Business

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An old laundry in South West London is now a 'hard hat' zone as work gets underway on the construction of Sphere Studios - the most ambitious music recording complex to be built in the capital for many years. The new studio is set to rival London's finest and will operate as a fully commercial venture incorporating three main control rooms dedicated to tracklaying, stereo mixing and 5.1 surround mixing. The main partners behind Sphere are musician and producer Francesco Cameli and Malcolm Atkin, formerly general manager of Sir George Martin's Air Lyndhurst facility. During the construction of Air Lyndhurst Atkin was involved in all aspects of its design and later took responsibility for its commercial operation.

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To celebrate the launch of the new Strand 300-series lighting desk, and to introduce it to the London theatrical community, White Light and Strand Lighting collaborated on a successful open day at the Soho Theatre in London at the end of May. The star attraction of the event was Strand's new 'baby' lighting console, the 300-series. Based around the same GeniusPro operating system as the popular 500-series lighting consoles, the 300 console is of an attractive, compact, versatile design that allows a system to be built to suit the particular needs of smaller venues. The 300 was demonstrated in action by Strand's Bill Richards, using the Soho Theatre's White Light supplied and recently installed new rig of conventional lanterns driven from Strand LD90 dimmers and automated lanterns including Strand Pirouette PCs and City Theatrical AutoYokes. Soho will become one of the first venues in the

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A Midas Heritage 3000, an XL250 and racks upon racks of Klark Teknik processing have recently been delivered to LT Sound in Venezuela as part of a complete EV X-Array system sale put together by Steve Mendez of Sam Ash music retailers in New York and Josh Radin of Metro North Marketing. The sale is the biggest of its kind for Sam Ash who is internationally recognised for its music retail operations across the US. LT Sound is a full service production company dealing with some of the most high profile tours passing through its territory. The decision to purchase a major PA system was taken because the company is planning an international Latin American tour with some of the bands signed to its record label, LT Music. Special guest star, Ricky Martin, kicks off the tour on 18th June in the 28,000 capacity El Poliedro arena in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, to be followed the next night

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Leading names in the world of sound and lighting are supporting the next generation of broadcasters by sponsoring the students of Ravensbourne College of Design and communication, South London, in their Ravensbourne on Air showcase, on Wednesday 14 June. Strand, Pearsons, Yamaha, Avolites and Primarc are just a few of the companies which have thrown their weight behind the event by lending equipment to or directly funding the students at the National Centre of Excellence for Broadcasting to facilitate the programming of the six-hour schedule. The day is an opportunity for representatives from the broadcast industry to see for themselves the direct relevance of Ravensbourne's courses to their particular area of the industry.

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AMEK has gone online with a new website dedicated to its Pure Path Series of outboard products, designed by Rupert Neve. The new site is exclusively Pure Path in content, with comprehensive operational and technical information on the range, as well as downloadable documents and notes from the designer himself. Pure Path Online is platform, browser and resolution independent. Its design makes use of vector graphics, enabling a large amount of pictorial information to be transferred in very small bandwidth.

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Thetford-based Centre Stage Engineering Ltd has only been trading 18 months, but already they have an impressive range of projects appearing on the company CV. They have now added to this with their most prestigious project to date. This is to design, supply and install the complete stage machinery package for the new Durham City Millennium Hall. This includes 39 single purchase counterweight-flying sets, orchestra pit elevator, safety curtain and 28 seating wagons on air castors. Carillion Building are the main contractors and installation is scheduled to start in October this year with a finish date of April 2001.

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PLASA Exclusive: The company responsible for trucking the Spice Girls' tour kit have landed in hot water following the arrest of two of their number charged with smuggling Ecstasy, worth £3.5million, into Britain. Roxsett's MD David Wilson and general manager John Lewis have both been arrested following a swoop by customs men at Dover who stopped the Roxsett truck when it arrived back in the UK from The Netherlands. Sniffer dogs found the Ecstasy stashed between audio and lighting equipment. Both men appeared at Dover Magistrates Court last week and pleaded not guilty. Bail has been refused and the two now face a Crown Court trial.

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The Klark Teknik Group has appointed a new distributor for Klark Teknik products in Denmark. Ascon Trading a/s, who also distributes Midas and DDA, as well as the full range of product lines from the Telex/EVI corporation, has taken on the Klark Teknik brand. Ascon's product manager in charge of PA products, Ib Sigismund, commented: "KT was the missing link in our product portfolio, not just in terms of the fact that we now carry the full Telex/EVI/KTG range, but also in terms of the quality of the package we were able to put together. We now have all the tools to specify the very highest quality systems using products exclusively from our own stable."

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beyerdynamic has announced a distribution agreement with dB Technologies of Italy, in a special announcement to press on the London Eye. The dB product line includes a wide portfolio of pro audio products including speakers, power amplifiers and mixers, but it is with the company's wireless product range where the synergy between dB and beyer lies: the company's radio microphones now being constructed using beyerdynamic's transducer elements, coupled to the highly-sophisticated PLL wireless circuitry of dB Technologies.beyerdynamic's John Midgley is enthusiastic about the union. He told us: "This is a very, very impressive range of equipment and we are well-placed in the UK to promote dB alongside our existing range of products. It's a perfect fit and balances what we can offer our large customer base well".

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QSC recently expanded the territory of the Swee Lee Company, its export distributor in Malaysia and India, to include Singapore and Indonesia. "Swee Lee has a well-trained staff and ample resources to maintain and strengthen QSC's presence throughout southeast Asia," said Peter Kalmen, QSC's director of sales and marketing. "Their experience and knowledge of that region will especially help us make inroads in the contracting and installed sound market."Swee Lee Company has been QSC's export distributor in Malaysia and India since 1994. Swee Lee Company can be contacted at: 150 Sims Drive, Swee Lee Building, Singapore 387381. Tel: 65 846 3678. Fax: 65 748 7036.

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Paris-based PA manufacturer L-Acoustics is expanding the representation of its V-dosc system in the UK. As a result, four diverse companies have been integrated into the V-dosc UK Network: these are Autograph Sound Recording, working mainly in the theatre and installation market; Delta Sound , representing the corporate, event and television markets; Electrotec Productions, specializing in the international and UK touring and festival market; and Wigwam Hire, operating in the broad national rental market.Christian Heil, the founder of L-Acoustics, said: "The new UK members already benefit from the many unique advantages that the Wavefront Sculpture Technology brings, and L-Acoustics UK also places a complementary turnkey V-dosc system at the disposal of the UK Members."

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French company Digisoft Music, which distributes music software, will join Arbiter Group from the 1st of July 2000. Laurent Akriche and his team, who will be part of the Arbiter France division, will be in charge of Music Technology products sales. Laurent and wife Patricia are joined by sales assistant, Annie Gauthier, who will manage sales on Music Technology products and Michel Vachal, who is in charge of technical support, software development and French web sites. Anne Sophie Ogee joins as sales assistant to Regis Monnerie, who will continue to manage sales on drums, pro sound instruments, Arbiter Karaoke and the newly acquired AKG consumer line (which begins in France on the the 1st of July). Regis Monnerie will continue to manage marketing, and relations with suppliers.

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Total Fabrications has upgraded its website. The site pages include access to news releases, product and training details, shows and special project information with a link to some of TFL's major client sites. The menu items refer to their associated content pages, which load clearly and are simple to navigate.

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The Production Services Association (PSA) Council announced on June 14th that some significant changes are to be made in the day-to-day running of the Association. Keith Ferguson is now to concentrate fully on the Training and Qualifications initiatives. He will also move forward with his role as a trustee of the Welfare & Benevolent Fund, which recently achieved full charitable status. Consequently, a search for a new general manager is to start shortly, with a view to securing an appointment by the end of the year.

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Stage One Creative Services has become the first scenic construction company to achieve the Investors in People standard. It seals a period of expansion for the Yorkshire-based firm, which was also the first in the scenic construction sector to achieve ISO 9002 accreditation. The company, which provides the scenic solutions for events ranging from international product launches to corporate conferences and television stage sets, has doubled its turnover to £5 million in the past two years alone. And since a merger with Hangar Staging in 1996, its staff has grown from around 20 to over 60. Staff at Stage One are in the final stages of preparation for their biggest project so far this year - providing extensive staging and scenic elements for the Royal Military Tattoo 2000 in June, which will be broadcast live across the country.

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PCM is running its next two-day Columbus McKinnon Lodestar Motor Schools on 27-28 June and 29-30 June respectively. PCM has now trained over 800 owners, specifiers and users of Lodestar Motors via these invaluable hands-on workshops. PCM's Motor Schools, which are still free of charge, offers attendees a comprehensive, hands-on overview of the CM Lodestar motor. There is also a basic motor trouble shooting session. Once again, the event will be broadened by trussing, ground support and metalwork specialists James Thomas Engineering. Further Motor schools will follow throughout the year as part of PCM's on-going commitment to training.

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ARX has been awarded the contract to supply the power amplifier requirements for the new Museum Victoria Project in Melbourne, Australia. The first stage of the installation is the delivery of 15 of the new ZA 600 six-channel power amplifiers, a total of 90 amplifier channels, providing over 11kW of output for the various themed areas and soundscapes. Further stages of the development are also based on ZA 600 power amplifiers.

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Stage Electrics has confirmed the opening date of its new London Branch as 7 August, but to ensure that its new WYSIWYG facility and Virtual Lighting Studio is operational in the meantime, the company has taken temporary accommodation at 81 Oxford Street. David Stewart, formerly with Lightfusion, has joined Stage Electrics as studio manager and will operate from the London branch. During the last six years, he has been involved with designing and operating at such venues as Frankfurt Music Messe, Montreaux Jazz Festival and the Filmfare awards in Bombay. London branch: 07836 231868

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The first worldwide public outing of the PRG/LSD Medusa (Icon M) takes place this weekend (the 24/25th June) at the Skyscapes building adjacent to the Millennium Dome. The light, which has been undergoing some fine-tuning since its launch last year, will make its debut at the Bollywoods - the Indian Film Awards.

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PLASA's annual AGM took place at The Belfry Hotel near Birmingham on June 15th, attended by around 60 representatives of member companies. PLASA Chairman Mick Hannaford reported on a successful year for the Association which had seen key advances in the range of services and initiatives offered to members. He also covered the Association's review of its Code of Ethics, outlining the way in which a Code of Business Ethics and an Appeals Procedure might be implemented. It is a move the Association has been wishing to make for some time and will give PLASA more direct powers to act in the interests of all the members by dealing with companies who fail to meet certain standards. Afterwards, the Members voted in favour of adopting the Code.PLASA Treasurer Sammy de Havilland then outlined the financial position of the Association noting that it had reached its reserve targets and was now in a

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Total Structures Inc has recently produced a unique tensioned fabric structure for general contractor Fabric Structures, based on an original concept by architects FTL Happold. What made this different from the many other rooftops produced by the company this year was its shape and proportions. As our picture shows, it is a ridged, contoured ellipse, supported on only two towers and measuring 70ft wide and 63ft deep. It was engineered to carry 7,000lbs of sound equipment and 1,000lbs of lights for the Summerstage series in New York's Central Park.

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Stage Light Design once again produced a spectacular lighting design for the Pedigree Petfoods Stand at Crufts. The rescheduled show, originally postponed from its March slot at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham due to the Foot-and-Mouth Crises, proved a great success for all things canine.

The double decker Pedigree stand was defined by large ‘sails’ and was designed collectively by Terence Conran and designers CDL. The lighting design was handled by Stage Light Design’s redoubtable Alastair Crooks. SLD also supplied all the effects and theatrical lighting equipment used on the stand. The stand’s lower deck featured various graphics pods topped with dogs heads, point-of-sale merchandise and other products, which were lit with a combination of silver PAR 56 and 64 lanterns. The upper deck was lit with an impressive moving light rig including 12 Studi

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The long-running stand-off between Vari-Lite International and Martin Professional has come to something of a temporary conclusion following the affirmation by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of an injunction issued by the United States District Court on September 2, 1999 against Martin Gruppen A/S and Martin Professional A/S. As we've reported previously, the injunction prohibits Martin from manufacturing, selling or hiring the Martin MAC 600s, MAC 500s and MAC 300s, and also extends to the Case series controller when sold in conjunction with any of the MAC units. Martin had already appealed against the decision in a separate hearing when it filed a motion asking the District Court to lift the injunction in July 2000, the date when Martin claimed the patent would expire. The Court rejected Martin's claim and ruled that the patent held by Vari-Lite did not expi

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Julie Meadows, health and safety officer of Unusual Rigging in Bugbrooke, has received the prestigious British Safety Council Diploma in Safety Management in an awards ceremony in London. Meadows was among 19 safety professional who were presented with their awards.Sir Neville Purvis, Director General of the British Safety council commented: "Good safety is good business and can save firms hundreds of thousands of pounds. In achieving the Diploma in Safety Management, Julie Meadows has shown a commitment to improving health and safety in the workplace. Proper training for people at all levels of a company is vital, as accidents and illnesses at work cost this country up to £18 billion every year."
  1. Vari-Lite Welcomes New Dealer
  2. PSL Invests in New Audio Division
  3. Marquee Launches Install Arm
  4. PSL Becomes Preferred AV Supplier to ExCel
  5. Industry Recognised in Birthday Honours
  6. Tramp Gets an RCF System
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