Milan-based renowned pianist, composer and sound recordist, Andrea Manzoni is part of a movement aiming to redefine the musical landscape with an approach that blurs the boundaries of traditional music styles. He recently made a transformative journey into Icelandic wilderness for the sound design of Qivittoq, a theatrical production set in the North Pole of a world rapidly depleting its resources.

Working from a draft script from the director, Manzoni secured a 30-day residency in the remote town of Isafjordur in the Westfjords, in order to make 12 excursions to locations devoid of human presence. Here, he was to capture raw environmental sounds with shotgun mics.

Early March saw sound designer Simon Honywill using TiMax SoundHub and TiMax TrackerD4 performer stagetracking to bring spatial treatment to the Paraorchestra performance of The Nature of Why.

Composed by Will Gregory and choreographed by Caroline Bowditch under the artistic direction of conductor Charles Hazelwood, the production is an interpretation of the interview with physicist Richard Feynman asks in empirical terms why certain physical properties occur. Performed within the confines of a 14m circular space on the Lyric Stage at Theatre Royal Plymouth, with 100-120 audience members mingling amongst the players and dancers for each performance this is the first occasion that it has called on TiMax spatialisation.

In 2003, Theatro Marrakech was the first music hall to open in Africa. Today, it ranks among Morocco’s best nightclubs and reckons to offer one of the most exceptional nightlife experiences in the world in the setting of its mainly original décor – a mix of dramatic theatrical and dynamic Moroccan themes.

The 2,000-capacity venue recently installed a L-Acoustics K2 sound system to attract leading international artists inspired by a visit to Omnia Las Vegas. The Theatro management worked with Paris-based nightclub consultant Timothée Renard of the Fox Agency and L-Acoustics Certified Provider Integrator Potar Hurlant for the upgrade.

Widely regarded as Cirque du Soleil’s most iconic touring production, Alegría iwas recently staged at London’s Royal Albert Hall as Alegria: In a New Light, before moving on to the Big Top at the L’Hospitalet de Llobregat in Barcelona. For this latest tour, its music has been re-arranged and modernised, and with different instrumentation.

Alegria is also Cirque du Soleil’s most streamed and purchased album of all time – a tribute that is down to Cirque du Soleil Head of Sound, Francois Lanteigne.

Musician and producer Sebastian Omerson, the man behind Number Nine Studios, had added a Prism Sound Dream ADA-128 modular conversion system to his commercial recording facility in Belgium, following a series AB tests he conducted with support from Joystick Audio. ‘

The team at Joystick Audio were great – they let me take my time and compare products so that I could find what was best for us,’ he says. ‘The Dream ADA-128 came out on top, not least because the audio quality is so good. The sound is very focused, and even when I have noisy guitar bands in the studio, I can still hear each guitar individually. It is also ideal for string sessions where we need a lot of inputs.’