News

PITTSBURGH–Northern Sound & Light (NSL), an audio and lighting products dealer, recently received the 2005 Outstanding Performance Award for the Ohio Valley territory from Leprecon, a leading lighting products manufacturer. The award was given based on overall sales for the territory in 2005.

MERIDIAN, MS–Peavey has introduced a new XR Series powered mixer design with the XR 8600 and 8300 models. Geared for clubs, rehearsal rooms and even schools and churches, these powered mixers have DSP effects, dual power amps, rugged casing and exclusive technologies.

DALY CITY, CA–Hot on the heels of her chart-busting single, "Hips Don't Lie," Latin pop superstar Shakira is on tour in support of 2005's Oral Fixation CD. Not only is she bringing her sizzling live show to audiences worldwide, but also has a pair of industry veterans in tow in control of her sound. FOH mixer Brad Madix has mixed sound for a star-studded roster of talent including Def Leppard, Queensryche, Psychedelic Furs and more recently, Marilyn Manson and Rush. Celebrated monitor engineer Vish Wadi has also worked with some of the biggest artists in the business ranging from Sting and Mariah Carey to Madonna. As newly anointed converts to Digidesign's VENUE live sound environment, they're continuing the tradition of utilizing Digidesign products in every aspect of production–from the recording studio to the stage. In fact, Oral Fixation was mixed on Digidesign's ICON integrated console. Now the two are bringing that studio sound to Shakira's live shows with their VENUE consoles and Pro Tools.

BERKELEY, CA–New San Francisco Opera General Manager David Gockley is championing free performances by the opera in the city's parks, and recently created "Opera Vision," a program to simulcast live performances from the War Memorial Opera House. The performance is transmitted to an outdoor location where the public watches a six-camera video shoot projected on a large-format screen and hears the music on a top-quality system of Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers.

OXNARD, CA–L-ACOUSTICS US has appointed Jim Kinkella to the newly created position of engineering services. The announcement comes from Vice President of Sales and Marketing Paul Freudenberg, to whom he reports.

EMERYVILLE, CA–Nady Systems recently announced the introduction of a new addition to their Headmic Series–the HM-10 Mini Headworn Condenser Microphone. The HM-10 joins Nady's 2 other headmics, the HM-1 uni-directional dynamic microphone and the HM-3 omni-directional condenser microphone.

LOS ANGELES–The Foo Fighters are touring their acoustic show this summer, visiting select locations in Europe and the United States. A combination of Sennheiser evolution series and Neumann wired microphones were selected by monitor engineer Ian Beveridge and front-of-house engineer Bryan Worthen for the instruments that the band is taking out on the acoustic tour.

DALY CITY, CA–Bruce Springsteen's longtime FOH engineer John Cooper is one of the newest converts to the Digidesign VENUE live sound environment. Springsteen, one of the biggest acts in contemporary music, is on a worldwide tour through 2007 promoting his latest recording, The Seeger Sessions. Some of the tour highlights to date have been The New Orleans Jazz Festival, and television appearances on "The Tonight Show" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brian." Cooper is utilizing VENUE to mix all of Springsteen's live shows, along with Pro Tools to record and later remix the songs for a subsequent live release and for use on the Internet.

VALENCIA, SPAIN–It started with a desire to provide their fans with the "Ultimate Sound Experience" and Durell LLC was encouraged to look for ways to make the fan experience like none other in the NFL. It ended with a unique sound system for Cleveland Browns fans.

COSTA MESA, CA–QSC has released a new dual-eighteen subwoofer built for flown or groundstack applications, the new WL218-sw. Operable down to 31 Hz and capable of delivering high acoustic output (139 dB SPL@1m), the device is designed for use with QSC's WideLine loudspeakers, but can be used with other professional, full-range enclosures as well.

JERSEY CITY, NJ–Production services provider Big Mo Pro, Inc of Parsippany, NJ, recently brought out its L-ACOUSTICS Kudo rig for a pair of events at Liberty State Park on Jersey City's waterfront. With Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan as the spectacular backdrop, BMP provided sound and lighting for the big LibertyJAM concert on Sunday, June 25, featuring a stellar lineup of artists, including Cheap Trick, George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic, Los Lobos, Patti Smith, The Smithereens, Fab Faux, John Eddie and Exit 105. Celebrating the park's historic 30th anniversary, the purpose of the event was raise funds to benefit The Friends of Liberty State Park, a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to preserving and improving the park for free public use.

NORTHRIDGE, CA–The Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria, South Africa recently commissioned a new JBL VerTec DP Series powered line array system with JBL DrivePack technology and HiQnet networking for their new 7,200-seat auditorium. The church serves a growing worship community that now includes over 17,000 members. With three balconies and a new presentation stage nearly the size of the congregation's entire previous church building, a sound reinforcement system was required to complement the unique modern design of the venue and to serve a broad variety of applications, including worship services, live broadcasts and contemporary music concerts. Chris Leeson of Claasen Auret Inc. Consulting Engineers and Chris Jonker, Technical Director for the Moreleta Church, collaborated on the design specifications for the networked audio sound system.