UK - Gruv Gear, the Californian manufacturer of utility carts, hand trucks and music accessories, has signed a deal with Adam Hall to distribute its product line to the European market.

The deal, which was announced at the Musikmesse, Frankfurt, follows a meeting at the 2011 Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, California, where daily visits from Adam Hall's Markus Jahnel reinforced the positive interest he expressed from day one, Gruv Gear says.

"We had overwhelming attention from dealers and distributors from all over the world." says Jay Baldemor, president of Gruv Gear. "Markus definitely became one of the most familiar faces by the end of the show, and that says a lot about Adam Hall's sincere desire and commitment in working with us.

"We talked to guys from Italy, Spain, the UK and others, but I'm thoroughly impressed with what Adam Hall puts on the table.

Slovenia - Akustika Bahun is has purchased the first L-Acoustics Kara WST line source system in Slovenia.

The system's first job was a corporate event in Slovenia's largest and most acoustically challenging arena, Stožice, which has an nine second reverberation time when empty. The complete front of house/front- fill system consists of 36 Kara cabinets configured as 12 per side as left/right hands and 12 as a delay line, eight SB28 subwoofers in cardioid mode, two 108P and two 112P coaxials, and 12 115HiQ active stage monitors. All units are driven with LA8 amplified controllers.

"We'd like to thank the complete team for their technical support during this event," says Akustika Bahun's Miha Bahun. "This includes Slaven Tahirbegovi? from Croatian distributor Dicroic who supplied us with the system; Wilhelm&Willhalm for equipment support; KSS for trussing and rig

UK - Orbital Sound reports on the success of the sound system supplied for the UK tour of dance spectacular Midnight Tango, which features Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace, famed for their Tango routines on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing series. With sound design by Gareth Owen, the show is employing a scalable system based on d&b audiotechnik T-Series loudspeakers, to cater for the tour's broad spread of venue capacities and acoustics.

Gareth Owen's design challenge was twofold, involving creating a system that could handle the score's huge dynamic range, while also delivering consistent results across the tour's many venues. These range from small, 600-seaters, up to theatres such as the Brighton Centre, one of the largest regional theatres in the UK, with over 4,000 seats.

Gareth Owen commented, "Midnight Tango is a very classy dance show, and depends as

USA / India - Apogee Electronics has confirmed the appointment of Ansata Computer Systems as its new distributor for the Indian subcontinent.

"We are very proud to have appointed Ansata as our exclusive distributor for Apogee's entire product line in India," said Marc Fenton, Apogee's APAC sales representative. "CEO Leslie Lean's impressive knowledge of the market from both the technical and marketing perspectives along with the company's far-reaching connections across the country make Ansata the perfect partner for Apogee in India."

Ansata distributes pro audio hardware and software, ranging from retail products for budding musicians to industry standard professional gear for studios, live concerts and broadcast. Apart from Apogee, Ansata partners with Avid and Automated Processes, Inc. (API) to distribute their range of digital and analogue audio interfa

Nigeria - Nick Gray from UK based Renegade Lighting designed lighting for the first Arise Magazine Fashion Week in Lagos, Nigeria.

This completely new and high profile event showcased creations from 50 designers from all over Africa and others with African roots who are working internationally. Staged over three days at the Tents Federal Palace Hotel, in addition to the 50 runway shows, the event featured live performances each evening by a section of artists including Tinie Tempah, Estelle, d'banj and Keri Hilson plus the best local DJs. One evening also saw Arise Magazine present an awards show.

Nick Gray was asked onboard by show producers Bacchus, with whom he works on many fashion and style related events worldwide, including various London Fashion Week elements, to which his lighting designs have brought a fresh look.

"My brief was to produce

Namibia - The iconic British reggae group UB40 performed live in Windhoek for a three-day event at the Hage Geingob Stadium, in aid of the Hope Village Trust for the construction of a Hope Village in Rehoboth, Namibia.

LDR's Besio Fabiano reports that four canto 2KW MSR follow-spots were used for lighting the band in Windhoek. "The follow-spots provided superior performances in this extreme outdoor environment," adds Fabiano.

"LDR thanks dB Audio Namibia and Stage Audio Works - LDR agent for South Africa - for making what proved to be a very challenging three-day event a huge success."

(Jim Evans)

USA - At this year's Ultra Music Festival, grandMA2 full-size consoles were the dominant control solution on the Main Stage. The 13th annual Ultra Music Festival (UMF) held its first-ever three-day event at Miami's Bicentennial Park drawing more than 100,000 people to the celebration of electronic music.

"We used a grandMA2 full-size on the new Main Stage," says lighting designer Steve Lieberman of SJ Lighting. "The Main Stage had several acts per day that had full production riders to fill so, for the festival package, we decided to make the wings of the stage a very strong visual presence with large-scale video and heavy lighting effects. We also added 40-foot flame cannons on the top of the structure."

Lieberman adds, "As a designer the grandMA2 offers all the tools I need to put on a great show. In these environments, where the music is not scripte

Slovakia - Lighting designer Martin Kubanka specified Robe moving lights for the 2011 Miss Universe Slovak Republic beauty pageant, which was staged at the Sibamac Arena at the National Tennis Centre in Bratislava, and broadcast live on the main national TV channel, RTVS.

Slovakia's leading rental company Q-99 supplied lighting, sound and AV production for the event, and with Kubanka clocking up an impressive 13 years of lighting the show, the use of over 100 Robe fixtures ensured that he had all the creative tools he needed to keep reinventing and refreshing the show year on year.

The set was designed by Michael Klang and featured 75sq.m of high resolution LED surface, over 70sq.m of medium resolution LED surface and 60sq.m of LED floor as well as the extensive lighting rig. The set was 'stepped' on five different levels and the far wings were shaped to resemble speaker horns

USA - The recent installation of dBTechnologies full DVA line array system at Resurrection Power Church in Ohio has significantly improved the audio quality in the auditorium.

Specified by local company Metro Audio Video LLC, the system comprised of two DVA dBTechnologies powered line arrays, each one including a DVA S10 single 18" bandpass subwoofer flown at the top, with three T4 three-way elements below. Metro Audio's Ed Whitney wanted to ensure that the sound was evenly distributed with the new audio set-up, a promise he delivered on, as Pastor Culver confirms - "The sound seems to be coming from everywhere."

"The line array is extremely easy to deploy," says Whitney. "We used a DVA Ease Focus and a laser to sight in each element, which proved to work perfectly. The system's itself is surprisingly efficient - we only needed to install one 20-a

UK - The Bedford in Balham, South London, has earned a national and now international reputation for being one of the most important and critically acclaimed venues in the UK.

Now the venue has formed a creative partnership with Yamaha Music which will see new variations being introduced to the Bedford's successful formula by providing "the very best conditions, technical support and live performance opportunities and exposure for new original UK talent".

The partnership will see top international Yamaha artists performing and sound engineers providing support to new talent, additionally Yamaha's international reach will help promote and expand the Bedford's outreach programmes in the UK and USA. Yamaha are also planning the broadcast 'live' webcasts of gigs and events on their Yamaha Download website.

For artists such as James Morrison, Paolo Nutini, KT Tunstall a

Spain / Portugal - The Arena Group is on course for a triple victory this May, strengthening its presence in Spain and Portugal by supplying event structures at three PGA golf championships.

The Spanish Open Golf Championship was hosted at Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona, 5-8 May, 2011, and it produced a couple of firsts. South Africa's Thomas Aiken claimed his first major international victory, whilst the Arena Group supplied all temporary structures and events overlay to the event for the first time.

Shortly afterwards, Arena will also be supplying a variety of temporary facilities to the Volvo World Match Play Championships in Spain and the Madeira Island Open BPI in Portugal, both of which fall on the same weekend, 19-22 May, 2011.

Working with their Madrid based partners Carpa 10, the Arena Group supplied more than 2,500 sq.m of bespoke temporary structures for t

UK - HHB has been appointed as exclusive distributor of Mogami cable in the UK and Ireland. The Mogami range now encompasses microphone, speaker, guitar, coaxial, video and digital interfacing cables, along with analogue and digital snakes.

HHB's Mogami product specialist Matthew Fletcher comments, "Any audio or video recording or production system is only as good as its weakest link and Mogami ensures that it isn't going to be the cabling that lets you down. From the tiniest lavalier microphone cable to a heavy duty digital snake, every Mogami cable is designed and manufactured to perform at the highest levels."

Speaking on behalf of Mogami, president of sales Lew Hirabayashi says, "We're delighted to appoint HHB as our exclusive distributor for the UK and Ireland, a company that shares our commitment to quality, reliability and customer service. HHB has a comp

USA - The impact of Meyer Sound's EXP cinema loudspeaker systems was driven home by the first screening of Thor on screen 9 at Pacific Winnetka 21 multiplex in Chatsworth, a suburb of Los Angeles. Working in tandem with a new Dolby 3D projection system, the heightened sonic experience of EXP cinema sound technology is a key component of Pacific Theatres' Immersive 3D Experience.

In order to give moviegoers an enhanced 3D experience with the sonic impact that they cannot get in conventional cinemas or at home, Pacific Theatres management chose to install a permanent Meyer Sound EXP cinema sound system.

"The accurate delivery of the creative content is of the utmost importance to the movie going experience and the EXP System exceeded our expectations. Meyer Sound was very professional in their approach to the design of the sound system while effectively collab

Switzerland - 'Yodel rock' may sound like an esoteric brand of music, but it is a highly successful one for Swiss band Sonalp. Together with Sonoval - the sound company which usually supplies the band's audio equipment - Yamaha equipment is helping to prove that the hills are alive with the sound of music.

Sonoval is built on foundations laid by Pierre-Alain Fumeaux, through his work with comedian and impressionist Yann Lambiel, and the company's director of sound and light is Valentin Jacquaz who was the first audio professional in continental Europe to purchase the M7CL48-ES digital mixing console and the company's Yamaha inventory also includes SB168-ES stage boxes, as well as more consoles, including M7CLs and LS9s.

"Yamaha equipment is a professional choice, the technology is 100% stable, many engineers know them and the price is also right," he says. "I re

UK - Liverpool UK based Adlib supplied a V-DOSC sound system, DJ set and crew for the recent David Guetta UK Tour.

Guetta's FOH sound engineer is Hassane Es Siahi, who came onboard last August at the start of a festival tour which was also serviced by Adlib. However, this is the first full DJ set production tour in terms of touring the equipment, as Guetta's action-packed performance schedule normally consists of large one-off gigs worldwide using local productions.

Adlib's account manager Phil Kielty says, "David Guetta is by far one of the most innovative producers in the dance world and his live performances are always show-stopping. Hassane's creative talents are really shining through in producing a great sound, and of course it's good to be working with Alan Green & his team again".

Es Siahi conferred with Guetta and they listened to several options before bo

Australia - The full ENTECH education programme has been released online, to coincide with the announcement of a third PLASA sponsored international keynote speaker, audio engineer and author, Dave Swallow.

Dave has recently spoken at the PLASA Focus show in Leeds and had one of the largest audiences of all the 20 seminars hosted at that event. He is bringing his seminar series titled The Art of Mixing a Show to ENTECH where he will explore the most important ideas behind putting a mix together, how to add a third dimension to a flat, two dimensional mix and looked at using dynamic processors in a creative way.

Over the past decade Dave has spent time mixing for some of the most influential acts in the UK including Amy Winehouse, Seasick Steve, Corinne Bailey Rae, and many others on some of the biggest festivals, TV shows, and venues all over the world.

Most recently

UK - AKG's CS 5 Conference Systems have been specified by Paul Fox of Blue Spider - both as upgrades, and as part of new technical fit-outs for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) facilities in Manchester and London.

Fox, who undertakes all the AV and digital signage consultancy and implementation for main contractors, Barbican-based Trans European Technology (TET), has placed these at the hub of a Harman Pro audio solution.

In Manchester, where a second conference room has just been added, this includes eight JBL Control 26CT recessed ceiling speakers (in the larger room) and eight Control 24CT in the smaller, driven by Crown XTi amplifiers - with the sound processed and distributed via two dbx ZonePRO 641M 6 x 4 digital zone processors.

But the hub of the installation is the new AKG CS 5 Conference System. Each of the two rooms is equipped with

UK - London-based show and event production company LarMac LIVE created a design and co-ordinated technical production for a 'silent' Scouting For Girls gig on the third floor of The Bargehouse exhibition venue at London's Oxo Tower. They were working for national radio station Absolute Radio and smart car.

Absolute Radio had signed a high profile deal with smart to promote the new smart fortwo campaign. This saw Absolute Radio run a promotion on the Geoff Lloyd Hometime show which culminated in the station staging the silent gig and one lucky listener winning a smart car.

Wanting a funky central London location with a special vibe, the venue - a charismatic stripped-out Victorian warehouse space peeled back to its raw RSJs and original brickwork - was chosen. There was one major logistical challenge - they needed to stage the show without violating the noise restrictions for

UK - Hoist UK Limited hopes to stimulate growth and employment in the UK economy by the launching of sister company Truss UK Limited.

Truss UK will promote "British engineering at its best with innovative product development for the entertainment industry offering quality at every stage".

One of the many products in the forthcoming Truss UK catalogue that will be showcased at the ABTT trade show in London during June will be the TT range of trussing systems.

"The TT product is one of the most versatile trussing systems you would ever buy, therefore probably the only trussing system you will ever have to buy; offering the strength of medium duty truss in a compact configuration", says Hoist UK's Tony Dickson.

"The TT range of truss is different in the fact that it can be used any way round in almost any configuration, with the new products designed

Germany - From unicycling Moldovan fairies to transparent Italian pianos and Irish twins in giant shoulder pads, the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest delivered a feast of everything that one would expect from this most famous televised event. More than 20 Yamaha digital mixing consoles helped to ensure that the sound matched the spectacle.

Taking place at the Esprit Arena - a temporarily-converted football stadium - in Düsseldorf, the contest featured performances by acts representing 43 different European countries and was televised live to an audience of millions by national broadcasters Norddeutscher Rundfunk Fernsehen and ARD German Television.

Yamaha worked closely with rental company Neumann & Müller to provide an audio system that would provide both high quality sound and cast-iron reliability. The event's senior sound engineer (PA), Jochen Jensen, approached Yamaha's Art

UK - The inaugural event under the OpenStage umbrella tookplace at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London this month, with an enthusiastic audience of sound specialists from the theatre world gathering to see if the OpenStage promise would and could be kept: namely that this would be a forum for technical experts, inventors and developers, gurus and seers, to look into the future of theatre sound.

This event was sponsored by six discrete companies - d&b audiotechnik, Shure UK, RTS Telex, Roland Systems Group, TTA and Figure53, best known as the authors of the QLab show control system. It was staged by RADA in their 180-seat Jerwood Vanbrugh theatre.

John Torger Skjelstad from Norway's TTA opened the proceedings with an in-depth discussion of the art of performer tracking and localisation, using as a demonstration the StageTracker system that he authored and which is now

Isle of Man - Medieval ruin, Rushen Abbey was recently transformed by hire and event specialists Event Lighting Services (ELS). With the help of GDS LiteWare, the Isle of Man heritage site was spectacularly illuminated for a private function.

Event Lighting Services are a supplier of lighting, audio and special effects equipment based in the Isle of Man. ELS were commissioned in late April to provide the audio and lighting for a private wedding party that was held in a marquee at the medieval site. The client requested the ancient ruins be illuminated, creating a stunning back-drop for their evening event.

Rushen Abbey dates back to 1134 and sits by the Silverdale Burn in what is now Ballasalla. Acquired by the Manx Government in 1998, it is the most substantial and important medieval religious site in the Isle of Man.

ELS faced a host of challenges whilst specifying equipme

World - Petzl have issued a immediate inspection notice for Absorbica lanyards used in entertainment rigging alongside a recall notice on their sports SCORPIO via ferrata energy absorbing lanyards.

Following an accident involving a via ferrata on the 5th of May 2011, Petzl launched a voluntary product safety alert to all users of the SCORPIO via ferrata lanyards (L60 and L60CK) manufactured prior to March 2005 and all Absorbica energy absorbing lanyards manufactured before May 17th 2011 up to serial number 11137****.

As a consequence Petzl has decided to take the following actions:

1. Temporary stoppage of all Petzl tear webbing lanyard production.

2. Temporary stoppage of the sale of all stock of SCORPIO and ABSORBICA tear webbing lanyards for inspection before resuming sales.

3. Extension of the product safety alert of 13.05.11 to include all Petzl SCORPIO energy absor

UK - Audio specialist Audient has pledged an ASP8024 mixing desk to be used as the centrepiece of a recording studio made out of wood and straw, which is to be set up at the Glastonbury festival next month. Music producer Joe Leach of Cowshed Studio London is designing and building a soundproof recording studio in a custom built low-impact straw bale building in the grounds of this year's event.

"We love the idea, so we're really glad to be able to provide the console for this unique studio," enthuses Steve Flower, Audient's technology strategist who will be part of the set-up crew with his colleague, UK sales manager Gareth Williams. "We want to give the event our full support, and to that end will be tweeting our way through the set-up and ensuing weekend."

The Audient recording desk will be used alongside the Cowshed Studio's classic keyboard collection,

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