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USA - This November marks the 25th anniversary of the birth of the Source Four fixture at ETC. Between now and this year’s LDI tradeshow, the company is taking a look back at this product that has become such a major part of ETC’s story, the fixture that has made a long-lasting impact on the industry, and the product that has inspired many additional ETC fixtures.
When asked what he remembers about the first time he saw the Source Four, ETC CEO Fred Foster says: “When I first saw the Source Four it was just a HPL lamp, glass reflector, and a lens on an optical rail in Dave Cunningham's lab. But it was 40% brighter than a 1000W FEL and used only 575W of power. I was awestruck. It was even more fun to watch the looks on the faces of the LDI attendees when we launched the product a year later.”
Ellen White, outreach and training specialist at ETC, was working in E

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UK - Each year the PLASA Show seminar programme goes from strength to strength, promising unique insights, specialist knowhow and the latest innovations, direct from the industry. The free to attend sessions, including the new Fast Track Theatre’s bitesize talks, feature an international line up of leading experts ready to discuss the latest topics and developments in their field.
At the Audio & AV Theatre, d&b audiotechnik’s Oran Burns and Bill Brooks’ session Are You listening? takes a fresh view on the much-debated idea of an ideal frequency response for a live sound system, considering factors like hearing sensitivity, creative preferences and cultural trends.
Preparing for the loss of 700MHz – What you need to know, by Shure’s Tuomo Tolonen, examines Ofcom’s 2014 announcement to reallocate UHF frequencies 694-790MHz (the 700MHz ba

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USA - Six standards are available for public review on the ESTA website - click here. Five have comment deadlines of 25 September 2017, but one is a week later, 2 October. People materially affected by these standards are invited to review them and to comment on them, saying they are acceptable as they are or are in need of changes.
BSR E1.9, Entertainment Technology - Reporting Photometric Performance Data for Luminaires Used in Entertainment Lighting
This standard defines the minimum data to be presented on documents purporting to accurately describe the photometric performance of stage and studio luminaires used in the live entertainment and performance industries. This is a proposed reaffirmation of the standard first published in 2007. The closing date is 25 September 2017.
BSR

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UK - The 2017 Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced this year's shortlist of lighting and video designers recognised for their creative work in television. The winners will be announced at the 10th anniversary KOI Awards ceremony, to be held at London's Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, on 17 September.
The Television shortlist is the second of this year's three category shortlists to be announced. The nominees are as follows:
The Light Initiative Television Award for Events
Philip Brines for Proms in the Park, Ben Cracknell for the Olivier Awards broadcast on ITV, and Bernie Davis for BBC1's Festival of Remembrance
The Philips Vari-Lite Televsion Award for Drama
Chris Ramage for ITV's Emmerdale, Larry Smith for ITV's Dark Angel, and Dominique Clements for CBBC's Hetty Feather
The SLX Television A

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USA – On Thursday 20 July, nearly 250 ETC end users arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, for the fourth CUE conference. CUE, short for Create Understand Experience, is a professional development conference hosted by ETC every other summer.
This year’s classes were organised into one- and two-day-long tracks so attendees would have a more immersive, educational experience. Tracks focused on technicians, educators, general system networking, designing a better theatre, and Eos console programming. The typical daily class schedule was enhanced this summer with optional Saturday evening classes. With so many opportunities for hands-on learning, it’s no wonder that reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.
When asked to describe one main takeaway from the event, a CUE attendee says: “This should be required for technicians everywhere. There are too many benefits to list

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UK - Unicam Digital Group has rebranded as UXG (User Experience Global), part of a major new growth initiative. The rebrand comes on the back of 12 months of intense growth for UXG, resulting in the move to new 14,sq ft headquarters, near the centre of Leeds.
The new headquarters effectively double UXG’s work and build space, enabling the business to react at the same pace as the burgeoning digital industry, and allowing for full assembly of UXG’s indoor and outdoor LED walls, including interactive walls and tables. UXG is also in the process of developing a state-of-the-art technology hub at the facility.
“Our rebrand and expansion illustrates how we are constantly innovating as a company, with technology at the forefront of our ethos,” explains Drew Dooler managing director. “UXG has a highly proactive and experienced team focused on delivering

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USA - Spectrum Sound, one of Nashville’s most revered production rental houses, has joined the Adamson sales and rental network with a significant investment in a new E-Series and S-Series audio system.
In addition to supplying production technologies for some of the biggest touring artists in the world, the Nashville-based firm offers system integration services and sales to its significant client base. According to CEO and President Ken Porter, the purchase and new relationship with Adamson was spurred by widespread customer demand across the various sectors that Spectrum serves.
“We’ve seen the Adamson brand gaining a lot of traction in the international touring market first-hand and want to be ahead of the curve on meeting the growing demand,” comments Porter, who boasts nearly 40 years in the music industry. “This is a mutually-beneficial opportunity to

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Ireland - Back in 1982, Martin Rea and Sean Gallagher of Rea Sound visited Messe Musik in Frankfurt with the intention of securing an audio dealership in Ireland.
They had a number of brands in mind, and had already arranged several key appointments. While there, however, they happened to walk onto the Martin Audio stand and were immediately impressed with the product and philosophy behind it from Dave Martin. It was also the first time they met with the company’s charismatic founder. A deal was done and the first system was bought and shipped to Ireland.
Thirty-five years later the relationship continues to flourish, and this month Martin Audio presented their long-serving Irish based partners with a plaque to commemorate this milestone.
Working with Dave Martin was always colourful, recalls Gallagher, “On one memorable phone call to Dave, we spoke with him

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UK - After much deliberation, the theatre judging panel for the 2017 Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced this year's shortlist of lighting and video designers, recognised for their creative work in theatre. The winners will be announced at the tenth anniversary KOI Awards ceremony, to be held at London's Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, on 17 September.
The KOI Awards was established to publicly celebrate the artistic achievements of lighting and video designers whose work has been showcased in the UK in the past 12 months in the sectors of Television, Theatre and Concert Touring & Events. Now one of the most celebrated nights in the live entertainment design industry calendar, KOI attracted more than 500 industry creatives and professionals to last year's celebrations.
The first of KOI's three shortlists to be announced, the Theatre judging panel's shor

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Australia - Lexair Entertainment is the new Australian distributor for Theatrixx Technologies. Theatrixx Technologies, based out of Canada, manufactures technical equipment to suit the needs of the performing arts industry.
"Theatrixx is thrilled to welcome Lexair Entertainment as our new distributor for Australia" said Erik Guertin, international sales for Theatrixx. "Together as a team we are confident that we will build and maintain strong relationships with customers and stay proud to offer a high-end variety of products to the Australasian market. There is no doubt that Lexair's reputation and expertise with AV products is a good fit for us and we are eager to see what the future will bring."
Lexair is initially focussing on the xVision robust video converter range that is designed for the road with recessed locking connectors, an integrated power supply with lock

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Belgium - British lighting console and media server manufacturer, Avolites, has appointed Fairlight as the exclusive distributor of its lighting and video network control products in Belgium. The exclusive partnership, which took effect on 1 July, follows nearly two decades of successful collaboration between the two companies.
Commenting on the relationship, Koy Neminathan, sales director for Avolites, says: "We are very satisfied with the performance of Fairlight in the Netherlands. They bring Avolites to a larger audience by undertaking numerous seminars, trainings and demos regularly. Furthermore, Fairlight always carries a large stock of Titan, Ai and Art dimming products. This is supported by their technical department who have been assessed and accredited by Avolites and thus provide the best technical assistance."
Technical service in Belgium will be provided b

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Factory News - Designs for Manchester's £110m arts centre the Factory are being redrawn after a review found the originals to not be fit for purpose. The project received planning permission in January but the council will now have to spend an extra £1.65m changing the designs.
The Factory was first announced in 2014. It has been given a £78m grant from central government, as well as a £9m annual grant from 2018-19. It is designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas' firm OMA, with theatre consultancy from Charcoal Blue.
According to The Stage, The ‘novelty’ glazed and concrete exterior in the original plans will "compromise the acoustic performance of the venue", a review submitted to Manchester City Council claimed. Elsewhere, the theatre's design was found to be too complex and the orchestra pit too small.
The review, conducted by Manchester City Co

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Hungary - Many historic opera houses have, in more recent times, begun staging a wider variety of performances. This often needs the installation of modern sound reinforcement systems, to ensure that every type of production sounds its best. An example is the Erkel Theatre in the Hungarian capital Budapest, which has recently installed a state-of-the-art Yamaha and Nexo system.
The Erkel Theatre opened in December 1911 and has been Hungary’s largest auditorium since its opening. With a currently audience capacity of 1819, it has been regularly redeveloped over the years and has been the Hungarian State Opera’s second performance venue since 1951. Although it had a small sound reinforcement system, the recent decision to stage musicals and other live music performances meant that a more modern solution was needed.
The new system was specified and installed by leadi

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UK - The University of Surrey has been awarded Gold for its teaching and learning in the first ever Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The University of Surrey includes the Guildford School of Acting (GSA).
The award scheme has been introduced by the Government to evaluate the overall quality of Higher Education provision in the UK, and recognises Surrey for delivering consistently outstanding teaching, assessment and academic support. It showcases Surrey as providing teaching and learning at the highest quality level in the UK, and reinforces our position as a leading academic institution for current and prospective students.
Only 20 per cent of the 295 institutions which entered the TEF were awarded Gold status, and the TEF panel drew particular attention to rigorous and stretching course design and assessment; the “outstanding research expertise” of staff “e

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UK - CUK Audio continues to strengthen its portfolio with the signing of an exclusive distribution agreement with German loudspeaker manufacturer, HEDD | Heinz Electrodynamic Designs. Established in 2015 by loudspeaker veteran Klaus Heinz (the founder of ADAM Audio) and his son, mastering engineer Dr. Frederik Knop, HEDD designs and manufactures studio monitors for all areas of music production, broadcast and installation.
The HEDD range is described by the company as “analogue monitors with digital minds”. The emphasis is on “flawless, transparent sound quality above all else, in a format that slots effortlessly into an increasingly digital world thanks to the inclusion of an input card system”. A range of optional input cards enables customers to connect to Dante, RAVENNA/AES67 and AES3/EBU networks for maximum versatility in networked environments.
MI retail

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USA - Originally completed in October of 1917 at a cost of more than half a million dollars, the impressive Greek Doric-style Central Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library, naturally clad in Indiana limestone, officially celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
A big part of the institution’s more recent history is Clowes Auditorium, an intimate 300-seat, 2,800sq.ft venue that was added during the Central Library’s extensive expansion in 2008. Hosting everything from classical chamber performances and Latin jazz bands to children’s theater and corporate presentations, Clowes Auditorium is now truly ready for the future, thanks to a new L-Acoustics Kiva II sound system installed in May by integrator Mid-America Sound.
The auditorium, which had been using temporary ground-stacked PA components as needed, now has its first-ever flown system consisting of six

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USA - DCR Nashville has expanded its inventory with the recent addition of three DiGiCo mixing consoles: two SD10 desks and a new SD12. Inclusive with that purchase are three SD-Racks - each fully loaded with 56 channels of DiGiCo’s brand new 32-bit ‘John Stadius’ mic preamp modules - three DiGiGrid MGB interfaces and three Waves SoundGrid Extreme servers.
According to DCR Nashville general manager John Schirmer, who joined the company in January of this year, the purchase underscores the company’s commitment to offering what its touring and corporate clients are looking for. “Although DCR Nashville has been providing full production services for Brantley Gilbert’s The Devil Don’t Sleep tour and a host of others events—including CMA Fest, Music City July 4th Celebration and Dave Ramsey Solutions - DCR’s owner originally started this company 12 years ago in

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Ireland - The annual Galway International Arts Festival is one of Ireland’s largest cultural events. This year’s line-up features musical performances by Dublin’s own Gavin James, England’s Passenger, original Beach Boy Brian Wilson, and many others. Lighting for the eclectic series of nightly concerts in the festival Big Top is provided by Light Source, with data networking by ProPlex.
“We have used ProPlex cable and devices for every show over many years,” says Light Source general manager, Ciaran Donnelly. “This gig has two GBS 10-port switches, four Opto-Splitters including two Minis in the truss, and an IQ Two 1616 16-universe DMX node. Tying the system together are over 200m of ProPlex Fibre, and 200m of ProPlex Cat 5e and DMX cables.” Donnelly added, “Additionally, we are using 200 meters of ProCable Multicable, fanouts, and 16 amp TRS mains cables.

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Czech Republic - Once the steel and coal powerhouse of Czechoslovakia, the city of Ostrava in the East of the Czech Republic has transformed itself since the fall of communism in 1989 into one of central Europe’s most vibrant cultural centres. In addition to hosting one of the most famous music festivals in Europe in a disused mining complex turned UNESCO World Heritage site (Colours of Ostrava), Ostrava is home to one of the most progressive theatres in the country, Divadlo Mir.
In keeping with Ostrava’s transformative theme, the theatre – a former cinema – recently called upon Ostravská Kulturní S.R.O to upgrade its ageing lighting and audio systems. For fresh visual input, the theatre opted to install eight Chauvet Professional Ovation F-165WW and 12 Ovation F-95WW Ovation ellipsoidal fixtures, supplied by Chauvet Professional distributor, Audiomaster.
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Croatia - Lighting designer Miro Hrg from top Croatian rental company Promo Logistika chose Robe BMFL Spots, CycFX8s, LEDWash 600s and MMX WashBeams to light the main conference plenary session for the Microsoft WinDays 2017 conference, staged at the Valamar Rubin Hotel in the beautiful historical city of Poreč in Istria.
The four-day event caomprised a series of lectures, seminars, networking and interactive sessions aimed at Windows developers and administrators and involved two locations – the Rubin Hotel just outside the city centre and at the Valamar Isabella Island Resort on the picturesque Island of Saint Nicolas in Poreč Harbour.
It was the second year running that Miro has designed set and lighting for the WinDays event’s main conference room. The client was extremely happy with last year’s results and this year raised the bar on the production values.

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New Zealand - As one of New Zealand’s top providers of full, turnkey production solutions for all types of events, Forge Audio has taken total advantage of the flexibility offered by Adamson Systems Engineering’s compact S-Series loudspeakers.
“Adamson offered us a highly flexible and powerful product in a very compact package,” begins Forge Audio president Marc Benedict about adding Adamson to their inventory. “From a business perspective, we’ve achieved a very high return on investment in a very short period. The system’s flexibility and popularity means it’s constantly out and working hard on all kinds of applications.”
Forge Audio’s fleet includes a significant complement of Adamson S10 two-way, full-range line array cabinets and companion S119 subwoofers, plus several active Point 12 conventional two-way enclosures. The system was supplied by D

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UK - In June, Baldwin Boxall’s customer satisfaction survey was completed and the company is “extremely proud” of the results. Customers were asked questions about the products, technical assistance and also the purchasing experience that they received - and the results were excellent!
Over 98% of the customers surveyed said that Baldwin Boxall products are of a very high quality and that they are extremely likely to purchase again. In addition to this, 97% said they were very satisfied with the company overall.
The Baldwin Boxall mission statement has four clearly defined areas of focus and these results confirm that the company is on target for the customer mission part of this.
Customer comments included: “Excellent support and back up and an extremely reliable and well recognised product” “All the staff offer first class service from sales

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UK - The five-day Henley Festival, featuring a celebration of UK and international music, comedy and the arts, continued it ascendancy by pulling in over 25,000 people this year.
The event itself dates back to 1983, and as its longest-serving contractor RG Jones Sound Engineering was again contracted to deliver the PA system under the direction of overall head of sound and production manager, Jim Lambert.
Once again, they fielded Martin Audio’s premium MLA Compact system - a winning formula for the main Floating Stage over the Thames, which has a difficult audience profile to cover, being only 30m from front to back but over 80m wide due to the Festival taking over the site from the Royal Regatta the week immediately prior.
And with a change of stage this year, RG Jones’ Simon Honywill - himself a Henley stalwart who was first involved as far back as 1984 - w

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Italy - Pop band Collage is currently on tour with two GLD digital mixing systems from Allen & Heath.
Provided by PA company, Service SLS, the band is on an extensive 30-date tour across the country including several key festivals, carrying two GLD-80 mixers with AR2412 remote IO racks, connected via Dante.
“GLD is the perfect choice for this tour – the mixer is very compact, the AR rack provides plenty of additional IO, and the sound quality is excellent,” comments Collage’s sound engineer, Francesco Rega.
(Jim Evans)
  1. Yamaha improves neighbourhood relations
  2. AC-ET supplies Opera North with video system
  3. NFTS installs PSI systems in major refit
  4. QSC and WyreStorm forge software partnership
  5. ISCE gains ECS accreditation status for sound engineers
  6. Absen Europe hosts Istanbul summit
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