Lebanon - New venue Life is one of the largest in Beirut, hosting 1,500 people in its indoor area with a large motorised, retractable roof, and double that number in its open-air area.

Maurice Salloum, sound engineer and co-owner of Life, chose the sound system as well as the right company to complete the installation. Having a long-term relation with Beirut-based Hi Fi Service, Salloum knew he is in safe hands: "I wanted an unparalleled system for our venue," he says, "a system that can generate high SPLs and at the same time produce an excellent sound. Additionally, I needed a system that could be used as an indoor system during the winter season and that could be moved outside during summer, when the club shifts to the open air area."

Oussama Mansour Abou

Cuba - When Pope Benedict XVI recently visited the Cuban capital of Havana, the government of Cuba chose RCF TT+ (Touring & Theatre) series to broadcast the Papal Mass.

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans from the capital and neighbouring provinces filled Havana's José Martí Plaza de la Revolución - at 72,000sq.m, one of the biggest squares in the world.

The system specified comprised 64 x TTL55-A (16 elements left and right of main stage and two 16-hang out-fills) and 24 x TTS36-A subwoofers (12 per side). In addition, 27 x TT25-A's were deployed as delays - in 12 towers (each containing two cabinets), and three towers with one cabinet in each.

Finally, eight TT25-SMA and eight NX12-SMA wedges provided stage monitoring while system control was in the shape of two DX 4008 4-in/8-out digital loudspeaker management devices and RDNet Control8 control and monitoring network

Slovenia - When the Playboy White Invasion dance event hit Ljubljana's Gospodarsko Razstavisce, 6000 dance enthusiasts raised the roof and appreciated Dutch mixmaster DJ Chuckie and others including Arty, Thomas Gold and R.I.O - all illuminated by a Robe moving light rig. This was supplied by locally based rental company Intralite and designed by their Primoz Kosir.

Kosir wanted to create a dynamic atmosphere lighting to match the vibe and pumping vibrancy of the music, he needed to produce plenty of variety and scope for 'rocking the house' in every shape and form of the expression.

Trussing was installed over the main stage which featured the DJ booth and all performers, with more over the audience, providing lighting positions for zapping beams and effects around the room and immersing the audience in the action.

The Robe moving lights consisted of 16 Robin 600 Beams,12 C

USA - An impressive video wall of 40 Chauvet Professional MVP 12 panels took centre stage during the annual Women's Empowerment event at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

Specified by Jay Holem, president of Rock Quarry Productions, the modular video panels interlocked to form a 16ft long by 10ft tall rectangular wall projecting live video content and graphics. The all-day event featured Tyra Banks as keynote speaker, seminars, panel discussions and musical performances by Robin Thicke, Anthony Hamilton, and Wale among others. Since 1994, Women's Empowerment enhances the lives of African-American women by addressing issues that specifically affect their health, relationship and overall lifestyle.

"The Chauvet MVP modular video panels shined through as always," Holem said. "We actually had to dim them down not to overpower everything else, which is a wonderful problem to hav

UK - Subfrantic, supplier of high-end sound, lighting, staging and video equipment to the events industry, recently purchased the Roland V-1600HD Multi format live video switcher in a move that will see them bring all of their video services in house. Until recently, video services had been subcontracted, but company owner Steve Davies was keen to find a way to bring video directly under his control so that he could guarantee the quality of the work matched that of the sound and lighting for which they had built up such a good reputation.

The product that they were looking for had to be suitable for use in a number of applications from festivals and tours, to house of worship and corporate events - and have the features to produce high quality results whilst coping with different video input formats. The V-1600HD ticked all of the boxes and after seeing the product at BVE and ha

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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

USA - Lectrosonics has developed the SPNDNT network processor to expand the ASPEN digital matrix processor family. The new network processor is much more than a simple network interface. Instead, it is a full featured DSP processor that can address both the ASPEN and Dante matrices and add mixing, gain and delay functions to the digital audio signals, says the company.

Any of the 48 final mixes in the ASPEN matrix can be assigned to any one or more of the Dante channels for transport to other endpoints in the network. Dante signals can also be imported into the ASPEN matrix in a local processor sub-system for mixing with other local and network signals, and then routed onward to other local or network devices.

The new processor debuted at ISE 2012 in Amsterdam earlier this year and met with an enthusiastic reception. A redundant network was installed in the exhibit stand betwe

UK - Harman Professional's distributor for the UK, Sound Technology, has appointed Gary Jackson and Jonny Blower to the newly-created positions of area sales representatives for the south and north of the UK respectively.

Joining area sales managers Joe East, Darren Elliott, Jason Lovatt and David Titherington, Jackson and Blower will be responsible for independent MI dealers, installers and PA hire companies across Sound Technology's MI and Pro Audio portfolio.

Both men join Sound Technology with considerable experience in the MI and Pro Audio industries. Jackson joins from SSE Audio Group, having previously spent 16 years at FX Rentals, supplying the recording, post-production, film and live industries.

Jonny Blower joins with over 10 years' experience in the sector, most recently with Leeds MI retailer Play Record and prior to that sound and lighting installation and hire

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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

UAE - Informa Exhibitions, organisers of this year's PALME Middle East show in Dubai, had promised a complete refocus of its visitor profile for this year's event - and as the tenth edition of the show came to an end, the company said the strategy had paid dividends.

This was underpinned by Gordon Cooper, director of power generation suppliers SES (Entertainment Services). "How else could you meet people from Iraq, Nigeria and Afghanistan all in one room?"

A large Nigeria-based production company placed orders on a number of stands, including AED100,000 with SES - part of "at least AED 250,000 worth of business we will write directly from the show", according to Cooper. "We have had a fantastic three days and this has been the best PALME ever for us."

SES was exhibiting on the stand of distributor RFW Trading, run by Rick and Fragille Wade. Rick

France / Russia - L-Acoustics has confirmed that Sonoruss has become a new certified provider distributor in Russia. The newly-formed company, headed up by local industry expert Igor Verkolat, has a network of 200 dealers in place to support and promote the L-Acoustics brand in the region.

"L-Acoustics is very a famous brand in Russian show business," says Verkolat. "Their systems feature on the technical riders of leading artists, and many Russian rental companies include L-Acoustics in their inventory for a variety of events. Thanks to the sound, features and ease of use, several Russian theatres and concert halls have also installed L-Acoustics systems, with more sales and installations in the pipeline."

"I am delighted to introduce Sonoruss as our CP distributor for Russia," says L-Acoustics sales manager Peter Owen. "Igor and his team ha

Sweden / Russia - LumenRadio has announced that Moscow based Sofitlight will distribute the CRMX wireless DMX/RDM products in the rapidly growing Russian market. LumenRadio and Sofitlight will present the entire CRMX product portfolio to the Russian lighting industry at the upcoming trade show Prolight+Sound NAMM in Moscow on 16-19 May.

Sofitlight is a leading supplier of professional lighting and sound equipment, as well as design and consulting services, for applications ranging from theatres, concert facilities, and live events to indoor and outdoor architectural installations. The company, founded in 2001, already offers an extensive product portfolio including well-known brands such as Robe, MA Lighting, ETC, Avolites, Selecon, Pixelrange, Leaderlight and Robert Juliat.

"LumenRadio has a solid track record of technological innovation and achievement and the CRMX prod

UK - Siyan, a long-term customer of Clay Paky, has recently increased its investment in Clay Paky products, alongside a brand new purchase of the grandMA2 light, all from Ambersphere Solutions.

Nick Valdez, MD of Siyan, is clear on the reasons for these new investments. "We want to be seen as an approachable rental company with premier equipment. The Clay Paky fixtures we are offering our customers are quality products that can really help provide the professional finish to any of our productions."

"Clay Paky consistently delivers on the quality of their optics. The Alpha 700 family offers a versatile range of fixtures that are bright, lightweight, modular and offer us a great return on investment. This makes them an excellent choice for rental packages, and we can offer the full 700 range, beam, spot and wash as well as the popular Sharpy."

Concludes Val

UK - Lighting, sound and AV hire company Point Source Productions has appointed Amy Parks as general manager. Previously PA to managing director Stephen Capel, Parks will take over all day to day running of the company.

Parks comments, "As the company has grown over the past few years, I have been shadowing Stephen, so it made sense for an official restructuring in order to formalise my role and to allow Stephen to focus on other aspects of the business.

"My strengths lie in client liaison and people management, where Stephen's lie in his extensive lighting industry experience and business development, so it makes good business sense to capitalise on these abilities."

Capel adds, "Point Source has seen different stages of growth from start up in 1997 to the present; now we're about to start a new phase of expansion. I'm looking forward to promoting the Ev

UK - Northern Light Direct has announced the arrival of Gavin Scott, who has taken on the role of sales co-ordinator.

Scott returns to the entertainment technology industry after a brief hiatus during which he worked within the financial services sector. A graduate of Queen Margaret University, he worked within the retail division of Northern Light from 2000 until 2007.

"The launch of Northern Light Direct - and the subsequent expansion of this area of the company's business - provided an ideal opportunity for me to return to the fold," says Scott. " My first love is technical theatre and it's fantastic to be back in this industry. I plan to use my recent experiences gained within the corporate sector to apply specific business expansion techniques to growing Northern Light Direct's market share in the provision of boxed goods to entertainment venues."

Ed

USA - dnp denmark is set to make a big impression InfoComm 2012, Las Vegas, 13-15 June in Las Vegas with seven screens on display at its own booth and many more being shown around the fair.

dnp will unveil two prototypes of its new Short Throw front projection screen line for the education, conference room and signage markets. Both displays are optimised for maximum performance in classrooms, smaller sized meeting rooms and shops or malls with limited space and lots of ambient light.

In the retractable screen category, dnp will present upgraded versions of the dnp Supernova Flex Classic, while an ultra-quiet version of the dnp Supernova Flex, featuring new motor and new remote, is also being shown. Additionally, visitors can experience the new dnp Supernova Core II, featuring a new frame design and improved wall mounting and tension system for easier installation.

In the lar

Germany - tarm Showlaser's TSL Yoke is an integrated, single-arm, moving yoke and laser-projector system that allows projecting bright, high-quality, laser effects onto virtually any surface.

This flexible system includes an interchangeable head system that enables users to replace the laser projector with another device - on the same yoke.

With staging and event applications in mind, laser-projector movement and control is managed via DMX protocol - enabling users to integrate and control lighting equipment and laser-projectors easily from the same console. These versatile yokes can be suspended, or rigged and set up at floor level, as your application may require, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

Poland - Established in 1976 by the Wroclaw actor Andrzej Dziedziul, the Zdrojowy Teatr Animacji (or Spa Theatre) in Jelenia Góra, is housed in the classically designed Spa Theatre, which was built in 1836. Used mainly for children's productions, it also stages adult plays as well as outdoor performances.

With the prevailing demand for state-of-the-art technology in theatre, the plan for Zdrojowy Teatr Animacji's modernisation began in 2008. Enter Polish entertainment technology specialists M.Ostrowski, with a brief to supply and assemble a lighting, stage management and theatre audio system for an audience capacity of 200.

Recognising the need for a top-performance sound reinforcement system, M.Ostrowski deployed the newest CF Series solutions from Renkus-Heinz.

Using EASE 4.3 software to determine the optimum position of the loudspeakers, eight full-range Renkus-Heinz CF1

Germany - The Nowruz celebrations mark the beginning of the New Year for Indo-Iranian cultures, which follow the solar calendar. Oberhausen arena hosted its 15th Nowruz celebrations this year - the largest of their kind in Europe - and the top-class line-up reflected the full spectrum of the Persian music world, from traditional folk music to pop and disco beats.

Soundart KG from Bochum has been responsible for the technical side of this festival for several years. Preparation is always highly complex in terms of meeting the artists' technical requirements: the final design involved a set-up in which the changeover time between bands - sometimes with dancers and an onstage pyrotechnics and laser show - could be carried out in just five minutes including reorganisation time.

The sometimes very elaborate instrumentation of the bands, some of whom had large numbers of acoustic st

UK - Siyan, a long term customer of Clay Paky has recently increased their investment in Clay Paky products, alongside a brand new purchase of the grandMA2 light, all from Ambersphere Solutions.

Nick Valdez, MD of Siyan comments, "We want to be seen as an approachable rental company with premier equipment. The Clay Paky fixtures we are offering our customers are quality products that can really help provide the professional finish to any of our productions.

"Clay Paky consistently delivers on the quality of their optics. The Alpha 700 family offers a versatile range of fixtures that are bright, lightweight, modular and offer us a great return on investment. This makes them an excellent choice for rental packages, and we can offer the full 700 range, beam, spot and wash as well as the popular Sharpy."

Concludes Valdez, "Our recent addition of a grandMA2 li

Germany - HK Audio's new website (www.hkaudio.com) promises "a hipper look and feel, no-nonsense navigation, even more information".

All portals are clearly marked Musicians, Entertainers & DJs, Rental, Install Sound, Line Array, Worship Audio, and Personal Pro Audio, so finding your gateway to audio bliss is simple, says the company. The new navigation system takes you straight to the systems that are likely to be of the greatest interest to you.

HK Audio's revamped corporate design figures prominently on the website. Finding the latest videos and news is simple now that they are featured right there on the homepage. State-of-the-art rendering technologies such as HTML 5 and CSS 3 are sure to delight all users, and the mobile crowd especially. Our website is now formatted perfectly for every device.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Boxing trainer Brendan Ingle whose gym produced the likes of Herol 'Bomber' Graham and current IBF light heavyweight titlist Clinton Woods is perhaps best known for being Prince Naseem Hamed's mentor from the age of seven to 25.

Ingle has now been given a new PA system for his gym at St Thomas' Club, Wincobank, so he can be heard above the noise of pounding punchbags. The TXA-800CD portable PA system has been donated by TSG Media and Monacor International. Ingle said. "I'm absolutely delighted with this fantastic system. It's very noisy when everyone is training but the system means I can be heard by all."

Neil Clayton, managing director of Monacor UK, said, "TSG Media have been working with the St Thomas' Club for several years and approached us for a possible solution for Brendan. The TXA-800CD meets his needs perfectly and we are more than happy to have

Ukraine - Rental company Feyeria is using Showgun 2.5 automated luminaires and the Road Hog Full Boar on all areas of entertainment: concerts, conferences, TV shows, exhibitions, sports, corporate and political events.

Feyeria's Dmytro Andrushchenko, project manager/stage designer, comments, "The Showgun is the first powerful fixture with the LED ring. It combines the functions of spot, wash and an LED Tracking System. We like to use them in big open Air-shows and concert halls, but especially using the LED ring on TV concerts and TV shows where it is most identifiable."

The company owns 24 Showgun 2.5s, and used them for the first time in 2010 on Paul van Dyk's show in Kiev. "These powerful fixtures hadn't been seen in our country before that. It's great for a show at 12,000 people and in such big halls," says Andrushchenko.

Feyeria needed the power of S

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