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14 March 2016

The 125-year-old Preston North End (PNE) has relied on the services of public address specialists TG Baker to keep its audio fit for purpose for nearly two decades.

When it came to upgrading the 8,100 capacity Sir Tom Finney stand - built in 1995 at a cost of £4.4m - they saw the opportunity to debut the new AWC129.

Project manager Jason Longworth recalled, "We were sent a couple of speakers for evaluation by [Harman Professional UK & Eire distributors] Sound Technology and we put them through their paces and really liked them." The AWC129 itself is a compact, coaxial-driver, 2-way, highly weather-resistant (IP56) full-range loudspeaker which is designed for speech and music.

Faced with installing these as part

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14 March 2016

The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the biggest and most technically advanced productions in the world. In Eurovision: Mega Production, Mega Budget, Mega Fun technical director Ola Melzig, a part-time Austinite, will discuss some of the triumphs, challenges, highpoints and low points of putting on this year's production which took place in Sweden.

Audio Engineer Rich Davis will present Audio Engineering for Live Performance - Across the Board. For the past decade Davis has been the sound man for Jimmy Buffett, and has previously worked with entertainers including Doc Severinsen's Big Band, Melissa Ethe

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14 March 2016

Sahara Presentation Systems Plc is a trade only distributor and manufacturer of Audio Visual (AV) products including major brands as well as their own brands of audio solutions, mounting products, and more traditional presentation products including rail systems, dry wipe boards and notice boards.

The agreement, which sees Sahara distribute the full Neets portfolio means Sahara can offer a comprehensive range of control systems, connectivity and input panels predestined for classrooms, board rooms and conferencing facilities.

Shaun Marklew, sales and marketing director at Sahara says, "I am very pleased with the addition of Neets to our product portfolio adding great connectivity products and value for money for our resellers."

Carl Harper, screens and connectivi

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14 March 2016

In the Agora theatre, Chromasound installed a permanent CQ-1 loudspeaker system to support small ensemble musical and theatrical performances. A separate mobile system, based on the Meyer Sound JM-1P arrayable loudspeaker, complements the CQ-1 system during rock concerts, and is also used for outdoor events. The upgrade at the Agora was part of a wider government initiative to upgrade Hungary's cultural facilities.

"The mobile system is capable of delivering a very high SPL, and the integration between the mobile and installed systems is easy to achieve," says Makkay Imre, director of Chromasound. "The outstanding quality of the Meyer Sound loudspeakers proved itself fr

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14 March 2016

Music & Lights AB supplied 72 Martin MAC Aura's, 12 MAC 301 Washes and 62 Atomic 3000 strobes for the festival's two, two-day events in Göteborg and Stockholm.

"The MAC Aura did an amazing job at the Summerburst Festival," stated production manager Daniel Rüdén. "The brightness of the fixtures and lenses are very usable during daylight and when the sun set, the zoom beam was almo

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14 March 2016

The award was presented by Philip Cajka, Audio-Technica U.S. president and CEO and Michael Edwards, A-T V.P. Professional Products. Also representing On the Road Marketing were Justin Walker, Chris Grajewski, Jon Stafford and Jason Longobardo. On the Road's Frank Portalatin was absent. The A-T President's Award was presented at a ceremony during the 2013 InfoComm Expo on 12 June in Orlando, Florida.

Phil Cajka commented, "On the Road Marketing has been awarded this honour for their continued

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14 March 2016

Vicken Hekimian, director of Scene Change Sydney, says that the Jands Stage CL is a really smart entry-level console and ideal for controlling LEDs.

"It's really easy to set up, simple to use and has a lot of features for the price point," he said. "The menu structure is very good so it's intuitive and easy to operate. It's a great little LED control surface that simply just works."

Vicken describes the ETC Source Four Profile as a particularly good value item saying that the cost for what you get is amazing.

"It's a good, even light source and is very reliable," he added. "We own many ETC Source Four Profiles and we've ne

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14 March 2016

The stunning projections were produced using six large format projectors fitted with single scrollers, manufactured and supplied by PANI/Hardware Xenon. These were supplemented by lighting from four Robe Robin DLS profiles and a single Robin MMX WashBeam, all sourced from Dortmund based Niclen.

Casa Magica's Sabine Weissinger and Friedrich Foerster won a competition to present a dynamic projection and visuals show in the space, in which they first worked in 2004 - also the first time the Cathedral had experienced such an installation.

For the Eucharistic Congress, the drama and ethereal nature

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14 March 2016

Subfrantic were the production company for the event and they used 10 of MilTec's Batten2 LED battens for pixelmapping and visual effects. The battens were suspended vertically from the roof truss and staggered to give depth, filling the space above the performers with light and effects.

Steve Davies from Subfrantic commented, "We were very pleased with the MilTec battens, They added character to the stage and were very bright, with good visibility even during the daylight hours."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Sited on Macau's famous Cotai Strip, the Cotai Arena is part of The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, a luxury hotel and integrated resort which is the largest single structure hotel building in Asia.

The new RJ Lancelots will augment the venue's existing lighting inventory which already boasts four of these powerful long throw followspots.

The RJ Lancelots have been put to good use over the years in this extremely popular and busy venue. Since it opened in 2007, the Cotai Arena at The Venetian Macao has played host to large-scale concerts from the likes of Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, with big names Rihanna and Justin Bieber due to play this autumn, Sporting events and international televised

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14 March 2016

Ambersphere completed the deal with Robert Juliat in early June; days later they found themselves exhibiting their new brand at the ABTT show. "And what a successful show it was," said O'Donoghue. "ABTT has always been a favourite networking event with the back stage fraternity, a meeting on our stand with Tim Boyd the technical manager at The Oxford Playhouse was typical."

"We've been long term users of Robe

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14 March 2016

For the second year, the Platinum Sponsor is Robe Lighting, the Czech manufacturer of innovative, high quality moving lights and digital lighting products for the professional entertainment & leisure, architectural and themed environment industries. Josef Valchar, general manager, Robe Lighting said, "Our company philosophy is centred around working as closely as possible with our business partners and end users, listening to their needs, thoughts and wishes in order to understand their markets. PLASA London is an essential event for us as it provides the ideal opportunity to meet many of them in pe

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14 March 2016

Since the Grand Hall is such an important space, it was decided that a new sound system would provide the degree of flexibility required. However, initial plans included a system made up of almost 20 loudspeakers - something that would have seriously affected the aesthetics of this historical venue.

Diego Noack, procurement manager of audio specialists G. Fleischhauer ing. Büro Cottbus GmbH, suggested Tannoy's award-winning digital beam steering loudspeaker array, QFlex. He had been aware of the architecturally sensitive profile and its ability to distribute smooth, even coverage in acoustically challenging spaces, and after some careful model

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14 March 2016

This included three spectacular themed areas - The Village Green, Piazza and Carnival - all of which were hugely popular and a large part of the new look event staged by AEG. The event included Main Stage concert performances by The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Jennifer Lopez and Lionel Richie over 10 days.

The North Stages featured five intimate performance spaces - The Village Hall, The Bandstand, The Barclaycard Unwind Theatre, the Sony Music Unlimited stage and the Carnival 'Float'

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14 March 2016

Britannia Row Productions' Johnny Keirle was systems tech for the event and, despite arriving in the UK from New Zealand recently, has seen plenty of Flashline action. "I'm pretty familiar with Turbosound as I worked a lot with Oceania back in New Zealand, they have a large Flashlight and Floodlight rig that's one of the best sounding systems around. The very first time I heard Flashline, I loved it. Since then, the more I work with Flashline the more I like it," he says.

"Mechanically, the r

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14 March 2016

As well as using SHoW DMX Neo Transceivers and Receivers, the production marked the first use of the new D2 and D4 Dimmers.

Martin Chisnall, as well as being one of the show's production electricians, took on the role of wireless DMX consultant. He was brought on board by Howard Eaton Lighting to oversee the design and installation of the SHoW DMX Neo wireless DMX system.

Because of previous bad experiences with wireless DMX, the theatre had gained a reputation as a hostile environment in which to use radio DMX. Even before the theatre's previous show, Shrek, had closed, Chisnall conducted a 2.4GHz WiSpy survey onstage to discover what other competing wi

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14 March 2016

Born out of the event sector and launched to the market in January 2013, uTRAC is currently working with companies Aikens Promotions and Knight Rigging Services. The software has become integral to ensuring events runs smoothly, allowing clients to stay on top of the essential back office administration involved with assigning staff to jobs, greatly reducing errors and hassle. uTRAC streamlines all the financial and administrative functions including wages reports, client invoices, and business reporting.

Ronan Moore, managing director at uTRAC started out as crew member at Event Services Ireland (ESI) before launching uTRAC as an independent

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14 March 2016

The opening of this year's Opera Festival in Munich presented a spectacular opportunity: Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi and the Bavarian State Opera itself all celebrate their 200th birthday this year. As a result, the opera house staged Wagner vs Verdi, a playful contest in which the two great composers met each other as giant marionettes in the plaza outside the Bavarian State Opera house.

Cheered on by about 10,000 visitors, the 9.5m high internally lit futuristic figures were moved by cranes like puppets, while the faces of two actors were projected onto the faces - creating the dialogue between the two composers.

The 'contest' began around 10pm as it became

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14 March 2016

With 195 performing bands playing on eight stages over eight consecutive days, the event was high on anticipation, with audience pitching their tents to compete for the Camp of the Year.

Renowned international names such as Rihanna, Metallica, Volbeat, Queen of the Stone Age and Kraftwerk ensured that Roskilde Festival 2013 lived up to its reputation with regards to performance, while lighting designers and suppliers ensured maximum dynamics, to bring the best out of the performances.

Three of the stages - Odeon, Pavilion and Apollo - were awash with LED fixtures from SGM. This initially took shape when head of stage technology at Roskilde Festi

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14 March 2016

Around 4,000 people turned up to the 2013 event, including DJ's and VJ's from across the Calgary and Edmonton areas. After around 15 years or so the event is finally getting the recognition it deserves, according to Steve Burak of EA Systems, who provided lighting for the main Temple stage.

Contracted by promoter James Katalyst for the first time, Burak himself took on LD duties, working alongside Calgary-based audio company, PK Sound. At the core of his inventory were 13 of PR Lighting's XPAR 348 LED heads. Containing 48 x 3W high quality RGBW LED's this unit's attributes include low noise, low maintenance, energy saving and a weight of just 9kg.

The fixtures endured an arduous

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14 March 2016

The PA company has worked with the singer songwriter for the past two years, but MD André Rauhut admits that this one off show - a curtain raiser for next spring's tour and a launchpad for the artist's new record, Am Seidenen Faden (Hanging By A Thread) - was on an unprecedented scale.

Providing even pattern control within an amphitheatre is taxing at the best of times, but Complete Audio was able to deploy its Martin Audio MLA system with confidence, given their vast experience of the system and knowing that its sound control is second to none.

Commenting on the topography of the bowl, André Rauhut notes, "The hill itself is very steep; the distance from the downstage edge of the stage to the highes

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14 March 2016

The duo, who broke through late last year with their single Cruise, had been doing some support dates on Swift's Red tour. Recalls Cunningham, "Steve Richards, who is out as LD on the Taylor tour, introduced me to the fixtures, and gave me the inside scoop." Having also watched the Beyoncé videos, showing heavy use of the X-5 (white strobe) he immediately became convinced by the technology.

But it was the colour function that he could envisage working on the FGL tour, and he wasted no time requisitioning six from Theatrical Media Services (TMS) of Omaha. Owing to supply and demand this was the maximum that could be accommodated in

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14 March 2016

Ztotnicza Sports Park is the most modern stadium in the city of Jelenia Góra in Lower Silesia, southwestern Poland. In addition to the floodlit football pitch, the stadium has an athletics track and is Class 4A PZLA certified for European championships. The stadium has a total seating capacity of over 3,600, with a main grandstand accommodating 1,558 people.

Jaros?aw Kraszewski of Tommex, the designer and project manager for the system, explained, "The sound system was required to cover the grandstand, ground seating and competition zones and for such large areas we naturally choose Community R-Series. Their all-weather durability, outstanding intelligibility and high efficiency combined with the wide range of co

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14 March 2016

The 20 minute spectacle was creatively directed by Gerald Ponesky and Uwe 'Leo' Auerswald for producers the Compact Team, a Berlin based event agency and followed a friendly match with Scottish giants, Glasgow Celtic. It featured a jaw-dropping visual / set design and lightshow concept created by Gerd Helinski from Berlin based HELICON-Media - featuring 60 Robe MMX WashBeams - together with a special soundtrack compiled by Mathias 'Matze' Mantzke.

It was a landmark moment for the legendary FC Union Berlin, popularly known as the Eisern Union (Iron Union). The club has a colourful and interesting history, an international cult following and a hugely devout and somewhat unconventional fanbase