China - Since its original incarnation in the Netherlands in 2010, The Voice television singing contest has become a global phenomenon with 39 different countries currently broadcasting their own versions of the franchise. Now in its second season, The Voice of China features two DiGiCo mixing consoles.

With an identical format to the other incarnations of The Voice, the show is broadcast on Zhejiang Television between July and September. Its head of sound is Jin Shaogang, one of China's leading live audio engineers and revered in the country for his role at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Naturally, the sound production's most important task is to make the contestants sound as good as possible, so Jin Shaogang specified an audio system which includes a DiGiCo SD7 at Front of House and an SD10 on monitors. Complemented by t

UK - Broadcast audio specialists Red TX played a pivotal role in the production of Morrissey 25: Live From Hollywood High, recorded at Hollywood High, a legacy concert film that celebrates 25 years of this enigmatic performer's solo career.

Filmed live at the Hollywood High School in Los Angeles in March 2013, this intimate gig provided the material for the first authorised Morrissey film to be released in nine years. Red TX worked closely with Nineteen Fifteen and Eagle Rock Productions, the producers for Eagle Rock Entertainment, to ensure a great soundtrack. As well as liaising closely with the US recording crew, the company was also responsible for mixing the concert - a task that took place back in the UK on board Red TX's main Outside Broadcast vehicle, Red One, with director Tim Summerhayes at the controls.

Nineteen Fifteen producer Vicki Betihavas says: "I

Hungary - Held on Óbudai-sziget (Old Buda Island), a 266-acre island on the river Danube in northern Budapest, the annual Sziget Festival is one of the largest music festivals in Europe.

Over eight days this summer, Sziget attracted 1,000 Hungarian and international artists performing at 60 venues, and welcomed a total of 362,000 fans. For the festival's main stage, a Meyer Sound Leo linear large-scale sound reinforcement system supported headliners including Blur, David Guetta, and Franz Ferdinand.

"Bringing Leo into the fray is a real leap forward, as it's a fantastic system with a huge throw," says Karoly Molnar, the main stage sound designer and managing director of Animative Ltd., which handled production management for Sziget. "Because the music styles are so varied at Sziget, this system is perfect. And because LEO is so linear with a flat frequency resp

UK - MilTec (UK) Ltd recently supplied 387 of their Mini-Map miniature LED screens for installation in one of Leeds' premier nightclubs, Club Mission.

The club was planning the biggest refit in its history and needed a product with real impact to help transform the venue. The venue discussed the refit with Terry Lewsey from Light Design Ltd, a long term supplier to the club. Terry suggested a system of Mini-Maps to form a video ceiling and so a demo at MilTec's HQ was arranged. MilTec's demo system of 50 units was used for the demo.

The installation took place during the second week of September. Cabling was simple as the units are supplied with pre-made IDC leads for daisy chaining power and DMX. The compact design meant that the system could be configured around the existing roof structure and air conditioning ducts, something that could not have been done with larger conven

UK - Projection and LED screen rental house Anna Valley has made a "major investment" in Avolites Media's industry-leading Ai Infinity servers and the Sapphire media controller.

The West London based company - which delivers cutting-edge visuals technology to some of the UK's biggest shows including X Factor, Million Pound Drop, Britain's Got Talent, and many events, conferences and award shows - is working closely with Avolites Media to offer the industry powerful solutions to push the boundaries of on-screen displays.

"Having looked at the marketplace we wanted to select a media server that would be user friendly and at the same time have plenty of future capabilities," says Anna Valley's Shaun Wilton. "The extended features combined with a familiar user interface were a great fit."

The Ai Infinity features an incredible 8 Full HD outpu

France - MF Audio, founded in 1998 and based in the North of Paris, is a full service live event production company providing sound, lighting, and staging solutions.

The principle, Sebastian (Seb) Fleury has made a point to surround himself with accomplished production professionals, which has led to the success of the live event production company.

One of the other secrets to its success has been to ensure that all products in their inventory meet their four qualifications - quality, reliability, usability and versatility.

Recently, MF Audio invested in a new Adamson System Energia E15 PA, which meets their four qualifications in spades. As a long-time supporter of Adamson - with previous investments in Spek-Trix, Y10, Y18 and Metrix - it was a likely pairing that has suited everyone extremely well.

"We were looking for a line array system that would allow us to expa

Vietnam - Clubs in Vietnam have reportedly become so taken with Martin Audio sound systems that some believe it has become an automatic passport for filling their venues. One such nightspot, the 900-capacity Barocco Club in Ho Chi Minh City, is living proof of that.

After suffering a serious fire back in May this year, the club decided to make a clean start by commissioning Duc Proaudio Co. Ltd - the official distributor of Martin Audio in Vietnam - to redesign the entire sound system and rev up its essentially electronic music mix.

Duc Proaudio Co. Ltd is widely experienced in club sound systems and over the years has achieved tremendous success - particularly with Martin Audio systems. The Barocco Club refit had to be carried out on a tight time scale as it was scheduled to reopen just 90 days after the fire. And of these, only 65 days were available for the design and insta

Italy - Around 100 international guests recently attended a series of open days, product demonstrations and technical workshops hosted jointly by Outline s.r.l. and Cadac in Brescia, near lake Garda in northern Italy.

Staged within the beautiful Teatro Palabrescia during the third week in September, the main hall was given over to the complete portfolio of Outline loudspeaker systems. The Eidos 265, Mini-COM.P.A.S.S., Mantas, Spectra, Doppia, DVS and iSM stage monitor ranges were all on operational display, as was the all-new GTO C-12 compact high-power line array system. In the large and ornate foyer area, Cadac presented their Live1 analogue console plus the CDC Four and CDC Eight digital models.

Visitors from as far afield as Thailand made the trip to Outline's hometown, joining guests from the UK, Holland, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Greece

UK - The stage is now set for the fourth annual PLASA Rigging Conference & Riggers' Forum, unmissable events for anyone involved in entertainment rigging. Taking place alongside PLASA London on 6, 7 & 8 October 2013 at ExCeL London, this year's forum & conference are all set to open their doors from Sunday.

The conference's keynote speech will be given by one of the rigging industry's leading and longest-serving practitioners, Robin Elias of Unusual Rigging, whose light-hearted account of his long career will act as a vehicle to illustrate the challenges and rewards of working as a rigger. Then Cristiano Giavedoni at Kinesys Projects explores control systems and the operation of automated scenic movement, examining ways of achieving a safe environment without over-engineering systems.

Codes of Practice - The Next Steps, presented by Lori Rubinstein, Director of Skills a

World - PLASA Members worldwide have begun voting in the Association's yearly elections, which commence this week.

The month-long ballot will decide places on PLASA's European and North American Regional Boards, together with a single seat on its over-arching Governing Body.

The role of the Regional Boards is to represent the interests of members affiliated to those regions, ensuring that PLASA offers strong on-the-ground support to members. Both the North American and European Regional Boards are looking to fill a number of places for 2014.

For the European Regional Board, Adam Blaxill, of Stage Electrics, has put his name forward for the position of Vice- Chair; Duncan Bell, of Autograph Sound Recording Ltd., has put his name forward for Secretary; Mark Cooper, of SES Entertainment Services Ltd., Peter Heath, of Roland UK Ltd., and Matt Lloyd, of Global Design Solutions Lt

Brazil - Around 250 Robe moving lights were used on the two main stages at the 2013 Festa do Peao de Barretos staged over 11 days and nights in Barretos, Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was the first use of Robe's new Pointe fixture at such a large event in the country.

Festival organisers Barretos based Os Independentes asked Sao Paulo based Apple Producoes to provide full technical production and equipment. The two companies have partnered for the last 11 years on the event.

To ensure a successful event, both companies started work for the 'Barretos Peon Party' four months in advance, preparing all the project's elements, and co-ordinating the staff, materials and logistics that would be needed.

Apple Producoes also created the lighting and set design, which was developed by Gabriel Pincel, their lighting designer and technical manager in collaboration with designers Joao Batista an

UK - At PLASA London 2013, Roland Systems Group will host the UK launch of the Roland VR-50HD all-in-one AV Mixer with outputs for web streaming and recording. The Roland VR-50HD fully integrates an audio mixer, video switcher, multi-viewer touchscreen and USB video/audio streaming into a stand-alone device controllable by a single operator. This unique product adds HD/multi-format capability to the very popular VR Series that includes the Roland VR-5 and VR-3 AV mixers.

"The all in one VR-50HD saves time and money, reducing the hardware and the set-up time required and providing a plug-in-and-play solution for live events large and small," says the company. "Instead of needing a number of separate products, the VR-50HD combines an audio mixer to mix the audio inputs from various sources including microphones, a video mixer to mix video and computer sources using

UK - PLASA London 2013 is ready and raring to go, with new attractions, free seminar sessions with high calibre speakers and excellent networking opportunities all lined up for the visitors from all sectors of pro audio, lighting and stage technologies. Those that have not yet registered can still save 50% off the door price by signing up at www.plasashow.com. Over 15,000 industry professionals have already registered for this year's PLASA London event, which takes place at the ExCeL Centre, London from 6-9 October 2013.

PLASA London is supported by Platinum Sponsor Robe Lighting, Gold Sponsor Martin Professional and Silver Sponsor Clay Paky.

Chris Toulmin, Head of Events, PLASA London 2013, said: "Our move to ExCeL has given us and our exhibitors the scope to truly get bigger, brighter and louder. We are very proud to unveil the AudioLab feature which brings the latest a

As Technical Partner to PLASA London 2013, Roland Systems Group (RSG) products and people will take an active role in the AudioLab Arena as well as hosting two seminars at the show. The AudioLab Arena is a new purpose built pro audio demonstration facility where the latest products for club sound, mobile and large format systems will be showcased. The Roland V-800HD Multi Format Video Switcher will feature at the core of the set-up in the Arena which will host shoot outs from exhibitors such as Adam Hall, Dynacord and FBT.

Peter Heath, Sales and Marketing Director for RSG UK will present a business seminar in Seminar Theatre 1 on Monday 7th at 5.00pm entitled 'Maximising Sales Efforts'. This is a session aimed at sales people/managers about the benefits of pro-active calling and selling. It will also look at building and managing sales pipelines; digital contact versus telephone contac

Following its sell-out at the ABTT Theatre Show, additional copies of the new edition of TECHNICALSTANDARDS FOR PLACES OF ENTERTAINMENT 2013, also known as the Yellow Book, are available forpurchase during PLASA London at a special 'trade show' price.

Stock of this essential book - the first new edition in five years and now including material previously containedin the Model National Standard Conditions for Places of Entertainment - can be found on the ABTT's Stand,A53, at ExCeL London, from this Sunday 6 October, at a reduced rate, held for all four days of the show.

Edited by David Adams and published by the Association of British Theatre Technicians, the Chartered Instituteof Environmental Health, the District Surveyors Association and the Institute of Licensing, the book sets out thephysical standards for buildings, their equipment and the good management of the premises so as t

USA - Rational Acoustics has been appointed exclusive US distributor for SG Audio's 10EaZy SPL monitoring software & hardware systems. Distribution rights have also been granted for Canada on a non-exclusive basis.

Developed in 2005 by SG Audio Aps., 10EaZy has become a European standard for "accurate, reliable, easy-to-use IEC/ANSI Class 1 and Class 2 compliant SPL monitoring solutions for live sound".

"Rational Acoustics is very excited to partner with SG Audio and represent 10EaZy in the United States." says Karen Anderson, Rational Acoustics COO. "10EaZy is an incredibly slick, powerful and modern approach to real-time SPL monitoring, particularly for live sound. We at Rational are, obviously, fans of innovative software & hardware solutions that provide audio professionals with the tools they need for greater system analysis, optimization and cont

France - Renowned French music festival, Le Cornouaille, hosted several world-known artists including Steve Hackett (Genesis Revisited), Dan Ar Braz, Murray Head, Salif Keita, and Goran Bregovik among others. The festival, held in the French region of Brittany, featured three main stages each supported by several of Martin's lighting consoles and luminaires. French rental company SIWA provided the gear.

Lighting of the main stage, Espace Gradlon, was controlled with a new Martin M6 console operated by François Guillet of Lumières Utiles and Jo Nihouarn of SIWA. "The M6 T-Bar and CITP are very powerful tools for improvisation. The M6 allows me to choose media directly with media thumbs and crossfade smoothly between video cues and media speed. I really enjoy working with those two splendid tactile screens," commented Guillet. The lighting desk was backed up with a net

Brazil - Allen & Heath digital iLive systems were used for the recording of a new DVD by one of Brazil's most popular singers, Claudia Leitte. Recorded at a major gig in Pernambuco Arena in Recife, an iLive-112 Control Surface with iDR-64 MixRack was used by monitor engineer, Roque Fausto, and an iLive-144 surface with iDR-64 rack using Dante, was employed by famed engineer, Beto Neves, in the mobile recording truck.

Claudia Leitte is a Brazilian axé singer and former vocalist in the group, Babado Novo. The singer is currently one of the coaches in Brazil's version of The Voice, and this latest DVD recording entitled Axe Music, is the third DVD of her solo career. The recording took place during a concert The Greatest Show In the World, which also featured performances by other well-known Brazilian artists, Saulo Fernandes, Anitta and Wesley Safadão.

Canada - MDG, exclusive distributors of Robe and Chromlech in Canada and manufacturers of industry standard MDG atmospheric generators, provided lighting, fog and haze effects for Mumford & Sons' mammoth 145-date international 2013 tour.

MDG supplied 15 Robe Robin 600 LEDWash and 16 Robe Robin 1200 LEDWash moving heads, plus a quantity of Chromlech Elidy LED lighting panels composed of 64 Elidy-Wall LED panels arranged in a 16 wide by 4 high video backwall, and 12 Elidy-Big and 12 Elidy-S panels rigged above and behind the band on stage. The tour marks the largest installation of the French lighting manufacturer's new product to date and the first project for MDG to supply with Elidy since its appointment as exclusive Canadian distributor.

MDG also provided two of its own dual fog and haze generators, MDG theONE. These were located on either side of the stage to provide a high

Denmark - Big Mick Hughes, Front of House sound engineer for the US heavy metal band Metallica, is using DPA's d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones to capture the sound of drummer Lars Ulrich's cymbals and toms.

"After 30 years with Metallica - and 15 years miking Lars' drums with another brand of microphone - I was finally persuaded to test DPA microphones by Morten Uldbæk, who is the Danish distributor for Midas consoles," says Hughes. "I have to admit I had never considered DPA as the right kind of microphone for live rock music, but after giving them a try I was really impressed with their brightness and crispness."

The final impetus to switch to DPA came from the studio engineers who were working on the soundtrack for Metallica's 3D film Through the Never, which will hadits first public screening at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in

UK - The Music Producers Guild is holding its East Midlands Autumn Speakeasy on 6 November 2013 at the Mezz Lounge, the Broadway, Nottingham.

Doors open at 6 pm and everyone is welcome - entry is free and you do not need to be an MPG member to attend.

Producers Mick Glossop and Andrew Hunt from the MPG executive board will at the event to discuss initiatives and the scope of what the MPG can offer.

John Paul Braddock, MPG East Midlands coordinator, says, "Speakeasy events are a great opportunity to network. As many producer and engineers work in isolation, they provide a chance for music industry professionals to meet, exchange stories, discuss problems and develop new ideas and partnerships."

(Jim Evans)

UK - During the long evolution of Novus Leisure's Tiger Tiger brand, beginning with the pilot unit in London's Haymarket in 1998, much of the technical infrastructure work has been serviced from companies within the SSE Audio Group - initially Green-i and now the installation division of SSE Audio itself.

Green-i's Ian Woodall, in particular, had been a strong advocate of BSS Audio's early pioneering Soundweb platform, and as the Tiger Tiger footprints and zonal requirements became more ambitious, the iconic BSS SW-9088 'Green' DSP devices and remote SW-9010 'Jellyfish' local remote wall panels started to abound.

But in the world of digital processing and sampling rates, technology moves fast - and the Soundweb Originals were duly superseded by Soundweb London. This constantly evolving series offered more flexibility, enhanced I/O configuration, dual-redundant CobraNetTM audio

USA - On Thursday 26 September, Vintage King Los Angeles (VKLA), was the place to be as Focusrite presented a showcase of its RedNet Ethernet-networked interfaces, which are based around the industry-standard low-latency Audinate Dante audio networking system.

The event's attendance read like a who's-who of the pro audio community, with such leading industry figures present as Chris Lord-Alge, CJ Vanston, Michael Bradford, Dave Reitzas, Herb Tarwick, Al Schmitt, Steve Genewick and Dean Martin Hovey.

"The event was a huge success," stated Phil Wagner, president of Focusrite Novation Inc. "Vintage King's Los Angeles facility was the perfect place to hold this event, because of their extensive installation network infrastructure and customer base. The quality time we got to spend with key members of the audio community was an invaluable experience. Everyone at VKLA

UK - British loudspeaker technology company, Flare Audio, have announced the release of a new series of bass enclosures whose objective is sonic invisibility of the loudspeaker box. Flare's Space and Vortex technologies combine to create high definition natural sound.

Applying Flare Audio's theory of Waveform Integrity, Flare Audio has revolutionised bass enclosures with the release of SB21, SB18 and SB12. These compact enclosures (less than half the size of typical 21", 18" and 12" sealed design bass loudspeakers) deliver clear strong bass over the driver's full frequency range without false enhancement.

The SB21C features a 21" 1400w driver in a 600mm x 600mm x 300mm 42kg enclosure, the SB18C houses an 18" 1200w driver in a 513mm x 513mm x 261mm 23.5kg enclosure and the SB12C, a 12" 900w driver in a 374mm x 374mm x 178mm enclosure.

Employing F

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