Details
UK - Based since 1990 in the seaside town of Scarborough, and celebrating its 50th anniversary, the National Student Drama Festival chose 'The Tides of Time' as the theme for this year's event, to coincide with 2005 being the Year of the Sea.

Amid the intense activity of the Festival week - the preparation and in some cases creation of six venues,16 productions running concurrently, the logistics of deploying a 75-strong team of student technicians, and the inevitable socializing - lies a fundamental emphasis on education. The event aims are to harness the enthusiasm of so much young talent and develop them into the technical and performance professionals of the future.

With participants from all over the country, the organizers confront a wide range of skill levels. Safety aspe

Details
Liechtenstein - Neutrik, the world's leading manufacturer of audio connectors for entertainment applications - has celebrated its 30th anniversary. In June, the company invited L&SI out to its brand new headquarters and factory in Schaan, Liechtenstein, the tiny Principality sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria. It was here in 1975 that the company began with just two people in an old stables building.

Today, the company employs 650 people in subsidiary companies around the world including the USA, UK, Switzerland, France, Japan, China and Germany, and has a network of exclusive distributors in more than 80 countries. CEO Werner Bachmann, one of those original two staff members, heads up a truly international company which is tackling the move into digital technology head-on with its EtherCon RJ45 connectors, the new USB and FireWire chassis connectors, and its latest Opti

Details
UK - There is no rule that says you can't fly a compact line array in your living room - if it's big enough. And you get on very well with your neighbours, if not the whole town. Similarly, there is no rule that says hi-fi speakers - even studio monitors - can't be used in nightclub venues. For proof, look no further thantop-drawer London watering holes Aura and Chinawhite, both of which count one Fred Moss among their directors and both of which have recently installed ATC systems.

ATC, the Stroud-based hi-fi and studio monitor manufacturer of some 31 years' standing, was given the opportunity to blaze this trail during refurbishments at both clubs - as R&D engineer Ben Lilly reveals. "Fred Moss had been a fan of ATC through our hi-fi range, and he firstly wanted something a little different for Aura," says Lilly. "He specifically wanted something that wouldn't s

featured content

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

Details
Kave Theatre Services showed numerous products, including SFX sound playback software, RentalPoint rental management package, and examples of its own wide range of flat kits. The company also introduced its new webshop, the latest addition to its website.

Details
The HSL Group was another first timer: currently supplying lighting to some major UK theatre tours including Blood Brothers, Joseph & His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar, HSL is also servicing other major events including Holland Park Opera Festival plus providing equipment to TV studios across the UK. HSL has now streamlined into three divisions: HSL Rental, HSL Rigging and HSL Sales and Distributions.

Details
ETC has always had a busy, but not large, stand at ABTT and this year Mark White decided the company needed a bigger area to demonstrate its wares - which meant a move into one of the show's quieter halls. The main attraction was ETC's Congo lighting control console; we are told that field project manager Jeremy Roberts was so busy doing demonstrations that he hardly had a break during the entire two days. ETC reported that visitors to the stand were delighted with a glass of Pimm's No.1, mixed by ETC project manager Iain Quinn.

Details
City Theatrical showed examples of its range of accessories for Color Kinetics' LED-based lighting fixtures, including its ColorBlaze, ColorBlast, ColorBurst and ColorCast units. City Theatrical's additions are designed to offer consultants and designers greater choice in control and dispersion of the fixtures. The latest addition is the PDS-750-TR touring power supply, a rugged unit which provides power and DMX control capability for Color Kinetics luminaires (12 ColorBlast 12 or 24 ColorBlast 6 luminaires, for example). The PDS-750-TR is provided with various standard mounting options.

Details
White Light made two announcements - firstly its appointment as a Prolyte distributor and secondly as exclusive Arri Theatre Lighting distributor in the UK. Products on show included the Arri Studio Theatre 1k and 2k fresnels, while moving lights included the new tungsten Alpha Wash Halo washlight from Clay Paky. Also highlighted were followspots from Robert Juliat, DMX distribution products from ELC, colour scrollers from Rainbow and smoke and haze machines from Look Solutions.

Details
UK - Beyerdynamic announced that it has come to the conclusion of its distribution agreement with ClearOne in the UK.

Beyerdynamic's managing director, John Midgley commented, "As the leading solutions provider to trade AV integration and installation companies, our portfolio has to be at the very forefront of technical development. With the launch this month of AEC2W wideband echo cancellation for AudiaFlex from BIAMP, we can now offer the latest technology of full bandwidth acoustic echo cancellation within any video or telephone conferencing application. It is no longer necessary to limit the sound quality in high-end conferencing. Our award-winning team, led by Jon Stanley, designs, supports and supplies complete systems for the trade."

Recent Biamp Audia projects include multinational installations such as the Ford motor company, the national weather centre and

Details
UK - In April 2004, Darren Gardiner from LSFX first visited the site of a former nightclub in the seaside resort of Portstewart, with the daunting task of specifying a new sound system for a new, purpose-built church. The congregation of the Baptist Church had outgrown their current home in Portstewart, and purchased the former nightclub with a view to demolishing it and building a new worship centre for their growing church community.

After a lengthy consultation process LSFX was awarded the contract. In the first instance, Gardiner contacted KV2 Audio's Andy Austin Brown and they started working on a scheme that would not only meet the church's requirements but would in many ways exceed them. LSFX had had used KV2 Audio products with success in a number of different venues over the past year, and both Austin Brown and Gardiner agreed that the main system should be flown from t

Details
France - The centenary of Jules Verne's death in 2005 has provided the inspiration for a unique three-day spectacle featuring one of France's most innovative theatre companies, Royal de Luxe. Combining elements of street theatre, circus and carnival, the extraordinary event featuring a robot elephant and a giant doll, demanded all of the expertise of French PA company Melpomen - and all of its Nexo inventory.

Royal de Luxe, which was established in the early eighties, has become famous for its extravagant street spectacles. The company lives up to its reputation with 'The Sultan and his Time-Travelling Elephant', which attracted more than 100,000 spectators in the two cities, Amiens in Somme and Nantes in Britanny, which had been home to Jules Verne.

French PA company Melpomen, which has been working with Royal de Luxe for the last decade, provided the sound reinforcement syst

Details
Germany - On 3 June, the mayor of Frankfurt-am-Main, Oberbürgermeisterin Petra Roth, presented the city's new soccer stadium, the Commerzbank Arena, to Horst R Schmidt, senior vice-president of the organising committee for next year's FIFA World Cup. Work began on the 52,000-seater stadium, which has a retractable roof and is built on the site formerly occupied by the Waldstadion, in June 2002 and was completed in May 2005. The final cost came to 126 million euros, with a further 174 million devoted to the stadium periphery.

The new home of Eintracht Frankfurt, which has just won promotion to the 1st Bundesliga, satisfies in every respect the demands of a modern stadium - including in audio quality, thanks to an integrated sound reinforcement, public address and alarm system from EVI Audio. The advantage of a one-source solution such as this, say the company, is that all the co

Details
Liechtenstein - Neutrik, specialist in the development and manufacture of professional audio and video connectors, has introduced its latest connector product - OpticalCon - a solid and dust-protected fibre optic connector system with a robust metal housing, push-pull locking mechanism, automatic sealing covers and excellent cable retention.

Responding to the increasing digitalization of the pro audio and entertainment industry in recent years, Neutrik has developed the optical connector system to meet the high demands of reliability and durability in the pro audio market. The system is based on a standardized optical LC-Duplex connector, and the rugged metal housing protects the unit under rough conditions. The approved push-pull mechanism enables simple and quick locking and unlocking and guarantees a secure connection even after a large number of mating cycles, say the compan

Details
UK - Thomson Cruises' new first-class cruise ships, the MV Destiny and MS Celebration, have recently undergone extensive refitting, including new sound reinforcement systems in their public areas, installed by Delta Sound Inc, the south London audio specialist. Both vessels now carry Soundcraft's new GB8 8-bus audio mixing consoles in their main entertainment lounges, kept shipshape and seaworthy by Furman power conditioners.

Thomson Cruises' new ships, each carrying between 1,250-1,450 passengers, are cruising in the Mediterranean and on the Baltic and Fjords route. Earlier this year, their entertainment and leisure facilities were extensively refurbished, and Ken Fisher, owner of consultancy Fisher Marine, was called upon to design sound and lighting systems to match.

On board, ambitious standards of performance and presentation mean that live bands and acts can be seen ever

Details
USA - Furman Sound has introduced its new Power Factor Correction technology, which it claims enables power amplifiers, studio monitors, and powered subwoofers to reach levels of performance previously unattainable. By storing over 45 amps of instantaneous reserve for peak current demands, Power Factor Correction technology supplies power-starved audio equipment with the necessary current to reproduce even the most extreme sounds faithfully, say the company.

"Nearly without exception, today's amplifiers are starved of the power they need for peak demands," said Dave Keller, executive vice-president of Furman Sound. "Those peak demands, which require more power than an amplifier normally receives, can occur in many different applications - at the climax of a sweet guitar solo, for example, or during an explosive final battle scene played on a home theatre system. P

Details
USA - Lighthouse Technologies, the manufacturer and supplier of leading LED video screen systems for mobile and fixed applications, has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Sony Electronics Inc to utilize Sony's extensive resources to provide national on-site service programs to Lighthouse's existing and new professional grade LED large screen video customers in North America.

Lighthouse say: "Sony has a long history with large-scale display systems, making them uniquely qualified to provide contract maintenance services and remote system monitoring to professional-grade LED video systems, such as those being sold by Lighthouse Technologies."

Under the LOI, the two companies expect to develop contract maintenance programs and remote system monitoring services catered to Lighthouse's large screen LED display systems. Sony will staff and maintain a North American field

Details
UK - Lighting for seven of the eight arenas - plus the comedy tent - of the UK's largest clubber's festival, Godskitchen Global Gathering, was supplied by Leeds-based Zig Zag Lighting as the completely sold out event at Long Marston Airfield increased to two days for the first time.

When it came to the enormous Godskitchen tent, Zig Zag's Neil Hunt wanted to install the highest impact lighting possible and also to try out Robe's ColorSpot and ColorWash 1200 ATs for the first time.

The rig comprised seventy-six ColorSpot 1200E ATs and 24 ColorWashes hung all over the stage and tent on an intricate trussing network, secured into the tent by 70 points - the work of Harry Box from Concert Lights. The fixtures were used for both stage and dance floor lighting and were the main wow factor of the arena.

Lighting was programmed and operated by Matt Holden-Jones who ran lighting for

Details
UK - Stockport-based Audio Design Services, trading as ADSworldwide, has reported a string of successes in the Middle East and India. A specialist in the design and manufacture of commercial public address equipment, ADS has recently returned from a successful trip to Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Following an exhibition in Tel Aviv, the company has already obtained its first order for a full container of loudspeakers. In Jordan, an established company has selected ADS as its preferred supplier, whilst in Dubai an agreement with an international engineering company will ensure that the company's products will be distributed throughout the region. ADS's strong design and engineering base will also mean that the company will provide on-site training for installation and engineering staff in the Middle East.

Company chairman, David Hopkins OBE, who has been respons

Details
Germany / USA - Amplifier manufacturers Camco GmbH and Ashly Audio Inc have teamed up in the USA to offer a single comprehensive catalogue of amplification and signal processing products, backed up by what they call "an adventurous approach to technological innovation". From 1 August 2005, Ashly Audio will become North American importer and distributor of Camco amplifier products. The Camco range of power amplifiers and networkable DSP products dovetails comfortably with the Ashly Audio portfolio.

Ashly Audio Inc is a world leader in the design and manufacturing of quality signal processing equipment and power amplification for use in the commercial sound contracting and professional audio markets. In Germany, Camco GmbH has been making amplifiers since1983, and has become an influential player at the highest level of professional touring and installed sound, one of th

Details
UK - XL Video is again working with cinematographer Jon Driscoll on the acclaimed Anonymous Society (Andrew Wale and Perrin Manzer) production, Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, featuring the music of The Smiths. The show has just world premiered at the Hammersmith Lyric theatre and will transfer to the Dublin International Theatre Festival before commencing a UK tour in the autumn.

Driscoll created footage especially for the show which, taking the rhythms, words and thoughts of songwriters Morrissey and Johnny Marr as its starting point, is a musical with a difference. Paul Wood is project managing for XL, who supplied the video hardware including a Barco G5 projector, a Catalyst digital media server and a Hog 500 lighting desk to run all the video cues. The images were projected the full height and two thirds of the width of the backdrop, subtly asymmetric, erring to s

Details
UK / BelarusMidas and Klark Teknik have appointed Belcut Project as exclusive distributor for Belarus with immediate effect. Based in the city of Minsk, Belcut Project is an established distribution company, and Midas will join other Telex brands Electro-Voice and Dynacord in its portfolio.

The company has reportedly got off to a flying start, placing an initial order for a Midas Verona console and Klark Teknik signal processing equipment including DN514 Plus gates, DN504 Plus quad processors, classic DN360 graphic equalizers and DN1248 Plus mic splitters. The entire order is being supplied for installation in the Vitebsk Philharmonic Concert Hall. Meanwhile, several other large tenders and orders are now in the pipeline.

"I'm delighted to welcome Vitaly Kazakevich and his team at Belcult Project to our distribution family," says KT and Midas' Dave Wiggins. "In

Page 1802 of 3465

Latest Issue. . .