Get It In Writing

HELSINKI, Finland – Depeche Mode's Tour of the Universe is now back in Europe, having travelled the globe since last April with a dual Midas XL8 live performance system for front of house and monitors, playing to audiences of up to 85,000.
FOH engineer Antony King, who has used Midas XL4 and Heritage 3000, appreciates that Midas has created a digital desk that's as familiar and easy to operate.

UK: The producer/engineers and METAlliance founding members will jointly present two seminars in London this May, writes David Davies. Chuck Ainlay (pictured) has numerous credits for work with the likes of Mark Knopfler, Vince Gill, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Waylon Jennings. Massenburg, meanwhile, has logged studio time with Little Feat, Randy Newman and James Taylor, and runs his own recording equipment manufacturer, GML (George Massenburg Labs).

Source: Chuck Ainlay, George Massenburg to host recording masterclasses

The path to success in the music industry is difficult for anyone, and the late-singer songwriter Vic Chesnutt had a harder road than most.

Vic, who passed away in 2009 on Christmas Day, had written songs since childhood. At the age of eighteen, a car accident took away his ability to walk and gave him just “limited use” of his hands. A gifted guitar player, Vic could now play only simple chords. This is something that every musician out there who uses their hands to create has likely contemplated, if just for a moment, but for Vic, it was a day-to-day reality.

Shock win for British artist/producer at 2010 Grammys

Source: Heaps of awards

New M421 subwoofers will augment sound company’s inventory

Source: McCauley Subwoofers Purchased By Spider Ranch

MELVILLE, NY – Leviton Manufacturing Company, Inc. announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Southwire Company to sell certain assets of American Insulated Wire Corporation (AIW), a subsidiary of Leviton.
In the agreement, Southwire will acquire the AIW brands and manufacturing facilities in Douglas, Ga. and Coffeyville, Kan., both of which produce a variety of electrical wire and cable products for the commercial, industrial and OEM markets. The purchase is expected to close by the end of February.

UK/DENMARK: A restructuring initiative has resulted in the formation of a new organisation known as TC Group International (TCGI), reports PSN-e. The new organisation – which came into operation yesterday (February 1) and will operate out of Aarhus in Denmark and Coatbridge in Scotland – will provide a “new and revitalised sales and support structure based on vertical markets” across all TCGI-owned brands – Tannoy, TC Electronic, TC Helicon, Lab.gruppen and Lake – as well as distributed brands Dynaudio Acoustics and Blue Microphones.

Source: TC Group announces creation of TC Group International

Source: Placing The Drum Kit In The Room

For those of you who watched the Grammy Awards on Sunday night (and apparently there were more of you this year than any year since 2004), you may have had a feeling of déjà vu when you saw virtually the same group of stars that clustered together in 2009, 2008, etc. Does this perhaps remind you — at least a little — of the 1993 film Groundhog Day? You know, like Bill Murray’s character hearing “I Got You Babe” every morning?

Now, if you happen to want to hear the same song at the same time every day, that’s fine with us. But sometimes it’s fun to let the needle find a new groove.

A roundup of the scene in Anaheim

Source: Comprehensive Coverage Of The 2010 Winter NAMM Show