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Singapore - Now in its fourth year, Singapore's International a cappella festival has established itself as a month-long vocal extravaganza featuring top groups from many countries and in various styles.

This year's line-up was again highlighted by some of the best European a cappella groups: The Real Group from Sweden with its world-acclaimed and multiple-award-winning music; comedy-flavoured Muttis Kinder and Suade; alongside Vocado with jazz-infused a cappella and the Asian a cappella acts, highlighted by the Gay Singers from Hong Kong; and performances from Green Onion from Taiwan, and FlexiTones from Malaysia.

Turbosound's Singaporean distributor Consolidated Audio Networks supported this year's festival, which was held from 1 - 30 October 2011, with the leading youth groups and the country's favourite a cappella groups presenting their music alongside the international g

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Germany - The city of Mannheim, birthplace of the automobile, celebrated the 125th anniversary of Carl Benz's gas-powered buggy this fall with autosymphonic, a multimedia spectacular featuring an original composition for orchestra, chorus, and various synchronised car sounds as played live on 80 carefully auditioned vehicles.

To immerse an audience of 17,000 in this extraordinary sonic mix, POOLgroup of Emsdetten, Germany deployed a massive surround system comprising 296 Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers, all networked and controlled using Meyer Sound's D-Mitri digital audio platform.

The event was presented in Mannheim's expansive outdoor Friedrichsplatz, where the staging layout posed an extraordinary challenge to sound designer Stephan Diebel of Stockstadt/Rhein-based projekt|werk. The audience was seated in a semi-circle around a central fountain, with the music

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Poland - Tommex ?ebrowscy Sp. J. has recently designed, supplied and installed new audio systems for the Kot?ownia, the conference and exhibition hall of The Tadeusz Ko?ciuszko Cracow University of Technology (Politechnika Krakowska).

Incorporating a large conference room and an art gallery with two exhibition rooms, the Kot?ownia, translation "boiler house", takes its name from its former use after World War II. The current appearance of this historical building is the result of a modernization programme which was carried out in the period from 1997 to 2001.

For the conference room, which seats 220, high intelligibility and precise pattern control to cover the delegate area were the essential parameters. To meet these requirements Tommex installed two Community ENTASYS three-way, full-range, column-line-array loudspeaker systems. These are supplemented by a low-prof

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UK - Black Light has created two dramatic lighting installations at the National Mining Museum Scotland. The installations bring the pithead and gantry of the museum to life at night and create a new night time landmark in the Midlothian landscape.

The project uses innovative LED technology to create the illusion that the pit wheel at the 19th century Lady Victoria Colliery in Newtongrange is once again turning. Similar technology is used to make it seem as if the famous gantry that crosses the A7 to the pithead is being thronged by miners carrying lamps.

"The project highlights our experience installing a wide range of architectural lighting schemes," says Black Light's Head of company development, Phil Haldane. "It shows that we are experts at working with, installing and hED systems."

The installations have a high visual impact. They are designed to dr

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USA - Little Rock First Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a tradition-rich congregation with an eye on the future. Built in 1972 and a foundation for the surrounding neighbourhood for nearly 40 years, the 1200-capacity church recently sought a rejuvenating update of dynamic light and colour.

Worship pastor at Little Rock First Baptist is Jerry Wilson who recently joined the staff with a vision to bring the church up to date with lighting gear that would complement the history of the church yet provide the flexible resources of current technology.

Lighting designer Robert Dicken of Full Focus Inc., lighting vendor on the project, worked closely with Wilson on the lighting renovation. "This was kind of a sensitive install because the church has basically looked the same since 1972," Dicken explains. "They were concerned that the congregation would be opp

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UAE - Chromateq has announced its first seminar for the Middle Eastern market, which will take place in Dubai city, 23 November 2011.

The Seminar will be held from 6 Pm to 9 PM at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Salahudeen Street, Deira, Dubai.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - LSi's Steve Moles reports: "I went to see a band last night at the recently re-opened York Barbican theatre. There was no stage set to speak of, well the drummer had a riser. Lighting was simple but more than adequate - four six lamp bars of Par64s across the back on a fly-bar, an equal number of 1kW Fresnel's across the front. There wasn't even a lighting desk out in the house. The PA was a bit more of the moment, Digidesign Profile plus stretch and the speakers resembled Turbosound and probably were, but I didn't take a close look because I was there for fun.

The show was Zappa plays Zappa; Frank's son Dweezil has hit on a notion to honour his fathers' legacy by reviving some of his more popular works. Zappa is the Brussels sprout of contemporary music; most assuredly an acquired taste, his output is not easy to digest but my god it's good for you.

It's 18 y

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UK - One year after its release, the worldwide success of Robert Juliat's Aledin LED zoom profile spot within the realms of television has shown it to be the fixture the studio market has been waiting for.

Growing pressure to cut energy consumption has seen many TV studios turning to LED lighting. Aledin has come into its own, brilliantly delivering powerful output with no loss of projection quality, says the company.

Not only does Aledin retain all the popular features, functionality and optical precision of the Robert Juliat brand, but its lower energy use (85W) and lower heat output simultaneously decrease running costs whilst taking the heat out of the studio itself.

"Aledin's long LED life means fewer hours spent on maintenance, while superb optics and sharp shutter cuts give clean gobo projection and the precise control needed to provide perfect key light on prese

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USA - Monterey Jazz Festival organisers decided that 2011 was the year they would bring performances from the venerable festival to a global audience through the power of streaming media. The decision paid off as the festival and two media partners reported impressive online viewing statistics for performers including the Robert Glasper Experiment, Carmen Souza and the Benny Green Trio.

Streaming media and content delivery provider StreamGuys provided the Internet broadcast services for the 54th Monterey Jazz Festival. Evening performances from the Night Club/Bill Berry Stage were hosted live over the websites of the Monterey Jazz Festival and Santa Cruz-based NPR member station KUSP-FM. Popular NPR jazz music blog 'A Blog Supreme' also hosted the performances.

StreamGuys delivered H.264 video and AAC+ audio at varying bit rates to support an array of user speeds and media pla

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Australia - Twelve Robe Robin 600 LEDWash fixtures were supplied by the Perth office of lighting rental company Clifton Productions, to provide appropriate lighting conditions for the official photograph of the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The photo session for the 22nd CHOGM event, the largest gathering of world leaders ever in Australia, was staged in Pavilion 1 at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre. Official photographer Andrew Taylor and a host of national and international media and TV crews needed an even and consistent 4500 Lux level right across the podium on which the 50 world leaders - including Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II - were posed for the photo.

Clifton's Martin McKinney was the lighting director for the shoot and he specified the 12 LEDWash 600s, which were rigged on three trusses, flown at two, five and eight me

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UK - Northern Light has announced plans for an expansion of its events arm - NL Productions.

Colin Cuthbert, managing director of Northern Light, says, "Since we rebranded our event production arm, we have been working on some extremely high profile events, such as the MOBO Awards and this year's Enchanted Forest. We're actively seeking - and winning - more work of this kind and have taken the decision to build our events business around the needs of servicing large scale events. This will also stand us in good stead for offering even better service to our smaller clients."

To assist in creating warehouse space and updating of equipment, Northern Light has set up an online auction of ex-hire equipment that is no longer needed.

Phil O'Halloran, head of NL Productions, says, "Our plans for expansion and investment in new equipment mean that we needed to c

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USA - The Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in suburban Houston is home to the Berry Centre, a multi-venue facility that includes a theatre, football stadium, arena, and conference centre. To accommodate the endless events it hosts, Berry Centre technical systems manager Brent Buchanan recently asked the school district to invest in the Allen & Heath iLive mixing system, acquiring two T-112 mixing surfaces, one R-72 rackmount mixer, and a total of five iDR Series MixRacks, including three iDR-32s and two iDR-48s.

"We were looking for a premium product with the versatility to handle a wide variety of uses," Buchanan states. "Ease of use, portability, reliability, great sound - all these things were of critical importance when we chose our digital mixing platform. I did a lot of research, and Allen & Heath was really miles ahead of everything else on the

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Norway - Distributor Scandec Systemer has supplied and installed an L-Acoustics Kara WST line source system in the Norwegian National Theatre in Oslo.

The new system consists of seven Kara cabinets flown with two SB18 subs per side, with a centre array of 10 Kiva speakers. The system is driven by LA4 and LA8 amplified controllers.

"We chose the new Kara system because we needed to improve the coverage and power output of our main PA, due to the more demanding shows we are putting on," says the National Theatre's house technician, Kai Priddy. "We chose L-Acoustics equipment for our main stage back in 2008, and have been very happy with the performance and audio quality so far. Never change a winning formula."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Southampton's new Sea City visitor attraction has selected Sysco AV for the contract to design, supply and install the entire audio visual system requirements for the new attraction.

Opening in 2012 at a total cost of £15m, the new visitor attraction will celebrate Southampton's 2,000-year history as a global maritime port. It will be housed in the city's Grade II Old Magistrates Court and completed in April 2012, in time to commemorate the centenary of the Titanic leaving Southampton. It is anticipated that over 120,000 visitors each year will visit the attraction and immerse themselves in the story of the city and its most famous ship.

Sea City will be home to three galleries, two permanent and one temporary, with Sysco responsible for the design, engineering and installation of all the audio visual and interactive elements. The first permanent gallery, Gateway

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USA - Singer-songwriters Gavin DeGraw and David Cook, the latter an American Idol winner, are co-headlining a US Tour and a grandMA2 light is going along for the ride. DeGraw and Cook plan to visit 22 cities on a continental swing. DeGraw is performing songs from his fourth album, Sweeter, and Cook appears in support of his most recent album, This Loud Morning.

Lighting designer/director Scott Warner is responsible for maximising a limited lighting rig so all the bands appearing with DeGraw and Cook have a different look. He also serves as the programmer and operator for the tour bands.

Warner is also a first-time grandMA2 user. He's using the console to control not only Clay Paky Sharpys but also an array of Robe REDWash, Martin 700, Atomic Strobes and Lowel Omni lights.

"I saw the grandMA2 light at LDI and loved the look - it's a great-looking con

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UK - Manchester- based lighting rental company dbn provided lighting and LED screens for the official Switch On of the City's Festive lights, for which 20,000 enthusiastic revellers packed into Albert Square outside the Town Hall to watch Tinchy Stryder hit the button.

dbn has lit the event for the last 10 years and the company's Nick Buckley was happy to do the honours again - both project managing and lighting designing - working directly for Manchester City Council.

A six metre wide temporary stage was set up beneath a giant Father Christmas structure which is staying in place for the whole Festive period. Above this, the dbn crew installed a sloping box truss, which facilitated positions for all their overhead lighting, and was covered with a stretched fabric canopy for weather protection.

Lighting fixtures on the truss included ARRI 2K fresnels, a selection of Molefey b

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UK - One of the first bands to come to major prominence via fan file sharing and internet 'buzz', the Arctic Monkeys have spent much of 2011 on tour promoting their fourth studio album Suck It and See. Accompanying the band, as usual, has been a package of Sennheiser microphones and in-ear monitors.

The band's front of house engineer Matthew Kettle is a long-term Sennheiser user. Working with the Arctic Monkeys since 2009, he has been happy to continue the relationship.

"I've been using Sennheiser microphones for as long as I can remember," he says. "The band were already using the evolution series vocal mics when I started. I had been using them with numerous other bands, with great results, and so there was no question of us changing."

Currently lead singer Alex Turner uses an e 935 with cardioid pattern, while the backing vocals of bass player N

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USA / UK - Lighting designer Jason Carroll has taken five GLP Spot Ones on tour with St. Vincent (the name under which multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark performs). Playing up to 1200-capacity mostly sold-out venues in the States, in support of the latest album, Strange Mercy, the tour then relocated to the UK and Europe, where Carroll has been able to source the same inventory - and add in some GLP impression 120RZ zooms for good measure.

Having worked with the band since 2009, Jason Carroll explained, "Previously I used a multitude of floor based LED par can fixtures to create a 'technicolor' stage look. I also had three white rectangle spandex stretchy shapes behind the band, to throw colour onto and intentionally cast tall shadows.

"But for the current tour, Annie wanted the lighting to be drastically different, with no backdrop pieces and a colour shift to

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Italy - In order to create maximum impact among the many trucks thundering along the Italian autostrade, the new All Access sound production consortium has created high-impact custom livery for one of its semis, specifically to promote its new MLA (Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array) rig and the Martin Audio brand.

In addition to adding value to the array system, it will enable them to sub-rent the rig in conjunction with its own dedicated truck.

The idea was floated by one of the partners, Electra Service owner Roberto Buttarelli, and soon All Access were modifying an existing 16m semi (with 13.7m net space and a load capacity of 380 tonnes), which is purpose-designed to hold at least a 112-enclosure system (comprising MLA tops and MLX subs).

All Access received full support from Martin Audio's Italian distributor, Audiosales, who funded the truck's customisation, sensing tha

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UK - Wigwam Hire has enhanced its Optocore-based 'OptoRack' data returns system in preparation for the upcoming Coldplay European Mylo Xyloto arena tour, and next summer's stadium dates.

Wigwam, who also handled the band's 2009 Viva La Vida tour, has purchased an additional five Optocore DD32R-FX digital interfaces - one for each of the five amp racks being deployed, which will all be connected by fibre.

Said Wigwam hire director, Chris Hill, "We will be running over 100 d&b D12 amplifiers in racks from five separate positions - some in the venue roofs and some on the ground - and programming in the delays etc. All will be connected to our Optocore returns system."

This will provide the band's FOH engineer Dan Green and systems engineer Tony Smith with a more elegant and stable solution. "The new DD32R-FX units offer a major advantage to running

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UK - 2011 marked the debut of Sir Trevor Nunn as artistic director of London's Theatre Royal, Haymarket, with four very different productions. Sound design for all four was by Paul Groothuis, who used Yamaha digital consoles and DME series digital mixing engines to help ensure the season's success.

The four plays were, in order of production, Terrence Rattigan's Flare Path, Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, The Tempest and finally The Lion in Winter by James Goldman.

Designing an audio system that could comfortably accommodate a Second World War love triangle, an absurdist comedy, Shakespeare and a 12th century Christmas drama was a challenge, especially as the requirement for radio mics ranged from zero to 24.

"Based on my time working at the National Theatre, I designed an average 'rep-like' system for music, effects and

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Australia - Parramatta Leagues Club has refurbished their Level 2 dining and lounge areas, creating the stylish Parra Firehouse bar and restaurant. Parra Firehouse offers authentic pizzas, tempting tapas and fresh pasta dishes.

The open-plan kitchen creates an inviting buzz for indoor dining while the large terrace with booth and banquet seating makes for an enjoyable alfresco dining experience overlooking Parramatta Stadium and Parramatta Park.

The design talents of Paul Kelly of Paul Kelly Design were employed to create many spaces with several connections making it feel as one. This required a formula for "consistency" of sound quality, yet individual area control.

With five different areas, most having a connection with an adjoining space, it was important to think of the flow of sound.

The JBL-Control25AV was selected for its ability to produce good low leve

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UK - Michael Forever - The Tribute Concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium featured Michael Jackson's greatest hits performed live by Beyoncé, Cee Lo Green, and Christina Aguilera, as well as a number of Michael Jackson's siblings.

On behalf of the Bristol-based TV production company Iambic, Dutch facilities company UNITED was charged with recording the concert. The challenges for Bolke Burnaby Lautier, manager operations sports and events, and his approximately 55-strong team were many, and included a very tight set-up schedule and the need to record the show in 3D format, so enormous importance was attached to ensuring flawless communication between all members of the production team.

The appropriate communications infrastructure was provided by equipment from RTS/Telex, the nerve centre being an RTS Advanced Digital Audio Matrix (ADAM) with a 144 x 144 port configura

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UK - Following the success of Hed Kandi's inaugural bar in Clapham earlier this year, installation company MSL has again chosen Martin Audio as its preferred loudspeaker brand at the new Hed Kandi Bar flagship bar in Brighton, which opened recently.

Situated on West Street in the City centre, the former Luminar-owned Tru Nightclub has been completely overhauled and redesigned (by Julian Taylor Associates), with MSL entrusted with the full audio visual installation - including a high-impact Martin Audio system, networked across two floors.

Part of the Ministry of Sound Group of companies, Hed Kandi has become a globally recognised brand with club events all over the world and a huge music catalogue over many dance music genres. It was the Ministry's then technical manager Alex Barrand who recommended MSL and Martin Audio on the strength of its performance at the premier London

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