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Serbia / Romania - When Massive Attack's international tour rolled into Eastern Europe in late June, playing the Belgrade Arena and the Bucharest Zone Arena, the audio production at both venues was a fully-fledged collaboration between two of the region's Synco Europe Network members - Audio Konstruktor of Serbia and Paradigma Group of Romania.

The PA consisted of 50 Synco by Martin Audio W8LC line array loudspeakers, flown in hangs of 16 cabinets per side for the main PA and nine a side as outfield, along with 18 Synco by Martin Audio WS318X triple-18" subwoofers. Front-fills comprised six Synco by Martin Audio W8LM Mini line array units with six Synco by Renkus-Heinz 18 RR subwoofers. The whole loudspeaker system was driven by Synco amp racks with XTA processing, together with a Lake drive rack, and delivered more than 140kW of power.

Dave Bracey mixed FOH for Massive A

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South Africa - Three grandMA full-size consoles and a grandMA2 light were used to control nearly 500 high powered light sources for the Closing Ceremony of the 2010 World Cup, staged at Soccer City Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg. The 2010 Closing Ceremony event was produced by the VWV Group, it featured a cast of 740 including 40 elephant operators and 35 principal artists and has been acclaimed as one of the best and most visually exciting World Cup Closing ceremonies to date.

Lighting for the occasion was designed by Tim Dunn and Hugh Turner. Dunn also programmed and ran the show, with all the lighting equipment supplied by Gearhouse South Africa. Tim Dunn and Hugh Turner are both experienced lighting designers. Dunn has numerous spectacular stadium shows to his name, which combined with Turner's vast theatrical experience, made them the perfect visuals team to create a memorab

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USA - Since launching in 2009, EV-Innovation loudspeakers from Electro-Voice have become among the company's most in-demand products for permanent installation, thanks to their combination of audio quality, versatility, and value, says the company.

Lift AV of Renton, Washington has successfully incorporated all three model types currently available from the EV-Innovation family - EVA (Expandable Vertical Array), EVF (front-loaded), and EVH (horn-loaded) - into complete AV design/installation projects at houses of worship in their region. Justin Friesen of Lift AV described two such recent projects in Yakima, Washington - one of which, at Stone Church, is notable as one of the first US installations to utilise all three EV-I models at a single site.

"Stone Church was a full sanctuary remodel with an extensive audio, video, and lighting installation," Friesen explains.

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USA - For the sixth year in a row, Aviom's Personal Mixers have helped performers at the International Drummers for Jesus Celebration hit a high note. With the number of performers ranging from 20 to 100 and very little time between acts for major setup changes, the Personal Mixers allowed those on stage to create their own customised mix while offering maximum flexibility.

Founded in Dallas, Texas, in 2002, with the first international celebration taking place 2004, Drummers for Jesus is a worldwide network of drummers and percussionists who use their music to spread the message of Jesus Christ. The International Drummers for Jesus Celebration, held by members of this network, is a two-day event that includes a concert, workshops, master classes and exhibits, bringing together some of the top drum artists in the world.

"I've been told that the audio logisti

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USA - Historic buildings tend to go through changes over the course of time. All too often that means they meet an unfortunate end, becoming little more than a collection of fading memories hovering over a new parking lot - which was exactly the fate the McPherson Opera House faced, until it was saved from destruction in 1986 by the McPherson Opera House Preservation Company.

One of the most prominent buildings in the downtown core of McPherson, Kansas, the opera house is known for its acoustics and has hosted everything from Vaudeville shows and films from the golden age of cinema through to political rallies and suffrage meetings. Correspondingly, says Michael Dunn of Sounds Great Music, designer and installer on the project, "They wanted a sound system that performers would find not only adequate, but impressive" - One that would provide not only good, natural sound

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UK - Minister for the Digital Economy Ed Vaizey has indicated that the Government's compensation package to those being evicted from the 800MHz spectrum will only encompass 6% of the frequencies being cleared. This puts the large-scale live events, from the West-End to major TV entertainment shows, on notice because it threatens the small businesses that supply them.

The package covers channel 69, but the Government has exploited technicalities to avoid paying out to those high-end users that tune to channels 31-37 and 61-68, which are also being cleared. It is these additional channels that are needed to produce large-scale events like the Olympics.

Save Our Sound UK responds: The excuse the Government has given is that notice of eviction was given. But what seems to be continually ignored is the fact that no precise alternatives were provided or even now have been published.

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Nigeria - Home Front Technology has been appointed VMB's exclusive distributor for Nigeria. The West African company will be distributing both lifts and audio and has taken stock of various models of VMB lifters, ADP Series cabinets and Lynx line array.

One of their first jobs was to welcome Nigeria's new president, Goodluck Johnson on a visit to Akwa Ibom State. VMB has expanded into the African market in recent years with line array in Morocco, Angola, South Africa and now Nigeria.

Home Front Technology's Segun Adekola commented, "We are really pleased to be working with VMB. We have been following them for some time now and really like the product they have been introducing. The systems sound so good and we are sure that soon the line arrays especially will be a formidable part of the Nigerian and African entertainment market."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Black Light is gearing up for its biggest ever Edinburgh Fringe. For 2010, the light, sound and AV specialist is operating across more than 30 venues and working closely with some of the event's biggest promoters and companies. Over the three-week festival the company will be supplying over 16 miles of cabling and enough Prolyte truss to stretch half way along Princes Street.

Black Light has been one of the principal suppliers to the Fringe for over 20 years. In 2010, it is continuing its partnership with the Pleasance, which is running shows in 25 venues across the city. It is also supporting C Venues with their staging, and supplying rigging and staging to Zoo venues: Southside and their newest venue in the Roxy Art House. The company also has an on-going relationship with Dance Base and has invested in the D&B E series audio range in order to service the company's needs.

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UK - When Kingston University's Drama and Dance Department decided it needed to add a bright yet compact fixture to its equipment stock, able to give dramatic colour washes and more without the complication of ordering scrolls or the weight of moving lights, it turned to White Light to supply the new SeaChanger Nemo fixture - the first Nemos to be supplied in the UK, and one of the first to be supplied in Europe.

Building on the strengths of the established SeaChanger dichroic system, which adds colour mixing to existing ETC Source Four fixtures, the SeaChanger Nemo is a new profile spot that uses the LIFI Plasma lamp as its light source. This plasma lamp gives the Nemo 10,000 lumens of light output from just 285 watts of power - more than from a standard 750W HPL lamp - from a source that also has a 15,000 hour life and a very white light, with a colour rendering index value of

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UK - Le Mark's mirror effect stage floor was used in the resent Tampax Mother Nature TV advertisement. The set was built by Cheshire based Pravda 41 who were looking for a highly reflective, mirror effect surface for both the main set floor and also to be used as a supporting background feature.

"Le Mark's StudioTak is a brilliant product, we found it really easy to use and the effect it gave was better than we had expected. We also used a Mirror Effect portable floor in the background, which was suspended from the studio roof to give the set a bright and modern feel. Combining the Mirror Floor with the huge silver sequin screen, white dome lights and white leather sofa gave an ultra clean look. " says Jane Carroll of Pravda 41.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - AC-ET's Video division recently supplied event production company Onebigstar with an InnovaLED display system to provide the video effects backdrop for this year's Glastonbudget music festival in Leicestershire.

Glastonbudget is one of Europe's largest tribute band and new acts music festivals. The event is directly linked with charity Soar Valley Music Centre, which over the years has trained thousands of young people from all backgrounds and given them a route into the industry.

Now in its seventh year, the 2010 festival featured over 130 acts across three days billed as Britpop V USA, Bands of the 80s and International Superstars. Artists included Atomic Blondie, Blings of Leon, Blurb, Coldplace, Dubpeche Mode, Duran The Tribute, Four Fighters, Green Date, Guns 2 Roses, Mercury, Oasish, One Step Behind, Re:Verve, Status of Quo, Stereotonics and The Jam'd.

Oneb

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UK - SFL Group has installed an L-Acoustics Kiva ultra compact line source system into the New Community Church Central Hall venue in Southampton, used for prayers and worship, New Community training courses, performance and arts events.

Built as a Methodist hall in the 1920s, Central Hall has been owned by the New Community Church since 1989, and the installation was part of an ongoing renovation project. With a seating capacity of up to 800, the tiered venue has seating blocks at both sides of the stage, as well as raised seating at the back of the hall.

"Central Hall has an intimate, inclusive feel, with people sitting around three sides of the stage," says SFL's technical director Mark Payne. "Sometimes the stage is moved forward so it's almost in the round. The installation called for lots of horizontal coverage as it's very wide, plus a lot of vertical cov

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UK - As a parting legacy, retiring head teacher at Farnham Heath End comprehensive school in Surrey, David Hoggins, has presented new incumbent Nick Phillips with a progress technology wing which is light years ahead of anything generally found in the state school sector.

Costing just over £500,000 to develop (with the aid of judicious management of their capital budget and a £100,000 local authority grant), the aptly named 21C technology block took a year to build, and fulfills the Head's dream of providing "complete immersion in an environment where the children can interact wirelessly on any level."

The facility features GestureTek GroundFX interactive floor projection system and GestureTek Screen Xtreme, installed by Digital Vision AV. GroundFX integrates interactive 2D and 3D visuals with sound, thus enhancing the interactive feature and further imme

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Hungary - When Liga TV decided to move into HD production for its new Sport 1 OB van, the console of choice was a 32+8 fader Solid State Logic C100 HDS with an SSL MORSE Stage Box. Liga TV specialises in providing production services for live sporting events, large scale music concerts and other live events. The new OB van is the first to offer HD capabilities in Hungary. The choice of the C100 HDS was based on console features, versatility, ease of use and SSL's reputation for reliability and service.

"When we did research on the audio console for the new HD OB van, the SSL C100 HDS quickly rose to the top of our list," says Vilmos Váradi, chief accountant for Liga TV. "Console features were of primary importance in choosing the C100 HDS. This console absolutely fit the criteria for our live broadcast applications, giving us the power to easily handle events as

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UK Eastbourne Music superstore Bonners is hosting a special ' Meet the Experts' day at their Langney Road location on Saturday 21 August to celebrate a major showroom refit in association with Yamaha .

The day promises a combination of expert advice, live music performances and offers a rare opportunity for local musicians to get top tips from some of the UK's leading music production specialists. All experts will be available throughout the day to discuss and demonstrate recording and music production techniques.

The latest professional audio equipment will be on show including the Pocketrak mini recording studio which "is transforming the way many musicians on a budget record music". The company is even inviting guitarists to bring their personal acoustic instruments along, to try out with the latest technology.

Bonners Music MD Tony White comments, " This i

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Singapore - Billed as the world's most expensive (US$5.7 billion) standalone casino, Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. With the casino complete, the resort also features a 2,560-room hotel, a 120,000m² convention-exhibition centre, The Shoppes Mall, an Art & Science museum, two Sands Theatres, six restaurants, two floating pavilions and a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines.

The complex is topped by the 340m-long SkyPark with capacity for 3,900 people and a 150m long infinity swimming pool set on top of the world's largest public cantilevered platform. Recently the opening party covered several venues, including the Waterfront and the SkyPark.

Given the sheer size of the building and Marina Bay area, control for the opening installation was no easy task. A grandMA2 full-size and a grandMA2 ultra-light console were used for l

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UK - The first details of this year's extended PLASA 2010 Education & Learning Programme have been unveiled by organisers PLASA Events. The acclaimed programme of free seminars and masterclasses includes top international speakers on industry projects and technologies, sustainability, AV and systems integration and much more.

The Gottelier Masterclass will be presented, as is now established tradition, by last year's Gottelier Award winner - Alex Cooper from Midas Klark Teknik. Entitled Don't Just measure: Listen, the Masterclass will be an appreciation of the power of human perception and spatial awareness, and how they relate to audio - in particular, the fact that just because a piece of audio gear measures correctly does not necessarily mean it sounds good.

InfoComm International will host a seminar theatre dedicated to AV & Systems Integration. Topics over the dedi

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UAE - DPA Microphones has appointed Melody House Musical Instruments as its new distributor in Dubai. The appointment is part of a rebranding process that will see Melody House move more into the pro audio sector to complement its MI roots.

Greg Cargopoulos from Melody House, is familiar with DPA microphones from his own experience of working with them. "We are very happy to be the newly-appointed regional distributors of DPA microphones," he says. "I have been working as a sound engineer for many years, often on corporate events where there are several headband and lavalier microphones on stage at one time, and DPA mics have been a life-saver in many situations.

"The thing I like about these microphones is how the frequency response is so neutral. The design is always to be as neutral as possible, rather than have a coloured frequency response. This, coupl

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UK - Console manufacturer Calrec Audio has launched a community website (community.calrec.com) which aims to encourage industry education and the sharing of information amongst audio folk. Included on the site are video- and image-sharing blogs from the Calrec team and other industry experts, Twitter feeds, links to social media, and RSS feeds.

The aim is to create a forum for education and information-sharing between customers and anyone else in the audio world.

The community blogs and posts will focus on subjects that the audio community is passionate about, such as 5.1, loudness and networking, and on relevant technologies such as FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays).

Currently, Calrec is seeking contributions to the site from audio mix engineers with training advice, technical suggestions, on-the-job stories to tell, challenges to share, or questions. These can be writ

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USA - Barco reports that Multimedia Farms, also doing business as LED Display Rentals, has acquired its C11 LED indoor/outdoor display for use in the company's LED rental and staging business. The deal was signed at this year's InfoComm 2010, held in Las Vegas in June.

Bruce Neff, a founder and vice president of Multimedia Farms comments, "We're excited about all the new Barco products and the C11 is the perfect indoor/outdoor solution for our business. When I tell a customer that I have Barco, there's no explanation needed when it comes to image quality, it's second to none and everyone knows it."

Multimedia Farms purchased a large number of C11 tiles, enough to construct several screens and provide the flexibility to meet a variety of customer needs. Originally established as a mobile LED display supplier, the company is now going into 'inside work' offering built-

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USA - From a musical duet, to a gravity-defying human puppet show, America's Got Talent showcases it all. Behind the scenes, lighting designer Kieran Healy is tasked with creating a design that can not only handle such a variance in performances, but also support the live HD broadcast. To do this, Healy relies on automated fixtures from Philips Vari-Lite, including 24 VLX Wash luminaires provided by PRG.

"On this show, you have to be prepared for anything and everything," says Healy. "Some performers will want fast and exciting, while others will want the lighting to be subtle so as not to distract those onstage. But no matter what, it has to look good on camera. This show definitely runs the full gamut of lighting."

He continues, "It mystifies me that lighting instruments keep getting brighter. Cameras are getting so good at picking up detail i

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China - LED display solutions provider Lighthouse Technologies was among the winners announced at the recent 2010 Outstanding (Top Ten) LED Display Application Projects Contest awards presentation ceremony held by Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology. Lighthouse won for its massive American Airlines Centre Display Project.

For this project, Lighthouse installed 25 LED screens of differing shapes, pixel pitches and functions at the American Airlines Centre, covering an area of more than 8,700sq.ft. As one of the top NBA facilities, the American Airlines Centre is a combination of tradition and state-of-the-art technology. The newly installed Lighthouse screens have increased the video display capacity of the facility by 300 percent.

The contest involved simultaneous demonstrations in magazines and on websites, followed by three elimination rounds and an evaluatio

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Scandinavia - Lake's new LM 26 stand-alone digital audio loudspeaker processor has been given an early tour of duty by Swedish sound company Music & Lights at numerous music festivals throughout Scandinavia as the summer season kicked off, most recently at Denmark's one day rock festival Copenhagen Live 2010and one of Sweden's biggest gigs, Sweden Rock Festival.

Attracting over 20,000 rock fans, Copenhagen Live - which took place on 2 June - was held in the Kastrupstrand Park area of Copenhagen. Top of the bill were Rammstein, Bullet For My Valentine, Skunk Anansie, former G'n'R and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash and Danish hard rockers Volbeat.

Later that same month, Music & Lights again deployed a trio of LM 26 processors for the main stage at the Sweden Rock Festival in Solvesborg, where Guns 'n' Roses, Aerosmith, Gary Moore, Slayer and Danzig were amo

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UK - DTS Titan LED wash lights were used to illuminate several life size animatronics at the London edition of Dinosaurs Unleashed - the UK's largest interactive dinosaur encounter - which has now just opened at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC).

The lighting has been installed by Ian Austin of Kent, UK-based STL Lighting, who purchased the Titans specially for the exhibition from DTS's UK distributors, Lightfactor.

Austin designed both interior and exterior lighting schemes for Dinosaurs Unleashed, which ran until May on the Land Securities Parklife site in Oxford Street, London. The brainchild of Nicky Allison of Progressive Events, the slightly industrial setting made an appropriate home for the 24 dinosaurs, one of a number of temporary events/uses that maximized the prime real estate during a break in the ongoing process of redeveloping the site.

Austin'

  1. PixelRange on Britain's Got Talent tour
  2. American DJ takes legal action
  3. PRG KK to distribute GDS in Japan.
  4. Studer celebrates 1,000th OnAir 3000 sale
  5. A1 Entertainments invests in Nexo subs
  6. Sound Division makes music in Marylebone brasserie
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