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UK - Adamson’s new S7 line array system, which has just been officially launched, was deployed during Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations at McEwan Hall.
Underbelly, producers of Edinburgh’s 2018/19 Hogmanay events, curated a three-day spectacular to celebrate Europe, and Scotland’s ties to Europe.
The 19th century McEwan Hall became a new venue for Hogmanay and hosted three major concerts - Symphonic Ibiza on 30 December and Capercaillie and Carlos Nunez with special guests on the 1 January, which also marked the start of a new collaboration between Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival.
The Warehouse Sound Services worked directly with Underbelly to provide an advanced audio set-up for the McEwan Hall events.
The Warehouse used Adamson’s new S7 line array system for the events. The system in McEwan Hall consis

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South Africa - Urban Brew Studios was the home to The Voice South Africa. In time for the new season, Studio Ten - where The Voice was shot - as well as four other studios on the premises, received a massive upgrade ranging from walkways, trussing, hoists, curtain tracks and pulleys. DWR Distribution’s theatre manufacturing department were commissioned for the project by Protea Electronics.
Urban Brew has been in the television business since 1995 and has been responsible for a variety of game and reality shows, music and sport shows, documentaries and soaps.
“To me this project was all about the people, the achievement, the deadlines and challenges too,” explains Jacques Welthagen from Protea Electronics. “Protea Electronics was chosen as the preferred turnkey supplier to furnish the complete facility including grids, trussing and lighting displ

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UK - Lighting designer Jon Smith has worked for the last seven years with one of the more brash and humorous pop punk bands around, Bowling for Soup. In late November and early December, the band played a string of festive UK gigs dubbed the Almost Christmastour with Jon using an Elation lighting rig to light the shows.
This run was a bit different for the LD however, as his own company, JSES provided all the lighting, truss, crew, operation and special effects. “My company has only been operational for two years and I have gone from a freelancer with a desk to a large operation that’s expanding all over the world,” Jon stated. ”We’re running fast to keep up with the work load and the exciting clients we are working with.” Those clients include names such as Drake, Giggs, Gareth Malone and Zebrahead.
About to mark their 25th anniversary, Bowling for

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Sweden - Melodic death-metallers, Soilwork have kick-started 2019 with a bang - in the form of a co-headline tour with Finnish metal giants, Amorphis. Performing 31 shows in 35 days across mainland Europe, Soilwork were supported by an Allen & Heath SQ-5 digital mixer running FOH and monitors.
The band’s full set-up includes an SQ-5 at FOH, with two DX168 I/O Expanders positioned on stage. Monitors are controlled from FOH, with an iPad placed on stage for the backline tech to make minor adjustments.
Tommy B (FOH & monitor engineer for Soilwork) purchased the SQ system, commenting, “Having mixed on most compact consoles, the Allen & Heath SQ series is by far the best. In the past, other manufacturers had set the standard for price friendly consoles, but the SQ just blows everything out of the water. With the SQ-5 I get great preamps, sharp EQ, super FX

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UK - Bacchus Bar & Club in Bishop’s Stortford’s recently brought in XS Audio Visual to design and install an extensive sound system, powered by just two amplifiers from Linea Research.
The entire project had to be completed to a tight deadline. “We had only four days to completely rip out the existing sound and lighting systems and commission a whole new nightclub sound, lighting, and video install, including relocating the DJ booth and existing TV video feeds,” recalls XSAV managing director Lee Michael.
Michael describes the Bacchus Bar as “a perfectly sized, rectangular-shaped venue that can accommodate 500 people comfortably.” On weekends, the well-established hot spot is often busy enough to reach full capacity, with DJs energizing the crowd. During the week, the club’s entertainment systems are used for karaoke and sports events.
XSAV ins

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UK - Rehearsals are a valued ally of lighting designers. But for Olly Suckling, they were a luxury he couldn’t afford when he lit the famed fireworks display at Alton Towers Resort.
“Given the nature of this show, the first time everything is seen working together is on the opening night,” says Suckling. “It simply isn’t possible to have a rehearsal with all the fireworks and other special effects being set off due to the sheer cost of such a large display. This means that the creatives from each department have to work together closely to plan how the show will look, without fully seeing the final product.”
From a lighting designer’s perspective, working on the fireworks show also requires the ability to very quickly update programming and make critical changes. This was something Suckling was able to accomplish quite handily in his eight-universe 156-f

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UK - Ministry of Sound The Annual Classical is an orchestral tour that recently received its world premiere at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
The event sets out to celebrate the famous club’s legendary dance music compilation The Annual dance compilation. Martin Audio has itself enjoyed a decade-long relationship with the south London club and tasked with faithfully reproducing the newly imagined sound on the road was RG Jones Sound Engineering, and their Martin Audio MLA compact PA.
Although the concept was new, reproducing major classical music events for promoters like Raymond Gubbay is familiar territory for RG Jones Sound Engineering, who have been specialising in this genre for many years.
The system designer for the RFH show was system tech Mark Edwards, while the production itself was a joint project between Coalition Agency (MoS Tour

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UK - KV2 Audio systems are currently on tour in the UK with a number of major productions, including Kinky Boots and Motown: The Musical, both supplied by Autograph Sound, as well as Tim Firth’s musical, The Band based on the music of Take That and Matthew Bourne’s convention-busting production of Swan Lake.
These and many more productions are currently gracing stages throughout the UK using a variety of KV2 Audio point source systems.
According to Andy Sharman, head of sound on the current UK tour of Kinky Boots, the real advantage of using a point source rig, especially on tour, is its adaptability. “Every theatre is different,” he says. “Using this design of loudspeaker allows us to adjust the configuration from place to place really easily, while staying within the designer’s original vision. It may be a bit old-school

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USA - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons and host of this year’s Super Bowl between the victorious New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams, features a challenging upper bowl devoid of acoustic treatments.
Nevertheless, a total of 58 Danley Sound Labs’ point-source SH96 Synergy Horn loudspeakers rocked the upper bowl with Danley’s characteristic fidelity and cliff-edge pattern control. In addition, VIPs enjoyed the musicality of 60 Danley GO-2-8CX loudspeakers installed in the luxury suites overlooking the game. For the 20-second year running, national AV integration and production firm ATK Audiotek handled all of the sound for this annual event.
“We’ve been doing this for so many years that we are very comfortable with how our on-field carts and temporary loudspeakers will perform,” explains Kirk Powell, sound designer with ATK Audiot

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USA - In a spectacular New Year’s kick-off, Insomniac Events produced two blockbuster EDM festivals at the National Orange Show Fairgrounds in San Bernardino, with stage designs by SJ Lighting. More than 70,000 fans attended Audiotistic and Countdown NYE, shows that featured dance music acts performing from a large DJ booth highlighted with 12 Solaris Flare Rayzr LED fixtures.
“The Flare Rayzr blades were so bright, they were overpowering even at the back of the venue,” says stage designer Stephen Lieberman, president of SJ Lighting. “We used the 1m models to detail the DJ booth, making it the focal point of each show. With a 25 mm semi-transparent LED screen in front, the Flares were so strong, we had to throttle them back a bit because the blow-through on the screen was so intense.”
Lieberman adds: “The Rayzr’s flexibility allowed us to tailor the look

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UK - After bursting onto the scene in 2007 with their debut album Take to the Skies, Enter Shikari established their reputation as a live band.
When the band began planning its current tour, its manager Keith Reynolds asked Matthew Knowles to create a lighting design that would not only support their multi-dimensional sound, but would also contribute to their stage presence with a classic but edgy look.
Knowles, who is with 10 Out Of 10 Productions, succeeded in doing just that, designing a show that paid homage to traditional stadium lighting while also projecting a somewhat disruptive sense of contemporary energy. Aiding him in this endeavour were eight STRIKE P38 and two Maverick MK1 Spot fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
“The band wanted to go for a classic stadium look, which meant a lot of backlighting with lots of haze to create moody and dark

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USA - Leisure World Seal Beach (LWSB) offers all the amenities of a small town in a resort-style setting for people aged 55 and over. A short freeway ride to Los Angeles and Orange County, LWSB spans 542 acres and boasts a nine-hole golf course, swimming facilities, fitness and exercise rooms and six club houses.
An impressive feature of LWSB is its 2,500-seat outdoor amphitheatre, where the Clair Brothers kiTCurve12 loudspeaker system was recently installed by Tim Metzger of TMAV Consulting & Integration and Ben Frederick of Production Access Group.
Frederick explains: “Tim and I chose the kiTCurve12 because we had both heard them before and knew what they could do sonically for the size of box. Based on existing lifts at the venue, we had a set horizontal position that was quite wide, but after placing them in EASE Focus, we were pleasantly surprised at the eve

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UK - Alex Webb used 28 x Astera AX1 PixelTubes - battery powered wirelessly operated fully controllable LED RGBW batons - to create The Heart of Manchester, a 20m high heart shaped light sculpture on the Quay Street façade of the #1 Spinningfields building in central Manchester.
Alex is a brand manager for Allied London, the property developer at the centre of evolving this vibrant area of the city, which has become a leading business destination, legal quarter and a thriving living and working community as well as a place for socialising and entertainment.
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Spinningfields commissioned various public art displays around town to explore love and heartbreak in the city, a project that also included offering this as their own creative contribution for public enjoyment and Instagram hotspots!
Inspired and tasked to find new

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UAE - In January 2019, The AFC Asian Cup returned to the UAE for the second time since 1996 and - for the first time - the month-long tournament saw 24 teams take part. It is the largest sporting tournament the UAE has ever hosted and took place over eight stadia across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain and Sharjah.
Over 5,000 volunteers were on hand to ensure the event ran smoothly, taking on various roles from operations and logistics to media management and hospitality.
Creative Technology (CT) supplied perimeter LED for five of the eight stadiums that were dotted around the UAE on behalf of client, Sports Logistics. Each stadium had 252m of S10 perimeter LED around the ground which was used to display advertising and sponsorship content throughout the games.
CT’s project manager, Darko Rosenberg explains: “The team has been travelling up and down the country mo

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UK - Northern Irish band Snow Patrol embarked on a UK tour to support new album, Wilderness, which concluded at London’s SSE Wembley Arena in February. Lighting and show designer Davy Sherwin selected Claypaky Scenius Unico as the only moving lights of the production.
Sherwin has worked with the band since 2002 and describes the creative relationship as ‘excellent’. “Sometimes the band gives me a starting point for a design, and I build on that. There are discussions and it is collaborative process, but mainly I have an awful lot of freedom in the design process,” he says.
Rigged on both the front truss and two automated trusses above the stage, Sherwin used the Scenius Unico in conjunction with the video wall to shift the size and shape of the stage throughout the performance, as well as providing crucial key lighting.
“The beam shape was a very im

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USA - One of the most elegant fixed sound system installations now graces the 400-seat sanctuary of the Valley Life Centre in Dallas. Nexo’s compact Geo M6 line array has been delivered by local audio specialists Alpha Sound, as the front end of a digital system featuring a Yamaha QL5 mixing console, and personal in-ear monitoring facilities.
“The 400-seat, intergenerational congregation sanctuary previously had a mono centre cluster of horns enclosed in a fabric cloud and a simple analogue console with a few wedges for monitors,” says Devin Sheets, head engineer at Alpha Sound.
Now, two Nexo M6 line arrays cover the 180° room evenly with added localisation from low profile out-fills. Along with the subwoofers, the speaker system naturally delivers a "modern" sound that is fitting for contemporary worship styles. “The new system will serve this church communit

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UK - White Light provided the lighting equipment for Arthur Miller’s The American Clock which has recently opened at the Old Vic Theatre, London.
The American Clock portrays the devastation that American citizens experienced when the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began in 1929. The play uses an ensemble cast to explore the lives of several families across several cities. It is directed by Rachel Chavkin and features a lighting design by Olivier Award-winning Natasha Chivers.
Natasha comments: “This is an epic play that manages to tell a huge story about an entire nation. Rachel wanted to create something quite extraordinary in which we put the audience right into this extraordinary time in American history. Part of this included having audience members on stage. What this means is that the Old Vic stage has now been turned so that it

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UK - Hot on the heels of their latest studio release Holy Hell, British metalcore act, Architects, have recently completed their UK and European tour accompanied by an Allen & Heath dLive system. The tour included some of the band’s biggest headline shows to date - finishing off at the SSE Arena in Wembley, London to an audience of 12,500 fans.
“After touring with a variety of consoles over the last few years I decided to make the switch to dLive after having them recommended to me by fellow users Ben Hammond and Jared Daly”, comments FOH engineer, Jonny Burgan. “I am a big fan of how modular the dLive systems are, being able to scale down surface size without sacrificing audio quality and compromising on processing power is something that not enough manufacturers have tried to address, yet Allen & Heath have managed to perfect it.”
Supplied by

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UK - The heady mix of highly tuned bikes, screaming engines, screeching tyres and brakes and supernatural speed races meshed with the breath-taking daring of motorcycle stunt acrobatics… indoor Motocross racing and Freestyle MX all rolled into a single adrenaline fuelled night of seat-edge action complete with pumping soundscape . . . and you have the heartbeat of
Producers and organisers Arena Sports Live presented Arenacross (AX in three of the UK’s leading arena venues – Belfast, Birmingham and Sheffield – for their 2019 AX tour, with HSL supplying a full production package – lighting, video and rigging – plus sound in partnership with Nitelites.
Additional venue ‘sports lighting’ was also provided by HSL for the two Birmingham shows at the Resorts World Arena (NEC).
HSL’s project manager was Ben Perrin. He and the team were delighted to be

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UK - Technical theatre students at the Guildford School of Acting recently benefitted from hands-on experience creating dynamic soundscapes and source-oriented vocal localisation for their stage musical production of 9 to 5.
Cambridge-based immersive audio pioneers, Out Board, provided the school with a TiMax spatial delay-matrix, complete with TiMax Tracker, for students to experience the creation of a sound design pushed beyond the usual boundaries of intelligibility, balance and audience immersion.
After the student production, course tutor Sam Digny and guest mentor sound designer Justin Teasdale held a seminar insight day showcasing their experience and success with the advanced immersive TiMax technology. A wider audience of invited industry professionals comprised local hire companies, production managers, sound engineers and students old and new.
O

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UK - The Bodyguard stage musical is an ambitious show, with a large cast, orchestra, and crew required to bring the classic, soulful song list to life alongside Alexander Dinelaris’ acclaimed libretto.
Since its successful West End run, the show has toured the world and now has a second UK tour underway, with Alexandra Burke taking the lead as singer Rachel Marron. It is also proving to be a showcase first outing for the new Sennheiser SK 6212 mini-bodypack transmitter, supplied by Autograph Sound.
From the start of this run, sound designer for the show Richard Brooker was sold on using a digital wireless system, having already used Sennheiser’s Digital 9000 system on Bend it Like Beckham and Dreamgirls. “Moving to digital gave a new sound that is much more open and clear,” he recalls. “It isn’t compromised by the companding process...

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UK - The team at Nottingham-based OneBigStar was already familiar with the Chauvet Professional Ovation series when they made a major investment in the LED fixtures. “We’ve built the Chauvet trade show booths for years, so we’ve worked with Ovation units before and have been very impressed,” says Steve Yeardsley, managing director of the technical and event production company.
Recently, Yeardsley and his team acted on this confidence by adding a substantial number of Ovation ellipsoidal and par-style fixtures to OneBigStar’s inventory. The new fixtures are intended to replace the company’s existing tungsten units.
“We’re constantly looking to invest in new technologies, especially when they involve moving from older units to better, brighter and more energy efficient ones,” says Yeardsley. “The Ovation range certainly stands tall against the tungste

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UK - Edinburgh Castle and the medieval Old Town offered a magnificent backdrop to Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebration for thousands of revellers who welcomed the new year immersed in a city centre-wide high quality pro audio installation.
In collaboration with the sound designer Dan Jones, Catalyst Event Production Services was tasked with specifying, installing and operating a sound solution for much of the event that would envelope partygoers, leading them to "a complete d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker, amplification and R1 control software solution".
UK-based live entertainment company Underbelly, which has produced the event on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council since 2017, bills Edinburgh’s Hogmanay as “one of the biggest celebrations in the world”. The famed Street Party showcased Scottish and European musicians, street theatre artists, dancers, choir

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UK - Artem, the physical special effects company, made further inroads into the theatre sector recently with a new effects’ challenge from the world of dance. Artem, whose credits include Harry Potter: The Cursed Child and Holiday on Ice, were asked to design and build a piece of equipment capable of projecting a single giant smoke ring the shape of a doughnut - known in physics as a Torus - from the rear of a stage, out over an audience.
The ‘smoke vortex cannon’, as it came to be known, had to be large enough to make an impact in a sizeable performance venue, whilst being resilient and easily transportable on tour. In addition, the cannon needed to be DMX programmable, to enable control from the lighting gallery.
Artem’s client is the Birmingham and Barcelona-based dance company, Humanhood. Artistic directors Rudi Cole and Júlia Robert Parés
  1. De Effenaar goes live with SSL
  2. L-Acoustics brings Kinder dreams to stage
  3. Mavericks accent emotions of Les Misérables
  4. dLive in control at Virginia Beach church
  5. Coda provides sound footing for Z-Bau
  6. DAS reinforces 2022 Asian games venue
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