UK - Ken Christian is an avid and accomplished keyboardist and home recordist, using a combination of Ableton Live and Cubase software to help create his music. To connect his large collection of vintage analogue and digital synths and other gear, he has turned to RedNet, Focusrite's acclaimed range of Ethernet-networked audio interfaces, based around the industry-standard Dante Ethernet audio networking system. The first to offer IP network audio interfaces for the recording studio, RedNet is suitable for any application that requires moving around high quality audio with high channel count and ultra-low latency. Focusrite's RedNet is helping Christian streamline his workflow so he can focus on the music.

Christian's setup includes vintage keyboards including a Moog MemoryMoog, Oberheim OB-8, Prophet 5, Yamaha CS70M, Korg MS-10, and a Roland Juno-60, as well as a wide variety o

Belarus - The Miss Supranationa pageant recently took place over a three-week period in Belarus, with the gala final held at the Minsk Sport Palace.

Promoted by the World Beauty Organization, the spectacular event, held in front of around 5,000 people, and transmitted live to more than a billion viewers globally on ONT, owed much to the PR Lighting inventory supplied by local distributors FE Belimlight.

Working for Polish production company ARAM Multimedia, who were responsible for the entire project including light design and control, FE Belimlight's designer, Igor Piotrowsky, supplied 48 each of the powerful XL1500 Wash and XL1500 Spot from the company's large inventory of the Chinese manufacturer's fixtures; these utilise a powerful 1500W short arc discharge lamp, optimised by the use of a high quality and efficient optical system.

While the wash lights were focused on th

Denmark - Lighting designer Andrew Pygott was pleased to learn Danish rental company Comtech began offering Martin's MAC Viper Profile and designed a Martin rig for Sir Elton John's show at Denmark's Resenlund Park composed of the high-output profiles.

"I was very interested in giving the Viper Profiles a go ever since a demo at our Barnsley headquarters in England," says Pygott, who incorporated the Martin fixtures into the rig as the primary spots on the show, part of Elton John's 40th Anniversary of the Rocket Man tour.

"Its size-to-light output ratio and the good selection of stock gobos available made it an excellent fixture to clone and easily create multiple looks during the show," Pygott says. "The Vipers are also remarkably fast on function including movement, which is outstanding for its size."

Pygott positioned the Vipers on fi

Thailand - Allen & Heath has appointed One Systems as its exclusive distributor in Thailand. Selected by Asian sales agent, Global Market Management, One Systems has been importing and selling Allen & Heath products into Thailand on a non-exclusive basis since 2009, and is now in a position to manage all sales and promotions in Thailand.

"We felt it was important to bring the brand under one roof and management team as we all grow into the digital age of pro audio," says Alfonso Martin, operations/sales manager for One Systems. "This appointment coincides with the launch of our new showroom, which will allow us to properly display and demonstrate the entire range of Allen & Heath products."

Bardy Hayes of Global Market Management, regional sales manager for Allen & Heath, adds, "One Systems has grown technically, operationally and strategically. It is

Germany - Cadac has appointed new German based distributor, The Audio Specialists UG, to distribute its console range exclusively in Germany and Benelux.

The newly formed distributor is an independent subsidiary of the Dutch TAS group and is headed up by leading professional audio sales manager Hans-Juergen Heitzer (Age-Jay), formerly with Mega Audio. Based in Wittlich in Rhineland-Palatinate, close to the Belgian border, The Audio Specialists UG opened for business at the beginning of this month with a portfolio of leading international brands; CADAC joins a line-up that includes Clair Brothers, Outline and RPM.

Commenting on the agreement to distribute Cadac in Germany and Benelux, Age-jay stated, "It is our objective to serve our client base with high quality products from internationally recognised brands. Cadac is a perfect fit, with a heritage based on the best soun

UAE - Robe lighting is expanding its Middle East operation with the formation of Robe Middle East Trading LLC, a new company complete with a new regional HQ in Dubai.

This is the first part of Robe's current planned medium term expansion strategy, the initial stages of which will be rolled out over the next three months.

Robe Middle East will be headed by Robe's Middle East regional sales manager, Elie Battah, who is already well known and respected in the industry. It will distribute the full Robe ranges of moving and digital lighting fixtures and Anolis architectural LED products, driving the presence of both these premium brands across the region.

Says Battah, "Robe Middle East will provide the platform to continue the high standards of excellence expected from Robe." These will include office and administration, demo & training facilities, full sales and techni

UK - Vibrant new music TV series Ochr Un returned for its second series of production, recording over a period of eight days in one of North Wales's leading TV studio facilities this August. Produced by production company Antena Television for Welsh language mainstream broadcaster S4C, the programmes feature an array of different music numbers by artists from a diverse range of genres. With the programmes recorded 'as live', there was also a secondary chat studio, used for presenter links and interviews.

Returning to his place as lighting director following a successful first series was London- and Cardiff-based Steff Jones, who worked closely with production designer Gwyn Eiddior throughout the planning process.

Jones comments: "Versatility was a major key in the brief from Elis (series producer) this series, which had to be reflected in both the scenic and ligh

UK - Media and entertainment insurance specialists, Yutree has been named by PLASA - the worldwide voice of entertainment technologies - as its preferred provider of insurance to the association's members.

The boutique brokerage offers a personal service for businesses in the sector and PLASA's Membership Manager (EU) Norah Phillips commented: "We were impressed with their underlying philosophy -Yutree really work to get to know clients and their businesses, provide 24 hour access to a dedicated account manager, and offer complete transparency on fees".

Yutree Director Simon Miller, previously of Allan Chapman & James explains: ''Yutree welcomes PLASA's endorsement as their preferred insurance supplier. This re-enforces our place in the market and we are looking forward to offering impartial advice and insurance services to the members. Not everything can be done wit

Taiwan - Apex Audio's continuing expansion in the Asian market has taken another step forward with the appointment of IX Technology as the company's distributor in Taiwan.

IX Technology is part of the Linfair Engineering Group, founded in 1958. One of the region's foremost specialists in audio visual systems, IX supplies professional audio equipment, system design, installation and maintenance expertise. The company's high profile projects have included A/V project management of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, installations at Hong Kong Disneyland, the Wynn hotel and Venetian Theatre in Macau and high profile broadcast and government projects.

"With our decades of experience in professional audio engineering, IX Technology customers have very high expectations," says Paul Chang, general manager of IX Technology. "Apex is a quality brand which matches those expectatio

UK - As always, this year's PLASA London show is offering a range of educational seminars as part of its Professional Development Programme. Key to these is the AudioLab Interactive programme, which Yamaha is making a significant contribution to.

Working with Roland Hemming and the team from RH Consulting, Andy Cooper - manager of the Yamaha Commercial Audio Support Centre Europe - will be co-presenting seminars on the first two days of the show. The presentations will feature a range of Yamaha digital audio equipment, including DME64N digital mixing engines, MSP series active loudspeakers and MY series interfaces.

The Ultimate Network Shootout is presented at 16.00 on Sunday 6 and 13.30 on Monday 7 October. Cooper will assist in demonstrating a number of different audio networks including Dante - the core networking technology of Yamaha's CL series digital mixing conso

UK - In perhaps one of the more unusual live music projects this year, electronic music artist Scanner has teamed up with the Heritage Orchestra for Live_Transmission: Joy Division Reworked. The project is a musical and visual reinterpretation of the work of one of the UK's most influential bands.

Live_Transmission sees a selection of Joy Division songs deconstructed by Scanner and reinterpreted by the "ferociously non-classical" Heritage Orchestra to a backdrop of dismantled Joy Division imagery.

Visuals for the show were provided by Matthew J Watkins of the Beat13 collective. To display these atmospheric images, XL Video supplied front projection on to a screen behind the orchestra using a Barco FLM HD20 projector. A gauze screen in front of the orchestra was used for rear projection images supplied from one of XL's Barco SLM R12+ projectors.

The co

UK - Delivering the experience - from imagination to realisation in audio will be the theme of this year's Reproduced Sound (RS) conference, which is being held on 12-14 November.

Organised by the Institute of Acoustics (IOA), the main event in Manchester will be preceded by visits to the BBC's R&D facility and the University of Salford's acoustics research unit, both at the nearby MediaCityUK site on Salford Quays.

Taking a lead form this, the conference theme will be based around broadcast audio, with a focus on the art, science and engineering of the route from the imagination of the director and producer to the ears of the radio and TV audiences.

The MediaCityUK visits will take place on the afternoon and evening of 12 November, with the conference itself being staged at the Renaissance Hotel, Manchester, on 13-14 November. On the morning of the 15th, delegates will also

UK - LS-Live will be exhibiting (stand E59) at the PLASA Show for the first time when it moves to London's ExCel exhibition centre from 6-9 October.

The team invites visitors to join them for a drink and a chat at the bar on the stand, where you can find out more about their products and services that cover staging equipment rental, set design and construction, automation and production rehearsals.

Stage, set, automation and studio company LS-Live in Wakefield is an industry leader in the entertainment sector, having worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Dizzee Rascal, Kasabian, Tinie Tempah, The Stone Roses, The BBC, ITV, Monster Energy and The Olympic Torch Relay, to name a few.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - The School of Entertainment & Technology (SET) in Berlin has installed an Allen & Heath GS-R24M mixing console in its recording studio.

SET is managed alongside the School of Health, Sport, Technology and the Arts that makes up the Berlin Academy. Current investment plans are dedicated to improving the field of music and media, and in addition to a fully-fledged recording studio, the institute is also building a video studio and various seminar halls.

Following extensive comparisons, SET decided to purchase a GS-R24M mixer with a GSR-24-A-Fire Firewire / ADAT card.

"We wanted to have an analogue console that could also be used in conjunction with a DAW," explains Horst Haubrich, head of the SET Academy. "With most analogue consoles, it would be necessary to also purchase a DAW controller but that is not the case with the GS-R24M, which combines the w

UK / Canada - After a successful run at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, the David Bowie is exhibition is now touring other leading venues of art and design around the globe. The next stop is the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Canada, one of the most important art museums in North America.

David Bowie is will be on view in Toronto from 25 September to 27 November 2013. As at the V&A, which curated this exhibition, audio specialist Sennheiser is working hand in hand with the AGO to ensure an immersive sound experience for visitors. Sennheiser's guidePORT audio guide system and an elaborate 3D sound installation will again be an integral part of the exhibition.

During its five-month run in London, the David Bowie is multimedia exhibition broke all V&A records: the museum sold more than 67,000 tickets prior to the opening, over three times the a

South Africa - The School of Audio Engineering (SAE) in Cape Town is the latest to add its name to the ever-growing list of educational facilities to install an Audient ASP8024 analogue desk into its teaching studios. SAE Cape Town now aligns itself with its counterparts around the globe, including SAE Institutes in Rotterdam, Milan, Bucharest, Brisbane, Amsterdam, Melbourne and New York.

This summer alone, ASP8024 recording consoles have been installed at SAE Institutes in Italy, Australia and the United States. John Jansen, director of education in the New York facility has been getting a feel for their newest arrival over the last few weeks. "The patchbay created a learning curve for the students at first," he reveals. "Once it was understood, people love it. The bus compressor is a favourite feature too. It's very flexible and a great teaching tool, because th

USA - Celebrated as a worldwide television event, the MTV Video Music Awards has become one of the most-anticipated and watched awards ceremonies today. Broadcasting from the new Barclays Centre, the 2013 VMA's featured eight energy-filled performances highlighted by the Bruno Mars performance of Gorilla where lighting designers Roy Bennett and Tom Kenny took the opportunity to showcase the latest lighting innovation from Philips Entertainment, the Showline SL Nitro 510 LED luminaire, supplied by VER.

"I had heard about the SL NITRO 510 prior to the show but had never actually gotten to use one," began Kenny. "One thing I love about this show is that it gives me the opportunity to collaborate with a number of very talented designers as the artists performing typically have their own creative team. Roy Bennett and Cory Fitzgerald are the team behind Bruno Ma

South Africa - Celebrating its appointment as the exclusive distributor of Symetrix products in South Africa, iLED has announced a new series of product classes as part of the 'iLED University' education programme. The sessions will be held at the distributor's Roodepoort training facility.

Symetrix' first training session, Products & Sales, will take place between 09:00-13:00 on Wednesday 6 November. The iLED University team has designed the course to cater for sales personnel, engineers, and consultants desiring a broad overview of the Symetrix range, practical designs, and example applications.

Between 13:30-16:30 that afternoon, the technical trainers will be hosting a second session for installers and technicians, revolving around the popular Jupiter series of fixed-architecture DSPs. Attendees will learn about programming the product line through its smartphone-li

USA - Founded by senior pastor Perry Noble in 2000, NewSpring Church of Anderson, South Carolina has experienced tremendous growth over the past 13 years. Following the completion of its main worship center in 2006, the church began to establish satellite campuses throughout the region to accommodate its increasing number of attendees, which has now reached nearly 30,000 each week across NewSpring's eight locations.

With an ultimate goal to reach over 100,000 people every Sunday, NewSpring Church puts temphasis not only on the spoken word - which is streamed live from Anderson - but also on high-energy live music at each site boasting concert tour production values and sound levels.

Pleased with the dV-DOSC loudspeaker system installed in its 2,500-seat home sanctuary seven years ago, the church has recently been commissioning L-Acoustics certified provider LMG Systems Integra

World - Singer-songwriter Bruno Mars has been getting top reviews for his Moonshine Jungle tour, which will continue to play dates around the world through March 2014 and takes two grandMA2 full-size consoles on the road.

"We were tasked with creating a world for Bruno and his band to inhabit," says lighting designer Cory FitzGerald who co-designed the tour with Roy Bennett. "Bruno has a lot of sounds and pushes past a lot of genres, so he needed an environment that would accommodate all his music. The lighting fixtures help a lot with that. We have 276 panels of Chromlech Elidy, 42 Clay Paky Sharpy Washes and about 80 Clay Paky Sharpy beams plus two grandMA2 full-size units - and we're very happy with the rig." VER supplied the tour's gear.

Controlling the full complement of almost 8,000 lighting 'fixtures' on the show are two grandMA2 full-size uni

USA - After winning the 2013 Grammy Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards, indie pop band Fun.'s Most Nights tour has been packing music venues across 34 North American cities throughout the summer. Montreal-based Solotech is providing the tour with a Meyer Sound Leo linear large-scale sound reinforcement system.

"I'd heard Leo last year at Outside Lands festival in San Francisco, and I was tickled pink when I had the opportunity to take a rig out this year," says Gordon Reddy, FOH engineer for Fun. "It's a great kit, with a wonderfully smooth high end. If a typical sweet high end is like table sugar, then LEO is clarified honey."

The band's touring system includes main arrays of 14 Leo-M line array loudspeakers per side, with low-end impact supplied by a total of 24 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements. Rounding out the system are eight UPJ

USA - Superstar Selena Gomez is appeasing her millions of fans worldwide with the Stars Dance Tour, which will cover the US, Canada and Europe and promote her number one selling album Stars Dance. Having worked with Bandit before, the pop's reining princess and her team are trusting Seth Jackson and Bandit Lites' again to light the colossal tour.

Lighting designer Nathan W. Scheuer worked with Seth Jackson, who serves as the creative director and production designer, to create a dramatic lighting design for the tour. Since her breakout role on Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place, Selena has been evolving into more mature roles, including a recently released Getaway and the acclaimed indie-flick Spring Breakers.

"Selena drove this conversation," explained Jackson. "From the beginning she wanted to push the boundary of her show: M

USA - Living Colour is on the road with the Behringer X32 as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of their debut recording Vivid. To ensure consistent performances and great sound, they chose to deploy the X32 for both front-of-house (FOH) and monitor duties.

Behringer's X32 is designed to provide seamless integration for the performers and sound engineer, resulting in consistent, high-quality mixes at FOH - and the musician's in-ear and floor-wedge monitors. With full recall, motorized faders and 8 Stereo FX slots, the console ensures that the band is up and running in no time at every gig.

Living Colour bassist Doug Wimbish comments, "Every night, in-ears are sounding good, floor monitors are right and we're able to record 32 channels. Well done, Behringer, I'm on board."

(Jim Evans)

UK - With an estimated 70,000 fans screaming and hoping to catch a glimpse of One Direction, the five-member band walked the red carpet outside the Empire Cinema in London's Leicester Square for the world premier of 1D: This Is Us. Lighting design and production was handled by premiere veterans Limited Edition Events who utilized Martin RUSH Series Strobe 5x5's to add some eye-candy to the daylight event. Emitting an intense but diffused cool light the units produced a myriad of pixel mapped effects which looked fabulous on the global live broadcast.

Nearly 30 Martin Rush Strobe 5x5's, provided by HSL lighting of Blackburn, were built into two double sided pyramid set pieces on the main stage along with two smaller pyramids on the DJ stage. With strategic spacing between units an exploded video effect was created. Each of the hundreds of pixels - 25 in each strobe - were

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