Finland - The New Children’s Hospital (HUS) in Helsinki uses art and play combined with the latest digital technology to provide the highest quality medical care in a safe, reassuring environment for the children and their families. Part of the hospital’s innovative approach included the development of a building-wide soundscape to create a soothing sonic environment for patients and staff. The soundscape is fully networked, thanks in part to the use of 39 Genelec 8430A IP loudspeakers. The soundscape design was recently awarded the Grand Prix in the soundscapes and ambient sound category of the 2019 International Sound Awards (ISA) in Hamburg. The idea was to create a soundscape based on the visual theme of each of the hospital’s eight floors. Inspiration was drawn mostly from the natural world as well as the much-loved Finnish Moomin stories. Antti Ikon
Denmark - Lighting and audio rental company Allround Lyd & Lys, based in Struer, invested in two Robe RoboSpot systems, comprising two BaseStations and two BMFL Follow Spots with the integral cameras when they sought a straightforward follow spotting solution for the dry hire side of their business. The company works in the live music, festivals and concert touring sectors and also services theatre productions. Dry hires are an important segment of their business, and they saw the demand rising for a plug-and-play remote follow spotting system. The purchase was made specifically with local theatres in mind. They are often tight on prep time so their production schedules would always benefit from follow spots that were quick to calibrate and set up, explained Allround Lyd & Lys’s head of lighting, Martin Breinholt. “The RoboSpot system is very straig
UK - The Collab in Walthamstow is, as the name suggests, a collaboration between food and drink providers Signature Brew brewery and We Serve Humans. The new east London venue aims to provide quality craft beers and freshly cooked food in an atmosphere geared to music lovers. Pro audio specialists, Amber Sound supplied an EM Acoustics system to provide audio for a range of live music events as well as traditional playback. Co-founder Sam McGregor, who has a music industry background, explains that Signature Brew was born in 2011 as a result of being fed up with drinking terrible beer at gigs. “We decided that the way around it was to create our own beer in collaboration with a band, and things basically went from there. “Music is such an important part of what makes Signature Brew special that we couldn’t possibly open a new venue with the aim of hosting live mu
UK - Mamma Mia! The Party has taken London’s O2 as its new permanent home. The high-octane immersive theatrical production which surrounds a dining experience, called for an active spatial soundscape to frame the energy of the event. Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus approached Gareth Owen to bring both his theatre experience and the benefit of his rock n roll roots to the production. With its fully mobile cast and live band, Gareth centred the sound design around the powerful localisation and spatial control capabilities of two TiMax SoundHub-S64 3D audio processors, procured and supplied by Orbital Sound for the show. Dining is established across two floors of the venue, styled as the Greek taverna straight from the Mamma Mia! movie set. As band and cast move freely amongst the tables across the multiple levels of the space, the precise performer localisa
USA - History runs deep at Washington’s City Tavern Club. Built in 1786, the venerable Federalist structure (one of the last such taverns in the US capital) counted George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as regulars. Today, the venue hosts a variety of upscale events, and although it provides an evocative setting, power limitations in the 233-year old building can present challenges for anyone looking to light these affairs. At a recent, corporate showcase at the historic building, Tarik Smith of Atmosphere, Inc. met these challenges and transformed its interior with elegant uplighting created by wireless, battery-powered WELL Fit fixtures from Chauvet Professional. “As with any historic venue the biggest issue is power, so I had to pay a lot of attention to the design,” says Smith. “The limited power draw at the club meant we had to go wireless, b
USA - Robe’s new Esprite moving lights made their US live TV debut on the 2019 CMT Artists of the Year event, staged at the Schermerhorn Symphony Centre in Nashville, Tennessee. “I absolutely Love these lights,” declared the event’s lighting designer Tom Kenny who worked alongside a talented production team which included set designer Anne Brahic. The Esprites plus other extra lights on the show - which also included Robe BMFL WashBeams and Spiider LED wash beams - were delivered by Morris Light & Sound. They were used together with fixtures from the venue’s house rig. Ten of the 20 Esprites were positioned on one of the rear LX production trusses installed at the Schermerhorn Symphony Centre for this event, and used for rear lighting the band, and for texturing, colouring and gobo work on the stage. Another 10 luminaires on one of the down
UK - The latest chapter of the Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes tour features live onstage content creation together with a custom video package from Universal Pixels Thom Yorke’s latest tour is a live show that ‘immerses audiences in a sensory bath of abstract visuals and captivating music’. Yorke is joined onstage by long-term Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and audiovisual composer Tarik Barri, who is working in his own Versum software. Universal Pixels has supplied the tour since it first set out for a short US run in December 2017, providing a curved array of three or five (venue dependent) projection screens. For the latest shows, which included tour dates and festival slots across Europe and the US, UP created a newly-devised, adaptable video package, which has been designed for quick deployment and speedy load-outs. It features a custom dolly packa
UK - Magazine London, a purpose-built event space, opened adjacent to the O2 Arena in Greenwich Peninsula this August. Its simple architectural form offers clean and functional spaces that provide ‘a means for large-scale creative expression’ with 3,205sq.m of versatile interior space for up to 3,000 people, and the capability of a further 7,000 people across the venue’s outdoor showground. Technical consultant, Simon Jones of SJ-TPM, recommended MDG haze generators for this new venue. He supplied two MDG ATMe haze generators, complete with purpose-built touring cases for easy storage and deployment. Jones was brought onboard by Venue Lab to review, recommend and deliver the technical infrastructure, establish and fine tune the requirements and purchase the equipment for this multi-purpose venue. Jones worked on the various phases in collaboration with Vib
UK - Bespoke productions specialist, Subfrantic has invested in Prolights' next generation OmegaPIX LED video screen to deliver a visual experience for client events. Established in 1993, Subfrantic supplies high-end AV and lighting equipment to the events industry, including tours & festivals, one-off shows, theatre, corporate events, gospel and houses of worship. As the first phase of a new investment in its Video inventory, Subfrantic director, Stephen Davies contacted one-stop equipment distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies to recommend a solution. He comments: “We had made a small initial investment in an indoor LED screen to gauge our customers’ interest. After opening up new markets and clients from it, for the past 18 months we had been auditioning various LED products as we toyed with the idea of making a significant investment.”
UK - A diverse line up of well-known names descended on Cheltenham for the 70th anniversary of its Literature Festival, including headliners David Cameron, Lenny Henry and Debbie Harry. The multi-site event demanded some serious screen, camera and crew to capture the bookish action and augment it for audiences. Long-time professional partner Production AV - which has been designing AV solutions for Cheltenham Festivals for nine years - supplied 10 venues across the sprawling site, including 2,250-seater The Centaur. In total, more than 800 writers, journalists and cultural commentators appeared over 10 days. Production AV’s high-end stock of Agile Remote Cameras and Barco HDX projectors were out in force. “Cheltenham Festival is one of our longstanding clients and the Literature events are well attended, respected and hugely enjoyable,” says Production AV
Dominican Republic Sound Video Lighting (SVL) has installed a full complement of Martin Audio CDD speakers and SX subwoofers in the Peperoni restaurant and bar in the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo. Describing the venue, SVL’s Jonathan Del Villar explains: “Peperoni is a very popular restaurant serving what is essentially international cuisine in a variety of styles. Owner Jean-Pierre Bahsa used to be a club owner who knows that business very well. He had gone to Bachata Rosa, a popular restaurant in Punta Cana, owned by singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, and was very impressed by the Martin Audio system that we had installed there. “Since we are friends, he asked us to work on the project early on during the planning stages which was good because we were able to have significant impact in terms of everything that has to do with technology - the aud
Trinidad & Tobago - PR Lighting fixtures were out in force at the recent nine-day Divali Nagar Festival on the Caribbean island of Trinidad & Tobago. Promoted by the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC), and now in its 33rd year, Divali Nagar is an annual exposition of Hindu culture (generally) and Indo-Trinidadian culture (specifically). It is closely associated with the Diwali Hindu Festival of Light celebration in Trinidad and Tobago. For the past 15 of those years, All Events Lighting Systems (AELS), part of the SM Group, has been providing technical services to the event at the Divali Nagar site, located in the borough of Chaguanas. The SM Group itself comprises All Events Lighting Systems, All Events System Ltd and S. Maharaj Equipment Services Limited. SM Group itself stands for ‘Shival Maharaj Group of Companies’ and the organisation c
Europe - With more than 50 destinations across Europe, Event Hospitality Management Holding currently operates more than 80 business and conferencing hotels in Germany, Italy and The Netherlands under its Event Hotels brand. The group’s corporate management regularly liaises with the directors of each hotel, with the focal point of these important meetings being the large conference room at the corporate headquarters situated in Cologne on the banks of the River Rhine. In February 2019, work finished on an ambitious installation which featured Shure’s Microflex Complete Wireless Solution, complemented by an IntelliMix P300 Conferencing DSP Processor. The system was planned and installed by systems integrator Tascan. Due to the conference room being an oblong shape, the previously installed conferencing system was unable to guarantee speech intelligibility dur
UK - Big the Musical closed at the Dominion Theatre in London's West End this weekend following a successful nine-week run. The Theatre Royal Plymouth production opened in 2016 and played at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin into 2017. Finally after more than two years, it made its West End debut in September with production manager Hugh Borthwick bringing Unusual Rigging on board to handle the rigging elements of this ambitious production. Hugh explains: "I brought Unusual Rigging on to this project right at the very start as I wanted them to be part of the design process for the production and not just to supply a rigging system. I've worked with Unusual for many years and know that their skill and ability to make the seemingly impossible happen is second to none. I've worked with Alan Jacobi and Simon Stone many times, and on Big the Musical, Mark Davie
Japan - The New National Theatre, Tokyo (NNTT) has invested in a stock of Robert Juliat Oz 600W LED followspots for its three performance spaces. The new LED models replace conventional source followspots as part of an upgrade of the lighting inventory for this internationally important arts venue. New National Theatre, Tokyo is Japan’s only one dedicated to the contemporary performing arts of opera, ballet, dance and drama. The NNTT complex comprises the Opera Palace, Playhouse and The Pit, and hosts over 300 performances a year to around 200,000 theatre goers. Four of Robert Juliat’s Oz 7°-14° LED Top Control followspots were supplied by RJ distributor, Sogo Butai, initially for use in the small Pit Theatre, but also with the intention of relocating them to the larger spaces of the Playhouse and Opera Palace as needed. “Because of its silent operation,
South Africa - Technical supply company, HireZone Audio Visual, used 14 new Vari-Lite VL2600 Profile luminaires for the key lighting at the 28th World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, which took place 4 - 6 September at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The fixtures helped lighting designer and operator Gary Sam create a bright, balanced and consistent look for the live broadcast of the international panel in the Convention Centre’s Plenary Room. With the theme Shaping Inclusive Growth and Shared Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the WEF saw leaders from across the globe gather to discuss the future of Africa. Hirezone was appointed by an international team to supply all technical for the entire event. This was the first time for Hirezone using their new VL2600 Profiles, which they had purchased from South African Vari-Lite distr
UK - Green Hippo’s Hippotizer media servers helped to deliver a press launch show for cosmetics and perfume brand Lancôme in London in September. Produced by Michael Bell Brand Communications, the event included custom video content and projection surfaces designed and delivered by UK-based projection mapping specialist Motion Mapping. Motion Mapping fielded a deceptively simple set-up: two Hippotizer Amba media servers, one as a main server and the other as backup, plus two high-powered laptops for show control and on-site media processing. “The laptops are useful for last-minute on-site changes,” explains Motion Mapping’s Stuart Harris. “By running the file conversions on a separate laptop, I can convert the content quickly, without affecting the Hippo - you just drop it in and it’s ready. Then we run everything through the Amba, a DP [DisplayPort] output to o
USA - JD Sound & Video has installed sound systems for both the outdoor stadium and indoor gymnasium of Winslow Township High School (WTHS) using Biamp’s Community R Series loudspeakers. WTHS is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Winslow Township, Camden County, New Jersey. It serves students in ninth through twelfth grades as the secondary school of the Winslow Township School District. Joe DiSabatino of JD Sound & Video explains: “We’ve been using Biamp’s Community loudspeakers almost exclusively for all athletic venue projects for 13 years. Both spaces needed high SPL and good low-end and the Community R Seriebs with subs met those requirements. We were referred to Winslow High School by Eastern High School in Voorhees, New Jersey. Several years ago, we outfitted their gyms and stadium with various R Series products. After Winslow hear
Denmark - The futuristic-looking Musikkens Hus in Aalborg is a cultural jewel in the crown of the fourth-largest city in Denmark, located in a prime position in the redeveloped quarter overlooking the Limfjord. It’s also recently invested in 14 Robe T1 Profile multipurpose LED moving lights, joining 12 Robe Pointes that were purchased three years ago. Inside the building created on the site of an old power station and opened in March 2014, is a 1,300-seat concert hall, a 600-capacity recital hall, plus several studios and practice rooms utilised by the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music. Additional tenants include Orchestra Norden, and two of Aalborg University’s fine arts divisions, the Institute of Music and the Danish Jazz Centre. In addition to the 300-odd concerts and live performances staged annually, it hosts around 200 ‘commercial
USA - With an estimated 50m people singing from its catalogue of songs every Sunday and over 1.5 billion minutes garnered from YouTube viewers, Australia’s Hillsong Church is one of the primary architects of modern worship music. Although the Sydney-based organisation has several performing collectives that tour worldwide, Hillsong United is likely the best known, thanks to songs like Oceans, Touch the Sky and So Will I. According to Billboard, the group’s 14th and most recent album, People, made its late-April debut this year as the week’s top-selling album across all US charts. Since the release of its 2011 record, Aftermath, Hillsong United has consistently toured with an L-Acoustics K1 system, after transitioning over from V-DOSC. So when the group headed out earlier this year to support People with its first North American
The Netherlands - One of best-known event venues in The Netherlands has been recently transformed into an intimate restaurant with high-tech decor. Madame Jeanette is the successor of dinner show Pandora, which ended early this year. It is an intense evening full of visual spectacle, where visitors dine in the middle of a vibrant story that is told in a visual, musical and culinary way. In recent months, Studio 21 has been completely rebuilt especially for this show, with the kitchen in the centre of the room and a high-tech decor in which the stage, the video and audio are in a 360° setting around the guests. Dutch lighting, audio, and rigging company Chain was responsible for the technical production. Because of the complete round set up, the decision was made to use six circles in the decor. In the middle of the room a 6mtr FD34 circle was used for t
Saudi Arabia - Laservision participated in this years’ celebration marking the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s 89th National Day. A range of activities and events took place from 19-23 September, including a massive international collaboration of events bringing in some of the biggest names in entertainment productions. Alongside international music acts from the GCC region and Cirque du Soleil, Laservision was engaged to provide their projection-mapping expertise and technologies to the celebrations in Riyadh. Laservision’s 7000sq.m projection show beamed onto the distinctive Samba Financial Group Headquarters in the heart of Financial Plaza. The 40-storey tower is the centrepiece of Riyadh’s new King Abdullah financial district and features an innovative three-dimensional diamond façade designed by Foster and Partners. Since opening their MENA offices in 201
USA - Home to the Metropolitan Opera, the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Centre) in New York City has recently installed 70 Elation Professional Artiste Monet LED profile moving head luminaires with Donald Holder the first to use the new rig of award-winning lights on Porgy and Bess. Lighting supply was by 4Wall Entertainment. The Met’s resident lighting designer, John Froelich, was instrumental in choosing the Artiste Monet and cited three main reasons for its choice. “The output of the LED source was very bright. The native colour of the LED engine was the most appealing to me. Most LED profiles that were tested had a slight green bias that was really hard to manage quickly from a creative standpoint. In a large, fast-paced repertory environment like ours it was such a great thing to find a source that was so artistically appealing. “The SpectraColor
USA - The University of Montana Grizzlies sports teams compete in the NCAA Division I Big Sky Conference. Although the school has been supporting a track and field team since the 1960s, it only recently added a women’s softball team. Both teams regularly draw crowds of up to 1,000 people. Until this year, staff set up a temporary PA system for every event. With design help from the engineering staff at Danley Sound Labs, both fields recently were upgraded with permanent, fully-weatherproof Danley OS-Series sound reinforcement systems. Now all meets, games, and even practices are full-fidelity, big-impact events with significantly elevated experiences for everyone involved. “It was kind of a homemade sound system previously,” says Chuck Maes, associate athletic director for internal operations and the person who directed the upgrade for the university. “We had a
