USA - German manufacturer of IP audio, video and control infrastructure solutions Lawo is expanding its US operations, adding personnel and opening a new support and logistics hub in Elmsford, New York. Three times the size and capacity of its previous facility, Lawo’s new hub will serve as warehouse, test facility, training centre and East Coast sales and support office. This new facility complements Lawo’s existing US HQ in New York City, West Coast sales and support office in Los Angeles, and Canadian headquarters in Toronto. To oversee operations at the new hub, Ricardo Martinez assumes the position of North-American logistics and support coordinator starting 1 December. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business management and comes to Lawo from his previous post as operations supervisor with Autonomic Controls. At the same time, Lawo has announced t
UK - Stardraw.com’s line-art library is now reportedly comprising over 100,000 symbols of 34,586 products from 838 manufacturers. Stardraw’s symbols library has been a work in progress for over 20 years and, since the advent of the Product Request service in 2002, the number of symbols available to subscribing customers has grown massively. Moreover, since the addition of new products into the library is based on user requests, the contents of the library reflect the products in use by the global professional AV industry. All symbols are generated in-house by Stardraw’s Symbols Department according to an established data specification. This means that regardless of the original data or what the symbols might represent, a qualitative standard is maintained. As a result, any and all symbols used in project documentation work seamlessly with each other, making the d
Europe - Status Quo have hit the road for their latest tour Plugged In - Live and Rockin’, with full technical service provider Hawthorn supplying the lighting equipment for the performances. Following the death of Rick Parfitt in December last year, the band kicked off this year’s tour with Aquostic performances in Europe before returning to the UK for the electric shows. Now the band have headed back overseas for the next leg of the tour. Having never taken the Aquostic show to Europe, the decision was made to keep these performances in the original format. The tour will close in Nürnberg, Germany on 21 December 2017. Working closely with Ewan Cameron, Status Quo’s long-standing lighting designer, the Concert Touring division at Hawthorn drew upon its vast range of hire stock to supply lighting to specification. This includes Martin
India - Harman Professional Solutions recently partnered with Grammy Award-winning artist A.R. Rahman to produce The Sufi Route, India’s first folk, poetry and Sufi music festival. Harman was the official technology partner of the concert, which was held on 18 November at Qutub Minar in New Delhi and featured a line-up comprising Javed Akhtar, Nooran Sisters, Hans Raj Hans, Mukhtiar Ali, Kamna Prasad Sood, Fouzia & Firoz, Dhruv Sangari and a Whirling Dervish ceremony from Turkey. The Sufi Route and Harman partnered with The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation to allow 35 students with hearing loss enjoy the show in support of the organisation’s A Billion Acts for Peace campaign. Students from the Centrum GRO Advanced Skill Training Centre for the Deaf heard the performances using four translators and vibrations from JBL speakers. “Ha
UK - Martin Audio has announced the availability of GLL loudspeaker measurement data compatible with EASE Focus 3 for many of its point source loudspeakers. EASE Focus 3 from AFMG Technologies is an acoustic simulation programme for 3D modelling that enables the user to define audience areas, section views, and receiver locations flexibly, while calculating sound coverage and frequency response immediately. Dan Orton, Martin Audio’s product group manager, comments: “Martin Audio’s runaway success with the likes of CDD series and BlacklineX has accelerated our installation market share, and now that we and our customers have the ability to model our point source boxes in a 3D environment it will help ensure that this trend continues.” The GLL loudspeaker data compatible with both EASE and EASE Focus is available to download from the Martin Audio website.
UK - Rental company Stage Sound Services (SSS) has recently invested in Sennheiser’s new Digital 6000 microphone system. SSS chose the system for its sub-hire and its rider / specification friendliness as well as its environmental credentials bolstered by its rechargeable battery. “We've been working with Sennheiser from the very start of the company, starting out with their wired microphones,” says SSS commercial manager, James Lewis. “A large proportion of our business is professional theatre, from small plays to full-scale musicals and, in recent years, our stock of Sennheiser and Neumann wired microphones has increased dramatically to accommodate these shows. Last year we started to add Sennheiser wireless into our rental stock, with the purchase of 32 channels of its SK 5212 system for the Funny Girl UK tour. Sennheiser is on many specs, so it wasn'
UK - Fox Valley Retail Park in Stocksbridge, north Sheffield has been equipped with a Bose audio solution just a year after its official opening. Property developer Dransfield Properties commissioned long-time Bose pro partner Promotiontime NE to design an audio system for the retail, office and leisure development. After breaking ground in March 2014, it took just over two years and a £50m investment to transform the 28-acre former steelworks site into a retail and commercial hub for over 18,000 locals. Fox Valley required an audio system to fill walkways and open pedestrianised areas with both background and foreground sound as well as needing sound-reinforcement in the entertainment areas. A network of 26 Bose FreeSpace loudspeakers were installed across the site, utilising a mixture of DS 100SE and DS 40SE products for the public retail spaces, and in addit
UK - Doughty dealers Chinnick Theatre Services experienced a ‘light bulb moment’ when they first saw Doughty’s new Studio Rail Articulated Carriage at PLASA, London, realising it was the perfect piece of kit for a job they were working on at Richard Hewish College in Taunton. “We were approached by Halsall Construction in Bath and asked if we could quote for a lighting grid at the college,” explained Clive Chinnick, “We were sent a photo of the internally wired theatre grid that had been in place previously. However, it was in a classroom setting which made very little sense to us. Then we were sent through the specifications for the project, and one of the requests was for a socket to be placed every 200mm. We realised we needed to visit the college to try and better understand their needs.” On visiting the college, Clive discovered that the project had
Germany - S.E.A. Vertrieb & Consulting will become the German distributor for Community Professional Loudspeakers from 1 January 2018. The distributor exclusively markets a portfolio of 20 premium audio brands, offering solutions for recording studios, live events and fixed installations. Heinz Bouwer, sales manager at S.E.A. Vertrieb & Consulting, comments: “We are delighted to join forces with Community and represent the company’s high-performance products in the German market. Community offers a comprehensive range of audio products with superior sound, excellent manufacturing quality and unique features, making the brand a perfect fit with our existing portfolio of installed sound products. We look forward to further developing Community in our territory and taking advantage of the synergy with more than 12 years of successful cooperation with its siste
USA - Integration company Houlton Audio/Video Applications recently replaced the sound system at the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun in Colorado Springs, the tomb of philanthropist and entrepreneur Spencer Penrose, who died tragically in a plane crash. The Shrine plays a measured role in the lives of all the denizens of Colorado Springs – like a traditional church bell, it chimes on the hour and on the 15 minutes in standard Westminster code, in addition to playing clarions at special times and on special days. Houlton replaced the inefficient 2,500-watt system comprised of e18 amplifiers, 36 1.5-inch compression driven horns, and 36 15-inch loudspeakers that had previously conveyed the Maas-Rowe carillon chime system to the town, with a very efficient 10,000-watt system comprised of a single four-channel Danley DNA 10K4 Pro amplifier and a Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn.
USA - The 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards is one of the biggest nights in Latin music. Broadcast on the Univision Network, the 2017 show was recently hosted by Jaime Camil and Roselyn Sanchez at the Grand Garden Arena at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Since 2005, Univision has tapped Orlando, Florida-based Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) to provide RF coordination and equipment for the live show viewed by 8 million people around the world - and this year was no different. “RF coordination in Las Vegas is always difficult - coordination for an award show the size and scope of the Latin Grammys is truly a challenge,” explains James Stoffo, lead RF coordinator for the show. “We start weeks in advance, planning everything down to the last channel to ensure the show goes off without a hitch, it was the smoothest Latin Grammys I have ever worked th
UK - Hard rock band Enter Shikari are always pushing the boundaries of experimentalism as proved during their latest outing with an Adlib supplied quadrophonic system. During the initial stages of the tour design, Andy Russell (FOH) wanted to specify a system that would push boundaries in audio fidelity. He wanted to connect the massive energy emanating from the stage to Shikari’s devoted fan base. So, hand-on-heart, Adlib systems engineers George Puttock and Sam Proctor together with Adlib account manager and director Dave Jones all recommended Coda AiRAY as the right option. They specified the system - known for its low distortion, extreme output and intense clarity - based on Andy’s brief of delivering a truly stunning live experience for anyone catching the tour. Andy has worked with Enter Shikari for the last 11 years and knows exactly how they and he li
UAE - Audio visual solutions provider Sonic Wave has struck a partnered with Sennheiser to distribute a range of wired and wireless microphones and studio headphones from the German manufacturer. The company has stocked wired mics from Sennheiser’s Evolution range; professional headphones like the HD-25s; and Neumann studio monitors and select models from Neumann’s range of recording microphones. The announcement coincides with the opening of Sonic Wave’s Dubai showroom yesterday (Sunday, 10 December), with Sennheiser demo units to be available for testing at the new premises from this Wednesday, 13 December. Andrew Williams, managing director at Sonic Wave, says: “Clients in the UAE are demanding reliable high-quality products with world-class support. Sennheiser delivers on these requirements with a catalogue of products and models that supports a full
Denmark - Pascal A/S, the leading OEM amplifier module provider for the global pro audio industry, has announced the appointment of Mads Hother Høpfner as account manager. The appointment is in direct response to the continuing growing rate of expansion at the Copenhagen based company. Høpfner brings six years of sales, marketing and purchase experience in the surface technology industry to his new position at Pascal. He joins key account managers Aage Hejgaard and Nikolaj Pihl in Pascal's expanded account team. Welcoming him to the company, VP of business development Peter Frentz said, “The fundamental aspect of our client relationships is a sustainable long term approach, in which we effectively partner to help them achieve faster times to market and better risk mitigate their projects. It is the relationship skills and mind-set that this requires that Mads bring
USA - To coincide with the release of its Achromic Series of active loudspeaker cabinets, Avante Audio has announced the appointment of Chuck Green as its sales manager. Part of the ADJ Group of Companies, Avante Audio is a new professional audio brand. Having spent most of his life playing music, Chuck Green started out as a sound engineer while still in High School. He provided PA services for live bands at a wide variety of venues and developed a love for the industry that eventually developed into a career. During his twenties, he worked in music stores, managing two different PA departments, and building up a wealth of live audio contacts and experience. He then joined the ADJ Group where he has spent the last 15 years working in a variety of roles, most recently that of international sales manager. Now also taking on the role of sales manager for Avante Audio, Ch
USA - CrossRoad Baptist Church in Ames, Iowa was at a crossroads. The sound system it had relied on to deliver spirited services in its 450-seat auditorium had never possessed the kind of intelligibility the church members and staff had hoped for and age wasn't helping matters. Originally called in with the hope that improved acoustics could do the job by itself, A/V integration firm Communication Innovators (Des Moines, Iowa) diagnosed the larger and deeper issues that were preventing congregants from fully immersing themselves in CrossRoad's services. The church's new Dante-connected digital system relies on a bank of high-value, high-reliability Ashly Audio nX-Series multi-channel amplifiers with optional Dante I/O. "CrossRoad Baptist Church already had some acoustic treatment to deal with the reflective surfaces and they hoped they could address complaints by getti
UK - Situated on the less hectic northern end of London’s Charlotte Street, recently opened Mere restaurant is owned and operated by husband and wife team, David and Monica Galetti. Monica currently appears as a Masterchef Professionals while David’s background includes being Le Gavroche’s sommelier. London based specialist AV integrators Sound Division were originally called in during late 2016, after being recommended to Mere’s owners, to design an audio-visual solution for the new restaurant. Installation of the solutions recommended by Sound Division followed, with the new restaurant and bar opening in 2017, Sound Division opting to use Cloud Electronics products for the restaurant and bar’s audio requirements. David Graham, managing director for Sound Division comments, “We are pleased to have been invited by Mere’s owners to provide a high-qu
Poland - Nexo Geo S12 line array has been chosen for one of Poland’s newest live music venues. Stary Maneż has been transformed from a historic military riding academy into Gdansk’s foremost club stage for national and international artists. The colourful history of Stary Maneż goes back to the famous Polish hussars: it is located in the Garrison district, which has served as an army, police and security services base for first the Germans, then the Free City and then the Poles. As the district is redeveloped, Stary Maneż has become its showpiece: the most modern concert venue in the Tri-City area (Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia) with adjacent restaurant and craft brewery, which accommodates 1500 music fans for a wide variety of music and cultural events. Lauda Audio, the Tri-City pro-audio importer and installation specialist, has designed and supplied a powerf
Australia - From early next year, Jands will no longer represent Harman Professional Solutions in the Australia territory. Jands says this move is part of a strategic review of their business which commenced early in 2017 with the purpose of “developing a company structure and product strategy that will see Jands best positioned for the future”. This process encompassed a companywide review of both Jands’ business strengths and the strengths of its key suppliers. As a result of this review, in July Jands began an internal restructure designed to “better align the organisation to the strategies and product roadmaps of its key suppliers”. A company statement says, “Numerous new roles have been created, with many having already been filled, to further strengthen Jands’ reputation for education, training, product support and to improve the customer experienc
Europe - Building on the success of Apex’s flagship Intelli-X2 series, the company has introduced the first model of the next-generation Intelli-X3 series, the Intelli-X3 648 system management processor with optional Dante networking capacity for full network redundancy. Like its predecessors, Intelli-X3 has been designed in close collaboration with sound engineers, system techs and system integrators. With internal processing up to 192 kHz, high-end, studio-grade analogue circuit designs and mastering-grade compressors as standard, Intelli-X3 delivers “premium audio performance in a robust 1U form factor with a powerful and intuitive front panel user interface”. Intelli-X3 provides all the system management tools necessary for comprehensive system alignment and EQ, through to the provision of IIR and custom FIR-based crossovers. I/Os can be selected (in pairs)
USA - Unveiled earlier this year at Prolight + Sound 2017, Clair Brothers has introduced a new addition to its successful line of One Series 12- and 15-inch coaxial stage monitors: a self-powered version of the 1.5AM monitor called the 1.5AM+. This Clair Brothers extends One Seriesfollows on the heels of last year’s introduction of the powered monitor 1AM+, the amplified sister of the 1AM monitor. The 1.5AM+’s internal, factory-programmed DSP loudspeaker processing gives users Xover, EQ, Limiter, and a total of four preset options. Of interest to current 12AM owners, the 1.5AM+ features factory-programmed processing that delivers two ‘12AM Emulation Mode’ preset options (32dB gain or 38dB gain); these presets provide similar frequency response voicing and low-frequency phase response for seamless compatibility for 1.5AM+ to be deployed harmoniously with existing flee
UK - Martin Audio partner Stage Audio Services (SAS) fielded the MLA Compact PA at the UK’s biggest indoor winter music festival, TWSTD Festival in Skegness. The company has regularly serviced the event, which this year had a Circus theme and was held on two consecutive weekends in November. SAS was contracted by event production company Zero Degrees Events and flew 10 MLA Compact elements per side and 10 MLX subs in a broadside array. SAS’ Nat Hopking says: “MLA was proposed by Zero Degrees as a solution to getting the most from the event without having to compromise on noise levels, and the restrictions imposed due to local residents in the area. But thanks to the way this system works the acoustician monitoring the off-site noise had no issues.” With artists such as DJ EZ, Lethal Bizzie, Hannah Wants, Sigma and Tom Zanetti appearing, SAS
Spain - Creative Technology (CT) has announced that Jeffrey Langhorst will join CT Spain this month in the role of international project manager. This addition follows CT’s recent news of expansion in the region by opening an office in Portugal. “We are excited to have Jeff as part of the CT Spain team,” said Dave Crump. CEO of CT Europe and Middle East. “His skills and expertise as a technical specialist and someone who has managed projects for major clients is a huge plus. Jeff, [along with Sander Meijer as international sales manager], form a strong duo who will be focused on delivering superior service and solutions for our international conferences and exhibition clients.” Jeffrey Langhorst has worked in the audio visual rental industry since 1997. He started his career in Amsterdam as an AV technician, and then moved to Barcelona in 2009 and has opera
World - Within the past few months, numerous sound and AV rental company owners around the world have chosen the new Bose Professional ShowMatch compact line array system with DeltaQ variable-coverage technology as a go-to solution for their rental inventories. In the United States, Total Production Group (TPG) of Cerritos, California, is an example of a full-service AV rental company that has adopted ShowMatch. Owner/partner Steve McAllister said going with a ShowMatch system was a very easy decision: “I’ve heard many different systems over the years, and I was very impressed by the coverage and clarity of the Bose ShowMatch system. ShowMatch is a great system for our company because it allows us to scale the rig for anything from a small corporate gig all the way up to stadium-size shows – and do it with amazing quality. “It’s small and compact, and it's j
