DJ and Producer Mark Sixma Doesn’t Leave Home Without HARMAN’s Lexicon PCM Total Bundle

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Dutch DJ and Producer Mark Sixma has several chart-topping tracks to his name and other major DJ’s including Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, and DJ Tiesto have played his music. Currently signed to Armada Music, an award-winning label in The Netherlands, Sixma is touring and playing some of the largest dance festivals in the world. When he is packing his sonic suitcase Sixma includes HARMAN’s Lexicon PCM Total Bundle reverb/effects plug-in.

“This bundle is my first Lexicon product. As I travel a lot, I usually prefer to work “in the box” as much as possible,” explained Sixma. “Carrying around lots of hardware on tour wasn’t an option for me. Luckily there’s no need for that with the PCM Total Bundle.”

Sixma quickly found a use for the PCM Native Reverb plug-ins on many of his different projects. “A lot of other reverb plug-ins out there sound like they just add an extra sound to an instrumental or vocal part, while the PCM Native Reverb plug-ins blend really well with the source. Which results in a very realistic and pleasant sound,” commented Sixma.

For Sixma the best aspect of Lexicon plugins is simply the quality of the sound. “I love how the plug-ins sound on vocals and traditional instruments like strings or piano. In fact I think they sound great on pretty much anything I throw at them.”

Additionally, the popular Dutch DJ relies on the Total Bundle’s cleverly programmed presets to quickly get the sound he is looking for, without impeding his creative process. Sixma also believes Lexicon surpasses other plug-ins with their capability to blend so well with the source.

Commenting on his favorite effect in the bundle, Sixma couldn’t decide, stating, “It’s hard to pick a favorite out of this bundle since all the plugins serve their purpose extremely well.”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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The Gracious Few and Candlebox Guitarist Sean Hennesy Enhances His Tone With HARMAN’s DigiTech Pedals

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Guitarist Sean Hennesy has a schedule that would make most musicians’ heads spin, touring with not one but two hugely popular bands. He’s a member of multiplatinum rock band Candlebox and is a founding member of The Gracious Few, a supergroup featuring Hennesy and Candlebox lead singer Kevin Martin along with Chad Gracey, Patrick Dahlheimer and Chad Taylor from alternative rock band Live. Wherever he goes, Hennesy takes his HARMAN DigiTech pedals – even on the plane between gigs.

“When it comes to DigiTech pedals, it’s more a question of, ‘what am I not playing’ than what I’m using!” notes Hennesy. His iPB-10 programmable pedalboard, which works in conjunction with an iPad to create and control guitar effects in virtually unlimited combinations, is in constant use. “When I’m on the road I take the iPB-10 to my hotel room and connect it to my computer for practicing and recording. It’s great for playing live as well as recording, and it’s especially useful for flyout dates where I have to travel light or I don’t know what kind of amp the promoter is going to provide.”
“Sometimes I’ll even mess around with new ideas on the plane with the iPB-10 just to hear what it’s going to sound like when I get to plug it in.”

Hennesy co-wrote a few songs on Candlebox’s 1998 Into the Sun album and joined Candlebox in early 2006 as a full-time member when the band resumed touring after a layoff. He contributed songs to the band’s current album, Love Stories and Other Musings. In 2009 he was asked to do a project with Gracey, Dahlheimer and Taylor from Live and after their first writing session, “got a phone call and was on a plane the next day as a member of The Gracious Few.” Through it all, his primary road pedalboard has included DigiTech pedals, and Hennesy currently uses the DigiTech Hardwire HT-6 PolyChromatic Tuner, CM-2 Tube Overdrive, TR-7 Tremolo/Rotary, CR-7 Stereo Chorus and the DigiTech Whammy DT pitch shifting pedal.

“When I was young, I thought everything sounded good, not just DigiTech. As grew, I experimented with different pedals, always looking for something new. For the past few years, though, I’ve been playing with DigiTech pedals and haven’t needed to look for anything else.”

Hennesy likes DigiTech pedals for many other reasons. “They are durable and made for stomping. Most importantly, they don’t suck tone like some other pedals do. They enhance it.

“When it comes to tone, I want to hear what my hands produce with the guitar though the amp,” Hennesy notes. “But…effects are always fun and can help separate you from everyone else. DigiTech pedals keep giving me fresh new flavors.”

Hennesy’s frantic schedule shows no sign of abating. “2014 will be the year for an explosion of new music from me.” He’s not telling yet what that music is going to be, but it’s a sure bet it will be made with the help of DigiTech.

Photo: Peter Klett, Candlebox (Left) and Sean Hennesy (Right).

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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HARMAN’S BSS Audio Handles Audio Processing and Networking for Wisconsin’s Life Church

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Since its founding in the year 2000 with 35 people attending a service in a high school auditorium, Wisconsin’s Life Church has enjoyed continued growth. It now occupies two locations and in May 2013 completed an expansion of its Germantown facility from 17,000 to 42,000 square feet, and the church can now accommodate more than 2,000 people. As part of its expansion, Life Church installed a completely new sound system, with HARMAN’s BSS Audio Soundweb London BLU-100 signal processor handling all signal processing and networking throughout the facility.

Lafayette, CO systems contractor Summit Audio Systems (www.summitintegrated.com) specializes in installing audio, video, lighting and acoustics for the worship market. In 2011, Summit teamed up with the management of Life Church to begin the design and build process for the church’s expansion. Shane Beeson, Church Relationship Manager for Summit A/V noted that Life Church wanted a worship center that would be architecturally beautiful, with the look of a prestigious performing arts center, yet have the acoustics to support everything from the pastor speaking to a full “rock and roll worship experience.” In addition, the audio needed to be distributed throughout the facility.

Beeson chose the Soundweb London BLU-100 signal processor along with a BLU-BOB output expander because of its flexibility, ease of use and quality. “BSS Audio provides a high-quality product that is powerful but also has a software platform that is easy to program,” he noted.

The BLU-100 handles all the audio processing for the worship center facility. In the sanctuary, the BLU-100 processes the output to the main, delay, down-fill and front-fill speakers and subwoofers, and it also processes and routes the audio to the main lobby, entranceway and other areas.

One of the benefits of the BLU-100, Beeson notes, is that it can interface with other BSS Audio products to create a system that is scalable to the number of inputs and outputs needed for a project. “For the Life Church installation, the BLU-BOB gave us the ability to expand the BLU-100 to provide the additional outputs we needed,” Beeson said. “The BLU-BOB gave us more outputs at a cost savings that was significant compared to a larger DSP option. Thanks to this capability, BSS Audio provided the flexibility we needed to get the job done on time, to spec and on budget.”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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HARMAN’s Martin M6 Console Lights Up UK’s Global Gathering Dance Festival

AARHUS, Denmark – As one of the largest dance festivals in the world, the Global Gathering, in its 12th year, brought some of the world’s most renowned DJs and live acts to numerous stages during one weekend of non-stop dance and electronic music in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK. Electric Fly Productions was contracted to design and supply the lighting for all seven arenas involved in the 2013 festival and deployed a HARMAN’s Martin M6 lighting console on the main stage for full control of the intense lighting, in addition to deploying a vast amount of Martin lighting fixtures.

Martin EC-20 video screens were used to backlight the stages throughout the Gathering, controlled by P3 system controllers and a Maxedia PRO interface. Numerous Atomic strobes were strategically placed to light up all of the stages.

The M6 is a state-of-the-art lighting console that functions as an advanced ‘visual control’ surface, and is designed from the ground up to control anything from conventional and moving lights, digital fixtures, LED pixels and a full range of media servers.

“I was able to demo the M6 during the Global Gathering and I loved it,” said Nick Jevons, Main Stage Lighting Designer, Electric Fly Productions. “I have my own M1 and with its similar operating system, I was very comfortable relying on the M6 at the main stage throughout the festival. It’s quick to program, quick to edit and there is plenty of space to lay out the desk for playback.”

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark, Martin Professional is a world leader in the creation of dynamic lighting solutions for the entertainment, architectural, and commercial sectors. Martin lighting solutions are industry standard on top tours and events, grace prestigious theatres, energize nightclubs and decorate major television studios around the globe. Other important areas of application are indoor and outdoor architecture and commercial applications where Martin products are increasingly being used to transform spaces with dynamic light. Martin also offers a range of advanced lighting controllers and media servers, as well as a complete line of smoke machines as a complement to intelligent lighting. The company operates the industry’s most complete and capable distributor network with local partners in nearly 100 countries. Martin Professional joined the HARMAN families of category-leading technology and lifestyle brands in March 2013.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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HARMAN’s Soundcraft® Si Expression 3 Console Provides an Educational Experience at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a 4-year public university whose Department of Theater and Dance offers a broad variety of academic courses and practical experience in Performance, Dance, Design and Technical Theater, Theater Education and Theater History/Literature/Criticism. In order to stay on top of theater audio technology, SIUE department chair Jim Wulfsong needed to upgrade to a digital live sound console, and found the HARMAN Soundcraft Si Expression 3 ideal as both a production and educational tool.

“At SIUE, performances and education are intertwined,” said Wulfsong, who teaches a number of courses at SIUE including live sound engineering. “My students start by taking courses in theatrical audio production and live sound—and then they soon move up to doing the front of house mixing of an actual performance.” Productions are held at SIUE’s main theater, where the Si Expression 3 is installed.

Wulfsong needed a console that offers the latest features to accommodate the requirements of professional theatrical production—and could stand up to the rigors of constant use. The students learn on the console day in and day out during the academic year, and activity gets particularly intense during Tech Week, the week before a show debuts when the technical staff finalizes the show’s mic requirements, live and pre-recorded audio cues and other audio needs.

One of the key reasons Wulfsong chose the Soundcraft Si Expression 3 is because he and his students needed flexibility in a console that wasn’t difficult to operate. “The console is primarily used by students, who, while eager and talented, aren’t pros yet. The Si Expression 3 lets them work out in advance and store almost everything that’s needed before the show—cues, levels, EQ and so on—which greatly reduces the students’ stress level once the curtain goes up.” The Si Expression 3 lets his students concentrate on listening to the sound—rather than constantly have to think three steps ahead about what they have to do next. “Sometimes it seems like we can get any slider and knob to do anything we want.”

One of the main uses for the console is to play back cues and sound effects for musicals using QLab multimedia playback software. There can be hundreds of cues in a show and Wulfsong finds the Si Expression 3 makes moving from one cue to the next easy. “The Next button on the console responds really fast, which is critical when you have almost no time to kill a cue or mute and unmute different combinations of every single onstage mic.”

Thanks to the console’s sophisticated panning capabilities and multiple stereo and mono busses, Wulfsong and his students can now do “fancy Hollywood sound effects” like having planes fly overhead and sound effects following the onstage action—all at the touch of a button.

Wulfsong finds the ability to apply EQ on every channel to be “a major feature.” Every input-processing channel on the Si Expression 3 has dedicated processing not only for four-band EQ, but also high-pass filter, input delay, gate and compressor, enabling precise sonic fine-tuning of every input. Another plus is the console’s smaller size. Wulfsong thought that moving to a more advanced console would require more space in the control room, but the Si Expression 3 is actually smaller than the previous console and gave room to install a bigger computer monitor.

In fact, Wulfsong originally was looking for a console to replace the board in SIUE’s smaller theater—and wound up using the Si Expression 3 in the big room. “I was stunned by the price point and value the Si Expression 3 offered—and once we got it in-house we realized we were going to be using it as our main console in the theater.”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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Tom Kenny’s HARMAN Martin Lighting Rig Shines at Brooklyn’s 2013 MTV VMAs

BROOKLYN, New York — With widespread continued talk on the winners, exciting performances, band reunions and the outfits of those attending, the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards was another spectacular event held at the year-old Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Looking to deliver world-class lighting in the state-of-the-art venue, Tom Kenny was contracted to design an equally impressive light show to entertain thousands in attendance and millions watching at home. HARMAN’s Martin lighting fixtures, supplied by VER, lined the stage and house, providing a multi-function professional lighting rig.

Kenny, whose illuminating résumé includes lighting design for David Bowie, Eric Clapton and The Who, among others, has been working in and around VMAs production for more than 20 years – designing the lighting for the main show for the better half of a decade. Working with the creative minds of the artists and their own creative production teams, including Brooklyn artist KAWS, who also designed the new MTV Moonman award, Kenny imagined a tremendous design for the arena and its two-stage setup.

More than 100 Martin MAC Auras shined on the diamond-base main stage for performances and presentations. Weight was a major issue with the rig, so the lightweight, functionality and quality of the Auras were a top aspect in Kenny’s design. “We had a lot of lighting throughout the entire show and it was important to keep the rig functional and safe. The Aura’s multi-function capabilities, processing and its beautiful colors were flawless, which was evident during the live show,” Kenny stated.

Another 100 Auras were used as house lights to help radiate the fashion and style of the celebrities in the audience, while numerous Atomic Strobes were used to provide more “flash” to the winners as they were announced and walked up to the stage from the audience.

“We wanted something 21st century, something turnkey that would work flawlessly,” Kenny continued. “With the Martin lights, we could have been producing in a Broadway theatrical sense or a rock show, both of which we intended to present with the lighting. From the first shot of the live show, everyone in the world was watching. It had to be, and it was perfect.”

Assisting Kenny throughout the design, deployment and live phases were Mike Appel and Mike Grimes.Florian Wieder designed the VMAs, the Art Director was Tamlyn Wright and Den of Thieves, Jessie Ignatovich, Jen Jones and MTV Productions produced the show.

For more information on VER, please visit http://www.verrents.com


Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark, Martin Professional is a world leader in the creation of dynamic lighting solutions for the entertainment, architectural, and commercial sectors. Martin lighting solutions are industry standard on top tours and events, grace prestigious theatres, energize nightclubs and decorate major television studios around the globe. Other important areas of application are indoor and outdoor architecture and commercial applications where Martin products are increasingly being used to transform spaces with dynamic light. Martin also offers a range of advanced lighting controllers and media servers, as well as a complete line of smoke machines as a complement to intelligent lighting. The company operates the industry’s most complete and capable distributor network with local partners in nearly 100 countries. Martin Professional joined the HARMAN families of category-leading technology and lifestyle brands in March 2013.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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Elizabethtown College Packs a Punch with HARMAN’s Soundcraft Vi1 Audio Console

Ginette Slaughter and Ryan Carson, student event
technicians at Elizabethtown College.

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pennsylvania – A small liberal arts college looking to upgrade the audio system for its 844-seat performance space recently took a huge leap forward with HARMAN’s Soundcraft Vi1 mixing console. Having established the Vi series as a favorite digital desk for touring and installed sound applications, Soundcraft developed the Vi1 for small to mid-size venues like the one at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

Barry Fritz, Technical Operations Director for the college, explained how the school uses the venues for a variety of events, including theatrical productions, musicals, college orchestra performances, worship, Christmas events, weddings and national chamber music acts. “Each year the number of events and their complexity keeps increasing, so purchasing the Vi1 has been on the long-term to-do list for a while,” Fritz said.

It is not surprising to see Fritz choosing the Vi1 as the college’s main mixing solution to alleviate the growing strain on the technical staff. While it retains a small form factor, it is packed with an impressive selection of features that one can also find in larger Soundcraft models such as the Vi4 and Vi6. For example, the Vistonics II™ interface is greatly appreciated among mixers in the professional audio industry and is an outstanding feature of the Vi1 console. Furthermore, it maintains a complete console package with 32 channels of analog input to 27 analog outputs.

“Having the analog inputs is a nice feature, plus the stagebox we purchased bridges the gap between digital snake and analog,” Fritz said. “I also love always having the channel displays there. With our old console, we never had enough outputs; now I have more than I know what to do with!”

Spanning only just over a meter wide, the Vi1 includes 16 motorized channel faders with fixed and user-definable layers, eight output/VCA faders and two master faders. More importantly, as a digital console, the Vi1 allows for both massive customization and recallable settings.

“We do have a lot of groups that repeat throughout the year, so it’s nice to be able to recall the cues from our previously saved projects; having that flexibility makes it a lot easier,” Fritz concluded.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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