UK - Centre of the Cell is a science centre helping children and young people learn about biomedical science and research through digital games and audio visual displays. The centre is located in a pod suspended over the biggest open plan research laboratories in Europe based in Whitechapel, London.

D.J.Willrich (DJW) was subcontracted by the lead contractor Beck Interior, to provide a full Medialon integrated system in Centre of the Cell. DJW also worked closely with the project designer, Land Design Studio.

In Centre of the Cell, visitors are immersed in a full audiovisual experience throughout five different 'spaces', or scenes. Being the main A/V show and media controller of the installation, Medialon is in charge of the set up of each of these scenes along with their timings. The Medialon system remotely controls the power up and down of all the A/V devices installed in t

Turkey - Every three years the World Bank - International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings are held outside Washington, DC. In 2009 this prestigious event took place in the Istanbul Congress Centre, Turkey.

Over 13,000 delegates from 186 countries participated in the meetings, which were covered by 2,000 media representatives and broadcast live by France 24 and BBC Television. The key meetings took place in a 3500-seat auditorium, while 28 meeting halls of various sizes enabled 250 separate meetings to be held.

The DCN Next Generation Conference System and the Integrus Digital Infrared Language Distribution System from Bosch were installed in the auditorium and 28 other meeting rooms by Atempo Project Contract Co. The Bosch equipment included 250 Concentus delegate units, 116 interpreter desks, 3000 Integrus wireless infrared receivers, 50 infrared radiators and five 16-cha

Germany/USA - EAW has announced the appointment of Ibbenbüren-based Trius Vertrieb as EAW's exclusive distributor for Germany. Effective immediately, Trius will handle distribution for EAW's products, interfacing with EAW's European sales director Sean Martin, EAW application support group EMEA representative Moray McMillin and other key members of EAW's team in Europe. The announcement was made by Jeffrey Cox, VP Pro Audio, at the Musikmesse Show in Frankfurt.

Kai Boeckmann, Trius managing director, stated, "Trius has been a German market leader for several decades, having built successful business relationships throughout the region, and we look forward to using our experience and contacts to lead EAW's sales initiatives in Germany. EAW produces high-quality products, and with their manufacturing facilities and European warehouse, they are in a position to offer highly p

USA - Blending the modern with the traditional is always a challenge, particularly when it comes to architectural landmarks. Such was the case with the Lancaster County Convention Centre, a $170 million state-of-the-art facility designed to fit within the classic 19th century Pennsylvania Dutch façade of the city's landmark Watt and Shand department store.

The Convention Centre is designed for versatility, with a 46,000sq.ft exhibit hall, 9,000sq.ft ballroom and numerous other meeting areas. This same versatility also presented the biggest challenges in creating an audio system suitable for the space, explains Daniel Rohrer of Sage Technology Solutions in Mt. Joy, PA.

"Aside from addressing the vast differences in the architecture of each different space, we also faced issues of scheduling and coordinating the various phases of the project, building around the historical

UK - Specialist high-power projection company E/T/C has decided to divide the company into two separate entities as of 29 January, 2010. ETC UK Ltd, a subsidiary of E/T/C, has been acquired by projection artist and designer Ross Ashton. Ashton is now operating as an independent company called The Projection Studio, and plans to develop its creative strengths by further expanding into large-scale artistic and projection projects.

E/T/C Paris will continue being involved in major international projects, headed up by the same teams that have worked on high-profile shows around the world for many years. The two companies look forward to a continuing collaboration on selected projects in the UK.

(Jim Evans)

UAE - Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises, distributors of a number of professional audio manufacturers has announced a new business relationship with Sound Devices.

Sound Devices, based in Wisconsin USA has been manufacturing and supplying the field production business since 1998 with various products that include audio mixers, digital recorders, preamplifiers and computer interfaces.

"Sound Devices products are designed to help capture the highest quality audio with products designed to take anywhere our clients must work. Now with NMK Electronics as our new distribution partner we will be able to provide the region with the highest level of support. NMK brings strong audio knowledge and sales experience that will add great value to our customers," commented Ed Capp, sales manager of Sound Devices.

He added, "They will be able to help our customers wi

Russia - The Russian government's Presidential commission for modernisation has announced that the transition from incandescent bulbs to energy efficient lighting devices will not take place by implementation of energy saving lamps (CFLs), but by converting to LEDs directly.

The corresponding law should be effective by June of this year. This new law will result in the Russian lighting industry's escalated adaptation to the new conditions. Only one factory in Russia currently manufactures light-emitting diodes. The production capacity (about 10% of the requirements) obviously does not support wide-range coverage of the industry and the population with LED lighting.

This topic will be featured during the 4 LED Forum Moscow, which will take place within the scope of the Interlight Moscow on 10-11 November 2010 at the Expocentre Fairgrounds.

(Jim Evans)

UK - PLASA Focus: Leeds 2010 - which takes place on Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 April at the Royal Armouries - is fast building its profile as a show for new products as well as networking, with a host of products launching in Frankfurt scheduled to make their first UK appearance in Leeds just a few weeks later. Among these are the latest developments from some of the 31 new exhibitors who have signed up to PLASA Focus since the first show last year - leading to a completely sold out event.

From the audio world, exhibitors include Allen & Heath, showcasing new products including the iDR-16 3U MixRack and iLive-R72, iLive software v1.6, Xone:PB, Xone:XD40 headphones and ZED-10 and ZED-10FX mini mixers; Ateis International with its new ECS-Teleconference unit echo cancellation system; Cloud Electronics' new MA60MEDIA combined mixer/amplifier/digital music player; Duran Audio's AXY

South Africa - For young revellers, the Potch Rag is an event not to be missed. This year's concert, held on the 4 and 5 February 2010 at the Potchefstroom University in South Africa, saw performances from Straatling Kinders and Die Heuwels Fantasties, with the lighting and AV provided by MGG Productions. The show incorporated the Robe 700 Beams with control by grandMA.

"The client, C2, were absolutely blown away by the Beam 700s," said Herman Wessels from MGG. "He said it was the best lighting he had seen in nine years at Potch."

Wessels rigged all the lighting fixtures on trussing. Opting for a theatrical LX bar, he incorporated a box truss with two loose trusses hung on either side. He, along with crew Deon Kriel and Kevin Rieck, used Secureload slings and steels for safety.

The six Robe 700 Spots, six Robe 700 Washes and six Robe 700 Beams were rigged

UK - Specialist AV company PSCo is relocating its HQ to new premises in Reading. PSCo will move its headquarters in March enabling the company to develop and grow with new product ranges being added to its rental and sales portfolios.

Stuart Holmes, managing director of PSCo comments: "Moving to the new HQ is an absolute must for PSCo. Our portfolio of products has increased in scope and volume significantly in the past three years and we have developed our technical and support services to ensure these new technologies are accessible for our partners.

"Our rental fleet has grown continuously with the recent addition of projectors and the larger warehouse facility will allow us to dedicate more time and specialist resources to maintaining the rental products.

"Looking at our rental clients needs, we will be able to offer a more flexible and efficient service.

Slovakia - High profile lighting, sound & video rental company Q-99 supplied the full technical production - lighting, video, sound - for the 2010 Miss Universe Slovakia pageant, a live telecast on STV 1 staged in front of 5000 people at the SIBAMAC Arena (National Tennis Centre) in Bratislava.

The show's lighting was designed by Martin Kubanka, and the equipment included Robe moving lights as the main 'workhorses' of the rig.

Miss Universe is one of the most popular programmes on the Slovakian TV calendar and enjoys massive ratings. It is organised by former Miss Slovakia, Silvia Lakatosova-Chovancova, and her company the In Agency. This year the set was designed by Michael Klang, the show was directed by Thomas Eibner and the DoP was Vladimir Durcansky. It was also broadcast live in the neighbouring Czech Republic.

Kubanka has lit the show 11 times previously

Australia - Moomba is not an event normally associated with a Music Festival, but with amusement rides, water skiing competitions on the river, night time fireworks and a parade. However, in recent years, the organisers have re-introduced a music stage where "local" acts can play. Popular in the '80s, the event marked the participation of most of the famous Aussie bands of the time. This year's Festival, taking place in Melbourne in early March, included Vanessa Amorosi and Colin Hay (Men at Work) among the acts.

The main stage front of house system was the recently purchased Powersoft K Series powered EAW KF740 system. The system consisted eight EAW KF740 mid-sized line array loudspeakers per side, four EAW SB1002 Arrayable Subwoofers (in cardioid array) per side and UX8800 processors, all powered by Powersoft K10s. For the sub-bass the K10s used the DSP cards to impl

Germany - Following the successful launch of its active K Series at last year's ProLight&Sound in Frankfurt, 12 months later, QSC has gone a step further with the introduction of the KW Series. Building on the same platform as the ABS-moulded K Series (which it is designed to complement), the KW Series has been engineered to produce the same performance - but this time in a second generation wooden enclosure. Manufactured in QSC's Costa Mesa, California factory, the form factor is consequently more compact and substantially lighter than previous birch enclosure designs.

Packaged into the new, second generation Baltic birch design will be the same 1000W of Class D power modules (2 x 500W), 1.75-inch high output HF device (in the full-range models) and extensive DSP featured in the K Series, along with all QSC's patented technologies designed to fully-optimise the system.

The KW

UK - Optocore's newly developed compact fibre line system, OptoRack, will debut on the Leona Lewis world tour, beginning in May, after a joint development with Wigwam's rental division to produce a new data returns system.

The newly developed system provides a flexible solution to the restrictions which many hire/production companies are finding with Cat 5 cable systems.

According to Wigwam Hire director Chris Hill, using complicated extender units to cover distances over 100m is totally impractical and requires their field engineers to become IT network specialists. At the same time he criticised the inadequacies of RJ 45 fixed connectors when exposed to both festival and touring conditions as well as the extended prep time now required with so many digital manufacturers supporting their own proprietary platforms and connector protocols.

Using Optocore's new modular R serve

USA - Backline rental and entertainment services operator SIR (Studio Equipment Rentals) recently added an Electro-Voice XLD line array loudspeaker system to the pro audio inventory at their New York office.

The system comprises 16 XLD281 full-range elements and four Xsubs, all powered by six Tour Grade TG7 amplifiers equipped with RCM-26 DSP modules for IRIS-Net remote control and supervision.

"Our XLD system will typically be used to address one to two thousand people in rooms of various shapes and sizes," says Baker Lee, audio production manager at SIR New York, "so flexibility was a main consideration, along with size and sound quality. We invested in a range of accessories - dollies, fly bars, ground-stack kits, etc. - so we can fly, stack or lift the arrays securely, whatever the venue, and achieve consistently excellent results."

SIR's new system m

UK - People taking part in The Sainsbury's Sport Relief Mile were left in no doubt that they had arrived thanks to Sunbaba's site branding which included a massive 925m² of PVC and Ultramesh, 570m² of Correx and 30 Knitted Polyester Flags for client Limelight Sports.

The Sunbaba team worked with Limelight Sports to produce the functional signage and gantry branding across the 16 headline cities in England and Northern Ireland.

The branding included start and finish line arches created using PVC panels. Eight of the 16 cities were supplied with PVC panels that were welded together to create double sided banners where the gantry acted as a frame. In other instances single sided panels were used as a gantry wrap.

Directional signage highlighting the running route, VIP areas, water distribution and recycling points were created using Correx. This is a lightweight, robust and w

USA - Technomad Associates reports that Simi Valley Hospital, one of 17 hospitals operated by Adventist Health in the western United States, is using two Technomad Schedulon automatic MP3 players for scheduled and on-demand playback of audio files in multiple locations of the hospital.

Located in Simi Valley, California, Simi Valley Hospital is a 201-bed acute care facility. The Schedulon provides dual-functionality for the hospital, essentially acting as two devices in a single 1RU system: a sophisticated, networked, scheduled-audio player that plays sounds on a user-defined schedule; and a simple, on-demand audio file player that acts as a rugged, rackmount iPod with sounds 'hard-assigned' to knob positions for quick-predictable access.

At Simi Valley Hospital, both units are used to deliver music and announcements to various locations at specific times, including the main e

Germany - A high power, weatherised and digitally networked Renkus-Heinz PA system has been installed for west German football club Alemannia Aachen at its New Tivoli stadium in Aachen.

The stadium's architects were tasked with retaining the ambience of the club's old ground, especially its reputation for crowd noise. The tall, steep stands are close to the pitch, and the low suspended steel roof with a 3m glass lip was also designed to boost noise levels. Bundesliga regulations permit both seated and standing spectators, with 11,681 of the 32,900 total capacity standing on terraces 80 rows high behind each goal.

Stephan van der Kooi, project manager for stadium owner and operator Alemannia, comments, "The old Tivoli was a very English kind of soccer stadium, and it was known for the loudness of its crowd, and we wanted to retain that feeling."

System IT and commun

Frankfurt Postscript - Organisers of Musikmesse and ProLight&Sound 2010 report satisfactory attendance figures. "With around 2,340 exhibitors, 62 percent of them from outside Germany, and almost 110,000 visitors from 128 countries, Musikmesse and ProLight&Sound exceeded our expectations," said Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt. "Moreover", he added, "the number of exhibitors and visitors remained stable in comparison to last year despite some dramatic drops in sales of up to 30 percent in both sectors over the last 18 months." Overall, the impact of the difficult economic situation in the two sectors was limited to minor declines in the number of exhibitors and visitors compared to 2009 (2,388 exhibitors, 112.478 visitors).

In line with the difficult economic situation prevailing in both sectors, which has hit the ex

UK - Point Source Productions supplied lighting, smoke and haze effects, cabling and power distribution to La Clique at the Roundhouse during its successful 10 week run over Christmas 2009 and New Year 2010.

Dubbed by The Sunday Times as 'the best selling show of all time' for pre-bookings at Camden's Roundhouse, La Clique's style is a mixture of outlandish variety, burlesque and circus entertainment which has been described in reviews as both 'a walk on the wild side' and 'a divinely decadent delight.'

Point Source Productions was called upon by Dan Watkins of The Production Desk and freelance Production Electrician, Jono Kenyon to provide additional equipment which would facilitate the very specific look of Willie Suddon's lighting design.

Kenyon and Watkins had collaborated on La Clique's 2008 production at the Hippodrome from where, despite its succe

UK - Tower Productions were recently approached by the Scottish Rugby Union to provide lighting, staging, rigging and production power for a memorial service for Bill McLaren - 'the voice of rugby' - staged on the pitch at Murrayfield.

With a fairly open design brief, Tower's James Mitchelmore and Pete Donald covered lighting design, and rigging respectively.

A Prolyte MPT system provided the stage cover with Prolyte S52 being used from the stadium roof some 40m off the deck, for lighting and PA hangs. Two dozen 2500w city colours formed the basis of the stadium lighting with 100no. assorted P64 doing detail and effect work.

Robe CS700s hung from the grandstand provided keylight for marching bands and break-up patterns on the track. Stage lighting was largely generic comprising 2k fresnels and S4 profiles and pars. Movement was by Robe 250 colourwashes.

The Tower power tea

UK / USA - SpotTrack, the new software tool for making and managing followspot cue sheets, has found favour with a number of high profile shows since its launch last autumn.

In London, Love Never Dies, the long-awaited sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber's international hit musical The Phantom of the Opera, is using SpotTrack to manage its followspot cue sheets. The show is lit by Paule Constable, with the spots overseen by her associate lighting designer Beky Stoddart. Stoddart is also using SpotTrack on the new production of Oliver!, also lit by Paule Constable, at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and associate lighting designer Nick Simmons is using it to manage the followspots on the new UK tour of Les Misérables, again designed by the busy Constable.

The new West End production of Legally Blonde, lit by Kenneth Posner and Paul Miller,

UK - Perched high on the cliffs overlooking one of the UK's best known seaside resorts, Southend's Cliffs Pavilion Theatre has been kitted out with new Electro-Voice sound reinforcement systems by TED AV, commissioned by venue owner and operator HQ Theatres.

Its sister venue in Southend, the smaller Palace Theatre, went all EV a couple of years ago, and with close collaboration and resource-sharing between the two houses, there were considerable advantages in staying with the brand and with supplier Shuttlesound.

The Cliffs Pavilion is a receiving house, seating over 1,600 for a theatrical production, but with flexible set-up arrangements enabling 2,500 to be accommodated for live gigs. As one of the premier division of regional theatre venues, Cliffs Pavilion has to balance the needs of touring bands bringing in their own systems with the needs of visiting theatre productions

Austria - Danish opera singer Rick Heis has recorded an SACD, Caught In Paradise, using DPA microphones. The session, at the Jugendstiltheater in Heis's adopted home of Vienna, saw six DPA 4011 cardioid mics being used for stereo recordings. Two were used for Heis' vocals, two for his guitar amp and two for bass player Georg Straka, a member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, a pair of DPA 4006 omnidirectional mics were used for a stereo recording of pianist Michael Rot's Steinway model B.

After many years of singing and playing guitar, Heis made the discovery that he was a baritone, not a tenor as a music teacher had told him. This discovery revitalized his musical career and Caught In Paradise, which so far has been released in Austria on the local label Gerimi Classics, has come from this renaissance.

"I've been using DPA microphones for y

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