Rule Changes - Oscar organisers have put new rules in place to ensure fair campaigning in its music categories. Academy members are no longer allowed to contact voters via any means to promote their song for nomination. Members will also not be allowed to attend a live performance of eligible songs unless attached to a screening.

It comes following the disqualification in the original song category this year after it emerged a songwriter had emailed voters to consider his song. Alone Yet Not Alone, the title track from an independent Christian-faith film, beat other high-profile contenders to secure a surprise place on the shortlist.

It was later discovered Bruce Broughton - a former Academy governor and current executive committee member - emailed at least 70 of the 240-

USA - The FC-21ETH, FC-22ETH and FC-24ETH are members of the new Kramer family of high-performance, easy-to-use, bidirectional hardware and software interface systems. The FC-21ETH, FC-22ETH and FC-24ETH can enable control of RS-232 and/or RS-485 controllable machines via an Ethernet LAN.

These products give installers the ability to implement simultaneous control over several AV devices (the number depends on exact model) spread throughout an installation by offering bidirectional Ethernet to serial conversion. Each product operates as a network server, which means they accept network connections, but do not initiate them.

All setup and maintenance of the FC devices are managed by built-in web pages, which are accessible through any common web browser. The FC-21ETH, FC-22ETH and FC-24ETH offer 1/2/4 (respectively) serial ports for AV device control with one of them being a RS

USA - Green Hippo reports that its Par4keet 4K+ Player from the new AViary Video Tools range was awarded 'Best of Show' at InfoComm 2014 by NewBay Media.

The Best of Show Awards are judged by a panel of industry experts from submitted nominations. Criteria include ease of installation and use/maintenance, performance, relevance, value/ROI, network friendliness, versatility, and reliability.

Par4Keet is the first video player to combine class-leading video playback at 4K+ resolution along with true realtime media manipulation and multi-screen configurability in a robust rackmount casing.

For video professionals who need to map high-pixel count media onto multiple display devices or high resolution screens, Par4Keet provides high quality video playback at 4K resolution and beyond along with flexible output mapping for any of today's screen technologies.

Green Hippo has been

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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.

UK - EnTEEtainment joined the Glastonbury Festival Family for its 18th year managing the technical production at the iconic main Pyramid Stage and Other Stage.

There has always been a special atmosphere around Glastonbury Festival, emanating from the tightknit team assembled around organisers Michael Eavis, his daughter Emily and her husband Nick . Enteetainment are in constant touch throughout the year's planning that goes into constructing the world's most famous festival stages and their associated production, ensuring the 135,000-strong audience enjoys the 51 bands appearing on these two stages across the weekend.

The core team comprises Dick Tee, head of production, along with daughter Frankie Tee, (in the role of Pyramid stage office manager) working her seventh year, Amy Harmsworth (operations and logistics manager Pyramid and Other Stage) working at her 13th Glastonbur

UK - When Martin Audio rental stockist, dBS Solutions, was tasked by production company, Sell a Door Theatre Company, to design a sound system that would take the touring version of the long-running West End show Avenue Q across the UK, the company's MD Chris Bogg was faced with his stiffest challenge in the company's nine year history.

Not only was this puppet-based production the largest tour the company had undertaken, but the size of venues would vary enormously; and on tours where truck space is at a premium, trucking the minimum amount of kit, while keeping the production scalable, was crucial.

The Warrington based company's relationship with Martin Audio dealers, LMC Audio Systems was also critical, and the latter's sales manager James Lawford was able to put a creative deal together that enabled Bogg to secure the new generation theatre system that he had been w

USA - Calgary-based energy company Enbridge is the latest corporation to install a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system, with the goal of clarifying corporate communication and facilitating the free flow of ideas. Eliminating the need for lavalier or handheld microphones, the systems support a variety of functions in two adjacent meeting rooms located in the company's new Learning Centre. The systems are part of a complete AV design by Bill Schuermann, senior consultant at the Houston office of SLR Consulting.

"The rooms are used for everything from executive meetings, teleconferencing, and employee training to safety orientations for construction workers, and even occasional social events," says Amin Ladha, AV subject matter expert at Enbridge. "Constellation has performed exceptionally well for all of them."

Constellation is an active approach to exp

UK - Trakway and barrier specialist, Eve, supplied 1,250 aluminium roadway panels and 8,000 Heras fence panels to Download 2014, at Donington Park.

Festival director, John Probyn, who has described the event as the best one yet, comments, "Eve is critical at Download, due to its wide list of products and its knowledge of the venue and all the unique limitations a race track presents."

Eve account manager, Ben Chambers, said, "John has put a top team together in the production office and across the site in terms of suppliers. There's a really progressive approach at Download and it's a pleasure to be a part of."

(Jim Evans)

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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.
www.cameolight.com

Estonia - When DJ David Guetta, visited Estonia recently for his only show in the Baltic region, a Martin Audio W8LC Compact line array was on hand to reinforce a memorable show in front of 20,000 people in the Talinn Song Festival Grounds.

The rig was provided by the manufacturer's long-term distributors Audiosky - who were commissioned by production company RLE Concerts. "We have done a lot of gigs for the owner Hardi Loog in the past, in both Estonia and Finland - including Pitbull," reports Audiosky owner Tiit Terask.

In order to provide top quality sound for FOH engineer Carlos Herreros (who also took care of monitor engineer and system tech duties), Terask provided main PA hangs of 12 x W8LC (with a single W8LCD Downfill at the base). Out-fills comprised eight W8LC, with a single W8LCD Downfill, while four W8VDQ cabinets were deployed as front-fills. A total of

UK - One Direction recently kicked off their latest stadium tour, Where We Are, to celebrate their third album, Midnight Memories. Working with designers Ray Winkler and Ric Lipson of Stufish, Brilliant Stages delivered a series of staging elements designed around a central theme of a skatepark.

Stufish designed the three-dimensional diamond-shaped 'skate park' with multiple performer levels that spread across the 54m wide x 21m deep main stage. The set incorporates pairs of ego- and band-risers, perimeter ramps and screamers arranged either side of a steep central slope, which rakes upstage at a 19° angle to a height of 4.5m, and is fronted by a 34m long skate thrust to the B-stage.

Brilliant Stages designed and built the decking and supporting framework for the walkways and risers, along with scarlet powder-coated aluminium access stairs and onstage treads,

UK - ELC Lighting launched the Buddy, a new Ethernet to DMX node at this year's ABTT show. Designed and engineered as an entry level product, the Buddy was designed with students and newcomers to the market in mind, but is already being hailed as an essential piece of kit for lighting designers to carry in their back pockets, with over 200 units already sold, the company reports.

Speaking at the official launch of the product, Silvio Cibien said, "Buddy has all the functions required to enable a user to get DMX out of their laptop at an entry level price. We feel students and newcomers to the industry need to be able to experiment without the fear of doing something wrong, or losing all their work. The Buddy will enable them to program and create with ease, on their own laptop. But it's also an ideal piece of kit for any lighting designer who may suddenly find they need acc

USA - "The annual CMT Music Awards telecast is one of the best of its kind, and in some ways the best music awards presentation of all. Last night's production proved me right once again,"* enthused media critic Ed Martin about the 2014 event.

This year's star-studded CMT's was lit by Tom Kenny for the fifth consecutive year, and he utilised a variety of Robe fixtures including Pointes, MMX Spots and LEDWash fixtures on his massive lighting rig in the Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee.

Hosted by Kristen Bell and produced by Michael Dempsey Productions along with John Hamlin, Amy Johnson and Margaret Comeaux from CMT, the live broadcast received a great response from both the public and media. Thirty thousand country music fans also packed the arena to catch the amazing line-up and witness many live show-stopping performances and unique collaborations.

Kenny a

UK - West London based lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment renewed its long term working relationship with Glastonbury, supplying lighting to three key areas - Arcadia, Block 9 and The Glade. They also kitted out nine major bars around the site with practical and effects lighting.

A Colour Sound crew of 25 and several hundred lighting fixtures hit the tors of Somerset and imbibed the vibes and the beautiful rolling countryside of Worthy Farm for the five-day event, which again sold out to its 135,000 capacity despite erratic weather and heavy rain through much of the weekend.

Colour Sound's Haydn Cruickshank comments, "I am extremely proud that we are involved in all the most alternative and coolest elements of the site. A serious amount of effort goes in to the detail from everyone involved, and the results speak for themselves in terms of visu

UK - Leisuretec Distribution are set to host a month of Interactive Days in July for their trade customers, in partnership with Audio-Technica and Allen & Heath.

Starting on 3 July with the subject of Wireless, attendees will cover topics such as UHF and digital technology, frequency bands, regulation, licensing and intermodulation, along with an overview of the Audio-Technica products and features. The session is designed for anyone who regularly uses radio mics.

Installation Products is the theme for the day for 10 July and it's designed specifically for installers and system integrators in order to aid them in their system designs. Microphone technology, polar patterns, IDR overview and programming and Audio-Technica products and applications will all be covered.

The Conference Systems Day takes place on 17 July and is designed to cover in detail, the Audio Technica ATCS-

Sweden / Italy - LumenRadio has announced that another leading fixture manufacturer will include the wireless CRMX OEM modules for some of their products - the Italian based company Studio Due.

With over 30 years of innovation, design and manufacturing experience, Studio Due has been creating lighting solutions to support lighting designers, architects and lighting consultants all over the world. Studio Due's product range, historically composed of moving head spots, outdoor multiray effects and controllers has been diversified introducing new lines of colour changers specifically designed to satisfy the requirements of the architectural lighting market.

"Gianluca and his team are extremely talented and professional. It is a joy to work with a company that's maintaining the highest standards of quality for its equipment and services", says Jessica Björk, LumenRadio'

UK - UK-based audio specialist, Soulsound, has split its operations, as it looks to clearly define its offer and expand to reach a global audience. The move sees a clear line being drawn between the Soulsound Agency and the Soulsound Resource Centre.

While the overall objective of supporting employability in the audio industry remains as the company's unifying arrowhead, it has evolved to recognise that the Soulsound Resource Centre is equipped to reach audio students and practitioners around the world.

"The agency is very local and London-based. It keeps a small number of people - roughly 30 - in regular work," explains company founder, Darryn de la Soul. "The resource centre is aimed at improving skills all over the world, by creating a community of audiophiles and setting the standards that engineers should aspire to."

Following a period of foundation,

UAE - Seasoned lighting designer Debbi Fowler made excellent use of an arsenal of of Clay Paky lighting fixtures to illuminate Lionel Richie during his open-air gig at the Media City Amphitheatre, Dubai.

Fowler worked closely with Dubai based hire outfit Eclipse, which recently supplied equipment for superstars such as Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars. For the Richie show Eclipse furnished Fowler with an impressive stock of Clay Paky fixtures.

"When creating a lighting design I like to focus on layering different fixtures to create texture, this means that the fixtures I choose and how I position them is crucial," explains Fowler. "For this design I knew that the extra 'punch' of the Clay Paky would make a real difference. However it was not until the actual show that the lights' performance drove home just how bright they are."

The tour's original lighting d

UK - The skill sets required to work effectively and safely in today's pro-audio industry have changed almost beyond recognition in the last 30 years. The technical advances in equipment and the justifiable expectations of what can be achieved, from both musician and audience, have necessitated the development of a highly skilled and competent workforce.

At the same time, the particular demands of working in a touring environment remain the same and require an enthusiastic and well motivated work ethic, dedication, endless energy, the ability to work within a highly structured team and of course, a finely tuned sense of humour from everyone who seeks to make a career in live sound.

Finding such all round competent individuals is not always an easy task; Britannia Row Productions Training (BRPT) was set up to address the need to fill that gap and is recognised as a Short Course

Australia - Brisbane's Royal International Convention Centre (Royal ICC) has enjoyed a successful first 12 months of operation. The city's newest convention centre has fast gained a reputation for offering the best in technical expertise and equipment courtesy of their preferred in-house supplier Microhire. A Soundcraft Si Expression consoles, a Clear-Com Tempest digital wireless intercom solution and a Shure ULX-D digital wireless microphone set up were recently added to the inventory.

"By choosing the best on offer, such as Soundcraft, Clear-Com and Shure, Microhire wins 98% of all business within the venue," noted Russell Bennett, Microhire's general manager QLD.

Three Soundcraft Si Expression consoles (16, 24 and 32 channel versions) were supplied to the venue and senior audio operator Mick Wade has been extremely happy with the purchase.

"They deliver ama

UK - Winchester-based AV integrator Whitwam recently installed two Shure SCM820 eight-channel automatic audio mixers and three Sound Devices PIX260 AV recorders at the headquarters of The Royal Society in London. The mixers and recorders were supplied as part of a comprehensive refit of the audio-visual facilities in two of the Grade 1-listed rooms at the Society's headquarters at Carlton House Terrace, Central London.

Presentations by members of the Royal Society take place throughout the year in its lecture theatres; most of these are amplified and some are recorded or broadcast for posterity. The Sound Devices PIX260s were installed in the largest gallery, the Wellcome Trust lecture theatre, to capture the output from the four cameras situated there, while the Shure mixers were installed in the Society's dining rooms, where microphones and sound reinforcement are also often u

UK - Three JoeCo BlackBox BBR64-MADI recorders are capturing audio from some of the world's best-loved sketches and catchphrases at the Monty Python Live shows in London's 02 arena. The 64-channel MADI systems form part of recording engineer Matt Bainbridge's arsenal of equipment that is being used to record 168 channels of audio split over three MADI streams.

Bainbridge, of BlueCat Professional Audio Consultancy, who is responsible for the multi-track recording of each show commented, "We needed units that would be reliable, easy to set-up and leave unattended at times. The JoeCo's fitted the bill perfectly. In addition to their audio quality, the ability to use just one unit as a master device has also proved very useful."

JoeCo's BBR64-MADI Recorder is widely used for live audio capture and acquisition in a range of performance, broadcast, film & TV sound a

Germany - The final of Germany's 2014 Next Top Model talent show provided an opportunity for lighting designer Manuel Da Costa to put Robe's Robin CycFX 8 fixtures through their paces. Staged in the Lanxess Arena, Cologne and attended by 15,000 people, it was also broadcast live on German TV Pro7.

Manuel was lighting the series for the fourth time and was also the director of photography, so getting the right mix of lighting for both TV and live elements was crucial. While it's a 'given' for these type of shows that the runway has to be optimised for naturalistic flesh tones and shadow-less illumination of faces, it was also an interesting mix of aesthetics - fashion meets live arena show!

He used 44 x CycFX 8s in total, mostly rigged to the side stage wings and used to wash parts of the catwalk as general illumination and also to create some bold and distinctive effect

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