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14 March 2016

City Theatrical is no stranger to Mary Poppins. Its WDS Wireless Data System is already providing wireless control to the Broadway production, but the new tour sees the first large scale use in the UK of their SHoW DMX system. City Theatrical provided one transmitter and a total of seven receivers to the production: Two mounted in trucked scenic pieces, four mounted on tracking sliders and the final receiver providing DMX to a large flown 'attic' piece.

Of all the pieces, the four tracking sliders are the most interesting elements. These tall translucent panels are internally lit by custom HELL RGB LED strips. The scenic design calls for

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14 March 2016

With half-price online pre-registration available until the final day of the show, PLASA08 (7-10 September, Earls Court, London), which has attracted a host of new exhibitors and the promise of numerous new product launches, looks set to break all records.

"The industry is heading for Earls Court," commented Director of Events Nicola Rowland, "and the buzz is tremendous among exhibitors and visitors. We also have some strong contenders for the PLASA Awards for Innovation and huge interest in the Gottelier Award - we're anticipating a great turnout for the Awards presentation on Monday evening. PLASA08 is also a fantastic opportunity to see all the key technology brands that helped deliver a successful Beijing Ol

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14 March 2016

Signature Sound (Douglas, New Brunswick) designed and installed the system, built around a main Cobra-4 system with VariLine fill loudspeakers.

Mike Jones of Signature Sound reports: "From the beginning I knew the Dynacord solution was perfect for this facility and, after hearing the system demo, the customer agreed. We have 40 Cobra boxes in our inventory, and we use them all the time for all kinds of applications, live and installed. The new VariLine boxes are amazing too-so compact, so versatile, so powerful. They're the perfect complement to the main Cobra system."

In addition to the main Dynacord system, Jones spec'd a range of additi

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14 March 2016

Artist John Pasche, who sold the artwork, was originally paid £50 for creating the design. Pasche was studying at London's Royal College of Art when Stones frontman Mick Jagger, disappointed by the bland designs put forward by record label Decca, began looking for a design student to help create a logo. The singer went to see Pasche's degree show, which eventually led to the iconic pop art design's creation, first used on the Stones' Sticky Fingers album in 1971. The artist went on to design

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14 March 2016

The course will provide an intensive, hands-on look at the technologies and challenges facing theatre professionals in the rapidly advancing world of theatre sound.

Topics covered include show control and audio playback, radio mics, communications systems, video, and digital consoles. There will be the opportunity to talk to experienced engineers, designers, and product specialists who work at the highest levels of the industry.

Orbital Sound's principle tutor, Theo Holloway comments: "There is a skills shortage in this area, and with some 26 pantomimes coming u

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14 March 2016

Totalling nearly 200 drapes of varying sizes, it's the Sowerby Bridge based company's largest single contract to date, with the work being delivered in four phases.

J&C Joel project manager Tony Griffiths, worked closely with ACCL production manager Gail Wroth to design curtain requirements for the various areas.

In the main 10,000 capacity Arena itself, the space needed to be turned into a variety of flexible formats including a complete 'black box', the traditional end-on stage D-shape format, in-the-round and sub-divided as a series of individual smaller performance spaces - all with curtains.

The main c

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14 March 2016

The company's stand features leading brand innovations from its four specialist divisions - A.C. Lighting, A.C. Audio, A.C. Rigging and A.C. Video - as well as providing specialist knowledge on applications using these technologies. A.C. Lighting will be showcasing a selection of innovations across its range of traditional and intelligent lighting fixtures, control, dimming and power distribution, effects, cables and connectors.

As the worldwide distributor for Chroma-Q, the stand will feature the brand's complete range of LED products for all types of entertainment and architectural lighting applications - including the new Color Span - a configurable, low-profile, ultra-b

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14 March 2016

It was decided that they needed a new world class loudspeaker system to take the venue's bookings and offerings into the next level. The previous system was locally designed and built and had been the in-house system since the venue opened in 1995. When the time came to upgrade, venue sound technician and long time fan of d&b audiotechnik systems, Ben Thompson contacted Simon Moran of Optim Audio who ulti

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14 March 2016

Clay Paky Alpha Wash 1200 played a key role in colouring the various scenes for what will be remembered as one of the most spectacular, colourful and thrilling ceremonies of the beginning of this century.

"These are the Games of the records, so is the Opening Ceremony", said Sha Xiao Lan, lighting designer of the Opening and Closing Ceremony. "To control this never before seen rig of lights I chose the grandMA

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14 March 2016

On stage in the church's sanctuary, the performers rely on Community M12 monitors to hear themselves. The M12s are part of the church's recently updated sound system, designed by Dallas-based Acoustic Dimensions. As Acoustic Dimensions' Ryan Knox observes, the M12 monitors were selected both for their powerful performance, as well as for their low on-camera profile.

"The M-12 is a camera-friendly, low profile stage monitor that throws further upstage than many comparable solutions," says Knox. "It works well on stag

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14 March 2016

Once a year the little town of Towersey in Oxfordshire, with a population of 400, becomes engulfed with festival-goers, keen to soak up the five-day festival's atmosphere. Towersey is now in its 44th year, and has again attracted the cream of folk and acoustic music artists including The Commitments, who opened the show during the August Bank Holiday weekend. The festival also includes a showground, a wide range of trade stalls and catering venues. Daily visitors to this year's festival topped 2,500, with a further 3,500 choosing to camp.

Stage Electrics has been heavily involved with the festival for 15 years, and is also a main sponsor. Steve Heap, director of the festival comments: &q

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14 March 2016

Billy Elliot, lit by Rick Fisher and programmed by Vic Smerdon, has been using FocusTrack since the show opened in London in 2005. The show is controlled by a Strand 500-series console; FocusTrack imported the show data and generated a list of the focus positions actually used by each light; it then controlled the console to allow a photograph of each lamp focus, together with a written description, to be added. This left the production team with a complete record of the components that make up the show lighting, which has already allowed them to create the Australian production of Bil

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14 March 2016

"Since adding the ZED series to the range, Allen & Heath's products are now more diverse than ever with consoles for touring systems to bedroom DJ's. Because of this, it was vital we found the correct distribution vehicle to cater for such diversity," explains A&H Director of Sales, Bob Goleniowski.

"Recently we have been examining how to broaden our reach in the UK MI sector. Knowing the JHS team well, it was clear they were ideal for the role. The products fit seamlessly into their portfolio, and with an 11-strong sales force on the ground servicing the UK, JHS was the logical choice to take the brand forward."

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14 March 2016

Situated in the Harbourside regeneration area, Zen is a luxurious, glass-fronted building on Millennium Square that caters for up to 400. The design mixes old and new, combining marbled toilets with chic private dining rooms. Zen artefacts, Chinese paintings and period Chinese furnishings complete the experience.

Owner Suzanna Ho, who also founded Dynasty in the BS1 postal district, is accustomed to renting in potent PA systems for corporate events; and with funky house music added selectively to the eclectic menu at Zen, she again needed a system at the same time capable of producing warm-sounding background music and a medium night club sound.

AET (Abbeymoor Electrical Technical) were recommended to the project by Premier Sound & L

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14 March 2016

Brazilian sound company Gabisom provided six Digidesign Venue systems for the event, as well as an Icon D-Control for post production tasks. Four D-Show consoles and two D-Show Profiles were in service at FOH and monitor positions. At the same time, all performances were simultaneously recorded on dual Pro Tools|HD systems, creating preliminary mixes in real time using one of the D-Show Profile consoles, and remixing

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14 March 2016

Based on a 112-port ADAM (Advanced Digital Audio Matrix) frame, with integral RVON (RTS Voice Over Network) VoIP cards, the system is able to connect to desktop panels using Ethernet links, plus three Virtual Key Panels, around the MTV studios complex.

Computer technology is having an increasing influence on broadcast communications and the Virtual Key Panel is a PC interface that replicates the familiar intercom switch panel on a desktop or laptop screen and offers the same functions as the traditional hardware version, with audio reproduced through the onboard soundcard.

Being able to c

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14 March 2016

Part of the festival included a giant screen installed at the foot of Nelson's Column, which played scenes from the Beijing Olympics. The screen showed everything from the opening ceremony in Beijing to the closing ceremony, and the handover to London and captured all of Team GB's successes. The festival had plenty of Chinese inspired performances to accompany the Olympic theme with acts and performances from the Flying Dragon Circus and the Yellow Earth Theatre. Many of the artists taking part in the festival used digital imagery and art as part of their act.

Stage Electrics worked

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14 March 2016

The main music event is the weekend-long Unleashed which takes place above the beautiful Watergate Bay. This year's event hosted BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles for a special one-off afternoon show. Local PA company, Impact Sound & Light, managed the sound requirements, selecting an Allen & Heath iLive-112 digital system for the live show and broadcast feed. The Zutons were special guests on the live show, performing an acoustic set to the assembled crowd, in addition to the usual Moyles show elements, such as the mash up sessions, involving a live DJ conte

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14 March 2016

Paul Collison, who was responsible for the control system and broadcast lighting, reported, "It always amazes me that the first time people really focus on the Closing Ceremony is two days after the opening. Beijing was no different. What made things very hard was we only had three nights with the stadium lights off. In total this amounts to only 18 hours of programming.

"Compare this to the six months of programming and thought that goes in to an opening and you start to see my point. For that reas

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14 March 2016

Barix products are now live in the campus' Life Center, a sports, recreational and fitness centre that opened this spring; Life Center Academy, a private, non-denominational K-12 school; WIFI-AM, a 500-watt Christian radio station; and the worship sanctuary, chapel and 2200-seat auditorium in the main Fountain of Life Center building.

According to Thomas Spadaro, director of technical ministries for Fountain of Life Center, the majority of the technology on campus is funded through donations, and the low cost of the Barix devices are ideal for his budget. Spadaro added that open-standards technology from companies like Barix al

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14 March 2016

The Clarion also boasts some of the most impressive conference facilities in the country with over 1600sq.m of dedicated floor space across several meeting rooms, handling up to 1200 conference visitors each day. A crucial part of its technical specification was the audio installation, which would be required to facilitate effective multimedia presentations and deliver loudness and clarity in both speech and music. To meet these needs, the specifiers opted for Tannoy's range of premium in-ceiling and surface-mount loudspeake

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14 March 2016

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Sound designer Mick Potter handled the audio system, provided by Blitz Audio who purchased the equipment through Meyer Sound dealer Autograph Sales. Using Meyer Sound's Matrix3 audio show control, Potter created a sound design to immerse the audience in a range of ambiences. A Galileo loudspeaker management system with eight Galileo 616 processors provides multiple zones and system DSP.

"The Matrix3 affords a level of control that simply wouldn't be achievable with more conventional components," Potter observes. "For me as a sound designer, it gives me an entirely n

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14 March 2016

Michael MacDonald, executive vice president of marketing & sales, comments: "Harman Professional owes much of its global success to the contribution of channel partners in Asia, Latin America and Canada. In recognition of this fact and the considerable opportunity presented by emerging markets in Latin America and Asia, we are investing in these new offices in regions that have pr