UK - The Feeling is a band that has produced much of its own work and is interested in, and knowledgeable about, the technology it uses. To have a great sounding mixing console at both Front of House and monitors then becomes a must for their engineers. Jonathan Lewis and Sean Busby-Little, who respectively man these positions, knew that sonically DiGiCo was the right choice; they also knew the SD9's compact footprint would fit the bill for the venues the band's current tour is playing.

But Sean had an additional requirement from his desk. "I'm teching for myself, as well as mixing monitors," he explains. "I needed a small footprint without compromising audio quality, but I needed something that was quick and easy to set up and breakdown each day."

"My main priority is also audio quality," adds Jonathan. " I knew I would get that with the SD9

UK - Orbital Sound is planning a unique line-up of innovative international pro audio brands on Stand No: 74 at the ABTT Theatre Show 2014 (Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, 11-12 June), featuring products from Flare Audio, d&b audiotechnik, HME, Clear-Com, CSC, and TheatrePro, as well as the launch of the Orbital's new distribution product range, the Nemesis brand of theatre-specific audio playback and control solutions. In addition, Orbital is presenting a special version of its acclaimed "Mixing Musicals" training course as part of ABTT's seminar series, focusing on the practical skills and theory behind best-practice FOH mixing for modern musicals.

As Flare Audio's distributor in the UK and Eire, Orbital is showcasing the brand's extensive range of radically different loudspeaker designs - on show at ABTT for the first time. Based on the theory of Waveform In

UK - At the recent PLASA Focus event at The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, Cadac showed the latest V2.1 software update for its flagship CDC eight digital live production console.

Updating further the many V2.0 features and additional functionality within console automation, V2.1 further enables VCA group deployment, with pressing of the SELECT button on a VCA deploys the VCA group members on the console surface. Switching between input-driven and mix-driven Fader Follow is enabled at a touch of the screen. It is now possible to view and access single input channel contributions to multiple busses, or a single bus' contributions from multiple inputs when in Fader-Follow mode.

New features already incorporated in version 2 software - launched at Prolight+Sound in March - include individual channel section isolation and global automation safe in the console snapshot automation

Vietnam - Nineteen Club, Hanoi's hottest new club and bar, situated right in the centre of the Vietnamese capital, has set a standard for other clubs to emulate, thanks to its Martin Audio sound system.

Venue owner, Vu Anh Phong, first decided to visit Ho Chi Minh city in the south, in order to learn the reason behind the phenomenon success of some of the more famous clubs. He immediately noticed that a common factor was Martin Audio sound systems that appeared to attract a clientele seeking a higher grade of entertainment. "The fact that Martin Audio contributes to these clubs' dramatic success, with the considerable number of guests visiting every night, was evident," he said.

Vu Anh Phong contacted Pham Duy Duc, director of well-known club installers Duc Proaudio Company, who provided a proposal, basing his design on Martin Audio components for Nineteen Club. It w

UK - Having been appointed premier UK stockist for RCF's new Media Professional Loudspeaker Installation Series, Leisuretec Distribution promptly announced an official 'open day' launch for customers at their Bedfordshire HQ on 20 May.

According to managing director, Cliff Dounting, discussions with the Italian manufacturer to add the versatile Media Series to the portfolio had begun at the beginning of the year.

"There has been a long standing relationship between Leisuretec Distribution and RCF UK's Phil Price that stretches back more than 20 years - and that was a great foundation to build upon.

"RCF has a strong brand name in the industry - synonymous with high quality and excellent value for money, both of which we at Leisuretec regard very highly. We see this as a great opportunity to go confidently to the trade and promote these qualities to our clients.&quo

UK - Backstage Academy students are currently confirming work placements for the summer season and invite employers to get in touch if they need extra skilled people to support existing crew teams.

The students, who are half way through the Academy's 16-month FdA Live Events Production, are available to work in June, July and August and are seeking either ad hoc events work or three-month placements.

Most students have already gained experience at live events in a variety of backstage roles and all have completed modules in Introduction to Working in Live Events Production, Concept Design & Presentation, Staging, Live Sound, Lighting and Live Visuals.

During the Introduction to Working in Live Events module, students undertook a range of industry-based certificates to prepare them for working safely on site: Event Safety Passport; Emergency First Aid; Stage Pyrotechnics; Pra

USA - For the past 35 years, the 7,500-seat multipurpose Bicentennial Centre Arena in Salina, Kansas has hosted everything from concerts, theatre, circuses and civic events to rodeos, basketball, roller derby and home games for the local Salina Bombers, champions of the Professional Indoor Football League. But while the venue has undergone a number of changes over the years, the original sound system remained in place until Parkway Communications recently installed a new L-Acoustics ARCS Wide and ARCS Focus loudspeaker rig - aka WIFO - for the city-owned venue, which is managed by Philadelphia-based Global Spectrum.

"Global Spectrum, L-Acoustics and Parkway Communications did a super job of quickly getting a high quality sound system for the Bicentennial Center ordered, installed and ready for prime time," says the City of Salina's city manager, Jason Gage. "This

UK - With an ever-increasing number of end users, Yamaha Commercial Audio UK has taken steps to improve its product servicing, training and customer support by appointing two Yamaha Approved Service Centres.

From Monday 19 May, Yamaha will outsource servicing of the majority of its products to the Yamaha Approved Service Centres (YASCs), which are SSE Audio Group and Berkshire-based Broadcast Service Centre.

In addition, Yamaha is appointing two freelance service engineers to carry out on-site repairs, both for land-based users and the cruise ship market.

"As our product portfolio grows, we are under ever-increasing pressure to continue the high levels of customer service that end-users have come to expect. This new organisational structure will allow us to continue delivering the highest level of support to our growing customer base," says Karl Christmas, sales &

UK - On Wednesday 25 June 2014, Oran Burns of d&b GB Education and Application Support will present an Electroacoustics seminar at UK Sales Partner, Orbital Sound's premises, located at 57 Acre Lane, Brixton, London, SW2 5TN.

Achieving intelligibility is the focus of the day for anyone wishing to broaden their knowledge and gain further understanding of the principles of electroacoustics for sound system design and engineering.

"Electroacoustics covers all the essential information in an entertaining way through visual imagery and practical demonstrations," explains Oran. "Now in its sixteenth year, this seminar has become an industry standard."

The Electroacoustics seminar is suitable for all levels of experience, for anyone wanting to know more about how loudspeakers interact with their environment and how that affects what the listener hears.

As with

Japan - Audio company All Access Inc has been appointed as distributor for the full range of Audient products in Japan, including the USB interface, iD22 and the 8-channel mic pre and ADC, ASP880.

Hiyu Nagaoka who runs pro sales, works closely with All Access Inc president Cozy Hattori and confirms the faith they have in the brand: "The Audient products have both superb sound quality and excellent usability, the whole range is very professional."

From the outset All Access has proved they mean business, as Audient products fly off the shelves. One sale of particular note was an iD22 to Suzuki Daichi Hideyuki, a top songwriter, producer and recording/mixing engineer in Japan, who recently gave a detailed review of the product in Sound & Recording Magazine. According to Daichi, "The iD22 is just what all musicians/engineers need for their desktop creations! I am t

Denmark - With its new Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system, the headquarters of Denmark's Jyske Bank has broken stereotypes in corporate meeting room design. This architectural and sonic showcase has seamlessly integrated Constellation into its everyday use, from board meetings, presentations, and open discussions to videoconferencing, all without the burden of hand-held or tabletop microphones. The system has also opened up abundant possibilities for future entertainment functions for bank staff.

Steen Mertz, director of communications technology at Jyske Bank, partnered with Anders Jørgensen, project manager for Copenhagen-based integrator Stouenborg, with the aim to create a welcoming space that encourages free-flowing conversations.

"Our goal was to optimize the space and improve communications within the bank, as well as with international business partn

USA - Janis Joplin exploded onto the music scene and almost overnight, became what many consider to be the queen of rock 'n' roll. Joplin's voice, filled with raw emotion and tinged with Southern Comfort, made her a must-see headliner. Recently, thousands of fans relived her musical journey through a Broadway show, A Night with Janis Joplin.

A two-hour musical extravaganza featuring non-stop powerful vocals, A Night with Janis Joplin was an intricate show that demanded wireless coverage across the stage. Responsible for the musical's sound design was Carl Casella of Sound Associates. Up against Manhattan's densely-populated spectrum, Casella was challenged to find a wireless microphone system with extremely efficient RF performance. He went with an all-Shure approach.

"Before Joplin hit Broadway, the show toured across the U.S., where I headed up the sound d

India - Based in the boomtown of Bangalore, DS Pro is the first Indian rental company to purchase Nexo's flagship STM modular line array system. The 108-cabinet system, comprising 36 each of the M46 Main, B112 Bass and S118 Sub cabinets as well as 8x 45°N-12 line monitors and 20x NX4x4 amplifiers, was supplied by NEXO's Indian distributor Sun Infonet.

Bangalore is home to many of India's pro audio companies, and DS Pro joined the scene in 2004. Over the past decade, this dynamic young company has worked on a variety of concerts as well as corporate, religious and educational events. The STM system joins other Nexo elements in the company's inventory, which already included GEO S, RS18 and PS10 cabinets.

"We like to think our advanced technical solutions stand ahead of the competition and gratify an extensive range of clients," says DSP Pro director, Dhinakar. &qu

Germany - Software version 5.0 for all Lawo MKII mc² mixing consoles and routers is available now. As with all Lawo software releases, version 5.0 is free of charge for all existing customers, and represents a major upgrade to functionality and operation.

Version 5.0 introduces the all-new AutoMix feature. In contrast to existing systems, AutoMix automatically balances mono, stereo and surround-sources for a variety of different applications. For talk shows or panel discussions, for example, AutoMix ensures users never miss a fader raise and always have the right mic open in time.

A completely new application would be to use AutoMix during the broadcast production of sports events and shows, where it can be used to mix the commentators and international sound, reducing spill from the crowd and avoiding sound coloration from mics when multiple commentators are working. In this

USA - Rocky Hill High School is a four-year public high school in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, USA, offering a wide variety of educational, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs. Rocky Hill's dedicated auditorium seats 500 and is used for yearly musicals, band and choir concerts, dance recitals, faculty meetings and outside events.

Unlike many multi-purpose spaces, Rocky Hill's auditorium has good acoustics and a permanent stage designed for theatrical performances. However, the auditorium's sound system, which was installed many years ago, suffered from poor sound quality and feedback issues.

Last year, the school contacted John Pizzoferrato of CMI Sound Systems in Newington, Connecticut. Pizzoferrato, who had done work for the school in the past, examined the system. He recommended that the school upgrade the system with Community Entasys column loudspeakers, a DSP process

USA - Country music superstars Alan Jackson and Merle Haggard, as well as bluegrass icons Dr. Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs, were among the 130 acts over four days in late April whose tunes wafted pristinely from MerleFest 2014. As has been the case for the past 26 years, DiGiCo consoles processed much of the music emanating from the Wilkesboro, NC festival's 13 stages, helping to cement MerleFest's reputation as a highly celebrated perennial American music event.

MerleFest was founded in 1988 in memory of Eddy Merle Watson, son of bluegrass legend Doc Watson, as a fundraiser for Wilkes Community College and to celebrate "traditional plus" music, a term coined by Doc Watson to describe the wide variety of musical genres and styles celebrated at MerleFest.

Since the festival's beginnings, Greensboro-based SE Systems has been handling sound for MerleFest. SE Systems C

UK - Theatre sound designer Mike Walker deployed the Cadac CDC eight digital production console at the heart of his sound design for the recent 50th anniversary revival of Oh What a Lovely War, in London's Theatre Royal Stratford East; the most high profile use of Cadac's new digital desk to date and its musical theatre premier on a major production. Perhaps even more significantly, it marked the first ever use by Mike Walker of a digital console on such a large theatre production.

To date Walker has remained resolutely analogue - and resolutely Cadac analogue - in his choice of mixing consoles, in pursuit of the best possible sound quality. The arrival of the CDC eight, however, changes all that. "The audio quality is stunning. Quite simply, I have never heard such stunning sound quality in a live console before," he says, "Until now, no digital desk I hav

UK - The hit stage musical of The Bodyguard, currently playing at the Adelphi Theatre in London, is relying on DPA's d:screet 4060 omnidirectional miniature microphones to provide amplification for all members of the cast who have spoken lines.

Written by Alexander Dinelaris and based on the 1992 film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, the stage version of The Bodyguard features Beverley Knight in the role of Rachel Marron, with former X Factor winner Alexandra Burke taking over from 2 June 2014.

Ania Klimowicz, deputy head of sound for The Bodyguard, says DPA's d:screet 4060s were chosen because sound designer Richard Brooker and director Thea Sharrock didn't want any microphones to be visible to the audience. The microphones were supplied by Autograph.

"We use paint, tape and make-up on the mics to make them look as invisible in the actor

Russia - Scott Willsallen, director of Auditoria Pty Ltd (Australia), was audio director and Designer for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic games at Sochi's 40,000-seat Fisht Olympic Stadium, at which DiGiCo consoles played a major part.

Scott was engaged initially by the Ceremonies Staging Agency for the first stage of planning work, then CSA engaged Five Currents to deliver the Olympic Ceremonies and World Wide Shows to deliver the Paralympics, who engaged him for the delivery stage.

The bid for tenders to provide the ceremonies' audio equipment and a 34-member team of specialists who installed and managed the impressive set-up (with nine containers of equipment) was won by Agorà of L'Aquila (Italy), who is no newcomer to Olympic events, having supplied equipment, logistic support and technical staff for Turin's 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Gam

UK - With a recently sold out headline UK tour under their belts and an appearance on the Reading and Leeds main stages confirmed, British rockers Deaf Havana continue to build on the reputation they've built as one of the UK's most exciting young acts.

Front of house engineer Ben Hammond has long relied on Audio-Technica microphones, M50 headphones and Allen & Heath's iLive mixing system to deliver the band's brand of classic rock'n'roll attitude, and filmed a video interview with the company at London's Clapham Grand venue.

In the interview, Hammond explains his choice and use of Audio-Technica mics. In addition, Hammond talks about the ease with which the Allen & Heath iLive surface and iDR MixRack have fitted into his workflow over the last four years, and his impressions of the newly updated Audio-Technica M50x headphones for mix checking.

Ben's video is live on the Aud

UK - Stage Engage have recently purchased two Roland V-800HD multi-format video switchers to add to their hire and live event inventory. Specialising in professional audio, video, lighting and stage solutions, Stage Engage provide full production services for a variety of clients including corporate events, conferences and festivals across Europe.

With a growing number of events requiring multi-camera set-ups and integrated presentations, the company needed to upgrade from their Roland V-40HD to a product which could handle more inputs. With eight multi format channels from sixteen inputs (4 SDI, 4 Composite, 4 DVI-I/HDMI, 4RGB/Component) and six outputs (2 SDI + 2 DVI-D/HDMI + RGB/Component + Composite), the V-800HD proved to be the ideal specification.

"We chose the V-800HD as the right product for the corporate market because it is truly multi format and can connect to

India - Multiple stages, over 60 artists, one massive campground and a range of activities, sports, food and drink: India's recent Enchanted Valley Carnival was a blend of music and adventure that brought together international performers and homegrown talent in one spectacular event. The picturesque venue in Pune's Aamby Valley City became the headquarters for top-of-the-line sound, jaw-dropping lights and visuals and a host of activities, complete with an eclectic line-up of artists and crystal-clear sound by D.A.S. Audio professional systems.

Event organisers Twisted Entertainment called in Mumbai-based company Sound & Light Professionals to design and install the sound solution for the EVC. The team was faced with the challenge of ensuring powerful yet clear sound for the fans at the Main and Trance stages, which faced each other at right angles. After studying the venue's p

Europe - Yamaha's Commercial Installation Solutions (CIS) series is receiving two major product additions in the form of the MA2030 Digital Mixer Amplifier and PA2030 Power Amplifier. Designed to operate in tandem, the cost-effective units are designed for small-to-mid sized applications.

Yamaha's experience of designing user friendly interfaces has resulted in deceptively simple control panels, which allow for fast setup and straightforward daily operation. Yet the MA2030 features powerful DSP functions for the background music market, including a feedback canceller, ducker and auto leveller.

The MA2030 features two microphone inputs, one on an XLR/6.3mm combi jack and a Euroblock connector, plus three stereo inputs - two for RCA plugs and one for a stereo 3.5mm plug. A pair of RCA line outputs connect the MA2030 to the PA2030, while both units feature barrier strip loudspeak

India - Since Ansata CS Pvt Ltd were appointed sole distributorship for the whole Indian subcontinent at ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt in March, the company has engaged with the d&b audiotechnik product range with considerable vigour.

"We had already fully briefed all our staff and trained three engineers in Application and Service support at the d&b facility at Backnang by the time the appointment was made," said company founder Leslie J Lean. No small undertaking with seven offices across India. "But we wanted to reach out to our clients and end users as quickly as possible." A brief discussion with application support at d&b head office in Backnang, Germany, lead immediately to a plan; APAC education manager Gert Sanner being dispatched to India barely a month later.

"In the space of a week I have visited three of Ansata's offices, in Delhi, Bangalo

Latest Issue. . .