Details
UK - Hawthorn supplied lighting and staging for the recent International Visual Communications Association Awards Ceremony, held in the Great Room at Grosvenor House, London.

The theme of the evening was the Four Seasons, and for the room lighting, Hawthorn's LD Matt Oscroft used PAR cans and Selecon Cool 90s, complete with gobo break-ups to change the mood from season to season throughout the ceremony.

Working for The Staging House, Hawthorn also installed a 76ft x 12ft foot stage using its Steeldeck modular staging units, as the stage had to be large enough not only for the live band, but also to hold all of the award winners together for group photos at the end of the awards.

Hawthorn's stage backdrop consisted of an 18m x 6m Prolyte truss goal post, with a starcloth

Details
France - CAE Group has introduced Audiolan, its new audio cable for Ethersound applications. The cable features AWG26 bare copper stranded conductors assembled in four pairs, and protected by extra-flexible PVC sheathing. With its Cat 5e transmission performance levels, Audiolan is designed with the emerging EtherSound applications in mind, says the company.

Audiolan cable, sold under the S2CEB brand in the CAE Group, has been developed thanks to the technical knowledge and expertise of Multimedia Connect, the CAE Group brand that is developing a full package dedicated to broadband VDI (Voice-Data-Image) networks.

Ethersound technology, developed and patented by Digigram, uses an Ethernet type network to carry audio data. It is thus based on the use of Ethernet components and cables, and it enables installation of audio networks with very low levels of latency. This emerging t

Details
USA - The new CK-1000 MP3 from American Audio combines a dual CD/ MP3 player with a 2-channel mixer, all in an easy-to-transport deck. Once at their gig, DJs can make a quick and easy connection to a pair of power speakers using the XLR outputs in the rear of the unit. DJs also have the option of plugging into a digital source using the CK-1000 MP3's digital output, says the company.

"With the CK-1000 MP3, there's no need to lug around separate pieces of gear," said Tom Freret, national sales manager for American Audio. "This affordable, all-in-one combo makes it easier for DJs to stay organised, professional-sounding and on top of the groove in the digital realm. It has everything you need to play and mix MP3s, CDs and CD-R discs like a true professional."

In addition to the convenience it affords, the CK-1000 MP3 empowers DJs and digital turntablists with

featured content

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

Details
Czech Republic - The Czech Academy of Music held its annual Andel (Grammy) awards ceremony at the CEZ arena in Ostrava in March. CEZ is the third largest venue in the Czech Republic and has played host to the likes of Iron Maiden, Manowar and Aerosmith as well as Sting, José Carreras and Lord of the Dance, in addition to a number of prestigious international sporting events.

Czech audio production specialists and InnovaSON distributor, MusicData, provided full audio production services for the event, which included a total of three InnovaSON digital mixing consoles running a Nexo Geo-T line array system with amplification from Camco.

MusicData opted for an Sy80 at FoH, an Sy48 for monitors and a further Sy48 in the OB van. "We use InnovaSON consoles wherever possible," remarked MusicData's Tomas Ourednicek. "They sound great with really high dynamics and

Details
UK - CUK Audio's Stuart Cunningham was sceptical about his customer's technical know-how when he received a phone call asking for audio power amplifiers to drive light bulbs - but that's exactly what the application called for.

KYTN (Kill Your Timid Notion) is a festival of sound and image, exploring as many different ways in which artists, filmmakers and musicians can investigate the border between what you hear and what you see. Staged last month at the Dundee Contemporary Arts in Scotland, beyond6281 was an electro-acoustic project by a group of artists from Montreal called Artificiel, exploring the light bulb as sound source.

By feeding processed audio signals through powerful Kind Audio amplifiers, they directly excited the filaments in very large, 1000W, light bulbs, causing them to vibrate and emit audible, acoustic sound, without the use of conventional speakers

Details
USA - The Belasco Theatre in New York plays host to a current production of R.C. Sherriff's World War I drama, Journey's End, which opened to rave reviews on 8 March. Unusually, sound designer Gregory Clarke is mentioned in a non-industry write-up - a rare occurrence at best.

To create the deafening explosion effects throughout the show, Clarke insisted upon EM Acoustics MSE-118 Quake subwoofers, after his success with them when designing the West End production of the same show. He specified a quartet of Quakes, hidden within the set. One reviewer for the New York Daily News describes the effect as "deafening and devastating", as well as saying "it assaults your ears, and then your gut. You feel queasy, like you've been punched".

Clarke comments: "Quakes are quite simply extraordinary loudspeakers, capable of generating the most abundant amount

Details
Germany - The musical Daddy Cool kicks off its European Tour with a 10-week run in Berlin, having opened on 26 April to a full house and an enthusiastic audience in the show's dedicated 2000-seater Big Top tent in central Berlin. Sound design is once again by Richard Brooker, supported by associate sound designer Tom Marshall, with the original system for the London production adapted to the requirements of the tour.

Speed of installation and recallability are key elements of the show's sound design, with Brooker's design using a combined Cadac analogue and digital approach at the heart of the system - in the form of an 82-input J-Type Live Production Console and Digital Series Stage Rack, equipped with D16 digital mix matrices and M16 remote controlled microphone amplifiers.

The majority of the design is based on the London show, with the exception of the L-Acoustics'

Details
UK - VDC Trading has supplied over 44km of audio, video and computer cable to Queen Margaret University for installation into its new campus in Edinburgh.

Currently based on three sites around Edinburgh, Queen Margaret is planning to relocate to the first new university campus for 21st century Scotland, on the south-east side of Edinburgh, by Musselburgh. The move to the new campus will be seamless, with relocation intended to take place during autumn 2007, subject to successful implementation of the planned development.

The new campus will be a vibrant new academic village with high-tech buildings and attractive landscaped spaces, featuring an innovative learning resource centre at the heart of the development.

Jim Bain, education resource centre manager, says: "We have 70 teaching rooms and lecture theatres at the new site, all of which are being equipped with high-te

Details
UK - The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) recently completed the purchase of 10 Martin Professional MAC TW1 80 V Tungsten fixtures with narrow lenses. Specified for King Lear and The Seagull by lighting designer Neil Austin, the RSC also bought eight Atomic 3000 strobes.

The RSC attracts audiences and artists from around the world to its three theatres (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Swan Theatre and Courtyard Theatre) in Stratford-upon-Avon. Currently, King Lear and The Seagull are performed in repertoire at the 1500 seat Courtyard Theatre. The two productions make up the last of the RSC's Complete Works season after which the productions will embark on a world tour that includes stops in Singapore, New Zealand, Australia and the East and West Coasts of America before returning to the UK. The remainder of the tour will be played over an eight week

Details
UK - Sunderland-based High Fidelity Studios has just completed the building of a fully-equipped pre-touring rehearsal suite, installing Allen & Heath's new dedicated monitor console, the GL2800M, to complement the Studio's existing GL2400 FOH desk.

"The aim of the new studio is to provide a facility for up-and-coming musicians to take their music to the next level," explains High Fidelity Studios MD, David Dorn. "The suite offers bands the experience of a full blown gig, providing quality equipment they would find at a top line event. The space is set up like a venue with a fully furnished stage including drum rises, a valve back line, and top quality 32 channel monitor and FOH desks."

"We are very familiar with A&H mixers as we have GL2200's and GL2400's in our hire stock, and we come across them in most of the venues we engineer," says director

Details
USA - ESTA's Technical Standards Program announces that two draft standards have been posted on the ESTA website for public review through 25 June 2007.

The draft standards, BSR E1.35-200x, Standard for Lens Quality Measurements for Pattern Projecting Luminaires Intended for Entertainment Use, and BSR E1.36-200x, Model Procedure for Permitting the Use of Tungsten-Halogen Incandescent Lamps and Stage and Studio Luminaires in Vendor Exhibit Booths in Convention and Trade Show Exhibition Halls, can be accessed at http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

BSR E1.35-200x, Standard for Lens Quality Measurements for Pattern Projecting Luminaires Intended for Entertainment Use, describes a method for measuring stage and studio luminaire lens quality with particular emp

Details
USA - Telecast Fiber Systems' Series 6000 Viper II fibre optic video and audio transport system has been recognised with a 2007 STAR (Superior Technology Award Recipient) Award, given by the editorial staff of TV Technology magazine at the NAB2007 convention.

"We're very pleased that the features and technology newly incorporated into our new Viper II systems have been honoured by the TV Technology panel," said Eugene Baker, CTO of Telecast Fiber Systems. "The Series 6000 builds on the solid foundation of earlier Viper II releases, providing the same ease of use and reliability while meeting the growing demand for ecologically responsible products."

(Jim Evans)

Details
USA - Josh Groban began his 29-city North American concert tour in with the grandMA in tow for lighting control. Groban's tour was in support of his latest studio album, Awake on Reprise. His two previous studio CDs have been certified five times platinum with the most recent, Closer"I fell in love with the grandMA after the Paul McCartney tour a couple of years ago," explained lighting director Wally Lees. "It was the only console that could do the job. The grandMA has a lot of universes, and its NSPs are so stable. I got great backup from MA and A.C.T."

For this tour, Groban wanted a more industrial rock look for the lighting even though he's not recognised as that kind of performer. He asked production designer Roy

Details
UK - Almost 30 years after Nottingham's Theatre Royal reopened to the public following extensive refurbishment work and 25 years since the Royal Concert Hall was unveiled, Theatre Projects Consultants is providing theatre consulting services to the Royal Centre Nottingham again.

The Royal Centre, a celebrated Nottingham landmark and regular touring venues, is currently undertaking a strategic review. MD James Ashworth explains, "Theatre Projects were the natural choice for the job with their intimate knowledge of the building, having helped us conceive it during the 1970s and 80s. With a vast portfolio of experience and an unparalleled reputation for excellence, we believed they would assist us in ensuring the Royal Centre continues to be one of the country's finest facilities for the 25 years."

Theatre Projects is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary of consul

Details
Belgium - Ampco Belgium and R&D division Team Projects (both members of the Ampco Flashlight Group) have joined forces on a new MCR (Multi Channel Reverb) installation at the Hasselt Cultuurcentrum in Belgium, featuring Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers.

Their first project, the Kursaal in Ostend, went on to win an Installation Europe award in 2006, and has since spawned other MCR systems by the group, in conjunction with Dutch acoustic consultant Cees Mulder, who played a key role in designing the original concept.

This new project demonstrated how MCR can be used to adjust auditorium acoustics to suit every performance, in smaller venues than the multi-million-euro Kursaal rebuild.

Located in the town of Hasselt, 86km east of Brussels, the Cultuurcentrum's new 890-seat theatre features a combination of main proscenium PA and a multifunctional, distributed side and rear syst

Details
Australia - America's Most Wanted hip hop world tour features acts including Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, The Dogg Pound Imperial Assassins and Savage. The Australian leg took in two shows at Sydney's State Sports Centre, using a substantial Turbosound Aspect system to deliver both power and clarity to 5000 enthusiastic fans each night.

Audio Telex, one of Australia's leading pro audio distribution companies, supplied the system, which was used for both the front of house and monitors, to the show's production company Innovative Lighting & Sound.

The front of house system comprised nine flown TA-890H mid-highs per side, nine ground-stacked TA-890L subs per side, with a centre block of six TSW-218 subs. Front-fill was provided by two Aspect Wide TA-500s per side, with two self-powered TQ-445DPs in the centre. The monitor system utilised TQ-315 wedges with TXD-215 subs and TXD-1

Details
USA - Renkus-Heinz has announced the appointment of Rik Kirby as vice president of operations. In the newly created position, Kirby will oversee production, purchasing, engineering, quality control and other key business areas.

"The overall focus of this new management role is achieving even higher levels of customer service," said president and CEO Harro Heinz. "We are extremely fortunate to have someone with Rik's management skills, technical background and experience as the leader of this company-wide effort. As a former sales executive, Rik understands the interaction between operational efficiency and strong customer relationships."

Kirby returns to Renkus-Heinz after a stint as sales director for Turbosound in the UK: his previous position with the company was as national sales manager. Prior to that, he spent six years at BSS Audio.

• Former L

Details
Germany - Biamp recognised its most outstanding distributors for the year of 2006 at the recent ProLight+Sound Expo in Frankfurt. Graeme Harrison, vice president of international sales, Biamp, acknowledged the recipients' understanding of the AV market and their collective drive to provide superior service and support to Biamp customers.

The award recipients include: Europe West: Distributor of the Year - beyerdynamic, UK; Most Improved Distributor - Standard Audio, Sweden; Europe East: Distributor of the Year - Aris Pro, Russia; Most Improved Distributor - Sincom, Serbia & Montenegro.

"These distributors in particular had an excellent year - both for themselves and for us, and our awards are a testament to their hard work," Harrison said. "beyerdynamic, Aris Pro, Standard Audio and Sincom offer their customers invaluable system integration advice and support an

Details
UK - Audio compression specialist APT has announced that Quentin Howard, chief executive of Digital One and president of the WorldDMB Forum, has joined its board of directors in a non-executive capacity.

APT's chairman, John Lillywhite, says: "We are really delighted that someone of Quentin's calibre has agreed to become part of the APT team. His experience of the IP market is formidable and his knowledge will be hugely beneficial to APT at a time when we are gaining significant success in the IP licensing programme for our apt-X suite of algorithms."

Commenting on his appointment, Howard adds: "I have been a broadcast customer of digital audio compression since the early days of ISDN, and more recently have used these products for broadcast distribution and DAB digital radio networks. APT's systems always stood out as the most transparent and free from artefact

Details
UK - Robe ColorSpot 2500E ATs were specified by Dancing on Ice Live lighting designer Mark Cunniffe and lighting director Svend Pedersen. These are a major element of the lighting scheme for the sold out arena tour which follows the second hugely successful Dancing On Ice TV series.

The 2500s were chosen for their power and intensity and also their reliability. 21 of the CS 2500E ATs are rigged onto the main trussing structure above the ice, consisting of a circle in the centre, with eight spines radiating outwards towards the edges of the ice. There are six units on the circle and then either one or two on each of the eight spine trusses. There's another four above the judge's panel at the end of the ice rink, and six on the floor directly behind them.

Pedersen has been a Robe advocate ever since the first time he used ColorSpot 1200 ATs two years ago on a TV sp

Details
UK - Bandit Lites UK supplied full lighting production and crew for the Once In A lifetime Rewind tour, featuring a line-up of UK and US artists from the 1970's - Showaddywaddy, David Cassidy, David Essex and The Osmonds.

Bandit also supplied the original Once In A Lifetime (OIAL) tour in 2005 as well as the OIAL country tour in 2006, all project managed by Bandit Lites' Lester Cobrin.

For this Rewind tour, the lighting design was completely reworked by Bandit's production designer, Dizzy Gosnell from their San Francisco office, which included the addition of a moving truss system. This enabled the rig to be moved into different shapes for all the acts. Although there was a specific running order, they were all effectively headliners.

"Making each artist look different was the biggest task for me," says lighting director and console operator Pe

Page 2066 of 3465

Latest Issue. . .