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14 March 2016

"The reason we bought the K1 system was the quality and its high international standard," says Jack Langer, CEO of Redline. "Our new K1 system will push our company to a much higher level. Apart from the sound capabilities of the system, we particularly like the handling of the rigging as well as the digital network integration."

Adds L-Acoustics trainer Sherif el Barbari, "Yet again another highly professional provider, who's already been using L- Acoustics products has made the step to the top level of large scale

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14 March 2016

Churches and cathedrals often pose challenges for acousticians and sound system designers, but few surpass the architectural complexity of the cavernous St Michaelis, originally built in 1750.

Its interior is ornate Baroque at its most florid. White painted walls are endowed with gilded ornamentation and its architecture, advanced for its time, supports a soaring roof without columns. Destroyed by fire in 1906, then rebuilt virtually brick for brick, it has an important role in German culture, regularly hosting televised services, most recently a memorial service for Loki Schmidt, wife of former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, in November 2010.

Emphasising the importance of the pulpit in Protestant churches, where the sermon is central to worship, th

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14 March 2016

It is one of the largest amounts of seating that the company has ever supplied at a single event. The project was managed for Al Laith by Ross Cameron, who worked alongside 120 crew including scaffers, climbers and riggers, in the process constructing grandstands around three sides of the arena, and installing media platforms, five camera platforms, two large format LED screen supports, 1Km of police barriers, 400m of Mojo crowd barriers and 1.8Km of Heras fencing, complete with tele-handling vehicles and scissor lifts and other access equipment and assorted other site infrastructure elements.

Al La

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14 March 2016

Entertainment industry professionals, product manufacturers, production managers, students, school and college officials, arrived for a day of tours and celebration in South Kirkby, where LS-Live operates Europe's largest rehearsal space, staging structures rental, set design and build, and equipment rental for the events industry.

Guests enjoyed entertainment by acts such as Rosie Doonan, The Jon Strong Band and Skint & Demoralised, on a stage erected in the LS-Live rehearsal studio and lit by HSL, took tours around the facilities and saw where Backstage Academy courses will take place on the site of the studio. They were also treated to a BBQ, bar, aerialists, a laser show,

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14 March 2016

Held at Orbital's seminar facility in Brixton, south London, the course included application training from d&b audiotechnik and Yamaha Commercial Audio, as well as covering the spectrum of technical disciplines required for live sound applications. Led by principal tutors Theo Holloway and Richard Carter, the course's scope included modules on show control, radio microphones, video, communications and networking, as well as the chance to quiz guest speaker Gareth Owen, who presented a session on sound design.

The students were also treated to a detailed backstage tour on the West End production of Grease, providing an insight into the challenge

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14 March 2016

Soundtools Oy, under the guidance of industry veterans Antti Murto and Peter Stråhlman will now handle Smaart in Finland. Soundtools is the newly formed sister company to well-known Finnish pro AV company, and former Smaart distributor, Studiotec.

In the UK, Wigwam Acoustics will now be handling all Smaart sales, support and training. Founded in 1979, Wigwam is one of the world's best-known sound companies for the rental, sales and installation of professional audio equipment.

Pacific Rim Electronics & Engineering Pte Ltd (E&E) will handle Smaart for the territories of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia with their branch office E&E India taking on Smaart distribution duties for India. E&E was founded in 1951 and just celebrated their 60th anni

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14 March 2016

"For a venue this unique, we have to have the best," says Alain Phillipon, the Eiffel Tower's resident sound engineer for the past eight years, who previously worked on a Midas Heritage 1000. "I wanted the versatility of digital as we host so many different kinds of events here that we need maximum flexibility. But I also wanted to keep the warmth of the Midas sound. The PRO3 offered the perfect solution."

Once the PRO3 was installed, the sound team at t

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14 March 2016

Built on an area of 3,000sq.m, it combines bars, dancefloor, five billiard tables, eight lanes of bowling and the Gorka retro nightclub, all wrapped up in striking hi-tech urban architecture that blends into the landscape of the historic city centre.

Patrons can climb to the top of the pitched roof, which will be used as a hill slope for skiing in the winter - hence the name - and in summer as an amphitheatre for concerts.

EAW components have been used throughout the complex, as part of an installation carried out by EAW's Russia distributor, MS-Max.

Open seven days a week, much of the activity at Hill Hall takes place inside Gorka where the dance system has been constructed around eight EAW KF730 line arr

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14 March 2016

Project manager for Unusual, Robin Elias, explains, "We were asked to design a system which would facilitate two things: the first was a way of displaying two 10m x 15m theatre back-cloths by Picasso, in the North Court Gallery for six months for the Museum's major exhibition Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909-1929. The second was to create some way to facilitate the hanging of lighting and other electrical equipment for future exhibitions in the North Court gallery.

A system which could be reformatted to provide a solution

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14 March 2016

All the seated tickets for Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra sold out within three hours. Verdi's Requiem and Havergal Brian's gargantuan the Gothic Symphony have also all gone. However, up to 1,400 extra tickets are released on the day of each concert. Proms director Roger Wright said, "We're delighted that so many people have been able to get their tickets successfully and look forward to welcoming them to the Proms this summer."

Musical Chairs - Warner Music has been bo

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14 March 2016

The show is now over 85% sold - almost five months ahead of its four-day run at Earls Court from 11-14 September. Confidence that PLASA 2011 will be a busy event is confirmed by the increase in visitor registrations, with 8500 visitors representing a healthy 5% increase on the same period last year. This is matched by a 14% increase in the number of companies confirmed to take part.

PLASA 2011 event manager Sophie Atkinson comments, "The PLASA Show has a unique reputation for launching ground breaking products. The Show embraces everything from theatre, live music, film/TV and special events to night venues, architectural installations and construction projects. It's a true reflection of a highly d

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14 March 2016

Adlib provided all the sound equipment for both FoH and monitor systems based around an L'Acoustics K1 PA system. Adlib also supplied seven LM 26 digital audio loudspeaker processors from Lake for FoH and monitor system processing, along with a number of Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q Powered Loudspeaker Management systems to drive the wedges on stage.

Adlib's Tony Szabo, who acted as system tech for the UK/Ireland leg of the tour, explains that the LM 26s were used for FoH EQ and time alignment. "We had three devices at FoH for general EQ and four at stage next to the amp racks to handle system zoning. W

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14 March 2016

"I'd heard about the loudness of the system, but I was really looking forward to hearing how it performed at a lower level," says Linklater. "My big praise for it, really, is the vocal definition. I mean obviously, there is the volume side of it as well; it is a very powerful system. But the main reason for bringing on the Steve Harley acoustic Tour is that I wanted to hear it with an acoustic band. This band has got quite a range of instruments, dulcimer, violin, full range piano for instance, and I wanted to see if it was musical as well as being loud, which it is, I'm pleased to say

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14 March 2016

Recent revamps have seen the house sound system totally replaced and the stage entirely remodelled to accommodate current trends. Steering that remodelling was the audio consultant Alexandre Forgues of 20k inc.

"I started my career as a system engineer and had visited the theatre many times. I know it well and have a great fondness for the room," he says. "On several occasions I had taken in a d&b audiotechnik system from Axion (now part of Solotech), a rental company that used to be based in Quebec. The house had always liked the sound of d&b equipment so

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14 March 2016

Held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from 27 February - 7 March, the championship was the first poker event ever to be televised on and produced by a major US television network.

The set design depicted a Roman coliseum and the 101s were chosen based on size, weight, brightness and speed, Garrone says. "I placed 18 MAC 101's (nine per side) on top of the Roman columns. We shot this show with two jibs and had star filters in them. I incorporated the MAC 101 into the lighting design to provide RGB stars (beauty lights) into the jib cameras. That way when we took a high wide of the set we had colorful,

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14 March 2016

"The show was probably one of the largest TV programs that the grandMA2 light has done," says Brett Puwalski, vice president of operations at Atomic Lighting in Lititz, Pennsylvania, which supplied the grandMA2.

"Using the grandMA 3D software that MA offers as freeware really helped us with the pre-viz," he addss. "Univision has a very tight schedule, and the network uses its time and money very resourcefully. There were many acts participating and no time to prep such a

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14 March 2016

At the Roe Green Junior School in Brent, staff decided to incorporate theatrical-style lighting to let them quickly change the decoration of their new library and childrens' lounge to match different stories. A particular challenge was that the school is committed to sustainability as part of the Groundwork London One World Schools programme; the library was part of a building newly refurbished, using sustainable materials, with even the curtains sourced from Fairtrade-certified suppliers. The lighting clearly had to play its part in the school's eco

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14 March 2016

The installation of 508 Christie MicroTiles at the London Stock Exchange follows a recommendation for their use by CMS Consultant Jerry Collins and a subsequent tender won by long-standing Christie Partner, Focus 21 Visual Communications.

The new Market Open Ceremony provides companies joining London Stock Exchange markets with the opportunity to mark the occasion using the most advanced display technology and bespoke visual communication. The Christie MicroTiles installation replaces The Source, a moving sculpture previously installed in the Atrium.

Visitors to Paternoster Square are now welcomed by columns of Chri

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14 March 2016

The beginning of the month saw an education workshop held in the Sennheiser lecture theatre (which the company also sponsors) at the Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts (LIPA), where Sennheiser UK special projects manager Phil Cummings and chief RF engineer Andrew Lillywhite delivered a two-part session to 50 students.

The first was an overview of Sennheiser, including the company's history, products, services and position in the industry. The second part of the workshop was a radio microphone 'best practice' session, which covered a range of topics including what exactly a radio microphone is, planning and frequency allocat

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14 March 2016

The new equipment forms the centrepiece of the upgraded Sound Dubbing 4 at The London Studios, part of the ITV Studios complex on London's Southbank, the largest commercial production company in the UK.

"After a thorough review of TLS post sound requirements in 2009, we chose Pro Tools as our preferred system for future upgrades such as that recently undertaken at Sound Dubbing 4," comments Phil Graham, project manager at The London Studios. "Having worked with Scrub in the past, it was an easy decision to choose them to supply and commission the new ICON console. Working with Scrub is always a pleasant and smooth experience."

Building on a heritage of over 50 yea

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14 March 2016

Da Costa has lit the show (this was the eighth series) since the start, and in that time has seen the demands and challenges of the lighting become increasingly sophisticated. Over the nine shows in the series, he had to programme for about 120 different songs and performances - ensuring that each one looked interesting, fresh and unique for the competitors, the 1300 live audience as well as several million TV viewers.

Robe fixtures were originally planned and specified for German I

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14 March 2016

Mick Hall, account manager for GC Pro (Guitar Centre Professional Division), oversees a large percentage of the company's house of worship market projects and was intimately involved in both the design and installation of Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal's installation. He commented on the scope of the project and the decision to deploy D.A.S. Audio loudspeaker eq

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14 March 2016

Recorded for the launch of their new album Good Ol' Fashioned Love, the set design made the most of the exceptional high gloss surface of the floor. The creative back-lighting bounced off the floor, giving "an incredible 'water' effect".

Le Mark's Stuart Gibbons notes, "It's great to see the floor used in this way, high gloss works so well with creative lighting and really gives a clean, stylish effect - Perfect for the release of the boys' new album, we wish them all the best of luck."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Lighting operator Jess Frost comments, "The 1500 has got some really smart features and is just an easy console to use coming from a Strand background. ETC really appear to have gone the right way about doing things. It's simple to operate quickly and efficiently."

ETC's Ion console is available in channel counts from 1024 right up to 3072 with show files fully interchangeable with the larger EOS series consoles. Monash's Ion 1500 was supplied by Melbourne dealer ASL Systems.

(Jim Evans)