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UK - For one of its biggest projects in recent years, PSL sent a 75-man team to the opening ceremony which kicked off Liverpool's year as European City of Culture. From the imposing 40' screens that dominated St George's Plateau to the 15-camera broadcast truck that relayed Liverpool's celebrations around the world, PSL technicians were at the heart of the logistically complex event.

Led by Pod Bluman, the PSL team had to triumph against the twin enemies of time and the elements. PSL's participation in the Liverpool show was confirmed only three weeks ahead of the event, just one week before the Christmas slow-down.

"The concept of the show was to tell the story of Liverpool's history and culture," explains Pod Bluman. "Its location was the open space between the

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UK - A success during the winter of 2006 and judged Best Event in Northumberland - the Northumberland Lights is an epic lighting project spanning multiple sites across the county. Its winter 2007 run was once again created by the team of creative designer Phil Supple and Jack Thompson of White Light, with all of the lighting equipment supplied by White Light.

White Light's manifest included: seven Vari-Lite VL3000s with Condome protective domes, three High Ground searchlights, five Citycolour2500 exterior floodlights, 200 PAR64s, an assortment of ETC Source Fours, two Robert Juliat Korrigans and two Super Korrigans, as well as 40 sq.m of ColorWeb 250 LED lighting and 48 Encapsulites. Control included three WL Smart 48 dimmer/power racks, two Avo Pearl consoles and two ELC Showstores, plus stands, cables and an assortment of accessories to allow lights to be located just about an

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Denmark - In Copenhagen, the new Royal Danish Playhouse, or Det Kongelige Teater, is one of the first arts venues in Europe to install Studer's Vista 5 digital consoles at front-of-house, one on its Main Stage and one on the smaller Portscenen, or Gate Stage.

The harbor-side Playhouse, which has been designed by Danish architects Boje Lundgaard and Lene Tranberg, commands a prime location opposite the Royal Opera, also a customer of Studer's Vista technology. The Playhouse is the new home for the Royal Danish Theatre, and has three discrete performance spaces. The Main Stage seats 750 theatre-goers and its horseshoe-shaped galleries are inspired by northern Italian renaissance theatre. The secondary stage, seating 250, is named Portscenen (or 'The Gate Stage'), reflecting the fact that the large, gate-like doors in the northern wall can be opened to draw the stage out onto the q

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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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Denmark - Martin Professional has been awarded a technology grant from the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (H°jteknologifonden) for the development of new LED technologies. The project, called INLED (Intelligent Light Emitting Diodes), is a cooperation between Martin Professional A/S, Denmark's Aalborg University, and the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation.

Martin Professional will receive approximately $3 million in funding from the research foundation, with an additional $2 million to be added by Martin and $1 million from Aalborg University. The three-year, six million USD project will run through the end of 2010.

The goal of INLED is to develop new technologies for LED based fixtures as substitutes for existing more inefficient technologies, including improvements in optical systems, colour mixing, output, control, heat management and energy

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USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2008. Founded four decades ago by Bruce Howze, Community has grown to become a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of professional loudspeakers.

A company statement says: "From its early days, Community established its reputation as an innovator. With its unique fiberglass horns and enclosures and industry-leading transducer and loudspeaker designs, Community products have always stressed high performance and unsurpassed quality supported by meticulous testing and documentation. Community's popular weather-resistant systems, including the R-Series and WET Series II lines, are the audio system centerpiece in arenas and stadia throughout the world.

"Community is a worldwide leader in professional loudspeakers, but the company hasn't strayed from Howze's original philosophy of innova

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UK - Having recently invested in an ETC Congo, Matt Rogerson, chief technician at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff has organised a day of training with help from ETC's associate regional manager for UK and Ireland Jeremy Roberts.

Rogerson comments: "Jeremy offered us the training session when we bought the desk, and to maximise the experience for our students, he also brought along the new ETC Eos and Ion desks. We've also offered our facilities to ETC for future training sessions to other groups."

The two days of training - for which the students took a day out of their Christmas holiday - were conducted by ETC's Luke Delwiche and freelance programmer Florian Baeumler.

Jeremy Roberts says: "A day's training is never going to cover everything there is to know about the desk, but it can raise someone from starter to the point at which they

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UK - Ipswich-based sound and lighting hire company, Gofer Ltd has invested in a KV2 Audio ES system. Its first outing was to Lydiard Park for energy supplier, NPower's Christmas event, for the staff of its Swindon-based headquarters.

Left and right ground stacks comprising two KV2 ES 1.0 lightweight, compact, mid/high cabinets with a single KV2 ES 2.5 high-output subwoofer and two KV2 ES 1.8 reflex horn-loaded single 18-inch subwoofers - with each stack controlled and driven by two KV2 EPAK2500R amplifier packs - were deployed.

The Gofer production team on the night were immensely impressed with the both the ease of set up and the quality and level of sound. FOH engineer, Nat Clarkson, commented: "It was so quick and pleasurable to sound check."

Production manager, Nic Forsdyke added: "We saved ourselves time using the KV2 Audio system and in this game that is

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USA - Mackie has entered the lightweight power amplifier category with its new FRS Series - the FRS-1300, FRS-1700, and the FRS-2800. FRS Series amplifiers combine Mackie's Fast Recovery circuitry with a modern switching power supply for exceptional sound and performance in portable applications, says the company.

"In true Mackie fashion, the FRS Series amps combine clean power and performance in a lightweight design," says Mackie product manager, Greg Young. "Fast Recovery means your sound stays clean, even when pushing them to their limits. These amps are perfect for the rig on-the-go, and give you more power for your dollar- so they won't break your back or your wallet."

The FRS Series include a high-resolution, six segment LED meter per channel, defeatable clip limiter, subsonic filter, and on-board protection circuitry (short, under-impedance, over-cur

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Europe - Marilyn Manson performed a series of arena dates in Europe recently, carrying a massive Meyer Sound system, supplied by Taylor, Michigan-based Thunder Audio.

The main system, comprising two arrays of 15 Milo high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers and one Milo 120 high-power expanded coverage curvilinear array loudspeaker per side, was augmented by two more side-hangs of six Milos each. 12 700-HP subwoofers per side provided a powerful bottom end.

Front-of-house engineer Dave Nicholls comments: "We don't use front-fills, as Mr. Manson is in the pit for much of the show."

Bruce Danz, Manson's monitor engineer adds, "At Thunder Audio, we know that no other system beats the Milo. It installs easily, and with no amp racks to deal with. It also saves a lot of time in setup and teardown."

The stage monitoring system includes four Mica curvilinear a

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UK - Media programming and systems designers, tsg have won a contract to supply a full entertainment and media package to Yates's: "Winning this major client late last year was one of the highlights of 2007 for tsg. It has cemented our position as a major UK media solutions player, one who creates inspired entertainment environments for the UK bar and pub sector."

"It was especially pleasing to find out that we were chosen by the Yates's team because of our programming team's ability to articulate a thorough historical understanding of the Yates's brand, and that we could also outline just what would be needed to help retain its status as a dominant force in licensed retail."

Each site's entertainment offer is controlled by tsg's promedia mms hard disk system; a compact, one-box solution, which caters for the updating of media content, scheduling and softwa

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Germany - Based on a two-in-six topology, the Electro-Voice DC-One is designed primarily for users of small- to medium-sized sound systems in both mobile and installed applications. While the unit is an all-new development based on a powerful SHARC processor, it is 100% compatible with all settings from other Electro-Voice signal processors, including the Dx38, says the company.

Though free PC-Editor software is available, the DC-One can be operated via the front panel. Direct access buttons, six predefined configuration modes (one being free configuration), straightforward output delay settings, and true professional metering all allow for safe operation.

DC-One's 'front-panel-access-control' allows the user to select a personal library of accessible presets (out of 60 factory and 20 user presets). In addition, the user can determine which individual parameters in each preset

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UK - Kings of Leon used Britannia Row's Turbosound Aspect system for the initial part of their European tour.

FOH engineer Brent Rawlings reports: "The system is covering really well, I'm impressed. We are working on how to set things up so that when you have two stacks of bottom there's not just one strip of intense sub down the very middle of the PA. We want to have a very evenly dispersed bottom end everywhere and that takes a little experimentation, but we will get something nice."

The tour has taken in arena-sized venues and, generally speaking, the system has comprised two hangs of TA-890H and L flown five wide by five deep with a TA-500HM trapezoidal mid/high down-fill enclosure beneath each hang. "These are wedge shaped boxes that can face at a very steep angle towards the people that are standing underneath them and will cover right up to the stage,&quo

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UK - Community R-Series loudspeakers have recently been installed at the new Urban-i Stand at Doncaster Racecourse by the specialist racecourse technical services company, Racetech.

Following an extensive £34m redevelopment, Doncaster Racecourse was officially reopened by HRH The Princess Royal for the St. Leger Festival, attended by a record modern day crowd of over 70,000. The development involved the replacement of the old Yorkshire Stand with the state-of-the-art Urban-i Stand and Lazarus Exhibition Hall, providing quality facilities to race-goers and exhibition and conference attendees.

Doncaster Racecourse's new custom-built public address and audio visual communications system was heralded a great success by the managing executive of the South Yorkshire venue. The system, designed by RaceTech, took more than two years to develop. Among the features created specifi

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USA - Element Labs has relocated to new premises in Austin, Texas. With over 30,000sq.ft of space, the company's new offices mean it is now even better positioned to serve its growing customer base, says the company.

The Austin office boasts a team of 40, including sales and marketing, service and support, R&D and production professionals. The office also features a fully equipped demonstration area, as well as R&D and production facilities.

Nils Thorjussen, CEO of Element Labs explains the expansion: "We have seen significant growth in our customer base and the level of interest in our products and solutions throughout North America. The relocation to our new Texas office thus forms part of Element Labs' continued investment in its growth and expansion strategy. The Austin office and its multi-disciplinary team will allow us to continue to keep our promise of delivering

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UK - Located in Great Queen Street, London, Freemason's Hall is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England - the governing body of Freemasonry in England. Built between 1927 and 1933, the hall is the third to be located in Great Queen Street and was constructed as a memorial to the 3225 Freemasons who died on active service in the First World War.

The centrepiece of the building is the Grand Temple which has recently had an Ampetronic induction loop fitted by Surrey-based contractor Scanaudio.

As well as the main 'floor', the Grand Temple features a balcony on three sides and the Ampetronic system, powered by a pair of ILD1000G loop amplifiers via an SP5 phaser, was required to cover the whole chamber and to meet new British Standard requirements for induction loop installations.

However, discreetness was imperative because of the sensitivity of the fine architect

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Denmark - A TTA Stagetracker performer tracking system has been chosen for the main auditorium at Copenhagen's Royal Danish Playhouse which opens in February.

For its Main Stage, the Playhouse has commissioned TTA and its Scandinavian distributor Benum to provide a Stagetracker 16XR audio tracking and positioning system, which uses MIDI to control TiMax audio imaging software from British company Outboard Electronics.

From its position in the truss above the stage, a single intelligent Stagetracker RadioEye receiver is able to provide coverage of the entire 16m x 16m (52ft x 52ft) stage. The RadioEye calculates the actors' positions and feeds positional information to the Stagetracker software which also incorporates a 3D view of the stage, and gives a visual representation of the actor's movements in real time.

By adding a small radio transmitter the size of a matchbox, cal

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USA - The American DJ Group's American DJ line of lighting products was presented with the MMR Dealers Choice Award at the 2008 NAMM Show in Anaheim.

Sponsored by MMR magazine, the Dealers Choice Award is based on national voting by music dealers. American DJ was voted 'Lighting Line of the Year' by dealers for the second year.

"The fact that this award is the result of voting by the dealers who actually sell lighting products makes it especially gratifying," said Scott Davies, general manager of the American DJ Group of Companies. "Dealers are on the front line, dealing with end-users all the time. They gave us this award, because their customers rely on American DJ and are excited about our products, especially our new LED fixtures."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Cadac Electronics will be showing its S-Digital audio mixing console at this year's ProLight&Sound in Frankfurt, from 12-16 March, in conjunction with its German distributor, Amptown Sound & Communications (ASC). This will be the first public showing of the console as it moves into production, following a private unveiling to an invited international audience in London, taking place in February.

Designed specifically for theatre and live sound applications, Cadac's S-Digital represents a radical departure from other live sound console designs, by combining the familiar surface architecture, character and functionality of the Cadac J-Type, with the operational and creative benefits of digital audio control, says the company which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Following a successful 2007, South London-based hire and sales company, Point Source Productions is gearing up for a busy year to come. Point Source Productions has committed to an ongoing programme of investment in new technology which has seen the company increase its hire stock in, amongst others, Martin Professional and Litec products. This investment has proved invaluable in both direct and subhire markets, across corporate and live events and even in films, says the company.

Autumn 2007 saw the filming of Hammer Films Beyond the Rave in South London. This online serial marks the return of the Hammer Horror genre after an absence of over 20 years. Lighting designer Jono Kenyon was responsible for lighting the all-important rave scenes using over 100 ACL lamps and MAC 550s from the Point Source hire stock.

"It was great working with the MAC 550s on a film

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Australia - Klotz Digital Australia has announced it has won the tender for the rebuild of Austereo Melbourne. Klotz will provide Vadis D.C.II mixing consoles, Vadis 888 frames for all on-air studios, pre-production studios and all news booths.

In addition to this, Klotz will also provide all signal routing for the Main Control Room (MCR) and a Varizone digital public address system.

"We are honoured to have been chosen again by Austereo and are looking forward to being involved in this exciting project. Through the close work between the Austereo engineers and our staff, I believe that we have come up with a system design which will set the standard for a long time to come" says Patrick Salloch, newly appointed general manager of Klotz Digital Asia Pacific.

(Jim Evans)

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Germany - The compact Dynacord D-LITE 1000 system is designed for virtually all mobile audio system users, whether entertainers, mobile disk jockeys, or small- to medium-sized bands, says the company.

With its compact dimensions and a total weight of less than 45kg, the D-LITE 1000 fits comfortably into the boot of a small car. The system, comprised of two Dynacord D 8 satellites and the new active PowerSub 312, brings a combination of high SPL, long throw, and broad, even coverage to the ultra-compact class.

The PowerSub 312's integrated lightweight 800W + 2 x 250W digital power amplifier allows the connection of additional units, such as two D8 satellites and a passive Sub 112 as a bass extension.

(Jim Evans)

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