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UK - Triple E recently refurbished the masking system for the projection screen in the theatre in London's National Gallery. Situated in the Sainsbury Wing, the 328 seat theatre plays host to a wide range of events including lunchtime talks, lectures, films and study days, as well as private events on behalf of the Gallery's corporate sponsors.

This is the first refurbishment of the multi use theatre since the Sainsbury Wing was built in 1991 and the existing track and motors were not just old, but also unreliable. With such a wide variety of events, and the fact that it's sometimes necessary to swap screen formats within the same event, Jon Sheldon, senior audio-visual technician at The National Gallery, needed a system that was flexible, quiet and accurate.

David Edelstein, managing director of Triple E, said: "We had been working on a new product, Chainbeam, which inco

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The Netherlands -Check Evenement Realisatie, a rental company based in Apeldoorn has just invested heavily in Electro-Voice equipment. EV's Dutch partner, E-Audio Benelux, supplied the company with a powerful arsenal of Electro-Voice systems that included 12 XLC127DVX loudspeakers, four Xsubs, six TG5 amps, two TG7 amps and one new NetMax N8000-1500 with FIR-Drive.

"As a result of this investment in Electro-Voice line-array technology, we are able to offer our customers the finest sound and the latest technology," says Hans van der Wiel, Check Evenement Realisatie's managing director. "It also sends a clear signal that our company is able, even in these difficult times, to embark upon a major programme of investment."

Axel Nagtegaal, managing director of E-Audio Benelux comments: "The family of Electro-Voice users in the Netherlands is growing ever lar

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Eire - Cloud Electronics has confirmed Dublin-based Sound Productions as its distributor for Ireland.

The announcement follows a number of similar distribution appointments made by Cloud over the last year. The manufacturer says it is preparing a solid and proactive distribution network across the globe in preparation for new niche, high quality, commercial audio systems from the Cloud brand, as well as updated lines, all to be available in the near future.

Derek McGlynn, Sound Productions MD, commented: "Cloud has an enviable reputation in the contractor market and we are extremely pleased that Sound Productions has been chosen as the distributor for Ireland."

The appointment begins on 1 September 2009 and will be heralded with a Cloud dealer day, to be held on 3 September at the Clarion Hotel, Dublin.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Everybody wants to increase the sustainability of their events, but it's not always clear what this looks like on a practical level. PLASA is therefore working in partnership with the Sustainable Events Group to deliver a two-day Implementing BS 8901:2009 course, designed to provide PLASA Members with the expertise that will enable them to design, install and maintain a management system that not only meets the requirements of the standard, but delivers measureable benefits from day one.

The course takes the complex concepts that underpin the standard and turns them into practical, common sense solutions that can be used to improve management practice. Expert instructors, directly involved in the revision of the standard, the development of certification and experienced in sustainability management system implementation, provide a detailed skills transfer during this two da

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UK - Launching on 3rd September, the 2009 100 Hours of Carbon Clean up Campaign will give organisations another chance to sign up and take part in carbon saving activities.

The campaign is open to companies from all sectors who want to reduce the amount of carbon emitted from their buildings and to motivate fellow employees to get involved. In return, participants will be able to access an extensive list of carbon saving activities and expert advice.

This is the fourth Carbon Clean Up Campaign run by CIBSE - last year's campaign saw around 600 organisations sign up to cut carbon, including hospitals, museums, consultancies, local authorities and universities. Buildings already signed up for the 2009 campaign include Tate Britain and the Science Museum.

Mike Simpson, CIBSE President, said: "We are now in the fourth year of Carbon Clean up Campaigns and enthusiasm

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UK - AP has been handling security at Henley for the past 12 years. Senior operations manager for this year's event was Tommy Michalis, working alongside operations manager Sid Bradshaw looking after staff welfare, security supervisor Jackie Weller and a team of around 50.

"The festival attracts a prestigious clientele," says Michalis. "We are required to do meet and greets, check accreditation and make sure all members of the public who enter have the right attire on as this is a black tie event. We secure the whole site, making sure that venue capacities comply with regulations and that there is no illegal mooring by boats not associated with the festival.

"We also escort the principal artists from their dressing rooms to stage and back, as well as securing the site that the pyrotechnics are fired from on the opposite side of the river. There are sometime

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France - The opening night of the annual Jules Verne Film Festival was held at the Grand Rex cinema in Paris this year, with the theme Space Conquest. Many of France's top astronauts attended the gala to pay homage to the guest of honour, Buzz Aldrin, and FOH audio was managed by an Allen & Heath digital iLive system.

A documentary film about Aldrin and Armstrong's lunar conquest was projected on a large screen, accompanied by a specially-commissioned live orchestral soundtrack called A Symphonic Voyage to the Moon written and directed by Emmy Award-winning composer, John Scott, who wrote soundtracks for blockbusters including King Kong and The Saint.

The festival's technical audio manager, Serge Babkine, chose an iLive system, comprising an iDR10 MixRack and iLive-144 Control Surface, to mix and record the score that was performed on the nig

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UK - E/T/C London is once again supplying spectacular 90 metre wide large format projections for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. This is the fifth consecutive year that the company has been involved in this high profile event, and the second year that the projection canvas has been increased from 60 to 90m wide - following the success of the widescreen style last year. This extended area stretches the full width of Edinburgh Castle's walls at the far end of the Esplanade/arena, forming a dramatic backdrop to the performance space.

E/T/C London's Ross Ashton designed and produced custom artwork for the high impact projections which run for approximately 50% of the show. This is the most that projected images have been used to date since the medium was first introduced into the Tattoo's visual mix in 2005.

Four of E/T/C's PIGI 6K projectors fitted with double rotating scro

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UK - City Building Glasgow, an independent building and maintenance company was formed in 2006 from the Building Services Dept of Glasgow City Council and now has a wide range of contracts in the public and private spheres. Maltbury Staging has been working with City Building for over two years, supplying new build primary schools with a carefully designed package of staging and performance equipment.

Jane Martin at City Building discussed the requirements with Maltbury MD Philip Sparkes and agreed on a package of equipment which would provide a lightweight 7m x 4m stage with backdrop system and disabled access ramp. For complete convenience, easy grip hand-wheels secured the legs on a deck without the need for tools. The kit has proved so versatile and reliable that City Building has just placed its twelfth order.

Drawings and set up instructions for each school were submitte

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USA - Bosch Security Systems Communications Systems Division has announced that its RTS Intercom west coast regional office in Burbank, Cal. is being consolidated into its Burnsville, Minn. headquarters.

Effective 23 August 2009, this move is in step with both the recent restructuring of the division's sales organisation and the continued expansion of its training programme into larger, better-equipped facilities.

Burnsville is also home base for the Division's Bosch Conferencing & Public Address, Electro-Voice, and Telex brands.

Bosch Security Systems also offers training at facilities across the US, including locations in California, Georgia, Indiana, New York, Ontario, and Pennsylvania. The Burnsville facility will serve as the location for the Communications Systems Division's largest training seminars.

"Our focus on maximizing value for our customers shapes every

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Australia/UK - State Automation has announced the appointment of Cooper Controls as the exclusive distributor for its products in Europe.

State Automation is a privately owned Australian company specialising in the design and manufacture of advanced dimming systems for professional theatre, television and other entertainment applications. Cooper Controls is a specialist manufacturer and supplier of lighting control products to the entertainment and architectural lighting markets.

"Following unprecedented success in Australasia and the Far East we have been looking to further develop our business in Europe for some time," says State Automation chairman Chris Bishop. "Cooper Controls has an extensive dealer network and market penetration throughout the region. Through their Zero 88 entertainment lighting control brand they have a core knowledge of the markets our

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USA - Meyer Sound has announced its international education schedule for August to October 2009, with seminars to be held in Mexico City; Toronto; Los Angeles; Montabaur, Germany; Seville and Madrid, Spain; Duivendrecht, Netherlands; and Osimo Stazione, Italy. Some seminars will be taught in the local languages, including Spanish and German, and others will be interpreted by qualified translators.

Meyer Sound's education programme emphasis the science of audio and practice in live sound applications. The seminars will cover core audio principles encompassing sound system design and alignment, line array theory, equalisation, delay and acoustical prediction with MAPP Online Pro. Other courses explore system measurement and optimisation, FFT analysis, filters and phase relationships at an advanced level with practical reference to the use of Meyer Sound's SIM 3 audio analyser.

L

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USA - Harman Professional has announced the appointment of Hi-Tech Audio Systems as the authorised distributor for India. According to Harman Professional regional sales director Sushil S. John, this move "underscores Harman Professional's commitment to evolving and improving its service of the professional audio community in India".

Headquartered in New Dehli with satellite offices in Noida and resident engineers based regionally throughout India, Hi-Tech Audio Systems was established in 1990 by PK Gupta, director and Rajan Gupta, director. Hi-Tech Audio Systems' team of 65 engineers and executives is highly experienced in the Indian professional audio market, having led many major fixed installs, live sound and recording and broadcast projects and also having previously served a host of other leading manufacturers.

"As India's creative community continues to e

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UK - The Big Chill festival continues to pioneer the integration of visual arts with live performance, attracting some of the world's best visual acts to the Herefordshire fields to create the special visual presence that has become one of the event's key trademarks.

All the video requirements of the festival, including system design, production, and VJ programming, are concentrated in the hands of creative services resource company As Described Ltd, run by Adam Seaman and Jim Horsfield. Both men are enthusiastic supporters of the professional video mixers and samplers from Edirol by Roland, and chose the V-8 8-channel mixers as the front-of-house standard mix kit for all the main performance venues, including the principal outdoor stages.

The 2009 Big Chilll proposition draws in visual artists such as D-Fuse, Labmeta, Flicker, Bob Jaroc, Myogenic, Mowgli, Visual

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Germany - Mainz-based integration firm BFE Studio und Medien Systeme has specified Renkus-Heinz Iconyx IC16 arrays as part of extensive presentation, sound reinforcement and conference facilities in three new buildings on Campus Westend of the Frankfurt University in Germany.

The Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main is among Germany's foremost educational establishments, with ambitions to be one of Europe's leading universities. Its current renovation and expansion plan on the Westend Campus site will take the total capacity of the campus from 10,000 students currently to around 45,000 by 2014.

Three new buildings, the House of Finance, the Rechts-und Wirtschaftswissenschaften (Law and economics) building and the Hörzaalzentrum (centre) have been completed and equipped with AV systems designed by Datech consulting's Detlef Hartmann and installed, following a

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UK - The Youngman Group has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Staging Concepts, the Minneapolis, US based producer of lightweight modular performance staging systems.

The Staging Concepts range is now available throughout Europe via the Youngman Group's newly established Events division. Launched earlier this year, the Youngman Events division is dedicated to the needs of the events industry, including sporting fixtures, outdoor concerts, exhibitions and product launches.

The new division is headed by Jason Carlton who says: "The Staging Concepts system is the perfect complement for our own range of products for the events industry. Staging Concepts' is a complete system ideal for the end-user and specific venue applications."

Under the new distribution deal, Youngman will stock the Staging Concepts range at its warehousing site at Maldon, Essex and w

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Spain - SoundMan-Server has been recently installed by Kontrolcla in L'Auditori, a 42,000sq.m auditorium designed by the architect Rafael Moneo in Barcelona. L'Auditori" includes three auditorium halls, a museum as well as a music academy. A fourth hall will open within the next few months.

With more than a thousand events last year, the auditorium has decided to invest in a modern sound and show control system. SoundMan-Server, controlled by Medialon's Show and Media Control system has been installed by Kontrolcla Show Control in the auditorium's halls.

One Medialon Manager Pro license is used for the Stage Managers to control all the audio paging system and service lighting.

One Soundman-Server license, one Peavey MediaMatrix, eight DMX512 transceivers and one KissBox I/O box are connected with Medialon Manager via TCP/IP across the new optic fibre building network.

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Italy - The Protomoteca and Small Protomoteca are premises within the Capitol in Rome displaying priceless collections of antique sculptures. However, thanks to their prime location, they are not exclusively reserved for art exhibitions but as venues for prestige events. Thus, installing a quality sound system was a key priority when the two halls were recently renovated. The installation was entrusted to Rome-based specialists Video Company Multimedia, who worked closely with Cross-Point, the technology and design department of Texim.

The installation proved a complex task due to the tricky acoustics of both halls, which feature ancient stone walls and marble floors; the reverberation time in each was so extensive that it seemed any intelligibility would be impossible. With the help of multiple EASE simulations, the team was able to devise a solution that is not only tailored p

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Estonia - Over 1000 Tannoy loudspeakers have recently been installed in Estonia's newest upmarket hotel development. A range of CVS in-ceiling speakers and Designer Install surface-mount speakers have been specified throughout the Meriton Conference and Spa Hotel in Tallinn as part of a comprehensive audio system that also includes Biamp amplification and DSP.

An elegant and modern addition to Tallinn's cityscape, the Meriton, which opened in May 2009, is located at the heart of the Estonian capital, close to the Old Town and the Parliament. The hotel has 301 guestrooms and the hotel's ace card is its combination of modern luxury in the shape of fine dining and health spa along with cutting edge business facilities.

A total of seven flexible conference rooms are furnished with the latest AV equipment including Sanyo 4500 ANSI XGA projectors, CommTec video matrices and Tannoy's

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Denmark - The effects of the global recession on one of the professional lighting industry's best-known manufacturers was clearly illustrated when Schouw & Co, the parent company of Martin Professional AS, made its half-year financial report yesterday.

The report describes a difficult first half of 2009, in which the group's consolidated revenue has fallen 13.1% from H1 2008, while the company's earnings before income tax (EBIT) fell by DKK 138 million to DKK 12 million, which the report says "is not considered to be satisfactory".

Furthermore, Schouw says that its earnings difficulties are "predominantly attributable to Martin".

"Revenue failed to meet expectations, and Martin continues to be hard hit by the knock-on effects of the global financial crisis. Geographically, the recession is broadly founded, and investments in large parts of the events

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Denmark - SoundMan-Server has recently been installed in The Worker's Museum, also called Arbejdermuseet, in Copenhagen to manage audio playback and distribution. This museum is dedicated to the history of the Danish worker movement starting from the mid-19th century.

SoundMan-Server and Medialon have been selected as the main sound and show control system for the Industry worker exhibition section of the museum. The exhibition was designed by Blekksprut AS who contracted Multitekst Ltd to integrate SoundMan-Server and Medialon.

The exhibition starts in an introductory room where a seven-minute long HD movie with historical facts is displayed on a 42" LCD monitor. A Danish and English version is available. The language option and movie play can be selected by the visitors themselves. After the introductory room, visitors go through several exhibition rooms. In a co

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UK - PLASA Connect, the new business contact initiative set to run at this year's PLASA Show (13-16 September, Earls Court, London), has gained the support and sponsorship of Supply2Gov. The only official government lower-value contract opportunity portal, Supply2Gov was created in June 2006, specifically to provide small businesses with information on public sector contract opportunities - typically below £100,000.

The support of Supply2.gov.uk underlines PLASA09's role as a focus for business within the sector. Supply2Gov is the first major initiative to unite both buyers and suppliers in a single location, making it easier for business and government to work together. Suppliers can access UK-wide contracts for free via an online Contract Search, and can also sign up for a daily e-mail alert.Since its launch, the portal has provided small businesses throughout the UK wit

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USA - Beat three poker pros at their own game and walk away with $1 million. That's the premise behind Face the Ace, a new poker reality show airing this month on the NBC network.

Hosted by Steve Schirripa of Sopranos fame, contestants choose a professional poker player (the Ace) to match wits against from among four doors. Filmed at Cin City Studios in Las Vegas, Face the Ace uses a complement of Martin Professional lighting gear to dress the set in colour and beam effects, including the new MAC 301 Wash luminaire.

Innovative Show Design (ISD) of Lake Mary, Florida handled all scenic and lighting design, production and installation for client Poker Production. Lighting design is by ISD's lighting director/associate artistic director Justin Garrone.

The set design is based on a fashionable, contemporary hotel suite. "We were inspired by the look an

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UK - Manchester-based lighting company DBN Lighting supplied design services and equipment to illuminate the river facing façade of the Port of Liverpool building for LuminoCity, a 30-minute multimedia spectacular created and produced by Walk the Plank and featuring video projections, pyrotechnics, live performance, and a specially composed sound track.

The culmination of Liverpool's 2009 Art On The Waterfront event also produced by Walk The Plank for Liverpool City Council, LuminoCity was produced in conjunction with Tate Liverpool, which ran a week of colourful summer events for all ages inspired by their exhibition Colour Chart: Reinventing Colour, 1950 to Today.

Stephen Page of DBN designed the light show which illuminated the 50m tall building. Page used over 200 assorted LED fixtures, primarily Chroma-Q Colorblock mk2s, dotted all over the bu

  1. grandMA2 at the Edinburgh Fringe
  2. Tokyo's Cotton Club chooses Meyer Sound
  3. Mythbusters turns again to Meyer Sound
  4. Fall Out Boy go digital with Midas PRO6
  5. Canterbury church installs Alcons system
  6. UK artists go wireless with Sennheiser G3
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