Israel - The city of Ashdod, one of Israel’s largest international cruise and cargo ports and southern Israel’s only outlet to the Mediterranean, through which much of the country’s citrus crop is exported, hosts a number of industries and a petrol refinery, but excavations have traced this vibrant city’s roots back to the 17th century BC.
Funded by the city’s municipality, Ashdod recently launched Ashdod Lights, a tour enabling visitors to walk round five key locations hosting high-impact AV art installations, including video art projections on buildings and water screens, projection mapping, lighting and laser effects and holograms.
Tel Aviv-headquartered pro audio company Gidron Levitan, Italian manufacturer Outline’s Israeli distributor, was commissioned

Europe - Appropriately on Europe Day, the European Parliament held the opening ceremony for its 2021 Conference on the Future of Europe entitled The Future is in Your Hands. This theme was clearly reflected in the event’s setting, the modern hemicycle of the European Parliament Building in Strasbourg.
Accentuating the architectural features of these surroundings, while also adding a warm, inviting touch to the proceedings, was a Dimi Theuwissen lighting design that featured a collection of Chauvet Professional Maverick and COLORado fixtures supplied by Splendit.
Theuwissen, of Hasselt, Belgium-based ID2Q, was retained by DB Video to light the conference, which included a limited number of socially distant live guests, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who delivered the opening remarks, as well as online participants.
“COVID influenced everyt

UK - Amplifier manufacturer Marshall has built a recording studio next to their Milton Keynes factory in the UK. “This has been a passion project for the Marshall crew,” said commercial director Alex Coombes, “our ambition was to build a versatile and flexible commercial multimedia facility to serve the modern entertainment market, and at the same time to promote young talent and give something back to the artist and producer community.”
The spacious new-build facility is on the site of an old theatre, adjacent to the Marshall factory. The live room has a stage with lighting and PA, along with an artist green room, bar and reception area – with the large recording control room featuring a 40-channel vintage Neve 8048 console. The self-contained studio has the benefit of ample parking in front and a ready supply of Marshall amps and Natal drums.
Producer Chri
featured content

Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

USA - As the coronavirus pandemic took hold in Southern California in early 2020, spatial audio pioneer Herbert Waltl relocated his mediaHyperium operation to a disused music school, where he has outfitted a former recital room with an 18-speaker Neumann KH Line studio monitor system.
The system flexibly switches between Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio immersive music formats without the need to reposition any speakers by combining a 7.1 layout with nine height and three floor-level speakers.
Waltl, an award-winning producer, musician and technology evangelist who founded mediaHyperium in 1996, had been planning to build a new studio before the pandemic. For years he had mostly been working at Skywalker Sound in the Bay Area, for the last five years in partnership with Eric Schilling, a recording engineer and broadcast audio mixer with a long list of Grammy and

USA - After crashing onto the music scene in 2012 and gaining popularity among indie rock enthusiasts, Lord Huron recently released the group’s fourth album, Long Lost. Recorded at Whispering Pines Studios, near downtown Los Angeles, the band has also been working on a live streaming show, Alive From Whispering Pines, also produced at Whispering Pines, and has spent the last four months hyper-focused on its music.
In order to ensure its hard work and musical talent was showcased properly on the album and during its live show, the group turned to DPA Microphones.
According to Mark Barry, drummer and engineer for Lord Huron, he and other members of the group, which includes founder Ben Schneider (lead singer and guitarist); Tom Renaud (guitarist) and Miguel Briseño (bassist and keyboardist), have long been fans of the quality and performance the DPA micr

USA - Birds in the Moon, a provocative new chamber opera with music by composer Mark Grey, has launched a national tour based on a revolutionary staging concept: the entire production is housed in a 20ft shipping container that can be quickly set up for outdoor performances at essentially any location.
To simplify audio production while also offering an extended horizontal soundscape, the production utilises 12 Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers mounted on the container and on fold-out wings. The show is mixed on an iPad with Meyer Sound’s Spacemap Go spatial sound design and live mixing software.
The “containerized” opera debuted at Domino Park in Brooklyn in early May as part of the New York Philharmonic’s free, city-wide Bandwagon 2 programme.
From the outset, Mark Grey created Birds in the Moon with flexibility and portability in mind

USA - Taking the stage at the Coweta County Fairgrounds, Newnan, GA, Alan Jackson led a line-up of artists in the Where I Come From Tornado Benefit Concert. In addition to raising over $2m dollars to help people affected by the storm, the show was a celebration of hope in the wake of a disaster, as the country superstar performed hit after hit from his stellar career accompanied by iconic video images.
Accentuating the upbeat mood of the show and strengthening the connection of the 20,000 fans in attendance to Jackson’s performance was an immersive Mason Felps lighting design that featured 36 Rogue R2X Wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
Positioned on upstage ‘lighting ladders’, the high output moving fixtures, which, like the rest of the rig were supplied by Bandit Lites, were used to create a wall of light behind Jackson.
“This was a hybrid

UK - Orbital Sound has returned to work with performances with audiences, with Hairspray leading the way. The Coliseum’s Edwardian auditorium celebrated the end of quarantine, with Michael Ball reprising his Olivier Award-winning role as Edna Turnblad.
Sound designer Andrew Keister, representing original Broadway designer Steve Kennedy, flew in for the project but had to quarantine prior to arrival in the theatre. In the meantime, Hairspray’s UK sound team - Josh Richardson, Callum Wills, Simon France, Robbie Barclay and Larry Golland - were hard at work along with the Orbital team led by Henry Pierce, ensuring everything was set up in advance at the Coliseum.
Andrew has high praise for the whole team saying, “It would have been amazing to be back in any theatre again after so many months of the industry being shut down, but to be back in the Coliseum, in

Israel - Israeli Opera is both the principal opera company and busiest hall in the country, producing top quality operas and playing host to some of the most prestigious artists from around the world. Located at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Centre and owned by the municipality of Tel-Aviv, Israeli Opera is also home to regular shows by local orchestras and ensembles, delighting performing arts lovers with a multitude of first-rate productions.
Over the years, as the venue began to expand its music programme, it became clear that the existing in-house PA was not capable of covering the diverse spectrum of productions and had to be augmented with rental equipment. Recently, venue management decided to perform a significant audio upgrade, choosing to install the new L-Acoustics K3 line array.
With the building closed due to the pandemic, Eyal Levi, head of light & sou

USA - Stryke Percussion ensemble has often taken things a step further. In 2018, for example, the ensemble used an actual airplane in its show, its members weaving their way around wings and fuselage as they executed their precise beats.
Unfortunately, as a result of protocols that restricted crew sizes in the wake of COVID, it became impossible for Stryke Percussion to incorporate any props into the group’s latest show, When No One Is In The Room, an apt title, given that they had to perform in an empty gymnasium as a safety precaution.
Nevertheless, the group was still able to deliver a beautifully textured performance rich in narrative quality thanks in large measure to a Clifford Michael Spulock lighting design that featured a collection of Chauvet Professional Maverick, Rogue and COLORado fixtures.
“These indoor percussion shows usually don’t g

Spain - Creative Technology (CT) returned to support GSMA with delivery of the 24-hour news channel, Mobile World Live TV (MWLTV), providing continuous coverage to local and remote delegates from a central news and information hub for the entirety of the event.
This year marked the fifth of CT UK delivering this event for GSMA. However, the 2021 event was postponed from February to June due to the pandemic but still went ahead as an in-person exhibition in Barcelona. Due to restrictions on UK travel, CT Spain assisted in delivering the local requirements while the UK team provided a remote production system and support.
CT’s UK team worked closely with CT Spain in Barcelona to provide onsite cameras and audio for a small studio space, as well as two roving 4G/LTE cameras gathering beauty shots and interviews across the site. These signals were all bea

UK - LED lighting manufacturer, Chroma-Q is supporting Version 2 Lights with their low energy Space Force fixtures.
Developed as an energy efficient alternative to the traditional space light, Chroma-Q Space Force is continuing to raise the bar with its blend of versatility, bi-colour functionality and output. Having been welcomed by crews, both on location and in studios around the world, the Space Force has established itself as a ‘workhorse’ for some of the industry’s leading rental houses.
Investment in the fixture by television lighting rental specialists, Version 2 Lights (V2), has allowed the company to expand its inventory of low energy solutions.
Version 2’s managing director, Nick Edwards says, “We chose the Chroma-Q Space Force as part of our investment in power efficient technology. Our commitment to providing production with access to effec

Canada - The Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre at Douglas College has undergone a significant upgrade, which includes a Christie Crimson 3DLP laser projector, and most recently, the installation of a Christie D4K40-RGB pure laser projector.
Douglas College educates close to 25,000 students a year, with two major campuses in Metro Vancouver. The Muir Theatre, located on the New Westminster Campus, is a fully equipped 350-seat facility used by students from the Theatre and Stagecraft programs who produce a production each semester in the theatre, as well as the Music Department for performances and classes, and by other departments for lectures and conferences. The College also rents the theatre for dance and music performances, as well as conferences.
The upgrade to Muir Theatre was completed in two phases and began in 2016 with lighting, video distribution and proj

USA - Transformation Church (TC), a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, mission-shaped community outside Charlotte in Indian Land, South Carolina, has added Ayrton Levante fixtures to its inventory of equipment used in producing worship services.
TC acquired the Levante fixtures from SES Integration, a division of Special Event Services located in North Carolina. Levante fixtures are a dramatically miniaturized version of Ayrton’s Bora wash light offering outstanding performance capabilities in an ultra-compact format. Levante’s optics produce an extremely uniform flat beam with no hot spot, ensuring a perfect colour mix regardless of the colour combination selected.
Jeff Cranfill, owner and lighting designer at Special Event Services, recommended the Levante to TC. "The entire line of Ayrton fixtures is very well constructed with high output and great features,”

Japan - Located northwest of Kyoto, which is known as the city of culture, Ritsumeikan University’s Kinugasa Campus recently installed a Martin Audio CDD system in two of its halls.
Ritsumeikan is a historical university founded in 1900 by Kojuro Nakagawa, originating from former prime minister Saionji Kinmochi's private school. Surrounded by famous temples, its quiet atmosphere makes it suited for academic and research.
It was in the Igakukan (Institute of medical learning), located within Kinugasa Campus, that the upgrade took place in the two halls. The building itself contains various classrooms, common rooms and offices, as well as a cafeteria and a multipurpose hall.
CDD12 was adopted as the main speaker due to its wide coverage and clear sound which can be heard even directly in front of the stage. Several Adorn ACS-55T ceiling speakers were installed u

France - Gaetan Byk is now the principal and majority shareholder in charge of Amadeus, the Paris-based manufacturer of high-end audio equipment. Michel Deluc, who co-founded the original Amadeus brand with Bernard Byk 30 years ago, has created many of the company’s speaker designs and remains at Amadeus to lead specific design and manufacturing projects.
“For many years, my mission has been to find a space for Amadeus, a unique place where technological innovations with arts and crafts, combine and complement each other,” states Gaetan Byk. “I think we need to go where our main competitors cannot, do not know how to, or do not want to go. Designing tailor-made solutions, responding to existing architectural, acoustic, and technical constraints have been our areas of expression for a long time. Over the past few years, some rather out-of-the-norm products were bor

USA - LEA Professional has announced new 802.1X security protocol for the company’s range of Connect Series amplifiers.
802.1X is an IEEE Standard for Port-Based Network Access Control that provides protected authentication for devices on the network and provides secure network access. 802.1X is the gold standard of network authentication security and defines authentication controls for any user or device trying to access a LAN or WLAN.
This new feature further protects data and equipment from a cyberattack, while also preventing rogue devices from connecting to the local network and releasing viruses, malware, or allowing man-in-the-middle attacks.
According to Bradley Drummond, director of application engineering & consultant relations at LEA Professional, the new protocol ensures that the Connect Series amplifiers are more secure than ever.
“Sec

USA - Clear-Com has announced the Arcadia Central Station, a scalable IP platform which integrates all wired and wireless partyline systems, including the FreeSpeak family of digital wireless solutions and HelixNet Digital Partyline. The system can license up to 96 IP ports in a single RU device, with further licensing add-ons anticipated in the future, making Arcadia the intercom centre-piece for a wide range of applications best served by partyline workflows.
Designed with input from Clear-Com’s extensive global live sound user base, Arcadia represents the next evolution in partyline workflows, combining digital, analogue and AoIP intercom technologies into a single integrated system. From the Broadway stage to a growing community congregation to the largest and most complex live events, Arcadia is suited for a wide variety of applications, in part due to its flexible li

Europe - Robe has introduced Cuete, a moving head spot light fixture designed for use in small- to medium-sized productions, performance spaces or installations.
Cuete’s features include fast pan and tilt movement that is so essential for lighting all genres of electronic music, for highlighting the creative work of DJs and enhancing club environments.
“Creating dynamic effects and projections is quick and simple with the Cuete, which offers a quality CMY colour mixing system and an impressive 4,200-lumen output of sharp, clear white light, making it stand out on any lighting rig,” says Robe.
To achieve this output and maintain the light quality and consistency across any lighting rig or inventory, Cuete utilises Robe’s patented TE 120W White LED Engine which is at the core of the manufacturer’s Transferable Engine technology.
The Cuete’s 16°

USA - Dallas Theatre Centre has selected the CO-8WD waterproof headset microphones from Point Source Audio for its challenging outdoor production of Working: A Musical, based on Studs Terkel’s bestselling book and with original songs by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked!), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights), James Taylor and others. Staged at the start of July, the production was Dallas Theatre Centre’s first to a live audience since March 2020.
Working showcases the voices of teachers, waiters, truck drivers, and other essential workers, so the production sound quality needed to be befitting in recognition of their vital service day in and day out.
Away from the sound quality, one of the main considerations behind the choice for the CO-8WD was the setting for the production. “This show is outdoors, in Texas, in the middle of

South Africa - Founded in 1998 in Witbank, Heritage of Faith Ministries International (HOFMI) started out as a slab of concrete, four walls and a tin roof. The intervening years have seen the church grow and develop into an auditorium that can seat up to 500 people, and more recently implement technology solutions to enable broadcast capture and playout.
Stage Audio Works has been a key partner in the technological development of HOFMI for the last several years, the most recent being the implementation of a StreamWorks end-to-end streaming solution to allow direct communication with HOFMI’s associate church in Fort Worth, TX, USA. The experience was completed with a 5760mm x 3360mm Pixel Plus Xcell-i LED wall which forms an impressive backdrop to the stage.
HOFMI technical director Matt Ratcliffe reports, “Our first engagement with Stage Audio Works was when we up

Latest Issue. . .