UK - In 2011 Crowborough Rugby Club said farewell to the old club house that had served them since 1960 and quickly realised that there was a noise problem in their new building and called in Black Cat Acoustics.

Club chairman and commercial director Graham Callard comments, "The acoustics were terrible. W had some early parties and people could not hear themselves speak." This prompted Crowborough Rugby Club to look for a solution and Black Cat Acoustics were recommended.

Callard continues, "We set two criteria - the quality of the acoustic panels to do what they say they are going to do and of course the aesthetics. Black Cat Acoustics met both criteria and the people we worked with were excellent. The survey was done very quickly, very professionally with good

Australia - The Venue and Events department of the University of New South Wales has recently invested seven Chroma-Q Color Force 72 / 1.8m LED battens to provide wash lighting effects for its various productions. The Chroma-Q Color Forces are mainly used in the University's Science Theatre which hosts a variety of performances including dance, theatre, community projects and award ceremonies.

"It was time to replace our old tungsten cyc lights and moving towards an LED future was the best option," commented Padaric Meredith-Keller, senior theatre technician. "Not only will we save energy but also hours of labour time spent replacing gels and bubbles that would regularly die."

The department already owns several Chroma-Q products all of which have performed flawlessly. "We've been happy with our Chroma-Q products as they have a great light quality plus

Technologies for Worship Magazine have announced a comprehensive programme of educational sessions taking place at PLASA 2012, between the 9-12 September, live at Earls Court in London.

The four day programme of free-to attend sessions will take place in the Technologies for Worship zone, an area of the show floor that is dedicated to Worship technology. The Technologies for Worship stage will provide a road map for house of worship technicians, church tech volunteers and worship leaders alike to learn about audio mixing, running video backgrounds, microphone techniques, tasteful lighting, streaming, broadcast production and much more.

Sessions include; UK Church Case Study; Streaming Audio and Video Content to the Web; Building Healthy Volunteer Teams; Can You Hear Me At The Back?; Video Systems for Worship; The "Smoking Gun" of Audio; Getting Your Message Out: Tuning Syst

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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

UK - The new ilumo Zoom LED soft edged Spot from will be demonstrated at PLASA by Lumonic on their Stand 1-J14.

The ilumo has been in full production since the New Year and was designed from a 'wish list' of features that leading industry specialists required in an LED fixture.

In addition to motorised zoom with a narrow 8-degree beam angle, the ilumo has been designed to be ultra quiet in operation with smooth dimming and anti-flicker LED control; so important for TV studio and theatre applications.

The Crossfade Engine allows users to transition between different colours of the fixture's inbuilt colour palettes without outputting the intermediate colours in the list during the fade.

Colour Match allows the user to exactly define the primary RGB colours that are mixed when using the fixture in colour calibrated modes. This feature solves one of the most common problems wi

UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light will hold its first Amateur and Schools Lighting Open Day on Sunday 30 September at its base in Wimbledon, south-west London.

All involved in lighting for amateur theatre groups and schools are invited, with the day scheduled to allow them to attend - unless, of course, they are working on a show.

Those who can make it will be able to take part in lighting masterclasses led by White Light's in-house designers, play hands-on with a range of equipment and special effects including snow, UV, projection and bubbles, see a demonstration of explosive pyrotechnics from pyro specialists Le Maitre, and get training in controlling show lighting from the experts at Electronic Theatre Controls.

Alongside this, White Light will host a small selection of manufacturers showing off their latest useful lighting products, with White Light sta

USA - Ford Audio-Video Systems Inc. (Ford AV) has installed EAWQX Series, AX Series and UB Series loudspeakers at the newly constructed J.W. 'Jack' MacGorman Chapel on the campus of theSouthwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth, Texas.

On the project, Ford AV worked closely with Acoustic Dimensions, an Addison, Texas-based consulting firm. The EAW systems, configured in a central cluster with delays, under-balcony/front-fills and choir monitors, provide voice and music reinforcement in the 3,500-seat auditorium. Additional EAW systems are installed in the chapel building's choir and orchestra rehearsal rooms.

The new 106,000sq.ft chapel building is intended as a training venue for expository preaching and will also house musical performances, such as the annual presentation of Handel's Messiah by the seminary's School of Church Music

The new, larg

UK - DTS Lighting will be showing a number of new and established products including Jack, Nick and the Profilo LED.

Jack is a high-power, compact, lightweight moving head that features a wide excursion motorized zoom allowing any application from long-throw projections to large wall washing. Beam opening is: 1° - 2,5° 'Beam' projection; 2,5° - 37° 'Spot' projection; 38° - 46° 'Wash' projection.

Jack generates a high luminosity and extremely uniform projection using only a 189 W lamp; power consumption is just 230 W.

Jack is an appropriate moving head for rental companies - who want a quick and easy to install unit - thanks to its compactness and light weight (only 11,9 Kg).

Nick NRG 1201 LED wash features 8°- 50° motorized zoom with a high-efficiency optical system - enabling it to be used as a very wide wash or a PC beam.

It is equipped

UAE - Our Own English High School in Sharjah, UAE, has upgraded the sound system in its auditorium from Allen & Heath analogue to iLive digital control.

The school was using an Allen & Heath analogue console and decided to stay with the brand for the upgrade. The school opted for an iLive-T112 Control Surface and iDR-64 MixRack, supplied by local distributor VV & Sons and installed by Crown Star Technology (LLC).

The surface is located in the main control room, connected via an AH 700 Cat 5 digital snake to the mixrack, which is placed on stage. The portability of the system is a major benefit to the school.

"The auditorium technician is very happy as he can shift the mixer to any location without hassle thanks to the AH 700 Cat-5 digital snake," notes Crown Star Technology's technical manager, Mr. Sabu John.

(Jim Evans)

South Africa - Technical production company Blond Productions supplied Robe Robin MMX Spots and 600E Beam moving lights to a new games show, Musiek Trivia, recorded at ZSE Studios in Johannesburg.

They were asked to come up with a visual concept for the show by presenter Johan Stemmet, having worked with him on several series' of the popular music quiz Noot vir Noot for SABC.

Musiek Trivia features two contestants at close quarters in the studio facing each other off - Weakest Link style - and is fully focussed on the subject music trivia, encompassing specific eras from the 1950s to the present.

Blond Productions' Christiaan Ballot and Peter Rieck combined creative forces to produce a streamlined set and lighting design that involved maximising the small studio area with scenic LED set elements and clever lighting.

Very prominent are six 'totems' vert

UK - Colour Sound Experiment (CSE) supplied lighting for five main 'operated' stages and about 30 other performance areas dotted around the Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, UK site at the 2012 Secret Garden Party event, as the boutique festival celebrated its tenth year.

It is the second year that CSE has supplied lighting equipment for SGP, and a crew of 15 was once again chiefed by John Rickets. Battling with seriously wet weather on the set up and the resulting large volumes of mud, restricted access around the site made it an even more demanding task to ensure that all was rigged-and-ready for the sold-out festival to open on time.

The Great Stage was a G3 structure from G-Stages similar in shape to Glastonbury's Pyramid.

CSE supplied three sub-hung trusses which were populated with 12 Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1500s, 12 Robe LEDWash 1200s, eight Showtec Sunstrips, six CP Sharpies

UK - Prism Projection, the multiple-award-winning manufacturer of LED lighting fixtures, will debut three new products at this year's PLASA Show in September.

Building on the strength of Prism's existing product range, all include the company's proprietary TrueSource control algorithms which monitor and correct the light output to ensure consistent colour and level from fixture to fixture and over time.

The RevEAL Studio.3 Fresnel is the third member of Prism's Studio LED family, which has already proven popular with television studios and other venues around the world. Designed to behave just like the tools lighting practitioners are already familiar with, the Studio.3 Fresnel is just like a traditional Fresnel, with a wide variable beam angle (10-90?) and the ability to shape the beam using barndoors. The fixture produces 9700 lumens of light, tunable from 2700-8000K - givin

USA - Owing to increased interest in the Theatre examination, the ETCP Council has decided to push the launch of the new Theatre Rigging test form to 1 October, 2012 instead of the original launch at the beginning of September. To gather the statistical data necessary to properly score the exam, it is essential that as many Theatre Riggers as possible are tested during the month of October.

To further this initiative, the test administration fee of $675 for groups of seven or more will be waived for the month of October only. Candidate application fees will still apply and score reports will be delayed during this time.

ETCP will send a proctor to you, but space must be provided by your organization. Test administration requests must be received five weeks prior to the exam date, and candidate application deadlines will be set by the Certification Manager. Candidates must fill

UK - JB Lighting will use this year's PLASA Show to highlight the continuing growth of its A range of compact, powerful moving-head LED washlights, which continue to prove popular with lighting designers working on shows of all types worldwide. On show will be the A8 colour-changing washlight and A12 Tunable White LED washlight.

The A8 uses 37 RGBW multi-chip LEDs capable of creating both deeply saturated and restrained pastel colours in a beam that can be zoomed from 4? to 48?. The LEDs can also be individually controlled for dramatic beam effects. The A8 is easy to set-up, offering both three-pin and five-pin DMX systems for fuss-free integration into any wired lighting system, plus a built-in wireless DMX receiver.

The larger A12 fixture will be shown in new Tunable White form, using a combination of warm white and cool white LEDs to create a high-output white light fixture

UK - State Automation will be showcasing their latest additions to their LED Theatre product range at PLASA 2012.

The INCAND-Air is a high power LED based downlight system developed for retrofitting into the mounting hardware of existing high power downlights, or for use as a complete luminaire for new installations.

It features a specifically developed LED light engine that is capable of producing beautiful, high CRI whites of any CCT and accurately replicates the colour temperature shift that is characteristic of traditional theatre lamps when dimmed. INCAND-AIR has the benefit of an ability to produce not only excellent whites, but rich, vivid colours and RGB.

The INCAND-Air High powered LED luminaries and AirLED control electronics were developed and designed in Australia with our technology partner Lumascape.

AIR technology allows your LED luminaire to respond in an a

South Africa - DWR Distribution has appointed three director members: Bruce Riley (technical director), Nick Britz (director of training and product development) and Robert Izzett (sales director) are well respected in the industry and have helped DWR achieve success from the start.

"I would like to thank my new partners for all they have done in the past," said Duncan Riley. "I am very honoured to have them.

"The step forward means that there will shared responsibility and help with decision-making. Most importantly, the foundation has been laid to ensure that DWR Distribution remains strong in future times ahead."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Martin Audio has provided a major boost to its touring and theatre portfolio, with the introduction of the new high-output XD Series. This sets out "to define the ultimate in performance and versatility for professional, fixed-dispersion, two-way loudspeaker systems".

The models in the XD Series - the XD12 and XD15 - have been designed to deliver best-in-class performance, including higher output levels and more extended frequency range than is normally associated with similarly-sized systems. They are designed to represent new benchmarks for the compact two-way format which has always played a central role in professional sound reinforcement.

Designed principally for live sound, theatre/fixed install and high power stage monitoring, both the XD12 and XD15 combine a full, rich sound and an accurate 80° x 50° dispersion pattern in a compact, multi-angle e

UK - The new LD Systems DAVE 12 G3 is an active PA system for high-powered live gigs, multimedia presentations, and permanent installations in bars and clubs. A 12" bass reflex subwoofer and the satellites with 6.5" drivers and HF horns ensure a good sound with driving, defined bass, natural mids, and clear treble. The 3-way power amp stage is built into the subwoofer and provides the system components with 1x300W + 2x120W of continuous power.

The soul of the DAVE 12 G3 is the LD LECC DSP digital signal processor, which controls all important system functions. It includes specially amplitude and low-latency optimised crossovers, separate equalisers and limiters for the bass, mid, and treble frequency ranges, and a dynamic compressor that controls the subwoofer according to volume and provides for increased punch at low volumes.

The professional full range of features

UK - British pro audio mixer manufacturer, Allen & Heath, will be launching two new products at this year's PLASA, as well as showcasing the recently released ZED60-10FX and ZED60-14FX, the GLD digital mixing system, and other recent additions to the ZED and Xone ranges.

Exhibiting on Stand 1-F2, Allen & Heath will unveil the new products on the first day of the show. Also making their debut, will be the ZED60-10FX and ZED60-14FX, based on the top-selling ZED-10FX with the addition of premium quality 60mm faders. Central to the stand will be the new GLD, a user-friendly, cost effective and scalable live digital mixing system. Conceptually based on the hugely successful digital iLive series, a standard GLD 32 input system offers 28 XLR mic inputs with plug n' play I/O expanders allowing easy expansion up to 48 inputs (44 XLR mic inputs).

The latest models from the Xone DJ range

South Africa - SLMC - Stage Lighting Master Class - is a two-day master class about the art and craft of stage lighting design, and is the only event of its kind in South Africa. This year it will take place in Johannesburg at the Market Theatre Laboratory on 27-28 September 2012 and will be in Cape Town at the Artscape Opera Stage on 2-3 October 2012.

SLMC was first held in 2001 and then again in 2004 and 2007. After a long break, it is finally returning. Sponsors for the event include Artscape, CamQuip, Declan Randall Lighting Design, DWR Distribution, Electrosonic, ETC, LEE Filters, The Market Theatre, Philips Selecon, Prosound and Gearhouse Splitebeam.

The course is aimed at anyone who is interested in stage lighting and theatre, from technicians and designers, to stage managers, event crew, directors, choreographers and students.

Participants need not have any previous

USA - Chauvet has named John Dunn as business development manager, after successfully serving as west region business manager for two years.

Dunn will focus on two of the Chauvet sub-brands, Chauvet Professional and Iluminarc.

He started his career as a DJ before working in light production for theatre, corporate functions and trade shows. He also worked for Martin US and his family-owned business in Colorado.

"It's a great opportunity for John to focus Chauvet Professional and Iluminarc products in this growing facet of the marketplace," said Albert Chauvet, CEO for Chauvet, "and build upon what he's already accomplished in his two years with Chauvet."

(Jim Evans)

UK - The new dealer support programme from Dirty Rigger was trialled with great success at USA's Witsend Group.

Designed to offer dealers and distributors quality support, the new scheme allows dealers to have custom branded marketing material to aid the sales and brand awareness of the Dirty Rigger range.

Le Mark export manager Matt Every says, "Selling products is a team effort, I want to work together with our dealers to make everything as effective as possible. We've always offered standard marketing material but the new custom branded items really raised the bar in our dealer support. It's a great investment back into our dealer network."

Despite Dirty Rigger still being a relatively new line, the Dirty Rigger range is already available from 99 distributors in nearly 50 countries.

(Jim Evans)

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