UK - Manchester-based lighting and rigging specialist dbn had an opportunity to show some real rigging finesse at Manchester's Whitworth Art Gallery - just re-opened in a blaze of glory after a £15m revamp that includes a new wing and some new gallery spaces.

dbn has worked on various projects at the Whitworth over the years. dbn's Nick Todd joined the Gallery's own installations team to mastermind the rigging of four specific elements of the current permanent exhibition by sculptor and installation artist Cornelia Parker into the newly refurbished Gallery 6, 7 and 8 spaces.

The works include her acclaimed Cold Dark Matter : An Exploded View - suspended fragments of a garden shed that was exploded by the British Army, installed with a lightsource in the centre projecting dramatic shadows all around the gallery.

It also features the new intricate, precise and sli

Denmark - For its first location in the heart of Copenhagen, Danish chain Café Vivaldi has chosen a Meyer Sound system featuring IntelligentDC technology to provide exceptional audio quality rarely heard at a bistro. Serving the main floor and mezzanine areas, the system presents musical fidelity for daytime background tracks and boosts the energy level for live music showcases during the weekends.

"With IntelligentDC, we have achieved a whole new level of clarity for both ambient music and high-impact live entertainment," says Niels S°rensen, technical chief for Café Vivaldi. "And because of the positive feedback we have received on the audio, we will soon be expanding our Meyer Sound systems to the outdoor areas as well."

IntelligentDC is the Meyer Sound technology that combines the performance advantages of self-powered loudspeakers wit

UK - The National Theatre's newly transformed Dorfman Theatre opened for the first time in its seated format last month with Tom Stoppard's The Hard Problem. More seats than ever before are available for the show, following the regeneration of the theatre by architects Haworth Tompkins and theatre consultants Charcoalblue.

The improvements mean that an extra 27,000 people each year can gain access to what are often sold-out performances in the Dorfman, formerly the Cottesloe. In total, up to 130 more seats are available for each performance of The Hard Problem thanks to innovative seat designs and layout changes developed by Charcoalblue.

"By placing each row of the pit seating on an individual elevator, we have reinstated the original shallow rake format and made it possible to change from this to steep rake or flat floor quickly", says Alex Wardle from Charc

UK - Students from the University of South Wales' Lighting Design and Technology course recently lit up Penarth Marina in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the docks, once one of the busiest coal docks in the world.

Organised in co-operation with the Penarth Marina & Haven Residents' Association and Penarth Quay Marina, both architectural lighting and live projections were used across six sites around the Marina including the Harbour Master's Office, the swing bridge and hoist dock.

Course leader Stuart Green challenged the students to produce competing plans for the project, detailing the visual effects they aimed to achieve and the technical facilities required to implement their creations. From these plans, five were selected to be presented as part of the final event.

Successful students included: Nils Voerste and Claire Pinkney who lit the Lock Gates; Charlie Lapa

UK - Mantracourt, the manufacturer of the BroadWeigh load monitoring system, has announced that it has developed and manufactured a dedicated in-house test and calibration machine to further ensure the accuracy and reliability of its acclaimed BroadWeigh wireless load monitoring system.

The BroadWeigh portable wireless system offers real-time, simple, effective and accurate load monitoring for rigging professionals, safety officials and site managers enabling them to monitor and log the precise loads on any given rigging point.

Central to the design of the BroadWeigh system are Crosby shackles equipped with a high accuracy, wireless load pin that reports data remotely to a computer or a handheld display. The system is able to monitor multiple load cells and can trigger an alarm should a load exceed a preset parameter.

"Each BroadWeigh shackle is now calibrated using our

USA - Modernism Week is an annual Palm Springs event celebrating the architecture and lifestyle that characterized this SoCal enclave of the rich and famous back in the 1950s and '60s. Associating the term "modern" with a week dedicated to events of 60 years ago might seem oxymoronic, but the sustainable mid-century architecture of Palm Springs remains as cool today as it was back when Frank Sinatra raised a Jack Daniels flag over his home in the city to announce that parties would be taking place around his piano-shaped pool.

This coolness was very much on display at a VIP event during Modernism Week put on by Land Rover and illuminated by a collection of LED fixtures from Chauvet Professional. Held at one of Palm Springs' most notable examples of mid-century architecture, Siva House, which was designed in 1959 by Hugh M. Kaptur, the event featured a cocktail receptio

UK - Martin Audio has released images of its Glastonbury Festival LEGO model featuring MLA that will be on show at Prolight+Sound 2015 in Frankfurt on their stand F60 in Hall 8.0.

The model built by Bright Bricks, a professional LEGO building company, took over 120 man hours and 12,500 bricks to complete and sits on a stand measuring 1.2m x 1.2m.

Featuring the iconic Pyramid Stage, the model has full replica MLA hangs and MLX subwoofers in place whilst a flag waving crowd listen on. There is even a queue for the toilets.

Commissioned by James King, director of marketing, he said, "We wanted to celebrate our involvement in arguably the most prestigious festival in the world and the record breaking success of MLA last year. We thought as a bit of theatre for this year's Prolight+Sound it would garner lots of attention."

Courtesy of RG Jones Sound Engineering, Marti

USA - Among the many forms of technology Harvest's Pastor Greg Laurie uses to bring his Harvest America events to millions of people across the US is high-quality lighting provided by Martin Professional. In fact, during last year's event, the ability to quickly synchronize across hundreds of Martin lighting fixtures was key to the staff's ability to work within an unusually aggressive load-in schedule.

Harvest America events bring the spirit of Laurie's Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California to venues in different locations. The 2014 gathering was held 5 October at the American Airlines Centre in Dallas and was attended by more than 21,000. The event featured a day of live music performances, family activities and a sermon from pastor Laurie, which was then broadcasted and live-streamed to churches, theatres and living rooms across the country, reaching an estimate

UK - South London based event production company PR Live used nearly 200 x Core Lighting ColourPoint Mk 2 battery powered wireless LED uplighters to illuminate corridors, hallways, and various other key and linking areas at the Warner Music after-party following the 2015 Brit Awards.

The event was staged at the Freemason's Hall in Covent Garden, with PR Live responsible for delivering all the necessary technical production, a task co-ordinated for them by Justin Hammond.

He commented, "The ColourPoint Mk 2s were absolutely vital to establishing the correct look, feel and general ambience we wanted of the venue, which was divided into multiple areas all of which needed to be linked and feel part of the whole after-party 'experience' as well as having their individual identities."

PR Live owns vast quantities of ColourPoint Mk 2s and provided 72 of the fixtures used

USA - Faith Fellowship Church has celebrated worship services in its "stressed membrane structure" since 1999 but the facility's dated audio system had always suffered from poor audio quality and uneven coverage.

In 2014 Faith Fellowship contacted All Pro Sound in Pensacola, Florida to help it upgrade its audio. All Pro had helped with previous upgrades, video projection and wireless microphones.

The church wanted consistent coverage throughout the worship space and a more exciting audio experience for their contemporary worship services which feature a full praise band and 15-person chorus. To meet these needs, All Pro's Jeff Knighten designed a new Community loudspeaker system that would cover the 88ft by 120ft space evenly and provide the kind of full-range audio quality the church desired.

Faith Fellowship's upgraded system uses three Community I Series IP8 -11

UK - Leading technical producer Central Presentations Limited (CPL) has collaborated with event producer Bright to throw a spectacular airport-themed fancy dress party for the 1200 guests of a leading technology brand. CPL lighting designer Lee Gruszeckyj chose an array of Clay Paky fixtures to deliver stunning effects, colour and key lighting throughout the glittering event, including Alpha Spot HPE 1200, Sharpy and Sharpy Wash 330s.Taking over one of Cotswold Airfield in Gloucestershire's vast hangars, the party saw guests invited to enjoy several different areas including 'check in/security' and the 'departure lounge', where a DJ and bands played and an award ceremony took place on the main stage."We used eight Sharpys and eight Sharpy Wash 330s to give us some great beam effects during the perfomances," says Gruszeckyj. "Their brightness and speed was fantastic.

USA - Agricultural technology manufacturer and educator Precision Planting updated the user experience for their Planter Technology Institute, a mobile educational and promotional 53ft trailer that travels to growers nationwide, with the high definition PixelFLEX LED FLEXTiles.

After utilizing high-maintenance short throw projectors and televisions, Precision Planting engaged AV partner AVSC to improve the visual impact of the mobile display. PixelFLEX was chosen to create a dynamic and mobile visual environment.

"We thought this would be the best solution for our trailer moving forward, because we had seen it in action, we had seen the clarity and the definition, and we felt like it would be the best bang for our buck," said Precision Planting marketing manager Sean Arians.

The lightweight LED tiles save time and money in conjunction with the video trailer's full

UK - Continuing their work on a number of recent high profile productions at the National Theatre London, UK, XL Video is supplying digital LED scenery for Man and Superman at the National's Lyttelton Theatre.

The highly-acclaimed production of George Bernard Shaw's play, which stars BAFTA award-winner Ralph Fiennes in the lead role of Jack Tanner, is directed by Simon Godwin, with a video design by Luke Halls.

The production uses over 1800 modules of XL Video's Barco MiTrix LED to form digital scenery - upstage and for both side walls of the set.

The semi-transparent MiTrix LED is masked with a linear plastic which diffuses the light and enables the screens to be used for a diverse range of scenic elements throughout the show - including solid colours for interior walls, to reflect the colours of heaven and hell and to create blue skies and natural landscapes for the

Germany - HK Audio has extended the variable curvature options available on its ConTour Array CTA 208s.

Every CTA 208 ordered from the beginning of 2015 onwards features curvature options of 0°, 3° 6° and 9°, giving far more flexibility to the end user. Previous CTA 208s feature only 0° and 9° options.

The special new rigging system facilitates deployment in both long-throw and near-field applications. When users opt for the 0° setting, the individual mid/high units are not articulated; instead they form a stable and remarkably coherent wave. This maximizes frequency bundling effects, thereby maximizing range.

The improved rigging system, which allows the tops to also be tilted at 9°, 6° and 3° angles, enables ConTour Array to deliver optimum sound dispersion over the entire audience area, whatever the size of the venue, says the compa

UAE - Peerless-AV has opened a new warehouse location in the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone (JAFZA), Dubai, to improve response times to customers throughout the Middle East, Africa and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

"This is another strategic step in Peerless-AV's growth plan for EMEA. We are seeing rising demand for our mounts and Emerging Technology solutions from the region and the time is right for us to invest in high quality and efficient local support for customers in the region," said Adam Dent, director of international sales, Peerless-AV Europe.

The Jebel Ali location was chosen for its reputation as the pre-eminent logistics hub for the region and beyond. The warehouse will be managed by DTK, who have a 20 year history in servicing the technology market across the region. Shared with other vendors, the facility already has a wide range of Peerless-A

South Africa - Rentals company Sound Stylists has acquired 24 new Robe miniPointes from DWR Distribution, which will be used at their branches in Durban and Cape Town.

"This dynamic beam, wash and effect fixture has a host of features and we can't wait to exceed all expectations when we use them at our next show," commented Estelle Galloway from Sound Stylists. "We were pleasantly surprised by the smooth and even wash, in any of its 13 colours, created by the miniPointe's variable frost filter. The possibilities are endless with the new Mini Pointe and its output is far greater than one would expect from such a tiny light. Weighing only 13 kg, it proves that dynamite truly comes in small packages."

DWR sales team, Schalk Botha and Nicolet Britz, agree. "The Robe miniPointe is small, compact and creates brilliant air or beam effects," commented Sch

Europe - Electro pioneers, Kraftwerk, are currently touring the world with probably their most spectacular and innovative live show of their 45-year career - 3D concerts of their The Catalogue 12345678. Having received rave reviews across North America last year, Kraftwerk are now touring throughout Europe.

Production manager Winfried Blank made the decision in early 2014 to put DirectOut Andiamo 2.XT AES/MADI AD/DA converters on the tour. He asked for extended routing functionality to be included in the software for even greater flexibility. "We are working with digital audio signals from the source to the output," he said. "Our periphery is MADI and my idea was to travel via fibre from a couple of RME MADIface XTs to DirectOut's Andiamo 2.XT and from there via AES3 to the d&b amplifiers.

"The DirectOut Andiamo 2 series already supported MADI port r

Canada - Igloofest recently returned to Montreal for the ninth edition of the popular electronic music festival, a cool way to hear the hottest tracks on four three-day weekends from 16 January to 8 February. Clay Paky Sharpy and Sharpy Washes and A.leda B-EYE K-20 fixtures helped light up the night for tens of thousands of fans.

Montreal-based Karl Gaudreau of 4U2C was the visual/lighting designer for Igloofest 2015 creating the set, video and lighting for the music experience. Solotech in Montreal provided the equipment.

"I started working with Igloofest last year," says Gaudreau. "A massive igloo remains for the four weeks of the festival, and the equipment is outside for that time in very low temperatures. We needed to be very careful about what we did and how we hung the rig."

DJs and bands playing on two stages attracted approximately 10,000 people

Botswana - Officially opened at the end of November 2014, the outdoor live music venue at Molapo Crossing in Gaborone, Botswana features an L-Acoustics Arcs Wide and Focus system, installed to supply the coverage and sound quality demanded by the venue's owner, whilst ably addressing the restrictions of local noise regulations.

Situated within a shopping mall, the venue is the brainchild of Belgian-born managing director Luc Vandecasteele, who wanted to create an outdoor performance area that could predominantly host classical and jazz concerts.

L-Acoustics reseller for Botswana, Keyman Ventures, was employed to source technical equipment for the venue and called in Gauteng, South Africa-based L-Acoustics certified provider Sound Harmonics to take part in a three-system shoot out.

"Luc's vision was for the venue to be a cultural centre," explains Sound Harmonics' R

USA - Usher and Blake Shelton - two of the world's biggest music stars - united the genres of R&B and country respectively in front of 35,000 people for a double-headline concert at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. The concert was part of a gala event celebrating the 90th anniversary of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.

When Usher was confirmed for the gig, Dallas-based lighting and show designer Eric Wade of FOHShow, who has worked with the artist for 15 years, was asked to develop a production design for this special collaboration, and specified 162 of Robe's LEDBeam 100s and 50 x LEDWash 1200s as part of his lighting rig.

Wade also knows Blake Shelton's production team, and with Shelton not currently touring, they were happy for him to co-ordinate all the relevant visual requirements for both multi-award winning stars for this epic performance.

"My biggest challenge was

Denmark - Martin Professional has announced the kickoff of their annual Young Lighting Designer Contest that offers aspiring LDs from around the world a chance to have their work internationally recognized. The winner will be awarded an all-inclusive trip to the Prolight+Sound 2015 show in Frankfurt, Germany, the Martin M-Touch controller and an M-PC kit. The runner up also receives an M-Touch controller and third place wins an M-PC kit.

To enter, young LDs must design and programme a DMX lightshow using M-PC to a music track of their choice and submit a video recording to the Martin Professional Facebook contest page. Contestants can share the video to their own social networks and throughout the contest friends, colleagues, and other Facebook users can vote for their favourite shows.

When the contest ends, the three shows with the most votes enter the final stage of the cont

USA - From its fixed colour wheel with 14 slots plus white to its variable speed scrolling, the Rogue R1 Beam has a variety of special features. Lighting designer Dougie Lazer needed every last one of these capabilities recently when he worked the boards for Out of the Ashes: Phoenix Rising, a party at Manhattan's Stage 48 that commemorated the rebirth of the city's Sound Factory.

"I ran the lightshow for about 10 straight hours from before 11 until after 8 in the morning for this party," said Lazer. "Anytime you're on for that length of time, you're going to lean on everything a fixture has to offer. I made great use of the Rogue's ability to give me different gobo looks, tightly collimated beams and split colorus. We kept the show fresh looking the whole time."

By working well past the wee hours of the morning, Lazer was upholding a tradition that

UK - Electrosonic is to host an 'Open Week' in March 2015 at its new office in Cults, just outside Aberdeen City Centre. This will be an opportunity to meet the new installation and service team, view the office and rack building facilities, and pick up a redeemable voucher for either an Audio-visual Systems Health Check or a Communications Technology Risk Assessment.

The open week will take place during 23-27 March. This is a free, drop-in event to both existing clients and new companies looking to find out how Electrosonic's service and installation teams can support their audio-visual and communications technology and systems.

The new Aberdeen office will serve the corporate, oil & gas and entertainment markets in and around Aberdeen. It has full workshop facilities, storage and a fabrication space. Services offered include systems integration, and support services such as

UK - PSCo is holding a 'personal preview event' from 16-27 March for rental partners, system integrators and consultants to visit the PSCo Assessment Centre, to experience the latest in display screen technology.

A new development is the installation of a new DigitalMedia control system from Crestron, to deliver seamless support for all demonstrations. Catering for all trade needs, the space features five individual zones, displaying an impressive selection of solutions - and is currently the only place in the UK for the industry to compare such technologies in an independent environment, says the company.

Stuart Holmes of PSCo explains, "This destination will give visitors a true insight into the breadth of technologies on offer. The five zones within the centre give our clients a clear understanding of the whole range of products and support services we offer to our cha

Latest Issue. . .

Save
Cookies user preferences
We use cookies to ensure you to get the best experience on our website. If you decline the use of cookies, this website may not function as expected.
Accept all
Decline all
Analytics
Tools used to analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of a website and to understand how it works.
Google Analytics
Accept
Decline
Advertisement
If you accept, the ads on the page will be adapted to your preferences.
Google Ad
Accept
Decline