Business

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Qatar - Al Isteklal is a busy rental and technical production company based in Qatar that has just taken delivery of 148 x Robe moving lights to boost their current rental stock. Al Isteklal was founded in 2004 by Akram Hamada to supply premium lighting, sound and AV packages – together with staging, rigging, trussing and all associated infrastructure - to a wide range of clients in the Qatari market The scope of their work encompasses concerts, festivals, live events and spectaculars, television and theatre productions, corporate events and product launches as well as multi-sector fixed installations.
They now service over 100 diverse and varied shows and events annually, and have built a reputation for great standards of excellence, experience and being able to offer a proper “full production” solution that is delivered with imagination, flair and efficiency to all c

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USA / Belgium - Barco and ETC have announced that they are in serious discussions over ETC’s possible acquisition of High End Systems, part of Barco’s Entertainment division. Details of the timeline for the completion of the acquisition remain unknown, but both parties say they are committed to moving forward with a successful transaction.
Wim Buyens, senior VP of Barco’s Entertainment division, commented: “For Barco, the envisioned divestment of its lighting activities is in line with its strategy to sharpen the focus on its core activities. We believe joining forces with ETC would enable High End Systems to realise its full business potential, while providing ongoing support and opportunity development for its customers, and we appreciate ETC’s commitment to maintain High End’s operations in Austin and fully support the development of High End’s products.”

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Switzerland - As Yamaha celebrates 30 years since it produced the world’s first digital mixer, the company’s flagship Rivage PM10 digital mixing system continues to win new fans around the world. One of the latest is Swiss live production company smARTec Veranstaltungstechnik AG, which took delivery of two systems in late 2016.
smARTec has used Yamaha digital consoles for over 10 years, investing in its first M7CL-48 in 2006. Since then it has expanded its inventory over time to include more M7CLs, as well as LS9s, 01V96s, PM5Ds and multiple CL series consoles.
“Our customers trust us to deliver the highest levels of reliability and Yamaha digital consoles provide that,” says smARTec’s Mark Steinemann. “When we started growing the corporate event side of our business, we found that they also gave us very analytical, accurate audio tools to work with, match

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India - Mega Sound is one of India’s leading AV rental companies, with an impressive inventory of world class, top of the line professional equipment. The latest addition to its audio arsenal is a DiGiCo SD10 digital mixing console and two D2 Racks, purchased through DiGiCo’s India distributor, Hi-Tech Audio Systems Pvt. Ltd. in New Delhi.
Currently operational in Ahmedabad and Udaipur, Mega Sound provide a range of services from live sound, DJ systems, stage lighting and conference setups. The company proudly associates itself with performances from high profile Indian artists such as Kailash Kher, Arijit Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Vishal & Shekhar, Salim Suileman, Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan, amongst others.
“We work across a variety of applications, which makes the SD10 the right addition to our existing stock,” explains Siddharth Chauhan, managing dir

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Rate Review Request - The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre have written to the government calling for a “fundamental review” of the planned increase in business rates over concerns this will have a "disproportionate" impact on theatres around the UK.
SOLT chief executive Julian Bird and UK Theatre head Cassie Chadderton have written a letter to chancellor Philip Hammond and local government secretary Sajid Javid urging a rethink on the hike. It comes after The Stage reported that higher business taxes, which come into force in April, threaten to wipe out local theatre subsidy. As business rates are based on rental values, rate increases will be highest in the capital, with West End theatres expecting to see steep rises.
The letter argues that theatre and the performing arts contribute to a “vibrant and thriving local environment”, making a

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UK - Founded in 1984, Adlib caters to both rental and installation clients, providing professional sound, lighting and AV solutions to meet almost any requirement.
When their need came for multichannel amplifiers, Adlib’s Rob Crossland turned to Linea Research for a demo. “We were looking for a high-powered, four channel amp to drive our proprietary AA loudspeakers, and we contacted Linea Research to see if we could test one of their new models,” explains Crossland. “We have a well-established preset library for our speaker systems so onboard DSP with front panel recall was a must, along with network control to keep inventory management in the warehouse straightforward.”
Linea Research provided one of their 44M20 four channel amplifiers for evaluation. The 44M20 offers 4x 5000W at 2 ohms with 96kHz DSP and networked control as standard along with an optional

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UK - An appointed supplier to Hull UK City of Culture 2017, Star Events will provide a VerTech stage and support infrastructure for SJM’s Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott’s turn at the KCOM Craven Park stadium on 3 June.
Heaton formed the Housemartins and the Beautiful South in Hull and the 23,000 capacity event will feature songs from both bands along with material he went on to record with Beautiful South singer Jacqui Abbott.
Star Events’ 20m VerTech stage goes to Hull from the Courteneers at Emirates Old Trafford, another SJM/homecoming gig, along with a venue specific loading dock, a low level VT Front of House structure and two 11.5m V-tower delays.
Pete Holdich, head of structures at Star Events, comments, “It’s many years since we worked at Craven Park. The stadium has got good access, a helpful house team and plenty of storage space, which takes u

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USA - Pittsburgh-based R & R Audio Services recently added an Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) Radius sound reinforcement system to their inventory. The regional sound company, which supports several outdoor festivals and summer shows, added the system to increase options for their customers.
“Radius is a true line array with features not found on similar systems on the market,” explains Ron Perchinsky, owner, R & R Audio Services. “Between the EAWmosaic app and the easy-to-use DSP on the back panel, it takes all of the guess work out of set up.”
The Radius Series consists of point source, line source, stage monitor and subwoofer loudspeakers. R & R Audio Services added eight RSX208L line array modules with plans to add the RSX18 subwoofer before the summer season begins.
“EAWmosaic software, which provides prediction, control and monitoring

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USA - Sweet Southern Sound has acquired a new E-Series rig from Adamson Systems Engineering.
Based in Beaumont, Texas, Sweet Southern Sound offers event production and AV integration services across Southeast Texas and has been championing Adamson products for a wide array of applications in recent years.
“We did a church install a few years ago with Adamson products, and it’s one of the best-sounding rigs we ever delivered,” shares Sweet Southern Sound owner Clint Hill. “Since then, we’ve just loved the brand and as we grow, we continued to invest in Adamson.”
After servicing rental clients for years with a complement of Adamson boxes, including a sizeable S-Series inventory, Sweet Southern Sound kicked off 2017 with the purchase of 18 E15 three-way line source enclosures and 16 E119 compact subwoofers.
“We are trying to increase our customer

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USA - When Webster University’s Conservatory of Theater Arts staged a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth last fall, students enhanced the lighting rig with four Claypaky Scenius moving head spotlights.
The Conservatory, based in Webster Groves, Missouri, stages six student-designed and student-produced shows and a dance theatre each season at the Lorreto Hilton Centre. A classical version of Macbeth was directed by Bruce Longworth and played seven performances before Thanksgiving.
Student lighting designer, Josh Murphy, expressed an interest in “beefing up” the school’s lighting rig for Macbeth, so consulting lighting designer Seth Jackson called A.C.T Lighting, Inc. with whom he’s had a 20-year relationship dating from his concert touring work.
“We have our own lighting inventory, but Josh wanted more tools than we had on han

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UK - Two of the latest MDG haze generators, the ATMe, recently joined up-and-coming British rock band, Catfish and the Bottlemen, playing medium to large arenas during a three-week tour of the UK in support of the band’s second studio album, The Ride.
The band, which formed in Llandudno, Wales in 2007, first had success with their debut album, The Balcony, which reached number 10 in the UK albums chart, since when they have toured the UK, Europe, North America and Australia. The release of The Ride in May 2016 saw the follow up tour visit Derby Arena, Bournemouth BIC, Victoria Warehouse Manchester, Plymouth Pavilions, Glasgow SECC, Wembley Arena and the Ricoh Stadium in Coventry.
Newcastle-based Nitelites supplied the full lighting, audio and staging to the tour and hired the MDG ATMe haze generators from Impact Productions which purchased two o

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Europe - Monitor engineer Chris Fillery and Front of House engineer Trevor Coppen chose an SD11i and SD10 respectively, supplied by audio rental company Eighth Day Sound, for Grammy Award winning American rock band Cage The Elephant’s recent European tour. Each engineer had different reasons for choosing their console and both are “delighted” with their decision.
Chris and Trevor are both familiar with DiGiCo consoles and Chris had used the already compact SD9 for the US leg of the tour. However, for the European leg they were travelling with just one bus and one trailer, so he decided to switch to an SD11i. He has found its size perfect for transportation and for fitting into any venue. Trevor, meanwhile, based his choice on versatility, international availability, ease of multitrack recording, Waves integration and, he says, most importantly, sound.
“Every ti

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India - With his combination of Buddhist wisdom and contemporary values, his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama addressed over three thousand Indian youngsters, scholars and social visionaries on Reviving Indian Wisdom in Contemporary India at Talkatora indoor stadium in New Delhi.
To ensure appropriate vocal intelligibility, fundamental for communicating the profound content of a talk of this kind, and the power to do so in a large venue, the organizers (Vidyaloke) called in Global Pro-Audio Management, who deployed an Outline sound rig featuring several models from the Italian manufacturer’s range: GTO C-12, DBS 18-2, Mantas 28, Doppia II 9075, DVS 15P iSP and iSM 115.
Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lamas to be manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet, enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to b

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UK - Marantz Professional has announced that they have appointed Holdan Ltd as their exclusive UK sales and distribution partner for professional microphones and accessories.
Holdan will be handling Marantz Professional’s range of Broadcast/ENG microphones and accessories, including both Short and Long Shotgun microphones. Also available will be the 9ft and 11ft extension boom poles, either with or without an integral XLR cable. These optional extension boom poles dramatically increase the reach and placement versatility of the shotgun mics, giving recording specialists far greater precision and flexibility in the composition of their recordings.
Oliver Webb, UK business development manager for Marantz Professional said, “We’re unreservedly enthusiastic about joining forces with Holdan Ltd to bring the outstanding performance, reliability and application versat

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Turkey - The architectural lighting of Kırıkkale Nur Mosque, which was designed by ZEVE Lighting Design Studio, not only emphasizes the spiritual identity of the mosque but also creates an icon for the city of Kirikkale.
Inspired by the late Ottoman architecture, the mosque consists of a main dome, eight carrier columns, four secondary domes, five entrance domes and four three-balcony-minarets. The main dome has inner diameter of 20m and height of 32m. The height of minarets is 61m. The mosque is extending in the west and east directions with a domed portico surrounding the courtyard.
The design approach was to emphasize the spiritual identity of the mosque and to create an icon for the city of Kirikkale. On the way to this goal, to enhance the perception of the architecture and to define the structure; main architectural elements were highlighted, shadows were used

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UK – Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards is powering up in preparation for its luminous tenth anniversary event this September. Billed as the ultimate showcase of lighting and video design achievement in the UK, the Awards is already receiving outstanding nominations in lighting and video design as international creatives and industry supporters push to see their favourite works of 2016/17 take home a KOI sword this landmark year.
Work performed or broadcast between the 1st August 2016 and 31st June 2017 in the UK in the Awards’ Television and Concert Touring & Events categories is now eligible for nomination via the official KOI website www.knight-of-illumination.com. Anyone is eligible to submit a show they feel worthy of recognition and lighting and video designers, including international designers who have worked on shows in the UK, are encouraged to sel

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Belgium - AED, the Belgian AV solutions provider, recently expanded its rental product portfolio by investing in six new Wings Engine Stage media servers and two Wings Engine Pro Quad servers, as well as 10 UHD Player units.
In addition to media server and media playout hardware, AED also purchased a number of AV Stumpfl VarioClip projection screens.
VarioClip screens offer a full clean profile without studs and press snaps. The projection screen surface tension can be adjusted to ambient temperature with a great frame stability and accuracy.
AV Stumpfl CEO Tobias Stumpfl comments, "AED has been one of our closest partners in Europe for quite a few years now. It makes us particularly happy to see that both our projection screens and media server related product ranges continue to be important parts of the AED family's rental product portfolio. We know the AED te

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Croatia - Established in 2006, Croatian audio rental company Promo Logistika offers a full service, from event production and merchandising to equipment rental. Their slogan is ‘Everything is possible’ and their aim is to have the very best equipment in their inventory. To that end, at the beginning of the year, they invested in one of DiGiCo’s flagship SD7 digital mixing consoles, purchased through DiGiCo’s Croatian distributor, MK Light & Sound.
“We wanted to have an SD7 because there wasn’t one in the region,” says Promo Logistika’s Zoran Biškupić. “Although we already have a digital mixing console in our inventory, we wanted to be able to offer the very best and that’s the SD7.”
The console was deployed on the RSVP Festival in Zagreb at the beginning of February, where MK Light & Sound also exhibited DiGiCo’s new SD12, an S21, S31

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UK - Power distribution specialist ide Systems has expanded the fleet of products available through its ide Rental service with the addition of its new mains distribution unit, the MD63. The product is a power distribution unit for temporary electrical installations, such as those in the event industry, and is housed in a high density polyethylene enclosure to ensure resistance to impact and the elements.
The MD63’s polyethylene enclosure is designed to provide consistent performance and safety, with recessed socket and switchgear panels for mechanical protection and ingress protection (IP) rated sockets that protect against dust and splashes of water. Each outlet of the unit also features a red power light, allowing electrical contractors and event staff to easily identify whether an outlet is live.
The MD63 has 15 output sockets to accommodate the large number of e

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Germany - The launch of Nexo’s new Geo M10 sound reinforcement package has been enthusiastically received by audio rental companies in Europe, with Satis & Fy narrowly winning a good-natured race to become the first rental house customer in Germany to stock the new mid-size line array.
Global director of Audio Services Martin Ramrath attended the ISE in Amsterdam to put in Satis & Fy’s order for a Geo M10 system, complete with MSub15 subbass cabinets and a comprehensive inventory of rigging accessories. This was a ‘satisfying’ moment for Ramrath, who has been involved with the M10 project since conception.
“This is a true utility product,” says Ramrath, “the M10 can service so many different events and productions, this will be the workhorse system in any rental inventory. We are particularly pleased by the practical rigging features, such as the

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Italy - Adamson Systems Engineering has added another high profile partner to its global network as Italian production technologies provider Audioextreme kicked off 2017 with the purchase of an Adamson S-Series rig.
“We were searching for a high-quality system that would offer us and our customers an exclusive and competitive advantage in the market,” shares Giovanni Rosati, owner of Audioextreme. “After auditioning several high-end systems, we unanimously decided that the Adamson S-Series was the clear choice and it has already proven to be exactly what we needed.”
The system, sourced through Adamson’s exclusive Italian distributor, Audiosales, is comprised of 16 S10 two-way, full-range line source cabinets and eight S119 companion subwoofers and will be put to use in a wide array of applications.
“We’re delighted to announce this new and important

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USA / UK - The Shure SM58 Cardioid Dynamic Microphone has been used faithfully by the world’s most influential musicians since 1966. To celebrate and honour the strong connection of the SM58 to legendary musical artists, Shure has partnered with both Paul McCartney and The Who to make available at auction a one-time production of 600 serialized graphic painted SM58s.
All of the proceeds generated from the campaign will go directly toward foundations for which both artists are deeply vested, including Paul McCartney’s Meat Free Monday and The Who’s Teen Cancer America. The serialized microphones will come with graphics specific to each artist. The Paul McCartney Special Edition 50th Anniversary SM58 will feature cover art from the album Kisses on the Bottom, photographed by Mary McCartney, and The Who Special Edition will feature original artwork from graphic designer R

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UK - PRG XL Video, the UK operation of Production Resource Group (PRG), has moved to a new, larger, London location. Continuing its strategy for growth, the company has relocated within Central London.
The office, in the very heart of London’s theatreland, houses sales and support teams from four major market sectors – concert touring, theatre, television and film, and corporate and events. The location at 77 St Martin’s Lane, Covent Garden includes space for PRG XL permanent staff, hot desking space for clients and creatives to visit, and multiple meeting rooms, which are not only used by PRG XL’s own teams, but are utilised by industry organisations for their regular board meetings.
PRG XL Video’s director of human resources, Alistair Todd comments: “The space has been designed not only to house our growing team, but also as a hub of creativity for client

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UK - Glantre Engineering has become ASM’s UK, Republic of Ireland, & Middle East approved distribution partner. Glantre announced the partnership with ASM having recently installed 29 HCWA Junior Hoists and control in a provincial theatre in Leamington Spa, UK.
Germany-based ASM is a manufacturer of hoists and controls for use in performance productions. All hoists are BGV-C1 and control is SIL 3. The ASM range of hoists includes point-hoists, stage and scenery hoists, chain hoists and control. These systems offer silent operation, and flexibility for load and speed to fit all types of venues and budgets.
Maurycy Sowka, CEO at ASM, added: “Partnering with ASM was a natural choice for Glantre and we are certain that our partnership will be of great mutual benefit. Glantre offers a complete service under one roof, for a convenient and efficient service to
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