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UK - A.C. Special Projects has provided a multi-zone audio solution for the Da Mario Italian restaurant. Located a short walk from Kensington Palace in London, the 120 year old building's architecture merges Venetian and Gothic styles and was commissioned by Queen Victoria. In addition to the main ground floor restaurant, the venue features a basement level separated into a bar, a DJ dancefloor used for disco music nights and private parties, and a further smaller dining area.

When Da Mario wanted to centralise control of separate sound systems in each zone, they approached A.C. Special Projects to provide a multi-zone audio distribution system enabling independent control of the music volume level and multiple sources in each room via a remote panel.

A.C. Special Projects speci

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Germany - The supervisory board of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co has announced the company's new global organisational structure. Three responsive 'Business Divisions' designed for the target markets of Consumer Electronics, Professional Systems and Installed Sound will be supported by a strong corporate group with three divisions.

"With this structure, we are implementing clear customer orientation as part of our corporate strategy and will be able to act in a more decisive and target-oriented manner in the future," said Prof. Dr. Jörg Sennheiser, chairman of the supervisory board.

The new structure of the company consists of the following seven units:

Business Division Consumer Electronics, managed by Peter Callan

Business Division Professional Systems, managed by Dr. Heinrich Esser

Business Division Installed Sound, ad interim managed by Dr. Heinrich Esse

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USA - The Control Protocols Plug Fest celebrates its second anniversary with another Fest being held in January 2011 in conjunction with the Technical Standards Programme meetings at the Marriott Solana in Westlake, Texas.

As a result of the continuing popularity and growth of the programme, the Plug Fest will fill a larger space at the Marriott, and the event will be lengthened by half a day, running Friday, 21 January from 16:00 to 22:00; Saturday, 22 January from 09:00 to 23:00; and Sunday, 25 January from 09:00 to 22:00. The event, originally created to support ANSI E1.20 RDM (Remote Device Management) two years ago has since expanded to cover all CPWG protocols, including the popular ANSI E1.31 DMX over Ethernet protocol.

The Control Protocols Plug Fest will be an informal event, with the only people around to see the equipment work or fail being engineers and technicians

featured content

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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Malaysia - ChasWood Resources, one of Malaysia's largest multi-concept operators in the restaurant industry, uses D.A.S. Audio loudspeaker systems.

Felix Paul is ChasWood's sound engineer. Throughout the company's various properties, his responsibilities include consultation, design, and installation of all sound systems as well as system maintenance and mixing for live and special events. Paul recently completed the installation of new loudspeaker systems at several properties, including Laundry, Italiannies, Malones, and T.G.I. Fridays. He discussed each system.

"Located at The Curve in Mutiara Damansara, Laundry is a popular gathering spot with an emphasis on music - both live and background / DJs. For this venue, we deployed two D.A.S. Audio RF-15.64 passive/active two-way loudspeakers atop two Compact 218 subwoofers per side for the mains and, for stage monitoring, t

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France - Breton rental company, Koroll Sonorisation, recently invested in a total of 24 DX15 multipurpose monitor speakers from loudspeaker manufacturer, APG. Their first outing was for the cult Breton music festival, Yaouank, which was held from 2-21 November in the region's capital of Rennes. Now in its twelfth year, Yaouank is a celebration of Brittany's Celtic heritage and welcomes artists and fans of Celtic music and traditions from all over the world.

Proprietor of Koroll and experienced sound engineer, Philippe Guillo comments, "I decided some time ago that I wanted to invest in some new stage monitors to replace my old d&b inventory - I just hadn't found what I was looking for. I wanted a high performance coaxial loudspeaker that was nevertheless lightweight and ergonomic for ease of handling and transport. I hadn't really considered APG until I got a call fr

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Spain - The BAM (Barcelona Acciò Musical) Festival, which runs concurrently with the Spanish city's traditional La Mercè celebrations, attracted 120,000 music fans last year to a jam-packed schedule of free, mostly open-air concerts throughout the downtown area. This year's 18th annual BAM Festival featured substantial Lab.gruppen-powered EAW PA systems on the MTV-BAM and Electro-BAM stages at the Parc del Fòrum.

For the MTV-BAM stage (larger of the two), production sound company Barcelona-based Focus supplied an EAW speaker system comprising 12 KF760 Long-Throw Line Array Modules, four KF730 Compact Line Array Modules and eight SB730 Compact Line Array Subwoofers per side, all under the control of UX8800 Digital Signal Processors.

Due to the large listening area that had to be covered, Focus designed the system to project the low frequencies, taking advantage of the omni-d

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Japan / USA - Yamaha Corporation has announced a strategic partnership with Rupert Neve Designs, based on both parties involvement with Virtual Circuitry Modelling (VCM) Technology.

VCM is an exclusive Yamaha digital technology, enabling engineers to achieve "remarkable sonic performance" by modelling the individual characteristics of many of the components which contribute to the final sound of original analogue circuitry.

VCM recreates the sound and characteristics of several classic compression and EQ units and tape machines from the 1970s, which are available on most current Yamaha digital mixers. It was developed by an engineering group led by Mr. Kunimoto, a senior engineer who developed the first physical modelling synthesisers, the VL1 and VP1.

Rupert Neve has embraced Yamaha VCM as the first digital technology that can accurately reproduce his renowned ana

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USA - XS nightclub at Wynn casino and resort in Las Vegas has upgraded its lighting control system with Martin's M1 lighting desk. The M1 was an appropriate choice for club lighting console operator Josh Packard and his style of operation, says Wynn lighting programmer and lead lighting technician, Brian Gysegem.

"It was obvious that he needed more playbacks at his fingertips and the M1 became the obvious choice. The board was ultimately chosen for its small footprint and abundance of playbacks on the control surface. Josh is equally adept at creating and mixing music as he is operating and programming lights; his timing shines because of it."

The M1 has been designed with a single philosophy in mind - simplicity - and features a clean and easy to navigate surface. Its fast dual-core processor ensures a fast and responsive user interface, even if hundreds of playback

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Mexico - Over 170 Clay Paky Alpha 1500s have been used to mark Mexico's bicentennial and centennial celebrations. This year Mexicans celebrated both 200 years of independence and 100 years since the Revolution, prompting a wave of celebrations throughout the country.

The festivities culminated in two separate events held in the main plaza of the capital, El Zocalo. The Bicentennial, a two-day fiesta of light and music, was enjoyed by thousands of Mexican revellers, and broadcast live to millions around the world.

Production and creative direction were placed in the hands of a multi-national team with vast experience of global sporting events and ceremonies. Ric Birch, producer of numerous Olympics ceremonies, teamed up with creative partner Marco Balich of Filmmaster Group. Mexican LD Victor Zapatero was engaged as lighting designer for the main live events, while lighting dir

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Norway - The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Concert took place at the Oslo Spektrum in December, with the live show and broadcast once again handled by a sophisticated network of Midas digital consoles. Norwegian audio company AVAB-CAC deployed two Midas XL8 live performance systems together with two PRO6s and one PRO9 live audio systems, extensively utilising the AES50 networking to maximum effect.

The setup was similar to the 2009 event, with three stages facilitating the rapid changeovers required for the live televised event.

FOH duties were handled by two XL8s, one taking care of the 72-piece Norwegian Radio Orchestra, leaving the second console free for visiting engineers to mix their own artists, and for MCs Denzel Washington and Anne Hathaway. This year's stellar lineup included Herbie Hancock, Barry Manilow, Florence and the Machine, Jamiroquai, AR Rahman, Robyn and violinist

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UK - Four powerful Christie Roadster HD18K 3-chip DLP projectors provided the icing on the cake for a viral marketing campaign that took place over three days in a tunnel in Shoreditch recently.

Curious passers-by were treated to a visual installation, entitled Get Your Energy Back, which used the latest 3D projection mapping techniques to dramatise the technology contained within the new Toyota Auris Hybrid car. The resulting film of the occasion has proved a massive hit on social sites.

Creative advertising agency glue Isobar created and produced the event, generating 90 seconds of visual animation for the projection. The sequence showed the body of the Auris transforming and peeling back to reveal a glowing blue energy, which then escaped and interacted with various objects within the tunnel where the car was situated. The energy then returned to the car, bringing to

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Israel - London-based automation specialists Kinesys has sold the first variable speed motion control system into Israel, to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv based Stage Design, one of the country's leading rental and staging companies.

The sale consists of a 24 way Kinesys Elevation 1+ variable speed motor control system, with 16 Liftket 500kg 20m/min hoists and eight 2 tonne Yale motorised Beam Trolleys (plus eight 'slave' beam trolleys) - all converted for use with Kinesys Elevation 1+ variable speed controllers. For control, the Stage Design team chose the latest Kinesys K2 3D graphical automation and motion control software.

Stage Design is part of The Design Group, whose Eyal Lavee comments, "The Israeli market is always keen on new effects".

As soon as it arrived in Israel, the system went straight out on the Festigal 2010 Show, an annual children's extravaganz

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USA - As part of an experiment for the Moonrise mission, NASA set out to simulate the moon's landscape. Four decades after the Apollo astronauts first brought samples from the Moon's surface back to Earth for study, NASA has selected Moonrise for a Phase A study under the New Frontiers Programme for solar system exploration.

The Moonrise mission would focus on the giant South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on the far side, which lies between the Moon's South Pole and Aitken Crater, just 16° south of the Moon's equator. The SPA Basin is the oldest, deepest, observable impact basin on the Moon and ranks among the largest recognised impact structures in the solar system at nearly 2500km in diameter and 12km deep.

Since there is no atmosphere on the moon, there is also no light reflection. To create the same conditions indoors, they needed wall coverings that absorbed the maxi

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Singapore - Robert Juliat provided the big guns for two big occasions when its largest followspots were specified for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games this summer.The events were of truly Olympic proportions and demanded the giants of the Robert Juliat range, the Lancelot 4000W HTI and Cyrano 2500W HMI followspots.Lighting designer, Koert Vermeulen, principal designer at ACT Lighting Design, chose Robert Juliat followspots based on his previous experience with the fixtures. "I have recommended Robert Juliat on almost all of my big productions. I chose the Lancelot and Cyrano for the Youth Olympic Games based on a combination of past performance and on the photometrics data."No fewer than eight Lancelots and six Cyranos were supplied by Production Resource Group (PRG), with Showtec Communications Pte Ltd of Singapore coming to t

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UK - Blackburn-based lighting rental company HSL continues its busy autumn/winter season supplying lights, Kinesys automation, projection and LED to the Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark(OMD) UK and European tour.

It featured the band's original line up, a new album History of Modern and an energetic set comprising a lively mix of classic hits and new material.

It was lighting/visuals designer Andy Liddle's first full production tour with the band since he came onboard in 2009. He created an interesting mix of moving elements, LED and projection surfaces and lighting, to provide a contemporary scenic showcase for OMD - three decades of synth pop later.

All suppliers were invited to tender for the tour at the outset, from which HSL won the lighting and visuals package explains Liddle, who was also aware of some of the other work that HSL has been doing recently. "

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UK - The Audio & Music Production course at Buckinghamshire New University has been awarded a three-year accreditation by JAMES - the Joint Audio Media Education Services Association.

JAMES is the education and accreditation arm of the APRS (Association of Professional Recording Services), UK Screen Association and the Music Producers Guild (MPG) and the course at Bucks is one of just 10 courses awarded accredited status in the UK.

Plaques confirming the award are now on display outside the University's audio and music production suites and outside the Students' Union's White Room venue at the University, in High Wycombe, Bucks.

Warren Bassett, course leader, audio production, said: "We are pleased to gain another endorsement that shows the growing industry links held by the Audio & Music Production degree at Bucks New University. It will benefit our students going in t

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UK - Wakehurst Place, a National Trust property in West Sussex, southern England, which is managed by Kew Gardens, believes it has the largest Christmas tree in the UK. Wakehurst Place decorates the giant tree every year and hosts a number of Christmas events for the public.

Facelift Access Hire has been working with Wakehurst Place for more than 10 years now, helping to decorate the tree with lights. Work begins at eight a.m. when two Bronto machines are carefully positioned, with a team of ground staff from Wakehurst Place helping to load the lights up and begin the process of attaching them to the tree.

The day provided every kind of weather - sun, wind, rain, sometimes all at the same time. Fortunately, as the team are now so familiar with the operation they completed the work ahead of schedule, allowing plenty of time to take up the visiting journalists for a better view

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USA - On 11 December 2010 Warren Haynes began his 23rd annual Christmas Jam inside the Ashville Civic Centre. This event again hosted a who's who of the music world. Haynes premiered his new endeavor, The Warren Haynes Band, alongside artists such as Gregg Allman, The Steve Miller Band, Umphreys McGee, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Missing Cats and John Bell of Widespread Panic.

The focus of the concert is to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, which builds housing for those in need. Haynes has raised well over a million dollars for this cause and looks for ways to increase the stake every year.

This year's edition found production manager extraordinaire Chris Rabold assembling a team that included lighting designer Paul Hoffman at the creative helm, along with Bandit Lites and client representative Dizzy Gosnell. Rabold worked his visual art that included "a 'fest

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UK - It has been announced that, following a restructuring of the Stage Technologies' group of companies, Mark Ager has been appointed as CEO of the new holding company Stage Technologies Group Ltd. The company's subsidiaries include Stage Technologies Inc. in the USA and Stage Technologies Ltd and Delstar Engineering Ltd in the UK.

As part of this rationalisation Nikki Scott has been appointed managing director of Stage Technologies Ltd.

The Stage Technologies group continues to provide automation and engineering solutions for entertainment venues, live productions, TV and film around the world.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Systems integrator IVC Media, has installed a full AV system in London University's Senate House. The major installation was part of a multi-million pound, three year refurbishment, which has seen Senate House now re-open its doors as a leading London conference and event venue.

"We have been delighted to supply all the AV equipment required at Senate House, to ensure this magnificent Art Deco building has the highest class of facilities, throughout its conference, class rooms and public areas," says Ray Harding, chairman, IVC Media. "From video conference systems to large screens, projectors, multi input devices right through to the 250-speaker PA system installed within 21 zones over five floors of the building, IVC scoped, sourced and installed the entire working AV and PA solution."

Built in 1936, Senate House was London's first skyscraper. The bui

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New Zealand - In preparation for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Auckland's Eden Park has undergone a multi-million dollar transformation which includes a new three-tier south stand and a new two-tier east stand to replace the terraces thus increasing the crowd capacity to 60,000 from 42,000.

The redeveloped Eden Park, which will host the Opening Ceremony and Game as well as the Final, also features an internal concourse that will allow people to circulate around the grounds inside the stadium and world-class facilities, including food and beverage outlets, toilets and corporate areas.

As well as an update of facilities, the Stadium has had a complete overhaul of its sound systems by Bartons Sound Systems (BSS), subcontracted to Fletcher Construction to design and implement combined music, PA and evacuation systems.

BSS and acoustic consultants Marshall Day Acoustics used EASE and

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