Business

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14 March 2016

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

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14 March 2016

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

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14 March 2016

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

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14 March 2016

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

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14 March 2016

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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14 March 2016

Knoxville based 10 Years worked with Bandit business development officer Brent Barrett for all their illumination needs throughout the year. Tour manager Michael Mahar and stage manager Noah Beachy, along with lighting designer Shawn Hammer used a variety of GRN Battens and Washes along with Atomic Strobes and Martin Hazers to produce compact but highly effective shows along the way this year. The venues varied in size and the packages had to fit the many different needs. Plans are being made now for an even bigger 2012 assault.

Barrett also worked with Big Gigantic in 2011. Tour manger Kyle Nelson and lighting designer Colin McQuilkin worked with Bandit to provide VL 2500's, GRN Battens, DF 50's and Hog 2 console and cable packages. Big Gigantic has slowly climbed in the bu

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14 March 2016

The warm-hearted show, presented by Nick Knowles and Julia Bradbury, aired on BBC1, discusses the good, the bad and the ugly in modern Britain.

The small yet effective lighting rig comprises of Alpha Wash 300's and Batten 50 kits.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

With more than 20 leading acts and attendant sound engineers over five days, as well as daily live broadcasts, high demands are placed on the event's PA system. Light and Sound made good use of L-Acoustics' Soundvision 3D acoustic simulation program to create a Kiva/Kilo system that guaranteed optimal sound and speech intelligibility at every listening position.

The main system consisted of five Kiva cabinets and two Kilo low frequency extensions for left and right hangs, with six Kivas and two Kilos for out-fill. 12XT and 8XT coaxial speakers were placed on stage and used for in-fill and out-fill, with eight SB18 under the stage providing sub bass. The system was powered by six LA8 amplified controllers in LA-RAK

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14 March 2016

Also on the weekend bill were some of the leading names in techno, trance, electro and drum 'n' bass including Pete Tong, John Digweed, Simian Mobile Disco, while Friday night's Bass Culture was equally headlined by Chase & Status. Three other Halls at Ali Pali were in action for the two completely sold out all-nighters produced by the Lock 'n Load Events team.

Colour Sound is a regular supplier to their events, and Haydn Cruickshank comments, "It was great to be involved in this fresh new event which united a lot of familiar faces on the production team. The main challenge was the complete turnaround in the Great Hall acr

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14 March 2016

The installation was completed by Ian Dunn, who also did the install for Embassy London in Mayfair, and the new Peavey system comprises 22 speakers laid out in five zones covering the club's bar, stage and DJ areas. There are three Impulse 1012 whites, two Versarray 118s, 13 SSE26 whites, and four SSE12Ms; and thirteen Versamount 35 whites and three Versamount 70 whites are used to suspend the loudspeakers.

The club also boasts a 16-channel Peavey 16FX mixing console and an Audiolink 20 pair 100' multi-core, a QF 215 15-band graphic equaliser, and a Digitool MX fully programmable audio processing and control system, along with a numb

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14 March 2016

"We are very proud to be the first to show the amazing PRO2 in Asia," says Thomsen Phan, managing director, PT Gracia Auvindo. "With the unbeatable sound quality of an XL8, an extremely easy to use control surface, very stable architecture and the networking capability of larger Midas digital consoles - all at a remarkable price - the PRO2 is set to change the Indonesian pro audio market."

"It's an honour for me to help Thomsen and his team launch PRO2 to the Indonesian market," says Cooper. "The response has been phenomenal and all is set for PRO2 to become the best se

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14 March 2016

The grand event is a parade featuring the Russian State Honuor Guard, as well as leading Russian and foreign military music bands, an important intercultural event that attracts a huge TV and Internet audience. Among the musical military units participating in 2011 were bands from Great Britain, China, Jordan, Norway, Pakistan and Mexico among other countries.

Two leading Russian rental companies were engaged to light the festival, Lightmaster and Pro Light Service, each of whom supplied a cadre of Martin fixtures. Two lighting designers were employed as well - one from each company. Representing Lightmaster was William Hamadac

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14 March 2016

This may be a new concept to some, but it has already been in use, with great success, for over 18 months thanks to the pioneering work of Dan Jones of The Mix Music Education. Former UK Music Teacher of the Year Jones set up Mix Music in 2010, recently he teamed up with Ministry of Sound to makes sure that London's schools are getting the most out of music.

The Ministry of Sound brand is probably better known to most as the home of dance music rather than as an educator, but it has teamed up with Jones for a joint installation, just down the road from its London base, at St James' primary school in Bermondsey.

''Our intention has always been to help educators fully engage their students,'' sa

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14 March 2016

Proving that contestants on TV's The X Factor don't need to win the show to have a successful career, the popular Jack the Lad Swing foursome followed last year's gigs by playing major shows at three football grounds - Hull KC Stadium, MK Dons Stadium and Carrow Road, the home of Norwich City - plus Lydiard Park in Swindon and the Matterley Bowl, near Winchester.

Manning the backstage and pit areas, AP's staff also passed on their knowledge and experience gained from the 2010 shows to the management at each venue.

"We worked closely with the clubs' stewards and stadium management, who are much more used to football crowds than

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14 March 2016

The block-long display at the home of Fred Loya, has become a holiday tradition in the west Texas town, with over 4,000 people gathering each weekend during the month of December to enjoy the lights of the massive Christmas show as they flash, chase and change colours in synchronisation to popular songs of the season.

This year's display is bigger and better than ever, featuring 12 Platinum Beam 5Rs, an extreme ACL beam effect powered by the new Philips MSD Platinum 5R lamp that blasts out the tight, narrow focus and ultra-brightness of a clas

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14 March 2016

The Pepsi Max Halftime Show was performed by the Vancouver-based rock band Nickleback, playing songs off their albums All The Right Reasons, Dark Horse, and Here and Now. The halftime show was produced by Patrick Roberge of Patrick Roberge Productions, alongside production designer Robert Sondergaard and TV lighting director Jason McKinnon of Electric Aura. System engineer was Jason Bolger and production electricians were Charles Arrata, Corey Proulx, an

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14 March 2016

"We bought the d:fine mics essentially because of the ease of fitting them," explains RG Jones' Owen Relfe, who was on radio mic duties for the tour. "We have eight people per show to fit within a 15 minute window, and they're all athletes and sports stars who don't like standing still. They've all noticed the new mics, and we've had some great comments from them.

"They especially like the rubberized ear fitting, which allows them to put them on and forget about them. If they can't feel the mics, they tend to fiddle with them less, and this reduces the self

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14 March 2016

It's the fourth JB tour that Adlib has supplied. Having the resources and flexibility to offer all the technical elements in a single source operation enabled a very cost-efficient package to be tailored to the client for the successful six weeks of sold out shows around the UK.

FOH engineer Walter Jaquiss once again specified a Coda Audio LA12 system, following its performance on the last tour. Systems tech Kenny Perrin explains that their standard configuration was 12 x LA12 cabinets per-side with a variable amount of LA8 down-fills.

For subs, they used two sensor controlled Coda SCPs per side for the standard set up, boosted to four columns of two SCPs along the front of the stage for the arenas. The in-fills were normally four LA8 speakers.

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14 March 2016

Lighting designer and managing director of TSL, Sam Tamplin, chose to use the Philips Selecon range of conventional luminaires to deliver a festive atmosphere to this historic setting.

Viewed by many as the most romantic and beautiful backdrop for an ice rink in the country, Brighton Pavilion is evocatively lit with 'arctic' blues and deep 'ice' greens complemented by tinges of 'sunset' lilac and pink. In contrast, the 'après ice bar's comfortable leather Chesterfields and rustic seating arrangements are lit in 'candle- light' open white and 'fire ember' reds and ambers.

Tamplin is using a combination of Rama and Acclaim luminaires to create the intimate

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14 March 2016

It's the fifth year that dbn has supplied lighting, visuals equipment and design services to WHP, which operates every Friday and Saturday night from the start of the new university terms in late September to New Years Day, and this year, it is being managed for dbn by Chris Phillips.

Three trusses are installed over the stage in the main room to facilitate lighting positions, together with four more trusses over the audience/dancefloor. The space is arched with a decent nearly 7m height in the centre, dropping to around 5m at the edges, so the trusses are placed to maximise and accentuate the shape of the room.

The eve

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14 March 2016

As DiGiCo has grown, it has expanded its facilities and team to become a leading live sound console manufacturer. The move to partner with ISIS, combined with Matrix, secures an enviable position for the company and its future, it says.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for DiGiCo to build further on the achievements of the last five years," says James Gordon, DiGiCo CEO. "The company has expanded rapidly in a short space of time and the timing is perfect to add some new investment and experience to the team. ISIS's historical knowledge of our niche industry is going to

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14 March 2016

Carson has worked for Chase & Status for the last two years. The band shares the same management team as Pendulum, another artist to whom HSL provides lighting.

However, this is the first time Carson has used HSL to supply both lighting and video - a process likely to happen increasing frequently following a recent major investment in Martin EC10 and EC20 LED screen product. "It makes things very straightforward dealing with one source for all these elements," says Carson.

The Chase & Status project was managed for HSL by Mike Oates, who says: "We always enjoy working with Neil. He has great imagination and flare and the Chase & S

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14 March 2016

The 22-month programme concluded with the upgrade of the Apollo Cinema in Rhyl, where the installation of the latest 7.1 Dolby digital sound processors marked the conversion of all 83 of Apollo's cinemas screens at 14 locations in England and Wales.

"Quality surround sound is absolutely critical to the overall experience of enjoying a film," says Rob Arthur, managing director, Apollo Cinemas, "so we wanted to be able to offer our customers the very best with the quality and flexibility of the new Dolby digital cinema processors.

"We have been delighted with the results. The improvement in sound quality is really noticeable and we feel this, as part of our conversion to all-digital

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14 March 2016

"I was specifically looking for a wedge monitor that would work with our in-ear monitors," explained Hermouet. "The band enjoys using their in-ears but we all agreed that it would be great if we could find something to supplement the IEMs so that they could benefit from the physical sensations on stage that you only get with a wedge monitor."

Hermouet took three pairs of APG SMX15 on tour; one for each guitarist on stage and one as a listener. "I had several occasions to compare the SMX15s