UK - Orbital Sound has recently installed a d&b audiotechnik White range system at private members' club Aura in Mayfair. This represents one of the first club installations for the new range, involving a combination of D12 and D6 amplifiers with Q-Sub, 10S-D, 8S and 5S loudspeakers - together with a Ci80 DJ monitor.

Aura has a maximum capacity of 210 in its main room and the emphasis is very much on maintaining an intimate atmosphere - in everything except in respect to its sound. Co-owner Alberto Barbieri explains what they were looking to achieve: "We wanted a system that could deliver a big sound without being in any way obvious, delivering a high SPL with an even sound and clarity. The objective is to surprise our clients by the quality and depth of the sound, despite th

UK - You Cannot be Serious!, a comedy show, hosted by Alistair McGowan reviews clips from the last seven days of televised sport and promises to deliver what Saturday night TV should be about - fun!

Martin Kempton designs the lighting show, which is aired on Saturday nights at 7.30pm on ITV and is supported by Richard Martin Lighting (RML).

His chosen lighting spec includes Stage Zoom 1200, MAC TW1, MAC 600, VL2000 Wash, VL1000TS, Chroma Banks and Chroma Floods. Martin also used LED 12 Lights which were hung around the set and helped create an American sports stadium feel.

(Jim Evans)

UK - BlackBox Recorder manufacturer JoeCo has commenced shipments of its new 64-channel Dante recorder. The BBR64-DANTE, previewed at Prolight + Sound 2012, was developed as a result of continuing collaboration between JoeCo and Audinate, creators of the award-winning Dante digital media networking solution. Still only occupying 1U of rack space, despite doubling its track count from 32 to 64, the BBR64-DANTE now ranks alongside its 64-channel MADI sibling as one of the smallest large-scale audio capturing devices currently available.

The recorder connects to any Dante-enabled network device from a range of console and converter manufacturers. In addition to recording 64 channels at standard sample rates, it can also record eight channels of analogue alongside 56 channels of Dante for capturing audience and ambience. Higher sample rate recording (88.2kHz and 96kHz) is also possi

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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

Lebanon - When Lebanon's Casino du Liban celebrated its grand re-reopening back in 1996, the opulent gaming resort entertained visiting jet-setters in two completely remodeled venues-both featuring Meyer Sound technology. Between 2009 and earlier this year, another technical upgrade project equipped the 1,200-capacity Théâtre du Liban with Meyer Sound MICA line array loudspeakers and furnished the cabaret-style 600-seat Salle des Ambassadeurs with new M'elodie line array loudspeakers.

"After hundreds of successful shows, I had no thoughts of replacing the old systems with anything other than Meyer," says Tony Khoury, who has been head audio engineer at Casino du Liban since 1996. "I wanted newer technology but with the same natural sound quality and amazing reliability. In 16 years, I had zero loudspeaker failures. That made me a Meyer Sound believer."

Belgium - Visualization expert Barco has recently signed a series of major deals. One of the eye-catchers is that with the European audiovisual expert AED Display. The company purchased 18 HDX-W18, 24 ultra-bright HDF-W26 and 10 HDQ-2K40 projectors. The new range will be presented during demo days, including workshops, on 10 and 11 July next.

A long-term customer of Barco and part of the AED group, AED Display is a trendsetter in Europe's rapidly changing audiovisual industry. The company provides AV professionals with both rental and installation services. Its broad rental pool, which comprises Barco's full range of projection and image processing systems, is now being extended with the new compact HDX-W18, the very bright HDF-W26 and top-of-range HDQ-2K40 projectors.

Thierry Heldenbergh, managing director, AED Display comments, "We are very excited about these new add-o

UK - Prolyte Products UK Limited, a subsidiary of Prolyte Group has confirmed its acquisition of UK-based stage set fabrication company Brilliant Stages.

Brilliant Stages is a multiple award winner in the design and construction of stage sets and custom fabrications for the touring and events industry. Brilliant has been at the core of some of the most celebrated touring shows ever produced, and boasts an impressive client list that includes the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, U2, AC/DC, Take That and Lady Gaga.

The acquisition further strengthens the project capabilities within Prolyte Group, and will be managed by Prolyte UK under the stewardship of managing director Lee Brooks. Tony Bowern, general manager of Brilliant Stages, will continue to drive the business through the delivery of world-class projects.

(Jim Evans)

Australia - Sydney Opera House is about to undertake the largest technical infrastructure development since the world renowned performing arts centre and architectural icon opened in 1973.

Called the Stage Management System Project, the new infrastructure aims to prepare the house for the production of content for all its major clients by integrating broadcast quality high-definition camera and video systems along with an audio distribution network, communications systems and new studio facilities especially designed to house the operation.

Sydney Opera House has awarded the tender for the Stage Management System Project to a partnership between Australia's Rutledge Engineering and German company Salzbrenner Stagetec.

Custom made Stage Management desks will be constructed in Germany to control paging, communications and show relay. The project will also completely update all

USA - Christie Lites has opened a Nashville office and warehouse, the latest additions to its multi-office network of full service stage lighting supply locations across North America.

Effective immediately, the Christie Lites Rental Rep team will support clients from its newest regional office location within the Soundcheck complex at 740 Cowan St. in Nashville.

Equipment support of the full CL range of lighting and rigging equipment will come from Christie Lites' new warehouse and prep location in the Nashville suburb of Antioch. The 50,000sq.ft. high volume facility is located at 650 Dana Way.

Shannon Scott, long time industry professional from Huntsville AL, has joined the Rental Rep team and is based in the new Nashville location. Scott started in the industry in 1997 in operations and quickly began touring with such acts as Hank Williams Jr. He was most recently a seni

Malaysia - Wireless Solution Sweden has announced the appointment of lighting specialists Acoustic & Lighting System to supply W-DMX to Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, effective immediately.

With more than two decades of experience in distributing professional solutions for the entertainment, architectural, and commercial sectors, Acoustic & Lighting System is an all-around leader in these fields in the South East Asian region. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; the company has since grown by leaps and bounds through its business expansion in Penang, Pahang, Melaka, Johor, Sabah, Singapore, Thailand and most recently - Indonesia.

The company offers an extensive portfolio of lighting, sound and accessories from leading manufactures including Clay Paky, MA Lighting, PR Lighting, Antari, Midas and Sennheiser.

Since Prolight and Sound 2012, Acoustic &

Qatar - A sizeable Peavey MediaMatrix system was chosen for Phase II of the massive AV installation at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) to create the perfect audiovisual control system solution.

One of the biggest AV projects the world has ever seen, QNCC utilises more than 250km of fibre optic cabling to connect all systems to a central hub, and the project incorporates everything from BGM to broadcast. It took almost two years for a 60-strong workforce of specialist technicians to complete.

From the offset, systems integrator Techno Q was handed the task of designing a system whereby each of the building's three main areas (exhibition halls, meeting rooms, and connecting public areas) could be controlled centrally as well as locally. And this place is vast - the exhibition space alone totals 850m (over seven halls), and there are 42 separate meeting rooms and seve

UK - Clay Paky Sharpys have provided the bedrock for a dazzling live video shoot for UK-based drum and base hell-raisers Chase and Status.

HSL supplied 24 Sharpy units to long term Chase and Status lighting designer Neil Carson of Enhance Production Ltd for the band's UK Autumn 2011 tour, which culminated in the live video shoot at Brixton Academy. Carson's show has since been submitted for a Knight Of Illumination Award 2012.

The show was energetic, video heavy and punctuated with Carson's high-energy, punchy light show. "As one of the top-selling bands of 2011, Chase and Status wanted to deliver a seriously dazzling show," explains Carson, who has worked on previous Chase and Status live shows. "I spread the Sharpys across six towers and rigged them at various heights so that I could really hit the audience with the onstage atmosphere from Chase and Status and

UK - At the start of June, Stage Crew - the Irish event crew company - were shortlisted for their first two awards. The Irish Event Industry Awards shortlisted Stage Crew in their 'Best Event Infrastructure Provider' category and the Northern Irish Workplace and Employment Awards named them as finalists for the 'Best Company to do Business With' award.

The Irish Event Awards are now in their fourth year, celebrating excellence and showcasing the highest standards in Ireland's event industry. The Workplace & Employment Awards are in their 6th Year and are endorsed by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.

Both awards ceremonies were held on 21st June, and at the WEA awards Stage Crew were named the winners of the 'Best Company to do Business With' category.

The judges said Stage Crew offered "something uniquely

UK - Entertainment industry training and skills centre Backstage Academy will be holding an open day next Sunday 15 July 11am - 4pm.

Visitors are invited to take an Access All Areas tour around the LS-Live rehearsal and events facility, and learn more about the Foundation Degree in Live Events Production (validated by The University of Bolton) and short courses in backstage skills. Staff and tutors will be on hand to discuss the many opportunities to get involved with Backstage Academy whether as a student, partner, or supporting institution.

There will be plenty of entertainment on the day; the 17,664sq.ft studio arena will be hosting West Yorkshire Police's charity Battle of the Bands event from 12pm - 5pm, where 10 local schools bands will perform songs about crime and anti-social behaviours in the community, in the hope of impressing the judging panel, which includes Chumb

Australia - LSC Lighting reports that their first production run of Clarity LX300 lighting and media control consoles was oversold but if you're eager to secure one of these controllers for multi disciplined shows don't fret as production capacity has been increased to meet the demand.

A member of the Clarity LX-Series, the LX300 is based on the successful and stable Clarity software that has been in the market for over two years and used on thousands of major tours and shows worldwide. The LX-Series is split in three different sizes to scale every type of show or venue and provide the operator and lighting designer a clean ergonomic work environment where everything is only a push of a button away.

Queensland's Brisbane Sound Group were the lucky recipients of the first ever LX300 console and Sam Walter, professional lighting sales & support at BSG, is thrilled with the purch

Norway - The Norwegian Television School has replaced its existing stock of miniature microphones with 20 DPA 4060 omnidirectional miniature microphones, which were chosen for their ruggedness and reliability.

Supplied by DPA's Norwegian distributor Lyd-Systemer AS, the new microphones are being used with Senheisser wireless systems, including eight channels of stationary wireless receivers for multi camera applications. Originally designed for use with wireless systems in theatre, television and close-miked instrument applications, DPA's 4060 miniature microphones are exceedingly accurate and highly unobtrusive.

Erik Sutterud, technical supervisor at the Television School, says, "Every time we purchase new equipment we research the market to look for the best products. A manufacturer that specialized in one type of product is likely to put more effort into its equipment

Italy - "I needed something that could properly compete with its bigger neighbours in the rig in terms of brightness and presence and the MAC Aura didn't disappoint." So says lighting and show designer Jò Campana who teamed Martin Professional's MAC Aura LED wash with 1500-watt MAC III Profiles and MAC 2000 Wash XBs on Italian rock band Litfiba's latest tour.

In accordance with the band's wishes for the 2012 tour, more contemporary visual elements like LED video screens were avoided in favor of classic rock looks. "In the end, it's an old style rock 'n' roll show with big sound and strong lights," Campana says.

"I went for the MAC Aura because of their powerful and defined beam, besides its notorious distinctive aura feature. It is also very lightweight and with its speed I sometimes launched a very high-speed pan/tilt effect. The result was definitel

UK - An audience of over 700 Yorkshire business people paid and turned up to hear worldly wisdom and wit at the 17th Yorkshire International Business Convention, held in Leeds.

Over the past 17 years, the event has brought together some of the world's most inspirational and influential speakers, from Bill Clinton to Mikhail Gorbachev. This year's sell-out event was run in a purpose-built marquee at Wellington Place, Leeds with a parallel presentation at Bridlington Spa and a two-way helicopter taxi service for the speakers. The Leeds event was the last in the series, although YIBC will continue to be staged at Bridlington Spa.

The complete audio visual production was supplied by Saville Audio Visual, providers of the AV technology for practically all previous YIBC events. Saville technical project manager, Richard Zamberlan said, "Holding the event in a marquee brings its

UAE - Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises, distributors of Shure microphones and audio electronics in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman have recently supplied new Dubai rental firm Glow Productions with the UHF-R series of wireless microphones together with the new PSM1000 personal monitoring solution.

The deal includes four channels of the UHF-R series with the latest UR4D+ version of receivers providing the cascade feature, the UR1M micro-bodypack transmitter, the UR2/KSM9 handheld transmitter with the KSM9 microphone cartridge.

The purchase also includes the latest personal monitoring solution from Shure, the PSM1000.

"Glow Productions although a new rental firm in the market, have already produced a number of top level shows for both corporate and private entities," commented Shajahan K K, Shure product manager. "As most of their wor

USA - Champagne Sunday Brunch in the Eden Courtyard at the Best Western Eden Resort & Suites in Lancaster, PA has become a local area tradition, attracting patrons with an ever-changing menu that draws from the region's finest seasonal ingredients. But while the Courtyard is known for its dining and social events, the room's acoustics have long made it a challenge to attract speaking engagements. With its 40ft high glass ceiling, hard stone floor and hard walls, the room's reverberation made intelligibility nearly non-existent.

"This is a gorgeous space and great for social events - cocktail receptions and so forth," says Stephen Sikking, managing partner, Eden Resort & Suites. "But when a speaker wanted to present something to the entire room, it was very problematic to articulate so that people could hear intelligibly."

Bob Bickelman, senior audio designe

UK - Flightcase manufacturer 5 Star Cases has expanded its HQ and manufacturing facility in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire again - this time adding a further 4700sq.ft of production units.

This is the second development this year on the Broadend Road site which is at the heart of 5 Star's busy operation. It follows on from the construction of a new and much larger custom sanding booth area in January, and is actually the third expansion in 12 months for 5 Star, as another 2500sq.ft of storage space was also added in 2011.

The latest newly refurbished units will initially be used for extra storage of finished goods - However, in the coming months 5 Star is launching several new case lines and products, so the units have been designed from the outset for the easy accommodation of a new set of state-of-the-art production facilities, ready to be activated when time comes.

Justin Locks,

USA - Wireless Solution Sweden AB is on the road again, this time heading for PLASA Focus: Nashville, 11-12 July with new products and some innovative advancements to their W-DMX product range. The show will be held at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, USA and Wireless Solution will be exhibiting with A.C.T. Lighting in Stand 321.

In addition to demonstrating their new product advancements, Wireless Solution will also be holding a seminar on Wednesday, 11 July from 1:30-2:30 in the Demo room. The seminar will be hosted by Niclas Arvidsson and will serve as an introduction to the world of Wireless Lighting Control, including Wireless DMX, RDM and more. Topics include what to avoid and which solution is the best for different applications in both crowded indoor situations or long distance outdoor applications. A presentation of the W-DMX line of products will be sh

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