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South Africa - Johannesburg based Gearhouse South Africa (GHSA) - the largest full technical production facility in the southern hemisphere - has invested in 150 of Robe's latest moving lights including 54 x Pointes, 36 x LEDWash 600s, 24 x DLXs, 24 x DLFs and 12 x DLSs.

The DLFs and DLXs went straight on to the current series of So You Think You Can Dance which is being recorded at the Renaissance Centre in downtown Johannesburg and broadcast on national TV by SABC, with lighting designed by GHSA's Robert Grobler.

The LEDWash 600s join GHSA's existing rental fleet - which already contains a large quantity of LEDWash 600s. Stuart Andrews, Head of lighting at Gearhouse SA comments, "You simply can never have enough of these versatile fixtures."

GHSA services many top artists who are now regularly visiting South Africa on their world tours and so it's importan

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Italy - Clay Paky has recently published photometric data relating to its lights on its website www.claypaky.it in IESNA and Eulumdat format (.IES and .LDT files), as laid down in standard EN 13.032 - LM 79 - .

The main advantage of these formats is they can be "imported" into design programmes so that the levels of light in the various areas that need illuminating may be rendered. The designer can therefore calculate the number of lights needed to achieve a certain lighting level, the distance between the lights and the area to be illuminated, and the spacing between the lights themselves.

In the past, this type of data was only requested by architectural firms, but today some lighting control desks (for example the GrandMA) and simulation programmes can import IES files. Lighting designers, directors of photography and installers can therefore now calculate in adva

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UK - When plans got underway at the Museum of London for The Cheapside Hoard: London's Lost Jewels, a major new exhibition in the Linbury Gallery, Unusual Rigging was called in to help display the exhibits to their full potential.

Through new research and state of the art technology, The Cheapside Hoard: London's Lost Jewels, which runs from now until 27 April 2014, showcases the wealth of insights the Hoard offers on Elizabethan and Jacobean London as a centre of craftsmanship and conspicuous consumption, at the crossroads of the Old and New Worlds.

Shaun Green, deputy head of facilities at the Museum of London, explains, "Having worked with the team at Unusual Rigging before, they were our first port of call when we realised we needed to create a full Unistrut grid in order to provide a rigid framework for the lighting, the hanging of some of the exhibits

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USA - Music Group, parent of brands Behringer, Turbosound, Midas, Klatrk Teknik and Bugera, is throwing its hat into the consumer electronics marketplace with Daniel Roe as head of the newly created division.

This is a great opportunity for us to leverage the treasure-trove of new technologies we've implemented in our legacy brands - and to make that technology available to the home consumer," stated Music Group marketing SVP Costa Lakoumentas. "We toyed with this idea previously with a good modicum of success, but now we're in it to win it! Having Daniel at the helm, along with his considerable industry expertise and track record, will provide the impetus needed to make MUSIC Group a household name."

Daniel Roe added, "I've always had the greatest respect for the Music Group brands, and am excited to be part of this new venture. I'm already engaging our di

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UK - The AED UK businesses including AED Rent, AED Distribution, AED Store and AED Second-hand are opening their doors on Tuesday 5 November for a Guy Fawkes themed Open Day. From 10.30 am to 6 pm, all visitors are welcome to meet the AED UK team and have a look around their impressive facility.

Visitors can tour the AED Rent operation and meet their team members. The AED Store is a 'Trade counter' for AV Professionals and visitors will be able to check-out the selection of handy items available from tape through to lamps through to connectors and cables. Also, the AED Second-Hand area will be showing its wide range of second-hand equipment from automated lighting, to dimmer racks and speakers along with sound mixing consoles. You can also find out more about the new AED concept 'Bring it- Price it- Sell it', which is an option if you need to move older inventory out of your ope

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UK - Established in 1991 as an innovative state funded City Technology College, Brooke Weston Academy in Corby has a high reputation for academic achievement.

Built on land donated by local land-owner Hugh de Capell Brooke, and supported by Garry Weston, owner of Associated British Foods, in 2008 the school became an Academy. Although 22 years is relatively short in the life of a building, it is light years in the evolution of sound technology.

School principal, Trish Stringer, recently ordered that the sound system in their flagship 540-seat purpose-built Weston Theatre be upgraded to improve coverage.

AV & theatre technician Peter Jackson, who has been at the school since 1993, certainly had no objection, and became part of the tender process which resulted in Leicester-based Upstage Theatre Supplies being awarded the contract.

Set up 14 years ago by David Brooks, Upstag

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UK - Birmingham-based Pre Production Services, which specialises in lighting console hire, is headed by Colin Wood who has been a professional lighting designer since 2005 and has worked internationally on a plethora of different theatre based shows including musicals, dramas and cruise ship based productions.

He first started using Robe in his work in 2010 on the P&O cruise ship Ventura, which had ColorSpot 700E ATs and DigitalSpot 7000s in the main theatre lighting rig. He was on-board for three weeks and in that time worked all of the lights extremely hard. He was impressed with the reliability which was spot-on.

Robe fixtures now figure regularly in Colin's designs. More recently, he has lit two shows at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool - Step Back In Time and Ooh La La, starring Canon and Ball.

The shows were a high energy fusion of dancing and international

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UK - The 2013 CEDIA AGM will take place at the London Transport Museum on Thursday 28 November where Wilfried Van Baelen, CEO of Auro Technologies and Galaxy Studios will be delivering the special keynote address on 3D Audio.

"With the AGM event growing in popularity year on year, we wanted to make sure that those attending walk away energised, informed and keener than ever to get involved," says Wendy Griffiths, CEDIA Region 1's executive director. "Wilfried will set the tone perfectly with a presentation looking at the 3D Audio format and its likely resonance on the future of home cinema design. The AGM itself will provide an insight into CEDIA's activities and initiatives, and will also see the results of elections for the new CEDIA Board revealed. Afterwards, we hope that as many people as possible will stay behind to make contacts and generally talk shop with

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Germany - Music producer Andy Lutschounig created his Adoro classical-pop crossover project in 2007, when he chose five young opera singers from among 200 applicants. Adoro's music combines elements of opera with German pop songs and a large symphony orchestra, as could be appreciated at their recent performance at the Lausitzhalle in Hoyerswerda.

Atlantis Audio provided the concert lighting equipment, which consisted of 22 Clay Paky Sharpys, 24 Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800 STs and other lights.

Volkmar Kusch, the owner of Atlantis Audio, had this to say about Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800 STs and Sharpys, "Alpha Spot QWO 800 STs are currently used on many occasions, as our case shows. We were particularly won over by the perfect image quality, compact size and wide zoom range. All this makes them suitable for many uses and, for this reason, we wanted them in

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UK - Flightcase manufacturer 5 Star Cases used the 2013 PLASA exhibition at ExCeL London to re-launch its popular Speed Challenge motor racing simulation game ... crowning Carl Sheehan, deputy manager of event technology specialist PSAV as the 2013 5 Star Speed Challenge Champion.

5 Star created a completely new bespoke simulator for this year's Speed Challenge, built using 5 Star's Super Tour specification product, complete with several special features and running Sony's PlayStation 3 Codemaster F1 2012 racing game in full HD.

The 5 Star Speed Challenge was first seen at PLASA 2006. This year it had an additional resonance as 5 Star has been one of the most enthusiastic of a number of industry supporters of British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) racing's rising star, Jack Goff, throughout the 2013 season.

The 5 Star Speed Challenge ran on all four days of the exhibition .

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UK - South East-based TSL Lighting has added the iconic, retro Patt 2013 to its rental stock - and the fixtures have already been used on a wide range of the company's projects.

Lighting designer Tim Routledge, who designed the fixtures in association with James Thomas Engineering, commented: " I am delighted that TSL have taken the move to become a rental stockist of the Patt 2013, they are not only huge fans of the product but now have the very first units that were made earlier in the year, a little bit of history".

TSL's MD, Sam Tamplin, added: "We have already used the fixtures on McFly (pictured), Gloria Estefan, BBC Radio 2 In Concert with the Stereophonics and have several other shows and tours in the remainder of the year where they will be making an appearance. The fixtures look great on camera and the Patt 2013 is truly becoming the defining look of 2

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UK - Just days after HM The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were taken on a guided tour of the National Theatre, members of the ALD also went to see behind the scenes of Liolà at the Lyttelton.

Twenty ETC Source Four LED fixtures with attached CYC unit are in use on Liolà, with 10 above the 15m x 7m elevated cyc, and ten below, not dissimilar to the demonstration on ETC's stand at PLASA London.

Lighting supervisor Steve Binks told the visiting ALD members that whilst he and his colleagues realised they were taking a risk in using a new product still in final development for their lighting, the result was nonetheless a resounding success. "My initial fear was that the comparative output of the LED would not be enough," he said. "But the LED output was great, even with tricky pastel colours at low levels, and the optics meant that cover

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Sweden - Following the highly successful installation of an AFC3 acoustic enhancement system at the Stockholm Royal Opera rehearsal complex, further Yamaha digital audio technology has recently been specified for the venue itself. An MTX5-D digital matrix now helps to ensure that communication between lighting and video technicians is fast and crystal clear.

The installation is part of a major upgrade to the venue's lighting and video infrastructure, which has included a new control room and consoles. The Yamaha MTX5-D functions as a flexible 'front end' to a Riedel MediorNet system, which provides communications throughout the building. Installed by Norrkoping-based Mycon AV, the company's Åke 'Myggan' Wennersten explains why the MTX5-D was his preferred solution.

"To satisfy the requirements of the lighting and video team, a high quality, cost-effective matrix mixer wa

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Slovakia - Back in 2008 several Slovak cities competed to become the European Capital of Culture for 2013, and took part in a competition. Eventually the city of Kosice (from the east of Slovakia) was awarded the title.

The company Rock Centrum, Martin Audio's territorial distributor, won the tender to supply the main sound system at the headquarters of the organisation, the Support Centre of Culture and Creativity (CPKK). Situated in the Kulturpark (a revitalisation of old military barracks), it has been built at the cost of €23.8m.

The mainstay of the complete public address consists of 20 x W8LM (in two hangs of 10 elements per side), with two W8LMD down-fills at the base of each hang. Providing LF extension are 10 x WS218X subwoofers.

In addition, 14 x Martin Audio Blackline F12+ and six F15+ have been used for floor monitors and sidefills respectively. The system is dr

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UK - Aurora Lighting Hire have relocated to a new purpose built warehouse facility in Greenford, West London, perfectly situated to reach the A40 into London and nearby national motorway networks.

The facility offers extended storage space alongside modern equipment preparation areas. The move also sees an expansion to the company's project management offices.

Nick Edwards, managing director comments, "The whole team here at Aurora are extremely excited to have moved into our new premises. The move has allowed us to relocate multiple storage units to one combined modern facility. This will allow us to grow not just our inventory but also enable us to recruit more personnel."

Along with the move Aurora has also announced the recruitment of TV electrician Charlie Smith, who joins the company from the BBC production team of Eastenders.

Aurora Lighting Hire's

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RSC Record - The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) says its income rose by a quarter in the past year, its highest figure ever. Its income rose to £62.6m in 2012-13 compared to £50.1m a year earlier, while box office receipts increased by about 75% from £18.1m to £31.6m. An RSC spokeswoman said its production of Matilda The Musical, which continues to play to full houses in London, had a "significant impact" on figures. There were 1,459 performances of 25 productions in 2012-13.

Fundraising, which includes money from individuals, companies and charitable foundations, grew by 28% to £4.1m. The company said it now generated 73% of its own income, including through box office cash, trading income from other sources - such as restaurant money - and fundraising. The RSC said the other 27% mainly came from Arts Council England.

Mac Can

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UK - Love Beyond - a new musical telling the Bible's story from start to finish and written by Richard Haley - premiered this month in Brighton. South East-based TSL Lighting were approached to provide lighting equipment and design, rigging and LED screens for the show. The company also provided custom content creation and an integrated show control system for the production.

TSL Lighting's MD, Sam Tamplin, commented: "We have recently added the M-Box Media Server to our rental stock and this show was our first opportunity to use two of our systems on a high profile production. We have used an MA network to trigger Lighting and Video cues and also Sound cues and the band click track via the M-Box. This show has been especially effective for us, as we are also preferred technical suppliers at the Brighton Centre, where the musical's debut was staged."

Producer

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UK - Following a record year of direct sales in 2012 Maltbury Staging is turning its attention to its distributor network in 2013.

Maltbury made its name with its modular staging systems like Steeldeck and Metrodeck. However, it has recently expanded its range with the new Aspect bench seating system (installed earlier this year at London's new Park Theatre) and a wide range of bespoke services from consultancy and design through to manufacture and installation.

And now, says managing director Philip Sparkes, the company is looking to cast its net wider by offering a better deal for distributors.

"We now offer a much more generous and supportive distributor package. This includes greater levels of discount, product samples, e-literature and a dedicated distributor email address for priority service."

Significant new sign-ups to the distributor team include London

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Europe - Italian rock singer-songwriter Gianna Nannini is currently touring Europe on her INNO tour 2013. Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe and lighting director Roland Greil chose Clay Paky lights and MA Lighting control systems for the tour.

Patrick Woodroffe had this to say on the lighting design, "I wanted to create something elegant, which reflects the Gianna we know today. However, at the same time, the show had to be intense and energetic to show her rock 'n' roll side. There are no video projection screens on stage. For this reason, the show stands out from many others where the use of videos plays an important role."

Thirty-three Sharpys, 32 Alpha Profile 1500s, 6 Alpha Wash 700s, 28 Chromlech Jarag-5s and one Robert Juliat Aramis are being used for the tour. The equipment was provided by Agora from Italy, while Danilo Zan and Live Nation Italia are

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USA - Founded in 1966, Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre (ASGT) is an outdoor community theatre in downtown Annapolis, Maryland, USA. With its all-volunteer staff and actors, ASGT hosts three major productions each season in an outdoor garden setting. While most ASGT productions are musicals, the venue also hosts Shakespeare, improv and educational programmes.

The outdoor garden setting is pleasant for theatre goers, but it presents ongoing challenges to actors and staff ranging from lingering afternoon heat and inclement weather to noise from boat engines and horns at the nearby City Dock. Scott McCormick, one of two technical directors at ASGT, says the theatre's previous loudspeakers weren't weather-resistant and had to be bagged or removed from the theatre when it rained and after each performance. In addition, they had poor directional control which contributed to on-stage fe

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Belgium - Lighting design firm Radiance35, in collaboration with the ZimmerFrei artists' collective, created Through the Walls, an award-winning, artistic lighting installation in the Saint-Jacques district of the city (near Brussels' Grand-Place). The key idea from the artist was to project imaginary openings onto the facades of the buildings in order to engage the curiosity and imagination of those walking by and help them envision present-day spaces, interiors and places of life and work inside the district's beautiful medieval structures.

The Saint-Jacques district of Brussels is characterised by its urbanism and is one of the best preserved medieval communities in Europe. The designers at Radiance35 projected 20 Rosco custom glass gobos throughout the neighbourhood to highlight the district's architectural identity, attract attention and encourage visitors to explore

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West London based lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment is supplying lighting for the first full production tour by chart-topping indie rockers Bastille, who are rapidly ascending stars with their first album Bad Blood and lighting designed by Will Dart.

Earlier in the year Colour Sound provided a specials package for the summer festival season and as soon as this UK leg of the tour kicked in, the production requirements increased to include supplying a full system. Dart has worked with Colour Sound for the last couple of years and comments, "They are an excellent supplier in all aspects."

Dart sat down with the band ahead of the tour and they talked through several ideas - of which there were plenty!

Projection was a large element of the show for the UK leg- although used very judiciously - so the lighting had to compliment this and also t

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USA - When LeRoy Bennett started specifying SGM's X-5 LED strobes early this summer, he not only had Beyoncé's The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in mind but also the hard industrial sounds of Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails.

The deployment of 144 heads on NIN's world arena and festival shows, he believed would contribute to a production that was "visually high art minded". Returning to the stage after a long break the band's mentor for the last 25 years, Trent Reznor, introduced a new line-up to promote the band's eighth album, Hesitation Marks.

During production rehearsals at the LA Sports Arena Bennett had worked alongside production manager Chris Fussell, art director Rob Sheridan and conceptual artist Jon Morris, with the intention of "beefing up" the festival production and creating an interactive set, with video walls - adding the SGM strobe

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UK - Sony has announced a new initiative that will provide music enthusiasts with a better way to experience their favourite recordings. The initiative includes a new line of Sony products that make high resolution audio a more convenient, compelling and cost-effective listening experience for digital music enthusiasts everywhere. To support this, selected Sony products will come pre-installed with high-resolution tracks from Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.

"It's been more than a decade since the first MP3 digital downloads and music players were introduced to the public," said John Anderson, Vice President of Home Entertainment & Sound, Sony Europe. "Now is the time to offer high-resolution audio products that bring music enthusiasts closer to their favourite recordings, and allow them to experience those recordings the way

  1. PRG adds SGM P-5 to hire stock
  2. Opera Germany invests in PR fixtures
  3. Roughriders play with ZEPLAY
  4. GLD and ME installed in Korean church
  5. Nexo STM reinforces Stade de France marathon
  6. Clay Paky joins the legends in the 27 Club
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