UK - The world's first high-definition LCD projector has been added to the rental fleet of PSL. The event supplier has purchased the 5500 ANSI lumens Sanyo PLV-HD10, further consolidating a long relationship between the two companies. "This is the first LCD HD product to the market anywhere in the world, and PSL will be one of only two hire companies in the UK to have it in their fleet," declared Sanyo's Crispin Piney. "We understand that PSL see this is as opening up a huge range of opportunities - the cost benefits over triple-chip DLP are enormous."

PSL MD Gary Davis responded: "We have been considering this move for a while and it's the first of a number of similar projectors we anticipate purchasing. Owning our own HD10 enables us to fill another nich

UK - Originally constructed as a Universalist Meeting House in 1832, the Stone Church in Newmarket, New Hampshire, has long been considered a favourite live music venue by both national and regional artists since it started hosting concerts in the late '60s. Despite the main room's intimate capacity of 175, major acts like Phish, Bonnie Raitt, Parliament-Funkadelic, Patty Larkin, Bela Fleck and Joan Osbourne have all graced the stage when travelling through Newmarket on tour.

In 2002, after 35 years, the venue finally closed its doors to live music, only to be reopened in August of last year under new management. In addition to improving the Stone Church's dining facilities and decor, the three new co-owners chose to hire regional sound company L. Wynn Sound to come in and completely retrofit the venue's ageing PA system.

Tim Waterhouse, who co-owns L. Wynn Sound with John Woo

Italy - Hardware by Outline of Brescia has been chosen for on-stage sound at Live 8, the maxi-concert being held at Rome's Circo Massimo on Saturday 2 July 2005. A large number of the Lombard firm's speaker enclosures and line array systems will be used on the big stage hosting top domestic and international artists.

The list of audio gear chosen includes 24 H.A.R.D. 212 SP monitors, 20 Butterfly Hi-Packs, eight Victor Live subwoofers, 12 T6.5 power amps and two Genius 26 signal processors. The contractor for the production and the fitting out of the entire event is Rome's Limelite.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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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

France - In 1999, during heavy storms over Paris, a section of the pinnacle at Notre Dame Cathedral went through the roof, severing all the audio cables, necessitating a complete refurbishment of the audio system. The contractors, JLT Services, were consulted in 2002 to provide a new system, which had to fulfill precise specifications in terms of versatility, ease of use and aesthetic integration within the architecture of the Cathedral.

System designer and project manager, Jean-Pierre Robert chose to use BSS Audio's proprietary Soundweb DSP engine. "We needed a multi-purpose system solution for sound capture, sound distribution and live recording-broadcasting, since the Notre Dame Cathedral also has its own radio station (Radio Notre Dame).

"The next challenge was to re-think the entire network within the cathedral using optical cables, the previous analogue network

PAI Group announced several new changes following a three-month review of its market positioning designed to consolidate its activities and enhance effectiveness and customer focus in key areas.

With immediate effect, Vaughan Sound Installations (VSI) will be responsible for the entire service and support of the Group as a whole. VSI, through expansion, will also now undertake the small to medium contracts for PAI Group as well as continuing to contract in its existing markets. Five additional staff have been recruited to meet the demands of this expansion.

Lighting Technology Projects (LTP) will continue to operate as usual from its Coleshill HQ in Birmingham. LTP, as before, will be responsible for the Group's architectural and theatrical lighting activities.

The newly formed PAI Group Ltd along with Link AV Ltd will in combination utilize the skills and experience gained over th

Indonesia - Occupying the 16th and 17th floors of Jakarta's Plaza Semanggi tower, the recently opened Vertigo and X-Lounge club has quickly become one of the most popular entertainment spots in the city boasting a top quality sound system centred around an Allen & Heath audiophile Xone:V6 rotary mixer - with accompanying EQ Isolator and Crossfader units - and industry-standard MIDI-enabled Xone:92 in the club's main DJ booth.

Vertigo and X-Lounge, which can function as two venues with Vertigo on the 17th floor housing the main DJ booth and X-Lounge on the 16th floor with a second DJ booth, has established itself as a key venue for international DJ's, hosting artists from Bedrock and Renaissance labels, and the Indonesian leg of the DMC World DJ Championships.

"The Management refused to compromise on the quality of the equipment for the sake of budget, ensuring that every

UK - Already successful in the UK market with its high quality radio mic systems, JTS has added to the range with a new 1,000 channel UHF true diversity system, based around the US-1000D.

Fully street legal for licensed use in the UK, the US-1000D features PLL synthesized technology and true diversity operation ensuring minimum dropouts. It's equipped with S.A.W. filtering for interference resistance, plus built-in noise mute and tone squelch and has been designed to work around computerized equipment without suffering interference problems.

Usefully, the receiver features a 'lock on' mode which avoids accidental modification of frequency, sensitivity and power-off status. Half-rack sized, the US-1000D operates across 494-870MHz and has a S/N ratio >105dB.

When sold as a package with a handheld mic, the US-1000D comes with JTS's Mh 8990 AA battery-powered transmitter,

Germany - Reinhold Trilling, director of lighting and set design for TV shopping channel QVC in Düsseldorf, found his visit to the ETC stand at Showtech 2005 very worthwhile: he won an ETC Source Four Revolution automated luminaire in a free draw.

Trilling said: "I would never have imagined that I'd win. This Revolution's going to get a real workout with us at QVC!" The two QVC studios broadcast live, 24 hours a day, year round, so flexibility and dependability - hallmarks of the Revolution - will be appreciated by QVC say ETC.

Opinion about this year's Showtech fair in Berlin has been unanimously positive. Show organizers reported a 4.8% rise in attendees this year, many of whom visited the ETC stand and saw the unified European product portfolio, which includes the ETC, Transtechnik, IES and Avab lighting brands.

Interest was particularly high in ETC's Congo lig

L-Acoustics has introduced the Soundvision Venue Database, which will allow Sound Engineers to download venue data from the L-Acoustics website and immediately incorporate their given speaker configuration in the pre-modeled venue. The database consists of Soundvision.SVS room data files that have been organized according to venue name, city and country. The goal is to be able to share information among sound designers and L-Acoustics touring sound engineers. This will save time and give more accurate, predictable results with a higher level of overall system performance than was previously possible.

System design can then be optimized according to the specific venue geometry, allowing the sound designer to fine tune system coverage, stereo imaging and SPL distribution throughout the audience. Physical installation parameters are also determined in advance, allowing for more efficient

UK - While Coldplay was wowing the Saturday night crowds on Glastonbury's main stage, headlining on The Other Stage were Razorlight. The unlisted opening act of last year have enjoyed a meteoric rise in the last 12 months, and to create the environment in which they could showcase a number of new songs, PSL extended the concept it devised for the band on their spring tour to create a 'living room' feel, working to a set design by LD Matt Dowden.

"We augmented the projection and threw images onto a white filled cloth surrounded by 25ft side screens to create a splayed 'box' effect," said PSL's head of music, Pod Bluman. "It was a very theatrical feel, using blocks of red and blue colour washes, and still photographic imagery.

PSL mounted two Barco ELM R12 12,000 ANSI lumen projectors off the front truss, with two further R12's wheeled in on rolling risers to addr

UK - Fog Screen, the first walk-through projection screen is to be displayed at PLASA for the first time. FogScreen is the only way to project sharp images into the air. The company will also present its newest sensation, FogScreen Interative, which allows users to employ their bare hands as a mouse, with air as the touchscreen. This new product was released in Infocomm in June and has received much attention from the broader media such as The Discovery Channel, Nature -magazine, Popular Science and The New York Times.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

UK - Serious Stages supplied a variety of stages, PA towers, roofing and decking elements at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival including to the Pyramid, Other Stage, Jazz World, East and West Dance stages, Roots and the John Peel Stage. Glastonbury 2005 has already been hailed as one of the most memorable, action packed and fun events for entertainment value, despite a violent thunderstorm and torrential rain for three hours on the Friday morning, which also rendered it one of the muddiest!

This year Glastonbury's famous Pyramid stage was flanked by two of Serious's new Goal Post PA towers, enabling SSE's Nexo Geo-T PA to be flown at a height of 60ft. The deck for the towers was two metres above the ground and each tower was ballasted by eight tonnes of concrete. This allowed SSE to angle the PA to throw right back across the hill. Pyramid highlights included headliners the White St

UK - The International Audio Group (IAG) has announced the purchase of the Mission business from the administrators of Symphonix Ltd. In a separate transaction, IAG has also purchased the Mission brand name from NXT plc. Commenting upon the acquisition, Tim Harris, managing director of IAG UK said: "The Mission product portfolio is exceptionally strong and selling well. However the company has suffered severe, and well documented, financing issues during the past 12 months. This new deal puts Mission on a very strong financial footing, allowing its many successful product ranges to continue in the market. Furthermore, with full access to IAG's considerable manufacturing infrastructure, Mission will now be in an ideal position to pursue - with the utmost vigour - its long-held commitment to technical innovation and product excellence."

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Hawthorn has organized a series of events to take place at its base in Old Dalby, Leicestershire. The events, running under the heading 'Hawthorn@Home', will give lighting, sound and AV users the opportunity to get hands on with the latest equipment and technology. It is intended the workshops will allow manufacturers, suppliers and users to discuss the products and to gain an insight not normally available outside the large tradeshows.

Hawthorn's hire and sales team will host the events, which will kick off with lunch and an informal get together followed by the hands on/demo of the equipment. The first three events are; 29 July - Who are Hawthorns - an introduction to Hawthorns, the people, the products and the projects with tours of the newly extended office and warehouse complex. Featuring demos and hands on opportunities of LED for hire, Alpha Spots, MACs, Sound

UK - The 25th anniversary of the annual Mersey River Festival in Liverpool - celebrating the life, times and history of the city's river - benefited from additional investment and an injection of new ideas and enhanced production and entertainment elements this year. This included a massive increase in family facilities and children's activities, a fully equipped performance stage located at the Pier head site, which offered a diverse programme of artists throughout the three days and nights, plus large format building projections after dark.

It was the first year that the new events team from Liverpool Culture Company organized this event. "It was the 25th anniversary, 2005 is the 'Year of the Sea' and we wanted to refresh and revamp the event, make it more contemporary and broaden its appeal to a wider public than the traditional River Festival audience. We also wanted to

UAE - The Gulf region's first audio training institute, In the Mix, has opened in Dubai and installed a 48-channel Allen & Heath ML4000 VCA console in its main recording studio. Located in Dubai's educational centre, the new facility offers training courses in sound engineering, lighting design, radio and club DJ'ing, AV technology and AV sales. All courses are part-time and diploma or certificate level, lasting between one and six months.

"All our courses have a strong theoretical foundation combined with hands-on experience in our studio and live facilities, as well as through the events managed by the leading AV rental companies here in Dubai," explains In the Mix's founder and sound engineer/producer, Nash.

The ML4000 is installed in the main recording studio, which is equipped with a 48-channel ADAT HD, and 32-track software-based recording tools. There is a spa

USA - Science fiction becomes science reality this Autumn and Strong Entertainment Lighting will Power the Future. Strong's 10,000W Britelight Super 10 will be the energy source powering several competing space elevator climbers up a crane-suspended vertical ribbon. The Elevator: 2010 Climber Competition, being held in Mountain View, California from 30 September - 2 October, challenges teams from all over the world to design and build a space elevator climber prototype.

"With a 75-year heritage of success, we¹re looking to the future. We have been lighting NASA's Space Shuttle launch pad for more than five years and now we have the opportunity to light a new way to the stars," said Paul Rabinovitz, Strong vice president. "Because space elevators were once considered science fiction, Elevator:2010 is truly a revolutionary effort and we are excited to be the

UK - Arcstream AV recently introduced the poolSystem for which it has secured exclusive distribution in the UK, Ireland, and the Middle East. The poolSystem is an interactive floor projection system, which creates visual surprises in a 'pool' - of water, leaves, grass or anything else you care to name. As people walk through the pool of water it ripples, complete with realistic sound and if there are fish in the water, the shoal will turn and swim away. Other effects include being able to kick a pile of fallen leaves to reveal the grass underneath - or a company logo etc.

The poolSystem software offers a combination of movement registration and image presentation in real time. Special programming generates simultaneous changes in the projection in direct relationship to the movements recorded. Content, effects and interaction can be programmed to suit the occasion, and it offers

USA - Apollo Design Technology Inc has appointed Jeffrey Mateer as product development manager for all Apollo product lines. "I have known and respected Jeff for many years," said Apollo founder and president Joel Nichols. "His knowledge and abilities made him an ideal choice for this key position. His extensive experience in the industry, combined with his skills, will contribute significantly to Apollo's future product direction."

Mateer brings more than 20 years of industry experience to Apollo. His career has included general manager positions at Light & Sound Design, Nashville, and most recently, at Light Source Inc in Detroit. Mateer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach. He says: "I've enjoyed a long business relationship with Joel and his Apollo team and have always been impressed with their accomplishments.

UK - Following the technical and social success of last year's meeting, the Electroacoustics Group of the Institute of Acoustics is organizing a special Reproduced Sound 21 conference, which will take place in Oxford from 4-5 November. This "coming of age" meeting promises to be a landmark in Reproduced Sound's history and will be an opportunity to look back, and forward - "Feeding back to the future!" - say the IoA.

Reproduced Sound conferences represent the cutting edge of modern audio and acoustics, presented in an informal and convivial environment that allows consultants, manufacturers, contractors and end-users to mingle and share insights and information. It's an opportunity for business networking in an atmosphere that proves you can have 'high brow' and 'informal' in one place at one time, say the IoA.

This year, as you would expect from such an im

Japan / France - Yamaha Corporation of Japan and Nexo S.A. of France, a leading manufacturer of professional speaker systems, have entered into a strategic alliance concerning pro audio product development and distribution. Both companies believe that the integration of advanced digital technology and premier speaker technology will greatly enhance the system solutions in pro audio products. As a part of the alliance, Yamaha has acquired 10.22% of the common shares of Nexo.

Yamaha has over 30 years of mixing console development and manufacturing experience, with over 15 years of experience in digital mixing console technology, including the development of industry-standard products, such as PM1D and PM5D. Yamaha is also well known for its range of digital signal processors, power amplifiers and speakers such as the DME24N/64N and PC-1N power amplifiers.

NEXO is a leading manuf

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