Clearwing Productions replaces auditorium’s PA with new KIVA-KILO system

GREENDALE, Wisconsin — Greendale High School (GHS), located less than 10 miles southwest of downtown Milwaukee, WI, recently capped off renovations to its Reiman Family Arts Wing with the installation of an L-ACOUSTICS KIVA line source system. Designed and installed by Clearwing Productions, the new loudspeaker and amplifier package is now delivering high-fidelity sound reinforcement for the school’s 876-seat Henry Ross Auditorium. more…

COS-11D HWM Shines in Shepherd of the Hills Production

Each year, California’s Shepherd of the Hills Church presents “The Passion Play,” a large scale musical reenactment of the life of Jesus Christ. With over 160 cast members, the critically-acclaimed production has become a focal point of activity for one of the nation’s largest non-denominational churches. This year, Sanken’s new COS-11D HWM head worn microphone was tested out on principle performers by Technical Director and Production Designer Jeff Taylor.

“We had access to an early production unit and gave it a try,” remarked Taylor. “We were amazed at the sonic quality, not only for the robust singing, but the speech, as well. Everything just opened up — it sounded as if we were using good handheld ribbon mics.”

Sanken’s new head worn COS-11D HWM utilizes the same miniature components lauded industrywide as the lavalier microphone for film, TV, and stage. The ultra-miniature new generation microphone was designed for hi-resolution audio and is now available for live stage productions, broadcast, and houses of worship. The mic is especially valuable when there is rigorous head movement, while the close proximity of the mic to the vocal source provides consistently good audio with very natural characteristics.

“We tried the new Sanken mic on the cast member portraying Pilate,” explained Jeff Taylor. “It is a fairly active role and the gentleman is very dramatic, very physical in his performance, and we had no issues whatsoever. ”

“My FOH engineers were really impressed with the overall quality, so we put it on our musical director, Maxine Anderson, who is a professional vocal performer herself. She is an extremely powerful vocalist, and we wanted to see how the headroom was, so she just let it fly. The Sanken performed flawlessly.”

Sanken’s new microphone was also designed to provide greater immunity to RF interference. It incorporates exclusive design advances that deal with both digital and digital/analog hybrid RF wireless transmission. Taylor concluded, “There was a lot of RF flying around on that stage, and the COS-11D performed very well, no issues at all. We have a big Christmas production coming up and we’re really looking forward to using these new Sanken mics.”

For more information about Shepherd of the Hills Church, visit:
http://www.theshepherd.org

For more info about Sanken, visit distributor plus24: http://www.plus24.net
or phone 323.845.1171

Leader in Monitor Control Debuts Portable & Desktop Unit

Anaheim, CA – January 19, 2012 – At the 2012 Winter NAMM show, Dangerous Music announced their newest monitor controller, the “Dangerous Source” – a portable and desktop unit designed for the engineer on the go or to fit a limited space on the desktop. Dangerous Music is one of the industry leaders in dedicated monitor controllers and helped usher in the product category over 10 years ago with the Dangerous Monitor – widely regarded as a benchmark of quality. Dangerous Music monitoring products have been nominated and won many prestigious industry awards including Pro Audio Review magazine’s PAR Excellence Award, TEC Award, EM Editors Choice, MIX Magazine’s Certified Hit, and Future Music Magazine’s ACE award among others. The new sleekly designed “Dangerous Source” builds on this sterling reputation as a perfectly tuned complement to any DAW for its centralized control of speakers, headphones, and more. The Source fits perfectly beneath a 13″ laptop computer, but it can also sit unobtrusively on the desktop within arms reach to provide easy control of volume, input selection, speaker switching, and headphone control. An input for USB audio simplifies a traveling mix rig even further. The “Dangerous Source” is set for release in early Q2, 2012, the price is to be announced. more…

San Francisco, January 26, 2012: For more than 60 years, Sennheiser has stood for the highest quality audio products across all areas of sound recording, transmission and reproduction. This month, the company announces the official opening of its San Francisco- based research lab: SFTC (Technology and Innovation California). The opening ceremony was attended by more then 100 guests from the audio community in the Bay Area. The new research facility — which relocated from Palo Alto in November 2011, is focused on improving the customer experience through digital signal processing (DSP) technologies and combining this with Sennheiser’s world-renowned expertise in electro-acoustics and wireless transmission.

As a research hub for Sennheiser, whose slogan is “The Future Made Right Here,” SFTC creates knowledge in selected areas of DSP and facilitates knowledge transfer to Sennheiser’s product teams around the world. Many of these ideas and technologies are then adopted and integrated into Sennheiser’s consumer, professional or installed sound divisions.

“The Sennheiser culture has always been rooted in innovation and exploring what may be possible in the future,” commented Daniel Sennheiser, president strategy and finance, Sennheiser. “Our new facility in San Francisco leverages an extensive ecosystem of talents that includes not only our own visionary thinkers and researchers, but world renowned academic institutions and corporations. In this environment, our engineers are free to experiment and play with technology and processes that may eventually find its way into various consumer, pro and installed sound applications.”

“Concept Tahoe”
After it finishes developing and testing a concept, Sennheiser may choose to introduce a prototype model to test its market value and gauge end-user interest.

For example, last year at the prolight+sound and NAMM trade shows, Sennheiser unveiled a project that was under development at its SFTC research laboratory: “Concept Tahoe.”

This wireless microphone prototype — which drew a lot of attention by trade show attendees — is not only able to function as a high quality, professional wireless microphone, but also as an effects and processing controller — providing an unprecedented level of creative options to DJs and performers. This functionality is facilitated by the transmission of control data to a receiver, which can control any number of effects or plug-ins in real time using the MIDI protocol. The microphone can also be transformed into a tambourine or a shaker at the press of a button. By using an accelerometer and a rotation sensor, it measures how quickly it is moving and at what angle in space it is currently located. This prototype was demonstrated during the SFTC opening event, and showcased by beatboxer entertainers Butterscotch and Eklips.

“By moving the location of the SFTC to the Bay Area, our team — and by extension the entire Sennheiser organization — is able to leverage our proximity to the technology industry’s leading innovators, product designers and thought leaders. These include other multi-national companies as well as a unique network of start-ups and highly regarded institutions such as UC Berkeley and Stanford University,” commented Veronique Larcher, director of research, North America, for Sennheiser. “At SFTC, our researchers have access to an enormous pool of talent and imagination; risk taking and the cross-fertilization of ideas is strongly encouraged.”

Sennheiser launched its SFTC in 2006 and since then, its research and development work have been manifested in Sennheiser’s groundbreaking products — including the IS-ADN conference system.

Burbank, CA … Mojave Audio, a company founded by David Royer (known for his work with ribbon microphones) is pleased to announce the introduction of the Mojave Audio MA-301fet Condenser Microphone. Based upon the popular MA-201fet designed by David Royer, the new MA-301fet adds features that industry professionals have asked for, including a 3-position pickup pattern selector, a 15 dB pad, and a switchable bass roll-off. This exceptional new microphone is ideal for numerous applications, among them: vocals, voice over and broadcast, electric guitar, piano, acoustic instruments, both drum overheads and room mics (drum ambience), and high SPL sources such as kick drums and bass guitar amps. more…

SSL picks up two Outstanding Technical Achievement awards for Large and Small Format Console Technology

OXFORD, ENGLAND – Solid State Logic, the world’s leading manufacturer of professional analogue and digital audio consoles, is pleased to announce that it has won two Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC) Awards.

more…

Versatile New FC-387 “Atlantis” solid-state large diaphragm condenser microphone debuts at NAMM

Anaheim, CA – January 19, 2012 – At the 2012 Winter NAMM show, Lauten Audio announced a new microphone, the FC-387 “Atlantis” model, a solid-state multi-functional, large-diaphragm condenser. The uniquely appointed Atlantis microphone features multiple switches for three different polar patterns, gain, and unique timbre settings. The FC-387 is for recordists seeking an incredibly diverse and useful modern FET studio microphone. It offers a blend of full and rich low and mid-range, as well as smooth and unique high-mid and high-frequencies. Audio Plus Services, the distributor for Lauten Audio microphones in North America, is showing the new Atlantis microphone in their NAMM Booth 6998, in HALL A. The Atlantis FC-387 microphone retails for $1599. US and will be available in Q2 of 2012. more…

Mark Loughman Joined by Kenny Aronoff, Matt Sorum, Rafael Moreira and Guests

Respected Manchester rocker Mark Loughman, CEO of British Audio Engineering, is heading up the BAE T-Funk All Star Band on Saturday night, January 28th at one of LA’s hottest nightclubs, The Satellite. Joining Loughman will be his band’s world renowned drummer Kenny Aronoff, who is also currently touring with Chickenfoot, replacing Chad Smith during the Chili Peppers tour.

Also performing are guitarist Rafael Moreira (Pink, Christina Aguilera, Colbie Caillat); top drummer Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver); guitarist Franky Perez (Camp Freddy, Stars on Broadway); guitarist Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, The Cult); bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction, Alanis Morissette); DJ Lethal and other special surprise guests.

In addition to exceptional musicians, the performance will feature top gear from British Audio Engineering, including the prized 1073, 312 and 1084 microphone pre-amplifiers based on the classics of the past and now remanufactured with original components. TELEFUNKEN microphones on stage will be the popular M80 and M81 dynamic microphones and Copperhead CU-29 and ELA M 260 condenser tube mics.

“Great musicians and great gear make for a night of great music – come and listen for yourself,” says Mark, Loughman, who will be performing songs from his forthcoming album, including the first single: “I Hate My Girlfriends Because They Love Me,” available Friday, Jan. 27 on iTunes.

BAE manufactures high-end microphone pre-amplifiers, equalizers, and compressors. Faithful to the designs and fabrication of vintage gear from the 60s and 70s, BAE uses the highest quality components from the original suppliers. TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik is the[1] TEC Award-winning microphone company that faithfully recreates the vintage Telefunken sound, offering a product line that perfectly blends vintage style and sound with the reliability of modern-day microphones.

The Satellite is located at 1717 Silver Lake Blvd., LA, CA 90026. Doors open at 8:30pm, show starts at 9:00. $15 advance tickets are available at http://www.TicketFly.com search: Mark Loughman.

The concert will be webcast live at 9:00pm PST. Check http://www.BAEaudio.com for details.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – January 25, 2012 – Moog Music has announced that it has won an Outstanding Technical Achievement award from the TEC (Technical Excellence & Creativity) Foundation in recognition of its Slim Phatty analog synthesizer, launched in 2011. Mike Adams, CEO/President; Cyril Lance, Chief Engineer and Steve Dunnington, Product Development Specialist of Moog Music were all on hand to accept the award during a special recognition ceremony held at the 2012 NAMM show in Anaheim, CA on Friday evening.

“It is an honor to be recognized with an Outstanding Technical Achievement award by the TEC Foundation,” commented Mike Adams. “The Slim Phatty is an enormously flexible and expressive instrument and is of course a direct descendant of the Iconic Minimoog Model D.”

Massive Moog Sound in a Small Package
Based on the powerful Little Phatty sound engine, the Slim Phatty features the classic Moog Ladder Filter, the touchstone of analog sound design. In addition to shaping the sound of its on-board oscillators, the Slim Phatty’s filter is a valuable production tool that can be used to process external audio, or to sweeten a variety of audio sources with everything from smooth analog warmth through wet, resonant filter sweeps.

The Slim Phatty’s convenient size makes it an ideal voice expander for existing gear, with two oscillators of massive Moog sound that are always just a MIDI cable away. A new Tuning Scale feature and editor allows easy exploration of alternate scales and tunings. Microtonal, just intonation, quarter-tone, world music scales and more make the Slim Phatty suitable for international travel.

In addition to the world of MIDI and USB gear, the Slim Phatty’s Control Voltage inputs give it unlimited realms of expression and sound design possibilities. “Modular synth” style patching with Moogerfooger effects processors, the CP-251 Control Voltage Processor and other Moog synths creates soundscapes previously available only on large modular systems. Connecting to the Etherwave Plus Control Voltage Theremin adds unique and intuitive new modes of expression.

For more information on the Slim Phatty, visit http://www.moogmusic.com.

PULLMAN, WASHINGTON – JANUARY 2012: To the students of Washington State University and the residents of Pullman, Washington, Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum is a cultural hub for arts, entertainment, and sports. Most notably, it is home to the women and men’s Cougar basketball teams, which often draw capacity crowds of 12,000. The coliseum opened in 1973 with the latest sound reinforcement technology available at the time, but the march of the decades recalibrated expectations such that, to modern ears, the reinforcement system at Beasley sounded like an AM radio in a world that had come to expect THX Surround. Thus, when the school contracted Daktronics, Inc. (Brookings, South Dakota) to install a state-of-the-art, center-hung scoreboard and video display, they also hired Anthony James Partners (Richmond, Virginia) to design a state-of-the-art sound reinforcement system to go with it. Daktronics not only installed the scoreboard but won the bid from Washington State University to install the sound system, which relies on the patent-pending Shaded Amplitude Lens Technology of Danley Sound Labs Genesis Horn GH-60s to provide consistent SPL at every seat.

“The original system consisted of a horn-loaded cluster hung in the middle of the facility,” said David Sturzenbecher, audio project manager who spearheaded the installation for Daktronics. “It definitely lacked the presence and impact of a modern sound system. Moreover, its location was in direct conflict with the location of the new scoreboard and video display. While the budget was still tight, everyone agreed that the old sound system should be replaced in the process of installing the new scoreboard and video display.” As in any bowl-shaped arena, the design challenge was to deliver consistent SPL to both the near seats and the far seats.

“The Danley Genesis Horn GH-60 uses a unique technology that they call ‘Shaded Amplitude Lens Technology, or S.A.L.T.’,” said Larry Lucas, director of audio engineering at Anthony James Partners. “With it, I was able to cover a wide section of seats with matching SPL.” The Shaded Amplitude Lens Technology preserves the point-source performance for which Danley designs are known, while allowing for different output intensity at different heights. S.A.L.T. is an ingenious way of working with the inverse square law. “Using the GH-60s and the other Danley boxes that were included led to a tremendous cost savings,” added Sturzenbecher, “Each box requires only one amplifier channel, which was not only good for the budget, but also for the small equipment room we had to work with.”

Twelve Danley Genesis Horn GH-60s cover the lower bowl and much of the upper bowl in an exploded ring around center court. Eight Danley SM-60 full-range loudspeakers aimed downward from similar positions cover the floor. Twenty Danley SH-100s fill in the highest reaches of the bowl in a delay ring, and four muscular Danley TH-118 subwoofers provide low-end thump that cannot be denied. Fourteen Crown i-Tech 5000s power the full-range boxes, and two Crown i-Tech 9000s power the subwoofers. Two BSS Soundweb London processors networked with a System Architech user interface provide system conditioning, logic, and control. The existing front end, which was both functional and modern, remained intact.

Depending on the requirements of the coliseum, school technicians can select predetermined zones and volumes with presets, such as “basketball game,” or they can manually adjust the volume of each individual zone. System Architect also provides valuable amplifier monitoring of voltage, temperature, etc. “Tuning the system was relatively easy,” said Sturzenbecher, “The Danley units sounded great right out the box and they don’t require external crossovers and the like. I did little more than add some high pass filters for safety. Getting the delays right took some time, but now that they’re locked in and the upper bowl sounds great. The much larger challenges were working around the lighting fixtures and other existing hardware on the ceiling and ensuring that the flexibility of the space was maintained.” For example, Daktronics engineered robust quick-release attachments for loudspeakers that would be in the way during a theatrical performance.

The new scoreboard grabs attention, and, for most non-audiophile ticket holders, the vastly improved sound system is likely perceived as a side-effect of its wonderfulness. Each of its four LED video displays (one for each cardinal direction) measures fifteen feet wide by eleven feet high. Ten millimeter line spacing ensures a vivid, high definition image, and sophisticated video input technology allows the school to show all manner of content.

ABOUT DANLEY SOUND LABS Danley Sound Labs is the exclusive home of Tom Danley, one of the most innovative loudspeaker designers in the industry today and recognized worldwide as a pioneer for “outside the box” thinking in professional audio technology.

www.danleysoundlabs.com