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Germany - Two key announcements were made by the Roland Systems Group (RSG) at Frankfurt: first, the restructuring of the RSS team in the UK following the promotion of Peter Heath to the board of Roland UK, and secondly, the arrival of the new RSS M-48 Live Personal Mixer.

Roland UK has announced key changes to its executive team, with commercial director Tim Walter taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer, and Peter Heath stepping onto the board of directors in the newly-created position of sales director.

Signalling a show of solidarity with its dealer network, the board of Roland UK has, for the first time in several years, two directors involved in shaping sales strategies and relationships. Tim Walter remains in charge of all sales and marketing, and adds responsibilit

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USA - Smokey Robinson performed at this year's Grammy Awards as part of a Four Tops tribute, including Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo, and Duke Fakir, the only surviving Four Tops member. Onstage, the singer was a longtime believer in floor wedges when it came to meeting his monitoring needs, this until a meeting with the late Luther Vandross prompted his switch to Shure in-ear monitors.

"My production manager is this guy named Brian French, and Brian had tried to get me to switch to ear monitors for probably eight years," Robinson says. "I went to see Luther Vandross - who was a really good friend of mine - and he was at the Hollywood Bowl. Afterwards I went backstage, and he said, 'Smoke, let me tell you, the ear monitors, they are really what's happening. It's like singing to yourself in the studio. When you saw me, when I came on, I was barely singing, because I could hear

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USA - Meyer Sound has announced that the company will release high-resolution measurement data for its loudspeakers in the GLL (Generic Loudspeaker Library) format, enabling users of EASE design and simulation software to do system design modelling using Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers. The GLL format stores data in considerably higher resolution than the EASE SPK database used by previous versions of EASE, resulting in more precise predictions.

Meyer Sound's patented MAPP Online Pro acoustical prediction programme will continue to be the preferred prediction tool when designing Meyer Sound systems. Available at no charge to qualified users, MAPP Online Pro provides accurate predictions and valuable features including a rigging calculator, virtual EQ, and a variety of viewing options for system designers to anticipate and avoid coverage problems, eliminating onsite adjustm

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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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Italy - In one of the major announcements to be made at last week's ProLight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany, two of Italy's best-known manufacturers have joined forces. RCF Group announced at the show that it had finalised the agreement to purchase 51% of SGM Technology for Lighting SpA. SGM is a well-known manufacturer serving the entertainment and architectural lighting industry, with 30 years of experience and many prestigious reference projects around the world.

Gabriele Giorgi, president of SGM, said: "It is a great opportunity to for us to become one of the companies of the RCF Group. Ove the years we have built a very dedicated team and, together with our worldwide distribution partners, we have significantly expanded our international sales. Looking ahead we felt it was time to structure our company for a more demanding market and being part of a larger grou

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UK - Avolites launched the new ART 2000 PowerCube at the 2009 Prolight & Sound exhibition in Frankfurt during last week. Avolites says this new range is the latest step in its portable dimmer, mains and data distribution systems which includes its popular ART Dimmer Range.

Based on the technology of the ART 2000 Touring range, the ART PowerCube features 12 dimmer circuits, 6 combined dimmer and fixed mains circuits, 6 dedicated fixed mains and two 16A utility circuits, all contained in a compact flightcase that can be lifted by one person and securely stacked. It also includes two outlets on each circuit, and Ethernet input with ARTnet support to cover the varied control situations that this system will encounter, say Avolites.

18 local control fades allow for quick access to lights and provide for 12 memories to be replayed.The familiar ART2000 operating system features Softp

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UK / Germany - Announced at last week's ProLight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt, Mega Audio has been appointed the Midas and Klark Teknik distributor for Germany, with effect from 1 April 2009.

"We've been looking very hard at various factors affecting our distribution channel," says Midas managing director John Oakley. "Midas and Klark Teknik operate primarily in the mid and high end touring sound market. This unique sector needs to form strong personal relationships with both rental companies and end users. It made sense, given the ongoing success of the Midas XL8 and PRO6 digital systems and increasingly complex Klark Teknik products, to locate an independent distributor with specialist staff focused on the core concert sound and rental market. We are confident that Mega Audio is the best possible company to represent sales and support of Midas and Klark Teknik

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Bulgaria - The Vermont, is a major new entertainment facility for the city of Yambol in the historical region of Thrace in south eastern Bulgaria.

The space was previously a discotheque, but has been fully refurbished for the Vermont nightclub. To set new standards for the venue, the owners appointed Burgas-based ProAudio to design and install Community sound and DTS lighting systems.

"The main area of Vermont is about 500sq.m," explained Stanislav Petrov of ProAudio: "and we were asked to create a high energy focus on the main dance floor. For this substantial area, and the quality and levels we needed to create, we turned to Community's iBOX system which we knew would deliver on both counts."

The central dance floor is covered by four high power two-way 15" Community iHP1564 loudspeakers, each cabinet capable of handling 1500W program and deliveri

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Norway - Oslo Audio put its Milos MR4 roof to good use for the gala opening of the Nespresso Boutique in Oslo.

The roof was installed in a narrow street beside the coffee cafe-and-more outlet in downtown Oslo. Its purpose was to extend the boutique area during the spectacular opening event. Under its cover was a stage, an action-packed entertainment programme and VIP guests.

"We used side skins on three sides, leaving the wall facing the boutique open," explains Oslo Audio's Erik Berg, who project managed the event for the locally based company. The side skins were carefully hung to cover only the top part of the 9m high MR4 elevation, and a 2.5m high ice-wall was constructed to make up the lower parts.

The challenges included fitting the structure in around two 9mhigh trees located right where the stage needed to be built, which entailed the top canopy being put o

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UK - When St Thomas' Church Kendal needed to upgrade their AV facilities recently they called on the experience and expertise of local integrator Audioworks (NW) and following an outline of the Church's requirements Audioworks turned to QSC for an audio system solution.

The brief for the project was fairly simple, a good sounding solution that would offer excellent coverage and performance whilst remaining sympathetic to the church's interior. Martin Hodgson of Audioworks takes up the story: "Following initial discussions with representatives of St Thomas' we agreed that a line array would offer the most complete solution and I proposed the QSC ILA range as a cost effective and aesthetically pleasing option."

Once the specification had been agreed in principle Hodgson contacted Shure Distribution (who represent QSC in the UK) for assistance in the final design of the

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USA - In a continuing effort to reuse, reduce and recycle, Rose Brand will be earning money to be donated to The ESTA Foundation's Behind the Scenes charity by collecting empty printer cartridges and used cell phones and recycling them for cash credit at Funding Factory. The fundraiser continues Rose Brand's support of Behind the Scenes and the company's commitment to the environment.

Rose Brand's sales director Josh Jacobstein states: "We have a long term relationship with the entertainment industry and the hard-working people who make it all happen. With our recycling efforts we will create a benefit to Behind the Scenes and that's a perfect way of continuing our ongoing support of the industry and people we work with."

Deborah Sperry continued: "Rose Brand is on a journey to find the types of eco-friendly behaviors and activities that are genuine and sustaina

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Germany - Martin Audio introduced its new management team to the international press, on the stand of distributors Atlantic Audio at this year's ProLight&Sound in Frankfurt.

Taking over the reins from David Bissett-Powell, new managing director Anthony Taylor (formerly the company's finance director) paid tribute to the legacy of the previous management, which has laid a firm foundation for future successes.

R&D director Jason Baird backed this up by hinting at groundbreaking technologies presently under development while newly-appointed director of sales, Simon Bull, also sounded an upbeat note, having received enormous support from the company's global distributors.

Pictured celebrating (left to right) are Simon Bull, Anthony Taylor and Jason Baird.

Martin Audio will be at PLASA Focus - Leeds 2009 (28 - 29 April).

(Jim

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Sweden - Lab.gruppen has announced the appointment of Ulf Larson to the position of CEO. The appointment will take effect from 1 July 2009 following a hand-over period from current CEO, Tomas Lilja who is to take on a new challenge in the software industry after nine highly successful years at the helm of Lab.gruppen.

Anders Fauerskov, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of the parent company, TC Group, comments: "Ulf has many years of experience in senior management at Lab.gruppen. Most importantly, as far as the company's development is concerned, Larson has been heading up the business units developing the PLM Series Powered Loudspeaker Management systems and the new Lake LM 26 digital audio processor.

"Larson has considerable previous experiences as production manager in the defence industry and was a naval officer in the Swedish Armed Forces. I am confide

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UK - Hawthorn has announced the appointment of Karen Riley, Mark Russell, Max Nembhard and May Lee to its London sales team, joining Suzanne Allis, who has been working in the business development team for the past eight months. The new team bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to the business.

Prior to joining Hawthorn, Russell worked in senior sales and marketing roles with British Airways for 12 years followed by seven years working for high end corporate event agency, Attention To Detail.

Riley joins Hawthorn with over eight years experience working for live event technical production companies. Most recently she was sales & marketing manager for PSL Events.

Formerly sales manager for lighting console manufacturer Avolites, Lee's experience working with lighting buyers will be invaluable in selling the full Hawthorn portfolio, says the company.

Russel

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UK - British trussing and staging manufacturer Litestructures is offering an impressive prize, revealed at the ProLight&Sound Show in Frankfurt, Germany last week. Beating the crunch, the company is offering an exceptional prize for any overseas distributors - an Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster.

"With Litestructures, winning an Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster is simplicity itself. Just place a minimum of €1 million in orders between 01/04/09 and 31/08/10, with the award being presented at the PLASA show in Earls Court, London next year," says the company.

The company's presence at ProLight&Sound was very successful with visitors excited by the unusual incentive displayed in the centre of the stand. The main prize of an Aston Martin will be accompanied by other incentives during the period of the challenge including the opportunity to win two tickets to the Le Mans

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UK - Allen & Heath has added more flexibility to its range of installation products with the introduction of Euroblock connector versions of its most popular models.

The iDR digital series and GR05 analogue zone mixer are now manufactured in two versions, the original model with the existing XLR connectors, and a new 'ST' model fitted with Euroblock connectors.

"We are launching the ST models following feedback from customers, which has revealed that in many installations multiple insertion standard connectors, such as XLRs, that are time-consuming to wire up on site, are not required," says MD Glenn Rogers. " Offering Euroblock connectors will provide significant cost and time saving reductions for installers and contractors, as they can simply wire products straight in and no longer need to fit XLR connectors. It's a more flexible option for our customers.&quo

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Germany - At ProLight&Sound, L-Acoustics introduced the Rental Network, an international platform to serve the community of Line Source Array owners. The new Network replaces the V-DOSC Partnership which has been in existence since 1993.

The new Rental Network is launched against a backdrop of constantly developing technology, and offers its agents an opportunity to pool quality values as well as human and technical resources, and to benefit from Network synergies, says the company.

The Rental Network is summarised in the Network Charter, based on three working principles: The assurance of worldwide systems availability with inventory thresholds for various rental segments; The establishment of a new "K" universal standard to ensure performance and compatibility of systems; The guarantee of qualified technicians to ensure standards of excellence through education.

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Sweden - CAST Software was behind-the-scenes at the recent Elle Galan 2009 - one of the most illustrious fashion events in Sweden, held at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm.

CAST Software is the maker of two popular software suites in the entertainment and event industries - Vivien-Virtual Event Designer and wysiwyg. These tools were used to create the design for the show.

Three key designers worked on the project, lighting designer Mats Andreasson, production manager Ola Melzig and set designer Åse Persson, sharing wysiwygand Vivien files with each other to meet the demands of a challenging layout, creating a striking design while saving time and money.

The venue presented a few obstacles for the team, as Grand Hotel, which opened in 1874, was never designed for the range of events to be held within its walls. Automated lights, strobe lighting

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UK - When faced with designing a challenging audio system for a challenging play, sound designer Gareth Fry turned to Yamaha's M7CL digital mixing console as the ideal solution - and went on to win the 2009 Olivier Award for Best Sound Design. Making its debut in the appropriate surroundings of Edinburgh's Drill Hall at the 2006 Fringe, the National Theatre of Scotland's hard-hitting Black Watch was universally heralded as the best production at that year's festival - within just a week of the month-long performing arts festival opening.

From there it was taken on a world tour, including a critically acclaimed series of shows at London's Barbican, which saw its run end with winning no less than four prestigious awards at the Oliviers in March. Black Watch tells the story of one of Scotland's most famous regiments, serving in Iraq during 2004. Performed in traverse

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USA - Las Vegas-based stage automation specialist Fisher Technical Services Inc has announced the appointment of Jeanette Farmer Director of Projects.

An 18-year veteran of Cirque du Soleil, Jeanette played an instrumental part in the design and production of every major Cirque show in Las Vegas since the advent of Mystère in 1993, including her most recent role as lighting designer for Believe at the Luxor.

"Jeanette brings an incredible wealth of experience, innovation, and energy to Fisher Technical Services, especially in our key market of complex, large-scale productions. She was at the centre of many of the shows that showed the world how to produce the impossible, and having her at the helm of our project management will allow us to provide our clients with an unparalleled level of organization, efficiency, and support," said Scott Fisher, presi

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UK - Lighting Partners is now the exclusive distributor for Hazebase Products in the UK and Ireland. The distribution agreement, having been under discussion for a number of months, was finalised during ProLight&Sound in Frankfurt.

"The move to Hazebase was a logical decision for the company," commented Lighting Partners director, Iain Dennis. "Hazebase products share technology, components, and consumables with Smoke Factory so we already have huge experience in selling and supporting the range."

Uta Raabe, owner of Hazebase in Germany explained: "This collaboration with Lighting Partners in the UK marks a significant milestone in the development of the Hazebase brand worldwide. The UK Market is an important one for any manufacturer and finding a company which shares our ethos of first class customer service has taken us some time."

Coinciding

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UK - Presentation Services London Ltd (PSLL), the company which emerged from Presentation Services Ltd (PSL) following a pre-pack administration in December 2008, was itself entered into administration on 10 March by administrator MCR. PSLL had reportedly intended for a percentage of its turnover to be set aside to pay PSL creditors under the agreement made by administrators Tenon Recovery.

(Lee Baldock)

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