Germany - Picture the scene. You are visiting an art exhibition, but the only things you can see are blank canvases. Yet the room is filling up with expectant visitors, and four people begin to fill the canvases with words. Suddenly, you recognise yourself in those words! This is exactly what has been happening in early July at the Cologne Artothek, where Juergen Staack is presenting Script, his latest art project, using Sennheiser wireless technology.

For the Script performance, Juergen Staack worked with wireless microphones and bodypack receivers. At the preview on 3 July, four ladies with different mother tongues mingled with the visitors - and they described what they observed at the event to their writing partners via a pocket transmitter with headset microphone. Each of the writers heard these descriptions in English, Russian, Japanese or Greek via a small m

UK - Entertainment industry training centre Backstage Academy will be launching a new one-year Top Up Degree in Live Events Production at its Wakefield facility in late September (subject to validation).

The Top Up year is focused on management and will provide insight into the key issues involved in the strategic management of large events, festivals and venues.

The course will provide a progression route for students who have successfully completed the Academy's Foundation Degree in Live Events Production, or other related level 5 qualifications.

It will also be suitable for people with industry experience who are looking to enhance and develop their careers, as well as gain a degree qualification.

Said Director of Courses, Robin Watkinson: "Personal and professional development is emphasised and encouraged during the programme along with employability skills and a

USA - When Grand Canyon University's Antelopes men's and women's basketball teams joined the Western Athletic Conference this summer and upgraded to Division I, GCU Arena was in need of a sound system retrofit worthy of the new division level. To accommodate, GCU turned to the local Phoenix office of Clearwing Productions, which provided two independent L-Acoustics ARCS Wide and Kara loudspeaker systems for the 5,000-seat multipurpose venue.

Installed in late June, the arena's fixed audio system for athletic events, commencement ceremonies and other general assemblies now features 32 ARCS Wide enclosures. These are divided into four clusters of three cabinets spread across each of the long sides of the arena and complemented with a single centre cluster of four at each of the far ends. Two arrays of four SB28 subs are centrally hung back-to-back for LF reinforcement, while two s

Canada / USA - Liberty AV Solutions announced a new distribution partnership with DataVisual to better serve Canadian commercial audio-visual integrators from British Columbia to Newfoundland.

Consisting of Liberty Wire and Cable, Fibertron, PanelCrafters, and Intelix, Liberty AV Solutions' entire product line will be available to DataVisual's customers, including their lines of cable, connectors, plates, panels and electronics.

"We are excited to be a Liberty AV Solutions distributor," said Benoit Kislisch-Lemyre, general manager of DataVisual. "The breadth of products available to our customers from Liberty will strengthen our portfolio in supplying the highest quality products in the audio visual communication markets."

DataVisual's extensive coverage of the Canadian integrator market will help cement Liberty's presence in the audio video and data inst

Germany - Wonderland Open Air is an annual Trance Festival, held at Waldfrieden, in the Stemwede community of Wehdem in Germany. The music is electronic - mostly 'Psytrance' or 'Goa" - and this year the 17th edition of the event welcomed a record number of visitors (in excess of 7,000).

A top class line-up came to this special forest location, which was impressively decorated, and received the full approval of the festival-goers.

The challenge of lighting the location was represented by the large split main floor and the second stage, known as the Backyard. This challenge was accepted by the team of Provisuell from Bielefeld under the direction of Mathias Schindler.

In order to satisfy the dynamics of both the different dance genres and the corporate designs, the production company decided to deploy premium products from PR Lighting.

According to Pascal Vieregg

UK - High Wycombe-based Dry Hire Lighting (DHL) has become the first UK rental house to take delivery of Showline's new LED linear SL BAR 640 luminaire - and will soon offer the SL BAR 660 as well.

Dry Hire Lighting's Nic Tolkien first became interested in the SL BAR 640 during the 2012 PLASA show in London: "We had been looking for the 'next generation' of LED batten fixtures for some time and the Showline SL BAR 640 seemed to tick all the boxes. We've had tremendous success over the past couple of years with the Philips Color Kinetics ColorBlaze and ColorBlaze TRX fixtures but felt that now was the time to enhance our offering and get into some of the newer technology and add a fixture with the homogenized RGBW. Of course we were very happy to be able to do this with another Philips product. The SL BAR 640 looks fantastic as a direct view fixture and is phenomenally power

Belgium - Around 250 Robe moving light fixtures were deployed site wide for the 2013 Tomorrowland EDM festival, staged in the normally sleepy town of Boom, Belgium, which saw 180,000 EDM fans entertained at the De Schorre National Park site for three days.

This was presented across 14 live stages with visual environment designed by Event organisers ID&T under the technical and artistic direction of Jurgen Nuytemans and Christophe Van Den Branden.

The Robes were supplied by several major Belgian rental companies, and production lighting designs for all the stages - mostly hosted by different clubs, people and organisations across the three days of the event - were created by a combination of the best LDs in the country.

The Creative Factory (TCF) provided their mobile visualisation suite on site, which was at the disposal of all guest LDs and operators to programme their show

UK - Carlsbro / Studiomaster's new joint HQ, distribution and logistics centre is now fully operational, providing UK MI and pro audio dealers, and overseas distributors with higher levels of service than ever before.

The new HQ in Milton Keynes, in the south east of England, brings together all of the two brands' key operations under one roof. R&D teams, for both Carlsbro and Studiomaster, UK and worldwide sales, international administration, service and support, international marketing, and UK and Eire distribution are all now fully operational from the new centre.

As a hub for UK and worldwide logistics, the new HQ also provides for rapid smaller stock shipments internationally, complementing large scale direct shipments out of the Ningbo manufacturing facility in China.

Commenting on the establishment of the new HQ, Carlsbro and Studiomaster assistant general manager, Pa

Switzerland - Swiss PA company, Auditech, employed the company's new Allen & Heath Qu-16 compact digital mixer as the FOH mixer at international athletics meet, Athletissima. Held annually in Lausanne, Athletissima attracts a host of top athletes and several world records have been set during the games.

The stadium's FOH audio is divided into four zones, three (north tribune, round east, round west) fed through an iDR-8 matrix mixer, with the VIP area (south tribune) fed directly from the Qu-16 FOH mixing desk. Speakers comprise an EV rig in the north tribune, Audio Performance in rounds east and west, and a Nexo system in the south tribune.

The Qu-16 manages audio from the commentators - stationed in the commentary box and trackside, as well as audio from the giant plasma screens and the closing ceremony finale fireworks. The Qu-16 also feeds commentary to a RTS HD OB truck.<

UK - The sales and Installation division of Liverpool, UK based technical solutions provider Adlib has supplied an L-Acoustics ARCS wide / focus (WIFO) sound system to audio rental company Stagetex, who are based nearby on Merseyside.

The deal was co-ordinated for Adlib by Nick Turner. Adlib Sales specialises in supplying tailor made systems to sonically discerning clients, backed up by the best levels of quality technical service and pre and post sales support.

Stagetex provides full technical production and rental services to high end corporate events and their clients embrace a wide variety of shows and presentation genres from conferences, meetings, dinners and awards shows to parties, live music and entertainment of all types.

They wanted a fully flexible excellent sounding system ... and consulted Adlib for advice and guidance.

They specifically wanted something scal

UK - On 27 June 2013, ACC Liverpool hosted Accelerate 2013, a flagship festival dedicated to high-growth businesses.

The event gathered 2,000 delegates, all with the ambition to boost Britain's economy. The conference objective was to motivate the best of British business to strive even higher and equip them with the inspiration and insight to do so.

The production needed to be innovative and colourful to reflect the positive mood of the event and create an atmosphere that would leave attendees feeling galvanised.

The audio visual was provided in-house by 14 members of the ACC Liverpool production team, who worked closely with organisers Liverpool Vision for six months in the planning stages.

Leaders from the world of commerce, headlined by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, delivered speeches to entrepreneurs and business owners and took part in debates and discussions lookin

China - DPA Microphones played a significant part in the success of this year's Fortune Global Forum, which was held in June in Chengdu, China. With a series of presentations and a gala dinner with entertainment provided by 30 traditional guzheng players, opera singers, choral and pop singers and a piano performance by Lang Lang, China's premier classical pianist, several DPA d:facto vocal microphones, d:fine headset microphones and d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones were utilised throughout the events.

Attended by CEOs from some of the world's largest multinational companies, the China's Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and other Chinese dignitaries were also present at the three day event. Prior to the event, Fortune's Audio Designer Ron Lorman contacted Ken Kimura at DPA's office in Hong Kong, and requesting help in sourcing microphones.

"I have been using DPA d:fine headset m

UK - Bristol UK creative visual design practice SMASH Productions provided technical production, stage and architectural lighting and video designs for the Electric City area of the 2013 Eastern Electrics Festival, staged at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire.

They collaborated closely with the George Made That collective to meet the brief which was to make Electric City look and feel "amazing, be as environmentally sustainable as possible and work to a tight budget".

All these challenges were relished by SMASH's Tim Smith and his team whose ingenuity and lateral thinking produced some remarkable results.

There were two main aspects of Electric City - an outside collection of impressive palette pyramids designed and constructed by George Made That ... and a Marquee housing the Secret Stage.

The structures needed to come alive at night, and with the area being called

Switzerland - Fohhn Audio's new Focus Modular line array systems with beam steering are making their live debut at the large-scale, open-air theatre production of Das große Welttheater (The Great World Theatre) being staged at Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland. The play, by Spanish writer Calderon de la Barca, has been performed on the abbey square of the Benedictine monastery at various intervals since 1924. In more recent years it has been re-interpreted to relate to modern times.

Released just a few months ago, Fohhn's Focus Modular series has been specially developed to provide powerful coverage over very long distances in acoustically challenging venues. Remotely controllable with highly precise beam steering capabilities, the three low-mid and high frequency modules can be used in any combination to meet a range of different requirements.

At the abbey, two FM-400 l

China - The location was especially selected, the scenery perfectly prepared: FAW-VW Audi Sales Division China celebrated a spectacular show for their annual Ice & Snow Experience event with a spectacular outdoor staging. This year it took place in the Chinese ski resort Changbaishan in 1'500m above sea level in January 2013. Nearly 500 spectators from Europe and Asia were present and enjoyed the outdoor snow performance - at -30°C air temperature.

For the presentation of different Audi cars of the Q and Quattro series, a complete slope was prepared with snow-hills, big illuminated brand and car model signs and a gigantic lighting setup. This helped in changing the scenery quickly and put additional focus on the very model presented.

A central element of the performance, however, was the use of especially controllable snow cannons: Not only did they provide a special refle

South Africa - To commemorate the 1976 Soweto Uprising, the 16 June, also known as Youth Day, is a public holiday in South Africa. Events aimed at young South Africans are held across the country and this year a draw card was a concert by Zakes Bantwini held at the Durban ICC on Friday, 14 June.

Zakes Bantwini returned to his home province for the Upfront with Zakes Bantwini live concert. The show was brought to fans by the Ethekwini Municipality and Mayonie Productions. Black Coffee was commissioned to provide the full technical for the event.

"The only challenge was getting in on that morning - actually at midnight - to set up and be ready for the rehearsals at 2pm," commented Llewellyn Pieters from Black Coffee. "But we planned crew shifts and it all worked out. The gear worked very well and everything was pre-addressed at the workshop and labelled for

Australia - Audio visual consultant Mozaix have supplied CityLife Church with a Soundcraft Si Performer 3 mixing console for use in their Manningham campus, in the north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide, Australia.

The Soundcraft Si Performer has a number of enhancements over and above the Si Compact, with a turbocharged version of the Si Compact engine and providing up to 80 channels to mix. Added to this are 35 buses, plus eight VCA groups and eight mute groups, a fully parametric 4-band EQ with shelf on the HF and LF bands, and LCR panning.

"The Soundcraft Si Performer was chosen mainly for work flow and the audio quality it produces," remarked Paul Tucker of Mozaix. "A number of consoles from different brands were tried but as the Church already owns a couple of Soundcraft Vi4 consoles in their main Knox campus, they were already quite partial to the Soundcraft b

Germany - coolux recently completed their move to their new premises, close to the region's largest broadcast studio complex in Cologne, Germany. The makers of the award-winning Pandoras Box systems had more than just a successful house move to celebrate, however, as the 10th anniversary of the company's foundation fell on 14 August this year.

The founders aimed to "think outside the box of traditional video playback technology, and to cultivate an open mind for innovations in order to make a leap in what is feasible in real-time video", the company says. "What began as a niche technology has steadily grown into an indispensable part of the modern AV industry in all its forms". Today, Pandoras Box media servers and related software systems can be found in varied markets from event venues to broadcast studios, on cruise ships and inside modern museums and visi

Europe - American singer Lana Del Rey has had a busy 2013, with her Paradise tour taking in arenas and theatres across Europe, followed by an array of summer festival appearances. A package of Sennheiser wireless equipment is ensuring that her cinematic sound loses none of its impact onstage.

Monitor engineer Matthew Kanaris specified the Sennheiser items for the tour, which includes two SKM 5200-MKII handheld microphones with Neumann KK105 capsules for Lana's main and spare vocal, 12 sets of G3 in-ear monitors and four G3 wireless belt packs for the tour's string section.

"Lana's vocal is the most important part of the show, so we wanted to use a microphone that was perfect for her and was sensitive to the different dynamics in her voice," says Kanaris. "We have always had great results when we used the wired version of the Neumann mic, so we decided to

USA - The Rolling Stones have wrapped the US leg of their 50 and Counting world tour with Clay Paky lighting fixtures along for the ride. The Stones sell-out 50th anniversary tour is their first in six years. They opened the US leg on 3 May in LA and concluded their 18 dates on 24 June in Washington, D.C. The band performed on a stage set featuring a giant set of psychedelic lips and a tongue-shaped walkway that riffed on their iconic logo.

Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe included Clay Paky Alpha Wash 1500s in his design for the show. Co-lighting director Ethan Weber comments: "They're a very impressive, bright, good-looking light."

They also scattered a complement of Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures around the trusses. "You see Sharpys on every show now," Weber points out. "It's a turnaround from a few years ago when we were all using large format

USA - Consumnes River College (CRC) is a community college in South Sacramento, California. As a member of the Big 8 Conference in Northern California, CRC belongs to the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) and has an active physical education and athletics program including both men's and women's soccer. In 2012, CRC expanded their programme with a new baseball and softball field. And, this spring, CRC completed two new soccer fields with back-to-back bleachers and a common press box that serves both fields.

As part of this expansion, CRC published an RFP (request for proposal) for sound systems for its new soccer fields. After considering several alternatives, they selected a design from Associated Sound of Sacramento using Community R-Series Loudspeakers.

Associated's design uses two Community R.25-94TZ loudspeakers, located on each corner of the press

Sweden - Held yearly, the East Coast Party is an open-air event held in Östhammar, north of Stockholm. Deployed throughout the entire venue by Adapt event planners, Martin RUSH Beam MH 3 lighting fixtures helped create the party scene.

"We had plenty of reasons to choose the Martin RUSH Beam over other lighting fixtures, but in short, RUSH lighting provided the long distance reach we required with the stage setup," stated Viking Grandin, senior project manager, Adapt. "RUSH's small fixture size, high output and narrow beam capabilities allowed us to shoot out over the 5000-capacity crowd and the dance floor without any brightness issues."

Adapt placed 16 of the Martin RUSH Beams on the stage floor and above a backdrop Martin LC-Series LED wall to create the spectacular effects. The rig also included a Maxedia Compact, numerous Atomic 3000's, Jem Roadie Com

Australia - Global Creature's new multi-million dollar production of King Kong has taken Melbourne by storm. It's an all-out spectacle.

Peter Mumford's stunning lighting design has just won him a Helpmann Award, a verdict that surprised no one.

Pivotal to his design are 86 ETC Source Four LED Lustr+ profiles, 50 positioned out front at the Regent Theatre with another eight on the side balcony trusses and the rest in the gantry.

"I've been using ETC Source Four LED Lustr+ profiles quite a bit in London and I really do like them," commented Mumford. "Although they are generic in one sense, they also have internal colour mixing so they have a remote aspect to them in terms of colour changing.

"They are quite beautiful, you can do very subtle colour changes with them over five or 10 minutes which I often do in productions. Although I haven't done thi

Australia - Over 500 Anolis LED fixtures have been installed by The ULA Group at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC), Australia, as part of the venue's continuing investment in sustainable and energy efficient lighting.

The latest power-saving Anolis ArcLine and ArcSource full colour spectrum units illuminate the foyer and corridor areas of the venue, which is Australia's largest regional convention centre. It specialises in all types of events from small meetings to large-scale presentations, accommodating up to 6,000 guests and offering over 10,000sq.m of floor space for conferences, exhibitions, awards shows and banquets, etc.

The GCCEC's decision to invest in the latest Anolis follows the highly successful Stage One supply of Anolis LED Lighting fixture to the common foyer and function areas, also completed by The ULA Group.

Incorporating new mood lig

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