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Veteran country music icon Garth Brooks is back on the road for three very special shows to coincide with the release of his new album Scarecrow. The Bandit system was once again designed by Dave Butzler with the help of Bob Peterson. Hanging from the almost 1,000 feet of truss will be over 400 Martin MAC series fixtures (61 MAC 250s, 54 MAC 300s, 58 MAC 500s, 162 MAC 600s and 72 MAC 2000s), and all will be controlled by four Wholehog 2s, three with expansion wings. Garth will once again utilize the exclusive Bandit Lites MotoData time and position based motor control system, to deliver stunning truss movement. Other equipment in use for the huge show will include 36 3k Syncrolites, 28 Martin Professional Pro 400s, 10 Lycian followspots and eight Anytronics Deathstar strobes.

The first spectacular show aired live on CBS television on 14 November from The Forum in Los Angeles. The secon

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White Light Sales ha supplied the first production units of the new Ice Fog low-smoke generator from MDG to the English National Ballet (ENB) and to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). The ENB has been closely involved with the development of the new machine, having tested a pre-production version on their production of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall in London last year. Dave Richardson, the ENB's chief electrician, was very impressed that a single machine could generate low-lying smoke that would carry along the full length of the Albert Hall. He and his team did, however, return a list of suggestions to the manufacturer, these including simpler set-up, easier fluid refilling and lower running noise.

They were impressed enough, though, to order machines of their own - and, having taken delivery of the first production units in the UK, they are impressed that their suggesti

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CIE-Audio has once again received the award for the world's leading Inter-M distributor. As part of a network of 94 distributors in 72 countries throughout Europe, America, Asia, Africa, Middle East and Australasia, Nottingham-based CIE-Audio exclusively distribute the complete commercial audio, pro sound and CCTV product ranges from Inter-M. "The latest news of our Inter-M sales figures exceeding all other distributors throughout the world reflects not only our commitment to the brand, but also the popularity of the product range within the UK market," said Chris Edwards, CIE-Group marketing manager. "This will be our 10th consecutive year as the Number 1 distributor and, for such a small country to provide the highest sales figures is an acknowledgement of the dedication and hard work our staff continue to provide."

The news of CIE-Audio's achievement comes as th

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Creative Technology London were the official IT and AV suppliers at the recent TMA 2001 exhibition, held in the Brighton Centre, and at the town’s Metropole and Grand Hotels. In the largest supplier agreement so far, services were provided to over 30 separate stands at the show. Contracted by organizers TMA Ventures, Creative Technology London provided a wide range of presentation services that included the provision of all press office IT communication equipment. This dedicated area was designed to replicate the event’s theme of intelligent communication, by allowing exhibitors access to some of today’s mobile IT solutions, in order to stay in contact with the office whilst visiting the show.

Karen Brennan of TMA Ventures commented: "In what has been a difficult period in the telecommunications industry, we were delighted with the way that IT and AV supply at T

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Telford-based broadcast sound equipment hire company Soundsense has announced a series of cuts to its hire charges to make it easier for Restricted Service Licence operators get on the air. The cuts mean that prices have fallen by an average of 14% across the board. To help bring the cost of transmission to an all-time low, Soundsense have introduced the Broadcast Warehouse TX20 20W transmitter to its hire fleet. With internal RDS encoder and on-board compressor limiter, Soundsense are offering 'ready to go' stereo transmission packages from just £250 (inc VAT) per month. The new transmitters make their debut as part of the equipment package being supplied to Red Dragon Rally FM, the RSL station for the Network Q Rally which is on air from 21-25 November.

Soundsense's Derek Tallent told us: "We're aware of just how tough it's becoming in the current economic climate to get an RSL

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A newly-appointed Icelandic distributor of Baldwin Boxall's has recently purchased 12 Vigil Eclipse Voice Alarm systems for installation in a new shopping complex in Reykjavik, Iceland. HT&T visited International Fire Expo (May 2001) where they met with Baldwin Boxall, who were giving the recently-launched Vigil Eclipse its UK debut. HT&T thought the Eclipse was the perfect solution to the Smaralind Shopping Complex's voice alarm (VA) requirements as the wall-mounting unit is simple to commission and easy to install. The 12 Vigil Eclipses were built in Baldwin Boxall's factory in Sussex and shipped to Iceland, ready for installation - a very quick process for HT&T, saving them valuable on-site time.

Vigil Eclipse is a stand-alone, wall-mountable system, which can operate up to four zones of VA - all dual circuit if required. The system, which utilises Baldwin Boxall's well established

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Leading London-based rental company John Henry's Ltd has just taken delivery of a batch of QSC Powerlight amplifiers to upgrade their main PA racks. The purchase of the PL236 and PL6 units came after a lengthy evaluation of a number of different amplifiers with their existing EAW speaker system. "Having expanded our main EAW KF850 system at our sister operation in Dubai, we shipped our existing amp racks out to power it," said Aden Gregory, JHL's Audio rental department manager. "This gave us the opportunity to review our amplifier stock. We decided to check out a range of different switch-mode power amplifiers and after extensively testing a number of brands we chose the Powerlights from QSC. We were surprised that the PL6.0PFC weighing only 59lbs could deliver so much energy and have such a fast recovery rate. Not only do they sound excellent but they also have the added

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Total Structures and BSI Production have designed and installed a state-of-the-art rigging grid for the Coach USA Center in Elmira NY. BSI Production was approached by the GM at the Coach USA Center to design a rigging system that would be able to accommodate the needs of touring production without extensive modification to the existing roof. BSI's Ron Branchini and Hard Hit Productions' (the arenas preferred lighting and rigging supplier) Bruce Perron identified the needs of this multi purpose venue. Total Structures was then contracted to engineer and then manufacture the appropriate system. The equipment has been designed to allow rigging from the ground, which eliminates the fall hazard to the crew working the event and reduces load-in times.

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At a meeting of Martin Professional's board held in Aarhus, Denmark on 18 November, the final go-ahead was given to the construction of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for the production of automated lighting. Construction of the new 12,000sq.m factory is to begin over the next few weeks, with completion expected by the end of the summer 2002. Total investment in the project will be approximately US$20 million.

The new facility, to be located in the city of Frederikshavn in northern Denmark, will be geared toward the production of Martin's most high-tech products. Upon completion of the new facility Martin will effectively double its production capacity for the manufacture of automated lighting. Martin's current production facility, also located in Frederikshavn, will continue operation.

The latest production techniques will be utilized in an innovative, state-of-the-ar

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Tomcat UK has announced the addition of TMB to their list of European distributors. TMB will now be able to supply Tomcat's full range of truss as well as the ever-popular Columbus McKinnon Lodestar chain hoist. Paul Hartley, TMB's general manager, Europe said: "This agreement will enable us to offer our customers Tomcat's truss and also the Lodestar hoist at very competitive prices. This deal just adds to the number of products we can now offer from our UK warehouse."

The distribution agreement was signed by Paul Hartley and Tomcat UK’s managing director, Mitch Clark, at PLASA 2001.

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ESTA, the Entertainment Services and Technology Association, has announced that the following draft American National Standards are available for review.

BSR E1.16, Entertainment Technology - Configuration Standard for Metal-Halide Ballast Power Cables. This identifies which pin on the ballast to power cord connector shall be used for the non-current-carrying grounding connector. Many manufacturers use the same connector when a detachable power cord is provided, but do not necessarily use the same pin for the grounding connection. This can lead to serious problems when users connect the power cords intended for one manufacturer's product to another manufacturer's ballast. This draft standard is an effort to regularize the grounding pin designation.

BSR E1.5, Entertainment Technology - Theatrical Fog Made With Aqueous Solutions Of Di- And Trihydric Alcohols. These theatr

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The Total Production Awards are scheduled for January 30 2002 at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in London's Edgware Road. The Awards will acknowledge the achievements of leading individuals and rental companies in the fields of live sound, lighting, video, staging, rigging and other key disciplines. Three special commendations will round off the Gala: a Lifetime Contribution Award, a unique Best Live Event of All-Time Award and The Editor's Award - something which TP editor Mark Cunningham promises will yield a big surprise on the night. Nominations will be announced in the Winter issue of Total Production, published on December 21.

A voting form and table booking form will be included in the forthcoming November issue of Total Production; alternatively, PDF forms can be obtained by contacting Andy Lenthall at the address below.

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Mackie Designs has launched a fully interactive, online tradeshow exhibit that will highlight new products from Mackie, Mackie Industrial and Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW). The 'e-Show' will offer educational and entertaining features, including streaming and downloadable video demonstrations, new product announcements, downloadable software demos, instant access to product datasheets and a series of topic specific discussions hosted by representatives from all three companies. Visitors will be able to order literature and can even buy real tradeshow 'swag!'

"We acknowledge that there is no substitute for the personal interaction of a live tradeshow," said Karen Anderson, director of marketing communications at EAW. "But, in the absence of actually being there, we feel the ‘e-Show’ is a great way to provide many of the informational, educational, and fun eleme

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A vibrant new South African production has arrived on the West End stage. Umoja - The Spirit of Togetherness opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre this month to rave reviews and a cast of 33 singers and dancers, four African drummers, and a five-piece band.

Conceived by Todd Twala and Thembi Nyandeni, and brought to the stage by director Ian von Memerty, the task of 'sound designing' the story of African music fell to Trevor Peters. With FOH engineer, Tanja Somers, Trevor recommended that the show turn to Trantec to supply the requisite number of radio mic channels. "When the production started a year and a half ago we had three rifle mics, two handheld radios and CD backing tracks, but as funds became more available so the production has grown." In The West End, 20 S4000 lavalier mics are worn by the cast with S3500s on the guitar and sax.

"The fact that we are r

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Tascam, the professional audio and musical instrument division of TEAC Corporation, has acquired the stock of Texas-based NemeSys Music Technology, Inc. NemeSys is known for its popular GigaSampler and GigaStudio software-based sampling and music production tools for the PC platform, which Tascam will immediately begin distributing under its own brand. The company has appointed the principal software engineers and former owners of NemeSys to its team in order to ensure the continuing development of the 'Giga' platform. "We are tremendously excited by the possibilities inherent in TASCAM's acquisition of NemeSys," commented TEAC vice-president Gene Joly. "The GigaSampler and GigaStudio products are already revolutionizing the world of music creation and production and we're certain that the addition of Tascam's distribution and marketing strength will allow these tools to b

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Western Australia's Burswood International Resort Casino has undergone a major upgrade of its Resort facilities. The project is the biggest redevelopment of the Resort since its inception in December 1985, and involves the creation of additional floor space across three major areas of the Resort complex. The key components of the redevelopment project cover an International Food Emporium; a Cabaret Nightclub, Spinners Café & Sports Bar and a Grand Ballroom.

The atrium area of the resort has also been refurbished with the addition of commercial retail areas. As the atrium is housed under a large glass dome, the resort management were concerned about heat gain and light glare in the area. Architects Silver Thomas Hanley decided to address this problem by hanging large perforated reinforced PVC sails internally over the atrium, providing heat and sun control to the lower areas of the atr

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Federal Signal has won a contract to supply a customized version of its Millbank JustiFire single-channel, four-zone public address and voice alarm (PA/VA) system to the Coleraine Diamond Shopping Centre in Northern Ireland. The 'landlord' system will be used to provide emergency voice evacuation, PA paging and message broadcasting services.

Millbank JustiFire is an off-the-shelf product designed as the integral element of a BS5839 part 8 compliant (European BS EN 60849) VA system. The utilization of a standard Windows-based configuration programme provides ease-of-use and a simple graphical interface enables the system to be set-up to meet the requirements of individual installations. For the Coleraine Diamond Shopping Centre, Federal Signal has added an additional power supply to enable JustiFire to support two operational amplifiers and a stand-by unit.

The order was placed by Fed

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Seeing is Believing, the lighting design consultancy based at Knutsford in the North West of the UK, has just completed four major contracts for Cisco Systems. The events, all produced by Project Worldwide of London, comprised an internal event in Paris and an external event - Networkers - in Copenhagen. Each event was in two parts - a conference and a party.

Seeing is Believing was contracted to provide the lighting, rigging and drapery for all four events.

The parties with the theme of 'The Stadium' and 'New Dimension' were for over 3,000 people and staged in the Grand Arch, La Defense, Paris and The Forum in Copenhagen. A large amount of intelligent (principally Martin MACs) and generic lighting, trussing and rigging was used, and in keeping with Seeing is Believing's policy of finding and using local suppliers, all equipment for Copenhagen was sourced locally. The company has rec

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Adlib Audio has added 50 Nexo Alpha cabinets to its inventory to go alongside their recently-purchased JBL Vertec system, and their established stock of Martin Audio and Adlib own product. Adlib believes the marketplace is changing as a result of increased input from engineers, each of whom has his own way of doing things, and the company wanted to have the flexibility within their inventory to react positively to clients demands. The Nexo Alpha cabinets were supplied by Nexo's UK distributor, Fuzion plc.

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When CNN's London bureau moves into new multi-million dollar state-of-the-art digital studios in the centre of London this month, it will utilize a new complement of Trantec radio mic and in-ear monitoring systems.

Four S5000 lavalier wireless mics and two S5000IEM systems were purchased from LMC London, for use by news staff in the new studio in Great Marlborough Street, which was opened by The Queen at the end of November. This was part of an investment that reinforces the importance of the network's largest production and broadcasting unit outside the US. The system was specified by consultant sound engineer Richard Mason, and the order placed through the London office of LMC Audio. LMC's Tom Davis explained that the TV network wanted to change the format, implementing a new radio mic system that would give them a more flexible solution. LMC presented CNN with a site demo, giving a

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Home Shopping Europe Ltd went live to air at 1.00pm on 7 October from its UK home at Park Street Studios, Frogmore. Managing director Christian Unterseer hosted the launch a mere nine months after the company had acquired the site. This is Home Shopping Europe's most recently completed studio complex, expanding upon facilities in Germany, Italy and Belgium to provide extensive European coverage.

DeSisti Lighting played a major role in fully equipping the studio and supplying the lighting control system. The 316sq.m studio is fitted with a matrix grid which allows for the luminaries to be positioned anywhere as required. Hanging from the grid on adjustable length drop arms are 1 and 2kW Leonardo spotlights, 2.5 and 5kW Botticelli softlights and Giotto cyclorama top lights, all pole operated.

The lighting control is a sophisticated system from ETC, combining an Express 250 memory contr

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Creative Staging was recently selected to provide the video projection, audio and lighting design and supply to the Nike exhibition - 'Nike - A Design for Movement' - working alongside exhibition designers Tonkin Architects, and the computer graphics and video producer at the Design Museum.

The project involved four 'zones', coming together at the centre, each having its own theme with a separate video and audio sound track. Periodically, the four videos would synchronize to form 270-degree 'wrap-around' computer graphics with lighting effects. As visitors moved from zone to zone, the soundtrack changed automatically to synchronize with the video material and exhibits in that area without the headphone wearer having to adjust or change units in any way. This was achieved through the use of infra-red headsets with video and audio material run from synchronized DVD players controlled by

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Telex EVI Audio's 'Channel Climbing Contest' was one of the highlights of the 2001 music trade fair in Frankfurt. Visitors were invited to climb the 4.5m-high reconstruction of a Midas Venice mixing desk and once up there, plug in four giant plugs. The competition, which was highly entertaining for both participants and spectators alike, definitely added a little more excitement to the already busy fair. Of the hundreds of contestants, Werner Koelbl from Schoefweg in Bavaria proved to be the fastest. With a time of one minute six seconds, the 37-year-old literally climbed to the top. Most of the other contestants took around three minutes for the same task.

Werner Koelbl can now look forward to a trip to Venice. Together with his partner he visited Telex EVI Audio's European headquarters in Straubing to collect the voucher for his trip. After Wolfgang Zollner had taken them on a short

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Cadac's long-standing association with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera continues with the latest production scheduled to open in Korea on 2 December 2001. Phantom is being staged at the LG Arts Center by The Really Useful Group of Australia, in conjunction with local entertainment company Zemiro. Production sound engineer Greg Pink is responsible for all the engineering aspects of the show's sound system, which has been jointly supplied by Orbital Sound of London and the LG Arts Center. The system includes a new 31-input Cadac J-Type Live Production Console, equipped with six Programmable Group and three Programmable Auxiliary modules. Phantom's track record encompasses some 18 countries and 99 cities, playing to audiences of over 58 million to date: the Korean production follows in the footsteps of a number of major musicals staged at LG Arts Center, which is also
  1. The Empire Strikes Back for TFL
  2. Selecon Upgrade for Queensland Performing Arts Centre
  3. JR Clancy & Stage Technologies in Alliance
  4. Theatre Engineering and Architecture 2002
  5. PLASA's First Online Forum
  6. Screenco and The Saturday Show
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