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

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

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

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

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

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

"The owners (of Whisper Club) wanted a top

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finland - The architecturally provoking Korundi House of Culture is a new cultural centre in the Lapland capital of Rovaniemi. Formed from the old 1930s redbrick building of the Rovaniemi mail-van depot, the building has been expanded with a box extension designed in weathered, patinated steel.

The renovated original building is occupied by the Rovaniemi Art Museum, whilst the new extension provides a multipurpose 340-seat concert auditorium for the Lapland Chamber Orchestra and the varied programme of events and concerts that the venue will host. In addition to the museum and concert hall, the building provides for the storage of artworks, meetings, offices and workrooms as well as a café-restaurant and music shop for visitors.

The aesthetic of Korundi's addition was designed by architect Juhani Pallasmaa. Inside the auditorium, painter and graphic artist Prof. Jorma H

USA - Point Source Audio (PSA), a manufacturer of professional audio equipment and the distributor for Digigram's broadcast equipment in the Americas, was selected by InfoGuys (IFG) Satellite Radio Network to bring cloud-based management features to Grand Canyon's Highway Advisory Satellite Radio System.

The Grand Canyon's broadcast system was recently upgraded with Digigram's PYKO IP Audio codec, and received a friendly custom remote interface - a collaboration between IFG and PSA - to give park officials the freedom to update and change message content on the PYKO at any time of day from any internet device.

The Grand Canyon's Highway Advisory Radio System grew legs in 2008 as part of a programme to support the introduction of a pilot shuttle bus route from Grand Canyon's visitor centre to the gateway town of Tusayan. The goal was to provide information to visitors approachi

UK - To give full justice to Kafka's Joseph K - produced within Eton College's Farrer Theatre - a sophisticated immersive soundscape was called for.

To assist the students in finding a way through the 'involved' sound track, Eton's theatre tutor and production manager for the play, Matt Evered, contacted sound designer Rick Sarson, who specified TiMax.

"There were several reasons for wanting to use TiMax. It is by far and away the coolest sound toy ever and is the only product that utilises the Haas effect to broaden the soundfield to cover the majority of the audience with moving sound effects. It is one of the very few ways of triggering multi channel moving sounds and, once set up, it is amazingly simple to use."

TiMax enabled Sarson to trigger sophisticated, multi layered effects at the click of a mouse. This was necessitated from the very start of the s

UAE - Launching at IFSEC Arabia in November, Baldwin Boxall's new CARE2 range will be demonstrated to visitors at INTERSEC, Dubai (15-17January 2012).

CARE2 is an Emergency Voice Communication System which includes firefighter telephones, roaming telephones, disabled refuge points and disabled toilet alarms on one system. The new radial wired system is simple to install and operate.

Also on the stand will be the popular CallCare Assistance Call System and the well established VIGIL EVAS voice evacuation rack system.

(Jim Evans)

UAE - Dubai-based NMK Electronics, Midas distributor of the year and distributor of Midas and Klark Teknik products in the United Arab Emirates, has seen a surge in sales on the back of a year-long programme of training and support initiatives. This culminated in last month's bi-annual Midas Academy event held at the inaugural InfoComm Middle East and Africa (IFMEA) trade show.

NMK has long supported clients with one-to-one training and demo sessions at its headquarters or on location. But the Academy event, launched two years ago, allows for a number of pro audio professionals to compare multiple Midas offerings in one space.

"The Middle East is a market where there is real demand for the latest technology but a limited number of professionals with the relevant experience," explain NMK's business development manager Chicco Hiranandani. "One of our core strength

Czech Republic - There were in two stages for the Brutal Assault heavy metal festival at Josefov Castle, the Metalshopand the Jaegermeister - and both sported identical d&b audiotechnik J-Series systems provided by leading Czech rental house TD Promo.

"The international reputation of d&b systems was one of the main aspects that we took into account when choosing a new system for our company," said Tomas Dvorak director of TD Promo. "We find d&b is one of the most preferred systems in technical riders and we are the only company in the Czech Republic with the J-Series, giving us an undisputed advantage."

"The local audio guys from TD Promo were very helpful," said Arnie Annables from Motorhead. "When I arrived they had the PA system set up as just a left right system. So with no fuss they quickly changed it to left right and subs, it is very i

UK - BASCA (British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) has announced a partnership with JAMES (Joint Audio Media Education Support), the organisation which accredits higher and further education music and audio-related courses. BASCA will be joining the Association of Professional Recording Services, The Music Producers Guild and the UK Screen Association, who are already represented by JAMES.

JAMES will be expanding its scheme to music performance courses throughout late 2011/12 and BASCA will assist this process by providing professional songwriters to help with the assessment of song writing modules.

It has been confirmed that professional songwriters/composers Tim Fraser, Megg Nicol and David Stoll - all of whom sit on BASCA executive boards - will take part in the scheme.

BASCA COO Vick Bain says, "Working with JAMES on accreditation is just the sort of

UK - The Institute of Broadcast Sound (IBS), the industry body founded in 1977 to represent professionals working in the field of audio for broadcast, is to rename itself The Institute of Professional Sound. The change will take effect from 1 January, 2012.

The new name for the IBS reflects the shifts in the audio and broadcast industries over the last 34 years, and also the changes in the Institute's own membership and working practices, says the organisation. Where once sound people working in broadcast had staff jobs with the BBC, ITV or independent local radio, most IBS members are now freelancers. Of necessity, the Institute's members also now tend to operate in more than one field in the audio industry; for example, they may work on radio ads one day and a TV sound dub the next, while a location sound recordist might work on TV dramas, documentaries, corporate video or liv

USA - When composer Joseph Bertolozzi and sound engineer Ron Kuhnke chose Tannoy Di 8DCs for an outdoor, site-specific art installation on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge, they knew the speakers were going to take some punishment from the elements.

While he knew the speakers would have to function in some fairly nasty weather, he never expected they'd have to stand up to a storm like Irene. "It rains, it gets cold, but we actually take the speakers down from 31 October to 1 April," he says, "because conditions on the bridge in winter are like being in the North Atlantic."

First conceived in 2004, Bertolozzi's Bridge Music is composed exclusively from sounds created using a variety of mallets to strike the bridge's guardrails, girders, spindles and ropes - virtually every possible surface with the exception of the road - essentially transf

UK - In the fifth annual International Series match at Wembley Stadium in, the Chicago Bears enjoyed a successful trip back to the UK by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-18. A crowd of almost 77,000 enjoyed all the traditional glitz and glamour of American football, including pre-game shows from the GooGoo Dolls, Noah Stewart and Katherine Jenkins.

Britannia Row Productions deployed an extensive Outline loudspeaker system, comprising 12 arrays of Butterfly, each stacked four high on a pair of Outline Subtech subwoofers, to handle sound reinforcement for both the various entertainments and the in-match commentary.

The project was headed up by Britannia Row's Dan Orchard, with Kieran Walsh supervising radio, Sergiy Zitnikov handling speaker technician duties and Stefan Krista managing the stage audio for the pre-match entertainment. An additional four BRP technicians dealt wi

China - UK-based Studiomaster and Carlsbro exhibited at Music China this year, unveiling several new and improved product ranges. Immediately after the exhibition, both companies hosted a joint international distributor conference at the Ningbo HQ of their Soundking Group parent company, south of Shanghai.

Studiomaster and Carlsbro exhibited together with their national distributor Highsun Audio, showing new products, including first sight of the new Carlsbro VAC series valve guitar combo and an electronic drum kit, as well as newly revamped and uprated Stingray, Sherwood and Colt amplifier series.

International sales director Andrew Bishop stated, "Carlsbro VAC is the first series in a range of amplification which meets requirements, advised to us by our international distributors, for affordable, high performance backline amps. The styling, specification and tone of the

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