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14 March 2016

Taking place at Tour Supply's Manchester office at 10.30am and 2pm on 18 March, the sessions are open to technicians and anyone else interested in the topic. They will be run by Sennheiser UK's chief engineer Andrew Lillywhite and will deliver hints and tips on how to best set up and use wireless microphones, in-ear monitors, plus a round-up of Sennheiser's current RF products.

Tour Supply will also have a number of one-day-only special offers on Sennheiser products for session attendees.

"We're delighted to be able to offer these sessions," says Tour Supply's 'Big Al' Mouat. "Our mission is to provide touring professionals the best possible equipment when and where they need it. Being able

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14 March 2016

The installation was managed by Sanecore, who decided to use an Allen & Heath digital mixer as the heart of the whole system, with the addition of multiple digital base stations, in order to satisfy the requirement of room combination and audio synchronization, while providing audio quality superior to any typical A/V matrix.

Four iDR-16 MixRacks were installed, one for an inspection room, one for the emergency command centre, and two for monitoring in the hall. Real time audio communication between multiple rooms was established using Allen & Heath's proprietary ACETM point-to-point audio network technology.

An iLive-R72 Control Surface and two iDR-16 mixers were installed for the PA system in the command ce

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14 March 2016

Speaking on the company's stand at Prolight+Sound, Hughes said, "I am very excited to be joining such an iconic British brand as Cadac, with a great heritage of designing and manufacturing fantastic products over its long history. I am especially proud to be joining a fantastic team of people at the company, and am confident of their taking it forward and regaining its rightful place at the very top of the market. With that in mind, I am particularly looking forward to being involved with the success of the new range of digital products."

Hughes career began as a freelance FOH engineer, working for the likes of Tourco, and SSE on numerous t

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14 March 2016

The deal will see the high-end PT-DZ21K and PT-DZ13K projector series bringing to life touring concerts, corporate events, trade shows and theatrical performances, initially in Europe and North America.

Stephan Paridaen, CEO (Europe, Middle East and Africa) for PRG, said, "We are always striving to improve the product that we provide to our customers. We feel that Panasonic is at the cutting edge of high brightness projection and we are certain that our customers will agree when they see the products in action."

Jan Markus Jahn, director of Panasonic Visual & Communications Systems, said, "This is a significant partnership for Panasonic as PRG has a leading position in the rental and staging market. The 2

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14 March 2016

Dolby creates audio, video and voice technologies that transform entertainment and communications in the cinema, in mobile devices, at home and at work. The company is launching a new Dolby Award for Best Sound with the National Film and Television School (NFTS) to recognise excellence in sound mixing, sound editing and sound design in a student short film. The winner will have the opportunity to present their next feature film at Dolby's Dolby Atmos screening room in Soho where many established filmmakers showcase their movies.

The competition is open to the NFTS Sound Design students graduating in 2014, whose short films will be judged by a jury of Dolby's own sound consultants. All of the entered films will

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14 March 2016

Conference 14 looks at what makes a community theatre. As new 'Community Rights' give people more of a say on running their local communities, this year's conference considers the role local groups increasingly play as providers of theatres and spaces for theatre.

The conference will look at an inventive range of capital projects and solutions used to secure the future of theatres. These include listing theatres as Assets of Community Value, taking on Community Asset Transfers and raising funds through Community Shares and the Lottery.

Mhora Samuel, director of The Theatres Trust says, "We've brought together an exciting range of contributors to share the

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14 March 2016

The vibrant event is a full-on dance competition that showcases the colour, style and energy of Bhangra, with eight of the best university Bhangra dance teams in the UK battling for the title. Entec has been involved right since the start of the show in 2008.

This year, the organizers seriously upped the ante when it came to the production and profile of the event which was presented by BBC Radio's Sunny & Shay and also featured live performances from Jaz Dhami and 2010 Britain's Got Talent winners, Spelbound.

Entec asked Simon Tutchener to create a new and eye-catching lighting scheme for the show which included five columns of u

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14 March 2016

Companies already signed up to exhibit at the show include; Philips Entertainment, Chauvet Professional, Ultratec, 4Wall, James Thomas Engineering, ETC, Elation Professional, Barbizon, Apollo, GLP, Creative Stage Lighting, Altman, Enttec, Harrington Hoists, Drape Kings, Le Maitre, Rosco and TMB, among many others. With many other applications currently being processed, companies interested in exhibiting are advised to move quickly to secure their spot.

Running alongside the show is the highly acclaimed PLASA Professional Development Programme which offers two-days of free educational seminars and workshops. The program feature

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14 March 2016

Supported by Orbital Sound, the Flare Audio rig represents an extremely compact system that is fully capable of handling the tour's diverse venues. Steve Levitt has been putting the X5A/Q18 rig through its paces, commenting:

"I am really excited by this Flare Audio system on several levels. Not only is it just about as pure a sound as you can get, but it a

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14 March 2016

The event's technical production was designed by Sounds Commercial's head of production design, Matt Willsteed. The company, headquartered in Bristol, owns a large amount of equipment and rents in specialist elements as required for specific projects.

For one, Willsteed explains, the requirement was for a very high definition screen at the back of the stage to project a variety of content and IMAG images.

The newly delivered S+H product came on-stream just at the right time for them to be able to replace the projection system used on previous events for this client.

Part of the design concept

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14 March 2016

The Concert Hall, part of the Barbican Centre, is the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, and also hosts a wide range of other concerts, productions and events. "The existing backstage area that greeted those performing at the Hall was quite cold and uninviting," comments PTB's Nick Ewins. "It needed some TLC to provide the welcoming and relaxing atmosphere that the great artists who play here deserve before and after a concert."

PTB was selected by the Barbican to explore how lighting might be able to help transform the existing space. The company presented a number of options to the Barbican Centre, aiming to create a versatile lighting system

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14 March 2016

"We're expanding our acting course to include a larger stream of musical theatre and so we knew we'd need some wireless headsets," commented Felix Kulakowski, audio & video supervisor at NIDA. "Jands allowed us to trial a unit of Shure ULX-D and the specs and cost, particularly for 24 channels, were great. Obviously being digital the wireless distribution is so much easier than analogue.

"For 24 channels of analogue wireless you'd need a hell of a lot of distribution and the Parade Theatre is appalling for RF. Wireless distribution has been a dream because you can theoretically have sixteen channels on one Shure wireless distribut

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14 March 2016

When this wide-ranging group assembles in the new Centre, it needs powerful and highly intelligible sound, and that's exactly what is provided by RoomMatch loudspeakers and PowerMatch amplifiers from Bose Professional Systems.

TSI Technology Solutions, a division of TSI Global, the integrator used by the University to design and install the Centre's AV systems, assembled a system consisting of six RoomMatch loudspeakers (three RM9020 and three RM9010 modules) and two RMS215 subwoofers, all powered by three Bose PowerMatch PM8500N amplifiers.

The Centre for Global Cit

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14 March 2016

The Cyclone units - a product developed by Robe after an initial design idea by Warner - are being supplied by Theatrical Media Services of Omaha, Nebraska and are making their touring debut after being launched at PLASA London 2013.

The functionality of the Cyclone is very similar to what its name suggests. "It's a high-powered LED wash light with a built-in DMX-controlled fan," enthuses Warner, who is quite literally "blown away" by the fact that he is using four for the first time on this tour.

The Cyclone is an innovative moving head integrating lighting (a ring of 24 high powered RGBW multichip LEDs) and a f

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14 March 2016

"I have no problem recommending DPA's new d:facto microphone because I'm so impressed with the results it has delivered for Fran and Marti - and for Dougie Payne, Travis' bass player, who is also using one for his backing vocals," says Wiggans. "Before I tried d:facto, I had tried quite a few vocal microphones that made big promises, but always ended up comparing to the microphone that people have been using for over 40 years.

"However, the d:facto's clarity and ability to capture the true sound source without extraneous background noise has made a real di

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14 March 2016

Says HSL project manager Mike Oates, "We were very pleased to be involved in this tour with another leading EDM artist with an awesome stage show and high production values right at its core."

The stunningly visual Avicii show was designed by Simon Barrington and Ian Tomlinson, both renowned for their innovative and stylish work in the EDM genre. The show was directed live by video artist and VJ Harry Bird, and was a high-octane collage of lighting, video visuals, pyro, special FX and lasers, energized together in real-time with Avicii's invigorating set.

The overhead lighting was rigged on two 20ft front trusses and a 65 ft back truss which al

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14 March 2016

In 2005 the Liverpool and Merseyside Theatres Trust enlisted Haworth Tompkins and Charcoalblue to consult on the complex and ambitious project.

Having just celebrated their 10th Birthday, Charcoalblue's managing partner, Andy Hayles, observed that for nine of those years the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Team has been their most determined client.

"When a project takes this long to get through funding hoops and complex site negotiations, the sense of achievement experienced when opening such a sensational building is particularly poignant," says Hayles. "The client and design team have become clo

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14 March 2016

With attendee figures of more than 12,000 per week, the services held in Celebration Church's state-of-the-art, newly constructed worship arena feature an energetic, next generation praise and worship experience that infuses diverse genres and styles.

The Church wanted to make the audience feel a part of the onstage experience through lighting.

Featuring an installation of 96 Chroma-Q Inspire fixtures above the auditorium's seating areas, the unit's extensive RGBW colour-mixing palette provides a seamless lighting transition throughout the room, from the stage to audience.

Synched via DMX with the stage lighting and con

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14 March 2016

Tectractys- the Art of Fugue received four performances as part of a mixed programme of work bringing an exhilarating fusion of contemporary ballet and baroque music to the stage.

Using PixelMapper, set and costume designer Tauba Auerbach, worked with Florian Baeumler to create pixel-mapped shapes using lines and colours providing a very simple and contemporary sculpture design as a backdrop to the production.

Using six layers of the Rackoon, Florian was able to pixel map seven dif

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14 March 2016

The show, presented by Davina McCall and Alex Brooker, took place in the Tyrolian Alps near Innsbruck, Austria, and saw 10 celebrities, including Sinitta, Sir Steve Redgrave, and Joe McElderry, compete against each other in a range of winter sports, including three ski jumps of increasing size.

Lighting director Roger Williams worked alongside set designer Patrick Watson to specify the Ai Media Server as the control system for the impressive lighting concept.

The technology was executed by lighting programmer David Bishop, alongside LI technicians Ben Vaughan, Anders Akermo and Joe White.

"The Ai server coped admirably in the conditions, being

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14 March 2016

The Academy runs degree courses and short courses that cover the variety of creative and technical skills needed to work backstage in live events production. Based at state-of-the-art facilities in Wakefield, North UK, it also offers custom training programmes for entertainment industry professionals seeking to boost their knowledge or career prospects, with training in rigging, event safety, temporary electrical systems, stage pyrotechnics and much more.

The Academy launched to a European and global audience at the Prolight+Sound show in Frankfurt last week.

Said PR & marketing manager Rachel Esson, "In the first two days of the show we took enquiries for training from pr

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14 March 2016

So when new acoustic panels were installed in the iconic building's Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Unusual Rigging was brought on board by Arup Theatre Consultants to devise a solution for installing them without impinging on the beauty of the hall.

Matthew Nicholl, head of estates at the Royal College of Music, said, "The Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall is a performance space of the highest international standard which can accommodate large orchestral and choral concerts. It's an exquisite space with a beautiful barrel shaped roof and

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14 March 2016

Other highlights involved the inventive Robin MiniMe winning the Prolight+Sound International Press Award (PIPA) for 'Lights FX' [sic], and for the second year, the Robe team was joined on the stand for one day by Czech MotoGP rider Karel Abraham and his bike. Robe is one of the sponsors of the 2014 season.

Robe's CEO Josef Valchar says, "The show was fantastic! It is currently the best of its type in Europe for attracting quality international and leading professional visitors, and is a great showcase for our brand."

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14 March 2016

Monty's Off - The West End version of The Full Monty is to close after five weeks, two-and-a-half months earlier than planned, due to poor ticket sales. The play, which was adapted from the hit 1997 film about hard-up Sheffield steelworkers, opened on 20 February and was due to run until 14 June. But its last performance at the Noel Coward Theatre will now be on 29 March. Producers David