UK - The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) commissioned West Midlands-based Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) to design and deliver all the technical elements for their 2018 annual staff conference and awards, inclduing sound, lighting, video, staging and rigging.
The high-profile event for 400 delegates was staged in Warwick Hall at the NAEC, Stanleigh and comprised a seated conference presentation that was transformed into a glamorous setting for the evening’s dinner and awards.
The client wanted to use the width-ways orientation of the venue for sightlines, so CPL’s project manager Lee Gruszeckyj proposed a widescreen video blend as a striking visual starting point to align with the geometry of the space.
The 30ft wide by 10ft high upstage

UK - Working with lighting designer Stuart Pring, illumination rental and installation specialists LED Creative provided their Sigma Pulse Wand fixtures to add some neon colour to the BRITs Official After Party held at the O2 InterContinental in London.
Pring artfully suspended a number of Pulse Wands to create a layered look to the ceiling at the venue.
Talking about the installation, he comments: “For The Brits Official After Party we used around 170 Pulse Wands built into frames and hung over the stage and dance floor area. This created a ‘big’ look which was particularly effective during the ‘club’ part of the night, helping bring a wonderful dynamic to the room.”
Pring continues: “The Wands offer lots of chase possibilities via their in-built effects. The range of colour possibilities are great too; especially the cold daylight and tungsten

UK - Technical production supplier Blitz has installed a DiGiCo SD7 sound desk at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London, for Cameron Mackintosh/Really Useful Group’s production of The Phantom of the Opera.
The DiGiCo SD7T replaces a Yamaha PM1D, which was retired after 10 years of service. The new system was installed over the course of a weekend, allowing the show performances to carry on uninterrupted.
Mick Potter, sound designer for The Phantom of the Opera, said, “It’s been a great opportunity to upgrade to the latest DiGiCo SD7 sound desk, which has become an important part of my sound designs for many other Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh productions around the world. It has helped make a significant improvement to the quality of the sound at Her Majesty’s, and the fact we were able to achieve such a major changeover without losing any

South Africa - The new 8,500 capacity Sun Arena in Pretoria features a house moving light rig of 90 dynamic Robe fixtures.
The multi-purpose venue is part of Sun International’s Time Square development and entertainment complex (read the report in LSi March 2018).
The Robe units are integral to a complete turnkey technical package specified and supplied to the venue by Robe’s South African distributor DWR to operators Sun International. This encompasses a rider-friendly lighting system, trussing, rigging, follow spots and power distribution.
The backbone of the lighting rig is 12 x BMFL Spots, six BMFL Blades, 24 x Spiider LED wash beams, 24 x Pointes and 24

Argentina - Martin Audio has appointed ARS Technologies as its distributor for Argentina.
The Buenos Aires-based company, which also distributes Sennheiser, Allen & Heath, Neutrik, Studer, Rode, Thorens, Universal Audio, ART, Dynaudio, K&M, TC Electronic, RapcoHorizon, Sonifex, Lab.Gruppen and Orban, has extensive experience in the installation and commercial application of professional audio equipment both nationally and internationally and covers sectors including telecommunications, TV and post-production, industrial sound and special events.
ARS’ Ricardo Pousa comments: “It’s a great honour to be named representatives of a leading brand such as Martin Audio. In addition to their prestige, history and renowned audio quality, it is unquestionable that they have the loudspeaker array with the highest technology to date - the MLA system - as well as gr

UK - Dr James Green, former head of intellectual property at specialist technology development business Ilika, has joined Flare Audio in the same role. Dr Green has over 45 years’ experience in international technology commercialisation, having negotiated numerous agreements and licences with major corporations including US and Japanese multinationals.
His new role includes managing and progressing Flare’s portfolio of patents, designs and trademarks, and advising management on competitive threats or potential patent infringements.
Flare’s Davies Roberts comments: “Dr Green has an extraordinary wealth of experience and will play a key role in ensuring Flare’s proprietary technologies are recognised throughout the world.”
“When I met Flare CEO Davies Roberts, I was very impressed with what he had created,” says Dr Green. “I like working with i

UK - Sound Technology, the exclusive UK distributor for Martin by Harman, has announced the addition of key personnel to its dedicated Martin UK team.
Ritchie Reed (business development manager, professional lighting) heads up the sales and application team and is joined by Rob Beamer and Lauren Drinkwater as area sales managers for the north and south respectively, while Chris Hale joins as product and application specialist, professional lighting.
Ritchie Reed has worked in the entertainment lighting world for over 20 years, including positions as key account manager for theatre and subsequently UK sales director at Martin Professional until April 2016.
Lauren Drinkwater worked at City Theatrical for seven years and most recently was UK channel manager at Martin Professional specialising in theatre.
Rob Beamer has been working in the entertainment industr

Argentina - The Claypaky Scenius Unico made its official debut in Argentina at the Monsters of Rock (MOR) Argentina festival at Tecnópolis, Buenos Aires. The high-impact light-show for the outdoor festival, part of the global Monsters of Rock movement, was designed by lighting designer Bryan Hartley and featured the Scenuis Unico as the show's high impact workhorse fixture.
Headlining MOR Argentina was heavy metal band Megadeth who were joined by acts including Rata Blanca, Anthrax and others at the day-long festival. Hartley was tasked with designing a versatile rig that could produce a wide range of looks for the international visiting bands. He selected the Scenius Unico for its ability to perform in three powerful modes, Spot, Beam and Wash, allowing him to craft a range of lighting looks for each band in the festival's line-up.
Hartley rigged 36 Unicos on three
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South Korea - Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, one of the world’s longest-running musicals, has been touring South Korea since July 2017.
Specialist rental company Eco & Biz has been supplying the show’s audio requirements for the duration of the South Korea run, which centres around an L‑Acoustics Kara/Kiva II system, chosen for its ability to provide consistent quality and even coverage for the wide variety of venues on the tour’s itinerary.
Eco & Biz’s Kim Ki-young has been a sound designer since 1992. He has a long association with Cats in Asia, starting as manager of the sound team for Cats Korea Big Top Tour in 2003. For the current tour, which is produced by Seol & Company of Korea and Really Useful Company (RUC), the Australian arm of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s UK-based Really Useful Group (RUG), Kim was given free rein on

UK - The annual X Factor Live arena tour recently completed a 14-date UK run with Nick Warren (The Prodigy, Bryan Ferry, Elvis Costello) as FOH, who specified an Allen & Heath dLive for the production.
Supplied via Wigwam Audio, the system consisted of a dLive S7000 surface with a DM64 MixRack, handling up to 12 simultaneous live vocal mics and 24 channels of playback.
“Barney Vickers (Wigwam technical manager) introduced me to dLive initially,” explains Warren. “He left me alone with a surface for an hour, by which time I had it pretty much all pieced together. It’s incredibly easy to walk up and use, which sets it apart from the majority of digital systems.
“The sound of the system also really blew me away - it’s a very warm, analogue-y natural sound with amazing stereo imaging. So many shows sound super-processed these days, with peopl

Germany - Motion GmbH, which specialises in dry hire, has added Elation Professional Proteus Hybrid and Artiste DaVinci moving heads to its portfolio of moving lights. The fixtures are available at the company’s facility in Fürth, Germany, near Nuremberg.
The Proteus Hybrid, winner of the 2017 PLASA Award for Innovation, is an IP-65 certified 3-in-1 Spot/Beam/Wash floodlight that brings ideas to light under any weather conditions. The unit includes a sophisticated optical system with motorized zoom, CMY colour mixing and a revolutionary cooling principle.
HG Dünkel of the Motion Group explains the decision to go with the two innovative luminaires: "We chose the Proteus Hybrid because the combination of a 470-watt hybrid with a weatherproof housing is truly a unique selling proposition. As far as the Artiste DaVinci, it proved the best option in direct comparison w

UK - Digital and live production specialist Really Creative Media has continued its investment in the latest Panasonic projection technology.
Nick Dew, managing director of Really Creative Media, announced the company has recently completed the purchase of Panasonic PT-RZ21K 20k lumen laser projectors, ahead of a busy 2018 of high-end fashion events and summer touring with headline music artists.
Nick explains: “The new units made a lot of sense for us. They complement our existing rental stock of equipment including the Panasonic RZ31K 30,000L projectors and all the existing lenses and accessories.”
The projection can handle 360° install through any axis which makes it easy to integrate into rigs and set designs with less than favourable vantage points for to project from.
Nick continues: “As a live production agency we take huge pride in deliverin

UK - Tiny Rebel is one of South Wales’ biggest success stories in recent years. A microbrewery founded in 2012, Tiny Rebel is now a fully-fledged brand in its own right, not just for their award-winning beers, but also for their bars and kitchens that serve a wide range of food, and host regular events including live music.
The company currently boasts three sites: the first in Cardiff town centre just across from the Principality Stadium; another in the centre of Newport; and finally, the flagship Brewery Bar in Rogerstone, Newport, which is part of a brand new bespoke brewing facility that has increased capacity five-fold.
The company officially cut the ribbon on the new £2.6m premises in July 2017. Their AV partner throughout the build was Spartan Audio who are supplied by UK distributors, CUK Audio. In addition to the AV installation in the new Brewery Bar, Spa

New Zealand - The annual music awards ceremony known as the APRA Silver Scrolls Awards was held in Dunedin. Silver Scrolls recognises and celebrates the success of NZ music creators across all genres of music and honours those that have had a significant impact on New Zealand's life and culture with inductions into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
The event was presented at the Dunedin Town Hall with Lorde winning the 2017 APRA Silver Scroll Award for her international hit song Green Light.
Specialist event production company RB Productions coordinated the event, while AV production company Strawberry Sound Hire supplied audio for the evening.
David Craig, sound engineer for Strawberry handled all audio management for the event. “It is a corporate awards gig, yet still a rock ‘n roll show as you are handling a number of live bands and artists over

Belgium - Clouseau, one of the most critically acclaimed Belgian rock bands, delighted throngs of long-time fans recently with a string of concerts across Belgium, marking their 30th anniversary. Providing 30 tour with a fittingly memorable lighting and stage design was the band’s long-time creative collaborator, Luc Peumans of Painting with Light.
Central to Peumans’ visual concept, which was based around creating a lounge-style environment, were 12 Maverick MK2 Spot and 18 Rogue R2 Wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by Coruna Sound & Light.
Much of Clouseau’s show was made up of acoustic renditions of hits the band has recorded over its illustrious history. Peumans reflected this intimate sound by carpeting the stage and adorning it with warm, welcoming scenic elements like Edison-style Lucenti bulbs and an upright piano. “It’s a

Europe - Sennheiser has made a deeper foray into immersive audio by investing in two specialist companies.
The German audio giant has acquired Sonic Emotion AG, bringing the Swiss-based company's immersive audio solutions for soundfield control and loudspeaker playback to Sennheiser’s Ambeo technologies.
Sennheiser has also made an investment into Dear Reality, the creators of the dearVR 3D audio engine and the Spatial Connect software.
Daniel Sennheiser, co-CEO of Sennheiser, comments: “We are excited to be complementing our broad Ambeo expertise with additional capabilities in the areas of processing, controlling and reproducing object-based immersive audio.”
Dr. Andreas Sennheiser, co-CEO, adds: “Augmented audio will play a huge role in the future, and this expansion will further strengthen our position as the go-to experts in the field of a

UK - Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance is launching a full-time online BA (Hons) Theatre Studies degree that will start this September.
The course, set to cost from £5,760 per year, is described as an affordable alternative to traditional undergraduate programmes, where students typically cover tuition fees of up to £9,250 in addition to living costs.
The course will be accessible from anywhere in the world and will offer a range of online modules led by a team of expert practitioner-academics, who will provide theoretical and practice-based perspectives as they study working theatres, practitioners, playwrights and directors alongside theatre studies at large.
Programme director, Jayne Richards, comments: “Using our experience of developing a part-time online programme for mature students, we believe we have created a comprehensive but flexib

Sweden - Wireless Solution has recently expanded its team with the hiring of two new staff members to meet its continual growth rate and to keep improving its development and customer support.
As part of the expansion, Wireless Solution has built an in-house assembly space, where Jonas Jonsson, W-DMX’s new production technician, has started full-time. This new space will allow for quick manufacturing turnaround, along with a stricter quality control over all components. Jonas will also be involved with RMA and second-line of support and repairs of all W-DMX products.
Wireless Solution has also secured another in-house R&D engineer to support Anders Zellén in the development team. Dimitar Kolev, an electronics engineer with over 20 years of experience, brings wide knowledge of hardware and PCB design, allowing for a quicker turnaround within the department. Dimit

World - The 2018 version of Lightconverse Tools offers new features to the software, which is a specialised 3D design programme focused on stage design of all types and sizes.
LC Tools 2018 is compatible with Lightconverse 3D Show Platform as projects built in LC Tools can be directly imported.
From theatre spaces, corporate events and TV studios, to rock tours and awards shows, the software offers design, documentation and inventory options to quickly and effectively build shows from the ground up while decreasing the time and material expenses of implementation. It also can be thought of as an advanced paperwork platform which compliments Lightconverse 3D Show Platform.
The new functionalities for LC Tools 2018 include: Imported images duplications (supported formats: JPG, PNG); Import AutoCAD files, in addition to other types; Flip command (Fixture arrangement

USA - National full-service audio, video and lighting integrator and live event production company LiveSpace has added an Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) Adaptive system to its inventory. The system is made up of Anna enclosures and Otto subwoofer modules.
Grand Rapids, Michigan-based LiveSpace was first introduced to Anna at a couple of industry trade shows. Since then, they have had the opportunity to demo the Anna/Otto systems for a variety of clients who each have unique audio environments. At that point, it became clear that they could benefit from owning their own Adaptive system.
“We were so impressed with the versatility and quality of the system that we decided to invest in it ourselves,” explains company President AJ Sweeney. “It will plug-and-play into our existing live productions and we felt it would further expand our business by offering another nat

USA - When Thievery Corporation, played a month-long tour last autumn, lighting designer Luke Stratton turned to Elation Professional’s Platinum FLX hybrid moving head to visually complement the band’s innovative music with a variety of dazzling textures and graphics.
Stratton, owner of Luke Stratton Designs, who designed lighting for rock band Dopapod for seven years, punts all his shows, a hands-on approach that allows him to better customize looks for a creative band like Thievery Corporation. Calling himself an ‘old Elation user’ and ‘a big fan of hybrid lights’ and the versatile design options they provide, Stratton has been using Elation gear for years, including the Platinum FLX on festivals.
On Thievery’s fall tour, Stratton alternated the Platinum FLX hybrids with 1000W short-arc discharge fixtures across up- and mid-stage trusses with more fix

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