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USA - With a career that spans more than half a century, Elton John kicked off his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, at the PPL Centre in Allentown, PA. The stage is set with a massive LED screen framed by a highly-detailed, artistic portal, built by TAIT, that showcases a retrospective of his career.
Production experts George Hoadley, production manager, Patrick Woodroffe, lighting designer, Stufish Entertainment Architects, stage designers, and TAIT, staging and automation providers, collaborated on the tour to provide fans with a concert experience that only Sir Elton John could deliver.
One of the most impressive elements of Elton John’s set is the artistic portal that frames the main backdrop video screen and wraps around the front of the stage. The portal i

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Germany - Prolyte Group has announced the opening of their new International Training Centre (ITC) at Rheiner Strasse 125, D 48282 in Emsdetten, Germany. The new ITC state-of-art facility will provide a venue for Prolyte events and Prolyte partners to introduce Prolyte products to customers and prospective clients.
The training centre includes 500 sq.m of meeting space and is comprised of a main conference area that can host up to 100 guests and five additional breakout rooms. The building was originally constructed pre-war as a textile manufacturing warehouse.
ITC’s facilities will include a lounge and bistro area, arrange of high-end technical equipment including a digital projector and screen, video conferencing equipment, and a wide screen television.
“It’s important that we provide the right tools and environment to help our partners experience the Prolyt

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Europe - A document has been published explaining what the latest draft of the Ecodesign regulations released by the European Commission could mean for the entertainment technology industry.
Written by PLASA's Ecodesign task group representative Adam Bennette of ETC, the eight-page document (available in full here - PDF) lays out his views and interpretations of the contents of the second draft.
The Professional Entertainment Lighting Products Ecodesign task group - the body that represented the industry during the public consultation - said the situation was "far more positive" following the Commission's
featured content

Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

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Canada - Solotech has announced the appointment of Jason Howard as director of operations for the Ottawa office, effective 5 September 2018.
In this role, Howard will lead the operational activities, including the integration of advanced equipment and technology for clients for all the segments of expertise (government, business, cultural and sports facilities) of the sales and integration division.
Jason has been working in project and operations management for almost 20 years and his areas of expertise include quality assurance, strategic planning and process improvement.
(Jim Evans)

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Germany - Phil Myers has joined German IP video, audio and control specialist Lawo as senior director of IP Systems. In this newly created role, Myers will coordinate the IP product portfolio and core technology development across the Lawo business as well as supporting the Advisory Board with strategic and technology direction during this fast-changing transitional period in the broadcast industry.
Myers previously held the role as IP product manager for SAM (Snell Advanced Media) and Grass Valley, a Belden Brand. Additionally, Myers has undertaken technical product management and head of technology positions at Pinnacle Systems Inc. (now part of Avid Technology), Sony and CVP.
Myers comments: “It’s great to be part of a team with such a great vision about the future of our industry and that has the commitment, passion, right people, and leading-edge IP audio, vid

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UK - At PLASA 2018, Artistic Licence will be launching daliGate quad, a product that integrates DALI with Art-Net and DMX/RDM. Also new is Rail-Split RJ45, a premium DIN rail splitter developed in response to high customer demand. And for powerful yet economical DMX control, we are proud to be showing the stylish matisse range.
Artistic Licence CEO and product designer Wayne Howell will be present throughout the show to answer questions. Howell is also hosting a seminar on the latest news and views on industry control protocols at 1.30pm on Sunday, 16 September.
daliGate quad is an ethernet-to-DALI interface providing four DALI circuits. It is compatible with Art-Net or sACN and can convert between DMX, RDM and DALI. This means that an Art-Net capable lighting desk can now directly control DALI gear in just the same way as DMX.
Learn more about daliGate quad an

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UK - Chauvet Professional will showcase some of the latest products from its Maverick, STRIKE, Ovation and COLORado series of fixtures at PLASA 2018 on 16-18 September at London Olympia. The ranges have been making their mark on the theatrical and touring scene this summer, being specified for shows on Broadway and concerts by bands like Counting Crows and Nine Inch Nails.
Among the highlights at the Chauvet Professional stand J30 will be the Maverick Storm 1 Wash. The newest addition to the award-winning Maverick line of moving fixtures, the high-output (over 6000lm) Storm 1 Wash has an IP65 rating, making it suitable for outdoor festival use.
Another fixture for outdoor use is the STRIKE P38, a compact IP65-rated blinder that delivers a punchy output from its 90W warm white LED source. An emulated “amber shift” warms the colour temperature of the light as it dim

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Germany - Pro audio specialist DirectOut Technologies has announced a new hardware version of its popular EXBOX.BLDS automatic redundancy switch.
As a result of requests from FOH engineers all over the world, the hardware - which has proved to be a life-safer for big playout systems in live environments - will ship with a modular MADI interface in order to cover all applications and formats in multichannel MADI systems.
CTO Stephan Flock explains the reason for a new hardware revision five years after its launch: “EXBOX.BLDS has always been a special product for DirectOut, since it is one of our typical problem-solving solutions. Very many live systems and broadcast environments worldwide rely on our fail-over hardware to ensure proper signal transmission in redundant recording setups or playout rigs.”
However, one of the limitations of the EXBOX.BLDS hardw

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USA/Europe - Nine-piece tribute band Brit Floyd has recently switched to DPA d:facto vocal microphones.
Brit Floyd’s tenor saxophonist Ryan Saranich had already switched to a d:vote CORE 4099 Instrument Microphone and was delighted with the results he was getting, so he approached DPA’s business development manager Vincent Gabriel Antonini and asked him for vocal mic recommendations. After a meeting with Antonini in Philadelphia where the band tried out the d:facto during a soundcheck, Brit Floyd sound engineers Gareth Darlington and Andrea Pellegrini were so impressed that they recommended them for the entire vocal line up.
His views were reinforced by sound engineer Andrea Pellegrini, who recently started working with the band. A self-proclaimed fan of DPA microphones, Pellegrini says: “I’ve loved d:facto mics from the very beginning because they’re transp

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Visual Horizon Communications (VHC), a St. Paul, Minnesota-based boutique staging company, has taken delivery of Claypaky Axcor Spot 300 fixtures. One of the first in the US to acquire Axcor Spots, part of Claypaky’s new Axcor 300 family of moving LED fixtures, VHC has been looking to replace older spots in the company’s lighting inventory.
“We needed to replace some ageing spots, and our last two purchases had been Claypaky equipment,” says lighting designer Bob Wynsteker. “We really like the quality we’re seeing from Claypaky. Their fixtures are built to last.”
When VHC decided to invest in new spots the company staged a shoot-out with other LED fixtures of comparable size to the Axcor Spot. “The Axcor’s brightness, compared to our current spots, was right up there,” says Wynsteker. “Stacked up against the other units, the Axcor consumed less power and

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Japan - Music club Live Roxy Shizuoka has added a permanent installation of Ayrton Ghibli, MagicDotR and CosmPixR fixtures to enhance the experience of the bands that play there and the audience who come to dance the night away in one of Shizuoka’s latest music venues.
Live Roxy Shizuoka, which has a standing capacity of 882 people, opened in February after Live Roxy’s owner, Mr. Mitsuhiro Matsuura, invested in two Ghibli fixtures, five MagicDot-R, and a central CosmoPix-R for the stage lighting.
“Since I was a teenager it has been one of my long-term dreams to open live music clubs,” says Matsuura, once a band member himself. “When I first discovered Ghibli, Magicdot-R and Cosmopix-R, I felt that they would make my 20year-long dream perfect because not only the artists, but also the Live Roxy audiences, would experience excitement from the effect of those fi

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Estonia - Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) has recently invested in new Robe Spiider and DL7S Profile LED luminaries for their main studios in downtown Tallinn, where they are “making a big impact” in both of the principal studios, and across several genres of television, according to Mihkel Robam, head of AV at ERR.
Robam and his team have been using Robe moving lights since the original workhorse ColorSpot 1200E AT range. More recently they went over to LED, initially with a purchase of LEDWash 300s and now with the latest - 16 x Spiiders and 16 x DL7S Profiles.
Being a state-run organisation, investments go in line with the cap ex spending cycles, and they are also keen to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible.
The latest Robes were used in Ajujaht (Brain Hunt) a reality show that looks for the best new start up ideas. This was record

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UK - Phoenix Audio has confirmed Tukans as its UK distributor. Tukans will offer all Phoenix Audio Technologies’ solutions including the Spider series, the Condor Microphone Beamforming Array, and the Stingray DSP Mixer.
“We are very excited to add Phoenix Audio to our portfolio and look forward to working with them to expand their business in the UK. We are seeing an increase in demand for collaboration accessories, that enhance the experience when using PC based conferencing,” comments Yvonne Womersley, managing director at Tukans. “People are looking for professional level audio and video, that offers the true plug-and-play experience for whatever the room size. With the addition of Phoenix, we are confident that we are able to cover a vast majority of all customers unified collaboration and conferencing needs.”
“We are thrilled to further expand our par

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UK - Bristol Old Vic has enlisted Stage Electrics to supply lighting, AV and sound equipment for a redevelopment that will transform the Theatre Royal’s front of house, studio theatre and other public spaces. This is the biggest refurbishment the Bristol Old Vic has undergone since the renovation of its historic Georgian auditorium in 2012.
Initially, Stage Electrics tendered for all the lighting equipment for the studio theatre’s redevelopment. On successfully winning the tender Stage Electrics’ Steve Woolley met with Tim Streader, chief electrician at the Bristol Old Vic, to finalise the details of the order. “The Bristol Old Vic clearly required LED profile fixtures that could accommodate extensive colour-mixing,” explains Woolley. “After demonstrating different fixtures, we helped the client settle on ETC’s ColorSource Spot. This fixture offers a combinati

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Europe - Avolites’ Ai Q3 media server provided the video oomph for Finnish rockers Sunrise Avenue during their recent European festivals tour. The 2U machine, which supports lossless video playback via Avolites' AiM codec, was powered up by video designer Tim Hornung.
The band performed at festivals including the Nova Rock Festival in Nickelsdorf, Austria and the Moon and Stars Festival in Locarno, Switzerland, as well as others in Germany and Finland.
Sunrise Avenue were backed by a large LED screen, displaying a mixture of live camera feeds of the on-stage action and pre-created visuals, which were produced by Lightborne.
“We wanted to reproduce the look of the band’s recent arena tour, where we had five separate, framed, LED screens hung above the stage,” says Hornung. “To achieve this, we needed to re-programme the visuals to create five virtual

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Denmark - Blackmagic Design reports that all video production for Denmark’s Grøn Festival including IMAG projection is handled by an end to end Blackmagic Design live solution, comprising URSA Broadcast, ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K and Smart Videohub 12G.
Grøn Festival takes place across consecutive dates at eight different locations around Denmark, with the same crew and artists delivering the entire festival schedule. Live events specialist, Deadlight Lydiksen, takes responsibility for live production, handling all aspects of video from a purpose built 12G-SDI outside broadcast (OB) van.
“Grøn is an amazing festival with a concept that really shouldn’t be possible. Everything is built, conducted and packed back up each day, at venues with up to 35,000 spectators. Working from the van makes it easy for us to get in and out quickly each day,” explains Ca

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USA - Singer-songwriter Sam Hunt has supported country music legend Luke Bryan on a series of stadium shows this summer (as well as undertaking solo dates), with a stage set conceived by production designer, Travis Shirley (of TSLD).
To create a three-sided wrap-around, the LD used no fewer than 80 of GLP’s new JDC1 hybrid strobes, provided by Nashville-based Premier Global Production Company (PGP). Although this is the second tour that TSLD has handled the design for, Travis has worked with the artist for several years on a number of TV performances.
Explaining the reasons for choosing the JDC1, the LD states, “When planning the concept a huge factor was the load in/set up time we would be allowed for the shows with Luke. I knew that we needed something that had definition to it and offered the fans an experience of what they’ve come to expect from a Sam Hunt sh

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USA - Electropop artist Halsey has been busy with her Hopeless Fountain Kingdom world tour, following the release of her second studio album of the same name. FOH engineer Simon Thomas (Ariana Grande, Sam Smith, Tracey Chapman) has chosen an SSL L200 console for FOH duties, supplied by Eighth Day Sound.
Having previously used the SSL L500 on a Sam Smith tour, Thomas was familiar with the SSL Live consoles already. The L200 is SSL's mid-scale Live console, with the same accelerated workflow, feature set, and sound quality, in a more affordable package. It has up to 144 fully processed paths and three independent fader tiles side-by-side. "The L200 is a great ergonomic console," says Thomas. "It's fast to set up and use, it’s incredibly powerful, and offers all I need in one space - and the three fader tiles are great."
According to Thomas, the stage line-up f

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USA - Meyer Sound Laboratories co-founder John Meyer will deliver the AES New York 2018 Convention’s Heyser Memorial Lecture on 19 October (Friday) at 6:30pm. Speaking on the topic Taking the Room Out of the Loudspeaker: New Tools for Transparent Reproduction, Meyer will share his expertise on loudspeaker design and applications from his lengthy career the industry.
Meyer first got involved in pro audio in the late 1960s when he started out as designer of custom amplification systems for guitarist Steve Miller. Meyer created the Glyph very large horn loudspeakers and he was the in-house loudspeaker designer at San Francisco’s McCune Sound Service.
In the 1970s, his audio research at the Institute for Advanced Musical Studies in Switzerland led to his first patent awarded for a low-distortion horn design. In 1979 he co-founded (with his wife, Helen) Meyer So

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Singapore - Adam Hall Asia hosted an APAC distributor summit at the company's showroom in Singapore on 23-24 August.
Just the second summit of its kind for Adam Hall Asia - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adam Hall GmbH Germany - the event welcomed more than 20 partner companies from 16 countries, with distributors from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Republic of Fiji attending for the first time. Members of the product managers and business development teams from Germany, alongside Adam Hall Group COO Markus Jahnel, were also in attendance.
Jahnel comments: “I would like to emphasise how important the partners who attended this meeting are for the international growth and success of the Adam Hall Group."
Chandan Mahtani, managing director of Adam Hall Asia, adds: “The whole meeting was characterised by a fantastic team spirit. It was evident how essential

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USA - Audinate has announced the availability of Dante Adapter Modules, designed for the production of cost-effective, compact, manufacturer-branded Dante audio adapters and low-channel count audio devices. Dante Adapter Modules are pre-programmed and are easily integrated into larger host devices to provide Dante network support without the need for PCB design and manufacturing, component procurement and programming, significantly reducing time-to-market.
The Dante Adapter Modules family contains six models - single and dual-channel analogue input, single and dual-channel analogue output, 2 in / 2 out AES3, and 2 in/2 out USB. These modules can be used to create custom-featured adapters or incorporated directly into low-channel count endpoint products such as powered speakers, direct boxes and more.
Using the same high-quality field-tested components as the Dante AV
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