News

MILWAUKEE, WI — With an assist from Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems Inc., Clearwing Productions supported the audio needs for Summerfest 2013, which drew 840,356 to Henry Maier Festival Park here over the course of 11 days (June 26-30 and July 2-7). That support included new Yamaha CL digital consoles along with PM5D-RH consoles, M7CL and LS9 consoles for seven of the event’s 11 stages. Yamaha staff also provided support to those visiting engineers who had not yet used a CL console.

MURFREESBORO, TN — The Audio Engineering Society (AES) recently wrapped its 50th International Conference, and its first dedicated specifically to audio education, at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) here. The conference took place July 25-27, 2013. More than 140 educators and industry representatives met to exchange ideas and experiences at the event, which featured an emphasis on live sound that included an overview of the sector’s history and development by Bob McCarthy, senior education consultant at Meyer Sound (pictured here).

NASHVILLE — The Blackbird Academy was founded by recording/live sound engineer John McBride and his wife, country artist Martina McBride. The two created the Blackbird Studio complex in 2002, hosting recording artists such as Kings of Leon, The Black Keys, Kid Rock, Tim McGraw and many more. Sensing a need for quality, hand-on education for studio engineers, they founded the Blackbird Academy. Following its success, the school will expand with a Live Sound Engineering program, which kicks off in January, 2014.

CHICAGO, IL — Noted jazz flute performer Michael Mason is now using Countryman Associates’ ISOMAX 2 All-Purpose Microphone for his improvisational artistry. It continues Mason’s 30-year reliance on Countryman mics for his instruments — which now include 14K gold Muramatsu flutes outfitted with 14K gold headjoints from Miyazawa and Nagahara.

LOS ANGELES — For Icon Ultra Lounge, which had been using a rented sound system since it opened in 2011, ACI Pro Audio provided a more permanent setup with RCF gear for the venue’s lounge and rooftop. Components include HDL 20-A Line array boxes, SUB 8006-AS subwoofers and RCF’s P Series All-weather loudspeakers.

BATON ROUGE, LA — For Woodlawn Baptist Church, which was looking to upgrade an outdated audio gear with a new system better suited to the music that accompanies its services, Technical Services Group (TSG) installed a WorxAudio TrueLine X5i-BA line array system with an X115i subwoofer for low-end support..

SCHWERIN, Germany — The Schwerin Castle Festival (Schlossfestspiele Schwerin), which drew crowds to the grounds of the centuries-old castle here for an outdoor performance of the operatta, Die Fledermaus form June 14 to July 21, got a wireless assist from the Dresden branch of Germany’s Neumann & Müller with 68 channels of Shure ULX-D digital wireless.

OMAHA, NE – Diversified Design Group and Midwest Sound and Lighting provided a new sound system for the family-oriented Rose Theatre here that included a Yamaha M7CL digital mixing console and the Symetrix SymNet DSP system. Today, three years after its installation, the system is still proving to meet the venue’s needs.

BOURBONNAIS, IL – For a 72,000 square-foot field house at 4,500-student Olivet Nazarene University, which houses four basketball courts and is ringed by a running track, AVI Systems provided Danley Sound Labs GH-60 Genesis Horns and Danley TH-118 subwoofers in a steered cardioids array. Along with sporting events, the field house will soon be hosting concerts, ceremonies and other large events.

MILFORD, NH – Earthworks president and CEO, Heidi Blackmer Robichaud, pictured here, announced that Peavey Electronics has been named as the company’s master distributor for its products in the Asia Pacific region. Brent Beery is managing director APAC for Peavey Electronics.

LAS VEGAS — For each of MGM Grand Hotel & Casino’s two new super-club venues, Wet Republic Ultra Pool and Hakkasan Las Vegas, Audiotek purchased and installed six L-Acoustics KARA loudspeakers and four SB18 subs. Ireland-based Audiotek worked with Angel Management Group (AMG), which operates the venues, on the project.