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USA - As many broadcast stations are operating in a work-from-home environment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, TSL Products has altered its R&D roadmap for the short term to meet the current needs of the industry.
Since TSL’s acquisition of DNF Controls in April 2019, the US team based out of Northridge, CA, has remained focused on the developing and supporting the Flex Control Network and range of Universal Control Panels.
“We have many customers across the United States who use our Flex Control Network for critical production and playout in news-based Hub and Spoke systems that connect network stations. Due to heightened demands in remote broadcasts, we recently altered our R&D to service our Flex customers and assist them in response to the pandemic,” says Fred Scott, regional sales manager U.S. at TSL and former sales director for DNF Controls.

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South Africa - Feed Our Crew, the South African fundraising initiative for freelance live event technicians, has received hundreds of applications as well as generous support from companies and individuals in the two weeks since it was launched.
Feed Our Crew, working in collaboration with People4Purpose, offers financial support to out-of-work crew through donations and was launched in response to slow state emergency funding payments.
Donations are converted into 1000.00 ZAR vouchers (around £50), which are distributed to qualifying recipients via their mobile phones. This is calculated to provide enough funding to support a family’s fundamental needs for a month.
The vouchers are redeemable at the major retailers ShopRite / Checkers and can be used to buy groceries, medication plus other essential utilities.
DWR Distribution has been one of the key sp
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USA - Harman Professional Solutions has announced the addition of 14 free live workshops available for registration through the Learning Sessions programme in conjunction with Harman Professional University.
Available workshops scheduled for the first two weeks in May feature lighting or audio experts who have extensive industry knowledge and experience working with various touring acts.
Topics include Loudspeaker Design for Airports, Festival Lighting Control and The Art of Making Productions Look Larger.
More than a dozen Live Workshops conducted and recorded in April are now available at Harman Professional University’s YouTube channel. Workshops include AV Challenges in Esports, Microphone Applications for Stage and Studio and Lighting for Churches. Many more sessions are in production for release in the coming mon

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China - LED lighting manufacturer Astera has repurposed its 10,000sq.m factory in Shenzhen to assist with the delivery of essential personal protective equipment (PPE) .
According to Astera’s CEO Norbert Ernst, the manufacturer was set to temporarily scale back operations in the factory as a result of lower demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was approached by a contact asking if Astera would be willing to assist with the production and distribution of face masks.
“Naturally, I jumped at the chance,” says Ernst. “It offered a path to keeping many staff employed full-time which is great, and also helps contribute positively to the ongoing global demand for face masks which are vital to help meet the unique challenges of containing COVID-19.”
Ernst feels that having the factory working in this capacity will assist a rapid return to full LED ligh

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UK - The Association of Lighting Design (ALD) Awards for Excellence 2020 will launch imminently, “to offer an exciting, additional focus for students”, says the organisation.
The awards enable young designers to showcase their talents, bringing their work to the attention of experienced production professionals and the industry as a whole. Awards are presented to those who demonstrate strong lighting or video designs or skills in production electrics.
Categories include The Michael Northen Award for lighting design, The Fred Foster Award for Production Electrics (sponsored by ETC) and the Blue-I Media Award for Video design.
Johanna Town, chair of the ALD, comments: “The ALD Awards for Excellence provides an important platform for students on which they can hone their abilities to communicate their chosen medium. To be able to sell ideas and passions for a

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South Africa - Ayrton has announced Bespoke Entertainment Solutions as its new exclusive distributor for South Africa with immediate effect.
Based in Randburg, Johannesburg, Bespoke will distribute the full range of Ayrton products across the installation and rental markets, with a core focus on key products that best suit the South African market.
“Having recently taken on several installations and new technical personnel on a full-time basis, the door was opened to us for other opportunities, including becoming the distributor for Ayrton in South Africa,” comments Bespoke Entertainment Solutions’ technical director, Suren Lutchman. “With my experience mainly in sales, support and design of intelligent lighting solutions for the entertainment industry, I have always wanted to offer this service as well. Because the market within South Africa is very competit

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UK/France - Showlight 2021, scheduled to take place May 2021 in Fontainebleau, France, has been postponed until further notice due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. First held in 1981 at London’s Barbican Centre and usually taking place every four years, the enduringly popular lighting event is renowned for its industry-leading programme of papers presented by the great and good of the lighting industry, along with its often unique setting and many networking opportunities.
A statement from Showlight reads: “This has been an extremely difficult decision, which has been made in view of both the immediate effects and anticipated recovery period that will be needed by companies and individuals across the industry in the coming months.
“The state of the lighting industry, the probable extension of restrictions on gatherings and the effect that this is having on the

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USA - Serving people in a time of crisis is nothing new for Kaiser Permanente. The giant not-for-profit healthcare consortium began life in 1933, during the Great Depression, when a young physician, Sidney R. Garfield, opened a 12-bed hospital in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert to care for itinerant workers at the Colorado River Aqueduct.
Although much larger today (it has over 12m members), the nationally renowned institution remains deeply rooted in its community, as evidenced by its all-out effort to provide care during the current pandemic.
Kaiser Permanente’s gratitude to the dedicated healthcare professionals who make this extraordinary level of service possible is plain to see on many of its Los Angeles area facilities. There on the exterior walls, in bold and colourful light is a declaration thanking the ‘Health Care Heroes’ who are leading the

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USA - ESTA reports that two standards have been revised, and are being offered for public review.
BSR E1.6 - 1 - 202x, Powered Rigging Systems has been revised to correct errata in section 6.6, which addresses design factors for certain system elements. The public review only covers the revisions made in that section, and no comments regarding other sections are being solicited at this time.
BSR E1.39 - 202x, Entertainment Technology - Selection and Use of Personal Fall Arrest Systems on Portable Structures Used in the Entertainment Industry, is a revision of ANSI E1.39-2015, which is being updated for consistency with current industry practice and technologies. This standard establishes minimum requirements for the selection and use of personal fall arrest systems (PFAS) on portable structures in the entertainment industry. In addition, the standard esta

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USA - Professional camera and lighting rental companies have come together to collaborate in creating guidance documents for safely resuming rentals to the film/television/commercial production community in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The task group was assembled by the Production Equipment Rental Group (part of entertainment trade association ESTA). The objective is to provide a unified set of industry-wide guidelines that address health and safety challenges related to the rental of production equipment and ensure that any risks to production companies, studios, and customers are minimised.
The task group is working with other industry groups to ensure that PERG’s recommendations address client needs and concerns and harmonize with safety protocols developed by the studios and others, while also adhering to the recommendations of the CDC, OSHA, and state and

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France - Mass Hysteria shook the port city of Nantes two years ago, when they performed a show for the 10th anniversary of the Elvish. The metal icons selected this show for their 8 April 8 stream.
Throwing fuel on the flames of Mass Hysteria’s sound was a relentless Romain Dronne designed lightshow powered by a ChamSys MagicQ MQ80 with an Extra Wing.
Part of the Chirac Design team, Dronne turned up the brightness of his rig at key points throughout the show, transforming the relatively tight confines of Club Le Ferraileur into a ball of light. The close-in setting of the club made the show well-suited for streaming, since many fans would be watching on mobile phones with their relatively small screens.
However, beyond this “technical” consideration, the size of the venue also reinforced the close relationship that the band has with their fans according t

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The Audio Engineering Society has begun to announce programme details for the upcoming Virtual Vienna Convention, including three keynote lectures and the Heyser Presentation.
As a result of circumstances dictating the move of the convention to an online format, the Audio Engineering Society is bringing the AES Europe Convention directly to virtual attendees around the globe, with keynotes from AES Fellow Jamie Angus (University of Salford), Marisa Hoeschele (Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences) and Franz Zotter (Institute for Electronic Music and Acoustics, University of Arts and Music, Graz), as well as this year’s Heyser Presentation by AES Fellow Francis Rumsey (technical consultant, author).
Additional details on the AES Virtual Vienna Convention Technical Programme, including topics and events, paper presentations, workshops, tutorials, posters,

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Europe - Nexo’s Engineering Support Division continues its popular series of online webinars with a menu of topics which will appeal to sound engineers working with all brands of professional equipment.
Nexo is using Facebook Live on its popular channel to present these e-learning sessions, part of Yamaha’s extensive Audioversity tuition resource.
“We’ve carefully considered these sessions so that they will also interest engineers and venue owners/operators who may not yet be familiar with Nexo systems,” explains lead trainer Nicolas Poitrenaud. “We are confident that these Facebook Live sessions will provide skills and knowledge to enhance the business activities of many professionals, especially in these difficult times.”
The latest additions include:
Tuesday 5 May @ 10.00hrs: Fundamentals of Acoustics in English with Nicolas Poitrenaud <

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USA - Dance Studio Vol. 1 is the latest addition to the nightlife scene in Chicago’s River North neighbourhood. Filling the ceiling above its dance floor are 470 ADJ mirror balls, both static and kinetic, that mix with Elation Professional DARTZ 360 and Fuze Wash Z120 moving heads for a lightshow with a difference.
The new nightclub and event space, a renovation of a previous club that closed in early 2019, is a 350-capacity venue that hosts live music, DJs and other entertainment. Chicago-based AV design and integration company Craft Lighting was tasked with designing, installing and commissioning the space and came up with an immersive and nostalgic yet distinctly modern concept that goes beyond the nightclub’s second-floor dance area to include the outer alley, hallway, and stairwell.
Noah Craft, owner and lead designer at Craft Lighting, explains the Elation fi

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UK - More than 25 years after they catapulted into the UK charts, and 10 since disbanding to produce solo material, British rockers Supergrass returned to touring with audio rental house Britannia Row in February and March.
Describing his sound crew as being “amazing at their jobs”, production manager Adam King has, by his own admission, “loved” working with Brit Row and the Supergrass team for the band’s recent return to live music.
Supergrass were ‘lucky’ in the sense that they finished their seven date UK run - which culminated in two sold out shows at London’s Alexandra Palace - prior to lockdown. FOH engineer Max Bisgrove notes: “We had two fantastic gigs in London, and as these were my last two shows for what will no doubt be quite some time, it was good to go out on such a high note.”
King agrees, “The Ally Pally sound check sounded i

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Poland - The Culture and Reading Centre in the southern Polish town of Radlów is a local government institution that stages a range of activities and performances promoting the participation of the local community in cultural and educational pursuits.
The centre organises regular activities such as workshops, theatre and fitness classes, as well as one-off events encompassing everything from festivals and exhibitions to concerts and competitions. These feature not only visiting artists but also involve local groups, some of whom are resident at the centre. Music is a very important central theme for this vibrant and busy hub.
As a new establishment, the building required a high quality sound system in order to deliver the best experience for performers and audiences alike. The principal area to be covered was the centre’s ground floor Main Hall, a multi-purpose spa

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Europe - Spanish AV equipment manufacturer Equipson has appointed Netherlands-based Tau Audio Solutions as its audio distributor in Benelux, with responsibility for its entire range of Work Pro products.
For more than 20 years, TAU Audio Solutions has been a wholesaler and distributor of audio and communications systems. The company handles a variety of commercial and professional audio products including induction/hearing loops, microphone systems, voice alarm systems, rack and accessories. As well as selling products, Tau also provides advice and training to customers from its extensive showroom facilities in Groningen.
As Equipson's Benelux distributor, Tau will be responsible for handling the company's entire range of Work Pro audio products which include loudspeakers, amplifiers, mixers, microphones and control systems, as well as an extensive range of audio acce

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UK - Celestion has released a library of videos on the CelestionUK YouTube channel offering demonstrations, user tips, reviews, and expert advice, enabling players and producers alike to gain maximum tonal benefit from using the extensive family of Celestion Impulse Responses. Celestion’s collection of guitar and bass speaker IR tones are suited to artists, musicians, engineers, players and producers who are working at home right now, and are available for audition and download at CelestionPlus.com.
Celestion IRs (impulse responses) are accurate digital representations of the company’s speakers, available for download. They allow users to closely simulate by digital means, the tone that one would get from playing a guitar (or bass) through one of Celestion’s physical speakers.
Th

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Europe - MA Lighting has highlighted its free educational web tools as it aims to help its users cope with the downtime during the coronavirus crisis “in the best possible way”.
MA Tips videos provide new grandMA3 knowledge every week. MA Lighting‘s own free of cost E-learning platform is a powerful tool when entering the world of MA training.
The grandMA3 software is the soul of the grandMA3 platform and is designed to accommodate the current and future needs of lighting control. Users can download and test it for free.
For those who wish to connect with fellow MA users, the MA Forum is the place where they can ask questions about grandMA3 and dot2 and exchange views with other users about all kinds of MA topics.
MA has compiled a list of its free resources here:

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USA - Alcons Audio has appointed On The Road Marketing as its representative in the New York / New England region.
Based in Rivervale, a short distance north of New York City, On The Road Marketing was originally established as a musical instrument distributor, quickly expanding its portfolio into the live sound, pro audio and AV contracting markets.
In 2015, current principal Mark Meding brought 20 years’ experience of professional audio, AV and manufacturer representation to the company. It was his friendships with leading Broadway sound designer Nevin Steinberg and David Strang at PRG which introduced him to Alcons pro-ribbon solutions.
“Alcons is a perfect fit for our customers, because the pro-ribbon drivers are the best on the market today. They are some of the most efficient drivers I have ever heard, able to get to extremely high output levels withou

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Europe - Live shows may be postponed, but sound reinforcement solutions manufacturer Electro-Voice (E-V) wants musicians to keep performing.
To facilitate this, the company is aiming to book 15 artists from any genre to play 15 concerts in May on the Electro-Voice Facebook page for the #EVOpenMic series.
The concert series will see artists from around the world perform in one of three time slots to a global audience over five days at the end of May. The 15 selected artists will receive a $300 performance fee, as well as one Electro-Voice Evolve 30M column system and two Electro-Voice performance mics.
The auditions are now open and will run until 6 May. Virtual auditions will take place from 7-18 May, and the concerts are scheduled to take place between 26-30 May.
Performers can apply now at

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Italy - Florence-based loudspeaker specialist K-array is set to restart manufacturing operations next week.
A statement from co-founders Alessandro and Massimo says: “Regarding the recent health protocols issued by the Italian government, K-array's production and warehouse in San Piero a Sieve (Florence) will resume operating Monday through Thursday at 8:30am to 1:00pm and 2:00pm to 5:00pm starting from Monday, 4 May. With the well-being of our staff at the forefront, K-array has implemented all the safety and health regulations required for all its employees to reopen at this time.
“Furthermore, we’d like to inform you that our administrative office and several departments will continue to operate remotely to provide customer care as well as design and technical consulting. We remain committed to keeping you informed on our company activity and we thank you for

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India - Harman Professional Solutions has appointed ARK Infosolutions as its nationwide master dealer for the recording and broadcast segment in India.
ARK will also be Harman’s partner for the PA and retail segment for the North Indian region.
The collaboration is aimed at facilitating channel penetration for Harman products to meet the increasing demand in various segments such as broadcast, production, post-production studios, rental companies, cinematographers, musicians, film fraternity, and more.
“Collaboration and partnership are essential parts of any organization when aiming for success. ARK Infosolutions’ approach towards customer preference matches our own,” comments Aditya Todi, senior director of sales and marketing, Harman Professional Solutions, India and SAARC. “Collaborating with them will not only allow our partners and customers in N

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UK - University of South Wales (USW) Music & Sound students have been working hard to transform what was originally planned to be a series of live gigs in various local venues around Cardiff, into a realtime event of multiple livestreams taking place over the next few days, until 3 May.
In partnership with Keep Cardiff Live and Dazed, the USW students had to quickly adapt when the Covid19 pandemic brought with it a unique set of circumstances where those plans were no longer possible. Overcoming many technical challenges, the students will be hosting the festival online, featuring genres that are popular in live music events in Cardiff.
The festival will include indie, hip-hop, house, metal and drum’n’bass nights along with interviews with subjects including USW graduate and Grammy nominee, Romesh Dodangoda, Lacertilla and Tidy Records.
USW student Lewis
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