UK - For the second year running, large format projection specialists E//T//C UK are projecting giant images onto the castle walls for the 2006 Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

E//T//C's Ross Ashton was asked back after last year's show that introduced projection into the visual mix for the first time in the event's 57 year history. The dramatic 60 metre wide by 30 metre tall moving pictures are covering the Castle battlements and Gatehouse.

This year the theme for a specially produced six minute projection show was a tribute to 370 years of Scottish soldiery, performed by the Bands of the Coldstream and Scots Guards. It was also marked the end of a 12-year reign by the Tattoo's chief executive and producer, Brigadier Melville Jameson CBE DL.

In conjunction with Jameson, 2006

Worldwide - Bruce Springsteen's long-time FOH engineer John Cooper is one of the newest converts to the Digidesign Venue live sound environment. Springsteen is on a worldwide tour until 2007 promoting his latest recording, The Seeger Sessions. Some of the tour highlights to date have been The New Orleans Jazz Festival, and television appearances on The Tonight Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brian. Cooper is using Venue to mix all of Springsteen's live shows, along with Pro Tools to record and later remix the songs for a subsequent live release and for use on the Internet.

Cooper chose a 96-input/16-output Venue system when searching for a higher quality FOH mixing platform for Springsteen. The system's plug-in architecture was a big selling point (some of Cooper's favorite plug-ins include the Bomb Factory BF76 compressor, BF-3A compressor, and Fairchild 660 limi

UK - Harman UK has supplied indie-pop band Franz Ferdinand with a dbx IEM (in-ear monitor) processor unit for use during the band's 2006 Festival Tour. The charismatic four-piece from Scotland burst onto the chart scene in 2004 with their best-selling, eponymous debut album, which won the much coveted Mercury Music Prize. The band's current tour takes in numerous venues around Europe and includes appearances at the Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds Festivals later this summer.

Franz Ferdinand's live sound engineer Tilde Bruynooghe ordered the IEM unit initially for use at the NEC in Birmingham. The IEM processor was designed with the simple aim of enhancing the sonic quality of all in-ear monitor applications, while providing the necessary audio level protection that both artists and engineers require. Ideally suited as a tool for fine-tuning mix monitoring for in-ear monitoring

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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 - Tim Searle has been promoted to project manager working from Blackout's London office. He will further develop the installation service offered to clients and is currently working on numerousevents including film screenings at Somerset House. Other projects Searle has managed include a celebration event for Pernod, a corporate seminar for SPS and the Reebok Tennis Event held in Notting Hill Gate, London.

"Having worked for many years in an installation capacity at Blackout, I am delighted to be a part of the project management team working alongside Chris Brain and Kevin Monks," explains Tim Searle.

Steve Tuck, managing director says: "Tim has proved his strong knowledge and experience of the industry and of our core products and services. His excellent technical and people skills ensures that he is well respected by customers and colleagues alike. Tim also

Denmark - DPA Microphones continued its sponsorship of the annual Copenhagen Jazz Festival this summer, working as acoustic consultants and providing technical support throughout the festival. DPA also provided a large quantity of microphones including 3521 compact stereo mic'ing kits, 4011 cardioids, 4021 compact cardioids, 4015 wide cardioids, 4007 high SPL mics and a selection of mounting accessories. The jazz festival was also an excellent opportunity to showcase the new DPA 4091 omnidirectional microphone, designed as an instrument mic.

The primary sites that DPA worked on were the new Copenhagen Opera House which opened last year, and the Glassalen, a beautiful 1,000 seat glass concert hall in the Tivoli Gardens. A similar selection of mics were used across both venues, including 4091s for guitar and bass amps. The 144 dB SPL handling of this recently-introduced mic means

UK - Road Ready will be exhibiting at PLASA on stand - M48 and will be deomonstarting their easy set-up new IntelliStage System.

One of the most versatile, strong and lightweight stage system on the market today, the IntelliStage consists of modular lightweight platforms and risers that can be combined to create customised stages in various heights( 20cm, 30, cm, 40cm, or 60cm), shapes( Y-shape, rectangle and round ) and configurations.

Road Ready's IntelliStage also features a unique internal locking system that allows for easy set-up and tear-down and ensures that all components are bolted tight and are safe to use. Each IntelliStage platform set can bear up to 900 kg / sqm and comes standard with a rugged carpeted finish. Optional upgrade Duraflex platform finish is available as well with range of accessories such as storage flight cases, riser couplers, steps, riser clamps

USA - The new Opti Profile from Elation Professional is designed for the serious stage lighting market. The Opti Profile projects up to 30-40 feet, enough to be effective in even large theatrical venues.

An ellipsoidal style fixture, the Opti Profile gives lighting users the ability to shape the beam and manipulate it in several ways. It offers a wide variety of precision tools and accessories for highlighting performers and setting moods on stage.

"With all of its amazing capabilities, the Opti Profile represents an incredible value for a high-quality cETL approved fixture," said Eric Loader, director of sales for Elation Professional. "This is a truly professional stage light fixture ideal for permanent installations or rental inventories."

Lighting users can purchase a basic Opti Profile fixture and expand its versatility with a number of available acc

UK - Rosco has launched a new custom gobo manufacturing facility for the European market. Rosco has a long history of producing custom metal and glass gobos. The addition of DHA Lighting, one of the UK's leading custom gobo supplier, to the company last year, has achieved a level of knowledge that is unique.

"Both Rosco and DHA's colour custom gobos have traditionally been produced overseas," says Steve Connolly who has been brought in as head of gobo business development for the new venture. "The service is already excellent, but actually being able to manufacture such gobos on site at our facility in London means that much of the margin for error that is inevitable when you employ the services of outside contractors, such as shipping services, is more or less eliminated."

Connolly's involvement to the industry dates back to 1975 when he started working fo

UK - Fuzion plc will enjoy a high profile at PLASA 06, introducing some of their new distributed lines, such as Vity and Mipro as well as more consolidated brands such as Nexo and Camco. They will also have products from other companies whom they exclusively represent, including Australian Monitor, Littlite, Radian, Radia Pro, Symetrix, t&m Systems and Work - mixed up in Fuzion's own signature brand of hospitality.

On show will be products from Vity Technology - a French manufacturer of corporate and home automation products based on LCD 'Media Bus' touch panels and controllers. Announcing the new distribution arrangement, Fuzion sales director Paul Ward described the IP-addressable range, which includes LCD professional panels, matrix switchers and scalers for the corporate boardroom and multimedia market, as a perfect addition to the company's product portfolio.

Fuzion will

UK - Industry innovators Global Design Solutions (GDS), whose Blues System will be on show at PLASA 06 next month (10-13 September, Earls Court, London), have been recognised for their inspirational business ideas and approach, having been selected as winners of the South West Angel and Investor Network (SWAIN) unique business investor opportunity competition.

GDS provides forward-thinking new technical product design and business consultancy services to the entertainment, leisure and associated industries. The company also specialises in bespoke design and installation of high-end integrated control systems, ranging from residential to marine, offering both third party development and working for end clients.

Having impressed the judges and been crowned winners of the competition, GDS were given the opportunity to discuss their business plan over a private lunch to SWAIN dire

USA - ANSI E1.20-2006 Remote Device Management (RDM) for DMX512 has recently been published and is available for immediate purchase as a PDF or hard copy, ESTA has announced. The PDF and hard copy are available from ANSI's Electronic Standards Store or The ESTA Foundation . The list price is $40; member and quantity discounts are available. Members of the new ESTA Technical Standards Program Subscription Service automatically receive this new standard as well as copies of all published documents as part of their subscription.

ANSI E1.20 (RDM) is an extension to DMX512 that allows for bi-directional communication on the primary pair of a DMX512 link. This allows for a controller or piece of test equipment to intelligently discover other RDM-enabled devices on the link such as moving l

UK - Slingco, the specialist in rigging solutions and steel wire, will showcase its CABLEnet tension wire grid system and its award-winning Unibar product, and also presents Vortek's range of motorized rigging solutions, including a new Point Hoist, at the PLASA Show this year.

Slingco's legendary CableNet tension wire grid system continues to be a popular method for creating a safe and flexible environment from which technical staff - including wheelchair users - can work at height in all types of venues or spaces. Slingco was the first British-based company to design, manufacture and install a tensioned wire grid and is the European market leader in this specialist technology.

Recent high profile theatre installations include a completely circular grid in the newly re-opened Roundhouse - which contains a rare circular CableNet, only the third in the UK. The CableNet system i

UK - Alcons Audio will be exhibiting at the PLASA show in London with a number of new products, including speaker systems, and also electronics.

The successful LR14 ultra-compact line-array system has a new relation - the LR14/90. This is a new pro-ribbon line-array, featuring the Alcons RBN401 pro-ribbon driver, with double 6.5" woofers in a 90 x 15 degree configuration. With a total weight of only 15kg, the LR14/90 pro-ribbon line-array has one of the best "throw-to-size/weight" ratios in the industry.

The second main introduction at the show is the QB363. Featuring a triple-12" array-configuration, the QB363 acts as a modular low-end extension of the QR-series pro-ribbon column arrays. With the similar front shape of the QR36 and QM36, this bass system operates completely within the acoustic line-array parameters, resulting in perfect projection control.

UK - Midas and Klark Teknik have provided pioneering audio engineering college Deep Blue Sound in Plymouth with a range of industry-standard mixing consoles and signal processors. The equipment is central to the country's first-ever accredited Live Sound HNC (Higher National Certificate) being developed by industry expert and leading sound engineer Simon Honywill.

Deep Blue Sound began life as a commercial recording facility, moving into education four years ago. Its first foray into live sound education was the inclusion of a six-week Live Sound module into its Music Production diploma earlier this year. The new Live Sound HNC is a one-year higher education course aimed at training students for work in the industry and providing an academic qualification. The course will be a combination of practical workshops and lectures, together with work-based learning in 'real-life' envir

UK - Turbosound will display their product including Aspect TA-890 touring and TA-880 installation products, the new wide dispersion TA-500 Aspect 3-way full-range enclosure, the TSB-118 subwoofer and the TCS-C50T two-way ceiling speaker.

Aspect systems have proved their flexibility this summer on festivals and concert tours, from Dave Gilmour's On An Island tour to a stunning performance by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon at Denmark's most successful Roskilde festival to date.

The TA-500 is the latest addition to the highly acclaimed Aspect series, a trapezoidal, three way, full-range cabinet offering a dispersion pattern of 50° horizontal by 25° vertical, combined with medium throw characteristics. It features a similar driver complement, voicing and sharp coverage cut-off to the narrower dispersion TA-880 products, allowing the two t

UK - KV2 Audio Ltd has announced the appointment of two, new, key members of staff to work from their recently opened headquarters in Harrogate, UK. Mick Butler joins KV2 from Fuzion plc, as UK sales manager, handling sales for KV2 Audio products as well as KV2's distributed lines Vieta loudspeakers and Apex signal processing. Butler commented: "This is a dream job for me, I've long been an admirer of KV2's products but didn't realise how good the systems were until I heard them first-hand. It really makes my job enjoyable to get behind product lines I can really believe in, that and joining a team of people who clearly enjoy what they do, I can't wait to get out there and start spreading the word!"

KV2's operations director Andy Simmons commented: "To have someone of Mick's calibre join our team has already made a difference to everyone here at KV2. Mick's a grea

UK - Midas will be showing the XL8 live performance system at PLASA 2006 on Stand M40 for the first time at a UK trade show. XL8 heralds the leading console manufacturer's entry into the digital mixing realm, offering an incomparable design combining exemplary sound quality, flexibility and reliability with an ease and familiarity of use unrivalled by other digital control surfaces. XL8 is the first of a new generation of open-architecture, cross-platform, integrated audio control and distribution systems, which brings control of not only audio, but other aspects of live performance to a single, intuitive control centre.

As well as offering classic Midas audio quality and superb reliability, XL8 actually improves upon the performance of the analogue consoles which have established the brand as the number one choice of sound engineers the world over. XL8 represents a new generati

France - Blackout were engaged to provide a dramatic environment for a country-wide launch of the new Peugeot 207 to French motor dealers and customers.

The launch was held simultaneously in eight different cities across France including Paris, Lyon, Lille, Nancy, Nantes, Bordeaux, Avignon and Le Mans.

Working closely with events production company Communication 105, in each of the venues, Blackout created an elliptical box-shaped auditorium that had a sophisticated set-up of Blackout tracking systems.

A total of over 1,400 metres of drape was used across all venues. During each presentation, specific drapes surrounding the auditorium were opened so that guests could walk out into numerous exhibit areas. Here, Blackout's lightweight Easi-Build Pipe and Drape system was provided on 9m x 3.5m backdrops and formed a stylish way to showcase large photographs of the new car and

UK - At this year's PLASA Digidesign will be unveiling the much anticipated latest addition to the Venue family of Live Sound products. With the amazing success and adoption of the original Venue system, the new console solution will expand the customer experience and offer unparalleled product compatibility across the entire Venue product range.

Since it starting shipping in February 2005, the current Venue system has sold over 300 units worldwide and has been used on tours by U2, Radiohead and Paul McCartney, as well as being adopted by the Montreux Jazz Festival. The combination of great sound quality and direct integration with industry-standard Pro Tools digital audio workstations for recording and playback, has made Venue the preferred console in touring, remote broadcast, theatre and House Of Worship.

Aside from the new product launch, Digidesign will also be showcasing

UK - UK distributor for HME's range of advanced wireless intercom products - audio experts Orbital Sound - is delighted to announce that since the launch of the new HME WH200 ComLink at The ABTT Theatre Show 2006, it has made an impact as the only digital 2.4 Ghz 'all in one' headset that offers a total comms solution.

ComLink comes complete with the entire range of functions offered by the standard BP200 belt pack. As a first of its kind, ComLink significantly enhances the potential of two-way communications in the UK's broadcast, live performance, corporate presentation and installed sound markets.

Making its West End debut on Sunday in the Park with George at The Wyndams, ComLink was deployed on this Menier Chocolate Factory production, which celebrates the life of poitillist painter, Georges Seurat and boasts a score by Stephen Sondheim. Four WH200 head-sets were co

UK - As the name suggests, Hybrid are something of an anomaly, an amalgam of many elements that don't at first seem to fit together. Mike Truman and Chris Healings are producers and remixers, but they're also artists in their own right. They make breakbeat-driven dance music, but they're into albums, such as the cinematic Morning Sci-Fi, rather than singles. And although they've been known to spend months or even years tweaking meticulous productions like Finished Symphony or Know Your Enemy, unlike many studio-based obsessives, they get out there and play live too, adding vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers when required.

Hybrid are currently building up to the release of their third album, I Choose Noise, which is due out in September, and they previewed some of their new tracks at the end of July on stage at the UK's Global Gathering festi

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