USA - Midas consoles are playing a lead role on Sir Paul McCartney's US tour. McCartney's long-time FOH engineer Pab Boothroyd has one of his XL4s at FOH, having been using the desk almost exclusively since its launch ten years ago; monitor engineer John Roden is using two Midas Heritage 3000s on stage.

"I've always favoured the XL4 for many reasons - sound, touring reliability and familiarity when mixing a multitude of tasks in a hectic live environment instantly," says Boothroyd.

Roden is also a long-time champion of Midas consoles and has been using the Heritage since its launch. "It sounds great and is reliable too," he says. "Money and space requirements are not an issue with McCartney, I can have whatever I need to do my job and the temptation to c

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

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

ACC has purchased 16 CDR 108 mid/high units, eight CDR 210 C sub woofers and two PRO 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.

Access introduction to Cheddar Compact came about when UK distributor John Horny Skews brought over a demo system for the Indian Community Me

Italy - Author SpA has signed an agreement with DAL, Advantage Distribution Limited, to become a new authorised Author distribution partner for the UK. DAL is now supplying the full range of Author products which includes videophones, desktop video conferencing systems, set-tops, large group conferencing products and solutions, and the new Vega X Line products.

"Considering the importance of the UK video conferencing market, we want to approach the UK with the best partners and the right tools", declared Marco Viezzoli, Author CEO. "For this reason we opened a new office in London last Spring and now we are selecting carefully high level partners to work with us in order to set up strong business relationships."

Dave Travers, business development manager of DAL, said "We are extremely pleased that Author, a producer of high quality, cost effective comm

USA - During LDI in Orlando, Capture Sweden will be showing the latest developments of Capture 2005. On show will not only be the latest changes to the Basic Edition, but also some of the new features in the upcoming Extended Edition which is to be released shortly after the trade show.

The new Capture 2005 product family features a large number of major changes from the previous Capture 3.0 version. Says Capture, "Most of the software has been reconstructed in order to make it faster and easier to work with and the large number of console connectivity options which are now plug-and-play makes Capture 2005 the most efficient visualisation and design tool on the market."

(Jim Evans)

UK - To the delight of older guitarists and wannabe rock stars throughout the UK, the Music Industries Association (MIA) has announced the nation-wide launch of its Weekend Warriors campaign.

The campaign targets 35-60 year old rock fans - who either used to play in a band or are simply keen to try - and places them into groups, organising a number of rehearsal sessions before getting them up on stage to perform live in a local rock concert.

The project which works in partnership with the UK's MIA musical instrument retailers, has been brought to the UK from the US. Following two hugely successful pilots in Stockton-on-Tees and Reading, additional Weekend Warrior programmes are now up and ready to run in Warrington, Stockport, Nottingham, Leicester, Portsmouth, Glasgow, Leeds, Birmingham, Southampton, Bristol, Harlow and Darlington with many more expected to laun

UK - Stage Electrics is now supplying ice rinks as well as more traditional lighting and sound kit they are known for providing. The company has become the sole UK distributor for the Dutch company Ice World, providing rinks and boots throughout the UK.

Stage Electrics is providing the ice and infrastructure, including lighting and PA equipment for venues ranging from shopping malls to parks across the UK. A more unusual location for one of the rinks is on the first floor of a shopping centre in London's Victoria.

Stage Electrics' production manager Andy Loveday last week led the team which tested the first rink to be delivered from Holland. Working in partnership with Aggreko who provide the chilling equipment, a 30m x 10m rink was constructed in an empty warehouse close to the company's branch in Avonmouth, Bristol. "It's been a new experience for us," he said, &qu

In case anyone had forgotten what happens to the audio at the end of all these systems, Renkus-Heinz exhibited some good old-fashioned loudspeakers. The Iconyx column speakers are very discreet, but have sonic performance specifications that will attract reverberant applications such as houses of worship. "We tackle the acoustics by having a tall array of very compact drivers, so we're able to achieve tight pattern control in the vertical plane," explained VP Ralph Heinz. "Plus, by applying DSP, we're able to do some beam steerage as well."Beam steerage in a church . . . now there's a revelation.

UK- Trafalgar Square 200 'The Spirit of Nelson' show was authored and created by production company Innovision and staged in London's most famous Square in front of 10,000 people. The hour-long live show celebrated the Royal Navy's role at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and at other crucial points in the history of Britain.

Innovision called in the services of leading production industry companies, including large format projection specialist E/T/C UK and rigging specialist Summit Steel. Durham Marenghi came on board as lighting designer.Projection was beamed onto a special retractable 'sail' made from Sunbaba's Austronet 204FR fabric, and rigged onto the centre of three masts depicting a symbolic version of Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory.

The PIGI 6kW projector (complete with 'hot' backup) was located in a specially built hide, with a 17m throw distance, and fitted with a Ba

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 - The newly-opened Alma De Cuba restaurant in Liverpool, owned by the Lyceum Group, is housed in a converted church. Dating back to the late Eighteenth century, the building has been vacant since 1976 but has now undergone a major refurbishment programme.

It has been sympathetically restored and many original features have been retained including stained glass windows and archaic artwork.

The sound system has been carefully designed and installed by B+S Sound & Light of Liverpool to overcome the inevitable difficulties of such a wide open reverberant space and to provide the required music level in each of the six designated zones.

Depending on the restaurant activity and time of day, volume can be adjusted via three simple controls positioned in the main bar area. The system uses a Cloud Z8 zoner, 4 x Tannoy TDX1 and Ecler amps to drive an array of Tannoy speakers in var

UK - A.C. Lighting's Special Projects Division has supplied and programmed fixtures for the new Portsmouth Spinnaker Tower, which opened this Autumn.

The 170m tower is the UK's tallest publicly accessible building outside of London and offers visitors a unique 'window on the sea' from its three observation decks. Forming the focal point of the Portsmouth Harbour Renaissance Project, the tower is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the area every year.

Main construction contractor Mowlem plc engaged Mark Hensman of Equation Lighting to create the exterior lighting design, which features two distinct elements: the white light projected onto the rear concrete legs andthe lower shaft below the cruciform to the front, and the dynamic coloured light projected within the arcs and to the front of the main spire.

Following a competitive tender, A.C.'s Special Projects Divisi

In truth, it isn't often that the AES Convention - or any pro audio trade exhibition, for that matter - throws up a genuine surprise. Revelations are normally confined to the Gideon's Bible in everyone's hotel room, and not even New York itself can always liven up the routine of stage-managed marketeering.

However, EAW drew genuine intakes of breath with the - for once - justified expedient of white drapes over a mysterious bulging chassis, which turned out to be the UMX.96 digital mixing console. The model ID may not be as exciting in itself, but the arrival of a totally unexpected new player on the digital live console pitch certainly stirs things up plenty.

The formation of Loud Technologies in September 2003 has clearly influenced the kind of technical cross-fertilization behind the UMX. Teams involved in the product have included the DSP team at Acuma Labs in Victoria, BC; the a

L-Acoustics announced the new, self-powered P Series - currently comprised of the 108P and 112P. These are 2-way loudspeaker enclosures combining proprietary coaxial point source technology with self-powered performance and DSP.

The 108P is a bi-amplified, digitally processed, full-range loudspeaker containing a 1" exit HF compression driver coaxially loaded into an 8" LF transducer. The coaxial approach is designed to provide coherent point source radiation and 100° axisymmetrical directivity - i.e. identical horizontal, vertical and axial coverage. The coaxial design is also said to offer superimposed LF/HF dispersion characteristics, free of the polar lobing effects typical of traditional horn and woofer combinations.

Intended for touring or fixed installation, the 112P features rigging accessories, digital system EQ and network control and monitoring. Four application-

UK - Lumidrives has launched Colourdriver RF, a new low cost, simple to use, remote control lighting controller for LEDs. Colourdriver RF makes the creation of dynamic lighting effects, dimming and colour changing for example, as simple as installing ordinary light fixtures, claims the manufacturer.

Colourdriver RF is an intelligent driver system which is controlled by a radio remote control. It can be simply plugged into the mains, making the selection and control of light effects as easy as operating a CD player. Its entry level cost also means it has potential for use where current control systems would not be practical.

Radio remote control removes the need for control cables and means Colourdriver RF can be retrofitted to existing lighting installation or even integrated with track lighting systems.

Gordon Routledge managing director at Lumidrives says, "Colourdriv

The whole EAW event came to somewhat overshadow the launch of the other digital live console du jour, Yamaha's M7CL - which, having first been unveiled to the world in the UK at PLASA, was receiving a slightly lower-gear US debut. Yamaha Corporation Of America's Larry Italia and Dan Craik did the honours, however, and the booth was busy for the whole show with visitors weighing up the potential impact of this desk on the US market. With or without the presence of the UMX.96, that impact is likely to be substantial much further down the verticalities of end user territory - where budget means what it always implies.

UK - The Stage Electrics Plymouth production team rose to the challenge of lighting the historic Royal Albert Bridge which runs across the River Tamar near Saltash for a high profile photo shoot.

The structure was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) and designed to carry the Cornwall Railway at a height of 100 feet across the water. It was opened in May 1859 and measures 2,187ft in length.

The bridge was lit using 24 Arena Visions and 16 Opti Visions, the resulting picture will be used as a background shot in the new ITV1 West Country Regional Newsroom during the early evening broadcast.

Stage Electrics also supplied equipment to light the studio set including Pulsar Chromaflood Pars and Strand Bambinos. During the studio refurbishment works the company helped to keep the show on the road by building a temporary set and providing studio lighting.

(Jim Evans)

Every day, month or year is an anniversary of something or other, and this month happens to be the 20th anniversary edition of L&SI magazine.

L&SI was launched for the Professional Lighting and Sound Association by publisher John Offord at a time when the Association had only recently changed its name to reflect its broadening scope: the British Association of Discotheque Equipment Manufacturers (BADEM), which emerged from the 70s disco boom, had become PLASA in 1983.

Looking back at that first issue, the first thing that strikes you is facial hair - particularly at the first ABTT North trade show, which the debut issue covered. As someone - let's call him 'John' (what the hell - let's call him 'John Hastie') remarked to me at the ABTT show this summer, this industry no longer has much to offer the committed trade show beard spotter. The November 1985 issue just underlines the

UK - Just how tough are your flightcases?A good testimonial for 5 Star Cases' products has come to our attention, following an arson attack outside the New Victoria Theatre in Woking, Surrey.

Three standard 'tour grade' cases - owned by White Light, lighting supplier to a touring production of Annie Get Your Gun - were temporarily left outside, along with the theatre's large butane heater. Two youths (caught by CCTV) set light to the heater, and the flames quickly engulfed the flightcases before being brought under control. When the badly burned cases were opened, the contents - including cables, top hats and other accessories, were found undamaged!

UK - Islington's Salmon & Compass independent dance clubs has undergone a major £500,000 refurbishment programme. The interior has been completely gutted and replaced by an industrial brushed stainless steel look and a Turbosound PA system from Sound Division. At the same time, club capacity has increased to 280.

"The owners, the Loizou family, wanted a sound system with full clubbing capabilities," explains Sound Division's installation manager Elliott Patterson, "and after consideration we recommended a Turbosound TCS-56/TCS-215 system, powered by Crown XS amplification, along with a new mixer."

(Jim Evans)

USA- A recent US patent application by Color Kinetics (20050036300 - Methods and systems for illuminating household products) covers the incorporation of a processor-driven lighting apparatus for lighting, well, all kinds of household products. Or as many as they could think of, anyway.

According to Claim 6, the 'household product' might be a fluid, such as "water, ammonia, bleach, window cleaner, insect repellant, insect killer, lotion, soap, liquid soap, kitchen cleaner, bathroom cleaner, shaving gel, cleaning fluid, lighter fluid, furniture polish, wood treatment, paint, primer, drain cleaner, disinfectant, room deodorizer, carpet deodorizer, room scent, perfume, cologne, shaving foam, toilet cleaner, aerosol, skin care fluid, suntan lotion, shampoo, surface cleaner, and liquid wax."

The household product might also be an object, says Claim 8, such as "

UK - HRH Princess Alexandra officially opened the a new £1.75m Sports Hall and Performing Arts Centre at Coombe Girls School in New Malden last month, featuring separate dedicated spaces for sports, music technology, drama and recital.

Stuart Graham's fast-expanding company, Clarity in Sound, Light & Vision, has done much in the past year to bring high production values into the educational sector; their £70,000 sound, lighting and projection design and fit for Coombe Girls School was based on industry standard devices.

With a roll of 1,500 students (including 500 attending Sixth Form College) Coombe is one of the largest facilities of this kind in the country, with an excellent reputation for drama and music. Graham realized that the facilities would be heavily used, so durability and reliability were major considerations. Wherever possible, he turned to Denon's s

UK- 'Guerilla projection' specialist PSL Music was behind two recent high profile events on the streets of London.

For Sony Music's launch of Jamiroquai's new video, (Don't) Give Hate a Chance, they chose three separate projection sites in central London. This was designed to give maximum profile to the launch - and extra column inches in the UK's tabloid papers (secured when parking wardens tried to ticket singer Jay Kay as he watched the show).

The PSL and Sony Music teams completed three separate projections in one evening, at the NCP Car Park in Brewer Street (Soho), at Chelsea Barracks and at the National Gallery. Projecting typically over a 75m throw, PSL used a pair of Barco R12 high-power projectors, generating the programme material drawn from the new video from Doremi hard drives, supported by a d&b sound system.

The following week, the team hit well-known L

Latest Issue. . .