UK - For the first time, the Odin Demo-tour will visit the UK this summer. In June and July, the Odin line array system will feature at various festivals and events, from Ipswich to Cornwall, and from Kent to Essex.
The Odin team will be there explain all the possibilities of the T-8A satellites and the S-18A subwoofers and you can experience the Odin loudspeakers hands-on.
The dates are: Woodlands Festival, Kent, 8-10 June; Demo Day, Kesgrave, Ipswich, 20 June; Elements, Hornchurch, 4-8 July; Karis May Darling Foundation Family Variety Day, Corringham, 12-14 July; Vicars Picnic, Maidstone, 20-21 July; Leopallooza Festival, Bude, 27-29 July.
(Jim Evans)

USA - Back in 1840, local people discovered the medicinal benefits of the sulphur springs outside a small trading post in south-central Indiana. This led to the emergence of what would become a nationally famous spa in the town of French Lick (named for a French trading post built near a salt lick).
This spa eventually gave rise to an early 20th century resort, which attracted a diverse range of famous visitors, from Joe Louis and Franklin Roosevelt, to Irving Berlin and Al Capone. Years later, the town would take a further step into the limelight with the opening of the French Lick Resort Casino.
Recording artists like Willie Nelson, Styx, Joan Jett and Eddie Money routinely journey to this remote section of Indiana to perform at the popular resort. Lighting their shows, as well as the high-profile conferences that take place there, is the house LD Alan Hamilton, who

Australia - The Roundhouse at The University of New South Wales Kensington campus has been hosting major rock gigs, corporate functions, and student parties for five decades. Recently re-opening after a major refurbishment, the heritage venue now sports an updated and refreshed lighting rig driven by High End System’s flagship Hog 4.
Sydney integrator The P.A. People were responsible for helming the fitout, ensuring that lighting, audio and AV were integrated for seamless control. “The Roundhouse wanted industry standard equipment and consistency,” said Chris Dodds, managing director of The P.A. People. “That’s why they now have a d&b audiotechnik PA, DiGiCo audio consoles, Shure microphones and a Hog 4 lighting desk. The Hog 4 has integrated nicely with the UNSW’s existing inventory of Hog family consoles, meaning their regular operators don’t need to lear

Sweden - Lumini is a lighting rental company in Billesholm just outside Helsingborg, that is owned and run by Peter Johansson and has recently invested in 28 x Robe LEDBeam 150 fixtures and also DL4S profiles.
The LEDBeam 150s are the newest purchase, and will be used primarily for illuminating tables during conference and dinner events, especially when the venue has low headroom.
The eight DL4S’s were an earlier investment for multiple reasons, with the near-silent operation being a big consideration, especially useful for some of the high end corporate work in which Peter is regularly engaged.
Peter loves the LEDBeam 150s. “The zoom range and the excellent colour mixing are ideal for the style and format of many of the events that I light,” he stated, adding that the incredibly light weight of just 6Kg is perfect for rigging in all sorts of places when t

Thailand - Transmission Festival Asia returned to Bangkok in 17 March, bringing with it a frenzy of EDM - mixed by world-renowned DJs and delivered with the help of a Funktion-One sound system.
For over a decade, United Music Group’s Transmission Festival series has delivered EDM spectaculars to an increasingly appreciative – and ever-expanding – global audience. Each year, the team serves up a fresh edition of the event, which brings together an impressive roster of acclaimed DJs to perform in a continuous chain of sets, thematically linked under a single overarching narrative.
For this year’s Transmission Festival Asia 2018, Spirit of the Warrior was adopted as the theme, a concept introduced and expanded throughout the night by specially created video content displayed on giant video screens. A loaded package of lights, lasers, live performers and py

Poland - Painting with Light was commissioned by interactive and media-based attractions specialist Alterface to light the new Bazyliszek dark ride which has just opened and is creating a buzz at the rebranded Legendia theme park in Katowice.
Alterface, Jora Vision and ETF partnered to create this one-off experience in Poland’s oldest family amusement park.
Painting with Light had previously worked with Alterface, also based in Belgium, on the Comics Station project in Antwerp. Luc Peumans led the project for the Genk-based creative lighting and visual design practice.
He worked closely with Alterface project manager François Danhaive and their overall ride producer Benjamin Walravens, plus Jora Vision’s art director, Simeon van Tellingen and project manager Robin van der Want.
Luc capitalized on his extensive theatrical lighting experience to create

UK - Specialist LED lighting manufacturer GDS has announced the creation of a new service department. By offering bespoke service contracts to end-users of its installed products, GDS aims to ensure that systems run smoothly and reliably and that potential problems are pre-empted by its onsite engineering team.
Service contracts will extend existing product warranties and are offered at affordable rates which guarantee onsite fixes, emergency cover and replacement parts.
The support offered by the GDS service department also includes help and advice regarding all other existing systems and consultation in respect of upgrades or new LED installations.
(Jim Evans)

USA - Signify (formerly Philips Lighting) has announced the appointment of entertainment lighting executive Brian Friborg as head of its Entertainment Lighting Group. The appointment of Brian, an experienced leader with a deep understanding of the unique requirements of the entertainment lighting business, is a clear signal of the company's commitment to this specialist sector, says the company.
Danish by birth and a United States resident, Friborg has over 25 years of business experience, including 14 years at Martin Professional in North America where, as president and CEO, he had an outstanding track record in developing sales performance. After the company's acquisition by Harman, he played a key management role in the integration and in establishing the Martin by Harman brand.
"I am excited to join Signify and to help fulfil its enormous potential in our wonderfu
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USA - AV equipment manufacturer Work pro Audio is unveiling the SoundNut range, a new series of stylish, high-powered pendant loudspeakers for installation applications at InfoComm 2018. The first product in the range, the SN8, a two-way 400W coaxial pendant speaker with an 8-inch bass driver, will be on display at the show.
Like all forthcoming members of the SoundNut range, the SN8 is a high-resistance, high-powered installation speaker (8Ω, 400W, 125dB maximum SPL) designed to faithfully reproduce audio with a flat frequency response from 98 to 19kHz and uniform acoustic coverage across a wide, 90-degree area.
The speaker itself features an innovative, frameless and screwless magnetic grille which can be detached in seconds for easy access to the drivers. The housing can also be custom-coloured to blend into its install environment as required, with a choice of col

USA - DPA Microphones will showcase its new d:sign Installation Solutions Series at InfoComm 2018. Targeted specifically at the installation and conference markets, the d:sign product line includes an array of products ideally suited for conference and AV applications, including floor stand, ceiling and tabletop microphones. Also at InfoComm, DPA will introduce its spec-swap and protect program as well as its on-site commissioning initiative.
“The d:sign series is an excellent microphone choice for functional yet aesthetically-pleasing meeting or conference spaces, and we are excited to display the complete line at InfoComm 2018,” says René Mørch, product manager, DPA Microphones. “This line of unobtrusive tabletop, ceiling and floor stand microphones ensures outstanding sound even in acoustically-challenging spaces.”
All products in the d:sign range “deli

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) will demonstrate its extensive portfolio of leading theatrical technologies - including new lighting, rigging, audio and video products from Chroma-Q, Spotlight, Follow-Me, Sixty82, BroadWeigh, Tourmate, Sennheiser, Shure and Green Hippo - at the ABTT Theatre Show 2018 this week. Highlights include:
Lighting: Chroma-Q's premium performance Color Force II LED cyclorama & effects light, and Inspire XT RGBW LED house light - both multi award-winners - and new Studio Force II high output variable white fixture; ProLights' Eclipse LED Fresnel in a choice of white colour temperatures, plus various effects lighting models; a preview of Spotlight's Hyperion 6-colour LED Profile and Fresnel, alongside many other theatrical LED fixtures; Follow-Me's remote follow spot control system for harnessing multiple moving lights from any brand i

USA - DiGiCo has announced the launch of its new DMI-AMM (Automatic Mic Mixing) card, which allows up to 48 channels of automatic mic mixing on any S-Series console.
Designed in direct response to requests from the corporate market, the DMI-AMM will benefit any production where complex vocal mic setups are in use.
Insertable on any input channel, be it local or rack I/O, the DMI-AMM is designed to assist engineers with multiple spoken voices. It is seamlessly incorporated into the console’s user interface, allowing a continuous workflow that does not hinder the operation of the console.
The DMI-AMM system works by automatically managing several live microphones in unpredictable dialogue situations. When one person speaks, that microphone’s gain level fades up instantly, while the other microphone gains are reduced. When the speaker pauses, all microphone leve

UK - Audiologic has confirmed its appointment as the exclusive UK and Ireland distribution channel for QSC Systems from 1 June 2018.
As a designated industry market partner, as well as distributing the QSC Systems portfolio, Audiologic will offer technical services such as system design and validation, commissioning support and warranty services. The Harlow based company will also offer QSC product training at its recently opened education facility - Learning Space.
Andy Lewis, sales and marketing director at Audiologic comments, “We are proud to serve as the exclusive UK distribution channel for QSC Systems. QSC is undoubtedly one of the world’s leading AV&C manufacturers and at Audiologic we enjoy a strong reputation for delivering exceptional value through proven system design and advice. We strongly believe that this is a winning combination and look forwa

UK - The PLASA 2018 Members’ Day and AGM took place on Thursday 31 May at the Royal College of Physicians in Regent’s Park, London to reflect upon a year of specialist projects, industry collaboration and growth.
Members and guests enjoyed a productive day with an insightful AGM, followed by a networking afternoon in the venue’s unique ‘physic’ garden. The lively guest speaker, Caroline Russell from The Ideas Centre Group, encouraged audience participation with her creative approach to problem-solving, then attendees were invited to stay for drinks into the evening.
PLASA Treasurer Mark Surtees presented the 2017 accounts and announced that PLASA is in a place of financial stability, highlighting an increase in profits due to commercial growth within Events and Media. Newly elected Chair, Adam Blaxill, added later that all profits funnel back int

Code of Conduct - Edinburgh’s City Council is cracking down on low and unpaid work at festivals, including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with a new code of conduct demanding that employers pay all staff the living wage.
The local authority has released the guidelines, called the Edinburgh Festivals Workers’ Welfare Commitment, as part of a report on how best to promote fair working conditions at the city’s festivals. This follows recent news that unions are to crack down on “exploitative” unpaid work placements at the Fringe and a survey in January in which a third of workers at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe said they had worked without pay.
The local authority has committed to paying the Scottish local government living wage of £8.51 per hour to its own employees, and expects other employers to “align to the same commitment where possible” and t

USA - Orlando-based Professional Wireless Systems has announced the Alpha Series of products designed to offer users the same durability and reliability that Professional Wireless products are known for. The Alpha Series product line “provides the features necessary to get simple jobs done smarter and more efficiently, at a price point that fits everyone’s budget”. The Alpha 4-Zone Filtered Distro, which can be seen at InfoComm Booth C479 in Las Vegas, is the first product in the series.
Intended for use at the heart of every distributed antenna system, the Alpha 4-Zone Filtered Distro combines four sets of diversity antennas and provides signal for up to eight receivers. With RF filtering at 470-616 MHz, the Alpha 4-Zone is a compact and powerful solution for many applications.
“The 4-zone Filtered Distro is the first of many Alpha products we plan on rolling

USA - On the press junket for the premiere of special effects-laden Pacific Rim: Uprising, David Kane and Brian Fisher of Kite & Key Technologies used a special effect of their own: the new High End Systems’ SolaFrame Theatre. Kane and Fisher, working with production company Junket Productions, Inc. were blown away by the quality of the light, its extensive gobo pack, and the fixture’s biggest superpower: its quiet operation.
“Typically, any place where sound is critical - such as the shooting suites at press junkets - are a no-go zone for automated fixtures,” says David Kane. “But the SolaFrame’s dead silent operation allowed us to put the fixtures right next to the talent, and the sound department never even knew they were there.”
Press junkets are one-on-one sessions meant to create a sense of intimacy between the interviewer and

USA - St Paul held its annual Winter Carnival from 25 January to 10 February, a winter tradition the Twin Cities area has marked annually since 1886.
This year’s celebration was especially well attended as it happened to coincide with the throngs of guests in the area to celebrate the 2018 Super Bowl. The St Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation of Minnesota brought event production company Showcore in to design and run the event’s nightly light shows, which included illumination of a 70ft tall ice palace using Elation Professional IP65-rated lighting.
The massive St Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace was built out of ice blocks harvested from a lake in Minnesota and constructed in Rice Park in downtown St. Paul.
Showcore used Elation SixBar 1000 IP LED battens within the structure to glow the palace walls; IP65-rated Proteus Beam moving heads to shoot moving pi

UK - As one of the most well-known reality TV formats, The Real Housewives documents the adventures of a group of women as they go about their day-to-day lives. With all the drama and plot twists that follow, sound recordist Stuart Windle needed a "solid solution to ensure recordings were never lost", leading to his choice of the JoeCo Blackbox BBR1MP.
The Real Housewives franchise began on the TV channel Bravo with the Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006, later spreading throughout USA, and now has accumulated a total of 16 different franchises across the globe. From lavish homes to various other "unscouted, noisy and often not ideal" locations, the productions follow where the women lead, often leaving little time for preparation.
Stuart Windle, sound supervisor and location sound recordist for The Real Housewives of Cheshire, decided

Germany - Christian von Kaphengst, Till Brönner, Wolfgang Haffner, Torsten Goods, Bruno Müller and Ida Nielsen are just some of the well-known German and international artists to have graced the stage at Musik Kontor in Herford – a high-profile club that has been making waves on the Nordrhein-Westfalen music scene since opening its doors in 2012.
Looking to stay on the cutting edge of entertainment, the club recently updated its visual presentation with a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures. Emphasising movement, intensity and vivid colours, the new lighting package includes Rogue R1 Spot fixtures, with Amhaze Whisper foggers added for atmospherics.
“We arrived at a point earlier this year when we decided it was time to inject more feeling into live performances with a set of dedicated moving heads,” said Musik Kontor’s Christian Eder. “The combina

World - American rockers All Time Low know how to deliver high-impact, adrenaline-fuelled arena shows. Backed by a huge, fractured LED screen and stadium-scale lighting rig, their current world tour is a blaze of eye-candy glory.
The band's long-time lighting designer, Jeff Maker, is armed with an Avolites Sapphire Touch console networked with a bank of media servers for complete lighting and video control.
"I'm obsessed with getting things perfect - I needed to programme a punchy and exacting lighting design that worked with the video wall for maximum impact," says Maker, who collaborated with the band and video content creator Oliver Hutchinson to achieve a slick, solid and synchronised show aimed squarely at enhancing audience experience.
For the tour's recent UK leg, ZigZag Lighting supplied Maker with the Sapphire Touch. The LD is a big fan of the console'

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