Portugal - Arcstream AV worked with Hipnose Events in Portugal to create a giant projection screen, laser show and the largest MagicSymbol demonstration ever attempted to launch Portugal Telecom's high profile rebrand.

Arcstream AV sourced a massive 25m x 10m projection screen which formed a backdrop to the stage set, Hipnose Events used six Barco 20K projectors edge blended to create the image.

Arcstream commissioned Harkness Screens to manufacture the Translite Midnight Rear projection screen, a dark grey screen which produced a stage backdrop,ommiting all ambient light in the venue, as well as giving perfect contrast to the image.

The laser show heralded the moment when the new logo was revealed with three 10 watt Arctos lasers and two 6.5watt ARX full colour lasers, all controlled with Pangolin Laser Show Software, in addition 72 diffraction mirrors were rigged to bounce

UK - Rental companies Britannia Row and SSE have joined L-Acoustics' new K1/Kudo Pilot Programme. The two companies have simultaneously taken delivery of 48 K1 line source cabinets, which forms their K1/Kudo system together with K1 SB and SB28 subwoofers, Kudo line source boxes and LA-RAK touring rack fitted with LA8 amplified controllers.

SSE and Britannia Row will be incorporated into L-Acoustics' new Rental Network, an international platform to serve the community of line source array owners which replaces the V-Dosc Partnership. This allows its agents to pool quality values as well as human and technical resources, and to benefit from network synergies, says the manufacturer.

Britannia Row has already used its system for arena tours with Bryan Adams and Lynyrd Skynyrd, in a marquee for the BBC's One Big Weekend, and will debut it outdoors for Hyde Park concerts by The Kill

USA - When Radiant Church in Colorado Springs decided to upgrade its mixing console, Worship & Media Pastor Dustin Guthrie was charged with making sure the church got the most out of its investment. For the main campus, Rutledge recommended the Allen & Heath iLive-144.

The system accepts 48 inputs from the stage through the system's iDR10 mix rack, with 16 additional channels inserted from the mixing surface itself for a total of 64 inputs. An Aviom output card in the mix rack handles the 16 channels flowing through the personal monitor system. The final slot in the iDR10 is the iLive's EtherSound card, which proved to be a key element in the system design.

"We run several different bands in both contemporary and blended worship styles, so we knew we wanted to go digital," notes Guthrie. "Having the ability to save scenes and recall them on the fly makes a huge

Netherlands / UAE - The fine white sand of the Abu Dhabi Corniche was the latest setting for WOMAD's global world music caravanserai - the recent inaugural WOMAD Abu Dhabi World Music Festival - with sound provided by long-time WOMAD audio partners Ampco, for up to 22,000 people a day, a total of 80,000 over the weekend.

Staged by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and WOMAD (World Of Music Arts & Dance), the multi-cultural festival opened on the North Stage with Zimbabwean group Siyaya, accompanied by children from schools in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, while the South stage opened with South Korean act Dulsori .

Three days of spectacular performances from over 20 award-winning artists from around the world followed, including Khaled, Youssou N'Dour, Trilok Gurtuj, Egypt's Mohammed Mounir and special guest Robert Plant, on three stages at Abu Dhabi Corn

UK - Goboland has chosen the ABTT show in London to launch Goboland UK. In a long-anticipated move, the creation of Goboland UK reunites Wyatt Enever and Vicky Fairall as directors of the new operation. Between them, they have over 50 years of experience in every aspect of gobo production, technical support and professional services to clients.

Wyatt Enever is a founder member and former managing director of DHA Lighting, and more recently filled the role of consultant for Goboland. Vicky Fairall, was formerly graphics manager, then customer Services manager, for DHA Lighting where she worked for almost 20 years developing both graphic capabilities and customer service strategies for which the company was lauded, before moving briefly to Roscolab, and then to Goboland as head of UK operations to the Belgian head office.

"We felt very strongly that there was a need for a U

Sweden - Located outside Stockholm in the suburb of Sundbyberg, Grand Garbo is a large nightclub with an impressive 25 years of clubbing experience behind it, a virtual institution in the Swedish club environment. A recent 13 million SEK refurbishment includes a large Martin Professional package of entertainment and architectural lighting gear

Eight years on from a renovation that also included Martin gear, owner Ulf Westerberg felt it was time to again revitalise the club and contacted Henrik Rune of interior design firm Rune Design of Denmark, the same designer he entrusted with the renovation eight years earlier.

The latest redesign, which covered the club's top floor, was comprehensive and Rune worked with Westerberg on the new look for nearly a year. "When a club or design gets to be more than five years old it is time to refresh it - there is a need to create someth

USA - At Northwestern State University, an Aviom Pro64 digital snake is providing theatre students with the experience of using the most-up-to-date technology to give them a professional edge for today and for tomorrow in the workplace. The university added the Aviom Pro64 system, including one of the first installations of the new 6416m Mic Input Module, as part of a major renovation and upgrade of the audio infrastructure in the A. A. Fredericks Auditorium, the campus' main theatrical performance space, funded by the Louisiana Board of Regents.

Between the school's two production seasons, the theatre hosts three musical productions, six non-musical theatrical productions and one major dance concert as well as various student and organisational events.The Aviom system's modular design lends itself well to versatility and adaptability - a major consideration when creating the de

Switzerland - Bern-based integration specialist room-zoom, in coordination with Mobilesolutions Zürich, has installed an Audica Professional background music system in the new Altitude restaurant in Geneva Airport.

Altitude is owned by SSP who operate more than 1,800 units in over 140 airports and nearly 300 railway stations across Asia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, India and North Africa. The new venue was created in collaboration with Michelin-starred chef Gilles Dupont and is part of a redevelopment of the airport.

Daniel Kormann of room-zoom was commissioned to provide the concept and installation of the audio system for the venue and chose Audica Professional loudspeakers based on audio quality and coverage, as well as the product's aesthetics which suited the quality and contemporary design of Altitude.

The system uses 16 Audica Professional MICROline full-

Belgium - Caméléon has opened the first ecologically-built store in Europe, on 10,000 sq.m of shopping space, at Woluwe-Saint-Lambert in Belgium. This represents a major breakthrough for the Brussels brand that was first created in 1988.

The professional audio spec was put together by Brussels-based TV Connections Image & Sound, using 150 QSC loudspeakers and over 4km of cable, with QSC's proprietary BASIS platform meeting the control, zone splitting, monitoring and processing needs of amplification and loudspeaker systems over an Ethernet network. All the QSC equipment was supplied by AED Import & Distribution, the manufacturer's Benelux distributors.

TV Connections' Arnaud (Nono) Famerée, who runs the pro audio department, chose a QSC solution based on its big sound characteristics and easy implementation of the audio network, using BASIS 914lz DSP and p

Korea - Intercom manufacturer ASL Intercom recently enjoyed a successful presence at KOBA 2009, which culminated in the company appointing Dai Kyung Vascom Co as a full distributor for ASL's products.

Dai Kyung Vascom was established in 1987, is a major distributor of high profile audio brands and one of the region's most successful audio, video and communications companies and has won several awards for its success and technical innovations.

Held at the end of May, KOBA is the main trade show in Korea for the broadcast and entertainment technical industries, so Dai Kyung Vascom took the opportunity to show a selection of ASL's product range, including the new digital intercom system.

Shaking hands on the appointment with Dai Kyung Vascom CEO Dae-Hyun Han, ASL sales and marketing director Susan McLohon said: "The Korean broadcast and technical entertainment market is ra

USA - The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is more than a race. Held in this seaside city's downtown area, the three-day event is billed as the "World's Fastest Beach Party," drawing 180,000 spectators and featuring live concerts and a Lifestyle Expo with over 270,000sq.ft of merchandise displays, interactive games and racing-related exhibits.

This year, the Grand Prix venue featured a new attraction that was viewed by virtually all who attended: a sprawling EVLED1024SMD 20mm LED video screen from Elation Professional. Positioned near the outdoor stage at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Centre, the hub of Grand Prix activities, the 16ft x 8ft screen flashed a continuous loop of advertising and other messages provided by sponsor Tecate beer.

Adding an LED display screen to the outdoor pavilion was the brainchild of Festival Lighting (Buena Park, CA), which

UK - Held in Home Park Private each May to raise support for Britain's servicemen and women, the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo has become bigger and more spectacular each year. For the second year running, Delta Sound provided the event's audio requirements, a task that, due to the layout of the arena and the vagaries of the British climate, provides some interesting challenges.

Produced by Simon Brooks-Ward, managing director of Horse Power International alongside Brigadier Mel Jameson, who also produces the Edinburgh Tattoo, the tri-service event was held over four days and nights and featured international and British military acts, massed bands, pipes and drums and military re-enactments.

Delta's Paul Keating reports: "We've been involved with the Royal Windsor Horse Show for the past five years and that has led to us providing audio for the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo.

USA - A few months ago Outline inaugurated its American branch, Outline North America LLC. Led by Thomas Bensen, the new operation reports steady business.

In the short period since it opened, it is able to boast high profile installations and live events (Clear Channel Theater, New York, the Healing Place Church cathedral in Louisiana, Imperial Palace Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, and the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

Giorgio Biffi, Outline's international sales and marketing director, comments: "I've known Tom Bensen for quite a long time and have been impressed by his career and the way he has always been very successful in introducing high class brands on to the US market. Before we set up our relationship with Tom, I had individually met a number of people in the US pro audio market who have a great and deep respect for him. His successful venture with Powersoft was fu

UK - Essential Lighting's new website is now available and ready for use. The site has been developed to provide customers with a useful resource to learn about the people at Essential, their services and most importantly the equipment they can provide.

Adding equipment to the new site has allowed Essential to start creating a complete technical resource, offering information including specifications and in-depth technical detail on many fixtures.

A download section that includes brochures, user manuals, datasheets, accessories and more is also available on a growing list of equipment.

The 'news' and 'equipment' sections have also now been linked together to allow users to see photos and videos of fixtures in use. Equipment items now include a 'recent uses' gallery to show how they have been included on shows - this will be especially useful to demonstrate the versatility of

World - Education group SAE has recently made a substantial investment in Avid solutions for its international campuses, including 400 Pro Tools 8 upgrades (including more than 80 Pro Tools | HD licenses) and a new Digidesign ICON D-Control ES worksurface for its San Francisco, Istanbul and Oxford campuses. Each college has installed a 32-channel console, which offers unparalleled Pro Tools integration. The D-Control installed at SAE's Oxford HQ is the 20th that SAE has purchased since the console's debut in 2004.

SAE's managing director Rudi Grieme says: "Our students have access to multiple production systems so that they are able to deal with many situations within the industries that they choose to work in. However, Pro Tools is the industry standard in music production so it is vital that our students have access to the latest and greatest versions. ICON too is state o

USA - At this years InfoComm in Orlando, Stefan Feistel of the Ahnert Feistel Media Group (AFMG) will deliver two seminars on the company's latest software updates. The new release of SysTune (Version 1.1) will be discussed on Thursday 18 June and a seminar on speech intelligibility prediction using the new version of EASE, Version 4.3, will be presented on Friday 19 June.

The SysTune seminar is free and open for all to attend; for the EASE seminar visit www.InfoCommShow.org in the Education section and register under the Manufacturers' Seminars.

The new features in EASE 4.3, aimed at sound system designers, room acousticians and architects, will be discussed in the Friday seminar, along with aspects of speech intelligibility theory, measurement and modeling. It will focus on the various methods EASE 4.3 uses to predict STI in accordance with IEC 60268-16 - and their advantage

UK - Rental company SSE has supplied a Midas PRO6 live audio system for Maximo Park's sell out UK academy tour. A Klark Teknik DN9696 was used to record all shows, including support bands, which were also mixed on the PRO6. FOH engineer Huw Richards had used an XL8 for orchestral concerts in the past, but this was his first time on a PRO6.

"What I love about this board more than anything is the feel of it: it's like Midas has always felt, which is reassuring," says Richards. "So many digital boards are so flimsy and light, there's no foundation, but I don't think of this as a digital desk, to me it's a Midas.

"I like the 'fast zone' controls which take you to any instrument or control parameters wherever you are on the desk. You don't have to search through layers or change pages, everything you need is on the surface, which again is reassuring."

The

UK - Orbital Sound is providing specialist guidance to attendees at this week's ABTT Theatre Show on the issues surrounding Noise at Work compliance, as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show signs of getting tough on non-compliance. With West End productions, tours and even pantomimes all falling under the legislation, Orbital Sound's emphasis is on providing accurate information on the issues and the steps required to ensure compliance - via its specialist Noise at Work risk assessment service.

Orbital Sound has been working closely with industry bodies, such as PLASA, to raise awareness of The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 Act, following the expiry of the two-year period of grace extended to the entertainment industry by the HSE.

PLASA's technical resources manager, Ron Bonner comments, "The entertainment industry has to start taking the requirements of

USA - Hawaii's East-West Centre is the latest international conference facility to upgrade to Bosch DCN Next Generation digital discussion systems following a recent installation by Oahu-based AV specialists The Audio Visual Company (AVCO).

The 50-year-old facility was established by the United States Government to promote understanding and education between Asian and Pacific countries and the US.The East-West Centre continues to work toward these ends on its 21-acre property adjacent to the University of Hawaii's main campus on the Island of Oahu.

The new Bosch DCN Next Generation digital discussion system replaces a 25-year-old system in the Centre's 1,400sq.ft Asia Room, which seats 64 people. Each DCN interpreter station is configured to translate Korean, Japanese, and Chinese - the system can be configured to translate up to 10 languages.

AVCO project manager Wade Higa

UK - Rental company SSE has supplied an L-Acoustics Kudo line source system for Maximo Park's sellout UK academy tour.

The system needed to have a small footprint yet provide enough power and headroom for the band, while being flexible enough to handle venues of differing sizes. This ranged from six groundstacked Kudos per side for the smaller venues, through to 13 cabinets flown per side at the two Brixton Academy shows. This system - powered by nine LA8 amplified controllers in three LA-RAKs - also incorporated eight SP28 subwoofers, three dV-DOSC cabinets across the stage for front fill and four ARCS for infill around the venue.

"Kudo is an incredibly powerful system for its size," says Maximo Park's FOH engineer Huw Richards. "It's a punky show so we need a system which can throw out and provide plenty of headroom. For the smaller venues it's been really ea

New Zealand - College Hill Productions, a sound rental company based in Auckland has recently selected a Soundcraft Vi6 digital console for use on a diverse line-up of summer concerts and music festivals throughout New Zealand. The most recent tour, Big Day Out 2009 took place in Auckland and hosted a number of international artists including, Neil Young, My Morning Jacket and The Prodigy. Director of College Hill Productions Chris Tate founded the company in 1996 and is responsible for introducing the first Soundcraft Vi6 to New Zealand.

"The console has been out on tour non-stop all summer and the engineers required a board that had a very fast turnaround time in between shows." Says Tate. "The Soundcraft Vi6's capabilities also helped us in a couple of other ways including a few instances where the console was almost a kilometer away in a broadcast com

USA - Total Structures has announced details of its summer hoist school. This two-day ETCP recognized training course is for anyone working with Columbus McKinnon entertainment electric chain hoists. The course will be held on Monday 17 August Tuesday 18 August in Oxnard, CA.

Class size is limited to 20 students, however should demand necessitate an additional course will be added for Wednesday 19 August and Thursday 20 August.Unlike prior Columbus McKinnon training schools this course will now include a written certification examination, with successful students receiving recognition as being a CM-ET (Columbus McKinnon Entertainment Technology) certified entertainment hoist technician.

Appropriately qualified students passing the course will also obtain 16 renewal credits towards ETCP rigging examination re-certification. Suited to both touring and in-house repair technicians

UK - Within a year of purchasing a stock of EV Phoenix loudspeakers and CP Series amplifiers, the Berkshire-based PA rental company Event Sound is stepping up its commitment to, and investment in, Electro-Voice loudspeakers with an order for an XLC line-array system, to be delivered at the end of the summer.

One of the first companies in the UK to embrace the high-SPL compact Phoenix enclosure design, Event Sound has found the scale of its projects steadily increasing, recently completing its biggest show to date, an outdoor charity concert, headlined by Nick Heyward, for 2000 people. "We have evolved a long way from our origins as a dry-hire operation," says Nick Billinghurst. "The success we've had with the Phoenix system, winning a lot of open-air events particularly festivals, has given us the confidence and the custom to upgrade our inventory to full line-arr

Spain - A large outdoor festival organised by Acció Cultural del Pais Valencià recently took place in the city of Valencia and D.A.S. Aero line array systems were key to the success of the event. Responsible for the technical production was Simes Audio, led by David Ferri, who put together a comprehensive lighting and sound system to ensure the best performance and consistent coverage over the considerable audience area.

Several thousand students gathered at the large open area on the sprawling campus of Valencia's Polytechnic University. Live performances were offered by bands including Berri Txarrak, Aramateix, and Rapsodes, the winners of Valencian music competition Amplifica't. Over four hours of music with amazingly different styles provided a truly enjoyable evening.

The PA system comprised 20 D.A.S. Aero 38A powered modules, arranged in two 10-unit line format

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