Business

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USA - Mitch Clark, president and CEO of Texas-based Tomcat Global, Inc. announced today that he has signed an agreement selling the stock and assets of the company to UK based The Vitec Group plc.

Tomcat, a manufacturer of staging and lighting support equipment for the entertainment industry, has called Midland its international headquarters since the company's founding in 1987. The company boasts as clients some of the biggest names in entertainment including the Rolling Stones, U2, Janet Jackson, Disney and Cirque du Soleil.

"I am very excited about this acquisition. It will not only create a great partnership between two very strong organisations, but will give Tomcat greater opportunities to invest in additional manufacturing technologies, infrastructure and other assets that will help us continue providing the highest quality products at the best possible price to ou

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USA - Hailed as the greatest illusionist of our time, an icon of modern America who sets box office records wherever he goes, David Copperfield knows the importance of lighting to his one-of-a-kind show. "Each of my illusions takes two years of preparation and work," he states, "and lighting is a big part of that, not just for the look but also to make the magic work."

Although Copperfield tours the world, travelling up to 40 weeks a year and often performing several shows a day, he is all about excellence and state of the art. In 2002, Florida based Paradigm Productions swapped out Copperfield's aging lighting rig with an automated Martin lighting package that consisted of MAC 2000 Profiles, MAC 2000 Performances, MAC 600 washlights, MAC 250+'s, RoboScan Pro 918 scanners and Atomic 3000 strobes. Paradigm has provided ongoing support for the David Copperfield

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USA - As the season started, the Atlanta Falcons had asmall problem: how to realistically recreate the noisy game day conditionsof the Georgia Dome at their training headquarters north of the city inFlowery Branch. The answer, a compact Danley Sound Labs speaker systemcomprised of SH-50 full-range and TH-115 subwoofer units, proved not only tobe a powerful solution, but also, a surprisinglymobile one.

Mike Hedden, of Danley Sound Labs, explains that he initially demonstrated theDanley Sound Labs system, which is manufactured in Gainesville, Georgia,after a friend who works at the Falcons' facility told him that the team wasrenting equipment to simulate crowd noise during practice. "The old systemwas cumbersome and time consuming to setup but most importantly wasn'tsupplying enough 'oomph' to simulate the sound of a crowd of 72,000 people,"relates Hedden.

After settin

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USA - Production company Stage Front Presentation Systems (SFPS) has supplied a Jands Vista S3 lighting console and 72 Chroma-Q Plus colour changers for the new Medieval Times Atlanta Dinner & Tournament.

Atlanta is the eighth Castle to be opened in a very successful expansion program across North America which has so far attracted attracted nearly 35 million guests to the show.

Georgia-based Stage Front is one of the most respected and successful performance and presentation contractors in the Southeast, and has been the design and build contractor for Medieval Times ever since providing the lighting and special effects for the original Florida Castle in 1986.

Lighting plays a key part in creating the mood and environmental setting for the 1,200-seater arena shows, which include equestrian events, tournaments and games, jousting, hand-to-hand combat scenes, a Wizard sequenc

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USA - For the 13th consecutive year, Audio-Technica has supported the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards by providing an extensive selection of vocal and instrument microphones for its annual awards show. The 40th Annual CMA Awards aired live for the first time in 5.1-channel surround sound on November 6 on the ABC Television Network from Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center and featured over 200 hard-wired and wireless Audio-Technica microphones. From backline vocal and instrument mics to frontline wireless systems for leading country artists such as Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, and Miranda Lambert, Audio-Technica was chosen for this star-studded live broadcast.

Hosted for the third year by the multi-platinum duo Brooks & Dunn, the CMA Awards presentation is recognised as Country Music's Biggest NightTM, and represents the pinnacle of achievement for those involved in c

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UK - i-Vision has supplied 144 modules of its Lumos Link RGB LED system and two of its new Lumos Drive 216 controllers to the RAF Museum in London.

The fixtures were specified and purchased by Sean Penn, the Museum's AV engineer after i-Vision was recommended by The Society of TV Lighting Directors, who staged an event at the Museum.

Penn was looking for a lighting effect to enhance the Milestones of Flight building, which tells the story of flight and from balloons and the first powered flights, complete with some impressive pieces of military hardware, right up to the Eurofighter.

The hangar has an arched tensile roof is also used for corporate events, dinners, awards ceremonies and functions of all types. They wanted a permanent lighting installation that would add a touch of subtle elegance, warmth and panache to the general evening ambience for these events. &quo

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Germany - One of the largest companies in Germany providing technical services in the event business, Satis & Fy recently took delivery of an X-Line and Tour Grade amplifiers from Electro-Voice. They were so convinced by the performance the new combination that, after receiving the commission to handle Simply Red's 2006 tour of Germany, they had little hesitation in taking them along.

Simply Red FOH Engineer Gary Bradshaw has worked with Britannia Row's X-Line on many occasions in the past; for this outing, the task of satisfying-or, rather, exceeding-his expectations fell to system technicians Alexander Lewin, Stefan Harazd and Paul Wunderlich.

It would appear they succeeded. Certainly the critics were impressed, with Christoph Klemp euphorically declaring: "The sound system was controlled perfectly: every nuance of Chris de Margery's flute and Ian Kirkham's saxophone so

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Germany - In Germany, the huge Stadtkirchenfest attracted more than 10,000 members of different Christian organisations to Berlin's Alexander-Platz. With music, speeches and religious services, the extensive festival programme represented an excellent test for Nexo's new Geo D system, and its success was enough to persuade Berlin PA company PAM/events to invest in its own system.

Over ten thousand people attended the ecumenical Stadtkirchenfest in Berlin. The festival's motto was "Auf gute Nachbarschaft" (loosely translated as "here's to good neighbourly relations") and with that in mind, 170 Catholic, Protestant, independent Christian and Orthodox groups and communities as well as welfare organisations and action groups gathered in the square between the Church of St. Mary (Marienkirche) and the so-called 'Red City Hall' to inform visitors abou

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UK - James Ussher wanted to produce something totally different on the dancefloor at Oxford's most popular clubbing destination - The Bridge - when he was asked to co-ordinate a recent technical revamp. His decision to do this with Element Labs VersaTiles, supplied by Projected Image Digital has resulted in the first UK club installation of the product.

Ussher and his company Ussher Productions have been capacity, independently owned venue for some time. He keeps a keen ear and eye to the ground vis-a-vis industry trends, aiming constantly to keep The Bridge one step ahead in terms of looking, sounding and feeling interesting, fresh and contemporary.

The dancefloor now features three sections of VersaTiles a 6 x 1m strips of VersaTiles along the end wall of the dancefloor, flanked by two, 2m by 0.5m strips on the side walls. Ussher specified, designed and installed this new sc

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USA - The 2006 Tony Award winner for best musical, Jersey Boys is currently Broadway's biggest success story, one year on from its first previews and still a sell-out. The show tells the story of Franki Valli and The Four Seasons, playing to highly critical and lively audiences in Valli's home town where he remains a local hero. Directed by Des McAnuff, the show's music is by Bob Gaudio with lyrics by Bob Crewe, and features sound design by Steve Kennedy. The sound system includes a J-Type Live production console, supplied by Masque Sound, operated by Julie Randolph, with Dave Shepherd and Mike Terpstra on the full-time sound team.

The show is above all a rock show, with the band constantly moving on the stage amidst the high-pace action. Sound operator Julie Randolph explains some of the musical challenges involved: "It's a loud show, but the acoustic image is const

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Worldwide - Sting is currently promoting his new album, Songs from the Labyrinth, with a series of performances in major cities such as London, New York, Berlin and Paris, with DPA microphones accompanying him along the way.

DPA 4023 compact cardioids were chosen by Sting's sound engineer Donal Hodgson, who had initially purchased a pair of 4006 omni-directional mics for the artist's mobile studio setup, Steerpike Studios, to record Songs from the Labyrinth. This is a venture into new musical territory for Sting, who has collaborated with lute player Edin Karamazov to work with the music of Elizabethan songwriter John Dowland, court lutenist to James 1 in 1612.

"I had always considered DPA to be more of a classical music microphone," explains Hodgson. "This was why, when we started the original demo sessions for Songs from the Labyrinth, I t

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USA - Dolby Laboratories, Inc. todayannounced that the recently constructed First Baptist Church in Eugene,Oregon has become the first house of worship in the world to adopt the newDolby Lake Processor. Attracted by the extended power and features of thedigital loudspeaker processor, the First Baptist Church integrated two DolbyLake Processors into its state-of-the-art audio system. Some of the featuresintroduced in the new Dolby Lake Processor include the unique portalfront-panel interface, advanced converter design, Iso-Float groundisolation, LimiterMax true-RMS limiting, and flexible hardwareconfiguration options.

Kyle Anderson, CEO, Anderson Group International (AGI) and lead audiodesigner on the project, reports that construction delays at First BaptistChurch turned out to be very fortuitous. "We were lucky construction waspostponed because the new Dolby Lake Processor

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Poland - The 56th Miss World Final took place in the Polish capital of Warsaw's Palace of Culture on 30th September. This was a significant event for Poland, as it was the first of East Europe's former communist countries to host Miss World and attracted a recorded television audience of round two billion. Polish rental company Fotis Sound provided an extensive amount of PA equipment for the evening, including a DiGiCo D5 Live digital mixing console and XTA digital signal processing.

"We received the technical specifications from Plus4Audio," explains Fotis Sound's Piotr Majewski. "Initially, different consoles were specified for both front of house and monitors, with an L'Acoustics loudspeaker system controlled by XTA processors. However, we proposed a D5 Live for Mark Ballard's front of house position and a PM5D for monitors, to which they agreed. They ne

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UK - Production, event and entertainment management company Production Plus has boosted its stock of Robe Show Lighting moving lights with the purchase of 16 Robe ColorSpot and ColorWash 575 AT fixtures - eight of each type.

These have been added to the existing hire stock which already includes over 60 Robe fixtures, incorporating Spot 250 and Wash 250 XTs and Media Spinners. "We'd been looking at the 575 AT Series for some time," says Production Plus's technical director Andy Miller, who's relationship with Robe UK goes right back to the start of the company. "The optics are great, it's a cost effective product and the service and support from Robe UK is very good," he concludes.

One of the first outings for the new 575 AT fixtures was a gala ball event at the Hilton International Hotel, Park Lane, London, for the Hilton Community Foundation Ball charity.

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France - DPA Microphones is pleased to announce the launch of a new company, Audio², to market, distribute and service its products in France. The company is a joint venture between the manufacturer, Didier Rupin, who has been involved with DPA microphones in France since 1992, and Scène de Nuit, an existing pro audio dealer who will provide the company infrastructure such as shipping, service, telephone reception and sales staff. Audio² will be formally launched at November's Satis 2006 exhibition in Paris.

Situated in Joué-les-Tours, central France, Audio² is headed up by managing director Rupin, who has long experience in distributing top-of-the-range professional audio equipment in France. The company will work closely with a dealer network, connected by a dedicated extranet system, to cover the entire country as well as handling specialised markets including broa

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Greece - Lighting Effects Distribution have supplied a major order for LED effects to a television studio in Greece. Because of the fast set changes involved, Skai TV needed a constantly evolving scenic infrastructure in their Athens studio and turned to London-based ITN Consulting (a division of ITN) for assistance.

The company's senior lighting director, Roy Newman, was first alerted to the LED X-Chip and Ayrton Moduled 318 on the stand of Lighting Effects Distribution at a trade show, and knew they would be ideal for his purposes. "The company was clearly a one-stop shop for LED effects," he noted.

"One of the main reasons for preferring LEDs over tungsten was the rapid turnaround between various programmes, and of course the infinite number of colours instantly available." The lack of maintenance and gel changing, he commented, had been another determin

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UK - There was a point during the month of October when sound production company Skan PA had no fewer than seven Digidesign Venue digital mixing systems out on tour. With their two original D-Shows supplied by Marquee Audio assigned long-term to the high-profile Muse tour, Skan's Chris Fitch knew he needed back-up.

But the back-up was soon out on the tour as well - and this month Skan had to call on two further consoles to support Gnarls Barkley during their recent spate of European television and live concert dates. On monitors was Tim Engwall, who has scarcely been away from the D-Show surface since receiving his induction at this year's Montreux Jazz Festival; out front was Steve Curtin who is another recent convert, having made his debut on a D-Show at a festival in Detroit earlier this summer.

Having worked with Eighth Day Sound's Venues in the States, both men were delig

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Belgium - Thirty of Marantz's PMD570 and PMD670 units have been used to create an innovative and versatile learning system for students of a large language department in Belgium.

Local AV specialists Swing CVBA has provided 26 PMD570 Installation Recorders and four PM670 Solid State Recorders to Ghent High School, giving staff the means to exchange materials and mark coursework over the internet, and students the ability to take their language studies off-campus to be continued at home.

The School's previous system used cassette recorders and traditional tape for recording and playback of learning materials, but teachers prompted the move to digital media technology. Using Marantz's PMD recorders, each student uses his or her own flash card, which is removable and can therefore be used to play back lessons and exercises at home. Via the internet, data can be shared among membe

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Spain - A modern construction of concrete and glass, the Granollers TheatreAuditorium just north of Barcelona, Spain, has that special touch theCatalans can bring to such potentially lifeless materials.

But lifelessness still managed to manifest itself in other, more acutely problematic ways. "The auditorium was very dry," said head of sound for Granollers, David Carrión. "Less than one second of reverberationis not a proper acoustic for the performances we wish to present."

Fortunately Carrión has twenty years experience as a sound engineer and knewexactly what to do; install a surround system to support the acoustic. "Wehave established a system configured to provide three reverbs: 1.2 secs forjazz; 1.6 secs for contemporary classics; and 2.0 secs for classical."

Choosing the correct system was less obvious. "Apart from the reverberatio

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UK - XL Video UK is supplying FOH scenic video projection and via Blink TV a three camera PPU for the Scissor Sisters UK arena tour - the first time the band have featured video incorporated into their live show.

The hi-octane pop show is characteristically action-packed with flamboyance. Into this mix, video director Phil Woodhead is bringing his own unique touch of "videosyncrasity".

The pressure was on for Woodhead to come up with something, new, original and non-conventional in terms of IMAG aesthetics, which is beamed onto two 16 x 12 ft side screens via Barco SLM R12+ projectors. The band were very specific that they didn't want to see themselves onscreen during the show, and neither did they want the audience looking at a TV.

The Sony D50 cameras are stationed at FOH and two in the pit on tripods. There's two mini-cams onstage which are clamped into a variet

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UK - The way in which lighting affects people's mood and behaviour is revealed at a new state-of-the-art demonstration theatre developed by Peterborough-based The Leeton Group.

Lightworks is a new interactive demonstration showing the power lighting can have over people. It provides a high-tech setting for talks and demonstrations on the nature of light, its effects on human well-being and behaviour and the progress of artificial lighting from Edison to modern day technology.

The facility - at Leeton's main office at Padholme Road, Peterborough - is available for groups including engineering managers, architects, consultants, human resource managers and technicians, as well as school and college students.

Leeton provides free lectures and demonstrations in the Lightworks theatre. The presentations can be adjusted to suit the level of expertise and the requirements of the gro

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UK - There's now less than a week to go before nominations close for the PLASA Executive Committee election.

For 2007 there are four seats available - three representing three-year terms and a fourth representing a one-year term. PLASA is undergoing a time of rapid development - key projects include the running of the PLASA Show, the launch of an industry certification programme, a major membership restructure and much more. Those elected to a place on the committee play a key role in influencing the development of all aspects of PLASA and the industry it serves.

If you are interested in working with the Association, and are employed by a Full UK PLASA Member, please consider standing for election. The closing date for nominations is 5pm Wednesday 15 November.

If you would like to know more about what's involved or need a nomination form, please contact Norah Phillips on 013

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Spain - The desert landscape of Aragon, Spain, was teeming with 40,000 revellers this summer, come to enjoy an oasis of the best electronic music at the 12th annual Monegros Desert Festival (MDF). Larger than in previous years, the festival boasted seven main stages, installed with Xone:62, 92 and 3D mixers, which hosted more than 70 artists, including Jeff Mills, Ángel Molina, Richie Hawtin, Thievery Corporation, Danny Tenaglia and Cypress Hill.

The 'San Miguel Tent' included an impressive 100-metre stage, installed with Allen & Heath's latest addition to the Xone range, the Xone:3D MIDI controller/mixer. This stage hosted national hip hop and international techno DJ's, including Chris Liebing.

An Xone:92 mixer was used on the Beach Club stage, a stone built club with a small beach, together with deck chairs for guests to relax. A Xone:92 was also installed in the 'Bacardi T

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Brazil - Adamson Systems Engineering and Sotex, a division of Grupo Classic based in Contagem, Brazil recently came to an agreement to have Sotex be Adamson's exclusive representative for Brazil.

Grupo Classic is made up of five companies. The oldest "A Serenata Ltda", is a retail store chain that was established over 40 years ago by Marco Bousas' grandfather Antonio Carlos, who still runs the division today, with the help of his son Junior. At the inception of the company, it was primarily a retail store for musical instruments. Today it sells over 5000 local and international brands of music industry related items. "Michael" the wholesale musical instrument division is now seven years old and sells a total of 700 different instruments including two proprietary brands Michael and Trigger. Icone Logistica is a one year old logistics division that takes care o

  1. Clay Paky at Nights of Light 2006
  2. ELIAS PX at the Il Lido in Singapore
  3. Theatreplan's technical firsts
  4. Roundhouse like second home for PSL
  5. RCF at the Mobile Choice Awards
  6. Audio-Technica at the Latin Grammy Awards
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