Sweden - BSS Audio is at the centre of an ambitious new media and music production complex in the centre of Gothenburg. The 70-year-old four-storey Brew House, which at various times functioned as the Apotekarnes brewery and Ethnographic Museum, began its conversion to a creative centre specialising in film and music production back in 2002 - the result of an initiative floated by the Business Region Göteborg.

Designed to encourage collaboration and networking, the facility also incorporates a restaurant, conference room, and the large 600 sq. metre Stena Arena. The complex has been developed at a cost of 50 million Swedish kronor (£4 million) and operated by HIGAB (Hantverks-och Industrihus I Göteborg AB). It already boasts full occupancy, the 60 resident companies from the fields of music, movies, media, entertainment and education all able to interact.

However, it w

UK - Following the popularity and professionalism of the last two annual shows, Stage Electrics once again worked with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) to present the Stage Electrics Tradeshow in Cardiff in mid October 2006.

The company reports that 2006 again saw an increase in numbers attending the show, with visitors travelling from all parts of Wales and the surrounding English counties.

This year, the RWCMD Bute Theatre had a new look, with the central section occupied by Stage Electrics with four 50" plasma screens showcasing the company's product range. On the theatre seating block, which previously has been hidden behind drapes, a high level café area was constructed. Manufacturers occupied the stand positions around the end of the theatre space ensuring that they all had the maximum opportunity to interact with visitors.

Leading industr

UK - Two of Digidesign's most experienced sound engineers this month became the first to pilot the newest addition to the Digidesign Venue family, the D-Show Profile console.

The compact desk, which was previewed at last month's PLASA Show in London, was used on two special showcase product launches 24 hours apart. While Joe Campbell was working with one on monitors for Chris Rea at London's Bush Hall, the following night across town Chris Madden was preparing for the Sugababes arena tour next spring with a media show at the 100 Club to announce the trio's new greatest hits package - Overloaded: The Singles Collection.Backed by a live band, the Sugababes' 80-minute show in front of an invited audience was filmed by a video production company for a forthcoming DVD, and Madden synced the audio to video (using the Digidesign SYNC I/O), multi-tracking the set using the Pro To

UK - When, in December 2005 Utopian Leisure purchased two Newcastle bars, Sam Jacks adjacent to The Gate Leisure Centre and Bar 55, which is in a predominant position at the end of Mosley Street in the 55° North complex, they knew that both venues would need considerable refurbishment.

Sam Jacks was upgraded to include a dance area complete with a new lighting system, enhancements and additions to the visuals, with the installation of three new projectors, and upgrades to the Plasma and LCD displays. Utopian's operations manager Carl Hornsby commented "We must have the greatest number of display units in any Newcastle Venue with a total of 37 displays providing a visual impact to the customer of breathtaking proportions"The sound system needed reinforcing particularly for the dance area and Utopian together with Blaydon Communications chose the KV2 Audio ES system.

UK -Though it is still over ten months away, PLASA07 has got off to an amazing start with applications for space beating all previous records. To date, just six weeks after the 2006 event closed on a massive high, over 60% of the show space has been applied for and further applications for space are coming in daily.

On the back of the success of PLASA06, many companies have increased their stand size and several have literally doubled their space, setting PLASA07 on course to be the major event of next year.

Further new developments for PLASA07 will also bolster its appeal: the full management of the show has been taken on by PLASA - who recently launched an Events Division to support this move - making it one of the few shows actually owned and run by the industry.

Along with the change of management comes a change of look as the show is moving onto one level and expanding

UK - A chic late night style bar has been added to Harlow's hospitality circuit, with the aid of a high-powered Martin Audio sound system. The conversion of the former CM20 music bar in Post Office Walk to Twenty One - a late night venue with a 4am license on two levels - was the brainchild of leisure entrepreneur/owner Paul Mapp (of Greedy Boys Ltd).

Locally-based company, Clarity in Sound, Light & Vision recommended a new Martin AQ system to be distributed throughout the venue, run in conjunction with some of the existing equipment.

Says Mapp, "Everything here revolves around quality. We like to invest in quality equipment and the Martin Audio system is highly versatile, sounding superb whatever we put through it."

The ground floor is divided into split zones, the sound routed via a Cloud zoner. Clarity's Stuart Graham, who also worked closely with interior desig

Russia - The RUK university in Mytischi just outside Moscow has recently taken delivery of an InnovaSON Sy48 digital mixing console for its new multipurpose venue.

The console was supplied and installed by StudiTech, InnovaSON's Russian distributor which, as well as its distribution wing, also has a thriving contracting department that offers engineering and acoustic design, installation, servicing, training and consultancy services.

The university venue is designed to be a truly multipurpose space that will stage concerts, conferences, and AV presentations as well as acting as a TV bridge for video conferencing with other university facilities in Russia. The keyword was flexibility, and that was what dictated the choice of console, explained StudiTech's Nikita Stepanov. It also explained the slightly unusual configuration of the Sy48 where StudiTech opted to house all the I/O

UK - Design and control software systems developer, Stardraw.com is now supporting a range of audio products from electronic musical instrument giants, Roland.

All Roland AR Series products such as the AR-200S and AR-3000R Digital Announcement Recorders can now be controlled from any PC using custom user interfaces designed in Stardraw Control. This software allows users to design and programme fully customised, standalone control applications without having to write any code. It supports control of any hardware over any protocol and now includes drivers for Roland's AR Series.

All AR Series products are also available as symbol sets in Stardraw's design and documentation application for professional systems contractors, Stardraw A/V. Symbols include schematic views showing all inputs and outputs for engineering diagrams.

Roland Systems Group's product manager, Neal Tomlinso

Sweden - When Cengiz 'Jimmy' Savran bought the 540-capacity Kompaniet Club on Gothenburg's pedestrianised Kungsgatan a year ago it was a dance venue with big problems. And Cengiz would know, since he owned the Vice Versa restaurant right opposite. So he installed security cameras and quickly restored both its reputation and its interior under the new name of Wish Club.

The DJ booth features the Denon DN-S3500. "The main reason for this decision was that this CD/MP3 player contained more functions than anything else on the market, allowing the DJs to be more re creative with their mix," says Savran. "We have tried many other brands of equipment but Denon always lives up to our expectations and I have had nothing but good experiences with Denon equipment in the past."

Distributed in Sweden by EM Nordic, the pair of Denon's flagship players were supplied to Wi

UK/Holland - Large format projection specialists E//T//C UK is supplying 12 PIGI projectors and crew to production company Sightline for a series of major concerts by Dutch superstar Marco Borsato.

The projectors are creating an image covering a large rear cyc measuring 70 metres wide with a 12 metre drop for the multi-platinum selling artist, who is currently playing a sold-out 10-show run at Arnhem's Gelredome stadium. The enormous production has consumed 55 trucks worth of gear across all departments and will have been enjoyed by over 350,000 people by the end of the run.

E//T//C UK is once again working with scenic and visual designer Bart Clements, who has created the show's production design in collaboration with Stefaan Desmedt. This is based on a multi-layered architectural montage of complimentary and contrasting video and projected images.

E//T//C UK's Ross Ashton

Sweden - Lab.gruppen has announced an arrangement allowing Lab.gruppen to utilise Dolby® Lake Processor technology in future products.

"It is a part of Lab.gruppen's business strategy to be able to integrate other significant technologies within the company's tour-honed amplifier platforms," stated Tomas Lilja, Lab.gruppen's MD. "We are extremely excited now to have access to Dolby's Lake Processor technology. We know the outcome will be a positive benefit for both companies and the sound reinforcement marketplace at large."

Senior management and engineering teams from Lab.gruppen and Dolby have been collaborating on the development of this arrangement for over six months. The integration will not impact Lab.gruppen's central product manufacturing or sales channels. "Dolby's Live Sound Group has long held an immense respect for Lab.gruppen products

Russia - Music Moscow was held between the 12-15 October at theSokolniki Culture & Exhibition Centre. Proel, together with Russian distributor Yarovit Music, took over the whole of Hall 17. The 500sq.m hall featured a wide range of Proel professionalproducts, from sound reinforcement and installation to lighting and stageequipment.

The Sound Reinforcement display consisted of almost all of the systems currently available - Axiom, Edge, NEOS, TFLV, TPRK, SmarTV Plus and Next together with the Proel professional amplifiers, spiltters and processors.

During the event, the professional touring standard Axiom and Edge were demonstrated and backed-up with complete technical seminars.The Axiom progressive array system consisted of six AX3210P, six Edge121SP subwoofers, powered by three Powersoft K10 and the Proel DSO26 processor.

The Edge point source system featured four Edge212P,

China - Pen manufacturer Montblanc celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, and many international guests were invited to a star studded evening at Shanghai Film Park Studios in the Songjiang district of China.

Approximately 3000 special guests attended the event which included musical appearances by baritone Thomas Hampson, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, the violin virtuoso József Lendvay and Italian singer Lucio Dalla. These performances benefited from an L-Acoustics sound system provided by Lab Shanghai. A combination of KUDO and dV-DOSC arrays were used for the FOH system, complemented by SB218 subwoofers and dV-SUBs. In addition 115FM stage monitors were used as front fills and 115XT HiQs were utilised for the VIP Section.

Show designers Kenny and Don from Lab Shanghai reported, "We needed to hide the speaker cabinets on the ceiling while ensuring sound quality an

UK - Summit Steel, working for production company DWP (Dobson White Partnership), rigged a large moving set in the Arena at the NEC, Birmingham, for the annual Awards and motivational event for beauty, cosmetics and jewellery empire, Virgin Vie. This was attended by 3500 independent Virgin Vie consultants.

The set - constructed by Total Fabrications - featured a large elegant and distinctive flown circular truss as its centrepiece. Summit utilised 21 ways of their Kinesys K2 variable speed automation system to fly and move the structure.

The circular truss itself was rigged on eight double-braked variable speed LL Lodestar motors and was moved in and out at strategic points during the presentation by the K2 system, piloted by one of its designers, Dave Weatherhead of Kinesys, assisted by Summit's Jay Call.

The advantages of using a K2 system for this type of show is its abil

USA - Element Labs, Inc. (EL), reports that motor manufacturer Saab recently integrated the first white LED Stealth Screen as part of its exhibit at the Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris. Stealth is one of the new products recently introduced by Element Labs.

The Saab display featured seven screens, consisting of 1200 white Stealth panels (192 square meters), producing "spectacular image quality, resolution, flexibility, transparency and brightness". This media technology was planned, designed, installed and supported by service provider, CT Germany.

"Once again, Saab was able to deliver a stunning display and aid in the world premier of Stealth," said Georg Roessler, Managing Director, CT Germany. "Based on a very close relationship with the Element Labs development team, CT Germany was once again able to set a milestone with the first implementation o

UK / Dubai - The new national tour of Chicago the Musical starring Jennifer Ellison, opened in September at the Birmingham Alexandra Theatre. Having supplied the production in Dubai earlier this year, Stage Electrics is once again providing all lighting and electrics for the musical, which is touring the UK for the next 40 weeks.

"This is a particularly busy time for us and with our London Bridge facility now firmly established as a vital resource to London's West End, coupled with our national network of branches supporting touring productions, we are ideally suited to provide a first class level of service to any show we are involved with," says Chris Patton, business development manager for theatre.

The fit up of over 16 tonnes of lighting equipment required for the West End production of The Sound of Music is now well under way. Stage Electrics is s

Russia - Clay Paky and its distributor for Russia, Doka Media, exhibited from 12 to 15 October at Music Moscow, an annual event dedicated to audio and musical lighting technologies. "This year Doka decided to invest the majority of its resources in our brand, " said Clay Paky sales manager Alberico D'Amato. "The results were seen on the market and were also reflected in this Fair, where Clay Paky was able to have its own stand for the first time."

The Clay Paky stand displayed the Alpha Profile 1200 professional shaper, Alpha Spot HPE 1200 high performance spot and the two washlights, Alpha Wash 1200 and Alpha Wash Halo 1200, with ample space dedicated to demos. The wide Alpha range now numbers 12 models.

"Thanks to the solid partnership with Clay Paky, our turnover last year increased considerably," said Alexander Folkichev, Doka Media own

UK - October 2006 saw Chris Rea play an exclusive show to an invited audience at London's Bush Hall, on the occasion of the launch of his first ever live album, 'The Road To Hell and Back', for which R G Jones provided another top quality, bespoke sound system. The intimate venue has a capacity of only 300, so the lucky few were treated to an 'up close and personal' set by the man who has cheated death to re-emerge as a dedicated exponent of the Delta Blues. Such is the dedication of some to Rea's music, that one particular couple had flown from Brazil for the privilege of experiencing the man in such a unique environment.

Of significance to R G Jones is the company's heavy involvement with the creation of this landmark album for Chris. The recordings were all made during the recent tour of Europe and the UK, for which RG's provided a state of the art sound system. The system ha

UK - The young Vic has been heralded as one of the most exciting new performance spaces to open this year. Charcoalblue Theatre Consultancy, subcontracted by Theatre Projects, is responsible for the design, specification and integration of the entire technical infrastructure of this exciting new space.

One of the most important producing theatres in the UK, the Young Vic was originally founded in 1970 by Sir Laurence Olivier for the younger members of his newly formed National Theatre Company. Built as a temporary space, it had an intended life span of a mere five years. However it wasn't until 2000 - when the building reached a dangerous state of disrepair - that 'the powers that be' sanctioned its rebuild. The theatre reopened six years later to press on 11 October - on time and on budget.

Designed with total flexibility of space utilization and configuration in mind, Charco

Italy / India - Announced at the PALA India exhibition in early October, Italian manufacturer LDR has appointed Modern Stage Service as exclusive distributor for its theatrical and architectural lighting products in India, following discussions earlier in the year at PALME in Dubai and at PLASA in London.

LDR's Fabiano Besio told L&SI: "MSS is one of the leading companies in the Indian market, not just a distributor but a company that really understands applications and how to support its customers, with strong knowledge of the local market and its requirements." He added: "The Indian market deserves a lot of attention."

Varinder Wadhwa of MSS commented: "LDR manufactures quality products, far better than what is available in India. Now the Indian market is opening up, and people are willing to pay for quality."

(Lee Baldock)

USA - SE Systems of Greensboro, NC has been named the recipient of a 2006 TEC Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Tour Sound Production for the North American tour of Alison Krauss and Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas. The award was presented to SE Systems as well as FOH engineer Bernie Velluti and monitor engineer Mark Richards.

According to SE Systems owner Cliff Miller, the use of JBL Vertec line arrays proved to be one of the keys to the tour's success. "The system has worked out extremely well for us on the Alison Krauss tour," he said. "We try to make the sound system as transparent as possible to maintain the purity of the acoustic instruments and Alison's vocals. With the Vertec line arrays, we are able to amplify the instruments through microphones without any additional built-in pickups. This provides us with significantly more gain at th

France - At this year's Paris Motor Show, Lighthouse Technologies' R6 6mm LED screens added impact to the stands of Porsche, Nissan, Fiat and General Motors among others.

One of the most eye-catching stands what that of Porsche, which featured three R6 screens each in a 7 x 5 panel configuration. Two of the screens were used as portrait format backdrops, while the third was angled above the right hand upright screen and showed footage of the sky to create the illusion of the car, positioned directly in front, actually driving along a winding country lane.

"Car shows are always a spectacular affair," says Lighthouse managing director Mark Chan. "Each year the technology involved in the manufacture of vehicles becomes more sophisticated and the way in which companies market their products has become equally technologically advanced. LED screens are not only equal

The Netherlands - In early September, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships took place at De Smelt (Ice Stadium) in Assen, the Netherlands. After the Paralympics this is the largest worldwide sporting event for the disabled in the world with approximately 1200 athletes from 78 countries competing for 891 medals. The event was broadcast worldwide.

The Championships' Opening Ceremony was produced by IdtV Events & Promotions with technical production and design completed by Livetime Productions. Livetime chose AED Rent as its partner for sound and lighting equipment. AED Rent recently purchased 100 MAC 700 washlights and Livetime was the first to use the new MAC 700 Washes in a technical production.

The Opening began with a parade of nations followed by a dance spectacle in which Fair Play and the importance of the referee in competition was h

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