UK - Tascam equipment was central to a series of one-off recordings by seminal UK indie band Suede at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) recently. Engineer and producer Julie Gardner deployed a rig of Tascam high resolution DTRS recorders, comprising a Tascam DA-98HR and three Tascam DA-78HRs, in conjunction with a Logic Platinum-loaded Mac G4 Powerbook, to record the unique series of once-only performances of each of Suede's five studio albums.

The performances kicked off Suede's winter tour and were part of the promotion for the band's latest single, attitude, and greatest hits album, singles, released on 20 October 2003. Due to the unrepeatable nature of the event, Gardner decided to augment her usual portable, 32-channel direct-to-disk system. "It's accepted professional practice to double up on formats when you're recording one-offs to any computer-based sys

UK - Stage Electrics Production Services recently supplied specialist outdoor lighting for the reveal of the London Olympic bid logo on the façade of the Tate Modern in London last week. Working closely with Andy MacDonald, production company The Persuaders, and Dennis Ahern of the Tate Modern, Stage Electrics achieved the lighting at the last minute using Optivision flood lighting on the ground with power supplied by an Aggreko generator.

Account handler David Stewart commented: "We were originally requested to light the logo just for the Monday reveal, and used City Colours which worked really well. The next day we got a call to light the logo for the rest of the week and responded immediately with an even brighter solution using the Optivisions."

(Lee Baldock)

Hungary - At the end of August, Budapest was the scene of a techno parade with over 300,000 fans in attendance. Pro Audio Systems Ltd provided the sound system for the event using equipment from EVI Audio.

The Hungarian mega-rave featured no fewer than 50 imaginatively decorated floats, each with its own cast of extravagantly attired dancers, all vying for attention. The competition between sound systems was just as hot with the most impressive performance coming from Pacha, Budapest's best-known discotheque. The Pacha float was equipped by the Hungarian sound company Pro Audio Systems Ltd, who used sound equipment exclusively from EVI Audio, with a Dynacord V system taking centre stage. Endre Reh, managing director of Pro Audio Systems Ltd told us: "When the parade was over, the organizer approached us to say that ours was the float with the best sound."

The winning

Portugal - Portuguese Chameleon distributor Audinova Ltd recently introduced the company's new Atlas digital amplifier range at the Musicália fair in Lisbon, held from 23-26 October. Audinova showed Atlas for the first time on mainland Europe, along with a good selection of other Chameleon products including DP/2, DX and the Studio range of amplifiers. Atlas was shown as a pre-production model and was sent out especially for the exhibition. The four-day show allowed audio demonstrations, giving customers the chance to experience the sound quality of the full range of Chameleon amplifiers.

Nunes de Sousa, general manager of Audinova, commented: "It is amazing, Chameleon is a small company yet has developed technology to produce such a quality digital amplifier. Chameleon analogue amplifiers are well proven and now the digital Atlas range has created great interest during th

UK - Chris Gunton & Associates, the specialist sound, lighting and video contractor, has recently completed a new bar/restaurant at 50 Dover Street, opposite the entrance to the famous London Ritz hotel. The venue owner, Whid, chose CGA to create a special environment following recommendations from trade. CGA identified that this installation would require quality, discrete sound - capable of background sound and also live music reproduction. In addition, stage lighting and disco lighting that would not infringe on the detailed interior design but that equally would be reliable and easy to use.

To carry the sound throughout all areas- bar, restaurant, stage, reception and toilet areas, CGA used a combination of EV Evid 4.2 speakers, JBL ceiling bass bins and JBL ceiling speakers. The Sound is controlled by the customer using simple Cloud Electronics RL1 controls which go back to

USA - Clay Paky, the Bergamo, Italy-based manufacturer of intelligent show lighting products, has announced the formation of Clay Paky America Inc. The new company will open its offices in Valencia, a northern suburb of Los Angeles, and will be headed up by Paul J Turpin as CEO. Turpin, known as 'PJ', has a successful track record in sales and management in the lighting industry.

Pasquale Quadri, president of the parent corporation, told us: "The idea was in the air for some time. We carried out a detailed study of the American market . . . analyzed the market conditions, the type and quality of products being specified, the types of distribution channels needed, and the technical support expectations of the market. On the basis of this survey we moved on to the realization stage, which resulted in the formation of an operational office in the United States."

Turpin

UK - The SPS Group has announced the acquisition of Procter & Gamble's Display Division, adding permanent point of purchase (POP) display services to its mix of retail communication services. The renamed division, SPS Display, will strengthen the company's position in the market, making it the only UK firm to offer a fully comprehensive solution for managing retail communications.

The Ferndown-based SPS Group has now become approved suppliers to handle permanent POP display contracts for leading cosmetics and perfumery brands including Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Max Factor, Olay and SKII. Display teams will begin designing, manufacturing and installing permanent POP in airport and ferry terminals (Nuance, Alpha Retail & World Duty Free) key domestic retailers (Harrods & Selfridges) and in many department stores around the country (Bentalls, Allders, House of Fraser).

SPS aims to grow

France - AVAB transtechnik France and ETC International came together in August 2003 to lay the groundwork for their mutual development in France. The accord was the result of ETC International's buy-out of the transtechnik GmbH involvement in AVAB transtechnik France, and in particular, it confirmed the following points: that the AVAB brand name will be retained and developed; that the AVAB transtechnik France staff will be retained; that the sales and distribution policy will continue (Juliat, Selecon, Ardiis, Dynalite); and that the long-running partnership with Robert Juliat will continue and be developed.

As of 1 January 2004, AVAB transtechnik France will be the exclusive distributor of ETC spotlights (the Source Four line, including Revolution, the new moving light from ETC) in France, while Eclalux will continue as the exclusive distributor of ETC control consoles and di

Australia - Leading Australian electronic live act, Infusion, has upgraded its sound set-up with the addition of a PA28 from Allen & Heath's new PA series of portable live sound consoles. The three-piece band, which has worked with DJs such as Sasha, Junkie XL, Danny Howells, Lucien Foort and Dave Seaman, are currently signed to BMG but previously had releases on Thunk and Marine Parade. They have played in the UK at Fabric, in the US at Spundae, Centrofly and Buzz, in Tokyo at Womb and most recently, at Creamfields in Argentina.

The mixer is incorporated as one of Infusion's frontline instruments, operated by band member Jamie Stevens: "Already the Allen & Heath PA28 has proven its reliability to us in some extreme live situations. It also sounds so clear with very generous headroom which is really important to us when we want to give it that little bit more. It is a great

USA - During the recent LDI exhibition in Orlando, Florida (21-23 October) ESTA (the Entertainment Services and Technology Association) announced the winners of the 2003 Dealers' and Manufacturers' Choice Awards.

The Dealers' Choice Customer Service Awards offer ESTA's Dealer Members the opportunity to publicly recognize those manufacturers that provide consistently good customer service throughout the year, and recognize high performance in four main areas - Customer Service, Shipping & Billing, Technical Support and Quotations/Project Management. Dealers cast their votes for Manufacturers in each of three categories based on the Manufacturers' number of employees, 1-6, 7-25, and over 25. The winners for 2003 are Doug Fleenor Design (1-6 employees category), City Theatrical (7-25 employees category) and Apollo Design Technology (over 25 employees category).

The Manufacturers'

UK - Gallowglass Ltd, one of the UK's leading suppliers of crew and modular staging for the events market, has extended its hire division to include temporary grandstand seating. "We are always looking for ways to develop our business and open up new avenues for our core operations. The new seating division will help to boost our summer trade and give us an even greater presence in the outdoor events market," said managing director Paul Grecian. He continues: "We do not see ourselves as becoming a large outdoor event supplier. We will be looking to supply the smaller, niche markets with seating solutions. If we can supplement these contracts with additional crew and staging opportunities - then all the better."

Gallowglass' clients over the past five years have included the likes of BBC Radio 1, M2002 Commonwealth Games, Bloomberg, BP, and most of the FTSE 10

UK - A.C. Lighting has been appointed as a distributor of Wharfedale Professional products in the UK. The British audio manufacturer has been at the forefront of loudspeaker technology since 1932 and produces an impressive line-up of professional products ranging from conventional loudspeakers to its innovative LoudPanel technology.

Under the agreement Wharfedale will benefit from A.C. Lighting's position as a leading 'one-stop-shop' for entertainment technology products and services. The deal covers distribution for Wharfedale's professional and systems audio products. A.C. Lighting supplies all major professional audio brands across a portfolio of products which includes loudspeakers, power amplifiers, sound mixers, microphones, processors, recording equipment, as well as an extensive range of audio cables, connectors, stage boxes, stands and other accessories. The company's C

USA / Europe - IAAPA (The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) and EAASI (the European Association Amusement Supplier Industry) have agreed to form a new company created to own and manage what they claim will be Europe's largest exhibition for the amusement parks industry. The new exhibition will represent all amusement parks, fairs, manufacturers, carnivals and attractions throughout Europe.

Clark Robinson, president of IAAPA, said: "The strength of the partnership is combining IAAPA's role for the industry worldwide and EAASI's expertise in the European market."

Wieland Schwarzkopf, EAASI president, added: "This historic moment . . . will offer a single meeting point for the European amusement industry."

A final agreement is expected to be announced in the next few weeks.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Shure Distribution UK, sole distributors of Shure, QSC Audio, Phonic, PreSonus, Aviom and Sound Devices will be displaying the latest broadcast related products, at the SBES Show. Stand 53 will be boasting a number of new products including the new Sound Devices 302 compact production mixer which features three high-performance microphone inputs, informative level metering and flexible headphone monitoring. In addition, the highly acclaimed Sound Devices 442 field mixer that now ships with new channel-fader knobs featuring touch and visual feedback for single-finger control.

SBES will also see QSC's QSControl.net, which encompasses the seamless integration of the company's signal transport, control, processing, and monitoring technologies. QSControl.net melds QSC's power amplification and loudspeaker products into a unified system that enables the user to administer it all

Germany - Hamburg-based sound consultants Amptown Sound & Communications (ASC) have completed the installation of a Nexo GEO S sound reinforcement system at the Holstenhalle in Neumünster, a 1930s aeroplane hangar which can accommodate audiences of up to 4,000 people for concerts and events.

Holstenhalle Neumünster is used for a wide variety of events, from classical concerts, trade shows, livestock auctions, pop concerts and parties to other attractions including motorcycle shows. This year, the venue's technical director, Walter Rudat, decided to call it a day for the venue's 15-year old 100v line horn-loaded PA system and called in technical consultant Rüdiger Aue from ASC to design a new house rig for the challenging acoustics of the Holstenhalle.

Having worked in the venue on the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Aue was familiar with its characteristics. The Holstenh

USA - Following the success of the PLASA Show in London in September, it began to appear that business was looking up after a tough couple of years; now, with the successful completion of LDI in Orlando, Florida at the weekend, the current of optimism continues to strengthen.

The majority of LDI exhibitors that PLASA Media spoke to at the show expressed their satisfaction with both the quality of visitors and the level of business being done. Exhibitor Michael Bridgman of British Optical, a manufacturer of high quality optical components for the entertainment industry, commented: "It's been very good for us this year - I would say back to the level of business of three years ago."

The 2003 ETS-LDI showcased a number of innovative new products. This year the show's awards were split into two categories - Product of the Year and Debuting Product/Promising Prototype. Th

UK - For the 10th annual MTV Europe Music Awards, staged recently in Edinburgh, a massive big top was erected in the Leith area of the city. Featuring live performances by Beyoncé, Pink, The White Stripes, the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul, Dido, The Darkness, Missy Elliott and Kraftwerk, the show was watched by an estimated one billion people in 162 territories worldwide.

Working for MTV Networks Europe production manager Sophie Huda and production company Blackout, Creative Technology overcame some complex logistics to provide a large 15mm LED display for the Kraftwerk set. CT sales director Mike Walker, explained: "The particular and unique challenge was to rig three screens with 3x3 modules and attach them to rolling risers. These screens had to be manoeuvred from backstage in between other artist performances, in order to create a single big screen measuring 8.640m wide

UK - Hot on the heels of the successful JTS 901 professional UHF wireless microphone system, UK distributor Proel International has announced two mid-market introductions - the JTS 8001 single channel and 8002 twin channel packages. Both come with 16-selectable UHF channels and both offer true diversity operation, ensuring minimum set-up time and clear, interference-free operation. Like all JTS wireless systems, they are fully tested and approved for use in the UK and operators do not need to acquire licenses to use them.

Also distributed by Proel International, Alto has announced a new range of live mixers, the L Series. The entire range features 24-bit onboard DSP effects and advanced EQ facilities. Alto L Series mixers begin with the six-channel L6, followed by the eight-channel L8. Features include: five mic input channels with gold plated XLR and balanced line inputs, two s

Germany - With four months to go before Prolight+Sound opens its doors, over 400 companies from 27 countries including Europe, Asia and America have booked exhibition stands at the fair, the organizers report. "The number of registrations and the expectations of the exhibitors indicate that Prolight+Sound 2004 will represent a successful start to the sector's year. Thanks to the first signs of economic recovery in Germany and France, the number of German companies is sure to increase again," says Gerhard Gladitsch, member of the board of management of Messe Frankfurt GmbH.

The new layout of the fair at the exhibition centre takes account of exhibitor wishes and will also make life easier for trade visitors next spring, the organizers claim. Hall 9 features show and stage lighting, lasers, effects and design and installation, and Hall 8 will host lighting and stage tech

UK - Country music icon Emmylou Harris has visited the UK for five sold-out dates as part of her 2003 European tour, taking in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Bristol. Canegreen's Miles Marchant and Paul Knight provided the technical support on the dates, installing a Meyer system at each of the venues.

To achieve good distribution in the theatre style venues they took advantage of the flexibility and spread of the Meyer MSL4s and configured the system to suit the venue. In general they flew three of MLS4s above either side of the stage with a further five on the stage, three flat and two sitting on top angled to take in the balcony areas. Six Meyer 650R2P SP subs (three per side) supplied the bottom end, with a pair of UPAs acting as in-fills for the front rows. Canegreen also supplied Lab Gruppen amplifiers, a Midas XL3 front-of-house console with a range of proces

UK - Stage One Creative Services is on the move as part of its continuing development and expansion programme. From 5 January 2004, the copany will be based at Marston Moor Business Park at Tockwith, near York. The move will give Stage One a one-stop shop facility, incorporating steel fabrication, joinery, electrical, QMotion and Hangar Staging all under one roof.

Contact details from 5 January will be: Stage One Creative Services Ltd, Hangar 88, Marston Moor Business Park, Tockwith, YO26 7QF.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

UK - Scotia UK plc has recently installed a new multimedia teaching facility at The University of Bristol Dental School, using Allen & Heath's DSP iDR system to manage the complex audio requirements. Dr Jeremy Rees from the University's division of Restorative Dentistry visited a recent installation at the University of Leeds Dental School, where he saw the benefits to be gained by upgrading from the old "chalk and talk" facilities to new electronic display systems.

Dr. Rees contracted A-Dec Dental to refit the dental laboratory with workstations containing the tools that a dentist would use on a live patient and "phantom heads", mannequins which the students use to practice "drill and fill" techniques. Each student is equipped with their own 15" flat screen multimedia display to view the tutorial and they can hear commentary from the tutors' r

Belgium - After a successful changeover period following the announcement earlier this year of the management buy-out of the ADB Lighting Technologies group, the company has announced the release in production of three new products. The recent ACF show was the first large-scale presentation of these products in Belgium.

Warp, an 800W cool beam zoom profile with single-handed ring control of all beam-shaping functions, including the 360° endless rotation capability of shutters and gobos. The prototypes shown in 2002 generated strong interest from professionals and the international trade press. Several improvements were made in response to the feedback from professional users, and Warp is now in production. Its innovative features were recognized by the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT), who this year awarded Warp the prestigious Lighting Product of the Year Awar

UK - The official launch party for the Hospital in Covent Garden took place last month. Brainchild of artist and producer Dave Stewart and Paul G. Allen co-founder (with Bill Gates) of Microsoft, the Hospital is a multi-million pound music, state-of-the-art television and arts complex located in the heart of London's Covent Garden. Naturally the launch was a star-studded event attended by A-list celebrities from throughout the world of music and media. Sound Division Hire, the rental department of the Sound Division Group, was asked to supply the entire entertainment system for the event, including audio, lighting, staging and DJ equipment.

Sound Division's Chris Baxter confirmed that this was a technically complex event: "We set up a DJ system in the Studio on the lower ground floor with a PA based on EAW KF850s and JBL monitors with a Soundcraft mixing console. We were al

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