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Jon Stanley has joined beyerdynamic as product manager for XTA and biamp systems. He will be the technical contact for XTA and biamp, responsible for systems integration, customer support and as a feedback portal for product development. He will also assist with technical support for beyerdynamic's conference products with particular emphasis on specialist software applications to configure systems to specific applications. With an impressive history within the broadcasting industry, Jon's first position was as a presenter and sales executive for a local radio station in Shaftsbury. Following this, a position of IT product manager for the radio automation system Enco DAD with The Audio Connection supporting over 80 UK radio stations, as well as facilities in Europe and the Middle East.

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Hayden Laboratories Ltd, exclusive UK distributor for Rane products, has launched the Rane DA 26 distribution amplifier - a neat 1U splitter/mixer device providing a one-box solution for all installers of paging and background music systems.

The Rane DA 26 provides a paging preamplifier, dynamics processor, crossover, distribution amplifier and remote-level-control in one unit. It can serve up to six zones, routing a mono Program Source and a Priority Page Source. The program source is processed by an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit with adjustable target level, ratio and attack/decay. The Priority/Page Input features automatic signal detection and remote zone assignment. Automatic program attenuation with a range of 0dB to -80dB allows mic/line mixing, talk-over or Priority-Replaces-Program operation.

Each of the six outputs can distribute full range, high pass or low pass prog

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Strand Lighting has further strengthened its position in London with a move to a large studio office facility in Hammersmith. A result of recent expansion, the move will enable all operations and services of the UK Trading Division to be conducted under one roof.

The 100-year-old mews building, formerly recording studios, now houses the sales office, credit control and project management team, a large showroom, impressive training facilities and will also be home to the new London Service Centre. Offering a new base for the sales team and a total package for clients, sales director Ivan Myles told PLASA Media: "This is another positive step forward for Strand, which is now consolidating its position by being able to offer improved customer service with larger stock and a faster response time to customers." The move comes after six productive months in temporary offices in Ful

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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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The quiet town of Hay on Wye annually plays host to a world-famous literary event which regularly attracts over 60,000 visitors. The Sunday Times sponsored’ festival runs over 11 days and during that time features over 200 events across three venues. During the festival, visitors get to hear presentations from celebrities ranging from Kate Adie and Germaine Greer to Melvyn Bragg and Louis de Bernieres.

However, one of the big names this year caused quite a buzz in the town - ex-president of the USA Bill Clinton attended the festival to deliver the keynote address entitled ‘Conflict Resolution’. Paul Elkington of Theatre Vision has been the technical director for the festival for the past 14 years, and chose Zero 88’s new Fat Frog desk to control his rig of Martin Mac 250s, Par cans and theatre luminaires.

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The 12 Bar Club, famously voted the Best Live Music Venue in London by Time Out magazine, has taken delivery of a new 16-channel Soundcraft Spirit LX7. The intimate venue has recently played host to Nigel Kennedy, Lambchop, Mark Eitzel, Billy Bragg and the Jesus & Mary Chain’s William Reid, and with four acts a night, seven nights a week, the new console is already being put through its paces.

Paul Gilbert, engineer and on-line TV webcaster for the 12 Bar Club, knows how well the LX7 is coping with the demands placed upon it. "We’d been using a Spirit Live 3 for years. The longest anyone’s been working here is seven years and the desk was here before he started, so we figured it was time to get a new console. The Club is extremely small and the control room is tiny, so we knew we needed a really small console with plenty of features and outputs. And, as about 40

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Kilmarnock Palace Theatre in Scotland has been re-equipped with new Sennheiser radio microphone and infra-red systems as part of a National Lottery grant-funded refurbishment. The Northern Light-supplied audio upgrade includes five dual-channel EM 3032-U wireless RF receivers, 10 SK 3063 miniature bodypack transmitters with MKE 2 Gold tie-clip mics, and a dual-channel, infra-red transmission system for use by the hearing and sight impaired. As a major boost to accessibility in the theatre, the infra-red system has been instaled to privide transmission to stethoset (wireless headphone) and neckloop receivers. The system consists of a Sennheiser SI 1015 two-channel wideband modulator, four SZI-1029-UK large area radiators in the auditorium, and 20 HDI-302 two-channel stethoset and 10 R15/O/L neckloop receivers. Northern Light’s Eddy O’Hare described the system as "a no-com

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The United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) has announced that the deadline for submissions to its 2002 Architecture Awards Program will be 2 October 2001. Nominations will be accepted for projects located anywhere in the world, and new construction, renovations, retrofitting or reuse of structures will be considered. Now in its ninth year, the Architecture Awards program was established by the group’s Architecture Commission to bring public and professional recognition to architectural projects chosen for their design excellence and ability to resolve the challenges associated with performance spaces. To be eligible for consideration, project construction must have been completed after January 1st 1992. Among last year’s Award winners were the Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio; Theater and Congress Hall in Weimar, Germany; The Lowry Centre in Salford, UK; the

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Le Maitre has had a very busy couple of months, concentrating particularly on the rock n’ roll touring side of the business. Major contracts were awarded, taking advantage of the company’s worldwide distribution network and Prostage II range of professional pyrotechnic effects. The SlipKnot European Tour used rows of Large Flame Projectors and one-second 25ft Stage Gerbs to dramatic effect, as witnessed by a packed UK crowd at Milton Keynes Bowl. Kid Rock toured Europe in May and June, culminating in one night at Brixton Academy with an impressive pyrotechnic effects list, including half-second 25ft Gerbs, Mines and Flame Projectors.

Bon Jovi appeared at 17 venues through May and June, including Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Cardiff in the UK. Being a tour of European stadiums, the design utilised some of the largest stage effects currently available, such as crossettes, mi

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Rental Management System (RMS), has become even faster and easier to use, and the new version of the software will be shown at the PLASA Show. With over 2000 users world-wide, RMS is a market leader in the supply of software for professional rental companies. The software is available in nine languages, including English, German, French and Spanish. New 'cut and paste' shortcuts allow users to easily move items from one job to another, or to convert a job into a (new) packaged item. The multi-sites option also has new features: from within a job, the user may see both the local stock-situation, as well as the situation at the available sites added together. With another mouse-click, all jobs (from the local or from a selection of sites) that hold an item in a given period, can be viewed. The crew-planner is a new module that allows for entering comprehensive labour details. Personnel may

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Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW), part of the fast-expanding Mackie Designs Inc group of pro audio manufacturers, hosted a demonstration of the new KF760 line array solution in Amsterdam during the recent Audio Engineering Society Convention. Delegates and press were treated to a full-scale workout for the array, installed at the Jaap Eden Hal ice rink just minutes from the RAI Convention Centre. Over 150 people attended the event, during which director of research and development David Guinness outlined the technology behind the KF760, and traced its evolution within the EAW family of products. "This is really our second-generation line array, after the KF860 - which became a highly specialized product for sight-line events such as television shows, the Superbowl and things like that," he said. "It never got used a lot in touring, however. It was a big cabinet, and we learned

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The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) has defeated the UK Government at the European Court of Justice over the UK’s implementation of the Working Time Directive. The UK’s Working Time Regulations 1998, which implements the Directive, entitles workers to a minimum of 20 days paid leave each year. But employees are not entitled to the leave until they have completed a qualifying period of 13 continuous weeks with the same employer. This means that many freelance and contract workers who work for less than 13 weeks have been denied a right to take paid leave.

BECTU launched a legal challenge to the UK legislation and on 26 June 2001 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) accepted the opinion of the Advocate General of the ECJ, which stated that national governments may not exclude groups of workers from the rights that the directive gives them.

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As part of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Edwin Shirley Staging, the international staging and structure specialist, has built a bespoke 30m high needle-shaped tower, from which a £1 million Mercedes Benz Gullwing car will be balanced to help celebrate the luxury car company’s Centenary. The car will be placed on its nose and will be on display to visitors during the three-day motor show.

The ESS structure has been specially designed by Gerry Judah, the renowned designer behind such projects as the model of Auschwitz in the Holocaust Galleries at the Imperial War Museum and Linkbridge 2000 in the Woolwich Dockyard Estate, as well as last year’s central display at Goodwood. Patrick Woodroffe, known worldwide as a leader in lighting design and whose recent projects include Lord of the Dance II and the Rolling Stones tours, is lighting the structure. The festival, which open

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Fred Bentham’s Memorial Service took place yesterday at the Palladium Theatre in London. Over 100 colleagues, friends and family members attended the Memorial Service, which was a celebration of the life of the man who many regard to be the founding father of the lighting industry. Roger Fox introduced a number of tributes to Fred from colleagues in the industry. Francis Reid talked about Fred’s insight into the art of theatre and its technical requirements, whilst Brian Legge and Alan Luxford of Strand recalled their time at Strand with Fred and his early involvement with the ABTT. Bob Anderson spoke of Fred’s impact on lighting at the BBC during the 1950s and his work on the Riverside Studios, whilst John Watt paid tribute to the man he felt had played a large part in designing the equipment most in the lighting industry grew up with. Richard Pilbrow reminded the audi

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Larry Sider founded the School of Sound four years ago, creating a forum that united a diverse collection of individuals involved in all aspects of film, AV and multi-media sound production - for a lively interchange of experiences and ideas.

Sider’s own background is in film: Chicago born, he went to film school at NorthWestern University and has worked as a sound designer and editor for 25 years. He settled in the UK in 1979, and in addition to his sound and film work, teaches and lectures on various audiological topics at various academies, including the Royal College of Art and the National Film & Television School.

The fourth School of Sound annual symposium was held this year at the Royal Scottish College of Dramatic Art, Glasgow. The four-day event attracted over 180 people from 15 countries and included presentations and talks by those at the leading edge of the arts an

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Showlight 2001 shall never be forgot - Tony Gottelier walks us through the highlights.

After having spent the weekend in Helensborough with friends, and undertaking several outdoor excursions immersed in Scottish mist, as opposed to Scotch mist which is something else entirely (and of which more later), it was quite a shock to wake up to unexpected and blazing heat for the first day of Showlight 2001. However, this weather was certainly appropriate as, in a very literal sense, the sun seemingly bathed this fourth quadrennial colloquium on entertainment lighting, in a golden glow throughout.

Huge credit has to go to the committee for the success that Showlight was once again. Some of the members of this panel will be mentioned in this article, some will not, if only because their roles were more behind the scenes, as it were, but all deserve fulsome praise for their contribution to a

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PLASA held its most successful AGM to date on Thursday 14 June in the stunning setting of Coombe Abbey, near Coventry. Just under 70 Members attended, including for the first time, a number of Associate Members. One Member even made the trip from Europe.

During the AGM, both PLASA Chairman Mick Hannaford and Treasurer Sammy de Havilland reported a successful year for the Association, covering the wide range of initiatives that had been introduced in the past 12 months.

In his keynote speech, Chairman Mick Hannaford reflected on the changes taking place within the industry and the need for companies to equip themselves to cope with a rapidly changing world. He emphasized the role that PLASA had to play in this, and also stressed the need for more training, an ambition that the Association has given a further boost to with the recent establishment of its training and education steering

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The opening of Bounce at the Roundhouse Theatre, by Nick Grace Management, brings a major international production of a highly-rated dance company’s work to London.

Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe first visited the BouncE Streetdance Company in Sweden in 2000, with the troupe’s management and producers, to guage the potential for a major international production of the highly-rated company’s work. Woodroffe recalls: "We saw that we could translate what they were doing into something even more exciting. Les Brotherston became involved as designer and came up with this wonderful set design for the Roundhouse, on the understanding that Bounce would first do production rehearsals in Ealing, then a six-week run of the show in Sweden before moving to London."

Brotherston’s set has a wide central stage and two raised ‘satellite’ side stages

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Utopium Lighting designed and provided all of the lighting for the spectacular London launch party for Hollywood’s latest blockbuster, Pearl Harbour. Utopium’s team worked 16-hour shifts through the scorching bank holiday weekend at their Bristol offices preparing equipment prior to installation on a tight time-frame at the University of London Senate House. Over 240 lights were installed in little over eight hours into six themed areas and two reception areas, under the direction of the company’s MD Colin Bodenham who designed the whole show.

The building’s façade was spectacularly lit with lighting and custom projection of the Stars & Stripes theme, whilst the skyline was pierced by two authentic Second World War searchlights. Inside, art deco silk flames in each of the alcoves hid an assortment of lights washing the room in red, white and blue, with an array

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White Light and The Moving Light Company have been selected to supply the lighting equipment to the West End transfer of Trevor Nunn's acclaimed Royal National Theatre production of the classic musical My Fair Lady. The production, which stars Martine McCutcheon and Jonathan Pryce, opened at the National's Lyttelton Theatre in March to critical acclaim. It will return to its original West End home, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, in July: the original production of the show held the record as the longest-running show at that theatre until its achievement was finally beaten by Miss Saigon, which also used lighting equipment from White Light.

The lighting for the new production of My Fair Lady is designed by David Hersey, making his return to musical theatre lighting after his 18-month sojourn sailing around the world. For the Drury Lane production, Hersey, his associate Jenny Kagan and pr

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For the first time, a comprehensive study of the effects of theatrical smoke has set absolute limits on the amount of smoke that can be used safely on stages.

The report, jointly commissioned by Actors’ Equity Association and the League of American Theatres and Producers, concluded that Actors are at risk when exposed to "elevated or peak levels of glycol smoke and mineral oil." However, it also noted that if exposure levels are kept below the limits established in the study, actors should "not suffer adverse impacts to their health or their vocal abilities."

Further details of the report will appear in the July issue of Lighting&Sound International, being mailed on July 15. If you would like to receive a copy of the magazine, e-mail news@plasa.org

Further information on the study can be found at

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Amsterdam’s Museum Square provided the ideal setting for an audition of Meyer Sound’s new M3D system. Mike Mann reports.

The audition in question was a classical concert by the Royal Concert Orchestra of a range of classical music - the first performance of its kind to be streamed live on the Internet in The Netherlands.

The Meyer System came courtesy of Hof Audio - The Netherlands’ biggest Meyer Sound user, and owner Bart Hof regards himself as being part of a team - which means that he’s not afraid to voice criticisms. "I’m a true Meyer fan," he explained, "which means that while I can be extremely critical, I can also understand where the product concepts are coming from." The decision to purchase an M3D line array system was, he added, based on a need for a system that would cope with outdoor events: "I knew that we needed a

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