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Germany - Portuguese acoustic solutions manufacturer Vicoustic brings an array of products to this year's Frankfurt Musikmesse. Recent releases featuring at the show include the Poly Fuser QRD and Visquare acoustic panels, as well as Iso Wall, the company's first decorative acoustic wallpaper.

The design of Vicoustic's solid-wood Poly Fuser QRD combines a quadratic residue sequence with a curve, creating a diffusion pattern that will effectively work on frequencies between 400 Hz and 5 kHz, breaking up strong reflection waves and flutter-echo effects. Suitablefor hi-fi rooms, houses of worship, conference centres and music rehearsal spaces, Poly Fuser QRD is designed to create a sense of space without over-deadening the room acoustics, says the company.

Vicoustic's new Visquare

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Germany - CAST Software is promoting three key products at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt next month.

The PLASA Innovation Award-winning BlackTrax will be shown with a display whereby the entire CAST booth will serve as a stage to show the full capabilities of the system. BlackTrax is a hardware motion tracking system for streaming positional data for people and objects in realtime. BlackTrax is designed to work either on a standalone basis, for the coordination of lighting, sound or other position-sensitive moving objects, or with CAST's game-changing BlackBox system of multi-directional high-speed control coordination.

To fully demonstrate the communications power of BlackBox, CAST has invited entertainment motion control systems manufacturer Niscon and Hoist UK to bring a 3D performer flying system to the stand.

The patented BlackTrax system works using a proprietary very

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UK - Allen & Heath has unveiled the latest offering from its range of Xone headphones, the XD-20 in-ear monitors. Complementing Xone XD-53 and XD-40 professional DJ headphones, the XD-20s provide a set of lightweight headphones designed for track browsing and replay.

The XD-20's acoustic properties have been optimised for electronic music reproduction, providing extended bass and crisp, detailed highs, says the company. They are also designed for comfort, with lightweight construction, soft ear seals, and "excellent noise isolation".

Xone design manager, Andy Rigby-Jones, comments, "Our professional Xone monitoring headphones have earned the respect of some of the world's most renowned DJs. With the XD-20s, we wanted to offer off duty DJs - or any user - a pair of quality compact headphones designed for electronic music reproduction. We were determined to create

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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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USA - As the lighting designer for the Professional Bull Riders Tour (PBR), Nelson Meeks faces some big challenges keeping his gear running smoothly during the PBR's intense 10-month national touring schedule.

Not only do the lighting products used on the PBR tour have to be tough enough to withstand flying soil and debris, they have a wide range of other demands placed on them too, says Meeks. The lighting must be "studio-friendly" enough to provide illumination for the sport's weekly televised events, as well as for photo and video shoots. Additionally, it must be able to light up live musical performances and guest artists that are part of the entertainment at PBR shows.

So when he expanded his rig for the 2011 tour, Meeks wanted lighting products that were both tough and versatile and opted for Elation Professional.

The PBR had used Elation light fixtures in th

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Germany - At this year's Prolight+Sound Studiomaster will launch its revamped Horizon 2012, a powered mixer.

The new Horizon 2012 sees the rebirth of the Horizon series, massively successful throughout the 1990s. Building on the heritage of the original Horizon mixers, the Horizon 2012 features new standards of portability, power, features and versatility, says the company.

The functional design incorporates carry straps, removable control cover and a retractable panel to angle the mixer for the best working position. The 12 input mixer can be used free standing or rackmounted. All mic/line input channels feature the VMS optical compressor, Studiomaster three-band EQ, with sweepable mid, and a total of four AUX sends. 60mm smooth faders, Mute, PFL buttons, and SIGNAL and PEAK LEDs complete the channel strip. Like the original Horizon powered mixers, a combined stereo and mic i

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UK - West London-based lighting and sound rental house Entec is supplying lighting, rigging and part of the visuals package, including a new - and the first in the UK - Green Hippo Grasshopper HD media server - to the current Australian Pink Floyd Show tour.

The band's lighting designer is Phil White and Entec has been involved with supplying the band since 2004.

Says Entec's Noreen O'Riordan, "We are very pleased with the evolving seven-year relationship we've had with the band and crew on this show. Every night each department delivers a high quality, faultless performance with a consistency that is very hard to beat - no wonder they have stolen the hearts of Pink Floyd fans worldwide.

The lighting rig design is based on Pink Floyd's seminal 1994 Pulse tour and the visuals element of the show utilizes both 3D and 2D projections, featuring a completely new set o

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Italy - Clay Paky was a leading player in the 2011 edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, which has been the biggest music event on Italian television now for over 60 years.

A total of 100 Clay Paky moving heads, including Alpha Profile 1500s, Alpha Profile 1200s, Alpha Beam 700s and Alpha Beam 300s, were installed around the whole theatre stage, to set off the artists' performances, together with the imposing LED wall.

The scenery, once again designed by architect Gaetano Castelli, had a futuristic appearance. The classic staircase was replaced by a long spiral ramp that looked almost like the course of a video game. It conveyed the message that "tradition and modernity merge at Sanremo and set trends".

Work on the set and fittings started back in November and entailed the services of specialised scenery technicians and riggers. The result was one of the largest s

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UK - Reopening in 1984 and including approximately 50% of the original site, the Liverpool Cavern's owners Bill Heckle and Dave Jones have shrewdly combined a vibrant live venue with the club's status as a tourist attraction.

Sennheiser UK is providing a wide range of equipment, including four channels of ew 500-935 G3 wireless microphones, four channels of ew 300 G3 wireless in-ear monitors, eight e 935 and four e 945 handheld mics, plus a complete set of 900 series wired mics for the club's three stages, comprising 905 and 904 tom mics, a 901 kick and 902 outer kick mics.

"We're really pleased to be working alongside the most famous club in the world," says Sennheiser UK special projects manager Phil Cummings. "Our wireless systems are well known from our support of artists on medium and large-scale tours, so this partnership gives us a great opportunity to re

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UK - Cumbernauld College in Scotland recently completed a new building, housing its recording studio complex, and chose two Solid State Logic AWS 900+ SE consoles for the main control rooms. The AWS in the main control room is joined by an X-Rack filled with dynamics modules.

"We offer beginner courses for a certificate in Sound Production and degree courses in Commercial Sound Production covering every aspect of professional audio from music recording and post production to radio and game audio," says Ronnie Gilmour, curriculum manager for creative industries at Cumbernauld College. "We teach our students how to use an audio console, not how to operate a particular brand. We felt that the AWS offered a nice balance between a quality analogue signal path that is universally intuitive and a strong implementation of DAW control.

The studio complex consists of thre

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USA - Intelix has recently announced its new Intelitec training programme designed for AV industry professionals. Designed for specifiers, installers and resellers, Intelitec provides the fundamentals of AV technology and the best integration practices, says the company.

"Technology and applications are increasingly complex," says Brad Weisbrod, Intelix lead technical trainer. "Intelitec provides an excellent foundation on emerging technology and how to leverage it quickly, effectively, and profitably."

Each seminar is available online in webinar format or onsite upon request. Upon completion, Intelitec counts toward the industry's leading accreditation programmes.

Topics include: Distributed HDMI technology; Installing HDMI technology; Active audio-visual extension technology; Passive audio-visual extension technology; Designing for Digital Signage; Inst

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Mexico - Tomcat participated for the first time in sound:check expo 2011 held at the World Trade Center in Mexico City, 20-22 March. Tomcat showcased an array of products to create solutions for the entertainment and live event industry in Latin America.

"Tomcat is honoured to participate in sound:check expo as it is the most important event of its kind in Mexico and a forum to share solutions with a different perspective to customers of Mexico and Latin America to create spectacular stages. Actually we have being doing so since 1987 in the US and since 1999 in Mexico," stated Tony Vierling, Tomcat sales manager for Mexico and Latin America.

"We have been a part of important projects, like the gigantic screen for the bicentennial festivities in Mexico, the Soda Stereo concerts in Venezuela, several Televisa productions, among many others, and our support systems

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UK - Richard Martin Lighting (RML) showed its continuous 'Red Nose Day' support by supplying the lighting to the Comic Relief event, filmed live at BBC Television Centre (TVC), which this year saw the fundraiser running for its 23rd year.

The show had a new bright and 'bubbly' set and LD Chris Kempton (along with his technical team) was back for another year to design the lights. Bill Peachment assisted as moving light operator.

The lighting rig, consisting of over 200 lights, spilled over TC1, with the various stages and catwalk used by hosts including Fearne Cotton, Graham Norton, Davina McCall and Dermot O'Leary. Specification included Nova Flowers, VL1000TS, VL3000 Wash, VL2400 Wash, MAC 700, Chroma Banks, 8 Lights, 2 Lights, Alpha Wash 1200, Alpha Wash 700 and Stage Bar 54, plus Clay Paky Sharpys.

(Jim Evans)

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Australia - The West Gippsland Arts Centre Warragul is a major performing arts, cultural and community centre catering to a wide variety of events, meetings, conferences and festivals.

Their facilities include a fully equipped 492 seat proscenium arch theatre and a 200 seat performing arts space. For many years the lighting department had been using an old Strand 520 console and recently it was retired from service.

"It was getting a bit long in the tooth especially when it came to moving lights," said Jayson Bowles, technical coordinator at the centre. "Out of the current crop of consoles on the market we found that the ETC Ion 1500 covered our needs. It's similar in operation to the Strand console so our guys picked it up fairly quickly and of course, the moving light side of things is a huge improvement over the old Strand! We looked at the current Strand off

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UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies Lighting division reports continuing success with sales of GLP's Impression Zoom 120 RZ LED moving lights, following the solid brand base built from sales of GLP's first generation LED moving head - the Impression 90.

Major UK rental companies making recent investments in the Impression Zoom include Lite Alternative, GLS and Fentura Productions, all of which have been supplied through AC-ET.

Blackburn based Lite purchased their first GLP 120 RZ Zooms 14 months ago when seeking a dynamic new style of moving light fixture. These went straight out on tour with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, specified by LD Matt Arthur. Since then, they have been utilised on numerous tours and events. Sixteen fixtures are currently out on the Chemical Brothers' new world tour.

Southampton based GLS is run by Ian Turner and now has over 30 GLP Impressions - all the 120

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UAE - Robe Robin LEDWash 600s took centre stage for the 2010/11 Prince of Poets festival, competition and TV series, staged at the 2100 capacity Al Raha Theatre in Abu Dhabi.

These were among several other Robe moving lights in a rig that was specified by Talib Alsouri from end clients, the Abu Dhabi Association for Culture & Heritage (ADACH), who is also the technical manager for the Al Raha Theatre. The Robes were incorporated into a lighting design by Sono AB from V Design.

Prince of Poets - this was the fourth series - has become a phenomenon in the Arab world. It is produced by Pyramedia and aims to promote and enhance classical Arabic poetry, reviving its positive role as a medium of expression, discovering young talent and offering them the chance to develop and grow.

For last year's Prince of Poets event, Sonu worked as the programmer and operato

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UK - After taking part in a hugely successful ISE show in Amsterdam, InfoComm International has announced a series of innovative educational events for the UK professional AV community in the month of April - including at PLASA Focus in Leeds.

On Thursday 14 April, InfoComm will host the latest in its series of Academy Days, at the Royal Society of Medicine at Chandos House, London. Utilising a slightly modified format from previous such events, the day will feature four (as opposed to the previous three) 90-minute seminars - all delivered by industry leaders and all qualifying for CTS renewal units. Sponsored by the Royal Society of Medicine and Kramer, the day will cost non-members £60 to attend, reducing to £40 for members or £20 if members use InfoComm EduBucks.

Topics to be covered during the Academy Day

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USA - Electrosonic has announced that Todd Miller has been named vice president of control rooms. Miller will take charge of the control room business worldwide; he previously headed the company's service business in North America.

Electrosonic's control room business offers complete turnkey solutions that focus on organising and displaying information originating from various sources. It is a business that relies heavily on understanding the client's workflow and being able to match the technology with the ergonomic and functional requirements of the user.

Miller comments, "I understand the customer's needs; I've been on the frontline with them. I understand where they're going and how to build a future with them and Electrosonic. From simple display walls to complex collaboration systems over IP networks, Electrosonic has the expertise to design and install systems that

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UAE - Distributors for DPA Microphones and Sound Devices, NMK Electronics and Melody House, respectively have recently hosted a joint seminar for professionals in the production field during the CABSAT exhibition held in Dubai. The companies' representatives Michael Trolle of DPA and Ed Capp of Sound Devices also attended the event.

"Melody House recently acquired DPA Microphones in our portfolio and we felt that the best way to highlight this at CABSAT was to hold an education focused event," commented Dino Drimakis, sales manager at Melody House. "Clearly this was an opportunity for us to not only provide product specific information but general information with regards to microphone applications."

"Sound Devices products are an essential component in any professional's inventory kit who is in field production," commented Shajahan KK, product ma

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Puerto Rico - Ensuring that Puerto Rico's annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was once again a success, audio supply company Ricky's Audio Corporation recently deployed JBL VerTec and VRX line array systems.

The event was held at the Coliseum of Puerto Rico in San Juan to benefit and raise awareness for breast cancer research. The audio system supported a talented line-up of musical artists, entertaining more than 15,000 participants walking and running to celebrate and remember those affected by the illness.

The main stage featured 22 JBL VerTec VT4888DP midsize powered line array elements equipped with JBL DrivePack technology, supplying clarity and high output from four separate array locations arranged to cover 270 degrees around the stage. These were supplemented with four VRX932LAP Constant Curvature powered loudspeakers and five VRX918SP Constant Curvature powered s

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Germany - Wireless Solution Sweden will be demonstrating the new W-DMX G4 line, which is now shipping, during Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt next week.

The new G4 is able to repair corrupted data and vouches for maximum security by running on dual band and creating a backup duplicate of the signal. This new standard is transparent and works with several protocols, creating extreme flexibility and reliability without the need for additional controllers or software.

The product line includes Adaptive Frequency Hopping technology that scans the spectrum automatically to avoid interference from Wi-fi, Intercom and other radio products, W-DMX invisi-wire and data-safe technologies, and support for RDM (Remote Device Management) so W-DMX units and lighting fixtures connected through W-DMX can be configured remotely with no fuss or cables.

W-DMX G4 supports the 5.8GHz band as standa

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USA - Meyer Sound has expanded its EXP cinema line with the introduction of the compact Acheron Designer screen channel loudspeaker. Developed in close consultation with leading film sound designers and post-production facilities, Acheron Designer brings the low-distortion sonic quality of the other members of the EXP series to sound design studios, sound editing suites, as well as private screening rooms and small theatres, says the company.

Now the seventh loudspeaker in Meyer Sound's EXP cinema product line, Acheron Designer is the smallest in the family. Its compact dimensions - measuring only 19 inches wide, 25.37 inches tall, and 14.62 inches deep - are optimal for installations where space behind the screen is limited.

With an operating frequency range is 37 Hz to 18 kHz and a peak output of an impressive 130 dB SPL, the Acheron Designer renders the most demanding digit

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