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Italy - Proel S.p.A has announced the conclusion of an agreement with the Italian lighting company Lampo Lighting Designers for the acquisition of the Sagitter brand, together with the complete manufacturing plant.

Sagitter has been a well-known brand in professional lighting field for many years. Proel's statement says: "In Lampo, Proel has found a very valid partner to both monitor the manufacturing process and provide complete technical support through a committed service centre. The agreement has also brought with it the implementation of a dedicated and highly experienced R&D department."

"For Proel, this operation represents yet another large and important step towards the completion of the ongoing strategic plan for the professional Audio, Video and Lightin

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Germany - At ProLight&Sound, Kling & Freitag will be presenting two new products: The bass element Sequenza 10 B as a system supplement to the K&F Line Array Sequenza 10 N/W, and the digital network amplifier Topas, a system amplifier for fixed installations.

The Sequenza 10 B can either be flown with Sequenza 10 N/W systems or in separate bass arrays. It is suitable for various applications as well as for use as a conventional subwoofer on the ground. Various setups in the K&F SystemRack make it possible to control the 10 B as cardioide, hypercardioide, and conventional omnidirectional bass unit. An additional Speakon connector on the front of the system simplifies the wiring for cardioide operations and optimises the appearance.

The K&F Topas is a two-channel system amplifier with a K&F remote system specifically developed for the special demands of fixed installations. It i

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USA - Television evangelist Benny Hinn racks up a lot of miles taking his ministry on the road. In just March and April of this year, Hinn's troupe will have travelled to many cities including Porto Alegre, Brazil; Atlanta, Georgia; and Rome, Italy.

A LightViper optical cable/audio transport system from FiberPlexis a key element of the sound reinforcement services supplied by Apex Productions for Hinn's appearances. The LightViper system runs 64 channels of audio from the stage to the front-of-house (FOH) mixing position, the monitor mix position and the broadcast truck, which also records the events. Both the FOH position and the broadcast truck also send 8-channel returns to the stage via the LightViper system.

"There's a wide variety of sizes and types of venues we're doing, and some of them, like arenas and dirt fields, involve long cable runs," says Danny Huebsc

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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. Audio held its first Yamaha open day at the company's UK headquarters in High Wycombe on 25 February with great success, the company reports.

The event was organised in conjunction with Yamaha's in-house specialists and proved popular, with registrations exceeding all expectations and attendees travelling from as far afield as Slovenia, says A.C. The audience was a diverse mix and included freelancers, hire managers and students from the theatre, live events and education sectors.

The open day concentrated on demonstrations covering key features of the Yamaha M7CL and LS9 digital consoles, such as the Centralogic interface and built-in virtual effect and EQ rack, as well as in-depth training and discussions into advanced techniques and applications in live situations.

With half a dozen M7CL consoles set up in A.C.E.T.'s purpose-built demonstration and training faci

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The Netherlands - www.event1001.com is a new international industry portal and search guide for organisers and suppliers of events, congresses and incentives.

"Now that Event1001 is live, organisers and suppliers of events, congresses and incentives can actively experience for themselves how clearly and easily this search guide works," says a spokesman. "Event1001 is a platform where companies worldwide can be found easily on the map and can make use of each other's services.

As of now, suppliers and organization bureaus from the events sector throughout the world can register themselves and publish their profiles on the site.

The profiles of the participating companies and organisations are detailed, conveniently arranged and much useful information. The search function is completely free of charge to the user. With a simple search query, anyone wishing to se

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World - Kaiser Chiefs are back on the road, hitting the UK, Japan, and North and South America as they tour their latest album, Off With Their Heads. Committed Sennheiser users since 2005, the band are once again taking to stages around the world with a selection of Sennheiser equipment.

Ilias Andrianatos is Kaiser Chiefs' monitor engineer. Along with front of house engineer Chris Leckie, he took the decision to upgrade lead singer Ricky Wilson's mic to a Sennheiser SKM 935.

"We wanted a vocal mic with a flat frequency response and consistent on/of axis response that cuts through the stage sound and has a good feedback rejection," explains Andrianatos. "That is suitable for Ricky's voice. The mic also needs to be able to take the knocks and drops during his super energetic shows. The SKM 935, e 935 and the e 845 that previous front of house engineers befo

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UK - A 15-way Kinesys automation system was in action recently on the Strictly Come Dancing Live UK arena tour. This was specified by the tour's production director Andy Gibbs of producer Phil McIntyre Productions and follows on from the success of a six-way system that they hired for last year's tour.

The system consisted of 15 half tonne Liftket motors and Kinesys Elevation 1+ controllers, plus a Vector control system operated by Barry Branford.

Six bespoke scenic chandeliers, suspended from a box truss in the centre of the dancefloor move individually. Eight small mirror balls on single points around the outside of the dancefloor and a large 2.5m mirror ball right in the centre of the dancefloor were also automated.

(Jim Evans)

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Russia - The Children and Youth Theatre located in the West Siberian city of Kemerovo finally realised their long-standing dream for a 'Theatre in the Lobby' when Sistema, a Selecon dealer based in Moscow, supplied the required stage lighting for the project in the Autumn of 2008.

This unusual performance space was planned to be open four years ago when the theatre construction was completed, but due to deadline and other technical and design problems it wasn't, however all the electrical wiring and dimming channels were put in place.

With the aim of expanding the artistic potential of the Children and Youth Theatre the lobby windows and stairwells were darkened and cumbersome trusses that had originally been part of the plan were replaced with custom mounted Selecon Acclaim Fresnels. Supplied in Selecon's high temperature white paint finish which will not discolour over time

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USA - City Theatrical has launched the 7400 series Outdoor Use Enclosures. The new enclosures are available with NEMA 3R, NEMA 4, or NEMA 4X ratings, and with IP ratings up to IP66. They may be custom ordered in virtually any size and configuration, and all styles will be ETL Listed to UL Standard 508A under City Theatrical's ETL Shop Listing.

These enclosures may be manufactured in steel, stainless steel, or aluminum, and may be powder coated in a range of durable and attractive colours. City Theatrical can implement customer designs or provide complete ground-up designs based on customer application requirements. All of the new 7400 series Outdoor Use Enclosures are designed and manufactured in City Theatrical's Carlstadt, New Jersey factory.

Larry Dunn, CTI's head of engineering said: "The addition of Outdoor Use Enclosures to City Theatrical's portfolio means that we

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UK - The PAI Group of Companies - incorporating Vaughan Sound Installations, Lighting Technology Projects, PA Installations and Link AV - has been awarded ISO 9001 certification.

The rigorous two-day external assessment recognises the Llanelli-based company's work in the "design integration, supply, installation, service and support of bespoke audio-visual, lighting, sound and dynamic signage solutions to the leisure, retail, education, heritage and sports industries".

PAI Group MD Paul Adams says: "ISO 9001 status is a great validation of our systems and working practices. It's also a massive tribute to the overall vision of all the companies in the group in addition to the incredible teamwork of our full time project managers, administration, service and support personnel and regular sub-contractors. It will enable us to move forward with our current strategic

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UK - Adlib Audio and Lighting supplied full production and crew for Sharleen Spiteri's first solo UK tour. "Everyone's examining costs at the moment," comments Adlib's Andy Dockerty, also the tour's FOH engineer, "Providing both PA and lights we can be competitive without compromising the quality or service."

Dockerty and monitor engineer Marc Peers have both worked with Spiteri and Texas for some years, with Dockerty reckoning he's mixed all her live shows since 1993.

A Soundcraft Vi6 console was at FOH and the PA was based around a big JBL VerTec rig, chosen for its "flexibility across the variety of venues" they played. They toured 20 VT4889 elements in total, along with 12 VT4880A subs. System processing was via Lake DLPs.

Onstage, Marc Peers did his mix using a Digidesign Profile. He customised his own stand to hold the monitor screen sligh

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USA - AudioScience and UK-based Richmond Sound Design have announced that through the efforts of their respective technical teams, AudioScience's ASI6416 PCI CobraNet card now works seamlessly with Richmond Sound Design's SoundMan-Server Virtual Sound System software.

AudioScience has added the ability, through extensions to its ASIO driver, for multiple ASI6416 cards to be exposed as one ASIO device to SoundMan-Server. SoundMan-Server can now provide 999 simultaneous playback channels and 64 live inputs and 64 outputs to CobraNet using four ASI6416 cards and the new ASIO driver.

Loren Wilton, developer of SoundMan-Server, stated: "The guys at AudioScience are great to work with. I let them know what I needed and they delivered. I've had multiple interfaces running on two systems now for about two weeks, and there has been zero drift or dropped samples. All 64 channels fr

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UK - The National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills celebrated its first regional partnership launch in the East of England last week. The Skills Academy is tasked in satisfying training needs in the backstage and offstage industries serving the live theatre, music and events sector.

By 2017, there will be a need for 30,000 skilled technicians in the backstage and offstage industries. The Skills Academy is endeavouring to match training provision with employer needs, through regional partnerships to deliver training and a dynamic and influential membership network.

The consortia of leading employers in the East of England including the UK Centre for Carnival Arts, Aldeburgh Music, The Royal Opera House and The Mercury Theatre, Colchester are working closely with three of the founder colleges in the East of England, South East Essex College, Norwich City College and

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UK - London-based Wired For Sound has been using its new SADiE LRX2 Location Audio Workstation in an innovative way to both record and individualise quantities of source audio in a very short timeframe.

The company runs what director Johnnie Dymock calls "radio junkets" for various US television networks that are seeking to promote their new shows on radio. Typically, during these, DJs from a number of radio stations are flown to a relevant location (such as the Bahamas in the case of The Real Gilligan's Island, for instance) to record a series of face to face interviews with the cast of the show. It sounds simple enough, but the numbers involved mean that logistically it can be an impressive challenge.

"Our job is then to ensure that each radio station - and there can be up to 50 - goes home with a one-on-one interview with every member of the cast - plu

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UK - PSCo showcased the latest visual technologies at Imperial College, London this February, including a chance to see the Sharp 108" LCD and the 103" Panasonic plasma side by side.

The displays at the event included a 168" Infinite Plasma wall, 108" LCD from Sharp, 103" Panasonic Plasma with its ground breaking touchscreen overlay from U Touch Technology, all featuring Full HD content.

The 168" Infinite Plasma wall, made up of 4x4 bezel-less panels demonstrated the flexibility and impact of the product which can be built in any size or combination of screens. The new generation of screens offer improved brightness and contrast as well as a reduced seam gap, making them the most advanced video wall technology on the market, says the company. PSCo Burn-In Compensation technology (BIC), eliminates the visual signs of burn-in on the screens, therefo

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UK Early 2009 has seen 21 venues across the UK packed for Errol Brown's farewell tour. Engineer Ralph 'Rej' Jane manned a Yamaha LS9-32 console at front of house. Today, Jane works as a corporate sound engineer but, as Brown's long-term and trusted front of house man, he was tempted out of rock'n'roll retirement.

"I use the LS9 a lot for corporate work, but the chance to come out on tour for a month with it, using it every day, was one not to be missed." He says. "This will be my last tour as well as Errol's farewell tour, so using it in a different venue every day under touring conditions isn't something I'll get the chance to do in the future."

Supplied, along with the rest of the sound and lighting production, by STS Touring Productions, the LS9 had to be capable of fulfilling the rigorous front of house requirements, with demand for tickets so high and

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South Africa - LEDVision - a Gearhouse South Africa company - supplied 200sq.m of LED screen, microwave links and control for the fifth round of the 2009 A1 Grand Prix World Cup. This was staged in South Africa for the first time at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand near Johannesburg.

The seven screens included three mobile truck screens - one 40sq.m Chromatek 20mm and two Barco B10s - each measuring 10sq.m. There were also four modular screens - one at 40sq.m and three at 30sq.m - all made up from Lighthouse R16.

These were placed strategically around the massive track to offer optimum viewing for a close to 90,000 strong audience.

On top of the pit roof by the start/finish line was the first of the 30sq.m Lighthouse screens, with another on the trackside at Turn 1 servicing the grandstand opposite. Further up at Turn 2 was another 30sq.m Lighthouse, one of the Barc

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Germany - The Versio VSS 18 is a thoroughgoing digital system unit with integrated, direct-radiating 18" subwoofer and three class D amplifiers with prefixed 24 Bit / 48 kHz digital signal processor.

The analogue input signal is digitalised directly inside the input amplifier using an intelligent 24 bit AD converter and remains consequently digital to the class D amplifiers' output. The unit is powered by a wide-range switched mode power supply with PFC (power factor correction).

The directional (cardioid) dispersion is realised by special, digital controlling in the VSS 18 together with two additional passive 18" subwoofers of the Versio series. The cardioid dispersion in the deep bass frequencies efficiently avoids unwanted backward sound reproduction of the subwoofer.

K.M.E. will feature the new model at ProLight&Sound where the company will also feature its PAN

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UK - Specialist architectural lighting suppliers Architainment has supplied over 1300 Phillips SSL iColor Cove MX Powercore LED fixtures for an eye-catching installation in the refurbished atrium of Tower 42 in the City of London.

The main entrance and reception to London's tallest skyscraper has been rejuvenated by Paul Croft Studios in conjunction with Architects Design Partnership (ADP), and transformed into a dynamic, contemporary environment for one of the City's most iconic buildings. Integral to this is a new lighting scheme created by Light Bureau.

They wanted a bright, environmentally friendly lighting feature that would produce atmospheric and vibrant colour changing effects in the space after dark. The atrium lent itself to several lengthy horizontal linear runs of LED traversing the full width of the space.

Architainment was approached as specialist lighting cons

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France - Innovason reports that Tomas Ourednicek, who heads up Innovason's Czechoslovakian distributor, MusicData, has pulled off a fabulous result with his rally partner Miroslav Zapletal in their Mitsubishi L200 by coming seventh overall in the Dakar Rally.

Ourednicek is understandably delighted with his team's performance. "We are just amateurs, but we were the first Mitsubishi vehicle to cross the line, coming in ahead of the official Mitsubishi factory team AND the BMW factory team! Finishing in the top ten in an event like this is a dream come true."

Innovason's Xavier Pion adds: "What a performance. I'm in complete admiration of what they've achieved - when you consider that only a fraction of those who start even make the finish line at all, it puts into perspective the huge achievement represented by their seventh place - well done Tomas, we're all prou

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USA - Conductor specialist Switchcraft has broadened the type of products it offers by launching a top-level instrument direct box, which is named SC800.

Simple to configure and housed in a compact enclosure, the SC800 converts the outputs of high impedance line level audio devices and musical instruments to low level impedance balanced and isolated microphone level signals that can be connected to audio consoles, microphone pre-amps, effects processors and other equipment with three-pin XLR inputs.

Key features include Jensen transformer, dual 6.35mm (¼ inch) throughputs, 20dB pad, pin 1 ground lift, recessed I/O panels, non-reflective enclosure with laser-etched labelling and Switchcraft all metal connectors.

(Jim Evans)

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