Delivering its eccentric, percussive ruminations on the human condition, the Blue Man Group has productions running in New York, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Berlin and Orlando – with one of the most highly attended holding court at the Blue Man Group Theatre at CityWalk at the Universal Orlando Resort since 2007.

The venue has upgraded its sound system to an L-Acoustics Kara system, provided by Clearwing Productions, following the L-Acoustics K2 rig installed at the troup’s new home at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The longstanding relationship between Martin Audio MD Dom Harter, and the highly experienced Carlos Cunha, who runs Portuguese distribution company Boomerang, has resulted in the Oeiras-based company being awarded territorial distributorship.

After a long career in pro audio, Cunha formed Boomerang at the end of 2008, adding Martin Audio to a portfolio that also includes SGM Lighting. ‘I started negotiating with Martin Audio about two years ago and the whole process sped up when Dom joined the company,’ he says. ‘Martin Audio’s range of products covers almost all segments that a speaker manufacturer can, with exceptional quality.

‘The main advantage we have is the fact that we only need to focus on two brands as opposed to other distributors that have ten or more. We can implement an individual strategy and so it is vitally important to have such a well-known brand as Martin Audio – and this applies to all models in the portfolio.’

In Portugal, he believes it is the corporate, blue chip segment that has the greatest potential for growth: ‘Principally, they need to have confidence in the company undertaking the work, and the brand itself. We know the most respectable installers/contractors operating in our market, and Martin Audio is a brand they all know and respect.’

The company will now embark on a major promotional campaign to reintroduce the brand via a series of open days. ‘We plan to see all the individual companies and customers who have bought Martin Audio in the past and look to attract new customers and discuss their needs,’ he says.

Equipment has been supplied to two rental companies and Boomerang are converting a third in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Cunha anticipates applying the experience and expertise developed as co-owner (with his brother) of Electrosound Portuguesa, who represented a large number of A-list industry brands – and which is where he first met Harter. In its day, the company was one of the largest in Portugal.

‘Martin Audio has ambitious plans and we need distributors that can apply both strong local market expertise and sufficient focus on our brand,’ says Harter. ‘ Knowing Carlos for some time I’m confident that his set-up, energy and spirit combined with our portfolio will bear fruit in Portugal.’

More: www.martin-audio.com

Taking place for the fourth time in California’s Napa Valley, the BottleRock festival combines live music on multiple stages with the region’s tradition of wine, brewing and food.

Additional attractions for the discerning music fan were the live debut Alcons LR18 pro-ribbon loudspeaker system on the Lagunitas Stage and the inaugural use of Vue Audiotechnik’s al-12 on the Miner Family Winery Stage.

Arranged by renowned Swedish conductor and composer Hans Ek, and performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and choir Zero 8, an orchestral arrangement of David Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy has completed a number of concerts at Gothenburg Concert Hall and Stockholm’s Berwald Hall and is preparing to tour Europe.

Central to its audio is a mixing system using Allen & Heath’s dLive S Class and ME systems for FOH and monitors. The technical production was managed by FOH engineer Hans ‘Surte’ Norin from Musikalisk Ljudteknink with Peter Fredriksson from PF Ljuddesign on monitors.

The126-channel mix used two Madi-enabled S5000 Surfaces and DM64 MixRacks connected by GigaAce, with an additional DX32 Expander for monitors, an IP8 Controller for FOH remote control, and ME-1 personal monitoring mixers for the orchestra. A Waves V3 network card was also used at FOH for recording and virtual soundchecking, while a broadcast feed was sent to Swedish Radio via Madi.

‘This is a big production, with more than 100 people in the orchestra, band and choir to manage,’ Norin explains. ‘With superior processing power and ample channel capacity, dLive easily handled the production, and the results sounded wonderfully rich and natural.’

The production will now undertake an extensive tour of Europe during 2017, using the same mixing set-up.

More: www.allen-heath.com

Nominations for thr Brit Awards shortlist recently gave ITV Studio One its biggest ever production. As well as being broadcast live – a coup by ITV and a means of avoiding the announcements being leaked – the even featured a unique audio set-up provided by Britannia Row Productions.

‘From a sound point of view, the PA we put in was simple – three hangs of L-Acoustics Kara, which was more than big enough for Studio One,’ says Colin Pink who provided that critical interface between the broadcaster and Britrow’s live sound team. ‘It was in the control room where things were a little out of the ordinary.

‘With the exception of Rag & Bone Man, we put all the performers on the DiGiCo SD11 “Presenters” board and doubled up the live vocals and tracks to a second SD11 in mirror-mode for redundancy. Obviously, with a live broadcast the focus on ensuring the show keeps running is a priority. For Rag & Bone Man we supplied two Midas Pro2s with engineers for band mix and monitors.’

This approach was made possible in part by the small number of channels required by most vocalists singing to a backing track, but it also saw live broadcast mix engineer Toby Alington re-assess the needs of such a show.

‘I have been doing the main Brits show for 23 years now, the launch show I did for the first time last year,’ he says. ‘This year with investment and up-scaling of the show by both the Brits organisation and ITV, in some ways it now resembles the actual awards event.

‘Logically, my approach was the same as for the bigger shows, whether that’s the Brits, the MTV EMAs,or Children in Need. We split responsibility – at any one time they have the presenter aspect in the studio, at another it’s just the music which I mix the in the truck, but it goes back through the Presenter desk out to broadcast. So, while the presenters are talking, I will be out in the truck preparing for the next performance; likewise when I’m mixing the performance they have the opportunity at the studio desk to prepare for the next presenter section.’

‘The second SD11 is the safety net,’ he continues. ‘FOH gets the broadcast mix minus the audience, in the same way the PA output is also split and sent to the sound control room in the studio. If anything went down, the swap would be almost instantaneous – a viewer at home might detect a crackle at most.

‘Is that hard to do? Well, 20 years ago to do something like this would take three or four production meetings to work through. Now, especially working with Britrow, with whom I’ve been doing this calibre of show for more than two decades, we have developed a short-hand.’

‘That’s a legacy of what we achieved with Derrick Zieba. There’s an unwritten rule book which we all know. That’s no better illustrated than by what has happened since Derrick’s sad demise. Colin Pink stepped in and was immediately immersed in the network of knowledge that exists between myself and Britrow. So when something comes up Colin might say, “how is this normally done” rather than “how do we do this”. That’s because he knows somewhere between us we will already have developed a solution for dealing with whatever has just popped up. It would not be easy for another team to step in and do this for the first time from scratch. The technical framework has been developed and refined over 25 years, and Colin’s expertise has only added to that.

‘We did originally spec’ an SD10 for FOH,’ Pink reveals. ‘But when an additional tracking camera was proposed – the ideal placement being immediately behind FOH – it had to go. This was first mooted at a production meeting just four days before the show. That proved ample time to consider how to reduce our FOH footprint, and determine a plan using an SD11 for the reasons Toby has outlined.’

‘As we all know, if the room doesn’t get the performance then you don’t have a show on the telly, because the atmosphere comes from the room,’ Alington closes. ‘From my point of view I always get a smile on my face when productions say “Britrow will be doing this show”, because I know we will get that atmosphere. We get so wonderfully looked after.’

Having completed the design of Coldplay’s new Wigwam-built control system, Digital Design Specialist Alex Hadjigeorgiou and Account Manager Chris Hill, have taken the technical design lead for the fibre infrastructure on the band’s latest trans-Atlantic tour, A Headful of Dreams.

Working alongside the band’s head of audio, Tony Smith, they had already incorporated a number of Optocore devices into the DiGiCo console topology but have now taken the journey further by embracing the new Route66 AutoRouter from technical partner, BroaMan – the first audio consultant to do so. ‘The main objective was to design a system that would allow a d&b audiotechnik array processed system to be built in modular fashion and be scalable – as some shows require extra ring delays,’ Hadjigeorgiou explains.

The Route66 provides a more elegant solution to the ring design: ‘I discussed the idea and after successfully demoing the unit, I based my initial design around it,’ the designer says.

Powered by Optocore, the Route66 AutoRouter is compatible with both Optocore and DiGiCo fibre loops, enabling a redundant ‘star’ to be created from the advanced ring topology. Route66 automatically finds mobile and remote devices, closes the Optocore loop and switches the links automatically to establish redundancy.

‘Put simply, Route66 does the ‘thinking’ for [the sound team] when it comes to correct cable connection – and the speed of prepping a show, which allows them to work on the main system without the delays connected as part of the fibre optic ring,’ Hadjigeorgiou says.

The decision was backed by Tony Smith: ‘We work to the spec he gives us and have developed a fantastic relationship over time, with an overall desire to deliver improvements in every evolution of the system,’ Hadjigeorgiou confirms.

‘Knowing what we needed, Alex has evolved a suitable solution, not only for the signals but also the durability, support and plug-and-play that is required on the road,’ Smith adds. ‘To have units such as the Optioore and BroaMan, where you have that flexibility, is essential.’

Along with Wigwam crew chief Nick Mooney and system engineer Jack Murphy, Smith welcomed the improvements in the new design.

While Wigwam successfully inducted the system in Europe, adding additional Optocore X6R-FX and X6R-TP interfaces to their existing returns racks, over in the States Firehouse Productions, responsible for the US leg, have been running a near-identical set-up after investing in a raft of new Optocore devices.

These are used to distribute AES signals system wide at 96Hz with a back-up LAN network to the d&b audiotechnik D80 amplifiers. Optocore also handles all the clocking and sample rate conversion for the feeds from the main and support consoles at FOH.

Coldplay began relationship with the New York-based company during the previous Ghost Stores promo shows and continued into the US promo dates prior to the A Headful Of Dreams tour. Firehouse owner Bryan Olson and technical manager Chris Russo both checked the system out in the UK before agreeing to build a similar one.

‘The fantastic advantage about working with Firehouse is that they were happy to replicate the design infrastructure almost identically,’ observes Hadjigeorgiou. ‘This meant we could look at shipping the Route66 and other FOH control as the system front end – making a huge difference in terms of continuity.’

The larger set-up, used in the UK and Europe, comprises seven nodes, each featuring at least one X6R-FX at each position (the FOH stage right and stage left nodes also feature an X6R-TP to allow additional I/O). The signal flow is effectively a ring system set up in a star network via the Route66.

Jack Murphy is one who appreciates its flexibility: ‘The Route66 is great – pretty much plug and play,’ he says. ‘Every day we connect the system up in a different order and this device just sorts it all out without affecting the audio at all. The Optocore software is generally great and the overview health-check of individual devices – seeing PSUs working/monitoring temperature etc – is really useful; also the light levels being received is great for fault finding.’

And for tight load-ins the Route66 means the technical team never have to wait for all devices in the system to work. ‘If we’re pushed for time we can start on the main system and then introduce other parts systematically.’

‘[Route66 AutoRouter] is a natural progression, taking an already proven system and making it better and more flexible,’ Hadjigeorgiousays. ‘In fact it’s enabling us to move the whole system design forward even further than we thought.

‘The options going forward have really opened up and I can see a situation in the future where the Route66 becomes almost ubiquitous on live touring shows.’

More: www.broaman.com

As primary AVL vendor for Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Brown Note Productions (BNP) will have provided audio reinforcement there more than 70 times this year, when the venue’s 2017 season closes in late October. Recently, BNP joined L-Acoustics’ Certified Provider network for rental markets (CPr) with the purchase of a K Series system for the venue.

Brown Note’s extensive inaugural order included 48 K1, 36 K2, 36 Kara and six ARCS II enclosures, 36 KS28, 24 K1-SB and eight SB18 subs and 21 LA-Rak II touring racks containing a collective total of 63 LA12X amplified controllers. At the same time, the company added two Avid S6L-32 and two S6L-24 consoles, as well as a DiGiCo SD10 and three SD12 desks.

‘We purchased this system to support our touring and festival clients, many of whom were specifically requesting L-Acoustics,’ says BNP co-owner Sara Knutson, who founded the company in 2004 with her husband, Ryan. ‘We also wanted to bring K1 into Denver to meet the needs of the local K1/K2 users and tours that were coming through.’

Brown Note provides full stage PA systems, along with lighting and video production, for many festivals across the country, including Welcome to Rockville and Chicago Open Air. The company additionally served as the audio provider this year for the North Coast Music Festival, Decadence, Carolina Rebellion, Global Dance Festival, Bonanza Festival, Northwest String Summit, Summer Meltdown Festivaland the Velorama Festival.

‘We have been looking to add another flavour to our PA inventory for a few years now and L-Acoustics was at the top of our list,’ Sara Knutson continues. ‘We decided to wait for the announcement and scheduled release of the LA12X amps and KS28 subs. The LA12X offers increased DSP capabilities, faster power delivery and transient response, while the incredibly powerful KS28 is one of the best subwoofers in the world, so we were willing to wait in order to move forward with the newest and most progressive products. And we have had a bunch of engineers who are now very happy that we did.’

‘Prior to adding the new systems, I had personally mixed on K1 and K2 at several festivals and found that–like its predecessor, V-Dosc – it has a voice that is unmistakable,’ Ryan adds. ‘Its fidelity, power and throw are truly among the best in the world. We also love the system’s rigging, flexibility, cross-rental potential, and the new relationships and business we are building with it. It’s been a great addition to our inventory and is working very well in all applications, large and small.’

‘Getting to know Sara and Ryan over the past four years while watching Brown Note grow into a truly world-class production services company under their leadership, I knew it was only a matter of time before we struck the right chord,’ says L-Acoustics Regional Sales Manager, Paul Tillman. ‘We look forward to working with them as they expand L-Acoustics’ presence in the Mountain States and beyond.’

Operating out of a 70,000-sq-ft facility ten miles northeast of downtown Denver, BNP has a staff of more than 35 employees including 13 that are audio-specific, plus a dozen other contractors kept in regular rotation.

A series of UK dates saw Bryan Adams play a series of outdoor gigs as part of his ongoing Get Up Tour. The shows were promoted by LCC Live, who worked with Warehouse Sound Services and production manager Mike Kerr to provide the substantial Adamson sound reinforcement system for the dates.

Adams’ latest studio album, Get Up,was produced by ELO front man Jeff Lynne, and features nine new songs and four acoustic versions, highlighting Adams’ voice and depth. The tour featured a full complement of Adamson E and S Series loudspeakers. The large outdoor shows utilised LR hangs of 9 E15 line array enclosures per side with four S10 under hangs per side. A further 16 S10s we’re used on delay towers or as side hangs depending on the venue together with 16 E119 subs, all powered by Lab.gruppen 20K44 amplifiers.

Systems engineers Douglas Martin, Aidan Thomson, and Graeme Brown from The Warehouse created the system design and worked with Bryan Adams’ audio team to deliver a consistent great sound over the four nights.

‘Last summer we did a series of similar shows using another brand of loudspeaker system that Bryan would normally use,’ says Aidan Thomson of The Warehouse. ‘We decided to pitch the idea of using Adamson E15 and S10 as we felt this would give much better results due to the flexible scalability of these systems together with great easy of rigging, cutting down rig times.

‘One great advantage with these systems is that they use the same HF drivers which are aligned when the S10 loudspeakers are flown beneath the E15s, giving a seamless transition between systems. We had great comments about the system and in particular about how well the E119 subs performed – which blew everyone away given we only deployed 16 of these in total.’

More: www.adamsonsystems.com

Striking out as a freelance sound engineer, Alex Serb left distribution and integration company Paradigma Teknik quickly made live shows for Bucharest’s Hard Rock Café one of his most important clients.

The Romanian sound engineer was soon back in contact with his former colleagues to indicate that the facility needed a new sound system – and Paradigma wasted no time in recommending a Martin Audio W8VDQ and CDD solution. This they adopted purely on trust and the reputation of previous Martin Audio installations undertaken by the distributors.

‘The owners wanted to change the entire sound system with a new modern set-up and we provided a solution. We sent a technical proposal, taking into consideration the specification put forward by Alex,’ says Paradigma General Manager, Laura Angelescu. She added that the bid had been fiercely competitive, with several other front line speaker manufacturers delivering proposals. At the same time they also offered some lighting equipment and a digital mixing console.

The clients were clear in that they wanted two different PA systems controlled by the same application — one for live and one for ambient sound. In some instances they also wanted the live system subs to be redeployed with the ambient system. The ambient system itself comprises 23 CDD8 (8-inch/1-inch) Coaxial Differential Dispersion loudspeakers, which are distributed throughout the venue. Each speaker is controlled by a single channel from a combination of four-channel Powersoft amplifiers over Dante.

Ror the main live PA system, Paradigma specified eight W8VDQ and four WS218X subwoofers. Four of the W8VDQ are used for the main PA, two are used for side fill and the final two for LR delays. The compact Martin Audio W8VDQ combines line array and differential dispersion technologies to provide an advanced solution to the requirement of even coverage over wide angles and throw distances. It does this by employing a hybrid quad 8-inch LF and MR configuration.

Paradigma Project Manager Daniel Albu says that this hybrid solution ticked all the boxes: ‘There was not enough height for line array speakers, and we agreed that these speakers were the best alternative solution because of the vertical (both near and far) coverage.’ In fact the short throw horizontal dispersion is 120°, narrowing to 100° as the throw increases.

‘CDD is a great series – fabulous quality speakers within a competitive price range,’ adds Angelescu. ‘The coaxial driver structure is extremely well suited for a large range of applications.’

China distributor BVCAM Ltd has recently opened two new APG showrooms in Beijing. Headed by General Manager Danny Huen, The first showroom, situated in the Fangzhuang district of Beijing, is dedicated to APG while a second in the Yizhuang Economic-Technological Development Area has an audio area and a broadcast studio.

With 80-sq-m of space, the first showroom focuses on APG’s flagship Uniline. Visitors can hear the UL210 long-throw main speakers coupled with the UL118 infra-bass subwoofer. Stage monitoring and multipurpose applications are covered SMX/DX line, while fixed installations are offered the MX micro axial range. The full-range loudspeakers are supported by SB and TB subwoofers, APG DMS48 digital processors and SA30:2 class-D amplifiers.

The second showroom occupies more than 360-sq-m shared between audio and a fully equipped broadcast studio, showcasing lighting, and 3D and 4K cameras. The sound in the room is entirely managed by APG gear, including four UL210, two TB2018, a DMS48 and a further two SA30:2s.

‘We have been building APG’s reputation and reference installations in China since 2007,’ says Huen. ‘We are very confident about APG’s potential in the years to come, so both showrooms really are the logical evolution of where we want to get the brand to. The fact that APG created a joint venture last year in Asia is also a great testimony of the brand’s commitment to the region and will certainly reinforce our position as their Chinese distributor.’

‘Thanks to BVCAM, the APG brand has gone from humble beginnings in China to being a recognised brand providing the highest level of professional speaker systems in the industry,’ says APG Executive VP of R&D, Innovation & Marketing, Gregory Dapsanse.

BVCAM opted for Beijing not only for its influence as a capital city, but also ‘because it’s the natural centre for international exchanges and technological innovation,’ Huen says. ‘We wanted the showrooms to be a window to APG brand and expertise, so that customers are able to listen and feel the technological advance that APG brings to the audio market. It also is a great relay way to follow up with prospects after trade shows.’

The smallest, most affordable of Cadac’s touchscreen CDC series of mixing console, the CDC five is aimed at small-to-medium sized production companies, freelance mix engineers and fixed installations.

With the launch of the CDC five, comes Version 5 CDC Console Software, which features an improved Graphical User Interface with a completely redesigned console control screen. The GUI has evolved for the CDC five, to include a swipe down feature on its sole 23.5-inch touchscreen which brings up the control screen functions normally found on the separate 6.5-inch control screen on its larger siblings. Version 5 CDC Console Software also boasts a number of new features – including Cue Ripple and Cue Preview – and performance enhancements that will feature across the entire CDC range.

The CDC five features a single 23.5-inch touchscreen and 16 faders, with dual banks of user assignable buttons, providing a total of 40; a unique feature of the CDC five. The rear panel boasts 16 analogue inputs, to compliment the 8 analogue outputs and eight digital inputs and outputs, as well as the integrated 64x64 Waves card. The CDC five also includes dual MegaComms ports, enabling additional MegaComms processing/interfaces to be connected, to form part of an extended audio and mixing console network. The CDC five runs 96kHz, 24-bit audio and is capable providing up to 48 inputs and 24 assignable buses, plus LCR and monitors in FOH mode; or 30 assignable buses when operating in Monitor Mode. Designed as a ‘one-box solution’, the CDC five has one internal PSU with the option of adding a second redundant external supply (the current PSU 4800).

‘CDC five is designed to appeal to a much wider customer base – the sub £10,000 console market,’ says Cadac MD, James Godbehear. ‘With all of the features, performance capabilities and familiar form factor of the CDC six and CDC seven – plus a number of design enhancements – it will appeal to multi-purpose entertainment production and house of worship applications; as well as to the touring, installation and event markets.’

See also:
Cadac CDC seven-s

More: www.cadac-sound.com

Cadac Sound has unveiled an offline editor for its CDC six and eight live mixing consoles.

CDC Offline Editor mirrors the CDC six and CDC eight consoles operating software with an identical graphical user interface, enabling full offline functionality within a Mac-based software package. With the ability to edit and save all key operating parameters, and drag-and-drop capabilities – precisely as on the CDC consoles’ touchscreen – it enables the creation of, and editing and amendment of pre-existing, show files, which can be uploaded to or downloaded from the consoles via a USB key.

‘Not only is an offline editor an essential preparatory tool for sound engineers, enabling them to create, amend and store their show files for a particular production or venue, it is also facilitates “first user experience”, allowing engineers to experience the console interface, before even physically touching one,’ says, Sales & Marketing Director, Richard Ferriday. ‘We believe that experience is something which will encourage a lot of engineers to take a closer look at CDC six and CDC eight.’

The Cadac CDC Offline Editor is anticipated to launch on the Apple App Store in Q3 2016.

More: www.cadac-sound.com

The CDC seven-s is Cadac’s new flagship CDC console, replacing both the current CDC seven and the inaugural CDC eight.

A significant upgrade to the CDC seven, CDC seven-s offers 128 inputs and 64 buses – of which 56 are assignable (62 in Monitor Mode). The new console also features a number of additional hardware buttons, aimed at speeding up navigation.

Version 5 Console Software also greatly enhances CDC six, not only with all of the additional new features, but also from an increase in its input channel count, bringing that up to 80 input channels, while maintaining the 48 assignable bus count.

More: www.cadac-sound.com

Having placed Cadac CDC six consoles with local sound companies, Polish distributor, Tommex Żebrowscy has seen them in action on events ranging from live shows to gala performances and cabarets.

Among these were the Screen & Sound Festival - Let’s See The Music!– produced by the Bielecki Art Foundation as ‘a platform integrating artists’ visual imagination with the world of symphonic music’ – where Audio-Tech Wojciech Lipczyński specified a CDC six with CDC I/O 6448 for its high I/O and channel count and compact footprint for a live orchestral production, and Final Gala of the Screen and Sound Festival at the Kino Kijów.Centrum in Krakow.  

The 60-anniversary of Krakow-based cabaret Piwnica pod Baranami (Cellar Under the Rams), and a special gala performance, Ta Nasza Młodość (That is Our Youth) in The Krakow Opera also saw CDC six/CDC I/O 6448 deployed by Audio-Tech Wojciech Lipczyński.

‘The CDC six is creating a lot of interest in Poland,’ says Tommex Sales Manager Tomasz Boroń. ‘Its transparent audio quality has been perfect for the types of applications our customers have specified it for. With no unwanted colouration of the sound, the console can still be driven hard when required. It has been equally at home in both FOH and monitor positions.

‘The speed of operation in monitor mode has been especially impressive,’ he adds. ‘In fact, the overall workflow has been a standout aspect of the CDC six, with engineers mastering the console with remarkable ease.’

Polish singer-songwriter Ania Wyszkoni performed her Acoustic Concert 20/20 in Rogów, where the Estrada Rybnicka company used a CDC six/CDC I/O 3216 system at FOH with a Dynacord XA2 serving as main PA. The Estrada Rybnicka production company also took out a Cadac CDC six/CDC I/O 3216 and CDC MC Dante bridge for a concert by Polish rock artist Patrycja Markowska and her band in Tychy – again with a Dynacord XA2  system.

Having has been The Feeling’s FOH man almost from the outset, FOH engineer Jon Sword was on the road with them again for Jeff Lynne’s ELO arena support slot. Supporting him is a Cadac CDC six mixing console.

‘They’re a band who are very into sound, they’re proper audio buffs,’ he says. ‘They can all mix, they can all produce and they can play each other’s instruments. So it is either the best gig you have had, or it’s the worst, it happens to be the best.’

Sword, who toured 10cc last year with the larger Cadac CDC eight, chose the new CDC six coupled with a CDC I/O 6448 stagebox for this outing. As well as arena dates, the CDC six was taken out with the smaller CDC I/O 3216 stagebox, on promo gigs for the bands eponymously titled new album, and also on a short warm-up tour, where it was also used to mix monitors from Front of House.

‘I’ve been using the desk in 300-capacity venues and then on our arena shows with 14 mixes, either way it’s an absolute breeze,’ says Sword. ‘I’ve had zero issues with the desk for the whole tour, and given that I’m walking into the arenas as a support engineer, it’s been great to know I’m in a reliably consistent situation.

‘We like to produce an all-encompassing rock sound, and the CDC six sounds fantastic for this. The signature Cadac preamp makes the CDC Series sound so great – it delivers that warm sound that I really like; it is a serious broadcast quality preamp. I don’t really need to do much compression with the band with a preamp like this; it’s just doing it for me.

‘Plus, it’s a very simple console to use – operationally very musical and creative – and you can do things very quickly, so I get to spend more time concentrating on the gig and not trying to work my way around the desk. It’s all about the control surface being immediate. I can use it like an instrument, very easy to configure and on the fly if you want – it’s just the most simple operating surface. And you really start to feel the weight of it, when you’re pushing up faders. That’s something you don’t get on most digital consoles.’

During the warm-up dates with the CDC six also doing the monitor mixes, the band got to experience the amazing sound quality onstage. As a result, heading out on the summer festival season, they want their own CDC six on permanent monitor duties. ‘I honestly think it sounds better than anything else out there,’ affirms Sword, ‘the best sounding board – for both ends of the snake – the world has ever heard.

‘It simply is an amazing piece of kit and the more I use the desk, the more I want to use it on everything I do. It’s a fool who doesn’t give a go and see – and hear – what it’s like.’

More: www.cadac-sound.com

Version 4.0 CDC Console Software is the latest operating software upgrade for Cadac’s CDC eight, CDC six and CDC seven mixing desks.

The addition of Sticky Channels enables the creation of custom layers with any combination of inputs, outputs, or VCAs on the main 16-channel fader bank – either ‘stuck’ to the left-hand side of the screen (starting at Channel 1) or the right-hand side (ending at Channel 16). On the CDC seven and CDC eight, this is an option for both screens, allowing two custom layers to be used at the same time. When a custom layer uses fewer than 16 Sticky Channels, the remainder operate as normal, either via the swipe or the layer buttons functions. Custom layers can also be assigned to the user assign buttons for fast access.

VCAs will also unfold if pressed from within a custom layer and on a CDC seven and CDC eight they can be spilled onto the second screen, significantly increasing speed and flexibility of work flow. Custom layers can still be simultaneously assigned to the 4-Channel Master Section.

Other features of v4.0 include an additional six buses if LCR is not required, Cross-Fade added to cue events, metering on each bus output within Monitor Mode, access to GEQ from Monitor Follow at the press of a button, a console lock, additional functions to the user define buttons, plus a revised Patching GUI.

‘The continuous development of Cadac’s intuitive gesture based GUI and OS workflow makes ever greater use of the flexibly provided by the touchscreen,’ says Marketing Manager, James Godbehear. ‘In the CDC seven we have a mix platform that combines all of the advances in v4.0 with the operational advantages of a dual screen, 36 fader configuration, all still within a relatively compact footprint. ‘With the swift learning curve of both the CDC seven and CDC six, coupled with their industry leading latency management system and unsurpassable audio performance, at a highly competitive price point, they both offer an incredibly attractive propositions for those who want something that stands apart from the normal offering of consoles.’

More: www.cadac-sound.com

A key component of Capital Sound’s summer music festival schedule is the Sziget Organisation’s three major gatherings in Hungary. For several years, the company has serviced the back-to-back four-day Volt rock festival in Sopron, before trucking the equipment southeast from the Austrian border to Balaton Sound, which takes place on the beach of Zamárdi over five days.

Having established Martin Audio’s MLA system at these two festivals, in 2014 the organisers adopted the system for their flagship event – the Sziget Festival itself.

The difficulty of creating a typical club atmosphere is the main reason why most world-class DJs avoid playing arenas. Specifically, it is the rear of a long rectangular space that defies the ability of the PA system to deliver. With this in mind, Capital Sound Hire’s Technical Manager, Robin Conway, designed an audio system for an in-the-round presentation of Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) at the O2 Arena in 2016.

The solution involved the use of the company’s Martin Audio MLA sound rig and a unique stage design to bring the DJ closer to the audience. ‘With the DJ booth in the middle, you forget you’re in a big arena,’ he says. ‘We worked out that’s a way of turning an arena into a huge nightclub.’

Concurrently fielding Martin Audio MLA systems for two of Hungary’s signature festivals and 318 MLA series enclosures in Hyde Park for Roger Waters’ surround sound concert at the British Summer Time Festival proved no problem to Capital Sound.

Featuring Depeche Mode, Iron Maiden, Limp Bizkit, Clean Bandit, Steve Aoki and Hurts, the multi-genre Volt Festivaltook place in Sopron took place close to the Austrian-Hungary border, while Sziget’s sibling Balaton Sound EDM festival took place at Lake Balaton. Appearing here were The Chainsmokers, David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Martin Garrix, DJ Snake and other famous artists.

All have been serviced for a number of years by Capital Sound, and continue to feature Martin Audio’s loudspeaker systems on main stages. With such heavy demand on inventory, Capital needed to plunder the Martin Audio European MLA network, and get cross-hire support from Hungarian company BG Event Kft and Polish rental company, Muśnicki Sound Systems, with whom they frequently work at this trio of top-line events.

Volt Festival attracts over 100,000 music-lovers over its five days, although Capital Operations and Development Director, Paul Timmins, said there were changes afoot this year in the PA stack. ‘With the growing trend towards greater stage visuals, the wider stage meant we needed an extra 12 MLA Compact for front fill.’ These were supplied by BG Event.

Capital had Jonny Buck on duty as crew chief and Finlay Watt as FOH tech, with support once again from Hungarian Audio crew chief, Marci Mezei.

At Volt Festival, the remainder of the main PA consisted of an MLA PA (18 per side, including an MLD Downfill), with 36 MLX subwoofers in a 12x3 stacks spaced cardioid array. Outhangs consisted of eight MLA (stage left) and five MLA (stage right). Delays comprised two masts, each with six Martin Audio W8LC line arrays, with a further 12 W8LC as front fill.

For Balaton Sound, the PA design consisted of 15 MLA (and a single MLD) per side, with 36 MLX subwoofers in the same spaced cardioid array, eight MLA per side as out fill and six W8LC line array elements per side. Front fill was again composed of 12 W8LC cabinets.

‘The new set-up worked well, and the big sub array we introduced last year again proved that this design really works,’ Timmins says. ‘The feat of being able to source so many MLA boxes for simultaneous events across Europe provided quite a challenge.’

See also:
British Summer Time 2018

Having chalked up 60 album releases with the recent Soundtrack of My Life, Donny Osmond embarked on a tour to promote it – and revisit a selection of his five decades in music.

Tour manager and FOH engineer Chris Acton found himself at the helm of a Martin Audio MLA supplied by Capital Sound. The engineer and hire service had worked together on Donny & Marie’s UK tour two years ago, after being hooked up by event production company, LarMac Live. Although more familiar with other systems, he was a ready convert to MLA’s multi-cellular array technology, which was used on all dates except the Eventim Apollo – the only theatre on the itinerary.

Typically, 12 MLA elements and two MLD Downfill were set per side, with four forward-facing MLX subwoofers per side all, accompanied by hangs of 12 MLA Compact per side for out fill and eight DD12 for front fill.

‘The Martin Audio system has a brighter, smoother high end, more powerful low end than I am used to, and puts the vocal right in my face,’ Acton reports. ‘MLA proved to be an excellent recommendation. It’s powerful and he when it needs to be – such as in the rock classic ‘Crazy Horses’ – but at the same time allows me a good deal of finesse, when run quieter.

‘We have needed a lot of SPL to get over the screaming fans – and MLA has done it with ease and grace,’ he adds. ‘The PA is like driving a sports car, requiring just subtle EQ.’

An established member of the Osmond entourage, Acton replaced regular sound man Lucas ‘Rico’ Corrubia following illness, and readily recognises‘the world class team behind me’: ‘When I walk in, the PA is already tuned the way I like it, and all I have to do is push some faders.’

He is referring to Cap crew chief Robin Conway, monitor techs Marty Beath and Barney Cushman, and system tech Toby Donovan. ‘Capital has done due diligence to ensure each room is measured correctly. Aside from recommending MLA from the brands that they could have presented [account manager] Martin Connolly also upgraded our Yamaha desk to a CL5 when we realized we needed 61 input channels.’

This meets the requirements of the four-piece band and playback tracks triggered by QLab, as well as time-coded video.

The sound engineer credits Robin Conway for putting together a five-page Dante bible. ‘I have used Dante a lot on my corporate events but it’s the first time I’ve toured with a full Dante [distribution system] with everything on the same network – and it’s been a wild success,’ he says.

Changing stage heights positions and trim heights meant that Tony Donovan was regularly taking new measurements for the MLA set-up, and in may cases had to react on the fly. ‘He is making modifications in the [Display] software as we go along so that I am always in the same environment as I was in the soundcheck even though humidity changes as the place fills up,’ Acton explains. ‘And with the artist spending so much time in front of the PA, moving rapidly across to the side bleachers, and out into the house to glad hand fans, he has needed to remain alert.

‘With this high degree of audience participation we are constantly kept on our toes so I may suddenly need to refer to Smaart [analysis software], or dive onto a Lake processor,’ Donovan says.

Ultimately the fans expect to hear the music they grew up with exactly as it should sound: ‘Vocally, I wanted the PA I chose to be able to throw to the back of the arena, to provide the thump and bass that my artist would want and achieve the clarity through the mid and high – so I knew I was asking a lot of this system,’ Acton says. ‘Not only does it deliver that, but we get plenty of SPL without really touching the PA – there is headroom for days. In fact, there’s 10-12kHz here that I’m just not used to hearing and the definition in the high end at 125ft back is amazing as is the clarity in the extreme highs. This HF can’t be discounted when you pitch as high as Donny Osmond.’

‘We jumped into MLA feet first and it’s been a perfect solution,’ he closes. ‘I can’t imagine better – and I know this PA has kept Donny more than happy.’