UK - PLASA London 2013, which takes place at ExCeL London from 6-9 October 2013, is putting out a final call for entries for the 2013 PLASA Awards for Innovation, before the deadline of Friday 27 September. More than 25 entries, ranging from audio interfaces and lighting controls to Ethernet switches and luminaires have been approved so far. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in the new AudioLab Arena on Monday 7 October at 6.00pm.

The PLASA Awards for Innovation recognise products that advance the industry by demonstrating a new style of thinking, improving technical practice or taking a key step forward in terms of safety. All successfully vetted products are judged against one another on the strength of their innovation alone.

Companies and products in the running include:

• Altman Lighting (STAND F40) - UV LED Spectra CYC - A 100W cyclorama/wall wash lumina

Norway - The Oslo Concert Hall (Norwegian: Oslo Konserthus) in Norway has relied on the durability of its Meyer Sound equipment since 1986. A quarter century after installing eight UPA-1 and two USW-1 conventionally powered loudspeakers, the venue again turned to a Meyer Sound solution when it came time for an upgrade. As a result, a Mica line array loudspeaker system was supplied and installed by Oslo-based AVAB CAC.

The 1,404-capacity Oslo Concert Hall regularly features a diverse schedule of classical, blues, jazz, and rock performances. The hall's legacy Meyer Sound equipment has proven its worth, and venue management was ready for a system with more power and flexibility.

"I think it's unique that our UPA-1 system was so old yet sounded so good," says Jan Olsen Skare, long-time production manager of Oslo Concert Hall. "Now with the Mica, we have a system th

USA - Masque Sound continues its Broadway run by providing a custom audio equipment package for the new production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.

The Glass Menagerie, starring Cherry Jones, Zachary Quinto, and Celia Keenan-Bolger, is directed by John Tiffany and the Tony Award-winning creative team behind ONCE, and tells the story of Amanda Wingfield, a Southern belle past her prime who lives with her two grown children in a small apartment in St. Louis.

For sound designer Clive Goodwin, there were two main goals: To make the play sound as natural as possible and to ensure that the whole audience, even members seated in the very back of the mezzanine, could clearly hear Nico Muhly's beautiful composition. "Nico's music sets the theme for the show," says Goodwin. "The Glass Menagerie is a memory play about the character T

UK - The first SSL Live console are now shipping. The first three consoles all shipped to U.K.-based global tour production company Britannia Row for use on Peter Gabriel's forthcoming European Back to Front tour and another two shipped to SGroup in France for the imminent Amel Bent tour. Console manufacturing production for 2013 has been sold out since July, and details of the new commercial partner network for SSL Live are available in the 'Where to Buy' section of the SSL website, says the company.

SSL's CEO, Antony David, says, "The on-schedule completion of the new Live console is an important milestone for SSL. This has been one of the biggest developments we have undertaken for some time and marks the first application of our new Tempest digital platform. We have been very encouraged by the response from mix engineers, rental companies and our channel partners

UK - The Guildhall School of Music & Drama will celebrate the opening of their new building, Milton Court, with a concert and reception on 26 September. Milton Court will provide much needed additional teaching space for the School and will complement their existing facilities on Silk Street.

The £89m centre brings together several distinct performance spaces under one roof to provide world-class performing arts facilities and an ideal environment for students to learn and practice their craft. The Concert Hall will also be used by the Barbican and its artistic partners, including performances from the Barbican's two new Associate Ensembles, the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia.

Milton Court is located at the heart of the City of London, occupying the first six floors of The Heron, a new 40-storey residential tower originally conceived by David Walker Archit

Sweden - Behind every concert and every TV show we see, behind every play of lights on the stage of a theatre that leaves us admired, behind the effects of a skilful lighting of urban architecture or a space for the public, there is always a big deployment of sophisticated technologies. Not all shows, however, have the same ability to excite us, some are great and exciting, others are dull and monotonous.

What makes the difference is the lighting designer, the artist who uses light as a creative tool and plays with the rhythm of the music or the atmosphere of a theatre piece. For the lighting designer, projectors are like the brushes for a painter and his art is to shape the light, adapting it to the needs of each show.

Patrick Woodroffe is one of the most famous lighting designers in the world since many years and shines with his art the most famous artists, the stars of the

UK - Event organiser Rouge Events called upon Capital Sound to deploy a Martin Audio MLA system for this year's Live by the Lake - a combination of pop and classical music presented by English Heritage at North London's Kenwood House. The event took place over several weekends during August.

This was Capital's first year at Kenwood and, as with many of its projects this year, understanding the sensitivity of the site and noise pollution issues was key.

With the MLA system having been used successfully for this purpose at a number of events, including British Summer Time in Hyde Park, Capital project manager, Robin Conway, knew that specifying MLA on all PA positions would give maximum controllability of both on- and off-site levels.

For having staged concerts at the site for more than 50 years, Kenwood House has historically struggled with sound containment and has been dogg

UK - Ken Christian is an avid and accomplished keyboardist and home recordist, using a combination of Ableton Live and Cubase software to help create his music. To connect his large collection of vintage analogue and digital synths and other gear, he has turned to RedNet, Focusrite's acclaimed range of Ethernet-networked audio interfaces, based around the industry-standard Dante Ethernet audio networking system. The first to offer IP network audio interfaces for the recording studio, RedNet is suitable for any application that requires moving around high quality audio with high channel count and ultra-low latency. Focusrite's RedNet is helping Christian streamline his workflow so he can focus on the music.

Christian's setup includes vintage keyboards including a Moog MemoryMoog, Oberheim OB-8, Prophet 5, Yamaha CS70M, Korg MS-10, and a Roland Juno-60, as well as a wide variety o

Belarus - The Miss Supranationa pageant recently took place over a three-week period in Belarus, with the gala final held at the Minsk Sport Palace.

Promoted by the World Beauty Organization, the spectacular event, held in front of around 5,000 people, and transmitted live to more than a billion viewers globally on ONT, owed much to the PR Lighting inventory supplied by local distributors FE Belimlight.

Working for Polish production company ARAM Multimedia, who were responsible for the entire project including light design and control, FE Belimlight's designer, Igor Piotrowsky, supplied 48 each of the powerful XL1500 Wash and XL1500 Spot from the company's large inventory of the Chinese manufacturer's fixtures; these utilise a powerful 1500W short arc discharge lamp, optimised by the use of a high quality and efficient optical system.

While the wash lights were focused on th

Denmark - Lighting designer Andrew Pygott was pleased to learn Danish rental company Comtech began offering Martin's MAC Viper Profile and designed a Martin rig for Sir Elton John's show at Denmark's Resenlund Park composed of the high-output profiles.

"I was very interested in giving the Viper Profiles a go ever since a demo at our Barnsley headquarters in England," says Pygott, who incorporated the Martin fixtures into the rig as the primary spots on the show, part of Elton John's 40th Anniversary of the Rocket Man tour.

"Its size-to-light output ratio and the good selection of stock gobos available made it an excellent fixture to clone and easily create multiple looks during the show," Pygott says. "The Vipers are also remarkably fast on function including movement, which is outstanding for its size."

Pygott positioned the Vipers on fi

Thailand - Allen & Heath has appointed One Systems as its exclusive distributor in Thailand. Selected by Asian sales agent, Global Market Management, One Systems has been importing and selling Allen & Heath products into Thailand on a non-exclusive basis since 2009, and is now in a position to manage all sales and promotions in Thailand.

"We felt it was important to bring the brand under one roof and management team as we all grow into the digital age of pro audio," says Alfonso Martin, operations/sales manager for One Systems. "This appointment coincides with the launch of our new showroom, which will allow us to properly display and demonstrate the entire range of Allen & Heath products."

Bardy Hayes of Global Market Management, regional sales manager for Allen & Heath, adds, "One Systems has grown technically, operationally and strategically. It is

Germany - Cadac has appointed new German based distributor, The Audio Specialists UG, to distribute its console range exclusively in Germany and Benelux.

The newly formed distributor is an independent subsidiary of the Dutch TAS group and is headed up by leading professional audio sales manager Hans-Juergen Heitzer (Age-Jay), formerly with Mega Audio. Based in Wittlich in Rhineland-Palatinate, close to the Belgian border, The Audio Specialists UG opened for business at the beginning of this month with a portfolio of leading international brands; CADAC joins a line-up that includes Clair Brothers, Outline and RPM.

Commenting on the agreement to distribute Cadac in Germany and Benelux, Age-jay stated, "It is our objective to serve our client base with high quality products from internationally recognised brands. Cadac is a perfect fit, with a heritage based on the best soun

UAE - Robe lighting is expanding its Middle East operation with the formation of Robe Middle East Trading LLC, a new company complete with a new regional HQ in Dubai.

This is the first part of Robe's current planned medium term expansion strategy, the initial stages of which will be rolled out over the next three months.

Robe Middle East will be headed by Robe's Middle East regional sales manager, Elie Battah, who is already well known and respected in the industry. It will distribute the full Robe ranges of moving and digital lighting fixtures and Anolis architectural LED products, driving the presence of both these premium brands across the region.

Says Battah, "Robe Middle East will provide the platform to continue the high standards of excellence expected from Robe." These will include office and administration, demo & training facilities, full sales and techni

UK - Vibrant new music TV series Ochr Un returned for its second series of production, recording over a period of eight days in one of North Wales's leading TV studio facilities this August. Produced by production company Antena Television for Welsh language mainstream broadcaster S4C, the programmes feature an array of different music numbers by artists from a diverse range of genres. With the programmes recorded 'as live', there was also a secondary chat studio, used for presenter links and interviews.

Returning to his place as lighting director following a successful first series was London- and Cardiff-based Steff Jones, who worked closely with production designer Gwyn Eiddior throughout the planning process.

Jones comments: "Versatility was a major key in the brief from Elis (series producer) this series, which had to be reflected in both the scenic and ligh

UK - Media and entertainment insurance specialists, Yutree has been named by PLASA - the worldwide voice of entertainment technologies - as its preferred provider of insurance to the association's members.

The boutique brokerage offers a personal service for businesses in the sector and PLASA's Membership Manager (EU) Norah Phillips commented: "We were impressed with their underlying philosophy -Yutree really work to get to know clients and their businesses, provide 24 hour access to a dedicated account manager, and offer complete transparency on fees".

Yutree Director Simon Miller, previously of Allan Chapman & James explains: ''Yutree welcomes PLASA's endorsement as their preferred insurance supplier. This re-enforces our place in the market and we are looking forward to offering impartial advice and insurance services to the members. Not everything can be done wit

Taiwan - Apex Audio's continuing expansion in the Asian market has taken another step forward with the appointment of IX Technology as the company's distributor in Taiwan.

IX Technology is part of the Linfair Engineering Group, founded in 1958. One of the region's foremost specialists in audio visual systems, IX supplies professional audio equipment, system design, installation and maintenance expertise. The company's high profile projects have included A/V project management of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, installations at Hong Kong Disneyland, the Wynn hotel and Venetian Theatre in Macau and high profile broadcast and government projects.

"With our decades of experience in professional audio engineering, IX Technology customers have very high expectations," says Paul Chang, general manager of IX Technology. "Apex is a quality brand which matches those expectatio

UK - As always, this year's PLASA London show is offering a range of educational seminars as part of its Professional Development Programme. Key to these is the AudioLab Interactive programme, which Yamaha is making a significant contribution to.

Working with Roland Hemming and the team from RH Consulting, Andy Cooper - manager of the Yamaha Commercial Audio Support Centre Europe - will be co-presenting seminars on the first two days of the show. The presentations will feature a range of Yamaha digital audio equipment, including DME64N digital mixing engines, MSP series active loudspeakers and MY series interfaces.

The Ultimate Network Shootout is presented at 16.00 on Sunday 6 and 13.30 on Monday 7 October. Cooper will assist in demonstrating a number of different audio networks including Dante - the core networking technology of Yamaha's CL series digital mixing conso

UK - In perhaps one of the more unusual live music projects this year, electronic music artist Scanner has teamed up with the Heritage Orchestra for Live_Transmission: Joy Division Reworked. The project is a musical and visual reinterpretation of the work of one of the UK's most influential bands.

Live_Transmission sees a selection of Joy Division songs deconstructed by Scanner and reinterpreted by the "ferociously non-classical" Heritage Orchestra to a backdrop of dismantled Joy Division imagery.

Visuals for the show were provided by Matthew J Watkins of the Beat13 collective. To display these atmospheric images, XL Video supplied front projection on to a screen behind the orchestra using a Barco FLM HD20 projector. A gauze screen in front of the orchestra was used for rear projection images supplied from one of XL's Barco SLM R12+ projectors.

The co

UK - Delivering the experience - from imagination to realisation in audio will be the theme of this year's Reproduced Sound (RS) conference, which is being held on 12-14 November.

Organised by the Institute of Acoustics (IOA), the main event in Manchester will be preceded by visits to the BBC's R&D facility and the University of Salford's acoustics research unit, both at the nearby MediaCityUK site on Salford Quays.

Taking a lead form this, the conference theme will be based around broadcast audio, with a focus on the art, science and engineering of the route from the imagination of the director and producer to the ears of the radio and TV audiences.

The MediaCityUK visits will take place on the afternoon and evening of 12 November, with the conference itself being staged at the Renaissance Hotel, Manchester, on 13-14 November. On the morning of the 15th, delegates will also

UK - LS-Live will be exhibiting (stand E59) at the PLASA Show for the first time when it moves to London's ExCel exhibition centre from 6-9 October.

The team invites visitors to join them for a drink and a chat at the bar on the stand, where you can find out more about their products and services that cover staging equipment rental, set design and construction, automation and production rehearsals.

Stage, set, automation and studio company LS-Live in Wakefield is an industry leader in the entertainment sector, having worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Dizzee Rascal, Kasabian, Tinie Tempah, The Stone Roses, The BBC, ITV, Monster Energy and The Olympic Torch Relay, to name a few.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - The School of Entertainment & Technology (SET) in Berlin has installed an Allen & Heath GS-R24M mixing console in its recording studio.

SET is managed alongside the School of Health, Sport, Technology and the Arts that makes up the Berlin Academy. Current investment plans are dedicated to improving the field of music and media, and in addition to a fully-fledged recording studio, the institute is also building a video studio and various seminar halls.

Following extensive comparisons, SET decided to purchase a GS-R24M mixer with a GSR-24-A-Fire Firewire / ADAT card.

"We wanted to have an analogue console that could also be used in conjunction with a DAW," explains Horst Haubrich, head of the SET Academy. "With most analogue consoles, it would be necessary to also purchase a DAW controller but that is not the case with the GS-R24M, which combines the w

UK / Canada - After a successful run at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, the David Bowie is exhibition is now touring other leading venues of art and design around the globe. The next stop is the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Canada, one of the most important art museums in North America.

David Bowie is will be on view in Toronto from 25 September to 27 November 2013. As at the V&A, which curated this exhibition, audio specialist Sennheiser is working hand in hand with the AGO to ensure an immersive sound experience for visitors. Sennheiser's guidePORT audio guide system and an elaborate 3D sound installation will again be an integral part of the exhibition.

During its five-month run in London, the David Bowie is multimedia exhibition broke all V&A records: the museum sold more than 67,000 tickets prior to the opening, over three times the a

South Africa - The School of Audio Engineering (SAE) in Cape Town is the latest to add its name to the ever-growing list of educational facilities to install an Audient ASP8024 analogue desk into its teaching studios. SAE Cape Town now aligns itself with its counterparts around the globe, including SAE Institutes in Rotterdam, Milan, Bucharest, Brisbane, Amsterdam, Melbourne and New York.

This summer alone, ASP8024 recording consoles have been installed at SAE Institutes in Italy, Australia and the United States. John Jansen, director of education in the New York facility has been getting a feel for their newest arrival over the last few weeks. "The patchbay created a learning curve for the students at first," he reveals. "Once it was understood, people love it. The bus compressor is a favourite feature too. It's very flexible and a great teaching tool, because th

USA - Celebrated as a worldwide television event, the MTV Video Music Awards has become one of the most-anticipated and watched awards ceremonies today. Broadcasting from the new Barclays Centre, the 2013 VMA's featured eight energy-filled performances highlighted by the Bruno Mars performance of Gorilla where lighting designers Roy Bennett and Tom Kenny took the opportunity to showcase the latest lighting innovation from Philips Entertainment, the Showline SL Nitro 510 LED luminaire, supplied by VER.

"I had heard about the SL NITRO 510 prior to the show but had never actually gotten to use one," began Kenny. "One thing I love about this show is that it gives me the opportunity to collaborate with a number of very talented designers as the artists performing typically have their own creative team. Roy Bennett and Cory Fitzgerald are the team behind Bruno Ma

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