USA - The Behind the Scenes Happy Hour, hosted by PLASA will go on sale to the public on 2 September 2014. The biggest pre-LDI party of the year will take place on Thursday, 20 November, from 6pm-8pm at the Westgate Las Vegas (formerly The Las Vegas Hotel). Tickets are $50 each and includes an open bar, hors d'oeuvres and music and all proceeds go to benefit the Behind the Scenes charity, the only industry charity that provides grants to ill or injured entertainment technician professionals. $30 of each ticket is tax deductible, and tickets are expected to sell quickly.

Starting 2 September, tickets can be purchased online. They can also be ordered through your LDI registration.

Current sponsors for the Behind the Scenes Happy Hour include: 4Wall Entertainment (Diamond), Altman Lighting (Diamond), CHAUVET Professi

USA - Located at Dyckman Marina in upper Manhattan, the newly rebuilt La Marina NYC sports a restaurant, bar, lounge, and events space that covers more than 75,000sq.ft of Hudson River waterfront. With world-class facilities and a breathtaking waterfront view, it is rapidly becoming the place to see and be seen.

La Marina NYC's waterfront area is where all the high profile live activity takes place and, to ensure a high level of speech intelligibility and music reproduction for all their events, the venue's management recently took delivery of a new sound reinforcement system drawn from the WR Series catalogue of Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.

North Bergen, NJ-based E&A Sound LLC, which in addition to its design / build services also runs an audio and video rental operation, was contracted to design and install the sound system for La Marina NYC's waterfront area. After m

UK - Southampton-based live hire company BCS replaced all of its wireless in-ear monitoring on James Arthur's recent European tour with Shure's PSM1000 system. The move came following on-going problems experienced by James Arthur and BCS's monitor engineer Matt Williams during the early dates with the artist's previous IEM system.

"We kept having RF issues with our previous system," comments BCS project manager Dave 'Boxx' Cann, "and it became a real problem during the tour. All of the wireless mics Matt was using were Shure and were working without any trouble, so eventually he asked us to try a Shure in ear system instead. We got a few channels of PSM1000 in to replace the other system."

For the remaining tour dates, Arthur and his live band used 10 channels of PSM1000 in total. The IEM system comprised five dual-channel transmitters and 10 bodypack recei

USA - For its first location outside of the Northwest, the Cinetopia theatre chain has built three massive GXL screens, each equipped with a Meyer Sound cinema system and Dolby Atmos. Named Overland Park 18, this eastern Kansas theatre complex boasts close to 200 Meyer Sound cinema loudspeakers.

"When we played our demo reel, we would hear a gleeful chuckle and hear comments like, 'I've never heard anything like that before','" says Rudyard Coltman, owner of Cinetopia. "We pride ourselves on the fact that we've been told this theatre is 10 to 15 years ahead of the industry in the technology and amenities it offers."

The local media also noted the life-like detail of the Meyer Sound cinema loudspeakers. "When I heard the rain falling on screen, I could make out the drops, not just a swoosh," writes Jeneé Osterheldt, lifestyle columnist for <

UK - Now shipping from CIE-Group, the new Inter-M DSA100DV is a compact, low impedance stereo amplifier built around ultra-efficient Class-D amplification circuitry. Delivering 2 x 100W channels of power into four ohms, the DSA100DV's high output belies its compact desktop / half-rack 1U size.

With the combination of Class-D amplification and Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS), the DSA100DV is a highly efficient speaker driving solution, which ensures reduced power consumption and low heat dissipation over more traditional alternatives.

The DSA100DV can also be used in conjunction with the Inter-M OPT100D, a matching half-rack size, two-channel transformer unit, built to deliver 100V line output.

"The great benefit of Class-D amplifier technology is the efficiency compared to traditional analogue counterparts," explains Chris Edwards, marketing director at CIE-Group.

Europe - Austrian folk singer Andreas Gabalier toured Europe this summer with a Meyer Sound Lyon linear sound reinforcement system, playing his blend of traditional Alpine folk and rock for audiences of 20,000 and more. The Lyon system was part of a complete audio, video, and lighting package supplied by Crailsheim, Germany-based Media Resource Group (MRG).

"I am very happy with Lyon, and am figuring out more and more positive properties from show to show," says Wolfgang 'Wope' Peschmann, longtime FOH engineer for Gabalier. "For a cabinet of such small size, it has endless power under the hood. I haven't reached the end of the system."

The touring system featured front arrays of 12 Lyon-M main line array loudspeakers over two Lyon-W wide-coverage line array loudspeakers each, with low end provided by dual end-fire arrays of nine-each 1100-LFC low-frequency

China - Internationally acclaimed artist Ivan Rutherford turned to DPA Microphones' d:facto Vocal Microphone to help him give an emotional performance during a recent one-off show in Hong Kong. The mic was chosen for being a handheld solution that would allow him to move freely on stage while he sang a series of Broadway hits dating as far back as the 1930s. The company's d:dicate 4011A Cardioid and d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones were also utilized to amplify the piano that supported the vocal performance.

The actor and singer, who has performed the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables over 2,000 times on Broadway, was looking for a microphone that could deliver exceptional sound quality and clarity through a large venue sound system. DPA's d:facto fit the bill perfectly. Rutherford used the microphone in a wireless configuration with a Sennheiser Wireless System, w

UK - Following the departures of Gareth Williams and Luke Baldry, Audient has appointed Chris Wright as its new UK market manager. After a relatively short yet successful stint in the IT industry, Wright brings a host of transferrable skills with him back to professional audio - which he describes as his "primary focus and passion".

Wright has years of freelance audio consultancy and monitor engineering experience under his belt, which along with his first class degree in Sound Engineering and Production from Birmingham City University continue to fuel that passion for audio.

"Audient has a fantastic audio heritage, with the sale of well over 500 ASP8024 consoles over the last 17 years being a solid testament to that." Wright continues, "The latest products still maintain that outstanding build and sound quality, and I am delighted to be working with A

Italy - As part of a deal signed with Rome's AS Roma soccer club, with which top Italian FM broadcaster Radio Italia became official partner of the club (it also has similar agreements with Inter, Milan and Italy's national soccer team), the radio station recently took delivery of 72 Outline Mantas speaker systems, to be used for pre-match entertainment at the clubs home pitch, the Eternal City's Olimpico stadium.

The set-up comprises 13 stacks, 11 of which have six Mantas vertical line array elements, an Outline DBS18-2 sub and a rack with two of the Brescia company's T5 power amps, while the other two have three Mantas and a sub.

Installed round the perimeter of the pitch prior to matches, four large stacks are deployed in front of each of the two main stands (Monte Mario and Tevere) and two cover each of the two curves (north and south), with one of the small stacks mid-way

Germany - At the beginning of August 2014, the La Folia Baroque Orchestra made recordings on several days in the historic setting of the Palais in Dresden's Great Garden. Experienced recording professionals used carefully selected audio technology components to capture all of the sound nuances at the highest quality level. Microphones from Sennheiser played a decisive role as the first links in the recording chain.

"For these recordings, we are using the best equipment available on the planet," said Günter Pauler who, as mastermind of Stockfisch Records, was primarily responsible for the technical aspects of the recording, leaving the musical management to his colleagues Jakob Händel and Hans-Jörg Maucksch.

The audio experts were in the happy situation of being able to draw on excellent resources when it came to miking. "For four or five years now, I have bee

South Africa - Southern African Shure distributor Wild & Marr, were recently awarded a gold-plated Unidyne microphone as a mark of appreciation for their 20 year relationship with the company as a Shure distributor.

Shure is synonymous with legendary performance microphones and the Unidyne is one that celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. It the first directional microphone that used a single dynamic mic element and its iconic classic mic appearance has seen it being used by entertainers and celebrities since its introduction in 1939.

Joe Copans, MD at Wild & Marr received the award at a recent distributor meeting with Shure. "Wild & Marr has always been driven to provide integrated solutions," he says, "and in 1994 we were looking for a microphone that would complement our products. Shure has always been a standard of reference in microphones and so I beli

The Netherlands - The Roland VR-50HD multi-format AV mixer has been chosen by Erasmus University as the AV hub of a new purpose built video creation studio at their state of the art facility in Rotterdam.

Acknowledging that a growing trend for 'flip teaching' would affect the way in which their lectures would be delivered in the future, the university took the decision to supply comprehensive video tutorial, web lecture and online learning facilities 'in house'. In order to achieve this, a dedicated AV studio was built at Erasmus, forming part of the Media Support Centre which is the central knowledge point for audiovisual services and communication technology.

The 'flipped classroom' is a form of blended learning in which students learn new content online by watching video lectures away from the classroom. As a result, time in the classroom is used by the teaching staff for p

UK - Monty Python Live (mostly) brought together five of the six original Pythons - John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones - for 10 sell out dates at London's O2 arena this summer. DiGiCo consoles were deployed at both FoH and monitor positions for something completely different.

With an audience of Python aficionados requiring that every word be heard, the challenge of delivering perfect audio for this full-on theatre show in just two weeks was taken on by sound designer Rory Madden and a crack crew. "They're the best I've ever had in 40 years working in the business" he says.

Rory's company Sonalyst also supplied all the sound equipment. His familiarity with the venue - he works on between 15 and 20 shows at The O2 each year - means that he is well versed in what works and what doesn't and his choice of three DiGiCo SD7s (two at

The Netherlands - Mennegat Trading B.V. and Audioprof N.V. have joined forces to further strengthen the position of the Apart brand in The Netherlands. From 17 September 2014, Mennegat Trading will be the exclusive Apart distributor for The Netherlands.

"We are excited to welcome Herjan and his team as our exclusive distributor for The Netherlands. We are convinced that Mennegat Trading B.V. will join us in our vision to grow the market in a sustainable way. We share the same vision on professionalism and dedication towards our customers and the audio business," says Kris Vermuyten, sales & marketing director at Apart Audio.

"Mennegat Trading is delighted to be representing the Apart brand in the Netherlands.", says Herjan Mennegat, director of Mennegat Trading. "Mennegat Trading has built a strong local reputation in this market with contractors and d

UK - Audiologic, has made a significant addition to its team. Dave Smith has joined the company in a newly created role as business development manager. With a strong background in both the consumer electronics and music industry sectors, Dave brings a wealth of experience gained from his time with Panasonic, Micron and latterly, Sennheiser.

Andy Lewis, sales and marketing manager at Audiologic, comments, "We're genuinely delighted to welcome someone of Dave's calibre to the Audiologic family. He has a proven track record of building and developing strong commercial relationships and as we move through a period of expansion, it's clear that his skills will be applied in opening and developing new channels for the business.

"It quickly became obvious during discussions with Dave that his way is very much our way. Our ethos is based on going the extra mile to ensure th

Australia - As the clock ticks down to the January 1, 2015 deadline that will see most existing wireless users vacating their spectrum, the University of Sydney have carefully plotted their exit strategy with Shure and integrator Rutledge AV. A major user of RF devices in teaching and performance spaces, the university was faced with the enormous task of replacing every single wireless microphone device, which are soon to become both illegal and unusable.

"For a university our size, the government changes to frequency laws were a big deal" said Jason Wheatley, manager - Interactive Learning Services at the University of Sydney. "By the time you add all the labour, it's a million dollar proposition. It's a big investment, and one we carefully considered the options for over a long period of time."

Not only did Jason and the team have to replace all of their

USA - The Union League Club of New York City was founded by Union loyalists during the Civil War and has grown since then to become one of the city's most exclusive clubs, where the public-minded members of New York's upper class meet away from the bustle of urban life.

Its elegant clubhouse on East 32nd Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan thus serves as an oasis, and the Union League recently refurbished many of its rooms to add modern audio/visual technology where appropriate. Based on its functionality and rock-solid reliability, AV integration firm Audio Production Services specified an Ashly ne24.24M Protea DSP Matrix Processor and an Ashly ne4250.70 Network Four-Channel Amplifier for the Union League Club's new system.

Although most of the clubhouse areas provide a refuge from technology, club members requested video and audio in one of the large lounge spaces, the nearb

Russia - D.A.S. Audio professional systems were recently at Moscow's spectacular Race of Champions Biathlon competition. One of the indisputable stars of the event, D.A.S. systems brought the race to life at the Russian capital's Olympic Stadium, the start and finish line for this urban race. The army of D.A.S. systems installed at the stadium provided crystal-clear sound over the noise of the shooting range and cheers of the 60,000 spectators who packed the venue over the course of the competition.

Perm-based lighting and sound company Lightmaster was contracted to head the sound system design and installation for the event. The sound technicians were faced with the challenge of designing a system that would stand up to the power and magnitude of Moscow's massive Olympic Stadium. After studying the particular features of the venue Lightmaster opted to fly the entire system from

Germany - The new Y-Series from d&b audiotechnik provides flexible and configurable solutions for any small to medium sized sound reinforcement requirement, whatever the application style. While the Y7P and Y10P loudspeakers cover point source duties, with the B6-SUB providing extended frequency response, two line source loudspeakers and a matched cardioid subwoofer, the Y8, Y12 and Y-SUB tackle line array tasks.

Echoing the d&b V-Series and utilizing patented three point rigging, the Y-Series is all new, yet strangely familiar.

The Y7P and Y10P loudspeakers share the same dipolar 8" driver arrangement centred on a 1.4" compression driver fitted to a rotatable CD horn, facilitating deployment horizontally or vertically. With dispersion characteristics of 75° x 40° and 110° x 40° (h x v) respectively, the Y7P and Y10P offer a multitude of deployment op

France - A British-made Audient ASP8024 console was first choice for Jean-Christian Maas, owner of Studio des Bruères, a highly spec'd studio situated in a tranquil, yet accessible country location in the French countryside.

Dedicated to the production - and co-production - of artists, Jean-Christian prides himself in offering a different service to that of standard commercial studios. "We prefer to work on projects that we record and mix, so that we can maximize the synergy and efficiency," says Jean-Christian. "The bulk of our work is recommended by word-of-mouth and are mostly jazz and classical music, but more recently we have also had some pop/rock.

"The Audient ASP8024 console is exactly what we were looking for because it suits the way we work in both the analogue and digital domains. We use a wide range of software and hardware outboard and therefo

Portugal - With the collaboration of the Portuguese installer Sislite, Work Pro products have been involved in some important installations in the country. Two good examples are the projects developed for Sofitel Hotel in Lisbon and the Mercure Hotel in Braga.

In regard to Sofitel hotel, a five star hotel with a total of 163 rooms located on the prestigious Avenida da Liberdade in the Portuguese capital, a sound system was installed covering three different spaces with a generic individual control and mix with Work Pro products; in particular, Digiline MX digital processors were used for the audio distribution (one per room) plus a fourth device that takes care of the mix.

Each room has IC 6 PRO ceiling speakers and a PA 240 USB/R amplifier, which integrates the amplification and the audio source. Because of the requirements of the installation, one of the rooms needed a highe

Tax Relief - The government's forthcoming theatre tax relief scheme will help to revive regional theatre and ensure the industry's success is felt across the country and not just in London's West End, Chancellor George Osborne has said. Speaking at Theatre Royal Brighton ahead of the tax scheme which came into effect yesterday (1September), Osborne said he hoped the initiative would put a stop to the decline of regional theatre and touring productions by making it easier to put on these shows.

Osborne said: "Regional productions have dropped off over many years - even though the West End has been very strong in London - and I want to change that around. I want to make sure we get the benefit of our great theatre industry and our culture felt all over the country. More job opportunities for those working in the theatre sector as well as those working in the tourist industry

Spain - Noted for its eclectic line-up, Primavera is an annual music festival which takes place in the Parc del Fòrum leisure site in Barcelona, close to the Balearic coastline. One of the largest music festivals in Spain, Primavera audiences are regularly in excess of 100,000.

This year, long-time Primavera audio provider Twin Cam Audio specified L-Acoustics for five of the festival's seven stages. Right from the beginning, Twin Cam's technical director, Juan Cid worked hand in hand with L-Acoustics touring application engineer Frédéric Bailly, to jointly design all five stages.

Twin Cam chose Primavera to debut their newly acquired compact and lightweight K2 audio system. K1 along with K2 provided the one-two audio punch enabling them to offer a more powerful, accurate and versatile system than previously.

The core main stage setup (Sony Stage) was flown wit

UK - The combination of a small footprint, exceptional processing power, Dante networking and local i/o makes Yamaha's QL series digital consoles ideal for the Festival Fringe - Edinburgh's annual smorgasbord of the inspired, the ingenious and the idiosyncratic. This year, six QLs enjoyed a month of exceptionally hard work throughout August with multi-venue operator Pleasance.

The Fringe is renowned as a difficult taskmaster on both equipment and staff alike. A month of relentless hard work, with shows continually playing from morning through to the early hours of the following day, staff have to grab sleep where they can and equipment is invariably left powered up for the duration.

Add into that mix many of the venues are in 'found' spaces, or parts of university buildings, that aren't designed for live shows and the size of the task becomes even more apparent.

"It's a

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