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UK - Lively south coast nightspot TJ's in Eastbourne is the first UK venue to receive JBL's powerful, new, low-profile AE series installation speakers. Arbiter Pro Audio, JBL's UK distributor, supplied the speakers to installers Accord Audio, based in Horam, East Sussex, who fitted out the system as part of the club's latest technical upgrade.

The dancefloor in TJ's main room now features four JBL AM6212/95 bi-amped speakers, complete with high-powered ASB6128 subs. The AM6212 is the most powerful of three types of speakers in the AE range. A major feature, and one of the enclosure's many innovative points, is its very low profile - a slim and elegant physical shape and size which make it an ideal solution for fitting into small spaces unobtrusively.

The sizing has been made possible because the enclosures have rotatable waveguides, enabling them to be just as easily be mounte

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USA - The redesigned Shure Incorporated website made its online debut recently with a showing of smart new graphics and an enhanced architecture. Including full product information, endorsing artist pages with exclusive backstage info, detailed product specifications, and an intuitive, easy-to-use Wireless Frequency Reference Guide, the site is a useful tool for everyone from seasoned touring pros and contractors to young musicians just starting out.

Site visitors will note that Shure.com is now organized into three primary content 'channels' - Products, Knowledge and Artists. One of the most noticeable elements within the site is its highlight of content dedicated to education and knowledge-sharing. The Solution Database found in the Knowledge channel provides in-depth answers to virtually any Shure-related question, and encourages users to add to that database by asking any qu

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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India - With bases in Hong Kong and India, Light Sound Image Ltd has developed a wide portfolio of high profile pan-Asia contracts. The company is the largest international AV consultancy group in India, which creates a hectic schedule for its audio-visual consultant Ian D Harris.

However, his life has been made easier with the discovery of the BSS 9088 Soundweb networked digital matrix system, which he used for the first time recently on installations for the ITC Sheraton Hotel Group in India. LSI won a competitive tender to provide an AV solution for two Irish pubs, situated within the Sheratons in Delhi and Kolkata (Calcutta). With Irish theming, these act essentially as fun pubs, but with a dancefloor and potent sound systems.

Ian Harris was asked to support LSI's Delhi-based Systems Integration Division and programme Soundweb for the two installations. "Although I ha

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UK - Leading sound, lighting and AV designer and installer Metropolis AV and FX has completed the design, supply and install of an entire lighting, sound and AV system at the new Sports Café in Manchester.

The £1.2 million project sees the conversion of a utilitarian 1960's office block in Quay Street, central Manchester, into an 1600-capacity sports-themed environment on two levels. Facilities include bar/dining areas with a large dancefloor, a mezzanine chill-out/games area with 16 pool tables, a Team Room used for private functions and, behind a laminated glass wall but clearly visible from the street, a basketball practice area - for those wanting a bit of physical exertion mixed with their energy drinks.

The Sports Café's technical infrastructure was designed by Metropolis's Simon Harris, working directly for Sports Café. The client specifically

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UK - White Light has been appointed a UK dealer for Selecon, the New Zealand-based manufacturer of stage and architectural lighting equipment. The full range of Selecon's stage lighting products - including Pacific, Acclaim and Compact - are now available from White Light Sales. Enliten, the White Light Group's architectural lighting specialist, becomes a UK distributor for Selecon's Ardiis range of architectural lighting products.

White Light has been involved with Selecon's equipment for some years, supplying it when requested by lighting designers. Most notably, White Light supplied the first Pacific 80V system in the UK to David Hersey for a projected window effect in My Fair Lady, currently playing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

The addition of Selecon to White Light Sales' stock means that White Light can now offer customers lanterns from all of the major lighti

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UK - Popstars - The Rivals, the hit ITV1 show presented by Davina McCall and the latest musical success story following Pop Idol, appeared on the UK's TV screens for 10 weeks at the end of 2002. The show provided an exciting challenge for television lighting specialist RML, working with lighting designer Mike Sutcliffe, or 'Sooty', as he is otherwise known in the industry.

Sutcliffe's choice of lighting was largely determined by the set that was designed by Marcus Blee. His original thoughts were to use rope lighting in the actual set to provide lines of light, however Sutcliffe realized this to be a great opportunity to use a large number of Pulsar ChromaBanks - 65 in total. To complement the ChromaBanks, 36 ChromaPanels (which were also rope lights in the original plans) were built into the ceiling and catwalk area of the stage. Sutcliffe says these were "perfect for usin

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New Zealand - At the end of 2002, the eagerly anticipated second instalment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Two Towers, premiered in New Zealand, where the majority of the filming took place. XTA played its own part when Wellington-based Western Audio Engineering provided the sound along the red carpet at Courtenay Place in central Wellington, with an XTA SiDD at the heart of the system.

By day Courtenay Place is normally one of Wellington's busiest streets, and premier day saw over 15,000 Wellingtonians greeting the stars at this prestigious occasion. Western Audio is one of New Zealand's leading sound providers and, under the direction of Andy Craig, they provided both the people and technologies to stage this well-executed event, with two main Electro-Voice X-Array systems controlled by XTA DP226 processors, and the linking distributed system time-aligned with an additi

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UK - Live video exponent XL Video and large format projection specialist E//T//C UK worked together to create an exciting, fast-moving backdrop for the Live Arena at the 2003 Autosports Show at the NEC. They were working for event producers The PMi Partnership on this popular autosports show. Staged in the NEC's Hall 4, Autosports Live featured a breathtaking, action packed, auto stunts show highlighting the most technologically advanced racing machines in the world. Five hour-long shows a day were attended by approximately 22,500 visitors over four days.

With the arena in landscape format, and the audience placed along one of the long sides, the visual requirement was to create a dramatic 250ft wide backdrop that changed scenes and locations opposite the seating stands. Screens for XL's live video camera shoot also had to be located in optimum positions for public viewing.

PM

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UK - AV8 is a remarkable new venue situated adjacent to the mile-long runway at Kemble Airfield in Cirencester. Owner Ronan Harvey has just celebrated quite a month, having successfully negotiated for the classic Gnat jet, owned by Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour, achieved a CAA licence, enabling him to operate as a commercial airfield, and successfully converted the former fire station into his new luxury bar/restaurant.

Harvey contacted an old interior design friend, Simon Radclyffe of Radclyffe Associates, to combine an Indonesian theme with an Airfix kit leitmotif - using the fabric and large ribs to soften the vibrancy of the wonderful terracotta, yellow and dark blues, hand-painted by local artist/sculptress Joanne Walker.

Manic Street Preachers' LD, Ollie Metcalfe, provided clever theatrical dichroic trackspot lighting, controlled by Hans Beier's CAV (who also provided the Ma

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China - Music China, the international trade fair for musical instruments and services (15-18 October 2003, Shanghai) will this year be joined by ProLight+Sound Shanghai. At the same time, the organizers have announced that the show will include a British Pavilion, organized in conjunction with the UK's Music Industries Association (MIA) and Trade Partners UK.

The second Music China event is already generating great interest from manufacturers and so far over 120 companies have been confirmed as exhibitors or have made serious expressions of interest, say the organizers. The exhibition will be joined by a new international exhibition in China for the professional audio and entertainment lighting industry, ProLight+Sound Shanghai. ProLight+Sound Shanghai will be positioned as a professional marketing platform for manufacturers of sound production, broadcasting and recording equip

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UK - CSS Stellar Plc has successfully acquired the specialist audio-visual suppliers BackPorch Ltd. They have incorporated them into the event services division of the group, which also includes ARB. The CSS Stellar Group, Britain's largest independently owned sports and entertainment, events and management company, has made a few carefully targeted acquisitions as they expand their portfolio of companies. The addition of BackPorch into ARB will significantly strengthen its existing event services division; in particular, it will add both specialized equipment and staff to key areas as part of the restructuring of the company.

BackPorch, a specialist AV supplier, whose services included signal distribution, sound, and vision systems for an impressive client and event list, including Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship, Stella Artois Tennis, MTV European Music Awards and the Open

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UK - Last February, A.C. Lighting Projects Divison were awarded the contract to design, supply, and install state-of-the-art production facilities into a major new educational venue. The ultra-modern facilities include a 300-seat theatre, main hall, lecture theatre, sound studio, media centre and dance studio, fitted out with industry standard products.

The entire installation involved more than 200 product lines from industry leading manufacturers, including ETC, Strand, Aldo Ianiro, Manfrotto, Audio-Technica, Sennheiser, Soundcraft, Allen & Heath, Denon and Martin. The company provided not only the complete lighting, audio and AV systems but also bespoke solutions, by the design and installation of three multimedia control lecterns, tailored for each facility's specific requirements.

Each lectern has an integrated LCD touch-screen, offering the user access to a comprehensive

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UK - This week, the Total Production 2003 Awards were once again held in the Monarch Suite at the Hilton Metropole in London's Edgware Road. Among the evening's highlights was the appearance of Motorhead frontman Lemmy as guest presenter for the first three awards.

Over 1,200 voting forms from readers of Total Production determined the results of 16 of the 20 awards, which were variously sponsored by Rock-It Cargo, Midas, Klark Teknik, Star Hire, Martin Professional, Clay Paky, Barco, High End Systems, Shure, EFM and Chapman Freeborn.

Damon Albarn, the Blur and Gorillaz frontman made a special appearance at the lectern to pay a heartfelt tribute to tour manager Terry Coyle, who tragically died whilst on the road last November. "I'll always be looking for Terry for his support and guidance," said Albarn. "He was a good friend to me and to many people in this room

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USA - Grammy Award-winning recording engineer Geoff Emerick and audio equipment manufacturer Shure Inc have been named recipients of the 2003 Technical Grammy Award, in an announcement by the Recording Academy. The Technical Grammy Award is presented to individuals and/or companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. Formal acknowledgment of the Technical Grammys will be made on 22 February at an event prior to the 45th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony.

"The creative fearlessness of Geoff Emerick and the immeasurable contribution that Shure Incorporated has made to the world of audio are the achievements of true visionaries," said Producer & Engineers Wing director Leslie Lewis. "Emerick's groundbreaking and skillful techniques continue to inspire generations and Shure's audio equipment consistently sets the stand

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UK - The Blue Room is a brand new web discussion forum, set up by two keen, dedicated industry professionals, where advice may be sought and offered by anybody working in, entering or just plain interested in any aspect of life behind the scenes in the Entertainments Industry. All are welcome to visit and browse, and register as members should they wish to take part in discussions and debates about industry issues.

Forums have been created for all major industry disciplines, as well as for students, health & safety and useful outside sources of information, all alongside a place to just chat with other like-minded people. There is also a private messaging facility, where members may communicate with each other personally. Up-to-date security measures, together with sensitive, responsive moderation of the forums, help to maintain a relaxed and friendly atmosphere in which people

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UK - Badly Drawn Boy gained recognition with 'The Hour of the Bewilderbeast' and for creating the entire film soundtrack for About a Boy." Recently, the group has been touring to support their newest CD, 'Have You Fed the Fish?' For the 2002/early 2003 run in small theatres and clubs, the band recreated their album graphics onto a backdrop. Several circular screens provide space for High End Systems' Catalyst system projection.

Badly Drawn Boy's LD David Farmer wanted to use two Catalyst systems, but decided on just one for a variety of reasons. Because the group is relatively new, and because shows were in a small 2,000-3,000 venue capacity, Farmer needed to keep costs down. To save where he could, he specified and programmed the Catalyst system himself, and persuaded a few of his colleagues into generating special video and still footage.

Says Farmer: "To ma

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UK - Orange, in association with Esquire and Harpers and Queen, launched the Orange Business Awards 2002 in celebration of the best of Britain's entrepreneurial talent. This year, staging automation specialist Stage Technologies has announced that they have not only been nominated but also short-listed for the 'Excellence in Exporting' category with their managing director, Mark Ager, also in the frame for the Businessman of the Year award.

The formal judging day took place in early January when an expert panel of leading figures from industry and business met to decide the winners of each category. However, the results are to be kept under tight wraps until the award ceremony due to take place early next week at Le Meridian Hotel in Russell Square, London.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - PLASA presented a cheque for £150.00 to Harry Crowder for successfully completing the BTEC General Theatre Technician Award, which is delivered through the AETTI and Loughborough College. Crowther, stage manager at Bedworth Civic Hall, was attracted to the course because it gave him the opportunity to gain a recognized qualification, whilst continuing in employment.

The General Theatre Technician course is run over three days and costs £350.00. Harry has gone on to attend the BTEC Stage, Lighting, Rigging and Operation Award which the AETTI have recently launched. Peter Coleman from Stage Electrics and Jason Larcombe from White Light are tutoring on the new course. For more information about course dates and times contact Chris Garner on 01509 618377 or e-mail chris.garner@lou.ac.ukThe money comes from the sum raised by the Product Excellence Awards at the PLASA

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Denmark - Martin Architectural recently held a two-day seminar in northern Denmark for representatives from some of its most active architectural markets - a mix of subsidiaries, affiliates and distributors from the Middle East, Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavia, the US, and other areas.

Scandinavian lighting company Louis Poulsen also sent a representative after the announcement last week of a cooperative agreement in which the company will sell Martin's architectural line of products in the Scandinavian market. All told, the Martin Architectural team, headed by International sales director Gorm Teichert, hosted some 30 guests. Held on 23-24 January in the distinctive natural environment of northern Denmark, the informal seminar had as its backdrop the unique quality of light in Skagen that has been the inspiration of artists for centuries.

The main purpose of the seminar w

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USA - The City of Meridian has renamed a portion of Mississippi Highway 493 in honour of Hartley Peavey, founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics, in a ceremony at Peavey International Headquarters on 31 January. Officials from the City of Meridian and Lauderdale County joined the Peavey family and employees in celebrating the accomplishments of Hartley and his company during their first 38 years of business. The new Hartley Peavey Drive runs in front of Peavey International Headquarters, stretching from nearby North Hills St. to Meridian's northern city limits.

Hartley Peavey commented: "This is truly an honour, but while it is my name on the sign, all of this certainly was not just my doing - I am merely the catalyst. Together, we're expanding our horizons and changing our products and methods. We're doing the only thing we know: innovating."

Mayor John Robert Smith p

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UK - A Cerwin-Vega Intense! rig has been installed into landmark Birmingham nightclub, The Dome. First Leisure's former award-winning 3,000-capacity club is now under the private ownership of Dome Leisure Ltd, and when contracts and design manager Tim Matthews approached local retailer/installers, Matthews Electronics, they recommended the Cerwin rig - distributed in the UK by Lamba plc - as part of a complete sound and lighting solution.

The company re-used the serviceable equipment (redeploying some of the existing speakers as fills) and specified a powerful amplifier rack to drive the 21k Intense T250/T36 rig, which drives the main dancefloor system. The system is based around a QSC PL9.0 - to drive the four ground-stacked Cerwin Vega T36s and four S218 subs - and Powersoft DIGAM 7000 and DIGAM 5000 amps to run the T250 mid/highs (these are flown, using Matthews' own bespoke

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UK - Automation specialists Andy Cave of Entertainment Innovations and Dave Weatherhead of Gravity Control have joined forces to establish Kinesys, a new company providing motion control and automation systems.

Kinesys is dedicated to providing fully featured, high quality products to cater for all motion control requirements. The standard, modular product range includes control equipment for motors, hydraulics, pneumatics and steppers, as well as a full range of power distribution equipment, emergency stop modules and high speed networking products. All this is controlled by a similarly in-depth range of controllers from the top-of-the-range PC-based Vector control system to the single-axis Pulse controller. All equipment is designed to integrate simply and seamlessly to provide a quick to assemble, quick to program, flexible and reliable control solution.

Kinesys products ar

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Sweden - Tomcat UK recently hosted a Hoist School at Woodlite Sweden A.B. in Karlstad, Sweden. The one-day event consisted of motor instruction led by Jim Marshall of Tomcat UK which included the stripping and reassembly of a one ton CM Lodestar chain hoist to demonstrate trouble-shooting techniques. The hoist school was requested by Woodlite to improve their employees' ability to work with Columbus McKinnon motors. A number of Hoist and Rigging workshops are planned for other countries in Europe, and Tomcat UK will conduct workshops on request.

(Ruth Rossington)

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UK - Lighting director Darryl Noad uses over 200 Martin luminaires on the UK reality TV show Fame Academy, in which 12 students entered a training academy for 10 weeks to learn how to sing and dance. Noad comments: "The brief the producers gave me was for the show to look more like an 'event' that we were filming and less like a TV show," Darryl stated. Working with producer Lisa Chapman and director Tony Gregory, both of whom he has worked with before on several projects, Noad chose a variety of Martin gear to produce the desired look, including MAC 2000 Performances, MAC 2000 Profiles, MAC 600 NTEs, Exterior 200s and RoboColor Pro 400s. AFM Lighting of London supplied all lighting fixtures.

"The studio set was designed by Peter Bingemann, who is a joy to work with," says Noad. "He built walkways and staircases backstage and raised the whole stage 2.5 m

  1. A.C. Lighting completes acquisition of Spectrum
  2. Bernie Davis to present Trotter Paterson Lecture
  3. ADB-TTV management buyout
  4. A first for Gearhouse at Miss South Africa
  5. Simon Brophy charged in Dome fraud enquiry
  6. Yugoslavian sales for MC2 Audio
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