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All eyes were on Hyde Park this July for the annual Party in the Park, the largest single day event in Europe, watched live by 100,000 people.

Now in its fifth year, the Capital Radio Party in the Park had an impressive line up of acts from around the globe, including Westlife, Shakira, Enrique, Natalie Imbruglia and Will Young, and the Prince’s Trust show sold out 100,000 tickets in just over four hours, in the process raising a huge sum for the charity.

ClearChannel Events managed the event production with John Probyn overseeing the licensing and production, whilst Mark Ward was the production manager charged to ensure the 30-act show ran smoothly.

"This year’s production infrastructure included several new products or procedures introduced by suppliers to build on our experience as a team over previous years," said Probyn. "The relaxed nature of the

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In what can only be described as a milestone event, the Professional Lighting & Sound Association (PLASA) has cause to celebrate after recording one of the most successful shows in its 25-year history. PLASA's annual show confirmed its status once again as the leading international trade show for the entertainment, communications and presentation technology industries, as more than 400 companies from across the globe filled the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London from 8-11 September, 2002.

13,810 people (subject to ABC Audit), up by 4.2 per cent from last year, visited the PLASA Show to see the array of new product launches, attend the Masterclass Programme, network with industry colleagues and strike up new business relationships. PLASA managing director, Matthew Griffiths, said the show bucked the exhibition industry’s recent downward trend as many exhibitors conducted good

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The summer of 2002 has seen a significant sales trend for Out Board's TiMax audio imaging and surround animation matrixes as part of sound system upgrades to three diverse, but high profile classical theatre/opera facilities. In Finland, following a prolonged period of detailed evaluation under the supervision of long-standing TiMax distributor Kurt Nyback of Hecom, the Helsinki City Theatre and the Finnish National Theatre both opted for large TiMax Rack Systems, whilst the Moscow Operetta have purchased a system for vocal localisation and special effects programming and control from the TiMax distributor Igor Kovalev from Binar. System sizes ranged from 16-In x 24-Out up to 24-In x 32-Out.

What each of these installations has in common is perhaps not surprising these days - all systems were specified with AES/EBU digital inputs and outputs to interface with a range of mixing and sign

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Luminar Leisure has carried out a major £1m conversion of its Chicago Rock Café in Northampton, providing the company with a flagship venue within the former Odeon Cinema and increasing the capacity to 1,500. With the relocation of the stage to its own mezzanine level, the venue is centred around live music. Forthcoming acts will range from Spandau Ballet to the Venga Boys - and this will be played back through a concert-spec sound system. The large venue (with a massive 18 metres floor-to-ceiling height) is divided into three areas - the main room, the restaurant and Cuba Bar, situated inside the main entrance - and this is configured as a 16-zone system.

The primary task facing Lynx Lighting’s head of sound Jerey Denning, was the ability to change the venue’s soundscape - with automatic adjustment of the room’s EQ settings in accordance with the different modes o

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Grandmaster Flash, the founder of modern Hip Hop, took both the 2002 PLASA Show and the Ministry of Sound by storm when he came to London to launch the new Rane Empath mixer, which he has helped to design.

Flash’s visit culminated in a rocking two-hour set at the Ministry of Sound on the Tuesday night of PLASA. It’s the first time he’s ever played the club, and he took full advantage to put the Empath through its paces to a packed audience. This was preceded earlier in the day by two presentations by Flash on the stand of Rane’s UK distributor, Hayden Laboratories, at the PLASA show in Earls Court. Each was followed by a short demo of his own specialist brand of performance art.

In presenting the mixer, Flash expanded on the ‘8.45’ syndrome, which has prompted many of the Empath’s most practical features. This is the common scenario when it&r

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For the eleventh year running, Delta Sound Inc designed and supplied the sound and communications system for the Mercury Music Prize, the aim of which is to celebrate the best of British music. The event, which took place in mid September, saw the independent panel of judges - which included jazz legend Coutney Pine - select Miss Dynamite's 'A Little Deeper' as the Album of the Year. The 21-year-old North Londoner, real name Naomi McLean-Daley, thus performed for over 1000 guests in the elegant surroundings of The Great Room, at London's Grosvenor House.

Delta Sound deployed its versatile L-Acoustics system with the company’s Andy Jackson specifying 12 V-dosc cabinets and eight subs for the main stage, with a further 24 dV-dosc cabinets and four subs used for the second acoustic stage. Six of Delta Sound's Midas consoles (four Heritage 3000s, an XL4 and a Heritage 1000) were used

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With top promotion team DAD on board, fabric’s Dave Parry as technical consultant and legendary Back to Basics and Union club nights moving across town, the new 800-capacity Rehab in the heart of Leeds’ Exchange quarter, has gone straight into overdrive. The new venue, which opened this month, is sited on Assembly Street in a Grade 1 listed, 17th century building.

Much of the club’s immediate success is attributable to the explosion of kinetic energy witnessed by punters on the opening weekend, when they queued down the street to experience Leeds’ latest venue. The installation was carried out by Jonathan Reece’s Harrogate-based Funtime Music. The sound and lighting specialists have a history of installing owner, Chris Edwards’ clubs - such as Space in Leeds and Birdcage - and were asked to assist in the conversion of the building previously trading

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Following the continued growth of Cambridgeshire-based 5 Star Cases Ltd, the company has recently undertaken major changes to its management structure. Jim Willis, the current managing director, has taken the decision to plan for his retirement in a few years by handing over the day to day running of the company to the current technical director, Keith Sykes.

Sykes, who becomes works director (MD designate) has been with 5 Star since 1991 when the company acquired Pro-Tect Cases, the Ipswich-based manufacturer which he ran for six years. "The growth of the company over the last few years has seen 5 Star become a leading name in the case industry. It's down to a professional approach and hard work from everybody in the company," explains Sykes. Justin Locks, the current production manager is promoted to general manager, overseeing both the production and administration facilit

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Stanton’s new SMX-501 has been designed as a hybrid three-channel, techno/scratch mixer, which will appeal to both the turntablist and club/rave DJs alike. The impressive list of features includes: Effects loop, which can be assigned to each individual channel, plus the mic; Custom high-quality Penny & Giles crossfader with VCA curve; adjustment and crossfader assign; Assignable crossfader (A, B, Bypass); VCA crossfader curve control and reverse; Curve control and reverse on Line faders; Each channel features gain control, slider pan, and a versatile three-band EQ with complete kill; Balanced XLR master output (unbalanced RCA also provided); Booth output; Rotatable three-position phono/line switch with flash feature; Separate channel input and master output LED meters.

Stanton have also announced that the DFX-1, claimed as the world’s first trackball-controlled audio signal

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A new website for freelance professionals and employers in the UK and beyond has been launched at www.freelanceshowstaff.co.uk. The site has taken two years to develop, making it a very versatile and user-friendly service for the whole entertainment industry - a market sector which relies heavily of freelance labour. A mix of useful information combined with valuable functions, the website is designed for both employees and employers. Since its launch earlier this summer, the site has registered over 200 freelancers and 80 companies - from more than 20 different disciplines including audio, lighting, carpentry, rigging, scenery, stage management and wardrobe.

Potential employers can check a specific registered freelancer’s availability or search for new ones, as well as placing job advertisements. They can search by name

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Delta Sound Inc, the London-based sound company, has made a substantial investment in BSS Soundwebs, adding 25 units to its inventory specifically to handle its contract for the recent Commonwealth Games in Manchester. 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 hadn't had the Soundweb technology and the line length the fibre offered us, we simply couldn't have done t

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Arcadia Group Plc recently had a helping hand from Skan PA Hire, the Reading-based sound rental company, at their annual London conference. Skan provided seven separate sound systems for the event, which took place at the Business Design Centre London - just days after headline news broke of Arcadia's take over by Phillip Green, owner of BHS and other well-known high street stores.

Skan were asked to supply systems to cover all aspects of the two-day event, which included a central stage, for all 400 attendees to watch fashion shows and hear from key speakers. While six further systems were spread around the venue in break out areas. Brand experience company Hotcakes provided all creative work and production management for the event.

Skan supplied a mixed system, including Turbosound TQ440 self-powered full-range loudspeakers, together with JBL C25s for the main conference room. Vari

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One of Hand Held Audio's more challenging clients recently has been shock dance act the Prodigy. Hand Held has been supplying Shure SM58 hand-held, guitar and PSM 600 in-ear radio systems to the band on a one-off basis since January as they prepare for the release of their next album.

The band has been extremely busy with festivals in Australia, USA, Ireland, Belgium, Mount Fuji in Japan, plus of course the recent Mean Fiddler festivals in Reading, Leeds and Glasgow over the August Bank Holiday weekend, where Prodigy headlined. According to Hand Held's Nick Bruce Smith, the challenge has nothing to do with the gear spec, which is straightforward enough, although the licensing element has been time consuming given the number of different countries and sites the band has covered. The interesting part is seeing the state of the equipment on its return. "We just never know quite what

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Hillsong Church in Sydney incorporates two major worship centres, a city-wide network of cell groups and contributing ministries and outreach services. It was set up in the early 1980s by New Zealanders Brian and Bobbie Houston, who saw the need to provide people in Sydney’s North West with an active, contemporary church. Today it is possibly the largest church in Australian history, operating from a 21-acre site in a modern business park in the Hills district, and from a contemporary facility near the heart of Sydney’s CBD. With a congregation of over 12,000, the reputation of the church continues to expand and has a dynamic influence both domestically and internationally.

Hillsong Church had been planning to build a larger auditorium since moving into its current building four years ago. With only two worship centres - one holding 1,500 at Baulkham Hills in Sydney's north

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Martin Audio has launched ViewPoint - a Windows-based programme developed to enable W8L line array users to quickly configure their system to suit a particular venue. Straight line arrays are highly directional in the vertical plane - a long, straight array will produce an extremely narrow angle at high frequencies - in some cases 1° or less. Consequently, line arrays need to be physically curved in the vertical plane to cover the audience. In a typical array, the top boxes usually have a flat or shallow curvature and the lower boxes are increasingly splayed.

Up to now, arriving at the optimum curvature to achieve the most even coverage for a particular venue has been a largely hit-and-miss process. The problem is too complex to be solved by simple reasoning alone, and analytical tools that simulate the acoustic properties of each element in the array are required to determine the ove

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Nexo SA has responded to growing worldwide demand for its advanced loudspeaker system technology by creating three international sales regions. Denis Baudier, international sales director, will have primary responsibility for Europe, the Middle East and Africa: he will be based at the Nexo SA factory in Roissy, France. Meanwhile, James Yeung of Nexo Far East Pte Ltd will supervise the company’s distribution in the Pacific Rim from Nexo’s headquarters in Singapore whilst David Solari, CEO of Nexo USA, will direct Nexo operations in North and South America from the company’s offices in San Rafael, CA.

"As the worldwide customer base for Nexo technology expands, we are responding to a need for increased support and training," explains Nexo managing director Michael Johnson. "These three areas of the world have unique characteristics and opportunities, and

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During the recent PLASA Show came the announcement that Midas has appointed LMC Audio Systems as Executive Agent for its mixing console range. The announcement, made by Midas UK sales manager Richard Ferriday, follows the successful commercial relationship forged between the two companies over the past five years, which has seen LMC implement a very successful market diversification programme to further increase the rentability of the growing Midas range for all users.

Ferriday confirmed that the new agreement signalled a close, full working partnership between the factory and LMC, offering Midas customers for the first time, factory contact, whilst increasing the package of commercial tools on offer through LMC.

LMC Audio managing director Paul Hinkly was delighted with the new appointment. "The Midas brand has been and continues to be the most stable console brand to buy, o

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Marquee Audio has fulfilled a request from the UCL Bloomsbury to supply and install a new Martin Audio front-of-house sound system in their auditorium, along with BSS Soundweb control blocks which will allow the expandability the venue requires in the future.

The UCL Bloomsbury is a two-level auditorium (accommodating 400 in the stalls and 150 in the circle), owned by University College London and built in the 1960s. Though housed in a concrete edifice its vertical wooden-slatted baffle ensures the sound is not overly reflective and can be heard with clarity at the rear of the wide auditorium.For three-quarters of the year the theatre is a receiving house and for the remainder of the time they run productions for student societies.

Venue chief electrician Adam Leigh contacted Marquee for the first time - on the strength of receiving their promotional literature, and the recommendatio

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Euro Hire Sound & Light, a full service production company based in Farnborough in Hampshire, has become the first UK customer to invest in the recently launched compact line array system from Dynacord, Cobra.

Euro Hire was specifically looking for a system to cope with smaller events and theatre tours. Operations manager Jools Warren explained that although their current systems (EAW and Renkus Heinz) were more than adequate, it was sometimes rather a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. "We decided that it would be a good idea to be able to offer our customers the option of a more compact system, so when Shuttlesound proposed Cobra, we were very interested. And then once we'd heard the demo at the Anvil theatre in Basingstoke, it was really just a question of crunching the numbers and sorting out a delivery date!"

Euro Hire invested in a total of six Cobra Top enc

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Along with a veritable who's who of high profile club DJs, TiMax virtual surround sound and audio animation environment has been something of a feature of the summer 2002 club dance festival circuit. Corporate-sponsored arenas such as the Strongbow Loafing Lounge at Homelands and Gatecrashers Ball, plus the Smirnoff Experience at Glastonbury, have all specified TiMax audio animation for their sound systems this year.

Keen to enhance elaborately branded arena designs with advanced and integrated multimedia, production designers were quick to realise that immersive multichannel sound was essential to complement the abundance of intelligent lighting effects and multi-screen abstract video content. DJs were provided with an Octopad drum pad to trigger pre-programmed virtual surround sound spins, figure-of-eights and zigzag moves in TiMax via MIDI, along with a few samples of helicopters an

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A clear sign of the international expansion of D.A.S. Audio was seen recently in Cartagena, Colombia, where presidents from a number of American states were gathered. Included in the roster of important American leaders was ex-president of Colombia Andres Pastrana, president of Colombia Uribe Velez and special guest, former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.

A special ceremony in honour of Clinton was held in the fabulous San Felipe fortress, which overlooks the port city of Cartagena. Invitees as well as the leaders from the American states were entertained with a spectacular concert themed around Colombian folk music. D.A.S. systems were on hand, with factory technical support provided by Ramon Franco, D.A.S. sales engineer in Colombia.

Sound reinforcement for this important event was handled by Sonido y Accesorios SIA, based in Bogota. Samuel Puentes, company director,

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Shure Europe GmbH has named Ron Marchant as its new director of marketing for the European region. In his new capacity with Shure Europe, Marchant will oversee market development activities for 38 European countries.

"During the 10 months he has been working with us, Ron has done an outstanding job, and the results of his work are already beginning to be seen in the European markets," notes Markus Winkler, managing director of Shure Europe. "I’m convinced that the consolidation within the marketing department will help to continue our successful market development efforts throughout Europe, and we are fortunate to have a dedicated colleague like Ron to lead the way."

Other duties that come with Marchant’s new title include the development of a broad marketing plan for Europe, the definition of product positioning in the region, and the provision of inf

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The new edition of ‘The Source’ product catalogue is now available from Canford Audio. This latest edition contains more new products than any previous Canford catalogue and there are hints that an on-line version will follow shortly. Coinciding with the launch of the new catalogue is the company’s decision to introduce free deliveries across the UK.

The result of a year-long study to match customers’ needs with both stock availability and product depth, Canford’s sales director Barry Revels is suitably confident about the value of the new catalogue. "People have been used to a new edition of The Source arriving every 6 months or so with new products and new prices. This catalogue has taken us almost 18 months to produce and reflects that hard work and thought. The changes we have made to our processes in terms of ordering and stock holding will enabl

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The Music Managers Forum’s (MMF) British Music Roll of Honour took place on 18 September at The Hilton Hotel in Park Lane, London. The event marks the achievements of music industry managers and luminaries and attracts a myriad of industry stars and top brass. This year they also gathered to mark the Music Managers Forum’s 10th Anniversary. Live entertainment came courtesy of Travis and Craig David in honour of their managers Ian McAndrew and Colin Lester. McAndrew and Lester, from management company Wildlife, were presented with the much-coveted Peter Grant Award for their outstanding contribution to the music industry.

The ceremony was hosted by DJ and BBC radio presenter Paul Gambaccini, who was surprised to find himself inducted onto the Roll of Honour in recognition of over 30 years in the industry. Other inductees included Willie Robertson and Bob Taylor from Robertso

  1. Enigma bows to Wavefront
  2. Mach Alien 51S
  3. US draft standards for public review . . .
  4. New wireless digital comms system from Canford
  5. Sound Advice goes live with a new sponsor
  6. Hand Held Audio at Proms in the Park with System Sound
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