UK - White Light Sales recently supplied a complete lighting installation for a new seven-zone walk-through tour at Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset, south-west England. Long a popular tourist destination, the new walk-through is based on the legend of the Witch of Wookey Hole, with each of the seven zones featuring an excerpt from the legend. Patrick Watkinson designed the lighting for the installation, with sound design by Ben Findley from Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios.

To bring the project to life, the Wookey Hole Caves turned to Cockle and his team at the contemporary circus troupe The Generating Company, who are now based at the Caves. White Light has worked with The Generating Company on a number of projects, so it was to White Light Sales that Cockle turned for the equipment.

The final rig includes ETC Source Fours and Source Four Junior Zooms, Strand Quartet 22/40s,

USA - Super Vision International, the US manufacturer of fibre optic and LED lighting, has been awarded the 2004 Greater Orlando Business Ethics Award by the Central Florida Society of Financial Service Professionals. Super Vision was nominated for the award by Craig Townsend of MetLife Financial Services.

Earl Adams, executive director of the Central Florida Society of Financial Service Professionals, said: "We are pleased to include Super Vision International among our roster of noted regional honorees. The company has demonstrated a strong commitment to the highest business ethics during a trying time in their business life and serves as a model for all businesses."

The American Business Ethics Award (ABEA) recognizes US companies that exemplify high standards of ethical behavior in their everyday business conduct and in a response to specific crises or challenges

UK - XL Video is supplying projectors to the Siobhan Davies Dance Company for its acclaimed Birdsong work, which has just started the first leg of its UK tour. Siobhan Davies is one of the UK's leading choreographers, with a career stretching back to the early 1970s. Davies is passionately interested in the medium of dance itself - the way the human body moves, how it can be composed, and what it can achieve and evoke. Davies works collaboratively with her dancers rather than starting with a specific aim, and relies on their experiences and imagination to contribute to the palette of available movement.

An additional technical challenge for the intimate and emotional Birdsong is that it's staged in the round. So the only real solid surface the eight dancers had to work with was the floor!

Maximizing the dramatic possibilities of the floor, two Barco G5 video proj

UK - Stage specialists Stage Technologies has seen a marked increase in its exports to America in recent years, with high profile projects including the Lyric Opera House Chicago and the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, the latest additions to their already impressive client list. It is with their American clientele in mind that Stage Technologies have recently become a UL-listed company, now authorized to produce UL-approved electrical control panels.

John Hastie, sales and marketing director for Stage Technologies, commented: "UL is a universally recognized standard and it provides our growing global client base with an instant assurance that Stage Technologies conforms to the highest standards of quality and safety."

(Lee Baldock)

UK - The Cloud One Group has again supplied its recently-acquired Adamson Y-Axis Y10 line array system for the BBC Big Band, this time for a concert at the Theatre Royal, Bath. Internationally recognized for its talent and experience, the BBC Big Band is a regular for Radio 2 Monday night listeners and is heard by audiences worldwide through the BBC World Service.

Commenting on the concert, Paul Stratford, director and events manager for Cloud One, said: "The artists and management of the BBC Big Band have been repeatedly impressed with the clarity and coverage of the new system, which is a great compliment from musicians of their calibre. For the crew the Y10 is a truly versatile system, with its speed and ease of rigging when flown or the option for ground stacking."

Paul also added: "The Y10 is generating much interest amongst discerning customers, with it be

USA - The retirement of lighting consultant Sonny Sonnenfeld, who has represented Wybron products on Broadway and in Greater New York City for many years, has signalled a change of representation in the City for Wybron. Ron Fogel & Associates (RF&A) has been appointed as Wybron's new representative in New York City, in addition to their current New Jersey/New York territory. Ron Fogel has been in the lighting business for over 20 years. In addition to representing Wybron, the company offers a full range of lighting and control products and services.

(Lee Baldock)

UAE & Croatia - Almost the entire rock, pop and rap scene of Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi took part in the Revolution Festival on 18 March in the Nashwan Hall in Dubai where over 600 music fans listened to the 14 live acts.

Responsible for the sound was NMK Electronics with tools from EVI Audio forming the centrepiece of the production: a Dynacord Cobra 2 PA, EV Sx300 monitors and a Midas Venice 320 console - a setup that impressed the event's organizer, Kiran Sequeira: "The sound of the Cobra was simply fantastic. Even at the highest volume levels there was not the slightest feedback." FOH man Milton Kyvernitis summed up: "Extremely professional! The Venice and the Cobra proved to be an amazing team."

In another corner of the world, the same PA system and a similar success at the Croatian Radio and TV Festival 9 - 20 March. Responsibility for the productio

UK - London-based event lighting specialist Fentura has purchased a Compulite Vector Blue control system from Stagetec Distribution, as part of a continuing investment program. The console was delivered direct to production rehearsals for the L'Oreal Colour Trophy Tour, before the three-week jaunt around the UK and Ireland working for the production arm of CS Media. The show's LD and operator, Tim Matthews, commented: "The Vector performed well; its operation is very user-friendly, not only keeping the Compulite familiarity, but equally familiar to operators of other consoles due to its unique behavioural setup capability."

Fentura see this as important because most of their shows in the past have been run on Compulite Spark and SparkTOP desks, so moving to a larger console has been simplified by keeping the syntax, just making it more intuitive with a graphical user

UK - CP Sound has installed a new sound system into top London gay destination - The Royal Vauxhall Tavern. With a reputation as one of the best disco nights on the town, the Vauxhall's original JBL sound system - also designed, engineered and installed by CP - was still in good condition. However, to keep pace with the technology of the times - the Vauxhall's owners opted for a sound upgrade.

The venue required a robust and reliable system to cope with the heavy usage and high SPLs demanded by its discerning audience, and CP Sound's Colin Pattenden again went for JBL. The new top cabinets are JBL AM 6215s from the new AE installation series - each powered by 750W of amplification. Bass speakers are the JBL dual 18" ASB 6128s, with a meaty 2000W going into each cabinet. CP also installed a new Allen & Heath Xone 464 combined DJ and PA mixer, enabling the venue to cater for

UK - I know, I can't believe it either - ENO has banned the use of the word 'darling' by any new member of staff when addressing their colleagues within its sacred walls. As one opera lovie said to me: "It's simply outrageous darling - I mean, every other word I say is 'darling'. You can bet they don't ban the word f***ing on stage!"

This particular edict is in response to a re-education document released by the government designed to enforce guidelines on sexual discrimination at work. The document bans 'suggestive remarks or lewd conduct that denigrates or ridicules or is intimidatory or physically abusive of an employee because of their sex which is derogatory, or insults which are gender related." It then continues to say that "the use of affectionate names such as 'darling' will also constitute sexual harassment."

Whilst I am all too aware

Italy - Proel S.p.A. has recently reached a strategic commercial agreement with Litec Srl. In just two years, Proel's Lighting division has gained strong results in both turnover and export, in addition to its already positive performance in the domestic market. Litec is a leading trussing company, finding innovative solutions in the field of aluminium structures.

Fabrizio Sorbi, Proel chairman, said: "This agreement will allow both companies to develop several strategic activities. Litec means research and development, design and skilled mechanical planning. We will research advanced solutions for a new range of products, thus enabling us to meet the different needs of the market and to be closer to our customers in terms of pre-sales and after-sales services."

Giuliano Luvisotto, Litec general manager, commented: "We consider this agreement interesting and ext

USA - The Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA) has announced that Clear Channel Entertainment has made a substantial $100,000 donation to the development of the new Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP). Upon announcing the donation, Brian Becker, chairman and CEO of Clear Channel Entertainment, said: "We put on more than 30,000 live entertainment events around the globe each year and our top priority is creating a memorable experience for the fan. A lot of factors go into making that happen and having a safe setting to enjoy the event is one of them. We are proud to take the lead in supporting a program like this that will benefit our entire industry."

Clear Channel's exceptional donation further demonstrates its commitment to safety in the entertainment industry. "The ETCP Council is delighted that Clear Channel Entertainment

Denmark / Croatia - DPA Microphonesrecently announced the appointment of Intercom d.o.o. as its exclusive distributor for Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia & Montenegro, FYR Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania. This is the first time that the company's microphone range has been represented in many of these territories.

Incorporated three years ago in Zagreb, Croatia, Intercom is in the process of establishing a distributor network across the eight countries. "Our business concept is to create a distribution network for a small number of carefully-selected, complementary brands," says Intercom's sales manager Vatroslav Mlinar. "Quality is imperative, and DPA fits our vision extremely well, being a professional company which pays great attention to detail in every aspect of business. It's a strong brand with a great product range, highly rated for

Turkey - More than 320 High End Systems lighting products, including its newest digital lighting line, will enhance this year's Eurovision Song Contest, which airs live and on the Internet on 15 May from Istanbul, Turkey.

Swedish lighting company Spectra+ has been chosen for the fourth time to supply lighting for the ESC. This year it is working together with Turkish company Staras in supplying all production equipment, including 13 Catalyst Pro v3.0 Media servers, four DL1 digital light fixtures, 100 x.Spot HO, 100 Studio Beams, 75 Cyberlight SVs and four Studio Color 575s.

Production manager Lars-Ola Melzig of Spectra+ says that he and returning lighting designer Per Sundin of Swedish Television (SVT) are happy to again be using High End Systems lighting products - especially the Catalyst Pro v3.0 Media Servers and DL1s.

Melzig says: "After using the DL1s at the Nobel

UK - For the recent sold-out Sugababes tour, Skan PA hire assigned six Lake Contour controllers - distributed by Out Board in the UK - to manage all speaker and room processing for a hybrid system consisting of dV-Dosc and dV-Lo plus additional SB218s and Arc cabinets.

Designed to be versatile enough for the diversity of arenas and theatre-style venues covered by the tour, the rig was programmed and tuned for each show by Skan system engineer Ant Carr, using dedicated speaker control parameters supplied from L-Acoustics web-based library. Front of house mix and production was handled by Ade Barnard.

Carr commented: "As well as being great sounding units, the flexibility of the EQ and the grouping functions was invaluable, especially being able to roam the balconies using the PC tablet with wireless-ethernet control, which was quick and reliable."

(Sarah Rushton-Rea

Singapore - Coda Audio Services Singapore has branched into pro audio distribution following its appointment by Aviom, the US manufacturer of networking, distribution and monitoring solutions, to represent the brand exclusively in Singapore and Malaysia. The formation of a distribution arm marks a new turn for Coda, which has been operating from Singapore for the past two years as an audio systems specialist and production management company.

Director Philip Murphy said: "With our background in live sound production and installation, we immediately perceived the benefits of Aviom's distributed audio networks and personal monitor mixers for use in theatres, studios and houses of worship. This is an exciting, innovative and cost-effective product range, bringing a new generation of high quality digital snake systems to the Asian market."

Coda supplied a 64-channel di

UK - The Full Monty continues its successful UK tour, after opening in February at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley. The shows original sound designer Mike Walker - fresh from his recent Olivier Award for Best Sound Design on Jerry Springer - is still responsible for the tour. Sound equipment has been provided by Orbital Sound, and includes a Cadac J-Type live production console.

Walker is working with his team from Loh Humm Audio (Chris Simpson, Mark Cornwell and Alistair Blake) to oversee the changeovers, which involve limited installation time - just Saturday to Tuesday to move between venues. The J-Type comprises two frames, each of which has its own flightcase with all related cabling contained in the rear compartment. Walker specified this to ensure maximum set-up efficiency once the frames are in place. The desk has a total of 76 modules in the two frames, i

Germany - From March of this year, students of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg, Germany, have had the opportunity to learn everything about the craft of broadcast production in a fully equipped, state-of-the-art television studio. transtechnik Lichtsysteme of Holzkirchen, Germany, project managed the installation and also supplied the lighting and studio automation equipment for the almost 380sq.m TV studios.

The studio is truly multifunctional - used for classes in cutting, montage, and series formatting, as well as for film and television productions, lectures, movie screenings, and other events. To familiarize students with the latest technologies, the Filmakademie has placed a high value on modern (as well as standard) studio equipment. transtechnik Lichtsysteme could offer everything from a single source: from planning the ceiling construction all the way

UK - Shermann, the UK manufacturer of professional loudspeaker systems, has announced that its product line is to be distributed by S.P.A. Systems Ltd, with immediate effect. Shermann's owners have also appointed several UK sub-contractors to manufacture cabinets and other high quality hardware associated with the range whilst Ken Hughes, Shermann's founder and chief designer, has been retained as a consultant and will remain responsible for all areas of product design and marketing.

The company website (address below), is unchanged. However, the previously-published phone and fax lines are no longer associated with Shermann products, a new local rate number, 08456 442209 should now be used.

(Lee Baldock)

Denmark - On 7 April, Seelite of Denmark produced a dynamic lighting environment for the grand opening of ARoS, Denmark's new Museum of Art, in the country's second city of Aarhus. The lighting event was one of the chief attractions of the opening of the Museum, a new 17,700sq.m, $50 million building designed by Danish architectural firm Schmidt, Hammer and Lassen.

Lighting design and programming was by Seelite's Steen O. Larsen, who made extensive use of Martin's MAC 2000 Performance, MAC 600, MAC 500 and MAC 300 fixtures, as well as other lighting. All Martin equipment was supplied by Seelite through Martin Scandinavia.

The 10-storey museum is in the form of a 52m x 52m cube. Through the centre of the cube is a curved area called "museumsgade" out of which a distinctive spiral staircase emerges with adjacent balconies. It was in this space that the lighting atmosp

UK - Audiolease UK has chosen Outline H.A.R.D. 212 ultra-low profile stage monitors for Hayley Westenra's current UK tour. Westenra, New Zealands' angelic-voiced export, is currently using 12 Outline wedges for her personal and band monitoring duties. Dave Cogan, monitor engineer on the UK leg of the tour, appreciated the light weight and low-profile of the units, as well as their resistance to feedback and flat response: "There aren't many monitor guys out there that have the graphics virtually flat - with the Outline monitor this is easily possible . . . with a voice as pure as Hayley's, you don't want to use much EQ if at all possible."

Outline H.A.R.D. 212 is only 33cms in height and weighs in at a remarkable 26kg. The 2 x 12" design which incorporates the patent-pending horn technology invented by Guido Noselli, utilizes absorption, reflection and diffraction

UK - The Association of Professional Recording Services (APRS) and the Music Producers Guild (MPG) have launched an industry accreditation scheme for courses relevant to the Music industry. The scheme was initiated by APRS, 'piloted' in 1998 and is now available nationally and internationally. Available to all Further Education establishments, this scheme is now offering courses at Level 4 of the National Qualification Framework. This includes BTEC Higher National Diplomas and Certificates.

The purpose of the scheme is to create a system whereby the recording and music production industry can give support and advice to educational and training institutions. The Accreditation is primarily an indicator that a course, when completed successfully, will satisfy the criteria agreed by the membership of that body. Accreditation indicates to employers the standard of knowledge and exper

USA - California-based loudspeaker manufacturer Renkus-Heinz Inc has further expanded its e-commerce facilities, by offering web-based online order tracking for authorized dealers. This builds on the company's existing web application for dealers, Configurator Online, which allows customized product configuration and order placement.

The password-protected section allows authorized dealers to access detailed order information and to track order status from initial submission to delivery. Critical stages in the order process include confirmation, credit approval, production, ship dates (required, changed and actual) and delivery date. After shipment, the online order tracker provides links to common carriers and shipment tracking numbers. A second password controls online access to financial information such as outstanding invoices, credit limits, sales totals, etc. To maintain c

UK - White Light Hire is now supplying equipment to all the theatre's on London's Shaftesbury Avenue. The arrival of the new musical Beautiful and Damned at London's Lyric Theatre will complete a clean sweep for one of the leading lighting rental companies.

Beautiful and Damned, set in the 1920s telling the tragic story of Zelda Sayre and F. Scott Fitzgerald, is being lit by Nick Richings. Next door - at the Apollo Theatre - the acclaimed production of Edward Albee's play The Goat has transferred from the Almeida Theatre, with lighting design by Peter Mumford.

Further along the Avenue, the RSC's production of All's Well That Ends Well, starring Dame Judi Dench, is playing at the Gielgud Theatre; the show - lit by Paul Pyant - is a sell-out and has recently had its season extended. Next door is the Queen's Theatre, the new London home for Les Mi

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