The Netherlands - Void Acoustics reports a major new club installation in Amsterdam, involving its signature Air Motion triple horns and the new Trinity X sub. The brainchild of successful Dutch event organiser and promoter Sander Groet, AIR is located on the former site of iT club and is packed with the latest audio visual technologies and innovative systems. The club features an interior design by Marcel Wanders, and can accommodate audiences of up to 1300.

Finding the right sound system involved a major search. as Sjoerd Wynia - one of the three directors behind AIR, comments, "We started out with a bare shell that fortunately already had a thick layer of sound isolation already in place - the architect obviously knew of the site's history. The sound system is the very hea

Chile - dBTechnologies reports that Chilean distributor Audiomusica has now extended its coverage into Bolivia and Peru, after considerable success in the Chilean market.

Armando Gotelli, founder of Audiomusica says, "We are very proud and honoured to announce the new alliance formed by Audiomusica and dBTechnologies to distribute dB products in the Bolivian and Peruvian markets.

"Audiomusica is an international company specialising in the retail and distribution of professional audio equipment and musical instruments. For over 20 years we have developed this business, becoming one of South America's leaders in the industry."

A demo tour of dBTechnologies' top lines will kick off at the end of September, incorporating Chile as well as key areas in Bolivia & Peru. This will give Audiomusica's current and future customers the chance to hear dBTechnologies in sit

USA - Audio-Technica has introduced the AT2021 Cardioid Condenser Microphone. Designed for home studio and live applications, the low-profile AT2021 offers an extended frequency response, high maximum SPL and wide dynamic range.

he microphone's condenser design provides studio-quality performance for vocal and instrument applications, and is "outstanding for acoustic guitar, overheads, piano and group vocals". The AT2021 is also available packaged with the AT2020 in the AT2041SP Studio Pack.

Corrosion-resistant contacts from the microphone's gold-plated XLRM-type connector, in addition to the mic's rugged design and construction, ensure consistent, reliable performance and durability for the user, says the company. The unit's cardioid polar pattern rejects pickup of sounds from the sides and rear, improving isolation of the desired sound source.

(Jim Evans)

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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

USA - Evadale TX's High School's drama department had to wait a long time for the resources to replace their auditorium's ageing sound system, but now the school has taken a major leap forward with the installation of a new Entasys column line array system from Community Professional Loudspeakers.

Brent Thornhill of Silsbee, Texas-based Southwest Building Systems (SBS) reports, "Their old sound system was a set of horn loudspeakers that had been in place for nearly 50 years. Coverage was pretty much non-existent anywhere off-axis of the horns, which meant most of the seats, suffered from poor intelligibility. It was pretty frustrating for them."

The original goal was to replace the horns with a distributed system of in-ceiling loudspeakers. But the age of the building resulted in an unforeseen snag. "When we had a look at the ceiling we realised it was made of a

UK - Apex is presenting a new version of its dBQ-zero EQ at this year's PLASA show in London, building on the product's success over the past three years.

The new dbQ-zero matches the previous product in terms of its 30-band constant-Q graphic EQ section on each channel, plus a filter section consisting of high-pass filter, high and low shelving equalizers and two notch filters. Apex has focused on improving inter-channel crosstalk and THD+N figures, as well as load stability with the implementation of updated line driver circuitry.

The dbQ-zero also features a new design of chassis for enhanced ruggedness, as well as a new and intuitive user interface. Two 10-segment LED level indicators, each with dedicated signal and clip LEDs, offer improved peak meter stability at low frequencies.

To simplify connection of the dBQ-zero in any application - whether on the road or in a fi

UK - A 'condemned' Victorian Grade II-listed church in Wales has been saved from destruction, renovated, and installed with a JBL sound system.

The Diocese of St Asaph, serving the Anglican churches in North-east Wales, had been looking to close Holy Trinity Church in Holywell, Flintshire. However, newly appointed Rev Canon John Lomas was confident the church still had an important role to fill within the community. And so it received a stay of execution leading to a complete quarter of a million refurbishment project.

The 200-seat church, with its vaulted roof, was originally built in 1871 to a design by Ewan Christian and extended in 1910. When Richard Hughes of Richard King Systems of Oswestry was brought in, he knew just how he was going to treat it.

"We have fitted out around 40 churches in this diocese; mostly using loudspeakers from the JBL range and recently the

China - Wireless Solution Sweden recently exhibited at the PALM Beijing show, where they demonstrated the new W-DMX Generation 4 products to a wide range of local Chinese and international visitors.

Niclas Arvidsson, CEO of Wireless Solution comments, "PALM is a very important event on the Wireless Solution exhibition calendar, allowing us to reach out and meet our large Chinese customer base. In addition to the Wireless Solution booth, the W-DMX range of products was shown at the ACE booth and at Prosperity Lighting. We were extremely pleased with the amount of support."

Wireless Solution's OEM customers were also out in Beijing in full force. Among customers exhibiting products with integrated W-DMX capability were Golden Sea with their Terbly range of moving heads; Yagang with Tarpon, Citycyc and Eventlite; Fine Art with their Fine 3; PR Lighting with their new 15

UK - Equipment produced by a North East company is helping to ensure the safety of the Tate Britain Art Gallery in London.

Attracting over one a half million visitors a year, the gallery, at Milbank in London, has joined the list of major buildings across the world using products from Sunderland-based Current Thinking.

The gallery, through its facilities managers SPIE Matthew Hall, faced the challenge of replacing its ageing voice alarm system and one of the key benefits of using Current Thinking's products was that it could be installed with the minimum of disruption to the fabric of the historic building.

Current Thinking managing director Anthony Smith says, "What appealed to the gallery - and to the installers VA Systems - was that our equipment enabled the use of the existing speaker installations at the same time as enabling the upgrading of the overall system to

Sweden - An Air Traffic Control training centre in Malmö has taken delivery of a new simulation system - specified and installed by Micro Nav, using rear projection systems and bespoke engineering from Paradigm AV in the UK.

The contract was awarded by Entry Point North (EPN) - an international Air Traffic Management Academy approved by the Civil Aviation Authorities in Scandinavia.

Although Micro Nav had not previously worked with Paradigm they were keen to collaborate when the right project came along. "We considered using other suppliers for this contract," says project manager Jackie Friberg, "but after meeting with various different companies, we opted to work in partnership with Paradigm for the delivery of these two large towers."

The requirement from EPN was that the display solution should be "at least as good" as the existing systems,

UK - Architainment Lighting reports its involvement with Funhouse Summer Carnival tour.

After working with production manager Richard Young and lighting designer Andi Watson on the lighting requirements for the two previous Radiohead tours, Architainment advised Young on lighting requirements for the video screen surrounds in Pink's first arena tour and provided him with the versatile LED string iColor Flex SLX product from Philips Color Kinetics.

When show designer Baz Halpin together with Young, was designing the set for Pink's Funhouse Summer Carnival tour and wanted to create an overhead stage mesh lighting canopy, they once again turned to Architainment to provide them with a quality solution.

This time Architainment suggested the new high brightness, tri-colour iColor Flex LMX, again produced by Philips Color Kinetics. Samples were presented to Halpin and

USA - BSR E1.17 - 201x, Entertainment Technology - Architecture for Control Networks, has been posted for review at www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php. The draft standard is a suite of documents that revise sections of the existing ANSI E1.17 - 2006.

The revisions include changes to the Device Description Language, the Session Data Transport protocol, the Device Management Protocol, and to various EPIs.The revisions are being done to correct errors and to add additional functionality to the standard. The review period runs through 23 August. The review is over when 24 August starts. Responses must be submitted before then to be considered.

ANSI E1.17-2006, Entertainment Technology - Architecture for Control Networks (ACN), is a suite of documents that specifies an architecture, including protocols and language, that may be configured and combined w

USA - The sanctuary at Davidson College Presbyterian Church in Davidson, North Carolina, has been fitted with a new sound system utilising high-performance, low-profile Renkus-Heinz Iconyx loudspeaker systems.

"The sanctuary is a really reverberant space, and we've always had trouble with people being able to hear spoken word clearly," says Rick Cardenas, the Church's technical director.

"It's a beautiful space, and the idea of putting a big speaker system in the middle of it just wasn't an option." The solution was found in a pair of Renkus-Heinz's Iconyx IC24-R digitally steerable line array loudspeakers. The steerable arrays are configured to provide focused coverage to every seat.

Working around the sanctuary's full calendar, Cardenas got together with college staff members to install the IC24-R systems into soffits on either side of the proscenium. T

South Africa - The newest jewel in VDP's global crown, Clapham Gold, opened earlier this year in Johannesburg. The sound system, designed and installed by Johannesburg-based Surgesound, is the fourth of VDP's South African locations to use the same Avalon Series components in the same system configuration. Other VDP Clubs include the Manhattan Club in Johannesburg and the Clapham Grand in Durban.

The sound system consists of four EAW Avalon Series DCS2 Bent Horn Dance Subwoofers and four Avalon Series DC4 Medium-Format Dance Club Loudspeakers in the dance floor area, powered by Lab.gruppen C-Series and FP+ Series amplifiers with all processing handled by EAW's UX8800. Four CIS400 Ceiling Loudspeakers serve the club's reception area, and four Avalon Series SMS5 Surface Mount Loudspeakers provide sound for the outdoor bar are and are controlled by an EAW UX8800 Digital Signal Proc

UK - In the heart of London's Buckingham Palace, The Projection Studio created a video show, featuring much archival World War 1 and 2 footage charting the history of The Not Forgotten Association.

The Not Forgotten Association was formed in 1920 to provide entertainment, recreation and leisure to the serving wounded and ex-Service men and women with disabilities. As part of its 90th Anniversary celebrations it organised a summer concert for 450 serving personnel and veterans in the Ballroom by kind permission of Her Majesty the Queen.

In the early planning stages for the event, the small team within the Charity decided that telling the 90 year story of The Not Forgotten was to be the format and, if possible, wanted projections within the Ballroom to enhance the various acts making up the concert. Major Sir Michael Parker, who has a long-standing relationship with the Charity

USA - The Entertainment Technician Certification Programme Council has confirmed that the Navigator Automation Class at Fisher Technical Services, Inc. (FTSI) has been approved as an ETCP Recognised Training Programme.

FTSI's four-day course gives students an overall view of the principles of entertainment automation systems and teaches the basics of how to configure and programme an automation system using FTSI's Navigator hardware and software.

The course is taught by Dana Bartholomew, a vice president of Fisher Technical Services, who has over 26 years of theatre automation experience. Bartholomew is one of the foremost experts on both Navigator software and practical installations. She is involved with the development of industry standards as a member of ESTA's Rigging Working Group. At Fisher Technical Services, she has been integral to the design, manufacturing, and inst

UK - Lighting designer Martin Dudley used Robe's new Robin 300E Beams and ColorSpot 700E ATs to light Supergrass as they played a series of farewell gigs, splitting after a lively 17 year career.

Dudley's company, Martin's Lights supplied all the lighting equipment for the tour. He has worked with Supergrass on and off for the last eight years and has LD'd the band on a number of occasions over the last two years when their regular designer, Matt Arthur, has been busy elsewhere.

He used this as a high profile opportunity to put the Robin 300E Beams through their paces, with eight units on the show, which were all mounted on flight cases in a line at the back of stage - in ACL style - but utilised for a whole variety of different effects.

"They are unbelievably bright," says Dudley, commenting on the Beams. He also used six of his ColorSpot 700E ATs for the shows -

USA - The Miami Heat welcomed their new trinity of superstars - LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh - with a glitzy bash that Fox Sports described as 'a spectacle typically reserved for rock concerts and award shows'. With 13,000 cheering fans packed into American Airlines Arena (10,000 more stood outside), the trio, dressed in white Heat uniforms, made their entrance on stage, then strode down a runway, as music and special effects lighting heralded their arrival.

Everlast Productions created the rock star-style visual atmosphere for the event, using DMX moving lights from Elation Professional. Twenty-four Design Spot 1400s, 24 Design Wash 1400s, and 12 Design Spot 575s were positioned on stage and at Front of House.

One reason why the Elation lights were chosen was because they could meet the variety of functions required at an event that was part concert, part pep rall

UK - Marl has launched a Citizen LED equivalent to the popular MR16 halogen light, offering "over four times better efficiency".

Available in the UK from Marl, the 4.5W Citizen CL-L251 delivers 290 lumens of light output at a colour temperature of 3000K with good colour rendering 'Ra85', equivalent to a standard 20W MR16 halogen.

The range is available with colour temperatures up to 5000K, delivering up to 425 lumens from 4.5W. The CL-L251 has a luminous efficiency of up to 106 lumens per watt, compared to 16 lumens per watt for a halogen light. Since the drive voltage of the CL-L251 is 9-10V, the LED can be packaged as a drop-in replacement for the standard halogen light.

In addition to the direct cost savings, the Citizen CL-L251 from Marl provides significant indirect energy and maintenance cost reductions. The LED light emits much less waste heat than Halogen,

UK Blackbox Recorder manufacturer JoeCo has announced that the new digital Lightpipe variant of the 24-track live recorder is now shipping. The BBR-1A enables capture of multi-channel audio from a digital mixing console that supports Lightpipe (TOSlink) inputs and outputs.

Three eight-channel Lightpipe inputs can be connected from the console to the recorder, with the signal returned to the console via three Lightpipe outputs. This particular i/o format limits 24-channel recording to either 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, although it can record 12 channels at higher sample rates using the SMUX2 protocol. However, the unit still has the complete analogue i/o functionality of the unbalanced BBR-1 version for situations where use of a Lightpipe interface is not possible. This makes the full 96 kHz facility available in the analogue domain.

All other standard Blackbox Recorder features such a

Serbia - Production company Studio Berar deployed a full JBL VerTec line array system for the 2010 Exit Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia. The festival, which is one of Europe's largest and most popular every summer, took place 8-11 July at the historic and picturesque Petrovaradin fortress near the Danube River, drawing 165,000 music fans from around the world over four days. Studio Berar was awarded contracts to support three of the largest stages of the festival.

More than 500 artists performed on 20 different stages during the event, which was recently voted 'Best European Festival' by UK Festival Awards according to Yourope, the European Association of the continent's 40 largest festivals. This year's Exit performance line-up included Faith No More, Chemical Brothers, David Guetta, Missy Elliott, Placebo, Mika, LCD Soundsystem, Royksopp and Crystal Casteles.

The

Bulgaria TV station Nova TV, part of the Swedish group MTG, has transformed its audio capabilities in live news and sports applications, thanks to two Studer OnAir 3000 consoles.

According to Vesselin Todorov, president of Bulgarian music company Factor TC, Bulgarian television has always been notorious for its poor sound quality, but the installation of two Studer OnAir 3000 broadcast consoles into Nova TV has broken that conception; it is now the best-equipped TV station in Bulgaria.

More often than not, the OnAir 3000 is utilised in radio stations, but Dobromir Georgiev, systems support engineer at Nova TV, believes it to be the perfect choice for live TV broadcast. "The 'Touch'n'Action' user interface is what makes Studer the best, because it's just so easy to use," he said. "Having the touch screen there in front of you means you can access all of the funct

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