UK - Yamaha Commercial Audio Dealer Orbital has announced two UK sales of Yamaha's award-winning PM5D digital FOH console.

Bill Kenwright Productions has acquired the console to operate at the FOH position of their legendary musical 'Blood Brothers' at The Phoenix theatre in London's West End, whilst Sussex-based sound rental company KAVE Theatre Services has augmented the potential of its hire fleet with the addition of the PM5D.

Combining the features of Yamaha's DM2000 and the ground-breaking PM1D in a mid-priced digital console, complete with a third generation operating system, it is designed as a robust workhorse for all but the largest sound reinforcement projects.

Bill Kenwright's Production Manager, David Stothard, commented: "We have a long-running relationship with Orbital - their support and equipment demonstrations enabled us to make an informed decision

UK - At the end of September, the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) held its Annual Awards amid the Baroque splendour of Hawksworth's Christ Church, Spitalfields.

AV company Creative Staging, which has worked with IChemE for many years along with their event-management company, Peter Vary Associates and production company MCB, says it is "used to the challenge of creating a modern awards event in unusual locations". The newly restored Christ Church features authentic 18th century wood panelling and stonework, around which the stage set and equipment had to be sympathetically and carefully installed and operated, to create an empathetic environment for the celebration of the awards.

Creative Staging planned and supplied the set and three screens, with multi-camera live relay, along with extensive sound and lighting systems. An external generator was also suppli

Sweden - Solid State Logic has announced the sale of a C100 digital production console to the Malmo Opera and Music Theatre, the first time the desk has been used in a theatre application.

Situated in the centre of Sweden's Öresund region, the Malmo Opera and Music Theatre was originally opened in the 1940s with the aim of giving contemporary musical drama an opportunity to grow. The theatre has one of the largest stages in Europe and can seat up to 1,500 people.

Over recent months the management of the Malmo Opera and Music Theatre have been upgrading the sound system and FOH facilities to incorporate digital live sound. As part of this refurbishment, the Theatre decided to replace its 10-year-old analogue console with an SSL C100 digital production console because it needed a desk with more inputs and instant recall and reset capabilities.

Bengt Frienholt, technical man

France - Trantec has collaborated with its French distributor, Best Audio, to design and supply one of the largest S6000 wireless radio microphone systems deployed to date for the new musical production 'On Acheve Bien Les Chevaux', which opens at the Palais de Congrés later this month.

Adapted from Horace McCoy's legendary novel 'They Shoot Horses Don't They', the show is directed and produced by Robert Hossein and has attracted rave reviews as the first stage adaptation of this ground-breaking novel.

Trantec's Head of R&D, Richard Ganley, collaborated with leading French rental company Dispatch from the outset to ensure that the system integrated seamlessly with sound designer Julius Tessarech's sophisticated design and met his specifications.

The 40-channel S6000 system was specified because of its wide band frequency agility. Trantec supplied a system operating between

UK - Creative Technology made its production debut with Scarlet productions at the 2004 Mobo Awards, providing a 28sq.m LED display in 16:9 aspect ratio as the centrepiece of a spectacular stage set at the Royal Albert Hall. The nature of the production dictated that the big screen specialists would need to field their highest-resolution display, and the Barco DLite 7 (situated upstage centre) provided the ideal technical solution for Julia Knowles of Scarlet Productions, who handled the TV direction.

The DLite 7 is a unique product, combining a 7mm resolution with short viewing distances, due to the extreme fill factor of the LED components. These were perfect attributes for a show in which the screen took a direct feed from the O21 OB truck via an SDI link, bypassing the usual submix. The signal chain started at front-of-house where content provider Richard Shipman, operating

France - Pope John Paul II makes an annual pilgrimage to the city of Lourdes in France where, in 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to the maid Bernadette Soubirou. His visit always draws a huge crowd; this year, more than 300,000 people attended the ceremonies which took place over the course of a week, culminating in a keynote speech by His Holiness, choral and orchestral concerts, and the long-awaited mass.

Even On, the French PA company chosen to provide the sound reinforcement system, supplied a large number of Nexo GEO S tangent array speakers, siting them along the Pope's route as well as on the central stage. A total of 8 PA towers were set up, carrying a total of 74 GEO S805 and 8 GEO S830 speakers, powered by sixteen Camco Vortex 6 power amplifiers, each delivering 2 x 2,100 watts per channel. The system was managed by Nexo NX241 controllers and mixed on a Soundcraft MH4 4

UK - A.C. Lighting's Special Projects division has provided the £200k supply and installation of all technical facilities for a theatre studio and other teaching rooms at the B6 Sixth Form College in Hackney, London.

The College is the first of its kind for London in ten years and runs a wide range of further education courses for students in the borough, including Performing Arts vocational courses in Technical Theatre, Acting and Dance. When the College was granted funding to build new teaching rooms for the Creative Arts and Media department, it commissioned Theatre Consultant Crin Claxton to produce a detailed specification of the technical facilities required for a new theatre studio, dance studio and film screening room. The theatre would be used to host multiple types of student and guest artist performances, and provide teaching space for the various production and perf

UK - Sound design and installation specialist CP Sound has completed a JBL installation at Octave - Covent Garden's newest live Jazz Bar and restaurant. CP's Colin Pattenden was asked to handle all Octave's audio elements, after completing other successful projects for owner Glendola Leisure.

The intimate new venue consists of one large area with bar, divided into several different level zones - raised or sunken - complete with two separate areas for live performance, which together with the low ceilings produced an interesting set of acoustic conundrums.

The Stage B position is the favoured one for performances - an expediently sized area with just enough room to get a duo on stage, adjacent to the resident piano.Pattenden's sound proposal was designed to allow them to stage simple live acts with mic inputs, as well as a background music system with full zone control for the

UK - Metropolis AV & FX has completed its latest sound, lighting and AV design and installation project for Sports Café UK, at their newly opened Leeds site. It's the third SCUK that Metropolis has been involved in since Manchester in 2002, and follows hot on the heels of Glasgow, which opened in the summer.

The Sports Café continues to enjoy great success as a leading UK sports orientated multi-entertainment venue. Metropolis's Head of Engineering Shane Winterbourne explains that the company has perfected a flexible technical formula designed to adapt and work for all sites in the group. The entertainment system needs for each are fundamentally similar, although the individual venues are all unique in layout and space.

A mix of top quality brands are selected specifically for SCUK's venues, including HK and JBL loudspeakers, Allen & Heath sound processing, QSC amplification

UK - Working with two key suppliers, Northern Light and New Box, Kelsey, the leading manufacturer and supplier of professional audio and lighting cables, has taken a central role in the infrastructure for The Performance Academy, the new further education music, performing arts and media centre opened by Newcastle College, and the largest of its kind in the UK.

One of the first such centres for mixed media studies, the building provides accommodation for all Newcastle College's music, performing arts and mixed media courses. It contains a 250-seat flexible theatre, a music venue for an audience of 500, a 60-seat studio theatre, 10 recording studios, rehearsal rooms, television studio, drama and dance studios, and a radio station.

New Box and Northern Light were involved in different areas of the Performance Academy's construction. However, both turned to Kelsey Acoustics for h

USA - 24,000sq.ft of luxury retail space opened at the Prada Epicenter Store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills on 16 July, and Pathway Connectivity helped deliver the unique design for this high-concept environment. Prada is renowned for avant-garde architectural design; the Epicenter stores blend commercial functions with "experiential and spatial typologies," a working laboratory for application of new material, technologies and service strategies.

It begins on the exterior - or rather the absence of one: the entire 50ft along Rodeo Drive is open to the street, without a storefront or glass enclosure, inviting the public into the space. At night, an aluminium panel seals the store by rising from the ground. When open, an air curtain controls the interior temperature and repels environmental elements such as rain.

Plasma screens, both hanging and imbedded in stor

USA - Kansas City's historic Argosy Casino has recently undergone a complete renovation and is now in a new home. Sound-wise the casino has integrated a brand new way of processing, routing and controlling audio within this far more complex and demanding sound environment than the original facility. TSI Inc, the St. Charles, Missouri-based AV systems integrator that coordinated installation of the casino's AV system, made SymNet - the modular audio mixing, routing and processing system from Symetrix Audio - the hub of the casino's sophisticated audio system.

"As we began designing the system in July 2003, we realized we were going to need something with more control and flexibility, to do things with the audio system, than the old casino facility provided," says Mark Schultz, the TSI design specialist who helped coordinate the Argosy project. "With SymNet, we hav

UK - Edwin Shirley Staging, the international staging and structure specialist, has unveiled the first ever European Wine Tower. ESS acted as design co-ordinator and main contractor working closely with its client, Radisson SAS, to deliver this centrepiece Wine Tower for a new flagship hotel at Stansted Airport.

The structural challenge of the project was to deliver a tower capable of supporting the 6.5 tonnes of glass, four thousand bottles of wine and four flying performers known as 'wine angels'. Adding to the already stunning complexity of the project the air-handling system had to deliver chilled and warm air to individual wine cases throughout the tower, maintaining ambient working temperatures for the Wine Angels and ensuring that there is no condensation on the glass.

To make this complicated system work, every element of the tower had to be perfect with the largest

USA - US-based design firm Environmental Acoustics Inc (EAI) and Performance Audio Video Lighting & Stage Systems Inc (PAVL) have chosen Digigram's EtherSound audio bridges as the cornerstone of the audio distribution system in the new Student Life Center at the Lancaster Christian School, Lancaster, PA, USA. The signal routing flexibility of EtherSound networks and the low cost of standard Ethernet components like switches and Cat 5 cables were key for EAI and PAVL to design a highly flexible audio control system, which allows for operator control at four different locations and meets the budget requirements of this privately funded institution. EtherSound networks distribute up to 64 channels of 24-bit digital audio at 48kHz, plus control information, over a single Ethernet cable - with only 125 microseconds latency.

The challenges of implementing sophisticated technologies i

UK - Xtreme Audio Visual has installed a complete audio visual package at Sky Nightclub for client Ware Leisure, including a new sound system from KV2 Audio. The main club is split into two rooms, Daylight, the main dance area and the Sunset VIP Lounge. Daylight presented an acoustical challenge to Xtreme having multiple levels of vaulted ceilings along with raised floor levels. To overcome these problems, Xtreme opted to use the KV2 ES Active driven system consisting of four ES1.0, two ES2.5, 2 x ES1.8 and two ES1.5, powered by four EPAK 2500s, using an Audia Solo for the processing and routing.

The system was designed in conjunction with KV2's Andy Austin Brown. Due to the layout of the venue, and the wide variety of events planned for the system, the design was far from straightforward, but Austin Brown's knowledge of the KV2 products enabled an audio solution for all the pro

Turkey - Biamp Systems reports that AVS in Istanbul, Turkey, has installed a pair of multiple-zone AudiaFLEX systems in the city's newest Volkswagen office and showroom. "To be chosen by AVS for such a prestigious installation as the executive office headquarters and showroom in Istanbul is truly a validation of the versatility and cost effectiveness of AudiaFLEX," said Romano Cunsolo, East European sales manger for Biamp. "It proves that Audia solves the dilemma of offering easy-to-use technology that is still powerful and flexible."

As one of the world's most highly recognized brands, Volkswagen insisted the Dogus Groupe, which manages dealers and service in Istanbul, have its headquarters showcase the newest cars in a state-of-the-art showroom featuring the most advanced technology. This technology was to extend to the executive offices in their main buil

Croatia - When the Lisinski Hall - a multi-function venue in the Croatian capital of Zagreb - was refitted recently, great importance was attached to the quality of the sound reinforcement and communications equipment. To achieve the highest possible degree of compatibility (and therefore system security), the managers of the complex, which boasts two stages and seating for up to 2,300 spectators, opted to combine stage manager and public address systems from EVI Audio. In addition to their technical capabilities, ease-of-use and sound quality, the ability of these systems to function flawlessly in tandem was a key factor in this decision, say the company.

The outlay in terms of equipment was considerable: the two systems had to cover all areas (and the entire staff) of the complex. For the 2,000-seater theatre alone this meant the two stage manager's desks (stage right and sta

UK - Famed Italian hoteliers, the Baglioni Group has created an exclusive London location as its UK flagship. Harman Pro UK and authorised installer The Sound Division Group collaborated to design and specify the premier sound system at the recently launched luxury 5-Star Baglioni Hotel in Kensington. The hotel's Brunello club and bar area, used for private parties and functions and as a members club, is a chic new evening haunt.

Following recommendations from high profile clients at top West End nightspots, Islington-based Sound Division specified Harman Pro products to Baglioni. Sound Division is a strong advocate of the JBL brand, says MD David Graham: "Primarily because of the breadth and flexibility of their range, and its uniform quality and power." Turning to JBL's Control Contractor series to handle Brunello's requirements for background music, DJ evenings and

UK - Newton Preparatory School, a co-educational school in Battersea, South London, recently opened its new 288-seat theatre in a ceremony led by renowned theatre director Sir Peter Hall. Also in attendance were White Light's technical sales manager Roger Hennigan and projects coordinator Esther Heaslip, marking White Light's close involvement with the creation of the new venue.

During the project's design phase, the school's electrical consultant, Phil Whiffin from Engineering Co Partnership, contacted White Light for advice as to how to equip the venue. Roger Hennigan and David Howe from White Light's projects team devised a comprehensive, flexible lighting system that suited both the school's needs and its budget.

The theatre's new dimming system uses four 12-way ETC SmartPack rackswith RCD protection controlled by a Strand 300-series lighting console. An internally-wired

Australia - UK-based manufacturer Turbosound reports that Wollongong's hottest nightspot - Cooney's Tavern, with its brand new nightclub Bustin' - has been equipped with a new Turbosound system, installed by Sydney-based Innovative Lighting and Sound.

The main room system comprises a mix of TXD-121 mid/high and TXD-081 mid/high delay speakers, complemented by TSW-718 subs. Innovative also supplied a separate outdoor portable DJ system of TXD-121s and TXD-215s, with additional TXD-081s installed for the bar area audio system. Designing the main system from the ground-up, starting with the subs, Innovative arranged for Turbosound's TSW-718 models to be trialled in the venue for three months prior to the installation. The depth and tight response of the 718s proved to be ideally suited to the club's dance music requirements, say the company. A variety of mid/high speakers were als

UK - When the 26-lane Tenpin Bowl in Gloucester was gutted by fire almost a year ago, owners Tenpin Ltd saw the opportunity to upgrade the design template, and establish a blueprint for the future. The £4.2m multi-zone rebuild of the 500-capacity venue includes an American Pool area, Café Bar and three interlinked conference facilities - in addition to the lanes themselves. It operates from 10am until midnight seven days a week. And when Kevin Hughes' Technation (UK) Ltd successfully tendered for the sound and vision element of the rebuild, he decided to break from the company's traditional speaker brand and use Nexo PS 10s for the first time.

Hughes explains: "While I was familiar with the Nexo PS range I had never installed it before. I was determined to measure all the specs alongside the brand they had been using previously. I looked at dispersion pattern and SPLs, a

Ireland - The Prince Bar in Athlone, Ireland, has undergone a large-scale refurbishment programme. The new design is wholly suited to the bar's active lunchtime trade but can also be revolutionized into a warm, up-beat haven in the evenings. Owner John Callanan of the Callanan Group wanted something contemporary and attractive, and knew that a good lighting design would be the key to the look and identity of the venue, so he brought in ICAN Technology, who has previously worked on similar projects all over the country.

The large Prince Bar was divided into zones, each with its own innovative décor and purpose to meet varying customer requirements. Downstairs is the carvery area, sandwich bar and a modern lounge and bar section, another small cocktail bar and various seating areas, subtly divided from the rest of the floor plan for privacy. The main fixtures that were used to c

UK - A colour-matched Martin Audio architectural PA system has been specified and fitted in the new Riverfront Theatre in Newport. Containing a 493-seat main auditorium and 150-seat studio theatre, gallery and conference facilities, the audio installation work in the arts complex was undertaken by AJS Theatre Services, working to a tender document produced by Carr & Angier to a sound system design by Peter Mapp.

AJS followed the formula they had established so successfully with the similarly-configured Brindley Arts Centre in Runcorn (where Carr & Angier were again the consultants). "Martin Audio is our preferred loudspeaker for an installation such as this," confirmed AJS project manager, Chris Coates. "It produces good quality sound - crisp and round - and is perfect for this kind of environment. On top of that the support we receive from Martin Audio has been

UK - Newtown-based sound specialists, Sound Induction Systems (SIS), has completed two installations which combine Sennheiser SDC 3000 digital conference and Sennheiser IR systems. The first system was for Monitor Facilities Management at Monmouthshire County Council and the second for the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority HQ in Brecon.

Monmouthshire County Council assessed a number of other systems before arranging a demonstration of the SDC 3000 system with SIS and Sennheiser's John Willett. "In the end," said Phil Nicholes of SIS, "there were two deciding factors, clarity of sound and simplicity of use". The system supplied was an SDC 3000 with 57 delegate units and, as the installation is for permanent use, all wiring is concealed. In addition to the delegate mics, two Sennheiser evolution wireless systems also feed into the system for use in present

Latest Issue. . .

Save
Cookies user preferences
We use cookies to ensure you to get the best experience on our website. If you decline the use of cookies, this website may not function as expected.
Accept all
Decline all
Analytics
Tools used to analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of a website and to understand how it works.
Google Analytics
Accept
Decline
Advertisement
If you accept, the ads on the page will be adapted to your preferences.
Google Ad
Accept
Decline