Business

Details
Poland - Allen & Heath GLD-80 and Qu-16 mixers have been installed in the Kraków Arena. The new Arena is the biggest in Poland, with a capacity of 20,000 and is one of the most modern entertainment halls and sports venues in the world. The building grabs attention with a gigantic 500m wide LED screen on its exterior and hosts a wide variety of sports events, exhibitions, conferences and trade fairs.

The contract to design and supply the audio system for the Kraków Arena was awarded to Konsbud Audio. Konsbud chose three Allen & Heath digital mixers to meet the client's needs. The main console is a GLD-80, located in the control room of the main hall and used for mixing and signal distribution between all audio systems. There are also two Qu-16 mixers: one in a mobile rack that can be used on the floor of the main hall, and another in the control room in the smaller, secondary h

Details
UK - The Jands Vista lighting and media control console proved its flexibility and power when it provided control for this year's Ultimate Fireworks Spectacular event at popular UK theme park, Alton Towers Resort.

Alton Towers Resort specified the Jands Vista system to provide lighting and media control for the event, for the fourth consecutive year.

Simon Horsley, Alton Towers Resort's technical manager, based his lighting design for the show around this year's storyline, which took guests through a battle between dreams and nightmares, featuring the thrills and fear of the Resort's most famous rides.

Simon's dramatic lighting for the event utilised a Jands Vista console to control the rig, which featured over 150 fixtures from leading brands including Martin, Clay Paky and Robe.

In addition to the lighting, the show featured an impressive video element projected o

Details
USA - Eric Wade, of FOHShow LLC, is the first US lighting designer to put Ayrton's Radicalnew MagicPanel-R out on a major tour - that of American R&B/hip-hop artist Usher as he embarks on a 50-date tour across America and Europe to promote his eighth album, UR.

Wade's rig includes 64 active MagicPanel-R units in the air, plus 25 Ayrton MagicBlade -R fixtures under a transparent forestage. Both fixtures are members of Ayrton's new Radfical line of LED beam projectors, which was introduced at ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt earlier this year.

The common component of the entire Radical line is an individually-controllable, 15W RGBW multi-chip LED source coupled with a 67mm diameter 4.5° collimator optic. MagicPanel-R puts these emitters into a 5 x 5 matrix, while MagicBlade-R mounts them in a unique, seven-in-a-row, in-line configuration. Both fixtures feature a fast mov

Details
Spain - The flamenco dance company De sangre y raza has drawn praise from visitors and lighting professionals alike with its self titled production at the Infanta Isabel Theatre in Madrid - thanks in no small part to the use of ETC Source Four LED Series 2 in the wings, which were used to highlight the dancers.

Lit by Carlos Fajardo, the production was a joint effort by dancers, choreographers and designers, with the aim to create accessible dance - as they say, "art for everybody" - for the full colour production of the famously emotional and passionate dance style.

Fajardo comments, "We were really impressed with how well the Source Four LED fixtures were able to highlight the dancers' colourful costumes while still maintaining natural skin tones. By being able to instantly call on a wide range of different colours, the fixtures made the job of lighting the da

Details
UK - Two of Redbridge Drama Centre's much-loved venues, the Lovegrove Theatre and Telford Studios, have recently received a delivery of over 50 new Philips Selecon PL range luminaires as a means to reduce the Drama Centre's energy consumption.

The shift to LED came as a result of a £192,000 grant given to RDC by Arts Council England to improve the building and to implement energy saving measures, in part by replacing the traditional stage lighting with LED luminaires. The Drama Centre's technical drama officers Chris Bocking and Ben Ward along with Mick Cocker of Lighting Logic, who supplied and installed the units, spent months researching the best possible luminaires for the re-fit and selected the Selecon PLfresnel1 and Selecon PLcyc1 for their project.

The Philips Selecon PLfresnel1 is a general purpose luminaire for theatre, small studio and display lighting applica

Details
Belarus - Prime Hall is a new 2,000-seat, multi tiered concert hall located inside Zamok, the biggest shopping mall in Minsk.

In the three months since it opened in the Belarus capital it has quickly become the city's leading concert venue - thanks in part to its 120kW of dynamic lighting, and the large number of premium discharge and LED fixtures taken from the PR Lighting catalogue.

In total over 130 pieces have been installed, largely drawn from the manufacturer's popular XS1200 portfolio. The complete inventory comprises 34 XS 1200 Spot, 13 XS 1200 Wash, 20 XS 1200 Beam and six XL1200 Framing spots. Also specified were 12 of PR Lighting's XLED 3108 Zoom and 28 of the popular XR300 Beam, and finally 18 of the economical Solo 575P Spot (575W discharge) fixtures provide further beam movement options.

The flexibility offered by PR Lighting's fixtures had been one of the key

Details
UK - The London Eye has never looked better! The company behind one of the capital's top tourist attractions recently called upon the expertise of Unusual Rigging to help with a thorough clean of the London Eye's 90 steel cables in order to prevent failure and increase the expected lifespan of the cables.

Under cover of darkness, Unusual's Robin Elias and a team of riggers, headed by crew chief Phil Dickinson, worked every night over a period of 10 weeks, whilst ensuring the London Eye kept turning and attracting hordes of visitors during the day.

Mark Robinson, technical operations manager at the London Eye said, "We knew right away that Unusual was the right company for this complex job. In 2012, Unusual worked here with STREB, for an event which saw acrobats perform on the steel cables. I found them to be a very professional company and had no doubt that they had the r

Details
Back on Song - The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall has reopened to visitors and live music performances after completion of part of a £14m refurbishment. Originally designed by Liverpool architect Herbert Rowse, the Grade II-listed building first welcomed audiences in 1939 but was closed in May for a revamp of the main concert hall and auditorium. Changes to the concert hall are the first part of the overhaul of the interior, due for completion next summer.

Wembley Bound - Ed Sheeran has announced plans for his biggest solo concert to date at Wembley Stadium on 10 July 2015. He said: "I've made no secret recently of my ambition to play Wembley Stadium on my own in front of 80,000 people. I am absolutely over the moon to be able to announce it's going to happen next summer. It's going to be amazing, I just can't wait." The show will be part of his Multiply

Details
UK - Pulsar moved into its present Cambridgeshire premises in the latter part of 2002. It was also at this point they installed LED lighting on the front of the building, confident in its reliability, longevity, and durability. Twelve ChromaPanels were installed on the South-facing front of the factory building in May 2003 and have been running 24/7 ever since, with an additional 21m of ChromaStrip 2 installed the following year.

Fast forward to today and the original ChromaPanels printed with the Pulsar name have clocked an impressive 11 years 5 months of continuous activity - actually surpassing 100,000 hours! This real-world industry first is proof of LED's amazing longevity and also of Pulsar's dedication to making the highest quality LED lighting fixtures on the market, says the company.

Braving all that the Great British weather has to throw at them, the fixtures have en

Details
Puerto Rico - "We chose the Audient ASP4816 because of the audio quality, versatility and size. It really sounds great," says El Liceo de Arte y Tecnologia's head engineer and instructor of music and post programmes, Hilton Colon who was instrumental in setting up the new Studio C at the school.

"The console is easy to use and it is especially good to teach the students signal flow," explains Colon when asked about the Audient desk's advantages. "The mic pre sounds great and so does the EQ. We also appreciate that it has a small footprint."

Specifically used by students of the 16-month long Audio Engineering and Music Production course, the compact console is now at the centre of this, the newest analogue recording studio at the Liceo.

Comprising two HD ProTools systems, compressors by dbx and Avalon, a Lexicon reverb/effects processor and two p

Details
UK - Ofcom has revealed plans to make radio spectrum in the 700MHz band available for mobile data use, as operators of mobile services predict a major increase in mobile data use in the coming years. Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) services and the PMSE (Programme Making & Special Events) sector, which currently use parts of the 700MHz band, will be moved to other frequencies. The changes are expected to be implemented by 2022, but could be could be in place up to two years earlier.

The implication for PMSE users is that equipment which operates exclusively in the 700MHz band will become obsolete and will have to be replaced, as will "a proportion of equipment that has a tuning range which extends both above and below 694MHz" (i.e. within and immediately below the 700MHz band) because the reduction in the equipment's usable tuning range may be sufficient to render

Details
UK - UK-based event safety consultancy Stagesafe reports the Health and Safety Executive's announcement that CDM Regulations will be enforced on the events and entertainment industry from April 2015.

The news was confirmed at last week's meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee on Entertainment (JACE) at the HSE in Westminster. The following report was produced by Michael Anderson and Lee Holloway, members of SAGE (Safety Advisors Group in Entertainment):

"This was an unexpected turn of events as it had appeared earlier this year that a "BEA" (Business Engagement Assessment) industry impact assessment process engaging with the event industry trade associations may have led to a decision not to enforce. But HSE stated that they had since received legal advice that not enforcing would breach European law and expose the government to international prosecution.

&qu

Details
USA - Over 1,000 students gathered 9-11 October at the Willamette Christian Centre in Eugene, Oregon, for the Oregon Ministry Network Youth Convention. Apropos for a youth event, lighting direction and design was handled by one of the youngest lighting designers around, 16-year-old Caleb Franke of Illuminate Production Services. Caleb, who already has a number of lighting designs under his belt, had a large variety of Elation lighting gear at his disposal from discharge-based Platinum Series moving heads to LED-based moving heads, strip lights, Pars, blinders and video panels.

This was Illuminate Production Services seventh year handling lighting for the event, an annual gathering of local youth that features guest speakers, performances and special parties. "When I was designing the rig we needed to transform the room from its church look to a special event conference styl

Details
USA - With its new Meyer Sound system featuring IntelligentDC technology, Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota is fully equipped to provide exceptional audio coverage for every function in its 1,500-capacity Lund Arena. These events range from hockey games to national programmes such as the Nobel Conference, the first ongoing educational conference in the United States to have the official authorization of the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.

"With the Meyer Sound system, we have controlled and uniform sound everywhere, with ample full-bandwidth power and exceptional speech intelligibility," says Matt Dobosenki, the college's event technical services coordinator. "With the old system, the sound would build up, overexcite the room and lose coherence. Now it's clean and has plenty of punch, but it's never overbearing."

The solution selected for the ar

Details
UK - GMG Network has announced the launch of its new website. An updated design and more detailed information offer visitors to www.GMGNetwork.co.uk a better user experience.

The website demonstrates a sleeker design and greater information on GMG's services and the team's background and experience.

The update is all part of GMG's belief that the company will continue to grow and develop, always listening to their clients and investing in constant improvement.

"It is important to us that when clients visit our website they get an understanding not only of the services GMG can offer but also of GMG's personality" said Jayne McFahn, director. McFahn goes on to say, "Our diary page is a great example of this, weekly updates on everything from how we got started to sharing of thoughts and ideas."

(Jim Evans)

Details
USA - Aboard luxury MSC Cruises ships, production company On The Blue specialises in curating rock-themed cruises through the Caribbean where stars of the '60s, '70s and '80s regale their fans night and day with their repertoires.

Excursions like this obviously require sound systems that are powerful yet lightweight and easy to rig, which prompted Cincinnati-based sound reinforcement provider Loud and Clear to fit the MSC Divina from bow to stern with K2 and other sound system elements from L-Acoustics.

In all, Loud and Clear brought five full semi loads of L-Acoustics and other equipment aboard the vessel for three different cruises: Yes' Cruise to the Edge, Monsters of Rock featuring Tesla, Cinderella, Y&T and Night Ranger, as well as the pairing of The Moody Blues with The Who's Roger Daltrey on the The Moody Blues Cruise: Return to the Isle of Wight. Loud and Clear preside

Details
South Africa - The two leading organisations representing the audio visual industry in Southern Africa, SACIA (Southern African Communications Industry Association) and the TPSA (Technical Production Services Association) have merged so that they can present a stronger front to clients and associates, and a louder voice to government.

"We've merged in order to represent our industry more effectively in engagements with government and regulatory bodies - and in order to better serve our members," says SACIA CEO, Kevan Jones.

While SACIA members are responsible for fixed audio visual displays such as those one sees in board rooms, shopping centre, sports arenas and houses of worship, the TPSA membership have been responsible for the spectacular effects one sees at music concerts and other similar events. Over the last few months a task group made of representatives fro

Details
USA - The Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu launched its Helumoa Playground Superpool series this autumn, comprising two distinct 3D pool mapping light show stories presented twice every evening to entertain hotel guests and the general public. Billed as the world's first permanent installation of its kind, the 3D pool mapping shows are projected across a 7,503sq.ft pool canvas, demonstrating lively displays of volcanic eruptions in Helumoa - the birth of Hawaii and the rise of historical Hawaiian resorts and water sports in Helumoa - the legendary story of Waikiki.

The Sheraton Waikiki hired PointCloud Media, a full-service production company specializing in 3D projections, to develop innovative, energized shows featuring graphic figures and images projected onto the nearly 200,000 gallon superpool. The PointCloud solution integrates its core Raylight4D mapping system

Details
Russia - Roland digital consoles, Roland recorders and Roland digital snakes provided the portable production and TV studio solution for the MTV EMA Pre-Party in Moscow recently. The setup comprising the Roland M-400 Digital Console, Roland M-480 Digital Console, two Roland R-1000 standalone recorders and the Roland S-2416, S-1608 and S-0816 Digital Snakes, was used for the live production, mixing and recording of the sound for the entire event which was televised for MTV Russia.

The MTV Euro Music Awards took place at the GlavClub in Moscow. The chief sound engineer for the portable studio, Evgeny Ilin, specified Roland products for the job after successfully using them for various projects during the year. On this occasion, Evgeny enlisted the assistance of Roland Russia to supply the Roland products for the event as his own almost identical Roland rig was already being used.

Details
UK - Australian dance-theatre piece Intimacy by Michelle Ryan and Torque Show recently traversed the globe to take up residence at the Southbank Centre in London. Part of the Unlimited disability arts festival, the piece was lit with eight Philips Selecon LED PLprofile1 luminaires, chosen for their crucial colourising flexibility by lighting designer John Ford.

Ford, of lighting design consultancy Relume, specified the Selecon luminaires when it came to lighting the piece during its previous run at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne.

"I chose the PLprofile1 luminaires as I knew I needed something flexible to get as many lighting options as possible into a small space, and a conventional rig can be limiting in that sense," says Ford. "I used the PLprofile1 luminaires in dance booms, because I wanted a wide range of colour, and they gave me the varie

Details
Europe - The new Philips ArenaVision LED is a lighting fixture dedicated for sports and multifunctional lighting applications. The unit brings a maximum design flexibility and high level of light quality, with no flicker effect in television application. Philips and Luminex worked together to bring an exclusive way to control and monitor these fixtures, offering maximum flexibility in switching between different types of events.

The partnership between the two companies started at RDM plug fest two years ago, and resulted in an agreement between both companies to share ideas and know-how. Luminex could bring its expertise in the entertainment market, and network based lighting control solutions.

A bespoke solution based on its Ethernet-DinMX4 and LumiNet Monitor V2 software was developed to provide advanced RDM monitoring, and easy to use merged control for the on tour lightin

Details
Australia - Australian national public broadcaster ABC has taken delivery of two Lawo mc2 consoles - one large Lawo mc²90 and one compact mc²56 - for its ABC TV studios in Elsternwick, Melbourne. Supply, configuration, installation and commissioning were carried out by Lawo's Australian partner for audio and video broadcast equipment, Professional Audio & Television (PAT).

The system, which was commissioned recently, consists of one Lawo mc2-90 console with 105 faders and a Lawo 48 fader mc2-56 console system. Lawo's mc2-90 flagship console core was supplied with 27 MADI ports, 96 AES3 inputs and outputs, 8 DSP cards including a redundant stand-by card, fully redundant controller cards and power supplies.

After having been awarded the tender to supply the equipment and provide the installation services as head contractor in June 2014, PAT worked closely with the Lawo project

Details
USA - Jands' flagship Vista L5 console is controlling a large rig on popular American country music duo Thompson Square's Just Feels Good tour, which features over 80 moving lights and a large configuration of HD video screens.

Thompson Square consists of husband and wife, Keifer and Shawna Thompson. The group have received three fan-voted American Country Awards, a CMT Music Award, and were crowned the 2012 Academy of Country Music's Vocal Duo of the Year - the first new duo to win the award in 20 years. They are now one of America's biggest country acts, selling more than 2m copies of their Grammy-nominated hit single, Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not.

Jeff Lavallee from Nashville-based lighting, rentals and production company, 44 Designs - which holds a large fleet of Jands Vista consoles - supplied the Vista L5 to lighting designer Larry Foote for the tour.

&qu

Details
USA - Free Chapel in Georgia has opened a new satellite campus in Gwinnett with a Meyer Sound Mina line array loudspeaker system in its 900-capacity auditorium. The facility is the ministry's second venue to deploy Meyer Sound, following the success with a CQ-2 and MSL-4 loudspeaker system on its main campus in Gainesville.

"Our Gwinnett auditorium is easily one of the best-sounding rooms I've heard in a long time in terms of coverage smoothness," says Michael Henson, technical director for Free Chapel. "The spoken word clarity is outstanding. We get a straight unprocessed audio feed of Pastor Franklin's voice, and we've found that we have to do almost nothing on the console to make it sound great in the room. The clarity and presence of the Mina system create an optimum environment for worship by producing a sound that's immersive, but never distracting."

  1. Colour Sounds listens to The Kooks
  2. Inaugural PLASA Focus Glasgow comes to the SECC
  3. Eventide in strategic partnership with Yamaha
  4. Twin SD7 desks in the mix at the Hollywood Bowl
  5. Roland solution for the Tokaj Festival Valley
  6. STL & Alchemy light up Leeds Castle
Page 1667 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .