TAIT outline plans for King’s Cross office and what it means for the business, clients and partners..

TAIT, the global creative engineering group for live experiences, is set to open a central London base in early 2024 at Tileyard London in the heart of King’s Cross. The new office will further enhance TAIT’s collaboration with clients and partners, and establish TAIT’s presence in central London, a significant growth market as well as a gateway to Europe.

This new office follows the trajectory of TAIT’s extensive growth both in the UK and globally.

As part of a global footprint delivering technology forward, leading edge experiences, the current UK locations include super-factories, equipped for heavy entertainment engineering, in Wakefield in West Yorkshire and Haverhill in Suffolk, as well as training and R&D facilities in Hampton.

Born through strategic acquisitions of Stage Technologies, Delstar, Brilliant Stages and Kinesys, TAIT’s UK based team have played a key role in some of the most iconic live experiences of the last 45 years, from the flying car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to the Royal Opera House to the Rolling Stones; the Olympics to Outernet.

TAIT’s global team across 20 offices, work together to deliver live experiences across concert touring, permanent and touring theatre, cruise ships, performance venues, brand and location based experiences.

Ben Brooks, Managing Director UK, TAIT

“We’re creating this central London base to support our work across the UK, Europe and Worldwide. We’re proud to be part of the live experience community, and this new space will support our work with partners across the globe. Locally, it means we have a central point for the UK’s talented design houses and celebrated theatres, especially in London’s West End. It’s also two hours from our sites in West Yorkshire and Suffolk”. ​ ​

Gemma Hodgson, Chief Commercial Officer, TAIT

“It’s important to have a London base as our business continues to expand across live experience markets and global geographies. We have exciting plans for 2024 and we need to meet where our partners are. Having close links to Europe is also important for us, and so the link with King’s Cross St Pancras was an important factor in our decision to create this new space”.

Mark Dakin, Principal, Theatre, TAIT

“With the West End’s deep connection to Broadway and beyond, The Royal Opera House, National Theatre and Sadlers Wells long historical links to the worlds leading practitioners and institutions in opera, drama and ballet, it makes absolute sense for TAIT to have an inspiring and creative space in central London. The adjacencies to the dynamic community in Tileyard and being close to venues and partners, will be an essential part of conceiving, creating, planning and executing exciting, innovative and creative projects in the future”.

For more information about TAIT please visit www.taittowers.com

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Experimental Icelandic rock band, Sigur Rós recently embarked on a two-and-a-half-week tour of North America, complete with a 41-piece orchestra.

It marks the third phase of support from their audio rental company 22live, who earlier covered their 2022 world shows, followed by European summer dates (where the orchestral idea was first introduced) and now tour dates in the United States and Canada.

Each wave of dates has seen progressive iterations of Martin Audio sound reinforcement, culminating in monitor engineer Throstur Albertsson recently changing his monitor set-up for powerful XE500 wedges (to complement their IEM’s) but more significantly 18 of the manufacturer’s new FlexPoint FP4 for local orchestral monitoring.

Explaining the background, 22live hire director, Paul Timmins, who has a long relationship with Sigur Rós, said “We needed some tiny speakers for the orchestra. I’d got wind about FlexPoint and when I attended the Martin Audio Open Day in April I discovered that Ingvar Jónsson – Sigur Rós FOH engineer – was also planning to visit because of a side project with Martin Audio he was involved with. He was impressed with the FP4 and XE500 wedges and told the monitor engineer how great they were, believing the diminutive FP4s would be ideal for the orchestra.”

His colleague, Throstur Albertsson, duly adopted this solution for the orchestra foldback, but the challenge became one of timing. Martin Audio met the deadline by fast tracking the first production run in order to meet the first six orchestral shows in Europe.

Throstur admitted to having been disappointed with elements of his traditional tiny monitors and readily acquiesced. “I was immediately impressed with how well FP4’s sounded, and the fact they are coaxial, with 100° dispersion, the tonality was really even. Mounting them was easy as I combined the tilt backet onto a mic stand and they do the job perfectly.”

Driven by his iK42s he is grouping the orchestra into eight sections, applying a separate mix for each of the groups. Asked about the XE500, he said “They are f***ing monsters … really loud, especially on something like the kick drum, albeit for the most part the band are on in-ears.”

For the US and Canada tour, as they have done with the recent Australian Pink Floyd tour, 22live shipped the entire audio inventory Stateside. As well as monitors, this also includes both Martin Audio TORUS and Wavefront Precision, marking a successful progression of the manufacturer with the band’s production team.

Martin Audio had been introduced by 22live for the first time at the Black Island production rehearsals, in 2022, where as part of a control package, a TORUS system was included. When a European run was announced for the same year, 22live were given the opportunity to provide a full PA, and the band’s production manager, Giles Woodhead, began conversations regarding the Martin Audio Wavefront Precision option.

Said Paul Timmins, “Although their FOH engineer, Ingvar, had been used to working with other audio brands, he trusted us, and the deployment was very successful.” This was also partly due to the fact that the TORUS system had been so well received at the Black Island rehearsals that Ingvar was encouraged that the brand could deliver the result he was looking for, sensing that its underlying technology matched the best in the business.

Timmins also knew that the technical support team needed to be fully conversant with the latest Martin Audio products, and so nominated the experienced Joseph Pearce as system tech and Johnny Buck as PA tech.

The PA needed to cater for venues ranging in size from 2500-16,000 capacity, and so they arranged a combination of the large-format double 12” WPL and smaller double 8” WPS. “This combination meant that for the larger spaces the WPL could be deployed with WPS side hangs, while in the smallest of venues the WPL could remain in the truck entirely. In total, the tour had at its disposal 32 x WPL, 24 x WPS, 12 x SXHF218 subwoofers, six WPM lip fill, and four TORUS T1230 for in and outfill.

Completing the audio package, Martin Audio iK42 rack were built in two double-bay 24U racks, keeping the packaging neat with integral 63A distribution utilising 22live’s new SES power distros.

Following Albertsson’s glowing report, the monitoring package is now also fully ensconced, and Paul Timmins was equally complimentary. “Everything about it feels premium, with a proper connector on the back, decent fittings, two options of how you hold the cabinet, and whether on a mic stand or in a little frame.” But Albertsson is already thinking to the future. Aside from wishing he could have got his hands on more of the formidable FP4s, he said, “I’d love to take a look at the FP12s for some additional monitoring requirements.”

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New York indie rock group Yeah Yeah Yeahs are back on tour, with show dates in the US and internationally following the release of their 2022 album, Cool it Down.

Handling mixing duties for the tour are Daniel Good and Nahuel Gutierrez, who started working with Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O following her Danger Mouse collaboration Lux Prima in 2019. “We did two shows at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles and the band performed one more show in New York,” explained Good. “At that point we weren’t sure if Yeah Yeah Yeahs would ever be performing again, so it was cool to get contacted again after their album came out.”

Good and Gutierrez are each mixing on Allen & Heath dLive S5000 surfaces, along with DM0 MixRacks handling 128 channels of 96kHz input processing. For I/O, various DX168 expanders are distributed on the stage. A SuperMADI card was also included, which allows for a simplified multichannel broadcast feed when needed, as well as a 128-channel Waves card for multitrack recording and playback.

The tour package was provided by Worley Sound, a boutique rental company out of Nashville, TN. “We specialize in custom control packages for our clients,” explained founder Tom Worley. “I think the Allen & Heath price point really speaks to a lot of mid-sized tours that want a compact footprint, and flexibility of I/O expansion through cards and stageboxes.”

Good had limited experience on Allen & Heath’s dLive platform prior to this tour (mixing Todd Terje & the Olsons), but the console had left a good impression on him. “I just remembered that it sounded great, and five or six years later it kicked into my mind again.” Good explained that the production team wanted to use the same gear throughout the tour to minimize prep time locating rental equipment at each stop. “The way you can lay out Allen & Heath consoles and configure the hardware any way you want – we knew that it could accomplish what we needed quickly and easily.” Good also appreciates the flexible workflow within the dLive’s software interface. “Some people can get stuck to certain ways of working, but you can do everything ten different ways with this console.”

“I liked that the console was really easy to understand,” noted Gutierrez, who handles Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ monitor mixing. “It fit the budget, and it was great to have the shared stageboxes for [Good] and myself. It saved us a lot of space and weight in the touring package. The more we used the consoles, the more we liked them.”

Gutierrez notes that the suite of processing plugins built-in to dLive also make mixing shows more convenient. “We basically mix everything in the box, the DYN8 dynamic EQ is fantastic, as well as all the onboard FX and parallel compression options.” After the second day of rehearsals, the band already remarked to Gutierrez that the audio sounded better. “Dan [Good] has also been getting amazing reviews because the shows have been sounding fantastic.” Good shares enthusiasm for the DYN8 dynamic EQ and multiband compressor plugin. “I use that mostly on keyboards, stuff that really resonates in the room.”

The dLive’s new Source Expander plugin comes in handy as well for the duo. “That’s becoming a really good tool to clean mixes,” noted Gutierrez. “I have it inserted on cymbals, vocals, and a couple of the open mics that are not used frequently to eliminate background noise.”

For creating distorted vocals on certain songs, Gutierrez employs the Dual Stage Valve preamp emulation. “It’s probably one of the best vocal distortions I’ve heard,” he remarked. “We’ve tried pedals and a few other solutions, but nothing sounded right until we found this emulation.” Good also uses the various preamp models at front of house to add more color to his mix. “I was blown away when I first discovered those,” he recalled. “They’re so versatile, you can pretty much get anything you want out of a channel.”

Both engineers rely on dLive’s Scenes feature to recall preset mixes for each song in the band’s set. “At first I just started by muting or pulling faders for channels I knew weren’t used on that song,” explained Good. “As the tour progressed, I picked up on little things I wanted to tweak – adding in EQ changes, fader movements, and panning. It’s pretty awesome that dLive allows you to scope the dynamic EQ separately from the rest of the channel processing, that’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Deviating from most modern performances, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ shows do not rely heavily on backing tracks. “The guitarist has a loop pedal with some pre-recorded loops,” explained Gutierrez. “But he has to trigger them in time, there is no computer running a click track or keeping things in sync.”

For on-stage monitoring, Yeah Yeah Yeahs rely almost entirely on IEMs for their current tour. “Everyone uses in-ears except for the drummer, who receives stems into a small mixer and does his own headphone mix,” explained Gutierrez. “It’s the first full tour for the band on in-ears – but once they got used to them, they were really happy with it.”

At front of house, Good uses dLive’s display output to set up a live RTA on an external monitor. “It’s cool to have that without having SMAART, to see how things are translating.” He also makes use of the console’s ABCD input feature, which allows a user to quickly swap the input source of a mic channel using a user-defined SoftKey. “There are so many SoftKeys that I was almost looking for reasons to use them,” he joked. “Karen will jump mics sometimes – I need to be ready to swap from wired mics to wireless instantly and in pitch black, so I can do that now with a single button push.”

“The engineers seem to really be enjoying the consoles and having great results,” said Tom Worley. “Even the band was telling me how the sound is improved and how happy they are.”

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PLASA Show once again returns to Olympia London to showcase the future of live entertainment technology.

From 3-5 September, the expanded show will set the stage for 239 brands, 112 educational sessions, and thousands of industry professionals.

Lighting professionals can look forward to meeting Artistic Licence, Astera, Ayrton, Chauvet Professional, Claypaky, Elation, ETC, GDS, GLP, MA Lighting, Martin, Robert Juliat, ROXX, SGM, TMB, and Varilite. Plus, headline sponsor Robe will run impressive live demonstrations throughout the show.

Pro audio professionals can connect with brands such as Allen & Heath, AED Audio, BishopSound, d&b audiotechnik, DiGiCo, EM Acoustics, FBT Audio, Glensound, KV2 Audio, JBL, L-Acoustics, Midas, Nexo, Omega Pro Audio, OutBoard TiMax, Peavey, RCF, Sennheiser, Shure, Tannoy, and Yamaha. Plenty of Audio-Visual brands will be in attendance too, such as Canford Audio, Clear-Com, Epson, Green Hippo, Luminex, PSCo, Rigging Services, Rosco, and Tight AV.

Seminars

This year’s seminar programme, sponsored by Vectorworks, boasts back-to-back sessions delivering creative inspiration, business advice, and technical insights.

Business is high on the agenda too, with a session on redefining leadership with Production Futures; parenthood with Women in Live Music; neurodiversity with Backup; the future with award-winning author Mark Stevenson; sustainability with the ALPD; and Brexit with PLASA.

Attendees can enjoy presentations on technical achievements, including TAIT reporting on the Soundstorm festival; Electric Airshows on lighting drones; Unusual Rigging on the West End’s Mrs Doubtfire; and James Simpson on his LSi column, Future Tech.

And visitors can go deeper into health & safety with Tom Goode; BS7909 with James Eade; EN17206 with TAIT; Technical Standards with the ABTT; and theatrical experimentation with PEARL.

In addition to the well-stocked seminar programme, PLASA Show will see several hands-on training and immersive demonstrations. Visitors can take advantage of Dante Certification across levels 1, 2, and 3, as well as an additional elective course.

Audio professionals can explore live demonstrations from KV2 Audio, JBL, and RCF, with plenty of new products on show. Plus, the d&b Soundscape theatre returns to run various sessions and demonstrations throughout the show.

Vintage audio and lighting

Following its debut last year, CH Vintage Audio will return to the show, in tandem with LSi’s Classic Gear Live. Together they will showcase vintage audio and lighting products used in some of the most iconic concerts, albums and shows. Including, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon sound system, The Beatles’ Abbey Road monitors, and David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust tour equipment from 50 years ago.

Celebrating innovation

The PLASA Awards for Innovation will of course be at the show, celebrating this year’s most impressive technology.

Visitors can see the nominees on the Innovation Gallery during the show and see who wins during an intimate ceremony at 6pm on Monday in seminar theatre 1.

Futhermore, both exhibitors and visitors are invited to the show bar afterwards for the official #WeMakeEvents afterparty – offering a valuable way to chat with people from across the industry.

Sophie Atkinson, PLASA’s Head of Events, says:

“This year’s show has really grown, with a significantly bigger show floor plus exciting new features and friendly get-togethers. With the industry keen to safeguard against future challenges, we have made sure that the show’s content is both valuable for businesses and accessible for new entrants. I invite you to take advantage of all there is to offer and join the conversation at the forefront of the live sector.”

PLASA Show will take place at Olympia London from 3-5 September. Find out more and register here: https://www.plasashow.com/

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This year’s leading event for live entertainment technology in the UK, the PLASA Show (September 3rd to 5th), will feature global audio specialist Sennheiser showcasing an array of exciting solutions that are extensively employed across the live events, film, and broadcast industries.

Sennheiser’s team of experts will be readily available to guide show visitors through their impressive line-up, including the renowned Digital 6000 series and the fifth generation of Evolution Wireless Systems: EW-D, EW-DX, and the newly released EW-DP. Additionally, a plethora of live sound products from Neumann will be available, featuring the latest in live microphones such as the Miniature Clip Mic System (MCM), KMS 104, and KMS 105. Showcased alongside these will be Neumann’s brand-new audio interface, the MT 48, along with the newest addition to the KH speaker range, KH 120 II. Each of these offerings delivers unparalleled sound quality, reliability and flexibility.

Visitors to the booth can expect first-hand experience with Sennheiser’s premium Digital 6000 Series, which has firmly established itself as a favoured choice within the realm of live events and theatre productions. Furthermore, the complete suite of Evolution Wireless Digital products – Sennheiser’s UHF digital system with increased bandwidth, the highest input dynamic range and lowest latency of any digital wireless system currently available – will be on display, including the EW-D, EW-DX, and the latest EW-DP wireless microphone systems.

The Neumann booth area will undoubtedly leave PLASA Show visitors impressed. On display will be the MT 48, Neumann’s first-ever audio interface. Based on Merging Technologies acclaimed Anubis audio interface, this innovative product marks a significant milestone in the company’s nearly 100-year history, showcasing Neumann’s expansion beyond microphones, loudspeakers, and headphones into the realm of digital interaction.

Among other innovations from Neumann is the latest addition to the KH speaker range, KH 120 II studio monitor. Building upon the success of its predecessor, KH 120 II offers improvements in all acoustic parameters for deeper bass, higher SPL capability, and increased resolution.

Other highlights of Sennheiser and Neumann’s PLASA offering include an expansive selection of microphones and microphone capsules available for show attendees to view and test, offering a great opportunity to understand various usage scenarios for achieving optimal sound quality.

Last but not least, Sennheiser will also showcase Li.LAC’s microphone hygiene system which provides low impact, contactless cleaning and disinfection through ultraviolet light (UV-C). Entered into this year’s PLASA Awards for Innovation, the Li.Lac Microphone Disinfector® achieves disinfection level of 99.99%* for surface disinfection and has been approved by the independent, accredited laboratory Opsytec Dr. Gröbel GmbH.

The complete suite of Evolution Wireless Digital products – Sennheiser’s UHF digital system with increased bandwidth, the highest input dynamic range and lowest latency of any digital wireless system currently available – will be on display at PLASA Show 2023, including the EW-D, EW-DX, and the latest EW-DP wireless microphone systems.

“Whether you’re a sound engineer, musician or live event professional, we look forward to engaging with fellow industry experts at our booth D6 and sharing our latest array of products and technologies with you,” says Kevin Gwyther-Brown, Business Development Manager – UK Pro Audio at Sennheiser.

“From Sennheiser’s latest Evolution Wireless Systems to Neumann’s MT 48 audio interface and highly-anticipated KH 120 II, we have something in store for every user!”

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Sphere Entertainment today unveiled Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by HOLOPLOT, the world’s most advanced audio system, which provides crystal-clear, individualized sound to every seat in Sphere, a next generation entertainment medium opening in Las Vegas this fall. Sphere Studios, which develops groundbreaking technologies and content, partnered with HOLOPLOT, a global leader in 3D audio technology, to create Sphere Immersive Sound – the world’s largest, fully integrated concert-grade audio system that revolutionizes immersive audio experiences.

U2’s The Edge said, “The beauty of Sphere is not only the ground-breaking technology that will make it so unique, with the world’s most advanced audio system integrated into a structure which is designed with sound quality as a priority; it’s also the possibilities around immersive experiences in real and imaginary landscapes. In short, it’s a canvas of an unparalleled scale and image resolution, and a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We all thought about it and decided we’d be mad not to accept the invitation.”

“Sphere Immersive Sound is a cornerstone of the custom-designed technology that will make Sphere unlike any venue, anywhere in the world, providing audio with unmatched clarity and precision to every guest, no matter where they are seated,” said David Dibble, CEO, MSG Ventures, a division of Sphere Entertainment. “Creating this experience required us to go far beyond existing audio technology, and in HOLOPLOT we found a partner at the forefront of innovation to help achieve our vision and truly transform what is possible with audio.”

“From the beginning, HOLOPLOT has been focused on radically transforming audio technology, rethinking the underlying physics of sound reproduction as we know it,” said Roman Sick, CEO, HOLOPLOT. “Working alongside Sphere Studios on Sphere Immersive Sound has been a truly thrilling opportunity for our team – challenging us to extend the boundaries of our technology at an unparalleled scale and create a revolutionary listening experience.”

Sphere Immersive Sound is the world’s largest concert-grade audio system and was specifically developed for Sphere’s unique curved interior. The system consists of approximately 1,600 permanently installed and 300 mobile HOLOPLOT X1 Matrix Array loudspeaker modules and includes a total of 167,000 individually amplified loudspeaker drivers. The system utilizes HOLOPLOT’s next-generation 3D Audio-Beamforming and Wave Field Synthesis technology to transform how audio is delivered in large-scale venues. This results in controlled, consistent, and crystal-clear concert-grade audio for audiences of up to 20,000 people, providing each audience member with a truly exceptional and personalized listening experience. The entire sound system is completely hidden behind Sphere’s 160,000 square foot interior LED display plane. Any audio transmission losses are fully compensated for by HOLOPLOT’s algorithms in the optimization engine, resulting in clear, full-range sound with virtually no coloration and a completely unobstructed visual LED surface – which wraps up, over and around the audience and combines with Sphere Immersive Sound to create a fully immersive environment.

Traditional loudspeaker technology in large-scale venues can result in audio quality that diminishes as distance from the speakers increases, due to the uncontrolled nature of sound wave propagation. HOLOPLOT’s patented 3D Audio-Beamforming technology uses intelligent software algorithms to create unique, highly controlled, and more efficient soundwaves than conventional speakers, ensuring that levels and quality remain consistent from point of origin to destination – even over large distances. HOLOPLOT’s propriety beamforming technology can also simultaneously send unique audio content to specific locations in the venue, creating the possibility for different sections to hear completely different content – such as languages, music, or sound effects – offering limitless opportunities for truly customized and immersive audio experiences.

Sphere Immersive Sound will additionally utilize HOLOPLOT’s unique Wave Field Synthesis capabilities, a spatial audio rendering technique that leverages virtual acoustic environments. With conventional audio technology, the perceived origin of a sound has traditionally been the location of the loudspeaker. Using Wave Field Synthesis, sound designers can create a virtual point of origin, which can then be placed in a precise spatial location. This enables audio to be directed to the listener so that it sounds close, even though the source is far away – for example, an audience member could hear a whisper that sounds like someone is talking directly in their ear.

Since its founding in 2011, Berlin-based HOLOPLOT has been at the forefront of audio innovation, using 3D Audio Beamforming and Wave Field Synthesis technology to develop groundbreaking audio systems. The multi-award-winning company has received global recognition for its patented technology, and with its unique 3D sound capabilities drew the attention of MSG Ventures – which is responsible for developing the advanced technologies used to create immersive experiences for Sphere.

Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by HOLOPLOT, was first introduced last summer at the Beacon Theatre in New York ahead of being further customized and scaled for Sphere – which leverages the full capabilities of the cutting-edge technology. The introduction of this audio innovation at The Beacon brought a nearly 100-year-old venue into the next generation, setting a new standard for sound quality in performance venues. Since its debut at the Beacon Theatre, Sphere Immersive Sound has offered artists and audiences a glimpse of what the system is capable of delivering, before Sphere opens this fall.

Sphere Immersive Sound is just one aspect of the 22^nd century technologies that will work together in Sphere to create extraordinary immersive experiences that activate the senses. In addition to Sphere Immersive Sound and the interior LED display plane, Sphere also features patented 4D technologies such as infrasound haptic seating, and various atmospheric and environmental effects, such as warm breezes, evocative scents and changing temperatures, to create multi-sensory experiences that take storytelling to an entirely new level.

Sphere will open its doors on September 29 with the first of U2’s 25 performances of “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere,” and the Darren Aronofsky-directed Sphere Experience, Postcard from Earth, will debut on October 6.

Tickets are currently on sale at thespherevegas.com.

Photo credits: Sphere Entertainment, Holoplot

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The post U2’s The EDGE on the Sphere, Las Vegas: “It’s a canvas of an unparalleled scale” appeared first on Audio Media International.

Worldwide leading provider of high-end audio systems and AVLM services for the event sector plans to continue international growth achieved with the support of Ardian with new owner, Providence.

The post d&b Group Sold to Providence, by Owner Ardian appeared first on Audio Media International.

Austrian Audio delivering the music and the message for the Will Of The People stadium tour

Muse, the iconic alt-rock band from England, is currently on tour featuring songs from their album Will of the People. Matthew Bellamy (vocals, guitar), Christopher Wolstenholme (bass, vocals) and Dominic Howard (drums, percussion) have been tearing up arenas and stadiums throughout the US and Europe, delivering massive productions with excellent audio and insane visuals.

As the band’s FOH engineer for over two decades, Marc Carolan is making sure the sound quality on stage exceeds every expectation. To that end, Carolan employs the Austrian Audio OD505 WL1 for vocals on the Will of the People Tour. The OD505 WL1 is an ideal solution for those in the band who are mobile during their performance and depend on a wireless system. In many live situations, ambient sound is a big problem and mic’s supercardioid polar pattern smoothly rejects unwanted interference and focuses on the voice. Monitor engineer Matt Napier, part of Carolan’s team and on his first tour with the group, confirmed this in a recent interview with FOH Magazine “When Matt performs in front of the P.A., he switches to an Austrian Audio OD505, which has great rejection and keeps the vocal sound as clean as possible.”

For the drum kit, Carolan opted for the Austrian Audio OC7 true condenser instrument microphone for the toms, and the CC8 cardioid true condenser mic on high hat. The flagship OC818 large-diaphragm condenser mic are used on percussions. As an experienced FOH engineer, Carolan always has an eye out for innovative solutions as Muse fills bigger and bigger stadiums. “Muse keeps pushing boundaries, both musically and technologically, and the team and I keep learning and figuring out how to provide the best sound experience for these mega shows.”

In order for the audio to keep pace with the overall experience, Austrian Audio has been a great partner when it comes to open, transparent and natural sound, largely due to their proprietary Open Acoustics technology, which delivers the open and natural Austrian Audio OC (open condenser) sound the company is known for in studios and venues around the world.

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British loudspeaker manufacturer returns to Worthy Farm for second year

Glastonbury Festival made its hotly anticipated return this year with a stellar line-up and an unforgettable weekend at Worthy Farm. Showcasing iconic acts such as Guns & Roses and Elton John, Glastonbury once again delivered an extraordinary three days of music and hedonism. British loudspeaker manufacturer EM Acoustics returned to the festival’s renowned Acoustic Stage, following the resounding success of last year’s outing.

Housed inside an enormous bright red tent, the Acoustic Stage is said to be a ‘festival within a festival’. Blues, folk, contemporary and country music are the order of the day, every day, on this stage, and this year’s line-up included the Magic Numbers, Seth Lakeman, Badly Drawn Boy, Richard Thompson, Newton Faulkner, Paul Carrack, Steve Earle, and Rumer, amongst other names. In conjunction with De Brabant Audio, EM supplied the full PA package for the Acoustic Stage.

“We are thrilled to have returned to the Acoustic Stage for the 2023 festival,” confirms Mike Wheeler, Operations Director at EM Acoustics. “Returning to Glastonbury for a second year confirms our belief in the capabilities of the HALO-A system. The feedback we’ve received has yet again been universally positive. The variety of acts and genres that play on this eclectic stage truly showcase the abilities of this system. We are thrilled with the outcome of the weekend and honoured to have our products powering a part of this prestigious and beloved festival.”

In total, eight HALO-A were used per side, accompanied with 24 Quake subwoofers deployed as a steered array to ensure even low frequency across the very wide audience area. Six R10s provided front fill, whilst two R12s acted as L/R outfill. EM Acoustics also delivered a full monitor package consisting of eight individual mixes of M-C15 coaxial passive stage monitors, an R12 and ST-218 per side as side fill, and M-C15/ST-215 drum fills to deliver focused audio specifically for the drum position. The entire system was driven by EM Acoustics’ own DQ20D advanced system amplifiers in their bespoke touring racks, running on AES and fed by an XTA MX36 console switcher to handle guest consoles.

One of the standout performances on Friday night was that of English singer-songwriter Seth Lakeman. Med Rann, FOH engineer for Lakeman, was delighted with the system, saying it was “Clean and punchy, and super easy to work with. Seth has a lot of what I generally refer to as ‘geometry’ in his vocal, which can be a challenge to deliver clearly on some systems. On tour, I usually turn to a lot of multiband dynamics to make sure he’s super clear. But even busking this on the house console, I was impressed how easily his vocal sat in the PA. I give it five stars and would absolutely use it again.”

“Working with the EM Acoustics team this year was a pleasure as usual,” recalls Fox Valentine, Production Manager for the stage. “The Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury Festival is a very challenging venue. As a tensile fabric big top, there are complex reflections to deal with. We also have the challenge of adhering to very stringent noise control restrictions. Despite this, EM Acoustics managed to achieve full spectrum coverage throughout the whole auditorium. The sound was refined, and yet very full-bodied. The Quake subwoofers provided enough power to blow your socks off but were set up by EM’s engineers in a manner totally sympathetic to the genre of music on the Acoustic Stage. Overall, the best sound in the 34 years I have worked at this venue.”

The post Glastonbury’s Acoustic Stage powered by EM Acoustics appeared first on Audio Media International.

This year saw the 50^th anniversary of Tubular Bells, the iconic masterpiece created by the acclaimed British musician Mike Oldfield that was originally released in May 1973. To celebrate, Oldfield’s creation was once again brought to life through a captivating tour spanning over 30 venues across the UK this spring. Spearheaded by Robin Smith, Mike Oldfield’s collaborator and the musical director of the show, a mesmerising live rendition of Tubular Bells was performed by a talented ensemble of musicians. Show Works, a UK production company with an expertise in delivering immersive installations, musicals, tours, live streams and outdoor events, worked with the show’s organisers to deliver an audio setup featuring a DiGiCo S21 console used by FOH engineer, Sam Ferstenberg, and S31 utilised for on-stage monitoring by Sam Manigley.

Show Works’ managing director, Oscar Thompson, has previously collaborated with the tour producers at Fiery Entertainment on several other projects, including Rob Brydon’s tour and the BBC Big Band. “We were approached about the Tubular Bells anniversary tour in September and got the green light in December last year. It was an exhilarating moment for us,” he says.

To meet Fiery Entertainment team’s needs for a portable system without compromising on sound quality, flexibility, and power, Thompson chose DiGiCo S-Series consoles. The S21 and S31 consoles stood out for their excellent performance and favourable price point.

“The consoles offered flexibility and various DMI cards allowed for seamless sharing of stage inputs between the FOH and monitor consoles,” Thompson elaborates. “Their compact design made them easy to transport between and in venues, and aligned perfectly with the production requirements. We didn’t have any hesitation in recommending these consoles and, in fact, we ended up purchasing the S31 from Adlib for the tour as well.”

With DiGiCo consoles already in their inventory, Thompson highlights the value of the manufacturer’s software and firmware upgrades, which have proven highly advantageous for the team. Upon acquiring the S31, they promptly updated both the S21 and S31 with the latest firmware, unlocking enhanced versions known as the S21+ and S31+. These provided a significant boost in processing power and channel count, which proved invaluable for the Tubular Bells production.

Monitor engineer Sam Manigley, a long-time user of DiGiCo consoles, praised the S31’s custom layout option, which allowed for quick and easy customisation. With 64 channels between him and FOH engineer Sam Ferstenberg, Manigley could manage multiple mixes, including IEMs and various groups. He found the console user-friendly and appreciated the intuitive and efficient setup created by Oscar.

“I could easily add elements like a dedicated percussion section, making navigation a breeze. It’s similar to using an iPad, with its smooth drag-and-drop functionality. The speed and efficiency it offers are fantastic,” he notes. “Along with 64 channels and five sets of IEMs, we also had personal mixers connected via the DMI card. I also provided stereo IEMs for the two percussionists and the bass player, who also served as a vocalist, along with my own PFL mix.”

Manigley used Groups for percussion, cello, bass, guitars, piano. “We also had stems from the QLab rig for click tracks. So, there was a lot going on,” he explains.

A fan of live mixing, Manigley prefers a hands-on approach, finding that extensive changes in effects like reverb times are often unnecessary in rock and roll bands. Mixing on the fly, he relies on his intuition, using a set list and notes to keep everything in order, focussing on maintaining a natural flow and referring to his notes for consistency.

The main challenge for FOH engineer Ferstenberg was finding a setup that was suitable for touring, but worked within the time constraints. “The S-Series provided us with a lightweight, ‘plug and play’ setup. The use of MADI, Dante and ME protocols was crucial as we ran physical inputs via a MADI-Rack and used a Little Red Box to split the signal to FOH and monitors,” he explains.

A redundant Dante system was used for QLab playback and to send signal to the DQ20 amplifiers which had native Dante ports built in. The band’s personal mixrs were seamlessly integrated into the consoles. “I also used the analogue ports on the S21 for local monitoring and talkback, as well as the built in UB-Madi port for multitrack recording and outboard effects processing. It was easy to route inputs and outputs to any of the protocols we were using across the system. I’ve never seen a console handle signal flow as efficiently as the DiGiCo S-Series!” he says.

Ferstenberg was consistently impressed with the S-Series’ functionality. “The intuitiveness of the recall safe menu for each channel meant I had full control over what I wanted to change between scenes,” he says and adds that this, combined with the auto-update feature, was extremely useful throughout rehearsals and into the run, meaning he could change scenes from track to track and know he had a consistent sounding starting point every time.

For busier sections, such as the iconic ‘Master of Ceremonies’, Ferstenberg already had the percussion and rhythm balanced exactly how he needed it, so he could focus on mixing the lead instruments.

“Another useful feature was Spill Sets,” he notes. “By default, I had effects aux’s on my Spills, so I could change the level of my reverbs as required throughout, but with the use of recall safes, I had certain instruments on Spills for sections where I knew I would need to access regularly, i.e. vocal channels, and, it was very useful to be able to access these crucial channels at any point without having to flip through fader pages.”

Ferstenberg also made use of the integrated UB-Madi port on the console. “Due to the nature of the tour, we had limited time during load ins, so I could use a multitrack recording of the show to start sound check while the band setup was completed. The ‘listen to source’ and ‘listen to copied audio’ macros meant I could seamlessly swap between the multitrack and the live band. I also used the UB MADI for outboard effects processing. I was very impressed with how easy it was to integrate digital reverbs and delays into the mix.”

Concluding on a high note now that the tour has come to an end, Ferstenberg commends the tourability of the DiGiCo consoles, describing them as “exceptional”.

“We only needed to use four ethernet ports on the FOH loom – network, MADI, Dante primary and secondary. This, combined with the weightlessness of the S21 meant I could set up the FOH position quickly and focus on the PA and onstage setup,” he concludes.

“Many venue technicians were impressed with how easy it was to handle the consoles. The analogue XLR ports also provided flexibility to tie into venue PA systems if needed. I was also impressed with the versatility of the iPad app, which allowed me to have full control over the desk during PA tuning and sound checks. This feature made it easier to listen throughout the auditorium and ensure consistent sound quality across the venue. Ultimately, the combination of these features, along with the consoles’ processing power, reliability, and user-friendly functionality, played a significant role in the success of Tubular Bells 50^th Anniversary Tour.”

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