UK - Adlib Audio has purchased an L-Acoustics KARA modular WST line source system. The new system, together with Adlib's K1 and KUDO cabinets, left the Liverpool-based rental company's premises immediately on Doctor Who Live, which has been touring the UK during October and November. This was also the first tour for K1, which Adlib purchased back in the summer.

The show stars Doctor Who monsters including the Daleks and Cybermen, and features Matt Smith as the Doctor and Nigel Planer as 'intergalactic showman' Vorgenson. Special effects, optical illusions and pyrotechnics accompany video content on a giant screen, soundtracked by the scores of Doctor Who's composer, Murray Gold, which are brought to life by a 16-piece orchestra. This is combined with cast dialogue, choir vocals, additional orchestral stems, VT playback character dialogue and special effects.

The

UK - displayLED's digiLED TILE system continues to be the screen of choice for Queen Productions Limited, with a total of eight displays being shipped for the Italian and UK tours of We Will Rock You.

The UK tour starts at Manchester Palace on 3 December 2010, with the Italian tour opening at the Palacreberg in Bergamo on 20 January 2011.

The digiLED TILE is suited to the futuristically themed production, with the screens being used to compliment the stage show, projecting a dramatic mixture of video, animation, graphics and lighting effects.

Each of the Ti10S 10mm SMD pixel pitch screens measures 2.4m wide x 2.7m high, configured from 3 x 3 'fast-rig' digiLED frames measuring 800mm (w) x 900mm (h). The same specification is applied to each We Will Rock You tour to enable productions to display uniform content without adjustment save for some localisation.

"The

UK - POLARaudio has been appointed as Pro AV distributor in the UK and Ireland for SurgeX surge protection products.

SurgeX Advanced Series Mode technology completely eliminates surge energy without the use of any sacrificial or diversionary components and does not contaminate the safety ground. SurgeX offers a complete line of AC power solutions, all of which carry a 10 year warranty.

POLARaudio's technical director Jon Dew-Stanley said, "Polar Audio is delighted to represent SurgeX whose Advanced Series Mode Technology is superior to any conventional MOV or MOV-Hybrid products on the market. SurgeX products offer a zero let-through technology which provides the most reliable protection for audio systems. Products such as the SNX1213 can stop any power surge up to 6,000 volts without producing harmful side effects such as earth contamination or common-mode disturbances.<

UK - Ofcom is calling on licensed wireless microphone users to register for a Government funding scheme set up earlier this year to help pay for the replacement of channel 69 equipment. This equipment will stop working in 2012. The scheme closes on 31 December 2010.

Countries across Europe are clearing a block of frequencies to make way for new services like next-generation mobile broadband. Part of this block - called channel 69 (854-862 MHz) - is used by wireless microphones.

Replacement frequencies for channel 69 have been made available in channel 38 (606-614 MHz) as well as other frequencies - but existing microphones will need to be replaced or modified to work at these new frequencies.

In July 2010, the Government announced that it will be providing a contribution towards the cost of new equipment for those users who are eligible under the terms of the scheme. Those a

UK - At the Real Business 2010 Growing Business Awards, held at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, international catering and live event support specialist Global Infusion Group (GIG) was shortlisted in the Global Outlook and Expansion Award category - alongside the likes of business heavyweights such as The Premier League.

Group MD, Tony Laurenson, commented on the nomination from China, where GIG is currently working on the Guangzhou Asian Games. He said: "It was such a privilege to have been shortlisted. We know the quality of the companies that entered and to just be recognised for our international business activities is a great success in itself."

GIG also recently picked up the top honours at the UK:Event Awards 2010 in the Supplier Awards Best Caterer category. Their award submissions entitled 'A Truly Global Infusion Group' impressed the judges wit

UK - As part of the ongoing process of cutting costs, HEPCW (Higher Education Purchasing Consortium Wales) has appointed Drake AV as a preferred supplier for the design and installation of Audio-Visual systems. On top of this achievement Drake AV was also the highest ranked supplier for Audio-Visual hire and events management to the consortium members.

R G Drake of Drake AV said, "As a company owned and based in Wales we are confident we can deliver the best possible value to universities and other public bodies in Wales."

The three year contract includes members of both HEPCW and Value Wales. Together these organisations cover almost all the higher education and public bodies in Wales. The framework agreement covers design and installation work ranging from simple meeting rooms and classrooms up to fully featured lecture theatres and new build projects.

This has b

Germany - The end of October saw the sixth Dynacord Pro Sound Academy of the year in Straubing. Hosts Martin Traut (senior product manager, Dynacord), Frauke Jungbluth (sales manager, Dynacord Europe) and Irmgard Danner (sales manager, Dynacord Eastern Europe) were pleased to welcome to the Academy 23 participants from 11 different countries.

The two-day event included a presentation of the new PowerMate powered mixer and practical 'hands-on' sessions with Dynacord systems like the new Corus Evolution series, the D-Lite powered systems and the DSP 600 FIR-Tune system controller.

Pro audio expert Ingo Haasch offered a wealth of useful information and fundamental principles of relevance to the electro-acoustic scene, including tips and tricks likely to prove helpful in a variety of day-to-day situations. "This type of information always goes down well with participants,&quo

Italy - Florentine singer Irene Grandi has completed her latest tour, playing material from her latest album Alle porte del sogno (At the gates of dreams) in town squares and theatres, illuminated by Coemar projectors. More than 30 Infinity series moving heads featured.

"The design of the lights in the squares was a transposition of the show in the theatres," says lighting designer Adriano Sanson. "With the addition of 12 Infinity ACL to convey the dreamlike atmosphere, taken from the album title, easy to create in the theatre, but much more difficult to communicate in an open space where, however, it is easier to express energy."

The installation was also characterised by the Infinity XL series designed for large concerts and events in open spaces. Twelve Wash XL were used, with an output of 1450 W that illuminated the stage with an infinite range o

Vietnam - Vietnam celebrated its 1000th anniversary with a 10-day party that culminated in a grand ceremony at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi on 10 October. The elaborate event illustrated the history and beauty of the country using over 1000 performers and large scale lighting visuals that included 120 Martin Professional MAC 2000 Wash XB fixtures and 30 Martin MAC III Profiles.

Showtec Group provided the design and build solution for the event and appointed Mac Chan of Stage Centre Line Associates to create a lighting design befitting such a notable occasion.

Chan chose to use the MAC 2000 Wash XB, Martin's extra bright 1500W wash light, a fixture he used on Singapore National Day Parade events in 2009 and 2010. He comments: "With such a project, where I need to cover a huge area and deal with long throw distances, the MAC 2000 Wash XB gives me the flexibility to program mult

UK - Conference Technical Facilities (CTF) fielded no fewer than 10 Christie Roadster HD12K projectors for a recent high profile media launch by HTC Corporation at London's Old Billingsgate Market, attended by around 300 journalists.

Tasked with meeting a challenging brief by leading production agency, Sutherland Smith Group, they produced an impressive semi-circular floor-to-ceiling front projected wrap-around display. This provided the backdrop for the telecom giant to showcase its latest Android-based smart-phones.

London-based CTF have wide experience of working with Christie projection, having chosen Christie as their preferred partner many years ago. Managing director Stuart Butt said that as soon as they received the brief from the show's technical manager at Connect Live he knew the production would be best served using Christie HD12K 1080HD, 12000 ANSI lumen projector

UK - Lightfactor, distributor for Italian manufacturer Novalight, has sold more Nova-Flower 2K high powered 'flower' effect units to STL, doubling the Kent-based rental company's hire stock of these popular 'specials'.

STL first invested in Novalight products last year, when Lightfactor supplied them with both Nova-Flower and High Ground units. These have proved an enormous success, both for use on STL's own shows and as a cross hire item, necessitating the purchase of more Nova-Flowers. These were delivered just in time for the annual Fireworks Spectacular at Leeds Castle.

STL's Phil Parsons designed an environmental lighting scheme located around the main Leeds Castle building which was a vital component of the multi-layered visuals for this acclaimed event. Lasers were also involved in supporting the central pyro extravaganza designed by Alchemy Fireworks.

The soundtrack

UK - IT and AV rental company DB Systems is set to begin the first quarter of 2011 on a high with five major contracts in the UK, Europe and Middle East.

During an eight-week period between January and March, DB will shuttle equipment over several thousand miles in order to supply bespoke solutions and services to BETT and ICE (London), Mobile World Congress (Barcelona), IDEX (Abu Dhabi) and ITB (Berlin).

Oliver Richardson, DB's sales and marketing director, says such a logistical exercise is possible because of the company's ethos of regularly investing in equipment. DB recently announced that its capital expenditure on new equipment has reached £1m in the last two years.

He said: "Despite the financial difficulties facing the industry, and businesses in general, we've always ensured that we maintain a large inventory of equipment, including a variety of video wa

Switzerland - ARX Systems, the Australian manufacturer of digital and analogue interface and signal processing products has announced the appointment of Lausanne-based Amplitude Audio as its new distributor for Switzerland.

ARX managing director Colin Park comments: "We're excited to be working with Chris and his team, they're enthusiastic about the possibilities for ARX and our products amongst their extensive client base.

"Amplitude Audio is a focused company who are in close contact with Swiss audio professionals in the live sound, broadcast and installation markets, who will all benefit from using ARX's range of digital and analogue interface & signal processing products."

(Jim Evans)

Australia - Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan brought an abridged version of her Lilith Festival to Australia in October, the first time the female-only festival tour has been staged outside North America.

Lilith Festival was founded in 1997 after McLachlan became frustrated with concert promoters and radio stations which refused to feature two female musicians in a row. In Australia local acts Kate Miller-Heidke and The Verses joined her for the five concert tour.

Jands Production Services provided the audio equipment and crew for veteran front of house engineer Gary Stokes who has toured with Sarah for close to 21 years.

Included in the gear list was a Soundcraft Vi6 digital mixing console which Stokes first became acquainted with not so long ago when he was mixing for French-American singer Madeleine Peyroux.

"She was opening for Diana Krall whose FOH g

Kenya - Kenya Music Week, which runs from 9-12 December, will provide an opportunity to take stock of the African pro audio and music scene. Around 50 leading African dealers and distributors will be presenting their wares at the Sarit Centre Expo Hall in Nairobi.

As well as an extensive range of seminars and workshops, a diverse concert and entertainment programme will be among the major attractions of the event. In addition to established stars from Kenya and beyond, such as Abbas, Holy Dave, Sisko and Pili Pili, several hundred up-and-coming acts are scheduled to appear.

Electro-Voice and Dynacord partner Audio Visual Engineering (AVE) is not only one of the exhibitors, but also one of the sponsors of the fair. The Nairobi-based team led by Omar Abdalla Sheikh will be presenting for the first time anywhere in Central Africa the new PowerMate powered mixer from Dynacord and

USA - Crown Audio has been approved for conformance of quality assurance in accordance with the International Organization for Standards (ISO) 9001:2008. Operating at such standards allows Crown to respond more quickly to marketplace and customer demand while maintaining consistently high levels of quality in all facets of its amplifier production.

Commenting on what ISO 9001:2008 registration will mean from the end-user's perspective, Marc Kellom, director, marketing for Crown stated that customers can purchase Crown amplifiers with increased confidence. "It is reassuring to have a highly qualified third party audit your products and processes and certify that they consistently meet the highest quality standards."

ISO 9001:2008 registration applies to all products manufactured under the quality system in place at the registered site. Registration requires demonstrat

UK - Structural aluminium systems specialists, Litestructures, (now part of the Prolyte Group) were recently commissioned by Sony's creative agencies, PD3 and Engage Production to create a new experience at Heathrow airport's new T5.

The experience brings to life Sony's new global strap line, make.believe and presents Sony as an entertainment brand to the visitors of T5. The interior of the helix structure that was built by Litestructures is made up of 22 screens. Powered by Sony technology, they display a bespoke 360-degree film journey that mixes filmed footage of the airport with created animation and Sony content.

The film transports passengers through the roof of T5, past the London skyline and the surrounding countryside, and then into a hyper-real galaxy. Once in space, the make.believe 'dots' explode into film, game and music content all from the family of Sony

USA - All three ETCP examinations will be given at USITT's Annual Conference & Stage Expo in Charlotte, NC. The entertainment electrician exam is scheduled for Friday, 11 March 11; the arena rigging exam is to be given the morning of Saturday, 12 March and the theatre rigging exam is scheduled for that afternoon.

Candidates who wish to take multiple exams will receive a discount for the second exam. Interested applicants must submit their application, along with supporting materials and fee, to the ETCP office no later than 10 February 2011.

Candidate information, including eligibility requirements and applications, is available on the ETCP website (http://etcp.esta.org).

Additionally, Rigging examinations are given daily at over 190 computer based testing centres across the US and Canada.

(Jim Evans)

Hong Kong - Vivienne Tam, one of Asia's most renowned fashion designers, has completed installation a new LED display by Lighthouse Technologies at its 1881 Heritage shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The screen, comprising eight R4-S 4mm SMD LED panels in a 1 x 8 configuration, forms an impressive floor-to-ceiling display that attracts visitors with its vivid, rich visuals of the latest Vivienne Tam creations at fashion shows from around the world. The 4mm pixel pitch delivers sharp visuals, important for close-distance viewing, while the 2000 nits brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio and wide viewing angles guarantee crystal-clear visibility from anywhere.

"Vivienne Tam loves transforming traditional styles to appeal to modern consumers, and the addition of our new Lighthouse screen helps deliver that unique look with much greater impact," said Mr Scott Crolla, Vivienne Tam. &quo

Europe - Peavey Commercial Audio has announced an exceptionally busy and productive summer/autumn season with a number of MediaMatrix/NION training courses and seminars that have been held across Europe and the Middle East in recent months, and the promise of more to be scheduled throughout 2011.

Since August this year, courses have been held at Peavey Italia in Ancona; at Peavey's distributor in Jeddah, Abu Moammar; at Saudi Media Systems in Riyadh; at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Peavey Europe HQ in Corby. The courses are designed for consultants, programmers, systems integrators, designers, maintenance engineers, end users and more. Training covers all new MediaMatrix and Crest Audio Contractor products and also includes the latest version software in addition to specific topics such as audio networking fundamentals, applications engineering and

Sweden / Germany - LumenRadio, the Gothenburg-based manufacturer of Award-winning wireless lighting controls, has appointed LMP Lichttechnik as exclusive distribu¬tor of CRMX products in Germany. LMP is one of the largest distributors in Europe with a 30-year track record of distributing top brands to customers all over Germany.

"LMP was our first choice for distribution in Germany and we're very happy to launch this partnership which will bring our CRMX products to customers all over Germany. LMP has impressed us with their profession¬alism and drive in establishing CRMX as the natural choice for wireless lighting controls in Germany. Work¬ing with LMP has so far been a pure pleasure," explains Anders Ardstål, vice-president of LumenRadio.

CRMX products are enjoying a surge in popularity throughout Europe in both entertainment and architec-tural installations. L

UK - BBC TV's Strictly Come Dancing is in its eighth series. Lighting designer Mark Kenyon continues to originate the show with support from Richard Martin Lighting. The RML spec includes Chroma Strips, VL3500 Wash, VL1000TS and Nova Flowers.

The VL1000TS are used predominantly for the results show. The VL3500 Wash luminaire features internal zoomable beam optics with either Fresnel or Buxom options, an interchangeable front lens system, or an aperture wheel.

"The VL3500's have an extremely strong look which is now an integral part of the design of the show," says Kenyon.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Living TV's popular reality TV series, Britain's Next Top Model, produced by Thumbs Up Productions has recently completed its sixth series.

With Elle Macpherson as its new host and executive producer, the show's production design was ramped up, too, and for the first time this year's final was broadcast live, in a 90-minute HD spectacular from BBC TV Centre's Studio 8 on 4 October.

The show was staged on a specially designed stage set with a complete set, lighting and LED video screen production package from Stage Electrics, working with Thumbs Up on the show for the third year running.

The company had earlier built the studio stage set and lighting for the pre-recorded eliminations, filmed earlier in the year with Elle Macpherson. "This was the first time a live final was planned," says Stage Electrics account manager Russell Payne, "and we were a

France / South Africa - Digigram has signed a distribution agreement with South African pro audio/AV specialists, Wild & Marr.

Established in 1944, with offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, Wild & Marr is one of the leading distributors of audio equipment in Southern Africa. Managing director Joe Copans comments, "The brands represented by our company are universally accepted as leaders in their respective categories. Digigram's state-of-the-art sound cards and IP audio equipment are therefore a perfect complement to our current brand portfolio."

Sébastien Cadeau-Belliard, sales account manager with Digigram for this region, sees this agreement as "key to delivering solutions tailored to individual client needs, thanks to the expert engineering department of Digigram's newest partner". The agreement takes effect immediately.

(Jim Evans)

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