Stagetec, the Slough-based pro lighting and audio sales and installation specialist, has launched a new website and two new logos. The logos represent Stagetec Distribution and Stagetec Sound & Lighting Projects, the two principal divisions within the Stagetec Group.

Having progressed enormously since the launch of Stagetec's first website in 1998, expanding from 10 pages to over 300, managing director Andy Stone explains that it was essential to "move with the times". The new site at website is quick, easy and logical to navigate, and is designed to offer visitors far more than just product and company information. It's been developed as an industry resource, containing a wealth of technical information on all types of sound and lighting products, which is available free to so

Entec Lighting continues its long and successful relationship with Jools Holland, for whom it has supplied lighting equipment through production manager, Andy Salmon for several years. This year's Small World Big Band Tour Part II two-month UK tour by Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra once again covered all corners of the country, and was completely sold out soon after tickets being released.

Entec's touring relationship with Andy and Jools is in its eighth year and Steve Major, a veteran of all eight, has seen the rigs change each year. Lighting designer Simon Chandler-Honnor has illuminated Jools for the last 3 years, during which time the lighting rig has steadily grown from a basic Par can format to include several moving lights.

Last hear (Honnor's second pushing the buttons) he utilized Vari*Lites supplied by Entec, and this year he chose 10 Martin MAC 600s

Following the release of version 7.5 software for its Frog range of desks, Zero 88 has announced new dates for its user training days. The new dates available are 18 December (limited space left), 22 January, 19 February and 19 March.

The courses are open to anyone wishing to develop their Frog skills and will teach a full understanding of the Frog range of desks. The day is structured around the Fat Frog and teaches generic programming (including manual control, memories, chases, submasters, patching and saving) and fixture programming (including basic control, palettes, the effects generator and partial memory recording). More specific courses tailored to individual needs can be arranged on request.

The courses run from 10am - 4pm and are held in our training facility at our headquarters in Cwmbran. For further details or to book your space on a free course, please contact Lorna Pa

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Strictly FX, Pushing Boundaries

Strictly FX was founded in 1996 by industry veterans Mark Grega and Ted Maccabee. Our expertise and knowledge of the world’s leading pyrotechnic, laser, and flame manufacturers allows us to curate astonishing live events. With over 500+ shows performed a year, there’s good chance you’ve seen some of our work!

The management of the Ampco Flashlight Group, led by CEO Eric de Bruyn, has announced that it has purchased all shares in Ampco Flashlight Holding Ltd. The deal makes the group of 10 sound and lighting sales and rental companies, and three service and support companies, with combined sales of €40 million in 2002, one of Europe’s largest privately-owned audio and lighting groups.

All shares in Ampco Flashlight Holding Ltd have been taken over by a new group of investors, consisting of members of the current Ampco Flashlight Holding management team and a number of managing directors of the 13 separate commercial units within the group. Ampco Pro Rent director Fred Heuves commented: "Rumours about this transaction have been circulating in many varieties lately, so we are very pleased to be able to make this official announcement to the world. The group is in an excellent finan

Northern Ireland based Zest Audio have recently launched their first product into the EU install market. Atmosphere is a simple and cost effective background music solution. It provides programmable music selection throughout the day to meet the demands of the differing clientele of the modern café/bar/restaurant. Atmosphere comes with a pre-loaded hard drive with some 3,500 tracks and an easy-to-use Windows-based front end. Music is updated monthly, and once set up, the system runs automatically from day to day.

The first Atmosphere system has recently been installed, by Lisburn based DJH Sound, into Lisburn City Centre to provide background music during the Christmas period to help keep the smile on the happy shoppers. Initial feedback has been extremely positive with the system set-up to cater for the differing population in the City Centre. This has allowed the City Centre Managem

The Moving Light Company has recently supplied equipment to shows at three of Britain's leading regional theatres: the Royal Exchange in Manchester, the Crucible in Sheffield and the Theatre Royal in Plymouth. In each case, the lighting designers were seeking to combine equipment from a variety of manufacturers - a speciality of The Moving Light Company, which has rental stock including products from Vari-Lite, Martin, High End, City Theatrical, DHA Lighting, Amptown and others.

For the Royal Exchange Theatre, The Moving Light Company, together with White Light North supplied lighting designer Robert Bryan with four Vari-Lite VL1000s and four City Theatrical Autoyokes for a production of Othello. Both were specified for their tungsten light sources and low running noise - a particularly important consideration with the in-the-round arrangement of the Exchange. As with many other lighti

The iCAN range from iLight Ltd has a new user interface and programming tool to complement its powerful and easy-to-use iCANsoft software. iCANpalm is designed for use with a Palm Pilot and allows control of each area of an iCAN system via the control panel infra-red receiver. iCANpalm can be used for programming scenes, fade times, naming scenes and channels and setting channel load types. It’s also an ideal user interface for scene selection.

The product is aimed at those who need a quick method of system programming without resorting to a PC. The functionality is enough to allow serious scene programming with portability and ease of use.

(Ruth Rossington)

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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

Hayden Laboratories Ltd - exclusive UK distributor for Denon pro audio products - announce two new additions - the DN-T645 and DN-T625 - to replace the Denon DN-T620. The DN-T620, a combination cassette and CD player, was originally designed as a back-up system for DJ booths, but has enjoyed massive popularity in the health, fitness, leisure and retail markets. This unit is now being replaced with two professional models of similar standing, but with more advanced features.

Both the DN-T645 and DN-T625 are still aimed at the core market of fitness, but the versatility of the machines also makes them ideal for use as integrated AV systems in boardrooms and conference suites. Both are packed with practical features. The DN-T645 CD player will play-back CDR/CDRW discs as well as pre-written CDs and has a 12% pitch control. It also offers MP3 playback, an increasingly important feature, co

Several years ago Théâter Zingaro, the French equestrian theatre troupe travelled to the United States and mesmerized sell-out crowds in Brooklyn with their ballet/equestrian art form. The troupe returned for exclusive West Coast performances of Triptyk: Dance of the Centaurs - top bill for the recent Eclectic Orange Festival, Orange County, California.

Bartabas, lighting designer and founder for Théâter Zingaro, and Loïc Merrien, lighting manager have made full use of 70 Selecon Acclaim Zoomspots and 24 Acclaim PCs in creating a surreal, living, theatrical picture, which aims to portray the horses as almost magical creatures. The precise beam control of the zoomspots and crisp edge and clarity of the PCs help provide the dramatic results demanded in this, the seventh Zingaro production created by Bartabas portraying the mystical relationship of man and horse.

The month-l

Music Live 2002, held recently at the NEC, consolidated its reputation as one of the UK’s leading public music shows, with a strong programme of acts and demos underlining the event’s increasing popularity. With a billing which included an acoustic set by Simon Fowler and Oscar Harrison of top UK rock band Ocean Colour Scene, HK Audio’s comprehensive range of pro audio systems was once again the preferred choice of show organizers, Mammoth Events. HK Audio systems were placed in a wide variety of show applications, right from the 7.2kW 12 x box R-Series main stage rig to a number of PA applications across the show.

As a result of HK Audio’s performance at Music Live 2002, HK has been confirmed once again as the sound reinforcement marque of choice for Music Live 2003. Additionally, another music show has been introduced to the annual show rota, this time it&rsqu

In a prime location in Kuala Lumpur, an old Panasonic warehouse has been expertly converted into the new premises for the immense Petaling Jaya Evangelical Free Church. The main church seats 1,800 in the auditorium, with a balcony, which has been acoustically treated throughout, and has installed a PA system supplied by Wembley Loudspeaker Co Ltd.

The job was set up after a meeting at the PALA show in Hong Kong, with Paul MacCallum, MD of Wembley, subsequently visiting Kuala Lumpur. The company has recently launched a new series of cabinets to suit a variety of applications (from 150W to 1200W), with high quality sound throughout the range. Having surveyed the ‘venue’, MacCallum specified a system that is more likely to be found in a club than a church. The reason for the spec was that the church has services twice a week, incorporating music from a full 11-piece rock/gospe

Belfast-based AV hire and installation company NIAVAC (Northern Ireland Audio Visual Aids Centre Ltd) has recently become the first company in Ireland to purchase AKG's brand new CS2 microphone conference system. The CS2 is a fully modular, highly flexible system, incorporating AKG's acclaimed Discreet Acoustics goosenecks and capsules, for quick and easy adaptation to suit any conference situation. This, plus the CS2's straightforward single cable 'daisy chain' wiring - for no-nonsense setting up and taking down - made it an automatic choice for NIAVAC when seeking a conference system for their hire stock.

The CS2 is an ideal solution for venues where a sound engineer or technician is not always available - like meeting rooms, town halls, conferences, etc. The system can comprise up to 200 delegate and chairperson's microphone stations, that daisy chain together from a central 1U base

Thursday 12th December will see audio experts John Woodgate and Peter Mapp deliver keynote lectures on two important current issues - Electromagnetic Compatibility and speech intelligibility. John Woodgate's ‘New Creatures in the EMC and Safety Jungle’ introduces some strange new animals to an already crowded zoo, whilst Peter Mapp uses ‘Everything You Wanted to Ask About RaSTI but were Afraid to Know! or How Accurate Really are RaSTI and STI Measurements?’ to illustrate his many years of research into all aspects of speech intelligibility.

The event, which is being organized by the ISCE, will take at Brooklands College in Weybridge. There is a special entrance rate for PLASA Members of £25. Further details are available from Cathy Mackenzie on +44 151 639 5211.

(Ruth Rossington)

Audio-Visual company 6th Sense Solutions (UK) Ltd has recently moved to new premises in Cheltenham, following six years of growth that have seen the business grow to need four times as much space as at its old premises.

The company specializes in audio visual production and hire and sale of AV equipment. Its clients range from those requiring a simple audio-visual presentation at a small event to large-scale productions for conferences, outdoor concerts and festivals. Clients include household names such as the BBC, Leeds City Council, Dyson Appliances, The Salvation Army, Pfizer and Dairy Crest. Matt McCarty, managing director at 6th Sense Solutions, told us: "The move will enable us to be more efficient and give us greater opportunities to display our technology. We need to continually invest in the latest equipment in order to satisfy our clients’ expectations."

Th

Theatrical sound design and rental specialist Autograph Sound Recording has recently been involved in a concert tour of Les Misérables across Scandinavia - the first time that the concert production of the world-famous musical has toured multiple cities. The concert, which captured the atmosphere of the stage production by using giant cinema screens, live video and stills from the production, commenced in late October and ran throughout November, taking in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland along the way.

Autograph has been involved with Les Misérables since chairman Andrew Bruce designed the original London production in 1985. To address the scale of the tour, the company supplied an extensive Meyer Sound M3D Line Array Loudspeaker System in a sound design realised by Autograph's Nick Lidster, who also mixed the shows. Lidster was a member of the original sound team on the London p

John MacPhail’s Edinburgh-based Studio 4 recently won the contract to upgrade the sound system in The Cavendish - a landmark venue in the Scottish capital - for operators, Luminar Leisure.

The two-level nightclub at Tollcross - affectionately known as The Cav - has now taken possession of a series of Wharfedale Programme 50s and 52s as part of a complete refit. The recently-launched two-way ported trapezoidal enclosures - designed to meet the requirements of high-output, nearfield reproduction - have been used creatively to deliver peripheral sound throughout the club’s off-dancefloor areas. Eight of the Programme 50s and four of the Programme 52s feature in the installation. The Programme 50 features a 5.5" woofer and 3/4" titanium driver, while the Programme 52 features a pair of woofers and 3/4" titanium driver.

(Ruth Rossington)

Bandit Lites UK is supplying the king of horror-rock theatre Alice Cooper with a dramatic, and somewhat gruesome lighting rig for the European section of his current Dragontown World tour. The lighting designer for this spectacular heavy metal mayhem is Mick Thornton, who has designed a colourful contrasting show that captures a myriad of moods.

These include all the normal Cooperesque antics like the nightly baby massacre, a melange of cod violence and destruction, lunatics being straight-jacketed and hauled off to the asylum (bit like a day in the L&SI office). The onstage entertainment culminates with the guillotining of Pop Princess Britney Spears - the ultimate axis of evil in Alice’s dark world - as played by his daughter Calico.

Thornton needed a versatile lighting rig to match the intricate stage set and the manic pace of action onstage. At the aorta of the set is the

Front-of-house engineer Simon Honywill is using a new Yamaha DM2000 digital console to mix Chris Rea, currently on the front leg of his European tour. Playing a wide variety of venues seating anywhere between 1500 and 5000 people, the tour is carrying a compact production rig including the RG Jones/Ampco ProRent Synco PA system.

Simon Honywill has been involved with the DM2000 since its launch in the UK, and RG Jones has been considering purchasing one of the digital consoles for inventory. But the main reason for ordering the new desk from Marquee Audio was the Rea tour. "It's a one-truck tour," explains Honywill, "which meant that we were looking for equipment that was as compact and bijou as possible. The DM2000 makes a lot of sense, primarily because of its small size, and the opportunity it allows for us to cut down on a load of outboard."

He describes the ne

American DJ has released the Centurion - a DMX512 Intelligent moonflower effect, which features 14 revolving gobos, including 12 solid colour and 2 multi-colour gobos. Featuring a beam spread that covers a wide area, American DJ’s Centurion is ideal for use in larger clubs and venues, as well as on a musician’s stage, roller rink or bowling alley floor. Yet, it is compact and lightweight for easy transport by mobile DJs.

To add to this versatility, the Centurion offers three operation modes - DMX, master/slave and sound activated. In the intelligent DMX mode, a unit can be individually programmed and controlled with any universal DMX512 controller to craft a customized light show. In the master/slave mode, up to four lighting units can by linked by XLR connection. In the sound activation mode, the Centurion will chase to the beat of the music using its own built-in programs

Selwo Adventure Parks have expanded their leisure offering with the newly inaugurated Selwo Marina park in Benalmádena , Malaga, Spain. The new concept of marine park brings together the sea life and exotic fowl of South America and complements the theme of the already well known Selwo Adventure wildlife park in Estepona, Spain. Visitors to Selwo Marina participate in expeditions in which they discover the amazing ecosystems of the South American continent.

The sound system design and installation for the park was carried out by the Madrid-based Himesa Professional SL, using a variety of D.A.S. products. The system designed by the company provides ambient sound and paging utilizing 60 Factor-5Ts keenly camouflaged within the decorative elements of the park.

The park is accessed through the Plaza of the Americas where shops and food services are available. Through the plaza, visitor

At a mere 5mm in diameter, and available in either beige (skin tone) or black, the new AT899 is intended for those critical applications which require minimum visibility and high quality audio. The subminiature omnidirectional element is enclosed in a rugged, low profile housing with internal construction designed to minimize noise from handling, clothing and wind. The microphone plugs into the included AT8537 power module, which features battery/phantom power operation, low-frequency roll-off switch, and an integral XLR3M connector supplying a low-impedance balanced output. The extensive accessory kit which comes as standard with the AT899 includes single and double-mounts, clothing clip, viper clip, magnetic clip, two open-pore foam windscreens, and two metal mesh element covers to protect the condenser element from moisture, make-up and other contaminants.

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