Business

Details
Europe - Lighting Designer Paul Normandale has upped the lighting fixture quantities for a series of European stadium shows for Coldplay's ongoing Viva La Vida tour, including a conversion of eight MAC 250 Washes into new MAC 250 Beams.

Martin Professional's new MAC 250 Beam upgrade kit converts any standard Martin MAC 250 Wash into a punchy beam fixture that projects powerful variably sized pencil beams.

Normandale, who serves as production designer handling lights, set and video on the tour, chose to use the MAC 250 Beam because of the outdoor set's 180ft wide span, which allows the 250 Beams to do aerial work as well as cross light.

Located on the stage floor on side wings, the 250 Beams provide an intense light output and tight beam for a powerful mid air effect. The upgrade kit includes a micro Fresnel lens and set of six beam effect gobos/apertures and only tak

Details
Czech Republic - Robe Lighting has just completed the latest phase of a substantial ongoing expansion project. This includes the acquisition of PCB production company Dioflex, its long term electronic parts supplier, based in Roznov near to Robe's factory facility in Valasske Mezirici.

Robe's has also invested 3.5m Euros in building a completely new logistics centre and in doubling its warehouse space to nearly 4000sq.m.

The latest factory expansion project houses a purpose-built plastics moulding centre which covers about 1000sq.m, equipped with all necessary machinery involved in this process.

This has all been achieved by reinvesting the company's profits, supported by a strong operating cashflow, says the company.

Dioflex comes complete with 30 skilled employees, approximately 2000sq.m of premises and all the modern technology and fully automated machining processes ne

Details
China - Located in Jiangbei City, the Chongqing Grand Theatre is home to a 1850-capacity (Grand) and a 930-capacity (Medium) theatre. L-Acoustics loudspeaker systems have been installed as part of an upgrade, supplied by Chinese distributor Rightway Audio.

The larger of the two spaces has been designed as a leading world-class venue capable of hosting opera, dance drama, ballet, symphony and other large-scale variety shows, while the smaller theatre focuses on small and medium-size performances, such as dance, drama, modern drama, vocal performances, orchestral music, chamber music, folk music and so on.

In the Grand Theatre, left and right arrays each encompassing 14 Kiva ultra compact line source array cabinets with four Kilo low frequency extensions have been flown on either side of the proscenium arch. An additional two L-Acoustics full-frequency 115XHiQ cabinets have also

Details
UK - Sennheiser's charity golf days have become an annual highlight with the company, its customers and suppliers alike. As well as providing an excellent way to informally discuss both business and pleasure, they also have the very serious purpose of raising significant amounts of money for good causes.

10 July this year saw around 100 Sennheiser customers and staff take part in the 14th charity golf day held at Mill Ride Golf Course, Ascot, with a remarkable £17,000 being raised for the Caron Keating Foundation.

Set up in memory of late television presenter Caron Keating, the Foundation raises money to offer financial support to carers, complementary healing practitioners and support groups dealing with cancer patients, as well as individuals and families who are affected by the disease and to cancer charities in the ongoing quest for early diagnosis and effective trea

Details
South Africa - The third grandMA2 introduction training session within the past two months was hosted at DWR Distribution in Strijdom Park, Johannesburg.

The companies Congo Blue, Black Coffee, Selbys and the AV Alliance were represented at the most recent course and experienced first-hand the functionalities of the grandMA2 console, which had recently landed in South Africa.

"Some guys who attended commented how it opened their eyes," said Nick Britz from DWR who ran the sessions. "They were initially scared thinking it was too involved. Soon they saw just how easy it was once they knew their way around it."

Brandon Bunyan from Black Coffee was accompanied by colleagues Michael Swart and Grant Leonard. "The course was great and very inspirational," said Bunyan. "My guys are psyched, but as we've not taken ownership of our newly purchased g

Details
UK - When the owners of London's Regent Street, The Crown Estate, decided to open a pedestrianised food quarter in adjoining Heddon Street, a quality background music system was high on the list of items needed to create an ambient atmosphere, and first stop was the Bose store on Regent Street for advice.

Bose store manager, Alex Richardson, referred The Crown Estate and its partner the Regent Street Association on to his colleagues in the professional systems division and it wasn't long before a full design and specification was drawn up to meet the very specific requirements for the area. Not only did the system have to meet the creative and operational requirements of the members of the Regent Street Association in Heddon Street, but Westminster City Council's stringent planning guidelines and the aesthetic requirements of the Regent Street brand, also needed to be accommodat

Details
Lebanon - The Baalbeck International Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious festival in the Middle East. It has been taking place annually during July and August since 1956 within the Roman Acropolis in the ruins of the Baalbek Temples in Lebanon. The temples in Baalbek are not only the largest Roman temples ever built, but also among the best preserved and considered as one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Dramatic lighting and the historic setting provide the background for the variety of performances at the festival, entertaining over 40,000 visitors each summer. The 2009 festival highlight was a performance by Deep Purple on the steps of the ancient Courtyard of the Two Temples to an audience of 7000. Roger Bakhos of Lumen Art in Beirut designed the lighting for the 'stage' using an arsenal of Clay Paky fixtures.

32 Alpha Beam 300, 16 Alpha Beam 700,

Details
UK - BEIRG, the British Entertainment Industry Radio Group, which is busy campaigning for the performance and event industry's continued access to the radio spectrum following the digital switchover, has made an appeal to all users of wireless equipment to give their input to the campaign. BEIRG's statement reads as follows:

On 30 June 2009, Ofcom published a statement setting out its decision to clear the entire 800MHz band. This means that if you have wireless equipment such as radio microphones and/or in-ear monitors which operate in channels 61-69, they will be rendered obsolete by 2012/2013. Enforced eviction from the 800MHz band will mean major cost implications for everyone who owns affected equipment.

Ofcom and the Government agreed to the principle of putting a funding mechanism to replace affected equipment. Last week, Ofcom published a consultation - Clearing the 80

Details
UK - System integrator Sysco saw its extensive audio-visual interactive work in the new Darwin Centre at London's Natural History Museum unveiled to the world's press this week, ahead of the public opening on 15 September 2009.

The £78 million Darwin Centre, a new extension to the museum, occupies a spectacular eight-storey-high concrete Cocoon suspended within a glass outer box. It allows museum visitors and scientists to share for the first time the excitement of exploring, studying and preserving the natural world.

Sysco is lead AV contractor on the project, on behalf of project managers Cultural Innovations. Cocoon features an array of exhibits in a curved walkway that spirals through several of its floors. The exhibits make full use of state of the art technology to enhance the visitor experience and provide easy access to multiple layers of information.

Sysco's w

Details
UK - This year's CIBSE Annual Lecture, presented by the SLL at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, will consist of two talks that explore lighting as a combination of art and science, beginning with the historical perspective and then looking towards the future.

The Scientists Dr. Bryson Gore and Dr. Frank James will begin the lecture with a talk on the work of the Royal Institution from the times of Faraday, painting a picture of the scientific fervour that led up to the formation of SLL's original incarnation as the Illuminating Engineering Society in 1909. In addition to anecdotes about the pioneers of the past, the talk will include artefacts and demonstrations from the Royal Institution's marvellous collection.

Multiple award-winning designer Jonathan Speirs will postulate in the second talk that architectural lighting design is primarily about creativity, inspiration

Details
UK - Glasgow's exquisite and historic King's Theatre is enjoying a phased refurbishment that is intended to return the theatre to its former grandeur. Completed in 1904, it represents one of the most inspired designs by Frank Matcham, and considered one of Scotland's most significant theatres.

Restoration planning started just two years ago, and the first phase - the replacement of audience seating - was successfully completed on time at the end of August. Working with local architects Simpson and Brown as well as with Tim Foster Architects and John Muir, Theatreplan's Clive Odom explained that the first phase of the work has focused on the auditorium and orchestra pit: "The seating in the stalls, and the Grand Tier, has been replaced with a design that is authentic to the period of the auditorium and most importantly, is comfortable. The theatre has been running a scheme f

Details
UK - Lighting and video: two unquestionably visual art forms which started apart yet have grown inexorably together in recent years as technology has allowed designers from each field to cross over into the other. How far will this crossover go? Are the two fields ultimately destined to merge into one?

Two of the leading practitioners in their fields feel this is a topic worthy of debate - and will be holding just such a debate, with the provocative title Video and Lighting Are Destined To Merge, on Sunday 13th September at 3pm, as part of the Education & Learning Programme at PLASA09 at Earls Court in London.

The debate's instigators and hosts are leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light, which through its adoption of a wide range of LED lighting technology increasingly finds itself involved with video content and media servers, and United Visual Artists, a

Details
USA - Lighting & Electronics is using a new programme offered by the LDI show as a way to give back to the industry and they are issuing a challenge to all LDI exhibitors to follow in their steps.

LDI is offering a small rebate to exhibitors for every client that registers, using the exhibitor's unique code, attends the show held in Orlando, Florida 20-22 November, and verifies on site. Lighting & Electronics has embarked on an active PR campaign encouraging their customers to attend and have announced they will be donating their entire rebate to Behind the Scenes.

Maryalyce Merritt of Lighting & Electronics commented, "Too many of our colleagues are experiencing challenges to support themselves and their families. They have had to find more creative ways to pay the bills and provide for their basic needs. The L&E family has decided to take a proactive stand to help meet

Details
UK - Defying the economic gloom-mongers PLASA09 opened its doors this morning with registrations matching last year's record breaking total of 15,000 - a sure sign that this year's show is going to be as high energy as ever.

There will be more for visitors to see, as more new exhibitors have signed up for the show at Earls Court, bringing the total of new and returning exhibitors to over 50. The education and learning programme has also been expanded with two audio-related masterclasses from previous Gottelier Award winners, Tony Andrews of Funktion One and John Stadius of Soundtracs/DiGiCo.

Another new addition to the Show is the Supply2.gov.uk Lounge, a central feature area giving exhibitors and visitors the chance to get advice from Supply2.gov.uk - the portal which helps SMEs gain access to public sector contract opportunities, typically worth up to £100,000.

Anoth

Details
UK - Lightfactor announced its exclusive UK and Irish dealership agreement for lighting products from Italian manufacturer D.T.S. at PLASA09 in London this morning, Sunday 13 September.

Says Lightfactor's Peter Coles: "We wanted to team up with a progressive thinking partner that could offer a full, innovative, high quality range of LED, moving light, theatrical range of luminaires and PAR cans for the entertainment and architectural sectors - and D.T.S. is the perfect choice."

Lightfactor has a long history of success with distributing premium brands and cutting edge technology, and has been at the forefront of the moving light market in the UK since its inception.

Coles said at the press launch in Earls Court 1 that Lightfactor will also be appointing a series of sub-distributors for selected D.T.S. product groups.

Based on the east coast of Italy near the comm

Details
UK - Entertainment lifting specialists Hoist UK supplied a custom performer flying winch system to rigging specialists Over The Top for the recent Boyzone tour.

The winch is used during the tour to fly dancers above the stage, then used for the encore to fly all five members of Boyzone to the 'B' stage and then back to the main stage.

Paul Jordan, director of Hoist UK comments, "The winch is a custom version of our popular range of pilewind winches and in its fully built condition it has ten rope drums spanning over seven metres. It is manufactured in modules housed in one metre custom sections of 52cm truss with each module containing two rope drums.

Tony Dickson, fellow director of Hoist UK adds, "Each of the drum modules are then linked using a drive shaft to the next module, and then to a central module containing the geared motor assembly. The winch is capable

Details
UK - Following a competitive tender process, Litestructures, one of the leading specialists in creative aluminium structures, has been commissioned to supply staging and rigging packages to Manchester Central Convention Complex as part of the venue's £20 million redevelopment programme.

Manchester Central is one of the UK's most iconic and popular venues and the redevelopment has centred on creating new and extended foyer areas to the iconic Grade ll listed Central Hall. The redevelopment is allied to infrastructure improvements to provide further cohesion to the venue's facilities, adding value to clients and to the venue's appeal as one of the UK's major convention and exhibition complexes. Key to the Central Hall space development was the implementation of infrastructure in-house to facilitate the staging of conference and gala functions.

The rigging package, which wa

Details
UK - Northern Irish lighting rental company Production Services Ireland enjoyed a massively busy Bank Holiday weekend, servicing three major events in the province.

The first was a one-off gig by New York's the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in St George's Market, Belfast; the second was the three-day Belsonic Festival staged at Customs House Square, central Belfast; and the third was Live at the Castle, in Carrickfergus.

PSI supplied all lighting for this show, which was promoted by CDC Leisure and completely sold out. They worked to a spec from the band's lighting designer Lucas Cotterman.

The rig consisted of a front and back truss loaded with PARs used to provide all the basic stage washes, which were augmented with beams-work, effects and texturing from 14 moving lights - six Robe ColorWash 700E ATs and eight Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs. Eight PixelPARs were added, attached to floo

Details
The Netherlands - The new Luxor Theatre in the major Dutch harbour city of Rotterdam has installed a new Alcons loudspeaker system. The search for a new system began in 2006 because the old system did not meet the current requirements: the Luxor wanted a versatile sound system which could be used by all visiting companies, as its programme varies from musicals to variety shows and stage plays to rock concerts.

An extensive inventory resulted in a pre-selection of three manufacturers, including Alcons. These brands were invited to demonstrate their system during a special demo event. Luxor had chosen for a unique approach for this day. Not only the in-house Luxor technicians but also several famous Dutch sound designers and engineers, familiar with the Luxor Theatre, were invited to give their opinion. Also present were some other employees of the Luxor Theatre which were asked t

Details
UK - A.C. Rigging, a division of A.C. Entertainment Technologies, recently held a trussing and rigging training school at the company's Leeds sales office in conjunction with Italian truss manufacturer, Litec.

Eric Porter, experienced independent rigger, trainer, adviser and committee member for the PLASA National Rigging Certificate, led the course. A.C. Rigging staff were on hand to assist him.

The comprehensive two-day training programme adopted an established Litec course. Topics included Regulations and Risk Assessment, Standards and Guidance, PPE Systems for Working at Height, Ropes and Knots, Inspection and Records.

Sean Pagel, project manager for Production Services Ireland, commented: "I found it a very useful and informative course. The content was very thorough and there was plenty to learn, as it was geared for people of all levels of experience. To be learn

Details
UK/France - 5 Star Cases has delivered its third batch of flight cases to French lighting and sound rental company Arpege, bringing their total to over 100 since the first order last year.

The 57 cases in the latest order were to house Clay Paky's Alpha 300 and new 700 range of Spot, Wash and Beam moving light fixtures - both the 300 and 700 fixtures fit into the same case.

The Tour Grade trunks each house two luminaires and provide storage space for the removable hook clamps. The latest set of cases featured modifications to include a larger allowance for the bracket of the Alpha 700s.

The Arpege cases were made from 12mm birch plywood, with a high pressure laminate bonded exterior in a smart black finish. They also feature heavy-duty casters rated up to 180Kg, more than double the rating of the standard ones.

The project was handled for 5 Star by Andy Harford, who explai

Details
UK - DiGiCo unveiled the latest addition to its digital mixing range at PLASA09 in London yesterday - the SD8-24. The small-footprint console measures under one metre in length, with no reduction in functionality or the number of inputs and outputs.

DiGiCo SD8, launched at PLASA show last year, was an instant hit for the manufacturer, with record numbers sold since its launch. Now, DiGiCo believes it has once again produced a product to suit the industry's changing needs. "A lot of our customers in the corporate world were hard hit at the start of the credit crunch," says James Gordon, DiGiCo's managing director. "Recently, they've been telling us that work is starting to come back. This is great news and we wanted to do something to address the needs of the rejuvenating market. Designing a smaller footprint SD8, but without reducing any of its features, seemed th

Details
USA - Oxford, Ala.-based Sound Solutions recently completed the first house worship installation of the new Electro-Voice EVA compact line array at Centre of Hope Church in Anniston, Ala.

EVA was selected to upgrade the sanctuary sound system at Centre of Hope, to better serve the church's steadily growing congregation and meet the needs of its weekly services and in-house Christian rock band.

"The space is about 90ft wide by 120ft deep, and seats around 1,000 people," says Joey Hutto of Sound Solutions, "and contains some quite reflective surfaces, including a tile floor, a small balcony, and a metal ceiling. We needed to provide the sonic power and intelligibility they needed, along with highly controlled coverage and long throw; we also wanted to avoid the added expense of delays. Line array was the obvious answer, and our EV Rep Steve Land (EDA Pro Group) to

Details
UK - Tannoy is proud to be exhibiting on Stand 1-L39 at PLASA09, the UK's leading professional audio and lighting expo, in partnership with Red Square Audio, the exclusive UK distributor of Tannoy's VQ Live.

As well as demonstrating the VQ Live system, designed for the rental/hire sound market, Tannoy are also be exhibiting the latest developments in the successful VQ Series installation range. Initially launched early last year, VQ Series has been expanded with the addition of 6 new devices (each available in passive or VNET powered) including new mid-high MH and down-firing DF enclosures with a variety of horn formats including 40 deg conical, 60 x 40 degree and 90 x 50 degree.

These new modules offer the systems designer an extremely flexible set of tools with which to build tightly packed compact arrays for a multitude of applications ranging from small to very large scale

  1. Cloud Electronics appoints Australian distributor
  2. Proel system reinforces Taiwan's Kaohsiung Arena
  3. Instant quotes from Triple E's web site
  4. PLASA09: XMOS demonstrates Gigabit Ethernet AVB
  5. Royal Albert Hall opens additional venue
  6. The Week in Lighting & Sound
Page 1094 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .