Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Business

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France / Australia - Robert Juliat and SA Australia have announced a joint venture - SA Europe - which will build on the existing capabilities of both companies, in the entertainment and architectural lighting sector. SA Europe will focus on the sales and support of SA's extensive range of dimming, control and network products within the European market. "This is an exciting initiative for SA - it makes us a local player and represents a very significant undertaking in Europe," said Chris Bishop, owner of SA. "We are very excited about the opportunities this venture creates. The joint venture will have access to Robert Juliat's valuable distribution network throughout Europe and company reputation, plus SA's technology capabilities and skills as a global leader in entertainment and architectural dimming development."

"Robert Juliat has strong relationshi

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UK - An Avolites Diamond 4 Elite console was in action as the lighting controller at Somerset House, London, for their summer season concerts. It was chosen by Somerset House's head of lighting Nick Read and was supplied, along with the rest of the lighting gear, by rental company Siyan.

With headliners like The Doves, Super Furry Animals, Sigur Ros and Bloc Party, Nick Read designed a generic lighting rig for the venue's first series of summer concerts promoted by Somerset House themselves, and staged in the charismatic courtyard in central London. These will be followed by another series run by top UK promoters, Metropolis. Most band LDs used the D4, reports Read: "Because it's a great festival desk and this is essentially a festival-style set-up. It's highly 'buskable' and perfect for the job."

The main D4 programmer on Read's team was Dom Smith, himself a keen D4

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - Powered access hire company Nationwide Access supplied four telescopic access platforms to support floodlights illuminating the NatWest Series one-day international cricket match at Trent Bridge last month. Each of the four truck-mounted Bronto Skylift machines were fitted with special brackets carrying 15 lamps rated at 6kW each. The Brontos' 44m maximum lift height enabled lighting contractor Musco Lighting, specialists in permanent lighting installations for sports facilities, to obtain the optimum floodlight coverage over the Trent Bridge ground.

Allan Burgess, manager of Musco's mobile services division, says Nationwide Access regularly supplies the company's access hire requirement. The four boom lifts used at Trent Bridge supplemented four lighting towers which are owned and operated by Musco. "We have four cranes but eight sets of lamps and we used all eight se

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Europe - The record number of exhibitor bookings and added space secured for the Integrated Systems Europe 2006 exhibition demonstrates that the market is buoyant and confident, say the organizers - a claim they say is confirmed by the record results achieved at InfoComm 2005 - the largest annual conference and exhibition for audio-visual buyers and sellers, held in Las Vegas in June. The event grew 15% over 2004, attracting over 26,000 AV professionals including a strong increase in the number of AV and IT managers.

Mike Blackman, ISE 2006 managing director explains: "The success of InfoComm 2005 demonstrates that the market is growing stronger by the year as more professionals and installers look to exhibitions as the key medium to source new products and see the latest innovations in technology."

Blackman also had this to say about the latest progress on ISE 2006:

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USA - Greg Norgeot, Paul Sharwell and Angus Sinex of lighting design partnership Unlimited Visibility Lighting Design recently lit the Oprah Winfrey Live Your Best Life workshop tour in multiple locations across the US. Hosted by O, The Oprah Magazine, the Live Your Best Life tour was billed as "A day with friends, an afternoon with Oprah." The all-day workshop consisted of a morning of motivational entertainment and esteem-building exercises, followed by a presentation featuring Oprah Winfrey herself in the afternoon. UVLD's Greg Norgeot designed the lighting for the event; Paul Sharwell, assisted by Angus Sinex, was charged with recreating the design on each stop of the tour.

"This was quite different from most of the shows that we light," said Norgeot. "Whereas most events we design are very busy, with challenging time constraints and he

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UK - Beyerdynamic announced that it has come to the conclusion of its distribution agreement with ClearOne in the UK.

Beyerdynamic's managing director, John Midgley commented, "As the leading solutions provider to trade AV integration and installation companies, our portfolio has to be at the very forefront of technical development. With the launch this month of AEC2W wideband echo cancellation for AudiaFlex from BIAMP, we can now offer the latest technology of full bandwidth acoustic echo cancellation within any video or telephone conferencing application. It is no longer necessary to limit the sound quality in high-end conferencing. Our award-winning team, led by Jon Stanley, designs, supports and supplies complete systems for the trade."

Recent Biamp Audia projects include multinational installations such as the Ford motor company, the national weather centre and

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UK - In April 2004, Darren Gardiner from LSFX first visited the site of a former nightclub in the seaside resort of Portstewart, with the daunting task of specifying a new sound system for a new, purpose-built church. The congregation of the Baptist Church had outgrown their current home in Portstewart, and purchased the former nightclub with a view to demolishing it and building a new worship centre for their growing church community.

After a lengthy consultation process LSFX was awarded the contract. In the first instance, Gardiner contacted KV2 Audio's Andy Austin Brown and they started working on a scheme that would not only meet the church's requirements but would in many ways exceed them. LSFX had had used KV2 Audio products with success in a number of different venues over the past year, and both Austin Brown and Gardiner agreed that the main system should be flown from t

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France - The centenary of Jules Verne's death in 2005 has provided the inspiration for a unique three-day spectacle featuring one of France's most innovative theatre companies, Royal de Luxe. Combining elements of street theatre, circus and carnival, the extraordinary event featuring a robot elephant and a giant doll, demanded all of the expertise of French PA company Melpomen - and all of its Nexo inventory.

Royal de Luxe, which was established in the early eighties, has become famous for its extravagant street spectacles. The company lives up to its reputation with 'The Sultan and his Time-Travelling Elephant', which attracted more than 100,000 spectators in the two cities, Amiens in Somme and Nantes in Britanny, which had been home to Jules Verne.

French PA company Melpomen, which has been working with Royal de Luxe for the last decade, provided the sound reinforcement syst

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Germany - On 3 June, the mayor of Frankfurt-am-Main, Oberbürgermeisterin Petra Roth, presented the city's new soccer stadium, the Commerzbank Arena, to Horst R Schmidt, senior vice-president of the organising committee for next year's FIFA World Cup. Work began on the 52,000-seater stadium, which has a retractable roof and is built on the site formerly occupied by the Waldstadion, in June 2002 and was completed in May 2005. The final cost came to 126 million euros, with a further 174 million devoted to the stadium periphery.

The new home of Eintracht Frankfurt, which has just won promotion to the 1st Bundesliga, satisfies in every respect the demands of a modern stadium - including in audio quality, thanks to an integrated sound reinforcement, public address and alarm system from EVI Audio. The advantage of a one-source solution such as this, say the company, is that all the co

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UK - Thomson Cruises' new first-class cruise ships, the MV Destiny and MS Celebration, have recently undergone extensive refitting, including new sound reinforcement systems in their public areas, installed by Delta Sound Inc, the south London audio specialist. Both vessels now carry Soundcraft's new GB8 8-bus audio mixing consoles in their main entertainment lounges, kept shipshape and seaworthy by Furman power conditioners.

Thomson Cruises' new ships, each carrying between 1,250-1,450 passengers, are cruising in the Mediterranean and on the Baltic and Fjords route. Earlier this year, their entertainment and leisure facilities were extensively refurbished, and Ken Fisher, owner of consultancy Fisher Marine, was called upon to design sound and lighting systems to match.

On board, ambitious standards of performance and presentation mean that live bands and acts can be seen ever

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USA - Furman Sound has introduced its new Power Factor Correction technology, which it claims enables power amplifiers, studio monitors, and powered subwoofers to reach levels of performance previously unattainable. By storing over 45 amps of instantaneous reserve for peak current demands, Power Factor Correction technology supplies power-starved audio equipment with the necessary current to reproduce even the most extreme sounds faithfully, say the company.

"Nearly without exception, today's amplifiers are starved of the power they need for peak demands," said Dave Keller, executive vice-president of Furman Sound. "Those peak demands, which require more power than an amplifier normally receives, can occur in many different applications - at the climax of a sweet guitar solo, for example, or during an explosive final battle scene played on a home theatre system. P

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USA - Lighthouse Technologies, the manufacturer and supplier of leading LED video screen systems for mobile and fixed applications, has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Sony Electronics Inc to utilize Sony's extensive resources to provide national on-site service programs to Lighthouse's existing and new professional grade LED large screen video customers in North America.

Lighthouse say: "Sony has a long history with large-scale display systems, making them uniquely qualified to provide contract maintenance services and remote system monitoring to professional-grade LED video systems, such as those being sold by Lighthouse Technologies."

Under the LOI, the two companies expect to develop contract maintenance programs and remote system monitoring services catered to Lighthouse's large screen LED display systems. Sony will staff and maintain a North American field

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UK - Lighting for seven of the eight arenas - plus the comedy tent - of the UK's largest clubber's festival, Godskitchen Global Gathering, was supplied by Leeds-based Zig Zag Lighting as the completely sold out event at Long Marston Airfield increased to two days for the first time.

When it came to the enormous Godskitchen tent, Zig Zag's Neil Hunt wanted to install the highest impact lighting possible and also to try out Robe's ColorSpot and ColorWash 1200 ATs for the first time.

The rig comprised seventy-six ColorSpot 1200E ATs and 24 ColorWashes hung all over the stage and tent on an intricate trussing network, secured into the tent by 70 points - the work of Harry Box from Concert Lights. The fixtures were used for both stage and dance floor lighting and were the main wow factor of the arena.

Lighting was programmed and operated by Matt Holden-Jones who ran lighting for

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UK - Stockport-based Audio Design Services, trading as ADSworldwide, has reported a string of successes in the Middle East and India. A specialist in the design and manufacture of commercial public address equipment, ADS has recently returned from a successful trip to Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Following an exhibition in Tel Aviv, the company has already obtained its first order for a full container of loudspeakers. In Jordan, an established company has selected ADS as its preferred supplier, whilst in Dubai an agreement with an international engineering company will ensure that the company's products will be distributed throughout the region. ADS's strong design and engineering base will also mean that the company will provide on-site training for installation and engineering staff in the Middle East.

Company chairman, David Hopkins OBE, who has been respons

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Germany / USA - Amplifier manufacturers Camco GmbH and Ashly Audio Inc have teamed up in the USA to offer a single comprehensive catalogue of amplification and signal processing products, backed up by what they call "an adventurous approach to technological innovation". From 1 August 2005, Ashly Audio will become North American importer and distributor of Camco amplifier products. The Camco range of power amplifiers and networkable DSP products dovetails comfortably with the Ashly Audio portfolio.

Ashly Audio Inc is a world leader in the design and manufacturing of quality signal processing equipment and power amplification for use in the commercial sound contracting and professional audio markets. In Germany, Camco GmbH has been making amplifiers since1983, and has become an influential player at the highest level of professional touring and installed sound, one of th

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UK - XL Video is again working with cinematographer Jon Driscoll on the acclaimed Anonymous Society (Andrew Wale and Perrin Manzer) production, Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, featuring the music of The Smiths. The show has just world premiered at the Hammersmith Lyric theatre and will transfer to the Dublin International Theatre Festival before commencing a UK tour in the autumn.

Driscoll created footage especially for the show which, taking the rhythms, words and thoughts of songwriters Morrissey and Johnny Marr as its starting point, is a musical with a difference. Paul Wood is project managing for XL, who supplied the video hardware including a Barco G5 projector, a Catalyst digital media server and a Hog 500 lighting desk to run all the video cues. The images were projected the full height and two thirds of the width of the backdrop, subtly asymmetric, erring to s

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UK / BelarusMidas and Klark Teknik have appointed Belcut Project as exclusive distributor for Belarus with immediate effect. Based in the city of Minsk, Belcut Project is an established distribution company, and Midas will join other Telex brands Electro-Voice and Dynacord in its portfolio.

The company has reportedly got off to a flying start, placing an initial order for a Midas Verona console and Klark Teknik signal processing equipment including DN514 Plus gates, DN504 Plus quad processors, classic DN360 graphic equalizers and DN1248 Plus mic splitters. The entire order is being supplied for installation in the Vitebsk Philharmonic Concert Hall. Meanwhile, several other large tenders and orders are now in the pipeline.

"I'm delighted to welcome Vitaly Kazakevich and his team at Belcult Project to our distribution family," says KT and Midas' Dave Wiggins. "In

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USA - Due to "overwhelming interest", the ETCP (Entertainment Technician Certified Program) Council has voted to extend the application deadline for the first ETCP rigging examinations (arena and theatre) to 1 September, 2005. Both exams will be held on Saturday, 12 November, in conjunction with the ETS-LDI tradeshow in Orlando, Florida.

Candidates who pass the examinations in November 2005 will be acknowledged as the only members of the 'Class of 2005' on the ETCP website and will be the first ETCP Certified Riggers in North America. The rigging certifications are designed for highly experienced riggers (rigging supervisors, high steel riggers, flypersons, etc). Qualified riggers can apply for either one or both exams, and individuals must meet eligibility requirements to apply.

Under the auspices of the Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA), ETCP

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UK - Serious Stages have constructed performance platforms and roofs in some interesting and challenging places in their time - including the Sahara Desert, snow-capped Alpine mountains, on floating barges in Belfast Harbour (for BBC Live) and most recently, in the middle of a 5ft deep lake for Birmingham's World War 2 Commemoration Victory Fireworks event at Canon's Hill Park.

The event and entertainment were staged by Birmingham City Council, ending in spectacular style with a massive firework finale. They wanted the stage in this specific position so when fireworks went up at the rear of the structure, the effects would have an ethereal and magical quality as they shimmered in the dark, reflecting back on the lake's glassy surface, giving the audience a visual double-take.

The Serious crew was led by Leo Barcala, and liaised closely with the Council's project manager

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UK - PixelDrive - Radical Lighting and James Thomas's innovative software for controlling LED devices - made a creative leap forward at Godskitchen Global Gathering last weekend, where it was used for the first time to take control of the colour mix function of 100 moving lights in the Godskitchen arena. This, say James Thomas, is the next step in the increasingly converging worlds of lighting and video visuals.

The system - two PixelDrive computers - was installed and programmed by Simon Carter of Radical Lighting. One was running on a laptop and one on a desktop, with both triggered by the Avolites Diamond 4 lighting console operated by Matt Holden-Jones and Paddy Sollitt. One PixelDrive was used to run video sources into the moving lights and one to run them into the 34 James Thomas PixelLine fixtures - a mix of the 1044 and the new PixelLine 110 ec - used in the show.

Ligh

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Norway - Dutch loudspeaker system manufacturer Sound Projects reports that Norwegian hire company PA Produksjoner (PAP), with two Norwegian departments (Stavanger and Bergen) has invested in 24 of its Linex line array systems. Researching suitable systems, PAP invited six different brands to bring their line-array systems to the Kongeparken Amfi theatre in Stavanger for a final test. Jan Olav Sandsmark, managing director of PAP, says: "We rigged up five different systems in one whole day and tested the next day. We were not extremely happy with any of the systems, until the Sound Projects team came along and rigged the Linex system up in nine minutes and blew our mind! Not only the easy rigging, but the light weight made us decide for Sound Projects. The clear, good sound settled the matter. We didn't have a second doubt about which sound system was the best. Ever since we ha

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UAE - Following a successful event in April this year, IIR, organizer of the PALME exhibition in Dubai, reports another surge in growth for the show, with PALME 2006 now looking set to occupy three full halls of the Dubai International Exhibition Centre (DIEC) with many of the 2005 participants having already confirmed their attendance. Still with over eight months to go before the doors open, IIR reports that PALME 2006 is now 65% sold.

The main objective of PALME, say IIR, is to allow for manufacturers, suppliers and installers to meet face to face with buyers and specifiers from a wide range of industries who have a need for professional sound, light, music, audio-visual and systems integration equipment and solutions.

PALME 2006 is scheduled to take place in Dubai from 23-25 April 2006.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Hocken AV has recently installed audio-visual presentation equipment including the JVC DLA-SX21E video projector in the principal meeting room at St Bede's Conference Centre, the training facility of St Anthony's Hospital in North Cheam, Surrey, UK.

St Anthony's is an independent charitable hospital in the private sector and is a major provider of cardiac surgery. Its sister organization, St Raphael's Hospice, provides a free service to local residents. "When we are not using the centre for our own purposes, we rent it to outside users, which include local NHS organizations, councils and commercial and voluntary organisations. All of these users expect the equipment to be easy to operate and produce the best in image quality," says Philip Cook, head of marketing at St Anthony's Hospital. Cook adds, it is our intention in the future, to extend the use of the confer

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UK - The Saville Group, the UK's largest audio-visual and conference equipment supplier, recently took delivery of two KV2 Audio ES loudspeaker systems. Targeting the growing corporate presentation and larger events market, they found a need for a more upfront Audio solution that would provide high levels of playback and throw over medium to long distances, but with the quality demanded by increasingly discerning audiences.

The first test for the system was at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, where 1,000 enthusiastic members of the Going Places travel firm descended for their two-day management conference.Saville Gold's Gareth Lloyd says: "At this type of event the ambient noise levels are extremely high, and to find a system that can project with such intelligibility, all the way to the back of the room is rare. The ease of use, and plug-and-play nature of the KV2 system is

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