Details
Australia - The poet W.B. Yeats once described the vast skies as "the heavens' embroidered cloths". Taking its title from Yeats' vision, Vivid Festival's Heaven's Cloth created a canopy of light, colour and sound - thanks to Arup MAS.

The installation was an active and porous ceiling that displayed projected light via LED RGB architectural luminaires to create intricate colour change effects based on the theory of complementary colours. Enriching the piece was a soundscape composed using synchronised harmonious musical intervals.

"The circle of fifths - which depicts all 12 tones and musical key signatures graphically in the form of a circle - is like the musical analogy of the colour wheel," explained Christopher Sims, Arup's acoustic and theatre consultant.

Details
Brazil - The BBC relied on Calrec Audio's digital audio consoles during its coverage of the FIFA World Cup. The broadcaster used a combination of three rented consoles to mix the audio in Brazil for transmissions in the UK.

At the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Rio de Janeiro, two 24-fader Artemis Light consoles served as the first point of control in the signal path, responsible for submixing all sound associated with the matches and creating simultaneous 5.1 and stereo mixes. In addition, controlled commentary and controlled effects were passed on to all other users including the edit suits in the IBC, the various multiplatform control suites in the U.K., and the BBC's studio broadcasting center (SBC), also in Rio.

At the SBC, a 56-fader Artemis Beam was used to combine the submixes from the IBC with other sources, including studio mics, postproduction playbacks, co

Details
Chile - On Saturday 19 July, the President of the Republic of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, with the local authorities of La Reina (a municipality in the eastern area of Gran Santiago, Chile), led the ceremony of the renaming of Avenida Larraín by Alcalde Fernando Castillo Velasco.

In an emotive ceremony, the president praised the architect and Mayor of La Reina who died in July of 2013, Fernando Castillo, who was not only the Mayor of Regina, but was also Mayor of the Metropolitan region and rector of the Catholic University.

The overall production of the event was by G2 Events, a company that has over 10 years in the audiovisual services market, with Sin Acople Producciones, dedicated to the production of events.

Among the materials used in the event we were Fenix lifting towers from the Megara series.

(Jim Evans)

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

Details
USA - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas presented its lighting designer Christopher Lose with the ultimate challenge: find a strong and stable fixture that could be hung at the pool-side stage all year round. Chris' answer quickly resulted in an order for 10 G-Spot LED moving heads for movement, beam versatility and patterns and four Q-7 RGBW for wash and strobing.

Chris explains, "The Pool Stage is a treacherous environment for lighting gear. It is an outdoor stage in Las Vegas. The temperature reaches 120 degrees [Fahrenheit - equal to 50 degrees Celsius] in the summer and below freezing in the winter. Las Vegas rarely rains but when it does it comes without notice. There is no time for crew to be dropping lighting fixtures on short notice. We needed 10 spare fixtures to service our 10 previous moving lights and I was looking for a fixture that we could hang all year

Details
Europe - Cardigans' frontwoman, Nina Persson, recently completed a solo tour of Europe and the USA travelling with an Allen & Heath GLD-80 digital mixer to manage FOH and monitor sound.

Supplied by Swedish PA company, Parashoot, which recently invested in the GLD-80, the mixer is supplemented with an AR2412 remote IO rack and additional AR84. Together with one roll of Cat 5e and the mics set, the whole audio touring kit packs into four Pelicases.

"I like the new ideas and easy layout of the GLD-80," comments engineer, Oscar Soederland."It's very simple and quick to setup, and has all the greatness of iLive, such as dynamics, EQ and the killer FX, combined with great speed and sharpness. GLD is also very roadworthy with a thick steel shell, quality screen, nice hard rubber sides, and the feel is very sturdy."

The tour plays approximately 20 songs, which ca

Details
Japan - The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture - and founded a century ago by Ichizo Kobayashi, president of Hankyu Railways.

Following a tradition of bringing musical masterpieces to the stage, the latest 'Cosmos' revue troupe has revisited of The Rose of Versailles, which was first turned into a major hit by the Theatre back in 1974, to help celebrate its landmark year. And a Martin Audio MLA Mini PA system was on hand to assist.

The multi-cellular loudspeaker array was specified by Woody Land, the rental company that supports the Takaraduka Musical, to help reinforce the historic grand romance between Count Axel de Fersen and French Queen Marie-Antoinette in a magnificent production.

Woody Land, who recently purchased the MLA Mini system, ground-stacked eight cabinets above two MSX subwoofers, on each

Details
UK - With entries for the inaugural Festival Supplier Awards (FSAs) now coming in thick and fast, organiser A.M.P. Events has announced a strong line-up of high profile festival organisers will judge submissions.

Cairing the expert panel is Nic Howden, a journalist with over 12 years' experience covering UK and Europe's largest festivals. Joining him will be Lee House, senior events manager for Coventry City Council and production lead for the Godiva Festival, UK's largest, free to attend, festival; Dan Craig, head of operations at Loudsound, event director for Field Day and operations director at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time and Hannah Farnham, Live Nation's head of production and events (UK) Music.

Howden commented, "I'm delighted to be chairing the judging panel for the inaugural Festival Supplier Awards, there's a refreshingly singular focus to the FSAs in

Details
Italy - Outline Butterfly and Mantas loudspeaker systems amplified the voice of Pope Francis on the occasion of the Holy Mass celebrated on the Plain of Sibari before a crowd of 250,000 worshippers.

A stage 50m by 25m was erected for the event, along with the installation of four maxi-screens, 200 chemical toilets and 20 km of barriers. The "stalls" had seating for 35,000. The area to be covered by the audio system measured 650m by 250m and the sound reinforcement system installed was manufactured by Outline - to be precise a rig comprising 56 Butterfly modules, 24 Mantas modules and 24 Subtech 218 to boost the low frequencies.

In the vicinity of the Papal chair, two Outline DVS 8, two stage monitor H.A.R.D. 212 and two H.A.R.D. 115 speakers were installed. The choir had other H.A.R.D. 212 monitors at its disposal, while Tripla, Doppia and DVS 10 enclosures covered o

Details
UK - ETC's UK dealers have now installed over 28,000 Sensor power control channels across central London, making ETC the most popular choice in the capital. If all the modules were stacked on top of one another, they would reach 980m, making them significantly taller than the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa - practically Lilliputian at just 820m - whose nightly strobe light shows are controlled by an ETC Congo control system.

The latest recipient of Sensor is the Prince Edward Theatre on Old Compton Street. The theatre's dimmers were last updated in 1993, and were due for renewal in time for the hit production of Miss Saigon. In keeping with other theatres in the Delfont Mackintosh group, which The Prince Edward is part of, five ETC Sensor3 power-control racks fitted with 240 modules, including ThruPower modules, were specified and installed. That gives a

Details
USA - New York's Radio City Music Hall saw the commencement of the 68th annual Tony Awards on Sunday 8 June 2014, with a flamboyant Hugh Jackman hosting the show and a live broadcast televised on US network CBS.

The Tony Awards are a place of recognition for achievements in Broadway productions over the past season and this year's ceremony saw an array of shows from Aladdin, Hedwig and the angry inch, The Glass Menagerie and A Raisin in the Sun to Les Miserables, Of Mice and Men as well as Rocky. With such a wide line-up the 15 Musical Tony Awards went to seven different musicals while the 11 Play Tony Awards went to six different plays.

This year's show was programmed and operated by highly experienced Hippotizer expert Peter Vincent Acken who designed a set-up using a total of 192 layers running over more than 48 DMX universes

Details
UK - Proving last year that London's controversial Hyde Park festival site could be protected from noise leakage into the surrounding neighbourhood by deploying Martin Audio's MLA technology, promoters AEG Live adopted a similar solution for this year's Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park festival - but with significant enhancements.

While Capital Sound, again deployed MLA and MLA Compact to guarantee coherent site coverage, Martin Audio's R&D director, Jason Baird, was determined that new optimisations would enable them to eke out as much as an additional 3dB at front-of-house without increasing offsite pollution.

As a result, 102dB(A) was achieved for McBusted, with 73dB(A) recorded offsite, comfortably within the maximum allowable of 75dB(A), while both Tom Jones (during his more strident numbers) and Black Sabbath nudged 103dB(A).

Baird explained that the

Details
USA - As the curtain rose on the 2014 summer season of The Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, Masque Sound was once again on-hand to offer its support to one of New York City's most beloved traditions, providing custom audio equipment packages for this year's line-up, as well as for The Public's array of other shows and events hosted throughout the year.

The Public Theatre boasts several expansive venues, including its landmark downtown home on Astor Place, which houses five theatres plus Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theatrein Central Park, home to its free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs.

Recently named audio supervisor of the famed establishment, Corrine Livingston manages upwards of 20 plus shows and producti

Details
UK - Lighting specialist White Light has recently supplied production solutions for the George Benson 2014 UK Tour. The Grammy Award winning artist performed some of his greatest hits including Give Me the Night and Turn Your Love Around during the tour which visited venues across the UK during June of 2014. The tour made stops in Glasgow, Manchester, London and Bournemouth.

White Light provided a complete lighting package for the tour, which was designed by LD Simon Tutchener. He described his approach to lighting the tour:

"I wanted to include a lot of colour and texture into the lighting. This was my third George Benson tour, so I was able to incorporate my previous experience and knowledge into this tour and have some fun with it."

The lighting rig is based around a core of Martin Professional fixtures - namely the MAC Viper Profile - while also i

Details
UK - Lighting designer Steven Bewley is using a primarily Clay Paky rig to light renowned trip-hop trio London Grammar during the band's current UK tour.

The delicate lighting design created by the Newcastle-based designer weaves the band's haunting music into a web of theatrical glamour and is already earning itself industry praise.

"The brief from the band was that they wanted every song to look different," explains Bewley. "So the creative concept for the lighting design came from the idea of merging looks from a TV show, a stage show and a gig. We wanted to create a real mix - there's some old-style lighting mixed with video as well some new styles layered with some cutting edge LED technology."

During the past six months Bewley has worked with the band on their UK and American tours, deciding to change up the rig during this current UK tour by specif

Details
Italy - Superstar singer / songwriter Vasco Rossi staged seven stadium shows in Rome and Milan this summer playing to over 400,000 fans, complete with a lightshow to match the occasion designed by his long term LD, Giovanni Pinna.

Pinna used 68 Robe Robin LEDBeam 100s which were used as specials and for highlighting the ebullient audiences that flocked to see Rossi whose controversial and hugely successful career has spanned four decades, spawned 27 albums and several spats with authority. He is one of the great Italian showmen who is passionate about his performances and famous for his live interaction and very strong bonds with the crowds when onstage.

For these shows Pinna took the set design by Gioforma based on the album artwork as his starting point for lighting. The stage was custom designed for the show and he crammed every available centimetre with lighting fixtures -

Details
Japan - UK event and installed audio specialists Out Board has appointed S.C. Alliance Inc as its new Japanese distributor for TiMax2 SoundHub audio showcontrol matrix and TiMax Tracker performer tracking system.

SCA hosted a TiMax workshop in Tokyo where Out Board director Robin Whittaker presented and demonstrated the principles of TiMax delay-based Source-Oriented Reinforcement (SOR). Delegates learnt how variable audio localisation could be applied to wireless vocal mics using the TiMax2 SoundHub dynamic delay matrix, and how this could be automated via continuous control by Out Board's market-leading TiMax Tracker performer tracking system.

TiMax2 SoundHub's sound effects and playback server capabilities were also demonstrated using multiple atmos and spot effects played off the units internal hard drive, with looping, editing, volume profiling, delay panning and synchron

Details
The Netherlands - Fresh from blowing minds at the Lightening in a Bottle festival and its successful debut in Miami for MMW, Pure Groove has announced that it will be providing the sound for Amsterdam's Lost in a Moment. Featuring acts such as Dixon, Ame (DJ), Howling (live), David August, Gerd Janson, KiNK (live), and Baikal, Pure Groove's future sound technology is "perfect to take the crowd on their sonic journey," says the company.

Pure Groove recently partnered with Danley Sound Labs, to create a series of sound systems targeted at nightlife and music industries. Possessing over 25 years' of festival and nightclub production experience, Pure Groove Systems are ideal partners for Danley's foray into the music world, and will be installing Danley's award-winning audio technology in the nightclub, concert and festival arenas.

Danley holds 13 Aerospace

Details
Future-proof Theatre - The Chichister Festival, one of the largest theatres in southern England has officially reopened after a £22m revamp. The first play in the main 1,300-seat auditorium is a new production of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, starring Rupert Everett as Salieri and Joshua McGuire as Mozart. Artistic director Jonathan Church said the theatre had been "future-proofed" for audiences for the next 50 years. "This building wasn't built by a politician or the Arts Council," Church said. "It was built by local people - and that engagement has been what enabled us to celebrate 50 years."

Change Of Plan - Microsoft's plan to compete with Netflix and Amazon by producing its own TV shows has come to an early end, as the firm announces 18,000 job cuts. Xbox Entertainment Studio will close by the end of the year, Xbox chief Phil Spe

Details
UK - Sonisphere Festival made a triumphant return to the UK in July, celebrating 40 years of rock music at Knebworth Park. Co-headlining the Bohemia stage, alternative metal band Therapy? played their 1995 classic album Infernal Love, accompanied by a stunning light show featuring a selection of fixtures from Chauvet Professional and trussing structures from TRUSST, backed by Chauvet.

Lighting designer Pete Davies prepared an impactful yet compact, tour-friendly package, primed for easy transportation across Europe for a series of festivals. Low-energy LED fixtures were the natural choice for both Davies and the band, keen to minimise their carbon footprint, without compromising the quality of the audience experience.

The creative solution incorporated eight TRUSST truss uprights, in a combination of 1m and 2m lengths, each with a Chauvet DJ SlimPAR QUAD 6 IRC at its ba

Details
China - PR Lighting's initial brief when planning its new LED Studio 3205D was to develop a fixture purpose-designed for lighting up large scale automobile shows around the world. But with its inherent power, derived from a single 500W LED source, coupled with a stable colour temperature and high CRI, its high specification makes it applicable to any large-scale application - particularly TV studios, theatre, commercial and multi-functional situations.

In addition to its two available colour temperatures it also boasts enviable energy levels, with luminous flux measurements of 9000 lumens (43°) and 17500 lumens (71°), with its CRI of 90 further enhancing the vivid colours.

The LED Studio 3205D contains a 0-100% linearly adjustable DMX dimmer, linear motorised zoom and electronic strobe, with flexible beam angle from 43°-71° further boosting its versatility.

H

Details
UK - Cadac Audio US and Canada has secured premises for its sales, distribution and service operations in Hoboken NJ.

The new premises, looking out across the Manhattan skyline, will house Cadac's new North American division's sales, distribution and service operations, headed up by general manager Paul Morini. Currently under refurbishment, the new HQ will come "online" by the end of August.

At the same time the company has announced the appointment of industry veteran console engineer Mitch Mortenson as technical support manager. Mitch is a renowned pro audio industry personality in the US, having spent some 20 years in the industry, in recording studio and sound touring engineering, and technical sales, including nine years in front line technical support roles for Midas consoles in North America.

Welcoming Mortenson, Morini, who worked alongside Mortenson at Mi

Page 3191 of 3465

Latest Issue. . .