Business

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Kellys nightclub complex at Port Rush is one of the province’s busiest venues. The complex includes the ultra modern LUSH with its even cooler Chill Out room and the now totally refurbished Wild, with its traditional stone and wood interiors.

WILD is split across two floors with separate sound systems: on the top floor the venue retains its existing RCF Event system, whilst on the ground floor a new EAW system has been spec’d. Local installation company, Light and Sound FX were involved in the original installation and won the contract to handle the system revamp. Darren Gardener of Light and Sound FX explains: "Our brief was to reconfigure the Event system upstairs and put a new sound system in on the ground floor. We decided to talk to Andy Austin Brown at Mackie, as he'd been involved in the original spec, and since we had no flying options, he recommended the EAW s

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The new Artistic Licence discussion forum is now up and running. In addition to offering technical support for the company’s product range, the company is actively promoting an open discussion of the technical standards issues facing the industry. So if you have a view or need more information on ACN, DMX512-A, RDM or Art-Net, the Artistic Licence Forum is the place to visit.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Leading pro entertainment industry lighting sales specialist TMB has appointed two new European distributors for its new PowerPAR fixture. In Germany, Seigen-based Trendco will be handling sales for the TMB PowerPAR, and in France and Belgium, Sonoss will be leading the way. Both deals were confirmed at the SIEL show in Paris.

In announcing the distributorships, TMB is underlining its confidence in a buoyant European market. In fact, with the popularity of the PowerPAR taking off, it was essential to expand the European network quickly. Both companies also distribute Wybron, whose Eclipse II dimming shutter was on display mounted on a PowerPAR at SIEL. The Eclipse II is a perfect device for the PowerPAR, turning it into a dimmable fixture and opening further applications for the unit. The PowerPAR continues to grow in popularity for a variety of applications. The fixtures have recently

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Star Hire (Event Services) Ltd has been awarded the contract to provide all of the technical facilities for the evening celebrations throughout the Queen’s Jubilee Baton Relay. The Baton Relay is scheduled to visit 500 towns in 50 days with the last town on each day hosting an evening celebration; culminating in the final show being the opening ceremony of the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Having been selected from 23 competing tenders, Star Hire has been contracted to provide their Mobile 11-09 StarStage along with video screen, sound, lights and power. They will also be responsible for the design, manufacture and fitting of all branded imagery on the stage and all the associated vehicles. "The logistics of setting up 50 events consecutively is challenging but not unfamiliar territory," said Star Hire’s technical director Roger Barrett. "The combinatio

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For the third consecutive year, UK distributor HW International ensured that the Mean Fiddler-owned London Astoria was furnished with a plethora of Shure microphones for the NME Carling Awards. The shows ran for a week-and-a-half during February and included bands such as the Pet Shop Boys, Aphex Twin, Ash and Starsailor. One of the most anticipated gigs was The Charlatans who performed to an enthralled capacity crowd. The Charlatans were supported by Reading's Cooper Temple Clause, the bill was completed by ex-Ultrasound star Matt Jones' new band Minuteman and promising Northern rockers Moco.

Matt West, London Astoria's in-house sound engineer, commented: "Shure were able to supply us with a generic mic set-up which would suit most guitar-based bands. Their mics are robust and reliable and used the world over, so I was more than happy to have them to offer to the bands and their

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Autograph Sound Recording, the sound design and rental specialist, is taking opera to the masses this season, with two electrifying events scheduled back to back. Bizet's tragic masterpiece Carmen, plays for 16 performances at the Royal Albert Hall, while Beethoven's opera of love and liberation, Fidelio will be screened live next month, on the all new BBC Four.

The annual Raymond Gubbay opera in the round opened at the Royal Albert Hall on 21st February, with a brand new production of Carmen. Autograph has supplied sound and communications for the past four Gubbay opera productions at the Royal Albert Hall. This year's opera is using a large Meyer Sound loudspeaker system, comprising of over 60 UM-1s for vocals and two arrays of MSL-4 and PSW-4, for the orchestra mix, while D&B E3 loudspeakers are located in and under the stage as front fill positions.

Early Mar

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A series of fund-raising concerts in Los Angeles was staged Feb. 26 by the Recording Artists Coalition to raise awareness of artists' rights. High End Systems automated lighting was there highlighting the music and the famous faces. The concerts were held in four different venues, all on that Tuesday night. LSD/Fourth Phase of Newbury Park, Calif., provided the gear for the Forum show, under the guidance of Robert Roth from its Atlanta office."It was an all High End Systems rig and the show was executed flawlessly," says Roth. More than 120 HES products were specified by the event's overall LD Nick Sholem, including Studio Color(R) 575 and Studio Spot(R) 575 automated luminaires, run on two Wholehog(R) II consoles. Don Henley and The Eagles headlined the $175 ticket, with Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, John Fogerty, and Billy Joel (for which LD Steve Cohen added his inpu

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London's new musical - The Full Monty - opening on 12th March 2002 at The Prince of Wales Theatre - features sound design by Mike Walker and includes two Cadac consoles in the audio cast. At the heart of the sound system, supplied by Blitz Sound, is an 83-input Cadac J-Type Live Production Console, situated FOH, complete with a full output section comprising 15 DC VCA masters and 32 outputs, including two programmable matrix outputs. A 39-input F-Type Live Production Console, located underneath the stage, is also featuring as the monitor/sub-mixer for the show's 12-piece rock band.

The Full Monty is essentially a wholly musical "book show", with Walker's sound design for the production focusing on complementing the strong rock'n'roll score. Over the past seven years, Walker has designed some 30 shows - touring particularly in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region. The Full Mo

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The newest property in Las Vegas, the Palms Hotel and Casino, celebrated its grand opening 15 November 2001. The 265 million dollar property with 447 rooms in the 42-story hotel tower is also home to one of the hottest new nightclubs: Rain in the Desert. This multi-level nightclub/concert venue consists of an array of special effects and custom equipment made possible in part by Tomcat USA and Kelly Communications. From the private booths with water sofas and skyboxes with private balconies to the lagoon-shaped dancefloor, Rain has been a big hit with locals and tourists alike. Lavish special effects throughout the club include intelligent lighting and an amazing play of water, fog and pyrotechnics. A state-of-the-art lighting rig contains a computerized intelligent lighting system, as well as the means to create effects like fog, haze, 16ft fire plumes and 3ft fireballs. Above the dance

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The largest hotel chain in Italy, the Jolly Hotels, tested Biamp’s Audia Digital Audio Platform and decided that they liked what they heard. In October 2001, an Audia system was installed in a five-room conference section within the Jolly Hotel Conference Center complex on the outskirts of Milan, Italy. This system was to serve as a beta test for Audia and was installed by Professional Show SRL and Prase Engineering, one of Biamp’s top export distributors worldwide. Biamp’s Engineering staff assisted in the installation as well.

The Jolly Hotel pilot consists of seven Biamp VRAM automatic mixers with five additional radio mics feeding the inputs of two CobraNet Audia units, each with 8 inputs and 8 outputs (8X8 CM). In each of the five conference rooms there is an output as well as five recording outputs and a monitor output. Audio control is through a PC via Ethern

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Australian Concert Productions Pty Ltd based in Brisbane is now one of the largest audio rental companies in Australia with an impressive inventory including a recently purchased X-Line system from Electro-Voice. ACP is currently handling the Australian leg of Rod Stewart's world tour with his latest album, Human. The Melbourne date also proved to be something of an X-Line User symposium with four of the biggest names in the industry there to support the event.

Bob Doyle from the Klark Teknik Group was in attendance along with another recent X-Line purchaser, Bryan Grant from Britannia Row, plus ACP's managing director, Mick Pritivera and Rod Stewart's FOH engineer and X-Line user, Lars Brogaard. Bob Doyle cited the event as evidence of the worldwide network that X-Line has developed since its launch just 12 months ago. "In fact, one of the reasons Mick decided to invest in an X-L

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SF Marketing Inc. is pleased to announce that they have been appointed official Canadian distributor for the Coemar line. In recent years, the Italian company has earned a reputation as an industry leader, and by joining forces with SF Marketing Inc, a reputable Canadian distribution company, Coemar aims to provide quality products to the growing Canadian market.

"Coemar’s growth in the international market is no coincidence; this manufacturing giant has developed quality products that have met the needs of the consumer. We are proud to be in partnership with Coemar, who have always signified quality and innovation," stated Jean-Louis Blanchard, VP of sales for SF Marketing Inc.

(Lee Baldock)

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A mock TV game show is rocking out with High End Systems products. A VH1 pilot series, "Never Mind the Buzzcocks," is flying high a rig of 6 x.Spot, 7 Technobeam and 8 Studio Beam automated luminaires, run by a Wholehog II console. The equipment was specified by LD Chuck Noble of New York City Lites, with gear provided by Pegasus Productions. Programmer Steven Garner describes the show as "a fake game show with celebrity guests (Coolio, Sebastian Bach and more) competing as they trash music videos. The moving lights double up during bumpers, they 'flash and trash' with the smashing rock and roll, then convert to great backlight and scenic projection."

The x.Spots are "especially useful," Garner says. "They are backlighting a cyc from about 15 feet away and are right up against the back wall, so the zoom is a tremendous help. The Studio Beam strobe is

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The organisers of the forthcoming SBES, the dedicated broadcast sound exhibition (20-21 November 2002), report that 58% of stand space is already booked by only 45 of the 100+ exhibitors who were at SBES last year, indicating that this year’s show will be larger than last year’s event.

The SBES is the only show in the UK exclusively for sound broadcasting. For many exhibitors it is the only exhibition of the year at which they show and thus the SBES is an important opportunity to see the manufacturers and distributors of equipment and services for the broadcasting industry not seen at other exhibitions. The SBES web site at www.sbes.com has become an important resource for the industry as it lists all exhibitors, their products and services and has direct links to exhibitors' web sites. As the list of exhibitors grows this resource will become more and more useful to visito

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Bourgonje Sound & Lighting Services, based in The Hague, have been appointed the new Dutch distributor for Turbosound - taking over from TM Audio. Run by Fred Bourgonje, this turnkey production company, which operates separate sales and rental divisions, has been a customer of Turbosound for the past 15 years. "It has been an easy switch for us to make," said Bourgonje. "We have taken over the existing stock from TM Audio and made a major investment directly with the company."

Bourgonje has taken the opportunity to build a new monitor system, based on Turbosound’s new generation of TQ-310, TQ-315 and TFM-450 floor monitors, processed with BSS FDS-334 Minidrives. This will initially be available through their sales division - but they will extend this for use on their own production work.

Turbosound sales director Bill Woods told PLASA Media: "We are del

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Autograph Sales Ltd, the European distributor for ATM Fly-Ware, has had an active few months supplying loudspeaker flying hardware systems across the continent, to rental companies as well as a selection of loudspeaker manufacturers. Show Presentation Services in the UK, and Letusa in Spain are eminent rental companies in their own field and devoted ATM Fly-Ware users. Both companies have recently purchased product from the highly-acclaimed MEGS series of loudspeaker flying hardware. The MEGS series is ATM's answer to a standard side-mounted loudspeaker flying system. It is ideally suited for large-sized loudspeakers and clusters, but works equally well in smaller applications.

Wema Elektronik, Kling & Freitag, Fohhn Audio and GAE are all European loudspeaker manufacturers who have also purchased product from the MEGS series. Mackie, who now manufacture EAW loudspeakers, have been purc

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PAI have recently completed an installation at Reading University's Students Union Bar. The project was for a complete sound and lighting system, which used Mackie Fussion for the main dance floor and a combination of Martin Professional and Abstract fixtures for the effects lighting.

To run the sound system, PAI’s Martin Draisey selected to use the new Mackie Industrial DX8/10e digital audio mixer. "I was invited to Mackie’s showrooms in Wickford by Andy Austin-Brown for a seminar on the DX8/10e. The presentation was fronted by Costa Lakoumentas (the man behind the development of the mixer) and I was genuinely enthused by what I learned. The unit is highly flexible. At Reading University, for instance, we have used it as a digital processor and loudspeaker management system. I used 9 of its 10 outputs, for main, left and right (Fussion), six circuits for the periphera

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PA Installations has installed a Mackie Fussion system in the Courtyard Theatre, Hereford. The theatre has been open for just over three years, and had previously hired in sound systems - predominantly EAW - for individual productions. With some help from the local council, the theatre was able to get a grant for a permanent sound system. "Because of the EAW connection I contacted Andy Austin-Brown at Mackie. He came down and did a site visit," explains chief technician Gareth Sumnall. "But it quickly became apparent that the budget would not run to an EAW system, so Andy suggested we looked at Fussion."

Andy Austin-Brown takes up the story: "Because of the type of usage the theatre wanted, I suggested they consider a Fussion system. I asked PA installations to do the demonstration with two stacks of the Fussion 3000. Once they had seen and heard the system it

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A new 700-capacity rock venue in Holland has meant that the citizens of Amstelveen no longer have to travel to nearby Amsterdam for their nightly entertainment. The newly-built P60 opened its doors last November adjacent to the town’s theatre in the reconfigured town square (which now includes a parking lot), and has been thriving to a mix of Holland’s leading bands and international touring acts. Owned by the local government, the three-storey rectangular building cost HFL 11,000,000 to develop. It offers a ground floor café bar under an internet café - and on top is the large performance auditorium, where the sound sweeps through the floor and balcony courtesy of the Martin Audio Wavefront 8 Compact system.

The entire sound contract was won by Martin’s Dutch distributor, TM Audio, who put together a high specification of leading brands. Sales manager Jeroen van Ke

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Kent College, Pembury, is the latest in a long line of educational establishments to recognise the potential of Maltbury's Metrodeck, having recently bought 68 units of the versatile staging system towards the conversion of the main hall into a £1m state-of-the-art theatre facility intended for use by Kent College and the local community. Working closely with Philip Sparkes, managing director of Maltbury, was Chris Hinks, bursar of Kent College. According to Hinks, the decision to use Maltbury staging was based on a number of factors: "I have read several articles about the company and its various installations and I know that it has an excellent reputation for top quality service and products. Having used Maltbury before, I am aware of the wide range of staging systems it has, which meant it was able to offer me a bespoke solution to my brief."

For the multi-purpose complex

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Edwin Shirley Staging (ESS) rounded off the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in a mood not dissimilar to the British Women's Curling team, jubilant. Working with Imagination's New York office ESS produced the Olympic Rendezvous @ Samsung pavilion for one of the Games' main sponsors, Samsung. The two-storey pavilion was created for the Olympic Square site in Salt Lake City for Samsung to use as an Olympic HQ. The building included a visitor experience dedicated to Samsung's products and it also provided recreational facilities for athletes and the public. Imagination estimated 8,500 visitors per day used the facility during the Games and subsequently declared the project a success.

ESS worked closely with Imagination's design team to make the building an integral part of the experience. Both companies have received praise from visitors, members of the Salt Lake City Olympic Organising Com

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When London's Royal Opera House decided that it needed automated lighting equipment to form the heart of the permanent lighting rig in the newly-refurbished theatre in 1999, it turned to White Light and The Moving Light Company, which supplied them firstly with City Theatrical Autoyokes and then with custom automated Robert Juliat PCs created by The Moving Light Company. The ROH turned to White Light and The Moving Company again to provide specialist service and support, appointing The Moving Light Company to support the entire automated rig with servicing and emergency call-out services. White Light and its service and support division The Service Company also provides the Opera House with ongoing support of their lighting control systems.

Now the Opera House is expanding its automated rig further - and once again White Light and The Moving Light Company have been their suppliers of c

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XL Video has supplied all the recent live video requirements for the Jamiroquai Funk Odyssey world tour. The six (4 operated and 2 mini cam) camera show was directed by the ebullient Mark Antoniuk.

XL supplied a Digital PPU complete with Grass valley GVG1200 switcher for the mixing, and a Magic DaVE video effects generator. For the vast majority of the set Antoniuk relied on the sheer energy of Jamiroquai’s performance to mix an exciting video show. He used the DaVe’s strobing effects only twice, once at the top of the show and again during Deeper Underground. The camera feeds were beamed onto two portrait format offstage screens - made up of Saco 15 mm LED modules - either side of the stage. The mix was completely live each night, varying as much as the set and the length of the songs often did. The video proved a vital element of the overall show, working in harmony with

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Marantz Japan Inc and Denon have announced the establishment of D&M Holdings Inc, a joint holding company to merge the operations of Marantz and Denon. The transaction is expected to be completed by May 2002 and will create a global leader in the home theatre and audio-video (AV) market, while maintaining the established Marantz and Denon brands.

D&M Holdings will employ approximately 1,650 people around the world and will succeed Marantz as a publicly traded concern on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE II: 6799). The home theatre and AV market has enjoyed rapid growth in recent years, due to the emergence of home theatre applications, as well as an industry wide digital evolution. D&M Holdings will be well positioned to benefit from this pattern of growth through the development of digital products by matching Denon and Marantz’s expertise in digital AV and vis

  1. Martin speakers sound sweet in Auditorium of Parma
  2. New dealer for DHA Lighting
  3. Litestructures open London rental operation
  4. New RADLite on Chemical Brothers’ Tour
  5. Stagetec at Chafford Hundred
  6. Arcus to offer extended range of HES products
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