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Poland - The 40th anniversary of Woodstock was celebrated in Poland with Woodstock Trainstop 2009 - the 15th such festival to be held in the country. The free concert was attended by 420,000 people, and the main stage was entirely equipped with Midas, with both analogue and digital consoles provided.

Taking place in Kostrzyn on the Polish-German border, rental company Fotis Sound provided a Midas XL8 and XL4 for front of house, with a choice of PRO6 and H3000 on monitors, a Venice 160 for communications and a Klark Teknik DN9696 high resolution recorder, which was used to record the Saturday Anniversary Concert attended by original Woodstock founder Michael Lang.

Special guests at this year's festival were Nobel Peace Prize-winner and former president of Poland, Lech Walensa, and Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the first prime minister of Poland post- 1989. Forty internation

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Denmark - Since the latest Maxxyz PC version 2.60 release, Martin has decided to open up two DMX universes of its flagship controller product so any owner of the Martin Universal USB/DMX box can take advantage of Maxxyz PC power.

connecting the Martin Universal USB/DMX box to any Maxxyz PC will generate 1024 DMX channels. This is an opportunity for Martin LightJockey users with larger requirements to experience all the power and benefits of Maxxyz PC, says the company. Users can download the new software from the Maxxyz support site at www.martin.com/maxxyz/support.asp

(Jiom Evans)

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Brazil - Rent All Show based in the Guarujá, State of Sao Paulo recently bought the first grandMA2 in Brazil. The owner of the company, Pancho, decided on a grandMA2 light.

Pancho comments: "We chose the grandMA2 for two primary reasons. First of all the console is one of the most universally accepted worldwide as well as in Brazil, especially the grandMA2 light, which addresses all the requirements of both large and smaller tours. The other reason is because of the fantastic support offered by the local MA Lighting office in Brazil, MA Lighting Latin America.

Rent All Show is a company with 20 years experience in the market. It provides professional lighting and audio solutions for the entertainment business, mainly for the concert touring sector and already owns MA equipment.

(Jim Evans)

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Russia - Pop diva Anastacia's four month tour of the UK and Europe's theatres and arenas finished in style in the middle of September - with what was commonly considered its best sounding date - in Kiev, Russia. DiGiCo D5s sat at both Front of House and monitor positions throughout, in the safe hands of Tony Blanc and Becky Pell.

Blanc is no stranger to working with Anastacia, having performed FOH duties for her on and off since her first single broke some eight years ago. He is also no stranger to DiGiCo and was happy to be able to specify a D5 for her latest tour.

As the tour didn't carry a full PA system, Blanc utilised 56 of the D5's inputs and fed the varying systems with five sends: main PA, front-fills, subs and delays as required.

"The show was her usual pop style, where the songs vary in colour and intensity," he recalls. "Most programmers work at hom

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UK - Litestructures is committed to raising safety in our industry through the publication of information, the encouragement of training and sharing of knowledge. As part of this, the company are launching a new service (introduced at PLASA09) by offering a manufacturer approved inspection service to customers old and new.

The company says: "According to BS7906-2:2000, initial and periodic inspections of truss should be both implemented and recorded, to ensure the safe use of trussing systems and assemblies. It is also a requirement of LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998), that all parts of a lifting system must be subject to a specific inspection regime. Furthermore, these inspections must be carried out by a qualified person - which can be notoriously difficult to determine or monitor.

"Inspection therefore, is often a discipline that i

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USA - Fayette Local Schools, a public K-12 school in the small rural community of Fayette, Ohio, has installed two pairs of Renkus-Heinz Iconyx digitally steerable line arrays to maximise the utility and value of two key spaces in its new building.

AV systems, including the security cameras, building security, classroom sound reinforcement, public address and sound system for the cafetorium and gymnasiums, were installed by Muzak of Toledo of Toledo, Ohio. Muzak of Toledo's engineer, John Raymond worked closely with Beuhrer Group to optimize the AV systems.

As in many small towns, the high school is also a centre for community activities of all kinds, including theatrical productions and musical concerts as well as athletics. All of these and more can take place in Fayette Local Schools, in a multipurpose space that includes both a gymnasium and cafétorium. A central st

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UK - Available now at www.prglighting.co.uk, the new PRG Lighting site has been created as a resource for customers to learn about the people and services at PRG, as well as access detailed technical information about the extensive range of equipment available.

The site is accessed through four portals, Concert Touring, Theatre, Television and Live Events, each providing access to news, services, people and equipment tailored to the market sectors that PRG Lighting's teams serve.

The site's core sections are linked together allowing the visitor to see the recent shows and events that each project manager has supported, what equipment each show featured, and browse images and videos to see what it all looks like in action.

(Jim Evans)

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Singapore - The opening of the 1st Asian Youth Games (AYG) in Singapore was attended by some 6,200 spectators, who provided enthusiastic support to the 1,400 young athletes taking part.

No fewer than 170 chain hoists from ChainMaster were deployed during the opening ceremony in the Indoor Stadium. Eighty-eight of them were already installed in the stadium, being BGV-D8 hoists with a safe working load of 1,000 kg equipped with encoders, load sensors and computerized control. These were complemented by a further 82 BGV-D8 rigging lifts, also with SWLs of 1,000kg brought in specially for the event.

The opening ceremony combined three themes: Garden in the City, Asian Zest and Spirit of Evolution. It began with 400 schoolchildren from Singapore dancing to a medley of songs in a variety of Asian languages. The climax of the ceremony came when all the lights wer

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New Zealand - Billed as New Zealand's new home for live music, the Juice Bar at the Windsor Castle in Aukland caters to all genres of the musical spectrum- from live Hip-hop and R&B to acoustic folk, pop, and heavy rock.

Adjacent to the Windsor Castle, a favourite social gathering point, the new Juice Bar was specifically created as a cutting-edge music performance venue for bands of all styles to ply their trade. As an extension of the Juice Music Television brand, the ability to provide world-class sound quality was a design prerequisite for the new nightspot. With the expertise of Auckland, N.Z.-based Edwards Sound Systems, a new sound reinforcement system from D.A.S. Audio has been installed.

Jonathan Hardie-Neil, managing director of Edwards Sound, comments: "The primary challenge we faced was that the Juice Bar was to be multi-purpose. Our clients, whose expectation

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USA - More than 90 years ago, a Wright biplane took off from the West Michigan State Fairground. Not long after, Kent County's first airport was opened near Grand Rapids and in 1926, the United State's first regularly scheduled airline service began between Grand Rapids and Detroit and it has grown to become an essential hub for the Midwest.

In 1999, Kent County International Airport became Gerald R. Ford International Airport and, at the beginning of the new Millennium, it completed a $50 million renovation of its passenger terminal building. Since then, its programme of improvement and upgrade has continued, with one of the most recent additions being an extensive Ampetronic induction loop system, designed to improve the experience of its hearing impaired customers.

Jonathan Curtiss, network manager for Kent County Department of Aeronautics, comments: "One of the reason

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Italy - Following on from the recent appointment of the Proel Group Professional Division to handle distribution of its loudspeaker products in Italy, Turbosound has launched a new website dedicated to its Italian customers and professional sound system users.

Created in collaboration with Proel Communications, the website is an appropriate vehicle for the new team at Proel Group Professional, headed up by sales manager Gianluca Farina, to become easily accessible to the Italian market. In addition to providing contact details for the sales team, the website integrates with Proel's strategy of focusing on distributing its entire portfolio of professional audio, video and lighting products.

"We have many customers in Italy, and with this new website we hope to attract many more to the Turbosound brand since we can offer a broad range of live sound and sound contracting pro

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UK - The 2009 winners of the recent AV awards were announced at a gala dinner attended by more than 500 people on 9 October 2009, at the London Hilton on Park Lane.

The Digital Signage Product of the Yearhonour was awarded to Digital Projection for its innovative fireproof, dustproof and waterproof XTP?HD 300 projector. The fully IP65 certificated projector was originally designed to meet London Underground's rigorous safety and quality requirements for a cross?track digital signage projection system.

TV One received the Systems Product of the Yearfor its 1T-C2-750 Dual DVI Scaler. Steven Mattingly, managing director of TV One, was there to collect the award and states, "It is a privilege and an honour to accept this award on behalf of TV One. We are extremely proud to receive it.

"The CORIO2 Technology behind the 1T-C2-750 is among the best scaling

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The Netherlands - Integrated Systems Europe will offer audio demonstration rooms for the first time at its 2010 event, the show's organiser, Integrated Systems Events, has announced. Located in the upper floors of the Amsterdam RAI's new Elicium building, the rooms will give exhibitors the chance to show the latest in audio technology in a controlled, invitation-only environment, while visitors will have the opportunity to hear sound at higher levels than has previously been possible at ISE.

Mike Blackman, managing director, Integrated Systems Events, says, "ISE prides itself on being a 'quiet' show where attendees can talk business without competing with high-level sound. But we have been aware for some time that many of our audio exhibitors would like to be able to demonstrate their systems at higher sound levels than our show floor policy permits.

"We have

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Singapore - Under the theme Come together, Reaching out, Reaching Upmore than 26,000 spectators were present at Singapore's Marina Bay platform to celebrate the 44th National Day Parade. Over 10,000 performers took part in the show on the world's largest floating platform.

The show itself only lasted two hours, but the preparations had been ongoing for many months. Lighting director Mac Chan opted to redesign the stage layout from previous years, bringing the actual stage much closer to the audience.

To control all the lighting fixtures, lighting programmer Low Wee Cheng specified a grandMA system consisting of two grandMA full-size consoles, two grandMA2 lights for full tracking backup, eleven MA NSPs (Network Signal Processors) expanding the processing power and 32 MA 2Port Nodes which were distributed all over the stage.

"The reason I chose grandMA for Nationa

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UK - Leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light is pleased to announce its appointment as a distributor for Philips Entertainment Lamps - expanding its ability to offer end-to-end solutions for entertainment lighting, supplying anything from a single light bulb or sheet of gel to a complete lighting system, including installation. At the same time, the company has announced the appointment of David Manister as business development manager, increasing White Light's expertise in this field.

White Light's appointment as a distributor gives it access to the full range of Philips' lamp technologies, including the FastFit system which enables easy lamp replacement and adjustment while also reducing overall lamp length, and P3 technology, which offers greater heat tolerance so increasing lamp life.

For entertainment lighting, these technologies are incorporated in a wide ran

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UK - XL Video UK continued to supply full video production and crew to Coldplay's Viva La Vida world tour, which recently finished its final European and UK stadium phase.

The equipment included high and medium resolution LED screens, Catalyst and Hippotizer digital media servers plus control, spherical projection system, cameras and IMAG PPU and 17 crew.

XL supplied Coldplay's video equipment for the third our running and right from the start of this one in June 2008. The account was project managed by Des Fallon, who said, "It has been a pleasure to be work with Coldplay again, on all 159 shows."

The LED video elements were scaled up dramatically for the stadium shows, most noticeably with the addition of 550sq.m of XL's F30 SMD screen, which formed an elegant elongated 54m wide by 12m high arched backdrop traversing the whole of the upstage area. The Arch

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Australia - Camco Vortex and Tecton amplifiers are providing an open-air soundtrack for one of Australia's most ambitious civic precincts.

In Melbourne, the long-awaited Federation Square integrates civic spaces, a transport hub, tourist and civic facilities. Buildings and open spaces include a large irregularly shaped city square (or plaza), sunny sheltered areas for al fresco dining, street theatre and music, gallery space, performance space and facilities for cafes, as well as other multimedia facilities, a function centre and offices. A galleria and indoor amphitheatre sit between the two major building complexes, and the development is topped off by a free-standing viewing tower.

At the centre of it all, in the large open-air plaza, is a giant 16:9 high-definition LED screen, which provides visual communication and entertainment as well as coverage of live sporting events

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Uzbekistan - Gerriets was chosen as stage equipment provider for the new convention centre in Tashkent. Gerriets, in close cooperation with SBS Buehnentechnik, Dresden, was responsible for providing all draperies and projection screens, the main curtain and a large scissor track system.

To equip the convention center with drapes and curtains, Gerriets used more than 10.000sq.m of grey and black Clivia 600 stage velvet. The fabric is heavy-duty and has the quality that is necessary for curtains of exceptional height.

For the main hall, Gerriets provided an Opera white projection screen. Further, 700m of Vario Dance and Design floor was also provided.

For the main stage, Gerriets manufactured a 37m Fence Scissor track system, one of the largest in the world. The track system moves the two-piece main curtain (each piece is 19 x 14.30 m) in the main hall.

Gerriets installed al

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UK - On a worldwide tour in support of her hit album It's Not Me, It's You, singer/composer Lily Allen has enjoyed front-of-house sound on four continents via a Soundcraft Vi6 large-format digital live sound console.

FOH engineer Shan Hira comments: "I especially like the onboard effects package. Having eight Lexicons to play with is a rare old treat."

Hira, who has also mixed for the Chemical Brothers and The Streets, has been a fan of the Vi6 for some time. "I had used it before and liked the layout, ease of use, and most importantly the sound of the desk," he says.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - AV company QED Productions found they were able to set several technical milestones when the 2009 Entrepreneurs Bootcamp came to London's O2 Arena.

The brief from event producers, Smyle Creative, was to provide the biggest projection display ever seen at the 15,000-capacity venue, and AV specialists QED duly obliged, filling the massive 34.5m wide by 11.9m high Harkness Hall projection canvas by deploying six Christie Roadster HD18K projectors - flown off a 25m high truss, high above the audience, via their own fast-fit custom-designed rigging system.

This tour de force enabled a host of motivational speakers (including Bootcamp founder Andrew Reynolds) to address aspiring entrepreneurs in an event held annually by the millionaire. Previously Wembley Conference Centre, The Bournemouth International Centre and The Brighton Centre have hosted Bootcamp b

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UK - A new grandMA2 light console has been installed at Jersey Opera House, specified by technical manager Simon Francklin. Francklin has been at the venue for two and a half years, and has been an MA user and advocate for at least the last eight years, since grandMA Series 1 was released in the UK.

When he accepted the post in Jersey, a technical modernisation programme was already in the offing, and naturally, he wanted something modern and cool on the control front - to replace the existing system that had been in place since 2000.

"My ethos for the entire technical upgrade - encompassing sound, lighting and stage - was to get a future-proof system in place - something with a lifespan of at least 10 years" he confirms.

The console was supplied by Stage Electrics. Francklin had been keen to wait for the grandMA2 to come online before making the final purchasing d

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China - Barco played a major role in providing total visual solutions for the opening ceremony of the 11th National Games of the People's Republic of China. The Games - often referred to as the "All China Games" - got underway last Friday night at Jinan Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Shandong's capital city of Jinan.

The event was highlighted by a spectacular 'Super Bowl' video display show in the centre of the stadium that provided a magical experience for those in attendance. In addition to Barco's role in the opening ceremony, Barco products are being deployed by both Color Lighting and Creative Technology throughout the Games.

The Friday opening ceremony of the Games was presided by People's Republic of China President Hu Jintao and attended by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge. The All China Games will feature 33 sports and 360 discipline

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France - PR Lighting's French distributors, CSI France report that a high volume of the company's LED and conventional automated spots from PR Lighting have been in use at shows and spectaculars throughout France during the summer and early Autumn.

Particularly popular has been the company's new lightweight XLED-590. Using Osram's Diamond Dragon LED, each head contains 90 high power 5W LED's (30 x Red, 30 x Green, 30 x Blue).

One company that used multiples to great effect was Peronnas-based Concept Son at the Jean Luc Habel dance school's end of term gala in Bourg en Bresse - which they have been servicing for more than 10 years.

The new XLED 590's helped to bring to life 500 dancers from different countries, including African, Indian, flamenco and rock 'n'roll. Concept Son manager, David Reydellet comments: "The XLED 590 is a very flexible, general purpose light which

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UK - Control Lighting provides innovative and artistic lighting for town performance space. At the heart of Workington town centre's shopping malls and hovering in mid-air like a space ship, is The Workington Hub. The Hub is an overhead dome-shaped canopy with futuristic lighting and state of the art 3D sound technology.

The Hub is suspended by wires so it appears to float between the surrounding buildings. Allerdale Borough Council commissioned this work to create a special art piece for the performance of live and recorded sound shows. The canopy was designed by Base Structures and, working with soundscapes from Illustrious Company and SoundWave, the art work's 3D sound system delivers an immersive performance that is dramatically enhanced by the creative use of lighting.

The canopy inner dome is made of a translucent and inflated material that makes an ideal canvas for clev

  1. APG opens showroom in China
  2. The Week in Lighting & Sound
  3. C Series at Saddleback Church youth centre
  4. i-Pix are in fashion
  5. PSI goes to the White Sapphire Ball
  6. Martin Professional for UK dance show
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