipulate c
UK - One of the highlights of the UK summer season is the Henley Festival - a traditional black tie event for Martin Audio partner RG Jones Sound Engineering, spread over five days. The company has serviced the event for 36 years, and in recent times they have fine-tuned their coverage of the main stages with Martin Audio MLA components, including the tricky Floating Stage. As festival technical manager and head of sound, Jim Lambert, says: “The Floating Stage has always been a challenge in that the front to back of the arena is only approximately 30m, but it is extremely wide, and with the introduction of general admission tickets outside the arena we are being asked to cover a width of something like 100m. The MLA Compacts more than rise to this challenge and yet also enable us to keep to the fairly strict off-site noise limits set by the Council.” It agai
Australia - Bosch has entered into a distribution partnership with Jands. Jands will provide sales and support for a select range of Bosch’s pro sound installation audio products from Dynacord and Electro-Voice, including the new IPX multi-channel installation DSP power amplifiers, EVID and EVC Series loudspeakers and the EV Innovations range. Chris Dellenty, general manager - Oceania, Bosch Security and Safety Systems, comments: “Bosch is well known for our commitment to excellent service and support and by entering into partnership with a strategic national distributor like Jands, who have the expertise to support the needs of the customer, we will continue to provide the quality products and services that people expect when they buy Dynacord and Electro-Voice. Our Prosound team are excited by this alliance, and we look forward to a prosperous long-term relationship.
UK - PLASA Show, the worldwide event for entertainment technology, is returning to London Olympia on 16-18 September with a whole host of industry leaders and influential brands primed to deliver popular products, inspirational talks and expert training. The exhibitor list has been rapidly growing with international brands spanning lighting, audio, AV, rigging and staging, and the programme is filling up fast with critical updates, exclusive panels and the latest projects. In association with LSi, respected lighting designer Rob Halliday and entertainment architects Stufish will present Giudizio Universale - Michelangelo and the Secrets of the Sistine Chapel, revealing the technical secrets of this stunning €9m immersive stage show created by Marco Balich, now at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome. Having worked on the show, Rob Halliday will discu
UK - Allen & Heath is now shipping the hotly anticipated Dante card for its SQ series. SQ is the first compact mixer to provide a full 64x64 channel, 96kHz interface to a Dante network. SQ product manager, Keith Johnson, comments: “We’re delighted to make the SQ Dante card available to the many, many SQ customers who’ve been waiting patiently for this release. Our R&D team has been working with the good folks at Audinate on a custom implementation of Dante HC to deliver a high channel count, 96kHz solution that takes full advantage of SQ’s XCVI FPGA core.” Any SQ mixer fitted with the SQ Dante card can now connect to 96kHz amplifiers, interfaces and other devices on a Dante network without unnecessary sample rate conversion or added latency. In addition to facilitating system integration, the new card enables digital splits and affordable mult
UK - The beautiful surroundings of Kew Gardens in south-west London, containing the world’s biggest Victorian glasshouse, provided the backdrop for the facility’s annual six-day music festival, aptly titled Kew The Music. Now a consolidated part of London’s summer festival tapestry, for the past four years rental company Capital Sound and their 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, they tailored the sound system for the clientele that typically brings picnics and folding chairs to the Royal Botanic Gardens to witness a succession of concerts that this year included Steps, Björn Again, Gypsy Kings, 2Cellos, The Human League, Boyzone and Jools Holland. Despite having a number of Martin Audio
USA - Marc Salzberg was introduced to the immersive capabilities of TiMax spatial reinforcement whilst working as the production soundman on Broadway’s recent revival of The King and I at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Later, with the same sound team of designer, Scott Lehrer, and his associate Alex Neumann, he explored TiMax further on the Broadway Theatre’s revival of Fiddler on the Roof. When he was asked to create the sound design for My Fair Lady back at Broadway’s Lincoln Centre, he immediately turned to the TiMax platform. Salzberg explains: “The ability within TiMax to do timed, and crucially, live delay changes meant it was the right tool for the job. TiMax makes it possible for the sound system to not call attention to itself.” Going against the current tide in many Broadway and London West End productions, The Lincoln Centr
South Africa - Audio rental company Blue Array Productions has invested in its third DiGiCo console - an SD12. Blue Array first purchased an SD5 to a ‘great reception’ from the local market. The company then decided to invest in a smaller platform console, purchasing an S31, before recently taking ownership of the SD12. “Blue Array’s Kobus van Rensburg and Marinus Visser have been wanting an SD12 since the console was launched in 2017,” says Kyle Robson from DWR Distribution, DiGiCo’s distributor for Africa. “We worked with them on costings and they finally decided to push the green button.” Audio engineer Marinus is a big fan of the DiGiCo platform and needed an SD console that would cater for all his requirements in a lightweight package that would be easy to move around. “Once he had played with the SD12, he was sold,” Robson says. “It
UK - Academy Music Group enlisted the support of Liverpool based Adlib to co-design and deliver a touring specification audio system for its 2,000-capacity O2 Academy in Newcastle, one of the most active and vibrant live music venues on the UK touring scene. This project was led by Academy Music Group’s divisional manager Steve Hoyland and O2 Academy Newcastle’s technical manager Nile Lines, with Adlib’s Andy Dockerty and Rob Crossland, who, together specified the Coda Audio PA system. The main auditorium has a large space in front of the stage, with a raised bar area on the ground floor mid-way, that is situated underneath a balcony at the rear. One of the main goals of the new system was to ensure it provided a level of sonic experience to satisfy touring artists, offering a viable and attractive choice to bringing in their own productions. For this ve
UK - Event design and technical production company Maestra London has expanded its team in readiness for a busy autumn season. Joining MD Justin Hammond and the London team are Matt Spark (senior project manager), Euan MacLeod (business development manager) and Cameron Pullar (warehouse assistant). Spark started working at festivals and events like SW4 and the Isle of Wight and other international events, as well as becoming a freelance production assistant for a succession of artists. This experience took him to Australia for three years where he worked with a raft of brands including Star Wars, Quantas and Disney. MacLeod worked in New York and Woodstock before relocating to Scotland to take a degree in Events & Entertainment Management at Glasgow Caledonian University. Pullar worked at a Scottish LED company whist still at school and then studied M
Germany - With the SC-Mercator Cat.6 PUR, Sommer Cable is introducing a high-performance cable for the mobile outdoor transmission of digital audio and network signals. Despite its halogen-free, flame-retardant PUR jacket and the insulated, shielded wires the new cable is cold flexible and easily reelable, enabling trouble-free transmissions for Ethersound over distances of up to 110m (361 ft.). Only 8mm in diameter for 4 x 2 wires, the Cat.6 Superflex is relatively compact and therefore suitable for OB van applications. The cable is available both as bulkware and ready-made cable. “The Cat.6 PUR Superflex is particularly recommended for situations where a reliable temperature resistance, a safe data transfer and at the same time a high flexibility are much in demand,” explains Pascal Miguet, product & sales manager for Sommer Cable. (Jim Evans)
UK - Cardiff City Council contacted 11th Hour requesting a turnkey solution for the presentation event as the city welcomed back Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas. The council contacted 11th Hour with the brief just three days before the homecoming was due to take place. Outside Cardiff Castle, 11th Hour erected a 6m x 5m Trilite stage, complete with cycle ramp and PA system by ABacoustics. As well as power to the stage and temporary media centre, the company supplied two confetti cannons and 58m of Prolyte truss to create 2 x 13m high archways over St Mary’s Street. With much of 11th Hour’s own truss out on festival duty, the company was able to source its requirements at short notice from trusted partner AED. Every aspect of the event proceeded smoothly, from the build, managed by a highly experienced team operating in what are familiar, busy city centre
South Africa - The Gearhouse Group, a network of companies, branches and divisions that service the event industries, has recently added Showcom to its ranks. Johannesburg-based Showcom (Pty) Ltd is headed up by Nickolas Chapman and specialises in supplying communication solutions to the events industry, offering a range of wireless, wired or two-way radio communication systems. The company’s official launch was marked on 1 August. Showcom is based at 18 Lang Street, Bezuidenhout Valley. (Jim Evans)
UK - Cambridge-based conference technology provider Brähler ICS UK has rebranded as BUK Solutions. The change comes as the company marks 30 years of trading and enters a new phase that incorporates new distribution partnerships and a more diverse range of suppliers. The company is also offering enhanced complementary event services as part of its rental portfolio including consultancy, interpretation and translation. Launched in the late 1980s, Brähler ICS UK operated alongside German parent company Brähler ICS Konferenztechnik AG until 2012. It then became independent but remained a member of the global Brähler ICS Network until recently. Simon Sainsbury, managing director of BUK Solutions, comments: “The success of our expanded portfolio, which now includes several new non-Brähler products and services, prompted us to redefine our identity in the marketpl
UK - The Hay Festival, an annual festival of literature and the arts, held in Hay-on-Wye in Powys, Wales, has expanded to encompass a broad spectrum of cultural activities. This year’s 10-day event welcomed more than a quarter of a million visitors. The festival site comprises temporary marquee structures of varying size (capacities vary from a few thousand to less than a hundred) connected by covered walkways and is located in a field on the edge of the town. The infrastructure required to meet the needs of the festival audience and the 800 or so events that take place is significant. From lectures, readings, concerts and screenings, to discussions, sales, children’s activities, catering, media centre and more besides, Hay Festival presents logistical challenges that might bring a frown to even the most seasoned events professional. This year, Cardiff-based events
Puerto Rico - As part of his mammoth Love + Dance world tour, Luis Fonsi, the Puerto Rican singer best known for the smash hit Despacito, played on home turf to an ecstatic crowd at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum of Puerto Rico in San Juan. Luis may be a fan of taking things slowly but FOH engineer Yamil Martínez has embraced how quickly he could work on a DiGiCo SD10, which was at the heart of the tour's audio system supplied by local provider Wichie Sound Performance. Yamil Martínez is a seasoned pro when it comes to hot Latin performances. Prior to spending the last three years as Luis' FOH engineer, Yamil worked with the likes of Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Alex Campos, and has been a fan of DiGiCo consoles ever since he first got his hands on one. “I have been using DiGiCo with other artists since 2011,” explains Yamil. “It w
China - When Audi introduced its A8L luxury saloon to the Chinese market, technical service company Redline turned to the BlackTrax real-time motion tracking system to help deliver the wow factor to the launch show. Each of the cars featured in the show was fitted with BTBeacons which transmitted the exact position of the vehicles as they moved around the stage to BTCams, which then relayed the information to the lighting console so that any lighting look could be designed while automatically following the cars on the stage, regardless of speed or direction, with an accuracy that would not have been possible to achieve manually. Another big part of the reveal, was the futuristic graphics projected on the floor and not only accented the beautiful car, it also helped explain some of the A8L’s new built in technology and features. The mapped projection interacted with
