BOSTON, January 22, 2013 — The largest ski resort in Northern Europe has amplified the lighting and sound experience for its guests, with Technomad advanced audio loudspeakers as the centerpiece.

SkiStar, located in the Ã…re municipality in northern Sweden, is giving skiers an interactive experience on the slopes with its new high-quality, multi-zone entertainment system. The Technomad loudspeakers, projected by systems integration company Watt & Volt Sverige AB, communicate the history of SkiStar and deliver atmospheric audio in eight locations. Watt & Volt worked alongside project leader Ljusarkitektur AB, which is responsible for the new lighting structure that accompanies the audio system.

The complete, synchronized system delivers a captivating lighting and sound experience to skiers, with audio originated through zoned DMX-controlled MP3 players.

“This is a completely new concept for ski resorts in the north of Europe, perhaps even beyond,� said Hamrin. “To our knowledge, it is the only system in the north of Europe of its kind, in the way the ambient sounds connect surrounding areas with the lighting installation.�

Watt & Volt, which recently joined Technomad’s European dealer network, chose Technomad loudspeakers for their complete weatherproof construction and ability to withstand harsh outdoor environments — also noting excellent audio quality and broad coverage as benefits.

“There is nothing to compare with Technomad,� says Niklas Hamrin, managing director, of Watt & Volt. “We find the audio quality to be very good, especially considering the extremely rugged build. Their loudspeakers provide the appropriate protection considering the large snow amounts and extremely low temperatures, which can drop to between -30 and -40 Celsius.�

Technomad Paris loudspeakers, which provide full-range audio output in a classic column design, were installed at locations where musical reproduction and exceptional bass output were required. Watt & Volt chose Technomad Vernal loudspeakers, the most compact model in the company’s portfolio, at stations where intelligible speech is a priority. Hamrin added that both models satisfy unobtrusive audio system requirements from SkiStar and Ljusarkitektur. The loudspeakers are installed alongside compact, protective, heated cabinets with built-in amplifiers to complete the outdoor installation.

Future expansion plans include the installation of more Technomad loudspeakers at outdoor gondolas throughout the resort. The gondola systems will include battery-powered, RFID-controllable MP3 players built into ultra-compact, highly protective plastic cases.

ABOUT TECHNOMAD
Technomad LLC, founded in 1995, designs and manufactures loudspeaker systems for the professional audio and security/military technology industries. The company invented the first reliable full-range weatherproof loudspeaker and now offers nine models ranging in power from 60-watt loudspeakers to 1250-watt subwoofers — most available in Turnkey PA System packages featuring amplifiers, mixers and other signal processing equipment in pre-wired racks. The company also manufactures a variety of audio infrastructure and communications equipment including playback and recording systems, weatherproof power amplifiers and turnkey remote audio systems. Contact Technomad at 617-275-8898 or visit www.technomad.com for more information.

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A large selection of DPA microphones were deployed at the first Gibran National Committee Annual Awards Ceremony, which took place in Beirut to honour and promote distinguished Lebanese innovators.

More than 60 musicians, 40 choristers and two presenters took part in the event and every one of them was miked with a DPA microphone.

Sound engineer Roger Bou Farhat, head of Beirut-based rental company Loud N Clear, supplied all of the audio equipment for the Awards ceremony. He says: “I specified DPA microphones because they always deliver fantastic results. As this was a highly prestigious event, the audio had to be first class and I knew that DPA would be up to the challenge.�

DPA d:vote™ 4099 instrument microphones were used to mic the entire orchestra and also the Guy Manukian band, which performed at the ceremony. For the band’s piano, high hat and oriental percussion instruments Roger Bou Farhat used DPA 2011 Twin Diaphragm directional microphones, while for the choir he used 12 DPA 4011A cardioid microphones, which were chosen for their ability to deliver a natural, accurate sound with extremely low distortion. The microphone line-up was completed with two DPA 4098H supercardioid microphones located on the presenters’ podium. The presenters also wore DPA d:fine™ single ear headset microphones.

The Gibran National Committee Annual Awards aims to uphold the cultural values of the Lebanese philosopher, writer and poet Gibran Khalil Gibran. 12 recipients were honoured at the ceremony, which took place at the Casino du Liban in Beirut.

“The Awards ceremony was a huge success and the DPA microphones all performed flawlessly,� Roger Bou Farhat says. “As this is now an annual event I am confident that DPA microphones will be playing a big part in next year’s ceremony, too.�

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Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com

Acclaimed Chicago vocalist and songwriter Dee Alexander has joined the growing band of international artists who have discovered the joy of singing with a DPA d:facto Vocal Microphone.

Ms Alexander was encouraged to try DPA’s d:facto hand-held vocal microphone at the Umbria Winter Jazz festival, which took place in Orvieto, Italy in December 2012.

“I’m always willing to try something new. I was introduced to the d:facto during sound checks for the festival and wasn’t at all nervous about giving it a go,� she says. “I was impressed with its sleek look, the way it felt in my hand and the natural pure sound quality that allowed me to vocalize with ease and comfort. It was like tasting something sweet for the first time!�

Salvatore Zocco, product manager at DPA’s Italian distributor Casale Bauer, says: “Gianni Grassilli, whose PA rental company provided equipment and FOH sound engineers for the festival, has long been a fan of DPA microphones and was keen to try the new d:facto vocal microphone on a major project. We provided him with a couple of microphones and he encouraged the artists to use them and give feedback. Dee, who was one of the festival’s headline acts, really embraced the microphone and found it perfectly suited to her technique. On some occasions she was almost three feet away from the microphone, yet it still captured the dynamics of her performance and the amazing precision of her vocals.�

Although Dee Alexander’s talents span every music genre, from Gospel and R&B through to Blues to Neo-Soul, her real love is Jazz, which she delivers with a style and passion that is truly her own. Besides being a phenomenal headliner in her own right, Ms Alexander has performed as the opening act for many of her musical peers, including David Sanborn, Earl Klugh, Gerald Albright, Roy Ayers, Joshua Redman, and the O’Jays.

Dee Alexander’s Evolution Ensemble completed a CD entitled Sketches of Light, which was recorded and produced by Umbria Jazz. She is now working on a project focusing on classic songs by artists such as Gloria Lynn, Sarah Vaughan, and Nancy Wilson.

“I used the DPA d:facto for all of my performances in Orvieto and loved it,� she adds. “I can’t thank Gianni enough for introducing me to the d:facto. It captured the essence, quality and natural sound of my voice and I did not have to work hard at all. It truly is a microphone of excellence.�

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Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com

Featuring three unique theatre venues on campus, the University of Iowa theatre department recently turned to PixelFLEX and its ultra-flexible and extremely portable LED Curtain systems to enhance the school’s live productions. The department recently installed a PixelFLEX 30mm LED Curtain to provide video and graphic elements to its 500-seat pristine theater, as well as the school’s 60′ x 60′ black box modular space and 140-seat theaters.

“We have a production-heavy department, with about 200 undergraduate students and about 40-45 grad students in directing, design, writing, acting and stage management,” said Bryon Winn, the University’s director of theatre. “Each year, we produce about five large-scale main stage shows and then a number of shows on our other stages, so we were looking for a video wall system that we could use between our multiple stages. Ideally, we wanted something that was durable, lightweight and supported here in the United States. With its LED Curtain and offices in Tennessee, PixelFLEX was the answer.”

Featuring 1100 pixels PSM (Per Square Meter) and 1800 brightness, PixelFLEX’s LED Curtain offers the University of Iowa’s theatre department a solution that is easy to set up and operate – videos and images can be sent to the screen using any computer with a DVI-D connection. For this project, PixelFLEX developed custom-size panels – tailored specifically for the University’s installation – totaling approximately 28.32′ x 15.74′.

Having received the Curtain in October 2012, the theatre department used it in tandem with a black rear production (RP) screen for eight performances of “Spring Awakening.” The system’s performance, according to Winn, was fantastic.

“I had heard of people using an LED wall or panel system and then using an RP screen to soften the look, but I’d never seen it before,” Winn remarked. “We looked at the Curtain raw and then we looked at it behind a soft surface. It was really great.”

As is the case in most performance environments, ease of installation and portability was critical to the student production team. The ability to hang the Curtain video wall on a standard theatrical rigging system without using chain motors, and the fact that the entire system can be folded up and loaded into three or four road boxes added value for Winn and his team.

“Storage and ease of set-up in comparison with other systems we were looking at was important,” Winn admitted. “Knowing that we can load a show in, use the Curtain and then load the show out without any difficulties or significant manpower is wonderful.”

With students scheduled to return to the campus, Winn is excited to see how the theatre department can utilize PixelFLEX’s solution in the modular space and intimate 140-seat facility.

“The black box space doesn’t have a great way of doing RP – there’s just not enough depth in the space,” Winn remarked. “So the ability to hang the LED Curtain in there where we don’t need any depth at all and still be able to generate graphics is of great excitement to our team. People are looking for ways to capitalize on the system’s features to maximize viewer enjoyment.”

Flexible in all directions and exceptionally durable, PixelFLEX LED Curtains are able to bend and shape around structures for a more creative display effect. For more information on PixelFLEX and its growing line of lightweight LED video screens, visit www.LEDCurtain.com. Follow PixelFLEX at www.Facebook.com/PixelFLEXUSA and @LEDCurtain.

Spain’s national broadcaster TVE has made a significant investment in Jünger Audio’s loudness control technology, which it is using to normalize the audio across a number of its television channels.

TVE has been using Jünger Audio technology since 2003, but during 2012 it actively embraced High Definition broadcasting and as a result upgraded its Jünger Audio B40 and B46 processors to incorporate SDI boards, thus making them more compatible with its existing Dolby products.

TVE has also invested in an additional nine Jünger Audio frame-based C8000 systems, bringing the total number of C8000 systems in use at its broadcast facilities to 35.

The new equipment is primarily being used for play-out and for the editors’ rooms at TVE’s Torrespaña broadcast tower in Barcelona. A number of systems have also been installed in TVE’s production centre in San Cugat del Vallés, Barcelona.

Alberto Palazón, commercial manager at Jünger Audio’s Spanish distributor ASPA, which supplied and installed the new equipment, says: “TVE initially chose Jünger Audio equipment because it was looking for a transparent processor that could normalize audio across various channels without compressing the signal or distorting the sound. Jünger Audio’s LEVEL MAGIC™-based C8000 system proved to be the ideal solution as it didn’t alter the original sound of the audio in any way.

Palazón adds that, with audio coming in from many different sources, TVE also wanted a system that would make it easy to decode and encode Dolby signals and reposition their audio content into their SDI signal path.

“The Jünger Audio equipment has achieved the results they were looking for and they can now reorder audio, regardless of whether the original source was mono, stereo or 5.1 surround sound,� he says.

Paloma Sampedro, head of TVE’s audiovisual production unit, adds: “We are very happy with the Jünger Audio C8000 systems and with the upgrades we have made to our B40 and B46 units. With Jünger Audio, we now have a complete solution that allows us to decode SDI signals, process audio and sum and code again. This is a great solution and one that is incredibly easy to use. Jünger Audio’s Loudness control technology is very stable and delivers high quality audio. These factors, combined with the support we have received from ASPA, made our decision to invest in more processors an easy one to make.�

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About Jünger Audio
Established in Berlin in 1990, Jünger Audio specialises in the design and manufacture of high-quality digital audio dynamics processors. It has developed a unique range of digital processors that are designed to meet the demands of the professional audio market. All of its products are easy to operate and are developed and manufactured in-house, ensuring that the highest standards are maintained throughout. Its customers include many of the world’s top radio and TV broadcasters, IPTV providers, music recording studios and audio post production facilities. www.junger-audio.com

DPA Microphones were present in abundance at the Gran Rex Theatre in Buenos Aires when world-renowned keyboardist and composer Rick Wakeman played two concerts featuring his best-selling albums Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Six Wives of Henry VIII.

The concerts were the culmination of a South American tour that also included six band-only shows in Brazil, Chile and Argentina. The final two sell-out concerts in Buenos Aires involved two different full orchestral shows, complete with a five-piece rock band, a choir, narration and solo singers.

Front of House sound engineer and co-production manager Ian Barfoot, who has worked with Rich Wakeman on numerous occasions since 1985, was given the task of specifying the audio equipment for the tour.

“The two orchestral concerts in Buenos Aires involved more than 90 channels, of which more a third used DPA microphones,â€� Ian Barfoot says. “Although some of the equipment I wanted was not available in South America, I did insist on DPA microphones, especially for the orchestra. I used DPA IMK4060 Instrument Microphones for the harp and all the high strings such as violas and violins, while for the cello and bass we used DPA d:voteâ„¢ 4099 Instrument Microphones. We needed so many – over 30 in total – that we couldn’t source them all locally and had to ship the majority of them with us from the UK.â€�

For this tour, Barfoot and his co-production manager Erik Jordan also specified DPA’s d:facto™ Vocal Microphone, which was used by the two main vocalists Ashley Holt and Cecilia Barba.

“The DPA d:facto Vocal Microphones were supplied by DPA’s UK distributor Sound Network, who I often work with and always get great service from,� Barfoot says. “The d:factos were simply great and didn’t give us a moment’s trouble. They are very honest microphones and, to my ears, quite uncoloured. They don’t suffer from proximity effect and they coped just as well with the restrained orchestral shows as they did with the full-on band shows, which were very old school Rock and Roll. Once the monitor engineers got used to them, they were more than happy to use them in stage wedges. During the last two orchestral shows the delicate and highly accurate nature of the microphones could be fully appreciated by the singers and the band as, to assist me, they switched to In Ear Monitoring to keep the stage levels down to a minimum.�

Barfoot adds that Rick Wakeman’s long-time vocalist Ashley Holt was especially pleased with the DPA d:facto’s performance.

“He was a little reluctant to use one at first because it was ‘different’ and not what he was ‘used to’, but after a couple of rehearsals he became a firm fan and I think he was hoping that Santa Claus would deliver one to him on Christmas morning.�

As a firm fan of DPA microphones, Ian Barfoot says he always insists on having a good selection available for every show he does because they consistently deliver a great sound and are also incredibly durable, especially on tour.

“In an ideal world I would have liked a few DPA 2011 twin diaphragm cardioid microphones to scatter around these orchestral shows, but as I couldn’t source them locally we managed with what we had,� he says. “Making sure the strings are properly covered is always my main concern with orchestral shows, but as we were using DPA IMK 4060s on those I knew I wouldn’t have any problems.�

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Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com

Kraftwerk relies on WATCHOUT for Stereoscopic 3D and Live interactivity

German electro pop pioneers, Kraftwerk will use the dynamic interactive and 3D features of Dataton WATCHOUT™ multi-image and presentation software, for all on-stage digital scenography at their hotly anticipated tours and concerts’ programme throughout 2013.

Formed in 1970, Kraftwerk began using Stereoscopic 3D for the MoMA concerts and �Way out West� Swedish Rock Festival in Spring 2012.

WATCHOUT manages projected 3D content on a large stage backdrop creating a powerful abstract presence in front of audiences wearing polarized 3D glasses. Two more WATCHOUT channels feed the flanking LED screens. To create the lighting effects on the four oversized illuminated keyboards, a Pixel-gate LED video controller uses an additional DVI output from the main screen using the WATCHOUT “Tier� feature. The main timeline in WATCHOUT is chasing timecode from Kraftwerk synthesizers (MTC converted into SMPTE). The Kraftwerk synthesizers are also used for live visual interaction controlled via MIDI commands.

The new features of WATCHOUT version 5 enable live manipulation of content. Media objects can be positioned, rotated and moved in 3D in real-time from external control systems, musical instruments, lighting consoles, mobile devices and sensors to control on-screen elements such as images, video, Stereoscopic 3D movies and live feeds as required.

Fredrik Svahnberg, Marketing Director at Dataton says: “Kraftwerk are known for their use of bold graphics and colours. They are using our technology in a very easy to use, yet powerful way to engage audiences around the world. We’re looking forward to seeing Kraftwerk use the new 3D, interactive and dynamic media streaming features of WATCHOUT in 2013 and beyond.�

Kraftwerk at upcoming Dusseldorf and London concerts

Several upcoming Kraftwerk concerts will incorporate Stereoscopic 3D effects as well as 3D sound.

Kraftwerk’s first performance in Düsseldorf, Germany since 1991, performances called 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 are taking place at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen Museum, first from January 11 – 13, then 16 – 20. Like the MoMA shows, Kraftwerk will play one album per date and will be accompanied by 3D visuals, which actually involve audiences. Running alongside the performance programme, a photo exhibition, Kraftwerk, runs from January 11 at the Forum Nordrhein-Westfalen Museum.

In London, Kraftwerk will perform at Tate Modern’s cavernous Turbine Hall for eight nights, first from February 6-9, then 11-14, and are their first live London performances since 2004. The band will perform one studio album in full on each night and combine it with visual backdrops, including interactive 3D projections and animation.

The Kraftwerk concert line-up can be found here: http://www.kraftwerk.com/concerts/index-concerts.html.

Photography credit: © Kraftwerk

DPA Microphones played an integral part in recording the audio for the film version of the hit musical Les Miserables, which features an all-star cast including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Samantha Barks and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Nominated for nine BAFTA Awards, including one for Sound, Les Miserables used an innovative technique that involved recording vocals live on set with the cast singing to a live piano accompaniment played to them through earpieces. The orchestra was recorded later in post-production, with the musicians taking their lead from the performances of the cast.

This break with tradition enabled the director Tom Hooper to create a truly emotive experience for audiences watching the film. Production Sound Mixer Simon Hayes, who was responsible for capturing the film’s entire audio content, says it was a truly unique way of working and one that would not have been possible without exceptional microphones, in particular DPA 4071 lavalier microphones.

�When judging different lavaliers I had always considered the differences in sound between various brands of lavalier to be a matter of taste rather than a clear cut situation of one brand being superior,� Hayes says. �That was until I listened to a DPA up against the competition. In my opinion the DPA is better, more open sounding, less chesty and sounds more like a boom mic than any other lavaliers I have heard.�

Hayes had 50 DPA 4071 lavalier microphones at his disposal during the filming of Les Miserables, all of which were supplied by Richmond Films in conjunction with DPA’s UK distributor Sound Network.

“Normally when I am recording a film I prioritise boom mics, especially if the scene is being shot with a single camera. But with Les Miserables, Tom wanted all the angles covered from all sides to capture the perfect performance. This meant we couldn’t rely so heavily on the booms because the wider angle coverage would stop them getting close enough. Our solution was to come at the recording from a different angle and make lavalier microphones our priority.�

Abbey Road engineers checked the sound quality of the DPA 4071 lavaliers to make sure they were the best choice for vocals. Hayes says they were impressed with the results.

“We tested various models and found the DPAs were clearly the best. In fact nothing else came close. The sound quality, frequency response and dynamic range were easily good enough to master and they were able to handle very high SPL levels from vocals without sounding harsh as they approach their maximum SPL. I have never heard a vocal make them square off, yet such is their dynamic range and sensitivity that they can faithfully reproduce even the smallest ‘breathed’ vocal.â€�

With Abbey Road happy with his choice of lavalier, Simon Hayes’ next task was finding a way of using them that gave the best sound but still allowed them to remain invisible to audiences.

“We collaborated with the costume designers to conceal cables within the clothes and to disguise microphones that were positioned on the outside of the costumes,� he says. “DPA’s mini concealers allowed us to mount them perfectly so they were virtually undetectable. This solved the problem of clothing rustle and, on the rare occasions when they were in shot, we were able to paint them out afterward using post production techniques.�

Le Miserables took 15 weeks to shoot and an additional seven weeks were spent rehearsing with all the actors miked up so that the audio could be sent to Abbey Road for feedback. Simon Hayes says he is delighted with the sound and believes what was achieved wouldn’t have been possible without the DPA lavaliers.

“They are the only lavaliers that could cope with what we were trying to do,� he says. “Apart from their exceptional audio quality and dynamic range, they were also incredibly durable and gave us no problems, not even when we got them soaking wet during the scenes we shot in the rain. We simply swapped them around and dried them out with a hair drier before using them for the next take.

“Normally I record dialogue, not music, so this was a very different kind of project for me, but I absolutely loved it. Lots of people thought what we did wouldn’t be possible, but we pulled it off and I am very proud of what we achieved.�

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Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com

A superhero and cultural icon operating out of the fictional American Gotham City, Batman is assisted by various characters including his crime-fighting partner, Robin in his continuous war on crime. Armed with a keen intellect, detective skills, technology and physical prowess coupled with an indomitable will to fight an assortment of villains from Catwoman to the Riddler, Batman is proof you don’t need superpowers to be a superhero. Adopted for the stage, Batman LIVE is a spectacular live action adventure filled with stunts, acrobatic acts and illusions. The show’s North American circuit started in the fall of 2012, following a popular and acclaimed arena tour throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, and Latin America.

A DiGiCo SD7T at FOH was chosen by the show’s sound designer Simon Baker in conjunction with Clair Global, with a D5 local rack and DiGiCo stage racks connected via 500-feet of fiber optic cable. Two Apple Mac Pro’s with internal RME MADI cards run as hot, swappable redundant show playback machines, running QLab theatre control software enabling 48 channels of playback and flexible MIDI and Timecode programming.

The FOH system handles around 140 inputs overall: 24 channels of Sennheiser RF receivers, 2 x 48 channels of MADI playback, and 16 channels of external effects, as well as 22 zoned outputs to the FOH PA comprised of eight hangs of Clair Global i3 loudspeakers (56 boxes), 12 zones of Clair FF-2 boxes for front-fills built into the stage (26 boxes), two end-fire sub-arrays of Clair BT 218′s (12 boxes) and another 30 outputs for onstage and backstage monitoring in-ear monitors and press feeds. All effects are obtained within the console with the exception of an external Mac Mini running Apple’s MainStage 2 with a RME fireface interface for all vocal effects, and a TLA Audio valve compressor sitting across the vocal subgroups. [Pictured at right: Clair systems engineer Tim Peeling, FOH engineer James Meadwell, PA's Dane Barber and Kevin Leas.]

“The QLab machines send and receive MIDI signals back to the SD7 with pre-recorded Timecode to trigger all video cues, and some of the automation sequences,” says Clair systems engineer Tim Peeling. “We also pass MIDI triggers through the console exiting the stage rack to fire a hundred or so lighting cues. The comprehensive programming options available on the SD7T for this very snapshot-hungry theatre show are extensive. The powerful matrix, including the ability to delay matrix inputs, allows me to time-align the live mics separately to the track and sound FXs within the console. Sonically, the console is great as well, but where the SD7 really wins in this situation is the flexibility of the snapshot programming.”

“The SD7 is being used in a ‘control via MIDI’ mode with each of the snapshots assigned a MIDI value,” adds FOH engineer James Meadwell, who brings extensive experience mixing shows on London’s West End theatre district. “We then configured the desk’s NEXT and PREV buttons via the SD7 Macro page to send out MIDI commands to control the QLab’s Next and Previous functions. This created a loop with the desk triggering QLab, which in turn sent a trigger back to the SD7 recalling the snapshot needed. The music for the show has all been pre-recorded and we were able to get the SD7 snapshots to be recalled at exact musical points within the show. We programmed the QLab so the SD7 ‘reacted’ to the show’s sound cues, which makes mixing the show a very intuitive and enjoyable experience!

“We also used the SD7′s macro buttons extensively,” Meadwell continues. “We created a full set of transport controls for QLab, which meant that we could control both our main and backup machines simultaneously from the surface of the SD7. This was invaluable as it effectively did away with two computer keyboards and helped when cueing up to start from different points within the show. We assigned a whole page of macro buttons to trigger spot sound effects within the show. These were for moments that varied and therefore couldn’t be programmed into a set cue list structure. We assigned a MIDI note value to each macro button, which in turn, triggered a separate cue list of sound effects within QLab. An example of this in the show is where the Scarecrow walks around the stage on giant stilts. We follow his walk playing a sound effect with every step. Every performance is different, which gives the actor the freedom to do whatever he likes. Having the macro button as a sound effect button gives me total flexibility without having to jump around the show’s main cue list. We use the Alias feature heavily as a lot of the characters double up on inputs, so the ability to switch EQ settings between snapshots was great! Overall, I’d say the SD7T is by far the best digital desk for theatre I have ever used.”

DPA Microphones has expanded the remit of its Spanish distributor SeeSound to encompass Portugal. The change, which came into effect on January 1st 2013, will ensure that Portuguese customers now benefit from SeeSound’s renowned service and technical support.

Susanne Seidel, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for DPA Microphones, says: �SeeSound has had great success with the DPA brand in Spain and we are delighted to be extending this relationship to cover Portugal. SeeSound offers a solution portfolio for the audio industry and is highly pro active at driving activities such as product roadshows, product seminars and training sessions. This expansion of our sales network will significantly stengthen DPA’s position and development in the Portuguese market place and provide excellent customer service and support to our existing and passionate DPA customer base.�

Nacho Alberdi, CEO of SeeSound says: “We are very happy to expand our relationship with DPA by covering Portugal. We have been very successful in Spain representing DPA and we now see a lot of potential for their equipment in this new market.�

Established in 2004, SeeSound is a dedicated pro audio distribution company that provides complete technical solutions to the pro audio, installation and live sound markets. Based in Barcelona, SeeSound has a Sales Department staffed by a team of specialist with extensive industry experience, a cutting-edge R&D Department consisting of several engineers, and a strong administration and logistics department.

The company’s main driving force is to offer its customers the best advice, service and technical support together with the best brand portfolio. It views DPA as an integral part of its offering because the company’s products fit SeeSound’s philosophy of only delivering the highest quality audio equipment.

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Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com