Tutored by Orbital's training manager Theo Holloway, the course is designed to combine theatre sound theory with extensive hands-on practice.
"A technical career in theatre sound requires a broad range of skills, from understanding the specialist technologies to the interpersonal qualities required in a tightly-knit team environment," says Holloway. "This year has probably been the most successful course to date - we had a great bu
At opposite ends of the UK, and indeed opposite ends of the musical spectrum, two artists have recently been using the RSS V-Mixing digital 40-track package to record concerts, one for a live album release later in the year and the other for archive purposes. Both AC/DC tribute band Live/Wire and Sheila Jordan, one of the stars of the Sage Gateshead International Jazz Festival, were using RSS digital audio technology to provide front-of-house and stage sound control for their shows.
The 'grandmother of bebop', Sheila Jordan is still performing in her eighties. For her concert at the Sage Centre in Gateshead, Simon Kenning from RSS was on hand to support
Ben Harrison and John Owens were two high profile names invited to the committee to oversee the design of the audio systems.
"The brief was that the sound equipment had to be state of the art and able to cater for every kind of production that Curve might be likely to stage, with minimal extra hire costs," says Harrison. "We knew the producti
The software, which uses TCP network packets to send midi notes over an Ethernet based network, can trigger up to 408 unique commands through a maximum of six wings, which can each handle between 54 and 68 individual single note triggers. The software is also capable of easily importing or exporting any of the wing configurations, and running quietly in the background processes of the PC.
MIDIwing's user customisable nature allows for endless adaptation to countless controllers. The programme can be successfully integrated with many widely used lighting co
Mucho, the band's latest album, brings expression of the band's latest evolutionary steps into sharp focus with a selection of songs mixed in London by Phil Brown of Roxy Music fame. "Phil has always been a mythical rock-god engineer to us," Dárgelos says. "Given our rock en espanol budget, we didn't think there was much chance of us ever working with him, however. That's why we were stunned after we sent him a disc of some of our songs, and he accepted to do Mucho right away."
Bringing the songs of Mucho to Baba
The Aviom gear is an incremental upgrade to the university's current headphone distribution system and according to the programme's audio/digital systems engineer, Jeff Seitz, has proven to be flawless.
"The theory and application of recording is taught in the recording classes," says Seitz. "Learning to do a headphone mix is certainly part of the process. I chose Aviom for our studios because of its technical specification and ease of use."
(Jim Evans)
Yogesh Dhawan, director of Dhawan Electrical comments, "The troupe's French FOH Engineer, Paul Schneiter, found the Si3 to be very user-friendly and he quickly learned the board's features and was very comfortable mixing in no time. By the time we finished the one-hour sound check, he was very familiar with the entire desk and its features."
Dhawan added, "The Si3 easily managed the 18 mic input
With nine acts scheduled for the first night and seven each thereafter over the course of the festival's three days, production manager Robert Stewart reached out to veteran sound engineer Raphael "Raffie" Alkins to take the festival to a different level and help solve the logistical dilemma of managing so many performances in such a short span of time.
"This was an easy one," Alkins notes, recalling the hectic days on the laid-back island leading up to the event. "I showed the team a flow chart I designed for the show and how to make it ha
The core of the new system comprises an Electro-Voice XLC rig, which includes eighteen XLC127DVX loudspeakers and eight XLC215 subwoofers. These are complemented by eight PX1122M, four QRx153/75 enclosures, and two QRx218S subwoofers. The system, which is equally suitable for the reproduction of music and the spoken word, is driven by nineteen TG5 amplifiers. The order placed with Alpha Audio include
Organised by Bosch's Communications Systems Division, its Brazilian distributor TelePonto, and regional dealer Vitoria-Som, the launch was held at Vila Country, a 12,000sq.m, western-themed complex with dance floors, saloons, shops, and space for livestock auctions. Vila Country is also outfitted head-to-toe with audio equipment from Electro-Voice, effectively making it Brazil's largest EV showroom.
"Having raised the bar with the flagship XL8 system, the introduction of the PRO6 brings Midas digital technology to a more compact size and accessible price point," says Robert Klesser, sales manager, Brazil, Bosch Security Systems communications systems division: "There has been a
The world zones are themed retail areas that work separately from each other at certain times, hosting continent-specific events.
A total of 17 Ecler MPA6-150R multi-channel amplifiers, specified and installed by Peter Knowles, are zoned to enable each retail area to emanate its signature sounds. For special events, or to create extra interest in an area, a sales assistant has the ability to alter the levels of the amplifiers in their zone, from either a cash desk area or point-of-sale.
Knowles explains, "There were several reasons for using the Ecler
The production has used Sennheiser G2 SKM5000 wireless microphones for the 'three Dynamos' closing performances since the outset of the production, but to celebrate the show's 10th anniversary, Sennheiser created a set of specially made 'blinged' microphones.
Using the same Swarovski crystals used in the production's lycra stage outfits, Autograph Sound helped swap the microphone's bodies and cages allowing Sennheiser to create the special sparkling look.
"We're delighted with the new look microphones. We use the SKM5000 (with Neumann KMS105 heads) for eight shows a week. They sound fantastic, are very reliable and really fit in with the spirit of the show." says Mamma Mia!, head of sound, Fab
Klawitter has a long career in the audio industry stretching back over more than 20 years. He is best known as the founder and president of high-end speaker design and manufacturing company KRK Systems, which he established in Huntington Beach, California in 1986. He remained with the company as chief consultant for five years after Stanton Magnetics acquired the name and assets in 2000.
(Jim Evans)
Taking place on the evening of 1 March, the highlight of the event was the annual East Coast Music Awards ceremony, which saw live performances and video clips interspersing the presentation of awards in 31 categories - ranging from DVD of the Year through to Aboriginal Recording Of The Year.
With a complex, two stage production to mix the sound for, DiGiCo consoles were chosen to ensure that everything ran seamlessly on the night. Supplied by Nova Scotia-based Tour Tech East, a D1 was used at monitors, while front of house engineer David W. Hillier manned an SD7 console.
The event comprised 17 live perfor
Orbital will also be showing digital wireless microphone systems from Zaxcom, including the TRX900 stereo-capable transmitter and the new QRX100 4-channel receiver, plus HME's recently-launched DX121 one-to-one digital wireless intercom. This can be plugged into a standard intercom station or belt-pack headset jack, or connected to a matrix intercom system, to enable wireless intercom links of up to 300 metres to be established quickly and easily.
Completing Orbital's product line-up will be loudspeakers systems from d&b audiotechnik, including the new T-Series.
Chris Headlam, managing director of Orbital Sound, comments,
Powersoft amplifiers K10, K8 and K6 powered the entire sound system with a main L/R of 14 JBL Vertec VT 4889-1, the out-fill with 12 JBL Vertec VT4889-1 per side plus several VCA Sub Low 2x21 subwoofers.
(Jim Evans)
Vance Breshears and Kelly Dunlop of El Cajon, California-based Sound Technology Consultants were the A/V and lighting design consultants for the project, and the A/V installation contractor was David Hairel and a team from Hairel Enterprises of Conroe, Texas. The church's team included music director Jeremi Carnes and mix engineer Jose Barni. Other key individuals included Bruce Green from Irvine, California-based Visioneering Studios who served as design architect for the new facility, and Kirk Guillory from Columbia, Maryland-based Waldon Studio who was the project architect.
EAW products
Drexelbrook's 15000sq.ft Corporate Events Centre, opened in 2000, is the largest facility of its kind in the region, and offers state-of-the-art audio and video systems including an elaborate distributed sound system using Community CLOUD6 ceiling speakers.
Brian Latocha of Aston, PA-based Toner Sound reports: "The old system was underpowered to begin with, and with the room's 25ft ceilings, it had been pushed to its limits for years, and was showing signs of age. We installed a distributed system of 60 CL
A key element of the new site will be a fully searchable database of members' details. This will be of great benefit to members and non-members alike as site visitors will be able, for the first time, to search for member studios, facilities or manufacturers which match their project criteria.
Webmaster Mike Brown explained, "There's more to this than meets the eye because we've also been streamlining and centralising many of our back-end office procedures as part of this upgrade. New members will be able to apply online and subscrip
In addition to the many and varied new products from Dynacord, Electro-Voice, Midas, and Klark Teknik, workshops, presentations (ProMatrix), and live demos (including Electro-Voice PL series microphones) contributed to the bustle of activity at the booth. "Everyone who listens to our equipment is convinced by it," says Robert Pletz, head of marketing communications systems EMEA. "That's why the demonstrations were of decisive importance to us." The lar
Located near the town of Mondovì, in the province of Cuneo, north west Italy, the first phase of Mondovicino - with about 60 stores - has opened, with the rest of the development progressively opening in the near future.
Sound designer Adriano Zigante and his company Alto Gradimento won the contract to design and install the audio system at the complex. Zigante specified a comprehensive Yamaha system, which will deliver high quality audio via a highly flexible, multi-zone system.
The indoor shopping centre forms the first completed phase of the development and features fou
The complete Barix Audio over IP solution features Instreamer 100 encoding and Exstreamer 100 decoding devices for voice and audio distribution as well as Barionet and IO12 devices for control and system monitoring. The entire system is controlled using Acutron software for signal distribution to any zone from the central server and local operator terminals.
According to Antonio J. de Oliveira, co-Founder and head engineer of Acutron Electroacustica, the Barix solution provided a flexible, multi-zone entertainme
As The Presets, Hamilton and Moyes are Australia's techno dance duo extraordinaire. Currently touring in support of the album Apocalypso, the pair have made the transition from studio to stage with the help of Shure SCL5 earphones and UHF-R wireless systems.
"When we write our music - especially for this last record - it's a very computer-based thing," Hamilton says. "The music takes on a whole life of itself, and after it hits the stage, it does step up in terms of energy. It's a r
Since Dima Bilan and his rendition of Believe won last year's competition, Moscow has been preparing for the world's biggest live music show. The Olympic Arena can hold a crowd of 80,000 but as the stage of the 54th Song Contest is so vast - 1,000sq.m - there will only be space for an audience of around 20,000.
When the artists' first rehearsals start on 3 May, Sennheiser's RF expert Klaus Willemsen will have already been on site for a week - the wireless microphone and monitor equipment was
