Business

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Digigram has entered into an agreement with Tokyo-based Village Island for the sales and support of Digigram OEM solutions in Japan as of 1 December 1st. Village Island are broadcast experts who deliver a wide range of audiovisual solutions. Their core mission is the distribution of broadcast technology and products for broadcast installations of any size and complexity.

In order to match the high expectations of Digigram customers and partners, Village Island has already committed to setting up a dedicated team for every Digigram OEM in Japan.

"Digigram is a proven technology leader and supplier of sound cards and IP audio technologies, with an engineering team that has shown itself to be continuously creative and innovative over time. This was an evident choice for us and we are thrilled to engage in this partnership", explains Michael Van Dorpe, Village Island president.

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USA - On 9 and 10 November Green Hippo Hippotizers and staff were in attendance at this year's Worship Facilities Expo at the Dallas Convention Centre in Texas.

Located in downtown Dallas, the Convention Centre plays host to a variety of events and installs ranging from exhibitions and museums to cultural centres and concerts. This month saw Halls D-F taken over by technology companies and churches of different denominations and sizes. Presented by Church Production magazine and Worship Facilities magazine the exhibition provided an opportunity for key people from both sectors to meet and greet.

For Green Hippo's Samantha Bailey and Tom Etra this was a new experience. "Our move into this sector is still at the early stages but we are very committed. TMB, our distributor for the Americas, has already made good progress into this market; a couple of churches i

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UK - Mind Sport Partners, a new venture created by Japanese advertising giants Dentsu and West Nally, a London based consultancy founded by Patrick Nally staged two global International Federation Poker (IFP) tournaments, The Duplicate Poker Nations Cup and The Table. Both events formed part of the Festival of Mind Sports which launched 17 November at London's County Hall.

Mind Sport Partners' mission is to create and enhance commercial and social value across the range of mind sports represented by its clients. The individual sports are chess, bridge,Go, draughts, xiangqi (Chinese Chess) and duplicate poker.

The IFP's inaugural Duplicate Poker Nations Cup featured 12 representative teams from the member federations of the IFP includingThe USA, UK, Brazil, France, Japan,Ireland, Denmark and the first digital nation, Zynga.

The initial phase took place in 22 capsules on the E

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UK - AP Security has recently completed a stage two audit for ISO 9001:2008 and OHSAS 18001:2007, opening up new markets and opportunities for the company, while reassuring existing and prospective clients that AP operates to the very highest standards.

ISO9001 is the internationally recognised standard for the quality management of businesses, while OHSAS18001 is the latest specification for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. The audit involved four days of office and site audits carried out by independent certification body ISOQAR, covering Security Guarding, Event Stewarding and Door Supervision in accordance with British Standards BS7858, BS8406, BS7960 and BS7499.

"A core principle of the ISO 9001 standard is to improve consistency and traceability," says AP's quality manager Jimmy Flynn. "Without it there are many opportunities for which we

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UK - West London sound and lighting rental specialists Entec supplied a low powered, high impact LED lighting system and sound for a special performance by Damon Albarn's supergroup The Good The Bad and the Queen (GBQ) aboard the newly inaugurated Rainbow Warrior III, environmental activists' Greenpeace new flagship vessel.

Rainbow Warrior III, a purpose-built motor-assisted sailing yacht recently left the German shipyard where she was built and made her maiden voyage across the English channel and up the River Thames in London for a special Greenpeace 40th anniversary celebration. At the helm for the last leg of the Thames voyage was Michael Eavis, founder of Glastonbury Festival and enthusiastic supporter of the high profile campaigning organisation.

Entec has been involved as a technical supplier to GBQ since the concept first evolved in 2006. They were working again with l

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The Netherlands - Prolyte Group has just launched a new initiative - Prolyte Campus which aims to support customers and users.

Keeping customers and users up-to-date with product information and in-depth knowledge of how to best apply Prolyte products always has been a vital part of the Prolyte Group philosophy, says the company. In order to create awareness on the safe use of Prolyte products, Prolyte Campus brings together all elements in a complete programme of learning activities.

"Transferring knowledge and creating a dialogue with technicians worldwide is one of the goals for creating the Prolyte Campus - finding their needs and sharing experiences is a valuable base for creating solutions that work and help you grow your business," says Prolyte. "Creating the awareness that safe working practices are key to responsible ownership is another."

The Pr

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USA - Toby Keith continued his sold out touring tradition in 2011 with yet another production from show producer Seth Jackson. Jackson, manager TK Kimbro, tour manager David Milam, production manager Ashley Swan and lighting director Eddie 'Bones' Connell have worked with Bandit Lites and VP Michael Golden for many years. The partnership between the parties is more like family than a traditional relationship.

The current Locked and Loaded Tour has performed around the globe sold out audiences everywhere and the tour continues into 2012.

Jackson cooked up a heavy metal look for Keith this year, with the heart of the stage being a 60ft wide wall of Bandit 5 x 5 Blinders that is 8ft tall. The base washes are provided compliments of Infinity Wash XL's along with the popular GRNLite Moving Wash, which provides limitless, deep, saturated colours. There are also GRNLite PARs t

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New Zealand - The past couple of months have been extremely busy for Oceania Audio & Lighting in New Zealand with the Rugby World Cup and its associated events. There is no let up for the Oceania crew as many corporate and touring events deferred until after the World Cup are now underway.

"For the past few months my turnover has been up 150% for this time of year," commented Simon Garrett, Oceania's general manager lighting. "And of course no one would commit 100% to what they wanted - they just assume we can pull something out of a hat."

Garrett took measures well in advance to prepare for the onslaught, purchasing new Jands HPC12 series dimmers (with contactor bypass) as well as additional Jands power distribution units and HPX dimmers. The HPC12 "continues the Jands tradition of building rugged and reliable dimmers and provides an innovative soluti

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Germany - In the wake of a lengthy restructuring process, the French company Innovason SAS has been dissolved. The Innovason brand has been saved by Lawo AG who now owns all the product and trademark rights. The move, which follows Lawo's acquisition of the majority shareholding back in April 2008, marks the end of a juridical process which resulted in the liquidation of Innovason SAS on 2 November 2011. The Innovason brand will henceforth be managed from Lawo's HQ in Rastatt, Germany.

Marcel Babazadeh, Innovason international sales director, comments, "It's the best of both worlds. Now that the Innovason products have become part of the range offered by Lawo in Rastatt, it means that the continuity of the brand is guaranteed. At the same time it benefits from everything that Lawo has to offer with its more than 40 years of experience in professional audio technology.

&qu

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UK - Millions of people across the UK observed a two-minute silence tomark Armistice Day, 11 November 2011.

Star Events Group was once again in Trafalgar Square, this time for The Royal British Legion - which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. The 11m mobile stage featured musical performances by singing trio The Soldiers and readings by Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens, before the two-minute silence.

The mobile stage built in under three hours ensured production had the maximum time available for the overnight load-in the day before with the added advantage of being off site within two hours after the event.

Project manager, Charles Ellery of Capital Productions said, "it was great to have such an experienced supplier on Trafalgar square, it really helped me out as a first timer at the site, we'll certainly be coming to Star Events again for a stage."

(Ji

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Spain - The village of Niebla is located roughly 30km of the southeast of Huelva city and 60km from Seville on the shores of the Río Tinto. Niebla literally means "fog" in Spanish, a name that might relate to its relative proximity to the Atlantic coast.

Niebla has been a pivotal enclave in the history of Southern Spain, and the castle bears eloquent witness of this.

At this year Festival Flamenco Condado de Niebla, dB Sound supplied an RCF audio system in the courtyard of the Niebla Castle. Several flamenco artists performed at the festival alongside pop artist Kiko Gavin.

The main stage was inside the walled enclosure with a capacity of about a thousand people. To ensure the correct acoustic sound and coverage, the system comprised two clusters of six RCF TTL 33-A, and six RCF TTS 28-A distributed to the front of stage every 1.5m.

To ensure sound covera

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UK - In a career spanning over half a century, blues legend John Mayall has helped to define an entire genre of British music. October/November 2011 has seen the tireless 78-year old undertake a 25 date UK tour, with a pair of Yamaha digital mixing consoles on board.

Arguably most famous for the 1966 album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton - or, as most refer to it, the Beano album - Mayall has worked with many of the biggest names in the business. His distinctive vocals, harmonica, guitar and keyboard-playing continue to inspire new generations of musicians such as Oli Brown, a young blues guitarist / vocalist whose band is the support act on this tour.

Supplied by Weymouth-based Atlantic Audio, the front of house sound for both bands is mixed on a Yamaha M7CL-48, with an LS9-32 at the monitor position. In between his duties of being Mayall's manager, tour manage

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UK - Following the launch of the M-Waves option module for the iLive digital mixing system at PLASA 2011, Allen & Heath and Waves are staging interactive online seminars to provide information and technical understanding about the card and the Waves SoundGrid protocol in general.

The sessions will be held on Thursday 1 December 2011 and are aimed at engineers, audio consultants, rental companies and installation firms. There will be two webinars to suit different time zones. Additional sessions may be offered to meet demand.

These sessions will start by giving an overview of the iLive series, followed by a detailed discussion on installing the M-Waves module and configuring the Waves software. Also covered will be how SoundGrid can help with multi-track audio recording and playback during virtual soundcheck applications. Experts from both Allen & Heath and Waves will also be o

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UK - Monacor International has announced the launch of its 2012 catalogue Electronics for Specialists. Featuring over 100 new additions to the existing 5,500 products, the catalogue covers everything from stage equipment to PA installation, lighting to security, and cables & plugs to speaker technology.

Neil Clayton, managing director of Monacor UK Ltd commented, "The new 2012 catalogue really does have something for everyone. Our extensive range of quality products at affordable prices enables us to offer various solutions, from a small installation project to a large stage application. To further promote the release of the Monacor - Electronics for Specialists 2012 Catalogue, we commissioned design agency Hatch to create an online animated campaign, currently running across Audio Pro International & MiPro's sites."

(Jim Evans)

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The Netherlands - Two lucky sound engineers, who each won a DPA d:fine single earpiece headset mic in a prize draw during the IBC 2011 show, have been putting the mics through their paces.

d:fine headsets have gone to Mark Graves, a member of the sound engineering team at his London church, and to Andrea Purchiaroni, chief engineer at Roman TV production company Etabeta.

"I was very pleased indeed to win a microphone," says Graves. "At St Pauls, Ealing, a large Anglican church in the New Wine network, we have a comprehensive PA rig manned by an enthusiastic volunteer team of PA operators. Our worship style is modern, with a full band in place for every service.

"On its first outing, the d:fine was used straight out of the box to mic the speaker, with no time ahead of the service for set up," says Graves. "The operator was immediately able to get

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Spain - Christie has announced the opening of a Spanish branch in Madrid. Christie's new office is located in Boadilla del Monte, a town just 14.5 kilometres outside Madrid, and right next to Ciudad de la Imagen, an office and audiovisual leisure complex which is home to many TV channels, audiovisual producers, multiplexes, postproduction companies, film schools, audiovisual industry associations and film archives.

With a total surface area of 500sq.m, the new branch hosts a large showroom displaying Christie's latest technologies and products, including projectors and videowalls. It also has several rooms set aside for staging live demos, commercial meetings, seminars and training courses, plus a space dedicated to technical services. The new facility is also available to Christie's clients and partners for their own use.

Christie's Iberic branch will be headed by Marcos Fern

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USA - A large complement of Clay Paky Sharpy moving heads welcomed the start of the pro football season at the NFL Kick Off 2011 Presented by EA Sports, the high-energy, pre-game concert which aired live on NBC from the parking lot at Lambeau Field, home of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.

"The tradition of the NFL Kick Off started in Times Square in 2001 as a pre-game public event tying entertainment and sports together," says Spike Lloyd, the show's lighting designer. "This year the concert in Green Bay featured Kid Rock, Maroon 5 and Lady Antebellum. It started at 3pm and went until 6:30."

Lloyd deployed 36 Sharpy moving heads, which he acquired from Atomic Lighting in Lititz, Pennsylvania. "We used them at the back of the stage as floor lights very tightly packed and directed upstage of the band on a scenic piece shaped like a skat

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UK - Earlier this year, Lighthouse LED screens were chosen by Carphone Warehouse Group (CPW), Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer, for its building at Portal Way in London. The building faces in-bound London traffic on the busy A40 and the screen is being utilised by the company as an advertising medium.

The installation comprises 24 x 5 panels of Lighthouse's new Impact 12 and measures 18.5 m (w) x 5.8m (h). This innovative solution has 6000 nits of brightness, which makes it suitable for viewing behind glass and in direct sunlight, as at Portal Way, and the large panel size (each one measures 768mm (h) x 1152mm (h)) made installation a quick and easy process.

"CPW has owned the building for a number of years," explains head of finance, Rob Murray. "It was originally occupied by TalkTalk, which was part of our group at the time, and they had a su

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UK - Adlib's specialist installation division has designed and installed a complete new CODA Audio system - the first fixed install of its type in the UK utilising CODA's LA8 (compact) and LA4 (ultra compact) line array speakers at The Manchester Velodrome, the country's National Cycling Centre.

Adlib's sales and installations team, headed by John Hughes and Roger Kirby, was approached by ISG Regions, who were managing the building development works for Manchester City Council, about a fixed solution for the Velodrome track.

Once the plans for the system design were approved, the installation schedule was gruelling. It involved Adlib's crews working at height, in confined spaces and using a variety of mobile high level access platforms during five weeks of overnight shifts.

Adlib believed that a line array would deliver optimum unified audio coverage that was required. Havin

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UK - Drum 'n Bass DJ, Andy C, is currently on tour in the UK with a new show, based around the Allen & Heath Xone:DB4 digital FX mixer.

The concept of the ALIVE tour is to "take DJ'ing to a new dimension, incorporating visual and audio clips, which are controlled by the latest technology".

"ALIVE was not possible until the DB4 arrived - it is the piece of kit that cemented the fact I could do it," explains Andy. "The ergonomics and layout of the mixer was a culture shock at first, as the DB4 is different to every other mixer but I soon realised it was a new step, which would become a central point for control, as it's too complicated to flip between keyboards, controllers and computers - everything is controlled from the hub."

The Xone:DB4 controls various MIDI devices, computers loaded with Traktor and Ableton, three turntables, a

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South Africa - The musical quiz South African television show, Noot vir Noot (Note for Note), is as popular as ever 20 years down the line. Blond Productions were approached four years ago to give the show an edge by adding a modern technical twist, and this season they included their new 12 Robe MMX fixtures to the production. The show is programmed on a grandMA ultra-light and incorporates a further 12 Robe 250s.

Blond were originally called in by Stemmburg Television to give the show a 'wow' factor. Noot vir Noot is produced and run by its original team, camera men included, and for Blond it has involved working with Alasdair Richards, who does the generic lighting.

"Every second season (comprising 24 episodes shot over a two week period), we've tried to give them something new," said Christian Ballot of Blond Productions. Ryan Lombard from Blond was

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UK - POLARaudio has recently launched its new dealer portal. The online resource permits all account customers to log in and manage their entire account profile. Users have access to a full range of accounts, sales and technical support tools.

The dealer portal is a secure website designed to allow customers to get fast accurate information, place orders or view their account 24 hours a day. The ergonomically designed and easy to use portal includes a host of tools designed to make it as easy as possible to do business, says the company.

The 'Your Account' tab enables registered users to view their balance, account status, order history and to print copy invoices and statements. The 'Return and Repair' tab allow users to arrange a repair or replacement of a faulty item, whilst the 'Spare Parts' tab gives customers access to detailed descriptions, images, prices and data sheets

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France - SLS is the second company in France to invest in Adamson's Project Energia as a beta partner. SLS's entire loudspeaker inventory is made up exclusively of Adamson products. With 15 full time personnel and 140 freelancers, their Adamson inventory includes Metrix, SpekTrix, Y10, Y18, SX 18, Point Series and M series monitors housed in a 36,000sq.ft building in Ales, with a second location in Montpellier.

Though the French sound company is focused mainly on festivals and corporate events, they do provide sound production for a few tours, their main client since 2007 being the French band Les Ogres Barback (often nicknamed The Ogre). The Ogre are currently on tour with SLS's new Adamson E15 system. The band has released 12 albums since 1997, and their vast repertoire of intricate songs and complex arrangements are "a wonderful showcase for the capabilities E15 system&q

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UK - XL Video UK supplied specialist LED and IMAG projection screens plus control to the 2011 MTV European Music Awards, staged at Belfast Odyssey Arena, Northern Ireland, and broadcast live to 45 countries worldwide.

The live music video production specialist has been involved with this high profile event for several years, and XL's Chris Saunders was project managing for the third year running.

The show included a dynamic, star studded line up of artists performing live, including Lady GaGa, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Jesse J, Justin Bieber, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Selina Gomez, who was also hosting.

Technical challenges included fitting an ambitious and visually spectacular stage set designed by Es Devlin - complete with integrated screens - into the venue. Also the XL team had to be flexible enough to accommodate specific requests from some artists late on as their ind

  1. Lawo hosts Digital Workflow workshop
  2. Unusual Rigging's busy winter season
  3. Star Events on Snow Patrol in Belfast
  4. TTA reinforces sales/distribution in Scandinavia
  5. Renegade shines in Billingsgate
  6. Bespoke Prolyte system for Milton House
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