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The Netherlands - In the last weeks of 2004, Audio Electronics Mattijsen (AEM), Meyer Sound's distributor in the Netherlands, opted to hold the first-ever Dutch training seminar for the Meyer Sound SIM 3 audio analyzer system on Spain's Gran Canaria, one of the sub-tropical Canary Islands. 14 engineers, including two AEM staff, headed for the sun, but Meyer Sound Technical Training Instructor Mauricio "Magu" Ramirez's intense program left the attendees with only the off-hours to actually enjoy the swimming pool. The course's final day focused on practical application of the SIM 3 system, during which the local theatre's audio system was optimized. All the attendees arrived on Gran Canaria either as certified SIM II engineers or having taken an earlier week-long, comprehensive "Compact Seminar," and all 14 left with SIM 3 certificates received at the swimming po

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The Netherlands - A CyberHoist / InMotion 3D motion control system is adding a key creative ingredient to the current tour by arch metal band Rammstein, which is due to run around the globe throughout 2005, taking in the UK in February beginning this week. With sales of their current album Reise, Reise already topping one million Rammstein are Germany's leading international rock act. No small feat for a band that sings almost exclusively in its native tongue, part of their success is founded upon a reputation for spectacular stage shows overflowing with wild pyrotechnics and fantastical lighting. This tour calls upon the twin talents of production designer Roy Bennett and CyberHoist/InMotion 3D, the PLASA Award-winning motion control system from XLNT Advanced Technologies.

"Since I first saw the system I've wanted to try it out," said Bennett. "Rammstein h

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USA - The USA's Entertainment Technician Certification Program Council has announced the appointment of Rigging Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). These people, all highly respected in their field, have agreed to volunteer considerable time to the development of the industry's first rigging certifications. Selected for their breadth and depth of knowledge, the SMEs will work closely with the Council's selected psychometric services provider, Applied Measurement Professionals (AMP), to develop the examinations.

The SMEs are: Roy Bickel, John Bleich, Eddie Blue, David Boevers, Olan Cottrill, James Doherty, Harry Donovan, Kelly Green, Glenn Hufford, Edward Kish, Stephane Mayrand, Joseph McGeough, Brian Miller, Walter Murphy, Rocky Paulson, G. Anthony Phillips, Eddie Raymond, Michael Reed, Bill Sapsis, Peter Scheu, Karen Seifried, Scott Sloan, Sammy Stokes, and Jack Suesse.

The SMEs

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UK - The Wales Millennium Centre (WMC), nestling at the water's edge of Cardiff Bay, which describes itself as 'the most exciting cultural initiative happening in Europe today', officially opened at the end of 2004, and attention to detail throughout the build was meticulous. Sound and lighting contractor Stage Electrics called upon the expertise and equipment of Ampetronic for an induction loop system to allow those with hearing disability to access audio through a substantial portion of the facility. The building contains 5,000 tonnes of structural steel which can absorb most of the energy from an induction loop system, while the floor of one of the main areas to be covered rests on steel sheets.

"Ampetronic performed a site survey at Easter of 2003," says Stage Electrics' Jonathan Porter Goff. "We'd worked with them before and we were very pleased to be workin

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UK - XL Video recently supplied projection and control for video artist and photographer David Buckland's inventive installation work in Somerset House, which is part of his wider Cape Farewell Arctic exploration project. It drew together artists, scientists and educationalists to collectively address and raise awareness of global warming. The projections - one of the art elements of the project - were beamed onto the Seaman's Hall facade of the main courtyard at Somerset House, at the end of the venue's famous winter ice rink, enjoyed this season by nearly 120,000 members of the skating public.

The installation, which ran every night for 10 days, was primarily an experimental exercise, designed to illustrate how this type of building projection will potentially translate into a much larger integrated Cape Farewell Festival event, planned for Somerset House in 2006. The technica

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USA - High End Systems customers have long benefited from equipment leases through FX Financial. Now, says High End, the rates have lowered even more with enhanced direct access to lower cost finance, now that FX Financial is a division of US Express Leasing.

"FX Financial has graded High End Systems lighting and control as 'excellent' collateral and offers monthly payments based in large part on the high resale value of the gear," says Alan Garretson of FX Financial. "This means we can offer High End Systems' U.S. clients the lowest monthly payment on any lighting gear in the industry." HES CFO Peter Duff commented, "We want to ensure our clients can afford the equipment they need. Offering lower monthly payments allows clients the flexibility at the outset to get the equipment needed quickly for that tour, theatre production or corporate show. Our par

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China - Strand Lighting Asia has announced that they have won a contract to supply a complete lighting and control system for the new Dongguan Opera House in China. The stunning new performing arts complex in Dongguan was designed by Canadian Architect Carlos Ott, whose projects have included the Bastille Opera House in Paris and the Canadian Broadcasting Center in Toronto.

The facility with an estimated cost of RMB 450 million is located on a 40,000sq.m site that houses two theatres. The main theatre is a 1,600-seat Opera House and also includes a 400-seat Experimental Theatre, featuring a fully flexible seating and staging system that can be configured to meet the needs of a wide range of performances.

Strand is supplying 21 dimmer racks to the project with a mix of dimmer module types including 64 3kW and 5kW Sinewave dimmers. There are nearly 1800 dimmers in the system. T

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UK - London based production house GSP Ltd appointed Drapes specialist Blackout and sound specialists Canegreen Commercial to help realise the setting for the film premiere of The Phantom Of The Opera, staged at the National Hall, Olympia. The movie is an adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's romantic stage musical.

Blackout's project manager Chris Brain collaborated with GSP's managing director Emma Gold and GSP's appointed set designer to dress the venue to their specifications. The set recreated in minute detail an opulent theatrical environment in the film's signatory red and black colours. To set the scene an eclectic mix of props was sourced both from the movie and GSP's creative team. The stage was crowned by a 5 x 8m 25,000-crystal chandelier supplied by Swarovski. As a finishing touch 1,000 black-edged red roses, supplied by Jayne Copperwaite, were suspended on fish

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Australia - Sydney's biggest New Year's Day party once again descended on the city with 20,000 people celebrating at Field Day 2005, and organisers Fuzzy selected Allen & Heath's MIDI-enabled Xone:92 DJ mixer for the plethora of top DJs to use. Since its inception 4 years ago, Field Day has changed the way Sydney celebrates the dawn of New Year - 12 hours of house, breaks, electro and hip hop at the Field Day. Fuzzy has a considerable depth of large scale event experience to call on, and the sheer quality of DJ talent reflected this with names including 2 Many DJs, Plump DJs, Tiga, Martin Solveig, James Zabiela, Ian Pooley, Miguel Migs, De La Soul, Black Grass, Matt B Safer, Meat Katie and Lee Coombs. Behind the very relaxed party atmosphere was a very serious production, not least in the engine room - the DJ booth.

"Because of the rapid turnarounds it was necessary to have

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UK - Celestion has unveiled its newly-revamped website (www.celestion.com), which has now doubled in size and been extensively redesigned. The announcement, says the company, comes as a direct result of its ongoing commitment to its guitar and professional audio end users. The site has undergone a radical redesign, fuelled by what Celestion calls 'a massive increase in traffic over the past eighteen months, coupled with a desire to provide even more targeted and useful information'. The site now splits into two distinct sections - pro audio and guitar loudspeakers.

The pro audio area incorporates in-depth product information on professional components, including the recently introduced FTR range of chassis, and sound reinforcement systems such as the QXi range.

(Mike Lethby)

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UK - Le Maitre has embarked on Green Day's UK tour, which started in Birmingham on 23 January and will take in all major cities in the UK, culminating at Glasgow's SECC on 10 February. The special effects for the tour are designed and created by Pyrotek Special Effects Inc, and feature Flashes, Flames, Fireballs and the 'Dragons' propane gas flame effect, as well as Le Maitre's Stadium Flash Reports.

Le Maitre is working closely with Pyrotek, supplying a full-time pyrotechnician on all the dates of the tour and dealing with the logistics and import permits for the pyrotechnics. Green Day and their special effects can be seen on the BBC's Top Of the Pops tonight (Friday 4 February), and at the 2005 Brit Awards next week.

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - Hummingbird Nest Ranch, a new world-class equestrian facility located 35 miles northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, has become the site of the world's first Soundweb London installation. Installed in November, two new CobraNet-equipped BSS BLU-80 units are now being utilised by the 140-acre ranch to provide digital signal processing and routing for up to a dozen different speaker zones. One of the DSP units is located in the 17,000sq.ft clubhouse's main audio rack, while the other is housed in a rack on castors designed to roll out to the judge's stand for events held in the Spotted Elk Ring, a 600ft x 300ft International Grand Prix field.

The BSS processor pair collectively interfaces with nine Crown CTs 600 amplifiers, all outfitted with IQ-PIP-USP3/CN cards, which drive approximately 30 JBL Control 30 loudspeakers in the primary and secondary arenas, clubhouse,

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USA - Color Kinetics Inc has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2004. Revenues for the quarter were $10.7 million, an increase of 39% from the $7.7 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2003. Net income for the fourth quarter increased to $626,000 or $0.03 per diluted share, compared to $50,000 or $0.00 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2003.

Revenues for the full year ended 31 December, 2004 were $40.2 million, an increase of 39% from the $28.8 million reported in 2003. Net income for the full year ended December 31, 2004 was $2.4 million or $0.14 per diluted share, compared to a loss of ($727,000) or $(0.26) per diluted share reported in 2003.

"2004 marked several milestones for Color Kinetics, both financially and technologically," says George Mueller, chairman and CEO. "We successfully completed an IPO, strengthened o

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UK - Autograph Sales Ltd, the UK's leading professional audio distributor, has supplied and installed a range of loudspeakers cabinets from EM Acoustics for England's groundbreaking Eden Project, Cornwall. The system was initially supplied for A Time of Gifts, a season of events that celebrated Christmas and other global festivals, all of which share many common themes. The events take place in the Warm Temperate Biome, and include the long awaited official Eden Project soundtrack First Breath. The soundtrack, which utilises the newly installed EM Acoustics system, is accompanied by a live performance three times a week - alongside a projected film journey.

Due to the size of the Biome, Mike Mann, Autograph Sales' project consultant, together with Lucy Gaskell, Eden Project's consulting technical manager, selected the 13 cabinets from EM Acoustics. EMS-81s, an EMS-

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UK - Serapid, the leading supplier of push-pull and lifting chains and Quick Die Change machinery, has announced the formation of Serapid Limited in the UK. The new company has been established to provide an improved level of sales and service to the UK and Scandinavian markets, which to date have not received the level of attention they deserve, say the company.

Mr. Said Lounis, owner of the Serapid Group, says: "The UK and Scandinavian markets are of strategic importance to the Group, and the formation of Serapid Limited is in response to the needs to provide a higher level of support to these markets for the purpose of achieving the level of sales that should be expected from these countries with their advanced industrial bases."

The company is jointly owned and will be run by Iain Forbester, who joins the company from the stage engineering industry, and who has

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Saudi Arabia - Represented by CEO Mr Nour Assafiri, Martin Professional Middle East (MPME) has appointed Al Salem Schreder Lighting, represented by its general manager, Mr Hatem Mawlawi, as the sole distributor for Martin Architectural products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Al Salem Schreder Lighting is a key manufacturer and supplier of a variety of highly technical lighting products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. The appointment is designed to fortify the Martin Architectural brand presence in the gulf region and extend the channels of distribution respectively.

(Mike Lethby)

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UK - Showsec celebrated at the Total Production Awards on Monday 31 January after winning the award for Favourite Security and Crowd Management Company. MD Mark Harding and his regional managers Mark Logan and Simon Battersby and London area manager Steve Reynolds took to the stage to accept the award together, highlighting the company's strong team ethos.

Mark commented: "It is fantastic to win an award and be recognized in your industry and I was delighted to accept it alongside my colleagues who have worked hard throughout the year to push standards forward in the company, creating a great nationwide team. This award recognizes the dedication of all our staff and their crowd management skills."

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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Dubai - Sennheiser UK is exhibiting for the first time at the PALME show from 24-26 April in Dubai and has taken a substantial stand. Located on Stand C111 in the Install area it will provide complete system solutions and the latest in new technology and innovation on show from Sennheiser, Neumann, Rane, D.A.S., Lab.gruppen, NetCIRA, APart and Rycote.

One of the key exhibits on the Sennheiser stand is the MKH series RF condenser microphones, the benchmark for many sound recordists and broadcasters. Designed for uncompromising professional use, Sennheiser's e900 series offers a choice for a wide range of vocal and instrument applications.

The e800 and e600 series is a complete range with vocal and instrument mics for bands, soloists, and presenters. Sennheiser's latest evolution G2 wireless systems, winner of the 2004 MIA Live Microphone Award, offer an advanced level of featur

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USA - The Downtown Seattle Association recently commissioned Morgan Sound to design and install a wireless distributed audio system outside at Benaroya Hall, the Harbor Steps and the Seattle Art Museum in downtown Seattle's West Edge Neighborhood. Three of the four outer walls of Benaroya Hall, the full city block home of the Seattle Symphony, and the south outer wall of the Art Museum have JBL indoor/outdoor speakers mounted facing the sidewalks and shops. At the Harbor Steps, the speaker system is located in a plaza-stairs-walkway area that connects First Avenue to the waterfront. With this system, pre-recorded music can be played into the active downtown area with a high degree of fidelity.

"The key to this system was the ability to distribute the audio wirelessly," states Steve Boyce, project manager at Morgan Sound. "We chose the Lectrosonics UM400 beltpack t

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Australia/Malaysia - Klotz Digital Asia Pacific announced its immediate appointment as distributor for Smart AV's Elite Series Smart Consoles in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia. Klotz Digital will sell Smart AV products through its extensive network of sales and service centres across the region.

Robert Smallwood, Smart AV's general manager operations and marketing, comments: "We are pleased to be working with Klotz Digital in the Asia Pacific region. The company has good coverage throughout the area and has a very conscientious and thorough attitude. Its strong technical background in digital audio and its readiness to configure our consoles with customers' choice of processing engine makes it an ideal partner for Smart AV."

Sales and support for the Asian region that includes China, India, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand will be

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UK - London's glamorous Thai-theme restaurant and club, the Sugar Hut, has opened a large sister venue in Brentwood, Essex. Housed in a lavishly renovated Grade I listed building, the Sugar Hut Village features a high-quality but completely invisible dancefloor and clubroom sound system from ElectroVoice.

Following the success of the original Sugar Hut in Fulham, London, owners Chris George, Gary Smith and Frazer Donaldson have taken on a 15th century coaching inn in the heart of Brentwood village. With its unique galleried courtyard playing an important role at the heart of the venue, the old hotel is now home to six different themed clubrooms, bars and restaurants. As a whole, the Sugar Hut Village holds nearly 900 people, dispersed through the Karma Bar, the Krug Suite, the Gallery Bar, the main restaurant, and other areas.

Having worked on the Sugar Hut in London and its s

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UK - When Celebrity Big Brother director Tony Gregory states that, "nowadays it's not about if we use an LED screen, but how we use it," he is emphasizing just how quickly this technology has become integrated into leading television spectaculars, reality shows and outside broadcasts. "It's now an essential part - not only of a show's fabric, but also of people's expectations," he says.

A veteran of staging Big Brother series Gregory worked closely with designer Patrick Watson, lighting director Al Gurdon and video technology suppliers Creative Technology (also BB veterans), to create a set in which the massive 4m x 2m Big Brother 'eye' icon was backlit, using 55 of Creative Technology's Element Labs Versa Tubes.

Both Gregory and Watson were united in emphasizing the level of technical support offered by CT, which enabled them to be mor

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Italy - Willy Gubellini, the owner of Nuovo Service of Bologna, one of Italy's most successful full-service rental firms, which for a long time has handled the technical set-up for the events by top Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, chose a pair of Outline Micra II SP for the artist's monitoring during the press conference held after the showcase to present his latest CD, 'Andrea', staged in November 2004 in the Tuscan tenor's home in Versilia, Tuscany.

According to Nuovo Service, the results achieved with the tiny Micra II SP was once again really convincing, to the great satisfaction of Gubellini, who once again received the acknowledgement of the artist's record company's representatives. Outline's Micra II SP is a compact enclosure which has gained a strong reputation in television studios and tours by some of Italy's top artists, say Outline.

(Lee Baldock)

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Macedonia - The annual Skopje Jazz Festival takes place in the capital city of Macedonia, and regularly attracts jazz luminaries from around the world to play for the loyal audience the festival has built over its 23-year history. The 2004 edition of the festival featured headliners from the USA (McCoy Tyner), Brazil (Rosalia de Sousa), and Nigeria (Femi Kuti & Positive Force), and also marked the event's first use of a Meyer Sound MILO high-power curvilinear array system.

Supplied by the city's own KLS Light and Sound, the new Meyer Sound MILO system demonstrates a heightened commitment on the part of the company - a long-time supplier to the Skopje festival - to offer the same sound quality as heard at Europe's better-known jazz meccas, such as Montreux. "We selected MILO because Meyer Sound systems are famous around the world for their sonic excellence," said Bosko

  1. FX Music invest in Martin Line Array
  2. Eat to the Beat Score a Hat Trick
  3. Scharff Weisberg teams with Electrosonic
  4. Acme Sound Partners choose DigiCo D5T
  5. Source Four Revolutions with Poppins
  6. New PLASA Show website launched
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