BBC Polar Bear Mission Brings Along Lectrosonics Mics

KAKTOVIK, Alaska – With each day seemingly colder than the one before, a combination of scientists and a BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) production crew recently set out to document the effects of global warming on the Arctic frontier. With a focus on the plight of the region’s Polar Bears as well as the melting permafrost, the group worked from their base camp in this northern village on the Beaufort Sea coast and traveled by helicopter in search of the highly dangerous, yet vulnerable animals. Capturing audio on a mission of this nature is challenging enough, and in this harsh environment — with sub-zero-degree temperatures and high wind — the task becomes even more difficult. Wireless microphones were a necessity and, to ensure production quality worthy of the BBC, the mission critical performance attributes of Lectrosonics wireless technology were placed into service.

CARACUS, Venezuela – Showcasing the international adoption of JBL Professional VerTec line arrays, Corporacion Dynaco C.A. in Venezuela provided concert sound rental services for two of the largest events held during Festival Movistar Musica 2008. Movistar, a division of the Spanish telecommunications companyTelefonica, sponsored the festival.  More than 25,000 people were attracted to the production sites, which each featured eight major international artists from Venezuela, Spain, Argentina and Colombia.

DALY CITY, Calif. — Singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw recently kicked off a series of concert dates in support of his second album. DeGraw’s FOH Engineer Erick “Otto” Celeiro is mixing the show on a Digidesign Venue system. The compact configuration comprises a D-Show Profile control surface, along with Digidesign’s newest Venue component, Mix Rack, a compact and portable front end that combines all stage and local audio I/O, plus DSP, into a single 11-space rack.
 

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, England – Many theatre companies find themselves fully stretched with putting on just one Shakespeare play, so an ambitious project to stage repeat performances of no less than eight during the spring of 2008 could have been a recipe for disaster, especially from the technical perspective. But, with the peerless skills of the Royal Shakespeare Company, complemented by a DiGiCo D5T console at front of house, the passage of 100 years of English history in eight of the Bard’s plays has been remarkably smooth.

LAS VEGAS – Once again there was no red carpet at the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, but the now traditional orange one rolled out in its place at the MGM Grand proved just as able to support a glittering array of Nashville’s hottest talent. On a night highlighted by the presence of country music’s rising young stars and a generation of legendary figures, Shure endorser Brad Paisley took home male vocalist honors for the second straight year, while Carrie Underwood, who opened the show with “I Don’t Even Know His Last Name," received her second consecutive female vocalist trophy.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Korean pop/R&B singing sensation Se7en recently held an album preview party for his first American release, performing to a group of music industry luminaries at Hollywood’s Highlands lounge. For an audience that included executives from Interscope, Jive and Sony record labels and celebrities such as director John Singleton and musician/producer will.i.am, Seoul, Korea-based Avix Tech provided a Meyer Sound system to deliver the dynamic showcase.
 

OXFORD, Miss. – Across America, springtime kicks off the busy season for live sound companies, and graduation ceremonies are frequently a significant part of this activity. Such is the case for Brownsville, Tenn.-based Tennessee Concert Sound (TCS). Since 1999, TCS has handled live sound reinforcement for the University of Mississippi’s numerous commencement programs and, as usual, the company’s arsenal of D.A.S. Audio loudspeaker systems was placed into service for this year’s ceremonies.

ST. SIMONS, Ga. – St. Simons Community Church on St. Simons Island off the coast of Georgia had the opportunity to build a brand new facility with an expansive 1,000-seat sanctuary, a 400-seat “Children’s Clubhouse Theater” and a 300-seat youth “Rooftop Theater” to replace the multiple cramped services that they had been holding in a rented office park/strip mall. A contemporary church by anyone’s measure, St. Simons peppers their upbeat services with plenty of spirited music and dramatic interpretations of the bible. With lots of movement, vocalists, instruments and set changes on stage – both within a particular service and from week-to-week – the church required a robust wireless microphone and personal monitoring system. Sennheiser’s evolution wireless technology was chosen for St. Simons. 

MONTREAL – She's one of the best-selling recording artists in history, but she hasn't toured since 1999.  Following a record-breaking five-year engagement at the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, Celine Dion is back on the road with her Taking Chances production tour, the first major artist to carry two Studer Vista 5SR digital audio consoles to handle front-of-house and monitor mixing.

LIVERPOOL, England – ADLIB Audio continues its busy spring with their new V-DOSC system, once again in action, this time on the recent Matchbox 20 UK arena tour, specified by industry veteran FOH Engineer Jim Ebdon. It was the first time ADLIB has worked with the band, but had worked on Rob Thomas’s last UK production tour. ADLIB supplied their most experienced V-DOSC systems engineers – Tony Szabo and James Neale, plus monitor guru Marc Peers who looked after everything onstage.