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UK - The MTV Europe Awards ceremony staged in Edinburgh was one of the more complex events handled this year by London sound company Britannia Row, involving the design of an ElectroVoice XLC compact line-array system which worked on two performing stages, set asymmetrically in the round, inside a circus tent.

Featuring live performances by Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Pink, The White Stripes, the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul, Dido, The Darkness and Missy Elliott, the show was watched by an estimated one billion people in 28 countries. Britannia Row was responsible for the event audio, under the direction of their sound designer Derrick Zieba, with the main system consisting of ElectroVoice XLC.

Zieba commented afterwards: "The circus tent was an incredibly difficult space, but I was delighted with the ability of the XLC system to be a line array and deliver 120 degree cov

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Taiwan - Digital Projection International (DPI), an Emmy Award-winning manufacturer of high-performance projection systems recently announced the world's first commercial installation of its new DC2K digital cinema projector - the cS25 - at the Ambassador Theatre in Taipei, Taiwan.

The installation follows a number of previous installations in Japan by Digital Projection International. However this is the first deployment in Taiwan of Digital Cinema, in the shape of the newly designed DC2K unit. The cS25 is the first commercial projector to utilize the new higher resolution Texas Instruments DC2K DMD, delivering over two million pixels.

The film Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World, by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe, will be premiered on 28 November, as the first digital feature ever to be shown in Taiwan. The Press Day at the theatre was scheduled for 21

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UK - XL Video UK recently supplied projection hardware for Eddie Izzard's 'Sexie' DVD shoot, filmed over three nights of performances at the Congress Theatre in Eastbourne. The 'Sexie' DVD is part of the ongoing world tour, which kicked off in Australasia in July before storming the US. He tours UK arenas in December.

Izzard, who spent a memorable chunk of his schooldays at two different establishments in Eastbourne, wanted to return to his roots for the DVD recording. XL supplied a 26.5ft wide by 15ft high projection screen - 16:9 ratio - that was fed by a flown pair of doubled Barco R18 projectors. Projections were effectively 'the set', with the space dressed with camouflage netting, so video and lighting were essential for creating mood.

XL's project manager Malcolm Mellows was approached by the show's producer Mick Perrin of Perrin Productions, having been recommended by

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USA - Elation Professional has cranked up the wattage on its Power Spot 250 with the new Power Spot 575, a more powerful 575W version of this intelligent moving head fixture. Like the 250, the Power Spot 575 is a versatile DMX-programmable two-in-one effect that combines a moving head spot with a 4.9mW red laser. The fixture is compact and portable no bigger in size than the 250W fixture making it ideally suited for the rental market.

John Lopez, sales manager for Elation Professional said: "The Power Spot 575 is the only moving head fixture of its kind to offer 575W output in the size of a 250W unit and will open all kinds of profit opportunities for rental houses."

The Power Spot 575 comes with a total of 16 gobos (seven rotating and nine static) on two wheels. Included are four lithos and 12 metal gobos at 26.9mm diameter with a 23mm viewing area. All gobos are ea

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UK - James Thomas Engineering's Pixel development team, working in association with RADlite developers IRAD, has created PixelDrive for Mac, a Macintosh-based version of their new control concept for driving DMX fixtures. This has been shown for the first time at LDI 2003, alongside the existing PC-based version. IRAD. Manufacturers of RADlite, the digital media server engine on which PixelDrive is based, are also planning to release a Macintosh version early in the new year.

Simon Carter of IRAD comments: "We want to be as diverse and flexible as possible with both RADlite and PixelDrive, and recognize there's a need for both Macintosh and Windows platforms in the market. The US in particular will appreciate the Mac version. We're also intending to expand the range further next year with the development of a value-engineered, streamlined version of RADlite on both platform

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UK / Israel - PA and voice evacuation specialists Millbank Electronics has recently supplied its Israeli distributor Ram-Tel Communications with a fleet of its DSPac power amplifiers. The range is part of Millbank's new directive - to create quality-boxed products, which integrate into the most challenging projects and offer cost effective solutions to installers, architects, consultants and electrical contractors alike.

Long-standing Millbank distributor, Ram-Tel, headed by Zvi Zeif, has deployed the DSPacs as part of a significant upgrade of the public address system in the Al Aqsa Mosque. As one of the world's most famous and oldest Mosques, it is visited by millions of tourists and religious pilgrims every year.

Re-built into its present form in 1033 AD, the Al Aqsa Mosque is situated at the southernmost point of the Noble Sanctuary - Al Haram al Sharif which, comprising o

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UK - Large format projection specialists, E//T//C UK, covered the 323ft high Shell Centre on London's South Bank with a projection for the launch of Electric Storm, an innovative light, sound and mist installation staged along the South Bank - between Jubilee Gardens and the Oxo Tower - powered by Shell UK's new 45 metre high wind turbine. It runs until February and is designed to raise public awareness of the advantages of renewable energy.

The launch-night projection featured moving clouds artwork and the text strap-line "Wind Energy - renewable energy". E//T//C was working for media and production company The Bank, who are producing Electric Storm for Shell UK. The 26-storey Shell Centre was covered by eight 6kW PIGI projectors sited 100m away on the edge of Queen's Walkway (the corresponding riverside path), housed in a curtain-sider truck. Six of the projectors co

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Sweden - Broadjam, a leading provider of Internet tools for musicians and music publishers, announced the selection of MI7, a music products distribution firm led by former Steinberg Media Technologies COO Per Larsen, to coordinate product activities in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Larsen's company will be responsible for sales, distribution, marketing, and customer service, focusing initially on Broadjam's new software for the music industry, Metajam.

MI7 is headquartered in Malmoe, Sweden, and Larsen directs a group of international sales agents. As an executive with substantial music industry experience and connections, Larsen will manage key partnerships and core retail accounts as well as provide Broadjam with product development expertise.

Previously, Larsen was the COO of Steinberg Media Technologies, which rose to a leadership position in the growing digital content creat

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USA - Rigging Seminars has announced that it will hold three four-day seminars in 2004, each consisting of three days of instruction on rigging principles and practices plus a full day of hands-on training. The sessions will take place in Orlando, Florida from 1-4 February, Las Vegas, Navada from 2-5 May and Denver, Colorado from June 27-30.

Rigging Seminars is a world leader in rigging training, having been in operation more than 10 years and trained more than 4,000 people. Its instructors are highly respected in the entertainment industry; Jay Glerum is the author of the Stage Rigging Handbook, and Harry Donovan is the author of Arena Rigging and an active member of the new ESTA Rigging Skills Committee, which is writing a certification standard for riggers. More than 20 major entertainment industry organizations have committed to supporting the rigging certification program.<

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UK - Avesco plc has announced that it will be applying for admission to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and cancelling its listing on the UKLA Official List. The Company will also be considering the demerger of its Core Services from its two investments, the 49% holding in Complete Communications and 23.7% holding in Medal Entertainment and Media plc (itself an AIM-listed company). The move to AIM will simplify the ongoing administration and reporting requirements for Avesco as a public company. The lower compliance costs of AIM should enable Avesco to develop its business by acquisition at a substantial saving to the costs it would have incurred as a fully-listed group.

The reason for considering the demerger is that it may enable the Core Services and Investment businesses to develop better their opportunities as separate entities rather than in the single structure, a

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UK - White Light Events supplied lighting equipment and services to three major events during October. At the Royal Opera House in London, Estée Lauder were seeking to turn the building pink for the launch of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's Breast Cancer Awareness launch on 27 October. Under the direction of Simon Thomas, White Light Events lit the building using six 2.5kW HMI fresnels with dimmer shutters, AC1001 floods, Coda floods and IP65-rated SILL MBI floodlights and spotlights, purchased especially for this project. White Light Events also supplied rigging, distribution and crew - as well as the remote keypad with which actress Elizabeth Hurley switched on the lighting!

At the same time as the Royal Opera House show, another White Light Events team was in East Grinstead lighting the annual conference of the Church of Scientology. This is the seventh year that Whi

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UK - Tascam equipment was central to a series of one-off recordings by seminal UK indie band Suede at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) recently. Engineer and producer Julie Gardner deployed a rig of Tascam high resolution DTRS recorders, comprising a Tascam DA-98HR and three Tascam DA-78HRs, in conjunction with a Logic Platinum-loaded Mac G4 Powerbook, to record the unique series of once-only performances of each of Suede's five studio albums.

The performances kicked off Suede's winter tour and were part of the promotion for the band's latest single, attitude, and greatest hits album, singles, released on 20 October 2003. Due to the unrepeatable nature of the event, Gardner decided to augment her usual portable, 32-channel direct-to-disk system. "It's accepted professional practice to double up on formats when you're recording one-offs to any computer-based sys

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UK - Stage Electrics Production Services recently supplied specialist outdoor lighting for the reveal of the London Olympic bid logo on the façade of the Tate Modern in London last week. Working closely with Andy MacDonald, production company The Persuaders, and Dennis Ahern of the Tate Modern, Stage Electrics achieved the lighting at the last minute using Optivision flood lighting on the ground with power supplied by an Aggreko generator.

Account handler David Stewart commented: "We were originally requested to light the logo just for the Monday reveal, and used City Colours which worked really well. The next day we got a call to light the logo for the rest of the week and responded immediately with an even brighter solution using the Optivisions."

(Lee Baldock)

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Hungary - At the end of August, Budapest was the scene of a techno parade with over 300,000 fans in attendance. Pro Audio Systems Ltd provided the sound system for the event using equipment from EVI Audio.

The Hungarian mega-rave featured no fewer than 50 imaginatively decorated floats, each with its own cast of extravagantly attired dancers, all vying for attention. The competition between sound systems was just as hot with the most impressive performance coming from Pacha, Budapest's best-known discotheque. The Pacha float was equipped by the Hungarian sound company Pro Audio Systems Ltd, who used sound equipment exclusively from EVI Audio, with a Dynacord V system taking centre stage. Endre Reh, managing director of Pro Audio Systems Ltd told us: "When the parade was over, the organizer approached us to say that ours was the float with the best sound."

The winning

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Portugal - Portuguese Chameleon distributor Audinova Ltd recently introduced the company's new Atlas digital amplifier range at the Musicália fair in Lisbon, held from 23-26 October. Audinova showed Atlas for the first time on mainland Europe, along with a good selection of other Chameleon products including DP/2, DX and the Studio range of amplifiers. Atlas was shown as a pre-production model and was sent out especially for the exhibition. The four-day show allowed audio demonstrations, giving customers the chance to experience the sound quality of the full range of Chameleon amplifiers.

Nunes de Sousa, general manager of Audinova, commented: "It is amazing, Chameleon is a small company yet has developed technology to produce such a quality digital amplifier. Chameleon analogue amplifiers are well proven and now the digital Atlas range has created great interest during th

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UK - Chris Gunton & Associates, the specialist sound, lighting and video contractor, has recently completed a new bar/restaurant at 50 Dover Street, opposite the entrance to the famous London Ritz hotel. The venue owner, Whid, chose CGA to create a special environment following recommendations from trade. CGA identified that this installation would require quality, discrete sound - capable of background sound and also live music reproduction. In addition, stage lighting and disco lighting that would not infringe on the detailed interior design but that equally would be reliable and easy to use.

To carry the sound throughout all areas- bar, restaurant, stage, reception and toilet areas, CGA used a combination of EV Evid 4.2 speakers, JBL ceiling bass bins and JBL ceiling speakers. The Sound is controlled by the customer using simple Cloud Electronics RL1 controls which go back to

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USA - Clay Paky, the Bergamo, Italy-based manufacturer of intelligent show lighting products, has announced the formation of Clay Paky America Inc. The new company will open its offices in Valencia, a northern suburb of Los Angeles, and will be headed up by Paul J Turpin as CEO. Turpin, known as 'PJ', has a successful track record in sales and management in the lighting industry.

Pasquale Quadri, president of the parent corporation, told us: "The idea was in the air for some time. We carried out a detailed study of the American market . . . analyzed the market conditions, the type and quality of products being specified, the types of distribution channels needed, and the technical support expectations of the market. On the basis of this survey we moved on to the realization stage, which resulted in the formation of an operational office in the United States."

Turpin

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UK - The SPS Group has announced the acquisition of Procter & Gamble's Display Division, adding permanent point of purchase (POP) display services to its mix of retail communication services. The renamed division, SPS Display, will strengthen the company's position in the market, making it the only UK firm to offer a fully comprehensive solution for managing retail communications.

The Ferndown-based SPS Group has now become approved suppliers to handle permanent POP display contracts for leading cosmetics and perfumery brands including Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Max Factor, Olay and SKII. Display teams will begin designing, manufacturing and installing permanent POP in airport and ferry terminals (Nuance, Alpha Retail & World Duty Free) key domestic retailers (Harrods & Selfridges) and in many department stores around the country (Bentalls, Allders, House of Fraser).

SPS aims to grow

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France - AVAB transtechnik France and ETC International came together in August 2003 to lay the groundwork for their mutual development in France. The accord was the result of ETC International's buy-out of the transtechnik GmbH involvement in AVAB transtechnik France, and in particular, it confirmed the following points: that the AVAB brand name will be retained and developed; that the AVAB transtechnik France staff will be retained; that the sales and distribution policy will continue (Juliat, Selecon, Ardiis, Dynalite); and that the long-running partnership with Robert Juliat will continue and be developed.

As of 1 January 2004, AVAB transtechnik France will be the exclusive distributor of ETC spotlights (the Source Four line, including Revolution, the new moving light from ETC) in France, while Eclalux will continue as the exclusive distributor of ETC control consoles and di

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Australia - Leading Australian electronic live act, Infusion, has upgraded its sound set-up with the addition of a PA28 from Allen & Heath's new PA series of portable live sound consoles. The three-piece band, which has worked with DJs such as Sasha, Junkie XL, Danny Howells, Lucien Foort and Dave Seaman, are currently signed to BMG but previously had releases on Thunk and Marine Parade. They have played in the UK at Fabric, in the US at Spundae, Centrofly and Buzz, in Tokyo at Womb and most recently, at Creamfields in Argentina.

The mixer is incorporated as one of Infusion's frontline instruments, operated by band member Jamie Stevens: "Already the Allen & Heath PA28 has proven its reliability to us in some extreme live situations. It also sounds so clear with very generous headroom which is really important to us when we want to give it that little bit more. It is a great

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USA - During the recent LDI exhibition in Orlando, Florida (21-23 October) ESTA (the Entertainment Services and Technology Association) announced the winners of the 2003 Dealers' and Manufacturers' Choice Awards.

The Dealers' Choice Customer Service Awards offer ESTA's Dealer Members the opportunity to publicly recognize those manufacturers that provide consistently good customer service throughout the year, and recognize high performance in four main areas - Customer Service, Shipping & Billing, Technical Support and Quotations/Project Management. Dealers cast their votes for Manufacturers in each of three categories based on the Manufacturers' number of employees, 1-6, 7-25, and over 25. The winners for 2003 are Doug Fleenor Design (1-6 employees category), City Theatrical (7-25 employees category) and Apollo Design Technology (over 25 employees category).

The Manufacturers'

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UK - Gallowglass Ltd, one of the UK's leading suppliers of crew and modular staging for the events market, has extended its hire division to include temporary grandstand seating. "We are always looking for ways to develop our business and open up new avenues for our core operations. The new seating division will help to boost our summer trade and give us an even greater presence in the outdoor events market," said managing director Paul Grecian. He continues: "We do not see ourselves as becoming a large outdoor event supplier. We will be looking to supply the smaller, niche markets with seating solutions. If we can supplement these contracts with additional crew and staging opportunities - then all the better."

Gallowglass' clients over the past five years have included the likes of BBC Radio 1, M2002 Commonwealth Games, Bloomberg, BP, and most of the FTSE 10

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UK - A.C. Lighting has been appointed as a distributor of Wharfedale Professional products in the UK. The British audio manufacturer has been at the forefront of loudspeaker technology since 1932 and produces an impressive line-up of professional products ranging from conventional loudspeakers to its innovative LoudPanel technology.

Under the agreement Wharfedale will benefit from A.C. Lighting's position as a leading 'one-stop-shop' for entertainment technology products and services. The deal covers distribution for Wharfedale's professional and systems audio products. A.C. Lighting supplies all major professional audio brands across a portfolio of products which includes loudspeakers, power amplifiers, sound mixers, microphones, processors, recording equipment, as well as an extensive range of audio cables, connectors, stage boxes, stands and other accessories. The company's C

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USA / Europe - IAAPA (The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) and EAASI (the European Association Amusement Supplier Industry) have agreed to form a new company created to own and manage what they claim will be Europe's largest exhibition for the amusement parks industry. The new exhibition will represent all amusement parks, fairs, manufacturers, carnivals and attractions throughout Europe.

Clark Robinson, president of IAAPA, said: "The strength of the partnership is combining IAAPA's role for the industry worldwide and EAASI's expertise in the European market."

Wieland Schwarzkopf, EAASI president, added: "This historic moment . . . will offer a single meeting point for the European amusement industry."

A final agreement is expected to be announced in the next few weeks.

(Lee Baldock)

  1. Shure Distribution UK at SBES
  2. Amptown installs Nexo at Holstenhalle Neumünster
  3. LDI reinforces optimism for industry
  4. CT's Kraft at MTV Awards
  5. Proel turns up the heat
  6. Prolight+Sound update
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