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UK - It's business as usual at PCM, the Wirral-based flying and rigging sales specialists, despite the company's last minute decision against participating at PLASA - due to the current restructuring.

Paul Kelly has now assumed the role of MD, following the recent departure of John Jones. Kelly has been with the company for 12 years and has been general manger since 1997. Everything else carries on as normal - the sales office is still active and operational, headed by Kelly and Tracy Hall. PCM carries a full range of Lodestar motors, extensive spares, motor controllers and accessories.

Kelly comments: "It's a very exciting time for PCM right now. However the timing of all the recent changes, the increased administration plus a very full order book to deal with meant someth

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UK - Coinciding with the launch of Diana Scrimgeour's new book, U2 Show, a beautifully illustrated history of the legendary Irish band's innovative tour productions, PLASA (in association with Total Production International and the PSA) is presenting an exclusive seminar featuring two of the band's longest-serving touring personnel, at the forthcoming PLASA Show.

Hosted by TPI editor Mark Cunningham, the seminar - Designing for U2 - will feature Willie Williams and Joe O'Herlihy in conversation about their creative and technical involvement with U2, and how advances in technology have been successfully (and ingeniously) applied to deliver the band's constantly evolving performance ethos.

A leading lighting and show designer, Willie Williams joined U2's entourage in the early 1980s, becoming their LD on the 1983 War tour. His combination of hi-tech media and lo-tech eccentrici

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UK - dB Technologies new electronically-controlled active system, Fifty Line, is a flexible and compact PA system with three main components. The FL10 passive high frequency speaker, equipped with a horn loaded 10" woofer and a B&C 1" pressure driver (coaxially mounted). dB has used its long history and experience in plastics to develop this horn and this is reflected in the weight, sound and output pressure of the system. The 1" driver has been specially designed and manufactured for the unit to achieve an smooth frequency and dispersion.

FL15 is the mid-bass of the system, incorporating both a 500W/RMS power amp and a 300 +100 W/RMS power amp, used to power the FL 10, by way of a four-channel speaker cable. The result of combining the two units is a complete full-range speaker system.

FL18 sub-bass is a bass reflex unit driven by an 18" B&C woofer, togeth

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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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Italy - During his summer tour Buoni o Cattivi (The good or the bad), Italian superstar Vasco Rossi played in sold-out stadiums and halls across the country. The show's impressive lighting concept, designed by LD Giovanni Pinna, included a large number of moving lights and LEDs, with control via a total of three MA lighting control desks.

The moving lights and dimmers required 4000 channels of control. Two grandMA full-size consoles, with 4096 parameters each, were integrated in a network: one of these consoles was the main desk, with the other serving as a backup. In addition, a grandMA light (4096 channels) was included to provide control of the LED technology.

The DMX data from all consoles was sent to a LAN switch (local area network) via Ethernet, using the ArtNet protocol. As the heart of the network this switch divided the data to further LAN nodes. These nodes

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USA Having spent the last three years with Vari-Lite, Sean Hoey has returned to High End Systems to take up the position of sales manager for the south eastern US. Between 1991 and 2001 Hoey was HES sales manager of various US regions, prior to being appointed director of American sales. Hoey said of his return: "I'm home. I'm optimistic about where the company is headed, and I'm very glad to be back where I belong."

CEO Frank Gordon commented: "We couldn't be more pleased to have Sean back at High End. He brings years of valuable industry experience, and we welcome him to our sales team as we move further into the digital lighting market."

(Barry Howse)

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UK - Stagetec Distribution will again be sharing a stand with Compulite at the PLASA show, helping with the launch of a range of new products, these will include the first showing of the new Vector Green console, the smallest in the range, but with the same power and flexibility of the larger versions. Vector Green still utilizes two powerful processors to ensure maximum stability and has all the features of the larger consoles with one built-in colour touch screen and one external monitor, 10 playback faders, a separate crossfade playback, four on-board DMX outputs and a further 12 over Ethernet. Vector Green is designed to follow on from the popular SparkTOP system by providing an extremely light and portable, yet powerful control console. It will be supplied complete with a clip-on cover to enable it to be easily carried around.

The Vector iControl is designed around the Comp

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Canada / USA - Cast Software introduced Vivien, a new software application for event and meeting design, at Event Solutions in Washington last week. The new product was received with overwhelming response, say Cast.

Vivien is an integrated solution for event design and rollout, designed to meet the needs of planners and designers servicing corporate events, special functions, incentive meetings, tradeshows and parties. The program is built on a specialized CAD engine that allows users to design any space in 3D. The Vivien 3D library contains a comprehensive collection of items, including tables, chairs, décor, AV, architectural, banquet, and staging items. Users simply click and drag the items into their virtual space. Everything is tracked by a database and paperwork component for issuing floor plans, layouts, reports, order sheets, schedules, and renderings.

"The show

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UK - A.C. Lighting's Audio division has supplied the West Yorkshire Playhouse with two Yamaha DM1000 audio mixing consoles as part of an upgrade of the venue's sound equipment. Since opening in March 1990, the venue has established a reputation both nationally and internationally as one of Britain's most exciting producing theatres, and is the largest regional repertory theatre outside of London and Stratford. The Playhouse produces 16 of its own shows each year in its two auditoria, approximately a third of which are world or British premieres.

When the theatre wanted to replace the existing sound mixers in its two auditoria - the 750-seat Quarry Theatre and 350 seat Courtyard Theatre - they approached A.C. to supply the two Yamaha DM1000 consoles. As a certified Yamaha digital dealer, A.C. were able to offer an extensive in-house consultation and after-sales backup service, in

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UK - Temporary power distribution systems used in the entertainment and events industries will be significantly affected by the changes to the UK phase and neutral colour-coding for cables. We are currently in a transitional period with installers now able to implement the changes although the new regulations take full effect in April 2006. As these new changes permeate through the industry, there will be many situations where potential hazards could arise from the mixing of new and old colour schemes, most critically where temporary equipment is hired from more than one supplier for an event, or where suppliers have not yet made the expensive wholesale change to the new colour scheme.

Several PLASA members and readers of L&SI have already expressed concern about the new system and the potential safety issues. To discuss the implications in a wider context, PLASA is holding a d

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UK - Newly-formed Muse Research has launched with Receptor, a sophisticated but simple-to-operate VST instrument and effects player for studio and live applications. The problem with many VST instruments and effects is that they are difficult to use and set-up, but the Receptor's intuitive front panel with knob controls, makes it easy. But the 2U rack-mountable, multi-timbral sound and effects Receptor makes the task of using plug-ins as easy as "dial and play". Using proprietary Muse software, Receptor can run VST software from the best developers in the world without the complexity and fragility of a computer.

Receptor's mixer-like architecture combines up to 16 different audio sources, which can be either internal VSTi instruments or external analogue/digital inputs. Each source is then routed through its own inline effects matrix, allowing three VST plug-ins to be

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UK XL Video's busy Corporate division continues to expand with the acquisition of event AV specialists' Event Technical Services. Event Technical Services' former directors John Hooker and Malcolm Whittall have now joined XL Video's proactive account handling team, which recently expanded with the addition of Phil Goddard and Greg Rice.

"We're delighted to have John and Malcolm onboard" says XL's Lee Spencer. "Their collective experience, industry knowledge and contacts are a great asset to our busy and growing Corporate department, and their energy and enthusiasm fits perfectly with XL's future plans."

Together, the pair bring over 40 years of combined industry experience to XL. They will be responsible for designing, and project-managing the supply of complete corporate AV systems for XL's diverse range of events and shows. Whittall's broadcast live even

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UK - Setting new standards in efficiency, 32 companies have been identified in the latest Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis - Sound Equipment as getting the very best from their people. The consequence for companies in the rest of the industry is that to compete, they will need to axe as many as 1300 jobs in the next 12 months.

By getting the most from employees, these 32 highly efficient companies are delivering nearly 45% more sales and four times the profit per person of an average UK sound equipment company. Typically, they are generating £208,000 sales per person and £13,000 profit per person. Last year, the average UK sound equipment company achieved £143,000 sales per employee and a mere £3,000 profit per employee.

At most risk of being left behind, 20 companies have been identified as only generating an average of £81,000 per employee. Their spend on salaries is far too

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Denmark - Danish PA company DPA Soundco has supplied various sound reinforcement systems to the Roskilde Festival over the past 12 years, but this year, for the first time, the company equipped two stages with Nexo GEO T Series tangent arrays. The company reports the system received unprecedented praise over a diverse range of performances, from the Scissor Sisters to the Royal Danish Opera and a variety of world music.

DPA Soundco's system designer Gorm Jakobsen was responsible for PA on three of Roskilde's six stages, including the 11,000-capacity Arena Stage (the second largest), and the Ballroom stage, which hosted the world music events. In the past, Jakobsen has used systems including Turbosound's Floodlight and Flashlight and, last year, the JBL VerTec. He comments: "They all worked, although, of the three, the line array was the best design for the space. However, this yea

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UK - Charcoalblue, the UK's newest theatre consultancy, was formed in February of this year by three theatre professionals who had previously worked together at Theatre Projects Consultants - namely Andy Hayles, Jon Stevens and Jack Tilbury. Hayles explains: "We decided that the time was right to branch out on our own. It wasn't an easy decision, but we had a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve."

Each member of the team has a strong background in the theatre. Hayles was previously chief electrician at Richmond Theatre Royal. Stevens has worked at the RSC in Stratford, toured with Opera North and was head of sound at Glyndebourne Opera. He still does lighting design when he gets a chance - most recently The Makropulos Case at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Tilbury began his career as a theatre production manager, and went on to project manage for Imagination at the Millenn

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UK - Captained by Dan Heasman, Clarion Events took a day off from the organization of the PLASA Show to take on a Pro Sound & Light Invitation XI - led by Lightfactor Sales' Paul DeVille - in the annual D&M Professional (previously Hayden Labs) Cricket Challenge.

DeVille's motley crew included three members of the press corps - Charles Ward (DJ Magazine), Lee Baldock (Lighting & Sound International) and Gez Kahan (MI Pro) - all of whom acquitted themselves with distinction. Also present were PLASA's Matthew Griffiths and Shane McGreevy. However, the man of the match award was won by D&M's Miles Brooke who, batting late in the innings, brought the Industry XI's sorry-looking tally up to a respectable score.

This is the sixth time the two sides have met in the picturesque Berkshire village of Littlewick Green, the home club of D&M Pro's Simon Curtis, who organizes the fixture. Clarion

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Greece - Bon Studio S.A. won the contract to install the audio infrastructure in three of the most contemporary stadia in Europe, used recently for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Drawing heavily on the product portfolio of Harman Pro group companies for whom they handle distribution, Bon Studio was able to meet the specifications laid down for the Pampeloponissiako and Panthessaliko Outdoor Stadia, and Nikaia Indoor Stadium. When some of the designs were later modified to achieve optimum sound quality, Bon Studio were able to comply with the revised requirement.

The new 24,000-seat Pampeloponissiako stadium in Patra was built in order to stage the Olympic football tournaments. Bon Studio installed the sound reinforcement system in the stadium's main arena plus sound reinforcement and public address systems in the internal peripheral areas. Using EASE predictive software, the

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UK - As part of an ongoing exterior lighting upgrade, London's National Theatre has purchased a number of colour changers from Ambient Lighting Ltd, the UK distributor of Italian lighting manufacturer, Griven.

The fixtures purchased by the NT are the 1000W Colosseo CYM units from Griven's dedicated 'Architectural Dimension' range. The fixtures have been installed by the NT's own staff to light the exterior north face of the Lyttelton flytower, viewable from Waterloo Bridge and surrounds.

Ambient Lighting reports that the NT will host a continuous demonstration of the fixtures during the evenings of this year's PLASA Show, so that interested parties can see the unit in action in a real environment. The Colosseo will also be on stand at PLASA, alongside the 4000W xenon Kolorglobe fixture, aimed at large-scale architectural installation.

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UK - Production Services has announced the upgrading of its SP Series power amplifiers - despite the fact that the existing designs have provided sterling service with only one breakdown (due to operator problems) over the last 12 months from all the SP Series amps in use worldwide, say the company.

The changes start with the front plate, machined from 10mm thick aluminium block. Superior airflow has been achieved as well as making the amplifier more robust. According to the manufacturer, everything about the amplifiers has been upgraded from transparent output limiting through components to general design and layout. The result, the company says, is improved reliability and sonic performance - with no price increase.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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France - Digigram, a world leader in innovative digital audio network solutions, announced recently that US based Jimmy Kawalek has been hired as worldwide business development manager for the licensing program of Digigram's patented EtherSound technology.

"There are few people in the world that have as much knowledge and market insight in professional networked audio as Jimmy has. He knows exactly what pro audio manufacturers need to efficiently implement audio networking and remote control capabilities into their products, and he has a proven track record of creating long-term business relations, which are beneficial for all parties. We are very happy to have him on board," said Philippe Delacroix, Digigram managing director.

Kawalek added: "I am very excited to join Digigram and to be part of the EtherSound team. The more I learn about this incredible technol

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UK - Scottish lighting specialist black light has formally launched its new Glasgow office, adding a significant string to the bow of Scotland's Lighting Company. Based in the Parkhead area of the city, the new office has actually been open for several months, during which time general manager Iain Weir has been building up the business, stock levels and developing relationships with a range of clients on the western side of Scotland and northern England. "Giving the office an initially low-key opening was a deliberate policy," says Iain. "That way we could ensure that everything was in place and working at 110% efficiency before the official launch."

"The new office shows black light being both proactive and reactive," adds managing director Gavin Stewart. "There is an enormous range of projects on the western side of the country, which we ar

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UK - Chris Cronin of Total Fabrications Ltd has announced the formation of Total Solutions Group, established to manage a suite of well-known brands associated with trussing in the entertainment industry.

Sitting under the umbrella of the Group will be the brands Total Fabrications, Slick (one of the oldest truss manufacturers in the industry, purchased by Total Fabrications in 2003), T2 (the Award-winning, high-specification safety truss), Total Training (the new rigging training initiative set up by the company) and New Wave (the decorative trussing brand which has won numerous awards). New Wave is marketed by TSG for its US-based sister company Total Structures, which remains separate from the new TSG structure.

Some of the Group's brand names - Total Fabrications, T2 and Slick - are available for manufacture under license in other countries around the world, through technology tr

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