Switzerland / USA - Barix AG, a pioneer in IP-based audio, intercom and monitoring, announces that The Splash of Yukon, Oklahoma, has standardized on Barix IP audio decoders to deliver its custom in-store audio programming to retailers, restaurants and other consumer-oriented businesses. The complete solution provides a live, point-to-multipoint radio broadcast service over reliable IP connections, minimizing implementation costs and system complexity for both service provider and end user, say Barix.

The Splash, whose local customers include grocery chain Williams Grocery and restaurant chain Citybites, provides Splash Radio, a live radio station service to its clients, complete with DJ, music and advertising. Splash Radio produces the program feeds at its Yukon studios and delivers them directly to retail outlets, where Barix Exstreamer 100 IP devices receive and decode the au

The Netherlands - Dutch based hire company Kooijmans Audio, one of the pioneers in using Sound Projects' Linex line array systems, reports the extension of its Linex inventory to a large scale rig of 32 pieces, enabling its rental division to take up even larger events or splitting up the total stock for use at several venues simultaneously.

Managing director Adrie Kooijmans says: "Although in the beginning we had our doubts about the necessity of line-array systems in our rental division, because we already did many medium sized venues with our SP4 rigs, we now believe that with Linex we can go another step further. Since, we have seen an incredible increase in turnover of our medium to large-scale audio rental activities over the past two years. With a second rig of Linex we're now able to do both large scale projects and multiple small to medium venues at the same time.&

USA - The Pleasant Revolution Bicycle Music Tour has covered more than 5,000 miles on bicycles through California and Mexico, promoting lower energy consumption to prevent future environmental catastrophes. A crucial component in delivering the message has been a pair of JBL PRX512M powered portable loudspeakers, featuring built-in amplification technology from Crown.

On Halloween 2007, the bands Ginger Ninjas and Shake Your Peace! launched The Pleasant Revolution Bicycle Music Tour in North San Juan, California. From the Sierra Nevada mountains through southern California, into Baja and eventually Mexico City, the team has played shows, recorded music with local musicians, and advocated a leapfrog-style transition to sustainable transportation.

During shows, two guitars, two vocal microphones and the bass are amplified through the portable audio system, which includes

Czech Republic - Czech telecommunications specialist Grape SC has been awarded the contract for the centrally controlled sound distribution system to be installed at the Klinovec-North ski resort, namely the largest ski centre in the Czech Erz mountain range.

To realise this project, Grape SC has opted to deploy IP audio components from the Swiss technology specialist Barix. These components enable music and voice reproduction with the remote management of all the integrated end components, whilst satisfying the high quality requirements with regard to the transmitted audio data.

Ski tourism in the Czech Republic promises significant growth potential, and is attracting financially powerful investors, as in this case. "So far, everything has gone extremely well indeed , and we have had no problems whatsoever with the equipment," sums up Jaromír Hradil, CTO of Grape S

UK - East Sussex based Communication Technology reports that its' new Pro-Range, Multipoint Multi-zone Public Address product has helped to simplify and improve communication with passengers and staff at Exeter International Airport.

A company statement says: "This pioneering paging technology allows staff to select specific zones for their announcements and, with the innovative feature of self cancelling Paging Points, staff at the Airport are delighted with their new user friendly sound solution; they don't have to remember to cancel their selected zones once an announcement is complete."

The Installer - PAS Sound and Communications Ltd of Devon - selected the Communication Technology Cat 5 cabled 10 zone paging system as it fulfilled the challenging zoning requirements of the busy, growing, Airport. Featuring self-cancelling zone selection, each Paging Point autom

USA - Rascal Flatts was the US top-selling artist of 2006 - in all genres of music. In order to deliver the best live show possible, Sound Image put together what is currently the largest PA system on the road in the US, featuring 90 JBL VerTec VT4889 full-size line array loudspeakers and 32 VT4880 arrayable subwoofers. Two Studer Vista 5 SR digital consoles, one in mix and the other in monitor position, plus system-wide configuration and control by Harman HiQnet complete the package.

Sound Image general manager, Nashville, Everett Lybolt, was enthusiastic about having not just one, but two Studer Vista 5 SRs: one for the monitors and the other on FOH. Sound Image is also using dbx DriveRack 4800s for speaker management, Crown I-Tech 8000 amplifiers and everything is tied together with HiQnet System Architect.

By each working on their own Vista 5 SR, the FOH and monitor engine

USA - Zorro the musical, a new production based which features an impressive display of flamenco dancing, sword-fighting and acrobatics, was lit by Ben Ormerod who has worked extensively in theatre and opera.

"I began with the simple plan that the show should look unlike any musical that I had seen before. My background is mainly focused on classical theatre and dance and ballet. As soon as I read the script and the novel that the script was based on, it was clear to me that the show was going to need a tungsten look."

"We had a limited space on the rig so I knew a generic rig wouldn't do. Everything had to move to get the most out of the space we had. That included the tungsten source and I knew the only moving tungsten unit for this was the MAC TW1."

"The show needed to have a strong Californian sunlight as this was a very important element, and yo

USA - The closing event for the Winter Music Conference in Miami, Florida, celebrated its 10th anniversary with a two day - and night - event in Miami's Bicentennial Park. With more than 150 electronic music artists, DJs, and producers on ten stages and over 40,000 music fans from around the world in attendance, UMF is billed as the largest music festival of its kind in the US.

Designer Stephen Lieberman, president of SJ Lighting, has been lighting the UMF since its inception and certainly had his hands full with the ten-year anniversary where five stages needed a lot of production support. "The stage designs are not typically designed around specific equipment," comments Lieberman. "In a festival environment, there are basic needs and requirements that need to get fulfilled. We chose gear that suits those needs, and then we tried to put some 'bells and whistles'

New Zealand - Allen & Heath's iDR digital processing mixer has been installed in a new Government-funded facility in Auckland, designed and built to encourage development of New Zealand's growing new media industry.

Nextspace is the result of a collaboration between the New Zealand government and internationally-successful 3D graphics and digital asset management company, Right Hemisphere. The partnership gives organisations access to this new technology platform and the opportunity to develop new business.

The facilities include an auditorium and motion tracking laboratory, a training room equipped with real-time 3D graphics systems, visitor workspaces to support R&D developments, meeting rooms with advanced video conferencing facilities, and deluxe break-out areas. Jansen Professional Audio & Lighting was appointed to design and fit the AV aspects of the installation.

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World - Although it is not unknown for hugely successful bands to have their own aircraft in which to tour the globe, it is highly unusual for the band's lead singer to be the pilot. Yet this is the case with evergreen hard rockers Iron Maiden and, as they begin another major tour, the ultra-compact size of monitor engineer Steve 'Gonzo' Smith's DiGiCo D5 console means that there is plenty of room on board for it to travel with him.

Touring in a Boeing 757 might seem like the height of rock star cool but, as the band's Somewhere Back In Time tour rolls through India, the Americas and Europe, there are certain drawbacks. A major one is that when you are carrying not only the band and 50-strong crew, but also an entire 12 tonne production suitable for venues holding up to 50,000 people, space is at an absolute premium.Before joining the Maiden crew, Gonzo worked with reggae

Denmark - Two Crazy Daisy nightclubs in Denmark, Crazy Daisy Viborg and Crazy Daisy Skive, have recently been refitted with some of the newest Martin Professional lighting gear including bright and economical smartMACs inside and short-throw Exterior 200 LEDs outside, along with other Martin equipment.

Arguably the most popular night venues in the country - there are 20 across Denmark - Martin Professional gear is standard in all Crazy Daisys, part of the NOX Network's chain of 55 nightclubs countrywide. Martin lighting gear is supplied to Crazy Daisy directly by Martin Scandinavia with lighting design by Martin Scandinavia's Frank Ovesen.

Each Crazy Daisy club functions as an independent discotheque, each venue distinct and customized to fit the personality of the city it calls home. This is particularly important in provincial towns like Viborg and Skive says Henrik Karlsen,

South Africa - Johannesburg-based DWR Distribution has been appointed as the official South African distributor for ArKaos, the Belgium-based digital media control technology and software provider.

This deal was cemented recently when DWR's technical manager Nic Britz visited the ProLight&Sound trade show in Frankfurt, and was introduced to the ArKaos team via Avolites, who also have a close working relationship with them.

DWR's MD Duncan Riley says: "With the ever increasing convergence between the visual mediums of lighting and video for a myriad of live events, it was essential for us to offer a good quality, medium-priced digital media server solution with plenty of flexible control options."

(Jim Evans)

China - Beijing has become a hot spot for avant-garde architecture as the world pays more attention to the city's building boom. Many of the world's great architects have bold structures sprouting all over the city, with such descriptive nicknames as the bird's nest, twisted doughnut and eggshell. Even surrounded by such ultra-modern marvels, the New Poly Plaza in Beijing stands tall as a bold landmark building. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), it is recognized as one of the most innovative architectural designs in the world. The building incorporates 24 stories of office space built around a 90m tall atrium enclosed by the world's largest cable-net-supported glass wall.

The challenge for lighting designers was to enhance the magnificence of the building and ensure it would stand out as a distinctive addition to the city's nighttime landscape, while combining tradit

Another interesting and fascinating week in our industries. As many head for Dubai and the PALME exhibition, or to the A.C. North event which begins in Leeds today, the big news in Europe is that Lawo, an undoubted pioneer in the world of digital audio for broadcast, has acquired a majority shareholding in Innovason - a digital pioneer in the live sound sector. A meeting of minds and technologies that will no doubt give birth to some serious developments in the ever-changing digital world we all now work in.

Congratulations to Martin Audio's long-serving finance director, Anthony Taylor who has been appointed to the role of joint managing director with immediate effect. "The move, warmly welcomed by Martin Audio's parent company Loud Technologies, is seen as strategic succession planning, although current CEO and managing director David Bissett-Powell, who recommended the appointm

UK - A.C. Lighting Ltd has confirmed that it is now an approved reseller for the sale of used Martin Professional MAC moving yoke fixtures.

Under the arrangement, Martin Professional UK will use A.C.'s in-house service department and used equipment sales team to supply the industry with approved second hand MAC fixtures originating from trade-ins as customers upgrade to newer models.

As one of Martin's major UK dealers, the partnership means A.C. Lighting can now offer customers the complete package of new and used equipment, servicing and repairs for the MAC range of leading moving heads, says the company.

A.C. Lighting will provide a complete list of all equipment available on the company's Bargain Stock list on its website, which is updated on a daily basis.

A.C. Lighting's northern sales director, Jonathan Walters, commented, "We're very pleased to be approved by

UK - Despite the issues that have been making the headlines concerning the opening of Heathrow's new Terminal 5, there is still much to be proud of in the building, including a major design and installation project recently completed for World Duty Free by Bradford-based audio specialists Pro Audio Systems. The contract, awarded against stiff national competition, was to advise World Duty Free on the best and most innovative way to operate a fully integrated sound and visual media marketing package throughout their stores.

To this end, Pro Audio Systems created an integrated network of audio systems in 13 zones across seven World Duty Free stores throughout the terminal. A total of 11 Lab.gruppen fP 2600 power amplifiers were used to drive the Meyer loudspeaker system with processing from Klark Teknik.

Pro Audio Systems managing director, Brian Lumb explained why he selected L

Czech Republic - Trussing manufacturer Milos staged a successful two-day international technical workshop to highlight its key products and services, and its facility near Prague.

It was attended by 50 people who travelled from across Europe, including Italy, Sweden, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain and Belarus among others.

The event included a demonstration of building the new Milos MR5 Roof system - its largest roof product to date - which has been specially designed to cater for indoor and outdoor events needing substantial stages with plenty of space and weight-loading.

A team from hoist manufacturers Columbus McKinnon in the US presented a seminar on CM Lodestar Motors. This featured a selection of standard Lodestar hoists and a hands-on demonstration of how they work with the MR5 system, illustrating the safe use of hoists in this and other situation

USA - Clockaudio's sturdy boundary-level microphones have proved themselves in the ultimate 'hostile' environment, reports Dick Trump of Triad AV, surviving determined investigation by several bonobos at one of North America's largest great ape facilities.

Triad AV was commissioned to provide a two-way communications interface between bonobos and researchers at a sanctuary and study centre dedicated to the great apes. The objective was to facilitate communication through the heavy glass of the bonobos enclosures, which called for the installation of boundary-layer microphones in the apes' space.

Sometimes referred to as the Pygmy Chimpanzee, the Bonobo is the closest relative species to humans, with DNA 98% identical to our own. Strong, dextrous and curious, the bonobos made short work of Triad AV's first microphone installation, ripping off the traditional grille and pulling

UK - The first exhibitors have already committed to next year's Showlight which takes place at BBC Scotland's headquarters in Glasgow, from 16-19 May 2009. Martin Professional, the main sponsor for the event, was first to sign up, followed by ETC, Gerriets, MA Lighting, Pixel Range, Rainbow Colour Changers, Robe UK, Robert Juliat and Selecon Europe.

Mark Ravenhill, vice-president for television and theatre lighting at Martin Professional, says, "Showlight has emerged as one of the most important events for lighting professionals, an invaluable asset to the ongoing development of the industry. It is exceptionally fruitful for us as it provides the opportunity for real two-way dialogue."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Large-format projection specialists E/T/C London created spectacular 90m wide images and produced the soundtrack for a special large scale outdoor event to launch the new Sunderland Aquatic Centre, the North East's first Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Working closely with show producers Magnetic Events, and soundscape producer Karen Monid, E/T/C's Ross Ashton interpreted an original storyboard by Magnetic's Robin Morley to create a 15-minute collage of images based on aquatic themes, interwoven with water-related elements from the City's past and present, with "the swimmer" at its core.

The show, titled A Poem To Sunderland, took an abstract, non-narrative format and the projections were beamed onto the side of the futuristic cylindrical building (designed by The Red Box Design Group) located adjacent to the City's Stadium of Light football ground.

E/T/C

UK - At London's Royal Opera House, Britannia Row Productions' Outline Butterfly was the front-of-house system for sound reinforcement for the BAFTA ceremony, the UKequivalent of the Oscars, awarded annually to personalities from the cinema and television world since 1947.

To ensure audio coverage for the audience, 20 Outline Butterfly C.D.H. 483 Hi-Packs and four Subtech 218 were flown (respectively ten and two per side), the latter for the ultra-low frequencies. Six more Butterfly C.D.H. 483 were used as ground-stacked systems.

The entire system was controlled by a Dolby Lake processor and powered by Outline's new T Nine digital power amplifiers (2 x 4800W on 2 Ohms). The FOH engineer for the event was Derrick Zeiba.

(Jim Evans)

France - French digital mixing console manufacturer, Innovason and German pro audio company Lawo have announced that Lawo has acquired a majority shareholding in Innovason. Lawo is an internationally renowned provider of high-end digital mixing consoles and routing systems to the broadcast industry. The move officially terminates the receivership period for Innovason and provides a strong partner for future development, says a joint statement.

According to Innovason sales and marketing director, Xavier Pion, the arrangement is a perfect fit for both companies. "It's no secret that we had been looking for a development partner for some time. We explored a number of possibilities, but none seemed to be quite the match we were looking for until Philipp Lawo expressed an interest," stated Pion.

"As a leading manufacturer of high-end digital broadcast consoles, Lawo'

Iceland - The Café Paris at the Kringlan shopping mall, a modern shopping and recreational centre situated close to Reykjavik City Theatre has a strong focus on providing a quality music environment for its clientele as well as outstanding coffee and hot chocolate.

"Owner Grétar Ingi Berndsen knows a lot about good audio," said Gudmundur Finnsson of Pfaff, Iceland who installed the audio. Berndsen is now carefully building the Café Paris brand of music bars. "The downtown site has been open for two years and is well used," said Gudmundur, "This new bar at Kringlan uses the exact same system based on Ci80 loudspeakers with a Ci7 subwoofer. The café has its own computer based music playback system, and visiting DJs obviously bring their input devices with them. That's one of the reasons Berndsen was attracted to d&b, the level o

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technician's ABTT Theatre Show is gearing up to celebrate its 30th birthday in London's Royal Horticultural Halls, 11-12 June 2008.

Many new innovations on the lighting front will be showcased this year with an emphasis on energy efficiency in line with the Theatres Trust conference on sustainable theatres to be held on 10 June.

Selecon will showcase its new 80V Power Supply with direct DMX control.

ETC will highlight products that offer low cost of ownership and sustainable solutions. PRG Europe will highlight its products and services.

Zero 88 will demonstrate its new version 3 software for its Leap Frog 48 & 96 consoles. Its Jester ML series will be showcased.

Stage Electrics will premiere the QMaxz 575 moving head, which offers cost effectivity and high performance as the latest addition to its expansive rental fleet, says the

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