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Frank Cavanaugh of US band Filter has become the latest high-profile bass player to endorse Crown International's K2 power amplifier as a live performance tool. The bassist takes an austere approach to his signal path: an Ampeg SVT-4PRO head is used as a preamp feeding into the Crown K2 for power, which, in turn, drives an Ampeg SVT-810E enclosure.

The concept of using a pro audio power amplifier in his rig first struck Cavanaugh while Filter was touring with White Zombie several years ago. "Sean [Yseult] used a Crown power amp with her Ampeg and it sounded awesome," he says. "Later on, Staind went out on the road with us and Johnny April also had a Crown in his rack. Johnny and Kevin Briers, the bass tech we both use, showed me how much more ballsy my sound could be with

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In line with the increasing use of video projection in theatrical productions, together with the development of products such as High End’s Catalyst, DHA has put its vast knowledge and experience behind a new company - Scene Change.

Officially launched at this year’s PLASA, Scene Change has been a year in development: housed in a purpose-built studio at Waterloo Road in London, the company will employ state-of-the-art technology in the creation of digital video content specifically for projection.

Scene Change’s aim will be to unite two market sectors - entertainment technology and video projection. The company’s advantage will be its ability to draw on industry-specific knowledge to create original digital video content. Conventional video libraries offer images in a rectangular format suitable for broadcast, but most lighting designers are used to working w

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The National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthen offers visitors a view of botany through the years. L&SI looks at the AV installation.

The National Botanic Gardens, officially opened in 2000, was a hugely ambitious project and the first of its kind for nearly 200 years. The Gardens are set in the Middleton Estate - 586 acres of landscaped park set against the stunning Welsh landscape. It has varied topography, a variety of water features offering diverse aquatic habitats, a range of microclimates, rich wildlife, established woodland and, amazingly in the present day, is virtually free from pollution.

Response to the project has been highly positive - during the first year, the Garden attracted over 250,000 visitors. It boasts the largest glasshouse in Europe, designed by architects Norman Foster and Partners to mirror the contours of the surrounding hills. The Theatre Botanica, a

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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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Andy Ciddor profiles the New Zealand-based lighting manufacturer . . .

If you were setting out to establish an innovative luminaire company, it is unlikely that you would choose to site it in a country with only a handful of professional theatres, and strategically located over 10,000 kilometres from its major markets. Yet that is precisely the situation in New Zealand, the base from which Selecon has launched its international success. It has turned what ought to have been disadvantages in its location into major strengths.

Selecon luminaires can be found in places as disparate as the Opera Bastille in Paris, the Royal Tyrell Museum in Alberta, Canada, Boston Catholic Television, the Grand Theatre in Blackpool, the Sydney Opera House and Santa Monica High School in California. The broad range of products it produces, includes families of fresnels, PC spots, fixed, zoom and condenso

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JR Clancy, specialist in the design and manufacture of rigging systems for theatres around the world, has produced a series of posters designed to demonstrate how theatrical rigging systems work. Originally intended as catalogue illustrations only, the company has had repeated requests to make the images available to end users, new employees, architects, general contractors and students. As a result, they are now offering readers of L&SI the chance to obtain the set of 20” x 28”colour posters - which depict both manual and motorized rigging systems - for free. You can request the posters via the literature section of the JR Clancy website at www.jrclancy.com.

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Although the news may have passed you by at the time, Guildhall Yard in London wrote itself into the history books in 1998 following the discovery, by archaeologists, of a Roman Amphitheatre at the site.

Since then, the remains have been kept under lock and key while a major feat of engineering suspended them in situ between the floors of the Guildhall Art Gallery. The painstaking and lengthy restoration process - costing £1.3million - revealed an arena that was oval in shape and approximately 100m long by 80m wide.

It’s believed that the Amphitheatre was first built in 70AD and would have been the setting for gladiatorial fights, executions and a range of activities, many of them more bizarre, cruel and horrific than anything Hollywood has ever dreamt up. Animal bones, including those of a bear, have been found, as well as remains of a timber drainage system used to carry a

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With so many young pretenders to the ‘superclub’ throne now emerging - many of them modelling their soundscapes around the legendary fabric system - the Clerkenwell club’s owner Keith Reilly and technical manager Dave Parry recently decided it was time to reclaim the higher ground.

They already had the Wavefront sound system, the Bodysonic dancefloor, the Timax sound spatializer and the Red Cycloops, enabling them to zigzag sound through three-dimensional space. But recently, when rumours began to resound through the labyrinths under Smithfield Meat Market that fabric was about to fly a line array, it produced all kinds of frissons among visiting acts.

Given the close relationship the two men had built with Martin Audio and distributor Marquee Audio, it was little surprise they should opt to partially upgrade the Wavefront 8C with the new W8L Line Array. "The

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R.W. Salt Communications, one of the UK’s longest standing wholesaler/distributors has announced the first phase of its scheduled restructure. The RWS branches in Birmingham and Watford have now closed and all products are now distributed centrally from the Manchester head office.

General manager Craig Buckley commented: "We have been distributing all products to customers from Manchester since March 1st this year, and have essentially only been using the satellite depots for bulk stock-holding. In recent years we have seen less of a need for trade counters, and an increased requirement for ex-stock product availability and for reliable next-day delivery. As a result of the central distribution scheme, we have already expanded our Manchester-based technical sales team."

Parallel to the restructure, R.W. Salt have been appointed sole distributor for the new ‘Smar

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Elstree Light & Power (ELP) has acquired the Film and TV assets of Playlight Hire Ltd in administrative receivership. All current contracts and ongoing work will continue un-interrupted operated by Elstree Light & Power. All crew employed by Playlight on these contracts will be retained to ensure continuity.

The administrative receivers hand over to ELP today, and from now on all transactions will be handled by ELP. This acquisition significantly strengthens the ELP equipment stock and product range. In particular by the addition of two Twin Generator trucks, one being 2 x 140kW and the second being 2 x 200kW. With the exception of the twin generators, all Playlight Hire stock will be withdrawn from service pending thorough overhaul and testing. Existing ELP stock will be supplied in the meantime. ELP plans further investment to ensure continuation and improved service to Playlight cus

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Arup Acoustics has been selected from an invited shortlist of international experts to be responsible for the acoustic design of the refurbishment of the Opera Theatre at the Sydney Opera House. Arup’s brief is to achieve the "very best sound in the Opera Theatre".

The Sydney Opera House has been operational for 28 years and has become a worldwide icon, competing as a performance venue and tourist attraction on an international scale. It symbolizes vision and creativity and is one of the busiest arts centres in the world hosting 2,600 performances per year. Arup (the original structural engineer for the building) has an historical association with this iconic building.

Recent work by Jørn Utzon, assisted by Richard Johnson of the Australian firm of Johnson Pilton Walker Architects, has led to the release in May 2002 of the Utzon Design Principles, aimed at guiding th

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Bright Lighting, a developer and manufacturer of LED lighting effects, announced today that it has changed its name to Pixeon. According to Nils Thorjussen: "Pixeon is short for pixilated neon-which is exactly what our debut product, Color Stream, looks like. We want a name that better reflects what we do. At this early stage of our company, we don't expect much confusion resulting from this change." Thorjussen continues: "But most importantly, I want an e-mail address that takes less time to write!"

Color Stream is a dynamic LED lighting effect, which recently received an Award for Design Excellence at the recent PLASA show in London. Each fixture contains a dense array of red, green, and blue LEDs arranged in individual pixels. Each pixel is controlled separately to produce dynamic movement along the tube.

(Lee Baldock)

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Lamba plc have announced a business-as-usual response to the acquisition of loudspeaker giants, Cerwin Vega by the Stanton Group. Sales director Gerry Frost, said: "We will continue to serve all our core markets, of hi-fi, home cinema and professional audio, and under the new ownership can anticipate a faster response time for service and delivery. As UK distributor for Stanton we are delighted that Cerwin Vega has joined the same stable."

The Stanton Group announced the purchase of Cerwin Vega on 3 October. Confirming the company’s successful bid, Stanton president and CEO, Gerard Cohen, stated: "We are very excited about this opportunity to grow and expand our business portfolio. We feel that the strength and heritage of the Cerwin-Vega brand name will be a strong complement to our existing businesses and create synergies in the future. We also clearly recognize

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Creative Technology worked within the imaginative 'Billboard' style set design by Pike, and constructed by Model & Scenic, to deliver a highly enterprising stage presentation for this year’s Conservative Party Conference at the Bournemouth BIC. A single screen was placed within four Scanachrome peel-back billboards which lined the 60ft ‘roadway’ of the stage, so not only could the static display change daily but also CT’s animated one.

A template of the screen was cut to fill a gap in the billboard and Creative Technology rear-projected Powerpoint slides to fill the apertures from two of their Christie X10s. Cameras were jointly supplied by CT and the BBC. While the latter provided feeds (to Creative Technology’s PPU), the TX was returned for transmission on the in-house closed circuit monitors, enabling CT to allow the conference chairman to mute sound an

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In 1992, Audio-Technica introduced the award-winning AT4033 microphone. Now, a decade later, A-T has paid tribute to this classic transducer technology with the launch of the AT4033/CL cardioid condenser microphone.

The AT4033/CL offers exceptional transient response and clean output signal even under the most adverse conditions, say Audio-Technica. A specially contoured, vapour-deposited gold diaphragm provides accurate reproduction of even the subtlest sounds, especially high-frequency signals not easily reproduced by conventional large-diaphragm microphones. The AT4033/CL's symmetrical housing assembly surrounds the microphone capsule, creating an open acoustical environment ideally suited for studio work where natural reproduction of off-axis sound is paramount.

Denise Turner, Audio-Technica's marketing executive said: "The launch of the original AT4033 was a very significan

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Mach Speakers is adding a dedicated top-box and bass reflex subwoofer to its T model line of touring speakers. Designed for high quality live sound reinforcement, the new M14T is a dedicated touring top-box designed to be used with the Mach M181T or new M218T subwoofer while the M218T is a dual 18" frontloaded bass reflex subwoofer specially designed to support the new M14T or M30T Touring Series speakers.

Designed as a dedicated top-box, M14T is an ultra-compact, lightweight speaker designed for high quality live sound reinforcement. It features a high output mid/bass driver with excellent output and clarity in the midrange as well as a 2" compression driver with a 3" diaphragm. The mid-bass driver has a 3" voice coil with windings on the inside and outside of the voice coil former. As a result the driver has a very balanced mass with excellent clarity and stabilit

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London-based Orbital Sound, specialist in the design and supply of audio systems for theatre and musical productions, has underlined its commitment to advanced digital solutions with the acquisition of two new Digico D5 Live mixing consoles.

Orbital’s MD Chris Headlam commented: "We’ve pushed the envelope of large format digital mixing technology for over two years now and the positive reaction we’ve received from designers, producers and production companies goes to prove that digital mixing solutions represent the future of contemporary sound designs. Despite some arguments from industry sceptics, we’re confident that digital is the way forward - it is not only a powerful creative option, but as it offers positive economic implications to producers with seat and logistics savings - the digital revolution is moving fast. The addition of Digico’s D5 t

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Top London rental company Canegreen is on the road this autumn with a brand new pair of PM1D consoles with chart-topping mellow rockers Toploader. At the front-of-house position, engineer Andrew Thornton explains that the choice of console was made after using the PM1D at a one-off show at the Albert Hall: "My original concerns were to do with the sound of a digital system, but this is a long way from the earlier generations of digital mixers. I’ve been especially pleasantly surprised with the EQ."

Thornton insisted on getting to know his PM1D intimately and can now configure and hook up the system as well as operating it. "Because it’s so incredibly configurable, there is an initial learning curve," he admits, "but knowing how it all goes together helps you to gain a good understanding of the whole concept."

For the Magic Hotel tour, Thornt

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An updated model of the popular Formula Sound zoner/mixer has been launched, combining improved remote control capabilities with a high degree of flexibility. The new ZMR-243 allows input selection as well as remote control of output volume, plus a number of other features requested by the installers who were consulted during development.

The ZMR-243 is easy to operate, designed for use in applications where precise control of different audio zones is required, such as theme parks, hotels, conference centers, pubs and entertainment venues. Housed in a 19” 1U casing, it allows full control via passive remote panels, and so can be located out of the way. It provides four stereo music inputs, two low impedance balanced microphone inputs and three stereo zone outputs balanced with preset HF and LF equalization. Any stereo zone output may be operated as two mono zones, each with remot

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Lamba plc, exclusive UK distributor for KAM, has launched several new products under the KAM brand name. Heading the list is the KCD-800CDG - a karaoke version of the KCD-800. This twin CD mixing unit provides the option of being able to play CDG disks, enabling the DJ to integrate karaoke into CD DJ’ing. Sold individually, or as part of the KAM Karaoke Kit, this robust CD player is aimed at mobile discos, pubs, restaurants and theme bars. Its 19" rack-mount size makes it easy to install into either a KamKase or standard installation mounting. It contains industry-standard connections, with two separate phono outputs for the video signal.

Lamba has also announced the release of the KamKase Pro range of reinforced record boxes. Manufactured in 25/75 and 50/50 black, clear perspex or brush silver/aluminium extrusion, these professional road cases hold 80 pieces of vinyl. The l

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The Finnish National Theatre has been a venue for Finnish culture and the people of Helsinki since 1872. The historic theatre has four stages - the Main Stage, the Small Stage, Willensauna and Omapohja, with the Main Stage recently being completely rebuilt from lighting systems to stage machinery and audio/video systems. All of the stage lighting was supplied and installed by Selecon’s exclusive distributor in Finland, Manex Yhtiot Oy Foki. The Main Stage rig now has 30 Arena Theatre Fresnels 2500W, eight Pacific 80V 1200W profiles, two Performer Quartz Followspots, 12 Aurora 4-way Cycs, and four Aurora 4-way Groundrows to complement the existing Selecon stock of Acclaim and 1200 Fresnels and PCs.

(Lee Baldock)

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James Thomas Engineering’s new Pixelrange series of LED lighting fixtures now qualifies as an energy-efficient approved product, qualifying for the government’s Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) Scheme. This will bring massive financial benefits to anyone investing in these specific LED products. The first three Pixelrange products were launched last month at PLASA 2002 - the Pixelpar 660, Pixelpar 87 and Pixeline 1044 batten - and all qualify under the ECA Scheme.

Under the Scheme, expenditure on approved technologies and products can qualify for 100%, up-front tax relief, delivering a significant cash-flow boost and shortening the payback period on the investment. In addition to this initial financial incentive, anyone buying products from the Pixelrange will enjoy the long-term benefits of the LED technology - with its long lamp life, low power consumption, low maintenanc

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