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14 March 2016

Olympic Cinemas has transformed the former Olympic Recording Studios into modern cinema and performance theatres. Renowned engineer Chris Kimsey (The Rolling Stones, Peter Frampton, Duran Duran) began his illustrious career at Olympic and has now returned as the sound consultant and engineer for its live concert series and recording facilities.

Chris chose the powerful and feature-packed DiGiCo SD11 to provide 'front of house' duties for the live concerts. The SD11's compact size allows Chris to set up his mixing position in the middle of the cinema seating and a single network cable is used to link the mixer to the D-Rack stagebox.

Introduced to DiGiCo by engineer and Art of Noise member Gary Langan, Chris has found the SD11 to be a reliable, sonically

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14 March 2016

This peculiar and peaceful battle of the flowers is a war in which participants throw more than one million clavellones (a type of flower) that form a huge and colourful carpet of flowers through the streets of Valencia that are part of the itinerary.

This year, the overall production of the battle of the flowers relied on 16 Work Pro speakers WPL 5A which were installed from the bridge of the flowers of Valencia to the roundabout General Elio, located next to Viveros Garden.

Additionally, among the material used for this event, there were two professional lifting towers by Work Lifters, in particular the LW 461 R

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14 March 2016

Behind the scenes, the last-ever theatrical presentation of the Python team's sketchbook was a high-tech affair, making extensive use of Shure wireless microphone and in-ear monitoring technology to ensure that every llama, lumberjack, albatross, crunchy frog, and mention of spam and excrementally runny camembert could be heard clearly - particularly on the final night, which was broadcast live internationally.

Responsibility for this not-inconsiderable task fell to the show's appointed sound designer, Rory Madden of live production and audio equipment hire company Sonalyst, who has most recently looked after the hit 2013 hit West End musical

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14 March 2016

This will allow Xavtel to be part of a worldwide group of companies to define the new standard of AV-Networking and to be able to integrate all relevant products for certification according to the AVB standards.

"We are in the process of starting our certification and hope to be ready to show our first certified hardware very soon, which will be another milestone for Xavtel, to be able to provide next generation audio video and conferencing solutions to our customers.

"With our V-Platform MIRA, we are already able to stream audio and video simultaneously over our 1Gbit Xavnet protocol with extremely low latency using our own codec, so the adoption process to the AVB standard should not take too long." says Romano M Cunsolo,

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14 March 2016

Most recently, Liverpool-based technical production company Adlib invested in 40 new ColourPoint fixtures, for use on the company's variety of events projects.

White Light's Jonathan Haynes worked with Adlib's Dave Platt to discuss Adlib's requirements and ensure that they could try out the fixtures before a decision was made. "We were looking for new technology that would look good and give us flexibility for our events," said Platt. "After seeing the ColourPoints in action, we placed an order with White Light."

Haynes explains the product's popularity, "Especially for event professional

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14 March 2016

Today in Nelspruit, Kyle Nel of AVS, coincidently with the same name as the Nel brothers, is making his own mark, using modern technology in a city where the main industry is forestry, citrus and tropical farming and of course the tourist attraction of the game reserve. He recently took ownership of two Robe Pointes and Prolyte Dex and Trussing, purchased from DWR Distribution.

"I've always had a keen interest in sound and music, and while I have no musical talent whatsoever, I have a natural ability with anythin

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14 March 2016

Winner of a Technology Strategy Board IC Tomorrow digital innovation challenge, the technology will allow a new generation of location-aware festival apps to deliver ground-breaking features for audiences, and a new level of behavioural understanding for promoters.

For Wireless, Crowd Connected used a combination of code embedded into the official iOS and Android Wireless mobile apps. The team then provided promoter Live Nation with a web-based console displaying a real-time crowd density heat-map overlaid on the Finsbury Park site map, and real-time occupancy and dwell time information for everything from stages

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14 March 2016

The CrossCountry network is the most extensive passenger rail franchise in Britain. Stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance, and from Stansted to Cardiff, it calls at over 100 stations. Based in Birmingham, CrossCountry connects seven of Britain's 10 largest cities and delivers 295 services every weekday, equating to some 32m journeys a year. CrossCountry is committed to reducing environmental impacts and improving energy performance and is always searching for innovative products that ensure this happens.

Craig Lewis, managing director at Novah Limited, explai

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14 March 2016

The two hour highly visual show, produced by global brand experience agency Jack Morton Worldwide (JMW) and directed by David Zolkwer featured a cast of 2,000 plus special guests including Rod Stewart and Susan Boyle, offering a snapshot of the history, character, culture, industry, quirkiness and innate humour of Scotland. It presented the 4500 athletes from 71 participating nations to a live audience of over 40,000 plus around two billion TV viewers.

Among the Robe fixtures were 64 of the amazing new big lights - shortly to be launched worldwide - and 28 of Robe's new LEDBeam 1000s.

These were joined by 183 x Pointes, 100 x LEDBeam 100s, 98 x LEDWash 600s and 60 x CycFX 8s - all from

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14 March 2016

Since 2007, the Tones on the Stones Festival has played host to performances which combine music, theatre and dance with the geometry and solidness of the quarry. For the last two years, the festival has been able to count on an exceptional partner: Clay Paky.

Clay Paky provided a wide range of lights this year: Alpha Wash 1500s, Alpha Profile 1500s, A. leda B-Eye K20s, Sharpys, GlowUp Strips and GlowUps. The Festival lighting designer Nevio Cavina was therefore able to take advantage of all the effects he needed to create wel

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14 March 2016

Amadeus speakers installed in the theatres include the Diva XS, Diva XS 15 line arrays, and the co-axial PMX 12, PMX 15, PMX 15 S plus paired subwoofers for each room: ML 15 and ML 18. All of the Amadeus speakers at Les Quinconces are powered by Lab.gruppen amplifiers, utilizing both the company's C Series and the newly released IPD Series.

Twelve years after planning began, and four years after the first brick was laid, Les Quinconces in Le Mans was inaugurated on 26 April, 2014, in the presence of Stéphane Le Foll, French Minister of Agriculture, Le Mans Mayor Jean-Claude Boulard and Pascal Lelarge,

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14 March 2016

That's also pretty much how things stood when this four story Romanesque structure opened in 1893 to serve the city's burgeoning Czech population as a concert hall and social hub --except musical styles were different back then and there were no LED fixtures! However, in between then and now was a dark period when Thalia Hall, which was modelled after the Old Opera House in Prague, stood idle for decades before being given new life by a couple of visionary Chicago entrepreneurs.

The "new" Thalia Hall is remarkably like its predecessor

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14 March 2016

At the same time, those same characteristics are what give choral music and the church's pipe organ a special kind of warmth. In fact, they are what help draw crowds to the several organ and classical music events that the church hosts each year. It can be difficult to keep the church's message clear and articulate without affecting the acoustical properties that are a key part of this kind of traditional ecclesiastical architecture.

A RoomMatch system from Bose Professional Systems provided the answer. As it has done for scores of houses of worship with similar challenges, the RoomMatch system was able to precisely address th

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14 March 2016

Co-produced by Insomniac Events and Madison House, the fourth annual Electric Forest Festival was held 27-29 June and featured music from legendary jam bands, rock bands, electronica and DJs. The weekend event at Double JJ Ranch featured access to a water park, yoga sessions, impromptu jam sessions, art installations, firework shows, spectacular lighting in the forest, and night after night of music.

Musical acts for this year's event included shows from The String Cheese Incident, Steve Angello, Umphrey's McGee, STS9, Moby, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Zedd, and Matt & Kim.

Ba

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14 March 2016

Rising behind the façade of the former San Antonio Municipal Auditorium along downtown's famed River Walk, the 1,750-seat multi-purpose venue will be the home of the San Antonio Symphony and other resident companies. It also plans to offer a diverse array of entertainment from comedy legend Bill Cosby and radio icon Garrison Keillor and The Prairie Home Companion to the Scottish Ballet's production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

The four-level H-E-B Performance Hall is the largest of the centre's performance spaces; the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theatre is a black box-style space with multiple seating options. Dealer Texas Scenic and rep Roy Harline are pro

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14 March 2016

Tilmex undertook the refurbishment for the legendary facility well known for its dusk Parade as thousands of Penguins waddle up the beach at the end of each day, watched by scores of visitors since the 1930's.

Phillip Island can be a particularly wild and harsh coastal environment and made the extensive choice of IP rated equipment Apart manufactures an obvious choice for Tilmex.

A great variety of Apart product (Revampss, Audiocontroll12.8, Mask speakers, Column and Sphere speakers) was installed in areas such as the Theatrette, small retail area, large retail area, rear exit to the beach, Penguin World information area, Outdoor Walk Way and entrance, café, and bathrooms.

The client has commented on the

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14 March 2016

"Each detail must come together to compliment what the movement on stage is trying to convey. Every decision we make for the sound system goes to support that end vision. For audio, that means everything from volume level, allowing the dancers to feel their movement and be energized by the sound, all the way to equipment proportions, so as not to interrupt the sight lines to the dancers. It is about the whole package coming together, and it is amazing to work with a company who gives priority to that."

Along with providing regular classes at

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14 March 2016

"The lighting design on this tour had to start big and get even bigger," explains Sinclair. "It needed to do justice to Queen's extensive and wonderful production heritage. I needed lights that could deliver huge looks and which had the capacity and versatility to make those looks go even bigger."

The gold-painted set, designed by UK show architects Stufish, featured a 30ft square of WinVision 9 LED screens from VER and a giant automated 'Q' whose tail flipped down to create the show's B-Stage.

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14 March 2016

Working for HPower on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), Star provided a double-deck press centre, a screen support structure, a choir stage, and a host studio to the event.

Tez Sheals-Barrett, Star Events' project manager, comments: "The St Symphorien Cemetery is very small and the main brief from production manager Harry Guthrie was to make the structures as unobtrusive as possible.

"The cemetery exudes an air of grace which affected not just the event but the whole build and removal as well. The solemnness of the occasion meant we had to use all our skills to build functional structures, get them to look right and ensure that the cemetery infrastructure, and every blade

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14 March 2016

Concert Touring and Events is judged by independent industry professionals from journalism and rental companies while the Television category, supported by the STLD, will again be judged by television industry professionals. The Theatre category, fully supported by the ALD, continues to be judged by professional critics from the National newspapers.

This year the organisers have further established the independence of the KOI Awards by opening a new level of table sponsorship to any company involved in the lighting industry. Companies from control to rental and all lighting manufacturers have been invited to join lighting and video d

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14 March 2016

As old equipment reaches end of life and more efficient digital solutions come onstream - as was the case when BSS introduced the Soundweb London digital DSP platform - so RG Jones' sales and installation director Jon Berry prepares a new specification which will underpin the club's future requirements.

However, this year a more radical overhaul was required with the relocation of the PA room in the Broadcast Centre - and this required him to specify a large number of Crown's new four-channel, energy efficient DriveCore Install (DCi) amplifiers.

In total RG Jones deployed 1

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14 March 2016

White Light's Jonathan Haynes worked with Andrew to find the right fit for the production and the venue as a whole. Like most performance venues, Theatre by the Lake is taking energy consumption into consideration when deciding on future lighting fixtures. For Swallows and Amazons, Andrew was looking for an LED fixture that could deliver on energy efficiency without compromising on brightness or colour.

After surveying the choices, Andrew employed three Spectra Cyc 200s and four Spectra Cyc 100s for the production. "Having seen the Altman units on demo, I was excited to se

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14 March 2016

For the questions screen, XL Video project manager, Jeff Bailey, specified one of XL's high brightness Barco HD-20 projectors, which fed the 3.2 x 2.32m screen. The high brightness unit, which supplies 20,000 Lumens, was selected to counter the ambient light on set.

For the game tower, which counts down the scores towards the much-sought-after 'pointless' answer, 20 tiles of XL's Barco NX6 LED product were utilised, depopulated from the standard rental frames and installed into a laser-cut c

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14 March 2016

Formed in the 1980s, Indochine are heroes in their home country, the first French band ever to play the Stade de France to a crowd of 80,000 back in 2010. That they have endured for so long and so successfully is testament to the drive and vision of Nicolas Sirkis, singer and leader of the band. That vision has led to one of their most elaborate stage shows to date, one that blends sound, light and video in ways not normally seen at a rock show.

The Black City Tour started in February 2013 and took Indochine across Europe and the rest of the world, culminating in two consecutive shows at the Stade de