Business

Details

14 March 2016

As with the West End production, the design and lighting for the tour will be by the team of designer Mark Fisher and lighting designer Willie Williams. Williams is perhaps best known for his work with U2, George Michael and many others; for the tour, he will work with associate lighting designer Richard Pacholski, who has looked after the lighting for the Australian and other productions of the show worldwide.

The core of the tour lighting rig is a package of moving lights from Martin Professional and Vari-Lite, including 30 Martin MAC 700 Profile, six MAC 700 Wash, two Martin MAC 2000 Performance and two of the ne

Details

14 March 2016

Stage Electrics is supplying the lighting hire for the season to illuminate these classic performances. The technical specification includes Vari*Lite 3000 Q-Spots, 4K HMIs, Clay paky Alpha Spot 1200 HPE and eight LDDE colour-changing battens.

Don Giovanni opens the season and is already a sell-out. As part of Opera Ireland's public access programme, the opening night of Don Giovanni will be relayed live from the Gaiety Theatre to Meeting House Square, Temple Bar and Liberty Hall for a free public screening.

Details

14 March 2016

Owned and managed by a subsidiary of the Norrköping Dolphins, the city's highly successful basketball team, building a new home venue for the team also meant that a major multi-purpose facility could be provided. Stadium Arena comprises four main areas. The main arena hosts basketball matches and other sports, live concerts and a wide variety of community events. Meanwhile a sports bar and restaurant provide further recreation opportunities, with the venue's main entrance combining circulation area, enquiry point and ticket office etc. To achieve maximum flexibility for all these areas, local audio contractor PADAB specified a Yamaha EtherSound distribution network.

"The

Details

14 March 2016

Bru's Room recently opened what promises to be their flagship location in Coconut Creek. The upscale 20,000sq.ft purpose-built facility boasts five different rooms including a family dining area, outdoor covered dock, patio bar, kids ice cream parlour and private lounge, each outfitted with audio and video systems designed by Coral Springs-based SoundVision Systems.

The high-powered sound system in the main areas is centred around Community VERIS 3594 and 3294 loudspeakers, with bottom-end handled by Community S-Series 18-inch sub

Details

14 March 2016

Acclaimed sound designer Philippe Wojtowicz, who implemented the sound system for the John Lennon, Unfinished Music exhibit in Paris in 2006, was charged to create the aural experience for the event. As Wojtowicz explains, the expansive range of the artist's material called for a multitude of different approaches in sound design.

"For some exhibits, we wanted to localise the sound source to a visual element," says Wojtowicz. "For example, havin

Details

14 March 2016

Having been invited to support the event by The Brit Awards' sound designer, Derrick Zieba, and sound company Britannia Row, presenters, performers and award-winners all chose Sennheiser as they entertained the sell out crowd at Earls Court and an audience of millions on ITV.

To introduce the event, host Kylie Minogue - ably supported by James Corden and Mathew Horne - used SKM 5200 microphones with Neumann KK 105 heads and the same combination was used for all guest presenters.

For their live vocal performances, Take That chose chromed SKM 5200 with KK 105 heads, the Ting Tings choosing e 935 wired mics.

Best International Artist and Best International Album winners, Kings of Leon, opted for e 945 wired mics, and Girls Aloud favoured cu

Details

14 March 2016

This is a total departure from the more classical theatrical lighting and look that characterised their previous major Sam's Town world tour, bringing a lively, contemporary multi-LED based ambience to the stage. Part of this look is created with the latest i-Pix BB fixtures - of which there are 15 BB7s and 27 BB4s on the tour.

The Killers were the second band to use i-Pix's BB7s after their launch last year - following Radiohead, for whom the fixture was developed. They formed an integral part of the floor specials package on the Killers' summer festival tour throughout 2008.

The 15 BB7's - added for the Euro leg Day & Age following the start of the tour in the US - are positioned in a long li

Details

14 March 2016

L.E.D managing director, Ian Kirby, comments: "We are delighted to be handling this ingenious product, which represents a classic blend between retro and new technology. It is a versatile and high-impact pixelated wall ideal for touring and television, and already attracting considerable interest."

Containing 25 x 75W halogen lamps (outputting over 1800W) in a 580mm square aluminium frame, the Jarag-5 comes in two versions - the PAR30, E27 version with aluminium reflector offering 10° beam spread and PAR20 GU10 version, providing 25° beam spread.

Details

14 March 2016

The company, which now has a workforce across the UK and an extensive network of distributors worldwide, moved to larger premises last year, despite the economic climate.

Smart-e's equipment transmits signals via inexpensive and easy-to-install Cat 5* cabling, providing robust networks for all types of AV systems with superior transmission quality. Co-founder Jon Lane, says: "We started the business because we saw a gap in the market for using Cat 5* structured cabling for transmitting AV signals. We spent several years extolling the virtues of Cat 5* cabling for AV use, however it was only in 2005 that people began to

Details

14 March 2016

Gonher will distribute the complete range of Prolyte products, including trussing, staging and Prolyft hoists.

CEO Jorge González Silva comments: "We were looking for a truss brand over a long period, but following our company philosophy, we also wanted to add quality to our portfolio of professional brands. Prolyte not only has an extensive product line, their focus on high quality products combined with excellent support and technical know-how, is exactly what we like to offer our customers.

The Sound Check Expo in Mexico City this week will be the official start of the distributorship. Gonher will show the complete range of Prolyte products and Prolyte engineer Ivo Mulder will present a technical semin

Details

14 March 2016

The challenges of meeting these constant set-up demands gave Faith EPC administrators an appreciation for equipment that is durable, dependable and easy to work with. So when the church finally fulfilled its long-held dream of constructing its own building in 2008, it wanted a lighting system that was user friendly and reliable, in addition to being performance-driven and priced within its budget.

Based on these criteria, Faith's technical and creative director Tom Moyer put together a lighting ensemble comprised largely of LED fixtures from Elati

Details

14 March 2016

"As an early supporter of the Entertainment Technician Certification Programme, we at I.A.T.S.E. Local 122, understand the value of supporting the vision of ETCP to provide a benchmark set to establish the skill levels of technicians within our profession," said Carlos Cota, I.A.T.S.E. 122's business agent. "So, when the San Diego Convention Centre proposed a change in their rigging policy stating that there would be an ETCP certified rigger on every rigging ca

Details

14 March 2016

BME takes over the 22,000sq.ft on the top floor of The O2 bubble, The O2's exhibition space. A permanent, high-tech, interactive music exhibition, it's also among the most technically complex AV installations ever undertaken in the UK visitor attractions sector.

Sysco's team, led by project manager Chris Mothersdale, director of engineering Glyn Hughes and director of technology Graeme Bunyan, specified and installed the projection, audio and computer

Details

14 March 2016

"For me, the Midas name has always been synonymous with the best-sounding, best-designed live mixing consoles in the business," says Paul. "In the analogue realm I have long-considered the XL4 to be peerless, but with the XL8, and now the PRO6 digital audio system, Midas has met and even exceeded the widely respected sonic qualities of their analog f

Details

14 March 2016

Marketing consultant Rob Lingfield, the driving force behind the initiative, said: "We worked on the original website five years ago, but due to the fast-moving modern technology, it had become out of date; we needed to move with the times and were very much driven by America, where the use of the internet is probably greater than our own."

The rationale was to make the site - which includes footage from last year's PLASA show - as simple and logical as possible, he continued. "You should be able to get to where you want to go in two or three clicks. We appreciate that news is being streamed onto the world wide web much quicker these days and we need to be at the forefront with accessibility. The compan

Details

14 March 2016

"As we take on more complex productions, and add new equipment to our theatres, we need to look at how this affects backstage safety," said Tom Young, vice-president of marketing for J. R. Clancy. "With changing technology, regular training on new equipment and safety procedures is essential, maintenance requirements change, and inspections become more important than ever. Our panel discussion will cover how training, inspection, and maintenance fit into every theatre's backstage safety plan."

(Jim Evans)

Details

14 March 2016

Glasto Update - Glastonbury Festival organisers are planning to mark its 40th anniversary next year by booking 40 bands from the past 40 years to play the 2010 event. "We want to have a band from every year on the Pyramid Stage," said Emily Eavis. "We'll have a lot of the biggest p

Details

14 March 2016

Speakers will include Haris Zambarloukos, Mamma Mia! (the movie); Angus Farquhar, The Storr Project; Iain Ruxton, Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi; Bernie Davis, The Royal Variety Performance; Paul Collison, Beijing Olympics and Roberto Schaeffer, ASC, Quantum of Solace.As well as listening to the speakers, Showlight delegates get the opportunity to talk to them - over coffee, lunch and tea and at the Conference Dinner. The visits programme includes Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, City Halls, the Philips factory at Hamilton, The House for an Art Lover, not one, but two distilleries, and Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama.

Showlight sponsors include Martin Profession

Details

14 March 2016

Sound engineer Maury Jensen comments, "I had heard of other engineers' favourable experiences with Dynacord products," says Jensen, "but I had never used any of them before. When we loaded in the system, I was very impressed by how light the speakers were and how easily they stacked. The system set up fast and I loved being able to run the PA off of one small lightweight amp rack."

He continues: "When I first fired-up the system and played my usual soundcheck CD, the overall so

Details

14 March 2016

These are an integral digital component of Richard Larkum's lighting and visual design, and take the look and feel of the Kaiser's almost non-stop touring schedule over the last two years to a new and different dimension.

Larkum states: "The band and I were determined that any 'video' elements interfaced seamlessly with the lighting". He also wanted a digital lightsource with its own visual integrity, and definitely not a massive LED surface that dominated the performance space.

XL UK's project manager Jo Beirne says, "It's always fun and exciting working with Richard - his ideas are innovative and varied and he never loses sight of the basic elements of lighting a band onstage well, and for the enjoyment

Details

14 March 2016

Production:av's live event video division is partnering with video directors and production managers to provide video solutions and move the company forward in this sector. The company's inventory of Barco projection and image processing has provided a reliable platform for servicing customers. "Our Barco HD8 and CLM R10 projectors have been instrumental in offering some complex, and bright projections at a competitive price point. These uni

Details

14 March 2016

A major part of the content focussed on ETC's Unison Paradigm and SmartLink product ranges together with the just acquired Selador Series of LED luminaires, which is set to be an important part of the company's offering.

ETC's market manager for Europe, Erik Larsen, reports: "It was good to get to meet so many of our customers throughout the week, and for them to meet one another. The Focus event enabled people to exchange ideas as well as learn more about what ETC has to offer and what's coming up."

(Jim Evans)

Details

14 March 2016

The winner of the Best Lighting Design category was Paule Constable for her design for The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse; this is the third time she has won the lighting Olivier, with a further four nominations to her credit.

In the other technical categories, awards went to Gareth Fry for his sound design for Black Watch at the Barbican, to Todd Rosenthal for his set design for August: Osage County at the National.

The awards were presented against a backdrop of record West End attendances in 2008, 14 million people, a one per cent rise on the previous year. Chris Patton, divisional sales manager for Stag

Details

14 March 2016

Approximately 60ft above the exhibit floor, the existing lighting position spanned over 100ft in length and was situated along the edge of a third story gallery. "By applying a little entertainment technology to the museum environment, we provided a well-designed and efficient solution," says Robert Young, associate Theatre Projects Consultants.

Young and Michael Nishball of TPC, through close collaboration, designe