UK - Following the success of the Yamaha Commercial Audio open days, hosted by Stage Electrics at its Bermondsey premises in January, the company has organised three further events across the country.

The additional open days will allow a wider range of engineers to get 'hands-on' with Yamaha's digital audio products, with experienced Yamaha and Stage Electrics staff on hand to demonstrate and answer questions.

The new dates are: 6 July at Stage Electrics Tyneside (Gateshead); 7 July at the Midland Arts Centre, Birmingham; 29 September at Stage Electrics Bristol headquarters.

Each event takes place from 10pm to 5pm and will provide demonstrations and tuition on a range of Yamaha audio products, including the M7CL and LS9 digital mixing consoles, the SB168-ES stage box, Ethersound and Dante networking protocols.

Designed to give both prospective and existing users a focused

France - On the occasion of its television debut on TNT and to mark its new positioning within France, the financial information radio station, BFM Business (NextRadioTV group), was outfitted with an ultra modern set. A core part of the decor, the Christie MicroTiles video wall reinforces the visual experience that focuses on financial information.

After 10 years on the FM band, BFM became BFM Radio in order to minimize any confusion with BFM TV, a continuous news channel that is also part of the NextRadioTV group. At the end of the first half of 2010, BFM Radio was broadcasting on some 30 frequencies in France. In November of that year, BFM Radio became BFM Business, a "media outlet unlike any other in the world" according to its CEO Alain Weil. BFM Business is distributed via all ADSL TV packages and on TNT in Paris. The channel targets high-level professionals, part

Honduras - Latin America has long been a strong market for Adamson touring systems. Recently a wave of permanent installations have been taking place, and the very first for the tiny Central American country of Honduras was installed recently. The Caribbean paradise's capital city of Tegucigalpa lies 3248ft above sea level, thus moderating temperatures in this city founded on top of a native Mayan settlement in 1578.

CEAD (Centro Evangelista de las Asambleas de Dios/Evangelistic Centre of the Assemblies of God). is a church which was founded 14 years ago, and it has set-out a mission to change lives. Today that vision is pursued by Pastor Miguel Montoya and his wife Jacky, in their church which seats 2600 and holds up to 5000 people, who gather at two weekly services. The pastor is someone who has taught them to dream big, and to fight for them. One of those dreams was to get to

Czech Republic - Projection Partnership turned to its hire fleet of Christie HD10K-M projectors, when asked to support global pharmaceutical company, Lundbeck A/S on its recent International sales & marketing meeting at the Prague Hilton.

Working alongside Lundbeck A/S' above the line advertising agencies and content providers, the 1920 X 1080 high-definition projectors met the complex multimedia challenges, under the direction of Graham Grimshaw, director of g2-Live Ltd, to give the audience a 360 degree visual experience in an enclosed oval environment.

Projection Partnership's brief was to supply a system capable of projecting onto a 5:1 aspect ratio curved three-screen centre display. Measuring 13.75 x 2.75m and edge-blended to provide a resolution of 5400 x 1080, the addition of a further two 1920 x 1080 side screens provided a total resolution of 9240 x 1080.

These two

UK - Theatre professionals, technicians and stars of the future were introduced to The Backstage Academy at the ABTT show in London, exhibiting together with partner LS-Live for the first time at the show.

The launch of the Academy's new fast-track foundation degree in Live Events Production, produced in partnership with the University of Bolton, caught the eye of many prospective students looking to start their studies this September.

Based at the LS-Live headquarters in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Backstage Academy will offer students a state-of-the-art learning environment in which to study short courses in backstage skills and all manner of technical and creative arts, as well as the one-year foundation degree.

The course (currently subject to validation) is a ombination of newly written material produced in line with industry experts and existing courses by manufacturers

Australia - Lighting designer Dave Jackson of Phaseshift Productions specified over 40 Robe moving lights - including 24 of the new Robin 600 LEDWash 'wonder lights' for the 11th Annual Bruce Lynton BMW Charity Ball - a major event on Australia's Gold Coast social calendar.

The event was held at RACV Royal Pines Resort, the look and feel of which was boosted for the occasion by the illumination of the building's massive main foyer by six Anolis ArcPad Xtremes, positioned inside, on the mezzanine above the main foyer, covering an area of about 600 square metres, and creating a special festive atmosphere. All lighting equipment was supplied by Phaseshift Productions.

The night began with a spectacular fireworks display to welcome over 600 guests including special invitees, naturalist Terri Irwin and Senator Mark Furner.

The 24 Robin 600 LEDWash fixtures were lighting the main

Greece - ARX Systems, the Australian based designer and manufacturer has announced the appointment of Athens based Audio & Vision as their new distributor for Greece.

ARX managing director Colin Park said, "We're excited to be working with the Audio Vision team in Greece, they're enthusiastic about the possibilities for ARX and our products amongst their extensive client base.

"Audio Vision are an expanding force within the Greek Pro Audio Industry and are in close contact with Greek Audio Professionals across the installation, live sound and broadcast market sectors."

After more than 12 years servicing the professional audio industry Audio Vision now distribute product ranges including DPA Microphones, Nagra, Switchcraft, Tasker, Audac, Coolux, CM Columbus McKinnon and Swefog.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The ABTT Lighting Product of the Year Award went to ArcSystem, GDS's new LED house-light system. The award was presented to Richard Cuthbert, director of engineering for GDS. The judges were impressed by the wireless dimming performance of ArcSystem, a bespoke fitting manufactured for new build and retrofit existing tungsten lighting in auditoria and front of house locations.

ArcSystem from GDS is a new concept that provides a low energy future proofing solution for auditoria house lighting, says the company. ArcSystem is a LED based, fully dimmable unit with a warm white tungsten colour output. The system is designed to emulate a filament fitting in its dimming response and is one of the first LED products to be dimmed to zero without snapping.

Richard Cuthbert commented, "We are honoured to receive this recognition from ABTT. The R&D department continually strive t

UK - Manchester based lighting rental company DBN supplied the city's new Parklife live music festival for the second year running - this time co-ordinating equipment for all four stages within the main arena. DBN was working for their regular client, Ear To The Ground, who also production manage regular, locally based dance party phenomena, Warehouse Project.

Parklife was again staged in PlattFields Park Manchester, and this year, the main headliners were Two Door Cinema Club on Saturday and Chase & Status on Sunday, plus an impressive array of others including Mark Ronson (DJ set), Annie Mac, Kelis, Katie B and numerous others.

The project was managed for DBN by Nick Walton, who also created a production design for all the stages with which DBN was involved, based around accommodating the specific requirements of headliners and visiting LDs.

Both headline bands on the Main

Spain / Italy - D.A.S. Audio has announced the signing of an exclusive Italian distribution agreement with Parma-based Audiosales.

"We are delighted to have Audiosales on board in Italy," says D.A.S. Audio's business development manager, Claus Behrens. "We have developed a very close rapport with company owner Stefano Rocchi during the past few weeks and it is clear to us that Audiosales is the perfect match to develop our business in Italy. Their focus on the D.A.S. Audio brand will benefit D.A.S. Audio's broad base of existing Italian customers and provide an unparalleled level of sales and service for the future. We see the market for D.A.S. Audio products expanding greatly from its already strong position."

"D.A.S. Audio wanted a more specialized and dedicated approach to the sound reinforcement and installation businesses in Italy," notes Ste

Germany - As the members of the German band Phrasenmäher announced their plans for a 2011 club tour and CD release, sound and event company LR. Audio was busy designing the sound system for the band to take on the road. Hired by Phrasenmäher to run the show, LR.Audio chose an Aviom Pro64 Digital Snake "to ensure quality sound for each performance and to eliminate the hassle of interfacing with the fixed gear of each venue at which the band typically plays".

In order to provide a better control of the audio mix, LR.Audio utilises two Aviom 6416m Mic Input Modules to run audio to the Yamaha LS9 front of house console. The engineer then has the ability to create crisp sound mixes, which are distributed to the venues' speaker systems through an Aviom 6416o Output Module. Two 6416Y2 A-Net Interface Cards serve as the I/O to the console and give the engineer control of the

Isreal / West Bank - Philips Vari-Lite is proud to announce that effective immediately Protouch Ltd. will take control of the distribution and service of Vari-Lite automated luminaires in Israel and the West Bank. Protouch will direct their Vari-Lite luminaire sales and service operations from their home office in Petah Tikva.

"We are very excited to be working with Protouch as our authorised dealer for Israel and the West Bank," said Bob Schacherl, Philips Vari-Lite vice president of sales and marketing. "I am confident they will bring a renewed focus and energy to the sales and support of Vari-Lite luminaires."

"Protouch is very honoured to now be an authorised dealer for Philips Vari-Lite," stated David Melloul, Protouch import manager. "Vari-Lite luminaires are known throughout the world for their unmatched quality and performance. At Pro

Singapore - MA Lighting Asia Pacific is hosting a Wireless Solution W-DMX Seminar on Monday, 11 July 2011 at their Singapore office. More details are available from infoasia@malighting.com.

"W-DMX seminars are a very valuable tool," says Niclas Arvidsson, CEO of Wireless Solution, "People can learn what to do and what not to do when it comes to wireless DMX technology, plus get hands-on experience. MA Lighting is extremely competent when it comes to W-DMX and they have a very strong presence in Asia Pacific."

"Training is very important and having a partner like W-DMX who pioneers not only wireless but also RDM at the same time, we hope to bring these two topics to a wider audience as it will impact the industry very soon," addss Jens Poehlker of MA Lighting.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Chauvet reports that UK production company VME has recently added 60 fixtures to their rental inventory of Chauvet lighting gear. The additions include 24 COLORado 1 IP, 12 COLORado2 IP, 12 COLORado Batten 72 Tour and 12 COLORdash Accent.

Sales and marketing manager for VME, Ben Hyman, commented, "The COLORado series fixtures are very adaptable and can be used on nearly every job. They are of good quality and price-appropriate. We're thrilled to have them as part of our inventory and have already seen a quick payback on the investment."

Some recent applications by VME include private parties, including a Parisian-themed event at Tatton Park , a street party held in Altrincham during the recent royal wedding, as well as one-night club events at 53 Degrees in Preston.

(Jim Evans)

Europe - Lighting designer Derek Jones recently finished the European leg of the current Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) world tour, finding it a good opportunity to try out the new Jands Vista v2 software running on his own Vista S3 lighting console.

Jones invested in his Vista S3 desk for a Cliff Richard & The Shadows tour about 18 months ago and it hasn't stopped working since.

"Vista v2 has definitely taken the platform to another level," says Jones, who is impressed with the new software's power and simplicity. He added, "v2 makes it even faster to get a basic show up and running. It's so quick to create your cues, yet allows you the power to control the details."

The tour rig featured Martin Professional MAC 700 Profile moving lights in the roof and MAC 2K and 250 Washes on the floor. A Catalyst media server was also triggered from the V

Canada - Martin Professional's M1 lighting console gave peace of mind to Brad Helzer, lighting designer and programmer for Christian group Starfield, at Youth Conference (YC), a large-scale three-day Christian event held at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, and Canada's largest youth convention.

Having just finished a three-week tour in May, Starfield was booked to play a set on the main stage at this year's YC, but Helzer was unclear whether he was going to be allowed to patch in the M1 to operate the rig.

With less than a week until the event, he was cleared to patch into the rig and received the plot and patch from the design firm. He then went to work drawing the rig in Martin's lighting and set design software, Martin ShowDesigner (MSD), which allowed him to visualize the programming before the event.

"Since we had just come off the tour run, the band wanted their

India - Following a highly competitive tender process, the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust of Shirdi in Maharashtra India, has engaged Laservision to design, develop and install a large scale multi-media attraction at the Sai Garden Centre in Shirdi.

This high-tech spiritual theme park will display interactive teachings of Sai Baba's Life, drawn from the Shri Sai Saicharita, the holy book that is the basis for the life and teachings of Shri Sai Baba. The holy messages will be portrayed to the millions of devotees who complete the journey to this sacred location through an array of mediums including aqua screens, high-powered Laservision Light~Ray laser systems, HD video projectors, surround sound and a variety of special effects.

The Shrine at Shirdi is internationally renowned as being the location of the Samdhi Mandir (mausoleum) of the saint, and over 20,000,000 devotees comple

The Netherlands - Developing a close bond with its partners and customer community has always been a main driving force of the Prolyte Group operations. Organising yearly update trainings for the product managers of its distributing partners is part of that philosophy.

During two days, "crammed with information", the participants are expected to take in all the product and technical information, which is later tested in hands-on sessions and an examination.

Sergey Rybinskiy, managing director of ModifiC comments, "First of all let me say a huge thanks for everything you have done during the training time. It looked like Prolyte is a happy family and I was very glad to be the small part of that. Every step of training was carefully thought trough, very efficient and useful, we found time to discuss our working questions and future goals."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Used-trussing.com is a new online portal dedicated to supplying a wide variety of used and new trussing solutions to the entertainment industry. The new site is co-ordinated by A.C. Entertainment Technologies

Available through used-trussing.com are quantities of new, as new, ex-demo, ex-installation, ex-rental, ex-tradeshow and second hand truss sections and associated accessories, including corner blocks and connection sets, plus a selection of other rigging equipment.

Many leading trussing and rigging brands are represented on used-trussing.com, including Litec, Prolyte, Slick, Thomas, TFL and Trilite. In addition to the diverse selection of trussing available, visitors can also find Lodestar electric chain hoists, motor controllers and rigging equipment - basically anything that is needed to get a truss floating in the air.

Despite items being sold at heavily discoun

Australia - Innovative Production Services has been acquiring quite an arsenal of Spotlight fresnels including 18 Combi 12 F 1.2K and 12 of the Combi 05 F 650 watt models.

"The build quality of the Spotlight fresnels is fantastic especially for a fresnel at the price point that the Spotlight gear is," remarked Jeremy Koch, director of Innovative Production Services. "The barn door build is exceptional which is important as if anything is going to break over time it will be the barn door. The design is simple and very classic - they're not trying to do anything too fancy. It's a simple aluminium box that is clever with its dissipation but doesn't try too hard. It does what it does and does it well. There are no bells and whistles and sometimes that is just what you want in a lighting fixture."

Innovative's Spotlight fresnels were the only lighting fixture re

UK - Systems integrator IVC Media was back at Wimbledon this year, supplying support services for its TV and signage distribution system.

"IVC Media was originally associated with the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) way back in 1995 when the company installed the original analogue video over Cat 5 structured cabling and RF over coax," explains John Smith, managing director of IVC Media. "Since then, in 2007, the club worked with us to implement new IPTV technology across their updated high speed data network and each year we have staff on site to support all the TV distribution of the whole tournament."

"Where realtime coverage is required for commentary booths a Mediastar system works alongside the IPTV system," continues Smith. "RF and IPTV distribution of channels to public/private areas within ground include the referees' tower, comm

World - Iron Maiden are currently touring the planet to promote their new album The final Frontier". An important element for a succesful show is drummer Nicko Mc Brain's HK Audio ConTour Series drum-fill system that has been part of his backline already for more than six years.

Comments McBrain, "Once I have found the equipment that suits my needs best, I like to keep using it as long as possible: I have been using Premier Drums and Paiste cymbals for a very long time and I am very happy with their equipment. Since 2005, HK audio has joined the little group of suppliers I work with. I use two ConTour Series CT 112 monitors and an SL 218 2x18" subwoofer as my drum-fill system.

"We're quite a loud band on stage as you can imagine, so I need a system that has lots of power and headroom. With vocals, three guitars a bass player like Steve Harris and the amo

UK - QHotels, the award-winning collection of 21 hotels across the UK, has announced a £1.7m investment into its IT facilities, making it the only hotel group in the UK to offer a massive 90 megabits per second (Mbps) dedicated bandwidth for conferences. The investment will also see all guests provided with free, unlimited internet access.

David Kelly, Director of IT at QHotels, said, "This investment gives us an incredibly strong IT product that really is the cherry on the top of our Total Meetings Package. With the explosion of video conferencing, our ability to offer 90Mbps bandwidth is a real point of difference for us, especially for international clients who require high definition video conferencing facilities.

"We now have a very distinct, unique selling point, which I am confident will help us to attract and maintain conference business. Indeed,

Denmark - Recording engineer and producer Henrik Nilsson has recorded and mixed a variety of high profile live concerts for broadcast, including Metallica, Jean Michel Jarre, Massive Attack, Robbie Williams, the Roskilde and Skanderborg festivals. He recently bought Audiotruck dk to provide a versatile OB service.

Following a May refit, the truck's audio infrastructure is to the highest standard, handling digital audio via both MADI and Optocore. Two DiGiCo D-Racks are optically connected to the SD10B console. Meanwhile, MADI signals are routed via the truck's MADI splitter system to the SD10B.

The console is used to mix the show for live broadcast, routing up to 256 channels of digital audio to a Macintosh-based recording system running Steinberg Nuendo.

The equipment was installed by Danish audio specialists Soundware in less than a day, as the company's Kim Johansen repor

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