UK - Allen & Heath puts performers in control of their monitors with a new personal mixing app for its SQ mixers.
The SQ4You app is available for both Android and iOS and up to eight phones or tablets can be connected at the same time, making it a time-saver for the busy audio engineer who is mixing the whole show single-handed.
SQ4You’s main ‘Four Wheel Drive’ view is designed to be big and easy to use, providing straightforward level controls over four groups, a master level and mute. Double tapping on a group gives access to more granular controls, including individual channel metering, send levels and stereo pan. Groups can be custom named for quick recognition and channels can be assigned to groups via simple checkboxes, allowing the user to create their

UK - EM Acoustics claimed the ABTT Sound Product of the Year award for the EMS-4, a new compact two-way passive speaker part of its EMS Series.
The product received praise from the judges, who said: “Following on from the success of the EMS-51, EM Acoustics have downsized with the EMS-41. This speaker features a compact design with a four inch driver and coaxial compression driver, producing a similar output to the larger EMS-51 but at half the size and below half the weight. This compact unit is ideal for placing discretely in positions where visual impact needs to be minimal, and the multiple connection options to the rear of the unit means it will integrate efficiently with existing infrastructure.”
EM Acoustics’ Mike Wheeler comments: “We were already bowled over by the reaction to the EMS-41 at PLASA Focus Leeds, “but this is just fantastic, especially

UK - Nuffield Southampton Theatres City (NST City) is a new arts complex in Southampton. It needed highly flexible solutions for its production lighting, performance audio visual systems, which have been recently been installed by specialist installer and integrator, Northern Light in a half million pound plus year-long installation.
The history of the NST dates back to 1964 when, with support from the Nuffield Foundation, the University of Southampton built a theatre on its campus for the people of Southampton. NST City is its second venue. Sited in the very heart of the City, it houses a fully flexible 450-seat main house which doubles as a cinema, a 133-seat black-box studio, workshop, rehearsal space and screening facilities, as well as offices, bar, café and a restaurant.
“Northern Light was selected through competitive tender to supply and install the production
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 - Event production house GVPmedia of Houston is responsible for lighting Ring of Honor events, a popular pro wrestling touring circuit that incorporates high-flying wrestling with mixed martial arts. Ring of Honor (ROH) puts on a high-energy, electric live show and GVP uses the power and dynamism of an all-Elation automated rig.
ROH matches are intense affairs that are also filmed for TV, Internet Pay-Per-View or DVD release. An important step in building up the exciting atmosphere is the energy created from pre-match introductions as loyal fans anticipate seeing their favourite wrestler enter the arena.
GVPmedia has been working with ROH for the past three years, providing lighting, LED video displays, and rigging for a growing list of events across the U.S. For an ROH event in February at Centre Stage theatre in Atlanta, GVP turned to its inventory of Elation h

UK - Lighting, rigging, audio and video provider SLX has a long-standing relationship working with Bristol Museums for equipment hire and live events and has supplied AV and lighting support for an exhibition titled Bristol Music: Seven Decades of Sound.
Bristol Museums, known for driving imaginative new exhibitions, developed concept plans and set out the initial themes for the spaces need in this exhibition. They then brought in SLX to propose creative ways that AV and lighting equipment would help add value to deliver an experiential exhibition for their visitors. The exhibition, which has decade booths spanning Bristol’s musical history, presented a challenge in that they needed to ensure audio clarity in each booth whilst not bleeding into the next. To counter this SLX supplied directional speakers with an acoustic curtain to contain any spill.
Ryan Str

Ireland - Waterford, one of Ireland’s oldest cities, founded by Norwegian pirates in 914, recently celebrated its roots at its inaugural International Viking Festival and Roadshow.
Taking place over three days, this event marked the 1,100th anniversary of the conquest of York, England, by King Reginald of Waterford. With all eyes on the city, the pressure was on for Waterford Council and Waterford Treasures Museums to select the right partners and suppliers to bring this historic moment in time to life.
The highlight of the event was a spectacular night-time Viking Roadshow - two 45-minute theatrical performances which took place on the last day in the Apple Market in the city centre. The specially commissioned theatrical piece by creative director Craig Morrison, set for a live tour in 12 of the most important Viking sites in Europe, was to be the jewe

USA - Live production and event management company Mountain View Staging (MVS) has invested in a FLEXTour LED video solution from Nashville-based PixelFLEX.
The HD, curveable LED video display is designed for live entertainment productions and can be configured traditionally and off-set, with each 500mm x 500mm tile front-serviceable. An integrated climbing ladder allows for quick access to displays flown high overhead.
Peter Johnson, Mountain View Staging CEO and owner, comments: “We have been in business for 18 years and have been using LED products for the last 10. Since LED now rivals projection, we have switched priorities to the new technology to keep up with changing demand from our clients. It’s all about the increased resolution, contrast, dynamic range and image quality, and the FLEXTour solution checked all the boxes for our priorities.”
Johns

Australia - Telstra recently installed a complete AMX by Harman AV control solution in Deakin University’s new Telstra Trading Room, a realistic stock exchange simulation room on the university’s Melbourne campus.
Established in 1974, Deakin University is one of Australia’s fastest growing research universities, winning numerous awards and consistently ranking among the top universities in Australia. In order to provide its business students with real-world insight into the workings of a live stock exchange environment, Deakin Business School partnered with Australian communications provider Telstra to create a simulated trading room complete with tickers, displays and a large video wall providing real-time finance updates.
Deakin worked with Harman Professional Solutions distributor avt and Telstra to design a state-of-the-art AV control system that could handl

Europe/Asia - Milos held its annual product academies at its bases in Roudnice nad Labem, the Czech Republic (13-14 April), and in Guangzhou, China (10-11 May).
The two-day product academy has been designed to provide attendees with the knowledge and skills for working safer while carrying out rigging duties and constructing support structures.
The Czech Republic event brought together local attendees, but also visitors from Slovakia, Germany, England, Scotland and Australia. The product academy in China drew attendees from China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, as well as from Australia, New Zealand and Kenya.
Eric Porter, certified rigging consultant and internationally renowned rigging professional, gave rigging presentations and provided rigging consultations. Norbert Tripp, Area Four Industries technical director and structural engineer, held presenta

UK - Since its launch at PLASA 2017, Ghibli, Ayrton’s first LED spotlight, has taken the industry by storm.
Compact and lightweight, Ghibli is factory-equipped with a framing system and delivers 23,000lm output from a 600W source with an 80% efficiency, which makes it powerful enough for large scale arenas. An optional High TM30/CRI Mode can be implemented for situations demanding even higher quality light output. Its output offers a crisp, clean and uniform beam with no hotspot, and fantastic centre-to-edge uniformity across its whole field and delivers a fat, even beam, meaning Ghibli is at home as much in theatre as on the touring circuit.
Ghibli also boasts an 8:1 zoom from 7° to 56° and offers wealth of features, including CMY colour mixing, variable CTO, and a complete effect section including two gobo wheels, a prism, an animation wheel, two frosts

USA - Orlando-based Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) has announced the availability of the PWS 4 x 4 Quad Antenna Distro, designed to provide distribution for the Shure Axient Digital Quadversity wireless microphone system.
The unit handles up to four receivers and features 470-616 MHz filtering, bias power control/status LEDs for each input, rotary attenuators, and dual power inputs that allow for redundant power.
“The 4 X 4 Quad Distro is a must have for anyone using multiple Shure AD4Q receivers in Quadversity mode,” explains Justin Van Winkle, production manager, Professional Wireless. “Our unit simplifies setup and ensures a hassle-free wireless experience while making antenna setup for the Axient system a breeze.”
Housed in a rugged 1RU all-metal chassis with reinforced rack ears, the PWS 4 x 4 Quad Distro is designed and assembled by hand in O

USA - RC4 Wireless has patented a method of pixel control - keyframing and RC4 Custom Pixel Profiles (CPP) - which reduces the number of DMX control channels required for generation of artistic pixel patterns displayed on a large number of pixel LEDs. The patent is US9924584B2 issued by the US Patent Office.
“I’m particularly proud of this IP because of the control it provides to lighting designers and programmers,” explains James David Smith, chief product designer at RC4 Wireless. This is the firm’s second patent.
Keyframing is an integral part of three RC4 Wireless pixel-driver products: the RC4Magic DMXpix Dual Pixel String Driver in both 2.4GHz and 900MHz and the LumenDimPIX for LumenRadio CRMX; the latter operates on the Lumen Radio wireless platform.
“Unlike any other pixel control technology for reducing channel count, RC4’s technology combin

Denmark - Young Danish singer, guitarist and chart-topping rising star Jacob Dinesen played two spectacular arena shows to kick off his 2018 summer tour, one in his home region of Aabenraa and one in Copenhagen, with Robe MegaPointes and Spiiders prominent on the rig.
Lighting for these two shows was a completely new design, also programmed and operated by LD Niller Bjerrgaard.
Niller had only just joined the Dinesen production team for these shows after being recommended by FOH sound engineer Mad Mikkelsen – the two also work for high profile DK heavy metal heroes Volbeat.
Niller took on the Dinesen project with a skeleton design already in place created by Jacob Beckman. He discussed this with the band and their production manager Jonathan Koch, added in some of his own ideas and the resulting rig and brief was to create a big expressive rock rig, which was p

USA - Southern Indiana’s Floyd Central High School puts a special emphasis on the performing arts, a focus that has produced one of America's premiere high school theatre programs. Last year, Floyd Central was one of a handful of schools across the U.S. selected by Disney Theatrical Group to test the Tony award-winning Broadway musical Newsies before it is made available to schools everywhere.
Newsies ran at the high school, located in Floyds Knobs, last November, selling out all six performances. Lighting industry pro and Floyd Central alumnus Michael Nevitt of Crossfade Design, LLC served as lighting designer and lighting mentor on the production. “Disney wanted to see what the challenges would be for high schools and Floyd Central could then provide them with feedback,” explains Nevitt. “For example, how to get around the fact that there are lots of

Poland - Protec European Events partnered with their client Xerox once again to deliver the audio, lighting, video and rigging at the Xerox Forum 2018 held in Warsaw.
This event, held in the Doubletree Hilton from 22-24 May, included three days of presentations and 23 seminar sessions with the highlight being the Xerox International Operations Premiere of the new Xerox IridesseTM Production Press.
Xerox hosted 400 of their top graphic communications customers, resellers and business partners from around the world.
The project ran in a few separate spaces or scenes – a daytime conference, a pre-reveal with Kabuki curtain, the reveal element and finally, the conference and demonstrations on the new machine.
Sean Godefroy, HOD Protec video, chose three Barco 20k projectors, one for each side screen and one for a kabuki drop drape projection. He chose the Ch

USA - Innovation is nothing new at the Today Show. The first early morning news programme, and one of the longest-running shows on television (it debuted on January 14, 1952), this American icon has thrived by pioneering new concepts like the celebrity meteorologist, and early morning concerts by major recording stars.
In keeping with this tradition, the show recently raised the visual bar for morning TV music segments, when its lighting director Peter Greenbaum upgraded its Citi Concert Series stage to create a wider array of concert-style looks by adding 25 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK Pyxis fixtures, supplied by WorldStage.
“The Pyxis creates an extensive variety of effects that you don’t see on a TV concert type of stage,” Greenbaum said. “Its powerful centre beam is also new for me, but I fell in love with the fixture after WorldStage showed it

Switzerland - Verity Studios AG, an indoor drone technology specialist, has announced that it has raised $18m in a Series A funding round. Fontinalis Partners, a venture capital firm focused on next-generation mobility technologies, led the round. Other investors include Airbus Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, and Kitty Hawk. Verity plans to use this funding to expand its live events business, with a heavy focus on US growth, as well as to expand into other commercial verticals.
“Verity has assembled an exceptional team, with credibility, valuable IP, and extensive technical know-how, all while building a fast-growing business in the live events market,” says Chris Cheever, co-founder and partner at Fontinalis. “Our firm was founded to invest in and help scale the world’s best mobility technologies, and what Verity has developed has broad applicability beyond entertai

USA - Drawing a record crowd of over 13,500 industry professionals, The Work Truck Show 2018 was the largest event in the history of the NTEA. Held inside the Indiana Convention Centre, the event saw an unprecedented number of vehicle launches, including the much-anticipated launch of the new XL Series from Hino Trucks USA.
Desiring a dynamic and exciting tradeshow environment worthy of their inaugural Class 8 heavy-duty trucking solutions, they enlisted the assistance of production provider Elite Multimedia who created a momentous LED video, lighting and audio design.
“We’ve been exhibiting at The Work Truck Show for 18 years now and this is definitely the benchmark show for the work truck industry,” says Sheree Greenhalge, assistant manager marketing, Hino Trucks USA. “Each year the show generally has many new product launches, and this ye

USA - The organisers of the ESTA Plugfest have announced that RDMnet prototypes constructed to the most current version of draft standard E1.33, Transport of ANSI E1.20 (RDM) in an E1.31 environment, will be available for participants in Plugfest 2018.
Wayne Howell of Artistic Licence and Sam Kearney of Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) are both providing RDMnet prototypes for attendee use and testing during the July Plugfest. Both Wayne and Sam noted that this is an excellent opportunity for early adopters to test manufacturer interoperability ahead of the publication of the final RDMnet standard.
The Artistic Licence prototype will provide a version of their new dataLynx II gateway which has per port selection of sACN, RDMnet, Art-Net and RDM over Art-Net.
The ESTA Control Protocols Plugfest, where manufacturers and developers test their lighting products for n

USA - Bandit Lites returned to The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival for another epic weekend of stellar music, comradery and community with activities including a silent disco, yoga, comedy acts, a marketplace and a sustainability focus. Working with Lambda Productions, Bandit Lites supplied the lighting package for multiple stages and provided additional lighting support for several performers.
More than 150 artists took to the 700 acre field. Headliners Muse, Eminem, The Killers, Sheryl Crow, Alt J, Bon Iver, Future, Bassnectar, Paramore, Khalid and Sturgill Simpson kicked the party into top gear as thousands took to the field.
Bandit’s package for the main stage system consisted of nearly 230 fixtures, including Robe BMFLs, Clay Paky Mythos, GLP X4 Bar 20, VL 3500 Washes, VL 3000 Spots, Solaris Flare Strobes, Lycian M2 spots, and two Grand MA 2 Full consoles for

New Zealand - David Kendall Audio Visual recently installed an end-to-end networked audio system by Harman Professional Solutions at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul.
Located in the historic district of Thorndon, the Wellington Cathedral of St. Paul is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Wellington, attracting a vibrant community of worshippers each week. In addition to serving an important role in the Anglican Church, the ornate architecture and refined acoustics of Wellington Cathedral also make it a popular venue for choral and orchestral concerts.
With sound reinforcement playing a critical role at Wellington Cathedral, management wanted to ensure optimum audio quality and balanced coverage during church services and concerts. To achieve these goals, management hired David Kendall Audio Visual to upgrade its aging sound system with a complete Harman n

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