UK - Lighting Technology Projects (LTP) has completed the specification, supply and installation of a very elegant white lighting scheme for the Grade 1 listed All Soul's Church on Regent Street, in central London's famous Marylebone district.

Designed by King George IV's favourite architect John Nash, All Souls is a 'Waterloo' church, built in 1823 as part of the nation's thanksgiving for the victory of Wellington over Napoleon. Constructed from Bath stone, the design combines a graceful 160 ft Gothic style spire and a classical rotunda 'body'. It is the last surviving John Nash church.

LTP was contacted by designers LUXX, whose Martin Richman and Dominic Berning have worked with them on numerous other interesting, idiosyncratic and innovative architectural lighting projects. LTP's Terry Reeves says: "It's always a challenge working on Martin's projects - they push the a

UK - After several years hosting the annual Bay Beats festival, a concentrated exposition of local south-east Asian talent featuring five 'Indie' bands a day for three days, this year a decision was taken by Singapore's Esplanade Theatres on the Bay to purchase a large format line array to cater for the festival's audio needs.

"As the festival's popularity has grown we have experimented with a couple of systems, most recently the Q-Series system from d&b audiotechnik," said Esplanade's head of sound, Robin Shuttleworth. "We use d&b loudspeakers extensively throughout the Esplanade complex, C7 and C4 cabinets as well as the Q, but my decision to purchase a new system for Bay Beats was influenced by several considerations, not just the needs of the festival."

Shuttleworth's responsibilities include the Esplanade Concert Hall, Recital Studios, Theatre, Powerho

UK - Bandit Lites is supplying full lighting production and crew for LD Dave Lee on the current 7-week Journey South UK theatre tour, produced by Production North.

Bandit's Lester Cobrin was again asked onboard by Production North - the two companies are regular collaborators - after working together on the very successful X-Factor tour earlier in the year, which was also project managed by Cobrin.

Since coming third on the last series of X-Factor, Journey South, brothers Carl and Andy Pemberton from Middlesbrough, have built up a solid UK fan base which has helped spawn their first - and sold out - tour. This is a testament to the wide appeal of their music. The live show is primarily rocky, up-tempo and very dynamic. It kicks off with a scorching rendition of Thin Lizzie's classic The Boys are Back in Town, and also features plenty of their own original material.

Ba

UK - The ABTT is looking to compile a list of the most useful things the British theatre technician might utilise in their working life, from entries submitted by its members and non-members alike.

Any item is eligible and suggestions so far include: the multi-tool; a 17mm box spanner; the hard hat; knee pads; Pilbrow's Stage Lighting Design; a sound pressure level meter; personalised crew room coffee mug; and, a walkie-talkie that works in the nearest pub.

Submissions should be sent to techequip@catherinecooperevents.co.uk by the end of October and include a contact number. One entry chosen at random after the closing date will receive a year's free ABTT membership subscription.

(Chris Henry)

UK - In a record-breaking time-frame of just 25 days, Adlib Audio has designed, delivered and installed a full sound reinforcement system at one of Liverpool's cultural landmarks. With the support of Fuzion, the Philharmonic Hall has been equipped with a Nexo Geo D tangent-array system, the first in the world to be specified into an installation.

In actual fact, the Geo D system has been designed by Adlib's Mark Burnley to be moved in and out of the Hall; it can work as a stand-alone system or in conjunction with visiting productions, which may prefer to bring in their own equipment. Kelsey Acoustics has created a bespoke multicore system to facilitate this.

Refurbished in 1995 at a cost of over £10 million, the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall boasts a classic art deco interior. As well as being home to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the world's oldest co

Canada - 102 year old Butchart Gardens in Victoria is one of Canada's top tourist attractions, covering 55 acres and renowned for its themed gardens, floral displays and spectacular views.

With between one and 1.5 million visitors per year, the gardens also host a range of events, including live music and, for 10 Saturday evenings in summer, a spectacular firework display.Being situated on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, the gardens are not an acoustically friendly environment, both in terms of physical location and climate. For more than six years, Victoria's DL Sound & Lighting had used Turbosound Flashlights at the venue and this year looked at ways to further improve sound coverage and quality for the weekly firework show.

The challenges that a new system had to overcome included high humidity and direct sunlight all day, the effects of a salt atmosphere - both in terms of

Italy / China - During the recent Italian Government mission to China, the Prime Minister - accompanied by four ministers and the Chairman of Confindustria (the Confederation of Italian Industries), and with 600 businessmen in tow - met with top Chinese leaders.

Formal events alternated with festivities on a grand scale, such as the concert to mark the opening in Guangzhou of the Third International Small and Medium Industries Fair/Chinese-Italian Small and Medium Industries Fair. This memorable event was staged in a vast auditorium, where a battery of Coemar iSpots S was well able to handle a show of such gigantic size. This typifyies a market (China) where Coemar's presence is constantly growing, thanks to some dynamic joint ventures. The lighting for the event was provided by Hu Jia (lighting designer), the Guangdong Singing and Dancing Performer Group (lighting contractor) e

USA - Tomcat is giving away one scholarship to its Annual Hoist and Rigging Workshop to be held February 21-24, 2007 in Midland, Texas. Register to win at the Tomcat Booth #271.

The scholarship will be awarded after the LDI tradeshow and may be used for the Hoist and Rigging Workshop held February 21-24, 2007 which includes instruction on hoist, rigging, truss and fall protection or the Advanced Hoist and Truss Workshop on February 23-24, 2007 that includes advanced instruction on truss and motors. The Scholarship package includes all instruction materials and fees, plus lodging, lunches, dinners, snacks and all transportation for the various workshop events. Both workshops culminate with a steak dinner and tour of the Tomcat USA facilities. The winner of the Scholarship will be responsible for transportation to and from Midland, Texas.

(Chris Henry)

Australia - Yaralla Sports Club, the home ground of entertainment in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia is a venue that is highly regarded for its fantastic facilities. The Club includes bars, function rooms and poker machine areas, and adding to their reputation for innovative approaches is a forty meter long video wall which has been installed into their gaming lounge.

Club AV Pty Ltd, a well respected installation and design company for over twenty years, installed the giant video wall - a task that both consultants and others said could not be done.

"The requirement was very difficult to work with," explained Andrew Wood, Queensland operations manager for Club AV. "The Client wanted a full forty metre digital video system that would handle the requirements of a unique experience for his patrons as well as handling any colour, video or image for the venue if ne

UK - Birmingham Hippodrome has recently purchased much-needed items of stage equipment to ensure that the 'show must go on', thanks to the generosity of its members and donors who have supported the theatre in recent months.

A new state-of-the-art scissorlift, extending to a dizzying 7.9 metres, has been a welcome addition to the Hippodrome's technical crew who will use the lift onstage for tasks such as focusing lighting and building scenery whenever a new production arrives in town.

Stars of the ballet, opera and musicals will shine even more brightly with the arrival of 24 Source 4 lanterns containing revolutionary lens tube technology for the main stage, making the Hippodrome one of the first UK venues to install this latest version of a lighting industry benchmark.

Being an independent, not-for-profit charity, the money raised by Birmingham Hippodrome Friends and throug

Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden AB had the honour of celebrating Benedictus XVI on his first voyage as Pope back to his home country of Germany. He began his journey in the capital of Munich before heading to his birthplace of Marktl am Inn, in Germany's South- Eastern corner near the Austrian border, the pilgrimage town of Altötting and Regensburg.

In Altötting, a town of 13,000, he held a grand open air mass in the town's Kapellplatz Square with approximately 70,000 visitors. The lighting during the ceremony was done by the German production company Neumann & Muller.

The team used one W-DMX S-1 Transmitter and two W-DMX R-512 Receivers (one on each stage) and one Booster from Wireless Solution to control 12 HighEnd PC Beams and several daylight fresnels with dowsers at each stage. Lighting was programmed with a GrandMA Light console with backup. The distance was 250 mete

UK - Slingco has supplied and installed CableNet using 10 modular tensioned wire grids into the 1066 capacity Grand Hall at the hub of the newly refurbished Glasgow City Halls complex.

The £16 million project included the reopening and re-branding of the City Halls and the old Fruitmarket, two historic live music venues dating back to the 1840s at the epicentre of Glasgow's Merchant City. The City Halls have now become the permanent home of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Music Centre and will host regular concerts by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

CableNet was originally specified by the project's theatre consultants Arup Acoustics, as the safest and most effective way of providing high-level access across the entire roof void.

Arup's Ray Carter first approached Slingco back in 2001. It was interesting from a structural viewpoint explains Slingco

UK - CP Sound continues on the installation trail of top gastronomies, with the design, specification and installation of a new sound system at Benares, the UK's only Michelin starred Indian restaurant.

Benares is the first independent venture by acclaimed chef Atul Kochhar. Interior designer Ou Baholyodhin has transposed the beauty and vibrancy of the Northern India city of Benares into a contemporary setting in the prime central London location of Berkley Square.

Having been open for three years, it was time to upgrade the sound system to one offering the same standards of excellence and quality as the food and ambience. CP Sound has engaged in several other high profile restaurant/bar projects including various Zinc bars around the UK, Cocoon on Regent Street, Eclipse Bars in London and the Terraces in Brighton.

Pattenden initially visited and assessed the situation. Some

UK - Dance4Life is an international initiative to inspire and engage young people in the global fight against AIDS. The aim is for over 1 million young people from 24 countries to be united within their countries and internationally via live satellite links on World AIDS Day 2012.

In the UK Dance4Life is looking for support in two areas. They are hoping to secure a PA system for the Dance4Life UK School Tour, which starts on 23 October for four weeks. The Tour will visit 30 schools with the interactive Dance4Life performance, and would be looking to loan the equipment.

They are also looking for technical support to help make the Dance4Life BIG Event on 25 November a real success. This will bring together 500 young people from across the UK in a unique event with high profile A list DJs and performers attending. The event will be linked visually to other Dance4Life events happe

UK - According to a recent survey by America's Forbes magazine, Gardaland is Italy's top amusement park and the fifth in the world's top ten.

A perfect example of its technical 'superiority' can be seen in the Sequoia Adventure attraction: a roller coaster set in a late 19th century American sawmill, which has client's adrenalin pumping, thanks to the feeling of being suspended in mid-air as they turn upside-down repeatedly, almost as if in slow motion, during the ride. Designed by an American firm that is one of the world's major high-impact attraction builders, Sequoia Adventure is the first installation in the world of this type.

Another important example is Escape from Atlantis, the largest (15,000sq.m) water attraction in Europe, which was also used as the set for an eye-catching publicity spot aired by major Italian and foreign television broadcaster

UK - RF specialist Trantec was recently appointed to provide its TS22 head-worn mics for The Rich Pickings Theatre Company's sensational adaptation of the legendary rock musical - Godspell- at the internationally acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Musical director, Erica Tugwell collaborated with Trantec's sales manager, Gary Waywell, from the early planning stages and it was clear that the TS22's would provide the perfect solution.

Tugwell says: "We accessed the venue at seven: a cast of nine, a choir of nine, a four-piece amplified band, a brilliant, but inexperienced sound man, and we were on at 7.45 each night. The Fringe puts special demands on a new touring company and yet each night the sound was clear and balanced, enabling the show to communicate powerfully."

The Trantec TS 22's are manufactured to the highest specifications and combines a minute microph

UK - Drapes specialist J&C Joel was commissioned by historical theatre consultants Theatre Search to create and supply a completely bespoke set of drapes for the newly refurbished Redditch Palace Theatre.

The theatre - designed by renowned architect Bertie Crewe and completed in 1913 - has re-opened as a major receiving house following a £4 million facelift, with many of its original features restored to their 1913 splendour.

The project was managed for J&C Joel by contracts director Mark Taylor, who worked closely with Theatre Search's David Wilmore, main contractors Sapcote and architects Samsome Hall.

A major aim of the project was to restore the building to its original form. However, there were precious few illustrations or visual references available showing how the theatre draping and interior would have initially looked. By researching other similar period buil

UK - Sugarloaf United Methodist Church in Duluth, Georgia recently debuted new audio, projection, and video distribution systems installed by dB Audio & Video in Gainesville, Georgia in its new Community Life Building. Sugarloaf's Minister of Worship Arts, Larry Parker, worked with Ronnie Stanford, systems advisor for dB, to create an AV system thatwould serve the multi-purpose nature of the space.

The Community Life Building is the epicentre, to its 1,600-member congregation serving as the worship space, the gymnasium for church sporting events, as well as the meeting place for fellowship meals. From an AV standpoint, the building was both a technical and creative challenge for dB.

"Sugarloaf's staff and volunteers are highly competent in media ministry and knew their functionality requirements," says Stanford. "They wanted high-fidelity audio and complete cove

UK/Europe - Bandit has once again been contracted to supply lighting services for The Moody Blues' current UK & European tour. The tour marks 14 years that Bandit Lites has serviced the lighting and visual needs of the rock legends, with the account being managed by Bandit's recently appointed chief executive, Lester Cobrin.

At lighting designer, Mick Thornton's request, Bandit Lites Inc. crew member, Shawn Beaulieu has also been brought over to the UK to work on the European leg. The band completed a short tour earlier in the year and a one-off in California just before this leg, which is the first substantial touring work they have undertaken in 2006.

Given carte blanche to produce the show design, Thornton seized the opportunity to introduce Martin Professional's Maxedia digital Media server to the visual equation. This has helped enormously with the seamless integration of

Belgium - Nowadays it is tough for small hire companies to survive. This was one of the reasons why a few Belgium hire companies decided to consolidate their know how and stock, to continue as the ASL-Group. Jointly the ASL-Group now operates 100 SP-10 line-array systems.

The new ASL-Group comprises the Belgium hire companies ASL Audio, Jacobs Elektro - Coruna, The System and Klinkers Electro. Peter Ellegeest (MD of ASL): "We have worked with Sound Projects products ever since the beginning. Because of the growing customer demand for line-arrays and moreover, since in certain circumstances an array simply is the best or easiest solution, we were in search of an array. A system that should match our present SP3 concert-systems.

"The first test we did with SP-10 was an outdoor festival where we used 24 boxes. Already at the first notes during the sound check the distin

UK - Avenue Q has taken the West End by storm with its cheeky mix of clever puppetry, social satire, adult comedy and catchy songs. Sound designer Mark Menard, from New York-based Acme Sound Partners, oversaw the transfer of the show from Broadway and, as always, chose to use DPA miniature microphones on his production.

"At Acme we have used DPA since the company first appeared, and the DPA 4061 miniature omni-directional microphones appear on all of our shows, simply because they are the best on the market," says Menard.

All 10 Avenue Q cast members - who appear operating a variety of puppets or simply as actors - are fitted with DPA 4061s. The two main actors are double-mic'ed because aside from operating the Princeton and Kate lead puppets, they also operate other characters from time to time. "There's no time to change - they literally have a few seconds to

USA - Kish Rigging, main rigging contractor to the MTV Video Music Awards, used a CyberHoist / InMotion 3D motion control system to animate a spectacular set for the event in New York's Radio City Music Hall on August 31.

MTV's flagship show has been treated to many ground-breaking visual designs in the past and this year's set was no exception.

Director Hamish Hamilton and designers Mark Fisher and Anne Brahic along with lighting designer Allen Branton based the design on a flown array of 16 LED video screens of various sizes, each mounted in a classical ornate gilt picture frame and flown from CyberHoist CH1000 one tonne motors and CH500 half-ton motors. The screens, nine of which were constantly in motion throughout the show, were used to show a combination of Imag footage, specially created graphics, captions and visual effects.

Kish Rigging's project manager JR Cassidy

USA - Boston is known for its passionate sports fans, and being heard over the roar of the enthusiastic crowds at Boston College's Alumni Stadium is no mean feat. The 44,500- seat stadium recently completed a major renovation project that included a powerful new distributed audio system to get the announcements everywhere they need to be, while maintaining sufficient directionality to keep the sound from spilling out into thesurrounding neighbourhoods.

The sound system utilises a combination of Community WET and R-Series weather-resistant loudspeakers throughout the park, including 60 WET 2W8 2-way systems and 28 WET 920H 3-way cabinets, as well as more than 100 R.25 and R.5 horn-loaded two-way systems covering the general seating areas.

Taiwan - A Proel sound system was recently installed in Hulu Temple, built in 1947 and located in Taipei.

Buddhists and residents alike are happy to hear the beautiful music through the Proel sound system. "Now the music from the new sound system enhances the solemnity of the atmosphere and keeps our minds peaceful," says people in the neighbourhoods.

The sound system is mainly composed by TPRK8P speakers - installed in the courtyard - and MO5T speakers for the sanctuary of this temple. The first one is a model from the TPRKMARKII series, featuring a new and unique design, while the second speaker is a two-way 60W monitor, supplied with mounting bracket.

It is mainly used for speech - for ceremonies, background music - for events and holidays, and Buddhist music appreciation.

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