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UK - The new i-Pix BB7 wide angle fixtures made their touring debut on the Doves recent UK tour, with a lighting design by Chris Bushell. These offer a 20 degree angle dispersion enabling an even wider and more comprehensive wash effect than the standard 10 degree version.

Bushell has used BB7s before on both Amy Winehouse and The Hoosiers, and is a big fan of the i-Pix brand, however Doves also gave him the chance to use i-Pix BB4 4-lites for the first time.

The six BB7s were attached to the top of custom VersaTube racks running along the back of the stage, just downstage of a white cyc. They were an important element of a heavily backlit show.

Bushell comments: "Their retro appearance fits perfectly with the band's style and visual requirements. And with the LED lightso

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USA - The Vera Project (Vera) is a Seattle music-arts centre run by and for youth. By engaging participants at all levels of music production and community organising, Vera strives to fulfil its mission to foster a participatory creative culture through popular music concerts, arts programmes, experiential learning and volunteer opportunities for all ages, especially young people.

This year's concert calendar boasts performances from singer-songwriter Maria Taylor, electronic musician Dan Deacon and neo-folk act Iron & Wine, among others. EAW is a proud sponsor of the programme and recently donated some products to this worthwhile cause.

In 2008, EAW assisted the Vera Project by providing a selection of LA460 full-range loudspeakers, subwoofers and power amplifiers. Following that, the Vera staff saw an opportunity to upgrade their stage monitors. "EAW was kind enough to

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UK - The 'musical' version of the iconic TV cartoon show SpongeBob SquarePants is touring UK theatres with a lively Technicolor show designed by David Gallo with equally funky, eye-catching lighting designed by Richard G. Jones - all controlled by a grandMA light console.

The UK tour, produced by Firey Angel, opened at Hackney Empire in East London, where the lighting was programmed on a grandMA full-size console by Chris Hirst. It was then transferred to a grandMA light for the tour, which is running with a grandMA ultra-light for backup via two MA NSPs (Network Signal Processors). A wireless access point allows MA's remote emulator software to run on both Hirst and the tour's console operator Simon Garwood's laptops.

The choice of grandMA was Hirst's. He has used grandMA on many previous occasions including for three German musicals and has completed the training cour

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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 - Specified by lighting designer Per Sundin, some 64sq.m of Martin Professional LC Series LED panels are being used as dynamic, movable set columns for The Visit of the Royal Physician (Livlægens Bes°g) at the Copenhagen Opera House, one of the most modern opera houses in the world.

Employed as an important element of the opera's overall scenography, the LED panels are divided into four vertical segments which can glide separately or be combined as part of a large scenic wall.

"We combined an 18th Century look with a very modern tool," Sundin stated about the modular LED panels. "We got both the historical theatre look and the latest modern look together and it works very well."

Swede P.O. Enquist's compelling book about one of the most dramatic episodes in Danish history - a love triangle involving King Christian VII - was adapted to

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UK - When mobile phone giant T-Mobile brought together over 13,000 members of the public in London's Trafalgar Square to sing along to a variety of iconic songs, video of the event rapidly became a hit on the internet. Five Yamaha digital consoles were there to mix the massed voices.

The 30 April Sing-along is the latest instalment of T-Mobile's Life's For Sharing brand campaign. However, the logistics involved in recording thousands of people singing along to recorded backing tracks - including Hey Jude, Build Me Up Buttercup, Is This The Way To Amarillo?, Baby One More Time and Total Eclipse Of The Heart - were considerable.

To deliver the demanding audio solution, some of the production industry's biggest names - including Britannia Row, Yamaha, Shure and high profile mixing engineers such as Dave Bracey (Robbie Williams) and

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Germany - Billed as The Global Show for General Aviation, the 17th annual AERO trade fair in Friedrichshafen ran from 2 -5 April 2009. The exhibition, said to be Europe's foremost show for general aviation, seems to be profiting at the moment from a brisk tailwind: With more than 600 exhibitors and 50,000 visitors, this year's attendance figures were its best yet.

Kamil Swobodzinski, Telex director of sales, comments: "Staying in touch with our customers means maintaining a close dialogue with the consumer. We had direct access to potential and existing customers at AERO, which brought new experiences, insights, and improvements. The design of our booth was also a complete success. Through such measures, we are translating our leading position in commercial aviation into the general aviation market. The overall balance was positive."

The Telex team was showing

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UK - Entertainment lifting specialist Hoist UK has signed an exclusive European distribution agreement for the Raynok Motion Control System, manufactured by Niscon Inc, based in Canada.

The Raynok Motion Control System is a control solution specifically engineered for the entertainment industry and boasts the ability to control all stage machinery from one PC-based control interface. The system uses a complete range of Raynok control modules to link to existing or new stage machinery and provides safe and secure communications with the Raynok control software.

Joseph Jeremy, president of Niscon Inc comments: "We initially became aware of Hoist UK at PLASA'08. It was my first time attending and I was impressed with the presentation and professionalism that was displayed on their stand.

"We are extremely pleased to have the Raynok Motion Control System exclusively di

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Denmark - Martin Professional is running a spring promotion on Martin ShowDesigner 5 (MSD 5), the new version of the lighting and set design software package. During the promotion, Martin is offering a 10% discount on MSD 5 until 30 June.

Also, for Martin LightJockey users, MSD 5 Live LJ is now priced at 249 Euros (approx. 340 USD) -more than 50% off the standard price. MSD 5 Live LJ features a new visualiser, modeller, model libraries, new sketch-up import and more to easily create your own scenes, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Trantec will showcase its extensive wireless portfolio at ABTT 2009. The spotlight will be on the Trantec S-D7000 - billed as the world's first professional fully digital wireless microphone system. Noteworthy features include 24 bit audio resolution, network monitoring for over 60 channels, and you can now benefit from over 20 user channels in an 8MHz TV band.

Trantec will also be previewing its new S6 wireless system which builds on the success of the S6000 range, taking the 19", 8-way concept to a higher level. Trantec has now incorporated a comprehensive user interface on the front panel allowing the user to configure and monitor all channels, with or without an external PC. Based on Trantec's technology, the internal circuitry of the S6 beltpack and handheld transmitter has been redesigned and upgraded, extending the frequency capability to a massive 72MHz.

The

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France - Stephane Quartana, manager of the Krys Opticals store in Wattrellos, a trendy suburb of Lille in France, wanted to add a touch of special contemporary sparkle to the exterior of his store, and make it stand out from other outlets on the busy shopping street.

He chose to do this with an Anolis LED installation which was designed and supplied by Anolis' French distributor, Ambiance Lumière.

Krys Opticals is the third largest such retail operation in France, with a reputation for quality service and great flair. The look inside the shop is high-tech and Quartana wanted to match the building's exterior with something similarly eye-catching. Following extensive internet research, he called Ambiance based in Paris, asking if they could come up with an energy-efficient, creative lighting solution and also provide all the technical services needed to make his store rock.

&

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UK - A new addition to the PL remote control range, the PL-11 is an IR receiver, which uses the proprietary PL-Anet Cat 5 plug 'n play protocol employed in Allen & Heath's iDR and iLive digital mixing systems. Built in to a wall plate backing, the PL-11 receives commands from the PL-5 hand held IR transmitter, which can be set to perform specific functions using iDR's System Manager software or via the TouchScreen in iLive mixing consoles.

The PL-11 IR receiver is useful where open or 'hidden' system settings need to be changed by authorised personnel, as they do not have any unguarded controls. 14 soft keys on the PL-5 can be programmed to manage functions such as levels, mutes, preset recall and MIDI strings for external equipment interfacing. iDR systems also provide tally / RS232 out, and IR protocol is contained in the System Manager software download bundle.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - The Davidson Centre For Space Exploration in Huntsville, Alabama is home to an original Saturn V rocket, the machine that launched the Apollo moon missions back in the 1960s. The massive 300ft-long craft is suspended from above, giving the museum's visitors the opportunity to walk underneath the space vehicle.

With the 68,200sq.ft museum also housing a 350-seat auditorium and commercial kitchen, the Centre has been a popular venue for events of all kinds since it opened in 2008. So when Sutherland Sight and Sound (Sheffield, Alabama) was called on to provide lighting for a presentation programme at Davidson hosted by Oakwood College, the production company wanted to make it a truly cosmic event.

Josh Johnston of Sutherland Sight and Sound employed fixtures from American DJ and its sister company Elation Professional. Inside the Davidson Centre, the lighting designer use

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UK - South London-based drapes specialist Cover It Up supplied the top-of-the-show circular kabuki reveal on the recent Dancing on Ice UK tour, which was produced by Phil McIntyre Entertainment.

Cover It Up's Elliot Stennett, production manager Andy Gibbs and the choreography team worked closely to find a solution for the big moment. The staging of this was conceived by Kim Gavin, and saw ice dance superstars Jane Torville and Christopher Dean emerge right in the middle of the ice and launch into their famous Bolero routine.

The kabuki measured 10m in diameter and was suspended directly below a truss of the same dimensions. The fabric was produced in sections, allowing it to be swiftly and easily cleared from the ice by skating stage hands.

It was stored in a bag that lived suspended in the truss for transportation, and had a double release mechanism operated b

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Eurovision Clash - The date of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest has been thrown into doubt. The UEFA Champions League final, the biggest match in club football, will take place on the evening of Saturday 22 May. 2010 marks the first year that the game will take place on a Saturday instead of midweek. The date is the same as the preliminary date announced by the EBU for the 55th Eurovision Song Contest. The song contest and the UEFA Champions League final are two of the most viewed television shows in the world. It would be almost impossible for the two events to take place simultaneously because many broadcasters are contractually obliged to broadcast both events.

UEFA announced that the dates for the Champions League schedule last December. Because 2010 is also a World Cup year, the Champions League final will not be moved to a later date. It is therefore most likely that the E

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USA - Over 140 Robe moving lights have been installed into the new 3800-seat theatre and two ballrooms at the landmark MGM Grand Casino at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut.

The venues are part of a two-and-a-half-year, $700 million construction project resulting in the new facility, adding 180,000sq.m to the existing Resort to which it is connected via a moving walkway. It includes four restaurants, 825 hotel rooms, 53 table games and 1400 slot machines.

The Robe fixtures are an integral part of a lighting design by Tom Roach, Foxwoods Resort Casino's lighting manager, and the choice of moving lights was the direct result of a shoot-out between Robe and another leading brand. David Middleton of Stage Lighting Representatives represented Robe on the project, and worked closely with lighting suppliers and installers Barbizon Lighting Company to provide the units for

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UK - ETC has reported "a hugely successful inaugural PLASA Focus", with the company's stand proving popular with visitors. The newly acquired Selador series created a lot of interest, with lighting designers excited by the opportunities the LED fixtures offer, says the company. The series is made up of three luminaires, fine tuned for strong colours, soft pastels or perfect skin tones.

Meanwhile, ETC's latest lighting control desk, Element, created a buzz, with associate regional manager for UK and Ireland Jeremy Roberts kept busy both days of the event giving demonstrations. The desk, which is based on Eos software, is a replacement for ETC's Express line of desks and is aimed at smaller theatrical venues and schools that depend on single desk operators or volunteer staff.

ETC's market manager for Europe, Erik Larsen, says, "We were delighted with the attendanc

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UK - Orbital Sound supplied a comprehensive sound system for this year's Flamenco Festival, staged at Sadler's Wells in late March and featuring six companies in a non-stop two-week programme. The system included the new d&b audiotechnik T-Series loudspeakers, with 16 x T10s and T-SUBS configured as a mix of vertical point-source standalone cabinets and horizontal mini line array groups. This is the fourth year that Orbital Sound has been involved with the event, working with resident sound technician Tom Hares.

The 2009 Festival kicked off with less than 24 hours to load in and test the system before the first performance, involving two teams working back-to-back to get everything in place. Tom Hares elaborates: "Every year is different with one exception - it's always demanding. On the Friday night before the festival started, we had 120 children on stage in Dan

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South Africa - More than 200,000 men from all over South Africa congregated for the Mighty Men Conference 2009, one of the country's largest annual Christian events, to listen to minister Angus Buchan, farmer, writer and missionary of Shalom Ministries.

For the first time, though, this year's gathering was also broadcast live on local and international cable networks, posing considerable challenges for the event's audio crew. The crew for the event relied on Aviom's Pro16 monitor mixing system as a solution for stage monitoring to minimise stage volume for the live broadcast.

"Since the event was being recorded as well as broadcast live around the world, we needed to ensure as quiet a stage as possible," explains Nik Fairclough, owner of Northwind Recording, system designer for the event. "All guitar and other amps were below the stage enclosed in gobos.

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UAE - April 2009 saw celebrations for the opening of Goboland Middle East MFZE. Based in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, this new branch of the Belgian gobo manufacturers has been established to serve the burgeoning Middle Eastern market and the demand for its gobo services across the busy architectural sector.

"The Middle Eastern market has been expanding exponentially in the past few years," explains Goboland managing director, Ivo Dielen. "The volume of business this has created for us has necessitated the opening of a branch 'on the ground', so to speak, so we can bring a more customer-facing service to our new clients here in the Middle East.

"The projection of gobo images onto the exterior of buildings is a powerful advertising tool which has become a tour de force here. The number of projects and advertising ventures which incorporate gobo projection has seen t

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UK - Sheffield-based Cloud Electronics has launched a new zone mixer levelled at bars, restaurants and hotels, even offices: any multi-use area where simple control of high-quality background music needs to be allied with flexible paging options.

The Cloud CX261 is a 1U rack-mounting audio mixer offering simple control of high-quality background music - including a front-panel 3.5mm jack input for easy connection to laptop, portable MP3 connection, or similar - with a host of flexible paging options.

Any one of six stereo line inputs can be mixed with one or two microphone inputs. Independent control of music and mic levels is provided and may be operated remotely. Whilst the main output is stereo, mono output -suitable for providing MOH (Music On Hold) to a telephone system - can be simply configured.

Either mic input may be activated by voice (VOX) or short-to-ground acces

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Italy - The new FaitalPRO 520 Loudspeakers feature the new woofers branded FaitalPRO 10FH520, 12FH520 and 15FH520 that are able to handle a nominal power of 600 W. These new models are inserted in the highly appreciated Five Hundred series and teamed with the established models 10FH500, 12FH500 and 15FH500, based on a copper winding voice coil.

The new woofers are conceptually derived from the existing ones and are intended to complete the range; they are the result a direct market request and FaitalPRO immediately replied according to their constant desire to improve - as always - the acoustic performance of their products.

Flavio Naggi, FaitalPRO overseas sales manager says, "We wanted to complete the Five Hundred Series with other professional loudspeaker models appropriate for two or three way enclosures, to be more open, to be cut higher at the level of a low-pass fi

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