South Africa - After a successful dot2 training course created, hosted and taught by DWR Distribution in Johannesburg, there was a demand for the same training to take place in Cape Town. The training was brought down to the Cape by Olebogeng Boinamo from DWR.
“It was booked out with 12 people and it filled our Cape Town offices,” says Olebogeng. Each student had access to the system as there were three dot2 consoles from DWR, three of those in attendance had their own dot2s and the rest worked on dot2 on PC. This illustrates the different levels that exist in the field and the impact of the dot2 console, with avid users and newcomers both attending the course to develop their skills, because the console and related PC platform are being used so frequently in the industry

Sweden - One of the largest and most beautiful of Stockholm’s churches, the Gustav Vasa Kyrka, in the city’s Vasastaden district, has carried out a major refurbishment and technical upgrade.
The Gustav Vasa Kyrka was designed by August Lindegren and completed in 1906, with a capacity of up to 1,200 worshippers, generations of whom have no doubt marvelled at the lavishly decorated marble surfaces, and soaring arches. They also can’t have failed to notice the remarkable reverberation time.
Jacob Julin of Soundcop, the company brought in to solve the church’s intelligibility woes, says, “The acoustics was the biggest challenge. When we started, the hall had an acoustic reverberation of six seconds, so that was of course an issue.”
Later however, following the building’s refurbishment, including new treatments to the floor and walls, that reverb time

The Netherlands - For 77 years the locomotive repair facility in the Dutch city of Tilburg was a vital part of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS, or Dutch Railways) network. Employing hundreds of local people, its 2009 closure had a profound effect on the area. But now the building has been reborn as a major cultural and learning centre, where Yamaha audio systems are helping to drive the train of new innovation forward.
Originally opened in 1932, the impressive 90m by 60m steel and glass building was a busy workplace, playing an important role in local employment. When it closed, rather than demolish it there was a strong desire to ‘return the building to the Tilburg people’. It was decided to use it to form the centrepiece of a contemporary, fashionable new ‘railway zone’ in the city.
“Impressed by the enormous size of the space, the design team realised that

UK - LED illumination specialists LED Creative supported scenic designer Andrew Gates, lighting director Stuart Pring and the team at Joe Lycett's Got Your Back.
Filmed in front of a studio audience at h Studio, London, the series features comedian Joe Lycett serving up a healthy dose of consumer justice as he exposes a variety of scams, appalling customer service and unacceptable consumer standards on behalf of the people of the UK.
Helping to acheive the show’s bright, playful look, LED Creative provided their Pulse Wands, Alpha 60 and Byte System to deliver vibrant colour and optimum control over the set illumination.
In building the boldly coloured design, the scenic designer cleverly integrated LED Creative Alpha 60 throughout the structural components and backdrop. Additional runs of Alpha 60 were concealed above and below the raised stage area to

USA - As part of on-going upgrades and developments to its studio facilities, Verizon Media has taken delivery of three mc²36 audio production consoles and a Nova37 Hybrid IP/MADI Plug&Play Audio Router for its studio facilities from German IP broadcast technology pioneer Lawo.
Renamed Verizon Media Studios (formerly Oath Inc) early in 2019, the renovation and new buildout to the facilities will serve all Verizon Media brands, including Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, Huffpost, Yahoo News, RYOT, Engadget, Tech Crunch and Makers. It encompasses live broadcast and pre-tape studio content with shared resources across different locations.
With DSI/Blade Media acting as the main contractor, the upgrade covers three studios; Control Room 1 and Control Room 3 are used for a daily eight-hour live Yahoo Finance broadcast and ancillary shoots, while Control Room 2 is a general

Germany - The latest EtherCAT Plug Fest welcomed 57 participants from eight countries and four continents.
The event, conducted by the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) in cooperation with acontis technologies GmbH, was held in the middle of May in Ravensburg.
Besides testing their own EtherCAT devices in a shared network with those of other manufacturers by using the EtherCAT Conformance Test Tool, the participants could exchange knowledge and ask for advice from the EtherCAT experts on-site. The different masters and lave products led to a balanced ratio of devices and real-life network conditions.
Christoph Widmann, managing director at acontis technologies GmbH, comments: “The EtherCAT Plug Fests are the perfect opportunity to test devices and applications in a large network together with other manufacturers. For that reason, acontis has participated in many

UK - Taiwanese singer and film star Jay Chou has starred in Hollywood blockbusters, broken records for the most expensive live production in Australia and sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
Chou recently entrusted Britannia Row Productions to deliver one of the biggest PA rigs that London’s O2 Arena has ever seen.
For the final three concerts of his 120-date The Invincible 2 World Tour, Chou played two nights in London before deploying the Britannia Row rig for a final show at Paris’ Accor Arena. These three shows were promoted by Magic-Sound Entertainment.
Britannia Row crew chief, Scott Maxwell, says: “Jay is a huge star. We’re essentially working with a stadium-sized PA in an arena-sized production. Everything else in the design had to shrink down to fit inside the venue, but the PA remained the same.”
The entire production weighe

USA - Robe North America has announced the appointment of Charlie Hulme as business development manager. He will focus on advancing systems sales and the coordination of installation projects.
Robe North America co-CEO Lorienn Cochenour comments: “As business development manager, Charlie will be a perfect partner with Tal Janowitz in managing the Robe Anolis architainment brand and representatives, and he will also liaise with our Robe regional sales managers on permanent installation projects.”
Hulme is based in Austin, Texas and will be travelling extensively in his new role. He has been involved in entertainment lighting for around 30 years, including working for two high profile American moving light brands in this time. He brings extensive experience to the Robe equation.
Josef Valchar, CEO of Robe s.r.o. states: “We offer a warm welcome to Charlie. He
featured content

ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

China - PR Lighting took a fresh approach to their 558 sq.m. booth design at this year’s four-day GET Show at the Poly World Trade Centre in Guangzhou.
The company’s CEO Dave Liang reverted to an idea originally floated at the 2017 edition where they presented a united booth with other suppliers, in order to show customers a completely integrated, ‘finished’ solution. This year they collaborated with experienced Chinese LED display company, DGX, as well as laser company, Magical Laser and acoustics specialists, Lianhui Acoustooptical.
“These are all necessary facilities in most projects, particularly events, tours, club installs, and customers like to be able to see how a full project solution will look,” says international director of sales Ernie Armas.
On the other side of the booth, in anticipation of a strong international presence, there were th

Europe - eLumen8 has continued to expand its range of professional moving heads with the introduction of the 9RE Beam. This moving beam is powered by a MSD 260R9 (8000K) discharge lamp, allowing users to create sharp 2.5° beams and gobos.
Showcased at the recent PLASA Focus Leeds tradeshow, this latest addition by eLumen8 has been designed with the lighting designer in mind as it not only has top quality optics and motorised focus, it also features two prisms that can be used simultaneously, giving the user a host of options to create stunning light shows.
Andrew Jeffrey, Prolight Concepts Group managing director,comments: “This is the first of several new movers aimed at the rental and installation markets to be released in the coming months. The 9RE has been over 12 months in development but well worth the wait.”
Additionally, this moving head features 12

USA - As technical director at the Collinsworth School of Music at California Baptist University, Matthew McConnell holds the equipment he purchases to the same high standards expected from the school’s students.
When McConnell recently found that he wasn’t satisfied with the sound he was capturing on the string bass and cello instruments during performances, he turned to Jeff Suchy at Apex Audio to find the best solution. After testing various clip-on mics and pick-ups, the duo ultimately selected DPA Microphones’ d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphone as the right tool for the job.
Though these have now become a staple at the school, the use of the d:vote 4099 wasn’t McConnell’s first foray into DPA mics. “I initially discovered DPA a decade ago, when I was trying to close-mic a grand piano, with a closed lid, through a PA system,” he explains. “DPA’s d

UK - Ascot Racecourse has announced Bose Professional as its official technology supplier for sound.
The partnership will bring an audio solution to enhance the event-day experience at Ascot.
Integrator SSE Audio Group has led the process to design and specify an audio system that utilises the latest loudspeaker and amplifier technology developed by Bose. Products have been selected based on their ability to form a robust system that delivers best-in-class vocal clarity and consistent, intelligible sound for every listener across the entire Ascot site.
George Vaughan, head of technology at Ascot Racecourse, comments: “Sound is an important facet of the event day experience and having Bose join us as our official technology supplier in this department, will introduce a new level of audio excellence to our venue. Becoming one of the global reference sites for

UK - On the three days before Good Friday, the streets of central Birmingham were taken over by The Birmingham Passion Play 2019, an ambitious, contemporary retelling of the Easter story, organised by Christian charity and theatre company Saltmine Trust, with support from The Passion Trust. To help bring the creative vision to life, Saltmine partnered with UK audio visual production supplier SFL.
The Saltmine Trust Theatre company puts on regular public, partner, and education tours, as well as one-off shows, all inspired by the Christian faith. Even for Saltmine though, The Birmingham Passion Play 2019 was an ambitious undertaking as it was delivered on the move - a travelling street performance that started at Birmingham Bullring, progressing along New Street to Victoria Square, and finishing inside St Philip’s Cathedral - effectively making the stage over half a mile w

Austria - Event technology provider Technic Consult has been a satisfied customer of Elation products for years, relying on products like the Platinum Beam 5R and FS 15R followspot.
The company has recently opted to upgrade its inventory, adding the new Artiste Picasso LED moving heads and multi-functional Paladin effects.
Technic Consult has been active in event technology for over 25 years. Located in southern Austria, near Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, the company manages lighting, sound, video and staging for live events of all kinds, including theatre, handling everything from planning to implementation. “We have been working with Elation products since 2013,” says Stefan Schwarzl, head of lighting at Technic Consult. “The reliability and quality of the equipment and personal support provided by Karl Lager have made our decision to invest in Elation much easie

UK - Lighting designer Stuart Pring has used Chroma-Q Space Force LED soft lights to illuminate the JW Anderson February Autumn/Winter Fashion Show.
Pring has previously worked on The 2018 Teen Awards, a variety of television studios including for NBC/ESPN’s Wimbledon Studio, and TV series John Bishop in Conversation.
The JW Anderson Fashion Show was hosted on an 11m square catwalk, which required Stuart to deliver an even coverage of light across the entire area. For this, Version 2 - lighting rental specialists for the Television, Broadcast and Event industries - provided Stuart with 36 Space Force tuneable white LED soft lights.
Pring comments: “I needed to achieve an even wash of daylight white light, to faithfully reproduce the colours of the models' clothing. The fixture's output was flawless in creating a seamless coverage across the entire ca

Denmark - SPOT, an annual music festival in Aarhus showcasing up-and-coming Danish and Scandinavian talents, saw 300 artists and bands perform across 25 stages throughout the city.
Lighting designer and programmer Heiða Kristín Ragnarsdóttir used a grandMA3 light console to run lighting on her stage, reserved for WILM (Women In Live Music) a European non-profit organisation that supports women working behind the scenes and backstage. For the first time, this stage was run by an all-female tech crew.
Ragnarsdóttir reports: “The MA system is my first choice for everything from theatre to concerts. It is very important for me to be able to personalize the setup to fit my needs of the moment which the grandMA2 software does easily. It is highly reliable, has intuitive controls and a lot of flexibility in programming which makes it ideal for ‘busking’ festivals.

UK - CUK Audio has announced plans to move into new premises in East Kilbride.
The new building, which is currently being fitted out, is situated in Peel Park around 10 miles from the company’s existing Glasgow HQ. It will provide space for the distributor’s expanding back office, sales and technical teams and also house five training suites and a distribution centre with over 750 pallet locations and 1000 small item locations.
CUK is expected to move in on 5 June.
Stuart Thomson, CUK MD, comments: “When we moved to our current Glasgow location back in 2010, we thought there was more space than we could ever need. However, since then, we have delivered year-on-year growth which has accelerated since a change in ownership and the restructuring of the company in to four divisions two years ago. Over the past year, it became apparent that we were very near th

Arts in Education - A campaign to promote the inclusion of the arts in education is being developed by Equity. Members voted unanimously to pass a motion from the Liverpool and District General Branch asking Equity to work with other trade unions, arts organisations and educators to “promote the essential nature of arts in the curriculum”. Proposing the motion, branch chair Martin Williams said the industry risks “becoming a playground of the rich” if some school children are excluded from creative subjects. He said: “The arts should be a vital and essential part of any curriculum, but sadly their existence across curricula at all levels is at risk.”
Blurred Lines - Ryan Tedder has written some of pop's biggest hits, including Beyonce's Halo, Ed Sheeran's Happier and, for his own band OneRepublic, Counting Stars. But he says pop is in

Turkey - Allen & Heath’s Turkish distributor HEC PRO recently completed a four-year project to construct its new four-floor HEC Plaza ‘experience’ centre in Istanbul. The grand opening of the new facility took place in the presence of influential designers and installers, as well as prominent figures in the Turkish music industry.
The vision of director Berk Ozan and his team was to create a setting comprising different environments into which relevant integrated technology solutions were placed, allowing customers the chance to experience first hand the practical application of the brands HEC PRO represents. The suites include a fully immersive cinema room, a hotel suite, conference facilities, office areas and an impressive bar/nightclub.
As part of HEC PRO’s impressive portfolio, Xone products feature prominently at HEC PLAZA, with all models on demonst

Philippines - Resorts World Manila (RWM) has created El Calle Food and Music Hall – a space that celebrates the Filipinos’ passion for jam sessions, delicious food, and good times over drinks.
El Calle, the city’s latest acoustic chill-out spot, features nightly entertainment from some of the best acoustic performers in the country today and special performances from the country’s top acts. Past performers have included True Faith, Ben&Ben, Clara Benin, Top Suzara, Luke Mejares, and more. With El Calle’s special focus on raising the bar for live acoustic music, choosing the optimal sound system was essential.
“El Calle is a very intimate space seating a maximum of eighty people, so we needed a sound system that could deliver powerful sounds but with the necessary clarity for clean acoustic performances,” said RWM technical director for theatre and ent

USA - Established in 1968 and sponsored by the Olympic Committee, the longstanding International Children’s Games branched out in 1994 with the launch of the Children’s Winter Games. This year the competition was held in Lake Placid, New York, giving young athletes from across the globe the chance to compete at the highest level in a wide range of winter sports.
While the Games are all about exceptional sporting achievement and fostering the exchange of ideas between athletes from different countries and cultures, it’s also about putting on a memorable show for the spectators. And that’s where ADJ comes in.
Having worked with the historic Olympic Centre on countless competitions, lighting designer Eric Wilson was brought in to deliver an epic lightshow for the Children’s Winter Games opening ceremony, jumping at the chance to work on a prestigious sporting ev

Latest Issue. . .