USA - When leading folk music venue The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan, recently upgraded their audio system, they also decided replace some older incandescent fixtures with an Elation Professional LED lighting package of Fuze PAR Z60 IP luminaires and SixBar 1000 IP battens. Designer and programmer of the new lighting system is Kent Cubbage, who specified the lighting console and Elation fixtures in co-operation with lighting vendor and installer Fantasee Lighting of Belleville, Michigan. “When you’re dealing with The Ark, you’re dealing with a piece of history,” says Cubbage of the intimate 400-seat venue steeped in decades of American music narrative. “My goal was to create a rig that visually emulated the classic PAR rig it was replacing.” To mimic that vintage PAR look, Cubbage used 30 Fuze PAR Z60 IP single source PAR luminaires, which have a lens face t
Albania - Martin Audio is making inroads in the Albanian capital of Tirana, thanks to its distributor Prosound and the BlacklineX series loudspeakers. The most recent installation of this system has been at the L’Uva Bistro Lounge, situated in the heart of Tirana’s nightlife area. Based in the same city, Prosound were brought in by the venue owner, who was looking to undertake a total renovation. The venue itself is a one-room, 250-capacity establishment, with a veranda by the entrance, which trades through the day and late into the night. Background music during the day makes way for a DJ and occasionally live bands during the weekends. With this in mind, L’Uva required a sound system with the capability of handling electronic DJ music and live bands, with high SPL levels during the busy weekend nights. At the same time it had to be sufficiently compact to be di
Poland - Poznań-based Gigant Sound Letus has made a further investment in Outline loudspeakers, adding 36 of the company’s new Superfly design plus 16 DBS 18-2 sub-bass enclosures to its rental inventory. In combination with existing stocks, they now boast the largest inventory of Outline GTO-series products in Europe. The Polish company was founded in 1993 by owner Jurek Taborowski, and services a variety of domestic clients in numerous fields in addition to other projects in Eastern Europe and even as far afield as the US. Now employing over 30 people, the company also works extensively in television. Taborowski comments: “Considering the extremely small dimensions (height 24cm), the weight - only 38kg - and the number of components used (2 x 10", 2 x 8", 1 x 3") Superfly is an absolute leader in the audio market in its construction concept and ease of configura
UK - The Linbury Theatre has recently reopened following a three-year renovation project which saw the original studio theatre thoroughly refurbished (see LSi March). A key part of the renovation was the installation of a new sound system from EM Acoustics, supplied and installed by Stage Electrics. The decision to use EM Acoustics for the full PA system turned out to be quite straightforward as both Tom Thompson, technical manager of the Linbury Theatre, and Martin Adams, the technical manager in charge of the redevelopment project, both have a long-standing relationship with EM and already knew the HALO-C compact line array system well. It was also important to them that EM Acoustics is a British brand. “A f
UK - DiGiCo consoles were specified throughout the entire 2019 BRIT Awards. Staged at the O2 Arena, the production acknowledges the best in musical talent and this year counted The Carters, Drake and Ed Sheeran amongst its winners. The evening’s live mixes, which were also broadcast live on TV, saw Hugh Jackman, George Ezra, Jess Glynne and The 1975 amongst other top artists perform with the sound of DiGiCo. “The BRIT Awards is always a tricky show; being able to balance artists’ needs with simplicity and continuity throughout is hard to achieve,” states Colin Pink, The BRITs longstanding live sound supervisor. “This year, every sound desk was a DiGiCo, which allowed the production to feel much more elegant than in the past.” The consoles, deployed by Britannia Row Productions - which has been The BRITs’ audio supplier for over 20 years - were two
The Netherlands - Podium Victorie in Alkmaar has been a well-known venue for many years, hosting a wide range of classic and contemporary bands from all over the world. Though very successful at its original location, Victorie recently moved, its operators opting for an exciting relocation into the city of Alkmaar. With an upgrade in venue, owners of the club decided this was a logical opportunity to upgrade their entire sound system. After reviewing numerous competitive demos, it was the Clair Brothers system demonstrated by The Audio Specialists that rose to the top. The key in the new venue was to find the right balance to deliver a level of acoustic quality concertgoers and performers alike would appreciate as something truly special. The Clair Brothers demo made the decision easy because of the way it achieved acoustic balance in the new room from the start.
USA - Liberty University of Lynchburg has invested in a complement of Ayrton Mistral and Ghibli LED spot luminaires for a variety of uses on its campus. The Mistrals were delivered last autumn to the Event Production department, which provides audio, video and lighting support for any event on campus, including concerts, conferences and speaking events. The Mistrals are mounted in truss in a multi-use event space, which hosts a wide array of entertainment programmes and gatherings. “We were looking to replace the venue’s spots with an LED option,” recalls Amy Caun, lighting director/production technician with Event Production. “We didn’t want to worry about lamp life, power and heat, and we needed a fixture that was flexible enough for all of the events held in the event space. “One of our technicians had seen Mistral at a trade show. Doug Mekanik, o
USA - Supporting her new album, Scenery, Emily King toured a string of clubs this winter. An intimate club environment is the perfect setting for the New York artist’s soulful blend of ‘80s pop, contemporary R&B and a hint of light jazz. For the club tour, Marc Janowitz of E26 Design was lighting designer, and Pat Hayes of Patrick Hayes Lighting Design was lighting director and programmer. In their collaborative design, Marc and Pat specified Solaris Flare Rayzrs to help add dimension and vitality to intimate club environments. “The Rayzrs are very compact, yet super punchy, says Marc Janowitz. “We needed something that would fit in tight spaces yet offer a lot of diversity for different looks. We used 12 of the 100cm and three of the 50cm models. Both worked great. The Rayzrs really added so much depth and energy to what might have otherwise felt l
USA - Founded in 1789, Georgetown Prep is one of the oldest preparatory schools in the US. The halls of its leafy campus outside Washington DC resonate with tradition, as Erik Morra discovered when he signed on to light a production of Newsies at the school’s student theatre in February. The play chronicles the heroics of New York’s newspaper boys during their late 19th century strike against two of the most powerful publishers of their era. “I was familiar with the play, but never really appreciated the David-Goliath backstory behind the strike until I dug into it for this production, which made me extra determined to capture the world of these kids in light,” says Morra, owner of Baltimore-based LumenCUE. Helping him convey the gritty 1899 New York City streets that defined the newsboys’ life was a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash and Rogue
USA - For the past 15 years, Ken Travis has been impressing theatre audiences with his innovative sound designs for some of Broadway’s biggest productions and national tours. With a distinguished Broadway resume that includes Newsies, Jekyll & Hyde, Scandalous, A Christmas Story, Memphis, Barefoot in the Park and Steel Magnolias, Travis continues to rely on a selection of microphones from DPA. Travis was first introduced to DPA by an industry colleague in 2002. Since then, he’s used a variety of DPA mics - including the company’s d:screet 4061 Miniature Omnidirectional Microphones and/or d:fine 4066 Omnidirectional Headset Microphones - for every Broadway show he’s designed. When Travis was chosen to design the sound for Broadway hit Aladdin, he once again turned to DPA - he relies on DPA’s d:screet
USA - Held at the Gila River Arena outside Phoenix, Jurassic Fight Night drew an enthusiastic crowd of about 4,000 to see eerily realistic-looking dinosaurs with names like Spinecrusher Spinosaurus and Rowdy Roddy Raptor do battle in a full production setting evocative of a televised wresting or boxing match. Lending an air of excitement and authenticity to the proceedings was a dramatic John Garberson-designed lightshow that featured Chauvet Professional Maverick, Rogue and STRIKE fixtures, supplied by Creative BackStage. “The idea was to create a fight night-like atmosphere at the event,” says Garberson. “We wanted to have some very punchy stage washing in the ring to build anticipation and convey intensity. I feel the lighting really helped the crowd get immersed in the action.” Garberson and his team of lighting programmer Elliot Knight and L2 Jonath
UK - Lighting and video rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting equipment, rigging and crew to the latest UK and European leg of Good Charlotte’s Generation Rx tour, working with lighting designer Paul McAdams who is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and started designing for the band last year. The tour, which culminated in a show at London’s Alexandra Palace - was project-managed for Colour Sound by Alex Ryan. Colour Sound’s Hadyn Williams was the touring tech, whom Paul has requested several times to be his main person on the road, due to his experience and willingness to 'go above and beyond' each day to ensure that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Encapsulating the gritty lyrics and reflections of Generation Rx, an album inspired by the current opioid crisis in North America and dealing with inner and outer pain,
Slovenia - Nearly 300 Robe moving lights were utilised by lighting designer Žiga Krajnc for the televised 2018 Noč Modrijanov Slovenian folk festival held at the Dvorana Zlatorog Arena in Celje and directed by Marjan Kučej. Over two days, around 100 different Slovenian singers, folk troupes and dance ensembles presented a range of pieces that were enjoyed by around 12,000 people watching live as they performed on an elaborate scenic stage designed by a collaboration between Andrej Šifer, Miha Prosen and Blaž Podpečan, which depicted a typical Slovenian village. The shows were recorded and broadcast on RTV1 in the first week of the new year, so lighting - supplied by rental company Event Lighting - needed to work live and on-camera. Ziga has lit the event twice before, and this year his brief was to highlight the set - comprising seven different styled Slov
The Netherlands - Owned by a consortium including Dutch television host Arie Boomsma, VondelGym is an expanding chain of fitness clubs in Amsterdam. Thanks to the success of the Yamaha audio system installed in VondelGym Oost, the latest VondelGym Zuid has also been equipped with Yamaha. The first facility, VondelGym West, opened in 2015, with VondelGym Oost opening a year later. A third facility - VondelGym Zuid - has recently opened in the city’s Zuidas district, an area that is seeing rapid expansion Stan van Ettikhoven of Rock 'n’ Roll Engineering installed a Yamaha audio system based on the MTX3 matrix processor and VXS series surface-mounted loudspeakers at VondelGym Oost. He designed a scaled-up system for the new, larger gym. Divided into eight zones, it comprises 14 VXS8, 16 VXS5 and four VXS1 loudspeakers, plus an HS8 subwoofer. The system is powered by X
South Korea - When old and outdated amplifiers began to cause frequent errors at South Korea’s Yeouido Full Gospel Church, an upgrade was imperative. Audio specialists and Powersoft distributors, Dasan SR, presented the winning specification, proposing Powersoft’s X Series amplifier platforms to manage the high channel count and the complexity of the church’s sound system. The church claims the country’s largest Pentecostal Christian congregation of over 800,000 members. Dasan SR’s technical manager, Changyu Choi, specified seven of Powersoft’s eight-channel X Series tour-grade amplification systems to drive the powerful PA comprised of EAW KF750 full system three-way cabinets and associated KF755 down fill array modules. The extensive PA is comprised of main front of house speakers including downfill, front fill and under balcony speakers, as well as the delay s
Canada - Opened in 2015, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) is a cultural and education facility, located in the Canadian city of St Catharines. It includes the Film House Screen & Stage, a 199-seat digital movie screening room which features an Alcons Audio pro-ribbon CRMS Cinema Reference Monitor System. As well as the Film House Screen & Stage, PAC features two large theatres and a studio theatre. Situated next to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, part of the city’s Brock University, PAC attracts 125,000 visitors every year and 500 university students daily, many of whom attend lectures in the Film House Screen & Stage. As it is used for both public screenings and education, high audio quality in the Film House was a key requirement. The audio system was designed by Connecticut-based acoustic consultants Jaffe Holden and
USA - In early February, lighting design firm Enlumen utilised 62 Elation Professional Artiste Picasso LED profile luminaires for New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Industria Super Studio, owned, operated and produced by IMG in downtown Manhattan. The design team of Pamela Kupper and Shawn Kaufman employed an all Elation rig of LED luminaires supplied by 4Wall to light a total of 16 runway shows and 2 presentations. New York Fashion Week: The Shows is a platform for international designers to show their newest collections and, along with London, Paris and Milan, is one of the four major fashion weeks in the world. Enlumen served as the lighting vendor for the location, providing design, equipment and labour. As a lighting environment, the Industria venue posed a number of challenges; namely, an abundance of windows and power and weight limitations – all constraints
UK - For over a quarter of a century, The BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology, has been giving its pupils a grounding in the performing arts and the technology surrounding them. To this end, one of its latest investments is the DiGiCo SD12 consoles chosen, says Andrew Smith (technical manager at the school), because they offer a platform that not only makes sense for the range and requirements of the school’s performances, but also because they offer the most relevant experience for students that will soon be looking for a job in the industry. Situated in Croydon, South London, The Brit School is a state-funded school for ages 14 to 18 and is dedicated to ‘Education and vocational training for the performing arts, media, art and design, and the technologies that make performance possible’, as well as providing a core GCSE study programme. It boasts a
UK - TV production company and music venue, Epic Studios – whose clientele has included shows such as Top Gear and WWE Wrestling – has embarked on a major audio upgrade of its Norwich, UK premises, with Allen & Heath dLive and SQ mixing systems. “I’d been hearing many positive comments about the dLive and SQ series on social media and after seeing them in use on major world tours and appearing on technical riders, I was very keen to try one out,” comments Matt Rabong (technical manager at Epic Studios). “I used to work exclusively on another desk, however after getting my hands on a dLive S7000 at InfoComm, I knew this was the perfect desk for us. dLive has integrated seamlessly with our workflow and my engineers love it! It was extremely easy to train everybody on its features.” As well as Epic’s TV productions, the facility is fully
UK - Illuminate is a progressive new venue at London’s Science Museum, designed to both anticipate and surpass the needs of the events industry. Technical solutions specialist White Light (WL) has been appointed as the venue’s production partner and chose a Yamaha QL1 digital mixing console for the space’s flexible audio system. Situated on Levels 4 and 5 of the Science Museum, Illuminate couples the latest technology with flexible spaces and stunning views of the City. Thanks to its long-standing relationship with the Science Museum and reputation for managing similar venues across London, WL was trusted with designing and installing the technical infrastructure. The installation was overseen by WL’s project manager Jason Larcombe. “The Science Museum came to us with their vision for the space and what they wanted to achieve,” he says. “They wanted an in
UK - Hundreds of television buyers from across the globe headed to ACC Liverpool for BBC Studios Showcase 2019. Taking place on 17-20 February, the event brought together producers, talent and BBC executives as well as Britain’s most successful creatives. For the 13th year running, creative technical event production company Hawthorn supported BBC Studios to showcase its premium programmes, delivering two hotly-anticipated evening events. Previously known as BBC Worldwide Showcase, the 2019 event marked a new chapter for Showcase, the first year under the Studios banner. Celebrating British creativity, the exclusive events previewed some of the BBC’s new programmes including Top Gear, The Planets and One Planet: Seven Worlds. Led by the BBC Studios team, Hawthorn’s group creative director Peter Harding helped to produce and deliver a production des
Mexico - Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival Mexico took place Saturday and Sunday 23-24 February, attracting an audience of 230,000. The two-day event featured over 120 international artists, treating fans to everything from the thumping bass sounds of Skrillex and RL Grime, to the dirtybird beats of Claude VonStroke, Justin Martin, Dateless and more. Supporting proceedings were some awe-inspiring scenic designs, thrilling rides, and (on the popular circuitGROUNDS and neonGARDEN stages), two potent Steve Lieberman-designed lightshows that reflected the intensity of the music. Providing a vivid outline of each stage to define the performance area, while adding to its impact, movement and colour, was a collection of Chauvet Professional ÉPIX Strip Tour fixtures supplied by Serpro Producciones. Lieberman of SJ Lighting deployed 251 of the 1m long RGB LED strips on the
Lebanon - Heralded for its atmosphere, setting and ambiance, Iris Lebanono is an open-air city retreat in the New Waterfront district in Beirut. One of the most-visited rooftops given its amazing city views especially at sunset, the nightclub demanded excellent sound coverage able to provide pulsating dance music and to accommodate live performances including professional DJ sets without spilling over to other downtown buildings and without compromising the design of the venue. After experiencing success in the club's Bahrain location with K-array, it became the clear choice again as the audio solution to the club management. The installation was completed with 22 compact coaxial 12" Dragon-KX12 point sources arranged in an array configuration powered by 3 Thunder-KMT218 self-powered and ultra-light dual 18” subwoofers and 2 Thunder-KMT21 I high-power 21” sub
UK - HD Pro Audio’s next technology workshop, takes place in the Oak Room of the h Club in London’s Covent Garden on Monday, 25 March. Presentations on the day will include KLANG:technologies’ immersive IEM mix engine, plus the Waves eMotion LV1 live mixing console, based on SoundGrid technology with Waves plug-ins. This compact and customisable software-based mixer will be complemented by the latest Rupert Neve Designs RMP-D8 8ch preamp with Dante audio networking and remote control. The Green Go networked digital intercom system, offers “exceptional flexibility and routing, using a traditional network infrastructure”. The event will also provide the opportunity to evaluate the increasingly popular 10EaZy sound level monitoring and logging system, designed for venues and events of all shapes and sizes. HD Pro Audio staff and manufacturers' representati
