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Jordan - Robe lighting has appointed a new Jordanian distributor - Tarkeeb AVL - based in Amman.

Tarkeeb AVL is a new division of leading rental company Pro4 that has been set up to supply lighting, video and audio solutions, design, consultation, sales and installations for all types of projects and venues, including restaurants, hotels, multi-purpose and live entertainment venues.

Robe's Middle East regional sales manager Elie Battah explains that he had been looking for a distributor in Jordan for some time as the market is strong there.

Pro4 has been using Robe moving lights exclusively for the past eight years, and so the brand already has a track record in the country. "When they decided to set up the new division, it made real sense to offer a distribution deal" confirms Battah.

Through their work with Pro4, the Tarkeeb team had also already received all t

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Belgium - Dating back to 1425, the University of Leuven is Belgium's oldest university. It has had a turbulent history, things finally settling down after the 1968 division into two separate institutions, the Dutch-speaking Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and its French-speaking counterpart, the Université Catholique de Louvain. The former has recently seen the installation of Ampetronic induction loops in two of its most prestigious teaching spaces, allowing hard of hearing students to enjoy exactly the same teaching experience as their fellows.

The Pieter de Somer and Gasthuisberg auditoria are respectively the oldest and newest lecture theatres at the university, but each needs to provide an equally high quality experience for the users of the induction loop systems.

"The university has students who are hard of hearing, but its administration also realises that l

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UK - Following Chelsea's success in winning the Barclays Premier League and the FA Cup, Sunday 16 May saw innovision manage their victory parade through the streets of west London, providing fans with an opportunity to celebrate their successes.

Having created a strategic event framework for the delivery of complex road closures, crowd management and health and safety programmes, innovision also project managed the parade itself.

With agreement from London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and the Metropolitan Police, innovision managed all elements of the parade, which saw two open-top buses transport the team from Stamford Bridge, along Fulham Road, down Hortensia Road, along King's Road and New King's Road. At Eel Brook Common the buses stopped, as interviews with key members of the team were broadcast live to the crowd via a big screen

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USA - The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona describes itself as 'the world's first global musical instrument museum' with an impressive array of instruments from nearly 250 countries and territories. Integrated audio and video experiences enable audiences to appreciate the sounds of these instruments, as well as to see them played in their cultural context.

The building, a 190,000sq.ft structure located on a 20-acre campus, was designed by award-winning architect Rich Varda, along with RSP Architects. The architecture evokes the topography of the American Southwest with a richly textured Indian limestone façade. Interior galleries are linked by an undulating central corridor known as 'El Rio'.

Stage Technologies Las Vegas installed an automation system in the museum's 299-seat Music Theatre. The team worked closely with general contractors Ryan Construction and co

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Hungary - Opened in November 2009, the Allee Shopping Centre in Budapest features 47,000m2 of retail space, with outlets ranging from global giants like Marks & Spencer and Vodaphone to local, specialist retailers; a multi-screen cinema, fitness club and a wide range of food outlets. Enticing shoppers to make the most of the facilities are two Lighthouse screens.

Budapest-based AV Control won a competitive tender to secure the contract for supplying an internal and external LED screen for advertising, choosing Lighthouse panels to maximise the effectiveness of the two sites.

The exterior screen consists of 4 x 4 panels of Lighthouse P12-ER panels and is located next to the main entrance, while the internal screen is positioned close to a central circulation area and meeting point, comprising 8 x 6 panels of P10-FA. Both are controlled by a Crestron Control System via Lighthous

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UK - Designer Baz Halpin and show producer William Baker have created a new, sophisticated set for Westlife's Where We Are arena tour. No fewer than 80 GLP Impression moving LED's have been incorporated into the set - positioned on ladders above the video screens to accentuate the height of the overall backdrop.

Halpin has become a devotee of the Impressions, specifying them on Alicia Keys' recent Freedom Tour. "I was impressed with their power, flexibility and reliability," he stated. "Given their compact size and speed they can be placed in areas where most traditional fixtures cannot."

Explaining the design rationale, he added, "For the Westlife tour, William was keen to create a feeling of height akin to city skyscrapers. The Impressions were the obvious choice and I constructed a series of 10ft and 20ft custom ladders to peer over th

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UK - DB Systems is putting the final touches to an intensive six-month IT & Telephony work programme in preparation for the Farnborough International Airshow.

DB's technicians have been at the Hampshire site since January preparing the internet and telecommunications systems and services that will be available for all exhibitors at upcoming event (19 - 25 July).

The massive task involves DB supplying 600 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephones and over 400mb of internet bandwidth. These will be serviced via a Cisco controlled network incorporating over 100 network switches, 20km of fibre optics and 10km of cabling.

The project is being overseen by DB's Internet & Telecommunications Division, which was set up earlier this year after the company expanded into the internet and telecommunications market.

Grahame Jones, Operations Director for Farnborough International,

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USA - Hollowell Church had to make some tough financial choices when faced with a major capital expenditure. The Pennsylvania congregation had outgrown its main worship facility and needed more space. But the expense of constructing a new, larger facility would have seriously cut into the church's budget for its all-important community outreach programs and other essential activities.

Thanks to some help from Maryland-based Gadget Media and Elation Professional lighting, Hollowell Church was able to convert its existing gymnasium into an adequately-sized part-time worship centre at a fraction of the cost of constructing a new facility.

"The church had initially drawn up plans to build a larger worship facility, and it would have been a very nice building, but construction costs were skyrocketing at the time. What they conveyed to me was that if they built it, they wouldn'

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USA - The ESTA Foundation has announced details of the 2010 Behind the Scenes Holiday Cards, created by some of the industry's most talented designers - David Gallo, Christine Jones, Jeremy Railton, and Andrew Hefter.

David Gallo won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for The Drowsy Chaperone. His recent Broadway credits include Memphis, Xanadu, Company, Reasons to be Pretty, and August Wilson's Radio Golfand Gem of the Ocean.

Christine Jones' work includes American Idiot, for which she has received a 2010 Tony nomination, Julie Taymor's The Green Bird, her 2007 Tony Award-winning Best Scene Design of a Musical for Spring Awakening, as well as work Off-Broadway, in opera and regional theatre.

Jeremy Railton has worked around the world on architectural projects, themed attractions, theatre, film, TV, live c

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UK - Since its launch as an independent UK company at ABTT 2009, Goboland UK has seen increasing business and flourishing sales in both custom and catalogue gobos. The company's award-winning Black Steel gobos, glass gobos and custom and Credit Crunch gobos will all be on Stand 125 in the Lawrence Hall of ABTT next month (June 16 -17, Royal Horticultural Halls, London).

Vicky Fairall comments: "Our Credit Crunch Gobo, which we launched last year to celebrate the formation of Goboland UK, has been so successful that we have decided to continue the offer indefinitely."

(Claire Beeson)

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Germany - Nicknamed 'The Green Hell' by Jackie Stewart, Germany's Nürburgring motor racing circuit has now added the new 15,000sq.m, multi-million euro Ring°Werk motorsport-themed visitor attraction to the site.

Featured at Ring°Werk are a variety of multimedia attractions, exhibitions and dining/retail experiences, including the Ring°Racer rollercoaster; Grüne Hölle multimedia theatre; 24hr Race in 4D; Motor Mania dark ride; Truck Grand Prix simulator attraction, and Nürbus Eifel Tour, a simulator-based tour through the Eifel Forest. Finally, Test°Center is an interactive exhibition revealing the secrets of the car industry.

Tasked with design and project managing were specialist visitor attraction consultants, Design Vision, who in turn contracted DJW as the AV project manager and systems integrator on behalf of the client. DJW were responsible for the de

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UK - London-based control, lighting and test equipment manufacturer, Artistic Licence, exhibited for the first time at PLASA Focus in Leeds with very favourable results.

Artistic Licence managing director Simon Hobday reports, "It was our first time at PLASA Focus and I was very impressed with the organisation, venue staff and general atmosphere of the show. We met a lot of new customers and discovered the potential for many more. We also gained very valuable feedback, not only about our products but what is missing in the industry.

"The new DALI products, Rail-DALI-DMX and Rail-DMX-DALI, generated a good deal of interest. The received customer feedback has already given rise to another new product which we will release within the next six months."

Artistic Licence also showed products across the Art-Net and DMX Distribution range. This gave the customers nort

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China - Martin Professional and the Centre for Advanced Visualization and Interaction (CAVI) at Aarhus University, Denmark, in collaboration with Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) architects, have designed, developed and installed the façade and auxiliary areas for the Danish Pavilion at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

The Pavilion is a spiral-shaped structure that curls the exhibition space in a double loop, with pedestrian and cycling lanes and a central harbour bath as the main features. A colour-changing architecture that pulsates with life as art, the media facade gives a new form of expression and experience for the visitor as a communicative and interactive facade.

More than 3500 full-colour LED lamps have been installed in holes in the Pavilion's perforated external walls. The lamps are controlled by day lighting and temperature sensors installed in the Pavilion, which combined

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UK - When Mercedes-Benz had the rather unusual request of needing to get its E-Class Cabriolet inside the Anglican Liverpool Cathedral, the company turned to its events logistics partner Mobile Promotions who managed all the planning and movements around the sensitive site.

The car was placed inside the Cathedral in support of Everton Football Club's end of season Players' Awards, which Mercedes-Benz, as the club's official car supplier, has supported for the previous five years.

The team at Mobile Promotions provided Mercedes-Benz's product awareness branding as well as managing the logistics for cars both inside and outside the Cathedral.

Mobile Promotions managing director Robin Carlisle comments, "Owing to the event taking place in such a spectacular, beautiful building and yet also a vibrant living church, it was essential that the correct and respectful approach w

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

Thanks to UK based producer Eric Abraham, who established Isango Portobello in 2006, The Fugard Theatre is equipped with some of the best possible equipment and DWR Distribution, MA Lighting's distributor in South Africa, were privileged to contribute a grandMA2 ultra-light console along with backup support.

Mannie Manim, executive director at The Fugard and formerly the CEO at the Baxter Theatre has lit shows across the globe. "grandMA is the state of the art lighting board of this time," he said. "T

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China - Loudspeaker manufacturer dBTechnologies' DVA line array series has been chosen for use in the Venezuela area, one of 240 countries' and organisations' exhibitions at the six-month long World Expo in Shanghai this year, expected to attracted some 70m visitors.

"A powerful, yet small system, the DVA range was just right for the Venezuela Pavilion theatre," explains Shelly Xiao, general manager of dBTechnologies distributor, Sharp Dragon. "The digital self powered line array fitted the bill perfectly: lightweight, not too obtrusive and it sounds excellent."

The system comprises 12 flown T4 full range cabinets arrayed six on each side within the arc-shaped ceiling, two ground-stacked S10 powered subwoofers fitted with onboard SDD delay modules, two dBTechnologies Arena 15 passive cabinets to support the centre sound and a DSX 2040 controller, providing

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Switzerland / USA - Barix AG announces that NJ Transit, the public transportation corporation for the state of New Jersey, has standardized on Barix Audio over IP equipment for IP-based distribution of public address (PA) announcements at rail and bus stations across the state.

NJ Transit is in the process of building out an IP-based PA and digital display network that will disseminate audio and visual passenger information from one to many points. NJ Transit and consultant Baran Design Associates specified Barix Exstreamers to receive and decode PA messages at every NJ Transit location. The devices are currently operational across the River Line light rail system and Northeast Corridor rail lines, as well as a number of bus stations.

Audio messages with relevant passenger information are continuously updated and streamed to pre-assigned, IP-addressable Exstreamers to ensure t

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UK - Hip hop trio N-Dubz have recently been promoting the platinum-selling album Against All Odds with a major April UK tour. Accompanying the band have been their Sennheiser microphones and in-ear monitors.

The tour's schedule was relentless, with very few non-show days as the band played gigs from Folkestone to Glasgow and all points between. Reliability was essential, but monitor engineer Chris 'Bronski' Jablonski is just as impressed with the hi-fidelity sound of the Sennheiser equipment.

The band's three vocalists - Dino 'Dappy' Contostavlos, Tula 'Tulisa' Contostavlos and Richard 'Fazer' Rawson were all using SKM 935 G3 microphones and ew 300 G3 in-ear monitors, with a three-piece backing band and Chris also using ew 300 G3 IEMs.

"I've been using Sennheiser for the last six or so years for a wide variety of projects, the 500 series for live vocals, and the

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Argentina - Seventeen years after their last Argentinian concert, some 45,000 fans attended , Guns N' Roses' recent Buenos Aires concert - part of the Chinese Democracy World Tour 2010.

Buenos Aires Live Show was responsible for the technical staging of the event, and chose Proel Edge15CXPB coaxial monitors.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Audio visual specialist RaceTech AV is working with sound system manufacturer Bose to provide audio, visual, control and digital signage solutions to the new Marriot Hotel in Lingfield as part of their multi?million pound new build hotel complex.

The project has included design and build services for a bespoke turnkey solution to multiple public areas within the hotel, all controlled by AMX touch panel controls that are networked throughout the facility for maximum flexibility and ease of use. The whole system utilises a simple 'touch screen' interface that manages all of the installed technology.

"By working with prime contractors, architects and client representatives we have been able to provide a leading edge turnkey design and supply service to the Marriot Hotel and commission high quality audio, video, signage and multiple induction loops to many key public are

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UK - On 12 February Enter Shikari played the last date of a UK tour at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. Lighting designer and programmer Steven Bewley's brief was for a 'big, brash, in-your-face' rig that could keep up with the breakneck pace of an Enter Shikari show and he turned to some of Martin Professional's newest MAC luminaires.

"This was the last show in the UK for a while so the band wanted to go out with a bang so to speak," Bewley reports. "The show had to be quickly rigged and be totally flexible as the tour stretched over a week with venue sizes ranging from big to small. These had to be shows the audience would never forget; they had to walk away feeling hungry for more, which I feel we achieved with the rig chosen."

Bewley created the feel with an arena style set up that fit comfortably within the confines of venues like the Hammersmith Apol

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The Netherlands The Daughters of Africa theatre tour saw its premiere in Amsterdam's Royal Theatre Carré recently. The sound is provided by Kater audiotechniek and Van Dijk SoundSupport.

Daughters of Africa is the successor of the African Mamas tour from 2009, that attracted more than 175,000 visitors. For this new show, 12 young women were selected from eight different African countries. Their diversity and cultural backgrounds are the theme of this vibrant show, accompanied by a live band.

For the première in the 1,800-seat theatre, attended by Princess Máxima, The Ribbon Network member Jan van Dijk deployed a large Alcons system, consisting of 30 units of LR14 ultra-compact line-array.

Two main clusters were built upon 12 units of LR14 line-array and four units LR14B line-array bass each. Two groundstacked arrays of three LR14 units and two S

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Taiwan - Hot on the heels of his Scandinavian tour, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has embarked on dates throughout Asia, drawing on L-Acoustics' strong Rental Network in the region to provide a system in every location.

Appearances in Tokyo, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore saw local agents Kyoritz, Seoul Sound, MSI Hong Kong and CSP Productions respectively supplying V-Dosc/dV-Dosc systems. However when the tour arrived in Taiwan, local rental company Winly provided Bocelli's sound designer Andrea Taglia with an extensive Kudo large format line source system for the Taipei Arena.

"The system was based on a monophonic concept," says Taglia. "This was accomplished with a centre cluster of 16 Kudos dedicated to the floor audience and first floor central balcony, while two side systems of 15 Kudos each covered the side balconies, and two delays of 12 dV-Dosc each prov

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Switzerland - Allen & Heath's Xone:92 was once again the DJ mixer of choice at the recent Caprices music festival, which takes place every year at the Crans-Montana ski resort in the Swiss Alps.

The four-day festival hosts a comprehensive programme of DJ performances, as well as live band performances.

A highlight of the DJ programme was a special daytime event called Modernity, held at an altitude of 2300m at the Cry d'Er station. A new colour Xone:92 DJ mixer was requested for the event, which included sets by Riccardo Villalobos and friends.

In the evening, Villalobos' concept band, Narod Niki, put on a special show. Narod Niki is a collection of international DJ's forming an improv-techno-all-star band, who perform together using a special variation of Ableton's Live software for synchronisation. The Narod Niki line up at Caprices featured eight producers - includ

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