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UK - A large quantity of DPA microphones supplied by R G Jones were used for Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds, which has just completed a sell-out UK tour.

Front of house engineer Simon Honywill specified a total of 37 DPA mics across the orchestra. These were a mixture of 4061 miniature mics, featuring low sensitivity and large dynamic range, on violins and violas, and 4099 instrument mics on cellos and double basses. Honywill was so impressed by the new 4099 instrument mics that he purchased four for his own use from UK distributor Sound Network.

The show's vocalists - Justin Hayward, Chris Thompson, Alexis James, Shannon Noll and Jennifer Ellison - were all on 4088 miniature cardioids headsets with omni back-ups.

"The show is very much about finding a balance between the music and the recorded narration of Richard Burton," says Honywi

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UK - The second edition of the Knight of Illumination Awards, the only international awards designed and held to provide public recognition for the work of lighting designers in live and televised shows, is at the starting blocks.

The award ceremony is organised by Italian manufacturer Clay Paky in association with STLD and ALD, and is sponsored this year by Osram. Timed to coincide with the PLASA Show, it will be held on 13 September 2009 at the Ibis Hotel, Earls Court, London.

The previous edition saw Dave Davey, Ben Smithard, Nigel Catmur, Al Gurdon (TV category), Jonny Gaskell, Richard Larkum (rock category), Lucy Carter, Paul Pyant, Paule Constable and Neil Austin (theatre category) triumph. They were presented with a customized real traditional medieval sword and given the title of "Knight of Illumination", a slightly romantic and generous figure always

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UK - Heathrow Express has been awarded the overall winner in Category B (Outdoor Workplace), in the Lighting Federation's new Energy Management and Innovation in Lighting Award Scheme (EMILAS).

Steve Chambers, service proposition director at Heathrow Express, said: "The prime objective of EMILAS is to give recognition to lighting schemes showing proven energy savings with a minimum 20% improvement over previously installed schemes. Our new lighting system, at the train maintenance depot, Old Oak Common, has a smart metering system which allows continuous monitoring of lighting levels, including daylight monitoring and a non-occupancy over-ride. Heathrow Express has saved over 25% of its electrical lighting consumption since the start of this year and 102 tonnes of carbon since February 2008."

Heathrow Express's approach to the environment began even before the servic

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UK - Set up by Martha Lane Fox, founder of lastminute.com, karaoke bar chain Lucky Voice has opened its fifth unit, in Brighton, with a technological infrastructure evolved from the original design by integration company Green-I (now part of the SSE Audio Group). The audio control draws heavily on BSS Soundweb London BLU-16 DSPs to handle the mic mixing.

In Brighton, Green-I has assigned four independent BLU-16's to drive the seven karaoke rooms. "Soundweb London looks after the user interface, the volume controls for the wireless mics and reverb effects," says Green-I's Ian Woodall. "Mic mixing (of both wireless and wired) inputs are carried out via Soundweb's automatic levelling to avoid any feedback, while all the 'intelligence' in each pod is created using the system's Logic programming. The challenge was to get all the mic frequencies operable within an intim

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UK - Recording artist sessions for Global Radio - the group that includes Capital FM, Heart, Xfm, Gold, Classic FM, Choice FM and Galaxy - award-winning producer Chris Denman has worked with artists ranging from complete unknowns to high profile stars like Chris Martin, Placebo, The Mastodons, Lionel Richie, Kelly Clarkson and Bloc Party. But whoever the artist is, Denman's schedule is relentless in its demands.

He records two full band sessions every working day with his Yamaha DM2000 mixing console. "When I first went to work for Global, I was presented with a Yamaha 02R, which was later replaced with the DM2000," he says. "They were originally chosen because they delivered the best performance for the available budget and I can honestly say that over 10 years they have fulfilled every requirement I have had of them."

He continues: "Another advantage

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UK - ETC has supplied a range of lighting and control equipment to English National Ballet, including an Eos and an Ion control desk through new console dealer London Light Production Services.

"English National Ballet had already decided they liked ETC, so they just needed a demonstration of the desk, to confirm it did all they needed it to do," says London Light's managing director, David Buffham. "Their previous system was 25 years old and well overdue for an upgrade, given the number of moving lights they had added to their stock. We provided hands on experience with the system, as well as both pre and post sales support and training."

David Richardson, chief electrician at the English National Ballet, says, "We had been looking around for a new desk for some time, and this was the first we've seen which fitted our needs. We wanted the accessibilit

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UK - The iTunes Festival relocated to The Roundhouse in North London this year, with over 60 artists playing live at this free event, which runs throughout the month of July.

With bands ranging from Oasis, Kasabian, Franz Ferdinand and Snow Patrol at the commercial end to acoustic performers like Newton Faulkner, quirky performance artists with wide dynamic ranges (like Bat for Lashes' Natasha Khan), leavened with some good old fashioned hard house and R&B, it added up to something of a Molotov cocktail for iTunes production manager Stuart Turvill, system tech Dave Roden - and the Martin Audio W8LM Mini line array system.

Stuart Turvill has chaperoned the event's steady growth from the ICA through nearby Koko (last year) and now to the Roundhouse, where he designed the audio infrastructure for the televised event, in collaboration with Martin Audio's Jim Cousins

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Cuban News - The UK's Royal Ballet has arrived in Havana for its first visit to Cuba. It is putting on five days of shows, featuring the company's Cuban star Carlos Acosta and a tribute to Cuban ballet legend Alicia Alonso. All the tickets were sold out within hours, as Cubans looked forward to seeing the first major ballet company since the Bolshoi almost 30 years ago. To cater for the huge demand, the performances will be shown on giant screens outside the theatre. The director of the Royal Ballet, Dame Monica Mason, said the national passion for ballet was one of the attractions of taking the company to Cuba. "Dance is central to the culture in Cuba. It's at the very heart of the Cuban people," she said. The company will perform at the Gran Teatro in central Havana the first three days, where the screens will be based. The Karl Marx Teatro will host the final two.

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UAE - The Cavalli Club in Dubai, bearing the name of the famous Italian fashion designer, staged its grand opening on 7 May. Roberto Cavalli has been involved in every detail of this $30m investment; crystal curtains by Swarkovski being just one example of the opulence this venue affords.

For Triangle Entertainment Services, who won the contract to design and install the audio system, the demands were of the highest order, "Hard work in recent years means we have established a good reputation in Dubai," said Triangle's managing director Zahid R Elian. General manager of the Cavalli, Mr Khoury added, "We did not hesitate one second to go ahead with Triangle on this project; both their expertise and reliability are unrivalled. Personally I know that Zahid is a man of his word and can deliver."

The owners and operators of the Cavalli, Pragma Group, had specifi

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USA - Extending its sound reinforcement capabilities, Florida-based systems integration firm Multi Image Group has purchased 110 Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers. MIG, which specialises in corporate AV projects for clients such as CitiGroup, Deutsche Bank and Proctor & Gamble, upgraded its entire amplifier inventory from the original I-Tech amplifiers.

"MIG was not using Crown amplifiers when I joined the company. I didn't agree with this because I had been using Crown since I started in the professional sound industry back in 1981 and they are bulletproof," said Andy Kakas, audio department manager for technical services at Multi Image Group.

MIG purchased its first Crown amplifiers in 2002 with Macro-Tech and soon purchased I-Tech series amps as well. "We started by building a few JBL VerTec line array systems with the Macro-Tech amps and about six months later we g

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Germany - The city of Meissen, known for being the porcelain centre of Europe, recently hosted the premiere of the new Aero 12A line array systems in Germany. Around 2,500 people gathered at an outdoor esplanade on the outskirts of the city to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the group Stern Combo Meissen. Songs like Der Kampf um den Südpol, Der weite Weg or their classic adaptations were popular musical trends of the 70s in Germany. Joining them on their anniversary were guests Musix, Dirk Zöllner and KlosterBrüder.

Licht & Ton Union, D.A.S. distributor in Germany, was responsible for mounting the audio on a stage built especially for the occasion. They flew 12 Aero 12A two-way powered systems, six on either side of the stage, along with six ground stacked LX-218A subwoofers. The Aero 12A, part of the new Aero Series2 debuted at Frankfurt's Prolight & Sound. D

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Italy - Caparezza's winter tour promoting his fourth album, Le dimensioni del mio caos (The size of my chaos) covered more than 100 sold-out dates, including a spectacular performance at Milan's Alcatraz Now.

His 2009 summer tour included a show beside Idroscalo lake in Milan on 27 June. Thousands of fans flocked to see Caparezza perform a selection of his more popular numbers.

The team from GM Music, the rental company from Salice Salentino, again chose Proel's Axiom and Edge professional systems. The configuration comprised 24 Axiom AX3210P modules and 20 21" EDGE121SP subs, positioned in the sound wings, and eight Edge compact C12P96 as front-fill.

The system is driven by six K10 and two K20 Powersoft amplifiers, one DSO26 digital processor and two Lake Contours. Audio and power distribution cabling is also Proel.

The sound reinforcement for the concert at t

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Portugal - JR Clancy, the US-based manufacturer of theatre rigging systems, has supplied 33 PowerLift automated hoists to the Teatro Municipal de Portimão (Tempo) in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. They were proposed to the client and installed by ADT Fire & Security (a Tyco International Company).

JR Clancy's international sales manager Charles Shatzkin comments: "ADT told us that the client was looking to motorise their rigging system and wanted a fast, safe, reliable and quiet powered hoist. The Clancy Automated Rigging System has a variable speed capability up to 0.6 m/sec and produces sounds no louder than those heard in a whisper-quiet library.

"The theatre also specified a SceneControl 500 - a powerful control console which provides a 3D visualisation of the performance space. The SceneControl is virtually unmatched in features and price: its functio

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UK - SNP Productions - headed by digital media programmer/operator Simon Pugsley - is now a UK dealer of Catalyst digital media products - and has launched a new proactive promotion campaign.

SNP Productions was founded in 1999 when Pugsley was completing his final year as a student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. The company has evolved steadily over the last 10 years, starting as a vehicle for his freelance work and growing into a major UK supplier for lighting & video control solutions. It is now focussed on sales, hire, training and full tech support for Catalyst.

"Catalyst was among the first and most original digital media servers, and it has a strong and positive brand identity," states Pugsley. "It's hugely flexible and constantly being developed with new and innovative features added all the time. It has a history and track record of

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UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies has confirmed its continued status as an Official Car Sponsor of the Telmex Arden International racing team for the 2009 GP2 motor racing series. The deal, which includes both the GP2 Main Series and Asia Series, was concluded during the British race weekend at Silverstone.

The GP2 Championship is designed to equip every member of each team with the experience, knowledge and determination to succeed in Formula One and features cars running at speeds only a few seconds shy of F1 pace. For this season, Telmex Arden International opted for exciting rookie drivers Sergio Perez, Edoardo Mortara and Luiz Razia.

The deal includes logo branding on both team cars, which is in the colours of A.C.'s dedicated lighting sales division. In addition, the sponsorship provides a dynamic environment for A.C. to network with other companies at a local and int

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UK - The field support team from RSS by Roland, led by director Peter Heath, had a lot to keep tabs on at this year's Glastonbury festival: in addition to the debut of the new M-48 Personal Live Mixers, there were 4x M-400 digital V-Mixing Systems in use, and Digital Snakes in several performance venues.

One of the innovations at the 2009 festival was the silent rehearsal room set up behind the John Peel Stage, jointly the brainchild of RSS and the Liz Hobbs Group. Julian Spear, who is head of production for the Liz Hobbs Group, also works as area co-ordinator for the Glastonbury Festival, and is responsible for putting in all the production for the John Peel Stage.

"The Liz Hobbs Group has had a productive relationship with RSS since we first used the Digital Snakes at Glastonbury 2007," says Spear. "Together, we came up with the idea of a backstage rehearsal f

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UK - MCS will be at PLASA09 (13-16 September, Earls Court, London) for the first time to demonstrate how its MCS-rm hire solution product can support the business needs of the audio-visual (AV) hire market. This will be the first time company has showcased MCS-rm, its premier Windows-based hire solution, at the PLASA Show.

Nick Thomson, sales manager at MCS explains: "We have been working hard on the detail of our hire solution to ensure it meets the specialist requirements of the AV market and believe we offer all the specific functionality the AV market demands. This is on top of its core functionality generating quotations, contracts and invoices as well as aggregating all delivery and collection notes together with all the associated documents. We feel it is time to take a stand at PLASA."

MCS-rm has all the functi

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UK - At PLASA 09, leading European connector specialist Harting will feature its range of connectivity solutions specially tailored to the needs of light and sound engineers in the entertainment industry.

A key product range is the Harting Han family of heavy-duty connectors, which are increasingly being used for powering the spotlights used on concert stages and in theatres. In particular, the Han 16 E is a suitable for controlling special lighting effects in systems where 'multi-cables' incorporating six or eight lines are used to reduce installation times.

These connectors have proved their reliability and outstanding performance in industrial applications, and their rugged construction makes them ideally suited to stage environments. Typical applications include lighting connections for multiple spotlights, break-out boxes a

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UK - AvitaS is a new company that has been set up by a number of seasoned audio professionals with the specific aim of providing training in audio systems. The result is a comprehensive eight-part training course aimed at people working in audiovisual, IT and professional audio markets.

Conceived and developed by AvitaS founder members, Roland Hemming, Lauren Rogers, Mark McLean and James Eade (who is also technical editor for Lighting & Sound International) the course is aimed at giving people the information they really need to know about designing, specifying, installing and using audio systems, in the real world.

The inaugural programme starts 24 September 2009 at Teddington Studios. Running one day a fortnight over 16 weeks, it covers everything from acoustics, loudspeakers, microphones, processing and mixers. It also covers the design issues with sound - drawings

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UK - Dorset public school Bryanston's 650-seat theatre, The Coade Hall has become the UK's first educational customer to transform its teaching programme and performance standards with the installation of the complete suite of RSS digital audio control products, including the new M-48 live personal mixers.

Bryanston takes drama seriously, and the well-appointed Coade Hall stages 15-20 student productions a year, providing plenty of opportunities for pupils to perform, design, direct and practise stagecraft. With its large proscenium arch stage, orchestra pit and sophisticated lighting and sound set-up, the Coade Hall also hosts numerous productions by professional touring companies, 'am-dram' and outside groups.

Two years ago, technical manager of the Coade Hall Stuart Myles spotted the RSS Digital Snakes, and, with the help of local dealer Stage Electrics, integrated these di

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UK - Two Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing systems were used at FOH for a lavish production by Rick Wakeman. Staged at Hampton Court for two sold-out nights, Wakeman performed his seminal 1973 album, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry's ascension to the throne.

Months in the planning, the high profile event included a full choir and orchestra, church organ, grand piano, the English Rock Ensemble band - including Wakeman's son, Adam, on keyboards and percussionist, Ray Cooper - performing an extended version of the concept album, with narration from special guest, Brian Blessed, six wives, and a selection of ostentatious costumes.

Ian Barfoot, Wakeman's FOH engineer for nearly 25 years, selected two iLive systems, an iDR10 MixRack and iLive-80 Control Surfaces to manage the individually-mic'ed choir and orchestra, fed to a second, main F

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UK - Matt-LX has launched a new web site and expanded to new premises in South East London.

Matthew Clutterham, managing director, says: "We are extremely proud of our new web facility which demonstrates our commitment to quality, value and the people we work with, on-line sales is a new venture for us and has taken a number of months to refine to our high standards and our product list is increasing daily."

The company has been providing lighting and production services to a series of major theatrical touring productions, corporate and special events this year, and developed some innovative project and cost management solutions.

"We've had a very busy year and inevitably had to look for new larger premises to bring everybody together in one prime location. The award winning Royal Arsenal Development puts us into the heart of the action for 2012, London Excel

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Czech Republic - The Solan Hotel occupies a commanding position atop the Solan Mountain on the ski slopes of Wallachia, Czech Republic. It has recently been acquired by a new independent owner, who has refurbished and re-launched the venue as a leisure, conference and business destination.

Owner, local entrepreneur Josef Valchar, is acutely aware that good lighting is a key to setting the right scene and mood for any environment and for making guests feel at home and as comfortable as possible during their stay. He has chosen Anolis LED fixtures to light many areas of the hotel in a phased installation, with the first areas completed including the swimming pool.

Valchar also intends the Solan to be as environmentally friendly as possible - which is another reason for choosing LED fixtures. "Anolis are among the best available on the market - so the brand was an obvious ch

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UK - Wireless digital congress technology from Bosch Security Systems played an integral part in facilitating discussions at events attended by G20 leaders in London in April.

The ninth G20 summit saw the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss and agree a fiscal package to rescue the global economy from the current recession. Helping make sure that their views were not only heard - but also understood - at several events surrounding the G20 summit was the task of Westminster Sonus, a specialist digital AV equipment and simultaneous interpretation provider. Westminster Sonus, in turn, chose Bosch.

The chosen solution centred around Bosch's congress technology, including wireless discussion units and its Integrus simultaneous interpretation (SI) system. Integrus is a digital infrared language distribution system, with up to 32 different language chann

  1. A.C. Entertainment to host Open Day
  2. ETCP exams to be held at LDI
  3. EAW and Focus stage in-depth seminar
  4. ChamSys on tour with the Ting Tings
  5. PLASA09 puts spotlight on business development
  6. Purple Audio continues to expand
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