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South Africa - Robe's StageQube 324 LED panels were a prominent visual feature onstage at the 2008 South African Music Awards (SAMAs), staged at the Sun City Superbowl and broadcast live on SABC1.

The event celebrates the best of South Africa's hugely diverse music culture, and this year, the 14th SAMAs featured 64 categories and was watched by over three million TV viewers.

The 24 StageQubes were supplied by Mark Gaylard of MGG, the first rental company in South Africa to invest in the medium resolution Robe LED panels. The lighting design - which also included Robe moving lights - was created by Robert Hoey, and the stage design featured additional low and high resolution LED surfaces and plasma screen columns. David Hossey of Strike Productions was production manager.

The S

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The Netherlands - Highlite International BV and SGM technology for Lighting have signed an agreement for the exclusive distribution of SGM in the BeNeLux. (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg) regions.

SGM has a wide range of professional products, including moving head fixtures, scanners, follow spots, colour-changers, lighting control consoles, dimmers, strobe lights and smoke machines.

SGM's VP of sales Franco Natalisays: "The synergy between our two companies will result in an excellent partnership which offers the customers and users of SGM good and fast service as well fast deliveries."

Mr de la Haige, founder and president of Highlite International BV says: "Highlite will give full support to SGM and their products. We are convinced that together we can offer an excellent product range to the Benelux market.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Cadac Electronics is showing the S-Digital audio mixing console for the first time in the Asia Pacific region, at PALM Expo China, 29 May - 1 June 2008 in Beijing. Cadac is exhibiting in conjunction with local distributor, Eastern Acoustic Development Ltd (EAD).

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 industry benchmark Cadac J-Type, with the operational and creative benefits of digital audio control.

Cadac's managing director, Bob Thomas, explains the concept behind the S-Digital:"We are delighted to bring our S-Digital console to the Asia Pacific region for the first time, after working with the world's best sound designers and operators to create a new breed of digital cons

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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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Korea - Following the opening of its Tokyo office last month, BBE Sound has announced the opening of a second office in the Pacific Rim, this time in Korea. Located in Seoul, the new regional base will support BBE's growing technology licensing business.

Heading the new office as general manager of the Korean region is J.C. Chung who, with 20 years experience within the consumer electronics industry, is well placed to strengthen BBE Sound's presence in Korea, says the company.

Chung said: "The opening of the Korean office marks BBE's commitment to better serve our local customers. With our knowledge of and experience in this region, along with BBE's renowned audio technology, we will be able to provide Korean CE makers with unparalleled solutions."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Jo-Ann Thorn has joined The Sound Division Group with a multi-functional role ranging from office manager, organising the company's burgeoning hire and production business, to other aspects of sales and marketing.

Thorn spent the past five years at Halo Lighting, following ten years working with AV and videoconferencing technology at BT.

"I've been aware of Sound Division's excellent reputation within the industry for many years and it's a real pleasure to be invited to join the team. I'm greatly looking forward to the challenges ahead," she says.

The company's managing director David Graham adds, "It is fortunate that we have been able to recruit someone of Jo-Ann's background and enthusiasm. With a range of services from party and event production through to top-level install it was vital that we enlisted someone with the organisational skills and indus

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UK The newly refurbished Regal in Oxford features a Martin Audio W8LC system, provided by Capital Sound Hire on a long term rental and installed by Greg Sexton's company, Beamlink.

The core system comprises six W8LC Compact line arrays flown each side of the stage, with a W8LCD downfall enclosure at the base. Two stacks of four Martin Audio 218x subwoofers, isolated on concrete pillars, provide the bass rumble.

Additionally the club purchased a pair of Blackline F12s (and an S15 sub) from Capital Sound Hire to ensure the DJs had the best reference sound up in the control booth. The venue also bought the combination of Martin Audio MA4.2 and MA2.8 amplifiers, which power the entire system. In the DJ booth is a Soundweb SW9010 'Jellyfish' remote, which enables switching of the Martin Audio EQ presets between dance and live mode.

Upstairs in the Elite Room (which formerly trade

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USA - Anchor Audio has introduced a new portable sound system which delivers high quality sound in a lightweight, battery-powered package. The AN-Mini weighs less than 2.5 pounds, yet delivers a powerful 109dB of sound which will project clear, intelligible speech to audiences up to 100 people.

The AN-Mini is available in a variety of translucent colors including black, red, yellow, blue or clear. Anchor Audio developed this package in cooperation with corporate trainers, school teachers and musicians who need a clear, powerful sound system and value the high tech, colorful look of the AN-Mini.

In addition to a wired handheld microphone, the AN-Mini offers an optional wireless microphone with 16 UHF channels and a range of 250ft. The wireless microphone options include a traditional handheld model and a hands-free model in which a headband, collar or lapel microphone is plugge

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Hungary - Budapest's latest fashionable night hotspot, Tabu features a substantial Anolis LED installation and Robe moving lights on the dancefloor, which have been supplied directly to the club's owners by locally-based lighting design and supply company Colossal.

The eye-catching interior was designed by Szabolcs Kövesi who also took an active interest in the LED lighting scheme, on which he worked with Colossal's Csanadi Csaba. Csaba had been involved with the club since its early planning stages and the bespoke LED design was optimised to suit the interior.

22 pieces of Anolis ArcLine RGB (a combination of Arcline 12, 24 and 36 units) have been installed on the walls and in the bars to give the club a special look and feel. Frosted glass is used throughout Tabu to maximise the brightness and washing potential of the lighting. The bar fronts all have special patterns which

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USA - The United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) bestowed one of its highest honours, the 2008 Harold Burris-Meyer Distinguished Career in Sound Award, on Meyer Sound founders Helen and John Meyer at its annual conference in Houston. At the same event, The Pearson Theatre, Meyer Sound's resident theatre at its Berkeley headquarters, was also given an Architecture Merit Award.

"The world of the performing arts has always been a passion for us, both personally and professionally," remarked Helen Meyer. "Meyer Sound has long strived to be part of the driving force in the evolution of theatre sound technology, and we're gratified by the recognition we've received today from our friends and colleagues at USITT."

Also at the USITT Conference, architects Marcy Wong and Donn Logan were recognized with an Architecture Merit Award for their work on Me

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USA - Today at 10:00 a.m. (PST), Digidesign will present part two of its five-part Live Sound Webinar series, hosted by Live Sound Manager Robert Scovill.

In his 30-minute presentation, VENUE and Pro Tools|HD or Pro Tools LE, Scovill will cover how to determine which Pro Tools recording system to use for various live sound applications. He'll also introduce viewers to the different Pro Tools hardware and interface options, archiving concepts, and more.

A total of five presentations are planned as part of the Live Sound Webinar series. The first, Introduction to VENUE and Mix Rack, was webcast on 23 April, 2008. The third webinar will take place on 25 June, 2008.

(Jim Evans)Robert Scovill

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UK - Stagecraft Theatre Services (STS), one of the country's leading experts in stage, sound and lighting installers, has welcomed new project manager Kevin Hughes to its growing Salisbury-based team. Hughes, who has worked in the industry for 20 years, has project managed audio and visual installations at events and venues throughout the country, including commissioning the sound system at the much-talked-about O2.

"2008 has been an exceptionally busy year for STS so far and we are very pleased to welcome Kevin to our team," said sales director Martin Palmer. "Kevin brings with him a wide-range of experience and equipment knowledge, which will be of great benefit to schools, theatres and performance venues."

Originally an expert in sound system installation and commissioning, Kevin now has a breadth of expertise covering sound, video, lighting and stage ma

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Germany - K & R Event, a company based in the Eifel region town of Strotzbüsch is the latest member to join Germany's Cohedra user network. After extensive testing, the two owners of K&R Event, Andreas Röder and Jörg Krest, opted for a Cohedra system comprising 16 CDR 208 mid-/high-range units and CDR 210 subwoofers each.

"We were looking for a light line array system with a long throw range, compact dimensions, and lots of power," commented Andreas Röder. "In the past we had worked mainly with an American manufacturer and were not HK Audio users, but with other companies, the support situation is often not ideal. Dependability and good service are tremendously important to us.

Our colleagues from the German rental company Triacs have used Cohedra with success for a number of years, so firstly we figured we are just 100 km from the HK Audio company headquar

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UK - Fightcase manufacturer 5 Star recently designed and built specially customised flightcases for US sound company Eighth Day Sound Systems to house two new DiGiCo SD7 digital consoles.

This follows 5 Star's existing arrangement to supply DiGiCo with casing solutions for the SD7. Eighth Day Sound, based just outside Cleveland, Ohio, ordered two of the recently launched digital consoles, and required additional features as part of the flight case.

The cases were based on the DiGiCo supplied model with additional bespoke features specified by Eighth Day.

5 Star produced the two special SD7 cases for Eighth Day Sound in a tight timeframe but on schedule. These were immediately dispatched to DiGiCo's UK production facility in Glenrothes, Scotland for onward shipping to Ohio, complete with the SD7 consoles packed inside.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Leeds-based High Technology Lighting is trialling new energy-saving eco-friendly lighting in partnership with supermarket group Asda.

The Middleton Grove lighting design specialist has installed one of the first pole-mounted external Symmetric luminaire LED lighting systems in the UK at Asda's Leeds city centre head office car park.

Results will be monitored closely and compared against Asda's energy usage and maintenance costs on its existing conventional lighting system. With output reduced from 460w to 257w, the estimated energy saving alone is 45%.

Graham Kemp, joint managing director of High Technology Lighting, said: "The system offers Asda the winning combination of reduced energy consumption, virtually maintenance-free ownership and high quality controlled light distribution.

"Our LED lighting solution also offers a user-friendly white light, which

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USA - Radian Audio Engineering is launching the company's new Professional Installation Series of speakers with the RC-500 two-way speaker system. These have been designed for "demanding church, theatre, restaurant and home theatre applications and bridge the gap between quality and price", says the company.

Housing a 5.25" woofer and a 0.5" tweeter the RC-500 has a power handling capability of 10 - 80W across an extended frequency range of 80 Hz - 19kHz. Nominal sensitivity is 90 dB SPL (1W @ 1m).

The polystyrene enclosure measures 8.26" x 7.48" x 11.2" (210 x 190 x 286 mm) and is weather resistant for outdoor or indoor applications. It weighs 6 lb (2.73 kg). The RC-500 ships with a steel swivel U-bracket that allows easy vertical or horizontal mounting on walls, ceilings, corners and other locations.

(Jim Evans)

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Germany - Gerriets, the supplier of theatrical systems and event equipment, reports a growing number of Tube Carbon Fiber Roller Screen systems installations over the last months.

Last summer Gerriets provided eight Tube systems for a show in Las Vegas. The systems wind and unwind at a speed of 2 m /sec (6.5 ft/sec), are DMX compatible and provide state-of-the-art safety features.

For a company event in Baltimore, Maryland, Gerriets provided, in cooperation with All Staging Unlimited, seven large Carbon Fiber Roller screen systems. "We linked all seven of the controllers together via DMX interface and a laptop to allow single button control of all Tubes", explains Mark Gentry from All Staging Unlimited.

In January, Gerriets installed two Tube systems at a popular night club in Cancun, Mexico. The screens are an integral part of the club's new live music show. Two m

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USA - To reinforce the need for safety in the use of rigging systems in all kinds of performance spaces, J.R. Clancy is offering instructional signs, batten end caps, index cards and arbor labels to remind operators to take every precaution and use counterweight rigging in a safe, professional manner.

The signs and labels are available free of charge to any facility with counterweight rigging, noted Tom Young, J.R. Clancy's vice-president of marketing. "We'll send you actual signs on sturdy plastic stock, or you can download files to print your own signs," he said. "Each sign has guidelines for operating the rigging system safely. While many operators are seasoned professionals with years of experience using a rigging system, it's important to have visible reminders to be sure that operators complete every step."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - airSound is a new listening technology that resolves fundamental problems associated with conventional stereo reproduction. airSound returns to the earliest research on binaural sound (stereo as we now call it), in order to reproduce uniform spatial stereo signals from a single speaker enclosure. By encoding stereo signals as direct and spatial information, rather than as separate left and right channels, it is possible to produce a single-point-stereo soundfield that is heard identically anywhere in the room. The airSound stereo signal is not produced by DSP processing, or any kind of artificial effect, it is true stereo sound, says the company.

Products using airSound technology are not constrained by the off-axis phase and frequency anomalies of left / right channel stereo; and the limitation of the true stereo signal to a fixed 'sweet spot'. For CI and commercial audio

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Russia - The recent renovation of the Children's School of Art in Moscow saw the almost total rebuild of the facilities, retaining only the original façade of the main buildings.

"The new concert hall is primarily designed for chamber music," explained Elena Shabalina, acoustic engineer with Aris-Pro, a leading Russian pro audio specialist. "We were asked to tender at the beginning of last year. At the time a proposal for a sound reinforcement system had already been devised by an external audio consultant, and so Mr. Vladimir Fomin from the Department of Culture of Moscow City, the body responsible for the School, asked us to review and update the original design."

"The system tender proved to be far more than was required for such a venue. This is a small concert hall ideal for Chamber music, and caters for audiences of approximately 200. Considerin

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UK - Shure Distribution UK (SDUK), a leading distributor of professional audio equipment, is delighted to announce the appointment of Dinesh Maisuria as their new Senior Service Technician.

Dinesh brings a vast amount of technical experience to SDUK. Dinesh has most recently worked at Sennheiser UK for over eight years as their key RF Service Engineer and previously at Audio Engineering where he was responsible for testing Micron microphones.

Dinesh brings a depth of industry experience and technical knowledge to SDUK and enhances the already strong service team. 'This new appointment will grow and develop the service team enabling SDUK to achieve the long-term objective of positioning SDUK as industry leaders in providing renowned and unique levels of service to their customers,' say the company.

'The appointment of Dinesh represents our commitment to continually improve,

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UK - Gloria Gaynor who had a huge hit with the classic I will Survive is currently embarking on a UK and US tour accompanied by the Drifters. Gaynor and her full live band have been performing around the country with a little help from a TL Audio Ivory series 5001.

The quad preamp was used for the keyboards on stage to help replicate a smooth retro sound. Keyboardist and musical director of the show, Goziam comments: "We used the TL Audio to get a fantastic sound from the keyboards as just going straight through the front of house desk wouldn't cut it, we have been using loads of retro sounds and the quad pre really helps it to sound warm and authentic."

(Jim Evans)

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