USA - Wybron's new CXI MultiPAR hit the road with REM for the 2003 Tour. From Tivoli in Utrecht, Holland to Nyon, Switzerland, R.E.M. rocked the house on the European leg of their 2003 World Tour.

Lighting designer Willie Williams needed durable, reliable equipment to make the trip - and that meant choosing Wybron. Bandit Lites provided eight of Wybron's new CXI MultiPAR colour mixers, mounted on ETC MultiPARs. The fixtures and changers are being used to light a large scannerchrome painted backdrop on the Tour. The silver scrim is the perfect platform for reflecting the vibrant color produced by the MultiPAR combination. Reporting from the tour, Williams commented: "The units work well and so far seem to be holding up on the road."

Powerful music and creative lightin

UK - After a very busy and exciting first six months under 'new' management, following the management buy-out in March, Hall Stage is exhibiting at this year's PLASA Show with a whole host of new products and services on display. After picking up a Product Award at the ABTT show in June, Hall Stage has now announced its exclusive UK distribution of the ASM Band Hoists and Genesis Control systems, which have been developed in Germany under the strictest safety guidelines in operation anywhere in Europe.

Phil Wells, Hall Stage director says: "We've been looking to develop a hoist system that met all of the stringent BGV C1 control stipulations and realized ASM . . . units get around every hurdle en route and perform superbly under our required specifications. They're virtually silent, vibration free and very quick, unlike most chain hoists; they don't need cable changes, like

UK - Italian pro audio manufacturer Outline will be at the PLASA Show with its Butterfly, also known as Outlinearray. The C.D.H. 483 Hi-Pack element (which has two patents pending, both applied for in mid-2002), is a bi-amp three-way cabinet, which uses mechanical interaction rather than DSP to achieve its goal.

It uses two forward facing 8" cone transducers and two further 8" cone drivers. These are acoustically coupled and do not require DSP. The HF section uses a compression driver with a 3" diaphragm, as a line source can only be achieved by using one high frequency driver. Connected to this is a patent-pending Double Parabola developed by Guido Noselli (DPRWG). This radical new HF configuration works as a ribbon driver but with a very high efficiency (110 dB 1w/1m). The C.D.H. 483 Hi-Pack weighs in at just 35kg, including its integral flying system. Outline c

UK - UK distributor Fuzion plc will be showing production GEO T2815 cabinets for the first time at the PLASA Show in London, starting this Sunday, 7 September. The T2815 gives the NEXO GEO T Series Tangent Array System a fully integrated and coherent downfill capacity, rarely available from high output line array systems.

It uses passive radiators to achieve the same cardioid pattern as the GEO T4805, the other full-range high-output loudspeaker at the heart of the GEO T Series. As a consequence, the horizontal dispersion is consistent throughout the operating band (although in keeping with its nearfield application, the T2815 produces 120° H compared with the T4805's 90° H). The T2815 downfill box has been used in demanding festival and concert situations in France and the UK.

Featuring a 2" exit compression driver (HF) and two 8" long excursion neodymium cone dri

Denmark - In order to take increased advantage of the recent agreement of co-operation between Seelite and Procon MultiMedia AG, Seelite A/S has hired Mikkel Behrend as AV project manager.

Behrend, who was formerly key account manager at ComTech Holding A/S, will begin at the company in October, and will be responsible for AV solutions for fairs and shows, presentations, events and festivals, areas where the company can now offer single source technical solutions including lighting, sound, AV and stage setting.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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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

UK - PMC, manufacturer of professional monitor and audiophile speaker systems, have announced the appointment of Boxer Systems Limited, as the company's new UK sales dealer for the broadcast, film and post production sectors.

Based in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, with offices in Glasgow and a newly opened Soho showroom in the heart of London's post production community, Boxer Systems specializes in the representation, distribution, and systems integration services of high quality, high performance digital products for the broadcast, film and post-production.

Rapid growth in the Boxer Systems' broadcast and video systems integration business, has led to an increasing requirement to specify suitably high-resolution monitor systems as part of the package. Group marketing and sales director Jon Phillips explains the choice of PMC: "In servicing a large part of the London based p

UK - German loudspeaker manufacturer d&b audiotechnik has announced the introduction of the D12 Amplifier, a new electronics platform at the very heart of the company's system concept. d&b have long been champions of the 'system' approach, where integration of all the components is fundamental to providing users with flexible, efficient, predictable and reliable tools for their work.

The D12 Amplifier is a two-channel power amplifier specifically designed for use with d&b loudspeakers; digital signal processing is incorporated, as are both analogue and digital signal inputs. Digital elements are specified and constructed to achieve audio performance meeting, or exceeding, that of analogue devices. Loudspeaker specific controller functions for the d&brange are implemented within the DSP, and both channels have independent user definable four band parametric equalizers and signal

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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 - As in the year 2002 VXCO Lighting Systems Switzerland again has an own stand at PLASA in London. The company will present news around the DMXCreator computer lighting controller. The newest interface in the product range, the DMXCreator 512 Basic, will be the highlighted product. This product also is nominated for the PLASA award for product excellence.

The combination of the DMXCreator software and the three DMX512-interfaces results in one of the most powerful PC lighting controller on the market, say VXCO. Running on Wiondows, the DMXCreator software is packed with features usually reserved for large and expensive lighting consoles. Features include 3D Visual Emulator, Effects Generator, Track-effects Editor, 16 multi sequences, MIDI control, Position-Memory, scene crossfade control, DMX512 input recording, physical master. Each DMX controllable device has its own custom

UK - Now that Blur has played a final encore in a field in the north of England, it is possible to look back on the remarkable first season for Nexo's GEO T Tangent Array System, which, within its first six months of production, has played its part in front of over 700,000 music fans in Europe alone.

This is an impressive debut for a new stadium sound system and a reflection of the confidence of 'early adopters' like SSE Hire (UK), Melpommen (France), DPA SoundCo (Denmark) and Show Company (Singapore) that they have put GEO T directly into high-profile live situations such as the Glastonbury Festival.

In the UK, the season of large summer festivals has been dominated by SSE Hire and the GEO T system. Over two consecutive weekends in August, the SSE team services four music events, the Virgin-sponsored V2003 held in Weston Park (north England) and Chelmsford (south-east England

USA - Color Kinetics Inc (CKI) has announced two additions to its patent portfolio, which now comprises 19 issued US and international patents, with more than 100 patent filings in process. The new patents cover innovative methods of controlling LED sources for entertainment and aesthetic purposes, say the company.

US patent number 6,577,080 is a utility patent called 'Lighting Entertainment System' that covers many entertainment and educational applications of Color Kinetics' core technology. The patent covers the use of lighting tracks encoded into any media, including video, radio, CD, broadcasting and networks, as well as the decoding from that media to provide illumination control. For example, a home theatre system might integrate LED-based lights to generate customized effects that correspond with movies or music.

US patent number 6,608,453 is a utility patent called 'M

UK - The PLASA exhibition has traditionally been the launching pad for the latest in innovative lighting products from Martin Professional and this year's show will be no exception. Martin heads to Earl's Court with an array of new products including three new MAC luminaires, new club effects, and the first light in Martin's new Mania series of DJ products. Also on hand will be Version 1.0 of the new Maxxyz controller and other new control products.

New luminaires include the MAC 550, fully loaded with features to redefine standards for a mid-range, 400W moving head. The 550 features; multiple graphical options including a gobo animation system, two eight-slot colour wheels, motorized 14-30° zoom and a multitude of other features all wrapped within the award-winning design of the MAC 2000. Also on show will be the Entour, Martin's 250W automated profile spot. This unit includes

UK - Receiving its world premiere at the Royal Opera House on 7 December, the opera of Sophie's Choice presented the opportunity for Triple E to design a new type of system for a travelling projection screen.

Composer Nicholas Maw was first inspired by seeing the movie and intended the opera to have a cinematic effect - fluidity accompanied by a certain realism. When Maw told designer Rob Howell that he had written one note to ring out with every mention of the Holocaust, the Olivier Award-winning designer decided there should also be one element in his treatment of Auschwitz that should be present in every scene, so that by the time the storyline arrives at the infamous camp, the audience sees it at its most complete, though it was there the whole time. He chose an angle - 16°: "I was looking at photos of Brooklyn taken in the '40s and photographs of Auschwitz a

Uk - Le Mark Group is using new state-of-the-art CO2 Laser Technology linked with a new double-layered, cross-linked polyacrylic film to create a new, hard-wearing road case label which comes with a lifetime guarantee. Manufactured in Germany by the company's industry technology partner BDF Tesa, the new concept road case label is designed to last the life of the case itself.

The labels are highly durable and engineered for high wear applications. The new process uses a Penn Fabrication dish as a platform for a new laser-etched system. Clients can choose from highly durable natural colour process or colour laminate combinations. Tesa polyacrylic film is temperature stable up to 270°C and complete barcode receptive.

Le Mark can be found at PLASA on stand N49.

(Lee Baldock)

UK/Netherlands - Het Muziektheater is one of the most prestigious theatres in the Netherlands and has an international reputation. The theatre offers residencies to the Netherlands Opera and the Dutch National Ballet and is home to the Holland Symphonic. The venue is both a producing and receiving house.

The Muziektheater has four stages, each one 16.2m by 13.5m in size: one principal stage on which the performance takes place, and three assembly stages, where the scenery can be set up or stored, with approximately 60 percent of the scenery pieces hanging in the fly tower.

Het Muziektheater has 102 fly-bars, each 24m long. Renovation of the venue began in 1997 when a mechanically operated flying system was installed. At that time the type of fly-bar used had several disadvantages, for example they were very heavy, they tended to flex laterally, and diagonal bracing could cause

UK - Rola-Trac laid 15,200sq.m of ground protection - the largest single system the company has ever laid in the UK - for Massive Attack's 'home town' concert in Bristol's Queen's Square. To mark the 100th date of their current world tour, Massive Attack returned to their home city of Bristol on Bank Holiday Monday, to play to a sell out crowd of 19,000 people in Queen's Square.

Promoters Metropolis Music brought in Nine Yards to manage the production located in one of Bristol's best-known landmarks. The site was obviously not designed for hosting concerts, so the production team liased with Bristol City Council and had to be especially considerate of their environment. Hence it was decided to cover the whole area with Rola-Trac to achieve effective protection.

Guy Wightham, Rola-Trac's project manager, had to plan and execute installation of the system. Site visits two weeks

UK - Bosch Security Systems has announced the availability of Intellivox PA loudspeakers, which incorporate Digital Directivity Control (DDC), which allows the loudspeaker's sound output to be 'shaped' under PC software control to match the requirements of any venue. This makes them ideal for both general public address and emergency voice evacuation systems in venues such as large halls and exhibition centres, public buildings and entertainment venues, railway stations, airports, churches and cathedrals. The extensive integrated remote monitoring also makes Intellivox loudspeakers extremely reliable and suitable for use in emergency evacuation or voice alarm systems to IEC 60849 and BS5839 part 8 standards.

Each individual loudspeaker in the line-array has its own Class-D amplifier and can be driven independently under the control of a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), resulting

UK - CP Sound has completed a new sound and LED lighting installation at the Terraces Bar & Grill in Brighton for Glendola Leisure. The circular building, on the site of the old Seaworld, was originally erected four years ago as part of the Aquarium Terraces project.

Essex-based Pembroke Design was appointed to create the interiors. As a totally separate element to the sound design of the project, CP's Colin Pattenden decided to show their new side-lit, etched substrate LED panel to the designers, who sought an eye-catching form of bar illumination and were suitably impressed to order 10 to go at the rear of the bars.

The CP Sound LED panels are all etched with an attractive montage of pebbles. Four sit behind the upstairs bar and six at the rear of the downstairs bar. They are made from a special 10mm thick white, clear glass with polished edges to allow the passage of light

UK - Adlib Audio supplied sound systems for all five stages at Liverpool's famous Mathew Street Festival, now the UK's largest free annual outdoor music festival and celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. 300,000 people crowded into Liverpool city centre for the August Bank Holiday Monday.

The festival also merged with the conclusion of the week-long International Beatles Convention, which saw presentations, talks, seminars and markets dedicated to every possible aspect of Liverpool's best known export. Adlib were also responsible for servicing all the sound needs of the Adelphi Hotel, the Royal Court Theatre and the Barcelona Club where hundreds of the Best of Beatles bands from all over the world performed. Adlib employed over 40 crew, working around-the-clock in shifts at the various sites used by the two events.

Run by Liverpool City Council's Cultural Events Departm

UK - A.C. Lighting has announced its exclusive worldwide distribution deal for the new TourSpot and TourWash moving light range. Delivering a specification which until now has only been available in top-of-the-range moving light models, the products set a new standard in affordable, high quality intelligent lighting.

Both the 575W discharge spot and wash models are supplied with quick-release fixing clamps, plugs, lamps and safety bond. On the performance front, both models have been put through rigorous on the road testing. Features common to both ranges include 540°/320° pan and tilt with feedback, strobe and dimmer. The TourWash 575 also includes a CMY colour-mixing system with an additional eight-way colour wheel; remote zoom control (16° - 28°) and a directional lens for beam shaping. Notable features of the TourSpot 575 include a rotating wheel with seven gobos, a remo

UK - PLASA is emphasizing the importance of training development via the PLASA Professional Development Programme (PDP).The format for this year's education programme at the PLASA Show has changed to offer a wider choice with sessions ranging from technical workshops for technicians through to business seminars for freelancers and company start-ups.

The industry seminars have been expanded to cover a wide range of topics on current debates including 'Theatrical Fog - Knowing when Enough is Enough' and 'White Lighting versus Colour in Architectural Application'. Conversely the masterclasses will provide a forum for industry experts to share their knowledge. Speakers will include Brough Skingley from English Heritage on 'Lighting Up The Past - the Conflict Between Historical Accuracy and Modern Technology' and Bruce Jackson of Lake Technology on 'Sydney Olympics' Audio Design.'

UK - Ray Balcombe has joined the ever-expanding Stagetec team as education consultant. He comes onboard just in time for PLASA and just ahead of the Slough-based lighting and audio sales and installation specialists' major move to Bracknell.

Balcombe was previously working at Redbridge Drama Centre in East London. As a specialist in theatre and educational markets, his role at Stagetec will encompass education, theatre and drama sectors, focusing on development and cross-fertilisation within these vertical markets. He has an excellent track record, having trained at LAMDA and worked on tour and in the West End with major theatrical productions including Billy, A Chorus Line, A Little Night Music, Hair and Godspell.

Balcombe has also worked around the world as a theatre lighting designer and as an LD and technical director for major corporat

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