UK - Britannia Row Productions Training opened the doors of its Training Centre in Wandsworth, London on Monday 1July 2013 to the first trainee intake for its Live Sound Technology course. Trainees on this first course are from England, Scotland, the USA and Portugal. The intensive full-time three month course is the first of its kind and has been designed to address the skill shortage in live sound and to provide trainees with the skills and knowledge required to take up immediate employment as sound technicians in the industry.
Britannia Row Productions Training managing director, Matthias Postel, explains, "Britannia Row Productions, the live sound company behind BRP Training, along with other companies and venues, have been disillusioned with the level of knowledge that new entrants have in this sector. There are limited opportunities to train for live sound and existin
UK - Orbital's sell-out training course returns for 2013, combining theory, practice and a West End show visit within its popular two-day format.
Forming an important part of Orbital's training programme, this year's course is running across the 27-28 August. Designed to help aspiring theatre sound operators take their show mixing skills to the next level, this two-day course focuses on the practical skills and theory behind the best-practice FOH mixing requirements of musicals.
Participants will be taken through every stage of the process - from the rehearsal room to setting up a desk in its base state, including the theory, introduction to why line-by-line mixing is so important, and what happens when you don't do it. Hands-on experience is an essential aspect of the course, which includes a trip to the West End for a behind-the-scenes look at a show and chance to talk to th
UK - For the European launch of the Huawei Ascend P6 in London, XL Events supplied a multi-screen blended projection, HD camera system, media servers and control.
Chinese electronics giant, Huawei, recently introduced their flagship Ascend P6 smartphone to gathered media in London. Huawei's creative event agency, Uniplan of Hong Kong, designed an immersive 180 degree projection onto gauze followed by a reveal at the end of the presentation to give attendees access to the experiential area behind.
To realise this creative Uniplan engaged production company Imagine Believe to produce the launch event at the Roundhouse, in London's Camden.
To provide the video element of the launch, Imagine Believe's production director, Tom Attenborough, contacted Mark Rooney, project manager at technical supplier, XL Events to design and specify the video for the show.
UK - West Wales has a new theatre. Partly funded by the Welsh Government and including the refurbishment of a listed chapel alongside a 504 seat auditorium and 100 seat Stiwdio Stepni , Y Ffwrnes will be run by Carmarthenshire County Council to provide a cultural and creative centre, offering space for community and professional events.
The theatre is set to achieve a BREEAM 'excellent' rating for environmental sustainability and is a key player in the regeneration of Llanelli. Y Ffwrnes is expected to attract some 70,000 visitors and provide new full and part time employment for 35 people.
GDS UK dealer Northern Light were commissioned to install a complete sound and lighting package for Y Ffwrnes. The consultants specified that the contractors installed the GDS Stage Manager's Console and CueSystem cue lights. The need to meet the exacting standards of environmental sustaina
UK - Cadac Holdings has supplied a Cadac CDC8-16 to Glynd?r University AVL Technical Services for evaluation and first time ever use on a public performance. The company's latest digital console proved itself invaluable and capable of the highest performance standards, when deployed by senior AVL technician Darren Hughes, on his sound design for Chester Operatic Society's production of Kiss Me Kate at the university's William Aston Hall in Wrexham.
"We have two in-house desks available to productions in the 900 seat theatre," explains Hughes. "Current analogue and digital mixers; both reputable boards from leading manufacturers. But when we get a more demanding production in we often decide to bring in something special - more cutting edge - to deliver the best production capabilities. I had seen the CDC8 on the CUK stand at last year's PLASA Focus and had
UK - LS-Live and Backstage Academy have joined the community benefit co-operative set up to restore the Grade II listed Unity Hall in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
The venue, which was a much used event space following its establishment as the Wakefield Co-operative headquarters in 1867, has been closed for the last decade.
Unity House Wakefield Limited formed in 2011 with the intention of raising funds to restore the building and turn it into a major music venue, conference centre and location for creative businesses.
The development team, led by director Chris Hill, raised £4m of funding to restore the structural elements of the venue, but its bid to the Arts Council for £300,000 to finish the interior of the building was declined.
Stage, set and studio company LS-Live, and its affiliated industry training centre Backstage Academy in South Kirkby, Wakefield, hav
Poland - Polish rental company GMB Pro Sound will christen its new Meyer Sound Leo linear large-scale sound reinforcement system at the Heineken Open'er Festival in Gdynia this week.
Owner Janusz Jonasz Tolopilo established GMB Pro Sound nearly 20 years ago to serve the growing demand for higher quality, more reliable live sound. The company's purchase of a new Leo system adds to an inventory that includes Mica line array loudspeakers, UPA-1P and UPM-1P loudspeakers, MJF-212A stage monitors, and a large number of MM-4XP loudspeakers.
According to Tolopilo, GMB's investment in Leo was prompted by the company's growing roster of festival commitments. The purchase was also part of an overall growth plan targeting the European live market.
"Leo is a powerful, linear audio system, one that is really capable of taking on those massive outdoor and indoor events," says Tol
Greece - MusicGroup has tapped Omikron Electronics to manage distribution, customer support and service for all Behringer and Bugera-branded MI products in Greece. Since the company's inception in 2009, Omikron has experienced sustained growth and established an extensive dealer network throughout the region.
Music Group and Omikron already have a close relationship, with the company serving as distributor for high-end Midas and Klark Teknik professional-sound products.
"Omikron Electronics has done remarkably well with our Midas and Klark Teknik brands, so we couldn't have asked for a better distribution partner for Behringer and Bugera. This is a great opportunity for us to provide the musicians of Greece immediate access to our digital and analogue mixers, solid-state and tube amplifiers and much more," stated Music Group VP of sales David O'Kelly.
Germany - For singer-songwriter Peter Maffay's latest German tour, POOLgroup supplied its new Meyer Sound Leo linear large-scale sound reinforcement system. This touring system is one of the two Leo systems purchased by POOLgroup, who is also the first Leo rental supplier in Germany.
"Leo really delivers a lot of headroom and dynamics, and makes it very easy for me to get the artist vocals on top of a loud and powerful mix," says Werner Schmidl, FOH engineer for Maffay. "It seems to me that LEO is going to be the reinvention of the wall of sound."
Working in conjunction with system techs Dirk Maron and Robert Schmidt, Schmidl used main flown hangs of 12 LEO-M and three Mica line array loudspeakers per side. Twenty-four 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements handled the low-end, while a Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system with five Galileo Callis
Australia - Mildura's new $8.7m Arts Centre boasts a theatre with a 40 percent increase in fixed seating (450 seats), with capacity for another 100 portable seats, and a 60 percent larger stage.
The new, much larger arts centre will attract more acts to the district as the previous arts centre, which had served the district for more than 40 years, had been too small or inadequate for some acts given the size and quantity of material they required on stage.
Other features of the new state-of-the-art facility include a 15m tower above the stage, to improve management of curtains, lights, scenery and backdrops during performances.
Jands designed, manufactured and installed the all-important safety curtain for the Mildura Arts Centre Theatre including related mechanical components with the specified mechanical, structural and control features.
Belgium - Belgium-based dry hire rental company DEE Sound & Light has taken delivery of a Midas PRO9 Live Audio System, including a DL431 splitter unit and a DL351 modular IO unit. The PRO9 increases DEE's MIdas digital portfolio which already consists of the flagship XL8 Live Performance System.
Andre Schneider, DEE owner and managing director comments, "Due to the ever-increasing demand for Midas digital products, we decided to invest in a PRO9, as the console fits beautifully in-between the incredibly popular PRO2s and XL8."
DEE offers customers the option of renting the various individual input and output cards used in the XL8 and PRO system I/O units, without having to rent the entire system. Plus, they also carry Klark Teknik's easy-to-use DN9696 hard disk recorder and DN9650 network bridge, which can be used to connected the recorder to a wide variety of digit
USA - Located near Grand Central Terminal, in New York City's Midtown East neighborhood, Vitae is an upscale restaurant featuring a "New American" menu. Designed by architect Niels Guldager of New York interior design firm Studio CMP, Vitae draws on the history of Midtown while bearing a strong contemporary identity that includes sound and acoustics as important design elements.
Architect Guldager said, "Bad sound can ruin an otherwise perfect restaurant environment. I want the right background music level and clarity so people can hear the music but still hold a conversation. And clarity is key in getting sound into the 'sweet spot' as a design element."
Guldager worked with contractor David Schwartz of Essential Communications in East Hanover, NJ, to design the sound system for Vitae. "The restaurant's design didn't always allow us to place the louds
UK - Kent- based lighting rental specialist RML has recently made a large investment in Robe moving lights to service its busy ongoing schedule, which includes a wide selection of shows, events and high profile TV series and programmers.
RML's diverse clients are involved in all aspects of the entertainment industry and are forever keen to embrace the latest designs and innovations from all manufacturers. "Keeping our doors open is the key to keeping our finger on the pulse," says RML's operations manager Steve Wells.
The purchase of new LEDWash 600s, LEDBeam 100s and MMX WashBeams - all from Robe's Robin range - has been in direct response to this.
Wells continues, 'As Robe's profile and products continue to go from strength to strength we felt it was absolutely the right time to invest in the brand ... and it's been a great success."
USA - Seminal power trio Rush is back on tour in support of their latest release, Clockwork Angels. Recently inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, the band is rewarding fans with a vastly different setlist and show than was featured on the Time Machine tour. In similar fashion, lighting designer Howard Ungerleider created bold new visuals with High End Systems Intellaspots and a host of other fixtures to punctuate the steampunk inspired themes of Clockwork Angels.
Howard explains, "When the band finished the recording, I had the opportunity to go in for a listen and was just blown away. I had already designed the backbone of the system; because it was called Clockwork Angels and was steampunk themed, I decided to create something angelic. Angel wings were in my design head and I wanted something in the rig to move like an angel, so I desig
USA - Working alongside designer Martin Phillips, Tait manufactured a range of DJ automation elements for Deadmau5's six month club residency at Hakkasan in the MGM Hotel, Las Vegas. The residency, which features special guests throughout the shows, sees two ABB Robots with Robotic Arts Roboscreens on either side of the DJ booth. The robots have a 1.5m reach and six axes of movement, with the ability to extend vertically, horizontally and rotate.
Providing the artists with a set that could be used in club spaces and toured internationally for festival shows, the Roboscreens can be swapped out and fitted with signature scenic Deadmau5 maus-heads created by the Henson Company during their set.
Automation for the robots was provided by Tait from movements translated by Robotic Arts, based on designer briefs. Pre-programmed movements were able to take place seamlessly during live
UK - After a break of one year, it was business as usual back at Worthy Farm site for this year's Glastonbury Festival. RG Jones once again turned to the Martin Audio W8 Longbow system, which again dominated the Pyramid Stage.
With visiting artists and sound engineers so complimentary about the sound system two years ago, specialist sound company RG Jones had no hesitation in fielding a similar PA rig, knowing that this would meet all compliances and propagation tests set by the acoustics consultants and organiser Michael Eavis ... and at the same time satisfy the vast crowds of around 150,000 who converge on the site for the four day extravaganza.
The Longbow hangs are now a familiar sight, book-ending either side of the iconic Pyramid, having fulfilled similar duties for the previous four festivals.
Once again dual inner and outer PA hangs comprising 14 W8L Longbow element
France - Originally designed in 1982, the stunning Fly's Eye was the creation of American inventor and architect Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983. 31 years later, his design was realised and put on display at this year Toulouse Art Festival.
The vaulted dome of the white spherical building in Toulouse was dynamically highlighted in pastel shades, designed by Brad Koerner of Philips Lighting. Eight ColorReach, four iW Reach and 30 ColorBlast fixtures from Philips Color Kinetics were supplied for illumination, all controlled with LumenRadio's wireless CRMX Slim products.
A wireless system containing five CRMX Slim receivers and one CRMX Slim transmitter was used to control over 40 high quality fixtures.
"One of the most important elements of this installation was to eliminate the need for any control cabling. It became clear early in the process that working with cabl
UK - Bangor Aurora Aquatic & Leisure Complex, the new leisure complex in the heart of Bangor, which houses Northern Ireland's first FINA standard 50m swimming pool, also boasts an advanced and adaptable site-wide RCF communication network.
This was installed across 15 zones, each with its own autonomy, by MGA Communication Ltd, and features well over 200 application-specific loudspeakers from RCF to meet all audio and PA/VA requirements. These are driven either by low-impedance HPS1500 amps with PR4092 preamps or 100V line UP2162 (160W) or UP2321 (320W) 100V line amps with ES3160'combi' mixer amps - all in dedicated local racks.
Managing director, Gerald McKeown said that the system was complex, but is designed to provide high-end sound broadcast throughout both internal and external areas, with user flexibility and ease of operation.
UK - Orbital Sound reports that it has supplied a multi-purpose sound system for London's Battersea Arts Centre, based on the T-Series loudspeakers from d&b audiotechnik. Housed in an architecturally renowned 19th century listed building, formerly Battersea Town Hall, the venue has a vast complement of performance spaces, offering audience capacities ranging from 10 to 500, and is regarded as one of the UK's most influential theatres. The new system's capabilities were recently tested to the full by Little Bulb Theatre's Orpheus, which featured a demanding live score ranging from hot club jazz to grand opera, including a ground-shaking baroque organ.
The new system is designed for semi-permanent installation in the venue's main room, as well as allowing flexible deployment in other spaces, and comprises a central hang of seven d&b audiotechnik T-10 enclosures, plus two ground-st
Korea - Korea has become one of the latest territories to provide large-scale exposure for Martin Audio's Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA).
Two prominent concerts in Seoul recently saw the system supplied to rental company Boom Audio by parent company, Rui Sound.
On 15 June in the 88 Olympic Park, the first Women Musicians' Music Festival (Muse In City) took place in front of an audience of around 12,000 people. Various genres of music were featured, including indie, jazz and ballads by eight women musicians - including famed Bossa Nova singer Lisa Ono, Australian singer Lenka, Lisa Hannigan and Korean K-pop star Lee Hyo-Ri.
Rui Sound / Boom Audio provided 20 x MLA and two MLD down-fills, split into two hangs, with 10 MLX in a stacked sub configuration.
The distance from stage to FOH position measured 30m and to the back of the audience 100 m with the sound system co
UK - Richard Martin Lighting (RML) has always remained at the forefront of moving light technology and has been in the thick of all things 'TV' for almost 30 years. With recent changes in the economic climate and our Industry, it has been a great opportunity to look at ways in which the company can grow and venture into exciting new projects and aspects of entertainment lighting.
The company jumped at the chance to supply lights for the new Disclosure video F For You.
Brothers Guy and Howard make up the electro duo. Their album Settle was released last month and shot to number 1 in the album charts.
RML supplied Sharpys for the shoot which complimented the video projection that was used throughout, along with LED wands provided by Light Initiative. Simple lighting and strong images enhanced the dance music and sounds perfectly. Their music has been described as
Europe - t&mSystems, the pro audio electronics and loudspeaker systems manufacturer, has expanded its European distribution with the appointment of Ascon Trading a/s for Denmark and M-Pro BeNeLux for Belgium and Luxembourg.
Based in Ibbenbüren, Germany, t&mSystems designs and manufactures a wide range of power amplifiers, mixer amplifiers, zone mixers, digital signal processors and loudspeakers, primarily for the fixed installation market.
Kai Böckmann, CEO of t&mSystems, commented on the appointments, "As an established brand in our domestic market, we are now concentrating efforts on international distribution with a good degree of success. We recently partnered with TAU Electronics for the Netherlands and to follow up with Denmark and Belgium gives us very good coverage in this region of Europe. I am particularly pleased with the quality of the distributors we have p
UK - PLASA London 2013 will close its free registration offer later this week, and is urging visitors to sign up at www.plasashow.com in order to save £20 on the standard ticket price. Over 6000 people have already registered for this year's PLASA London event, which takes place at the ExCeL Centre, London from 6-9 October 2013.
Jen Barratt, show manager, PLASA London 2013, says: "We have some fantastic speakers lined up as well as free training sessions, demonstrations of the latest technology, a comprehensive exhibition and great networking opportunities. There aren't many events that would offer so much valuable content for free, so we urge visitors to use these last days of free registration to get the maximum value out of their visit."
Visitors will also have access to AudioLab 2013, the hotly anticipated new attraction that will see the creation of a new
UK - One of the most stylish, discreet and popular PA's in the House of Worship sector has been installed by Rea Sound in the Donaghcloney Presbyterian Church, Northern Ireland.
The Martin Audio OmniLine micro array has been integrated in a design encompassing two separate PA hangs, with eight modules in each, along with Martin Audio's equally unobtrusive AQ5 for under-balcony fills - all powered by a single Martin Audio MA2.8Q power amp.
This process began when the church's technical representative, Wayne Buttery, visited the Rea Sound stand at the Church Resource Show in Belfast in February 2012 - and six months later made contact again with Martin Audio's Irish distributors.
Rea Sound duly won the contract to replace the existing PA system on the strength of their knowledge, product and adaptability.
The church's previous system, installed in the early 1980's, had reach