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France - Aviom's Pro16 personal mixing system is helping musicians stay on point for the Paris production of Zorro the Musical. The show is being staged at the city's Folies Bergere Theatre.

The show's orchestration places instruments in three separate locations in the theatre: guitars are situated on one platform, keyboards and miscellaneous percussion on another, and a full drum kit on a third. To make this layout work, Stage Entertainment, producer of Zorro The Musical needed a way to configure the monitor mixes to keep all the musicians on cue and in time while also minimising cost and setup time.

"We had only one day for soundcheck with the musicians, so we needed to spend less time on gear settings and more time on sound," says Bertrand Billon, audio manager with Stage Entertainment. "With the Aviom system, all we had to do was run Cat 5 arou

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USA - Rosco Laboratories and The ESTA Foundation announce the presentation by Mark Engel, president of Rosco, of a cheque for the second annual royalty payment to Behind the Scenes from sales of the colour Roscolux 359 Medium Violet. Engel presented the cheque for $2,252 on the show floor at USITT in Kansas City.

"Once again we are honoured to participate in The ESTA Foundation's Behind the Scenes programme," said Engel. "As you know, we contribute part of the sales proceeds from the popular Roscolux 359, Medium Violet, to Behind The Scenes. The entertainment community is a family, and we at Rosco believe it is important to take care of family in times of need. Our sincerest thanks goes to The ESTA Foundation for creating a way for us to help and to all the folks who use 359 and make this donation possible."

Tobin Neis, a longtime member of the Behind the S

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UK - Production Services Ireland (PSI) supplied rigging services and lighting equipment for the Easter Sunday Mass live broadcast from St Peter's Cathedral in west Belfast. The event's lighting was designed by John Gallagher and the show broadcast on RTE1.

PSI had the advantage of having worked in the space once before, in 2008 for another live RTE broadcast. This time the lighting production was a lot bigger and more comprehensive, and required more precision rigging utilising the Cathedral's original wooden beams.

Either side of the nave where the majority of the congregation sit, is a row of six pillars, and the other side of these, an aisle with a narrower set of pews running the full length of the building, right down to the altar, and it was these aisles that had to be used to accommodate the lighting trusses. Lighting positions were needed to fire through each of the se

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UK - For the first time ever, for one night only, St. Stephen's, the tower housing the Big Ben bell was bathed in red light from base to spire to mark the start of Sport Relief on Friday 19 March.

This show was designed by lighting design student Simon Gray a level three student at Rose Bruford College, as his final year project.

"I wanted to take on the challenge of transforming a truly iconic building, and make people take a second look at a familiar landmark," says Gray. "Big Ben is one of the world's most famous images, and to many it represents London. It was a natural choice to do this for Sport Relief, and I was delighted to be helping to raise awareness of this fantastic fundraising campaign."

Gray and his team of students from the Lighting Design and Lighting Programming courses at the College required special permission for the eve

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USA - Florida State University (FSU) has become the repository for roughly15,000 project and product drawings that represent 100 years of history, produced by engineers at J. R. Clancy.

J. R. Clancy presented the vast assemblage of materials to the FSU School of Theatre on 31 March at the opening of the USITT Stage Expo in Kansas City, MO. FSU will make this collection of documents accessible to students, historians, and others who may research the development of theatre rigging.

Particularly fascinating are the drawings that tell the story of a critical period in the company's history, during the transition to motorised rigging. Beginning in the 1960s, Clancy manufactured the synchronous point hoist and early 'package hoists', precursors to the motorised hoists that are so popular today.

The university projects that the archive will be available in digitised form on the FSU

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The Netherlands / USA - Following a successful ProLight&Sound show in Frankfurt, Community Professional Loudspeakers has announced an expansion of its European operations. The addition of a new warehouse in the Netherlands will enable Community "to dramatically reduce delivery times throughout Europe" for its core products.

"As our worldwide sales continue to grow, we appreciate the need to provide our European distributors with the same speed of service that we can give our customers in North America", commented Julia Lee, Community's director of marketing and sales.

Community's Entasys column line array is among the most popular products being stocked in the European warehouse, says the company. Demand for Entasys has continued to increase as the system gains popularity in house of worship and conference room projects, where quick turnaround time and expe

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USA / UK - Following successful showings at the recent ProLight&Sound trade show in Frankfurt, TMB and LumenRadio of Sweden have announced the signing of exclusive distribution contracts for North and Central America and Great Britain.

LumenRadio's CRMX Nova technology (CRMX = Cognitive Radio Multiplexer) is the first automated and adaptive wireless technology specifically developed for real-world conditions in the lighting industry. The products are also available in rugged outdoor enclosures for permanent installation.

Niclas Norlén, CTO of LumenRadio says: "Our goal is simple: Provide affordable completely configurable systems, capable of combining Ethernet, DMX, RDM, DALI and all other popular lighting protocols. Our technology provides total data integrity and no interference with other wireless equipment. We are excited to be associated with a quality-driven

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UAE - The UAE in conjunction with Masdar hosted the third Preparatory Commission Meeting for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi in January this year. Recently opening its Headquarters in the UAE capital, IRENA has been mandated by governments worldwide and promotes the adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy.

The Bridge Live Communications, a UAE-based experiential marketing company, contracted by IRENA, called upon Creative Technology Dubai to provide video equipment for the commission meetings held in the Emirates Palace Hotel Ballroom - one of several venues chosen to hold the numerous events and meetings.

CT Dubai provided two pairs of Christie HD18K DLP projectors used to front-project onto two 6m wide screens placed at either side of the main stage. Three Sony DXC D50 cameras, all with long lenses, were positioned out fro

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India - Seeking a four-zone audio solution, with the ability to operate each zone separately or together as required, the seven cuisine Lotus Leaf restaurant in Prashant Vihar, Delhi commissioned New Delhi-based Soundworks to design and install the system.

To accommodate the multi-zone configuration, and provide the flexibility required, Soundworks proposed an Audica Professional MICROseries system, which was auditioned by the restaurant's owner prior to installation.

Each of the four zones of the restaurant was fitted with individual Audica MICROzone controller/amplifier, and each MICROzone was provided with an Audica WMR (wall mount remote) for local individual control.

In the main restaurant area the MICROzone is used to feed a four-channel MICROplus power amplifier, which drives 12 MICROpoint loudspeakers, and two active MICROsubs for additional low frequency reinforceme

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The Netherlands - A new touring production of Mamma Mia! is filling theatres across the Netherlands, with dialogue and lyrics in Dutch but with a sound that is universally Abba. The production carries a powerful reinforcement system based around 32 Meyer Sound M'elodie line array loudspeakers.

The particulars of loudspeaker system configuration are the work of the production's associate sound designer, Richard Brooker, who was charged with fulfilling overall requirements set by Bobby Aitken, principal sound designer.

"I'd first used M'elodies on my design for a Spanish production of Jesus Christ Superstar," recalls Brooker. "I needed to handle a dynamic and often quite loud show, but the production had to change venues quickly. Also, in most places I could not fly the system. After much head-scratching, I went the Meyer route with M'elodies and 600

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South Africa - The Fugard Theatre, with performances by the Isango Portobello theatre company, opened in the District Six area in Cape Town on 12 February 2010. The theatre has been named in honour of Athol Fugard in a rare example of a theatre being named after someone in their lifetime. The Train Driver, written and directed by Athol Fugard, had its opening night at The Fugard on 24 March, and is being met by sell-out houses and standing ovations.

Mannie Manim, executive director at The Fugard and formerly the CEO at the Baxter Theatre, says that the building construction took just a week beyond six months to complete, where three buildings were made into one unit. "It was an enormous labour but we had a fantastic building team," said Mannie.

Thanks to UK-based producer Eric Abraham, who established Isango Portobello in 2006, The Fugard Theatre is equipped w

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Ireland - Located in the 18th century Cornmarket House in central Wexford, in the south-east corner of the Republic of Ireland, Wexford Arts Centre has been providing a wide range of contemporary art and entertainment for locals and visitors since 1974. Recently, the 120-seat main auditorium had a major technical refit, at the heart of which is a Yamaha LS9-32 mixing console.

The new system was designed by Mick O'Gorman of Dublin-based Mosco Sound Design and Recording, working closely with the venue's technical and facilities manager Ollie Dempsey.

"The existing system we had was becoming unreliable, and I spent half my life patching up and adding on to meet the increasing demands of artists," says Dempsey. "It was also a bit of a nightmare for anyone who was not 100% familiar with sound. They could operate the old mixing console, but the slightest problem would

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Germany - Austrian-born Saint Lu has embarked on an extended tour packing microphones from Electro-Voice. The concert magazine Event in its latest issue states: "This is a singer with the wherewithal to create an absolute sensation in the music business - and by that we mean internationally."

To show her multi-faceted vocal style to best advantage in live performance, Saint Lu uses microphones from Electro-Voice. Franz Menke, sales manager EV Microphones EMEA, comments: "We are certain that Saint Lu is going to make it big, and we're proud to be in a position to contribute to that success."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Coast, the popular television series, is the latest BBC production to be successfully transformed into an interactive visitor exhibition by Experience Design and Management.

Situated at Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight and overlooking the spectacular South West Heritage Coast, this substantial new exhibition features items from around the country that reflect the subject matter of the programmes. These conventional exhibits are combined with interactive touch screen displays and video sequences to really engage the visitor.

Experience Design and Management have established a close working relationship with the BBC, having already designed successful exhibitions including the spectacular Doctor Who Up Close at sites throughout the UK and Robin Hood at Nottingham Castle. As with these previous exhibitions, Coast had some specific lighting requiremen

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Estonia - An Allen & Heath iDR digital audio distribution system was recently installed in the new Nokia Concert Hall in the Estonian capital, Tallinn. Declared the most modern concert hall in Northern Europe, the venue has the facilities to host conferences for more than 1,800 international delegates, as well as high-profile concerts and shows.

Purchased through Allen & Heath's distributor, Music Center Pro, installer Eventech managed the complete sound and light installation project, selecting an iDR system to manage audio distribution, control and zoning across the venue's many areas surrounding the concert hall, including foyers, artist rooms, backstage and stage managers' area.

The system comprised an iDR-8 16x16 matrix mixer, an iDR-in and an iDR-out expander unit, and an iDR-switch to enable the connection of external equipment, such as room dividers and relays. In addi

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Mexico - Hermes Music has signed an agreement with Clay Paky to distribute Clay Paky products in Mexico.

Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky sales manager for North and Latin America, says he is very satisfied with this new partnership, which "is the result of an immediate feeling which arose both between the two companies and between the people involved. Cooperation with Hermes Music will make Clay Paky highly visible on the Mexican market, and in all Latin American countries in general, where shows are an important part of their strong musical-cultural background. Hermes has paved Clay Paky's way to a very interesting clientele. Our agreement will turn into a big sales opportunity for both companies."

Alberto Kreimerman, CEO of Hermes Music, says, "I have known Clay Paky for many years and have always appreciated the excellence of its products and services - from c

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Czech Republic - Prague-based Pink Panther production, lighting and sound provider has been using DPA microphones for two of the TV shows it has recently produced. DPA 4088 cardioid headband mics and 3521 stereo kits featuring DPA 4021 compact cardioid mics were used across the Czech Film Awards Live Nomination Evening and the Cesky Lev Czech Film Awards.

The Cesky Lev is the Czech film industry's annual awards ceremony, watched by almost a million viewers nationwide and broadcast live on prime time TV from Prague's Lucerna Hall, before an audience of more than a thousand.

"We used DPA 4088 microphones for an anchorman and guests on the shows," says Petr Kuba from Pink Panther. "The positive reports we got back from the OB van was outstanding.

"In addition we also used couple of DPA 3521s, which I would call 'hot mics'. The reason we

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India - Sound Team is DPA's new distributor for India. Based in Mumbai, the film and music capital of India, Sound Team has built up a strong reputation as a pro audio distributor over 15 years, with the primary focus of providing solutions for music, post production and film applications.

"With the increase in number of private broadcasters and live rental companies, we are excited to take on a product like DPA, which is at the forefront of microphone design technology," says Sound Team co-owner Shiv Sood. "Our aim is to provide professional tools to the discerning audio engineer, and with DPA we have a great tool for anyone looking to capture the most accurate sound at source. We are delighted to be representing a company which has solutions for several different markets and look forward to educating customers on the difference DPA would make to their sound.&quo

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Portugal - Acoustic solutions manufacturer Vicoustic has today that Australian microphone manufacturer R°DE will distribute its products in Australia and the USA, with immediate effect. The distribution agreement follows Vicoustic's recent company restructuring into three separate divisions - Music & Broadcast, Hi-Fi & Home Cinema and Industrial. Within the designated territories, R°DE will initially focus on the Music & Broadcast and Hi-Fi & Home Cinema market sectors.

For Vicoustic CEO Cesar Carapinha, the new partnership with R°DE is a strategic move that aims to bring long-term benefit to both companies: "We are delighted to be working in partnership with R°DE. Not only are they one of the top microphone brands, they also occupy an established and respected position within the Australian and US music and audio retail markets, which will be our prime focu

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Hong Kong - The 34th Hong Kong International Film Festival kicked off in grand fashion on 21 March at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where more than 900 guests from around the world enjoyed a celebration of film under the Victoria Bay sky. Lighthouse sponsored the large display at the main venue during the opening ceremony.

As one of the Asian film industry's most prestigious events, the Hong Kong International Film Festival is devoted to a tradition of "uncovering and promoting the best in Chinese language films". The 34th HKIFF ran from 21 March to 6 April, 2010. Over 240 films from over 50 countries were shown at 11 venues in Hong Kong, of which 65 were world, international or Asian premieres.

As display sponsor, Lighthouse installed a R4-S 4mm screen in a 3.84m (w) x 2.88m (h) configuration at the centre of the main stage. In addition to t

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USA - Visual supplier Chaos Visual Productions is on the road with Alicia Keys' 2010 Freedom Tour, which is promoting her 2009 album release, The Element of Freedom. Her schedule opened with a 28 February performance at Bell Centre in Montreal and will cover North America and Europe over the next few months, with her last show 4 June in Lyon, France.

Chaos is providing an LED system, which consists of 390 tiles of Winvision 18.75mm. There are nine different LED screens, flown by cable winches on nine lighting headers, under three lighting trusses. The screens begin the show on the stage deck and are used to reveal her, her band and then her set.

Content comes from four Pandora's boxes. The content and Imag are managed by a Vista Spyder and are triggered by a Grand MA console. There are two 12k Barco projectors for the two side screens, three HD cameras and two ro

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UK - The University of Derby sought to transform a multi-story link staircase into a dynamic beacon on a hill and turned to architecture and design consultants Tilney Shane of London to realise the vision.

"The installation was undertaken as part of a re-cladding project involving three tower blocks and a link staircase," says Tilney Shane director Andrew Bartlett.

"The brief was for a cost effective scheme to light the planar glazed link staircase in a manner that would be visible from the surrounding area and provide a landmark beacon for the Kedeston Road campus."

Tilney Shane approached Martin Professional who fulfilled the requirement with its Cyclo 04 DMX linear fluorescent luminaire. The Cyclo 04 is an RGBW T5 fluorescent colour changer that is capable of generating nearly all colours or white light of any colour temperature. The installation inclu

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UAE - Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises, distributors of Clear-Com in the United Arab Emirates for the live sound market segment have recently supplied rental firm Almoe Rentals with the new Tempest wireless intercom system. The deal includes two four-channel base stations with 10 belt packs and relevant accessories.

"Almoe Rentals have been after a wireless intercom for some time," commented Richie Hiranandani, marketing manager. "After a demonstration of the system, we were able to showcase to them the benefits of the system over others. As well as the ability for them to integrate the new system with their present equipment."

In addition, two MS702 master stations, 20 RS601 beltpacks and 30 CC95 headsets from the Encore line were supplied.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - The Long Reach Long Riders and The ESTA Foundation have announced the results of their joint raffle to benefit the Behind the Scenes programme at the USITT conference in Kansas City. A total of $6,677 was raised from raffle ticket sales during the three-day conference, over $1,500 above last year's total.

The winners and their prizes are: George Epting - Altman Rentals' Ghostlight; Bruce Jackson - Apollo Design Technology's Smart Move DMX Rotator; Chris Hofmann - Barbizon's Stagehand Tool Kit; Chip Haas - Doug Fleenor Design's DMX/RDM Coffee Pot; Nathan Szewczyk - Field Template's SoftSymbols and Field Templates; Krystal Kennel - Broadway Master Class Pass donated by GLP; Kate Nocks - Sapsis Rigging's Gift Certificate; William Digneit - SeaChanger's iPod Touch and colorBUG; Shoshana Sims - USITT 2010 Conference Registration; Kevin Seime - Utah Shakespearean Festival's Tick

  1. Philadelphia college installs Xantech system
  2. Coemar positive after ProLight&Sound
  3. ShowTex to drape Eurovision Song Contest 2010
  4. Sound companies join forces for major Indian festival
  5. Media Powerhouse with the CIPD
  6. APS and AIF form strategic partnership
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