UK - PLASA Focus Leeds has begun its tenth birthday celebrations on 1-2 May at the Royal Armouries, Leeds. The popular entertainment technology trade show provides a stage for over 175 global brands, and the show’s reputation attracts thought-leaders and taste-makers who share their expertise through seminars and training sessions. The show floor will feature products fresh from European launches, and the seminar programme is overflowing with enriching talks and lively debates. The show caters to everyone from lighting designers and sound engineers, to riggers and production managers. Audio enthusiasts can get under the skin of digital mixers with Soundcraft’s Andy Brown and Sound Technology’s Ben Todd, and can get to grips with Line Array systems with Harman’s Ed Jackson and Sound Technology’s Stuart Strachan. Visitors can learn about frequency response wit
UK - Specialist manufacturer of flame retardant fabrics, drapery and stage engineering solutions J&C Joel has been named as one of Yorkshire’s top 100 best performing SMEs in Yorkshire Business Insider’s SME 300. The SME 300 table is made up of companies in the county with a turnover of between £5m and £20m and this is the first time the Sowerby Bridge based firm has been listed featuring at number 86. J&C Joel has seen significant growth over the past few years opening a new purpose-built facility in Vietnam last year as well as expanding operations in Europe and Australasia. The award-winning business exports to more than 80 countries, providing products and services such as Front of House theatre drapes, stage backdrops, cycloramas, gauzes, acoustic solutions, projection screens plus an array of stage engineering solutions. James Wheelwri
New Zealand - Forge Audio recently expanded their inventory with Soundcraft by Harman Vi3000 Series digital consoles. A full-service production company based in Auckland, Forge Audio provides event planners, festival organisers and concert promoters with complete live event production services, including audio, lighting and video. Offering flexibility for any production budget, Forge Audio offers professional equipment with expert support from engineers, designers and technicians. In order to better serve their clientele and ensure premium audio for a wide range of live events, Forge Audio recently expanded their mixer inventory with Soundcraft Vi 3000 Series consoles. “Our services are built around a comprehensive array of the best and most reliable audio, lighting and video solutions,” said Marc Benedict, owner of Forge Audio. “We’ve been using Soundcraft Si
Germany - There was a buzz surrounding the High End Systems booth at the recent Prolight + Sound trade show in Frankfurt. In addition to sneak previews of new products, visitors were treated to a visual spectacular in the form of the latest instalment of the world’s leading academic lighting programming competition, Hog Factor. This year, in collaboration with the German branch of parent company ETC and German distributor LMP Lichttechnik, High End Systems opened up the competition to teams of students and trainees from across Europe, giving the contest a real international flavour. As in previous years, LMP provided valuable support during the preliminary stages – LMP product manager, Marcel Vranken hosted a series of training sessions and was involved in the shortlisting process. From the numerous entries received, four teams from four different countries were se
Europe - Robe Lighting CEO Josef Valchar has petitioned the Czech government and MEPs to back the exemption of stage lighting from the Energy Directorate’s proposed Ecodesign Working Plan 2016-2019, warning of the plans’ “immediate and overwhelming” impact on the industry. In their current form, the controversial proposals would bring stage lighting under the same energy efficiency regulations devised for domestic, office and industrial lighting from September 2020, affecting all specialist lighting fixtures. Robe explains the legislation relates to the number of lumens output rather than the quality and doesn’t consider fixtures utilising optical systems geared for performance and entertainment lighting. Valchar comments: “I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Every manufacturer, rental company, venue, LD, technician and other individual or orga
Malaysia - Following a successful run of Atlona On-Tour Roadshows across India, the AV collaboration and control specialist continued its series last week in Malaysia with a renewed educational focus on today’s most pertinent industry trends. Attracting 20 regional systems integrators, dealers and consultants, the half-day event delivered a series of fresh presentations, hands-on product demonstrations and personalized networking opportunities. The overarching goal of the event was to educate on new business opportunities with emerging technologies, and problem-solve for today’s unique transitional challenges. Taking place at the Grand Dorsett Subang in Selangor, Atlona experts offered focused segments on networked AV and control and management, with specifics across applying Atlona’s OmniStream for AV over IP, the SW-510W for BYOD-powered collaboration, and the
Italy - Audio Precision has previewed its planned contributions to the 144th International AES Convention next month in Italy. Themed The Power of Sound, AES Milan will bring together audio professionals and advanced audio technologies from around the world for four days of audio immersion, experiences and networking. In addition to the three technical presentations, AP will exhibit on stand 213 with their partner in Italy, AudioLink S.r.l. Delivered as part of the Audio Quality session track (P02), AP’s first paper, An Auditory Model-inspired Objective Speech Intelligibility Estimate for Audio Systems, is scheduled for Wednesday, 23 May. The paper presents the implementation of a new algorithm for objective speech intelligibility, based on the modified rhyme test using real speech. On Thursday, 24 May, AP’s second presentation, The Evolution of C
UK - Manchester-based audio specialist tube UK is the first sound rental and live-production company in the country to take delivery of Yamaha’s new Rivage PM7 digital mixing system, launched at ISE in February. tube’s Melvyn Coote comments, “We’re always excited to be among ‘the first’ to utilise new technologies and are delighted to be the very first company in the UK with a PM7.” He adds that although it’s a bold move, the console has “many excellent features, a great quality, a good price point and is underlined by Yamaha’s rock-solid reputation for reliability”. The powerful and flexible RIVAGE PM7 fills a gap in the product range left by the Yamaha PM5D, which was launched in 2004 and swiftly became a touring industry standard for digital live mixing and the go-to interface for a raft of top engineers worldwide. “We always said
South Africa - MGG, one of South Africa’s leading rental and production specialists, is the first to invest in Robe’s new MegaPointe moving light. MGG’s owner and founder Mark Gaylard explained that they have done phenomenally well with the standard Pointe, where they blazed the trail with the first 12 in SA rental stock, having bought them off distributor DWR’s booth at the 2013 MediaTech expo in Johannesburg. “These have been a company workhorse and a big success for us, they have travelled all over Africa on a wide range of events and we are sure the MegaPointes will do the same.” The initial 24 luminaires were delivered to MGG by DWR. Duncan Riley of DWR says: “I think the industry has been waiting for this fixture - something that’s so much more than a beam light and delivers all the other modes in equal measure. It’s bright and fills a gap, and
South Korea - KLANG:technologies has appointed Sorinamoo as its distributor for South Korea. Busan-based Sorinamoo is managed by CEO Dosung Shim and represents Yamaha, Meyer, Inter-M and Harman’s JBL, Crown, DBX and Soundcraft, as well as Blackmagic Design, Avics and ETC. Phil Kamp, KLANG:technologies’ head of sales, comments, “We are pleased to welcome Sorinamoo to our expanding network of international distributors. With a great line of compatible brands, they are technically experienced and will bring our systems to the market with great presentation and support. I am confident they will do an excellent job in representing KLANG:technologies in South Korea.” Yonghui Kim, section chief, adds: “Sorinamoo is constantly growing and developing ahead of our customers’ needs and we are continually looking for advanced new products to introduce to our ma
South Africa - Visual Productions BV has appointed DWR Distribution to distribute its products in South Africa and across the borders. Jannie de Jager, technical training and support at DWR Distribution, comments: “With an ability to ‘speak’ just about any language, from Art-Net to sACN, OSC, UDP, KiNet, TCP, Real-Time clock and NTP time synchronization, Visual Productions offers a control solution that is the pinnacle of show control. The units are able to communicate to every protocol known to lighting and AV technicians.” He explains that the purple boxes will convert any incoming signal to trigger any command to perform any type of task in a system. From Art-Net to Contact closure to UDP to OSC, any protocol can be cross triggered on the network and even be wirelessly controlled either by the native Kiosc app or any other third party OSC command-based apps.
UK - PLASA has been invited as one of six European Associations to attend the upcoming EU Commission meeting to address the proposed updates to the Eco-Design Working Plan 2016-2019 that would require all stage lighting to meet efficiency targets in line with domestic and office lighting. The proposed changes to the Eco-Design lighting regulations would have a commercially devastating effect on the industry should it become legislation in 2020. “The impact this law would have on the whole entertainment industry is huge: venues, manufacturers, rental companies, and indeed lighting designers would be greatly affected,” says PLASA's MD, Peter Heath. “Video projection has been granted an exemption - this is what we and other trade bodies are now pushing for - the same exemption for stage lighting.” Adam Bennette of ETC will represent the interest of PLASA m
Rolling On - Liam Gallagher, Richard Ashcroft and Florence & The Machine are among the major support acts to be announced for The Rolling Stones’ UK tour this summer. The rock icons will head out on an eight-date stadium tour across May and June, playing venues such as the London Stadium, Manchester’s Old Trafford stadium, and Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium. It’s now been confirmed that they’re bringing along some heavyweight company for the ride, with former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher warming up for the Stones before their first date of the tour on 22 May at the London Stadium. The Stones’ latest tour comes after a lack of available venues meant that the UK was left off their European tour in 2017 - leading to considerable demand for the latest shows. Despite having a collective age of 254 years, it seems that the elder statesmen of rock aren’t p
India - Slash Enterprises in Hyderabad has recently invested in a DiGiCo SD9 digital mixing console. It was purchased through India distributor HiTech Audio Systems Pvt.Ltd, New Delhi. “We were looking for something compatible for our line of work and were introduced to DiGiCo SD9 by HiTech,” says Ronald Daniel, owner of Slash Enterprises. “I was awestruck by the features of the console and instantly loved everything about it.” Slash Enterprises was found by Francis Daniel, who used to handle DJ events for weddings and corporate shows. The company has now expanded its sphere of work by adding mixing for live bands, as well as church events. Francis’s younger brother Ronald Daniel, an experienced sound engineer, then joined the team and gave the company a new vision. With his help and that of advanced technology and cutting-edge equipment, Slash Enterprises ha
Thailand - Mahajak Development recently installed a complete networked audio system by Harman Professional Solutions at Kasikornbank’s new HQ in Bangkok. Founded in 1945, Kasikornbank is one of the largest commercial banks in Thailand, recently relocated its HQ to a new 11-story office building in central Bangkok. Kasikornbank commissioned AV integrator Mahajak Development to design and install a state-of-the-art networked audio system that would provide more than 100 meeting rooms with high-quality audio and intuitive control. In order to ensure professional audio during meetings and conferences at the new facility, Mahajak Development selected a comprehensive networked audio solution consisting of JBL speakers, Crown amplifiers, BSS audio processors and AMX control systems. A bank spokesperson comments: “The new facility required a large-scale AV system th
South Africa - Rental dry hire and technical production company Sound Stylists has purchased DiGiCo’s new digital mixing desk, SD7. The investment, which is the first of its kind in the country, complements the company’s existing DiGiCo inventory comprising two D5s, two SD8s, an SD10, and two S21s plus associated racks and accessories. SD7 training will be offered in the near future, says the company. Kevin Glover, owner of Sound Stylists, comments: “The South African market is maturing and getting bigger. There were several international artists that we serviced with our SD10 last year, however, a number of them were looking for SD7s so essentially, we are answering that call. In addition, we also needed extra SD Racks and having the 32-Bit Mic Preamp cards also increases their desirability.” Kyle Robson of DWR Distribution, DiGiCo distributor in Afri
Ireland - Technical production company PSI is the latest company to join the Adamson network as a certified re-seller and rental partner appointed by Adamson’s UK distributor The Warehouse. With offices in Belfast and Dublin, PSI specialises in all aspects of event lighting, rigging and training and has recently added an audio department headed up by Adam Lee Collins, along with audio projects manager John Hesketh. Collins comments: “We looked at all of the leading brands of loudspeakers but felt that Adamson was the perfect fit for our new department. We see the brand growing steadily in the international market and want to be ahead of the curve, we’re initially adding a substantial inventory of Adamson S10 systems to support this. Relationships with like-minded people and companies are key to PSI values, and together with support from The Warehouse and Adamson
UK - The Editorial Board of the fast-approaching International Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference (ITEAC) have announced actor Mark Rylance as their latest keynote speaker. The Board say in a statement: “The Editorial Board for ITEAC 2018 are very pleased to have been able to accommodate Mark within his professional commitments. It was felt to be of the highest priority to ensure that the voice of an actor of such experience and considered opinion should be heard at an event that seeks to be seminal for both the leading and the emerging talents working in the design and specification of places of entertainment.” Named in Time Magazine’s 2016 100 Most Influential People list, Mark’s work includes a 10-year tenure as the first artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (1996-2006), which included the construction of the Theatre and Internat
South Africa - A three-day Green Hippo Operator Certification course will be held on 14-16 May at DWR Distribution's Johannesburg address, Block C, Unit 1, Kimbult Industrial Park, 9 Zeiss Road, Laserpark, Honeydew. The course will be presented by Suzy Stenning from Green Hippo and will cover a range of topics, from Hardware Introduction and Configuration, Media Manager, Output Manager & Viewports, Mixes / MixMaster, VideoMapper / Pixel Mapper / ScreenWarp, Timeline / DMX2 / Multicontroller, Visualizer & Custom Layouts, Shape Introduction / Configuaration/ Alignment. The cost is R2600 and includes lunch and refreshments. Attendees should bring their own Green Hippo Media Server or Laptop with Play Software Installed. For bookings online please visit
South Africa - DiGiCo Training will be presented by DWR Distribution’s Kyle Robson in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg in May. The two-day training session will cover everything from racks and solutions, the SD Series overview, connections and networking, recording and waves, both basic and advanced operation and then a Q&A Session. The dates are Durban on 10 and 11 May, Cape Town on 17 and 18 May and in Johannesburg on 24 and 25 May. The training will be hosted at the DWR offices. The cost is R1700 and includes lunch and refreshments. (Jim Evans)
UK - Cloud based rental management software providers Current RMS and Cambridge-based lighting and production rental house CEG are reflecting on a four-year history this week. In this time, the CEG team has certainly put Current’s software through its paces, all in pursuit of their mission to make the process of renting gear as painless as possible for the customer. CEG has been renting their professional lighting and production kit to customers and clients across the UK and Europe since 2008. Like most rental providers with an impressive repertoire of the latest industry tech, when you’ve got a lot of kit to manage and jobs on the go, you need robust software that’s up to the challenge. With a drive to improve the efficiency of their workflow, the team started looking for new ways to manage their rental processes in 2014, joining the Current RMS Early Adopter Program
UK - Stage Electrics has announced the addition of the complete range of MagicFX special effects to complement its existing stock of pyrotechnics effects, smoke and haze effects machines. “We already have a range of effects and effect machines in our product range and we wanted to expand on these with effects such as confetti streamers, bubble blasters and stage flames, which are so popular at events and festivals,” says James Cookson, product sales account manager at Stage Electrics. “Our policy is to only stock equipment from leading manufacturers such as Le Maitre, whose quality and safety standards we have absolute confidence in. MagicFX fits those criteria perfectly.” Stage Electrics recently made a very large sale of MagicFX product to laser show and laser system design specialist ER Productions, who purchased a range of Magic FX Confetti systems and st
USA - Charity Behind the Scenes reports that TMB recently reached a significant milestone as one of its Pledge-a-Product Partners. TMB has now donated over $100,000 to the charity from sales of its ProXS professional lighting fixture accessories. The ProXS line includes pattern holders, donuts, top hats, half hats, irises, barndoors, colour extenders, beam benders, spill rings, colour frames, and more. For more information visit http://tmb.com/proxs/. Colin Waters, CEO of TMB, explains why his company supports the charity, “Behind the Scenes is such a great programme. We are glad to do our part, helping this valuable work.” Rick Rudolph, the chair of Behind the Scenes, acknowledged the moment saying, “When Colin proposed becoming a Pledge-a-Product Partner we never dreamt that a line of fixture accessories could do so much to help industry professionals in need.
USA - OSA International has purchased 248 Wavefront Precision Compact and Mini line array cabinets, making it the world’s largest rental company of Martin Audio. The purchase was complemented by iKON amplifiers, iK42 and iK81, as well as the new SXH218 high performance double 18” subwoofers, the first purchase by a rental house globally. Mario Educate, OSA president, comments, “We’ve used these speaker cabinets on several shows already this quarter, and the sound quality out of the Wavefront Precision arrays is unbelievable. They bring out the subtleties of the score better than any other line array we’ve used, so the audience can really immerse themselves in the meeting experience through the audio.” Dom Harter, managing director of Martin Audio, adds: “The trust and investment made by Mario with the support from Jim Risgin and the entire OSA team
