MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA – MARCH 2009: Throughout the month of March, the Gertrude Silverstone Muss Gallery at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach was home to a unique art exhibition aptly titled “SOUND.” The exhibition celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Subtropics Festival, an annual showcase of sound art sponsored by the local collective interdisciplinary Sound Art Workshop (iSAW). SOUND was curated by iSAW’s artistic director, Gustavo Matamoros, in association with composer David Dunn. The selected works explored the full range of sound art, including sculptural works, installations, performances, and interactive art. Matamoros relied on the flat frequency response and stunning fidelity of twelve Klein + Hummel P 110 high-end reference monitors to realize all of those pieces that required external loudspeakers.

“Museum spaces are seldom acoustically blessed,” admitted Matamoros, who is a creator of mixed pieces, recorded sound portraits, sound installations, text, video, and radio-phonic works. He has been the director of iSAW since 1989. He continued, “The gallery we were given in Bass has a seven-second reverb time! The usual way people tackle this is to alter the architecture to create isolated rooms. We wanted to curate a show where we didn’t have to do that; one where the pieces could live next to each other without conflict. It’s kind of like when you go to the park and hear children playing and birds singing and dogs barking.”

The gallery is one hundred feet long by thirty feet wide, which didn’t suggest obvious speaker placement. After some deliberation, Matamoros and his collaborators decided to run four of the Klein + Hummel loudspeakers down each long wall (eight total), with the final four speakers dedicated to one piece at the end of the room. A computer provided automated choreography of the show and fed a twelve-channel B&K amplifier. Often, only one piece ran at a given moment, but the pieces also ran as duos, trios, and quartets. Depending on the nature of the piece, each wall of speakers might act as a single “left-right” channel; different groups of speakers might act as different zones; or each speaker might play a unique signal in full multi-channel mode.

“We really needed speakers that were as flat and true as possible,” said Matamoros. “Before we settled on the Klein + Hummels, we tried other, admittedly less expensive speakers. It didn’t work nearly as well. There’s something about the honesty of the signal as it comes out of the speaker that helps things mix more pleasantly in the room.” Although Klein + Hummel makes an active version of the P 110 (the O 110), Matamoros deliberately selected the passive version. It proved easier to simply run speaker cable without having to worry about locating power outlets for each speaker.

Of the twenty-two pieces selected, twelve relied on the Klein + Hummel P 110s. “Music for Pure Waves, Bass Drums and Acoustic Pendulums” by sound art pioneer Alvin Lucier had four of the speakers dedicated to it. Each sat behind a bass drum tipped slightly so that the drumhead was perpendicular to the floor [see photo]. Ping-pong balls suspended with monofilament on each drum bounced to create rhythm when the drum was excited by a slow low-frequency (30 to 100Hz) sweep provided by the speakers.

Artist Russell Frehling created a piece just for SOUND that was tuned to the specific resonant frequencies of the Gertrude Silverstone Muss Gallery. Appropriately named “Bass Soundfield,” the piece constructed sonically-miniature waveforms well above 5000Hz. “The piece played on acoustics of the space and became one with it,” said Matamoros. “They were very tiny sounds reproduced faithfully by the P 110s. The gallery was transformed into a very magical place with those beautiful little sounds.”

By all accounts, SOUND was a huge success. It is the most comprehensive exhibition of sound art ever displayed in Miami, and iSAW is currently in the process of relocating to a venue that will easily accommodate on-going exhibitions of sound art. Of course, they will continue to rely on their Klein + Hummel loudspeakers to realize their art form.

ABOUT KLEIN + HUMMEL Klein + Hummel is a Sennheiser Group company. For over 60 years, Klein + Hummel is revered in the professional audio industry for its advances in sound reinforcement combined with unparalleled quality and innovative solutions. Klein + Hummel products are distributed exclusively in the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean by Sennheiser Electronic Corporation, located in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

ABOUT SENNHEISER The Sennheiser Group is also proudly affiliated with Neumann (Technical Grammy(r) award-winner) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications (technologically advanced headsets for PCs, offices and call centers).

www.sennheiserusa.com

PHOTO CAPTIONS IMAGE 1: The pristine flat sound of twelve Klein + Hummel P 110 loudspeakers accentuate the unique art exhibition “SOUND” celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Subtropics Festival in Miami sponsored by interdisciplinary Sound Art Workshop (iSAW) under the direction of Gustavo Matamoros. IMAGE 2: A Klein + Hummel P 100 speaker placed behind each of four bass drums provided a low-frequency (30 to 100Hz) sweep to rhythmically bounce the suspended ping-pong balls for Alvin Lucier’s “Music for Pure Waves, Bass Drums and Acoustic Pendulums” at the “SOUND” exhibition, held at the Gertrude Silverstone Muss Gallery in Miami Beach, sponsored by interdisciplinary Sound Art Workshop (iSAW).

Swedish Punk Rock Band Records Single “Summer”

Pictured (L-R) in Studio A at Ocean Way are producer Deryck Whibley, Neverstore drummer Erik Lantz, singer/guitarist Jacob Widen, bassist Oscar Kempe, engineer Wesley Seidman, and project director John Asher. Photo by David Goggin.

Swedish punk rockers Neverstore have recorded “Summer,” the lead single from their forthcoming Sony album. Deryck Whibley, frontman for Sum 41, produced the track at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood after touring in Japan with Neverstore as their opening act.

Neverstore was formed in Skövde, Sweden in 2000 and released their first album, Seven Hundred Sundays, in 2007. They have toured worldwide and received the MTV Europe Music Award for “Best Swedish Artist” in both 2007 and 2008. Their sophomore album, Heroes Wanted, was released in 2008.

Canadian punk rockers Sum 41 has released four albums, including the triple Platinum All Killer, No Filler. The band performs as many as 300 shows a year and conducts worldwide tours often lasting more than a year. They have been nominated for seven Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy) and have won twice (Group of the Year in 2002 and Rock Album of the Year for Chuck in 2005).

For information about Ocean Way, visit: http://www.oceanwayrecording.com

Contact Kelly Erwin for all booking requests.
Email: Kelly@oceanwayrecording.com or call 323-467-9375.

ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 8, 2009 – Clear-Com Communication Systems, a Vitec Group brand, will demonstrate for the first time at NAB 2009 (Booth C6521) a direct link from its IP-Enabled V-Series panels to the Eclipse digital matrix intercom frames over an existing WAN or LAN Ethernet connection. This new connectivity option, available for all new and existing V-Series panels, allows broadcasters to establish intercom communications in locations where direct cabling is lacking by employing the existing local IT infrastructure, making it simple and affordable to expand intercom access. more

~Free Shipping Available on All Orders of Auralex’s Acoustical Treatments~

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, APRIL 8, 2009 — As Auralex Acoustics continues to expand its business, the company’s pro audio acoustical treatments are now available through online consumer retail giant, Amazon.com. Auralex is now Amazon.com’s preferred acoustical treatment providers, offering its complete line of pro audio acoustical products, for immediate shipping, with the added benefit of FREE Super Saver shipping on all Amazon.com orders of $25 or more. more

For guitarist Jennifer Batten, there is no stage too large. A veteran of three world tours with Michael Jackson and two with Jeff Beck, Batten has performed with music’s biggest stars. She has been in bands playing everything from straight rock, metal, fusion, to funk. Add on three solo albums to her credit and it is easy to see why Batten is known as one of the best in the business. While the music has certainly changed over the years, one constant since 1991 has been Batten’s use of DigiTech equipment.

“The first DigiTech product I fell in love with was the Whammy™ pedal. I’m looking for convenience, flexibility and durability in my equipment. When you’re on tour you need your gear to be lightweight so I need to have an all-in-one board that I can use anywhere, plus I’ve never had a DigiTech product break on me,� stated Batten. “I’ve also used the GNX Guitar Workstation® for years and just recently began using the RP1000 for my current tour. The RP1000 is great for me because there’s no fussing with a ton of cables, I love having everything in one unit.�

For Batten, DigiTech is now a part of the sound she creates. “I use several of the DigiTech specific sounds like the Yaya™, the Clean Swell, and of course the Whammy pedal set to bend a step down. Ultimately DigiTech is always giving me constant improvements and innovations which I really like.�

For an aspiring guitarist Batten feels DigiTech products can be beneficial for them as well. “When you’re just beginning you want something that is very intuitive that you can get playing and experimenting with right away. The GNX Workstation and RP Series Pedals are great as well because you can grow with them.�

Batten shows no signs of slowing down with a full schedule for 2009; she is hitting the road in promotion of her newest critically acclaimed album, and of course will continue to rock out with the help of DigiTech.

To learn more about Jennifer Batten you can visit her website http://www.batten.com/.

Adds Editing Capabilities to Company’s 32-bit/64-bit Sample Engine

FRANKFURT, GERMANY, APRIL 8, 2009 — EASTWEST, the industry leader in soundware development and distribution, is offering users additional control over the company’s PLAY-Powered instruments with PLAY PRO (formerly PLAY 2.0), which adds editing capabilities to these collections. PLAY PRO was featured at Musikmesse 2009. more

Spring Term Enrollment Closes April 9

Pictured in Austin, Texas, at the South by Southwest festival are (clockwise from top left) Berkleemusic instructor Mike King, Richard Zack, Pat Raymond, Jessie Cappuccilli, Keri Bender, Kate Schutt, Ihor Gowda, and Dave Smith.

During the hundreds of events at SXSW 2009 in Austin, Texas, Berkleemusic students from around the world gathered outside of the online classroom for the first time. Instructor Mike King hosted an impromptu workshop/party at the Paradise nightclub with Richard Zack and Dave Smith from The Volunteers, Ihor Gowda (manager of Suzanna Choffel), Keri Bender, and singer/songwriter Kate Shutt with other staff members.

“It’s a thrill to meet face-to-face with students from our online school,” remarked Mike King, instructor with the online continuing education division of Boston’s renowned Berklee College of Music. “One of the great perks of studying with us is the connection that goes on ‘after school.’ Students interact with one another during their courses of study, but they also develop valuable networking skills which carry them beyond the virtual classroom into their daily workaday world.”

South by Southwest is a series of interactive, film, and music events that take place every spring in Austin, which this year hosted nearly 12,000 attendees. SXSW’s focus on emerging technology as it relates to music has earned the festival a reputation as a breeding ground for new ideas and creative music marketing.

Among the hundreds of courses offered by the world’s largest online music school, Berkleemusic is introducing new courses for the Spring Term, including Orchestration 2 and upgrades to Pro Tools 8 for many of its online Digidesign courses, including Pro Tools 101, Pro Tools 110, Mixing & Mastering with Pro Tools, Producing with Pro Tools, and Remixing with Pro Tools and Reason. Also available to students are numerous video workshops, including an intimate music clinic with renowned Berklee alum John Mayer.

Berkleemusic’s spring term enrollment is open until Thursday, April 9. Learn more at http://www.berkleemusic.com/

ABOUT BERKLEEMUSIC.COM
Berkleemusic.com is the continuing education division of Berklee College of Music, delivering online access to Berklee’s acclaimed curriculum from anywhere in the world. Berkleemusic’s award-winning online courses and certificate programs are accredited and taught by the college’s world-renowned faculty, providing lifelong learning opportunities to people interested in music and working in the music industry. As the business of music continues to move online, Berkleemusic is taking a leadership role in educating the next generation of producers, performers, and entrepreneurs on this evolving industry landscape. Berkleemusic’s students come from over 80 countries around the world, and include Grammy award winners, managers, artists, publishers, music business entrepreneurs and major international touring acts.

In a star-studded evening showcasing some of the most accomplished artists in rock and roll history, Red Hook, New York-based Firehouse Productions provided a VERTEC® line array system with Crown I-Tech HD power amplification for live sound reinforcement at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, April 4. This year’s event took place in Cleveland’s Public Auditorium and commemorated the inductions of artists such as Jeff Beck, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Bobby Womack, Run DMC and Metallica.
The 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony was broadcast live on the Fuse network. In addition to performances by several of the inductees, the event included high-profile rock industry presenters like Jimmy Page, Ron Wood, Flea and Smokey Robinson. With top-tier mixing engineers on hand like Tony Blanc, Dan Gerhard, ‘Big Mick’ Hughes (Metallica) and Greg Bess (Jeff Beck), the Firehouse audio team needed to provide a system capable of delivering high-fidelity audio with predictable coverage characteristics and maximum output power capabilities, without compromise.

For the event, Firehouse deployed a PA system that consisted of 16 VERTEC VT4889 large-format line array elements and 12 VT4880A ultra long excursion arrayable subwoofers per side, with five additional VT4889’s comprising a center cluster. Firehouse set up an additional eight VT4887 compact line array elements per side for off-stage coverage, four VT4887’s for front fill, and four floor-located VT4880 subwoofers. Firehouse’s new Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers powered the system, which also relied on Crown and JBL’s new V4 DSP presets, developed specifically to take advantage of Crown’s new LevelMAX™ multi-stage limiting in the HD amps.

According to Mark Dittmar of Firehouse Productions, the Public Auditorium posed some rigging challenges. “We had to do a large number of spanner trusses to support the PA system and cabling in this venue,� he said. “As with all TV shows, designing a PA that will cover the whole room, deliver superb sound quality and not show up in any of the camera shots is a major challenge.�

With this in mind, Dittmar noted that VERTEC was an ideal solution for the event. “The light weight of the VERTEC line arrays and the ability to tightly wrap the PA and aim it down at extreme angles is very useful in designing and installing the system,� he said. “The fact that it sounds great makes its use a no-brainer.�

The 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is a continuation of Firehouse’s longtime reliance on VERTEC line arrays for a variety of major live sound events. “VERTEC has been our speaker of choice for all TV and special events over the past eight years,� Dittmar noted. “It is light and very flexible in its rigging options. The sound quality has always made our clients and engineers very happy. From VH-1 Storytellers with only eight VERTEC loudspeakers to Live Earth at Giants Stadium with more than 200, VERTEC has been with us the whole way.�

The new Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers feature a new user-inspired DSP engine co-developed with BSS Audio called OMNIDRIVEHD. The new processing engine features Linear Phase FIR filters that offer unrivaled crossover performance for sonically pure tunings. “This was our first major live sound event utilizing I-Tech HD,� Dittmar added. “There is a big increase in power output of the amplifiers, and coupled with the new V4 DSP presets we had approximately 6dB more volume than we had before. Ultimately, the I-Tech HD gives us more power and clarity than we thought possible. The new limiters on I-Tech HD are excellent as well. They are far more efficient than anything else we have seen.�

For more information on Firehouse Productions, please visit www.firehouseproductions.com or call 845-758-9898.

— Audio-Technica continues to be the overwhelming microphone of choice at the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony —

STOW, OH, April 7, 2009 — For the 12th year in a row, a broad range of Audio-Technica microphones was selected to outfit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. A-T supplied over 50 mics to capture the audio for this widely celebrated musical event, which took place at Cleveland’s Public Hall. The 24th annual induction ceremony of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was held on April 4, 2009, with inductees including guitarist Jeff Beck, R&B vocal group Little Anthony & the Imperials, heavy metal legends Metallica, hip-hop pioneers Run-D.M.C., soul/gospel singer-songwriter-guitarist Bobby Womack, “Queen of Rockabilly� Wanda Jackson, and instrumentalists/sidemen Bill Black, DJ Fontana and Spooner Oldham. The show was broadcast live on Fuse and www.fuse.tv. more

The highly anticipated production of ‘West Side Story’ recently opened at the Palace Theatre on Broadway with a Studer Vista 5 digital console providing outstanding audio quality and versatility to the production. The iconic production makes its return to Broadway after a 29-year absence and sound designer Dan Moses Schreier and his associates selected the Vista 5 for its extensive capabilities and outstanding audio quality.

Dan Moses Schreier has been using Studer products for many years and he has also been the sound designer for Broadway productions such as ‘Julius Caesar’ starring Denzel Washington as well as ‘The Tempest’ starring Patrick Stewart. Schreier initially intended mixing ‘West Side Story’ on an analog desk, however he immediately chose the Vista 5 after interacting with the board’s capabilities.

Schreier comments on the decision to deploy the Studer console. “The Vistonics™ interface was a huge factor in selecting the console. Many digital consoles feel like you are mixing off a computer monitor and what is terrific about the Vistonics interface is that it feels more like an analog console in the sense that you always see what you need to see at the channel strip.� Moses continues, “In the theater when things are happening fast and in the moment, this makes it easy to make corrections or find problems with great ease. But ultimately, it is the sound of the console that determined my decision.�

Schreier continues to discuss the benefits of the Vista 5 as well as the Vistonics and user interface. “The Vistonics interface has a very logical feel and enables engineers to build and construct a show, whether setting up input/output layouts, or dealing with auxes, and matrices. The ease of selecting EQ , compression, gates or panning makes the interface very easy for the operator to use. Once selected, controlling the parameters of the various functions is remarkably straightforward and ‘analog’ like. The contribute function is also extremely useful when troubleshooting issues on a very complex show.�

‘West Side Story’ is an elaborate project for a production crew due to the size of the performance. There are 48 wireless microphones for the actors/dancers, 30 musicians in the orchestra with 62 microphones and 81 speakers. There is enormous pressure to recreate the popular songs of ‘West Side Story’ and the need to get all the balances right makes it very difficult. Moses comments, “It’s like mixing The Beatles’ Abbey Road live every night, with everyone expecting it to sound just like the album.â€?

“The Vista 5 handles the demands of the show with great transparency and ease. The compact size of the console and the clarity of its layout made the size of the show extremely manageable. But ultimately, it comes down to how the show sounds and this production of ‘West Side Story’ sounds fantastic,� concludes Schreier.

The enthusiasm for the Vista shown by Schreier and others has prompted Studer to develop further theater-specific features to help with the production workflow. A new software version for Vista, V4.2, was launched at the Pro Light & Sound show in Frankfurt and includes facilities for enhanced cue lists, character/actor libraries and events, VCA/Mute assignments and dynamic automation. Furthermore, Virtual Vista, a PC-based offline/online editor is now available which allows designers to check and setup the sound at any point within a venue, and even control the desk in parallel with the surface. Visit www.studer.ch for more information.