HARMAN JBL VERTEC® Line Arrays Take the Stage at 28th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards

jbl_ascap.jpgNORTHRIDGE, California – ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), in association with the I Create Music Expo, recently held its 28th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel and Spa in Los Angeles. The event honored the songwriters and publishers behind some of today's most popular music and was attended by some of music's biggest artists, composers and industry luminaries.

The rental sound system contractor for the ASCAP Pop Music Awards was Swank Audio Visuals, who provided a HARMAN JBL VERTEC® line array system for the event. Swank AV is a national meeting, convention and special event production company based in St. Louis, Missouri, partnering with approximately 375 resorts and hotels in 175 locations in the US, Canada and Mexico. The company's Renaissance Hollywood Hotel office handled the audio installation for the awards night.

Swank AV deployed 12 JBL VERTEC VT4888 midsize line array elements for the main stage audio system, with six cabinets per side. In addition, four VT4880 fullsize arrayable subwoofers were grouped together in a hidden cluster behind the stage. Crown IT12000 HD amplifiers powered the system.

“The sound system design came together from the collaborative efforts of Swank AV Director Damien O'Donnell, Technical Director Maurice Sams and the ASCAP team, who identified our goals for this year's program,” said Ryan Göllner, Assistant Director of Audio Visual Services at Swank Audio Visuals. “The main challenge was finding a system that provided clean sight lines for the all-important visual content during the awards and symposiums, while simultaneously providing the kind of clarity and power required to serve a room full of famous musicians, labels and publishers!”

“During pre-production, the Swank AV team collectively felt that this year's event would be a perfect opportunity to utilize the tandem capabilities of a JBL/Crown system design, and it really came through with flying colors,” Göllner continued.

“The I Create Music Expo and associated ASCAP Pop Music Awards is a gathering of some of the most influential songwriters and publishers in the business, and it provides a great place within the music industry for people to come together into one forum from all walks of life, to network, build and showcase their talents,” Göllner noted. “It's also an excellent opportunity for Swank Audio Visuals to move forward beyond the typical role that people normally see in-house AV providers inhabiting, and to demonstrate what a good sound contractor can provide, to an appreciative audience of artists and industry insiders.”

Göllner concluded, “The attendees were as pleased as our clients were with the result. The sound was truly stunning and enabled us to make a significant contribution in showcasing the artists at their absolute best.”

For more information on Swank Audio Visuals, please visit www.swankav.com

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 11,800 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.5 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.