An elaborate TOA networked system forms the core of the new tone and voice signalling system at the head office and distribution centre of RS Components (UK) Ltd at Corby. Retrofitted by Provoice, the audio division of Burnley-based fire protection and voice evacuation specialists, Protec, the system is based around a centrally-sited, 32-zone SX-1000 audio management digital matrix, powered by a combination of TOA VP240, VP120 and VP60 amplifiers, housed within a suite of five ‘Access Series’ drive racks, manufactured by Wilshire & Quick.

There are 48 amplifiers in total, and since the system is plugging into a pre-existing PA set-up, using branched circuits, Provoice opted to use an impedance monitoring system, specially designed by TOA Germany, and featured for the first time in the UK. Prosound’s Jan Hawrot explained that the system contained four automatic messages and a computer signal indicator and test diagnostic.

The SX-1000 is ideal for both routing of simultaneous audio channels and fault monitoring and logging. It can be configured as a 64-audio input/128-audio output device, with 128 x 128 control inputs. The 16 audio busses enable simultaneous processing of up to 16 audio signals, while the software-driven operation makes complicated wiring set-ups unnecessary. Two SX1200 microphones have been installed - one located in the security control room and the other, which is integral to the main panel, in a dedicated system room. These will be used for paging to all zones. There are 59 wired speaker circuits and the system is interfaced with the

Marquee Audio has sold a Soundcraft Series Five 48/32 monitor board to North London-based John Henry’s Ltd. Its first outing was on the most recent series of the BBC TV’s long running flagship music show, Later . . . With Jools Holland. JHL has a long association with the programme, supplying monitor systems and audience sound reinforcement for a diverse range of artists since the first series. Having evaluated the console in the warehouse and in a live situation, Robert Harding, JHL’s general manager (and project manager for the series), decided that the 48/32 configuration best suited the show’s technical requirements and further JHL projects. "The beauty of the board is that with 32 mixes, it gives us ultimate flexibility for the show," said Harding. "With the growing prevalence of IEMs, combined with traditional wedge mixes, sound engineers today seem to constantly require more and more outputs." Harding added: "I needed to replace our existing 48-input SM16, and when I saw the Series Five Monitor specifications I realised that it would be brilliant for television use, where there is a limited amount of space and a lot of mix provision. TV takes up a lot of floor mixes, with presenters and so on - and of course visiting Americans like the Series Five.”

Meanwhile, to help fulfil a heavy summer touring programme, Wayne Barker’s WE Audio have returned to Marquee Audio to add a 48/32 channel Soundcraft Series 5 Monitor board to the Series 5 FOH desk they also purchased recently from the Shepperton supplier. With

Amsterdam’s Museum Square provided the ideal setting for an audition of Meyer Sound’s new M3D system. Mike Mann reports.

The audition in question was a classical concert by the Royal Concert Orchestra of a range of classical music - the first performance of its kind to be streamed live on the Internet in The Netherlands.

The Meyer System came courtesy of Hof Audio - The Netherlands’ biggest Meyer Sound user, and owner Bart Hof regards himself as being part of a team - which means that he’s not afraid to voice criticisms. "I’m a true Meyer fan," he explained, "which means that while I can be extremely critical, I can also understand where the product concepts are coming from." The decision to purchase an M3D line array system was, he added, based on a need for a system that would cope with outdoor events: "I knew that we needed a bigger system than the MSL-4. We provided the audio for last year’s Museum Square concert using a system based on MSL-6, DS-2 and MSL-5 (Meyer’s long-throw systems) but we ended up using cranes to fly nearly four tonnes of equipment per side!" The new M3D rig (eight self-powered cabinets per side, complete with their own flying/stacking gear) weighed in at less than half this figure, allowing simpler (and much more elegant) truss towers to be built.

The concert venue is one of the largest formal parks in Amsterdam; and with a distance of 250 metres between the stage and the Rijksmuseum at the far end of the square, Hof had to be certain the system would have sufficient th

The opening of Bounce at the Roundhouse Theatre, by Nick Grace Management, brings a major international production of a highly-rated dance company’s work to London.

Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe first visited the BouncE Streetdance Company in Sweden in 2000, with the troupe’s management and producers, to guage the potential for a major international production of the highly-rated company’s work. Woodroffe recalls: "We saw that we could translate what they were doing into something even more exciting. Les Brotherston became involved as designer and came up with this wonderful set design for the Roundhouse, on the understanding that Bounce would first do production rehearsals in Ealing, then a six-week run of the show in Sweden before moving to London."

Brotherston’s set has a wide central stage and two raised ‘satellite’ side stages are backed by a wire fence. There’s a stark and decrepit inner city look, replete with rusty scaffolding and a mélange of gangways, ladders and the meshed back wall. "We aimed for the rawness and toughness of the street settings, combined with the smooth and textured theatrics of a proper musical," explains Woodroffe. "The scenery and netting backdrops were lit using Par cans with scrollers down below, and architectural floods made specially to top and front light it. Then we used 10 of the new VL2416 wash lights and 23 VL6B luminaires for the profiles, some of which were built into the scenery, and six VL5 luminaires. For the giant factory windows we installed doubled-

Larry Sider founded the School of Sound four years ago, creating a forum that united a diverse collection of individuals involved in all aspects of film, AV and multi-media sound production - for a lively interchange of experiences and ideas.

Sider’s own background is in film: Chicago born, he went to film school at NorthWestern University and has worked as a sound designer and editor for 25 years. He settled in the UK in 1979, and in addition to his sound and film work, teaches and lectures on various audiological topics at various academies, including the Royal College of Art and the National Film & Television School.

The fourth School of Sound annual symposium was held this year at the Royal Scottish College of Dramatic Art, Glasgow. The four-day event attracted over 180 people from 15 countries and included presentations and talks by those at the leading edge of the arts and media involved in moving image. Speakers included radical film director Nic Roeg, composer and sound artist Hans Peter Kuhn, producer Bob Last, head of the Medici String Quartet Paul Robertson, musician and composer David Toop and many more.

This year’s School of Sound focused on music for the moving image, and the themes were diverse, ranging from exploration of the blurring boundaries between truth and fiction, through sound effects and music, to the use of sound in classic movies. One of the many highlights was producer Bob Last, who explained the complexities of hiring composers for films - often involving three or four, who may or may not contribute to the soundtrack, with the

The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) has defeated the UK Government at the European Court of Justice over the UK’s implementation of the Working Time Directive. The UK’s Working Time Regulations 1998, which implements the Directive, entitles workers to a minimum of 20 days paid leave each year. But employees are not entitled to the leave until they have completed a qualifying period of 13 continuous weeks with the same employer. This means that many freelance and contract workers who work for less than 13 weeks have been denied a right to take paid leave.

BECTU launched a legal challenge to the UK legislation and on 26 June 2001 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) accepted the opinion of the Advocate General of the ECJ, which stated that national governments may not exclude groups of workers from the rights that the directive gives them. The judgment effectively extends the entitlement to paid leave to all workers from their first day of employment. Later the same day the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which is responsible for the Working Time Regulations, announced an urgent consultation on regulations to amend those already in place and corresponding guidance. The amended Regulations will not mean that workers will be able to take four weeks paid leave from their first day of employment, but if the employment ends during the first 13 weeks they will be able to claim for leave which has been accrued but not taken during this period. The consultation will propose a system of accrual, providing one-twelfth of the ann

Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW), part of the fast-expanding Mackie Designs Inc group of pro audio manufacturers, hosted a demonstration of the new KF760 line array solution in Amsterdam during the recent Audio Engineering Society Convention. Delegates and press were treated to a full-scale workout for the array, installed at the Jaap Eden Hal ice rink just minutes from the RAI Convention Centre. Over 150 people attended the event, during which director of research and development David Guinness outlined the technology behind the KF760, and traced its evolution within the EAW family of products. "This is really our second-generation line array, after the KF860 - which became a highly specialized product for sight-line events such as television shows, the Superbowl and things like that," he said. "It never got used a lot in touring, however. It was a big cabinet, and we learned a lot from it. We've preserved some things that were very successful about the 860, the key one being that, with its rigid rigging, you can rig it until the last box actually points straight down. So with the KF760, you can rig the curve until you're covering right up to the stage lip." Notwithstanding the informality of the occasion, the demonstration led directly to an order for the Argentinian market.

Rental Management System (RMS), has become even faster and easier to use, and the new version of the software will be shown at the PLASA Show. With over 2000 users world-wide, RMS is a market leader in the supply of software for professional rental companies. The software is available in nine languages, including English, German, French and Spanish. New 'cut and paste' shortcuts allow users to easily move items from one job to another, or to convert a job into a (new) packaged item. The multi-sites option also has new features: from within a job, the user may see both the local stock-situation, as well as the situation at the available sites added together. With another mouse-click, all jobs (from the local or from a selection of sites) that hold an item in a given period, can be viewed. The crew-planner is a new module that allows for entering comprehensive labour details. Personnel may be freelance, full-time employees or externally hired staff. Labour may be ‘attached’ to a job, or range of jobs. The crew-planner may also be used as a separate application, and is therefore also suitable for use in theme and leisure parks. All planboards, both from RMS as from the crew-planner, are still a unique feature. Improvements include print-options, and easy navigation from the planboards directly into the underlaying jobs. RMS will be exhibiting on stand G4.http://www.rmsplanning.com

Kilmarnock Palace Theatre in Scotland has been re-equipped with new Sennheiser radio microphone and infra-red systems as part of a National Lottery grant-funded refurbishment. The Northern Light-supplied audio upgrade includes five dual-channel EM 3032-U wireless RF receivers, 10 SK 3063 miniature bodypack transmitters with MKE 2 Gold tie-clip mics, and a dual-channel, infra-red transmission system for use by the hearing and sight impaired. As a major boost to accessibility in the theatre, the infra-red system has been instaled to privide transmission to stethoset (wireless headphone) and neckloop receivers. The system consists of a Sennheiser SI 1015 two-channel wideband modulator, four SZI-1029-UK large area radiators in the auditorium, and 20 HDI-302 two-channel stethoset and 10 R15/O/L neckloop receivers. Northern Light’s Eddy O’Hare described the system as "a no-compromise system delivering reliability proven over many years."

The infra-red system can deliver a true dual-channel output, containing either a stereo balanced mix of the on-stage sound, or, in situations also requiring audio description for the visually impaired, two discrete channels carrying a description channel as well as a show channel. The on-stage Sennheiser 3000 Series wireless system is augmented by a Pro Split 600 aerial splitter, specially built to order by Sennheiser UK, with the receivers flightcased and able to be positioned at any of three pre-sired plug-in points, to provide control room, balcony and stalls control positions to cater for a range of production rigs.

The 12 Bar Club, famously voted the Best Live Music Venue in London by Time Out magazine, has taken delivery of a new 16-channel Soundcraft Spirit LX7. The intimate venue has recently played host to Nigel Kennedy, Lambchop, Mark Eitzel, Billy Bragg and the Jesus & Mary Chain’s William Reid, and with four acts a night, seven nights a week, the new console is already being put through its paces.

Paul Gilbert, engineer and on-line TV webcaster for the 12 Bar Club, knows how well the LX7 is coping with the demands placed upon it. "We’d been using a Spirit Live 3 for years. The longest anyone’s been working here is seven years and the desk was here before he started, so we figured it was time to get a new console. The Club is extremely small and the control room is tiny, so we knew we needed a really small console with plenty of features and outputs. And, as about 40% of artists playing here are singer/songwriters with acoustic guitars, it’s vital to have a really clean signal.

"I visited the Soundcraft website and picked the desk I felt was most applicable to our needs. It’s really compact; its six auxes and four sub-groups are really important as we broadcast every night live on our website. The two sweepable mids give us the EQ control we need, plus it has plenty of outputs. We run outs to the main bar and restaurant, one to the front of house, one to the camera, another one to a minidisc player if the bands want their show recorded and one to the monitors. Soon we’ll be installing AV screens throughout the club, so people in

Hayden Laboratories Ltd, exclusive UK distributor for Rane products, has launched the Rane DA 26 distribution amplifier - a neat 1U splitter/mixer device providing a one-box solution for all installers of paging and background music systems.

The Rane DA 26 provides a paging preamplifier, dynamics processor, crossover, distribution amplifier and remote-level-control in one unit. It can serve up to six zones, routing a mono Program Source and a Priority Page Source. The program source is processed by an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit with adjustable target level, ratio and attack/decay. The Priority/Page Input features automatic signal detection and remote zone assignment. Automatic program attenuation with a range of 0dB to -80dB allows mic/line mixing, talk-over or Priority-Replaces-Program operation.

Each of the six outputs can distribute full range, high pass or low pass programme music - ideal for situations where one zone might need mid/high and bass frequencies only, while others require the full range of the speakers to be active. The DA 26 is particularly suited to applications utilizing smaller speakers - which often require bass enhancement - achieved either by adding bass to the full range response or by using a true bi-amp system. The amp has an inbuilt 24dB per octave Linkwitz-Riley crossover that supports both of these bass enhancement schemes, allowing each of its outputs to route full-range, high-pass or low-pass program material as required. Hard-wired remote level controls allow independent control of music amplitude in each zone, with automatic l

After the success of the multimedia waterscreen shows during the world expos in both Osaka (1990) and Tottori (1996), Yves Pépin and his team at ECA2 have been asked to produce the multi-media watershow for the Yamaguchi Expo in Japan, which runs from the 14th of July through to the 30th of September 2001. For the last two years, ECA2 and its technicians have been working alongside the Japanese Expo team to ensure the success of this night-time spectacular. The show will feature images projected onto four monumental spheres, as well as onto a giant water screen; pyrotechnic and fire effects will complete the impressive show.

Celestion’s new Cxi sound reinforcement cabinets have been chosen for a sizeable concert hall installation in Taganrog in Russia. Located in the city of Taganrog on the coast of the Azov Sea, the venue, which is sponsored by the large Tagmet mining company, has capacity for 850 people and will host a variety of musical events.

The new sound reinforcement system comprises 20 Celestion Cxi 1022P, a 2 x 10" mid-range cabinet with a 2" driver, and 10 CXi1812 bass bins. Amplification is from Yorkville AP4040s, with ART equalisation, and an Allen & Heath GL3300 front-of-house console. Elsewhere in the Russian industrial heartland, another mining company, Yakutugol, has financed a similar venue. In Nerungri, a town in the Yakutia Republic, an all-purpose music and conference hall has also installed a Celestion system. This time, the system is QX Series, mixed with KR2 background music speakers. Celestion products for both venues, and for the Church of John Kronshtadtskiy in Moscow, have been supplied by PAXT to Slami & Co, the distributor for the region.

Sarner, in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, is breaking new ground in conference technology and the use of video streaming in an educational environment. Following a competitive seven-way pitch, Sarner has been appointed to handle the design and technical installation for the Natural History Museum's innovative new Darwin Gallery.

The museum chose Sarner for this unique project, due for completion in Autumn this year, having previously worked with them on other projects. Sarner's brief was to conceive, design and install leading-edge technology which would enable academics and businesses who are giving lectures or presentations in the Darwin Gallery to be able to simultaneously transmit these lectures to specific recipients around the world and have an interactive discussion with those not present at the Gallery. Video conferencing, which will include digital audio and visual formats, will be sent across the world using the internet as a medium to broadcast the information.

The live presentation will be sent via data lines linked between the Natural History Museum and other sites. Video has to be streamed onto the museum's network, rather than using a conventional coaxial line transmission, and this is proving quite a challenge as there are over 20 sources, some at MPEG 2 resolution, and no one product existing which can fulfil all the requirements. Ross Magri, technical director of Sarner, explains: "We have overcome the problem, by proposing a system which will preview the 20 sources whilst MPEG 2 streams are picked up by the video projectors. To d

Artcoustic, a manufacturer of flat, full-range speakers for the install and leisure markets, has appointed MilTec (UK) Ltd as its commercial distributor. Kim Donvig, director of Artcoustic told PLASA Media: "We have been looking for a distributor who has good relationships with installers within the bar and hotel business and we have now found that company in MilTec (UK) Ltd."

Amptown Cases is celebrating a staggering 10,000 sales worldwide of its versatile Transflex road trunk system by launching Transflex2, offered in a standard range of four lengths and two widths (1/4 and 1/3 truck packs). As part of the launch, Amptown is offering the first 598 customers over 20% discount.

The Transflex2 has been updated to allow even greater flexibility. The movable partition systems have been redesigned to allow them to be positioned at 25mm centres, and are available in two heights, one which fits the full height of the case and a shorter version, designed to fit under any trays that are used. The Transflex2 trays themselves are self-supporting and can now be firmly located anywhere along the length of the case - they can also be fitted in multiples. Existing users of Transflex will be pleased to learn that all components of the new Transflex2 are compatible with the original version.