UK - CMT (Creative Media Techniques) supplied video and image based services and lasers for the ARK (Absolute Return for Kids) 2007 Gala Dinner at Marlborough House on Pall Mall, London. The event was produced by Starlight Design and attended by a guest list of over 1000 including Bill Clinton, Madonna, Sir Bob Geldof, David Bailey, Liz Hurley and many more.
The CMT package - the fourth consecutive year they have supplied the event - included several LED and projection surfaces, a camera/PPU package, an 8-channel Watchout video control system, eight lasers and 14 crew to install, operate and support the visuals systems.
During the dinner, the ARK charity organisation (set up by the hedge fund industry to raise money for children affected by poverty, abuse, disability and illness) announced the launch of the Clinton-ARK Initiative for Mozambique, through a strategic partnership with the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI). The partnership will support the delivery of rapid and high quality care and treatment for HIV/AIDS sufferers in Mozambique.
In the main dining area, 12 Barco SLM R12+ video projectors and 48 plasma screens were rigged on two floors around a large temporary structure in the gardens that took four weeks to construct, and included a clear roofed area for the reception. The plasmas were divided into four zones - and the projection was run as three separate zones to enable three different image streams to be run.
On the main stage were 35sq.m of Barco i-Lite10 configured in a 3:1 ratio, flown over the stage. It showed images and moving
USA - Reflecting the increasing use of LED illumination sources in urban centres, Color Kinetics is promoting the growth of its installation base in Boston - where some of the region's foremost architects and designers are using the company's technology to light one-of-a-kind structures, facades and interiors while at the same time mitigating maintenance and energy strain.
Some of Color Kinetics' more recent local installations include Bank of America Pavilion, Boston Hyatt Downtown, Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Westin Boston Waterfront, Rustic Kitchen, and Sushi-Teq at the new InterContinental Boston. Its intelligent LED lighting systems also generate colour and dynamic lighting effects in multiple locations within TD Banknorth Garden, Boston's premier sports and entertainment arena. These and other installations exhibit both the versatile aesthetics of digitally controllable LED sources and their ability to curb strain on energy resources and the environment.
As elsewhere in the country and around the world, 'green' initiatives are gaining steam locally. In March, the city of Cambridge launched a $70m energy efficiency programme with an initial goal of reducing half of the city's 23,000 buildings' electricity use by 14 percent during peak hours and 10 percent during non-peak hours. In April Governor Deval Patrick announced that the State House will replace its 1,000 incandescent bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescent (CFL) sources, and a number of proposed bills related to 'green building' are now pending.
Locally, Color KInetics is collaborating with the
Germany - Production and PA company Soundhouse Veranstaltungstechnik is a new owner of a Midas H4000 console purchased through EVI Audio Germany.
Soundhouse has been working on high-profile events across Germany and Europe since 1982. In addition to its new addition, the company already owns more than 10 Midas consoles ranging from the Venice through XL200, XL3, H1000 and H3000.
The H4000 was put straight to work as monitor console on Argentinean singer Semino Rossi's arena tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
(Jim Evans)
USA - Stardraw A/V 2007, the newly released design and documentation application from software developer, Stardraw.com was voted the winner of the Innovations in Technology award in the Business Productivity category at the recent NSCA show in Orlando, Florida.
Stardraw's marketing director, Rob Robinson comments, "It's particularly gratifying in that the winner was selected by a public vote," noted Robinson. "While it's always rewarding to obtain recognition from one's industry peers, a vote of confidence from the people that are actually using and working with the product every day is perhaps even more satisfying."
The very first incarnation of Stardraw A/V was launched in 2000. Since then the application has evolved significantly until the most recent release of Stardraw A/V 2007, launched in January 2007. Among the many enhancements incorporated in the 2007 version is full compatibility with Windows Vista.
"The move to distinct version numbers for our design and documentation products has clearly been appreciated by our customers, and I believe this award to be a testament to that fact," observed Robinson. "It is now clear to everybody where they stand in the development cycle of the product and enables us to add value to our software in a far more recognisable and appreciable form."
(Jim Evans)
New Zealand - Selecon has announced that from 1 June 2007 all entertainment luminaires are being shipped with safety bonds. A mandatory rigging requirement in many countries and standard practise in most, the inclusion of the safety bond accessory with all luminaires has been instigated by Selecon Performance Lighting as a common sense move that builds on the industry's response to the innovative integrated safety bond design feature incorporated into the Rama range of Fresnel and PC luminaires, says the company.
This decision is further demonstration of the Selecon approach to delivering Stage Lighting for All; a company commitment to ensuring, through careful listening and pioneering design, that Selecon products continue to meet and anticipate the increasing demands of health and safety regimes around the world so the activities of our future stage lighting practitioners are not curtailed.
Since late March the Selecon factory has been fitting safety bonds to all the entertainment range. Being permanently fitted the safety bonds are always there when required, a clear reminder to the crew to use them and one less item to pack and lose for production and rental companies.
(Jim Evans)
UK - Registrations are strong for this year's AGM with well over 100 members and 50 guests signed up for the event which is to be held on Wednesday 6 June at the Hurlingham Club in West London.
The event, which is free to all members, has a strong agenda this year and will feature a key vote on a major membership restructure, updates on the radio licensing issue which threatens every aspect of the industry and a highly respected guest speaker in former MP, Tony Benn.
The AGM, which begins at midday, will cover the key activities of the last 12 months, including the ongoing development of qualifications for the sector, PLASA's commitment to improve member services, the launch of an events division and the most recent developments in the organisation's high-profile lobbying campaign to challenge the auction of vital radio frequencies.
The AGM will also address the future as the organisation looks to make key changes to its membership structure. A proposal outlining a redefined and much more streamlined category system, an extension of voting rights to members worldwide and plans for more rigorous verification procedures has been put before the members for review and the all-important vote takes place at the AGM.
Following the AGM, members will hear a brief presentation on current and future initiatives and then have an opportunity to question members of the Executive Committee and PLASA team on any issue they would like to raise. Once the formalities of the day are over, members will be joined by guests from other industry bodies and connected organisations for
UK - Crystal Clear Audio, a company that specialises in AV installations for churches and schools, has installed the audio, video and stage lighting systems into a new church in Whitstable, Kent.
The entire installation at the Seasalter Christian Centre was cabled using Van Damme microphone, speaker and data cables, supplied by VDC Trading which also supplied all of the connectors for the project.
The Seasalter Christian Centre is an Anglican church that can accommodate a congregation of up to 350 in its main hall. The new building also includes meeting rooms and kitchen facilities.
Crystal Clear Audio's managing director Nick Fatkin says: "The AV and lighting installations were highly specified in order to meet the demands of the congregation and of external customers who use the hall and meeting rooms during the week. I used Van Damme cables because they are reliable and rugged. This installation demanded that kind of quality."
The Seasalter Christian Centre's audio facilities include Sherman speakers, QSC amplifiers and a 32-channel Soundcraft LX7 Mk2 console. The full playback computer and video facilities include two Hitatchi CPX1250 projectors and two large screens.
"The church installation market is highly specialised and does present some unusual challenges, particularly in terms of acoustics," Nick Fakin adds. "Because this project was a new build we were able to get involved at a very early stage and specify exactly what we needed in terms of cabling. In all, it took five months for us to complete the installation."
UK - XL Video UK hosted a massive party to celebrate the opening of its new 42,000sq.ft premises in Hemel Hempstead. Over 350 friends, partners, competitors, freelancers, clients and others flocked to Eastman Way to enjoy XL's hospitality in a fun-filled night of social interaction, banter, drinking, eating, live music and dancing. Revellers also included large contingents from XL's operations in Belgium, Germany, Amsterdam and Paris.
One end of the warehouse featured a long SoftLED backdrop, and the Cisco Globe - a 7ft high MiPix construction commissioned by Cisco in the US - suspended in the ceiling. Three warehouse aisles featured Nintendo Wii machines hooked up to Christie S+20 Roadsters and 14 x 8 rear-projected screens, so gamers could get right into their different worlds - which was mostly boxing - by the end of the night.
At the far end of the warehouse - normally used for LED screen hanging and testing - a full stage, dance floor and raked sofa seating was built, creating a dual purpose area. This started out as an early evening chill out zone, and later on become a grandstand viewing area for the band.
Before the band commenced, XL's MD Lee Spencer rounded up the guests to thank everyone present and those unable to attend, for their support in making XL a favourite video services company in the seven quick years since its foundation.
(Jim Evans)
Greece - Bon Studios in Athens has delivered a second Soundcraft Vi6 digital console to a customer in Greece - the rental company Net Audio.
The first test of the new technology took place at the Fix club in Thessaloniki, a well-known venue which hosts many celebrated Greek vocalists. Since then, the Vi6 console has been used for a variety of applications, from classical music to television production. Sofia Vossou, a Greek singer and former Eurovision contestant famous for her interpretation of modern Greek music, and folk maestro George Katsaros have both made use of the desk in their live concerts.
The console has played its part in several popular television productions at Alter Channel, a private TV station, including Jungle and The Party of Your Life. And to underline its versatility, it has been used to mix the Philharmonic Orchestra of Athens at an outdoor concert in the centre of the city.
(Jim Evans)
UK - Glen Smith Audio has returned to the British Museum to install a second Midas Verona console in the Stevenson Theatre, a 150-capacity lecture hall at the heart of the BM's conferencing facilities in London.
Last autumn, Glen Smith recommended a 32-channel Verona for the adjacent BP Lecture Theatre, and such has been its success, the Museum has repeated its order for a smaller 24-channel console.
"We just replicated the system we have next door," says Museum sound engineer Dave Hogan. "Compared to the console we're taking out of service, the Verona offers a significant general improvement in sound quality and better gain before feedback. We can control everything through the desk, all the loudspeaker configurations we have in the theatre - mono, stereo, surround. Before we had to use other devices to control the 5.1 surround sound, so now there's absolutely no risk in the system and the set-up is a lot more controlled and user-friendly."
The British Museum's Stevenson Theatre hosts academic lectures, even live music performances, but is increasingly being made available for corporate hire. "There are a lot of busses, to carry hearing aid induction loop, camera feeds, etc, and they can all be fed separately now. There's much more flexibility in the new system."
Shuttlesound, the distributor of Midas in the UK, also supplied Glen Smith Audio with a new Klark-Teknik Square One dynamics unit. Two such units are already in use in the BP Lecture Theatre; in the Stevenson, where multiple microphones are in use, it will be used as a
Canada - The opening night of Nelly Furtado's Get Loose tour took place in her her hometown of Victoria. British Columbia. From there she headed eastward, ending the Canadian dates in Ottawa on, just days after she cleaned out at the Junos (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Awards) with five wins, a trophy for every category she was nominated in.
Towers Clair Showco, based in Toronto is providing Adamson Speakers for the entire North American Tour that will continues into the US, starting 30 May 30 in Florida and finishing 21 June in California.
Furtado's FOH Engineer Jeffrey Holdip gave his approval to the Y-10 Adamson system used during the rehearsal period in Toronto this past January. The feedback gathered while mixing during the Canadian dates confirmed Holdip's instinct about wanting to tour with the Adamson system.
The set-up required 16 rigging points. Main Left & Right PA consisted of 12 Y18's with a four Y10 enclosure under-hang per side, powered with four Lab.Gruppen fP6400's and eight fp3400's a side. Six T-21 Subs per side were stacked three-wide, two-high on the floor in front of the stage, each sub using a single fP6400 for power running in parallel mode.
Next to the T-21 Subs 2 Clair P-2's were placed on top of their cases for additional front-fill. Four Adamson SX subs were stacked in the centre with another two Clair P-2's placed on top. The P-2's were powered with Crown 3600's. Two additional hangs of four SpekTrix for front-fills and a 12-box Y10 side hang per side also drew Crown power.
Ben Cabot, Adamson's tech support flew
UK - PRG Europe helped Bryan Adams celebrate his 25th concert at Wembley on 11 May with images shone onto the famous fascia of Wembley Arena, which was further enhanced by the architectural lighting and water feature.
PRG Europe's custom gobo resource facility produced special Bryan Adams and 25th Show @ Wembley gobos for the 12 Martin MAC 2000 Profiles controlled by crew chief Gareth Wharrier on an Avolites Pearl 2008 console. For extra effect the company also supplied a four-headed Skytracker searchlight.
"We have a good relationship with Wembley so had no worries when it came to arranging this event at relatively short notice," says PRG Europe's Loz Wilcox. "Everything went really well, and we're proud to be able to support Bryan Adams' 20th year and 25th show at the Arena."
(Jim Evans)
UK - 10 out of 10 Productions has moved to new offices and warehouse in Sydenham, a short distance from Rosco UK.
"Due to large investments and by increasing our hire and sales stocks we've been struggling with space for a number of years and the walls were about to give," says managing director Paul Need. The new building is large enough to house both hire and sales businesses under one roof. A sales counter, and customer reception area enable us to greet visiting customers in a spacious, more relaxed atmosphere than before. Our cable manufacturing department will also be relieved to be moving.
"The increased space will mean further investments in lighting and audio equipment, together with being able to hold more of the everyday items people need at short notice. Being so close to Rosco/DHA means their entire stock is a two-minute walk away."
The New address is:
5 Orchard Business Centre,
Kangley Bridge Road,
Sydenham,
SE26 5AQ.
The telephone number remains the same - 0845 123 5664.
(Jim Evans)
UK -Just over a year after Church House Conference Centre in Westminster closed its doors for major building work, the Grade II-listed landmark reopened this spring to reveal a complete overhaul of the main Assembly Hall, the largest room in the house - aided by Radia Pro components and a Kelsey Acoustics cabling solution. See the May issue of Lighting&Sound International for a full report.
Owned by the Corporation of the Church House, and designed by renowned architect Sir Herbert Baker in 1939, the building serves as the headquarters of the Church of England. When the general synod is not in session it is let for corporate banquets, conferences and seminars.
The original, fixed tiered seating has been removed and replaced with a level floor; this gives the hall much more versatility and the ability to cater for theatre style conferences and meetings for up to 664, and gala dinners and banquets for up to 372.
Technical consultant, Nigel Luby was first approached by The Conference Centre's technical supervisor Ben Pain in 2005 to carry out an acoustic analysis. This duly led to his company AVSYS.DC completely renewing the AV system in the main Assembly Hall (and four smaller rooms), placing them all on a single network.
The acoustics specialist has built plenty of headroom into the cabling infrastructure to cater for future growth and the requirements of other production companies and broadcasters using the venue. At the same time he has ensured the system interfaces with the venue's broadcast stu
Turkey - Midas' Turkish distributor Atempo has supplied four customised Heritage 1000 consoles to national broadcaster TRT for its regional radio stations. The consoles have been installed in radio studios in Izmir, Trabzon, Erzurum and Diyarbakir, where they are being used for live front of house work as well as for live production broadcast work.
Midas won the contract, which went out to tender, after TRT decided that the H1000 offered advantages over the competition, including its FOH abilities. The tender required that each console should have transformer balanced inputs - an option on the H1000. One of the consoles has 28 microphone and four stereo inputs, while the other three have 20 microphone and four stereo inputs, all with the transformer balanced input option.
TRT engineers visited Midas' factory in Kidderminster, UK, to conduct final quality control tests with international sales manager David Wiggins and technical manager Paul Withers. Upon their arrival in Turkey, the Atempo Group provided operator and test measurement training for TRT engineers.
(Jim Evans)
UK - Beach Blanket Babylon (BBB as it is known) occupies an old Georgian house in the heart of London's Notting Hill. Established in 1990, its eclectic décor of French country chateau combined with Gaudiesque architecture, and its selection of different dining rooms known as The Crypt, The Scullery, The Chapel and The Gallery make it one of the most consolidated, prestigious - and unusual - gothic destinations in London.
Recently owners Robert Newmark and Graham Rebak sensed that in order to keep BBB firing on all cylinders they needed to improve their sound system. And so they returned to their long-term A/V suppliers, the Sound Division Group (SDG).
The relationship with Newmark and Rebak has developed over a three-year period since they were first introduced by near neighbours (and fellow SDG clients), Adam and Charles Breeden from the award-winning Lonsdale.
Initially the audio visual specialists upgraded the system at Dollar Grills and Martini's in Exmouth Market to JBL, and helped deal with the venue's sound leakage problems. They followed this up by installing two Phillips 42in plasma screens in the venue, and then four LG 32in LCD displays at Beach Blanket Babylon for last year's FIFA World Cup.
"Because of its position in Notting Hill this venue has been going through a renaissance and we felt now was the time to act," said Graham Rebak. "When people are paying top end prices they expect the best of everything - including the sound quality."
Sound Division Group specified a JBL rig to integrate with the existing set-up. W
UK - J&C Joel, working in partnership with Strabane District Council and Production Services North, has supplied and installed a stage flying system and mechanical engineering to the new Alley Arts & Conference Centre in Strabane, Northern Ireland.
The project was handled for J&C Joel by contracts manager Tony Griffiths, who assisted in the technical design of the building and in the client's final choice of stage equipment.
The client chose a highly flexible arrangement of 14 3-phase, 250kg, single speed, 4-line electrically operated pilewind winch units, plus six 4-line hemp sets.
The Alley is a new 270 seat multi purpose venue funded by a £750,000 Lottery grant - the area's largest-ever award from the Arts Council for Northern Ireland. It is also the first dedicated arts facility designed for the enjoyment of all the district's 37,000 residents. A designated link from the adjoining library to the Alley's bright and naturally light foyer leads to the box office and cafeteria beyond, providing full access to a wealth of local services under one roof.
The building is not a traditional box type style and the client needed ultimate flexibility, so a novel scheme was agreed upon between J&C Joel and its clients. "We examined all aspects, and proposed a plan to cover the different uses of the space for choir, music, theatre, seminar and educational activities," explains Griffiths.
Standard black wool serge curtains were also supplied by J&C Joel. These are suspended from Triple E Tab tracks, and were specified by Griffiths as an effective stage
UK - Videoconferencing veteran Impact Marcom has upgraded its Hire Division's wireless microphone stock by investing in eight channels of AKG WMS 4000, which were supplied by Harman Pro UK.
John Moore, Impact Marcom's UK rental manager, says: "The wireless microphones we were using had become outdated and unreliable so we investigated an alternative and decided on the AKG system because it is very high quality. Our technicians were impressed by the features on offer, in particular the ability to scan radio frequencies to ensure we didn't conflict with other wireless microphone users in the same venue. They also like the fact that they can monitor the output from a laptop computer, which makes this a very portable and easy to use system."
Impact Marcom's hire team has been supplying products to the video conferencing business for more than 25 years and holds a huge stock of projectors, plasma displays and audiovisual and videoconferencing systems that are rented out on both a short and long term basis. The new AKG WMS 4000 system is already being used for corporate conferences and is available as a four-channel system or an eight-channel system for larger events.
(Jim Evans)
Korea - The 17th edition of the Korean International Broadcast, Audio & Lighting Equipment show (KOBA) was held earlier this month at the COEX centre in Seoul.
For the sixth consecutive year Proel Korea was present at the show. The theme of the stand was based around the Proel touring and sound systems catalogues, with the main emphasis being on the Axiom Vertical Progressive array systems.
The centre pieces of the stand were composed of a column of 10 x Axiom AX3210P speakers with the EDGE121SP 21" subwoofers and the new AX2265P Axiom Compact system.
David Yoon, president of Proel Korea commented, "We are quietly confident that with the new Axiom Compact System we will be able to repeat the outstanding success of the AX3210P. This type of compact vertical array means that we will be able to provide small and medium sizes concert halls and churches with very high quality sound reinforcement."
(Jim Evans)
UK - Hoist UK staged its inaugural Motor and Truss Workshop, hosted by Litestructures GB in their premises in Wakefield, utilising their new rehearsal space with their own Lee Brooks presenting an informative truss section on the second day.
The workshop was also enhanced with the guest speaker Siobhan Hitchen from Rope Assemblies, who went through wire rope inspection and LOLER requirements as well taking part in the workshop as a student.
The main emphasis of the workshop included the current and potential future legislation that the entertainment touring and event industry could encounter. This subject was very competently covered by Verlinde's Hans van der Moolen, who has been at the forefront of the advances in technology and safety within the entertainment event rigging industry throughout Europe for the last 30 years.
Tony Dickson, one of the founders of Hoist UK, says, "I was amazed at the response we had to this course, especially when there seems to be so many in the market at the moment. I think it was because of the relevance of the course and the attention to safety and legislation that the course had a more "industry" feel to it than other courses that I have been involved in.
"The majority of this course focussed on issues that effect the whole industry rather than just focussing on a particular product. Of course there was the usual section on Verlinde products and the state of the art hoists and controllers that meet and often surpass all of the current legislative standards and codes of practice that we must adhere to. I
UK - Brighton-based out post sound has just completed recording of one of the final shows at this year's Great Escape Festival organised by the Barfly Group. The gig, at the Brighton Centre's East Wing and featuring headline sets from The Magic Numbers and Captain, was packed to the rafters with around 700 audience in attendance.
out post utilised one of its fully tour ready Digidesign Pro Tools HD | 2 systems with two fully expanded 192s, one Digidesign PRE, three Audient ASP008 mic pre amplifiers and XTA active mic splits recording up to 26 channels. The company then provided the session data to festival sponsor, London's X-FM, who will be broadcasting the recordings in the near future.
out post, which only started trading at the beginning of the year, worked closely with Jon Mac from The Barfly and Giles Bristow of Austublief Audio to secure the deal. "This is a fantastic gig for us - the Barfly and The Great Escape Festival were one of our targets when we first setup the company," says Rob Speight, company director and sound engineer.
The festival featured more than 200 bands from around the world as well as local talent and international recording artists who performed in various venues across the city of Brighton.
"At out post we are determined to offer a more complete location recording service. We don't just provide the gear as a dry hire. We can mix down in our studio, to 5.1 surround if required, and host recorded gigs on our high bandwidth servers for fans to download the day after the show. In addition, we can also facilitate
UK - Liverpool-based Adlib Audio supplied a Nexo Alpha PA and lighting system to the recent Hanson tour. This follows on from Adlib's previous work with the band on their two previous UK tours. Chris Sudall babysat at FOH for the band's engineer Kevin James, while Steve Cole mixed and looked after monitor world.
The PA configuration was ground stacked and consisted of six Nexo Alpha M3 mid/tops, six B1 bass enclosures & four S2 subs a side. For the larger venues they added more M3s for in-fills and out-fills as required, and they also toured and used Adlib FD2 cabinets for in-fills.
The FOH desk was a Yamaha PM5D, on which they fully utilised its onboard effects and processing plus the proprietary Nexo processors. The desk also had enough space on which to fit the opening act.
The system was powered by Crown VZ 5002 amplifiers throughout - which are an Adlib standard when running the Nexo Alpha system.
At the other end of the multicore, Steve Coles ran eight sets of Sennheiser 300 IEMs for the band and their backline techs. The band all used their own Ultimate Ears moulds. The mics were largely Shure Beta 58s on the vocals with SM 57s on the guitars. They mic'd up a Yamaha C7 acoustic piano with AKG 414s, and Cole mixed on a Soundcraft SM20 console.
Adlib Lighting's Peter Abraham designed the lighting rig which consisted of a front and back truss, with four bars of six PARs and 4-lite Moles on the front, and eight bars of six PARs with four Martin Professional MAC 550 moving lights on the back. There were another four MAC 550s on the floor.
Abraham has al
UK - Northern Stage Services continue to strengthen its operations and has announced that Keith Hartley has joined the company as technical support manager, heading up a team of three. Hartley has been trained by all the major lighting manufacturers including ETC, Strand Lighting, Zero 88, Avolites, and Martin Professional.
Northern Stage's David Cusworth comments, "Keith joining us is important, as it allows us to improve the support we offer to professional venues in the North of England. Keith is known to many in the business and originally joined the industry at Futurist but joins Northern Stage Services from White Light North."
(Jim Evans)
UK - Following on from the successful launch promotion of the new Artist Series microphone range last year, Audio-Technica is launching a new Artist Series gift with purchase in-store promotion throughout Europe. The promotion capitalises on the success of the Artist Series launch last year, and features an Audio-Technica branded rucksack shipped with all Artist Series microphones from 1 June, says the company.
Commenting on the new promotion, senior UK marketing manager, Harvey Roberts, stated: "With this latest campaign we are continuing to develop a greater in-store presence in MI through the use of strong PoS materials and customer incentives, designed to enhance pavement appeal and draw customers into the store."
(Jim Evans)