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UK - Lightfactor Sales has completed its first sale of nine Novalight High-Ground searchlight fixtures to leading international lighting rental company, PRG.

Five of these went straight out on the hugely successful Jeff Wayne War of The Worlds UK arena tour, where lighting designer Steve Nolan and his associate Ben Cracknell used them to recreate the classic Martian 'Heat Ray' effect.

Heat Rays - deadly, red, laser-like zapping weapons - were used extensively to pulverise the earth and everything on it by the Martians during their War of The Worlds invasion. Nolan was searching for a very specific lightsource to make this effect work onstage. He wanted a fat collimated beam - wider than a laser - and something that was obviously more powerful than the standard stage light

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Russia - A&T Trade, Marantz Professional's Russian distributors, report a huge order for 37 of the company's PMD570 solid state digital recorders. As with the rest of Europe Russia is finding the PMD570 an irresistible solution for high level data capture, with compact flash cards replacing the traditional cassette.

The first 19 recorders are all destined for installation in a new Arbitration Court currently being built in Moscow (one to record the proceedings in each of the 19 halls in which the sessions are held).

"The PMD570 will replace the Arbitration Court's DAT recorders which were traditionally used for the tasks like this," explains A&T Trade's Ksenia Valeeva. She added that this is just the first step of an ongoing project which will run through the summer, and is scheduled to complete in August.

A further 12 PMD570's have been ordered by Sicom, for insta

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Austria - Life Ball - 'A Choir of Love, Against an Army of Ignorance' - is the largest AIDS charity event in Europe. Life Ball 2006 relied on AKG microphones to support high profile celebrities and artists such as Sharon Stone, Catherine Deneuve, Anastacia and Kool & The Gang during the live event.

An annual event since 1993, Life Ball 2006 took place on 21 May at the Vienna City Hall, fully encompassing the hall square. Raising money to battle HIV/AIDS, the charity event aims to educate through an entertainment event featuring addresses by international film stars, live performances by music legends and a Diesel fashion show hosted by super model Naomi Campbell. An audience of more than 40,000 came to see the show and learn how they could help fight ignorance and prejudice.

For this high profile event that focused on such an important message, the audio equipment had to be fl

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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 - Midlands based Hawthorn was chosen as lighting supplier for The Charlatans 2006 UK tour, which is promoting their new album Simpatico released in April. Working once again with LD Andy Liddle, Hawthorns supplied lighting, rigging, video and crew for the first leg of the UK tour which covers 18 venues in just three weeks.

Liddle specified a ground based rigging system specifically to offer maximum flexibility to cope with the differing sizes and heights of the 18 venues. The modular system specified is quick to install and very easy adapt to make the most of the tight get in times.

Lighting included the Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1200 along with Alpha Spot wash lights and Thomas LED fixtures.

Liddle's video clips were projected onto two of Hawthorn's stretch Impact Screens, offering a variation from the traditional rectangular projection screens, and more importantly, g

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The Netherlands - Dutch rental company StagePro has purchased eight Klark Teknik DN1248 Plus mic splitters from Midas Consoles Holland.

StagePro owners Rene van der Linden and Ben Brouwers, together with system engineer Marido Vermonden, conducted extensive market research before pronouncing the DN1248 Pluses "the best sounding and most reliable splitters available".

StagePro will debut its new DN1248 Pluses on the upcoming stadium event Toppers In Concert, which features three major Dutch artists - Rene Froger, Gordon and Gerard Joling.

A DN1248 Plus provides 12 input channels, each feeding four outputs, two of which are electronically balanced and two which are transformer isolated. All inputs and output one are duplicated on the rear of the unit, giving flexible patching options. The microphone preamplifier is a specially-adapted Midas Heritage series uni

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UK - The first Stage Electrics Tradeshow held at RADA on Tuesday 16 May was a success, the company reports, with a wide range of products on show from industry leading manufacturers.

Stage Electrics worked with Matt Prentice and colleagues at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to present the tradeshow in the Vanbrugh Theatre.The event attracted a 60% increase in visitor numbers compared to the company's open day at its branch in Long Lane in May 2005.

Stage Electrics' major suppliers were on hand to demonstrate their latest products. Exhibiting at the show were Martin, Rosco, Zero88, Strand, ETC, Selecon, Mackie, Sennheiser, Le Maitre & Pulsar. The new Limelight XS-2000 Xenonspot together with Prolyte, Teclumen and Apollo products were presented by Stage Electrics business development managers Andy Elsegood and Ed Gamble.

Matt Prentice Head of Lighting Design at RADA says:&qu

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USA - Grammy Award-winners Gorillaz pulled off the seemingly impossible task of performing the band's multi-platinum Demon Days album from start to finish during a five-night run at Harlem's world famous Apollo Theatre. The nightly Demon Days Live show, which featured more than 80 guest musicians from the album, was a huge technical challenge, but with the assistance of Sennheiser and the company's worldwide relationship manager, Paul Hugo, was a remarkable success.

Sennheiser supplied a large quantity of wired and wireless microphone systems, as well as IEM setups for the band and their many guest artists. Performers included Ike Turner, MF Doom, De La Soul, Neneh Cherry, Pharcyde's Bootie Brown, Roots Manuva, Martina Topley Bird, Dennis Hopper, Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder, the 25-piece Harlem Gospel Choir, the 25-member Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem, plus over a

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USA - May is undoubtedly the busiest time of year for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, with a month-long schedule of talk shows and qualifying day shows leading up to the Indianapolis 500 race during the Memorial Day weekend. At this year's ninetieth running of the Indy 500, the IMS Radio Network will once again be fielding all-analogue Lectrosonics UM250C transmitters, UDR200C receivers and ALP600 directionalantennas to bring "the Greatest Spectacle in Racing" to listeners worldwide.

"We use the 250 series belt-packs, with the antenna extended and mounted on the reporters' headsets. So we get an elevated ground plane, of sorts, by putting it on top of their heads," explains chief engineer Tom Allebrandi, whose TA Electronics firm also had a hand in installing the track's two-and-a-half-mile-long A/V systems. Six sets of Lectrosonics wireless tr

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Japan - Designed to reflect a mysterious and unknown world, 200 meters of softly coloured underground escalator passages and mid-point domed hall reflect the unique character of the world-class museum while creating a heightened level of anticipation for visitors.

Atami City, located in Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture, is a well known hot springs and seaside resort area with roots stretching back to the 8th century. The outstanding MOA (Mokichi Okada Assoc.) Museum of Art opened in Atami in 1982. Built 260m above sea level amidst the expanse of a huge 25,000sq.m garden, fabulous views of the open sea can be enjoyed from atop its perch on Momoyama Hill.

Access to the Museum's main building is a unique journey in itself. From the Museum entrance to the main building visitors travel some 200m up escalators running along a tunnel passage. Each escalator (14 in total running both direc

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UK - Entertainment lighting supplier White Light have announced its support of the 2006 Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference, to be held in London on June 11-13, immediately prior to the 2006 ABTT Trade Show at which White Light will be exhibiting.

Last held in 2002, the Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference brings together the many practitioners involved in creating successful performance spaces, from initial brief and financial planning right through to completion of the facility and opening it on time. Over two days, the conference will hold discussions on everything from designing a proscenium arch zone that will satisfy lighting designers, sound designers, directors, performers and the audience to the changes in culture that new arts buildings can bring.

White Light's involvement with the Conference reflects its continuing expansi

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South Korea - Professional AV installation company Sound Solution Co Ltd has recently been appointed as the official distributor in Korea for professional audio manufacturer LA Audio. Founded in 1999, Sound Solution has experience installing in many venues from churches, hotels and conference centres right through to the major broadcasting organisations. Import manager, Jessy Jin explains: "LA Audio incorporates a wide range of products which complement our current range very well."

Sales and marketing director for LA Audio, Luke Baldry, adds: "Sound Solution is a very professional outfit which is exactly the type of distribution outlet we want representing LA Audio. We look forward to working together with Sound Solution to help expand the LA Audio brand into Korea."

Also in Sound Solution's product palette are brands such as Numark, Wharfedale, Sommer, TO

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UK - PLASA, the Professional Lighting and Sound Association, has announced that the next meeting of its Manufacturers Forum will take place on Tuesday 18 July at the DTI Conference Centre in central London. The Forum, which was established in 2005 to allow PLASA to better understand the issues faced by its manufacturing members, is open to any member company who wishes to attend.

One of the dominant themes of the first few Forums has been that of manufacturers feeling the squeeze with legislation getting ever more complex and price competition intensifying. The twin directives of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulation) and RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations) - two new Environmental Regulations about to be implemented into UK law - are likely to have a major impact on manufacturers.

As part of its strategy for the next 12 months, PLASA is

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France - One of France's leading tourist attractions the Astérix Parc, located 30km north of Paris, has just reopened its gates for this year's season. The Parc celebrates France's most enduring cartoon character, Astérix the Gaul and his cohorts, and this year for the first time, all major performers will be equipped with DPA miniature microphones.

The Astérix Parc, owned by European leisure group Grévin & Cie, placed an initial order for 44 DPA 4088 miniature cardioid headband mics for its live shows, with six 4061 miniature omnidirectionals which are being concealed inside performers' costumes. Technical staff from the Parc will also undergo training at DPA's premises in Copenhagen later in the year.

A combination of the DPA minatures' size, range of mounting accessories, sound quality and reliability were all factors when it came to selecting th

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Germany / Bulgaria - German amplifier manufacturer Camco has appointed a new agent in Bulgaria, and is already delivering its first orders under the distribution agreement. Based in Sofia, THC Ltd is one of the biggest professional sound rental companies in Eastern Europe, with the ability to handle outdoor shows for up to 50,000 people. As well as being distributor for Coemar and SGM, THC also designs its own PA systems, which have been used by many international artists touring in Bulgaria, and has a substantial track record in audio installations in all types of public places.

THC itself is already using Camco's Vortex 6 amplifiers as part of its rental inventory, and, within weeks of its appointment as distributor for the line, has sold its first units to another rental company Sound Max. "Like us, they appreciate the light weight of the amps," says Radolina Kraste

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Germany/ U.A.E. - Klotz Digital AG, the inventor of audio and control networking solutions for the audio and media Industry, announced today that it has joined forces with CG Group Dubai, a well known distributor of integrated high-tech solutions in the Middle East. CG Group Dubai will with immediate effect offer service and support and sell Klotz Digital complete product range, including Varizone - the digital Public Address and Voice Evacuation System as well as Klotz Digital's wide range of mixing consoles and audio routers for the broadcast industry in GCC countries, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

"This strategic alliance provides tremendous opportunities for both companies. It will facilitate us to expand and ensure our market presence in this region, while CG Group seized the chance to round off its product range for the security market and breaks into the promising

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UK - Bandit Lites continued to rock with Status Quo at the NEC in Birmingham for their live SQ40 DVD shoot - recording footage for the upcoming DVD marking their fortieth anniversary tour - which started last year.

In the middle of Bandit's busiest Spring season to date, they supplied lighting designer Patrick Marks with Quo's full touring rig for the one off event, plus a large audience system comprising of seven trusses and over 300 additional lights. The event was project managed by Bandit's Lester Cobrin who has looked after Quo's live and touring lighting for the last decade. Cobrin says: "This was an epic performance by one of Britain's best loved bands. This show will go down in history and I am truly honoured to have been involved."

Patrick Marks, along with audience lighting director/operator Tom Lesh and the Bandit crew worked a non-stop 12-hour sche

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UK - By a chance meeting, Javier Weyler went from being an audio engineer tobecome the drummer for one of the biggest bands in the world! Now he's brought his audio expertise into the Stereophonics fold so that both he and the band have become big sE mic users.

Javier Weyler was born and raised in Venezuela and was surrounded by music from a very early age. He started playing drums at the age of 13 and spent nine years in a band releasing two albums. In 2000 he moved to the UK to further his knowledge about audio engineering and started working at Sahara Sound as an assistant engineer. It was there that alife-changing meeting took place.

"I ended up meeting Kelly and Rich from Stereophonics," he says. "They came to the studio to work on demos for You Gotta Go There To Come Back. We became friends and I ended up playing percussion on that album. In March

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USA - What a difference three years makes. Back at the beginning of 2003, only the most hardcore of hip-hop fans knew who Kanye West was. West had been working for years on ideas and songs for what would eventually become 2004's Multi-Platinum breakout album, The College Dropout, but had encountered difficulty getting the project fully realized. He had already cemented a solid reputation as a producer with a Midas touch for making hits, which he first established at Roc-A-Fella records in 2001 with the hit singles Izzo (Hova) and Takeover off of Jay-Z's smash album The Blueprint, and he has since produced major hits from Ludacris, Talib Kweli, Dilated Peoples, Alicia Keys, and far too many others to list. But his own music was not known.

However, by the time the 2005 Grammy awards rolled around, West had broken through and was on top of the pile with 10 nominations and th

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Canada - Early April saw Winnipeg's Pantages Playhouse Theatre taken over by CBC's Comedy Festival. The proscenium theatre, built by Alexander Pantages, was originally opened in 1914 as a vaudeville house. The Pantages seats 922 in the orchestra, 467 in the balcony and another 86 in balcony boxes. The original house sound installations made up of mostly Bose Acousticmass speakers, which were replaced with Adamson Y-Axis line speakers for the duration of the event.

The week-long installation was provided by Audio Works Productions based in Winnipeg. The set up and rehearsals took three days during which FOH sound engineer Lyle Dick was looking for "clarity and off axis rejection" - important qualities for the spoken word. Lyle Dick added: "The Adamson Y-Axis system is perfect for it and that is why I used it for years for all the film premieres in Hollywood."<

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UK / France - On 2 June 2006 at around 4.00pm, approximately 25 cyclists will depart from Leatherhead in Surrey with a target of reaching Le Mans in 24 hours - a distance of about 170 miles. One of the cyclists will be Jonathan Cooper, managing director of Barco Limited, and he is still seeking sponsorship support for the challenge.

The ride is organised by SeeAbility, an Epsom-based charity which provides accommodation, training and support for the visually impaired (www.seeability.org). In agreement with SeeAbility, Jonathan has also committed to raising sponsorship for Vision - a charity which provides support to visually-impaired children and also work with SeeAbility on some projects. Vision is well supported by organisations operating in the Broadcast, Media and Audio-Visual markets (www.visioncharity.co.uk).

Jonathan says: "This is a challenging event, especially a

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USA - The JFK School of Government at Harvard University has seen a recent audio system upgrade at one of its primary lecture halls. Adtech Systems, an AV systems integrator, installed a new zoned, mix-minus microphone/loudspeaker system that improves the ability of everyone in the classroom to both speak and be clearly heard. The project was headed by Adtech's design engineer, Michael Merrill.

While a similar system had been in use since the hall was last upgraded in 1990, it was not sophisticated and often malfunctioned. The school's directors decided a new sound system was a high priority, to allow students to focus on the dialogue and discussion processes, rather than constantly dealing with the mechanics of audio technology.

The focal point of the hall's new audio system architecture is a SymNet DSP Audio Matrix from Symetrix. The digital signal processing, mixing and rou

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