Business

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UK - When the Met Office relocated from Bracknell just over a year ago to its new purpose-built £80m 33,000sq.m headquarters in Exeter, one of the facilities it wanted to radically upgrade was its conference provision.

Four new conference areas have been built and the configuration now allows a large 250-seat theatre to be divisible into two separate spaces, with a smaller 60-seat space (which can equally be divided into two separate theatres).

Costain-Skanska Joint Venture, awarded the contract to supply audio to Impact Marcom, which chose to design the audio infrastructure around Symetrix SymNet DSP processing power. The Met Office recently hosted an international conference on how best to minimize the impacts of climate change at which over 200 delegates assembled in the main auditorium.

With high emphasis placed on routing and signal distribution, SymNet became the pref

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UK - As tight timescales go, it was a test of spirit and ingenuity for Environ Audio, working closely with its supplier Harman Pro UK. The two companies collaborated to supply and install 43 South Molton Street - a new, exclusive private members club - with a top quality audio system in time to open for a party the next night!

The venue - designed by the award winning Russell Stage - features an event/party space in the basement, a restaurant on the ground floor and a lounge on the top two floors. It's independently owned by three young entrepreneurs who understand the importance of good sound.

They chose Environ's sound design - created by classical musician and acoustic engineer Dan Eades - based on a package of Harman products including JBL, dbx and Crown - above others, even though it wasn't the cheapest. However quality-wise, it came closest to what they wanted to achieve

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UK - The world record times for the indoor Women's 3000m, Men's 1500m and Men's two mile races were illustrated by Stage Electrics during the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on Friday 18 February 2005.

A lighting system designed by Stage Electrics' Simon Baker allowed the athletes to race against banks of lights around the track. The lights were carefully programmed to chase at the world record pace, meeting the exact specification set by Bob Caple production manager for Fast Track. The chases were set up to be accurate to within 0.01 of a second and the whole event was broadcast live by the BBC.

Working for Fast Track, UK Athletics and BBC Sport, Stage Electrics ensured that the system was robust and wouldn't let the athletes down during the races. 100 floor cans were rigged around the 200m track and controlled by Martin Light Jockey and a Strand 520i desk. Other equipment used

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USA - Lighting designer Bob Dickinson has used Martin Professional's MAC 2000 Wash fixtures recently for both the Grammys and the Oscars awards ceremonies. For the 77th Academy Awards show at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, Dickinson used around 260 MAC 2000 Wash fixtures into this year's design. "Good colour mixing combined with exceptional output make it the perfect tool for television, especially broadcasts with very high trim heights," he said. "The Grammy's had trims of over 80ft and the Oscars were some 45ft."

"Considering a live television broadcast is a one chance circumstance, dependability is very important," Dickinson states. "I have come to trust the MAC 2K as a solid player, a very dependable light. The MAC 2K Wash is a lot of light when you want it, where you need it and you know the damn thing will be working when the cue is called!&

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UK - When the Imperial War Museum in London needed lighting to enhance the launch of its new touring exhibition, Their Past Your Future, TPYF communications manager, Sarah Dowd, turned to White Light Events, following the successful collaboration between White Light and the Museum on the 1940's House exhibition in 2001.

Their Past Your Future is a new educational project led by the Imperial War Museum, and funded by the Big Lottery Fund, which aims to inspire people of all ages to discover the Second World War, how it shaped and altered the world's course, and why it is still relevant now and in the future. It is now showing in nine different locations around the UK, including: Bluewater Shopping Centre in Dartford, Kent, Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, Action Stations at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Forest of Mercia Innovation Centre, Staffordshire, Blackburn Mu

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Germany - A new German distribution company has been formed by Hans-Joachim Rockel, Christian Schiele and Jan Wintersberg. Working with ProdyTel, of Fuerth, Germany, the new company, also called ProdyTel, has been formed to distribute the company's 'Audio via TCP/IP' solutions worldwide, as well as a portfolio of other products including Clearone audio-conferencing products in Germany.

The company emphasizes the modern direction of ProdyTel as an IT/AV distribution company. In Germany, it will offer solutionsincluding Clearone and Gentner audio-conferencing; CUE media remote control systems; Teldat WAN-routers, switches and merchant gateways; ProdyTel audio via TCP/IP solutions, and S-Cluster; and Prodys IP codecs, E1/T1 multiplexers and ISDN Codecs.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - HSL Productions is supplying all lighting equipment for the current Bill Kenwright UK tour of "Jesus Christ Superstar". Lighting designer is Nick Richings and Simon Sherrif operates the show.

The rig includes a wide variety of Martin Professional MAC moving lights - 11 MAC 2K profiles, eight MAC 2K Washes, 12 MAC 500 profiles, six MAC 250s and four MAC 300s. There's also four DHA Digital Light Curtains and the generic lights include 36 Source Four Profiles with different lenses, and a selection of PAR cans.

All the generic fixtures are fitted with either ChromaQ Broadway or ChromaQ PAR scrollers, and Sherrif is running the show from a WholeHog II console. HSL has also supplied three Avolites ART dimmer racks and one of its custom built mains distro. The whole rig is completely self-contained at each venue apart from follow spots, which are supplied by the house.

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Russia - An interesting challenge was handed to Harlequin, when Russia's famous Bolshoi ballet called the dance floor supplier to provide a custom designed sprung dance floor. Unusually, the floors were to be installed on a pair of metal ballet wagons, each 15m (49' 3") x 6m (19' 7"), that when not in use were to be stored hanging vertically.

In most theatres and opera houses wagons are trucked on and off stage, but at the Bolshoi the wagons are winched to the back of the stage and hauled up into a vertical position, then dropped into a storage slot at the back of the stage until called for again. Since each of the two wagons was estimated to weigh 1.5 tonnes complete with the basketweave floor construction, Harlequin appointed structural engineers at the early design stage to calculate loads and devise special fixings to ensure the total weight was adequately supporte

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Malaysia - One of Kuala Lumpur's newest clubs, the Rum Jungle, has been opened by Trend Matrix in the shadow of the Petronas Towers. Themed on the Malaysian ecosystem, tropical foliage envelopes the building's perimeters, reinforced in a cover of jungle mist, atmospheric lighting, water features, flaming torches, giant river boulders, and even a trapeze and a swing-rope.

Supplied by Electro-Systems Industries Pte Ltd, sound reinforcement for Rum Jungle offers the guests the most diversified acoustic experience to be found on the strip. Planning the sound reinforcement for the different areas (main room, VIP area, dining area, foldback for stage) meant using different speakers to perform the various audio tasks: because of its open-air architecture, designing the live sound reinforcement for the main room posed some acoustic challenges especially as the room's seating was on two

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UK - Stagecraft is celebrating after winning and completing a new live events contract with global pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough. Salisbury based Stagecraft has worked with Schering-Plough on a number of events over the last year and was responsible for the creative and technical management of the Company's National Business Conference in January 2005.

Colin Hurst, Head of training and development at Schering-Plough commented: "Stagecraft won the business after showing a clear understanding of our local business needs and corporate drivers. The company offered us a creative approach to our move forward, showing a clear vision of what and how our meeting would look, feel and sound."

Working with Schering-Plough, Stagecraft was responsible for the production of the conference, which was attended by 600 delegates. The company provided all creative, editorial, t

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USA - Beyoncé, at the 77th Annual Academy Awards show, broadcast live on ABC from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, February 27th, sang three of the Oscar-nominated original song, using her standard Sennheiser RF microphone, which pairs an SKM5000-N handheld transmitter with a Neumann KK 105-S capsule.

RF systems provider and frequency coordinator for the show, David Bellamy, whose Burbank-based Soundtronics Wireless company specializes in RF equipment rental for major entertainment, sports and broadcast events, supplied the remainder of the Sennheiser microphones and RF gear for the telecast. "We had SK5012 beltpack transmitters and SKM5000-N handhelds, plus EM3032 receivers," says Bellamy.

In addition to Beyoncé's own mic, Soundtronics Wireless supplied Sennheiser/Neumann hybrid handheld mics for host Chris Rock as well as for Josh Groban, who joined Beyo

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UK - In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the release of The Who's legendary album, Tommy, a production of the musical Tommy has hit the road for a 20-week European tour with lighting supplied by PRG Europe. PRG won the opportunity to supply the lights after the show's production company, Theatrical Management Group (TMG), decided to change lighting and audio suppliers at the last minute. "I chose PRG because they enabled me to stay in budget while keeping my original design," said Michel Boersma, the show's producer.

Given only two weeks to ship and set up the equipment at the tour's opening in Frankfurt, PRG's Alan Thomson and Loz Wilcox, together with independent production electrician Simon Needle, pulled out all of the stops in delivering a solution on-time. In the process, they recognized that rigging changes would need to be made in order to achieve

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USA - Loud Technologies Inc has announced the acquisition of St. Louis Music Inc, a Missouri-based manufacturer, distributor and importer of branded musical instruments and professional audio products. As part of this acquisition, St. Louis Music will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Loud Technologies Inc.

Founded in 1922 by the Kornblum family, St. Louis Music's products include world-renowned Ampeg bass guitar amplifiers, Crate amplifiers, Crate Audio sound reinforcement equipment, Alvarez guitars and string instruments, and Knilling orchestral string instruments. The company is also one of the largest distributors of music accessories, offering retailers a complete line of branded accessory products.

"This acquisition demonstrates that Sun Capital Partners, our principal shareholder, is committed to the expansion of our portfolio into related markets,&q

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Germany - AV retail entertainment creators and provider, Cube Music, has been specifying BSS Soundwebs as the digital hub of its distribution systems into high-end retail sites on a regular basis. When Ed Manwaring of EM Communications was asked to put a BSS-driven network onto the Cube Group's stand at the recent EuroShop retail trade fair in Germany - using a pair of SW9016 video/audio matrix switchers and an SW9010 'Jellyfish' remote - it was not only to enable salesmen to stream different content to potential clients via the remote panel, as Cube CEO Fiona Ryder explained: "Soundweb has become an absolutely key element of our retail installations," she said. "The first time we used it was for a client at the Bull Ring and we love the whole flexibility and the way it works. From that point on it became standard for us, and so it was critical we had one to show on

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UK - Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs and Spot 250 XT moving lights are on Natasha Beddingfield's current UK tour - her first shows with her own production to promote the successful debut album, Unwritten.

Lighting designer Dave Gibbon decided to buy the XT 250s himself, having used them extensively last year on the Hadley vs Cox tour and other events. "There's absolutely no doubt that they are the most reliable and cost-effective fixtures available for the type of work I do" he says - which ranges through a variety of touring artists to corporate and special events.

It was important that Beddingfield's lighting rig was adaptable and flexible as it's visiting a great variety of venues, from student union gigs and clubs to large theatres. It also had to fit into an expedient amount of truck space.

Gibbon chose the six Spot 250 XT's for their small size and large brigh

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UK - It has been announced that if you register for this year's PLASA show before Friday 8 April you will automatically be entered into the draw to win a pair of tickets to see Kylie at Earls Court on Saturday 30 April. Please note: only the winner will be notified by email. Terms and Conditions apply.

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USA - Bandit Lites has been named as the number one entertainment lighting company in the world not once but twice in the start of this year. Bandit was named the Lighting Company of the Year in Los Angeles at the PLSN Parnelli Awards on 25 February, right on the heels of the Pollstar Awards for Lighting Company of Year in Los Angeles on 4 February. This is the first time in history any firm has won both of these awards in the same year.

CEO Michael T. Strickland states: "Winning both the Pollstar C.I.C. 2004 and the PLSN ProProduction 2004 Lighting Company of the Year Award is simply staggering. The high quality of our competition coupled with the population of executives that voted us these awards make this very special to everyone at Bandit. All of our people, from Asia to the US to Europe are committed to making 2005 even better. We wish to thank the entire industry fo

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UK - Stage Electrics London has complete the move into its new shop, after more than 12 months at its Long Lane premises. "We wanted to give our customers easier access to the facilities at Stage Electrics," says Linda Moore, head of sales and marketing for the company. "We have the added value of parking at the rear of the building where we now have customer access to the shop and hire warehouse."

There have also been some additions to the team at Long Lane. Stephen Bray has joined as sales manager for the branch. Bray has come to Stage Electrics from a background in sound, most recently at Media Tools. Also, James Morris has joined as a customer service representative after working at Vodafone. Bray and his team will shortly be holding a series of open evenings to introduce products and services now available from London.

Pictured left to right are: Ed

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UK - One of the UK's more famous golf clubs, the links at Frinton-on-Sea, has given a high-tech boost to its old clubhouse, with the installation of Electrovoice EViD background music systems in several of its bars and function rooms.

Installation company Xtreme Audio Visual, based just down the road in Clacton-on-Sea, has designed a zoned system using off-white coloured EViD 6.2 and 4.2 compact full-range speakers. The small but highly stylized speakers have been fitted in the main club bar and into the club's function room, as well as the Ladies' Dining Room and the Bridge Room.

"All the cables have been hidden," explains Craig Wiggins of Xtreme, "and the speakers have been painted off-white so that they blend in really nicely with the existing décor. We were keen to have very low visibility in a traditional environment like this, so it's great that the memb

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UK - Monday 7 March marked the culmination of eight years of planning, fundraising and building as The Junction in Cambridge opened three new facilities for the creation and presentation of new art as part of its £7.5 million Arts Council lottery funded redevelopment programme.

The three new facilities - a theatre, an education space and an art and new technology laboratory will help enable The Junction to realize its ambition of establishing a national centre of excellence for contemporary culture and entertainment.

At the heart of the new development is Junction 2, a modern and uniquely versatile 220 capacity performance space. Affectionately nicknamed The Shed, the timber clad structure will house a growing programme of contemporary drama, dance, spoken word, comedy and world music. Inspired by Georgian courtyard theatre, the auditorium bridges the distance between audienc

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China - Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs were a vital element of Roy Chooi's lighting design for the final of Singapore Idol, produced by MediaCorp Studios. This was staged in the Singapore Indoor Stadium in front of a live audience of 7,000 and a TV audience of 1.8 million.

Chooi's design was operated by Kenneth Chow, and all lighting equipment was supplied by CSP Productions. The 16 Robe 1200 AT's were used heavily throughout the show as powerful upstage beam effects. Chooi chose the Robe units specifically for their zoom facilities, brightness and selection of gobos. He had previously used ColorSpot 1200s during recording of the Singapore Idols TV series - at MediaCorps' Studios - and wanted to recreate elements of that lighting scheme for 'The Final Showdown' event designed for TV as well as live viewing.

CSP's, managing director Kenny Heng comments: "We are finding that Robe

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UK - Northern Light has just supplied one of the first GB8 consoles from Soundcraft, after its launch at NAMM, to Galeri Caernarfon. The GB8 is the new eight-bus console augmenting Soundcraft's GB4 console range and is available in frame sizes from 16 to 48 channels, each with four full-function stereo channels and four stereo returns. A 32 channel GB8 has been supplied to Galeri as part of the complete £500k technical fit out of the new Creative Enterprise Centre for Cwmni Tref.

The GB8 console was selected after the centre manger Huw Aled Jones visited PLASA 2004 where Soundcraft unveiled the GB4 - as soon as he saw the GB4 he was impressed with quality and functionality of the desk - but wanted something more and after careful deliberations with Northern Light's project manager Simon Cooper and Soundcraft's UK sales manager Gary Dent it was decided to wait for the release of

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USA - NYC based RF Pro has recently supplied Trantec's internationally award winning S6000 radio mic system to NY based theatre sound rental specialists Sound Associates. Specified by sound designer Tom Morse, the system has been deployed as the lead wireless system on Good Vibrations - the new Beach Boy musical staged at the Eugene O'Neill Theater in the heart of Broadway.

Tom Bensen of RF Pro commented: "The S6000 performed superbly on the show. Its exceptional bandwith and frequency agility was invaluable in an extremely RF hostile environment, which is a constant problem for Broadway shows. Trantec is synonymous with innovation and quality and we're looking forward to supplying the S6000 system complete with its new hand-held mic on many upcoming Broadway productions."

The system provides an alternative across a number of sound production levels, its two U

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Spain - Perhaps one of the most popular and colourful carnivals in the world, as well as Spain's oldest is the Tenerife Carnivals held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Such is the diversity of the people who attend the carnival that it has been declared an International Tourist Interest event. This year, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife carnival's main theme was "The Great Comedy" inspired by famous Broadway musicals and D.A.S. Aero line array systems provided sound reinforcement for the event.

The Plaza de España hosted the stage that has seen 27 years of murga (a traditional carnival song) contests, dance groups, live concerts and the crowning of the Great Queen of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival. This year's gala event was broadcast live by RTVE (Spanish National Television) to over 30 million spectators worldwide. The stage, reinforced with D.A.S. Audio's Aero 48 and Aero

  1. Audio Alliance with Roche
  2. PSP continues to invest
  3. Pulsar lights up the Empire
  4. Interview with Mark Kenyon
  5. Outline's Butterfly gains U.S. patent
  6. D.A.S. Aero Systems at Festimusic
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