Posts byMarina Muhlfriedel

Bringing Seu Jorge to the World with Brazilian Front of House and Studio Engineer Ronaldo Lourenço

Two-time Latin GRAMMY® Award-winner and 13-time nominee, Ronaldo Lourenço is a one of Brazil’s most distinguished front of house and recording engineers. With a studio career spanning 36 years, Ronaldo has worked on more than 450 albums and been honored twice with a Best Recording Engineer Award from the Audio Engineering Society (AES) of Brazil.
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HARMAN Ambassador Spotlight: Singer, Songwriter, Producer and Musician Elle Varner

Welcome to the HARMAN Ambassador Spotlight series in which we introduce some of the talented artists who are part of the HARMAN Professional Solutions family. In today’s edition, we’re highlighting award-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Elle Varner. Charming and charismatic, with an unforgettable voice and knack for melody, Elle’s first album “Perfectly Imperfect” debuted at number four on
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Behind the Scenes with Peter Chaikin, Director Recording Solutions

Mention the warmth of well-recorded sound, the development of technology that enhances the creative experience or the magic of vocal harmonies and Peter Chaikin’s eyes literally light up. They are ideas that have inspired him since he was a teenager. In 2001, Peter joined HARMAN Professional Solutions to lead the marketing and development of loudspeakers
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Celebrating the Sounds of Summer 2017 with JBL VTX

(Dreamfields, The Netherlands) Every summer, music festivals and mega tours attract massive crowds. From EDM to country to hip-hop, sunshine and warm weather have become synonymous with sharing great shows with thousands of fellow fans. All summer long, HARMAN Profession Solutions was in on the act, providing top-notch tour sound from JBL. Here’s just a sampling of
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Navigating a Changing Industry with Nick Whitehouse, Lighting Designer and Creative Producer Extraordinaire

(Justin Timberlake “The 20/20 Experience”) Since leaving Leeds for London in the late 90s, Nick Whitehouse has been on a remarkable journey of being in the right place at the right time. His first long-term client, Coldplay, paved the way for ongoing work with Justin Timberlake. He has also worked with Jack White, Kanye West,
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Capturing the Vibe with Wil “Chilly Willy” Madera, Front of House and Studio Engineer for Pitbull

At the heart of master-showman Pitbull’s concert is an exhilarating multilayered mix driven by award-winning front of house and recording engineer, Wil Madera. In the 10 years since Wil began working with “Mr. Worldwide,” the tours and rapid succession of hit songs have resulted in a massive cross-cultural following. For Wil, every nuance is crucial
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HARMAN Ambassador Spotlight: King’s X Bassist and Vocalist Doug Pinnick

Welcome to our new HARMAN Ambassador Spotlight blog series. In the coming months, we’ll highlight some of the exceptional artists who share the HARMAN Professional Solutions commitment to great sound and music. We’re honored to have them as part of our family! While some of our ambassadors are newcomers to the music scene, others—like Doug
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Designer and Lighting Director Al Crawford, Part 2: The Purpose and Expression of Light

Welcome to part two of my conversation with Al Crawford. In the first installment, I spoke with Al about his remarkable career trajectory and the lighting legacy that has illuminated the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for the last 60 years. Today, we’re delving into the work of Al’s company, Arc3design, and exploring some of
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Tech Talks: Best Practices for Broadcasting Within an Organization

Welcome to Tech Talks, where we delve into issues pertaining to audio, video and lighting (AVL) technology with industry thought leaders. In today’s edition, we’re speaking with Paul Krizan, Corporate Solutions Manager at HARMAN Professional Solutions, about broadcasting live video presentations within an organization. Before joining HARMAN 10 years ago, Paul worked in telecommunications. He
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Women in Audio: Katy Templeman-Holmes, Director of Solutions and Marketing for Hospitality and Broadcast

(Photography: David Glaubke) Welcome to the latest installment of our Women in Audio series, in which we share the stories of talented women across the industry. I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Katy Templeman-Holmes, who serves as the Director of Solutions and Marketing for Hospitality and Broadcast at HARMAN Professional Solutions. She is
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Celebrating ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ at 50

This summer commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” a record regarded by many as the most influential rock album of all time. Generations of fans and music critics have celebrated the album’s disparate musical influences and lyrical content while scrutinizing the nuances of producer George Martin and engineer
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Helping ‘Hamilton’ Shine on Broadway and Beyond

(Photography:  Joan Marcus) In 2016, the wildly successful musical “Hamilton” became the most-nominated production in Tony Award history, with 16 nominations and 11 wins, including “Best Lighting Design of a Musical.” Six months after first opening the show at The Public Theater, the lighting team began looking for quiet, reliable lighting fixtures for its Broadway
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HARMAN Innovator Spotlight: Markus Klüsener, Stage Lighting Product Manager

One of my favorite features of the Insights blog is our Innovator Spotlight, which invites readers to meet some of the incredible innovators who develop new products at HARMAN Professional Solutions. As Product Manager for Stage Lighting, Markus Klüsener embodies a bold passion for the artistry and technology that power Martin lighting fixtures, controllers and
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The Many Talents of Ken Floyd, Front of House Audio Engineer, Tour Manager, Production and Special Effects Director for Zedd

(Left-right:  Ken Floyd, Gabe Damast and Zedd) From playing drums in a hardcore band and working as a front of house engineer to being a guitar tech, special effects director, tour manager and lighting programmer, Ken Floyd has held almost every conceivable touring role. During the last five years, however, he has been a core
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HARMAN Innovator Spotlight: Matthias Hinrichs, Global Product Manager for Visual Control Systems

Welcome to the latest edition of our Innovator Spotlight series. Today, I would like to introduce Matthias Hinrichs, Global Product Manager for Visual Control Systems at HARMAN Professional Solutions. Matthias lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and leads the development of lighting control systems that facilitate the operation of Martin lighting fixtures and video elements. From hardware
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Belmont University Enhances its Music, Media and Film Program with a World-Class Dolby Atmos Theater

Belmont University in Nashville has made U.S. News and World Report’s “Most Innovative Schools” list for each of the last nine years and, certainly, one of its most innovative features is the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. In mid-August 2015, the college moved into the $87 million R. Milton and Denice Johnson
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Orchestrating Light with Designer Mike Baldassari

With a career spanning 30 years of lighting for theater, rock ‘n’ roll shows, television, film and almost any other medium you can imagine, Mike Baldassari possesses an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the diversity of his work. A Tony Awards® – and Emmy Award – nominated lighting designer, Mike easily shifts from concerts, like Phish’s Madison Square
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JBL Professional by HARMAN’s New VTX A12 Line Array Debuts at Zedd’s All-Star ACLU Benefit

(Macklemore performs at “Welcome!”) When GRAMMY® Award-winning DJ, musician and producer Zedd hosted “Welcome!,” a concert benefitting the ACLU last month, he wanted to ensure that the production was topnotch and the artist lineup would appeal to the widest possible audience. He recruited fellow DJ, Skrillex and a variety of rock, hip-hop and pop acts,
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HARMAN Innovator Spotlight: Graham Hammell, Director of Platform Group – Application and Protocol Development

In today’s Innovator Spotlight, I would like to shine a light on Graham Hammell, an extraordinary engineer and prolific innovator based at the HARMAN Professional Solutions campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. As Director of the Platform Group for application and protocol development, Graham oversees teams in Utah and Bangalore, India that are responsible for
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Exploring the Unexplored, Delving Into Thomas Dolby’s “The Speed of Sound: Breaking the Barriers Between Music and Technology: A Memoir”

Thomas Dolby is best known as an 80s synthpop star who lit up the airwaves with hits like “She Blinded Me With Science” and “Hyperactive.” But, as it turns out, those early recordings were only the beginning of an expansive career in which Thomas has delved into myriad creative and technical mediums. The eloquent Englishman
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America’s Largest Church Takes the Stress Off Its Schedule with a Mixing Console Upgrade

As the largest congregation in the United States, with an extensive live sound and broadcast schedule, Lakewood Church was overdue for an upgrade to its main mixing console. Located in the former Compaq Center in Houston, Texas, Lakewood’s 16,000-seat Central Campus hosts four English services, two Spanish services and a diverse range of other weekly
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Improving PA Sound Quality for Tunnel Safety

Achieving crisp, clear speech reproduction in a tunnel is vital for safety, but it can also present a unique audio challenge. Traffic noise and fans create high levels of background noise, while the tunnel’s shape and hard surfaces result in very high reverberation times. These factors make it impossible to understand a conventional Public Address
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Gearing Up for Prolight + Sound!

Prolight + Sound 2017 is nearly here, and HARMAN Professional Solutions is amped to join audio and lighting customers, colleagues and partners from around the globe at one of the year’s most vibrant tradeshows. Approximately 44,000 people attended last year’s event, and this year’s promises to be the biggest and best yet! Visit us at the
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Upgrading Nashville’s Historical War Memorial Auditorium with Installed Tour-Grade Sound and Lighting

(photo credit: CTS) Nashville-based audiovisual production company CTS recently updated the War Memorial Auditorium with a complete sound and lighting solution by HARMAN Professional Solutions, including a JBL VTX Series system and a full array of Martin fixtures. With construction dating back to the 1920s, the historic building in downtown Nashville hosts a diverse range of
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From Metallica to Microsoft with Tour Lighting Programmer, Corporate Show and Architectural Designer Troy Eckerman

During his nearly four decades as a lighting professional, Troy Eckerman has had an extraordinary career working with artists including Barbra Streisand, Tim McGraw, Beyonce, Madonna, Metallica, Willie Nelson, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney and others. Besides programming music tours, Troy also designs and operates lighting for a broad array of corporate events, award shows, tradeshows,
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Tech Talks: The Science of Headphones in the Age of Digital Recording

Welcome to Tech Talks, in which we explore a variety technology trends and issues with industry experts. In this edition, we’re speaking with Philipp Schuster, Product Line Manager for Headphones and Output Transducers at HARMAN Professional Solutions. Philipp is from Vienna, Austria, where he studied electronics at the prestigious University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien.
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