Symphonica: The Orchestra Tour is a showcase for many of George Michael’s hits, plus a carefully chosen selection of covers that have been re-worked for orchestral accompaniment.

As a technical production, Symphonica: The Orchestra Tour would be daunting for even the most experienced of engineers, so both crew and equipment have been carefully chosen.

Installations or refurbishments free of budgetary limitations are a rare thing. When they do come up, however, state-funded showpieces and churches lead the way.

‘It is always disappointing when technical teams have their expectations for a new system threatened by budgetary limitations,’ agrees Michael Garrison, founder and owner of Michael Garrison Associates. ‘This was the situation we walked into at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.’

Where the original 1979 production of Pink Floyd’s The Wall cost around £1m and was so big that it was only staged in three cities, its 2011 counterpart is reckoned to have cost £37m and has been performed a total of 120 times at venues around North America and Europe.

The new version of the show is the current touring vehicle for writer and former Floyd founder/bass player Roger Waters, and draws on new 3D animation, pyrotechnics and effects.

At its close at 4pm on Tuesday, IBC claimed its 50,462 visitors to be a new record and to represent a four per cent attendance increase over 2010.

But while exhibitors, exhibits, technology, demonstrations and visitors filled all of its halls, those involved in the audio aspects of broadcast were reduced to a footnote in the show's official report...

Official figures for the 2011 Plasa show indicate that more than 12,000 visitors attended the Earls Court event to see more than 500 product launches across its full spectrum of audio, A/V, lighting and staging.

The word on the floor was t hat the show was quieter than last year, but it was still able to deliver…

As principal design consultant at Dickensheets Design Associates, Ken Dickensheets places a high value on finding the right solution for any application – whether for public buildings, educational facilities, corporate applications, theatres, or a house of worship install. This extends beyond designing immediate solutions to meeting their long-term needs.

That was particularly important with a recent cathedral installation in Austin, Texas.

When the Formula One European Grand Prix returned to Valencia, the Spanish town gave its full attention, and local sound company Sagarmanta Producciones turned to DAS Audio systems for the extensive grandstand areas.

The company called on more than 30 technicians to set up sound for the 14 grandstands around the circuit using CobraNet distribution.

Tim Goodyer’s blog on the pro audio press and its relationship with the industry is thought-provoking, and merits serious consideration by those who care about the press and its future.

Our press needs a re-think if it wishes to become free and gain the authority, influence and revenue of mainstream media. However, there's a powerful argument that the press is what the industry has made it – or allowed it to become.

‘When I was a bass player, I thought I was going to be the best bass player in the world. Then I heard Jaco Pastorius and thought I might give up… Then I discovered that I was a better sound engineer than bass player – and that I was probably the best bass-playing sound engineer around.

'It was about understanding my skills and realising that they made me unique.’

The sudden departure of John Oakley from Midas/Klark Teknik on 1 June appears to complete (or possibly continue) a cycle of high-profile exits since The Music Group (owner of Behringer) acquired the British brands in December 2009. Oakley is the fifth board member to depart since the takeover, as directors of Manufacturing, R&D and Sales & Marketing respectively have left the company in the past 18 months.