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UK - November saw singer/songwriter David Gray and his four-piece backing band hit the road to promote his latest Greatest Hits album. The tour started in the UK, climaxing in three shows at the Roundhouse in London, and features a DiGiCo D5 console with ProTools recording system at front-of-house.

It is also the first time that Gray's FOH engineer Graham Pattison has specified a DiGiCo console. "Some time ago I was working with Gomez in Australia and in one venue I had to use a DiGiCo D1," says Pattison. "At the time I was a strictly analogue engineer, so I had that natural 'instant aversion' reaction, but the guy who owned it knew it inside out. To my surprise, within half an hour, I found it a joy to use. It was so straightforward."

Having finished

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UK - Headed by partners Richard and Nigel Jeffery and experienced golf and leisure developer, Ian MacNae, Tingley's new 'Acanthus Golf Centre' occupies a prime site on the thriving Leeds/Wakefield border. With a 40-bay driving range and nine-hole golf course, the Acanthus Golf Centre provides an environment for beginners and seasoned golfers alike.

To help realise the owners' vision of moulding the cutting edge architecture of the impressive three-storey venue into 'more than your average' golf centre, local installation specialists F.C. Smith (audio consultants) were called on to design and install an infrastructure capable of distributing high quality - but visually unobtrusive - audio to four distinct areas.

At the centre, pro golf shop, The Golf Bunker, occupies the ground floor, adjacent to a relaxed bar and lounge area. The second floor is home to Jaf Jaf, a sophisticate

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Russia - Midas' Russian distributor, Theatre Technics and Technology, has installed a dual control surface XL8 Live Performance System into the State Academic Maly Theatre in Moscow, one of the country's oldest theatres, as part of a major renovation project spanning six years.

Last year the theatre celebrated its troupe's 250th anniversary. Formed in 1756 by decree of Empress Elizabeth at Moscow State University, and named Moscow Russia Theater, in 1780 the troupe moved to the Petrovskii Theater, next to the Bolshoi Theater, on what is now Theater Square. In 1824 the theatre became officially known as the Maly, which means 'small' in Russian, as opposed to Bolshoi ('big'). Only minor repairs have been carried out since the 1940s, but last year the Maly was awarded a government grant to refurbish the façade, revitalise artwork in the theatre and its entrance and update the ligh

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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 - A.C. Lighting's Audio division has supplied a comprehensive array of equipment to the Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton. The supply of audio equipment followed the recent £15 million re-development plan for the main venue for arts and entertainment in Northampton.

Equipment included a Yamaha M7CL 48 channel digital mixing console with Ethersound based networking hardware, a Meyer Sound line array system and a full range of Shure and AKG microphones along with various other items.

David Reeve, technical manager of Royal & Derngate remarked: "In the tendering process, A.C. Lighting very quickly proved themselves to be competitive and efficient. They managed to arrange gear demonstrations at very short notice and ensured all the kit was on site quickly with the minimum of fuss."

A.C. Lighting's audio sales manager, Peter Butler, commented: "We we

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UK - Audio-Technica and the International Guitar Foundation have announced that the microphone manufacturer will become 'exclusive microphone partner' to the IGF. The three year sponsorship agreement sees the company committed to supporting the IGF's programme of festivals, Summer Schools, Guitar Camps, and Teacher Training Centres.

A not-for-profit organization, the IGF has promoted performance, learning and teaching of the guitar, in all of its forms and musical genre, among people of all ages, for more than 14 years. From classical, folk, flamenco and all forms of world music, to jazz, blues, r'n'b, rock and other contemporary playing styles, the IGF has "nurtured and celebrated the varied pleasures of this beautiful and multi-faceted instrument with unparalleled dedication".

Whether promoting concerts by major artists at prestigious venues like the Royal Festival

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Finland - iLive recently embarked on a national arena tour with Finland's biggest-selling rock band, Eppu Normaali. Visiting 13 cities across the country, the touring production rig included Robe lighting, a Grandma console, d&b speakers and amps, Sennheiser IEM's, and Allen & Heath's iLive digital system at FOH.

Eppu Normaali has an impressive back catalogue of albums (nine platinum and four gold selling), and has sold 1.5 million copies in Finalnd alone, making it the country's biggest selling band. Support acts varied during the tour and included well-known hardcore metal band, Kotiteollisuus, ethnic rock band, Lauri Tähkä & Elonkerjuu, new-wave punk rockers Stalingrad Cowboys, and hard rockers, 51Koodia.

"Reactions from the band engineers were very positive," explains EM Nordic Finland's Jorma Tikka, who was at hand to provide technical support during the tour.

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USA - Biamp Systems reports that Smeed Communication Services has completed a third stage of audio systems design and integration at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem using Biamp AudiaFLEX and Nexia digital audio processing platforms. This project follows two earlier implementations in which Smeed provided a Biamp solution for hearing rooms, as well as portable systems for remote applications at the Capitol.

Ken Lewetag working with Smeed's educational systems specialist, Rick Iverson, designed new systems for eight hearing rooms: six of standard-size, and two smaller rooms. Ken Lewetag is the Capitol's media technician/system administrator, Smeed equipped each of the six standard spaces with Biamp AudiaFLEX digital processing systems and between 10 and 20 active microphones. For the two smaller spaces, he used Biamp Nexia processing hardware and five microphones.

"The ch

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UK - Bespoke Lighting, which recently merged with LEDtronics, a Los Angeles-based LED lighting company, combined their skills in developing a unique method of illuminating chandeliers using light emitting diodes (LEDs).

The project was undertaken at the request of The Royal Household, in an effort to reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs.

The centre room chandelier was nominated and all 32 25 watt tungsten lamps were removed, and a low voltage system controlling 2.8 watt light emitting diode lamps (Queens Chandelier STL610-48-XIW-024M) were installed, initiating an energy saving in excess of 80%. The next re-lamping will not be needed to be scheduled until 2020.

(Jim Evans)

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Mexico - One of the biggest entertainment industry events on the Mexico City media calendar, the annual Lunas del Auditorio Awards, held in the city's Auditorio Nacional, celebrates the best live talent, productions, and performances from across Latin America. Along with the top stars appearing onstage over the course of the evening, the new Midas XL8 digital mixing system made an impressive showing at FOH position.

Rodolfo Oropeza, owner of rental company ROA, supplied the XL8 for the event. The console was supervised by engineer Luis de la Rosa, whose company, Musica Moderna, also owns an XL8 system. Along with mixing some of the evening's live performances, de la Rosa assisted Sergio Garza and a host of other mix engineers new to the XL8, with uniformly positive results.

"The XL8's intuitive work surface meant all the first-timers quickly came to grips with their mix,

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UK - Brit Row's Outline array was used for the second time to amplify Groove Armada. For the tour that ended recently, there were 28 CDH 483 Hi-packs and 16 Subtech 218; the rig was processed via Dolby Lake and powered by Outline's new T9 power amplifiers. Four DVS 15 - two-way multi-purpose enclosures also manufactured by Outline - were used as ground in-fills.

FOH engineer on the GA tour was Sam Parker, who described the Outline units as "immensely efficient for their size", adding that at the Love Box 2006 festival (the first time he used the systems) "they easily covered the 20,000 people there".

Adam Smith, system engineer on the GA tour stated: "The system performed consistently throughout, over a wide range of challenging rooms at very high SPL."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Digidesign reports that its Pro Tools 7.4 software has already surpassed the 10,000 mark in downloaded purchases. This milestone was reached last Saturday (December 1, 2007), after only 25 days on the market, says the company.

"Digidesign is fortunate to have grown one of the largest and most loyal user communities in the professional audio industry," remarked Dave Lebolt, Avid vice-president and general manager of Digidesign. "Their allegiance and dedication inspires us to continue to raise the bar as Pro Tools has evolved and grown. Achieving this milestone is extremely gratifying, and is a testament to the importance of Pro Tools to professionals and hobbyists alike from all over the world."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Symetrix has named S-Wave Marketing, located in San Diego, California, international rep of the year. Under the direction of Kris Jackson, S~Wave handles the Symetrix, SymNet, Lucid and AirTools brands in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific regions.

Noted Paul Roberts, Symetrix director of sales: "Kris Jackson has shown strong dedication to implementing the sales of all the Symetrix brands in his region. The sizable growth of Symetrix sales in his regions is a testament to Kris' hard work, experience and capabilities in the international arena. We are very happy to have S~Wave Marketing representing us in the growing Asian and South Pacific markets and congratulate them on their efforts."

(Jim Evans)

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South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa has invested in 24 Robe ColorSpot and ColorWash 2500E AT fixtures which made their debut on the 2010 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw at the International Convention Centre in Durban.

The new units were an integral element of Tim Dunn's lighting design for the event, which was broadcast live by the South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC) to over 200 territories worldwide. A hundred of these relayed it live, creating a new FIFA Draw record.

The new 2500s were supplied to Gearhouse by Robe's South African distributor DWR Distribution. Gearhouse first bought Robe moving lights - 48 of the 700 Series - in January 2007, followed by another 48 700 Series fixtures in October, quickly followed by the 2500s this month - just in time for the FIFA event.

Dunn worked closely with set designer Dewett Meyer and Richard Baker from LEDVision (supplier

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USA - The ESTA Foundation reports that Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) issued a $50,000 Challenge Grant to benefit Behind the Scenes. During the three days at LDI in November many answered the challenge by buying raffle tickets and holiday cards or playing poker, which helped raise close to $40,000 - just $10,000 shy of ETC's generous challenge.

It is hoped to raise the remaining $10,000 by New Year's Eve. In announcing the ETC $50,000 Challenge Grant, CEO Fred Foster said, "Our industry runs on the flexibility, skills, and artistry of people who dedicate themselves to creating the magic of the theatre. Sadly, this means that many times an illness or crisis can catch one of us without the support of full benefits and insurance."

(Jim Evans)

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India - Having achieved great success scoring Bollywood blockbuster movies, Indian musical group Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's star continues to rise in the world of mainstream pop music, thanks to their chart-topping fusion of Indian classical styles with western pop sensibility, musical virtuosity, and a stunning live show.

The trio, comprised of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa, brought their Cheers India tour to the Hitec Grounds in Hyderabad, India, on 13 October, where the 10,000-strong audience enjoyed the show via an Electro-Voice, Midas, and Klark Teknik sound system deployed by Acoustic Control of Bangalore. S.E.L Engineer Ashish Saksena mixed the show, with systems engineering support from Sanjay Mudartha of Acoustic Control.

"The EV XLC line array rig was set up using EV LAPS (Line Array Prediction Software), which was bang-on with its coverag

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Italy - Clay Paky projectors illuminated Roberto Benigni's presentation of Dante's Inferno, one of the most prestigious televised events in 2007. The show was broadcast live on RAI 1 on 29 November without a single commercial break. It focused on the work of the renowned poet Dante Alighieri.

The programme was realized in the cinema and television production centre - Cinecittà Studios in Papigno (Terni) in the post-modern scenario of an old disused factory. Director of photography Fausto Carboni reports: "It was necessary to combine the typical demands of a 'one-hand-show' with the need to interpret the Dante theme with a light show. It was also necessary to illuminate a theatrical show, bearing in mind the television requirements. We came to an agreement with the programme director Stefano Vicario, and decided to use a white light on the protagonist and full colour

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USA - Apollo Design Technology has introduced six new colours to the ApolloGel Series 7 swatchbook. The new colors are: AP3520 Alexander the Grape; AP4130 Blurple; AP4870 Bluetylicious; AP5430 Green Gello; AP7630 Peach My Interest; and AP7770 Hot Wings.

"The evolution of ApolloGel has been interesting to watch," states Monty McWilliams, VP marketing at Apollo. "The selection of new colours used to be based on Apollo staff opinions. The process is now driven strictly from end user recommendations. Without widespread use of our colour filters, this wouldn't be happening."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Entec Lighting supplied equipment and crew for LD Dave Ross and the Sex Pistols' recent comeback shows at Brixton Academy, London.

In spite of their once anarchic image, the band's lighting requirements were relatively conservative this time around, although they did have some very definite ideas about the aesthetics. They wanted an 'old skool' look, everything lit in red, white or blue (i.e. Union Jack colours) and nothing too 'flashy'. They also wanted to be able to see the audience at appropriate moments.

Entec was asked to quote on the lighting supply and won the account via production manager Chris Griffiths. Entec's Noreen O'Riordan comments: "How splendid to be working with a band of our generation that changed the music industry so radically - God Save The Pistols."

Back in 1977, when the band so rudely kick-started the art-house punk movement and shoo

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UK - Bandit Lites UK supplied lighting production and crew for Motown legends The Four Tops and The Temptations on their co-headlining UK arena tour. Bandit UK has serviced the account since 2004 working with New York based LD, John Bowers. Bowers started lighting the Four Tops in 2000 and the two groups regularly visit the UK and Europe and perform as this double bill.

The lightshow is designed to work flexibly and easily for both acts. This time around, Bowers opted for a fully generic lighting rig featuring lots of PAR cans, ACLs and some punchy and precise followspotting.

"I'm absolutely meticulous about the rig focus," he says as he explains his philosophy of creating a 'depth of perception' in the rig using a very tight focus that bounces the light beams around the rig and the stage. This gives an illusion of lights moving even though it's a static system.

Th

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USA - Online Marketing, based in Wadsworth Ohio has officially acquired Adamson representation for Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia and Western part of Pennsylvania.

Online Marketing represents Adamson exclusively when it comes to high-end, pro audio line array speaker systems and continues its role as a manufacturer's rep firm for companies such as TC Electronics, Lab.gruppen, Sony, Digitech, Audio Technica, Aphex, Tannoy and Pioneer among others. Online serves the AV integration, commercial installation and pro audio industries.

With sales in excess of $25 million last year, their methodology has helped Online grow into one of the most successful rep firms in the industry. In the last 16 years their efforts have been recognized with over 70 sales achievement awards and 23 Rep of the Year awards from many of the industry's leading manufacturers.

Online marke

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Switzerland - Barix recently introduced the Annuncicom 1000, a professional grade device that combines intercom, paging and IP-based audio conversion for PA system playback into a half-width 19" rack-mountable box. It will be shown at the forthcoming ISE trade show (Amsterdam, 29-31 January).

For entertainment applications, the Annuncicom 1000 is designed for multiroom audio distribution in hotels, clubs, sports venues, and restaurants where there is a need to relay audio to multiple rooms from a central point. Eight relay contact closures can be used to distribute audio to specific speaker sets, or zones for improved control.

The Annuncicom 1000 is also suitable for integration into complex, professional intercom and paging environments. Security system operators at universities, business campuses, shopping districts, industrial facilities, airports or transportation cen

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