While Madonna has come to enjoy the title Queen of Reinvention, it is David Bowie who is reinvention’s true hero.
From 1967 album debut through a succession of radical musical style changes, periodic forays into acting and painting, a pioneering US$55m ‘David Bowie bond’ issue, and now the David Bowie is exhibition, Bowie has pushed boundaries beyond the efforts of all peers.
‘I was fascinated by the idea that breath freezes at very low temperatures and makes a unique sound as the ice crystals form. It’s a very romantic concept and I simply couldn’t get it out of my head.
‘No-one had previously succeeded in recording this phenomenon and even during my stay in Siberia, I sometimes started to think that the whole thing was, perhaps, just a myth…’
The evening’s telecast was one of the year’s largest, drawing 28.1m viewers worldwide – its second-largest audience since 1993. In the US it was broadcast live in HDTV and 5.1 surround on the CBS Television Network, and showcased more than 25 performances from some of the hottest international recording artists.
The occasion was the 55th annual Grammy Awards, held at the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles.
Having made their debut on the Las Vegas Strip in 2000, the Blue Man Group recently opened an all-new production at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino – dropping in by parachute to set a lively agenda.
‘Our creative team has been working for two years to propel Blue Man Group’s indescribable celebration of art, technology and music to a whole new level for the Monte Carlo production,’ says Blue Man Group co-founder Chris Wink.
A growing congregation, an ageing sound system and changing worship services left the James River Assembly in Springfield, Missouri, with a problem. It sought a solution with Special Event Services.
The answer to its needs made it one of the first US venues to install DiGiCo’s SD5 console, as well as an Outline GTO loudspeaker system, and have given its sound and its services a new lease of life.
A series of screenings of famous movies accompanied by a live soundtrack is earning London’s Royal Albert Hall praise on many fronts – the choice of films, the musical performance and the sound system among them.
Performed to 10,000 paying guests, the production also provided the commercial premiere of EM Acoustics’ Halo Compact speaker system with sound mixed by renowned classical sound engineer Phil Wright on a DiGiCo SD5 console.
Recorded for release on the EMI Classics label, Bruckner’s 9th Symphony and Quattro Pezzi Sacri by Verdi made an exciting live programme. The recording saw Sir Antonio Pappano conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia at Rome’s spectacular Parco della Musica.
Alongside commercial recording and broadcast ambitions, the session represented a test of some new technology for the recording team.
Tim Goodyer was absolutely right when he described the uptake of MP3 and other audio compression formats as an ‘uneducation’ problem in a recent Facebook discussion.
Although I’ve seen it happening over a long time, I’ve only started to realise the magnitude of the problem over the past few weeks. And the past month or so has solidified my thinking on it.
Taking in musical ranging from R&B to rap and pop, and providing marketing, publishing, TV, film and concert promotion, US-based MBK Entertainment is the culination of 20 years’ ambition and dedication on the part of founders Jeff Robinson and partners Jeanine Mclean, Misha Hedman and Suzette Williams.
Their most recent venture is the opening of a new a world-class recording studio in New York City – OZ.
Recent investment in the UK's railway infrastructure has seen a new PA system installed in Glasgow Central, Scotland’s busiest railway station.
Part of the renovation of a transport hub that handles around 34m people every year, a Tanny Qflex system aims to solve the station’s long-standing problem with intelligibility due to the nature of the structure and its architecture, with reflective floors, sandstone walls and a glass roof creating problematic reverberation.
It’s been nearly 40 years since Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ introduced Bruce Springsteen to the record-buying public (and laid the groundwork for Manfred Mann’s ‘Blinded by the Light’ chart success.
And while not initially a commercial success, the album marked the start of one of rock’s most distinguished careers – as evidenced by his current round of three-hour-plus shows, sold-out arenas and glowing reviews.
