Business

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USA - Meyer Sound and DiGiCo have announced that they are opening a shared office in Nashville, Tennessee, that will focus specifically on serving the needs of the touring industry throughout North America. The office is located inside Nashville's renowned Soundcheck rehearsal facility.

Meyer Sound's business will be anchored there by tour liaison Buford Jones, a veteran front-of-house engineer whose credits include Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, James Taylor and Faith Hill. Greg McVeigh, Meyer Sound's vice-president of sales and special projects, will also be in regular attendance. Eric Wade, president of DiGiCo US, and Taidus Vallandi (technical sales) will spearhead DiGiCo's presence at the facility.

Jones and McVeigh expect the new office at Soundcheck to boost Meyer Sound's expanding presence in both the regional and national touring markets. "An enormous a

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UK / USA - The Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) has announced the formation of a new commercial subsidiary, PLASA Media Inc, which will publish a new, high-quality magazine for the Americas market - Lighting&Sound America. This monthly industry publication will launch in Spring 2004 and will cover the use of professional lighting, sound and related technologies in entertainment, presentation, club and worship applications.

The New York City-based team will consist of four well-respected and high-profile individuals from the industry - publisher and general manager Jackie Tien, associate publisher Adrienne Gurman, editor-in-chief David Barbour, and senior technical editor Michael S. Eddy, all of whom have extensive experience and knowledge of the industry.

The team will work in close collaboration with PLASA's chief executive Matthew Griffiths, and t

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USA / UK - Louisiana-based manufacturer PreSonus Audio Electronics has appointed Hand in Hand Distribution to be the sole distributor for its range of audio processing products in the UK. PreSonus international sales manager Mark Williams, said: "The UK market is a very important market for PreSonus. The UK is on the leading edge of music production and in many cases sets trends for the world. Recordists, engineers and musicians in the UK demand great-sounding yet affordable products to enhance their creativity, which is exactly what PreSonus products offer. I feel that Hand in Hand will be able to deliver the marketing, sales support and customer service that PreSonus needs to bring PreSonus products to the forefront of the UK pro audio and live sound markets."

Gary Cramphorn, president of Hand in Hand Distribution, says: "PreSonus fits very well with our belief

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UK - Mission Pro has appointed True Colours as a distributor for the UK audio-visual market. True Colours, based in Yateley, Hampshire, is one of the UK's leading technical trade distributors with an excellent track record in supplying technical support and products to audio-visual re-sellers.

The company has recently moved from Aldershot to its new premises in Yateley, which will give them the facility of a dedicated room for training and demonstration of the full range of Mission Pro products, say Mission Pro.

David Raymen for True Colours commented: "We were very impressed by Mission Pro's products which offer a superb range of solutions for the AV market, with high intelligibility and even coverage in both good and difficult acoustic environments. They have invested heavily in design and tooling so the installation products are easy to fit and merge visually better th

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UK - Video has become an important adjunct to the virtuoso musicianship of veteran American band Dream Theater, who stretch rock to its outer limits. Formed 18 years ago by students at the renowned Berklee College Of Music, and presently midway through a world tour, the band had been introduced to CT Screenco by lighting designer Benoit Richards. The video specialists then constructed an elaborate rig to take Dream Theater through the British leg (mostly theatre venues) and onto the world stage.

Two 3m x 2m Barco D10 displays (in 4:3 aspect ratio) are configured either side of a central, letterbox-style 6m x 2m screen, set behind the vast drum kit. Three Minicams are positioned on stage - two picking up the drum kit and the third focused on the revolving keyboard. All other stage activity is captured from the front-of-house camera, fitted with a 33:1 lens. However, the video sou

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Czech Republic - L-Acoustics has announced the appointment of a new distributor for the Czech market - Pro Music. The company was established in 1996 by the electro-acoustics engineer Daniel Krcmar, now the company's general sales manager. It quickly became a leading pro audio supplier for projects with some of the biggest rental companies, theatres, clubs and studios in the country.

Krcmar says: "The entry of L-Acoustics to the Czech Republic is a very important step for the development of the pro audio market in the country. In less than two months of distributing L-Acoustics equipment, we really appreciate the high demand of the customers."

The company reports that it is planning to use its L-Acoustics systems on a number of prestigious projects in the coming year.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Lucorum in Barnsley, England, saw the world's first installation of the small and powerful EX series of speakers from KV2 Audio. A series of refurbished 18th century warehouse buildings, Lucorum is an interesting concept - a shopping centre and café by day, restaurant and bar by mid week night, and a full-on nightclub at weekends. Briefed to provide a discreet speaker system that would not look out of place in the afternoon tea-room setting, but have the necessary power to satisfy several hundred clubbers on a weekend, Yorkshire-based installer 52nd Street - having heard the KV2 system at PLASA - opted for the EX Series.

With its glass roof and stone walls, the venue presented challenging acoustics, but by carefully positioning four EX 10 speakers and adding the weight of two EX 2.5 double 15" active subs, reflections and subsequent issues of poor intelligibility were

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Japan - Japan's Shiki Theatre Company, known for bringing renowned musicals such as Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and Mamma Mia! to the Japanese stage, has successfully opened its latest production direct from Broadway. Disney Theatrical's acclaimed musical Aida opened on 21 December, 2003 at the MBS Theatre in Osaka.

The award-winning production, based on the works of Auguste Mariette and Giuseppe Verdi's opera, tells the story of the triangular love between Aida, a captured Nubian princess, Amneris, an Egyptian princess, and Radames, an Egyptian army captain who has the love of both Aida and Amneris. The award-winning score by Elton John and Tim Rice is their first since their collaboration on the highly successful Disney production, The Lion King.

In keeping with many of the world's top musical productions L-Acoustics sound reinforcement product

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UK - Lighting Logic Ltd is a newly launched lighting and sound sales, design and installation company, formed by Mick Cocker and Matt Miles, both well respected figures in the industry. Based at Maidstone Studios in Kent, Lighting Logic already has several projects up and running in the television and education markets.

In addition to Cocker and Miles at the helm, Lighting Logic has a team of regular freelancers in place who've worked closely with them on previous projects. The company will deal with all major lighting and audio brands in its specification and design work. The focus will be on the design, supply and installation of turnkey lighting and audio projects in the specialist areas of theatre, television, architectural and education markets. It will also offer consultation services.

Cocker and Miles have an impressive pool of experience, embracing all fields of profes

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USA/UK - Shure Distribution UK announced that during the recent Winter NAMM Show the company was presented with the QSC 2003 Export Distributor of the Year Award. As the QSC exclusive UK distributor, Shure Distribution UK received the award, in recognition for exceptional sales performance across all of the company's vertical markets.Managing director, Dennis Harburn and sales manager Mike Gibson, collected the award on the company's behalf, Harburn commented: "It's been a fantastic 12 months for the company and this award demonstrates how being owned by Shure, has further strengthened our relations with suppliers. We are really proud to have received this award and look forward to many further successful years distributing QSC in the UK."

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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USA/Germany - At the NAIAS international motor show in Detroit at the beginning of January 2004, XL Video of Germany, acting for the first time in its capacity of general contractor to DaimlerChrysler, supplied all the video equipment for the Mercedes-Benz stand. The motor show ran from the 4 - 19 January.

As at the IAA motor show in Frankfurt where the Mercedes-Benz booth featured an 1800sqm (12 x 150m) circular facade composed of 47,000 MiPIX intelligent LED pixel blocks from Barco, the Detroit presentation was supported by media equipment from XL Video employing the same SMD LED technology. At the NAIAS, the 'media façade' theme was carried a stage further. The architecture for the booth was the work of KTP, whilst Atelier Markgraph handled the planning and communication. Integrated into the ring facade - used for the playback of intelligent lighting effects - two convex vid

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UK - Marquee Audio used its second product open day at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) to present a programme of seminars and workshops from some of their key suppliers - this time partnering Midas and Klark Teknik with Turbosound and Optocore.Co-ordinated by Marquee sales director Andy Huffer, the centrepiece was the first UK viewing of the Midas Verona mixing console, which had been previewed at the American Winter NAMM in Anaheim a few weeks earlier.

The desk attracted considerable interest throughout the day as Huffer and Midas UK sales manager Richard Ferriday, put the desk through its paces. According to Marquee: "Verona advances the concept of the ultra-compact, and high-selling Venice, delivering more inputs and features within a package which promises to revolutionize the eight-bus market." The desk is available in six different chassis sizes - from 2

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UK - The ISCE (Institute of Sound & Communications Engineers) - organizer of the ISCEx 2004 sound contracting exhibition, report that the show is looking set for another successful run this year. Over 20 specialist suppliers to the industry have taken space, including AK Barns, ADS Worldwide, AMS Acoustics, Ampetronic, BC Technology, Baldwin Boxall, Brähler ICS, CIE Audio, Canford Audio, Communication Technology, Current Thinking, Decal International, d&b audiotechnik, Ikon AVS, MEDC, Mackie Designs, Sennheiser, SigNET AC, Source 1 International, Tannoy and TOA Corporation. Furthermore, the ISCE reports many bookings for the seminar programme, which includes five sessions by leading lecturers.

The ISCEx exhibition takes place on Tuesday 24 February at the Watford Moat House Hotel.Entry to the Seminar Programme and Exhibition is £50 (£60 for non-ISCE members) and £5 for the e

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UK - Metropolis AV & FX recently completed a major technical refurbishment at the Sports Café in London's Haymarket. The two-storey venue features five bars, dining areas and booths with personal mini plasma screens, where customers can enjoy a multi-media blend of sports action, food and drink. The project follows on from Metropolis' design and supply of the complete lighting, sound and AV system to the latest Sports Café in Manchester, and their long-term servicing of the maintenance contract at the flagship London operation.

Upstairs, Metropolis replaced all the old TVs with Panasonic TX28 and TX32 widescreen televisions, installing a total of 33, plus one of the new Generation 6 Panasonic TH42 PW6 plasma screens - one of the first in the UK. Two new Sanyo PLC SL15 video projectors were also installed - again some of the first in the country - fitted with protective POAP sm

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UK - Patrick Prior and Robert Hyman's Christmas panto production of Red Riding Hood finished its run at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East last week. In what's been described as a terrific 21st century version of the classic fairytale, Patrick Prior's script is anything but tame, with audience members of all ages shouting 'Shout! Shake! Make that Wolfie heave!' in an attempt to release Dame, Red and the three little pigs from the big bad Wolf!

Leading automation suppliers Stage Technologies bought Nick Baren's set to life by providing automation for this production using a four-line winch and Saxis control console. Production manager Richard Eustace needed a cost-effective and simple automation solution to fly in a projector screen, quickly and safely. Stratford East's own manual-flying system would not have been able to achieve this effect quickly enough without some form

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Worldwide - DiGiCo celebrated the New Year by announcing a 2004 world demonstration tour of the D5 digital mixing system in conjunction with a Renkus-Heinz PowerNet Series self-powered PA system. The D5 system, which was expanded last October at AES New York with the launch of the D5T theatre version of the console, will be put through its paces at a variety of locations worldwide throughout the year for the benefit of sound engineers, sound designers, rental companies and other clients.

The Renkus-Heinz system will also be used to provide real life audio playback in the DiGiCo factory in Scotland and its head office demonstration suites in the south of England. "We intend to take the D5 system all over the world this year, to rental companies, theatres and even festivals," says DiGiCo marketing director Dave Webster, "and rather than hiring PA systems locally we

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Norway - Oslo's new Rock Bottom live music club, part of the well-established blues club Muddy Waters, has opened for business with a sound system consisting entirely of Harman Pro Audio group products, delivered and installed by LydRommet AS, the Norwegian distributor for JBL, Crown, dbx, BSS and Soundcraft.

Between them, the two venues are expected to host more than 750 blues and rock gigs a year. In the building's basement, Rock Bottom is the larger of the venues: a 300-capacity club with low ceiling height and a PA rig with a delay system, and additional speaker zones to cover two bar areas. The all-JBL speaker cabinets, powered by Crown MA and MT amplifiers, are under the control of a BSS Soundweb, acting as the total system manager and routing unit, programmed with presets for different distribution applications. At front-of-house is a new 32-channel Soundcraft MH3 Series

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UK - Rounding off artistic director Nicholas Hytner's first year in charge of Britain's Royal National Theatre is His Dark Materials, a two-part adaptation of Philip Pullman's acclaimed trilogy of books. Opening at the National's Olivier Theatre just after Christmas to glowing reviews, and already sold out, His Dark Materials proved a challenge to all involved with it - including DHA Lighting's Wyatt Enever.

Enever was brought by the show's lighting designer Paule Constable and the National's lighting staff to help realize the large-format projections required as part of the set design. The aim was to use abstract images created by the show's set designer, Giles Cadle, and video projection designer, Thomas Gray of The Gray Circle, to dress the curved black BP screen used as a cyclorama. The difficulty was that, unlike previous shows that Enever has been involved wi

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Lebanon - With a level of passion that one only finds in the Middle East - a passion that heard one fan shout to their favorite semi-finalist: "With our blood and souls, we sacrifice for you Melhem," Pop Idol fever has swept the Arab world. Superstar, a Pop Idol-style reality entertainment contest broadcast by Beirut-based Future Television International, culminated in the crowning of the Arab Superstar for 2003. The contest lasted 21 weeks, with thousands of contestants from Arab countries reduced to 12 finalists by viewers who voted by telephone, text message and online.

The final competition was held on a huge industrial-style stage at Future TV studios. The set comprised multi-platforms and staircases of metal lattice, which lighting designer and director of photography Samer Kaddoura dressed using 97 moving lights, flown and floor-positioned. The rig

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USA / India / Nigeria - Sussex-based LM Productions report a string of recent international projects. Firstly, continuing its 'Live It, Love It' campaign, the Hong Kong Tourism Board contracted LM Productions LLP for their first StratoFantasia event in the USA. The event took place in San Francisco over two days with the main focal point of the multimedia show being LM Productions 50ft (15m) diameter StratoSphere, with a new internal blackout dome, which allows the StratoSphere to be used as a venue with internal projection during the day. This is made possible by the blackout dome being inflated inside the StratoSphere, thus providing a cover from the light outside. The event contained elements of live performances from musicians and dancers as well as full dome video and laser effects inside the StratoSphere. There was a steady stream of people viewing the shows, which started e

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UK - One of the Home Counties' most well-established sports centres, Gosling Park in Welwyn Garden City, has completed an extensive upgrade of its audio systems with the installation of an EV ceiling speaker system in its gymnasium. Darren Hughes, from installer Prosonic Systems, says: "Although well over 50% of our installs are done with ElectroVoice products, we had never used the larger C8.2-sized EVID ceiling speakers before. They were absolutely tailor-made for this project, and the results have been so impressive, I am now keen to use them in other applications as soon as I can."

Gosling Park is a substantial and well-equipped sports centre featuring a ski slope and athletics track as well as its indoor facilities, including a sizeable gymnasium and several sports halls. In the past, users of the gym had to make do with the sound from the television sets themselv

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Eire - The Society of Light & Lighting (SLL) is holding a three-day International Symposium on Workplace Lighting at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Dublin, 1-3 April 2004. The event is jointly organized with the Lighting Industry Federation (LIF) and supported by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI).

The two-day technical programme will cover all areas of workplace lighting including: energy efficiency, visual comfort and health, standards, design and installation. Over 20 of the world's leading experts on lighting will be speaking at the event.

On the morning of the third day there will be a colloquium (debate) to formulate SLL policy recommendations for lighting in the workplace. This will provide a unique opportunity for delegates to have their say on lighting issues, in particular the latest EU standards. The results will be fed into a joint SLL/LIF task group on the be

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Germany - EVI Audio's in-house fair, the Hausmesse, ran from the 23-25 January 2004 in Straubing. What started 17 years ago as a cosy get-together has developed into a major annual pro audio event, the company reports. This year, the EVI Audio team, led by managing director Wolfgang Kruse, whose first Hausmesse this was, welcomed 700 national and international business partners, representatives of the media, and friends of the company to its in-house trade fair.

Martin Traut, Christian Glück and others put EVI Audio's latest products through their paces for the assembled information-hungry visitors, with enthusiastic responses to products such as the new Dynacord PowerMate, Electro-Voice's SxA360, SbA 760 and Plasma, the Midas Verona and Klark-Teknik's DN100.

The traditional Saturday evening party was another success, the company reports. This year, for the first time, the e

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India - Hyatt Regency New Delhi has completed a major programme of refurbishment to reopen its nightclub venue, Djinns, with a brand-new sound system that has made it the place to be seen in the Indian capital city.

The 4000sq.ft club features a dance floor and a live stage, equipped with a new JBL sound system, consisting of four AM6200/95, two ASB6118, 10 x Control 25 AV, and four Control 24C. Powered by Crown MA amplifiers, the whole system is controlled by BSS 3088 processors. Audio consultant Mr Sarangan of IHD Designs drew up the specification for Djinns, equipment was supplied and installed by Hi Tech Audio Solutions of New Delhi. BSS processing has been chosen to control the DJ turntable and mixer and the front-of-house desk, with level and EQ settings for the band, DJ and background music selectable through the turn of a knob. "This processor control was badly need

  1. Northen Lights
  2. Variety Club installs Robe Color Spot 1200
  3. White Light Projects - system upgrades in London
  4. Martin at Panyu Chime-Long Night Zoo
  5. VLPS Nashville expands to new facility
  6. Audio Alliance demonstrates its skills
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