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UK - Orbital Sound, a leading sound and communication systems specialist for the theatre, event and broadcast markets, has supplied the sound systems for The Railway Children production, being staged in London's Waterloo Station. The station's former Eurostar platforms have been transformed into a 1000-seat theatre, with the audience sitting traverse style along a 40m length of platform, either side of the track. Given the audience size and layout, and the constraints of the working-station environment, delivering quality audio required an innovative approach - resulting in four distinct systems, all using d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers and employing complex routing and delays. The show is also among the first UK theatre productions to utilise the moisture-resistant properties of Da-Cappo Micro Microphones, distributed by Orbital in the UK.

Following two critically-acclaim

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UK - Stephen Gilbert runs a successful audio & AV business in the south-west of England, but is looking for a change: would anyone else, he wonders, like to change their lives and take on his business?

"I have been running my own sound engineering business since 1985. The company's main activity is the installation and servicing of commercial and professional sound systems and audio-visual equipment although there is also a largely under-developed hire business as well. Over the years I have built up a solid client-base including churches, holiday parks, theme parks, sports and leisure facilities, pubs, clubs, hotels, government buildings and many more. I also carry out sub-contract work for various national companies as their 'local' engineer.

"Originally based in Falmouth, I relocated to Launceston in 2004 on the Devon/Cornwall border to be more central to my clien

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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UK - Adlib Audio provided sound equipment and crew for one of Ireland's latest musical exports, The Script, on their recent UK tour, complete with a fresh FOH mix by Adlib's own Richy Nicholson, who is now on tour with them in the USA. Ian Quinn is at the helm as tour manager with Colin Rogers as production manager.

Nicholson recently took up the FOH engineer's role after coming highly recommended. He says, "They are a great band to work for; totally into their music, very knowledgeable and informed about the technology and what it can do, and all have brilliant personalities."

The UK touring system was L-Acoustics V-DOSC, chosen because it "sounds great" confirms Nicholson, and also because of its flexibility when it came to dealing with the variety of venues, ranging from student unions to London's Hammersmith Apollo. For the majority of shows, the PA had

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Russia - iLive was employed for two large scale concerts organised by Russian-Cuban cultural project Havana Calling, founded by Russian singer and composer Leonid Agutin and Cuban flutist Orlando "Maraca" Valle. The first concert was held on Cathedral Square in Havana and the second at the prestigious Kremlin Concert Hall in Moscow.

Sound engineer, Robert Boim, employed an iLive system at both events for FOH, monitors, and live recording of the full 62 channels via a MADI plug-in card. Two iDR-32 MixRacks were positioned on stage - one for drums, percussion, bass and guitar inputs, and a second managing keys and vocals - digitally split for separate FOH and monitor mixing. Boim used his tablet PC running iLive Editor control software to manage the Havana concert, and a combination of an iLive-T112 surface and Editor at the Moscow concert.

"iLive provides mobilit

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Europe - Cirque Du Soleil's Varekai show - currently touring Europe - has transferred its lighting control to a grandMA2 system, with a grandMA2 light as the main show console and another grandMA2 light running in full tracking backup.

The decision to change was made by head of lighting, Karl Jenkins. He says: "I think MA offers the best current solution for this type of show which is run live and changes every night". They also needed to change the consoles they were using, which had been onboard since the show first started touring seven years ago, so it was high time for an update and an upgrade. "The grandMA2 is an international control standard," confirms Jenkins, "And the idea is to introduce this platform across other Cirque shows".

Much of the show had to be re-programmed and re-built from scratch on the grandMA2 light. It was trans

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South Africa - One of South Africa's most established lighting and accessory suppliers Movievision has chosen to stock the full Dirty Rigger Gloves and Accessories range. "I was wowed by the durability and design of the glove, no gimmicks (apart from the logo J) just a really comfortable, durable glove. The sweat wipe is great and the dexterity of the gloves is brilliant, not like the usual heavy weight style that tends make things more difficult, with the Dirty Rigger gloves you really can use them for almost anything," comments Kim Reed, Movievision director.

The specialist rigging glove range launched only in early 2010 is now available in over 20 countries worldwide with Movievision being a great addition to the distribution network. "To have Kim and the team at Movievision to work with is a great step forward for the Dirty Rigger range, having worked with the

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UK - Since its first broadcast in 2004 the X Factor has been one of the UK's most viewed TV shows. With its stunning sets, scenery and using colourful, rich lighting, every single year X Factor has used Le Mark's professional StudioTak high gloss instant studio floor to give maximum impact.

Easy to install and "even easier to remove", StudioTak has been used on some of the most watched TV programmes throughout the world, from Eurovision to Ant & Dec. Thanks to its low-tak adhesive, StudioTak Studio Flooring can be applied and removed without hassle or need for residue removers (always test first, high-tak adhesive is also available, says Le Mark). Its easy application and ability to withstand energetic physical performances time and time again makes StudioTak one of the best temporary studio floors on the market today, the company says.

(Claire Beeson)

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India - Tourists and residents enjoyed a visual treat during the Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi, India. In partnership with Doordarshan, India's public television broadcaster, and with technological support of Scala India, International Technomedia (ITM) presented live broadcasts of the Games on large format outdoor video screens installed in key commercial spots in Delhi. ITM's outdoor Delhi network is the largest one-city-network in the Asia-Pacific region.

The content on the ITM LED screens was powered by Scala. In an effort to enhance the viewing experience, Scala India was asked to set up a flawless live broadcast of the opening ceremony of the event on several of ITM's outdoor screens that are normally used for advertising. In a short time frame, Scala India was able to get the live feed running on the screens in high quality.

In a joint effort, ITM and Scala India dro

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The Netherlands - XLNT Advanced Technologies has announced the opening of a new, dedicated CyberHoist sales, training and customer support office for North America. A West Coast office will also be announced shortly.

The CyberHoist office, based in Manheim, PA, will be handled by PJ Visser. The office will handle sales activities, product support and training to rental and install clients, and will also provide equipment support services for CyberHoist rental network members based in Canada and the USA.

XLNT commercial director Marc van der Wel said: "The new North America CyberHoist office will allow our clients in the USA to receive the same high level of technical support as they get from our headquarters in the Netherlands, and all member countries of the worldwide CyberHoist network, and will also be our focus for driving the brand forward in the USA sales market. It

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USA - In 2002, right after 9/11, eight-year-old Veronica Granite from New Jersey began a petition drive to illuminate her hometown bridge with red, white and blue lights. She had recently seen tricolour lighting atop the Empire State Building during a visit to Liberty State Park and thought the Bayonne Bridge should be similarly decorated in patriotic lights.

Her lobbying efforts inspired the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which maintains the Bayonne Bridge - the fourth longest steel arch bridge in the world.

After seven years, the historic span that connects Bayonne, New Jersey, with Staten Island, New York, was decorated with red, white and blue LED lights custom designed by LEDtronics, Inc. of Torrance, California.

"When we initially showed the bridge maintenance group the LEDtronics 180-degree fixture that is used on the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Ange

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Slovakia - The largest installation of a BSS Audio digital network in the Slovak Republic has been deployed with the opening of the new Kempinski Hotel River Park in Bratislava. Located on the Danube River, the Kempinski will provide a new standard of lifestyle luxury in this historic city, steeped in imperial heritage.

With its selection of restaurants and bars, a spa and wellness center, in addition to a meeting room and four conference rooms (each divisible into two separate rooms), an advanced digital backbone connecting all the featured areas was required.

Peak Audio s.r.o. handled the installation utilizing two Soundweb London BLU-160 configurable processors, with two BLU-120 I/O expanders and a BLU-BOB2 break-out box, offering a further eight channels of analog audio output expansion.

The BSS Audio Soundweb London devices all interconnected through their digital audio

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USA - President of Lab X Technologies and marketing workgroup chairman of AVnu Alliance, Lee Minich, will chair the AES panel discussion on IEEE 802.1 Audio Video Bridging (AVB) standards in the Pro AV, consumer and automotive markets on Friday, November 5 at 2:30 PM and will provide expert insight as a panelist during the Live Sound Seminar LS11 on Networked Audio for Live Sound on November 7 at 11:00am.

As one of the leading AVB specialists, Lab X Technologies continues to work with Pro AV manufacturers to rapidly bring networked products to market by providing comprehensive solutions and services to the complicated world of networking systems.

"The evolution of digital audio and video networking is upon us. Increasing manufacturers' understanding and implementation of AVB networking will unify, and more importantly, grow the entire industry," stated Minich. "

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Denmark - Solund - a home for people with severe physical and mental disabilities in Denmark - has recently opened The Golden Horn, its new snoezelen centre.

Solund has dedicated its time and energy to develop a snoezelen centre containing the right elements to create a modern and innovative place that users can benefit from. The idea behind a snoezelen centre is to create settings which intensify the users' senses by stimulating, entertaining, calming or activating them.

ProShop Europe, a Danish-based AV technology integration specialist, has been the main technical partner for this project. They supplied and installed the screens, control panels, lighting and audio systems. They also selected and programmed the Medialon control system installed in The Golden Horn.

Nine different snoezelen rooms have been built and designed in the centre. They all feature modern AV technolo

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USA - Audio-Technica is a sponsor of the Art and Science of Sound Recording DVD series by producer/engineer Alan Parsons. After almost two years in production, this series of training videos covers all aspects of sound recording, in 24 programmes identified by topic.

The complete series, hosted by Parsons and narrated by actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton, was recently released as a three-disc set; the individual programmes are currently available for download at www.artandscienceofsound.com. In the 'Microphones' section, several Audio-Technica microphones are prominently featured and identified by Parsons as he discusses and demonstrates various aspects of the recording process.

"Alan Parsons' body of work speaks for itself," stated Gary Boss, Audio-Technica marketing director. "He is a true master of his craft, having worked with some of the most talented a

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USA - Lighting designer and programmer Scott Chmielewski of Digital Media Designs (DMD) turned to Martin Professional's new MAC 101 LED moving head as his main wash light fixture at the recent 2010 Virgin Mobile FreeFest.

"Throughout the whole design process, I wanted to create an upstage grid of fixtures but I found myself having to choose between quality or quantity," Chmielewski explains. "As with most festivals, we had a limited budget and we had some weight restrictions on the stage. The 101s were the perfect match of both quality and quantity. They only weigh 8lbs each so weight was not an issue and they were really bright.

"Every part of the fixture helped create an interesting effect from the beam angles to the exceptionally fast colors, and we were able to hit effects at 180BPM on the pan/tilt. The best part is that they were very inexpensive so I

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Chile - Bicentennial celebrations are sweeping Latin America this year, and Nexo systems are at the heart of a number of big events. Chile marked the commemoration of its independence with many prestigious live events; one of the most impressive was a sound and light show staged outside the presidential palace in Santiago.

Pure Energy, Pure Chile was the opening act for the bicentary celebrations, a fireworks spectacular conceived by the creative Les Petit Francais which used the Palacio de la Moneda as its backdrop. Sponsored by CGE, the estimated cost of the production was US $2m, and over six days, it was watched by more than 270,000 people.

REAL Audio, the sound rental company from Santiago, was chosen to supply all the sound reinforcement design and installation. They specified all-Nexo, using Geo D for the main stereo system, Geo S8 for the out-fills, and Geo S12

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USA - Midas Klark Teknik has announced the appointment of Miami-based Italo Trading LLC to drive sales across Latin America. Headed by founder Daniel Costa Salomao, an industry veteran of 13 years, Italo Trading LLC was set up in 2008 as a sales and brand development operation for pro audio manufacturers.

Salomao, who held previous international sales management roles at Selemium and the Proel Group, says, "I have always had a great admiration for Midas Klark Teknik products, and it's a major step forward for Italo Trading to be able to include such a celebrated brand as part of our offering. We are very excited about expanding the Midas KT reach across the region."

Salomao has an extensive experience of Latin America from living or travelling in every country in the area. He is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.

"Latin America is a very impor

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UK - The 2010 Mark Knopfler Get Lucky World Tour continued a long relationship between Bandit Lites and the superstar. Designer Simon Tutchener once again called on Bandit UK CE Lester Cobrin to handle the global needs for Knopfler and his entourage.

Tutchener created his visuals utilising MAC 2000 Profiles, MAC 2000 Spots, Lycian 1290 FOH Spots, ETC Source 4's, a 40 x 30 LED Star Cloth, truss, motors, all controlled by a Grand MA console with an MA Lite as back up.

New this time out, and a centrepiece to Tutchener's concept is the Robe DigitalSpot 7000DT's. The show moves through a progression of digital images, real images and live video from onstage cameras. Tutchener was also able to use the 7000's as pure lighting sources at various points in the show. Technician Ewan Cameron traveled world wide with Tutchener as his 7000 tech.

(Jim Evans)

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The Netherlands - XLNT Advanced Technologies has announced its expansion in South America with the confirmation that Andres Chamorro Iluminacion of Bogota, Colombia, is to take a significant delivery of a complete rental-ready CyberHoist system package including 10 CyberHoist CH 1000 1 ton, 4 ultrafast CyberHoist CH 250 ¼ ton (37 mtr/min) and two InMotion3D CyberHoist control systems for rental clients in the entertainment and broadcast industries.

Marcel Albers, director of communications and marketing at XLNT parent company, the Ampco Flashlight Group, says the move is a key milestone in strengthening the brand's presence in South America.

"XLNT Advanced Technologies, in its current and forthcoming products ranges," said Albers, "has a great deal to offer the South America entertainment and installation technology markets, from 'high end' touring and special

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UK - Alexandra Palace, which boasts the largest standing capacity in Central London at 10,400 people has appointed a new management team headed by managing director Rebecca Kane, and a specialist 'Live team' to build relationships with promoters, production managers and record labels, and ensure that the venue meets the requirements of today's touring artists.

The venue has rebranded as 'the People's Palace', with a new logo and brand identity focussed on celebrating the varied audience's at the Palace in it's Great Hall, 2500 capacity West Hall, Palm Court area and Ice Rink, which is due to be reopened shortly after a major refurbishment.

The new management team will be led by Rebecca, whose extensive experience includes looking after nine historic houses for English Heritage promoting commercial performance from the hospitality, concert, exhibition and visitor markets. Joini

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USA - Dielectric Communications has announced that it will now operate under the name of SPX Communication Technology. The full range of Dielectric products - including its RF broadcast antenna systems, transmission line, switching and patching components, and transmission accessories - will continue to be sold globally by SPX Communication Technology under the Dielectric brand.

The new name is intended to reflect more accurately the company's expanding focus on developing and marketing a broader spectrum of global communication technologies and solutions, and it underscores the company's close strategic alignment with its parent company, SPX.

"Dielectric is one of the most established and respected brands in the broadcasting industry, and it will continue to serve its clients with the same innovation, dedication, and service that broadcasters have known and trusted for t

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Czech Republic - The magnificent baroque complex of Castle Jaromerice nad Rokytnou and gardens in the southern Czech Republic town of Jaromerice recently played host to the Peter Dvorský International Music Festival for the 12th consecutive year. Star billing was reserved for the Spanish operatic diva Monserrat Caballé, one of the greatest soprano voices of our time. One of the many highlights of a long and glittering career was her duet, Barcelona with Freddie Mercury in 1988 which went on to become the anthem for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Tickets to the festival sold out rapidly as fans and aficionados flocked to the event; a unique occasion for most to see and hear Monserrat Caballé in an exclusive performance, accompanied by the Moravian Philharmonic orchestra of Olomouc under the baton of renowned conductor, José Callado.

Specialist AV rent

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Australia - Australia's Norwest Productions has been a long time user of Lake products and was an early adopter of the original Lake Contour, taking the first four units that arrived in the country almost a decade ago. Fast forward to August 2010 and it's another first for Norwest as they become the first such company in Australia to take advantage of the all new Lake LM 26 standalone Digital Audio Loudspeaker processor as part of an inventory upgrade.

The LM 26 is a full-featured 2-in/6-out stand-alone Digital Audio Loudspeaker processor in a compact 1RU frame. It offers seamless compatibility with Lab.gruppen's PLM Series of Powered Loudspeaker Management systems as well as with Dolby Lake Processors (DLP) and earlier versions of the technology, including Lake Mesa Quad EQ and Lake Contour Pro 26. The LM 26 accepts analogue, AES digital, or Dante (audio over Ethernet) digital

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UK - UK rental company SSE Audio deployed its L-Acoustics K1 large format line source system on BBC Radio 1Xtra Live at Wembley Arena in late September, rounding off a summer of outings for the system.

A total of 72 K1 boxes, with 30 dV-DOSCs, 20 KUDO large format and 18 KIVA ultra compact line source cabinets, plus 48 SB28 subs, were deployed for the event. The system was driven by 14 flown LA-RAKs housing 72 LA8 amplified controllers, connected by the LA Network Manager.

The event presented several challenges for the sound system. The nature of the bands, including N-Dubz, Tinchy Stryder and Roll Deep, called for high SPLs and sub levels. Two stages were used, one end-on for bands and one in the round for 'vocal to track' acts. The latter needed to achieve seamless 360 degree coverage around the stage, with the system sharing a rigging area with lighting etc., plus weight li

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