Artistic Licence has developed a custom colour-changing LED module called ‘Street LED’ specifically for a new installation that has just opened in Plymouth, Devon. The Plymouth Pannier market project was designed and installed by Pyramid Productions using an all-Artistic Licence system. Individual control of the Street LED modules was provided by an LVD-12 in the base of each tower. Each LVD-12 was controlled by a Show-Control 60-channel DMX512 controller.

MDG’s Non-Stop haze, fog and low fog generators, which come with a 10-year warranty, are now available in the UK from AC Lighting Ltd. MDG machines employ CO2 gas for their propellant and have an in-built Automatic Purging System (APS) which purges the heating module after the first heating cycle and after every emission of fog, preventing residual build up and clogging. The complete range includes the Atmosphere and Touring Atmosphere Haze Makers, the MAX 3000 and MAX 5000 Fog Makers, the ICE Fog low fog generator and ICE Fog Touring low fog generator. The ICE FOG models can produce an overwhelming effect of pure white fog capable of filling an area up to 1000 cubic metres.

A unique hazing system is encompassed in the Atmosphere models that utilises a safe mineral oil that is heated to a precise temperature and infused with inert CO2 gas to exponentially reduce particle size (0

Le Maitre, the name behind a respected range of pyrotechnics, smoke generators and theatre effects for the entertainment industry, has recently restructured.

The Peterborough-based company, with offices in Mitcham and both Canada and the USA, has taken steps not only to remove some previously held misconceptions, but also to expoit its growing presence in a range of new markets.

The most immediate change is the removal of the word ‘fireworks’ from the company name; from now on it will face the industry simply as Le Maitre Ltd. In the UK, Rick Wilson will continue as sales director, working in the company’s more traditional markets, whilst director Karen Haddon will concentrate on the contracts side of the business, developing Le Maitre’s presence in the touring and production markets. Display manager Richard Huffam will service clients on the contracts side, w

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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

Audience members attending Hugh Whitemore’s new play God Only Knows at The Vaudeville Theatre in London may not realise that they are witnessing a small revolution in theatre sound design: Aura associate Robert Tory and Aura director John Leonard have decided to make it the West-End’s first ‘mixing-desk free’ show . . .

The original touring equipment list, supplied to the production by Autograph Sound, included a Yamaha 02R digital desk, along with an Akai S6000 sampler, playing out through Richmond Sound Design’s AudioBox and controlled by RSD’s Showman show-control program to replay the atmospheric sound effects mix, and to ‘fly’ a sinister helicopter effect around the auditorium for the play’s denouement. Both Tory and Leonard, along with Aura’s show-control expert Scott George, were keen to investigate the latest option fo

Following the growing success of the beyerdynamic conference products, beyerdynamic (GB) Ltd have signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Biamp Inc to represent their full product range in the UK. The Biamp product line has found increasing applications in conference applications and is a perfect partner for both the beyerdynamic MCS and MCW product ranges. Commenting on the appointment, John Midgley, managing director of the beyerdynamic UK operation stated: "This is an important product line for us and comes at a great time with the success we have had in the conference and distance learning markets. Now with the Audia product we can integrate systems even further and offer a complete, integrated solution to this growing market sector." Biamp have recently launched the Audia Digital Audio Platform as an open architecture configurable audio matrix system, allowing inst

Production Resource Group company Fourth Phase has announced the opening of a London facility to service the theatrical and corporate theatre market, with Alan Thomson at the helm as managing director. Fourth Phase West London (formerly Production Arts Europe), providing large-format projection systems, has been relocated to this location. Rental operations are based in Croydon, while a sales office is located in Central London.Thomson told PLASA Media: "Fourth Phase London is a small compact facility incorporating the consolidated inventory of The Spot Company, Midnight Design and projection equipment from Production Arts. Our approach is very targeted, assisting designers who are looking for a personalised, friendly and professional service. The rental team is comprised of James Hall and Jedd Hamilton. In the coming months, we will incorporate a state-of-the-art CAD WYSIWYG facili

ARX's range of SPL Series Powered Integrated Loudspeakers has been expanded with the release of the new SPL 20 Powered Arrayable Trapezoidal Sub Woofer. Featuring a single 18" (460mm) long-throw driver, the SPL 20 provides extended low frequency output from 35-100Hz in an Arrayable trapezoidal reflex-loaded package, for use in flown or ground stacked multi-cabinet loudspeaker systems. The SPL 20's fully integrated amplifier/speaker combination offers ARX's propriety ISC system protection and CoolPort technology, ensuring maximized high power output whilst retaining low distortion and providing sonic accuracy. Designed as a complementary sub-bass cabinet for SPL 12 and SPL 10 arrays, the SPL 20 can easily be used with other speaker systems. Since its control electronics and amplifier are built-in, the SPL 20 is the perfect add-on when more extended low frequency output is required. T

The Greater London Authority in temporary residence in Westminster has contracted Recreation Sound to supply the conference equipment necessary for the public council meetings for sound reinforcement, broadcast to news media and for live transmission on the GLA website. To assist them in this, Recreation Sound opted for a beyerdynamic MCS system: "We looked at different systems for the GLA system, and we were impressed by the sound quality of the beyer MCS system," commented Mark Trigg, managing director of Recreation Sound. John Kensington is the system operator and was impressed by the ease of the system’s operation: "I control everything from the laptop. In the excitement of the discussions and debates, the participants can forget to turn on their microphones and it’s as easy as a mouse-click for me. We leave Ken's [Livingstone] mic on all the time as he has

Audace Ltd, the audio control specialist, has released V1.04 of their Intelligent Wall Plate software. The wall plates interface to digital mix processors such as the Allen & Heath DR Series to provide inexpensive, easy-to-use but configurable control of the audio environment by unskilled operators. New features include free Windows GUI available from the Audace website for configuration of systems; wall panels can now control up to four audio channels simultaneously; the 'range' of volume control can be limited at configuration stage; switches can be programmed as mutes, presets, source selects or no function; switches can be configured as additive or mutually-exclusive in function, interfaces with Allen & Heath V2.10 system software which eliminates the need for an optional remote control port, thus reducing overall system cost significantly.

Audace managing director Bryan Waters com

Europe’s largest outdoor advertising screen is sited on the C&A building in central Berlin’s famous Kurfurstendam, and is fully integrated into the architecture of the building. It features 100sq.m of Lighthouse LVP502 screen modules, measuring 10 panels wide by 8 high. The whole of this part of central Berlin has been substantially rebuilt in recent years and the new screen will be the eye-catching centrepiece for one of the city’s liveliest streets. Statistically, the site offers advertisers the opportunity for their commercials to be seen by more people than anywhere else in the city. Media! AG carried out the installation, and will operate the screen and its control system, while advertising sales and marketing are being handled by MIM in Hamburg.

Advertisers include blue chip companies, with the first to sign up being C&A themselves, and Media! AG anticipates the

The long awaited release of the NJD Mirage Colour Mixing System has arrived. Shown in its prototype 12V format at the PLASA Show 2000 the Mirage has received eight more months’ development and now boasts many additional features including a 30V version that now allows up to 64 heads to be connected to one power pack. The Mirage works on the RGB colour-mixing principle. By using microprocessors to mix minute amounts of colour from the three 50W dichroic filtered lamps, a choice of 65,000 colours can be projected onto any convenient surface. Accessories include, a downlighter kit for flush fitting (with a choice of black, white, silver and gold cover plates); a swivel bracket fitting for surface-mounting or 'G' clamping, that can be pointed in any direction and at any angle; an uplighter bracket to enable subtle wall illumination (particularly useful for low ceilings); and an uplight

Theatre Electronics, based in India, have now released the first version of their new software product ‘Theatre Visual’. The software is a PC-based virtual lighting console that outputs DMX512 via the Artistic Licence DMX-Dongle II. The system was recently used to provide lighting effects for a sound and light show presented by the Tata Group: the system comprised over 250 channels for intelligent luminaires, 240 for dimmers and 12 relay channels. Show synchronisation between light, sound and video was controlled by the Theatre Visual software package. Designer Naresh Bajaj commented: "I would like to thank Artistic Licence for their support in helping us to complete this project successfully and on time." Theatre Electronics can be contacted on the e-mail address below:

The Royal Albert Hall has recently purchased eight Clay Paky Stage Zoom 1200s for use in the famous auditorium. Supplied by Clay Paky and Pulsar reseller AC Lighting Ltd, the Stage Zoom units will be used to complement all visiting showcase events. Technical manager Mark Jones explained why he chose the Stage Zoom: "Due to the diverse nature of the shows in the hall and the varying distance that the units are from the stage, we were looking for a zoom profile with high light output. After a product comparison of all the 1200 moving head projectors on the market, we chose the Zoom because it is exceptionally bright with good colour mixing, the gobos can be changed easily, it is quiet and most importantly, reliable."

Multiplex, the Australian company renowned for its on-time completion of the Stadium Australia for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, is currently working on upgrading Chelsea Football Club's Stamford Bridge ground. As part of this, its on-site contractor SVT were asked to look at the arrangements for evacuation in cases of emergency such as bomb threats. Deciding that a new system was required they turned to a partnership of ASL's world-leading PA equipment and Navica Ltd's rack-building expertise for this flagship installation. ASL's products from the core of the Incident Evacuation system, which will be used to control and evacuate the crowd inside the stadium. The primary fire evacuation system, in this case, will continue to use conventional sounders but should it be necessary, ASL's system can be configured to be fully compliant to the standards required of a primary fire evacuation system.

Pioneer GB has introduced the futuristically-designed CDJ-1000, which includes a range of innovative new features such as Vinyl Emulation, Wave Display, Multi-Media Card (MMC) and Loop In and Out Adjust. The CDJ-1000 provides a creative universe limited only by the imagination of the DJ - entirely irrespective of favouritism towards either CD or Vinyl. With its design rooted in CD and sampling technology, the CDJ-1000 is modelled on a traditional vinyl deck. With the world’s largest touch-sensitive Jog Dial, designed to faithfully and accurately emulate the characteristics of a turntable. This allows DJs to treat CDs exactly the same way as they would a vinyl record: cueing, pitch-bending, back-spinning and even scratching.

The Wave display reads every track on the CD and displays the corresponding sound level in a graphical format. This enables the DJ to cue up a track just as t

Vari-Lite Inc partnered this month with Clearwing Productions Inc. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to increase the availability of Vari*Lite automated lighting equipment for a variety of entertainment, corporate and special events throughout the United States. Clearwing Productions evaluated the future of the automated lighting market for several months before adding VL2402 wash luminaires and VL2202 spot luminaires to its wide variety of production services. "The partnership with Clearwing Productions is another step in our ongoing effort to increase the availablity and use of Vari*Lite products," said Ken Matthews, vice-president of sales and marketing at Vari-Lite. "Clearwing is a proven leader in production services, and we are proud to associate Vari-Lite with a company that has secured a solid reputation for delivering only the highest quality products and services."

Members of the ALD (Association of Lighting Designers) and the STLD (Society of Television Lighting Directors) along with other lighting designers have been invited to Wybron's Open Day for a demonstration of the Autopilot II system. The demonstration will be held at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, where the Autopilot II is currently in use on the production of The Witches of Eastwick. Autopilot II is Wybron's automated followspot system, which is very easy to set up, use and monitor from a PC. Lighting designer Kevin Burgess will demonstrate its full potential and show how it's used in Witches. "We are really excited to have Kevin Burgess, the true Autopilot II ‘expert’, with us on the Open Day," says Mike Goldberg, manufacturer's representative for Wybron, who is arranging the event, which takes place at 3pm on May 25th. Goldberg can be contacte

Outline, the Italian loudspeaker designer and manufacturer, has announced the addition of a 'Joey' to its Kanguro (pronounced kangaroo) range of ultra portable sound systems. 'Joey' was the project name, which will not be used to market this latest product in the Kanguro range. The KW1215A is a self-powered loudspeaker system which allows the High Pack to be placed inside the Sub for transport. Amplifiers for the system have been developed in-house by Outline and are fully Digital. Each module produces 450W into 8 Ohms and there is a module in each of the KW1215A cabinets.

Barco’s high-performance projection systems have been selected for the Italian Museum Cinema in Turin. This tall museum in Antonelli’s Mole covers 3200sq.m, and is full of cinema exhibits. Euphon, one of Italy’s leading specialists in broadcast, communication and AV integration, has installed 10 Barco 708 Series CRT and 2 Barco 6000 Series LCD projectors. They were chosen because of the unmatched image quality. The Museum of Cinema, an ancient Temple of the Jewish Community, is home to five levels of exhibitions with thousands of film posters, photographs, books, periodicals, paintings, prints and film equipment. A journey through the magic of film provides the visitors a course on the archeology of cinema and the various stages of film production to end in the spectacular and immense Temple Hall, the heart of the museum. In this area, visitors can relax, watch two Ital

Studio Brussel is one of Belgium's most vibrant radio stations catering for the dance-orientated youth market. For their annual party this year they decided to go for a full-on festival held in Kuipke, the old velodrome in Ghent. A total of seven different venues were used to showcase the best of both Belgian and international talent. The main stage was in Kuipke and featured acts such as the Postmen, 28 days, Starflam, the Guano Apes and many more. Acoustic sessions took place in the Casino with the likes of Novastar, Monza and Luc de Vos, while other attractions included a drive-in movie theatre, cabaret, and DJ sets from Cut la Roc and Luke Slater. The welcome area included a live broadcast studio and a display of artwork from famous Belgian artist Panamarenko.

Dee Sound of Belgium was responsible for supplying the audio requirements for this high profile event. Both the main stage

Theatres in London, Manchester and Brighton have become the latest in a growing number of performing arts venues to use a high-tensile wire grid system to deliver safe and easy access to high level lighting and sound equipment. In each case, the system specified has been Cablenet, a product designed and manufactured by Slingco Ltd, a family-owned company based in Rochdale and one that has virtually captured the market since becoming the first UK company to install a wire grid system just four years ago.

The last three months have seen contracts totalling over £150,000 completed with Cablenet systems being installed at the Brighton Dome Museum, Stratford Performing Arts Centre (SPAC) and the Zion Art Centre, joining a client list that already includes RADA, Bridgewater Hall and the Tron Theatre among its members. The Cablenet system consists of high-tensile steel cable woven and tensio

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