2016 She Rocks Awards Performance Lineup Announced

Nita Strauss, Malina Moye, The Command Sisters and Jenna Paone join awards honorees Jennifer Batten, Karmin, Raining Jane and more for an evening of performances, celebration and surprises

ANAHEIM, Calif. (Jan. 6, 2016) – The Women’s International Music Network (WiMN) is excited to announce the musical lineup for the 2016 She Rocks Awards, taking place Fri., Jan. 22, 2016, from 7 - 9 p.m. at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel in Anaheim, Calif., during the 2016 Winter NAMM show. Tickets available at www.sherocksawards.com.

Featuring WiMN Founder Laura B. Whitmore and acclaimed guitarist Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper, Iron Maidens), as co-hosts, the 2016 She Rocks Awards celebration will pay tribute to trailblazing women in music and will include performances by:

• Jennifer Batten, (Michael Jackson, Jeff Beck) acclaimed guitarist and Awards honoree
• Chart-topping pop duo Karmin, including Awards honoree Amy Heidemann
• Raining Jane, touring and recording band for Jason Mraz, including awards honorees Becky Gebhardt and Mona Tavakoli
• Malina Moye, acclaimed lefty guitarist and 2014 She Rocks Awards honoree
• Nita Strauss, (Alice Cooper, Iron Maidens) co-host for this year’s Awards
• The Command Sisters, talented Canadian singer/songwriter duet
• Plus the house band Rock Sugah, comprised of Divinity Roxx (Beyoncé) on bass, Kat Dyson (Prince, Sting) on guitar, Benita Lewis (Chaka Khan) on drums, and Lynette Williams (Childish Gambino, CeeLo Green) on keyboard.
  

Named one of Billboard’s “7 must-see events at NAMM,” the fourth annual She Rocks Awards offer performances and surprises, food and beverages, giveaways, a silent auction, networking opportunities, and more. The event brings together industry professionals, music icons, artists, fans, and media to celebrate women in music. A portion of the proceeds of the event will go to benefit the Girls Rock Camp Alliance and the NAMM Foundation.

This year’s honorees include: Jennifer Batten, Chaka Khan, Amy Heidemann, Becky Gebhardt and Mona Tavakoli (Rock Camp for Girls L.A. and Raining Jane), Chalise Zolezzi (Taylor Guitars), Mary Luehrsen (NAMM), Crystal Morris (Gator Cases), Mindy Abovitz (Tom Tom Magazine), Cathy Carter Duncan (Seymour Duncan), Leigh Maples and Pamela Cole (Fanny’s House of Music), Leslie Ann Jones (Skywalker Sound), and Sujata Murthy (Universal Music).

This event will take place Fri., Jan. 22, 2016, from 7 - 9 p.m. at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel in Anaheim, Calif., during the 2016 Winter NAMM show. Tickets are available at sherocksawards.com. The She Rocks Awards have sold out for the past three years, and a NAMM badge is not required to attend. 

The 2016 She Rocks Awards is sponsored by Martin Guitar, Seymour Duncan, Roland, Boss, Gretsch, Avid, Taylor Guitars, Zildjian, Guitar Center, D'Addario, Fishman, Berklee College of Music, Tech 21, PRS Guitars, 108 Rock Star Guitars, Korg USA, Volume & Tone, Casio, Ear Trumpet Labs, Merch Cat, John Page Classic Guitars, West Coast Pedalboards, and Recording King, with additional support from these media partners: Tom Tom Magazine, Guitar Girl Magazine, Music-News.com, Guitar World, Guitar Player, Keyboard, Bass Player, Electronic Musician, Music Inc., Making Music, International Musician, Premier Guitar, LAWIM, Rock N Roll Industries, and more. For information regarding She Rocks Awards sponsorship opportunities, please contact info@thewimn.com.

Shape the Future of Audio — Sennheiser Presents AMBEO 3D Audio Technology at CES

Las Vegas, January 6, 2016 – At CES 2016, audio specialist Sennheiser is unveiling a strategic focus on 3D immersive audio, a groundbreaking technology that promises the ultimate in audio capture and reproduction. “3D audio is the new frontier of excellence, set to transform the listening experience for users across a broad range of applications, from virtual reality gaming to audio recording and broadcasting,” announced co-CEOs Daniel Sennheiser and Dr. Andreas Sennheiser. “We have been active in this area for some time with 9.1 mixing and recording and the audio design for high-profile exhibitions. We are now increasing our efforts considerably to introduce this amazing sound quality into new products and applications, enabling users to experience and shape the future of audio.” Sennheiser’s 3D immersive audio products and activities will bear the new AMBEO trademark.

3D immersive audio is increasingly becoming a format of choice in professional recording, mixing and listening. The composer, producer, and musician Simon Franglen, well known for his work on the films Titanic, Avatar, and most recently Spectre, commented: “Every time I do an immersive mix, I notice how much more clearly I can hear what’s going on within a track. The extra playback area allows individual voices and instruments room to breathe in a way that the flat plane of a stereo mix can never hope to accomplish. 3D audio gives a completely new experience to the listener. Not only are they inside the music, but they get the opportunity to really hear the detail and the arrangement that the musicians, arrangers and producers put into the recordings. Even as a professional, I have listened to tracks that I have thought I knew intimately to discover so much more than the stereo or mono mix was able to give me. Once you hear this, music changes forever.”

AMBEO 3D Audio Listening Experience
Show visitors will experience AMBEO 3D Audio firsthand in the booth’s dedicated 9.1 listening room. Here, Sennheiser’s expert tonmeister Gregor Zielinsky is presenting original 9.1 recordings and remixes of legacy music for the 9.1 format. To bring this experience to every day music listening, visitors are invited to bring their own stereo sound material, have it upmixed via Sennheiser’s proprietary upmix algorithm and replayed in stunning 9.1 sound quality.

EDEN VR Game
Sennheiser’s expertise in 3D audio technology is also being featured by gaming specialist, Soulpix, which has drawn on the audio specialist’s long experience in the field for its virtual-reality game, EDEN. Through a proprietary Sennheiser algorithm, the sounds in the game are easily localizable and transport the listener to an imaginary yet utterly realistic soundscape. CES visitors can experience this in the demo area. “The Sennheiser 3D sound rendering engine used in EDEN allows a smooth transition between real-life sounds and virtual audio sources,” explained Andreas Sennheiser. “Such an engine will be the future of 3D sound in augmented reality applications.”

Virtual reality mic
Another part of the 3D audio experience zone is dedicated to a virtual reality microphone. Designed with VR content producers, including VR production company Visualise, whose content will be featured, the unobtrusive mic captures high quality audio in four quadrants. The VR microphone will be a staple tool in any live action VR production and will launch in the third quarter of 2016, followed in 2017 by a bundle with the same mic and a software plug-in for post-production of VR content.

Venue Modeling
A further highlight in the 3D audio section is the Venue Modeling software. The demo version features the room characteristics of several clubs, such as Mighty in San Francisco, and the Rex Club in Paris, and enables DJs to experience their sets as if they were in the middle of their audience.

The Venue Modeling technology will be a milestone in virtual room acoustics replication. Unlike other reverb tools and plug-ins, this VST plug-in lets ambitious DJs, PA artists and EM producers experience their audio tracks in the location they want to perform in. The plug-in helps to tailor the audio to any desired room atmosphere, and a growing venue database connected to the plug-in will offer DJs an ideal source to prepare for their show. The VST plug-in will become available in mid-2016.