UK - When Martin Audio rental stockist, dBS Solutions, was tasked by production company, Sell a Door Theatre Company, to design a sound system that would take the touring version of the long-running West End show Avenue Q across the UK, the company's MD Chris Bogg was faced with his stiffest challenge in the company's nine year history.

Not only was this puppet-based production the largest tour the company had undertaken, but the size of venues would vary enormously; and on tours where truck space is at a premium, trucking the minimum amount of kit, while keeping the production scalable, was crucial.

The Warrington based company's relationship with Martin Audio dealers, LMC Audio Systems was also critical, and the latter's sales manager James Lawford was able to put a creative deal together that enabled Bogg to secure the new generation theatre system that he had been w

USA - Calgary-based energy company Enbridge is the latest corporation to install a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system, with the goal of clarifying corporate communication and facilitating the free flow of ideas. Eliminating the need for lavalier or handheld microphones, the systems support a variety of functions in two adjacent meeting rooms located in the company's new Learning Centre. The systems are part of a complete AV design by Bill Schuermann, senior consultant at the Houston office of SLR Consulting.

"The rooms are used for everything from executive meetings, teleconferencing, and employee training to safety orientations for construction workers, and even occasional social events," says Amin Ladha, AV subject matter expert at Enbridge. "Constellation has performed exceptionally well for all of them."

Constellation is an active approach to exp

UK - Trakway and barrier specialist, Eve, supplied 1,250 aluminium roadway panels and 8,000 Heras fence panels to Download 2014, at Donington Park.

Festival director, John Probyn, who has described the event as the best one yet, comments, "Eve is critical at Download, due to its wide list of products and its knowledge of the venue and all the unique limitations a race track presents."

Eve account manager, Ben Chambers, said, "John has put a top team together in the production office and across the site in terms of suppliers. There's a really progressive approach at Download and it's a pleasure to be a part of."

(Jim Evans)

Estonia - When DJ David Guetta, visited Estonia recently for his only show in the Baltic region, a Martin Audio W8LC Compact line array was on hand to reinforce a memorable show in front of 20,000 people in the Talinn Song Festival Grounds.

The rig was provided by the manufacturer's long-term distributors Audiosky - who were commissioned by production company RLE Concerts. "We have done a lot of gigs for the owner Hardi Loog in the past, in both Estonia and Finland - including Pitbull," reports Audiosky owner Tiit Terask.

In order to provide top quality sound for FOH engineer Carlos Herreros (who also took care of monitor engineer and system tech duties), Terask provided main PA hangs of 12 x W8LC (with a single W8LCD Downfill at the base). Out-fills comprised eight W8LC, with a single W8LCD Downfill, while four W8VDQ cabinets were deployed as front-fills. A total of

UK - One Direction recently kicked off their latest stadium tour, Where We Are, to celebrate their third album, Midnight Memories. Working with designers Ray Winkler and Ric Lipson of Stufish, Brilliant Stages delivered a series of staging elements designed around a central theme of a skatepark.

Stufish designed the three-dimensional diamond-shaped 'skate park' with multiple performer levels that spread across the 54m wide x 21m deep main stage. The set incorporates pairs of ego- and band-risers, perimeter ramps and screamers arranged either side of a steep central slope, which rakes upstage at a 19° angle to a height of 4.5m, and is fronted by a 34m long skate thrust to the B-stage.

Brilliant Stages designed and built the decking and supporting framework for the walkways and risers, along with scarlet powder-coated aluminium access stairs and onstage treads,

USA - "The annual CMT Music Awards telecast is one of the best of its kind, and in some ways the best music awards presentation of all. Last night's production proved me right once again,"* enthused media critic Ed Martin about the 2014 event.

This year's star-studded CMT's was lit by Tom Kenny for the fifth consecutive year, and he utilised a variety of Robe fixtures including Pointes, MMX Spots and LEDWash fixtures on his massive lighting rig in the Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee.

Hosted by Kristen Bell and produced by Michael Dempsey Productions along with John Hamlin, Amy Johnson and Margaret Comeaux from CMT, the live broadcast received a great response from both the public and media. Thirty thousand country music fans also packed the arena to catch the amazing line-up and witness many live show-stopping performances and unique collaborations.

Kenny a

UK - West London based lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment renewed its long term working relationship with Glastonbury, supplying lighting to three key areas - Arcadia, Block 9 and The Glade. They also kitted out nine major bars around the site with practical and effects lighting.

A Colour Sound crew of 25 and several hundred lighting fixtures hit the tors of Somerset and imbibed the vibes and the beautiful rolling countryside of Worthy Farm for the five-day event, which again sold out to its 135,000 capacity despite erratic weather and heavy rain through much of the weekend.

Colour Sound's Haydn Cruickshank comments, "I am extremely proud that we are involved in all the most alternative and coolest elements of the site. A serious amount of effort goes in to the detail from everyone involved, and the results speak for themselves in terms of visu

UK - Leisuretec Distribution are set to host a month of Interactive Days in July for their trade customers, in partnership with Audio-Technica and Allen & Heath.

Starting on 3 July with the subject of Wireless, attendees will cover topics such as UHF and digital technology, frequency bands, regulation, licensing and intermodulation, along with an overview of the Audio-Technica products and features. The session is designed for anyone who regularly uses radio mics.

Installation Products is the theme for the day for 10 July and it's designed specifically for installers and system integrators in order to aid them in their system designs. Microphone technology, polar patterns, IDR overview and programming and Audio-Technica products and applications will all be covered.

The Conference Systems Day takes place on 17 July and is designed to cover in detail, the Audio Technica ATCS-

Sweden / Italy - LumenRadio has announced that another leading fixture manufacturer will include the wireless CRMX OEM modules for some of their products - the Italian based company Studio Due.

With over 30 years of innovation, design and manufacturing experience, Studio Due has been creating lighting solutions to support lighting designers, architects and lighting consultants all over the world. Studio Due's product range, historically composed of moving head spots, outdoor multiray effects and controllers has been diversified introducing new lines of colour changers specifically designed to satisfy the requirements of the architectural lighting market.

"Gianluca and his team are extremely talented and professional. It is a joy to work with a company that's maintaining the highest standards of quality for its equipment and services", says Jessica Björk, LumenRadio'

UK - UK-based audio specialist, Soulsound, has split its operations, as it looks to clearly define its offer and expand to reach a global audience. The move sees a clear line being drawn between the Soulsound Agency and the Soulsound Resource Centre.

While the overall objective of supporting employability in the audio industry remains as the company's unifying arrowhead, it has evolved to recognise that the Soulsound Resource Centre is equipped to reach audio students and practitioners around the world.

"The agency is very local and London-based. It keeps a small number of people - roughly 30 - in regular work," explains company founder, Darryn de la Soul. "The resource centre is aimed at improving skills all over the world, by creating a community of audiophiles and setting the standards that engineers should aspire to."

Following a period of foundation,

UAE - Seasoned lighting designer Debbi Fowler made excellent use of an arsenal of of Clay Paky lighting fixtures to illuminate Lionel Richie during his open-air gig at the Media City Amphitheatre, Dubai.

Fowler worked closely with Dubai based hire outfit Eclipse, which recently supplied equipment for superstars such as Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars. For the Richie show Eclipse furnished Fowler with an impressive stock of Clay Paky fixtures.

"When creating a lighting design I like to focus on layering different fixtures to create texture, this means that the fixtures I choose and how I position them is crucial," explains Fowler. "For this design I knew that the extra 'punch' of the Clay Paky would make a real difference. However it was not until the actual show that the lights' performance drove home just how bright they are."

The tour's original lighting d

UK - The skill sets required to work effectively and safely in today's pro-audio industry have changed almost beyond recognition in the last 30 years. The technical advances in equipment and the justifiable expectations of what can be achieved, from both musician and audience, have necessitated the development of a highly skilled and competent workforce.

At the same time, the particular demands of working in a touring environment remain the same and require an enthusiastic and well motivated work ethic, dedication, endless energy, the ability to work within a highly structured team and of course, a finely tuned sense of humour from everyone who seeks to make a career in live sound.

Finding such all round competent individuals is not always an easy task; Britannia Row Productions Training (BRPT) was set up to address the need to fill that gap and is recognised as a Short Course

Australia - Brisbane's Royal International Convention Centre (Royal ICC) has enjoyed a successful first 12 months of operation. The city's newest convention centre has fast gained a reputation for offering the best in technical expertise and equipment courtesy of their preferred in-house supplier Microhire. A Soundcraft Si Expression consoles, a Clear-Com Tempest digital wireless intercom solution and a Shure ULX-D digital wireless microphone set up were recently added to the inventory.

"By choosing the best on offer, such as Soundcraft, Clear-Com and Shure, Microhire wins 98% of all business within the venue," noted Russell Bennett, Microhire's general manager QLD.

Three Soundcraft Si Expression consoles (16, 24 and 32 channel versions) were supplied to the venue and senior audio operator Mick Wade has been extremely happy with the purchase.

"They deliver ama

UK - Winchester-based AV integrator Whitwam recently installed two Shure SCM820 eight-channel automatic audio mixers and three Sound Devices PIX260 AV recorders at the headquarters of The Royal Society in London. The mixers and recorders were supplied as part of a comprehensive refit of the audio-visual facilities in two of the Grade 1-listed rooms at the Society's headquarters at Carlton House Terrace, Central London.

Presentations by members of the Royal Society take place throughout the year in its lecture theatres; most of these are amplified and some are recorded or broadcast for posterity. The Sound Devices PIX260s were installed in the largest gallery, the Wellcome Trust lecture theatre, to capture the output from the four cameras situated there, while the Shure mixers were installed in the Society's dining rooms, where microphones and sound reinforcement are also often u

UK - Three JoeCo BlackBox BBR64-MADI recorders are capturing audio from some of the world's best-loved sketches and catchphrases at the Monty Python Live shows in London's 02 arena. The 64-channel MADI systems form part of recording engineer Matt Bainbridge's arsenal of equipment that is being used to record 168 channels of audio split over three MADI streams.

Bainbridge, of BlueCat Professional Audio Consultancy, who is responsible for the multi-track recording of each show commented, "We needed units that would be reliable, easy to set-up and leave unattended at times. The JoeCo's fitted the bill perfectly. In addition to their audio quality, the ability to use just one unit as a master device has also proved very useful."

JoeCo's BBR64-MADI Recorder is widely used for live audio capture and acquisition in a range of performance, broadcast, film & TV sound a

Germany - The final of Germany's 2014 Next Top Model talent show provided an opportunity for lighting designer Manuel Da Costa to put Robe's Robin CycFX 8 fixtures through their paces. Staged in the Lanxess Arena, Cologne and attended by 15,000 people, it was also broadcast live on German TV Pro7.

Manuel was lighting the series for the fourth time and was also the director of photography, so getting the right mix of lighting for both TV and live elements was crucial. While it's a 'given' for these type of shows that the runway has to be optimised for naturalistic flesh tones and shadow-less illumination of faces, it was also an interesting mix of aesthetics - fashion meets live arena show!

He used 44 x CycFX 8s in total, mostly rigged to the side stage wings and used to wash parts of the catwalk as general illumination and also to create some bold and distinctive effect

UK - Track and motor systems specialist Triple E has presented London's prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a powerful TDRIVE motor following the school's victory in Triple E's speed-rigging challenge at the ABTT Theatre Show in June.

Triple E's managing director David Edelstein awarded the TDRIVE prize to two Guildhall students, Seb Matthews, and Sam Gosling, who rigged one of Triple E's popular motorised Unitrack systems the fastest. The ABTT competition was held as part of Triple E's 30th birthday celebrations, and attracted a lot of interest. Other participants included the Brit School, Imperial College, and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and teams from Flint Hire and Supply and Northern Light.

Guildhall's Seb and Sam completed the rigging challenge in 11 minutes 50 seconds - a full one minute 10 seconds faster

UK - Franz Ferdinand's monitor engineer, Tom Howat, selected an iLive modular system for the band's recent tour of European and USA in support of their fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action.

Comprising an iLive-112 Surface and iDR10 Mixrack with additional PL10 remote controller, the iLive monitor system manages six wedge mixes, five stereo RF IEM mixes and one stereo hardwired IEM mix, three effects sends and two mixes for FOH.

"I came across the iLive systems while working for Morrissey over the past couple of years," he explains. "The iLive system is snappy and responsive. The 'networking' side of it is powerful and, when coupled with the flexible nature of the surface and their approach to scene storage, it makes for a very versatile environment. Of course, it sounds great, too."

Howat's approach to mixing for the band is manu

UK - The Tesco agricultural trade stand has just been awarded gold at the Royal Three Counties Show and reserve trade stand champion at the Royal Norfolk Show.

This interactive exhibit currently touring major agricultural shows across the nation, is focused on demonstrating how Tesco works with suppliers and farmers on a local and national level. The stand aims to help the public to understand more about where their food comes from and demonstrate the high quality of the products. Within the stand there is a range of food sampling areas as well as cookery demonstrations, that showcase how the products can be used simply at home.

The event technical team from Saville Audio Visual have been involved in making this tactile experience a reality and have been closely involved in the design and delivery of the event. The exhibition features a series of engaging interactive displays

UK - Soundcraft's next generation Vi3000 digital console has successfully blasted off in both the rental and installation sectors within the UK.

UK and Eire distributors, Sound Technology confirm that their premier dealers, SSE Audio Group and Adlib have already successfully conducted dedicated demo days, introducing the facilities of the desk to enthusiastic audiences of sound engineers and touring and venue personnel, while Kent-based Phonophobia's Mark Chant says he expects his new Vi3000 to be permanently out this summer.

On top of that, Adlib has also confirmed the first installation desk to the University of Liverpool's Guild of Students - one of a suite of Soundcraft consoles and racks supplied to the Students Union as part of an extensive refurbishment of its technical facilities.

With MADI and Dante fitted as standard, and swappable I/O ports available, the Vi3000 e

Europe - Liverpool-based technical solutions specialist Adlib supplied an L-Acoustics K1 sound system and leading systems engineer Tony Szabo for the recent UK and European legs of Nine Inch Nails 2014 European tour.

It's the third time that Adlib has supplied the epic industrial rockers with audio when playing in Europe. This time around, Szabo worked with NIN monitor engineer Mike Prowda, FOH Engineers Gary Bradshaw and Antony King, together with Firehouse Productions' Tim Fraleigh who looked after monitor world and systems designer Jamie Pollock who oversaw the FOH set up.

There are many strands connecting Adlib, the band and their various crew members over the years, and for Tony Szabo - joining this tour entailed going back on the road with many familiar faces in the audio department.

The sound system was specified by Jamie Pollock and Gary Bradshaw at the start of the

The Netherlands - The Ampco Flashlight Group has taken a strategic interest in the Purple Group.

This participation is in line with market developments and fits within the current view of the Ampco Flashlight Group as a leading service company within the live entertainment industry: from one's own strength it is working closely together with its fellow 'full service' businesses. As a result, the cooperation supports the great demand for tailor-made solutions from the broadcast, theatre, live and corporate event market.

The varied assortment, the huge stock equipment and the knowledge and expertise of large teams of dedicated professional employees of both companies suit each other very well, whereby customers will be better served in the future.

Dick van Berkum, CEO Ampco Flashlight Group, comments: "The Purple Group has over 20 years experience as a full service rental

USA - In the process of replacing the sound and broadcast video systems at the First Baptist Church in Lawton, Oklahoma, AV integrator and systems designer FBP Systems (a subsidiary of the Morse Group family of companies) looked to Bose Professional Systems and its recently introduced RoomMatch asymmetrical array module loudspeakers to solve the church's audio challenges.

With a large balcony that completely wraps around the sides and back of a 1,000-seat sanctuary, this church required a sound system that was able to throw sound clearly and intelligibly over a long distance, and at the same time cover a very wide area. A typical line array wouldn't be able to fulfill all of these requirements without numerous adjacent hangs and then would still run the risk of interference between arrays. Fortunately, by installing the RoomMatch asymmetrical array module, First Baptist Church g

USA - Bulgarian International Television (BiT), a Chicago-based TV station serving Bulgarians in the US, is using DPA Microphones to fulfill the audio requirements for all of its programmes. With several of the company's d:screet 4061 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphone integrated into its live production process, the station relies on the mics around the clock to ensure clear audio for every show.

As their name suggests, the DPA d:screet mics were selected for their ability to be easily concealed on the wardrobes of news reporters, television personalities and guests. According to George Simeonov, technical director at BiTelevision, the station had no immediate urgency to update its audio equipment, but the sound of the d:screet 4061 mics during a recent live demo was impressive and noticeably clearer than what he had been using at the station, and thus quickly became a must-h

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