Switzerland - Swiss acoustic design company Studio Equipment, run by industry veteran Terry Nelson, has been using its extensive Klark Teknik inventory on a number of recent high-profile projects. Promotion for Robbie Williams' new album Intensive Care kicked off with a live cinecast from Berlin. The event was played in over 23 cinemas and venues across Europe, the largest venue being the 4,000-capacity Palladium in Cologne, a converted cable factory which has been converted to a cultural centre.
Studio Equipment was mandated by Shooting Partners UK, who handled the technical organisation of the transmission, to supervise the sound for the Palladium event. Left-Centre-Right signals were created via a TriField decoder from the stereo mix coming from Berlin, then the Left-Centre-Right-Sub bass outputs were fed into a DN9344 Helix slave for system EQ and final adjustments to the mix to suit the venue. The DN9344 was controlled by a PC running Elgar V3.07 remote control software (available as a free download from www.klarkteknik.com).
"The ability of the Helix to combine notch and low/high pass filters together with parametric and graphic EQ sections rose to the occasion admirably," says Nelson. "More than 4,000 happy punters grooved away as if Robbie himself was in the hall - even down to enthusiastic applause and the waving of sparklers!"
Nelson also travelled to Paris during October to handle the sound for the HD Auditorium, a new event for the annual SATIS show, which provided an added boost to the introduction of HDTV. A conference r
Belgium - EML Productions has used its new Apex IX 48 Intelli-X speaker management systems for a major live event featuring Jean-Michel Jarre, staged in Antwerp to mark the opening of the new Eurocam Media Center. The Eurocam Media Center will form an important cluster of companies involved with High Definition Television (HDTV). Housing several media companies, together with eight television and movie studios on site, the Center will be one of the most important infrastructures for television and movie recording in the Benelux.
At its official inauguration, attended by Belgium's prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, a huge live event was staged in the main television studio owned by Alfacam. Live HDTV feeds were set up all over the world for musical performances by Belgian rock group Novastar and percussion artist Meloritmo. The highlight of the TV show, which was broadcast live on HD1, Euro1080's HDTV channel, was a performance by Jean-Michel Jarre.
PA provider EML Productions, which recently embarked on a programme to replace all the processors in its inventory with Apex Intelli-X speaker management systems, was using a large number of its new units to do the show, providing component alignment, EQ and system delay for the Adamson PA system.
Joost Machiels, EML account manager for the event, explains that the main PA was comprised of two clusters of eight Y-10 Adamson cabinets, with four EML Subs per side, used for the opening act Novastar, a well-known Belgian rock 'n' roll band. Jean-Michel Jarre's performance used a surround system, consisting of six clusters o
UK - Vieta's DO-5 full-range loudspeakers have been chosen for installation in a unique visitor attraction, the newly-renovated Castle Jail in Lincoln Castle, which is the only surviving Victorian institution of its kind in Europe. Vieta earned its extended stay in prison at the hands of FT-AV, an established AV company based in Harrogate in north Yorkshire, which was asked to design and specify a complete audio system for the Jail prior to its opening as a site of historic interest for tourists, 127 years after the last inmate left the prison.
Castle Jail required an interactive audio-visual system, utilizing multiple projection, audio sources, all within definable as well as combinable zones, to be purpose-designed and built together with a specially programmed computer system for overall control. FT-AV's owner and MD Rick Lawson maintains that "the real challenge was the acoustic anomalies of the Victorian building, which is necessarily a very stark and austere environment. It was obvious that whatever loudspeaker enclosures we could use would have to be reasonably compact, aesthetically appealing, but, most important of all, they would have to provide exceptional speech intelligibility. Similarly, all mountings, fixings and bracketry would have to be extremely versatile, given the number of unusual fixing situations."
After several tests, Lawson chose to spec Vieta's DO-5 full-range cabinets for the simple reason that "they were significantly more intelligible and coherent in their dispersion than other branded boxes at a similar price point. I
The Netherlands - Bosch Security Systems has announces a number of additions to its DCN Digital Congress System, making it "the most complete and versatile system of its kind available on the market today" according to the company. Key improvements include a chairman 'free-seating' facility, high-speed optical cable connection, graphical display of all language character types, and microphones which are "immune to interference from mobile cell phones" - a new technology for which Bosch says it has filed a patent.
DCN Next Generation has been designed and developed in close consultation with congress delegates, interpreters and operators. As a result, the system is suitable for a wide range of applications ranging from straightforward discussion groups to multi-lingual congresses with thousands of delegates. The system allows delegates to choose the floor language or any of 31 different interpretations with high-quality speech (up to 20kHz).
Bosch's award-winning (iF International Forum) flush-mount delegate/chairman unit, has similar functionality to the Concentus tabletop unit. It enables 'click-to-fit' installation in tables or armrests without the need to drill holes or affix with screws or nuts and bolts. This unit offers a choice of functional panels that combine in a strip to be customized to suit application requirements. The DCN Discussion unit can function for either delegate or chairman use, allowing free seating for the chairman. Microphones provide communication for two delegates, while full-scale electronic voting is also enabled.
Canary Islands - The Synco Europe Network audio rental franchise has a new member, with the announcement that RS Sonocom SL of Grand Canaria has become the first Synco Network member in the Canary Islands. Sonocom, based near the resort of Maspalomas, provides professional audio, video and lighting sales, installations and rental. The company, run by brothers (all electronics graduates) Eduardo, Paulo and Oliver Armas, has been in business for 15 years and operates throughout the Canary Islands.
Under the agreement Sonocom has already taken delivery of 24 cabinets of Synco W8LC line array cabinets by Martin Audio, along with a complete Synco standard set of processors, flying and rigging hardware, flightcases, cabling and wheel boards. The Synco Network is also providing comprehensive training to Soncom's technicians and sound engineers.
The deal was inspired by a fast growing audio business across the Canaries as the boom in tourism and other factors fuel a dynamic economy. "We are already very busy in the installation market," says Oliver Armas, "where we have contracts for new projects in a number of prestigious congress buildings and exhibition halls, as well as upmarket hotels and smaller venues and clubs.
"What we needed, however, was a state-of-the-art rental system to meet growing demand in the rental sector. We were discussing various options with our existing suppliers, who explained to us about the ways in which the Synco Network can benefit independent rental companies and, because we already operate, and are very happy with, Mar
UK - ProdyTel has announced a reduction of 35% off its S-Cluster system, which has recently been successful in securing a series of major orders, say the company. The systems are to be installed throughout the German Railway network after a pilot project was conducted by tramway operator SSB in Stuttgart earlier this year. ProdyTel say: "SSB were so impressed that they are due to update their complete audio communication system to S-Cluster technology in 2006."
One of the very first S-Cluster installations was the Metro system in Athens, which was completed just in time for the Olympic Games. The S-Cluster encoders and output boxes are now streaming train times, background music and security alerts to stations via a fibre optic network. S-Cluster system can also stream audio using Mpeg 4s and aptX over a standard IP Network (TCP-IP).
"This is great news", commented John Midgley, managing director of UK distributor beyerdynamic. "The system has already proven itself to be an industry leader and now the price reduction makes it extremely competitive. We will see the market really open up for S-Cluster."
(Lee Baldock)
Switzerland - From 23 July to 6 September this year, Heidi, the Musical premiered against the idyllic backdrop of Lake Walensee, Switzerland. Audio design was handled by sound designer Thomas Strebel, Switzerland's 'Mr. Musical'. As his main rig for the gig, Thomas selected the HK Audio's COHEDRA Compact sound reinforcement system, a system with which he had already grown familiar on several prior occasions.
Christian Kraska from Swiss HK Audio distributor, SDS Music Factory, lent his support to Swiss sound company Hyposound during the planning stage with the CAPS software as well as during installation of the system. In the process, there were several hurdles to overcome, as the very wide stage was located directly on the banks of Lake Walensee. Temperature fluctuations, high humidity, rain and wind had to be taken into consideration throughout the planning stages. As it turns out, this summer there were in fact several quite severe storms with winds of up to 118 km/hr and in fact subsequent flooding in parts of Switzerland, and some of the performances were forced to be canceled. The performers' wardrobe and the complex stage hydraulics in particular took a strong hit from the severe weather.
All the same, while the COHEDRA Compact system had been installed outdoors the whole time, fortunately it was somewhat protected in PA towers that were dressed in black transparent material and sheltered from the storms by a roof. The amplifiers - the amp racks had been positioned beneath the stage - ran for nearly 2,000 hours non-stop, as the system was to be kept
Australia - In Victoria, Drama is rapidly becoming one of the fastest growing subjects on the High School curriculum, particularly among VCE (year 11 and 12) students. Caulfield Grammar School recently addressed this trend by investing in two new, identical new Performing Arts Centres - one at its Caulfield Campus and one at its Wheelers Hill campus.
Architects John Gribble Pty Ltd designed a functional space with the assistance of theatre consultants Entertech and electrical engineers Adrian Newman & Associates. With 16 years' experience in the industry, Lightmoves was contracted to provide lighting and audio visual infrastructure throughout both venues. Before work commenced on site, Lightmoves created shop drawings showing cable routes and types for the electrical contractors. This included cables for DMX (consisting of three sets of two universes of input, and 20 DMX outlet locations), Ethernet (cable termination to 15 locations), paging, intercom, house lighting control, video and show relay.
As the theatrical lighting outlets onstage needed to be relocatable, 50mm circuit tubing was used. The 6m long pre-wired bars were fixed to the scenery batons allowing distributed power to any bar. The fan-out was then patched to LSC iPRO dimmers as required. Each of the theatres contained eight bars with an impressive total of 96 outlets.
Lightmoves also designed and built a stage manager's console featuring an all-steel frame, large lockable castors, a cable harness, a flip-up lid and double doors underneath. The customised console was also home to a Creative Audio
UK - Soundcraft found themselves up in court this month - and all for trying to help the BBC's Children in Need fundraiser. It came about when Michelle Brinkley from Hertfordshire Coroner's Office sent out a call for help and told Soundcraft that the local Coroner's unit were putting together a band - fittingly calling itself the Deathwatch Beetles - and needed auxiliary sound equipment.
Soundcraft quickly came to the rescue, supplying one of the company's popular GigRac 600 fully-featured 8-channel amp mixers, and six AKG D880 mics. Soundcraft supported the band through their rehearsals - which took place inside the Hatfield Coroner's Court - before the main fund-raising event, organised by Hertfordshire Police Officers at nearby Stanborough School.
Spurred on by a mention on Terry Wogan's radio show (which resulted in a Good Luck card from Mark Knopfler), and led by semi-pro musician (and manager of Hertfordshire Coroner's Unit), Steve Charteris, the group's 25 minute choregraphed set included '60s and '70 s standards like Mustang Sally, Hard Day's Night, Eight Days a Week and We Will Rock You plus the highlight - a specially written theme song Grim Reaper, Leave Our Folks Alone (based on Pink Floyd's The Wall).
Keith Watson of Soundcraft said: "We were delighted to have helped out. We couldn't have sat back and seen the Coroners' debut concert die an accidental death."
The sale of special T-shirts boosted the group's fund-raising activities - which raised nearly £2,500. The Deathwatch Beetles have already been offered a follow-up gig during
UK - Motorhead return for their 30th anniversary tour of Europe and the UK, which kicked off in the UK at the end of October and runs for eight weeks until Christmas. As they have done for the last 27 years, Audiolease is supplying PA, and has invested in a brand-new Midas Heritage 3000 for the shows, purchased from Marquee Audio.
Like Motorhead, Audiolease's Steve Sunderland can look back to the '70s when it all started. "I've always liked Midas, and, as a general rule, over the years we've always stuck to it. Everybody knows where they are with Midas, quite literally, as the ergonomics are so well-known by today's engineers. The general consensus is that they're the best-sounding desks ever made."
The new Heritage 3000 console is being used by front-of-house engineer Dave Hillsden. There is another Midas desk on monitors, where engineer Ian Dobbie is using an XL3. Audiolease is providing Motorhead with a L-Acoustics V-Dosc system, which, together with the Heritage desk, will then go on to service a new year tour by The Pogues.
(Lee Baldock)
Denmark - On 22 October, over 80 million viewers tuned in for a show broadcast from the Forum events centre in Copenhagen called Congratulations! - a gala celebrating 50 years of the Eurovision Song Contest. Nordic Rental was commissioned to handle the sound, opting for line array systems from Electro-Voice.
Lasting over two and a half hours, Congratulations! looked back over the first half century of the contest, to which acts like ABBA, Cliff Richard, Johnny Logan and Nicole - all former winners - owed much of their success, and viewers were invited to phone in their choice for the best song in the Eurovision's 50 year history from a shortlist of 14, not all of which actually won the competition the year they were entered. The winner by a large margin was ABBA's Waterloo, written Benny Andersson (who admitted to having voted personally for the second placed song, Volare) and Björn Ulvaeus.
Based in the Danish city of Løsning, Nordic Rentals was the sound company entrusted with responsibility for the prestigious event, and when it came to electing their own winner, "the sound system of sound systems", Nordic's engineers split the honours between the XLC and X-Line Very Compact (XLD) - both systems from Electro-Voice.
(Lee Baldock)
UK / Korea - Prism Sound has appointed Seoul-based Echo Korea as exclusive distributor for the company's range of audio test and measurement equipment. The company, which was established in 2001, already sells Data Acquisition systems and distributes products for Fluke, Agilent and Tektronix.
Echo Korea's president, Young Hun Jeon, says the market for test and measurement equipment in Korea is growing, thanks to new applications such as broadcast digital equipment, Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) and digital related products.
Prism Sound's compact and cost effective dScope Series III audio test and measurement tool is ideally suited to the needs of these developers because it allows for the high precision generation and analysis of analogue and digital audio and delivers the functionality and precision needed for testing the latest audio technology.
"Currently, Audio Precision has over 80% of the audio test and measurement market in Korea and until now there has been no competition for their products," Young Hun Jeon says. "There have been other companies offering test equipment but it hasn't been based on PC operation, which is how most customers in Korea prefer to work. The Prism Sound dScope allows us to offer a viable alternative because it is PC-based and can easily compete with an AP unit in terms of capability and price. From the demonstrations we have already conducted with our customers, we know there is enormous potential for the dScope in Korea and plenty of interest in its capability and price structure."
This interest ha
UK - Trantec's S4000 UHF radio mic system has been specified by a host of regional theatres nationwide to augment their in-house audio capacity. Venues including the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, the Nottingham Playhouse, Rhyl Pavilion and the Wycombe Swan and Town Hall in High Wycombe have all embraced the S4000s potential to offer a compact, robust and cost effective solution for a variety of productions, say Trantec.
Manufactured at Trantec's south London HQ for theatre, live events and conferencing applications, the S4000 is based on its sister product - the award-winning Trantec S5000. The S4000 multi-functional receiver pack boasts Trantec's signatory full frequency agility (844-865Mhz) via 32 switchable channels.
The matching diversity receiver features a bright LCD display that clearly shows chosen frequency, RF level, VU, Mute Level, User ID and Antenna Diversity Selection. The S4000 microphones are available in condenser and dynamic hand-held versions as well as head worn and lapel package. Very robust and offering maximum flexibility for diverse applications, their PP3 alkaline batteries afford operation up to eight hours.
Jonathan Hill, technical manager at Wycombe Swan, commented: "We opted for a Trantec system as in my experience all their range is synonymous with quality. We have initially acquired a 6-way system, which has already been deployed with great success on productions as diverse as Ann Summer's new 2006 Catalogue launch through to George Galloway's political one-man show. The system provides a cost-effective alternative to constantly
Liechtenstein / USA - Neutrik's OpticalCon fibre optic connector system picked up its second award of the year at the LDI exhibition in Orlando, Florida on 12 November. Earlier in the year, the company collected the Pick Hit Award at the InfoComm show in June. At LDI, OpticalCon was chosen as Product of the Year 2005 in the sound category.
Neutrik's OpticalCon particularly impressed with its robustness and favourable price. A unique feature is the automatic sealing shutter with silicone gaskets to protect the optical fibre against dust and dirt. OpticalCon is available with the approved push-pull locking mechanism, say Neutrik.
The Neutrik group is the worldwide leading manufacturer of professional connector systems for the entertainment industry. The array of products ranges from XLR connector systems, jacks and plugs, loudspeaker connector systems, patch panels, coaxial connectors (BNC) to industrial connectors.
(Lee Baldock)
Canada / Australia - Canadian loudspeaker system manufacturer Adamson has expanded its distributor network to include Australia. ATT Audio Controls is based in Melbourne, and is distributor for such companies as Lake, Cadac and Kling & Freitag.
The company's founder, Frank Hinton, explained the new partnership: "In Adamson we discovered a similar corporate culture to our own. We encountered a company whose business activity is relationship based, rather than opportunistic, with a 'tell it how it is', no nonsense persona, which is exactly how we like it. Their higher than normal investment in, and allocation of resources to, client/product support, impressed us greatly. When considering the product the company produces, we looked at issues such as relativity in our particular market place along with product performance worldwide. They are clearly at the elite level."
He continued: "Ultimately the decision to partner Adamson in Australia was an easy one and we look forward to a long term relationship based on trust, mutual collaboration, the aspiration of achieving outstanding results in the market place and fun."
To date, ATT Audio Controls has already sold a SpekTrix system, consisting of 20 SpekTrix, 4 SpekTrix Waves and 8 SpekTrix Subs, destined for a Permanent Installation at Christian City Church located in Oxford Falls NSW Australia.
(Lee Baldock)
UK - Pro Audio Systems, the Bradford-based audio and AV rental, sales, installation, conference, and events production company, has been appointed a Midas and Klark Teknik dealer for the north west of England by the manufacturer. The deal saw Pro Audio Systems purchase three consoles for hire and demo stock: Midas Siena 480 and Verona 320 touring packages, and with a Venice 160.
Established in 1988, the fast-growing company is already a major dealer for Audio-Technica, Meyer Sound, and Sennheiser, among others. The company is experiencing particular growth in sales - both on-line and contact - while its hire and installation business also continues to expand. The requirement for a high quality audio console brand was key to the expansion of the company's product portfolio.
Operations, sales and marketing director Andy Turner is clear as to the positive effect that the addition of the Midas product range to the company's sales and hire portfolio will have. "We see this agreement as a crucial step toward fulfilling our goal of building a portfolio of world class audio brands," he says. "Above all, we want to establish long term working relationships with companies who share our philosophies of quality and integrity. Midas and Klark Teknik, and its people, who we have known for some time, certainly fit that description."
Speaking for Midas and Klark Teknik, Richard Ferriday, brand development manager, states, "There is a lot of activity in both the touring and fixed install industries in the north of England. To ensure proper representatio
UK - Music Live, now firmly established as the UK's premier annual public music show, once again chose HK Audio to be the PA system of choice throughout the event at the NEC in Birmingham. Handling sound reinforcement duties from the main live stage to individual on-stand demo performances, this is the fifth year in succession that the HK brand has been associated with Music Live.
The show setting proved ideal for the UK launch of HK Audio's innovative COHEDRA Compact line array PA system last year, with HK's flagship COHEDRA line array system taking pride of place for 2005, specified by Q Audio due to the increased scale of this years main stage. Arrays consisted of 12 flown CDR208 mid/high units per side plus 24 ground-stacked CDR210S subwoofers, with 28.8kW of power courtesy of two of each of HK's PR8 and PR16 amp/controller racks. Eight of the new ConTour Series CT115 multi-function speaker cabinets made up the monitor rig, with a DEACON stack acting as a more-than-capable drum fill.
COHEDRA, a compact line array for large venues, was barely indiscernible visually from the theatre area after being flown either side of Music Live's main live stage. In action, however, it was very discernible indeed thanks to high-performance projection and detailed dynamic performance levels for the varied roster of stage and demo acts throughout the weekend, with Q Audio's Lez Patterson, in charge of the main stage sound.
Elsewhere at Music Live, HK Audio's portable, self powered active systems were making themselves heard in various locations. The Drum Seminar Room utilise
UK - Canford Audio has announced the launch of over 800 new products via the internet, with more to come. The new additions are available either online (www.canford.co.uk) or via the company's telephone sales lines. All pricing, full technical details and application notes are initially to be found online.
Canford's already wide range, encompassing over 12,000 lines, has just grown by more than 800 items. Canford took the decision to launch the new products through their website immediately, in advance of the imminent publication of their catalogue due early in 2006. The full-colour 2006 edition will mark Canford's 30th anniversary and will contain the 800 new products and many more, say the company.
Canford signalled its commitment to a fully interactive online store some years ago and has been steadily developing the site over the last five years. The size of Canford's portfolio alone made this a mammoth task. However, anyone familiar with the Canford catalogue, should feel at ease with the website and will additionally have access to the growing database of product information, technical specifications and product manuals.
The 800 products introduced on the internet cover almost all the 22 product sections within the catalogue. These include a range of rack-mounted AES/EBU impedance converters, MDU's, and Cat 5, Cat 6, Firewire and USB panel ranges.
Iain Elliott, Canford's founder, was at pains to point out that the paper catalogue would continue alongside their internet offering. "We are very excited about how quickly we are able to bring new product
UK - For the second consecutive year, Pioneer received the award for 'Most Innovative Technology' at the House Music Awards, held on 17 November 2005 at London's famed Hammersmith Palais. Last year, Pioneer collected the Most Innovative Technology award for the CDJ-1000s series, but this year the genre-splicing DVJ-X1 DVD decks took the award.
During the ceremony, hosted by the Cuban Brothers with special guests including Erick Morillo, Arthur Baker and BBC Radio 1's Pete Tong and Annie Mac, over 20 innovators were revealed as award winners. Among these, the House Music Awards honoured David Guetta (DJ of the Year, Best Live Set and Stand Out Event), Mylo and his Breastfed imprint (Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Best Breakthrough Label), dance music diva Barbara Tucker (Outstanding Vocal and Best Live PA), and Pete Tong who received the Outstanding Contribution to House Music award from the legendary DJ Frankie Knuckles. Furthermore, supported by Pioneer, the Breakthrough DJ award was delivered to the people's choice, Shapeshifters, following Nic Fanciulli's success with the title in 2004.
Stepping up to receive the Most Innovative Technology award at the Hammersmith Palais, sales manager for Pioneer Pro DJ, Martin Dockree commented: "As boundaries between audio and audio-visual disciplines become increasingly indistinct, the DVJ-X1 is fast becoming standard. Cutting edge artists have wanted to get their hands on hardware that deals directly with the convergence for years. But now, thanks to everyone involved in the conception and development of t
Europe - GearSource Europe Ltd, the web-based company marketing used and ex-demo equipment to the entertainment industry in conjunction with USA-based GearSource Inc, has announced that its website has gone live.
The site - at www.gearsourceeurope.com - is aimed at anyone looking for a bargain or interested in turning their excess stock into cash, and more than 1,500 lighting, audio, staging, and audio-visual items already listed, say the company.
(Lee Baldock)
Russia - MC2 Audio recently made its Russian debut with distributor Pro Audio & Light at Music Moscow 2005 held at the Cultural Exhibition Center 'Sokolniki' in Moscow. "We are now in our 21st year of business," says Pro Audio & Light's Sergei Korovin. "We've been exhibiting at Music Moscow since it started 11 years ago, but this is the first time we've shown MC2 amplifiers there, although we have exhibited monitor loudspeakers from MC2 sister company Quested for many years."
"We had 12 MC2 amplifiers in our system rack, plus racks that were powering Turbosound's Aspect system on another booth in the 'Loud Hall'. The Russian market hadn't seen such a top class product before and they were very well received. Conversely, Quested is a very well known product in Russia and the CIS countries and there is an increasing trend for people to use these monitors in the high-end residential market as a hi-fi solution or in their home-theatre systems. We made some significant sales of both brands and expect to see this continuing in the future."
"This is a rapidly developing market for our amplifiers," adds MC2 managing director Ian McCarthy, "and it's encouraging to hear that there was such a great reaction to the E Series at the show. We have a very good relationship with Pro Audio & Light through Quested and we're sure that Sergei and his team will be equally successful with MC2 Audio."
(Lee Baldock)
UK - Dennis Fernandez, front-of-house engineer for Stiff Little Fingers is a major fan of Audio-Technica microphones, and has kitted out the band's vocals and virtually the entire backline from the A-T range.
The band has just come off the road after a four-week UK tour, and will be touring Ireland in December, as well as playing a number of gigs across the country. Dennis has worked with SLF for more than four years, and in that time has worked hard with the band to develop engineering and mic techniques to get the very best sound, and capture the full excitement of their performance. Dennis's vocal mic of choice is the Artist Elite AE5400 cardioid condenser, perhaps not what you would immediately expect a singer like Jake Burns to use.
"Jake's vocal range has a lot of hi-mid frequencies, and being punk, the guitars are very hi-mid as well," says Fernandez. "I went through a lot of different mics before settling on the AE5400. After having tried so many dynamic models, it sounded a lot fuller, but it responded in the same way a really good dynamic would - very in your face, but also very clear. It gave a lot of gravity to his voice and clearly reproduced all the low- mid in his voice that I just wasn't achieving with any other mic."
Dennis has subsequently extended use of the AE5400 to all vocals, miking up bass player Bruce Foxton and guitarist Ian McCallum. Fernandez previously 'understudied' with Metallica FOH engineer, 'Big' Mick Hughes. Among the many techniques he picked up from 'Big' Mick was the use of the AE2500 dual element mic
UK - Norfolk-based PA Company, K Tech Music Services, has purchased an Allen & Heath GL2800 multi-purpose live sound console as part of an expansion of the company's hire stock. Operating in the East Anglia region, K Tech manages sound systems for a diverse range of local events from rock festivals to religious groups.
"This was highlighted this summer during a gig with a visiting community gospel choir from Tottenham. Apart from the usual band instruments and vocal inputs, everyone wanted monitors! The desk coped well but I realized we needed a larger desk with more features if we were to keep providing good service," says K Tech's owner, Ken Tarling.
Tarling opted for a 48-channel GL2800, part of the new range of GL mixers from Allen & Heath. "We already own an Allen & Heath GL2200 24-channel desk, which was chosen because of its dual functionality - an important factor when you're running a tight budget and having to mix and monitor from one point. It's also been completely reliable and never once let us down," continues Tarling.
"Seeing the GL2800 in the flesh at this year's PLASA I knew it would meet all our needs regarding, quality, features and affordability. Adding the GL console to our inventory would also give us greater flexibility - apart from loads more channels and aux sends, the GL2800 has more useful features like mute groups, a matrix facility, and engineers' tool box. Furthermore, it feels familiar and is bomb proof in construction compared with others on the market, and, of course, the important thing is, it sounds go
UK - Having made an impact on the live audio scene in the handful of years it has been available in the UK, JTS has now turned its attention to the project, commercial and broadcast studio market with the launch of the JS-1 studio mic.
The JS-1 is a cardioid response, large diaphragm condenser microphone, designed to fulfill a variety of roles. The manufacturer says it is specially suited to applications such as vocals (including speech), general orchestral and spot miking of wind, brass and woodwind instruments, as well as strings (particularly cello and double bass) plus piano and percussion. It is also well-suited to for overhead drum and percussion applications.
The design criteria of for the JS-1 were strict - to offer exceptional performance in both acoustic and physical terms. The former is achieved by the use of a one inch super-thin 24K gold-plated externally biased Mylar diaphragm, coupled to advanced circuit design using the finest components, which delivers low self-noise, exceptional transient response and the transparent reproduction of acoustic characteristics.
(Jim Evans)