Installation

Details
USA - In 2003, the famed US Naval Academy at Anapolis completed a 10-year renovation of the historic Bancroft Hall. Bancroft Hall has the distinction of being the largest dormitory in the world, housing the academy's entire class of 4,500 midshipmen. It has 1,873 rooms, 4.8 miles of corridors, and almost 10,000 windows.

One of the last rooms to be renovated was the historic Memorial Hall. Known for its plaques honouring past midshipmen and its "Don't Give up the Ship" motto, the Memorial Hall is one of the most revered spaces at the academy and has been used for countless Naval ceremonies and presentations over the last 100 years. As with many historic rooms, the hard reflective surfaces and high ceilings made the Memorial Hall a difficult acoustical challenge. The Naval Academy wanted to replace its ineffective portable sound system with a permanently installed audio

Details
UK - Leading project management company Stagecraft is the first company in the UK to install an innovative new touch screen lighting system created by Zero 88. Stagecraft has been working with Salisbury nightclub The Chapel on the supply and installation of £100,000 of lighting equipment, which includes the new touch screens.

Since early 2003 Stagecraft has been involved in the massive refurbishment project at The Chapel. Project manager Martin Palmer commented: "Lighting can be used in so many different ways in clubs like The Chapel and the system we installed had to be extremely versatile. With so much new lighting technology out on the market we spent a great deal of time researching all the options available."

Linked directly to the Zero 88 Frog Box, the touch screens can be used to recall and edit lighting sequences stored in the Frog Box's memory. Through a re

Details
UK - Adlib Audio has installed a predominantly proprietary sound system into the restaurant and bar at one of Liverpool's first boutique hotel - The Hope Street Hotel - a collaboration project between three individuals, Andrew Bentley, David Brewis and chef Paul Askew. At Hope Street, the bottom line is to ensure guests are comfortable and relaxed in a well-designed environment, as they enjoy the hotel's facilities including the London Carriage Works restaurant and the resident's lounge bar.

Andrew Bentley is a concert pianist and local show promoter, so he knew the importance of sound as a creative element of making the right ambience, he said: "I chose ADLIB because I have known them for many years. Apart from getting an excellent sound for the room, they've always been straightforward to deal with."

ADLIB's Andy Dockerty was asked to design a system sympathetic to

Details
UK - SA Sound Services of Wellingborough has just completed a full A/V installation for the 500 capacity Brickhill Baptist church in Bedford. Steve Ashley CEO of SA Sound commented: "The church had a historical problem getting intelligible sound to the rear seating which is under a low ceiling running around the entire perimeter of the room. The choice of the L-Acoustics MTD112b has solved that problem. Using an L/C/R format we were able to cover the entire auditorium very evenly and just as importantly cost effectively with just three elements".

Both Pastor Paul Woodward and Paul Templeman the resident sound engineer have confirmed that the new system is much clearer with excellent vocal clarity throughout the room. Templeman said: "There is no problem now in reaching the perimeter seating, and we have a very even SPL coverage at all frequencies around the venue.

Details
USA - A new company has been formed to chronicle, produce and distribute a shared history of production touring from the perspective of industry professionals. Roadcases, founded by Paul Dexter and Larry McNeny, is in its early stages of development, beginning with a website along with a new idea for a cable television series and a future book.

Dexter has been writing steadily in American industry magazines since early 2000. "I wrote an article early on called 'Is there Life After Rock'n'Roll Touring?'" says Dexter. "After touring, going out into the real world with rock'n'roll attitude was a huge shock. I need freakin' therapy now and I've discovered that I'm not the only one."

McNeny and Dexter met on Ozzy Osbourne's 'Diary of a Madman' Tour in 1981-82. McNeny was the tour manager, as he had been for the BeeGees and Eric Clapton, and Dexter was Ozzy's l

Details
UK - Installation Europe in association with TOA Corporation are inviting installers, consultants, distributors and manufacturers to nominate projects for the 2004 Golden Ears Award. The Award will celebrate excellence in the design of electronic systems in commercial buildings.

First prize is a dream tour of the Far East, sponsored by TOA Corporation to celebrate the company's 70th anniversary. For an entry form, please visit the website below.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

Details
UK - The Coliseum, home to the English National Opera, was in the final stages of its £41m refurbishment when I visited in early February. Having experienced hideous delays resulting in both the cancellation of Nixon in China and the advertised first night of Rheingold, ENO tentatively opened its doors on 27 February with the first part of Wagner's pioneering tetralogy, The Ring Cycle. Whilst the opening show received mixed reviews the interior itself procured gasps of admiration from FOH staff and punters alike.

Originally a variety house designed by the renowned architect Frank Matcham, the Coliseum has been home to the English National Opera since 1968. This restoration is the first major programme of repair since it opened in 1904: the venue has undergone several face-lifts in the past, some of which have eradicated many of the theatre's beautiful original features.

Respo

Details
UK - Experienced industry executive, Garry Broadbent, has been confirmed as the new MD of CRS Ltd and Powerent. Broadbent will take the reigns at two of the Longville Group's specialist equipment rental companies after a complete restructure by the new board which was appointed at the end of last year. CRS is one of the country's leading climate control hire specialists and Powerent provides power and generator solutions.

Broadbent was one of the original founders of CRS in 1995 and moved with the company, becoming sales director, when the Longville Group acquired it in 1999. Broadbent not only has a background in sales but also mechanical engineering, which is crucial in what is a technical, installation and solution driven market.

Broadbent said: "The restructure at Longville has created a great opportunity for our businesses to focus on their own unique strengths and c

Details
The Netherlands - De Tiliander is a new multi cultural building in the Dutch city Oisterwijk. It houses a theatre, a school of music, the Grand Café and a library. Sound Projects dealer Van De Klundert recently installed a compact Sound Projects 10 (SP-10) line array set-up in the theatre (450 seats).

The main system consisted of five SP-10 line-array systems per side. To provide the first four rows with sound, two compact X-act full-range systems are positioned as front-fills. To augment the sub-lows, three self-powered SP-15s were also flown with the line array. Three Sound Projects SP2600 amplifiers power the array, while a dbx 480 DriveRack does all necessary processing.

Van de Klundert sound designer Dennis van der Vleuten commented: "Our choice for a Sound Projects line-array was obvious. The Sound Projects Wave-shape-transformer promises a real HF line source, nec

Details
UK - The lease on Central London's legendary Hippodrome - made famous in the 1980's by Peter Stringfellow - has been extended by 12 months to new incumbents, following the departure of previous operators, Luminar Leisure, last September. As a result, a consortium headed by Chinawhite director, Jeremy Hartley and Leicester Square Association chairman, Steve Bowen, have taken on the lease, and earmarked a £750,000 development budget, with a large percentage going on lighting.

A contract worth £150,000 has been awarded to Ian Kirby's Coemar UK for the supply of a large consignment of Coemar moving head dancefloor and mid-air beam effects plus Hungaroflash strobes, James Thomas Engineering LED battens and ShowCAD computer control.

Replacing the majestic satellites - the mainstay of the club's dynamic lightshows through the '80s - the fixtures have been purchased and installed by

Details
Germany - From March of this year, students of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg, Germany, have had the opportunity to learn everything about the craft of broadcast production in a fully equipped, state-of-the-art television studio. transtechnik Lichtsysteme of Holzkirchen, Germany, project managed the installation and also supplied the lighting and studio automation equipment for the almost 380sq.m TV studios.

The studio is truly multifunctional - used for classes in cutting, montage, and series formatting, as well as for film and television productions, lectures, movie screenings, and other events. To familiarize students with the latest technologies, the Filmakademie has placed a high value on modern (as well as standard) studio equipment. transtechnik Lichtsysteme could offer everything from a single source: from planning the ceiling construction all the way

Details
USA - Kurt Kern, long-time TMB sales representative, has relocated to Cleveland to join Vincent Lighting Systems. TMB's East Coast sales manager, Brian Dowd, said: "Kurt has been a great asset and friend to us all. We respect the devotion to his family that prompted this move. The growth of our New York office over the past few years would not have been possible without Kurt's knowledge, talent and hard work. Paul Vincent and everyone at Vincent Lighting are very fortunate. Meanwhile, we now have to deal with our worst nightmare: a customer who knows our deepest, darkest secrets!"

"Who can blame Kurt for moving to a town with such an awesome football team?" said TMB's sales manager, Tommy Stephenson, famous follower of lost causes, adding: "Paul, did you get a chance to look at my resumé yet?"

"These have been great years," comments Ke

Details
UK - Sound Division has installed a sophisticated AV system into the brand new bar and restaurant in London's Battersea, called Iniquity, and owned and run by Rising Star Leisure. According to Rising Star's chief executive, Steve Kelly, the brief was to "implement a high quality and resilient audio-visual system, based on best-of-breed technology, to provide great sound quality from a variety of input sources, including CD, Hard Disk, MP3, DVD, and DJ."

To this end, Sound Division's David Graham specified a Crown-driven JBL system that is split into two zones with the ability to control both zones from each area. The bar area is served by JBL Control 28 loudspeakers while Graham opted for Control 25Avs for the lounge with system control courtesy of a Cloud CX242 dual zone mixer. In addition to the audio system, Sound Division has also installed a sophisticated AV syst

Details
UK - From November 2004, ExCeL will become London's latest entertainment venue, with a capacity of up to 17,000 seated and 20,000 standing. The purpose-built venue offers fully flexible configurations for concerts, sports events and family shows, plus regularly available time-slots for rehearsals and sound checks.

Says Rob MacKenzie, ExCeL's London EventCo managing director: "Already London's premier venue for exhibitions, we are perfectly placed to host large-scale entertainment events. This has always been part of ExCeL's medium term strategy and is a logical extension of our existing client base. We are delighted to announce this move and with the assistance of our strategic consultant Andrew Zweck, who has 25 years' experience in the industry, we hope that ExCeL will become a popular venue for concerts and entertainment events."

The phenomenal success of the Schr

Details
UK - An unusual lighting scheme has recently been completed for Stevenage Borough Council by Future Group Lighting Design, using the new KlipLED system from Light Projects Group. The KlipLED, part of the new AuraLED collection, is an interior flexible colour strip system using 1W Luxeon LEDs in red, white, royal blue, green, cyan and amber.

For the Stevenage project, the ceiling incorporates a series of concentric arcs: since the section was too small to accommodate conventional light sources, a new system was designed by Peter Phillipson, in which 2,500 Light Projects KlipLEDs concealed in the arcs by a specially detailed system. A mix of white and blue has been used so that the ceiling colour changes over the course of the day to simulate a changing sky effect.

The Customer Service Centre space is purposefully influenced by the lighting to create a very pleasant working env

Details
Switzerland - In Switzerland, Pulsar's ChromaRange has recently played a major role in the renovation of a gentleman's club, The Brummel Cabaret, which is set beneath the five-star Palace Hotel in Lausanne. The club has been experiencing a complete refurbishment throughout the winter period by Yves Donati of Hybrid Concept in Geneva.

Giving the club a 'Roman-like' theme, Donati has employed an extensive use of Pulsar's LED ChromaRange products to enhance features and create ambience within the venue. Chromastrips are utilized to magnificently wash the stone walls, hall and entrance stairway, whilst ChromaScapes light the entrance from outside. An imaginative creation displayed in the lounges is of two bronze statuettes of beautiful goddesses holding ChromaSpheres on outstretched arms; one is holding a normal size 300mm sphere and the other is holding a smaller substitute.

All

Details
UK - Ten years ago, Milne's Cold Storage & Ice Factory in Perth, Scotland, was transformed into a nightclub featuring top-of-the-line Martin Professional equipment. Today, following a refurbishment including Martin lighting, Jem smoke and Mach audio gear, the venue is looking forward to another decade of success.

Michael Jordan, managing director of Nightclub Sound & Light (NSAL), a Martin preferred dealer located in Perth, provided the lighting, smoke and sound systems for all three rooms in the venue. Jordan explains: "I'm actually a DJ at the club and The Ice Factory is the reason I got involved with Martin years ago. I wanted to be able to service this venue," he states. "I kept the lighting going for 10 years and now I'm one of the biggest dealers in Scotland. This was a top Martin install when it opened . . . with 1220s, 218s and RoboColor IIs. Now with the

Details
UK - A.C. Lighting's Audio division has supplied the Hackney Empire with a Soundcraft MH4 live mixing console as part of the venue's £17m restoration. The venue began life as a theatre in 1901 and has undergone a number of transformations - including TV studio and bingo hall - before returning to its original theatre roots in 1986. The venue closed in 2001 to begin its multi-million pound renovation and refurbishment programme designed to re-establish the Empire as a showcase theatre for the 21st century.

Among the many improvements made to the theatre is an enlarged orchestra pit, enabling large-scale opera, ballet and musicals to visit the Empire for the first time in its history. When the Empire's owners wanted to bring the theatre's technical aspects up to date they called on A.C.'s Audio division to supply a state of the art live sound-mixing console. The brief was to prov

Details
Denmark - Capped by a vaulting glass mosaic dome, the new conference room at Danske Bank's headquarters in Copenhagen is one of Europe's more graceful presentation venues. Designed for a maximum 150 capacity, it is a classicist's vision of light and space. But roll down the projection screen, dim the lights, cue the show, and technology begins to impose its presence in a subtle fashion that belies its potency. "The bank approached us with a good brief, very specific in terms of application, but quite open when it came to equipment," explained Jesper Rosgaard of Informationsteknik, the company charged with defining and providing a complete AV system for the conference room.

"Danske Bank had several clearly-defined needs: they wanted a facility that could accommodate events of widely varying scale and complexion, so a dominant demand was for flexibility of equipment

Details
Japan - Jere Harris, Chairman and CEO of Production Resource Group (PRG), has announced the establishment of an Asian subsidiary - PRG Asia Inc - to be headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and dedicated to supporting PRG's many clients in the Asian marketplace.

"We've been serving clients throughout Asia for many years from our offices in North America and the UK," Harris explained. "The establishment of an Asian subsidiary is an important step in the expansion of our client support services in Asia."

PRG has more than a decade of experience serving clients in Asia in projects including theatre installations, theme park attractions, concert tours and corporate and special events. PRG Asia Inc will be engaged in business development and client support for all types of PRG products and services.

Makoto Yamazaki will serve as president of Asian Operations for t

Details
UK - PCM is highlighting three product ranges at the 2004 ABTT Show - it's Award-winning Unibar and Pilewind winches, and its range of CM Lodestar Motors. PCM established the Lodestar brand in the European touring and event industry in the 1990s. The company supplies a wide selection of standard Lodestar electric chain hoists, which will be highlighted on the stand, together with details of PCM's well-known Motor Schools.

PCM also features the VBG70/ BGV C1 Lodestar - a hoist with special safety features including double brakes - each capable of stopping the full load. They provide double the usual hoist safety factor, with a chain safety factor of 10:1, plus four-position limit switches including emergency switches, 24V control, under/overload electronic protection and a slack chain detection device.

The award-winning Unibar (PLASA 2003 Product Excellence) was designed by PCM

Details
USA - Further to the news from Color Kinetics, two key PRG executives, Joe Schenk and Anne Johnston, will take over the management of PRG's Integrated Solutions Group to take over from Bill Groener, the group's former manager.

Schenk will lead the group's West Coast operations while Johnston leads the East. "Assumption of Bill's responsibilities by Joe and Anne will be a natural transition for us," says Michael Tomkin, president of PRG. "Each is intimately familiar with the operations of the group. Each also has unique expertise that will help the group's clients capitalize on important new trends in the evolution of entertainment technology."

As President of PRG's Nevada operations, Schenk has overseen some of the Integrated Solutions Group's most important projects in Las Vegas, including the Masquerade in the Sky at the Rio, Star Trek at th

Details
Netherlands - One of the Netherlands' most prestigious conference venues has installed a Nexo Geo S sound reinforcement system in its main auditorium, which regularly hosts events and meetings for the Dutch government and European authorities.

The venue is the largest of the halls in the World Trade Center Rotterdam, measuring 35m x 26m, with a capacity for about 1000 delegates. It has always been regarded as a difficult acoustic environment, being a very reverberant hall with marble floors. The installation was carried out in cooperation with Dutch Television Services by Frits Baan, owner of the in Huizen-based company STB, and supported by Iemke Roos, Nexo's distributor in the Netherlands. Bert Koenders of Iemke Roos explains how Geo S was snapped up: "Together with Frits Baan, we prepared a quotation using Nexo's Geo Soft package, and then did a demo on-site; the syste

Details
Australia - In the shadow of the iconic Sydney Opera House, the Opera Bar is situated on the forecourt with views of the City and the Harbour Bridge. Open 15 hours a day, with live music or DJs virtually every night, the outdoor Opera Bar is a popular spot. Regardless of the occasion, the Opera Bar is now serenading patrons with an Allen & Heath PA12 stereo live mixer and FBT powered speakers.

Entertainment manager, David Milton, comments: "The audio system is in use every night, so we require a tough, portable mixer that also doesn't occupy a vast sightline space. Simplicity of use and operational flexibility were the key parameters in our choice of console and overriding all that is the absolute demand for audio quality - considering our location that's a given - there's no room for compromise!"

The FBT speaker system includes a pair of 10" 2-way 200W MaxX2

  1. Coemar sets Mood for Bakersfield
  2. Randy Green goes to D-Tools
  3. Total Structures Bowls into Hollywood
  4. Logistik Events stage Athens 2004 Ball
  5. HIQ Sound refurbishes with Wharfedale
  6. Harlequin launches new website
Page 102 of 198

Latest Issue. . .