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UK - On September 11th 2004 - one year on from Magna 7 tidy Events return to the venue pursuing its determination to put on some of the UK's biggest and most breathtaking parties. Leading the event in the main arena are a team influential in dance music and include: Judge Jules, Lisa Lashes, Tidy Boys, Paul Glazby, Mark EG, Scott Bond, Lee Haslam and Riley & Durrant.

In addition John Doe (Live), Andy Farley, Chris Liberator, Mark EG, Ian M, Amber D, Proteus and Paul Maddox preside from an 11 story-high tower of power in the Face of Steel. Some of the most innovative DJs and producers on the scene will also use this as a platform to stage their own hard dance sets.

New to the hard house coup and playing their first ever Magna are Lisa Pinup, Charlotte Birch, Ben Stevens, Ed Real and Kernzy & Klemenza. Veteran compatriots Tara Reynolds, Guyver, Ingo, Colin Barratt and JP & Jukes

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USA - Renowned wildlife and documentary sound recordist Chris Watson has been using his new Nagra ARES-PII linear, solid state, handheld recorder for a major new TV series - capturing the individual footfalls of army ants in the Costa Rican rainforest and the sounds of burrowing bees in the Mojave Desert, Arizona, USA.

Watson, who is well used to recording in some of the planet's harshest environments, commented: "The first time I used the ARES-PII was straight out of the box at the La Selva Tropical Studies centre - at 100% humidity. I just switched it on, hit record and got some wild tracks down straight away. I realized how easy it was, even through its neoprene case and decided to use it as my main recorder. Also, because it's solid state, I didn't have to pack it with silica gel to absorb moisture. Afterwards I plugged the card straight into my Mac Powerbook, backed up

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New Zealand - Shooters Bar in Christchurch, New Zealand, has taken delivery of a new sound system and video distribution system, based around a Soundweb 9016 video audio matrix, two BSS Soundweb 9088iiMM networked programmable DSP units, a BSS 9010 'Jellyfish' remote control and two BSS 9015 remote control panels. JBL AE (Application Engineered) and Control Series Speakers were used throughout the venue.

The bar owners originally approached Strawberry Sound in Dunedin for assistance with the audio and video system design and supply, and the installation was co-ordinated by Strawberry Sound Christchurch. System commissioning was done in conjunction with Jands Electronics New Zealand, who supplied the turnkey audio solution. The Soundweb units were selected as they could provide all the speaker management and zoning requirements, allowing for a 16 x 16 audio matrix, as well as int

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UK - Stage Electrics has been selected as lighting supplier for the new musical Mary Poppins. Jointly produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, Mary Poppins plays its world premiere at the Bristol Hippodrome on 28 September before transferring to London's Prince Edward theatre in December. The show is production managed by Simon Robertson from Cameron Mackintosh and Nic Harris From Disney, while production electrician is Fraser Hall with Rob Halliday programming the Strand control system.

Lit by Howard Harrison, the moving light rig consists of 65 Vari*Lite fixtures made up of VL2000 spots, VL2000 washes, VL3000Qs and VL5Bs. In addition to this, nearly 40 of ETC's new Revolution moving heads have been specified alongside two Martin MAC 2000 Performance units where remote shuttering is required. The conventional rig consists largely of ETC Source Four profiles in v

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UK - PCM is highlighting two product ranges at the PLASA 2004 Show - their extensive range of CM Lodestar Motors and the PLASA award winning Unibar system. PCM put the Lodestar brand on the map during the 1990s as far as the European touring and event industry is concerned. The company supplies a wide selection of standard Lodestar electric chain hoists which will be highlighted on the stand at PLASA, together with details of its Motor Schools.

PCM also features the Lodestars to BGV C1 standard, with double brakes, each capable of stopping the full load. They provide double the usual hoist safety factor, with a chain safety factor of 10:1, plus four-position limit switches including emergency switches, 24V control, under/overload electronic protection and a slack chain detection device.

PCM's Award-winning Unibar winch system (PLASA 2003 Product Excellence) allows the quick an

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USA / UK - Minnesota-based Light N Trax Inc, specialists in lighting, sound and video products and services, has been appointed as the exclusive distributor of the Light*Wand performance product range for the USA. The Light*Wand range of quality task lighting is LED-based, and the light is spread by passing through the Bead*light diffusion system (patents pending) developed for the aerospace industry. Lights include console lighting, rack lighting and music stand lighting.

Until now, Telectra, the manufacturers of the Light*Wand has fulfilled USA orders from its facility near Oxford in the UK. Demand for the product, however, was running at such high levels that finding a distributor became a priority. Light N Trax made contact with Telectra after one of its customers showed them the Light*Wand products he had purchased.

Eddy Hoyer, president of Light N Trax commented: "W

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UK - TiMax audio imaging and showcontrol systems have been specified as a pivotal component in the sound designs for a number of prestige corporate and special events this summer. AV and theatre sound supplier Blitz recently included TiMax in its sound design for Vauxhall's display at the Birmingham Motor Show. Specified by Blitz's Richard Rogers and supplied under Out Board's TiMax Rental and Production Support program, the 16x32 system was used by production sound engineer Pete Russell primarily to focus visitors' attention on a large LED screen running segments of commercials and branding stings.

As part of a 30-minute show cycled throughout the day, fully synchronized to SMPTE time code from the video master, TiMax also provided animated surround ambience effects to attract visitors to the stand and the promotional videos. Speakers were all d&b, with line array elements prov

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UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) is sponsoring (and thoroughly recommends) one of the key workshops at this year's PLASA Show (12-15 September, Earls Court 1, London). Presented by Chris Higgs of Total Fabrications who will be leading on from last year's seminar about slinging trusses, this hands-on session will deal with how proprietary equipment can and should be used to create suspension points on an existing structure.

Higgs is a nominee for the forthcoming ABTT Council elections. An experienced speaker on rigging, he founded Trapeze Rigging in 1989, providing rigging services throughout the UK and Europe. In the mid 90s, he started to provide rigging training, the course notes subsequently growing into some of the most respected books on the subject. Since joining Total Fabrications Ltd in 1998, he has devoted the majority of his time to training r

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UK - InnovaSON's Sy80 digital console made its Asian debut at Pala 2004, held in Kuala Lumpur in July. The console was being shown by Singapore-based Electro-System Industries, which was appointed at Frankfurt Prolight & Sound in April as sole distributor for the French manufacturer for Singapore and Malaysia, and the stand attracted a steady stream of visitors keen to attend a demo of the Sy80.

"It was an extremely busy show for us, with lots of interest in the console," says Electro-Systems director James Yeung. "We're expecting to close the first sale - which came as a direct result of showing the Sy80 at Pala - very soon, and are looking forward to establishing InnovaSON as a leading brand in the region."

Designed for live sound, fixed installations and broadcast, the Sy80 digital console can be used as a standalone desk or as part of a network with ot

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USA - Club V20 is getting incredible reactions from crowds with their recent installation of four High End Systems DL1 digital light fixtures (equipped with Digital Eye Technology) and a Catalyst Pro v3.0 Media Server. Digital Eye Technology is an optional feature for DL1. Having a Digital Eye inside DL1's moving yoke allows the user to capture action from different and unusual angles where conventional cameras plus the cameraman cannot operate, or where a camera setup would normally be obtrusive to the view.

Tony Mirador is the LD of the light show and senior designer of the sound and video system for the night spot, located at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, CA. He's also president of Akroz Professional, AKA The DJ Store Inc., the company responsible for the install. Says Mirador, "The DL1s are situated over the dance floor on the outer perimeter. The DL1s are also mounted

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UK - Out Board's CM-Series chain hoist controllers have recently found new customers in the concert touring industry, featuring on the rigging of state-of-the-art line array PA systems for several major acts this summer. London-based Capital Sound have bought a pair of CM6 six-channel controllers with remote handcontrollers, plus a quantity of C-Form splitter boxes to mount on the PA flybars. Specified by Capital's technical manager, Ross Anderson, the CM6s are handling multiple hangs of the company's unique hybrid line array system, comprising Meyer MILO mid-high boxes and Martin Audio W8LS low cabinets, which have been out for most of the summer on Dido's European tour.

Global Rigging's Oz Marsh purchased two CM12 12-channel controllers, also with remote handsets and truss-mounting splitter boxes, to support Concert Sound on recent international tours by Eric Clapton and Lenni

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UK - APR Audio has provided a complete integrated stage and front-of-house sound system for Swansea's very own Party in the Park, which attracted 15,000 people. APR Audio has already built up a substantial track record as Europe's largest dry-hire source of Electro-Voice branded sound reinforcement systems, and this was one of the first large events to be serviced under the APR banner.

Based in south-west England, APR Audio entered the pro-audio rental sector in some style in 2002, purchasing a substantial inventory of EV X-Line, X-Array and XLC system hardware, complete with the latest remote controlled amplifiers and Midas consoles. Owner Andy Reed has been steadily expanding the company's horizons, first with the move into dry-hire in continental Europe, and now to the independent provision of PA services for significant events in their local region.

Typical of these was th

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UK - Knebworth Park was the venue for this year's Red Bull summer event - the Soap Box Derby. Following last summer's highly successful show in Hyde Park - the Flugtag, where competitors constructed homemade flying machines in order to take part in the competition - this year's challenge was to build karts which could complete a downhill racetrack in record time.

Themed karts were the order of the day, with ideas including vampires, trifles, The Flintstones, hotdogs, snails and countless others. The winners, 'The Volvet Underground', triumphed as they glided past the finish line claiming first place position in their vole-mouse themed kart. SSE provided a Nexo Geo T system for the event. The mix was handled digitally using an Innovason Compact Live SY40.

SSE Director Chris Beale commented: "Everyone had a great time. The weather was hot and so were the drivers! The Geo T

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Russia - Currently the chain hoists and chain hoist controllers of ChainMaster of Eilenburg in Saxony are in demand all over the world, the company reports, with further successes in Russia underlining the trend: first it was the Kremlin, where 35 BGV-C1 chain hoists in the 500kg weight category, including encoder-driven way measurement equipment and a network controller (all from ChainMaster) were installed at the behest of the Arlecchino Business Center at the beginning of the year; then, one of Russia's largest festivals, at which the well-known events and entertainment service provider Arsenal Music of Tyumen recently gave its new set of ChainMaster hoists their first outing.

(Lee Baldock)

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Spain - Kylie Minogue recently gave a one-off performance for 500 VIP guests of Deutsche Bank at the Finca Mas Solers outdoor casino, just outside Barcelona. Kylie's system providers Capital Sound Hire supplied the PA, with XTA DP226 crossovers specified for speaker control, on a Martin Audio W8LC Line Array system.

The 70-minute Greatest Hits show, was a mixture of numbers from the last two major tours, Fever and A Night Like This, performed on a custom-built set. Capital Sound's Paul Timmins has been working with Kylie for the last four years, and although this was only a one-off show, the preparation took in excess of two weeks, with 10 days' rehearsals and four days' on-site time.

At front-of-house, Martin Audio W8LC Mini Line Array loudspeakers were flown in two hangs of seven per side, under a pair of W8LX subs, with a floor-mounted W8LS on each wing. DiGiC

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Germany - MA Lighting has announced that in the four months since the first grandMA micro lighting console was delivered in April this year, more than 100 consoles have been sold. The console with serial number 100 is in use in Italy, purchased by Gmep-Molpass. MA Lighting director Michael Adenau says: "At the moment the grandMA micro is the most compact console on the market. It relies on the software platform of the award-winning grandMA range, which means that it is compatible with the show files of the other grandMA consoles."

The grandMA micro can control 1024 parameters for dimmer channels and moving lights as well as LEDs, effects and video. The configurable colour TFT touchscreen and the digital encoders are only a few of the convincing features of the console. The operating philosophy of all grandMA lighting desks is the same, so that the orientation for the

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USA - At the forthcoming AES exhibition in San Francisco, the APRS (the Association of Professional Recording Services), in collaboration with British Consul General in San Francisco Martin Uden, will be holding a reception at the British Consulate on the evening before the show opens, Wednesday 27 October, at 6.00pm. The idea behind the reception, say APRS, is for exhibiting companies to identify key customers they expect to visit them during the show and invite them to enjoy some British hospitality and to mix with friends and colleagues from the UK industry. In addition to key clients and potential new customers, the APRS will be inviting many familiar industry faces based in the USA, including well-known producers and engineers, to the reception.

Due to space limitations, numbers are limited to a total of 80 guests, so tickets will be issued on a first come, first served bas

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Australia. - The newly opened AFL (Australian Football League) "Hall of Fame and Sensation" has made extensive use of ARX's Level 8 Audio Line Balancer. Centrally located on Swanston Street, Melbourne's main CBD thoroughfare, the Hall of Fame features a series of "walk-through theatre-ettes" each showing video clips of Australian football history. Each visual display is accompanied by an appropriate audio track from a bank of un-balanced sources triggered by movement sensors.

As the distance from the sound source to the screen displays is up to 40m the normally un-balancedsignal would be prone to any number of interferences. Installation Contractor DRM Project Audio Visual installed 10 units of Level 8s offering a total of 80 Channels to balance the Soundtrack signals and provided strong clean interference free signal paths.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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UK - Entec, Avolites and James Thomas's Pixel range team joined forces to make Air's recent show at the Eden Project in Cornwall a memorable one. It was the first time that the attraction's famous Biomes had been illuminated with Pixel fixtures. Integrated into the live performance, they formed a beguiling multi-coloured backdrop to the stage. Entec supplied both lighting and sound production for the UK and European legs of Air's extensive 2004 tour, working with the FOH team of LD Dave Byars and sound engineer Paul Ramsay.

The 'specials' element of the lighting rig - which toured everywhere including all the festivals - consisted of 14 Studio Spots, eight James Thomas Pixelline LED battens and four Manfrotto stands on risers. It was designed with festival practicality in mind - quick and simple to rig and wheel onstage - whilst also providing Air with their own unique set of v

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Belgium - Simple Minds recently headlined at Suikerrock and Lokerse Feesten, two of Belgium's premier rock festivals. Among the key pieces of kit in FOH engineer Patrick Demoustier's rack were a pair of Apex Intelli-Q digital EQ units from the Belgian manufacturer APEX.

Demoustier specified the Apex Intelli-Qs as part of an Adamson line array system, powered by Lab Gruppen, that was supplied by EML Productions. "The Intelli-Q is the new generation of EQ," says Demoustier, who has been closely involved in its development. "I'm using them on Simple Minds with the digital Input option, and using the delay to get the subs and the line array into phase. Each unit is a super-quick processor, faster than other systems on the market, which gives me precise control over two discrete audio channels, as well as providing one of my favourite parametric EQs. Thanks to the AES/

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UK - AVC, the audio-visual equipment hire company with its HQ based in Dublin, Ireland, has become the latest European rental operator to invest in the NEXO GEO S Series tangent array system.

Having taken the decision to buy a line array, John Magann and his team at AVC have opted for the NEXO GEO S series "because of the technology and because of the compactness of the system." Already a NEXO PS Series user, AVC has now made the strategic decision to concentrate its hire stock entirely around the NEXO designs. "It's a perfect fit," says Magann. The GEO S elements are ideal for the concert and cabaret work that we do as well as being perfectly suited to our corporate clients and the events market. The NEXO PS Series can be used as a monitor system with GEO S, or in its own right for the smaller jobs."

AVC made its decision after discussion with local d

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UK - August saw the Royal Bath & West Showground in the West of England's rural Shepton Mallet besieged by 'pilgrims' from all over the country attending the annual Christian New Wine Festival, followed by Soul Survivor.

During the changeover to Soul Survivor, the ranks of 11,000 people swelled to 14,000 - stretching the site's services to the limit - when the 96m x 69m Albion Woods Big Top was reconfigured for the more youth-oriented event.

Some of the traditional problems experienced by the promoters were eased this year when both events converted to a Martin Audio Compact Line Array (W8LC) for the first time, provided by Wigwam Acoustics.

"There had always been a desire to fly a directional system, to reduce the spill outside the tent and minimize the impact on the surrounding villages," explained production manager, Greg Szabo. "On top of that we now have

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UK - Surprising as it may seem to some of the skeptics, since his appearance on "I'm a Celebrity...", Peter Andre has shown a phenomenal increase in popularity throughout the UK - and as such has recently completed a five-week sell-out UK tour. Basingstoke-based rental company Eurohire - providing audio, lighting and risers - chose EM Acoustics Quake subwoofers as the ideal solution for the low-end.

The system is built from EAW KF 800 series products primarily - KF850's ground-stacked four per side and KF853's flown - with just four Quake subwoofers each side. The whole system is processed by XTA DP224 controllers, and powered by LabGruppen amplifiers.

FOH engineer Graham Ewins commented: "I found the Quake subs to be extremely responsive, and surprisingly powerful for a single 18" driver. Stacking four in a block each side gave us excellent low-end throw r

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International - Bryan Ferry is currently touring the globe with Audio-Technica microphones, including the AE5400 large-diaphragm, cardioid condenser - his long-standing choice of stage mic. Ferry has used an AT4054 capacitor microphone exclusively for his vocals for several years but has recently taken up with the A-T Artist Elite AE5400 - the successor to the AT4054 - with a significantly richer LF response and a switchable HP filter, say Audio-Technica.

These mics allow Ferry to switch from voice to harmonica, cupping the capsule without fear of feedback or any 'muting' of the harmonica's tone. The live mic list also includes AT4050 condensers on piano and guitar cabs, two ATM35 high-intensity, clip-on, cardioid, condenser instrument mics on harp, an ultra-miniature hanging AT853a cardioid condenser mic on violin, an AE2500 Dual Element, dynamic/condenser on kick drum, ATM25

  1. SSE Hire at Cropredy Festival
  2. Glaciator at Olympic Legacy Theatre
  3. Loud agreement with Echo
  4. Blue Audio provides L.E.D. showcase
  5. PLASA awards deadline looms
  6. James Thomas Engineering at PLASA 2004
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