Argentina - Robe moving lights were chosen to light the stage and spectacular set that was the central event for the 2015 Vendimia grape harvest festival at the Frank Romero Day Greek Theatre in Mendoza, the heart - and soul - of Argentina's wine producing region.

The Robes - delivered to the event by Tecnica Vidal with the assistance of OVA Iluminacion and Prisma Luces - included 12 x BMFL Spots, 66 x MMX Spots, 12 x ColorBeam 2500E ATs, 14 x MMX WashBeam, 66 x Pointes, 56 x LEDWash 600s, 24 x LEDWash 1200s, 40 x CityFlex 48s, 60 x LEDForce 18 LED PARs and four CitySkape Xtremes.

These, together with some 526 conventional lights and six follow spots were deployed all over the massive stage -designed by Alejandro Rodriguez- comprising nine different areas, including one water stage.

Trussing superstructure was hung on a huge crane - with a 65m reach arm, and all lights on th

Belgium / USA - Barco has announced two new products in its Event Master series of screen management systems: the S3-4K, a compact processor, and the EC-50, a lightweight, Event Master Toolset-compatible controller.

Exactly one year ago, Barco unveiled the E2 image processor to rave reviews at InfoComm in Las Vegas. Supporting native 4K input and output, the E2 screen management system instantly raised the industry bar for live event processing, as the only solution capable of managing a 4K projector blend with refresh rates of up to 60 Hz.

S3-4K, the smaller version of the E2, boasts the same processing performance and image quality. Featuring 12 input channels, four programme outputs, four AUX outputs and two dedicated Multiviewer outputs, it is suited for the rental and staging market, broadcast studios and mid-sized performance venues. "The S3-4K is the E2's more comp

Switzerland - Microphone manufacturer Shure is continuing its long-established and successful partnership with the Montreux Jazz Festival, this year taking place from 3-18 July, as technical partner and also as headline sponsor of the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition.

"We are delighted, as ever, to provide our usual support to the Montreux Jazz Festival in terms of equipment and expertise," explains Nils Proesser, marketing director at Shure Europe. "And as every year, we're very excited to see so many great and varied entrants to the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice competition from countries all around the world. We wish all the participants the best for the semi-finals."

Established to encourage talented young vocalists internationally, the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition was founded in 2002 and has been sponsored by Shure since its inception. The fi

Vietnam - Photo journalist Martin Edström and National Geographic have shared an extraordinary expedition for everyone to experience: they have explored one of the world's biggest caves, the majestic and recently discovered Son Doong in Vietnam's Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park. Martin and his team of six - assistant photographers, logistics, communications and lighting specialists - took breathtaking 360° photos of the almost untouched cave and recorded its sounds with Sennheiser stereo and shotgun microphones for a fully immersive online experience.

Son Doong, also called the "Infinite cave" because of its massive size, was discovered by a native of the area in 1991. However, as the entrance to the cave is as unobtrusive as it is steep, it took him until 2009 to actually relocate the cave in the jungle and explore it with a group of British scientists. The 5k lo

Norway - Chroma-Q Inspire LED house lights have been installed at Stavanger Concert Hall's Kuppelhallen performance space, to replace an old tungsten rig and allow the lighting team to immerse the entire room in vibrant colours.

Kuppelhallen has been a performance hall since 1982. Newly renovated, the 1,000-seater multi-purpose space is especially suited to rock concerts, revues, choir and band concerts.

Project manager for the lighting refurbishment was Sveinung Hove, together with technical manager Terje Eids°r of Stavanger-based Hove Lysdesign AS. Hove Lysdesign AS is a sales, installation and rental company, that was established by Sveinung Hove back in 1983.

"We've been working with Stavanger Concert Hall for more than 20 years, and the team there trusts us to deliver the right lighting solutions," says Terje. "They were experiencing problems linked w

USA - Country music artist Billy Currington is out on tour with Tim McGraw for the Shotgun Rider Tour with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. Currington is promoting his fifth studio album Summer Forever, and just celebrated his tenth number one single, Don't.

Having worked with Currington since 2009, lighting designer Chris Lisle approached the lighting from an efficiency standpoint, as the gear would need to be able move on and off the stage quickly while still being able to clear doors and fit within the allotted truck space. "We based the design off utilizing the existing backline carts that Billy was already using, and incorporating lighting on them," explained Lisle.

The majority of the fixtures are based on the carts placed upstage over the band's heads. Nexus 4x4s are used for general eye candy and effects, while the Clay Paky B-Eyes p

Australia - Chart-topping Australian group Human Nature has just completed their 25th Anniversary Jukebox tour with PixelFLEX FLEXCurtain HD for visual support.

Jukebox, their eleventh studio album, brings the group back to what originally inspired their careers with a mix of songs from the '50s and '60s. The graphics for the live shows not only tell the story of those eras, but the story of their career.

Doing the tour without a high quality video screen was not an option for production manager David Rudder, but it had to be efficient and economical. That's where the 16ft-wide by 8ft-tall main 12.5mm FLEXCurtain HD wall helped support Human Nature and entertain fans.

"The main driving factor for the purchase was Australia is the same landmass as US, but with only 25m people, so huge distances are involved when travelling," said Rudder. "We have shows n

UK - White Light recently provided the production support for Macmillan Cancer Support's 29th annual Tug of War. Held on 2 June, the event saw the House of Commons take on the House of Lords as a means of raising funds for people affected by cancer.

The battle between the Houses was witnessed by hundreds of spectators at Westminster College Gardens, with the House of Commons coming out on top for the sixth year running. A regular feature in the White Light calendar, the complete production solution specialist was proud to once again assist on such a special event which supports a worthy cause.

The cheering crowds not only received the chance to see the politicians battle it out but also watched rival city firms, industry giants, armed forces and fire crews flex their pulling power. Whilst the various teams took to the ropes, BBC Radio 5 Live's chief political correspondent Joh

India - Formed in 1999, Sound & Light Professionals (SNL Pro) Mumbai has become one of the most respected sound reinforcement companies in India. It provides equipment for sound, lighting, video and staging, and technical services to a broad range of entertainment disciplines across India and the rest of the world. The company has recently invested in a DiGiCo SD10 and two D2-Racks, via DiGiCo's Indian distributor, Hi-Tech Audio Systems Pvt. Ltd.

SNL Pro has supplied audio to some of the best-known Indian and international artists, including the NH7, Sun Burn, Super Sonic, David Guetta, Norah Jones, Snoop Dog (India tour), Enrique Iglesias (India tour) and Swedish House Mafia.

In response to the growth and diversity of the events undertaken by the company, SNL Pro took delivery of a DiGiCo SD10 console and two D2-Rack, adding to its existing DiGiCo SD8.

"We work across

South Africa - Hennie Ellis, owner of Audio Quest has been using an Avolites Tiger Touch Console, LumenRadio Wireless DMX and his trusted 20 Robe 575 XT Scanners for various festivals, reports DWR.

Audio Quest supplied the lighting for the main stage at the Gariep KunsteFees last year, The Uppington Kalahari KuierFees and the Upington Landbou Expo. "On these shows I work with local artists such as Theuns Jordaan, Steve Hofmeyr, Elvis Blue and Ray Dylan," said Hennie. "My clients are always impressed with our work and we are pleased to receive ongoing compliments."

The Tiger Touch allows him prompt lighting cues between playbacks. "It's reliable and very user friendly, giving a lighting engineer quick access to any light via touch screen and pallets. I'm very happy with my products and the support from DWR."

(Jim Evans)

UK - A host of industry experts, including Tower of London Poppies theatre designer Tom Piper and Episodes actress Tamsin Greig, attended the 2015 Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance Graduate Exhibition and New Writing Season at the Bargehouse on London's South Bank from 10-14 June.

The exhibition, which attracted over 100 visitors, included work by upcoming graduates from the School of Design Management and Theatre Arts (DMTA), including Costume Production, Creative Lighting Control, Lighting Design, Performance Sound, Scenic Arts, Theatre Design and Stage Management.

In addition to the Graduate Exhibition, DMTA students collaborated with BA (Hons) Acting and BA (Hons) Actor Musicianship students to present the college's New Writing Season of three plays in association with The Bush Theatre, Theatre 503 and Theatre Ad Infinitum.

Professor Michael Earley,

USA - Lawo, renowned German manufacturer of pioneering audio and video equipment, and Waves, leading developer of audio plug-ins and signal processors, are premiering the seamless integration of Waves SoundGrid servers with Lawo mc2 consoles at this year's InfoComm.

As a result of the collaboration, Lawo's mc²36 all-in-one console now provides extensive real-time signal processing in addition to its internal processing engine. The system gives operators access to Waves' comprehensive plug-in library, allowing them to conveniently control reverbs, multi-tap delays, graphic equalizers and multiband compressors directly via the console's keyboard and touch-screen. No additional monitors or controls are needed - which results in a clean working space and less external hardware. All plug-in settings can be easily stored and recalled with the console's snapshots.

Mick Olesh, Waves

USA - Registration for ETC's CUE (Create. Understand. Experience.) professional development conference - to be held on 26-28 June in Madison, Wisconsin - is now closed, but you will still have the chance to see a handful of CUE sessions via live streaming video. The videos will be available live on ETC's website - with media partner LSA (Lighting & Sound America) - and then will be archived on the site for on demand viewing in the future.

The first live session will be the CUE welcome address and keynote by ETC CEO Fred Foster, on Friday 26 June, at 2:15pm UK time (15:15 CET). Foster will discuss current lighting trends, and may reveal some surprises. Another session will be a keynote address by lighting designer Josh Allen of Theatre Consultants Collaborative at 2:15pm UK time (15:15 CET) on Saturday 27 June, in which he'll talk about how power, lighting and theatre technologie

UK - Sunday 14 June marked an important date in the fashion calendar with contemporary designer label KTZ launching its Men's Spring and Summer 2016 Collection. Located at Pulse, one of the largest nightclubs in London, the launch saw designer Marjan Pejoski showcase his latest catalogue, having created several new designs from what he describes as "unusual industrial materials" such as aluminium, electric tape and rubber.

Owing to Pulse being located under a series of railway arches, along with the style of Pejoski's designs, the show opted for an industrial theme; something which needed to be reflected in the lighting. Having previously provided its services on several other fashion shows, White Light was asked to supply both the lighting and power on this occasion.

For this particular launch, White Light worked closely with set designer Philip Cooper who created t

Switzerland - Merging Technologies has announced the formation of a new company to support its sales and technical support in Sweden. Merging Sweden took over distribution of the Merging professional products line at the beginning of May.

The force behind this new operation is Kjetil Laukholm who has been supporting sales in Sweden for some time now. The move to become the full distributor was a logical conclusion, given his experience with the Merging brand. He has been a Pyramix user since the days of Version 3 and has a long experience of recording all types of music for major labels such as EMI and Sony. He has also recorded orchestral scores for games like Spiderman and Assassin's Creed.

Kjetil will be working with other local Pyramix and Ovation specialists to ensure that regional and relevant product expertise is being cared for. Dealers are also being appointed to prom

Finland - Genelec's redesigned website is now live. The new website design incorporates "a cutting-edge technology platform, optimized search engine, new graphical layout with new visual appearance and completely new navigational tools and architecture".

"On-line media, technologies and applications, including Web presence are radically transforming our lives, both in the business work and beyond," says Siamäk Naghian, Genelec managing director. "When used appropriately, new technologies deliver many productivity benefits to us and our distribution network while helping our users to fulfill their dreams. In the same way that the creation of new and innovative products help us and our partners to differentiate from the commodity mass market and the throw-away attitude, the new Genelec website creates a unique home in the cyberspace for wide-ranging conte

The Netherlands - Self-powered Meyer Sound systems play an integral role in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race, the prestigious globe-circling yacht sailing competition. Serving three venues in a temporary 'race village' at each of the 10 worldwide ports, Meyer Sound systems provide clear voice communication and musical backdrops. Bazelmans AVR of Veldhoven, the Netherlands is charged with system design and supply.

"Meyer Sound systems were chosen because we needed both the highest audio quality and proven reliability," says Aart Habraken of Bazelmans AVR. "Excellent intelligibility and natural voice quality were critical, as both race officials and CEOs of corporate sponsors would be using the systems. Also, everything had to set up quickly and work every time."

A total of six systems are required for two identical race villages that alternate stops. In a dome t

USA - Lighting designer Victor Zeiser went 'outside the box' - almost quite literally - to come up with some captivating looks for the current tour by the double Grammy-winning band They Might Be Giants. The New York-based LD built his multi-faceted show around ever-changing combinations of spot and wash lighting from side-mounted Rogue R1 Spot moving fixtures and COLORdash Batten-Quad 6 linear washes from Chauvet Professional. Adding extra depth to the entire show was a varied series of textured gobos and some unique video images.

"I was given a great deal of creative freedom to design this show and loved every minute of it," said Zeiser, the owner of Squeak Lights. "They Might Be Giants gave me the direction they would like the design to go in, then more or less left me to my own devices from there."

Zeiser's creative adventure grew out of a conversation

UK - Reel Recording Studio in Leeds recently employed its new Allen & Heath GLD Chrome digital mixer to record the main stage at the Slam Dunk festival in Leeds, and manage FOH for Download festival's "secret band", Young Guns, at Donington.

Footage at Slam Dunk was captured for Kerrang TV on the Chrome GLD-80, which was used to multi-track all bands on the main stage using Dante into Waves Tracks Live. Situated onstage, Allen & Heath's ultra-compact Qu-Pac mixer was also used to record FOH.

"The Slam Dunk live recording was actually the first time I had used a GLD in anger and it was an absolute pleasure," says Dave Boothroyd, house engineer at Reel Recording Studios. "The GLD is really intuitive, there's no messing around - everything is exactly where you want it to be. The pre amps sound absolutely superb, which is imperative for a job like this, an

UK - Following a £5m refurbishment of Liverpool University's Senate Drum building, a new teaching facility, complete with advanced AV infrastructure, has been opened under the new name of the Brett Building.

Pure Audio Visual were awarded the contract for the upgrade, and the challenge of providing consistent audio in an acoustically awkward cylindrical shaped building has been met by specifying Martin Audio's DD6 Differential Dispersion technology enclosures.

Pure AV's systems integration specialist Colin Hasted regularly turns to the Martin Audio catalogue for his solutions, and in this instance sensed that the best means of providing pristine audio in an aesthetically beautiful space, which will be used by senior members of the university and MBA students, were DD6's. Since the space also needed to incorporate break out facilities, and be used as both a conference and

Singapore - With an enviable pedigree of providing site wide fibre networks for major sporting opening and closing ceremonies, Optocore has now further boosted its impressive portfolio after a major system was deployed at the South East Asia Games in Singapore.

The ring system at the National Stadium was designed by major event company and long-standing Optocore customer, The Show Company (TSC) - who made a recent substantial investment with local distributors Total Solution Marketing (TSM).

Contracted by Sports SG, they added to their existing stock eight X6R-FX-8AE/8LO Optocore converters along with three X6R-FX-16MI, two X6R-TP-16MI, five X6R-TP-16LO interfaces, with a central DD8RP repeater. This enabled them to create a fibre backbone at the newly constructed 55.000-seat Singapore Sports Hub.

The Show Company's Joseph Gan confirmed that since their existing DD32 devices

Saudi Arabia - The producer and director Futais Mohammed Bugnah directed a new show in the Ta'if Tent Theatre for the Souq Okaze Cultural Festival, in the presence of his Highness Prince Mishaal bin Majid Al Saud, Governor of Jeddah.

Futais Mohammed Bugnah presents the story of the poet and warrior Amroo bin Kulsoom, well known in his time more than 3000 years ago, long before Islam. The story tells of authoritarian conduct against the poet's mother and his revenge on the King.

The Italian lighting designer Emiliano Morgia, as he himself tells us, was again involved in designing the lighting for the Riyadh-based Saudi production company Rhythm Media Production. Together with Giochi di Luce Dubai , they set up a fifty-plus-yard-wide stage and a video control room to project original spectacular twelve-yard-high scenic settings. "Getting Giochi di Luce Dubai involved in thi

UK - Electro rockers The Prodigy continue to enthral fans with their ivisceral and energetic live shows, igniting some more serious noise on the road with their new The Day is My Enemy album, the worldwide campaign for which kicked off with UK and European dates plus an innovative lighting and visual design by Andy Hurst.

HSL supplied all the kit as the band stormed an eclectic selection of venues, the tour effectively providing a warm up for the summer festival tour. With this in mind, the design incorporated a floor based back-wall that will also function as a stand-alone package on festival shows.

The rig contained several customised elements including seven 'transmission' towers (14 for the largest shows at London's Alexandra Palace) which HSL commissioned Alpha Fabs from Worcester. "I wanted something distinctive that was simultaneously structural and scenic,&

The Netherlands - Thirty-seven Robe Pointes multi-purpose moving lights took centre stage at a new 15,000 capacity live event staged in the Pettelaarce Schons parkland area to the south of Den Bosch in the Netherlands to celebrate King's Day 2015.

The lighting scheme was designed by Andre Beekmans of design and programming specialists The Art of Light, and the Pointes were rigged all around the top of the set which was designed by 250K and used for all the effects and multiplicity of funky looks that they do best, operated by Art of Light's Tom Spaan.

The set resembled a slightly wacky castle, complete with a series of scenic towers and turrets topped in customary King's Day orange. The performance stage was immediately in front of the castle, complete with LED screens and DJ platform.

Lighting and audio for the Den Bosch event was supplied by The Purple Group, and the techn

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