USA - In one of the LED fixture’s first outings with a major American concert act, the spectacular lighting system on Tim McGraw’s 2003 tour includes eight Pulsar ChromaBanks. The LED strip fixtures, specified by tour LD John Broderick, are used for chasing color washes and very bright ‘blinder’ effects. They are arrayed symmetrically above the custom three-tiered black stage and its 40ft wide backline of 4ft x 4ft video cubes. Tour contractor Premier Global Staging of Nashville, Tennessee obtained the ChromaBanks through Pulsar distributor TMB.

Tim McGraw designed the set and rolling stage, which Premier Global Staging fabricated into a working structure. According to account manager, Steven ‘Creech’ Anderson: "We’ve used LED bla

UK - Carlsbro Electronics Ltd has welcomed Duncan Boniface as MI product manager - he will join the research and design department. Boniface’s experience includes working as principal engineer at loudspeaker manufacturer Celestion International, and he holds a degree in Acoustics from the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research at Southampton University.

(Lee Baldock)

Germany - Following the huge success of Showlight 2001 in Edinburgh, plans are already underway to ensure the 2005 event, which will be held in Munich on 21-24 May, will be better than ever.

Occurring just once every four years, Showlight is a three-day event organized by lighting professionals for lighting professionals. The colloquium, unlike other trade shows, places emphasis on debate stimulated by papers from respected industry experts and provides a gathering ground for like-minded people. 2001 proved to be the most successful show yet, with 42 sponsors and more than 300 delegates from the world of entertainment lighting passing through its doors.

John Watt, Chairman of the event’s organizing committee explains: "Showlight 2005 is being held at the magnificent Prinzregententheater. Their patronage and that of the associated Bayerische Theaterakademie, plus th

UK - Ohm has revealed further details of its latest line array professional speaker system - the Lunaray. Weighing in at around 15kg, the new Lunaray is the ultimate rigger’s mate, providing a lightweight alternative to carrying monster speakers in and out of venues. Its compact quality is also ideal for permanent locations where a discrete, space saving installation is required, say the company.

The first 300 Lunaray systems have already been produced for major hire and touring companies including Duchsound in Denmark, Sound Reinforcement in Norway and Blue Audio in the UK, plus several theatre and club venues (one of its first installations came at the Syndicate Club in Blackpool which was reviewed in the February issue of Lighting&Sound International). Hire and installation specialists Blue Audio were among the first to take delivery of Lunaray and have more on order to

UK - Whilst the UK prepared to go to the polls on 1 May, ELP contributed to the newsroom coverage of BBC Wales by lighting two interview studios at BBC Cardiff and following outside broadcast units covering the campaigning.

"Twice the usual amount of lighting and rigging was required as all broadcast outputs are delivered simultaneously in English and Welsh, usually requiring tow separate sets," explains one of ELP’s three crew chiefs, Mark Gardner. A total of nine crew were supplied by ELP, along with a variety of lighting, rigging and power hardware, including a selection of ARRI Fresnels from 500W to 5000W, 36 Kinoflos, 36 MAC 2000s, 34 MAC 600s, 60 Pulsar ChromaBanks, 38 High End Studio Colors, together with ETC Source Fours and Par cans, all controlled from three Wholehog II consoles. A 140kW Twinset Generator fed power to all the locations.

ELP will also

featured content

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

UK - Robert Juliat's new Manon followspot will make its first UK appearance at the White Light Group Open Day, being held on Thursday 15 May at White Light's headquarters in Wimbledon, south-west London.

Manon is a 13-24 degrees zoom followspot using a 1200W MSR or MSD lamp. It has a built-in mechanical douser, an iris that can spot down to fully closed which is mounted in a removable cassette, a six-way colour boomerang and, in common with many of the Juliat followspots, the unit can also accept a gobo. To allow Manon to suit a range of venues and operators, the unit is also fitted with a heavy-duty adjustable yoke.

Manon adds to the already comprehensive Robert Juliat range, joining products such as the Aramis, Cyrano, Ivanhoe, Heloise, Foxie, Pixie and Marius - which have already proved popular with a wide range of venues and companies across the UK. These include the BBC,

Germany - Labelled as an urban entertainment centre where shopping and leisure are combined under one roof, Space Park in Bremen, Germany, looks set to attract millions of visitors each year as it prepares to open in early 2004.

The theme of the park is, not surprisingly, Space - a choice that was not arbitrary, since Bremen is Germany’s second most important centre for aerospace technology after Munich. As well as a multiplex cinema with seating for 3,600, a space disco and Hotel Saturn, Space Park Bremen will also include Space Center, an attraction which informs visitors about current developments in space research and provides a taste of what it feels like to train as an astronaut. With such a high-tech futuristic theme for the park, the technology controlling it needs to match, which is why ETC equipment was chosen, even before the lighting designers were brought on b

featured content

Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

UK - Pulsar has announced the introduction of the new Masterpiece 96 - a direct development from the Masterpiece 48 bringing twice the DMX channels for the same price. Pulsar says its stock of Masterpiece 48 models is now exhausted and the Masterpiece 96 model will be available in 4-6 weeks.

The Masterpiece 96 has been designed for non-theatrical applications. The unit is conceptually similar to the Masterpiece 108 and is ideally suited to band, discotheque and moving light applications. The famous Masterpiece multi-tasking structure provides just the right amount of programming power required for smaller venues that have a combination of scans, generic and strobe fixtures. Like its big brother the Masterpiece 96 is a universal fully programmable controller.

The Masterpiece 96 accepts an audio input used for sound-to-light. Pulsar Modulator’s sound-to-light circuits are

UK - Salt Lake City based, ClearOne Communications Inc (formerly Gentner) has recently re-structured its pan-European distributor network and awarded beyerdynamic GB as a distributor of its highly sophisticated range of telephone and video conferencing products in the UK and Eire.

With this change of distribution ClearOne, formally known as Gentner Communications signals the organisation’s determination to grow market share beyond traditional telephone conferencing into mainstream high specification integrated conferencing solutions.

Commenting on the company’s appointment, which is effective from 1 April 2003, beyerdynamic’s managing director John Midgley, explained: "We are delighted to have been appointed as one of ClearOne’s UK distributors. Their range of audio and video products fits perfectly into our expansive, but complementary product por

UK / Russia - As members of the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) will be aware, PLASA has been approached by IIR Exhibitions to work on a project that will see the launch of a trade show in Moscow, Russia in April 2004. In order to assess interest in the project, PLASA and IIR Exhibitions are staging an Open Day on Wednesday 21 May at One Whitehall Place, London SW1.

The Open Day will include presentations from a number of key speakers including representatives from PLASA, the DTI and IIR Exhibitions. The presentations will focus specifically on doing business in Russia, emphasizing changes in the business culture, the types of assistance that can be accessed, the pitfalls to avoid and the opportunities available. The event will be a half-day session starting at 11.00am and concluding at 1.15pm with a buffet lunch to follow.

All interested parties are invit

Denmark - Martin Professional’s Pio Nahum, a major player in Martin’s rise to the top of the intelligent lighting industry, who for the past seven years has held the responsibility of international marketing director for Martin Professional A/S, has decided to return permanently to Italy to be closer to his family and to concentrate on Martin’s business in the Italian market.

The opportunity to return to his home country arose from the fact that for the past two years Nahum has effectively managed the dual responsibilities of group marketing director at Martin Professional A/S with that of managing director of Martin Professional Italy SpA. Nahum’s contribution also included five years of service as Martin’s international sales director as well as a stint as acting CEO of Martin UK.

Nahum commented: "After spending so many years working abroa

UK - Craig David played two nights at the Royal Albert Hall this month, performing a dynamic set through a Meyer line array system. Canegreen’s Pete Hughes designed the system installed into the RAH, working with Craig David’s front-of-house engineer ‘Snake’ Newton. Flown in two central clusters above the stage were 16 M3Ds, 12 M2Ds and 12 MSL4s, with two pairs of MSL2s with 650 subs flown wide. Pairs of MSL2s and UPAs provided front-fills with a pair of 650 subs under the stage completing the rig that filled every niche and cranny of the hall.

"The coverage in the venue was great," said Newton. "Pete came up with the plans and then once installed he covered the whole venue with his laptop, making fine tweaks to the angles of the cabs to ensure there were no deadspots. This Meyer Line Array gave us great sound throughout and thanks to Pete

Europe / N. America - Following on from his highly successful tour of North America in 2002, Peter Gabriel has taken ‘Growing Up’ out on the road again. Featuring hits from his latest album ‘Up’ Gabriel is currently touring Europe and is due to revisit North America in early June. Having provided rental equipment for the ‘Growing Up’ tour first time round, Stage Technologies were delighted to be involved again in automating director/designer Robert Le Page’s spectacular production.

Engineering specialists Stage Technologies are no stranger to enhancing high profile music tours with automation solutions having worked with artists such as Janet Jackson on her ‘All for You’ tour in America and Westlife’s ‘World of our own’ UK tour.

The elaborate centre stage production incorporates a similar design to the 200

Spain - General Motors Europe recently launched their new Opel/Vauxhall Mervia and Signum vehicles at the City of Art and Sciences (CAC) in Valencia. The event was designed by Martin Sutherland and produced by award-winning company Pci:Live. Stage One Creative Services was contracted to build the sets for this prestigious event.

The three-day event format ran for over three weeks, during which invited delegates were treated to a variety of experiences with the new cars being central to the presentation throughout. "Essentially," said Stage One’s Simon Wood, "the first day consisted of three distinct areas where delegates were treated to different aspects of the vehicles and entertained along the way."

The first of these was the Plenary area, where the company’s logo was displayed on the back wall behind a stage area with two lectern positions, a

UK - Live video specialist XL Video is working closely with Production North, the Yorkshire-based production company headed by Steve Levitt and Iain Whitehead. Three of the most spectacular pop tours of the year so far benefited from this winning combination - Westlife, Ronan Keating and Fame Academy - all with one common element: high production values.

Video has been crucial to all these tours - emphasising the seminal role of the medium in the genre of live pop. With a largely young audience, moving images and camera relay are vital ingredients. Live show IMAG ensures that everyone has a good view of the artists, and on the creative front, video adds a dramatic and effective visual dimension to any show.

Westlife’s action packed, up tempo ‘Unbreakable’ tour is produced by Will Baker and Alan Macdonald, who conceived the eye-catching video visuals, based on

Australia - LSC Lighting Systems have launched a web-based discussion forum for the range of maXim lighting consoles and a totally revamped Resource CD. The maXim Discussion Web was created and launched in response to the continuing need for open interaction between owner/operators of the maXim control desks and LSC distributors, technical support and design staff. The forum covers various topics such as software and hardware issues and feature wish lists. It provides a great on-line opportunity for direct communication with essential people within the LSC organisation and other users of the maXim. The forum is also an ideal avenue for interested purchasers to seek independent opinion on the worthwhile benefits the maXim provides.

The LSC Resource CD provides a comprehensive information source on all products currently manufactured by LSC. Operator manuals, brochures, line drawi

UK - We've had the jungle, the house and the academy, so it was only a matter of time until a reality TV show was set in a nightclub: Carlton TV's ‘The Club’, broadcast recently on ITV, was set in one of London's funkiest watering holes - Nylon - and starred Samantha Fox, Dean Gaffney and Richard Blackwood. The retro-themed two-floored bar in the City of London proved to be a challenging seven-week lighting and rigging project for Elstree Light & Power. Crew chief Mark Gardener explains: "Basically we had to rig, cable and light a fully functioning nightclub that was open to the public. Nylon regularly packs in over 500 revellers so you can imagine the potential for chaos. Not only was health and safety a huge concern but we had to make sure that hundreds of meters of cable were hidden from camera view."

ELP fixed over 150 lights including assorted Arri fre

Germany - Dortmund recently hosted the thirteenth edition of Mayday, one of Europe's leading indoor Techno dance events. Over 20,000 people took part in the party, which began on 30 April 2003 and ran through until 10 o’clock the next morning. Area 3, also known as the ‘VIVA Floor’ (after the famous German TV music channel), had an Outline sound system consisting of 16 Tripla II 5040 and 24 Topsub Plus subwoofers, plus four H.A.R.D. 212 ultra-low profile monitors on stage. Two Bomber enclosures were used as DJ monitors and the entire set-up was powered by Series T digital power amps and controlled by Genius 6 processors. The rig’s install was organized by Outline’s German distributor, Stramp (Audio-Vertrieb Peter Strüven GmbH).

(Lee Baldock)

UK - d&b audiotechnik has announced the dates for its latest series of Sound System Design seminars in the Cotswolds. These seminars feature the ‘show and tell’ approach, rather than ‘chalk and talk’, and are hosted by the experienced presenter John Taylor who has his own distinctive style of communicating his message.

Most sound engineers have a good knowledge of the electronic signal path, but are less sure of the acoustic signal path between the loudspeaker and the listener's ears. It is this part of the signal chain that the d&b seminars address. The main emphasis is on intelligibility and John believes that the sound quality should be excellent for every listener in the house. The seminars exist solely for that purpose, offering comprehensive electroacoustics with all the physics you'll need thrown in! The style is friendly and the demonstrations mem

Czech Republic - Moving light manufacturer Robe Show Lighting has launched two new products: the DMX Control 480 and the ColorMix 240 AT. The DMX Control 480 is the latest Robe controller, designed for fast and simple control in a wide range of applications and can control up to 20 fixtures with a maximum of 24 DMX channels each.

The onboard architecture features 750 Scenes, 255 Programs each with 50 Scenes and 100 Records with 50 Program combinations, offering the flexibility to create and play back shows. Each programme’s timing function enables precise control and synchronization with music and sound effects. Robe fixtures can be remotely configured via the DMX 480 as well as controlled and programmed.

A 32MB multimedia card is supplied with the console, allowing data to be safely stored and shared between controllers. The RS232 interface offers further options on cr

UK - When a seriously professional company like Edwin Shirley Staging needs to get advice on heavy duty label and identification, they called in Le Mark. An interesting meeting between Kevin Wollage of ESS and Linda Gibbons of Le Mark earlier this year led to the request: "Not only do we need labels for road cases - we need labels for our trailers!"

As it had to be visible and remain usable in all conditions, this product needed to be something special, so Le Mark produced a re-designed and uprated version of their renowned PAL Label product - this time with a double-layed background that allowed the PAL Plate to be riveted directly to the ESS trailer units!

Linda Gibbons - Le Mark sales director said: "It was an exceptionally unusual application that showed ESS had total commitment to their clients. The new marking system allows the driver to be 100% certain of

Latest Issue. . .