UK - sE Electronics has announced the appointment of Fingerprint Audio, an offshoot of Rupert Neve Designs, as the new distributor for sE Electronics in North and South Americas.

This new partnership between sE and Rupert Neve Designs completes a natural progression from the manufacturing project the two companies have been working on together for the last three years to produce microphone products within the new sE Rupert Neve Signature Series.

"There is a natural synergy developing between our two companies," says sE Electronics' James Young, "both on a product level and a personal level that has enabled us to produce, in a relatively short time, a truly world class piece of microphone technology with the sE RNR1 active ribbon microphone, and with more products

USA - Launched in the Americas last year, Bosch Public Address and Conferencing products have generated considerable interest from a systems integration market hungry for improved audio quality and application flexibility in these fields.

To address the growing demand for information on these products and to discuss the opportunities available to Bosch Audio Partners, the Bosch Audio team launched the Bosch Audio Roadshow (BAR) on 24 March, 2009, kicking off their tour of key U.S. cities in Anaheim, Cal. with over 35 attendees. Seven more dates have been scheduled for 2009.

The BAR presents a programme focused on Bosch audio solutions, including Plena and Praesideo Public Address systems and DCN Next Generation and CCS 800 Ultro Conferencing systems. Discussion topics include mass notification solutions and the new local and national standards being implemented by the NFPA.

UK - Following on from last year's success, Shure and the and the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, have teamed up with NME to search for this year's musical talent in The Shure Creative Award 2009. NME will be the official media partner in this year's competition judged by Amy MacDonald.

First prize is an opportunity to attend, free of charge, the one-year Professional Diploma in Songwriting course at the ICMP, worth over £5,000.

Amy MacDonald says: "I'm really pleased to be working with the ICMP by judging entries to the Shure Creative Award. I think it's great that this competition exists to encourage and support the talent of developing singer/songwriters and I'm looking forward to hearing the entries over the coming months."

Paul Crognale, marketing manager, Shure Distribution UK says, "Last year was an unprec

UK - Mark de Gruyter has joined London-based automation specialists Kinesys to head up sales and business development. de Gruyter has previously worked with Element Labs and High End Systems and also for rental major PRG.

With Kinesys, de Gruyter's role will be global, and will include maintaining and strengthening existing relationships, plus exploring new markets and territories for Kinesys.

de Gruyter joins the Kinesys team at the Prolight + Sound exhibition in Frankfurt and will take this opportunity to introduce himself to Kinesys' distributors and existing customers. "I'm really excited about working with Dave, Andy and the rest of the team at Kinesys," he comments, "With their highly respected reputation and innovative and growing portfolio of products and services, I'm eager to meet existing partners and distributors and capitalise on opportunities for t

UK - Tower Productions has recently added a number of machines to its highly-spec'd generator stock based in Edinburgh. The new machines are all FG Wilson XD series with super-hushed canopies and long-running fuel tanks, ideal for event work.

New control panels are being fitted to allow on-board; AMF, sequencing and synchronised load-sharing, on all machines from 60kva - 275kva. This negates the need for any separate remote AMF/Synch panels and makes for very quick and very simple deployment on site, says the company.

The new machines complement the existing stock of similarly specified machines all of which have on-board synch panels and have proved popular in the event power market, particularly where 100% redundancy is required for power-critical applications.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Polar Audio has announced the release of two new ranges of Dynacord amplifiers to the UK market - The DSA and SL Series.

The DSA series comprises three models - the DSA8405 (4x 500Watts), DSA8410 (4x 1000Watts), DSA8805 (8x 500Watts). Designed for fixed installations these amplifiers offer high efficiency, stable output power and outstanding performance. Each multi-channel amplifier offers flexibility owing to their Variable Load Drive (VLD) technology. The amplifiers' Variable Load Drive technology provides the ability to switch the mode of each power-amp channel and can be individually configured to deliver a maximum power of 500Watts or 1000Watts into any load from 2 to 10 ohms.

The competitively priced SL series is aimed at the mobile and fixed installation markets and offers the complete package of reliability, high-output, high-efficiency and Dynacord performance. T

Denmark - Available now is the LC Plus Series from Martin Professional, a modular system of LED video panels with new generation technology that closely integrates light, video and set design for new possibilities in indoor and outdoor staging. Designed for the demanding rental and staging market, yet equally suitable for fixed installations such as retail environments and outdoor architecture, the LC Plus is an easy-to-use, all-in-one video solution, says the company.

The LC Plus is built around Martin's new P3 technology platform (Pixel Push Protocol) for video signal processing and distribution. Based on Gigabit Ethernet and Ca t5e wiring, the P3 technology removes the inherent limitations of video-type protocols for easy connectivity and speed of set-up.

The Ethernet based system is true plug and play, eliminating the limitations of DVI, fibre optic and coax (SDI) cable co

UAE - The recently-opened Dubai Mall is one of the largest malls in the world, boasting 1,200 retail outlets, two department stores and more than 160 food and beverage vendors. The mall's 220-store Gold Souk is an elaborately decorated area used for special events by the UAE Royal Family and other dignitaries, in addition to serving as an impressive entertainment area for mall visitors.

The Gold Souk features a 75ft diameter domed super high-resolution projection screen (designed by Salt Lake City-based Evans and Sutherland Digital Theaters Group) raised 40ft above the floor, which necessitated powerful and clear audio. The design of the area presented acoustical challenges, all of which were met with a custom system featuring EAW AX Series Loudspeakers and some architectural solutions. The system was designed by Indianapolis, IN-based firm Bowen Technovation.

Because of the v

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UK - Speed is a dangerous imperative where rigging is concerned, yet there is an ever-growing demand for fast efficient turnover of productions. Echo Arena Liverpool, part of Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool (ACC Liverpool), the most recent addition to the UK's circuit of large-scale indoor events venues, has addressed this demand head on.

"The rigging grid system installed over the stage, and repeated above the centre of the arena floor, is second to none in terms of sheer utility and speed of operation," says David Bond of Star Events Group. "It has the reduction of Working at Height hours at its core."

The grid system was installed and is operated on behalf of the Echo Arena by Star Events Group; the control and hoist system used to move it comes from Lift Turn Move (LTM), a specialist entertainment rigging hardware supplier based close by in the Wi

UK - When the Bird College in Sidcup, a leading training centre for dance and theatre performance, needed to adapt one of their dance studios to allow it to be easily transformed into a performance space and back, it was to entertainment lighting supplier White Light that they turned.

"The college required us to provide a versatile rig that would allow the space to be transformed from a dance studio into a theatre space and back again" notes Matt Stridgen, White Light's projects co-ordinator responsible for the Bird College installation. "This required the installation of a new lighting grid and lighting infrastructure together with tracking and drapes to allow the space itself to be varied."

The new installation is based around an 8m by 7.5m internally-wired lighting grid featuring 20 15A sockets as well as a DMX outlet for control of automated lighting or

UK - A.C. Audio has recently supplied a sound and control system to Blackpool Pleasure Beach for their latest outdoor display, the Spectacular Dancing Water Show. The new high energy, interactive water display is situated at the heart of the beach complex, providing various theatrical showers of shooting fountains over 100ft high. It is choreographed to a wide repertoire of music including classical, pop and even rugby anthems.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach approached A.C. to specify and supply a powerful, durable sound system for the water show. The system needed to be able to withstand both the wet environment and high ambient noise levels emanating from the surrounding restaurant district. Knowing KV2 Audio had previously manufactured loudspeakers to such high levels of durability, A.C. Audio sales manager Peter Butler turned to KV2 with the brief.

"The reliability o

Germany - Peavey has added two new, feature-laden mixers to its long-running PV Series, including the compact mixers, the PV 6 USB, and PV 8 USB.

The PV 6 USB and PV 8 USB feature built-in effects, send on every channel with stereo return, zero latency record monitoring capabilities, and h more, while a USB port allows direct connection to a USB-equipped computer for recording from the mixer or playing back digital audio (compatible with Windows XP, ME & 2000). Both of these models also include pre-fader monitor sends; inserts on all channels; and dual switchable line inputs on the two stereo channels.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Meyer Sound has announced the introduction of the D-Mitri digital audio platform, which provides the foundation of the company's next generation of digital products, beginning with the LCS audio show control system and Constellation electroacoustic architecture. D-Mitri is a powerful network-based system that encompasses the entire audio chain, from microphone input to loudspeaker output, incorporating multichannel distribution, multichannel recording and playback, and show control automation.

Inherently scalable to virtually any size, D-Mitri systems can be tailored to the unique requirements of theme parks, spectacle shows, theatrical productions, museums, planetariums, performing arts centers, stadiums and arenas, and retail environments.

"D-Mitri builds on years of our experience in creating uniquely flexible digital audio systems which serve applications ra

The Netherlands/New Zealand - Royal Philips has announced today that it has acquired New Zealand-based Selecon. Under the terms of the agreement, Philips will acquire the business assets of Selecon New Zealand Limited, Selecon UK Limited, Selecon North America LLC and Aureol Lighting Limited. No financial details on the transaction were disclosed.

"Selecon's highly acclaimed luminaires for the theatrical and architectural markets will further strengthen the breadth of solutions Philips can offer to important professional customers such as performing arts centres, churches, convention centres and hotels," said Rudy Provoost, chief executive of Philips' Lighting sector. "Today we are further strengthening the product portfolio of our globally leading entertainment lighting business, building on the foundation provided by the acquisition of Genlyte in 2008."

H

Germany - Distributor of HHB professional audio products in Germany and Austria, Innoton is celebrating its second anniversary at Musikmesse 2009.

As Innoton¹s business continues to grow, the company has announced the appointment of Manfred Kintzel as sales & marketing manager. Kintzel comes to Innoton with a considerable knowledge of audio technologies, and 15 years¹ experience working in the industry.

Coinciding with the expansion of the team, Innoton is also launching a new website at www.innoton.de with detailed information, pictures and downloads for all products, and an on-line store for selected products including HHB Professional Recording Media.

Central to Innoton¹s dramatic growth is the success achieved with the HHB FlashMic Digital Recording Microphone, with 1,000 units already sold in Germany and Austria.

In addition to the distribution of HHB products, Inn

UK - Ateis UK is making its International FIREX debut this year to showcase its voice alarm (VA) and sound installation equipment. Already an established manufacturer of VA and audio reproduction systems for the public address sector, Ateis is looking to raise its profile in the British marketplace and will be promoting its DIVA8M alarm technology, network systems and Messenger line array loudspeakers.

Ateis is sharing a stand with ICS, suppliers of high technology detection products, who were recently appointed distributors for the DIVA8M range of compact, eight zone VA systems. A full system will be running during the show to demonstrate the DIVA8M's capabilities, including audio digital signal processing, matrixing of signals, digital message play-out, a fully monitored fireman microphone and amplifier and loudspeaker line monitoring, all with complete backup for the amplifie

Germany - QSC this week launched its K Series product group of lightweight, high-performance powered loudspeakers.

QSC director of entertainer solutions Ray van Straten states, "The K Series has been designed entirely without compromise, from the ground up. QSC has departed from convention and at the same time exploded a myth that smaller woofers must equate to lower performance.

"Competitors will typically use the highest power amplifier and the best quality drivers in the largest format model, while designing their smaller format models with lower power amplification and lesser performing components. This allows them to reduce the price of the smaller models, further propagating the myth that a smaller woofer enclosure necessitates lower performance."

He continues, "Apart from using the same amp module across the line, we are also using the same quality

UK - EasyDaq has launched a new low-cost, 8-channel wireless relay card and USB-connected transceiver set for use in cable-free lighting control. Its XBee transceivers provide an RF connection with a secure and rugged transmission protocol over a minimum 100m range.

The card will switch 120/240VAC at 10 amps. All (uncommitted) relay contacts are taken to two-part (male/female) screw terminal connectors allowing rapid connect/disconnect of the card. Its USB-connected and powered XBee transceiver module is housed in a small fully-potted ABS enclosure, while the relay card is available with a perspex cover and DIN rail mount option.

The USB relay card uses simple ASCII/text commands to initialise and control. It is Windows, Mac OSX and Linux compatible and existing EasyDAq serial/USB relay card users can easily port their code to it.

The product joins EasyDaq's existing range

UK - Wonderworks has created a ghostly hologram within the new £1m permanent exhibition, Uncovering Origins, at Charles Darwin's Down House In Kent. Forming part of the bicentennial celebrations of the great scientist's birth, it was created in conjunction with Paradigm AV.

Wonderworks was contracted by design consultancy, Designmap, who created the exhibition for English Heritage. The Darwin hologram is set in faithful recreation of his cabin on the Beagle. MDM Props (Designmap's build partner on the project) realised the cabin interior. Having partnered Wonderworks many times in the past, Paradigm AV was brought in to work on the elaborate fabrication.

It was at Down House that Darwin lived with his devoted family for 40 years, and it was here that he researched and wrote his most famous and seminal work, On the Origin of Species.

The new exhibition cha

USA Full Sail University has invested in 13 Audient ASP8024 desks in its Recording Arts department. 12 24-channel Audient consoles have been installed in what is known as the Analogue Mix Lab and the thirteenth is set up in the lecture room.

Greg Griffith, sound foundations course director at Full Sail University, reports, "Each station, including the one in the lecture room has a full patchbay, is loaded with time-based and dynamics processors and a hard disk based multi-track, enabling class demonstrations to be shown on the same equipment that the students will use in the lab."

Eric Abraham, console department chair at Full Sail University, says, "The ASP8024 consoles are being used in the Sound Foundations course, which is the first course in which the students get to deal with a true inline recording console. The students learn signal flow and the recording

USA - Rosco Laboratories and The ESTA Foundation have announced the presentation by Mark Engel, president of Rosco, of a cheque for the first annual royalty payment to Behind the Scenes from sales of the colour Roscolux 359 Medium Violet. Engel presented the cheque for $2,876 in front of a large gathering on the show floor at USITT in Cincinnati just prior to the annual Behind the Scenes / Long Reach Long Rider raffle.

Engel stated, "These challenging economic times require both imaginative solutions -- and compassion for those in need. That's one of the reasons Rosco is so pleased to be involved in The ESTA Foundation's Behind The Scenes programme. We contribute a part of the proceeds from sales of one of the most popular colours in Roscolux, 359 Medium Violet, to Behind The Scenes. More and more people throughout the industries we serve are choosing this colour both for m

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