UK - When the English and Wales Court Service made plans to add sound reinforcement to nineteen of the courtrooms at Snaresbrook Crown Court in the London suburb of Essex, they called upon Digital Multimedia Recording Ltd (DMR), who had been providing them with digital audio recording systems for other courthouses in the region. DMR, in turn, approached Birmingham-based LMC Audio to work with them on the installation.
Originally a Victorian orphanage, the building was later converted into fourteen courtrooms, with a modern annex adding another six. "Consequently, the acoustics in the rooms are awful," relates Simon Neller, the Court Service's project manager. "There's always been a major problem for jurors in hearing soft-spoken witnesses." He noted that, in many cases, asking vulnerable witnesses to speak louder or repeat sometimes distressing testimony tended to exacerbate an already traumatic experience.
LMC Audio's sound reinforcement design is based around 19 QSC CX302 amplifiers, each fitted with DSP4 digital signal processing modules connected via QSC's exclusive DataPort connector. The DSP modules provide signal processing for the sound, which is generated live or from the DMR-designed digital recording system.
"We wanted an amplifier with a minimum of controls, and one that would be reliable through a regular, heavy-duty cycle," explained Mark Bromfield, LMC 's project manager. "We also knew we would need EQ and a good bit of compression. The CX302 was an obvious choice, particularly since, with the DSP modules, it co
UK - L&SI recently received a statement from The Roadcrew Providential Syndicate which held its first meeting on Saturday 3 January at the Point 101 Club. The meeting resolved to set up a permanent organization, as part of the GMB trade union, to achieve representation for those involved in the production of live entertainment and other events. The RPS has invited any individuals who work in the following areas to join them, regardless of employment status: backline crew, local crew, bus drivers, truck drivers, tour managers, merchandise staff, catering crew, sound crew, lighting crew, AV crew, riggers, set builders, barrier crew, wardrobe, close tour security and other crew who are part of the industry.
Because of the nature of these particular jobs, individuals are often excluded from access to High Street financial services. By joining the Roadcrew Providential Syndicate, members are able to access cheap personal pensions and mortgages, free legal and financial advice and personalized insurance packages covering issues specific to the industry, such as public liability and travel.
On receipt of membership applications, GMB financial advisors will contact applicants to discuss a personal financial plan tailored to their needs, and inform them of financial services available to syndicate members. Overall, the aims of the Roadcrew Providential Syndicate are to ensure crew have a voice and open a dialogue with other professional groups within the industry; to become the recognized association representing individual road crew; to educate and inform members on issu
UK - Entec Sound & Light supplied a full lighting and sound production package for "East Meets West" 2004. The event was a variety show extravaganza staged at the Carling Apollo Hammersmith, and performed by students from Imperial College Indian Society.
The show featured dance and music - from rap to classical Indian - plus various fusions and theatrical performance. Lighting designer Andrew Keighley, an Entec regular, lit the event for the second year running, and with no stage set apart from some basic props, the visual impact was all down to the application of lights.
He chose a series of simplistic, bold and colourful looks that were ideal for mixing and matching for quick and effective improvisational techniques. There was no time for a full rehearsal or run though, and for lighting in particular, this meant a heavy reliance on Keighley's intuition and busking skills.
The rig comprised two trusses - front and back - with eight Vari*Lite 2202 moving spot lights spread across both of them, and another unit upstage centre on the floor for specials. The dynamics of the V*Ls gave Keighley plenty of scope for ensuring sufficient general coverage as well as more specific cues needed by the performance pieces. Generic lighting comprised PARs and ACLs. Accessories included four Martin Atomic strobes and four James Thomas MR16 battens across the front of the stage. Lighting was completed with two Pani FOH spots and Keighley operated the show from an Avolites Pearl. Entec also supplied a white filled backcloth, upstage of which was a starcloth. Lighting cr
UK - Corporate audio specialists Audio Alliance recently held a demonstration day to show current and new clients just why the company is rapidly becoming one of the UK's leaders in its field. The Manchester based rental supplier provided clients with a chance to experience first hand the technology behind the shows.
Audio Alliance director Oliver Driver, who strongly believes that showing clients what is available and how it is used benefits all parties, organized the event. The day allowed for a range of Audio Alliance's rental stock to be demonstrated, including digital systems, with ProTools providing surround sound playback, supported by a Sony DMXR100 mixing desk and a Yamaha DME32 processor.
An analogue system was also set up with an Allen & Heath ML series desk and XTA processing, while a smaller console, the Midas Venice, was being demonstrated with Shure DFR22 processors. Loudspeakers on display included the latest Meyer Sound UPJ-1P, along with the Meyer Sound UPM-1P, d&b's E3, with MAPP Online software used to compare the differences in loudspeaker placement.
Driver concluded: "All our clients understand that we provide a very high quality service to the conference industry, new clients are surprised at the level of technology now available, the workshops hopefully made the equipment less daunting. Audio in this arena is no longer about a pair of Bose 802's or even d&b E3's, it is about system design and providing clear and intelligible sound from presenter to delegate.'
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
USA - VLPS Lighting Services announced recently that it has relocated its Nashville shop to a new facility, built to VLPS' specification and has more than 22,000sqft of office space and warehouse. Rusty Brutsché, chairman and CEO of VLPS remarked: "We are pleased to be expanding our operations in Nashville with this beautiful new facility and we look forward to enhancing our service and rental inventory for our clients.
"We are moving for the simple reason that we're out of space," explained Arthur Smith, general manager of VLPS Nashville. "We are growing with the industry and needed a bigger facility to accommodate our clients' requirements." A grand opening ceremony is tentatively scheduled for mid-March. The company's new address is: 8351 Eastgate Blvd., Mt. Juliet, Tennessee 37122, USA.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
China - Panyu Chime-Long Night Zoo is a unique night time safari attraction located in Panyu, a district in the city of Guangzhou, China. With thousands of outstanding color effects and wild animal attractions, Panyu Chime-Long Night Zoo is said to rival anything Las Vegas has to offer.
Within its walls, a 10,000 seat capacity domed amphitheater is home to Galaxy Stars, a space-themed Las Vegas-like circus show. The unusual zoo attraction has invested in more than one hundred Martin intelligent lights, making it one of the largest Martin installs in China. Galaxy Stars is named in recognition of China's emergence as a space-faring nation and features unique human and animal acts. An important aspect of the redesign is a new intelligent lighting system used to highlight the central stage/center ring, backdrops and acts. The show has been completely restaged by a team of American choreographers including Emmy Award winning director Doriana Sanchez.A Martin Maxxyz lighting console controls a rig of 40 MAC 2000 Profile, 20 MAC 2000 Wash, 16 MAC 2000 Performance, 28 MAC 500 profile spots, 8 MAC 600 washlights and 12 MAC 300 washlights. Four Jem ZR 24/7 hazers are used for atmospheric effect and a mid air projection canopy. Lighting design for the new show was by Las Vegas-based LD Jeff Johnson with Maxxyz programming completed by Martin US's Michael Nevitt. Martin Hong Kong's trainer Wong Kwok Kei also provided Maxxyz instruction. All Martin lighting was supplied through Martin Hong Kong with both the Hong Kong and Guangzhou offices instrumental on the pro
UK - In one busy period over the Christmas break - a schedule designed to minimize the disruption - three London sites received substantial updates and upgrades to their dimming and lighting infrastructure provided by White Light Projects.
The Royal Academy of Music's Sir Jack Lyons Theatre is a versatile 200-seat venue used for opera and musical theatre productions and also as a teaching room. Discussions between the theatre's technician Jake Wiltshire and White Light's technical sales manager Roger Hennigan led to a project that involved installing 144 ways of ETC Sensor dimming, new Andolite outlet boxes on the flyfloor and at stage level featuring both Socapex and 15A outlets, and new internally wired bars overhead, these now ladderbeam-style for added rigidity. The plugging boxes and internally wired bars also carry Ethercon outlets for distribution of Ethernet lighting data or via adapters, standard DMX512 data. The Ethercon outlets are fed from an XTBA DMX splitter located in the dimmer room. Jake Wiltshire has pronounced himself "delighted" with the installation.
A similar upgrade of facilities has taken place in the theatre at Goldsmiths College in south-east London, an unusual venue featuring a large conventional stage area behind a deeply thrust forestage. The overhead lighting grid has been added to repeatedly over time and was wired largely in five-amp sockets, with an ageing dimmer installation. In consultation with the theatre's Hansjorg Schmidt, WLP replaced the entire lighting grid with internally-wired bars fitted with 16A and DMX. New
UK - Robe UK has supplied The Willows Variety Club in Salford, with a large Robe moving light rig - including the first Robe Spot 1200s to be installed in the UK. This makes The Willows arguably one of the best-equipped social club in the UK.
John Wilkinson OBE, chairman of Salford Rugby League Club, owns the 700-capacity venue and although sited adjacently, the two are run as completely different enterprises. The Willows has recently invested substantially in the latest production technology.
As the name implies, 'variety' was the operative word when it came to looking for new lighting. They needed a rig that could deal with every type of performance, from comedians, magicians and single performers to duos, dance troupes and large live bands of all genres - and that could also double as a disco/dancefloor system. The venue's general manager Dave Bell and lighting technician/operator Mark Bell originally approached Robe UK with a view to enhancing their existing large PAR can rig with some moving light elements. After several demos and trials, both at Robe UK and on site, they radically altered their plans, opting to replace most of the old rig with moving lights.
The new lighting scheme was designed and programmed by Robe UK's Nathan Wan, and supplied and installed by Pat Wheelan of LS Direct. Four Robe 1200 Spots are positioned each side of stage on two FOH bars, angled at 45°. The zoom feature makes them ideal for gobo washes across the back wall and general stage work or for crowd skimming. Over-stage are eight MS Zoom 250s and 12 ColorMix 250s, used - dep
UK - Northen Lights is a new exhibition to celebrate the pivotal role Michael Northen played as one of Britain's first lighting designers. Drawn from his personal collection, generously donated to the Museum by Robert Camac, and other sources, it illuminates Northen's illustrious career, which spanned six decades.
Michael Northen (1921-2001) began his career as a stage manager at the Q Theatre in 1938, where he met designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch, interrupted by his wartime service in the RAF, including a tour of India as stage manager for the Gang Show. Post-war he worked as production assistant at the Royal Opera House on many ballets and operas including The Queen of Spades whose décor he supervised in the absence of the designer Oliver Messel.
Northen gained credit as the first lighting designer in the British theatre to receive billing as such in Gielgud's 1950 King Lear at Stratford-upon-Avon. There he worked with leading artists including Tyrone Guthrie, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Vivien Leigh, Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft and on landmark productions such as Peter Brook's Titus Andronicus and Peter Hall's Cymbeline.
He collaborated with John Piper, lighting his designs notably for the world premiere of Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw at La Fenice, Venice in 1954; the premiere of Billy Budd at the Royal Opera House and Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne.
The 300 productions Michael Northen was associated with during his career included West End stars like Gladys Cooper, Dame Sybil Thorndike and Da
India - Hyatt Regency New Delhi has completed a major programme of refurbishment to reopen its nightclub venue, Djinns, with a brand-new sound system that has made it the place to be seen in the Indian capital city.
The 4000sq.ft club features a dance floor and a live stage, equipped with a new JBL sound system, consisting of four AM6200/95, two ASB6118, 10 x Control 25 AV, and four Control 24C. Powered by Crown MA amplifiers, the whole system is controlled by BSS 3088 processors. Audio consultant Mr Sarangan of IHD Designs drew up the specification for Djinns, equipment was supplied and installed by Hi Tech Audio Solutions of New Delhi. BSS processing has been chosen to control the DJ turntable and mixer and the front-of-house desk, with level and EQ settings for the band, DJ and background music selectable through the turn of a knob. "This processor control was badly needed," explains Rajan Gupta, director of Hi Tech Audio Solutions. "In the past, the venue has had a terrible problem with operators fiddling with the settings; the original system speakers would blow up and maintaining the sound system was a project in its own right. Since we've installed the BSS processors and JBL/Crown solution, we haven't had to make a single service call."
The Hi Tech team, with IHD Designs, completed the whole Djinns installation in just one night. Racks were pre-wired, custom brackets made and suspended in advance, all the cabling was completed, and the BSS processors were programmed: the changeover to the new system took place in a matter of hours.
(S
Germany - EVI Audio's in-house fair, the Hausmesse, ran from the 23-25 January 2004 in Straubing. What started 17 years ago as a cosy get-together has developed into a major annual pro audio event, the company reports. This year, the EVI Audio team, led by managing director Wolfgang Kruse, whose first Hausmesse this was, welcomed 700 national and international business partners, representatives of the media, and friends of the company to its in-house trade fair.
Martin Traut, Christian Glück and others put EVI Audio's latest products through their paces for the assembled information-hungry visitors, with enthusiastic responses to products such as the new Dynacord PowerMate, Electro-Voice's SxA360, SbA 760 and Plasma, the Midas Verona and Klark-Teknik's DN100.
The traditional Saturday evening party was another success, the company reports. This year, for the first time, the event was held in the town hall of Dingolfing, some 20 miles from Straubing. Robert Pletz, who as coordination manager - marketing services Europe - was responsible for the organization of this year's Hausmesse, commented: "We always like to offer our guests something special, and we succeeded once again in doing just that."
(Lee Baldock)
Eire - The Society of Light & Lighting (SLL) is holding a three-day International Symposium on Workplace Lighting at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Dublin, 1-3 April 2004. The event is jointly organized with the Lighting Industry Federation (LIF) and supported by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI).
The two-day technical programme will cover all areas of workplace lighting including: energy efficiency, visual comfort and health, standards, design and installation. Over 20 of the world's leading experts on lighting will be speaking at the event.
On the morning of the third day there will be a colloquium (debate) to formulate SLL policy recommendations for lighting in the workplace. This will provide a unique opportunity for delegates to have their say on lighting issues, in particular the latest EU standards. The results will be fed into a joint SLL/LIF task group on the best way to deliver advice through lighting guides and codes.
(Lee Baldock)
UK - One of the Home Counties' most well-established sports centres, Gosling Park in Welwyn Garden City, has completed an extensive upgrade of its audio systems with the installation of an EV ceiling speaker system in its gymnasium. Darren Hughes, from installer Prosonic Systems, says: "Although well over 50% of our installs are done with ElectroVoice products, we had never used the larger C8.2-sized EVID ceiling speakers before. They were absolutely tailor-made for this project, and the results have been so impressive, I am now keen to use them in other applications as soon as I can."
Gosling Park is a substantial and well-equipped sports centre featuring a ski slope and athletics track as well as its indoor facilities, including a sizeable gymnasium and several sports halls. In the past, users of the gym had to make do with the sound from the television sets themselves, until Prosonic Systems designed and installed a two-zoned, 14-speaker system into the ceiling grid, using ElectroVoice EVID C8.2100v line speakers supplied by Shuttlesound.
"The walls on one side of the gym are mirrored," explains Darren Hughes, "so mounting anything on the wall wasn't a practical proposition, and it also made it hard to get even coverage of sound at the centre of the room. With a ceiling height in the gym of around two and a half metres, we had the opportunity to use the EVID ceiling speakers. These feature an eight inch driver that delivers clear highs, a solid mid-range and gives a much better bass response than your everyday ceiling speaker. A 10&quo
USA / India / Nigeria - Sussex-based LM Productions report a string of recent international projects. Firstly, continuing its 'Live It, Love It' campaign, the Hong Kong Tourism Board contracted LM Productions LLP for their first StratoFantasia event in the USA. The event took place in San Francisco over two days with the main focal point of the multimedia show being LM Productions 50ft (15m) diameter StratoSphere, with a new internal blackout dome, which allows the StratoSphere to be used as a venue with internal projection during the day. This is made possible by the blackout dome being inflated inside the StratoSphere, thus providing a cover from the light outside. The event contained elements of live performances from musicians and dancers as well as full dome video and laser effects inside the StratoSphere. There was a steady stream of people viewing the shows, which started every 30 minutes throughout the two days. The show was a big success and a perfect promotion for the re launch of Hong Kong Tourism, and these promotions will continue worldwide throughout 2004.
At the end of September, LM Productions' new 60ft (18m) StratoSphere was used in India for the first time for the Axe Dimension Dome Party. This was an MTV-sponsored dance event, where the StratoSphere was used as an unusual dance venue, with up to 300 people inside at any one time. The show was held at Elephanta Island off the coast of Bombay; with no ambient lighting on the island the StratoSphere was the only light source, and lit up the surrounding area. Inside the sphere was a large stage for t
Lebanon - With a level of passion that one only finds in the Middle East - a passion that heard one fan shout to their favorite semi-finalist: "With our blood and souls, we sacrifice for you Melhem," Pop Idol fever has swept the Arab world. Superstar, a Pop Idol-style reality entertainment contest broadcast by Beirut-based Future Television International, culminated in the crowning of the Arab Superstar for 2003. The contest lasted 21 weeks, with thousands of contestants from Arab countries reduced to 12 finalists by viewers who voted by telephone, text message and online.
The final competition was held on a huge industrial-style stage at Future TV studios. The set comprised multi-platforms and staircases of metal lattice, which lighting designer and director of photography Samer Kaddoura dressed using 97 moving lights, flown and floor-positioned. The rig was made up of 44 MAC 600 washlights, 30 MAC 500 profile spots, nine MAC 2000 profile, eight MAC 2000 Performance and six MAC 300 washlights. All MACs were supplied through Martin Middle East. Samer used many of the colour and pattern effects at his disposal, including animation effects from MAC 2000 performance, to differentiate songs and produce unique looks for each contestant. Lighting programming was carried out by Kaddoura himself and Georges Kerbaj.
The show was the top-rated show in the Arab world throughout its run. "There isn't a television program that moved the Arab world like that," said Ali Jaber, executive manager of Future Television.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
UK - Rounding off artistic director Nicholas Hytner's first year in charge of Britain's Royal National Theatre is His Dark Materials, a two-part adaptation of Philip Pullman's acclaimed trilogy of books. Opening at the National's Olivier Theatre just after Christmas to glowing reviews, and already sold out, His Dark Materials proved a challenge to all involved with it - including DHA Lighting's Wyatt Enever.
Enever was brought by the show's lighting designer Paule Constable and the National's lighting staff to help realize the large-format projections required as part of the set design. The aim was to use abstract images created by the show's set designer, Giles Cadle, and video projection designer, Thomas Gray of The Gray Circle, to dress the curved black BP screen used as a cyclorama. The difficulty was that, unlike previous shows that Enever has been involved with in the Olivier, including Anything Goes and Love's Labour's Lost, the projectors could not be positioned behind the cyc because of space limitations.
Enever explained: "Instead, they were to be rigged on an overhead lighting bridge, so my first task was to work out the number, exact positioning and lens requirements of the projectors. This led us to use three Pani BP4 Compact projectors with slide changers, with the stage-right projector covering the stage-left section of the screen and the stage-left projector the stage-right side in order to achieve the throw required to fill the whole cyc."
Enever then had to calculate the complex pre-distortions required to
Norway - Oslo's new Rock Bottom live music club, part of the well-established blues club Muddy Waters, has opened for business with a sound system consisting entirely of Harman Pro Audio group products, delivered and installed by LydRommet AS, the Norwegian distributor for JBL, Crown, dbx, BSS and Soundcraft.
Between them, the two venues are expected to host more than 750 blues and rock gigs a year. In the building's basement, Rock Bottom is the larger of the venues: a 300-capacity club with low ceiling height and a PA rig with a delay system, and additional speaker zones to cover two bar areas. The all-JBL speaker cabinets, powered by Crown MA and MT amplifiers, are under the control of a BSS Soundweb, acting as the total system manager and routing unit, programmed with presets for different distribution applications. At front-of-house is a new 32-channel Soundcraft MH3 Series console, with dbx and Lexicon outboard equipment.
LydRommet AS planned the whole system, in co-operation with Rock Bottom's senior engineer and technical manager Kjartan Meinset. The result, say LydRommet, is capable of delivering 114dBspl average / 125dBspl maximum peak at FOH.
(Lee Baldock)
Worldwide - DiGiCo celebrated the New Year by announcing a 2004 world demonstration tour of the D5 digital mixing system in conjunction with a Renkus-Heinz PowerNet Series self-powered PA system. The D5 system, which was expanded last October at AES New York with the launch of the D5T theatre version of the console, will be put through its paces at a variety of locations worldwide throughout the year for the benefit of sound engineers, sound designers, rental companies and other clients.
The Renkus-Heinz system will also be used to provide real life audio playback in the DiGiCo factory in Scotland and its head office demonstration suites in the south of England. "We intend to take the D5 system all over the world this year, to rental companies, theatres and even festivals," says DiGiCo marketing director Dave Webster, "and rather than hiring PA systems locally we decided, for the sake of consistency, to use a Renkus-Heinz PN121M system with a PN121 subwoofer which fits the bill perfectly and sounds transparent - just like the D5!"
The first appearances of the complete system will be on a weekly series of Open Days once DiGiCo completes its forthcoming head office move to new premises in Surrey, with dates to be announced shortly.
(Lee Baldock)
UK - Patrick Prior and Robert Hyman's Christmas panto production of Red Riding Hood finished its run at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East last week. In what's been described as a terrific 21st century version of the classic fairytale, Patrick Prior's script is anything but tame, with audience members of all ages shouting 'Shout! Shake! Make that Wolfie heave!' in an attempt to release Dame, Red and the three little pigs from the big bad Wolf!
Leading automation suppliers Stage Technologies bought Nick Baren's set to life by providing automation for this production using a four-line winch and Saxis control console. Production manager Richard Eustace needed a cost-effective and simple automation solution to fly in a projector screen, quickly and safely. Stratford East's own manual-flying system would not have been able to achieve this effect quickly enough without some form of automation solution. Stage Technologies was able to rent an off-the-shelf solution to achieve this.
Automation systems, now commonplace in most West End musicals, are becoming far more widely used by the smaller repertory theatres. Saxis, the latest edition to Stage Technologies leading edge control system range, was specifically designed with smaller automated productions in mind. A high-specification solution for shows requiring only one or two axes, Saxis provides all productions with a cost effective way to produce accurate, reliable and technically seamless productions.
(Lee Baldock)
UK - Metropolis AV & FX recently completed a major technical refurbishment at the Sports Café in London's Haymarket. The two-storey venue features five bars, dining areas and booths with personal mini plasma screens, where customers can enjoy a multi-media blend of sports action, food and drink. The project follows on from Metropolis' design and supply of the complete lighting, sound and AV system to the latest Sports Café in Manchester, and their long-term servicing of the maintenance contract at the flagship London operation.
Upstairs, Metropolis replaced all the old TVs with Panasonic TX28 and TX32 widescreen televisions, installing a total of 33, plus one of the new Generation 6 Panasonic TH42 PW6 plasma screens - one of the first in the UK. Two new Sanyo PLC SL15 video projectors were also installed - again some of the first in the country - fitted with protective POAP smoke housings to extend longevity. The PLC SL15 was chosen for the extended lamp life of 3500 hours. Metropolis also fitted an additional six Bose Panaray speakers to the existing audio set up, and re-calibrated the system to spread the sound more evenly around the area.
Downstairs, the Metropolis team re-cabled the entire building through the existing MF (sealed plasterboard) ceiling, using broadcast quality PSF1/3 video cable and oxygen-free speaker cables. This was specified for cleaner, distortion-free signal paths. The existing RF cabled network for the video was stripped out and replaced with a full composite video system. This is distributed throughout the building via 10 video distr
UK - The ISCE (Institute of Sound & Communications Engineers) - organizer of the ISCEx 2004 sound contracting exhibition, report that the show is looking set for another successful run this year. Over 20 specialist suppliers to the industry have taken space, including AK Barns, ADS Worldwide, AMS Acoustics, Ampetronic, BC Technology, Baldwin Boxall, Brähler ICS, CIE Audio, Canford Audio, Communication Technology, Current Thinking, Decal International, d&b audiotechnik, Ikon AVS, MEDC, Mackie Designs, Sennheiser, SigNET AC, Source 1 International, Tannoy and TOA Corporation. Furthermore, the ISCE reports many bookings for the seminar programme, which includes five sessions by leading lecturers.
The ISCEx exhibition takes place on Tuesday 24 February at the Watford Moat House Hotel.Entry to the Seminar Programme and Exhibition is £50 (£60 for non-ISCE members) and £5 for the exhibition alone. This price includes free parking, refreshments and an invitation to an end-of-show reception. Full details are available from Cathy Mackenzie on +44 (0) 151 639 5211, or at the e-mail address below.
(Lee Baldock)
UK - Marquee Audio used its second product open day at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) to present a programme of seminars and workshops from some of their key suppliers - this time partnering Midas and Klark Teknik with Turbosound and Optocore.Co-ordinated by Marquee sales director Andy Huffer, the centrepiece was the first UK viewing of the Midas Verona mixing console, which had been previewed at the American Winter NAMM in Anaheim a few weeks earlier.
The desk attracted considerable interest throughout the day as Huffer and Midas UK sales manager Richard Ferriday, put the desk through its paces. According to Marquee: "Verona advances the concept of the ultra-compact, and high-selling Venice, delivering more inputs and features within a package which promises to revolutionize the eight-bus market." The desk is available in six different chassis sizes - from 24 up to 64 inputs.
Elsewhere, Marquee Audio presented the latest generation of Optocore's stand-alone LX4 fibre-optic multicore system; the Klark Teknik Helix digital EQ system; Turbosound TQ and TXD range of loudspeakers - as well as the Midas Heritage 4000 (and software upgrades).
(Lee Baldock)
USA/Germany - At the NAIAS international motor show in Detroit at the beginning of January 2004, XL Video of Germany, acting for the first time in its capacity of general contractor to DaimlerChrysler, supplied all the video equipment for the Mercedes-Benz stand. The motor show ran from the 4 - 19 January.
As at the IAA motor show in Frankfurt where the Mercedes-Benz booth featured an 1800sqm (12 x 150m) circular facade composed of 47,000 MiPIX intelligent LED pixel blocks from Barco, the Detroit presentation was supported by media equipment from XL Video employing the same SMD LED technology. At the NAIAS, the 'media façade' theme was carried a stage further. The architecture for the booth was the work of KTP, whilst Atelier Markgraph handled the planning and communication. Integrated into the ring facade - used for the playback of intelligent lighting effects - two convex video walls comprising 11m x 6m (W x H) Barco Ilite 10 video tiles.
On the main stage and at the press conference, a high-resolution modular display composed of 13m x 7m (W x H) Barco ILite 6 LED tiles was a key feature of the presentation. XL Video also installed a large number of plasma and LCD screens at the booth, networking them with a media control system that permitted content to be sourced from DVD or HD players.
Meanwhile the video equipment on the Toyota, Nissan, Infinity, Honda, Chrysler, Accura and Porsche stands at the NAIAS show in Detroit was supplied by XL Video's US subsidiary, XL Video Inc.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
USA/UK - Shure Distribution UK announced that during the recent Winter NAMM Show the company was presented with the QSC 2003 Export Distributor of the Year Award. As the QSC exclusive UK distributor, Shure Distribution UK received the award, in recognition for exceptional sales performance across all of the company's vertical markets.Managing director, Dennis Harburn and sales manager Mike Gibson, collected the award on the company's behalf, Harburn commented: "It's been a fantastic 12 months for the company and this award demonstrates how being owned by Shure, has further strengthened our relations with suppliers. We are really proud to have received this award and look forward to many further successful years distributing QSC in the UK."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)