UK - Musician and composer Kathryn Tickell has been using DPA 4099 instrument clip mics, supplied by UK distributor Sound Network, for her Northumbrian Voices project, which has been touring the UK.

Northumbrian Voices is based on interviews and recordings made with family members and shepherd musicians from whom Tickell learnt tunes and songs. Three generations of musicians perform in a reflection of strong communities, their music and collective stories. Three violins, which are being played alongside such traditional instrument as Northumbrian pipes and melodeon, are being miked with DPA 4099Vs, designed specifically for mounting on violas and violins.

Tickell first encountered the 4099s playing violin for Sting's A Winter's Night...Live from Durham Cathedral concerts. "Durham Cathedral is not the easiest place to amplify acoustic music," she

UK - ML Executives, one of Europe's leading full service event production facilities, has announced the expansion of its audio hire department with an investment in a complete d&b audiotechnik J Series Loudspeaker system.

ML Executives have worked on a range of top live music events over the last 25 years, building up a vast amount of experience in the field. However, in order to supply the speaker system of choice for some of the company's clients, ML has been working closely with industry specialists Azule Finance to quickly expand its hire inventory.

Neil White, project manager at ML Executives, explained why the substantial investment made sense: "Adding the d&b J Series to our existing stock of L-Acoustics and EAW systems gives us access in house to three of the leading loudspeaker brands. Until now we've been hiring in this system but recently took the decision to p

USA - Situated on a hilltop between the Chesapeake Bay and the Blue Ridge Mountains, McDaniel College's tree-lined 160-acre campus has been called one of the most beautiful college campuses in the US.

One of the most visited buildings on campus is Baker Memorial Chapel. Constructed in 1958, the historic brick building hosts weekly worship services, campus-sponsored events including seasonal concerts, guest speakers and presentations, baccalaureate and invocation services, as well as frequent weddings and memorial services for alumni and current students.

When the college's administrators recently decided to replace the existing cluster-style sound system in the busy venue, it was crucial that the new system provide superior sound quality while preserving the church's quaint aesthetic and historic architecture. The chapel's wood panelled walls, initially designed as acoustical

UK - The prime time Saturday night quiz show Who Dares Wins, hosted by Nick Knowles, sees two teams of complete strangers compete by completing a series of lists. The team who names more correct answers on a list gets the chance to play...and win £50,000.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) provides the lighting for the show, which is filmed in 3sixtymedia - Granada Studios, Manchester. It has previously been filmed in TVC, TLS, BBC Glasgow. Martin Kempton designs the lighting show.

His chosen specification includes VL1000TS, VL2402s, Stage Zoom 1200s, MAC 250s, MAC 500s, MAC 600s, Mini MACs, Nova Flowers, Chroma Banks, Pixel Bricks, Chroma Floods, Pixel Pars and VL3000 Wash's. Over 200 moving lights are used to create a strong and vibrant look to enhance the drama of the show.

Who Dares Wins is aired each week on BBC1 and also includes Thunderball, Lotto Draws

Romania - For over 50 years, the National Stadium in Bucharest was the venue for all home matches of the Romanian national football team. In 2005, it was decided to tear the stadium down and construct a new one in its place. The new Stadionul National, which was three years (from 2008 to 2011) in the making, is an ultra-modern, multifunctional arena designed for both major sporting events and concerts.

Satisfying the highest international standards, the stadium is capable of accommodating over 55,000 spectators, including 3,600 VIPs. If needed, the total capacity can be expanded to 62,000. The arena is the first in Romania to meet the exacting 'elite stadium' standards for infrastructure laid down by UEFA, making it the first stadium in the country qualified to host the finals of international competitions. The first such event scheduled for the new stadium is the UEFA Europa Le

USA LED video screen manufacturer Lighthouse's new product, VideoBlades, is the main video element in Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour.

The tour unfolds Michael Jackson's artistry before the eyes of the audience. Aimed at lifelong fans as well as those experiencing his creative genius for the first time, the show "captures the essence, soul and inspiration of the King of Pop, celebrating a legacy that continues to transcend generations".

VideoBlades, a result of an alliance between Lighthouse and Pix2o, is a large-scale LED video display technology that straddles the worlds of video and lighting in the entertainment, events and architectural markets. VideoBlades 12 provides a 12.5mm pixel pitch, modular LED video screen that delivers "superb image quality both indoors and outdoors, with a literal twist...".

VideoBlades 12 come

USA - Few rock bands can say they have been touring to sold-out crowds across five decades, but Journey can. Since first forming in 1973, the group has produced 19 Top 40 singles and 25 Gold and Platinum albums. When launching their 2011 tour in Phoenix, AZ, lighting designer Kevin 'Deuce' Christopher was tasked with putting together a powerful and expansive design that could enhance the music while creating a variety of looks. To do so, Christopher turned to long-time tour provider Epic Production Technologies who supplied him with Vari*Lite automated luminaires.

"I initially joined Journey as their lighting designer in the summer of 2004," began Christopher. "When I put a lighting design together, I like to design in flow with the songs, which for Journey can be anything from up-tempo and powerful, to subtle and dramatic. As a designer, they give me a fantastic

UK - Black Light has replaced the house lighting for two auditoriums within the Sage Gateshead, one of the UK's leading music venues. The project required Black Light's team to overcome a number of significant technical challenges and work to a tight deadline and on a restricted budget. To get the job done the company used its specialist rigging skills and installed a bespoke LED-based system that provided the flexibility, long life, low running costs and low heat output that the client required.

"Thank you to all the staff at Black Light involved with the Sage Project, for all the hard work and attention to detail, greatly appreciated," said John Wilkinson from Gateshead Council. "The end result looks stunning."

The brief for the £150K project was to replace an existing tungsten-based system that was proving expensive and unreliable. The replacement

USA - Six High End Systems intellaspot automated luminaires helped shine the light on Alicia Keys' charity fundraiser - the 2011 Black Ball New York for the Keep a Child Alive Foundation. Keys started the organisation in 2003 to aid HIV/AIDS victims in Africa and India.

LD Brendan Gray of Gray Matter Visual returned for his fourth year designing the lighting and media content for the 3 November event, held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. Scharff Weisberg Lighting was the vendor.

The six HES intellaspot fixtures were positioned on the deck behind the band in between the seven LED panels.

"I was interested in using the intellaspots after seeing them a few weeks earlier at an HES Open House in New York City. Craig Burross and Chris McMeen were helpful in getting the fixtures to me to try out," Gray explained.

Gray was intrigued by the 850W source, which he

New Zealand - The Edge is the hub of performing arts and entertainment in Auckland, New Zealand, and it comprises five of the city's leading venues - Aotea Centre, Herald Theatre, Auckland Town Hall, The Civic and Aotea Square. All of these diverse spaces are located within minutes of each other in the Auckland CBD, and cater for all interests, from intimate theatre and large scale musicals to outdoor rock concerts.

The Edge had always used Strand consoles for their lighting control ever since the original Aotea Centre opened in 1991 with a Strand Galaxy console. The majority of the consoles were Strand 500 series, upgraded 10 years ago.

Malcolm Ibell, head of lighting at The Edge, reports, "I was searching for replacements that would not only work for today but would future proof us too". A major consideration was the networking abilities offered by a console.

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Mexico - Thanks to a special three-way collaboration between three rental companies, El Estadio Azteca (the Aztec Stadium) in Mexico City was filled with Nexo Geo line arrays for two major live shows.

Starting with L/R arrays of Nexo Geo T for the main PA, with a bone-shaking 18 CD18 subs stacked in front of the stage, the system also used long arrays of Geo D for the out-fill. Halfway down the stadium field, two delay towers each carried an awesome 18 Geo T array with four CD18, ensuring that those at the back of the Aztec Stadium heard just as much PA as those in the front.

These were special events for two radio stations; 92.9fm La Ke Buena, which plays regional Mexican music known as 'Grupera', and Los 40 Principals, which specialises in pop music, mainly in Spanish. Performers were also given the Nexo treatment on stage, where 18 PS15 cabinets were used for stage monitori

South Africa - Multi-Media used their 12 new Robin 300 LEDs for two prominent events, Herbalife Southern Africa Extravaganza and the PICA Awards.

Some 2 500 guests from across the country attended the Herbalife Southern Africa Extravaganza, a three day event hosted at the Emperor's Palace Conference Centre in November. Multi-Media were the technical suppliers and used their Robin 300s, hiring a few additional units from MJ Event Gear, for the show. "The units were very responsive, bright, power efficient and the saturation in colour," commented Tim Fish from Multi-Media.

The 42nd PICA Awards, presented by the Magazine Publishers Association of South Arica (MPASA), was held at the Sandton Convention Centre on 17 November. Multi-Media once again provided the full technical for the event, hosted in the Pavilion Room.

"This was quite a large show and the room will

Slovakia - Robe moving lights continue to be a popular choice for television and broadcast applications worldwide, with a selection of the latest Robe technology centre stage for the most recent series of Let's Dance in Slovakia, where celebrities paired with professional dancers battle it out with great flare on the dancefloor every Friday night on Markiza TV.

The venue for the 2011 series was the Incheba Expo in Bratislava, with lighting equipment supplied by Slovakia's Q-99, which has over 400 Robe fixtures in its hire stock.

Apart from the lighting design, director of photography Vlado Valko and Q-99's new Robe Robin 300 Beams, this series was also notable for fielding Let's Dance gay couple, Marek and Viktor, a big hit as personalities as well as talented dancers.

The Let's Dance set resembled a 'classic romantic' ballroom scene with glitz, glamour

Ireland - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has supplied the first Martin LC2140 LED screen system into the Irish market - purchased by County Wicklow based Savage Lighting.

The production company designs and supplies lighting systems to a range of sectors including corporate events, live music tours and sporting and special events.

The purchase was in response to a growing demand for scenic style screens to be supplied alongside lighting, for shows and events. Simultaneously acknowledging the growing trend of convergence between lighting and video, Savage Lighting wanted to be in a position to offer a cost-effective solution, both for their own shows and as a dry hire item.

The sale of the 40mm pitch semi-transparent, modular Martin LC2140 system was co-ordinated by Aaron Cripps of AC-ET's international sales team. "I was offered an outstanding deal," explai

UK - MTFX was involved in the recent Children In Need Rocks concert at the MEN Arena in Manchester.

A confetti effect using stadium shots was provided for The Collective, a falling snow effect was created for Gary Barlow and Master Blasters were supplied and operated in order to achieve the confetti effect for the Coldplay Viva La Vida performance.

Also, MTFX/Confetti Creations was at the tennis final between Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the O2 in London. The title was won by Federer who upon receiving the trophy was showered in a spectacular display of blue and white confetti. This display was achieved using Stadium Shots.

(Jim Evans)

India - Close by the popular Juhu Beach in Mumbai is the new Hometown Café, the latest in restaurant brands from the China Gate group. The new venture, which occupies the space where Deltalia once stood, has a relaxed ambience.

Mumbai's Narain Pro Audio & Lighting has delivered the audio solution for the Hometown Cafe with Turbosound loudspeaker products, and the sights and sounds of the venue suggests that the company has done a very commendable job. The setup consists of six Impact55T compact passive two-way architectural speakers powered by NX Audio's MT-601 MK2 power amplifier, and two TCX-15B single 15" compact bandpass subwoofers powered by NX Audio's MT 800-MK2 amplifiers for the lower indoor level. A further six Impact55T and one TCX-15B sub cover the open-air terrace.

Discussing team Narain's experience of completing the project, Manoj Motwani said: "

Serbia - This month sees dBTechnologies announce the appointment of Sky Corporation as the exclusive distributor of its product range in Serbia. It was dBTechnologies' sales area manager Gianluca Dalessandro who closed the deal. "I'm very impressed by Sky Corporation. They handle everything from rental to retail, organise events, logistics and are able to offer every kind of service to meet all needs. It's a huge company," he says.

"It is a long time since I have felt as much excitement as I do about starting this partnership with dBTechnologies," comments Sky Corporation's president Milenko Škari?. "The product range has grown remarkably in recent years. When it comes to the new dBTechnologies products - for example the DVA and DVX ranges - our experts are extremely impressed by the sound quality. The second reason is the great professionalism and frie

UK - Electrosonic was recently awarded the AV systems integration contract at JP Morgan's new Canary Wharf site in London. As a result of this appointment, on Thursday 10 November Electrosonic and Skillsmatch jointly held a recruitment and selection event to appoint young, local 'Apprentice Installers' to take part in a six month audio-visual apprenticeship programme with Electrosonic, working in-part at JP Morgan. Following a six month placement it is Electrosonic's intention to offer six individuals a full time 'junior AV installer' position.

Skillsmatch is the flagship job brokerage service for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Supported by Canary Wharf Group and working with a range of strategic partners, it offers innovative recruitment solutions to companies looking to source new staff and to job seekers wishing to secure sustainable employment. JP Morgan has made a com

Europe - Outline has confirmed a new distribution partnership which will service key territories in eastern and central Europe. Outline Central-Europe Ltd is the brainchild of Tamás Fazekas, CEO and owner of Zaj System House based in Budapest, and whose association with Outline and their products stretches back to the mid-90s.

Outline C-E breaks with the traditional national distribution model in that it is a territorial representative for the brand, responsible for Outline sales, service and support in no less than ten separate countries - Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Macedonia.

Outline's sales director Chris Hinds said: "This is an exciting and innovative solution to the problems that normally face national distributors in smaller territories, where the relative lack of sales potential and limited spending

UK - Manufacturer GDS has today announced its plans to improve the route to market for its five multi-award winning product ranges.

Over the past few years GDS has achieved phenomenal success in the UK and worldwide, developing a successful worldwide distribution strategy with exclusive partners, whilst still working directly with UK customers. Rapid company growth has resulted in increased demand on the GDS UK sales and support team, therefore it has become necessary for it to appoint a specialised UK dealer network to continue the high level of customer service, the company says. A network of established companies including Hawthorns, Northern Light, Stage Electrics and White Light has been specially selected to distribute the GDS product range.

GDS has experienced a massive increase in the level of customer enquires over the past months, partly due to the success of ArcSyst

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET)'s specialist rigging division has supplied a substantial quantity of Kinesys LibraCELL load cells to Rigorous Technology (RT), a new company specialising in load cell systems and motion control equipment rentals, for tours including Kings of Leon and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the latter via Knight Rigging Services (KRS).

Both RT's Dave Jolly and Yose Lawson are experienced users of Kinesys' various automation systems, and their compact, versatile LibraCELL.

The purchase was co-ordinated for AC-ET by Adam Beaumont in the Leeds office, described by Dave Jolly as "brilliant, knowledgeable and very supportive".

Beaumont comments: "It's great to see a new company investing in this technology, which we have been encouraging people to look at for some time. Systems like this offer a real safety advantage, which cannot be

Norway - Vestad Lighting of Norway recently supplied a large Martin lighting and video screen package for Get Focused, one of the largest Christian youth festivals in Norway and one of the first events to incorporate visuals using Martin's new 10mm pixel pitch EC-10 LED video panels.

Vestad focuses on lighting rental for television, concerts and events and through the years has also supplied a number of large-screen video productions.

"When we were looking for an LED solution, it was important for us that it could be used creatively as well as a video wall capable of delivering crisp video images with good color and low latency," comments Thomas Voilås of Vestad. "We've had good experience with Martin Professional products and support and felt that the EC-10 was a product that could fit our needs."

Held in the city of T°nsberg in early November, Get

UK - The Arena Group expanded Belfast's Odyssey Arena with temporary structures for the star studded 2011 MTV EMA on 6 November.

In order to host the MTV EMA the organisers had to extend the venue's facilities, so they entrusted Arena to install temporary structures including the glamorous red carpet with media area, luxurious artist dressing rooms and the artist restaurant. The private extension to the Odyssey created an environment where the international stars who included Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Bruno Mars could prepare prior to taking the stage to perform.

Arena planned the positioning of all structures, liaising with event manager Maggie Mouzakitis to maximise use of the limited available space between the Odyssey and the Premiere Inn Hotel adjacent to the historic docks where the Titanic was constructed.

The linked structures included a 20m by 40m doub

Europe - L-Acoustics' Czech Republic rental network agent High Lite Touring has become the first Eastern European rental company to supply the main PA system for an international tour - Red Hot Chili Peppers' I'm With You tour. High Lite is providing an L-Acoustics K1 WST line source system for the UK and European leg of the Chili Peppers' world tour, which continues through Europe during December, having kicked off at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne in early October.

The main system for the tour consists of 32 K1 boxes with 32 SB28 subwoofers, 54 Karas (36 for side-fill, 12 for down-fill and six for centre-fill) and 12 Kudos for rear-fill. The system is powered by 50 LA8 amplified controllers mounted in LA-RAKs.

"The artist insisted on using a K1 system for the entire tour since it has a reputation for being one of the best sound systems in the world," says High

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