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UK - Summit Steel supplied a Kinesys automation system with K2 control and all associated trussing and rigging to fly and track five projection screens in the main presentation area of the 2009 Sainsbury's Our conference, staged at the NEC, Birmingham, UK.

Summit was working for West Midlands based drpevents, who supplied all other aspects of the event production, including sound, lighting and video, which took place across five halls of the NEC. When it came to the automation elements of the show designed by drpgroup's Dale Parmenter, production manager Steve Pamplin wanted specialists onboard, and chose Summit Steel for whom the job was project managed by Chris Walker.

It was the first time that Summit had worked with drpgroup. "Chris impressed us and made us feel very co

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UK - An Outline line array system provided by Britannia Row supported the return of Robbie Williams at London's Roundhouse. The Outline Butterfly VLA was again requested by both the BBC and London's Roundhouse for the 2009 Electric Proms season. The system comprised 12 CDH 483 hi-packs per side, supplemented by three Mantas 'Wide boxes' for each hang and 12 Subtech 218s, all driven by Outline's T9 amplifiers and controlled via Dolby Lake 412s.

The Butterfly has become the most specified system for the Roundhouse due to its high power and even dispersion together with its camera-friendly look, which is important for televised jobs from the venue. On 20 October the opening night of BBC's Electric Proms season saw the charismatic return of the one and only Robbie Williams who was backed by a 34-piece orchestra plus his own touring band. Legendary producer Trevor Horn was playing ba

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USA - The 20th Annual Time For Heroes Celebrity Carnival, featuring Disney recording artist Miley Cyrus and a dazzling array of Hollywood luminaries at the Wadsworth Theater/Westwood VA Grounds, raised over $3.1 million for the fight against pediatric AIDS.

Put on by the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation and sponsored by Disney, the celebration drew more than 80 Hollywood names and sports superstars including Heidi Klum, Mark Wahlberg, Dwyane Wade, Billy Crystal, Sharon Stone, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Tony Hawk among many others. Volunteering their time as 'heroes,' they worked carnival-style game booths and interacted with guests and families.

LA Sound of Canoga Park, California provided audio for the event, with owner-president Richard Ralke serving as system engineer, assisted by band FOH engineer Paul David Hager, who mixes Miley and the Goo Goo Dolls, and

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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 - Entertainment lighting supplier White Light continues to expand its staff to allow it to cope with the wide range of projects it is involved with worldwide. Coincidentally, a number of the new staff have come from the Central School of Speech and Drama, reflecting the industry-related training the college offers its students.

The latest recruit to White Light is Nathaniel Seekins, who joins the company as a CAD technician after completing a BA in Theatre Practice at Central, following on from majoring in Technical Theatre and Design at the University of Connecticut. "I was introduced to the company two years ago by lighting designer David Howe, who I was assisting at the time. Since then I've come in for console training and carried out some work for White Light's production team. I decided to join White Light mainly because of the company's excellent reputation in the

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UAE - Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque (also known as the Grand Mosque) has been awarded two more awards for its lighting design.

US trade body ESTA named ETC and Martin Professional winners of the prestigious Rock Our World Awards which recognise outstanding, innovative achievements by ESTA members. Only a few weeks earlier, the Germany-based Professional Lighting Designers' Association (PLDA) presented the Grand Mosque with a Recognition Award for Best New Project. Other awards bestowed on the Grand Mosque in the past have included the IALD Award of Merit, IES Award of Excellence and two Middle East Lighting Design Awards for Project of the Year and Best Public Building Lighting Project.

With lighting designed by Speirs and Major Associates (SaMA), over 1,200 fixtures - including ETC Source Four luminaires - are controlled by 21 ETC Congo Light Servers an

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Canada - Rental company Projecson chose RCF TT+ Series for the main sound reinforcement of the Osisko en lumière festival in Rouyn-Noranda in Canada. The event, held over four days, featured a roster of Canadian bands as well as international acts including Simple Plan and Scottish hard rock legends Nazareth.

Emanuele Morlini, RCF TT+ Product Specialist, flew in for the event as PA manager and worked closely with Projecson's staff and with Frank Teoli of Sound Distribution, RCF distributor in Canada, during the set up phase of the system which comprised TTL33-A line array modules, TTS28-A subwoofers and TT25-SMA stage monitors.

"We used the TT+ Shape Designer Software in order to set the DSP of the line array to obtain a long and evens coverage of the concert area," said Ghislain Petit, who runs Projecson together with Rejean Berube.

"We were very plea

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UK - Eat To The Beat (ETTB) part of the Global Infusion Group, supported the recent BBC Children in Need concert at The Royal Albert Hall. Following their work on the recent Take That Tour, ETTB provided all of the crew, artist and VIP catering backstage. "There was a fantastic buzz backstage and everyone was so pleased that it was such a resounding success," the company says.

ETTB director Mary Shelley-Smith said: "Any event of this scale and prestige takes a huge amount of logistical planning, hard work and effort from everyone involved. It is great to know that all that it's all paid off. It was a real pleasure to be a part of such an amazing night."

(Lee Baldock)

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Germany - Optocore Control v2.13 is now available for download at www.optocore.com. The most significant update found in this version of software is increased network capacity, which now allows up to 24 devices to be connected to a single Optocore network. This is a move which sees Optocore addressing the increasingly frequent requirement for a larger number of distributed interfaces, says the company.

"As we work together with leading members of the pro-audio industry we become aware of these demands quite early," states Optocore managing director, Marc Brunke. "Optocore is the specialist supplier of optical fibre network solutions and it was self-evident that we needed to find an answer. We are now very happy to present our next innovative solution - this new software opens up lots of new possibilities."

In addition to the expansion of the network size, O

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Germany - Ableton and Cycling '74 have announced the release of Max for Live. Co-developed by Ableton and Cycling '74 over a period of more than two years, Max for Live effectively opens up the Live platform, allowing users to create and edit their own devices.

Max for Live is a chance to join a society of makers and share ingenuity, and an essential product for all musicians and producers who want more than the conventional and predictable, says the company.

Max for Live includes a collection of premium instruments and effects, pre-made and ready to use alongside Live's native devices. But more interestingly, once the builders start building, even passive Max for Live users will potentially have access to "countless innovative new tools".

(Jim Evans)

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Europe - Two new products from the Roland Systems Group offer users of the RSS V-Mixing System a new level of flexibility and versatility, exploiting the capabilities of the REAC audio transport protocol to deliver a complete point-to-point 8x8 digital snake system, and unique I/O merging technology which streams from multiple REAC units back to RSS M-400 and M-380 V-Mixers.

The new RSS S-0808 Digital Snake and S-4000M REAC Merge Unit were previewed at the InterBEE exhibition in Tokyo, extending the possibilities for digital audio configurations in all kinds of installed applications, and reinforcing RSS's growing reputation as a pro-audio solutions provider.

The S-0808 is an 8in/8out compact, lightweight digital snake that supports multiple power options including battery power, embedded power over REAC and power over Ethernet (PoE). The inputs offer remote controllable pream

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UK - Following a highly-demanding and successful evaluation of Soundcraft's Vi6 during the recent iTunes Festival at the Camden Roundhouse, W1 Productions have now invested in their own 64-input digital desk, which will go straight into hire stock.

The Bury St. Edmunds rental company is run by Stuart Turvill, who as production manager of iTunes supervised more than 60 artists (representing all genres), who played live at the venue throughout the month of July. Incoming sound engineers used the resident Vi6s, which completed arduous duty cycles in both the FOH and monitor positions.

"The obvious reason for choosing the Vi6 then - and for purchasing it now - was because it is extremely straightforward to operate," says Turvill. "We had mainly used other digital brands until then, and although these have their strengths, the Vi6 is a genuine walk-on digital desk.&q

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USA - The Church of Redeemer in Baltimore, Maryland was erected in 1858 and abounds with that ornate architecture that brings with it a reverb time of well over a second. Intelligibility is less than optimal, whether acoustic or with the portable PA system used in previous years.

As the church's congregation has grown, the 400-seat venue has seen increased demand, including the addition of contemporary services to complement their traditional ones. As Joseph Schwartz of Baltimore-based HP Electronics explains, that demand eventually led to the installation of a new sound system centred around a pair of Community Entasys line array loudspeakers.

"With both traditional and contemporary services now being held in the chapel, the need for a versatile, high-quality sound system became clear," says Schwartz. "We had originally been discussing the idea of a small line

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UK - Production Services Ireland (PSI) supplied all lighting equipment and crew to the high profile BBC Northern Ireland Children In Need event, staged at the Kings Hall, Belfast.

The gig was part of the multi-city fundraising effort in aid of the 2009 BBC Children in Need Appeal, which resulted in donations of over £20 million, which will be used to fund projects aiming to help make positive changes to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.

Lighting was designed by BBC Northern Ireland's Jim Devlin and programmed by John Gallagher. PSI's project manager was Brian Reilly, who comments: "It was great to work with Jim Devlin on another prestigious event for BBC Northern Ireland. All went very smoothly for a production of this size, and the teamwork between PSI's staff and the BBC production team worked brilliantly."

PSI ha

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UK - Le Mark Group, the leading provider ofspecialist self adhesive products and accessories, have won the UKTI Passport to Export 'Most Effective International Communications' Award at the Global Opportunities Conference, held on 19 November.

Stuart Gibbons, Le Mark's managing director, received the award from Lord Digby Jones - UK Business Ambassador for UKTI. Gibbons commented: "Winning an award of this magnitude and receiving it from Lord Jones was a personal thrill. It is testament to the hard work and innovative methods that Le Mark has committed to building an envious reputation for great products and service around the world. To support this development the management team looked to recruit native speakers where possible. Le Mark is very proud to include employees from Eastern Europe that regularly use their language skills to talk to our customers in Poland, Russia

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South Africa - A Midas PRO6 live audio system is being used for a new production of Cats the Musical which has opened in Johannesburg. The PRO6 was specified by Mark Malherbe from Prosound, which has also provided the audio equipment for the show.

"The previous production of Cats in South Africa in 2001 used an analogue console, and I wanted to use this opportunity to not only go digital but to get the PRO6 into the country," says Malherbe.

Prosound's involvement in the earlier production was somewhat limited, with the majority of technical skills provided by System Sound of Australia, and the company used the experience to learn from them. "The level of preparation and dedication to detail by the System team was unprecedented at that time in the local theatre industry. Prosound took full advantage of this opportunity and has since adopted many of

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USA - Elation Professional presented its annual Elation Education Experience Award (E3) to Thomas Pendergrass of Rancho Santa Margarita, California, at the recent LDI Expo in Orlando, Florida. Elation Professional created E3 in 2006 to encourage young lighting designers to pursue careers in the House of Worship (HOW) market.

While at the LDI Expo, Pendergrass had the opportunity to speak with House of Worship lighting experts and learn more about the field. He also received a private tour of the Elation booth and had dinner with Elation executives.

Pendergrass was selected because of his dedication and talent in the field of lighting design. "We developed the E3 contest to enable young LD's and students to see the opportunities that exist in the House of Worship market," said Eric Loader, director of marketing. "Thomas Pendergrass' work is exceptional and we are

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Australia - Audinate reports that its popular training course Introduction to Dante Audio Networking has now been approved by National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA) for learning units (LUs), which can be applied toward the Certificate of Completion Programme and to maintain Electronic Systems Technician (EST) Certification.

Based on the broadening adoption of Audinate's Dante digital audio networking solution, there has been growing interest from installers, contractors, designers and manufacturers of professional audio equipment to deepen their understanding of Dante, says the company. Now attendees have the option to be recognised for developing their expertise in Dante by earning 4.0 LUs towards their certification programme offered through NSCA University.

The Introduction to Dante Audio Networking course is a one-day course for people that are looking to d

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UK - Orbital Sound has announced the success of its annual autumn training course, Developing Sound Skills for the Theatre, held at the end of October. Attended by a full house of 24 students, from varied backgrounds in the theatre industry, the free two-day course provided an informative and practical framework for anyone wanting to broaden their skills in theatre sound - across wireless communications, digital mixing consoles, show automation and sound system design.

Orbital's autumn course represents an important and popular aspect of its theatre-skills training programme, which features a growing number of courses during the year, complemented by manufacturer-specific training.

The course featured two sessions each day, with Day One covering wireless communications, using HMEs digital wireless intercoms as technology examples, followed by digital mixing desks, in pa

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UAE - The newest architectural marvel of the Middle East, YAS Hotel in Abu Dhabi, was recently completed with the launch of the first Formula 1 race held at the new circuit built around this hotel. YAS Hotel is the world's biggest LED project to date, controlled through RDM protocol by an advanced lighting control solution provided by e:cue lighting control.

The main design attraction of this five-star, 500-room, 85,000sq.m complex, is the curvilinear grid-shell covered with over 5,300 diamond-shaped steel panels, containing nearly 5000 RGBW LED fixtures, each controlled by e:cue's control server through RDM protocol. 32 e:cue Butler XTs, RDM capable, provide bidirectional communication between the LED lighting on the grid-shell, and e:cue's control server for status monitoring of LEDs. The system sends status reports to building management and automatically adjusts the intensit

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Finland - Finnish lighting designer Mikki Kunttu has designed lights, screens and sets for the hit musical Play Me, a new production staged at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki, based on a virtual reality game intertwined with a talent contest at the Q-Club.

At the core of the lighting rig are 18 Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs, together with some Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs. It is a compact sized rig for the ambitious visuality and storyline of the show, and as Kunttu puts it, the ColorSpot 700E ATs "really work hard".

The fixtures are hung above the stage in various upstage and downstage positions for optimal stage coverage, with some on the deck. Kunttu utilises most of their features and functions during the all-action show which flips between real and virtual worlds in a rich mix of music, visuals, acrobatics and choreography.

"Reliability, dynamics and real fl

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The Netherlands - Early November saw two more successful open days at the Utrecht offices of Robert Juliat's Dutch dealer, Lightco, in conjunction with TM Audio.

The open days were well attended by close to 200 visitors. "614 sandwiches, 75 litres of Coca Cola and 453 cups of coffee ensured everyone was well wired and able to benefit from the 10 seminars that helped make this event a great success," says Lightco managing director, Marc Kocks.

One seminar was specifically dedicated to Robert Juliat followspots. Visitors were given a master class in Robert Juliat technology and had the opportunity to ask questions and try out the units, including a Super Korrigan and Flo, for themselves.

The RJ Super Korrigan is a powerful 1200W HMI followspot with a 7° - 14.5° beam angle and a high light output, making it ideal for medium- to long-throw venues. The RJ Flo is

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