Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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Stagetec is enjoying their busiest ever summer season, with a myriad of different lighting and sound design and installation projects embracing all areas of the industry - here are just a few of them:

In the world of television, Stagetec is finishing complete new lighting installations for five studios at Bloomberg TV Studios in London in association with Film & TV Services. The studios transmit 24 hours a day to five countries in Europe. Equipment includes 120 channels of Compulite CompuDIM 2000 dimmers with Dimmer Monitor software and five SP-4D control systems. At BBC Belfast, the lighting installations for two studios are having the final touches added. The installation includes 132 channels of 96 channels of 2.5kW Compulite CompuDIM 2000 dimmers with Dimmer Monitor system, Ovation 4D and two Micron 4D control systems plus Ethernet nodes, DMX network and complete installation of li

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Arbiter Plc has supplied installer John Fearon of Eclipse Lighting & Sound with a variety of equipment, including JBL loudspeakers, for installations in the latest two Revolution Vodka Bars. The fast-expanding, award-winning brand has recently opened new sites in Northampton and Clapham. The Revolution concept - vodka, dancing, food - doubtless leading to plenty of lively political debate - and the very best sound throughout the evening, was launched in 1995. The latest two venues are part of a group of 27 owned by Manchester-based Inventive Leisure, all of which have had sound systems installed by Rochdale-based Eclipse.

Clapham and Northampton were as sonically challenging as their predecessors, according to John Fearon. As with all new projects, the installer has to understand and interpret the client's requirements, and provide a scheme offering superior audio quality - on budget.

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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Digigram, an innovator in digital audio network solutions, has completed its acquisition of French-based Innova Son, a pioneer in the design of digital audio mixing consoles. Innova Son consoles are used for sound reinforcement in live performance such as concerts, broadcast television, theatrical presentations, religious services, and corporate events.

The deal completes a move made by Digigram when it acquired a 44.76% stake in Innova Son in January 2001. Digigram now owns 100 percent of Innova Son, but says the company will preserve its own identity and commercial autonomy within the Digigram group. Innova Son products will continue to be distributed by the company's established network, while Digigram will provide sales support in markets that the company has yet to penetrate. Innova Son’s current management remains in place, with Philippe Royer as managing director in charge

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Doing their bit to support the England football team, LGH Rigging Services erected a huge flag on the front of the Football Association headquarters in Soho Square, London. Responding within 12 hours of being notified of the job, LGH Rigging Services used a team of abseilers to secure the flag to the façade of the building prior to England’s quarter-final match against Brazil. LGH say they were hoping for a longer hire period - not for the revenue, more for England’s chances in the competition!

LGH Rigging services manager, Bob Dean, commented: "We were very pleased with the progress of the job. We reacted very quickly to the FA’s request and were very happy with the result. It’s a shame that we didn’t feel the same about the result of the England match!"

The erection of the flag was featured on the National Television News, as was the tearful

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Event Lighting and Design has been chosen to work on another string of high-profile international events, starting with the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office’s Gala Luncheon at Claridge’s on 4 July 2002. The company provided the lighting, staging, set, sound, floral decorations and technical expertise for the event, proving once again their aptitude for working with the challenges of royal and government involvement and cultural sensitivities.

The Gala Luncheon marked the launch of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office sponsored celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s establishment in the UK. This large-scale promotional event is to take the form of a Hong Kong Festival, lasting from July to September of this year, which will showcase Hong Kong as Asia’s World City. The Claridge’s Gala Luncheon featured perform

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Sennheiser UK contributed to the recent success of Europe’s biggest music and performing arts festival by exclusively sponsoring the Glastonbury 2002 New Bands Stage. Alongside sound company Southwest Audio Ltd and production company Reality Check, Sennheiser helped deliver a professionally specified stage featuring both evolution series wireless and cabled microphones and wireless in-ear-monitor systems.

A comprehensive on-site technical support centre was also set-up to provide call-out cover for the large amount of kit in use on various stages throughout the festival site, as well as to provide technical back-up to the numerous Sennheiser endorsees on the bill; these included Starsailor, The White Stripes, Faithless, Lostprophets and Haven. The technical back-up was provided by Sennheiser chief engineer Andy Lillywhite and service engineer Sam Davison, who came equipped with

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Danmarks Radio, Denmark's national broadcaster, has purchased 16 channels of new Lectrosonics wireless microphone systems and active antenna splitters from Lectrosonics representative Dansk P.A. Center A/S.

The UDR300 studio receivers and UM300B belt-pack transmitters are the European versions of the well-known and proven 200 Series system that has been the preferred wireless in Hollywood and with American broadcasters for many years. The unmatched quality was a key issue, along with the sophisticated computer control software with RF site scanning and walk test measurements. The systems are to be used on mobile production carts in TV production, in studio and on location. All 16 channels are designed to work in the 800-820 MHz in two 8-channel sets or in adjacent studios together as 16 channels.

(Lee Baldock)

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The AIDAVita provides those event oriented cruise ship vacation-goers the best of two worlds, offering an active club vacation combined with all the amenities of a traditional four star cruise ship. And speaking of amenities, the easy operating capability was also the main reason why two grandMA lighting control systems are among the top items in the cruise ship’s equipment specification list.

The ship’s on-board theatre has a seating capacity of 650. Every evening the theatre offers 12 shows and professional entertainment running every hour. Hilton Jones was responsible for the theatre lighting design and grandMA provided the control. Altogether, console operator Joe Gruber programmed over 1,800 cues, 80 sequences, and 120 macros. The grandMA - supplied by Amptown Hamburg - runs 46 moving lights, 132 channels for conventional lighting and 54 non-dim circuits.

This was th

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The recent launch of Attack of the Clones, the latest chapter in the Star Wars story, saw two notable firsts for a UK film premier, a live performance by the Royal Philharmonic in Leicester Square, and a pair of PM1D’s used in a unique audio experiment. "There were two major considerations for this event," explained live engineer Dave Bracey, "the concert must be relayed a full 360° around the Square which means we have to be acutely sensitive to the local neighbourhood; and secondly the whole thing must go in, fit-up, be played and cleared in under a day."

Duplicating the sound system for rehearsals away from the site was fairly straight forward, having two PM1Ds one at the rehearsal site, one in Leicester Square, simplified things further, as Bracey explained. "I rehearsed with the orchestra live; this is a 50-piece orchestra and when you add in the ef

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Italian luminaire manufacturer LDR has provided, via its Spanish dealer Prolighting, 100 units of its brand new Rima 500 floodlight, in white finish, for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The lighting is being used to highlight two major exhibitions at the museum. The first is titled ‘Paris: Capital of the Arts, 1900-1968’, and traces the major developments in painting and sculpture which took place in Paris throughout the first seven decades of the twentieth century. The second is ‘Pictures of the Surface of the Earth’, a collection of photographs by the German artist and film director Wim Wenders, who began taking photographs back in 1983. From the start, he has brought his unique sensibility to focus on the villages and landscapes of the United States and Havana, the forests and temples of Japan, the coast of Galilee and the endless roads of the deserted Austral

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Star Hire (Event Services) Ltd supplied mobile StarStages to the organisers of the UK’s largest gay festival, Mardi Gras, for the two main stages at the Hackney Marshes event. The main G.A.Y. stage was a mobile SS 15-12 StarStage that housed the PA and lighting, with a line-up including Atomic Kitten, Westlife, A1, Human League and Belinda Carlisle. These were variously introduced by a range of celebrities including Graham Norton, a host of Big Brother stars, Ken Livingston, Mo Mowlam and Trisha. Meanwhile, the more intimate ‘Popstarz’ Indie stage was a mobile SS 10 08 StarStage that featured acts including Suede, the Cooper Temple Clause and Haven.

Graham Drew headed up the Star Hire crew who had to cope with the summer’s inclement weather and the soft ground of Hackney Marshes that meant production schedules were stretched. "The whole production team work

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Light Relief is delighted to have received a number of donations last month thanks to Forester Health, the STLD and BKSTS. Krystyna Gibbons of Forester Health took Matthew Griffiths, managing director of PLASA, completely by surprise at the Association's AGM on June 14, presenting him with a cheque as the company's first contribution to Light Relief.

As part of the Forester Health Cash Plan offered to PLASA members, which was launched at PLASA 2001, £1 is donated to Light Relief for every new member of the scheme. The scheme, which is being continued at this year's show, offers members a range of cash refunds for basic healthcare needs not funded by the NHS, such as dental treatment, eyesight tests, physiotherapy and reflexology. It also provides much-needed financial help in the event of hospitalisation, an accident or the birth of a child. Whereas private medical insurance is basic

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The Sheraton Frankfurt recently added a new chapter to its 27-year history, following the completion of a €50 million renovation and redecoration programme. As an elegant five-star hotel with bright, spacious areas, it offers the latest technical equipment, large conference and banqueting facilities, direct access to Frankfurt Airport via a footbridge, close proximity to the ICE terminal and metro connections to Frankfurt’s city centre.

As Europe’s largest airport hotel, it has over 1,000 guest rooms. Not only has the interior design of the lobby changed completely, but also its location. Gone are the relatively dark charms of former days, now replaced by a bright and modern lobby six times larger. The floors are Italian porcelain tiles, extravagant Venetian plaster decorates the walls and the staircase is constructed of marble and glass. In the new ‘Glass House&rsqu

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This year’s Philip Morris Jazz Weekend took place in the Dutch city of Bergen Op Zoom in late May. During the five-day show, national and international stars of the jazz scene performed in four different venues. Among these were Phil Mason’s New Orleans All Stars with Christine Tyrell, Arie Kuit Quartet, Trio Johan Clement featuring Madeleine Bell, Miss Lulu White’s Red Hot Creole Jazz band and many more.

The main stage was the 1,000-capacity jazz tent, which was equipped with four stacks of HK Audio R-Series plus DFC amp racks, supplied by Triple A. For monitors, a total of seven HK Audio SM 112 II, two VT 115 Xs and an SM 212 for drum fill were used. Toon Dekkers, owner of Triple A, commented: "We have been working with HK Audio material for several years and we are again and again enthusiastic about the versatility of R-Series. Some people consider R-Series as

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When David Bowie’s production manager, Nick Belshaw, turned his attention towards Europe and the summer season he thought of his old colleague, Dick Hayes at Entec in London. "When Nick first called he explained that the show Bowie is taking to the festivals of Europe was quite complex," explained Hayes, "so his sound engineer Pablo Wheeler had asked Belshaw to secure him a Yamaha PM1D."

Such is the size and scope of Bowie’s repertoire, that Wheeler was looking at 56 mic lines and a further 24 line inputs. "This show controller required the ability to follow an artist with a huge song list, and a penchant for chopping and changing his set list at the drop of a hat. At first, I thought I’d rent a PM1D for him," Hayes explained, "but then on reflection I realised this is a desk being spec’d more and more."

Hayes had harbou

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Working closely with Army co-ordinators, Skyhigh was recently asked to simulate enemy fire at close quarters to the thousands of spectators, providing heavy artillery explosions as little as 50 metres from the public. The British Army’s showcase event for 2002 - ‘ARMY 2002’ - was the most action-packed event of the year, with the only ‘All Arms’ firepower demonstration ever mounted for the public.

With almost every weapon in the British Army’s inventory taking part, tanks, artillery and infantry, supported by attack helicopters, transport aircraft and fast jet bombers, the audience saw, and very definitely heard, one of the largest demonstrations of military might ever seen in Europe. The ‘Live Fire’ demonstration took on the scenario of three enemy encampments located 6, 7 and 8km away with units from the Royal Artillery, Army Air Corp a

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Sennheiser UK is marking the 25th PLASA Show with the UK launch of several new products and ranges. The Sennheiser SKM 5000N Neumann-capsuled wireless microphone, the MKE Platinum ‘invisible’ miniature lavalier mic and the evolution eW550 touring twin wireless receiver are among major attractions for the live sound industry. The company will also be showing the Lab.gruppen range of power amplification for the first time, including the latest Iron Power and Ferrite Power ranges. Alongside all of which there will be the full range of Sennheiser and Neumann live and studio microphones, Sennheiser headsets, including the new HD280 pro DJ headphone, and D.A.S Audio sound reinforcement products and Mindprint signal processors. Sennheiser will also be unveiling an entire new innovative audio installation brand and new Sennheiser conferencing products at the show.

To accommodate th

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Glenn Beckley's sound design for the touring production of Seven Brides For Seven Brothers features no less than five types of JF Series loudspeakers from EAW, supplied by Stage Electrics of Bristol, UK. In line with current practice, Beckley has split the distributed system so that different enclosures handle the band and vocals, and he selected the JF590 to give a rounded sound to the show's small orchestra.

"It's a nice speaker for listening to music," he commented, "and its fairly wide horizontal dispersion is ideal for a system that doesn't contain huge arrays." The four JF590s are configured as two stereo pairs and are supplemented by the same number of SB330 single 18" subwoofers, feeding the stalls and balcony areas respectively. The cabinets are flown or ground-stacked as required, displaying the versatility of the JF Series. The JF260z is a rec

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Big screen entertainment specialist Blink TV has kicked off a busy summer schedule by announcing agreements with the UK’s two biggest radio groups - Capital and GWR - to work with more than a dozen local radio stations nationwide at their outdoor ‘Party In The Park’ style events.

These shows have become a regular and important fixture on the summer circuit and regularly attract the UK’s hottest pop acts including Blue, Mis-teeq, The Sugarbabes, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Hear’Say, Liberty X, 3SL, H & Claire and the like - all packed into a programme that usually runs for about four hours throughout the afternoon.

According to David Llewellyn, Blink’s head of operations, who has been responsible for developing this particular business strand, the way it tends to work is that the local station will source the screens and cameras and Blink will then produce

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Wybron will be showing six products, including the award winning Eclipse II iris douser and Moiré gobo rotator.

Eclipse II is a DMX-controlled system that does mechanically what can’t be done electronically - it mechanically dims HMI and other ‘non-dimmable’ lights. The Eclipse II Iris douses the light while the power stays on using fins in an aperture-like configuration to provide dimming with no loss of light. The award-winning Moiré is Wybron’s first dual gobo rotator, enabling users to rotate and change two B-sized glass or metal gobos. Controlled by a simple toggle switch, the two gobos are operated independently and can be rotated together, in opposite directions or with one static and the other moving.

Wybron’s CXI colour changer uses two colour scrolls, made up of graduated frames of cyan, yellow and magenta, to create virtually every colour o

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The chameleon-like role which multi-pupose, public-funded theatres need to play in the community can provide a real conundrum for chief technicians when trying to stretch, and achieve maximum utilisation of National Lottery grants. With an 810-seat conference theatre, boardroom, restaurant, 76-capacity cinema and foyer to provide coverage for, Eden Court in Inverness is just such an establishment. A client of LMC Audio’s Birmingham branch, when the company was on a visit recently the issue of video was raised.

Previously, a videowall had been proposed as a solution to the diverse needs of the venue. However, chief technician Graeme Watt could see a more flexible alternative by offering LCD projection - which led directly to the purchase of the theatre’s first Christie Digital Vivid series projector. The Vivid Green had been strongly recommended by Jules Deakin, head of AV

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Belgian rental company DEE Sound & Light has increased its stock of Midas consoles with the addition of a 48-input Heritage 3000, supplied by Ampco Belgium. This latest purchase brings DEE's Midas inventory up to seven consoles, making it the company's principal console brand.

DEE's André Schneider explained that the reasons for investing in Midas were manifold, although one of the principal motivations was compatibility with other key suppliers. "We work very closely with Ampco Holland so it was important that we invest in the same equipment. We are both part of the Synco Network with Renkus Heinz, and it made sense to carry that through with the consoles as well. Plus of course Midas is a fantastic product. Our very first Midas console was a custom-built XL2, followed by a 24-channel XL200, both of which are still going strong. In fact, the XL2 is currently out on a world tour

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Ibex plan a busy PLASA show this year with the launch of three new products - two new motion control units and Ibex’s first ever audio product.

The two new hoist controllers build on the success of the Programmable Hoist Controller launched at PLASA two years ago. The Programmable Hoist Controller Plus adds even more features for the most demanding applications, including an Ethernet port allowing linking of controllers and remote PC control. The HC8 complements the range, providing control of eight Lodestar or Verlinde style hoists, together with the new safety features now required for hoist control systems in the entertainment industry.

Ibex’s new audio product - Sonix MP3 - is a professional audio sound store, with a versatile range of triggering options. Audio files, using the high quality MP3 format, are played from inexpensive, high capacity CompactFlash memory ca

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In the Pantheon of award shows, the Classical Brits is a relative newcomer. That said, it’s a worthy show, recognising as it does young talent, the new, the great, and the good in the firmament of Classical music. Like its popular music forebear the Brit Awards, Classical Brits is also a highly challenging environment for live sound, composed as it is of a multiplicity of musical style and dynamics, it’s a rare day when you¹ll hear the light froth of the Opera Babes juxtaposed with the heavy artillery of a Russell Watson vocal broadside.

Strange then that Richard Sharratt, the man charged with delivering this unlikely mix to the listeners should try out a new console on the very singular recommendation of a colleague. This is after all, a one-off live show, not a heavily rehearsed concert season, as Sharratt explained: "Yes, it was my first time using the PM1D but I&r

  1. Designer Lighting
  2. Light Relief
  3. Wireless XTA switches the arts at Hay on Wye festival
  4. Hand Held Audio licenses Rod Stewart
  5. Tascam at PLASA
  6. Cadac's live sound economics
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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
Sennheiser - MPU - June 2025

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