UK - Multi Grammy Award-Winning Evanescence have just completed their UK arena tour. The Arkansas rockers, who released their self-titled third studio album in October last year, played four arena shows. The band kicked off the tour at Nottingham's Capital FM Arena on 5 November and finished up with a show at London's Wembley Arena on 9 November.

PRG account manager Roy Hunt was pleased to supply Live Nation with a moving light rig. Working with celebrated lighting designer Dan Hardiman (Moby, Goo Goo Dolls, McFly, UB40), PRG supplied a mix of VL3000 and VL3500 Spots, VL3500 Washes and Clay Paky Sharpy's to illuminate the stage.

Dan Hardiman commented, "The core element of the show is the backlit backdrop; a multi layer device that has the band's album artwork printed onto fabric downstage of a sharks-tooth gauze with the band's logo appliqued onto it to form a giant gobo

UK - British singer songwriter Ed Sheeran is steadily conquering the world; travelling from continent to continent, his appeal seems unwaveringly universal. The speed of his acceptance is matched by the pace of his current tour, which has taken in Australia, the United States and is currently in the UK before heading off to cover the rest of Europe without a pause. With him every step of the way is a Sennheiser 2000 Series wireless microphone system.

Sheeran's front of house engineer is Chris Marsh from Major Tom, the tour's audio provider. "I first got involved with Ed last October when he was doing a club sized tour," explains Marsh. "I had met him previously at the Latitude Festival when I was there with Rumer. He was opening the festival that day and we got talking about the level of work that I was doing and where he wanted to be. Shortly after that, I got a

USA - With the installation of 40 CAL column array loudspeakers, Memorial Stadium at the University of California, Berkeley has become the world's first sports facility to use Meyer Sound's advanced beam steering technology. The slender 10ft high columns, discreetly mounted around the stadium's outer rim, provide an elegant solution that preserves the architectural integrity of the historic structure - inspired by Rome's Coliseum - while also providing extraordinarily high speech intelligibility despite the crowd noise in the 63,000-capacity seating bowl.

As part of the $321m, two-year upgrade project, Dallas-based acoustical consultants Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams, Inc. (WJHW) was given the challenge to improve the audio clarity for the audience in the bowl and minimize noise concerns for the nearest residences that are only about 200 feet away. WJHW also had to make

The Netherlands - For the third year in a row, InfoComm International will host a one-day Future Trends Summit the day before the Integrated Systems Europe 2013 tradeshow.

Running from 11.00am to 5.30pm on Monday 28 January, the Summit programme will be moderated by Clive Couldwell, Editor of AV Magazine.

In a departure from tradition, the day will be divided into three fresh and distinct segments. Part 1, Future Customer Needs, will comprise an end-user panel including AV users from a number of market sectors including corporate, education and healthcare. Part 2, Future of the AV Business and Market, will offer a glimpse into how the world of systems integration will look in 2015 and beyond. And Part 3, Future of AV Technologies, will provide an overview of the cutting-edge developments likely to impact on integration businesses in the years to com

France - Nexo has just conducted the first 'official' audio demo of a full STM Series PA, its new flagship sound reinforcement system. Joining forces with Yamaha Music Europe, the sister companies used the JTSE Live trade show event in Paris to demo Nexo's latest concert sound loudspeakers on a Dante network with Yamaha CL Series digital control.

For the first time, the Nexo team put its STM Series sound reinforcement system into action in a public arena, with front of house control provided by the Yamaha CL5 console over a Dante network - another first for both Nexo and the team from Yamaha Music Europe in Paris.

STM is the first scalable modular line array on the market. Standing for Scale Through Modularity, the STM Series for touring use offers a wide variety of design options using four loudspeaker modules - main, bass and sub cabinets, with an 'omni-purpose' down-fill. F

Venezuela - The ever popular Miss Venezuela Pageant saw the radiant addition of 54 Chauvet Professional fixtures, used as principal downlighting and audience lighting by lighting designer Roberto Penso.

Penso worked with a smaller-than-usual stage for this type of show and to design lighting for the audience in the venue and for TV. Trying to find suitable lights to work around the low ceiling at Hotel Intercontinental in Caracas, Penso tested Chauvet Professional Q-Wash 560Z-LED fixtures -provided by VLPS of Venezuela - and decided they were perfect for the show.

"The colours and the brightness are spectacular," Penso said. "They change colours very fast, have great saturation, and perform in sync all the time. The Q-Wash 560Z-LED moving yokes were the only lights in the show that didn't fail."

Penso also took into consideration that the Miss Venezuela P

UK - Orbital Sound has just completed a major installation at one of the UK's premier concert halls, Fairfield Halls, in Croydon, south London.

Forming the first part of a technical upgrade, Orbital has installed a new sound reinforcement system into the Concert Hall, with the principal components comprising d&b audiotechnik Q1 line arrays, augmented by flown 27A cardioid subs, ground-stacked B2 subs, and a Yamaha M7CL console with DME64 mix engine. The Q1 array is complemented by a T-series centre-fill cluster, using three Ti10L d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers.

Fairfield Halls' 1800-seat Concert Hall is ranked as one of the very best orchestral performance spaces in Europe, with an acoustic quality particularly favoured by chamber orchestras, as well as hosting a varied programme of musical styles and events since the early 1960s - from rock bands to stand-up comedy. The invest

France - Innovason has announced the signing of an important partnership with Sennheiser France for the distribution of all Innovason products throughout France with effect from 1 December 2012. Announced at JTSE 2012 in Paris, the move further strengthens Sennheiser France's presence in the live digital technologies market, taking advantage of the existing synergies between Innovason digital consoles and Sennheiser's digital microphones by Neumann.

In order to fully optimize the opportunities presented by this new partnership, Sennheiser France has taken on Axel Brisard, an expert in digital audio mixing and sound capture. Brisard, who worked as a sound engineer at Radio France for many years, is fully versed in the use of Sennheiser Group digital microphones with Innovason's Eclipse consoles, currently the only consoles on the market to offer complete control of all Sennheiser

Australia - Currently playing at Sydney's Lyric Theatre, Legally Blonde The Musical is lit by Kenneth Posner and Paul Miller with Hugh Hamilton acting as associate for the Australian tour. The set and lighting design for the Australian production comes from the London production of the musical held at the Savoy Theatre.

The rig houses only Vari-Lite moving lights: forty-four VL2500 Spots, 22 VL2500 Washes and five VL3500 Spots whilst conventional lighting consists of over 200 ETC Source Four fixtures. It's a fairly straight forward rig that was, according to Hamilton, expertly prepped at PRG, easily hung and there were very few problems to overcome.

"The overhead trusses go spot, wash, spot, wash, spot, wash and the ladders are all VL2500 Spots," explained Hamilton. "It's a great rig because you can put anything you need where you need it, plus it's quick

USA - Meyer Sound Laboratories Incorporated, a Berkeley, Calif.-based professional audio equipment manufacturer, announced that it has settled the lawsuit it filed last June against VUE Audiotechnik, LLC of Escondido, Calif.

The lawsuit was filed in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California. In its suit, Meyer Sound alleged VUE infringed Meyer Sound's iconic wave trademark, and asserted other claims against VUE and a former Meyer Sound employee currently working for VUE.

"This legal action was necessary to protect Meyer Sound's intellectual property rights and to prevent confusion in the marketplace," says Helen Meyer, co-founder and executive vice president of Meyer Sound. "We are pleased with the settlement. It resolves issues related to our company's valuable trade secrets, and eliminates the possibility that people might be misled in

UK - Researchers at the University of Salford have been awarded £249,719 to develop new technology which will greatly improve the modeling of the acoustic performance of buildings and open spaces.

The grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council will enable the Salford team work with global design and engineering firm, Arup, the University of Reading and BBC R&D. Together they hope to solve the problems associated with demonstrating to clients how building designs for large spaces like concert halls, sound once they've been built.

In practice, designers programme the designs of a building or room into a computer model which calculates how the structure affects the sound sources which inhabit it, such as musicians in an orchestra. The modified sound of the sources is then reproduced through a special loudspeaker system, allowing the client to hear wha

USA - Since its Amsterdam debut in 2000, Sensation has grown to become one of the world's most successful and respected indoor electronic dance music (EDM) festivals. After producing more than 70 events for over two million people in two dozen countries, creator ID&T recently teamed up with promoter Live Nation to bring Sensation to North America for the very first time. As with all of its other productions, ID&T specified the deployment of a full L-Acoustics system to keep the high-tech party hopping well into the night.

Quickly selling out Brooklyn's stunning new Barclays Center on both 26 and 27 October, the two-night event - dubbed 'Innerspace' - attracted over 30,000 house and techno music fans dressed entirely in white according to the festival's tradition. A roster of renowned DJs - including Dennis Ferrer, Fedde Le Grand, New York's own Danny Tenaglia, and the show's hos

UK - Roland Systems Group (RSG) is joining with some of its biggest dealers to put on a series of video training events across the UK with the next scheduled for 12th December at Wigwam Acoustics. The afternoon event will be free to attend and will cover web streaming, HD video switching, conversion and much more - showcasing the RSG video product line up including the V-800, V-1600HD, VR-5 and VR-3 - as well as the brand new V-40HD released earlier this month.

The informal event will be packed with information, expert tips and real world advice, says the company, and registrants will get the opportunity in advance to request specific questions and subjects to be covered on the day.

To register visit the web address below.

(Claire Beeson)

USA - ANSI E1.35 - 2007, Standard for Lens Quality Measurements for Pattern Projecting Luminaires Intended for Entertainment Use, is being revised to increase the accuracy of the measurement procedure, while keeping it simple. The draft of the revised standard is available for free download and comment through 21 January 2013 at the web address below.

E1.35 describes a method for measuring and stating the sharpness of the image projected by a stage and studio luminaire. It's meant to be a simple way to distinguish quantitatively between luminaires as to the crispness of their projected images.

For more information, please contact Karl Ruling, PLASA's Technical Standards Manager, at karl.ruling@plasa.org

(Claire Beeson)

UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light continues its commitment to the backstage industry by once again sponsoring TheatreCraft, a careers fair for those aged 17-25 exploring non-performance careers in the entertainment industry.

The one day event, which takes place today (30 November) at the Royal Opera House, will give visitors the opportunity to take part in workshops delivered by skilled professionals from across the arts, and to meet representatives from more than forty exhibiting theatres, training providers and education institutions. Topics up for exploration include producing, stage management, make-up, lighting, marketing, theatre journalism, sound, directing, costume design, playwriting and design.

Now in its seventh year, TheatreCraft aims to provide essential information and advice to young people interested in working behind the scenes of the entertai

UK - Buckinghamshire based Lightsmiths, owned by Bruce Rutter, has made a significant investment in Clay Paky's first professional LED lighting fixtures.

The Clay Paky A.LEDA Wash range offers three models, all incorporating high output RGBW LED engines with a massive zoom range (14°-70°) and unprecedented output. In addition to these features, the Italian manufacturer has also incorporated the capacity for individual pixel mapping. Lightsmiths has invested in a notable number of all three models.

These fixtures are a viable alternative to traditional discharge washlights, and offer a full range of vivid colours that are impressive even in the brightest daylight. As was demonstrated when Lightsmiths used the fixtures at the recent Berkofest event - Berkhamsted's annual music and comedy festival.

"We've been known locally up until now for supplying festivals, pro

Japan - Located in the lively Shibuya Ward near the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, the Toho Gakuen Performing Arts College has recently been visited by one of its old Alumni; Shinichiro 'Yone' Yonekura. Yonekura is better known to the professional audio community as the head of d&b audiotechnik Japan, but it was in 1990 that he graduated from Toho Gakuen and he has carried the reputation of that college with him ever since.

"Toho Gakuen was originally established as the Tokyo Broadcast School in 1979 and was approved as an educational foundation establishment a year later," he explained. "Today four colleges comprise the campus: TG Media Training, TG Film Techniques, TG Performing Arts and TG Sound Technicians."

The purpose of Yonekura's visit was twofold; the school purchased a d&b Q-Series system from him a year earlier and he was keen to learn of the experi

Italy - Nearly 300 people attended the Illuminando le Star (Lighting the Stars) conference with Patrick Woodroffe, organised by Clay Paky in Rome. The event was sponsored by AILD, APIAS, the British Embassy in Rome and the University of Rome Tor Vergata, with the technical support of Agorà and DOC.

Lighting fans were not put off by the circumstances that made travelling difficult on the day: flooding, blocked streets and motorways, transport strikes and street demonstrations. The event's appeal - the only one of its kind in Italy - overcame every obstacle and drew people from every region of the country.

Patrick Woodroffe retraced the greatest moments of his career in the splendid setting of the Auditorium Antonianum, made even more impressive by the lights installed by Clay Paky. He particularly focused on the preparation he did for the recent London Olympics and Michael Jac

USA - Two draft Rigging Working Group standards related to the use of chain hoists in the entertainment industry are available for free download and comment at the web address below through 28 January 2013. Materially affected members of the public are invited to review them.

BSR E1.6-2 - 201x, Entertainment Technology - Design, Inspection, and Maintenance of Electric Chain Hoists for the Entertainment Industry, is part of the E1.6 powered entertainment rigging project. This draft standard covers the design, inspection, and maintenance of serially manufactured electric link chain hoists having capacity of 2 tons or less and used in the entertainment industry. This standard does not cover attachment to the load or to the overhead structure.

BSR E1.6-4 - 201x, Portable Control of Fixed-Speed Electric Chain Hoists in the Entertainment Industry, is a standard for the controls ofte

USA - LD Jason Robinson used Martin Professional's new MAC Viper Profile for the first time on the 2012 version of Farm Aid, the yearly benefit event that raises money for family farmers in the US, and found they had "all the stop I needed and more".

"The Vipers really came through for us with their intensity and zoom," Robinson commented about the award-winning 1000 W profile, supplied for the event by Upstaging. "I used them as aerial effects and as my backlight / keys for the band members."

In order to stay out of the large upstage video wall, Robinson had the Vipers trimmed at a considerable height. "They had all the horsepower we needed for camera and to cut through the video," he said. "They had all the stop I needed and more, even after I added gobo's and colour correction."

The MAC Viper Profile is the first fixture i

South Africa - 18 August saw some of South Africa's highest profile musicians come together in Johannesburg's Botanical Gardens to play at Talk Radio 702's Concert In The Park. A Coda Audio PA system and DiGiCo mixing consoles ensured that the large audience enjoyed a day to remember.

The concert drew on the heritage of the original Concert in the Park, which saw 125,000 South Africans pack out the city's Ellis Park Stadium in 1985. This year's event drew a more modest crowd, but all enjoyed a bill including Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Steve Kekana, PJ Powers and Hotline, Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels, Mango Groove and Clint & Co.

The show's technical infrastructure was supplied by Sound Stylists, one of South Africa's leading production companies, which is this year celebrating its landmark 25th birthday.

The main audio system comprised 12 flown Coda Airline

USA - L-Acoustics certified provider Audio Video Electronics (AVE) of Maple Grove, Minnesota, reports that it recently installed a Kiva loudspeaker system at St. Andrews Lutheran Church in nearby Mahtomedi.

According to AVE Vice President Kevin Crow, "St. Andrews has a beautiful 1,200-seat sanctuary with a nearly five second reverb time, so going into this project, we knew that speech intelligibility was one of our primary issues of concern. Furthermore, with an 80-member choir, chamber group and huge pipe organ, St. Andrews' services feature quite an emphasis on music as well, and they were wanting to have it feel more 'present' in the sanctuary seating areas."

With those requirements in mind, AVE specified an L-Acoustics line source system featuring left and right arrays each comprised of nine KIva enclosures flown adjacent to three KIlo low-frequency extension cab

China - Robert Juliat's Hong Kong distributor, Pacific Lighting (HK) reports an extremely healthy market across the region with a bumper crop of Robert Juliat sales over the last quarter.

"The increased appetite for Robert Juliat profiles and followspots is very evident," says Pacific Lighting (HK) Ltd director, Hugh Chinnick. "We have experienced almost unprecedented non-project sales in the last few months, with some very high profile venues choosing to replace their old lantern stock with Robert Juliat fixtures or augmenting their existing RJ inventory with further additions."

The Hong Kong Cultural Centre's 1734-seat Grand Theatre, which already boasts four RJ Cyrano 2500W HMI followspots, has replaced a number of fixtures in its main rig with 42 RJ 710SX2 2500W tungsten zoom profiles. "The Grand Theatre's front of house rig was in severe need of r

UK - The audio industry should test its products to a higher standard and publish the results in its sales material, according to a white paper released by loudspeaker manufacturer Flare Audio this month. The paper argues that a test currently used extensively by audio professionals to measure the sensitivity of loudspeakers does not tell the whole story about loudspeaker sound quality. It claims that a less well-known test, Waveform integrity (Wi), allows artists, audio professionals and the listener to compare the sound reproduction of different products much more effectively.

Flare Audio believes that loudspeakers should provide 'as pure a sound as possible', to enable an unaltered reproduction of the sound created by the musician. In its white paper, the company defines a sound as 'pure' if it loses none of its detail in the transmission from artist to listener in the proces

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