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UK - Currently training its fifth apprentice, Robert Simmons, lifting solutions provider Lift Turn Move, based in Bromborough on the Wirral, has already shown a commitment to training future engineers. This is set to continue with the announcement from director John Jones that the company will train a new apprentice each year for the next five years.

Simmons joined LTM in July at just 16 years of age, having just left school. Whilst still at school six months prior to joining LTM, he wrote to John Jones to ask about joining the company under the scheme. At the time there were no vacancies available but his initiative impressed, so when an opportunity arose, Robert was invited to interview and got the job.

Simmons joins Joe Griffiths in the workshop as the second apprentice curre

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USA - Free registration is now open for the PLASA Focus: Austin 2012 Professional Development Programme, a two-day programme of free educational seminars and workshops, running alongside PLASA Focus: Austin, on 22-23 February, 2012.

The programme has been designed by some of the industry's leading names and presents an opportunity for visitors to broaden their specialist knowledge and contribute to discussions about innovative projects and techniques, say organiser PLASA Events.

"Giving people the opportunity to develop their professional knowledge is key to the success of PLASA Focus: Austin 2012," comments PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths. "We're creating an opportunity to talk about the choices behind major projects in the region, from the Austin City Limits studio and The Long Center for Performing Arts, to seminars as broad and far-reaching as the use of lightin

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UAE - Canford is opening a Dubai sales office. The company specialises in the provision of standard and custom professional audio, HD video, data and powering solutions to systems integrators, broadcasters and installers. The new office is a key element of Canford's strategy to move closer to their partners in one of their most important markets and will open before the CABSAT show, says the company.

The new Dubai office will enable Canford to provide close support to the growing number of key players in the regional industry with whom they are already working. It will also offer a platform to service some of the rapidly emerging East and North African markets.

"Canford has been operating within the region very successfully for over 20 years now. So much so that most of our top 10 export markets are in the Middle East," explained Canford CEO Leif Friestad. "Our

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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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UK - A total of eight BlackBox BBR64-MADI Recorders were used on the recent George Michael Symphonica Tour to capture 2 x 256 channels of audio in what is potentially one of the largest live recording projects to date.

A rack containing four BBR-MADI recorders formed part of the regular front-of-house setup, connected to the main DiGiCo SD7 desk. FOH engineer Gary Bradshaw was responsible for recording the shows onto sets of four 1TB Glyph hard drives, each set having the capacity to hold material from eight shows. In addition to their nightly recording function, and the additional capture of sound checks, the BlackBoxes were also used in Virtual Soundcheck mode for system set-ups, replaying material from previous shows to help balance and EQ the PA system at each venue.

"The BlackBoxes had no problem in recording all 256 channels over the length of the show," said B

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Australia - When scheduling conflicts prevented US lighting designer Don Holder from travelling to Australia to re-create his intricate design for The State Opera of South Australia's production of Moby Dick he quickly called on long time friend and associate Gavan Swift to oversee the process. One of Australia's most respected lighting designers, Swift first worked with Holder on the Australian production of Disney's The Lion King and later spent some time with Holder in New York as part his Mike Walsh Fellowship while he lit A Streetcar Named Desire.

Jake Heggie's Opera Moby Dick was originally commissioned by the Dallas Opera to commemorate their inaugural season in the Winspear Opera House in Dallas and consequently the production was first plotted on the house's new ETC EOS console. To make the transition as easy as possible the logical step was

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UK - SSE Audio have put their faith in Lake's new LM Series digital audio system processors - LM 26 and LM 44 - on recent tours by Arctic Monkeys and Example.

Both tours, which involved sell out dates across the country in front of thousands, allowed SSE engineers to work with the company's recent purchases of the new LM 44, integrating the units into their existing inventories.

Simon Gladstone, technical manager at SSE, said: "We used both the LM 26s and the LM 44s on The Arctic Monkeys tour. In the past, we would normally have used our old Dolby DLPs for such big gigs, but having the LM 44 allowed us to leave these out, which is testament to the capabilities of the new units."

SSE's engineer on the Arctic Monkeys tour, Mark Pantlin, had an LM 44 out front taking AES from an Avid Venue Profile digital console, and clocking externally from an Antelope Isochrone OCX

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UK - Professional audio and AV suppliers and 19" racking specialists Pro Audio Stash (PAS) has delivered a large custom design and manufacturing project for multinational internet hosting company, Peer 1.

St Leonards, East Sussex-based Pro Audio Stash is well known for its off-the-shelf product ranges for home cinema and AV sectors, and also for creating bespoke metalwork solutions for the AV and IT industries. It was approached by Peer 1 to design and build a specially tailored server rack and shelving system to house multiple Juniper SSG5 firewall devices for its new data centre in Southampton.

The design brief had three main requirements. Firstly there had to be a dedicated channel for each firewall to keep the units stable and upright. Secondly, the SSG5 power supplies all needed to be positioned at the back of their individual racks to enable good ventilation and be

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UK - Delta Sound, has taken delivery of 32 EMS-122w loudspeakers from EM Acoustics for its core rental stock. The EMS-122w is a wide dispersion, high quality passive 12" enclosure designed for applications which require a compact, powerful, full-range loudspeaker.

Delta Sound operations director, Jon Bell, explained his choice. "We needed to source 32 high quality 12" loudspeakers and flying frames within a very short lead time for a specific rental project. The speakers and amplifiers needed to be installed and working within a month and would remain in situ for another nine months working six days per week for 12 hours a day during that period. Obviously the bar was set pretty high from the outset, so we needed to know that whatever we invested in would be 100% reliable, and that we could count on the manufacturer to deliver on time."

"EM Acoustics t

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UK - Forty per cent up on target table bookings, the Event Production Awards has outgrown its original venue at Olympia and will now take place at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane.

Senior event manager, Michelle Lewis said: "We're delighted with the response we've had. It's brilliant that in the first year we're so far ahead of expectations. It proves these awards are exactly what the event industry needs".

Nic Howden, editor in chief at Access All Areas, said: "The incredible buzz about the Event Production Awards is a testament to the quality of the judging panel, and the team that has worked so hard to bring it all together. The Hilton can comfortably accommodate the numbers, and it will bring another level to the evening."

The Event Production Awards are organised by the Event Production Show, Access All Areas magazine and The White Book

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Germany - Paderborn-based rental company Sound Linear has invested in a complete 45°N-12 monitor system, driven by NXAMPs4x4 with ES extensions. First outing for the new system is the Ina Müller Tour, starting mid-November in Germany and running until the end of March 2012. The tour is carrying 12x 45°N-12.

"The decision to add the 45°N-12s to our comprehensive Nexo inventory was made during the first demo we had from Reinhard Steger at a Nexo seminar last year. I think I can say, we were one of the first to make up our mind," says Kalle Hogrefe, director of Sound Linear.

Guido Sehrbrock, another director of Sound Linear and the monitor specialist in the company, agrees. "Having listened to the wedges perform well in many different applications, we have been watching their reputation grow, and were just waiting for the right time to invest."

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France - Des Femmes by Canadian writer and director, Wajdi Mouawad, is a controversial production of a trilogy of Greek tragedies by Sophocles. A dramatic and unsettling blend of theatre and rock music, the tension generated by Des Femmes is significantly heightened by the participation of French rock star Bertrand Cantat, formerly of the group Noir Désir.

Cantat, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend, actress Marie Trintignant, in 2003 during a violent domestic dispute, wrote the music for the production and is performing a certain number of dates. The rest will be performed by singer Igor Quezeda. Mouawad justified the inclusion of Cantat by saying, "Electra, Antigone and The Women of Trachis are plays about justice and revenge . . . Cantat's presence at the edge of the action will make those themes more powerful."

He

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Belarus - Russian rock group Bi-2 recently returned to their native Minsk, in Belarus, for a one-off sold-out show at the Sports Palace indoor arena, in front of 6,000 adoring fans.

FE-Belimlight provided a large number of PR Lighting automated heads for the band's LD, Dmitriy Movlev, as well as technical support.

The lighting designer selected 24 PR lighting XL 1500 spots and 16 XL 1500 wash lights as the mainstays of a dynamic rock rig. "It was a true rock and roll show with a mixture of fast, dynamic songs, interspersed with slow and lyrical ballads," confirmed FE-Belimlight's Ilya Piatrouski, who was supporting the production. "The flexibility of the lighting rig needed to reflect this."

As a result, the XL1500s were distributed across the front-, mid- and back-trusses as well as on the stage - operated by Dmitriy Movlev himself from a Wholehog 3 desk

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Russia - After six years of construction, Russia's Bolshoi Theatre has finally reopened its doors. The renovation project was focused on preserving the architectural and artistic features of the building while adding modern necessities and installing state-of-the-art technology in the theatre's historic main hall, including a completely new lighting system controlled by an ETC Eos lighting control system.

The reopening marks the beginning of the Bolshoi's 236th season, with a schedule bigger and busier than any in the theatre's history - 365 performances, with a staggering 319 shows at home. To keep up with the hectic performance schedule in the main hall, and to ensure that the lighting is as stunning as the building itself, the Bolshoi chose ETC Eos control desks to control the new lighting rig. The system consists of three Eos desks - one main board and two backups - and a fu

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Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys have announced plans to reunite for their 50th anniversary next year. The five-piece, which includes founding members Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine will embark upon a 50-date world tour and record a new album. Jardine said they will appear at the Grammy Awards on 12 February and "do something really exciting".

The surviving original Beach Boys will be joined by Bruce Johnston and David Marks, who have been associated with the group for decades. Wilson said: "This anniversary is special to me because I miss the boys, and it will be a thrill for me to make a new record and be on stage with them again." Love added: "Music has been the unifying and harmonising fact of life in our family since childhood. It has been a huge blessing that we have been able to share with the world."

Lifetime Achievement - G

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Belgium - MDG has announced the appointment of AED Distribution as its official distributor in the Belgian and Luxemburg markets, with effect from 1 October 2011.

Through this partnership, AED Distribution (part of AED group), will supply and support MDG's portfolio of fog and haze generators to resellers, installers and rental companies, which will now benefit from easier access to MDG's reliable quality products.

"MDG is proud to partner up with AED Distribution for the Belgian and Luxemburg market and welcomes AED Group to the MDG family," states MDG president & CEO Martin Michaud. "AED's perpetual quest for excellence, their personalized service and the quality of their team and organization reflects values shared by both our companies."

"We are very pleased to be partnering with MDG, which is a world leader in professional fog and haze generator

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UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light was the lead sponsor of TheatreCraft 2011, the annual free workshop and open day that provides anyone aged 17-25 with an introduction to every possible aspect of working backstage in the entertainment industry, from writing to stage management, to wig making to - of course - lighting.

Held on 28 November at the London Coliseum, the popular event kicked off with a welcome speech from leading international theatre designer William Dudley. During the day the hundreds of visitors were able to learn more from those already established in their field, and had the chance to meet representatives from organisations including the ABTT, the Almeida, English National Opera, the National Youth Theatre, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, the Royal Opera House, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Society of British Theatre Designers, the Society o

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UK - Flight case manufacturer 5 Star has supplied well over 1000 cases to West Midlands-based AV rental specialists Central Presentations (CPL) in the last seven years, which have ranged from audio equipment, 19" racks, projector, plasma and LCDs and video production cases.

5 Star's Keith Sykes says: "Clients like CPL are invaluable. They are extremely busy year-round, their work is always varied and interesting and they are constantly expanding the equipment and rental stock, all of which needs flight casing for on-going road work. Consequently, we are involved in supplying a full range of standard and special cases."

The latest CPL 5 Star case project has involved a custom designed set of road cases for CPL's newest series of 'fly away' portable video production units (PPUs).

This is a smaller PPU specifically designed to service the proliferation of project

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UK - Karen Monid became the first sound artist to present a stand-alone acoustic artwork for York's annual Illuminating York digital arts and lighting festival. Contours brought a fresh, provocative and highly entertaining medium through which visitors to the 2011 Festival could explore and enjoy the city's rich cultural history.

The decision to stage the piece - exploring the poetic, religious and musical culture of ancient York's Viking settlers and Anglo-Saxons - in the city's Dean's Park received great critical and popular acclaim. It was experienced by over 50,000 visitors across four evenings.

This year's Festival theme of Voices from the Past - the first time it has had a content signature - enabled the Festival event to broaden into some new platforms and parameters whereby the public could explore, interpret and understand the city as a place with

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World - Le Maitre's Multi-Venue System (M.V.S.) Hazer is the only haze machine that rock band Uriah Heep will use. Currently on their Into The Wild Tour, with dates around the globe, the band's lead singer, Bernie Shaw comments: "With Uriah Heep playing on the world stage now in excess of 40 years, we've worked with most effects companies' hazers and smoke machines at our concerts all over the world. We've found Le Maitre's MVS Hazers to be the best, and now have them on our technical rider.

"With five singers in the band, we need a product that does not dry your throat, is tasteless, odourless but efficient and reliable enough to make the light show look good, but not hinder our performance. A very tall order that Le Maitre hazers handle with ease."

Playing as close to home as London's Shepherds Bush Empire, to as far afield as Vladisvostok and Venezuela

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Australia - In order to keep up with the digital audio console market, corporate events specialists AVCorp was recently on the hunt for a new console.

"We needed a console that had 32 channels, was small and compact and had everything at your fingertips," explained Mike Papas, owner of AVCorp.

The Soundcraft Si Compact 32 console fitted the bill. "I know that if you get product from Jands you always get very good back up service," said Papas. "Our Soundcraft Si has proved to be a very cost-effective, powerful mixer and a natural choice for a company such as ours. Oh, and it sounds great too."

"My guys love it. They were wary at first as it's a relatively new console to the market and they weren't familiar with it. However we discovered that you only need an hour or two to get your head around it. Now, even the most sceptical have become the

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UAE - Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises, distributors of Midas and Klark Teknik in the Middle East have recently upgraded the PRO6 console of Sound & Stage to a PRO9. Providing the Dubai based rental company with an additional 24 inputs for a total of 80 inputs, 8 aux returns for a total 88 inputs and 35 mix busses.

The company has also added the DL431 microphone splitters and the DN9696 High Resolution Audio Recorder to their system, providing greater flexibility and broadcast quality recording capabilities.

"Sound & Stage have made the natural progression to re-investing in their Midas digital system by increasing the I/O and having the recording capability for the high end shows they produce," commented Chicco Hiranandani, business development manager at NMK.

He added, "The best part is that they have invested in the DL431s which are an amazing com

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