Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Sound

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UK - PC Wing is Stage Technologies latest compact training tool, designed with versatility and simplicity in mind. The console enables students and automation technicians to learn to programme and operate automation technology off-line in a classroom environment.

Using the Wing, trainees can work first hand on the same control interface used in some of the live performance industry's most popular control desks. Connecting over USB and running on eChameleon software, PC Wing provides a dedicated Acrobat/Illusionist keyboard, three playbacks, a dead man's handle and an emergency stop button.

PC Wings have recently been supplied to Guildhall College of Music and Drama in London and Zoomvliet College in the Netherlands to provide in-lab automation training tools for their technical theatre students. The units run on eChameleon software and enable students to work first hand on a S

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Norway - Cinema is as popular a form of entertainment as it has ever been, but today's audiences are more demanding than ever. Fulfilling those expectations was the main requirement of Norway's Bergen Kino, when it commissioned the installation of an Alcons system at the country's highest profile cinema.

Built in 1918, originally as a concert hall, Konsertpaléet screen 1 (KP1) is the premier cinema auditorium in Bergen and attracts cinephiles from across Scandinavia to enjoy its quality surroundings, sound and vision facilities. Recently it underwent a major refurbishment programme to become a true reference class cinema, with owning company Bergen Kino keen to provide filmgoers with a cinema experience that was in a league of its own.

Alongside contractors providing new seating, lighting and improved interior design, Bergen Kino contracted Unique Cinema Systems to inst

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UK - Once again MilTec (UK) worked with South West Audio Group to supply equipment for the Glastonbury Festival.

A dozen of the MT Pro Acoustics MTA-TP12 speakers were bought by SWA Group for use as monitor wedges on the BBC Introducing Stage. They were chosen by SWA Group's MD Alister Pook after a demo at their HQ near Bristol.

The multi-purpose cabinets are intended to double as both PA speakers and stage wedges, with a 45 degree slope incorporated into the design. SWA Group needed a 60 degree slope for this particular application and worked with MilTec to develop an adaptor bracket to change the angle of projection. The bracket bolts on using two of the speaker's built-in flying points. This allows the speaker to be directed upwards at 60 degrees or horizontally as FOH fills or drum monitors.

Designed by MilTec's technical director, Graham Gosden, the birch ply cabinets a

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USA - Australian band Jet has hit the road in America to support the group's latest album, Shaka Rock. Manning the controls at front of house is veteran mixer Kyle Chirnside, with Will Burston on the monitor desk. The group is carrying its own front of house console, a Midas PRO6 live audio system supplied by Big Mo Pro in Parsippany, New Jersey.

"I've been using the PRO6 for two years now," says Chirnside. "In fact, we did the first few shows on this tour without it, and I can tell you, it makes a huge difference. With the digital snake system and on-board processing, the PRO6 really makes everything easier, and helps us get the most out the house rigs we encounter."

All shows on the tour are being recorded. For that task, Chirnside opted for the Klark Teknik DN9696 high resolution audio recorder. Designed to integrate seamlessly with Midas digital

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UK - With Friday Night With Jonathon Ross's tenure at the BBC drawing to a close, the microphones used by his resident band 4 Poofs & A Piano are being put up for auction in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

Supplied by Terry Tew Sound & Light to the show's broadcast sound supervisor Andy Tapley, the four Shure SM63 mics in pink have been in use since 2001.

"Andy and I discussed what would be the best mic for the 4 Poofs," says Terry Tew, "and I advised him that the SM63s would be the right product to cope with their microphone technique. The fact that they've used the same ones for the last nine years is testament to the fact that we got it right."

Now the four mics are to find four new homes via four separate e-bay auctions, which will start at 9am on Wednesday 14 July following the recording of Ross's last show, which will air on F

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UK - Culminating in a an innovative awards event, the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards' winners, including the best designed restaurant and the best designed bar, were announced and presented with their awards at Victoria House, London on 22 June.

In a bid to increase networking at its awards event the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards commissioned Cinimod Studio to create an effective and visually stimulating solution. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology was used to identify key visitors on the two 'networking pods' during the evening's proceedings.

The tags embedded in shortlisted designers and sponsors' name badges used radio signals to send their identity to antenna receivers. Projections then highlighted guests' key professional characteristics (projects designed, sponsor brands) as they moved around the pods.

Audialsense co

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UK - Hawthorn recently assisted a major national youth organisation celebrate its100th birthday. Hawthorn's brief was to turn an overflow car park into an arena concert venue for 5,000 young people.

Hawthorn provided all technical and site services for the event including power, lighting, sound, staging and site services. During the event and licensing stages of the project, the team worked closely with the Venue and the Licensing Authority on both health and safety and noise restrictions.

Hawthorn's project manager, Chris Knight, commented, "It's great to be involved in this important Centenary event and see so many people have such a great time."

A total of eight acts performed, combined with a birthday address from the head of the organisation. Between the acts members of the organisation performed on the front of the stage whilst the rear was set for the next a

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UK - AC-ET's Audio division, recently selected as an accredited UK sub-distributor for Sound Technology's range of exclusive international brands, are holding a demo day for the Soundcraft Vi1 digital mixing console. The event will be held in conjunction with Soundcraft at AC-ET's Northern sales office in Leeds on Wednesday, 11 August 2010.

Attendees will receive a presentation and hands-on demonstration of the Soundcraft Vi1 digital console, covering key features such as the Vistonics user interface.

The day will also feature training and discussions into techniques and applications in live situations.

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UK - PLASA Events and The Theatres Trust have announced the first Ecovenue feature at this year's PLASA Show focusing on sustainable practices and technologies for theatres and performing arts venues.

PLASA 2010, which runs from the 12-15 September at Earls Court in London, is a major platform for the launch and promotion of innovative new ideas emerging across the event, entertainment and installation industries. The Theatres Trust's Ecovenue feature is a significant new addition to the event, designed to showcase the pioneering environmental efficiency practices being implemented across London venues.

The venues profiled in this uniquely designed 'theatrical' showcase are all participating in the Trust's European-funded Ecovenue project, designed to improve the environmental performance of 48 London theatres. Amongst those featured will be the Albany Theatre (Deptford), the

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The Netherlands - After more than 10 years' experience in their native Belgium, Plopsaland theme park operators Studio 100 have now successfully exported the concept, which includes Plopsa De Panne on the Belgian coast and Plopsa Indoors in Hasselt. Now the first Plopsaland indoor theme park has opened in Holland, with all audio equipment supplied by Ampco Belgium.

The latest construction in the city of Coevorden - situated in the north-east of Holland, and next to CenterParcs - took less than nine months to complete, a considerable achievement since the construction spans more than 10.000sq.m.

The attractions vary from roller coaster rides, turning frogs, carousel, boxcars to a disco featuring the popular girl band K3. Each day the park hosts a different live theatre show and each year they welcome some 400,000 visitors.

Ampco Belgium were again invited to mastermind the so

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USA - NASCAR races have evolved to include events beyond what happens on the track. Racing venues now offer a wide range of entertainment, including top national acts performing before the drivers start their engines.

At the legendary Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, a new audio system, featuring 101 Community R.5HPT loudspeakers and 50 R.5-SUB subwoofers, has raised the bar.

Chris Ogles of Oxford, AL-based Sound Solutions reports that a demo of the new system in September 2009 left quite an impression. "It made such an impact that the president of the speedway came to us right there on the spot during the demo and asked if they could have the system installed by the next race in November," he says.

Ogles, who has served on Talladega's track AV crew for five years, explains that the bandwidth of yesterday's horn loudspeakers limits their usefulness in

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Tour News - Ticket sales for major concert tours across North America have fallen to their lowest point since 2005, a US trade publication has said. During the first half of the year, the top 100 tours made a total of $965.5m (£636.2m), the lowest since 2005 when gross revenue was $730.9m (£481.6m). It marks a 17% decrease from the same period last year.

Pollstar magazine said an average of 6,951 tickets per show were sold, down 9% from the same period in 2009. The information comes just after it was announced that two weeks have been cut from the American Idol tour. Promoters Live Nation said eight shows by the Idol finalists, including winner Lee DeWyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox, have been dropped. The Jonas Brothers, The Eagles, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, John Mayer and Limp Bizkit have all pulled summer dates in the US.

Influential Music

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UK - Several of the UK's leading sound rental companies have been quick to add Soundcraft's new Vi1 digital console - the latest, and smallest addition to its Vi family - to their own touring inventories.

Soundcraft has taken the platform to another, more affordable level with the release of the Vi1, which inherits many of the key features of its larger siblings, including Soundcraft FaderGlow, four stereo Lexicon effects engines, BSS Audio graphic EQs on all output busses, and integral dynamics on all channels. The desk is also compatible with Vi2, Vi4 and Vi6 show files.

The Vi1 is Soundcraft's response to market demand for a lower-priced desk with these facilities, but still built around the Vistonics interface.

"It's a small-format desk with big format functionality," summarises Eddie Thomas of ETASound, currently in the midst of a major inventory overhaul. &qu

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Poland - Mazowsze, Poland's national folk song and dance ensemble, has installed an Aviom Pro16 personal mixing system, an important element of the audio setup in its newly constructed theatre located at the European Regional and National Culture Promotion Centre in Karolin. Designed by Konsbud-Audio in Warsaw for the most demanding concerts and musical events, the Spectacle-Education Hall houses the Aviom Pro16 system, which has made difficult sound checks a thing of the past for engineers and Mazowsze musicians.

Mazowsze focuses on historical folk dances well-known throughout Poland. Its internationally famous performances, rich in Polish tradition, explore and define the identity and development of the country's culture. The colourful and creative costumes worn by the dancers complement the upbeat and often fast-paced music that, prior to the installation of the Aviom Pro16,

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Mexico - The end of May saw Grammy nominated R&B artist Brian McKnight headline the 2010 Riviera Maya Jazz Festival in Mexico. It also brought an introduction to the DiGiCo SD8 for McKnight's Front of House engineer Omatali Beckett.

Beckett has been working with Brian McKnight for about three years but, apart from two day's training at DiGiCo's Chessington headquarters, it was the first time he had been 'hands on' with the SD8.

"I previously used other digital consoles because of the way I work," he says. "I listen and don't look at the desk. I prefer to have one screen and all the features accessible on the control surface.

"When I did the sessions at DiGiCo I was immediately impressed by the SD8's great flexibility. I like the fact that any channel - whether it's a group, VCA, matrix, or aux master - can be placed anywhere on the surface. The layering f

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UK - Britannia Row has chosen XL8s and PRO6s to cover their major outdoor events this summer, including Hard Rock Calling, Wireless and T in the Park.

Two XL8s took pride of place as the FOH flip flop system at Wireless, in London's Hyde Park. A week earlier, an XL8 and a PRO6 had occupied the same position for Hard Rock Calling, while at T in the Park, Britrow deployed three XL8s at FOH on the main stage. The festival systems were all being managed by Britrow system tech Josh Lloyd.

"Having owned and toured Midas XL8s and PRO6s for several years, we felt it was time to profile them front of house at a major festival," says Britannia Row's managing director Bryan Grant. "As Hyde Park has surely become the most Iconic urban festival site on the planet now, we thought it only appropriate for this most iconic of brands,"

"It was very interesting hearing

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Venezuela - Called upon to ensure that Aerosmith's first concert in Venezuela was a success, regional concert sound rental provider, Grupo Zonico deployed JBL VerTec line arrays to support the band in Caracas. Based in Edo Miranda, Venezuela, Grupo Zonico has supplied the nation's top venues and highest-attended concerts with JBL loudspeaker systems since 2006.

To deliver the powerful music of Aerosmith to a massive outdoor audience, Grupo Zonico supplied 30 VerTec VT4889-1 full-size line array elements for the main left/right system, supported by 24 VT4880A Ultra Long Excursion 2x18-inch arrayable subwoofers. Twelve VT4888DP powered mid-size elements with DrivePack technology, developed in cooperation with Crown, were used for out-fill arrays.

In addition, four auxiliary towers each contained three VT4887ADP powered compact line array elements, in coordination with a fifth ar

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Belgium - No less than 35,681 spectators showed up to see a tennis game between Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams on 8 July in the King Boudouin Stadium in Brussels - A world record. The game was part of the BNP Paribas Best of Belgium show that brought together the best of Belgian tennis players and Belgian music.

To protect the ladies against the ever present threat of rain in Belgium, Wicreations were asked to design a roof 10m above the tennis ground with uninterrupted sight lines from the stands. Towers or columns were out of the question. Therefore the company designed a huge canvas (1500 m2) that consisted of three parts, each weighing more the 500 kg. The canvas was fixed to the roof of the stadium by means of steel cables and held down with contra weights.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Save Our Sound UK, the body supported by major organisations representing the breadth and depth of the British Entertainment Industry, is calling on supporters to contact their newly-elected MPs to help ensure a fair compensation package for the PMSE (Programme Making & Special Events) sector in the face of the proposed changes to the use of the UK's radio spectrum.

Representatives of Save Our Sound UK have attended a meeting at HM Treasury where once again the plight of the PMSE sector was laid before Government officials. During the meeting it was stated that Treasury and BIS (Department for Business Innovation and Skills) are trying to find a compensation scheme that is the right one. However, industry representatives are fearful that any scheme, when and if finalised, could eventually prove to be no more generous than the terms originally proposed by Ofcom - the reason

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UK - Representatives of Save Our Sound UK attended a meeting yesterday at HM Treasury. Once again the plight of the PMSE sector was laid before Government officials. During the meeting it was stated that Treasury and BIS (Department for Business Innovation and Skills) are trying to find a compensation scheme that is the right one. However, industry representatives are fearful that any scheme, when and if finalised, could eventually prove to be no more generous than the terms originally proposed by Ofcom - the reason for launching the Save Our Sound UK campaign in the first place.

On current evidence Government would still appear to be sticking to the line that only Channel 69 capable equipment will qualify and that compensation levels will be based on residual value of equipment. The effect of this will be to exclude owners of equipment that does not tune to Channel 69 but will

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Italy - Forty international Djs on five different stages entirely equipped with RCF TT+ Touring and Theatre systems entertained thousands of people at the Maximal 2010 Italian Electronic Music Festival in Novegro, near Milan.

The new TT+ Large Venues system, composed of TTL55-A line array modules and TTS56-A high power subwoofers, was used for the main stage while the others were provided with TTL33-A line arrays and TTS28-A subs. TT25-SMA coaxial stage monitors were used for the monitoring of the DJ's consoles.

The concept of Maximal 2010 is to involve young people in a move out of the passive kind of entertainment experienced in most of the clubs. A path through four main environments represented by the different stages: Soul, Matter, Energy and Desire, each identified by a peculiar set design, sound, performances and digital art installations.

In order to realise this con

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South Africa - The 2010 football World Cup kicked off with a a major concert to which Sennheiser wireless equipment made a major contribution.

Taking place at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto, the 10 June concert celebrated the competition's first staging by an African country and featured artists from across the globe, mirroring the eclectic collection of nationalities represented by the football teams themselves. Alongside the Soweto Gospel Choir were African acts including Hugh Masekela, John Legend and Angelique Kidjo, with Alicia Keys, Black Eyed Peas, Shakira and others imparting a truly international flavour.

Audio for the event was supplied by Britannia Row Productions and included a comprehensive array of Sennheiser equipment.

"It was a non-stop show, broadcast live to around a billion people - so no pressure!" says Brit Row's Bryan Grant. "It featured h

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South Africa - Soccer fans at four official FIFA Fan Fest venues in South Africa followed the games taking place at the main stadiums in the World Cup competition via EAW speaker systems provided by Surgesound, EAW's South African distributor.

The systems consisted of 48 KF760 and 12 KF761 line array modules, including a complement of 48 SB1000z subs, with 48 KF730 compact line array modules and 48 SB730 subs providing in-fill. Monitoring was performed with EAW SM12 units, and 24 UX8800 Digital Signal Processor units provided processing. Surgesound recently delivered a large complement of EAW speakers to Johannesburg-based The Sound Corporation, one of the biggest professional audio production houses in South Africa, in time for installation at the fan parks.

The Sound Corporation installed EAW speaker systems at Soweto (Johannesburg), Rustenburg, Bloemfontein and Nelspruit. I

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Belgium - Voice alarm products from TOA are at the heart of a new paging, evacuation and BGM system installed at one of Europe's most prestigious conference and exhibition venues, the Brussels Expo.

Built for the World Expo of 1958 and still retaining all the glamour, elegance and modernity of that era, the 12 halls of the Brussels Expo play host to a string of major exhibitions and events every year, among them the industry show Batibouw, the farming event Agribex, and the ICT technology forum.

In 2008, the management of Brussels Expo approached Prévost System Integration (PSI) to design, supply and install a state-of-the-art PA/VA and BGM system to replace the antiquated equipment that had previously been in use.

Walter Geerts, director at PSI, reports, "The first phase of the project comprised renewing all the central equipment racks, for which we offered a sy

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