Soundcraft west of the border

Two Soundcraft consoles have been used at a variety of events recently by Rees Sound, the leading Welsh Sound company based in Camarthen. The consoles, a 40-channel K3 Theatre and a 40-channel SM12, both supplied by LMC Birmingham, have been out with bands such as Dodgy, Lion Train, The Damned, The Animals, The Yardbirds, Bad Manners, and Max Boyce. They have also been put through their paces at the Royal Welsh Show and the Main Harvest Fair, a huge festival which attracted 15,000 people in 1996. Roger Rees, Sound Engineer and owner of Rees Sound, said of the consoles: "We were previously using a Spirit Live 4 and an old 8000, so the K3 and SM12 were the next logical step for us. The beauty of the Soundcraft desks is that they are so well laid-out with plenty of room to work, and they are extremely reliable."

Rees Sound has been operating for 45 years, and in the last four years, it has expanded its operation significantly to cover large-scale indoor events such as concerts and raves, previously having concentrated mainly on outdoor festivals and shows.

Soundcraft Electronics. (Contact Details)

EAW & Prodigy – sub-stance

You might recall a couple of months back that we covered a Prodigy gig in Halifax, while they were on their latest tour. What we didn't know was the tour marked the first use of EAW's SB1000e sub-woofers in the UK. The SB1000e is loaded with very high power dual 18-inch drivers in an enclosure with a very small frontal area for a device with its output. The interlocking cabinet affords convenient vertical and horizontal arrays, while a universal input section accommodates both NL and AP connectors. Next up, hire company, Concert Systems of Manchester are sending off the subs with Hootie & The Blowfish on their European tour.

EAW International. (Contact Details)

Magical multichannel world of CyberLogic

CyberLogic Corporation's multi-channel Power System amplifiers are achieving notable success in the world of the circus and ice show spectacular, reports the California-based manufacturer. CyberLogic has now supplied over 350 channels of amplification to live event specialist Feld Entertainment, whose productions encompass the Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey circus, plus shows such as Walt Disney's World on Ice (pictured) and The Wizard of Oz on Ice.

CyberLogic Corp. (Contact Details)

Oi! KnuckleHead

Mike Keneally is currently out on the road as part of the Steve Vai Band, who are touring with G3. Members of the latter include the illustrious Joe Satriani and the highly rated Eric Johnson. Throughout the tour, Rivera endorsee, Mike Keneally is using Rivera 100 Watt KnuckleHead stacks on stage. Keneally's own band, the Beer Dolphins, will also open for the Steve Vai Band's next tour which begins as soon as the G3 tour ends.

Creative Distribution. (Contact Details)

Autograph — Albert Hall sussed?

The new production of Bizet's opera Carmen opened in London's Albert Hall in February, with a sound system designed and installed by Autograph Sound Recording. The 10-day production, which was a venture between the Albert-Hall and Raymond Gubbay Limited, represents another step towards making the popular operas more accessible to a wider audience.

Autograph's design for the sound system makes use of Meyer Sound's self-powered MSL-4 speaker systems, utilising two clusters of eight units each, supported by four secondary clusters of Meyer UPA-1s, each comprising four loudspeakers. The main clusters provide coverage to the principal seating areas, firing into the Albert Hall's problematic architecture, requiring a spread of sound which is broader in its vertical coverage than in the horizontal plane.

Autograph Sound Recording Ltd. (Contact Details)

Trantec gets all Ally Pally

Conference and trade show specialist Delta Sound have purchased a further 20 of Trantec's S5000 UHF systems — comprising 12 hand-held and eight lapel mics — which brings their inventory of these popular radio microphones up to 50.

Paul Keatings, director of the Weybridge-base company, favours Trantec for their good user facilities and their extremely competitive price. "We particularly like the fact that the S5000 is 16-channels switchable, while it also has useful RF/AF display facilities, is ergonomically designed and easy to use. With between 40 and 50 shows a month, we just never seem to have enough of their radio mics."

Keating reckons that most of these shows now require a minimum of four lapel mics. The new Trantecs were pressed into immediate service on the recent high-profile West McLaren Mercedes UF1 new livery launch spectacular at Alexandra Palace, followed by a British Gas extraordinary general meeting at Birmingham's NEC, and the Toyota stand at the Geneva Motor Show.

Trantec Systems. (Contact Details)