Telex EVI Audio's 'Channel Climbing Contest' was one of the highlights of the 2001 music trade fair in Frankfurt. Visitors were invited to climb the 4.5m-high reconstruction of a Midas Venice mixing desk and once up there, plug in four giant plugs. The competition, which was highly entertaining for both participants and spectators alike, definitely added a little more excitement to the already busy fair. Of the hundreds of contestants, Werner Koelbl from Schoefweg in Bavaria proved to be the fastest. With a time of one minute six seconds, the 37-year-old literally climbed to the top. Most of the other contestants took around three minutes for the same task.

Werner Koelbl can now look forward to a trip to Venice. Together with his partner he visited Telex EVI Audio's European headquarters in Straubing to collect the voucher for his trip. After Wolfgang Zollner had taken them on a short tour through the company, champagne corks were popped. Managing director Mathias von Heydekampf, distribution manager MI, Guenther Gehlich and marketing manager Joerg Hermsen presented the climber with his voucher.

Creative Staging was recently selected to provide the video projection, audio and lighting design and supply to the Nike exhibition - 'Nike - A Design for Movement' - working alongside exhibition designers Tonkin Architects, and the computer graphics and video producer at the Design Museum.

The project involved four 'zones', coming together at the centre, each having its own theme with a separate video and audio sound track. Periodically, the four videos would synchronize to form 270-degree 'wrap-around' computer graphics with lighting effects. As visitors moved from zone to zone, the soundtrack changed automatically to synchronize with the video material and exhibits in that area without the headphone wearer having to adjust or change units in any way. This was achieved through the use of infra-red headsets with video and audio material run from synchronized DVD players controlled by a Creative Staging system.

Creative Staging is part of the Myriad Group of AV, broadcast and communications companies.

When CNN's London bureau moves into new multi-million dollar state-of-the-art digital studios in the centre of London this month, it will utilize a new complement of Trantec radio mic and in-ear monitoring systems.

Four S5000 lavalier wireless mics and two S5000IEM systems were purchased from LMC London, for use by news staff in the new studio in Great Marlborough Street, which was opened by The Queen at the end of November. This was part of an investment that reinforces the importance of the network's largest production and broadcasting unit outside the US. The system was specified by consultant sound engineer Richard Mason, and the order placed through the London office of LMC Audio. LMC's Tom Davis explained that the TV network wanted to change the format, implementing a new radio mic system that would give them a more flexible solution. LMC presented CNN with a site demo, giving a series of options.

Davis adds that in addition to the sonic integrity, the station was also impressed by the fact that the same control software could be used to monitor both the IEMs and radio system. "The ability to monitor the signal strength and the battery status simultaneously is unique," he said. LMC Audio also supplied Antenna Distribution Units (ADUs) and a PC interface kit, while the S5000Ls are fitted with Sony ECM77 capsules.

The new premises are among CNN's first to utilize cutting-edge newsgathering facilities - news can be received from almost anywhere in the world and made available immediately via a digital infrastructure to CNN's producers of television, inter

Seeing is Believing, the lighting design consultancy based at Knutsford in the North West of the UK, has just completed four major contracts for Cisco Systems. The events, all produced by Project Worldwide of London, comprised an internal event in Paris and an external event - Networkers - in Copenhagen. Each event was in two parts - a conference and a party.

Seeing is Believing was contracted to provide the lighting, rigging and drapery for all four events.

The parties with the theme of 'The Stadium' and 'New Dimension' were for over 3,000 people and staged in the Grand Arch, La Defense, Paris and The Forum in Copenhagen. A large amount of intelligent (principally Martin MACs) and generic lighting, trussing and rigging was used, and in keeping with Seeing is Believing's policy of finding and using local suppliers, all equipment for Copenhagen was sourced locally. The company has recently provided an estimate to a major exhibition contractor to provide personnel and equipment around the globe for a major airline.

Western Australia's Burswood International Resort Casino has undergone a major upgrade of its Resort facilities. The project is the biggest redevelopment of the Resort since its inception in December 1985, and involves the creation of additional floor space across three major areas of the Resort complex. The key components of the redevelopment project cover an International Food Emporium; a Cabaret Nightclub, Spinners Café & Sports Bar and a Grand Ballroom.

The atrium area of the resort has also been refurbished with the addition of commercial retail areas. As the atrium is housed under a large glass dome, the resort management were concerned about heat gain and light glare in the area. Architects Silver Thomas Hanley decided to address this problem by hanging large perforated reinforced PVC sails internally over the atrium, providing heat and sun control to the lower areas of the atrium.

From the beginning of the design process, Silver Thomas Hanley were aware that the sails would make an ideal canvas for coloured light. "As the sails are of a significant size the idea of colouring them or using them to project logos on was immediately obvious," says Hanley. Lighting consultant Kevin Harris of Pro Design was commissioned to design and implement the sail lighting. Essential to the project were six Martin Exterior 600 fixtures used to light the lower level sails. Two Exterior 600s are fixed to a pillar in the lounge, two mounted on the concierge baggage storage area and two more are mounted over the cocktail bar. "They come on each evening at a predeterm

A vibrant new South African production has arrived on the West End stage. Umoja - The Spirit of Togetherness opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre this month to rave reviews and a cast of 33 singers and dancers, four African drummers, and a five-piece band.

Conceived by Todd Twala and Thembi Nyandeni, and brought to the stage by director Ian von Memerty, the task of 'sound designing' the story of African music fell to Trevor Peters. With FOH engineer, Tanja Somers, Trevor recommended that the show turn to Trantec to supply the requisite number of radio mic channels. "When the production started a year and a half ago we had three rifle mics, two handheld radios and CD backing tracks, but as funds became more available so the production has grown." In The West End, 20 S4000 lavalier mics are worn by the cast with S3500s on the guitar and sax.

"The fact that we are running 22 channels is quite a coup in itself because the S4000 is only supposed to support 16 channels," explains Peters. "But by using Channel 59 and 69 we have managed to get 20 running together - which makes the S4000 a multi-user system." The radio system was supplied with aerial distribution units and ground plain antenna. Front-of-house technician is Mark Cohen and the radio tech is Mark Dunn.

ESTA, the Entertainment Services and Technology Association, has announced that the following draft American National Standards are available for review.

BSR E1.16, Entertainment Technology - Configuration Standard for Metal-Halide Ballast Power Cables. This identifies which pin on the ballast to power cord connector shall be used for the non-current-carrying grounding connector. Many manufacturers use the same connector when a detachable power cord is provided, but do not necessarily use the same pin for the grounding connection. This can lead to serious problems when users connect the power cords intended for one manufacturer's product to another manufacturer's ballast. This draft standard is an effort to regularize the grounding pin designation.

BSR E1.5, Entertainment Technology - Theatrical Fog Made With Aqueous Solutions Of Di- And Trihydric Alcohols. These theatrical fogs and mists are often used as visual effects or to enhance lighting effects in live performances such as dramatic productions, musicals, and popular music concerts, and are commonly called 'glycol fogs'. This draft American National Standard describes the composition of glycol fogs that are not likely to be harmful to otherwise healthy performers, technicians, or audience members of normal working age.

Copies of the above drafts may be obtained from the ESTA website (see below) or by requesting a copy from ESTA's Technical Standards Manager via mail, fax, or e-mail. Comments on the document should be received at the ESTA office before 17:00 Eastern Time on 12 February 2002. Comment

At a meeting of Martin Professional's board held in Aarhus, Denmark on 18 November, the final go-ahead was given to the construction of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for the production of automated lighting. Construction of the new 12,000sq.m factory is to begin over the next few weeks, with completion expected by the end of the summer 2002. Total investment in the project will be approximately US$20 million.

The new facility, to be located in the city of Frederikshavn in northern Denmark, will be geared toward the production of Martin's most high-tech products. Upon completion of the new facility Martin will effectively double its production capacity for the manufacture of automated lighting. Martin's current production facility, also located in Frederikshavn, will continue operation.

The latest production techniques will be utilized in an innovative, state-of-the-art environment, which will include a fully-automated warehouse for raw materials and semi-manufactured goods. Utilizing highly efficient production methods and procedures, the industry’s most modern manufacturing plant will also further increase Martin's speed to market. Additionally, the new building will boast an exterior façade and design that is promised to be an architectural marvel in its own right.

Leading London-based rental company John Henry's Ltd has just taken delivery of a batch of QSC Powerlight amplifiers to upgrade their main PA racks. The purchase of the PL236 and PL6 units came after a lengthy evaluation of a number of different amplifiers with their existing EAW speaker system. "Having expanded our main EAW KF850 system at our sister operation in Dubai, we shipped our existing amp racks out to power it," said Aden Gregory, JHL's Audio rental department manager. "This gave us the opportunity to review our amplifier stock. We decided to check out a range of different switch-mode power amplifiers and after extensively testing a number of brands we chose the Powerlights from QSC. We were surprised that the PL6.0PFC weighing only 59lbs could deliver so much energy and have such a fast recovery rate. Not only do they sound excellent but they also have the added advantage of being light in weight - no mean consideration given the amount of trucking and load-ins we do in any given month."

HW International, who has had a long-standing relationship with John Henry's Ltd, supplied the amplifiers. Commenting on the acquisition, HW's Graham Logue said: "We are delighted that John Henry's chose QSC to power their system, it's great to see another high end sound company selecting QSC amplification."

TV show Urban Choice, starring DJ Trevor Nelson has already benefited from the QSC purchase and it's expected that the amps will be involved in further TV work.

A newly-appointed Icelandic distributor of Baldwin Boxall's has recently purchased 12 Vigil Eclipse Voice Alarm systems for installation in a new shopping complex in Reykjavik, Iceland. HT&T visited International Fire Expo (May 2001) where they met with Baldwin Boxall, who were giving the recently-launched Vigil Eclipse its UK debut. HT&T thought the Eclipse was the perfect solution to the Smaralind Shopping Complex's voice alarm (VA) requirements as the wall-mounting unit is simple to commission and easy to install. The 12 Vigil Eclipses were built in Baldwin Boxall's factory in Sussex and shipped to Iceland, ready for installation - a very quick process for HT&T, saving them valuable on-site time.

Vigil Eclipse is a stand-alone, wall-mountable system, which can operate up to four zones of VA - all dual circuit if required. The system, which utilises Baldwin Boxall's well established Compact routeing matrix, has seven inputs all in priority order, which are as follows: Two Fire Mics, Evac Message, Alert Message, Two Paging Mics and an Aux input. The shopping complex covers over 60,000sq.m, is on three floors and, as well as 80 shops contains banks, restaurants, cinema/conference centre and offices. Any of these premises which are over 200sq.m benefit from voice alarm systems, whereas any shop, or space under this size utilizes a feed from one of the VA racks in an adjacent area.

One of the main shops within the complex is a well-known UK department store. Being British they decided to follow BS5839 Part 8 and therefore have a VA system installed. Other shops followed s

CIE-Audio has once again received the award for the world's leading Inter-M distributor. As part of a network of 94 distributors in 72 countries throughout Europe, America, Asia, Africa, Middle East and Australasia, Nottingham-based CIE-Audio exclusively distribute the complete commercial audio, pro sound and CCTV product ranges from Inter-M. "The latest news of our Inter-M sales figures exceeding all other distributors throughout the world reflects not only our commitment to the brand, but also the popularity of the product range within the UK market," said Chris Edwards, CIE-Group marketing manager. "This will be our 10th consecutive year as the Number 1 distributor and, for such a small country to provide the highest sales figures is an acknowledgement of the dedication and hard work our staff continue to provide."

The news of CIE-Audio's achievement comes as the Group’s CCTV Division - CIE-Security - embarks upon the launch of Inter-M's new CCTV product range which will include cameras, monitors, controllers and a newly-developed digital surveillance and recording system.

Veteran country music icon Garth Brooks is back on the road for three very special shows to coincide with the release of his new album Scarecrow. The Bandit system was once again designed by Dave Butzler with the help of Bob Peterson. Hanging from the almost 1,000 feet of truss will be over 400 Martin MAC series fixtures (61 MAC 250s, 54 MAC 300s, 58 MAC 500s, 162 MAC 600s and 72 MAC 2000s), and all will be controlled by four Wholehog 2s, three with expansion wings. Garth will once again utilize the exclusive Bandit Lites MotoData time and position based motor control system, to deliver stunning truss movement. Other equipment in use for the huge show will include 36 3k Syncrolites, 28 Martin Professional Pro 400s, 10 Lycian followspots and eight Anytronics Deathstar strobes.

The first spectacular show aired live on CBS television on 14 November from The Forum in Los Angeles. The second show takes place on 21 November from the deck of the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Virginia, and the third from South Padre Island, Texas on 28 November, with both remaining shows will also air live on CBS. The five semis of lightinggear were prepped and tested to Bandit Standard in a remarkably short period of time and truly displayed to the resolve and attention to detail that Bandit is known for worldwide.