UK - Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen is a trendy eatery and late night lounge bar in north London's Hoxton Square. Having taken over what was the Lux cinema next door to their original bar, Barworks (the holding company) has converted the front half of the building into a trendy restaurant, and the back half into a multi-purpose bar/music room whilst retaining the original bar at the side. Barworks turned to audio and lighting specialists Sound Division to design, supply and install the venue's audio system.

Sound Division already has plenty of experience in Hoxton Square, having installed Shish last year and continuing to look after regular clients Traffik and 333 Club. The brief for Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen was to supply a high quality background audio system for the restaurant w

USA - AMPTP - The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, has accepted a permanent seat on Entertainment Services and Technology Association's (ESTA) new Certification Council. The AMPTP is the primary trade association with respect to labor issues in the motion picture and television industry. AMPTP negotiates 80 industry-wide collective bargaining agreements that cover actors, craftpersons, directors, musicians, technicians, and writers - virtually all of the people who work on theatrical motion pictures and television programs. The Certification Council is the governing body, which is managing the development and implementation of a new industry-wide certification program for entertainment technology technicians.

AMPTP has appointed Dennis King, AMPTP vice-president, as their representative to the Council. King is the Chair of the Motion Picture Industry-Wide L

USA - In preparation for the upcoming NSCA show in Las Vegas, the newly formed EAW Commercial group has unveiled a complete line of high performance commercial audio products as well as a new website.

The announcement comes just three months after parent company Loud Technologies announced intentions to address the commercial audio market under the EAW brand name. The complete EAW Commercial line includes DSP matrix mixers, amplifiers, ceiling speakers, and a full range of loudspeakers - all backed by the manufacturing and engineering talents at EAW, Mackie, SIA Software and Acuma Labs.

"When we announced our plans to address this market under the EAW brand last December, the EAW and Mackie product development teams had already begun working on a revitalized family of products for the commercial sound market," commented Ken Berger, senior vice president of marketing

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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

Czech Republic - Prague's underground network, named the 'Metro' after its Parisian model, has been open since 1974. Comprising three lines and over 50km of tunnels, it is already carrying around half a billion passengers per year - and the trend is rising. In 2004, another three stations are due to be opened, bringing the total to 54.

The company responsible for the sound systems in the underground stations is Audio Zeman of Prague. Commissioned by the project management, Metroprojekt, the company's engineers conducted exhaustive simulations, with the result that they were given the go-ahead to install the first 100 DL-94 ceiling loudspeakers from Dynacord. The results were so impressive that in 2001, Audio Zeman was asked to do the same in other stations, in some of which the intelligibility of the existing systems, despite the multitude of ceiling speakers installed, was, acc

UK - Lightfactor Sales recently announced a new distributorship deal with Swiss company VXCO, for their DMXCreator PC-based range of lighting controllers. DMXCreator has three user interfaces in the range - the DMXCreator512Basic (USB-port), the DMXCreator512MK2 (LPT-port) and the DMXCreator1024 (USB-port), all of which use the same software architecture, and are designed to run on Windows OSs from 95 upwards.

The DMXCreator software controls any DMX512 fixture (up to 32 DMX channels). The DMXCreator512Basic is the world's first direct USB to DMX512 cable, complete with all necessary electronics built into the XLR plug. It offers 512 output channels via a 3-pin XLR, and connects to the USB plug-and-play port of the computer, without needing an external power supply. The DMXCreator512Basic package includes the DMX512-Interface cable and the DMXCreator software/panels on CDR.

T

USA - Mackie will use this year's NSCA show as a platform to introduce the commercial audio market to a range of new products, including the new TT24 digital live console the Onyx series of FireWire-capable analogue mixers. The TT24 digital live console is a powerful 24-mic input digital mixer developed specifically for live sound applications such as clubs, theatres, houses of worship, rental companies, sound production companies and regional touring acts.

Architecturally, TT24 is a 56 x 45, 24-bit, 96kHz capable digital live console with 100mm touch-sensitive faders, on-board analogue and digital I/O, full channel metering, digital recall, EQ, dynamics, and effects. A unique control section combines a 5" touch screen, eight function buttons, and 12-parameter rotary encoders that work together to provide quick and easy access to key live functions such as Fat channel overv

UK - Richard Nowell Sound Services (RNSS) has installed the UK's very first Midas Verona bearing serial number 001 into London's Royal Festival Hall. RNSS invested in the Verona without even seeing it - just a quick glance at the spec sheet and a telephone conversation with Midas and Klark Teknik's Richard Ferriday were enough to convince Nowell that the Verona was exactly what they he was looking for.

RNSS is responsible for the in-house sound systems throughout the South Bank Centre, from voice alarm and evacuation systems through to PA. The PA systems in particular have evolved over many years, so the company is currently involved in upgrading and rationalizing the equipment throughout. Having replaced the loudspeaker system in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, it became imperative to replace the console.

Nowell recounts: "When we first took over the contract for the South Ban

Australia - Fresh from its successes in being specified for high profile musical productions in Spain and the Netherlands, Formula Sound's recently-launched QUE-18 foldback mixer is also now being used in a leading production of the Queen musical, We Will Rock You in Melbourne, Australia.

Officially launched at last year's PLASA Show, the QUE-18 builds on Formula Sound's existing QUE-8 and QUE-10 foldback mixers by adding valuable extra channels and new features to what has proved to be a very popular and thoroughly proven design. It has been created to satisfy demands from sound design professionals for a product that provides new levels of foldback flexibility, especially in theatre applications, and has received an enthusiastic response from users such as Bobby Aitken of Bobby Aitken Sound Designs, who specified the QUE-18 for the Queen musical.

"They have prov

USA - For the 19th consecutive year, the International Ballroom at Merv Griffin's Beverly Hilton Hotel was outfitted with Apogee loudspeakers and power amplifiers for the Golden Globe Awards. The Awards are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to honour achievements in film and television during the calendar year. The show, broadcast live on NBC on 25 January and shown in 125 countries, attracted a worldwide television audience of 250 million viewers.

Veteran sound engineer Bruce Burns of Innovative Audio Technologies, Inc of Sun Valley, California, has selected Apogee loudspeakers for the Golden Globes since Apogee technology was available in 1985. In 2000, The Beverly Hilton, impressed by the quality and reliability of Apogee's performance, purchased from Thomas Gregor Audio Associates a permanent Apogee system for the International Ballroom, which also hosts

Japan - The World Lighting Fair 2004 takes place from the 24- 26 June at the Pacifico Yokohama Exhibition Hall in Japan. A showcase for state-of-the-art products, technology, and information about lighting for the entertainment industry, the exhibition presents the best of lighting technology for use in a broad range of applications, including the stage, television, motion pictures, theme parks and cultural presentations, as well as retail and trade show environments.

The 2002 event saw 73 exhibitors attending, including 52 from Japan and 21 from overseas. Twenty-one of the participants displayed their products and services at WLF 2002 for the first time because they knew that this exhibition is the best forum to reach the both the Japanese and growing Asian market. In just three days, WLF 2002 drew more than 20,000 visitors.

WLF 2004 will also host a variety of seminars and w

UK / Europe - Skan PA Hire has confirmed that it is continuing its strong relationship with The Darkness by supplying sound control equipment for the band's February European tour. The four-week tour includes two full production shows in Portsmouth and Folkestone and some of Europe's most famous cities, including Hamburg, Copenhagen and Vienna.

Skan is providing Midas Heritage 2000 and XL3 consoles, with technicians Scott Essen and Nick Stagg working alongside The Darkness' FOH engineer Pedro Ferreira and monitor engineer Andy Shillito. The Darkness first toured with Skan in October 2003 using its L'Acoustics dV-DOSC system, and again in November supporting Meatloaf. After an impressive performance, Skan was asked to provide an enhanced system for the heavily publicized Christmas 'Elf Hazard' tour.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

UK - Cambridge-based Screen Technology, innovators of large screen technology, has announced the completion of its ITrans production prototype, the first ever high brightness, 68" diagonal SVGA display made from 16 tiles, with an 85" diagonal XGA display to be built in March. The display has a luminance of greater than 2000Cd/sq.m and excellent contrast at all angles of view, say Screen Technology, and can deliver the performance required for use in large, well-lit venues which until now, have suffered from poor quality video display images.

The company is expecting a huge demand for this new technology from an identified market for large screen displays used in high ambient light areas, including theme parks, museums, trade shows and exhibitions. Independent research carried out by SRI has estimated the professional market for large display screens using existing te

UK - The very latest large screen technologies were showcased last week at an event jointly hosted by Shooting Partners, Anna Valley Displays, Massteknik UK and VLPS. The two-day event, held at VLPS Lighting Services' warehouse in Greenford, London, allowed guests the chance to see the latest systems on offer from all four companies, including two new products not previously available in the UK.

Anna Valley Displays, part of the Shooting Partners Group, introduced their Sanyo HD10 - the world's first true 16:9 high definition LCD projector. Currently only available in the UK from Anna Valley Displays, it delivers a 1920 x 1080 native resolution image and with 5,500 Lumen output. Tom Bird, Shooting Partners' head of sales and marketing, says: "We have already had a great response to the HD10 with applications ranging from the viewing of daily rushes to highly realistic back

UK - Symetrix is introducing the new AirTools 6200 voice processor, and showing upgrades to the Studio Matrix signal processing system at the forthcoming NAB 2004 exhibition in in Las Vegas. All units are now shipping, say the company.

The AirTools 6200 is a dual-channel, DSP-driven voice processor, with all the necessary functions to handle complete signal processing of microphone or line-level signals, in dual-mono or stereo. Processing blocks are editable from the front panel or from a Windows-based GUI accessed via USB or Ethernet ports, and changes are stored in any of the 1024 onboard preset locations. Processes include filtering, parametric equalization, compression, de-essing, gating, room simulation and more. The 6200 also supports HomerLink, an interconnect protocol that makes it compatible with the Studio Matrix system.

The Studio Matrix system is now shipping and s

UK - E/T/C UK supplied stunning large format projections for the launch of a new son et lumière concept, The Future's Bright, staged in the royal town of Caernarfon in Gwynedd, North Wales. Three PIGI 6kW projectors, complete with double rotating scrollers, were used to project giant images onto the walls of Caernarfon castle.

The Future's Bright is the brainchild of Jon Thirsk, a locally-based graphic designer who's keen to stimulate tourism, business and interest in the town. He and other interested parties formed the not-for-profit organization, Y Grael Cyf (The Grail), to stage the initial pilot event. Thirsk approached E/T/C UK's Ross Ashton to help realize the idea on the visual front. The proposed Caernarfon 2004 events aim to stretch Caernarfon's tourist season, in similar fashion to the Blackpool Illuminations, which attracts many millions of visitors. Th

Worldwide - Monitor engineer for American alternative metal band A Perfect Circle, Michael Mulé, has 22 years of hands-on experience in live music. He's been working with a DiGiCo D5 Live digital mixing console on the band's latest tour, travelling around America, Europe, Australia and Japan, which will finish on the 2004 summer festival scene. He only had one day prior to rehearsal to get to know his way around the console, but he found an almost instant affinity with the interface and, seven months into the tour, he says he wouldn't change it for the world.

A Perfect Circle is composer and guitar player Billy Howerdel, who formed the band, lead singer Maynard James Keenan (also lead singer with Tool), James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins, Jeordie White from Marilyn Manson, and drummer Josh Freese, a Stellar Studio musician and has played with many bands. This is the

UK - Many schools would be glad of a hall as spacious as that at Cavendish School, Eastbourne. However, director of Arts Bruce Sibley was finding the old-style high stage and proscenium arch layout restrictive. He wanted a more flexible environment, in which traditional end-on productions could be mixed with in-the-round or traverse performances. He also wanted to be able to raise either the performers or the audience - or both.

Sibley contacted staging specialist Maltbury Ltd who visited the school and discussed the options. The versatile Metrodeck system was chosen and Maltbury drew up a detailed package of equipment. Maltbury supplied 60 Metrodeck units, a carefully selected range of legs, 36 handrails and storage solutions for everything. As a result, the school can raise an area of 120sq.m or build tiers seating 232 people - not to mention countless combinations of the two

USA - The First Baptist Church of Cumming, Georgia recently replaced its sound system, turning to Mike Hedden at dB Acoustics & Sound, a design/build firm that specializes in contemporary churches with production-oriented worship. "We do about a church a week," says Hedden. "Our philosophy is that the AV system needs to be a seamless part of the worship service. If we do our job correctly, the congregation won't be distracted by technology."

The church had initially invested in quality equipment such as Crown amps and a Soundcraft K2 console, and Hedden kept as much of the original equipment as possible.

The main room seats around 800-900 people. Hedden and his team installed a mono distributed system featuring a main centre cluster of two SPL-triktraps from Sound Physics Labs and two SPL-td1 subwoofers. SPL-triktraps provide wide-angle coverage of 60° x 6

UK - GLP of Karlsbad has announced that the new Ypoc 575 moving head, first shown at the PLASA Show in London last year, is now available for delivery. Among the most obvious advantages of the new device is its compact size and weight, equivalent to a 250-class moving head, thanks to the the quality of its componentry and its state-of-the-art microprocessor technology. A HTI 575W discharge lamp combines with annealed optics to ensure an efficient output of light, say the company.

The Ypoc 575 is equipped with a colour wheel with 11 dichroic and two separate gobo wheels. A further onboard effect is the 4.5mW laser diode, controlled for greater convenience by a separate DMX channel. Controlled via DMX 512, the fixture features a four-character alphanumeric display to facilitate the programming of the DMX address as well as a counter indicating the number of hours the lamp has been

Switzerland - Two Soundcraft MH3 mixing consoles and BSS 9088 Soundwebs have entered the big top, running the audio for the Swiss National Circus as part of a 100% Harman Pro system installation. The Knie Dynasty, which has been in existence for over 200 years - touring as the Swiss National Circus since 1918 - decided to replace their entire audio system with a complete Harman Pro solution.

The Knie family opted for a VerTec Line Array system to fill the 3,000-capacity big top. Supplied by Swiss distributor Dr. W. A. Günther, the music and playback system consists of 12 JBL VerTec VT 4887, underpinned by three JBL CSR82 subs - all powered by Crown MacroTech. The vocal system and delays are carried by 10 JBL AE AC2212 powered by Crown XS, while the brace of BSS Soundweb 9088 DSP devices store the crossover and EQ gain settings as presets, and handle the signal routing. The mixi

UK - Audace Ltd, manufacturers of the Intelliplate control system for fixed installations of audio-visual equipment has upgraded its flagship SuperHub controller. The first enhancement comes with the advent of a new revision of its firmware - now standing at V2.03. This latest release includes two powerful new features for programmers. A new 'checksum' facility enables both the processing and the generation of checksums on data strings.

In addition, the automation capability of the SuperHub has been enhanced with the advent of a 'relative' time stamp to complement the existing 'absolute' time events that were previously available. Both features are in direct response to requests from established customers. SuperHub's hardware has also been updated, with the release of its issue two main board. The product now utilizes the latest revision of its eight-bit processor, which, accord

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