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Italy - Blues fans stream into the normally quiet Tuscan town of Pistoia each year for its annual Blues Festival, considered to be one of the most important in the country, with names such as B.B. King, Robert Plant and Van Morrison all having graced the stage in previous years. With Aztec chosen as the FOH console by rental company, Nicola Procopio, this year's festival had all the makings to deliver unrivalled sound quality.

For the last 24 years, concerts have taken place in the shadow of the great Duomo where audiences have seen great performances whilst either standing or sitting on the historical stones in the medieval square surrounded by breathtaking Romanesque and Gothic architechture. With a further 1500 seats in the gallery, the town's accommodation tends to be booked

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UK - Newcastle University's new landmark building, the Devonshire, features a stunning visual display using CFL Colour Changers from the Light Projects Group.

The concept is the result of a local schools competition to create an innovative lighting sequence to illuminate the building whilst focusing on the concepts of environmental harmony and sustainability. The use of environmentally-friendly LEDs was seen as a fitting solution.

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Germany - HK Audio's Cohedra (Coherent Dynamic Response Array) line array system, introduced last year, is a compact line array system that delivers a big sound. As sound engineer Ray Furze intimated in last month's touring feature, there is more power in Cohedra than it would at first appear.

The German manufacturer's next step was to make a compact version of the Cohedra - a compact compact line array, if you like. This was the product that HK proudly unveiled at its headquarters in the small town of St Wendel, in southern Germany, at the end of September. Following a presentation and demonstration to HK's international distributors and the pro audio press, the system was tested in a true live setting, with a concert performance at a local venue, Saalbau, by Jon Lord - ex-keyboard player for Deep Purple - and an accompanying orchestra. Lord was mixed by FOH engineer Rob Hogdkinson, u

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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 - The new RCF PR4092 preamplifier has been designed to provide a flexible solution for any paging and music application in PA systems. It has nine inputs and two outputs: each input can be sent to output A only, or output B only, or both A+B. In this way, PR4092 can also be used as a double preamplifier. The 'A-bus' could be, for example, dedicated to paging, and the 'B- bus' for BGM programs. Input 1 has overall priority (voice or contact activated) and can be used for emergency paging; Inputs 2 and 3 together can be set with priority on Inputs 4 to 9.

Equally, the PR4092 can be used as a conventional nine-input mixer with ideal applications for houses of worship, entertainment venues etc. The PR4092 is housed in a compact 19" single rack unit chassis.

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - Wybron Inc announces the appointment of Joan Bolen as Marketing Coordinator, effective November 3, 2004. Joan holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing from The University of Texas at Austin and brings an energetic and creative perspective to Wybron's sales and marketing efforts. She has a long background with computers and graphic design and has worked in marketing and public relations for the past 15 years.

An admitted theatre addict, Bolen says she is excited about learning more about the technology of Wybron's stage lighting products and hopes to contribute in all aspects of promoting them.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - The Institute of Sound & Communications Engineers (ISCE) has announced that Ros Wigmore has been appointed to provide secretariat services to the ISCE, replacing Cathy Mackezie, as of 1 October 2004. Ros Wigmore can be contacted at PO Box 7966, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 7WY.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - In April of this year a new company, Arcstream AV, was formed combining more than 80 years' collective experience in the creation of outdoor and indoor multi-media shows. The four principals of the company bring expertise in theatre and touring concert industries and have now expanded their offering to serve the audio-visual, entertainment and themed attraction markets.

Operating from a studio in West London, the team comprises Brett Salmon and Tony Clynick (both Themed Entertainment Association award winners), as chief executive officer and technical director respectively, Wayne Haxton as production director and Neil Dickinson as operations director. The team has already completed major projects in both China and Malaysia in the six months since its formation.

Salmon has over 23 years' experience in technical management and production of events and in the last few years has foc

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China - Renowned French musician Jean-Michel Jarre performed a unique concert on 10 October, celebrating the opening of the French Culture Year in China, within Beijing's Forbidden City, using state-of-the-art sound and vision technology. For the first time in live application ever, the show was performed in Dolby Digital 5.1, providing a great enhancement to the sonic environment. The 15,000-strong seated audience was divided into six zones, each with it's own 5.1 system, comprising six V-Dosc, 18 dV-Dosc, six dV-SUB and four SB218 subs. Lab Co, L-Acoustics' V-Dosc Partner for China, worked in collaboration with Arpège, French V-Dosc Partner, to provide the turnkey V-Dosc system for the show.

The China-France Culture Year is an important event with regard to the exchange between the two nations, and is of great significance towards increasing the mutual understanding and aware

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UK - Bristol's latest night venue, Zeebar, is the setting for an imaginative lighting scheme by architectural and feature lighting design specialist Clarity Lighting. The upmarket bar and grill, situated near the city's historic Queens Square, needed to offer a unique environment to stand out, says Clarity's Adrian Britton.

Clarity, with Zeebar owners EPC Ltd, decided on a combination of bespoke and off-the-shelf LED lighting, together with conventional luminaires and lightsources. The main technical lighting challenge was to make Zeebar's 40m exterior canopy appear look black during the day, and then come alive with colour and movement at night. The solution used a combination of Clarity's Ionic RGB colour changing strips and Microdex panelling with a black underlay. Clarity's Microdex appears as an evenly illuminated surface when lit from along one edge with the Ionic strips. Once th

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UK - Elation Professional has unveiled the flagship line of Antari X-Series Fog Machines to the North American market. A premium line of heavy-duty foggers, the X-Series features Antari's most advanced technology and utilizes the finest materials and components available, says the company.

X-Series machines feature cast aluminium heater blocks (which hold heat better than standard aluminium and result in higher fog output), super-quiet Italian pumps, low fluid indicators, interchangeable control modules and a high-efficiency vaporizing system. By incorporating these premium features, Antari says, it has geared the X-Series toward professional users such as rental companies, theatres, major stage events and TV/motion picture studios - thanks to the low noise level created by the machines' pumps, which makes them ideally suited for video and movie production.

Among the Antari f

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USA - Production Resource Group (PRG) helped lighting designer Tom Kenny "bring down the house" in Miami at the only awards show geared towards Hip-Hop music. With a resume that includes designs for The Who, Santana, David Bowie, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Lopez, as well as numerous award shows, Kenny is well-known for his high profile projects. "I wanted to fill the venue with lights from every angle without putting together a large rig," explained Kenny. "I collaborated with Tom McPhillips to come up with a design consisting mainly of MAC 2000s over the stage and Studio Colors and Spots over the audience."

Kenny has been a PRG client for the past 14 years. For this event, his lighting package included 48 High End Studio Colors, 50 High End Studio Beams, 40 Martin MAC 2000 Wash lights, 32 Martin MAC 2000 Profiles, two

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Italy - The Move 100 system is RCF's answer to the increasing demand for a fully portable PA System, ideal for the education and AV markets as well as houses of worship and outdoor sports events. The company says the system allows users to produce speech and music where AC mains is not available or where to lay AC and mic cables could interfere with or affect the performance.

Both models have built-in wireless microphone receivers, a single-antenna VHF on Move 100-V or a more sophisticated UHF multi-channel diversity device on Move 100-U. An integrated 16-channel UHF Diversity receiver allows users to work with up to six systems at the same time (TX 1600 or PX 1600 transmitter + Move 100-U receiving cabinet) set to different channels, simultaneously with no interference.

Additional inputs are available for the connection of music, such as CDs, iPods and other multi media sourc

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USA - Sennheiser products were again the primary choice for featured vocalists, presenters, and backline instruments at the recent Country Music Association Awards show, the company reports. The star-studded telecast was broadcast in the UK on BBC2 and live in the US by CBS from the world famous Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, and featured top country artists using Sennheiser wireless microphones.

McGraw picked up two of the year's top awards, Song of the Year and Single of the Year. McGraw and his band, long-time users of Sennheiser RF gear, adopted Evolution 500 Series wireless systems with e865 capsules and Sennheiser personal monitoring systems earlier this year.

The hybrid Sennheiser SKM5000 handheld RF transmitter with Neumann KK105-S capsule microphone has become a staple on televised music and entertainment events, and the three-hour 2004 CMA Awards broadcast was n

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UK - Sales of Pixeon Colour Stream, the LED colour strip marketed exclusively by Lighting Effects Distribution, took on a new momentum this month when it appeared on further high profile tours and television shows. Lighting designer Al Gurdon has used a total of 50m of the 55mm diameter tube on the current series of Thames TV's The X Factor at Fountain Studios, and used a further 24 x 1m lengths for the European MTV Music Awards in Rome - all supplied by PRG Europe, which stock Pixeon in its rental fleet.

PRG account manager James Barnfather said: "With the latest version of Pixeon you can create more effects and colour mixes than before." In addition to The X Factor PRG also has Pixeon out on the set of The Good Food Show.

The latest mains-powered version of Pixeon - an LED tube, containing a dense array of RGB LEDs arranged in individua

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Italy - The MTV EMA's attracted the crème of international pop, rock and dance artists to Rome for a glitzy ceremony hosted in a giant Kayam marquee transformed for the evening. To accommodate the guests and artists in comfort, Arena designed and installed the seating plan. In addition to the seats for 3,000 people, the company installed nine staircases and over 150 tonnes of system scaffold to create the elevated tiered seating that ensured a good view for everyone.

Arena Seating worked closely with fellow suppliers StageCo and Kayam through the design process and rain-flooded installation, to interface its equipment to create a safe infrastructure for the televised event. The company had been given only two weeks to translate Italian seating regulations and design a layout to conform, before being given the go ahead to ship the 10 truck loads of equipment and nine crew to Rom

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USA - This year's 'Hot 97 Summer Jam', taking place in New York's Giants Stadium, attracted about 27.000 people. The concert was organized by the most important Hip-Hop broadcasting station in New York, and included stars such as 50 Cent, R Kelly, Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Big Boi and Keny West. The show also featured a large-scale lighting rig, which included 180 moving lights, 200 conventional lights and five media servers, as well as three full-sized grandMA lighting consoles from MA Lighting.

Gary Westcott was responsible for the lighting design. The show was pre-programmed and transferred to the grandMA full-size, although the team also had the chance to optimize the show locally for a further two days. The consoles were programmed by Demfis Fyssicopulos, with Andrew Findley responsible for programming the media server.

Two grandMAs were integrated in a multi user network

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USA - Vari-Lite has hired Todd Kessler to oversee additional growth and development of its product training program. Expansion of the program will help ensure that the market is staffed with qualified technicians and will allow authorized Vari*Lite dealers to provide greater product support for end users. The company says the position was created due to the large increase in demand for Vari*Lite fixtures following the recent introduction of four new Vari*Lite Series 3000 and Series 2000 luminaires.

Kessler, who is fully trained on all Series 1000, Series 2000 and Series 3000 luminaires, has nearly a decade of experience with Vari*Lite products. He joins Vari-Lite from PRG, where he was shop manager for the Orlando rental office. At PRG, and previously VLPS Lighting Services, Kessler trained all incoming employees on the use and maintenance of the rental inventory. He also superv

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UK - Stage Electrics has announced two new additions to its team serving the London scene - Matt Townsend and Darren Beckley. Townsend, who joined the company in September and is working with West End theatre and touring clients, is well known in the industry and most recently was the technical manager for Gilded Balloon. Prior to this, he toured with Saturday Night Fever and Forbidden Planet. "Working closely with Stage Electrics in the past allows me to bring a different perspective and insight to make sure our customers receive the best possible service," says Townsend.

Darren Beckley has recently been promoted to business development manager for London, taking on the responsibility for securing new and growing existing business by satisfying local customer requirements. Beckley has worked for the company for three years, starting in the Bristol ware

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UK - Utopium Lighting Ltd. has been busy over the last month with its move to new premises. The company has taken the opportunity to restructure and improve the procedures for maintenance and preparation of the equipment and Customer Support. Now housed in a 4000msq 'open', single storey warehouse it has the room to build and 'fly' lighting rigs prior to shipping. Parking is also ample.

During all this upheaval the company has managed to service various tours including: Zero 7 for the second time this year, again lit by Utopium LD Stuart Farrell who operated an Avo Pearl and used Mac500 and Studio Beams mounted over a semi- circle truss. Uriah Heep recently performed in Guernsey with equipment and crew supplied by Utopium. The LD was Chris Bushell who was also LD for the recent Goldie Looking Chain tour. Mercury Music award winner, Dizzee Rascal has just finished his firs

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Italy - The Italian version of the BBC's famous music show, Top of the Pops, has returned for the 2004/2005 edition, broadcast every Saturday afternoon on Italia Uno, and for the first time this year, on the satellite channel Italia Teen Television. The show returns with new set elements and an enlarged lighting system: unlike last year, two stages can now be either separated or joined, and the stages are positioned perpendicular to each other and at an oblique angle from the cameras to create a greater sense of depth.

"The most important innovation here," according to LDs Riccardo Barbaglio and Massimo Cavenaghi - is the new lighting system. Last year, the Italian edition of Top of the Pops stood out for the quality of its lighting effects, which received compliments from the BBC. This is one of the reasons why Einstein, the Italian TV production studios which

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UK - ADLIB Audio and sister company ADLITE Productions are enjoying a hectic autumn season, including the supply of full sound and lighting production for the current Amy Winehouse UK tour. Featuring a Yamaha PM5D monitor console and an Avolites Pearl 2004 lighting console bought specially for the tour, plus ADLIBs new MP3 wedges.

Front of House engineer Steve Pattison chose JBL's medium sized VerTec line array as the main PA system - utilizing various numbers of VT 4888 elements depending on the size of the venue. This ranged from an average of five a side in the smaller rooms to 12 a side for larger spaces like Brixton Academy.

Subs are ADLIB's double 18 folded horn DF3's, which have a formidable low-end reputation! The system is driven by Camco Vortex 6 amplifiers, in which ADLIB has also recently extensively invested. Pattison has worked with Amy since the 2003 'V' Festiva

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