South Africa - Cricket supporters have been entertained as the English cricket team, on tour in South Africa between December 2019 and February 2020, play four Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs), and three Twenty20 International (T201) matches. Cosmolight Quartzcolor LED lighting fixtures have been the performers of the day at the SABC, where commentary and live broadcast of the action is aired from their studios in Auckland Park, Johannesburg. For the past 35 years, Andre Rossouw has worked at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as a lighting designer/electrician and head of electrical distribution on outside productions. His role includes the task of streamlining a system that keeps the power on, despite the current instability of the South African power grid. “The studio, working in unison with an OB Van, operates via a 80kVA UPS, linked to
Norway - An Allen & Heath dLive mixing solution has been installed at Share Oslo, a technology business hub and event space in the Norwegian capital, which has recently undergone a major audio upgrade. Share Oslo’s facilities span four main zones and are used for workshops, live performances, yoga classes and business events. With many different clients accessing the venue, the system needed to be as simple to use as possible, allowing users to run presentations, control levels and choose sources without the aid of a technician. The compact, flexible solution supplied by Benum Norway comprises an Allen & Heath dLive DM0 MixRack, fitted with a Dante card and three IP1 wall mounted remote controllers. “We needed to design an audio distribution system entirely based on AOIP (Dante), but also needed features such as AMM, Dynamic EQ, freely configurable bu
UK - The award-winning Norwich Arts Centre stages a wide range of live music and theatrical performances. In a bid to safeguard its reputation as 'Britain's Best Small Venue' (as awarded by the NME back in 2014), the venue recently commissioned Old Barn Audio to upgrade its outdated lighting rig as part of a venue-wide modernisation. Providing the cornerstone to Old Barn Audio’s solution was a roster of LED fixtures from Chauvet Professional that included eight Rogue R1X Spot, eight Rogue R2 Wash, 12 Ovation E-160WW Spot and 15 COLORdash Accent Quad fixtures. In order to ensure a multifaceted solution for general stage looks and effects, Chris Packham of Old Barn Audio specified the combination of Rogue R1X Spot and Rogue R2 Wash fixtures, positioning them in parallel lines above and to the sides of the stage. In combining the R1X Spot’s gobo effects with the sat
Ireland - Set in Dublin’s Docklands, The Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) is a multi award-winning venue that has hosted more than 1,850 events since it opened in 2010. The CCD has recently invested in multiple DiGiCo S21 consoles, supplied by the manufacturer’s Irish distributor, Rea Sound. According to Pat Crowley, one of the venue’s technical production managers who specialises in audio, the CCD works with five-star equipment for a five-star venue, with high-quality sound and user-friendliness. The venue had looked to DiGiCo from the very beginning, initially investing in an SD7 and three SD8s, but it had been looking for a smaller, more compact console for a number of years. When DiGiCo launched the S-Series, Crowley knew the S21 ticked all the right boxes. “We have a lot of users who are AV trained, but not necessarily well up on the sound end of
Saudi Arabia - Technical event production specialist LarMac LIVE recently delivered its largest ever project when MDL Beast welcomed over 130,000 festivalgoers to the outskirts of Riyadh for three-days of electronic music - pitching the festival straight into the top three biggest EDM events in the world. LarMac LIVE answered the call from LemonX in late September 2019. Only 10-weeks later, it was showtime. Company co-founder Ian Greenway explains: “The backbone to our business is multi-artist, multi-stage shows - large-scale festivals and TV shows. We like to think that we know how to keep multiple artists and stakeholders happy, usually in very changeable environments, and all of these skills were used like never before here.” Spread over five stages - ranging from the 2,000-capacity Saudi Beast to the 45,000-capacity Big Beast - the festival was held on a
Australia - The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) is the largest facility of its type outside of a capital city in Australia. With event spaces including a main arena with capacity for 6,000, four exhibition halls, and 22 meeting rooms, the Centre hosts everything from major sporting events, to professional conferences, to small corporate meetings. It’s a major user of radio microphones, which might be called on for anything from a PowerPoint presentation for six, to the Eurovision 2019 Australia Decides contest, which it hosted in February 2019. As part of its ongoing equipment life cycle management, the GCCEC has spent the last two years preparing and then rolling out changes and updates to all of its existing radio microphone and RF management equipment. With the Centre being a high-profile, high-density user, and the background RF environment of the
UK - Old Barn Audio (OBA) recently turned to Martin Audio’s CDD series to overcome a challenging situation at the refurbished St. Joseph’s College Chapel in Ipswich. The majestic Ipswich chapel, forced to close for three years when it fell into disrepair, has finally been brought back to life after a major revamp costing £750,000. Written into the upgrade programme was the provision for a new sound system. The chapel itself belongs to the independent school, St. Joseph’s College, who approached OBA as the result of a recommendation. OBA project manager Phil Clark’s first site visit revealed a pyramid shaped building, with no internal walls, and thus no fixing points, and a 60-metre high pitch. His solution was to install three clusters of three CDD8, pointing in each direction and carefully angled to suit the dispersion requirement. Two further CDD8 are positi
Tunisia - Famed for serving as Luke Skywalker's hometown of Mos Espa in the original Star Wars trilogy, Ong Jmal in Nefta, Tunisia, is a festival location like no other. Once a year, for the last three years, the area’s sand dunes and traditional domed houses become the temporary backdrop for a non-stop, 30-hour rave; this year featuring some 30 electronic artists including headliners Luciano and Apollonia, and a host of others such as Astrid, Ben & Lola, Mehmet Aslan and Fantastic Twins. The festival, known as Les Dunes Electroniques, is organised by the team behind Plages Electroniques in the French Riviera, and has been touted as the event to put Tunisia on the global festival map. After running into a handful of audio-related issues in their first two outings, this year the production team brought in PAL Pro Audio Light as the festival’s technical p
Belgium - Route 66 - the symbol of the American free spirit - served as an appropriate backdrop for the 2019 Hype-O-Dream festival, which featured EDM performances by stars like Nico Morano and Cherry Moon Trax. Bringing this thematic setting to life was a dynamic festival lighting rig designed and developed by Lieven Tacq, Thomas Vandekerkhove and their team at Creative Rental Solutions that featured over 470 Chauvet Professional fixtures. Having worked on seven previous Hype-O-Dream festivals, Tacq and Vandekerkhove are familiar with the role that bold, original scenic designs play in creating the overall fan experience at these events. This year, at the centre of the impressive main stage was a massive video wall, flanked by Route 66 signs and other thematic scenic elements, such as mountains, gas stations and billboards. Route 66 is also strongly associated with ne
Macao - To deliver intelligible sound for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Macao’s return to China, AV integrator Macao Chi Fu Lighting & Audio Technology Co recently equipped the Macao East Asian Games Dome with a JBL Professional by Harman audio system. To mark the return, the former Portuguese colony held a dinner reception and inauguration ceremony at the Macao East Asian Games Dome. At the ceremony, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China delivered a speech honouring the anniversary and the inauguration of the fifth administration of the Macao Special Administrative Region. AV integrators Macao Chi Fu Lighting & Audio Technology were commissioned to design and install an audio system featuring JBL loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers, supplied by Advanced Communication Equipment (Inte
USA - In 2019, Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola made the decision to upgrade the stage and house lighting systems in the main sanctuary – a significant undertaking that meant replacing over 600 lighting fixtures. “We decided to replace every tungsten light that illuminated in the room with an LED fixture,” says Bobby Taylor, tech director and director of communications at Olive Baptist Church, “and for the stage lighting project chose a full complement of Elation LED fixtures.” Olive Baptist Church was founded over 125 years ago and has grown into one of the largest Baptist churches in America. Under the leadership of Dr Ted Traylor, Olive Baptist is an active and growing ministry with a large worship space designed to hold about 4,000 people. In any given week, the sanctuary may host anything from weekly services, weddings, or funerals to full concerts and
Belgium - Although Ghent is famed for its medieval church spires, quaint market squares and its week-long summer city festival, for the students and academics who make up roughly one fifth of the city’s population, one event in particular stands out on the calendar: the Ghent University students union annual party for returning and new students. This year’s party, which took place within the art nouveau surroundings of the city’s Vooruit Hall. To provide memorable looks for the event, Grizzlysound supplied VéDéLighting with 20 Chauvet DJ Intimidator Hybrid 140SR and 12 Chauvet DJ Intimidator Wash Zoom 450 IRC fixtures. Together, these fixtures formed the foundation of their EDM infused lighting concept. With the expectant students eager to see both exciting and fresh visuals for the most hyped event of the year, which saw a number of DJs take to the stage to
The Netherlands - SKALAR - the large scale immersive kinetic lighting and electronic music art installation created by light artist / designer Christopher Bauder and composer / music producer Kangding Ray - has been reimagined for Amsterdam’s The Gashouder, a circular space where the work is being presented by Audio Obscura. Once again, Christopher is utilising Robe Pointes as lightsources - 93 in total - in this new space. The installation which he calls SKALAR 360, also features 61 double-sided mirrors with perimeter rings of 180 addressable pixels which are suspended on 183 custom Kinetic Lights motorised winches. In addition to the looped installation piece, Christopher and Kangding Ray are playing seven special related live performance shows in the same space. SKALAR was first realised in the turbine hall of a former Berlin power stat
Colombia - Allen & Heath’s dLive and Qu series took centre stage at the 14th edition of the Cartagena International Music Festival, set in Cartagena de Indias, with an extensive week-long programme, which saw the mixing systems deployed for FOH, monitor and broadcast duties. Year after year, nearly 25,000 spectators flock to the festival, which brings together the world’s greatest classical musicians. Held at various venues throughout the city, the festival also hosts a variety of exhibitions, musical masterclasses and educational programmes for young, aspiring artists. As per previous years, the festival turned to Colombian rental company 903pro to provide audio support across several locations and found dLive and Qu to be the perfect solution to cope with the variety and volume of events and broadcasts taking place over the week. "I've been mixing class
USA - Michael Abbott, audio coordinator for the Grammy Awards, specified 12 Austrian Audio OC818 microphones to be used as overhead microphones on the artist drum kits during the 62nd annual Grammy Awards, which was broadcast live from Staples Centre in Los Angeles on 26 January. “The broadcast music mix engineers came back to me after the broadcast, commenting on how the microphones provided additional tonal response and spatial coherence to the overall drum kit mix,” comments Abbott. Hosted by Alicia Keys, the 62nd Awards featured live performances – including Old Town Road All-Stars, which featured nominees Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X, who were joined by BTS, Diplo, Mason Ramsey, and Nas. Other artists performing on the night included first-time nominees and break-out stars Billie Eilish and Lizzo, as well as Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani. “We
USA - Fans, who turned out for Anthony Hamilton’s three-date Florida swing in late December, finished 2019 with a bang. In addition to seeing the Grammy-winning R&B artist perform his hits, they got to enjoy a stellar cast of supporting artists, featuring Ja Rule, K Michelle and Joe. Each act was supported by a punchy Josh Lawson lightshow that delivered its searing visuals with help from six Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Profile fixtures supplied by Apogee Productions of Longwood, Florida. “I approached each act differently as Ja Rule is classic hard-hitting rap, Joe is a more laid-back version of R&B, and K Michelle is an artist who tells a lot of stories of her past relationships,” says Lawson. “Since the three stops made in Florida were at arenas, it gave me more stage space to play with than I have at my normal club shows. I took advantage of
USA - Wayne State College is a mid-sized public school in rural Wayne, Nebraska. The college’s theatre arts degree programme provides its students with three performance venues housed in the Lied Performing Arts Centre. At 675 seats, the Ramsey Theatre is the largest of the three, but until recently, the quality of its sound reinforcement system was not commensurate with the quality of the programme. Local AV integration company Adams Production Services recently designed and installed a Danley Sound Labs system that delivers “vastly superior intelligibility and impact at a fraction of the former system’s size”. “Last year, I updated the PA system in Wayne State College’s gymnasium with six Danley OS80 loudspeakers, and they loved the improvement,” explains Brian Adams, owner of Adams Production Services. “They showed me the system in the Ramsey Theatr
UK - Lighting designer James Scott specified 96 impression X4 Bar 20 battens from GLP when London-based rapper / producer AJ Tracey played two shows at Alexandra Palace recently. The gigs were the culmination of a long year in which Scott, director of multi-disciplinary creative design studio Suluko, had been an essential part of the artist’s creative team, headed by Tawbox. AJ Tracey toured first the UK Academy circuit followed by the festival season, with a simple floor package. Lighting inventory for the tour had been supplied by Siyan but when it came to the Ally Pally shows production manager Joel Stanley awarded the project to Neg Earth. The creative for the show was devised by Tawbox, who designed the screen layout and the concept of AJ performing in the round. “This was a specific show design for Ally Pally,” explains Scott. “The concept of the sh
UK - Music producer George Moorey likes to weave a little historical magic into his recordings, by taking his mobile setup - which now includes an Audient iD14 audio interface - into some of the ancient buildings of his adopted home. Capturing the spirit of the city in the form of samples, he showcases them in a surprising variety of genres including choral, classical, folk, hip-hop, electronica, grime and rock. His most recent project is a prolific songwriting collaboration with fellow musician and lyricist, Shane Young, called The Powdered Earth. The first single Hold Your Breath is released on 31 January and incorporates piano samples he’s been recording all around the city. Moorey says: “Piano is crucial to the sound of The Powdered Earth. The parts are simple and repetitive, so I record them as MIDI using
UK - Established over 60 years ago, Belfast-based Niavac has grown steadily to become one of Northern Ireland’s most successful systems integrators, covering the corporate, healthcare, hospitality and education sectors. The acquisition of audio company Loft Sound in 2016 expanded Niavac’s portfolio into the live event industry, a business which is proving every bit as successful. The company has invested in a Yamaha Rivage PM7 digital mixing system to continue its commitment to high quality service and it has already been out on tour. “We used Yamaha digital mixers from the beginning,” says Loft Sound’s Steve Corr, who became Niavac events manager at the time of the acquisition. “Our first mixer was an LS9 and our inventory went on to include M7CL, PM5D, all three CL series mixers and smaller analogue boards for conference work.” He continues: “We
UK - White Light has supplied the lighting for You Stupid Darkness!, which recently opened at the Southwark Playhouse in London. Presented by Paines Plough and Theatre Royal Plymouth, You Stupid Darkness! is a new play set within the Brightline Call Centre. It focusses on four colleagues who try to keep their lives together whilst the outside world falls apart. The lighting designer on the show is Peter Small, who comments: “My brief for this production was that it shouldn’t feel ‘lit’; meaning I wanted it to feel as natural as possible to the audience. The concept was that you had sort of peeled the wall off this strange office and were peering in from a dark place, somewhat ‘fly on the wall’. This concept meant working closely with set designer Amy Jane Cook and adding in masking which would allow me to drop the rig very low and hide it away
USA - The ninth annual iHeart Radio Music Festival landed in the Nevada desert with stars including Alicia Keys, Miley Cyrus and Green Day. The event, held at the T-Mobile arena, was broadcast live on FOX, complete with energetic sets and an array of musical talent. Green Hippo was at the iHeart of all things visual, with Boreal+ Media Servers powering pre-made content. Jason Rudolph was at the helm as screens producer, using the in-built Hippotizer toolkit to manipulate content to fit each artist’s performance, in front of two ‘SuperWall’ LED screens, one on each side of the stage. “We used four Boreal+ servers, as two redundant systems - an A and a B system for the A and B screens,” explains Rudolph. “Each main server was doing four outputs to drive all the content for the show. Everything feeds into two linked E2 frames to get onto the screen and allow
Thailand - Since their debut album in 2001, Potato have steadily grown to become one of the most admired Thai rock bands, attracting a strong following among teenagers in South East Asia. Their latest two Potato Magic Hours concerts were a testament to their popularity, with thousands of fans coming together to enjoy the band’s performances at the Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, with an L-Acoustics K1/K2 system helping to bring the magic to life and ‘kick out the jams’ at the second largest exhibition and convention venue in Asia. For Potato Magic Hours, Thai AV rental partner MediaVision (1994) Co was chosen to deploy the PA system. The venue presented the team with challenges from the outset. “Even though the venue is very popular with concerts and live shows, the acoustics were our major concern,” says MediaVision chief system engine
South Korea - In common with many older houses of worship, modern expectations have meant that the audio quality of sermons in the 1936-built Changsin Church in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea was no longer good enough. A replacement sound reinforcement system was needed and, after a direct comparison with systems from other major manufacturers, an Alcons Audio LR14 pro-ribbon system was chosen by the church. The church formed a committee which appointed Jang Young-wook, a church sound engineer and executive director of the Korean Church Acoustics Association, as the project consultant. He contacted the representatives of eight leading audio system manufacturers and asked them to participate in a briefing to be held at the church. The companies included audio contractor Sky Sound, based in the city of Daegu, which had previously worked with Alcons Audio’s