─Yamaha DM2000 and M7CL Digital Consoles Used at Front of House and Monitors─

BLOOMINGTON, Minn.─In late June, Audio Logic Systems of Bloomfield, Minn. provided full production for the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) National Youth Conference held at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Known as the ‘Challenge Conference,’ the five-day event was attended by over 5,400 high school students who were brought together to grow in their ministry maturity level, model outreach and to share ministry training. During the course of the event, the students prepared 250,000 meals for ‘Kids Against Hunger’ and set a Guinness Book of World Records for the Largest Kazoo Band. The event planners made fine arts a priority in all of the sessions, highlighting poetry, dance, drama, and music. National recording artist “Starfield� served as the house worship band for the week. more

BUENA PARK, Calif.─Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. invites all tri-state dealers, consultants and end users to attend a NEXO S12 Series Line Array Showcase on Tuesday, August 5 between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm to be held at The Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center, 311 West 34th Street, New York City, 7th Floor.

“These boxes are among the best sounding line arrays produced by NEXO,� states Bob Quinones, District Manager. “They are derived from the highly regarded GEO D series but are smaller and more cost effective. This is a great sounding series, at the right price point, and at the right time.� more

MUSKEGON, MI─ The first of its kind training opportunity is open to all church technicians and musicians seeking the finest in-depth technology training available in the areas of audio, musicianship, lighting, recording, and media presentation. The Worship Arts Technology Summit will be held September 14 – 18, 2008 in Muskegon, Michigan. All skill levels are welcome as the training will be presented in structured technology tracks, allowing attendees to begin with the basics and build upon them with a series of increasingly advanced class offerings. more

BUENA PARK, Calif.─ This summer marks number 10 for Ringo Starr’s All Starr outing and includes returning All Starr members (in alphabetical order): Colin Hay, Billy Squier, Hamish Stuart, and Edgar Winter, and first timers Gary Wright and Gregg Bissonette. The All Starr tour is currently bringing its newest chart-topping lineup to 31 cities in the U.S. and Canada, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.

For close to 20 years, Audio Analysts (Colorado Springs, Col.) has provided full audio production for Ringo Starr tours. This year, the All Starr monitor rig is centered around a Yamaha PM5D digital console and 20 of the company’s new T5n amplifiers. Manned by monitor engineer Aaron Goldstein and front of house engineer Brian Bravido, the monitor rig also boasts Audio Analysts-designed wedges, wedge cabinets, sub woofers and three-way cabinets. more

BUENA PARK, Calif.─Yamaha Corporation Japan has announced that its Board of Directors, at their meeting held on June 19, 2008, has decided to make an offer to the founders of NEXO S.A. (Headquarters: Parc du Pré de la Dame Jeanne, 60128 Plailly, France; Registered with the Senlis Trade and Companies Registry [“Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés�] under number 317 272 540; President: Michael Johnson; Hereinafter, NEXO) to acquire all of their shares of NEXO. more

─Concert Features Performance by GRAMMY® Award-Winner Herbie Hancock─

BUENA PARK, Calif.─Last month, many of United Airlines Headquarters employees were treated to a private performance by legendary GRAMMY® award-winner Herbie Hancock along with the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz band on the front lawn of their Elk Grove Village, Illinois headquarters. A lottery was held for 4,000 UA HQ employees to attend the performance with 400 lucky concertgoers winning tickets, leaving the bulk of the staff in place to run airline operations smoothly for busy air travelers. more

─Doubles the I/O Capacity and Processing Power of the PM5D─

BUENA PARK, Calif.─Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. announces the availability of the PM5D-EX digital console power package. The live sound and recording system combines a Yamaha PM5D Digital Mixing Console with a DSP5D Expander doubling the I/O and processing capacity of two PM5D consoles but controlled from a single surface. The system features 96 mono and 16 stereo input channels in a very flexible configuration. more

NASHVILLE, Tenn.─For over three decades, it was known as Fan Fair. Held at the Tennessee State Fair Grounds (Nashville), the festival was country music’s way of giving back to its fan base, with a four-day celebration of music, autograph sessions and photo opportunities.

The festival held June 5-8 moved from the Fair Grounds to downtown Nashville in 2001 and was officially renamed the CMA Music Festival in 2004. No longer just a festival, it’s now a stadium show and TV special (airing Sept. 8th on ABC). With 100 hours of concerts featuring the biggest names in country music as well as up-and-coming acts, the event has grown to attract nearly 200,000 fans from around the world. Simultaneously, the event raises money for “Keep the Music Playing,” a music education initiative in local public schools through a partnership with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education. Since 2006, the CMA Music Festival has donated more than $1.1 million to the cause on behalf of the artists who participate in the Festival. more

—Three New Products Make InfoComm 2008 Debut—

LAS VEGAS, Nevada—Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. (YCAS) has announced that it will distribute three new AuviTran products on display at InfoComm 2008 in booths C3969 and C4069 of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The AuviTran AVM500-ES, AVRed-ES100 and AVY16-ES100 will be added to the existing line of Auvitran products that YCAS currently distributes. more

—New Cards Enable MADI and EtherSound Input and Output Connectivity—

LAS VEGAS, Nevada—Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. has announced the availability of new expansion cards that will enable MADI and EtherSound input and output connectivity. The Yamaha MY16-MD64 card adds 16 channels of MADI input and output connectivity to Yamaha professional audio devices accepting mini-YGDAI expansion; add up to three MY16-EX expansion cards to the core MY16-MD64 card and increase the MADI channel capacity up to 64 channels. The Yamaha MY16-ES64 card adds 16 channels of bi-directional EtherSound connectivity; add up to three MY16-EX expansion cards to the core MY16-ES64 card and increase the EtherSound channel capacity up to 64 channels. more