Canada - Cast Software reports two new partnerships which add to the growing list of manufacturers that are bundling their consoles with WYSIWYG Perform Console Edition (CE), the lighting design and pre-visualization software.

Leprecon Pro Lighting will offer LP-X users the option of pairing a copy of WYSIWYG CE with every LP-X48 and LP-X24 console. The Leprecon LP-X series lighting consoles will control up to 1024 DMX channels of moving lights and static instruments.

Lehigh Electric Products Co. will bundle WYSIWYG CE with their Millennium Series of consoles, providing seamless integration of all available features, including visualization, AutoPatch, fixture selection, and AutoFocus.

"These new partnerships are adding to the industry buzz, confirming that manufacturers

USA - Chauvet reports that despite the difficulties caused by hurricane Wilma, the company is fully operational and will attend next week's LDI show and conference as planned. Last week, the company lost power, phone and e-mail communications in the aftermath of the hurricane. Thankfully, neither Chauvet's main office nor any of its warehouses sustained structural damage, but the company's management determined that it was best to keep employees at home for the week out of consideration for the hardships and safety concerns caused by the hurricane.

CEO Albert Chauvet said that dealers and distributors have been overwhelmingly supportive. "We thank every dealer, every employee and every customer for sticking together through these trying times. Our employees specially deserve our admiration for putting aside their own personal concerns to serve customers. If anything, we've

UK - Tomcat UK has appointed Malcolm Davis as Europe sales representative. Davis comes to Tomcat UK with wide-ranging sales experience which he gained throughout the UK, Europe and Middle East at companies like Strand Lighting and Zero 88 Lighting where he was the distributor sales manager.

"I'm very encouraged as to the long term plans for Tomcat UK and excited at being given the opportunity to join them," commented Davis. "After being out of the industry for a while I'm looking forward to coming back and making an invaluable contribution to the future growth of the company."

(Lee Baldock)

USA - Entertainment Technology is to release software version 3.0 for the Marquee and Marquee ILC lighting control consoles at the 2005 ETS-LDI Trade Show in Orlando, Florida.

"We are very excited to be releasing software version 3.0 for the Marquee lighting control consoles," stated Alan Keen, entertainment technology product manager. "With this upgrade, the Marquee and the Marquee ILC are continuing to set themselves apart from the other consoles on the market."

Designed by Horizon Control, the new software version 3.0 will introduce the Effects Editor feature to the lighting control consoles. Along with allowing the user to build their own effects on to any lighting attribute, the Effects Editor feature will include pre-defined effects such as Ballyhoo, Cancan, Circle and Rainbow.

Also inside software version 3.0, the Indepe

Denmark - The Eurovision Song Contest, celebrated its 50th Anniversary on October 22nd at the Forum in Copenhagen. The live event, Congratulations, was performed in front of a 5500-strong audience and broadcast to 31 countries worldwide with a viewer base of over 90 million. The show presented Eurovision stars from the original show held in 1956 and artists of today including special guests Ronan Keating and Riverdance.

The stage was an unusual shape but roughly 40m x 18 m, with three large screens dominating it. A curtain of approximately 700 square meters, consisting of 460 LCD elements, which were used to create different lighting effects in addition to 250 moving and 500 stationary lights, as well as seven XML 25's R18's and R8's.

Sound Designer Jens Elsborg of Nordic Rentals, assisted by the Adamson Shooter software, calculated placement and coverage for the venue.

Hungary - Midas' Hungarian distributor Bluesound reports the sale of a Verona 320 console to the Gönczi Ferenc cultural centre located in Zalaegerszeg, a small town in southern Hungary. The console will be used for theatrical performances and live musical events.

"The acquisition of the Verona is a big step for us," says Peter Bácskay, sound engineer at the centre. "The console is transparent, I can hear all my settings clearly and I don't have to tweak the knobs to their limits as I've had to do with other consoles I've used."

The sale is the beginning of a key strategy for Bluesound, which has represented Midas and Klark Teknik since May 2004. "We have sold five Midas Verona consoles this year, together with more than 30 Klark Teknik signal processing units," says Thomas Csernus, managing director of Bluesound. "This is a small step for M

China - Color Kinetics Inc has announced a series of newly completed marquee installations in mainland China, reflecting its growing momentum in the region. Most recently, installation of Color Kinetics systems was completed at LG Tower, a multi-million dollar construction by LG Building Development Co Ltd, whose 460ft towers will be lit by more than 7,600ft of Color Kinetics' iColor Accent system.

Additionally, Color Kinetics' systems illuminate Sands Macao and Grandview Hotel in Macau, Garden Hotel in Guangzhou, the China Resource Centre building in Shenzhen, Tianjin (Yi Do Cam) Business Centre in Tianjin, Lilly's Restaurants and Nightclubs in Shanghai, and Chongqing Times Square in Chongqing, among others.

"Color Kinetics' success in mainland China reflects the strength of our technology, depth and quality of our product portfolio, and the timely execution of our on-go

Europe - Lighting designer Craig Allnutt is using an Avolites Diamond 4 console on the current Bloc Party UK and European tour. Allnutt joined the Bloc Party team in February 2005 following the NME tour and had previously worked with Keane.

"I particularly like the way the Diamond 4 is set up and the fact that you can patch anything to anywhere," says Allnutt. "It's very simple to pick up, particularly if you have an Avolites background."

The rig on Bloc Party is slightly asymmetric to match the non-conventional nature of the band and their music. The rig consists of two 40ft trusses - front and rear - the upstage of which has four truss drop-beams off the bottom rail. There are five truss towers onstage all at different heights, to 'break up' the overall appearance of the space.

Moving lights are 11 SGM Giotto 400 Washes and 13 CMY Spots, which ar

featured content

ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

UK - Kelsey Acoustics' boat took overall first place at this year's Audio Industry Regatta (AIR), fending off stiff competition from a fleet of thirteen others representing all branches of the industry. The winner's trophy is competed for over five races, which this year took place in The Solent.

The Audio Industry Regatta (AIR) is run annually to raise money for the Portsmouth-based Elizabeth Foundation, a voluntary organization for deaf babies, deaf pre-school children aged up to five years, and their parents. The Foundation provides parent-centred services on a nationwide basis and often without charge.

Following a disastrous last place in the opening race, the Kelsey Acoustics crew fought back to achieve first place in each of the remaining four races to cement their overall winning position for the weekend.

This year the regatta attracted nearly 100 crew members, while

Sweden - RCF S4012 subs have recently been installed in the Friskis & Svettis fitness centre in Stockholm. The S4012 is an extremely compact, high output bandpass subwoofer system delivering a tight and fast bass response using a new RCF high-powered 12" woofer, say RCF.

The subs, wall-mounted in this case, are part of a complete system for the centre. Erik Tapper of Luthman, RCF's distributor in Sweden, said: "It is not often that we see subs wall-mounted like this, but I have to admit that they sound great when working with the rest of the system."

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Sky News is now broadcasting from its new, state-of-the-art Sky News Centre studio complex in West London. Central to the operation is the main combined studio-newsroom, complete with the first LED backdrop solution in a 24/7 UK broadcast facility. Barco supplied all of the LED backdrop walls equipped with unique diffusers especially developed for the broadcast market, and projectors used in news studios and monitoring rooms in the purpose built facility.

Paul Vickerage, head of studio production for Sky News states, "One reason for the purchase from Barco was that Barco is a total solution provider and could provide us with all the LED and projectors needed for this new and technologically advanced studio."

At 7,500sq.ft Sky News' new newsroom is over twice the size of its previous facility, which was around 3,000 square foot. Measuring 14m x 3m, and 34 tiles l

Northern Ireland - ACK Productions of Belfast has become the first company in Northern Ireland to purchase HK Audio's COHEDRA Compact Coherent Dynamic Response Array system.

"We are trying to expand the market to which our sound systems are pitched," says ACK owner Alastair Kerr. "We do a lot of theatre and corporate events that our existing HK Audio systems are great for but we want to start looking at systems for bands and small outdoor festivals for which the COHEDRA Compact is ideal."

ACK has purchased 16 CDR 108 mid/high units, eight CDR 210 C subwoofers and two PR8 amp racks with additional controllers to enable two smaller systems to go out on hire at the same time. The company already has a substantial inventory of HK Audio systems. ACK's introduction to COHEDRA Compact came about when UK distributor John Hornby Skewes brought over a demo system for

USA - Compulite's Vector lighting console was chosen by LD Jeff Lava for Audio Adrenaline's fall tour. Established for ten years, Audio Adrenaline is a leading Christian music group, with sales of over 3 million album sales and 18 number one radio hits.

The AudioA tour ran 26 shows in six weeks, and was Lava's first experience with Vector. "After having seen a demo of the desk at Bandit, I was very impressed and decided to try it out on my next tour," he commented.

"The learning curve was immediate. Within a few days I was running the console as if I had been doing it for years. I was specifically impressed with Compulite's support. Whenever I had a question, I called their product specialist and got an answer within minutes. When I ran across things I didn't like, I had Compulite's engineers call me for details, and on several occasions I received a software up

USA - Sound, light, and stage production services specialists Big Mo Pro Inc has taken delivery of 12 Lake Contour digital loudspeaker processors and intend to invest in 12 more over the coming year. Big Mo Pro, based in northern New Jersey and founded by entertainment production industry veteran partners Glenn Radler, Greg Rosenkrans, and Jesse Hoefflinger, selected Lake Contour for its best-in-class equalization capabilities, tight integration with the L-Acoustics KUDO line array, and wireless control functionality.

"The control that Lake Contour gives you is unparalleled," said Greg Rosenkrans, president of Big Mo Pro. "The Mesa EQ filter is the big thing. The ability to split each side of a parametric filter and control the cut and boost of the slopes separately is huge. Loudspeaker response is asymmetrical, and Lake's Mesa filter gives you complete control ov

UK - Slingco has installed two CABLEnet tensioned wire grids into the new 1200 seater Perth Concert Hall in Scotland - the first new build full scale concert hall to be constructed in Scotland since 1990. The £17 million project is the result of an international architectural competition chaired by Eva Jiricna and won by BDP's Glasgow office in 1998.

The main Gannochy Auditorium is a completely flexible concert Hall space, and it's here that the two tensioned wire grids are installed. The grids were, originally specified by theatre consultants Carr & Angier as the safest way for technicians and maintenance staff to work flexibly at height in the roof space above the stage and auditorium. Slingco's Nick Dykins was contacted by BDP two years ago as the build entered its final phases, and asked to submit a tender for the grid installation.

The installation was project manag

UK - The South Bank Centre's head of production, Andy Scorgie contracted Richard Nowell Sound Services to install a new paging system in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

"We badly needed to move with the times by finding a system sympathetic to the different requirements of the various art forms hosted at the Hall. Each event needs to have specific information relayed," explains Scorgie.

Needing to route messages over an increasing number of zones (which also incorporates the neighbouring Purcell Room), Scorgie wanted the new paging front end to be able to plug into the venue's existing infrastructure. He was also aware that the system needed to comply with Health & Safety audits, Lambeth Council inspections and LFB licensing requirements.

RNSS' operations manager, Andrew Cotton recommended the Australian Monitor DigiPage system (distributed in the UK by Fuzion plc), the

UK - Shepherds Bush Empire recently hosted singer James Blunt on the first leg of his UK tour. Lite Alternative provided the lighting, with MAC 2000 Profiles and MAC 250 Washes. The MAC 2000s were chosen for their reliability, brightness and colours, say Lite Alternative - and as far as the lighting team were concerned, the fixtures lived up to their workhorse reputation: ". . . just worked and worked on a demanding tour where we played a huge variety of venue sizes . . ." says lighting operator Glen Johnson.

Paul Normandale, lighting designer at Lite Alternative, noted: "The MAC 250 Washes are small and punchy. We found them reliable and surprisingly bright, which was everyone's reaction that evening."

Johnson talked animatedly about the lights: "They are great units, which we are keeping on the design even for the Arena leg early next year. Nice beam

UK - Pioneer Corporation has introduced the S-FL1 NXT-based portable loudspeaker. Utilizing NXT's highly dispersive SurfaceSound technology, the S-FL1 is aimed at mobile DJs, small music venues and open-air events, providing a rich, immersive audio performance from compact, lightweight units, according to Pioneer.

NXT SurfaceSound is especially suited to public address applications because of the wide directivity characteristic of the technology. The S-FL1 is open-backed, allowing high quality audio from both sides of the loudspeaker. Easy to set up and operate, the die-cast aluminium construction of the S-FL1's enclosure is extremely durable and able to withstand the rigours of constant transfers between venues, and set-up and break downs for events, say the company.

Weighing less than 10kg and just 5.5cm in depth, the S-FL1 is easily portable, enabling the budding musician o

USA - Martin Professional will be showing a prototype version of a new tungsten MAC luminaire, the MAC TW1, at the upcoming ETS-LDI show in Orlando. The MAC TW1 is a 1200W tungsten wash fixture that promises "an array of avant-garde features to equip the lighting designer with the broadest possibility of effects, colours and design".

Martin says: "Innovation runs through the product with newly patent pending technology removing any obstacle to creativity. The lower colour temperature of the MAC TW1 brings the warmth of traditional theatre and TV looks up to date. An innovative twin lens zoom system allows for greater flexibility in fixture placement without the need to change the front lens, and a full and comprehensive CMY colour mixing system provides a full range of colours, from delicate pastels to deep saturation."

The MAC TW1 features a choice of inte

UK - black light has played a pivotal role in bringing over 10,500 visitors into the Perthshire Big Tree Country, by designing and building a spectacular lighting and video installation for the annual Enchanted Forest project.

For seventeen consecutive nights in late October and early November, visitors enjoyed the spectacle, with black light's work recognised by an interview on prime time BBC news programme Reporting Scotland.

Several different areas of woodland were looked at as potential venues by landowner the Forestry Commission. Faskally Wood, near Pitlochry, was chosen after consultation with black light project manager Paul McGreal about the creative possibilities it offered. "The site surrounds a small loch, so there was a lot of potential for using the water as a canvas," says McGreal. "It meant visitors would see the various installation

Australia - ARX Systems has announced the addition of the DI Pre microphone pre-amplifier to its AudiBox range of precision tools, designed "to perform essential professional audio functions in an ultra-compact, flexible package".

The DI Pre features balanced XLR mic input, balanced jack output, user-variable+10 to +60dB Gain control, 20 dB Pad with status LED, Clip LED and Phantom Power switch with status LED. Typical applications include interfacing microphone and line level signal sources to professional audio systems for studio, performance, broadcast and Installation.

The DI Pre is powered by an external 12 VDC supply and is housed in a heavy duty all-steel chassis finished in matt textured powdercoat, with epoxy screen printing and slip resistant rubber pads. Security features include Kensington-type computer lock slot and optional bracket kit for under-table m

Latest Issue. . .