UK - Buxton Opera House in Derbyshire recently selected a combined Allen & Heath iDR installation and iLive digital mixing system as the audio distribution and FOH mixer for a new multi-format theatre in its Pavilion Arts Centre.

The 360-capacity auditorium, which hosts a varied programme of theatre and conference events, has an iDR-32 MixRack and iDR-8 Mix Processor installed in a backstage sound rack, with an iLive-T80 Control Surface at FOH position. There is also a PL-6 remote fader panel and a laptop loaded with iLive and iDR control software in the studio, as well as a PL-10 rotary control panel in the prompt corner position. The rest of the PA system comprises Martin Audio speakers and amps.

"An iDR-8 was installed in the main Opera House to control the speaker PA sy

Italy - London-based production company LarMac Live (LML) production managed the launch of the latest high profile Hard Rock Cafe venue, which has just opened in Florence.

Having a 'grand opening' event was fully endorsed by the Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi. It was attended by a host of local dignitaries, politicians and celebrities, plus about 10,000 members of the public who pitched up to enjoy a free concert headlined by British rock superstars Simple Minds in the prime location of the Piazza della Repubblica, Florence (the venue is on Brunelleschi, 1 - just off the Piazza).

LarMac LIVE won the contract to produce and co-ordinate all technical production elements needed for the event through their previous work and connections with the client. They have worked on Women of Rock shows and Hard Rock Calling events in Hyde Park, London among others. They were also highly rec

USA - Tennessee-based rental company Morris Light and Sound reports that it can't keep its new inventory of Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures on the shelves. The company is also doing a brisk business with its grandMA and grandMA light consoles.

"After getting a demo of Sharpy we purchased 24 for the upcoming Xtreme Muzik The Tour, with country duo Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson," says David Haskell, owner of Morris Light and Sound. "Then we used them on Country Music Television's live Music Builds: CMT Disaster Relief Concert for the victims of the recent storms, floods, and tornadoes. After that, we ordered 12 more Sharpy fixtures for Jake Owen, who's supporting Keith Urban on tour.

"We're among the first to take delivery of the lights, which are pretty impressive for their size and punch. For television, their most impressive feature is how quiet t

UK - Northampton based rigging specialists Unusual Rigging has officially launched its new website (www.unusual.co.uk). The interactive site provides clients, prospects and potential employees with extensive new features, higher quality content and complete information on services, news and events. The improved navigation, access to content and rich media additions, such as videos of installations, will aid users in making the most informed decisions about their options, says the company.

Since its founding in 1983 Unusual Rigging has grown to become one of the largest specialist rigging organisations in the entertainment technology industry, serving projects and clients nationwide. The new website is designed to inform clients and prospects in a straightforward manner, with concise content, SEO-rich text and stunning photography.

UK - PLASA 2011 will mark the official debut of the newest control desk in ETC's award winning Eos line - Gio.

Gio is designed to fill the mid range position in the Eos family, sitting between the Eos and Ion. It will offer the power of full Eos functionality, in a tidy footprint. Features include integrated, articulating multi touch displays, helpful backlit buttons and unique tactile response direct selects and encoders.

The look of the desk itself is elegantly polished and minimalist. ETC is set to release further in depth information in early September, as part of the international product reveal. Initial response from ETC's CUE end user conference attendees - who were the first to have a sneak preview in July - confirms that it will be a popular draw at the PLASA stand.

ETC is also showing for the first time at PLASA its new ultra bright, high colour, energy efficient S

The Netherlands - Christoph Willibald von Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice was staged during June and July against the royal backdrop of Soestdijk Palace in Utrecht, attracting 1,500 people per night. A large quantity of DPA microphones, including the first 2006A and 2011A mics to arrive in Holland, were provided by DPA's Dutch distributor Amptec for the event.

The opera, directed by De Utrechtse Spelen's artistic director Jos Thie, sees Orfeo persuading Amore, the god of love, to bring his beloved Euridice back from the Underworld. The action took place on a lake in front of the palace, with a steel net constructed just below the water level so the singers could walk, and even cycle, across the water from the palace to the main stage. Allowing the actors to appear in, on and below the water perfectly represented the two different realms - Earth, home of the living, and th

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd's managing director, David Leggett has been appointed to the position of executive chairman. Former UK sales director, Phill Capstick has moved over into David Leggett's role as managing director and Jonathan Walters has expanded his responsibility to UK sales director from Northern sales director.

David Leggett comments, "I am very excited about this new position as it allows me to concentrate on the direction of the way the company is headed and frees me up from the day to day management."

Phill Capstick adds, "I have been working with David on managing the company for several years now; relinquishing the duty of UK sales director to Jonathan will allow me to concentrate fully in my new capacity as managing director. I am looking forward to my new task within A.C. Entertainment Technologies."

Jonathan Wal

UK - PixelRange has announced that in addition to its major presence on the stand of master European distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies , the company will also showcase its new SmartRange of Intelligent LED fixtures at the STLD-hosted LED Shoot Out which is a central feature of this year's PLASA Show.

The Society of Television Lighting Designers (STLD) has arranged a 240sq.m space where LED lighting fixtures can be directly compared across three different areas. The first lighting shootout area features a specially built 8m-wide cyclorama, the second a practical hands-on 'mini TV studio', and the third section is a lecture and presentation theatre where LED fixtures from different categories are compared side-by-side with their traditional Tungsten or Discharge equivalent.

PixelRange will demonstrate three newly released lighting fixtures - QPar, PixelSmart and Smart

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UK - EAW will unveil several product ranges to the UK market at this year's PLASA Show.

The new VF passive series consists of five models of VFR two-way full-range loudspeakers - two VFS subwoofers and three VSM stage monitors. This range represents a new approach to the needs of professional audio from EAW; combining a hybrid of portable and install features in one package, says the company.

The VF series is intended for both portable and install applications and environments, including auditoriums, theatres, nightclubs and DJ setups, bars, music performances, houses of worship, and mobile churches.

New SBK series subwoofers will also debut. Designed to complement EAW's MK Series full-range loudspeakers in construction, size and sound, they can also be used as stand-alone subwoofers in a system from any other EAW model.

The SBK line includes three models: SBK150 (single 1

USA - Since 1975, Tulsa's Mabee Centre has been the site of the annual Miss Oklahoma Pageant. Located on the campus of Oral Roberts University, Mabee Centre is also the home of the Golden Eagles men's' and women's' basketball teams and serves as the area's primary venue for concerts, business conferences, seminars, and other special events.

This year's Miss Oklahoma Pageant and its sibling event, Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen contributed more than $2M in scholarship funds to the contestants. To ensure robust music reproduction and the finest speech intelligibility possible, the Mabee Center staff pulled out all the stops with its deployment of a robust sound reinforcement system drawn from the catalogue of D.A.S. Audio.

Casey Phariss serves as Oral Roberts University's audio services manager and chief audio engineer. In this capacity, he oversees the day-to-day operations a

USA - ETCP Certification is a fundamental aide to employers who are looking for qualified technicians for lead positions. It guarantees a reliable level of expertise and skills because the exams are specific to this industry and a fair assessment of your knowledge. Don't delay in getting your certification!

All three ETCP examinations will be given at the October 2011 LDI show in Orlando. The Entertainment Electrician exam is scheduled for Friday, 28 October; the Arena Rigging exam is to be given the morning of Saturday, 29 October and the Theatre Rigging exam is scheduled for that afternoon. Candidates who wish to take multiple exams will receive a discount for the second exam. Interested applicants must submit their application, along with supporting materials and fee, to the ETCP office no later than 29 September 29.

Candidate information, including eligibility requirements

Saudi Arabia - Sennheiser Middle East has recently supplied 16 ADN systems to Saudi Arabian AV systems integrator Electronic Special Equipment (ESE) for a single governmental project in the country's capital of Riyadh.

The project marks the largest single sale of the German manufacturer's flagship conference system and elevates Saudi Arabia to the position of the country with the most ADN systems in the world.

"We chose ADN for our client because we knew it would provide a true audio conference experience in a reliable system," comments ESE's sales manager, Khaled Makki. "ADN delivers high speech intelligibility in a modern designed unit that befits the glory and splendour of the project."

The system comprises a total of 240 delegate units and 16 chairman units. ADN CU-1 comes with free software that is continually updated, with the next version due in Se

UK - "Once again Hippotizer played its role beautifully. It never fails to deliver what we need across a wide range of applications we throw at it," remarked Digital Insanity's Richard Bagshaw after completing the first ever Transmission 001 event at Jodrell Bank.

The festival took place on Saturday 2 July at the new Jodrell Bank Discovery centre in Cheshire and saw a crowd of 5000 turn up to enjoy the music, headlined by the Flaming Lips, and a three-minute projection piece on the Lovell Telescope, especially created for this pilot festival, which was to be highlight of the night.

There are plans for six 5000+ capacity events to take place at this site in 2012 when the telescope celebrates its 50th birthday.

For the projection, six 20K Christie projectors where mounted on top of a four-story scaffold tower behind the FOH control tent and the content was man

UK - Peugeot UK decided to preview their new midrange saloon and estate range at the ICC in Birmingham in order to give their dealers a chance to view the new 508 series models first hand before the public launch of the car.

Production company AddingValue were given the brief to produce a spectacular reveal for the car and turned to Martin Professional's compact MAC 101 moving head wash. The reveal was to be followed by an on stage presentation by various Peugeot senior staff and would include interactive demonstrations and video presentations.

Production Manager Guy Ferguson from AddingValue contacted LD Paul Moorhouse and asked him to design the lighting for the dealer launch, having worked with Paul on previous projects for Peugeot. The brief was to create a Top Gear style studio look on stage, with lights visible to the audience, and to light the reveal of the car i

France / Monaco - With bases in Paris, Nice and Marseille, French rental company Arpege Son Lumiere is continually busy with festivals, live tours, television shows and corporate events. The company has invested heavily in DiGiCo consoles, which are in constant use.

With four SD7s, four SD8s, three SD9s and an SD Ten on its books, as well as several D1s and D5s, Arpege is committed to DiGiCo and 2011 is proving a particularly busy summer for the consoles.

One of the highest profile events to use the company's DiGiCo consoles was the wedding of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Charlene Wittstock. Multiple mixers were involved in the ceremony itself and associated celebrations.

First, on 30th June, was a concert by the Eagles in the 25,000-capacity Stade Louis II. Here Arpege provided the entire audio production, except Eagles backline, including the SD9.

Over the next two d

UK - The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff has recently installed a grandMA2 light console in its new 160 seat courtyard style Richard Burton Theatre, one of two performance spaces in a £22.5m landmark building development.

The College stages up to 18 drama productions a year and numerous music events, including student works and commercial shows. The College has owned a grandMA 'series 1' for three years, and so is well aware of the capabilities of MA Lighting's control platform and its superb reliability.

The grandMA2 was specified by senior technical lecturers and the technical operations department following detailed discussions about training and operational needs. The decision was fully endorsed by the College's technical operations manager Simon Denman-Ellis, who took up his new post at the College after 15 years as technical stage manager at Cardiff

New Zealand - Bethlehem Baptist Church in Tauranga recently decided to upgrade its FOH console from analogue to digital, selecting Allen & Heath's iLive digital mixing system as the replacement.

The church, which has capacity for approximately 1800 worshipers, is undergoing expansion, including the installation of new mixers and a speaker array system as part of the audio upgrade.

An iLive system, comprising an iDR-48 MixRack and iLive-T112 Control Surface, was supplied by Jansen Professional Audio & Lighting.

"Our volunteers find iLive logical and simple to use, yet it allows more technical users to dig into advanced features when needed," explains Bethlehem Baptist Church's technical co-ordinator, Caleb Fryett. "We have been so pleased with this purchase that we have since purchased a second."

The second smaller iLive system, comprising an iDR-16 MixR

JB Lighting will be showing its new A8 which, like the company's A12, features a newly developed optical system and shares its wide zoom angle of 8° - 48°.

The A8 uses a total of 37 RGBW multi-chip LEDs, 15 Watt each, as a light source. In combination with an efficient optical system they create both saturated and pastel colours as well as white with what the company describes as "an impressive brightness". The A8 has hexagonally formed exit lenses which produce a uniform luminous field.

The "inner values" of the A8 are hidden in the compact housing and include three-phase stepper motors, silent additional fans and a receiver module for JB-lighting Wireless DMX. 3-pin and 5-pin DMX connectors and Powercon In/Out for easy handling.

With the A12 8°-48° zoom BeamWash, JB Lighting has implemented what it describes as its own expectations of the perfe

Visual Productions, which specialises in lighting control products including hardware solutions and cross-platform software lighting control for Mac, Windows, and Linux, will be showing its CueCore Solid-State Control, aimed at addressing the issue of maintenance in installations.

Maintenance required to keep the lighting and its control system working well over time, observes the company, must be keep to a minimum in an installation. In many, the computer proves to be the weakest link and is the main cause for maintenance - including instances such as a broken fan, dust on the heatsink or a defective power supply. However, with CueCore as part of an installation, no computer is required.

The CueCore is a lighting controller for permanent installations in museums, themed venues, parks, architectural lighting projects, bars, clubs and other projects.

The device is completely solid-s

Exhibiting its growing range of stage lighting control products, Avolites brings to PLASA 2011 its expansive Titan Range and the production launch of the Sapphire Touch.

The Sapphire Touch has undergone significant aesthetic enhancements and employs the newest technology available. It combines twin multi-touch screens with 45 motorized touch sensitive faders and an Optical trackball with Z axis ring, affording designers faster control of complex fixtures.

In addition, the company adds, the Titan Mobile "heralds a new dawn of compact world-class lighting control consoles". Ideal for designers on the move, this lightweight console brings all the Avolites experience and quality to an affordable level and has been used on tour with the likes of Fat Boy Slim and Groove Armada.

These latest innovations incorporate Avolites' fully integrated Titan Operating System, which feature

Rose Bruford College will be featuring its two innovative new programmes in Performance Sound and Creative Lighting Control. These three-year BA programmes are unique in Higher Education, and with two year's of graduates working in the industry, says the college, they are already making their mark.

BA (Hons) Performance Sound reflects the growing importance of sound in every field of performance - from theatre to music concerts, from sports events to dance, and from site-specific installation to radio drama. The programme combines sound design, technology and operation, with a strong emphasis on live production, and has recently attracted the support of key players in the audio industry, including sponsorship by Harman Pro Group UK in the shape of a Soundcraft VI-1 digital mixer.

BA (Hons) Creative Lighting Control has been created in response to rapidly growing industry demand for s

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