USA - Sensaphonics has announced a ringing endorsement from drummer Queen Cora Dunham, currently on tour with Beyoncé. "I started using the Sensaphonics 3D in 2007 when I was with Prince," she says, "and I've been using them ever since. It's an amazing system, so versatile and comfortable - much better than regular in-ears."

The patented 3D Active Ambient uses embedded microphones to capture the on-stage sound surrounding the wearer, allowing the performer to hear everything around them while their ears remain safely and securely isolated. The Queen finds that she uses a variety of ambience settings, depending on the situation.

"There are certain things I have to hear, like audience response. Other times, I like having the option of complete isolation. So I experiment with it and use different settings for different shows," she says. "

USA - Bruno Mars finished the North American leg of his Moonshine Jungle Tour in September ­ a run that consisted of over 40 US and Canadian dates, a spectacular appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards, and an announcement that he will perform at the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show on 2 February, 2014. This month, the Moonshine Jungle Tour continues on to Europe before setting out to Australia and New Zealand in early 2014. Bruno and his band rely on Sennheiser microphones and wireless systems.

At the VMAs, which were broadcast from New York City's Barclays Center and reached more than 10.1m viewers, fans were treated to a thrilling rendition of Mars' new single, Gorilla. Dressed in a leopard skin shirt on a stage awash in green lasers and gorilla imagery flashing on a massive LED screen, Mars delivered a memorable, soulful vocal performance through a Sennheiser

Australia - Joan Baez went on the road in Australia and New Zealand this summer with DPA Microphones' d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones. The musician and prominent activist's audio engineer Jason Raboin uses the mics to achieve the ultimate sound of the grand piano, mandolin and violin that are prominently featured in her music. A long-time DPA fan, Raboin brought them with him to Baez's special performance in late July with Jackson Browne and Emmylou Harris to benefit Downtown Streets Team, an organization aiming to end homelessness.

With two d:votes originally purchased for Dirk Powell - a multi-instrumentalist in Baez's band who wanted free range of movement while playing his guitar, violin (fiddle) or mandolin - Baez's rig now features a total of four d:votes. With the ability to mount the wireless microphone directly onto the instrument, Powell can perform with the gusto o

UK - As the resurgence of psychedelic rock grows stronger in the UK and abroad, London-based Toy has risen to the top of the genre by developing a unique sound that combines numerous guitar effects pedals and keyboards, all of which are connected using Mogami 'Cable for Life' professional audio cables supplied by HHB Communications.

Toy began releasing records with Heavenly Recordings in 2010 to critical acclaim and fan devotion that landed them support gigs for The Horrors and The Vaccines. Billed as a band to watch by both The Guardian and the NME, they have continued to tour heavily throughout 2013, making stops at Glastonbury and Field Day Festivals and opening for Paul Weller and Wire.

With their second Heavenly LP due for release on 8 December, Toy will continue to perform throughout 2013 in NYC and Mexico and as the support act for Placebo's European arena

Brazil - The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup took place in Brazil, matching top football teams from around the globe. The event is staged by FIFA, the international football federation, in the host country for the following year's World Cup. The Confederations Cup brings together the world's top eight teams, one from each of FIFA's six geographical confederations, plus the host nation and reigning world champions. Each match was broadcast live to a global audience.

"This event was the perfect place to show how Shure's Axient wireless microphone system can help ensure success for any event," says Igor Del Ventura, Shure market development for Latin America. "We made arrangements with FIFA to use the system at several Cup matches, including the opening and closing ceremonies. The systems were used for live broadcast as well as Infotainment." FIFA explains Infotain

UK - The official launch of the Britannia Row Productions Training centre was celebrated with an event following the completion of the first Live Sound Technology course. The party was attended by representatives of partners from the industry and the education sector, as well as press and tutors involved in the course. The organisers were particularly pleased to welcome the mayor of Wandsworth, Cllr Angela Graham.

The occasion of the successful completion of the first Live Sound Technology course run at the centre was highlighted in speeches along with the achievements of successful trainees who were running the live sound of the evening.

Britannia Row Productions director Mike Lowe reflected on the nature of live sound work: "It is a vocation and to my mind, cries out for vocational guidance and training from within industry." He highlighted Britannia Row's support

UK - London's Royal Albert Hall continues to entertain and delight over 1.5m people every year with over 370 shows per year in the main auditorium in 2012 and close to 200 events in its secondary event spaces

Long-time audio suppliers to the Royal Albert Hall, Sound by Design won a highly competitive tender process, thus retaining their contract in September. As a result of this, the Royal Albert Hall and Sound by Design took the decision to completely renew its sound system. However, this time, the winning tender was with a new Halo Compact system from UK loudspeaker manufacturers, EM Acoustics.

Sound By Design's founder and MD Andy Callin said the principal reason for choosing Halo Compact over anything else was, "it's outstanding accuracy and coherency and an ability to maintain control of the dispersion over a distance of 50+ metres."

"It isn't very often

Canada - Manley Labs reports that they have signed HHB Communications Canada as their exclusive Canadian distributor. HHB Communications Canada is a major international manufacturer and distributor of recording equipment to the recording, MI, DJ and production sectors of the professional audio industry. HHB and HHB distributed products are sold through all major MI, production, pro-audio and DJ dealers across Canada.

Manley Labs, a privately owned company that designs, manufactures and distributes high-end analog audio equipment, is thrilled about this expansion. "Canada's size presents a big challenge for distribution but it also offers vast opportunities, " said Rick McClendon, vice president of sales and marketing at Manley Labs. "We are confident that the combination of HHB's resources and their excellent staff will guide Manley Labs growth in Canada."

Spain - Acustica Beyma has announced key changes within its senior management. Jorge Serrano, current product manager of the company, has been promoted to the position of director of research and development. In his new role, Jorge Serrano will continue being in charge of the definition of Beyma products portfolio, support to the commercial structures, and overseeing all projects of the development department.

Serrano will oversee the R&D department to align its actions with market and company requirements in order to ensure the role of Acústica Beyma as a global leading edge company within the electro-acoustic field.

Pedro Enguidanos, current key account manager, will add to his duties the role of director of operations. His extensive experience will enable better alignment of essential business processes with the growing needs of the market.

Both Jorge Serrano and Pedro E

South Africa - Barco Lighting Systems and Stage Audio Works have announced a new partnership that will enable Stage Audio Works to serve as exclusive distributor of High End Systems' products throughout South Africa and the surrounding countries. Effective immediately, this agreement enables Stage Audio Works to make HES' products available to their extensive network of local distributors and resellers. They will also have direct access to product knowledge, support as well as local stock.

Stage Audio Works CEO, Will Deysel, comments, "We have been searching for a lighting brand to add to our portfolio for a while and I am glad that we have been patient about it. High End Systems fits perfectly in completing our complete solution of world-leading brands."

"High End Systems is a well-established manufacturer that have pioneered digital lighting and offer excellen

UK - The QSC CXD Amplifier platform introduced earlier this year at Infocomm in Orlando, FL was recognised with a PLASA Award for Innovation PLASA London 2013. Featuring user configurable, built-in DSP, this amplifier platform includes Flexible Amplifier Summing Technology (FAST), which allows the amp's total power allocation to be distributed across one, two three or all four of its outputs, enabling amp channels to be combined for maximum current or voltage output, depending on the requirements.

The judging panel, composed of industry experts in the field of lighting, sound and installation technology, commented: "This is an incredibly flexible amplifier that can be used in almost any situation. It can be sub-divided and reconfigured, and will work well in installations or as hire stock."

"CXD and PLD amplifiers are a reflection of our use of cutting-edge tech

UK - Martin Audio has announced the introduction of a 24-hour email tech support solution for its award-winning MLA family. This is the result of MLA's increased success with global partners.

Constantly monitored, the email helpdesk (mlasupport@martin-audio.com) will ensure that queries can be handled effectively and quickly by MLA technical support agents from around the world.

For more about Martin Audio, please click to www.martin-audio.com.

(Claire Beeson)

Asia - Mattel's universally beloved Barbie and Ken dolls are performing across Asia in the stage production Barbie Live!. For the young audience in this family show, sound designer Kai Harada has built a sound system based on the Meyer Sound M'elodie line array loudspeaker. Equipment provider is Orlando-based Show Systems.

"It's a dance-heavy show," says Harada, "so we needed a robust system that would cover large theatres or smaller arenas with exceptional clarity-but at levels appropriate for children's ears. I knew that a M'elodie rig would give us those qualities, as well as the flexibility to adapt to different venues."

The show uses up to 24 M'elodie loudspeakers that can be configured as either left-right or left-centre-right arrays, depending on the venue. The system also includes two 600-HP subwoofers, 16 UPJunior VariO loudspeakers for fold

UK - A sonic sea level which immerses audiences beneath the ocean waves - without getting wet - and then allows them to climb steps to emerge to a different sonic atmosphere has been unveiled at the launch of a major new cultural festival celebrating the River Tamar.

Fathom is a new 'sonic artwork' by Plymouth University media arts specialists Jane Grant and Dr. John Matthias. In an attempt to bring one of the country's most diverse waterways into sharp focus they used new generation technology to create an artificial surface 6ft above the floor of a 17th century Royal Navy victualing yard. Anyone that understands the challenge in creating two distinct sonic experiences in the same space will know this is no small feat - and it is Martin Audio's award-winning technology that has made this possible.

The company's Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA), supplied by RG Jon

UAE - Sennheiser Group together with vendor partner K-Array will be hosting two seminars covering live and installed sound during the InfoComm/GITEX week, on 22-23 October, 2013, at the Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.

The seminar on 22 October will feature installed sound elements and there will be a demonstration of K-array's flexible, array element speaker, the Anakonda KAN200 and the KZ10, an ultra-miniaturized line-array element. The second seminar on 23 October will feature K-Array's live sound products, including the company's revolutionary Concert Series speaker and subwoofer range. There will be a demonstration of the KH4, hi-tech, self-powered PA system and line-array element and its complementary KS4 dipole subwoofer.

Mig Cardamone, sales and marketing manager, Sennheiser Middle East says, "K-Array is known worldwide for its revolutionary speaker technology. As the

UK - During PLASA London 2013, AED group organized its second Beer and Boar Night, with the highlight being the price draw of a Road Hog 4 lighting console from High End Systems worth 10.000 EUR end-user price.

"To celebrate our recent master distributorship of High End Systems in the BeNeLux, France and the UK, we organized a party on our booth and were happy to meet and greet with over 150 AV professionals." says Hans Vanderheijden, managing director of AED Distribution.

During the evening, and while invitees were enjoying typical Belgian drinks and food, the prize draw was held. The lucky number belonged to Mr. K?stutis Dulinskas, technical director for the Lithuanian AV company No Noise.

"I was very happy to win the Road Hog 4 lighting console handed over by Mr. Glenn Roggeman, CEO of AED group," says K?stutis Dulinskas. "For a growing business l

UK - PLASA London 2013 proved a great success with exhibitors and visitors alike at its new home at ExCeL London. Over 11,000 visitors (subject to ABC audit) attended the show, of whom over 3,000 attended on multiple days. International interest was high, with more than 2,200 visitors from 84 countries. Stand rebookings for next year's show are also up on last year, and several major companies that did not make the move to ExCeL - including Philips Entertainment - have either already signed up for 2014 or are in serious talks to return.

Chris Toulmin, head of events, PLASA London 2013, said, "The response we've received to PLASA London 2013 has been overwhelmingly positive, both from visitors and exhibitors. They have embraced the new venue and also enjoyed the new features such as the AudioLab Arena, Theatre and Interactive. The PLASA team has worked very hard to get to th

UK - Two intense days of evaluation at an event ambitiously billed the "Ultimate Network Shootout" resulted in success for Optocore over five other leading protocols.

The comparative sessions took place on the opening two days of this year's PLASA Show at ExCeL London, and were supervised by Roland Hemming (of RH Consulting) as part of the new AudioLab Interactive experimental concept, which he masterminded.

An impressive number of attendees on each day were given voting buttons in order to register their preference, as six of the most established industry audio protocols - Optocore, MADI, Dante, EtherSound, CobraNet and Analogue - were closely scrutinised. The Optocore solution was voted the best in terms of signal transmission quality by different independent audiences on both days.

The Optocore presentation was made by support engineer, Maciek Janiszewski, and s

UK - CUK Audio has announced the appointment of Rich Soper to the position of brand manager, live sound, with responsibility for sales and support of Cadac, Clair Bros., Cordial, dbTechnologies, Outline, Pivitec and Powersoft.

Soper has a background as a front of house engineer, working on tours, cruise liners and live events. He joins CUK Audio from Yamaha Commercial Audio where he held the position of regional manager and specialised in digital consoles, DSP and loudspeaker systems. Prior to that he worked for dbTechnologies UK and Amber Sound.

"The appointment of Rich is a major step for CUK Audio. It is a key element in the substantial commitment and investment we are making in terms of both sales and support in the 'Live' sector, and the direction the brand portfolio will take moving forward," explains CUK Audio's MD, Stuart Thomson. "We have established a

USA - SES (Special Event Services) of Winston-Salem, NC and Nashville, TN recently provided a Large Format Outline GTO system for the Greenbrier Classic Concert Series. Produced by Gary Bowman of Nashville Live!, in conjunction with the Greenbrier and the PGA, the GCCS offers two days of entertainment on the State Fair Grounds in Fairlea, WV.

This year's headliners, Kenny Chesney (4 July 4th) and Aerosmith (6 July) made the need for an A-Level PA system an absolute necessity. When tasked with designing a system to cover the nearly 1,000ft long field, and crowds in excess of 25,000, SES systems engineer, and director of audio, Jason Farah chose Outline to handle the job. "We chose the GTO system not only for its amazing power, but also the fidelity of the system at the distances it had to reach," Farah states.

Chris Rabold, FOH Engineer for Kenny Chesney adds, "I

USA - Sound engineer Ben Hammond is on tour with English heavy metal band Saxon, travelling with Allen & Heath GLD and iLive digital systems to manage FOH and Monitors.

The band is currently on a month-long tour of the USA and Canada, supported by American rock band, Fozzy.

A GLD-80 mixer is at FOH, accompanied by an AR2412 rack to manage I/O. The mixer takes inputs via Dante from the iLive monitor system, comprising an iLive-T112 surface and iDR-48 MixRack.

"I'm currently running a 39 input "festival patch" type channel list to fit both Saxon and Fozzy, and GLD has coped fantastically," explains Hammond. "I'm using all eight on board FX engines, which sound stunning - the EMT250 and ADT presets are personal favourites of mine. As well as the FX, so many great iLive features have been included in GLD, one of which that I find incredibly useful is the

Brazil - As the first Latin American pontiff, it was unsurprising that Pope Francis chose Brazil as the destination for his first overseas trip since becoming head of the Catholic Church. Generating huge national interest, the visit climaxed with a Mass for World Youth Day on Rio's famous Copacabana beach, dubbed 'Popacabana' for the occasion. DiGiCo SD7 and SD11 consoles played a vital role in relaying the event to 3.5m pilgrims and a global media audience.

The newly-purchased SD7 was supplied by Mac Audio, one of Rio's leading audio production companies. As the audio supplier for event production company SRCOM, the Mac Audio team has considerable experience of large-scale events on Copacabana's 2.5 mile beach, but this was the first time they had used their new DiGiCo consoles.

"We invested in the SD7 because of its sound quality and dual engine redundancy," says t

UK - Vaughan Sound Installations (t/a The PAI Group of Companies) has appointed Jeremy Eustace to the role of business development manager.

Eustace will work alongside the sales and business development team and is responsible for developing and nurturing new business across the UK, with a focus on expanding Vaughan Sound's reach across various markets.

A BSc Business Administration graduate, he brings with him a wealth of experience in the AV industry, having spent the previous five years as a BDM/Account Manager at Reflex, Reading.

Earlier in his career, Jeremy was an account manager at Roche Audio Visual of West Yorkshire for almost seven years, and spent a further year in AV/ICT Solutions and Service at Infacom, Newhaven.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Powersoft joined forces with Pioneer Professional Audio at this year's PLASA Show in London, to showcase the potent new club system which has taken Ibiza by storm this summer.

At ExCel, Pioneer introduced its new GS-Wave and XY series club loudspeakers in the AudioLab Arena - controlled and optimised by Powersoft's advanced electronics

Developed in conjunction with Gary Stewart Audio (GSA), the winning combination of Pioneer's new dance floor stack and Powersoft's flagship K-series amplifiers, with built-in DSP and presets optimised by Pioneer, made an impressive debut in Ibiza - the heartland of serious clubbing - during the recent season in Balearic dance capital.

The landmark installation of four GS-Wave stacks in Booom! Ibiza, powered by Powersoft, has been joined on the island by installations of Pioneer's XY systems at the Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel five-star party

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