Sweden - A Milos MR2 roofing system was utilised by designer Peter Samzelius of Peter Samzelius AB as the main stand superstructure for Swedish machine control solutions provider Scanlaser at the recent massive MaskinExpo.

The exhibition was staged at Barkarby Airfield in Stockholm and included a large demo site for working presentations of heavy plant machinery.

Scanlaser is one of Samzelius's key clients and he has designed all their exhibition stands for some time. He has also used Milos products for the last five years.

The Scanlaser stand space at MaskinExpo measured 25m by 30m, with the MR2 system measuring 15m by 13m for the main tent and 12m by 13m for the black tent. It was purchased specially for the show by Samzelius and will eventually be owned by Scanlaser. He comments, "I've wanted to purchase an MR2 roof for several years, and this new Scanlaser stand pro

UK - A visitor survey conducted during the recent Audio-Technica Road To Success tour has revealed "an overwhelmingly positive reaction to both the concept and content of the UK-wide roadshow" says the company.

More than 90% of respondents to the survey found their roadshow visit useful and would attend such an event again. And 20% of survey respondents were currently not Audio-Technica dealers or re-sellers.

Audio-Technica senior UK marketing manager Harvey Roberts comments: "The response to the roadshow has been excellent. The survey results show that customers were very receptive to Audio-Technica going out to see them, rather than having to travel to us in the usual trade show environment."

Adrian Rooke, Audio-Technica UK managing director said: "In terms of reaching out to new prospects, the Road To Success tour more than proved it

UK - Bristol based video, AV and digital content production specialists R2 Digital Productions purchased a high specification Catalyst digital media server from Projected Image Digital (PID) and three Sanyo projectors for the current Random Concerts touring production of Oh What A Night.

R2 Digital Productions headed by Colin Rozee, are the tour's technical co-ordinators. At the end of 2007, producer Stuart Littlewood was keen to replace some of the physical set with video and give the show - which has been on the road for 11 years - a contemporary twist.

He spoke to Rozee who advised that large projections would be a way to achieve this, by which time lighting designer Nigel Catmur had already come up with initial ideas for a projected set design containing 51 different sized projection windows mounted onto three large onstage flats

PID supplied the fully integrated

Music Industry News: Peter Gabriel says record companies should reinvent themselves to be seen as a service industry and not as "owners" of music. The former Genesis singer told the BBC he thought the current digital age paved the way for changes to be made. Gabriel has been a pioneer in distributing music legally online. He co-founded We7 - a website that allows users to stream and download music for free, with or without adverts - last year. "I love all these experiments - there's a lot of ways for musicians to communicate and sell their records to their fans," Gabriel said.

"There's still room for record companies but they should reinvent themselves as a service industry and not as owners. The structure of the old album and waiting for that to be finished still has some merit but you can do a lot of other things and I think it should be a lot looser and mixe

China - Known as the 'Water Cube', the National Swimming Center is one of the main venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The dramatic structural design of the building is based on the natural formation of soap bubbles to give a random, organic appearance - symbolic of Beijing's architecture.

Since the entire facility had to be pitched at world-class level, the audio reinforcement system also had to meet the standard for international competitions and a CobraNet digital backbone was proposed, with BSS Audio providing the DSP network.

To meet the specification for the PA system, based around a JBL PD main system, ACE (the Harman Pro distributors for China and Hong Kong) proposed a complete Harman Pro signal chain; this comprises five BSS Audio Soundweb London BLU-80 devices as the primary processing system, with two BSS Audio FCS-966 two-channel 30-band Constant Q graphic e

India - PALME India 2008, which will be held from 3-5 October at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai has already signed-up industry majors such as Harman Pro, Modern Stage/Philips Lighting, Meyer Sound and Coda Audio. Modern Stage/Philips Lighting have booked over 450sq.m of floor space, with a distinct Bollywood theme. All of Modern Stage's principle companies will be represented, ranging from Vari-Lite, Elgin Electronics, Stark Illumination, Philips Lighting and Studio Due from Italy.

However, while the Bollywood film industry is the central entertainment focus, the events industry also continues to record dramatic growth. With over 8% GDP growth, India's main conurbations and resorts are witnessing a boom in leisure and tourism infrastructure. To provide specific platforms for both of these distinct areas, PALME India features two separate but complementary vertical shows, I

Germany - Anolis LED ArcLine fixtures have been installed at the 16th Century Industrie & Handels-Kammer (IHK) building in Braunschweig. This is the HQ of the local Brunswick Chamber of Commerce which represents the interests of the economy in the district, and is also one of the few original structures in the city to survive World War II intact.

Recently, leading German architectural lighting designer Bernd Grewe was commissioned by locally based architects Struhkarchitekten Planungsgesellschaft to create a new contemporary lighting scheme to replace the fluorescent lighting surrounding the columns of the building's entrance hall and lobby. The idea was that the structure of the entrance hall should be 'clarified' by the new lighting.

One of the architect's remits was to use low power light-sources and fixtures that were aesthetically pleasing and that blended seamlessly into

UAE - The majestic Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque (also known as the Grand Mosque) in Abu Dhabi has been described as the most striking religious and national landmark in the city to date. Now the lighting has won Speirs and Major Associates international accolades for their design, including two Middle East Lighting Design Awards (MELDA) - Project of the Year and Best Public Building Lighting Project. The project uses a large ETC ACN network for remote device management as well as Congo control systems, ETC Matrix Mk II SineWave dimming and several hundred ETC Source Fours.

With a brief of creating inspired lighting appropriate to this iconic civic building, both externally and internally, and emphasise its standing as a gateway into the city, Speirs and Major specified building-wide ETC dimming and control systems.

Keith Bradshaw, associate director

Spain - Art Ramos Studio has installed D.A.S. Audio's powered line array systems and in the new building of the National Library of Belarus, located in Minsk. The new building includes a President Centre, a complex of rooms and conference hall for an audience of 500 where Art Ramos has installed a P.A. system consisting of eight powered Aero CA-28A modules and four CA-215A units for bass.<>P>These systems were topped off with DS-12A units from the Dynamics series. Installed as well are Pf-012 models from the Pf series amplified with D.A.S. Energy series E-12 amplifiers and six Compact-115 systems.

The National Library of Belarus is the main informational and cultural institution of the country and receives over 90,000 visits per year.

(Jim Evans)

Poland - Following a competition organised by the Polish city of Krakow, Arup is to provide venue consulting and auditorium acoustic design for the city's new Congress Centre and Concert Hall. The competition was won by Ingarden & Ewy Architects as lead architects, with Arata Isozaki & Associates as design consultant; Ingarden & Ewy invited Arup, the global firm of design, engineering and business consultants, to cooperate on the project.

The Centre will comprise a 1,800-seat auditorium, which will provide a concert hall for symphonic performances, a 600-seat auditorium and a 300-seat hall, plus smaller meeting spaces. Arup is providing building services engineering design - which includes services such as ventilation, heating and plumbing, as well as acoustic and venue consultancy.

Raf Orlowski, project leader at Arup Acoustics, says: "In the past 20 years, Krakow has be

UK - Belfast's Waterfront Hall venue - an award-winning, purpose-built conference, arts and entertainment centre - has just taken delivery of a new Avolites Diamond 4 Vision lighting console.

This has replaced the original Diamond 3 which had been in residence since the Waterfront opened in 1997. It was part of an upgrade instigated by stage electrician Oscar Kane and was supplied by Belfast-based Production Services Ireland (PSI).

The console is used to control the house lighting systems in the Main 2000 capacity auditorium, and is also moved around the building and sometimes used in the Studio Theatre.

"It was a completely logical move to go on to the D4 after the D3" says Kane, "It's a console that can be used at very basic or highly complex levels - as required."

PSI's Sean Pagel arranged the sale of the D4 to Waterfront. He worked at the flagship v

New Zealand - Selecon sponsored Neil Fraser's guest appearance at a recent Forum in Beijing aimed at developing lighting designers which was organised by the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and held prior to the 2008 CALME Trade Show.

Forum participants included representatives from the National Academy, the Central Academy in Beijing and the Shanghai Academy. Neil Fraser is the Technical Course Director at the London Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and his key note address (the highlight of the Forum) introduced the UK training system as practised at RADA.

"It was a great honour to represent and introduce the concept of Lighting Teaching in the UK and at RADA to the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and to do so sponsored by Selecon Lighting," says Fraser. "I was especially honoured to be made an associate professor of the Chinese Academy and it h

UK - A.C. Lighting has been appointed as the exclusive UK distributor for QuartzColor film, TV and video lighting products.

QuartzColor are one of the leading lighting brands in this industry sector, with a strong reputation based on pioneering product innovations such as the Redhead, Blonde, Bambino and Pinza.

QuartzColor's export sales executive, Jean-Marie Reynaud, comments, "We appointed A.C. Lighting due to its renowned expertise and experience in the UK lighting industry. They are committed to ensuring the market's needs are met with the highest possible levels of support, in particular with fast supplies and state-of-the-art after sales service, which is so important in our industry."

Under the agreement, A.C. Lighting will support the entire QuartzColor product range, which includes the HMI daylight Fresnel and PAR spotlights range, Studio and Bambino tungs

USA - The New 42nd Street Studios, located between New York's Seventh and Eighth Avenues, is a prominent rehearsal space for the city's performing arts community.

In addition to three floors of office space, the ten-storey, 84,000sq.ft facility features a total of 14 rehearsal studios, two of which can be used as function rooms. Owned and operated by The New 42nd Street Inc, it was set up as an independent non-profit organisation to assume long-term responsibility for seven historic theatres on the block.

The facility recently tasked its lighting designer, Anne Militello, of Los Angeles-based Vortex Lighting, with the revitalisation of the building, replacing the conventionally-lit extravaganza she had designed at the start of the new millennium, with a LED solution using Coemar fixtures.

When the architectural firm Platt Byard Dovell originally conceived the New 42nd Street

South Africa - With the opening of their latest college in Cape Town, South Africa SAE now boasts 49 institutes worldwide.

SAE Cape Town is housed in a landmark building situated in the heart of Cape Town's business district. Based on three floors, SAE Cape town is home to a state of the art recording studio, an advanced computer centre and two fully-equipped lecture halls, offering the latest technology in all fields of creative study, says the organisation.

The first diploma intake for Audio Engineering, Digital Animation and Multimedia and Web Development will commence in July, with new courses such as Electronic Music Production and the "revolutionary Digital DJ course" set to launch later in 2008. SAE Cape Town is also set to offer its Film diploma in 2009, aimed at students looking to enter South Africa's dynamic film industry.

"Cape Town, as a cosmopoli

UK - Tannoy's VQ Series loudspeaker system was deployed in one of Glastonbury's most innovative tents in the Dance Village - the Igloo. A recent addition to the festival's Dance Village, the Igloo is the brainchild of cutting-edge events company Igloo Vision.

With just a single stack per side, comprising a VQ NET 60 cabinet above an accompanying VS218 DR subwoofer, the aesthetic impact on the visual projection space of the Igloo interior was minimal.

Tannoy's Tim Gray comments: "I was worried that just two subs and two VQ NET 60 tops for 1400 people would be cutting it fine, but it did the business. The best thing about the system though, was getting more familiar with the subs.This new twin 18" design clearly sets a new performance standard for Tannoy subwoofers and it's just awesome for sub-bass."

The new VQ series was designed for any application where prec

Spain - DJ Factory recently completed a nightclub installation in the beach resort of Mataro, 40km north of Barcelona, using QSC Audio AcousticDesign sound reinforcement.

For La Cova's owners, David Pecharroman and Coral Martínez, the move is the latest chapter in a long relationship with QSC Spain, and specifically their sales manager for Catalonia and the Balearics, Ezequiel Mayoral.

Inside the all-white interior, with its long rectilinear shape, Tony Espin masterminded the installation for DJ Factory to ensure not only even distribution, but via a series of system presets optimised the sound depending on whether the venue would be presenting live music, comedic speech or hard dance playback from the highly-specified DJ station.

"The whole idea was to provide LaCova with maximum versatility for minimum investment," says Mayoral.

Thus the venue has been equippe

Belgium - Barco reports that Procon is the latest in a line of rental partners selecting Barco's 6mm black LED display, the NX-6.

Over the past two decades, Procon, an international technical full service provider for the media, entertainment and event industry, has assembled one of the most advanced and comprehensive equipment pools in the world.

Together with an order of NX-6 true black LED displays, Procon ordered a significant quantity of MiTRIX modules, DX-700 video processors and XLM HD30 high brightness digital projectors. Also included in the order were 25 Showguns and 25 Showpix, both products from the recently acquired lighting specialist High End Systems.

"At Procon, we have made it our mission to offer our clients the most advanced products on the market today" says Morten Carlsson, CEO of Procon. "We are delighted to add the NX-6 together with all

Canada - The Mule nightclub in Penticton, British Columbia, was recently outfitted with bright and economical Martin smartMAC moving head effects.

"We had lots of patience in working with this project and therefore didn't encounter many hurdles," says owner Lorne Leier. "We took time in thinking out the layout and took proper procedures when time came to execute. We didn't have our mouths precede our brains. I guess you could say it was installed 'smartly.'

"We decided to go with Martin as a referral from Skaha Sound, our dealer here in Penticton." Skaha acquires its Martin gear from Martin Canada.

The lighting upgrade also included an Atomic 3000 strobe and a PC-based Martin LightJockey control system. "Having the touch screen component makes things very quick and easy to use," Lorne adds. "Changing the effects to its required moods i

Denmark - More than 67,000 fans flocked to Roskilde, Denmark this year to witness Roskilde Festival 2008 which featured performances by Radiohead, Neil Young, Gnarls Barkley, My Bloody Valentine, Jay-Z and many more.

DPA Soundco of Soborg, Denmark, once again provided concert sound services for the occasion. A total of 60 JBL VT4889 full-size line array elements were suspended using ground-support trussing structures which flanked the festival's orange tensile-membrane outdoor stage covering. Each main left/right array included 18 VT4889's, supplemented with out-fill array hangs of 12 boxes each. DPA Soundco's Paul Hammann and Claus Pedersen headed the onsite crew responsible for system deployment and operation.

"This is the first year we have deployed JBL's Vertec system for Roskilde, after using another system for many years," says Sten Jensen of DPA Soundco. "

USA - In late May, more than 380,000 people attended two simultaneous concerts in Buenos Aires and Mexico City, organised by the Fundaction ALAS (Latin America in Solidarity Action).

The mission of ALAS is to increase awareness of the more than 32 million children living in poverty in Latin American countries. The organisation wants to encourage Latin American corporations and governments to finance programmes that will provide food, health care, and education for these children.

"We're honoured that our products were chosen to be used at these concerts to help raise awareness of this very important issue," said José Rivas, director of sales and marketing for Shure's International Americas Business Unit. "I'm proud of all of our endorsers who performed at both concerts."

Shure endorsers Alejandro Sanz, Calle 13, Fito Paez, and Gustavo Cerati joined

UK - Glastonbury's John Peel Stage monitor tech, Mike Taylor from Emarty used HK Audio stage monitoring products for the first time in 2008.

14 CT 115 ConTour Series high-/midrange units, biamped with DSM 2060 controllers and LABgruppen FP 10000 power amps, served as front monitors. Two CT 112 enclosures and four CTA 118 units provided the drum-fill, and one ConTour Array with two 2 CTA 208 and CTA 118 enclosures made up the side-fill system.

Commenting on the performance, Taylor noted: "I've been an HK Audio user for quite some time. Because the cabinets that we used last year didn't work out so well, this year I used the CT 115 from HK Audio, which satisfied all the demands, and performed and sounded excellent. With 43 bands and 20 minutes each change-over time for the entire stage, you need monitors that handle this kind of action.

"I was tremendously satisfied

UK - Neil Diamond's engineer Bernie Becker chose the TL Audio Ebony A2 for the singer-songwriter's recent performance at the Glastonbury Festival.

Attracted to the unit by its feature set and ease of use, Becker reports that the 'unit "worked amazingly great... just what we needed to get a little analogue in a digital signal path".

Diamond performed to a large welcoming crowd on Glastonbury's Pyramid stage and received a rapturous response with five star reviews.

Becker states: "We inserted the Ebony A2 on the outputs of the DM1000 before Neil's transmitter for his belt pack. The A2 really did the trick - the compressor worked very well with the adverse levels we threw at it and the tube stage and EQ really shined."

(Jim Evans)

Germany - From July 2008 the Gerriets sales department and management are working together in the completely reconstructed office building in Umkirch. Also, technical production is now located in Umkirch too. The sewing and welding workshops as well as the French subsidiary S.A.R.L remain in the French premises in Volgelsheim.

It took a year to completely redesign the Umkirch building which now offers space on more than 800 sq.m for more than 70 employees from the sales, purchase and dispatch departments.

(Jim Evans)

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