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USA - Stardraw.com, has appointed industry professional Tim Van Grove as business development manager for North America.

Van Grove joins Stardraw.com with 20 years experience in systems contracting and commercial AV. Most recently he was the director of sales for Antex Electronics where he was responsible for direct sales, marketing and product management operations for both branded and OEM product lines for the install and commercial sound markets.

Van Grove will be responsible for business development across North America and Mexico. In particular this means developing business channels including the rep network for Stardraw.com's branded products, as well as handling existing OEM business and seeking out new OEM opportunities.

Stardraw CEO, Dave Snipp comments, "Tim's

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Germany - The Journey Home World Tour 2010 celebrates A.R. Rahman's prolific career, including songs from Slumdog Millionaire as well as landmark Indian films Lagaan, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Dil Se, Rang De Basanti and Roja.

Monitor engineer Doug Kimball (Rob Thomas, Christina Aguilera, Goo Goo Dolls) insisted that the tour switch over to a complete Sennheiser package to accommodate the 12 wireless vocals, four wireless instrument packs, 38 wireless personal monitors, plus a plethora of conventional and unconventional instruments.

"In my opinion, there are a lot of mic manufacturers that make products that will do a passable job for a straight-up rock show involving musicians without nuanced technique," says Kimball. "But Rahman's show is much more than a straight-up rock show, and both he and the people he performs

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USA - Ross Ashton of UK-based The Projection Studio was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to be the main artist for the 2010 Pittsburgh Festival of Lights, for which he produced four projection works.

It's Ashton's first major work in the US and follows his installations at last year's event for curators Marguerite Jarrett-Marks and Christopher Oberdorf and another that he produced for New Year's Eve 2009/2010. The challenge was on to produce something that was completely different from anything in the past and that would engage the public as well as bring critical acclaim to the festival.

The Festival of Light was concentrated in The Cultural Quarter of the city, and the art works had to utilise existing architecture and spaces, which for projection purposes, were primarily confined to a series of flat walled buildings.

Says Ashton, "It was a great p

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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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India - With a 60,000-plus seating capacity, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi is the biggest venue used for the October, 2010 XIX Commonwealth Games. The stadium hosted athletics events and, most importantly, served as the venue for the Games' opening and closing ceremonies. The stadium is equipped with an audio system from Electro-Voice

The EV loudspeaker spec at Nehru Stadium comprises 132 customized XLC127DVX (line-array), 120 Sx300PI, 300 EVID 6.2, and 60 ZX5-60PI surface-mounted systems, all driven by a combination of 135 P3000RL and TG amplifiers to deliver an average of 107 dB and a peak of 115 dB. The entire system is remote-controlled and supervised from a single laptop in the stadium control room, all via EV's IRIS-Net software platform. The system's Auto Gain Control increases or decreases the sound levels consistent with changes in the level of ambient crowd noi

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Vietnam - The celebration of Vietnam's 1000th anniversary was held in Hanoi at the My Dình Stadium on 10 October.

With over 1000 players and dancers, it was a spectacular event. Guests included Hillary Clinton, USA Secretary of State, President Sarkozy, the Russian Premier Putin and many other international heads of state.

In Hanoi, visual designer Paolo Buroni and his team coordinated by Sabine Linder worked together on the artistic and choreographic content of the show which narrated the history and the beauty of this country through the four elements of nature using a large scale technical deployment of hundreds of image and lighting effects projectors.

The stadium and its surrounds were frescoed with images projected by 60 Stark Live and Revolution projectors that were chosen after a comparison with an international array of technologies and projection systems.

(Jim E

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USA - Four leading female artist all led the push into green lighting technology in 2010 with Bandit Lites as their lighting partner. Each of these artist chose to move toward a more environmentally friendly solution with LED technology.

Melissa Ethridge first went green with Bandit two years ago when tour manager Steve Girmant, lighting director David Hamilton and Melissa all requested for LED solutions that included GLP Impressions, GRNLite Moving Wash 3-120, and Pixel Range Pixilines.

Multi talented and long time environmentalist Jewel worked with lighting director Will Anglin and tour manager Sean Murray to become more eco friendly. To that end, they engaged a number of GRNLite PAR 3-36 fixtures along with their other equipment.

Wynonna and her tour manager Ken Craig challenged lighting director / production manager Keith Hoagland to come up with a great look while also

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Denmark - Martin Professional's new Fixture Beam Analyzer (FBA) uses a standard webcam to analyse a lighting fixture's output on any surface, making lamp adjustments an easier and more accurate procedure for a more uniform field of light.

The FBA consists of software and a set of three dimming filters in various grades that mount directly onto a Logitech Pro 9000 webcam. Light output is measured and a set of detailed photometric data is generated in real time. The data illustrates the level of uniformity of a fixture's output, allowing users to easily view the effect of luminaire and/or lamp adjustments on the field of light.

Viewing the beam in greater detail on a computer screen allows for more accurate adjustments and eliminates the uncomfortable need to stare directly into the field of light.

Not only does the FBA make for faster, more accurate lamp adjustments, it ensur

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Italy - Proel hosted its annual distributor meeting at its headquarters last month. This year more than 60 people from over 45 countries took part in the meeting and listened to the numerous speakers who presented Proel's plans for the future and its partnership strategies for each region.

The programme also included study sessions focused on Proel products, among which was a demo on sound systems and, for the touring sector, a presentation devoted to the active EDGE models and their applications.

The second day included a demo introducing new Proel and Sagitter products, and a session focussed on Proel's solutions for Public Address systems and installations.

The event closed with performances from endorsers who played instruments from Proel's proprietary brands: in particular, Massimo Zagonari for Grassi (brass instruments), Giovanna Famulari for Vox Meister (stringed inst

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Ireland - The Convention Centre Dublin (CCD), which opened in September, features a technical specification including four DiGiCo SD series mixing consoles.

Costing €380m, The CCD is Ireland's first purpose-built convention centre. It features 22 multi-functional spaces and can host up to 8,000 people at a time.

The three biggest single spaces are the 2000-seat Auditorium, a theatre which encompasses the top three floors of the building; The Forum, a 2721sq.m exhibition hall which can house over 3000 delegates for a conference or up to 2000 for a banquet and The Liffey, a 1650sq.m space which can hold 1800 conference delegates or 1200 banqueting guests. The latter can be divided into two separate rooms by the lowering of a soundproof wall from the ceiling.

The technical specification was agreed between developers The Convention Centre Dublin and consultant Theatre Projects,

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Australia - The Gold Coast's latest destination is The Envy Hotel, a uniquely different venue in the heart of Broadbeach. Formerly Brannigans, The Envy Hotel houses the Envy Bistro, the Envy Lounge Bar, and the Envy Nightclub.

Situated on the ground floor is the Envy Bar with its modern design including glass stairs to one side and dry bars. The Envy Bar opens out directly on to the very busy Broadbeach mall via large bi-fold doors that allow the wonderful Gold Coast weather to flow through the venue.

"Opening your venue to the elements is a wonderful idea but how do you pacify the sound police in such a built up area? The answer is the revolutionary Jbn Sound Ceiling," says the company.

"I've been dealing with Jbn Sound Ceilings for years as it is such a good product," commented Peter Shaw, managing director of Peter Shaw Electronics who specified and in

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USA - With over 20 years of touring experience with such diverse acts as Rage Against The Machine, Maroon 5, Cypress Hill, Collective Soul, and Weird Al Yankovic, FOH engineer Joel Lonky has seen and solved a wide range of performance issues, but few are so chaotic as his current gig mixing with Rob Zombie.

"The show is chaotic and unpredictable," he states. "I don't have the luxury of knowing what will happen next, so I needed a console that would allow me to stay on top of any situation that might arise. The PRO6 turned out to be the ideal solution."

Lonky changed to a PRO6 between tour legs, and not without some trepidation. "The decision to make a change mid-tour was not taken lightly," he recalls. "Our first show after the break was at Gibson Amphitheatre in LA with Alice Cooper - no place to have a 'learning curve day'. Fortunately, the

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USA - Almost three years in the making, Alan Parsons' 10-hour video series on sound recording is now available in a 3-DVD boxed set format.

Narrated by actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton, the DVDs are divided into 24 sections, starting with A Brief History Of Recording.

Technical sections come with custom diagrams and musical examples and include in-depth looks at EQ, compression, reverb, and delays. Recording equipment is spotlighted in Microphones, Consoles & Controllers, Monitoring, and Computers & Digital Audio, while a set of specific recording guides looks at Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, and Drums. A series of practical recording sections look at Recording Acoustic Guitar with Vocal, Recording a Choir, A Band Tracking Session, Internet Recording, and, most crucially, Dealing With Disasters.

Alan Parsons' career -

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Denmark - Martin Professional One-Key is a "future-proof concept in lighting software distribution" that eliminates the inconvenience of storing software licences in DMX hardware. This simple USB dongle can store one or more licences and protects the software from illegal copies.

Martin One-Key simplifies software distribution, improves protection and protects investments, says the company. All Martin Professional PC-based applications will eventually share this same protection method.

With Martin One-Key, adding new software is a few click process; no need to wait for a box to be delivered. In addition, Martin One-Key allows any user to try Martin Professional software for a 45-day trial period with full features.

Martin One-Key is currently bundled with the following products: LightJockey 2 Kit, M-PC-Basic 8 universes Kit, M-PC Pro 64 universes Kit, MSD5 Gold, MS

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UK - Lighting designer Mark Cunniffe called on Bandit Lites and UK C.E. Lester Cobrin for the new road show version of the BBC's Dr. Who Live! The stage version of this television favourite is part of the global move toward green technology as Cunniffe has chosen a fair amount of new LED fixtures. Among the offerings in the eco friendly green vein are Thomas Pixel PAR 90, GLP Impression, and Chroma Q Color Block DB 4. Nearly 100 different green LED fixtures are utilised, meaning less electricity is needed as well as lower levels of heat on the stage.

In addition to the new green technology, Cunniffe has called on some industry standards, including Martin MAC III, MAC 2000 Wash, VL 3000 Spot, VL 3500 Wash, Lycian 1290 spots, Lycian M2 spots, Thomas 8 Lights and a large array of truss and cable.

The entire system is operated daily by Marcus Robinson on a Grand MA console

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Europe - Since the beginning of May, American heavy metallers Manowar, Guinness World Record holders for being the loudest band in the world, have been performing their Death to Infidels World Tour 2010 around the globe. The team from management company Magic Circle Music, with Jeff Hair from Aggressive Sound at front-of-house, have been with the band throughout. Monitor engineer Achim Lanzendorf and his DiGiCo SD9, provided by production company B&R Medientechnik, joined them for part of the European leg.

B&R Medientechnik has a long-standing association with Manowar, having first worked with them on the VivaLive-TV coverage of Ringfest in Cologne in 2002. Since then, the association has developed, not only between the band and the rental company, but also with Magic Circle Music and God of Thunder Production.

Numerous recordings, festivals, tours and ambitious

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UK - The Pavilion Dance Centre in Bournemouth has just opened, with a raft of new equipment from ETC, including six Selador Vivid-R LED fixtures.

The kit, which was supplied by Audio Light Systems, also includes an ETC Congo jr control desk with fader wing, Source Four Zoom luminaires, two Sensor dimmer racks and a non-dim control panel custom built for the project by ETC at their factory in the US.

"We originally specified another manufacturer's LED wash lights two years ago," sayss Andy Stone, the theatre consultant who worked on the project for Drama by Design. "But by the time we came to place the order, Selador had been released by ETC - and they worked out cheaper and better. I like the light output and excellent colour rendering, as well as the smooth dimming and excellent range of lenses - so I'm busy specifying them on a number of different projects acr

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UK - Black Light has completed the installation and commissioning of a new auditorium dimmer system at The Sage Gateshead.

"The existing dimmer system at The Sage Gateshead was over complex and was proving to be unreliable," says Black Light's installations project manager Paul McGreal. "We replaced it with a simplified set up, using equipment that we knew were the best on the market in terms of its reliability and functionality." The main equipment used by Black Light's team comprised ETC Sensor dimming and Unison Paradigm control systems.

"We were very happy working alongside the Blacklight installation team; they were very helpful and efficient," say Clair Willis and Neil Colebeck, who led the project for The Sage Gateshead. "The product that we specified has, so far, proven to be reliable and much more satisfactory than the previous insta

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Croatia - The Robe Robin International Roadshow visited Croatia for an event organised by Pula-based distributor Sali Trade, who integrated the Roadshow with their annual Open Day.

Robe's sales director Harry von den Stemmen and technical support manager Ales Grivac were on hand to present the latest products together with Davor Vujic and Mladen Korac of Sali Trade.

This showcased the Roadshow to over 100 key players, included rental companies, lighting designers and programmers, venue managers and installation specialists from all industry sectors including a strong TV presence, with representatives from one national and three regional Croatian TV stations and a national Bosnian Serb station.

Over 10 major companies active in theatre and the arts attended - including the National Theatre from Zagreb, Split, Osjek and Rijeka, plus representatives from theatres in Slavonski B

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USA - The Zinman Co, LLC has unveiled its latest product for live entertainment and broadcast, "In Your Back Pocket", a collection of 400 HD loops for LED screens, digital lighting and HD projection; pre-rendered for MAC and PC based media servers. "It's not a replacement to your existing library, but a resource in your back pocket when you can't find "that" clip in your existing library," explains developer Michael S. Zinman.

"We designed every clip to be easily keyed, tiled and colorized painlessly, we've also rendered many of these clips to play at a slower speed, as most media servers do a better job speeding clips up," says Michael Zinman.

"Everything about In Your back Pocket will make sense to programmers. To our knowledge, this is the only collection of royalty-free loops that have been designed specifically for media server

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Japan - Clockaudio is preparing to increase its presence and profile in the AV and conferencing market in Japan, with the appointment of a new distributor Onkyo Tokki to represent the brand.

Tokyo-based Onkyo Tokki is a busy and well-known pro-audio equipment importer, bringing in several blue-chip brands from around the world, including EAW, Mackie, QSC and Powersoft, as well as Cadac and LA Audio mixing consoles. Earlier this year, the company was awarded the agency for Bi-amp, which was a persuasive credential for Clockaudio, as the products are often paired together in installation specifications.

Kyozo Ichitani from Onkyo Tokki expects the Clockaudio portfolio to perform well with Japan's TV broadcast companies and in the conferencing sector, appealing to both Japanese and overseas consultants. "Clockaudio has a very good reputation with the Japanese installation com

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USA - beyerdynamic is to debut the world's first wireless ribbon microphone at this week's AES Convention in San Francisco. The RM 510 interchangeable ribbon capsule for beyerdynamic's Opus 900 and Opus 600 wireless systems is billed as "a giant leap forward in ribbon technology and brings a new dimension to live vocal performances".

The RM 510's capsule design features an ultra-light, 3mm thick aluminium ribbon that "delivers spectacular frequency response and exceptional transient behaviour". A unique sound channelling technology provides the capsule with its cardioid polar pattern making the RM 510 the very first ribbon capsule perfect for use on stage with wireless microphone systems, says the company. In keeping with beyerdynamic's manufacturing philosophy, every RM 510 wireless microphone capsule is handmade in Germany.

By employing a sound labyrinth

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