Details
UK - After several months in the planning, news of an exciting new feature exclusive to PLASA 2011 has been announced - a major shoot-out of leading LED lighting fixtures, hosted by the STLD (Society of Television Lighting and Design).

Lighting Designer Paul Middleton has teamed the STLD with PLASA to bring visitors a unique tradeshow experience, where they will be able to directly compare LED lighting fixtures in three different areas of the 240sq.m space.

Middleton comments, "The STLD has been looking at staging a major LED-based event for some time now, having previously organised events at Pinewood Studios and elsewhere on the topics of consoles, moving heads and generic lights. We felt it was the right time to do another event and LED lighting was the obvious subject,

Details
UK - After many challenges and years of experience in the design of sound systems, LD Systems has introduced a multi-purpose all-in-one portable public address system, the RoadMan 102 Series.

The RoadMan 102 is a compact and mobile PA solution with an integrated battery, which is suited for solo entertainers, churches, schools, business conferences and presentations where versatility is required. The Roadman comes with a CD/MP3/USB/SD Player as well as a wireless microphone unit with handheld mic. A tape-deck with recorder function and a second wireless microphone unit are also available.

Andrew Richardson, managing director of Adam Hall UK comments, "The Roadman 102 Series is an extremely versatile performer, it is truly portable with an array of features and easy set up and operation. With the optional audio link, a network of Roadman units can broadcast to a much wider

Details
South Africa - Green Hippo's Tom Etra is making his way southbound and will be joining distributor Tadco at the Mediatech tradeshow in Johannesburg's Coca Cola Dome.

Mediatech is the continent's largest media and entertainment technology tradeshow and will see exhibitors and visitors from a wide variety of sectors including pro AV, Staging, Rigging and Lighting as well as Broadcast, Film and Production.

"This is a great opportunity to show South Africa what Green Hippo products have to offer. Tadco are making huge strides into the video market and it is exciting to be part of this. I hope to set a lot more Hippotizers free in South Africa."

Prior to the show, Etra will spend a couple of days training at Tadco as well as local production company Sound Stylist, who have already experienced Hippotizer during the 2010 World Cup.

Having started as a sound and communic

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

Details
USA - Founded by a group of jazz legends-including Mahalia Jackson and Duke Ellington -in 1970, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has grown and evolved over the years to become a tribute to different musical genres, with a special emphasis on jazz. The varied musical and cultural showcase is held over two consecutive weekends on 12 different stages set up at the New Orleans racetrack grounds.

Widely known as simply the 'Jazz Fest', the festival embodies the culmination of years of effort on the part of local leaders, whose aim was to create an event that would properly highlight the heritage of New Orleans as the birthplace of jazz. This year's line-up, a perfect reflection of the event's cultural significance and popular appeal, included world renowned artists like Tom Jones, Bon Jovi, John Legend, Maceo Parker, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny G. and Alejandro Sanz, among many oth

Details
UK - Studiomaster has published details of its new Class AD Polyphase proprietary amplifier development, in a technical reference document on the company's website.

First announced at this year's prolight+sound exhibition in Frankfurt, the technology provides for major improvements in sound quality, efficiency and power density over current Class D designs, says the company. The new topology combines a number of design innovations with a Studiomaster patented 'polyphase' output stage. The effect is to provide the equivalent sonic performance of a pure analogue design and greater efficiency than a Class D amplifier - "enabling better sounding, more compact devices and power circuit integration".

Commenting on the significance of the Class AD Polyphase development, head of R&D Paul Belcher stated, "Innovation has always been at the heart of Studiomaster's R&D, fro

Details
UK - A mainstay of Croydon's High Street, the Black Sheep Bar is a respected and all-encompassing nightspot, with genres from Rock, Indie, Metal, Drum 'n' Bass and more entertaining punters at least six days a week.

When the popular bar recently needed to upgrade its PA system, it opted for the Tannoy VQ Live system.

Black Sheep Bar manager Paul Bossick said, "It's a superb system. We do a mixture of live music and DJing, and we're predominantly into dubstep at the moment, which is the reason we changed sound system - our old one was not really adequate. The Tannoy VQ Live systems captures all the sounds we want very nicely."

The installation was carried out by Aylesbury-based Moonlite Productions Limited. Moonlite managing director James Iyengar said, "Paul has been a customer for many years, and his venue has changed to adapt to current music styles and cust

Details
World - After debuting with Celine Dion (Taking Chances World Tour 2009), Britney Spears (The Circus World Tour 2009), Kylie Minogue (US tour 2010), Microsoft (Kinect CDS launch 2010) and Victoria's Secret (2010), the MDG theONE atmospheric generator has completed another international assignment with Kylie Minogue's Aphrodite - Les Folies World Tour 2011, which draws to a conclusion in South Africa this week.

Four of the TheONE generators have accompanied Miss Minogue across 28 countries, augmented by four MDG Ice Fog QTM Low Lying Fog Generators, to produce the spectacular atmospherics which underpinned the tour's distinctive look.

The MDG units were supplied for the European and North American legs by the tour's lighting, video and sound supplier, Solotech. They were supplied at the request of lighting designer, Nick Waterhouse, who was careful to speci

Details
Czech Republic - Every four years, the International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians (OISTAT) collaborates with the Prague Quadrennial, the world's largest festival of Scenography to present Scenofest, an educational project of performances, workshops and special projects for students from across the world.

Part of this year's festival - held in June - was Six Acts, a collection of educational and artistic projects created by international groups of artists that were staged at cultural sites throughout the city. ETC lent a variety of lighting equipment to Scenofest that was used during several of the Six Acts and in student workshops.

ETC donated two lighting control desks - SmartFade and SmartFade ML - along with SmartPack dimmers, Source Four luminaires and Selador Lustr and Paletta LED fixtures. The equipment lit the First

Details
USA / China - Lightswitch Architectural has been chosen by Pei Partnership Architects of New York to create comprehensive lighting for their new project, the Bank of China International Finance Tower in Suzhou, China. Currently in design phases, the Bank of China Tower will be comprised of two structures, a 100m tower and a low building with generous perimeter exposure, advantageously located between two canals in the city.

Pei Partnership Architects, who have a history with Bank of China, have set out distinctive and sophisticated plans for the Bank of China Tower in Suzhou, drawing on simplicity and clean lines to reflect the strength and dignity of the banking giant.

Lightswitch Architectural has been tasked with the responsibility of providing lighting design for the interiors, exteriors, landscapes, banking halls and event auditorium of the dual buildings in the Tower com

Details
UK - The BBC show, Tonight's The Night is now in its third series and still presented by West End star John Barrowman.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) continues to support lighting designer Roger Williams on the show which is filmed at BBC Glasgow. Tom Sutherland programmed and graphics were provided by Potion Pictures which were run off two Hippo Grasshoppers.

The lighting rig, incorporates a heavy variety of the Clay Paky range - Alpha Spot 575 HPE, Alpha Beam 700 and Alpha Wash 300s.

Various LED Lights completed the look - including LED Par 36, 2 Lights, iCove QL and Chroma Strips and the new intelligent LED chasing ribbon.

(Jim Evans)

Details
UK - 5 Star Cases has delivered two new custom designed GT26 tool display cases to Rugby based Alstom Power, each of which holds 60 assorted tools, and will be used to service their GT26 high performance gas turbines, of which there are 22 in the UK.

All the cases are finished in a striking Navy Blue HPL (High Pressure Laminate) exterior - Alstom's corporate blue - and feature branding applied by using 5 Star's in-house screen printing facility.

5 Star's Steve Swann manages the account, and works closely with Alstom Power's department stores controller Mick McGrath on each individual case solution.

McGrath notes, "5 Star takes on every project with enthusiasm, and finds inventive and imaginative ways to ensure that we get exactly what we need. Nothing is ever too much trouble."

(Jim Evans)

Details
USA - The verdict is in at the Haskell County Courthouse, where a new high-quality audio system is delivering news and entertainment to the local population.

The three-story, 100-year old building in Haskell, Texas, received a major audio upgrade via four Technomad Berlin 9040 narrow dispersion loudspeakers. Mounted high on the building's 60ft high roof, the Technomad system replaces an outdated PA system scarred by time and weather. Technomad also supplied a mixer and two wireless handheld microphones for the audio headend.

Like all Technomad loudspeakers, the Berlin 9040s are fully weatherproof, suitable for the harsh climate of north-central Texas. The loudspeakers are built to withstand the region's extreme summer heat (routinely topping 100 degrees), intense year-round UV rays, and heavy rains and lightning storms of the spring and autumn months.

The Berlin 9040 loudspe

Details
International - There are just 10 days remaining to make your nomination for the 2011 Gottelier Award.

When the Nomination phase closes on Friday 29 July, the shortlist will be announced and voting - open to PLASA Members, as well as PLASA Show Exhibitors and Pre-Registered Visitors - will begin on Monday 1 August.

This prestigious award is presented each year during the PLASA Show to someone who has made "a significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field".

The Award was introduced in memory of Tony Gottelier, the highly respected lighting designer, product developer and industry commentator who passed away in 2006.

Previous Winners:

2007 - Tony Andrews | Funktion-One

2008 - John Stadius | DiGiCo / Soundtra

Details
Theatres at Risk - The Theatres Trust has called on local communities to fight to save theatre buildings which are at risk. Some 58 UK buildings are on the trust's 2011 'at risk' register, with the Brighton Astoria and London's Cochrane Theatre among those facing demolition. It said it hoped legislation, including the new Localism Bill, would empower groups and individuals to "take on the guardianship of theatres at risk".

Theatres in Wallsend, Alsager, Ayr and Glasgow were all recently demolished. The at risk register also features theatres threatened by neglect, local development, funding cuts and closure. The trust said this year's register highlighted the impact of austerity measures over the past year. It praised "the tireless efforts of community and campaign groups who are the guardian angels of many UK theatres". But it said there was still "a de

Details
USA - SHS Global, a production equipment brokerage agency, has been named the US representative of Theatrixx, a Montreal-based manufacturer of power distribution systems and the North/South American distributor of Visualed.

"We are excited to give SHS Global the opportunity to represent our brands in the US," said Theatrixx Technologies CEO Jacques Tessier. The representation includes the Visualed touring LED screens and X-Vision installation LED screens. It also includes Theatrixx' own brand of LED fixtures under the X-Focus line, along with Theatrixx power distribution systems.

This is SHS Global's first representation of new products. The privately-owned company - under the direction of president/founder Leigh-Anne Aiken and VP/CTO Jean Lariviere - has specialised in brokering pre-owned lighting and staging equipment since 2005, but is now branching out with audio

Details
USA - EAW has debuted its new SBK Series Subwoofers. The SBK subs are designed to "perfectly complement EAW's MK Series Full-Range Loudspeakers in construction, size and sound", but they can also be used as stand-alone subwoofers in a system from any other manufacturer.

The line includes three models: SBK150 (Single 15-inch), SBK180 (Single 18-inch) and SBK250 (Double 15-inch) Subwoofers. All three units operate in passive mode. Applications can include concert halls, houses of worship, arenas, large ballrooms, live theatre products, gymnasiums and much more.

Premium components and optimally tuned ports match the performance associated with EAW's SB line of direct radiating subwoofers, says the company. The SBK line includes a variety of forms of subwoofer providing a system designer with selections that can be specifically matched to their application. Multiple 3/8-

Details
Europe - Producers and re-mixers Jas Shaw and James Ford have been making a name for themselves as Simian Mobile Disco for the past six years. The DJ duo from London produce mostly analogue, techno, dance, and electro house music and have released various albums since 2005 with their own music and a range of remixes.

This summer sees them touring Europe and the UK to perform at numerous festivals including Rockness, Scotland and Pohoda, Slovakia.

Working on their production, lighting designer David Cohen of Sauce Design created an inspired structure using 181 Barco 340mm MiStrip LED lights. Cohen arranged the MiStrips in eleven rows of four and five hexagons, fashioning a 'honeycomb' shaped LED rig that allows him to create an ingenious mix of shapes and sequences when running content over them.

As the MiStrips are VideoMapped hundreds of times and divided onto individual co

Details
USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers is introducing two new monitors to its M-Class Series. Applications for the new MX8 and MX10 models include houses of worship, corporate presentations, musical theatre, education facilities, television, studio and live music performance.

Handling 300W and 500W programme respectively, the 8-inch MX8 and 10-inch MX10 use Community's proprietary co-axial driver units. Their co-axial design means that all of the sound emanates from the same point source and the Tru-Phase conical high frequency waveguide eliminates the transition anomalies that occur in most square and rectangular horns. This results in "exceptionally smooth phase and frequency response performance with reduced feedback, improved intelligibility and uniform coverage exactly where it's needed". The MX8 and MX10 are suitable for single performers who often move off-a

Details
UK - Delta Sound deployed an L-Acoustics Kudo system for a one-day VIP event during the 2011 UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium. The football-themed event was hosted by Wembley's corporate hospitality sector, Club Wembley on behalf of UEFA.

Wembley Arena was converted into a large VIP suite for the event, with the main arena blacked out with backdrops covering the seating area and a stage along one side of the venue. This configuration effectively turned the room sideways and could accommodate up to 4,500 guests. The space was divided into areas celebrating the different ages of football. Projection screens gave flashbacks to important matches and interviews, while the main stage hosted presenters, VIP speakers and live entertainment.

Four hangs of nine Kudo cabinets were flown left, right, outer left and outer right of the stage to cover the wide performance area,

Details
Australia - Lighting designer Rohan Thornton is singing the praises of the Clay Paky Sharpy and the Alpha Spot 1500. "On all productions I now instantly specify 16 of each model - I would ask for more but that's all there is available for hire," he claims.

As head of lighting for Australian broadcaster GTV 9, Thornton has used the Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 1500 on such projects as The Footy Show Grand Final Special, Carols By Candlelight, This Is Your Life, TV Week Logie Awards and Million Dollar Drop.

"The Alpha Spot HPE 1500s are a great light," he said. "They are bright, but that's not the most important thing, the optics is sensational, the zoom range is great and the colours are consistent. The CTO wheel is particularly good and manages to remove the 'green' spike that their competitors have been unable to achieve

Details
UK - In 1998, audio production companies Andy Rose Consultants (ARC) and Sound Moves used a Soundtracs DPC-II digital console to broadcast two live operas from the famous Glyndebourne venue in Sussex. Thirteen years on, the same two companies have facilitated another live broadcast for the same place, this time using the DPC-II's latest successor, the DiGiCo SD10B.

The performance of Wagner's only comic opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, was broadcast live on 26 June to 19 Picturehouse cinemas throughout England, Scotland and across Europe, as well as on the Guardian newspaper's website.

ARC's Andy Rose and Steve Williams of Sound Moves originally worked together at Fleetwood Mobiles in 1988. Ever since they have collaborated on a wide range of projects, with the broadcast of the 1998 Glyndebourne operas (Rodelinda and Simon Boccanegra) using W

Page 2689 of 3465

Latest Issue. . .

PLASA Media Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 4111709 - VAT Number GB 762 5913 14
PLASA Media Ltd, Redoubt House, 1 Edward Road, Eastbourne, BN23 8AS, UK Tel: +44 (0)1323 524120

 

login