France - L-Acoustics has announced a new V-DOSC Partner for Moldavia - Radio Polidisc Ltd, founded in 1993 and based in Kishinev.

Initially, the company's main activity was exclusively based around studio recording, but it rapidly expanded into a radio station and in 2001, the company started to rent sound equipment.

The founder of the company is sound producer, Valerii Galupa, his business partner Andrei Vasilatii was a former contrabass player, and Eddy Van Nuffel from the Belgian company AED was able to offer a high level of assistance towards the emergence and development of their operation. Valerii Galupa states: "We have two completely different directions for our business, first, musical radio stations - we now have two. Secondly, rental support - sound, light, riggi

UK - Academy Music Group (AMG) has appointed Carl Bathgate as General Manager of Carling Academy Birmingham. He joins AMG from Liverpool University Student Union where he has been promoter and entertainments manager for the last six years. He replaces Richard Maides, who has been promoted internally to the position of Group Operations Manager.

With the recent expansion of AMG's venue estate across the country, the latest being the 2,000 capacity Carling Academy Newcastle, Maides will work with operations director, Steve Forster to continue AMG's consistency of operations across the Group and maximise commercial potential and growth for each venue.

Commenting on the appointment, Steve Forster says, "Richard has successfully managed Birmingham for the last three and a half years and has proved he has the commitment and application necessary to work at an operational level.

UK - In spite of a blustery series of drenching thunderstorms, nearly 45,000 music lovers descended on Hyde Park for the tenth anniversary of London's end-of-summer celebration, Proms in the Park. The steadfast audience warmed to performances by the BBC Concert Orchestra, along with tenor Andrea Bocelli, violinist Nicola Benedetti, pop vocal quartet G4, and special guests Simply Red. This year's event also marked the debut of a 96-cabinet, self-powered Meyer Sound system built around MILO and MICA high-power curvilinear arrays.

The audience spread out in casual picnic fashion, making the coverage area immense: 300 meters deep and nearly 250 meters wide. In addition, because of the eclectic combination of pop/rock and classical fare, the system must project delicate transients as well as handling a wide dynamic range. Beyond all that, everything is broadcast live on the B

USA - American DJ is offering a spread of new possibilities to the world of stage lighting by applying LED technology to par cans. The company's new DMX-compatible P36 LED and P64 LED Par Cans are equipped with light emitting diodes, allowing users to create virtually any colour via RGB colour mixing, says the manufacturer.

Unlike conventional par cans, which produce a limited number of colours using gel filters, the P36 LED and P64 LED's RGB colour mixing process combines red, green and blue LEDs to create any desired shade. The P64 LED is equipped with 151 LEDs (51 red, 49 green, 51 blue), and the P36 LED with 61 LEDs (21 red, 19 green, 21 blue).

With RGB mixing, the P36 LED and P64 LED give users complete control over the colour scheme of their lighting presentation, right from their DMX controller. "This is great for stage productions, concerts, churches, presentation

Europe - Bandit Lites UK supplied LD Bruce Spillman with full lighting production, rigging and crew for the European leg of Michael Bolton's Til The End of Forever tour.

Bandit Inc has serviced Bolton for the last three years, since he resumed active gigging in the US. However this is the first European tour for some time and also Spillman's first experience working with Bandit UK. The tour was project managed for Bandit by Lester Cobrin.

Spillman, based in Anaheim, California, had to create a big show with an expedient amount of lighting fixtures. There were a few set pieces extracted from previous tours and carried forward to this one, notably three fast fold projection screens, upstage of the risers, used for gobo projections and other lighting effects, and to give the stage a shape and a sense of form.

The rig consisted of 142 PARs spread across three 40ft pre-rig

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USA - Altman Lighting was awarded the Lighting/Architecture Product of the Year award at the recent LDI in Orlando for its Smart Track lighting system.

Altman Architectural's Smart Track enables digital control signals to be brought to addressable architectural luminaires without the need for dimmer packs and bulky cable runs. Smart Track consists of a three-circuit track with DMX control built right in. This allows the user to control Altman's Smart IQseries luminaires without the need for cabling and remote dimmers.

"We are pleased and honoured that the LDI judges recognised our Smart Track system with the Product of the Year Award," says Robert Altman, CEO/president of Altman Lighting. "At the show, we met with many designers, consultants, and specifiers who were really intrigued with the Smart Track and discussed the many exciting applications that they have

UK - PRG Europe has supplied the lighting for what is believed to be the biggest moving light rig for a British television series, Stars in their Eyes on ITV, which is filming now for transmission next year. PRG Europe supplied some 90 VariLite luminaires and 80 PixelLine battens, along with mains distribution, cabling and distribution racks, all controlled by a Virtuoso VX desk and an EX1 media server.

"Stars in their Eyes has been going for about fourteen years," explained lighting director Neil Yates, "and we've used PRG Europe for about ten of those. We like the fact that we get a total package from PRG - they have a great deal of expertise, and all problems and changes are quickly sorted out. They're always very amenable with changes and redesigns."

The brief included the stipulation that the lighting rig should not be seen, difficult when you'r

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With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

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Europe - Turbosound reports that its Aspect series products are being deployed by UK rental company WE Audio, for the current European tour by Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. The tour follows WE Audio's concert and festival successes with Aspect during the summer and, with the resultant growth of interest in its services, WE Audio has placed an order for a further 12 stacks of Aspect, as well as an additional 8 Turbosound TSW-218double-18" sub-bass enclosures.

Taking in over 50 dates across western and eastern Europe, the one-truck Rhythm Kings tour is visiting venues with audience capacities ranging from 500 to over 3,000. WE Audio is covering these capacities with just 12stacks of Aspect touring cabinets, with each stack comprising a TA-890H mid-high and TA-890L bass cabinet.

The Aspect loudspeakers are being flown as a 3 x 2 left-right system, with ground-stacked TSW-218 su

USA - Look Solutions' Unique hazers, Viper NT fog generators and a Power-Tiny battery-powered fog generator have reprised their role from the London production for the new Broadway version of The Woman in White.

Paul Pyant lit the original London production of The Woman in White, with associate lighting designer David Howe tasked with recreating Pyant's design for Broadway. "The lighting and atmosphere of the show has to be precisely controlled because of the projections," remarked Howe on why Look Solutions' machines were chosen for the production. "Previous experience told us the Look Solutions machines were quiet, compact and had no fluid compatibility issues."

The Woman in White features four Unique hazers, which are placed in the proscenium area of the Marquis Theatre. A Power-Tiny battery-powered fog generator is used for a spot

USA - Strand Lighting's C21 Dimmer range was recognised as the Product of the Year for LDI 2005. Before a standing room only crowd Tim Burnham, President of Strand Lighting, accepted the award on Saturday evening at the LDI Awards ceremony. Tim added, "All of us at Strand are pleased to receive this recognition. I am very proud of the technical achievements of the entire C21/EC21 design team led by Michael Lay and Steve Carlson."

C21 and EC21 dimmer racks are designed for global operation and provide a number of advances in technology. In addition to providing support for conventional SCR dimmers including Quad, Dual and single modules with ratings up to 12kW; sophisticated Sinewave dimmers are also available. Dual Sinewave modules may be freely mixed and matched with standard dimmers in the same rack for complete flexibility.

No special wiring or separate racks are

USA - The musical Rent has been running for ten years at Broadway's Nederlander theatre . Recently, Sound designer Brian Ronan was charged with replacing the sound system and opted for self-powered loudspeakers from Meyer Sound.

Achieving the required clarity is fairly straightforward on the orchestra level of the 1,200-seat house, but not as easy in the steeply-raked 500-seat balcony. "The Nederlander is a room with two very different sounds upstairs and down," Ronan explains. "It's fairly predictable and consistent on the orchestra floor, a nice combo of reflective and absorbent surfaces. But the balcony is a very reflective space, which is subject to drastic changes in response due to humidity."

Despite the differing needs of the upper and lower parts of the hall, Ronan had little time to experiment on the long-running show. "It's very unusu

UK - Following the launch at the end of June of Belgacom TV, a digital TV package offering a range of channels including film and sports, Belgacom, the leading telecommunications company in Belgium, has recently installed a full digital I/O Sy80 mixing console from InnovaSON in a new control room dedicated to the European Soccer Championships at its Net Center in Brussels.

The move comes as a result of Belgacom Skynet's acquisition of the TV broadcasting rights to the Belgian Jupiler League and the Italian A Series, enabling Belgacom TV to offer viewers the nine Jupiler League matches every weekend, as well as the three best Calcio matches from the Italian A Series. Belgacom also broadcasts to other cable TV and pay-per-view channels.

The installation was handled by Unitecnic, a Spanish audio visual systems integrator specialising in broadcast applications who won the bid issu

Very little formal recognition exists for the creative designs produced by those working in the entertainment industry, so PLASA (the Professional Lighting and Sound Association) and the PLASA Show have become joint sponsors of a new category in the 2006 Lighting Design Awards.

The award for Entertainment Lighting is open to theatrical productions, concerts, festivals, corporate events, exhibitions, temporary and one-off lighting installations, and will see a lighting team in the event sector recognized for outstanding achievement.

Judged by leading industry professionals, the finalists and winners stand to earn the plaudits of their peers, industry respect and publicity across a wide range of media, including national press and TV. The deadline for entries is Thursday 12 January 2006 and an application form can be found on the LDA website at the address below.

The event nominated

UK - Capital Sound Hire set three separate production levels (for theatres, small arenas and large arenas) for comedian Lee Evans' current tour - based around Martin Audio line array (and non-line array) components. Evans' gags are embroidered by numerous 'pops' (the mic is used as a stage prop), VT play-ins and a closing song which he delivers on mandolin.

During soundcheck at Hallam FM Arena, the artist listened carefully to the playback of his mandolin track at the three different delay points (each containing three clusters of four Martin W8C's). He is equally concerned about his monitor sound - and although production carries Martin Audio LE12J floor wedges, these are generally forsaken in favour of boosted side fills (provided by six Martin Audio W8LM Mini Line Arrays).

The shows are promoted by Off The Kerb and the production manager is Mark Harris. Capital Sound Hire,

USA - Clay Paky's Alpha Wash Halo is being used extensively on the new Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White which opened on November 17.

The Halo, a 1,000W (3,200 K) halogen wash light fixture, was specifically designed for use in theatre and television, and The Woman in White marks the Broadway debut of the Halo. The original London production of the musical, was lit by UK-based lighting designer, Paul Pyant. Pyant's Associate Lighting Designer for the original production, David Howe, was tasked with recreating Pyant's design in The Marquis Theatre, New York.

"We needed a bright, colour mixing, tungsten-source wash light with a great range of subtle pastel and tonal colours that was consistent across all units," remarks Howe on the decision to use the Clay Paky Alpha Wash Halo fixtures. "As the show's scenery is entire

Belgium - Mixing Fun Lovin' Criminals through the house system at Brussels' 2,000-capacity Ancienne Belgique theatre may seem a far cry from Oasis at Knebworth Park in 1996 for top sound engineer Huw Richards, but it provided the opportunity for a good workout for Digidesign's Venue mixing environment.

While the tour had picked up production from Tour Tech on the UK leg, in northern Europe they were flying solo, dependent on whatever the house threw at them. For instance, the previous night they had had the luxury of playing through a brand new Line Array at Het Paard in The Hague, while in Brussels it was through a classic, but ageing conventional stacked system.

After being introduced to Venue by Robbie Allen while babysitting the Manic Street Preachers last year, Richards then spent three weeks in Brazil on the board, taking over the Placebo reins from Ian Nelson. "Ven

Sweden - Lab.gruppen's recently introduced C Series power amplification solutions for permanent installations are now shipping. In addition to the three previously announced, Lab.gruppen has announced a new model - the C 68:4. This model offers the same features as all other C Series models: four channels packed in two rack units, bridgeable channel pairs, adjustable gain and output voltage, NomadLink networking and monitoring, as well as advanced protection circuitry.

All C Series models incorporate patented Class TD design and regulated switch mode power supply, enabling all models, including the C 16:4, to drive a wide range of loads from 2 ohms to high-impedance 70/100V constant voltage lines directly. With only four models, C Series offers a power range from 300W to 3400W.

The built-in NomadLink network interface enables all C Series amplifiers to be easily monitored and

USA - New York City College of Technology has been named the 2005 recipient of the Martin Intelligent Lighting Technology Grant. Runners up schools were the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; and North Carolina School of Arts.

The Grant was presented on November 12 at a special ceremony at the LDI exhibition in Orlando. Martin US vice president of sales and marketing, Eric Loader, commented, "Once again this year there were a large number of applicants with very strong packages which were submitted for consideration. We are very pleased to award this year's Grant to New York City College of Technology. Their Entertainment Technology program which is cutting edge and targeted to the core of our industry will certainly benefit from the award but they will also utilise the grant in a way which will affect a large number of students in a key area of

UK - Alto has increased its PA speaker range with the launch of the new ELV series, reports UK distributor Proel (International). The ELV range builds on Alto's policy of using European design know-how coupled to Chinese mass-production ability.

All the ELV models are housed in wood enclosures and are fully black carpet covered to offer enduring on-stage looks, plus maximum sound quality.

The range begins with the 10" woofer plus 1" compression driver equipped ELV 10, which will handle 200 Watts. Succeeding models (there are 12 in all) include both active and passive versions in a variety of speaker configurations, using 12" and 15" drivers. Top of the passive series is the ELV 15, which uses a 15" woofer, 1" compression driver, will handle 500 Watts, and has built-in electronic protection.

Active models in the series all feature high quality am

UK - Stardraw.com has announced immediate availability of the release version of its award-winning application, Stardraw Control. The company reports that over 2400 systems specialists took part in the beta test phase prior to this launch, and a great deal of their feedback has been used to enhance and improve Stardraw Control's interface and feature set.

Stardraw Control has been developed to create customised user interfaces that can control any product from any manufacturer over any protocol including TCP/IP, Infra-Red, RS232, DMX, UDP, EtherSound and CobraNet The interfaces created are compiled to a single .exe file that can be deployed and run on any windows device, from touchscreen to TabletPC to PC, while support for multiple interface devices (that offer, for example, TCP/IP to IR, RS232 to IR, TCP/IP to RS232 etc) allows users to select from a wide range of components

UK - Having made an impact on the live audio scene in the handful of years it has been available in the UK, JTS has now turned its attention to the project, commercial and broadcast studio market with the launch of the JS-1 studio mic.

The JS-1 is a cardioid response, large diaphragm condenser microphone, designed to fulfill a variety of roles. The manufacturer says it is specially suited to applications such as vocals (including speech), general orchestral and spot miking of wind, brass and woodwind instruments, as well as strings (particularly cello and double bass) plus piano and percussion. It is also well-suited to for overhead drum and percussion applications.

The design criteria of for the JS-1 were strict - to offer exceptional performance in both acoustic and physical terms. The former is achieved by the use of a one inch super-thin 24K gold-plated externally biased M

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