USA - Southern California-based Sound Image Inc. has agreed to purchase over 800 I-Tech HD amplifiers for its tour sound business. "Our customers are extremely demanding and I-Tech HD gives Sound Image the ability to take our system performance to unprecedented levels," stated Dave Shadoan, president of Sound Image Inc. "At Sound Image we have always prided ourselves on providing the best sound possible to the clients we serve."

Sound Image's touring division is known as a provider of premium live sound systems, working with major artists such as Rascal Flatts, Jimmy Buffett, Eric Clapton, and Taylor Swift to name a few.

At its core, I-Tech HD features a new user-inspired DSP engine co-developed with BSS called OmniDriveHD. The new processing engine features Linear Phase FIR filters that offer "unrivaled crossover performance for sonically pure tunings

USA - Shure Incorporated has selected Highway Marketing of Dallas, TX, as its new sales representative in the mid and south central United States. The company will be responsible for sales of the complete Shure line of professional audio products to retailers and systems contractors in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

"Scott Baker, Steve Simmons, and the entire staff at Highway Marketing bring several decades of combined experience and proven success in our industry to our team of independent sales reps," said Jim Schanz, director of US field sales for Shure. "They have a thorough understanding of our constantly evolving industry from the perspective of dealers and manufacturers. We are confident they will continue their success and help grow our business in the region."

"Highway Marketing is thrilled to be representing Shure," said Baker

Turkey - Thomas Cook's award-winning annual conference took place in Antalya, Turkey in December 2008. The two back to back conferences catered for over 2500 of Thomas Cook's managers from across the business, over a six-day period.Produced and staged by drpevents, part of the DRP Group, the conference included spectacular outdoor welcome evenings, a Strictly Come Dancing competition, two closing ceremonies featuring singer Candi Staton, and two prestigious gala dinners, which included award ceremonies.

The Strictly Come Dancing evening was one of the highlights of the conference as staff that were paired with professional dancers got the chance to compete with their colleagues from all over the business. A week of full auditions were staged at drp studios in the UK.

Ian Ruhback, senior technician from drpevents explained the lighting for the conference: "So

UK - Litestructures supplied a key feature for the latest European tour of the American boy Band New Kids On The Block (NKOTB).

This was the first time Litestructures worked with the band. Production manager Bobby Schneider contacted Litestructures to supply a circular lift which would be located in the middle of the crowd, and would be able to hold the band and rise to up to 6' high.

Litestructures came up with a concept of adapting one of their standard Scissor lifts with a circular 12' diameter LiteDeck staging system - all used from the company's hire department.

The end result was a success and the lift acted as the centre piece of the show and toured with the band for three weeks. In smaller venues, the lift was replaced with a static 12' diameter circular LiteDeck.

Ben Brooks, hire manager at Litestructures comments: "It was a fantastic opportunity for Litestru

UK - Leading production companies and individuals contributed skills, equipment and resources to make the 2009 Barnes Charity Ball, staged at St Mary's Church in London, a memorable fundraiser for the Under Tree Schools project in Sudan.

Richard Lambert was asked to help with the lighting, and a few conversations later, he'd enrolled the help of some of the industry's finest to help too. These included Noreen O'Riordan of Entec Sound & Light who provided the lighting rig, and Michael Althaus of MA Lighting who supplied the control system. Production management was undertaken by Ryan Brown of Entec and programming by Liz Berry, with additional help and operations by Jonathon Lyle.

The overall lighting design was completed by Richard, who said: "People and companies in the lighting industry are truly amazing! It's great to be able to help with something like this and incred

USA - Dover International Speedway's recently-completed Victory Plaza is home to Miles the Monster, NASCAR's most enduring mascot and one of the world's tallest fibreglass structures. Towering some five stories above the Speedway's famed Monster Mile, the statue's glowing red eyes and menacing grin preside over the many ceremonies and dedications at the Plaza.

Powerful sound surrounding Miles is provided by Community WET-Series loudspeakers, chosen for their ability to deliver clearly over the roar of dozens of stock cars and thousands of fans in any weather.

(Jim Evans)

USA / UK - 2008 was a successful year for Eat to the Beat Inc, part of the Global Infusion Group. From becoming the in-house caterer at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, and the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore to the ATP festival in upstate New York. Several major tours of the US were also undertaken. The company has truly established itself as the caterer of choice for the discerning palette.

Coldplay- international touring artists utilized the company's services twice in '08. Long-standing Eat to the Beat team member Heidi Varah, led the catering crew. Along with her were Darren Shead and Jesse Davies creating "delicious and inspired meals" daily.

These meals were complemented by the work of Pauline Austin and Sarah Money with salads and freshly made desserts. Rounding out the team on the front line, Jessie Collins and Peter Kostandelos looked after t

USA - Auralex Acoustics is creating performance art of its own in the Blue Man Groups' newest rehearsal space with its acoustical treatment products. The internationally successful group recently moved into its new NYC recording and rehearsal facility and immediately recognised the need to balance the acoustics of the space, specifically the voice over booth and the live performance room.

"When we moved into the new space, we had to get the vocal booth as dead as possible," says Chris Mulhauser, musical instrument manager of Blue Man Productions. "Auralex played a big part in that through their StudioFoam and T'Fusor Diffusors products, they work great."

(Jim Evans)

Korea - An Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system has been selected by the Bethel Independent Church in Seoul, Korea. The iLive system - comprising an iDR10 MixRack loaded with 48 inputs and 24 outputs and iLive-144 Control Surface with 16 inputs and 8 outputs - was chosen because of its ability to cater for a diverse range of events, which includes services, gospel singing and rock concerts.

"I am very proud that we have the iLive system installed. We host a rock concert at least once every two months, as younger generations are involved in the Church's activities, and this system has the capacity to manage all the requirements. I also like the sonic quality, which is natural, clear and warm. My dream has come true," says Pastor T. N. Park.

The 930-capacity venue also installed a Renkus-Heinz line array, a Dolby surround sound system, and a 450" centre scree

DPA has launched a new website at www.dpamicrophones.com. This retains the large amount of information and resources from the previous site, including the Microphone University, which provides useful information about microphone design, interfacing, stereo and surround techniques and recording in general, as well as product information, user stories and distributor info.

Additionally, the site has undergone a complete redesign, bringing it up-to-date and consistent with DPA's corporate branding, advertising and trade show visuals. Graphics are bolder and improved, and the site features new product photography throughout.

"We wanted to make our website even more user friendly, with a good search function, easy navigation and well-organised content," says Anne Berggrein, head of marketing at DPA. "We've made better use of the images, upgraded the search engine and includ

UAE - Look behind one of the main broadcast desks at television studio CNBC Arabia and you will see a flexible, animated and visually professional backdrop courtesy of Martin LC Series LED panels. The semi-transparent, modular system of LED panels - praised for its brightness and set-up ease - is floor-mounted and creates a customizable graphics backdrop and one-of-a-kind set piece.

CNBC Arabia, which broadcasts live coverage across the Middle East and beyond from Dubai Media City in the United Arab Emirates, is the region's first 24-hour Arabic language business TV channel. The channel's Head of Operations, Nick Turner, was looking for an alternative display to augment a range of changeable and moveable 'light-boxes' that would display backlit graphics for a range of new shows.

"We needed something to simplify operations and replace one of the virtual sets we had been us

UK - The Empire Theatre in the Queensland city of Toowoomba has upgraded to a Midas PRO6, becoming the first performing arts centre in Australia to install the new digital system. Originally built in 1911 as a silent movie house, the theatre was extensively renovated following a fire in the 1930s, and is a stunning example of art deco architecture both inside and out. The Empire underwent another major renovation in the late 1990s, becoming the first theatre in Australia to install a Midas Heritage 2000 in its ongoing desire to provide optimum performance.

In recent years the theatre's audio department has expressed a desire to upgrade to a digital console to provide more features and greater flexibility. Head of audio Ralph Atkinson evaluated many consoles in his search, concluding that none came close to the sonic performance of the theatre's existing console.

That was until

Australia - Located in Australia's capital city Canberra, the Australian War Memorial's newest galleries "Conflicts 1945 to Today," aims to preserve and convey the experiences of Australian servicemen and women on overseas deployments from Korea and Vietnam through to Rwanda, Iraq and Afghanistan. In the age of the virtual theme park it was a major challenge for the AWM to present these epic stories.

Bruce Brown from Mental Media who was heavily involved in a variety of aspects of the design and delivery of the project, says the design process selected the key elements from the Vietnam era to include an Iroquois helicopter, an Armoured Personnel Carrier, the operations bridge from the guided missile destroyer HMAS Brisbane and the Long Tan AV Theatre, together with a diorama and "The Trench Experience" from the Korean War. Fitting all of this and the assignme

USA - Robert Juliat Quincy profiles play a key role in the new Hall at Patriot Place, a unique sports and educational experience showcasing the history of the New England Patriots and housing the team's Hall of Fame.

The venue includes four 30ft (9.14m) high Magink pylons whose digital displays highlight the careers of each Hall of Famer via video, still images and text information.

As lighting consultants on the project Salem, Massachusetts-based Available Light was tasked with lighting the two-sided, Israeli-made Magink pylons. "They have no light source of their own; they're essentially like a giant LED screen which has to be externally illuminated," explains designer Matt Zelkowitz, a principal designer at Available Light.

In talking to the manufacturer Zelkowitz learned that each pylon needs approximately 300ft candles (3229 lux) of illumination and a 3:1 max

Germany - Sirius Showequipment, one of Germany's leading tour sound rental companies, has joined the L-Acoustics K1/KUDO Pilot Program. CEO Wolfgang "Schabbach" Neumann is excited at the prospect of using the system for this year's open-air season.

"We were very impressed by the power capability of the system, especially the fact that distribution is so equal in both the horizontal and vertical planes," he says. "But what's really struck us is the great response to the system from our customer base. Our new L-Acoustics K1/KUDO system will be the backbone of our rental activities throughout 2009, and the system will be on the road all season.

This is Sirius Showequipment's first purchase of L-Acoustics systems after years of positive experiences renting V-DOSC, dV-DOSC and KUDO on a dry hire basis. The system will comprise 48 K1 line source cabinets, 24

World - grandMA are plugged into the excitement of AC/DC's long-awaited Black Ice World Tour which takes its theme from the new AC/DC track, Rock 'n' Roll Train, with the stage featuring five curved trusses reminiscent of a railroad station's roof beams.

The Black Ice World Tour marks the first time that the band's lighting director Cosmo Wilson has toured with the grandMA. A main system and backup are on hand to control the extensive lighting package required for the large set and AC/DC's over-the-top performance.

"I've used a lot of different consoles, but I started using the grandMA on some one-off dates for other artists and have done a lot of corporate shows with it," he points out. "This is my first chance to tour with it. That's when you really get to learn it. I've always liked a lot of grandMA's features, and I'd been thinking I wan

USA - The 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards held on 8 February at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, had a performance line up and duets by Coldplay and Jay-Z; Al Green, Keith Urban, Justin Timberlake and Boyz II Men performing 'Let's Stay Together'; the Jonas Brothers pairing with Stevie Wonder; Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus;, Paul McCartney and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl; as well as performances by Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, and many others. California-based ATK Audiotek once again provided live audio production and, once again, chose four Yamaha PM1D digital audio consoles, two at front of house and two for the monitor mix.

"The need for these shows to be flawless is what drives Audiotek to obsess on the details and not compromise on the quality of equipment and people that operate behind the scenes," states Mike Stahl, president of ATK Audiotek.

At the helm of the four Y

UK - ITV1's successful 4th series of Dancing on Ice - a live competition in which celebrities and their professional partners 'figure skate' in front of a panel of judges - attracts an impressive 9.5 million viewers every Saturday night.

The lighting and projection media servers for the 4th series are controlled by two Vector Greens from Compulite. Lighting designer for the series is Dave Davey with assistance from Dave Hallet and console operators Bill Peachment and John Ford.

"Bill's desk features all the set and effects lighting as well as a Hippotizer media server to project onto the ice. John looks after lighting the people (contestants and judges etc) with a mixture of conventional lights and automated wash and profile lamps," says the company.

Console operator John Ford comments: "Coming from a background of controlling conventional/people lighti

UK - In Bristol, the Woodlands Church has completed its investment in a house sound system by installing a M-400 V-Mixing System from RSS. The final decision was swung by a Snake, in particular the S-1608 digital multicore package that is integrated with the M-400 console and which provides the Church with the flexibility to relocate its sound control position in the future.

Five years ago, the 1000-strong congregation of the contemporary house of worship Woodlands Church began a programme of investment into new sound reinforcement equipment, starting with the purchase of a Nexo PS15 loudspeaker system, initially paired with an analogue front-of-house mixer.

With music playing a significant role in services, Woodlands soon began to consider the possibilities of a move to digital sound control, appreciating that it would help to build a more consistent approach to sound across

USA - North Carolina-based Stewart Sound first became involved with a Barack Obama's election trail last September and since then have provided impressive sound for several important events.

"It all started with a call from Atlas Group in Raleigh NC," says Stewart Sound's founder Chad Stewart. "Atlas is an event specialist and we've done several things with them since that first call. They needed a PA system for a Democrat Presidential campaign event in Greensboro. Obama was on the election trail at the time, and this was a public event for about 15,000 people.

"We put in a PA composed entirely of d&b audiotechnik Q-Series Q1 loudspeakers. After the event Atlas came to us and said it was the first time at one of these events that they hadn't heard a single complaint; not one heckler in the audience said they couldn't hear what was being said."

By the

UK - Cheltenham-based rental company CSS has recently invested in the new ColorSpot 700E AT from Robe Lighting to add to its extensive portfolio. "The exciting designs that can be created from moving head fixtures with this advanced piece of lighting technology is incredible. The new Robe 700 will add an extraordinary element to any event," the company says.

CSS reports "huge demand" for the hire of the new Robe 700E AT, which they describe as "one of the most sophisticated devices in the present market". CSS have used the moving heads on the London Women's Conventions at Excel, Cheltenham Folk Festival at Cheltenham Town Hall and large Christmas parties at Cheltenham Town Hall.

Lee Dreezer, the company's head of operations says: "The new Robe 700E AT has given us the chance to develop our designs on events due to the variety of settings that

UK - Leading UK lighting rental company HSL has made a substantial investment in Robe's new Digital Series products - including 6 DigitalSpot 7000DTs and 36 REDWash 3-192s along with 16 REDBlinder 2-96's - primarily for the Pussycat Dolls' European Doll Domination tour, for which they were specified by LD Scott Warner.

HSL is supplying all lighting equipment and crew for the tour which also includes 60 Robe ColorSpot and ColorWash 2500E AT moving lights, 40 Martin Professional Atomic strobes, a 12 way Kinesys automation system with Vector control plus over 60 motors and rigging. HSL also designed and commissioned several pieces of custom metalwork that were fabricated by TFL for the tour which is project managed for them by Mike Oates.

The slick, high-energy show is a colourful and fluid amalgam of classic pop lighting with plenty of attitude and dynamics. Warner makes

USA - Vibrant colours from Wybron's Nexera colour-mixing luminaires enhance worship services at Woodmen Valley Chapel, a 6,000-member church in Colorado Springs.

Ten Nexeras, in both profile and wash models, paint the back of the church stage, including the fabric draped dramatically on either side of the main projection screen.

"It brings life to the stage. It enhances the senses," says Mark Shrimplin, Woodmen Valley's director of technical arts.

The Nexera combines a powerful light fixture and CMY dichroic colour changing in one unit. The Nexera's compact size and quiet convection-cooled operation make it popular among churches and small theatres.

Shrimplin likes the Nexera's smooth colour changes. Having the colours morph seamlessly into one another helps the church's volunteer lighting crew, he says. The Nexeras also provide quality light for the church's tel

Denmark - In order to create a stronger, more effective European sales structure, Martin Professional A/S is optimizing its European sales subsidiaries by creating a regional sales organization, Martin EMEA.

Martin EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), will be based at Martin's headquarter office in Aarhus, Denmark. During 2009, Martin's current European subsidiaries will be integrated into the new structure while Martin's distributors within the area will be served by the new European regional organization at a later stage.

Heading the new sales organization is Villads Thomsen, Vice President EMEA. Thomsen, previously Managing Director at Martin Professional's Scandinavian subsidiary, assumed the new position on January 1st. Steen Matthiesen, currently CFO at Martin France, will serve as the new organization's CFO.

Christian Engsted, Martin Professional A/S CEO, commented

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