As the busy summer season is well under way (where is the sunshine?) we have been extremely busy with our outside covered stage. This year we made some minor alterations to it - so the roof section now has an overhang of the stage deck, this means that anything on the front line of the stage now is protected from any inclement weather. The stage was recently out at Cardiff Armed Forces Day in Bute Park and we were pleased to received a number of enquiries about the stage. It's next outing is Penarth Holiday Festival on Saturday 9th July and then back to Penarth again the following weekend, on the Sunday 17th July, but this time up on Cliff Walk for a Fun Day and Songs of Praise!
We have added a new mixer to our hire stock - a Soundcraft FX16ii, which is a 16 channel Mixer with Full Lexicon Digital Effects plus 16 Direct Outputs which is great for recording use. This has been brought in for the smaller type of community events that our outdoor stage goes to, where a 10 channel mixer does not have the capacity to cope with small bands etc.
As a company we specialise in outdoor sound - an area that a lot of other Sound/AV companies do not really get into in a big way. - because of this we have seen a big upturn in 'dry hire' business to other PA Companies who have been hiring outdoor loudspeaker horns or subcontracting complete jobs for us to cover for them.
Please remember that we are quite happy to accept subcontract work from other companies - a lot of whom already know that we maintain a very high standard of work and professionalism on our own jobs. We hold an extensive stock of Public Address Sound Equipment, in fact we are the biggest Outdoor Public Address contractor in South Wales. As well as keeping large numbers of PA Horns such as 42" Straight Horns, Atlas CJ46 Re-entrant Horns, Atlas BIA100 Bi-axial Horns, Paso Large Re-entrant Horns (similar in size to CJ46, but lighter weight) and Toa Round re-entrant horns, we also have a big stock of Outdoor Metal Column Speakers. These range from small Inter-M Columns usually used in pairs for around arenas, mid sized 20 watt Column Speakers, large 30 watt Column Speakers and also the largest sized column - the 40 watt Toa Outdoor Column. For those customers requiring high quality frequency response, we also have a very good selection of Music Horns - which offer far better reproduction of music that normal PA Horns. Top of our range of speakers are the QSC Acoustic Design Series AD-S282HT which are Two-Way Weather resistant full range powerful speakers for truly awesome sound for outdoor events.
To go with our speakers we keep a large stock of 100v line amplifiers from 30 watts right up to twin channel 800 watts per channel amplifiers. Some amplifiers even operate on 12v DC and 24v DC.
We are always happy to talk to others in the trade as well as private customers.
NEWS - 1st June 2011.
Keep checking back to this page during the next few days - we hope to make an announcement about an important new piece of equipment that we are about to purchase! - more information will be revealed shortly!NEWS 25th May - 2011
Over the last last few weeks we have received news that 2 Local Music Stores are either closing or have closed down! Music Station in Bridgend are closing down as their shop premises lease has expired - we understand that they have secured an extension to their lease until the end of 2011. On the other hand it was confirmed in the trade news - MI-Pro, that Musicland/Sound Centre of North Road, Cardiff has Closed - the Administrators are in and the company is being wound up! let us remind all potential customers and past customers of both these stores that we have been in existence for over 35 years as an Event Sound Hire Company/Installer and are now in our 11th year of The Barry Music Shop!
We specialise in Pro-Audio and Guitars - we even have our own Guitar Technician! We sell, hire and repair all Pro-Audio Equipment as well as stocking all types of Guitar from such well known manufacturers as: CORT, TANGLEWOOD, LAG, FRESHMAN, CRAFTER, VINTAGE to name just a few! We stock a HUGE range of accessories for all musicians - we are extremely proud of our Guitar String Wall - where we offer probably the biggest selection in South Wales (even all types of SINGLE strings) with many special deals on prices! We also stock accessories for drums, wind instruments, power supplies, Bags, Cases and Racks, Leads, adaptors, cables and connectors, Gaffer, Safety Warning & Insulating Tapes. Fuses, components, tools plus lots, lots more!
NEWS: - MAY 2011.
The Barry Music Shop is pleased to announce that it has become a "Tanglewood UK Specialist Centre"
Following the announcement that Music Station - Bridgend Branch is closing down (end of lease on premises) we decided to invest in a new range of Guitars to enhance our selection of quality guitars. Following an offer of becoming a UK Specialist Centre for Tanglewood - we jumped at this opportunity, as it will bring into our store a brand of guitar synonymous with exceptional quality and a worldwide reputation.
As we will now be the only Music Shop between Cardiff and Swansea offering Musicians a professional service as well as stocking a varied selection of starter guitars right through to high level professional models. Tanglewood will now join with our other top brands of Cort, Lag and Freshman, giving you, the customer, an even better choice of instrument.
To those musicians living in the Bridgend area, we welcome you to visit, as we think you will find it is only a 20 minute journey to Barry, easy to park by our shop and most importantly - no parking fees! Much easier than going to Cardiff or Swansea, plus our prices are more attractive as well! We run regular promotions on all types of goods, usually long running promotions on Guitar Strings of various well know makes, plus monthly promotions on Guitars. We are not in the business of 'price cutting' but we do offer an unrivalled level of service from all our staff who are professionals in their own fields - whether it be guitars, other instruments or Pro-Audio Equipment!
We also boast our own Guitar Technician, Sam, who has an excellent reputation with a great many of our customers, when it comes to set-ups, modifications or repairs to their beloved guitar.
We are expecting our first delivery of Tanglewood Guitars later next week, when we shall be running some introductory promotions when purchasing any Tanglewood model.
Please watch the local press, Radio Station (Bro Radio) plus our website and Face-book for further news!
NEWS: - MARCH 2011.
Despite the current wave of cutbacks with lots of business & local authority customers, we have managed to stay very busy in the months following a very disappointing Christmas trading! Although South Wales was affected by two lots of heavy snow during the Christmas period we were lucky that only one event very close to Christmas was cancelled due to the snow.
We have just added 2 new Race Clocks to our hire equipment inventory, 1 Clock being a 5 Digit Single sided Display with 10inch high Flap Type Digits that operates on 12v DC. The 2nd Clock is a DOUBLE SIDED Display using 6 inch high Flap Type Digits. This display is ideal for mounting on top of the Lead Vehicle for 10K's and Marathons.
Starting in January 2011, we have experienced an uplift in installation work - particularly with a lot of Churches requiring brand new sound and loop induction systems installed. We are in fact the longest established Sound Company that specialises in Church Installations throughout South Wales - as we have been supplying this service for over 35 years! We are entrusted by a great many churches with the design and installation of their systems because we have a fresh approach to system design, excellent quality of sound, sympathetic installation work - particularly when the Church is a "listed building" - great efforts to hide all cabling plus using loudspeakers that are very unobtrusive to the eye and most importantly these days - being able to fulfill the Church's wish list on a tight budget.
We have also recently installed a new sound system in the Barry YMCA Hub, which is also the home of Bro Radio. This new system covers the Cafe Area, plus stair wells and corridors of the YMCA, which enables the programme content of Bro Radio to be heard throughout the building plus paging facilities for patrons and staff.
We have also been busy through the winter months and have now successfully completed re-spraying all our commentary units into our new corporate colours of Metallic Silver. We are now busy cutting out and applying all the new vinyl sign writing on the last two units! The new look lettering is very eye catching in Chrome Silver with a black outline. This is all done 'In House' - as we own our own vinyl lettering cutting plotter. We do occasionally do other sign work for some of our existing customers such as horse and agricultural shows. In fact we produced a lot of the new internal Show Ground signs for the Vale of Glamorgan Agricultural Show last year! If you want to know more - give us a call!
As we progress into March, we are looking forward to our first Point to Point (13th March at Howick) as the first meeting scheduled for the end of February had to be postponed due to waterlogged ground.
We have now finally incorporated all the equipment we purchased last year from AES Sound Systems of Cardiff into our own hire inventory. All equipment has been serviced and re-branded with our logo. Finally, we have been busy manufacturing 2 new Public Display Race Clocks, one being a 6" high digit double sided display suitable for mounting on top of a vehicle for the lead car in 10K's and Marathons. The other display being similar to our other displays which use 10" Flap Type digits,
as well as being used for athletics and road races they can also be used with our Show Jumping Timing Equipment.
NEWS: - DECEMBER 2010
We have been extremely busy this year throughout the months of November and December with Christmas Events throughout South Wales. We have supplied an ever increasing number of events with a small outdoor covered music stage for their Christmas Lights Switch On's, these included - Pontypridd Christmas Lights Switch On, Christmas Market and Entertainment at Mountain Ash, Cowbridge Reindeer Procession Music Stage & Christmas Lights Switch On, Penarth Town Council Christmas Festival, Music Stage and Christmas Lights Switch On, St. Athan Music Stage and Christmas Lights Switch On and Park Funeral Services Christmas Service of Remembrance and Reflection at King Square, Barry.
We have had so much work for these small outdoor stages, that we decided to add another 'Pop-Up' marquee cover to our hire stock, so that we can now cover more than one event at a time - which occurred this year as both Cowbridge and Penarth had their events on the same day - we supplied identical covered music stages with sound and lighting for both.
As well supplying stages and sound system, we have been extra busy this year with outdoor lighting, where we supplied the Coloured floodlighting and Christmas Tree Lights for Llantarnam Abbey's Light Up a Life Services, also for the first time - as well as supplying sound for the National History Museum, St. Fagans Christmas Nights event - we also floodlit a lot of buildings, floodlit areas of trees and provided decorative lighting inside various buildings to enhance the Christmas atmosphere each night as well as supplying electrical distribution and engineers throughout the three nights. Judging from comments by both the visitors and museum staff over the three nights, the lighting certainly added to the magic of the Museum's Christmas Event!
During the latest cold weather conditions, we have been extra busy supplying sound system to relay Funeral Services where there is a large number of people attending and they cannot all be accommodated inside church! During the latest snow, we had to travel down to St. Mary Hill, which is a remote rural area in the Vale of Glamorgan, accessible by a single track road - where the snow was quite deep. Fortunately, we have our 4x4 vehicle which is capable of getting virtually anywhere, plus as it was a 'Farming Community' funeral, all the local farmers had worked extremely hard to do their best to make the roads to and from Church passable, plus cleared all the long pathway up to the church front door!
We are called upon - sometimes at extremely short notice - to provide these facilities for Funeral Services, where we are able to relay the service to the outside of Church - to an adjoining building such as a Church Hall or sometimes even to a Church Hall some distance away from the actual Church - when we utilise the use of one of our Radio Links! During these services we often play CD's going in and out of Church, plus sometimes we are asked to record the service for members of the family who are unable to attend, either due to work or Holiday commitments of through health reasons. After recording a service we will check the recording and edit it before putting the finished recording onto any number of CD's the family require. Because of our extensive church installation work, we work closely with both Churches and Funeral Directors throughout South Wales and work as a team with them to provide a first class service for the bereaved family. This is a service we have provided for over 30 years and are proud to be recognised as the foremost company in South Wales that provide this service in a professional, discreet and dignified way.You will quite often find our staff even assisting with parking and traffic control just before and after a service - we all help to make the day's event go smoothly!
News: - October 2010
Post Event Report - Weston Beach Race 2010
We have just returned from a very successful Weston Beach Race and we are still trying to get all the blasted sand out of all our vehicles and equipment - in fact we had to spend a number of hours with a vacuum cleaner extracting sand from the inside of one of our generator cases.
During the fantastic 3 day event, which was blessed with excellent weather - we received many compliments from members of the public, competitors and the organisers on the quality and coverage of the sound systems this year. As the whole event was taken apart and re-examined after last year, it was felt that the sound system needed to cover a much bigger area down the actual beach alongside the man made dunes where a lot of people gather to watch all the action. We actually re-sited the Beach Commentary Unit this year alongside the biggest dune - just before the big ramp the ambulances and spectators go under. This offered a far better view for Ron Calloway who was resident in this unit throughout the weekend.
As we have agreed a new five year contract with the organisers - RHL Activities Ltd, we decided to update the commentary headsets the commentators use. As there are 3 Commentators continually working together throughout the weekend, we have to ensure good quality audio in their headphones so that they can hear each other clearly and comfortably. We chose to use the new Audio-Technica BPHS-1 Stereo Broadcast Headsets which proved to offer excellent quality sound for both the user and the listening spectators.
As the commentary microphone signal from both the Pits Commentary Unit and the Beach Commentary Unit has to get back to the mixer in the main Commentary Unit, we have in the past either used very long microphone cables, or converted the microphone signal up to a 100v line level and sent it down a 2 core cable back to the main Commentary unit , where it is converted back down to microphone level with a D. I. Box.
This year we experimented with a brand new piece of kit called the SONET4 from CIE Group.
This comprises of 2 wall plates - one fitted with 4 female XLR's and associated circuitry - the other fitted with 4 male XLR's & associated circuitry, both plates being connected with CAT5 twisted pair cable. This system is capable of working with a 1000 metre run between plates without any signal loss or degradation. Although we were only using approximately 650 metres, this system worked brilliantly!
and we will be using this same system to bring up the microphone signals from the Pits Commentary Unit next year. This will allow both the Pits and the Beach Commentary Units to be able to cope with 'Guests' on separate microphones, as we do in the main Commentary Unit - which greatly adds to the interest of spectators when the commentators are interviewing VIP's, Sponsors and most importantly the Competitors, amongst them some of the worlds top riders.
Weston Beach Race 2010.
We have for the last five years, supplied all the Sound Systems, Commentary Units and Communications for the annual Weston Beach Race, organised by a Welsh based Event's Company - RHL Activities. This annual international Motor Cycle competition is held on the fantastic sea front of Weston Super Mare. Last month we agreed a contract with RHL Activities to provide all the Sound & Communication requirements for the next five years, during which the Weston Beach race will be developed into an even bigger spectacular weekend than what it is now!
In this week leading up to this event we are busy having new loudspeaker brackets and cables made exclusively for this event, as the end of last year North Somerset Council replaced all the old lighting columns along Beach Road (which we attach the loudspeakers to) with brand new modern aluminium lighting columns which our old brackets will not fit onto! As we have just agreed another five years with the organisers, we though now is the time to design new brackets and cables which will enable a speedier rigging time and better reliability of all speaker circuits.
The sound system is also going to be vastly extended this year - so that it covers a lot more of the actual beach in a westerly direction, after last year when a major accident happened - the commentators were unable to relay important information to spectators further down the course. To aid the safe running of this event - we are also supplying a 4x4 vehicle complete with a powerful sound system on top of it - so it can be deployed to any part of the race course in the event of an incident.
All our team are looking forward to this fantastic annual event!
Aquisition of Equipment from a Retired Colleague:
Additional Commentary Unit for 2010.
Due to the ever increasing booking we are receiving for Outdoor Sound, a lot of our customers and clients are requesting the use of one of our Commentary Units. Since we seem to be covering more events on the same dates, we have had to make the decision to purchase an additional Commentary Unit to add to our fleet.
The new unit which will be known as Unit 5, is 12ft long by 6'6" wide on twin axles. As with all our other units, it offers exceptionally good viewing when used on arenas or just as an event control unit.
This unit has now had its respray into our new silver colour, had its new chrome and black lettering added and is now ready for work. Its first outing was the St. Mellons Agricultural Show on Saturday 7th August 2010. This unit is now being used regularly at a lot of events!
Due to pressure of work, we have unfortunately not had much time to finalise the plans for our biggest project for some time - a Double Decker Unit. We hope to get building under way early this Autumn - however - it will be well worth the wait!
Other News:
Earlier in April this year, JPL Sound & Communications made an application to become a 'Compliant' CHAS Company. CHAS is a Health & Safety Assessment Scheme that ensures that persons and companies working in the events field are working to Health & Safety regulations.
We are proud to state that we have gained Accredited Contractor status. As usual all our staff are extremely vigilant in all Health & Safety matters when working on any type of site, plus they will always point out any type of 'risk' they may see to help ensure the event organiser operates safely within Health & Safety regulations.
To give an approximate indication of the amount of kit we will carry - here are a few examples:
Rectangular Re-Entrant PA Horns - 120
Circular Re-Entrant PA Horns - 20
42" Exponential Horns - 40
Music Horns - 30
Sound Projectors - 15
Small Sized 40watt Column Speakers - 24
Medium Sized (3ft) 20 watt Column Speakers - 8
Large (4ft) 30 watt Column Speakers - 40
Large (5ft) 40 watt Column Speakers - 12
Various small PA Horns & Columns for smaller systems
Amplification:
QSC 800Ti, 800+800watts @100v Line Amps, Mains only
Inter-M 120, 240, 360 & 480 Watt Power Amps @ 100v Line, Mains/DC24v
CTH MA251/1, 300 watt 100v Line Mixer/Amps, Mains or DC 24v - THE BEST!
CTH MA251/8A, 300 watt 100v line, Slave Amps, Mains or DC 24v
CTH PA100's, 100watt 2 inputs 12volts DC only
CTH PA101's the last modernised version of above
CTH PA60, 60watt, 2 inputs 12 volt DC only.
CTH MA51, 3 input Mains/DC12v 70 watt.
Jedia 240 watt and 360 watt PA Amps with 5 inputs, Mains/DC24v
Apart 200 watt PA Amp, Mains/DC24v
Adastra 50 watt compact PA AMp with 3 inputs, Mains/DC12v
Toa 30 watt , 3 input PA Amps, Mains/DC12v
Microphones:
By: Sennheiser, Shure, Audio-Technica, AKG, Carol plus lots more.
Radio Microphones by Sennheiser; AKG; Audio-Technica; Ashton;
UHF High Band Radio Link
VHF Low Band Radio Link
You will see by the quantity of equipment, we are perfectly capable of handling every type of job, from the smallest to the biggest! - all this plus experienced engineers and 100% reliable equipment and service - WE GET YOUR SOUND RIGHT - EVERY TIME! - contact us at any time - you will not be disappointed!
