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USA - Any venue that calls itself Voyeur is obviously catering to those who wish to see and be seen. The so-named new electronic music nightspot in San Diego's Gaslamp District offers ample opportunities for devilish voyeurism everywhere you turn. Lipstick cameras strategically placed throughout the club, capture and project live feeds of patrons onto nearly two dozen plasma TVs.

The renovation of the former Ole Madrid was inspired by a Radiohead concert. The band's Thom Yorke "had all these lipstick cameras around him, and we're aiming for the same effect," club co-owner Johnny Shockey said recently. "It's kind of like spying - incorporating the whole voyeur concept."

There are a total of 22 plasmas in the club, with screens as large as 50". Seven of these TVs are positioned inside Voyeur's definitive feature - an LED wall, located behind the DJ Perfo

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UK - Metropolis Studios in London is running monthly showcases of creative talent with acoustic live performances from the industry's most promising up-and-coming artists. Organisers of the Power Down sessions have chosen Roland and RSS to partner them with digital control equipment and instruments for the live events.

Staged in the bar area of the Metropolis Power House, the showcases offer performers the chance to use one of Roland's new V-Pianos, the and the new Roland TD-20KX V-Drums kit.

Front-of-house sound for the showcases themselves is controlled by a 48-channel digital audio RSS M-400 V-Mixer, together with two S-1608 configurable digital snakes transmitting over Cat 5 cable using REAC (Roland Ethernet Audio Communication).

"The idea was conceived at Metropolis's 20th anniversary party," says RSS sales & marketing manager Martin Thomas. "Our f

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USA - LED Source, working closely with project manager Derek Warner of Funa International, equipped Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Oasis of the Seas with the latest in LED lighting technology. The ship left on its maiden voyage on Saturday 5 December from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

LED Lighting has been incorporated into the seven themed "neighbourhoods" on this ship, the largest cruise ship to date. Most visible of these areas is the stunning oceanfront Aqua Theatre, where LED Source supplied 40 Color Reach Powercore fixtures to light the area that holds centre-stage on this vast ship.

Color Graze Powercores were used to line the Solarium, located in the Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness zone. In the Outdoor Teen area, located in the Youth Zone, Color Blast Powercores wash the area in vibrant colour. The Graze Night Club incorporates iColor Cov

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UK - Electro-Voice loudspeakers, amplifiers and microphones can be found throughout the new Gurdwara Sahib, (House of the Guru), the multi-million pound Sikh temple which has just opened its doors in Leamington Spa.

The temple, its £11 milllion cost entirely funded by the local Sikh community, has been designed to look similar to the traditional Gurdwaras found in Punjab, India. Serving as a house of worship and a community centre, the temple will also host open days, tours, and school visits to teach people about the Sikh religion.

Audio Installation Services (AIS) from Bedford are becoming known as the go-to guys for AV installations in houses of worship. Having completed notable projects for other Sikh and Hindu temples as well as a sizeable mosque in Bedford, Luke Magliaro at AIS is a regular user of Electro-Voice in worship environments.

"In congregational ch

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UK - Martin Professional has announced details of the restructure of its presence in the UK, and says it is approaching 2010 as "a streamlined yet effective and highly efficient organisation".

However, as a consequence of the new structure, Martin UK managing director Tony Browne, who has overseen Martin's UK subsidiary since 2007, will leave the company at the end of the year.

"The Martin UK team is extremely strong and I doubt there is a more experienced or dedicated group in the industry," Browne stated.

"As markets change adjustments become necessary and I have no doubt this new structure will provide even greater efficiencies, allowing the company to serve customers more effectively. I am confident Martin UK's high level of performance will continue and will constitute a good base for future growth.

"With the new structure in place this w

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UK - Following the announcement that the Music Group has acquired the Midas and Klark Teknik brands, Midas & Klark Teknik stress that their distribution companies worldwide will remain in place, and that the brands will not be available through any other channels.

"Over the last five years we have secured the industry's leading professional audio distribution channels to ensure that Midas and Klark Teknik customers in each territory get the same standard of support that our award-winning team provides in the UK, says David Cooper, sales and marketing director for Midas.

"It's a great time to be a Midas customer. This deal ensures that our long term distribution partnerships will get stronger and the investment of Midas' customers is not only protected but enhanced."

(Jim Evans)

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Europe - Promoting Foot Of The Mountain - their first album in four years - Norwegian pop superstars A-Ha have spent the autumn touring venues throughout Europe and Japan with a DiGiCo SD7 at Front of House and an SD8 on monitors.

Manning the SD7 was FOH engineer Sherif El Barbari, reacquainting himself with the console he first used 18 months ago when manning the faders for South African singer Howard Carpendale.

"For me, using either a DiGiCo D5 or SD7 feels like meeting up with an old friend," says El Barbari. "Given the flexibility and the sonic quality of both consoles, it is a 'comfort factor' that definitely makes life much easier.

"I specified the SD7 for this tour because of that and for the complete confidence it instils that I can deliver a great show time after time."

As well as the three members of the band itself, A-Ha was tour

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Italy - The latest Italian TV-based youth singing contest , Music Gate, is taking the country by storm, complete with Robe's new Robin 300E Spot moving light fixtures which were spec'd onto the show by lighting designer Giulio Palaferri.

Music Gate is staged weekly at the Antoniano Theatre in Bologna, and broadcast in the prime time Saturday night slot of 6pm on RAI Gulp, a popular digital channel for young people.

Giulio Palaferri and the show's lighting operator Fabio Persia have not used Robe products before, but chose them for the show after a demonstration at the Rome warehouse of N.I.T. Service, the rental company who is supplying the fixtures for the show.

The stage has an L-shaped open plan appearance with the 20 Robin 300E spots rigged on trusses at the back of the two sides of the L.

Each show sees two contestants challenging each other to produce t

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Hong Kong - After five successful years in Taiwan, the singing extravaganza Asian Million Star premiered in Hong Kong with help from the versatile, frequency-agile AKG DMS 700 wireless microphone system. The popular television show, which started months before the on-air premier with 5,000 aspiring singers, featured 25 contestants competing over the course of 13 episodes, with a panel of judges selecting the best vocal performers to move on to the finale.

Judges for the show included an array of respected audio and musical professionals ranging from creative composers to studio producers. With some of the most finely tuned ears in the business deciding the fate of each performer, the AKG DMS 700 system matched musical talent with sonic integrity.

"The AKG DMS 700 was specifically engineered for applications like Asian Million Star", said Thomas Stubics,

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USA - Philips Electronics reports that the 2009-2010 holiday season marks the company's 10th anniversary as the official lighting partner to the Times Square Ball. This year, for the first time, Philips has converted the companion Times Square Ball Numerals (2-0-1-0) to all LED technology.

Philips led the historic conversion of the Ball's light source from incandescent and halogen bulbs to its Luxeon LED technology in 2007-2008 as well as its subsequent upgrade to even more energy-efficient Luxeon LEDs in 2008-2009. Now, in 2009-2010, Philips will complete the final step in its conversion of the entire Times Square Ball application to a powerful and highly sustainable LED platform.

The 545 custom-designed Philips scalloped LED flood bulbs lighting the numerals use just nine watts each, compared to the 40 watts consumed by the incandescent and halogen bulbs previo

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Bolivia - In Bolivia, where music is part of daily life, technology is changing the way people listen. Smaller shows can be just as technologically advanced as the big ones.

Cochabamba is located in central Bolivia, in a valley bearing the same name within the Andes Mountains. It is the third largest city in Bolivia with a metropolitan population of more than 1m people and is often referred to as the "City of Eternal Spring" due to its spring-like temperatures all year round.

In Cochabamba, the Cespedes Brothers Wilson and Ygort, established Studio Mediterraneo 19 years ago. A young lawyer Rolando Caseres, joined the brothers a few years later, filling the shoes of shop manager and corporate client liaison. Today G.M. Wilson is also the head of the audio department and Ygort is the chief audio engineer and they boast nine full-time employees. Studio Mediterraneo work

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UK - White Light has had a double involvement with the launch of the new UK Centre for Carnival Arts in Luton by supplying the venue with its new lighting installation and helping to mark its official opening in spectacular style.

Created by the Luton Carnival Arts Development Trust, the Centre is intended to "become an expression of the living, breathing and evolving spirit of carnival arts", providing a 250 seat performance space as well as teaching and workshop spaces and a knowledgeable, experienced support staff.

Inside the venue, White Light has supplied a rig based around fixtures from Selecon, ETC and Thomas, including Acclaim Fresnels and Profile Spots, Source Four Parnels, and Thomas Par Cans. Control is from a new ETC Congo Jr console supplied with a custom flightcase, controlling ETC SmartModule and Zero88 Betapack 3 dimmers; distribution from dimmers to

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Italy - Besio Sound Co has chosen Proel Sound Systems for the Italian theatre tour of Michelina, a musical play by Edoardo Erba, which has made its debut at the Franco Parenti Theatre in Milan.

Set in the 1940s in the rice paddy fields of Lomellina, northern Italy, this comedy tells the story of Michelina, a rice-weeder played by actress Maria Amelia Monti, who likes to perform on the stage and falls in love with a cardinal, thus provoking angry reactions from the clergy.

"Even in theatres with a particular acoustic response, such as the Franco Parenti Theatre, they perform as exceptionally as ever - I refer to the Edge speakers, of course," commented Giorgio Albani from Besio Sound Co, in charge of the technical staging of the play produced by the Teatro Stabile of Florence.

Satisfaction was also expressed by Lorenzo Alberti, the sound engineer from Soundar

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Germany - The four star Maritim Hotel Kaiserhof Heringsdorf on the Baltic island of Usedom in northern Germany is one of the leading hotels in the 'Three Imperial Spas' and was recently extended by a large 300m2 transparent glass building called the Forum. The expansion is used for a variety of events like exhibitions, presentations, concerts and receptions, as well as an impressive welcoming entrance to the Kaiserbaedersaal, an historic 450m2 theatre hall with 100m2 stage.

With direct access to the beach promenade and view of the Baltic Sea, the modern architecture of the new Forum and café roof garden creates a special ambience. Twelve decorative columns and a scaffold of glass form a transparent and aesthetically distinctive front.

In order to meet the needs of a wider range of events, a creative Martin visual solution was proposed to architect Gerd Seele by planning

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UK - Soundcraft Studer's production strategy - to converge both brands production in the Potters Bar UK facility - passed a significant milestone this week. With UK production now in full swing, the first Studer Vista large-format consoles were completed and went through test procedures "with flying colours".

Formerly Vista, OnAir 3000 and Router production was done in the Studer Regensdorf facility near Zurich in Switzerland. Speaking from the Potters Bar production floor, Soundcraft Studer president Andy Trott reflected, "Over the past few months our staff here and in Switzerland have worked incredibly hard to transfer the knowledge, logistics and skills to the UK team, and so to see our flagship product come through its rigorous tests so smoothly today is a great testament to the quality of our people on both sites. From planning and procurement, to PCBA, build

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USA - Puerto Rican stars Wisin y Yandel wanted their La Revolución tour to have a "big look" when they hit the road in the US to promote the album of the same name.

In keeping with the tour's name, the La Revolución set was designed around a war-like theme. "The idea behind the theme was that this was a revolution in music," said lighting/scenic/video designer Todd Roberts of Visions Lighting, who worked with Wisin y Yandel's personal lighting designer/programmer David Ayala, video director Alfredo Cifredo and production manager Eggie Allende to design and create the set. "They wanted the look of the stage to be real industrial. We used a lot of large oversized chain, and a lot of metals." As far as the lighting went, "they wanted it to look as big as possible," said Roberts, "with a small budget."

To meet the c

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UK - Redburn Transfer, one of the leading players in the specialist market of music transport Logistics, has recently announced a mutual merger with the giant transportation and container firm, Deben Transport. With a family history in haulage dating back nearly 140 years and an enviable reputation within the music industry for the last 28, what motivated the MD Chris Redburn to make this move?

"This summer I was forced to turn down contracts from existing clients embarking on major touring productions,' explained Redburn. "We just couldn't cope with the amount of work being offered to us and I was not prepared to just sub-contract work and risk not delivering the quality of service that I believe is synonymous with our name and reputation. I realised that we needed to expand - and not just by a couple of tractors and trailers but by a significant amount along with an

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Europe - Lighting and video designer Derek Jones specified a Jands Vista S3 console to provide lighting, IMAG and video control for the 2009 / 2010 Cliff Richard & The Shadows international tour. The sold-out tour recently completed shows at major UK and European arenas, and re-commences in February for a series of dates in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

When Jones discussed the choice of control console with UK and European tour lighting supplier, Lite Alternative, they suggested the Jands Vista S3. Having jumped between using many other consoles, Jones thought it would be a good opportunity to experience for himself the Vista's graphical based approach to programming. On the strength of trying the free Vista demo software and then using the S3 for a one-off corporate show, he purchased a console to use for the tour.

Jones comments, "I felt very comfortable usi

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UK - Support for the campaign and coverage has been increasing over the past few weeks. The campaign is now at a critical stage and needs the support of the wider industry and indeed the general public. The campaign is calling on all those affected to write to their MP and ask them to sign Early Day Motion number 323, called Save Our Sound UK campaign. "We intend to make this as easy as possible. Therefore, we have uploaded draft letters on the website that you can either e-mail or post to your MP once it has been appropriately personalised," says John Steven.

Last week, Peter Luff MP tabled a Motion in the House of Commons. This has already been signed by several supportive MPs, including two Select Committee chairmen. The Motion calls upon the Government to provide a compensation package that covers all fifteen spectrum channels being cleared, and at levels th

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Finland - The new musical production Play Me opened its doors for the first time in September at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki, Finland, for which lighting designer, Mikki Kunttu specified a grandMA full-size to run the lighting. Kunttu also programmed the show and designed the set and video elements.

"The grandMA was simply the only way to go with a project of this complexity," said Kunttu, "With a moving light rig, media server control, MIDI and SMPTE synchronisation, plus multiple parallel cue lists, there was no other brand that could deliver the same speed of creative working.

"The design is based on the extensive use of video surfaces as set pieces", continues Kunttu, "The video content and lighting go hand-in-hand. I consider the 3D space of the stage as one, where all these elements play together creating something vivid and excit

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Finland - Operated by the Viking Line, the 37,860 ton MS Mariella has sailed on the Helsinki to Stockholm route, carrying 2447 passengers for over 20 years. The Mariella was built as a luxury cruise ferry in 1985 and at the time of its launch was the largest car ferry in the world. With capacity for 430 cars and air conditioned cabins for up to 2500 passengers, the ship offers a full range of restaurants, bars, entertainment, conference facilities and duty free shopping.

After a major refit in 2006, the ship's Cabaret and 'Fun Club' Disco have been re-equipped this year with the latest sound and lighting system. Controlled by the merged outputs of a Hog 1000 and a Zero 88 Jester, the system uses 36 MultiSpots for both stage and dance floor lighting making full use of their 'honeycomb lens' focussing system and rugged steel construction. Replacement of the previous

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USA - American Music & Sound (AM&S) has been appointed USA distributor for beyerdynamic pro audio products including the company's wide offering of wired and wireless microphones, headphones, and broadcast related products, effective 1 January 2010.

"This is a momentous occasion for AM&S," comments Lynn Martin, president of American Music & Sound. "With more than 85 years experience manufacturing the world's best microphones and pro audio products, beyerdynamic is an incredible fit with our other live sound product lines, and we are looking forward to expanding their penetration in the US. Together with beyerdynamic, we are now able to offer the finest transducer-to-transducer live sound solutions in the United States."

Additionally, Paul Froula has been appointed national sales manager for American Music & Sound. Froula, an industry veteran, has managed va

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Italy / UK - Kasabian's current tour is taking the UK by storm with Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300 fixtures. The tour supports their latest Pink Floyd-influenced album, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, which reached number one in the UK top 40 charts this past June. In October, the album won Best Album award at the 2009 Q Awards and is also nominated for iTunes Best Album 2009.

Kasabian has participated in a number of prestigious performances including the Teenage Cancer Trust performance at the Royal Albert Hall, MTV World Stage Live In Malaysia and at Glastonbury Festival 2009, opening for Bruce Springsteen, as his special guests.

Lighting designer Nick Gray of Renegade Design used 32 Alpha Beam 300 fixtures as the main workhorses for the rig. The set featured a LED border creating a picture frame effect around the stage, with the Alpha Beams in clusters overhead an

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UK - Stage Electrics has created an audio, video and lighting installation for the Medway Campus of Mid Kent College, the heart of a new £86m purpose-built educational facility for the Medway Towns. It hosts National Diploma pathways in musical theatre, acting, dance, and a two-year, Level 3 Production Arts course.

With a brief to deliver maximum flexibility and professional-standard systems, Stage Electrics' project team, headed by business development manager Darren Beckley, specified and installed a complete technical package including a central theatre, a television studio, two radio studios and a recording studio. The glass walled theatre, originally intended as a performance pavilion, is required to accommodate the full gamut of productions, from concerts, musicals and drama to presentations and commercial hire, with staging either in traverse or in-the-round.

The

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  2. Crown and Studer Vista 5SR on Taylor Swift tour
  3. Richard Martin Lighting on Children In Need 2009
  4. Lighthouse screens Fall of the Wall celebrations
  5. Production Resource Group (PRG) acquires Procon
  6. FOS and VME bond at Heart and Soul
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