UK - Leisuretec Distribution Ltd has announced its new trade partnership with the American manufacturer Samson Technologies, an industry leader in both consumer and professional audio equipment.

Leighton Buzzard-based Leisuretec are distributors of professional and commercial audio, lighting, video and special effects to the trade. Cliff Dounting, managing director, commented on the new partnership: "We are very proud to be partnering with Samson, a company with a great pedigree along with an exciting product range, all of which make for a very strong fit with Leisuretec's portfolio enabling us to further grow our service and capabilities to the industry trade and in particular the MI retail sector."

Samson developed the first professional USB microphones to be used by musicians, broadcasters and podcast enthusiasts and their USB microphone is now the industry standa

Canada - On 6 December the night sky over Montreal was pierced by 14 beams of light in a solemn commemoration of the 14 victims of the Ecole Polytechnique massacre 25 years ago. Montreal-based Moment Factory chose Clay Paky Mythos lights for the touching ceremony atop Mount Royal.

Residents of Montreal, Mayor Denis Coderre, Quebec and federal political leaders, gun control advocates, journalists, victims' family members and survivors of the shooting gathered at the lookout of the Mount Royal chalet for a two-hour ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the day a gunman stalked the engineering school targeting women, professing to hate feminists and the new roles of women in society.

As part of the commemoration, 14 columns of light, each one symbolizing a young woman who perished in the massacre, rose into the sky. The powerful beams were created by Clay Paky Mythos fixtures.

UK - A combination of geometrically and historically inspired projections make for a striking backdrop for Rodrigo y Gabriela's latest tour, in support of new album 9 Dead Alive. The duo's multimedia designer, Krisjanis Berzins operates the show using Ai Version 8 - Bondi, running from a Software Licence Key.

The Mexican acoustic guitar duo returned to tour the UK this winter, having taken to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in the summer. Using two screen fixtures, their show employs Ai to run 4-6 layers per fixture, made up of one-two footage layers plus four live camera layers which can be source switched to use up to eight cameras at a time.

Berzins' design took inspiration from the new album, for which each song is dedicated to someone with significant legacy in human history. "We had built animations for these as well as some extra geometry based content for

USA - Robe made six of its new BMFL Spots available to lighting designer Preston Hoffman for the 2014 Warren Haynes Christmas Jam. The annual event, this year staged at the U.S. Cellular Centre in Asheville, North Carolina, featured Billy and the Kids, The Revivalists, Jason Isbell, Vince Gill, The Hard Working Americans and Haynes' own band, Gov't Mule.

Now in its 26th year, the high-profile music event, which began in a small club in 1988, has become a major charity fundraiser. Since 2008, the proceeds have gone to Habitat for Humanity, an international non government, not-for-profit organization dedicated to empowering communities and building affordable housing for those in need.

Preston has been lighting the Christmas Jam for the last four years. This year's goal with the lighting design was to move forward from last year's spectacle which was expanded to two nights with

UK - With a choir of 1,300 school children, a 30 piece Big Band and vocalist, plus various other ensembles including a body percussion choir, the Brighton & Hove Schools Christmas Concert taking place at the Brighton Centre this December presented some complex audio logistics for Mustt Audio and its Flare loud speaker system.

The concert, organised by Brighton & Hove Music & Arts at the 5,000 capacity Brighton Centre, is a well established seasonal singing extravaganza, eagerly anticipated by local families. So it was vital that the performers were supported by a multi-skilled professional technical production team.

"It was as if we had five concerts running simultaneously," says Mustt Audio owner, Waq. "Choreographing and coordinating the show was a challenge. The music alternates between different choirs and orchestras, so one group might be playing or singing

UK - The final music show to be staged at London's Earls Court concert and exhibition venue - which is being demolished - saw indie rockers Bombay Bicycle Club deliver an enthusiastic and enigmatic set, complete with some very special guests including Dave Gilmour - in the final show of their So Long See You Tomorrow album campaign and world tour.

The set, lighting and video elements were designed by Squib, and XL Video supplied video production and crew for both Earls Court and the preceding tour which had originally started in April 2014.

The tour featured eye catching video content created by Adam Young and Anna Ginsburg - mostly charismatic hand drawn animations - which were programmed onto one of XL's Catalyst media servers and projected on to seven stretched fabric circles or discs of varying sizes between 4 and 8 feet, fed by a pair of Barco projectors.

For the

UK - Cadac finished off 2014 with a flurry of trade shows and demonstration events for its flagship CDC eight digital console throughout November and December, in partnership with its European distributors.

For 2015 the company has already hit the demonstration trail running, at Teknikmesse i Operaen (Technology Exhibition at the Opera), at the Det Kongelige Teater Copenhagen, with Danish distributor Starbaek Audiovisual Truss and Stage on 7 - 8 January, at Tour Link Conference in Palm Springs with Paul Morini from Cadac's US office on 8 - 10 January, and at Queens University, Belfast, with PHG - Production House and Cadac's UK sales manager Rob Hughes, in Northern Ireland on 13 - 15 January.

The trade show tour at the end of 2014 kicked off with Tonmeistertagung 2014 on 20 - 23 November in Cologne, where the CDC eight-32 and CDC eight-16 were centre stage on Audio Specialists

UK - The MADI-MON from 4HM, part of the Bel Digital Group, gives broadcast, live sound and production audio engineers a simple but reliable way of auditioning embedded MADI channels, without the need to connect to external routers or audio consoles. BBC Northern Ireland (BBCNI) has recently invested in a unit, supplied by Aspen Media, in order to facilitate monitoring of its new MADI audio router and communications systems.

As the first device to provide studio engineers with the tools necessary to interrogate the MADI stream in order to view the status of embedded channels, MADI-MON is a suitable monitor for the commissioning and maintenance of MADI-based audio systems. It is the only MADI monitor that makes all of the audio signals visible and accessible as a breakout simultaneously, with the status bits of the MADI stream also available for diagnostic use.

BBCNI chose the M

UK - Since Soccer AM first aired in 1995 it has developed a cult following with features such as Crossbar Challenge, Away Days, Taxi and Third Eyes plus the Soccerettes.

Despite the longevity of the show, it has always remained relaxed, spontaneous and funny which is a credit to the team and the presenters Helen Chamberlain and Max Rushden.

Behind the scenes you just sense that there is a group of colleagues that can call themselves friends and know how to have a laugh together. This is made all the more obvious with their annual Dance Off.

Long standing LD Malcolm Reed designs the lighting show which is supported by Richard Martin Lighting (RML). Although the lighting is relatively minimal for the feature, Malcolm always makes and point of changing the fixtures every year so that there is a different look. This year he went for the

Russia - Russian rock band DDT have embarked on their world tour, Pellucid, with lighting designer Andrejs Dubkovs choosing the ever-popular Clay Paky Sharpy and Sharpy Wash 330 as a winning combination of "power, reliability and budget-saving" for his emotive design.

Dubkovs, of show design house Lumen Art Divison, specified the fixtures from Novosibirsk-based Elkraft for the Russian leg of the tour, with leading production company Orion supplying the units for the international dates.

"The Clay Paky Sharpy and Sharpy Wash 330 are ideal for this tour," says Dubkovs. "They are super powerful meaning I need to use less fixtures to achieve the looks I want and yet compact and lightweight, saving space in the trucks. Both of these factors are very important when touring around the world.

"In addition, Clay Paky fixtures are extremely reliable durin

Russia - SGM's P-5 wash lights demonstrated their applicability as waterproof luminaires at the recent International Festival of Light in Moscow. Fountain specialist Aqua-Show was tasked with installing two lines of fountains and creating a 3D world of water for laser projection. They needed to illuminate the fountains with water reaching heights up to 30m, and for that they selected the powerful RGBW P-5.

Water show lighting designer and design engineer of the fountain system, Korzakov Anton, explains, "This is our first experience in using LED light for creating a wash effect on the water. Previously, we have not found such a fixture in our rental market with this huge light output. All our previous attempts have been unsuccessful and for many years we have only used conventional lights."

The multishow took place at the Ostankino Tower, Russia's national TV buildin

UK - Award winning UK comedian Russell Howard extended his massively successful Wonderbox stand-up tour in December, playing an additional nine dates following the warm reception it had received in April.

Once again, Adlib was asked to supply a crisp and clear PA system, lighting and all necessary trussing and rigging for the shows.

As with any comedian, working a big arena is a challenging environment. One of the tasks of the production is to reduce the void and bring the audience closer - a bidirectional 'personal proximity' relationship - which has to be achieved virtually. While the physical space remains the same, the perception - of both artist and audience - changes.

Adlib applied its considerable experience in the discipline of live comedy to the task in hand. The sonic detail is crucial as most comic delivery entails hearing every inflection of the voice with comple

UK - Each December, London's The O2 plays host to the Capital Radio Jingle Bell Ball, which never fails to get music fans in the festive mood. As in previous years, Adlib Audio provided audio requirements for the two-days of festive fun, with Sennheiser radio mics and in-ear monitors - a perennial part of Adlib's inventory for this challenging event - delivering flawless sound throughout.

"We've worked on the Jingle Bell Ball for a few years now," says Adlib's Dave Kay. "Each year it's demanding, both in terms of the level of the acts performing and the quick turnaround times we have to work to, and this year was no exception."

Artists performing at the shows included Take That, using Sennheiser SKM 5200 handheld microphones with EM 5235 capsule, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith both deploying 2000 Series handhelds with MD 9235 and e 965 capsule respectively and Ta

USA - Bob Cowan and Adam Correia, monitor mixers for Metallica, will be the next guest speakers on the Meyer Sound Mixing Workshop webinar series, hosted by veteran mixer Buford Jones.

Scheduled for Thursday 5 February 5, 2015, the webinar will focus on the dual monitoring team's approach to mixing a combination of in-ears and on-stage wedges for the heavy metal legends. Cowan and Correia will also share their key to success for earning and maintaining the artists' trust and achieving consistency. Sign up here: http://bit.ly/1xurSun

As part of Meyer Sound's worldwide education programme, Buford Jones brings lessons learned from a mixing career of almost four decades to his online Mixing Workshop and hands-on sessions around the world. Jones's illustrious mixing credits include Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Prince, and David Bowie.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Illuminate Design has been keeping warm during the winter months with their busiest winter period ever, smashing previous records.

The Colchester based company worked on a wide variety of events and productions as well as continually providing a high level of day-to-day support to their regular, loyal customers.

Tilbury Docks was the location for a number of Christmas parties and Illuminate Design were tasked to provide a winter lighting theme. The bespoke design included Pulsar Chroma Floods plus ETC Source 4 profiles to light the ceiling and walls within the space. The temporary installation ran for two weeks hosting a variety of parties and dinners.

The company were the chosen supplier to work with Butlins (Bourne Leisure) to help create their winter 'Igloo'. This entailed three identical systems for the resorts at Minehead, Skegness and Bognor Regis. With up to eigh

UK - Lighting hire and technical event production specialists Blue Parrot have taken delivery of 12 new Martin Quantum Profiles to add to their hire stock based in Edinburgh. Blue Parrot's head of hires Dave Morris explains, "We have had a great experience with our Martin MAC Aura and 101 LED fixtures over the last few years. They are incredibly reliable and superb lights to use. It therefore makes absolute sense for us to invest in the Quantum Profile and continue to offer the very latest and best equipment to our production and dry hire customers."

The Quantum Profiles are the latest addition to Blue Parrot's large moving light inventory which now includes 30 MAC Auras, 24 MAC 101s and 22 of the flagship MAC Vipers - a mixture of Profile, Performance and Wash DX models.

2014 was a very successful year for the company with a number of high profile technical producti

UK - West London-based rental and technical solutions specialists Entec Sound & Light has enjoyed a remarkable and dynamic working relationship with singer, songwriter, producer and composer Damon Albarn and Blur, which stretches back about 23 years, almost as long as the 24 years that lighting designer Dave Byars has worked with Albarn on his many and varied live performance projects.

Most recently, Entec supplied sound and lighting equipment and crew for Albarn's critically acclaimed sold-out shows with his live band, The Heavy Seas, at London's Royal Albert Hall venue.

Over the years, Dave Byars has been tasked with realizing the vision of musicians and artists in a plethora of venues ranging from tiny local clubs to stadiums around the world.

His design for Albarn's 2014 tour and the RAH shows included a heptegram - seven pointed star - backdrop, a symbol of particular i

UK - With Jerry Hall cast in the starring role as the Wicked Queen, the recent production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Richmond Theatre had nearly all the ingredients needed for a good run.

Sound designer Rick Clarke, veteran of over 40 West End musicals, added in an important new element - the first deployment of a Flare Audio X2/X0 Compact Vertical Point Source Array system in theatre. The system featured X2 cabinets, flown in groups of two per side, with X0s used as front-fills and delays, together with the award-winning SB21 Flat Panel Directional Touring Sub Bass units. Out front was a Yamaha CL5 front of house digital mixing console feeding the Flare system directly via the Dante network.

Pantomime has been a regular feature in Rick's calendar, dating back to when his children were younger, with the Richmond Theatre an extremely familiar venue. The ex

China - Absen Optoelectronics, a global manufacturer of high quality LED displays, has announced that it has acquired LED display company and solution provider VISS Lighting Co., Ltd, with the purchase of 60% stake in the Shenzhen based company, for a total of RMB24m (EUR 3.3m).

Absen has essentially purchased a 50% and 10% stake respectively from co-owners Zhong Zaibo and Zhang Wenxia. Upon completion of the acquisition, Absen will hold 60% of VISS Lighting's equity, while Zhong Zaibo will hold the remaining 40% share. By virtue of shareholding, VISS Lighting will become a subsidiary of Absen.

Deng Jiangbo, Absen vice president, commented, "This acquisition strengthens Absen's position as a world leading provider of high quality LED display solutions. We are confident that this operation will help the company to provide an even wider range of high quality products to the

UK - Buckinghamshire-based Dry Hire Lighting have become one of the first hire companies in the UK to invest in a quantity of the new Chroma-Q Color One 100 premium performance, homogenised output LED Par fixture.

Dry Hire Lighting carry an extensive inventory of technology equipment from leading manufacturers, and pride themselves on providing customers with access to the very latest high-performance lighting solutions.

Dry Hire Lighting's Rob Merrilees invested in the Color One 100 fixtures following a demo at PLASA London 2014, and a further onsite test at the company's headquarters.

"As a company, Dry Hire Lighting does not stock generic lamps and we've waited until the new LED technology was at the right output and price to get into the market," says Rob. "We set up the fixtures at our offices and were very impressed with the build quality and the output.

Turkey - As one of the most popular singers in Turkey, Tarkan has been nicknamed the country's 'Prince of Pop' by the Turkish media, regularly selling out shows at the country's major venues. September saw him play nine consecutive shows at the 4000-capacity Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theatre, with a DiGiCo SD5 specially purchased by production company Staras.

The open air amphitheatre is one of Istanbul's most popular venues, especially in summer, when it hosts a variety of live shows by both national and international artists, as well as a number of cultural festivals.

Staras Technical Production handled the lighting, sound and staging for the shows and willingly acceded to the request by Tarkan's production team for a DiGiCo SD5 console for the monitor mix.

"Although Staras has been in business for 30 years, they had not previously used DiGiCo consoles," says Gorkem

USA - John Fogerty continues to entertain fans around the world with regular touring throughout North America and overseas. His most recent tour marked a complete departure from his regular audio system of many years - this time going on the road with the new Adamson Energia PA provided by Atomic Pro Audio.

"I've been working with Atomic for almost 20 years," explains Tim Schad, production manager working with John Fogerty since 2006. "I was sold on Adamson the first time I used it and have started working in different pieces of their gear with John over the last 6 years, but this was the first time we went out with 100% Adamson PA and monitor rig. The new Adamson Energia PA was "way better sounding" than any PA available out there at any cost."

Atomic Pro Audio, located in Rutland, Vermont, has been a supporter of Adamson since 2002. Most recentl

UK - Yes Events has turned to Elation Professional's new Sniper multi-effect light and Elation PAR, beam and LED lights to create Enchanted Woodland, an Illuminated walk through Syon Park near London.

Syon Park, which surrounds 500-year-old Syon House in Brentford, England, contains over four hundred species of tree and has been a horticultural woodland for almost 600 years. With Enchanted Woodland, a visit to Syon Park in winter has visitors seeing the arboretum in a whole new light.

Using 1000 separate light fixtures and over 15km of cable, the Yes Events installation team, headed by project manager / lighting designer Tom Chennells and lighting programmer / systems designer Adam Nicholls, utilized Elation products in a woodland lightshow, at Syon House and in a laser show.

An area of the woodland was host to a son et lumiere where lighting was timecoded to Elgar's famous

UK - White Light recently partnered with the National Gallery to host a special educational session for event professionals from venues in the Unique Venues of London group. White Light is an approved supplier across many of London's premier events venues including Unique Venues of London spaces. The morning event, hosted in the National Gallery's Sainsbury Wing Theatre, was designed to help attendees broaden their knowledge of the technical aspects of event production.

More than 80 professionals attended the event, which featured a seminar, workshop, and Q&A session with White Light's technical experts. Guests were also treated to a gourmet breakfast provided by caterer Peyton Events, an approved supplier across the UVL group.

White Light's project manager Jason Larcombe and head of audio Lee Dennison each spoke on topics including lighting, audio, and video for events. The W

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