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Hand Held Audio, specialists in wireless and in-ear technology for over a decade, are to launch a new website which goes live on 1st May. www.handheldaudio.co.uk is designed to bring wireless technology to a broader market with all of the benefits of the experience accumulated by Hand Held Audio at the high end of the market.

Founder member and director of Hand Held Audio, Mick Shepherd, is pleased with the new development. "We've been specialists in the high end touring and, more recently, corporate markets right from the very beginning and will continue to be so," he said, "but we hope that the website will enable us to reach a new sector of the market where we have never before had a presence, and yet for whom wireless and in-ear technology is becoming increasingly available. We'd like to pass on the benefits of our experience, our buying power and our considerable te

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Jamiroquai ended their world tour at Wembley Arena at the beginning of March: the huge energy of Jay Kay was equally matched in ability by an impressive Funktion-One sound system with XTA digital processing at its core.

Funktion One’s John Newsham explains the set-up: "We used a main left and right system which was 15 self-powered F218 bass per side and five wide by three deep Resolution 5s per side, with downfills. The system used the new self-powered Res 5s, with each powered box running an unpowered slave." The side hangs for the bleacher areas alongside the stage were covered by four Res 4s and two Res 18s per side, conventionally powered. Front fills and out fills consisted of Resolution 2s. Flown delays were six Res 5s per side and ground delays six F218 powered bins in the middle behind the mix risers and two Res 2 skeletal high packs.

Control for the entire sy

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Sonohouse has been appointed as the new distributor for Celestion products in France. Founded in 1973 by Jean-Louis Beart, Sonohouse is located in Ivry sur Seine, in Paris. Currently handling distribution of products like GEM Sound, Boost and BST, Sonohouse has its main strength in the club market. Its appointment as Celestion's representative in France is a reflection of the company's new drive into professional audio.

"Although Sonohouse's current strength is in the DJ and club sector, I can see a huge amount of potential for our relationship," explains David Jackson, Celestion's export manager. "Sonohouse has an excellent sales team and nationwide network, and have impressed us with their connections and level of support from the industry."

One such contact is Gerald Kaas, whose consultancy Akoustik is providing marketing advice and support. "The big poten

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The A22 into London came to a standstill on the evening of 12 March when Ann Summers celebrated the opening of its brand new headquarters. RGA Production and Design produced the launch party and worked with Fourth Phase to light up the surrounding sky with stunning effects, searchlights, fireworks and projection.

As local dignitaries and celebrities arrived at the two-acre site, they were greeted by 40-feet high projected images of models from the latest Ann Summers lingerie catalogue. Added to this the whole building was floodlit in the company’s corporate colours. Fourth Phase supplied two Pani BP6 Gold projectors with PIGI digital slide changers for the images and Studio Duo City Colors up-lit the exterior walls. These were complemented by Martin Mac 500s projecting corporate logos whilst Mac 600s were used to colour the interior of the reception area.

Aside from Ann Summers

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Celestion's CXi range has won praise for its role in 'Evita' at the Theatre Royal Glasgow, one of its first excursions into mainstream theatre. The production, in February, was the Scottish amateur premiere, staged by the Orpheus Club, one of Scotland's oldest amateur operatic societies.

Audio was specified and provided by Glasgow sound rental company, BSF. "The Theatre Royal has been hiring Celestion from us on a trial basis with a view to purchasing the system," explained Alan Beatty of BSF. "For 'Evita', they asked us to provide a system of the highest quality which would be invisible to the audience." This provided a challenge for the BSF team. The Theatre Royal has listed building status, which prevents any alterations to its interior: the sound engineers were not allowed to hang or fly equipment, or even to touch the walls, the PA system had to fit in with the

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It’s been water, water everywhere recently for D J Willrich Ltd (DJW), as the Hampshire-based AV and multi-media specialists have recently completed work on the saltwater Bournemouth Oceanarium in Dorset and the freshwater Lakeside Aquarium at Newby Bridge on the shores of Lake Windermere.

Working within a deadline of just three weeks, DJW installed in the Bournemouth Oceanarium three Sony plasma displays, three touch screen quiz-based interactives and, with the help of strobe lighting and Bose speakers, the sound of a rainforest thunderstorm that automatically comes to life every 20 minutes.

Visitors to the Lake District are obviously used to it raining more frequently there since DJW’s thunderstorm sound simulation at the Lakeside Aquarium proved to be so popular that it now runs every three minutes! In addition to this, DJW has also installed two Sony plasma displays,

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Back in 2000, funding proposals for a £10.4m all-seater stadium at Bournemouth AFC’s Dean Court HQ were drawn up as part of a 15-year business plan. With help from Bournemouth Borough Council, supplemented by a record £3m package from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund, the Club were well on their way to reaching the scaled-down first phase of the targeted £5.5m-£6.5m. The shortfall of around £2m was made up by Cherries supporters and thus the first phase of the new Fitness First Stadium, with the construction of three new stands - and rotation through 90° of the playing surface - was unveiled earlier this season.

With Barr Construction undertaking the building construction, it was left to turnstile and gate specialists, Swift Tate Security Technology Ltd, to offer a turnkey solution by specifying a fully-featured public address/voice alarm system. And with 23 years&rsquo

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Peterborough-based Pearce Hire has invested in a new L-Acoustics speaker system, Camco amplifiers and a range of processing equipment, to increase the quality and flexibility of its PA package for clients.

The first outing for the system came in February at the Corn Exchange, Cambridge, where a conventional stereo configuration PA was installed by Pearce Hire’s crew for a Courtney Pine concert. This was followed by the New College Nottingham annual awards ceremony hosted at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, where the L-Acoustics system was flown for the first time. Pearce Hire supplied the full sound and lighting spec for the awards, and liaised closely with set designers and video screen suppliers, Hawk AV.

MD Shaun Pearce said: "The new system has superb acoustic reproduction that belies its physical size. This awards show has highlighted its ability to handle speech

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In less than six months since acquiring Italian lighting giants, Coemar SpA, Florida-based Coemar USA (formerly Tracoman) has radically streamlined production, marketing and distribution to make the company more competitive and efficient in its traditional markets.

Chief executive Gerard Cohen confirmed that while expansion of Coemar’s production facilities in Belarus will enable the company to bring commercial luminaires to market faster and more cost-competitively, the handover of administrative responsibility will provide more creative freedom for the company’s inventor, Bruno Dedoro, as head of Coemar’s R&D and production operations. "Over the past two decades, Coemar has designed groundbreaking products such as the Robot, NAT and CF series of luminaires, and this will continue. At the same time we are looking at ways of improving the global distribution netw

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Blink TV, the big screen entertainment specialists, go into the spring touring period with the three biggest UK tours - Pop Idol, Westlife and Kylie - on their roster. Each of the tours is a heavy user of video with sophisticated combinations of digital cameras, LED screens and projection systems, and, in each case, Blink is responsible for co-ordinating the supply of the video hardware and producing the programming to run on the screens pre-show.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Erikson Pro has been named the new exclusive Compulite distributor for Canada. "Compulite gives users the tools that allow them to unleash their creative powers," commented Erikson Pro general manager, Christian Bouchard. "We are excited at the opportunity to develop the potential of this comprehensive line of products, which fills a vast range of lighting control needs. The distribution agreement is effective immediately.

(Lee Baldock)

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The Barbican London’s landmark performing arts venue has a new technical production facility - it is now the only live venue in the UK currently offering a permanent broadcast facility. The Barbican BBC digital broadcast system is a joint venture between the BBC and the Barbican. The aim is to produce high quality, cost-effective broadcast material embracing a rich diversity of performance genres. This will feed the new digital channels and also ensure the Barbican keeps pace with cutting edge production technologies.

The new facility also greatly enhances the Barbican as a venue for corporate events and conference industries. Very easy transmission between the Barbican’s numerous different auditoria and spaces, and instant live relay of images from auditorium to screen, are just two advantages. Others include a vastly improved video show relay.

Simon Prior, the Barbican

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On March 14th Virgin Megastore's flagship store on Oxford Street in London hosted the UK launch of the long-awaited Xbox from Microsoft, billed as "the most powerful games console on earth". The store opened at midnight to throngs of industry personalities, media and public eager to be first in line for the new console, as well as a goodly smattering of celebrities. Presenters for the evening's entertainment included Jonathon Ross, comedian Johnny Vegas, and of course Virgin boss Richard Branson. White Label UK was the production company in charge of the event, and they turned to Systems Etc. to handle the audio requirements.

Systems etc. operations director Ricky Ramsay opted for six stacks of Nexo Alpha E distributed around the room, each stack comprising one Alpha EM mid-hi cabinet and two Alpha B1-18 bass bins. "The event took place on the lower ground floor which is

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Late February, Summit Steel abandoned the typically dull, British weather and took off for Cannes in the South of France. The company was called in by Adam Proto, producer for Turquoise Blue, to rig a party at the Radisson SAS Montfleury Hotel, for Lucent Technologies’ guests, as part of the 3GSM World Congress. Summit’s principal task was to rig large, white, gauze sails between the palm trees around the pool which were to be used as projection screens.

Since there was no flying equipment from roof trusses on this job, this proved to be open air rigging with a difference. "It made a change from climbing roof beams," explained Summit’s Jon Bray. "We actually used the pool-side Palm trees to rig the sails, fixing guy wires and using diverters in the palms to ensure we did not cause any damage. The end result looked great. The sails created an outside aud

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Following a vote earlier in March in favour of strike action, members of BECTU (which represents backstage, ticketing and box office staff) are now back round the table with the Society of London Theatres (SOLT) to discuss an improved pay offer for members.

In an industrial action ballot which closed on March 19, more than 96% of BECTU members working at London's West End theatres voted to strike in support of the union's campaign to banish low pay. BECTU delayed publishing the ballot result while SOLT made last-minute efforts to improve the pay offer that members had rejected. After more than two days of closed-door negotiations, the employers tabled a new package, backdated to February 11. At a mass meeting on March 22, members voted to run a secret ballot on the new proposals, without any recommendation to accept or reject.

The two-stage pay offer includes an average 6% increase

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Northampton-based SA Sound Services, in partnership with Adrian Humphris at Oak Audio Visual, has recently completed a significant AV installation for Tearfund, a UK-based Christian charity providing aid and relief to many of the world's poorest and dispossessed. At the core of the installation are a number of ElectroVoice Xi loudspeakers.

The installation was part of a complete refurbishment of the facilities at Tearfund's four-storey Teddington headquarters. According to Tearfund's facilities manager Mike Webb it was important that the system be powerful, versatile and discreet as the room is used for a variety of applications, including live music. SA Sound Services' Steve Ashley explained why he opted for EV Xi 1082s, which are designed as under-balcony fills. "Given that the system had to handle more than just speech reinforcement, I was looking for a professional speaker tha

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Our pictures shows Borrowed Time - the latest work by David Cotterell, an artist shortlisted for Beck’s Futures 2002, the UK’s largest arts prize. His nominated entry features a film of a train emerging from a tunnel.

As it draws near, the gallery fills with a cloud of smoke onto which an image of the steam train is projected to create a ghostly apparition. Reminiscent of the Lumière brothers, the train rushes towards the viewer before fading to black. The smoke effects are being produced using Cirrus Low-smoke machines supplied by The Effects Company.

The smoke is unusual in that it is a mixture of Liquid CO2 and a standard glycol-based smoke fluid. Synchronizing and controlling all the elements of the installation is a Pulsar Masterpiece 108 control system, specially adapted for the purpose by the company’s Andy Graves, who also built a custom interface to work

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Rental company Gearhouse Broadcast has significantly expanded its Sennheiser wireless microphone inventory with an order for 5000 and 3000 Series UHF RF systems, valued at more than £250,000. The rapidly expanding, London headquartered hire company supplies international broadcasters covering major outdoor events such as the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and the ATP Tennis Masters Series, as well as studio-based production series for leading UK broadcast companies.

The new order adds to Gearhouse Broadcast’s already considerable stock of Sennheiser wireless equipment and comprises SK 5012 ultra-miniature and SK 3063 miniature belt pack transmitters, SKM 5000 handheld transmitters, plus 8-channel and 3-channel EM 1046 modular receiver rack systems. New to Gearhouse Broadcast’s stock is the Sennheiser SK 5012-U, the ‘world’s smallest belt pack transmitter&rsquo

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I-Vision supplied and co-ordinated the equipment for an eye-catching exterior architectural lighting scheme for the re-opening of the Walker Arts Gallery in Liverpool. The show was designed and produced by Liverpool City Council’s Cultural Events Officer and lighting designer Lee Forde.

The Gallery re-opened after a £4.3 million refurbishment, part of National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside’s (NMGM) first major capital project for the 21st century. The Victorian building façade which features central steps and an extruded section, is flanked by Grecian-style columns, and flat sections either side. The columns and two statues either side of the steps, were lit using 300W profile fixtures, and the flat, end sections of the building’s fascia were bathed in blue light from powerful Coemar Panorama 1800W cyc fixtures. Tight 4-way finger-beam fans of ‘Aircraft La

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A group of exhibition design final year students from the Reinwardt Academie in Amsterdam recently enjoyed an informative visit to the London office of Sarner, audio visual, visitor attraction and design specialists. Frank van Oosterhout, faculty lecturer from the Academie (an institute which specializes in Museum Communication, Management, Registration and Conservation) was so impressed when he visited Sarner’s Lands End tourist centre installation in 1996 that he brought the students to the UK to meet the company behind the project.

Marije Kruize, one of the visiting students, thoroughly enjoyed the experience. She commented: "We’ve all been inspired by Sarner’s individual approach to each project and would love to work for a company like that. The visit has helped us all get an insight into a company that delivers innovation and technology with bags full of pa

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In a theatrical first, specialist AV company Blitz Communications, is supplying the world's smallest radio microphones to the London West End Show The Full Monty. The beltpack transmitters, Sennheiser SK 5012, are the smallest commercially available and are being used for the first time in a theatrical production. During the performance the transmitters are concealed on the bodies of the actors (with the microphones hidden in the hairline). However, in the final scene when the strippers have only their security guards' hats protecting their dignity the transmitters are discreetly placed inside the hats so that the audience can still hear the actors' voices.

Blitz chose the transmitters because of their size and weight - the SK 5012 weighs just 130g (including batteries). The transmitters operate continually for seven hours and a new antenna design provides an RF power output of typical

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Celestion's flagship CXi range of sound reinforcement cabinets is increasing in popularity with contractors specifying systems for permanent installation in nightclubs. One of the most impressive recent contracts has been that for the new club Afterlife in Burnley.

The new three-floor multi-venue has been opened in Burnley by Obar Ltd, sited in a former seamen's temple. With a capacity for 1,100 people, Afterlife is one of the largest venues in the region, themed to give clubbers a chance to drink in the Underworld and Judgement Bars before going up to the Heaven nightclub.

Promotion Time, the sound and lighting contractor from Co. Durham, was commissioned to equip the club, and specified Celestion throughout. The three floors of Afterlife each have their own identity: in the basement, a warm dark-red interior called the Underworld Bar features Celestion SR1s supplemented by Substati

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A 28-box JBL VerTec system, powered by Crown MA Series amplifiers with BSS digital system controllers, was recently supplied by innovative new Norwegian sound company, Audio One, for two major national events. Both took place at the Oslo Spectrum arena and were broadcast on national television. The first was the Melodi Grand Prix (junior version), to choose Norway’s entry to the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest. The second, Spellemannprisen, is the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy Awards.

Both events were staged by NRK, Norway’s national TV station, within a week of each other.The main audio challenge for these high profile shows was in the stage configuration. The NRK divided the hall in half and placed the stage in one of the corners. With the audience seated on three sides of the stage, from the very front to the highest rows at the rear of the arena, required a horizontal

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This year’s LDI Backstage event heads west to California, an event that takes in everything from Hollywood to Disney's new California Adventure. The event, which immediately follows the annual LDI Show, runs from Sunday October 20 through to Tuesday October 22.

Attendees will fly from Las Vegas to Los Angeles on the Sunday to see a show at the Mark Taper Forum. On Monday October 21, they will get the chance to explore some key Los Angeles venues, ranging from a classic Hollywood film studio to the new Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars, and the LA Music Center, plus a hard-hat tour of the new Disney Concert Hall, with panel discussions with the experts along the way. On Tuesday October 22, it’s off to California Adventure where attendees can ride the rides, tour the Hyperion Theatre, play on Paradide Pier, and meet the designers and technicians from Disney Entertainment and

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