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September 2002 marked another landmark in Midas's 30-year history as the Heritage 3000 bearing serial number 500 rolled off the production line at the Kidderminster factory.

In just three short years since the launch of the award-winning Heritage 3000 it has become the industry standard for concert touring and the backbone of console stocks for rental companies all over the world. Its status as the premier console of choice for this market, particularly in partnership with the flagship XL4, is further underlined by the fact that eight out of ten of the top-grossing tours to come out of the US used Heritage 3000s or XL4 or both. According to Midas' head of sales, David Cooper, the Heritage 3000 is a perfect example of a manufacturer responding to customer demands and coming up with exactl

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For the eighth year running, Entec supplied the lighting production for LD Mike 'Sooty' Sutcliffe at the National TV Awards, staged at the Royal Albert Hall, presented by Sir Trevor MacDonald, and broadcast live on ITV. Entec's client was production company Indigo Television. They worked closely with production manager Ruth Tester-Brown and Mike Sutcliffe to ensure the lighting fit up went like clockwork.

Sutcliffe chose a large palette of moving lights, including nearly 50 Vari*Lite 2202s and 2402s, 11 Clay Paky Stage Zoom 1200s and 12 Stage Scans as well as Martin MAC 300s, 500s and 33 MAC 600s. Entec also supplied 14 Pulsar ChromaBanks, sited around the bottom of Richard Plumb's stylish set, which was built by Frost Scenery. Sutcliffe ran the show with his colleague Svend Pedersen, the latter using a Wholehog II with added ‘Overdrive’ for the moving lights, while Sutclif

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Audio plus is the first rental operator in the Netherlands to invest in the new GEO Tangent Array system from Nexo. Located in Wijchen, Audio plus is a joint venture between two independent sound equipment companies, PA Geluid, owned by Paul Achterberg and MC Audio, owned by Martijn Ceulemans. With the majority of its business coming from theatre productions and open-air festivals, Audio plus was looking for a system that could maintain steady SPLs and offer excellent coverage through the audience area, while keeping size and weight to a minimum.

After listening to GEO at a demo hosted by Nexo distributor Iemke Roos, Paul Achterberg knew he had found what he was looking for. "The sonic performance of GEO is very, very good, but the coverage throughout the soundfield and the phase coherency of the system is, in my opinion, simply outstanding," said Achterberg, who placed an or

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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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Danish pro audio manufacturer D-PAC is now offering its high power PWM/class D amplifier modules for the OEM market. The modules are capable of delivering a maximum of 50A 320V P/P depending on PSU size and construction, and have an extremely low idle power (9W) with no need for fans or heat-sinks, even during heavy use.

Anders Christensen, CEO of D-PAC Audio, explains: "We have recently bought a production facility in order to manufacture up to 25,000 modules each year, and as we only expect to use a few thousand on a yearly basis, we see the idea in obtaining extra volume by offering our outstanding modules as OEM."

"Several tests have proven our modules to be more powerful, more quiet and better sounding than everything else we have tried and heard," says Christensen. "In order to give potential customers a try, we have made an evaluation kit with well-des

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Stardraw has introduced ‘Rubber-Banding’ as the September Feature of the Month. This much-anticipated upgrade has been under development for many months and represents a significant enhancement to their design and documentation applications.

This major new functionality means that the elements in schematic designs stay connected as you move them within the document. So, if you wish to change the look of your block schematic and move products, either by dragging the selected symbols to their new position, or by nudging them with the arrow keys, the connections follow automatically. Furthermore, Rubber-Banding operates independently of Modifiers (Snap to Grid, Snap to Object, etc.).

This is an extremely important development, says Stardraw’s marketing director, Rob Robinson: "Rubber-Banding has been at the top of our ‘Most Wanted’ list for some time,

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PLASA member Carlsbro, the UK manufacturer of amplifiers and loudspeakers for live music performance, has alerted PLASA Media to the looming problem of the forthcoming ‘none in a bar’ licensing reform Bill. Under these proposals, the government plans to end the ‘two in a bar’ system, by which two performers can play music in a pub or bar without a Public Entertainment License (PEL). This change will effectively outlaw any unlicensed public performance in the pubs and bars of England and Wales - Scotland is not affected - and will leave licensees liable to fines of up to £20,000 for any ‘entertainment’ which occurs on their premises.

PELs can be very expensive and require venues to meet strict rules regarding access and fire safety, which often means expensive structural alterations, such as the widening of exits, installation of fire doors and redes

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Following the successful launch of its new flagship line of 1200W Series 3000 automated luminaires, Vari-Lite has unveiled the latest additions to its award-winning Series 1000 inventory at the LDI exhibition in Las Vegas. The inclusion of an onboard dimmer option in the VL1000 tungsten units will provide lighting professionals greater flexibility, added convenience and more options to satisfy their specific lighting needs.

"The expansion of our Series 1000 product range immediately after the introduction of our new Series 3000 products, shows that Vari-Lite is committed to the development of new automated lighting products and enhancements to our existing product line," said Vari-Lite president and COO Clay Powers. "Whatever designers need, we've got an automated light for the job."

The VL1000 ERS with onboard dimming eliminates the need for an external dimmer. D

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VDC has fulfilled a custom-cable order for one of the world's leading recording studios, Air Lyndhurst of London, providing full portability for its Pro Tools suites. Air's three Pro Tools systems have been racked up as 24-tracks and, using custom-made breakouts to SSL DL specification, can now be rolled into any of the Lyndhurst studios and plugged straight into the main console.

"We buy most, if not all, our custom cable from VDC," explains Tim Vine-Lott, Air's technical manager. "With anyone else, we'd have to specify pin outs for each end of the cable, but we never have to do that with VDC."

VDC provided "a vast amount of cable" to Air earlier in the year, supplying additional cable system for Lyndhurst's famous Great Hall studio and its new Neve 88R mixing console, one of only three to be installed in the UK.

(Lee Baldock)

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For over 18 years, the International Church Music Festival has been uniting musicians from around the world. The annual festival is held alternately in Coventry, England and Bern, Switzerland and 500 - 1000 musicians from over ten countries on five continents gather to sing and enjoy sacred choral music under the leadership of world-renowned musicians such as English conductor Sir David Willcocks.

This year the four-day festival was held at Coventry Cathedral and ran from June 20. The press and marketing manager for the festival, Veronica Meredith, called upon Maltbury dealer Stagepoint Technical Services to supply them with a demountable staging system. Stagepoint supplied 150 units of Maltbury's mid-weight staging system, Metrodeck, which was installed on the evening of 19 June and arranged in a raked formation from 200mm to 3m high. Creating the largest tiered platform ever used in

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ARX Systems, the Australian-based manufacturer of professional audio products, has appointed Electric Audio as its new exclusive distributor for Belgium and Luxembourg. ARX's managing director, Colin Park announced the appointment, saying: "Consolidating ARX distribution for the three Benelux markets with Axel Nagtegaal and his team at Electric Audio ensures strong representation and support for our signal processing and other product ranges utilizing Electric Audio’s comprehensive warehousing and extensive product support network."

Park added: "Electric Audio have appointed well-known Brussels-based company A.Prevost S.A. as the ARX Belgium sub-distributor to service and support our many Belgian users."

Electric Audio B.V can be contacted at the e-mail address below.

(Lee Baldock)

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HSL Productions Ltd, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, has purchased Playlight Hire Ltd of Manchester, which went into administration on 4 October. The sale was completed on 21 October, and included Playlight’s substantial stock of lighting, audio, power distribution and rigging equipment.

This follows the announcement last week by Elstree Light & Power (ELP), that they had purchased the film and television lighting stock of Playlight. All enquiries regarding outstanding or future equipment hire should be addressed to Simon Stuart, managing director of HSL Productions Ltd on the telephone number below.

(Lee Baldock)

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Laser Hire’s ‘Lightning Water Fountains’ entertained over 350,000 people assembled in Walsall Arboretum for the annual illuminations this autumn. The first display to stop crowds in their tracks as they entered the Walsall Arboretum was Laser Hire’s water fountain and laser display.

Lasers and coloured lighting were used to bring the ‘lightning water display’ to life. Set to music, Laser Hire used Pangolin software to carefully synchronize the lasers, moving lights, static lights and projections to produce a dynamic, spectacular show.

More recently, following a successful display at the 2001 Showman’s Directory Dinner, Laser Hire exhibited at this year’s Showman’s Show showcasing their services, from large outdoor spectaculars to corporate events and exhibitions. "This show demonstrates our commitment to bringing different

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Star Hire (Event Services) Limited exhibited two of its mobile StarStages at this year’s Showman’s Show, featuring recently introduced branding scrims and headers. Throughout 2002, Star Hire has worked with the UK’s leading brands, ranging from TV and radio stations through to the Prince’s Trust Party in the Park and The Queens Golden Jubilee Baton Relay, sponsored by Cadbury.

"We have noticed a trend for an increasing number of events wanting to present either their own brand, or that of sponsors, in a highly visible and professional manner," said Jane Russen, Mobile StarStage manager. "The stage, being the focal point of any event, is a key area of branding, which is why we have developed a number of opportunities for branding our stages."

The CiTV 10-08 StarStage highlighted a ‘bespoke’ solution created by Star Hire for one o

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Super Vision International Inc - a world leader in LED and fibre optic lighting technology - has announced that Link Marketing of Bahrain has been awarded the exclusive rights to sell and promote the Super Vision range of fibre optic lighting products in the country by Insight Communications, the Dubai-based international representative of Super Vision International in the Middle East.

"Clients in Bahrain can now take advantage of comprehensive and locally available consultancy, implementation and after-sales services for the full range of low maintenance lighting solutions manufactured by Super Vision International," said Toby Jordan, business development manager of Link Marketing.

Though traditionally reserved for major building projects, technological advancements and increasing production in recent years has reduced the costs of fibre optic lighting considerably, enabli

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The largest Christian Festival in the UK is staged on Shepton Mallet show grounds each summer between mid-July and the end of August. Promoted by New Wine, a Watford-based Christian organization specializing in Christian Conferences, the festival is organized by Ron Fernihough through the offices of the newly-formed Wigwam Event Management Company.

As with all modern festivals, there are a variety of performance and presentation venues, the two largest, the main stage and the tent (a four king-pole circus tent supplied by Albion Woods) both sport large d&b audiotechnik C4/C7 PA systems, while the 25 other smaller venues catering for audiences of between 50 and 1,000 people use a variety of sound systems, generally d&b or Ohm Industries equipment. "We spent a lot of time looking at sound systems for the smaller venues," said Fernihough. "Because of the six week running ti

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AC Lighting has told PLASA Media that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire the entire issued share capital of Spectrum Manufacturing Inc. Based in Toronto Canada, Spectrum is an OEM manufacturer specialising in high volume entertainment technology products. The company has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with AC Lighting as the manufacturer of the exclusively distributed Chroma-Q range of colour scrollers. No significant changes are anticipated for either company, and existing distribution arrangements remain unchanged.

(Lee Baldock)

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Color Kinetics Inc (CKI) has been awarded its 13th patent (including US and international patents) relating to its line of solid-state lighting technologies for the digital control of LEDs. The new patent includes nearly 50 separate technology claims and covers a wide variety of methods and systems for illuminating materials with colour-controlled LED systems, say CKI.

One aspect of the patent relates to a variety of illumination applications where features of a material - such as a design within an object, or a colour in a sign or graphic - are highlighted by a colour or colours of light. This technique may also be applied to distinguish specific elements in amaterial from their surroundings, such as in machine vision or medical applications. Another aspect of the patent involves providing a positioning system to remotely align LED illumination systems to light a material, much like t

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London based tour company, Canegreen, have recently purchased an EAW KF760 Line Array system. Canegreen have been actively involved in the introduction and testing of the KF760 system, mainly within the European tour environment. The Canegreen system consists of 24 KF760 long/medium throw boxes and four KF761 near fill boxes. Sub bass is enhanced by the addition of 16 EAW SB1000 cabinets.

Canegreen's Yan Stile was very focused on what was required from the system: "As opposed to the American arena tour market, touring in Europe often involves venues with differing problems when flying or ground-stacking the sound system." He added: "We used the KF760s in all types of venue, some of them not normally applicable for line arrays. But throughout we were pleasantly surprised with the results, even in venues where there were no fly points and ground space was limited. The cove

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Stage Electrics has appointed Chris Wroe as business development manager for television. Wroe brings with him a wealth of experience from his 14 years with Playlight Hire Ltd where he began his career as hire manager, subsequently rising through the ranks to become a part of the management team. He has an impressive portfolio and has taken to Stage Electrics an experienced technical team who will continue to support and fulfil projects from previous commitments.

The new appointment is part of a busy summer for Stage Electrics - it recently opened its tenth branch in Newcastle following its acquisition of the northern arm of Lighting Technology. Andy Elsegood and Davie Bell joined the company from Lighting Technology to work with customers based in the north of England.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Pearce Hire supplied the lighting for the Association of Online Publishers and Periodical Publishers Association conferences and awards ceremonies this October, following a busy summer supplying festivals and outdoor events with a range of power, sound and lighting services. The company is now gearing up for an active winter as they move inside to service corporate events, conferences and award ceremonies.

The two-day publishing conference was held at the Millennium Mayfair Hotel in Grosvenor Square, London, serving the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) on the Tuesday and the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) on the Wednesday. Pearce Hire worked alongside Hawk AV, with whom they have a long-standing professional relationship, providing the lighting under the direction of LD John Huson with Graham Festenstein assisting.

The companies built a predominately white set and use

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Stage Electrics is holding a sale of theatrical and disco lighting and ancillary equipment on Saturday 9 November 2002. The Auction will be held at the company’s headquarters in Third Way, Avonmouth, Bristol and will commence at 10am.

Lots will include Strand Prelude and Cantata spotlights, Par cans, Tempus Dimmer racks, flight cases, cables, disco consoles and a wide range of effects equipment. Patrick Behan, who has organized previous successful Stage Electrics Auctions, told us: "This year it has been difficult to keep the lots to 1000 as we have acquired a considerable amount of new and second-hand kit from our Newcastle branch (ex Lighting Technology). There should be loads of bargains and the usual chance to meet up with a few mates from the industry."

Auction catalogues can be requested by emailing the address below or by phoning 0117 982 7282. An electronic v

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