Germany - Sixty-three million euro has been spent getting the AWD Arena in Hanover ready for next year's World Cup; the 49,000-seater stadium now complies fully with FIFA regulations.

Among the key items in the modernization programme was the provision of new sound reinforcement and public address systems, with the decision-makers opting in each case for systems from EVI Audio: the centrepiece of the acoustic design is now formed by a PROMATRIX paging and alarm system from DYNACORD and a professional sound system from Electro-Voice in which FRX+PI enclosures and RL amplifiers play key roles.

For a major project such as the AWD Arena, EVI Audio's virtually comprehensive product portfolio offers considerable advantages, since each of the different areas of the stadium - the VIP lounges, the stands, the playing field etc. - poses a different problem, which (naturally) requires a

UK - The European Headquarters of Digidesign, based at Pinewood Studios just to the West of London, is well-positioned right in the heart of a major film and television production centre. Housed within the offices of its parent company, Avid, Digidesign's entire sales, marketing, training and education resource operates from this site; its proximity to Heathrow allows easy access for UK and international visitors.

The training and education centre offers excellent facilities for its European re-sellers. An array of meeting rooms and two fully equipped studios provide the perfect surroundings for hands-on understanding of their products. Since launching the ICON D-Control and very recently the D-Command, the Digidesign headquarters has played host to many of the company's re-sellers visiting the training centre for training on these new products.The ICON tactile worksurface, D-Co

UK - Stardraw.com recently announced that it has incorporated support for WebBrick technology from UK-based home automation products and solutions company O2M8 into its award-winning application, Stardraw Control.

Stardraw Control generates standalone, customized control programs that can manage and monitor any type of addressable equipment from any manufacturer using any protocol over any communications infrastructure. This approach frees systems integrators from closed or proprietary architectures and applications, offering instead the ability to create a single application that can control many different products with as much or as little complexity as the end user needs.

O2M8 Ltd is a UK-based company creating innovative smart home products and solutions using standard technologies and open source software to reduce costs and drive growth in the smart home industry. WebBri

Worldwide - Round-the-world concerts in the run-up to a summit which is already destined to go down in history: before the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, from 6 - 8 July, Live 8 aims to encourage people to speak out against poverty, especially in Africa. A steadily growing number of top national and international stars have agreed to appear at the concerts to be held on 2 July in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Philadelphia, and Barrie in Canada. RF and microphone specialist Sennheiser will make use of its worldwide network of subsidiaries and affiliated companies to equip all the events with wireless microphone and monitoring technology, attending to frequency planning and provide on-site support.

"On 2 July, the curtain will rise on the 'global stage' for what is probably the largest live concert the world has ever seen," says Rolf Meyer, speaker of the Sennheiser E

UK - New technology, originally developed by AnswerBack Interactive to facilitate audience participation in the 2005 summer show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Live, is now available at venues around the country.

First UK venue to be 'AnswerBack Enabled' is the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham where rehearsals for the show took place during early June. Over five kilometres of cable linked 2,200 handsets to each other, and to ultra-speedy processors, which identify the players' fastest response to within a thousandth of a second. AnswerBack Interactive's MD Paul Krisman says "During the course of our largest shows we will be processing more than 10,000,000 messages with a peak greater than 7,000 per second - this is more than 10 times that achieved by the London Stock Exchange."

Other venues offering the AnswerBack Enabled facility include the Eastbourne Con

Poland - Horn Distribution SA has been appointed the new Polish distributors for Marantz Professional products, with effect from 1 June this year. Making the announcement, Mark Perrins, general manager of D&M Pro Europe, said: "Horn has enormous experience and has been selling Denon Pro products since 1997. We are delighted to give Darek Swiderski and Jaroslaw Bronowski the official distribution for Marantz professional products as well."

Horn Distribution in fact, has been operating since 1991, when the two men set out to build a portfolio of brands that they could represent exclusively in Poland. Denon was among its first serious brands in consumer electronics but the company soon realized that there was a huge demand for Denon Pro products.

To implement this, Horn Distribution set up a Pro Division and employed a dedicated sales force. "Adding Denon Pro produ

Norway - Leading RF manufacturer Trantec recently announced that its sole Norwegian distributor, AVAB, Cac, has acquired a fleet of its internationally award winning S6000 and S6001/2 radio mic systems.

Adding to the potential of Norway's main sound rental company and complementing AVAB Cac's expansive portfolio, the systems' have recently deployed on a musical adaptation of legendary Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's classic Per Gynt.

Staged in Norway's oldest theatre Den Nationale Scene (DNS), the production was directed by Robert Wilson and co-produced by two of Norway's largest theatres Det Norske Teatret and DNS - the score written by Michael Galasso.

Featuring as part of a sophisticated sound system, the Trantec systems' were specified by sound designer, Bjarte Vage. AVAB's Arthur Botnevik collaborated with Vage form the early stages to ensure that all the aspects of

Germany - Opened on 7 May 2005, the MARTa Herford museum in Herford, Germany aims to provide new inspiration for art, design, architecture and business both in and around the region. The extraordinary building complex is over 8,000sq.m and houses a novel combination of a Museum, a Forum, a Centre and a Café. Zero 88 Chilli Pro Dimmers are used to control the all lighting throughout the complex, integrating with Zumtobel Staff luminaries, Luxmate control system, and Soundlight system accessories to provide a complete building management solution. The Zero 88 dimmers were chosen in part for their convection-cooled design, which eliminates fan noise, and for their reliability. The range of dimmer sizes, ability to control different loads and RCD protection were also key factors in their selection.

The Museum itself is in front of the complex and consists of a 22m high dome and fiv

UK - Digidesign has appointed Marquee Audio and Orbital Sound as exclusive UK distributors for their innovative Venue Live mixing environment. Designed from the ground up for live sound reinforcement and broadcast applications, Digidesign Venue is a feature packed, purpose-built, modular live sound mixing and production environment. Venue comprises the D-Show mixing console, front-of-house mix engine, Stage Rack I/O unit with recallable, remote-controlled preamps, and a multi-channel digital snake.

As a hugely creative sound design tool, it offers the quality and functionality of highend live sound mixing systems at an affordable price. Plus Venue is the only live sound mixing environment to feature an optional direct digital link to the industrystandard Digidesign ProTools systems. As a modular base system it is infinitely configurable, supporting up to 96 mic inputs and 27 bus

The Netherlands - Just over a year ago, Dutch systems integrator Hecla Professional Audio and Video specialists met with real estate agent Flipse to advise it on how to get the biggest impact when advertising the company's selection of properties for sale. Now, it has an eye-catching Lighthouse Technologies' LED video screen installed on the side of its building in Dronten, Holland.

"Flipse was looking at using a digital screen to offer its clients a variety of services," explains Hecla's marketing and sales director Jos den Hartog. "There were several options - magazines, photographs in the shop window, etc - but they were looking for new and exciting ideas that would create the maximum possible impact."

Hecla advised Flipse that if it was to achieve the constant attention it wanted, an LED video screen was the ideal solution and should show not only the r

UK - United Business Media (UBM) has announced an agreement to acquire Theme magazine and the Bar exhibition from Mondiale Publishing, to complement the 'Publican' group of publications and events which UBM acquired in February. Integration of today's titles into UBM's operational infrastructure will reduce overheads and generate cross-selling opportunities, say the company.

The purchase price is £5m million in cash. Theme and Bar Show generated £2.1m of revenue and £0.6m of EBITA in the year to end of June 2004. The proposed acquisition should be earnings enhancing in its first 12 months and is expected to exceed UBM's hurdle rate of return in its first year. The transaction is subject to approval by the OFT.

These businesses will report into Bernard Gray, CEO of CMP Information (CMPi) and United Advertising Publications (UAP). Gray said: "These leading publishing ass

USA - Genlyte Controls is now accepting reservations for the Level 1 Systems Technician Training Class, which is set to take place from 20-22 July 2005. The class is designed to introduce field service technicians to a variety of architectural and theatrical dimming and controls products from Entertainment Technology and Lightolier Controls, say Genlyte. It will cover basic programming and troubleshooting of Capio Plus, Intelligent Raceway, IPS Distributed Dimming Products, Vista DMX control, Horizon DMX interface and control, Marquee lighting control console, Pathport, System Networking, and LYTEmode Systems.

Skills necessary to participate include an ability to solder, read schematics, interpret shop and job drawings and program lighting consoles, as well as a basic working knowledge of DMX512 control wiring and computer networking. Attendees should also have basic computer sk

UK - Plans for the opening of the major new indoor sports and entertainments venue, Number One Piccadilly at the London Pavilion, moved closer this week with the appointment of specialist building services company, the Orostream Group, to carry out the internal design and refit of this prestigious project - scheduled to open in April 2006.

Number One Piccadilly at the London Pavilion is a listed building occupying the triangular site bounded by Shaftesbury Avenue, Great Windmill Street and Piccadilly Circus - which was previously occupied by Rock Circus. Plans include flexible layouts which will create a high quality central London venue ideal for events for up to 1,000 guests - including room for 500 seated hospitality, and a 500-seat auditorium for sporting fixtures such as boxing or snooker which will be unparalleled in the West End of London.

Making the announcement at Lon

UK - An Avolites Pearl 2004 console and Robe fixtures are at the heart of a new lighting installation at Villa Marina, the Isle of Man's leading live music and performance venue. Villa Marina opened last year after a £14 million refurbishment project. Its production facilities have been designed to offer cutting edge technology aimed at encouraging top international acts to play the Isle of Man, without the hassle and expense of bringing in their own production.

The initial phase of installed technical infrastructure at the venue involved the design and specification of a JBL VerTec line array audio system, ready for the grand opening last year. A year down the line, it was the turn of lighting to take centre stage.

In the interim period, explains Villa Marina's chief lighting technician Alex Davidson, they utilized a hired lighting rig. This gave them the ideal opportunity t

UK - Canford has supplied Durham Cathedral with the equipment necessary to bring their sound reinforcement system up to date. The work was carried out by the Cathedral's own Clerk of Works, Bob Mathews and his team. The Cathedral is a World Heritage Site built in the late 11th and early 12th centuries and as such the installation required special care and attention to detail.

It is freely admitted by those at Durham, that for many years, their speech reinforcement system in the Cathedral has needed updating. Unfortunately, there have also been spots within the Cathedral where the spoken word has been unintelligible due to the intense natural reverberation caused by the Gothic architecture. It was decided that a new sound system should be installed to include new microphones, induction loops, video distribution, CCTV and control circuits associated with the upgrading of the speec

Germany - When BMW launched the new 3-series at its flagship showrooms on Kurfürstendamm, Berlin's most exclusive shopping area, they wanted a store display that would stop passers-by in their tracks. Like all car showrooms, the windows are large and imposing, and BMW didn't want to block the showroom from the view of window shoppers, yet the display needed to be bright enough to create drama at night. The solution was the new PhantomFrame system from G LEC, with its transparency and high intensity LED pixels.

Each of the lightweight, 1m x 1m units of PhantomFrame supports 16 clear polycarbonate tubes, each housing 16 high intensity LED pixels spaced 60mm apart. The space between the tubes is just air, allowing the window shoppers in Kurfürstendamm to see the PhantomFrames as well as the full range of the new BMW 3 series in the showroom behind.

Lars Wolf, managing director

China - Shure Incorporated has hosted the grand opening ceremony for its two new locations in China: a manufacturing facility in Suzhou, and a sales and marketing office in Shanghai. "We are all very excited about this new chapter in Shure's history," said Chris Schyvinck, executive VP of Shure. "China is a key market for our company's strategic growth goals as we expand into Asia, and it's essential in order for us to provide support and service for our growing customer base in the region."

The Suzhou manufacturing facility has been conducting production trials for several months, but is now at full production of selected product lines. In March, Shure appointed Oscar Fulvio Hernandez as plant manager for the facility, which features the same calibre of superior testing equipment utilized in other Shure plants. "Just like all of our other plants, the Su

UK - Turbosound's Aspect series has just completed one of its first major tours - going out on the road with Britannia Row Productions for a 27-date European tour with iconic sixties band, The Shadows. Billed as Together Again for One Last Time, the tour took in 10 countries, culminating in two Encore Concerts at the NIA in Birmingham, UK, where Britannia Row deployed 40 Aspect cabinets to provide the 5,000-strong audience with near 180° coverage. With numerous dates across Scandinavia, the tour also included concerts in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

A typical configuration of the rig, as at Birmingham, involved a three-wide, three-high main hang each side, comprising six Aspect TA-890H touring mid/highs and three TA-890L touring LF cabinets, all used in horizontal orientation. Britannia Row augmented the main hangs with an additional two-by-two hang of T

Germany - Following its purchase last November of an HK Audio COHEDRA Compact Coherent Dynamic Response Array system, German event specialist Moonlight has now purchased a COHEDRA system. At the same time, the company has become one of the first German owners of HK's new ConTour CT 112 high-performance loudspeaker cabinet for professional nearfield sound reinforcement, purchasing eight cabinets.

Moonlight took the decision to purchase 12 CDR 208 S and 12 CDR 208 T mid/high cabinets having won the contract for BUGA 2005 in Munich. BUGA (Bundesgartenschau) is held throughout the entire summer, from late April to early October, and is a spectacular horticultural festival celebrating three gardening seasons in five months. Moonlight is responsible for providing all the sound equipment for the entire festival across five different locations throughout the summer, including COHEDRA an

Uk - Blackout supplied three bespoke fibre-optic starcloths to exhibition expert Silver Knight Events, which are currently being deployed in London's Science Museum for its new pan-galactic interactive visitor experience -the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Exhibition.

The exhibition takes visitors on a journey from Arthur Dent's kitchen to the far reaches of outer space. It brings to life the witty and satirical narrative of Douglas Adams' iconic story. Blackout's hire and sales co-ordinator, Nico Beukes, collaborated with Silver Knight's project manager, John Nearn, to ensure that the three bespoke drapes met his exacting specifications.

Designed in a range of sizes, the fibre-optic starcloths, measured 12.2m x 12.2m, four metres by one metre and three metres by four. They played an integral role in the rich set design, which combined over 200 original props, creature

Sweden - Swedish AV specialist Massteknik's recently-purchased Lighthouse R16 16mm pixel pitch LED video screens have been installed into Copenhagen's famous Tivoli Gardens for its summer season of concerts. From April to the end of September, Tivoli is using the two 5x5 panel screens, measuring 5.1x3.8m and controlled by Lighthouse LVC88 processors, to show live footage of the concerts interspersed with video clips.

Massteknik's Claes Winberg says: "We purchased the R16 screens because they have excellent resolution, picture quality and the weight of the panels makes them easy to install for this type of application. Of course the price is always important and they offer a very good return on investment.

"Also, because Massteknik isn't running the screen - Tivoli is handling that in-house - they must be easy to use. The Lighthouse screens fulfil all the necessary cr

UK - Community Professional Loudspeakers, based in Chester, Pennsylvania, has announced the establishment of Community UK Ltd to distribute its products with the UK and Ireland from 1 July.

Distribution had previously been handled by Blackburn-based HSL. Simon Stuart, managing director of HSL, commented on the change: "Our core business is production, which has grown very rapidly over the past few years. With greater investment in people and equipment, and many more systems out on major shows and events than ever before, it has been difficult committing the resources to the distribution of Community that this diverse brand deserves. Our relationship with Community enabled us to discuss matters openly to find the best way forward for both parties."

Stuart continued: "I think the establishment of Community UK is the right decision for both of us. HSL will continue

UK - Originally constructed as a Universalist Meeting House in 1832, the Stone Church in Newmarket, New Hampshire, has long been considered a favourite live music venue by both national and regional artists since it started hosting concerts in the late '60s. Despite the main room's intimate capacity of 175, major acts like Phish, Bonnie Raitt, Parliament-Funkadelic, Patty Larkin, Bela Fleck and Joan Osbourne have all graced the stage when travelling through Newmarket on tour.

In 2002, after 35 years, the venue finally closed its doors to live music, only to be reopened in August of last year under new management. In addition to improving the Stone Church's dining facilities and decor, the three new co-owners chose to hire regional sound company L. Wynn Sound to come in and completely retrofit the venue's ageing PA system.

Tim Waterhouse, who co-owns L. Wynn Sound with John Woo

Italy - Hardware by Outline of Brescia has been chosen for on-stage sound at Live 8, the maxi-concert being held at Rome's Circo Massimo on Saturday 2 July 2005. A large number of the Lombard firm's speaker enclosures and line array systems will be used on the big stage hosting top domestic and international artists.

The list of audio gear chosen includes 24 H.A.R.D. 212 SP monitors, 20 Butterfly Hi-Packs, eight Victor Live subwoofers, 12 T6.5 power amps and two Genius 26 signal processors. The contractor for the production and the fitting out of the entire event is Rome's Limelite.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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