LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 2009: TUBE-TECH, maker of contemporary high-end, all-tube-based pro audio gear based on an elegant design philosophy, is pleased to announce the launch of a completely revitalized website (www.tube-tech.com). TUBE-TECH’s founder, president, and designer of nearly thirty years, John G. Petersen, commissioned the site to provide an elegant clearinghouse for information on TUBE-TECH products, insider tips and tricks for getting the most out of the TUBE-TECH sound, and access to TUBE-TECH’s story and uncompromising design manifesto. In addition, the site is targeted to help younger, aspiring engineers and musicians discover the long lasting sonic quality of the TUBE-TECH units.

Visitors to TUBE-TECH.com will find relevant news on the home page and links to products, company information, distribution, users, and tips & tricks sections. The product pages neatly detail the features of each TUBE-TECH unit together with downloadable specifications and manuals. The company section includes an introduction to TUBE-TECH’s six employees, who handle, quite literally with their hands, everything from design to assembly to billing. The TUBE-TECH story, which includes references to Petersen’s garage as the assembly site of the earliest TUBE-TECH units, and the bold TUBE-TECH design manifesto also link from the company tab. The distribution section includes up-to-date contact information for TUBE-TECH distributors throughout the world.

The user section provides quotes from and links to TUBE-TECH users, including everyone from the industry’s “household names” like Al Schmitt to the project studio down the street. TUBE-TECH encourages users to send in their stories together with photos, a web address, and a list of TUBE-TECH gear for inclusion in the user section. In tips & tricks, visitors will find a sizable (and growing!) collection of both printed and video descriptions of TUBE-TECH uses that will prove both demonstrative and inspirational. And again, users are encouraged to send in their own tips and tricks!

“TUBE-TECH defines “analog” more than almost any other company in the business,” noted Brad Lunde, president of TransAudio Group, TUBE-TECH’s U.S. distributor. “All of the product information and downloads are at your fingertips. The users section connects you with other TUBE-TECH users. The tips & tricks open your eyes to uses you hadn’t thought of. And the company section underscores the unique history of that famous blue faceplate. The new website is a nice complement to everything else that TUBE-TECH has going for it.”

ABOUT TRANSAUDIO GROUP TransAudio Group, founded by industry veteran Brad Lunde, has quickly become the premier U.S. importer/distributor and/or U.S. sales and marketing representative for high-end audio. Success hinges on TransAudio providing dealers and end users with a higher standard of product expertise and support far beyond the norm.

www.transaudiogroup.com

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 2009: So far this year has been all about change and ABC’s telecast of the 81st Academy Awards on February 22nd was no exception, as producers radically reworked the show to attract more viewers with a new, more intimate production design and a previously untried host, triple threat – actor, dancer and singer – Hugh Jackman. But behind the scenes, both onstage and out on the red carpet, there was at least one constant: Sennheiser and Neumann microphones.

Orchestra mixer Dan Wallin was in charge of all of the live and pre-recorded music. Working in Remote Recording’s “Silver Studio” backstage, Wallin selected Neumann TLM 193, TLM 170 and Sennheiser MKH 8040 wired mics to capture the orchestra. This year, the orchestra, conducted by music director Michael Giacchino, was moved from the pit to onstage in order to recreate a 1940s nightclub ambience. Once again, Ed Green mixed all of the stage vocal and dialogue mics. On the red carpet outside the Kodak Theatre, Burbank-based wireless specialists Soundtronics fielded four Sennheiser SKM 5200 RF handheld microphones and four SK 5012 miniature transmitter belt packs with lavalier mics for ABC pre-show hosts Robin Roberts, Tim Gunn and Jess Cagle as they greeted and interviewed arriving nominees and attendees.

Wallin, a veteran, scoring mixer who has worked on over 500 films so far in his sixty-year career, used a very similar collection of microphones at Capitol Recording Studios during the days leading up to the telecast for the show’s prerecorded orchestral music. Sennheiser MKH 8040 cardioid mics, introduced last year, were positioned over the woodwind/saxophone sections, the harp and the timpani. For the recording, he also used Neumann TLM 193s on the trumpets, trombones and French horns, with TLM 170s on the piano, guitar, drum overheads and the string entire section. Wallin elected to use his personal collection of TLM 170 Jubilee mics at Capitol. “The pattern is right on it, and the Jubilees have such a sweet sound,” he explained.

After some experimentation at the Kodak Theatre, comparing the Sennheiser MKH 8040s to the MKH 40s, Wallin discovered that the newer mics suited his preferred mixing style of allowing instruments to ‘leak’ in from adjacent sections. Indeed, reported Wallin’s assistant engineer, Mike Aarvold, “Dan had me raise the MKH 8040 woodwind mics about three or four inches to get a bit more leakage and increase the apparent size and excitement of the overall sound. Dan really liked the uncolored, off-axis leakage of the brass into the woodwind mics.”

Remote Recording president David Hewitt, returning for his sixteenth Academy Awards broadcast, agreed that the Neumann microphones, especially the TLM 170s, performed very favorably on the telecast. “They’re so transparent and smooth,” he said. “A lot of it has to do with the proper off-axis response of those things, so that the leakage doesn’t give you a lot of colored sound. What leakage you do get is complementary to the overall mix.”

In past years the string overhead mics were balanced with individual clip-on mics, but this year there was almost no need for them. He elaborated, “I was surprised, because (without naming names) the mic we usually use does seem to bring up way too much drum leakage. But the MKH 8040s on the overheads were tight enough that they didn’t bring up all the drum leakage and wash us out. What leakage there was, was coherent and added to the overall mix without detracting because of phase cancellation.”

Wallin enjoyed working for the first time with the MKH 8040s on the Oscar telecast: “The last few years, Sennheiser has come out with some really sweet microphones, first with the MKH 800 then the MKH 8040. The MKH 8040 is a really a good mic – really smooth, really flat, and really solid, almost like an MKH 40 on steroids. I can see me using them a lot, even on drum kits, because there’s so much headroom,” he concluded.

ABOUT SENNHEISER Sennheiser is a world-leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is now a global brand represented in 60 countries around the world with U.S. headquarters in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Sennheiser’s pioneering excellence in technology has rewarded the company with numerous awards and accolades including an Emmy, a Grammy, and the Scientific and Engineering Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

For more information, please visit www.sennheiserusa.com

PHOTO CAPTION The 81st Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre on February 22nd featured a gorgeous blue-hued stage, framed by a glittering 92,000 Swarovski-crystal curtain, and an onstage orchestra beautifully miked with Neumann TLM 193, TLM 170 and Sennheiser MKH 8040 wired mics to capture the magic. (PHOTO CREDIT: (c) 2009 Getty Images)

JESSUP, MARYLAND – FEBRUARY 2009: API announces that Dale Pro Audio is now an official dealer of both, API and Arsenal Audio by API, product lines. With over fifty years in business, a staff with hundreds of combined years of experience in the pro audio industry, and a Walters-Storyk-designed showroom, Dale Pro Audio is Manhattan’s premier pro audio retailer. It sells to broadcasters, post-production studios, recording studios, and installed-sound contractors throughout New York and the country.

“API represents one of the greatest values in the industry today and will form the cornerstone of our outboard sales,” said Ken Patnaude, vice president of sales and marketing for Dale. “Put simply, our customers want gear that sounds fantastic, that will last a long, long time, and that is priced fairly. All are so true of API products. Our customers will especially appreciate the affordable Arsenal Audio by API products and API’s 500-series modules in these tough economic times.”

“Buying gear from Dale is a unique experience, and we’re happy that API will now have a strong presence in their showrooms,” said Dan Zimbelman, director of sales for API. “It’s easy to confuse Dale for a functioning studio. They don’t sell guitars, keyboards or drums, so there’s no music store vibe. The ‘showroom’ is split between four Walter-Storyk-designed ‘studios,’ one of which allows customers to easily compare outboard gear with input from knowledgeable sales staff who don’t work on commission. If that weren’t enough, they have a relaxed loaner policy so that users can test drive gear in their own studio!”

ABOUT API API remains the leader in analog recording gear, with the Vision surround production, Legacy series, and 1608 recording consoles, and the classic line of modular signal processing equipment.

www.apiaudio.com

PHOTO CAPTION One of the Walters-Storyk-designed showrooms at new API dealer, Dale Pro Audio.

Hollywood, CA, February 27, 2009 – SonicPool, one of Hollywood’s leading post production facilities, specializing in sound and picture finishing, production and edit suite rentals, and full post production services, has announced its current roster of episodic television projects. The announcement was made by Patrick Bird and John Frost, co-founders, SonicPool.

One of MTV’s newest hit television shows “Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew� has enlisted SonicPool for the Sound Mix. The show, which is in its third season, recruits nine dance crews to compete for the coveted title of “America’s Best Dance Crew� and $100,000. The show airs Thursdays at 10p ET on MTV.

Currently a hit show on the Sundance Channel, “Big Ideas for a Small Planet�, has turned to SonicPool for it’s HD Online and Sound Mixing needs. The show presents innovators and innovations leading the way for a new green world, airing a new green theme every Tuesday at 9p ET/PT.

Up next is a brand new series that has been picked up by VH1 for eight episodes. “Tough Love� chronicles a house full of women trying to find love with the help of matchmaker Steve Ward. The series is produced by Drew Barrymore’s production company, Flower Films. SonicPool will provide HD online and color correction services, Sound Mix, Closed Captioning, Mastering and Duplication of all shows.

ABOUT SONICPOOL:
In 2001, post production specialists Patrick Bird and John Frost co-founded SonicPool in the heart of Hollywood. Bird and Frost currently serve the company as President and CEO.

SonicPool’s 20,000sqft facility is comprised of 15 SD and HD Offline and Online Edit Suites, Theatrical Mix stages, Audio Editorial suites, Production offices, and a machine room fully stocked with all standard SD and HD decks. The company’s post production services include Sound and Picture Finishing, Edit Suite and Production Office rentals, and Media Duplication.

SonicPool’s clients run the full spectrum of the entertainment and broadcasting industries, with clients ranging from major studio releases, independent feature films, TV programs and radio to DVD menu sound design, TV Commercials, gaming, mobile and Internet projects.

SonicPool is located at 6860 Lexington Ave, Hollywood, CA, 90038. The phone is 323/460-4MIX, and the web address is: www.sonicpool.com.
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Las Vegas, NV, February 26, 2009 – RF Central, part of The Vitec Group’s RF Systems business unit, and a leading digital microwave technology provider, is introducing its RFX-PHT-II HD upgradeable portable 2 GHz digital transmitter at NAB 2009 (Booth C3707). Utilizing RF Central’s signature RFX-CMT-II camera-mounted transmitter, the PHT-II is designed to turn any “news car� into a “live broadcast vehicle� and transform any “run and shoot� car into a “run and transmit� vehicle. more

LAS VEGAS, NV, February 27, 2009 – Anton/Bauer, a brand of The Vitec Group, and the world’s premier provider of professional camera batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems, is introducing its Dionic® HC high current camera battery at NAB 2009 (Booth C6021). more

Personal Mixers Provide Monitor Mixing and Communications System for Show’s Orchestra

LOS ANGELES, CA, FEBRUARY 27, 2009 — The 81st Academy Awards moved away from the format style of recent years, its producers opting for a more classic Hollywood approach by adding a Big Band feel. Because the show’s host, Hugh Jackman, performed in numerous musical numbers and much of the focus centered around music, communications between the broadcast crew, Musical Director Michael Giacchino, orchestra members, and the audio crew from ATK Audiotek was essential. Aviom’s Pro16® monitor mixing system was at the hub of the communication and monitoring setup, helping make each number a showstopper. more