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The Netherlands - DiGiCo's latest console - the SD8 - has already been used on a range of tours with one of the more unusual productions being a version of The Who's rock opera, Tommy, being performed in the Netherlands.

Although combining popular music with theatre is currently a popular genre of entertainment, combining that idea with genuine live rock'n'roll is quite a tough challenge. But, it's one that popular Dutch four piece band Di-rect has risen to and ticket demand for the 90-date theatre tour of their homeland has been exceptional.

Sound contractor for the Di-rect Does Tommy tour is The Purple Group, part of the Synco Network, with the company's recently purchased DiGiCo SD8 in place at the front of house position.

Using DiGiCo's standard stage rack, the console is using 48 inputs and 16 outputs. With the addition of an RME MADI interface, the show i

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USA - Peavey has updated the PR Series powered loudspeakers with its new class D amplifier topology for lighter weight on the new PR 15D and PR 12D models.

The Peavey PR 15D and PR 12D are two-way powered loudspeaker systems engineered with a bi-amplified class D power section that drives a 12" woofer with a 150 watts continuous and a 1.4" titanium-diaphragm RX14 compression driver with another 50 watts continuous. This high-speed amp topology has helped the PR Series shed 20% more weight than previous models, down to 37 lbs. for the PR 15P and 28 lbs. for the PR 12P.

The PR 15D and PR 12D are capable of up to 120 dB peak SPL and feature Peavey's DDT speaker protection, which virtually eliminates audible power amplifier clipping. A built-in, heavy-duty crossover increases reliability at high power levels.

A Woofer Servo monitors the woofer for back-EMF that is not

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The Netherlands - Midas Consoles Benelux has sold a further four Midas PRO6 Live Audio Systems in Holland, bringing their total PRO6 sales to five within the last month. Two of the new Midas PRO6 owners are Dutch rental companies Sound & Light Support based in Hilversum and Stagepoint in Tiel.

Sound & Light Support owners Jeroen and Veronica Brandon decided to expand their console inventory into digital with Midas. "Initially we were looking to buy a Midas Heritage, but when we visited Midas Consoles Benelux for a demo, we were also introduced to the PRO6," says Jeroen. "Following this demo it became clear to us that PRO6 is the new leading digital console."

Stagepoint, whose clients include major Dutch artists such as Frans Bauer, had already built up considerable experience of both analogue and digital large format consoles, and head of Benelux sales Sand

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UK - A.C. Special Projects has designed, supplied and installed full technical facilities for the Sidney Stringer School's multi-purpose theatre and drama studio. The School has built a reputation as an innovator that encourages experimental teaching practices, and offers a range of BTEC vocational courses including drama & theatre arts, and music, for students aged 11-18.

After losing its original theatre in a fire, the School's head of drama, Michael Collins, approached A.C. Special Projects to provide complete technical facilities for the new installation. Starting with an empty shell and power feed, the company specified the entire lighting, rigging, audio and AV products inventory for the theatre. Also, various equipment was supplied for a separate drama rehearsal space.

The lighting equipment includes an extensive list of ETC, Robe & Chroma-Q conventional, moving light &

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France - Digigram has announced the appointment of Hervé Odini to the role of international sales director. Odini will be responsible for all three of Digigram's international sales offices: Grenoble which handles the EMEA region; Singapore for Asia and the Pacific; and Arlington, VA for the Americas. He will also head up the Field Marketing department based at company HQ in Montbonnot, France.

Odini's principal mission will be to define and implement sales strategies across the three territories. In addition to the existing sales partners, a new distribution network is being put in place to handle the new range of Audio over IP products which start shipping in early 2009.

Formally responsible for EMEA OEM sales for Sun Microsystems, Odini comes to his new position with over 20 years experience in the IT and telecommunications industries, notably with HP, IBM, Ericsson

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Green Glastonbury - The Glastonbury Festival has sold 90% of tickets for this summer's event, founder Michael Eavis has said. The 137,500 tickets went on sale in October, earlier than ever, after last year failing to sell out in advance. Mr Eavis, who hosts the show on his Somerset farm, revealed he has four headliners lined up for the June event - two English and two from the US.

He was speaking as he picked up an award for environmental work at the Midem music conference in France. "You'll be amazed when you hear the headliners we've got coming this year, and we've already sold 90% of the tickets for this year already," he said. He was honoured with the Green World Award at the Midem music conference for the festival's history of environmental fundraising and ecological initiatives. The festival raises money for Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water Aid, while Mr Eavis' other

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UK - Stage Electrics' first ever Freelancer Day, held at RADA's Gielgud Theatre, was a resounding success, the company reports. The day was attended by over 40 freelancers from sectors across the industry, and a combination of those who had previously freelanced for Stage Electrics and those who were new to freelancing and wanted to learn more.

Paula Birtwistle, who returned to freelancing following a career break and who attended the day commented: "I really enjoyed the day and I felt like every minute was useful to me. I made a last-minute decision to come along and I'm really glad I did! Every part of the day seemed relevant to what I was after and at the level I'm at in my career."

The main objectives of the day were to get closer to freelancers and to provide them with a day designed with their interests in mind. Most importantly though was the opportunity for f

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Switzerland - Barix AG is now shipping the Barix Paging Station PS16, a compact, multifunction master station for use in IP intercom, paging and voice over IP applications. Barix will exhibit the PS16 for the first time at the Integrated Systems Europe convention next month in Amsterdam.

The Barix Paging Station PS16 has Barix's modular Audio over IP technology at its core, delivering IP communications, and integrates a variety of professional features to create a fully-functional, standalone master station. Built by MS Neumann Elektronik in Germany, a Barix OEM, the Barix Paging Station PS16 features a flexible gooseneck microphone, a one-watt speaker, a 2x24 character backlit LCD, and 16 user-definable push buttons with LED indicators. Power can be supplied using PoE via the network cable or with a conventional wall plug.

The standard PS16 iMaster application offers a variet

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USA - Jere Harris, chairman and CEO of Production Resource Group, LLC (PRG) has announced that Nick Jackson, senior vice-president of PRG's Concert Touring group would be stepping down from his position at PRG. "We are all saddened by Nick's departure, but we wish him the very best as he moves on to new opportunities," said Harris. "Since joining PRG in 1998, Nick has worked tirelessly to establish our Concert Touring division as the leading provider of entertainment technology solutions for some of the biggest acts in the business. It has been an honour to work with this industry pioneer."

Mickey Curbishley, PRG's president of Concert Touring added: "Nick and I have worked together for many years. I wish him only the very, very best and I look forward to working with him in the future."

"It is with mixed emotions that I leave the PRG family,

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Uruguay - On 3 December 2008, Italian pro audio manufacturer Powersoft held its first seminar in Montevideo, Uruguay, illustrating the basis of its advanced technologies and products lines.

Engineer Carlos Maiocchi from Equaphon (provider of support for Powersoft brand in Argentina) had a meeting during the morning with the people of Stratta Hnos., the company responsible for the brand in Uruguay, in order to offer required training support to the company's salesforce

Maiocchi later presented a seminar on Powersoft products to around 30 professionals from sound companies across Uruguay, entitled "Technological Renaissance".

The company reports a great deal of interest from attendees, and says that further regional seminars will be presented in the near future.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Wiremore.co.uk has launched EBR Digicart SE in the UK and Europe. EBR Digicart SE software enables any PC or laptop to replace the Mini-Disc or the dedicated 'Instant' hard drive players used in all types of live productions from theatre to radio, from nightclub to special event, says the company.

Up to 72 sound cues are available for 'instant play' via cue sheets that can be updated even while 'playing out', giving flexibility to change play lists on the fly. The number of cue sheets that can be accessed is infinite.

A/B track cross fading, Time Remaining & Time Elapsed displays, track management and dedicated keyboard hot-keys are some of the many features that make this cost effective product stand out.

All music tracks available on the computer's internal, external or network drives are available to EBR Digicart 2, and as it recognises .wav, .mp3 and .ogg formats, p

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UAE - Qatar recently played host to the official year-end tennis championships of the Sony Ericsson WTA tour. The tournament was held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash complex in Doha which underwent a major AV and broadcast systems upgrade in order to host the event. The systems were designed and implemented by Doha-based systems integrator, AV-Tech.

"This is the first time that Qatar has hosted such a world-class tennis event, and we are proud to be a part of it," explained AV-Tech's general manager, Hadi Arzouni. "Furthermore, the complex will be hosting the Championships for the next two years, so it was imperative that we selected only the very best equipment from the top manufacturers. Our first choice for amplification is always Lab.gruppen for reasons of reliability and sound quality, and this installation was no exception."

AV-Tech ins

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Norway - A network of two Midas XL8s and three PRO6 consoles linked via AES50 (Supermac) was used for the Nobel Peace Prize concert at the Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. The set-up was designed to handle 10 artists including Diana Ross, Il Divo, The Script and Robyn - each accompanied by a large orchestra.

The Midas consoles were supplied by Oslo-based AVAB-CAC, which has provided all audio requirements for the Nobel Peace Prize Concert for the past 17 years. In an entirely new approach to the event's audio network, the consoles were used to link three stages, produce live sound and provide a broadcast feed. A PRO6 was used on each stage for monitor mixes, with a pair of XL8s at front-of-house.

"Quite simply, we changed from a system that used many snakes, analogue and digital, running back and forth between the various performance areas and took us five to six hours to instal

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The Netherlands - Chief Manufacturing has announced a new partnership with Comm-Tec. The agreement, which took effect on 1 January 2009, will see Comm-Tec adding Chief's range of mounting solutions to its comprehensive selection of products for the AV and systems integration professional in Germany and Austria.

"The timing of this new agreement really couldn't be better," says Melinda von Horvath, EMEA sales director at Chief Manufacturing. "We are introducing over 20 new mounting solutions at Integrated Systems Europe, and these are exactly the kind of products Comm-Tec is so well-placed to distribute for us.

"We were looking for a value-added distributor able to explain the high-end features and benefits of our products to integrators, installers and dealers, and we believe that in Comm-Tec we have found exactly the right partner to do that."

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Spain - Indalo Sonido, located in the region of Extremadura, Spain, has invested in D.A.S. Aero line array systems. Heading Indalo Sonido is Indalecio Montero, founder and director of the company located in the historical city of Merida, capital of the region of Extremadura. Powered D.A.S. Aero 38A units are among the inventory of audio systems the company has for sound reinforcement projectsplus an army of Aero 218A 2K subwoofers, their respective D.A.S. SM-12A stage monitors and Compact-115 units for side-fill.

This selection of equipment enables the company to offer a complete range of audiovisual rental and installation services for live events. One of their more recent success stories using Aero systems, was the Peoples International Folk Festival held at the Roman Theatre in Merida, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993.

For this particular festival, the firm's

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USA - Big Mick Hughes' tenure as front-of-house (FOH) engineer for Metallica is almost as long as the band's existence. "This is my 25th year. I was 25 or 26 when I started with the guys, and I'm going on 51 in a minute," says Hughes. Although the band has evolved and grown, a key to its longevity is its constant dedication to hard-rocking heavy metal, showcased on the 2008 hit album Death Magnetic. Another constant for the band has been Hughes' selection of Audio-Technica as the microphones of choice for Metallica's live stage setup, the most recent incarnation of which is crisscrossing the United States, soon to be followed by Europe, as the Death Magnetic World Tour.

"I've been using Audio-Technica for years, because of the way A-T mics sound. I can't really imagine using anything else," Hughes says. "They sound great and have tremendous

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Australia - Brisbane-based IJS continues to expand its operations with the recent purchase of two Soundcraft Vi6 digital audio consoles.

"We were finding that the Soundcraft Vi6 was regularly being specified on riders and we like to keep up to date with the market trends," said IJS's managing director Ivan Simon. "I also noticed that the Vi6 was selling well overseas. Digital consoles are obviously the way of the future - they're easy to set up, everything is in one place and the boards are really reliable these days especially the Vi6. I believe that the Vi6 is definitely one of the easiest digital consoles to use and get your head around. It's also a really great sounding board."

(Jim Evans)

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Australia - Bosch Security Systems Australia has sold the country's first Midas PRO6 Live Audio System to Osmond Electronics. This follows a tradition of firsts for Adelaide-based company, which also bought the first Midas XL3 and XL200 consoles in the country during the nineties.

Osmond specified the PRO6 with the DL431 Input splitter and DL451 I/O box usually supplied with the XL8. The DL431 will allow a total of five output splits from a single input with dual variable gain pre-amps providing both digital and analogue splits, with an additional transformer isolated analogue output as the fifth split. Increased functionality will also be provided by the DL451 I/O box by way of remote inputs and outputs for the system, in addition to the DL451 I/O cards fitted into the PRO6 surface. Each DL451 box and the PRO6 surface contain three module slots that allow input and output modul

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USA - Carnival Cruise Lines recently upgraded its fleet with a series of three Electro-Voice and Dynacord audio installations. Each installation was performed by SES Live Professional, a sound production company based in Senoia, Ga. Since its foundation in 2008, SES has earned a reputation across the Southeastern United States for quality sound, performance, and consulting.

SES was first commissioned to refit the main theatres of Carnival's four Spirit Class liners - the Pride, Legend, Spirit, and Miracle - with EV NetMax N8000 System Controllers to control all matrix routing, equalizing, and time alignment of each multi-speaker cluster throughout the ceilings of the main theatres.

Steve Stapleton, owner of SES LivePro, comments: "To ensure a smooth and seamless installation, we walked Carnival through every step of the process. They needed a partner with the proper profe

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USA - Stageco US was at the heart of the production team putting together the celebratory concert welcoming President Barack Obama into office in Washington DC. Stars including Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Stevie Wonder, U2 and Elvis Costello feted the president elect, while hundreds of thousands of people attended the free concert.

The event footprint was 2.5 miles long, stretching from the Lincoln Memorial in the west, around the Washington Monument, to the Capitol Building in the east, with a main stage and an extensive system of delay and video towers running the entire length of the site.

The stage-building team installed a 166ft x 60ft multi-level stage including two audio/video support structures, two lighting support towers and two 122ft x 80ft audience viewing platforms with video support platforms built at the rear.

In one of the biggest event-building

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USA - FiberPlex reports that its LightViperTM audio transport system was recently acquired by Taylor, Michigan-based audio production company, Thunder Audio, who has employed the advanced fiber optic technology in an innovative sound support touring system for Metallica's Death Magnetic World Tour which kicked off last October and will wrap up a US performance schedule in New Jersey next February. The tour, with high-energy concerts predominantly in large arenas, continues throughout Europe from February through July 2009.

At the heart of the large touring sound system developed by Thunder Audio, a 64-channel LightViper fibre optic audio system is configured as a 'drive snake' to provide AES/EBU digital audio signal distribution from FOH equipment racks to a massive, 44-zone loudspeaker array. Nearly 200 self-powered speakers are arranged in an 'in the round' configuratio

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China - Italian pro audio manufacturer Outline has appointed Shoushan system integration as its sole distributor for China, Hong Kong and Macao, with effect from 1 January 2009.

Since its foundation, Shoushan, headquartered in Guangzhou Panyu, has been committed to the professional audio field. Its key market areas include theatres, radio and television broadcasters, multi-function halls, meeting, conference and exhibition centres.

The company's CEO Mr. Tempo has been committed to China's audio industry for many years, holding key sales positions with top Chinese and International brands since 1991.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Like most secondary schools, Shakopee High's football field is a multi-purpose venue, used for football, track and field, rallies and ceremonies. And like many high school football fields, Shakopee's was somewhat lacking in audio coverage, with an underpowered system that was being pushed well beyond its reasonable limits.

"The system was two speakers and a 150W amp," says Dohn Fadden of Shoreview, MN-based Electronic Design Company. "In the few areas where the loudspeakers could be heard, the sound was largely unintelligible."

Fadden's new system design faced a few challenges, including the logistics of covering both the home and visitors' seating from a single point. "Mounting the speakers above the press box on the home team's bleachers was really the only viable solution, since trenching for cabling across the field would have been expensive

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  2. QSC's in control at Catalan club
  3. Loud Technologies refutes bankruptcy rumours
  4. Lab.gruppen adds three new to FP+ range
  5. EAW now shipping latest MicroWedges
  6. Klotz opens UK sales office
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