Dominican Republic - Nexo has sold its third Geo Technology tangent-array system into the Dominican Republic, to the Acustica & Sonido Company, one of the leading rental system providers in the country.

Proprietor Jaime Oliver has chosen a combination of Nexo's new Geo S12 cabinets and Geo D10, with Geo SUBs, complete with NX242 TDcontrollers equipped for EtherSound functionality with ES4 extension cards. He has also taken delivery of new Camco Vortex 6 amplifiers to power the system.

All equipment was delivered by HT Audiosistemas, Nexo's distributor in the Dominican Republic, and Nexo's own Celso Papadopulos provided systems training for the engineers of Acustica & Sonido. Almost immediately, they started to explore the flexibility of Geo Technology, varying their inventory fo

Germany - With effect from 1 January 1st 2008, Laauser & Vohl GmbH is the new exclusive Powersoft distributor in Germany.

The former distributor AST and its owner Friedemann Wüstner joined Laauser & Vohl to form an extended and strengthened operation for the distribution of Powersoft products in this market.

With this enlarged team of pro audio professionals, Powersoft will benefit from a broader market coverage and a deeper market penetration, with the aim of enhancing the brand perception and the relevant business growth, says the company.

UK - HSL supplied all lighting equipment including over 200 moving lights and 12 crew for The People's Opening extravaganza that launched Liverpool's European Capital of Culture year. The event was staged this weekend at - and around - St George's Hall in the city centre.

The performances involved approximately 700 people including Ringo Starr, Dave Stewart and local upcoming indie stars The Wombats, all of which took place on eight surrounding rooftops - including the Walker Arts Gallery, St John's Beacon, the Empire Theatre, Lime Street Station - as well as on top of and in front of St George's Hall.

The site was challenging - lights had to be craned into position and rigged at all these locations, and also onto a series of scaffolding constructions around the main area.

The get-in started on the Monday for the Friday show and the HSL team, project managed by Mike O

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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

UK - Soho-based professional media supply experts Protape has been putting money into ways of making their business more environmentally sound. The first fruit of the company's new approach - a new £11,000 electrically powered delivery vehicle for Inner London deliveries - can now be seen parked outside the company's shop just off Tottenham Court Road.

Protape is also beginning to combine multiple non-urgent deliveries to closely situated destinations further afield in order to cut down on the number of deliveries they make, and is replacing the bags they use in the shop with fully recyclable ones over the course of the next two months.

Bob Matthews, Protape's managing director, explains the company's new policy. "It's pretty clear to us that ideally, all companies need to do their bit to reduce carbon emissions where they can, and to use recyclable materials. Of co

UK - Working alongside Dandy Events, event production company, The R&B Group transformed a marquee at Smooth Radio's new studio complex in Gateshead into a spectacular space from which to stage the launch of GMG Radio's new station.

Guests arrived in the early hours awaiting the big switch on by David Essex. Led by Project manager, Bryan Skipsey, the R&B team of AV technicians, lighting and sound engineers and camera men ensured a smooth running event to remember.

GMG Radio's Andy Saxton commented, "The R&B Group took all of the worry away from the technical side of our event. Nothing was a problem, even some very last minute additions."

(Jim Evans)

Greece - Greek lighting designer George Tellos turned to the brightness and ease of Martin LC Series LED panels on a recent live broadcast of the 2007 Arion Music Awards. The event, which honours Greece's top musical artists, was broadcast on Mega Channel from Taekwondo stadium in Athens.

"The main idea for using the LC Series was to establish a 3D look for the stage and the LC panels fit perfectly in our application - size, configuration and transparency," comments Tellos.

Tellos lists several reasons for his choice of the LC panels: brightness, saturation, quick and easy setup, and wide angle viewing. "I was impressed with the brightness and the resolution of the LCs," he states. "Also, the way of setting up and configuring the system is very easy. The construction is robust, which is very important for touring and when you add in the transparency ef

The Netherlands - Digital mixing console manufacturer, InnovaSON, has partnered with Technologies for Worship magazine (TFWM) in what will be a double premier at ISE in Amsterdam. This year's show sees the debut of TFWM's 2008 Pavilion and Conferences at ISE. Live performances will take place throughout the day in the Pavilion on their 'Quiet Stage', all mixed using an InnovaSon Sy80 console at Front of House.

InnovaSon's Xavier Pion comments, "ISE is a fast-growing event, and our presence here this year is extremely timely. The fixed installation market is a growing part of our business around the world, be it in theatres, concert halls, houses of worship or any performance-related venue, and the TFWM Pavilion has provided us with the perfect showcase for our products.

"Visitors will be able to come and see for themselves how our consoles can be integrated into audi

Sweden / China - Wireless Solution Sweden recently took its successful Wireless University programme to China, in cooperation with Chinese dealer Leifull Light and Sound. The three-day programme hosted12 participants at the Leifull facility in Guangzhou.

Wireless University is an ongoing series of presentations and hands on demonstrations aimed at educating the industry on the technology and benefits of wireless DMX. The programme kicked off at PLASA07, with courses scheduled throughout 2008 in all major exhibitions worldwide. As opposed to a sales pitch, Wireless University teaches the concept of wireless DMX technology, which techniques work best, and pitfalls to avoid.

Niclas Norlén, R&D manager and founder of Wireless Solution led the Guangzhou course, covering topics such as support training with advance cell planning for larger projects, service training for repai

UK - In a new manufacturing partnership, the sE Electronics International group is producing a brand new range of Rupert Neve signature series mics under the sE stable for 2008.

The first of several mics being readied for production in this new sE series will be a state-of-the-art active Ribbon mic with revolutionary performance, provided by discrete circuits and purpose designed transformers by Rupert Neve. The capsule and manufacturing are being controlled by sE, whilst the electronics, and the transformer, are being taken care of by Neve.

The second release will feature a large diaphragm tube mic, and a solid state condenser. The first three mics will all share a common look which both gives a nod to 'retro' whilst still driving forward with sE's modernistic 'industrial chic', says the company.

Rupert Neve says: "Recent developments in the way that humans perceive so

UK - ETC has supported the fund raising efforts of Light Relief since it was formed in 2001, making many donations over the years. Now the company's UK office has pledged ongoing support for the charity over the next five years, with five annual donations totalling £12,500.

Presenting the first £2,500 cheque to trustee Matthew Griffiths at the ETC / ABTT Christmas party on 14 December, Fred Foster, CEO of ETC, said: "Our industry would not exist without its many freelance lighting designers and technicians. Light Relief has already provided much needed practical and financial help to many of our colleagues and I am delighted that ETC can enable it to continue this fine programme."

Griffiths, who is also managing director of PLASA, said: "Light Relief assists freelancers in our industry who need immediate assistance in times of crisis. One-off donatio

UK - A complete videoconferencing system featuring beyerdynamic wireless technology and Biamp Audio and Nexia digital signal processing has proved the perfect medicine for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB)'s London headquarters.

The RPSGB, the professional and regulatory body for pharmacists in England, Scotland and Wales, wanted to modernise its conference facilities, which bring together key people from its offices around the UK, and found the appropriate medicine in a collaboration between beyerdynamic UK and systems integrator Martin Dawes Solutions.

A fully integrated modular AV system allows the RPSGB's spacious main Council Chamber in London to be switched in minutes from a round-table boardroom to a 250-seat presentation theatre or divided into two separate spaces, each with its own AV facilities. The system also integrates smaller meeting rooms

UK - Allen & Heath has added iDR0, a new processing unit, to its iLive digital mixing system, and has announced the release of V1.2, the new version of iLive system software.

The iDR0 is a 2U rack unit that provides all the processing features of the iLive system for networked audio systems. Instead of slots for I/O modules, the iDR0 offers two EtherSound ports, which provide all the audio inputs and outputs of the system. It provides a cost effective and compact solution to users who wish to mix common sources for different applications such as FOH and Monitor, or need an additional mix for broadcast or recording that allows full processing and mix capability with the source material, says the company.

The iDR0 unit is modular and uses the same processing PCBs as the iDR10, the 'mix rack' which provides I/O and all processing and mixing functions with the current iLive system

The Netherlands - The Rotterdamse Schouwburg is one of the leading theatres in the Netherlands, attracting over 200,000 guests every year. It has a long tradition of performing high profile national and international theatre shows and recently installed a dimMA system.

Rolight Theatertechniek BV, MA Lighting's distributor in the Netherlands, installed about 600 channels of dimMA in the building. The main hall was furnished with six cabinets, equipped with 248 channels 3kVA, 50 channels 5,7kVA and 11 channels 11kVA. Despite the fact that one Network Dimmer Processor (NDP) can control up to two cabinets of dimmers, every cabinet was equipped with its own NDP. This gives maximum redundancy due to the fact that in every two cabinets, two NDPs work together as master and slave. If one of them should fail, the other one would take over the work instantly.

The Krijn Boon Studio is in

UK - Concert Sound has just finished providing a large-scale sound reinforcement system for the latest European concert tour by Joe Cocker, including extensive EAW line array and loudspeaker sets. Concert Sound worked closely with FOH Engineer Chris Madden in formulating the system for the arena tour, which travelled throughout Europe in support of the 2007 release of the Hymn For My Soul album.

The scalable concert system, under the care of system engineer Dave Dixon, comprised left and right main hangs of up to 14 EAW 760 full-range line array modules and three KF761 wide-dispersion modules, with EAW KF730 small-format line array modules on the deck to bolster front-fill needs. Side-fill came from 10 EAW KF750 Series three-way concert loudspeakers flown per side, with a low-frequency contingent of up to 18 EAW SB1000 dual-18"-loaded subwoofers split left and right.

Switzerland - Throughout January, the people of Bern will be skating for free on a new temporary outdoor ice rink at the capital's Bundesplatz, in front of the federal buildings. To mark the opening of the rink, the city staged an elaborate ice show on 28 December 2007. Hosted by Tanja Gutmann, the show featured Olympic skater Jamal Othman, a live band and the traditional blowing of Alpine horns. The light show, which bathed the rink in a cool blue light, was controlled by an ETC Congo jr lighting control system

Congo jr helped the ice show's board operator Daniel Tschanz overcome two major challenges - a narrow time window for setup, and show programming that could not be done at night. However, on Congo jr, cues and positions can be easily adapted immediately before the show or on the fly.

The Congo jr controlled 18 Martin MAC 600 NT automated luminaires, six Martin MAC 250

France - The first arrival in Nexo's new RS (RAY SUB) Series is the RS 15, a low-profile high-output, modular, scalable bass cabinet which is capable of operating in both omni-directional and cardioid modes.

Comprising a 15" transducer with a frequency response of 35Hz - 200Hz in omni or 35Hz- 150Hz in directional mode and a sensitivity of 105db SPL, the RS 15 offers versatility for installations and touring requirements.

The RS15 offers directive subwoofer coverage from a standard bass reflex subwoofer architecture. Simply turning the cabinet vertically or horizontally will change its characteristics from omni to cardioid.

Digital signal processing, via NX242 TDcontrollers, allows the RS15 to display precise cardioid pattern control through the DSP-processed correlation of acoustic distances between transducer and vent sources. These sources are linearly positioned in

Sweden - Helsingborgs Stadsteater first came to fame under the tutelage of Ingmar Bergman, the celebrated film, stage and opera director. The summer of 2007 saw the theatre's main stage undergo major refurbishments including an upgrade of the audio cabling network around the stage to allow for digital audio distribution over EtherSound.

According to sound engineer, Per Wennling, the benefits of a digital network are appreciable, not least in terms of dramatically reduced installation costs in comparison with a traditional analogue solution. "A large scale CAT6 network cable installation was already planned, so adding a bit more cable for audio use was easy," explained Wennling. "We opted for audio distribution over EtherSound because of its extremely low latency, excellent sound quality and because it is compatible with equipment from a large number of reputable m

UK - Independent event health and safety consultancy Stagesafe is extending its range of training courses this month, with the addition of a half day health and general safety Induction course. Essential basic safety training for all company or business staff, including those who are primarily office-based, will be covered, says the company. Stagesafe is also planning to launch a one-day course on electrical connectors, cables, distribution and safety, as well as new First Aid courses.

The Safety Induction Course is designed for companies and business that have a fully implemented health and safety policy and safety management structure and who wish to induct their staff in these policies and structures, as well as providing basic health and safety training.

Stagesafe founder Chris Hannam will be available to discuss the new courses, and Stagesafe's other services, at the Even

China - L-Acoustics has been designated as the brand of choice for the equipment of two theatres in the Suzhou Science and Cultural Arts Centre. With a total surface of 150,000sq.m, the SSCAC will house a variety of facilities including the Grand Theatre (1,200 seats), the Dinner Theatre (500), the Cineplex and the IMAX Theatre.

The SSCAC appointed Theatre Projects Consultants as the Audio Technical Consultant. The British firm worked in close collaboration with Rightway Audio Consultants (L-Acoustics' representative for China) and Yavatop Technology for the integration of the L-Acoustics sound system of the Grand Theatre and the Dinner Theatre. With an ultimate goal to obtain unity and similar signature for both halls, a comprehensive acoustics and electro-acoustics solution was engineered, taking into account theatre design, owner requirements and the architectural character o

UK - An estimated 700,000 people went to central London to bring in the New Year. The occasion culminated with a ten minute firework and light spectacular around the London Eye with an estimated 180,000 watching the event live from the banks of the Thames. Once again for the fourth consecutive year the event was organised by the Mayor of London and produced by Jack Morton Worldwide. The lighting was supplied by PRG Europe, with lighting design by Durham Marenghi and fireworks by Christophe Berthonneau and Jonas Bidault of Groupe F.

Marenghi comments: "For the fourth consecutive New Year's Eve, associate LD Paul Cook and I created a three hour light show prior to midnight and then supported the firework finale with the floodlighting of the Eye and aerial searchlight effects. PRG Europe, led by crew chief Gerry Mott, supplied 100 VL5 Arc luminaires and ten 10kW Syncrolite sea

Spain - One of the most common problems facing the audio installer is lack of space for the electronic components of a sound system, especially the amplifiers. Vieta's solution comes in the compact shape of the Ti Line amp which opens up many new possibilities, says the company.

Although it is common practice to fix lighting equipment to DIN rails, few audio pieces are designed to take advantage of this standard, even though DIN-standard protection boxes and fixings are readily available for almost any application and the equipment can be placed almost anywhere, giving great flexibility to the architect and interior designer.

An example of Vieta's adaptability can be seen in a new installation at the restaurant Les Banderes near Barcelona. Located in the centre of Badalona, the new centre for upwardly-mobile Barca bohemians, Les Banderes is the life-time passion of brothers Ju

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