Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Sound

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UK - Vicarage Road Stadium has been home to Watford Football Club since 1922, and Premiership Rugby high-flyers, Saracens, for the last 15 years. Over the past few decades, the ground has also played host to a number of major music concerts, most famously perhaps, the several headlined by its world famous piano-playing former-owner, Reginald Dwight (AKA Sir Elton John).

As part of its recent ground renovation plan, the stadium needed to improve the quality of its sound system, and opted to install a new integrated Public Address and Voice Alarm (PAVA) system. As well as adhering to a number of crucial life-safety standards, the system needed to provide excellent vocal clarity, and be loud enough to overcome the crowd volume.

Consultant for this project, Roland Hemming, says he had no hesitation in specifying a Peavey MediaMatrix system, as it was perfect for the job in hand.

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UK - Allen & Heath's UK distributor, Audio-Technica and SRD Group have created a free training day on 31 October to be held at K College in Tonbridge, Kent to boost sound engineers knowledge of the manufacturer's GLD and iLive systems.

The training day, which include hands-on interactive sessions, is aimed at industry professionals and engineers and designed to give delegates both working and theoretical knowledge of the systems.

From a previous training day, Andy Woodward from AW-PA Sound Systems in Kent, UK, said, "It was really informative, in a non-technical way for people with little digital experience. These are great desks with an impressive feature set - until the training session I didn't realise just how much you can do with them."

Stuart McKay, digital console and installation specialist at Audio-Technica, added, "I'd encourage anyone interested in

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USA - Audio-Technica provided a wide selection of microphones to capture every word from the candidates, moderators and selected crowd members at the 2012 presidential debates. The events were held 3 October at Colorado's University of Denver; 11 October (Vice Presidential) at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky; 16 October at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York; and 22 October at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.

Larry Estrin, of Best Audio in Studio City, CA, serves as audio and production communications director for the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) and chose to use Audio-Technica microphones at these landmark events. Steve Savanyu, Audio-Technica's director, educational services, was also present at each debate for on-site support. Audio-Technica microphones have been chosen for the presidential debates since 1988.

Michael Abbott, A1 for the debates

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The Netherlands - A QSC KLA Series Active Line Array Loudspeaker System, supplied by the QSC distributor in The Netherlands, AED, heads the PA system in a new 'green' congress centre recently built here.

In the centre of the Dutch countryside, the groundbreaking new conference centre has been constructed according to strict sustainable principles, making maximum use of natural materials and recycling as much as possible. The Veerkracht Ecocentre is partially built into a large mound of earth, allowing the soil to handle much of the insulation requirements of the building naturally, and is roofed with turf and grass. But this is no medieval shack; inside is a state-of-the-art meeting centre.

AV installation specialist Dave Shiphorst, who is responsible for all of the audio-visual systems at the Veerkracht centre and was part of the small team of enthusiasts that built the centr

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USA - When Discovery Channel's MythBusters set out to test the claim that subaudible low-frequency sounds near 19 Hz can instill feelings of discomfort, dread, and even outright terror, they turned to Meyer Sound and Dr. Roger Schwenke, the company's staff scientist and honorary MythBuster, for assistance.

Filming for the "fear frequency" segment took place in and around four abandoned cabins at a secluded forest resort in Northern California. To test the theory, the show enlisted 10 volunteers to spend time in the cabins.

"One cabin was subjected to infrasonic sound while the other control cabins had no sound," says Schwenke. "Although the cabins were essentially identical, the idea was to ask the participants if one cabin seemed more eerie or frightening than the others."

Unbeknownst to the subjects, a U-shaped array of nine modified Me

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UK - Windshield manufacturer Rycote has announced a new Windshield Kit product, designed specifically for stereo recording with a matched pair of microphones in an ORTF configuration.

ORTF stereo recording was pioneered by the engineers at the French state broadcaster in the 1960s, and is defined as using a stereo pair of microphones with the capsules spaced 17cm apart, and at an angle of 110 degrees to each other. Rycote's new ORTF Windshield kit is designed for matched pairs of Schoeps CCM or Sennheiser MKH 8000 mics, and consists of a Lyre suspension, a cable clamp, and a 145mm Stereo Windshield & Windjammer large enough to comfortably accommodate the microphones.

A specially designed Rycote mounting adapter bar keeps the microphones at the correct spacing and angle for ORTF recording, and the Lyre suspension and shared windshield combine to provide a solution that is extre

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Storm Report - Hit Broadway shows The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark are among the New York productions which closed in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. All Broadway performances on Sunday and Monday night were scrapped. Several film events were cancelled too, including the New York premiere of Keira Knightley film Anna Karenina.

It is not known how long Broadway's lights will stay out. Broadway League executive director Charlotte St Martin added that "the safety and security of theatregoers and employees is everyone's primary concern." Meanwhile the music world has also been affected, with acts such as Mercury prize-winners The xx, Rita Ora and John Legend all cancelling US shows.

AIM Awards - Singer Edwyn Collins has been honoured for his contribution to the music industry, seven years after he a

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Denmark - Fredericia Theatre is using an extensive selection of DPA microphones to capture the audio for a very special musical production of the Disney classic Aladdin. All of the cast members are using DPA d:fine Headset Microphones, which were chosen for their discrete size, comfort and exceptional sound quality. DPA microphones also feature heavily in the orchestra pit, where a combination of DPA d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones, 2011C twin diaphragm cardioid microphones and 4015C wide cardioid microphones are handling the audio requirements.

The Fredericia Theatre's Aladdin production, which premiered on 4 October 2012, is a significant endorsement of the theatre's ability to produce exceptional musicals. After hearing glowing reviews from a number of US directors who had worked at the Fredericia, the Disney Group chose the theatre as its only European partner for

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UK - Haydn Cruickshank of London based lighting and visuals rental company Colour Sound Experiment (CSE) has worked on some choice gigs in his time, however designing and supplying lighting for a showcase celebrating the birthday of iconic Tennessee whiskey Jack Daniels took him to the previously uncharted territory of ..... the Devil's Arse in the Peak District, UK.

The Peak Cavern earned its memorable epithet from the loud, expressive flatulent sounding emissions made by draining floodwater - of which there has been plenty lately! It is one of four 'show' caves in Castleton Derbyshire.

This atmospheric location was chosen by brand experience agency Red Lodge to stage a special show for Jack Daniels Birthday competition winners and amassed press - the line-up featured The Vaccines, Mystery Jets and Tribes.

One of numerous challenges facing the production team was the 600m p

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Finland - The 47th Pori Jazz Festival took place recently in the Finnish west coast city. The annual event was held over nine days, during which there were 126 concerts - 89 of which were free - taking place in a total of 14 venues. The atmosphere and attendance were again excellent, with Pori Jazz selling 48,000 tickets, while in total around 140,000 people attended.

One of the venues used for experimental and modern music was the 150-capacity Ultra Music Nights @Theatre. Here Noretron Communications, RCF's Finnish distributor, equipped the small stage with a potent but discreet TT+ Theatre & Touring active column speaker array system for a series of sold-out shows.

By deploying six TTL11-AH/AB assemblies and TTS26-A subwoofer (in Left/Right configurations), managed by the dedicated RDNet control interface, a superior audio performance was ensured, with excellent coverage and

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UK - Wednesday 24 October saw the launch of the Poppy Appeal in Trafalgar Square go off with a bang and for the third year, Capital Sound provided full production.

A fanfaire of trumpets from 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards opened the show, which was hosted by Ben Shephard. Amongst the performers were Alesha Dixon and The Military Wives Choir, with James Fox singing the Poppy Appeal Launch single, Landlocked and Pixie Lott headlining.

"As a full production job for Capital, you literally have to supply everything from the ground up," says Capital's Charles Ellery. "We supplied staging, lighting and sound, with the video element arranged by the Royal British Legion's own in-house video production supplier, Raw. We also arranged for all the dressing room cabins, temporary loos, catering, first aid, special FX and so on."

Everything came together o

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Austria - Out Board has appointed ATEC GmbH of Sommerein as the new exclusive distributor for Austria of the TiMax2 SoundHub and TiMax Tracker audio processing, playback and showcontrol automation products.

ATEC director Manfred Prochazka comments, "We are very happy to be a member of the TiMax family, as it fits perfect to our other high quality brands. We are delighted to have our first TiMax project with a complete TiMax SoundHub and TiMax Tracker installation in the Raimund Theater."

Out Board director Dave Haydon observes, "The ATEC guys clearly demonstrate the passion and expertise needed to fully commercialise and support unique products like TiMax SoundHub and TiMax Tracker. We very much value their commitment and support as we continue to grow diverse new European market sectors for TiMax."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - West London-based rental company Entec Sound & Light's Audio division has invested in the latest d&b V-Series line array system, adding to their already substantial hire stock of the leading German brand.

Entec's audio sales manager Peter Codron explains that the V-Series is ideal to service a wide range of Entec's medium to large shows, and it can also be used as out-shooter arrays in conjunction with the larger J-Series, due to the fabulous tonal compatibility between the two systems.

Entec's V-Series' purchase includes both V8 and V12 loudspeakers (featuring 80 and 120 degree dispersion respectively) and V-SUBs.

Two of the three-way V-Series passive cabinets can be run from a single amplifier channel, so four can be powered per D12 amp, making it an extremely cost-effective choice.

The V-sub features a cardioid arrangement, with a front facing 18 inch driver and a

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Spain - Prolific jazz singer, composer and guitarist George Benson packs the house wherever he plays, be it in New York, Paris, or most recently Valencia, where the artist performed this summer as part of his 2012 Spanish tour. The concert, held at the city's Jardín de Víveros to celebrate the city's Feria de Julio (July Fair), Valencia's 28-day festival packed with activities, special events and concerts, was brought to life with professional D.A.S. sound systems.

The sound at the event was handled by local sound reinforcement company Acústica, who teamed up with Joel Damiano, D.A.S. Audio event engineer, appointed D.A.S. Audio's head tech for the concert. The sound team knew that the powerful D.A.S. Aero Series 2 line array systems would emphasize both Benson's voice and legendary guitar playing and rolled out 20 high-performance D.A.S. Aero 50 line arrays for the event. Th

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USA - Train is just wrapping up their sold-out California 37 tour on the heels of their sixth studio album of the same name that has already produced the certified platinum single Drive By and 50 Ways to Say Goodbye.

Based in San Francisco, Train consists of a core trio comprising Pat Monahan (vocals), Jimmy Stafford (guitar) and Scott Underwood (drums). Over the years, the band has produced successful albums such as their eponymous debut Train.

The California 37 tour started in Canada and has ranged throughout North America in a variety of venues including amphitheatres, arenas and theatres. Delicate Productions of Camarillo and San Francisco, who has already successfully deployed Martin Audio's award-winning MLA (Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array) system with Selena Gomez, relied on a system for the tour that consisted of 11 MLA and one MLD

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UK - Audio manufacturer Flare Audio ensured pure sound quality for the launch weekend of Gibb Street Warehouse this October. The launch was celebrated with two very special nights headlined by Marco Carola and John Digweed; Marco flew in from completing a hugely successful summer residence in Ibiza for his newly launched 'Music On' nights, whilst John Digweed headed up internationally renowned club brand Renaissance's 20th Anniversary celebrations.

Renaissance promoter and Gibb Street venue owner Geoff Oakes called on Sheffield-based production company Mustt Audio to configure and install an audio system that would best deliver outstanding sound to this 1,200 capacity warehouse/club space, located beside Birmingham's international arts complex, The Custard Factory.

"Gibb Street Warehouse has reflective brick and metal surfaces so it's an echoic space," says Mustt pro

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UK - POLARaudio has announced the availability of the Behringer Eurocom line in the UK. The Eurocom line is a series of state-of-the-art tools for modern systems integrators.

Commenting on this exclusive partnership, POLARaudio MD John Midgley was upbeat: "We're very pleased to now be able to bring the exciting new Eurocom products to market. The line-up comprises feature-rich, innovative, professional technologies for exceptional performance quality. Combine this with great aesthetics and extremely competitive pricing and it's easy to see how Eurocom will set new standards in the integrator market."

AX Series: These dual channel amplifiers epitomize power and control, offering contractors flexibility and efficiency in sound reinforcement and playback systems. The line includes models designed for low and high impedance speaker loads. The units are ready for immediat

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UK - The Hilton Park Lane was the venue for the 2012 Baking Industry Awards, a huge gala dinner that celebrates the best in the UK baking industry. Event production company Corporate Events was on hand to provide a top class audio visual production solution for this high class, prestigious event, with Sennheiser microphones an integral part of their inventory.

A packed entertainment programme saw the 25th Anniversary of this award show's VIP audience entertained by two live music acts and a top DJ, and hosted by TV personality and Strictly Come Dancing finalist Jason Donovan.

Corporate Events provided a high level audiovisual solution to support the event. "Our production quality standards for working in here are amongst the best and the creative that goes into the opening sting, slide desks and video shine through, ensuring that the VIP's get just that," say

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USA - This past summer, The Venetian Las Vegas embraced the jaw-dropping art of 3D projection mapping during its Carnevale festival by premiering a stunning nightly show animating the façade of its clock tower, a replica of the one in Venice's Piazza San Marco.

The show, known as Light of Venice was the first of 10 short commissioned son et lumière works conceived by projection artist Ross Ashton who teamed up with London-based UnitedVisualArtists and Tucson, Arizona's Darling Ltd. on the creative implementation. AVDB Group of Las Vegas further supplied the technical components of the production, including a new L-Acoustics ARCS II system.

Hidden behind a scrim to preserve architectural appearances during the day and not interfere with the video mapping at night, eight ARCS II enclosures are positioned in a horizontally oriented constant curvature array at the

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UK - Electrosonic has announced the appointment of Lee Styles as business development manager for corporate solutions for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Styles will be responsible for developing Electrosonic's customer base and building new client relationships across the corporate market.

His role will involve developing new relationships with professionals across the corporate market, which includes finance, education, accounting, medical, government and oil and gas.

"Lee's skills, knowledge and capabilities will be a great addition to our corporate team," commented Paul Brown, general manager, corporate solutions, EMEA. "He is experienced at developing strong business relationships which will ensure our clients remain at the forefront of technological developments."

Prior to joining Electrosonic, Styles was a collaboration specialist for Logi

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Germany - Top German engineer Wolfgang Hofer, recently mixing monitors for German rock star Marius Müller Westernhagen on his national tour, has been impressed by the performance of Nexo's 45°N-12 line monitors, as have his fellow audiophile engineers.

Marius Müller Westernhagen, possibly best known for his hit Johnny Walker, has been a constant presence on the German rock music scene since the mid-1970s. As well as his records, Marius is known for his energetic public concerts and, this September, set out on the road for his Hottentottentour 2012.

Monitor engineer Wolfgang Hofer recalls, "I had the chance to check out the Nexo wedges during a nice little two-day cultural event. Immediately, I decided to take them out as main monitors for the upcoming MMW Tour. In total, I've been using 10x N-12s, amped by the NXAMP4x4 in active mode on 6 mixes. Apart

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USA - The Dukes of September Rhythm Revue - perhaps better known as Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs, along with a seasoned nine-member backup band - has now closed the final chapter on a very successful 43-show North American tour. The outing was a combined effort between Detroit-based Thunder Audio, which supplied the monitor package for Fagen, and Escondido's Sound Image, which handled monitor packages for McDonald and Scaggs as well as provided FOH control and a full L-Acoustics K1 system for the duration.

The K1 system, which had just come off of the road with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers prior to the tour, was prepped for the Dukes' first show at St. Louis' Fox Theatre in Sound Image's Nashville office by systems engineer Vic Wagner, who has deployed K1 for Taylor Swift and Prince, in addition to Tom Petty.

For most venues on the tour, Wagner flew up to t

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Belgium - The Pukkelpop Festival has grown from a small one-day event to become one of the biggest festivals in Europe, with over 180,000 music fans attending over the course of the three-day event to witness performances from the likes of The Stone Roses, Foo Fighters, Bjork, and Eagles of Death Metal.

Thanks to leading sound company EML Productions - now part of the PRG Group - all eight stages for this mammoth event were this year powered exclusively by Lab.gruppen amplifiers.

EML Productions have been behind the sound for the festival since the early days, and the relationship with Lab.gruppen is one that has also been longstanding, as Patrick Demoustier, Chief of Sound at EML, testifies.

"We first started using Lab.gruppen when we decided to change our systems some years ago," said Patrick. "We did some careful A/B testing and comparisons, and we ended wi

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Sweden - Lund Cathedral in Sweden, the country's oldest and largest church and which dates back to 1080, has expanded its permanently installed RHAON-equipped Iconyx digitally steerable system with the addition of a further IC16/8-R-II active array above its altar.

The cathedral's size - in normal use it seats 1,800 but can accommodate an extra 800 during major events that are frequently televised - reflects its historical status as the Seat of the Archbishop for the whole of northern Sweden and the other Nordic countries.

Its cavernous nave had long proved a challenge for bishops whose voices would become hoarse trying to project down such a long space. Many years ago a sound system was installed to help, originally with four wired microphones and a conventional loudspeaker system.

The last time it was replaced was 1987, when the church felt it was time for something more c

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