Business

Details
HB Litherland, of Blackpool, was recently named Audio-Technica 'UK Distributor of The Year' for the 1998-99 period. Rod Geary and Tony Cooper for Audio-Technica presented the award to HBL's John Exton and Alan Davidson during the recent HBL exhibition at Haydock Park. In a separate presentation, Audio-Technica presented its Music Dealer of the Year award to Music Village. The award presentation (pictured) took place during the recent PLASA Show at Earls Court. Audio-Technica's Rod Geary and Justin Frost hand over the award to Music Village managing director, John Dacosta and marketing director, Ray Edwards.

Details
Now in its twelfth year, the biennial Linbury Prize for Stage Design offers the UK's most promising stage design graduates an opportunity to work with some of the country's leading professional companies. An exhibition of designs by shortlisted prize contenders can currently be seen in the Lyttelton Exhibition Foyer until the 8 January 2000. Up to 12 graduates are exhibiting scale models, sketchbooks, plans and costume designs. Judges this year include Richard Hudson, who has designed extensively for productions in the UK and abroad, Tim Hatley, who has worked for theatre, opera and dance and Vicki Mortimer who has worked on a variety of productions for both the West End and Broadway.

Details
Laser Grafix recently spiced up the official opening of the 400-seater Shere Khan restaurant at the Trafford Centre in Manchester with their Monumental Slide Projection service. The ceiling of the Orient complex of the Trafford Centre had the new Shere Khan corporate image projected on it, along with images of poppadoms and curries.

Details
Tannoy Dual Concentric loudspeakers have been specified for Shino's - a new Italian restaurant located in the old GLC building in Westminster. Designed for low-level background music such as jazz and acoustic piano, the system was installed by London-based Steeland Systems. It included eight i8 speakers in the 90-seat main dining area, sprayed white to blend with the light, airy decor, while accompanying bass bins are hidden behind radiator covers. The outside seating area is covered by two i6 weatherproof Dual Concentric loudspeakers, while the downstairs toilets, kitchens and staff areas are covered by Tannoy ceiling speakers.

Details
SPS has expanded its expertise by setting up a new division for the rental of Barco's modular LED daylight display systems. Heading the operation will be Bryan Leathem who has over 18 years experience in outdoor screen markets with Mitsubishi and Screenco - he is joined by Stuart Young, former operations manager at Screenco. The division's first rental contract is to be the opening ceremony for the New Millennium Experience Company at the Dome.

Details
Lighting Britain's biggest shopping centre for Christmas has, unsurprisingly, been a mammoth task. Middlesborough-based Centre Design undertook the commitment and turned to Lighting Technology's Ray Dolby to supply everything needed to complete the specifications, designed by Jason Larcombe of Electra. Multiform Technology Group, distributor of Sagitter lighting effects in the UK, were brought in when one of the lighting manufacturers originally contracted could not provide enough units within the desired timescale for the Christmas project. The Sussex-based company were able to immediately deliver two Sagitter Infinity Club scanners, whilst three more units were air-freighted to the temporary installation within a week.

Details
Stage Electrics is relocating its Bristol branch and Head Office to new premises located in the same area at the Junction of Avonmouth Way and Third Way, close to Junction 18 of the M5.The sales and hire company is refurbishing the existing warehouse space of 43,000sq.ft, whilst a new 16,000sq.ft administrative building will be added onto the 3.7 acre site. This will bring under one roof the entire Stage Electrics workforce. Work on the site has started and the first phase, the transfer of the equipment, is expected to be completed by March 2000. The administrative building will be ready later on in the year.

Details
Twenty British companies have teamed-up to form the British exhibitor delegation to the pre-Olympics edition of Entech (March 5-7, 2000). The exhibition has moved from its harbour-side home to the Dome, the new Homebush exhibition centre within the Games complex.The UK delegation will present the best of UK staging and stage automation, effects lighting, loudspeakers, software and trade publications. AC Lighting, DHA Lighting, Edwin Shirley Staging, Light Processor and Stage Technologies are all taking stands within PLASA's UK block whilst Allen & Heath, Anytronics, Avolites, James Thomas Engineering, Le Maitre, Martin Audio, Miller Freeman Entertainment, Navigator Systems, Penn Fabrication, Pulsar, Pulse Publications, Showcad, Starlite Systems Technology and Tomcat UK will be featured on stands elsewhere in the hall.

Details
London-based Orbital Sound have supplied Pola Productions with a complex sound system designed by Rick Clarke, comprising d&b and EAW loudspeakers, 22 Trantec S5000 radio microphones, an Amek Recall mixing desk and a battery of remotely-controlled XTA DP226 delay/ EQ units, for their latest West End Musical, Spend, Spend, Spend, starring Barbara Dickson.Tim Sharrett, Orbital's technical support manager, devised an innovative solution (by broadening the application of wireless network links) for sound designers to control the accuracy of equalisation, delay and levels of any speaker within the auditorium. Multi-zone systems can also be simply accessed, even with the audience in place. This makes it possible to tune and realign the speakers in real time, giving increased control, precision and ultimately the best sound quality. The system does not transfer program data, but simply communic

Details
In an important and complex communications system, British Aerospace has taken delivery of beyerdynamic DT 109 headsets and an ASL wired intercom system for use in a test bay configured for software development work on Tornado fighter aircraft. The ASL system was chosen for its clarity and ease of operation and due to background noise levels from fans and aircraft systems, the DT 109 headsets provide an ideal communication environment between the control room and the development floor. All the equipment was supplied and specified through beyerdynamic (UK) Ltd who are the UK distributors for the Dutch manufacturer ASL.

Details
PLASA Publishing has received news that a winding up order has been served on Metro Audio. The company, well known for its wired intercom and stage management systems, is now in the hands of the Official Receivers Office, which is currently working on establishing a full list of creditors. Although the company is trading as Metro Audio, the order, which went through the High Court on November 17th, relates to Speed 1436 Ltd - the company's official registered name.

Details
At the recent LDI exhibition in Orlando, California based AC Lighting Inc announced new product distributions with MA Lighting, Zero 88 and Selecon. German company MA Lighting is an established manufacturer of lighting control equipment and AC Lighting Inc will be distributing its range of control consoles exclusively throughout North America and Mexico. Included within the MA portfolio is the new grandMA console, which won a product excellence award at the PLASA Show in London earlier this year, and then followed it up with the prestigious 1999 EDDY award for Lighting Control Console Of The Year, awarded by US magazine, Entertainment Design.

Zero 88 was another PLASA Product Excellence Award-winner this year. AC Lighting Inc will be distributing the Illusion along with the Level Plus, Alcora and Elara console ranges, as well as the Linebacker DMX tester and backup unit exclusively thr

Details
Bourgonje Sound & Lighting Services, based in The Hague, recently provided a Turbosound system for a series of talks given by the Dalai Lama on his visit to The Netherlands. The Buddhist leader talked of 'The Power of Kindness' to an accumulative audience o 9,000 at the Dutch Congress Centre. Bourgonje, the main rental supplier of sound and lighting equipment for the venue, specified 16 stacks of Turbosound Floodlight TFL-760H with TSW-721s, eight Turbosound HiLight THL-4 enclosures for in-fill and monitoring supplied by six Turbosound TCS-12Ms. Control for the system, as well as EQ and delay, was provided with a BSS Soundweb.

Details
The latest of Carnegie Leisure's Babylon nightclubs, in Ayr, has been installed with Geni lighting. Glasgow-based Starstruck Professional Sound & Light undertook the installation, and contacted Lamba, exclusive UK distributors of Geni products, for the lighting effects they needed. The equipment includes eight Geni Shiva HSD-200 scanners, four Geni FL2000D DMX strobes, 44 ignitor tubes and four DMX-1s. Other equipment supplied by Lamba includes a KAM KCD960 for CD mixing and Stanton 680AL cartridges.

Details
Blast!, a new musical extravaganza, will receive its world premier this month, at Hammersmith's London Apollo, with an intricate sound and communications system supplied and installed by Autograph Sound Recording.Blast! is a spectacular show bringing together a cast of 70 young brass, percussion and visual performers. Autograph's Bobby Aitken, the co-sound designer for Blast!, chose a loudspeaker system comprising of Meyer Sound MSL-4s, UPA-1s, UM-1s and EAW JF80s. The MSL-4s make up the core of the front-of-house system with the rest of the loudspeakers being used for monitoring, delays and surround sound effects. The speakers are powered by Lab Gruppen amplifiers. 40 Sennheiser radio microphone channels are used on stage and a selection of around 60 percussion microphones are also employed. The show is mixed on a 110-input Cadac J type console and monitoring is via Autograph's most rec

Details
PCM's next five-day Rigging School will run during the week of 21- 25 February 2000.This underscores PCM's total commitment to training and follows its very recent announcement of the expansion in its two-day Lodestar Motor School programme which is running throughout2000. Once again, it will uniquely be run on a non-profit making basis - the first such course of itskind to be constructed around this principle.PCM has been running Motor Schools to enlighten owners, users and specifies of the Columbus McKinnon Lodestar motor since 1993. PCM will team up with five other like-minded companies - Columbus McKinnon, Vertigo Rigging, James Thomas Engineering, MAN Flying Systems and Rope Assemblies, all of which will combine to offer a fully comprehensive week of tuition with hands-on participation covering all aspects of rigging. Vertigo Rigging will run the rigging section; James Thomas Engine

Details
Two major colleges in the Midlands have undergone technical refits, purchasing substantial Martin Audio Wavefront systems - and the first commercial Blackline system - from LMC Audio in Birmingham. New College, Nottingham - now the largest College in Europe - has a pair of compact trapezoidal WT2s in the theatre space and four Wavefront W3s and a pair of W8S subs for the live performance space (two W3s and a sub each side of stage).At the suggestion of LMC's Andrew McGregor, Wolverhapmton College opted for Martin's new Blackline series when its budget wouldn't stretch to a Wavefront system. A pair each of F15 full-frequency portable compact enclosures and S18s (18" sub) now form a teaching rig in the college's performance space.

Details
Martin Audio has changed its distribution arrangements in Germany, appointing Atlantic Audio as its new exclusive representatives. Under managing director, Wolfgang Garcon, Atlantic Audio was formed in September this year with backing from NOB, the Netherlands National Broadcast Organisation.

The appointment took effect on November 1, whereupon Atlantic ordered a Wavefront system comprising 16 W8Cs, six W8Cs flying bass systems and eight WSX subs (including a MAN flybar), to give them a five-way demonstration rig. It immediately went out on a nationwide tour with popular German band BAP. The rental company servicing the tour, Frankfurt-based Sirius, will be evaluating the system with a view to a new millennium acquisition.

Details
PSL, Gearhouse and Action International (France), all members of the Gearhouse Group, have invested in £1.9m worth of state-of-the-art projection equipment from Digital Projection.PSL will extend their rental inventory with a further eight Power 8gvs and 16 Lightning 15sx projectors. Supporting Texas Instruments' DLP Technology, the Lightning 15sx is capable of outputting 12,000 ANSI lumens and claims to be the brightest DLP-based projector available.

Details
With the aid of a £5.7m Arts Council grant, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre has undergone one of the most ambitious theatre refurbishments of the year. Northern Light were called in to undertake the full sound and lighting installation, to a specification written by Theatre Projects Consultants. Five BSS 9088 Soundweb digital signal processing units play a major role (four networked for the main system, with another for monitors), with speaker systems from d&b audiotechnik (vocals), Tannoy (music) and Martin Audio (auditorium surround). The Rep also features the first UK theatre installation of a Midas XL4 front-of-house console, and the entire audio system is controlled by Out Board Electronics' TiMax system. Full details of the audio installation will appear in the November/December issue of Sound + Communications Systems International magazine.

Details
TMB Associates' ProPlex CAT5 patch cables, which were introduced at PLASA 99 as 'The World's Most Durable Ethernet Cables', are already being specified in critical entertainment control applications, including the control system for the moving stages and scenery in London's Millennium Dome. ProPlex distributor Direct Cables Ltd supplied the Dome with ProPlex CAT5 patch cables totalling more than 7,500m in length.TMB's Colin Waters stated: "The Millennium Dome is exactly the type of application for which we created ProPlex CAT5 Cables. Developing cables that could survive the level of abuse typical of entertainment applications, while passing all CAT5 tests and providing a 100% reliable control network, was a significant challenge."

Details
A brand new venue being built in the city of Chang Won in South Korea is to have 96 Chroma-Q M1 colour changers installed as part of its lighting system. The industrial city of Chang Won is located in the Southern part of Korea, and when completed, the Chang Won Cultural Hall will be the largest theatre in the area, with 1,200 seats. M. Lightech, who are the general contractors for the venue, are installing the Chroma-Q units, which were initially supplied by AC Lighting Ltd. After reviewing a number of different units, the Chroma-Q M1 was chosen for its feature specification and competitive pricing. Once installed, the colour changers will be used in conjunction with a number of fixtures, primarily Strand Optique and Toccata lanterns. The Chang Won Cultural Hall is due to open in April 2000, when it will house plays, musical and opera performances.

Details
Pacific Audio, ARX's distributor for Hong Kong and China, has carried out a major sale and installation of ARX power amplifiers, including two SX-3000, 12 ARX SX-1500s, 10 ARX ZR-850s and an ARX ZR-350, along with a range of ARX signal processing equipment, to Shanghai's Stage Play Art Centre (Black Box Act Hall). Sales and installations of the new ARX Climate Series of weather resistant loudspeakers, meanwhile, have been very good since their release at London's PLASA Exhibition in September, ARX report. Guy Cambell from UK-based installation contractor Feltech Ltd, has installed 14 Climate 6 loudspeakers into the outdoor area of the 'New Millennium Experience' section of London's Millennium Dome.

Details
At the end of a busy year, Gearhouse South Africa has expanded its Turbosound stock to keep up with a continuing busy touring schedule. The Johannesburg branch of the company has purchased a large Floodlight system, along with Turbo' MC-1250 power amplifiers and LMS-D6 digital systems processors.Another Floodlight system has been purchased by Production Technology LLC of Dubai. The order includes 14 stacks each of TFL-760H and TSW-718 enclosures, with THL-4s for drum fills and TFM-230 and TFM-330 floor monitors. The company also purchased two Midas Heritage 3000 consoles and eight Allen & Heath GL4000s.Meanwhile, Moscow's newest nightclub, Slava, has installed an extensive Turbosound Floodlight/HiLight loudspeaker system specified and supplied by Turbo's Russian distributor, Sergei Korovin, for its main dance floor. System control is via two BSS Audio FDS-388 Omnidrives, and amplificatio
  1. PSL's Christmas Record
  2. Neumann & Neutrik at Red
  3. Event Expo 2000
  4. Amptown Makes its Case
  5. PLASA Executive Committee Election Results: New Committee Members Welcomed
  6. Fashion Chinese Style with EVI Hong Kong
Page 443 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .