News

Hawkins invests in Pro Tools from HHB

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Justin Hawkins has purchased a Pro Tools / ICON Console system from HHB. Comprising a 32-fader ICOND-Control console, Pro Tools HD3, extensive storage and a full suite of plug-ins,the system forms the heart of the former Darkness frontman's new recording facility in North West London.

"The HHB team has been great to deal with right from the start," reports Hawkins. Commenting for HHB, Greg Wheeler says "Everyone at HHB particularly enjoyed working on this project. The new studio looks and sounds great, and we wish Justin every success."

(Jim Evans)

Zero 88 chills out at Café 7

Details: 14 March 2016

Germany - The German contemporary restaurant franchise Café 7 has opened its latest franchise featuring fully integrated lighting control from Zero 88. Style and branding are core to Café 7's philosophy and part of their franchise agreements is to maintain their distinctive ambience and style. During the day they operate as cosy café's but as evening approaches Café 7's evolve into relaxed bars offering a range of international wines and cuisines.

For its fourth franchise, which opened in Münster during February 2007, Cafe 7 chose Zero 88 for the lighting control. The management of the café needed a simple way for staff to seamlessly integrate ambient house lighting, colour changing LED and disco lighting effects. The combination of Chilli dimmers, remote panels and Frog-Box replay unit were chosen for their ease of installation, ease of use a

PRG takes Kinesys automation on Richie tour

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - PRG has bought a 30-way Kinesys automation system which has gone straight out on the Lionel Richie tour, for which PRG is the lighting contractor.

The Kinesys system was specified for the lengthy UK and European leg of the tour by show designer and LD Chris Medvitz. PRG's account handler Carol Croft says, "We had been looking at buying a system for some time, and then this came up - so the time was absolutely right."

On the Richie tour, the Kinesys system's Elevation 1+ motor drives are working in conjunction with 28 tonne Lodestar JJ vari-speed motors, being controlled by Kinesys Vector software, operated by Blaine Dracup.

The Motors are suspending nine lighting pods, eight of them each contain six Vari*Lites, and the ninth has ten 5K Skypan fixtures. All are hung over the stage, with the Skypan pod right above the piano riser.

The pods are static for most

Dolly Parton's prints at Wembley

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Dolly Parton, one of the most honoured female country performers of all time, has unveiled a plaque of her handprints, which will be on permanent display in Wembley, London's Square of Fame. The ceremony took place as Parton prepared to go on stage for a sold-out performance at Wembley Arena, part of the singer's 17-city, 10-country European tour.

The legendary singer, songwriter and actress joins other iconic artists including Madonna, Cliff Richard, Status Quo, George Michael, Kylie Minogue and snooker champion Stephen Hendry in having a permanent cast of her hands in the Square of Fame. On unveiling her handprints, Parton commented: "It is wonderful to be performing here at Wembley and an honour to leave my handprints in the Square. I never realised just how small my hands are."

(Jim Evans)

Sunlite at Frankfurt

Details: 14 March 2016

Germany - Sunlite is showing a broad spread of its products at ProLight + Sound and reports that all the company's software products are 100% compatible with the new Microsoft operating system, Windows VISTA. All software have been successfully tested and work perfectly on this system, says Sunlite.

"As it is expected, all of our software will take advantage of the new Windows VISTA features in the future. Our engineers are already working on new releases that use these features, which will be launched throughout the year," adds the company.

(Jim Evans)

APT adds Eclipse codec

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Audio Codec Specialists, APT will unveil the latest addition to their new WorldCast IP Codec Range at this year's NAB. The WorldCast Eclipse is a multi-interface, multi-algorithm audio codec for a new age of broadcasting. It offers a professional and sophisticated platform for broadcasters interested in migration to IP, says APT.

The WorldCast Eclipse offers Ethernet, X.21/V.35 and ISDN ports providing access to a wide range of networks such as IP, Leased Line, Satellite, Microwave and Dial-up. Broadcasters can also choose from a selection of major coding algorithms such as Standard and Enhanced apt-X, MPEG 1/2 Layer II/III, MPEG 4 AAC, G.711 and G.722.All WorldCast codecs support SIP and SDP protocols which enable them to easily connect to all compliant IP codecs. All are designed around a DSP-based architecture to ensure reliability and avoid the instability associated w

Martin posts record profits in 2006

Details: 14 March 2016

Denmark - In 2006, Martin Professional successfully maintained the positive developments in the company's operations that began in the second half of 2005. Substantial improvement produced a DKK 18 million profit before tax in 2006 (approx. $3.2 million), an increase of DKK 83 million over 2005 figures (approx. $14.7 million).

Revenue was up from DKK 955 million in 2005 (approx. $171 million) to a record level of DKK 1,027 million in 2006 (approx. $183 million), the highest ever as Martin generated new sales records in a number of geographical markets, among them France, Germany and Scandinavia. The year to year improvement in EBT was also the largest in company history and operating cash flow reached DKK 113 million (approx. $20.2 million), the highest level ever.

The improvement was attributable to a more focused sales effort, combined with the successful launch of new produ

Zaxcom starts shipping of ZFR800

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Zaxcom is now shipping the ZFR800 handheld digital recording microphone, a system optimised for use in radio interviews, broadcast journalism, podcasting, and any voice-recording application that "requires mobility and superior sound quality".

The ZFR800 records up to eight hours of uncompressed audio on a removable 2-GB memory card. An integrated time-code receiver allows users to jam time code and sync multiple ZFR800 units remotely. Featuring a professional look and feel, the ZFR800 provides an ergonomic, camouflaged control pad for easy one-handed control of all record functions. It can be used with any Shure screw-on capsule, giving users their preferred sonic quality, says the company.

"We're very pleased to be shipping our ZFR800 system and to better meet the needs of today's audio professional," said Glenn Sanders, president of Zaxcom. "T

XL Video is Faithless

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - XL Video is supplying video projection and cameras to the Faithless To All New Arrivals tour, forming an integral element of LD and visual designer Ivan Morandi's provocative live show aesthetics. Morandi has worked with the band for seven years and has always seen lighting and moving images as a potentially symbiotic phenomenon, however this is the first time that Faithless have gone really large on the video.

XL Video's Des Fallon is project manager. He says, "Ivan is highly talented, knows exactly what he wants and his work always looks incredible. It's great to be part of the equation again following last year's Placebo tour."

Morandi wanted the Faithless show to look 'contemporary psychedelic' to match the pumping, dance energy of the band. Onstage are five 10 x 7 ft landscape format screens arranged in two staggered rows, three on the top, two on th

Hawthorn's art project for Red Nose Day

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Hawthorn were contracted by SML Events to supply a self-standing truss tower and screen for The Big Art Project for Comic Relief, sponsored by Muller and Visit London, held in Trafalgar Square last week. 54 small 1 sq.m canvasses were assembled to create one giant piece of art 6m wide and 9m tall.

Celebrities and VIP's painted the majority of the canvasses, however a few were painted by members of the public in Trafalgar Square on the morning of the event itself. Afterwards the canvasses were auctioned off to raise money for Red Nose Day 2007.

Hawthorn's specialist rigging team used a Prolyte ST self-climbing truss tower, complete with two one-ton double breaked Verlinde motors, and over 12 tons of ballast to secure the structure.

Hawthorn's senior rigger, Jono Toon commented, "it was a pleasure to be doing something to support such a worthwhile charity, and

K-Klass achieve chart success with JBL

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - K-Klass, the award-winning DJ and Dance remix consortium, is celebrating its latest No.1 in the UK's Dance charts with its 2007 version of Rhythm Is A Mystery.The single, which originally entered the charts in 1990 when it went to No. 3, marks K-Klass' first hit since acquiring a pair of JBL Professional LSR4300 studio monitors, supplied by Harman Pro UK dealer, Liverpool-based Studiocare Professional Audio.

Andy Williams, who founded K-Klass in 1989 with Paul Roberts, Russell Morgan and Carl Thomas, says: "We recently started work in our new pre-production studio in Wrexham, but the small monitors we were using were not giving us the sound we wanted. After looking at a number of alternatives, we chose the LSR4300s because their low frequency correction tool gave us such a fantastic sound. This is particularly important with Dance music where you really need to

Nitelites boosts its JBL Vertec rig

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Nitelites, the North East provider of sound, lighting and staging, has re-confirmed its commitment to JBL Professional's range of products by investing in eight Vertec VT4880A subwoofers. The units, which were supplied by Harman Pro UK, are being powered by four new Crown IT8000 amplifiers to provide 32kW of sub-bass for Nitelite's existing VT4889 rigs.

Founded in 1984 by current director Jim Moore, Nitelites was born out of a touring system from the halcyon days of 'Rock n Roll.' After years of on the road with Lindisfarne, the system and the company evolved to encompass Moore's experience in the sound reinforcement industry, which over the years has seen him work with artists including Frank Zappa, Journey, Def Leppard, Chris Rea, Dr Hook, Van Halen and Led Zeppelin.

Nitelites has been stocking JBL Professional's Vertec series for six years and was one of the first tour

High End debuts Road Hog at Frankfurt

Details: 14 March 2016

Germany - High End Systems chose ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt to launch the newest member of the Wholehog family: the Road Hog, billed as a new breed of lighting console designed for speed and affordability.

Brad Schiller, HES Director of control systems development, says, "The Road Hog console has been developed as a lower cost alternative, allowing a wide range of users to experience the benefits of the Wholehog operating software. Its compact size and fast operating speed provide a sleek package that will fit nicely into various markets including corporate events, houses of worship, smaller touring shows and rental applications. We are pleased to strengthen the Wholehog family with another superb lighting console."

The Road Hog console provides 2048 DMX channels of control, offering fast performance speed. Two internal touch screens display data and allow quick a

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