Australia - Apex's Australian distributor, Group Technologies based in Melbourne, has enjoyed a busy first half of the year with its key brands including the Apex range of signal processing electronics for the pro audio industry. Recent installations include the Melbourne Athenaeum and the Ding Dong Lounge live music venue, also in Melbourne.

Founded in 1839, the Melbourne Athenaeum is one of Victoria's oldest public institutions. Today, the Melbourne Athenaeum is home to the Melbourne Theatre company and stages a huge variety of productions from comedy festivals, to concerts, opera, musicals and of course theatre all year round.

Due for a complete audio overhaul, the brief was for an audio solution that would be able to handle the extremely broad palette of acts hosted by the venue, whilst at the same time remaining visually discreet and easily reconfigurable by theatre techn

USA - On May 2-4, 2014, the Pro Football Hall of Fame's first-ever Fan Fest was held - with thousands of fans mingling with the star-studded line-up of 100 Hall of Famers. This extraordinary event marked the most Hall of Famers gathered in one place outside of Canton, Ohio, the home of the NFL's Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Held in Cleveland's expansive International Exposition (I-X) Centre, the event included unprecedented access to the Hall of Famers through one-on-one photo opportunities for fans, instructional drills on a 100-yard indoor football field, engaging games and activities, plus roundtable talks. There was a lot going on and, to ensure the capacity crowd could hear everything clearly, a sizeable sound reinforcement system drawn from the catalogue of Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio was deployed.

Cleveland based Hughie's Event Production Services, which provides l

Sweden - With 17,000 students, the University of Örebro is one of the fastest growing universities in Sweden. Its school of music, theatre and art provides the growing student body with an array of course subjects, including recording music technology. In its quest to prepare students for moving on to a modern recording studio, the university has commissioned an API 1608 console.

Situated in the heart of Sweden, the university's proximity to Stockholm, Gothenburg and Oslo offer students a wide range of cities to seek employment after graduation. It is a young, modern and rapidly growing university with an ambitious agenda for the future. The university also offers courses in English and a foreign exchange program, attracting students from across the globe.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The Shure Academy European Audio Network has announced another in its on-going series of hands-on wireless microphone technology training days, Wireless Mastered, on Tuesday 22 July - but this one is particularly special, as it is taking place at the home of Arsenal Football Club, Emirates Stadium in North London.

Since the launch of the Shure Academy last Autumn, there have been many training events around the country, including wireless training days in Manchester and Liverpool, and various events at Shure Distribution UK's headquarters in Waltham Abbey, such as an Audio for House of Worship focus day, the Audio Insight 2014 seminars in March and regular QSC Q-Sys audio network training. However, the July event is the first to take place at Emirates.

The event runs from 10.30am to 4pm on 22 July and is aimed at all event production staff, but particularly Front-of-House

USA - Billed as the 'Synthesis of Technology, Art and Music', Moogfest is a quirky celebration of electronic music, geekiness and the legacy of synthesizer legend, Bob Moog. Held over five days in April in Asheville, North Carolina, the city where Moog spent the last 30 years of his life, performances from top acts like Kraftwerk, Flying Lotus, Pet Shop Boys and M.I.A. rubbed shoulders with instrument workshops and seminars on everything from sci-fi futurism to Sonification and Cybernetics.

For the first time, two DirectOut MADI systems were used for the live recording of two of the main festival venues. Moogfest documentation producer KamranV (CEO of CyKiK) and recording producer Nick Tipp (Soniferous Inc) were responsible for overseeing multitrack recording of the entire festival. Together they created a MADI setup based on DirectOut equipment as main recording systems and bro

USA - Country music star Dierks Bentley is currently out headlining his 2014 Riser Tour through the fall with VER Tour Sound supplying the audio reinforcement system featuring Harman's JBL VTX line arrays and Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers. In addition, Christie Lites is providing a full Martin rig for the dynamic lighting system, highlighted by MAC Quantum fixtures.

The audio system features a left-right hang of 16 JBL VTX V25 line array loudspeakers per side, with six VTX S28 subwoofers per side in cardioid configuration. For side fill, VER has supplied supplying eight V25 loudspeakers per side, along with six G28 ground-stacked subwoofers per side. Powering the V25 loudspeakers are Crown I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifiers, with I-Tech 12000 HD amps powering the subwoofers.

"Dierks really combines country and rock together and this show is very much like a rock and roll production

Rule Changes - Oscar organisers have put new rules in place to ensure fair campaigning in its music categories. Academy members are no longer allowed to contact voters via any means to promote their song for nomination. Members will also not be allowed to attend a live performance of eligible songs unless attached to a screening.

It comes following the disqualification in the original song category this year after it emerged a songwriter had emailed voters to consider his song. Alone Yet Not Alone, the title track from an independent Christian-faith film, beat other high-profile contenders to secure a surprise place on the shortlist.

It was later discovered Bruce Broughton - a former Academy governor and current executive committee member - emailed at least 70 of the 240-member music branch during the nomination period to bring his song to their attention.

The Academy

USA - The FC-21ETH, FC-22ETH and FC-24ETH are members of the new Kramer family of high-performance, easy-to-use, bidirectional hardware and software interface systems. The FC-21ETH, FC-22ETH and FC-24ETH can enable control of RS-232 and/or RS-485 controllable machines via an Ethernet LAN.

These products give installers the ability to implement simultaneous control over several AV devices (the number depends on exact model) spread throughout an installation by offering bidirectional Ethernet to serial conversion. Each product operates as a network server, which means they accept network connections, but do not initiate them.

All setup and maintenance of the FC devices are managed by built-in web pages, which are accessible through any common web browser. The FC-21ETH, FC-22ETH and FC-24ETH offer 1/2/4 (respectively) serial ports for AV device control with one of them being a RS

UK - When Martin Audio rental stockist, dBS Solutions, was tasked by production company, Sell a Door Theatre Company, to design a sound system that would take the touring version of the long-running West End show Avenue Q across the UK, the company's MD Chris Bogg was faced with his stiffest challenge in the company's nine year history.

Not only was this puppet-based production the largest tour the company had undertaken, but the size of venues would vary enormously; and on tours where truck space is at a premium, trucking the minimum amount of kit, while keeping the production scalable, was crucial.

The Warrington based company's relationship with Martin Audio dealers, LMC Audio Systems was also critical, and the latter's sales manager James Lawford was able to put a creative deal together that enabled Bogg to secure the new generation theatre system that he had been w

USA - Calgary-based energy company Enbridge is the latest corporation to install a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system, with the goal of clarifying corporate communication and facilitating the free flow of ideas. Eliminating the need for lavalier or handheld microphones, the systems support a variety of functions in two adjacent meeting rooms located in the company's new Learning Centre. The systems are part of a complete AV design by Bill Schuermann, senior consultant at the Houston office of SLR Consulting.

"The rooms are used for everything from executive meetings, teleconferencing, and employee training to safety orientations for construction workers, and even occasional social events," says Amin Ladha, AV subject matter expert at Enbridge. "Constellation has performed exceptionally well for all of them."

Constellation is an active approach to exp

Estonia - When DJ David Guetta, visited Estonia recently for his only show in the Baltic region, a Martin Audio W8LC Compact line array was on hand to reinforce a memorable show in front of 20,000 people in the Talinn Song Festival Grounds.

The rig was provided by the manufacturer's long-term distributors Audiosky - who were commissioned by production company RLE Concerts. "We have done a lot of gigs for the owner Hardi Loog in the past, in both Estonia and Finland - including Pitbull," reports Audiosky owner Tiit Terask.

In order to provide top quality sound for FOH engineer Carlos Herreros (who also took care of monitor engineer and system tech duties), Terask provided main PA hangs of 12 x W8LC (with a single W8LCD Downfill at the base). Out-fills comprised eight W8LC, with a single W8LCD Downfill, while four W8VDQ cabinets were deployed as front-fills. A total of

UK - West London based lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment renewed its long term working relationship with Glastonbury, supplying lighting to three key areas - Arcadia, Block 9 and The Glade. They also kitted out nine major bars around the site with practical and effects lighting.

A Colour Sound crew of 25 and several hundred lighting fixtures hit the tors of Somerset and imbibed the vibes and the beautiful rolling countryside of Worthy Farm for the five-day event, which again sold out to its 135,000 capacity despite erratic weather and heavy rain through much of the weekend.

Colour Sound's Haydn Cruickshank comments, "I am extremely proud that we are involved in all the most alternative and coolest elements of the site. A serious amount of effort goes in to the detail from everyone involved, and the results speak for themselves in terms of visu

UK - Leisuretec Distribution are set to host a month of Interactive Days in July for their trade customers, in partnership with Audio-Technica and Allen & Heath.

Starting on 3 July with the subject of Wireless, attendees will cover topics such as UHF and digital technology, frequency bands, regulation, licensing and intermodulation, along with an overview of the Audio-Technica products and features. The session is designed for anyone who regularly uses radio mics.

Installation Products is the theme for the day for 10 July and it's designed specifically for installers and system integrators in order to aid them in their system designs. Microphone technology, polar patterns, IDR overview and programming and Audio-Technica products and applications will all be covered.

The Conference Systems Day takes place on 17 July and is designed to cover in detail, the Audio Technica ATCS-

UK - UK-based audio specialist, Soulsound, has split its operations, as it looks to clearly define its offer and expand to reach a global audience. The move sees a clear line being drawn between the Soulsound Agency and the Soulsound Resource Centre.

While the overall objective of supporting employability in the audio industry remains as the company's unifying arrowhead, it has evolved to recognise that the Soulsound Resource Centre is equipped to reach audio students and practitioners around the world.

"The agency is very local and London-based. It keeps a small number of people - roughly 30 - in regular work," explains company founder, Darryn de la Soul. "The resource centre is aimed at improving skills all over the world, by creating a community of audiophiles and setting the standards that engineers should aspire to."

Following a period of foundation,

UK - The skill sets required to work effectively and safely in today's pro-audio industry have changed almost beyond recognition in the last 30 years. The technical advances in equipment and the justifiable expectations of what can be achieved, from both musician and audience, have necessitated the development of a highly skilled and competent workforce.

At the same time, the particular demands of working in a touring environment remain the same and require an enthusiastic and well motivated work ethic, dedication, endless energy, the ability to work within a highly structured team and of course, a finely tuned sense of humour from everyone who seeks to make a career in live sound.

Finding such all round competent individuals is not always an easy task; Britannia Row Productions Training (BRPT) was set up to address the need to fill that gap and is recognised as a Short Course

Australia - Brisbane's Royal International Convention Centre (Royal ICC) has enjoyed a successful first 12 months of operation. The city's newest convention centre has fast gained a reputation for offering the best in technical expertise and equipment courtesy of their preferred in-house supplier Microhire. A Soundcraft Si Expression consoles, a Clear-Com Tempest digital wireless intercom solution and a Shure ULX-D digital wireless microphone set up were recently added to the inventory.

"By choosing the best on offer, such as Soundcraft, Clear-Com and Shure, Microhire wins 98% of all business within the venue," noted Russell Bennett, Microhire's general manager QLD.

Three Soundcraft Si Expression consoles (16, 24 and 32 channel versions) were supplied to the venue and senior audio operator Mick Wade has been extremely happy with the purchase.

"They deliver ama

UK - Winchester-based AV integrator Whitwam recently installed two Shure SCM820 eight-channel automatic audio mixers and three Sound Devices PIX260 AV recorders at the headquarters of The Royal Society in London. The mixers and recorders were supplied as part of a comprehensive refit of the audio-visual facilities in two of the Grade 1-listed rooms at the Society's headquarters at Carlton House Terrace, Central London.

Presentations by members of the Royal Society take place throughout the year in its lecture theatres; most of these are amplified and some are recorded or broadcast for posterity. The Sound Devices PIX260s were installed in the largest gallery, the Wellcome Trust lecture theatre, to capture the output from the four cameras situated there, while the Shure mixers were installed in the Society's dining rooms, where microphones and sound reinforcement are also often u

UK - Three JoeCo BlackBox BBR64-MADI recorders are capturing audio from some of the world's best-loved sketches and catchphrases at the Monty Python Live shows in London's 02 arena. The 64-channel MADI systems form part of recording engineer Matt Bainbridge's arsenal of equipment that is being used to record 168 channels of audio split over three MADI streams.

Bainbridge, of BlueCat Professional Audio Consultancy, who is responsible for the multi-track recording of each show commented, "We needed units that would be reliable, easy to set-up and leave unattended at times. The JoeCo's fitted the bill perfectly. In addition to their audio quality, the ability to use just one unit as a master device has also proved very useful."

JoeCo's BBR64-MADI Recorder is widely used for live audio capture and acquisition in a range of performance, broadcast, film & TV sound a

UK - Franz Ferdinand's monitor engineer, Tom Howat, selected an iLive modular system for the band's recent tour of European and USA in support of their fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action.

Comprising an iLive-112 Surface and iDR10 Mixrack with additional PL10 remote controller, the iLive monitor system manages six wedge mixes, five stereo RF IEM mixes and one stereo hardwired IEM mix, three effects sends and two mixes for FOH.

"I came across the iLive systems while working for Morrissey over the past couple of years," he explains. "The iLive system is snappy and responsive. The 'networking' side of it is powerful and, when coupled with the flexible nature of the surface and their approach to scene storage, it makes for a very versatile environment. Of course, it sounds great, too."

Howat's approach to mixing for the band is manu

UK - Soundcraft's next generation Vi3000 digital console has successfully blasted off in both the rental and installation sectors within the UK.

UK and Eire distributors, Sound Technology confirm that their premier dealers, SSE Audio Group and Adlib have already successfully conducted dedicated demo days, introducing the facilities of the desk to enthusiastic audiences of sound engineers and touring and venue personnel, while Kent-based Phonophobia's Mark Chant says he expects his new Vi3000 to be permanently out this summer.

On top of that, Adlib has also confirmed the first installation desk to the University of Liverpool's Guild of Students - one of a suite of Soundcraft consoles and racks supplied to the Students Union as part of an extensive refurbishment of its technical facilities.

With MADI and Dante fitted as standard, and swappable I/O ports available, the Vi3000 e

Europe - Liverpool-based technical solutions specialist Adlib supplied an L-Acoustics K1 sound system and leading systems engineer Tony Szabo for the recent UK and European legs of Nine Inch Nails 2014 European tour.

It's the third time that Adlib has supplied the epic industrial rockers with audio when playing in Europe. This time around, Szabo worked with NIN monitor engineer Mike Prowda, FOH Engineers Gary Bradshaw and Antony King, together with Firehouse Productions' Tim Fraleigh who looked after monitor world and systems designer Jamie Pollock who oversaw the FOH set up.

There are many strands connecting Adlib, the band and their various crew members over the years, and for Tony Szabo - joining this tour entailed going back on the road with many familiar faces in the audio department.

The sound system was specified by Jamie Pollock and Gary Bradshaw at the start of the

The Netherlands - The Ampco Flashlight Group has taken a strategic interest in the Purple Group.

This participation is in line with market developments and fits within the current view of the Ampco Flashlight Group as a leading service company within the live entertainment industry: from one's own strength it is working closely together with its fellow 'full service' businesses. As a result, the cooperation supports the great demand for tailor-made solutions from the broadcast, theatre, live and corporate event market.

The varied assortment, the huge stock equipment and the knowledge and expertise of large teams of dedicated professional employees of both companies suit each other very well, whereby customers will be better served in the future.

Dick van Berkum, CEO Ampco Flashlight Group, comments: "The Purple Group has over 20 years experience as a full service rental

UK - Audient has added a new technical staff member - Harry Lewis. Since his arrival at Audient, Harry has worked to upgrade and simplify the online technical help desk, populating it with factsheets and answers to frequently asked questions.

Already known for its quick and informative responses to customer queries, Audient adds convenience with an attractive new design for its online support page, making it easier to navigate directly to the answer to your problem, either by product or using a simple search function. This section of the website continues to grow, too; Audient is constantly adding to the already jam-packed knowledge base with useful hints, trouble-shooting guides and FAQs.

Many of the factsheets are illustrated by handwritten notes and easy-to-understand drawings, to help decipher some of the more complicated audio explanations such as clocking and harmonic di

USA - In the process of replacing the sound and broadcast video systems at the First Baptist Church in Lawton, Oklahoma, AV integrator and systems designer FBP Systems (a subsidiary of the Morse Group family of companies) looked to Bose Professional Systems and its recently introduced RoomMatch asymmetrical array module loudspeakers to solve the church's audio challenges.

With a large balcony that completely wraps around the sides and back of a 1,000-seat sanctuary, this church required a sound system that was able to throw sound clearly and intelligibly over a long distance, and at the same time cover a very wide area. A typical line array wouldn't be able to fulfill all of these requirements without numerous adjacent hangs and then would still run the risk of interference between arrays. Fortunately, by installing the RoomMatch asymmetrical array module, First Baptist Church g

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