Germany - Intelligent LED lighting manufacturer Chroma-Q will be officially launching two new innovative products at Prolight+Sound on the stand of their exclusive UK distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd - E63, hall 9.0.

The AC-ET stand will provide the exclusive EMEA tradeshow unveiling of the already award-winning Chroma-Q Inspire LED house light and the new AutoLED II moving head fixture.

The Inspire house light is a powerful multi-purpose creative lighting tool that provides a choice of beautiful whites, soft pastels and bold saturates - all from one fixture. With fully homogenised colour mixing and a choice of three different lens options, the Inspire provides an excellent selection of stunning mixed colours and 'true' whites, with no unsightly colour se

UAE - Sennheiser Group has been working to raise awareness about the importance of spectrum allocation for wireless programme making and special events (PMSE) devices in order to mitigate the potential impact of reduced operational bandwidth on the booming events and entertainment industry in the Middle East. The company recently delivered a presentation on this challenge at the CABSAT expo in Dubai and is also currently engaging with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE in order to evaluate solutions for the same.

PMSE is the generic term which covers an extensive range of wireless production tools used for art, culture, conferences, trade fairs, entertainment applications, education, sport events and many other purposes. Norbert Hilbich, head of application engineering global sales for Sennheiser Group believes that non-provisioning of spectrum for PMSE

USA - The US Open tennis classic hit a grand slam the first night of the tournament with an Opening Night Ceremony that dazzled guests and set a new benchmark for kicking off the iconic event. grandMA2 consoles played key roles in the dynamic ceremony.

"The USTA (United States Tennis Association) charged its entertainment group with energising its traditional US Open Opening Night Ceremony, and what fans saw this year was unprecedented, immersive and memorable", says Christien Methot of design one lighting and production design, who served as the lighting designer. "Two years ago Michael Fiur, entertainment director for the USTA, asked me to get involved, in conjunction with Overland Entertainment, in creating an Opening Ceremony spectacular. They've had singers in the past but always used stadium lights. We started talking about the creative aspects of the show -

UK - SSE Audio Group has announced the acquisition of Wigwam Acoustics - a highly significant development for the pro audio industry. The deal, which includes Wigwam's Mick Spratt and Chris Hill taking a shareholding in SSE, is a major consolidation in the industry, creating the largest audio hire, sales and installation group in the UK.

John Penn, managing director of the expanding Group commented: "We are extremely proud to announce that we have joined forces with Wigwam. There are great synergies between the two companies and together we aim to deliver even better service and wider choice to our enlarged client base. With the additional premises in Heywood, and the combined equipment pool, experience and services of both companies together, we believe we are in a great position to move forward."

Both companies have a strong presence in the UK touring market, havin

UK - Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe delivered a stunning lighting design for the Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary dates using a multifarious super rig of Clay Paky fixtures.

Assisted by stalwart Stones lighting director and programmer Dave Hill and lighting director Ethan Weber, Woodroffe created a spectacular, multi-layered super-sharp design that worked in perfect synchronicity with the visually dramatic and evocative set, designed by Mark Fisher.

Aptly contemporary, the stage design was a clever take of the famous Stones tongue and lips logo. The strikingly architectural lighting design marked out the contours of the stage set from above and from stage level, giving dimension, shape and context to the set design while pulling the band out from the backdrop with striking effect and at the same time reaching out and embracing the excited audience, ensuring they were immer

USA / Europe - BE-AT.TV is a European online audio community specialising in the broadcast of audio and video streams of club music, festival sets, and live in-studio DJ performances. The company has production studios in Amsterdam and London and is building a third in Berlin - with all three studios now using QSC KW Series active loudspeakers for live music playback in their performance areas.

In addition to filming live at festivals and in clubs, BE-AT.TV also brings big-name DJs into their studios for exclusive performances, and live, loud playback of the seamlessly through-mixed sets is a must to ensure the mood stays right for the DJs to give their best performances. After considering various powered monitors, BE-AT.TV chose KW122 active, full-range loudspeakers with KW181 active sub-woofers for their live in-studio playback.

There are now six pairs of the speakers in use

UK - Pearce Hire has announced it will be exhibiting for the first time at PLASA Focus: Leeds 2013. This regional, two-day event taking place on 30 April and 1 May is the premier entertainment technology trade show in the North of England and is run by the industry trade body PLASA.

"We have watched the impressive development of PLASA Focus as it has established itself as a strong and effective regional event, and we felt that 2013 was the right time to get involved," states Shaun Pearce, MD of Pearce Hire.

The past year has seen significant expansion for Pearce Hire in a number of areas, with an increased warehouse footprint at their HQ in Peterborough. The company has also made significant investments in their product inventory and expanded the team to meet the challenges and demands of a diverse and growing range of customers. All in all this should ensure that th

UK - In March 2013, the Teenage Cancer Trust held its regular series of fundraising shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London - the 13th year this has taken place. Supporting the charity, XL Video supplied LED screens, an HD camera system, recording and control for the series of seven events which, were curated by Noel Gallagher.

The line-up of international stars included music artists Ryan Adams, Kasabian, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, and Paul Weller as well as comedy stars Russell Brand and Noel Fielding.

Flown above the stage, XL supplied an 8m x 4.5m Lighthouse R7 LED screen which showed IMAG footage of the shows combined with information films about Teenage Cancer Trust's work helping young people with cancer. Below the screen a 28m wide LED banner, formed from Pixled F-25, provided an additional scenic element as well as showing details on how the audience

featured content

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 - For Derry-Londonderry's City of Culture celebrations, Derry City Council called upon Belfast-based production company Wackiki to help ring in their year as the UK's inaugural City of Culture.

Celebrations for this unique event were led by a spectacular pyrotechnic performance from Walk the Plank, one of the UK's leading forces in creative event production. Based around a firework display on the banks of the city's River Foyle, from moving speedboats and on the deck of the recently built Peace Bridge, Wackiki provided audio coverage across a 2.5km stretch along the river's edge.

Working closely with Walk the Plank's own Melvyn Coote, Wackiki designed a system that could be cleverly controlled from the fixed mix position, and also wirelessly from any point along the system's stretch.

Starting from the recently re-imagined Ebrington concert site, multiple stacked L'Acousti

UK - The BBC's iconic Television Centre closed its doors on 31 March 2013 after 53 years of service which endeared it to viewers and celebrities alike. The 1960s building in west London was sold for £200m and will be redeveloped into a hotel, flats, a cinema and office space.

To mark the occasion the BBC staged a series of televised events and programming including a live concert by Madness outside the building (broadcast on BBC Four), a special 'outdoor' One Show on BBC One which linked live to the concert and a two hour documentary about the building where a host of stars shared their TV Centre memories.

ELP provided lighting for both outside broadcast events. The company already supplies lighting director Dave Evans for the daily (studio based) One Show broadcasts. For this outdoor special Evans specified a completely new rig which included: Arri Junior

Germany - Iluminarc, the growing architainment lighting brand of US-based Chauvet, with European headquarters in Nottingham, England, will showcase fixtures at Prolight+Sound 2013 International trade show, stand 11-B27. On display will be indoor and outdoor solutions suited for a variety of small- to large-size applications, such as Ilumipanel 40 IP, Ilumipanel 180 IP, Ilumipod 18g2 IP, Ilumiline 36 IP, Ilumiline Inground Tri 12 IP and more.

Ilumipanel 40 IP is a powerful interior/exterior fixture, designed as a mid-range wash light, suitablel for uplighting walls, and featuring a slim structure, which blends with the environment and fits in areas with tight tolerances. Ilumipanel 40 IP has 40 3-watt RGB LEDs and 30-degree lenses. Reliable in the harshest of environments, this wash light features an impact-resistant glass lens cover and a GORE® valve. The fixture's dimension

Germany - ProAudio Technology will show the the M20 stage monitor at Prolight+Sound 2013. A powerful 2-way monitor speaker, it features two modern 10" woofers and one 1.4" HF driver with a large CD horn, supported by the high-performance system amping and sophisticated DSP controlling, delivering "outstanding resolution, dynamics and reliability with high levels". The polar pattern of 80 x 60 degrees (h x v) allows a wide acoustical coverage.

Four SpeakON connectors - one of which has a pin-reversed socket - allow two separate monitor ways through only one four-pole lead.

The M20 monitor is acoustically compatible with the MT12 multi-purpose loudspeaker and also mechanically compatible with the SW18 subwoofer. Thus the M20 fits into ProAudio Technology's coherent system concept.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Lake has announced that it will be running a live demo of the latest update to its iconic Lake Controller digital audio processing platform, Version 6.1, in Frankfurt during the Prolight+Sound and Musikmesse exhibitions.

The company, who will be exhibiting in the main lobby of Hall 4.2 alongside all the other TC Group brands, together in one place for the first time at an international show, invite all attendees to demonstrate the new release. Version 6.1 features substantially improved implementation of Dante - the leading digital audio networking technology from Audinate - new integration support for well-known real-time audio analysis software, SysTune, and a number of other key developments aimed at both live sound and large-scale fixed install applications.

Across both Lab.gruppen's PLM (Powered Loudspeaker Management) Series and Lake LM (Loudspeaker Management)

Germany - Building on the success of the company's highly acclaimed DN Series product line, Klark Teknik has added the new DN200 Multi-Mode Stereo DI box to its product portfolio.

The DN200 Dual-Channel Active DI Box delivers the connectivity and exceptional audio performance customers have come to expect from Klark Teknik plus some innovative new features. Housed in a robust alloy case, and further protected by a replaceable silicon sleeve, the DN200 features inputs on pairs of XLR, TRS and RCA sockets, plus a switchable 20 dB pad and ground lift switch.

In addition to the usual applications of a stereo DI, the DN200 can operate in Sum mode, where left and right input signals are merged and routed to both left and right outputs, or Split mode, routing the left input signal to both the left and right outputs. The DN200 supports 24 - 48 V phantom-power operation.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The lighting division of busy Liverpool UK based technical solutions provider, Adlib has been architecturally lighting Premier League Football Club Everton's Goodison Park ground.

The idea was the brainchild of Blues chief operating officer, Denise Barrett-Baxendale, who deals with all of Everton's community based activities, with key support from the Club's memorable match day team alongside close consultation from Adlib Lighting's Pete Abraham.

The project focused on creating a huge visual impact for Everton supporters by lighting up the Park End stand ahead of important fixtures versus West Bromwich Albion, Oldham Athletic and Wigan Athletic.

It also follows on from a guerrilla style Adlib supported projection project that took place at key strategic sites around the city of Liverpool in December 2012 when for the 12 days before Christmas Everton turned the city Blue

USA - This year at NAB, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (8-10 April, 2013), Audio-Technica's booth C1711 will host five 30-minute audio instructional sessions throughout the day.

Dr. Fred Ginsburg, renowned industry veteran and specialist in production sound recording for motion pictures and video, will conduct two sessions each day. The first session will focus on microphone techniques and applications used for episodic television with a focus on multi-track recording, and the second session will be about techniques for rigging and attaching lavalier microphones to actors for film and video production.

Robert Bigelow, audio engineer for HBO's Tremé, will also present two sessions. First he will share his experiences of recording live music for broadcast on Tremé, and later provide a better understanding of Mid-Side stereo recording.

Steve Savanyu, Audio-Techn

Germany - At Prolight+Sound, K.M.E. will present the coaxial monitor MCX 15, the direct-radiating subwoofer QLB 118 X and the compact installation speaker VL 2 i.

The MCX 15 is a coaxial high performance monitor with low profile casing design. The design enables two set up options - with a flat angle of 35° for a monitoring from near to short distances and a steep angle of 55° for longer distances. With its elegant optic it harmonious fits into all surroundings. With its solid construction and the high protective front grid it can deal with the hard stage requirements perfectly. The dispersion of 65° vertical and 45° horizontal has been adapted to the monitor angle and can be rotated 90°. Each, left and right side includes a connection panel with each two Neutrik NL 4 Speakon sockets for an efficient cabeling and linking of the stage signals.

The direct-rad

UK - Having released her debut album just last year, British singer-songwriter Rita Ora is going from strength to strength. She recently completed the sold out 12-date UK leg of her Radioactive Tour to much acclaim. An essential part of the audio arsenal employed by front of house engineer Bronski for her live performance is a selection of Sennheiser microphones.

Bronski, who started working with Rita in February last year, has opted to use Sennheiser microphones for both Rita and her band because, he says, there is simply no better sounding, more reliable product on the market.

"Sennheiser wireless products are second to none," he says. "It's always the easiest choice to make, and it helps that Rita's voice sounds great on an SKM 2000 with an e 935 capsule. Her vocal always sits on top of the mix, and the e 935 enables me to find delicacies in her strong

Canada - Expecting an audience of 40,000, the first Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA) has chosen a Meyer Sound LEO linear large-scale sound reinforcement system for its awards presentation ceremony on 6 April, at the BC Place stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.

According to Derek Mahaffey, general manager of the event's audio supplier KiAN Concert Sound Services, TOIFA chose LEO for its power, coverage, and exceptional clarity.

"The production manager for the event heard LEO at an electronic dance music festival," Mahaffey says, "He was very impressed by the system's performance."

At TOIFA, LEO will play the critical role of voice reinforcement as well as supporting the soundtracks and live music presentations. The system will use 30 LEO-M line array loudspeakers and 12 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements to cover the arena's 180-degree se

UK - Manchester based lighting and visual specialist dbn continued its eclectic and busy 2013 schedule supplying lighting equipment and crew for the much anticipated recent shows by acclaimed Irish alt rockers My Bloody Valentine. These were supporting the band's new m.b.v. album and first released studio recording work since 1991.

In fact, explains dbn project manager Nick Walton, the company - in a different format to now - has been involved in My Bloody Valentine live shows dating back around 20 years, and he personally also dealt with some rare live performances shortly after their much heralded reformation in 2009.

Their LD is James Murray with whom Walton and dbn have also enjoyed a great working relationship for many years. Both the band's tour management and Murray wanted to use dbn again.

The show was moody, raw and highly theatrical, with atmospheric front p

Germany - Following feedback from the APRS's regular Manufacturer and Distributor meetings to look into heightening the profile of the pro audio sector in new markets, it has chosen Frankfurt Musikmesse as the exhibition to achieve its goal in Europe.

With support from the UKTi (UK Trade & Investment), the APRS has created a specially designed stand to act as a hub for all UK exhibitors and attendees to meet, network and promote themselves in the centre of Hall 5.1, which houses the growing recording and remix sectors.

The APRS stand will be actively encouraging UK exhibitors and attendees to use the large bar networking area, offering a place to meet and greet customers and prospective clients, book 30 min slots in the private meeting room, use the large promotional area to display their brochures, and network with others from the pro audio sector on the stand for the final h

Latest Issue. . .