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UK - In its 10th year of trading, Penton will be exhibiting its growing range of voice alarm and Public Address loudspeakers.

This year's show is all about change, the new layout brings Penton back to the ground floor with a remodelled stand, an updated catalogue, improved existing products and a debut into the pro-sound market, says the company.

Penton will launch of its new Pro-Sound Ceiling Loudspeaker range. This line has been two years in the making. It comprises 16 ohm, low impedance units for applications that require high audio quality, and 100v line units for use with commercial audio applications looking for the very best in audio reproduction such as background music, theatres, schools and hotels.

These ceiling speakers are packaged in a sealed, ported enclosure com

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UK - Stage Electrics New Technology Show recently held at The Sage Gateshead featured products from Yamaha, Roland, MA Lighting, ETC, RCF and Avolites.

Stage Electrics staff presented Colorweb, which was a key interest at the show with an 8m x 4m section suspended along one side of the exhibition hall. The Colorweb system was programmed by Projected Image Digital, who provided on site advice and demonstrations of the PixelMAD LED mapping software and media server throughout the day.

Stage Electrics also presented the Apollo Right Arm, and also at the show was the HME DX200 wireless communication system, plus products from Swisson and Prolyte.

Business development manager Ed Gamble said, "It has been a fantastic event for both manufacturers and customers, spending time together taking an in depth look at some of the most exciting new technology in the marketplace, all in

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UK - Yamaha-Kemble (Music) UK has announced that it is now offering a comprehensive range of Yamaha Electronics audio product to the contractor and systems installation market through its extensive Commercial Audio dealer network.

Products available will include the range of Yamaha AV receivers, digital sound projectors, CD and DVD players which will be available with, or without rack mounting kits.

The move comes as Yamaha confirms that it is experiencing significant growth in sales to the installation market, an area the company has been concentrating on since the successful launch of its IS speaker range and the recent introduction of new CobraNet and EtherSound enabled DME distributed DSP and I/O solutions.

Supporting this growth, Commercial Audio (UK) has also appointment a dedicated installation specialist and increased their field support capability with new hires.

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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 - Design and control software developer, Stardraw.com, is now supporting DME (Digital Mixing Engine) products from Yamaha.

The entire Yamaha DME product family including DME64N, DME24N and DME Satellites can now be controlled from any PC using custom user interfaces designed in Stardraw's application, Stardraw Control.

This software allows users to design and programme fully customised control applications without having to write any code. It supports control of any hardware over any protocol and now includes drivers for Yamaha's DME range of programmable, networkable DSP audio processors including the recently released DME Satellite CobraNet and DME Satellite EtherSound models, allowing control from easily designed custom interfaces for theatres, concerts halls, corporate and conferencing, houses of worship or any application requiring high quality audio processing and dis

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UK - Focusrite has announced that the multi-channel DSP-based EQ and compression tool, Liquid Mix, has now stepped up a gear with the release of new version 2.0 software, available as a free download from the website.

The software provides some "extremely useful" improvements and several solutions to popular requests from Liquid Mix users, including enhanced interaction between software and hardware, as well as expanded latency options, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - The Heartland of America Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota's Black Hills features one of the top ten 4 July fireworks displays in the nation. Mike Moore and Steve Foudray of Haggerty's MusicWorks (Rapid City, SD) deployed sound systems from Electro-Voice to ensure this celebration sounded as impressive as it looked.

"The day-long programme included military bands, USAF flyovers and kids' entertainment leading up to the big firework display, all fed to remote jumbo video screens reinforced with EV equipment," says Moore.

"We used ZX5 speakers to cover the Grand Terrace, Xi-1122 to cover the VIP area, and Xi-2123 to cover the parking lots - even the visitors barbecuing way out there could see and hear everything clearly. And of course we were also running EV CP series amps and Dx34 and Dx38 processing. The systems were time delay

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UK - Following the success of their work there in 2005, APR Audio was once again asked to provide EV X-Line PA and X-Array monitor systems for the Jazz World stage at Glastonbury, which attracted crowds of up to 30,000 to hear artists such as Amy Winehouse, Corinne Bailey Rae, Damian Marley, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, John Fogerty, Guillemots, Mr Hudson & the Library, Fat Freddies Drop and Seth Lakeman.

"Jazz World is generally regarded as the musicians' stage," according to APR Audio's crew chief Matt Gunter. "This is where the real musical talent plays, and I suppose we do go the extra mile for them. But this stage is respected by the performers, engineers and audience because of the consistency of the sound. Jazz World uses the same PA every year, and we bring good experienced crew. We saw the noise police only once - we ran at 96dB all weekend, and had no problems at

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UK - SPS has won a contract to design, build and supply a new conference stage environment for FT Conferences, to fulfil their busy global conference schedule. Furthermore, as part of this contract, SPS reports that it will also be supplying the AV solution at these events.

James Gunnell, head of global logistics at FT Conferences and Events, says: "We are delighted to be working with SPS. The professionalism and passion displayed by the team has impressed us immensely and they have delivered an exceptional service so far. I am looking forward to developing our relationship with SPS throughout the course of the year."

Robin Coles, managing director of SPS, adds, "We are very proud and excited to be working with the FT. With a company of this stature it is imperative to captivate and impress the highly successful business professionals who attend FT Conferences.

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USA - Bandit Lites is currently on tour with country superstar Martina McBride.

Lighting designer Abigail Rosen Holmes worked with production designer Tom McPhillips of Atomic Design to develop the tour design.

"Tom McPhillips' fabulous set design was the great starting point," says Holmes. "Martina is also very involved in the creative process. She has a very good eye and a real knowledge of what works for her, which makes it a huge pleasure to work with her."

Holmes suggested that a key component to the lighting design was working with McPhillips to create a set that co-ordinated with the lighting scheme. McPhillips chose the Barco MiTrix panels because they are reasonably see-through, so lighting can work behind and through them. He explained that the recent advances in LED, like video scrims, strips and pixel blocks, that can be used as integral set e

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USA - One of America's leading education and research facilities for health professionals, the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center (AHC), has chosen a Renkus-Heinz ICONYX system for its central teaching forum - the Mayo Memorial Auditorium in Minneapolis.

The six schools and colleges that make up the AHC include the disciplines of medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and veterinary medicine. The Mayo Memorial Auditorium is used primarily as a lecture hall, but also serves many other functions.

Architects Smith Group, based out of Minneapolis, with principal architect Ted Davis and project architect Nick Woodard, were awarded the task of renovation, while technology consultants Elert & Associates of Stillwater, MN were engaged to analyse the auditorium and design a system capable of delivering seamless, first class speech quality.

In effect, the

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Germany - When Elton John performed his gig on the horse racetrack in Iffezheim during his current European tour 13,000 fans enjoyed a selection of 23 Top-40 hits, 15 Top-10 singles and five No. 1 hits. He also played songs from his new CD The Captain & The Kid.

The concert was the only show in Germany that the artist played during his current tour. Lighting designer and director Kevin 'Stick' Bye uses two grandMA full-size, one as backup.

With the console, Bye controls a lighting rig including 40 VL3000 spots, 12 VL 1000AS, 12 VL2402, 10 VL6c, 32 MAC 2000 washes and a 60ft wide and 33ft high Mainlight Soft LED curtain.

The co-designer of the show is Benny Kirkham who is also is responsible for the media server content. Demfis Fyssicopulous and Benny Kirkham work as grandMA programmers.

(Jim Evans)

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UK The Who played a mighty one and a half hour Greatest Hits set beneath an equally epic British downpour to close out Glastonbury, choosing to end on a thoroughly British note with the track Tea and Theatre. The Glastonbury gig formed part of a major world tour that has been on the road since June 2006 and drew to a close on 9 July at Finland's Hartwell Arena in Helsinki.

A crucial part of guitarist Pete Townshend's stage set-up is a Crest XR-20 rack-mount mixer which has performed every show with him since the beginning of the tour.

Dick Hayes of Entec Sound and Light, long-time suppliers of audio equipment to The Who, explained that Townshend uses the XR-20 to do his own band mix onstage. "It receives sub mixes from the main FoH and monitor consoles and then Pete takes it from there. I'm pleased to say that, contrary to our initial expectations it does an extrao

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USA -Thirty-six Robe ColorSpot 2500E AT moving lights have been specified for The Police's 2007-08 world tour by lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe. Lighting for the tour has been co-designed, programmed and is being operated by Danny Nolan, and the Robes - along with the rest of the lighting equipment - are being supplied by Chicago based Upstaging.

The tour kicked off in the US and Canada and is currently scheduled to run until February 2008, hitting the UK and Europe in September and October. There are two formats for the lighting rig - to fit both arena and stadium sized shows.

Nolan was asked onboard by Woodroffe back in January 2007, so was involved right from the very beginning. Woodroffe came up with the whole show design including the set concept, and he and Nolan shared the lighting design credit. "Patrick's idea was not to make it too techie," Nolan expl

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Isle of Man - When the Gaiety Theatre's production manager, Séamus Shea, first met Marquee Audio at the ABTT Show in 1997, and duly commissioned a major sound system for installation in the landmark Matcham-designed theatre on the Isle of Man, it began a relationship with the pro audio suppliers which has lasted a decade.

Aside from the Gaiety, Shea also has the complex's Royal Hall, Villa Marina and 250-seat Promenade Suite under his charge, and last month he again consulted the Shepperton-based company to advise on a compact and flexible sound reinforcement upgrade solution for the Promenade Suite.

The Promenade Suite is a low-ceilinged venue which is used equally for conferences and staging emerging unsigned acts - so fast derigging was essential to the brief.

Marquee Audio's sales director, Andy Huffer, recommended an RCF 4PRO powered solution, and in addition to

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Eire - The Theatre Royal in Waterford has purchased a Jands Vista T2 lighting console. It was supplied by local theatre consultants Dirk Baumann Lighting (DBL Lighting) as part of an upgrade to the venue's existing lighting system, which was over 30 years old.

The Theatre has been Waterford's main centre of culture and entertainment since the mid Seventies, providing the region with a varied programme of professional and community-based music, drama, dance, variety, pantomime and other live productions.

DBL's Dirk Baumann was appointed to re-design the existing lighting grid and provide a much more flexible system to suit the theatre's current and future needs. Once the lanterns, grid and dimming were in place, Baumann was also asked to specify a more powerful console to make the most of the new lighting infrastructure.

The Theatre has purchased a Vista T2 console for its ne

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UK - The 2007 AGM of the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) saw members vote in a major membership restructuring that will both simplify membership options and increase the choice to members of which PLASA services they wish to use.

The restructure, one of the key items on a packed agenda, was voted in on a show of hands by an overwhelming proportion of the record number of members who attended the AGM at the Hurlingham Club in London on 6 June.

The restructure, which is designed to ensure that PLASA represents the highest possible professional standards, will also provide a framework that better reflects the industry. As such, the existing nine categories of membership have been simplified to just four - Business, Educational, Individual and Affiliate. PLASA is now working on the fine detail behind the restructure and the new scheme will be officially launche

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USA - The Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach, California, recently "put on a new face." The museum, which features the works of contemporary Latin American artists and sculptors, constructed a parapet wall surrounding the entire building to cover its original dome-shaped structure.

The wall is adorned with 2ft and 3ft square openings running the entire circumference, giving the building a Spanish Mission look. This architectural parapet detail is accentuated with LED lights from Acclaim Lighting, which are mounted inside the wall and fill each square with a palette of slowly-changing colours.

MOLAA's colour-changing parapet is the artistry of Richard Rutherford. Asked by the museum to come up with a cost-efficient, easy-to-run solution for lighting the new façade, Rutherford chose Acclaim X-Bar LEDs.

A DMX-controllable RGB-colour-mixing LED tube, t

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UK - A.C. Lighting has recently supplied and installed a new architectural lighting system for Romsey Abbey utilising more than 300 individual fixtures.

The Abbey can trace its origins back to 907 AD and remains the largest parish church in Hampshire. Recently named as one of the 100 best loved places of worship in Britain in a national newspaper survey, the Abbey also hosts several high profile concerts a year and various community activities.

The Abbey approached A.C. Lighting to provide a complete turnkey solution to address the poor general lighting and expensive running costs of the Church's existing system. As the project's primary lighting contractor, A.C. employed David Atkinson Lighting Design (DALD) to design and specify a new lighting system, then supplied, installed, commissioned, and programmed the system.

To increase the general lighting levels along the nave,

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Switzerland - L-Acoustics' V-DOSC partner Hyperson has been appointed to handle sound reinforcement for Genesis' Turn It On Again tour. Alain Schneebeli, Director of Hyperson explains: "This tour, managed by Steve Jones, brings together a team established on a previous collaboration with Phil Collins,with Alain Schneebeli as monitor Engineer and Michel Colin, front of house mixing engineer.

"Besides the expectations on sound one would have for a tour of this calibre, the Turn It On Again tour scenography has a strong emphasis on video and pyrotechnics," says Colin. "Moreover, the stage was primarily designed for stadia and large format arenas with a total width of 90m. Therefore, the sound design is challenging as it requires high throw capability and must be as visually unobtrusive as possible with an unusual spacing of 46m between the L/R V-DO

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UK - Songwriter and Kinks front man Ray Davies has just finished performing a series of solo concerts, singing a selection of his greatest hits to sell-out crowds, and is one of the first name artists to make use of AKG's new D5 dynamic and C5 condenser live microphones.

"Harman sent us a C5 and a D5 just recently when they were launched here in the UK," comments Davies' live sound engineer Tristan Mallett. "We asked Ray to try them and he's been using the C5 on stage ever since. I also use AKG C535s for backing vocals and a C416 miniature mic on the accordion. The new C5 and D5 have been great, giving us a quality sound in the monitors and front-of-house even at very high sound pressure levels."

Davies' monitor engineer Chris Wibblerley adds, "The C5 is one of the best vocal mics I have ever used, with the feedback rejection of an SM58 and the clarity

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USA - Vari-Lite has announced the hiring of Alan Kibbe as regional sales manager for the Northeast region of the United States. Kibbe will be based out of Norwalk, CT, and will oversee the Vari-Lite Authorised Rental and Sales network in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kentucky, and Ohio.

Prior to joining Vari-Lite, Kibbe was the national sales manager for Rosco Laboratories. He has also served as a project consultant with Theatre Projects Consultants, as well as a regional sales manager for Strand Lighting.

(Jim Evans)

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