A 40-channel Allen & Heath ML4000 VCA live console was used for front-of-house mixing at the recent 'An Audience with Michael Jackson' fundraising event at Exeter City football club (UK). The Bristol branch of Stage Electrics supplied the sound reinforcement system for the event, including the ML4000, a Soundcraft K3 on monitors, an EAW KF760 line array, XTA DP-series processing and Lab Gruppen amplifiers. The Exeter branch of the company provided the technical production for the event which also included lighting, staging and trucking.

Michael Jackson's seemingly improbable appearance at the event can be attributed to his friendship with Exeter City's non-executive chairman, Uri Geller. Jackson travelled to Exeter on a specially chartered train and although his fans were not treated to any songs, he did make a short speech to a packed stadium before being presented with a special team

Mackie Designs has announced the launch of Mackie Control, a new nine-fader master control surface with nine touch-sensitive Penny & Giles motorized faders. Mackie Control supports software integration for a growing family of DAWs which currently includes Soundscape 32 by Mackie Broadcast Professional, Nuendo and CubaseSX by Steinberg, and Digital Performer by MOTU. Support is coming soon for CoolEdit Pro by Syntrillium Software, Sonar 2 by Cakewalk and many others. In addition, Mackie Control has been pre-mapped to enable power-user functions by many of the supported DAWs, and is the first to offer DAW-specific Lexan overlays allowing users to take advantage of these functions.

Each of Mackie Control’s eight channel strips includes a 100mm optical, touch-sensitive motorized fader, mute, solo, and record arming buttons, signal LED, a channel select button and a V-Pot that can be

Leading technical design consultancy LDPS has opened an office in New Zealand, to service clients in Australasia, the Pacific Rim and the Far East. The move follows four years of LDPS operation in Ireland and the UK, which will continue to be directed from the Cork office. LDPS’s Grant Collie told us: "I’ve had incredibly positive feedback on the New Zealand office and on the business we will be doing in these territories. I’m already working on several projects."

LDPS NZ will concentrate on the company’s core business as a performance venue technical consultancy. The team specialises in all aspects of design including sound, lighting, multi and mixed media facilities, audio-visual and stage technology. Working in the Southern Hemisphere will also give LDPS the opportunity to expand it's service to sports facilities, in particular the design of public

Germany’s capital city of Berlin has been enriched by another cultural attraction: ‘Tepee - The Tent’ is a permanent four-mast tent created especially for cultural events. Jazz, cabaret, theatre, classical music - Tepee (in German ‘Tipi’) offers a broad range of high-quality cultural events.

The company responsible for the sound and light installation, as well as for technical operation during the shows, is Berlin-based RentEvent, who turned to HK Audio for sound reinforcement. Company owner Stefan Schultze says: "We have been working very closely with HK Audio for years now, and we are very happy users of their equipment ourselves. The requirements for the Tepee tent were that the equipment had to be compact and unobtrusive, but capable of delivering very punchy, powerful sound at the same time. Furthermore, the system we put in had to be extremely v

A Welsh professional audio systems specialist is playing a key role in a live historical spectacular, which is being performed in the dramatic setting of Chepstow Castle. A new loudspeaker designed and manufactured at Shermann Pro-Audio's base in Newtown is being pressed into action at the son et lumière, the highlight of every Chepstow Festival. This year's completely new son et lumière creation, ‘1648, The Tides of War’, tells the story of Cromwell's siege of the castle and the national and local events that led up to it, revealing the dramatic consequences for the people of Chepstow. Unique in the UK, this huge community production combines spectacular lighting, specially-composed music, over 100 actors, state of the art projections and pyrotechnics into a stunning show, which ends a three-week run this weekend.

20 Shermann Pro-Audio loudspeakers are being used by Car

PLASA exhibitor Kling & Freitag Sound Systems has appointed a new distributor in the UK - Cheshire-based VME Voice Music & Effects. Owned by brothers Dion and Andre Davie, VME is well known in the North West for its work on various sporting events and, more recently, festivals and dance parties. It has an impressive client list which includes the BBC, ITV and Sky Sports, Old Trafford Cricket Club and The Ministry of Sound.

The company hopes to establish Kling & Freitag in the UK market, as Dion Davie outlines: "The UK is one of the most competitive markets in the world for loudspeakers, with many UK and US brands being established standards. However, after our visit to the factory in Hannover, we were totally won over by the sound, build quality and value of the K&F range. We are convinced that K&F have a major part to play in UK touring, corporate events and fixed installations.&

Music Marketing Services have completed their sixth - and most ambitious Tiger Tiger for Chorion plc, with the recent extension of the successful roll-out into Croydon. The company has largely standardized on Martin Audio sound reinforcement - and has been using the EM series extensively in Tiger Tiger since converting from another proprietary brand early on in the development.

MMS account manager Paul Woodward explained: "We have been on board with Chorion since the Tiger Tiger brand was inaugurated in London’s Haymarket. Croydon is immaculate and shows just how far the brand has evolved since the London site - every aspect of the installation has changed."

Chorion switched to Martin Audio after opening their other multi-bar unit, On Anon - just 400m away from Tiger Tiger in London’s Piccadilly - two years ago. "They were seeking a higher quality, crisper

Sennheiser UK has announced its exclusive UK distribution of the APart range of installation sound products for the hotel, restaurant, conference and retail markets. The versatile installation brand will be exhibited for the first time at PLASA 2002 and includes an innovative modular amplifier system, and two ranges of flush wall/ceiling mount and cabinet mounted speaker systems, with low impedance and 100v, 70v, 50v models. Also in the range is a weather resistant, IP approved, low impedance 100v or installation speaker, the Rock20, designed to look like - a rock. The Soundblock modular amplification system enables up to six modules, comprising stereo power amplifier, mono power amplifier, transformer, or 6-input pre-amplifier units, to be installed in a 19 inch rackmount.

Stand F22/F26

With a CV including The Pixies, Terrorvision, Echo and the Bunnymen, Del Amitri, The Foo Fighters and James, producer Gil Norton has been at the forefront of cutting-edge rock music for almost 20 years, and - with engineer Adrian Busby - he's been using a number of Audio-Technica mics to record Feeder's as-yet-untitled follow-up to the top five album Echo Park. Norton explains that as he was so impressed with the performance of the AT4040 and the Artist Elite AE3300, he is now eager to try out the rest of the Audio-Technica range. He said: "Grant [Nicholas, Feeder's lead singer] wanted to try out some different mics to record vocals, so we compared a few models side by side. We especially liked the AE3300 for backing vocals because of the big sound we got out of it, and the AT4040s worked really well for guitars."

"Following the results we got on this album, Adrian and I

tsg, the media programming and systems design company, has promoted Paul Kemp to the role of operations manager. Kemp joined tsg in August 2000, bringing a wealth of technical knowledge acquired during his 10 years in the industry working primarily as a consultant and latterly for Tape Techniques. Paul's promotion is part of the ongoing strategic expansion at tsg, providing a good fit to their advanced pursuit of both ISO 9002 and Investors in People. His main role is to provide a more focused approach within tsg's increased national multimedia work, whilst being the all-important link between customers and his project teams.

(Ruth Rossington)

Turbosound Ltd, the British-based manufacturer of live performance and installed-sound loudspeaker systems, has announced the launch of several new products for PLASA 2002. The new developments include the compact, self-powered TQ-308SP, the latest addition to Turbosound's high performance Qlight series, plus a brand new range of passive loudspeaker systems, together with the LMS-D4, a new digital loudspeaker controller.

Expanding the range of options offered by Turbosound's QLight series still further, the TQ-308SP is an ultra-compact self-powered loudspeaker system, designed for sound reinforcement applications ranging from industrial and corporate events, to small and medium-sized fixed installs. Similar in concept to the established TQ-310 and TQ-315 systems, it features Turbosound's Converging Elliptical Waveguide, a rotatable high-frequency horn that provides smooth and even disp

RMS will introduce no less then five new versions of its well-known Rental Management Systems software. All new versions share the RMS planning engine and the easy-to-use interface, which assures fully reliable data at extremely high speeds.

The first version is RMS Touring, a software package designed especially for handling rentals of touring-companies. This version is excellent for companies that have large quantities of equipment out for longer periods. Together with the crew- and transport-planner, it gives full control over all touring-rentals.

Next is RMS Conference, designed for renting AV-equipment to conferences, hotels, etc. This version focuses on aspects like keeping track of serial-numbers, short-term rentals (even on an hourly base is possible) and maintenance schedules. RMS Exhibition is a version, which deals with the specific problems of exhibition rentals. Easier p

VDC Trading has provided a cabling infrastructure for the new studio set-up at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s Soho facility. Working with studio installers, Studio Acoustics, the company has also provided sufficient cable looms for the second phase of the studio’s development later in the year when they take delivery of new furniture.

Comprising a main control room, two edit rooms and a live room, the Sony facility has been equipped with an under-floor digital network by VDC, linking the edit and control rooms. This allows the music, sound effects and football commentary signals for Sony PlayStation games to be networked, with all the rooms able to communicate via the patchbay.

VDC specified their flagship Van Damme OFC pre-jacketed Blue Series multicore and splits in 2-pair, 4-pair, 8-pair, 16-pair, 24-pair, 32-pair and 40-pair cores, with multi-pin connectors. The

The Spanish manufacturer D.A.S. supplied a large number of systems for the 2002 Groove Parade held in the Monegros desert on July 20th. The striking backdrop of this arid wasteland provided a contrast to the oasis of music and light which offered 15 hours of non-stop music. A total of 40 international DJ´s and live bands performed simultaneously on five stages drawing over 18,000 fans of the modern music genre to this spectacular event.

D.A.S. was the exclusive supplier of the fives stages. The companies Güell Sound, La Rulot and Green & Music got together to supply over 200,000 watts of D.A.S. sound reinforcement systems for the stages of the Groove Parade. Technical coordination for both sound and light was handled by Güell Sound of Lerida, Spain. Güell Sound installed the main ‘Open Air’ stage with 32 D.A.S. R-215s mid-high units, 24 D.A.S. ST-218 bass units, four R-

Telford-base sound equipment hire company Soundsense has embarked on a major investment programme and has doubled its hire stocks in the past two months, and plans to double stocks again the next two months.

At the same time, the company has moved to improve the service it offers customers by extending the hire department's opening hours to 24 hours a day. Soundsense's Derek Tallent said: "After a sluggish start to the year, the past few months have seen our hire business grow at a rapid speed, and our advance bookings for August and September are the strongest we have ever seen. As fast as we can get equipment from suppliers, it's been out on hire to customers - we'll be glad to get some of the equipment back so that we can get it flightcased."

Recent purchases have included APT, CDQ Prima and Telos ISDN codecs, 360 Systems Short Cut Editors and Sadie digital audio worksta

Hayden Laboratories, the UK distributor for Denon and Rane pro audio products, will feature a dynamic range of outstanding quality audio products on their stand at PLASA this year, launching five audio products for the professional DJ and installation markets and also showing many other recently-released products. PLASA 2002 sees the World launch of four new audio products: the Empath DJ mixer from Rane, plus the DNT625 and DNT645 cassette/CD deck, the DN780R twin-cassette deck and the DNC615 budget single CD player from Denon. In addition to this, the new Rane RPM 22 and 44 DSP multiprocessors and the DN-D9000 twin-CD player from Denon will be on show.

Hayden is also showing equipment for the fixed installation market, including Rane’s renowned ECS conferencing system products and their various CobraNET interfaces, a selection of Denon twin-CD players and music source machines,

From the 9th to the 12th July, Vsevoloszhask, a suburb of St Petersburg, was the focal point of the political economy of Russia, this being the scene of the opening by US automobile giant Ford of its first production facility on Russian soil - a historic event of global political significance - celebrated with a three-day gala including live music and other performance events.

The three-day gala attracted a multitude of major figures from the worlds of business and politics including the US ambassador, Alexander Vershbow, the Minister for Trade and Economic Affairs, Herman Gref, the Governor of the Region of Leningrad, Valery Serduvkov, and a delegation from Ford led by the President of Ford Russia, Henrick Nensen.

The magnitude of interest in this economic milestone is also indicated by the fact that, in addition to the 1,500 invited guests, it attracted 150 media representatives to

The World of ResidenSea, the first resort community at sea continuously circumnavigating the globe, set sail on its maiden voyage from Oslo in March - equipped with a huge inventory of TOA PA/VA components, supplied by Norwegian-based distributors, Scandec Systemer AS. The luxury 43,500-ton craft comprises 88 guest suites available for the high-end vacation market and 110 luxury apartments (costing $2 million each), many of which are available for rental. It even includes a sea-faring golf course.

FMV sub-contracted the electrical installation work to the Norwegian firm Elpro, who in turn contacted Scandec Systemer to help with the onboard PA/VA, video and show lighting systems. Working side-by-side with the Elpro consultant responsible for the job, Jan Arve Monsen, was Scandec project manager Håkon Bjartveit.

For the public address/voice alarm requirements, the designers dipped dee

Skan PA Hire, the Reading based rental company, has provided a system for one of the summer's most prestigious charity events, the Cantor Fitzgerald Silverstone Ball 2002. Held at the palatial Stowe School and headlined by the Stereophonics, the Silverstone Ball kicked off the 2002 British Grand Prix weekend, with all proceeds from a charity auction going to CLIC (Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood) and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers.

The sit-down dinner was attended by 1,500 guests who were entertained by a host of performers on the main stage as well as the London Community Gospel Choir which played on a separate stage. Skan provided two Midas Heritage desks for the main stage to facilitate changeover between bands, and sound reinforcement was delivered by a Turbosound Floodlight system. Other main stage performers, including racing driver Eddie Jordan's band V10 who entertained

From its humble beginnings in 1947, Crown International has grown to become one of the world’s largest and most respected manufacturers of power amplifiers, systems control products and microphones for professional audio markets.

Crown’s history traces back to an Elkhart, Indiana minister named Clarence C. Moore (1904-1979). A longtime radio enthusiast, he founded International Radio and Electronics Corporation (IREC) in 1947 and converted a former chicken coop into the budding manufacturer’s first production facility. The company’s early reputation was built on a family of open-reel tape recorders designed to operate reliably when used by missionaries in remote, often-primitive regions of the world. After modifying and distributing several existing models (Magnecord, Recordio, Pentron and Crestwood) for the first couple of years, Moore obtained a patent in 194

Sense-Sonic Limited, the Cheshire-based dveeloper of a unique assisted listening device (ALD) called the Conversor, which dramatically improves and focuses sound, has acquired Leaf Technologies Limited, a leading UK electronics manufacturing services company, from its administrators for £1.09 million in cash.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, Leaf Technologies produces a wide range of products for the telecommunications, business equipment, health care, security, consumer electronics and audio sectors. During the last year, Leaf has endured the general market downturn, especially in the telecoms sector and as a result of these difficult market conditions, the company went into administration in June 2002.

Leaf Technologies manufactures Sense-Sonic’s core product, the Conversor, which is a unique assisted listening device (ALD) sold throughout

Back for the fourth year running - Music Live returns to the NEC Birmingham (8-10 November 2002 - Hall 12). Music Live 2002 has expanded and encompasses many new features this year to bring you a brand new show and the largest music-making event in the UK. All major brands will be represented together with some fine vintage and hand-built instruments, with many of the exhibitors displaying product to be seen for the first time at the UK. The show will also include three days of workshops, pro clinics and specialist seminars.

If your’e looking to buy something new, Music Live 2002 has all the latest equipment at special show prices with retail support from Academy of Sound and Sound Control. Many of the exhibiting companies have donated generously, offering thousands of pounds worth of prizes in various competitions leading up to the Music Live show. Keep a keen eye on the Music L

The four new additions to the XTA family will make their PLASA debut in September. The C2 dual/stereo compressor, D2 stereo dynamic EQ, E2 stereo parametric EQ and G2 dual/stereo gate will be on show - along with the DP Series digital loudspeaker processors, DP324 SiDD Seriously Intelligent Digital Dynamics processor, GQ600 graphics equalizer and DS800 mic/line distribution system.

As with the XTA DP226 speaker management system and more recently the DP324/SiDD, the working practices and ideas of engineers have been transformed by XTA into powerful, innovative processing solutions which provide fresh audio possibilities to engineers, sound companies, broadcasters, installers and the like.

The C2 digital dual compressor provides two channels of the best compression and limiting, with comprehensive sidechain equalization and look-ahead attack times, coupled with a De-EQ mode for dynami

Innova Son, a Digigram company, will unveil at PLASA 2002 the Compact Sy40, its new ‘live’ digital mixing console, which boasts 40 input channels and 27 mix buses. Housed in the same chassis as the Compact Live and Actor, the Compact Sy 40 offers far greater mixing capabilities and enhanced functionalities for the same number of faders: 32 (including eight stereo) for the 40 input channels, 12 for the mix buses, three for the LRM/C masters and one fader for automation control.

The Compact Sy40 has all the advantages of the modular architecture, which have been a cornerstone to the success of the Sensory range. The modular nature of the system allows the user to insert any of the electronic I/O modules, which are compatible with any console of the Innova SON range, and to choose, depending on the needs of each specific event, the precise physical I/O configuration.

Having

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