The Midas distributor for Finland, Oy Hedcom, have recently supplied a 52-input Midas Legend 3000 to the Crazy Reindeer (Hullu Poro) club in Lapland as part of a larger AV installation completed late last year, which also includes three video screens with multiple cameras and a Nexo Alpha E sound system. Located in a ski resort way above the Arctic Circle, the Crazy Reindeer Arena is a 1,500-capacity club/live venue which also offers full conference facilities during the day as well as saunas and a jacuzzi. In addition to the Arena, the Crazy Reindeer complex includes hotels, restaurants and an extensive leisure programme.

Oy Hedom's Ari Manninen explained that versatility and reliability were strong factors in the decision-making process. "During the season there is a show every night and the place is packed out, so the desk will be working pretty hard," said Manninen. "

Sunday 8 September - 7.30pm till late . . .

This year the PLASA Show is celebrating its 25th year, and it’s something we’d like to share with as many exhibitors and visitors as possible. So, we’re hosting a PLASA Party on the evening of Sunday 8th September at 'The Bridge' (underneath London Bridge) - one of London’s newest venues, to which everyone is welcome. The all-inclusive tickets are just £50.00 (plus VAT) and include a champagne reception, buffet supper and all you can drink. Not to mention the chance to dance until late.

For further information call Mikaela Fenton-Jones on +44 (0)207 370 8207.

Dobson Sound is delighted to announce the appointment of Mark Thompson. Mark takes on the role of sound designer with particular responsibility for theatre. Formerly of The Sound Company, recently acquired by Dobson Sound, Mark brings with him a wealth of experience in the theatre production market with recent design credits in the UK including national tours for Fame the Musical, Pirates of Penzance, and Boogie Nights plus West End credits for All You Need is Love, Japes, Puppetry of the Penis and Hot Stuff.

Managing director Paul Dobson is very pleased with the new appointment: "Having Mark on board as our resident theatre designer will enable us to expand our existing theatre business with confidence as well as explore new markets. He is definitely a great asset to the team. We will also be maintaining a very close association with Jon Miller, former

UK manufacturer Audient has supplied two ASP-8024 recording consoles to The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. The sale forms part of the Institute's ongoing capital replacement programme worth approximately £500,000. The two consoles, a 24- and 36-channel both with patchbay, are being installed in two of the six studios in time for the new term in September.

LIPA, whose lead patron is Sir Paul McCartney, was opened in 1996 and offers degree level training and education for both performers and those who make performances possible. It possesses some of the most advanced technical facilities for sound recording training in the country and its decision to continue with analogue desks such as the ASP-8024 is an indication of the desks continuing presence in education. Jon Thornton, Head of Sound Technology for LIPA says of the purchase: "After much deliberation, we decided that

ARX Systems, the Australian-based manufacturer of pro audio products, is pleased to announce the appointment of the newly formed Bose Greater China Ltd as their new exclusive distributor for China and Hong Kong. ARX Managing Director Colin Park explained: "Pacific Audio Supplies (PAS) have represented both ARX and Bose in Hong Kong and China for many years. PAS's distribution activities have now been absorbed by Bose Corp with the formation of their two new Hong Kong & Shanghai based subsidiary companies to be known as Bose Greater China led by Mr Joel Tzo. Earlier in the year ARX were contacted by Bose Corp with regard to continuing our relationship with Mr Patrick Chung and most of the team from PAS who were moving from Pacific Audio to Bose. As well as continuing our relationship with the ex PAS team, ensuring a seamless transition for the sizeable ARX dealer network in China was

Walthall & Associates - a sound, video and lighting company based in Florida - has become the first Dynacord Cobra customer in the USA. Chuck Walthall, head of the highly respected company, was quickly convinced by the compact line array system, commenting: "It delivers hi-fi sound and first class coverage. In addition, it’s unbelievably easy to use."

Walthall is sure that the Straubing-produced system has a great future in the US market: "Even though there are any number of great-sounding enclosures and systems on offer in the States, the Cobra fills a genuine niche. It delivers something we’ve all been looking for - Plug & Play functionality - and with it outstanding sound quality."

A professional with over 25 years’ experience in the audio industry, Walthall envisages a wide range of applications for the Cobra: "It’s ideal for all s

The discotheque ‘Treffpunkt’ (‘Meeting Place’) in the Swabian city of Balingen in southern Germany is certainly one of the largest after-hours attractions in the region. With several dance floors, bars and restaurants as well as a large outdoor patio area, it offers a myriad of entertainment possibilities for well into the night. The newest addition to the ‘Treffpunkt’ is the ‘Loop,’ a disco with three bars and a circular dance floor. Originally an American bar, this part of the spacious disco was completely renovated and converted into an independent discotheque in autumn of 2001, with the lighting and sound installation carried out by FP Veranstaltungstechnik.

For sound reinforcement, they chose HK Audio. Company owner Frank Pfister commented: "Our experience installing HK Audio has always been good, and we also have several diffe

August saw over 100,000 people flock to Europe's largest public park, the Phoenix Park in Dublin, for what was billed as Ireland’s biggest ever free concert. The 02 Party in the Park in association with 2FM, the Irish national pop music station, attracted over 30 performers including top name acts such as Ronan Keating, Samantha Mumba, Lulu, A1 and Darius, as well as a number of popular Irish favourites including The Devlins, The 4 of Us and Picturehouse. The event was staged by Aiken Promotions who once again called on Mikam Sound to provide the audio system.

Following the success of previous collaborations with Britannia Row, notably for the homecoming of the Irish footballers from the World Cup which was also an event for 100,000 in Phoenix Park, Mikam once again teamed up with the London sound company who furnished the X-Line line array system from Electro-Voice. The system c

Mackie Designs Inc has announced the arrival of Baby HUI into its growing family of high-performance touch-sensitive control surfaces. Baby HUI is the first affordable control surface that supports the HUI/MIDI-mapping protocol, allowing it to work right out of the box with any HUI-supported digital audio workstation (DAW) on PC or Macintosh platforms. The growing family of HUI-supported DAWs currently includes Mackie Broadcast Professional Soundscape 32, Mackie Mixtreme, Digidesign ProTools and Digi 001, MOTU Digital Performer, Steinberg Nuendo, and many others.

Baby HUI joins the emerging group of Mackie control surfaces designed to improve workflow and creativity by allowing users to interact with their favourite DAW through a familiar analogue style interface rather than a mouse. "With Baby HUI, users will no longer have to rely on a mouse to delicately move a fader or rotate

Hz International will launch its brand new amplifier - the DPX-15 Lite - at the PLASA Show. The DPX-15 Lite, which replaces the DPX1500, provides 750W per channel into 4 ohms and features total short circuit protection with continuous clip limiting - without compression. The unit also includes two-speed fans to cater for varying workloads. Furthermore, the weight has been drastically reduced from 16 kilos down to 8.5 kilos. It also has massive headroom, say Hz, thanks to its extremely high damping factor - almost twice that of the existing DPX1500.

(Lee Baldock)

Flintshire-based Apple Sound has recently supplied the BMW Group plant in Oxford with a complete Tour Guide system from West Sussex based pro-audio distributor, beyerdynamic. The BMW Group Plant has a long tradition of manufacturing and since their investment in the new Mini production facilities earlier this year; the facility has undergone a £230 million investment program to make it one of the world's most sophisticated car production systems.

Working closely with BMW's communications manager, Lynda Boodell, Apple Sound's Tourguide product manager John Scott helped specify the details of this system to meet BMW's precise requirements as an extremely effective wireless communications system for their guided tour presentations around the new factory. Delegates on the tour are able to listen clearly to commentary at a distance and in the noisy areas where it would otherwise be impossi

Hand Held Audio, specialists in wireless and in-ear technology for over a decade, has supplied all of the wireless and in-ear monitoring systems for the series of Radio One Big Sunday events that have taken place up and down the country. Hand Held has also been responsible for the licensing requirements at each venue. Tens of thousands of fans have already attended events in Swansea, Ipswich and Falkirk with another due in Leicester on 8 September. Audio contractor for One Big Sunday is Britannia Row who have been using their recently acquired X-Line line array system from Electro-Voice.

Although the requirements vary from show to show, Hand Held's Nick Bruce-Smith says that typically they have supplied around eight headsets, eight hand-helds and eight in-ear systems per event, mainly from Shure. These plus whatever the bands bring of their own gear and the BBC's own radio systems mean

The American National Standards Institute is now offering electronic copies of ESTA's ANSI-approved standards and other technical publications for sale on-line. Ordering electronic copies on-line gives members of the entertainment industry almost instantaneous delivery of needed documents.

To order ESTA's standards and other technical documents from ANSI, simply go to the website shown below and then click on the pull-down menu under the instructions ‘Please select a standards category below.’ Select ‘ESTA: Entertainment Services and Technology Association’ from the list of standards developers, and then hit the ‘Go’ button. That will present a page listing all ESTA's publications available through ANSI, including ESTA's free publications.

Paper copies of ESTA's documents are available from ESTA Publications Orders, offered by the United States In

Lightfactor Sales has chosen the PLASA show to launch several new and innovative products and services. This year Xilver, the Dutch architectural lighting manufacturer, joins Lightfactor’s list of major brands, which also includes Apogee Sound, High End, LDR, LightProcessor, Par-Safe, Morpheus and SGM.

The Xilver Droplet LED moving light is an entirely new concept of an automated luminaire using the latest high power LED technology, is housed in the most expediant design yet seen in entertainment, display and architectural lighting. This curvy, compact luminaire provides full control of beam position, effects and colour selection. The high brightness diode light source offers the ability to create fluent and lightning-fast colour changes.

A new division at Lightfactor - the Cut Colour Company - opened in August and is officially launched at PLASA 2002. The Cut Col

Delta Sound Inc, the London-based sound company, has made a substantial investment in BSS Soundwebs, adding 25 units to its inventory which were specifically brought in to allow it to handle its contract for the recent Commonwealth Games in Manchester (L&SI will be running a full report on the Games in the October issue).

Delta’s head of technical Mark Underwood, the Stadium project manager for the Ceremonies and the Games, used a total of 32 BSS DSP units within a fibre optic infrastructure to create one of the most extensive temporary Soundweb installations ever designed. From the hub at the front-of-house position, Soundwebs provided the signal distribution highway for Delta's audio installation throughout the City of Manchester Stadium, distributing to six remote amplifier sites via fibre optic cable, and managing all the matrix routing and outboard processing.

"If we

PLASA 2002 will see the first European showing of Pioneer's new CDJ-800 product. This brand new addition to Pioneer's Pro DJ range, built around the company's world-renowned Jog Wheel (first seen on its flagship CDJ-1000 model), also benefits from many of the functions that make the CDJ line-up so popular. Roger Sanchez and Smokin' Jo will be performing in Pioneer's live DJ Booth: they will be joined by Seamus Haji - all performing on Sunday 8 September.

Pioneer can be found on Stand D40.

Nexo is to restructure its international sales team, following the departure of Mick Anderson, sales director of the company. After six successful years with the company, Anderson has announced that he will be leaving to explore fresh challenges. Managing director Micky Johnson was keen to acknowledge his achievements at Nexo. "In the last six years, Mick has accomplished a great deal for Nexo, notably the creation of a first-class global distribution network and support infrastructure. Although we are all incredibly sad to see him go, we wish him the best of luck in finding a new and rewarding mission."

Following Anderson's departure at the end of September, Nexo will close its UK office. All international sales will be centralized through one department at the factory in Paris, under the guidance of Denis Baudier who, after nearly 10 years with the company, will be promoted

As soon as the August issue of L&SI hit the streets with its mammoth report on the Jubilee (the most comprehensive you’ll read thanks to the efforts of the entire L&SI team in tracking down the information and slotting it all together), it was inevitable that we’d have more people ringing us to tell us of their involvement. First came Pulsar, to tell us that the fixtures used front of stage on the Party at the Palace concerts were their own ChromaBank system. If you look closely at the picture to the right you’ll see the strip of ChromaBanks at the bottom of the picture providing the green accenting to the front of stage.

Then we had more input on the audio elements. Among those whose stress levels were noticeably higher round Jubilee time was Hand Held Audio’s Nick Bruce-Smith, who had the onerous task of organizing the incredibly intricate licensing arrangemen

JBL’s new SoundFactor SF25 is a portable two-way speaker system with two 15" low frequency transducers. Intended for live music and music playback/DJ applications, the SF25 reflects the increasing market acceptance of the dual 15" configuration, say JBL. The SF25, they say, is more of a three-way system in that the lower woofer is actually rolled off at a lower frequency than the upper woofer. While this results in a more expensive network, the improvement in mid-range performance makes it worthwhile. The SF25 is especially useful in applications where additional low frequency power is needed, but subwoofers are not practical. The SF25 has a power capacity of 500W (2000W) and maximum SPL of 133dB. SoundFactor's advanced network design for its crossover includes heavy gauge wire inductors for low distortion and SonicGuard high-frequency driver protection. The SF25 is const

A new show relay system has been retro-fitted into Cardiff’s famous New Theatre by Marquee Audio. As home to the Welsh National Opera, this magnificent Edwardian Theatre dates back to 1906 and is the city’s oldest surviving theatre. Today it is owned and managed by Cardiff County Council, and although technical manager Mark Gibbins had to request various quotations for the show relay, Marquee proved to be the most competitive.

"The call system is a major priority at New Theatre and we needed to replace the old system which was becoming troublesome and unreliable," said Mark. Marquee’s Scott Wakelin provided recommendations for a Backstage and FOH system, with priority facilities for the house manager to voice access the auditorium in the event of emergency. He proposed that this be achieved via a pair of Soundweb 9088ii/LL digital matrix devices, with a 9010

BDC Music & Lights Ltd (trading as Barrys Disco Centres in Gloucester and Swindon) are pleased to announce that Gareth Collyer has re-joined the company in the position of general manager of both branches. For almost 10 years, Collyer worked for distributor Lamba plc, his final position being a director of the company. Before Lamba, he was employed by BDC!

Barry Brown, director of BDC, is looking forward to working with Gareth again. "Gareth will have new ideas and a wide view of the Industry and its opportunities, and will be a major player in BDC’s forward planning and strategy to expand BDC’s operations. We have been established many years (from 1978), supplying sound and lighting equipment for sales and hire to the DJ, nightclub/pub and other venues and there are still many new markets opening up where our expertise is required.

(Lee Baldock)

Nomads nightclub and bar in Leicester has found a simple solution to a time-honoured problem; how to pump up the volume without annoying the neighbours. Situated in a residential block, the ground-floor and basement venue asked JPS, the St. Ives-based audio and lighting installation company, to design a sound system which could cater for 350 customers without keeping the residents of the first-floor flat awake all night. "They wanted high quality and high volume, but with very quick fall-off on the dBs", explains John Southee of JPS, whose solution was a combination of Wharfedale cabinets and Amina flat-panel speakers, resulting in individualized systems tailored to the very different ambiences of the two floors.

"Although there is a DJ on each level, the ground level bar, which has the frontage onto the street, offers a plush sit-down environment, whereas downstairs in

Soundcraft moved swiftly into action to provide an interim solution for the BBC in their coverage of the recent Commonwealth Games in Manchester. The domestic production division of BBC Resources, utilized Soundcraft’s new-generation 328XD to boost their coverage of the recent Commonwealth Games, while awaiting delivery of a new RM1D digital on-air radio console. "Essentially the 328XD saved the day - allowing us to have some of the functionality of the RM1D and mix all the grams-type sources - from minidisc to various hard disk options," said BBC Resources’ Martin Deane. "We are familiar with the desk and knew what we could expect from it."

Martin was in charge of the sound operation for BBC Sport, which produced all the domestic (BBC1 and BBC2) programme outputs. As for the RM1D, he was first exposed to this at last year’s IBC Show, and then acqu

Sound Dynamics, the specialist sound installation company based in Belper, Derbyshire, is celebrating its 15th anniversary - thanks in part to the UK's obsession with health and fitness. Steve Porter and Gerry Cornell founded the company in 1987, just as the aerobics boom was getting underway. By carefully tailoring equipment packages to the specific needs of gyms, exercise studios and sports centres, Sound Dynamics rapidly gained a national reputation. The company sells stand-alone systems and self-install wall-mounting kits as well as commissioning full installations; Sound Dynamics has also ventured into manufacturing, producing proprietary ‘user-friendly’ amplifers which have the minimum of fascia controls.

Today, the company’s customer database holds more than 10,000 names, and the list of recent projects stretches from the Falkland Islands to the Maldives, with

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