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Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians has named freelancer John Tapster as the ABTT Technician of the Year 2009.

Originally planning to teach primary school mathematics, 'Tappy' (as he is affectionately known) was enticed to switch direction to the theatre, after a visit in 1996 to see Phantom of the Opera at Manchester's Opera House, and being bowled over by the technical wizardry.

He cut his teeth at the Middlesbrough Little Theatre, before joining Basildon Towngate Theatre as a general technician. Work quickly followed, including a Belgium ice show, Open Hand Theatre Company, Liverpool Everyman (chief technician) and a stint on Eclipse at Blackpool's Pleasure Beach.

A move to Stoke-on-Trent's Victoria Hall proved fruitful, when he was also offered the c

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USA - Total Structures has announced details of its summer hoist school. This two-day ETCP recognized training course is for anyone working with Columbus McKinnon entertainment electric chain hoists. The course will be held on Monday 17 August Tuesday 18 August in Oxnard, CA.

Class size is limited to 20 students, however should demand necessitate an additional course will be added for Wednesday 19 August and Thursday 20 August.Unlike prior Columbus McKinnon training schools this course will now include a written certification examination, with successful students receiving recognition as being a CM-ET (Columbus McKinnon Entertainment Technology) certified entertainment hoist technician.

Appropriately qualified students passing the course will also obtain 16 renewal credits towards ETCP rigging examination re-certification. Suited to both touring and in-house repair technicians

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UK - Within a year of purchasing a stock of EV Phoenix loudspeakers and CP Series amplifiers, the Berkshire-based PA rental company Event Sound is stepping up its commitment to, and investment in, Electro-Voice loudspeakers with an order for an XLC line-array system, to be delivered at the end of the summer.

One of the first companies in the UK to embrace the high-SPL compact Phoenix enclosure design, Event Sound has found the scale of its projects steadily increasing, recently completing its biggest show to date, an outdoor charity concert, headlined by Nick Heyward, for 2000 people. "We have evolved a long way from our origins as a dry-hire operation," says Nick Billinghurst. "The success we've had with the Phoenix system, winning a lot of open-air events particularly festivals, has given us the confidence and the custom to upgrade our inventory to full line-arr

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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Spain - A large outdoor festival organised by Acció Cultural del Pais Valencià recently took place in the city of Valencia and D.A.S. Aero line array systems were key to the success of the event. Responsible for the technical production was Simes Audio, led by David Ferri, who put together a comprehensive lighting and sound system to ensure the best performance and consistent coverage over the considerable audience area.

Several thousand students gathered at the large open area on the sprawling campus of Valencia's Polytechnic University. Live performances were offered by bands including Berri Txarrak, Aramateix, and Rapsodes, the winners of Valencian music competition Amplifica't. Over four hours of music with amazingly different styles provided a truly enjoyable evening.

The PA system comprised 20 D.A.S. Aero 38A powered modules, arranged in two 10-unit line format

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UK - Shure Distribution UK (SDUK) announced the launch of the Shure Professional Headphone range at LIMS 09. The new range arrives in the UK with three models, the SRH240, SRH440 and SRH840. They represent Shure's first foray into the headphone market and range from entry level and home recording offerings to premium quality professional headphones.

The SRH240 headphones are the entry level headphones in the new series. They are designed for general listening and monitoring applications and offer powerful bass response and clear highs.

The SRH440 headphones are for professional home recording and studio monitoring applications. They offer an enhanced frequency response that delivers accurate audio across an extended range. The detachable single-side cable and collapsible construction promises a high level of comfort and portability.

The flagship headphone model is the SRH840

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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

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USA - EAW has introduced the MicroSub stage subwoofer, the latest offering in the company's MicroWedge Series of stage monitor products. The single-15" enclosure is a versatile stage and small venue subwoofer, designed to address the environment of onstage low frequency demands - sonic territory that often goes ignored by stage monitor setups.

The MicroSub can be configured and interlocked in a wide range of different combinations - by itself, with other MicroSubs or with other MicroWedge units. Small pads and recesses are located on its sides, top and bottom. The loudspeaker is mounted at a 45-degree angle and the cabinet height is exactly half of the cabinet width when the MicroSub is laid flat (features which facilitate a variety of arrangement options).

Due to its small profile, it can serve as a side-fill monitor, particularly in a club setting: the 13" height a

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UK - West London based audio specialist Encore has designed and installed a new d&b J-Series sound system into the newly revamped Fridge in Brixton. This is the result of the venue's original creators Andrew Czezowski and Susan Carrington forging an innovative new partnership with the Alchemea College of Audio Engineering. Alchemea, has developed a four-month Live Sound Diploma Course, with the aim of giving students real practical experience. All 'live' training and study will take place at The Fridge.

Encore's John Tinline explains that sound engineer AIan Hopkinson has been working with Neil Pickles, a director of Alchemea for some time in an advisory role as their head of live sound. He was given the challenging task of specifying a system that would both attract promoters and bands back to the newly kitted out Fridge, and simultaneously be suitable for realising the Alcheme

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Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

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.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

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Ireland - In March 2009, the holder at the time of the WBA Super Bantamweight Boxing title, Ricardo Cordoba of Panama, was facing the challenge of Dublin's own Bernard Dunne. The venue, Dublin's new O2 Arena, formerly the Point and as it happens a worthy challenge too for Dublin based audio hire company Acoustik.

"The first World Championship boxing match to be held in Dublin for 13 years," said Paul Ashe-Browne of Acoustik. "The show design stipulation was that no loudspeakers be in TV camera shot." Thankfully, within earshot was permitted.

"My system was primarily for speech reinforcement; let me tell you, 9,000 Dubliners in full cry is quite some level to overcome. Based around three hangs of d&b audiotechnik's Q1s and Q-SUBs, with numerous Q7s and Q10s providing in-fill around the ring, I was determined not to run out of headroom."

Acoustik

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UK - SSE Audio Group has announced two new developments which add further scope to the company's operations. The first is the purchase of the corporate events hire stock of North London audio specialists Green-i Ltd, as part of the formation of SSE Events as a new Group division. The move also sees Green-i director Andrew Frengley join SSE on 1 July.

SSE Events will be based at SSE's base in Hayes, where the Group's Contract Rental and Audio Installations business, SSE London is based. Canegreen, the North London audio rental company that joined SSE last year is also currently moving its operations from Tottenham to Hayes.

SSE Audio Group managing director John Penn says: "This purchase represents a great opportunity for SSE to secure its position in the London Events marketplace by taking over a resource already geared to that market. At the same time equipment is only a

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USA - The deadline for nominations for the second annual ESTA Rock Our World Awards is 1 July 1. The awards recognise groundbreaking achievement by ESTA members in new products, product applications, or projects, and were created to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of technology and the designer or integrator who applies the technology in a real world environment.

Contestants for the 2008 awards showcased a wide variety of new products and product applications from the simplest problem solver to complex uses of technology that extended the boundaries of the entertainment technology field. Project nominations showcased everything from theatrical productions to special events to permanent installations and highlighted the collaborative nature of our industry.

Nominations may be made by anyone in the industry, but an ESTA Member must be involved as the designer,

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USA - This year, TMB will launch several new and products at InfoComm. These include: UberPan from Green Hippo - advanced multi-server control system that allows multiple Hippotizers to work as one, creating a single virtual canvas; amBIENT XC from amBX - the ambient lighting control system for the creation and delivery of immersive entertainment experiences; ProFan - high velocity DMX fan with detachable remote for manual control. Truss; ProPlex RMT - Remote Media Transceiver System; ProPlex GBS - GigaBit Switch; ProShell - Professional RJ45 housing, and Solaris CF-35 strobe.

TMB will also be showing a selection of popular products for the entertainment professional, including: AC Power power distribution boxes; Color Kinetics LED fixtures; curveLED transparent flexible video displays; DMX Data Lynx four-universe DMX console switcher and backup; Kinesys Libra loadcell and Eleva

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UK - London based draping specialists Cover it Up were in action again for the 2009 UK WWE wrestling tour. The company has worked with Davy Coates, co-ordinator of all WWE live events outside North America, for the last six years, and technological advances are constantly providing new challenges.

With HD broadcasting now common, Cover It Up has found that by exploiting the variances in the opacity of their fabric stock, draping and soft goods coverage can be maximized to provide more acutely defined edges, bringing greater depth to the set design, along with other production solutions.

Each textile has its own texture, light transmission and reflection quality which is much more noticeable with HD. Cover It Up's Elliot Sennett says, "We worked hard with the WWE production team to ensure that our grey and black wool serges work together. It's amazing how even a different

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France - Le Confort Moderne in Poitiers is a surprising place. The venue is unprepossessing from the outside, yet once inside, the visitor is exposed to 5000sq.m of modern and contemporary theatre and exhibition space. Billed as a "conceptual laboratory" Le Confort Moderne has been engaged since 1985 in the creation, production and diffusion of original works of contemporary art, music and trans-disciplinary experimentation. As part of a significant monitor system upgrade from a completely analogue solution to a largely digital one complete with EtherSound network, Le Confort Moderne recently invested in an Sy48 digital console from Innovason.

The new system was designed and installed by Z Professionnel, a Bordeaux-based rental company with offices in Poitiers. According to Z Professionnel's Bruno Gondrecourt, the brief was to optimise the existing Nexo system. "T

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Germany - The eve of 1 May found 25,000 ravers once again streaming to Dortmund's Westfalenhalle for the techno event of the year: Mayday. The slogan for this year's 15-hour marathon was Massive Moments. Werne-based service provider Satis&fy made sure that the sound system and the results it yielded lived up to the hype. The Satis&fy team led by technical director Jörn Busch opted for a substantial Electro-Voice system.

The system specifications for the marathon are impressive: 64 Electro-Voice TG7 amplifiers delivering 350,000 Watts, and 32 X-Line tops and 56 X-Line subs were distributed through seven sound stations.

Rüdiger Nürnberg of Satis&fy comments: "Not only in terms of overall loudness but also in point of homogeneity and even level distribution, the X-Line with the new presets is fully convincing. Normal bass loudspeakers in particular reach their ther

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Sweden - LumenRadio can officially claim the title Hottest New Swedish Company of 2009. The company won first prize in the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition beating close to 1,000 other competitors with its innovative technology and strong business idea.

LumenRadio develops wireless technology for the lighting industry. CRMX - LumenRadio's first product line for wireless light controls was released at Prolight+Sound in April of 2009 and has since continued to enjoy tremendous interest from within the entertainment community, as well as from major players in the architectural lighting market.

"The response from customers and distributors in entertainment lighting has been above our wildest expectations. We've been flying around the globe for the last two months meeting with excited customers who have been frustrated with the problems of the present wireless cont

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Germany - Harmonie in Bonn-Endenich is far from just another German music venue with a beer garden. With a history that dates back to 1899, this hall boasts 150 concerts, cabaret, themed parties, and lectures a year and enjoys r sound reinforcement, through a high-fidelity, low-maintenance audio system from Meyer Sound.

Three entrepreneurs from Bonn took over Harmonie in 1994, and in 2000, at the request of several musicians and sound technicians, Josef Schnorbus, co-owner and technical director of the venue, decided to replace its aged sound system, and compared several manufacturers' systems before settling on Meyer Sound's UltraSeries loudspeakers.

The Meyer Sound system initially acquired for the L-shaped live club in 2001 comprised two UPA-1P and three UPM-1P loudspeakers, a UMS-1P and two USW-1P subwoofers. The new system made a significant improvement on the sound quali

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UK - The success of GLP's Impression LED moving head - which became an immediate hit with both television lighting directors and concert touring LD's on its launch - is now finding its way steadily into the corporate world.

As the latest UK customer, Rob Mander of RM Lighting set out all 16 of his newly-purchased heads recently for a VIP launch of a new lifestyle magazine at a top venue in London's Mayfair.

Mander pinpointed the advantages of the GLP fixture. "These Impressions are so bright yet lightweight that we can both ground support and truss-mount them around the perimeter of a room to provide a constant colour changing atmosphere. However, at the same time we can use them on stage to highlight the performers, as the RGB versions produce a higher light yield than that of a conventional moving light or PAR can."

South London-based RM Lighting purchased the 16

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Australia - ARX Systems has announced the appointment of Moto Audio Sales as its new distributor for Denmark. ARX Managing director Colin Park commented, "Moto's Erik Bjerre and I have been discussing the possibilities of working together in Denmark for some time, Erik thought with the release of new additions to our USB DI product range and our MSX range of signal splitters the time was right to expand ARX's presence in the Danish market.

"Erik and his sales team also felt our range of signal processing products was a complementary fit with the other lines they currently represent, they were especially excited by the new products we released at the recent Frankfurt Pro Light and Sound Exhibition."

Companies represented by Moto Audio Sales include L-Acoustics, RCF, CAMCO, Aviom, Pinanson, Sennheiser and Yamaha.

(Jim Evans)

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Czech Republic - Czech professional lighting and sound sales company AudioMaster has installed Anolis LED products into its new HQ in Prague - both to enhance the functionality and aesthetics of the building and to demonstrate in situ, the benefits of the brand to their clients.

Music City is a new purpose built four-storey building, a collaboration between AudioMaster and the Prague Music Centre. The concept is to deliver the ultimate retail environment for musicians, performers, installers, technical specifiers, venue owners and managers and anyone involved in the professional entertainment and leisure industry.

Encompassing recording and demo studios, training plus conference and presentation areas, the Music Cafe coffee bar and specialist display areas for guitarists, drummers, keyboard and percussion aficionados of all types, Music City also features all the latest MI, DJ

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UK - Stage Electrics is holding its second round of Pie and Pint product demonstration events in London and Manchester, following the successful launch of the Pie and Pint concept last year. These free informal lunchtime events will feature a product demonstration on the ETC ION and Eos lighting control desks by ETC's Jeremy Roberts. During the demonstrations there will be an opportunity for guests to enjoy a pie and pint courtesy of Stage Electrics, network and ask some vital product questions.

The first event will be held on Tuesday 23 June from 11:30-2:30pm at the Sawyers Arms pub in Manchester. Following on from Manchester, Pie and a Pint heads to London's West End on Thursday 25 June from 11:30-2:30pm at the Theodore Bullfrog pub. Visitors can drop into these locations at any point during these times.

Chris Patton, divisional sales manager at Stage El

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USA - Norway's projectiondesign returns to InfoComm to showcase its broadest range of projection solutions. The company will lift the wraps off the FL32 projector, projectiondesign's first solid-state LED-based projection system that uses the company's new RealLED technology resulting in "greatly enhanced image performance and ultra-low maintenance". The FL32 is set to greatly reduce operating costs, and features a 100,000-hour life illumination system, says the company.

Since making its global debut at last year's InfoComm, projectiondesign's active stereoscopic 3D projector, the F10 AS3D has earned worldwide praise from the audio visual and visualization community for its ability to provide convincing and compelling 3D imagery from a single, portable device. This year the company will be showing the F10 AS3D, as well as F32 and F22 3D stereo projectors using INFITEC

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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
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