Belgium - Robe's latest Robin moving lights have been installed into the two main performance spaces at the prestigious De Bijloke Muziekcentrum (Music Centre) in Ghent.

De Bijloke offers a diverse programme of high quality music, presented both in pure concert form and in new and unique combinations and conceptual formats. This covers a wide range of genres including classical and ancient music, jazz, and also incorporates other art forms. The venue produces over 100 concerts, recitals and performances a year and stages or receives another 80 plus shows and collaborative works. It attracts over 100,000 visitors and classical music lovers and aficionados annually.

The venue includes two renovated former civil hospitals, one dating back to the 13th century (the Concert Hall) and

UAE - A Midas PRO6 supplied by London's Britannia Row and a PRO9 from Dubai-based Sound On Stage Events had leading roles in the UAE's spectacular National Day celebrations to mark the 40th Anniversary of the nation's founding.

The PRO6 controlled all the audio, both live and broadcast, at the multi-artist arena show in the filled-to-capacity 50,000-seat Sheikh Zayed Stadium, held in the presence of UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Emirates rulers and Crown Prince.

"We had an unlimited budget and we could have taken any console in the world, but the PRO6 was the only choice for the job," says Britannia Row engineer Josh Lloyd. "This show was an incredibly high profile, complex, one-off event, and broadcast live on TV. Equipment failure was not an option."

The PRO6's digital flexibility and networking capability also prove

UK - In celebration of PAI's 30 years within the service industry, the company will be marking the occasion throughout 2012 with a series of online anniversary activities.

Established in the summer of 1982 as a provider of cutting-edge lighting and sound systems to the entertainment sector, the South Wales-based organisation has grown extensively over the last three decades and now encompasses Vaughan Sound, Lighting Technology Projects and Link AV within the PAI Group.

"Following the expansion into the group of four businesses specialising in the design, installation and service of sound, lighting and audio-visual equipment, we are proud to have administered, supported and nurtured one of the industry's most proficient teams," says the company.

"We'll be marking the 30 year milestone on our brand new website and our social media accounts, where we will be tak

UAE - Reflecting the increasing focus on the Middle East market, Turbosound held its second annual Middle East Sales Conference in Dubai over two days from 30 November to 1 December 2011, with over 30 delegates from across the Middle East attending this now popular event.

Managing director Simon Blackwood, sales director Dom Harter and market manager Hasna Nahdi presented the company's product strategy and new product offerings to Turbosound's regional distributors and installers from Dubai, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Sultanate of Oman, Iran, and Iraq at the Novotel World Trade Centre.

A product demonstration at the Diablo nightclub, a new build ultra-club featuring the largest single installation of Turbosound products in the Middle East market, followed, with audio designed in collaboration with key Turbosound factory sound designers and installed and comm

UK / Poland - KMR Audio has announced a second product from Looptrotter Audio Engineering in Poland, the company responsible for the acclaimed Monster Compressor. The new unit, the SATUR-8 provides eight separate channels of saturation blocks referencing the sound of vintage valve consoles and tape recorders.

SATUR-8 works as an analogue soft limiter and adds low-order harmonics in an intelligent and musical way. The unit gives a solid and fat sound in the recording, processing and mixing stages.

A primary point of reference for the creation of SATUR-8 was the Monster Compressor, because of its acknowledged saturation system based on vacuum tubes. Looptrotter has managed to achieve the distinct sound of vacuum tubes with the usage of semiconductor technology.

Finally, the SATUR-8 is very user-friendly, says the company. All the channels are equipped with two knobs: DRIVE (sa

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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

USA - Sixteen years after founding rental powerhouse XL Video, Marcel de Keyzer has sold his shares to move on and up. US-based IC Technologies LLC will focus on creating unique LED video applications for the AV, architectural, entertainment, retail, hospitality, and sports industries.

Partnering with Norah de Bekker, John Frattalone, Meghan Campbell, and a fast resource of experienced LED Engineers they will be operating out of a new LED LAB in Tribeca New York.

The move, the company says, is a logical continuation of de Keyzer's move a few years ago to establish the LED LAB in New York City's SoHo, where rental clients and their end-clients could experience technologies hands on, in real-life scale and brainstorm on endless creative possibilities.

IC's focus is to create easier ways to design unique out-of-the-box video displays. "Everybody wants something uniquely vi

Denmark - In the autumn of 2010, Denmark's Aarhus Symphony Orchestra was the proud recipient of a beautiful, new concert organ that now graces the Symphonic Hall of the Concert Hall in Aarhus. The pipe organ is a stunning piece of craftsmanship and was built by one of Europe's notable organ masters, Orgelbau Klais of Bonn, who have provided pipe organs for famous concert halls all over the world.

The Orchestra naturally wished to highlight the instrument and chose to light its façade using an LED colour changing lighting system from Martin Professional.

Over 100m of Martin LED strips mounted on the back of the wooden slats light the organ pipes (from a distance of only 15cm) while mounted vertically at the bottom of the slats and lighting the lower conical part of the pipes are Martin Tripix 1200 and Tripix 300 LED linear luminaires.

"It was important for us that the o

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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

Germany Among the new Clay Paky products making their international debut at ProLight+Sound is the new A.LEDA LED moving head range. The line consists of three models with wide fast pan and tilt movements: 100 W, 300 W and 600 W approx. The 100 W model has a fixed 6° aperture, whereas the two more powerful models have a 8°-40° zoom, which makes them suitable for use in more professional environments.

This line is a valid alternative to discharge-lamp washlights of equal power, with all the benefits of LED lights: intense, highly vivid saturated-tone colours, light-weight, energy saving, longer light source life, and lower operating and maintenance costs.

All the models in the ALEDA line are fitted with advanced electronics, have a compact light-weight design, and can be easily adapted to all areas of application. The effects section comes complete with dimmer and s

UK MT Pro Ltd will be exhibiting for the first time at the IOEX show in London. The show takes place at ExCel on the 6-8 March. On display will be a range of wireless lighting products designed "to enhance your event without the need for mains or signal cables".

The units are battery powered (charging takes place in the flight cases) making them quick and easy to rig, saving time and manpower during your build-up time.

Two simple control options are available. The first is manual control by which the units can be pre-set to any colour using the on-board menu. The second option utilises wireless DMX, enabling the colours and intensity to be co-ordinated with any stage or room lighting.

These units are suitable for indoor and outdoor use, allowing you to highlight architectural features to add atmosphere to any building, says the company.

Also on display will be a

Germany - Turbosound will present its new Flashline five-way large scale line array loudspeaker system to the European market at the Konig-Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany, on 14 March 2012, ahead of the public launch at the ProLight+sound exhibition in Frankfurt a week later.

"We have well over 120 confirmed key decision makers attending this milestone event," says managing director Simon Blackwood, "from all aspects of the industry - engineers, rental companies, consultants and systems techs - who have expressed interest in our latest class-leading festival and arena level concert sound technology."

Guests will have an opportunity to see how the PA rigs and sounds in a representative arena environment, as well as a close-up hands-on look at details of the system's components including the eleven-drive-unit line array, and DSP-based amplification pack

Germany - TOA Europe will return to Frankfurt's ProLight+Sound exhibition this year, promising a major new product-line introduction to add to its already impressive line of audio solutions for public address and emergency evacuation.

From its base on Stand 8.0 F46 in Hall 8 of the Messe Frankfurt complex, TOA will showcase a new range of flat-panel loudspeakers - marking the first time the company has offered such low-thickness transducers and extending even further the possible applications for TOA's core technologies.

"Last year in Frankfurt we were the first manufacturer to show loudspeakers that were certified to the new pan-European EN54 standards for fire safety," says Brett Downing, sales & marketing director, TOA Europe. "This year we are extending our loudspeaker range by offering flat-panel designs for the first time - the product of years of extensiv

UK - London-based creative agency Knifedge has produced another set of dramatic theatrical projections to act as the backdrop to a major new production of Verdi's Aida at The Royal Albert Hall.

This latest production of Verdi's operatic masterpiece is co-produced by Raymond Gubbay and The Royal Albert Hall, and directed by Stephen Medcalf. It is widely regarded as Verdi's most epic opera, telling the tragic story of a classic love triangle between slave girl Aida, the King's daughter Amneris, and Captain of the Guards, Radames.

Knifedge's latest visual effects paint evocative pictures of Ancient Egypt onto huge curved gauzes, stretching around almost a quarter of the venue. The agency has worked closely with set designer Isabella Bywater and lighting designer Andrew Bridge to blend its imagery into the overall design of the show. From a technical stand point, the rig co

South Africa - The Theatre Lighting Archive is a new website which celebrates the pioneers of theatre lighting design in South Africa and went live on the 29 February 2012.

"I figured 29 February 29 doesn't happen every year and neither does a project like this," said the man behind the enormous task, lighting designer Denis Hutchinson. "Unlike most archives with their reams of paper and dust, the idea here is much more personal with the primary focus being video interviews with the amazing people who laid the foundations of lighting design in South Africa."

The idea came to Hutchinson after watching a panel discussion moderated by Ken Billington which was filmed in New York. "Names that I'd seen in print - Abe Feder, Peggy Clark, Tharon Musser - suddenly became people, and that was really exciting. It also got me thinking about how little we do to pre

UK - A Midas PRO6 at FOH with an additional PRO6 and the new PRO2 on monitors, specified by live sound supervisor and supplied by Britannia Row Productions, delivered perfect performances at this year's Brit Awards, held for the second year running at London's O2 Arena .

The Brit Awards, the biggest event in the British music industry's calendar, is one of the most challenging shows to stage, with a multi-artist line-up that this year ranged from the simple guitar and vocal of Ed Sheeran to the full band, backed by choir, of Blur, all broadcast live on TV to an audience of over six million. A total of nine artists performed on the night, the line-up also including Adele, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Florence and The Machine, Noel Gallagher, Olly Murs and Rihanna. All were mixed on the PRO6.

FOH engineer, Britannia Row's Josh Lloyd, says, "The PRO6 was perfect for the job. Its ab

Finland - Viking Line commenced service in 1959, when the S/S Viking began sailing between the Finnish mainland, the Åland Islands and Sweden. Today Viking Line has seven vessels, which sail between the Finnish mainland, Åland and Sweden as well as between Finland and the Baltic states. Operations include passenger services, recreation and cargo carrier services.

After renewing M/S Rosella's dance restaurant to the height of two floors, Jouni Sironen, the AV manager of Viking Line, was looking for the line array set, which could support live music and entertainment. After a few demo listenings, RCF TTL 31A was chosen for the new system.

The system consists of rigged TTL 12AS and four TTL 31A per side and TTS 28A subs in the centre ground stack to produce the perfect bass coverage. Four RCF C 3108W delay speakers fill the back parts of low height first floor.

RCF's Finnish

USA Alabama based Lighting designer Taylor Price used a Jands Vista S3 console, running the next generation Vista v2 software, to control lighting for the recent US tour of Grammy Award winning rockers, Third Day.

Taylor made the switch to the Jands Vista platform while lighting another Grammy award winner, Switchfoot. Their punishing touring schedule meant Taylor was looking for a powerful yet portable control system that could easily travel on a plane. His solution was to join the growing international family of lighting designers who have bought their own Vista system. He's not looked back, and has been an enthusiastic Jands Vista user ever since.

Third Day play a wide variety of venues using a mix of their own touring rig and locally supplied production. On arena shows the Vista S3 was controlling the full touring rig of Vari*Lite 3000 profiles, Vari*Lite 3500 washes, Mart

USA - Lighting designer, Lawrence Upton recently extended his long relationship with Smashing Pumpkins when the band took first to the American tour circuit, and then Europe, in support of their ninth album, Oceania.

However, it was the first time he had used GLP's impression platform, building 20 of the compact, lightweight Volkslicht Zoom LED heads into the set. And it certainly paid dividends.

Taking responsibility for the full stage design and dynamics, he set out in search of the latest equipment available "to suit the vibe of the tour", opting for the GLP fixtures after they had been recommended by Kevin Forster at Epic Production Technologies, who supplied the rig for the American leg, and Craig Gaff at PRG.

The tour itself was picked up across the Atlantic by Neg Earth, who maintained continuity with the GLP heads - ensuring that they performed as fl

UK - Well over 100 sound engineers and sound rental companies from as far afield as Brazil, homed in on Wembley Arena for two days of Martin Audio MLA (Multi-cellular loudspeaker array) product demonstrations this month.

The two days were split into four separate sessions. Each session combined a theoretical presentation from R&D director Jason Baird followed by exposure to different optimisation plots, created in the new Display 2.1 software, out in the Arena itself. This enabled visitors to sample the consistency of sound coverage from points on the floor, behind the PA, at the bleachers and at the top of the raked seating in the 12,500 capacity venue.

Jennifer Warnes' Somewhere, Somebody was used as a reference track but it was left to acts such as Rammstein to demonstrate the full dynamics and muscularity of the system.

At one point Baird demonstrated the close co

USA - Busy booths, packed seminars and a raft of new product launches firmly established PLASA Focus as an unmissable industry event for Texas. A total of 820 attendees, including exhibitors, headed to the Renaissance Austin to see over 50 brands launch dozens of new products and enjoy Focus's trademark informal, friendly atmosphere.

Among the new products making their debuts at Focus Austin were: the MAC III AirFX luminaire and M2GO and M2PC consoles, launched by Martin Professional; along with the DLV Digital Light, and TechnoArc automated luminaire, both from High End Systems.

The Professional Development Program was a major attraction with substantial audiences for sessions that ranged from Demystifying Audio to Austin City Limits Live!.

CEO of PLASA Matthew Griffiths, commented, "Exhibitors have been enthusing about the high quality of visitors and th

UK - In May 2011, four apprentices joined entertainment lighting specialist White Light. All four joined on a two year term as part of White Light's involvement with the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural.

Natalie Brotherton, Gabrielle Felix-Daramy, Daniel Goodwin and Danielle Morris all took the opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience in the world of entertainment lighting by working within White Light. Starting with preparing cables then moving on through White Light's rigging and bench teams the apprentices have been learning the 'nuts and bolts' of entertainment lighting. The plan, in time, is for all four to work in every area of the company's warehouse, helping to prepare equipment for the more than 3,000 projects White Light is involved with each year while learning from the company's highly experienced staff.

Their work is by no means limited

USA - Four draft Rigging Working Group Standards are available at the web address below. Materially affected members of the public are invited to review them.

BSR E1.6-2 - 201x, Entertainment Technology - Design, Inspection, and Maintenance of Electric Chain Hoists for the Entertainment Industry, is part of the E1.6 powered entertainment rigging project. This draft standard covers the design, inspection, and maintenance of serially manufactured electric link chain hoists having capacity of 2 tons or less and used in the entertainment industry. This standard does not cover attachment to the load or to the overhead structure. Its review runs until April 24.

BSR E1.6-4 - 201x, Portable Control of Fixed-Speed Electric Chain Hoists in the Entertainment Industry, is a standard for the controls often used to operate chain hoists. Its review runs until March 27.

BSR E1.8 - 201x, Ent

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