UK - Jands Vista consoles, running the new Vista v2 software, have been installed in the two TV studios at Lincoln University's Media Broadcast Production Centre, a purpose built production environment which includes radio studios, video editing, audio editing, digital imaging, and multimedia suites as well as a brand new sound theatre.

The studios have been newly upgraded to include some of the latest lighting and camera technologies, bringing the facilities up to full multi-camera and HD spec.

The University offers qualifications with some of the UK's leading media orientated cour

USA - A flurry of new exhibitors and a wide-ranging seminar programme are creating a buzz around this PLASA Focus: Austin 2012 (22-23 February), organisers PLASA Events report.

Texas lighting guru Richard Cadena comments, "I have been overwhelmed by the wide range of reasons to visit PLASA Focus: Austin 2012. In addition to the world-class line-up of manufacturers and new products, the side-shows will undoubtedly make this a memorable first event for Texas."

While new audio, staging, lighting and AV products will top the show floor agenda, The Professional Development Prog

Argentina - dBTechnologies' successful DVA T12 and T4 line arrays were chosen by rental company Wanzo Producciones srl at leisure company Grupo Slots' annual closing event last month in La Punta. Consisting of prize draws beamed across Argentina to all the group's casino halls, the event culminated in a music show at La Punta's Hippodrome, featuring singer Abel Pintos and 15-piece band La Konga performing to a 48,000 strong audience.

The PA set up by Wanzo Producciones consisted of 16 DVA T12 and 16 DVA T4 and a further eight DVA T4 as out-fill. Rental company owner Sebastian Wanzo sa

The Netherlands - At ISE in Amsterdam, on stand 1M80, Meyer Sound will unveil new additions to its long string of standard-setting products, showcased alongside the D-Mitri digital audio platform. Also shown will be the CAL column array loudspeakers.

D-Mitri is a powerful network-based digital audio processing and distribution platform that encompasses the entire audio chain, from microphone input to loudspeaker output, incorporating multichannel distribution, multichannel recording and playback, and show control automation. With its high-performance processing engines (96 kHz/24-bit

UK - Via the technology of enhanced video, composer Frank Zappa joined his son Dweezil and band on stage in Brighton in December as part of the long-running Zappa Plays Zappa show, with the band playing in its entirety in original track order one of Frank's best known albums Apostrophe.

The current line-up of Dweezil Zappa, Scheila Gonzalez, Pete Griffin, Billy Hulting, Jamie Kine, Ben Thomas, Joe Travers, and Chris Norton has toured the ZPZ show - a tribute to Frank's amazingly prolific output of over 60 albums performed in exacting detail - around the world for several

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) recently hosted a workshop event for some of the industry's hottest lighting designers to showcase its portfolio of LED, lighting and video control technologies from leading manufacturers - including Chroma-Q, GLP, PixelRange, Vari*Lite, Jands Vista and Green Hippo.

Held in the modern demo facilities at AC-ET's High Wycombe HQ, the workshop was the initiative of the UK sales team's Paul Biggerstaff and Jez Johnstone of leading UK rental company, Siyan.

Seven in-demand lighting designers attended the workshop: Jamie Thompson (The Script),

UK - Allen & Heath has added two new models to its ZED range of multi-purpose live sound and recording mixers. The new ZED-16FX and ZED-18 each have 10 fully-featured mono channels and 3 or 4 dual stereo channels, respectively, fulfilling the demand for increased channel counts in a compact format.

In keeping with the rest of the range, both mixers have a connection for USB send and return for recording, playback and effects. The 10 mono Mic/Line inputs feature Allen & Heath's DuoPre two stage preamp, three-band MusiQ EQ with swept mid frequency, and 100mm faders, all in a compact, ra

France - The team from d&b France will be at Siel in the Grande Halle de la Villette (29-31 January) with several new additions to the d&b catalogue. Centre stage will be the newly launched additions to the time honoured E-Series, the E4 and E5 loudspeakers that are some of the littlest loudspeakers in the company's product range.

Alongside these will be a selection of products from the xA and xS-Series, which together comprise the company's White range of integration loudspeakers. Four elements of the White range are now being offered coloured white as standard, as well as the more t

USA - Genelec is set to make a return to the NAMM show following an absence of several years. The company will be showcasing its award-winning 8000 Series alongside a selection of supporting subwoofers (7050B, 7060B).

"We're delighted to be back at NAMM," says Terho Savolainen, marketing manager at Genelec Oy. "Although we've not been at the show for a while we've been very active in the sector and are really looking forward to meeting up with both new and existing customers. The 8000 Series has been phenomenally successful for us and I know the NAMM Show audience is go

North America - As part of its ongoing effort to support the growth of the network for its Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array system, Martin Audio has appointed Jim Jorgensen to the newly created position of MLA support specialist.

A respected audio veteran, Jorgensen has been working with Martin Audio products since 1978. His career includes work with regional sound companies such as his own Genesis Productions in Phoenix, as well as Sunbelt Scenic Studios, and Clearwing Productions in Milwaukee and Arizona.

Jorgensen has also toured with leading artists such as Missy Elliott, Stevie

UK - IT & AV rental DB Systems has grown its operations team with the appointment of Jess Walters and Katy Stannard.

As logistic co-ordinators, their role is to make sure the right kit and crew get to events and exhibitions allowing DB to deliver the projects it has been hired for.

Mark Danvers, DB's operations director, said, "In 2011, we provided an IT & AV service for nearly 2,500 clients, at 248 exhibitions worldwide. Part of our ability to deliver an IT & AV service on a global scale is down to how we co-ordinate our service.

"Jess and Katy will help make sure that

USA - BlackBox manufacturer JoeCo heads to NAMM with a preview of a new BlackBox App for remotely controlling and monitoring its range of BlackBox recorders and players.

Designed for use on the iPad, the BlackBox App will provide full high resolution metering on all channels and a range of transport controls for remote operation. It will also enable the BlackBox menu and set-up options to be remotely controlled.

JoeCo's Joe Bull comments, "We want to offer users a remote monitoring and control interface that allows them maximum flexibility with the positioning of the BlackBox h

USA - It was George Barber's lifelong passion for racing that led him to become a driver with the Sports Car Club of America in the 1960s.

After his father's death in 1972, the Birmingham native put his racing career on the back burner to take over the family dairy business. But by the late 1980s Barber's obsession with collecting and restoring vintage cars and motorcycles eventually resulted in one of the most impressive collections in the world, and in 1995 he opened the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.

In 2003 Barber sold his dairy business and invested more than $50m to build

UK - The Holy Trinity was Tunbridge Wells' first parish church. After its final religious service in 1972 its Grade 1 listed status ensured safety from demolition, and by 1975 a public petition had secured permission from the Church Commissioners to produce a plan for community or public use.

An appeal committee raised £50,000 and five years later it reopened as The Trinity Theatre arts centre complete with a raked-seating auditorium. Growing popularity soon saw an art gallery, licensed bar and computerised box office added.

Its latest upgrade sees the venerable space take on

Brit Awards Nominations - Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is leading the field at this year's Brit Awards, with four nominations, followed by Jessie J who is up for three awards - best female, breakthrough act and best single for her hit Price Tag.

Organisers have also announced that Adele will perform live at this year's ceremony next month. It is her first confirmed live performance since recovering from throat surgery. The singer is also nominated in three categories - best female, best single and best album for 21.

The trophies - including a lifetime achievement prize for Br

USA - The new DLT15A 500W active speaker system from American Audio is designed for DJs, bands and nightclubs. A two-way powered speaker it is equipped with a built-in lightweight Class D high-power amplifier.

Featuring a 15-inch woofer, 1.3 inch driver and rotatable horn with 90* x 40* dispersion, the DLT15A delivers "great output, high dynamic range and distortion-free sound quality".

The speaker comes enclosed in an attractive, upscale-looking rugged - yet lightweight - plywood cabinet.

"With the DLT15A, we have brought together a lot of features that today's cus

Vatican City - Clear-Com reports that Vatican Television Centre, known in Italy as Centro Televisivo Vaticano (CTV), the official broadcaster of Vatican City, has selected Eclipse-Median digital matrix and Tempest 2400 digital wireless intercoms to help cover the official activities of Pope Benedict XVI as well as the ongoing religious events and services held at the Vatican.

The extensive communication capabilities offered by the four connected Eclipse-Median, six I-Series intercom panels, two Tempest BaseStations and four Tempest BeltStations "assure that CTV broadcasts have fa

UK - Broadcasting services provider Bow Tie Television recently needed to upgrade the audio monitoring system in one of its Outside Broadcast vans, to deliver the high quality of sound that the company's clients expected. A K-Array system was the answer.

Because of the limited space available, it had proved impossible to position all the speakers of the OB truck's original production monitoring system in exactly the right places. The only way to achieve the correct placement was to block the view of some of the monitors, which clearly wasn't an option.

K-Array is distributed in the

UK - Audio manufacturer Audient is celebrating the launch of its new ASP4816 recording console by throwing a drinks party on Tuesday 31January at SAE Institute in London, where the Hampshire-based company's latest compact, analogue mixing desk will be showcased with the help of rock/folk collective, Flight Brigade.

Kicking off at 3pm at SAE Institute's Bankstock Studios, the party will give guests the opportunity to see and hear the band Flight Brigade being recorded using the ASP4816, as well as microphones kindly provided by Sontronics.

"It's the ideal way to introduce the fe

UK - Harman Soundcraft's small-format digital console, the Si Compact, has received a major upgrade with the release of its V2 software. The new free upgrade provides more than 23 major new features, updates and enhancements, the company says. These include eight additional DSP channels expanding the Si Compact 16 and Si Compact 24 to 32 and 40 inputs to mix, respectively.

Of particular note is the new user-configurable fader layers allowing input channels to be reassigned anywhere on either input layer and any bus master reassigned to either master layer. Now an engineer can put the

Russia - Reaffirming its ambition to deepen customer and distributor engagement in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Harman Professional has appointed Sergey Trotskiy as director of business development for the region.

Trotskiy is responsible for "enabling the best possible mutually beneficial working relationships between Harman Professional Division and its distributors and customers in the Russia and CIS region", the company says. Trotskiy comments: "I am here to help realize management's vision to unlock the potential of Harman's Professional

UK - Pro Audio Stash (PAS) has launched its new R8010 19-inch Slide-and-Rotate racking system to provide ultimate flexibility for 19 inch racking set ups that are installed in tight and / or difficult to access spaces.

This innovative system has been developed in response to extensive feedback, and has a wide range of applications as a versatile solution for the installed rack units that can be easily rotated 90 degrees in either direction once pulled forward from the home position for full accessibility, maintenance, etc, says the company.

It's suitable for any location where space

The Philippines - Clear-Com has added greater efficiency to productions at Resorts World Manila's (RWM) Newport Performing Arts Theatre by providing advanced intercoms. The high-end theatre has installed a Clear-Com FreeSpeak wireless system and Encore partyline intercoms to facilitate communications between its production staff.

As the first integrated tourist hub in the Philippines, RWM combines lodging, restaurants, gaming facilities, entertainment spots, a luxury mall, and the Newport Performing Arts Theatre, a majestic 1,500-seat venue for concerts, plays, musicals and exclusive

USA - Three new sessions have been added to the attractions already on offer during the inaugural PLASA Focus: Austin 2012, taking place at The Renaissance Austin, on 22-23 February 2012.

Alongside 50 exhibitors and a two-day programme of free professional development sessions, visitors can now book a place on a very special discussion presented by world-renowned lighting designer, Peter Morse. From Madonna and Michael Jackson to Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Usher, Prince, Christina Aguilera and Janet Jackson, Peter Morse has worked with some of the biggest stars on some of the big

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