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PLASA’s Executive Committee has a new face following the recent elections to decide on the line-up for 2001. Neil Darracott (pictured right), design engineer at Total Fabrications Ltd, now joins the committee, following a closely run contest which saw the final votes cast on December 1st. The elections attracted 123 membership votes in total, compared with 104 last year.

Coming from a rigging and trussing background, Darracott MEng AMIMechE will bring a new perspective to the committee. He joined Total Fabrications at the start of 2000, heading up the design team responsible for the company’s award-winning T2 trussing system; prior to this he worked in a number of fields including broadcasting, lighting, stage machinery, rigging, special projects and demountable structures.

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PLASA Publishing has welcomed a new production manager to the team. Sonja Walker, who joined the company in November following the departure of Nikki Evenden, will be involved with all PLASA Publications.

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Lighting students at Rose Bruford College recently completed a project that allowed them to apply their design skills to a wide range of performance genres. Known as the ‘Related Fields’ project, third year students of the BA (Hons) Lighting Design degree course collaborated with Stage Management and Directing students to create a nightclub environment, an audio-visual performance, a son et lumière and a contemporary dance work.Each team of four lighting designers, two directors and a stage manager was responsible for taking their production from initial concept to full performance over a period of four weeks. With the first two years of the course focused on theatre, this project represented the students’ main opportunity to tackle other types of performance. The work was supervised by visiting tutor Nick Moran, highly experienced in both theatre and corporate events.
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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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PLASA has announced that Neil Darracott (pictured right), design engineer at Total Fabrications Ltd, has been elected to the Executive Committee of the Association following the elections which closed on 1 st December. The elections attracted 123 membership votes in total, compared with 104 last year. Mick Hannaford (Light Processor), the serving PLASA chairman, has been re-elected for his second three-year term, while PLASA Treasurer Sammy DeHavilland of Dare Pro Audio/Deco Leisure, has been re-elected for a three-year term. Newcomer Neil Darracott fills the other three-year term, while Paul Hinkly of LMC Audio, who was co-opted onto the PLASA committee last year, was elected for a further one-year term.Peter Walker of NSR, who was not re-elected, has served on the PLASA Committee for the past six years, and was for much of that time involved with membership issues, particularly related

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UK pro audio rental company Dreamhire has extended its influence in Europe by entering into a joint venture with Funky Junk in Sweden and Italy. Funky Junk's branches in Stockholm and Milan now carry a range of Dreamhire rental equipment from manufacturers such as Neve, Neumann and Urei, as well as acting as a point of reference to anyone wanting to access Dreamhire's entire equipment list.

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At the NAMM Show (Anaheim, California, 18-21 January 2001) Sennheiser will be launching the RS30, 40, 60 and 80 wireless headphones. As the showcase model in the series, the RS60 uses SRS Labs' headphone enhancement technology to include switchable surround sound, delivering a realistic and spacious listening experience through stereo headphones. SRS processing is based on the same psycho-acoustic principles which allow us to hear sounds in three dimensions, and is unique because it achieves without the use of special recording techniques. Frequency response is a full 20Hz to 20kHz, with up to 100dB of sound output.

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AEI Music have announced that its latest hard-disc music storage system will be launched on February 1st 2001. The new system, says AEI, combines the benefits of hard-disc storage with the 'Human Touch' of experienced music programmers, without relying on computer modelling to choose the music, thereby ensuring that repetition is avoided, and tracks 'sound good together'. ProFusion is a closed format system that can be scheduled up to the minute, hour, day, month and year, allowing for promotional items and messages to be stored alongside the music.

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Fisher Productions were specially commissioned to organise the recent official opening of the British Museum's Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, in conjunction with the events department of the British Museum. The project involved the arrangement and co-ordination of the entertainment and technical support aspects of the opening, as well as the creation of a spectacular Son et Lumiere. The two-acre inner courtyard of the British Museum, hidden for 150 years and now transformed into Europe's largest covered square, provided an impressive setting for the four-minute Son et Lumiere, which was performed to a revised arrangement of Haydn's 'The Creation', by Stephen Warbeck. The finale involved shafts of light shining through the glass and steel roof from a specially-erected crane outside the building. The Great Court was officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen.

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Stage Accompany has introduced the latest addition to the Entertainer Series - the E27. Specifically designed as a compact, medium-power full-range loudspeaker, the E27 is usable as a sound reinforcement system without the need for additional bass cabinets.

The Series has a frequency range of 55Hz - 30,000Hz, and a continuous power of 400W and is capable of producing high definition, distortion-free sound at both low and high SPLs, up to 127dB. The speakers feature Ribbon Compact Drivers, SA’s exclusive transducer for mid and high frequencies. Because of the directivity of the driver, no compression horn is needed, which eliminates sound colouring.

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This Christmas, along with an increasing number of companies who choose to help the environment and benefit charity at the same time, PLASA will again be making a donation to two charities instead of sending Christmas cards. £600 will be allotted to charity from the savings on Christmas card mailings, while a further £300, collected at this year’s PLASA Show from visitors to the PLASA stand, will be added to the sum. The total of £900 will be donated by the Association to two charities which have been put in place to benefit industry personnel in times of hardship: the PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund and to Light Relief.The team at PLASA Publishing would like to wish all visitors to the PLASA Electronic News site a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

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As there has been a major growth in students signing up for the BA (Hons) Events Management and HND in Events Management courses offered by the UK Centre for Events Management, at Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU), the University is looking for around 120 events industry work placements for its students next year (2001/2002).

Students without previous experience spend 48 weeks working in the events industry, normally with one organisation. A few students undertake two 24-week placements. Students are normally paid a modest salary and, as well as contributing to the day-to-day operation of the business, they are required to undertake a project which will be of lasting benefit to their host organisation.

Martin Wright, senior lecturer at the UK Centre for Events Management at LMU, told L&SI: "There has been a lot of recent media comment about the need for practical, as well as a

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The first major event to utilise Martin Professional’s new MAC 2000 profile spot was the opening of Lotusphere 2000, a conference for software company Lotus Development Corp, which was held at the International Congress Center (ICC) in Berlin. Stage Electrics supplied 28 MAC 2000 profile spots for the event, which featured a large stage set created by Michael Woodage and lit by lighting designer Durham Marenghi. "The brief called for the set to change colour in symphony with the opening video sequence," says Marenghi. "The colour palette was able to match all the colors utilized in the video graphics and faded between them without the associated intermediate and unwanted colours, which was most impressive. The beam-shaping effect was used to light the tall 3D numeric figures at the rear of the set and allowed us to keep the beam completely off the screens. The adjust

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Belgian audio and lighting rental company Flashlight/APR has signed up as the fifth member of the expanding Synco Europe Network of PA companies, while two existing Synco Network members have announced substantial new equipment investments. Flashlight/APR, of Houthalen, Belgium, joins DEE Sound and Light (Belgium), PAS Audio (Holland), Ampco Pro Rent (Holland) and Puro Audio (Portugal) in the network. The latest move means that Belgium now has a full complement of Synco members. Flashlight’s current work is in broadcast (including video production houses and commercial and state-owned TV channels), corporate events, theatre musicals and touring.Flashlight/APR underlined its commitment to Synco with the purchase of 30kW of Renkus-Heinz Synco Touring System (RH-STS) PA, amplifier and drive racks with Crest amplification, a full RH-STS rigging system and multicores, as well as Midas H

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After a number of years at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, where the spiralling success of the event has seen more and more people literally squeezed into the hotel's Westbourne Suite, the 2001 Live! Awards dinner will be held in the Great Hall of Alexandra Palace. The change of venue offers the twin benefits of easily accommodating the large numbers who now wish toattend the Awards, while allowing much easier access to exhibitors and visitors to the Live! Show. The Live! Awards dinner takes place on the evening of Wednesday 7th February 2001, the first day of the Live! Show. In addition, this year, for the first time, you can register online for the Live! Show at the web address below, which also features comprehensive Show information.

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Stagesafe, a company set up to address the training needs of companies in the industry, with particular reference to Health & Safety issues, is now taking bookings for the next round of its Event Health and Safety Awareness Course.

Specially designed for anyone working in the live events industry, the day-long course examines event hazards in detail and covers everything from legal responsibilities to Risk Assessment. The course is open to freelancers, students and groups from companies, venues and student unions, and is fully approved by the Production Services Association. The course runs on the following dates: Bristol (29th Jan 2001), London (31st Jan 2001), Manchester (12th Feb 2001), Birmingham (13th Feb 2001).

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Central London-based Orbital Sound is currently in pre-production for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s musical adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which will make its London debut at Sadler’s Wells this Christmas.

In order to accommodate the complexities of this acclaimed production of Lion, Orbital worked closely with sound designer Scott Myers at all levels to help augment his initial sound design, first created three years ago for the show’s original run at the RSC.

Orbital has invested in the revolutionary new Yamaha PM1D as a world first to operate as the FOH theatre desk. The potential of this desk as part of Orbital’s extensive inventory is set to dramatically change sound design in theatre for both complex sound effects plays and larger musicals.

As Scott Myers explained: "The facilities on the PM1D will enable me to do complex op

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Further to our news story of 27 October, Group One of Farmingdale, New York has officially announced the appointment of Keith Dale as International sales and marketing manager for its Elektralite, the company’s lighting control division. Dale, the founder of lighting control manufacturer Celco, has worked with Group One in a manufacturer/distributor capacity for some 15 years. He told us: “It’s great to be working with the Elektralite team, they’re a great group with an expanding range of control products that deserves a wider international audience. My mission is to increase brand awareness on a global basis and introduce the many advantages of the product line to international distributors and end-users alike.”Dale will be based in London, and can be contacted on: Tel: +44 (0)20 8467 5421, or via the e-mail address below.

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Elstree Sound Associates (ESA) has recently purchased a Midas Heritage 1000 from the London branch of LMC Audio Systems. Celador Productions dry hire a TV sound control room from ESA for the UK version of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ Having already been aware of Midas XL4 and XL3s, ESA were familiar with Midas for their reputation in live sound environment. On being presented with the new H1000, ESA was convinced that the console would work equally well in a broadcast environment. Sound supervisor Kevin Duff commented: "You never know how a desk is going to perform until the red light is on . . . but the H1000 excelled and blew me away with its warm, bright and crisp sound." He was also impressed by the console’s automation, adding: "There are two sound supervisors on 'Millionaire' - Chris Thorpe and myself - and we both have our own personal operatio

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Martin Professional has given its website a new look, in order to give its visitors a more customized experience. Martin has segmented the website into the various lighting industry segments. There are also separate areas for Jem smoke machines and Mach loudspeakers.Users logging on to the site for the first time can customize their visit by choosing a lighting industry sector, and language, so that users are always directed to a sub-site reflective of their background and interests. The 10 different sub-sites cover the following segments: DJ, Club, Touring, Theater, Architectural, TV, Commercial, Leisure, Jem Smoke and Mach Speakers. Each sub-site contains products and case stories relevant to that particular sector, as well as company information, a comprehensive distributor directory page and support area, as well as some fun extras.

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Coe-tech, UK distributors for Coemar and TAS intelligent lighting products, has ended the year on a high note in the live concert and touring market, having enjoyed a high degree of success in establishing the new Coemar CF7 moving light as a must-have tool for many top lighting designers. The award-winning CF7 has now been supplied to top touring artists including Robbie Williams (LD Liz Berry), Steps (LD Vince Foster), Mel C and 5ive (LD Peter Barnes), Sarah Brightman (LD Patrick Woodroffe), the Beautiful South (LD Dave Byars) and Radiohead (LD Andi Watson). The CF7 HE (hard edge) luminaire’s profile was further boosted by winning an LDI 2000 Award.

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QSC Audio has appointed Roger Maycock to the position of product application specialist. Maycock brings a wealth of industry experience to QSC Audio, having served many years as a product trainer, clinician, documentation specialist and journalist. In this newly-created position, he will function as a technical trainer - spearheading QSC’s education programmes while also serving as a spokesperson on technical issues with the press.

Maycock was, until recently, technical consultant to Mix magazine where, he contributed product reviews, applications articles, and feature stories. His work has been published in Electronic Musician, NetMedia, EQ, Pro Sound News, Down Beat, and Music Inc. magazines. He served several years as TASCAM’s marketing support manager and has also served as a product specialist with Fostex and Roland.

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