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UK - Rhondda-based AB Acoustics, one of Wales' leading suppliers of audio equipment for hire, sales or installation, have increased their inventory of EAW components, with the acquisition of the compact KF730 line array and more powerful KF740 system.

Established in 1989, the company headed by Huw 'Buzz' Evans and Rob Ashton had been running EAW's popular KF750 as its premier system for the past eight years.

In March this year the company invested in 12 of the compact KF730 line array elements, complemented by six SB730 subs, which extend the response down to 35Hz.

But with the busy outdoor season looming they also realised they needed the larger footprint of the KF740 system, with its four phase-aligned 10in woofers, for wider site coverage - and four months later invested in

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Germany / China - Pan Acoustics GmbH, the German manufacturer of the Pan Beam, easy to control Digital Steerable Loudspeakers, has announced continued growth of its

distribution network in the form of a new distribution partnership with CY-Communications

Ltd. for Hong Kong, China and Macau.

CY-Communications Ltd specializes in providing leading audio and video solutions to enable

businesses to communicate internally with remote office staff and externally with their customers. The flagship product is the V2 Conference System which provides videoconferencing

but also the WowVision, proVeos wireless presentation systems.

"Their prior success with the V2 Conference System and WOW Vision products speaks well for their future growth with our Pan Beam products," says Pan Acoustics.

To complete the AV product line-up, CY has taken Pan Beam on board to fulfill the

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Lecture Notes - Pete Townshend is to deliver the inaugural John Peel Lecture, in which he will assess the state of music in the internet age. The lecture, part of the Radio Festival in Salford at the end of this month, will become an annual event given by a different music figure every year. Townshend will ask how musicians can survive in the age of free downloads. The lecture, named in honour of legendary DJ Peel, who died in 2004, will be broadcast live on BBC 6 Music.

Townshend said he was "honoured" to be asked to deliver the address, adding that the former BBC Radio 1 DJ had introduced him to bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Undertones before they had signed record deals. "John didn't just listen to music, he played it on air and let his audience decide," the 66-year-old guitarist said. In his lecture, Townshend will pose the question: "C

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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!

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World - PLASA members worldwide have begun voting in the Association's yearly elections, which commenced this week.

The month-long ballot, in which over 1,000 members participate, will decide places on PLASA's European and North American Regional Boards, together with a single seat on its over-arching Governing Body.

The two Regional Boards are still a relatively new concept for PLASA, having been formally launched at the start of 2011. Their role is to represent the interests of members affiliated to those regions, ensuring that PLASA offers strong on the ground support to members.

Both the North American and European Regional Boards are looking to fill a number of places for 2012. Following the death of the European Chair Rob Lingfield earlier this year, Ed Pagett of Panalux, who served as Vice Chair, is standing for the position of Chair. A number of representative positi

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UK - CITC, located in the USA, has been in the forefront of manufacturing unique and exciting effects equipment for many years, and White Light is proud to announce their exclusive distributorship for the European community.

Their President, Gary Crawford, is well known for his work as a Special Effects Coordinator, and has worked on such movies as E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, 2010, Poltergeist, Halloween III, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and many more well known films, his first being Camelot. He is also the recipient of the 1997 LDI award for Best Atmospheric Effects for SnoBiz biodegradable snow. They offer a comprehensive selection of products including the popular Dream Teams which encompass larger areas for audience-participation.

Their most popular, the Little Blizzard Dream Team, was the original and first of its kind. It sends snow over a 24m X 15m area, and includ

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USA - At colleges and universities around the world, technical directors are often faced with the same challenge when it comes to lighting control for their performance season. Using primarily student technicians, the control console must be intuitive enough for a novice programmer, but also must be able to handle the creative needs of seasoned programmer when the production calls for it.

Such is the case at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, where technical director Shawn DuBois oversees a full production schedule using student technicians, and who has found a solution to his lighting control challenge at the Arthur Zenkel Music Centre with the Light Palette Live control console from Philips Strand Lighting.

"The Arthur Zenkel Music Centre is home to the Skidmore College music programmes and 90% of the performances we do are acoustic in nature and classically-base

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USA - Originally constructed in 1919, St. Joseph's Cathedral in Sioux Falls, SD recently put the finishing touches on a decade-long restoration project. Totalling more than $16m, the extensive renovation and restoration process of the majestic church was overseen by architect Duncan G. Stroik.

Intrinsic to the project was replacing the church's 25 year-old sound system. Serving as Mother Church to the Diocese, as well as parish church for Sioux Falls and other surrounding parishes, St. Joseph's masses services are well attended by hundreds of parishioners. The new sound system had to provide high speech intelligibility and crystal clear sound to every seat in the house.

The project proved quite challenging, according to Peter Borchard of MuSonics Audio. MuSonics has designed audio solutions for many large cathedrals across the country.

"The church has a lot of reflectiv

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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

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UK - Green Hippo reports a busy and successful PLASA 2011. 2011 saw Green Hippo move to Hall 1, conveniently situated for passing traffic and easy to find, due to its trademark double-decker stand and the slightly green glow emanating all-round.

The stand was never empty with visitors stopping by repeatedly and the upstairs area provided the perfect space for meetings or a chance to chill out with a drink from the strains of the show - perhaps with a pint of UberBrew or a glass of the green GrassHopper, says the company.

As always, the run-up to the show was a busy time with programming, building a house and not least of all with Green Hippo's new brochure finally ready and printed only days before the doors opened. With demonstrations and meetings as well as the usual dinners, parties and entertainment everyone was kept thoroughly busy for the four show-days.

Green Hippo's

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France - Inspired by the myth of the Fountain of Youth, a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks its waters, La Fontaine de Jouvence in Puteaux has recently been rejuvenated by a multicoloured, dynamic underwater illumination system.

4J Événements, the company in charge of the lighting installation of the fountain, has chosen with the help of CSI, Griven's exclusive distributor for France, the best solution for this project. After the necessary renovations of the square in front of the city hall, la Fountaine de Jouvence has been sparkling in coloured lights since last July.

A DMX programmable lighting system based on submerged LED fixtures, Griven's Waterled, reproduces every night a series of stunning dynamic lighting schemes highlighting, in alternative appealing sequences of bright colours, the dancing water jets patterns. Blu

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Italy - With a role that included AV consulting, theatre consulting, and project management for all entertainment systems on board Costa Cruise's new flagship, the Costa Favolosa, Nautilus Entertainment of San Diego specified the systems shipwide, with a DiGiCo SD7T chosen for its impressive theatre.

Following a three-day July vernissage cruise from Venice, the Costa Favolosa (114,500 gross tonnage and 3,800 total guests) began offering Eastern Mediterranean cruises, before being positioned in Dubai for eight-day Arabian Nights cruises in the UAE and Oman for the winter 2011/2012 season.

With its 13 passenger decks, the Favolosa, built entirely in Italy by Fincantieri, is the largest ship flying the Italian flag and offers guests a wide range of leisure and entertainment amenities, the latter including the three-deck Hortensia theatre, featuring a concentrate of cutting edge A

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UK - The Hexagon in Reading is one of the Thames Valley's principal theatres, its catchment area covering the wide commuter belt west of London. A recent upgrade to its audio system has seen the installation of a Yamaha M7CL-48ES digital console and three SB168-ES stage boxes.

The nature of venues like the Hexagon is that they stage a huge variety of productions - ranging from professional comedians, tribute acts, variety shows, choirs, psychics, musicals, pantomimes, dance troupes and TV spinoffs to amateur performances by clubs, bands, schools and talent contests. This means that the mixing system has to be extremely flexible, yet not so complex that it can't be taught very quickly to someone who may not have used a digital console before.

The combination of the M7CL-48ES and SB168-ES stage boxes meets all of these needs and, as a result, is proving extremely popular at regi

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UK - Adlib's lighting division supplied a full lighting rig and crew for the first time to the Clumber Park Music Festival in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, as their busy Summer festival period continued apace.

Clumber's three diverse nights of entertainment for all ages and musical tastes - included Pop Party In the Park on Friday, headlined by N-Dubz also with sets by The Wanted, Chipmunk, Aggro Santos and Parade. It continued on the Saturday with a 'flashback' night featuring some of the best loved sounds of the 1980s with live performances by The Human League, Level 42, Heaven 17, Nik Kershaw and Toyah. On Sunday, there was a concert by classical crossover singer Katherine Jenkins backed by the National Symphony Orchestra, with special Guest Wynn Evans.

Adlib's Peter Abraham project managed, commenting, "It is always exciting working on new projects and rising to their cha

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UK - Pete Watts, LD and MD of Essex-based DPL Production Lighting (DPLX), has designed and supplied the lighting set for the recent UK Stadium tour of N-Dubz. To achieve the effects he wanted, he created a lighting rig comprising 30 PixelRange PixelPars.

Watts explains, "I used PixelPars with 8-degree lenses, the reason being: I really wanted the speed of LED but the brightness of a moving wash. The PixelPar is bright enough for me to use as beam light, blinder or strobe - or all three! Very impressive for a single unit that draws less power than a lamp-based Par 56."

The tour is a prelude to next year's planned US tour and bearing the same name as the recently released album Love Live Life.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - In its continuing support of arts education, ETC has announced the recipients of its 12th annual LDI Student Sponsorship. The programme gives six students who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of lighting design and stage technology an exclusive opportunity for professional development.

The students enjoy an all expenses paid trip to the LDI trade show; backstage access to ETC's tradeshow stand; an insider's look at the latest technology; and the chance to network with industry professionals. ETC matches the Student Sponsorship recipients with industry luminaries who serve as mentors - giving advice, inspiration and support to the students as they embark on their careers.

This year's ETC LDI Student Sponsorship recipients:

Ryan Bona is a Master of Fine Arts candidate for theatrical lighting design at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia

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USA - Philips Strand Lighting and Philips Selecon has announced the realignment of key manager positions to strengthen its sales and marketing operations in North America. In order to continue the worldwide operational realignment, the company has appointed industry-veteran Leonard Miller to the position of North American sales manager.

"One of the key elements in the successful transformation of our North American sales and marketing team is to place talented and motivated individuals into leadership positions, and we have done so with the appointment of Leonard", states Julie Smith, general commercial manager for Philips Strand Lighting and Philips Selecon North America.

Based in the Dallas headquarters, Miller brings with him 25 years of professional experience in sales, operations and technical production for live entertainment and events, including theme parks a

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South Africa - Idols is one of the most enduringly popular global TV talent shows - and Robe moving lights have joined the thrills, excitement and action on several Idols around the world, with the latest being the current series of Idols South Africa. This is recorded at the Mosaiek Teatro in Fairlands, Johannesburg live in front of 3,500 people, and broadcast on M-Net, M-Net HD and Mzansi Magic on Sunday and Tuesday evenings.

The lighting and video visuals for this seventh series of Idols SA have been created by Joshua Cutts, one of South Africa's most innovative designers who is working for the first time in this role, having operated last year's series. It is the first time that Idols South Africa has featured a coherent 'visual' design incorporating both mediums, which is going down a storm with everyone, bringing a new fluidity and harmony to th

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USA - Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament has installed a Topaze 1200W MSD followspot from Robert Juliat at its Chicago Castle, now celebrating its 20th year as one of the Midwest's most popular family entertainment destinations.

Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament offers guests "ringside seats to a story of bravery and honour set in 11th-century Spain. The spectacular includes a jousting tournament and falconry, all enjoyed over dinner.

Barbizon Lighting Company supplied the Robert Juliat Topaze fixtures as part of a lighting upgrade to Medieval Times' suburban Chicago location.

"I was looking for something different, not the usual spots," says sound and lighting manager Edgar Campos. "Other lighting manufacturers seemed to have the same type of design. I was looking for the sturdiest fixtures with the fewest parts and found them in the Topaze, which combi

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UK - Mojo Barriers worked closely with organisers Festival Republic to develop a bespoke front of main stage barrier design, incorporating BLMS (Barrier Load Monitor Systems), and NME/Radio 1 stage barrier designs. The new designs were suitable for both the Reading and Leeds sites.

A total of 1,100m of stage barrier was supplied to each festival, which included Mojo's line-up gate system for the silent disco.

Mojo's BLMS detects and records pressure applied by the crowd throughout the event with its unique pressure sensors. It was first used five years ago at Reading and Leeds and includes CCTV monitoring and personal observation by production and security professionals to monitor crowd dynamics.

As a result of previous years' results analysis, Mojo installed one of its trademark thrust systems into the main arena as a primary stage barrier, a first for the Leeds and Reading

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UK - OnLive, the pioneer of cloud gaming, launched its on-demand video game service at the 2011 Eurogamer Expo at Earls Court, London, where PF Events were official sole AV suppliers.

The launch itself occurred in the Developer Sessions conference room, for which PF Events were contracted to supply all the audio, video, lighting, staging and technical management. The four-day event featured presentations from some of the leading games developers and manufacturers in the industry and included a combination of speech, HD presentations and on-stage gameplay.

PF Events installed 12 KV2 EX10 speakers and two Noise Control Audio VSB218 subwoofers in a 7.1 surround sound configuration. A Panasonic PT-DZ110X full HD projector was also installed with a 16ft x 9ft Monoblox projector screen. All the video was controlled using a Christie Spyder X20 HD video processor which was ideal for s

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UK - The ALD and the ABTT assisted by Stage Electrics are holding a shoot out of LED theatre lanterns at the Royal Northern College of Music Opera Theatre, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD on 28 October 2011.

The intention is to see what an average theatre might expect from LED lanterns. To which end manufacturers have been invited to provide examples ofLED lanterns falling into the categories of - Profile Spots, Acting Area Wash Lights, Scenery/Cyclorama Wash Lights and Beam Lights - PAR equivalents etc. To limit the field, moving lights will not be included.

There will be two sessions, at 10.00and 14.00. Lanterns will be demonstrated alongside the Theatre's own stock of conventional lanterns all running on the house board, a Strand Lighting 530i. There will be opportunities to compare and contrast different lanterns and manufacturers' representatives will be available to

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UK - The British Standards Institution has launched the revised BS7827, a code of practice for audio systems designers in sports venues.

BS7827 officially known as a code of practice for designing, specifying, maintaining and operating emergency sound systems at sports venues, was initially drawn up in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, and covers not only stadia, but any venue where sport is played such as racecourses, swimming pools etc, it is also applicable to large public facilities such as shopping malls, conference and exhibition centres.

Steve Jones, a consulting engineer specialising in sound and chairman of the EPL 100-2 Working Group at BSI, who produced the revised standard, said, "The origins of this standard are a code of practice produced by a working group within the Sound Communications Industries Federation, which I chaired back in 1989 after

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