UK - Sheffield-based Audio Engineering Services has installed an HK Audio Actor system and an Allen & Heath WZ3 16:2 console into a new venue - Bar Axis in Hoyland, Barnsley.

With Bar Axis being on the second floor, a PA install was a must to save bands humping gear up and down the stairs. Bar Axis promoter DJ Rossi has always been an admirer of HK Audio, and when he called Audio Engineering Services for advice, they took him a demo Actor system. The system's sound matched the acoustics of the venue and Rossi immediately ordered one, along with the A&H Mix Wizard. Rossi said: "I have always been impressed by the quality of HK Audio, and it was always first choice when it came to choosing a system for the venue."

Audio Engineering Services has also just taken delivery of an HK Audio Contour array, powered by Lab.Gruppen amplifiers. The system was bought to service the

UK - This summer's series of live shows in London's Hyde Park was kicked off in fine style by Kings of Leon. Playing to 60,000 fans each night - the biggest headline shows of their career so far - the band utilsed a comprehensive package of Sennheiser equipment.

Britannia Row was the sound contractor for the Hyde Park concerts and Sennheiser's Phil Cummings and Tim Sherratt were in attendance on the first two days, to offer any assistance that Brit Row, the Kings of Leon or the support acts may have needed.

The array of Sennheiser equipment carried by KOL includes MD431 vocal mics, e 904s and e 614s on the drum kit and e 906s on the backline. Complementing these are 2000 series wireless guitar systems and 2000 in-ear monitors.

The band has been using Sennheiser equipment for five years, frontman Caleb Followill and his band mates switching to the MD431 for vocals last Decemb

Australia - DPA's new Reference Standard microphones, specified by sound designer Mick Potter and supplied by Amber Technology to Melbourne production company System Sound, are being used on the Australian production of Love Never Dies.

The 21-piece orchestra is miked with a selection of DPA mics including the new 4011A and 4011C cardioid mics from DPA's new Reference Standard series, plus 4007 omnis across brass, woodwind and percussion. For the string section, Potter has chosen a combination of 4011As and 4011Cs as ambient mics and 4061 omni miniatures for close miking, with a 4099B instrument clip mic used on double bass.

All 36 cast members are miked with DPA 4061 miniatures, with the principals wearing two each with dual transmitters and receivers.

"The orchestra sound is amazing and the overall sound of the show is very impressive," says sound supervis

UAE - Melody House, distributors of Primacoustics has recently supplied the Dubai campus of the School of Audio Engineering (SAE) with the RX9 downfire stabilisers.

"We initially tried the flat version but as their stands are quite high the downfire versions provided great results," commented Simon Short, acoustics specialist at Melody House.

He added, "We have sold quite a number of recoil stabilizers in the past few months as the difference is really audible. The best part is that they work on pretty much any studio monitor and straight out of the box."

(Jim Evans)

Germany - The ratings for the recent women's world cup tournament put the women's game firmly on par with the men's, with the quarter final featuring the hosts drawing over 16m viewers in Germany alone. And as was the case at the last two men's world championships - in Germany (2006) and South Africa (2010) - systems from Electro-Voice and Dynacord made a sound contribution to the safety and enjoyment of spectators at this year's women's world cup.

The Sinsheim, Dresden, Frankfurt, and Berlin stadiums all boast installations that meet the highest modern standards in terms of both entertainment value, and safety; and whilst the Sinsheim venue, with a capacity of 25,000, is no coliseum, the Berlin, Dresden, and Frankfurt stadiums are among Europe's biggest and best.

A mammoth four-year renovation back in 2004 restored Berlin's historic Olympic Stadium to its former glory, adding

UK - Live communications and production agency DesignScene production designed and managed the first full scale large live event to be staged at the new flagship St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, a charity fundraiser organised by the Anderson Foundation in aid of The National Autistic Society.

It is the second year that DesignScene has produced the event for the Anderson Foundation. The project was managed for them by Ben Turner, and designed by DesignScene's creative director, Attila Keskin. Turner comments, "It was very exciting to be working in London's newest high profile hotel. As nothing this large had been done before we had a real chance to set a standards."

The high profile Anderson Foundation event for about 250 people was staged in the hotel's main space off the main reception areas. DesignScene's brief included the specification and supply of lighting, sound

USA - Loud Technologies has announced that Alex Nelson, formerly Loud's VP of worldwide sales, will lead its newly expanded Music Gear (MG) Business Unit in the elevated role of president and general manager. This move completes the alignment of all brand strategy, product development, engineering, product management, demand planning, operations, marketing, training sales and service for its Ampeg, Crate, and Mackie brands under the now fully autonomous MG Business Unit.

"Alex is perfectly suited to lead our MG Business Unit and will establish both a long-term strategic plan for the business as well as deliver entirely new standards for service, partnership and innovation to our customers worldwide," said Mark Graham, Loud CEO. "This also completes the organisational decentralization effort Loud initiated earlier in the year, and establishes three fully autonomous

UK - At PLASA2011 Out Board will preview iPad and iPhone apps developed to control the TiMax2 SoundHub mix matrix, playback server and audio showcontrol matrix. Simple factory-default setups are user-configurable, and a custom programming service provides bespoke GUI's specifically tailored to individual systems and sound effects control projects.

Also demonstrated will be powerful new S-Version software features for the TiMax2 SoundHub - the PanSpace effects map and TimeLine Editor for in-depth sound-effects programming, featuring multi-channel waveform-based editing, looping, panning, volume profiling and versatile showcontrol trigger management.

TiMax2 SoundHub is a scaleable mix-engine, sound effects playback server and delay-matrix platform which offers up to 64 channels of analogue or AES I/O - with MADI, Ethersound, Cobranet and Dante networking options - all in a singl

USA - Since opening its doors in 1981, the Blue Note in New York City has become one of the world's premier jazz clubs, playing host to some of the genre's greatest musicians. When the venue's audio system needed to be upgraded, Yamaha's TXn amplifiers were chosen.

Installed by audio specialists Petrix, the club's layout and famous nightly opening made for a challenging installation.

"While the acoustic characteristics of the room are good, the venue is 'in the round' and there is only 15.5' from the front of the stage to the wall at the rear of the venue, 30' to the left and 46' to the right. The ceiling is low and the 200 seats are lined up right against the stage, all the way to the walls," says Petrix owner Amit Peleg.

Because of the layout and the music being mostly acoustic, 80% of the audience sits within 20' of the stage, so a lot of stage sound is audible.

UK - Production company LarMac LIVE (LML) was brought in to production manage and co-ordinate all technical aspects of the 2011 UK Sonisphere Festival.

Staged in the grounds of Knebworth House, Hertfordshire, the three-day event saw a feast of metallic aristocracy, music and antics, headlined by Metallica, Biffy Clyro and Slipknot respectively, with some eccentric curved balls lobbed in the programming mix like Bill Bailey, who topped the Stage 2 line up on Sunday.

It was the first time that LarMac LIVE has worked on a Sonisphere event. The UK is one of 12 such events worldwide, making it the largest touring festival, and LML's Ian Greenway took up the production management reins, assisted by Anthony Norris. LML was working for Stuart Galbraith from Sonisphere's promoters Kilimanjaro Live.

The main technical suppliers for Stages 1 and 2 were PRG for lighting and Britannia Ro

China - Singer songwriter Jacky Cheung, regarded as the 'God of Songs' in the Chinese community, recently played a run of 20 dates at the Hong Kong Coliseum. A variety of DPA microphones was used for the concerts.

For Cheung's vocal, the DPA 4088 miniature cardioid headband was used. The 4088 has long been used for Cheung's acoustically demanding concert performances where sound quality, visual elegance, background noise and feedback are concerns, as it has been proven to tackle these challenges with ease.

For the musicians, six DPA 4099S and 4099T live clip mics were applied for the horn section which included trombone, trumpet, alto and tenor sax. A combination of 11 DPA 4061 miniatures and 4099V were used for the string section which included violin, viola and cello.

"DPA microphones are commonly regarded as standard for live miking," says monitor engineer Mike

UK - Liverpool based rental company Adlib supplied lighting, sound, AV and considerable presentational expertise in the genre of live comedy to the recent Good Mourning Mrs Brown UK arena & theatre tour starring Irish comedian, Brendan O'Carroll.

Wanting to retain the intimacy and feel of the original theatre show, a pros arch look was recreated at the front of the stage with black drapes and theatre tabs, with the two left and right IMAG video screens incorporated into the draping system. Side masking and a full set of legs was also supplied by the Adlib team, who used the house black upstage at each venue.

The tour's production was designed by Martin Delany & Adlib Design's Peter Abraham who says, "The set & design haven't changed dramatically over the last 10 years just the technology used to create the effects makes our lives easier. The biggest challenge was r

UK - Manchester based lighting design and rental company DBN is often involved in interesting and esoteric arts-based projects, but particularly during the Manchester International festival (MIF), their collective ingenuity and sense of adventure is called on to collaborate in some truly evocative and different works.

This was the case when Stephen Page was invited by MIF to illuminate a performance by virtuoso Russian-born violinist Alina Ibragimova in collaboration with filmmakers and animators, The Brothers Quay. It was staged in and around the Library of the historic Chetham's School of Music, Manchester.

The atmospheric promenade performance for 100 people each evening introduced them to several different locations in the heart of Chetham's 600 year old centre of learning, where Ibragimova performed four different solo violin pieces by Berio, Bach, Biber and Bartók.

In

Australia - As a part of the AFL's expansion into the Gold Coast, the new $144m Metricon Stadium has opened at Carrarra. Metricon Stadium is operated by the Gold Coast SUNS, was designed by Populous, built by Watpac and the audio installation was carried out by The PA People.

The stadium is a multipurpose facility that currently seats 25,000 spectators and will be capable of being extended to 40,000 seats in the future. Metricon Stadium features an AFL oval that will also be capable of holding ICC cricket matches, concerts, festivals, IAAF athletics events and FIFA World Cup soccer matches.

The PA People opted for a tested formula that they have used in other stadiums designed around a variety of JBL speakers. The Stadium has grandstands around three-quarters of its perimeter with an open Northern end where the scoreboard is situated.

"We have 20 clusters to deal with t

Europe - Yamaha's free StageMix iPad app has been an extraordinary success since its launch in September 2010, says the company. After over 45,000 downloads of the app, the company has announced the launch of StageMix 2.0, which gives users of M7CL andLS9 digital mixing consoles even greater control.

The success of StageMix is proved by it being downloaded more than 130 times every day since it was first announced at PLASA 2010.

Connected via the iPad's built-in WiFi and a wireless connection point linked to the mixing console via Cat 5 cable, the straightforward, intuitive graphic interface of StageMix allows the user to easily mix stage sound via anM7CL or LS9, even if the mixing console is at the front of house position.

A number of new functions complement the existing array of controls, which include control of input channel faders, on/off, parametric EQs and channel cu

UK - LD Systems has released the D1015CM gooseneck microphone. The slim and flexible design of the D1015CM gooseneck microphone with its professional, highly sensitive and uni-directional condenser element makes it designed for all situations where supreme clarity is required, says the company.

Its low self noise also makes it suitable for professional sound reinforcement and recording in meeting and seminar rooms, schools and churches. Equipped with a three-pole XLR connector, it operates on phantom power (9 - 52 V).

Andrew Richardson, managing director of Adam Hall UK comments, "The LD D1015CM Conference Microphone provides an overall improved performance and is ideal for spoken word applications such as seminars, schools, churches and meetings."

Accessories include the D1015CMB Metal Base, which ensures secure positioning of gooseneck microphones and offers a fe

Northern News - Scotland's oldest working theatre, the Theatre Royal in Dumfries built in 1792, has been saved from closure with support from the local charitable Holywood Trust. The trust has agreed in principle to make a "substantial contribution" towards work required to upgrade the theatre and make the building weather-tight. The Guild of Players, which has owned the 215-seat theatre since 1959, will also be able to purchase two adjacent properties.

Children's Favourite - Bristol Old Vic's production of Swallows and Amazons is to play in London's West End for a five-week Christmas run. Based on the classic children's novel by Arthur Ransome, the songs for the musical have been created by The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon. It will be directed by Bristol Old Vic's Tom Morris, co-director of the National Theatre's West End hit War Horse. The show wi

Germany - For 20 years, music lovers from Germany and abroad have been travelling to the Classic Open Air Festival in Berlin to enjoy internationally acclaimed artists performing classical masterpieces in the magnificent setting of the Gendarmenmarkt square. During the past years around 600,000 people have attended 105 concerts, with musical offerings ranging from opera, operetta and musicals to crossover productions featuring pop, soul, swing and jazz classics.

With this year's series of concerts between 7 and 12 July 7, the organiser celebrated 20 years of staging this successful event. At the same time, a new technical concept made its debut behind the scenes. This year for the first time, the audio infrastructure was digital, based on the use of two all-digital Eclipse mixing consoles from Innovason and digital microphones from Berlin-based manufacturer Neumann.

An Etherso

USA - Push the point hard enough and consolidation is inevitable; that's the premise presented to Simon Foster as he prepared to take the revitalized Pixies around north America once more. "We had already confirmed the LED video and lighting parts of the tour," said Craig Mitchell, "when I learned the band's preference was for a d&b audiotechnik PA system, I suggested we provide sound as well."

Mitchell handles touring sales at Florida-based LMG, a company with a long and highly reputable history in the corporate market, but relatively less well known in touring circles. For Pixies production manager Simon Foster the one stop shop logic was sound, but it's not just equipment that determines these things.

"I wasn't familiar with LMG before the last Pixies US tour," said the band's long time house engineer Ray Furze. "When Simon mentioned they

Sweden - DiGiCo digital mixing consoles have recently been used by Swedish rental company, eurosound media crew, for two very different projects.

The first sees a DiGiCo SD9 take up residence at Sweden's national broadcaster, Swedish Television, for 55 consecutive days from 13 June for its early morning children's show, Sommarlov, which is not only broadcast nationwide, but also has a live audience of 500 children each morning.

"The SD9 and D-Rack sit at the heart of the whole sound set-up as the mic pre/gain master," says eurosound's Mattias Dalin. "The show is set in the harbour at Malmoe's Docklands, but the broadcast sound is mixed in SVT's regular studio control room at their premises. A two-way fibre connection between the SD9 and the control room services all audio signals.

"Because of this set-up, we need maximum safety and we're confident

UK - Canford is providing a PLASA debuts for the new 'enhanced' Tecpro Wireless handsets and TW403 wired to wireless interface, the new RTS BTR-240 wireless comms system, Cat 5e stageboxes and multicore cables in several lengths up to 75m and last but not least the EMO E810 LED racklight that interfaces with comms systems to flash, letting the operator know of a call inbound.

Canford will also show a selection from their comprehensive range of cables including the D'n'A series which redesigned all their most popular audio cables to handle both analogue and AES digital audio. Also being featured by Canford will be the latest products from Cloud and Databay.

The new enhanced Tecpro Wireless beltpacks offer full Duplex Operation and licence-free operation in the UHF frequency band. The powerful new handsets can supply up to 200mW with a 400m max Range and now benefit from a range

UAE - The demand for the Dynacord academy programme in the Middle East is constantly on the rise. The most recent event took place in Le Meridien Hotel, Dubai. It was organised by Dynacord's's local distribution partner, AVL and attended by over 50 pro audio specialists.

As well as offering an overview of the entire Dynacord product range, the Academy included a presentation of Electro-Voice microphones. The third generation of Dynacord's PowerMate family, the new CMS mixing consoles and the Corus Evolution series were also the subject of great interest.

"The Academy was no sooner over than requests began pouring in to attend the next," says Klaus Seitz, sales director MEA, ProSound and CCS. "Clearly we hit the bullseye with this academy. The demand is very real, and we're already planning the next events in the series."

(Jim Evans)

UK - News of another interactive new feature area at PLASA 2011 has been announced. The Theatres Trust will return to PLASA 2011 with an expanded version of its innovative Ecovenue feature, the area that gives visitors the chance to see how 48 pioneering London theatres are putting sustainability into practice.

Located in Earls Court 2, the feature takes the form of a theatre-in-miniature, complete with 'auditorium', 'stage', 'backstage', 'foyer' and 'box office'. In each area The Theatres Trust will demonstrate proven sustainability techniques, as well as featuring technologies from PLASA 2011 exhibitors.

Tim Atkinson, theatre building services advisor to The Theatres Trust, comments, "The larger space means our stage will be able to accommodate a greater variety of presentations and events. Another key development is that, whereas last year we had only signed up half of

USA/UK - Clockaudio is this year's winner of the SCN/InfoComm Installations Product Award for 'Most Innovative A/V Conferencing Product'.

The company received the award for its CRM100-RF and CRM102-RF retractable through-table boundary layer omnidirectional and cardioid condenser microphones. The proprietary design enables the microphone to be raised or lowered flush with the tabletop by pushing on the top of the mic.

The low profile system allows tabletop microphone systems to remain permanently in place, simply disappearing when not in use; a feature that has proven hugely popular with installers and systems integrators throughout the world.

The award was presented to Clockaudio MD and founder Jim Hallington by Systems Contractor News editor Kirsten Nelson. Commenting, Jim Hallington said, "It's a great pleasure to receive this Innovation Award which further va

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