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Business

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Hong Kong - The tourism industry is one of the major pillars of Hong Kong’s economy, which is why its Government has initiated plans to upgrade the major tourism clusters of Hong Kong.

Sydney-based Laservision Macro-Media was commissioned by the Hong Kong Tourism Commission last August to draw up a harbour lighting report. The report was wide-ranging, and covered the architectural lighting of Hong Kong’s landmark buildings (as well as opportunities for regular lighting shows in Victoria Harbour), the inclusion of a night-time attraction, and an assessment of current lighting pollution. As a result of the report, the Hong Kong Tourism Commission promptly decided to showcase some of the lighting techniques to be employed under Laservision’s plan during the Chinese New Year holidays. China Light and Power agreed to offer sponsorship to ensure the trial became a r

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Italy - Outline’s Doppia and Spectra enclosures were used recently for the Viareggio Carnival, one of the most famous and colourful Italian shows in the world, attended this year by over 100,000 people. Michele Brudaglio’s Sound Service rental firm, based in Pisa, fitted out a float - one of the most impressive - with the Outline sound system, achieving an enormous concentration of power and sound pressure in a small space, say Outline. The system consisted of Doppia and four Spectra enclosures, four Victor Live subwoofers and four Stackbass upper bass units, all powered by Series T digital power amps and controlled by Outline Genius 6 digital processors. Power came from a single power generator on the deck of the float.

(Lee Baldock)

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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UK - Stagetec has announced the introduction of a Reseller Advantage Programme, aimed at expanding the company’s reseller sales base. Stagetec is the exclusive UK importer and distributor for leading brands such as Compulite and LSC, and the scheme begins with dealers of these ranges.

The scheme will build on the company’s philosophy of after-sales service, and Stagetec will offer access to its reputation in these fields, plus the company’s considerable resources and expertise, as part of a value-added package to its resellers. Benefits of Stagetec’s Reseller Advantage Programme include the utilization of Stagetec’s engineers and programmers for product demonstrations and training, the supply of demo stock when available and use of the 24-hour Technical Support Line. Technical and creative advice and assistance will also be available from Stagetec v

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UK - Students in the third and final year of their acting course at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts recently performed a production of The Tempest at the Academy, under the direction of Debbie Seymour, head of Mountview’s Directing course.

The technical crew were students on the two-year fast-track BA Honours Degree in Technical Theatre, which is validated by Middlesex University. The production brings the action of Shakespeare’s play forward to the 1920s, using the period’s developments in the fields of quantum physics and genetics as the background for Prospero’s grasp of ‘magic’. It was also decided to use moving projection to visually characterize the ‘masque’ aspects of the play.

Mountview strives to give its students access to the latest technology, and this production has taken them to the leading edge of stage projectio

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China - IIR Exhibitions and its joint partners, China Theatrical Equipment Association (CTEA) and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Beijing Sub-Council (CCPIT) have announced the postponement of CALM Expo 2003, which was due to take place in Beijing from 16-19 May 2003. The decision was made following requests from several exhibitors to postpone the exhibition to a later date in view of the SARS outbreak in China and in response to the new SARS statistics released from China over the weekend.

The organizers told us: "Our attendees’ health and safety is our utmost concern, therefore we have decided to postpone the event to a later date. We are currently looking at another suitable date as many exhibitors have indicated that . . . the exhibition is very important for their business." Details of the new dates will be confirmed in due course.

T

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USA - SoundField and Soundelux have come together as the microphone ‘Dream Team’. Surround sound mic manufacturer and distributor, SoundField, have taken on worldwide distribution, excluding the USA, of the critically acclaimed Soundelux range of valve and FET microphones.

Hand-built in Hollywood, with an uncompromising commitment to quality and workmanship, Soundelux have developed a comprehensive range of professional grade microphones. Such models as their ELUX 251, E47, U99 and IFET 7 recreate the sound attributes of the sought after vintage classics.

Pieter Schillebeeckx, SoundField International Sales, stated: "The Soundelux products don’t compete with any of our models. Our own SoundField multi-capsule technology is aimed firmly at the stereo and surround sound market, particularly in Broadcast. Soundelux’s popularity with so many high profi

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UK - Specialist AV company Blitz is supplying sound equipment for a new theatre production Jus' Like That! celebrating the life of comedian Tommy Cooper. It has just opened at The Garrick theatre in London's West End for an open-ended run. As the show contains many of Cooper's original routines, it was essential not only to select the right sound equipment, but also to ensure that it remained unobtrusive and did not overshadow the star of the show.

Mike Walker, sound designer, explained: "Initially we carried out some rehearsals without any vocal reinforcement with the intention of seeing if we could maintain the intimacy of a play. In order for the comedy routines to fully work we found the reinforcement was necessary. We reconfigured the speaker system and added two Sennheiser SK5012 radio mics."

The production has four musical numbers and the music was spec

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UK - The Rosco ImagePro was recently used by Matt Veitch in a production of Ibsen’s play The Lady from the Sea - a play described by one of his contemporaries thus: "There is thrown over the whole play a glamour of romance, mystery, of landscape beauty." These are appealing words for a lighting designer, says Veitch. This particular production was lit for ArtsEd and directed by Christine Kimberley.

When asked why he chose the ImagePro, Veitch said: "The set designer had put together a design which was very austere, abstract and two-dimensional. I figured the lighting task fell into three categories. Firstly to create and reflect the environment of the play within this stage setting, secondly to create locations within this that would have their own identity and thirdly to provide the dramatic support the piece required.

"My choice of ImagePro c

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Brazil - The Jordan Ford Formula 1 racing team’s first Grand Prix win of this season’s F1 championship was aided by driver Giancarlo Fisichella’s custom-designed earpiece created by in-ear monitor pioneers Garwood. Fisichella wears a specially shaped earpiece, developed by Garwood, that maximises the intelligibility of radio instructions given by Jordan Ford’s technicians. Garwood founder Chrys Lindop explains that a unique solution was required to the acoustical problems encountered while racing at 200mph (322kph) or more.

"The communications systems in the cars," he says, "are designed primarily with two factors in mind: intelligibility and reliability. The outcome of a race might hang on a driver hearing an instruction or warning clearly and being able to react instantly to it."

Garwood used its unique version of dual driver techn

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UK - SSE recently supplied Irish PA company Alan Nolan & Sons with a substantial Nexo Geo-S system for Irish star Daniel O’Donnell’s sold-out show at London’s Royal Albert Hall. SSE’s relationship with Alan Nolan (who supply all of Daniel O’Donnell’s shows) goes back many years, and they have always turned to SSE to rent systems for Daniel at the RAH. In the past the systems have been Nexo Alpha. This was the first time that the super-compact Geo-S system has been specified.

According to SSE’s Emma Barwell, Nolans were very impressed by Geo-S when they came over in January for a demo of both Geo-S and the new Geo-T. "While they’d always been very happy with the performance of the Alpha system, it does have quite a rock and roll profile, but Daniel isn’t really a rock and roll act, so when they saw the Geo-S, they were de

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UK - The recently downsized S Club are out on the road again, as part of a major UK arena tour. Working with production director Chris Vaughan of CV Productions, LSD/Fourth Phase is providing the lighting (Pete Barnes is again LD), Britannia Row the sound (including an EAW line array speaker system and flown subs) and XL Video the video equipment. The sets were designed by Hattie Spice and the set construction was a collaboration between Brilliant Stages, Total Fabrications and Hangman Backdrops, whilst the spectacular inflatable for the cave scene was built by Air Artists.

The tour features an integrated show performed by both S Club Juniors and Seniors, with the Juniors’ high-action set kick-starting the evening’s entertainment. The live camera mix is directed by Blue Leach, working with an XL team of five. Leach was also involved in creating most of the Seniors&r

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UK - The Production Show has announced that over 100 free workshops will run throughout the three day show from 20th - 22nd May 2003, at the National Hall, Olympia. After the success of last year's workshops, attended by a record number of 2997 people, the show has introduced two new elements to its workshop offering.

This year will see the launch of the Video Editing workshops and Animation & VFX workshops - all free of charge. Over three days a series of professional training workshops will be run in partnership with Soho Editors. Manufacturers such as Apple, Media 100, Discreet, Softimage and Quantel will focus on how individuals can enhance both basic and advanced editing skills with specific sessions focused on producers and directors.

The Learning Zone and Work Zone is being run by Skillset working in partnership with BECTU, offering careers advice and information to th

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Sweden / Denmark - PLASA Media is lending its support to two seminar sessions with leading lighting and production designer Marc Brickman. The seminars, organized by Masters of Light, will take place in Stockholm on 11 June and in Copenhagen on 12 June.

Brickman's credits over his 25 year career include Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, the Barcelona and Nagano Olympic Games Ceremonies, Steven Spielberg's 'AI' and the new 'Cat in the Hat' movie. Current projects include the new touring production of the Blue Man Group and Matchbox 20.

Masters of Light, in conjunction with PLASA Media, is offering a 15% discount to anyone registered on PLASA Media’s free weekly News Headlines mailing list. Anyone wishing to take advantage of this offer should register their interest by e-mailing news@plasa.org, from the same e-

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Australia - Spanish loudspeaker manufacturer D.A.S. Audio's systems have been used in the refurbishment of two famous hotels in South Australia. Built in the early 1800s, the Lion and Royal Hotels conserve the elegance of the period while integrating the latest in sound reinforcement systems.

D.A.S. distributor for Australia, Magna Systems & Engineering, provided the numerous D.A.S systems for BSS Light & Sound, responsible for the installation of the products in two of the most historic and well-known hotels in the city of Adelaide. The recently-renovated Lion Hotel has installed D.A.S. Factor and Dynamics series products throughout.

At The Lion, while a modern glass and chrome bar complements the bluestone facade which is a landmark in North Adelaide, the barn-like drinking hall of the early 80s and the gloomy eating areas of the past have gone - replaced with a stylish rest

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UK - DHA Design Services (a sister company to DHA Lighting) has emerged the winner in the Lighting Design Awards’ Public Buildings category, for its lighting design for the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.

The judges for the Lighting Design Awards, organized by Lighting Equipment News magazine and the Institution of Lighting Engineers, noted that the lighting design within the Daniel Libeskind-designed building "had to transmit the necessary atmosphere - abstract light slashes punctuate the ceiling, while large objects such as armoured vehicles and a Harrier Jump Jet are modelled using theatrical projectors."

The winning design made extensive use of DHA Lighting gobos, both custom designs and stock gobos from the company’s standard range. "Gobos can have a magical effect," notes DHA Design’s Adam Grater, "and for the sections

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UK - Sennheiser UK has announced the launch of its third annual Best Unsigned Artist Contest. The contest aims to promote live performance and original songwriting and goes into its third year following its success in 2002, having attracted over 1200 entries from all over the UK. Culminating in a grand final, in front of an audience of several thousand, Best Unsigned Artist 2003 is a featured event at the internationally famous Balloon Fiesta in Bristol.

Sennheiser UK director of marketing John Steven describes the initiative as "a means of establishing closer contact with up and coming performing artists," commending the contest as a way of "genuinely trying to help bands and artists who don’t fall into the category of manufactured pop idol. The live music industry depends on the continuing development of new performing artists for its survival," conti

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The Netherlands / Belgium - Dutch show control company Ground Zero BV has announced that it has become the Dutch and Belgian dealer for the E:CUE lighting and show control system. The E:CUE system consists of hardware - the 19" Media-player, the Fader-unit, and several different DMX output dongles - and the Windows-based E:CUE control and programmer software, which can be used as a live lighting controller or as a programmer for the Media-player.

Ground Zero is also the dealer for Richmond Sound Design (sound and show control software and hardware), Pathway (DMX networks), Medialon (show control software), CompuCall (DMX controls with Dect telephones). The company’s own products include the Ground Control Console (stage manager’s desk) and the Kiss Box (controller networks) series.

(Lee Baldock)

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The Netherlands / Germany - After a successful launch of the new Alcons brand at the Frankfurt Pro Light+Sound exhibition in March, Dutch sound system manufacturer Alcons Audio has expanded into Germany with the founding of Alcons Audio Deutschland GmbH.

The move involves an agreement between Alcons Audio and Carsten Albrecht, with Albrecht to act as sales and technical support manager of Alcons Audio Deutschland. In this role, he will be responsible for client contacts, technical support and project management. Alcons Audio Deutschland will be operating from Kassel.

Albrecht, a musician at heart, worked for Stage Accompany Germany for almost nine years, providing service, installation and application support. "Advanced technology, teamwork and a unique sound are for me absolute necessities in my work," he says. "Therefore I’ve decided to take this very im

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UK - Arbiter Pro Audio has supplied installation company The Music Room with a large quantity of JBL speakers for an innovative project at a massive new Chinese restaurant/noodle bar - Hong Kong City - in new Cross, south east London.

Hong Kong City’s owner, Mr Su, acquired the site - formerly a dusty old pub - and had it completely gutted and transformed it into a lively, bustling new venue seating 300-plus people. Packed to the gunnels throughout the week, Hong Kong City is capitalizing on the current community-wide trend for Asian fast food and haute cuisine.

A high quality sound system was an essential element of the mix: Su turned to Gordon Gapper from the Music Room to produce a system appropriate for the environment, in which karaoke is also a key element of the evening’s entertainment. Music Room’s Dean Watkin then produced the sound design and specif

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UK - Drapes and rigging specialist Blackout was recently appointed by London-based Production House PAV, to help realise the dramatic set for a sensational one-off club night - The King of Clubs - for brand giants Budweiser.

Staged at London’s famous Old Billingsgate market, the event concept was inspired by the Budweiser King of Beers’ commercial, and King of Clubs was the culmination of a point-of-sale campaign by the company. Re-igniting the spontaneous party spirit of the late 1980’s rave scene, over 3,000 invited guests met at a central London location, before being whisked away by boat to Billingsgate - the first time the venue has been used as a club.

Blackout’s Project Manager, Chris Brain collaborated with Paul-Ant Viollet of PAV Productions, to realise his design, which took references from the ad campaign. Blackout provided massive quantiti

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UK - Lightfactor Sales has supplied leading sound, lighting and AV installation company CGA with an new lighting rig to revamp the famous Pantiles nightclub in Camberley, Surrey.

Pantiles, owned by independent local entrepreneur Bob Archer, has maintained its popularity thanks to a flexible mainstream music and door policy. CGA’s Chris Gunton has been supplying equipment, service and technical support to Pantiles for some years. The club’s current manager, Matt Highton comes from an engineering background and therefore understands the importance of good technology and production values.

Last year, it was time to upgrade Pantiles’ moving light system, so Gunton suggested Highton take a good look at what was available at PLASA 2002. When he reached Lightfactor’s stand and saw the SGM fixtures, he knew he’d found the moving lights he wanted! "

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USA - Apogee loudspeakers were used for the first time to provide live sound at the Independent Film Producers' (IFP) Independent Spirit Awards ceremony. The event, held March 22, hosted 1,300 guests and 350 members of the international press in a large tent on a beach in Santa Monica, CA. Twenty Apogee AE-5 loudspeakers and eight Apogee SSMs were used to provide sound for the audience.

"Providing quality sound in a tent can be difficult," said Bruce Burns, sound designer and audio co-ordinator for show. "We couldn't use trusses, so special mounting brackets had to be fabricated to affix the Apogee AE-5s to the tent poles. This arrangement could have compromised coverage, but with the AE-5s, the coverage was excellent."

Since the 1990s, the veteran Hollywood sound designer has selected Apogee for large-scale events including the Grammy Awards, Golden Glob

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USA - The RADlite, from UK company IRAD, is a brand new Media Server; a fully configurable, DMX-controlled image and video manipulation system. It allows the creation and playback of images and video with added effects, shapes, colour palettes, and movement -controlled in real-time by a regular DMX lighting console.

Mountain View Staging of Salt Lake City has made the bold move of purchasing the first RADlite in the US. The system, supplied by US RADlite distributor TMB, debuted on April 11 at a dance performance in the 22,000-seat Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. Mountain View designers programmed RADlite to manipulate images and video on a backdrop 55 feet wide by 30 feet high! Lighting designer Benjamin Sanders selected a variety of stock images and video, plus client photos, RADlite onboard graphics, and custom-created images. The programming for RADlite and the show’s

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UK - Building on the success of his former company ISE, Glen Smith has launched Glen Smith Audio. The new company will offer select, high quality, new and used equipment, as well as acting as a specialist brokerage service.

"GSA will select a portfolio of niche products, rather than present products just to fill inventory gaps," said Smith. "We will concentrate all our efforts on our targeted customers, who we believe will appreciate a more dedicated and professional approach. By limiting the product range, we can concentrate wholly on support and promotion to clients.

GSA will also offer an equipment valuation service, thereby capitalizing on Smith’s established reputation with finance houses and audio companies, as a valuer and consultant for pro-audio equipment. Smith’s third string is alliances - Smith has already forged a partnership with Midas

  1. Zap Audio installs Nexo GEO in Geneva Stadium
  2. ProLight+Sound Shanghai/Music China 2003
  3. Busy spring season for Brit Row
  4. grandMA opens Washington DC Convention Center
  5. ETC Emphasis proves a big hit with black light
  6. Turbosound infiltrates San Francisco's W Hotel
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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
Sennheiser - MPU - June 2025

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