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France - Lighting production company Arpege selected a Jands Vista console to provide lighting control for the 32nd César Awards, the biggest annual film awards ceremony in France.

The star-studded event, which is French cinema's equivalent to Hollywood's Oscars ceremony, has been running for over 30 years and is televised live from the iconic Théâtre du Châtelet in the centre of Paris.

Lighting designer Jean-Bernard Favero-Longo and programmer Didier Dast had worked together lighting live television shows many times before, and recently tried out the Jands Vista to great success on several events. So when Didier suggested they use the Vista for the high-profile Césars live awards, Jean-Bernard had complete confidence in his decision.

The awards ceremony's trademark set featured white suspended panels moving up and down, with the lights colouring and p

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Germany - The International congress centre Eurogress in Aachen, already equipped with a Sound Projects Linex array system, has added a set of Sound Projects' line array in-one-box, DreamLine.

The DreamLines are rigged up on both sides of the main venue's stage and are used as front-fill/in-fill/down-fill. Eurogress also purchased another four Sound Projects X-act monitors. These are being used variously as stage monitor, side-fill or as a simple small PA kit.

* After 12 years in Hilversum Sound Projects' main office has moved to larger facilities and a logistically improved location in the centre of The Netherlands. The new address is: Karperweg 16, 1317 SN Almere. Phone: +31 36 5394570. Fax: +31 36 5300578. E-mail and website remains unchanged.(Jim Evans)

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Turkey - Visual impact is critical to success for modern car brands, and Alfa Romeo Istanbul is using Vikuiti Rear Projection Film from 3M to present powerful messages at street level using full-colour, full-motion video. 3M Turkey has installed a 2.4 x 2m Vikuiti Film on sliding window panels at Alfa Romeo's showroom, which is delivering a variety of content directly to visitors and passers by.

The showroom is using the window display to present messages including promotional offers, new product announcements, and dealer and manufacturer news. The content is developed and produced by Alfa Romeo, working with professional creative partners, and takes advantage of Alfa Romeo's rich history as a design and motorsport pioneer to communicate the full excitement of Alfa Romeo ownership.

"Alfa Romeo is known as a vibrant brand, full of colour and passion. This can be difficult

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France - Nexo has recorded one of its biggest system sales into eastern Europe, with the delivery of a substantial Geo T line array inventory, complete with amplifiers and operational accessories, to A-Logic Stage System in Budapest, Hungary.

The sale was handled by World Marketing Associates on behalf of Nexo and Lisys, distributor for Nexo products in Hungary, which supplied the loudspeaker system as well as several digital consoles, wired and wireless microphones, chainhosts, trusses and a full moving heads lighting system to a value of 1.4 million Euros.

A-Logic Stage System is a relatively new company which is setting its sights on top-end international touring shows and large-scale local events. According to WMA's Francis Williams, "Tthere have never been many large rigs in the accession countries as the acts that can attract large crowds generally tour with their o

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Australia - The Olympic Torch Relay arrived at Australia's national capitol Canberra amid much fanfare and media attention. Following incidents earlier in its travels, local organizers worked overtime to ensure that the event ran as smoothly as possible.

The audio specification for the event required systems be provided at two locations, the first at the dawn torch lighting ceremony and the second for the end of relay presentation and concert. Canberra company Eclipse Lighting and Sound were contracted to supply the audio design and equipment for the event. This also included a small system at Canberra airport for the torch's arrival. The whole event saw an extensive array of Electro-Voice equipment used throughout.

The official torch lighting ceremony led by the local chairman Ted Quinlan then saw the torch handed to the first of many runners that took it on a three hour rout

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USA - A new on-line Training Centre recently debuted on the High End Systems website. This special section is dedicated to training resources, including new videos and tutorials with specific information about Wholehog consoles, digital lighting products and new automated luminaires. Users can navigate through the information or view short training videos for in-depth tutorials on many topics. Training sessions have also been expanded with added dates to meet the demand, says the company.

"We're excited to debut the new online Training Centre," says Cat West, HES console training specialist. "Our goal was to have a place where our users could not only find information about our training classes, but also learn more about the products through videos and online tutorials. The best part is that these new resources are available free of charge, at any time, to anyone

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Germany - The Eurogress international congress centre in Aachen, which had previously upgraded its sound reinforcement system with a Sound Projects Linex array system, has now expanded the system with a set of Sound Projects' "line array in-one-box" - DreamLine.

The main venue of the immense Eurogress, the 'Europa Saal', has a large capacity (2500 standing or 1800 seated) and a large stage with a variable height which can be lowered down to floor level, to give place to an additional 200 seats. The stage also has a variable depth from 3m up to 16m. This variability was the reason for Axel Dresbach, Eurogress technical manager, to add the DreamLines to the existing line array system of 16 Sound Projects Linex cabinets.

The DreamLines are rigged on both sides of the stage and are used as front-fill, in-fill and down-fill boxes. Dresbach explains: "The choice for t

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USA - American Music & Sound reports that Wharfedale Pro has joined the AM&S family of brands effective 1 May, 2008. Celebrating 75 years of producing loudspeakers, Wharfedale Pro joins AM&S with a full lineup of powered, passive, and install loudspeakers as well as amplifiers, mixers, and studio speakers.

"Wharfedale Pro is a fantastic addition to our Live Sound and Sound Reinforcement offering," states Lynn Martin, president of American Music & Sound. "They bring an historic brand legacy and couple that with state of the art manufacturing techniques making Wharfedale Pro a tremendous opportunity for dealers, sound companies, consultants, and installers in the USA."

Daniel Chang, Wharfedale Pro's managing director adds: "American Music & Sound's distribution network and expertise in Pro Audio markets is perfect for our products. We are very excited to

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Dubai - PALME Middle East 2008 closed with a record-breaking 8,600 visitors, representing a 22% increase over the 2007 event, say the organisers. The sixth PALME Middle East show ran from 27-29 April at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre. This year's event has set new records not only in terms of the number of exhibitors (272 exhibitors, representing over 800 companies and brands) but the amount of exhibition space sold and the number of visitors.

"We registered 1,500 more visitors this year than we did last year, clearly highlighting the industry growth and underlining Dubai as the entertainment capital of the Middle East. With five exhibition halls covering 20,000sq.m, PALME has real 'pulling power' and is now firmly established as the world's largest events' industry showcase," commented Neil Hickman, group exhibitions director of event organisers IIR Exhibit

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UK - Clay Paky has announce the nominations for the 'Knights of Illumination' Lighting Design Awards that are to be awarded in association with the ALD and the STLD at the annual ABTT dinner in London on 11 June 2008.

The awards are being suppored by Clay Paky to recognise the UK's outstanding contribution to live performance and television. The awards are unique in honouring work across such a wide range of music, theatre, opera, dance and television.

Theatre nominees (Dance)

• Lucy Carter for Chroma at the ROH and her work with Random Dance. Her work was remarkable for the quality of light that added so much to the staging.

• Tim Mitchell for Hamlet for the Northern Ballet Theatre. His work was cited for its taste and restraint when so much was going on in the piece.

• Katharine Williams for I am Falling at the Gate theatre fo

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USA - D&A Collective has installed two Xone:S2 mixers at the Hudson Terrace in New York City to handle both the main dance floor and the roof deck. High above 46th St in Manhattan's Midtown West, the new Hudson Terrace features a 7,000sq.ft rooftop deck in addition to more than 8,000sq.ft of multifunction space, bar, and outdoor patio.

"The Xone:S2 was the perfect choice for the Hudson Terrace for a number of reasons," states D&A's Steve Petrik. "The fader/rotary option makes a lot of sense for this space. I have the faders installed on the rooftop's S2 because the music up there tends to be more hip hop oriented, and the rotary option is installed on the dance floor which is great for club DJs. And, the fader/rotary units can be swapped as necessary to please the performing DJs."

The A/V System at Hudson Terrace, designed by Steve Petrik, is composed of co

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UK - Cirrus Research plc, which specialises in the design and development of noise measurement equipment for health and safety applications has launched its Noise in Action Photography Competition. Cirrus is looking for interesting, unusual or imaginative images of its noise measurement instruments in use, and the winner will receive a pair of Sennheiser PCX-350 Noise Cancelling Headphones. The closing date for entries is 29 August.

James Tingay of Cirrus Research explains, "Cirrus equipment is used in so many different sectors, from mining and industry, to clubs and bars, and we are looking to add colour to our promotional material and website with some really exciting images of our products in use."

The entries can include any Cirrus Sound Level Meter or the doseBadge Noise Dosemeter, and must include the product in use. Full competition rules can be found

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Russia - D.A.S. distributor BossMan opted to install the D.A.S. Audio line array for the Zhara Club in the city of Voronezh. In addition to a dance floor and a bar, it also includes a stage where live music plays an important role.

Designed as a multipurpose location, the club contains two areas - one for live sound and one for background music. In the first area, two clusters that cover the entire dance floor have been installed. Each cluster incorporates six powered Variant 25A line array modules and two Variant 18A subwoofers.

Two powered SML-12A systems have been installed as stage monitors. Three Sub-218G subwoofers were chosen to supply high low frequency sound pressure levels.

In the second area, four powered DS-108A systems have been installed, along with four Sub-18-A powered subwoofer systems to enhance bass response. To achieve a high quality system for messaging

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Mexico - For the last 12 years, the town of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state Baja California, has hosted the Baja Prog festival. For the last two years, Nexo has been part of the event. Local PA company Audiomix provides a Geo S8 system for the 20 bands that come from all over the world to play.

This year's system was configured with 10-element hangs on either side of the stage (8x S805 plus 2x S830) with two CD18 subs on either side. Over the four days of the festival, the audience could enjoy an exotic bill of bands from Poland, Italy, the UK, Spain and Mexico. Among the big names were 1970s superstars Focus and Tony Levin from King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, as well as Cast (Mexicali host band), Alonso Arreola (México), Riverside (Poland), Omni (Spain), Rocket Scientists (United States), and the legendary New Trolls (Italy), Le Orme (Italy) and Circa.

(Jim

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USA - The Midas XL8 digital live performance system delivered "impeccable audio performance" at front-of-house for the recent Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

The three-week long rodeo is both the world's largest livestock exhibition and the world's largest rodeo event. Every night after the rodeo competitions wind down, the Rodeo brings on the big name entertainment, making it one of the world's largest live concert event series. This year, audience attendance for concerts by Brad Paisley and Hannah Montana both hit the 73,000 mark.

A veteran sound engineer of 30+ years, and long-time Midas enthusiast, Howie Lindeman worked alongside Houston's LD Systems - whose large deployment of Electro-Voice audio equipment ensures the Rodeo events and concerts sound superb every year - supervising the XL8, which was on hand as the house console for visiting engineers.

Most o

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Finland - FogScreen, Inc reports that Encore Creative's inventory now contains five interlinkable FogScreen One projection screens, making them the largest provider of FogScreen projection screens in the US.

"Carrying the largest inventory of FogScreen projection screens in the US is a crucial step into what we see as a huge growth opportunity into the special events market," said Jeff Lowy, president of Encore Creative. "Our team is dedicated to providing memorable experiences for clients that are always on the lookout for something technologically hip and edgy. Having the FogScreen projection screens in our inventory gives us the ability to reach new creative heights for all our personalized events."

"FogScreen, Inc. is proud to have Encore Creative as the largest provider of screens for a US market primed to be entertained in exciting and memorable

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USA - Shure Incorporated recently presented Advanced Wireless Seminars in four cities on the West Coast. The company is staging the events around the US for its dealers and technicians from major entertainment venues. This leg of the tour included stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.

The Seattle event took place at the Experience Music Project, an interactive museum of rock history. "The Experience Music Project is dedicated to the exploration of creativity and innovation in popular music, and we felt that it was the ideal place to stage this seminar," said Van Browne of Brownstone LLC, the Shure representative for the Pacific Northwest.

Each six-hour Advanced Wireless Seminar covers the fundamentals of radio waves, transmitter and receiver design, RF spectrum and 'White Spaces', frequency coordination, antenna placement, scanning equipment, a

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Portugal - After years of satisfied use of an Outline Doppia point source system, Megafone is changing to Butterfly, Outline's line-array.

Founded in 1998 by Eduardo Machado, Jose Manuel Machado and Miguel Andrade, Megafone is one of the busiest rental companies in Portugal and specialises in sound reinforcement for concerts, festivals, musicals and high profile shows.

The recently purchased Outline system comprises a total of 12 CDH 483 Hi-packs, supported by eight Victor Live subwoofers, all powered by T series digital power amps and processed by Genius 26 DSP.

On the occasion of the changeover to the Outlinearray, Megafone also decided to buy four Outline DVS 10 full-range enclosures for use as all-purpose systems.

Megafone co-owner José Manuel Machado comments, "This is another big step for us at Megafone - as was the case in 2003, when we bought the Doppia

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UK - It is thanks to lighting charity Light Relief that freelance production electrician Chris Luscombe was able to survive after a nasty accident left him with a fractured and dislocated ankle and unable to work for more than three months. Now having established an alternative career, as a health and safety trainer for the Safety Pass Alliance/PSA Safety Passport scheme, Luscombe felt it only right to give something back to the charity.

Luscombe has been working with White Light regularly this year, running health-and-safety training days for White Light's staff, freelance contractors used by White Light and anyone else interested. The course covers organising for safety, workplace safety, plant and machinery, noise and health, procedures (including risk assessments) and the environment. Each course concludes with a test that, if passed, leads to the awarding of a Safety Pass A

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USA - TobyMac, Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Trin-i-tee 5:7, and the David Crowder Band may have been among some of the top honorees at the 39th annual GMA Dove Awards held at the Grand Ole Opry House, but it was Natalie Grant who stole the show when she was named Female Vocalist of the Year for the third consecutive time, and performed her hit Bring it All Together live with country icon Wynonna Judd using Shure UHF-R wireless.

"To hear my name nominated in such company is such a huge honor," Grant told the Shreveport Times, humbly paying tribute to all the other artists singled out for kudos at the event. "My microphone used to be a hairbrush, and my audience used to be stuffed animals. I hold loosely to it all. I may be the flavour of the moment right now, but at some point it will be someone else's turn."

Having traded-in her hairbrush thi

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Spain - Every year for two weeks, the small city of Vinarós in Castellón, Spain, is transformed with the celebration of the Carnaval de Vinarós, a huge fiesta featuring vibrant shows with various themes. Sound reinforcement for this year's recently-concluded Carnaval was led by EAW KF Series line arrays and SB Series subwoofers.

E.J.R. Systems S.L, a sound and lighting rental company based in Benicarló, headed the sound reinforcement effort, collaborating with production suppliers Dodinuf and Yapadú Produccions on a main system featuring 32 KF730 Series small line array modules joined by 16 EAW SB1000z double-18" subwoofers.

"Day after day, I honestly enjoy my job more," states Eduardo Soriano, sound technician and co-owner of Yapadú Produccions. "I'm working with an unbeatable team of world-class brands such as EAW, as well as Lab.gruppen and Dolby L

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UK / Ireland - Sound Technology plc has announced the acquisition of Harman Professional Group's distribution business in the UK and Ireland from Harman International Industries, Inc.

The agreement transfers to Sound Technology a strong team of sales professionals and exclusive distribution rights for JBL Professional, Crown, Soundcraft, AKG, dbx, BSS Audio and Lexicon products in the UK and Ireland.

"Sound Technology is a premier pro audio distribution business in the UK and Ireland with strong market knowledge and a commitment to selling systems across Harman's served vertical markets," said Blake Augsburger, Harman Professional's CEO. "This direct-to-third-party shift provides Harman the entrepreneurial drive necessary to support its international go-to-market strategy".

"We are thrilled to be representing the legendary professional brands of Harm

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UK - One of north London's best-known concert venues, the Mama Group-owned Kentish Town Forum, has been hosting live performances since the early 1980s, featuring a diverse array of artists. In recent years there had been concerns about the venue's sound quality, so a new Turbosound audio system has been installed.

"My job was to deliver products so that the venue can do its business successfully," says Archie McIntosh, director of VMS Live, who the Mama Group brought in to oversee the Forum's refurbishment. "I've used Turbosound Aspect in other projects and it was good to have the chance to use it in such a wonderful venue as the Forum."

The main front of house system comprises both ground stacked and flown elements. Four Aspect TA-880L low frequency, three TA-880H mid/highs and two TSW-218 subs per side are complemented by a pair of TA-500 Aspect Wide cab

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UK - Adele, the young British soul singer who began the year as the winner of the BBC's Sound of 2008, is currently undertaking her biggest UK tour so far. And an essential addition to her touring package has been a range of microphones from Neumann and Sennheiser.

According to front of house engineer Dave McDonald the Neumann KMS 104 was always going to be an essential part of Adele's audio makeup.

"I've been touring for the last year with Air," he explains, "and we were using the Neumann KMS 104. It takes the vocal and really throws it to the back of the hall with clarity. When I started working with Adele I said, 'let's get you one of these, it's the right mic for your vocal'. The KMS 104 just has this depth. It goes right to the bottom and the high end of the vocal and it's crystal clear. That's what I always want. I don't want to be messing around f

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  3. ADB light up £20m Spa Bridlington
  4. Record-breaking projection for Beijing
  5. BSS Audio at heart of Sydney development
  6. Dancing on Ice with Clay Paky
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