UK / Turkey - Midas and Klark Teknik have announced the appointment of The Atempo Group as their exclusive distributor for Turkey. The experienced distribution specialist, with offices in Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya, has handled Electro-Voice and Dynacord for some years and is delighted to be taking on the Midas and Klark Teknik ranges.

"We view this as a highly significant appointment for Midas and Klark Teknik," commented Midas and KT's director of sales and marketing, David Cooper. "Atempo voluntarily terminated a long-standing distribution agreement with a major Japanese digital console manufacturer in order to be able to carry the Midas brand. They correctly understand that Midas will retain the profile and competitive advantages that we have achieved in the a

UK - Following the release of the DN-X1500 mixer, Denon has announced a new rack kit (RMK1500), which will allow users to operate it rack-mounted. The rack version of the DN-X1500 occupies 8U of conventional 19" space.

The DN-X1500 is the world's first 12" four-channel DJ mixer to offer 8-channel input matrix control - and the latest addition to Denon's leading range of professional DJ equipment.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Stagetec Distribution has supplied a number of new Compulite Spark 4D and SparkTOP systems to TV studios around the country. The Hospital Studio, which opened in Summer 2003, is part of a television and arts complex in the heart of Covent Garden comprising of a café, art and exhibition gallery, TV and audio recording studios with a restaurant and private members club set to open in autumn 2004.

It is the brainchild of entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul G. Allen - a co-founder of Microsoft. The Hospital is a state-of-the-art facility for creative industry professionals in the music, art and film worlds. The unique mix of facilities will allow projects to be carried out under one roof, as they have all the necessary technical facilities for recording and production.

Housed in the two basement floors of The Hospital, The Studio is Europe's first end-to-end High Definitio

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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

UK - Pulsar Light of Cambridge has announced a number of new and forthcoming additions to its popular Chroam Range of LED-based colour changing fixtures. These include the ChromaBirdie - a birdie-sized Par can fitted with the company's ChromaMR16 LED module, and available in silver or black; the ChromaBottleWasher - a small colour-changing uplighter pedestal unit, ideal for up-lighting bottles on a bar. Also new is the ChromaPendant - a chrome-finished unit designed for suspension above tables and bars in clubs and restaurants.

Pulsar also says the stainless steel IP68-rated ChromaScape has now started shipping: aimed at use in saline and chlorinated water, it has also been ETL-approved for use in swimming pools. Finally, coming soon from Pulsar is a new ChromaMR16Range.

(Lee Baldock)

USA - Florida-based fibre optic and LED lighting specialist Super Vision International Inc has announced the appointment of Richard Steele as the national account representative for Super Vision's Sign Division.

Steele previously served as the VP of sales for DuraLED and developed numerous national account relationships in his efforts to introduce LED technology to the sign industry. Steele will focus on pursuing major account opportunities for Super Vision's LED Border-Light and FlexLED products. Both product lines are LED alternatives for many traditional neon applications including perimeter building outline and backlit or illuminated channel letters.

Brett Kingstone, Super Vision's president and CEO said: "We are pleased to have someone of Richard's knowledge and calibre join our sign team. All of us at Super Vision look forward to supporting Richard and his clients w

UK / USA - Software provider Stardraw.com has appointed Dove Net Technologies as resellers of the entire Stardraw product range throughout the United States and Canada with immediate effect. According to Stardraw marketing director Rob Robinson, the appointment is a logical extension of Stardraw's activities in North America: "Dove Net's product portfolio complements our own in every possible way," he commented. "Furthermore, they are already familiar with our client base as their own software, The Project System, is designed for exactly the same user profile. Dove Net Technologies are highly experienced in all aspects of complex software sales, technical support and development. I can't think of any company that's better qualified for the job."

Dove Net's own application, The Project System, offers systems integrators a fully featured administration program

UK - XL Video is supplying projection for an acclaimed production of Maria De Buenos Aires, a co-production between Buxton, Bath and Norwich Opera festivals, directed by John Abulafia. The rare Astor Paizzolla work with libretto by Uruguayan poet Horacia Ferrer, is a story of love and betrayal, good and evil and the tragedy of 'The Disappeared' during Argentina's oppressive military regime of 1976-1983.

XL Video's Malcolm Mellows was contacted by audio-visual specialist and programmer Graham English, with whom he has worked on previous projects. English was asked onboard by Abulafia to design and produce artwork and images for the show, working alongside designer Isla Shaw. XL's other recent work in theatre and the performing arts contributed to their recommendation as equipment supplier.

The projection surface is a simple, upstage 'stonework' set piece, providing abstr

USA - Professional loudspeaker manufacturer Apogee Sound International has promoted Tim Thornton to vice-president of International Sales. Thornton will report to Dave Chambers, executive vice-president of sales, who said: "Tim will be a key contributor as Apogee Sound moves forward to increase its international business in more than 40 countries."

Thornton joined Apogee Sound in 1997 as national sales manager, developing a technical and sales training curriculum for Apogee's factory representatives and dealers. Thornton's classes include topics ranging from the basics of pro audio, loudspeaker technology, system design and system operation, to building a sales staff and bringing them up to speed on Apogee Sound products and customers. Thornton built successful relationships with sound consultants, consulting engineers, designers and architects, and increased Apogee S

UK - James Thomas Engineering's Pixel Range team hits the road for two weeks at the start of June with a roadshow highlighting the capabilities of its rapidly-expanding Pixel product range. Pixel Range's Tony Cameron will head the roadshow, alongside Andy Sugars and Emma Long from IRAD, who will be demonstrating the PixelDrive control system.

Products will include the hugely popular PixelPAR 90 and the Pixelline 1044 batten. The roadshow will stop at some of the best-known lighting rental companies in the country. The routing was planned to get a good geographical spread and make catching it for the day as easy and convenient as possible. Those hosting the roadshows will have a chance to invite their customer base plus selected lighting designers and programmers.

Cameron comments: "Roadshows are a great opportunity to demonstrate the new products to existing Pixel Range u

UK - Neil Muckle has used his 14 years' management experience with Mitchells & Butlers to convert the popular Isobar, in the Cornish holiday resort of St. Ives, into an all-day café bar and nightclub venue and at the same time to increase the capacity. Muckle and his Dude Bars business partner Nick Kenlay decided to retain the name of the popular venue, which has been operating as a nightclub for many years.

To accomplish this he turned to Nigel Hodgson of Core Design, who in turn enlisted Mark Brown of Marquee Installations. Hodgson's brief was to get the ground floor bar fully functioning as a multi-purpose chameleon venue in its own right - from an early breakfast and coffee operation through to a pre-club feeder. "As well as the interior design our brief was to re-design the flow round the entire building to enable it to function as a single unit," says Hodgson. T

UK - Adlib Audio and Harman Pro UK collaborated closely to design, supply and install a JBL VerTec line array system at the Isle of Man's new flagship multi-purpose venue - the Villa Marina, situated alongside its sister, the Gaiety Theatre.

Adlib won the competitive tender to supply the kit - which also includes other Harman brands including BSS, Crown and Soundcraft. The project was co-ordinated by Adlib's Andy Dockerty and Harman Pro UK's Max Lindsay-Johnson, and for the client by Steve Dawson, general manager of the Villa Marina and Gaiety Theatre Complex.

The brief was to specify the right production values to attract regular touring artists of all types. It also had to match the architectural integrity of the room and maintain clear sightlines from all around the auditorium. Harman did an initial site survey and constructed an acoustic model of the venue, along with a 3D

Australia / New Zealand - For the Australia/New Zealand opening leg of Sarah McLachlan's 2004 world tour, lighting designer Graeme Nicol opted for a 'warmer' look, employing a mixture of Vari*Lite automated fixtures. Nicol has 10 VL1000 tungsten units, eight VL5 fixtures with tungsten source and eight VL3000 Spot luminaires. He comments: "I'm running the VL3000 Spot units with full CTO all the time because I want that warmer look. I didn't want it to look like an MTV thing."

The eight VL3000 Spot fixtures are placed on the mid-truss, evenly spaced and alternating with the VL5 units. Because the automated rig is a scaled-down version of the rig he will use for the forthcoming North American tour, Nicol was somewhat limited in his design. But he plans to use this first run of dates to get a better idea of his design for the rest of the world tour. One thing that will car

Australia - Hippotizer, the versatile digital media server from Scene Change, has found a home in Australia, having been selected by the Rise nightclub in Perth as the centrepiece of a new visuals system, installed to help the venue set the standard for clubbing in Perth with "a massive dancefloor, a world-class sound system and a lighting rig that redefines the phrase full-on."

Simon Barwood, managing director and resident DJ for Rise, explains: "We were ready to launch Rise into the 21st century with the installation of a club visuals system. I first came across Hippotizer in a review in DJ Mag's VJ Scan section. After extensive research of software and hardware products I could find no other comparable system offered as an 'out of the box' solution, which included pre-loaded content and an intuitive interface. The claims in the technical literature were substan

USA - Renkus-Heinz has announced the appointment of David Rahn as national sales manager. "David has a strong background in pro audio sales and marketing," said Renkus-Heinz president, Harro Heinz. "He understands the needs of both manufacturers and independent representatives, having contributed to both types of organizations. We're excited to have him on board as the leader of our US sales team."

Before joining Renkus-Heinz, Rahn covered the Southern California and Las Vegas territory for the Harman pro brands through their independent rep firm Sound Marketing West. As an independent rep, Rahn managed the touring and installed sound markets in these regions. During this time he was involved in the development and successful deployment of JBL's VerTec product line. Rahn left a position as market development manager for AKG Acoustics to join Sound Marketing

USA - Biamp Systems has supplied an AudiaFLEX system to Central Interconnect of Grand Rapids, Michigan for installation into the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center there. According to Biamp, a single Audia unit can provide the power of an entire rack of processors, bringing even the most difficult acoustic environments under control. "Our flagship Audia currently brings Biamp Systems quality and reliability to the world of networked audio," says Biamp Systems president, Ralph Lockhart. "We're excited to have an institution of the calibre of the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center choose Audia as its central networking platform."

The audio demands at Forest Hills were rigorous. As part of the creation of this multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art fine arts facility, the designers created an auditorium for musical performances. Originally, facility owners designed a syste

UK - Soundtracs has reported record sales in the first quarter of 2004, with consoles being purchased by an increasing number of post production facilities across Europe. Sales include DS-00s to Molinaire Studios and Alchemy, along with Peter Vitesse's console at Sphere in London; a DS-00 to BBC Pebble Mill in Birmingham; a DPC to Sky TV adding to its already extensive inventory of Soundtracs products; a dual master section film-spec DS-00 to Alea Jacta in Belgium; a DS-00 to Yellow Cab in Paris, France plus two DS-00s to Endemol Nederland BV, and another to Archipel Productions in Paris.

"We're seeing a general up-turn in the post-production industry," comments Soundtracs' director of sales, James Gordon. "This is reflected in the amazing amount of sales we've made so far this year and the rest of the year looks set to be equally as good."

(Sarah Rushton-R

UK - The new RoadGear range from Phonic is a fully integrated mobile sound solution, housed in a moulded case, it contains a powered mixer and two loudspeakers along with all relevant cabling. Both models in the range, the RoadGear 160 and 260, offer enough storage space to safely pack microphones and associated microphone and speaker cables, plus dedicated space for wireless microphone storage, making RoadGear the perfect sound system for use in pubs, clubs, schools, churches and a variety of other applications. Set-up can be achieved quickly and when it comes to break down, RoadGear can be quickly packed up and wheeled away.

The RoadGear 160 and 260 have an output capacity of 160 and 260W as well as four and six channel powered mixers respectively. Features common to both models include 2-band EQ, XLR inputs with universal phantom power, a digital effects processor, 3-band equ

USA - Barco Events has reported that all the LED displays used at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) show, were from Barco. Approximately 3,510 tiles of Barco's popular indoor LED display products and 19,000 tiles of its innovative MiPix LED blocks were used at the show, which was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, from 12-14 May 2004. Over 400 exhibitors and audience of 65,000 industry professionals attendedE3.

Barco's indoor LED display systems represented at the E3 show were supplied via some of the company's worldwide rental partners, including Creative Technology USA, XL Video USA, IMAG USA, AV Dimensions, Background Images, VER, E-Videowall, Impact, GL Image and AVHQ. In addition to its new award-winning MiPix displays and its indoor ILite 6 mm and 10 mm products, Barco's DLP projection products and its new flat-panel LCD displays also impressed show at

Denmark - Mach Speakers has expanded its Ceiling/In-wall series of loudspeakers with the new MIW66. The MIW66 is a two-way ceiling or in-wall speaker with separate driver units and excellent sound quality in a strong, moulded plastic cabinet, with a specialized backing case.

The MlW66 is designed for discreet placement and easy mounting in areas where high-definition in-fill sound is required. It features a built in 70/100V module and includes a six-step variable output volume. A 1" polycarbonate dome tweeter and 6.5" propylene woofer provide 90° x 90° dispersion and outstanding sound quality, says Mach. It includes an easy-to-use and secure mounting system, as well as simple press-release terminals for fast connection.

The MIW66 is suited to a wide range of wall cavity or ceiling cavity installations - venues of all sizes, conference rooms, retail stores and mor

UK - Leading UK LED lighting design and manufacturer i-Vision has appointed two new European distributors - in Germany and Ireland - for its full range of LED products. In Germany, Munich-based Richard Schahl Group GmbH (the world's largest lamp distributor) will be promoting the i-Vision brand, while in Ireland the company has appointed Dublin-based FibreLED.

The deal is part of ongoing expansion plans by Wales-based i-Vision, which includes the launch of 'Lumos' - a new range of LED products. i-Vision chose the Richard Schahl Group because they're one of the leading German lighting practitioners, with a dedicated LED division and an excellent reputation in the architectural, commercial and industrial sectors. The deal was finalized at the recent Light & Building exhibition in Frankfurt.

i-Vision's LED business has been very active in Ireland over the last two years, particu

UK - Pro audio specialist Autograph Sales will be attending next month's ABTT show - exhibiting in the Lawrence Hall on stand 116. The event is being used as a launch pad for many new products, now available exclusively in the UK though Autograph Sales. This includes the global premiere of the Swedish LDS 'invisible' true line source theatre loudspeakers.

Another addition to the Autograph Sales portfolio is Aviom, the leading intelligent personal mixer and distribution system. The company's new A-Net digital multicore system, which is available with a Yamaha interface, will be on display and demonstrated with the DM1000 digital mixer.

Autograph Sales' technical department will be hosting a Design Clinic, to discuss any sound reinforcement issues, assist with ongoing designs or projects, and to offer its widely respected consultancy services to venues, installers and audio prof

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