UK - In 2010, Sennheiser UK hosted its first Seminar Roadshow in Edinburgh, which addressed a wide range of audio issues and product demonstrations. So successful was the event that this year it was presented in two new locations, with enhanced and updated content, plus the world debut of a Rane audio system and UK 'firsts' for systems from DAS and K-Array.

This year's seminars took place in early June at Ashton Court, near Bristol and (most appropriately for the live music industry) Knebworth House in Hertfordshire. With a bare minimum of advertising, news of the events was so well-received that Sennheiser UK had to freeze the online registration site several days before the first one.

"Hosting last year's event at an attractive venue which people would remember worked very well," says Ken Morrison, business area manager at Sennheiser UK. "We wanted to reach a

Denmark - Opened in 2009, the Denmark Radio Koncerthuset is one of the country's top live performance venues, staging symphony concerts, chamber music, choral, jazz, rock and pop events in its four halls. Recently an SD7, supplied by DiGiCo's Danish distributor Soundware, was added to its inventory of DiGiCo consoles.

The 5000m2 Copenhagen venue has been a focus of Denmark's quest to become one of the leading lights in Scandinavian music, the 1800-capacity main hall playing host to some of the city's highest profile concerts, with the smaller three allowing a wide range of performances.

Already equipped with three DiGiCo D5s, the addition of an SD7 to the Koncerthuset has allowed more complex productions to be staged.

"Although the D5s have been performing very well, we needed a console with a lot more outputs for in-ear monitors, Aviom systems and Roland M-48 personal

UK - SSE Audio Group continues to invest in Yamaha digital mixing consoles, adding a further five PM5D-RHs to its hire inventory in anticipation of the summer festival season.

Last year, SSE used digital systems exclusively for monitors for the first time at many of the UK's top festivals. PM5D-RH consoles were deployed at the monitor positions of Download, High Voltage, Lovebox, Oxegen, Global Gathering, T4 On the Beach, Field Day, Summer Sundae and at both V Festival sites.

So successful was the change that SSE Hire is doing the same this year and has invested in five additional PM5D-RHs, bringing SSE's total inventory to 10, plus several rackmount DSP5Ds.

"The all-digital setups were a real success story last year," says SSE sales manager Alex Penn. "It was an easy decision to invest in further PM5D-RHs as our festival and touring commitments grow ever bigg

Argentina / Peru - Penn-Elcom is expanding its Latin American operations with the inauguration of two new operations - in Argentina and Peru - bringing its number of Latin American offices to five.

This is part of a planned expansion strategy to have Penn-Elcom sales and distribution outlets in all of the major South American markets, and also in direct response to an increased demand for its products and services in these territories, says the company.

Both of the new sales offices have showroom and warehousing facilities offering a full range of Penn-Elcom products including flight case, racking and loudspeaker hardware, accessories and solutions to the professional audio industry, plus selected complimentary lines, including Fane speakers and Amphenol & Neutrik connectors.

Penn Elcom Argentina is located in Buenos Aires. The office is headed by Adriana Gallo and Diego Sot

USA - For more than a decade, the Chesapeake Inn in Chesapeake City, Maryland, has been a favourite spot for celebrating weddings, graduations and other memorable events, its breath-taking, windswept views of the Bay a backdrop for good food, good friends and good times. But the Inn's waterfront location presented an on-going challenge to their ability to be good neighbours, with the sound reflecting off the water resulting in some complaints from homes in the area.

The multi-room facility includes an outdoor deck and Tiki Bar, both of which are quite popular during warmer months. But as design consultant Mike Rapp of Bear, DE-based Sound Solutions explains, sonic issues arose even with many of the more reserved parties.

"For the most part, they only had smaller two and three piece combos playing outside, while the larger and louder bands played indoors, with the music pi

UK - Mike & The Mechanics played London's Royal Albert Hall to launch their 2011 Hit The Road tour. Featuring a new line-up which includes Andrew Roachford, the tour coincides with the release of their first album in six years entitled The Road.

Concert production for the tour is being handled by Britannia Row Productions who deployed an Outline GTO-based system for the Royal Albert Hall, the second outing for the Italian manufacturer's new flagship technology in the venue.

The main system comprised L&R hangs of 12 GTO elements, with three Outline Mantas under-hung from each array plus three along the stage lip to cover the near-field. Side-hangs of 13 Outline Butterfly elements covered the bleachers while an under-stage array of Outline Subtech218 subwoofers provided low frequency reinforcement.

Britannia Row's Bryan Grant comments, "This venue is not the

USA / Canada - Meyer Sound reports that it has been named the Official Sound Reinforcement Sponsor of the Montréal International Jazz Festival in cooperation with Montréal-based Solotech, which will supply Meyer Sound's professional audio systems exclusively throughout the festival.

"It's great to collaborate with Meyer Sound and Solotech, both forward-thinking companies whose ability to adjust to their client's needs is in their DNA," says André Ménard, artistic director of the Montréal International Jazz Festival.

A longtime partner with Meyer Sound since 1992, Solotech has supplied Meyer Sound loudspeaker systems for entertainment and music icons that include Céline Dion, Michael Bublé, Leonard Cohen, Cirque du Soleil, and more. While Solotech has provided Meyer Sound equipment for the Montréal International

Sweden - Late May saw Swedish truck body manufacturer SKAB Group treat its employees and their families to a remarkable company party. With DiGiCo SD8 and SD8-24 consoles mixing the performances, the party went with a swing, not to mention some heads-down boogie.

Falkenberg-based Hire Sound Sweden was appointed by event management company 2e Group to provide sound reinforcement for the party, which took place in Falkenberg's Falkenhalle. The event was for 550 SKAB employees and their families, celebrating the fact that the various parts of the group have totalled 100 years in business.

"The plan was to put on a really grand show," says Hire Sound Sweden's Tobias Larsson. "In total over 100 professionals worked to realise SKAB's vision - to create the greatest corporate party ever."

The entertainment was shrouded in secrecy right up until the moment that e

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies' audio division has supplied a high performance new Meyer sound system to Lancaster University.

The fully portable PA is based in the new environmentally friendly Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA) building, a £10m development that now houses all the university's arts related courses including theatre, music, film, art, theatre, visual and design studies - which were previously dispersed around various areas of the campus.

The supply was co-ordinated by A.C. Audio's sales manager, Peter Butler - who is based at the company's Leeds office - and the university's music technology officer, Dr Rosemary Fitzgerald. It was specified by senior lecturer and head of the music department Takayuki Rai, who is also a prolific composer, a highly respected electroacoustic specialist and talented performer working with interactive c

UK - LD Systems has introduced the BM1 boundary-layer microphone, an electret condenser microphone with a hemispherical directional characteristic. Designed for the micing of upright and grand pianos on stage or in the studio, additional applications include conferencing technology, micing of roundtable discussions and theatrical performances.

According to Andrew Richardson, managing director of Adam Hall UK, "The BM1 boundary-layer microphone is a rugged unit that can be used for conferencing applications as well as traditional audio scenarios."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Since winning The X Factor in 2008, Alexandra Burke has established herself as part of the British pop scene, with her brand of high-energy dance routines and up-tempo songs. She has now embarked on her first UK tour, All Night Long, taking in such venues as Hammersmith and Manchester Apollo, Brighton Centre and Cardiff Arena. Sennheiser microphones and IEMs have become an integral part of her touring rig.

Baggy has been performing monitor engineer duties for the chanteuse since her emergence from the television talent series and explains why her Sennheiser equipment - which includes SKM 5200 with an MD 5235 capsule as her main vocal mic, as well as wired microphones such as e901 and e 904s for drums and e906s for guitars, with the band and Alexandra also using ew 300 IEMs - has become such an important element for her shows.

"Sennheiser has been workin

Conference Cancelled - The In The City music conference, set up by the late music impresario Tony Wilson in Manchester almost two decades ago, will not go ahead this year. The event was founded by the Factory Records supremo and partner Yvette Livesey as a music industry symposium and a platform for the best new bands. Oasis and Coldplay are among the acts that got exposure there while unsigned. Ms Livesey told the BBC she was taking a year off to get married and start a family, but pledged it would return in 2012.

Reunion Blues - Paul Simon has told Sky News he hopes to be re-united on stage with Art Garfunkel for a final farewell tour. The singer said he would "like to sing with him one last time and maybe do 10 or 15 shows and then say goodbye". However, the reunion may not happen immediately as Garfunkel has been suffering from vocal chord pare

UK - Adlib's specialist sales division - also a 'certified provider' for L-Acoustics - has sold a Kara PA system, fully flight-cased and complete with LA8 amplifiers, to Newcastle based sound, lighting and AV rental company Nitelites.

The sale comprised 24 Kara loudspeakers, eight SB18 subs, eight SB28 subs, eight LA8 amplifiers and a full set of Adlib designed flight cases for the Kara, bumps (flying cradles) and amp racks, plus all the associated rigging and accessories to enable the system to be flown or ground stacked as required.

Nitelites is a well established and leading North East rental operation, and the deal cements a long standing and very positive relationship between the two companies. This has developed in particular over the last seven years and seen healthy cross rental traffic in equipment as well as the exchange of resources and knowledge.

The Kara deal wa

UK - Following the success of the Yamaha Commercial Audio open days, hosted by Stage Electrics at its Bermondsey premises in January, the company has organised three further events across the country.

The additional open days will allow a wider range of engineers to get 'hands-on' with Yamaha's digital audio products, with experienced Yamaha and Stage Electrics staff on hand to demonstrate and answer questions.

The new dates are: 6 July at Stage Electrics Tyneside (Gateshead); 7 July at the Midland Arts Centre, Birmingham; 29 September at Stage Electrics Bristol headquarters.

Each event takes place from 10pm to 5pm and will provide demonstrations and tuition on a range of Yamaha audio products, including the M7CL and LS9 digital mixing consoles, the SB168-ES stage box, Ethersound and Dante networking protocols.

Designed to give both prospective and existing users a focused

Honduras - Latin America has long been a strong market for Adamson touring systems. Recently a wave of permanent installations have been taking place, and the very first for the tiny Central American country of Honduras was installed recently. The Caribbean paradise's capital city of Tegucigalpa lies 3248ft above sea level, thus moderating temperatures in this city founded on top of a native Mayan settlement in 1578.

CEAD (Centro Evangelista de las Asambleas de Dios/Evangelistic Centre of the Assemblies of God). is a church which was founded 14 years ago, and it has set-out a mission to change lives. Today that vision is pursued by Pastor Miguel Montoya and his wife Jacky, in their church which seats 2600 and holds up to 5000 people, who gather at two weekly services. The pastor is someone who has taught them to dream big, and to fight for them. One of those dreams was to get to

Greece - ARX Systems, the Australian based designer and manufacturer has announced the appointment of Athens based Audio & Vision as their new distributor for Greece.

ARX managing director Colin Park said, "We're excited to be working with the Audio Vision team in Greece, they're enthusiastic about the possibilities for ARX and our products amongst their extensive client base.

"Audio Vision are an expanding force within the Greek Pro Audio Industry and are in close contact with Greek Audio Professionals across the installation, live sound and broadcast market sectors."

After more than 12 years servicing the professional audio industry Audio Vision now distribute product ranges including DPA Microphones, Nagra, Switchcraft, Tasker, Audac, Coolux, CM Columbus McKinnon and Swefog.

(Jim Evans)

UK - MSL Professional has launched a special summer promotion that enables UK customers to evaluate TL Audio products in the comfort of their own home or studio prior to purchase. Participating TL Audio dealers will arrange for time-limited loans of selected products over the summer.

MSL Professional's Simon Lowther commented, "The sound quality and warmth of TL Audio products really does have to be heard to be believed. So what better way for customers to experience this than by trying the outboard on their own tracks in their own studios. We look forward to running this particular promotion throughout the summer."

(Jim Evans)

Spain / Italy - D.A.S. Audio has announced the signing of an exclusive Italian distribution agreement with Parma-based Audiosales.

"We are delighted to have Audiosales on board in Italy," says D.A.S. Audio's business development manager, Claus Behrens. "We have developed a very close rapport with company owner Stefano Rocchi during the past few weeks and it is clear to us that Audiosales is the perfect match to develop our business in Italy. Their focus on the D.A.S. Audio brand will benefit D.A.S. Audio's broad base of existing Italian customers and provide an unparalleled level of sales and service for the future. We see the market for D.A.S. Audio products expanding greatly from its already strong position."

"D.A.S. Audio wanted a more specialized and dedicated approach to the sound reinforcement and installation businesses in Italy," notes Ste

Germany - As the members of the German band Phrasenmäher announced their plans for a 2011 club tour and CD release, sound and event company LR. Audio was busy designing the sound system for the band to take on the road. Hired by Phrasenmäher to run the show, LR.Audio chose an Aviom Pro64 Digital Snake "to ensure quality sound for each performance and to eliminate the hassle of interfacing with the fixed gear of each venue at which the band typically plays".

In order to provide a better control of the audio mix, LR.Audio utilises two Aviom 6416m Mic Input Modules to run audio to the Yamaha LS9 front of house console. The engineer then has the ability to create crisp sound mixes, which are distributed to the venues' speaker systems through an Aviom 6416o Output Module. Two 6416Y2 A-Net Interface Cards serve as the I/O to the console and give the engineer control of the

UK - Systems integrator IVC Media was back at Wimbledon this year, supplying support services for its TV and signage distribution system.

"IVC Media was originally associated with the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) way back in 1995 when the company installed the original analogue video over Cat 5 structured cabling and RF over coax," explains John Smith, managing director of IVC Media. "Since then, in 2007, the club worked with us to implement new IPTV technology across their updated high speed data network and each year we have staff on site to support all the TV distribution of the whole tournament."

"Where realtime coverage is required for commentary booths a Mediastar system works alongside the IPTV system," continues Smith. "RF and IPTV distribution of channels to public/private areas within ground include the referees' tower, comm

World - Iron Maiden are currently touring the planet to promote their new album The final Frontier". An important element for a succesful show is drummer Nicko Mc Brain's HK Audio ConTour Series drum-fill system that has been part of his backline already for more than six years.

Comments McBrain, "Once I have found the equipment that suits my needs best, I like to keep using it as long as possible: I have been using Premier Drums and Paiste cymbals for a very long time and I am very happy with their equipment. Since 2005, HK audio has joined the little group of suppliers I work with. I use two ConTour Series CT 112 monitors and an SL 218 2x18" subwoofer as my drum-fill system.

"We're quite a loud band on stage as you can imagine, so I need a system that has lots of power and headroom. With vocals, three guitars a bass player like Steve Harris and the amo

Denmark - Recording engineer and producer Henrik Nilsson has recorded and mixed a variety of high profile live concerts for broadcast, including Metallica, Jean Michel Jarre, Massive Attack, Robbie Williams, the Roskilde and Skanderborg festivals. He recently bought Audiotruck dk to provide a versatile OB service.

Following a May refit, the truck's audio infrastructure is to the highest standard, handling digital audio via both MADI and Optocore. Two DiGiCo D-Racks are optically connected to the SD10B console. Meanwhile, MADI signals are routed via the truck's MADI splitter system to the SD10B.

The console is used to mix the show for live broadcast, routing up to 256 channels of digital audio to a Macintosh-based recording system running Steinberg Nuendo.

The equipment was installed by Danish audio specialists Soundware in less than a day, as the company's Kim Johansen repor

UK - Roland products have, for the second year running, taken centre stage at the Glastonbudget festival, a well established tribute act festival which takes place every year in Wymeswold, Leicestershire. With four stages and over 130 acts, the event has grown to attract over 7000 visitors over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Working closely with event production and rental company OneBigStar, the team from Roland Systems Group (RSG) put together a combination of products which covered all areas of the festival. This year saw the new M-480 live mixing console play a key role in the event, with one console controlling both FOH and monitors for the large outdoor stage and one console FOH in the big top tent, plus a Digital Snake set up on each of the four stages.

RSG took the opportunity of Glastonbudget to demonstrate the new M-480 digital console in the UK and to emphasise its c

UK - The Zombies, currently celebrating its 50thanniversary with a critically-acclaimed new album continue to tour - with a Yamaha LS9 ensuring that the sound is anything but zombie-like.

The past half century hasn't always been an easy time for The Zombies, but the famously wistful vocals of Colin Blunstone and keyboard / songwriting wizardryof Rod Argent have been a constant in the music industry, whether within the band context or on solo projects. For the past decade Blunstone and Argent have again been working under the Zombies banner, the line-up completed by guitarist Tom Toomey and father-and-son rhythm section, Jim and Steve Rodford.

With a world tour in the offing, the band's front of house engineer Dale Hanson has settled on the Yamaha LS9-32 as his console of choice, thanks to its compact size but comprehensive facilities.

"I got to know the LS9-32 by seeing

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