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Austria - Pope Benedikt XVI's three-day visit to Austria in September attracted a great deal of media attention throughout Europe, with the procession and mass in Mariazell on 8 September being just one of the events covered live by broadcasters, such as Austrian television company ORF. Sound reinforcement systems from Electro-Voice made it possible for the 20,000-plus pilgrims viewing the event on giant LED screens to follow every word of the Pope's Sermon on the Mount.

The entire technical development was the responsibility of BMS Production Group of Vienna. To ensure optimum intelligibility for the audience, BMS managing director Ing. Fritz Staudinger and Thomas Millmann of rental company MTR Productions looked to the Electro-Voice XLC system. Their expectations were fully sati

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UK - Projected Image Digital (PID), working closely with architectural lighting design practice Indigo Light Planning, has specified and installed a spectacular Element Labs VersaPIXEL ceiling effect for the house gymnasium of a leading investment bank in London's Canary Wharf area.

PID supplied 1500 25mm square Versa Pixels, a VersaDrive C1 driver and a, Pharos LPC1 architectural lighting controller for the project, which was co-ordinated for them by Sam Douglas.

PID also designed and manufactured custom steel mounting brackets for the VersaPixels which are installed in the room's ceiling panels, and created 17 special clips of digital content, working to a brief from Indigo's Paul Nulty and gym staff.

Paul Nulty's brief from project managers Logitek was to transform the former car parking space in the building's basement into a vibrant, funky, inspirational relaxation and

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UK - Digidesign has unveiled the latest member of its Mbox 2 family, Mbox 2 Micro - a pocket-sized Pro Tools LE system that provides Pro Tools users with "an ultra-portable sequencing, editing and mixing solution".

The size of a typical USB flash drive, Mbox 2 Micro combines audio output/monitoring capabilities with the power of Pro Tools LE software, allowing Pro Tools users to edit and mix live or studio-recorded sessions created on Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, or Pro Tools M-Powered systems anywhere they go, or create loop-based and virtual instrument-driven tracks in Pro Tools LE.

"Digidesign is fortunate to have an extremely dedicated user base that is exceptionally diverse, spanning a full range of disciplines and musical genres," remarks Dusty DiMercurio, marketing manager for Digidesign personal studio products. "We've received many requests fro

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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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USA - GE Consumer & Industrial has announced a call for entries for the 25th Annual GE Edison Award competition. Through the competition, GE recognises excellence and quality in professional lighting designs that employ the significant use of GE lamps.

The GE Edison Award competition is open to professional designers, architects, engineers and consultants. Entries are judged on the following criteria: functional excellence; architectural compatibility; effective use of state-of-the-art lighting products and techniques; appropriate color, form and texture revelation; energy effectiveness and cost effectiveness.

Projects scoring the highest number of points will qualify to receive Awards of Merit or Awards of Excellence. The GE Edison Award Winner is selected from among the Awards of Excellence.

The Award for Residential Lighting Design - a category first added in 2005 - is ju

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UK - Lighting designer Haydn Cruickshank used 28 Robe ColorSpot and ColorWash 700E AT fixtures on leading UK dance act Underworld's Oblivion With Bells recent UK tour.

The fixtures were supplied by Cruickshank's west London based rental company Colour Sound Experiment, which now has over 80 Robe moving lights - all supplied by Robe UK. The 700s were newly purchased this summer for Colour Sound's busy 2007 festival season.

Underworld's lighting rig was based around four trusses - three flown overhead and the fourth ground supported at 5 ft above "floor" height at the rear of stage - and rigged with fixtures that would normally have been scattered across the floor. This was designed to contain the floor lighting and keep the deck area tidy for a 16 large inflatable tubes which joined the visual equation two thirds of the way through the set.

The 16 ColorSpot a

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UK - Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, is set to become the biggest multi-arts centre north of the border thanks to a major refurbishment and expansion project. Tasked with the challenge of bringing the vintage main 850-seater auditorium up to 21st-century standards, chief technician Graham Watts chose the Soundcraft Vi4 as his digital live sound console of choice.

The Soundcraft Vi4 will take centre stage in the recently refurbished EC1 auditorium coupled with four Opus Audio high definition amplifiers and five Opus Audio PSD 800T speakers. The horseshoe-shaped venue and listed building will play host to everything from Scottish opera and pantomimes to the stand-up comedy of Lenny Henry.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Leamington Spa-based PSL has recently completed an installation for the function facilities at Wethele Manor, using Community VERIS and I/O loudspeakers.

Wethele Manor, at Weston-Under-Wetherly near Leamington, is an attractive old farmhouse dating back to the 16th century. Restored to a very high standard it now offers luxury accommodation and is set on a 250-acre estate overlooking the rolling Warwickshire countryside. The old stable block, which retains many features including the original roof timbers, has been converted to provide a unique L-shaped function room facility.

Having heard the systems installed by PSL at the Sweeny's and KoKo's venues in Leamington, the owners of Wethele Manor contacted Peter Smith of PSL to design and supply their system. Inside the function room, PSL used six Community VERIS 8 full-range loudspeakers, supplemented by two VERIS 210 subs

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Israel - Similar to the British Pop Idol, Kokhav Nolad (A Star Is Born) is a popular casting show which searches for the most talented young singers in Israel. Starting in 2003 the programme has been broadcast on the Israeli Channel 2. With a big finale Kokhav Nolad 5 recently finished in Golan beach in Tiberias.

For this show the lighting designer Ronen Nagar, stage designer Maya Hanoch and video designer Merlin Group trusted in MA Lighting technology. By using two grandMA full-size, two grandMA video media servers, an MA NSP and an MA 2Port Node they created an extraordinary event.

Screenlight and Zilberboim participated in the realisation. Keshet Productions was the customer.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - RCF recently held an Open Day at the City of Manchester Stadium. The event, which was held in conjunction with Audex 07, gave RCF the opportunity to show off and demonstrate many of their key speaker systems as well as a selection of commercial audio products.

Speaking about the occasion, Phil Price said: "Today we have had the opportunity of displaying and demonstrating the new Digital Art Speakers, Acustica and most of the TT+ range. Although we are constantly demonstrating speakers all over the country, people have had an opportunity to hear them in a much larger environment."

Price continued: "In addition we held an exhibition of our major Commercial Audio Products including working demonstrations of our Flexa Modular Amplifier System, Forum Congress Systems, Monitor Q Speaker Systems."

During the day, Michele Begotti of RCF SpA's PA Systems Depa

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Belgium - Knokke is considered to be the most exclusive beach resort in Belgium; it certainly does well in attracting the Belgium jet-set. Positioned right at the North Sea beach, the casino - one of Knokke's hot-spots itself - features the recently refurbished Zuri club.

Zuri is a lounge bar with a breathtaking appearance. Interior designer Gerd Couckhuyt created a new dimension inside the venue. Completely coloured in white, the interior makes you imagine being aboard a futuristic spacecraft. As the sun sets, sliding doors and the wall behind the bar will open up allowing the evening to flow into the larger venue of Zuri; effectively transforming from a lounge bar into a trendy nightclub.

The features that Couckhuyt has put into his design are striking, with highly polished attention to detail for the entire space; interior and exterior. Ranging from the outdoor furniture to

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USA - Sennheiser and Neumann products were honoured in two of the 15 categories at the 23rd Annual Technical Excellence (TEC) Awards, which were presented at the AES Convention in New York City this October.

The Neumann KMS 104 cardioid condenser handheld microphone received a 2007 TEC Award in the Mic Technology/Sound Reinforcement category, and the Sennheiser NET 1 wireless systems manager was awarded top honours in the Wireless Technology category.

In addition, the Neumann Stereo Disk Lathe, introduced in 1956, was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame at this year's awards ceremony.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - In response to requests from professional audio contractors, Symetrix has created Syminar, a free of charge, web-based training curriculum that introduces users to the fundamental skills and concepts behind SymNet.

Once users register, they can complete Syminar at their own pace from any internet connection, at any hour, on any day of the week, says the company. Users can repeat lessons as many times as they like. Once they're satisfied with a lesson, users can take a short quiz to test their knowledge. Users who complete and pass each quiz will receive a Basic Level Certificate from Symetrix, as well as four InfoComm CTS credits.

"We're very happy to have Syminar up and running," said Paul Roberts, director of sales for Symetrix. "We have been holding effective in-person regional SymNet trainings for some time now. The next step was to take that curriculu

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UK - Andy Turner has joined the PSCo rental team as their new client support manager, a new role that has been designed to improve client liaison for rental projects.

PSCo's managing director Stuart Holmes comments: "In response to customer feedback, we decided to tailor a unique role with the sole focus of maintaining client satisfaction. We required someone who had the expertise to fully support our clients from the specification stage up to on-site support, particularly for the 'Advanced' products in the rental fleet. Andy was a natural choice as his past experience means he knows exactly what clients need and when."

Turner worked for Trigger Concepts before moving to PSCo, where he worked as a production manager working across a broad spectrum of events.

(Jim Evans)

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USA / Canada - Community Professional Loudspeakers has appointed Martech as its new Canadian distributor. Founded in 1988 by Marv Verlage, Martech is an established and respected sales company with operations and warehousing across Canada.

Over the past decade, Martech has successfully expanded into new vertical markets, mostly recently the professional Audio/Video Integration market. Joining the Martech AV Group as sales representatives serving Canada coast to coast are Ray Seutter, Andrew Meissner, Gino Pileggi, Barry Steinburg, Ron Saunders, Natalie Scalise and Jay Bishop. Focused on serving the professional Audio/Video integrator, the Martech AV group is offering an experienced, knowledgeable team of professional sales and technical support people including Jay Bishop, Steve Agnello and Chris Chesworth.

"Our customers are demanding that we raise the bar in how the Aud

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UK - Two Avolites Diamond 4 consoles were specified for the 2007 BBC Electric Proms shows staged at London's historic Roundhouse venue. Production lighting for the event was designed by Bryan Leitch and Nick Whitehouse of Visual Light Design, and equipment was supplied by Siyan.

Headliners for this second year included the Kaiser Chiefs, Paul McCartney, Bloc Party, Ray Davies, Mark Ronson and many more.

Whitehouse & Leitch chose the two Diamond 4 Visions as the most flexible control option on the table. They were commissioned to incorporate both stage/live and TV/audience lighting into their very dynamic design. The shows were run by Siyan's team of programmer/operators - Ewan McRobb, Dom Smith and Stu Farrell - all LDs in their own right - working in close consultation with all the headlining band's own LDs.

"We use Avolites for all our major shows," affirms White

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The Netherlands - The Schouwburg Theatre in the Dutch city of Almere has won the Installation Europe Award 2007 for best auditorium project, with its ETC IES Matrix Mk II SineWave dimming receiving special praise from the judges.

The Schouwburg Almere is a new state of the art multi-venue performing arts centre designed by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANNA which provides a flexible environment in which to present a diverse array of music, theatre and dance.

With three adaptable spaces receiving incoming shows often only playing for a single night, the theatre has a rigorous schedule, demanding flexibility in technical infrastructure and equipment. To that end, the theatre consultant on the building project, Theater Advies BV, specified ETC IES Matrix Mk II SineWave dimming and ETC Congo lighting consoles throughout the building.

Lois Jansse

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UK - HSL supplied over 80 moving lights and nearly 150 digital lighting fixtures for lighting designer Tom Kinane at the Premier League All Stars tournament. This was staged at the David Beckham Academy in Greenwich, London, broadcast on Sky One and attended by bumper live audiences.

Kinane has worked with HSL on many other shows including the first series of Dancing on Ice, and he once again wanted them on the case providing the show's specialist lighting requirements. The project was handled for HSL by Sean McGlone.

The competition was part of the Premier League's 'Creating Chances' initiative. It united football legends, celebrities and fans in a 7-a-side knock-out contest that saw Middleborough triumph 3-1 over West Ham in the final, in the process winning a £100,000 donation for their favorite charity.

The moving lights were all Robe - consisting of 30 Colo

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Italy - ETC is one of four companies which recently took part in a control systems seminar organised by Italian magazine Sound&Lite on 8-9 October. The first day of the seminar in Gabicce was a conference on the next generation of lighting and control; the second was four two-hour long demonstrations of the best of those systems, including ETC's latest and most advanced control system yet, the multi award winning Eos.

Eos was designed to handle the most complex, multimedia-filled lighting rigs and is already being specified for theatres, performing arts centres, TV production and comparable sites. The system combines innovative features and functionality in a powerful system fully networked for ETCNet2 and the new Net3 protocol (powered by the new ESTA ACN standard). Eos is also unique in offering features tailored to the needs of each member of the lighting design and productio

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USA - Richard Markus has accepted the position of division manager of the Music Instrument division of American Music & Sound, a California pro audio and musical instrument distributor, whose portfolio of brands includes Allen & Heath and Turbosound.

Markus was most recently president of EMD Music, Inc. from its inception in November 2002. Prior to that he was president of MAPEX USA and had previously held sales and marketing management positions at LP Music and REMO.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Working on behalf of The Croatian Embassy, Cameron Presentations Edinburgh recently projected images of the country onto a building opposite the Scottish capital's world-famous Balmoral Hotel, using a Christie Roadster S+20K projector. The object of the exercise was to encourage tourism in Croatia and demonstrate the country's growing relationship with Scotland.

The President of Croatia, His Excellency Stjepan Mesic, visited the Scottish Parliament and met with Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson MSP at a formal reception to mark his visit.

Contracted by the Embassy under their agreement with the Scottish Parliament, Cameron's positioned the powerful 20,000 ANSI lumens projector in a bedroom on the hotel's fourth floor to enable the Croatian Tourist Board's logo and multiple images of the country to be seen by thousands of people gathering around Waverley Station and Princes

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UK / Middle East - Van Damme has expanded its presence in the Middle East by appointing NMK Electronics Enterprises as distributor for its entire range of cable products. NMK will also distribute generic VDC Trading products such as patchbays and connectors.

Founded by Nicolaos M. Kyvernitis in 1985 and based in the United Arab Emirates, NMK is representing the Van Damme and VDC Trading range in Dubai, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Cyprus.

NMK's Business Development Manager, Chicco Hiranandani, says: "We are extremely delighted to have Van Damme and VDC Trading products in our portfolio. Their quality and reputation reflect NMK's desire to be a leading distributor in the professional audio industry."

The Van Damme range of audio and video cables has been designed, engineered and refined over many years to suit customer requirements. Many new and innovative ideas have be

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