International News

ADELAIDE, Australia — Firehouse Productions is supporting the current world tour for the Arctic Monkeys, including a Soundcraft Vi6 digital audio console for monitor mixing. Monitor engineer Will Doyle uses the desk to run stereo ears, wedges and side fills.

GUANGZHOU, China — Sound designer Richard Booker, who works with sound designer Bobby Aiken and has been involved with 21 different productions of Mamma Mia! around the world, marveled that the medium-sized musical’s audio needs, including 83 inputs and 54 outputs, are being met by a compact DiGiCo SD8 mixing console. Booker, seated, is pictured here with Taiwanese sound operator Kevin Wang.

EDINBURGH, U.K. — Electrosonic upgraded some of the key audio/visual components in the Scottish Government’s Media Centre at St. Andrew’s House in Edinburgh. The Centre has the facility to run presentations, record proceedings and relay images to an adjacent room.

BELGRADE, Serbia — Studio Berar supported the 27th annual Belgrade Jazz Festival with a variety of Harman gear including JBL VerTec VT4888 line array elements and a Soundcraft Vi6 console. Pat Metheny kicked off the long roster of artists performing at the festival, staged at the Great Hall of Belgrade’s Sava Center.

KAPEL-AVEZAATH, The Netherlands – Road Productions, which has relied on DiGiCo gear since it became the first Dutch rental company to purchase a dual D1 Live setup back in 2004, recently expanded its inventory with a DiGiCo SD8 and SD11.

ISTANBUL – Capping a three-week concert series earlier this year, Gloria Gaynor and the Istanbul-based ENBE Orchestra performed together at the Cemil Topuzlu Harbiye Open Air Theater. DiGiCo’s Turkish distributor, Elit Light/Sound Technologies, provided the SD9 console used to mix the show.

WORPSWEDE, Germany – Joerg Mohr and Raymond Hassfeld, sound system managers at the Music Hall, recently decided to upgrade the Kling & Freitag house system with Powersoft amplifiers. They chose K3 And M50Q DSP+ETH amplifiers for their sound quality and DSP functionality, as well as remote control and monitoring capabilities.

LONDON – Adopting the darker side of Alice in Wonderland as a decorative theme, with large mushrooms, twisted clocks and top hats, No Saints’ nightclub, Wonder Land, which opened recently in Sutton, Surrey, turned to Mark Damon of Cosmic Electronics, who chose RCF gear for sound reinforcement at the new 900-capacity venue.

SOFIA, Bulgaria — ProAudio Ltd provided Community loudspeakers and Powersoft M50Q amplifiers for the recently-opened Arena Sofia. The sound system for the main arena, which can be configured to seat 3,000 to 18,000, includes 40 Community R2 loudspeakers, 12 i215LVS subs and 13 four-channel Powersoft  M50Qs.

GUANGZHOU, China –  Beijing Dadong Huahan Audiovisual Equipment Co. provided an L-Acoustics KUDO large format line source system for an outdoor concert here by Greek pianist and composer Yanni as part of his Chinese tour. The sound system was sourced through L-Acoustics’ distributor for Greater China, Rightway Audio Consultants.

LONDON – Simon Lutkin, monitor engineer for the U.K.-based band, Friendly Fires, credited the Midas PRO6 for offering “the best of both worlds – a great familiar Midas analog sound in a flexible digital package.” The band is preparing for its 2012 tour across Australia, Asia and into South America, and, based on his experience with the PRO6, Lutkins might give the new Midas PRO2 a try.

LONDON — Britannia Row Productions supported British singer-songwriter Will Young’s recent Echoes U.K. tour with a main system including an 18 per-side configuration of Butterfly CDH 483 enclosures, with two Mantas 120-degree cabinets underhung as downfills. A dozen Outline Subtech dual 18” subwoofers provided low-frequency reinforcement and the whole system was driven by Outline T Series amplifiers.