As a Technical Partner for the 36th Montreux Jazz Festival, D.A.S. Audio provided a variety of sound reinforcement systems for the event held in Montreux, Switzerland from 5-20 July. One of Europe’s most consolidated festivals, MJF presented an impressive line-up of international artists including Chris Rea, Jamiroquai, UB40, David Bowie and Joe Cocker.

In conjunction with D.A.S.’s Swiss distributor Animatec, a large selection of powered sound reinforcement products were supplied, including the new Compact 2 System which debuted at the 2002 ProLight+Sound exhibition in Frankfurt. The Compact 2 Systems were used by Swiss radio ‘Colour 3’ which hosted DJs performing live and converting the area adjacent to the Miles Davis Hall into a virtual dance club.

The Montreux Jazz ‘Off’, at the Parque de la Rouvenaz outdoor stage, featured four ST-1800 Sound T

L&SI is launching the first in what it intends to be a series of networking events for the industry. Since its opening in the West End earlier this year, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has been widely praised by critics and audiences alike. Directed by Adrian Noble, with lighting by Mark Henderson, sound by Andrew Bruce and sets by Anthony Ward, much of the credit for its success lies in the work of the technical and creative teams who have used state-of-the-art techniques to bring this amazing stage production to life.

L&SI has arranged an exclusive backstage tour of the Palladium Theatre where you can meet with those who worked on the production and see first-hand how some of the more complex effects in the Show have been achieved. Following the tour, you'll have a chance to network with industry colleagues at an L&SI-hosted reception where you can talk further with members of the creative

JR Clancy Inc has become the only US designer, manufacturer and installer of theatrical rigging equipment to have its quality management system certified to the rigorous ISO 9001:2000 standards. ISO 9001 is an internationally-recognized set of quality management requirements with an emphasis on customer satisfaction, and the certification is a result of an 18-month effort across the company in which every JR Clancy employee participated in the review and upgrade of existing processes.

ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, has established demanding quality assurance models against which businesses can be audited. These standards are widely respected as a goal for companies with a desire for continual improvement - not just in products, but in all aspects of operation. Each department at Clancy - accounting, sales, project management, engineering, shipping, receiving,

Union Connector, the connector and power distro equipment manufacturer, has moved to a new facility in Suffolk County, NY, approximately 15 miles from its prior location in Roosevelt, NY. Union had been located in Roosevelt for the past 40 years. The move is part of Union's long-range strategic plan to increase its ability to perform contract manufacturing for some of the industry's largest manufacturers, touring and rental companies.

The building is in an industrial park located within the Route 110 industrial corridor and near a general aviation business airport. The new, larger facility provides Union with room for expansion of its manufacturing capabilities. "The increased size of the facility has allowed us to install a new powder coating operation, along with expanding our existing CNC sheet metal and machining operations", said Ray Wolpert, VP of operations. "We'l

Manchester-based Cornish four-piece Haven have been out playing live consistently over the last several months with a complete line up of Sennheiser evolution microphones and wireless in-ear-monitor systems. Sennheiser UK evolution endorsees, the band have been on the road following the release of their debut album Between the Senses, featuring tracks produced by the legendary Johnny Marr. As well as headlining club dates and appearing at festivals the band has appeared on a number of high profile support slots, including New Order, Badly Drawn Boy and Johnny Marr’s new line up, The Healers.

The evolution kit was spec’d for the band’s live set by front of house engineer, Ian ‘Hippo’ Williams. The opportunity offered by the endorsement agreement has provided a high level of support for both band and engineer on the road. Williams has used evolution o

Following a series of visits to China by managing director David Hopkins OBE, PLASA Member ADSworldwide recently hosted a delegation of top executives from Beijing's major department stores. The Chinese not only got a chance to see the latest loudspeakers designed and manufactured by ADSworldwide, but also found time to spend several days in Stockport and Manchester, looking at the shops and visiting both Manchester United and the Lowry Centre.

Currently a joint venture agreement between ADSworldwide and FBBC of China has seen the Stockport company's name feature prominently in more than 200 shopping outlets throughout China - this will increase to 500 over the next three years. The company’s second visit to China in June 2002 saw them addressing an invited audience of sound consultants and academics from throughout China. The press conference that preceded the main event saw 80

Wybron and Fourth Phase teamed up with the Spoleto Production Department to provide lighting for the Morris Island Lighthouse during Spoleto Festival USA, an international arts festival held annually in Charleston, South Carolina. The lighting of the abandoned lighthouse was the brainchild of artist Kim Sooja for her installation entitled ‘A Lighthouse Woman’ and was brought to life by a production team led by Kevin Fisher and lighting designer Steve Shelley.

One of six installations for Spoleto’s The Memory of Water visual arts exhibition, A Lighthouse Woman was realized in cooperation with members of Save The Light, Inc, a non-profit organization whose mission is to save and preserve the Morris Island Lighthouse, built in 1876. Using a mixture of light, colour and ingenuity, the lighthouse was transformed into a memorial commemorating the enduring relationship of li

The old Thalia Theater in Rotterdam used to be a cinema in a former life but was abandoned some time ago. Now, after several months of renovation, Rotterdam has a brand new dance club - The Thalia Lounge. This is not only a pure dance club but it can also be rented for corporate and live events. For this reason, the sound system needs to be very flexible, as it has to deliver a great performance for disco nights as well as for live events and speech reinforcement. Club owner Bart Den Ouden therefore decided to contact the Dutch HK Audio product manager Johan Meerman of Wils Muziekimport in Roosendaal. Den Ouden says: "I met Johan during an HK Audio demo in another disco here in Holland and from what I heard there I was really convinced about the quality of HK Audio, so I asked him to plan the PA system for the Thalia Lounge. The system itself was installed by Toon Dekkers of HK Audi

When Legoland Deutschland opened its doors to the public on 17 May this year, it was almost a year ahead of schedule. The park was completed more than nine months early, thanks to the efficiency and professionalism of the people and companies involved in the project! Located near Günzburg in Southern Germany, Legoland Deutschland is made up of seven individually-themed areas, including Miniland, which features miniature replicas of original buildings from all over the world. The park includes more than 40 rides and attractions, including three theatres.

The lighting design of the park was carried out by Gallegos Lighting Design in California, which has previously worked with Legoland, designing the lighting system for its park in Carlsbad, California. Karl Haas, Gallegos Lighting Design's senior associate, created the park's lighting control systems, working with ETC's western regiona

From 4-9 July 2002, Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt was the setting for the eleventh Classic Open Air gala. This event in Berlin has established itself as a fixture in the calendars of classical music lovers both inside and outside Germany. For some years now, the sound reinforcement has been provided by the team at TSE AG of Berlin, whose tools this year once again bore the names Electro-Voice, Klark Teknik and Midas (see list below).

Martin Kaiser, the FOH engineer at TSE AG, has his own formula for this exceptionally demanding sound reinforcement application: "despite the size and complexity of the sound system that is in fact being used, the audience should still be left with the impression that the sound is coming not from the loudspeakers but from the orchestra."

TSE AG utilized a total of 12 EV X-Line Xvlt 3-way, eight EV X-Line XsubF sub-bass, four EV Xi 2123/106 F a

PCM has broken new ground on the training front again, running the world’s first ever Advanced Lodestar Motor School. As with all PCM product-based training, the school was completely free - and the 12 places were fully booked early on. The Advanced Motor School is designed as a Level 2 extension to PCM’s renowned CM Motor School, which has been running for nine years, and has trained over 1,400 people. The Advanced course was designed to cater for those working day-to-day with Lodestar motors. However, about half the attendees had never opened a Lodestar since they attended the standard Motor School.

The first thing the 12 attendees saw when they walked into PCM’s special training room, was Lodestars stripped down on the benches, waiting to be reassembled. The students worked on two-tonne motors for their two-day course. The conversion of these motors into higher spe

Messe Frankfurt and Intex Shanghai have announced their collaboration on a new international event in China for the professional audio and entertainment lighting industry - ProLight+Sound Shanghai. The show will make its debut at the Intex exhibition centre and the Shanghaimart from 15-18 October 2003 and will be positioned as a professional marketing platform for manufacturers of sound production, broadcasting and recording equipment, lighting, laser technology and special effects for the entertainment industry, stage, studio and event technology, and pro-audio and lighting-related computer hardware and software. As an entertainment venue in itself, the show will be accompanied by live performances and special events, including a DJ competition.

ProLight+Sound Shanghai is supported by several national and local cultural and trade associations as well as government bodies, including th

Professional audio systems specialist Shermann Pro-Audio has added a new name to its growing list of customers from Welsh theatres. The Newtown-based company, which designs and manufactures audio systems, has clinched a major order from the Taliesin Theatre in Swansea. Replacing the existing sound system in the theatre, Shermann Pro-Audio is to supply 10 Shermann loudspeakers, Chameleon amplifiers, brackets and a BSS digital speaker management system.

The contract follows on from recent sales to Theatr Clwyd in Mold, a longstanding Shermann user. The theatre has increased its stock of Shermann wedge speakers by adding four LM-301 low-profile models whilst four original Cub wedges have been refurbished to match the new units. "Being a Wales-based company, we are delighted to supply our range of products to a large percentage of the country's theatres," said Shermann Pro-Audio

As of LDI 2002 (18-20 October), TMB will be turning 20 years old, and is hosting a post-LDI Open House and 20 Anniversary Party at its brand new LA headquarters on Monday 21 October, TMB’s LA office will be open to visitors from around the world. Open House visitors will get to see TMB’s custom-built 40,000sq.ft facility, overlooking the Hansen Dam Golf Course in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley - just 10 minutes from the company's old Burbank location.

The facility features a unique one-room office and shipping/receiving area that enables all departments to easily interact; the two-story atrium is over 8,000sq.ft and embodies the spirit of teamwork at TMB. The facility’s 32ft high warehouse contains over a half-mile of small parts racking, plus enough space to house over 1,000 pallets on a VNA (very-narrow-aisle) pallet racking system, which utilizes a digital, wire-

Polaron Communications have been contracted to provide a public address and voice alarm (PA/VA) system integrated with a fire detection system, CCTV, access control disabled intercom and intruder alarm for Harvey Nichols and the landlord's areas of The Shambles in Manchester. Interfaces have been provided for later connection to retail shop units, for the propagation of fire detection signals.

Included in the specification is TOA’s new VS-900 intercom system. The Harvey Nichols store and 10 other retail units form the backbone of the transformation of the former Shambles West development in the city centre, along with a residential block. The PA and VA systems will provide secure, fail-safe and high intelligibility emergency speech broadcast to the Harvey Nichols areas and are fully compliant with BS5839 and all other relevant standards. The PA system in Harvey Nichols Department

Contracted by RSA Films to assist in the shooting of the trailer for the new James Bond film, Creative Technology helped construct an ingenious rig at Pinewood Studios, based on the new Barco G8 projector.

The Wandsworth-based technology company had good reason to call upon the G8 DLP projector in view of its high output (8000 ANSI lumens) matched with compact chassis and low mass. This, according to CT’s project manager, Richard Landen, enabled them to mount it via a CT hanging bracket to standard scaff poles and clamps, onto a Vinten heavy duty head, which in turn was attached to a standard Giraffe camera-mount crane. "The projector worked effortlessly 12 hours a day, over a four-day period - taking up positions inside the famous Bond cars," said Richard. "It was an innovative solution which was only made possible by the degree in which the technology has moved f

Edinburgh-based Prolyte distributor, Black Light, found that their Easter holidays were seriously disrupted this year due to the untimely intervention of BBC Scotland. The reason for the distraction was that the BBC needed a former warehouse to be converted in to a fully functional television studio at short notice. The new studio complex is required for an as-yet-unnamed new soap opera.

Black Light, in association with Scaffolding Great Britain, was asked to supply and install almost 600 metres of truss, so that a saturation lighting rig could be used on the set, thus enabling lighting designers to light every aspect of the studio area easily and efficiently. After a great deal of analysis, the BBC decided that Prolyte X30V triangular truss was the ideal product for this application, because of its good loading characteristics and ease of use due to the CCS conical coupling system.

Turbosound Ltd, the UK-based manufacturer of live performance and installed-sound loudspeaker systems, has announced the appointment of Sennheiser Electronic Corporation as its exclusive distributor for the USA and selected South American territories including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. The appointment of Sennheiser, based in Old Lyme, Connecticut, reflects the two companies' closely-aligned market strategies, with the Turbosound product ranges complementing Sennheiser's existing distributed lines, which include Innova SON digital mixing consoles.

Turbosound's Paul Giansante, who until recently managed the company's US office, has been appointed Turbosound product manager at Sennheiser, ensuring continuity of customer contact, service and design support. Paul will be responsible for all aspects of the Turbosound brand's sales and marketing in the US, reporting to Jeff Alexander, Sen

As the summer sun came out in London, Fourth Phase equipment was also out in full force on Clapham Common. School Fields, a joint venture by the creators of the ever-popular School Disco night-club events and Clear Channel Entertainment, saw a traditional sports day attended by over 8,000 people on July 14.

School Disco has been going for three years and has become the largest club night in Europe, with weekly events in Ibiza, Ayia Napa, London, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham. Its first outdoor event, School Fields sold 6,000 tickets in advance, with a further 2,000 sold on the door - school uniform and over 18's were the only entry requirements! The intention was to invoke the feel of the last day of school before the summer holidays and teams were encouraged to enter for the sports day events via the School Disco website.

Commissioned to bring the concept to life, creative agen

BSR E1.11, Entertainment Technology - USITT DMX512-A, Asynchronous Serial Digital Data Transmission Standard for Controlling Lighting Equipment and Accessories (CP/1998-1031r5.2), is now available for public review and comment. This document is an updating and revision of the widely used DMX512/1990, which was originally developed by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. Review materials may be obtained by visiting the ESTA website at www.esta.org/tsp/E1-11inst.htm, or by sending a request by email to the e-mail address below.

USITT's DMX512 is being revised in BSR E1.11 to clarify undefined and loosely defined provisions in the original document and to accommodate new lighting technology, while maintaining as much backward compatibility with products that comply with the existing standard as possible. The new

Marantz Professional Europe has announced the expansion of its direct distribution model to Germany, via a network of newly-appointed direct sales agents now contactable through the Marantz office in Osnabrück, in north-western Germany.

This represents an extension of the company’s direct service model already in place in the UK, Ireland and Benelux. European sales director Mark Perrins told us: "This new arrangement is good news for our professional clients in Germany as they will now receive direct personal service from product specialists. It also introduces a competitive price advantage which benefits both Marantz and our customers and promises to deliver increased market penetration in one of Europe’s most significant territories."

(Ruth Rossington)

Pioneer is planning a spectacular stand at this year's PLASA showcase; and the exhibition, held at Earls Court from 8-11 September 2002, promises to be the best yet. As well as showcasing their range of top-quality Pro DJ products, Pioneer is planning to unveil an exciting new product at the show aimed at all budding DJ's. One of the highlights of the show, Roger Sanchez will be performing in Pioneer's live DJ Booth. Let the professionals show you how it’s done - then try it for yourself! Also on the Pioneer stand will be competitions, give-aways and the opportunity to meet the man himself, Roger Sanchez.

Pioneer can be found on stand D40

Stage Electrics has acquired the Newcastle branch of the Lighting Technology Group from the company’s administrators Price Waterhouse Cooper. The intention is to convert the Newcastle office into a fully operational Stage Electrics branch immediately, focusing on the sales and installation markets in the region. Stage Electrics MD David Whitehead told us: "The opportunities are there and the staff are positive and raring to go, so we will put all of our efforts behind ensuring the full makeover is completed ASAP."

(Ruth Rossington)

A major new nightclub has opened in Washington DC to reveal a large number of Coemar lighting fixtures incorporated into the design. Installed by Washington Entertainment Technologies, the 7,500-capacity Dream, based in the northeast of the city, boasts five separate dance areas. Owner Marc Barnes originally hired another contractor but the venue was under-specified. He then turned to Washington Entertainment Technologies to instil the requisite amount of power and lighting. According to general manager and partner in Washington Entertainment, Frank Wilt: "There had been a meagre attempt at the lighting and they clearly needed something more significant. We ended up respecifying the entire club."

The solution lay in Coemar’s popular iSpot, supported by Coemar Digiscans. On the main dance floor, the fixtures are mounted on iBeam trussing, with the light sources concealed

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