VIENNA, Austria – With decades of experience as a guitar tech, working with notable acts such as Prince, Timbaland and Edwin McCain, Geno Bishop has upgraded the progressive heavy metal sounds of Queensryche with HARMAN’s AKG WMS 4500 wireless microphone system. Working with the band’s lead guitarist Michael Wilton, Bishop integrated AKG’s wireless solution into the band’s equipment rack after numerous technical issues stemming from previous transmitters.

Utilizing two stand-alone WMS 4500 units for Queensryche shows, Bishop keeps the wireless channels busy by assigning one channel for the main feed, one for a backup, one open with a cable and one dead – always ready for anything a performance or venue throws at him.

“When we started having issues with our previous wireless system, we knew we could do better and the AKG WMS 4500 is proof,� said Bishop. “It’s a great piece of technology – perfect for guitar and vocals – and I can’t imaging using any other transmitter/receiver system after the success we’ve seen from the WMS 4500.�

Wilton and Bishop have taken the WMS 4500 all around the world, from Japan and Australia, to Russia and the Middle East and both continue to rave about the sound and reliability. “It’s the pro’s choice,� stated Wilton, who has played guitar and bass for nearly four decades. “I’ve been using AKG wireless from the early days of the 700-series and it never disappoints.�

Currently on its 30th Anniversary Tour, Queensryche continues to be one of the most notable metal bands in the industry, with 11 studio albums, totalling more than 20 million sold and a strong fan base around the world. Ensuring its sound is perfect is a crucial aspect during live shows for Bishop.

“There have been a few times where we’ve forgotten the AKG wireless in racks when we performed and had to use alternate systems,� Bishop continued. “Those nights were definitely not as happening. We have zero issues with the WMS 4500, no matter what venue or country we play. Impressing the fans is the number-one priority and AKG allows us to provide the perfect sound.�

For more information on Queensryche, please visit http://www.queensryche.com

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 12,500 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.0 billion for twelve months ending September 30, 2011.

VIENNA, Austria – With a focus on rewarding the best unsigned performers around the world, the 21st Annual Los Angeles Music Awards ceremony – the longest running independent music awards program – was mic’d through a partnership with HARMAN’s AKG. Presenters and performers alike donned the world-class microphones and wireless systems to showcase their talents and earn the recognition they’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Held in the iconic Avalon in Hollywood, AKG supplied an arsenal of equipment to support the night filled with emotionally exciting performances and award presentations. AKG’s WMS 4500 wireless system and D7 capsules were used for all vocal performances, while wired D7’s completed the stage vocal tasks. The DMS 700 handheld units were utilized for the podium and presenters. From the Studio to the Stage, the C214’s mic’d the guitar cabs and a C4500B was used for bass. The Perception Groove Pack clipped to the main drum set was combined with C414 XLII’s for overheads. Two D112’s, D40’s and C415B’s were clipped on the Chopper drum set, which resembles a chopper-style motorcycle.

World-renowned pianist David Osborne, more commonly known as the “Pianist to the Presidents,� placed a studio pair of AKG C414 XLS’s on the grand piano during his recital at the ceremony. Osborne has played in the White House for numerous presidents, from Jimmy Carter through President Obama.

“We were very interested in AKG’s offerings to live performers and we wanted to bring that same quality to our stage for the LA Music Awards,� stated Al Bowman, founder and executive producer of the Los Angeles Music Awards. “The performers, award winners and all participants at the event have a fearless work ethic and provide their own unique style and performance, which helps reinforce AKG’s partnership with the show. We have built a great relationship with AKG and hope to continue working together as the awards continue to grow.�

With 30 categories, the Los Angeles Music Awards offer artists a free opportunity to be recognized for their hard work and dedication. Recognition from the awards ceremony propels artists through a renowned program, highlighting their music, writing and playing capabilities.

“Partnering with the LA Music Awards allows AKG to continue offering top-quality performance microphones and wireless systems to those artists looking for their big break,� stated Joseph Wagoner, product manager, wireless-tour-install for AKG. “These artists work tirelessly and we are happy to provide equipment that is used in top-selling tours and recording studios around the globe. These artists put their entire lives into their work and deserve to have their art heard at a professional-quality level.�

AKG also supplied the microphones and wireless systems for the LA Music Awards Nomination showcase in LA’s Whiskey A Go Go Club. “Simply put, AKG delivered,� continues Bowman. “We presented such a wonderful, true sound during our show and we look forward to keeping this partnership alive throughout the years.�

For more information on the Los Angeles Music Awards and AKG, please http://www.myspace.com/lamusicawards and http://www.akg.com.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 12,500 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.0 billion for twelve months ending September 30, 2011.

Old Lyme, Conn. – November 30, 2011 – On Monday night, NBC presented the “Live Finale: Top 3 Finalists� of its hit show The Sing Off featuring not only the final three group contestants, but over 100 Sennheiser microphones on stage. The Pentatonix were elected champions of season 3, and music mixer Randy Faustino was on hand to ensure the audio quality was outstanding until the very end.

Faustino, a multiple Emmy award-winning music mixer and CEO/President of Creative Sound Solutions, has been responsible for mixing not only The Sing Off, but other top national prime time programs including The Voice, American Idol and others. Whether he is faced with a live broadcast or an in-studio production, Faustino depends on Sennheiser transmitters and capsules to achieve a great sound. For “Live Finale: Top 3 Finalists� he used over 100 Sennheiser SKM 5200-II transmitters, each coupled with Sennheiser MD 5235 capsules.

Faustino prefers the MD 5235 capsules because of its clear sound and versatility: “It seems to work for everybody, and I never seem to have a hard time getting a great sound,� he says. “Sometimes I have people eating the microphone, other times I have performers more than a foot off the mic — it has to perform equally well in both scenarios.�

Since each performance is a ‘once in a lifetime’ career opportunity for the contenders, Faustino needs to ensure that the mix is the best it can be for whichever group approaches the mic. He says that the Sennheiser MD 5235 mic capsule helps facilitate this: “The technology has to be plug and play,� he says. “I get that one shot at putting a live mix together, and then you have to move on. I have very little EQ on those mics, and they sound fantastic across a range of vocal types — that is the beautiful part of these MD 5235 capsules.�

“You have to have a good, clear sounding capsule so you can pick out the voices and have them defined in the track,� observes Thom Salisbury, Western Regional Sales Manager for Sennheiser. “On a program like The Sing Off, you not only have a variety of frequencies coming into the vocal track, but also tonal and volume differences. The MD 5235 is very sensitive and has a very smooth frequency response — I believe this is why it is our most popular capsule for television and touring.�

Predictable and reliable RF performance
In the case of a live programming scenario such as “Live Finale: Top 3 Finalists� where audio is being broadcast to millions of television viewers, the audio quality needs to be synchronous with solid and reliable RF performance. In the middle of Los Angeles — one of the most difficult RF environments in the world — the challenge can be daunting, especially considering the massive lighting rig and number of microphones operating on the stage at the same time.

Dave Bellamy of Las Vegas-based Soundtronics Wireless was in charge of ensuring that the RF for Monday evening’s performance — and indeed the entire preceding season — was flawless. “In a show like this, ‘pretty good’ isn’t going to get you there,� Bellamy observes. “This is a very demanding and exacting business, and in an extremely overcrowded RF environment, Sennheiser gives me predictable reliability.� Bellamy used Soundtronics’ Phoenix system antenna system in combination with dozens of Sennheiser EM 3732-II wireless receivers to ensure that the audio was free of any RF interference.

How does mixer Randy Faustino manage to stay cool in such a technically challenging and intense production environment? “I have to stay two steps ahead of everything, but I feel secure in the fact that Sennheiser always works. We’ve never had a failure and have always had great product support from Thom Salisbury if we ever need anything.â€�

Buena Park, CA – November 2011… Hosa Technology, the leading innovator of analog and digital connectivity solutions for the modern musician and audio/video professional, is pleased to announce the introduction of Mogan Microphones, a new brand of subminiature microphones. The first offering under the new brand is the Mogan Standard Omni Earset Microphone. Offering solid performance and unbeatable value, the new Mogan Standard earset microphone is designed to deliver high-quality audio at a price that will appeal to budget-conscious presenters. The new Mogan Standard earset model is a terrific choice for educators, lecturers, business presenters, and church worship leaders. more

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J.—ACIR Professional (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) recently hosted a demonstration of the new Axient wireless mic line by Shure Microphones at the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort.

The Axient system of products is Shure’s latest and most advanced professional wireless microphone system to date, featuring complete spectrum management, interference detection and avoidance, advanced power management, transmitter remote control, frequency diversity, and new Wireless Workbench 6 software.

The Shure demos, attended by regional audio professionals, also included PSM-1000 and PSM-900 IEM systems, “micro body pack�, “Wireless Workbench 5� (the latest version of Shure wireless management software), and rechargeable battery technology including Shure’s rack-mountable charger.

For Shure’s audio production, ACIR provided a Yamaha LS9-16 digital console, Yamaha DSR115 Speakers, and a 4-channel rack of Shure UR series wireless (both handhelds and body packs with lavaliers) used by presenters and for Axient wireless product comparisons.

For more information, visit www.acirpro.com.

-END-

PHOTO ID: Shure’s Bill Ostry

PHOTO CREDIT: Digital Warmth

November 23, 2011 – Milford, NH – Coldplay’s current massive world tour is using a number of Earthworks microphones. Their live sound engineer Dan Green recently auditioned a number of Earthworks microphones from UK distributor Unity Audio, specifically for drummer Will Champion’s kit.

“Since moving to the Earthworks drum microphones my drum sound has really expanded. The transient response of these microphones is incredible. Before I use to rely on transient enhancing plug-ins to get a similar sound, now it is all from the SR40 overheads. One of the other benefits of the new DP30/C periscope microphones are their new very rugged flexible arms, this gives me so many options on placement. They are a great addition to any Studio recording or Live performance.” Dan Green – Coldplay FOH engineer.

The full complement of drum microphones includes, SR40MP (matched pair) for overheads, SR30/HC for kick and hi-hat, including the Earthworks KickPadâ„¢ for the kick mic, 5x DP30/C drum periscope mics for snare top & bottom, and all toms.

Dan also took the opportunity to test Earthworks new SR40V hand held condenser and ordered several for backing vocals and the industry standard M30 measurement microphone for analysing PA systems.

Coldplay’s use of Earthworks drum microphones now is in addition to other international artists such as Steve Gadd, Keith Carlock (Steely Dan), and The Killers.

Earthworks offers complete drum mic kits with the 3-piece DK25 and DK50 Series for live or recording, as well as the CMK CloseMicâ„¢ Series and DFK Drum FullKitâ„¢. Any of these microphones can also be purchased individually. The small diaphragm Earthworks microphones boast the flattest frequency and fastest transient response available, coupled with an unrivalled 15 year warranty.

www.earthworksaudio.com

Milford, NH, November 17, 2011 – Earthworks Microphones’ SR40V Vocal Microphone, has been nominated for a 2011 Technical Excellence & Creativity Award in the category of Outstanding Technical Achievement, Microphone Technology/Sound Reinforcement.

The world’s first high definition vocal microphone, the hand-tuned and tested Earthworks SR40V delivers extreme clarity and the broadest flat frequency response, as well as the highest levels of feedback resistance available in any condenser vocal microphone. The result is an uncolored high gain vocal microphone with benchmark levels of clarity and resistance to feedback.

The SR40V stays true to the Earthworks foundation of reproducing your sound with the ultimate clarity and faithfulness, from the subtlest nuances of soulful blues, jazz and folk singers to a stinging 145db blast of rock ‘n’ roll emotion. Featuring revolutionary circuitry for flawless sonic performance and a unique blend of balance and precision machining, the SR40V represents the pinnacle of technology and aesthetics in microphone design.

The 27th Annual TEC Awards, presented by the TEC Foundation for Excellence in Audio and NAMM, will be held on January 20, 2012 at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The TEC Awards was established in 1985 to honor outstanding achievement in professional audio production and product innovation. Winners will be determined by members of professional audio and sound production organizations, through online voting conducted by an independent company. Voting takes place from November 1st through 30th.

The winners of the 27th Annual TEC Awards will be announced at a ceremony to be held Friday evening, January 20, 2012, at the Anaheim Hilton as a special highlight of the NAMM Show, the leading international music products trade show.
The SR40V, as well as microphones from the rest of the Earthworks lineup, is handmade and expertly tuned to sonic perfection in our Milford, New Hampshire facility and comes with an unrivaled 15 year warranty.

For additional information, visit the company online at www.earthworksaudio.com.

Old Lyme, Conn. – November 15, 2011 – During the 45th annual Country Music Association Awards, audio specialist Sennheiser delivered another evening of rock solid audio and flawless RF performance courtesy of its EM 3732-II receivers, SKM 2000 and SKM 5200 transmitters and its ew 300 G3 IEM series monitoring system. The following Sennheiser users also won awards and performed live onstage using Sennheiser transmitters and capsules:

– Blake Shelton: Top Male Vocalist
(Sennheiser SKM 2000 coupled with an MMD 953-1 capsule)
– Miranda Lambert: Top Female Vocalist
– (Sennheiser SKM 2000 couple with an MMD 935-1 capsule)
– Sugarland: Vocal Duo of the Year
(Sennheiser SKM 5200-II coupled with an MD 5235 capsule)
– Lady Antebellum: Vocal Group of the Year
(Sennheiser SKM 5200-II coupled with an MD 5235 capsule)
more

Old Lyme, Conn. – November 10, 2011 – Since hitting the post-hardcore scene in 2007 with their debut album and earning a spot on the Warped Tour that same year, blessthefall has made measured progress in its career, reaching legions of fans while playing larger, more prominent venues around the world. Their most recent album, Awakening, was released last month and solidifies the high energy sound and intensity the band has been crafting over the course of its discography, which now includes three albums.
more

November 2, 2011, Milford, NH – Earthworks has unveiled the new and improved DP30/C Drum Periscope cardioid microphone. After many recommendations from front of house engineers and drummers from all over the globe, the redesigned DP30/C features a thicker and more rugged gooseneck that will stay in place even when the snare or toms are struck extremely hard. Once the durable microphone head is placed in the “sweet spotâ€�, drummers will not have to worry about the DP30/C migrating once they commence.

The new DP30/C maintains the same sound quality and craftsmanship of the original. The microphone capsule housing is designed to protect the microphone capsule and withstand a direct hit from a drumstick. The electronics are housed in a cylindrical tube attached to the end of the gooseneck and provides a high level, low impedance output that will prevent radio frequency interference.

The DP30/C has an incredibly fast impulse response that will allow the microphone to capture the full detail of the attack, while its short diaphragm settling time will allow you to hear a full bodied sound with subtle details that other microphones miss. The DP30/C will handle sound levels up to 145dB SPL with no audible distortion and its heavy construction will enable it to withstand the punishment of the road.

“All of our mics, including the DP30/C, are sold with a 15 year warranty� states Bill Norton, Earthworks Inc, COO, “and we also custom build the very robust RM1 which is the rim mounted mic holder that can be purchased along with the DP30/C from any of our Authorized Earthworks dealers.�

For additional information on this microphone and others by Earthworks, visit the company online at www.earthworksaudio.com.