USA - Until recently, the 950-seat auditorium used by Wabash City High School and Middle School (Wabash, Indiana) featured a sound system that had not been updated in 30 years. That has all changed since a new RoomMatch sound system from Bose Professional Systems was installed there recently. Now, students, faculty and visitors to the schools can enjoy high-quality sound and increased intelligibility for everything from school band and theatrical performances to graduation and other ceremonies.

In the auditorium, Indiana-based AV systems integrator Circle City Audio installed a RoomMatch system composed of three RM9040 modules, two RM7020 modules and two RMS215 subwoofers, configured in a dual-hang arrangement at the front of the hall. These are powered by three Bose PowerMatch PM8500N amplifiers, with processing by a pair of Bose ControlSpace ESP-88 digital signal processors.

UK - The anticipation that preluded the sixth PLASA Focus: Leeds delivered everything it promised, with two-days of packed show floors and seminar rooms. A total of 2107 visitors flooded into the Leeds' Royal Armouries, drawn by a showcase of professional sound, lighting, video, trussing and staging companies, plus an education programme that spanned the industry's expertise.

A mixture of quality, variety and enthusiasm combined to create the unmistakable atmosphere that the show has become renowned for. "We really enjoy PLASA Focus," says Michael Brooksbank, European General Manager, Chauvet Professional. "It's a small, intimate, networking show, it doesn't cost us a significant amount of money, which always helps, and we get instant returns."

Martin Professional's UK Sales Director, Mike Walker, adds: "It's an important show for us. The international

UK - The Savoy Theatre in London recently embarked upon a programme of works to address its environmental impact whilst at the same time improving its customer experience. It should come as no surprise, given its status in history that The Savoy chose a pioneering way ahead.

The theatre wished to replace its existing house-light system, which comprised traditional 40-60W tungsten candle-lamps and cold cathode tubing, with an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly system. The new system was to be retro-fitted with no impact on the fabric of this historic site.

Given the spectacular nature of the interior, the installation was to replicate as closely as possible the way in which the auditorium had traditionally been lit, in order that the detailed architectural features could be seen to best advantage. The original requirement was for a wireless system throughout and to this

South Africa - Tucked away in a suburb in Randburg are the studios of Stark Films, an independent television production company where the popular series Binneland and many other longstanding dramas are filmed. Stark Films have purchased a Philips Strand Lighting 250 ML Control Console, which is an ideal desk for their daily requirements.

Stepping inside the Stark Film studios can be compared to an architect environment as enormous windows overlook an entire eco garden. While Stark Films was established in 1985 by Friedrich and Elsje Stark it was only four years ago that they left the inner city of Johannesburg to their new quarters which has become an oasis for those working day in and day out on soap operas and morning shows. It's a setting that allows for creativity and serves as a home away from home.

Chris Gardner has been with Stark Films for the past nine years an

USA - When the touring production of the five-time Tony Award-nominated 80's musical Rock of Ages hit the road to rock its way across America for a third season, Masque Sound went along for the ride, supplying a custom audio equipment package to support sound designer Craig Cassidy and his team.

Set in 1987 on Hollywood's famed Sunset Strip, Rock of Ages tells the story of a small town girl who meets a big city rocker at Los Angeles' most famous rock club, The Bourbon Room. This arena-rock love story is told through the hits of the greatest bands of the 80's including, Journey, Night Ranger, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and more.

Recreating the heavy, arena-rocking sound that defined the big hair 80's with a PA system that would be able to move in and out of the theatres quickly enough for the tour's rigoro

UK - London's Leicester Square was chosen as the venue for the world premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - the latest instalment of the Marvel Comics franchise from Columbia Pictures.

The glittering premiere was attended by the stars of the movie including Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx and Dane DeHaan. For the red carpet exterior of the cinema, XL Video were brought in to provide a video solution including multiple LED screens and media control.

XL Video's project manager, Mark Rooney selected the company's new MC-7 LED which displayed the logos and character images from the film. Despite the bright sunshine in London that day, the screen performed very well, with vibrant colours.

With only a few hours to rig the screens from 6am on the day of the premiere, XL's crew of Gary Burchett, Steven Grinceri, Rob Smith, Colin Mudd, and Fabrizio Di Lelio worked clos

UK - Belfast PA company, Wackiki, employed its Allen & Heath GLD digital mixing system, comprising the GLD-80 mixer and accompanying AR2412 remote I/O rack, for the recent Arenacross UK tour, which visited seven arenas from Belfast to Wembley, showcasing an international line-up of pro racers and Freestyle motocross.

"We chose GLD because of its small footprint and I/O processing abilities. The use of compressors, high pass filters and 4-band EQ on each channel was a must. With some venues posing difficult cable runs, we liked that the GLD only required a single CAT5 to connect the stage box, instead of multiple cables like most desks," explains Wackiki's hire manager, Steve Woods. "The truck pack was also very tight with the amount of truss and PA involved, and the only way the tour budget would work was if all the sound and lighting production fit into one truck

UK - Having previously been nominated for two Olivier Awards, it was it was third time lucky for sound designer Gareth Owen as he won one of the coveted awards for Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along. Gareth's choice of a Yamaha PM5D digital console for the show proved that his philosophy of 'the right tools for the right job' is a recipe for success.

"I'm not one to always use the same equipment - no 'cookie cutter' specs, if you will. I believe in picking the tools that are best for each production and not spending a lot of the producer's money on gear for the sake of it," he says.

"Merrily We Roll Along was all about sonic clarity and fast operation. It needed a straightforward system, just exactly what was needed to deliver a sound which was very clear and true to the original. Three of the main reason why I chose the PM5D was because it has

USA - Rational Acoustics has announced the release of the fifth major version update for the Smaart v.7 measurement platform - Smaart v.7.5. This latest release includes significant feature additions, usability enhancements, interface modifications and important bug fixes. This is a free update and is recommended for all Smaart v.7 users.

Notable among the feature additions in Smaart v.7.5 is the addition of 'Target Curves' on RTA plots allowing ASCII traces such as the X curve (used in cinema tunings) to be imported into Smaart and displayed in a static position on the RTA plot to serve as a visual target or threshold for single channel measurements. A 'Quick Compare' feature has also been added for transfer function measurements which captures a copy of the top transfer function trace and stores the inverse in memory as a weighting curve, allowing it to be quickly applied as a

USA - Though he was born in Pasadena, CA, vocalist / composer / performer Gerardo Ortiz was reared in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. These days, Ortiz is recognised as a stand-out artist in the Norteño-Banda, Corridos music genre and, in 2011, he dominated the Billboard Mexican Music Awards. Ortiz is presently on tour and, to ensure the best audio fidelity with consistent coverage, he relies on loudspeakers drawn from the Aero Series 2, Convert, and Road catalogs of Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.

Los Angeles-based International House of Music, Inc. (IHOMI), a full service music and audio equipment supplier that services a wide range of customers from individuals to professional touring acts, recently sold the Ortiz tour a large D.A.S. Audio sound reinforcement system. Presently, the mains system includes 36 D.A.S. Aero 50 3-way, large-format line array modules powered by Lab G

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UK - The Health and Safety Executive has recently held a briefing meeting for interested parties within the entertainment industry to layout the changes to the 2007 Construction, Design and Management Regulations and their decision to include the entertainment industry within the scope of the new Regulations. The meeting coincided with the release of the 10 week consultation document which started at the beginning of April and closes on 6 June (D- Day!!!).

Please take a moment to read through this report and decide if this applies to you and your undertaking. The PLASA Technical Resources cannot stress how important it is that those who will be affected, read the consultation and comment on the proposals. If you do any work that sees you installing equipment within live events, theatre, exhibitions, conferences etc. CDM 2015 will apply to you and your work will fall under the sc

Royal Record - London's Royal Albert Hall enjoyed a bumper year in 2013, posting record audience numbers of 1.71 million and operating income of £18.6m, up 10.4% on the previous year. The figures represent the most successful year of trading in the venue's 143-year history with 390 events driving a 7% increase in audiences. The venue recorded its highest ever operating surplus of £5.3m. The Hall's own promotions - which included performances of Carmen, Swan Lake and live orchestral accompaniment to films including Fantasia and Singin' in the Rain - generated £600,000 more in ticket sales than in 2012. The figures were released to coincide with the unveiling a new large-scale mural by artist Peter Blake featuring more than 400 artists who have performed in the hall since it opened in 1871.

Eurovision 2014 - The first of the Eur

South Africa - A Martin Audio OmniLine micro-array, much favoured by houses of worship, has been installed in the 1500-seat Old Apostolic Church (OAC) Christian church at Mayfield Park in Gauteng, South Africa.

Audiosure, Martin Audio's territorial distributor successfully tendered for the work to install and commission a complete sound system in the new sanctuary, working from the OAC's specifications. OmniLine was central to the bid and the installation was carried out by their clients, JRTL Projects.

With Audiosure's Thys Venter overseeing the project, OmniLine first needed to meet a number of key criteria aside from the quoted specifications, including technical output, price, quality and warranty, before being chosen to handle the traditional twice-a-week service regime.

The design was based on a single central hang, comprising 12 OmniLine elements. In addition, eight M

Denmark - The Danish city of Ishøj is implementing the four basic elements as part of an exciting renewal of its urban areas. SGM fixtures are playing a key role by illuminating the town centre building.

As one of the world's largest lighting design offices, ÅF Lighting is experienced in creating holistic lighting solutions manifesting the right balance between functionality, aesthetics and sustainability. With more than 30 years in the industry, ÅF Lighting was offered an opportunity to develop an overall lighting concept for the urban areas surrounding the town centre in Ishøj, revolving around the four elements: earth, air, fire and water.

The first part of the concept, implemented in 2012, was based on the element water. The square in front of the train station near the coastline has been furnished with feature and scenographic lighting in blue and green sh

USA - "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn," wrote Benjamin Franklin. Chauvet Professional subscribes to this theory wholeheartedly, which is why the company sponsored a highly personalised hands-on lighting workshop recently at its new southern California showroom and learning centre.

The Chauvet Professional Concert Lighting Workshop gave students from four colleges in the Los Angeles area an opportunity to design a sequence to music of their choosing on the Chauvet Professional demo rig, working with GrandMA2 programmer Joe Spangler. Each student group got to work one-on-one with the programmer to light his or her song on an impressive rig that featured a variety of Chauvet Professional products including Nexus panels, different COLORado fixtures, Legend 230SR Beams, Q-Wash 419Z moving yoke washes and the entire new Rogue series.

Slovakia - Rental and technical production company Q-99 has added Robe's new multi-functional Robin Pointes to its hire stock - bringing their full stock of Robe moving lights to nearly 500 fixtures.

Headed by the country's top TV lighting designer Martin Kubanka, Q-99 - which also provides video and audio solutions - has always been committed to making the very best technology available for all its clients and their events.

"We eagerly anticipated the arrival of the Pointe," explains Kubanka. "We all had high expectations, but when the Pointe was actually launched and we saw it in action for the first time ... it absolutely surpassed everything in all criteria."

Q-99 services numerous high profile light entertainment TV shows and events as well as concerts, theatrical productions and corporate projects. "We like to offer the latest technologies to o

UK - The original production of the hit musical Billy Elliot, still running at London's Victoria Palace Theatre almost a decade after making its debut there, has moved the show's lighting to a new control system based around ETC's popular Ion control console.

The new desk has replaced a Strand desk that ran the show since it opened, continuing the trend of long-running shows updating their control systems to ETC products to ensure continued trouble-free performance night after night.

"Our previous desk served us well," comments the show's lighting designer, Rick Fisher, who won a Tony Award for his work on the show on Broadway and a Helpmann Award for the production in Australia, "but with the show continuing to enjoy success in London, and with new productions planned elsewhere, it seemed to make sense to move the show onto a newer platform that was rece

Spain - Space Ibiza has marked its 25th anniversary by being crowned 'Best Club in the World' in the prestigious DJ Mag Top100 Clubs awards for the fourth time in seven years. The venue, which is highly regarded by clubbers and operators around the globe, has been home to a Funktion-One sound system since 2002.

Since opening in 1989, Space Ibiza has received a host of awards and has consistently impressed with its forward thinking operational and music policies. DJ Mag's 'Best Club in the World' prize is one of the most renowned awards in the nightclub industry. Winners are chosen through a public vote, making the recognition even more special.

The venue has six different areas. The 2,000-capacity main room, known as La Discoteca, features a Funktion-One sound system, comprising custom clusters of DS15s, R3SHs and R1SHs, along with F221 bass enclosures, and F88s with R3SHs in

UK - 2014's Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) at the Royal Albert Hall has yet again seen a string of hugely successful performances given by some of the world's most popular concert touring artists including Ed Sheeran, The Cure, Suede and Paolo Nutini along with an evening of comedy hosted by Jason Manford. As has been the case for many years Production Resource Group (PRG) provided a skilled team of expert crew along with a comprehensive lighting and rigging package.

The chock-full week of TCT events, which supports young people with cancer, has now been running for 14 years and is supported by a host of celebrities including rock legend Roger Daltrey.

Esteemed lighting designer for The Who, Tom Kenny, has designed the TCT show since its inception. "It's great that PRG supports me every year to deliver appropriate lighting for the diverse cornucopia of artists who play during

Ghana - Charterhouse Production, the largest events management and one-stop production house in Ghana was set up over 11 years ago to produce a wide range of events across West Africa - notably Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and from corporate to concert work.

Helping them in some of their more high profile events has been the inventory of dynamic PR Lighting fixtures which they have been steadily building since opening their account with the Chinese manufacturer last year.

Among the show spectaculars have been Guinness Big Eruption Concert (Akon live in Ghana), Chris Brown Live In Ghana, Ghana Rocks and Malta Guinness Launch (P-Square Live In Ghana). But the most prestigious is the impressive Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA14), which take place again this year on May 3rd at the Accra International Conference Centre. Once again PR Lighting fixtures, and particularly Char

Denmark - After a very successful contribution to last year's Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, Barco reports that it is to be the Official Technical Event Partner of the 2014 edition. During this week's semi-finals and finals in Copenhagen, 32 Barco projectors and three Encore presentation switchers, provided by rental partner Mediatec Solutions, will project sharp images and video, in crisp detail, onto the cube-shaped central stage.

Eurovision 2013 was an all-Barco show powered by a total of 60 Barco projectors, including 26 units of the high-brightness HDQ-2K40. That same HDQ-2K40 will now play a starring role in this year's Eurovision too. The 16 HDQ units will be combined with 16 HDX-W20 projectors to display the brightest images. Three Barco Encore presentation switchers will be used to control and map the video content.

This year's 35m x 20m Eurovision stage is

UK - Bristol-based lighting and visuals rental company Fineline has been confirmed as lighting and rigging provider to four major festivals with more to follow.

Fineline's Rob Sangwell comments, "We are looking forward to a very busy summer and will be keeping all our regular crew on their toes! There's also a lot more exciting projects in the pipeline which are currently being finalised."

Love Saves The Day in Bristol returns for the third year to Castle Park in the heart of the city and for the first time Fineline have been contracted to supply lighting, rigging and LED screens for the Main Stage.

The line-up features Annie Mac, SBTRKT, Eats Everything, Jamie XX, Hercules & Love Affair, Neneh Cherry w/ Rocketnumbernine, Gentleman's Dub Club and many more interesting sounds to push the boundaries of aural and visual experience.

Says Rob, "We're delighted to

UK - Richmond Event Management Ltd (REM) was delighted to steer the production management and logistical operation of the internationally recognised Park Street Slide in Bristol over the May Bank Holiday Weekend.

As part of the city's ongoing "Make Sundays Special " programme, designed to close the city to vehicles and turn streets into playgrounds , it was always going to be a challenge to close down a major part of Bristol's City Centre on one of the busiest public holidays of the year.

From 0500hrs, as Bristol's clubs and bars were emptying, the REM team began the logistics of closing down Park Street and starting the build of the temporary water slide. 65,000 spectators were counted in and out of the immediate viewing area and of the 96,000 who applied for the opportunity to slide, 350 members of the public were chosen via a ballot to take part in this unique occ

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