Poland - Nexo's contemporary, compact loudspeakers are an aesthetically pleasing fit for one of Poland's most valued heritage sites, in the Church of the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, officially recognised as the largest castle in the world.

The Castle itself is a medieval fortress, completed in 1406, and designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO 20 years ago. This year, as part of an extensive reconstruction programme in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, LAUDA Audio was asked to design and install a sound reinforcement system to support the permanent and temporary exhibitions that are to be hosted by this historic venue.

The church can accommodate around 300 people in its main hall, attending meetings and presentations, as well as concerts. However, with a ceiling height of 14 metres, the acoustics of this medieval building are demanding. Reverb time is a

Europe - Sennheiser has released a new documentation app which offers immediate and interactive access to all product manuals, spec sheets and other technical documents on Sennheiser products. Available now, the new app has been designed to give B2B-clients, system integrators and end-users quick and easy access to product information via smartphones and tablets.

The Sennheiser documentation app uses a responsive, HTML 5-based design for an attractive and interactive experience. It provides product manuals and spec sheets as well as multimedia documentation, enhanced with audio and video content. Users can access the documents in different language versions at any time - either online or as offline downloads.

"By making the documentation app available to our customers, we provide them with a solution that is much more convenient than the PDF manuals that have been availabl

The Netherlands - Visual impact is important, but when it comes to delivering a successful event or conference what you really need is clear, intelligible sound. This is the message DPA Microphones is bringing to ISE 2017 (Stand 7-T235) and one it is backing with a range of high quality microphone products aimed specifically at architects, AV consultants, system integrators and installing electricians.

"Sound is often the last thing people think about when they are planning a conference, but if you can't hear what delegates are saying the whole event becomes pointless," says DPA product manager, René M°rch.

"Microphones are the first link in the audio chain, so it makes sense to introduce the highest possible quality at that point. DPA is renowned for developing and manufacturing neutral and accurate microphones that can reproduce sound to the smallest detail, e

The Netherlands - Oblong Industries will be showcasing the impressive visual collaboration capabilities of Mezzanine, the company's dynamic solution for innovative workplaces, at ISE 2017.

The platform's impressive visual collaboration technology defines a new era of infopresence, enabling distributed teams to manage the increased complexities of business, says the company. Mezzanine bridges the physical gap between distributed teams, creating a common digital workspace where teams can share ideas and data, accelerate decision-making and collaborate more effectively.

The latest generation of Mezzanine, with its advanced remote participation capabilities, "truly releases organisations from the usual constraints of common conferencing solutions".

"We're looking forward to being part of ISE again in 2017. Our cutting-edge demonstrations utilise multiple content sources an

The Netherlands - With ISE 2017 just around the corner, the team at German loudspeaker systems manufacturer, d&b audiotechnik, is looking forward to welcoming visitors to stand 7-C173 and demo room E103 once again.

At the d&b stand visitors will find a joined-up toolkit, including loudspeakers, software and electronics, alongside members of the team for support and advice. Interactive workstations will guide guests through the streamline d&b Workflow, and show interoperability possibilities with third party system controls.

Here integrators looking to achieve the sonic quality performance, for which d&b systems are globally renowned, will discover why integrating and operating a d&b system has never been more straightforward or efficient.

For the first time, visitors will also have the opportunity to see the company's latest installation specific loudspeakers, 24S and

UK - Lightconverse Tools is a new specialized 3D design programme focused on stage design of all types and sizes and is fully compatible with the award-winning Lightconverse 3D Show Platform.

From theatre spaces, corporate events and TV studios, to rock tours and awards shows, the software offers design, documentation and inventory options to quickly and effectively build shows from the ground up while decreasing the time and material expenses of implementation.

Equipment Inventory options include user-created custom "Warehouse" databases for storing existing supply levels which match real-world inventory, allowing users to form a precise equipment base and intuitively work directly from it. Efficiency is increased further as the Warehouse mode smartly shows the user the presence/absence of required elements for the current project.

For detailed project paperwork, the

UK - Electronic and synthpop band Human League completed another much-anticipated and totally sold-out European and UK tour which culminated in a major homecoming at Sheffield Arena, proving that their music and string of foot-tapping hits from the 1980s and 1990s as well as their newer work continues to entertain fans - both original and new.

Colour Sound Experiment was delighted to be back working live with the band as lighting and video supplier for the Very British Synthesizer Group tour, working closely with show designer Rob Sinclair and lighting director on the road, Chris Steel.

Human League tour regularly every two years and each time there is a fresh new look to the stage. The set for the 2016 one was again created and evolved by Rob and band manager Simon Watson, and has been hailed as one of the best looking to date.

Visuality is high on the agenda of all H

USA - Embarking on her first headlining tour, Grammy, ACM and CMA Award nominee CAM is quickly becoming one of country music's hottest young stars. For her inaugural tour, the artist's management turned to Cour Design who oversaw the complete production design using lighting gear and support from Nashville-based tour provider Elite Multimedia.

"At Cour Design, my partner Erik Anderson and I have previously worked with CAM tour manager Nick Hardy, so when they were getting ready to go out, he gave us a call to help," began Droitcour. "Since this would be their first headlining club run, and since they would be travelling without a dedicated lighting team, they needed something that would look good aesthetically in the various venues, but that would also be possible for the 3-person road crew to load-in and out each night."

Droitcour continued, "To immerse the band and audie

UK - Built in 1909 and possessed of an impressive Edwardian Baroque facade, Parkside is a Grade 2 listed building in Bromsgrove. It was opened in 1912 as a Secondary school and remained as such until its closure in 2008.

The building has suffered little alteration and English Heritage described its 'overall level of intactness' as 'remarkable', observing that its characteristics were 'unusually lavish for a Secondary school'. This year, work was completed on a multi-million pound project to create a hub at Parkside for public services in the town.

The scheme, run jointly between Bromsgrove District and Worcester County Councils will see the building become home to Bromsgrove Library, register office, Job Centre Plus, Bromsgrove District Council staff, as well as offering a number of rooms available for private functions.

What was formerly the school hall at Parkside no

USA - Moisés Kaufman's moving drama 33 Variations follows the transformative journey of a musicologist, who, after being diagnosed with ALS, sets out to learn why Beethoven felt compelled to write 33 variations of an otherwise unheralded Anton Diabelli waltz. Taking place in both Beethoven's time and our own, the play raises profound questions about the creative process and the quest to find meaning in life. Lighting such an ethereal production requires a design that's as subtle, varied and delicately balanced as the Kaufman's beautifully crafted play itself.

Peter Lerohl achieved this feat in a recent production of 33 Variations with help from a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures acquired from Monkey Wrench Productions. Lerohl, the technical director of Theatre at Anoka Ramsey Community College, used six Ovation E-910FC colour mixing LED ellipsoidals, position

Belgium - Thirty-four of Robe's versatile CycFX 8 fixtures provided an elegant and inventive solution for lighting designer Aaron Copp on the new production of Shahrazad, choreographed by Jonah Bokaer for the Royal Ballet of Flanders (whose artistic director is Olivier Award winning Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui).

The production finished its run at the Opera Vlaanderen in Ghent on 30 October, 2016 and subsequently played in Antwerp, Amsterdam and several other European cities.

Aaron, a freelance lighting designer based in New York, was asked to collaborate on Shahrazad by American choreographer Jonah Bokaer, known for his provocative and risk taking work, often utilizing mixed media. The two have worked regularly together, including recently on Rules of the Game at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), a new work with original score by Pharrell Williams for the Dall

Canada - Wall Sound and Lighting, based in the Canadian national capital of Ottawa, has secured its place as a major player in the region's high-end event rental market by investing in a Meyer Sound Leo Family reinforcement system.

"Here in Ottawa we're sandwiched between Toronto and Montreal, which means we face stiff competition from large regional providers on the major events," notes Neil Collier, senior project manager for the company. "Our recent investment in Meyer Sound's Leo Family not only has helped us maintain our major share of the local market but also has helped us grow our business in new directions by securing larger and more prestigious clients. It has taken us up to the next level."

Wall Sound and Lighting supplies sound, lighting and staging services for a broad range of arts/entertainment, corporate and government events throughout the Ottawa region. A

Russia - In the 30 years since Russian theatre director designer Oleg Tabakov and set designer David Borovsky established an 'alternative' theatre in a small, damp Moscow basement, the name Tabakerka has become legendary to the city's theatre lovers.

Despite often challenging times under the Soviet regime, the company thrived and Tabakov has just opened a brand new, 400-capacity venue. Located in Moscow's Sukharevskaya Street, The Stage at Sukharevskaya features an L-Acoustics loudspeaker system.

Operating in tandem with the original basement venue (now named The Stage at Chistye Prudy), a key aim of the new venue was to continue the sense of intimacy so familiar in the original venue, yet to allow it the flexibility to stage any kind of performance.

To achieve this, certified provider and distributor of L-Acoustics products, Sonoruss, supplied the L-Acoustics elements

USA - Bose Professional is now shipping new ShowMatch DeltaQ array loudspeakers for both installation and portable applications, with field-changeable waveguides that help provide the best possible sound quality throughout the audience area.

DeltaQ array technology improves sound quality and vocal clarity by providing selectable coverage patterns that direct more sound energy to the audience by allowing directivity, or 'Q' to vary with each array module. Traditional line arrays typically have significantly less pattern control.

ShowMatch full-range array loudspeakers are available with 5°, 10° or 20° vertical coverage with class-leading versatility that allows J-array, constant-curvature, or DeltaQ array configurations. Conventional line arrays can require up to twice the box count compared to DeltaQ arrays to achieve comparable vertical coverage. DeltaQ arrays

Germany - For the 20th anniversary of the biggest north German indoor festival of electronic music, Pioneer DJ alpha, over 50 national and international DJs such as Westbam, DJ Quicksilver, Charly Lownoise & Menthal Theo, Pulsedriver and Woody van Eyden and many more took part.

The sound of the Mainfloor including the VIPStage was realised with a VT20 system. Two arrays with two 12 VT20 and a cardioid bass array with 36x VS18 formed the main PA. The whole main PA was powered by only six Delta 20.4-DP system amps effortless hanging on only one 32 A / 400 V three-phase connection.

For the nearfield, eight MT12 were used, which were driven four-ways. The sound engineers at the venue spoke of remarkably detailed and homogenous sound, which impressed very much. Pioneer DJ alpha's André Neuhaus (FOH) comments: "A system in this size had to meet not only the client's expec

USA - The 1,200-plus teenagers in and around Van Buren, Arkansas attend Van Buren High School, and a huge part of their high school experience involves the school's Clair Bates Arena, a 2,000-seat arena built in 2009.

Unfortunately, budget constraints left its original sound reinforcement system underpowered and lacking critical intelligibility. Local A/V integration firm Commercial Audio Systems recently remedied that frustrating situation by installing a distributed Danley Sound Labs system comprised of eight Danley OS-80 full-range outdoor loudspeakers and eight Danley OS-115 subwoofers, citing their fidelity and pattern control for delivering musical impact and intelligibility in an overly-live room.

"The arena is beautiful; it's really stunning," said Jim Crews, co-owner of Commercial Audio Systems. "They did a great job getting all of its permanent architectural aspe

Canada - Known as the birthplace of Manitoba, Upper Fort Garry in Winnipeg is a significant site in Canadian history. Although the original fort was largely demolished in the 1880s, its remaining Governor's Gate and an area of surrounding land was gifted to the city by the Hudson Bay Company "as a public park forever".

Overshadowed by surrounding buildings and nearly forgotten, recent development pressures rekindled interest in the site and led to the inspired vision of a $19m heritage park and interpretive centre for Upper Fort Garry.

A 400ft commemorative wall of naturally rusting Corten steel has been built, with integrated LED lighting by Daktronics and sound by Inland Audio Visual. Marking the height, depth and location of Upper Fort Garry's original west wall, its sculptured layers scribe three continuous lines tracing the history of Western Canada and of Upper Fort

UK - Raynes Park High School, London, is a mixed comprehensive school for 12-16-year-old pupils able to accommodates up to 1400 pupils. Currently employing 120 members of staff Raynes Park High School offers pupils access to an on-site Autism Centre, SEND Department, Sixth Form and Sports Centre.

The paging systems implemented by Clarity in Sound, Light & Vision allows staff at the school to page zones individually or call-all zones. Pre-recorded or live announcements can be made in all the separate buildings which includes a newly built the Sixth Form block, a sports hall and the D&T building, in addition to sports fields and playground areas.

Clarity in Sound Light & Vision Ltd installed a Cloud DCM-1 Digital Zone Mixer alongside several Cloud 100V multichannel amplifiers across eight zones. In addition to two Cloud PM-8SA paging microphones, a Sennheiser wireless radio

UK - VME used its flagship Martin Audio MLA System to the full at the Manchester Arena recently, for Anthony Joshua's latest IBF World Heavyweight Championship defence live on Sky Sports Box Office.

From their 48-box MLA inventory the Manchester-based service providers can rig differently configured systems to suit venue size and technical requirement, with the EQ tailored accordingly. According to VME head of sound, Mark Cleator, the challenges of reinforcing a live Sky Sports broadcast, in-the-round production for promoters Matchroom Boxing, are entirely different to a conventional rock show.

"Each venue is completely unique," says Mark, "and the rig has to be up in the air within three hours. We share a couple of cable bridges with lighting but all our hangs are double motored to reduce the need for having to tie off arrays, which really helps the rig time."

Manches

UK - The contents of the internationally-renowned Fountain Studios in Wembley, north London, will come under the hammer after the recent final of the 2016 X Factor brought the curtain down on 90 years of film and broadcasting history.

The studio has been sold to property developers, and sound and vision equipment, lighting, scenery and memorabilia are all being offered in an online sale between 30 January and 7 February. The sale is being organised by auctioneers Charterfields (www.charterfields.com) and a viewing day is being held on 1 February.

Among the broadcast equipment for sale are Sony HDC cameras, pedestals along with various control units and pan and tilt heads; vision mixers; sound desks and microphones; lighting desks and a large quantity of hoists and pantographs.

In addition, there is also a selection of scenery and drapes, dressing room furniture,

China - KLANG:technologies has announced the appointment of Beijing Huahui Audio Technology Co Ltd (Huahui) as its distributor in China. Established in 2003, Beijing-based Huahui is a professional audio company that provides a comprehensive range of services, including consultation, design, installation, technical support, training and sales.

The company has an impressive portfolio of high-end brands, including L-Acoustics, Midas, Milab, Klark Teknik, t.c.electronic, Point Source, Focal, Adam, Canare and Sennheiser. Operating across the broadcast, studio, fixed installation and live markets, Huahui is focused on its technical ability and customer support and is ISO9001 certified.

KLANG:technologies aim is to create the perfect in-ear monitor sound for musicians, enabling them to work with greater ease and focus on their performance. Its KLANG:fabrik and KLANG:vier 3D perso

Belgium - Apart Audio has announced the release of its CM Design Series speakers, which the Belgian brand has created to offer simple, elegant integration into all interior environments.

A thin edge grille and integrated neodymium grille fixing magnets ensure that the new series is both unobtrusive and easy to install, with Apart's Quick Fix connectors used for speaker connections - avoiding the need for junction boxes and reducing installation time and costs. Clear power tap labelling on the speakers' transformers also aids quick and easy set-up.

The two-way CM Design speakers are available in both 6.5" and 8" sizes, delivering power outputs of 60W and 100W respectively.

(Jim Evans)

USA - With the recent opening of WildPitch Music Hall, downtown Atlanta is home to a new nightlife destination. Best described as an underground dance club that offers live music for special events, WildPitch Music Hall features a variety of established and emerging special guests from across the electronic music spectrum. The new club also represents D.A.S. Audio's first permanent U.S. installation of its recently introduced SoundForce Series loudspeakers.

Global Audio Systems of NY, NY was the AV design-build firm contracted to handle the installation of the D.A.S. Audio SoundForce loudspeaker system at WildPitch Music Hall, with local support from Platinum Sound Atlanta. Owner Jason Ojeda, ultimately installed a system consisting of several prominent models from the SoundForce Series line. He discussed the project and his reasons for choosing D.A.S. Audio.

"The room at

Russia - Nobel Hall, the main auditorium of Moscow's Financial University, is a multipurpose space within this prominent and prestigious educational facility.

Equipped with a Martin Audio W8LM Mini Line Array, the hall, which operates under the Government of the Russian Federation, is capable of hosting 1,350 people. The opening was timed to coincide with the First Moscow International Economic Forum and has since been used for many world-leading scientific conferences and seminars.

This hall is also used for various forums and events, involving numerous creative teams of the Financial University and prominent guest performers, while a university tradition includes hosting two lectures from Nobel prize winners every year. Thus perfect speech intelligibility and highest quality of music reproduction were key requirements during the design process - and Martin Audio products

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