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UK - Ayrton has built a deserved reputation as a maker of original, eye-catching and well-engineered lighting effects - and has introduced a multitude of new products in 2016, many of which can be seen for the first time in London at PLASA. You can see them on stand L30, where the French innovator can be found alongside UK distributor Ambersphere Solutions.

Drawing attention are MagicPanel-FX - an exciting new multi-function luminaire with 5 x 5 array of squared lenses on its front face producing a variety of 2D and 3D effects, which builds on the creative potential of its predecessors in the MagicPanel family - and MagicBurst, which is not only Ayrton's first strobe but the industry's first high-power graphic LED strobe, offering continuous rotation on both axes. Its 384 x 384mm squared face has 3,840 high-output white LEDs grouped into an 8 x 8 matrix - great for arrays. Wit

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UK - PLASA Gold Sponsor, Chauvet Professional, has chosen PLASA 2016 launch its new Ovation E-260WW IP ellipsoidal, which has taken the 750W HPL output of the Ovation E-260WW (which is currently the brightest LED ellipsoidal on the market) and has housed it in an IP65 rated housing.

The company is also featuring one of its most versatile fixtures, the Rogue R1 FX-B, which has five individually controllably heads, each with infinite rotation of both pan and tilt, and its new Maverick series which launched in April of this year. Maverick is Chauvet Professional's latest power-packed series of tour grade moving head fixtures featuring the MK2 Wash, MK2 Spot, and MK1 Hybrid.

"We are thrilled to be returning to PLASA as a Gold Sponsor this year," said Michael Brooksbank General Manager of Chauvet Europe. "The response to a number of our latest fixtures, including the Maverick s

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UK - In recent years, audio installations at Central Hall Westminster, Westminster Abbey and the QEII Conference Centre have seen Yamaha become a key presence in one of London's most important and influential areas. That role has seen a further significant boost in 2016, with a second - much larger and more complex - project at Central Hall.

Offering the largest conference and events space in central London, Central Hall Westminster (CHW) features a 2,400-capacity auditorium (the Great Hall) and a number of other rooms and spaces in the stunning Grade II-listed building, which together host over 700 corporate and (regularly televised) public events every year. It is also a vital resource for many important events which take place nearby. As well as hosting events and breakout sessions from the Palace of Westminster, CHW is regularly used as a media hub for major Parliamentary

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UK - To keep up with advances in modern theatre technology Sadlers Wells undertook a two year programme of refurbishment and upgrade starting in 2013. This work, completed in 2015, will allow them to continue presenting the world's greatest dance companies, commissions and productions to the public for many more years to come.

As part of the refurbishment Sadler's Wells updated and replaced significant aspects of the theatre's systems, working alongside a prestigious list of collaborators, including consultants from Carr and Angier, Stage Technologies, Stage Electrics, and GDS.

The team involved in this challenging project will join us at PLASA On the 20th September at 1:15pm in the Lighting and Staging theatre, to discuss the wide ranging improvements and the new technology installed.

Sadler's Wells also plans to open a new mid-scale venue in Queen Elizabeth Olympic P

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UK - In an exciting panel debate chaired by composer and sound designer, Donato Wharton, which includes award winning sound designer, Paul Arditti and stage lighting designer, James Farncombe, Investigating the Intangible will explore how sound and lighting designers work together to create the complex environments that theatre shows inhabit, how they communicate with one another and how they often compromise in the pursuit of a truly great performance.

Both Paul and James have a long and successful history collaboration spanning almost a decade at the Old Vic and beyond.

Join us in the PLASA Lighting and Staging theatre at 12:00 to see our panel in action in a panel jointly presented by the Association of Lighting Designers and the Association of Sound Designers.

(LSi Online)

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UK - Auditoria's Scott Willsallen has been one of the leading audio designers for major international and outdoor events since 2004. He has been involved in the majority of the Olympic Ceremonies since then. From Athens 2004 to Baku 2015, in Sound Design for Olympic Ceremonies - Lessons Learnt he will discuss the challenges of sound designs for these complex projects, from loudspeaker system design, control system redundancy, signal transport, RF systems, music replay and timecode. The session will also discuss the broadcast sound, and the many steps between source and destination.

"This is an interactive session where will talk about my design process and the lessons I've learnt over many years of major event sound design," says Scott. "I'll follow it with a discussion about if, and how, some of these techniques can be implemented into small-scale projects, so even if you're

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UK - Noisy Neighbours - managing perimeter sound is another panel chaired by LSi columnist and freelance journalist Phil Ward today at PLASA.

Panelists are Paul Timmins general manager of rental company Capital Sound, which has used Martin Audio's MLA system to great effect in some particularly sensitive situations including London's Hyde Park; Richard Vivian from Big Sky Acoustics, acoustic consultancy specialising in noise control for music and entertainment; and Roly Oliver, head of live business at Vanguardia Consulting.

The panel will look at the issues from all sides and see how the new expertise and fresh solutions that continually arrive on the market can help, or not, as the industry tackles the perennial problem of controlling ambient noise.

(LSi Online)

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UK - Developed by Soulsound, PLASA's first foray into the world of interactive visualisation has been an immersive experience for everyone who has gone along to the installation on the upper gallery at London Olympia. Headline sponsor NRG Lighting Community (Next Robe Generation) with participation from: Funktion-One, University of Derby, d&b, KLANG, preeVue, Limbic Productions and Barco; additional sponsors: ZEROdb Live, Genius Bros, J&C Joel, Sound Directions and tvONE.

The interactive zone features a maze of exciting and thought-provoking experiments in audio, lighting and visual wonders. Simple, entertaining and educational each experiment proves a concept, or demonstrates a principle to wow the user with a little bit of science.

There's virtual reality and prisms, experiments on perception and even a 'Brain Transfer Machine'!

The experiments end with 'Lens through

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UK - This year's prestigious Gottelier Award was won by Anne Valentino, Senior Controls Product Manager at ETC.

Named in memory of Tony Gottelier, the renowned industry innovator and commentator who passed away in 2006, the annual Gottelier Award aims to recognise those product developers who have made significant long-term contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field.

The competition was tough, with this year's nominees being Chris Cronin, founder of Total Solutions Group (TSG), Artistic Licence founder Wayne Howell, Dr Christian Heil founder of L-Acoustics, Masaaki 'Mick' Okabayashi, head of Yamaha's digital mixing console development team, Yvan Péard, co-founder of Ayrton, The Strand Lighting R&D team, 1960s-1980s, led by Marin Moore and later

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UK - The new ArKaos MediaMaster 5 with MediaHub makes its UK debut at PLASA Show, following its successful preview earlier this year. A software solution for control of realtime video and effects, MediaMaster has been developed for desk operators and lighting designers, turning any powerful computer into a fully-fledged professional media server, says ArKaos.

MediaMaster 5 introduces users to MediaHub, allowing users to: swiftly share content between servers or computers over a network; easily synchronise content libraries over a network; remotely monitor the status of any additional machines running MediaMaster; import new content remotely to the library of any server; organise libraries of content remotely from any computer; and safely synchronise newest content or the user's backup server just before a show.

MediaMaster 5 provides up to 36 layers in the MediaMaster Pro

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UK - For the first time, Momentum Circuits have introduced audio & lighting application circuit board manufacturing to the PLASA Show to reflect their expertise and experience gained within these sectors.

Managing director, Keith Wrigley told LSi: "LED lighting PCB applications represents over 70% of our business turnover and the experience we have with thermal management of high power LED devices and specialist materials is directly applicable to the PLASA audience and co-exhibitors."

Audio application circuit board d K6s also require the very highest quality, connectivity and aesthetic appearance to match the aspirational nature of high-end equipment, and Momentum have a growing number of pro-audio and control system customers including other PLASA exhibitors who encouraged Momentum to attend the show.

"The results so far have been hugely encouraging and we have alre

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UK - Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, ETC is a world leader in professional lighting technology, and is once again displaying its latest innovations at the PLASA Show. On stand J40, visitors can find the new ColorSource Linear, a batten-style addition to the budget-friendly ColorSource range, in which a proportionate recipe of red, green, blue, with a twist of lime and an extra dash of red provide an extra richness of colour to its LED luminaires. With no difficult setup and round-the-clock support from ETC, it's ideal for any small or medium venue, say ETC.

Visitors can also see the rest of ETC's ColorSource family, including the ColorSource Spot and PAR luminaires; the ColorSource consoles, which provide hands-on control with the ability to run effects, mix LED colours, control moving lights and play back cues; the ColorSource Relay, which wirelessly switches powe

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UK - The Autograph Sales & Installations stand features many examples of the pro-audio technology that the company works with every day, including products from DiGiCo, Countryman, Meyer Sound, Clear-Com, including the HelixNet digital networked system and the award-winning Freespeak II wireless intercom, as well as the bespoke Autograph Signature range of problem-solvers.

A highlight of the stand is Meyer Sound's CAL 32 loudspeaker system, a self-powered steerable column array that offers higher power, more extended high-frequency beam-steering and beam splitting capabilities, and more uniform broad-bandwidth beam formation than any other column system. CAL offers a uniquely controllable solution to dozens of installed-sound applications and is particularly useful in challenging acoustic and aesthetic environments.

"We're extremely happy with the interest in CAL and all o

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UK - It's always nice to meet up with Martin Hawthorn, Managing Director of recently re-branded Hawthorn as it usually means an informal chat over a cup of coffee and some of his wife Lynn's excellent baking. This time was no different and gave us an opportunity to talk about recent developments within the business.

A recent re-brand was part of a consolidation of Hawthorn's business interests following the purchase of Anagram Production Services and Rex Howard Drapes, both now firmly under the new banner of Hawthorn and has allowed them to simplify the company structure ahead of their 30th anniversary in the events industry, in February of 2017.

"PLASA is a good show for us to reach a multitude of different sectors and we catch up with an amazing number of people over the 3 days of the show," says Martin. "Our approach to exhibiting is a little different. We don't have an

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UK - Sponsored by Velta, the 2016 PLASA Awards for Innovation took place in the Apex Room at the end of an extremely busy Monday at this year's PLASA Show. Hosted by PLASA's new managing director Peter Heath and presented by PLASA Chairman Ed Pagett, the awards aim to recognise and reward outstanding new product ideas.

The Awards garner a huge amount of respect because they are independently and impartially judged by an invited team of industry experts.

To win an Award for Innovation, a nominated product had to satisfy the chairman of judges that it met the criteria for Innovation by clearly showing that it demonstrates a new style of thinking; improves technical practice; introduces new technology, new materials or new techniques; includes patents or unique intellectual property; offers a new commercial advantage, or improves safety.

The judges awarded all eight troph

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South Africa - Wild & Marr, the South African distributor for Clearone will be hosting ClearOne Voice and Visual Communication Solution Workshops in September. Various technical specialist courses will be held over four days from 26 to 29 September 2016.

"It is vital that as communication methods evolve, the tools to support voice and visual communications advances," says Wild & Marr's marketing manager Andrew Sorrill. "ClearOne endeavours to provide leading products in their product offering and we would like to empower our integrators and users with these technical specialist courses."

The training will take place at Wild & Marr's Head office in Johannesburg and will be presented by Mario Rimini and Ron Lynch from ClearOne.

The target audience for the workshops would primarily be dealers, AV programmers and systems integrators as well as audio industry professionals

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USA - A towering abstract structure called Vessel was revealed at a ceremony in New York's Hudson Yards.

Providing the gathered crowd with a better view of the proceedings and adding visual impact to special exhibitions at the reveal event were two large LED video walls created by Image Production Services, using Chauvet Professional PVP and MVP tiles.

Vessel seems destined to become a universally recognized landmark once it opens officially in 2018. Fanning out from a relatively small base, the reflective glossy copper-coloured edifice will become wider and wider as it stretches out 15 stories high.

Visitors will be able to walk into and up the structure's 2,500 steps to enjoy breathtaking views of the Hudson River. But that treat lies two years in the future. For now, invited guests at the A-list reveal event were happy to see very realistic renditions of V

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UK - Tech LED Ltd, UK-based supply and design company for LED lighting equipment and UK distributor for Acclaim Lighting, has moved to Production Park, the complete pre-production and live events centre for the UK, and home to Backstage Academy's primary campus.

Launched in 2011, Tech LED has moved into The Glass Room office space in Production Park's rehearsal studio one, which accommodates the company's expanding needs. Tech LED Ltd joins existing customers Perry Scenic Creative, Brilliant Stages and Litestructures, bringing them within reach for easy project collaboration.

The move coincides with the announcement that Tech LED Ltd has secured a sales manager for the Northern region, specialising in installation sales. Nick Tetlow, who has quickly secured successful projects, will maintain the buoyant installation side of Tech LED's business, operating in the field.

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Australia - PA company, Biggsounds Productions, has invested in two dLive digital mixing systems from Allen & Heath to add to its hire stock for live touring and festival work.

"We committed to dLive for a number of reasons - confidence in the brand from many years of successful touring and return on investment with iLive and Qu series boards; Allen & Heath's responsiveness to their professional users' requirements and willingness to adapt the technology to the market; a need to stand out in a competitive market with a board which meets and exceeds rider requirements - 96k Waves and Dante integration with the new system cards is a game changer; and a belief that we are mixing on one of the world's best sounding consoles without over-capitalising in a regional market," explains Adam Biggs at Biggsounds Productions.

Based in New South Wales, Biggsounds is a highly regarded l

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UK - Meadow-fresh from its debut at the UK Milan Expo 2015 pavilion, an impressive and immersive art installation dubbed 'The Hive' opened this summer at London's Kew Gardens controlled, of course, by bees and also a TiMax SoundHub playback server and audio showcontroller.

The 17m-high abstract aluminium lattice structure has been wowing visitors with its unique multisensory experience as it responds, with the help of TiMax, to the activity of real bees in a beehive located behind the scenes at Kew.

The intent of this walk-in figurative beehive installation is to help highlight the significance and plight of bees in our food-chain and ecology. Inside The Hive, multichannel dynamic lighting and audio effects are driven by special software, developed by freelance developer Andy Coates to provide realtime showcontrol data based on the activity of Kew's bee colony. Live data i

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UK - Reproduced Sound (RS) takes residence in November 2016 at Southampton, home to not one but two universities involved in acoustics teaching and research. Dates for the diary are Tuesday 15 to Thursday 17 November, with two full days of papers and presentations on the Wednesday and Thursday and a workshop on virtual audio on the Tuesday evening. The conference venue and hotel will be the Holiday Inn, right on the Southampton waterfront.

Keith Holland, RS chairman, said, "We are again keeping with the ever popular residential format familiar with RS conferences, which encourages valuable and sociable networking between attendees. We have taken RS to Manchester in the past, which resulted in excellent contributions from Salford and Manchester Universities, among others, and this time we are hoping for something similar from the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR)

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UK - Lighting and video content design ceremony Knight of Illumination Awards (KOI) announced the winners of the 9th edition during a prestigious ceremony at London's Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith on Sunday 18 September.

The well-attended ceremony saw almost 500 professionals come together to celebrate the achievements of lighting and video designers working on shows across the UK.

The event was hosted by Australian actor, television presenter and comedian Mark Little. The winners have been revealed as:

THEATRE

The ETC Award for Dance: Michael Hulls for Conceal | Reveal, Russell Maliphant Company, Sadler's Wells

The Hawthorn Award for Musicals: Mark Henderson for Sunset Boulevard, English National Opera

The Robert Juliat Award for Opera: Joachim Klein for Saul, Glyndebourne Festival

The Elation Professional Award for Plays: Jan

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Challenges & Opportunities - MPs have launched an inquiry into the impact Brexit is likely to have on the arts. The culture, media and sport committee said its inquiry would examine the "challenges and opportunities" that leaving the European Union would bring. In particular, it is looking at whether the creative sector will be able to "attract and retain talent" across the world when the UK leaves the EU as a result of June's referendum, and whether "onerous visa requirements" could see a drop in the number of people coming to the UK after Brexit.

The inquiry will also examine what impact the loss of EU funding could have on the sector and whether the government would replace these funds. News of the inquiry follows concerns raised within the arts that Brexit will have negative consequences for the sector.

Last week, former Ambassador Theatre Group chief executive Rosemar

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USA - Focusrite hosted a fun and informative event on its RedNet line of products and Audinate's Dante protocol on 15 September, at Belmont University Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, Nashville, TN.

Belmont provided a perfect location for this event, as the university has over 25 RedNet units in operation for connecting production rooms, recording spaces, classrooms, two theatres and other critical educational spaces in the R. Milton and Denice Johnson Centre.

RedNet is the premier audio-over-IP solution, based around Audinate's industry standard Dante protocol. It comprises a suite of top-notch, modular network audio interfaces, combining Focusrite audio quality with the internet-age flexibility of audio-over-IP.

Audinate senior technical sales engineer Barnie Farkus helped lead a Dante training session. Following that, Ron Romano, Belmont Univer

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