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UK - Unusual Rigging has announced that, with immediate effect, all its NRC assessments will take place at the company's facility in Bugbrooke, Northampton, including any originally scheduled for Earls Court.

Robin Elias, technical director at Unusual , explains, "Earls Court is out of commission for several months this year, as it's one of the Olympic venues, and this made the booking system difficult. We felt it was easier for all concerned to move assessments to Northampton. We're easy to reach from most parts of the country, the facilities here are excellent - and we lay on a pretty good lunch."

Unusual Rigging offers four assessment days each month, more than the other companies in the scheme, and last year assessed 55 riggers at Level 2 and 33 at Level 3.

With

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South Africa - A Christie MicroTiles display and Christie Spyder image processing provided a design highlight at the recent IMN-hosted South African Capital Markets Summit at the Westin Cape Town Hotel's Conference Centre.

Taking place for the ninth year, the two-day event set out to examine the recovery and growth of the South African securitisation and debt capital markets communities - and featured a number of keynote speakers.

Christie partners, Gearhouse South Africa, serviced the event's design/ production company, Eventworx, with an imaginative MicroTiles solution, designed to wow the 500 invitees, from various financial institutions.

Gearhouse were early adopters of MicroTiles, and with 100 modules in their inventory were comfortably able to design an 11 x 8 landscape display, set in the foyer of the Conference Centre, to allow content to be screened in 16:9 format.

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Singapore - The opening of Avalon has been hyped as the most highly anticipated nightclub event in the region and also boasts the largest installation of Clay Paky Sharpy moving beam lights ever installed in a club.

Avalon is the brainchild of nightclub impresario Steve Adelman, and a legend behind many of the most famous nightspots of the past two decades. The club occupies the top two levels of the floating South Crystal Pavilion - a multi-faceted glass edifice designed by architect Moshe Safdie - and which forms part of the Marina Bay Sands complex.

The interior of the club is surrounded by glass walls and a ceiling which is 15m high at the point. The responsibility of overseeing the lighting, sound, and AV design was entrusted to Snipe Media, a Singapore-based design and consultancy company. Billy Magendran who helms Snipe Media, was called upon to come up with a solution

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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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Belgium - DPA's new d:fine headset microphones have been used for the musical Lelies, a Judas Theaterproducties production at the Antwerp Fakkeltheater.

Audio equipment was provided by Stage Unit, whose managing director ToonVan der Veken suggested sound engineer Stefan De Reese try out the new DPA d:fine single-ear headsets. Suitably impressed, De Reese chose to use omnidirectional versions of d:fine, supplied by DPA's Benelux distributor Amptec.

"I knew I would need a headset which was robust, as invisible as possible, displayed greatly reduced sensitivity to contact noise, was easily switchable between left and right ear - and of course had excellent sound quality," says De Reese.

All nine of the production's all-male cast were miked with a d:fine headset, and the robust build quality, together with the mic's ability to stay firmly in place once mounted,

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The Netherlands - Clear-Com is showcasing Concert Version 2.6 at ISE 2012 this week. Designed specifically to allow collaborative workgroups to "instantly and reliably communicate privately over LAN, WAN and Internet applications on Windows or Mac computers", the IP-based intercom software now provides an even greater range of features and options.

The Concert software is suitable for all production applications as it enables users to quickly and easily contact other team members who are shown to be 'available' for a call or text messaging. With the latest upgrade, other user statuses are also revealed - 'already on a call', 'currently in production' or 'monitoring an audio feed.' Unique to Concert, multiple conference sessions and/or texting sessions can occur simultaneously, says the company.

Another added convenience offered by the system is the ability for users

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Norway - Oslo Audio has become the first rental company in Norway to invest in an L-Acoustics Kara WST line source system, ordering 24 cabinets from local distributor, Scandec Systemer. The system is powered by L-Acoustics LA-RAK amplified controllers and supplemented with SB18 sub woofers.

"Kara has a flexibility that will enable us to use the system for pretty much all venues in Norway," says Paal Klaastad from Oslo Audio. "For us the audio performance of the Kara system was never in question. As a longtime L-Acoustics user, we are confident that the sound quality is first class. The reputation of the brand ensures that the end users are also confident of the system's performance.

" The scalability of the system, its integration with the LA-RAK platform and the ease of rigging and handling makes us confident that this will provide a good return on investm

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The Netherlands - Aviom confirmed at ISE 2012 that the AllFrame Multi-Modular I/O System is now shipping. The new system is suitable for a wide range of permanent and portable applications, bringing the flexibility of the powerful Pro64 audio network to the wall box, stage box or floor pocket, says the company.

"We couldn't be more pleased to announce the availability of the AllFrame outside the US.," says Carl Bader, president and CEO of Aviom. "We look forward to continuing to offer streamlined solutions, including the AllFrame, for all of our customers. Designed with the system designer and installer in mind, the system helps to make digital more affordable and flexible, keeping analog cabling to a minimum and reducing system complexity and labour costs."

Based on extensive market research, the AllFrame Multi-Modular I/O System eliminates several expensi

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Canada - MDG has assumed responsibility for Robe sales activity across Canada, promoting and supporting the full range of Robe products including its HMI, tungsten and LED motorized spots, wash and PC spotlights, the famous Digital Series and its range of Lighting Effects. All Robe Architainment products, including the LED series, also fall within MDG's new remit.

Martin Michaud, president and CEO of MDG, states, "Our team is thoroughly delighted and thrilled to start promoting Robe in our country. MDG's philosophy of delivering personalized care and dedicated service to every single customer, combined with our portfolio of professional, top-of-the-line products meant the choice of Robe was easy. We had been on the lookout for a lighting product that would complement the prestigious array we already carry in Canada and Robe fits perfectly into that role."

"Altho

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UK - Organisers of the first ever Stage Management Conference (Arts Theatre, central London - 12th Feb) have announced that speakers and sessions for the event have now been finalised.

"As well as being hosted by Barbara Eifler, executive director, and Rebecca Emery - chair of the board of the SMA - and featuring a keynote speech by Vikki Heywood, we also have two panel discussions taking place. The first focusses on Valuing Stage Management, and is chaired by the charismatic Ken Bennett-Hunter, with Jamie Byron, James Williams, Antonia Collins and Charles Evans, all established professionals in the industry," say organisers.

The afternoon will feature five break-out sessions: Social Media and the Stage Manager, led by Caron Jane Lyon who specialises in online communications and networking; A Look at Life After Stage Management, with Antonia Coll

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UK - Digital Projection (DP) announced at ISE 2012 the appointment of Ciaran Doran as head of international sales & marketing. In this role, Doran will be tasked with developing the company's business in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, raising DP's profile and growing market share in these strategically important markets, says the company.

Doran joins DP from Harris Broadcast Communications where he was international marketing director for all markets outside North America. In a broadcast and pro AV career spanning more than 20 years, he has also held senior management roles in Leitch and Sony Corporation.

"I join Digital Projection at a tremendously exciting time in the company's evolution: we have developed a market leading range of projection systems for both business and domestic use and now we plan to develop our presence across the EMEA region," comm

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UK - James Lawford has returned to LMC Audio following a period in UK Sales at DiGiCo. He joins the team in LMC's Birmingham office in his new role as sales manager.

Commenting on his return to LMC, Lawford says, "I am very pleased to be re-joining LMC where I originally launched my career in professional audio. I enjoyed my time with DiGiCo immensely and it has been enlightening to carry out business from the manufacturer side of the table. In my new role as sales manager I plan to work with my team to continue our overall objective: bringing the best service and the best products to the professional audio market."

Lawford and the Birmingham team continue to serve all Northern regions of the UK, including the Midlands, Scotland and Wales.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - For the second year in a row, Ashley's KLR-4000 amplifiers powered Community loudspeakers and subwoofers at the 2012 NAMM Wanna Play? stage in Anaheim. Michael Bell of Bell Event Services handled production at the stage, which featured an inspiring collection of hand-picked up-and-coming artists.

The stage takes its name from NAMM's 'Wanna Play?' campaign, which encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to take up a musical instrument. Last year, the Wanna Play? stage used a similar Community/Ashly configuration that set off alarms in the parking lot next door!

The Ashly KLR-Series amplifiers are dual channel, and each of the 19 KLR-4000s used at the Wanna Play? Stage delivers 2000 Watts per channel to 2 Ohm.

The Wanna Play? Stage is located just outside the convention centre area, adjacent to the arena fountain. A four-way Community-based system powered the stage,

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Germany - The professorship of Mechatronics at the Helmut-Schmidt University / University of the German Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg has invested in 16 Adamson B-118 Subwoofers. The department, headed by Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Delf Sachau, is internationally respected as a leading research institute for cabin acoustics and active noise cancellation technologies and has multiple partnerships with global players in the commercial aerospace industry.

The new sound reinforcement system was projected and installed by Adamson Europe's Jochen Sommer, in cooperation with Dr.-Ing. Oliver Pabst and Dipl.-Ing. Kai Simanowski. It will be used as the primary sound projection source with an aircraft passenger cabin model. This experimental speaker rig will be used for studying the effects of noise emissions of the controversial propfan engines inside of the cabin, and the effectiveness of ac

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Denmark - Optocore has named Soundware as its new distributor in Denmark.The Risskov-based company, which represents a portfolio of leading studio, broadcast, theatre and live pro audio brands, confirms that Optocore will fit into its existing roster, alongside DiGiCo, ClearCom, Direct Out and many others.

"Optocore has a first-class pedigree in the distribution of audio, IP Intercom and video," noted Soundware pro audio manager, Kim Johansen, who had personally encountered and used Optocore systems over the years, but felt the brand's potential was not being fully realised.

The German manufacturer also believes it has found the ideal partner. Said international sales & marketing manager, Mark Davidson, "We chose Soundware due to their knowledge of the broadcast, fixed install and live performance markets in Denmark as well as their experience and reputation.&qu

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UK - Black Light has confirmed its appointment as an authorised reseller for Avolites.

"Avolites has recently reorganised and streamlined its distribution network, so we are delighted to have been confirmed as one of only four resellers for the UK," says Phil Haldane, Black Light's head of company development. "This is a real feather in our cap - one that reflects our commitment to the brand and our belief in the merits of its exceptional products."

"Avolites' gear is really versatile and is ideally suited for multi-purpose venues, says Calder Sibbald, Black Light's head of hires and events, who has worked with Avolites extensively including a period of product testing for the company at Edinburgh's Gilded Balloon venue.

"To back up our new role as an Avolites distributor we have increased our hire and sales stock of their products," Sibbal

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USA - The Metropolitan Opera at New York City's Lincoln Centre has expanded its lighting inventory with the acquisition of four Robert Juliat Victor 1800W followspots as specified by Patrick Eagleton of Contemporary Lights & Staging, Stamford, Connecticut.

"The Met is all about quality and very particular about the products they buy, and the Robert Juliat name speaks for itself in that regard," says Fred Lindauer, of Robert Juliat. "The Met already has a number of RJ 2.5W Profiles in their inventory so they were very willing to consider Robert Juliat followspots for this new application."

The followspots had to be portable, easy to set up, and fit in the space reserved for them. In addition, they had to be very quiet since they would be located in the audience seating area. "After on-site tests the team at the Met loved the fact that the Victors operat

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UK - Lighting designer Mark Kenyon specified nearly 90 Chauvet Professional fixtures for the set design on BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing.

Taking centre stage with show contestants in custom-finished chrome are six Q-Wash 560Z LED moving heads. The fixtures add eye candy to the set and complement the dancer's moves while punctuating performances with powerful beams of coloured light.

Additionally placed throughout the set are 50 COLORdash Batten Tri linear wash lights as well as 32 COLORado 1 Tour static wash lights. These fixtures provide vibrant, saturated washes from the back cyc and signature coloured arc design of the set to downlighting the main dance floor. All the Chauvet fixtures offer flicker-free performances from high-powered LEDs.

"The Q-Wash 560Z LED worked exceptionally well on stage," Mark Kenyon said. "They are extremely bright and at tim

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USA - Reed Rigging provided production rigging support for a specially designed and constructed set for the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon television show broadcast from Indianapolis's Hilbert Circle Theatre. The Indianapolis-based broadcasts coincided with Super Bowl week for the NFL. Last year's Super Bowl set a U.S. audience record of 111m viewers, and this year's contest is expected to exceed that number.

The Hilbert Circle Theatre, home to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, was transformed from its 1916 historical splendour to a fully-functioning 21st Century television broadcast studio incorporating miles of cable, cameras, video walls, lighting and state of the art audio systems into its ornate and elegant interior.

"We are very pleased to provide our support to this outstanding production," said Michael Reed, founder and president of Reed Rigging. &quo

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The Netherlands - Sales-All BV, the recently-formed division of Benelux rental giants, Rent-All, provided a vibrant showcase for the new portfolio of SGM products at the recent CUE 2012 trade fair, held at Rotterdam's Ahoy.

Theatre and concert technicians - and other performing arts professionals - turned out at this bi-annual fair to see SGM's new suite of low-energy LED solutions, which formed the centrepiece of the Dutch company's sound and light presentation.

Sales-All's Bas van der Heiden, the man responsible for SGM sales, said the decision to exhibit at CUE 2012 for the first time had been well justified. "We dedicated a large part of our stand to SGM and visitors were really excited - particularly about the new X-5 (white LED) strobe and XC-5 (colour strobe). Many customers are now interested in selling these products as part of the full SGM range."

SGM con

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UK - The PLASA 2012 free registration offer has been extended. Over 6000 people have already registered for this year's PLASA 2012, taking place at Earls Court in London from 9 - 12 September 2012. Register before 29 February to save £20 on the standard ticket price.

PLASA 2012 will be first show to take place after the London Olympic and Paralympic Games and it will be a celebration of our industry's contribution to this summer's events. We'll be taking a look back at some of the most spectacular achievements of the summer and presenting special educational events to highlight the best bits of London 2012.

In addition, PLASA 2012 will showcase an all-new Audio Programme packed full of master-classes from the biggest international names in the industry.

We invite everyone to come and enjoy the unique atmosphere in London this September, the home of the Olympics and the

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UK - Busy UK-based lighting designer Derek Jones recently bought a Jands Vista S1 to help service his busy autumn season, including Cliff Richard's Soulicious tour and another with equally maverick performers, The Hollies.

With both tours overlapping Jones took his new Vista S1 out on The Hollies, while he called on Lars Kristiansen to operate Cliff Richard and the Shadows on his Vista S3.

Jones bought the Vista S3 some two years ago, and it has been on the road ever since. He has been running the next generation Vista v2 software since its launch and comments, "It's brilliant."

He has worked with The Hollies for the last six years. They tour twice a year for five weeks each, playing to completely sold out audiences in theatres and concert halls nationwide.

The lighting rig, supplied by Blackburn based Lite Alternative, consisted of a front and back truss

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