American idie folk band Bon Iver supported the release of their recent studio album, i,i, with a tour of arenas in select North American cities, with Red Hook, New York-based Firehouse Productions supplying a DiGiCo/L-Acoustics K2 and Kara PA system. The second leg of the tour also saw Firehouse add of  Hyperreal Sound technology to the mix.

According to Firehouse Productions Account Rep Chris Russo, the tour’s L-ISA configuration featured three central arrays each composed of 16 K2 plus three Kara down, flanked to the left and right by hangs of 24 Kara as the Scene system, which extended over the full width of the stage. Farther out to the left and right, two per side, 12-enclosure Kara arrays served as the Extension system, while two fill arrays of 12 K2 expanded out fill coverage to 180° of seating.

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‘We always do things uniquely,’ says Doc Velasquez of himself and partner Pat Kelly. Most recently, this has brought a new studio to Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood to caters for the cream of urban music and beyond.

Where Invite Only Studios Studio B is centred on a custom Slate Raven Z3C MTX console, Studio A uses Solid State Logic’s Duality Delta and Studio C is home to an SSL AWS 948 Delta console from Velasquez and Kelly’s previous studio. ‘We kept an open mind and listened to a lot of different consoles,’ says Kelly. ‘The Duality just sounded and felt the best throughout.’

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Completing the southern-hemisphere leg of an extensive and technically ambitious arena tour in support of their Fear Inoculum album, Tool headed to Australia and New Zealand with a TiMax SoundHub-driven 3D surround sound system – that had begun as something of an experiment – as ‘part of the show’.

The system design – a distributed d&b audiotechnik arrangement of main left and right, plus overheads focused vertically down forward and back, rear surround hangs and upper seating ‘front’ channels – is the result of extensive research by the band’s system engineer, Liam Halpin, to realise the suggestion of FOH engineer, Alan ‘Big Nobby’ Hopkinson, that their audience would love ‘sounds to appear from different places around the room’.

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RTL Croatia has adopted Riedel Communications’ MediorNet real-time network and Artist digital matrix intercom in a comprehensive upgrade of its studio facilities to HD operation. Working with local distributor and consultant AVC Zagreb, the four-year project enables RTL Croatia’s production facilities to deliver its eight channels in HD.

‘We had no hesitation in recommending Riedel Communications,’ says AVC Zagreb Sales Manager, Juraj Novina. ‘We were confident that MediorNet could provide the reliable, and high-quality signal transport and communications needed for RTL’s new HD service. Plus, MediorNet gives RTL the guarantee of a smooth transition to IP in the future, with the proven track record of a market-tested solution.’

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A PMC 7.1 surround sound system has been installed in London’s The Design Museum as part of the forthcoming Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers, a new exhibition focusing on electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk and their impact on the club scene.

Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers leads visitors through the people, art, design, technology and photography that captured and shaped the electronic music landscape. The exhibition also takes visitors into the visual world of The Chemical Brothers for one of their legendary live shows, as visuals and lights interact to create a new three-dimensional experience by Smith & Lyall, featuring Grammy Award-winning track ‘Got to Keep On’.

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