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Japan - Audio company All Access Inc has been appointed as distributor for the full range of Audient products in Japan, including the USB interface, iD22 and the 8-channel mic pre and ADC, ASP880.

Hiyu Nagaoka who runs pro sales, works closely with All Access Inc president Cozy Hattori and confirms the faith they have in the brand: "The Audient products have both superb sound quality and excellent usability, the whole range is very professional."

From the outset All Access has proved they mean business, as Audient products fly off the shelves. One sale of particular note was an iD22 to Suzuki Daichi Hideyuki, a top songwriter, producer and recording/mixing engineer in Japan, who recently gave a detailed review of the product in Sound & Recording Magazine. According to Daichi, "The iD22 is just what all musicians/engineers need for their desktop creations! I am t

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Denmark - With its new Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system, the headquarters of Denmark's Jyske Bank has broken stereotypes in corporate meeting room design. This architectural and sonic showcase has seamlessly integrated Constellation into its everyday use, from board meetings, presentations, and open discussions to videoconferencing, all without the burden of hand-held or tabletop microphones. The system has also opened up abundant possibilities for future entertainment functions for bank staff.

Steen Mertz, director of communications technology at Jyske Bank, partnered with Anders Jørgensen, project manager for Copenhagen-based integrator Stouenborg, with the aim to create a welcoming space that encourages free-flowing conversations.

"Our goal was to optimize the space and improve communications within the bank, as well as with international business partn

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USA - Janis Joplin exploded onto the music scene and almost overnight, became what many consider to be the queen of rock 'n' roll. Joplin's voice, filled with raw emotion and tinged with Southern Comfort, made her a must-see headliner. Recently, thousands of fans relived her musical journey through a Broadway show, A Night with Janis Joplin.

A two-hour musical extravaganza featuring non-stop powerful vocals, A Night with Janis Joplin was an intricate show that demanded wireless coverage across the stage. Responsible for the musical's sound design was Carl Casella of Sound Associates. Up against Manhattan's densely-populated spectrum, Casella was challenged to find a wireless microphone system with extremely efficient RF performance. He went with an all-Shure approach.

"Before Joplin hit Broadway, the show toured across the U.S., where I headed up the sound d

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Slovakia - Lighting designer Martin Kubanka knows how to make many things look beautiful with his stunning lighting and visual designs, and this coupled with the Miss Slovakia beauty pageant as the subject matter and 150 Robe moving lights on the rig made this 2014 edition of the event extra special.

The show was staged at the Incheba Exhibition Centre in Bratislava, produced by live communications agency Forza and broadcast live on TV channel JOJ as well as being enjoyed by a live audience of 3000. Technical production - lights, sound and video - was supplied by Slovakia's biggest rental company, Q-99.

The fixture list included 72 x Robe Robin Pointes, 16 x Robin LEDWash 600s, 10 x LEDWash 1200s, 10 x MMX Spots and 44 x Robin LEDBeam 100s.

Kubanka drew on his vast experience of designing stage lighting and video for televised beauty pageants and took things to a different d

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India - Based in the boomtown of Bangalore, DS Pro is the first Indian rental company to purchase Nexo's flagship STM modular line array system. The 108-cabinet system, comprising 36 each of the M46 Main, B112 Bass and S118 Sub cabinets as well as 8x 45°N-12 line monitors and 20x NX4x4 amplifiers, was supplied by NEXO's Indian distributor Sun Infonet.

Bangalore is home to many of India's pro audio companies, and DS Pro joined the scene in 2004. Over the past decade, this dynamic young company has worked on a variety of concerts as well as corporate, religious and educational events. The STM system joins other Nexo elements in the company's inventory, which already included GEO S, RS18 and PS10 cabinets.

"We like to think our advanced technical solutions stand ahead of the competition and gratify an extensive range of clients," says DSP Pro director, Dhinakar. &qu

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China - Since opening in 1989, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre has served as Hong Kong's premier cultural venue and in order to cater to a variety of performing arts, the Centre, located on the waterfront of Victoria Harbor in Tsim Sha Tsui, houses a number of top-class facilities including three major performance halls.

One of those is the 2,019-seat Concert Hall and although the venue was fitted with an adjustable acoustic canopy to ensure quality acoustics, a mock-up extension of the over-stage reflector was installed in August 2013 to improve acoustic performance of the extended stage area. A permanent extension is to be constructed in the future.

Macostar, a stage lighting and machinery system specialist in Hong Kong, was appointed to provide system engineering, detail design and construction of the new over-stage reflector and required a stage safety solution for the canop

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USA - Rocky Hill High School is a four-year public high school in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, USA, offering a wide variety of educational, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs. Rocky Hill's dedicated auditorium seats 500 and is used for yearly musicals, band and choir concerts, dance recitals, faculty meetings and outside events.

Unlike many multi-purpose spaces, Rocky Hill's auditorium has good acoustics and a permanent stage designed for theatrical performances. However, the auditorium's sound system, which was installed many years ago, suffered from poor sound quality and feedback issues.

Last year, the school contacted John Pizzoferrato of CMI Sound Systems in Newington, Connecticut. Pizzoferrato, who had done work for the school in the past, examined the system. He recommended that the school upgrade the system with Community Entasys column loudspeakers, a DSP process

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UK - Premium performance lighting solutions provider, Chroma-Q have announced their sponsorship of several British racing drivers in the high-profile BTCC and Lotus motor racing Championships.

Chroma-Q are a Premium Sponsor of promising UK racing driver, Jack Goff, in the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.

Jack showed great promise in his debut season last year, including being second fastest for most of the race day at Silverstone and achieving a well-earned second place podium finish in the final round at Brands Hatch, after a climactic battle for position with outgoing BTCC champion Gordon Shedden.

A hotly tipped contender in 2014, Jack returned to the UK's premier saloon car series with RCIB Insurance Racing Squad / Team BMR, driving the Vauxhall Insignia again. It is promising to be an exciting season, with seven former BTCC champions, a cap

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USA - Country music superstars Alan Jackson and Merle Haggard, as well as bluegrass icons Dr. Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs, were among the 130 acts over four days in late April whose tunes wafted pristinely from MerleFest 2014. As has been the case for the past 26 years, DiGiCo consoles processed much of the music emanating from the Wilkesboro, NC festival's 13 stages, helping to cement MerleFest's reputation as a highly celebrated perennial American music event.

MerleFest was founded in 1988 in memory of Eddy Merle Watson, son of bluegrass legend Doc Watson, as a fundraiser for Wilkes Community College and to celebrate "traditional plus" music, a term coined by Doc Watson to describe the wide variety of musical genres and styles celebrated at MerleFest.

Since the festival's beginnings, Greensboro-based SE Systems has been handling sound for MerleFest. SE Systems C

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South Africa - Quite literally MGG Productions have done it again! Thanks to the success of a sci-fi concept they came up for a corporate conference held last year, MGG were asked by their client Eventworx to recreate the entire look for the same event hosted in January 2014.

MGG's newly appointed general manager, Denzil Smith, who joined the company in December, took the production to a new level. With a team of professionals at his side including lighting designer from MGG, Kevin Rieck, and the assistance of the impeccable system technician, Thomas Peters (known to drive people mad as he labels every piece of equipment and cable - and quite rightly this ensures a seamless production), the event was technically flawless.

This was no mean feat as the event, which ran off a grandMA2 full size, included 48 ClayPaky Sharpies (fourty more Sharpies than last year) and some 400m of

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Australia - Neil Finn is on the road with his Dizzy Heights tour, a show full of lush aural landscapes and exotic arrangements complimented by evocative lighting and a large, fluffy tapestry backdrop created by Noel Crombie and partner Sally Mill.

Lighting designer David Harding began his relationship with Neil way back in the 80's when he was the Vari*Lite tech/operator for Crowded House. Over the years he has built a solid relationship with Neil who didn't even have to brief David on what he wanted for his lighting on the Dizzy Heights tour, such is their relationship.

"I opted for practical lighting for the band and Neil is quite minimalistic," explained David. "Colours are either in contrast, or, complimentary to how the backdrop is lit. The backdrop is the cornerstone for setting the scene. It reacts brilliantly and in a great number of ways to light

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UK - Engage Production, specialist in interactive technologies for branded environments, has played a vital part in the creation of five new interactive kiosks at Heathrow's Terminal 5, part of a campaign promoting the British Airways Amex credit card. Engage was responsible for developing the software, based on Adobe AIR. The kiosks are Intel NUCs running Win 7 Pro. The five kiosks are housed in a booth surrounding a giant spinning globe with BA destinations marked on it.

Allowing visitors to input their details for a chance to win 100,000 Avios points, there's also the opportunity to win an instant prize of a leather passport holder or leather luggage tag. The installation also includes a server that sends visitors marketing emails, provided they have agreed to it.

"We're delighted to have developed the software for this kiosk-based experiential marketing promotion, say

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UK - Theatre sound designer Mike Walker deployed the Cadac CDC eight digital production console at the heart of his sound design for the recent 50th anniversary revival of Oh What a Lovely War, in London's Theatre Royal Stratford East; the most high profile use of Cadac's new digital desk to date and its musical theatre premier on a major production. Perhaps even more significantly, it marked the first ever use by Mike Walker of a digital console on such a large theatre production.

To date Walker has remained resolutely analogue - and resolutely Cadac analogue - in his choice of mixing consoles, in pursuit of the best possible sound quality. The arrival of the CDC eight, however, changes all that. "The audio quality is stunning. Quite simply, I have never heard such stunning sound quality in a live console before," he says, "Until now, no digital desk I hav

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Eavis Honoured - Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis is to be honoured for his contribution to the music industry. The Music Industry Trusts (MITS) award recognises his achievements in staging live music and supporting charity. Eavis first held Glastonbury festival on his Somerset farm in 1970. Profits go to Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid. "When I set out on this crazy hippy trip 44 years ago, little did I know how this rollercoaster would run," Eavis said."But now I have to pinch myself every morning when I wake up to the excitement of another day - heading up a team of the most creative artists anywhere in the world."

David Munns, chairman of the MITS Award committee, said Eavis was being honoured "as the creator of the world-renowned Glastonbury Festival, the largest greenfield festival in the world, attended by over 175,000 each year and raisi

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UK - The hit stage musical of The Bodyguard, currently playing at the Adelphi Theatre in London, is relying on DPA's d:screet 4060 omnidirectional miniature microphones to provide amplification for all members of the cast who have spoken lines.

Written by Alexander Dinelaris and based on the 1992 film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, the stage version of The Bodyguard features Beverley Knight in the role of Rachel Marron, with former X Factor winner Alexandra Burke taking over from 2 June 2014.

Ania Klimowicz, deputy head of sound for The Bodyguard, says DPA's d:screet 4060s were chosen because sound designer Richard Brooker and director Thea Sharrock didn't want any microphones to be visible to the audience. The microphones were supplied by Autograph.

"We use paint, tape and make-up on the mics to make them look as invisible in the actor

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Russia - Scott Willsallen, director of Auditoria Pty Ltd (Australia), was audio director and Designer for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic games at Sochi's 40,000-seat Fisht Olympic Stadium, at which DiGiCo consoles played a major part.

Scott was engaged initially by the Ceremonies Staging Agency for the first stage of planning work, then CSA engaged Five Currents to deliver the Olympic Ceremonies and World Wide Shows to deliver the Paralympics, who engaged him for the delivery stage.

The bid for tenders to provide the ceremonies' audio equipment and a 34-member team of specialists who installed and managed the impressive set-up (with nine containers of equipment) was won by Agorà of L'Aquila (Italy), who is no newcomer to Olympic events, having supplied equipment, logistic support and technical staff for Turin's 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Gam

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UK / The Netherlands - Avolites Ltd. and Avolites Media Ltd. have appointed Fairlight as their sole distributor for the Netherlands as of 1 May 2014.

Koy Neminathan, sales director for Avolites Ltd, comments, "I am very excited about working with Fairlight on an exclusive basis. We will now attain the resources necessary to promote our range of lighting and video control on a larger scale. Our relationship goes back well over 20 years and the foundations we have built allows us to hit the ground running. We have arranged dates for seminars, workshops and a comprehensive marketing campaign to expose the Titan and Ai platforms to the Dutch market. We're all very enthusiastic regarding the further integration of the powerful Avolites Titan software and the Ai video control platform."

Steve Warren, managing director of Avolites Media adds, "Fairlight have proven the

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UK - When it opened its doors to the public in 1889, the Savoy Theatre was the first in the world to be lit by electric lights. Today, the Savoy continues that trendsetting legacy with a new energy-efficient house lighting system for the iconic performance space.

Recently installed by entertainment lighting specialists White Light, the new system - the first of its kind in London's West End - is based entirely on LED technology, which draws less power and produces less heat than the previous lighting system, creating huge energy savings for the space. The installation is also the first in the world to utilise the new ArcLamp fixture from GDS. Developed specifically for the Savoy Theatre project, it is designed to fit pre-existing fittings on installations where clients wish to keep existing lamp housings due to economic or design imperatives.

White Light completed the installa

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Denmark - The real Eurovision song contest may be all finished for this year, but in Denmark, it just keeps on going, with Vi Maler Byen R°d: The Musical, which takes in 27 of the country's most famous and popular contest songs and turns them into a story.

Lighting director and programmer Mikkel Bedsted used ETC's newest control desk, Cobalt, at the Folketeatrets grand stage in Copenhagen, to programme a version of the musical, which closed the week before Austria's Conchita Wurst surprised and delighted audiences in equal measure.

The title, which refers to one of the country's best loved entries, means 'we're painting the town red', and refers not just to the raucousness of Eurovision, but also the craziness of the 1980s in general.

Bedsted was at the offices of Danish dealer Bico, when he mentioned that he might be interested in trying something other than his

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UK - With a recently sold out headline UK tour under their belts and an appearance on the Reading and Leeds main stages confirmed, British rockers Deaf Havana continue to build on the reputation they've built as one of the UK's most exciting young acts.

Front of house engineer Ben Hammond has long relied on Audio-Technica microphones, M50 headphones and Allen & Heath's iLive mixing system to deliver the band's brand of classic rock'n'roll attitude, and filmed a video interview with the company at London's Clapham Grand venue.

In the interview, Hammond explains his choice and use of Audio-Technica mics. In addition, Hammond talks about the ease with which the Allen & Heath iLive surface and iDR MixRack have fitted into his workflow over the last four years, and his impressions of the newly updated Audio-Technica M50x headphones for mix checking.

Ben's video is live on the Aud

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Abu Dhabi - For 14 years, leading event production and management house Fonoon has been delivering exceptional services to the Middle East's top companies and clients. Keen to continue with the tradition the company added Showline's high performance SL BAR 660 and SL WASH 180 luminaires to its arsenal.

Fonoon has an impressive portfolio backed up with experience managing a broad range of significant events from corporate occasions and lavish weddings to large-scale concerts. From the production end, Fonoon takes charge of every aspect of an event, including the lighting, sound, staging, video and special elements such as lasers. In order to offer its clients original and exciting event concepts, the company ensures it stocks the latest in versatility and innovation, hence the investment in Showline LED luminaires.

"We actively look out for the most innovative products in

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UK - Stage Engage have recently purchased two Roland V-800HD multi-format video switchers to add to their hire and live event inventory. Specialising in professional audio, video, lighting and stage solutions, Stage Engage provide full production services for a variety of clients including corporate events, conferences and festivals across Europe.

With a growing number of events requiring multi-camera set-ups and integrated presentations, the company needed to upgrade from their Roland V-40HD to a product which could handle more inputs. With eight multi format channels from sixteen inputs (4 SDI, 4 Composite, 4 DVI-I/HDMI, 4RGB/Component) and six outputs (2 SDI + 2 DVI-D/HDMI + RGB/Component + Composite), the V-800HD proved to be the ideal specification.

"We chose the V-800HD as the right product for the corporate market because it is truly multi format and can connect to

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UK - Festival organisers, suppliers and event production teams are set to see their work officially rewarded this October when the inaugural Festival Supplier Awards are launched.

Designed to recognise the best suppliers to the growing festival industry, the Festival Supplier Awards will showcase the companies and individuals that help create some of the UK's most well-known and best-loved festivals. Twenty-four awards will be presented in total, with categories honouring all aspects of festival production from staging and safety to barriers and bars - together with a special award for the industry's rising star.

"Many event suppliers have indicated that the festival sector represents a significantly increasing proportion of their business," explains Michelle Tayton director of AMP Events, the team behind the Festival Supplier Awards. "With festivals also offeri

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New Zealand - The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular is a BBC Worldwide production based on the ever popular Doctor Who television series. Celebrating over 50 years, Doctor Who is one of the most widely broadcast drama series on the planet.

The live show is based on the music of the modern series, composed by Murray Gold and conducted by Ben Foster, a symphony orchestra plays live to video packages displayed on a large projection screen. This is combined with a cast of live characters from the series and enhanced by dynamic lighting interaction.

MJF Lighting was the lighting supplier for the Wellington event. Controlling the lighting system was MJF's new grandMA2 light with an MA onPC command wing working as a backup control surface. grandMA2 has become one of the most popular and sought after control systems in the lighting world.

Production and lighting designe

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