USA - Outfitted with 12 expansive decks featuring a soaring Grand Lobby, Royal Court Theatre, numerous restaurants, lounges, a casino, and luxury in every corner that blends the plush qualities of British tradition with amenities of the modern age, Cunard's newest ocean liner, the Queen Victoria, carries passengers in grand style.

Currently cruising the Mediterranean and waters of Northern Europe on this, her maiden year of voyages, the ship also uses Shure's UHF-R wireless microphone systems in wide-ranging applications designed and installed by San Diego, California-based Nautilus Entertainment Design (NED).

"RF radio stability is vital to these systems," says NED's Alan Edwards. "As they move from the open sea to ports of call, it's imperative that the signals don't cut out or introduce null zones. Coverage has to be consistent, and automatic frequency

USA - Residing at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School was established in 1881 as the world's first collegiate business school. Considered to be one of the most highly esteemed and influential institutions of its kind, the school has increasingly relied on technology in recent years, with sound reinforcement in the classroom coming to be the norm along with distance learning capabilities and high levels of networked connectivity.

Facing spectrum changes associated with the FCC's auction earlier this year of the 700 MHz band, Wharton - with a sizable amount of wireless systems operating in that spectrum -determined the time was right for a comprehensive upgrade. Malvern, Pennsylvania-based Cenero, LLC led the revitalization with a new wireless blueprint based around Shure UHF-R systems. Spanning buildings, including Huntsman Hall, Steinberg Hall, Dietrich Hall, Lauder-F

China - Meyer Sound has confirmed the appointment of Shanghai MYC Technology Company as the exclusive distributor of Meyer Sound products in mainland China, Macao and Hong Kong. The recently incorporated MYC Technology will focus on expanding the growth of Meyer Sound's award-winning solutions and strengthening customer support in system applications.

"The MYC team not only shares Meyer Sound's passion to deliver the best listening experience to the audience," says Mike Cooper, international sales director of Meyer Sound. "They have demonstrated a keen understanding of our technology and have established an excellent reputation in the industry. Together with MYC and Karoly Molnar, Meyer Sound's recently appointed technical support director for the region, we look forward to establishing a closer working relationship with customers to build top-quality sound system

Dubai - ChainMaster has just produced a BGV-C1 chain-hoist system comprising 56 chain hoists, a computer-based controller and a switching cabinet, for the ice rink in Dubai Mall.

The 500kg and 800kg chain hoists are equipped with absolute value encoders and the new ChainMaster load measurement system that has made it possible to reduce the overall height of the chain hoists by around 20 cm. The control and programming of the chain hoists is performed at a mobile computerised controller for installation work.

The recently opened Dubai Mall is part of the 20 billion dollar investment in downtown Burj Dubai that includes the world's highest building, the Burj Dubai. The Mall will accommodate over 1,200 businesses, 160 F&B outlets, attractions such as the Dubai Aquarium and the Discovery Centre, the largest jewellery market in the world, a Fashion Avenue and a 22-screen Cineplex.<

UK - Rental companies Skan PA Hire and Wigwam Hire have both added to their L-Acoustics inventory, with Wigwam purchasing 32 x SB28 subwoofers and 24 x LA8 Amplified Controllers, and Skan acquiring 32 x SB28s and 60 x LA8s.

"I heard the new subs, thought they were great and bought some to replace some of our older stock, and at the same time thought we'd also dip our toes in the water with the new amps," says Wigwam's Chris Hill. The company has been using the new SB28s and LA8s on tours with Radiohead, Human League and Shane Ward.

Skan's Abby Llewellyn says: "We decided to buy the SB28s because of their cardioid capability and the fact they complimented and enhanced our existing L-Acoustics stock holding." Skan has been using the new subs and racks on the current REM European arena tour.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Outdoor musical amphitheatre The MUNY (Municipal Opera Association of St. Louis) has acquired Robert Juliat followspots to complement seven distinct shows over eight weeks. The staff and crew at the outdoor musical venue (which seats approximately 11,000 people and has just completed its 90th season) wanted followspots with more punch than they had been getting for a 300ft throw from front of booth to front of stage (60ft deep and 90ft wide).

After deliberation, negotiation and comparison, three Lancelot 4000W and two Victor 1800W followspots were chosen. Lighting designer Mitch Dana states: "MUNY is a huge space so they need a lot more light onstage. The spots they'd been using didn't cut through."

Dana, along with fellow lighting designer David Lander, wanted to be able to have, for instance, a blue overlay and then a smaller spot in light pink. "If we p

Korea - Hwaseong Cultural Festival is a five-day cultural festival held every October to celebrate Sowon Citizen's Day. It is staged annually in Hwaseong, the city built by King Jeongjo (22nd King of the Joseon Dynasty) as an act of filial devotion and as part of reform activities, and the 2008 edition of the Festival - the 45th - was held from 8-12 October.

Various events and festivities are held, including re-enactments of royal and popular life, events for the entire family, culinary tasting sessions and performances. The festival attracts a large number of Korean and foreign tourists every year.

The Butterfly system installed by Hebsiba Multimedia Group, Outline's sole distributor for the Korean market, consisted in total of 20 CDH 483 Hi-Packs, four CDL 1815 Low-Packs, and eight 218SP Subtechs. The rig was powered by T7 digital power amplifiers and Genius 26 DSP, also man

UK - Formula Sound has moved premises after more than 20 years based at Bredbury, Stockport. While the move is only some eight miles to Oldham, there is also the opening of a new office in London.

Formula Sound's general manager Barry Penaligon said: "When we started looking at moving, it seemed there was an opportunity to not just move to another location but also open an office in the south to improve our coverage of the UK."

Formula Sound are one of the few professional audio companies still manufacturing in the UK and in the words of Barry Penaligon: "We remain committed to designing and manufacturing our products in the UK."

The new addresses are: Devon Mill Chapel Road, North End Road, Oldham OL8 4QH; Unit 23; Stadium Business Centre, Wembley, London, HA9 0AT. Tel: 0161 688 0020 and 0208 900 0947.

(Jim Evans)

UK - One of the final components in an extensive technical refurbishment of the BBC's largest radio studio, the M-400 V-Mixing System from RSS by Roland has been installed in the broadcaster's famous Radio Theatre in London's Broadcasting House.

As part of a larger building programme, the Radio Theatre has been refurbished and fitted out for a wide range of audience shows, primarily but not exclusively output to radio, including light entertainment productions, comedy, Christmas specials and one-off events.

The venue for many historic recordings since the 1930s when it was known as the BBC Concert Hall, today the theatre's 312-seat auditorium has been equipped with extensive PA and lighting facilities, and includes an 80-track digital recording facility.

The RSS M-400 digital mixing system, which has been supplied by Total Audio Solutions, has the job of mixing the two PA sy

Australia - Towards the end of last year, Queensland saw the rise of a new rental company with a big inventory. True Sound Productions in Ormeau (halfway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast) is able to cater for any requirements when it comes to production - whether for 50 people or 50,000.

Managing director David Thorndike has based his inventory on current industry trends. He wanted a point of difference to the other big companies in Queensland, so he opted for the HK Audio Cohedra and Cohedra Compact. Since they came onboard as an HK Partner, Thorndike has worked with other companies in the network and has started to build a strong client base.

Early this year David supplied some of the stages at the Queensland Future Music Festival. True Sound also helped BE Productions with the Newton's Playground Festival in Bathurst with the large HK Audio inventory they

Finland - Celebrating its 100th anniversary last year, the Helsinki City Theatre organisation is a driving force in this city's vibrant cultural community. To commemorate the century milestone, the organisation's Helsingin Kaupunginteatteri theatre house unveiled a customised Meyer Sound system.

The 950-seat venue, which opened its doors in 1967, provided some interesting architectural challenges. As the theatre's Jyrki Sandell explains: "The room's original design was focused on spoken presentations, and the reverb time is fairly short. The audience area itself is quite wide, but not very deep. We tested a number of different configurations, and determined that a typical line array would not be the best solution for the space."

Instead, Sandell opted for a more innovative approach. The distributed system, provided by Espoo-based Studiotech Oy, is an A/B system in wh

USA - D-Tools reports that Visimation Inc., a Seattle-based professional services company, has joined the D-Tools Certified Partner Programme. Visimation provides custom Visio shape development and integration with Microsoft Office applications Word, Excel, and SharePoint. The company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. In addition to custom services, Visimation's online store www.ShapeSource.com offers thousands of pre-made Visio shapes including network equipment and symbols for security and safety planning.

"We are very pleased to offer our customers the ability to become more productive with Visio through the customisation that Visimation can provide for special shapes, reports, and more," said Adam Stone, president and founder of D-Tools. "When our customers need something special related to Visio, Visimation is the go-to company that can deliver it."

UK - Ward Steedsy Associates (WSA) in association with, Allen & Heath, Funktion One & Polar Audio are running a training Demo day on Monday 10 November 2008 at The Bongo Club, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh.

Le'on Philips, Allen & Heath's product manager will be giving a full training session on the iLive digital desk. Mark Bromfield from Polar Audio will be bringing a full range of Beyer Dynamic mics plus some XTZ , MC2 & ASL gear; the mics will be demo'ed on a live band.

John Newsham co-founder of Funktion One Research will also be in attendance, demonstrating various Funktion One Resolution products.

"This will be a great event to gets hands-on' experience for a range of fantastic products, and meet the people behind the products," said David Steedsy Stevenson.

(Jim Evans)

Finland - Located in a recreational area of Tampere, Finland, the Naistenlahti Power Plant is using its lakeside position - and a lighting design featuring GE ConstantColor CMH ceramic metal halide lamps - to showcase a dramatic new look. The lighting design transforms this industrial structure into an attractive feature of the city and its waterfront nightscape.

The industrial architecture features simple geometric forms and lines without any decorative details. The lighting brings out the graphical form of the building, highlighting the key elements with colour. A programmable lighting system varies the appearance of the building to create a positive and dynamic message for the site, the building's architecture, the owner, and for the millions of people who pass the site each year during the long northern nights.

Lighting designers Roope Siiroinen, Arto Heiskanen and Heini Y

UK - Leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light, the exclusive UK distributor for products from Australian lighting manufacturer LSC, has recently supplied one of LSC's Redback dimmer racks to the Tower of London as part of a new display of a scale model of the Tower itself.

Designed as a cost-effective, flexible, compact dimming system, Redback fits six 10amp digital dimmers into a 19" rack-mount pack that is available with a variety of output connectors.

With programmable minimum and maximum levels and dimmer curves for each channel, a soft-patch facility, and on-board support for five scenes with fade times, and for four chases with speed control, Redback is a great choice for controlling exhibition and display lighting, say the company.

At the Tower of London, the Redback is being used to run a new lighting scheme designed by Hansjörg Schmidt, lighting a l

UK - Light Projects has worked closely with Kate Wilkins Lighting Designers to create and manufacture a dramatic lighting fitting for the Nandos Restaurant in Oxford.

The 'glass bottle wave' was conceived and designed by Kate Wilkins and uses Nandos' own sauce bottles to create a visual spectacle running along the entire length of the restaurant. This was backed up by smaller lighting fittings made from clusters of three or four bottles for individual tables.

The theme of the lighting was to complement architect Michaelis Boyd's scheme and to be clean, fresh, innovative and exciting - also with a strong emphasis on sustainability and recycling. This bold approach combines the creative and practical elements of lighting design and marries aesthetic flair with the use of LEDs for reduced energy consumption.

The showpiece uses warm white LEDs incorporated into specially-designe

UK - Hadouken are currently touring with a range of Sennheiser microphones. Their front of house engineer is Darren Mullis, who has previously toured with Fightstar, Gallows, Funeral For A Friend, The Horrors and Just Jack.

"I've been using the Sennheiser e 945 vocal mic with almost all my bands," he explains. "I like its clear sound. Basically, I think they've got a better top and mid sound than their competition. Also, it's good looking for photo shoots. James [Smith, Hadouken vocalist] isn't what you'd call a pop singer. He's more of an MC. Before I switched him to the e 945, I was finding the mics he was using were getting muddy. It wasn't picking up everything I wanted and his vocal was getting lost. He also had the habit of smashing up microphones."

After meeting Sennheiser UK's Artist Relations Manager Phil Cummings at Glastonbury, Mullis also took d

UK - This year's Reproduced Sound Conference and Exhibition takes place 20-21 November at the Brighton Old Ship Hotel, Sussex.

Reproduced Sound 24 - Immersive Audio will feature an array of papers from well known experts in the industry. Further information is available at www.reproducedsound.co.uk.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Following a relationship with the 02 Arena extending back a decade (to its days as the Millennium Dome) experienced sound consultant and project manager, Eddie Thomas, has now extended his expertise to full-blown concert sound - with help from the Harman Pro brands.

Thomas's company ETA Sound remains under contract to 02 Arena management AEG, not only to provide auxiliary sound reinforcement for shows taking place in the Docklands complex's premier venues - such as the NHL and NBA events - but site-wide system maintenance and coverage for a raft of smaller events such as press conferences.

The original Millennium Dome and now both 02 Arena and the smaller Indigo2 have end-to-end Harman Pro systems (including JBL Vertec loudspeakers) operating on a CobraNet backbone running HiQnet. The latest addition to ETA's rental fleet has seen further investment both in JBL's premium

UK - Summer 2008 has been a busy time for programming house grandPA. Following its launch in the spring, the company reports that its programmers have been involved in some major shows over the past months.

Marcus Kromer was seconded to PRG for Madonna's Sweet and Stickytour, responsible for grandMA support for the M-box Extreme video programming.

Tim Routledge spent his summer in Beijing as programmer to LD Durham Marenghi for the London 2012 Handover Ceremony at the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Paralympics whilst business partner Pryderi Baskeville had a busy summer between setting up the Bill Bailey tour in Australia, the Charlotte Church Show and Ronan Keating dates.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Elation Professional has announced the winners of its 2008 Elation Education Experience Award (E3) for young lighting designers who focus on the House of Worship (HOW) market.

Josh Johnston of Sheffield, Alabama; Frank Meyer of Scottsdale, Arizona; and Yoshihito Takahashi of Brooklyn, New York were selected because of their dedication and talent in the field of lighting design. They will be attending the upcoming Worship Facilities Conference & Expo (WFX) in Houston for a hands-on education in House of Worship Lighting.

Josh Johnston was nominated by Lane Sutherland, general manager of Sutherland Sight & Sound, where Johnston currently works in light sales. Sutherland says: "Josh has a great desire to learn how to put together light systems. He takes the extra time and effort to make each show better than the last."

Frank Meyer was nominated by Thomas Casem,

Australia - During their recent seven-stop Australian tour, Goldfrapp stopped at the Sydney Opera House on for a side show. Best known for their visual theatrics and contribution to the popularisation of electronic dance music, the show at the celebrated venue attracted upward of 2500 people. In the grand setting of the Sydney Opera House, Goldfrapp emerged as a six-piece band dressed entirely in white, and were fittingly accompanied by a 14-piece string section including two harps, on a stage set consisting of bunting and a maypole.

Sydney's own Norwest productions provided the PA system for the stop, as well as for Parklife Sydney and Parklife Brisbane festivals, where a 5000 strong audience respectively, came to hear headliners Goldfrapp among other international and home grown performers.

The Sydney sound design was executed by Justin Arthur, using Adamson's

Austria - Located on the site of an original 16th century monastery in Wiener Neustadt, Backstage Musicbar went through many changes until in 1994 it opened as a bar. By 2006 new proprietor Christian Pinkernell had established the venue as a live music bar near the Austrian capital.

Sensing the need to upgrade the sound system earlier this year, he contacted Roman Wieser at eXact, the Austrian QSC Audio distributor. "I had known Roman for a long time - but was not familiar with QSC," he said. "At that time I had my eyes set on another brand until he persuaded me otherwise."

The 80sq.m room has been equipped with a pair of powered HPR122i flown above the stage, with an HPR151i providing the bass extension. These were installed by Rautschka AVL and ELA Trading.

"Both musicians and sound engineers are delighted with the quality of the new speakers,&quo

Ireland - D.A.S. Audio continues its worldwide seminar series, and Ireland recently received a visit from D.A.S. Audio engineer Joan La Roda.

The two-day seminar took at the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlon, an hour away from Dublin. The event was organized by D.A.S. distributor Reynolds of Raphoe and was attended by some 25 D.A.S. customers and prospective clients.

The seminar's main focus was Line Arrays: How they work, detailing the technical features and applications of line array systems as well as an explanation about subwoofer characteristics and configuration entitled Subwoofer Configurations and Time Alignment. The theoretical section was followed by Arco, DR, Reference, Artec, Variant112A and Variant 18A product demos. Brian McGrath of Reynolds of Raphoe personally took charge of the demos and the D.A.S. systems presentation.

(Jim Evans)

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