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UK - Zero 88 reports further success with its lighting consoles and dimmers within large educational establishments. Melton Mowbray-based Hawthorn Theatrical has successfully equipped two of the new City Academy Programme projects with a range of Zero 88 products - and is about to undertake a third.

The City Academy Scheme is a relatively new Government backed programme, which provides inner city areas with new "flagship" schools. These completely new purpose built facilities allow students to expand and develop within a varied educational programme whilst offering the very latest high quality equipment.

So far Lambeth and Northampton Academies have been equipped with Chilli Dimmers and varied lighting consoles. Northampton Academy which opened on January 9th 2006, has

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USA - The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Centre (CSFAC) has long been a cornerstone of all things artistic in the region. Housing a gallery, artistic and theatrical teaching facilities, and a multi-use performance hall, the centre truly provides a bit of everything to this rapidly growing metropolitan area.

However, as is often the case with grand historical buildings, the centre's performance space has started to show its age, prompting a much-needed remodel project last summer. For the required sound system work the centre looked no further than across town to audio firm Audio Analysts (AA), veterans of nationwide commercial, corporate, and worship installations, as well as the force behind the sound systems for such touring acts as Bruce Springsteen, No Doubt, and Norah Jones.

Tthe job presented a myriad of challenges and difficulties, the largest being the range of events pres

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USA - Madonna used a Sennheiser microphone for her appearance at the recent Grammys - the first of many Sennheiser microphone and personal monitor products to make an appearance on the telecast. The pop diva made use of her long-time favourite Sennheiser SKM 3072 vocal mic, as well as wearing Sennheiser's G2 personal monitor system.

The Grammys also saw a Sennheiser 5200 wireless with Neumann KK 104-S capsule in use by one of the evening's top award winners, John Legend, as he performed his chart-topping song he wrote in collaboration with Kanye West, Ordinary People.

A highlight of the show, which was once again held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, was the much-anticipated appearance of influential psychedelic soul and funk icon Sly Stone, who famously retired from performing live in 1987. The all-star line-up for the Sly and the Family Stone tribute segment of t

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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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UK - Technical staging specialists Blitz, part of the Blitz Charter Group, has invested £500,000 in Toshiba's Technorainbow TR 2006R 6mm curvable indoor LED display - one of the most compact and lightweight screens (9kg per panel) in its class allowing for easy transportation and assembly, say Blitz.

Designed to create maximum impact indoors, the TR 2006R's 6mm pixel pitch delivers outstanding picture quality with a 170° viewing angle. The curved LED wall with SMD (Surface Mount Display) is suited for real-time video display in TV studio set design, whilst being ideal for use at corporate events, say Blitz. Jeff Bailey, head of division for Blitz TV Services explains: "This is currently the only screen to offer configurations for both concave and convex imagery and demonstrates our commitment to offering top end high quality 6mm LED screens. To make studios more capt

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Although the 'N' in NAMM residually stands for 'National', the organisation is actually a very active international association for music products. Certainly the annual show in Anaheim, California is increasing its global pull year on year, notwithstanding the bedrock of banjo dealers from Arkansas. Professional audio, as a result, is benefiting in much the same way as it has across the pond in Frankfurt - if not on quite the same scale. MusikMesse bolted on to ProLight & Sound, but as yet there is no sign of an equivalent in Orange County.

The habit of using the show's concentration of delegates without exhibiting, imported from Europe as it happens, is on the up. Pro audio movers and shakers, sensing the new globalised year and a glint of movement in well targeted sunglasses, come to dip a toe in the water. This is almost literally true, given that the main arena for 'off-axis' busin

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Alcorn McBride caters for a niche theme park market with its range of AV products. Their Digital Binloop now provides 16- and 24-Bit digital audio and/or MPEG-2 digital video in a compact and highly reliable package designed for continuous daily use. Ethernet, CobraNet, and SDI video outputs have also been added. The system has been designed to provide flexibility, with a confident 10-year warranty.

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Audio-Technica showed the latest additions to its UniPoint range of microphones, first seen at PLASA last autumn. Main features include 'UniGuard' technology - a new approach to shielding from RF interference; the 80Hz UniSteep filter for removal of unwanted low frequencies, without affecting vocal quality; and the robust, easy-to-adjust goosenecks.

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UK - A state-of-the-art PA system has been developed for Caledonian Macbrayne (CalMac)'s new ferry terminal in Oban by T.G.Baker Sound, one of the UK's leading PA/VA system houses and Interalia Communications, a leading designer and manufacturer of digital voice announcement solutions.

The pioneering product enables CalMac's operators to programme a series of general announcements during the day and also enter the timetable arrival and departure announcements to free up staff from having to make manual announcements during busy times.

CalMac currently owns and operates a fleet of 31 vessels providing passenger, vehicle and shipping services to the islands off the West Coast of Scotland and in the Clyde estuary. Two other vessels are retained on Charter. There are currently 26 routes within the network. In 2004, more than 5 million passengers and over one million accompanied ca

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The conferencing market was the source of perhaps the biggest news at the show: beyerdynamic's announcement of its acquisition of Interkom, and also of the resulting new product, Revoluto, certainly drew attention. Revoluto's 'line array microphone' technology results in a neat, toblerone-shaped desk-top block - no more goosenecks - and a pick-up pattern that promises to cater for even slouchy delegates. The proof of the pudding will be at the system's live demo in Frankfurt in a few weeks' time.

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In the shoot-out at the large venue display area, Christie certainly came out guns blazing with the latest Roadster S+16k 3-chip DLP projector. Again aimed at the rental and staging market, this very bright (16,000 ANSI lumens) compact projector certainly set the bar high, offering detail and depth of colour, and with contrast ratings as high as 1600-2000:1.

Christie's Brant Eckett says that their competitors' products have a head start: so Christie continues to go beyond the basics in terms of user-friendly detail. Designed with built-in handles and multiple rigging points, this projector is designed to travel with maximum ease. Replacement lamp costs are low, and Christie offers two-year parts and labour warranties (excluding the light engine).

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Martin Audio was again present, showing its install products including the AQ Series, AM Series and Contractor Series of loudspeakers. While not having a bad show by any means, Martin Audio, interestingly, hadn't experienced the same level of interest from visitors as at the previous ISE event.

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UK - St Michael's church in Chiswick is an active community church with a busy programme of performances and concerts. In 2005, the church began looking to make better use of a raised area between the nave and the sanctuary where the performances were at that time taking place, and looked into options for a portable stage.

Torin Douglas contacted Maltbury on behalf of the church, and Maltbury MD Philip Sparkes, Douglas and Father Kevin Morris of St Michaels discussed the church's requirements. The staging would need to operate at different levels, be able to cope with the three levels of floor in the area, and be easily and compactly stored when not in use: Maltbury's Metrodeck system was chosen to meet these demands.

The final package supplied was one of bespoke and standard modules, which provided a good fit with maximum versatility, say Maltbury. It allowed the church to cr

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Shure presented a selected product portfolio for the install market at ISE: highlights included the new conferencing processor, and the digital conferencing processor which integrates unique echo- and noise-cancellation, with their DFR and Intellimix technologies. Expected availability is Summer 2006. Other products included the UHF-R Wireless system as well as their line of Microflex installed microphones, and DFR22 Digital Feedback Reducer. Shure also presented audio seminars on automatic mixing and wireless technology as part of the show's education program.

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UK - As journalists we encounter varying degrees of reticence over the sharing of information. Some things will be shared openly, others will be strictly 'off the record' and some will never be revealed on, off, or anywhere near the record, for fear the Universe will implode upon itself. And it can be tough to second guess where a given company's management will draw the lines between these options.

So on the rare occasion that someone is prepared to open up and reveal what are, let's face it, the really interesting facets of their operation, it's always a treat. In this industry, the extreme case of such openness has to be Le Mark, the Cambridgeshire-based manufacturer of sticky tapes and labels so indispensable to the entertainment industry, which decided last year to expose its soul to BBC 3's fly-on-the-wall business documentary, The Ferocious Mr Fixit.

Le Mark has

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USA - The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, established in 2002 by the prominent Swiss watchmaker, seeks out gifted young artists from around the world and pairs them for one year with renowned masters in their discipline. The second round of the mentoring program culminated on 5 December 2005, when distinguished patrons of the arts gathered for a gala celebration in the promenade of the New York State Theatre at Manhattan's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Sound reinforcement for the event is a formidable task. Based on their previous success providing sound for the event's debut presentation, New York City's SIA Acoustics and Scharff-Weisberg, Inc. were called back for an "encore performance". To overcome the effects of a highly reverberant space and satisfy the exceptionally critical listeners in the audience, SIA turned to Meyer Sound M

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Spain - Located in Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia, Casa Bonaventura Ferrer, known as El Palauet and work of Catalan architect Pere Falqués, is an early 20th century treasure and an example of modernist architecture. Equipped with an infrastructure and technological base that allows it to host a variety of events, a customisable Martin lighting system lets El Palauet dress for any occasion.

El Palauet houses six separate entertainment spaces spread across two floors, in addition to a large discothèque, El Tinell, on the ground floor. Clients can choose from any of the spaces, from a large room for dancing to a unique space for holding company meetings.

Martin Architectural's Spanish representative, ECLER, working jointly with installer EIM (Estudios y Montajes Eléctricos, S.L.), executed a dynamic lighting installation that brings to life both the magnificent fa

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Barco showed what it says is the most silent 20,000 lumens projector on the market, the FLM series, specifically built for the rental and staging market. The company hopes that the projector's "extreme brightness, compact design, and low noise" will prove the perfect solution for these applications. The first projector in the range is the FLM R20+, and has a contrast ratio of 1800:1. Existing lens ranges can be used on the FLM series. The projector was on display in the large venue display area, and has advanced 10-bit processing which ensures exceptional video performance, say Barco.

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Japan - This is a country of earthquakes, says Mick O'Gorman of Mosco Design, sound designer in residence for Riverdance. Japan has very strict laws concerning these things, imposing very particular restrictions on what you can and cannot do when bringing a Western production into their venues. Riverdance tends to play in orchestral style halls with occasional ventures into bigger arenas. For the smaller halls, certainly there is a need to consider ground stacking PA; it is not just the earthquake restrictions, quite rightly some of these halls wish to preserve the integrity of their interior architecture and that means there may be, at best, just one rigging point per side cut through the ceiling, and even then the loading limits tend to be fairly low.

O'Gorman has been shepherding the sound for Riverdance since the show's inception; this makes him perfectly placed to understan

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uk - BEGA, uniquely available from Zumtobel Staff, has enhanced its range with a family of LED in-ground luminaires known as 8800, 8801, 8802 and 8804. Offering technical capability and durability, this family of in-ground luminaires provide an elegant solution to high visibility 'way marking' lighting in the UK.

Circular and convex in shape, each luminaire has a diameter of 220mm and extends just 55mm above the ground at its apex. The luminaire is finished in graphite die cast aluminium and stainless steel, with a toughened optical lens.

The BEGA 8800 luminaire has a single 60º lens, while the 8801 offers a single 180º lens. In the 8802, two 60º lenses are located either side of the luminaire, whereas the 8804 has a four 60º lens arranged equally around the circumference. All of the luminaires in the range use LED lamps and direct concentrated light horizontally to the la

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Panasonic showed the world's largest plasma screen - a huge, and hugely impressive 103" monster. With full 1920 x 1080 HD resolution and a 3000:1 contrast ratio, the screen incorporates Panasonic's high-speed pixel drive. Don't attempt to lift this one on your own . . .

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Danish Interpretation Systems showed its range of systems, incorporating a host of features including integrated automatic camera control. See Technical Focus for more.
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