Germany - Announcing several significant new products and with a stand that was perpetually busy throughout the show's four days, Coda Audio enjoyed a highly successful Prolight+Sound 2015.

A highlight of the new products was a first glimpse of the company's new AiRAY three-way, full-range line array system. Set for a full launch in the summer, AiRAY addresses the 'holy grail' of exceptional output and intelligibility, yet is half the size, weight and transport dimensions of conventional 2x12" systems.

Also on show for the first time was the High Output Point Source HOPS8, a passive two-way system with outstanding output-to-size ratio and 100° x 100° coverage. Optimised for near-field applications, the unit is available with two hardware options - HOPS8 for mobile a

UK - Leeds-based Production Room, one of the UK's premier stores for pro-audio, recording and hi-tech musical equipment, has recently extended its already impressive stock profile with a dedicated HK Audio display in their showroom.

Featuring practically everything from the German pro-audio manufacturer's portfolio including the compact and powerful Lucas Nano 300 and Nano 600 systems, the Elements and Elements + modular systems as well as the more traditional yet still innovative Premium PR:O, Pulsar and Linear 5 sound reinforcement units - including the popular Linear 5 Rock Pack and Big Venue Pack - complete systems optimised for live applications.

"In late 2014 Production Room made the decision to expand the business into the sound reinforcement market," says Paul Germain, director of Production Room Ltd. "HK Audio, supplied by our existing business partners

UK - dBS Solutions has recently appointed Matt Chisholm to the role of project and development manager.

Matt is the former senior sound technician at the Arena and Convention Centre, Liverpool and is looking forward to the new challenges of a busy rental company.

Responsible for managing the company's larger projects and assisting with the ever-growing rental stock, Matt brings a wealth of experience to the team.

(Jim Evans)

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Case Study: Hans Zimmer Live

When award winning film composer Hans Zimmer brought his smash-hit tour Hans Zimmer Live to North America fall 2024, the show's audio team sought out to bring infrafrequency bass to the show to add new depth to the show's audio experience. The team chose Danley Sound Labs.

Germany - With Yamaha's flagship RIVAGE PM10 making its European trade show debut at Prolight+Sound, few were expecting the company to launch a new range of digital mixing consoles aimed at bringing its digital technology to a whole new market. But that was precisely what Yamaha did, with the TF Series attracting significant orders at the show.

The TF Series is aimed at small-to-medium sized venues and touring bands, education and houses of worship - in fact anywhere where high quality facilities with remarkable ease of use and an exceptional price point are required.

Adding to the surprise of the launch audience, the first TF1, TF3 and TF5 consoles will be shipping by the end of this month.

Attracting a constant stream of admirers throughout the four days of Prolight+Sound, significant orders were also placed by a number of high profile rental companies, including leading U

USA - Country legend Vince Gill is touring the US with lighting provided by Bandit Lites. With 20 Grammy Awards, two Entertainer of the Year CMAs and more than 26m albums sold, Vince Gill's shows are an exercise of musical genius for the multi-instrumentalist singer-song writer.

As Vince Gill's lighting designer for the past four years, Dylan Mire felt the lighting needed a refreshing new look that would complement the show but not distract from Vince or the bluegrass band.

"The lighting needed to be simple and effective to highlight an established artist," Mire said. "We also needed the gear to fit into a limited amount of truck space."

Mire utilized VL 2500 Spots, Robe CycFX8 and Martin MAC Auras in the design, placing GRN Par 64 fixtures for light columns on the backdrop and Chauvet Color Dashes as truss toner. Mire also uses a GrandMA 1 full console.<

Benelux - ETC has changed its sales structure in Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg) from a distributor based model to a dealer market, in order to provide the highest quality support in the region. The new system went into effect on 2 April, with three companies named as dealers.

"In March, our Belgium distributor, FACE bvba, opened an office in the Netherlands," explains ETC regional manager Tim Stokholm, "and we approved them as an official dealer. To best serve our customers, we decided to make Benelux a dealer-based region." ETC's dealers in Benelux are now FACE, Lightco and Controllux.

"FACE has been expanding steadily in the Netherlands," says FACE CEO Karel de Piere. "We opened our support centre in Rotterdam, and a new consultant, Fons de Vreede, joined our team. If you can add a world class brand like ETC to your portfo

USA - Jody Elff is a multitalented audio professional with over 25 years of deep and diverse experiences in venues of almost every shape, size, and quality. He cut his teeth in the late 80s and early 90s in Boston, and then after moving back to the New York area, working front-of-house for leading-edge jazz acts like The New York Voices and Diana Krall.

In the late 1990s, he earned a privileged spot with New York's avant garde guru Laurie Anderson, serving as the lead engineer on her concert tours, the designer for her computer programsme, and the recording and mix engineer. From there, he developed another long-lasting engagement with Bang On a Can, the visionary contemporary classical music organization that has revolutionized the relationship between popular and classical music.

One thing leads to another, and Elff signed up to work front-of-house for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk

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OPUS X4 PROFILE – the most powerful LED moving head from Cameo to date

The OPUS® X4 PROFILE is the new flagship model from Cameo and is among the most powerful LED moving heads on the market. Equipped with a 1,400-watt LED white light engine, this spot profile moving head produces an enormous light output of 50,000 lm, providing powerful spot and gobo projections on even the largest stages and much more.
www.cameolight.com

USA - Cello concerts and head banging don't usually occur in the same building unless of course you're at a 2Cello's concert complete with a rock 'n roll lighting design and dynamic lighting effects by Elation Professional.

Out on a spring US tour, 2Cellos is a cello duo that combines training in classical music with youthful rock energy to present a special concert experience. Riding a wave of popularity - the band even played with Elton John recently at his residency in Las Vegas - 2Cellos are selling out shows at every stop.

Lighting designer for the 2Cellos US tour is Chris Maguire, who has over 25 years of touring experience under his belt (Ted Nugent, et al) yet admits that at first he wasn't quite sure how to light the more untraditional band. "It's just two cellos and a drum kit and there are big stages to fill," he says. "But they play everything from B

The Netherlands - The IAB (Institute of Audio and Lighting Technology) in Utrecht, Holland, recently overhauled its audio equipment, selecting Allen & Heath's GLD mixers and ME personal monitoring system as the new training tools for all its audio courses.

Founded 20 years ago, the IAB provides recognised training qualifications for live sound and lighting technicians in the stage and event industry. The Institute decided to upgrade the audio equipment used on their courses to provide students with an up-to-date audio system that can mix both FOH and monitors, and record a live performance, in one simple, integrated package.

The Institute purchased six GLD-80 mixers fitted with Dante network cards, AR2412 and AR84 remote IO racks, and a ME-U hub with four ME-1 personal monitor mixers. Connected via the Dante network, the system enables six students to mix and record simultaneo

UK / Germany - Avolites proved its truly international appeal at Prolight+Sound 2015, teaming up with dealers, distributors and friends from around the world to celebrate the launch of its Arena console, the new Titan V9 operating system, and its industry-leading new features such as Autoblend.

Visitors to the Avolites Prolight+Sound stand came from more than 40 countries, and included a high number of potential new distributors, especially from North and West Africa and the Caribbean.

Now, the Avolites team is continuing the buzz by debuting its well-received new products in the UK at PLASA Focus, Leeds, on stand N-D01.

"The Arena consoles attracted a huge amount of attention during April's Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt - we were inundated with lighting designers, rental companies and specifiers, generating a fantastic response from many of the people who came to see the

UK - PEL Music & Media has opened Tech Suite, a new demonstration facility at its offices in Northolt, North West London, to showcase what customers can achieve using its specialist extensive audio visual capabilities.

Tech Suite features one of the widest selections of videowalls in action in the UK, as well as single and multi-screen ensembles from NEC, Samsung and Sharp set up in a variety of example configurations to showcase the options available to customers. Chris Wilcox, PEL's Music & Media manager said: "Tech Suite is a great place to get a real feel for the possibilities, experience this kit working in different ways and see the latest audio visual technology from leading industry manufacturers, including a wide array of screens, sound systems and the latest discussion systems.

"Tech Suite is already evolving with the pace of developments and has been desig

UK - Coomber has announced the launch of the market's first range of bespoke sound amplifiers. Coomber Electronic Equipment, one of the UK's leading maker of audio and visual equipment for the education sector, has announced the launch of the market's first range of bespoke sound amplifiers only months after the firm was purchased by a consortium of county businessmen.

Heralded as a major change in direction for the business, the new 44500 Sound Amplifier Series will be fully manufactured to the individual requirements of its customers at the firm's purpose built design facility in Worcestershire.

The range, which will be targeted at both the UK and international markets, allows customers to have total control over the functionality of their sound systems; specifying the number of CD drives required, microphone sockets, multiple speakers and tablet or smartphone integration.

USA - Sensaphonics has announced a Facebook giveaway. In celebration of May as Better Hearing Month, the company will award one winner with a pair of classic 2X-S custom earphones and a dB Check in-ear sound level meter.

"Better Hearing Month is the perfect time to show how the right equipment and expertise can contribute to healthy hearing, yet still deliver high-impact audio," says Sensaphonics founder and president, Mike Santucci. "We're committed to giving our customers both.

To enter, visit and like the Sensaphonics Facebook page, go to the giveaway post titled 'RESPECT YOUR EARS' at the top of the timeline, and Share. On 1 June, Sensaphonics will hold a random drawing among all qualified entries and announce the winner online.

Sensaphonics has won numerous hearing conservation awards, including the prestigious Safe-In Sound Award for innovation in hearin

UK - The 2015 Knight of Illumination Awards (KOI) has announced that it has added a brand new award in the Concert Touring and Events category.

The KOI Awards, which celebrates the creative talents of international lighting and digital content designers working in the UK, has added a 'Club' category, which will allow the Awards to widen its reach to celebrate LDs working at all scales of touring.

Proposed to the committee by KOI chairman of Concert Touring and Events Sarah Rushton-Read, the category was introduced in response to feedback from lighting designers working with new bands just starting out on the touring circuit. It will mean that these LDs, often working with just a floor package and having to use each venue's house rig to realise their design, will also be recognised for their creativity.

"Often designers that are touring club style venues with just a floo

USA - The Hoover Dam, one of the top 10 engineering marvels of the world that sits high above the Colorado River on the border of Arizona and Nevada, was the chosen location for Freightliner to launch their new truck, the Freightliner Infinite Inspiration. Presented in front of a live audience perched high above on the Dam's observation deck, the event was also streamed to millions around the globe.

OSK Communications out of New York created "the big idea" and brought in NY production management specialists SIAM Productions to produce the overall event.. Creative Technology (CT) was consequently contracted to help deliver the spectacular reveal.

After the initial brief CT assembled a top-flight team to design the technical specs and lay out the execution strategy. The challenges were considerable - the 420,000sq.ft surface had a number of different angles of curves t

Australia - The Australian Defence Forces Academy (ADFA) in Canberra has recently opened a new-build, state-of-the-art, 1200-seat auditorium to host conferences and presentations. The flexible space is constructed as a 160º arc, with sliding panels that allow it to be used either in combined mode or separated into two independent 800-seat and 400-seat venues.

The auditorium forms part of the redevelopment of ADFA - a partnership between the Australian Defence Force and the University of New South Wales - which provides training and education for future leaders of the country's Navy, Army and Air Force.

Tim McCall, sales manager at L-Acoustics notes, "Consultant GUZ BOX design + audio was brought in to design the audio system for the new space. The requirement was primarily for a system to provide vocal reinforcement, presentation sound and background music on a limited a

Spain / UAE - After Prolight+Sound 2015 in Frankfurt, Guil confirmed their new distributor in the United Arab Emirates as Echo Beats Electronics - a company with a long history in distribution and installation of pro audio and lighting products.

Guil products will now form part of their high end portfolio, with emphasis on their lifting towers for line arrays and modular platforms for stages.

"Guil is delighted to start working with such a prestigious company and we are sure our products will be well received in their extremely conscientious market where high performance, safety and quality are the key to satisfying their customer's needs," says Eduardo Hinarejos, sales director of Guil.

Echo Beats Electronics will present Guil products at PALME Middle East Dubai from 11-13 May, at booth: ZC10.

(Jim Evans)

World - Maroon 5 has kicked off its World Tour 2015 with 100 Clay Paky Mythos and 20 Sharpy Wash fixtures occupying a prominent place in the rig.

Maroon 5 launched its World Tour 2015 in Dallas on 16 February and will finish in Auckland, New Zealand in October. The tour is in support of the band's fifth album, V, which was released last year.

Roy Bennett, the production designer for the tour, has branded the stage with strong V motifs, inspired by the album artwork, incorporated into the trussing and transparent set pieces. Lighting and video create a dynamic, constantly changing environment on an arrow-shaped stage.

Plexiglass panels, filled with special effects smoke, act as upstage display surfaces for video content while the downstage stage was constructed as a giant, hollow plexiglass "fishbowl" that could also be filled with smoke and lit with 2

USA - British rock band Queen have worked with several vocalists since the death of front man Freddie Mercury in 1991. On the most recent world tour, original band members Roger Taylor and Brian May recruited American Idol's Adam Lambert, whose flashy onstage presence was complemented by 97 Martin Professional MAC Viper AirFX lighting fixtures.

Lighting designer Rob Sinclair was approached in 2012 and asked to do lighting for the Queen Extravaganza, the official Queen tribute band. His work caught Queen + Adam Lambert's attention and they asked him to come and work for them on the upcoming tour. "It was a case of being at the right place at the right time," said Sinclair.

The lighting design process for the world tour started back in the fall of 2013, when Sinclair, the band and Set Designer Ric Lipson first met and came up with the idea of a Q-shaped stage. Lipson a

UK - The Easter week marked the 14th successful Sound Fundamentals for Theatre Training course at Orbital Sound, with more than 500 students now having passed through the comprehensive education programme. Sound Fundamentals for Theatre was fully booked again this year, with students coming from a cross-section of disciplines, including corporate sector technicians, freelance engineers, and drama schools.

With its content tightly focused on preparing technical theatre and theatre sound students for careers in live entertainment, the course combines essential theory with practical skills. The teaching team for this year comprised Orbital Sound's course leader, Richard Carter, concentrating on key concepts, MIDI, computer playback, and networking. Richard was accompanied by Joseph Masters on communications and CCTV, Alex Waddle teaching radio mic fitting, John Wildridge on rigging

UK - The largest annual fundraising event in the world, the 2015 London Marathon took place on Sunday 26 April with over 37,000 participants.

For the past five years, Hertfordshire-based Mr H Productions have supplied sound reinforcement at two points on the 26 mile route, one of which is right at the half way point.

"Every year seems to get better, we are placed at the half way mark, and entertain the cheering crowds as well as the participating runners." says Mr H Productions creative founder Andrew J Harvey. "This is very important, as the runners are given that extra encouragement. The main problem that we have faced in the past is throwing the sound way down this part of the route, without having undue noise to local residents.

"This year we tried out the HK Contour Array system, having 2 CT118 subs aside with 2 CTA208 mid/hi array cabinets, ground s

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