Business

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Italy - Italy-based trussing manufacturer Litec, part of Vitec Group Plc, has announced a company restructure in response to the changing economic climate. The restructuring plan, the company says, "aims not only at optimising productive capacity, but also reviewing processes and adapting them to the new market conditions".

Litec's statement says: "The reorganisation was aimed at focussing on the business, brands and product range in the core market which we serve. It was this strategic decision that caused us to sell the IFF brand last March, to concentrate on Litec and strategic partnerships like Tomcat, Manfrotto and Columbus McKinnon."

The company says it will continue to introduce innovative products such as the RF40 (pictured) and MyT, and to improve existing products, whose success is increasingly confirmed in Europe and internationally (Libera and H

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UK - The recent completion of Sheffield Crucible's £15.3m Phase 1 regeneration project has seen the removal of the theatre's old counterweight flying system and its replacement by Centre Stage Engineering's Artisan computer controlled power flying system and 12 zero-fleet angle variable speed hoists.

The stage engineering specification for the Phase 1 work called for a fully automated flying system that could handle multiple shows and cues together with operational controls that would be intuitive, straightforward to use for a variety of personnel but designed with budgetary constraints in mind.

Centre Stage's success in winning this contract was based on its new Artisan power flying system, launched at PLASA last year, and soon to be installed in the new Corby Cube later this year with 21 zero fleet angle hoists with 350kg SWL and a maximum speed of 1.2m/sec.

The syst

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Israel - Long-life LED luminaires in hard-to-reach recesses are providing a special viewing experience at the new Yitzhak Rabin Museum in Tel Aviv and minimising disruption to visitors from unplanned maintenance. The vision to create small, almost invisible light sources that wouldn't detract from the artifacts, was accomplished by embedding Luxeon LED based lighting solutions in walls, the floors and awkward spaces where conventional light sources wouldn't be practical.

Two luminaires manufactured by D-LED, the D-Spot and Nano, were specified for the project. Each uses Luxeon K2 LEDs driven at 700 mA to achieve the light output and lumen maintenance required for the application. D-LEDs experience with SSL solutions coupled with engineering expertise and support from Future Lighting Solutions enabled to project to come to fruition and for the museum to create a special experienc

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USA - ETC's flagship lighting control system, Eos was in control at the recent Golden Globes and Academy Awards shine brighter.

For the 2009 Golden Globes, an Eos lighting desk, along with a 2x20 ETC Universal Fader Wing controlled all of the conventional and practical lights. Board programmer Gil Samuelian built the entire cue and submaster contents in Blind and was then able to modify the lighting smoothly during rehearsals before the show. Once it came time to stage the whole show, everything went efficiently with Eos. Samuelian especially appreciated the 'About' function: "It's one of my favourite tools. I can quickly see exactly what is influencing the current output and it gives me detailed information on a selected target. It takes out the guesswork."

An Eos control desk also controlled 700 channels of conventional dimming and hazers, as well as house, archite

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Ghana - South Africa-based Prosound, together with Italian construction company Micheletti are going for round two in Ghana as they prepare to take hockey to a new level. After having previously completed a project for the stadium in Accra, the client was confident to give the go-ahead for a second time, following good results and the punctual, on-budget completion of the first project.

Prosound has now been brought in to provide audio coverage both internally and externally to the Hockey Park Complex in Accra, Ghana. The equipment provided included Electro-Voice PA series power amplifiers and RCF-Acustica P Series outdoor loudspeaker systems. All equipment is being acquired to ship to site for installation.

The facility will encourage students to participate and get excited in future hockey events, providing seats for 1,200 people and including a hostel for participating team

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Busking Cancer - Madness frontman Suggs and Rod Stewart are helping to launch a charity busking campaign on HMS Belfast. Suggs will perform on the ship, which is moored on the banks of the River Thames near Tower Bridge, on 20 June. Other acts will also perform. Busking Cancer aims to get musicians raising money for Cancer Research UK.

Rod Stewart, who started busking in Paris, told the BBC: "You don't have to be a great singer or the best musician, you just have to entertain people." Stewart, who has survived thyroid cancer and will attend the launch but not perform, said: "Busking is what music is all about - just getting out there and singing or playing for the sheer joy of it. And if you can earn a few quid for Cancer Research UK - a few quid that might just help to save someone's life - what could be better?"

Busking Cancer began in 2007

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USA - The 30-years-young Catholic Church of St. Ann in Marietta, Georgia recently completed a $5 million architecture, audio and video renovation, adding a new 4400sq.ft Narthex or gathering space and completely renovating the Nave or worship area. The acoustical challenges of new, hard surfaces were met with Renkus-Heinz Iconyx IC32 digitally steerable array loudspeakers, custom coloured to match the architecture.

A marble sanctuary, tile floors and new radius-designed wooden pews, while visually stunning, presented drastically altered acoustics and a challenge to intelligibility and the quality of music.

Reverberation times (RT) of 1.4 to 1.5 seconds mid-band rose to 2.4 to 2.5 seconds after the refurbishment, says D. Wayne Lee of A/V consultants Lee Sound Design, as the firm had predicted following its modelling of the renovated sanctuary in EASE 4.1 and 4.2 with AURA. He a

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UK - Events group, 5CATFish, has taken delivery of a K-Array Redline PA which is now accompanying them on the road throughout the UK. 5CATFish are made up of pro audio luminaries and session musicians Andy Lewis, James Shears, Jay Cresswell, Tim Gray, Craig Blundell, Andy Duffield and Ben Cole and the band is dedicated to "delivering a better kind of musical event experience".

Band leader and keyboard player, Andy Lewis says: "When clients organise an event, a celebration, corporate function or a wedding, they need to be sure that the band and the DJ will deliver. There are very few things worse than a perfect day being ruined by a band or DJ who don't view the event from a professional perspective and don't or can't play what the clients want to hear.

"5CATFish, unlike so many covers and functions bands and DJs, always strive to deliver the entertainment t

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UK - Vaughan Sound Installations (VSI) was asked to provide specialist lighting, AV and audio consultancy, design and specification services for the performance facilities at the newly built Queen Elizabeth School in Johnstown, Carmarthen, Wales.

VSI worked directly with the electrical contractors Whitehead Building Services who undertook the installation, working for main contractor Carillion. WBS's project director was Steve Jones and VSI's project managers were Keith Fish and Tony Morruzzi. Keith Fish designed the systems after receiving an outline brief of the requirements from project consultants, Hoare Lea.

Three new areas have been created in the project - the Performance Hall, the Assembly Hall and the Drama Studio, each of which needed well thought-out stage lighting, AV and sound systems to accommodate a wide range of uses, events and performances.

VSI has consider

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UK - As the year unfolds in Europe Bandit Lites reports that it is very busy with a variety of major projects. Lester Cobrin and the team in Bedford are working overtime to meet the demands.

George Thorogood is out with Ron Norvell at the helm as LD, tour manager Adam Conde and production manager Jeff Pitt. They are carrying VL2500s, Studio Beams, DL2's, a Hog 3, Colorado 3's, Pixel Micros, Color Blocks and Lycian spots.

Peter Barnes is designing Capital FM's Summertime Ball and uses MAC 2000 wash and spots, Hog 3 console, Gladiator 3K spots and Stadium Hazers as part of his kit. Steve Levitt from Production North is producing the event and Bandit is the supplier.

Simon Tutchener has two separate upcoming projects with Bandit. B.B. King and John Mayall have teamed up for a dynamic outing with a system comprising of MAC 2000 washes and spots, grandMA consoles and Lycian 1290

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Russia - The recent Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most-watched television productions in the world, with estimates of some 200 million viewers. When Russia won Eurovision in Belgrade, Serbia last year, Russian show producers were immediately driven to make the 2009 production in Moscow the biggest and most breathtaking in Eurovision history.

The equipment list for the show an astounding 2,000sq.m of scenic LED and a long list of lighting fixtures, including 72 PRG Bad Boy luminaries, first seen at PLASA 2008 in London last autumn. Since the fixture hit the shelves at the beginning of this year, it has been seen on major tours from Oasis to Britney Spears and on television from the Grammy Awards to The Celebrity Apprentice, but in the words of Eurovision production manager Ola Melzig: "We got 72 - eat our dust!"

Two Virtuoso consoles controlled all of the stag

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Turkey - Wireless Solution Sweden AB recently played a major role in the transformation of Genclik Park, a centrally located park in Ankara, once known for run-down restaurants and dingy atmosphere into a safe haven of light, colour and imagination in the capital's city centre.

Lighting designer Duilio Passariello approached this project in 2006 with a brief from the city mayor to transform the site from a dark, uninviting space to one that left visitors with a positive and lasting impression. He turned to Istanbul Telesine and Philips Turkey, who supplied the project with an array of equipment including 165 Martin Exterior 600 outdoor wash lights, 120 Martin Inground uplights, 120 Seasplash LED fixtures for underwater lighting and over 430 ColorBlast LED fixtures accenting the trees surrounding the park.

The fixtures were spread over 12 universes with distances up to 2.2k fro

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UK - Since the end of last year, heavy metal band Saxon have been relying on Electro-Voice microphones. The band's last tour - together with Motörhead - demonstrated that Saxon still has a loyal following throughout the world. On this tour and beyond, front man Biff Byford is relying exclusively on REV wireless and the new PL Series microphones from Electro-Voice.

"The REV wireless system really gives you a lot of freedom and the guitars don't knock the microphone out of your mouth when you trip over the leads," says Byford. "I can actually walk around, which is good especially at big festivals. As headliner we have quite a big stage where we go on ramps and other things, so it's good for that. The REV wireless system with the N/D767 capsule has been really great. We've had no faults at all."

Torben Ibs, the FOH engineer on the Saxon tour comments: "I

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UK - The extensive LED lighting range from Leeds-based manufacturer, Fibre Optic Systems (FOS), has rebranded as Diva. In-house custom manufacturing ensures this UK-built range suits individual needs and requirements and meets close and rapid deadlines - with full service support from the friendly FOS team, says the company.

The Diva range features either Cree or Luxeon LEDs with a spot or a wash lens, and all DMX control is manufactured in the UK. All fittings are available as RGB colour change, single colour or intelligent white, the company says.

The FOS Diva range provided the complete LED lighting requirement within the recent refurbishment of Leeds' Alea Casino, owned by London Clubs international. Supplied by LiteTask, the design specification and installation was carried out by Cannock Electrical. Cannock's Lee Garbutt commented: "The Diva range was recommended by

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South Africa - Robe moving lights were specified by lighting designer Robert Hoey for the 2009 South African Music Awards (SAMA), staged at the Sun City Superbowl in front of a live audience of 5000 and broadcast live on SABC1. The high profile show that honours the best of South African music was produced by Blue Moon and directed by David Bloch, with Strike Productions co-ordinating all the technical requirements.

The eye-catching set was designed by James McNamara and contained gold and silver surfaces and texturing. Hoey took this as his creative starting point and designed an equally attractive lighting show based on asymmetry to match the set. He utilised Robe ColorWash and ColorSpot 700E ATs and ColorWash 2500E ATs. These formed the core of the rig. "They worked really hard providing lots of wow factors and a wide variety of looks," says Hoey.

The Robes were h

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Jordan - An Outline Butterfly line array system was used for the sound reinforcement at the large mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at Amman international stadium, before 50,000 worshippers. The mass was accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and a 200-strong choir.

"Due to the importance of this event on an international scale, Events AVP - exclusive Outline distributor for Jordan - was selected to provide the sound systems required given its reliability record and event direction experience," said Sharif Tabbara, co-owner of Events AVP. As an official guest to His Majesty King Abdulla II of Jordan, Pope Benedict XVI's Grand Sunday Mass was master planned and managed by the Royal Protocol Department, who oversaw the overall production and running of the event.

For the acoustic coverage of the venue, Events AVP used a system comprising 100 Butterfly Hi-Packs and 32 S

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UK - A dual Midas PRO6 system provided by Britannia Row has been used for Paolo Nutini's two-week UK tour. The PRO6s were used by Nutini's front of house engineer Graham 'Hutch' Hutchinson and monitor engineer Tom Howat, who was also mixing support band The Panics, plus additional supports appearing on the tour.

As this tour consisted mainly of smaller promotional gigs, the entire control system had to fit into a small trailer being towed between venues by the production's single tour bus.

The PRO6s packed away into 18U and 14U flight cases, sharing just one DL351 stage box, which provided 32 mic inputs and 32 record outputs. Additionally, two AES50 tie lines between the two consoles allowed 48 bi-directional audio channels to be transmitted between the two PRO6 systems. This was the first multiple PRO6 setup to feature a single stage box, demonstrating just how flexible and c

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UK - Sound Technology, distributor of Soundcraft in the UK and Eire, has confirmed Northern Light as the authorised Soundcraft digital console dealer for Scotland.

Soundcraft's digital console range includes the flagship Vi6/Vi4 with VistonicsTM touch-screen user-interface, and the mid-market Si3/Si2. The new Si Series offers advanced digital functionality and high channel count in a chassis designed to plug in place of an existing analogue console with the minimum of ease.

Gareth Collyer, speaking on behalf of Sound Technology said: "With the recent release of the mid-market Si Series, we have consoles designed to appeal across numerous markets, from a variety of installed sound uses to flagship tour rentals. Northern Light's proven experience and success in all these areas is exactly the authorised dealer profile we are looking for and we're excited to be working with t

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Singapore - An extensive ADB Lighting control and dimming system, along with 12 ADB WARP Zoom Profile Spotlights, has been installed at the heart of the lighting rig at the recently-opened Genexis Theatre at Fusionopolis in Singapore.

The iconic Fusionopolis research and development complex houses an array of research organisations, high-tech companies, government agencies, retail outlets, and serviced apartments in one location. Planned by Zaha Hadid, designed by Kisho Kurokawa and developed by the JTC Corporation, Fusionopolis's Phase One contains 120,000sq.m of space, with the egg-shaped, 572-seat Genexis Theatre suspended between three multi-storey towers.

ADB's Singapore distributor, Audio Light Asia, supplied the lighting systems, for which a major requirement was flexibility to cover the many potential configurations of the multi-purpose space. Access to the lighting ri

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UK - In a landmark building at the heart of South East London's thriving arts community is the largest purpose-built contemporary dance centre in the world. Laban is the UK's first conservatoire for music and dance. Electro-Voice ZX Series loudspeakers have been installed throughout the faculty.

Laban's remarkable modern building, situated on a two-acre site beside Deptford Creek, has won many prizes for architects Herzog and de Meuron, who also designed the Tate Modern and the National Stadium for Beijing's Olympic Games. Dedicated to dance, it is probably the largest and best-equipped contemporary facility in Europe, with 13 purpose-built studios, fitted with the latest sprung flooring and large windows for natural light.

The Deptford facility opened in 2002, but the student environment has already proved too demanding for the music playback systems originally installed in t

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Italy - The Baladì Disco has turned the once sleepy Italian town of Torre San Patrizio into a rallying point for people from the entire Marche region. After an extensive and lavish renovation by architect and designer Massimo Cadamuro, the disco now boasts a restaurant, four differently equipped dance floors designed to cater to a variety of musical tastes, and a spacious lounge. One of the Baladì Disco's key feature is its new sound system from Dynacord.

With help from Milan-based specialists dSound PRO, the Baladì management put its faith in equipment from Dynacord - a balanced spread of Alpha Concept loudspeakers, Pl-one, and D-Lite cabinets, and power amplifiers from Dynacord's LX and CL series.

(Jim Evans)

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Italy - On 8 May, a large delegation from the British association of directors of photography (STLD) visited the Italian Public television (RAI) studios, for an interesting exchange of experiences with the company management and their professional counterparts.

The STLD (Society of Television Lighting and Design) visit was made possible by Clay Paky, which has been profitably working for years with the British association and, most recently, has partnered with it in organising the annual competition called The Clay Paky Knight of Illumination. The competition gives awards to the best British LDs in the TV, theatre and live event sectors.

The professional relationship between Clay Paky and RAI is equally well consolidated. It is based on mutual respect that has built up over the years, during which the Bergamo-based company has supplied RAI with the most modern TV studio

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Channel Islands - Since its inception in 1985, the Guernsey Awards for Achievement has focused on celebrating corporate and personal success. Now in its 23rd year, the initiative continues to attract the interest and support of companies and individuals island-wide.

This year's event reached its climax recently at a glittering Awards gala evening, held at Beau Sejour Leisure Centre; attended by close on 800 people it again proved to be the highlight of the Island's corporate calendar.

Production company Joy's were brought in to provide the spectacular projection backdrop. The company fielded Christie's high-definition projectors and Vista Spyder dynamic processing as part of a purpose-designed show, created and produced in Joy's own '3DLive' graphics system.

Joy's supplied an impressive 20m widescreen, centred on the landscape side of the room, and constructed from floor to

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UK - MTFX expanded in to additional new premises earlier this year in order to improve the storage facilities for its extensive range of equipment.

The new unit has meant that all the storage and customer areas have been re-arranged so that they now have a demonstration area for their Aquagraphics water screen where it can be viewed by potential clients, together with storage and a demonstration area for the new high voltage special effects equipment.

There are also larger storage and maintenance areas for the ranges of confetti and special effects equipment enabling them to carry an increased stock holding. All contact details remain the same.

(Jim Evans)

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