Details
UK - Light Projects has worked closely with Kate Wilkins Lighting Designers to create and manufacture a dramatic lighting fitting for the Nandos Restaurant in Oxford.

The 'glass bottle wave' was conceived and designed by Kate Wilkins and uses Nandos' own sauce bottles to create a visual spectacle running along the entire length of the restaurant. This was backed up by smaller lighting fittings made from clusters of three or four bottles for individual tables.

The theme of the lighting was to complement architect Michaelis Boyd's scheme and to be clean, fresh, innovative and exciting - also with a strong emphasis on sustainability and recycling. This bold approach combines the creative and practical elements of lighting design and marries aesthetic flair with the use of LEDs for

Details
UK - Hadouken are currently touring with a range of Sennheiser microphones. Their front of house engineer is Darren Mullis, who has previously toured with Fightstar, Gallows, Funeral For A Friend, The Horrors and Just Jack.

"I've been using the Sennheiser e 945 vocal mic with almost all my bands," he explains. "I like its clear sound. Basically, I think they've got a better top and mid sound than their competition. Also, it's good looking for photo shoots. James [Smith, Hadouken vocalist] isn't what you'd call a pop singer. He's more of an MC. Before I switched him to the e 945, I was finding the mics he was using were getting muddy. It wasn't picking up everything I wanted and his vocal was getting lost. He also had the habit of smashing up microphones."

After meeting Sennheiser UK's Artist Relations Manager Phil Cummings at Glastonbury, Mullis also took d

Details
UK - This year's Reproduced Sound Conference and Exhibition takes place 20-21 November at the Brighton Old Ship Hotel, Sussex.

Reproduced Sound 24 - Immersive Audio will feature an array of papers from well known experts in the industry. Further information is available at www.reproducedsound.co.uk.

(Jim Evans)

featured content

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

Details
UK - Following a relationship with the 02 Arena extending back a decade (to its days as the Millennium Dome) experienced sound consultant and project manager, Eddie Thomas, has now extended his expertise to full-blown concert sound - with help from the Harman Pro brands.

Thomas's company ETA Sound remains under contract to 02 Arena management AEG, not only to provide auxiliary sound reinforcement for shows taking place in the Docklands complex's premier venues - such as the NHL and NBA events - but site-wide system maintenance and coverage for a raft of smaller events such as press conferences.

The original Millennium Dome and now both 02 Arena and the smaller Indigo2 have end-to-end Harman Pro systems (including JBL Vertec loudspeakers) operating on a CobraNet backbone running HiQnet. The latest addition to ETA's rental fleet has seen further investment both in JBL's premium

Details
UK - Kramer Electronics has announced today the release of its new VP-727xl In-CTRL Seamless Switcher. The VP-727xl is a new version of the VP-727 model and now incorporates HDMI inputs and outputs. The unit is designed for use in presentation and staging applications that require a preview option or that require seamless switching between inputs using special effects, cuts and fades, as well as in projection systems used in conference rooms, board rooms, auditoriums, hotels and churches.

The VP-727xl In-CTRL is equipped with dual scalers which offer preview and programme output channels and can switch seamlessly frame-to-frame between two sources. Dual scalers are a staple of staging and live production applications as they are required to perform "live" seamless transitions from one source to another.

The VP-727xl offers eight universal inputs each with 5 BNC conne

Details
UK - Summer 2008 has been a busy time for programming house grandPA. Following its launch in the spring, the company reports that its programmers have been involved in some major shows over the past months.

Marcus Kromer was seconded to PRG for Madonna's Sweet and Stickytour, responsible for grandMA support for the M-box Extreme video programming.

Tim Routledge spent his summer in Beijing as programmer to LD Durham Marenghi for the London 2012 Handover Ceremony at the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Paralympics whilst business partner Pryderi Baskeville had a busy summer between setting up the Bill Bailey tour in Australia, the Charlotte Church Show and Ronan Keating dates.

(Jim Evans)

Details
USA - Elation Professional has announced the winners of its 2008 Elation Education Experience Award (E3) for young lighting designers who focus on the House of Worship (HOW) market.

Josh Johnston of Sheffield, Alabama; Frank Meyer of Scottsdale, Arizona; and Yoshihito Takahashi of Brooklyn, New York were selected because of their dedication and talent in the field of lighting design. They will be attending the upcoming Worship Facilities Conference & Expo (WFX) in Houston for a hands-on education in House of Worship Lighting.

Josh Johnston was nominated by Lane Sutherland, general manager of Sutherland Sight & Sound, where Johnston currently works in light sales. Sutherland says: "Josh has a great desire to learn how to put together light systems. He takes the extra time and effort to make each show better than the last."

Frank Meyer was nominated by Thomas Casem,

Details
Sweden - Lab.gruppen has extended its C Series of network-controlled installation amplifiers with the introduction of the C 88:4.

Housed in a lightweight (12 kg) 2U chassis, the four-channel C 88:4 supplies a massive 8800 watts of total output. Up to 2200 watts per discrete channel are available at 2 ohms, 2100 watts per channel at 4 ohms, while 4600 watts are available through two bridged output pairs at 4 ohms. C 88:4 expands C Series capability to the largest performance installations. The C 88:4 is designed for powering sub-woofers, larger array systems and broader multi-power-level/impedance applications.

"The C 88:4 leverages a new generation of output device technology along with Lab.gruppen's engineering expertise to achieve astonishing power and versatility in a small form factor," states Tim Chapman, Lab.gruppen's head of marketing. "Compared to our p

Details
Australia - During their recent seven-stop Australian tour, Goldfrapp stopped at the Sydney Opera House on for a side show. Best known for their visual theatrics and contribution to the popularisation of electronic dance music, the show at the celebrated venue attracted upward of 2500 people. In the grand setting of the Sydney Opera House, Goldfrapp emerged as a six-piece band dressed entirely in white, and were fittingly accompanied by a 14-piece string section including two harps, on a stage set consisting of bunting and a maypole.

Sydney's own Norwest productions provided the PA system for the stop, as well as for Parklife Sydney and Parklife Brisbane festivals, where a 5000 strong audience respectively, came to hear headliners Goldfrapp among other international and home grown performers.

The Sydney sound design was executed by Justin Arthur, using Adamson's

Details
Austria - Located on the site of an original 16th century monastery in Wiener Neustadt, Backstage Musicbar went through many changes until in 1994 it opened as a bar. By 2006 new proprietor Christian Pinkernell had established the venue as a live music bar near the Austrian capital.

Sensing the need to upgrade the sound system earlier this year, he contacted Roman Wieser at eXact, the Austrian QSC Audio distributor. "I had known Roman for a long time - but was not familiar with QSC," he said. "At that time I had my eyes set on another brand until he persuaded me otherwise."

The 80sq.m room has been equipped with a pair of powered HPR122i flown above the stage, with an HPR151i providing the bass extension. These were installed by Rautschka AVL and ELA Trading.

"Both musicians and sound engineers are delighted with the quality of the new speakers,&quo

Details
Ireland - D.A.S. Audio continues its worldwide seminar series, and Ireland recently received a visit from D.A.S. Audio engineer Joan La Roda.

The two-day seminar took at the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlon, an hour away from Dublin. The event was organized by D.A.S. distributor Reynolds of Raphoe and was attended by some 25 D.A.S. customers and prospective clients.

The seminar's main focus was Line Arrays: How they work, detailing the technical features and applications of line array systems as well as an explanation about subwoofer characteristics and configuration entitled Subwoofer Configurations and Time Alignment. The theoretical section was followed by Arco, DR, Reference, Artec, Variant112A and Variant 18A product demos. Brian McGrath of Reynolds of Raphoe personally took charge of the demos and the D.A.S. systems presentation.

(Jim Evans)

Details
Germany - Ammar Fawzy is joining Telex as regional sales manager, working on CCS (Critical Communication Systems) in the MEA regions. Following Telex's growth strategy, Ammar Fawzy completes the sales team for this year and will report directly to Kamil Swobodzinski, sales director CCS & ACT for EMEA.

In his new position Fawzy will analyse the business in the Middle East and Africa, discover its potential, and develop the sales region to the next level, says the company. His last post was as product manager with Mediacast Fzllc in Dubai, where he provided solutions for post production facilities and broadcasters in the area.

(Jim Evans)

Details
Ukraine - To celebrate the 17th anniversary of the country's independence, the Ukraine organised a major event in the capital city of (Kiev). Ukrainian rental company Sendi saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate the powers of the company's newly-purchased DiGiCo D5 console.

Taking place in Independence Square, the open air event attracted over 150,000 people to formal celebrations and a military parade in the morning, followed by an afternoon and evening of live music. This consisted of three parts - traditional Ukrainian folk music performed by eight folk groups, a set by local ten-piece pop act Minus One and sets by five different Ukrainian rock bands.

Sendi's DiGiCo D5 Live 112EX console was used to mix both Front of House and monitors and was the first time a D5 has been used in the country. Configured with 68 inputs, these included nine channels of playback for the pop

Details
UK - The Electric Light Orchestra's extensive autumn UK tour sees a Yamaha PM5D at front of house, with an M7CL on monitors - supplied, together with the rest of the audio specification, by Knutsford-based VME.

The nature of The Orchestra's music means that mixing both monitors and the front of house sound is fairly complex, so the onboard effects and the saving / instant recall of scenes are proving extremely useful.

"I've got six main stereo in-ear mixes for the band members, a mono feed for drummer Gordon Townsend's subs and shaker, plus another stereo in-ear mix for him," says monitor engineer Happy Anders. "This is because, at the beginning of the second half, they do acoustic songs from their solo projects and Gordon comes down the front to sing. So he's got wired in-ears when he's playing drums, but a radio pack for when he comes down the front."

Details
Ireland - Specialist installation company Northern Light has fitted sound, lighting and communication systems at the new opera house in Wexford, south-east Ireland.

Built on the slightly extended footprint of its predecessor, the initial scheme for the new Wexford Opera House was developed by architects and building service engineers from the Office of Public Works (OPW), acoustic consultant Arup Acoustics and theatre consultant Carr & Angier. In 2005, the design team was completed through competitive tendering, with the appointment of Arup Consulting Engineers, Nolan Ryan QS and Keith Williams Architects.

Colin Cuthbert, Northern Light's managing director, said: "I was delighted that Northern Light was selected for the technical installation in this €33m (£25.6m) new build venue. Professionally, the project demonstrates the team's expertise and abilities extremely

Details
UK - The historic old church of St John, Smith Square, situated near Westminster Abbey in London, is one of the UK's latest venues to benefit from Robert Juliat lighting equipment.

Now a long-standing and well-respected classical music venue, St John's, Smith Square plays host to a varied programme of classical music throughout its concert season, ranging from choirs and symphony orchestras to solo instrumental recitals.

However, the existing fixed lighting grid and its rig of 25-year old CCT Starlet 1.2K fresnels - installed as state of the art in the early 80s - has long been due an upgrade to accommodate the increasing demands put upon them by the expanding remit of performances.

It was August 2002 when Roger Hennigan, technical sales manager of Robert Juliat's exclusive UK dealer, White Light, first met with Lighting Designer Mark Henderson to discuss the redesigning of

Details
Italy - Sound designer Andrea Taglia has specified and designed an L-Acoustics ARCS system which has been installed at the Parco della Musica in Rome, in the venue's 2,800-capacity Sala Santa Cecilia.

Acoustically, this project posed some major challenges. Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the building took 20 years to construct, and by completion the function of the different rooms had changed. Originally intended to provide stunning acoustics for large orchestras, the Sala Santa Cecilia has been drafted into service as a multifunction concert/convention venue due to Rome's lack of suitably-sized halls.

However its acoustic design, with orchestral use in mind, leaves Sala Santa Cecilia with a 2.5/2.8 reverb - perfect for symphonic music but impossible in a multipurpose room. It was this dilemma that Taglia undertook when contacted by Sonus Audio Services of Rome, a s

Details
UK - Entec Sound & Light supplied lighting and sound equipment with technicians for leading hair brand Toni & Guy's Mainstage 2008 Awards show staged at London Olympia Grand Hall.

Entec was working for JLP Events headed by Guy Kersey who handled all the technical production for end client, ESA Live.

The show was divided into two sections. The first saw the presentation of a series of Toni & Guy Achievers Awards, and the second part was a highly theatrical catwalk show, designed to illustrate the trends in creative hair design. Special guest appearances by LA based band Iglu & Hartly and hip-hop dance troupe Frank2louise also upped the excitement of the evening.

Entec pulled-in fashion lighting design impresario Simon Tutchener as lighting director. The rig had to light a double tiered set at the stage end, flanked by two sweeping staircases, with a revolve entrance in

Details
Awards News - Bandit Lites was named as 'Lighting Company of the Year' at the 2008 Parnelli Awards Ceremony. The annual awards event took place at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino on 24 October in conjunction with LDI. Rock & Roll legend, Alice Cooper hosted the event. Bandit president, Pete Heffernan, vice-presidents Richard Willis and Mike Golden and San Francisco general manager, Dizzy Gosnell were among Bandit employees to attend the awards ceremony and accepted the award on Bandit's behalf.

Comeback News - Led Zeppelin are planning to tour and record but without frontman Robert Plant. Bassist John Paul Jones told BBC Radio Devon that a new singer was being sought after Plant ruled himself out. The last time the band performed together was at the O2 arena in London in December 2007. Speculation has since been rife that the surviving members of the band, with Jason Bonham, son of

Details
USA - Barco debuted a number of new High End Systems lighting and control products at LDI in Las Vegas.

Making its worldwide debut were the Showbeam automated wash luminaire, and the Showgun 2.5 automated luminaire. Also making its first appearance was the DMX Processor 8000 for Wholehog software.

Showbeam features a jointly developed Philips MSR 2500-watt lamp source that produces 140,000 lumens of light output. A smooth field, soft edge illumination is produced with a new radial lenticular homogenizing lens system that provides the fixture with a special look on stage. The dedicated soft edge light has user changeable fixed colours, a variable CTO and a full CMY colour mixing system. The soft edge profile can be rapidly zoomed from 12 to 32 degrees.

Details
UK - PRG has announced that it has strengthened its specialist brand strategy in the UK by acquiring Essential Lighting Group from the Staging Connections Group.

PRG CEO Jere Harris said: "We are very excited about the acquisition of Essential Lighting which underscores our commitment to a specialist brand strategy in the UK. The EL business has been driven by an engaged and committed leadership team that will strengthen the management of our UK businesses"

Essential's managing director, Martin Locket commented: "We are looking forward to becoming a member of PRG's group of companies. The resources available to us from a global organisation will help us provide a wider range of products and services within our offer to our customers."

Essential Lighting will be keeping their name, logo and identity, continuing as an independent brand, focussed on the mark

Page 2260 of 3465

Latest Issue. . .