Italy - Lighting designer Durham Marenghi is using 250 Robe ColorWash 1200 ATs in Torino's Stadio Olympico for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics and the opening of the Paralympics. 130 of the fixtures are rigged in a 'technical trough' running all around the perimeter of the 200 x 60m performance/parade area on the floor of the stadium, sitting at approximately 1.5m off the ground.

The same trough arrangement continues around a large 'tongue' platform protruding from the front of the stage used as the main performance area. These fixtures are used to throw wide angle light all around the stadium on up into the audience, including onto the five-ringed performance structure at the opposite end to the stage.

A further 80 Robe fixtures are rigged in the

Germany - Audio-Technica is introducing its new 3000A Series UHF true diversity wireless systems with Automatic Frequency Scanning functionality, complete with the ATW-T371 handheld transmitter with high quality condenser capsule, being launched at Pro Light & Sound in Frankfurt (29 March - 1 April).

Also being launched at Pro Light & Sound is the ATW-A49SP Active Antenna Splitter Kit. The new re-engineered Unipoint Series of full-line, miniaturized, condenser installation and sound reinforcement microphones, featuring unique Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) shielding, is also being shown, as are the latest sub-miniature AT898 and AT899 lavalier mics, and the AT892 MicroSet headworn mic from the company's Broadcast + Production Series. The new Import Series headphones, introduced into Europe for the first time, includes three professional monitor for engineering and DJ applica

UK - Delegate booking is now open for the second Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference (June 11-13 2006, London). According to the organizers, this Conference provides a structured review and discussion about historic, recent and planned performing arts projects, while at the same time allowing those new to planning or constructing such buildings an opportunity to learn from the experts.

Successful design and completion of drama studios, dance venues, recital halls, theatres and opera houses requires specialist knowledge and skill and there are many failures, as well as successes, to be seen in the UK and around the world. A number of these projects will be analysed by experienced theatre architects, consultants and engineers in order to provide a perspective on the vital aspects of planning, designing and equipping buildings for performances. In addition to speakers f

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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

UK - Amidst a busy start to 2006, lighting hire specialist LXCO has relocated to a newly built premises to accommodate their expansion.

LXCO was formed in 1999 by James Dann, James Cobb and Mark Wheatley since when the company has supplied lighting to a wide portfolio of events. Recent clients range from supplying theatre lighting for two West End musicals, a corporate event for Louis Vuitton, the Olivier Awards, music tours for Kanye West, Gary Moore and Runrig and the Cornbury Music Festival.

The new facility, in Haverhill, is only 15 minutes off the M11, giving good transport links to London and the rest of the UK. It also gives LXCO substantially increased storage for their ever-growing stocks of equipment and improved working conditions for staff.

Director James Cobb said: "The level of growth in the last two years has made this move a must. The new facility now re

Italy - At the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics, KV2 Audio was selected as the key manufacturer for sound reinforcement at Sestriere, host to the Alpine Skiing events, and the company's recently-launched VHD system found itself fulfilling the roles of a sound triathlete.

By day, single stacks of VHD ensured announcements, presentations, and the occasional live act were heard loud and clear by the several thousand athletes and visitors attending the events. By night, a purpose-built nightclub in the Olympic village converted from a cinema specifically for the Olympic events, played host to the second VHD system.

Installed by Tekno Technic of Italy (in a total of four weeks in temperatures regularly dropping below -10°C) and supplied by Audio Sales, this is the first time the system has been used at such a prestigious event in the Italian marketplace, and "a testament to the inc

Spain - Martin Architectural's Spanish representative, Ecler, with the aid of local lighting wholesaler Sono Market, has transformed Barcelona's Sugar Club - a multi-use restaurant, club, and lounge - into a dynamic colour changing venue, radically changing the image of the establishment, say Martin.

The management of Sugar Club sought to transform the venue into a party nightspot, which meant they needed the lighting to help bring about a change of atmosphere. The project involves diffuse points of light behind curtains, creating the illusion that the entire restaurant is open to the exterior. The architecture and location of the room, at the port of Barcelona with views over the Mediterranean Sea, was the inspiration for the project.

The idea was to create the illusion that behind this illuminated fabric are windows that extend the space optically. Light from Martin Architec

Ireland - Dynalite has appointed SquareOne as the exclusive distributor for its lighting control and integration products for the Republic of Ireland. Square One's general manager, Garnett Stewart, says: "As Ireland's premier AV trade supplier, SquareOne imports and distributes some of the industry's leading brands in business, education and residential markets. We recognised that a lighting control system was the next step toward a full-scale solution and there was no doubt that the Dynalite system represented the obvious choice. The strength of the Dynalite name worldwide, along with the flexibility and reliability of the product itself made it a perfect companion to other brands in our offering".

Lucien McQueen, Dynalite Europe area manager, added: "Around the world, Dynalite distributors are selected for their ability to provide the highest levels of engineeri

UK - With the best quality audio complemented by intuitive precision vinyl emulation, the CDJ-1000MK2 is established as the world's standard CD deck: performance that's evolving with the CDJ-1000MK3. The new deck provides full MP3 compatibility, a Hot Loop feature, 'Jog feeling adjust' and improved presentation of track and Wave data. With refinements to the CDJ-800MK2 also headlined by MP3, the new decks round out a Pioneer CD/DVD DJ range that's fully digital and MP3-ready.

"The CDJ-1000MK2 became the industry standard CD player through input from leading DJs across the world and they've again advised us on the new modifications that will advance digital DJ'ing," says Martin Dockree, sales manager, Pioneer Pro-DJ. "We have evolved the standard with the 'MK3' by improving the presentation of track data, adding features like 'JOG feeling adjust' and including MP3

USA - The Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP) Council has announced the Rigging Training Recognition Program guidelines, application, and licensing requirements are now available. The program has been initiated to recognize rigging training programs for ETCP Renewal Credits. ETCP Certified Riggers are required to participate in on-going professional education to maintain their certification. After the launch of the Entertainment Electrician Examination in October 2006, ETCP will begin recognizing electrical training programs.

ETCP says that training providers who wish to have their programs recognized must submit a full program description, a list of instructors including qualifications, learning objectives and other requested program information for administrative review.

The guidelines, application form, and licensing requirements are available online at th

USA - Award winning typeface designer Andrew Byrom makes another in-road into product design with 'Interiors Light', a series of three dimensional neon lamps.

This full alphabet set (26 characters) is constructed from 12 mm neon tubing by a certified neon manufacturer. Each piece is made to order and can be customized for specific display purposes. Most of the letters/lamps are free standing and can be displayed either on a flat surface or mounted to a wall.

In February 2006 'Interiors Light' will be on display at 'Chicago Furniture Now', a juried exhibition sponsored by Design Within Reach.

Andrew Byrom is a British born designer. He currently lives, works and teaches in Chicago. His previous three dimensional type creations have featured in design publications in Europe and America and he has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence from the American Institute of Graphic A

Asia - Biamp has appointed Antoine Rouget as technical support specialist for the Asia/Pacific region. Rouget will be based in Biamp's Hong Kong office and report directly to Kiley Henner, Biamp¹s Technical Support Manager. His responsibilities include providing technical and application support for the full range of Biamp products throughout the entire Asia/Pacific territory.

Commenting on the announcement, Henner said: "The Asia/Pacific region is quickly becoming one of our most important regions. With the addition of Antoine, Biamp will be able to provide a quicker response to our burgeoning customer base throughout the region. Antoine brings a very comprehensive approach to technical and application issues that our customers face on a daily basis. His extensive experience in the audio industry, most recently as a consultant, coupled with his technical and inter-persona

UK - Global installation specialist Sarner Ltd selected Allen & Heath's new GR2 analogue zone mixer to control audio in Sotheby's Institute of Art - the world-famous auction house's education arm. With venues in London and New York, Sotheby's Institute of Art is among the world's leading institutions offering MA and PhD degrees, specialised courses, and study abroad programmes, providing graduates with the scholastic and practical skills for a career in the art world.

Sotheby's recently acquired a new building in Bedford Square, London, to relocate the Institute, and appointed Surrey-based Sarner to design and install an audio system to fit the building's new purpose. The GR2 was selected for installation in a mobile rack, used for audio distribution in the Institute's lecture theatres and classrooms.

"Sotheby's required a flexible system, which could be configured in a n

Canada - Montréal-based pop-punk band Simple Plan recently became the first major North American act to hit the road with L-Acoustics Kudo line source array systems as its primary house rig.

Tour Tech East of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, served as the sound reinforcement provider for the group's 19-city coast-to-coast Canadian arena trek, which benefited from large quantities of L-Acoustics gear, including up to 21 Kudos per side (many of which were provided by Rocky Mountain Production Services of Vancouver, BC).

Certified V-Dosc engineer (CVE) Trevor Coppen, who has been Simple Plan's FOH engineer for nearly four years, ultimately made the call to utilize Kudo based on his respect for V-Dosc and faith in L-Acoustics' technologies.

"V-Dosc has been 'number one' on my audio rider for quite some time now, so after talking with other engineers about Kudo and reading abo

Hong Kong - Leading full-colour LED video panel manufacturer Lighthouse Technologies has launched a used screen brokerage service to provide added value for its customers. The company says it has seen an increase in requests from customers to help broker a growing demand from the second tier market. This would benefit both existing customers wishing to renew their panel fleet and potential customers who would like the advantages of Lighthouse LED video technology, but do not necessarily want to commit to the expense of new panels, say the company.

"We understand that an LED video panel is a serious financial commitment," explains Lighthouse senior sales manager David Thilwind. "And when our customers want to renew/upgrade their existing fleet, they need the best possible return on their initial investment. The new service we are offering, which is principally for

Indochina - Thailand will play host to the inaugural professional audio, visual and lighting international trade exhibition, AVL Thailand 2006, from 28-30 June. Taking place in Impact - the largest exhibition centre in Thailand - AVL Thailand 2006 will showcase a wide array of the latest equipment in professional audio, visual, lighting, staging, and entertainment technology to a targeted buyer audience from the emerging market of Thailand and its surrounding Indochina region, according to organizer Singex Exhibitions.

Steady economic growth in Indochina is fuelling continuous new build and refurbishments of commercial buildings, theme parks, sports facilities, performance centres, cinemas, casinos and shopping malls across the region, while the "phenomenal growth" in Indochina's club scene looks set to continue - offering huge opportunities for entertainment technolog

Canada - Gone are the days of static objects. On March 1, the launch of WYSIWYG Production Design Suite Release 16 will breathe life into productions by giving users the ability to pre-visualize shows with moving scenery! Objects are simply attached to movement axes (either linear or rotational) and moved along them with the moving scenery tool.

For even greater realism, designers can patch control of the movement axes (and their attached objects) and use a console device or a motion control system to manage the progress of the objects along the axes.

Some other innovative developments include a new camera control bar and the ability to easily import floor plans. In addition, overall stability has been improved and several performance features have been introduced.

WYSIWYG was just used for the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, is being used today t

Germany - This year Australian based manufacturer ARX Systems will be displayingseveral new additions to the ARX Signal Processing range at Frankfurt's Pro Light &Sound, including the 'i Switch' Line Switcher, AV Stream Audio Video Zoner / Switcher, the AudiBox range of Audio Accessories and new models for the SPL range of integrated powered loudspeakers.

ARX managing director Colin Park says: "Frankfurt is the most important Exhibition of the year for ARX and we're pleased to announce the release of some exciting new products being shown there on World first release.

"Europe has been a great market for ARX in the past year and with the appointment ofnew Distributors like Audiosales in Italy, RMS Audio in Hungary, AVS Global in Turkey,Natural Musica y Sonido in Spain and S & V Mega Sound in Cyprus our policy of distribution channel rejuvenation implemented ear

USA - There were two ways to attack the intimidating slopes of the Chevrolet Freestyle International Competition held recently at Deer Valley Resort: with gold medal skiing if you were an athlete, or rock-solid wireless mics if you were a sound engineer. As owner of Atkinson Sound, Hoyt Atkinson was definitely the latter, and the wireless microphone systems he used at this NBC-broadcast event were from Lectrosonics.

"The terrain at ski events presents big challenges to sound production. To run cable from the mountain top all the way to the finish areas would be almost impossible," says Atkinson. "TheLectrosonics R400A receiver and UT400 handheld microphones made a big difference for us this year. Even when we were using the microphones a good 300-350 feet from the receiver, there were absolutely no dropouts, pops, or hisses. The sound quality was indiscerni

UK - KV2 Europe have announced further expansion within their company with the addition of Andy Simmons as operations director to lead the company from its new headquarters in Harrogate, UK.

KV2's business development director Jonathan Reece-Farren made the announcement as plans for the new headquarters were being finalised: "I am very pleased to confirm the appointment of Andy Simmons as operations director for KV2 Europe Ltd. All of us at KV2 Europe have known Andy for many years now, mainly through his association with Crest Audio in the UK. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge of the marketplace which will be an invaluable resource to us as a company."

Simmons commented: "This is an extremely exciting opportunity for me and I am pleased that Jonathan and Andy [Austin-Brown, KV2 sales director] considered me for the job. I've admired the company for a lon

Spain - TESI, the Barcelona-based broadcast engineering company, has launched two new ultra-compact, software controlled analogue audio routers, the Legato A48M and Legato A48, which are deal for a wide range of applications including TV and radio broadcasting, film and video post production, for large PA systems.

Each unit takes a miniscule amount of rack space - just 2U (19inches) each. The difference between them is that the Legato 48M features a built-in mixer for increased flexibility. Both units are controllable with powerful user-friendly Windows 2000 or XP software.

The basic configuration of both units is a 16 input/16 output audio switching matrix. The matrix of the A48 can be enlarged considerably by adding 16 input / 16 output expansion cards, providing up to 48 inputs/ 48 outputs all contained within the 2U rack unit. The A48M can also be expanded to 32 inputs/16

UK - The annual BRIT Awards are the highlight of the British recording industry's year, and the 2006 show reflected the impressive health of the current music scene by moving to a much larger London venue.

The ove to Earls Court One meant that sound designer Derrick Zieba and regular PA supplier Britannia Row had to re-think the sound system. Once again using the Electro-Voice X-Line array system, Zieba chose to manage the larger rectangular auditorium by effectively splitting the room into two halves and "making sure that the delay system worked as a substantial primary system."

Half way down the venue, three delay hangs each comprising eight Xls boxes, were spread in a L/C/R configuration right across the room. The main PA system featured left and right hangs, each using 12 EV Xls plus six Xlt cabinets and a downfill; additionally there was a centre hang of six Xlc

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