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Robe rocks award-winning LDI 2013

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Robe Lighting enjoyed one of its "busiest and best" LDI exhibitions to date at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, which saw their stylish, eye-catching all white booth - complete with spectacular lightshow designed by Nathan Wan - win 'Best Big Booth Design' category of the 2013 LDI Awards.

LDI 2013 was the first big US exhibition to showcase the Pointe - Robe's award winning small, super-bright, multi-purpose moving light ... and fastest ever selling product - and this fixture was the centrepiece of Nathan's lightshow, together with other new innovations like Robe's ROBIN MiniMe, CycFX 8, Cyclone, MMX Blade and ParFect 100.

In addition to the products, the other attraction on the stand was newly appointed CEO of Robe Lighting Inc., Bob Schacherl, whose vast contac

The new PortCity Shopping Mall facade in the city of Mariupol

PR lights Ukraine shopping mall

Details: 14 March 2016

Ukraine - PR Lighting's new generation LED architectural fixtures have been specified to provide a colour-changing wash of the new PortCity Shopping Mall façade in the city of Mariupol.

CORTMI, the PR Lighting Ukrainian distributor, was able to meet the client's lighting requirements. Explained CORTMI marketing manager, Stanislav Serbin, "The initial task was to offer an energy saving architectural lighting system for a certain part of the façade that would provide minimal luminosity of 200 lux. LED-based fixtures were requested from the very beginning to minimize running costs.

"The choice of the models and optical groups was predetermined by the possible points of installation on the general purpose lighting poles - and in terms of price and features the choice was an obvious one."

The company therefore specified 12 x PR-8802 and seven PR-8800 for the outd

First commercial outing for MLA Mini

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - During October, MLA Mini stepped out onto the world stage in its first commercial outing, and took on one of the most challenging venues around. The event was the annual conference of the retail giant, SPAR, and the venue was Westpoint, otherwise known to those in the sound community as a 'soulless shed', just off the M5 in Exeter.

Whilst Westpoint offers acres of space for trucks, and therefore easy load in, the venue itself, originally designed for the trading of Devon's finest livestock, is known for having a reverberation time of at least seven seconds. With MLA and MLA Compact having taken on and tamed some of the most challenging spaces in the globe, MLA Mini had an enviable reputation to uphold.

The pressure was further compounded because this event is a major cornerstone in the calendar of Plymouth based Pyramid AV, under the directorship of Nic Black. The product

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OPUS X4 PROFILE – the most powerful LED moving head from Cameo to date

The OPUS® X4 PROFILE is the new flagship model from Cameo and is among the most powerful LED moving heads on the market. Equipped with a 1,400-watt LED white light engine, this spot profile moving head produces an enormous light output of 50,000 lm, providing powerful spot and gobo projections on even the largest stages and much more.
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Fonogenics installs Cerwin-Vega! P Series

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Fonogenic Studios, a renowned recording studio and live music venue located in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, recently upgraded its sound system with Cerwin-Vega!'s new P-Series Professional PA system and classic CVA Active Series Speakers. With constant compliments from both A-list musicians and audiences about the superior sound quality of the live venue, the studio's owners and engineers are thrilled with the audio and the reactions.

Rami Jaffee, who is a founding member of the Grammy-winning rock band The Wallflowers and now keyboardist for the Foo Fighters, owns the studio with music producer Ran Pink, who has produced for PiNk & NoSeWoRthY and has composed for TV shows such as Happily Divorced and The Fran Drescher Tawk Show. Together, they operate half of the building as a recording studio and the other half, which features a big sound stage, as

Martin Audio switches German distribution to UnitedB

Details: 14 March 2016

Germany - With effect from 23 November, Martin Audio products will fall under a new distribution umbrella in Germany.

Wolfgang Garçon, former managing director of Atlantic Audio, with whom the British loudspeaker manufacturer has been associated for a number of years, has left to set up new distribution company, UnitedB in Düsseldorf. The headquarters will be based in Segro-Rhein-Park, an industrial estate in the southern part of the city.

UnitedB - which stands for United Brands for Event Technology - has already started to put together a portfolio of leading brands. On landing Martin Audio, Garçon stated, "We are delighted that Martin Audio has become part of the new UnitedB family. We have a long relationship with the company and look forward to achieving further success in all their key installation, event and touring sectors."

"Martin Audio has just ad

Northampton University adds Audient

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - An Audient ASP8024 with Dual Layer Control (DLC) and patchbay was the final choice for Northampton University, which Popular Music course leader Dr Gordon Okafor-Ross describes as "very progressive and forward facing". Nine months of meticulous research by Okafor-Ross led to its installation ready for autumn term, where the desk further augments an already well-equipped recording studio.

Boasting ProTools 11, Logic Pro X, Ableton Suite 9, the collection of mics from Neumann U87 to Shure SM57 and everything in between, as well as the recent arrival of their brand new Eve Audio SC407 monitors (pictured), Okafor-Ross praises the Audient desk as a teaching tool. "I liked the combination of great sounding pre-amps, a clear and easy to explain routing system that retains the ability to become as complex as we want, and a console that screams professional and contem

Jon Lemon's initial association with The Smashing Pumpkins stretches back almost 20 years

DiGiCo in the mix for Smashing Pumpkins

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Front of House engineer Jon Lemon's initial association with The Smashing Pumpkins stretches back almost 20 years to 1995, when the US alternative rock band first really made its mark. His use of DiGiCo consoles with them starts just over a decade later, when he took a D5 Live - a desk he had been using since DiGiCo first launched it in 2002 - on their 2006/07 world tour. For their current tour, which started in April and runs until mid August, Jon has opted for the UK console manufacturer's current flagship model, the SD7, supplied, along with the rest of the PA system, by audio rental company Eighth Day Sound.

"The D5 Live came out in 2002 - I had one of the prototypes," says Jon. "I've always used DiGiCo consoles. For me, they are the best sounding of the digital desks and the SD range is very reliable."

Promoting their new album, Oceania, th

Case Study: Hans Zimmer Live

When award winning film composer Hans Zimmer brought his smash-hit tour Hans Zimmer Live to North America fall 2024, the show's audio team sought out to bring infrafrequency bass to the show to add new depth to the show's audio experience. The team chose Danley Sound Labs.

The Week in Lighting & Sound

Details: 14 March 2016

Eurovision Latest - Serbia has pulled out of next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, citing financial difficulties. The country's broadcaster said the "high costs necessary to participate" had led to the decision. Serbia won Eurovision in 2007 with the song Molitva by Marija Serifovic, but failed to qualify for the grand final in Malmo, Sweden this year. Other countries have also said they will sit out next year's competition, including Serbia's neighbour Croatia. Bulgaria and Cyprus will not be taking part either, with all four nations' broadcasters saying it is too expensive.

Former participants including Slovakia, Czech Republic and Andorra will remain on the sidelines, while Turkey are shunning the competition for a second year in a row, saying they are unhappy with the rules. They have created an alternative contest called Turkvision, whic

The newly built Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado

National Renewable Energy Laboratory installs Biamp

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Networked media systems specialist Biamp Systems reports the installation of an Audia/Nexia audio solution combination in the newly built Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado.

As the US Department of Energy's (DOE) primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development, ESIF houses 200 researchers and staff in eight diverse work spaces. Each of the spaces was uniquely designed to fit the research and testing needs of the different work groups and include A 3D collaboration lab, a control room that monitors and controls the facility processes, visualisation labs where experiments being performed in the electricity, thermal, and fuel labs can be visualised on a large, high-definition screen, and conference rooms of various sizes throughout the facility.

Architectur

Jands has taken on distribution of the PR portfolio

PR Lighting appoints Jands in Australia

Details: 14 March 2016

Australia - PR Lighting has announced that, with effect from 1 November, Jands will be distributing its product portfolio in Australia.

"We are very excited to have PR Lighting on board as part of the Jands professional lighting range," said Tim Kennard, lighting sales manager of Jands. "PR has been around for over 29 years as a manufacturer of professional lighting products and I think it's fair to say that so far they have exceeded our expectations in every area.

"Prior to signing on with PR we visited their factory in Guangzhou and the facilities are world class with a large, dedicated R&D division as well as first rate Quality Control processes in place at every level. With a great stable of products backed by a strong support team both at the factory and here at Jands we are looking forward to introducing new customers to the PR brand throughout Austra

Paul Lindsay and the Amber Technology team

SSL Live appoints distributor for Australia

Details: 14 March 2016

Australia - Solid State Logic has announced that its long-standing partner Amber Technology has been appointed as its Live console distributor in Australia and New Zealand. Amber is the latest company to join SSL's growing commercial distribution network for the live sector.

"We have been waiting for the SSL Live with great anticipation," says Leon Hart, business unit manager at Amber Technology. "Here at Amber, we have been carefully adding to our live production equipment portfolio to increase our presence in this market. The SSL Live is a technology platform with a fresh approach to how a live console should sound and operate giving engineers a control surface that helps them deliver exceptional performances. It is exciting for us to be able to build on our successes with SSL consoles in the music and broadcast industries through Live. The Live console has been

Biamp solution for Colorado's ESIF

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Biamp Systems, a leading provider of innovative, networked media systems, has announced the installation of an Audia/Nexia audio solution combination in the newly built Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado.

As the US Department of Energy's (DOE) primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development, the ESIF houses 200 researchers and staff in eight diverse work spaces. Each of the spaces was uniquely designed to fit the research and testing needs of the different work groups and include: A 3D collaboration lab; Control room that monitors and controls the facility processes; Visualization labs where experiments being performed in the electricity, thermal, and fuel labs can be visualized on a large, high-definition screen; Conference rooms of various sizes througho

Rental company See Factor designed the system for the NYSE façade with Martin's MAC 2000 wash lights

Martin lights Twitter share launch

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - In one of the New York Stock Exchange's (NYSE) most anticipated days ever, social media giant Twitter rang the opening bell on Wall Street to market its initial public offering on 6 November. A lighting display featuring Martin Professional lighting fixtures, provided by See Factor, brightened the façade of the NYSE with Twitter's globally recognized logo the entire day.

Rental company See Factor designed the system for the NYSE façade with Martin's MAC 2000 wash lights - the standard See Factor uses for events at the NYSE. For most NYSE events, a full crew installs the system with additional generators during the prior evening. However, for the Twitter event, Michal Ahern of Michal Ahern Production Services requested See Factor use three 20-amp outlets in the NYSE lobby, rather than bringing in additional generators, and setting up and breaking down the day of the event

The annual Crown Prince Couples Awards at the Joan Sutherland Theatre

Jands Vista L5 gets the royal treatment

Details: 14 March 2016

Australia - As part of the week of celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, Crown Prince Frederik and Australian -born Crown Princess Mary of Denmark visited the Harbour City to honour the Danish architect J°rn Utzon's crowning achievement.

In cooperative effort between SBS, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, the royal couple and the charitable Bikuben Foundation, their Highnesses presented the annual Crown Prince Couples Awards at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the first time the awards ceremony has been held outside its native Denmark since its inception in 2004.

The awards were established by the Bikuben Foundation as a wedding gift for the royal couple and celebrate Danish excellence in arts, culture and society. The creative teams behind the television series The Killing and Borgen received the Cultural award, while violinist Rune Tonsgaard S&d

ETC's new Source Four LED CYC units make their first appearance in UK hire stock at Black Light's Edinburgh premises.

Black Light scores multiple firsts with ETC LED CYC

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Black Light has been busy championing ETC's ground-breaking Source Four LED CYC units. Not only is it the first company in the UK to have the fixtures in its hire stock, it has also recently run a demo day to highlight the CYC's strengths and has hired out a number of the units for their first ever use in a live event in Scotland.

"We love breaking new ground," says Black Light's head of marketing, Barclay Dakers. "It was fantastic to see these unique units in action and to give our friends in the industry the chance to get their hands on them and see just how well they work in a full-sized theatre environment."

The Black Light CYC demo day was held in conjunction with ETC at Edinburgh's King's Theatre on 14 November. Key lighting designers and theatre technicians from across Scotland came to see 18 of the CYC units in a full theatre set-up. They also

The production strongly embraced a theatrical feel

MA VPU at Huisgenoot Skouspel

Details: 14 March 2016

South Africa - Every year thousands of predominantly Afrikaans speaking South Africans embark on a two hour drive from Johannesburg to Sun City's Superbowl to attend Huisgenoot Skouspel where some of the best Afrikaans artists are heard and the most popular artists of the year are honoured. This year was no different as fans either stayed at Sun City for the weekend, or commuted on the day, to see their favourite performers on one stage during October 2013.

The production strongly embraced a theatrical feel, with carefully selected songs and nostalgic video content stirring emotions. A combination of fixtures were used to create clean looks, as lighting deisgner Joshua Cutts painted in colour. For lighting control he used 1 x grandMA2 light, 1 x MA onPC command wing, 2 x MA VPU plus (Video Processing Unit) and 1 x MA NPU (Network Processing Unit).

Cutts from Visual Frontier ha

The design involved over 150 moving lights

HSL has designs on Chase & Status tour

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Lighting designer Andy Hurst created a completely new lighting, set and visual design for the latest Chase & Status UK Arena tour which started off their campaign promoting their new album Brand New Machine.

HSL has supplied Chase & Status with equipment right from the start of their touring career, and production manager Michael Clegg once again sourced all lighting and LED screens from the company, where they were looked after by project manager, Mike Oates.

The design involved over 150 moving lights plus substantial quantities of Martin LC and EC LED screen.

Hurst's starting point for the stage aesthetics was that the 'Brand New Machine' album featured a slightly more clubby and commercial sound than their previous works of more hardcore drum 'n' bass ... so he created a contemporary look to the stage but laced it with throw-backs to the most specular classic

The MJF-210 is the lightest stage monitor in the company product line

Meyer Sound introduces lightweight monitor

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Meyer Sound has expanded its on-stage solutions with the new self-powered MJF-210 low-profile high-power stage monitor. Built for the demanding needs of today's live productions, the MJF-210 is the lightest stage monitor in the company product line, and carries the same sonic performance of the MJF-212A stage monitor, which has been used by Metallica, Usher, Judas Priest, and Michael Bublé.

"The MJF-210 started with a customer's request to bring the intelligibility and power of the MJF-212A into a more production-friendly package," says Pablo Espinosa, chief loudspeaker designer and vice president of R&D. "The end result is a product that reflects users' needs in the field, and its small footprint also offers more flexibility in bringing the myriad self-powered advantages to the stage."

The MJF-210 features a low-profile design with an impressi

DPA Microphones on the beat with Paramore

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - DPA Microphones is drumming up some attention while on the road with the Grammy nominated alternative rock band Paramore for the band's self-titled world tour. DPA's d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones and d:dicate 2011C Compact Cardioid Microphones are keeping Paramore's touring drummer in beat with band mates and fans by delivering clean, clear and precise percussion. Equipped with universal mounts, these mics ensure that every stop on the band's self-titled international tour features the natural sound of each percussion instrument.

Eddie Mapp, Paramore's front-of-house engineer, chose the microphones to help provide the band and audiences alike with optimal sound. Mapp has been using the d:votes on his acoustic guitar in the studio for quite some time, but received a tip to try them out on the drum kits from Metallica's front-of-house engineer Mick "Big Mick"

The audio system in the theatre incorporates Constellation and sound reinforcement

Constellation at Antelope Valley College

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Antelope Valley College's Performing Arts Theatre in Lancaster, Calif. is using a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system to support its diverse schedule of events. At the press of a button, venue operators can adapt the auditorium's acoustical characteristics to suit performances for the resident Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra, Shakespeare plays and opera.

"Constellation's effect is often subtle, but when applied in just the right amount, it is very effective and sounds remarkably natural," says David Newby, artistic director and conductor for the resident Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale. "We always apply some enhancement for the orchestra, and usually select a preset with a bit longer reverberation for the chorus, particularly when singing a capella. I'm very satisfied with the results."

The audio system in the theatre in

Each venue also has the ability to rent out some of the kit to third parties

Stage Technologies helps revive Swedish venues

Details: 14 March 2016

Sweden - Working with consultants Runda Idéer AB, Stage Technologies has completed the second of two fixed installation projects in Östergötland County, southeastern Sweden. The theatres in Linköping and Norrköping, form the "Östgötateatern" or "Östgöta Theatre", Sweden's largest regional theatre, together with a third stage in in Linköping called the Elsas Hus "ung scen/öst" ("young stage").

Considered the "centre of cultural life in the County", these venues present 25 productions for audiences of over 100,000 per year. Stage Technologies updated the stage equipment in Linköping between July and October 2012, and completed a similar refurbishment on Norrköping in the same time frame in 2013.

Runda Idéer AB's Karl Runqvist said, "It was clear from the very first meetin