The Netherlands - Doka nightclub inhabits the basement of the colourful Volkshotel in southeast Amsterdam. With a maximum capacity of 200, Doka bills itself as the place where “listeners become dancers and vice versa”.
To meet that mission with something more nuanced than the conventional high-volume, high-distortion club PA, Doka hired pro audio distribution and integration company Firm4 to install the unconventional loudspeaker and subwoofer designs of acoustician Tom Danley. Four Danley SH50 full-range loudspeakers and two Danley TH118 subwoofers give Doka’s patrons an audio experience.
“The old system wasn’t meeting the high standards that Kerwin Groot, Doka’s chief sound engineer and Julian Chaptal, the club’s producer and programmer expected,” explained Robert Pigeaud, representative of Firm4. “Kerwin reached out to us because he had heard Danley systems at Oosterbar and Marktkantine and at regional festivals. He was impressed by the Danley fidelity and overall performance.
“As part of our due diligence, we gave them several other options and performed a demo at Doka. The demo consisted of a pair of Danley SM60F full-range loudspeakers and a Danley TH118 subwoofer up against other ‘A-list’ brands. Within five minutes, everybody involved was convinced that Danley was the way to go.”
The new system at Doka centres on four of Danley’s flagship SH50s. They are arranged two per side, close-packed. Two Danley TH118 subwoofers round out the low end.
One four-channel MC2 Audio Delta DSP 80 powers the Danley SH50

Germany - Optocore has further extended its M-series of interfaces, with the announcement of the MADI-SRC.
This exists in the shape of two new hardware boards with either four fibre or four BNC MADI SRC (Sample Rate Converter) ports. This means that any combination of devices from the M-series (comprising M8-OPT, M8-BNC, M12-OPT, M12-BNC, M12-OPT/BNC) can be now equipped with these Sample Rate Converters for MADI streams.
With this new feature customers can use stand-alone or networked MADI routers, with streams in different sample rates. In addition, the new M-series SRC will be available in DiGiCo mode, and can be connected to the DiGiCo optical loop providing MADI SRC streams.
Speaking of this latest development, Optocore application engineering manager, Maciek Janiszewski, stated: "MADI SRC is a very useful and unique feature. Our R&D team worked tirelessly to ensure all existing M-series devices would function seamlessly with the addition of Sample Rate Conversion.
“It means that customers can now interconnect and route MADI signals from different clock domains and with different sample rates. In terms of flexibility, this moves our solution to the next level.”

Europe - Audio-Technica has launched a limited purple/black edition of its best- selling headphones, the ATH-M50x and ATH-M50xBT. The ATH-M50xPB and M50xBTPB feature metallic purple earcups and black accents including a distinctive headband and earpads.
The M50xPB share the same features as the M50x headphones, used by streamers, musicians and producers across the world, with 45mm large- aperture drivers, sound-isolating earcups and a robust construction.
The ATH-M50xBTPB harnesses the M50x studio sound for ‘an exhilarating wireless listening experience, with exceptional clarity and deep, accurate bass response’. Utilising Bluetooth technology, the M50xBTPB pairs performance with powerful features, such as a 40-hour battery life and touch controls for voice assistance. A wired connection is also supported.
Audio-Technica’s new limited edition ATH-M50xPB and the ATH- M50xBTPB will be available from August. They join the current collection of ATH-M50x models in black (ATH-M50x and ATH-M50xBT) and white (ATH- M50xWH).

USA - Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has named Erie, PA-based North Coast Marketing as its manufacturer’s representative serving Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. The agreement encompasses the entire EAW product catalogue including EAW’s new ADAPTive Series with its Anya and Anna loudspeakers and Otto subwoofer.
“Representing EAW gives us the opportunity to provide the very best cutting-edge pro audio products available on the market today,” comments Dennis Cray, principal owner of North Coast Marketing. “EAW integrates perfectly into our line card, which now includes the very best in microphones and signal processing, amplification as well as the loudspeaker itself. In addition, EAW’s digitally steerable new ADAPTive line of speakers sets the standard that all other manufacturers are trying to achieve. EAW’s product quality and innovation are second to none, and I am excited to be back representing such a prestigious company.”
Based in Erie, Pennsylvania, North Coast Marketing has served the audio industry for more than two decades as a manufacturer’s representative company specializing in high-quality professional audio equipment, backed by dedicated, timely support.
“We are pleased to be working with Dennis Cray and North Coast Marketing once again,” comments TJ Smith, president for EAW. “With Dennis’ experience, tireless work ethic and vast product knowledge, we are confident that this will allow EAW to better serve our customers in the region.”

UK - AV integrator CCOMM has installed a new multi-functional audio-visual system at the Cambridge communications hub of one of the world’s leading providers of technology to the oil and gas industry. Completed in late 2019, the new build project combines speaker systems from Italian manufacturer K-array with Germany’s Innosonix multi-channel amplifiers.
Both pro audio brands are distributed in the UK by Shefford-based 2B Heard, and it was to the company’s technical director Dave Wooster that CCOMM turned for assistance in specifying the audio system.
“We’d used K-array on previous projects and were entirely satisfied with the results,” said CCOMM project manager Andrew Giles. “As this project required a full design and build approach because the client was effectively converting the space from one usage to another, we asked Dave to submit proposals for a high performance audio system, working from our detailed dimensional drawings.
“Our client wanted to create a large multi-purpose open space with a combination of meeting rooms, a space for town hall meetings, and collaborations. Primarily it’s a data sharing room, in which participants are able to present a variety of content – that might be charts, graphs, or scientific data – and share that onto a big UniSee video wall.”
CCOMM embarked on a major transformation of the original scientific laboratory into an inviting open-plan area that could be used for meetings, presentations and for marketing purposes, and equipped with a sound system that would do justice to all t

Switzerland - Billed as Switzerland’s first open-air streaming festival, SummAIR featured a tight programme of live bands mixed on an advanced Allen & Heath dLive setup.
SummAIR was held on 18 June in the town of Hochdorf, where a small, socially distanced audience was joined by an online crowd to enjoy performances by prominent home-grown artists, including Veronica Fusaro, ZiBBZ and Marc Amacher.
With five bands performing on a single stage and just a few minutes for each changeover, the key challenge for Simon Münger from MSL Eventtechnik was to provide a quality, unbroken livestream mix throughout the evening. Reinforcing his own Allen & Heath inventory with a pair of dLive systems hired in through the dLive Rental Network, Simon devised an integrated mixing system spanning FOH, monitors, livestream and mastering matrix duties.
Simon mixed monitors from an S5000 Surface and DM48 MixRack, setting the gain structure for the whole system. Another S5000 and DM48 pairing at FOH was supplemented by an eight fader IP8 remote controller, allowing FOH engineer, Tim Werner to access presenter channels and master levels when guest engineers were mixing on the main Surface.
Oliver Deiss managed the livestream mix, adding final compression and level adjustments from a third S5000, together with a CDM32 MixRack.
Oliver Herzog took care of the mastering matrix using a 19” C1500 Surface and CDM32, adding ambient mics and handling transitions between presenters, video playback and the live mix. The FOH and monitor mixers were connected o

Belgium - RTBF, Belgium’s public broadcaster for the country’s French-speaking community has taken delivery of two identical full-IP OB trucks, with equipment from DirectOut playing a mayor role.
The two trucks were built at the German headquarters of system integrator Broadcast Solutions. The OBs are a joint development by the customer, Broadcast Solutions and NEP Belgium, who will lease the vehicles to RTBF. Both units make extensive use of DirectOut equipment for audio signal conversion, transmission and signal monitoring.
The two identical RTBF trucks come as full sized trailers and can work with up to 12 cameras (HD, but UHD-ready). They are designed as full-IP OBs, based on SMPTE ST 2110 but are capable of interfacing with baseband infrastructures. Therefore it was important that the audio infrastructure offers all common IP-based, digital and analogue formats in one vehicle.
To be as flexible as possible and to have all necessary tools at hand, each OB is equipped with a hand-picked DirectOut toolset.
Both OB trucks have to support all audio formats (analogue, AES3, MADI with SRC and Ravenna/AES67/ST2110) and this is where DirectOut comes into play. PRODIGY.MC takes care of all the intercom signals and interfaces to Riedel’s Artist 1024 Intercom Matrix. Using the RAV.IO module PRODIGY.MC converts analogue 4-wire audio to AES67 and vice versa.
Geert Thoelen, technical director at NEP Belgium, comments, “DirectOut equipment fits perfectly for the day to day use in broadcast environments. With the deployment of DirectOut eq

UK - Ripon-based speaker and sound systems manufacturer BishopSound has announced its Support Through Sound campaign, which will see the company giving away valuable professional sound equipment to a healthcare organisation, charity or not-for-profit organisation operating in Yorkshire.
From 15 July, BishopSound's customers are being asked to nominate a local healthcare organisation, not-for-profit or charity - be it a local hospital, care home, hospice, arts and music charity, charity supported youth groups, independent charities - of the nominator's choosing. At the end of July the company will pick a winner at random from all the nominations.
BishopSound's donation will be a portable Orion 15" Active Speaker worth £199 which can be used inside or outside. The Orion is a highly portable, easy to set up speaker with enough power to fill a room of 250 people with professional quality audio connected instantly by Bluetooth. No installation is needed and there are no complicated controls, it can be up and running in two minutes making it ideal for simple use.
BishopSound's Andrew Bishop said: “We want to give something back to the local community which has done so much to help establish us as one of the fastest growing companies in British audio.
“The healthcare industry and charities have been our heroes over the past few months, even more so than usual, so we're starting with them along with others unsung heroes to help b

China - LED processor manufacturer Brompton Technology has expanded its operation in China, moving to larger offices and hiring three new members of staff to further support its customers in the territory. The expansion follows the development of Brompton’s HDR technology and the successful roll out of its new Hydra measurement system, which unlocks the power of Dynamic Calibration, the enabling technology for Brompton HDR.
The new office is adjacent to Brompton’s previous facility in High Tech Industrial Park, Nanshan, in the modern metropolis of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. This facility is double the size, allowing space to calibrate and test prototype panels on site.
New calibration support engineers, Alex Guo and John Lee, both have an extensive understanding of the LED screen industry and are well placed to assist Brompton customers in China with Dynamic Calibration. Helping to run the office is new office assistant, Noora Xu, who has experience in international trade and purchasing and takes over the role from Summer Zhang.
“The decision to increase both our office space and staff was made pre lockdown,” says Elijah Ebo, Brompton’s general manager (Asia). “The incredible interest in Brompton HDR and panel recalibration, following its launch at the end of last year, had meant we were getting busier and busier, so we needed additional calibration specialists. They are very hard to find. We had to search for the right people and were very lucky to find them.”
Whilst the intervening months have been understandably quiet, Brom

USA - MXL Microphones is now shipping its AC-44 Miniature USB conferencing microphone to customers around the world, starting 21 July. With a compact footprint, MXL’s AC-44 offers a microphone solution for a range of applications that require pristine audio capture, including web conferencing, telemedicine, huddle spaces, classrooms and more. It can also be incorporated into OEM applications.
“Offering crystal clear speech intelligibility, the AC-44 removes the barriers that unclear audio creates,” says Trevor Fedele, director of sales at MXL Microphones. “In just a short time since announcing the AC-44, the mic has won many prestigious industry awards, taking home ‘Best of Show’ honours in the audio-conferencing category at major trade shows, including ISE and InfoComm. With the strong feedback that we’ve received from industry professionals, we are even more excited to get the AC-44 into the hands of our customers.”
MXL’s AC-44 utilises the company’s signature three-capsule boundary design to enhance direct sounds while mitigating noise and echoes in any workspace. The microphone’s wide 180-degree cardioid pickup pattern provides clear audio capture, focusing on sound sources in front of the microphone and eliminating unwanted noise from the back. This gives the AC-44 flexibility between working in a single-user workspace, in a medium huddle space or even in larger spaces, such as classrooms and medical facilities.
(Jim Evans)

The Netherlands - Singer/songwriter Danny Vera has been bringing his distinctive blend of Americana to enthusiastic Dutch audiences since the early 2000s. Following the success of hit single Roller Coaster, Vera and his band played a sold-out tour in late 2019 with a Yamaha Rivage PM7 digital mixing system.
The Rivage PM7 system was purchased in July 2019 by Chris Mertens, owner of Mertens-AVR, based in Eelde, near Groningen. Having started out as a young freelance engineer and worked his way up to management level, Chris set up and grew his business from renting warehouse space to owning its own large premises. Today he has built a company in which reliability and quality are central, based on three core values.
“For me, it has always been about investing in the best equipment, a proactive, committed way of working and delivering a perfect result,” says Chris. “We make sure the company is at the forefront of innovation and we are always looking for unique added value, instead of at general trends in the industry.”
Mertens AVR has a long history with Yamaha digital mixers. The company started out with the 02R, progressively upgrading through the years to the DM1000, M7CL and CL3/CL5.
“For our sound engineers, Yamaha consoles offer a lot more than just high quality output, easy workflow and interesting technical specs. They are the backbone of a production,” says Chris. “Every high end mixer brand has its own highlights and specifics, but with Yamaha you get the whole package: a multitool ready to take on every challenge a

USA - Symetrix has announced the newest addition to its i product line, the xIO Bluetooth - the first Dante-enabled Bluetooth endpoint available in a single gang form factor.
Using a modern, full-featured Bluetooth 5.0 chipset allows the xIO Bluetooth to offer extended range, a stable connection, and audio quality. Available in both US and EU form factors, the xIO Bluetooth has a clean, sleek design and is compatible with standard single gang US wall boxes with Decora faceplates, as well as EU/UK standard wall boxes.
IP control and PoE power simplify installation by allowing a single cable connection from the xIO Bluetooth to a PoE enabled network switch. The xIO Bluetooth may be configured to allow media-only connectivity, phone bridge connectivity, or both. All aspects of xIO Bluetooth control can be controlled using Symetrix remotes, SymVue panels, or third-party control systems.
The xIO Bluetooth is a fully integrated member of the Symetrix xIO family of Dante endpoints allowing full control and configuration of the device, including Dante routing, from within Symetrix ComposerTM software. All aspects of the xIO Bluetooth are fully configurable including the Bluetooth friendly device name, Dante channel names, connect/reconnect functionality, and security.

USA - Pliant Technologies has announced a series of free educational webinars on the heels of its recent MicroCom focused presentation.
Pliant will host three additional webinars throughout the month of July. Up next is the CrewWare Live! webinar (15 and 16 July), in which the Pliant team will go over the CrewWare software system setup, configurations, monitoring, and device firmware functions.
The following webinar will discuss various applications for the specific needs of House of Worship (HOW) communications (22 and 23 July). Additionally, in the final webinar of the series, the Pliant team will lead attendees through an unboxing and set up (a.k.a. Out of the Box) experience for both its MicroCom and CrewCom systems (29 and 30 July).
These interactive sessions will be led by Pliant’s vice president of global sales, Gary Rosen, along with market development manager, Art Gonzales and regional sales manager, Mark Rehfuss. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask the Pliant team questions throughout the live presentations.
https://plianttechnologies.com/webinar-crewware-live

India - The Mayfair Lake Resort in Raipur enhanced its facilities by hiring Qubix Technologies to design and install a complete, Harman Professional AVLC (audio, video, lighting and control) solution.
Opened in 2019 and located amid lush greenery that overlooks the Jhangh Lake, the luxurious Mayfair Lake Resort offers lavish accommodations, banqueting and event space.
"Mayfair needed a multi-aspect, cross-category solution for their new property in Raipur. From audio and video over IP signal distribution, to lighting, microphones, mixers and speakers, we sourced products from Harman because of their complete solutions,” said Rhythm Arora of Qubix Technologies.
Qubix deployed an arsenal of Martin lighting fixtures, including 40 Martin Exterior Wash 200, 32 Exterior Wash 100 and six Exterior Wash 210 units. While the Exterior Wash lights provide reliable performance and durabality to withstand weather demands, Qubix Technologies lit up the indoor spaces with two RUSH MH5 Profile compact moving heads and 96 RUSH CS1200 Graze linear wash fixtures, which offer the resort flexibility to choose the exact look they need for certain areas. The lighting system also includes eight Martin DMX 5.3 Splitters to ensure peak operation and maintain proper DMX signal throughout the hotel.
Beyond the lighting displays, Qubix also equipped Mayfair with 12 JBL VRX932LAP two-way powered line array loudspeakers, while four VRX918SP powered flying subwoofers offer accurate low-frequency response.
Throughout the rest of the resort’s indoor spaces, Qubix inst

USA - When the MARC Theatre in Salt Lake City underwent a major renovation in 2012, converting it from an indoor sports facility at the Park City Municipal Athletic and Recreation Centre to a 564-seat high class movie theatre, it quickly established itself on the circuit of the world-famous annual Sundance Film Festival.
Co-founded by Robert Redford in 1981, in an attempt to draw more independent film makers to Utah, the Sundance Institute had formally renamed the original US Film Festival the Sundance Film Festival 10 years later, (reflecting Redford’s character in Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid).
A long-term member of the technical crew at Sundance, Dan Beedy took over as technical project manager in 2013, and in the last three years has focused on upgrading the event’s audio reproduction capabilities, noting how far audio was lagging behind the technological visual leap made by digital projection. This has resulted in the installation of a Martin Audio WPC scalable resolution line array, as the centrepiece of a 7.1 system.
“We realised that the sound systems hadn’t seen an upgrade since the 90’s,” he said. Although some had received Dolby Atmos fit-outs, the MARC, which hosts many prominent festival premieres, had been neglected.
“Sundance has always had a focus on presenting their films to a high standard so we needed to find partners to help bring the audio up to spec,” he reports. Enter production project manager, Ben VanDonkelaar, senior audio engineer at BlueWater Technologies, and Martin Audio’s North-eastern r

USA - The Audio Engineering Society has declared October 2020 the Audio Engineering Month as the organisation expands its traditional autumn convention technical programme and exhibition showcase into the virtual realm, offering ultimate accessibility to the global audio engineering community.
Comprising four weeks packed with audio presentations and activities - from 6 October to 30 October, the AES Show Fall 2020 Professional Audio Convention offers a full technical programme access featuring live and on-demand content, student and career activities, engagement with peers and audio luminaries, the audio hardware and software product showcase and special events throughout the month.
Early Bird rates are $99 for AES members and $224 for non-members - the latter including one year of AES membership. Registration is open now at AESShow.com.
“Expanding the convention offerings across a full month answers one of the biggest questions raised by attendees in the past when faced with hundreds of compelling sessions packed into just four days: ‘How do I choose?’,” says AES Show Fall 2020 Convention co-chair Jonathan Wyner. “Applying lessons learned from AES’s first online Convention experience with the highly successful AES Virtual Vienna, we are extending the timeline to provide our ‘attendees’ the opportunity to dive deeper into the program and explore new topics.
“Plus, we have some exciting and innovative new programming. A virtual event allows us to take attendees places they have never been. It also means that you will b

USA - Digital signal processing specialist Xilica has announced a new hospitality industry installation with Carte Hotel, a boutique hotel nestled in the Little Italy section of San Diego.
J&E Pro Audio specified Xilica with the systems design, which called for a complete AV over IP infrastructure as part of the ground-up construction. While connected to the central IT infrastructure, J&E Pro Audio configured a dedicated LAN with managed network switches to separate all audio and video signals from standard IT traffic. The company selected the Xilica Solaro FR1 DSP to optimize quality and multi-channel performance over the network, while citing its modularity and seamless integration with Dante audio networking as other deciding factors.
“We ran our network on the hotel fibre infrastructure, with dedicated switches that run parallel to the hotel network,” said Jaire Lopez, president, J&E Pro Audio. “We programmed the Xilica Solaro FR1 to process, manage and transport audio across multiple public spaces, including a 16th floor rooftop bar, fourth-floor meeting rooms, a second-floor fitness centre, and a ground-floor restaurant and lobby to support background music.”
As Lopez explains, the Xilica Solaro FR1 manages a mix of analogue and digital signals that are ingested and routed across many spaces. This includes live music from the rooftop DJ booth, which injects analogue signals into the Solaro FR1 over Dante. In all, the redundant Xilica Solaro FR1 configuration manages 64 audio inputs and outputs, and optimizes audio quality b

Norway - Norway’s National Theatre has made a major investment in DPA’s 6000 Series of subminiature microphones because the sound team was so impressed with the tiny size of the capsules and their ability to withstand water, particularly in the form of sweat.
Kai Priddy, who for the last 14 years has been the theatre’s head of sound, says: “We started using the 6000 Series in 2019 and now have around 30 - mostly lavalier mics (6060 and 6061), but also some 6066 Headsets. We started gradually phasing out our stock of DPA 4000 Series lavalier and headset microphones, which we have been using for many years, and replacing them with the new subminiatures. The fact that the 6000 headsets are physically smaller is preferable visually, plus their resistance to water does prevent sweat droplets from getting onto the membrane. As most sound techs know, this can be very annoying and potentially ruin a performance.”
Located in Oslo, Norway’s National Theatre dates back to 1899 and has three stages of varying sizes, with the main stage seating approximately 750 people. It also has a satellite location, the Torshov Theatre, which adds a fourth stage.
“We are a well-established stage and well known as one of our country’s most important theatre venues,” Priddy says. “We have welcomed an average of 250,000 visitors each year, spread out over 30-50 productions, and about 1,000 performances in total every year. Our productions cover all genres, including classical theatre and musicals, as well as experimental/modern theatre, award ceremonies and

USA - The Behind the Scenes Mental Health Initiative has rolled out a number of suicide prevention tools as part of joining the #BeThe1To campaign run by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and its partners. These tools are available at btshelp.org/bethe1to.
A BTS survey of the industry revealed that most people want to help if they see someone at risk for suicide but they don’t know what to say or do, or are afraid they will make things worse or damage their relationship with the person. Evidence shows this is not the case and it is critical to reach out.
The first part of the campaign is called Know the Warnings Signs because the more familiar someone is with the warning signs of suicide the more likely they are to recognize them. BTS has created posters listing some of the key warning signs in English, Spanish and French and they are available for download in three different sizes. The posters are a simple design so they can be easily printed out and posted on call boards, notice boards, breakrooms, and anywhere other company or safety information is shown.
The second part of the campaign is the #BeThe1To poster which lists the five steps that can be critical to saving a life. The more familiar everyone is with them, the more comfortable they will be taking those steps. These posters are available in the same sizes and languages with the addition of a JPG for sharing on social media. They also include a QR code which leads to additional information. Each of the five steps is very straightforward but acting on them can sometimes be

Argentina - Buenos Aires-based AV services company Mediapro Argentina has recently turned to IP for a comprehensive technical upgrade of their facilities, where ESPN broadcasts sports-related programming for the region in Spanish.
The new IP infrastructure has been integrated by Unitetecnic, the Mediapro Group systems integrator and engineering company, and is based on solutions and knowhow from Lawo.
Lawo’s video, audio, control and networking solutions were chosen to ensure interoperability and maximum use of resources across the facilities.
In a first upgrade stage, Mediapro Argentina and Unitecnic have installed a V__matrix IP video system for edge conversion and signal processing as well as an mc²-based audio infrastructure featuring six mc²56 production consoles, Nova audio routers, five Lawo Commentary Units (LCU), VisTool-based touchscreen control panels and several R3LAY virtual soundcards for integrating PC-based audio solutions into the ST2110/AES67/Ravenna IP network.
Lawo is no stranger to Mediapro Argentina as they have already installed Lawo equipment in their OB van, using an mc²56 production console, Compact I/Os and LCUs since May 2018. In January 2019, Lawo supplied an IP solution for the complete facility of CONMEBOL (South American football federation) with four ruby radio consoles and twelve LCUs in addition to a fully customized VisTool solution and a central PowerCore for routing tasks.

Austria - The new production of the award-winning musical theatre extravaganza Black Rider at the Theater Bielefeld in Wallern uses Pixera media server systems, 4K projectors and tracking technology for realising a unique stage experience.
Since its original premiere in the year 1990, The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets has managed to combine classical culture, postmodernism and a music soundtrack to entertain audiences around the globe.
Robert Wilson's artistic vision, coupled with the narrative skills of William S. Burroughs and the music of Tom Waits, laid the foundation for the enduring popularity of this avant-gardist work.
The Theater Bielefeld's latest production by Michael Heicks uses cutting edge AV technology that helps Sascha Vredenburg's evocative video content come to life on stage.
Within record time, the theatre developed its own health and safety plan as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, adding a number of innovative measures on top of government regulations, in order to make it possible for rehearsals to continue.
Some of these measures include an audio setup that allows for the Theater Bielefeld's own orchestra to play live music whilst being physically present in a different part of the premises, a few hundred meters away from the actual stage. On a smaller scale, changes to the pre-covid mode of operations also include individually allocated battery boxes to minimize the necessary physical contact between cast and technicians.
The play itself is loosely based on the German Freis

Australia - DiGiCo consoles are finding additional life in the world of serious live stream events. One such place is in Australia for The Cube, a premium live streaming event space which is gaining serious traction in the world of live DJ streaming.
The Cube can be compared to an entire festival stage, crammed into a compact streaming space. Its design is the combined effort of Melbourne AV retailer Concert Audio Visual, lighting and visuals specialists VizFx and Melbourne-based online radio station LESH FM.
A DiGiCo SD9, supplied by DiGiCo’s Australian distributor, Group Technologies, was chosen for mixing pre-broadcast audio, as well as handling the stage monitor mix, DJ Booth audio and Front of House mix.
Anthony Graziani, Concert AV’s sales manager and one of The Cube’s primary team members, says DiGiCo was the logical choice for the setup.
“The SD9 can accomplish a lot from such a compact format,” he says. “The routing options and onboard signal processing mean we have something in place that is well suited for supporting DJ performance audio but can just as easily handle mixing an entire band for the stream, or whatever else you can throw at it.”
The team’s in-house engineer, Oliver Coupe Sando, adds that the SD9 was chosen for its sonic transparency.
“When we stream, we’re looking to introduce as little tone shaping and colour to the sound as possible, so that we can translate what we’re hearing in the space, to people’s headphones and living rooms, with the maximum amount of clarity available t

Austria - A new exhibition by sound artist Bill Fontana entitled Primal Energies opened 1 July at Kunsthaus Graz. Occupying the museum’s vast ovoid dome Space 01 Gallery, Primal Energies pays homage to the future of renewable energy through a mesmerising mix of video imagery and evocative soundscapes that portray our planet’s expanding wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal resources.
While viewing images on the eight large screens, visitors are immersed in a blend of energy-related sounds reproduced by 64 Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers. The impact of the installation is further enhanced by dynamic spatial sound movements created and automated using a beta version of Meyer Sound’s soon-to-be-released Spacemap Go technology.
Sounds and images for the work were recorded on location by Fontana with assistance from Scott George of London-based Autograph Sound. During this preparatory period, Fontana and George - both of whom have long association with Meyer Sound - were recruited to serve as beta testers of Spacemap Go.
A spatial sound design and mixing tool that leverages the processing power of the Galileo Galaxy Network Platform, Spacemap Go provides ‘an easy-to-use interface for multi-channel panning using one or more iPads connected to systems comprising multiple Galaxy processors’.
“We used Spacemap Go extensively on Primal Energies,” says Fontana. “It’s the ‘digital brain’ behind all that is happening with dynamic spatialisation of sound. In that realm, it lets me do everything I did before usin