Licensing Laws - Performers and producers will no longer have to obtain an entertainment licence to stage shows during the day with an audience of up to 500 people after regulations were relaxed. Following an amendment to the Licensing Act, entertainers can now present plays or dance shows, which includes street performances, between 8am and 11pm without a licence. Performances outside of these hours and for larger audiences will still require a licence, as will dance shows of a "sufficiently adult nature" according to Hugh Robertson, minister for sport and tourism.
Previously, groups had to apply to individual local authorities to secure a licence before they could stage these shows. Louise McMullan, head of Equity's general secretary's department, said, "This change is intended in the first instance to free up places like community halls and venues in your local
UK - Marl International this year celebrates its 40th anniversary. The company has now supplied more than 500 million LEDs, many in assemblies designed and manufactured by its 100-strong British engineering and manufacturing team based in Ulverston.
Commenting, Adrian Rawlinson, managing director at Marl International, said, "Marl, a pioneer in the technology, is ideally positioned to ride the crest of the LED wave. The secret of our success is that our products are designed, assembled, tested and shipped from one manufacturing complex in Ulverston. Marl continues to invest in its business, recently spending £270,000 to double manufacturing output and speed up the delivery of prototypes. Our manufacturing strength is such that customers are now asking us to design and build other electronic systems for them that don't include an LED light." The company directly a
UK / Italy - Outline, the Italian manufacturer of professional loudspeaker systems and associated products, has confirmed the formation of a new distribution partnership with CUK Audio. Effective immediately, CUK Audio assumes exclusive UK distribution rights for all Outline products.
Outline's sales director Chris Hinds said, "2013 is our 40th anniversary year and our business is expanding globally with year-on-year sales up significantly across our product range, which is especially encouraging given the economic situation around the world right now. Much of this growth is due to the new products we've introduced, but they are taken to market by our distribution network, and in this respect we are continually refining and expanding our worldwide partnerships. Bringing CUK on board as our UK partner is part of this on-going process, and we're fortunate to have found a comp
Germany - XL Video has streamlined and optimised its corporate structure in Germany. Previously the enterprise was represented in Germany by two separate companies: XL Video of Hamburg and XL Solutions of Düsseldorf. It also had offices in Munich, Berlin and Nürtingen. On 1 July, XL Solutions and XL Video merged. The main office, with 25 employees, is now on the Hamburg site, whilst Düsseldorf, with 18 employees, is home to the branch office. From now on, Denis Papin, formerly managing director (CEO) of XL Video of Hamburg, and Thorsten Lipp, who held the equivalent post with XL Solutions, will share responsibility for the merged company, which will trade under the name "XL Video".
XL Video of Hamburg was founded in 1998 by René de Keyser and Denis Papin, with the latter at that time assuming the role of Managing Director. Under his leadership, XL Video grew
UK - Pioneer is set to enter the professional audio market with the launch of its flagship club sound system. Drawing on the company's rich heritage in sound reproduction, deep understanding of the club industry, and close collaboration with Gary Stewart Audio (GSA) and Powersoft, this exciting arrival promises to make waves in Ibiza this season and, with Pioneer returning to the PLASA Show this year, will be available to hear at PLASA London (6-9 October, ExCeL, London) as Pioneer is set to demo the system in the show's exciting new AudioLab Arena.
"Pioneer and sub-brand TAD's expert sound engineers have been creating high-quality audio for many decades and, with Pioneer DJ's unrivalled expertise in the pro-DJ market, the move into club sound systems is a natural progression," says the company.
To create 'the ultimate club sound system', Pioneer partnered wit
The Netherlands - Dutch PA company, Decibel 111 Audio, recently invested in an Allen & Heath iLive-T80 digital mixing system and ME-1 personal monitor mixers to supplement its hire stock and specifically manage the summer tour dates of top pop band, Hike.
Decibel purchased the new A&H equipment following a demo and training day for engineers and musicians at pro audio dealer, Aptronics.
"Decibel has supplied equipment and engineers to Hike for years, and GL Series analogue desks used to be our weapons of choice," explains Decibel's owner Eric Egging. "However, the launch of the ME-1 mixers, and their compatibility with the iLive T-series, meant we could take the tech spec to the next level. The timing was perfect to coincide with summer festival dates."
Hike is celebrating its 15 year anniversary in 2013. The band is a popular choice at many of the summer
Germany - When the updated production of Starlight Express opened at Bochum's Stadionring - celebrating 25 years since its first performance at the specially constructed 'Starlight Express Theatre' in June 1988 - it featured for the first time Martin Audio's Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA) platform.
Advertising itself as "the fastest musical in the universe" it fell to sound supervisor Riccardo van Krugten and system engineer/installation manager, Georg Hentschel to supercharge the next generation production while remaining faithful to Martin Levan's original sound design.
Hentschel was already familiar with Martin Audio's system, since his company (LiveAudio) has owned an MLA rig since May 2011. He later attended the world launch of the second-generation MLA Compact in London - and it is the smaller system that his company has now installed for this pr
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