China - When Mikkel Borg Bjergsø started experimenting in his kitchen with his childhood friend Kristian Keller in 2003, the initial thought was to recreate the beer they most enjoyed and save themselves some money in the process. Today Mikkeller exports craft beer to over 50 countries and operates an equal number of bars and restaurants around the globe.
The latest venture is Mikkeller Shanghai, the brand’s first bar in China and a step into a new and developing market. Designed by Mikkeller’s own designer, Camilla Monsrud, the bar is a fusion of Chinese architecture with Nordic minimalism, including a Genelec 4000 Series sound system.
The accent throughout the bar is on raw, natural materials. Wooden furniture and soft lighting contrast with concrete floors and exposed brickwork.
The Genelec 4030 loudspeakers are a match for the quality and aesthetic criteria of Mikkeller Shanghai. Four 4030s are installed in the main bar area - which comprises a number of seated areas plus the bar counter itself - and another 4030 covers the shop space housed in a semi-enclosed mezzanine overlooking the main bar, where customers can purchase merchandising and bottled beer to take away.
The bar is run by Martin Aamodt, the managing partner of Mikkeller Shanghai. Aamodt has lived in Shanghai for many years and previously managed a Mikkeller bar in Copenhagen. He is also a musician, and therefore naturally attaches great importance to the sound experience of the bar.
“I’ve travelled pretty extensively, and I’ve noticed that Genelec loudspeak

Italy - As part of a project funded by the European Union, a former military barracks in northern Italy has been transformed into a ‘social activation hub’. BASIS Vinschgau-Venosta aims to facilitate the development of ideas in economy, culture, education, social development and is designed to bring people of all ages, backgrounds and experience together. The multi-use space features a comprehensive yet versatile Alcons Audio pro-ribbon audio system.
The former Druso army barracks was opened in 1937, closing in the late 1990s. In the summer of 2020, the completion of a long-term project saw the building given a new life as BASIS Vinschgau-Venosta. It’s the brainchild of Hannes Götsch and is designed to host a wide range of events, including theatre, live music, movies and club nights.
Hannes knew Wolfgang Sauter, founder and owner of the Austrian audio specialists Pro Performance, from his work in the Viennese club scene. Pro Performance was asked by Hannes to design, plan and create the entire sound and acoustics concept for BASIS, thanks to Wolfgang’s experience in demanding projects.
“The ability of Alcons Audio’s pro-ribbon systems to deliver high quality sound in all the required areas of the application was highly attractive. It was a natural choice, thanks to its reliability, flexibility and overall best-in-class quality,” says Wolfgang.
He designed and installed a system comprising six single 12” CRS12GT/90 reference surround speakers, 10 RR12 point-source 12” array modules and nine VR12 versatile single 12” monito

Sweden - Östgötateatern, Sweden’s largest regional theatre, has further invested in Chroma-Q’s award-winning Color Force IITM Cyc, Wash & Effects LED battens.
Welcoming around 100,000 visitors a year across their two theatre buildings and smaller venues, Östgötateatern offers a wide range of theatre - from classic Swedish tales, to modern international plays. With Color Force II in demand for a number of their performances they have expanded their stock to 26 units to enable the fixtures to be used on multiple stages and performances at the same time.
Linn Persson, lighting designer at Östgötateatern, comments: “We first purchased Color Force II back in 2018, and they have since become a staple fixture for a number of performances taking place in our theatres. We have been very impressed with their performance, which meets our requirements for a good, strong cyc light perfectly. Our backdrops are often 7m or higher, and with Chroma-Q’s Color Force II we can light many metres high without loss of intensity higher up on the wall.”
As soon as the pandemic situation allows, Östgötateatern will re-open their theatre buildings. Two upcoming plays that are planned for their big stages are the classic adventure Peer Gynt and the Swedish premiere of the comical Finnish play, Expedition Kyla. Now with additional stock of the units, Color Force II will be used on both of these performances taking place at the same time.
Linn continues, “Color Force II is a great fixture. It is smooth, bright and colourful cyc light.

Russia - The Palace of Culture “October” is an 850-seat theatre with two levels. Opened in 1966 in Podolsk, Moscow, the venue hosts many types of events from dance to concerts and local shows.
RCF Russian distributor ARIS provided a new HDL 28-A line array with SUB 9004-AS for a new and improved sound. The upgrade has allowed the 240- seat balcony to be opened to the public; it previously remained closed due to acoustical issues.
Installed more than 10 years ago, the previous sound system was unable to cover the rather spacious balcony properly. This meant that tickets to the balcony during box office concerts were not sold, to avoid complaints from disappointed patrons.
When the budget was approved for a new sound reinforcement system, a mandatory requirement from management of the House of Culture was to provide a high-quality sound experience to all sections of the venue including the balcony. ARIS suggested hanging two RCF active line array clusters of six elements each. The two upper elements in the cluster exclusively target the balcony, and the four lower elements cover the remainder of the theatre. Three SUB 9004-A active 18-inch subwoofers were configured in L-R stacks providing sound at lower frequencies. All control and monitoring of the system is carried out from the sound engineer's booth using RDNet protocol.
The new HDL 28-A provided a higher sound pressure level, higher index of intelligibility, perfect coverage, and ease of remote control in realtime through RDNet software.

Norway - Bølgen Kulturhus in Larvik is a multi-purpose, multi-use venue that welcomes thousands of patrons annually for concerts, cinema, and theatre presentations, as well as conferences and events of all descriptions. With the recent installation of an Adamson Systems Engineering E-Series PA in its main hall, Storsalen, Bølgen has extended its already substantial capabilities to present the wide variety of programming it offers and the diverse range of events it hosts.
Previously, Norwegian distributor Benum provided Bølgen with Adamson rigs for the venue’s other two, smaller performance/event spaces: eight IS10, four IS119 subs, four PC5, and two D120 amplifiers in ‘Sanden Scene’; and eight S7, two IS119 and two D120 for Blåboksen.
In the Storshalen space, Benum has now installed a system comprised of 20 E12 (flown 10 per side), six E219 subs, and four S7p loudspeakers for lip and in-fills; all powered by D-Series amplifiers by Lab Gruppen (eight D120 amplifiers for the E12, two D200s for the E219 and one D80 for the S7p). Additionally, a Lake LM44 is deployed at FOH to create a fully redundant digital network with all audio distribution handled via Dante and a dedicated analogue backup.
Benum, which will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2021, has been representing Adamson Systems Engineering exclusively in Norway since 2015, and in Sweden since 2017. Adamson’s growth in the market has been substantial, says sales manager Kenneth Vadset: “We got a flying start with an S-Series installation at the Olavshallen concert hall in Tr

Thailand - Upgrading its facilities, the Montatip Hall, Udon Thani International Convention and Exhibition Centre hired integrator Mahajak Development Co to design and install Harman Professional network AV and lighting solutions throughout its meeting spaces.
Continuing to establish the province of Udon Thani as a growing business centre, the Montatip Hall, Udon Thani International Convention and Exhibition Centre is a premier enterprise venue. The facility covers 25,000sq.m and features 80 meeting rooms, several banquet halls and a convention and exhibition centre that accommodates up to 5,000 people.
“The client wanted powerful, flexible AV and lighting systems to support events of any scale, reinforce brand image and ensure customer satisfaction,” says Pongsakorn Kanchanachayphoom, project director, Mahajak Development Co. “It was challenging to design the audio system to cover all areas of the venue and deliver sound uniformly in all directions. We integrated a range of Harman Professional's AV and lighting systems across the facility, which provide premium performance with the versatility to accommodate future applications.”
In addition to hosting tradeshows, the facility’s largest halls - the Thanakorn Rooms - can be separated into two smaller meeting spaces.
Mahajak deployed an array of JBL Professional speakers. Powered by JBL CSA 1300Z Commercial Series Amplifiers along with Crown XTi 2002 and XTi 4002 power amplifiers, the systems include JBL Control 16C/T two-way ceiling loudspeakers, Control SB-2 dual-coil subwoofers,

Italy - Located on the coast of the Gulf of Portofino, in Santa Margherita, Italy’s Covo di Nord-Est, or the North-East Lair, has recently undergone an extensive rebuild with a new audio system. Originally built in 1934 as a private residence, the venue quickly became a popular club during the 60s and 70s, and after storms ravaged the venue in late 2018, it has once again opened its doors to the public.
“After the storm in 2018, we undertook a complete rebuild the entire venue,” said Stefano Lo Sardo, owner of Vibra Service and project manager for this build. “But we didn’t just want to rebuild, we wanted to upgrade, and that meant a new audio system that would rise up to the challenge.”
Together with Italian distributor Audiosales, they designed a completely new sound system. Featuring both Martin Audio speakers and subwoofers, the system was supported by Powersoft’s fixed install dedicated Quattrocanali 1204 and Ottocanali 4K4 amplifier platforms, with onboard DSP.
“Our focus was to provide coverage throughout the entire venue, especially in the centre, as it’s where the bar and most guest seating are,” says Lo Sardo. “We also needed to consider the buildings around us, making sure that we avoided undesirable coverage near the surrounding buildings.”
The system was designed with six Martin Audio CDD10B speakers situated in the centre of the venue suspended from the ceiling. These speakers, along with the other 12 speakers and subwoofers placed throughout the venue, are fed directly into an Audac preamplifier and Power

UK - The Parish church of St Giles’ in Wrexham, North Wales, a grade one listed building, is considered one of the finest examples of a medieval parish church in Wales. Built mainly between the end of the 15th and early part of the 16th Century the church annually welcomes around 33,000 visitors through its doors.
Unfortunately, the performance of the sound system no longer met the church’s needs and in 2017 the Parochial church council engaged Richard King Systems to provide a scheme for improving the audio facilities.
With over 30 years’ experience of sound system design in places of worship RKS turned to the Harman Professional product portfolio, distributed in the UK by Sound Technology. Harman’s JBL range of passive CBT column loudspeakers were selected for sound performance and discrete appearance. At the opposite end of the audio chain, AKG microphones were specified, together with dbx ZonePro signal processing and Crown DCi DriveCore Install Series amplification.
With the support of Sound Technology, including their pro audio application team, Richard King Systems installed a complete demonstration system at the church for evaluation purposes. The vast improvement in the sound reproduction was widely acknowledged and led to the church council approving the proposed scheme.
Following the necessary building works consent, the installed equipment comprises a pair of JBL CBT70J column speaker in the main nave, plus three JBL CBT50 column speakers to act as delay in-fill in the nave and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers North Chapel. A Crow

Portugal - João D'Oliva Monteiro Cine-Theatre in Alcobaça is considered one of the most beautiful in Portugal. The work of Swiss architect Ernesto Korrodi, the building is also of historic importance in Portuguese architecture, combining elements of Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modernism and Functionalism. Its varied programme covers all forms of international and local music, dance and theatre productions.
Commercial and independent cinema also makes up an important part of the venue’s programming, ensuring the Cine-Theatre has become the main focus of the social and cultural life of Alcobaça and its surroundings.
Following a period of enforced closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, João D'Oliva Monteiro Cine-Theatre joyfully reopened its doors at the start of October for the R'B & Mr.SC concert that marked the opening date of Novo Palco, a festival exclusively dedicated to artists of the municipality.
To enable this to happen in a COVID-secure way, Cine-Teatro de Alcobaça carried out a series of measures to adapt and effectively disinfect its performance and public spaces, meeting all the conditions of safety and hygiene to ensure the prevention of the spread of the new coronavirus.
Audience capacities were reduced to 50%, use of masks on the premises before, during and after the shows became mandatory, specific entrance, exit and circulation standards in the auditorium were implemented and appropriate signage installed.
In addition to these measures, the Cine-Theatre was also equipped with a system of UVC disinfection lights from

USA - Greater Atlanta Christian School (GACS) is a PK-12 Christian school in Norcross, Georgia serving over 1,600 students. Since it was first established over 50 years ago, GACS has earned itself a reputation for utilizing advanced technologies in its quest to further the learning needs of its students. This dedication to providing high quality creative and technical facilities to support its arts and media curriculum, has led the school to invest in three Alcons Audio pro-ribbon sound reinforcement systems for its venues.
The first of the three spaces to be installed with an Alcons system was the Artusa Hall Performing Arts Centre, a former chapel which the school repurposed into a performing arts venue. This included completely rebuilding the interior, adding a self-supporting timber framed balcony, and increasing the audience capacity from 700 to 950. The Alcons LR7 pro-ribbon micro line-array was selected.
“They wanted something that would deliver great sound for everything from solo classical recitals to drama, ballet, orchestra, choir and bands, including renting the venue to outside performers,” says Alex Fleming of Atlanta-based Lodestar Labs.
The Artusa Hall system comprised arrays of six LR7/90 (6.5”) micro line array modules and two LR7B single 12” bass modules per side, flown just in front of the proscenium arch. Two, floor mounted BC332 cardioid subwoofers (18” front / 15” rear) per side add extra low end where required. A single SR9 double 5” in-fill monitor provided front fill for the first few rows, and four 6.5” TS3

UK - FIX8Group's virtual events, broadcast and connectivity centre is fully operational for business.
Known as The Hub, it is located at FIX8Group's facility in Greater Manchester and has been designed to enable virtual and hybrid events, shows or presentations to be produced entirely under one roof. Inside, The Hub offers a studio, gallery and master control room, along with competent technical operators.
With all of the technology, systems, processes and talent in one building, The Hub facilitates on-site as well as full remote event production, including capacity for managing signals from broadcast locations worldwide, says the company.
FIX8Group soft-launched The Hub in late summer, enabling a number of virtual events to be successfully generated and managed while significant investments were made to install best-in-class technology. The team says that now The Hub has proven to be a robust and resilient platform to facilitate client requirements and it is fully open for business right now.
“Without live events, we all face a communications challenge, but our clients still need to deliver the excitement, immersion and experience needed to achieve their goals,” says FIX8Group’s founder and creative director, Neil Trenell. “That’s why we built The Hub - a secure, dynamic, technologically advanced space that draws on FIX8Group’s decades of experience of delivering innovative, technical events for our clients.
“We’re thrilled that the Hub is in full operation, and we’re proud to have created a flexible space

UK - The exterior of the Southampton Mayflower Theatre brings an extra dazzle of warmth and vitality to a usually busy city centre, illuminated with an Anolis lighting scheme which was installed by Lighting Technology Projects (LTP).
Built in 1928, the venue is a Grade II listed building with a prominent central location and seating capacity of 2300, making it the largest theatre in the South of England.
Anolis products were recommended for the architectural installation to the theatre’s Chief LX Neil Kingston and their head of technical operations, Rachel Fox, by several people, including those running the O2 Guildhall, another leading Southampton live performance venue - which is also externally lit with Anolis - as well as by contacts at cruise company Carnival UK which is headquartered in the city.
With these references, Kingston was confident that Anolis would withstand the environment! He and Rachel further consulted with Simon Gooding from Anolis UK and Keith Elms from LTP and collectively they made the decision to go with Anolis, choosing fixtures from two popular Anolis RGBW ranges of luminaires to ensure that the landmark venue received the right lighting treatment!
Mayflower’s previous RGB LED exterior lighting installation had become tired and was battered and eroded by the winds and salty air of the seaside, explained Kingston, so these were replaced with three Anolis Divine 160 RGBW 40° units with barn doors, six ArcSource 24MC 11 narrow degree fixtures and four ArcSource 24MC 7 narrow degree lights.
All the ArcSour

USA - The Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre began its life as a motion picture house in 1935 in the growing Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Georgia. Over the years, the location transformed multiple times – the theatre’s website notes it was used for “a number of ventures” across multiple decades. But as age caught up with the theatre, it temporarily shuttered in 2002, seeking new renters.
The theatre found new life when a community-led non-profit worked to ‘Bring Back The Strand’ and renovated the space into a full-time public theatre devoted to live performance. It reopened in 2009 after a restoration that reintroduced fantastic red and gold architectural flourishes to the space.
However, the venue still had one challenge: the space wasn’t designed in line with traditional acoustical considerations. Reverberant surfaces and a uniquely constructed balcony resulted in poor intelligibility across the audience positions. So, after a decade of performances, the Strand Theatre upgraded to Renkus-Heinz.
“The community had noticed the sound had been lacklustre for a while,” said James Denmon, owner of Denmon Technical Services – the firm that integrated the new audio system at The Strand Theatre. “They’d tried multiple ways to fix it over the years, but it never quite sounded its best. That changed when we brought in a Renkus-Heinz system as a demo. They were very, very surprised by the difference it made.”
The theatre’s new audio system utilises the Renkus-Heinz ICLive X Series – featuring four different arrays each mad

USA - When the leaders at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama green lighted a full renovation of the mega church’s 2,700-seat main worship centre, the job of designing and building a modern, upgraded audio system was awarded to Blackhawk Audio.
In addition to quality sound and coverage, Shades Mountain also wanted to ensure that the new system was discrete in that it was contained within a very compact grill cloth area. Blackhawk found the solution with EAW and its ADAPTive line, including its Anya and Anna loudspeakers and Otto subwoofers, as well as its VFR89i Stage Monitors.
“One of the biggest selling points of the EAW ADAPTive speaker system was that in addition to its audio quality and excellent coverage, it also was low profile and would not visually overwhelm the sanctuary,” says Blackhawk Audio president Rick Shimer. “The previous look of the sanctuary had a very large ‘speaker cluster’ with grill cloth. Ensuring that the PA system was less obtrusive while also offering pristine sound was a main factor for this project; they wanted a particular look and we are able to achieve this using EAW’s Anya, Anna and Otto.”
The upgrade, which consisted of over 30 EAW speakers, included two Anya’s each for far house left and far house right, six Anna’s each for house left and right, two Anna’s for down-fills, six Otto subwoofers for centre and eight VFR89i passive two-way stage monitors for the choir.
“The EAW ADAPTive platform has proved to be the best choice for sonic clarity and acoustical control acr

USA - Southcrest Baptist Church has remodelled a former worship centre on its campus in Lubbock, Texas, reopening it as The Venue, a multipurpose space outfitted with a new Solid State Logic Live L200 digital mixing console. The new L200 desk is being used to mix front-of-house, monitors and a live stream of The Venue’s Sunday morning service, which features a five-piece contemporary band.
The new L200, which was put into service in early November, is the third SSL Live desk to be installed at Southcrest Baptist Church. In 2017, the church opened a newly constructed 46,000sq.ft, 1,600-seat Worship Centre on its campus that is equipped with a pair of SSL Live L300 consoles. One manages front-of-house and monitors and the other handles audio-for-video duties, including live streaming and recording.
“We put in a new audio system in The Venue and wanted an SSL board to keep the continuity between the two main spaces,” says Rusty Trowbridge, the church’s technical director and FOH/monitor mixer in the Worship Centre. “We have three Live boards now, and it’s awesome.”
Trowbridge and his AV media team integrated the new L200 themselves in the revamped space, which can hold up to 800 people. The new SSL system, which is operated by FOH mixer Tyler Gutierrez, includes an ML 32.32 Stage box with SuperAnalogue mic/line inputs at the stage with an ML 32 at the FOH position, networked via an SSL Blacklight II.D MADI Concentrator.
“We’re doing a live stream out of The Venue, which was one of the things that helped us choose the SSL Live,

USA - In the shadow of majestic Mount Rainier, Experience Church is part of a new generation of houses of worship, a non-denominational Christian church bringing their message to parishioners via modern music and technology. The 500-seat sanctuary welcomes parishioners with upbeat, amplified music and innovative videos.
Installed more than 15 years ago, the church’s sound system was showing its age and in need of an update. Uncertain of the cost and in need of ideas, the church contacted Sumner, WA-based McCauley Systems for advice and consultation.
“I’ve had a long-standing relationship with this church, having designed and consulted on the original sound system about 15 years ago,” reports McCauley Systems principal Ryan McCauley. “Fundamentally the system is still in good shape, with excellent coverage and impact, but many of the loudspeaker components in particular were approaching the end of their useful lives, and some of the amplification and other electronics were beginning to fail.
”With the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, budgets were also a concern. “Since I’d designed the original system, I suggested refurbishing that system rather than replacing it,” McCauley continues. “With the advancements in loudspeaker technology, we were able to not only replace the failing components, but update them with more modern versions, far superior in performance and sound quality.
”Perhaps even more significant have been the advancements in DSP and amplifier technology. “What was state-of-the-art 15 years ago

USA - When Caesars Entertainment, who operate Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, planned their next expansion phase – Caesars Forum, a new conference centre - they needed a first-class technical infrastructure for site wide multi-signal transmission over this large facility, and opted for BroaMan, the video and data based sister company to Optocore.
Locally based design and engineering specialists, National Technology Associates (NTA) have a long track record working with the Caesars Entertainment family, including LINQ promenade, the High Roller, and many restaurants and venues. Thus, they were again contracted, and as their project manager Shane Snell recognized the building was way too big to run traditional SDI cabling, he instead turned to a BroaMan fibre solution.
The Conference Centre itself measures a massive 550,000sq.ft including more than 300,000sq.ft of flexible meeting space with the two largest pillarless ballrooms in the world at 110,000sq.ft each.
Snell explained that the original design had “tons of SDI cabling” running to a total of nine IDF distribution frames. “With 400 floor boxes going to nine comms rooms, none of them connected, there was no way to tie them all together and certainly not by using coax point-to-point cabling.
“We needed a way to tie these isolated comms closets together—without a bunch of loose gear, adapters, boxes, or anything that could be less than reliable. It also needed to be easy to use by Encore Productions, the in-house productions team who live in the world of event production where flex

UK - Exhibition London is a new multipurpose live music and events venue in White City, West London initiated and operated by Broadwick Live and Venue Lab, offering 1400 seated to 2800 standing capacity. It is designed for conferences, exhibitions, gala dinners, awards presentations, location filming and live music events.
Opened in early 2020, Exhibition London’s complete technical infrastructure was specified and procured by consultant and technical production director Simon Jones of SJ-TPM who also coordinated and oversaw all elements of the technical installation and commissioning. Simon had started work on the project in the second quarter of 2019 after having been involved in other Broadwick Live venues.
He chose both Robe and Anolis products to be core house lighting system elements for the main show-space where the spec features 28 x Esprites and 30 x Robe Spiider LED wash beams plus two RoboSpot remote follow spotting systems with two BMFL Follow Spot fixtures to run with them.
Simon’s previous Broadwick Live project was the new Magazine London concept in Greenwich, where he spec’d nearly 100 Robe LED moving lights including T1 Profiles and Spiiders plus Anolis Divine 160 RGBW LED floods. Once again Anolis Divine 160s were selected for LED house lighting at Exhibition London.
Having had a great experience with the Robe moving lights at Magazine London, Simon looked again at the brand for its “reliability and cost-effectiveness”.
Simon was keen to utilise Robe’s latest technologies for the venue and wanted the Esp

France - Celebrating all things glamorous, sensual and flamboyant, Folies Bergère is one of Paris’ most revered nightspots. Originally a cabaret music hall and variety-entertainment theatre, The Folies made its mark during the Belle Epoque of the late 1800s with its music hall revues featuring stunning dancers. More recently returning to its musical production roots, the Folies Bergère stage has been graced by famous artists from Charlie Chaplin, Ella Fitzgerald, Marcel Marceau, Frank Sinatra, Charles Aznavour through to Elton John.
This year, the theatre’s impressive programme has been matched with equally impressive audio technology when the Folies Bergère became the first performing arts centre in France to permanently install L-Acoustics L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology.
The venue’s operating contract is handled by specialist live sound company Potar Hurlant, part of the Novelty Group, under the direction of technical director Madje Malki. The company works with many famous French touring artists and the idea of installing L-ISA into Folies Bergère emerged following the company’s successful use of the technology on tour with pop singer Renaud.
“The idea of installing L-ISA came from my desire to progress from a standard left-right system,” explains Malki. “This is a complex venue architecturally, and even though the original L-Acoustics system worked well, the many columns and shadow areas caused issues. When mixing in stereo format, we tried to give as much depth as possible to the audio, employing methods like parallel comp

USA - The deep history of Bridgewater Church of the Brethren in Bridgewater, Virginia stretches back into the late 1700s, when the first Europeans migrated into the area. Centuries of branching and growth led to the construction of the church’s current sanctuary in 1998.
The fan-shaped room seats approximately 500 people and is open, inviting, and sympathetically appointed. However, its existing sound reinforcement system (as old as the sanctuary itself) was broken and behind the times. The church's property is on the campus of Bridgewater College, a facility that earlier in 2020 received a Danley upgrade for their chapel.
A member of the church was very impressed and excited about bringing local integrator RTW Media, of Orville, Virginia, into Church of the Brethren to transform their old system. RTW replaced the previous system with a Danley Sound Labs point source sound reinforcement system.
“Bridgewater Church of the Brethren has a stunningly beautiful sanctuary with a 65-foot ceiling at its peak,” says RTW Media logistics manager Zack Guida. “They’re very into music and regularly bring notable Christian musicians in for services and concerts.
“However, their existing loudspeakers were only mid-grade when they went in over twenty years ago. They were flat sounding and threw energy all over the ceiling and walls. One driver was blown completely. However, every sound company they called to replace the old system would look way up at the existing cluster and say, ‘nope.’ Since they were positioned over the lip of the stage, t

UK - Production Park has announced four senior hires to lead its £7m research and development (R&D) project in Wakefield.
The project, XPLOR, will be used to deliver a support programme to facilitate growth for SMEs across the live events industry, and will be headed up by Jim Farmery, former partnerships lead at Creative England.
Farmery has been announced as XPLOR’s development director and will oversee the day-to-day running of the facility. Upon completion in spring 2022, the site will become one of the UK’s first specialist innovation centres in the live events industry, with sector comparisons being made with the world-leading film and television institution, Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.
Engaging with organisations and researching opportunities for the facility, Farmery’s role will see him build awareness of the centre, not only within the industry and the region, but also across the UK.
A partnership between Production Park’s Backstage Academy and Wakefield Council, the development will be based on the park in South Kirkby and is set to create 150 jobs throughout its construction.
Farmery will be supported by Matt Glynn, concept and product designer, Peter Nye, software controls engineer, and Ben Schweitzer, digital content designer.
Farmery explains: “XPLOR will not only facilitate business growth for SMEs in the region, but will also represent a UK-first powerhouse for the events industry, worth £30bn to the nation’s economy. It’s something we’re all really excited about and proud to pl

USA - There is a special joy the production team at Life Challenge Church, Odessa, Texas, takes in putting together Sunday morning children’s services. Creative spirits run a little more freely, and new ideas are explored more deeply in a bid to make bible stories come to life for young worshippers.
“The kids service gives us an opportunity to go a little more outside the box,” said Gabriel Loera, technical director at Life Challenge Church. “We do more immersive and moving fixtures and contrasting colours across the crowd. We use more upbeat and themed EP backgrounds during the full service rather than just during worship. The kids really respond well to the full immersive environments.”
On 18 October, the church gave adult worshippers the opportunity to channel the childhood imagination that resides inside them with a Sunday Nights Kid Service, an event that shared imagery from the children’s program with the congregation at large. Helping to create this unique experience was a collection of Chauvet Professional fixture supplied by Sweet Southern Sound.
“We do this several times a year,” said Loera. “It’s a family focus initiative that lets parents experience worship as their children do every Sunday morning. Everyone really enjoys it.”
Contributing to the immersive environment through the sanctuary for the event were richly saturated colours from the rig’s COLORado and Ovation fixtures. Loera positioned six COLORado 1 Solo fixtures above the first rows of pews and six over the upstage deck to provide a consistent col

South Africa - The newly refurbished Seabrooke’s Theatre at Durban High School (DHS) is making waves and delighting audiences with one successful comedy after the next. After a seven-month entertainment famine, the theatre was launched with Sylvia, presented by KickstArt Theatre Company, which ran from 23 October to 1 November.
Seabrooke’s Theatre is a 100-seater auditorium used by the schools Dramatic Arts Department as well as by amateur and professional companies and groups. Thanks to a generous contribution by DHS old boy and theatre lover, Chris Seabrooke, a much-needed renovation and equipment upgrade was made possible and commenced at the start of the Covid-19 South African lockdown. The theatre has been repainted, seats reupholstered, a green room/dressing room is currently being built, and on the technical side, a lighting and audio system has been supplied and installed by DWR Distribution’s Michael Taylor-Broderick and Nick Barnes.
The new lighting equipment includes 13 Robe ParFect 150s, six Robe LEDBeam 150s, four ETC Source Four 25 to 50 degree Profiles, a Le Maitre MVS Hazer with control via a grandMA dot2 onPC.
A Quest Sound system comprises of two HPI25 Front loaded 600w rms low profile and high power speakers, two HPI 12S Compact Passive Sub-Bass Speakers, two Quest 2004 Stereo Power Amplifiers, a Allen & Heath 16 channel digital console, two Audix OM2 Vocal Microphones, one Audix AP42 OM2A Wireless Microphone. In addition, Michael and Nick have rehung some of the lighting bars and added a patch panel to allow for

Thailand - Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong hired audio integrators Mahajak Development to design and install a Harman Professional audio solution that delivers quality sound throughout the property.
Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong is positioned near Patong Beach in the heart of the city of Patong. Located in a touristy area with a property size of 6,400sq.m, the hotel includes 180 guest rooms, a fitness centre, an outdoor pool as well as entertainment and dining amenities. The hotel also marks the first collaboration between renowned hotel companies, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Kebsup Group Company Limited.
The hotel required a premium audio system that provides excellent sound across the resort. Meeting those requirements, Mahajak selected a Harman Professional audio solution that includes JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplification, BSS signal processing and more.
“One of the challenges we faced was that the hotel had multiple zones with specific requirements, including meeting spaces, lobbies, seminar and banquet rooms, among others. We put our dedicated efforts to install Harman Professional products and provide the best service to the customer,” said Pongsakorn Kanchanachayphoom, director of project, Mahajak Development Co. “The client wanted the latest hi-tech audio solutions, and we were able to design the ideal systems using Harman products thanks to their flexibility, reliability and impeccable sound quality. To ensure consistent sound throughout the facilities, we installed JBL speakers with Crown amplifiers.”
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