Church Comes into 21st Century with Soundcraft

BILLINGS, MT — Houses of worship often represent a unique challenge for sound system designers. With a wide range of services and other events to be accommodated during a typical week, flexibility represents a key parameter. And increasingly larger contemporary choirs with onstage musicians can present a challenge to trained audio engineers. So, when Faith Chapel Foursquare Church of Billings, Mont., went shopping for a console for its 1,100-seat sanctuary, the list of requirements was long and complex.

POINTE-CLAIRE, QUEBEC — The Warped Tour is an ultra-hip vehicle for bringing punk, ska and hardcore metal tempered with a dose of extreme sports to the masses. Warped 2007 partner Union Label Group, a Montreal-based punk record label, turned to Sennheiser Canada, long-time distributors of Innovason consoles in Canada, for technical support and advice in setting up the stage.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Sound company Lang Brothers, with headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, has acquired Adamson True Line Source arrays and complete systems solutions as specked by Adamson’s Brazilian Distributor Sotex. Lang Brothers Director Marcelo Ferreira took delivery of 24 Adamson Y-10’s, eight T-21 Subs, 12 Lab.Gruppen FP+ 7000 and FP+10000 amplifiers, Dolby LAKE processors and Reference Lab cabling. This sale marks the 4th major Adamson sale into the Brazilian market since Sotex took over the distribution just over a year ago. AF&C Eventos Ltda, Marc Systems and Dot Com preceded Ferreira’s deal.

LAS VEGAS — This year, the MTV Video Music Awards moved to Las Vegas, trimmed down to two hours, ditched the host and concentrated on live performances in an extreme makeover that was all about the music. On Sunday, Sept. 9, five of the eleven VMAs handed out went to Sennheiser users, almost half of the 29 artist performances in venues around the Palms Casino Resort featured Sennheiser mics. Sennheiser was also the only brand of microphone used throughout the pre-show, the red carpet segments and by announcers during the show.

MADISON, WI — Attracting more than 120,000 people every year and held on the State Lawn, “Concerts on the Square” is one of Madison’s largest outdoor concert events. Because the concerts are literally held out in the open air with no band shell or roof to help control and disperse the sound, capturing both the full range and subtle nuances of the orchestra and guests is a significant challenge. Sticha Brothers, a full service production company from Madison, provided audio for the event.

NEW YORK CITY — Production Resource Group (PRG) New York is supplying two Yamaha PM5D digital sound reinforcement consoles to the Today Show Concert Series held through November on the Plaza at Rockefeller Center.

NEW YORK CITY — Studer has joined the touring sound sector with the Vista 5 SR desk, a road-ready version of the established Vista 5 console already in use in theatres, studios and performing arts centers around the world. The Vista 5 SR is a direct response from Studer to suggestions from leading tour sound companies and engineers who saw the Vista 5 and realized its potential as a true live sound desk.

Martin Audio recently introduced Engineer, its new digital management processor, at the PLASA 2007 show in London. This DSP device is designed to provide comprehensive control and management of installed loudspeaker systems, while using unique algorithms to keep sound systems automatically performing at optimum level.