ProSound News - May 2008 - (Page 49)
[49] Digital in Detroit DETROIT, MI—Thunder Audio (www.thunderaudioinc.com), SR provider for Garbage, White Stripes, Metallica, Steely Dan and others, has purchased a Soundcraft (www.soundcraft.com) Vi6 digital console. Awards Mixed On Midas TORONTO, CANADA—This year’s Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Awards was mixed on a Midas (www.midasconsoles. com) XL8 digital live performance system, provided for the event by A Plus Productions. Coachella Rocks With Rat Sound by Steve Harvey INDIO, CA—Rat Sound was once again the sound provider for all five stages at the recent Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, fielding 19 Yamaha PM5D consoles for use at front of house and monitors at each location. The company supplied four stages with L-Acoustics speakers, including a surround sound setup on the main Coachella Stage for the headlining performance by Roger Waters, plus a proprietary Rat Trap 5 system on the fifth and smallest stage. Rat Sound provided a pair of Yamaha PM5D consoles at both FOH and monitors at the At the Gobi tent, Rat Sound FOH engineer Hoover manned a Coachella Stage and the Outdoor Yamaha PM5D, one of 19 at the recent Coachella Festival. Theatre, together with a single console at each position in the and for Love and Rockets on the across the board so that engiSahara, Mojave and Gobi tents. Outdoor Theatre stage, where a neers could send in their files An additional pair of PM5D con- single PM5D was also provided ahead of time and have their show come up easily,” said Jon soles was on hand for use by Por- for Mark Ronson. “We decided to use digital tishead on the Coachella Stage (continued on page 70) Royer Plays With Matchbox NEW YORK, NY—Matchbox Twenty is on a co-headlining tour with Alanis Morrissette. Along for the ride is FOH engineer Jim Ebdon and a slew of Royer Labs (www.royerlabs.com) R-121 ribbon microphones. Lawo Lands Major Share of InnovaSon by Clive Young NEW YORK, NY—German broadcast console manufacturer Lawo has purchased a majority stake in InnovaSon, ending 10 months of receivership for the French digital live mixing desk company. Reaction in InnovaSon’s U.S. office was instantaneous: “We’re psyched,” said Kevin Madden, national sales manager. Lawo is best known for creating high-end digital mixing consoles and routing systems for the broadcast industry, while InnovaSon made waves in the mid-’90s when it became the first company Just A Little Heil Lynne is touring for her new CD, Just a Little Lovin’; Heil (www.heilsound.com) PR 20, PR 30 and PR 40 mics are on drums, bass guitar rig, guitar amps and piano, while vocals are heard via the new model PR 22. LAS VEGAS, NV—Shelby Gear Source Goes Pro WELLINGTON, FL—Gear-Source (www.gearsource.com), an internet seller of used and bstock production gear, has launched a pro audio group. to debut digital live mixing desks suitable for touring use. As the marketplace for live digital consoles expanded, InnovaSon has had to catch up to modern expectations for a digital desk, and it has, as indicated by the recent shipping of its Pro FX onboard effects package. Nevertheless, the opportunity to collaborate with Lawo is expected to spur advancements for both companies. “When people look at the Lawo website and see what the company’s offering, they realize that it is a very serious, competitive company,” said Madden. “This isn’t like a speaker manufacturer acquiring shareholding in InnovaSon; there are some major synergies that will get exploited. Lawo’s expertise and ours will combine to hopefully push us over the top in terms of uniqueness and what we can bring to the table as a digital mixing desk company.” In a statement, Lawo CEO Philipp Lawo confirmed that view: “Our investment in InnovaSon adds a new dimension to our activities at Lawo. The opportunity to create new synergies will be to the benefit of both companies. InnovaSon is a strong brand in the live-sound market, and we are looking forward to taking it to the next level.” In the immediate future, however, the presence of Lawo means that InnovaSon in the U.S. will have more marketing support behind it, allowing it to raise awareness in the U.S. market of its current product line. “We’ll have more resources, more marketing, more exposure and trade show presence,” said Madden. One thing the U.S. InnovaSon (continued on page 70) May 2008 prosoundnews.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.