To keep up with this intense production rate, the Puppet Box must be able to depend on its technical systems, and Klaus Marschall, grandchild of the founder and now the owner of the theatre, is playing it safe with his lighting, choosing to install an ETC SmartFade 2496 as a DMX backup control console. The Augsburger puppeteers have long relied on their older Transtechnik T20 desk as their main console, with
Following a successful 2004 UK tour and the critical and commercial success of the band's debut album, Hopes and Fears, Keane extended its tour with a series of European and US dates throughout 2005. With extra production budget available for US shows, which were taking place in venues up to twice the capacity of the European dates, LD Paul Normandale decided to step up the production values for the US leg.
Having read about the Jands Vista lighting console's Generic Fixture Model, Normandale was keen to see if it could provide a solution to the lengthy process of re-plotting shows for varying venue sizes. After a demo from Jands' European and North American distributor A.C. Lighting, Normandale was impressed by t
Previous to him joining mm productions in November 2000, Hunt worked on many West End and touring productions; he has commissioned sound for Princess Cruises Los Angeles, worked for the BBC and Ulster Television, and spent time working in Germany and Palm Springs, California. His first full-time job in sound, however, was at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. And it was whilst at the Crucible that Martyn became addicted to live performance sound.
"It is my real passion for mu
The planned work programme for this year includes not only an increased number of dance and music events but a greater number of touring Shakespeare productions for the summer season. The Venice desks have proved a hit with the artists for their ability to tightly control vocals with warmth and clarity and are now being specified by the touring companies as standard.
"During the past few years it has become clear to us and our clients that the Midas desks have outperformed all of the other brands that we have used," said rental manager Howar
JBL's new VRX Series line array concept attracted much attention. Featuring the performance of high end line arrays in a compact, affordable and flexible 12" two-way format, VRX provides outstanding coverage and output coherence. VRX shares components with JBL'
For a line-up that included some of the world's best drum 'n' bass DJs and MCs, APR provided a ground-stacked X-Line array system, "a massive wall of sound", according to APR's Pete Russell. Either side of a centre stage were eight Xvls 3-way line array cabinets, with 16 Xsubs. In the centre, four Xi1152 full-range cabinets provided fill, and for stage fill, another two Xb LF boxes and two Xn cabinets were used on each side. Completing the picture were XW15As for band monitoring.
APR Audio was repeating its success of 2004 in
"There's still nothing wrong with the 1S," reports Croxall. "In all that time it's only ever had two small technical problems, and one of those was a blown fuse! The only reason I'm upgrading is that it has simply run out of channels to handle the sort of work we're doing these days."
Ian donated his Series 1S, complete with the original user guide, to Soundcraft, who intend to put it into a c
Taylor Phillips was established in 1999 after founder Julie Kirby spent a long period working in the lighting and sound industries; the success of the company is largely due to an understanding of the market and how this sector operates, says Kirby, who will continue with the company as the operation is expanded with a growing team base in Cambridge.
(Jane Cockburn)
The two screens will air coverage of film trailers, festival highlights, as well as new digital film content. The R6 will also serve as the main backdrop for the broadcasting of the festival's prestigious movie awards.Offering a 6mm pixel pitch, high definition imaging
Chicco Hiranandani, product manager at NMK, adds: "I was approached by Artes before the Dubai Jazz Festival this year to provide a FOH mixing console. At that time, we'd received the new Verona console so I offered them to try it during the three-day event. When they were able to see and h
The task of providing the sound reinforcement for the spectacle was entrusted to Milano Music Service (MMS), the renowned Milanese rental company, and both the client and the audience were delighted with the results. Supported by EVI Audio's Italian partners, Texim, MMS's engineers opted for a large Electro-Voice X-Line system along with EV amp
It was the first time that Cain has used Robe fixtures - but it certainly won't be the last he asserts, stating that next time he intends to use lots more Robe's on the rig! Gemini Stage Lighting of Dallas, Texas Lighting supplied equipment for the recently concluded two month US tour.
Cain used the ColorSpot 1200s for stunning beam and colour effects. "I like the brightness, strobe rate, pan/tilt and the gobo selection" says Cain, noting that you get the standard range of gobos plus ten additionals - all of which are inventive and different. He also likes the colour mixing properties and reckons that the 1200s are far brighter than similar comparab
Whilst the bands might have been screaming '666'; three was the magic number for Download Festival organizers this year: the festival now in its third year, with three stages and expanded to run over three days. It was also the third year that Simon Battersby led an experienced management team and 450 staff to look after the 50,000 fans who enjoyed the weekend.
Aside from the increased logistics to accommodate the larger crowd and 35,000 campers Showsec worked with officials from the SIA. Showsec had 48 SIA licensed staff and officials commented on the high level of organization and preparation in place meaning that no crisis management was ever called on during the weekend.
The
"The audience was very impressed by the ease of use of the software and its full compatibility with Midas consoles," says Marandet. "The set-up, consisting of a Heritage 1000 and a DN9340 linked together by a laptop using wireless technology (WiFi), was functional in no time and configured live according to req
Each Sports Café entertainment system is custom designed at Metropolis. Company chief design engineer Shane Winterbourne explained it has developed a specific technical formula across the Sports Café venues, primarily so: "Managers can go into any site and work the AV systems."
Metropolis supplied, installed and commissioned the house dimming and effects lighting, which includes 13 Robe Spot160 XT moving lights and 18 Par 64s, controlled via a LightProcessor Power Station 18 channel dimmer and a QCommander 512 desk. Winterbourne comments: "Effects lighting for the Sports Café is designed to be easily operated and robust. The system i
Throughout the workshop opportunities will be given to discuss real issues and to evaluate your own situation and the processes currently used in your workplace against legal requirements. Places are limited due to the practical a
SAE Institute will now be providing through its network in over 45 colleges in 20 countries AMS Neve broadcast/music/film and post seminars for past and new clients. This will be a first of a kind service o
Féerie was launched to celebrate the new millennium and narrates the Moulin Rouge's fascinating history. With 1,000 costumes, 100 artists, six ponies and five pythons, this new show features circus acts and traditional choreography, as well
The film stars Tom Cruise and is a modern-day version of the classic story, set in New England and truer to the original novel. It's said to have required 500 effects shots, more than any other Spi
Cooper, who has been in the business for nearly 30 years, has apparently become an instant fan of the Lake Technology processors. "I have immediately fallen in love with them," he comments. "It's definitely the best tool for my job." The engineer, who also mixed the mammoth world tour promoting Springsteen's 'The Rising' in 2002/2003, is looking forward to adopting Lake Contou
After an intensive assessment period, the company took delivery of the package of M2D cabinets to complement its existing stock of M1D ultra-compact curvilinear array loudspeakers. A new three-hang centre cluster was designed, consisting of eight central M2D units with outer hangs of eight M1Ds each, all driven by LD-3 compe
Production designer Mike Keeling of Project X and director Mark Romanek put together this singular look."The idea here is having the band on this raw stage and everything is done in silhouette with lighting and key lighting," Keeling explains. "Once we embarked on it, Mark and I just decided to do the entire video in LED lighting. That w
UK sales manager, Nick Pemberton completed the sale. "As a person with Yorkshire blood in me, I understood what Bob wanted from his console: quality and flexibility, without it breaking the bank. Aztec fits the bill perfectly. As one of the finest sounding console available, Aztec's "no nons
Venue general manager Malcolm (Malky) Blair, a well known figure on the Scottish and UK music and touring scenes says, "We wanted a really excellent production facility to encourage bands and performers to play without needing to bring in their own rigs". As it's a multi purpose venue as well as a live music space, ABC will feature several regular club nights, so versatile lighting was also top of the
