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 prog

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

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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

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

Canada - CAST Software has released the full, market-ready version of wysiwyg R31, the new and significantly updated edition of its industry standard lighting design and pre-visualisation suite. R31 is available for download now from the Members Only Area of the CAST Soft website.

Bruce Freeman, Chairman of CAST Group commented, "CAST is delighted to release the full version of what is the most groundbreaking new edition of wysiwyg in a number of years. We're very proud of the exceptional new features in R31, of which there are many.

!We paid close attention to suggestions and requests received from our Members and, in response, the wysiwyg development team has given them exactly what they want - tools that will help them thrive in today's fiercely competitive production design market by making them more professional, more productive and more profitable. This is CAST's ma

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.

For the main multi-sc

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Strictly FX Highlights

Strictly FX was founded in 1996 by industry veterans Mark Grega and Ted Maccabee. Our expertise and knowledge of the world’s leading pyrotechnic, laser, and flame manufacturers allows us to curate astonishing live events. With over 500+ shows performed a year, there’s good chance you’ve seen some of our work!

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

UK - BlackBox manufacturer JoeCo has announced the release of JoeCoRemote for iPad. The new software app, together with a specially developed hardware interface, enables remote control of both 24-channel and 64-channel BlackBox Recorders and BlackBox Players via iPad.

An intuitive interface allows all transport functions (Play, Stop, Record) to be remotely controlled from the iPad, as well as providing access to the BlackBox menu structure for changing settings. JoeCoRemote also provides an accurate metering overview for the BlackBox Recorder. In addition, the app can be used for remotely controlling and editing BlackBox Player playlists. Playlists that are stored on the Player's external hard disk or Flash drive can be viewed and edited on the iPad interface as required, offering a useful alternative for remote editing of show content. The iPad interface also provides a further

USA - The Inno Spot LED from ADJ is powered by a 50-watt LED source. This compact intelligent moving head blasts stunningly brilliant gobo/colour effects on walls, ceilings and dance floors for a truly spectacular lightshow at any nightclub or venue, says the company.

Along with its 50 watts of LED muscle, the Inno Spot LED is loaded with features that add to its wow-factor. The Inno Spot LED can also be operated with a DMX-512 controller (10 DMX channels) to unleash any of its abundant features, which include six rotating, replaceable gobos; eight colours plus white; Gobo Scroll mode; Gobo Shake effect; 3-facet prism; pulse and variable speed strobe effect; and 0-100% dimming.

A manual focus and separate color and gobo wheels add to the versatility of the Inno Spot LED. With a 17° beam angle and 540° pan/270° tilt, this brawny moving head will fill an entire room

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.

Omikron Elect

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

Belgium - Barco LiveDots, a Barco company has introduced the V14m, a 14 mm pixel pitch transparent LED display - with 4,300 nits brightness and a contrast of 6,000:1. Designed for the rental and staging market, the brand-new V14m is a lightweight LED display that is easy and safe to set up thanks to its special magnetic V-lock.

It offers rental companies the flexibility to use the V14m both indoors and outdoors and, thanks to its low weight, it allows them to build large dynamic video backdrops on stage, as well as side screens on lightweight trusses. The V14m is available now for commercial distribution.

"We are proud to expand our V series LED display with a sixth member," says Carl Rijsbrack, CMO of Barco LiveDots. "With the V14m, rental companies can create large backdrops for both indoor and outdoor stages, whether straight or curved. What's more, it's also

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.

The 3,000kg safety curtain, appro

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."

He adds that Robe has

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

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