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USA - Marking one of the world's first deployments of JBL Professional's new Vertec VT4887A compact line array loudspeakers, CTS Audio of Nashville is providing the live sound reinforcement system for the current Women of Faith - Amazing Freedom 2007 tour.

During its 10-year existence, the Women of Faith tour has drawn more than 2.5 million attendees, featuring numerous guest speakers from around the world. Each year, more than 20 cities throughout the United States and Canada host this event, which draws sell-out crowds in arenas including the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the United Center in Chicago and the Honda Center in Anaheim. This year's tour kicked off March 15 at the Alamodome in San Antonio and continues until December.

CTS Audio has been handling

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USA - The powerful lighting design for the Broadway musical 110 in the Shade (at Studio 54 by the Roundabout Theatre Company) centres around a massive visual focal point - a glowing disc that evokes a 24-hour progression of atmospheric changes: dawn, high noon, moonlight, storms and shade. The disc - a lightbox filled with automated wash fixtures - represents the play's controlling motif of light and heat.

For Tony-nominated lighting designer Chris Akerlind, creating the complex effects of this unconventional lighting rig meant employing a comprehensive control console, ETC's new Eos. "The entire lightplot on 110 consists of some 200 fixed units and between 40 or 50 moving lights (VL 2000 wash units), 20 of which are committed to the lightbox," says Akerlind. "There were very limited hanging positions for the rest of the lighting rig. Next to no over

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USA - Aviom reports that the new 6416dio Digital I/O Module and the 6416Y2 A-NetÆ Interface Card are now shipping.

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.

The 6416dio supports all valid Pro64 sample rates, from 44.1/48kHz± to 192kHz±. Regardless of the sample rate of incoming audio, no sample rate converters are used, guaranteeing pristine, low latency distribution of the digital signal, says the company.

Providing inputs, outputs and control all on a single card, the new 6416Y2 interfaces between Yamaha consoles and mix engines as well as Aviom's industry standard Pro16 personal monitor mixing system.

The 6416Y2 card supports up to 16 channels in and 16 channels out simultaneously, depending on the Yamaha host product's capacity and selected system sample rate.

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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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The Netherlands - In fulfilling its responsibility to provide fail-safe communications to passengers during times of power outage or other emergency events, the Netherlands Railways recently purchased 110 additional Anchor Audio Minivox portable PA systems to expand on last year's successful placement of 65 units within public transit stations throughout the Netherlands. These handheld portable public address systems help ensure passenger security by providing a quick and effective means of directing stranded riders to areas of safety.

With 2000km of electrified railway and 463 trains, Netherlands Railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen - NS) has addressed an issue that now impacts transit operators throughout the world.

"NS needed something like a megaphone, but they also wanted the loudspeaker away from the face of the user so that he or she could see what was going on,"

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UK - London's Arcola Theatre has launched Arcola Energy, through which the operators aim to make Arcola the world's first carbon neutral theatre. "We will be installing biomass heating, solar panels, fuel cells and state of the art energy saving technologies throughout the building," says executive director Ben Todd.

"We will also create the first centre for new energy technology in the arts. It will be a knowledge incubator with dedicated workspace where engineers can develop initiatives to tackle climate change. Arcola Energy will be a hub for new thinking and cross-fertilisation between art and science, bringing together artistic, entrepreneurial and technological creativity.

"As a theatre we have a longstanding tradition of innovation, inspiration and deep integration with the local community. Working to the same principles, Arcola Energy will integrate

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Hong Kong - Already a Guinness World Record for the ' World's Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show ', A Symphony of Lights'has further expanded to include 43 of the city's prominent buildings and skyscrapers.

Engaged by the Hong Kong Tourism Commission, Laservision has recently completed its fourth phase of integrating new buildings into the show in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Hong Kong Island now boasts 23 featured buildings while Kowloon's ever increasing contribution now totals 20. The show includes an arsenal of LED fixtures, searchlights, high powered lasers, floodlights, fibre optics, pyrotechnics and an original soundtrack that combine to represent the spirit and energy of Hong Kong. The expanded show was launched by the acting Financial Secretary, Mr Stephen Ip.

Phases three and four have seen the incor

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Canada - The three independent rep firms that represented Bosch Communications Systems brands Electro-Voice, Midas and Klark Teknik in Canada have joined forces to create one unified national rep firm: PAG Canada. The three principals are Mark Kulas (KMT Pro Audio), John McArthur (Lebanna Solutions Inc.) and Gilles Elhadad (Acoustik GE Inc).

"PAG means Pacific Atlantic Group, because we now consistently cover Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic," says president and co-principal Mark Kulas.

"It was strange," adds John McArthur, VP sales and marketing and second principal in PAG Canada, "We rep'd the same Bosch Communications Systems brands, but competed with each other in our own old territories. Now we can help each other, focusing on the vertical markets in which each of us has strengths."

Gilles Elhadad, third principal and VP of operation

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UK - Lamina TitanTurbo from Marl Optosource are claimed to be the first LED lights to match a 100W tungsten lamp, and are designed to replace the popular R-20 flood lights.

TitanTurbo is available from Marl Optosource to lighting application designers in two models - a 3000°K 'warm white' version equal in light output to the widely used 75W halogen PAR-30 and equally popular 100W R-20 flood lights; and a 4700 degrees K 'daylight white' (cool) model - twice as bright.

Delivering more than 2,000 lumens in daylight white and more than 1,000 lumens in warm white light, TitanTurbo LED light engines are designed for all general lighting applications. The TitanTurbo Warm White has an enhanced red and orange colour spectrum that makes it suitable for a halogen or incandescent replacement.

The units feature a standard 60° beam pattern with additional wide, medium and narrow o

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USA - Nexxus Lighting reports that it has been issued two new patents related to its LED lighting technology.

US patent number 7,229,027 is for a waterfall producing device that incorporates a light chamber to house LED lights to illuminate the water stream coming from the waterfall.

The second patent, US patent number 7,244,037, is for a detachable LED pool light that builds upon prior Nexxus Lighting patented technology that provides for an LED lighting fixture to be installed into the wall of the pool without a niche, and features an underwater connector that allows the light fixture to be connected or disconnected while the light is submerged in water with the power off.

"Illuminated waterfalls are used in a number of applications including swimming pools, portable spas and fountains," stated Steve Faber, Nexxus Lighting's director of engineering. "Incorpo

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UK - Airsound, designed by industry veteran Ted Fletcher, is claimed to be a new way of reproducing stereo sound from a single speaker enclosure, based on the founding principles of stereo sound. The technology returns to the first principles of stereo reproduction, encoding signals as 'direct' and 'spatial' sound, instead of discrete left and right channel audio. This method of reproduction provides significant advantages over conventional spaced left and right speaker stereo, in custom and commercial audio installation environments, say the designers.

Airsound LLP, the company founded to exploit Airsound technology, has registered several patents in respect of the development, and is currently negotiating licensing agreements with manufacturers in the CE and IT industries. Airsound is also seeking interest from manufactures in CI and commercial AV.

Airsound LLP is a partners

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UK - White Light has supplied the first SeaChanger colour engines to be used in the UK to the Royal Opera House in London.

"For our new double production of the operas L'Heure Espagnole and Gianni Schicchi, the American lighting designer Mimi Jordan Sherin asked for a number of scrollers in our FOH positions," explains Royal Opera House lighting manager Simon Bennison. "Unfortunately for the Opera House and auditorium conditions this was not really possible - but it left us with a sizeable FOH lighting issue to solve - we needed a powerful and silent colour mixing solution for a tungsten unit."

Subsequent research by the ROH's Michael Scott and Paul Hornsby led them to the SeaChanger Colour Engine. "White Light supplied a demo unit which impressed us all enough for us to order eight SeaChangers, the first in the UK."

The SeaChanger colour engine

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UK - PLASA has announced the four contenders for the first Gottelier Award, to be presented at this year's PLASA Show (9-12 September, Earls Court, London).

Named in honour of the late Tony Gottelier, the industry innovator and commentator who passed away in 2006, the Gottelier Award is aimed at those members of our industry who have made significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field.

Following a six-week period of gathering nominations from across the industry, the shortlist of leading nominees can now be revealed, ready for the voting process to begin.

The nominees are as follows (in alphabetical order):

• Tony Andrews is a highly regarded designer and manufacturer of high quality point source loudspeaker systems, w

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Switzerland - The Gaswerk is one of the hippest clubs in Winterthur, Switzerland. Named after the former local gas works that it had been, the Gaswerk today is the location of all kinds of different events including theatre, musicals, movies and band contests, and it is a favoured venue for touring rock and punk bands.

The heart of the club is the main hall that can hold 600-700 visitors and that is equipped with a mobile stage, lighting and PA. As for the PA, the Gaswerk-association that is taking care of the management, hospitality and technique of the location, has chosen a Cohedra Compact from HK Audio.

Sound technician Raphael Sieber explains why: "There were three essential criteria. First of all the sound, of course, but also especially the flexibility of the system and also the looks of it. It was necessary that the system could be used for theatre productions as

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Qatar - Creative Events, part of Qatar's Creative Communication Group, has acquired, through Executive Audio, a pallet load of Lab.gruppen's FP+ Series FP 10000Qs.

The new amplifiers will power the company's inventory of EAW loudspeaker systems including EAW KF760 and KF730 line arrays, KF850s, SB1000s and many more.

"After extensive research into top audio brands the world over, we decided to stick to Lab.gruppen to power our loudspeaker systems, " stated Jalal K. Dudin, director of Creative Events.

Creative Events is a full-service events, entertainment and production company based in Qatar. One of the many large projects that they've undertaken recently was the Doha Asian Games 2006, where they supplied audiovisual systems for more than 110 sports venues.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Martin Professional, Inc has appointed Bill Sims as the western regional sales director for the company's Public Spaces segment.

Sims brings with him over 25 years of lighting industry experience, his early years spent running his own lighting consultancy firm. After a 10 year run with Strand Lighting where he worked as architectural product manager, he became the regional specification sales manager for the Juno Lighting Group.

When not on the road, Sims, who started in the new position on 16 July, will work from a home office near Orange County, California while also spending time at Martin's West Coast office in Simi Valley.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - When fans of country music got together at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville (formerly known as Fan Fair), grandMA was centre stage. Lighting/production designer Mike Swinford used five grandMA consoles and three grandMA video servers to cover the concert portion of the four-day celebration. The CMA Music Festival, presented annually by the Country Music Association features more than 70 hours of concerts.

"The show is the centrepiece of a huge music festival that draws fans from all over the world," says lighting director/programmer Mark Butts. "When ABC started to broadcast it a few years ago it really upped the ante in terms of design and production. For us, the show is an interesting hybrid of on-the-fly, festival-style lighting and tightly-cued, precise television lighting. It's difficult trying to work in both worlds simultaneously, but it sure keeps

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USA - Norah Jones and The Handsome Band are once again on the road, carrying a sound system built around Meyer Sound's Milo curvilinear array loudspeaker and supplied by Colorado Spring-based Audio Analysts, Jones's longtime sound company. Jones is performing in intimate, mid-sized theatres and concert halls in support of her latest album, Not Too Late.

The system consists of two arrays of 12 Milo cabinets, plus two 700-HP subwoofers per side to cover the low end. Four M1D ultra-compact curvilinear array loudspeakers are deployed for front-fill, with four CQ-2 narrow coverage main loudspeakers providing additional fill. Depending on the size and rigging scheme of the venue, the system can be scaled down to suit each room's specific needs.

"Norah was one of the first artists to take Milo on tour, " says FOH engineer Lee Moro. "The system was absolutely per

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Germany / UK - Heading the Tarm display at PLASA 07, the tarmLED 4x4 is equipped with bright RGB high-power LEDs (3 in 1 SMD, 3 W), which is designed for indoor and outdoor use and promises "an outstanding image quality, even in direct sunlight".

The transparent (82%), lightweight and modular grid structure is video compatible. Because of its flexibility, tarmLED 4x4 can be bent in different shapes, such as cylinders or waves. With its all-metal construction and integrated quick fasteners, the tarmLED 4x4 is built to withstand the rigours of life on the road.

Typical applications, due to its low wind stresses and a viewing angle of 140° x 140°, include large screen backdrops for concert touring, trade shows and integration into architectural designs.

The complete system is fully IP65 rated. All electronics are integrated in each tile (417mm x 417mm) and the

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Ireland - Oxegen 2007 returned to Punchestown Racecourse in County Kildare this month when 80,000 people arrived to see a strong line-up of established acts and up-and-coming bands on several stages.

One of the stages was the Dance Arena, where Dublin-based total production company EQ Audio & Events fielded a powerful Nexo Geo D vertical tangent array to enable some of the world's best known DJ's and turntablists, such as Frankie Knuckles Jr, Deep Dish, DJ Shadow, Felix da Housecat and Erol Alkan to present a heady mix of disco, house, electro and synth.

Shay Hannon, MD EQ Audio & Events, had become an adopter of Nexo's Alpha systems soon after setting up EQ Audio & Events seven years ago, and he admits he was eagerly looking forward to flying the Geo D system in front of 80,000 people at Punchestown - thanks to a co-operative effort with Liverpool-based Adlib Audio who augmen

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Falkland Islands - BBC Outside Broadcasts built a fly-away production gallery in a tractor shed at San Carlos on the Falkland Islands last month, to capture and link live pictures and sound for a Remembrance Service to mark the 25th anniversary of the conflict.

Live coverage from the San Carlos service, attended by veterans and currently-serving soldiers, was sent via satellite and fed into live coverage of the service taking place at the Horse Guards in London's Whitehall.

For senior sound supervisor Tim Davies, there were a number of important considerations, since the crew would be working in arduous conditions, with limited electricity supply. High on the list were reduced freight costs and equipment reliability.

As the hub of his signal chain he chose a Light Viper, lightweight fibre optic digital audio snake from Kelsey Acoustics. This was configured as a 32 x 8 system

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USA - Clair ShowCo Chicago has just completed the design and integration of an advanced audio system for Norwegian Cruise Lines new Theatre-In-The Round in Hawaii. The system features components from Harman Pro Group companies, JBL Professional, dbx and AKG integrated with HiQnet configuration and control protocol.

Fire eaters, hula dancers, and South Pacific singers and performers on the main stage of the new venue are reinforced by a HiQnet system featuring 16 JBL Professional VRX line arrays configured in a circle above the stage, eight JBL Control 29 loudspeakers, 16 JBL Control 25 loudspeakers, and four self-powered JBL VP Series subwoofers. Three dbx 4800 processors are on the system along with AKG wireless microphones.

Harry Witz, general manager of Clair ShowCo Chicago designed and implemented the system. "With all the components on one system architect, HiQnet, I

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