Business

Details
UK The Cadogan Hall in Chelsea, south west London, home to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, has taken delivery of a Renkus-Heinz Iconyx digitally steerable array loudspeaker system for its popular crush bar where up to 500 concert-goers enjoy their interval drinks.

Formerly a church, Cadogan Hall was transformed into a modern concert venue in June 2004 and boasts an airy 900-seat auditorium with excellent acoustics and unimpeded sightlines.

One area that was due for an upgrade was the hall's crush bar, an approximately square, low-ceilinged and highly reflective room where the buzz of the interval drinks crowd made voice announcements calling people back to their seats inaudible in many areas. The room is also let out for other functions such as book launches, where again the requirement is largely for speech reinforcement.

Acoustic consultants and system engineers COMS had

Details
UK - Due to circumstances beyond their control, Deco Leisure Group has been forced to pull outof the forthcoming PLASA Show at Earls Court.

The company suffered severe damage to its Birmingham manufacturing plant during the recent floods in the UK, and had hoped to have time to recover from the damage. However, the situation was exacerbated by a reoccurrence of the drainage problems over the week-end of 1 September, prompting CEO Sammy DeHavilland to make a formal statement:

"We consider the PLASA Exhibition to be the most important in the calendar; however the recent flooding has forced us to focus on the continuity of supply to our customers, rather then attending the show - it has become obvious we cannot do both.

DeHavilland explained: "Ironically the main problem, which involves the run-off of excess water from the site, was not our responsibility until last y

Details
UK - Blitz has partnered with Blue Box Entertainment to provide the interactive video system for Eurobeat - Almost Eurovision. The musical, written by Craig Christie and produced by the Glynn Nicholas Group, recently won the award for the Best New Musical at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Mel Giedroyc, of 'Mel & Sue' fame, hosted the show where the audience vote for their favourite song by sending a text message and the winner is then announced live on stage.

Blitz worked alongside Blue Box Entertainment to create "an affordable, yet stunning end product" and provided a full range of services for the show. The AV equipment included a simple-to-operate video system to playback the VTs and project the PPT/PC images live onto the screen. Blitz's project manager, Mark Lewis offered technical advice to ensure that the interactive video system created maximum imp

Details
UK - To celebrate the scout movement's 100th anniversary, 5,000 members of the UK South Coast Movement, recently came together in Hampshire in the south of England. The programme of the open-air event at the New Forest Showground in Hampshire featured speeches, presentations, theatre performances and a performance by the Gosport Gang Show, supported by a 5-piece live band.

These diverse demands presented a challenge for Guy Morris of MLS, the local rental company. For this event, he required a sound system that could do a top job of reproducing speech, prerecorded music, and live music equally well over a large area. He chose the HK Audio Cohedra Compact line array and set up eight CDR 108s and four CDR 210 subwoofers on each side of the stage, and powered them with three matching PR8 amp racks with digital field controllers.

Due to the width of the stage, two ConTour Series C

Details
UK - Slingco has installed a CableNET tensioned wire grid system into the Studio Theatre in the Student Union building at the new £50 million Queen Margaret's University College (QMUC) in Musselburgh, south-east Edinburgh.

This complete new build project opens this month and is the first new Scottish University Campus of the 21st century and replaces QMU's three previous city centre sites. It has been designed and built as a state-of-the-art centre of academic excellence, complete with vibrant student village and an innovative learning resource centre at its core. It will cater for up to 5,000 students plus staff.

Queen Margaret University specifically requested that a Slingco CableNET was installed in the new theatre, following its huge conceptual and practical success at their previous Gateway Theatre in town. This was installed by Slingco in 2002 and was enjoyed and l

Details
UK - Production company Event Concept has designed the lighting for the National Army Museum's ground-breaking exhibition Helmand: A Soldier's Story. The exhibition recreates the experiences of soldiers in the troubled Helmand Province of Afghanistan and is believed to be the first to explain a conflict while it is still unfolding. The idea for this powerful exhibition came from the first NATO troops who entered the Province and it has been built, written and contributed to by them.

Describing his approach, Event Concept's designer Dan Terry says: "I wanted a rise and fall in lighting levels as visitors walk through the space as well as contrasts in colour; the open areas are lit in bright desert tones, while the buildings are more darkly atmospheric, with strands of brilliant white light to recreate sunbeams through windows. As many of the displays have written expl

Details
UK - XL Video supplied 254 panels of Barco MiTrix video screen and Catalyst media server control for the 2007 Nationwide Mercury Music Prize Awards, staged at London's Grosvenor House.

It was the first time that scenic video has been used on the event. The MiTrix was specified by lighting and visual designer Nigel Catmur, who has lit the show for the last four years, and wanted to introduce a new contemporary look. The show was broadcast "as live" on BBC radio and television, and was won by The Klaxons with their album Myths of The Near Future.

With 11 of the 12 nominated artists performing live, the video element added to the dynamics and presentation of the show, ensuring that each band's set looked different.

Richard Turner came onboard as video designer and programmer to work with Catmur in producing special content for the show. They also collaborated c

Details
UK - Wireless Solution Sweden is to launch Wireless University, an ongoing series of presentations and hands on demonstrations aimed at educating the industry on the technology and benefits of wireless DMX, at PLASA 07.

The programme kicks off at PLASA with a special seminar titled Wireless Control Technology held on Monday, 10 September from 10:30am to 12:00pm.

The series of technical sessions will continue at LDI in November and throughout 2008 in all major exhibitions worldwide, says the company. Two kinds of courses will be offered: A general overview and a more technical course, with completion earning a 'diploma', certifying the holder as a master Wireless DMX technician, available for on-site support.

In addition, Wireless Solution will host Road Shows and Open Houses in Europe, America, Middle East and Asia, which will give industry professionals a chance to n

Details
USA - Disney's High School Musical which started as a Disney Channel TV movie in January 2006 has turned into a global phenomenon. A story of personal empowerment and the pursuit of song and dance dreams in the face of high school peer pressure and cliquey disapproval, kids the world over are interested in musical theatre like never before thanks to High School Musical. The DVD and soundtrack have left millions of fans hungry for more, and a sequel and big-budget movie are in the works.

Disney is also taking High School Musical to the next level via a partnership with the NAMM Foundation that will extend the reach of the show through a public affairs initiative, communicating the vital role of personal creativity, expression and music education to millions.

NAMM's work with Disney includes the development of a public advocacy campaign that will draw content from

Details
International - The first digital edition of Lighting&Sound International magazine goes live today, on the eve of the 2007 PLASA Show.

Timed to coincide with both the PLASA 07 and the re-launch of the popular LSI Online website, L&SI's digital edition will offer an easily navigable and fully searchable on-screen version of the familiar magazine, accessible for subscribers anywhere there is Internet access, as soon as the magazine is published.

The digital edition will allow PLASA Media to significantly increase the global circulation of Lighting&Sound International magazine.

Available free to industry professionals worldwide, the digital edition will boost readership, particularly in developing markets where the cost of subscriptions has previously been an obstacle, and equally in far-flung territories where

Details
USA - As many music fans, historians and Baby Boomers celebrated the 40th anniversary of 'The Summer of Love', high-profile concert events across America made 2007 'The Summer of Aviom', suggests the company. Aviom's personal monitor mixing system and digital snakes have found a niche among musicians and live sound professionals working the summer's biggest music events the world over.

Trevor Lawrence, Jr. used his custom Aviom monitor rig on stage while playing drums with Alicia Keys at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey. Meanwhile, in the cradle of American independence, Philadelphia, hometown heroes Hall & Oates treated the rain-soaked 4th of July crowd with an outstanding 90-minute performance of their greatest hits. Broadcast live on ABC television, the whole band used Aviom personal mixers for their monitors.

Summer concerts in the park are becoming more popular throug

Details
UK - A seminar chaired by Mhora Samuel, director of The Theatres Trust, will highlight what leading theatre owners are doing to limit the carbon footprint of their venues - and what the industry can do to help. The seminar will take place at the forthcoming PLASA Show in London.

Following the Kyoto Protocol, the UK Government set a goal for CO2 emission reductions at 20% below the 1990 level by 2010. With the Climate Change Act due to be in place by Easter 2008 all businesses are being asked to play their part. Many theatres are aware that reducing emissions also helps to reduce their energy bills and are taking action now.

At this seminar, organised by The Theatres Trust, Dr Ben Todd, executive director of Arcola Theatre and Natalie Lewis, group operations co-ordinator of Ambassador Theatre Group, will talk about their plans to reduce CO2 emissions in their theatres and what

Details
UK - Draping and stage machinery specialists J&C Joel has designed, manufactured and fitted 42 acoustic elements into London's newly refurbished Royal Festival Hall.

The project includes the supply of four concertina banners and 38 acoustic roller blinds, plus ten chain driven tapestry tracks to which the Hall's famous Hilary Bourne designed tapestries have been re-attached following restoration. The movement of all these elements is integrated into the Stage Technologies automation control system.

Acoustic consultants Kirkegaard Associates were responsible for transforming the room acoustics into a perfect environment for staging world class events of all types and productions of all sizes, and they specified all the various treatments. Getting the acoustics right was a major part of the whole refurbishment scheme, and the overall project was led by architects Allies and Morr

Details
UK - The last 12 months have been a busy and prolific period for French digital mixing console manufacturer Innovason. Several products have made their debut this year, all of which bring new functionality to the Innovason digital mixing experience.

The most important development is the FM-8VB 8-in/8-out plug-in effects module offering 32 effects engines. Compatible with all Innovason audio racks, the new module will ship in December. For more information, please see separate press release.

Further processing capability comes in the form of the UM-8PO universal output module. Replacing all previous output modules from Innovason, the UM-8PO combines analogue and digital processed outputs for the first time ever in any digital mixing console. Equipped with eight XLR outputs that are configurable (in pairs) as analogue, AES or even ADAT, each output benefits from a powerful and c

Details
UK - The appointment of Beyer UK as exclusive UK distributor for MC2 Audio products has been announced at PLASA07. This major change to UK distribution has come about as part of MC2's ongoing appraisal of business performance and aligns MC2 Audio distribution with that of sister company, XTA Electronics.

Beyer UK has a long history in the pro audio industry and counts many brands that are considered to be 'industry standards' within its product portfolio. The company mission is to supply audio and video equipment, sourced from some of the world's leading manufactures, to the live, installation, recording and broadcast segments of the market as well as specialist products for the conference sector.

A combination of system design expertise, depth of product knowledge provided by their specialist product managers and full technical support, all adds up to Beyer UK being well qual

Details
UK - Lab.gruppen outlined at PLASA07, the benefits of its new association with Dolby Laboratories Inc.

The new product - the first fruit of the technology collaboration between the two companies that was announced last October - is a sound engineering tool which offers "far more than the sum of its parts", in the words of Lab.gruppen's Tim Chapman. A potent mix of existing and new technologies, it also supports a new audio networking standard which promises extreme low-latency Ethernet distribution.

The product is the PLM10000Q - the first in a series of Powered Loudspeaker Management systems - which combines the functions of crossover, delay, equalization, limiting and power amplification in one box, along with a host of new features.

The Dolby Lake Processor, the first live sound tool released by Dolby, was launched at PLASA last year, where it collected a PLASA

Details
UK - Bandit Lites UK supplied full lighting production and crew for the first three-day Fantasy Island 'Big Weekend' event, staged at one of Britain's best known holiday destinations, Skegness. Bandit was again working with event producers Production North.

Bandit Chief Executive, Lester Cobrin says, "It's always exciting and challenging to be involved in a completely new project, and naturally it was great to be working with Iain Whitehead and the Production North team again."

Bandit charged Dave Lee with ensuring that the three headline acts - Status Quo (LD Patrick Marks), Girls Aloud (LD Andy Hurst) and The Human League (LD & Visuals Rob Sinclair) - had their lighting requirements satisfied.

"The rig was based around Girls Aloud's arena tour spec," explains Lee, "which offered extremely good general stage coverage plus a selection of well chosen

Details
UK - Stagesafe, the event safety consultancy set up 10 years ago by Chris Hannam, has introduced a new Event Safety Vehicle, based on a 4x4 Jeep Cherokee, that besides serving as a patrol vehicle for event safety staff during festivals and events, is also designed for use as a rapid response vehicle in emergency situations.

Says Hannam: "The specially equipped vehicle can be called in instantly by radio to a hazardous situation that can then be evacuated, cleared, contained and made as safe as possible until the full support of the emergency services arrive. Following the emergency, safety staff can then deal with the aftermath and conduct an investigation designed to prevent further or similar incidents."

The new vehicle is, he says, designed to protect organisers, staff, audience and performers, adding that it can also be used to transport emergency crews, equipmen

Details
UK Behringer and Infinium Technologies have confirmed the signing of a deal to use Infinium's patented contact-free fader technology in future Behringer DJ products.

Infinium and Behringer have been co-developing a new 45mm optical and contact-free fader which meets "the highest demands in terms of quality, feel and especially longevity". The new fader will be used in a series of Behringer DJ mixers scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2008.

Uli Behringer, chairman and R&D director commented, "We are very excited to cooperate with Infinium, as we believe we have found the perfect technology to match our new high-end DJ mixers. A 'wear and tear-free' fader is crucial for DJs and adds tremendous value to our products."

René Moolenaar, business development director of Infinium Technologies noted, "This partnership is another important mi

Details
UK - Sennheiser UK confirmed at a press conference at PLASA07 that it is now the sole UK distributor for Italian high-end pro audio amplifier manufacturer Powersoft.

"We're delighted to add Powersoft to our portfolio of brands," explained Sennheiser UK general manager, Philip Massey. "Having spoken to many end-users over the past few months, Powersoft's reputation for versatility, sonic excellence and reliability is well deserved. This is an important partnership for us and we're very much looking forward to increasing the brand's profile over the coming years. Naturally, this is a great time for live music in the UK, but we're also assessing the potential for the brand in the Middle East."

"We are extremely proud to have signed this agreement," confirms Powersoft's commercial director Luciano Ciappi. "We think that Sennheiser UK can help us

Details
UK - The festival season continued apace for Adlib Audio, who supplied JBL VerTec and Nexo Alpha sound systems plus 18 crew to the NME/Radio 1 stage and the Radio 1 Lock Up stage/Dance Arena at both Reading and Leeds sites of the 2007 Carling Weekend event. This follows hot on the heels from their successful supply of sound and lights to the Virgin Mobile Sessions Stage at the V Festival two weeks previously.

Adlib was asked onboard for Reading/Leeds by Chris Beale of CBA who provided an audio brief and a list of specs for all the different bands. Adlib ensured they specified kit to meet everyone's requirements, and repeated the formula that worked so well at the V Festival of supplying identical systems for both stages at both sites.

One of the biggest challenges of the event was the short changeover times on the high profile NME/Radio 1 stage - most had to be completed in j

Details
UK - ELC Lighting held a triple celebration on the White Light stand today to mark its 10th anniversary.

Introduced by White Light Sales Director, Peter Threadgold, Silvio Cibien of ELC Lighting made a series of presentations. The first was to Stuart Lodge of Wimbledon High School who received an ELC focusBRAIN wireless remote control system on the school's behalf. This system was registered as the 2007th remote control to be produced by ELC and, to mark the occasion, ELC took the school's original order for an ELC focusHAND unit and upgraded it to the more advanced ELC focusBRAIN.

The school had chosen the focusHAND on the recommendation of White Light because of the ease of use, stable and robust construction and the fact it can work with any lighting control system. "When we found we were to be given a focusBRAIN instead, with all its additional features, we couldn't b

Details
UK - The new look PLASA07 opened for business this morning, 9 September, following a rush of last-minute registrations and confirmation of a substantial number of major product launches scheduled over the four days of the exhibition.

This year's show features a new layout, new features, over 50 new exhibitors, plus an expanded educational programme with many sessions free to visitors. These include special interest sessions from BEIRG, InfoComm International and the Theatres Trust, plus specialist sessions from Cirque Du Soleil, Duran Audio and Wireless Solutions. Additionally, the organizers have invested a range of visitor facilities including wi-fi lounges and meeting rooms.

The PLASA Awards for Innovation will be announced at 6pm this evening in the Central Bar area, located between Earls Court 1 and 2.

(Jim Evans)

Details
UK - The Green Hippo stand has relocated to the newly opened Earls Court 2 at the PLASA Show this year, where all the team are present, including two of the newest members. Simon Harris, who joins from Avolites, has been appointed to look after Training and Business Development in addition to taking over some of Nigel Sadler's territories. Daniel Brown joins straight from University and is a new addition to the programming team. The rest of the team comprising James, Nigel, Sean, Kitty, Tom and Jean-Luc will all be there to offer the customary combination of Green Hippo hospitality and expertise.

Green Hippo have been working alongside designers create a new look casing for all Hippotizers. This case is a response to all the feedback they had over the years concerning the physical elements of the systems. "We believe that this case will elevate the Hippotizer's status as a

  1. Goboland Stop Press News
  2. PLASA Events to acquire A.C. North Trade Show
  3. SCV London and Stirling Trading merge
  4. M-Audio dominates DJ Magazine Awards
  5. Industry innovators honoured at PLASA 2007
  6. lighting designer portfolio
Page 910 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .