UK - Sound Division were recently asked to install a back ground music system in the first UK site of ST ALi - a roastery, coffee bar and restaurant. Located on London's Clerkenwell Road, the two story venue roasts all its coffee onsite, and opened its doors in April.

Sound Division were awarded the contract to install a music system for the new site, with the brief, to provide the chic coffee bar and restaurant with a good quality system that could provide low level background music during daytime operation. The system needed to be capable of being turned up to provide foreground music for evening time operation, when a more vibrant atmosphere is required, particularly in the first floor lounge which can be hired out for private functions.

Martin Audio AQ5 speakers were chosen for the project, with ten units installed over both floors and in the walkways in a two-zone configu

Australia - Gilligan's is Cairns largest party venue boasting thousands upon thousands of punters through the doors every week. Popular with the locals and the travellers, Gilligan's has non-stop party stamina all week long.

From Thursday to Sunday the back deck by the pool is home to some of Cairns most popular live bands and DJ's but unfortunately this doesn't always go down well with the neighbours. The venue was receiving complaints from one nearby hotel in particular and liquor licensing had placed some stringent restrictions on the levels of music to be played.

"Inner city living is growing and you have to keep the community happy," said Anthony Brooks, Gilligan's general manager. "However we felt that we needed to increase the sound volume somehow. The guys at JVG Sound & Lighting showed us the JBN Sound Ceiling and it looked like it would solve the probl

UK - Lab.gruppen has announced the appointment of its new managing director, Jon Alkhagen, who joined the Swedish pro-audio manufacturer just last month.

Alkhagen joins the business at an important time of growth and development, with Lab.gruppen having recently launched their much anticipated new 1U install-centric amplifier platform E Series, as well as continuing to develop standalone products under sister brand Lake.

After graduating with an M.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Uppsala University in 1996, Alkhagen was critical to the success and overall development of a number of global telecommunications companies such as Allgon, where among other roles, he was design engineer and project manager and managed the R&D activity for a company which went on to claim a 40 per cent market share. Most recently, he was employed at Ascom Wireless Solutions, a company focused on 'missi

UK - Allen & Heath iLive and ZED mixing consoles have been installed throughout a new £18m performing arts venue at The University of Wolverhampton. Called the Performance Hub, the facility brings together the University's Dance, Drama and Music departments into one dedicated building, providing purpose-built facilities, such as a black box theatre and music rooms.

An iLive digital mixing system, comprising an iLive-T80 Control Surface and iDR-32 MixRack with a Dante networking audio card, and additional Mixpad app, have been installed in the main Black Box performance space.

"iLive was chosen right at the beginning of the building's design process, and the infrastructure of the Black Box was then built around how we planned to use it," explains Andrew Lowe, music technician at the University of Wolverhampton, who is responsible for selecting audio equipment.

UK - The apocalyptic early Victorian art of John Martin, depicting biblical catastrophes in vast panoramas, has been dramatically brought to life at Tate Britain - with help from JBL Control 1 loudspeakers.

In curating the exhibition, which runs until 15 January 2012, Martin Myrone and Anna Austen wanted to recreate the impact these paintings originally had when they toured Britain continuously in front of paying audiences in the mid-19th century. In more recent times, Martin's vivid landscapes have provided the inspiration for major movies, science fiction video games, manga comics and album art.

"These paintings were the blockbusters of their time," says Dan Crompton, the Tate's audio visual service manager, who oversaw the technical installation.

One of John Martin's major projects was the completion of a triptych of paintings on the theme of the end of the worl

UK - For the second time in a year, multiples of JBL's discreet Control 52 satellite speakers have been installed under the pews of one of the UK's most historic college chapels.

Following the installation of 127 of these miniature speakers at the 16th century Trinity College, Cambridge, back in February, a similar solution has been provided at the famous New College Oxford chapel, which dates back to 1379, when it was founded by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester.

The latest contract was fulfilled by classical recording specialists, About Sound, and also includes devices from fellow Harman brands, Crown, BSS Audio and AKG. All Harman Professional components were supplied by Sound Technology.

Working alongside the Chapel's musical director, Prof. Edward Higginbottom, and chaplain, Revd Dr Erica Longfellow, they were initially drafted in to set up a recording facility f

UK - Solid State Logic are presenting a series of three free events at Production Room in Leeds during November showcasing their latest music production tools and how they fit into the modern DAW based project studio.

The events will kick off on Saturday 5 November with an SSL open day. The latest SSL solutions will be on show. Andy Jackson from SSL will conduct one to one product demonstrations and answer any questions.

Thursday 17 November is an SSL Studio Workshop specifically for students and education facilities. Mix engineer Gary Bromham (Sheryl Crow, Bjork) will conduct hands on demos of SSL products during the day - including Nucleus, X-Rack, X-Desk and Duende Native plug-ins - and in an evening seminar talk about SSL mixing techniques plus a look at SSL's history and product development.

Thursday 24 November is an afternoon and evening of personal appointments with

Germany - The latest Dynacord Academy took place in Straubing recently. Academy organisers Irmgard Danner and Andreas Köstlinger welcomed around 40 system integrators and installers from Russia.

Accordingly, the presentation of the complete mixer, loudspeaker, and electronics product portfolio was tailored to the needs of the installation audience. For example, the participants discussed the Powermate with regard to its DJ function for small installations in bars and pubs. Other themes included DSP 600 and P64 processing, DSA amplifiers, and VariLine Series loudspeakers, hands-on sessions, and practical tips.

"The signal-processing workshop was a particular highlight," says Andreas Köstlinger. "The versatile application range and outstanding performance of the DSP600 or the P64 with FIR filters and IRIS-Net in the installation market were clearly demonstrated.

UK - A.C Entertainment Technologies' audio division has supplied a Shure UHF-R radio microphone system and the latest Nexo PS R2 Series loudspeakers to west Midlands-based Clever Connections, a provider of technical and production management services.

Clever Connections' work encompasses a broad range of events in the corporate presentation and experiential sector. It also has a number of government based clients, all of which expect the highest standards of presentational excellence for their shows, events and exhibitions.

MD Gareth Clowes wanted to make a substantial investment in the latest Channel 38 compliant wireless mic equipment, and replace his older Nexo stock with the successful PS R2 Series. The company's policy has always been to invest in premium brands and cutting edge equipment, enabling the very best technology and services to be offered on all projects.

He

UK - Deloitte recently returned to the Royal Opera House for the fourth year running with their annual contemporary arts festival - The Deloitte Ignite Festival - this time curated by internationally renowned director Mike Figgis.

The three day festival, which takes over every corner of the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden, invites people to listen to opinions, watch performances and films, and view the current trends in fashion and art. Just Tell the Truth was the theme of this year's event.

The Paul Hamlyn Hall, with its barrelled roof and floor to ceiling windows, served as the hub of the festival with a live stage for an eclectic mix of improvisational bands, speakers and dancers throughout the three days. For the second year running, Paul Nicholson of Midas ProSound and Red Square Audio was in charge of the audio for the festival and he chose Roland prod

Germany - Inspiring the science and technology professionals of the future is the purpose behind Ideen Expo, a nine day bi-annual event in Hannover which seeks to stimulate young people with a wide range of ideas for their future education and careers. The 2011 event relied on a sophisticated and powerful Yamaha / Dante digital media networking system, designed to be set up and operated very simply.

Aimed at 10-22 year olds, this year's Ideen Expo was the third time that the event had taken place. Opened by German president Christian Wulff, the 80,000m2 exhibition attracted over 310,000 people and featured a wide range of exhibits, including a several live performance stages, a fairground, numerous stalls and other interactive exhibits.

Hamburg-based Neumann & Müller supplied the event's huge technical infrastructure which, under the guidance of the company's Roger Clarke, to

UK - EM Acoustics, recently hosted a series of demo days at the award-winning Music Bank rehearsal studios in south-east London. Deemed a "resounding success" by operations director Mike Wheeler, the event is likely to become a regular fixture on the EM Acoustics calendar.

The sessions were open to all interested parties and incorporated live demos of almost the full gamut of EM Acoustics' portfolio, from the EMS51 compact delay and fill speaker right up to the massive X3 high-Q horizontal array system launched at PL+S in Frankfurt this year. Particular attention was reserved for the all new MSE-159, described by Mike Wheeler as, "the end result of our goal to produce the finest two-way medium format loudspeaker possible".

"The whole thing was a huge success for us at every level," confirmed Wheeler. "The venue was excellent, the format worke

USA - Located in Philadelphia's lively Rittenhouse Square area, the Whisper Club's debut has garnered rave reviews from local club-goers. Sixty-Five LED screens put on a spectacular light show in the club's sleek interior, while an A-List of top DJs set the tone through the club's powerful, rock-steady sound system.

Adam Freemer of Sonic Solutions LLC reports, "Nightclubs are a demanding audio environment. While their systems need high output and fidelity, durability also becomes vital. They must operate for six to eight hours per night without causing fatigue to the customers' ears over an extended time frame."

Freemer selected Community Professional Loudspeakers for the Whisper Club's sound system. He had used Community for several years in a wide range of applications, including Philadelphia's popular nightspot G.

"The owners (of Whisper Club) wanted a top

Denmark - Loudspeaker manufacturer dBTechnologies has confirmed the appointment of Signal Audio as its new distributor in Denmark. Under the umbrella of the Matrix Group alongside Nordic Staging and Moto Audio Sales, Signal Audio covers the rental, installation, live and broadcast markets.

dBTechnologies' international sales manager Harald von Falkenstein says, "Our product range is so broad, it's important that the distributor that has a broad contact base to match. We are certainly in a good position with Signal Audio, a company which serves all areas of the market."

Morten Laulund Uldbæk, pro audio sales manager of Signal Audio, adds, "dBTechnologies has already built up a great reputation in Denmark. The Opera Digital series has proved to be immensely popular in the MI market, and both the DVA and DVX ranges have grown quickly in the realm of professional a

UK - Cadac Holdings has announced the departure of director of sales Bob Thomas, who is leaving to pursue personal business interests.

The professional audio and electronics industry veteran joined Cadac Electronics plc in 2005 as managing director. Charged with broadening the company's product portfolio beyond its core theatre sound market and addressing its accumulating financial difficulties, he directed R&D activity towards the exploitation of the company's renowned engineering superiority across a wider product range. At the same time he oversaw the acquisition of the company by Soundking Group Company in January 2009, resulting in the recapitalisation of the business and its R&D programme.

With the Soundking Group acquisition, Thomas was appointed general manager of Cadac Holdings and for a period also acted as interim general manager of Studiomaster which had also been

USA - Allen & Heath recently conducted an iLive User Certification in the Minneapolis metro are with over 40 attendees being part of the event.

The programme is based around the iLive Fixed format series and features a four-hour certification course on programming, networking and overall operation of the iLive Digital Mixing System. Attendees included, local dealers, production companies end users and consultants.

Michael Palmer, sales manager for Allen & Heath USA comments, "We have received an overwhelming response to these hands on mixing clinics. The opportunity to be able to sit users down at the system and go through the nuts and bolt of this amazingly flexible system is priceless.

"With the networking capabilities of the iLive system we have live multi-track demos connected via our new Dante card into the Master system and all other systems are receiving aud

USA - Long before the curtains were first raised in Miami Beach's New World Centre, expectations were high that it would be a spectacular educational and performance facility, home to the New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy. While bringing to life its mission of becoming a destination for creativity and inspiration, the Centre also debuted as a cultural icon, introducing Pulse, a spin on the orchestral experience within a nightclub setting.

To help performers get the best monitor mixes in a hall where the acoustics are quite reverberant, Pro Sound and Video, a Miami-based company that specialises in providing high quality, technology solutions for audio, video, theatre, club and broadcast projects, equipped the New World Centre with an Aviom Pro16 personal mixing system.

Early in the New World Centre's first season, Aviom's Personal Mixers played an important role

UK - Klark Teknik has announced "a major new investment in people, brand and research and development".

The "rebirth" of Klark Teknik, enabled by parent corporation the MUSIC Group, will see KT recruiting key personnel in marketing, research and development, as well as customer support and manufacturing.

A company statement says, "The classic brand has ambitious plans to enter new market sectors with a raft of new high-quality products, including high-performance, feature-enhanced amplifiers and loudspeakers, specialist audio mixers and studio monitors, professional DJ mixers, USB and FireWire audio interfaces, as well as further developing and expanding its core expertise in signal processing and digital audio networking."

"For some time, Klark Teknik has existed in the shadow of the Midas brand," says MKT's VP of customer support, Jo

Russia - Last month saw the spectacular inauguration of a new multimedia fountain in Krasnodar's Theatre Square in front of 15,000 people. The fountain is now the centrepiece of the square that has been fully renovated and remodelled to provide a suitably grandiose backdrop for the new fountain design that features a central jet powerful enough to project up to 30m in the air.

Pro audio systems specialists, Yugdoka, were called in to handle the acoustics for the new installation. They specified APG MC216C systems throughout, powered by Lab.gruppen C Series amplifiers.

Yugdoka's owner and MD, Alexander Kharchenko explained that the new fountain is a complex and sophisticated structure comprising a number of concentric rings of fountains around the central jet and a further four 'satellite' rings around the outside, of the main circle, each with their own, smaller central jet. T

UK - For the fifth consecutive year, the NFL held a football game in London. Once again, Britannia Row Productions provided live audio for the event to the 86,000 crowd inside Wembley Stadium for the Chicago - Tampa Bay NFL game. Audinate's Dante technology distributed the audio for the sound reinforcement system.

System engineer Sergiy Zhytnikov reports: "Signal distribution around the field was achieved using Dante linked Lab.gruppen LM 26 and LM 44 Processors. A total of 14 of these units were deployed for the game. The use of fibre optic cabling to deliver both Dante audio and control remotely gave real benefit instead of using 2000m of analogue cabling which due to necessity was placed in cabling conduits at field level, along with every other kind of electrical cable imaginable."

Dante also solved the problem of signal degradation over long distances. Zhytnikov

Albania - Loudspeakers from EAW have been chosen for three venues in the new 13,000sq.ft Diesel Hall complex in Tirana, Albania. Prosound Shpk, EAW's Albanian distributor, was approached to recommend sound system solutions for the facility's Botanik restaurant, Champagne Bar and Lounge Bar. Diesel Hall owner Ermal Gashi decided to go with Prosound's recommendations, which included EAW loudspeakers and subwoofers from their SMS and VR series, among others. The system was designed by Jeff Pratt.

The system in the Botanik restaurant includes six EAW SMS5 surface mount loudspeakers in a white finish and two EAW VRS18 high output subwoofers; the Champagne Bar features 12 EAW SMS3 surface mount loudspeakers, all in white finish; and the Lounge Bar's system includes 12 EAW VR62 compact full-range loudspeakers and two VRS18s.

The centerpiece of the complex's audio is the EAW DX1208 DS

USA - At a well-attended dinner in the Peabody Orlando, which took place during the recent LDI 2011 show, Martin Audio's MLA (Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array) system was awarded the Parnelli Indispensable Technology 'IT' Award in the audio category.

Hosted by comics Flo and Eddie, a.k.a. Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, the 11th Annual Parnelli Awards Dinner honoured lifetime achievement award Winner Ed Wannebo, audio innovator Kenton Forsyth and Parnelli visionary Jim Fackert, along with 24 individuals, companies and products that made significant contributions to the growth and evolution of the live production industry in 2011.

Managing director Anthony Taylor and director of US operations Rob Hofkamp were on hand to accept the award for Martin Audio.

Taylor commented: "It was a real honour to be recognised by our peers in the industry and particularly with such a pres

UK - Sound Division was recently commissioned to install a background music system in the well known Hix restaurant in Brewer Street, Soho, London.

Hix is the third restaurant in the expanding chain of high-end eateries from chef and entrepreneur Mark Hix. Set in the heart of Soho it boasts an award winning restaurant on the ground floor and the celebrated Mark's in the basement, with its apothecary bar and an eccentric cocktail list.

Sound Division were asked to return to Hix to re-commission the music system that they had installed for the previous restaurant that traded on the site. In addition they were asked to upgrade the speaker system in Marks Bar, the basement bar lounge, to create a more vibrant atmosphere for the guests.

Having previously installed discreet JBL ceiling speakers in Marks Bar, a set of black JBL Control 25AV cabinet speakers were now specified and w

UK - Continuing a nine-year tradition, Stage Electrics recently staged a pair of successful regional exhibits showcasing its key distribution brands, at Newcastle Upon Tyne and Cardiff.

The one-day events were held at the Peter Sarah Theatre in the Performance Academy of Newcastle College, Newcastle Upon Tyne and the newly opened Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in the grounds of Cardiff Castle, where Stage Electrics also recently completed a major sound, production lighting and communications installation in the concert hall and theatre.

Brands on show were Arri, Avolites, Chauvet, Clay Paky, DiGiCo, ETC, Highlite, MA Lighting, L-Acoustics, Lee Filters Le Maitre, Martin Professional, Panasonic, Philips Strand, Selecon and Vari-Lite, Pulsar, RCF, Rosco, Roland, Sennheiser, Shure, Yamaha and Zero 88.

Some 230 people attended on the day, with students from each venue for

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