USA - For more than half a century, Atlanta’s Mount Paran Church has been celebrated by the evangelical world as a beacon of effective ministry and engaged, growing membership, evidenced by its 13,000-plus-member congregation. Mount Paran is forward-thinking when it comes to the technology it uses to communicate its message, a point that was clearly underscored by its recent distinction as the first house of worship to install a sanctuary loudspeaker system built upon L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology. “Good sound is one of the most essential elements in today’s churches, and achieving consistent, engaging audio throughout an entire worship space is mission-critical so that the congregation has a shared community experience,” says Tim Corder, strategic accounts director - house of worship for Diversified, the technology solutions provider that delivered the project.
UK - The Salute the NHS campaign (www.salutethenhs.org) was launched by businessmen Ron Dennis and food and catering expert Nigel Harris, owner of Absolute Taste and former owner of Fresh Direct. It is a not-for-profit initiative that aims to deliver a million free meals to NHS frontline workers over three months. Delivering the initiative has brought together an army of experts and partners from leading food, logistics, packaging and other specialists. These include Dennis’s DreamChasing charity, and three FTSE 100 companies - Tesco, Unilever and DS Smith. As well as Absolute Taste, Yodel, Team Rubicon, Hunter Design and Domestic & General, amongst others. The operation is housed in a former WW2 RAF hanger at the Bicester Heritage site in Oxfordshire. However, it became apparent that the vast space felt daunting for the volunteers from the Bicester community, w
USA - Katy Perry and XR Studios, a Los Angeles-based production company dedicated to producing XR content in live entertainment, engaged Production Resource Group (PRG) to support the virtual 3D interactive environment for Katy Perry’s Daisies performance during Sunday’s American Idol finale on ABC. The performance made comprehensive use of Extended Reality (XR) for television. XR Studios in partnership with Silent Partners Studios of Los Angeles and Montreal, created an environment with comic-book style graphic elements that changed throughout the performance, including a house, chair and, of course, daisies that enveloped Katy and to which she interacted and reacted. XR is an umbrella term for all immersive technologies that enable the layering of 3D on top of the real world. The technologies available today - augmented reality (AR), virtual realit
Germany - In March and April, German TV network ProSieben broadcast the second season of the TV show The Masked Singer (TMS), in which celebrities sing whilst wearing imaginative full-body costumes. Whoever receives the fewest votes per show must remove the mask and disclose their identity. In the meantime, the jurors, Ruth Moschner and Rea Garvey, along with a guest judge each week, speculate over the course of six live shows as to the identity of who might be hiding behind the masks. Lighting designer Arkin Atacan from atacan design turned to various lighting solutions from GLP to ensure that the lovingly designed costumes, comprising dragons, sloths, robots etc,. appeared to optimal effect on the television screen. Arkin, who mainly specialises in the TV sector has been in charge of the Endemol Shine production since the first season last year. The stage conc
The Netherlands - Rental company MHB developed a digital audience platform for MediaLane, based on a curved LED display consisting of ROE Visual Diamond LED panels, to enable a TV show continue under COVID-19 restrictions. With the help of the facilities provided by, MHB, broadcast station BNNVARA was able to continue the popular television programme Even Tot Hier in a corona-proof adaptation. MHB set out to develop a digital audience platform, enabling live interaction between the studio and an audience of 100 people. Using lots of conference connections, the audience is able to participate and intervene live during the show, just like a normal live audience in the studio would be able to. The curved display, measuring 17mx3m, makes the interaction “up close and very natural”. Supported from a custom-made truss construction, neatly following th
UK - Manchester-based Sterling Event Group has opened the doors to the newly-created Sterling Studio. As the events and AV industries face increasing uncertainty as to when ‘business as usual’ will resume and live events can take place again, Sterling Event Group has announced the launch of the Sterling Studio Space. This comes at an instrumental time for the industry as Sterling works to reassure their clients that there are a multitude of alternatives to the traditional live event, says the company. “At this current time whilst live events are on hold, we wanted to offer our clients a solution to continue communicating, engaging, educating and entertaining. The studio allows clients to present their virtual events at the same high standard and production values they would expect from a live event.” comments Richard Bowden, founder and MD. As a company
Mongolia - To elevate its venue quality sound and provide guests a memorable clubbing experience, Eon Clublex Ulaanbaatar recently upgraded to a new Harman Professional audio solution. Eon Clublex Ulaanbaatar is Mongolia’s biggest nightclub and features modern facilities. It consists of the main hall, a VIP lounge and a first-floor lounge. To further enhance the guest experience, the club entrusted ITC Solutions to deliver a premium audio system that provides exceptional sound performance. “The venue needed a robust audio system that delivers even sound coverage and produces a high-end clubbing atmosphere,” said a spokesperson at ITC Solutions. “We wanted a partner that could set up an ideal audio solution and extend reliable customer service post-installation - that’s why we chose Harman.” Meeting the club’s audio expectations, ITC Solutions deplo
Australia - Despite the restrictions that were in place, the team at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne wanted to make this year’s Mother’s Day special and called on lighting specialist Resolution X for help. The brief was to illuminate the façade of the hospital with colour and messages of love and support for all mothers. As part of the display, images of new and expecting mothers were projected onto the building in a rotating 10-minute light show. However, projecting the images onto the building turned out to be no small feat. The best vantage point for the setup was on the rooftop of a building diagonally opposite the Royal Women’s façade; a horizontal throw from the projection location approached 90m with an angle of more than 50 degrees. Further, challenging the team, wireless DMX was being beamed across the road and seven stories down to control a
USA - Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, New Hampshire, transformed its business operations and parking lot into the Tupelo Drive-In Experience to produce some of the first live concerts in the United States with the new social distancing requirements. The music venue’s debut shows in mid-May were powered by a Leopard system provided by Meyer Sound rental partner UltraSound, showcasing one of the early innovations that explores new ways to deliver performances to a safely-distanced live audience. UltraSound’s Scott Tkachuk has been working alongside Tupelo Music Hall’s owner Scott Hayward and production manager Paul Higgins since the conception of the drive-in shows in March. “About a week or two after the shelter-in-place order was issued, we began brainstorming. When the first phase of re-opening New Hampshire included drive-in theatres, we thought why not concerts?
UK - Sitting atop a hill 1,000ft above the floor of the Dee Valley in Wales, Dinas Brân exerts a powerful pull over the hearts of townspeople below. For nine centuries, the medieval castle built by a prince of Powys Fadog, has inspired myths, songs, and love stories. More recently, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the castle, which now stands in ruins, and its adjacent hills, have inspired hope and gratitude in the form of a lighting display created by ASG Entertainments, with the support of the Denbighshire County Council, North Wales Police, Eastwood Media, and Xperience Productions. On two successive nights in May, the all-volunteer group illuminated the hills and castle in vivid colours as a sign of appreciation for the NHS staff and key essential workers. Providing the display were 24 Chauvet Professional battery-operated WELL Fit fixtures taken from ASG’s
Germany - In Eberswalde, a valley town located a short drive from Berlin, the world’s first radio concert was broadcast from an experimental tower near the city centre in January 1923. Today, almost a century later, a local music label, Lukins, is breaking through a new and different kind of barrier by organising Save Your Culture, a series of livestream events that highlight Eberswalde artists and venues that have been impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown. On 21 and 23 April, these broadcasts, which are livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, emanated from the city’s popular (and temporarily closed) indoor climbing centre Bloc48. Accentuating the distinctive climbing walls and innovative obstacles of the facility, while supporting the online show’s DJ performers, was a collection of Chauvet Professional STRIKE and COLORado fixtures supplied by KINGSIZE.events.
USA - DP Design of Milwaukee recently designed a sound system based on a Martin Audio Wavefront Precision Mini (WPM) line array system for the Celebration Church in Lakeville. Describing the project, DP’s David Price explains: “The church was built in the early 90s and they’ve been slowly upgrading for the first time since then. Now they’ve added a new PA, console and wireless, which is a big first step for them.” According to Price, “Celebration is a very contemporary church with a large area including a stage built to be more of a theatrical performance venue that holds about 850 people. The basic shape is square that eventually curves out into a fan-shaped auditorium space. “They wanted concert-level sound so we installed Martin Audio WPM based on its minimal impact on sightlines and its exceptional audio performance for mid-sized concerts, somet
South Korea - Jeonju-Paul Church, South Korea’s largest Evangelical Holiness Church, had its main loudspeaker system replaced on time for the inauguration service of the church’s new pastor. Outline’s Seoul-based distributor Hebsiba Multimedia opted to deploy a main rig with a L-C-R set-up. The left and right hangs each comprise 12 Outline Eidos 265 line array elements for mid-high frequency reproduction and a FlySub 15 enclosure to add bottom end punch. Four more Eidos 265s were deployed for the centre channel. Outline’s Eidos 265 was designed for applications ranging from live events to permanent installations. With its low weight (just 21 kg) and size:performance ratio, it houses two 6.5” mid/low-frequency transducers and a high-frequency compression driver with a 2.5” diaphragm and 1.41” throat, loaded with a 100° (horizontal dispersion) waveguide.
Switzerland - As an audio professional with experience stretching from the Paleo festival in the 1970s, through working with many of the world’s highest profile artists, to his current role of designing high-end audio installations for events and venues, Pierre-André Aebischer knows a thing or two about sound. He chose Yamaha’s Stagepas 1K all-in-one portable PA systems to demonstrate the advantages of multi-channel, immersive live audio. Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, Pierre-André has recently started using eight Yamaha Stagepas 1K systems under the banner of Superdiff.com for a range of immersive audio projects. These have included the Stokata.io ‘invisible orchestra’ project, a one-off show Les Grands Espaces, as well as a regular experimental multi-channel event Immersive, demonstrating how immersive sound can improve the live experience.
Saudi Arabia - Commissioned by the Qiddiya Investment Company (Q.I.C.) and with phase one planned to open in 2023, the ambitious Qiddiya project is destined to be the upcoming capital for arts, entertainment and sports in Saudi Arabia. The 334sq.km site will be built from a focus on the tourism and recreation industries, as highlighted in the Saudi Vision 2030 expansion plan. The destination includes plans for expansive water and theme parks as well as a community of 5,000 residents, all within a 40-minute journey of the Riyadh capital. The destination, currently an expansive, vast land with hundreds of miles of potential, will be surrounded by 200m cliffs. Phase one of the project will feature Six Flags Qiddiya as a family attraction, providing visitors with entertainment and attractions to explore which take into consideration the cultural and natural aspects of th
Germany - The Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus theatre has extended its long relationship with Optocore, in order to keep pace with evolving technology. In the case of such a formidable, multi-space complex as this, an agile digital infrastructure, with multiple routing options and interconnectivity, is essential. To maintain this, the theatre has upgraded the original Optocore analogue network, installed in 2011, to an advanced and future-proof system. The latest integration, undertaken by Amptown System Company (ASC), was overseen by the theatre’s tonmeister (and deputy head of sound) Torben Kärst, who designed the audio system, working alongside head of department Peer Seuken, and video specialist Tim Deckers. This has seen the installation of Optocore M-series MADI boxes in both the 800-seat main theatre and 350-seat studio theatre, with an Optocore AutoRouter instal
Estonia - Tallinn-based technical production and rental company Strikken has been doing its bit to support the nation’s fight against coronavirus by voluntarily assisting the Synlab Eesti OU laboratory in collecting and transporting COVID-19 test samples gathered from all around the country. This is tied into research being conducted by the University of Tartu, including a three-month study on the prevalence of coronavirus among both symptomatic and asymptomatic people. At least 16,000 residents - based on a random statistical sample - will be interviewed and invited to be tested for coronavirus. The transportation programme to help collect the samples was initiated by Strikken’s long-time partner Rally Estonia, to get the materials quickly and safely to Synlab which is the main testing laboratory in Tallinn. Speedy test results and data from the study will assist
Vietnam - MiQ, a New York-based global market research firm, retained designers Martin Dudley and Chris Davey through UK-based event technology specialists Great Expectations, to provide professional lighting design services for a series of events the company was holding around the world for local clients and other interested parties. Dudley of Martin’s Lights Ltd. and Davey of Stagelighting Tech (both of the UK), knew they would need a powerful, yet flexible, controller that would allow them to accommodate a wide variety of rigs. They also wanted a control solution that they could they could carry on international flights. These considerations led them to pack two ChamSys PC Wings for their globe-trotting MiQ Ignite tour, which concluded shortly before the COVID-19 lockdown. “We are both long-time ChamSys users,” explains Davey. “This made us confident
Singapore - Singapore’s Bicentennial Experience was conceived to illustrate milestones in the island’s history. It employed a rich mix of immersive audio-visual solutions, from the large-scale to the intimate. Originally aiming for 300,000 visitors, by the time of its close at the end of 2019, its creative storytelling had attracted 760,000. Behind that success was show design specialist Ctrl Fre@k, whose Wee Cheng Low used the power and versatility of Hippotizer to realise the multitude of solutions. A founding partner of Ctrl Fre@k along with Jeffrey Yue, Wee is one of Singapore’s leading experts in video and lighting control solutions, a long-time Hippotizer user and a member of Green Hippos’s Key User Support Programme (KUSP). Wee’s career path had its beginnings in 2002, when he worked for a time as a theatre technician for a local theatre company. “I
USA - Sound engineer Eugene ‘Geno’ Mulcahy uses Waves SuperRack, Waves Axis Proton computer and Waves plugins for broadcast at the Vox Church based out of New Haven, Connecticut. “Due to Covid-19,” Mulcahy says, “many churches, ours included, are now challenged with creating a high-quality web-stream/broadcast presentation for their parish. To achieve a smooth-running stream, we went along with a setup that includes a DiGiCo S21 with a DMI Waves SoundGrid interface and a Waves Axis Proton computer running the Waves SuperRack plugin host and all plugin processing handled by the Waves Proton Server. “We are streaming live, so I create a mix by using Waves plugins so I can manage all levels once I set them in. Waves plugins directly address the input level at the video deck, and I am able to set and get the most consistent output level to video. We also recor
USA - Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon is a little over six miles from the Imperial Cars automotive mall. Lately, a lot of seniors from the 654-student enrolment school have been making that drive to the dealership. They aren’t necessarily looking to buy a new car; they’re coming to see a special graduation tribute that the popular dealer has sponsored for them. With the regional high school’s usual live graduation ceremony cancelled because of the COVID-19 lockdown, Imperial Cars contacted Image Production Services of Worcester, MA to put together a virtual alternative for Nipmuc students. Having worked with Imperial Cars on many projects in the past, Darren Lussier and his team at Image Production Services including media specialist Tovia ‘Ben’ Shapiro, put together an impressive video display to honour graduates. They used 80 Chauvet Professional PVP
UK - Last year, Astera Titan Tubes were at the heart of a lighting scheme designed by Ben Donoghue, now of Flare Lighting, for Beyond the Road, an immersive exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery. Featuring the music of Unkle, the experience merged the worlds of visual arts, music and film, offering visitors a chance to lose themselves in a multi-sensory world led by sound. Together with music pioneer James Lavelle (Unkle), the overall work was curated by creative producer Colin Nightingale, and sound designer/creative director Stephen Dobbie (both of the Punchdrunk theatre company). Lighting designer Ben Donoghue - who has recently joined Ben Cash, David Amos and the team at Flare Lighting from global creative agency Imagination - has worked regularly with Nightingale and Dobbie and was asked to collaborate on the project to create a lighting design for the e
USA - The city of Nashville was already well-known as a centre for artists and artisans, but due to a 2009 fire that robbed the community of its music centre (known affectionately as the Little Opry) county officials sought to build a venue that would draw top touring artists. In an effort to craft a lighting system that would match the talent they sought, Brown County commissioned Bandit Lites, trusting the sales and integration team to make the space usable for touring acts. From rigging to backstage layout and ultimately the lighting controls, Bandit’s team elevated the lighting to match the vision of the centre. “We wanted the stage to be a first class, state of the art lighting package,” explains project manager Doug Harden of Miller Architects. “Bandit delivered exactly that.” Bandit Lites provided all the fixtures for the building, including th
Croatia - House music pioneer David Morales continues to produce and to play to packed clubs all over the world and his current rider specifies a KV2 Audio ES System as his preferred monitoring setup. Morales has also been using a KV2 setup at home for a while - he currently has two EX10s and two EX2.2 subs which he loves - but hadn’t used a KV2 system on a gig until his show at the Boogaloo club in Zagreb, Croatia on St Valentine’s Day this year. He tried out a full ES System comprising an ES1.0 high power active mid/hi loudspeaker stacked on a pair of ES1.8 high output subs per side, powered by two EPAK2500R control and amplification units (one per side). “These speakers sound amazing!” he enthused, “and I’m in a big room – this is not a small intimate club!” Indeed, Boogaloo has been a cult club in Zagreb since the mid-80’s and with a capacity of 1
