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Russia - Entertainment technology specialists and APG integration partner, Doka Centre, recently celebrated their 25th anniversary in style with a two-day event for over 200 people. A number of seminars and presentations were followed with a concert in the evening from a Russian band playing blues and rock through an APG sound system. The next day saw practical workshops and demos on themes and products seen the previous day. The whole event culminated with the most spectacular gala dinner complete with laser light show and pyrotechnics display on the walls of the building outside.

With offices in both Moscow and St Petersburg, Doka Centre is one of Russia's most successful systems integrators specialising in major projects all across Russia, in particular in the theatre, conferen

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UK - With its warm, soft-edged beam, zoom and rich CMY colour mixing, Martin's MAC TW1 tungsten wash light has always been constant choice for live music touring shows. One recent example is Bombay Bicycle Club's recent UK tour, the English indie band's biggest headline tour to date.

Lighting and set design for the tour was by Squib and marks the second Bombay Bicycle Club tour he has used the TW1s on. Forming the bulk of the moving light aspect of the rig, Squib placed six TW1s each on front, mid and back truss for a total of 18.

Squib's lighting design made use of 160 dimmable fixtures including pendent light bulbs, space lights, Fresnels and Moles, which gave the show a warm tungsten look. Squib comments, "I wanted a wash light that fitted in with this aesthetic but one which I could also get a full range of other complementary colours out of.

"The TW1 fitted th

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USA - Meyer Sound has appointed John McMahon as executive director of operations, a newly created position effective immediately. McMahon will play a key role in aligning the long-term mission, operational goals, and expansion programs across the company, while continuing to fulfill his existing duties as executive director of digital products and managing director of Meyer Sound China.

"It's important to maintain our responsiveness in our engineering and support services as we develop more system-based products like EXP [cinema system] and Constellation [acoustic system] while entering new vertical markets and expanding our global presence," says Helen Meyer, executive vice president of Meyer Sound. "John McMahon will play a key role in connecting the different departments and making sure they are in sync as the company builds towards further growth."

McMa

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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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New Zealand - The new website for Dream Solution's flagship product LightFactory went live earlier this month, providing a significant improvement in functionality, resources and security. The new LightFactory website can be found at: www.lightfactory.net.

The new online web shop is seamlessly integrated, providing immediate license delivery for software purchases and is processed behind the scenes securely by PayPal. A community showcase section on the site allows user to share photos from their projects and the video tutorials section makes learning many of the advanced features easier.

The site was developed by Bill Kirby's team at Crescit Software (www.crescitsoftware.com).

Coinciding with the launch of the new site is a competition to win a 2 universe package valued at $800. Simply visit the new site before the end of July and create an account to go into the draw.

(C

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Mexico - Clay Paky Sharpys took centre stage at the recent Espectáculo Conmemorativo, the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, held at Fuerte Guadalupe in Puebla, Mexico. The site was the location of the 1862 battle in which the Mexican army defeated Napoleon's soldiers during the French invasion. The Mexican victory is celebrated yearly on the fifth of May, Cinco de Mayo.

To commemorate the 150th Anniversary, the Mexican government hired creative and production firm Five Currents out of Monterey, California to create an elaborate stage production at the site of the fort. Under Executive Producer Scott Givens, Five Currents managed a production like no other, complete with massive lighting, video, pyrotechnics and a cast of 2000.

Lighting designer David Grill of David Grill Associates Inc. specified 44 Clay Paky Sharpys, with 20 lined directly behind the stage, providin

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South Africa - The first in a series of follow spotter training courses was hosted at DWR Distribution on Monday, 18 June 2012 and was presented by Gerda Kruger and Philip Kruger.

This course, presented for the first time in South Africa, aimed not only to professionally train follow spotters, but also to raise the standard and enable follow spotting to become a full-time job.

"Good follow spotting is never noticed, but bad follow spotting can ruin a show," said Gerda Kruger, one of South Africa's most prolific lighting designers. "A good follow spotter should be acknowledged, be paid their worth and be an integral part of the show's lighting as the designer and board operator."

The first full-day course was attended by eight technicians from three companies, PanTilt, MGG Productions and Blackmotion Production.The morning was devoted to theory, covering t

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UK - After the success of the first series, Alesha's Street Dance Stars is back. Dance crews of up to 12 young street dancers will compete in a series of auditions, rounds and finals with one crew winning both the title of Alesha's Street Dance Stars and a money-cannot-buy-prize.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) support LD Roger Williams in creating a very cool, edgy and urban look. 2 Lites and 8 Lites were chosen to create an almost Industrial look which complements the eye-popping routines and electrifying dance skills that are displayed throughout the show, which is aired on Saturday mornings on BBC2.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - XL Video supplied plasma screens and full Catalyst media management and control for the acclaimed National Theatre of Scotland current production of Macbeth.

Starring Alan Cumming in all the major roles, it plays the Tramway Theatre Glasgow, and the Lincoln Center New York.

One of the co-founders of video design group Mesmer, Ian William Galloway presented original, cutting-edge and highly atmospheric visuals for the show, which is set inside an asylum.

To achieve this, he worked closely with programmer Salvador Bettencourt Ávila and the National Theatre of Scotland design team to create a unique CCTV video playback. This video enables Cumming to interact with virtual versions of himself and pre-recorded characters to create this highly intense presentation of 'The Scottish Play'.

"The production called for three remote controllable CCTV cameras to follow

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Lebanon - Live music and festivals are a fundamental part of Lebanese identity, with rental company CKA Event Sound Systems using DiGiCo consoles on many of them.

The company is owned and run by Chady Akiki, working closely with his cousin Alain. A DiGiCo SD9 and SD10 are the pride of their rental stock.

As a Front of House engineer himself, Chady knows at first-hand what the most important features of a mixing console are and he also received many technical riders from international acts that requested DiGiCo consoles. Initially buying an SD10, it proved such a success that CKA later purchased an SD9 as well.

"In Lebanon we always want the best equipment. Even if we don't need all the facilities now, we think that maybe we will need them later, so we always buy the best we can," he says. "We looked at other consoles, but with some you have to go through lots

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UK - Ipswich-based PA company, DHE Professional, has purchased three Allen & Heath GLD digital mixers to add to their hire stock inventory. Comprising three GLD-80 mixers, with three AR2412 and three AR84 I/O expander units, the new systems have already been put to work on a variety of events.

Two of the mixing systems were used to manage FOH and monitors at the recent Homelanz Festival in London, which featured headline performances from Prime Circle, Kora and Alex Lloyd, who are all stadium fillers in Australia and New Zealand.

"Ever since taking delivery of the GLDs, the whole team has been impressed with the versatility, reliability and functionality of the mixer for its size and price point. One of the features that receives particular praise from both our own and visiting engineers is the strip assign; its simplicity makes the most complicated of stage patches achie

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USA - Arizona based Clearwing Productions have just been announced as one of the latest companies to join the Dirty Rigger distribution team. Known as a leading brand throughout the USA, Clearwing supply specialist production services and equipment, working with some of the biggest operators worldwide.

Clearwing's Nick Dressler says, "Dirty Rigger is the 'best bang for the buck', I've not seen rigger gloves at that price and quality from any other manufacturer, which is why we chose to stock the entire range. Customers have come to us with concerns about the quality of their alternative rigger glove brands over and over, therefore stocking Dirty Rigger was driven by the demand of our clients first, and price second. Even all of our shop guys own a pair and have not come back for a replacement yet!"

(Jim Evans)

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USA - John 'Cheetoh' Chiodo, lighting designer, programmer and lighting board op for American alt metal band Chevelle, turned to Martin's mini but mighty MAC 101 wash light for the band's 2012 Hats Off to the Bull US tour.

"On the last tour with Chevelle I used MAC 700s," he stated. "On that tour the band and I discussed going with all LED fixtures for the next tour. This time I scooped up as many MAC 101s as the budget allowed."

Cheetoh spread 30 MAC 101s across the upstage edge between four trusses and pipes to create a full wall of fixtures look. "I chose the 101s because of their brightness and quickness," he says. "They also have a perfect degree beam, which helps make the light more of a spot than a true LED wash fixture."

Lighting vendor for the tour is Windy City Music out of Chicago whose role encompassed more than mere

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UK - HHB Communications has supplied Fuse FM, the University of Manchester Students' Union radio station, with two Studer OnAir 1500 audio mixers as part of the relocation and upgrade of its studios.

The choice of OnAir consoles has allowed the station to design and install an integrated system that utilises Studer's Relink digital audio routing technology. In addition, the OnAir's modular design has enabled the equipment installation to be rationalised, which has helped to control the project costs.

Located in the Steve Biko building on Oxford Road in Manchester, Fuse FM is a key part of the Students' Union's broadcast media output. Run by volunteers, the station provides the opportunity for students to get involved in numerous areas of University life.

The studios are used for a combination of production and live broadcasting, and both mixers have been supplied with the si

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UK - SSE Audio Group has announced the acquisition of ETA Sound. The company, based in Mold, Wales, has moved its operations to SSE's Redditch headquarters. ETA owner Eddie Thomas adds another dimension to SSE's growing pro-audio operations, as SSE MD John Penn explained: "We have been talking to Eddie for a while about bringing his expertise to SSE and incorporating his complementary activities into the Group. His particular area of operation is the design and installation of large format audio and emergency evacuation installations in stadia, shopping malls and large spaces."

He continued: "This is a natural bolt on for SSE, and adds to our skill set and range in the audio installation market, meaning that there is very little we don't now cover in terms of what we can do in the audio environment. Eddie is a well respected and experienced individual, who adds an

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USA - Line 6 has announced the availability of StageSource L3m. StageSource loudspeaker systems are built on a powerful new technology platform that enables a single enclosure to provide best-of-class performance in multiple live sound functions, says the company.

A compact, full-range three-way speaker system, the StageSource L3m tri-amped design delivers 1,400 watts of balanced, clean and articulate audio through dual 10-inch woofers and a horn-loaded, one-inch exit compression driver that combine to deliver a powerful 132 dB maximum SPL. A precision-engineered 100x50-degree constant-directivity waveguide delivers consistent coverage throughout its entire frequency range and optimal dispersion throughout the audience area, wide enough for solo use yet controlled enough for arrayed pairs. The narrow vertical pattern ensures minimal energy is reflected off the ceilings and floor

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Sweden / China - Genelec has made a number of new sales appointments to further expand its global operations. The appointments follow sustained business growth across the product portfolio and include positions in Europe, China and South America.

Patrick Lundin has joined the Genelec sales team in Sweden as country sales manager for the newly launched range of Home Audio products. Lundin is an experienced audio sales professional and will bring a wealth of industry knowledge and local market experience to his new position.

In the Far East, Feng Haying has been appointed as the national director of Beijing Genelec Audio. Feng has considerable experience in the music recording field including acting as chief recording engineer of China National Centre for the Performing Arts. Feng joined the Beijing Genelec Audio team in May 2011 as a technical manager and recording consultant.<

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UK - Adlib's busy audio division again supplied a complete L-Acoustics sound system and crew to Production North for the 2012 Capital FM Summertime Ball staged at Wembley Stadium, London, UK on Saturday 9 June.

This year's star-studded line-up included Coldplay, Justin Bieber, Usher, Katy Perry, Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, The Wanted, Flo Rida and many more, kick starting the Summer with an action packed day of pop music and vibes.

Adlib's crew line up of 17 was chiefed by Marc Peers. Key people included systems tech Tony Szabo, RF co-ordinator Dave Kay, presenter console operator Ian Nelson and patch by Michael Bernard Flaherty all intent on delivering a precisely planned mission involving some superlative teamwork.

Peers worked closely with Production North's sound supervisor Ant Carr and their event production manager Sarah Hollis on the advance logistics ensuring all the requi

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UK - Nissan and Ministry of Sound recently introduced the Juke Box, billed as "a breakthrough automotive design with one of the best nightclub sound systems in the world, capable of producing up to 150dB".

The Juke Box sound system was engineered by Martin Audio, also responsible for creating the current iteration of the Box Room at Ministry of Sound in London. The Box is a five-sided room within a room completely insulated and suspended from the outside wall that is considered to be one of the best sound systems in the world.

Nissan and Ministry of Sound turned to Martin Audio to create a totally self-sufficient 18,900W sound system for the Juke Box. A set of custom made cabinets and enclosures housing two 18" powered subs and the same Mid Hi enclosures used at MOS enable an exceptionally high output with no compromise in sound quality. All of the custom speake

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Visitors to PLASA 2012 will be in with the chance of wining an historic Union Jack Clay Paky Sharpy! One of only six hand painted Sharpys made exclusively for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert and signed by Lighting Designer, Durham Marenghi. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this piece of history is register for PLASA 2012! The winner will be announced live on the Clay Paky stand.

The patriotic Sharpys, dressed up in custom made Union Jack jackets, were a welcome sight amongst the pageantry of the day as they delivered a dazzling display of laser-like lighting at the evening celebrations that marked the 60th anniversary of Queen's reign.

Lighting designer Durham Marenghi employed more than 240 Clay Paky fixtures, hired from London based rental house Neg Earth, to deliver a stunning, varied and dynamic lighting design for superstar acts that included Kylie Minogu

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Azerbaijan - Robert Juliat reports that 2012 is the tenth year in which RJ followspots have been used on the Eurovision Song Contest.

For the third year running, Lightpower of Germany supplied Robert Juliat followspots to this prestigious international event at the end of May, the two semi-finals and the finals of which were broadcast in three live televised events from Baku, Azerbaijan.

Lighting designer, Jerry Appelt, used 10 Robert Juliat spots in total - six RJ Aramis 2500W HMI followspots with DMX control and four of the mighty RJ Lancelot 4000W HTI followspots - to highlight participants from 42 countries.

"We chose Robert Juliat followspots for two major reasons," says Appelt. "Firstly because Robert Juliat spots are extremely reliable which is a priority on a show of this size. The Aramis' remote DMX control is an essential feature which gave me precis

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UK - Sony has announced the launch of its newest wireless microphone series, the new 2.4GHz DWZ. This, the company says, "combines ease of use, superb RF transmission reliability and high sound quality into four affordable and highly flexible packages".

The new 2.4GHz DWZ series includes combinations of hand-held mics, bodypack transmitters and rack-mount or compact size receivers, with various components for use by musicians, or in classroom, corporate, house of-worship or government applications, the company says.

The DWZ Series includes: DWZ-B30GB Digital Wireless Package-Guitar kit, DWZ-B70HL Digital Wireless Package-Headset and Lavalier kit, DWZ-M50 Digital Wireless Package-Vocal Set and DWZ-M70 Digital Wireless Package-Vocal/Speech kit.

"The DWZ series builds on Sony's extensive wireless expertise to deliver the most flexibility and the highest levels of

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