USA - Digital signal processing specialist Xilica has announced a new hospitality industry installation with Carte Hotel, a boutique hotel nestled in the Little Italy section of San Diego. J&E Pro Audio specified Xilica with the systems design, which called for a complete AV over IP infrastructure as part of the ground-up construction. While connected to the central IT infrastructure, J&E Pro Audio configured a dedicated LAN with managed network switches to separate all audio and video signals from standard IT traffic. The company selected the Xilica Solaro FR1 DSP to optimize quality and multi-channel performance over the network, while citing its modularity and seamless integration with Dante audio networking as other deciding factors. “We ran our network on the hotel fibre infrastructure, with dedicated switches that run parallel to the hotel network,” s
New Zealand - Every year, Wellington’s Botanic Gardens is transformed into Gardens Magic featuring a free concert series with a mix of music from over 100 performers during 18 nights. As the sun goes down, the Botanic Gardens transform into a wonderland of lights, with colourful installations and displays created by MJF Lighting. This year, MJF Lighting deployed Firefly LED Festooning Lighting to add extra sparkle to the popular event. “We did have some festoon lighting but it was the old school version so it was definitely time for an upgrade,” comments Blair McLaren, MJF’s Wellington operations manager. “Having festoon lighting with an outdoor rating plus LED technology makes all the difference.” Blair added that an important factor when choosing Firefly LED Festoon was the fact that they didn’t have to lamp or de-lamp the strings of festoon
Norway - Norway’s National Theatre has made a major investment in DPA’s 6000 Series of subminiature microphones because the sound team was so impressed with the tiny size of the capsules and their ability to withstand water, particularly in the form of sweat. Kai Priddy, who for the last 14 years has been the theatre’s head of sound, says: “We started using the 6000 Series in 2019 and now have around 30 - mostly lavalier mics (6060 and 6061), but also some 6066 Headsets. We started gradually phasing out our stock of DPA 4000 Series lavalier and headset microphones, which we have been using for many years, and replacing them with the new subminiatures. The fact that the 6000 headsets are physically smaller is preferable visually, plus their resistance to water does prevent sweat droplets from getting onto the membrane. As most sound techs know, this can be very annoyi
USA - The Behind the Scenes Mental Health Initiative has rolled out a number of suicide prevention tools as part of joining the #BeThe1To campaign run by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and its partners. These tools are available at btshelp.org/bethe1to. A BTS survey of the industry revealed that most people want to help if they see someone at risk for suicide but they don’t know what to say or do, or are afraid they will make things worse or damage their relationship with the person. Evidence shows this is not the case and it is critical to reach out. The first part of the campaign is called Know the Warnings Signs because the more familiar someone is with the warning signs of suicide the more likely they are to recognize them. BTS has created posters listing some of the key warning signs in English, Spanish and French and they are available for dow
Argentina - Buenos Aires-based AV services company Mediapro Argentina has recently turned to IP for a comprehensive technical upgrade of their facilities, where ESPN broadcasts sports-related programming for the region in Spanish. The new IP infrastructure has been integrated by Unitetecnic, the Mediapro Group systems integrator and engineering company, and is based on solutions and knowhow from Lawo. Lawo’s video, audio, control and networking solutions were chosen to ensure interoperability and maximum use of resources across the facilities. In a first upgrade stage, Mediapro Argentina and Unitecnic have installed a V__matrix IP video system for edge conversion and signal processing as well as an mc²-based audio infrastructure featuring six mc²56 production consoles, Nova a
France - Eventlive-Group, an AV equipment and service supplier in Biarritz, has added a complement of Claypaky Mini-B fixtures to its extensive lighting inventory. Eventlive-Group has a wide range of clients from seminars of all sizes, public events and big music festivals to permanent installations in bars, clubs, shops and sports venues. “Clients come to us for our technical skills as well as our creative mindset,” says Hugo Malatray, lighting designer with Eventlive-Group. The company recently invested in 16 Claypaky Mini-Bs, which Hugo calls “small, silent, bright, fast and precise”, adding, “There hasn’t been a small wash light like it for the last decade.” Mini-B is the smallest LED moving light ever made by Claypaky for the professional market. Although it weighs just 7 kg and measures only 34 cm, Mini-B features advanced, modern optical and
UK - Robe UK worked with a number of companies, organisations, venues and individuals to light 10 significant buildings and landmarks in and around its hometown of Northampton for the #LightItInRed lighting action campaign on Monday 6 July. Robe UK’s head of marketing Theresa Gibson coordinated all the permissions required to light these key Northampton sites as well as dealing with logistics and sourcing fixtures for which Robe UK partnered with rental and production company Clearsound Production from Shipston-on-Stour. MLE Pyrotechnics lit the town’s famous National Lift Tower, a 127.5m former test tower for Express Lifts which is the tallest building in the town and is now grade II heritage listed. The front façade of the magnificent stately home of Althorp House - home to the Spencer family for the last 500 years - was illuminated in striking scarlet wit
UK - Trending in Twitter’s top 3 on the night, the #LightItInRed campaign saw over 670 buildings, monuments, landmarks and structures all over the UK illuminated in ‘Emergency Red’ on 6 July (Monday) to highlight the vast challenges facing the live events, music and performing arts sectors. The action was organised by Steven Haynes from Clearsound Productions and Phillip Berryman from The Backstage Theatre Jobs Forum. It energised theatres, arts centres, live music venues, technical production and rental companies and associated individuals and freelancers everywhere, who were able to enjoy the camaraderie of working together once again on a massive national event with real purpose, after many months of the industry being closed and shuttered. On the eve of the event (Sunday) the government announced a £1.57bn financial assistance package for arts and culture in
UK - Outdoor venues, including open-air theatre, opera and music venues, can reopen from 11 July and host socially-distanced performances, the culture secretary Oliver Dowden has announced this afternoon (9 July). This will mean venues will be able to host performances for the first time in 115 days since they were forced to shut on 18 March. "This is an important milestone for our performing arts, which have been waiting patiently since March," Dowden said. "We are taking various measures to make these places safe as they reopen. Venue capacity will be reduced and organisations will be encouraged to move to electronic ticketing to help Test and Trace. But our performing arts deserve an audience and they will be getting one." He added that the government is working to usher audiences indoors as soon as possible and is funding scientific studies to find ways to mit
UK - TSL Lighting joined the Light It In Red campaign on 6 July (Monday), bathing its Gatwick and Basingstoke premises with light as part of the ‘red alert’ initiative lobbying the government to ramp up support for the arts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Light It In Red galvanised the entertainment technology industry to come together to warn that without financial aid, the supply chain for live entertainment and events is threatened. The initiative took place as the government announced a financial aid package worth £1.57bn for the arts after months of pressure. “It’s vital that we show solidarity with industry and raise awareness of the dire situation,” comments TSL’s Loz Wilcox. “The supply chain does so much for theatre, TV and events and it
UK - Martin Audio’s British headquarters in High Wycombe got a dramatic new look as part of Monday night's #LightItInRed campaign, which saw 700 buildings of every kind across the UK lit up in ‘emergency red’ to amplify the voice of the event and entertainment industry during this critical time. Martin Audio’s managing director, Dom Harter, comments: “The live events industry is on a precipice. Unless it receives urgent funding to safeguard its future, the shockwave of the resulting collapse will impact hundreds of thousands of jobs in businesses up and down the country and ultimately have a significant detrimental impact on the culture of Great Britain. “We continue to support all industry parties and partners in this fight. I would also like to offer my thanks to Nigel Meddemmen, our in-house lighting specialist, and Sophie Hoult for her stunning photogra
UK - SARM Music Bank in northwest London has transformed its rehearsal rooms into COVID-compliant live streaming, recording and session spaces in partnership with local rental specialists, Colour Sound Experiment. Each studio now has a fully equipped, modular and scalable lighting, video and multi camera system ready to go. FOH, monitor and broadcast mixing are taken care of in house. Dedicated leased line broadband along with Source Connect is available if needed, and a suite of breakout rooms including dressing room, artist lounge, manager's office, interview rooms and a kitchenette are part of each studio. Each step of the process has been carefully considered to ensure that artists and crew can operate safely, from a socially distanced chauffeur to contactless catering options. Haydn Cruickshank, managing director of Colour Sound Experiment, was contacted b
Canada - Green Hippo has appointed DataVisual as its exclusive distributor for Canada. Ottawa-based DataVisual will add Green Hippo’s Hippotizer Media Server product range to its comprehensive AV systems portfolio, improving its offering to clients across Canada’s pro-AV marketplace. Having enjoyed a long relationship with Green Hippo’s sister brands Magenta Research and tvONE, DataVisual found the Hippotizer range a “perfect addition” to its technology offering. “The fit between our two organizations has always been very good, as we both place a high value on the service and support required of more technically sophisticated products,” comments DataVisual CEO Lisa Kislich-Lemyre. “The addition of Green Hippo to that family was welcome news. We’ve had a lot of success with tvONE’s video wall processors, but Media Servers were the one piece of
UK - A resource for freelancers working in the performing arts sector has been launched to help drive the community’s bid for further government support. Freelancers Make Theatre Work is described as “an inclusive community for the 20,000+ self-employed and freelance workers from all areas of theatre, opera, dance and live performance”. It has been designed as an information hub for the freelance theatre workforce and will also act as a platform that will communicate the community’s visions and concerns to theatre management, production companies, industry bodies and government. The website is run by a voluntary group comprising Adele Thomas, Andrew Whyment, Beth Steel, Bill Bankes-Jones, Chinonyerem Odimba, Hazel Holder, Neil Austin, Ola Ince, Polly Bennett, Paule Constable, Peter McKintosh, Prema Mehta, Simon Manyonda, Tom Piper and Vicki Mor
Big Birthday - Ringo Starr celebrates his 80th birthday today (7 July), even though it will now be online due to the coronavirus pandemic. “I've got a huge birthday; I am going to be 80,” says Starr. “But I am going to celebrate it a little differently this year from the last 12 years, where we had the peace and love moment at noon.” This annual tradition began in 2008 at a 100-guest gathering for his birthday at the Hard Rock in Chicago. Since then it has expanded to 27 countries, with its epicentre on a big stage in Hollywood. The Beatles drummer celebrates the event with music performances from himself and his friends, in front of 100s of fans. But he had to cancel the event this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he will put on a virtual charity concert on YouTube called Ringo's Big Birthday Show. He'll be joined by Sir Paul McCartney, Joe W
USA - One year on from taking delivery of the world’s first Wavefront Precision Longbow (WPL) system, Richmond, VA’s Soundworks has now switched its entire inventory to Martin Audio, purchasing both 8-inch WPS and 10-inch WPC systems. Founded in 1976 by Steve Payne, Soundworks has long benefited from a working relationship with Southard Audio, led by Mike Southard in neighbouring Harrisonburg, VA. In 2019, the two companies jointly chose Martin Audio for the first time, becoming the first WPL users in the world with each company purchasing 24 WPL cabinets, 12 SXH218 hybrid subs and 12 iKON iK42 amps. “We used WPL for the whole of last season and we were just delighted with it,” says Payne. “We looked forward to every opportunity we had to use it but for smaller events we still had to use a smaller, older system that we had in our inventory. That was hard! We
UK - Last night (6 July), some of the UK’s most iconic venues and landmarks were lit up in ‘emergency red’ as part of the #LightItInRed campaign to draw attention to the critical condition of the live events and entertainment industry. A glimpse of hope was given to Britain’s arts industry on Sunday evening (5 July), as £1.57bn was pledged by the government – yet the supply chain behind the production of live events and festivals, including many freelancers, is still awaiting clarification as to what support they will be offered. Unlike other industries, live theatre, outdoor events, concerts, festivals and performances have been unable to safely resume due to social distancing guidance and other restrictions. Many predict these events may not resume until 2021. The #LightItInRed campaign aims to draw attention to the
UK - Pro audio loudspeaker brand Inspired Audio has announced a major restructuring of its operations in the both the UK and also in Asia. As part of the restructure, co-founder Chris Scott, who left the company at the end of 2018 to establish a production facility and to concentrate on product development has re-joined as both managing director and sole shareholder, while fellow co-founder Gareth Hunt has left the company. Commenting on the restructure Scott says: “My roots have always been in the design and manufacturing side, so leaving to re-engage with that was a natural step for me, although as I was building for Inspired and also designing the latest product for them, in a sense I didn’t really leave. In a similar vein Gareth’s roots have always been in the retail side of the pro audio business, so this restructure see’s Gareth returning to concentrate
UK - PLASA has responded to the UK government’s pledge of £1.57bn funding for the arts with the following statement from its MD, Peter Heath: “While PLASA is pleased to see the government deliver a generous rescue package to arts institutions across the UK, they have only addressed the tip of the iceberg. We hope that the government will announce further support for all the manufacturers, suppliers and freelancers who help make the UK a global leader in events. “Theatres and venues are absolutely essential to the cultural fabric of the UK, however, they only represent the public face of a vast industry. Each arena concert, musical show, arts installation, or corporate event relies on a complex supply chain, often involving hundreds of professionals. To put on a single arena show requires an average of
USA - The Audio Engineering Society’s first Audio Product Education Institute event will address real-world experiences in voice integrated product development with the theme Successful Smart Speakers and Voice-Enabled Products. "Today, some of the most sophisticated voice processing is already in our pockets. Smartphone production numbers are hard to beat in the consumer electronics industry,” says Mike Klasco, CEO, Menlo Scientific, and committee member of the Audio Product Education Institute (APEI), a new AES initiative. “This fiercely competitive market is driving continuous product design improvements, but many companies are also repeating many painful mistakes and are forced to re-learn audio fundamentals long recognized by the audio industry. I’m faced with highly instructive examples of that in my consultancy business,” continues Klasco.
UK - After weeks of relentless campaigning, the British arts sector has been promised a coronavirus bailout worth £1.57bn.
The funding was announced late on Sunday evening, with the UK government stating it represents “the biggest ever one-off investment in UK culture”.
The package includes: - £1.15bn support pot for cultural organisations in England, comprising £880m grants and £270m loans; - £100m of targeted support for the national cultural institutions in England and the English Heritage Trust; - £120m capital investment to restart construction on cultural infrastructure and for heritage construction projects in England; - extra £188m for the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland (£33m), Scotland (£97m) and Wales (£59m).
The news follows the government’s announcement of a roadmap to reopeni
UK - PLASA has announced the postponement of the 2020 PLASA Show due to the COVID-19 crisis. The popular trade event was set to take place on 6-8 September at London Olympia. The Association says in a statement: “It is with great regret that we announce that PLASA Show will not take place at Olympia London from 6-8 September this year due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and uncertainty regarding social distancing and lockdown policies. However, PLASA Show will return to Olympia London in 2021 from 5-7 September and we look forward to seeing you there. “We hope that by the time PLASA Show 2021 comes around the industry will be restored back to full health and we can celebrate with a fantastic ‘come-back’ show, face to face. In the meantime, keep safe and in keep in touch. ” Sophie Atkinson, head of events at PLASA, comments: “It is of cou
USA - With the travel, gathering and distancing restrictions that come with the COVID-19 pandemic, Elation Professional’s sales team and product specialists are demoing some of Elation’s newest lighting products from the comfort and safety of their own homes in a video series called Virtual at Home Demo. Published each week on Elation’s YouTube channel, each video provides an overview of the key features and benefits of some of Elation’s newest lighting products, a demonstration that gives lighting pros an opportunity to assess if a luminaire is right for their needs. Products showcased in the series include the Fuze Spot, Fuze Pendant, Fuze Profile, Fuze SFX, Smarty Max, Artiste Van Gogh, Artiste Monet, Dartz 360, CW Profile HP and WW Profile HP ellipsoidals,
USA - Performance Manager Applications for Concerts & Festivals and Audio Engineering: Setting up a Vocal Template for Recording Sessions Among New Harman Live Workshops scheduled through Mid-July. Other Topics include Basic Introduction to Martin P3, Fixintogetmixin: How to Build Your Best Mix! (Parts 1 & 2) and Rightsizing Esports: Technical Solutions from Schools to Stadia. Available workshops, scheduled through the middle of July, feature lighting or audio experts who have extensive industry knowledge and experience working with various artists including Bob Seger, DJ Khaled, Enrique Iglesias, Janet Jackson, Linkin Park, Mötley Crüe, Pitbull and many others. Over 75 Live Workshops have been conducted since the programme’s introduction and are now available at Harman Professional’s
