Business

Details
Leading theatre sound specialist, Autograph Sound Recording, has announced the purchase of its first ever digital audio console - a new D5 Live from DiGiCo.

Autograph Sound Recording has taken digital technology very seriously for many years, working closely with many audio manufacturers, especially mixing console developers. Because of the prestigious and highly specialized theatre productions the company is renowned for, the Autograph team had opted to wait for the right digital console to be developed before committing to embracing digital mixing.

Autograph Sound Recording’s managing director Terry Jardine commented: "It was only at the PLASA show in September that we were presented with the innovative DiGiCo D5 Live console. It now makes us feel confident to enter the multi-channel digital desk market, as it is undoubtedly the direction modern theatre productions are

Details
West Sussex-based pro audio distributor beyerdynamic was recently approached by Simian - a psychedelic and experimental band signed to Source records - to supply M88 and Opus microphones as well as dB Technologies in-ear monitoring for the band’s second UK tour.

Simian have produced a second album (‘We are your friends’), which was released on 22 October. Coinciding with this release, the band is heading off on their first European tour as support artists to Supergrass.

The band members take their music very seriously, and turned to beyerdynamic when looking for a good live sound. Sound engineer Jon Underhay specified a combination of microphones - the Opus 39, and the M88 for lead vocals plus the Opus 87 clip microphones for the drum kit and the classic revolving-horn Leslie cabinets. The Opus 39 is a dynamic microphone boasting a stylish, yet rugged design which,

Details
One of the best-known names in European sound rentals, Audiolease, has been relaunched following the purchase of Electrotec Productions Ltd from its owners Aura Systems Inc by Steve Sunderland. "I’d been keen for a long time to get back into sound rental," commented Sunderland, "and this seemed a logical route to go down." Operations manager is Dave Chamberlain, while Steve’s brother Tim, a partner in the original AudioLease, is assisting with the relaunch in a consultancy role.

The company’s first work came immediately after the deal with a full European tour headlined by Motorhead, concurrent with a string of UK dates with comedy rock duo Tenacious D. Audiolease’s rental equipment is centred on Midas and Yamaha control systems, the JBL-based Audiolease A2 PA system and its well renowned JBL powered monitor systems. The company is also curre

Details
Our House, the new Madness musical, opened on 28 October at the Cambridge Theatre in London's West End to rave reviews. With a fictional Sliding Doors-style storyline, and featuring songs by 80s chart-toppers Madness, the musical comedy is set in London's diverse and vibrant Camden Town.

Selected to provide the stage automation for the new production, AVW Controls designed and manufactured the control systems, carried out the automation fit-up, technical rehearsals and provided training for the theatre's technicians. AVW's award-winning Impressario automation system controls a total of 22 moving pieces, including six rotating doors, flying and tracking house portals, a motorized bridge, a travelator and a sliding door at the rear of the stage. Stephen Rebbeck, Our House production manager, said: "Impressario is central to the show and, as there are so many moving elements,

Details
Skan PA Hire has provided the sound system for this year's Q Awards, which took place for the first time at the former Saatchi art gallery in St Johns Wood, North London. The prestigious event, now in its 13th year, celebrate what Q Magazine's readers consider to be the best music of the preceding year, with accolades this year going to artists including Coldplay, Radiohead, The Hives, Depeche Mode and Tom Jones. Two of Skan's clients were also among the winners: the Best Single award was presented by Gary Numan to girl trio Sugababes for their song Freak Like Me, which uses samples from Numan’s eighties hit Are Friends Electric, while Electric Soft Parade picked up the New Band gong.

Skan elected to use a front of house PA system comprising four Turbosound TQ 440 sp cabinets with 16 JBL C25s, and a monitoring system of 16 Turbo TFM 450s. The event marked the first time use of Kl

Details
Leisure Industry Week (8-10 October, NEC, Birmingham) reaffirmed the position it occupies in the calendar for its industry: an increased audited audience of over 14,250 (Independently audited figures from CTS) visitors from across the out-of-home leisure industry - from theme parks to themed restaurants, nightclubs to fitness clubs - attended LIW 2002. They came to see over 350 exhibiting companies showcasing their latest products and services, and to socialise with their peers from their own industry sector, as well as with their contemporaries from across the broader industry through the activities of the 20 leisure industry trade associations supporting LIW 2002.

LIW 2002 featured five individual shows covering all of the out-of-home leisure industry: Body & Soul - a health, fitness and beauty event; FamilyLand - the family fun event for parks and attractions; Food For Leisure - ded

Details
In what may appear to be yet another story of soap stardom leading to a burgeoning music career, former Brookside actress Claire Sweeney's leap has propelled her not to teen-star fame, but to the West End and beyond. After a successful run playing Roxie Hart in the hit musical Chicago, Sweeney has been voted the new Forces Sweetheart, following in the footsteps of Dame Vera Lynn. Her engagements will take her to troublespots all over the world where British Troops are currently playing vital peacekeeping and other roles. Hand Held Audio has been approached to provide her wireless requirements.

Sweeney is currently entertaining the troops in Kabul, Oman and Dubai. She has taken with her a Shure PSM 700 in-ear system for which she has a set of custom acrylic ear monitors supplied by HHA. For back-up purposes, she has also taken with her one set of each type of generic in-ear monitor that

Details
One of China’s largest amusement parks, the Happy Kingdom is in Shenzhen, in the province of Guang Dong - the most economically developed area in the country, with a special statute favouring industries and investment. The park’s technical teams have recently chosen to install an Outline sound system comprising 12 Tripla II enclosures (six per cluster) and eight Topsub Plus subwoofers. The system, amplified by Series T digital power amps and processed by Genius 6 controllers, has been installed on the large stage alongside an artificial lake in the centre of the park, in the zone reserved for water shows: it’s used for sound reinforcement at concerts by international artists and its high sound pressure level covers the 4000-capacity tiered seating in front of the stage. The system debuted in October, on the occasion of ‘Chinese National Day’ and in December

Details
Gear-Source, the Florida-based lighting supply company set up recently by Marcel Fairbairn, has been selected by a major manufacturer to reduce a large inventory of brand new 150W and 250W moving yoke fixtures. The fixtures have been manufactured in Europe by Robe Show Lighting, the same manufacturer who builds for Elation, Futurelight and various other well-known manufacturers. In fact, say Gear Source, these are the exact same units offered under these other brands. For a limited time (while supplies last), Gear-Source has been authorized to sell off inventory at previously unheard of prices. Included are the popular single-arm 150 Spot and the popular 250 Spot and Wash. For a limited time, clubs, theatres, schools, churches or any end-user is able to buy these fixtures well below dealer pricing. Dealers are still offered additional discounts when registered with Gear-Source as a deale

Details
On Saturday 16 November, two major UK TV shows will simultaneously feature the first use of the new DiGiCo D5 Live on European television, with a brace of prime time shows starring Robbie Williams and the Songs of Bond.

BBC One screens the Robbie Williams Show at 21.00 - the star’s first major TV special, filmed at Pinewood Studios last week. Singing his favourite songs, Williams performs everything from swing to chart-topping hits and his new single. Dave Bracey mixed the audience sound on Sound Hire’s D5 Live with Britannia Row Productions supplying a V-Dosc PA and monitors.

Over on ITV1 at 21.15, Russell Watson presents Songs of Bond, a showcase of favourite Bond theme songs from the past 40 years, with performances from an array of stars including Lulu, Atomic Kitten, Samantha Mumba, Diana Krall and Marti Pellow, and backing music from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Details
Image enhancement and gobo specialist Projected Image, has announced the launch of a new division of the company - Projected Image Digital Ltd - and at the same time has announced the appointment of the new division as the exclusive UK distributor for the RADlite PC-based video effects and digital image generating system.

The new division will be based at Three Mills Island in East London and run by directors David March and Jim Douglas, the latter of whom founded Projected Image in 1999. Projected Image, meanwhile, has moved into new, expanded premises at Three Mills in preparation for a busy schedule for 2003. Projected Image Digital will be complementary to the gobo manufacturing side of the business, and dedicated to being at the cutting edge of new digital technology, video generation and projection.

The company was formed to take advantage of the ever-increasing creative integr

Details
Loudspeakers and amplification are well known to be a contentious issue in the classical opera world, but the approach taken by Autograph Sound on the recent Pag & Cav double bill at London's Albert Hall seems to have satisfied the taste of the medium's established cognoscenti. As for previous year's ‘arena opera’ seasons, featuring Tosca, Aida, Madame Butterfly and Carmen productions by promoter Raymond Gubbay, advanced source-oriented reinforcement (SOR) techniques have been employed, using Out Board's TiMax DSP matrix and show control software to accurately localize performers' voices to their physical stage locations, by exploiting delay-based Haas Precedence psychoacoustics.

It's not often that a piece of audio equipment receives a mention in the UK's most prestigious broadsheet newspaper, but during a recent interview article for one journal's re

Details
White Light Sales has supplied another Strand 500-series console to the West End - this time, a Strand 520i for the Duke of York's Theatre in St. Martin's Lane. The console replaced an Arri Imagine supplied to the theatre by White Light some years ago, which was coming to the end of its useful life.

With a long-running show - the hit comedy Stones in his Pocket - occupying the theatre, White Light Sales and the theatre's crew had to ensure that they could slot the new desk into the theatre without disrupting the show's lighting design. Andy Fordham at The Service Company, a White Light Company, therefore took the show disk from the Arri and using his collection of conversion software tools, transferred it to the 520i. Thanks to this process, the 520i was in use controlling the show on the day it arrived in the theatre.

The delivery of the desk to the Duke of York's continues t

Details
Following a successful joint showing at PLASA in London and subsequent negotiations at LDI in Las Vegas, followed by TMB’s 20th anniversary bash in Los Angeles, TMB and Syncrolite have announced that European, African and Middle East distribution of Syncrolite products will be handled out of TMB’s UK office.

Paul Hartley, TMB’s general manager, Europe said: "TMB and Syncrolite share common rock and roll roots and values, so our partnership is natural. Syncrolite’s precision, large-format, automated fixtures are unparalleled in the industry. We are very excited to be able to offer this versatile and stunning option. As part of our agreement, we have committed to two regional goals: firstly, establishing a network of mutually supportive rental dealers to supply tours and special events of all kinds and sizes. Secondly, establishing a network of resale dealers

Details
XL Video were approached by lighting designer Bryan Leitch of Siyan to supply hardware for Coldplay's hihgly successful world tour - which continues until September 2003. Coldplay's unconventional video production includes an eye-catching 48ft by 9ft semi-circular IMAG screen elegantly 'crowning' the stage. With the images in 4:3 ratio, the stage takes on a portrait-shaped look.

Below this - upstage of the band - is a 4-screen RADLite video effects generation system. Several layers of lighting are sandwiched in between the two video systems, giving depth to Coldplay's overall visuals. Siyan commissioned the projection screen from XL Video. The semi-circular idea was initiated by Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin, who approached Leitch and production manager Derek Fudge, wanting a semi-circular thrust stage.

Coldplay's video director is Nick Whitehouse, who is running Siyan's 4-way

Details
Large format projection specialist E//T//C UK projected one of the greatest Britons - Viscount Horatio Nelson - onto the Shell Building on London’s South Bank for the launch of the BBC’s new series Great Britons.

The major new 10-part BBC2 history series, directed by Miriam Jones, included the programme about Nelson, one of the top 10 Great Britons as voted for by the public. The two 6kW PIGI projectors were located in Jubilee Gardens, near the banks of the Thames, and overlaid, to project one 40m wide image across the building.

For the programme’s opening sequence, the camera panned along the Thames, taking in the various sights of that particular stretch of the river, including the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye, before swinging round to catch the dramatic projection on the Shell Building, which stands near the Eye.

Three weeks later, E//T//C UK was bac

Details
Canegreen is supplying its new Meyer M2D line array system, provided the PA equipment for Beth Orton’s recent sell-out tour. Canegreen has invested in the Meyer M2D system to join its hire stock of Meyer M3D and EAW line array speakers which have proven themselves on larger arena and festival shows. Yan Stile, MD of Canegreen commented: "We’re really pleased with the performance of the M2D. It’s proved itself to be a great system during the course of this tour. It delivered even, smooth, powerful and undistorted sound at every venue."

The new M2D system means that the great dispersion characteristics available for the larger venues are now available to engineers working in smaller venues. This tour included venues ranging from the York Barbican and Birmingham Symphony Hall to the Bristol Academy, so the configuration of the new PA was tested in substantially

Details
Entec Sound supplied equipment and crew to Morrissey's recent high profile, sold-out UK tour. This was the first time Entec has serviced Morrissey - former frontman of 80s band The Smiths -a contract which they won through a competitive tender process. However, FOH engineer Phil Griggs and Entec's head of sound Dick Hayes have known each other for many years in the industry.

The d&b 12-stack C4 rig, with four B2 subs, achieved great sonic results throughout the tour, in a wide variety of venues. Monitors were mixed by Vince Buller, who also production managed, and the system was crew chiefed by Entec's Tristan Johnson, joined by his team-mate Adam Draper (and Liam Halpin at Brixton). Because of the nature, message and meaning of Morrissey's often intense lyrics, it's always imperative that his voice is always high and clear above the mix.

The tour culminated at Brixton Academy, where

Details
Noise Productions, one of New Zealand’s leading sound production houses, has acquired a new modular outdoor concert system from Proel, consisting of 32 TPR12A individually powered 12" and horn speakers, which combine to produce a system scalable from 600W to 10,000W. "This is the first time modular technology has been used for small to medium-sized concert systems in this country," said the company’s’s managing director Toby Mills.

The entire rig can be set up by one person (each box weighing only around 20kgs), reducing the amount of heavy lifting. The system van be put together quickly and efficiently, simply by plugging power and a line level feed into each box; it also provides high levels of redundancy and the flexibility to offer systems tailored exactly to a client’s size requirements in increments of 600W. "We can offer our clients a

Details
On 14 November, 40sq.m of Barco’s Dlite 10 daylight display solution was on stage at the MTV Europe Awards ceremony in Barcelona. The screen was supplied by XL Video, one of the world’s leading large video display specialists, which due to its reputation has over the years provided equipment to events including The Spice Girls Tour (worldwide), the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the US Open Golf Tournament and U2’s ‘Elevation’ Tour.

"The diversity of important events where our clients have deployed our video displays is a testament to both the quality of our equipment and the dependability of our service," says Rene De Keyzer, managing director of XL Video. "When approached to provide material to high profile events such as the MTV Europe Awards, it is with confidence and pride that we recommend Barco’s material, as we know it will exceed the c

Details
Embarking on his first North American tour in almost a decade, Peter Gabriel kicked off his ‘Growing Up Live’ 2002-2003 tour on 13 November with a stage production that has been termed "spectacular." Lighting designer Luc LaFortune (LD for Cirque du Soleil) has specified High End Systems equipment in the design, including 36 X.Spot HO (High Output) and 36 Studio Beam automated luminaires, as well as four Catalyst systems with orbital mirror heads and six Catalyst media servers. Controlling the show are three Wholehog II consoles with a wing.

The UK's Neg Earth is the primary lighting contractor, with Upstaging as its partner on the North American legs. The Neg Earth crew includes programmer/operator Dennis Gardner, crew chief John Shelly, head electrician Andy Porter, and Dave Cox in charge of Catalyst systems.

(Lee Baldock)

Details
Event Pro Forum, the conference for event production professionals, will be held 17-20 February 2003, at Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa in Las Vegas. The conference targets top professionals responsible for producing events for amphitheaters, arenas, auditoriums, concerts, fairs, corporate functions, festivals, sporting events, theme parks and touring entertainment.

The 2002 premiere conference attracted 150-plus attendees from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, Nashville to New York and even London to Moscow. EventPro Forum 2003 will feature industry speakers, professional development panels and the Production Pow-Wow, a series of round-table discussions. Special events, including a golf tournament, welcome reception, wrap party and backstage tour of Las Vegas venues will provide attendees with the opportunity to have fun while networking and expanding their professional contacts, say the org

Details
The new Sheraton Hotel on the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora has just completed the installation of 60 JBL Control Contractor Series speakers. The picturesque, five-star resort features a total of 120 rooms, 70 of which are private, over-water bungalows. The hotel needed a sound system for ambient music throughout the entire resort, including the reception area, hotel restaurant, beachside restaurant grill and banquet room.

The technical team of Total Video Distribution, the JBL distributor in French Polynesia, collaborated with an architect to design the system. A total of 50 Control 25T surface-mount speakers and 10 Control 26CT ceiling speakers were installed on the property. The entire system is controlled from the reception desk, which features a 400-disc CD player and a CT210 Crown Amplifier. In addition to this main control station, each separate room has its own music sy

Details
Vari-Lite International Inc has announced that it has sold the assets of its Vari*Lite products manufacturing and sales division to Genlyte Thomas Group LLC (GTG), a leading manufacturer of lighting fixtures and controls for commercial, industrial and residential markets. The sale included the Vari*Lite family of products as well as all sales, manufacturing and engineering operations associated with this division. GTG also acquired the Vari*Lite trademark and all patents associated with Vari*Lite products. The purchase price, which will be finalized within 30 days, is estimated to be $10.5 million - $11.5 million, which will result in a loss of approximately $4.0 million - $5.0 million.

"Operating as a manufacturer and a rental company was confusing to the industry, and it limited the growth prospects of both our Vari*Lite manufacturing and sales division and VLPS Lighting Service

  1. Summit Steel’s stunts at Birmingham Motor Show
  2. LSS in Division One with Wolves
  3. UK first for IES' silent dimming at the National
  4. PCM installs at Carnegie Hall Dunfermline
  5. DPA Microphones appoints Studer in Austria
  6. CT communicates new Orange handset launch
Page 566 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .