Business

Details
Belarus - Sound and lighting production company, MediaContract, rigged an advanced EAW system to help inaugurate the new amphitheatre in the Belarus city of Molodechno recently, when the Dozhinki Festival - an annual celebration for the year's harvest - took place.

The amphitheatre was built specially for the festival, and EAW's territorial distributors were brought in to reinforce the traditional festival of folk music, which was attended by nearly 3,000 people.

The opening ceremony was attended by well-known Belarusian bands and artistes, such as Anatoly Yarmolenko, (the Belarus representative at the 2011 Eurovision International Song Contest), Alena Lanskaya, (winner of the Grand Prix of the International Slavonic Bazaar Festival of Arts in Vitebsk) and Tatiana Lozovskaya, (soloist of folk music ensemble, Byaseda). The event was also attended by the President of Belarus, Al

Details
UK - Martin Audio's award-winning sound system at the Ministry of Sound London was put to the ultimate test by some of the world's legendary house exponents last month, as the club celebrated its 20th anniversary.

With clubbers immersed inside 'The Box's' six-stack soundfield, the custom five-way hybrid system at the Ministry has already won prestigious IDMA (International Dance Music) awards for Best Club Sound System Design in both 2010 and 2011 - and its signature low-bass rumble created by two 21in ASX subs per stack, was re-optimised for the occasion.

The nightclub celebrated with a three-day party throughout an unforgettable weekend. Three generations of house music were represented - with an all star line up that included Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Eddie Halliwell, Nic Fanciulli, Matthias Tanzmann, Sean Tyas, Dennis Ferrer and CJ Mackintosh. Clubbers were taken on

Details
UK - David Atkinson Lighting Design (DALD) has recently completed the lighting design for the Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990s exhibition at the V&A, London.

This is the first in-depth exhibition of art, design and architecture of the 1970s and 1980s, examining one of the most contentious phenomena in recent art and design history: Postmodernism. It shows how postmodernism evolved from a provocative architectural movement in the early 1970s and rapidly went on to influence all areas of popular culture including art, film, music, graphics and fashion.

The exhibition, designed by architects Carmody Groarke & APFEL (A Practice for Everyday Life), briefed DALD that the lighting design should be bold and dynamic, with good tonal contrast.

The installation is set out in three of the main temporary gallery spaces. The first gallery opening section also introduc

Details
Austria - When customers in loudspeaker retailers want to try out a range of different models, it can be a difficult task re-patching cables to make straightforward comparisons.

With the existing Vienna headquarters of sound, lighting and musical instrument dealer Klangfarbe literally bursting at the seams, the company's owners knew that a radical solution was required. They found it in a former, brick built gasometer, which provides 3500m2 of office and retail space.

The extra space in the circular, four-storey building has allowed many more products to be displayed and be available for demonstration. Taking advantage of this, project engineer Martin Plötzeneder was determined to find a high quality solution to the old problem of helping prospective buyers to A/B test different loudspeakers.

The answer came in the form of a Yamaha DME24N digital mixing engine, with MY16-CI

Details
Ireland - On Tuesday 15 November, d&b's sales partner in Ireland, MOSCO will host a T-Series demonstration at TheButton Factory, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.MOSCO's Kevin McGing and Oran Burnsfrom the d&b audiotechnik Education and Application Support team, will mix a little theory and lots of practical listening sessions. With an introduction to the positioning of the T-Series within the d&b audiotechnik product range, technical overview and the thinking behind the integrated systems approach the day will round up with the all important listening session.www.dbaudio.com(Jim Evans)

Details
UK - Three of the entertainment industry's leading service providers will be joining forces to co-exhibit at the Showmans Show next week.

LS-Live, HSL and Adlib will be collaborating to produce one of the biggest stands at the outdoor event services show, which takes place between 19th-20th October at the Newbury Showground in Berkshire. The joint exhibit will feature a full live rig based around LS-Live's Space Roof stage system.

The three northern-based rental companies will be demonstrating how their varying products and skills, which span the entire spectrum of live event production, can add value to live events, both independently as suppliers and together as a full production package.

Studio, staging and set construction specialist LS-Live will erect a 30m wide version of its Space Roof, with a thrust, B stage, stage set and other rental and automation products, which

Details
Belgium - Having worked for Studio 100 theme parks since 2000 - right up to this summer's latest indoor themed extension (Mayaland) at Plospaland De Panne - FACE has consistently chosen Martin Audio as its preferred loudspeaker brand.

Says FACE MD, Karel De Piere, "Our credo to offer the best hardware, knowledge and service combination led to us recommending Martin Audio. It is about earning the customer's trust and confidence with a proven sound solution."

Founded by Gert Verhulst and Hans Bourlon Studio 100's theme parks receive more than two million visitors each year and this number is continually growing. Active in media, TV, musicals and theme parks, Studio 100's headquarters are based in Belgium, with branches in France, The Netherlands, Germany and Australia.

Since the first theme park, Plopsaland De Panne, opened in 2000, FACE has been involved in the desi

Details
UK - Zero 88 makes has released the first of a series of online training videos now available on YouTube.

In response to detailed user research and feedback, the latest console training videos have been designed in short, easy to manage chapters. Each clip lasts between two and four minutes allowing operators to pick and choose their exact learning needs. These new videos feature the new ORB series of fully featured lighting consoles and cover basic to advanced training.

The videos add to the existing training video clips already available for other Zero 88 lighting consoles and will soon be joined by multi-language versions. All clips can be found on Zero 88's dedicated YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/ zero88.

Content in the first set of available videos includes: product range introduction and overview, manual channel control, simple syntax, recording cues, playing bac

Details
UK - JoeCo Limited has announced a major software update for its award-winning BlackBox Recorder series. Version 2.2 contains a number of features designed to give the user greater working efficiency and includes many benefits inherited from the development of the BlackBox BBR64-MADI and Dante Recorders, says the company. These include enhancements to the underlying bespoke operating system alongside improved methods of displaying critical information to the user whilst maintaining the conceptual simplicity of the user interface.

Simple interface changes, from clarifying clock sources to flashing the transport controls while an operation is pending, provide a much slicker user experience, imparting more information to the user with greater speed and clarity. The Pre Fade Listen system, introduced in the BBR64-MADI development, now allows more rapid sweep through the channels wit

Details
UK - Flightcase manufacturer 5 Star's penchant for imagination and style came to the forefront again in a project delivered to UK speaker manufacturer Flare Audio, who are supplying the sound system (PA and monitors) for popular drum 'n' bass duo Nero's current UK tour.

Flare's owner and MD Davies Roberts encouraged project manager Arron Smith to approach 5 Star - initially on their booth at the PLASA exhibition in London in September - as he had memories of the name and reputation for quality dating back to when he worked on film sets with his father.

Smith and 5 Star's Keith Sykes chatted through some thoughts and options based on the need for an innovative casing system to house multiples of Flare's Triwave i10 loudspeakers. They wanted to be able to deploy these quickly and efficiently when flown as main left and right PA arrays once inside a venue.

The resulting case co

Details
USA - LD Lee Gipson is using High End Systems' 18 Showgun 2.5s supplied by Light Source Inc. of Milford, MI on Santana's current tour. "I always try to make sure I have them in my rig," he said. For Santana's current tour.

Rick O'Neill of Light Source Inc. said the company has supplied various items of equipment over the years for Santana, but for this tour they are providing the complete system with 150 automated luminaires.

Gipson is in his ninth year as the LD for Carlos Santana, a gig that was supposed to be a two-week temporary job to help someone else in that position. Santana keeps him busy at least six or seven months of the year on tours, not including other special appearances. Santana is currently touring throughout North America, ending in October in Mexico.

Showgun 2.5s also appeared in Carlos Santana's rig while in his two-year residency at The Joint

Details
Australia - The first Midas XL8 to be based in Australia is the flagship console for new Melbourne company Mighty Rock Performance Technology, a rental operation set up to focus purely on Midas digital consoles and associated accessories. Supplied by Midas distributor National Audio Systems in Melbourne, Mighty Rock's XL8 is joined by a Midas PRO9 digital sound system, with the addition of the new Midas PRO2 series planned within a matter of months.

Mighty Rock is the brainchild of husband and wife team Tony and Tonie Miller, CEOs and founders of pioneering events outfit Production Works based in Hobart, Tasmania and sister company to Mighty Rock. Tony Miller has long been a Midas fan and holds an XL200, several Venice consoles and a Midas PRO6 in the Production Works inventory.

In 2010, Production Works upgraded its PRO6 to the PRO9, but with this year's acquisition of the to

Details
Turkey - Kafe Pi Group is one of Turkey's fastest growing organisations, having opened 14 new venues in quick succession, including two beach clubs as well as pubs and bars. Bronx Pi Stage is one of its latest additions. Located in the Beyo?lu district in the heart of Istanbul, it features a DiGiCo SD8 digital mixing console supplied by DiGiCo's Turkish distributor, Elit Light/Sound Technologies.

Kafe Pi Group predominantly targets university students, hosting a variety of events from concept parties to board game tournaments. Bronx Pi, which first opened its doors in 2009, appeals to its audience's avant-garde musical tastes, has a young, dynamic crew and stages groups from around the world such as Jay Jay Johanson, Louie Austen, Parov Stelar Band, Kosheen, Klaus Waldecek, Belleruche, Client and national musicians including Redd, Yasemin Mori, Gece, Sakin, Kaçak. It also hosts

Details
World - Maná is a pop rock band from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, whose career has spanned more than three decades. They have earned - amongst others - three Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards and five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America. Accompanying their current Drama e Luz world tour that started this year is a grandMA2 system, comprising one grandMA2 full-size console, one grandMA2 light and two MA NPU (Network Processing Unit).

Lighting designer Luis Pastor says of the grandMA2, "After working for six years with the grandMA 'series 1', I can say for sure that grandMA2 has an improved graphical user interface. The flexibility of the user configurable views and layouts, as well as the bitmap effects and all the improvements in programming and operation are really great. After six months of hard touring I can say it is a very safe and reliable system - we'

Details
Australia - Lighting designer Andy Mutton from Lightning Lighting in Melbourne, Australia has specified 14 Robe Robin 300 LEDWash moving lights for a new lighting installation at the Beresford Hotel nightspot in Surrey Hills, Sydney, New South Wales.

This is the first club/live music installation for these new fixtures and it's in the Beresford's 600 capacity Upstairs venue, which has just been refurbished by new owners, Merivale.

Mutton was asked to deliver a full lighting technical package - which also features eight Robe Robin 300E Spots - all supplied by Robe's Australian distributor ULA - three Giga strobe and a Road Hog console for control.

The lighting has to cover the stage, dancefloors and seating areas for a variety of shows and events, from rock bands to DJ sets to corporate events. It needed to be able to create atmosphere, mood and excitement whatever the occasi

Details
Morocco - Retailer and premier regional distributor Casascène, has recently been appointed by dBTechnologies to distribute its products in Morocco.

Henri Halioua, founder and owner of Casascène comments, "I am very impressed by the dBTechnologies product range. I am really confident about the impact it will have in the market, in particular the rental and installation fields, where I am sure the DVA Series will play a very important and leading role."

Created in 1996, Casascène provides a range of sound, lighting, and AV solutions to customers from all manner of business and entertainment arenas, including theatre, conference centres, DJs and nightclubs as well as rental and installation companies. Halioua continues, "We have daily events here in this territory, and as a result there is constant demand from rental companies for high quality, reliable systems.

Details
Australia - Belgium manufacturer Apex Audio has announced GT Pacific as its new exclusive distributor for Australia.

"The Apex Audio product range brings a plethora of solutions suitable for the highest levels of commercial installations, broadcast, and touring," says GT Pacific's marketing director Anthony Touma. "With innovative solutions including cutting edge speaker management systems, hardware gates, limiters and equalisers, as well as exceptionally high quality active direct input units, the Apex Audio brand is destined to enjoy widespread success in Australia.

"Many products provided in the Australian market lack the combination of sonic purity, practicality, reliability and a competitive price point," he continues. "Seeing the high demand for no compromise outboard solutions that could be used seamlessly in both commercial and live enviro

Details
USA - Haven is an intimate restaurant in the South Beach district of Miami, Florida, featuring an Anolis LED lighting scheme created by lighting designer David Chesal and Mike Boles, the venue's independent owner who wanted "Something different".

The 1237 Lincoln Road location is a contemporary food lounge fusing a mix of modern design, international cuisine and creative cocktails in South Beach's busiest business district.

Chesal and Boles have collaborated before on producing differently themed environments, and both are big fans of the Anolis LED brand, "I needed a real quality and very reliable LED system to compliment the style and elegance of the Haven marque," explains Boles.

The design involves the installation of lighting absolutely everywhere in the venue - down-lighting the bar, dining area, strafing the walls, illuminating the tables, running

Details
UK - JoeCo has announced that, following two very successful years distributing the BlackBox Recorder in the US, Nashville-based Full Scale AV will now also distribute the JoeCo product range in Canada.

The announcement follows the recent launches of the BBR64-MADI and BBR-DANTE BlackBox Recorder versions, which have increased the product range's live multi-channel audio capturing capabilities from 24 channels to up to 64 channels in the compact 1 rack unit format.

"Over the past two years we have established a very successful relationship with Full Scale AV, who have done an excellent job in introducing the BlackBox into a sophisticated and well informed marketplace," said JoeCo managing director Joe Bull. "With the introduction of new BlackBox versions and an expanding focus on disparate market sectors, we now look forward to building on this relationship and

Details
Spain - Spain became the first testing ground for the new Adamson 'Project Energia' beta launch. Adamson distributor Seesound together with sound provider Fluge arranged the first E15 system in Europe to premiere at the Low Cost Festival in Benidorm, featuring Mika and Ok GO! among many others. Now ready for a full tour, Fluge is putting the E15's to the test with the Spanish metal band Los Marea.

The tour begins in Arnedo, in La Rioja province in the North of Spain on 5 November, and finishes the year on 30 December in Madrid, starting the new year with a date on 14 January in Zaragoza. Their tour then continues to Argentina, Chile and Colombia in February 2012.

El Grupo Industrias Orquestales, the parent company of Fluge is a leader in the Spanish live production market and falls within the top 10 most important full service production companies in Europe.

In August of 200

Details
Germany - With over seven million visitors, white-knuckle rides galore, and a convivial atmosphere in the gigantic beer tents strewn out over the vast Theresienwiese (the Meadow of Therese), the Munich Beer Festival (or Oktoberfest) this year once again lived up to its reputation as one of the largest and most spectacular festivals in the world. The two-week event kicked off, as ever, with the broaching of the first barrel in the largest tent: the Schottenhamel Marquee.

No less important, of course, was the quality of the sound reinforcement for the 10,000-odd revellers, which is why for the third year running the organizers commissioned StereoMike Veranstaltungstechnik of Straubing to look after the sound.

"Given the worldwide fame of the festival, expectations for sound quality are extremely high," says Michael Wittenzellner, StereoMike's managing director. "O

Details
Belgium - Ethersound-based audio is now used on live events of all sizes, aided by the ease with which it can be integrated with Yamaha's digital mixing consoles. Belgian company Swing is the latest rental house to invest in Yamaha equipment and take advantage of the many benefits of completely digital audio systems.

Based in Merelbeke, near Gent, Swing owns two Yamaha M7CL-32 consoles, which are in high demand for a range of events. Company owner Dany de Letter was keen to invest in an Ethersound 'digital snake' solution to enhance the audio quality of Swing's productions and so purchased two Yamaha SB168-ES stage boxes, plus two MY16-EX and two MY16-ES64 interface cards.

In addition, an LS9-16 plus a further SB168-ES and MY16-ES64 have also been added to the company's rental stock.

"TheM7CL was in great demand and I knew that Ethersound could be easily added via Yamah

Details
Finland - The charity concert Elämä Lapselle (Life of a Child) in the Hartwall-Areena, Helsinki, raises funds to help Finnish children in need. It has been staged annually since 1995 and has since been aired on MTV3. For this year's event, lighting and visual designer Mikko Linnavuori and lighting designer Eero Helle used two grandMA2 light, a grandMA full-size, a grandMA light and three MA NSP (Network Signal Processor).

"grandMA and grandMA2 are the only usable solutions when you need full tracking backup and a multi-user control platform", commented Eero Helle. "This is very important for us when we are working on live TV shows. The reliability of the MA network is so good that all of the lighting team were completely confident."

"One main reason for choosing a grandMA2 console is the excellent GUI for the framing shutters" said white light o

Details
South Africa - "When I first looked at The Durban Playhouse Company tender we'd won, I had to wonder if we would complete it," says Dan Riley, head of sales for Philips Distributor in South Africa, DWR. "It was a major job and the client had put in clauses stating that the theatre could not close and that shows must go on as normal. A tall order given DWR had been commissioned to change all the dimmers in the building! However I'm delighted to be able to say that the DWR boys pulled it off, on time and on budget."

DWR's Bruce Riley headed up an installation team that included JC Du Plessis, Gedeon Mpofu and Michael van Dyk. "The installation comprised: 11 x Philips Strand EC 21 96 way dimmer racks with full reporting capabilities, explains Riley. "Six have been installed in the Opera Theatre (originally they were MCM Dimmers), four in the Drama Thea

  1. LumenRadio & Philips light up Black Eyed Peas
  2. AIM installs ETC Element consoles
  3. Outline arrays reinforce Relatively Speaking
  4. DiGiCo console range expands at AES
  5. Easypix facelift for Tirana's Diesel Hall
  6. Bolshoi re-opens with ShowTex drapes
Page 1318 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .