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Spain - Optocore has appointed Barcelona-based SeeSound as its new exclusive Spanish distributor. The agreement was confirmed at this year's PLASA Show in London, where Optocore launched its new SANE (Synchronous Audio Networking plus Ethernet) protocol to the world's professional audio market.

SeeSound's CEO Nacho Alberdi, not only has extensive knowledge of the Optocore system, having distributed their fibre products back in 2001 as part of AlberdiPro, but has also worked closely with Optocore's recently appointed international sales manager, Mike Case, over the years.

"Having proved to be the industry leader in audio transport through fibre, with the upgrade of the Optocore system, and the ability to be linked to the new SANE system, we are delighted to be working with the brand again," said Nacho Alberdi.

"Optocore is well known in Spain, and SANE is clear

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Canada - CAST Software has announced that Ubisense, with offices worldwide, is the latest partner to BlackBox, providing rapid response real time location detection to the product. Ubisense specialises in precise realtime location systems, tracking people and assets.

Ubisense provides BlackBox the live precise location of moving objects and people needed to automatically direct lighting and sound equipment with zero latency. The technology of Ubisense begins with antenna sensors, which 'hear' the active tag and compute its exact location through a combination of time difference of arrival (TDOA or triangulation) and angle of arrival (AOA). This object can be anything from a live performer to a scenery piece.

Through Ubisense, BlackBox processes a constant stream of exact 3D locations needed to control movement of sound and lighting equipment automatically. This Ubisense system

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Puerto Rico - Ricky's Audio Corporation provided the sound equipment and services for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) professional wrestling events in Arecibo and Ponce, Puerto Rico on 5 and 6 September 2009, respectively. The audio system for the events included powered VRX line arrays and dbx signal processing for system control.

Both WWE events featured matches with such WWE stars as the Undertaker, current WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, and WWE Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and Big Show. The 5 September 5 event in Arecibo took place at the Manuel Petaca Iguina Coliseum, while the 6 September event in Ponce was held in the Juan Pachin Vicens Auditorium. Both venues have seating capacities of more than 12,000 people.

The sound reinforcement system included a total of 24 JBL VRX932LAP Crown-powered Constant Curvature line array speakers, each equipped

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Belgium - The stadium leg of Coldplay's Viva La Vida world tour called on the expertise of international staging experts Stageco to create a bespoke stage with vision. The band's increasing popularity created high demand for the 2009 17- date stadium tour across Europe, including shows in Barcelona, Stockholm and Wembley.

They were keen to create "a unique live experience for their fans" and, for the first time, contracted Stageco to design, manufacture and install the Viva La Vida touring stage.

Development began at the end of 2008. Project director Hedwig de Meyer led in-depth consultation between Stageco's in-house design and CAD engineers and the band's management and production teams. An extensive creative process followed to finalise a design led staging solution, following the concept of a giant eyelid, which was practical and safe to tour.

The

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UK - Royal Philips Electronics' LED based lighting solutions have contributed to the overall reduction in energy consumption on Radiohead's latest tour. Value added reseller, Architainment, supplied a variety of LED systems advocating Radiohead's keen commitment to environmental responsibility.

Andi Watson, creative director for the In Rainbowstour, explains: "Doing away with conventional lighting on set was a massive leap of faith for us. Of course our concerts are all about delivering the music but the fans expect a visual spectacle as well. At the same time, we can't just pollute the atmosphere merely for effect."

Watson continues: "Having put the LED equipment through its paces we were convinced it was the right way to go. To be honest, not having a single discharge or incandescent lamp in the design has set a new benchmark for us."

Always open

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USA - Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are two of country music's most successful artists and together, Brooks & Dunn have recorded 23 No.1 hits, sold over 30 million records and have won more than 80 major industry awards. Brooks & Dunn are currently on tour celebrating their 10th studio album titled Cowboy Town and their monitor engineer, Kurt Springer, has selected a complete AKG wireless system that encompasses over 30 AKG products for the tour.

Brooks & Dunn have relied on AKG products for a number of years and are currently using a diverse collection of wireless products, including an AKG WMS4500 wireless system, AKG 520 headset microphone, AKG D7 handheld microphone, AKG IVM4 in-ear monitoring system as well as the vintage AKG C12 tube microphone.

"Brooks & Dunn are loyal AKG users and have used vintage C12 microphones for vocal recordings in the past, so when the

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UK - Martin Professional had on display at PLASA09 show a full Maxxyz Modules concept, the company's modular lighting control solution that is creating a buzz among lighting designers and installers.

Martin Professional product manager Paul Pelletier explains: "Today's lighting control needs cannot be satisfied by a single surface that works for everyone and every application.

"The Maxxyz Modules concept allows for full customization of a lighting control system while keeping it simple and easy to manage for rental houses. As an example, a set of four Maxxyz Modules can be used on a single rental event or split over four different rental applications, something simply not possible with typical large moving light desks. Flexibility is the key word here. The modules concept is certainly the way forward for controllers."

Maxxyz Modules can be as simple as a singl

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UK - When Coldplay's Viva La Vida world touring production moved out of arenas and into the larger stadiums this summer, rental company Wigwam Acoustics were eager to extend the production's Optocore optical fibre network.

With a long history of using Optocore systems in their digital desks, they contacted the German company's international sales manager Mike Case - and soon an Optocore DD32E/DD6NE network had been added to the LX4 Optical Digital Multicore (and FOH I/O) already in use.

Wigwam's digital specialist, Alex Hadjigeorgiou comments, "Huge distances weren't really an issue until the band started playing stadiums - prior to that everything was daisy chained via the FOH position. However, it quickly became obvious that in the big American arenas / stadia the distances would be too great to run the system in its existing format - hence the introduction of fi

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UK - Llanelli-based Vaughan Sound Installations recently installed public address and voice alarm systems in the new hospitality areas at Glamorgan Cricket Club's new SWALEC stadium in Cardiff. This latest work was completed in readiness for the first Ashes test to be staged in the city.

VSI was working with electrical contractor AMSER and main contractor Paramount, following their highly successful completion of the first phase of audio installation earlier in the year, during the ground's initial refurbishment programme. For this, VSI provided a house audio/voice evacuation system for the stadium itself.

This second phase saw the original TOA VX2000 stadium system extended to over 300 speakers in order to incorporate the newly constructed lounge and hospitality boxes, plus the revamped offices.

The main technical requirement was that it met .5 of the STIPA speech transmiss

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UK - Following on from an exceptional PLASA09 exhibition for Cadac, the company has reported a significant increase in distribution and sales enquiries worldwide for both analogue and digital products.

The iconic silver Airstream Ronnie Lane Mobile Studio (LMS) parked on the booth (the concept was designed around Ronnie Lane's "One for the Road" album cover), was a major visual attraction at the show, and gave engineers the chance to listen to Cadac's classic analogue audio quality in one of the world's most famous acoustic environments, and perform a direct comparison with the audio performance of the new S-Digital console. Reports from live and recording engineers were impressive, say Cadac.

"Live musical entertainment on the booth from Stephen Dale Petit, The Pretty Things, The Malchicks and Sacha Morgan reinforced the message that despite the technology, it'

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USA - Austin, Texas-based chipmaker Cirrus Logic Inc is celebrating its 25th anniversary this September. Originally founded in 1984 to provide integrated circuits (ICs) for the growing PC components market, Cirrus Logic has since evolved as a leading supplier of signal processing components for audio and energy applications.

Among its many achievements, Cirrus Logic is recognised as the pioneer of the fabless model for the semiconductor industry, going against industry conventions at the time when most chip companies required their own manufacturing resources. Today, hundreds of semiconductor companies globally have adopted the fabless model. In product innovation, the company is recognised as a leading-edge designer of the audio converter, which converts analogue signals into digital signals and vice versa. Cirrus Logic audio chips can be found inside the latest cutting-edge el

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UK - When satellite television company Sky realised that their ever-growing staff numbers and hectic production schedules were making it harder and harder to host a traditional staff Christmas party, they invented a completely different alternative: Skyfest, a mid-summer outdoor festival exclusively for Sky's staff and their guests. Running over two days in London in July for the London-based staff, then two days in Edinburgh in September for those working for Sky in Scotland, Skyfest this year featured lighting from White Light.

Brought in to the project by event organisers The Rouge Partnership, White Light provided a complete lighting service to both the London and Edinburgh Skyfests, including equipment rental, installation, show operation and load-out. The company was responsible for lighting the main arena, the main outdoor stage, viewing tents, the drinks te

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UK - Immediately following their headline appearance at Bestival on the Isle of Wight, Massive Attack undertook a late summer tour of the UK - ranging from Academy rock venues to multipurpose halls in the 3,000-capacity area.

Carrying sound production provided by Wigwam Hire - with their visual set again dominated by the creative work of UVA - Robert '3D' Del Naja, Grant 'Daddy G' Mitchell and their tribe (including guest singer Martina Topley Bird, Debbie Miller and long-time collaborator Horace Andy) have shown they have lost none of the experimental flair and challenging production values that characterized their early work, featuring singers such as Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser.

Common to both Bestival and their latest tour was the provision of a Martin Audio PA rig - a full W8L Longbow system on the Isle of Wight and Wigwam Hire's W8LC Compact line array on tou

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South Africa - The Joburg Theatre (the re-branded Johannesburg Civic Theatre) has just received training for its new grandMA2 full-size console.

Enos Ramoroko, stage officer at the Joburg Theatre comments: "We have to cater for many international companies and the grandMA platform is the most specified console on any technical riders. That's the main reason we bought it. Our team are very happy to have a new desk." The training from DWR Distribution was presented by Nick Britz.

Duncan Riley from DWR Distribution says: "A grandMA2 full-size is what they wanted. There was no demo either, and it was just to cope with their international shows." On a personal level, Riley adds, "I have had a relationship with the Joburg Theatre since 1994 and it has always been a pleasure to deal with everyone there. I would personally like to thank Bernard Jaye and his am

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Spain - The Teatros del Canal, a new multipurpose performing arts complex in downtown Madrid, marks another triumph for renowned Spanish architect Juan Navarro Baldeweg. The bold exterior statement of angular glass and stone carries over into the interior, where visual aesthetics are complemented in the aural domain by the performance of Meyer Sound's self-powered M1D and M'elodie line array loudspeaker systems in the Main Theatre and the black-box Theatre Configurable.

According to Ramon Pérez of RPS Broadcasting, the consultant on audiovisual technologies for the project, initial plans for all-Meyer Sound systems had been sketched before he was contracted as the audiovisual consultant, and he quickly concurred. "I've worked with Meyer systems in the past, and I've been impressed by the excellent size/weight-to-power ratio, the precise directivity, and the phase coh

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UK - Over 10 years ago, John Thurlbeck of Durham County Council invested in a substantial package of Maltbury's premier system - Steeldeck. Since then he has used the equipment many times for a wide variety of events. From speech platforms for Tony Blair to heavy rock gigs in the park, he says he has never been disappointed with Maltbury Steeldeck's performance.

Thurlbeck chose Steeldeck because of its durability, safe in the knowledge that these sturdy decks have been supporting performers and production teams for a very long time. "It has literally been used for everything from rock to classics to corporate sets and all points in between," he says.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Bradford Theatres have purchased a Haulotte Star 10 Vertical Mast for use in one of their city centre venues, the Alhambra Theatre. The Alhambra Theatre seats 1400 people and is regarded as the North's premier touring venue, hosting a range of large scale entertainment from ballet and opera to variety and comedy, musicals, drama and Yorkshire's biggest pantomime.

The Alhambra's Theatre's technical electrics manager wanted to improve safety at the theatre where they were using a tallescope for working at height. "We chose the Star 10 because it is driveable at full height, carries two people and is about 1 tonne lighter than other machines we looked at suitable for our stage floor. Haulotte also changed the speed setting on the machine to enable us to drive it slower so that we have greater control in difficult areas like the edge of the orchestra pit."

The Star

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UK - Firefly Solar has been awarded 'Supplier of the Year' at the 2009 Event Awards, held at the Park Lane Hilton, London last month.

Each supplier in the category had to provide three examples of how their service had enhanced the quality of an event through innovation, level of service, impact on the feel of the event and the challenges they overcame. Firefly chose The Age of Stupid film premiere, Innocent Smoothie Village Fete and BBC's Springwatchas their case studies.

These events showcased the versatility of Firefly as a supplier and their ability to bring an educational element to events, enabling the public to learn about the possibilities of renewable power. The case studies also highlighted how Firefly helped to seriously reduce their clients carbon footprint; the Age of Stupid film premiere emitting just one per cent of the usual carbon emission

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Austria - Studio 44 is a well equipped event location based in the headquarters of the Austrian Lotteries in Vienna. Although originally intended solely for internal use, during the last 10 years it has become a successful commercial venture, with clients such as Ford Motor Company, Coca Cola, BP and Google to its name. The latest additions to its equipment inventory are a DiGiCo SD7 and two SD8s.

"This is the first venue in Austria to have an SD7 plus two SD8s all with Optocore," says Thomas Kappner, technical director of the complex. "We are happy that DiGiCo and distributor TON Eichinger performed the installation and training smoothly."

"Being accustomed to the fixed architecture of analogue consoles and their quick access, we were extremely skeptical about digital console bank switching and menu structures," adds chief sound engineer, Dietmar

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UK - A hi-tech semi-permanent viewing platform and interactive gallery was recently launched by Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, based at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon, which gives museum visitors an interactive experience as they enter the famed centre court. Arena Structures provided the bespoke viewing platform.

The 360° viewing facility will remain active all year round while being removed for the duration of the Championships. Tennis enthusiasts will be able to enjoy a full insight into the main features of Wimbledon and Centre Court. Venturing out to the viewing platform on Centre Court itself places them just steps away from the world famous turf.

In conjunction with concept designers Mather and Company, Arena Structures designed and installed the elegant viewing platform and temporary corridor which connects it to the rest of the gallery.

Project mana

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Puerto Rico - One of the most popular music festivals in the Caribbean, the Brugal Merengue festival is one of the region's most highly anticipated events. This year's festival drew a crowd of 25,000 people who filled the Hiram Bithorn Stadium to capacity. The event included performances by Latin Grammy-winning vocalist Milly Quezada, Sergio Vargas, and Kinito Méndez from the Dominican Republic, along with Gisselle, Manny Manuel, and Limit-21 from Puerto Rico. Longtime favorite group Conjunto Quisqueya made a comeback for a special performance.

Caribbean Audio of Puerto Ricowas contracted to provide both sound reinforcement and backline for this year's festival. Wil López, former chief audio engineer for Ricky Martin and president of Caribbean Audio, discussed the challenges of the project. "Being a baseball venue, the stadium is an open air facility. As a re

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UK - Take a charity founded by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, the expanding Festinho 2009 weekend fund-raising celebration of Brazilian music to support it, and sponsorship from Harman Professional, and you have a recipe for a successful event.

The festival was established five years ago by Rupert Barksfield and Lynda Colborne - as a garden party in a country home attended by 400 people. Since then it has changed its name from the Mini Chill (allied to the larger and long-established Big Chill Festival), and also its site to Kentwell Hall in East Anglia. As a result, this year they were able to cap their attendance at 3,000 (with acts like Jon Kennedy, The Cuban Bros and Penguin Café Orchestra headlining, along with James Yuill and Tom Eno).

In its quest to provide aid for Brazil's street children, Barksfield says the Festinho management

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Germany - Stephan Aue, lighting designer for chart-topping German rock band Silbermond used 24 i-Pix BB7 LED wash units as the main over-stage lighting on the band's latest tour, promoting their Nichts Passiert (Nothing Happened) album. The concept was such a success that he intends to expand it for the next leg of the tour in November, when the shows step up a level.

The band's initial brief for the tour lighting included a request for a 'classic' rock 'n' roll appearance to the stage that was not full of modern clichés and something that specifically didn't resemble any of the standard 'LED looks' that are the trend of the moment. His challenge was to produce something different within those parameters.

He took the bold move of deciding not to use any moving lights overhead, and no LED panels. The no LED panels idea was re-thought for the festival section of th

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Philippines - ASL Intercom systems can be found right across the globe, in a wide variety of performance spaces - from the biggest concert halls through to schools and colleges. Two of the most recent installations of the latter type have been in the Philippines, at System Plus College in Angeles City and La Salle College of Saint Benilde in the capital Manila.

Systems Plus College is a non-sectarian private school offering a wide range of courses for students. Supplied and installed by ASL's Philippines distributor, Mandaluyong City-based Stage Craft International, a stage communication system comprising six BS15 belt packs, six HS1/D single muff lightweight headsets and a BS181 power supply has been installed in the main college auditorium.

Stage Craft has also supplied a large system comprising 16 BS15 belt packs, 17 HS1/D single muff headsets and a PS279 twin-channel Maste

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