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India - Over 3,000 professionals from the sound, light, music, audio visual and systems integration industries visited the recent PALME India trade show in Mumbai.

By the end of this successful show, it became clear to trade fair organisers, IIR Exhibitions, that the expo may be ready to evolve into its next phase.

After mounting a successful launch campaign in India's Bollywood capital there is now a groundswell of exhibitors asking IIR to repeat the formula in a different location in 2009.

The 2009 edition of PALME India is also likely to occupy a different date in the calendar - away from the Festival season.

Exhibition organiser James Raffoul, said: "We can look forward to the future as PALME India has become a permanent fixture in the Indian industry calendar."

(Jim Evans)

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Japan - The night of 23-24 August was a long one in Izu City, Japan, marking the occasion of Metamorphose, the country's biggest all-night music festival. More than 30 acts - mostly electronica - performed on three main stages and several smaller stages. Headliners were The Flaming Lips, Tortoise, and DJ Krush.

Ortofon reimforced the event with systems from Dynacord, including a Cobra line-array set-up.

Mayuri Akama, founder and promoter of Metamorphose commented: "We get more global feedback every year, and that's why we put a more global emphasis on the line-up for 2008. It's not just electronica anymore; we also have jazz, world music, and rock acts performing. No matter where you were or who was on stage, the sound was excellent all the time."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Less than a month after its launch at PLASA 08, DiGiCo's new SD8 console is already out on the road. An SD8 is being used to mix monitors for Art Garfunkel and his band, currently in the midst of a 12-date European trek. Playing to venues of around 2,000 capacity, it's a one truck tour so audio rental company AudioLease needed a monitor desk that was compact, but delivers quality sound.

"Being a one truck tour, space is at a premium," says AudioLease's Steve Sunderland. "With the SD8 we don't need to carry big racks of outboard gear, it's very compact and yet it still sounds awesome.

"I was amazed that there is now a DiGiCo console at a price that means we can use such a technically advanced desk in these kind of venues. It's very difficult to justify £50,000 to £100,000 worth of console for tours like this so, with the SD8, DiGiCo has fill

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UK - Allen & Heath, has appointed two new distributors to manage sales, distribution and service of its portfolio in Scandinavia.

Benum Nordic AS has assumed the role of exclusive distributor for the Allen & Heath brand in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Based in Copenhagen with an office in Stockholm, Benum Nordic is spearheaded by Jens Brochner Jensen and Flemming Sorensen. Benum is the largest pan-Scandinavian agency for system integration and equipment supply.

Noretron Audio will manage sales for Allen & Heath in Finland. Based on the outskirts of Helsinki, Noretron Audio is part of the Noretron Group of companies specialising in the distribution of audio, communication, AV, and component and measuring equipment.

"Noretron and Benum were selected because Allen & Heath fits well into the mix of brands they represent and both companies have dedicated and experienced sales

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USA - Audio-Technica reports that its SpectraPulse technology was used at the third presidential debate, held 15 October at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY.

The Audio-Technica SpectraPulse mtu201 Wireless XLR Desk Stand Transmitter was used with A-T's ES935ML Engineered Sound gooseneck microphone mounted within the conversation table in front of each candidate to pick up the audio from Senators McCain and Obama and transmit it securely, via patented ultra wideband (UWB) technology, with no interference.

A SpectraPulse Digital Receiver Module (drm141) was mounted directly above the conversation table in the lighting truss and connected to the equipment rack via a standard shielded Cat 5 cable.

Larry Estrin, of Studio City, CA-based Best Audio, serves as audio and production communications director for the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). He stated: "The Spec

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Latvia - Held once every five years, the Latvian Song and Dance Festival transformed Riga for one week this summer. Local audio company KM Sound provided a large complement of self-powered Meyer Sound loudspeakers for sound reinforcement for the event, successfully meeting the complex sound design challenges along the way.

These challenges were not limited to the sheer size of the festival. "It was very difficult to provide coverage to the auditorium area," notes sound engineer and FOH mixer Andris Uze. "We had no rigging points available, no cranes allowed, plus no place to put a centre cluster, which necessitated many small delay and fill boxes."

Meyer Sound's MAPP Online Pro acoustical prediction programme proved to be a great partner for Uze, and helped to create a design of left and right towers of 12 Milo line array loudspeakers per side, with

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Germany - The Halle Münsterland is the largest events centre in the region of Westphalia. 80 years after the first events were staged there, the Congress Hall has made a significant investment in a new sound reinforcement system for its main auditorium, a cutting-edge design driven by an EtherSound audio network via a digital matrix, allowing the settings of different sound reinforcement situations to be retrieved at the push of a button.

Jens Schmidt from installation specialists Trendco and Norbert Sangermann, the acoustics expert from CAMCO responsible for fixed installations, joined forces to design a system tailored precisely to the Congress hall.

For Schmidt and Sangermann, the concept design had to accommodate possible future requirements while offering the clearest possible signal transmission. Decision-makers at the Halle Münsterland focussed strongly on the reliabi

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Greece - DiGiCo has moved its Greek distribution channel to newly established company DN'A Systems, which is set to focus its attention heavily on the digital sector of the Greek pro audio market.

"DiGiCo is the top digital console, so this appointment is very important for us," says DN'A's general manager Takis Tsonopoulos. "We want to steer the Greek pro audio community more towards the digital world and teach traditional analogue users, who are nervous about using digital products, that DiGiCo is a very friendly console and will make their everyday life easier and more productive."

Although DN'A Systems is a relatively new enterprise, its founders - Tsonopoulos, sales director Yannis Tatsis, digital and concert sound technician Aris Koyntouris and installation technician Alexios Gkanas - are familiar figures with much industry experience.

"The ski

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USA - Continental Air Show Productions (CASP) travels the country with a powerful sound system that breathes life into some of the most spectacular air shows around. The main rig comprises two Community RSH462 loudspeakers and 24 more R.25 loudspeakers, along with six R.5 subwoofers. "We mount the RSH462s on man-lifts, on all-terrain forklifts, and even on scaffolding, depending on what's available," says CASP's Dave Olmstead. "We mount the R.25s on tripods about seven feet up, to cover the areas where VIP and sponsors are hosted."

Aside from the near deafening ambient noise, the other challenge is the sheer size of the areas needing coverage. The purpose-built distributed system can cover nearly a full mile of show line. Using a pair of 5.8GHz wireless remote systems, the loudspeakers can be placed anywhere along the ramp where extra coverage is needed. &quo

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UK - Absolute Lighting and Events has recently created the look of Liverpool's newest statement club, Cube, using LED lighting effects from Tryka and club lighting from Martin Professional.

Built across four glass-fronted floors, Cube provides a juxtaposition to the raft of small bars in the centre of Liverpool. The lighting design, by Neil Riley, director of Absolute, has worked this position as far as possible. By colour-washing each floor-to-ceiling window as a separate zone using the Tryka K2 LED RGB Strip Module, the message stands tall and is immediate: Cube is far from square.

The club area starts on the first floor, above the ground floor restaurant and pre-bar area lit with original lighting fixtures sourced from Italy and Spain. The first floor seating areas are illuminated using Tryka RGB Module 3 lighting units - in total 250 were used across the first and second f

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UK - The Brighton Centre conference venue, has revitalised its long-serving Electro-Voice PA system with the replacement of all the existing amplifiers with EV's latest DSP-controlled P1200 RL Precision Series amplifiers, running IRIS-Net remote control and system supervision software.

Known to many in the UK as the venue for high-profile conferencing, as used by the Conservative Party and the Trades Union Congress, the Main Hall of the Brighton Centre routinely accommodates prestige exhibitions, banquets and leisure events. With its flexible seating, it can accommodate 4,500 seated delegates.

The Main Hall's house PA was installed in the 1980s, a centrally-flown cluster of Electro-Voice loudspeakers which has worked for over 20 years. Brighton-based specialists MBI Sound & Light has maintained the Centre's facilities since that time. "With the important TUC conference lo

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UK - Dave Parry of Most Technical specified three Avolites consoles for control and Robe moving lights throughout for his innovative visual and sonic concept at the new 2500 capacity London club, Matter.

Parry was asked onboard by Matter owners and underground music gurus Keith Reilly and Cameron Leslie with whom he's worked on several previous projects. He collaborated closely with architects and interior designers William Russell and Sarah Adams of Pentagram who created an edgy neo industrial aesthetic for the venue which is inside the O2 in Greenwich.

Literally thousands of LED lightsources - primarily from the Philips SSL range including several kilometres of iColor Flex product - are embedded in various architectural features around the venue like walls, pillars and balconies, plus corridors, stairwells, toilets and other public spaces and circulation areas.

All these a

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UK - eMerging, the UK distributors for Merging Technology's products, have completed a lengthy high-definition upgrade project at Lime Pictures, Liverpool. Lime, who produce Channel 4's successful soap Hollyoaks virtually continuously 52 weeks a year, began a thorough overhaul of their video and audio production and editing facilties in 2007 to enable the show to be produced, edited and broadcast in high definition.

The completed upgrade has involved eMerging in the design, construction and installation of six new audio dubbing suites at Lime, each with Merging Pyramix audio Post-production DAWs, VCube HD high-definition video playback systems, and Merging Ramses control surfaces.

Alongside the equipment from eMerging, Lime also purchased new HD Sony HDC-1500 cameras, built a new Central Apparatus Room (CAR) with a 102-Terabyte Data Direct video production SAN, and adde

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USA - D.A.S. Audio recently hosted a seminar in Miami, specifically aimed at Aero line array users from the Caribbean and the US. Over 100 people attended the event on at the Intercontinental West Miami Hotel's Doral Reception Hall.

The speakers, D.A.S. Audio sound engineer, Javier Navarro and Gonzalo Aguirre, D.A.S. sales manager for Latin American and the Caribbean were joined by special guest speakers Ashok Maharaj the well-known Venezuelan independent professional audio consultant and Ulises Otero, US based Aero system user and owner of Roxy Productions.

The seminar's opening presentation and introduction of the participants was conducted by D. A. S. Audio international sales director, Jack Palacio. He went on to introduce Ashok Maharaj who delivered a presentation on the principles behind line array systems. Ulises Otero centred his speech on a detailed explanation about

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UK - Reading-based creative lighting specialists Blinding Light supplied production lighting design, lighting equipment, power distribution and control for the recent laser tag installation in The Hangar at London's O2.

Blinding Light was working for live experience company Sledge on this three-month project - the only indoor digital laser tag facility in the UK. The aim was to build a dramatic, atmospheric and stimulating environment for the high octane experience in which two teams battle to succeed in their mission. The Hangar was one of a series of ongoing long term temporary installations designed to offer additional entertainment value to anyone visiting the O2.

Blinding Light asked Mark Mumford to create the lighting design for the all-action game, which featured its own soundtrack and was housed inside the O2's inflatable "Bubble" structure. His task included

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USA - Now in its 13th year, the Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance offers classic car buffs the opportunity to admire a selection of the world's most exotic vehicles, presenting 100 motor cars in an event billed as "Honouring The Art and Colour of General Motors, Zagato and BSA Motorcycles".

Recalling the tradition of the classic French Concours d'Elegance in Paris, the event includes a high-end fashion show and black tie dinner reception. Sound for the event's sprawling grounds was provided by Community R.5 loudspeakers.

The R.5 loudspeakers were mounted in the event's main patio area and adjacent to each of the category displays. "Although R-Series are best known for permanent installations in stadia and harsh environment applications, their rugged construction, high power, light weight and ease of fixing make them ideal for temporary events like th

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Eurovision News - Andrew Lloyd Webber is to help pick the UK's next Eurovision entry, in an overhaul of the BBC's selection show. Lord Lloyd Webber will compose the UK's entry and embark on a search for the singer or group to perform the song. Graham Norton will host BBC TV show Your Country Needs You to find new talent for the 2009 contest, after a string of poor results for the UK. Lord Lloyd Webber said: "In my life I have never shied away from the impossible and this looks like the biggest mission impossible of all time. But with the might of the BBC and the British public behind me who knows what will happen?"

Opera News - "Not so long ago, making a fanfare about big frocks and fancy sets in opera was the preserve of that crowd-pleasing impresario Raymond Gubbay," wrote Emma Pomfret in The Times. "Heaven forbid that you uttered the words &quo

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Spain - Expo 2008 has finally drawn to a spectacular close in Zaragoza, Spain after a three-month tenure. 105 nations took part in the world fair which was dedicated to the topic of Water and Sustainable Development and attracted over 6 million visitors.

Situated in a meander of the Ebro river, the Expo 2008 site is home to some groundbreaking architecture such as the emblematic Bridge Pavilion designed by Zaha Hadid and the imposing Water Tower designed by Enrique de Teresa. The exposition site also hosted several daily shows including Iceberg, a visual and poetic symphony evoking water and climate change as its central themes. Leading Spanish production company, Focus, created the iceberg itself and designed the audio system which was entirely powered by Lab.gruppen amplifiers, including 24 PLM Powered Loudspeaker Management systems.

From a technical point of v

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UK - RTS Digital Intercoms has supplied a Cronus Digital Matrix to Glyndebourne Opera House as the cornerstone of a new integrated communications and paging system. The new system provides flexible paging to multiple zones and integrates production communications and 85 radio beltpacks covering the entire site. The system is controllable from any PC in the complex via the AZedit software interface.

Simon Yapp, head of audio visual and sound at Glyndebourne Opera House, and his colleague Keith Benson, head of lighting, needed to find a solution to replace the venue's old paging system, which had become unsupportable. The new solution was required to not only replace the original paging system with 16 zones but offer increased flexibility without throwing away the existing cable infra-structure and speaker system, all of which were still serviceable.

(Jim Evans)

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South Korea - DPA Microphones' 2008 Distributor of the Year award has gone to Best Leading Solutions of South Korea, recognising "the huge contribution to sales and service that the company has provided over the past 12 months".

"Best Leading Solutions has carried out a successful restructure of the entire company, with expansion into new market segments," says Ken Kimura, DPA's regional sales director, Asia Pacific. "The company has implemented various sales and marketing activities in close cooperation with DPA, and this has all combined in an increase in DPA sales turnover of 35% over 2007."

"I'm pleased and honoured to win the DPA Distributor of the Year Award," says H S Ahn, CEO of BLS. "Since I first encountered them, I've loved these mics and together with my staff have tried to get them into every studio and theatre. As the

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UK - The Lee Evans Big Tour is the UK's largest stand up comedy tour of 2008, with 59 sold out dates in arenas around the country and a total audience figure estimated at over 400,000. Audio provider for the tour Capital Sound has developed a system that utilises XTA digital signal processing.

A total of 11 XTA DP226 are used to control an extensive Martin Audio line array system. "It's something we developed from Lee's 2005 XL tour, which in itself was a development from the Eddie Izzard system we'd used two years previously," says Capital Sound's Paul Timmins. "We now have a design for large-scale comedy which we think serves the range of venues on this current tour very well."

"We have all the delay XTAs in the rack as a master unit and we use that as a matrix to drive the other XTAs which are stage end, which runs straight off the multicore,

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Ireland - In less than one month, EvenTech Ireland (18 - 19 November, 2008 - RDS Dublin, Ireland) opens its doors for the first time.

Iain McLean, one half of the Scattered Media duo responsible for the EvenTech model, reports: "The EvenTech brand is just in its first year and already we've had two very successful shows in two very different regions. EvenTech Ireland has been our fastest sell out to date and all exhibitors are very optimistic about the success they will see in Ireland. It's going to be a very pivotal show for EvenTech, the exhibitors and the visitors alike."

Darren Brechin, co-director of Scattered Media notes: "From our experience we realised that the visitors - the installers and the system integrators - need to be able to quickly and easily access these shows, taking hours rather than days out of their schedules - and actually finding informa

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UK - Lighting designer Rob Gawler is using 42 i-Pix BB4s and seven BB7s on the current Oasis Dig Out Your Soul world tour.

Gawler needed a colour changing wash light offering an even spread of high quality light, not too beamy and that was a less energy-hungry alternative to conventional 4-lite fixtures. He looked at several options before deciding to go with the i-Pix products, which are used for a general stage wash.

The BB7s are all on a front truss doing a stage wash. Gawler says they are ideal for this because the band dislike follow spots and the BB7 can be used like a beam light to produce a much subtler effect. He also uses them between songs so everyone can see what they're doing.

"They are reliable, efficient and make good colours. I also really like the homogeneity of the light sources and the smooth and even output," he states. This feature elimi

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China - DPA Microphones has strengthened its position in the Asia Pacific market by opening a regional office in Shanghai, headed up by Ken Kimura, regional sales director, Asia Pacific.

"The Asia Pacific region has always been important to DPA Microphones and given the increased market development, it was an obvious move to make," says Kimura. "We're focusing on increasing DPA's brand awareness in the region and reinforcing our position in countries like China, Japan, Korea and Australia through continuous training and support of our sales network, while developing new local markets by appointing new distributors and dealers.

"The relocation to Shanghai will enable me to intensify our sales and marketing support to distributors, increase communication and info sharing with local brand managers, sales personnel and end users. Their input is vital in our con

  1. Sound Productions makes major Midas investment
  2. Texim Europe links with Lemnis Lighting
  3. SoundField enables 5.1 Premiership Rugby
  4. Celebrity Solstice sets sail with Dynacord
  5. Stage Electrics relights Ironbridge fires
  6. XL Events is launched
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