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14 March 2016

This year, the technical side of the production was the responsibility of rental company MultiTechnic, ably supported by technicians and engineers from the local theatre, the Rådhusteateret, the centrepiece of whose sound reinforcement concept was an extensive Cobra system from Dynacord.

Hans Erikstad of the Rådhusteateret comments: "The Cobra delivered a transparent, clear and warm sound - but with the requisite capacity to project. It made it possible for us to provide homogeneous coverage throughout the entire square. What also pleased us no end was the unproblematic handling of the system.&qu

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14 March 2016

Using Bose Modeler software, Apple's designers created an acoustical model of the church, and were able to predict the performance of the proposed design. As an added comfort to the church, those involved also had the opportunity to 'listen' to the system before it was permanently installed, using the Bose Auditioner playback system.

The agreed solution comprises two stacked pairs of Bose Panaray MA12 line arrays for the nave, plus one pair of MA12s to cover the balcony seating. Bose FreeSpace 3 creates in-fill where it is needed, and Bose Model 32SE loudspeakers complete the system in the foyer.

With amplification from Cloud CXA4 and CXA

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14 March 2016

Bonagura, a third year student studying BA (Hons) in Sound Technology at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), was helped on her musical journey by her Sennheiser Scholarship, which began at LIPA over ten years ago and has since supported many students' entries into the highly competitive world of the music industry.

"We're delighted to hear how well Alyssa is progressing at LIPA and in the industry," said Sennheiser UK general manager Phil Massey. "It's important for us that the next generation of performers and audio professionals learn their trade using Sennheiser equipment. That's why we've been committed to the Scholarship programme for over ten years. Artists like Alyssa prove that our inve

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14 March 2016

The project name for the Israel events was Lighting the Sky and combined multimedia sound and lighting with a laser show and pyro effects, culminating in a spectacular fireworks display. Altogether there were eight different mega shows at various sites, with the two main shows in Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Lighting designer for the events was Bambi (AKA Avio Benyaho) with lighting equipment supplied by Procon Event Engineering and Israel based Gil Teichman.

Because of the massive distances from console to lighting, W-DMX by Wireless Solution

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14 March 2016

The show has suffered from accusations of block voting, which was blamed by some for leaving Britain's 2008 contestant, Andy Abraham, with only 14 points. Wogan said, "I've had 35 wonderful years commentating on the Eurovision for radio and television. From my first, in a small musichall in Dublin, to my last, in the huge arena in Belgrade, it has been nothing but laughter and fun... The silly songs, the

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14 March 2016

"When the band comes on stage they know what they are going to get. iLive not only gives them the same great results every night but it saves them from lengthy sound checks at each venue because of the system's memory recall," says Allen. "I also worked out that I save a third of a ton by carrying iLive and a pair of Cat 5 cables rather than a copper multicore, heavy analogue desk and racks, so it makes load in really simple and there's more room on the tour bus."

Allen has been The Stranglers' monitor engineer for three years and also runs a PA company called Fearless Audio in the south

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14 March 2016

Anthony Banks, operations manager for Gearhouse Rigging was head rigger for the tour, which played a mix of indoor and outdoor venues.

In Cape Town they used an 18m wide by 12m deep TFL roof. The PA Towers were done with Layher scaffolding, while the Durban gig was staged on a 20m wide by 14m deep Stageco roof with integral PA wings. The PA wings were at a height of 25m metres. The Johannesburg shows which concluded the tour took place in the Dome, a 13 212 seated capacity venue which sold out for two nights.

The GHSA lighting department was led by Rob Baker, a regular freelancer for the Cape Town branch, who worked with 4 touring crew

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14 March 2016

The Globe chose The Winter's Tale as the perfect play for a summer's evening and Maltbury provided appropriate staging.Metrodeck Ultra, Maltbury's lightest staging system, was chosen. The package was straightforward yet versatile using an aluminium frame with a lightweight plywood top. As the tour made its way around the country, Russell reported how vital it was having flexible and manageable staging. "I would have no hesitation in recommending Maltbury to other companies," he says.

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14 March 2016

Robert Ausmus, director of production services, LD Systems reports: "We use our EV rigs for our most important projects and the new FIR filter technology has taken the system performance to a whole new level. We used NetMax N8000 (digital DSP/matrix controller) systems with FIR-Drive for the first time at our biggest annual event - the Houston Rodeo - and were very pleased with the results.

"On this tour we're running all DSP via NetMax, all managed with IRIS-Net control and monitoring software. We've cut down on hardware considerably - removing racks full of DSP from the equati

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14 March 2016

"Also used on Madonna's last tour, grandMA is our board of choice," says lighting programmer Troy Eckerman. This year's tour integrates some new technology into the mix. Eckerman attests that for this type of show, "90 percent is all about key lighting for her. We're presenting a very big picture - very high trim and a very white stage." The out-in-front B stage, used a lot to bring Madonna closer to her audience, has four small lifts that come off of it to front of house. Video screens and archive tape serve to supplement the look.

The Sticky & Sweet Tour lighting fleet, headed by designer Roy Bennett, also includes director Mac Mossier and programmer Cory FitzGerald. "We're using two consoles

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14 March 2016

"The theatre, which is considered one of the most prestigious in Catalonia, opened in 2001," says Jose Louis Seoane, project manager for Stonex. "From the beginning it was equipped with Avab control desks, so the move to Congo was straightforward. It has the familiar philosophy of Avab, offering easy and efficient control."

The theatre has taken delivery of six lighting control desks in total: the 740 seat Fabià Puigserver auditorium has a Congo plus a Congo jr as backup, while the 60 seat sala de prensa (lecture room) will be using two Congo junior desks with a fader unit. As the company also produces national tours, it bought a Congo and Congo jr backup system for travelling.

Rai García, head of Teatre Lliu

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14 March 2016

Damon Albarn (musical score) and Gorillaz partner Jamie Hewlett (visuals, stage & costume design) present this innovative performance work fusing Chinese opera and circus with animated video cartoons and live performance.

Summit won a competitive tender to supply rigging services and equipment to the show which is staged by AEG Promotions UK. Summit's team is project managed by Chris Walker who is working closely with AEG's site production manager Tom Armstrong and Monkey Journey 2008 (the touring company) production manager, Jim Leaver.

The show's flown infrastructure is based around a 22.4m wide by 20.5m deep ground support system that was installed into the tent by Star Events Group.

From this, Summit

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14 March 2016

Lisa Tapper explains: "It is a very exciting time for us all; we have a clear focus and a driven, knowledgeable team. Certain assets were acquired by Stagecraft Technical Services from Stagecraft Limited, which recently went into voluntary liquidation.

"Stagecraft Technical Services is well placed to offer full technical support services for staging, lighting and sound projects of all sizes, alongside extensive a

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14 March 2016

Maroon 5 and George Michael took full advantage of the D5, while Alicia Keys, Queen and Paul Rogers benefitted from Delta's substantial stock of L-Acoustics' cabinets, and the spectacular launch of Atlantis, The Palm made good use of the company's entire inventory.

"It's great to have access to DiGiCo products in the Middle East," says Jim Ebdon. "It means that I can just take my setting with me on a USB key, rather than having to ship large amounts of kit. And on this occasion it was particularly useful, because the other option available would have meant using two desks instead of the just the one D5."

"Delta Dubai has gone through a period of si

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14 March 2016

When the venue was restructured, new installations included a sound system by Dynacord Alpha Concept and lighting by DTS and Zero 88. The new lighting system was installed by FG Lighting, with technical supervision by Dario Juka, to a lighting design project by Michele Sgolacchia of DTS.

DTS and Zero 88 products installed at Area Venezia include eight Helios full colour LED projectors inset in a semicircle in the false ceiling above the dancefloor; 35 MR16

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14 March 2016

Paul Galley of Event Sound & Light comments: "We had used the RCF Line Array a couple of times and had achieved great results with it, so it made perfect commercial sense to look at adding a line array system to our hire inventory, as we already have a large point source system. The line array allows us the benefit of offering both systems to our clients, but more importantly we have the option to use what is right for the individual job.

"We had been looking at various systems, but after a visit to RCF's HQ in Italy it became clear that the TT+ system could deliver far more than what we expected and also allowed us the scale ability we had been missing. The one major th

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14 March 2016

The award was presented to Marc Lopez, marketing manager of Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems by Night Ranger guitarist Jeff Watson and Howard Page, senior director of engineering for leading US rental firm Clair Brothers.

In accepting the award, Lopez paid tribute to Yamaha's dealers and end users worldwide whose continued feedback, suggestions and support have helped to ensure that the PM series digital consoles continue to evolve and offer the most advanced facilities and intuitive user interfaces in the large format console market.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

The base will feature the portfolio of PSCo's advanced products including a fleet of Panasonic 103" plasma screens, the Sharp 108" LCD, new Infinite plasma screens and a selection of top of the range mainstream AV products.

PSCo managing director Stuart Holmes comments, "For a long time we have seen a growing demand for our innovative 'Advanced' product range, for events in the north of England and the Midlands. This was the driving force for the decision to open the new office, from which we will also be offering training and demonstrations for clients."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Rob Lingfield (Martin Audio), Bob Mundy (Adam Hall) and Ric Salzedo (Avolites) were all due to stand down at the end of this year, and while Rob Lingfield and Bob Mundy decided to re-stand for election, Ric Salzedo did not.

Matthew Griffiths, PLASA CEO, commented: "We would like to thank Ric for the time and energy he has devoted to PLASA during his tenure on the Executive Committee. His commitment and his input has been of great value to us, and we wish him well."

The other PLASA Members putting themselves forward as nominees for election were Matt Lloyd of GDS, Craig Buckley of RW Salt, Tim Roberts of The Event Safety Shop and Clive Kinton of IDEX.

Following the voting, PLASA has announced that Ro

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14 March 2016

The green art fair Miami 2008, held the first week in December, drew 15,000 art patrons into its venue - three 5,000 sq.ft adjoining tents made of recycled fabric and aluminium. Inside, visitors viewed a fashion show and browsed art made of recycled materials. Their purchases were also packed in reusable shopping bags.

Chauvet LED lighting fixtures were used to highlight the eco-friendly products. Nick Assunto, CEO of Visual Formula, located in Miami's design district, volunteered to light the fair using 82 Chauvet LED wash fixtures, powered by solar panels and a biodiesel generator, further lessening the eco-friendly lights' carbon footprint. The LED luminaires included COLORado 1s, COLORado 3s, LEDsplash-2 and Q-Wash LED fixtures.

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14 March 2016

"Cirque du Soleil's stage productions are distinguished by their artistry and expressive power, and Pandoras Box proved to be a valuable tool in creating a visual narrative for ZAIA," said Jimmy Lakatos, who worked with fellow Geodezik founding member Raymond Saint-Jean to provide video system and content design for ZA

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14 March 2016

Memorable moments onstage at the 42nd annual CMA Awards continued throughout the night with appearances by Shure endorsers Martina McBride, who sang Ride using a UR2/SM58 combination, and Miranda Lambert, whose rendition of More Like Her was heard via a UR2/Beta 58.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

One of the most popular will be the visit to the Philips factory in Hamilton, which offers the opportunity to see one of the last remaining lamp manufacturing processes in Western Europe. Philips makes the SOX range of lamps here, with much of the work still being carried out by hand, and also assemble other types of luminaires, many of them specifically for sports venues, such as all the fittings for the first night time Grand Prix at Singapore.

Other 'business' vis

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14 March 2016

Stage One were brought in by Top Gear Live production manager, Simon Aldridge and were responsible for the construction of both the set and Swampy, along with the associated automation. Designed by Paul Bonomini, the set both framed and became part of the live action.

Stage One built a replica oil tanker, which split open to reveal Swampy - an 8m high, automated, fire-breathing monster. Swampy was constructed with a steel frame, a moulded head and four metre long arms with over sized sculptured hands. He was scenically dressed in camouflage netting