(15/06/2013) Non-profit group The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus has provided American students of all ages with free, hands-on opportunities to make original music, video, photo, game app and broadcast projects for the past 16 years via a mobile studio-in-a-bus that has been on the road since 1998. Featuring state-of-the-art audio and HD video recording, the bus has visited schools, colleges, concerts, festivals, trade shows and museums in big cities, small towns, rural areas, severely underserved communities and everything in between. On May 8th, 2013, Yoko Ono Lennon debuted the new Lennon Bus Europe in Liverpool, set to kick off its inaugural tour in London in June and continue with travels across the UK and Europe.
Lennon Bus Chief Engineer Jeff Sobel designed Lennon Bus Europe from scratch. Based on past positive experiences with AJA gear, Sobel outfitted the vehicle with AJA Ki Pro Rack and Ki Pro Mini tapeless recorders along with a KONA 3G card for video capture and output. In addition to HD capabilities, Sobel needed workflow tools that would be compatible with Apple Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer , which are both used on the bus to edit student projects and music videos.
I wanted a solution that would not just be compatible with Final Cut and Media Composer but one that would really make both scream, so that's why we went with the KONA 3G card, said Sobel. I contacted AJA about what the production needs would be on the bus and also ended up choosing Ki Pro Mini and Ki Pro Rack, powerful pieces of gear that facilitate multiple needs and also take up very little space.
The Lennon Bus has an exhaustive touring schedule, with two full-time on board engineers and a driver facilitating recording sessions and video productions at each stop where students might write, perform, record and produce original creative content over the course of a given day.
The Ki Pro Mini gives us a reliable means of storage with easily available and easily swappable media that records in native file formats. That lets our editors immediately begin working without having to transcode. For us, it's really all about the speed; these are one-day projects from start to end. Everything gets done on board the bus, and the Ki Pros and KONA cards are vital, because they speed up our production workflow, Sobel continued.
Given the hands-on nature of the experience, the equipment on the bus must also withstand frequent and rigorous use.
We have students of all levels, so we really sculpt each day's project to fit with whoever is on board. The studios and gear on the Lennon Bus are in use almost every day, explained Brian Rothschild, executive director of The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, who started the organization with Yoko Ono Lennon in 1998. The reality is that the work we are doing is really of value almost anywhere that we might find young people.
Added Sobel, To be honest, we are not very easy on our gear. We try to treat everything the best we can, but it is a mobile environment and the portable devices are in the hands of students, who are not trained professionals. They're under close supervision, but they don't always treat things the way professionals who have accountability to their equipment do. We need tough equipment, and the craftsmanship of AJA technology really shows. We've also had an Io HD on our US bus for years and it's built like a tank and has always been reliable.
A more than ten-year veteran of the Lennon Bus, Sobel has seen remarkable changes in audio and video technology and is consistently updating the gear configuration on the US bus, which has been on the road since 1998, to keep everything up-to-date. He guided the 2008 redesign of the original Lennon Bus, which relaunched as a completely new vehicle capable of working in HD. Sobel's quest for video interfaces and solutions to complement new HD cameras provided by Sony is what first led him to AJA's KONA cards and the Io HD, a portable FireWire device that enabled editors to encode Apple ProRes HD video to portable MacBook Pros. He has also made use of multiple AJA Mini-Converters.
We often forget the AJA gear is there, because it just works, Sobel mused. Their technologies are like the invisible connections that make everything work and it's effortless to setup. With the KONA 3G card which is a very advanced piece of equipment that does amazing things you literally just pop it into the computer, load the drivers and suddenly this beautiful image is coming out on your monitor or being captured in. It integrates into the editing software and into the computer without any actual work. Having really tight deadlines, anytime I can just pop something in and have it work especially when it performs such a key role makes me very, very happy. Once it's in, it just keeps working and we just never even think about it. That is life saving.
Projects created on either Lennon Bus can be viewed on its YouTube page.
Concluded Rothschild, With John Lennon's name on it, we certainly have a big focus on music and songwriting since that is his legacy, but we've really evolved into film and video documentaries and broadcast projects, we're doing more live streaming and will continue to include AJA technology as part of our toolset. I see the evolution continuing as everything else evolves.
Since 1993, AJA Video has been a leading manufacturer of high-quality and cost-effective digital video interface, conversion, acquisition and desktop solutions supporting the professional broadcast and post- production markets. With headquarters in Grass Valley, California, AJA maintains an extensive sales channel of dealers and systems integrators around the world.
Most recent headlines
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
(15/06/2013) Non-profit group The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus has provided American students of all ages with free, hands-on opportunities to make original music, video, photo, game app and broadcast projects for the past 16 years via a mobile studio-in-a-bus that has been on the road since 1998. Featuring state-of-the-art audio and HD video recording, the bus has visited schools, colleges, concerts, festivals, trade shows and museums in big cities, small towns, rural areas, severely underserved communities and everything in between. On May 8th, 2013, Yoko Ono Lennon debuted the new Lennon Bus Europe in Liverpool, set to kick off its inaugural tour in London in June and continue with travels across the UK and Europe.
