Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Business

Details
UK - APR Audio showcased one of the biggest PA systems ever assembled in a dance tent, at the recent Homelands Festival in the south of England. Entirely comprising Electro-Voice and Klark Teknik/Midas products, the sound system in The Movement Tent was predominantly X-Line, as one would expect from APR, one of the UK's leading EV rental houses.

For a line-up that included some of the world's best drum 'n' bass DJs and MCs, APR provided a ground-stacked X-Line array system, "a massive wall of sound", according to APR's Pete Russell. Either side of a centre stage were eight Xvls 3-way line array cabinets, with 16 Xsubs. In the centre, four Xi1152 full-range cabinets provided fill, and for stage fill, another two Xb LF boxes and two Xn cabinets were used on each side. Completing the picture were XW15As for band monitoring.

APR Audio was repeating its success of 2004 in

Details
UK - When Ian Croxall bought his Soundcraft Series 1 in 1978, he never dreamed he'd still be using it 25 years later. The console, built into a flightcase (believed to be the first such road-ready design to be produced in volume), has given sterling service for a quarter of a century on numerous live events, being used for recording as well as PA work. Now Croxall has traded his Series 1S in for one of Soundcraft's new GB4 desks, but only because of the channel count.

"There's still nothing wrong with the 1S," reports Croxall. "In all that time it's only ever had two small technical problems, and one of those was a blown fuse! The only reason I'm upgrading is that it has simply run out of channels to handle the sort of work we're doing these days."

Ian donated his Series 1S, complete with the original user guide, to Soundcraft, who intend to put it into a c

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Details
UK - The specialist entertainment industry recruitment company Taylor-Phillips has recently joined forces with the Cambridge Media Group (CMG), which comprises Entertainment Technology Press Ltd, Realnet Ltd (internet solution specialists) and another newly-acquired company, Liverpool Academic Press.

Taylor Phillips was established in 1999 after founder Julie Kirby spent a long period working in the lighting and sound industries; the success of the company is largely due to an understanding of the market and how this sector operates, says Kirby, who will continue with the company as the operation is expanded with a growing team base in Cambridge.

(Jane Cockburn)

Details
China - Lighthouse Technologies in Hong Kong is supplying two of its indoor screens for the 8th Shanghai International Film Festival being held at the Shanghai Superbrand Mall. The company, in conjunction with Join Merit Media Holdings Limited and GP Batteries, is supporting Stellar Megamedia, a local entertainment and media company that is providing digital film services at this year's event. As such, Lighthouse has supplied one of its giant 4.48 x 3.36m R6 indoor display screens together with its new PopVision LED screen, measuring 1.28 x 0.64m. PopVision made its debut at the recent InfoComm show in Las Vegas.

The two screens will air coverage of film trailers, festival highlights, as well as new digital film content. The R6 will also serve as the main backdrop for the broadcasting of the festival's prestigious movie awards.Offering a 6mm pixel pitch, high definition imaging

Details
UAE - Dubai-based Artes Audio Visual Rentals is one of the region's leading rental companies, with services ranging from dry hires to full event management. The latest addition to the company's armoury is a Midas Verona mixing console purchased from local distributor NMK Electronics Ent for mid-sized to large events. "The Verona delivers that high-quality sound you expect from a Midas but in a compact size, which allows us to use it frequently, and for many different scenarios, says Avril Rodrigues, head of audio at Artes. "This makes it a great investment for the company."

Chicco Hiranandani, product manager at NMK, adds: "I was approached by Artes before the Dubai Jazz Festival this year to provide a FOH mixing console. At that time, we'd received the new Verona console so I offered them to try it during the three-day event. When they were able to see and h

Details
Italy - 29 May 2005, marked the seventh annual 'Cornetto Free Music Festival'. Sponsored by the ice cream maker Algida, the festival has become one of the best attended live festivals in Italy, drawing this year over 100,000 music fans to the piazza in front of Milan's magnificent cathedral despite temperatures of 35°C. The event, MC'd by Ambra Angiolini and Elio delle Storie Tese, featured international stars including Avril Lavigne, Black Eyed Peas and John Legend performing on a 50m x 14m stage, with two 20sq.m screens providing Imag.

The task of providing the sound reinforcement for the spectacle was entrusted to Milano Music Service (MMS), the renowned Milanese rental company, and both the client and the audience were delighted with the results. Supported by EVI Audio's Italian partners, Texim, MMS's engineers opted for a large Electro-Voice X-Line system along with EV amp

Details
USA - Slipknot - one of the most visually theatrical and bizarre speed metal acts today - used Robe Colour Spot 1200 ATs to great effect on their Subliminal Verses tour as specified by lighting designer Jason Cain.

It was the first time that Cain has used Robe fixtures - but it certainly won't be the last he asserts, stating that next time he intends to use lots more Robe's on the rig! Gemini Stage Lighting of Dallas, Texas Lighting supplied equipment for the recently concluded two month US tour.

Cain used the ColorSpot 1200s for stunning beam and colour effects. "I like the brightness, strobe rate, pan/tilt and the gobo selection" says Cain, noting that you get the standard range of gobos plus ten additionals - all of which are inventive and different. He also likes the colour mixing properties and reckons that the 1200s are far brighter than similar comparab

Details
UK - Legendary singer Ozzy Ozbourne's Black Sabbath headlined a bill featuring the worlds leading heavy rock acts ranging from Garbage, Feeder, MC5, Motorhead, Slayer, Slipknot and System of A Down.

Whilst the bands might have been screaming '666'; three was the magic number for Download Festival organizers this year: the festival now in its third year, with three stages and expanded to run over three days. It was also the third year that Simon Battersby led an experienced management team and 450 staff to look after the 50,000 fans who enjoyed the weekend.

Aside from the increased logistics to accommodate the larger crowd and 35,000 campers Showsec worked with officials from the SIA. Showsec had 48 SIA licensed staff and officials commented on the high level of organization and preparation in place meaning that no crisis management was ever called on during the weekend.

The

Details
France - EVI Audio France recently hosted its first Midas and Klark Teknik academy at the Eurodisney resort near Paris. At the event new product lines were introduced to the 50 participants by service department manager Jean Marandet and managing director, Cécile Dehlinger. The session started with a brief introduction to Klark Teknik's history, presenting all the products that have established the brand throughout the years. Jean Marandet then introduced the Helix Digital EQ System, highlighting the dedicated managing software RCS (Remote Control System).

"The audience was very impressed by the ease of use of the software and its full compatibility with Midas consoles," says Marandet. "The set-up, consisting of a Heritage 1000 and a DN9340 linked together by a laptop using wireless technology (WiFi), was functional in no time and configured live according to req

Details
UK - Metropolis AV has completed the sound lighting and AV specification, supply and installation at the latest Sports Café in Liverpool, following projects in Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow plus two refurbishments for the chain.

Each Sports Café entertainment system is custom designed at Metropolis. Company chief design engineer Shane Winterbourne explained it has developed a specific technical formula across the Sports Café venues, primarily so: "Managers can go into any site and work the AV systems."

Metropolis supplied, installed and commissioned the house dimming and effects lighting, which includes 13 Robe Spot160 XT moving lights and 18 Par 64s, controlled via a LightProcessor Power Station 18 channel dimmer and a QCommander 512 desk. Winterbourne comments: "Effects lighting for the Sports Café is designed to be easily operated and robust. The system i

Details
UK - Following on from the success of last year's Human Resources Seminar, PLASA (the Professional Lighting and Sound Association) is presenting a one-day workshop that will focus on giving practical advice on key employer responsibilities and employee rights. The seminar will also highlight future changes in employment law, including legislation relating to flexible working, work-life balance and parental rights. The session will be delivered by HR specialist Clive Payne, and areas covered will include key elements of the employment contract; disputes resolution and discrimination issues; family rights; and the impact of what's new and on the horizon.

Throughout the workshop opportunities will be given to discuss real issues and to evaluate your own situation and the processes currently used in your workplace against legal requirements. Places are limited due to the practical a

Details
Australia / UK - In a surprise move, Tom Misner - president and founder of the multi-national SAE (School of Audio Engineering) Group - has announced the acquisition of the leading console manufacturer, AMS Neve. Misner, an audio technologist, visionary and educator in the music field, has maintained a strong industry association and has been a user of Neve consoles for the past 30 years. AMS Neve's MD Mark Crabtree said: "We are very happy to now be part of such a strong global organization." He added: "With the full support of the SAE Group it will enable us to increase our market share and above all accelerate the introduction of our new product range."

SAE Institute will now be providing through its network in over 45 colleges in 20 countries AMS Neve broadcast/music/film and post seminars for past and new clients. This will be a first of a kind service o

Details
France - Since 1889, the Moulin Rouge has played host to some of the world's most famous and spectacular shows. Immortalized by Tolouse-Lautrec and used as an inspirational backdrop in literature and cinema, this international star factory has been graced by stars of the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Liza Minnelli, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Edith Piaf and many more. The Moulin Rouge's two sell-out shows, every night of the year, feature traditional costumes of sequins, rhinestones and goose feathers, fantastical stage sets, original music and of course beautiful women recruited from all over the world after a rigorous selection process.

Féerie was launched to celebrate the new millennium and narrates the Moulin Rouge's fascinating history. With 1,000 costumes, 100 artists, six ponies and five pythons, this new show features circus acts and traditional choreography, as well

Details
USA - Look Solutions' high performance Unique hazers were used extensively for the filming of War of the Worlds, the latest Steven Spielberg film, which opens 29 June. The Uniques were used to create a hazy atmosphere in the sci-fi feature, based on the classic H.G. Wells novel. "The Unique's high output and fine controllability made it the obvious choice for this customer," said Doug Weber, president of Theatre Effects, the Cincinnati-based company that supplied the machines. "In fact, its excellent reliability record, combined with its price, compact size, and the fact that it's water-based, has made the Unique pretty much the only hazer we sell nowadays."

The film stars Tom Cruise and is a modern-day version of the classic story, set in New England and truer to the original novel. It's said to have required 500 effects shots, more than any other Spi

Details
USA - Veteran front-of-house engineer John Cooper is using Lake Contour and Lake Mesa Quad EQ digital processors to maintain a consistent day-to-day sound system performance as Bruce Springsteen's five-week solo acoustic tour winds its way through Europe. The award-winning Cooper, well known for his work with The Judds and other Audio Analysts clients, is using two Lake Contours for the main left/right PA speaker set-up with a Mesa Quad EQ optimizing the nearfield and side hang systems.

Cooper, who has been in the business for nearly 30 years, has apparently become an instant fan of the Lake Technology processors. "I have immediately fallen in love with them," he comments. "It's definitely the best tool for my job." The engineer, who also mixed the mammoth world tour promoting Springsteen's 'The Rising' in 2002/2003, is looking forward to adopting Lake Contou

Details
UK - The Royal Albert Hall (RAH) is one of the world's best-known venues, and the task of providing sound reinforcement in such a prestigious hall is a sobering responsibility amply shouldered in recent years by Woking-based Sound By Design (SBD). As part of their ongoing development of sound services available in the RAH, SBD has installed an assortment of Meyer Sound self-powered systems - highlighted by a new centre cluster of M2D compact curvilinear array loudspeakers - as well as upgrading the existing permanent loudspeaker installation in the building.

After an intensive assessment period, the company took delivery of the package of M2D cabinets to complement its existing stock of M1D ultra-compact curvilinear array loudspeakers. A new three-hang centre cluster was designed, consisting of eight central M2D units with outer hangs of eight M1Ds each, all driven by LD-3 compe

Details
USA - Coldplay's video for its latest single, Speed of Sound features Versa TUBE units from Element Labs. In an unprecedented application, nearly the entire video shoot was done with LED lights from a total of 700 Versa TUBEs. Filmed on a massive sound stage, the video features a delicate, half-crescent back wall composed of 640 Versa TUBEs placed on approximately 6" centres. Since the TUBEs were used without diffusion sleeves and the surrounding structure is quite minimal, the lights appear to be suspended in mid-air.

Production designer Mike Keeling of Project X and director Mark Romanek put together this singular look."The idea here is having the band on this raw stage and everything is done in silhouette with lighting and key lighting," Keeling explains. "Once we embarked on it, Mark and I just decided to do the entire video in LED lighting. That w

Details
UK - Yorkshire-based Yorkshire Audio Ltd is the latest company to invest in Audient's acclaimed Aztec live performance console. Owner Bob Collinson had used Aztec on many occasions and thought it time to purchase one for a forthcoming tour, so this month he collected a new 48-channel Aztec Touring Edition. Collinson notes: "I had used Aztec on a number of gigs and loved it every time. When looking recently for a new large format console, I noted that Aztec had turned up of many riders last year and its evident success made it a very sensible option for my hire inventory."

UK sales manager, Nick Pemberton completed the sale. "As a person with Yorkshire blood in me, I understood what Bob wanted from his console: quality and flexibility, without it breaking the bank. Aztec fits the bill perfectly. As one of the finest sounding console available, Aztec's "no nons

Details
UK - HSL Productions has supplied full lighting rigs for both performance areas at the ABC, Glasgow's newest live music venue. ABC, situated right downtown in a charismatic building on the City's famous Sauchiehall Street, is owned by Scottish promoters Regular Music and PCL, and the Workers Beer Company. It features a 1,250 capacity main room and a 350 capacity second room plus VIP bar, and plugs the gap for a medium sized, highly specified live venue in central Glasgow.

Venue general manager Malcolm (Malky) Blair, a well known figure on the Scottish and UK music and touring scenes says, "We wanted a really excellent production facility to encourage bands and performers to play without needing to bring in their own rigs". As it's a multi purpose venue as well as a live music space, ABC will feature several regular club nights, so versatile lighting was also top of the

Details
USA - The San Francisco Hilton Hotel and Towers has added an Allen & Heath MixWizard WZ3 16:2 mixing console to its special event audio production equipment, which already includes a 24 mono/8 stereo input Allen & Heath GL4000 and a 24-channel GL4. The hotel chose the MixWizard for its compact size, flexibility and ease of set-up. "We're getting quite a fleet of Allen & Heath desks now and I'm excited about using the new MixWizard," said ballroom engineer, John Fagan. "It's a real space-saver; we bought a case with it as well, so it goes in, tilts up, and off we go! That's what it's all about now, a quick set-up and a quick strike."

The San Francisco Hilton Hotel and Towers offers a wide selection of ballrooms and conference spaces to handle its busy events schedule, from the 30,000sq.ft Grand Ballroom - which seats 3,300 in a theatrical configuration - down

Details
UK - DiGiCo's dedicated theatre console, the D5T, formed a major part of LSI Projects' stand at the recent ABTT show in London. As a supplier and system integrator of sound, lighting, audio-visual and suspension equipment for a diverse range of markets, LSI Projects has recognized the need for a high-end digital mixing console for the theatre market, and believes that DiGiCo's D5T has provided an ideal solution for them. "LSI Projects is one of the number one installation companies in the UK, Middle and Far East for the theatre installation market," says DiGiCo's sales director James Gordon. "They have been specifying our products on a number of projects recently and we're extremely pleased to welcome them into the DiGiCo family."

(Lee Baldock)

Details
UK - Mojo Barriers UK supplied all of the stage crowd barriers to the 2005 Download Festival at Donington. 50,000 heavy rock fans descended on Donington to 'rock out' to over 60 bands featuring Black Sabbath, Velvet Revolver, Slayer, Slipknot, Feeder and Garbage.

Mojo Barriers UK director Jim Gaffney managed the project and liaised with Clear Channel's festival manager John Probyn and site manager Andy Pearson to agree an effective barrier design to create a safe environment for the exuberant fans. Jim explained: "There a lot of factors to consider when deciding on the best barrier configuration for the show. We have done lots of shows at Donington, as has John (Probyn) so it was great working with someone who had some great ideas whilst listening to our advice. The music/audience type and slope of the ground (left to right) were the two over-riding factors in deciding on t

Details
USA - Folk legend John Prine made his first live performance as a singer/songwriter in Illinois in 1946. Over the course of his career, he has released eight studio albums and penned such classics as Please Don't Bury Me, Fish And Whistle and Souvenirs. His music has also inspired other artists like Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, Tammy Wynette and Johnny Cash to release their own versions of Prine tunes.

Much to his fans' delight, Prine recently went back out on the road to support his new album Fair & Square, the first studio album of new material in over nine years. Joining him for the Fair & Square 2005 tour is veteran live sound mixer Dan Lance of Nomad Productions, who has offices in Dallas, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee. Lance, whose mixing career began in 1982 with Showco, has worked with a wide variety of professional performers including Barbara Mandr

Details
UK - Wisbech based 5 Star Cases Limited has a major investment into additional CNC machining facilities. 5 Star is one of Europe's leading case manufacturers and has seen steady growth since its formation over twenty-one years ago. The company has been using CNC in its production facilities for almost six years, since its first installation of a Thermwood model 40.This machine has been the heart of the company's CNC machining systems along with two aluminium extrusion-notching saws. Due to continued growth and healthy order book, a second Thermwood 40 has been ordered with the Indiana, USA based manufacturer and will be installed in mid August."This is a major investment for the company but will hopefully demonstrate our commitment to our customers and retain our position as a leading case manufacturer" explains Andy Hudson, 5 Star's production manager. "Due to rece
  1. JBL VerTec for Elvis Costello
  2. TMB ships the 100th ProPower RPD System
  3. New French distributor for Mc2
  4. Sennheiser announces a rise in sales
  5. EV 'Style' speakers in Nightingale's refit
  6. ETC draws crowds at ABTT
Page 716 of 1803
Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
Sennheiser - MPU - June 2025

Latest Issue. . .