newsflash - Dynacord
Transcription
newsflash - Dynacord
newsflash autumn 2007 the EVI Audio Magazine www.boschcommunications.com EDITORIAL CONTENTS In the immediate aftermath of the takeover by Bosch last year, there were all kinds of rumours and predictions flying around. About what would change. About what our business partners expected of us. About how the daily round would be altered. About the prospects for the new constellation. Now, after a few months under the new management, the picture is considerably clearer. Things have changed. Even in terms of day-to-day routine, new factors are in play and new procedures have been introduced as a result of the collaboration. A course has been set, and it has become clear—and not only from the completion of the new production hall at our European headquarters in Straubing—what that course is. "The cooperation between production, development and marketing," for example, as Marketing Manager Robert Hesse explained in an interview with newsflash, "has considerably improved" along with "the level of transparency" and, according to Works Manager Konrad Proyer, also that of "customer of satisfaction”. How these improvements came about in the space of a few short months and the philosophy upon which they are founded are both explained by the two leaders on pages 4 and 5. In the rest of this issue of newsflash, we present a representative sample—from among countless productions we could have named—that illustrate the global status of our business partners and our systems. In whichever corner of the world a new stage is erected or an installation required, our brands have the ideal solutions to meet every acoustic challenge. Solutions that can be tailored to the requirements of each application and that are inordinately reliable. And that applies whether it's—as was the case with the Live Earth festival—the largest musical event of all time (pp. 6-9) or a new business centre in Tokyo (p. 19). The two applications may be poles apart, but they have one common factor: systems from EVI Audio. Page 3 MIX News from the pro audio scene Pages 4 / 5 INSIDE Interview with Robert Hesse and Konrad Proyer: "The areas of responsibility..." Pages 6 / 8 HIGHLIGHTS Live Earth Festival: The largest musical event of all time Page 9 HIGHLIGHTS Britannia Row,London: EV days at London mega events Page 10 HIGHLIGHTS Genesis Tour 2007: Comeback with the "X factor" Page 11 HIGHLIGHTS Lionel Richie's German tour: "All Night Long" with EV Page 12 WORLDWIDE: Electro-Voice Glastonbury Festival 2007 Jazz on the Danube: Record results with EV, Midas, KT Page 13 WORLDWIDE: Electro-Voice Calgary Stampede, 2007: With Sound Art & EV Page 14 WORLDWIDE: DYNACORD Western Hill, Fort Worth: High School Musical with the Cobra Michael Schenker Group in Seattle: Hard rock with the Cobra International Bass Convention: Summit with the Cobra Page 15 WORLDWIDE: DYNACORD American Idol: Homecoming with the Cobra Showcase in Florida: Hip-hop with the Cobra Pages 16 / 17 WORLDWIDE: Midas MIDAS Consoles in concert: Setting the tone – analogue or digital IMPRINT PUBLISHER EDITORIAL EVI Audio GmbH Gunther Matejka James Edlund COORDINATION Guy Low Robert Pletz Rhea Marstaller Hirschberger Ring 45 Daniel Kappla D-94315 Straubing Pamela Böhm Tel: +49 9421/706-0 Ulli Hoppert Page 18 INSTALLATION Stazione Birra: Cool beer, hot sound Page 19 INSTALLATION Hard Rock Café, Warsaw: Grand opening with EV Tokyo Midtown, Japan: Multi-function complex with top sound Page 20 INSTALLATION Kristal Glam Club, Bucharest: Sound deluxe Vitensenter, Bergen Page 21 INSIDE National Theater, Bratislava: International stage with EV Page 22 INSIDE Logo auction Adel Attia wins ProLight+Sound 2007: Awards Munich, Maxi-Marathon 2007: Bosch4Speed Page 23 INSIDE Midas Consoles, Holland Benelux distribution deal, New factory Straubing: Work completed Hot stuff: New from the merchandising corner Fax: +49 9421/706-315 REALIZATION TRANSLATIONS snapshot Redaktionsbüro Ewan Whyte Gunther Matejka E-mail: Ewan.Whyte@wanadoo.fr Tel: +49 89 / 75 50 56 80 Fax: +49 89 / 75 50 56 829 GRAPHICS www.snapshot-redaktionsbuero.de Sabine Bitterlich E-mail: s.bitterlich@web.de PRINTING F&W Mediencenter, Kienberg www.fw-medien.de 2 newsflash / autumn 2007 NEWS… MIX BOLTON IN RUMANIA HI-FI HIGH For a guest appearance on the 7th July in the Triac Arena in Brasov (Rumania) by the American singer Michael Bolton, Concert Production deployed an extensive Electro-Voice XLC line array including EV XSubs and a variety of components from Klark Teknik. On the 23rd August, Sunnyboy Hansi Hinterseer invited lovers of Volksmusik to Kitzbuehl for a hike in the mountains with a concert to follow. Despite the rarified air, the 6,000+ fans who accepted the invitation were treated to solid, down-to-earth sounds thanks to a team from Murdock Music led by Stefan Gieringer and using EV systems. THE CHINESE WAY The rental company Engineering Impact Hong Kong wowed fans and critics alike at the latest stadium tour of Chinese pop superstar Jacky Cheung with a main PA comprised of Electro-Voice X-Line and XLC-components.Further information about the production can be found at www.electrovoice.com/pressreleases/614.html WELCOME! Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom is the latest member of the exclusive fraternity of Electro-Voice endorsers. The legendary drummer employs a variety of EV microphones including the N/D868. DANISH DYNAMITE In May, over 300 visitors attended in-store demos in the cities of Naestved and Aalborg organized by the Danish DYNACORD distributor Ascon. For the concerts by Danish singer/songwriting legend Ivan Pedersen, Ascon employed loudspeakers from the D-LITE (D 12, D123, D15-3) and VariLine series as well as PowerSub 315, Sub 115 und Sub 118 subwoofers. In view of the tremendous response, further demos are in the offing. For more information, visit: www.ascon.dk. NORWEGIAN ROCK SUMMER From 9th till 10th June was the setting for a festival to raise money for handicapped children at which over 40 bands performed. With temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius, the atmosphere was excellent. MultiTechnik AS was responsible for the production and opted for a DYNACORD Cobra system. Among the guests, incidentally, was Ozzy Osborne's charismatic guitarist Zack Wylde, who is himself an EV endorser. newsflash / autumn 2007 3 INSIDE INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT HESSE AND KONRAD PROYER ”THE AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY ARE CLEARLY DIVIDED” Since the takeover by Bosch last year, things have changed at the Straubing-based EVI Audio GmbH. newsflash editor Gunther Matejka spoke to Vice President Sales EMEA Robert Hesse and Plant Manager Konrad Proyer about the new structure of the firm, changes, transparency and brand politics NEWSFLASH: How much has changed since the Bosch takeover. How is the firm organized? I gather you have a dual leadership. ROBERT HESSE: Following the acquisition in September 2006, we thought about how best the process of integration should be conducted and decided to divide the responsibilities of managing director between two people, as is the custom with Bosch: one is responsible for the factory and the other for the commercial side of the business, which is how the posts occupied by Mr. Proyer and myself came to be established. As Plant Manager, Mr. Proyer is responsible for production, purchasing, logistics and quality control, whereas I am responsible for sales, service and communication. KONRAD PROYER: Formerly I was Plant Manager in Munich/Ottobrunn. To manage now the production at Straubing and Hohenwarth, where there are a considerably larger number of employees, is an enormous responsibility. The early days were far from easy: we had a high backlog of orders to clear, but we quickly realized where the problems lay, and by joining forces we were able to turn things around. Since the end of the first quarter of 2007, we have been back on course, and the level of customer satisfaction has improved noticeably. NEWSFLASH: The building of the recently dedicated new production hall – did that send an important message to the entire workforce? KONRAD PROYER: What it made clear was that we were being entrusted with responsibility for 4 establishing and consolidating the position of this plant as Bosch Security Systems' principal central European production center, and we aim to vindicate the trust that has been shown in us. So it was a message that has had a singularly motivating impact upon our employees. And I have to take my hat off to them: in the many years I've been involved in production, I have rarely seen a workforce display as much commitment. A quick example: in addition to achieving a considerable increase in productivity in the last six months, we have developed and implemented a completely new production concept in line with the Bosch standard. For this reason, I am very proud of this work and optimistic for the future. With the new hall, the new production concept and the team we have in place, I see enormous potential and believe we can achieve great things here in Straubing – even if the next few months are going to require a great deal of effort and optimization. ROBERT HESSE: I agree with that absolutely. In the last few months, I've often seen requests that were submitted by customers at short notice which were satisfied immediately. The workforce functions marvelously as a team, as well as being very cooperative and flexible. That's the most important precondition for obtaining what we all want: satisfied customers and therefore success. NEWSFLASH: Returning to the question of the dual leadership. What are the implications of the new structure for customers? Doesn't it make it more complicated to do business when the power to take decisions is shared between two people? KONRAD PROYER: I don't think so at all. There is a very clear division: Mr. Hesse and his team are responsible for the way the company presents itself to the outside world and for dealing with customers in particular; I and my team are responsible for the internal running of the factory. Naturally, it's all bound up together, since if we continue to develop and manufacture innovative and high-quality products, as well as delivering them on time, Mr. Hesse will have satisfied customers. NEWSFLASH: Would you say, based on the first three quarters, that a fresh wind is blowing through the organization? NEWSFLASH: So the areas of responsibility are clearly divided. But without teamwork and transparency, it isn't possible, is it? newsflash / autumn 2007 ROBERT HESSE: Certainly. In the first few months there were already changes. Much is new – and the workforce has reacted positively to the changes. There has been a substantial increase, for example, in the level of cooperation between the factory, R&D and sales. We have also introduced new procedures, such as regular meetings, with the aim of improving the quality of communication and the degree of transparency. Things are changing for the better and the employees have seen tangible proof of this in the building of the new production hall and the new entry area. INSIDE KONRAD PROYER: Teamwork is naturally very, very important. That isn't just true at the highest level but throughout the entire company. And I'll be bold enough to say that Mr. Hesse and I demonstrate convincingly the advantages of team spirit, and this has a positive influence on all levels within the company. ROBERT HESSE: Here, too, an example: since our sales team is very close to its customers, we are constantly receiving feedback concerning our products and service. All suggestions we receive are discussed internally. This increases transparency. In other words, the production team and the developers hear from us directly what is happening in the market and can respond accordingly. This internal dialog is viewed very positively by our customers, as they can see clearly that their input is valued. NEWSFLASH: Since the Bosch takeover, do the various brands still form the focus of marketing? ROBERT HESSE: Without a doubt, yes!, Admittedly, we are all under the Bosch Security Systems umbrella, but we nonetheless think in terms of brands. We produce products by brand, communicate by brand, and market by brand. NEWSFLASH: The pillars of marketing philosophy in recent years have been the slogans: "Think application – not competition", "Think customer – not dealer", "Think problem solution – not pricing". Do you also subscribe to these principles, Mr. Hesse? ROBERT HESSE: Yes, 100 per cent. These are the watchwords that have defined our brands – and will continue to do so in the future. The conditions for this are that our distributors and dealers have at their disposal products of a very high standard. We are not going to transform ourselves now into suppliers of cheap and low quality merchandise for the masses! Nor will we get drawn into price wars. We will continue to convince customers through the quality of our products and through innovative features that set them apart from those of our competitors. The huge investment in the Straubing facility underlines our positioning strategy. NEWSFLASH: Does this mean the concept of academies will also be retained? ROBERT HESSE: Yes, absolutely. We are even planning to extend the academies. Currently we are working on an academy roll-out for 2008 – you're going to see a very full calendar of events. Upgrade in XL: the Straubing facility has been expanded with the addition of new production halls, warehouses, offices and a state-of-the-art test laboratory About Konrad Proyer: About Robert Hesse: Born in 1964 in Rötz, Bavaria, electronics engineer (speciali- Born in 1969 in Nairobi, Kenya, the Business Administration zing in data processing) Konrad Proyer has since 1979 occu- Graduate Robert Hesse gained a wealth of experience in a va- pied virtually every role in production with Merk Telefonbau riety of senior roles such as Regional Sales Manager (Eastern (now Bosch Security Systems). After starting out as a skilled Europe), Sales & Marketing Manager (Asia-Pacific), Director engineering worker with ancillary responsibilities as a test of International Trademarketing, Export Director and Head of technician and production planner, he eventually moved into Key Account Management for Blaupunkt GmbH. Married with management where he graduated from Team Leader, to Group two children, since April 2007 he has held the position of Vice Leader to Plant Manager (Ottobrunn). Married with one child, President Sales EMEA with Bosch Communications Systems since October 2006 he has held the position of Plant Manager (a Business Unit of Bosch Security Systems). A lover of hard SabP (Straubing and Hohenwarth). In addition to his family, his rock, soul and classical music, his interests include traveling, hobbies include football, camping and fishing. diving, golf and spending time with his family. newsflash / autumn 2007 5 HIGHLIGHTS LIVE EARTH FESTIVAL THE LARGEST MUSICAL EVENT OF ALL TIME Followed by around two billion people on TV sets all round the world, the Live Earth Festival on July 7th 2007 was the largest musical event of all time. At the Hamburg and London legs of the relay, sound reinforcement equipment from Electro-Voice and Midas provided consistently brilliant sound A nine-hour program of the highest class – the Live Earth concert in Hamburg with Shakira (right) and numerous other national and international stars In all, seven of the world's great cities participated in this music marathon with a difference, at which the audience was exhorted to stop ignoring the dangers and join the struggle against global warming and climate change.Hamburg’s HSH-Nordbank Arena provided the venue for the German Live Earth event, wherethe organizers enlisted the services of a well-drilled team from Satis&Fy to handle sound reinforcement. The ninehour programme with its all-star line-up called for a lavish and impressive battery of equipment. The sound crew began installing the enclosures in and around the gigantic stage on the Thursday before the show. For the main PA, delays and outfills, they chose an Electro-Voice X-Line system powered by 60 Electro-Voice TG- 6 7 amps. The hangs on each side of the stage were made up of 11 Xvls and four Xvlt enclosures per side, each complemented by 12 X-Line Xsub subwoofers. 12 XLC 127 DVX tops on each side of the stage served as outfills, providing coverage to fans occupying the NSH-Nordbank Arena's highest rows of seats. The system was completed by 12 delay towers (each armed with six X-Line Xvls enclosures) at the rear end of the stadium and a central cluster (composed of three XLD281 tops) in front of the stage. To provide additional punch in the low frequency range, a horizontal bass array consisting of 20 Electro-Voice MTL4 woofers was set up in front of the stage--to the great delight of fans of newsflash / autumn 2007 the rappers Snoop Dogg and Sammy Deluxe, who, despite the throng of people in front of the stage, were treated to a bass like thunder. Pulling all the strings was system technician Thorsten Schulze, who, in the NetMax system controller, found the optimum tool for this complex and demanding job. From his workstation, Schulze not only had dominion over the 124 signal paths feeding the PA but was also the main L/R outputs of the three autonomous FOH positions in the middle of the stadium. "TG-7 amplifiers and NetMax are the ideal combination for a job like this," commented Schulze. "There is no other controller on the market with which you can manage and supervise this number of signal paths in comfort." Even at an event as large HIGHLIGHTS as Live Earth, Schulze far from exhausted the NetMax controller's capabilities. "I'm only, in fact, using NetMax as a matrix for routing signals to the various different systems and for timing and level adjustment," he said. "The rest of the processing is handled by the TG-7 amps themselves, which have their own processors on board." Nonetheless, from his workstation Schulze retained a clear overview of proceedings. "In this discipline," he told us, " NetMax is simply unbeatable. Once you have digested the wealth of functions and possibilities it offers, even the most complex things suddenly seem logical and simple. The upshot is that instead of being forced to rely upon presets, as is the case with other controllers, I can tailor each set-up-including the graphic interface for laptop or tablet PC operation--to the requirements of the situation. Setting the tone – Midas consoles Three technicians occupied FOH position in the centre of the arena: Bernd Buthe, Ingo Haasch and Jörn Müller, each of whom presided over an independent FOH position. Two Midas Heritage 2000 consoles and a Heritage 3000formed the nerve centre of operations. Aside from a few minor variations, all the three side-racks were stocked with the same effects and dynamic processors: "We consulted the bands’ engineers in advance," explained Ingo Haasch, "and opted for this arrangement for two reasons: Firstly, the H2000 and H3000 are both consoles with which any FOH engineer is happy to work, and secondly, none of the engineers had any special requests in this instance, which was helpful—it would have been a challenge to accommodate too many unusual demands with a schedule this tight! Furthermore, having three identical front-of-house positions creates a welcome degree of redundancy. If there had been any sudden changes in the running order, we'd have been able to reassign the consoles quickly and without complications," says Haasch. The same flexibility was in evidence at the three monitor positions, where three MIDAS H3000 consoles took turns providing the foldback. A total of 13 Klark Teknik DN1248 splitters provided--again, from the FOH position--for flawless signal distribution between the FOH and monitor positions, as well as feeding the two outside broadcast trucks at the location. The tight schedule was adhered to As Bernd Buthe explained, the timing for the Live Earth festival in Hamburg left very little room for error. "Only 15 minutes had been allowed for each set change, the reason being that the noise emission regulations in force at the HSH-Nordbank Arena are very strict and stipulate that events must end before 11 pm. The turnaround times backstage were limited to 45 minutes between the individual acts, so there was no time for anything more than a line check through the headphones. To add to the fun, some of the artists had brought huge backlines with them. In the case of Chris Cornell or Roger Cicero, for example, the FOH and monitor consoles had more than 40 separate inputs to accommodate, so the engineers really had their work cut out to get things ready in time. Artists like Sascha and Sammy Deluxe showed that less can mean more. Sascha had prepared an acoustic set especially for the Live Earth festival, whilst Sammy Deluxe's backing group comprised three other rappers and a DJ. Kaspar "Tropf" Wiens, Jan Delay's engineer, was more than satisfied with the sound: "Actually, I'm a purist" he confessed, after the exuberant performance by the four-man band. "I want quality--not bells and whistles--which is precisely why the Midas desks appeal to me. At festivals in particular, where very little time is available for the newsflash / autumn 2007 sound check, I prefer analogue consoles like the H2000 so I don't have to worry about intricate routing assignments and can cut directly to the chase: the line check." Midas and Bernd Buthe of Satis&Fy – great sound every time 7 HIGHLIGHTS A mass marathon taking in seven major cities – with Snoop Dogg, Katie Melua, Yusuf Islam and Enrique Iglesias A system for all stars and all styles But it was not only the artists and sound engineers that were delighted; the fans were too, as the sound was never less than excellent throughout the entire star-packed marathon. During the set by Latino queen Shakira, who opened the show in Hamburg, the sound was as brilliant as the performance itself, and this pattern was maintained as act followed act: there were the thumping bass lines underpinning Snoop Dogg's rapping; a genuine whiff of Havana as Reamonn shared the stage with Michael Mittermeier and the group Rhythms del Mundo,who made everyone forget the rain; and then Sasha, Enrique Iglesias, Silbermond, Juli and Katie Melua--each with their own sound and their own style, which the system respected and even enhanced--and towards the end Mando Diao and Chris Cornell, ex-frontman of Audioslave and Soundgarden. In short, it was an event on a vast scale, presenting a succession of quite different acoustic challenges that had to be met within the most exiguous of time frames. Live Earth was also a triumph for the equipment--as well as the technicians and engineers involved--that demonstrated how good it is possible for music to sound in a large stadium. 8 Live Earth Hamburg – Equipment list (extract) Main PA 22 x Electro-Voice X-Line VLS 8 x Electro-Voice X-Line VLT 24 x Electro-Voice X-Line Sub 20 x Electro-Voice MTL 4 6 x Electro Voice amp rack with 6 x TG 7 Sidefills / Nearfills / Delays 24 x EV-XLC 127 DVX 3 x Electro-Voice V-Line XLD 281 16 x Electro-Voice X-Line VLS(SR/SL) 8 x Electro-Voice X-Line VLT (SR/SL) 4 x Electro Voice amp rack with 6 x TG 7 FoH / Monitor / System 1 x EV N8000 loudspeaker management system 2 x MIDAS Heritage 2000/48 TP, 44 M./4 st. inputs 4 x MIDAS Heritage 3000/48 TP, 44 M./4 3 x Klark Teknik DN 370, 2-channel graphic equalizer 13 x Klark Teknik DN 1248 mic splitter newsflash / autumn 2007 LIVE EARTH - A WORLDWIDE SPECTACLE On the 7th July, a team led by ex US Vice President Al Gore and Live Aid producer Kevin Wall made a massive impact with a planet-encompassing relay of concerts featuring over 150 of the world's top acts performing in the following eight arenas: Wembley Stadium (London), Giants Stadium (New Jersey), Aussie Stadium (Sydney), Makuhari Messe (Tokyo), The Oriental Pearl (Shanghai), Copacabana Beach (Rio de Janeiro), The Cradle of Humankind (Johannesburg) and the HSHNordbank Arena (Hamburg). Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the festival was the concert in London's Wembley Stadium, which combined massive names – including Madonna, Genesis, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and the Black Eyed Peas – with perfect production. As at other major events in London last summer, it was a superbly drilled team from Britannia Row that provided the sound reinforcement – relying, as ever, on systems from Electro-Voice HIGHLIGHTS BRITANNIA ROW, LONDON X-LINE IN ACTION AT LONDON`S BIGGEST SHOW Britannia Row’s Electro-Voice X-Line PA has truly earned its stripes this summer. Within the space of just one month, one system has played to nearly 150,000 music fans at two outdoor festivals in London’s Hyde Park, and audiences in excess of 200,000 at three high-profile concerts in the brand-new Wembley Stadium Event highlights of the summer in London – the "Concert for Diana“, "Live Earth“ and Metallica in the Wembley Arena and "Hyde Park Calling“ and "O2 Wireless“ in Hyde Park Why does Britannia Row wheel out its X-Line system for these large-scale events? "I love the sound of it," says Britannia Row MD Bryan Grant, "—we have other tools in our toolbox, but X-Line does so well for the multipurpose shows, especially in big spaces." O2 Wireless and Hyde Park Calling Festivals The "festival" format of the O2 Wireless and Hyde Park Calling events is uniquely urban, with most fans attending for a single day. Topping the bill on different days were Peter Gabriel, Aerosmith, The Kaiser Chiefs, White Stripes, Faithless and Daft Punk. For the fifth successive year, Brit Row put forward the EV X-Line system as the main PA for summer events in Hyde Park—“tweaked and trimmed each year to accommodate changes in the site configuration and because we're always trying to work out how to do it better," says Grant. "This year, the arrays were flown quite a lot wider, on the outside of the video screens. The side hangs were therefore very close to the main system hangs; not conventional, but I was pleased with how well that worked." The Concert for Diana, Live Earth, Metallica From Hyde Park the EV inventory was shipped across town to the new £800 million national stadium in Wembley. With live audiences of 70,000, The Concert for Diana—staged to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana—was watched by many millions around the world. The massive EV X-Line rig used for the Concert for Diana, Live Earth and, just one night later, Metallica, consisted of main left and right hangs of 12x Xvls and 4x Xvlt per side and left and right hangs of 12x Xsubs per side, all flown. Side left and right hangs upstage comprised of 14x Xvls boxes per side and an additional 24x groundstacked Xsubs. Britannia Row MD Bryan Grant commented: "We used a lot of distributed fire power to fill the space, and, thanks to the construction of the roof area, even with Metallica, we didn't upset the neighbors while achieving levels of over 104db at the console—a challenging 77 meters from the downstage edge." In the stadium to mix front-of-house for the band Razorlight, engineer Ian Laughton gave his impressions of the Live Earth experience. “It was an amazing day, to walk into the new Wembley stadium after all these years, and to see my favorite PA system flown there. I won’t leave home without the X-Line system and have used it on the last two Razorlight arena tours. I wasn't mixing on my normal desk, but I wasn’t worried because of the X-Line—the coverage and quality is fantastic.” Bryan Grant says he's ecstatic about the success of the Wembley events. "X-Line is the ideal system for a multi-band bill, as these two events demonstrate. At the Concert for Diana, the musical mood was more middle-of-the-road, easy listening, a bit of orchestra, a bit of pop. Live Earth had a much more rocking bill, going from Genesis to the Pussycat Dolls to the Foo Fighters, so X-Line had to deal with that sort of weight. And then there's Metallica, full-on heavy rock, and we had to fill a stadium where the top seat is 47 meters above the pitch. X-Line has the flexibility to deal with the changes in conditions and the changes in demands." Metallica's big London date attracted 70,000 heavy metal fans to the stadium, but the band also contributed to the Live Earth festival the day before. "The PA output for Live Earth was attenuated for the TV show, and we had presenter platforms and B stages and all sorts of things newsflash / autumn 2007 in front of the PA. Consequently, Metallica's front-of-house engineer 'Big' Mick Hughes was concerned that the X-Line system would be loud enough for their own show." Not a problem: overnight, Brit Row's systems technicians changed the front-of-house and monitor positions, and reattenuated the system to give a lot more energy between the downstage edge and the mix position. According to Grant, “it worked really well in the end—Mick was happy." Thoroughly satisfied – "Big Mick“ Hughes, Metallica's FoH man 9 HIGHLIGHTS GENESIS-TOUR 2007 COMEBACK WITH THE X FACTOR Genesis on stage, Revelation in the gods – 105 metres back, the sound was still perfect! During Genesis's tour of German stadiums in June and July, 48 X-Line enclosures provided powerful delay audio in Hanover, Stuttgart and Leipzig. British supergroup Genesis has always been known for the excellence of its live sound. After 15 years' absence from the stage, there was a natural reluctance on the part of band members to jeopardize that fine reputation during the group's live comeback this year. They needn't have worried. Once again, the legendary name proved a guarantee of sophisticated concert sound. A formidable arsenal of loudspeaker enclosures was prepared to exceed the expectations of every fan in every seat of every XXL arena on the tour, with no fewer than 48 Electro-Voice XLine systems deployed in each of the vast stadiums of Hanover, Stuttgart and Leipzig–a battery even more impressive than the ordnance used in North London for the Wembley leg of the Live Earth event, where the main PA comprised of a "mere" 32 X-Line systems (plus subs). As was the case in Hamburg at the Live Earth show, EV TG-7 amps with integrated RCM modules provided the thrust, while a control bus ensured that all the parameters of both the power amplifiers and the connected loudspeakers could be remote controlled and supervised from 10 the control room. As well as three platforms for follow spots, the two imposing delay towers were decked with four hangs of 12 X-Line enclosures, projecting the sound to the furthest reaches of the audience over 100 metres away! The challenge for system engineers Stefan Holz and Ingo Kleinhölter was to ensure members of the audience in the furthest row of seats experienced sound pressure levels not discernibly different from those at the front of the playing field itself. This meant that careful attention had to be paid to the curvature and composition of the arrays; the fact that the X-Line allows planners to combine enclosures with two different coverage patterns–the Xvls with its 90° x 5° and the Xvlt with its 120° x 7°–proved of crucial importance when it came to finding a solution. X-Line’s to deliver brilliant and transparent sound over distances in excess of 100 metres is, of course, due to the fact that each enclosure boasts no fewer than 3 vertically aligned 1.4" tweeters. As Stefan Holtz remarked with a wry smile after the show in Stuttgart: "Now we know eight Xvls cabinets can deliver satisfactory results over distances of up to 105 metres." newsflash / autumn 2007 Impossible without… – EV X-Lines hang like streamers from the delay tower A spectacle of biblical proportions with sound to match – Genesis with EV in Stuttgart HIGHLIGHTS LIONEL RICHIE ON TOUR IN GERMANY ALL NIGHT LONG – WITH EV Enthused audiences at five open-air events in Germany – Lionel Richie and Electro-Voice Five open-air concerts in Germany gave fans a chance to hear R&B legend Lionel Richie perform live this summer. Satis&Fy of Werne and an Electro-Voice X-Line system ensured the sound was perfect for each … Satis&Fy entrusted responsibility for stage and system equipment to Rüdiger Nürnberg and Tobi Hoff, a team who work together with consistently outstanding results. Equipped with EV’s X-Line they were able to provide an optimal balance of power and flexibility: "We took a total of 24 tops and 20 subs with us on tour,” reports Nürnberg, “driven by six amp racks charged with EV TG-7 amplifiers, though the exact configuration for each show was determined by the demands of the venue." In Wiesbaden's "Bowling Green,” where Lionel Richie delighted an audience of 9,500 on July 17th, nine Xvls and three Xvlt enclosures were deployed on each side of the stage, with eight Xsubs per side reinforcing the low frequencies. System Engineer Tobi Hoff configured the system according to a tried-and-tested formula: "The routing between the console positions was the exclusive responsibility of NetMax, which also handled the synchronization of the main PA with the delays. All other processing duties were assumed by the TG-7 amps under the stage, though the IRIS-Net network ensured that I retained access at all times to all parameters and could therefore intervene as and when I wished, the communication between the amps and the NetMax being bi-directional. “Furthermore, NetMax handles the summing of the two consoles at the FOH position as well as providing background music for the walk-in and walk-out. "A nice detail, that," adds Hoff, "because it means we can start pulling down the system the moment the concert ends without depriving the audience of music while it is vacating the premises." When schedules are tight, this is an enormous advantage, though in the case of the Lionel Richie tour there were no such constraints. "This tour was organized in typical American fashion," says Nürnberg. "Apart from one occasion, we had one full day in each venue for setting-up, with the next day reserved for the show and dismantling of the system, so we had more than enough time to prepare for each gig." Kyle J. Hamilton, Front-of-House Engineer for Richie's "Coming Home" tour, was certainly convinced: "I am very satisfied with this system," he said, after the show in Wiesbaden. "The X-Line has a really impressive midrange, which ensures that the guitars and Lionel's vocals in particular come out clearly and at the right levels. Positioning them up-front in the mix therefore poses no problems." When preparing for a show, Hamilton invariably follows the same routine: "When I arrive at the venue, I play back a selection of my own CDs through the PA and listen, making whatever corrections are necessary with the equalizer. As a general rule, I dispense with measuring equipment altogether when tuning the PA on tour." In Wiesbaden, of course, since the noise emission regulations are extremely strict, an SPL meter is more or less obligatory, but high SPLs do not in any case loom large among the audiophile's priorities: "A concert" says Hamilton "should sound like one of the CDs – but with that special live magic added." newsflash / autumn 2007 The SPL readings during the sound check in Wiesbaden provoked an astonished reaction from Kyle J. Hamilton: "While the system engineers were adjusting the PA, we were walking round the venue together measuring the level. I couldn't believe it when I noticed that the level over the entire distance of around 50 metres from stage to FOH never varied by more than 1 to 2 dB. I thought the measurements must be erroneous, but no: that was in fact the case!" Electro-Voice and "that special live feel" – FoH engineer Kyle J. Hamilton Lionel Richie's "Coming Home" tour 2007, equipment list (extract) Main PA 16x Electro-Voice X-Line Xvls 8x Electro-Voice X-Line Xvlt 20x Electro-Voice X-Line Xsub 6x Electro Voice amp rack with 6xTG 7 + RCM 26 1x Electro-Voice N8000 Loudspeaker Management System 1x Klark Teknik DN370 11 WORLDWIDE: ELECTRO-VOICE GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL 2007 A CHALLENGE AND AN INCENTIVE “Jazz World is generally regarded as the musicians’ stage,” says APR Audio’s crew chief Matt Gunter. “This is where the real musical talent plays, and we go the extra mile for them. This stage is respected by the performers, engineers and audience because of the consistency of the sound. Jazz World uses the same PA every year, and we bring a good experienced crew." Following the success of their work there in 2005, APR Audio was once again asked to provide EV X-Line PA and X-Array monitor systems for the Glastonbury Festival's Jazz World stage This attracted crowds of up to 30,000 gathered to hear artists such as Amy Winehouse, Corinne Bailey Rae, Damian Marley, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, John Fogerty, Guillemots, Mr Hudson & the Library, Fat Freddie’s Drop and Seth Lakeman. For the main PA, Shuttlesound’s Jason Kelly helped design a system using EV X-Line Xvls and Xvlt cabinets flown from 16m towers, with 28 Xsubs deployed in two-wide, six-high stacks, plus four for center fill. EV’s new XLE181 cabinets provided front fill, and the system was run from EV’s Precision Series P3000RL remote control DSP amplifiers. “We used EV’s dedicated IRIS-Net management software to control the system, but kept it very plain and simple, mainly to keep the levels in touch.” At FOH, the main console was a Midas Heritage 3000, with a Venice 160 used as a main control to drive the system. Klark Teknik DN370 provided JAZZ ON THE DANUBE, STRAUBING With 10,500 visitors this year – a record – the Jazz on the Danube festival drew to a triumphant conclusion on the 22nd July. As in previous years, a team led by Ingo Haasch was responsible for the sound reinforcement The 21st edition of what is now established as one of the most important jazz festivals in all Europe drew record audience figures, with over 10,500 music-lovers in all attending the event in 2007. The level of interest shown by both the print and broadcast media was also highly gratifying for the organizers: not only were there numerous previews of the festival in advance of the event, but ZDF and Bavarian TV among others sent camera crews to Straubing to give their viewers a sense of the atmosphere in the marquees. 12 grab EQ on the H3000; a KT DN9344 Helix digital slave equalizer was used for the main system. On stage, APR Audio provided EV Xw15A wedges and X-Array cabinets for side and drum fills. All speakers were run with Klark Teknik DN9848 digital system controllers and monitored via KT’s Elgar control software; monitor engineer Laurie Brace simply tweaked his inputs on a PC placed next to the Heritage console. The monitors were driven by P-RL amps, racked and remote-controlled so as not to impede access to the stage. “We had some very positive comments from band engineers, production and audience alike,” reports Matt Gunter. “Despite the weather, the system performed flawlessly. We used 16meter towers this year and a different deployment of the Xsubs, allowing us to focus as much sound as possible in the Jazz World field, which helped us keep both the band engineers and the noise police happy.” RECORD RESULTS WITH EV, MIDAS, KT To satisfy the very high demands of jazz lovers when it comes to sound quality, the organizers once again commissioned a team led by Ingo Haasch to handle the sound reinforcement. The centrepiece of Haasch's solution this year was an XLc DVX line-array system from ElectroVoice, which marked a change, but the choice was well considered: "Last year, we worked with compact line-array systems, the XLD 281 and XLC 215," explains Haasch, "but the programme this year promised music with a harder edge, so we switched to the larger XLc DVX." To ensure sufficient pressure was generated in the bass region, Haasch opted for a combination of Xlc215 and PX2181 subwoofers – the latter from ElectroVoice's Phoenix series. The power was supplied newsflash / autumn 2007 by Electro-Voice TG7 Tour Grade amplifiers. Each of the 24 TG7 amps was equipped with an RCM 26 module, which represents a method of controlling and supervising their performance. The FoH position was dominated by a MIDAS XL 200. Equally impressive, in the view of the first class line-up of acts (including Seal, Candy Dulfer and Roger Cicero), was the quality of the foldback, with DYNACORD D 12-3 front fills, EV Xi-2123 side fills atop X-Subs and DYNACORD PowerSub 315 drum-fill extensions providing the performers with monitoring of the very highest quality. The monitors were driven by EV CP3000S and EV CP4000S power amplifiers supported by DN9848E processors from Klark Teknik. For more information, visit: www.jazzanderdonau.de WORLDWIDE: ELECTRO-VOICE CALGARY STAMPEDE 2007, CANADA STAMPEDE SOUND WITH SOUND ART & EV As the largest outdoor rodeo in the world and one of the biggest shows on the Canadian calendar, the Calgary Stampede attracts well over a million visitors during its ten days in July. In addition to rodeo competitions, the Stampede program runs the gamut from chuckwagon races to agricultural exhibits and all kinds of entertainment events on numerous stages Impressive performances, great shows – the Grandstand Stage by day (l.), the rodeo (m.), and the Grandstand Stage by night (r.), at the Calgary Stampede Sound Art Calgary, Inc. deploys a wide range of equipment from Electro-Voice to precisely meet the Stampede’s varied sound reinforcement needs, from compact Sx and Zx speakers on stands to the X-Line, XLC-DVX and XLD line-arrays flown for the Grandstand shows in front of 30,000 people, with headliners including INXS and Collective Soul. Midas mixing consoles and Klark Teknik EQs complete the picture. “We’ve used EV speakers for every one of the twelve years I’ve been involved in these events,” says Dan Frerichs, General Manager, Sound Art Calgary. “Our EV deployment continues to evolve, from back in the day with the DML series, through to X-Array and X-Line, to today with the new Tour Grade (TG) amps, XLD and XLC-DVX line arrays controlled with IRIS-Net software. Working with EV has helped us maintain state-of-the-art standards here year after year, continuously streamlining operations and improving performance.” Sound Art deployed combinations of XLCDVX, XLD and Xsub line array systems at the three largest venues in the park, all powered by remote control TG and Precision RL amps. Sound Art are longtime RL/IRIS-Net users, and Frerichs is impressed with the new flagship EV amps: “They all performed flawlessly; we used the TG amps loaded with RCM-26 modules for DSP via IRIS-Net, and the level of control and detailing on hand is amazing. Plus these amps are light, extremely efficient and, most importantly, they sound great.” In addition to these larger systems, Sound Art use dozens of Zx5, Sx300 and SxA100+ boxes to provide sound for around 16 additional stages. The main shows at the Stampede are on a huge mobile stage, tugged into place with an oversized tractor. “All the speaker platforms for the grandstand show are on drive-able scissor lifts,” Frerichs adds, “and we need to go from no speakers anywhere to covering audio for over 30,000 people in fifteen minutes. The arrays are driven into place and plugged in, and IRIS-Net tells us instantly if one isn’t patched-in correctly. That means a lot when every second counts.” Calgary Stampede 2007 equipment list (extract) Electro-Voice 20x X-Line Xvls 4x X-Line Xvlt 40x X-Line Xsub(F) 60x XLC127-DVX 8x XLC118 24x XLD281 24x Xi1152/64F 8x MTL2B 48x Xw12 monitors 24x Zx5 speakers flown 40x Sx300 20x SxA100+ 44x TG-7 amplifiers running IRIS-Net 20x P3000RL amplifiers Midas Midas XL4 Midas Heritage 1000 3x Midas XL250 2x Midas Venice 320 Klark Teknik 12x Klark Teknik DN360 EQ 710 newsflash / autumn 2007 13 WORLDWIDE: DYNACORD WESTERN HILL HIGH SCHOOL, FORT WORTH Disney’s High School Musical is HOT. What started as a Disney Channel TV movie in January 2006 has turned into a global phenomenon. NAMM and Disney partnered with Full Compass Systems to provide equipment and expertise for ”HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL“ WITH COBRA the Fort Worth high school production, with support from Bosch Communications Systems’ Thomas Hansen, Michael Doucot, Monte Wise and Jeff Taylor. The equipment spec included a DYNACORD Cobra-2 line array for main PA (2x TOP & 2x Sub per side), mixed on a MIDAS Verona, with Electro-Voice monitors and fills. “We understand the importance of the arts in our schools and all of us were glad to support this production,” says Monte Wise. “It was our desire to provide audio excellence to the production and help develop a team attitude of professionalism with all the students and teachers involved in the event.” R. Kevin Betts of Lone Star Productions mixed the performances; this was his first time running a Cobra rig, and he liked what he heard: “Walking into a show with an unfamiliar PA is always a THE MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP IN SEATTLE Seattle’s Mills Music is on a roll with their portable powerhouse PA. The system is built around a Dynacord Cobra-2 line-array system, with EV amps, monitors and mics, a Midas Venice 320 mixing console and KT Square One EQs and Dynamics, and it’s proving unbeatable for a really wide range of events and venues. Mills Music’s Ric Webb recently used the rig for a gig by Michael Schenker at Studio Seven. "We occasionally bring the Cobra system in to boost their HARD ROCK WITH THE COBRA in-house system," he explains. "The Cobra is perfect for that, as the sightlines stay open and every corner gets covered—it’s line-array performance made easy. And, sure enough, Cobra rocked the house; their in-house engineer flips out every time we bring the systems in—he can actually hear his mix! “There’s a reason we’re getting serious mileage out of this system. Ground-stacked or flown, the Cobra is plug and play all the way, with incredible throw and coverage for such a small footprint. Add on the EV, Midas and KT gear and you have unbeatable performance at every step in the signal chain for any small to medium-sized show.” INTERNATIONAL BASS CONVENTION Michael Schenker Group in Seattle Equipment list (extract) Main PA: Dynacord Cobra-2; FoH/Monitors mix: Midas Verona V/320/8/TP; Processors: KT Square One Dynamics and Graphics; Stage monitors & fills: EV SxA250, ZX5, SxA100+, QRx153/75 powered by EV CP4000S & Q66 amps; Microphones: EV N/D468. N/D868, Co4, RE20, RE200, Raven, N/D767a and RE SUMMIT WITH THE COBRA . Over 1000 bassists from around the world—including low-end luminaries Stanley Clarke and Avishai Cohen—flocked to Oklahoma City University for the recent International Society of Bassists Convention. One of the biggest DYNACORD users in the Midwest, Cory's Audio Visual Services, Inc. (OKC), supplied a combination of Cobra-2 line array TOP boxes and PWH subs. 14 challenge. I researched the Cobra on the web and spoke to some friends who use the system and love it, and, sure enough, as soon as I got the boxes powered up and EQ’d, I knew I’d made a new friend. The Cobra is so smooth and responsive—I thought to myself ‘awesome, the show is going to sound great!’ And it did. I was especially impressed with the subs; they were extremely tight and easy to keep under control in the narrow, deep room, and were seamless as part of the full-range system—there was none of the mid-frequency confusion you often get with line arrays. The combination of the Midas preamps and superb intelligibility and throw out the Cobra boxes was unbeatable—the sound quality really enriched the performances and audience’s enjoyment.” newsflash / autumn 2007 “The Cobra’s quick setup, clarity and coverage make it unbeatable stacked or flown,” says Preston Williams of Cory’s. "Stanley Clarke brought his own engineer who saw the Cobra rig and told me it was going to be a great day! After all, nothing delivers tight responsive low end like the Cobra PWH sub.". WORLDWIDE: DYNACORD "AMERICAN IDOL" HOMECOMING The Seattle suburb of Bothell, WA, enjoyed Dynacord, Electro-Voice, Midas and Klark Teknik sound for a May 11th homecoming concert by local hero and "American Idol" finalthree contender Blake Lewis The American Idol crew was on hand to film Lewis and his four-piece band performing in a local park—after a parade in his honor—via a Dynacord Cobra-2 ground-stacked line array system, along with an array of Electro-Voice microphones and monitors, Klark Teknik Square One processing and a Midas Verona 320 for FOH & Monitors double-duty. The PA was supplied by Mills Music of Seattle, whose Ric Webb manned the mix on the Midas console. “It sounded fantastic,” says Webb. “The Cobra combines plenty of power, complete coverage and superb sound quality while keeping sightlines open, both for the live audience and the additional 30 million viewers watching the show on TV! Even though we were down in a concrete bowl, the Cobra threw deep into the audience areas with plenty of SPL, all with no delays necessary. It’s an incredibly capable system for its size; the city anticipated an audience of 2000, but 8000 turned out to see Blake Lewis, and everyone heard the show loud and clear—even above the screaming girls!” Webb is also a big fan of the Klark Teknik Square One range: “Square One Dynamics are wonderful—they offer great flexibility and control, with practical presets, the hard knee option, etc. And I can’t say enough about the Square One EQ—it’s on par with or better than any other high-end analog EQ I’ve ever used, with a superclean audio path. Both the Square One units of- SHOWCASE IN FLORIDA 1 IDOL, 1 COBRA, 30 MILLION VIEWERS An idol of its own – Ric Webb of Mills Music at the Midas console (l.), local hero and "American Idol“ finalist Blake Lewis (m.), and a heavily guarded DYNACORD Cobra 2 system (r.), in the Seattle suburb of Bothell fer unbelievable value.” Along with a range of EV mics on drums, Webb put a Raven on the guitar cab—something more and more pro engineers are doing with impressive results. “Our EV rep (Kevin Johnson, Left Coast Marketing) told us we would hear things on the guitar we’d never heard before. And, sure enough, it was very surprising—we got a ton of guitar signal across every bandwidth; it was like a breath of fresh air compared to the standard guitar cab mic. We used the new EV REV wireless system with N/D767a handheld while gifts were presented to Blake Lewis—a commemorative star for the park (presented by the Mayor of Bothell) and a Seahawks 12th man jersey (presented by Seahawks Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. From input to output, all the equipment sounded superb and performed flawlessly—it’s a perfect PA for events like this.” Blake Lewis in Seattle – Equipment List (extract) Main PA: Dynacord Cobra-2 System FOH/Monitors mix: Midas Verona V/320/8/TP Processing rack: Klark Teknik Square One Dynamic and Graphic Stage monitors: multiple Electro-Voice SxA250, ZX5 and QRx153/75 powered by Electro-Voice CP4000S & Q66 amplifiers Side fills: Electro-Voice SxA100+ Stage microphones: Electro-Voice N/D468. N/D868, Co4 and RE200 (drums); Raven (guitar cabinet) Wireless microphones: Electro-Voice REV with N/D767a handheld (presentations); RE-2 (announcements) HIP HOP WITH THE COBRA Drummer Boy Sound (Miami, Fl.) recently deployed their powerhouse DYNACORD Cobra system for main PA duty during a show at Sobe Live, South Beach, Miami, featuring heavy hitters from the R&B/hip hop world including: Pall Wall, Twista, 8Ball & (Hip Hop legends) MJG, Sobe Records’ own "Stacks", DJ Element, DJ Epps, DJ Drama, and many more. “The tour manager from Atlantic Records was And the Cobra makes five – Harold Cummings (DBS), particularly impressed with how much low end Rapper Twista, Tangela Cummings (DBS) and Darryl our three-per-side setup of DYNACORD PWH Cummings (DBS) at the Sobe Live subs delivered," stated Harold Cummings of DBS. mally hear that Hip Hop shows take a toll on "Twista was especially happy with how clear and amps, speakers and monitors. This was never powerful the PX1122M monitors were. You nor- an issue with this "battle tested" system." newsflash / autumn 2007 Hip hop at Sobe Live – Equipment list (extract) 4 x EV Phoenix PX1122M 1 x DYNACORD DSP244 system processor 2 x EV ZX1 1 x EV Q66 amp 2 x DYNACORD L2400 4 x DYNACORD Cobra 2 tops 6 x DYNACORD PWH subs Midas Venice 320 (32 channel) Klark Teknik DN370 EQ 15 WORLDWIDE: MIDAS MIDAS CONSOLES IN CONCERT SETTING THE TONE – WHETHER ANALOGUE OR DIGITAL For many years, top sound engineers have relied upon Midas consoles to mix genres ranging from classical music to heavy metal,and everything in between. While last year’s introduction of the digital Midas XL8 Live Performance Systemwas a further milestone in pro audio history, enthusiasm and demand for the sound quality and reliability of Midas analogue desks continues apace. Stations of a career: the digital Midas XL8 live performance system recently ensured excellent sound at the Live Earth Concert at the new Wembley Stadium as well as at the last Metallica tour. Sound engineer „Big Mick“ Hughes (m.) was delighted Metallica’s long-time FoH engineer and equally long-standing Midas devotee Big Mick Hughes has fulfilled the promise he made when Midas announced the development of a digital mixing system: to take it on tour with Metallica as soon as it was ready. The moment arrived in late June as Metallica embarked on a 12-date tour of shows and festivals across Europe, starting in Lisbon and ending in Moscow. As all shows plus two days of production rehearsals took place during just three weeks, two identical control and backline systems leapfrogged their way across Europe, with both XL8s supplied by Canegreen via the M7 Group, which facilitates UK XL8 rentals. Despite providing feedback throughout the entire XL8 development design process, Mick admits to some trepidation when it came to abandoning his trusty XL4 – which he personally owned – in favour of the new technology. “I always considered myself an analogue diehard and I’ve used Midas since the Pro 1,” he says. “I tried most other digital consoles along the way but I never felt comfortable. The XL4 is a heavy beast, it feels firm and positive, whereas some of these digital consoles just didn’t feel substantial, and I’m too big to deal with anything that dainty! And I was never convinced by the way they sounded; there was something inherently wrong. So when Midas said they were coming up with a digital console I thought if the- 16 re was one I’d like, this would be it. “If I was going to change to a digital console it would have to be something I could operate and feel comfortable with. The last thing I want to do is scroll through a load of pages to do one little thing, and while I’m doing that I’m missing something else. As an engineer I wanted it to feel semi-analogue; I wanted to be able to touch a knob on a channel, press a button and send a channel to stereo, turn a gain, push a fader and have sound come out of the PA. The operation of it is so simple, there are actually pictures of the units and channels and somehow feel like you’re plugging them in, so it’s perfect for me. If it’s going to be used by everybody, people walking up to it cold have to feel some level of comfort. Despite the amount of increased features and technology at his fingertips, Mick likes the fact that it hasn’t changed how he works. “I’ve configured it pretty much as I would have my XL4; I’m doing things that I would have done on my XL4 and it feels similar. It’s made it easier because the XL8 brings the channels to you. I don’t have to get off my chair anymore. When I want to work on the kick drum I don’t have to scurry down one end, I can press the button and it’ll come to me!” Mick has ditched his copious outboard rack and is using the desk’s onboard processing for pretty much everything. “I have one external ef- newsflash / autumn 2007 fects unit – a multi effects unit which does one thing in a song which has to happen, and that’s it,” he says. “I really like the DN780 Klark Teknik reverb which has been emulated digitally in the desk, so for me to use them is great. “Using it in a live situation for the first time I actually think it sounds better than the XL4 I’ve known and loved for 11 years. There’s an intelligibility and clarity that I’ve never really heard before. I can only put it down to the fact there’s not a 100m multicore coming off every microphone; we’ve got short leads going straight to the stage box and it’s digital from that point on so there’s no loss in frequency response at all. All of a sudden you’re pushing faders up and going ‘Wow, does that mic really sound like that?” It’s been a real eye opener for me. I have to learn what these microphones sound like again because I’ve never heard them sound like this.” The ability to store settings between gigs is also a huge advantage for Mick, and one he envisages will benefit him more and more over time. “We set up the first console and stored all the settings on the USB key, then when I got the second system I put the key in it and all the settings came back again, whereas before I’d have been starting from scratch! When we start another tour I’ll have my stored files, and on the first show of that next tour I’ll be able to put them into the desk and it will be exactly the same as the last time I used it. You might have a tour when you WORLDWIDE: MIDAS Metal goes digital: James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo of Metallica are on tour with Midas XL8. On the road with them: systems from Klark Teknik (below middle). Their heart beats analog: Marios Kallergis, FoH engineer Kostos Michopoulos and Omikron system designer Vangelis Petridis of the Pallas Theater, Athens (below right) really nail the bass guitar, for example, so if you can keep that and take it onto the next tour you can build a bigger picture. Before, you lost it at the end of the tour, and you always knew that sound was available but it was sometimes really hard to get it to happen again. And with a few years between the tours, you forget what you’ve done. I’m really feeling the difference with this desk already, but when we go from tour to tour, that’s when it’ll really show itself.” Mick’s also quickly grasped the implications of XL8 when it comes to shipping and carbon footprint reductions. “It’s much easier to take the little key fob and rent an XL8 locally. We’re also saving in the physical space we take up, and that means extra fans at gigs.” A fitting comment given that Metallica was one of the starring acts at the Wembley Live Earth concert midway through the tour. Meanwhile on stage, monitor engineer Paul Owen is at the controls of a trusty XL4, which he is using with a Klark Teknik Square ONE Dynamics units for drum gates. He’s particularly impressed with the Solo Output feature which monitors the sidechain filter through the XL4. “This is a great feature - you can hear what’s activating the gates which you can’t do with any other models,” he says. “As for the XL4 – I really like the sound of that preamp; there’s a lot going on onstage and I have to be able to do things on the fly really fast, so from my perspec- tive it’s the ideal desk.” A similar reliance upon Midas analogue technology is evinced by the Pallas Theatre in Athens. One of Athens’ few traditional theatres, the Pallas is a gem in the middle of this vibrant city. Built during the 1930s, the Pallas retains its art deco splendor while having just been subjected to a major overhaul. This has included the installation of Midas consoles and Klark Teknik signal processing equipment throughout its three venues, supplied by Greek distributor Omikron Control. The whole procedure was overseen by Omikron’s sound system designer Vangelis Petridis. The Pallas Theatre itself, a 1,500-capacity traditional auditorium, now boasts a Heritage 2000 at front of house, with Klark Teknik Square ONE Dynamics, Square ONE EQ and a DN500 Plus dual compressor/limiter. The adjacent Aliki Theatre has also been installed with a Midas H2000 while the new console in the Mikro Pallas is a Venice. “It’s great to have the Heritage here, and I’m very happy with it,” says Pallas Theatre front of house engineer Kostos Michopoulos. “It is very user friendly, has great preamps and EQ, and allows me to hear everything very clearly throughout the entire frequency range. I especially like the choice of parametric EQ or shelving mode for the high and low filters. I’ve used it for classical performances with orchestras and the preamplification is fantastic. We have all sorts of events newsflash / autumn 2007 here, from classic and modern theatre and music through to large corporate events, and the H2000 adapts to all our uses of it very well. And, of course, visiting sound engineers are very happy to see it’s a Midas.” Michopoulos is also quick to praise his Klark Teknik Square ONE Dynamics and EQ “They sound great; they are used a lot in combination with the desk. The new system is very well tuned--as is the actual building--but most people still want to use this equaliser because they love the sound it produces. The Square ONE dynamics is our main workhorse, and I find its compressor is particularly good for keyboards, bass, toms and kick drums, while for vocals I use the KT DN500 compressor/limiter.” Among the first performances at the Pallas have been jazz concerts by Stanley Clarke, a French theatre festival with actors including Charlotte Rampling and Gerard Depardieu, and an avant garde modern dance choreographed by Dimitris Papaioannou, who was behind the 2004 Olympics Opening Ceremony. 17 I N STALLATION STAZIONE BIRRA, ROME COOL BEER, HOT SOUND Classy program, tailor-made sound system – opening night at Rome's "Stazione Birra“ with world stars Hiram Bullock & "Nine Below Zero“ What may sound like an Italian pub turns out to be one of the most fashionable live venues in Rome: in Stazione Birra, international stars come and go in a continuous stream. What was once a steel warehouse now boasts a sound system installed by Italian distributor Texim that satisfies the very highest standards, with components from Electro-Voice, Midas and Klark Teknik The premiere of the new system was attended by the cream of the music industry, with the outstanding guitarist Hiram Bullock and the group Nine Below Zero turning in world-class performances. However outstanding musicians and world-class performances are not the exception but the rule at Stazione Birra, Rome's new top venue. Five days a week, the club serves up a varied but invariably tasteful menu of live music: club booker Dante Colavecchi, who assembles the ingredients, has managed in the last few months to lure Earth, Wind and Fire, Hot Tuna, TM Stevens, Colosseum, Marillion, Dennis Chambers and Albert Lee – a mouth-watering masala to which each brought a unique flavour – to the heart of Rome. This musical fare delighted connoisseurs of fine sounds in the Italian capital, whether denizens or tourists there, to sample its culinary and cultural delights. To ensure that justice was not only done but heard to be done to the performances of these artists, Stazione Birra commissioned Texim to supply a sound system of the highest quality, tuned (perfectly!) to the requirements of the venue. To say they succeeded would be something of an understatement. "What the artists who appear here appreciate is not just the fine acoustics 18 of the room but also the perfect sound system," says Dante Colavecchi. "Audiences benefit from the great sound of the PA, but the sound on stage from the high-quality monitors is also exceptional, and it's this, of course, that inspires the performers." Together with local distributor Texim, the club management opted for a PA system consisting essentially of Electro-Voice 127+ tops and Xline X subs, driven by amplifiers from EV's P series. The individual components are governed by a Klark Teknik DN 9848E controller. Plasma P1 speakers are responsible not only for the foldback (the onstage sound) but also for coverage of the balcony and FOH position beneath. The requirements of the FOH position were particularly difficult to satisfy, as it is in the acoustic shadow of the projecting balcony, but the two powered Plasma P1 systems turned out to be the perfect solution – as the succession of top-flight sound engineers that have occupied the FOH position for the various visiting acts will attest. Italian engineers are equally aware of the Plasma P1's merits, and it's spotted with ever increasing frequency these days sharing a stage or a studio with the country's finest musicians, its principal strengths being high output, balanced sound and insusceptibility to feedback. At both control positions in the Stazione Birra, it's Midas that rules. The front-of-house console supplying the PA system is a Verona 480, whilst the foldback signals are provided by a Siena 400. Both the FOH and monitor consoles are complemented by Square One outboard equalizers from Klark Teknik, with the classic DN 370 another key link in the signal chain front of house. A selection of N/DYM microphones from Electro-Voice newsflash / autumn 2007 complete a clean sweep for EVI Audio in this prestige venue – where the beer, incidentally, (as is only appropriate given the name) – is as good (almost) as the sound! Equipment supplied by Texim in Rome's Stazione Birra FOH and Main PA 12 x EV XLC 127+ 4 x EV X-Sub 6 x EV P 2000 2 x EV P 3000 2 x KT DN 9848E 1 x KT DN 370 1 x MIDAS Verona 480 Monitors and Stage 10 x EV Plasma P1 1 x Midas Siena 400 6 x KT Square One Graphic 4 x EV N/DYM 468 4 x EV N/DYM 478 4 x EV N/DYM 767A 4 x EV N/DYM 967 1 x EV N/DYM 868 2 x EV RE 2 N7 Delay: 2 x EV Plasma P1 I N STALLATION HARD ROCK CAFE, POLAND GRAND OPENING WITH EV The world famous Hard Rock Cafe celebrated the opening of its first branch in Poland in March. The Polish rock elite were in attendance to enjoy sound systems from Electro-Voice, Midas and Klark Teknik The live music and catering chain Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) is one of the American entertainment industry’s most successful exports. The concept of combining live performances by top bands, good food, a pleasant atmosphere and outstanding equipment has proven a recipe for global success, and the first Hard Rock Cafe in Poland—in Warsaw's Zlote Tarasy—looks set to extend the tradition. The 500-seat venue opened its doors to the public for the first time on the March 10th, complete with a concert becoming of the prestigious event: under the code name TOKYO MIDTOWN, JAPAN "Super Group,” the elite of Poland's rock musicians banded together to celebrate the occasion in style and give the Hard Rock Cafe's freshly installed sound system a baptism of fire into the bargain! Fabian Ukleja of Electro-Voice's Polish partner Audio Plus was responsible for the installation: "Hard Rock Cafes are world famous for their outstanding club sound,” said Ukleja, “—there’s a reason they’re constantly picking up awards. That said, the bar was set very high for us." But as the first night show— along with performances by acts like Fishbone and the Monday Rebels in the following months—have proved, Audio Plus cleared it with no difficulty, and the latest member of the HRC family has no reason—other than youth—to be in awe of its siblings: "We received the highest praise," says Ukleja, "not only from the club's management but also from the musicians. The managers are delighted with the system’s reliability, sonic performance and general ease-ofuse. And they can't get over the fact that the whole thing can be controlled from one laptop!" The installation was complex: to obtain a perfectly balanced sonic image it was necessary to tailor the design carefully to the topography of the location by defining a total of seven separate sound reinforcement zones. Each of these, has also to be controlled separately, which is why the Audio Plus team installed a NetMax N8000 (as the main processor) and the Iris-Net software platform on the club laptop from which all the devices and systems capable of being controlled remotely could be controlled. MULTI-FUNCTION COMPLEX WITH SOPHISTICATED SOUND Opened in March 2007 in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, “Tokyo Midtown” is a complex of commercial spaces, office buildings, convention halls, performance areas and conference rooms, complete with a hotel and art museum. A complete range of sound reinforcement products from Bosch Communications Systems brands Electro-Voice, DYNACORD, MIDAS and Klark Teknik were selected to meet the high standards demanded by the Tokyo Midtown Management, the result of a rigorous three year R&D process involving the Joho Dentatsu Institute, M&N Sound Projects Inc. and Towa Engineering Corporation. “It’s far easier to design a premium system like this using high quality products from a single vendor, products that work seamlessly together,” says Mr. Kameguchi, General Manager, Tokyo Midtown Hall and Conference Center. “Our research process combined technical analysis with professional experience, ensuring we achieved an optimal balance of sound quality, complete coverage and architecture-friendliness.” The goal in the main conference hall, for example, was natural sound that didn’t draw attention to itself due to an obvious point source, while offering the power handling and intelligibility of a concert-quality system. This was achieved with a distribution of 74 ceiling–mounted EV ZX1i newsflash / autumn 2007 loudspeakers, providing even coverage across every inch of the space. Electro-Voice N/D767a microphones provide warm vocal response at the other end of the signal path. A compact portable system inventory including six DYNACORD D-Lite systems, DYNACORD AM12 monitors, ten MIDAS Venice 160 mixing consoles and ten Klark Teknik Square One Graphics is on hand when the main hall is split up for various functions. The commercial spaces in Tokyo Midtown, along with the Galleria, meeting rooms and Suntory Museum of Art, are equipped with over 300 EV EVID C4.2 recessed ceiling loudspeakers, providing virtually invisible high quality BGM sound reinforcement that is unmatched by other “low profile” systems. EV ZX1i and DYNACORD D-Lite systems delivered compact concert-quality sound for the recent month-long “Midtown Garden Café” open-air event program. 19 I N STALLATION KRISTAL GLAM CLUB, BUCHAREST The Kristal Glam Club in Bucharest isn't just one of the best clubs in Eastern Europe; the temple of dance and hedonistic delights is now rated among the top locations on the entire planet The guys behind Bucharest's "Kristal Glam Club" don't let the grass grow under their feet. Top DJs like Sander Kleinenberg, Paul Van Dyk, Sasha, Deep Dish and David Morales come and go in a continuous stream, whilst events like the "Sunwaves Festival" and "Amsterdam VITENSENTER BERGEN, NORWAY Audio company Bergen AV Teknikk AS recently equipped the Science Centre (or "Vitensenter") in Bergen (Norway) with lighting, sound and stage equipment, opting, after a thorough analysis of the requirements, for loudspeakers from DYNACORD. The centre, which opened on the 31st May, offers visitors the opportunity to participate in a variety of interactive experiments relating to nature, the environment and technology. They can, for example, ride special bicycles to experience centrifugal force, produce their own weather forecasts, or drill for oil. These experiments take advantage of and are designed to convey the current state of scientific knowledge. The lighting, sound and stage equipment, too, represents the state of the art. 20 SOUND DELUXE Sensation" have established the club's reputation as a place where a great night out is guaranteed. No wonder it's just been voted Rumania's best club for the fourth year running. But that’s not all. In addition to the variety of attractions and visually striking interiors, a recently extended 20,000W DYNACORD alpha concept sound system (originally installed at the end of 2004) has helped make the "Kristal Glam Club" one of the finest discotheques in the world. In fact, the 1,000-square-meter complex, which already occupies the 28th slot, is currently rocketing up the world rankings. The aweinspiring alpha system and spectacular attractions—including a state-of-the-art laser show and no fewer than 17 video screens—invariably render the desired effect… so much so that DJ Luciano, in a recent interview with the magazine DE BUG, went as far as to credit the club, which can accommodate up to 1,500 guests at a time, with leading the world-wide techno revival. HSA Audio installed the following system in the "Kristal Glam Club", Bucharest 4 alpha X1-90 Dynacord tops 2 alpha V1-90 Dynacord tops 8 alpha B3 Dynacord sub 6 Dynacord L2400 4 Dynacord L1000 2 DSP 244 Dynacord 1 Powermax 5 (monitors) MANY REQUIREMENTS, ONE SYSTEM For the auditorium of the Vitensenter–which is mainly used for conferences, events, and lectures under the auspices of the University of Bergen–the Rådal-based company installed a 2.1 stereo system, plus a central cluster reserved primarily for lectures. A team lead by MD Kjartan N. Eikeland decided in favour of MX 8 and MX 12 loudspeakers from Dynacord's Pi One series, whilst DYNACORD MT 115 subwoofers reinforce the low frequency reproduction. The Vitensenter's cinemas--used for 3D projections, films and interactive visual experiments-are even more lavishly equipped. Here, after conducting exhaustive tests using EASE 4.1 software, the specialists from AV-Teknikk opted for a combination of Dynacord MX 12, MX 8 and MX 115 systems. "The client was quite specific ab- newsflash / autumn 2007 out the requirements of the sound reinforcement system," recounts Eikeland, "and the Pi One seemed predestined for the role." Even so, he was surprised, when the installation was complete, to discover quite how perfect the match was: "We connected a system processor to apply the finishing touches to the cinema installation prior to the commissioning, only to discover none were necessary! The sound quality was outstanding right from the off--not just in the centre of the auditorium but even in the most distant corners." I N STALLATION NATIONAL THEATER, BRATISLAVA EV FOR SLOVAKIA’S NEW NATIONAL THEATRE Meeting the highest international standards – the EV-equipped Slovakian National Theater in Bratislava With three stages featuring the Electro-Voice pro audio equipment, the new Slovakian National Theatre in Bratislava meets the highest international standards. EV's Slovakian partner, SBL Acoustics s.r.o., undertook the audio installation—including 200 EV speakers—with support from local installation specialists Proeling The National Theatre's management hired Bratislava-based sound company SBL Acoustics s.r.o. to ensure the audio spec satisfied the highest standards. "One of the principal stipulations for the sound systems was the provision of even coverage throughout each auditorium,” says Stanislav Lehen, Manager, SBL Acoustics s.r.o. This standard request proved trickier than expected: "The architecture of the rooms posed a number of problems," says Lehen. "They were all very wide and open. To arrive at a homogeneous sound image, therefore, we had to come up with something exceptional." The theatre's technical specialists were unanimous in favoring Electro-Voice when it came to selecting the sound equipment. "The brand already enjoys an excellent reputation in Slovakia," says Lehen. "But on top of that, EV was quicker than all the other suppliers in coming up with a viable concept, and that clearly impressed the people who made the decision." And, as Stanislav Lehen will attest, it was not a decision anyone in Slovakia's number one theatre has regretted for an instant. The technical staff were impressed, too, not only with the prompt and flawless support offered by EV staff but also by their expertise. "Oliver Sahm, EVI Audio's Project and Sales Manager, provided us with outstanding technical support. His acoustic simulations were of crucial importance when it came to deciding which systems to opt for. It was thanks to his assistance that we were able to identify what I feel represents the ideal sound reinforcement concept for the theatre.” The building of the new National Theatre in Bratislava began back in 1984, but the ambitious project had to be put on ice for many years due to the changing political climate—23 years elapsed between the laying of the foundation stone and the opening of its doors. For more information on the theatre’s furnishings and equipment visit: www.snd.sk newsflash / autumn 2007 Electro-Voice Equipment List 171 EV Xi, EV Rx and EV Eliminator series speakers 21 x EV Xi1152 (main sound system) 12 x EV Xi1122 (main sound system) 4 x EV Xi1123 (main sound system) 4 x EV Xi2183 (main sound system) 8 x EV Xi1191 (main sound system) 6 x EV FRi2082 (sub-balcony sound system) 3x EV FRX+640 (main sound system - rear stage) 4 x EV X-sub (main sound system) 13 x EV QRx112 (main sound system) 14 x EV Sx100+ (monitor sound system) 8 x EV SxA250 (mobile sound system) 16 x EV Sx300 (mobile sound system) 42 x EV Sx80 (circle effect sound reinforcement) 14 x EV Dx38 (controllers) Plus additional EV speaker systems for mobile use (e.g. Xf, Xb, QRx115/75, QRx112/75, SxA100) 21 INSIDE SIGN AUCTIONED OFF PROLIGHT+SOUND 2007 COMPANY MAXI-MARATHON, MUNICH ADEL ATTIA THE WINNER OUTSTANDING PRODUCTS BOSCH4SPEED In the course of the EVI Audio Hausmesse, the company's in-house trade fair, the 'DYNACORD' sign that once graced the façade of the company's headquarters in Straubing was auctioned off. The auction was won by Adel Attia, Managing Director of EVI Audio's Egyptian partner Quality, as auctioneer Mathias von Heydekampf intoned the magic words "… going for the third time" and the gavel fell on his bid of 1,500 euro. As promised, the entire sum was donated to St. Elisabeth's Kindergarten in Straubing. The choice of St Elisabeth's was in fact far from arbitrary, reveals EVI Audio Sales Manager Robert Hesse: "Since we have many mothers working for the company, we deliberately chose a kindergarten with an integrated crèche. With this 1,500 euro, we have made a small, but I hope significant, contribution to its survival." As in previous years, a great many awards were presented for outstanding products – and, as in previous years, many of those awards went to EVI Audio, including the following:- On the 19th July 2007, 165 runners from Bosch and EVI Audio gathered at the start of Munich's Maxi-Marathon beneath the banner "Bosch4Speed". Cheered on by thousands of spectators, they, along with some 24,000 other athletes, ran the 6.75 km from Coubertin Square in the center of the city to the finish line in the Olympic Stadium, where medals were awarded not only to the fastest runners but also to the most original team. Here, the honors went to 15 trainees and students from the Bosch plant in Ottobrunn who ran dressed as fire detectors – honors the team from EVI Audio is already eyeing for next year. MIPA Award: MIDAS XL8 Live Performance System – "Best Pro Audio Desk" Tastenwelt: DYNACORD CMS 1600 – "Best Mixer & Powered Mixer" Soundcheck: Electro-Voice ZX4 – "Best PA Speaker" tools4music comparative test: DYNACORD CL-1600 – "Best Power Amp in terms of Performance and Value for money" above: The Tastenwelt Product Award, won by the DYNACORD CMS 1600, was accepted by Günter Gehlich, Director Sales Germany (l) top: "Going… going… gone to the gentleman on my right" – the DYNACORD logo is auctioned off (l) botton: Plant Manager Konrad Proyer (l.) and Vice President Sales EMEA Robert Hesse (3rd from l.) present kindergarten director Melanie Schindler (2nd from l.) with a check for 1,500 euros. (Right) Dean Georg Birner. 22 newsflash / autumn 2007 "Bosch4speed“ – the team from EVI Audio (above) and Bosch's prize-winning fire detectors (below) at Munich's Maxi-Marathon INSIDE MIDAS CONSOLES HOLLAND NEW FACTORY IN STRAUBING BENELUX DISTRIBUTION DEAL BUILDING COMPLETED Midas Consoles Holland, which was formed around four years ago, has taken over the distribution of Midas and Klark Teknik products in the entire Benelux region A new subsidiary called Midas Consoles Benelux has been created, with branches in Zaventem (Belgium) and in Apeldoom (NL) where the mother company is based. According to Axel Nagtegaal, Managing Director of both Midas Consoles Holland and Midas Consoles Benelux, the two companies will work closely, but remain autonomous. "In the last few years, our focused distribution model has proved successful. Now, working in liaison with the Midas and KT headquarters in the UK, we have set new targets," Axel told us. Also affiliated with Midas Consoles Benelux is the touring support company Dryhire.eu, a well established events service provider with an inventory that includes Klark Teknik signal processors, a variety of analogue Midas consoles and the digital Midas XL8 Live Performance System. Midas Consoles Benelux will be making its first public presentation at the Audiovisual Creative Fair 2007 in Brussels. Work on the new production hall at the EVI Audio plant in Straubing was completed successfully in September 2007 After a construction period of approximately 10 months the new EVI Audio production hall with about 4,000 square meters was completed. 2,000 extra square meters are now available for supply and delivery, a new test and demonstration hall and for office and recreation space. DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR At the IBC 2007 on the 6th September, Polish TELEX/RTS distributor Audio Plus was crowned "Distributor of the Year", in the view of Sales Manager Nico Lewis, "among other things, because the team led by MD Krzysstof Sokol does its utmost at all times to satisfy customers" – a compliment aimed primarily at Audio Plus's Sebastian Pawlak. Sebastian Pawlak (Audio Plus) and Nico Lewis (Sales Manager, TELEX/RTS) at the IBC HOT STUFF: BESTSELLER IN THE MERCHANDISING DEPARTMENT It's in the bag… … and one that's as sporty as it is elegant! Our new Messenger Bag comes with a choice of DYNACORD or EV logos. Masses of space and a variety of compartments for storing bits and bobs make this the perfect accessory for out and about. EV: D153217 / DC: D153216; Price 25 Euros each. Let there be light… … and there was light, or will be when all our stylish and practical LED pocket torches have been snapped up. At once pathfinder and beacon, this bijou of a luminaire comes with a choice of Dynacord or EV logos. EV: D153218 / DC: D153219; Price 12 Euros each. EV: 153218 DC: 153216 newsflash / autumn 2007 23 © 2007 EVI Audio GmbH · Subject to change without prior notice · Printed in Germany (F&W/Snapshot) · Order #D164610 09/07/3500 www.boschcommunications.com
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