Recovery Grants - Twenty-eight performing arts organisations have been awarded a share of £75m in the latest round of Culture Recovery Grants. Theatres including London’s Old Vic, Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Northampton Royal and Derngate and Shakespeare’s Globe have all been granted between £1m and £3m each in the first of two rounds for this strand. Six museums and one visual arts organisation were also awarded grants as part of the scheme.
Recipients include: Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre Trust - £3,000,000; English National Ballet - £3,000,000; Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust - £3,000,000; The Old Vic Theatre Trust - £3,000,000; Shakespeare’s Globe - £2,985,707; Sadler’s Wells - £2,975,000; Adlib Audio - £1,650,356; Fabric Life - £1,514,262; Lights Cont

UK - 7thSense has promoted Jack Dowd to the position of product manager of the Delta Media Server range.
After joining the company in 2013 as systems engineer within the production department, Jack was promoted to technical sales and systems engineer as a key member of the 7thSense sales team in 2019 - providing technical support to customers, as well as the commissioning of systems on-site.
“Jack’s promotion is incredibly well-deserved, and a reflection of his vast understanding of, and contribution to, our Delta Media Server line of products,” notes Richard Brown, 7thSense CTO. “Jack has been instrumental in the development of new product features over the years, ensuring that our customers always receive the highest standard of service and support. We look forward to the next chapter with him as a new member of our expanding product management team.”

USA - Formerly known as the Tribeca Grand Hotel, the Roxy Hotel is a 201-room property in the heart of Manhattan's Tribeca neighbourhood. Amenities include an in-room pet goldfish (on request) and free loaner bicycles - and multiple bars offer regular live music, including a jazz club and cocktail lounge.
The newest amenity is a cocktail and dining area under the hotel’s marquee, designed for a bite and sip in a pandemic-safe environment. But the hotel didn’t skimp on sound: a pair of Genelec 4430A Smart IP Installation Speakers were installed there over the summer by integrator Essential Communications, which had earlier installed and then updated the hotel’s distributed sound system.
“The Roxy is all about music and all about great sound,” says David Schwartz, president of Essential Communications, which specialises in AV for hospitality clients, among oth
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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 - Nobu Hotels blend modern luxury and minimal Japanese tradition into the concept of a lifestyle hotel - which is exactly what Robert De Niro, chef Nobu Matsuhisa, and Meir Teper wanted when they decided to open a property in Chicago.
The development team sourced architects, designers, GCs, suppliers, and hospitality experts for the 115-room hotel, restaurant and rooftop scene, complete with an indoor lounge and outdoor terrace.
Technology had to contribute to the guest experience, and sound was no exception. Nobu wanted a team of experts to come in and run with audio-visual and structured cabling and to own the entire project. Encompass AV gave the team an opportunity to flex their design, acoustics, infrastructure, and overall hospitality strengths.
Encompass AV plugged in with the developers early, ‘rethinking the entire buildscape for more efficient str

UAE - Creative Technology (CT) was this year's official communications partner for the Mai Dubai City Half Marathon, which took place Friday 23 October at Dubai International Financial District. The event which saw more than 400 runners from over 40 countries take part was the first mass-running event to take place in the UAE since the start of the pandemic in March.
With a range of measures in place to ensure the safety of all participants, this year's marathon was able to have three different race categories ranging from 5km, 10km and 21km.
Adding to the event’s safety protocols, CT provided site-wide communication to support the event organisers across the 21km site. This enabled seamless communication between the event organisers and their teams while adhering to all social distancing parameters and guidelines.
The Mai Dubai City Half Marathon organisers

USA - Hunter Hughes and his crew at Scout Productions hadn’t worked on an event in well over six months, when they signed on recently to provide lighting and sound for a small outdoor country music show near Landsdale, PA.
“Although 10 years of experience certainly hasn’t been forgotten, it was good to be able to go back to a gig with familiar gear like Chauvet DJ’s ShowXpress, and the ease of use that’s associated with it,” said Hughes. “We are really comfortable working with ShowXpress, so it was nice have it on our ‘return gig’. We use many different fixture profiles with ShowXpress software. Having it at this event enabled us to programme our show quickly.”
Hughes worked his Xpress-Rack 1024 with a split power line that enables the unit to run without the need for a laptop by using pre-programmed cues with either the onboard buttons or via IR r

UK - Having sat through one too many ‘tin-pot’ live performances during lockdown, a group of live event professionals have got together to create audio and video production service, AfterLive Music. Inspired to help bands, performers, record labels and promoters to present live performances in a way that provides audiences with an authentic and captivating ‘in the room’ viewing experience (whilst keeping within COVID-19 guidelines) performances are recorded, mixed and mastered with the help of Audient gear.
“It was our love of live music that brought us together, and drives us and this project forward,” says Adam Bonner, who along with Jamie Tinsley looks after all things audio. “We didn’t feel that early lockdown live performances were representing the artist in a good way at all. Poor audio quality was my biggest issue.” Adam has spent his last five year

USA - More than 55m viewers watched as President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden met for the final presidential debate at Belmont University. Bandit Lites supplied the university’s exterior and site lighting, illuminating the campus in striking patriotic and branded looks.
Lighting designer Chris Lisle designed the exterior event lighting, working to up light and enhance any building or structures that would be seen as part of the televised broadcast, including the two main entrances to the Curb Event Centre (where the debates took place), the Bell Tower (the main focus point of the campus) and the historic Freeman Hall (which boasts high visibility from Wedgewood Avenue).
Lisle contacted Bandit Lites vice president Mike Golden about a year prior, and even then he had a plan for the exterior. “To look back at that preliminary work seems more like a

USA - Signalling the start of the new NFL season, The Killers staged a special, highly symbolic one-off performance of their anthemic Mr Brightside on the rooftop of Caesar’s Palace for the Las Vegas Raiders who have just moved into the newly completed Allegiant Stadium.
Produced for ESPN, the segment’s lighting design was created remotely by The Killers’ long-term lighting designer Steven Douglas, who included 43 x Robe MegaPointes and 14 CycFX 8 moving LED battens on the rig, supplied by lighting vendor LMG.
Steven was working from home in Ireland, unable to travel due to international restrictions during the Coronavirus pandemic. He received a brief about the look of the piece from director Dagen Merrill plus ESPN’s creative team, and his design was realised on site by lighting programmer and operator Josh Spodick and the LMG crew.
The brief sp

Thailand - Powersoft has appointed M.I. Engineering as distributor for Thailand. Established in 1994, M.I. Engineering offers a wide range of audio solutions to a variety of projects, from home cinema to fixed installations. The company is a member of the Mahajak Group, a full service importer of sound system products.
“We pride ourselves in providing excellent service and quality audio products to our customers, which drives us to always be aware of the best solutions available on the market,” comments Attapol Praisri, M.I. Engineering’s product manager - professional audio division. “Everything that we have in our arsenal, not only suits our philosophy, but also the systems our customers want to build. Having Powersoft added to our portfolio is going to strengthen this position.”
M.I. Engineering was introduced to Powersoft last January by Arthur Soh, Power

Spain - Amate Audio is launching the X102FD, a high output point source active 2x 10” system, developed to offer a higher performance, higher efficiency alternative to line arrays, in medium and smaller size application environments.
In any application, fewer X102FD systems will always be required than with other cabinets, says the company. Weighing just 32 kg, the cabinets can be deployed and rigged by just one or two people; without the infrastructure, man-hours and effort required to fly a line array.
The X102FD can be deployed both vertically and horizontally, due to its rotatable horn with a simple “no tools required” pull, turn and release mechanism. In vertical FOH applications, the horn provides 80° x 60° (HxV) dispersion (in its default position). In the horizontal plane – for applications such as front-fills within a large-scale line array system,

Germany - Last year the Bremen-based service provider AVM Veranstaltungstechnik, chose to make a significant investment in Coda Audio systems. The company, led by managing director, Jens Wiegandt, took delivery of a range of sound reinforcement, including the compact arena line array AiRAY system, SCP-F subwoofers, APS (Arrayable Point Source), APS-SUBs, as well as LINUS DSP loudspeaker management amplifiers.
In the months before the Coronavirus pandemic struck, the systems had provided sound at top events such as the Summertime@Norderney and Tabularazza festivals, as well as at a host of concerts and corporate events.
“In the first instance, we chose Coda because we consider them to be a very technically innovative company. We were impressed by the excellent sound characteristics and high output they achieve from such compact and lightweight systems,” commented Ma

Germany - Johannes Spieß, project manager from technical specialist MKM Event Show Technik based in Darmstadt, launched a new initiative of his own –Bergstraße leuchtet (Bergstraße Lights) – to highlight some of the famous Bergstraße mountain route’s monuments, historical buildings and public spaces.
With events halted, normally busy rental company MKM had an abundance of lighting products including an extensive Astera inventory of AX3 LightDrops, AX5 TriplePARs and AX7 SpotLites sitting in the warehouse, so these were used to support all 12 of the lighting installations which were carefully crafted and delivered over a two month period.
Astera AX7s were used at all locations, culminating with a spectacular and innovative event at St. Peter’s church in Heppenheim.
“Everyone in the area knows and loves the highlighted buildings and spaces,” stated

USA - Fuse Technical Group turned to 13 disguise gx 2c media servers with Designer software and Sockpuppet control features to help deliver a home game feel for teams and fans at home, as the NBA resumed its season.
The NBA has set up a ‘bubble’ isolation zone at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida to enable professional basketball to resume in the US, while keeping players safe. Although spectators were not permitted in the stands at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex where the games were held, fans have been able to watch televised basketball once again.
“This was a totally new experience for the NBA as well as the teams involved,” says Charles Dabezies for Fuse Technical Group. “Our largest challenge was understanding how to adapt 22 different team’s shows for this new environment. Adapting a traditional basketball game to this layout was new for

USA - ETC has postponed any participation in traditional trade shows until July next year. “Out of concern for the safety of its employees and global community, ETC has announced that it will not participate in traditional trade show exhibitions until July 2021,” says a statement. “With the pandemic affecting many people’s ability and desire to travel, the company has instead decided to focus its resources on remote demos and online events.”
The statement continues, “A major part of the trade show experience is the chance to see the latest gear and get one-on-one face time with product experts. With this in mind, ETC has been hard at work converting in-house demo spaces throughout the company’s offices into studios for online product demonstrations. Customers may now use an online portal to schedule live, one-on-one demos of some of the company’s newest fixtu

Spain - Producciones Yllana captures the swirl of emotions and music that surrounded violinist Niccolò Paganini’s life in Maestrissimo, a 90-minute show that is being performed before limited, socially distant audiences in Spain. Weaving together the action and music on stage, while also making performers comfortable in near-empty venues, is an immersive three-universe, 150-fixture lightshow created by Fernando Rodriguez Berzosa.
A longtime ChamSys user, Berzosa programmed his show on a MagicQ with a PCWing. He is running the show at venues throughout Spain on his MagicQ MQ80, and notes that the compact size of this console makes it an ideal traveling companion.
“Nowadays I always use a ChamSys for any project I am involved in,” said Berzosa. “My reason is simple: dependability. I can’t afford to have a console fail; that is why I always depend on my

Italy - The Arena di Verona recently hosted the RTL 102.5 Power Hits Summer 2020 while following the Covid-19 rules issued by the Italian government.
The event was held on 9 September, celebrating the singles with most radio plays during the summer. Several famous Italian singers took part in the event, performing on stage and filling the arena with their music.
Mod Srl, which is part of Rooster Srl, was in charge of the lighting project. Emilio Lombardi, owner of Mod Srl who oversaw the works, reports, “Because of the pandemic, the 2020 edition of the RTL Power Hits has been different compared to previous years. The stage was not on the south side of the arena. Instead, it was in the middle. The chairs that usually fill the grounds were removed to give us the chance to assemble the stage and to work safely. With those changes, it was equally important to mak

USA - The Meyer Sound education team is returning with a series of Spacemap Go roundtable discussions in November and December. Each session will welcome questions from attendees and be answered by a team of panellists. The roundtables will also focus on different features of Meyer Sound’s new Spacemap Go spatial sound design and mixing tool.
Roundtable 1, What is Spacemap Go: Getting started quickly and programming offline (4 November) will explain how to get started, the components of a Spacemap Go system, the concepts of a Spacemap as well as provide a general application overview.
Roundtable 2, Implementing Spacemap Go into your workflow: System example and saving your work (11 November) will explore building multiple Spacemaps for a simple loudspeaker configuration, plus saving projects and snapshots. Regardless of a system’s size, Spacemap conce

USA - Harman Professional Solutions has announced the addition of 10 free Live Workshops available for registration.
From musicians and performers to designers and programmers, upcoming workshops feature audio and lighting experts who have extensive industry knowledge and experience. Collectively, the presenters have worked with various artists including Bob Dylan, Carrie Underwood, Green Day, Janet Jackson, John Mellencamp, Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Lou Reed, Marilyn Manson, Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Styx, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, U2, Van Halen and many more.
The workshops open for registration include: The Art of Perfect Playback in Lighting Design with Michael Keller (27 October), A Brief User’s Manual For A Lighting Career with Benny Kirkham (28 October), The ABC's of Awesome Lighting Technology with Brad Schiller (2

USA - For more than four decades, the Dee Events Centre (DEC) on the campus of Weber State University (WSU) in Ogden, Utah has served as the home court of the NCAA Division I WSU Wildcats men’s and women’s basketball teams and played host to many Big Sky Conference championship games. This summer, the domed arena welcomed its newest ‘player’ - a new L-Acoustics Kara(i) loudspeaker system designed and installed by Salt Lake City’s Poll Sound.
Capable of seating nearly 11,600 spectators in its circular bowl, the Dee Events Centre is a multipurpose venue. It has also hosted its share of other college and professional sports, major touring concerts, commencements, religious and community events, and much more. Although the school has continually invested in various upgrades to the venue over the years, one thing that has remained unchanged for more than a quarter centu

Portugal - NEXT-proaudio has opened a new logistics centre that will operate as an extension to the company’s factory in Porto. Utilising three new automatic logistics software programmes (online interactive platform, Internal logistic software NXT and an automatic packing optimisation software) all based on the 4.0 technology, the new centre will significantly increase the available space, flexibility and efficiency of the company’s warehousing and all domestic and international operations, says NEXT.
The new logistics centre provides 1000sq.m of floor space for warehousing and logistics, as well as office space for sales, marketing and logistics control. The centre is located in Porto, 10km away from the main port and airport, making transport and logistics “easy and convenient”.
The centre is already in operation and gearing up for the launch of NEXT Audioco

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