Business

Details
UK - Stage One has recently taken delivery of a Routech Chronos CNC machining centre, a nine tonne, five-axis machine with a working size of 3m x 1.5m x a 800mm Z height - one of only four in the UK.

This technology enables Stage One to machine out both scenery and 3D objects such as moulds or sculptural pieces, in wood or plastic, with the utmost precision, making "an astonishing variety of 3D models a possibility and allowing the company to offer a rapid prototyping service to customers.

"Machines such as these have been used in other industries, such as furniture making for some time," says Stage One production director Chris Augur. "We believe, however, that this machine is unique to our industry and added to our portfolio, will allow us to provide yet another exclusive service for our clients; in fact it has already caused quite a stir."

Purchas

Details
UK - The stage version of JRR Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings which played to great acclaim in Toronto last year, winning its design team numerous awards, is transferring to London. It will play to its first audience on 9 May, with its opening night set for 18 June 18.

To supply lighting designer Paul Pyant's epic rig for this epic show, London-based White Light has teamed up with Q1 Production Technologies in Canada, who provided equipment for the original production. Together they are supplying a rig that includes over 300 ETC Source Fours and Source Four Pars, seventy conventional Par Cans, Arri 2.5K HMI fresnels and almost 150 Wybron scrollers.

The moving light rig includes 13 DHA Digital Light Curtains, 34 ETC Source Four Revolutions, 13 Vari-Lite VL3500Q Framing Spotlights, 77 VL3000Q Spotlights, 34 Clay Paky Alpha Wash Halos as well as 24 Martin Atomic Strobes an

Details
Greece - Chios has long been considered one of the most beautiful Aegean islands. Now, with the 1,200 capacity Palazzo club, Chios has gained a new attraction. In addition to an elegant ambience, the club boasts a Dynacord alpha sound system.

To ensure that the dance floors of the 1,200 capacity Palazzo remain packed at all times, the management regularly brings in internationally famous DJs from abroad to relieve the house roster.

Club manager Tsatsalis Leonidas comments, "Whilst in terms of location and ambience, the Palazzo can easily hold its own with the best in Greece, it's our sound system that really sets us apart. There we really are setting new standards, as we've been told now, repeatedly, by visiting DJs."

The sound system that gives the Palazzo the edge is an alpha system from Dynacord. In use now in many of the world's top discotheques (including the

Details
USA - Clear-Com will launch Tempest 2400 and Tempest 900, a "revolutionary wireless intercom system", at NAB 2007. The new Tempest has been engineered to avoid the need for licensing and frequency coordination, says Clear-Com. Utilising Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) in conjunction with TDMA technology, Tempest operates in both the 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz bands.

Tempest is a timely solution for the dilemma wireless communication system users will face when the DTV transition is completed in early 2009, suggests Clear-Com. Those used to operating wireless equipment in the 500 to 600MHz portion of the UHF band will find that spectrum crowded with UHF DTV transmissions, while the 700MHz band frequencies are scheduled for auction to new users later in 2009.

However, Tempest operates in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz bands, so it is unaffected by the reallocatio

Details
USA - Utilising JBL Professional PD Series loudspeakers, Westbury National Show Systems designed and installed the audio system at the new Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, IL. The 11,000-seat arena opened in October 2006, and has already hosted concerts by Bob Dylan and Duran Duran. The Sears Centre is also the new home of the Chicago Hounds (United Hockey League), the Chicago Storm (Major Indoor Soccer League), the Chicago Shamrox (National Lacrosse League) and the Chicago Slaughter (Continental Indoor Football League).

The seating area of the Sears Centre is arranged in a horseshoe pattern, to which Westbury National designed the system accordingly. Four clusters of three JBL PD5212/64 loudspeakers were placed along the north and south sides, while two clusters of two were hung in the northwest and southwest corners. Additionally, two clusters of three PD5212/64's are located

Details
Eire - A collaboration between Dublin-based High Resolution Lighting and London based E//T//C UK resulted in the first large format PIGI projections to grace Dublin's world famous Saint Patrick's Festival.

The projections featured the heads of a selection of individuals who received the rare distinction of gaining The Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin. The images measured 10m wide by 15m high, and were beamed onto the side of the City Hall building in Dame Street, central Dublin, for the five evenings of the Festival.

High Resolution's Peter Canning has pitched the idea of monumental projections to Dublin City Council for some time, and this year festival director Donal Shiels decided to give it the go-ahead. Shiels also suggested the theme of those who have received the Freedom of the City.

As soon as they had the green light - with only two weeks to go before the even

Details
USA - Shortly after Sharon Osbourne made the announcement that this year's Ozzfest is free, organisers turned to sponsors to provide added support for the festival's new incarnation as a FREEfest. In stepped Jägermeister, offering its own state-of- the art mobile stage as a secondary stage for the summer's biggest heavy metal festival. And it enlisted Chauvet as a lighting sponsor.

Dubbed "revolutionary" by Osbourne, the Jägermeister stage is a 34ft long, fully self-contained stage complete with a full audio sound system provided by JVC Mobile. The entire PA system, provided by Peavey Electronics and Schecter Guitars, will be hung for optimum sound. Lighting consists mostly of LED-fitted fixtures (COLORpalette and LEDrain 56 washes, LED white Technostrobes) and 10mW Scorpion lasers. All lights are controlled via Chauvet ShowXpress software.

"We are incr

Details
UK / Germany - Visitor registration for PLASA07 (which runs from 9-12 September at Earls Court in London) will be officially launched at the forthcoming Pro Light+Sound exhibition in Frankfurt.

Industry professionals visiting Frankfurt can take advantage of free registration to PLASA07 by visiting the PLASA Stand (J80) in Hall 8.0 where special registration forms will be available.

12,852 (ABC audited) trade buyers attended PLASA06 and the 2007 event - which has been extensively redesigned - is set to draw much bigger numbers. Re-bookings for exhibition space at Earls Court 1 and 2 are strong, ensuring that PLASA07 will be the key exhibition this year for emerging technologies and innovative ideas.

Online registration will be available from Monday 2 April enabling potential visitors to sign up via the newly redesigned and user-friendly website which will serve as the Informa

Details
USA - Aviom introduced its new AV-P2 Output Module at NSCA 2007. It is designed for use in a wide variety of applications. The AV-P2 offers simple plug-and-play installation and secure 'set-and-forget' channel configuration.

Audio is distributed to the AV-P2 over standard Cat 5e cables, using Aviom's A-Net digital audio protocol. A-Net supports realtime distribution with sub-millisecond latency, and long cable runs up to 500ft/150m.

There is no limit to the number of devices that can be daisy chained, or to the number of parallel splits in a single system, says the company.

Power can be supplied to the AV-P2 with an external DC power supply or over the Cat 5e cable (with an A-Net Distributor). Additionally, Pro16 A-Net audio streams can be transmitted over single- or multi-mode fibre optics using certain standard third-party media converters.

The AV-P2 has reversible mount

Details
USA - For the 10th consecutive year, a broad range of Audio-Technica microphones was selected to outfit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. A-T supplied over 100 mics to capture the audio for this widely celebrated musical event, which took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The 22nd annual event was held on 12 March, with inductees including Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, R.E.M., The Ronettes, Patti Smith and Van Halen. The show was broadcast live on VH1 Classic, and for the first time, streamed live on the Internet.

Audio-Technica's Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System was used with the AEW-T5400 handheld microphone/transmitter for frontline vocals on performances by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Kid Creole, Cowboy, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Mr. Ness, Raheim), Aretha Franklin, Sammy Hagar, The Ronettes featuring

Details
UK - Leisuretec Distribution has been appointed a UK distributor of the Digital Lounge, a range of products offering a complete high-end package to the AV, conference room and venue markets.

The latest creation from Harman Kardon, the Digital Lounge is billed as "the ultimate in digital entertainment, providing a 360 degree AV experience in legendary Harman Kardon surround sound, on the latest 32", 40" and 46" high-definition LCD flat-screen TV's".

The Digital Lounge speakers are designed to work optimally together to maintain a coherent sonic and visual signature across the entire entertainment system. The 10" powered subwoofer uses an efficient 200-watt amplifier to deliver more power with less distortion.

"Everyone can produce an LCD screen. This range combines an LCD screen, AV amplifier, high definition DVD player and 5.1 surround soun

Details
Sweden - Studer has taken an order for one of its compact Vista 5 digital audio consoles from a new venue attached to the Stadsteater in Gothenborg, the first in Scandinavia to choose the Vista 5 as a front-of-house mixing desk. The sale of the first Swedish Vista 5 has been followed by the appointment of a new distributor in Sweden, LydRommet Sverige A/B.

The Vista 5 console is destined for the Backa Teater company, part of the Gothenborg City Theatre, or Stadsteater, and generally regarded as one of the most interesting and attractive theatre groups in Sweden. Music plays a large role in its live productions and there are five musicians working permanently in the group.

In 1989, the Backa company moved into a reconstructed factory on the Hisingen Island close to the central parts of Gothenburg, but, after eighteen years in that building, the City of Gothenburg has decided to

Details
UK - Marquee Audio has supplied Surrey-based PA rental company Kinetic with a pair of super-compact Yamaha LS9 digital consoles, which have been deployed on a 30-date tour of the UK by Barbara Dickson. The larger of the two desks, an LS9-32, has been used by Kinetic's Gareth Fox-Williams to mix front-of-house sound, provide eight monitor mixes, and multitrack the shows for future possibilities as a live album.

Fox-Williams says preparing for this his third tour with Barbara Dickson was the moment he finally realised the inevitability of digital consoles. "Over the last year, I got my digital head doing a lot of successful work on a Yamaha MC7L digital desk, and when I saw the similarities between that and the LS9, I had to order one, even though I'd not seen one in the flesh. To me, it feels very familiar, very accessible and intuitive to navigate. And the quality outstrips

Details
USA - February 2007 saw the Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears by 29 points to 17 ensuring the most prestigious National Football League (NFL) Superbowl trophy, making its way from east coast to the Midwest states. And Lighthouse screens were an integral part of the format showcasing the ultra-fine resolution all over the country through CBS Sports broadcasting. Shining brightest of all - on what proved to be a wet and miserable evening in the Dolphins Stadium, Miami - was a Lighthouse R4 4mm LED screen.

Bringing all the actions to a worldwide television audience of millions, CBS television's open-sided pitch-side television studio saw host Dan Marino joined by former American football players-turned-pundits Jim Brown, Shannon Sharpe and Boomer Esiason.

Used to display the game's score and NFL graphics, the Lighthouse 4mm screen was arranged three panels wide by one pan

Details
UK - 5 Star Cases has supplied a specialist case to the Cambridge based Silent Aircraft Initiative to house one of its concept model aircraft. 5 Star was contacted by the University of Cambridge's senior acoustic technician John Hazelwood to supply a tough bespoke case for the transportation of this delicate and very expensive model aircraft around the country. Although extremely lightweight, being constructed of composites the plane is very fragile and needs suitably robust protection.

Silent Aircraft Initiative is a joint project between the University of Cambridge and Massachusetts Institute to Technology (MIT). This was set up with the aim of developing a conceptual design for a new low noise aircraft - with sound almost imperceptible outside the perimeter of a daytime urban airport. This requires radically different aircraft and engine designs.

The resulting

Details
UK The merger of MC2 Audio and XTA Electronics has been announced today following three months of fruitful negotiations. This new UK based group, which also includes Quested Monitoring Systems, brings together three of the most well known British professional audio manufacturing companies. The merged group will open up possibilities for each of the individual companies to benefit from a larger pool of resources extending from research and development through to sales and marketing.

Ian McCarthy, one of the founders of MC2 Audio, will head-up the group as managing director with Terry Clarke, co-founder of MC2 Audio and John Austin, co-founder of XTA acting as technical directors, each with responsibility for their own field of expertise, while Roger Quested will continue as technical director for Quested.

Andrew Grayland, co-founder of XTA, is to take a new direction in order t

Details
Switzerland - Over 100 Robe Show Lighting ColorSpot 2500E AT fixtures were specified by lighting designer Fabrice Delmontel for the massive Peugeot stand at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show. These were purchased specially for the event by Impact Evenement from Longjumeau, France, which supplied all lighting, sound and AV for the impressive 4000 sq.m stand at Palexpo in Geneva.

Fabrice Delmontel worked closely with Peugeot's team of stand and car designers on the project, and also with Stephane Fleury, Impact Evenement's technical manager. He explains that the car and stand design teams both have very different agendas in terms of aesthetics, but all of them are working to the ultimate goal of having the best presented stand in the hall.

Peugeot's theme this year centred around the environment and keeping the process of manufacturing and running a car as green and environmentally-fri

Details
Canada - The Heaven and Hell tour kicked off with High End Systems DL.2s in its design. Heaven and Hell is a highly-anticipated tour among heavy metal fans, as this new band features veterans Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice.

LD Paul Dexter of Masterworks Lighting has specified 3 DL.2s from CWP in Los Angeles to project images onto the set design's three arch screens. CWP is also supplying a Hog iPC for control of the DL.2s, with a D-Tek video switcher. Joseph Denham is the CWP tech/programmer/operator supporting the CWP gear. PRG is supplying a Wholehog 3 console for the main lighting rig. Dexter is using both custom content and stock libraries in the DL.2s.

"The DL.2s are so versatile that for a nearly two-hour show, new images and stock footage continues to alter the look of the three centrally dedicated arch projection windows and all encom

Details
UK - At the Guild Hall in Preston, Adlib Audio has completed the design and installation of an ultra-flexible sound reinforcement system, despite the challenges of the infrastructure. The result cleverly addresses the changing needs of the venue, using available technology from Nexo and custom designs from Kelsey Acoustic, as it hosts a huge variety of productions and events both theatre style and in-the-round.

Built in 1972 to mark the Guild Celebrations of that year, the Guild Hall and Charter Theatre is one of Britain's most successful multi-purpose, entertainment, exhibition and conference centres, and is now renowned internationally for its presentation of entertainment and major indoor sporting events. The auditorium, which has an adaptable stage area, can accommodate more than 2000 people for a concert or theatre production. It is also used for high-profile sporting compe

Details
USA - Bandit Lites has appointed John Lucksinger as production manager and Nicole Nota as production coordinator.

In his new role, Lucksinger will plan, direct and coordinate activities of designated projects. He was most recently lighting designer/director for country music superstar Martina McBride.Previously a production manager for the company, Nota will now serve as the liaison between lighting designer Jason Robinson and Bandit for all his projects and needs.

(Jim Evans)

Details
UK - When Sheriff Taylor set out to convert the Settle Down basement bar in London's affluent Kensington into a venue seeking A-list celebrities, he wanted to create an opulent environment split into three separate areas. Two distinct 'satellite' lounges - the 80-capacity Cocktail Bar and 120-capacity Champagne Bar - would operate off the main club area, which holds a maximum of 300 people.

The interior creation of this £1 million project was entrusted to Siberian designer, Valentina Druzhinina. Each of the rooms is delineated by different chandeliers and a different colour scheme - white for the Cocktail Bar, a warmer brown for the Champagne Bar and black granite and black marble in the main room, with textured black Ulf Moritz wallpaper and curtains.

For their audio requirements, the club contacted residential/home theatre specialists Audio Venue, who were already know

Details
UK - Southampton-based lighting rental company GLS, promoters Live Nation and venue Southampton Guildhall all combined forces with rigging specialists Lift-Turn-Move (LTM) to stage one of LTM's renowned CM Lodestar Motor Schools at Southampton Guildhall.

The Guildhall is a popular venue on the live touring circuit and one with which the touring fraternity is well familiar. The use of the venue was negotiated between GLS's Ian Turner and the Guildhall's head technician, Simon Williams.

Turner explains, "Live Nation and GLS both had technicians, engineers and freelancers, who were interested in doing the Motor School, and it also provided a chance for some of the new people we know who are just getting into the business to get close-up to one of the basic industry standard pieces of kit." The Guildhall was in a similar position, with lots of hoists in their house rig a

Details
USA The FogScreen projection screen has been recognised for its innovative design at the 3rd annual Bottom Line Design Awards, sponsored by creative consultancy frog design and Business 2.0 magazine.

"For us, good design is about good business," says Doreen Lorenzo, president and CEO of frog design. "The Bottom Line Design Awards celebrate innovations that not only appeal to us visually, but grow businesses, stimulate markets and change the societies in which we operate."

Mika Kolvula, CEO FogScreen Inc, states, "If you are looking to draw attention to your brand at trade shows, in retail stores, night clubs, or entrances to any event, you should contact us. FogScreen projection screens create a dry thin fog wall onto which video-quality images can be projected, creating the world's only walkthrough screen."

(Jim Evans)

  1. Hawkins invests in Pro Tools from HHB
  2. Zero 88 chills out at Café 7
  3. PRG takes Kinesys automation on Richie tour
  4. Dolly Parton's prints at Wembley
  5. Martin posts record profits in 2006
  6. XL Video is Faithless
Page 873 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .