UK - Kevin Madigan, monitor engineer for Eels has been working for the band since May 2004 on a fairly constant tour across most of the world. He is a recent convert to the DiGiCo D1 after playing with a D5 owned by Jon Lemon. "I love it, you can really give the guys the consistency they want. Everyday I start off from a good point. Little tweaks are needed, but I am not coming in and having to deal with different consoles everyday," Madigan enthuses.

Madigan bought his own D1 through his company, EQ Audio, and tours it with the band. "The Eels is definitely the most pressure monitor gig I have ever had," he said. On the current show, Madigan has to deal with around 30 open sources, mostly acoustic, making feedback a real possibility. "With the analogue co

UK - Dick Tee worked as production manager at The Baby Show at Olympia, designing and overseeing production of the exhibition's main stage.The Baby Show, now in its third year, brought together a selection of baby brands and products, mixed with parenting specialists and guest speakers to offer expert advice and fashion options for mother and baby.

Growing in size since the show began and adding a new city for each year it has taken place, this year The Baby Show visited Glasgow SECC, Birmingham NEC and London's Olympia. The live element of the show has also developed in line with the show's growth, with it now taking a 'main stage' position within the exhibition hall.

Creative consultancy Eight Freestyle managed the creation and choreography of the shows, bringing in production manager Dick Tee to design and oversee the production of the stage. The stage had to

UK - This month, Soundesign's new 12.5 ton truck is launched, complete with an audio spec comprising a Studer Vista 8 console and two Pyramix H/D recording systems. Designed and built by Conrad Fletcher, the truck has a fully floating control room which incorporates a moveable wall that means the rear can be used as a studio, edit suite, internet TX area or DVD copying suite, or pushed back for maximum space in the mix area; as well as a separate machine room.

"We set ourselves the task of building a true multi-use vehicle with a serious listening environment, but we needed a desk that would be user-friendly to guest engineers and excel in any role, be it a radio talk show, a simultaneous stereo and 5.1 broadcast of a music festival or an on-site dub of a TV show. The Vista 8 fulfils these criteria perfectly" says Fletcher.

Fletcher made his first acquaintance with a

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Strictly FX was founded in 1996 by industry veterans Mark Grega and Ted Maccabee. Our expertise and knowledge of the world’s leading pyrotechnic, laser, and flame manufacturers allows us to curate astonishing live events. With over 500+ shows performed a year, there’s good chance you’ve seen some of our work!

USA - Color Kinetics Inc has published its results of operations for the third quarter of 2005. Revenues were a record $14.1 million, a 27% increase from the $11.1 million reported in the third quarter of 2004. Net income rose to $1.3 million, up 47% from the $853,000 reported in the third quarter of 2004.

"We are very pleased with our strong third quarter performance, which reflects a broad and growing base of customers worldwide," said Bill Sims, president and CEO. "Once again we achieved record revenues across both business units, driven in part by market adoption of new RGB systems, increased traction for the IntelliWhite series, and escalating licensing activity."

He continued, "As LED technology progresses, fuelling adoption in both new and existing markets, we believe that Color Kinetics is well-equipped to advance the intelligent solid-state li

UK - Audient highlighted the ACS8024 at this year's AES in New York. The Audient console on display at US distributor Audio Exchange International's (AXI) booth proved very popular and was sold to singer/songwriter Bill Champlin of Chicago fame.

Chris Walsh, AXI sales director reports: "Champlin liked the ACS8024 so much that he bought it before the show had even finished! It was exactly the solution he was looking for."

The ACS8024 combines the feature mix of the ASP8024 with an additional control section bay with Command 8 fitted for ProTools control. This brings the control of ProTools right to the traditional listening position: the centre of the console.

Walsh comments: "With the advent of digital recording and expectations of engineers at an all time high, coupling Audient's high quality analogue design with the digital interface means they get the best

Azerbaijan - PRG Europe has supplied lighting solutions for the grand opening of the $3.6 billion BTC oil pipeline linking Baku in Azerbaijan to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, via Georgia, in its first collaboration with oil company event specialist Neos Creative.

At the 'first oil' event, hosted by the Government of Azerbaijan and the pipeline's major shareholder BP, production manager and lighting director Steve Nolan actually worked on four events: one at the oil terminal at Sangachal 40km south of the Azerbaijan capital Baku and three in the city centre at the presidential Gulistan Palace. Neos Creative sent 12 40ft truckloads of equipment to the event, which included two full of lighting equipment from PRG Europe's facility in Greenford, west London.

At Sangachal Terminal on the shores of the Caspian Sea, the first oil event was marked with a ceremonial valve turn which set

UK - Latymer Upper School in West London enlisted the services of Autograph to update the audio system in its listed Assembly Hall, as well as design and install a new system in the Sports Hall. The system design is based around EM Acoustics loudspeakers, MC2 Amplifiers and Allen & Heath iDR control units.

Due to the design brief for the Assembly Hall of discrete, low profile loudspeakers, and the ability to easily reconfigure the room for different settings, Autograph's project manager Lee Dennison specified the i-2 three-way compact fullrange loudspeaker as the main loudspeaker component of the Assembly Hall. He explains, "These are a true 90° x 20° box which can be rigged horizontally or vertically and have a rotatable horn coupled with 2 x 5" drivers. The box is passive and it just keeps going." The first six enclosures to come off the production line from E

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UK - The new Opus 89 handheld vocal mic from beyerdynamic has a hypercardioid polar pattern offering "excellent isolation, allowing maximum monitoring volume with minimum feedback", say the company.

The Opus 89 is a premium microphone, delivering true uncoloured sound and a real sense of control for the performer, say beyerdynamic, offering wide frequency response for clear top-end and extended vocal depth. The Opus 89 is of heavy-duty construction, and robust enough for touring, say the company.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Joint directors Paul Butler and Ian Robson have completed the successful purchase of Northampton-based full service AV company Mushroom Event Services.

"Mushroom has always ticked along quite nicely and we already had a very solid client base," explains Butler. "However, Ian and I realised that to progress things, it was necessary for us to have full control of the company."

The first contract for the new regime at Mushroom was the Marriott Global Pursuits Event, held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel, where they supplied all the lighting and technical facilities for the in-house client based exhibition. "We colour themed the room, supplied the sound system and specialist lighting, which was mainly LED, as well as a colour changing wall and a boat that was used for a feature area," comments Butler.

This was followed by the PLASA Show

UK - Sound Division has recently completed a high quality AV installation at the exclusive Roehampton Club, a private members' sports club set in 100 acres of parkland close to Richmond Park in London. Originally established in 1901 as an Officers' polo club, it now offers among the finest range of sporting and leisure facilities in the London area including an 18-hole golf course, 29 tennis courts, five squash courts, four croquet lawns, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a fitness centre, in addition to numerous leisure and relaxation areas.

Sound Division was called in to specify, design and install AV systems for Roehampton's new building which has been constructed around the existing indoor pool and houses a brand new, state-of-the-art gymnasium and aerobics studio, as well as the pool. Sound Division alsoprovided systems to cover the outdoor pool plus grass areas and te

USA - Martin Professional has announced that Brian Friborg is to take on the role of president of Martin Professional Inc. Friborg, a Dane with a wealth of industry experience, has been with Martin for six years as managing director of Martin Professional Scandinavia A/S. More recently he has also held the interim position of managing director for Martin Professional Italy S.p.a.

Friborg will work closely with Martin US vice-president of sales and marketing Eric Loader in establishing and overseeing execution of the strategic plan for Martin US, as well as promoting key business relationships. He looks forward to meeting Martin's US partners and customers at the upcoming LDI trade show in Orlando.

Martin's statement says: "Troels Volver has decided to seek new challenges outside of the company and resigns his post as CEO of Martin Professional Inc".

Christian Engst

USA - Working with Upstaging Inc, Tomcat built 25 custom light frames to hold a variety of instruments, including projection that had to be precisely located, for Sir Paul McCartney's current US tour. A large projection wall is created using five independently flown modules with custom light frames to create a wall measuring over 60ft wide by 25ft deep.

Many custom hardware components were also fabricated for rigging equipment on this tour, some of which were constructed from one of Tomcat's specialised extrusions. Tomcat's design department worked closely with Upstaging to design and engineer the light frames for this custom application.

In addition, other custom brackets were fabricated to attach two sections of Tomcat's Swing Wing truss, to create moving lighting modules. "The McCartney tour required a fair amount of unique trussing and hardware elements," explain

UK - Stage Electrics was very pink and fluffy on Friday 28 October, in support of the Breast Cancer Campaign. Marketing's Helen Gadbury and Marie Wilson organized the "pink day" by encouraging staff to wear something pink and donate money for the fund raising event. Costumes included everything from paisley pink pyjamas and lurid pink socks to the pink gossamer wings worn by David Whitehead's PA Jenny Redman.

"James Bull from the Projects team looked very comfortable in his pink pussy pyjamas and Anna Western had even more pink on than usual. The menu for the day at The Green Room café at Stage Electrics Bristol offered pink sponge dessert with pink custard, served by men wearing pink bandanas," said a spokesperson.

First prize for the best pink costume was won by Sandra Brimson, one of Stage Electrics' housekeepers, who herself is a breast cancer su

USA / South America - Theatrical Concepts Inc (TCI) has been appointed the exclusive US and South American distributor for German manufacturer Coolux GmbH, whose range of products includes the Pandora's Box digital media engine and a diverse collection of digital content.

Based in Agoura, California, just outside of Los Angeles, TCI has significant experience in both video production and lighting rental markets. "It's really exciting to be part of making Pandora happen in the US," says TCI's president, Steve Gilbard. "The Pandora's Box Media Server is an amazing range of products in itself, along with some really quite spectacular content, and Coolux has a number of other interesting new products, which we are looking forward to helping them market to the industry."

Coolux's Pandora's Box Digital Media Engine V2.0 was first launched at PLASA in 2004 and sin

USA - Australian production engineer Phil Markey, and his company Kaos Lighting, has joined forces with US-based American DJ to create a new DMX-controlled centerpiece effect called the Streamer. Combining fibre optics with LED technology and RGB colour mixing, the Streamer produces thread-like beams, and will debut at the ETS-LDI show in Orlando next week.

"The Streamer is totally different than any other special effects light out there," said Scott Davies, general manager of the American DJ Group of Companies. "With its fiber-like beams, it's a truly unique visual phenomenon. Plus, it offers so many other features - from DMX control to LED technology to custom color mixing - that its applications are virtually limitless."

Markey first used fiber optic technology on a much more basic fixture called the Mirrorlight, powered simply by a small halogen light b

UK - Soundcraft continue to make the mid-level mixing market their own patch with the hugely popular MH3 console - as evidenced this month with the opening of the latest Carling Academy in Newcastle.

Academy Music Group's contractors, Marquee Audio - asked to create a top quality infrastructure for the company early on in their relationship - had opted for the MH3 as the centre of a top-spec monitor set-up. Since standardizing on the 32-channel MH3 at the stage end they have been specifying 40-input desks at front-of-house. "With the exception of Islington, every Academy venue now has an MH3 out front, as well as for monitors," observed Marquee Audio MD, Spencer Brooks.

AMG decided to pioneer high-level referencing a number of years ago, providing an enviable technical infrastructure for visiting bands. Brooks continued: "We backed the MH3 as soon as it was rele

UK - Sennheiser headphones have been chosen to compliment an innovative on-train entertainment system that has been introduced by Volo:TV for First Great Western Trains. With this technology, customers in a dedicated coach can take part in interactive seat-back entertainment.

Volo employed Hi-Fi reviewer and audio consultant, Chris Thomas to advise on sound set up and headphone selection. As a result, Volo uses Sennheiser MX300 in-ear units.

Customers can navigate their own menu of options using touch screen technology, and choose what they want to watch and for how long. Like the latest airline systems (albeit very few), the Volo system offers choice and control, via on-demand services, of how they want to be entertained, informed and educated. Also, the system's high bandwidth enables wireless communications, news, weather and sport to be regularly updated throughout the day

USA - Smart-e's SmartNet-X video and audio switching and distribution equipment is being used in the Broadway production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Woman In White when it opens in New York this month.

The SmartNet-X system, which is a true matrix switcher designed to connect multiple inputs to a myriad of remote displays, distributes high quality video and audio signals up to 300m over Cat 5 UTP cabling, say the company. The Smart-e equipment is being supplied by video production company XL Video, to project backdrop scenery and images with which the actors interact throughout this stage production adapted from Wilkie Collins' well-known Victorian thriller.

XL Video and video consultants Mesmer chose to use the Smart-e equipment for the New York production because it is an efficient and cost-effective solution to the problem of distributing high quality video an

UK - ATC used the recent AES exhibition in New York to introduce the PA65, a compact, three-way active PA speaker system for flown, live sound installation. The system was developed from the company's established SCM150ASL active studio monitors that have been installed in London nightclubs Chinawhite and MO*VIDA.

The three-way active PA65 system comprises an ATC Super Linear 15-inch bass driver, a three-inch softdrome mid-range driver and a 1.25-inch fabric dome tweeter. ATC three-channel Class A/B amplifiers deliver 200 watts to the low-frequency driver, 100 watts to the mid-range and 50 watts to the tweeter. All amplifier channels feature active momentary gain reduction.

Each three-way active enclosure is capable of generating a maximum SPL of 116dB. Each cabinet offers ±80 degrees of horizontal, coherent dispersion with ±10 degrees in the vertical plane. Crossover freque

UK - PSL has boosted its inventory of screens and monitors with the purchase of a substantial number of Samsung plasma screens. The order includes a number of Samsung's PPM63H3s, which, at 63", are one of the world's largest plasma displays. Ideal for floor, wall or multi-screen mounting, this giant monitor features an internationally acclaimed design, built-in sound amplifier and DNIe enhanced pictures, say PSL.

In addition, PSL has ordered a substantial number of Samsung 42" plasma screens, of which 14 are PPM42M5HSXs, the newest high-resolution panel from Samsung, which allows high-definition images to be shown in true native resolution. Appropriately enough, as the broadcast world trundles towards unilateral high-def standards, PSL debuted its new screens at the International Broadcast Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, where the reaction from PSL's customers at the sh

UK - The life-like animatronics effects in the Natural History Museum's Dinosaur Gallery have been given a new realism with the addition of low-lying fog, triggered by the prehistoric animal's computer. The Museum's contractors, North Devon-based JP Leisure, evolved the solution based on products from Antari, distributed in the UK by Lighting Effects Distribution.

Jon Powell's company have been main dealers for the full Antari range of fog, smoke, snow, bubble and haze machines for some time, and he maintains that Antari business has increased 20-fold. "Their reliability is good, as is their service and spares, and we are now shifting between 300-400 Antari items per year, which represents a huge growth."

For Health & Safety and extended duty cycle issues the Museum was reluctant to use conventional CO2 Dry Ice and so JP Leisure recommended the upgraded DNG-100 Fog C

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