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USA - American DJ says it has taken the LED par can to "a new level of brightness and professionalism" with the introduction of its new Pro Series which includes the 64B LED Pro par can, 64P LED Pro par can and Punch LED Pro colour wash.

The 64B LED Pro black-finish par can and 64P LED Pro silver-polish par can are equipped with 181 bright 10mm LEDs (36 red, 85 green and 60 blue) that combine to create smooth palettes of colour. Identical in every way except for their exterior finishes, these par cans are flexible enough to be used as spotlights or uplights. A convenient dual bracket system allows them to be hung securely or set squarely on the ground, says the company.

The Punch LED Pro complements the two Pro Series par cans by functioning as a wall wash effect with

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UK - Paul Roughton is the new face representing Stage Electrics on the London scene, having joined the existing business development team of Darren Beckley, Matt Townsend and Chris Patton.

For over five years prior to joining Stage Electrics, Roughton worked in the West End for The Really Useful Theatre Group. He was the deputy chief electrician at Shaftesbury Avenue's Lyric Theatre, and then most recently at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where he worked on shows including Anything Goes and The Producers.

Roughton will be splitting his time as a business development manager between long term hires and installations from the London office, working closely with the existing team. "My previous experience will allow me to bring a user's perspective and insight, to make sure our customers receive the best possible service, " he says.

(Jim Evans)

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Germany - Now under the Bosch umbrella, EVI Audio came up with a new concept for its presentation at this year's ProLight+Sound in Frankfurt. This included a live stage and a new open-plan booth design. The predominantly white décor combined with the lavish dimensions of the booth to create a sense of light and space, symbolising the birth of a new era that began with the acquisition of former parent company Telex by Bosch in September of last year, says the company.

Robert Pletz, marketing services Europe, who was responsible for the trade fair presentation, points out: "Although the booth had a fresh new look to it, we remained faithful to the values for which we are known and the strategies that have served us so well in the past. Never before, in fact, have we applied our adage The demo makes the sale quite as consistently as we did this year."

This

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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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Eire - Dublin-based Just Lites joined forces with Robe UK to stage an open day at its facility in the north of the City that showcased all the latest products available from Robe. This included the new DigitalSpot 5000DT moving head projector and Robe's new Series 700 moving light fixtures.

The two day event was attended by a stream of lighting designers, programmers, operators and rental companies, all of whom took a great interest in the products.

Just Lites is run by three brothers, Paul, Ian and Alan Smith. It is one of Ireland's most successful and best known lighting rental houses. They have invested in over 200 Robe fixtures in recent years, used regularly for all their shows, events and festivals, and have also supplied them to a variety of installations.

Robe UK's sales director Ian W Brown and technical manager Nathan Wan went to Dublin to put the new products thro

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UK - Leading names in the history of music production joined forces recently to help launch Studio Sonic, a state of the art demo studio facility for Sonic Distribution based at Canalot Studios, London.

Marking Sonic Distribution's fifth anniversary, Rupert Neve, one of the most important figures in the development of pro audio equipment, gave a speech to mark the occasion and demoed some of the latest products from Rupert Neve Designs. Famed producer Bob Clearmountain (Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney and many others) and the head of sE Electronics, Siwei Zou, were also on hand to mark the occasion.

The facility boasts cutting edge studio and live rooms kitted out with the latest hardware and software, with users being able to demo the latest releases from Apogee, sE, Ghost Acoustics, Waves, Rupert Neve Designs and iLok.

James Young, MD of Sonic Distributio

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USA - Tomcat USA celebrated 15 years of in depth training courses for professionals in the entertainment industry with a sold-out Hoist and Rigging Workshop in Midland, Texas. Instructors and 82 participants from all over the US, plus Canada and the UK were brought together for the four day workshop. This year also marked the third annual Advanced Hoist and Truss Workshop with 10 participants from around the US.

Don Dimitroff of Columbus McKinnon coached participants through the disassembly and reassembly of a Lodestar chain hoist. Rocky Paulson, the recently retired president of Stage Rigging, taught safe rigging techniques while Morgan Neff of Mine Safety Appliances gave instruction on fall protection practices and equipment. Training was rounded out by Keith Bohn's truss class with instruction on design, usage and theory.

The Advanced Workshop was brought back by popular de

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World - LD Dom Smith is using an Avolites Diamond 4 console to run his lightshow on Bloc Party's current A Weekend In The City world tour. The UK leg of the tour also features a RADlite NG1 digital media server which is run via the D4.

Smith came onboard in December last year, and the band's latest touring campaign kicked off in the new year. He was given a free rein in the design, although the band had a few pointers - primarily as to what they didn't want.

The new album takes a more serious and reflective turn from the first one which was poppier and softer, and so Smith decided to take the lighting into moodier and more edgy realms, still infused with some classic theatrical touches, as is his oeuvre.

"A Diamond 4 is always my first choice" Smith confirms. "For all the reasons I love Avo desks - their power, ease of operation and massive flexibility.

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USA - Aviom, developer of the audio transport technology, A-Net, recently debuted the latest addition to its Pro64 Series of audio distribution products, the 6416dio Digital I/O Module.

The 6416dio provides 16 channels of digital inputs and outputs to and from a Pro64 A Net audio network in a single 2U package, using the AES3 format.

With exceptional clock per formance, the 6416dio meets the needs of digital console and workstation users in a range of applications for broadcast on remotes and locations, film sets and church campuses, says Aviom.

The input and output sections of the 6416dio module can be independently configured to operate within a specified 16-channel A Net Slot range for maximum versatility. Input and output port assignments for Manual Mode are also independently configurable. Each channel of a 6416dio can be made active on the Pro64 audio network as needed

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UK - Lighting and visual designers Dan Hardiman and Dave Farmer of THC Design added fast moving visual coherence and plenty of optical energy to the Lost Prophets' short UK arena tour.

A major element of this was five columns of 33-string Barco MiSTRIP supplied by XL Video. These were specified by Hardiman, who had been wanting to introduce video to the band's show for some time. THC has been involved with the Lost Prophets' stage visuals throughout the Liberation Transmission world tour, which is now drawing to a close.

"I wanted something new and exciting for the arena section of the tour - and video was definitely the way to go, and naturally we came to XL as suppliers," says Hardiman. He and Farmer have worked with XL on a number of artists including UB40, Will Young, The Doves and others.

XL's project managers Phil Mercer and Jo Beirne comment, "TH

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Bahrain - Organised by the Bahrain Economic Development Board, the Spring of Culture gathered a wide variety of artists and performers together in a number of venues around the kingdom. In front of the historic Arad Fort an amphitheatre was constructed for the major concert performances. Bahrain production company AVL Concepts brought in Dubai based Nige Holbrough as lighting designer and consultant to oversee the installation of the rig and reconcile the performers' varied requirements.

"From the outset I knew that grandMA was the control system I wanted, but there are not many consoles in the local rental market yet, and non were available for the shows, however, with a MA 2Port Node, a tablet PC and a DMX fader wing I could have the next best thing," explained Holbrough.

The first act he used the technology for was Youssou n'Dour. "We had an overnight

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UK - Byblos, in the rejuvenated area of Merchant City, Glasgow, hosts the debut of the Flashlite Dance Array, shocking-pink groundstacks of Electro-Voice cabinets that, according to installer Andy O'Neill, "exploit the EV range far beyond the manufacturer's recommendation!"

The newly-built, newly-opened club is located beneath Merchant Square in the heart of Glasgow. Owned by private entrepreneur company Springbrisk, Byblos has the capacity for 900 people, spread out through three lavishly designed rooms, and aims to be the biggest thing on Glasgow's busy club scene.

O'Neill's company, Flashlite, was contracted to Byblos on the basis of his reputation. O'Neill likes to work with Electro-Voice, and with its UK distributor Shuttlesound, so much so that the equipment list at Byblos reads like an EV catalogue, and features some notable 'firsts' in terms of installation.

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UK - The first Light Relief Day is being held today - 24 April 2007 - to support the work of Light Relief, the registered charity for people in the Lighting Industry who have fallen on hard times. This day has been chosen in memory of Light Relief's founder, Tony Gottelier, and the Trustees of the charity hope it will become an annual event.

On this day, the contributing lighting designers will make a contribution to Light Relief in the form of the royalties they receive from the evening's performance. We are hoping that others in the Lighting Department and industry will join with them to support Light Relief.

Light Relief exists to make grants to people in the lighting industry who have fallen on hard times. The charity has already helped many people with grants for their specific practical needs. If anyone would like to know more about Light Relief or want to suggest someon

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UK - Show Of Hands, the folk duo comprising Steve Knightley and Phil Beer, performed before a sell-out crowd at London's Royal Albert Hall on Easter Sunday, using DI boxes and guitar pre-ampsdesigned and manufactured by Devon-based Orchid Electronics.

John Godsland, director of Orchid Electronics, created the equipment for the band using Van Damme cables and Neutrik connectors supplied by UK cabling specialist VDC Trading.

"Thanks to my background in telecoms and audio engineering, I have come to understand the importance of reliability when choosing cables and connectors. I'm a big fan of Van Damme microphone, speaker and instrument cables because they have always proved to be extremely tough and reliable," John Godsland says.

As well as Orchid Electronic's cable requirements, VDC also supplied the Neutrik connectors, which Godsland stated are "the best on th

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USA - The self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Bar Band" is touring North America with High End Systems products enhancing their blues-rock hits.

George Thorogood & The Destroyers embarked in early April on their spring/summer tour of North America with five DL.2s and eight Studio Spot 250s. A Wholehog 3 console controls the rig, all from lighting contractor Toucan Lighting of Oklahoma City.

LD Rev Jones is using the DL.2 digital light fixtures to project logos on the backdrops as well as for beam effects. Using DL.2's Collage Generator software feature allows him to create single large panoramas from the multiple units.

"The DL2's are amazing. Aside from the unlimited graphics and video capabilities, the best thing I've found is that there is no reason to ever carry one or multiple backdrops again," says Jones. "I just use the DL2s and project a differ

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UK Large format projection specialists E//T//C UK has designed and produced a Son et Lumière, specially commissioned by Liverpool Culture Company to help celebrate the reopening of the City's landmark St George's Hall building.

The 800 Light Years show is the first UK Son et Lumière to use E//T//C's OnlyView control platform. This is running eight HD Christie S20+ video projectors, montaged together to produce a 64m metre wide by 14m tall image onto the rear face of St George's Hall in central Liverpool.

St George's Hall, designed by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes and originally opened in 1856, is being reopened this week by HRH the Prince of Wales, following an extensive £23 million refurbishment.

In just two weeks, E//T//C UK's Ross Ashton and Paul Chatfield researched, sourced and created all the video material, visuals and custom artwork needed for the 25-minute sh

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UK - Hearing specialists Sensorcom has expanded its fleet of in ear monitors and custom fit earplugs with the addition of the new Alpine Musicsafe Pro.

Designed to reduce the damaging and irreversible effects of high-level sound exposure to the ear, the Alpine Musicsafe Pro is a sophisticated earplug system, which attenuates surrounding sounds to a safe and sustainable level without distortion or impacting the user's sonic experience of being in a bar, club or at a live gig, says the company.

The Alpine Musicsafe Pro has three different exchangeable filter sets to compensate for the music level the user is exposed to: white is low sound level; silver is medium and gold very loud. And they still allow the user to be aware of conversation and the surrounding ambience without the closed unnatural sensation that can occur with earplugs that occlude (block) the ear.

The concept b

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UK - Forty Six of the new i-Pix Satellite LED fixtures are being utilised on the popular Dancing On Ice Live UK arena tour. The fixtures were specified by lighting designer Mark Cunniffe and lighting director/programmer Svend Pedersen, and are being supplied by the show's main lighting contractor, Neg Earth.

Twenty-six non-lensed Satellites are toning the trusses above the ice, configured as a circle in the middle with eight straight runs radiating outwards. The Satellites are positioned around the circle and at a slightly diagonal angle in the ends of the trusses, shooting light all the way along.

The other 20 units are rigged onto six custom tank traps (or 'trees') and secreted behind the set, positioned behind the judges panel. Pedersen comments, "The Satellites are a massive and strategic element of the whole lighting scheme".

The set, designed by Hattie

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UK - Brighton-based out post sound has opened for business in what many have described as the south coast's most vibrant and culturally diverse city. The company, based in the quiet area of Five Ways, is owned by Rob Speight, and ably assisted by a host of well-known engineers and designers. "What we are trying to do here is create a new way of running a studio by combining it with the ever increasing desire of bands, promoters, managers and labels to digitally multi-track live events," he explained.

Based around a Digidesign Pro Tools HD | 2 Accel system, the company aims to work in two main areas. At its base, out post will concentrate on utilising its vocal booth and 5.1 Genelec surround monitoring to record and mix voice overs, audio for film, television and gaming as well as supporting podcast creation and hosting in-house. Additionally, out post's extensive sound

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Dubai - CEDIA, the global trade association representing designers, manufacturers, installers and distributors of home electronics, is lending its support to Install Middle East, which forms a developing sector in this year's PALME Middle East show in Dubai.

CEDIA will be staging a full educational programme which commences on the opening day (May 20) with a three-hour presentation on Home Cinema Designby Peter Aylett.

The schedule also includes: Introduction To Systems Integration (presented by Simon Buddle), Residential Audio and Video Multi-Room Systems (Steve Martin), IP In Residential Custom Installation (Peter Aylett), and Project Management Workshop (Simon Buddle and Steve Martin).

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Based in the North East, sound, light and staging company Nitelites has made a substantial investment in its inventory in preparation for the coming festival season.

Although the company was started 20 years ago by Jim Moore - largely to service the requirements of local favourites Lindisfarne - the latest initiative is very much the brainchild of Jim's son (and co-director) Jamie, who is determined to raise the profile of the company and get them onto the touring circuit.

High on his list of priorities was a stock of floor monitors that would take over from the old generation; but he set the company's long-term suppliers, the Birmingham branch of LMC Audio, with an exacting task, as sales director Sean Hames remembers. A shoot-out had to be arranged featuring four proprietary brands - but the new Martin Audio LE1500 was the winner - moving Martin Audio's classical LE700A

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