Lighting

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UK - Raymond Gubbay's Classical Spectacular is returning to the Albert Hall on the 23rd March 2006, with Stage Electrics supplying lighting for the 5th year running, working alongside lighting designer Durham Marenghi.

Over one million people have marvelled at the incredible lights, lasers and special effects that make Classical Spectacular a unique experience. 250 plus performers take to the stage and once again the Royal Albert Hall will resound to the world's best classical music including brand new pieces as well as all time favourites, ending with the thundering cannons, muskets and indoor fireworks of the 1812 Overture.

Stage Electrics supply 23 MAC 700s, eight of which are positioned on the floor, with the rest rigged on the striking above-stage trussing structure together with over 80 other Martin fixtures including MAC 2K Washes, MAC 600 Washes, and MAC 300 Washes as

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UK - LM Productions have been commissioned by creative agency Freestate to supply the laser projection systems for Oxfam's Big Light Totalizer in Edinburgh which runs for four weeks. This is a visually striking and highly accessible expression of Oxfam's I'm In Campaign. Oxfam felt it appropriate to return to Scotland's capital for the next stage of their I'm In campaign, as Edinburgh was at the centre of campaigning against global poverty last year.

The event was launched by Annie Lennox who was the first to text her name onto a giant interactive projection (the first of its kind in UK) on the side of the Royal Scottish Academy in the heart of Edinburgh.

Until 5 April, members of the public texting their name to join the campaign will be able to see their name in lights. As people join Oxfam's campaign, high powered green LBO lasers will pen the name acro

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Spain - The Torre Agbar, or Agbar Tower, the corporate headquarters of the Agbar Group, is a 21st century skyscraper in Barcelona and one of the most unique buildings in the world. Opened in June 2005, it was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel. In its lower recesses is a 316 capacity auditorium outfitted with a dynamic Martin Architectural colour changing system.

The Agbar Auditorium's design is quite unique due to the need to avoid placing pillars in the audience and stage areas. The option taken was a double-curved concrete slab, voided by means of expanded polystyrene waffle pods that help resolve the problem of resistance and to a large extent shape the mound required by the architectural project.

ECLER, Martin Architectural's Spanish representative, carried out the lighting project in conjunction with the architects, the first stages of which were completed in A

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UK - HSL is supplying lighting equipment for the popular Bill Kenwright production of The Is Elvis, currently touring the UK and Ireland.

Lighting has been designed by Ben P Cracknell and is being operated on the tour by Darran Curtis. This is Elvis is one of a series of theatre productions on HSL's current wall chart. It's being project managed by Mike Oates, who says: "HSL is always pleased to work on Bill Kenwright's productions, and this show is a great one to be doing, as it is taking the country by storm, and really proving that Elvis is neither dead, nor working in a chippy in Blackpool! We're also pleased to be working with Ben again."

The first half of This Is Elvis is based on the lead up to the seminal TV show - The 68' Comeback Special - an event that re-established Elvis's career and drew phenomenal ratings. The second half is the co

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UAE - The organisers of the PALME exhibition in Dubai report that this year's event will be 50% bigger than last year's. PALME, the region's only exhibition of professional sound, light, music, audio-visual and systems integration technologies will be the largest event of its kind ever staged in the region, say IIR exhibitions.

The event will feature 220 stands, with 600 exhibiting companies represented, with more international manufacturers taking part than ever before. "PALME 2006 has grown from a regional event into one of the leading international events of its kind, which is not surprising given that the latest industry re-forecasts indicate that the market is worth in excess of US$3 billion a year," said Darren Brechin of IIR Exhibitions. "Visitors to this year's show will meet the cream of the industry, including market leaders from Europe, the USA and Far

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UK - New York band The Strokes are back on tour with a new album. Lighting the band for the first time, designers Troy Giddens and Chris Ragan were given a blank canvas. The band wanted minimal front lighting and no followspots which created a moody, dark but spectacular final design, including 39 PixelLine 1044s, six PixelLine 110s, four PixelPars, 29 moving fixtures and 12 strobes.

The 1044s were chosen for their output and pixilation. Used for effects lighting focused directly at the crowd, they create a large array of colour and can be viewed from all angles without losing any density. The tight LED configuration of the 1044s ensures that the colour output is true to the colour source - where white is white and not a mixture of red, green and blue dots.

PixelLine 110s are the only front lights in the design and are mounted vertically to the backside of the downstage towers

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UK - Sixty Robe moving lights were used at the 2006 Michael Elliot Trust Awards, a top charity dinner recognising the best of UK theatre and TV performance, and celebrating the 60th Birthday of the legendary 1940s puppet character, Muffin The Mule.

The event was staged in the Great Room at London's Grosvenor House. Lighting was designed by Attila Keskin and supplied by HSL.

Performers included Chris de Burgh, the cast of two of Bill Kenwright's leading theatre tours of the moment - This is Elvis and Whistle Down the Wind and Camilla Dallerup and Ian Waite from Strictly Come Dancing.

Keskin's challenge was to light a low headroom space serving as both dining room and a performance area. The stage was extremely limited for lighting positions, so HSL rigged a box truss in the centre of the room flanked by two outside trusses either end of the auditorium, pl

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USA - American DJ has released two new two new Blinder versions of its LED Par fixtures - with the P36 and P64 LED Blinders. The P36 LED Blinder comprises eight P36 LED pinspot Par cans, while the P64 LED Blinder brings together four of the wider-beam P64 LED Par cans. Both Blinders are designed to colour-wash larger areas and are great for stage use, rentals, clubs and working bands. They can be set up either on the floor or mounted on American DJ's LTS-6 lighting stand, giving them the flexibility to fit a variety of lighting applications.

Both the P36 LED Blinder and P64 LED Blinder are DMX-compatible, so users can operate them with any standard DMX-512 controller. Both units offer direct DMX connection, so no power pack is required to plug them into the controller. The Blinders also offer manual focus of the wash coverage area, say American DJ.

(Lee Baldock)

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Germany - ETC will introduce the new Transtechnik NTX lighting control console to the public for the first time at this year's ProLight & Sound exhibition in Frankfurt. As the successor in the successful NT line, a well known and respected product primarily in Germany, the new NTX marries the best of the Prisma NT and Focus NT console tradition with the latest advances in control technology, say ETC.

The NTX line, with new hardware and a Linux operating system, concentrates on "the essential in lighting control", say ETC, "while offering incredible processing speed and efficiency, backed up by the NT reputation for reliability".

All NTX units have on-board interfaces and can therefore forego additional external devices. Along with expanded functionality as well as fast and convenient control of moving lights, colour changers and media servers, NTX units com

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UK / UAE - At this year's PALME exhibition in Dubai (23-25 April) Adam Hall will be unveiling its new LD Systems LDPM122 power mixer, LDPN neodymium loudspeakers and the LDPA1600X amplifier to the Middle Eastern market.

The company's LDPM122 12-channel power-mixer boasts professional features including 100mm faders, digital effects and a mighty 1400W power-amplifier; the new LDPN series loudspeaker cabinets feature neodymium drivers and Bass Boost circuitry and the LDPA1600X power-amplifier features built-in crossovers. Adam Hall is seeking a distributor for LD Systems products in the region - and can be found at PALME on stand 2E01.

(Lee Baldock)

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Italy - At the recent Winter Olympic Games, the nightly medals presentations were conducted in the heart of Turin, followed by a celebration which included concerts of various artists and fireworks. All this took place at the Medal Plaza, located directly beside the Piazza Castello in front of the Royal Castle.

The consoles of choice for controlling these complex lighting systems were grandMA multimedia consoles. Lighting designer Giovanni Pinna used a grandMA full-size and two grandMA light desks to control the large lighting system for Medal Plaza. He had to control more than 300 moving lights, countless Pars, fresnels, profiles, strobes and LED fixtures for the different areas on and off stage. One grandMA light served as backup while the second one took control of the LED fixture installation on stage.

But Medal Plaza was not the only place where grandMA multimedia console

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UK - The Technical and Production Arts department at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow will hold its Graduate Exhibition and Trade Show on 22-23 March 2006. The event highlights the latest in creative and technical thinking in the entertainment and event technology world.

A free seminar programme runs across both days, with a range of sessions including an introduction to moving lights, information on the Bristol paint range and its use across film, television and theatre, a glimpse into the world of LED lighting, a history of dimmers, how to become a lighting designer and the use and abuse of chain hoists. Visitors will also be able to learn more about the latest technologies and their applications, and take the chance to have some focused discussions in a relaxed environment.

The work of students graduating from the RSAMD's BA Technical and Productions

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Sweden - Starlight AB, one of the largest technology and service providers in the Swedish music and stage industry, has joined forces with United Audio AB, one of Sweden's leading pro audio rental companies. The two companies will start cooperating immediately, making up what it says is "the first true total service provider for the Swedish entertainment and events industry".

The company now controls the greatest resource available in Scandinavia, consisting of staff, stages, audio, lighting, and transportation services for the music industry, and will soon be able to compete on the European market while maintaining a strong local prescence. United Audio / Starlight will remain represented throughout Sweden, with offices in Stockholm, Avesta, Gothenburg, and Malmo. "The new, nationally available equipment resource, combined with the high level of competence that h

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UK - Pro Audio Systems, the Bradford-based audio and AV rental, sales, and events production company, recently produced events for Harveys and Provident Financial.

The sales conference for Harveys, the furniture retail chain, was produced for McKendrick Associates, and accommodated 250 sales managers in the Kings Suite in the Metropole Hotel, Birmingham. Two live camera feeds were mixed with PowerPoint and video presentations on two large projection screens. A 24ft x 12ft main stage was erected, along with four 12 x 12ft product display stages, and a large red back wall set backdrop. Lighting comprised Strand Coda floods, Strand SL zoom profiles, Strand fresnells, Source Four Pars, Celco dimmers, an Avolites Pearl console, and CM ProStar motorised hoists for suspending the lighting truss.

Audio was supplied with a Meyer Sound system, comprising six self powered UPJ-1P speaker

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Ireland - i-Vision has supplied an eye-catching internal architectural lighting scheme based on its Lumos LED lightsources for Brubakers, the latest multi-purpose night venue to open in Ireland's buzzing new party town of Dundalk. The venue was previously incarnated as a long, narrow space that served as a pub but was totally inadequate for staging live bands.

Owner and local entrepreneur Declan Muckian had the place gutted and re-designed from the ground up, transforming the same footprint into a classy and more functional new 650 capacity environment combining four bars, a restaurant area, dance-floor and live music facilities. He called in Eamonn O'Neil from Vibe Sound & Lighting to supply a top quality audio, AV and lighting package, and he in turn asked i-Vision's Geoff Jones onboard to design and supply the specialist environmental lighting requirements.

"It's alrea

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UK - Mode Lighting (UK) has appointed Tony Kinsey as export sales manager with immediate effect. A veteran of over 15 years in the lighting controls industry, Kinsey will be responsible for developing Mode's international distribution network.

Kinsey has a sound technical knowledge and many years of experience in conducting international business in Australia, Singapore and Europe. Tony joins at a time of determined growth in both the home and international markets for Mode. "I couldn't have come aboard at a better time. It will be challenging but very exciting to join such a successful team with some amazing products to handle, including the Evolution and SceneStyle dimming systems and I am looking forward to expanding our global presence."

Mode Lighting is currently seeking overseas representation and exclusive distributors in certain countries. The company will be

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UK - As they complete a major round of Brannigans bar lighting and video makeovers for owners Herald Inns & Bars, contractors PV Audio Video have found Futurelight products to form an irresistible combination over the dancefloor.

Having recently completed sites in Manchester and Reading (with the final venue in Warrington destined to be rebranded), PVAV's Peter Varey believes his quest for reliable, cost-effective lighting has ended with the discovery of Futurelight's DJ-Scan 250 and CY-250 - distributed by Fuzion plc's lighting division (DiFuzion).

The former is an innovative DJ-scanner with rotating gobos; seven dichroic colourfilters (plus white); rainbow effect with adjustable speed in both directions; gobo-wheel with seven rotating gobos (open and blackout) and strobe effect with adjustable speed (1-10 flashes/sec).

The CY-250 is a similarly-featured barrel effect, whic

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Portugal - The wireless DMX system W-DMX, from the Swedish Company Wireless Solution Sweden AB, is now available in Portugal.

The choice for this system is based upon its extraordinary flexibility and reliability, according to Fernando Lopes, lightening technical manager of the system installed at Toyota Box, in Lisbon. He says: "The W-DMX is fast, reliable and very useful. No problem was found! We have saved a lot of time by setting up this lights system for this musical." The system was supplied by Audinova, the Portuguese W-DMX authorized distributor.

These wireless transmission systems have been availablein Portugal, since the 1 March. The chosen spot was the Toyota Box Cultural Space, at the Alcântara Docks, in Lisbon, which hosts the Musical Friday the 13th! This musical play portraits the urban life of a group of friends - their loves and their sorrows

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UK - For the recent outing of the BBC Saturday night prime time quiz show Test the Nation came a new set design, new studio layout and incorporated the Pulsar ChromaFlood 200. The latest set design by Simon Kimmel was a bold step forward from the previous version and gave lighting designer Dave Davey a few challenges to tackle.

The new set incorporated large specially formed sections designed to provide a backdrop where the celebrities are situated and to indicate team colours around the contestants. The specially formed sections are made from an opaque polycarbonate material and are around 1200mm.sq. with a raised centre section which measured around 600mm.sq.

Dave Davey needed the centre section to be lit by a colour-changing fixture that would cover the intended area from a minimal beam throw distance. The beam throw distance within the set was a maximum of 500mm, al

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UK - Reading-based lighting and rental company Blinding Light designed and supplied lighting equipment, a Catalyst digital media server and video content for all the LED walls and lightsources, plus crew, for the Microsoft Midseason Party, staged at London's Hammersmith Palais. The event featured performances from Girls Aloud, Soul II Soul and Earth Wind for Hire.

Ambiguously titled "decadence" - a word with many meanings and inferences - the party wasn't corporately branded at all. However, it had a loose time related theme celebrating the chronology of Microsoft's origins in the 1970s through to the present day.

Taking this as a starting point, Blinding Light's Paddy Stacey evolved a conceptual design for event production company Sledge, which helped them to win the pitch. "I thought I'd create a set of visuals for the venue and occasion using technologies spa

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UK - A dAFTdATA eDMX wireless system was used to beam DMX from the top of a 55 metre high tower block to the lighting desk down below for one of the new National Theatre of Scotland's inaugural productions, Glasgow Home.

This was staged on the Cranhill Estate - a notorious, sprawling, dilapidated 1950s housing scheme in Glasgow's Easterhouse area. Glasgow Home directed and conceived by John Tiffany (deputy director of NTS) was one of 10 site-specific works that kick started the NTS, which has no permanent base. The production was centred around an 18-storey tower block on the estate, and was set in seven different flats on seven different floors. The concept was that characters in the tower were being investigated by MI5, who sent abseiling cameramen down the side of the building filming the action taking place inside. This was relayed to a projector at the base an

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UK - The PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund has received a donation of £500 from entertainment and architectural lighting control specialists Zero 88. The company decided that, for Christmas 2005, it would send its season's greetings to the world by e-mail and instead donate the money it would have spent on cards to a suitable charity.

Zero 88's Claire House and the management team settled on the PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund to be the recipient of their donation, and their cheque was gratefully accepted by treasurer John Jones.

PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund chairman Mike Lowe, of Britannia Row, comments: "This was a fantastic gesture by Zero 88 and a reminder of the generosity of spirit that's happily still a feature of our industry."

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Adrian Turpin, who has worked at BBC Scotland for the past 18 years, has moved on to become a freelance lighting designer and programmer. Turpin came from a theatre lighting background prior to joining the BBC in 1987 and for many years has specialised in moving light design as well as Catalyst image design and programming. He will be based in Manchester. He can be contacted on +44 (0) 7801 040747.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Projected Image Digital (PID) has supplied Element Labs VersaTUBEs and VersaTILEs LED products for two new Gala Casino installations - one in Tottenham Court Road, London and one in Leicester. In both cases, the Tubes and Tiles were specified by designer Paula Reason from Cadmium Design. Reason, who likes to integrate lighting and kinetic energies into her interior designs, and the two Gala installations followed on from her pioneering work using VersaTILES in the bar at London's recently refurbished Hard Rock Café - where she first met PID.

The Tottenham Court Road Gala installation utilises 45 VersaTUBES, integrated vertically into a central feature of the main bar on the first floor. This is part of an extensive aesthetic revamp for the venue. The physical installation was completed by Viking Electrics and PID commissioned the TUBEs to Reason's specification. The

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