UK - Green Hippo, in partnership with Kinesys, is running a two-day Automation Masterclass. Held in Kinesys’s London demo room – just 20 minutes’ drive from Heathrow airport and fully-equipped with chain motors, rotators, trolleys and truss – the course is designed for anyone looking to explore integrating moving elements with Hippotizer. No prior knowledge of Kinesys automation systems is required, though a good understanding of Hippotizer and basic SHAPE functions will help attendees get the most out of the sessions. Course content includes: Classroom component to comprehensively cover all aspects of automation, including connecting to an automation system, to visualising and pre-programming your show; Hands-on sessions in Kinesys demo room where students will work with hardware, practicing object alignment, parenting and automation scripting; Use of Kinesys Vector
Portugal - Following a series of recent meetings with distribution companies at international exhibitions including Pro Light & Sound in Frankfurt, WORK PRO has concluded new distribution arrangements for its LightShark lighting console. Effective immediately, the following companies are exclusively responsible for LightShark sales, support, training and marketing in their respective territories: United States of America — Blizzard Lighting; Canada — AVL Media Group; France — Freevox; Switzerland — Plus Music; Colombia, Panama and Venezuela — Audio Concept. “LightShark was something of a bold departure for WORK PRO, going way beyond the capabilities of any lighting control products we’ve released in the past,” explains Juan Jose Vila, WORK PRO’s chief sales officer. “Awareness of the console and its advantages and impressive price point has spre
Italy - Music & Lights celebrated the official opening of their new headquarters, dedicating a day of exclusive celebration for customers, partners and international distributors. The new base represents a further phase of development, with its over 40.000sqm surrounded by greenery and with a covered area of 10'000sqm, which brings together offices, research and development, production, laboratory and logistics. An organisation that has acquired over the years a growing international reputation, with its brands that today are at the top of the professional entertainment industry. This innovation played a central role in the distributor conference, held on the morning of the event and reserved for the international sales network. Then, in the afternoon, the doors of the new exhibition areas opened up; a complex of over 1000sqm, including a stage set up
South Africa - With a general insanity and a profound love and belief in the arts, Sue Clarence and her team staged the 26th Hilton Arts Festival, hosted at Hilton College in KwaZulu Natal. This year DWR Distribution’s SOS Charity Fund and the Hilton Festival stepped in to make a difference by bussing in 70 children from the Thembelihle Primary School to see three plays and attend two workshops. Apart from the stunning weather on all three days, which was a first, what meant the most for Sue was the massive team effort from sponsors to high quality productions at this years’ festival. Everyone stood together from technical teams to cleaners, box office to arts, crafts and foodies. “We were one team and all equally important,” said Sue. “Another vital component is that the festival inspires creativity which is essential for the soul of a nation.” Earlier thi
USA - One of the most common problems for touring musicians is losing the seal on their custom acrylic in-ear monitors. The result is a loss of low frequencies – obviously a huge issue for bass players. Téja, the bassist for Janelle Monae, knows this from personal experience. “It’s a real distraction on stage, because we depend on our in-ears,” she says. “It was frustrating, because they sounded good when the isolation was there, but the seal would always pop when I was singing, or even just smiling too big, and I would lose all the bass response. I had them remade several times, but nothing helped.” Before a recent Janelle Monae show in Chicago, band and crew members met with Sensaphonics personnel Claudia Pyne (artist relations) and Dr. Laura Sinnott, Au.D., about hearing health and in-ear monitors. During the discussion, Téja brought up some of her qu
USA - In 2009, a friend introduced Jason Bullock to an early model of the ChamSys MQ100. After playing with the console, Bullock took it out on the Summer ’09 NINJA tour he did for Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction. “After the tour, I was convinced the ChamSys was the console for my style of show,” recalled the New York-based designer. That style, with all of its big looks, bold statements and roaring intensity was on full display this summer in Bullock’s work on the 27-city Wiz Khalifa and Rae Sremmurd Dazed and Blazed tour. Running the boards for both artists, Bullock took audiences on a breathtaking visual ride. Only now, instead of his original MQ100, he ran his 25-universe (not counting video) 250-fixture show with a ChamSys MagicQ MQ300 Pro supplied by Upstaging, Inc. out of Chicago. “Justin Collie and the team at Nimbilist were responsible
Europe - Voted ‘Best Guitarist’ at the recent European Blues Awards (2017), Finnish guitarist and singer-songwriter, Erja Lyytinen, hits the road this autumn to begin her Another World tour across Europe, accompanied by an Allen & Heath SQ-5 digital mixing system. Supplied by Allen & Heath’s Finnish distributors, F-Musiikki-Oy, the single SQ-5 handles both FOH and monitor duties for the tour, with Lyytinen herself commenting favourably on the sound of the SQ: “The new SQ mixer works great with the IEM and the whole band has been very satisfied with the improved sound quality.” The compact set-up comprises an SQ connected via SLink to an AR2412 AudioRack for remote I/O, which is rack-mounted with a wireless IEM system and positioned on stage for a fast, simple set-up at any venue. Sound engineer Olli Huttunen adds, “SQ-5 is a compact, v
UK - The new Flower Bowl Complex in Preston has recently installed Anolis’s Ambiane LED RGBW downlights. The lighting scheme brings colour and vibrance to this three-cinema screen complex, part of a new multi entertainment and leisure destination concept developed by the team behind Barton Grange Garden Centre, designed to entice customers to spend more time having fun in one space. The single storey building has an undulating ‘living’ grass roof designed to blend into the surrounding countryside. It is a ‘mixed leisure’ venue which offers three premium cinema screens, a four-ice sheet curling rink, an 8-lane ten-pin bowling alley, golf simulators and several food and restaurant outlets. Russell Winteridge, general manager for Barton Grange and MD Guy Topping contacted Anolis and asked if they could design and supply a colour-changing and sustainable
The Netherlands - There’s a roar of excitement coming from the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and it all has to do with their installation of quiet High End Systems SolaFrame Theatre LED fixtures. The historic venue installed eight of the silent, fan-less fixtures – customised in an off-white colour to blend in just below the ceiling – in its Main Hall (Grote Zaal). The venue uses them to generate general front light for orchestras, as well as specials for soloists, and for shining on private events such as receptions and dinners held in the hall. Head of lighting, Alfons Hutschemaekers, says a lighting designer friend saw the SolaFrame Theatre fixture at a trade show and urged him to check it out. “The fact that the fixture is silent when it does not move is our first priority,” he notes. After a demo at the AED Group, he says, the SolaFrame Theatr
USA - The 2018 revival of the Rogers and Hammerstein's classic musical, Carousel, has just completed its run at the Imperial Theatre in New York City with a sound design that earned the show and its Broadway Sound designer – and Tony winner - Scott Lehrer, with associate Alex Neumann, a Tony nomination this year. Lehrer asserts that traditional revivals necessitate a transparent sound system so that the audience can remain unaware of the reinforcement. To achieve this, he made extensive use of TiMax delay-matrix spatialization, and explains, “It’s part of my toolbox and people hear it and they hear my work as sounding better because of it.” For the audience to hear the full breadth of the 34 actors on the stage, as well as the 26-strong orchestra of solely acoustic instruments, Lehrer created a wide spread of time zones across the stage using TiMax2 Soun
Germany - For quite some time consoles from China have been brought onto the market by a German distribution company. With regards to the key arrangement, these consoles are based on the MA onPC wing devices. In addition, these consoles - if the grandMA2 software is installed - illegally unlock parameters. By preliminary injunction of the Munich Regional Court, the distribution company concerned has now been prohibited from distributing MA Lighting grandMA2 onPC software on devices other than original MA Lighting hardware. The infringer now faces a fine of up to 250,000 Euro for each case of a violation of the court ban and up to six months in custody if the amount cannot be raised. In order to avoid further legal disputes, the distribution company concerned has also committed itself to the complete cessation of sales of ‘Kolibre’ devices from the Chinese manufacturer Y
UAE - APG has announced the appointment of Venuetech as its exclusive distributor in the Middle East. The partnership was officialised at Prolight+Sound Middle East in Dubai, where Venuetech displayed a broad range of APG products on its substantial booth. As APG’s exclusive distributor in the region, Venuetech will cover the UAE, Saudi, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar and Bahrain. This partnership opens a new market for APG - and is in line with the company’s strategic expansion: After reinforcing its presence in France and European countries (including Spain, Denmark and Benelux), the French loudspeaker manufacturer successfully developed its brand in Asia with the opening of regional offices in Singapore and Hong Kong. Grégory Dapsanse, APG’s marketing & business development director, explained: “The Middle East was for us the next logical step for
Europe - DirectOut has appointed Pilote Films of France and KDMC of Denmark respectively with the awards of Distributor of the Year 2017 and Outstanding Sales Performance of 2017. Both companies have achieved “a great result during 2017 and are confirming the positive trend in their business”. Founded in 1982 and based in Puteaux, just outside of Paris, Pilote Films is a very well-known and established audiovisual distribution company in France. It is organised into two divisions, broadcast and residential, but it very well covers also the live and fixed installation markets. According to DirectOut’s managing director Jan Ehrlich, the decision upon which company is going to be awarded as Distributor of the Year is at no time an easy one: "Many DirectOut partners performed quite well in the past year, but Pilote Films has performed incredibly well and this award
The Netherlands - Highlite International BV reports a very successful experience day. The annual in-house event was held 1 October. Highlite presented various workshops, lectures and product presentations which attracted customers from across Europe to visit the Highlite Headquarters to be part of the experience. Checking out the latest developments in the Infinity-family, visiting the Chimp training-room, getting up-to-date on how to design and construct an outdoor stage. Or attending the Odin-shootout, taking part in the entertaining exclusive company -tour and in the meantime enjoy the Highlite hospitality, all in one day. The many visitors had the possibility to register for several different workshops which were given by entertainment professionals and the Highlite product specialists. They could enjoy the latest presentation in the Highlite showroom where the bra
Italy - Proel has announced the appointment of Access Pro Group to distribute its Axiom brand of professional loudspeaker systems in Serbia. Based in Novi Beograd, Access Pro Group has been a major player in professional audio in Serbia since 2000 when political conditions improved enough for business to flourish. Owner and director Nenad Stojanovic has pursued his passion for high end sound equipment coupled with cutting edge technology and has built a successful rental market around corporate, DJ, fashion show and festival events. "We specialise in professional audio, but being a small market we have to cover a wide variety of jobs," said Stojanovic. "Typically our main activity is systems rentals for up to around 5,000 people, which are the main events in Serbia. Clients like to see and hear systems working under real conditions, and for us this is the best way to promot
Europe - Entertainment engineering specialist WIcreations was asked to work on two specialist elements – a moving / tracking video wall and a ‘star lift’ – for Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s On The Run II (OTR II) stadium tour, part of an epic and spectacular set design concept designed by Stufish. In addition to all the hardware, software and bespoke engineering elements, on the administrative front, WIcreations delivered a full scenic motion risk assessment to the tour’s management, together with machinery technical files and full user manuals covering the entire system. “As automation gets increasingly important in entertainment applications, so safety is The most important aspect to watch,” underlines WI’s owner and founder Hans Willems, who also project managed all the automation requirements. WIcreations provided this documentation in accor
UK - In September, drama school Mountview moved from its temporary home in Wood Green, north London, to a purpose-built building in Peckham. The new building houses all of Mountview's undergraduate and postgraduate performance and production arts courses under one roof and includes a 200-seat theatre, the 80-seat Backstage Theatre and a rooftop bar and restaurant with views across London. As part of its Theatre Production Arts (Lighting) Course, Mountview receives generous support from White Light. So when the school needed to find a way of storing its equipment when it moved into its new home, they approached the technical solution specialists. Alex Cann, senior lighting tutor at Mountview, explains: "We've operated out of our 'temporary' Wood Green home for around 30 years now. It’s a small space with a very compact lighting and sound store and nowhere near enough
USA - Country singer Cam returned to Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium for a headlining show with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. Based off the lighting design by Gordon Droitcour of Cour Design, tour manager Gabe Hodge created the one-off design by adding ground supported fixtures to bring more depth to the stage in addition to back light specials. “There was also already a good amount of programming that existed with the previous show file and lighting design (done by Larry Foote), so we wanted to take advantage of that,” explained Hodge. “Having said that, there were a lot of special moments in this show that required Vanessa Sexton to programme a handful of new songs and looks with her own flare.” Hodge had been the LD on Cam’s previous tour and was looking for a replacement following his move to tour manager. “Vanessa and I had
USA - Standing over 6’3” tall with broad shoulders and rugged features, the Grammy-nominated country music duo Brothers Osborne cast a striking image on stage. Their already-imposing presence is accented even further on their current tour by a wall of truss and light designed by Chris Reade and Jay Ballinger of KYVA Design, LLC. Reade and Ballinger created their image-intensifying wall using 54 high-output Chauvet Professional STRIKE 1 fixtures, supplied by Christie Lites. Arranged in groups of three on 18 vertical rows of truss, the single-source 230W LED fixtures create a powerful, industrial looking backdrop for Brothers Osborne, who are opening for superstar Dierks Bentley on the tour. “Our lighting rig not only illuminates, it also serves as a scenic element,” said Reade. “We’ve created a panorama of light and truss behind the artists to create a rela
Germany - On 8 September the second edition of the Volle Kraft Voraus Festival, organised by the German band Eisbrecher, took place in Ratiopharm Arena in Neu-Ulm. The band, based around singer Alexander ‘Alexx’ Wesselsky and guitarist Jochen ‘Noel Pix’ Seibert, were also celebrating their 15th anniversary. Production company Rain Age GmbH from Landsberg am Lech has been in charge of the festival from the very beginning - and were once more on hand for the band’s anniversary event. Martin Heining of Rain Age, who is also lighting designer for Eisbrecher, built creatively on the band's existing tour design, which was expanded for the arena. This also serviced the guest bands – and this year besides the headliner it included Oomph !, The Krupps, Stahlmann and Zeromancer – who were also bathed in the additional light equipment. Among other GLP e
UK - For nearly 70 years, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has delighted visitors with a spectacular display of music and fireworks from the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. Throughout that time, the show has been seen by thousands of people and has never been cancelled due to inclement weather. In recent years, DPA microphones have a played a key part in delivering the sound for the show. Sound designer Sebastian Frost, who has worked on this event for 23 years, specified a vast selection of d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones, d:screet 4061 Miniature Microphones and d:fine 4066 Headset Microphones incorporating the new CORE by DPA amplifier technology. In total, more than 110 DPA microphones were deployed across a wide range of musicians and performers, including a Malawian choir. “My main task is to amplify lots of different elements and not just the musicians,”
Protest Song - Bob Geldof is spearheading a campaign to warn of the impact of Brexit on the music industry. Sting, Rita Ora and Ed Sheeran and many others have joined forces to warn Theresa May a no-deal Brexit will put Britain in a "cultural jail". Geldof said: "It's two-fold. One is the income it generates for this country, £94bn, contrast that to the NHS spend, of £115bn, almost the same. The second reason is cultural - the voice of Britain, the genuine, global British voice is music, it has been since the Beatles. No one knows quite why this tiny island produces such vast reservoirs of talent but we do know the entire planet dances, eats, sleeps, and plays hard to our noise. That is being endangered by a recklessness which is existential and historically self-damaging." A joint letter states: "Imagine Britain without its music. If it's hard for us, then it's impo
UK - Students and young technicians from across Britain supported Robe’s international sales team at PLASA 2018 as part of the lighting manufacturer’s NRG (Next Robe Generation) initiative. Hailing from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, six students from six colleges and universities came together to work as a close-knit team to provide a frontline ‘welcome’ to all the trade visitors coming onto the Robe stand and offering them product demonstrations whilst acting as ambassadors for the NRG programme. NRG is a networking community for students, apprentices and young technicians who are serious about pursuing a career in the world of performance lighting and visuals. The initiative provides NRG crew members the opportunity to meet and get advice from influential industry professionals. The initiative also offers young technicians an opportunity to s
Russia - Ayrton was showcased at the recent Prolight+Sound NAMM Russia 2018 in an interactive lightshow created by its commercial partner, TDS-Pro. TDS-Pro specialises in stage design and technical production of TV projects, concerts and major sporting events. Its creative designers use Ayrton lighting fixtures in their designs. This was reflected in the lightshow which used the latest technologies to combine artists, Ayrton lighting fixtures, video, robots and augmented reality into a dramatic storyline. In it, a robot, composed of an LED screen and Ayrton MagicBlade-R fixtures located on a robotic arm, lay embedded in an LED wall and DreamPanel-Twin units where it remained hidden from view. During the show, the lighting fixtures appear to start to work incorrectly as if struck by a virus. The engineer from TDS-Pro tries to solve the problem and starts to load the ant
