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14 March 2016

The £78 million Darwin Centre, a new extension to the museum, occupies a spectacular eight-storey-high concrete Cocoon suspended within a glass outer box. It allows museum visitors and scientists to share for the first time the excitement of exploring, studying and preserving the natural world.

Sysco is lead AV contractor on the project, on behalf of project managers Cultural Innovations. Cocoon features an array of exhibits in a curved walkway that spirals through several of its floors. The exhibits make full use of state of the art technology to enhance the visitor experience and provide easy access to multiple layers of information.

Sysco's w

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14 March 2016

The Scientists Dr. Bryson Gore and Dr. Frank James will begin the lecture with a talk on the work of the Royal Institution from the times of Faraday, painting a picture of the scientific fervour that led up to the formation of SLL's original incarnation as the Illuminating Engineering Society in 1909. In addition to anecdotes about the pioneers of the past, the talk will include artefacts and demonstrations from the Royal Institution's marvellous collection.

Multiple award-winning designer Jonathan Speirs will postulate in the second talk that architectural lighting design is primarily about creativity, inspiration

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14 March 2016

Restoration planning started just two years ago, and the first phase - the replacement of audience seating - was successfully completed on time at the end of August. Working with local architects Simpson and Brown as well as with Tim Foster Architects and John Muir, Theatreplan's Clive Odom explained that the first phase of the work has focused on the auditorium and orchestra pit: "The seating in the stalls, and the Grand Tier, has been replaced with a design that is authentic to the period of the auditorium and most importantly, is comfortable. The theatre has been running a scheme f

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14 March 2016

Two of the leading practitioners in their fields feel this is a topic worthy of debate - and will be holding just such a debate, with the provocative title Video and Lighting Are Destined To Merge, on Sunday 13th September at 3pm, as part of the Education & Learning Programme at PLASA09 at Earls Court in London.

The debate's instigators and hosts are leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light, which through its adoption of a wide range of LED lighting technology increasingly finds itself involved with video content and media servers, and United Visual Artists, a

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14 March 2016

LDI is offering a small rebate to exhibitors for every client that registers, using the exhibitor's unique code, attends the show held in Orlando, Florida 20-22 November, and verifies on site. Lighting & Electronics has embarked on an active PR campaign encouraging their customers to attend and have announced they will be donating their entire rebate to Behind the Scenes.

Maryalyce Merritt of Lighting & Electronics commented, "Too many of our colleagues are experiencing challenges to support themselves and their families. They have had to find more creative ways to pay the bills and provide for their basic needs. The L&E family has decided to take a proactive stand to help meet

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14 March 2016

There will be more for visitors to see, as more new exhibitors have signed up for the show at Earls Court, bringing the total of new and returning exhibitors to over 50. The education and learning programme has also been expanded with two audio-related masterclasses from previous Gottelier Award winners, Tony Andrews of Funktion One and John Stadius of Soundtracs/DiGiCo.

Another new addition to the Show is the Supply2.gov.uk Lounge, a central feature area giving exhibitors and visitors the chance to get advice from Supply2.gov.uk - the portal which helps SMEs gain access to public sector contract opportunities, typically worth up to £100,000.

Anoth

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14 March 2016

Says Lightfactor's Peter Coles: "We wanted to team up with a progressive thinking partner that could offer a full, innovative, high quality range of LED, moving light, theatrical range of luminaires and PAR cans for the entertainment and architectural sectors - and D.T.S. is the perfect choice."

Lightfactor has a long history of success with distributing premium brands and cutting edge technology, and has been at the forefront of the moving light market in the UK since its inception.

Coles said at the press launch in Earls Court 1 that Lightfactor will also be appointing a series of sub-distributors for selected D.T.S. product groups.

Based on the east coast of Italy near the comm

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14 March 2016

The winch is used during the tour to fly dancers above the stage, then used for the encore to fly all five members of Boyzone to the 'B' stage and then back to the main stage.

Paul Jordan, director of Hoist UK comments, "The winch is a custom version of our popular range of pilewind winches and in its fully built condition it has ten rope drums spanning over seven metres. It is manufactured in modules housed in one metre custom sections of 52cm truss with each module containing two rope drums.

Tony Dickson, fellow director of Hoist UK adds, "Each of the drum modules are then linked using a drive shaft to the next module, and then to a central module containing the geared motor assembly. The winch is capable

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14 March 2016

Manchester Central is one of the UK's most iconic and popular venues and the redevelopment has centred on creating new and extended foyer areas to the iconic Grade ll listed Central Hall. The redevelopment is allied to infrastructure improvements to provide further cohesion to the venue's facilities, adding value to clients and to the venue's appeal as one of the UK's major convention and exhibition complexes. Key to the Central Hall space development was the implementation of infrastructure in-house to facilitate the staging of conference and gala functions.

The rigging package, which wa

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14 March 2016

The first was a one-off gig by New York's the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in St George's Market, Belfast; the second was the three-day Belsonic Festival staged at Customs House Square, central Belfast; and the third was Live at the Castle, in Carrickfergus.

PSI supplied all lighting for this show, which was promoted by CDC Leisure and completely sold out. They worked to a spec from the band's lighting designer Lucas Cotterman.

The rig consisted of a front and back truss loaded with PARs used to provide all the basic stage washes, which were augmented with beams-work, effects and texturing from 14 moving lights - six Robe ColorWash 700E ATs and eight Robe ColorSpot 700E ATs. Eight PixelPARs were added, attached to floo

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14 March 2016

An extensive inventory resulted in a pre-selection of three manufacturers, including Alcons. These brands were invited to demonstrate their system during a special demo event. Luxor had chosen for a unique approach for this day. Not only the in-house Luxor technicians but also several famous Dutch sound designers and engineers, familiar with the Luxor Theatre, were invited to give their opinion. Also present were some other employees of the Luxor Theatre which were asked t

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14 March 2016

Eric Porter, experienced independent rigger, trainer, adviser and committee member for the PLASA National Rigging Certificate, led the course. A.C. Rigging staff were on hand to assist him.

The comprehensive two-day training programme adopted an established Litec course. Topics included Regulations and Risk Assessment, Standards and Guidance, PPE Systems for Working at Height, Ropes and Knots, Inspection and Records.

Sean Pagel, project manager for Production Services Ireland, commented: "I found it a very useful and informative course. The content was very thorough and there was plenty to learn, as it was geared for people of all levels of experience. To be learn

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14 March 2016

The 57 cases in the latest order were to house Clay Paky's Alpha 300 and new 700 range of Spot, Wash and Beam moving light fixtures - both the 300 and 700 fixtures fit into the same case.

The Tour Grade trunks each house two luminaires and provide storage space for the removable hook clamps. The latest set of cases featured modifications to include a larger allowance for the bracket of the Alpha 700s.

The Arpege cases were made from 12mm birch plywood, with a high pressure laminate bonded exterior in a smart black finish. They also feature heavy-duty casters rated up to 180Kg, more than double the rating of the standard ones.

The project was handled for 5 Star by Andy Harford, who explai

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14 March 2016

DiGiCo SD8, launched at PLASA show last year, was an instant hit for the manufacturer, with record numbers sold since its launch. Now, DiGiCo believes it has once again produced a product to suit the industry's changing needs. "A lot of our customers in the corporate world were hard hit at the start of the credit crunch," says James Gordon, DiGiCo's managing director. "Recently, they've been telling us that work is starting to come back. This is great news and we wanted to do something to address the needs of the rejuvenating market. Designing a smaller footprint SD8, but without reducing any of its features, seemed th

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14 March 2016

EVA was selected to upgrade the sanctuary sound system at Centre of Hope, to better serve the church's steadily growing congregation and meet the needs of its weekly services and in-house Christian rock band.

"The space is about 90ft wide by 120ft deep, and seats around 1,000 people," says Joey Hutto of Sound Solutions, "and contains some quite reflective surfaces, including a tile floor, a small balcony, and a metal ceiling. We needed to provide the sonic power and intelligibility they needed, along with highly controlled coverage and long throw; we also wanted to avoid the added expense of delays. Line array was the obvious answer, and our EV Rep Steve Land (EDA Pro Group) to

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14 March 2016

As well as demonstrating the VQ Live system, designed for the rental/hire sound market, Tannoy are also be exhibiting the latest developments in the successful VQ Series installation range. Initially launched early last year, VQ Series has been expanded with the addition of 6 new devices (each available in passive or VNET powered) including new mid-high MH and down-firing DF enclosures with a variety of horn formats including 40 deg conical, 60 x 40 degree and 90 x 50 degree.

These new modules offer the systems designer an extremely flexible set of tools with which to build tightly packed compact arrays for a multitude of applications ranging from small to very large scale

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14 March 2016

NAS serves the MI, professional and commercial audio markets via an extensive dealer network. Paul Turner, commercial audio division manager, comments, "The addition of Cloud to the NAS commercial division adds significant desirability to the commercial range from NAS."

Turner adds, "At NAS, we are extremely excited to be appointed the Australian & NZ distributor for Cloud. With a product of such high reputation and reliability, NAS is honoured to represent Cloud in the region. It is a fantastic step forward for both companies and the start of a very long - and fruitful - relationship."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Located in the Kaohsiung City in south Taiwan and constructed in 1998, Kaohsiung Arena is one of the biggest domes in Taiwan. Currently occupying an area of 56,000sq.m, the multifunctional sports arena has a seating capacity of 15,000.

On 28 September 2008, the Kaohsiung Arena was officially opened after a lievely traditional Chinese Lion-Dance and all the guests saw the Proel Speakers making their debut at the Arena.

The City Mayoress, Ms. Chen welcomed all the guests in the grand opening ceremony and stated, "This arena will be a place not only for sports but also for concerts, speeches and even arts exhibitions in the near future. Apart from that, the sound system in this building is terrific."

Proel Sound Reinforc

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14 March 2016

The system is equally useful for both international and UK customers, who can visualise with ease each of the seven Triple E tracks that are sold on an individual parts basis. Simply select the shape or effect that best matches your facility, and an animated movie then demonstrates your chosen effect. Once you know the effect you want, fill in the details of size, preferred suspension type and drive where used, and the Quote Tool will quickly and obligingly compile your shopping list, plus give the total cost in pounds sterling.

The new site gives details of all Triple E products, including the other track systems, Chaintrack and Chainbeam, Variable Acoustic ban

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14 March 2016

As demonstrated at PLASA09, the XMOS Ethernet AVB solution consists of XCore event-driven processors, open source AVB software, application notes, prototyping board schematics, gerber files and documentation with general availability planned for Q4 2009. XMOS AVB systems are programmed in C using freely available development tools, providing unmatched design flexibility.

XMOS provides a cost-effective way for designers to implement Ethernet AVB with professional levels of quality of service. Applications that are enabled with XMOS AVB products range from consumer audio equipment such as home theatr

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14 March 2016

The Elgar Room will now incorporate built in technical facilities and the flexibility to "match any event requirement". From late night and intimate gigs to after show parties, comedy nights, cabaret and theatre performances, the redesign has created a versatile room in which a variety of events can be accommodated. The new room already has a number of events lined up to take place ranging from after show parties for Elton John and Monty Python's Not The Messiah to a comedy night with Patrick Monahan and the next instalment of the Royal Albert Hall's HUSH series.

The £1million renovation sees the original floor to ceiling windows restored as the room's raised flooring is removed to create one large space - increasing its maximum capacity to

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14 March 2016

For the first time, the Proms finale was screened via satellite to cinemas on every continent of the world. The BBC said the two-month classical music festival had been the most successful yet with a 32% increase in under-16s attending. Proms director Roger Wright said the event had included "outstanding and inspiring music-making".

Goodnight Vienna - The tribute conce

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14 March 2016

Viking Line has become one of Lab.gruppen's best customers for C Series amplifiers, due in large part to the enthusiasm for the brand of Viking Line's AV Coordinator, Jouni Sironen, and his 16-strong team of technicians. The total inventory across the six ships currently fitted with Lab.gruppen and the new vessel to be delivered in early 2010 numbers around 200 and incr

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14 March 2016

Receiving its worldwide launch at PLASA09 (13-16 September, Earls Court), SANE (Synchronous Audio Network plus Ethernet), is a new digital audio networking protocol using ring network topology: it claims to offer the first fully-synchronous Cat5 network solution for streaming uninterrupted media in real time.

This new low cost and high efficiency system, based on proven Optocore technology, has evolved from the German company's new AD/DA X6R and V3R converters launched earlier this year; these offer split AES-EBU ports, sample rate conversion up to 192kHz, and five different card options.

SANE offers a unique solution, the company says: it transports recognise