Italy - Clonwerk Simposium recently equipped the Italian headquarters of Bosch in Milan with a customized sound reinforcement system from Dynacord and Electro-Voice (EV). The installed solution offers a combination of high speech intelligibility, powerful music reproduction and architecture-friendly aesthetics. Loudspeakers from the Dynacord Vertical Array family and the EV EVID series are installed in the auditorium and adjoining Galileo Room, as well as subwoofers, amplifiers, system control and touchpanels.
Over a century ago, Bosch opened its first sales office for Italy in Milan. Today the company has over 5,700 employees at 17 locations across the country. In time for the Expo World Fair 2015, Milan-based Clonwerk Simposium installed a new Dynacord and Electro-Voice sound system in the Bosch headquarters of Italy, which is located in the capital of Lombardy to this day.<
Russia - Renowned sound engineer, Robert Biom, specified a dLive digital mixing as the FOH console for a national tour by popular Russian pop artist, Leonid Agutin.
As Agutin's long standing sound engineer, Robert Biom has previously used Allen & Heath's iLive system but has taken the new dLive system on the latest venture, which is visiting 25 cities and towns across Russia throughout February, March and April.
The system comprises an S7000 Control Surface with DM64 MixRack at FOH, with an iLive-T80 Control Surface and iDR-32 MixRack as the monitor system.
"After more than 20 gigs with dLive I can say that this system has an amazing sound and limitless functionality," comments Biom. "I believe that in every respect, from sound to appearance, it is equal to the best modern touring digital mixing systems but unlike most of them, dLive is also reasonably priced.
France - Robe BMFL Spot moving lights have been specified for France's Arlette Gruss Circus show which started its 2016 winter tour at the Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux.
Since 2009, the show has been staged in the 1500 seater 'Cathedral' tent venue, an impressive structure that features eight masts and is 83m long by 49m wide with 20m of headroom.
With those dimensions, they needed a spot fixture with some serious brightness. They also wanted a unit that was flexible and properly multi-purpose.
The 11 x BMFL Spots - replacing older 1500W series moving lights from another manufacturer - were delivered by leading French rental company Dushow after being chosen for the lighting rig by circus lighting designer Arthur Oudin.
Dushow has enjoyed a productive long term relationship with the circus as a technical supplier.
UK - PLASA Focus Leeds returns to the Royal Armouries 10-11 May with its popular seminar programme offering a variety of thought provoking topics from leading organisations in the live entertainment technology industry. The two-day free to attend seminar programme will welcome inspirational and technical sessions from the likes of Soulsound, Association of Lighting Designers (ALD), BECTU and d&b audiotechnik.
This year, the ever-popular seminar programme offers practical guidance for industry professionals with early highlights including multiple sessions from Soulsound as Justin Grealy hosts A Sound Engineer's Guide to Guitars and Guitarists and Dug Gutherie (Soulsound / Surfing Cow) looks in-depth at Category Cables for Touring Applications. Steve Jones from d&b's Education and Application Support team will present Why Size Matters exploring how loudspea
UK - Plenty of excitement surrounded the high profile re-launch of Virgin Radio on the DAB digital radio platform, with an exceptionally strong presentation team, a great music and entertainment policy and all the ingredients to repeat the ratings success it enjoyed in the nineties and noughties.
Event technical production specialist Maestra London was asked by live event and TV producers TBI Media to provide creative lighting for the inaugural broadcast which took place aboard a Virgin train running from Manchester to London. It was hosted by Virgin Radio presenters Edith Bowman and Matt Richardson complete with special live sets from a number of bands including The Feeling, Travis, Mystery Jets, Walking on Cars and Gavin James.
Maestra's Jack Jury designed the lighting and project managed this aspect for the east London based company. They rose to the challenges of insta
UK - When the opportunity arose for PRG XL Video to support London's latest in-vogue theatre venue, Found111, and Emily Dobbs Productions' latest show, Bug, PRG XL Video quickly realised the potential of the space and talent connected to it and were delighted to come on board working with lighting designer Richard Howell lighting the play, as well as supplying a small, but versatile lighting package for the themed bar area.
Found111 is a pop-up theatre performance space run by Emily Dobbs Productions in the old Central St Martins School of Art & Design on Charing Cross Road. Emily explained her reason behind embarking upon such a project. "When the prospect of taking on an alternative space in the heart of the West End came along, what really attracted me to it was the chance to create a level of intimacy that is rare in the West End.
Germany - A permanently installed Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system at Hamburg's Stage Operettenhaus is currently supporting Love Never Dies ( Liebe Stirbt Nie), the musical sequel to the long-running The Phantom of the Opera. Lloyd Webber's longtime sound designer Mick Potter uses Constellation's acoustical effects throughout the show to optimize the aural experience for the audience.
"The Operettenhaus is a very dry sounding theatre, so we're using short reverb time presets throughout the show to add a beautiful, natural acoustic ambience to the room," says Potter. "We also use Constellation to enhance the drama by completely changing the acoustical space, like when we use longer reverb times for scenes in the phantom's lair and shorter ones for outdoor scenes."
In addition to transforming the theatre's acoustics to suit each scene, Constella
UK - The UK premiere of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was big news throughout Europe. Setting an appropriately grand tone for this A-list event at London's Leicester Square, Impact Production Services, created the highest profile video installation in the company's history using a collection of PVP X6IP LED panels and pixel mapped ÉPIX Strip Tour LED fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
Anchoring the dramatic design by IPS client Limited Edition Event Design was a massive video wall display. Lining the red carpet, the display was made of 14 individual 2m x 2m x 5m high Layher towers positioned in zig-zag formation; each tower sporting a 1.5m wide by 2.5m high matrix of Chauvet PVP X6IP panels. The panels displayed visual content and pictures of the various comic book figures in the film, in addition to Batman and Superman lettering.
USA - ETC has been a major donor to, supporter of, and participant in ESTA's Technical Standards Program since its inception. Now they've taken that support to an even higher level by becoming a Visionary Level Investor in Innovation with a pledge of $10,000 for each of the next five years.
Representatives of ETC were present at the very first meeting discussing the creation of the TSP and have always been active on TSP Working Groups. Steve Terry, ETC's vice president of research and development is also a long-time member and former chair of the Technical Standards Council and Maya Nigrosh, senior software engineer, is currently serving as co-chair of the Control Protocols Working Group.
Steve presented a cheque for the first instalment of their pledge at the recent USITT show to Technical Standards Council co-chair Mike Garl, commenting, "From ETC's point of view, the ES
USA - Known for his ability to "routinely fill stadiums" (Las Vegas Sun), this year's ACM Entertainer of the Year Jason Aldean is having an incredible year, and it is only April. The multi-Platinum country music megastar will return to the road as his Six String Circus tour launches 19 May in Rogers, AR with a lighting package provided by longtime vendor Bandit Lites.
Stand out elements of Mike Swinford's lighting design include the massive MagicRing-R9 fixtures, MagicBlade-R and pods comprising of MagicDot-R's. Bandit recently added a massive quantity of these Ayrton fixtures to its touring inventory, fixtures that Swinford praises for their consistent output and precision. "I find them appealing because they are on the cutting edge of LED creative technology," said Swinford. "This gives us a fresh new approach to the design and a look that we had never been able to
UK - A bright sunny April day saw the 6th Annual Behind the Scenes UK Charity Golf Day kick off in normal chaotic style. The morning started with all 20 teams having to pass the BTS Golf Academy before being let loose on a proper golf course with real balls. The teams had to negotiate the four crazy golf putt putt holes, swiftly followed by the driving range and 'nearest to the pin' challenge. This being a BTS Golf Day the challenges are never normal and these tasks involved the golf balls being replaced for marshmallows. Surprisingly some of the golfers chose to keep using the marshmallows on the main 18 holes as their game suddenly improved with straighter and longer shots!
A networking lunch was rounded off with final instruction from BTS Golf Day judge, jury and executioner, Lee Dennison. The teams departed to their holes and the game was afoot. Never one to let people enj
UK / USA - "We really can't tell you how this saved our home and family." "For everybody who contributes to Behind the Scenes, thank you. You helped save my life." "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and generosity at a time in my life when I needed it the most."
Without the help of Behind the Scenes, these people - and many more - would have been in real financial difficulties as a result of illness or injury. By Design Day, a major fundraiser for the charity, is being held this year on Saturday, 23 April. It is the day for members of the design community to make a personal donation, hold a collection at work or support the day by giving a day's royalties.
Raising money for Behind the Scenes in both North America and the UK, By Design Day returns this year supported by a galaxy of well-known champions. Neil Austin, Ken Billington, Paule Constable, R
UK - London-based event company Capital Sound has made its first investment in Powersoft's patented advanced technology, investing in 24 of the new X8 amplifiers to power its new Outline GTO line array system.
Both the Outline GTO C-12 line array and the Powersoft amplifiers were supplied by UK distributors CUK Audio, while this compelling combination also reflects the long OEM trading relationship the two Italian manufacturers have enjoyed, dating back to 1996
Said Capital Sound project manager, Robin Conway, "We have friends in the industry who have long promoted Powersoft and when we set up a demo at O2, and CUK Audio showed us the X Series, it became a no-brainer. These new amplifiers are just so powerful, compact and clever, with a ridiculous amount of features.
"At O2 we were able to drive the majority of the demo rig off just three amplifiers," he continued. "We
Germany - Hamburg dance / trance trio Scooter - considered the most successful German singles recording act with 23 top 10 hits and over 30m records sold - kicked off their 2016 tour with an eye-catching lighting and set design by Jerry Appelt, one of the best known lighting and visual professionals in Germany.
Twenty-two of Robe's new LED strobes were right at the heart of the design which is being looked after on the road by lighting director / associate designer Marc Brunk Hardt.
The design's architecture is formed from five raked pods flown above the stage and loaded with lights. The idea of this 'roof' can be altered and adapted to fit into different sized venues on the tour - with capacities of between 2000 and 12000 - whilst retaining the basic depth and integrity of the design. It's also a great solution for dealing with varying headroom - looking equally good with
UK - One of the most successful companies to supply live audio systems to the UK's television production and music industries, Plus 4 Audio provides sound reinforcement for broadcast shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, The X-Factor, and The Voice. Their recent addition of an L-Acoustics K2 variable curvature line source system gives them a solution to the rising number of arena shows for television.
Plus 4 owner Stewart Chaney's history with L-Acoustics dates back to the 1990s, when he first heard the company's V-DOSC system. "I was just blown away by it," he says. "I was system engineer with it out in Spain for the first time and I think like most people when it was first on the market, I was amazed at what I was hearing. Adding the K2 means we've got pretty much every L-Acoustics product," says Stewart, "from the small coaxial boxes, and smaller line ar
Germany - DirectOut has awarded the trophies for Distributor of the Year 2015 and Outstanding Sales Performance 2015 to Joseph Electronics in the US and ProLyd in Norway respectively. Both companies performed extraordinarily well on behalf of DirectOut during 2015 and have started 2016 equally strongly.
Established over 65 years ago, Joseph Electronics has offices in both Illinois and California and represents over 100 premier brands in the broadcast and AV sectors. Particularly experienced in the burgeoning HDTV market, JE prides itself on being a full service solution provider offering dedicated sales and technical expertise at every stage of the project.
According to DirectOut's Jan Ehrlich, JE was an obvious choice for the Distributor of the Year award for 2015. "We've been with JE since 2010 and they have always shown stable and steady growth, both in terms of DirectO
UAE - The company, that until recently, has focussed mainly on corporate events having taken a sabbatical from rock and roll for a year, made a dramatic U-turn in March '16 to support three concerts in the UAE including Nicky Minaj and the Autism Rocks Festival in Dubai that featured Flo Rida and Tyga. Protec also provided the lights for the very first Korean cultural convention that took place in Abu Dhabi's du Arena on 25 March featuring performances by K-Pop artistes, boy group BTS, Taeyeon from the group Girls' Generation, Kyuhyun from Super Junior, Double S 301, hip-hop group Monsta X, girl group Spica and pop star Ailee.
The Nicky Minaj concert organised by the newly formed 117Live, headed by Thomas Oveson (who was previously with Done Events) was held at Dubai's latest entertainment venue - named Autism Rocks Arena. Protec provided lighting, video and rigging for the sh
The Netherlands - ELC Lighting has partnered with The Audio Specialists BV as its exclusive distributor of Green-GO products in The Netherlands.
The Audio Specialists BV is a leading provider of products and services to theatres, theme parks, sports stadiums and resort and leisure complexes as well as to re-sellers, rental companies and AV companies.
Silvio Cibien, sales manager for ELC Lighting commented, "I have every confidence that The Audio Specialists BV is the perfect fit for the Green-GO brand. The market for this innovative Green-GO range is versatile and we feel it is vital that we choose the best partners to take our products under their wing. The Audio Specialists BV already supports some of the leading names in the AV industry and we look forward to working together to drive the brand forward."
Axel Natgegaal, CEO, The Audio Specialists BV added, "Until no
UK - Lang, one of Europe's leading AV technology rental companies, has committed to purchase 50 Panasonic PT-RZ31K projectors, the 28,000 lumens laser phosphor projector launched at ISE 2016.
The 3-Chip DLP Solid Shine series, which has been designed specifically for large venue applications, is the brightest projector Panasonic has ever launched.
Lang supports many of Europe's leading projection mapping events, including the Bucharest iMapp Festival and Moscow's Circle of Light, where it will look to integrate the PT-RZ31K in future shows.
Tobias Lang, CEO of Lang AG, said, "We are convinced that, over the next few years, the rental market will fully transition to laser technology. In order to lead this shift, Lang AG has carried out a technical evaluation of the RZ31K projector and its alternatives. We feel that due to the robust and reliable laser concept, the outst
UK - Goosebumps: Alive is London's latest immersive experience. A chilling modern update of the '90s cult horror series, the show is situated in The Vaults beneath Waterloo Station, and audience members are guided through the dark abandoned tunnels where they witness the re-imagined classic tales of R.L. Stine brought to life. Following its work on several immersive shows, from Secret Cinema's Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back to Alice's Adventures Underground, White Light was asked to provide the lighting equipment for this chilling theatrical experience.
The show is based on several of the classic Goosebumps novels and features 19 rooms populated with spine-tingling scary scenarios. The lighting designer for the production is Charlie Morgan Jones. He comments, "This is the first time I've worked on an immersive production and it's fantastic seeing the a
South Africa - Johannesburg based rental company MGG Productions has added two new S21 Consoles with D2 racks to their existing DiGiCo arsenal. This was the very first DiGiCo sale for newly appointed South African distributors, DWR Distribution.
"We've chosen DiGiCo as it's the number one desk on all major tours in the market," commented Denzil Smith, general manager at MGG. "The S21 was introduced to cater for smaller events in the industry while maintaining the DiGiCo backbone. The S21 is versatile for everyday conferences and corporate events. It's perfect for when you don't need the big channel count but the full processing and equalizers."
Kyle Robson, the new DiGiCo sales and technical support "go to person" at DWR, was as pleased to ring the brass bell in the sales office. "The S21 is a console DiGiCo needed and fits in with what they do," said Kyle. "For MGG, it wi
UK - Situated between London's Kings Cross and The Angel, popular entertainment venue, The Lexington, has upgraded the sound reinforcement system in its downstairs lounge bar - with Martin Audio's popular new CDD series, which makes use of patented Coaxial Dispersion Driver technology.
Supplied by LMC Audio, the main PA in the American-themed bar comprises four CDD10 (10") mounted on four pillars, firing into the centre. These are supported by a pair of ultra-compact CDD5 (5") that will be used as DJ monitors, and a CSX212 (2 x 12") compact subwoofer which is also situated in the DJ booth. Managing and optimising the system is Martin Audio's dedicated DX0.5 controller.
The venue had decided that an upgrade had been necessary in its downstairs bar. Although a refurbishment had already taken place on both floors of the venue, owner Stacey Thomas sensed the need to invest in
UK - The UK-based artistic design firm, Oli Metcalfe Design Ltd working with entertainment studio, Moment Factory applied an unprecedented combination of interactive technology for the worldwide arena tours of British rock trio, Muse and their seventh studio album Drones.
Muse made history on Friday, 15 April 2016 when they played to a record-breaking 21,000 fans at The O2 Arena, London.
The Drones tour combines tracking, lighting, videos, flying elements and a lot of creativity, to create visuals and spontaneous interactivity unique for a live rock concert like this one.
BlackTrax real-time motion tracking solution from CAST BlackTrax Ltd is used to track and manage three technical elements, from band members to massive drones that fly above the audience as well as for projection-based storytelling. The area tracked is BlackTrax's largest to date!
Europe - When John Turner, Front of House engineer for Celtic rock band Runrig, was asked what console he would like to use on the band's recent sold out UK and European tour, his answer was instantaneous - A DiGiCo SD7.
Tour sound requirements were supplied by Denmark's Nordic Rentals, the company having worked with Runrig for a number of years.
"Nordic stocks DiGiCo and Martin Kolbro was using an SD10 at monitors," says John. "I knew they had an SD7 in their inventory, I hadn't used one before and I thought, why not? But then I had a look at the desk and got a little nervous - it can just do so much! - so I called my old friend Bob Doyle [one of DiGiCo's original founders] and he put me on to head office in Chessington. I spoke with Dave Bigg there and organised a day's training with him. By the time I left, I was rearing to go."