Germany - Lighting any type of religious building for a special occasion means a close eye to detail is required; so when Cologne Cathedral call for special lighting, they really mean it.

To create Lux Eucharistica, a dynamic audio visual show gracing Cologne Cathedral's recent Eucharistic Congress 2013, the management called on illumination art specialists Friedrich Förster und Sabine Weissinger of Casa Magica in Tuebingen, southern Germany. They, in turn, enlisted ETC Ion control desk expert Matthias Strobel to help programme the spectacular projections and colourful light.

"Controlling the Selador Classic Vivid-R fixtures and projection using Ion was the easy bit," says Strobel. "The more challenging part was taking control of the cathedral's very complex house light system with 1000+ channels via the Artnet protocol. The fact that we could organise it all u

UK - The famous gothic St. Michael's Cathedral (better known as Coventry Cathedral), reduced to a ruined shell after its bombing during the Second World War, and subsequently rebuilt in a celebration of 20th century architecture, has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,000 years.

However, it had long found that the quality of its audio fell short of its majestic interior. Recently RaceTech's head of audio engineering, Robin Dibble, returned 20 years after implementing a revolutionary analogue solution, known as the Coventry Reciprocating Delay and devised by his acoustician father, Ken Dibble. This time it was to lead the cathedral into the digital age via BSS Soundweb London signal distribution architecture, which will future-proof it for years to come.

Notes Dibble Jr, "Coventry Cathedral is a vast open space with huge air volume, many hard sonically reflective

US - "We've never really had a sound system that worked for our church. Since 1982, when the worship space was built, it has always been a challenge to provide full, consistent audio," admits Charles Malmede, media services director for Whitesburg Baptist Church of Huntsville, Alabama.

Twenty five hundred seats wrap 180 degrees around the sanctuary, including a full balcony. Embracing a wide variety of both traditional and contemporary music, an average service demands versatility from any sound system. Malmede spent most Sundays dealing with unsatisfied parishioners, "There were complaints every week. Our goal is always +/- 3 dB, which was hard enough; but the real problem has always been the frequency. It was clear we needed to fix our sound, but we have never had any particular success in the past."

However, after Spectrum Sound's Ken DeBelius began cons

UK - Lancelyn Theatre Supplies have recently purchased the Roland M-300 and M-480 Digital Mixing Consoles from SSE Audio Group for two separate projects at Oxford University. The Oxford based theatre and lighting systems integrator specified the Roland consoles for their intuitive user interface, compact footprint and comprehensive range of effects.

The first project, a new-build lecture theatre and conference facility at Wolfson College, Oxford, required an audio solution with the ability to cope with a variety of uses from simple conference setups to live bands and performances. After looking at a number of consoles, design engineer Marcus Boyton from Lancelyn Theatre Supplies selected the Roland M-300 after trying it out at a Roland Training Day held at SSE Audio Group.

"We chose the M-300 because it is user friendly, has good utilities and effects and is flexible enou

UK - An Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system has been installed in the live studio of top UK radio station, XFM. Comprising an iLive-T112 and iDR-64 MixRack, the system is used to record visiting artists for pre-recorded sessions.

The MixRack is mounted in the studio's equipment rack so it can easily be patched to the studio tie lines and building's technical network. The iDR-64 is fitted with an M-DANTE module, and connected to a Mac which has Dante Virtual Soundcard and runs Apple Logic for recording. Mic preamp signals are sent pre-processing to the DAW. Additional Dante channels are used via the iLive patchbay inserts to access plug-ins in the DAW. The choice of Dante networking permitted the stage box to be taken to the roof terrace on occasions to record a session upstairs whilst mixing downstairs in isolation but with full control over Cat 5.

"The studio is bu

UK - Producing over 100 shows each year, P&O Cruises' Headliners Theatre Company is a major player in the UK's performing arts industry. Its new Southampton training and rehearsal facility - The Academy - opened in June, with Yamaha DXR12 loudspeakers chosen to overcome the challenging acoustics of the large dance studios.

Headliners recruits over 200 new performers every year to sing and dance their way around the world onboard P&O Cruises ships. Before sailing, each cast rehearses for nine weeks, six days a week, a process which has been markedly improved by the opening of The Academy.

With a floor area of 1258m2 it is one of the largest dance rehearsal facilities in the country, but overcoming the acoustic challenges of the large, hard, flat surfaces was a key requirement for its audio system. Production executive Darren Harvey had been previously impressed by Yamaha's acti

Germany - Dr. Andreas Sennheiser and Daniel Sennheiser have just celebrated the beginning of construction of the Innovation Campus at company headquarters in Wennebostel (borough of Wedemark) with a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony. The Innovation Campus, which will cost around 20m Euros, will provide approximately 7,000sq.m of optimum, modern workspace for employees, as well as room for an events facility.

As stated by Dr. Andreas Sennheiser and Daniel Sennheiser, CEOs of Sennheiser electronic, "with the Innovation Campus we will have room to further develop Sennheiser's innovative company culture. Today we are laying the foundation for lots of creative ideas which will form the basis of future success." Construction work should be completed by the end of 2014.

On behalf of all shareholders and accompanied by family members Karin, Daniel, Alannah and Dinah Sennheise

UK - Black Light has brought full digital audio and high-quality stage lighting to a newly built primary school in Dundee. The £40k project saw the company's installation team work closely with the city's education department and with end-users at St Clements RC Primary. They developed and installed a cost-effective system that met the diverse needs of the busy school.

"The school needed a foolproof system that could meet a wide range of needs," said Jock Wallace, Black Light's head of installation manager. "To check that we had chosen the right equipment we did a detailed demonstration for Dundee City Council at our HQ in Edinburgh. By working so closely with the council we made sure that the school got the system they needed, that was fit for purpose and within budget."

At the heart of the school's new audio set-up is the QSC Q-Sys control system. T

Denmark - The new Blue Planet in Kastrup, Denmark, is Europe's second largest aquarium. It has won accolades not only for its variety of marine life, but also for its striking whirlpool-inspired architecture and imaginative application of audio technology. To support an immersive undersea experience, more than 400 tracks of custom-recorded audio are mixed, timed, and processed through a Meyer Sound D-Mitri digital audio platform. The audio is then distributed to 57 self-powered Meyer Sound loudspeakers installed throughout the exhibit areas.

"In most aquariums the underwater experience remains apart and behind glass," says Arne Kvorning of exhibit designers Kvorning Design and Kommunikation. "At The Blue Planet, the underwater experience comes out and surrounds the audience, due in large part to the sound and lighting design."

Anders Jørgensenof Kast

Slovakia - The latest project implemented by the Slovak company Leader Light is the illumination of the Customs Truck Centre in Holíç.

In the original lighting project for the space over the stands for refuelling, eight pieces of 250 W halogen discharge lamps were placed in the height 4.7 m. These luminaries were replaced with energy saving LED product - LL High Bay from Leader Light with total output power of 120 W. The advantage of these luminaries is the high energy saving and its ability to dim, that can be used during less exposed night time (e.g. 60 W). The average luminance of the lighting system is supposed to be more than 200 lux.

Part of the reconstruction were also the two shelters which served for the customs controls. Much halogen discharge lighting was replaced with only three pieces of energy saving LED luminaries - LL High Bay with output power of

UK - Black Light has been involved in two flagship projects under the Scottish Government £1.25bn Scotland's Schools for the Future Programme. The work saw the company provide and install a range of light, sound and stage equipment at Eastwood High School in East Renfrewshire and Lasswade High School in Midlothian.

The success of the projects shows that Black Light has the expertise to be involved in ground-breaking projects involving key decision makers in both government and education.

"The projects have been a great success and the schools are delighted with the equipment we installed," says Black Light's head of company development, Phil Haldane. Haldane explains that one of the key reasons for the project's success was that Black Light met with the end-users early on in the process. "We re-specified certain elements of the project in light of the feed

UK - Visitors to Sport Wales' Cardiff headquarters will be able to listen to sports commentaries without disturbing staff working nearby, thanks to the installation of innovative directional loudspeakers in the organisation's newly refurbished reception area.

The speakers are the first commercial product to be launched by the Ebbw Vale-based audio technology company ZonarSound and the Sport Wales installation is the first to be undertaken by the company.

Sport Wales, the organisation responsible for developing and promoting sporting activities in Wales, has adopted the technology to enable visitors to enjoy sports events - displayed on large screens in the waiting area - while others can work or use the telephone without distraction.

Based on technology pioneered by parent company Warwick Audio Technologies the speakers are flat and very thin, so they can be concealed within

USA - At the National WWII Museum in downtown New Orleans, the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Centre now relies on the Meyer Sound CAL column array loudspeaker to tackle the acoustic challenges in its massive vaulted pavilion. Using CAL's beam-steering technology, New Orleans-based JBA Consulting Engineers has created a system that delivers highly intelligible music and speech while tailoring coverage for the audience size at an event.

The US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Centre is a 36,000sq.ft angular edifice dominated by a five-story, steel-and-glass atrium which houses six wartime aircraft suspended in frozen flight, including a B-17 Flying Fortress. Despite the acoustical hazards posed by surfaces of glass and concrete, the CAL loudspeakers allow the museum to direct exceptional audio clarity to the audience for almost daily programmes of lectures, video screenings, and mus

Australia - International creative practitioners are invited to submit designs that will transform Sydney's most famous landmarks into a living canvas of light during the Southern Hemisphere's biggest annual celebration of light, music and ideas, Vivid Sydney, which next takes place from 23 May - 9 June 2014.

Light artists, lighting projection designers, companies and manufacturers, architects, students, graduates, creative industry companies and practitioners from around the world are being called on to put forward their innovative lighting and projection designs and installations for inclusion in Vivid Light 2014.

Vivid Light is the centrepiece and crowd favourite of Vivid Sydney, with more than 800,000 visitors flocking to Sydney's harbour and surrounds over 18 nights in 2013 to see the city transformed into a colourful after-dark playground of interact

Switzerland - Fohhn Audio's new Focus Modular line array systems with beam steering are making their live debut at the large-scale, open-air theatre production of Das große Welttheater (The Great World Theatre) being staged at Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland. The play, by Spanish writer Calderon de la Barca, has been performed on the abbey square of the Benedictine monastery at various intervals since 1924. In more recent years it has been re-interpreted to relate to modern times.

Released just a few months ago, Fohhn's Focus Modular series has been specially developed to provide powerful coverage over very long distances in acoustically challenging venues. Remotely controllable with highly precise beam steering capabilities, the three low-mid and high frequency modules can be used in any combination to meet a range of different requirements.

At the abbey, two FM-400 l

USA - Consumnes River College (CRC) is a community college in South Sacramento, California. As a member of the Big 8 Conference in Northern California, CRC belongs to the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) and has an active physical education and athletics program including both men's and women's soccer. In 2012, CRC expanded their programme with a new baseball and softball field. And, this spring, CRC completed two new soccer fields with back-to-back bleachers and a common press box that serves both fields.

As part of this expansion, CRC published an RFP (request for proposal) for sound systems for its new soccer fields. After considering several alternatives, they selected a design from Associated Sound of Sacramento using Community R-Series Loudspeakers.

Associated's design uses two Community R.25-94TZ loudspeakers, located on each corner of the press

UK - A fundraising event in support of the restoration of the Grade II listed Unity Hall in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, helped the project pass the £100,000 investment mark, taking it further towards its target of £150,000, which is needed to buy all the audio and lighting equipment for the venue.

The event, held on 11 July at The New Inn pub in Walton, raised £3,000 towards the restoration and saw LS-Live and Backstage Academy's Adrian Brooks present a cheque for their £5,000 donation.

Said Unity Hall director Chris Hill, "The fantastic lift that Unity Hall will give to the centre of Wakefield, turning Westgate away from a heavy drinking street to a place everyone can go to enjoy themselves with galleries, cafés and retail, will make that whole area the cultural heart of a new university city.

"The fundraiser was just further proof th

UK - PLASA London 2013, which takes place at ExCeL London from 6-9 October 2013, is proud to reveal the first audio sessions in its hotly anticipated Professional Development Programme. The packed programme offers four days of free sessions that give visitors a glimpse of the technology behind the world's most spectacular live shows and most talked about events and venues.

All sessions in the audio streams are presented by leading experts in audio technology, with separate programmes on Live Sound and Installed Sound in the new AudioLab Theatre, and a pro audio laboratory - AudioLab Interactive - that will push audio technology to its limits - and beyond. Visitors can register their interest in their preferred sessions at www.plasashow.com/education

The AudioLab Theatre features programmes on Live Sound, Installed Sound and The Sound Business. Highlights in this theatre includ

UK - Vaughan Sound has completed the installation of AV systems at Gocompare.com's new head offices in Newport.

The British financial services comparison specialists, founded in 2006 and based in the south east Wales city, required a number of new audio-visual products as well as the decommissioning of existing TVs and their relocation to their new premises within the adjacent Imperial House.

Vaughan Sound was invited by Paramount Interiors to specify, supply, install and commission audio-visual systems to 13 key areas at Gocompare.com's new location; including several offices, meeting rooms, the Boardroom and Reception.

Three 46" Smart LED TVs were specified and mounted to walls within the Reception area and two other spaces.

Various floor box connection plates with VGA, HDMI, USB and PC Audio capabilities were fitted throughout a number of the meeting rooms, whilst

UK - When Inception Group's Charlie Gilkes and Duncan Stirling took over the former Bureau, an exclusive members club behind London's Carnaby Street, and set about creating a retro disco theme redolent of the early '80s, they brought in their long-term sound contractor, SSE Audio Group.

The company's installation division, led by Emma Bigg, ensured that the new venue - fittingly named 'Disco' - would achieve best value by repurposing (and augmenting) the existing JBL Contractor Control series loudspeakers that had also served the previous private members club so well.

Iconic brands of the past populate the club - such as the Pan Am-inspired lounge where air stewardesses greet visitors on arrival and issue boarding passes before checking personal items into the cloakroom via an automated conveyor belt, and allowing entry through an aeroplane door. The lighting too, is a faithfu

Russia - While Dmitry Medvedev was still President of Russia he implemented the building of a new research and innovation hub Skolkovo. "The intention was to sow the seeds of a Silicon Valley right here in Moscow," explained Alexander Minkov of Armo-Group, the company charged with developing this project to resolution. "Part of that development is Hypercube, the first building of the 'Innograd'; that's Russian for 'city of innovations'."

Hypercube is an imposing concrete and glass edifice housing a main conference hall supported by several meeting rooms. "We were charged with implementing the most innovative state of the art technologies within the centre," continued Alexander Minkov, "and we spent considerable time researching a decision for the best quality and reliability in the aspects of modern conference audio systems."

The result

Australia - Over 300 Anolis ArcDot LED pixels have been installed to light the façade of the landmark waterslide at Noble Park Aquatic Centre (NPAC) in Melbourne.

The new lighting scheme designed by Electrolight for Suters Architects transforms the 19.5m structure into a gleaming beacon of contemporary elegance that is clearly visible from the town centre. Dave Anderson led the design for Electrolight.

Suters' waterslide design is inspired by images of waterfalls and evokes the NPAC tagline 'Water for all'. The requirement was for a fluid visual lighting effect that could be vibrant or subtle and that would explore the impressions of light, shadows and depth associated with cascading water.

Mr Anderson approached The ULA Group's Jason Saunders to find a lighting solution to meet the brief. He sought a high powered LED 'node' that could be pixel mapped and fed with video sou

UK - The organisers of PLASA London 2013, which takes place at ExCeL London from 6-9 October 2013, have revealed the first entertainment lighting and stage technology sessions in its hotly anticipated Professional Development Programme. The packed programme offers four days of free sessions that give visitors a glimpse of the technology behind the world's most spectacular live shows, and most talked about events and venues.

All sessions in these streams are presented by leading experts in entertainment technology, with two new theatres dealing exclusively in entertainment lighting and stage technologies, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Theatre, and an inside look at the extravaganza that is Eurovision. Visitors can register their interest in their preferred sessions at www.plasashow.com/education/

In a tribute to the National Theatre, which celebra

USA - With less than a week until the doors open at PLASA Focus: Austin, taking place at the Palmer Events Center, on 10-11 September, 2013, exhibitors have been busy releasing details about the products they will have on display at their booths.

Martin Professional will have two new products on their booth; the MAC Viper Quadray and the Jem Ready 365 Hazer. The MAC Viper Quadray, the latest addition to the award-winning MAC Viper family of moving heads, allows for the projection of one, two, three or four individually-controllable rays of light. The Jem Ready 365 Hazer uses advanced water-based fluid which produces a haze ideal for large venues.

Group One will host a trio of Avolites' top-end consoles: the Titan Touch, Titan Mobile and Sapphire Touch. ElektraLite fixtures, including the eyeBall family of products, Dazer, ML601, eyeKandy, and ElektraFog+, and DiGiCo's SD11 dig

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