USA - Nexera is Wybron's new family of affordable dichroic CMY colour mixing luminaires expressly designed to complement existing equipment. Nexera washlights and ellipsoidals operate just like the conventional theatrical fixtures already in use, but with the addition of Wybron CMY dichroic colour mixing.

Nexera fixtures are offered with a commonly available 575W compact tungsten source (the preferred source for theatre and television) and provide igh quality light output and beam uniformity. All Nexera fixtures are convection cooled and servo-driven, utilizing no fans for silent operation. The patent-pending Wybron CMY colour mixing module produces a wide colour palette, featuring an exceptional range of control over the most subtle theatrical colours like bastard amber, light pi

Norway - The Norwegian Theater in Oslo has taken delivery of a Visual Act Analog wagon system. The system includes two modular drive units which can power wagons of over 2000kg. The drive units are easily bolted to different constructions and will be used by the theatre both to move sets in repertory and automate scenic elements. The first use of the system will be a 9m revolve for the new musical Frendelaus by Øystein Wiik.

The system uses a dependable analogue radio system which is certified for the transportation of people. Servo-motors guarantee constant speed, independent of load, so that the motion of dancers on the Frendelaus revolve will not affect the movement of the floor.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - VXCO Lighting Systems Switzerland took its own stand once again at the recent PLASA Show in London. Attracting a great deal of interest on the stand was the company's DMXCreator computer lighting controller, with the latest interface in the range, the DMXCreator 512 Basic, the centre of attention. This product, which was also nominated for a PLASA Award for Product Excellence, has all its electronics built into the XLR connector plug, making it possibly the world's smallest USB-DMX-interface, according to the company. "People were very interested in this new interface," said VXCO's Oleg Kaufmann.

The system is suitable for a wide range of applications, including clubs, discos, concert, touring, rental, exhibitions, theme parks, multimedia and retail display. More information and the full software is available for free at the website below.

(Lee Baldock)

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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

Germany - The world premiere of Versa Lightguide was provided by CT Creative Technology Germany at the IFA in Berlin and IAA (Frankfurt Auto Show) recently. At IFA, the world's largest consumer electronics show, the revolutionary LED-based tiles featured on the Deutsche Telekom booth, in co-operation with q-bus Mediatekur, while in Frankfurt the Swedish car manufacturer SAAB used Versa Lightguide in the VIP area of its booth in Hall 8. (It should be pointed out that Lightguide is exactly the same product as Element Labs' 'Versa Tile' - the name under which the product was launched at this year's PLASA Show, and collected a Product Excellence Award; CT simply prefers to call it Lightguide.)

The Versa Tile, or Lightguide, modules represent a milestone in electronic design. Edge-lit by LEDs these can be built up to create large ambient displays with dynamic video effects. CT German

UK - The UK launch of the new E Series at PLASA 2003 was a resounding success for MC2 Audio. Interest in these switchmode amplifiers was extremely high from both existing customers and also from potential new customers from the touring/DJ markets, who know the brand well and have been eagerly awaiting the addition of a lightweight series to the MC2 portfolio of products. The first production run of the E Series was pre-sold before the exhibition and a number of new orders were taken during the show.

Ian McCarthy, managing director of MC2 Audio, told us: "This year's PLASA was one of the busiest yet and gave us the opportunity to showcase the E Series to our overseas and UK visitors. I was very happy with the way the exhibition went and particularly with the highly positive response we had from everyone to the new amps. I had a tight schedule of meetings with customers and n

UK - In a move that brings the two brands closer together and heralds the direction of the company for the future, David Cooper has been appointed to the new position of sales and marketing director for Midas and Klark Teknik worldwide. Reporting to managing director John Oakley, Cooper will head up the company's sales and marketing activities on a global basis.

Based at company HQ in Kidderminster, Cooper will maximize business opportunities by marketing all products under the Midas and Klark Teknik brand names. He will also manage customer accounts and be accountable for the smooth running of the extensive Midas and Klark Teknik distribution network.

After six years in the position of Midas sales manager, as well as previous roles within the Midas engineering and manufacturing departments, Cooper has extensive experience in console sales and distribution management and is al

UK - Wayne Barker's WE Audio were busy shoppers at this year's PLASA Show, as they boosted their inventory in preparation for several key events for which they will be providing the audio reinforcement. Among several items purchased from their preferred suppliers, Marquee Audio, were two 52-channel Yamaha PM5000 desks.

A long-time customer of both Marquee and Yamaha, Wayne Barker has created a niche for himself in the industry for servicing one-off specialist projects, musical theatre tours (including Dionne Warwick and Elaine Paige), and corporate events. All this activity has necessitated he purchase of the new Yamaha desks, which he will be debuting on two upcoming West End events.

The shows in this case will be a Tribute To Richard Harris at the Strand Theatre and a corporate event surrounding the Rat Pack West End show, at the Hilton Hotel. The Sunday night Richard Harris

UK - Wigwam Acoustics has appointed Jon Sugden as client manager. Sugden is an experienced audio professional: after working and touring with Wigwam on Lord of the Dance, Ronan Keating and numerous events over a 10-year period, he decided to head south, where he spent time working for Cinevideo in Borehamwood, and most recently at Gearhouse Broadcast in Wembley, one of the UK's top broadcast rental companies.

Sugden's role with the latter company saw him establish a highly successful broadcast audio division, where he built an impressive client roster, including the BBC's Parkinson show, Channel 4 Cricket, Carlton 021 The Club and Granada TV's I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! on location in Australia. Sugden's specialist knowledge of radio mics and broadcast equipment allowed Gearhouse to establish itself firmly in the audio market.

"I have gained vast knowle

UK - A new table dancing bar in Rotherham has been fitted out with Wharfedale loudspeakers. Eight Programme 60s were supplied to Blue Minx owner Tim Naylor by Doncaster dealers Electromusic. Naylor has a long relationship with the retailer through his other venues in the town, Mazeppa Bar and Millennium Bar.

When he allocated the £200,000 necessary to refit the former Traveller's Rest, Naylor confessed he had his eyes fixed on another speaker brand. That was until he experienced a demo of the Programme 60s. "After listening to them, I realized they offered outstanding reproduction." There were other attributes of the Programme 60, including the long rectangular, trapezoidal geometrics of the enclosure. As he was fitting the venue out to a high standard, he admits aesthetics was an important consideration. "I expected to have to spray paint the speakers to match t

USA - Bandit Lites has once again lent its support to Farm Aid, a benefit concert staged every year since 1985 by John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willie Nelson to raise both money and awareness about the increasingly dire plight of American farming. Bandit Lites has been a part of Farm Aid for 12 years.

This year the concert line-up was as impressive as ever, and included Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow, Brooks & Dunn and Trick Pony, Vanessa Carlton, Hootie and the Blowfish, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Los Lonely Boys, Aaron Brotherton, Titty Bingo and Billy Bob Thornton.

Using a variety of moving fixtures, lighting designer Michael Dalton was able to create an impressive stage experience for the event. The rig was made up of five main trusses: a circular truss at mid-stage, two serpentine trusses at downstage left and right, and a rec

UK - Allen & Heath recently hosted an awards ceremony at London's Globe Theatre, with over 60 guests from its network of UK dealers and overseas distributors. Held during PLASA, the purpose of the evening was to recognize individual achievements behind Allen & Heath's most successful year to date.

In the UK, Musicland was awarded 'Best Retailer of the Year', Batmink was presented with the 'Best Reseller of the Year' award, and Sapphires Sound & Light was decorated with 'Best DJ Retailer of the Year'. International distributors were also acknowledged, with Pro Audio Marketing in Germany, PT Santika Multi Jaya in Indonesia and Distribuidora Gonher S.A. de C.V. in Mexico, receiving awards for 'Most Improved Territory'. Korean distributor, Dai Kyung was credited for 'Best Technical Support'.

However, the most prestigious award of the evening went to Italy, as Grisby Music Srl was

UK - Cambridge-based Pulsar launched a range of new LED-based products at the recent PLASA Show. One of the key new products was the company's ChromaDeck system - a joint development between Pulsar and Litestructures, which is a hybrid of the industry-standard Litedeck staging system and the innovative LED ChromaPanel. Now in full production, this new product can be used in either fixed installations or as part of a temporary or touring stage and TV set.

A new software upgrade for the ChromaZone and ChromaBank was also announced. Version 2.0 is available free of charge and enhances the existing software by adding many new functions including the running of two simultaneous chases, a smoothing disable switch (for use with video/graphic systems), master dimmer for the 36 RGB individual channels, progressive smoothing with faster response, even smoother built-in chases, the possib

Russia - The Kremlin in Moscow has ordered 35 BGV-C1 chain hoists in the 500kg weight class from German manufacturer ChainMaster. The lifts are equipped with a position encoder and a ChainMaster control system comprising three switch servers combined with two operation desks. Parallel redundancy is assured by the presence of an additional manual controller, also from ChainMaster. The Kremlin order was placed by the Arlecchino Business Center in Moscow and the installation of the high-tech system is scheduled for the beginning of October.

For nine years, ChainMaster has been developing and manufacturing stage chain hoists and chain hoist controllers. The firm's current range covers chain hoists for weights ranging from 125kg to 12 tons. ChainMaster's most successful product worldwide is the VarioLift (which includes models for loads ranging from 125kg to 6,300kg) which was introd

Germany - GLP has introduced two new fixtures based on the successful moving lights of the Ypoc series - the Ypoc 250 Basic moving head and the Ypoc 250 Color Basic. In developing these economical luminaires, GLP's developers have taken account of the needs of clubs, discotheques and leading bands.

Each device features an MSD 250/II discharge lamp, which, in combination with the high quality optical system, ensures a high degree of efficiency. The range of head movement for both fixtures is 540° of pan and 280° of tilt. The fixtures are controlled via DMX 512, and the DMX address is shown by a four-digit display on the device. The lamps can be started remotely from the lighting console.

The Ypoc 250 Basic is a spot with a 15° cone angle. An integrated 4.5mW laser diode facilitates the focussing of projections and the 11 dichroic colours (plus white) including 12 half-colou

UK - The need to provide customers with an expanded version of its existing QUE-8 and QUE-10 foldback mixers has led to the launch of a brand new Formula Sound product which was shown for the first time at the recent PLASA Show.

Offering users high levels of flexibility, the new QUE-18 foldback mixer has been created in close collaboration with sound designers working on musical theatre productions to include the facilities and options that they have specifically requested. The result is a unit that combines the proven reliability of its predecessors with a high degree of versatility.

The new QUE-18 foldback mixer is a development of the original Formula Sound technology which has proven consistently popular with artists and audio engineers in over 20 years of professional use. The QUE-18's extended signal handling capacity (up to 18 audio inputs configured as 14 mono and 2

UK - The first order for Martin Audio's new W8LM Line Array was confirmed during this month's PLASA Show - and a major order it was too. Martin Audio confirmed that they had sold a 64-enclosure Synco W8LM system to Synco Europe, for distribution among the Synco Network partners in Europe. Ampco Pro Rent in Holland will be one of the first network partners to use the new system on its theatre projects. Synco Europe also purchased all necessary flying hardware, along with 16 Synco MA2.8S amplifiers.

Fred Heuves, MD of Synco Europe, commented: "The Synco Network of PA companies will now have all three of Martin Audio's proprietary Line Array systems in their inventories - the Synco W8L, Synco W8LC and now the Synco W8LM. They not only match perfectly together, but will serve independently in their own market segments as well. With these three Synco Line Array systems, combined

UK - After three years and £540m, Birmingham's new Bullring retail development has opened. Boasting 150 shops - principally department stores and high street names, plus smaller specialist boutiques and restaurants, the development adds weight to Birmingham's claim that it is fast becoming Europe's new shopping capital. At the centre of the development is the new Selfridges store, designed by architects Future Systems, who reportedly based their designs on a chainmail dress by Paco Rabanne. The curvy new store is covered with over 15,000 spun aluminium discs. With each interior level designed by individual interior designers, the store is as striking inside as it is from the exterior.

Following on from the success of The Gate in Newcastle (see L&SI June 2003), the same creative team came together to deliver the high-tech elements: Immedia Systems looked after the installation a

Spain - D.A.S. Audio has expanded the new Dynamics series with the addition of the DS-108 passive systems. The Dynamics series provides users with loudspeaker systems that are easy to carry, simple to set up and possess the sound quality that characterize all D.A.S. sound products.

The DS-108 is a versatile two-way system designed to provide full-range reproduction. Low frequency reproduction is handled by a high efficiency 8" loudspeaker with 1.5" voice coil. High frequencies are reproduced by the M-3 compression driver - a 1" exit driver incorporating a 2" titanium diaphragm and EFW (edge-wound-flat-wire) voice coil. The unique enclosure design has an ergonomic handle for easy carrying and will accept a standard 35mm mounting stand. The M8 rigging points and optional mounting bracket facilitate use in permanent installations.

D.A.S. Audio, based in Valenc

UK - Lighting and AV and installation company Metropolis AV & FX is the first UK specifier and installer of the new wireless sound systems from Cardio Theatre. The first EU-approved systems have been supplied to several venues, including LA Fitness venues in Leeds, Tunbridge Wells and Purley. The Meadowside Leisure Centre in Whitley - a high profile independent facility - has also benefited from the new wireless system.

The advantages of wireless cardio vascular sound equipment are numerous. Practical considerations such as trailing wires and messy cables are eliminated, and the clarity and quality of the audio is greatly enhanced. Added to which, the systems are highly reliable and low maintenance - all key considerations for an operator.

The wireless system is also easy to install. Metropolis's sales & marketing manager Neil Solanki explains that clients wanting to upgrade t

USA - Shure Incorporated and Middle Atlantic Products have become the latest manufacturers to endorse Stardraw Weblink, the new service from Stardraw unveiled at InfoComm this year that allows linkage of Stardraw product symbols to any online data. The two companies join other industry leaders including Audio-Technica US, BSS and TOA as early adopters of this program, which enables manufacturers to exploit the power of the internet to better serve their customers.

Manufacturers enrolling in the Weblink program can embed custom data within the symbols that represent their products across the range of Stardraw design and documentation applications, including Stardraw.net, the world's first online CAD application. The custom links can point to simple web pages, or retrieve sophisticated parameter-driven information. Using Weblink, manufacturers can deliver any kind of resource to c

UK - Carlsbro Electronics has launched the Journeyman 30 combo, a new addition to its established Colt range. The Journeyman 30 is a 3 input, multi-purpose amplifier designed to meet the needs of schools, churches and musicians who play more than one instrument, providing a cost effective answer to a wide range of amplification needs.

Delivering 30W through a specially designed full-range 8" speaker, the Journeyman features separate inputs for microphone, keyboard and stringed instruments such as electric, acoustic and bass guitars. Each input has an individual level control to allow balancing of the separate sources, with a wide ranging 2-band EQ section for tonal control. This compact and portable system has a versatility and range that belies its small size, and can be used with 1, 2 or all 3 inputs simultaneously.

The Journeyman 30 will work with any instrument which

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