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UK - Canegreen supplied the PA and successfully managed the complexities of eight live sets by the artists at Capital Christmas Live 2003. This year's line-up of artists was supported by a production team under the management of Mark Ward for the annual Capital Radio Christmas gathering at Earls Court.

Two stages were incorporated in the production: on the main stage the Sugababes, Enrique Iglesias and Busted wowed teen fans, as did sets by Sting and Texas, who added something for the more mature members of the audience, in line with the radio stations widening demographic. From a smaller stage in the centre of Earls Court Kym Marsh, Jamelia and Lemar played shorter acoustic sets. The whole show was broadcast live on AOL broadband, sponsors of the show, with live radio edits also

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UK - This autumn has been the busiest ever for Skan PA Hire, the Reading-based rental company that continues to thrive. Directors Abby Llewellyn and Chris Fitch, along with the rest of the team, have found themselves at the centre of this season's hottest music acts. The Darkness, Muse, The Faming Lips, Moloko, Feader and Tindersticks have all taken advantage of Skan's latest investment, the L'Acoustics V-Dosc and dV-Dosc systems along with their large inventory of Turbosound Floodlight cabinets.

Muse toured Europe before returning to an excited British audience, visiting eight arenas and making good use of Skan's Midas mixing consoles, an XL4 for front-of-house and Heritage 3000 for monitors. While The Darkness, one of the biggest names on the music scene at present had an exhausting schedule of dates spanning 10 weeks. UK venues included Manchester Apollo and Brixton Academy,

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Australia - Global Television, Australia's leading service provider to the television and broadcast industry, recently upgraded its Melbourne television Studio A to a digital ADB Vision 10 lighting desk, finally retiring its 20-year-old analogue desk. Global has extensive facilities in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, both in studio and OB services, and produces major national and international productions such as Neighbours, Rove Live, Australian Idol, Playhouse Disney, Hi-5 and Hi-5 USA.

Don Collins, one of Global's lighting directors, commented: "The demands on the studio had been constantly increasing and we were looking for a replacement desk that would offer us the features we required. Richie Mickan from LSC Lighting Systems showed us the ADB Vision console and we were immediately impressed at how easy it was to operate. We run a number of 'live-to-air'

featured content

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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USA - Bandit Lites is out with Kenny Rogers on his sixth annual Christmas tour. Lighting designer Jeff Metter said: "The show is a departure from the usual type of show for Kenny Rogers. It is more of a theatrical production that is partly traditional and partly a play presentation."

The show opens with a traditional Christmas-themed set that has a nativity scene and other Holiday visuals on the stage. Metter continued: "There is about 25 minutes of traditional Christmas music and then the focus turns to the kids." In each town, the production uses a local choir as well as local children in the show. There are vignettes that are performed by the children, with Kenny Rogers coming out to sing with them on several numbers.

The second part of the show is an adaptation of The Toy Shoppe - a one-act play that Rogers performed on Broadway. Metter went on t

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The Netherlands - Midas has announced the creation of new business structure in the Netherlands: from 1 January 2004 a new company, Midas Consoles Holland, will be the exclusive source for Midas products and service in the territory.

Midas sales and marketing director Dave Cooper says: "The nature of both international distribution and our target markets is changing fast, and it's vital to both Midas and KT that our distribution partners are able to meet the new challenges that face them. The new structure in Holland is perfectly placed to deal with this and we are delighted to welcome them to the Midas global family."

Although the actual details are a still a closely-guarded secret, the company promises that Midas Consoles Holland is taking a genuinely new approach to pro audio distribution: all will be revealed at the forthcoming Vakbeurs Theater Techniek show whic

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UK - Star Events Group is the first company in the UK to offer rental of this new Arena Deck indoor stage system, which has been the preferred choice of large touring productions in recent years. The system available for rental on tours, one-off shows or runs of events, offering time and cost savings, say the company.

Earls Court was the first UK venue to hire the system, for a run of concerts in November and December 2003, including Capital Christmas Live, Iron Maiden, Radiohead, Metallica and the Stereophonics. Capital Christmas production and show director, Mark Ward, commented: "I was extremely happy with the stage's performance, the speed and decking quality of the new system made a huge difference in the show build."

The system, manufactured by Birmingham-based Total Fabrications, allows quick, safe and efficient construction, requiring no tools. Arena Deck ha

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UK - In a move strengthening its position in the pro audio market, SkyTronic Group has acquired the current product portfolio of Citronic, with effect from 15 December 2003. Citronic Ltd, based in Melksham, Wiltshire, has for 32 years played a leading role in establishing and developing the UK DJ audio market.

Phil Williams, MD of Manchester-based SkyTronic Ltd commented: "We're delighted to have successfully completed the acquisition of Citronic's well-respected Brand and product portfolio. This opportunity has allowed us to further strengthen our position in the market. We have committed to a substantial investment in both existing and new product. Existing Citronic customers will, of course, benefit from the same high level of customer service and technical support that we provide to our existing customer base. We will also be putting tremendous effort into further devel

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UK - Martin Barbour has been appointed as systems engineer at BSS, reporting to Richard Rowley. Barbour already has wide experience of BSS products, having worked for many years as a freelance engineer. He is best known as a key member of the sound crew at the Millennium Dome in London, installing, programming and taking care of the BSS Soundweb installation.

Barbour has also worked as in-house sound engineer for live TV stations 'Whereits.at' and 'NOW', where he looked after broadcast and stage sound for visiting artists, and on installation projects with Live Business International, including the Milton Keynes SnoZone refurb and the cruise ship Thomson Spirit. He has spent the remainder of his time as a freelance Pro-Tools engineer working on various music projects across London and in his own Pro-Tools edit/mix facility, Doghouse Studios.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Marquee Audio recently supplied Bristol Old Vic with a digital theatre playback system, featuring a Yamaha DM1000 console and Stage Research SFX show control software, which has radically improved the operational experience of the theatre's in-house sound designer.

"Although the price tag is very cost-effective for this kind of functionality, it is a lot of money to a regional theatre," says Jason Barnes, head of sound at the Old Vic. "However, it's bought us an immense improvement. Putting a show together is now far less stressful and we can do it a lot quicker."

Jason Barnes' own ideas and research took him in the direction of the SFX software programme, rapidly becoming an industry-standard, and, with the input of Andy Huffer from Marquee Audio, a complete system was designed: the Yamaha DM1000 digital console, with the SFX sound playback software p

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UK - Lightfactor is holding three product awareness days in the New Year - from the 4 - 6 February 2004. With a history of hosting very successful open days, the Greenford-based events have always proved an ideal method of updating the industry with current technology, innovation and trends, plus the best forum for social interaction, lively debate, gossip - and in this case - seeing off the New Year Blues! The format is informal, visitors will be free to look around, watch demonstrations, and operate and examine the products at their own pace.

The Lightfactor team will be on hand to answer all questions, and representatives from Lightfactor's supplier-partners - like SGM, Apogee Lighting, LightProcessor, Xilver, and others - will also be there to offer advice and information.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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UK - Capital Sound Hire fielded its newly-acquired Martin Audio W8LC compact line array for Eddie Izzard's Sexie world tour, presently nearing the end of its UK leg. The scalable system (measuring 16-box hangs per side at the arena venues) has been specified to provide evenly-dispersed high speech intelligibility, as well as pre-show, intermission and outro music. Further W8C's - two wide and three deep - are used for outfills, W2's are used for front fills, and in the large auditoria, nine delay points are manned by further W8C's - in clusters of four. Six WSX subs, configured in a standard block, are ground-stacked either side of the stage.

The delay taps - and all the system settings - are contained in a combination of XTA DP-224 and DP-226 digital processors, with head system engineer Scott Scherban carrying out remote management via XTA's proprietary AudioCore software, loa

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Diane Grant of DHA Lighting and Andrew Bishop of Carlsbro Electronics have been elected PLASA chairman and vice-chairman respectively, with Tim Brown of Apple Sound re-elected as PLASA treasurer. Previous chairman David Hopkins (OBE) of Audio Design Services remains on the PLASA committee, but former vice-chairman Sammy de Havilland steps down, having completed his term in office.

During the year ahead, the new committee will focus on several key themes, including improved services for the membership and greater emphasis on safety and training.

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PLASA has been approved as a RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) CPD Network Provider. The Association has been looking for an opportunity to build closer links with the architectural markets, and RIBA in particular, so that it can create greater awareness of its members and contribute to the building design process.

As part of this, PLASA's Nicky Greet, in conjunction with Andy Brining of Stagepoint (and with input from Chris Higgs of Total Fabrications), has developed a seminar entitled Design Considerations for Buildings used for Corporate or Entertainment Applications, to provide architects with essential information in the design stages. The first will be delivered at PALME in Dubai next month, with others to follow.Further details from

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Lots of new members signed up for membership at the tail-end of last year.

Joining as Full members are amplifier manufacturer Chevin Research (+44 1943 466060), audio distributor Intersonics (+44 1270 820904), audio export specialist Paxt Ltd (+44 1763 262101), one of Europe's largest audio sales and rental companies - SSE Hire (+44 1527 528822) and flightcase manufacturer Swan Flight (+44 1740 623555). Audio, lighting and laser company S.A. Sound & Light Show Lasers, Belgium (+32 6834 0368) has joined the ranks of Full EU members, whilst a further three companies have signed up for international membership - WYSIWYG software developer, CAST Group, Canada (+1 416 597 2278), AV specialist Khaldi Est, Saudi Arabia (+966 1280 3009), and lighting fixture manufacturer San-Ei Electric Co, Japan (+81 6 6379 0010).

Bould Lig

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UK - XL Video is supplying equipment to the award-winning Jerry Springer The Opera production, now enjoying a successful West End run at The Cambridge Theatre - so successful that the production has just extended its booking period by more than nine months, to 8 January 2005.

Video is a vital production element of the show, and equipment includes two of the new Catalyst V.3 digital media servers - specially purchased for the show along with a Jands Wholehog 500 DMX lighting desk. The show's video designer is Jon Driscoll with whom XL has also collaborated on Up For Grabs (starring Madonna) and the Madness musical Our House. XL's clients are JSTO Ltd for Blue Box Entertainment (Iain Gillie - production executive) and The Production Desk (Dan Watkins - production manager)

The XL equipment supplied also includes two flown NEC XT5000 DLP projectors, matrix rou

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UK - New from Peavey the QF 215 and Q 2151 15-band, constant Q, 2/3 octave equalizers, both offering high specifications at entry level prices, are backed by a five-year warranty. Featuring a 25Hz 16 kHz bandwidth, quarter-inch jack and XLR balanced inputs/outputs, the 2U space rack mounting Peavey QF 215 offers ±15dB of cut and boost on each band and 40Hz low-cut filter. Other features include bypass switches on each channel, ±21dBu max input/output noise level, output level LED display, 40mm sliders, a noise floor of 98dBV and internal power supply. The 1U rack-mounting Q 2151 offers switchable 6dB/12dB boost/cut, switchable 40Hz low-cut filter on each channel, an output level display on each channel and 20mm sliders.

(Lee Baldock)

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Italy - Following the news before Christmas of the sale of RCF (Mackie Designs Italy Spa) by Loud Technologies Inc, we have learned that a group of investors, led by Arturo Vicari, has bought all of the assets of Mackie Designs Italy Spa and immediately renamed the company RCF Spa. Arturo Vicari is the major shareholder of RCF Spa and will take up the position of managing director of the new company, the position he held prior to the sale of the company to Mackie Inc (now Loud Technologies) in June 1998.

Alfredo Macchiaverna, a well-known consultant in Reggio Emilia, the home of RCF for more than 50 years, has been nominated President of the Board, and will be representing the group of shareholders, while the Italian bank Banca Aletti will act as financial advisor to the business and has a representative on the new Board of RCF Spa.

Arturo Vicari commented on the acquisition:

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UK - Entec Sound supplied a d&b audiotechnik sound system and crew to cult US band The Kings of Leon, for their first - and totally sold-out - UK tour. Brent Rawlings is the band's FOH engineer and production manager. He started working with them in November 2002, when they were looking for someone who could mix sound and offer a number of other on-the-road skills - like production and tour managing, driving the truck etc. However, as the band has gained popularity, he has been able to concentrate increasingly on the sound, as more crew have come onboard.

Kings of Leon played the UK twice previously, but used house systems, and this time they stepped up to touring their own production. When Rawlings was casting around for a sound company, Entec was recommended by several sources, so he asked them - and others - to bid, and Entec won that process. He specifically wanted a d&b sy

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USA - Crest Audio has announced a number of new additions to its range of pro audio products. Firstly, the X Series consoles offer tailor-made solutions for fixed installations, churches, stadiums, live sound reinforcement, broadcasting and corporate AV applications. Benefiting from the R&D behind the company's flagship V12 console, the X Series consoles offer superior sonic performance and build quality combined with intuitive control surfaces, say Crest.

Also new is the X Rack Series consoles, which address a wide range of applications including project studios, churches, broadcasting, and live sound reinforcement. These compact, feature filled, rack-mounting mixers achieve a high rejection rate of RF interference and ground-related noise, and exhibit less than ±30 degrees of input to output phase shift. Other features include XLR connectors on all primary inputs and outputs

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USA - Macy's Parade is one of the most enduring Thanksgiving Day traditions in America. Millions have seen the parade on television since it was first broadcast by NBC in 1948, and in recent years the biggest crowds along the route have heard the sound of the parade through Meyer Sound loudspeakers.

For the past fifteen years, audio consultant Randy Hansen of ADI Group has served as sound designer for the parade, and for the last ten parades he has relied on New York-based Sound Associates to provide audio equipment and system engineering. "I generally prefer to use Meyer Sound loudspeakers whenever I can," says Hansen. "We've been doing this parade so long with Sound Associates that I guess I just take the Meyer speakers for granted. Perhaps that's because we haven't had any problems with them, they've always performed flawlessly."

This year's parade, star

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UK - SSE Hire's investment in digital audio technology continues with the purchase of two Yamaha PM1D digital mixing desks for Sarah Brightman's upcoming Harem Tour which kicks off early this year in Mexico.

Brightman's FOH engineer Colin Boland specified the Yamaha after trying a range of alternative digital consoles. He commented: "Having used Yamaha equipment for many years I find that the layout, programming and facilities follow a logic that has been consistent and fits in with the way I work. Also having used the PM1D on several previous tours I have been impressed with the performance, sound, reliability and backup."

The particular requirements of the show, with its large number of inputs, made gain control and the ability to add inserts, effects and recording feeds at both ends of the multicore imperative. Thus each console has its own set of 96-channel input

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