UK - Church installation specialists Sound4Churches in recent months has conducted on-site demos (in conjunction with Neville Raine from JHS, HK Audio's UK distributor) which have resulted in a number of installs being commissioned, all using HK Audio Elements line array systems. Elements has proved a solution for sound reinforcement in a variety of acoustically difficult buildings where clarity of speech is of paramount importance, but the ability to deliver high quality full range music is also necessary, for both playback and the amplification of live instruments. Designed for situations where a balanced and uniform sound from front row to back row is desired, it's not too loud at the front, not too quiet at the back and intelligibility remains intact over greater distance than with conventional point source loudspeakers. The compact size and elegant looks he
Europe - Melbourne’s alt-metal titans, Twelve Foot Ninja (TFN), have recently completed a European run of festival appearances and sold-out headline shows, with a dLive Wings digital mixing system. Performing at multiple festivals including Download (UK), Rock The Coast (Spain) and Nummirock (Finland), the band needed a space-saving system that could fit in any FOH position and be easily transported from show to show. To accomplish this, they adapted their dLive system in a number of ways, often leaving their usual C1500 surface on the bus and hitting performances with just a CDM32 MixRack, an IP8 remote controller and a laptop running dLive Director software. Dylan Mitrovich, sound engineer for TFN, explains, “There are only a couple of consoles on the market that provide crystal clear audio with the power and flexibility in a format that can be packed up and flow
UK - White Light has supplied the lighting equipment for the recent West End transfer of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin following its critically-acclaimed UK tour. Based on Louis de Bernières’ best-selling novel, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is the story of romance in the face of the Second World War set on the idyllic Greek island of Cephallonia. The production marks the novel’s first major theatrical adaptation and marks the 25th anniversary since its original publication. For both the UK tour and West End run, the lighting design was by Malcolm Rippeth. Malcolm comments: “As a creative team, one of our main aims was to find the look and feel of Cephalonia and the other spaces featured across the story; the key one being the Italian soldiers fighting their way through the country. In that sense, it was creating a space of peace and beauty in pre-in
USA - Australian band Ocean Alley completed a 32-city tour of the US and Canada earlier this summer. For the mainly small venue dates, Max Baldwin, the band’s lighting designer utilised Professional Rogue R1X Spot fixtures supplied by Squeek Lights. “Our entire idea was to get looks in 400 or 500 capacity rooms with limited stage in North America that were similar to what we got at giant festivals and amphitheatres in Australia,” says Baldwin. “Obviously, we couldn’t duplicate the Australian looks exactly, but we could reflect the spirit of those shows with a smaller rig. The Rogues were essential to our plans. Working them with the various house rigs we encountered gave us a lot of options.” Although he varied the arrangement of fixtures from night to night, depending on the configuration of each venue’s stage, Baldwin typically positioned a Rogue R1X S
Germany - Robe’s new IP65-rated iPointe moving lights were prominent among lighting fixtures on the main stage at this year’s Elements Festival, a two-day showcase of house music in the amusement park at Dormettingen, 80km southwest of Stuttgart, Germany. The festival is staged in a picturesque environment landscape and built on a former mining area, complete with its own artificial lake and beach. The event features three vibrant stages of music and is known for its high production values. Lighting for the main stage - located in a natural dip in the topography - was designed by Raphael Herrmann whose company Prolite Event also co-ordinated the supply of the lighting kit which included eight Robe Pointes and 16 LEDBeam 150s as well as the 22 iPointes, plus some other lights. Raphael has lit the main stage since Elements Festival started five years ago and
The Netherlands - Philips Stadion, home to PSV in Eindhoven, is the first venue in the world to install ArenaMatch DeltaQ loudspeaker line arrays and ArenaMatch Utility loudspeakers from Bose Professional. Audio, video and lighting sales and rental firm Bazelmans AV completed the installation of the Bose loudspeakers at the 35,000-capacity stadium in time for kick off of the team’s first game of the second half of the season early this year. "The design of the sound system was made especially for Philips Stadion,” says Wiljan Bazelmans, commercial director for Bazelmans AV, which is headquartered in Veldhoven. The combination of the latest Bose Professional loudspeakers, power amplifiers and signal processors enables Philips Stadion to play high-quality music via loudspeaker arrays while at the same time delivering clearly audible voice announcements to every seat
USA - The Strings Attached tour, Weird Al Yankovic’s “most elaborate and extravagant” production to date, is out with a lighting and video package provided by Bandit Lites. Each performance features the works: costumes, props and a full orchestra accompanying the Grammy-award winning artist as he brings to life his hits including Amish Paradise White & Nerdy and Smells Like Nirvana. Bandit Lites supplied lighting designer James Hergen a package that would illuminate the stage as well as each local symphony, crafting a design that would allow the production to have trusses up and out of the way as quickly as possible, affording the musicians enough time to load in and begin soundchecks. VL 3500 Washes and Robe BMFL saturate the stage with textures and hues while Claypaky Sharpys supply additional coverage as well as well-time musi
USA - St. Leo the Great church was established in Lincroft, New Jersey over 60 years ago during the area’s suburban boom of the late 1950s. Its sanctuary seats around 800 people but provides tough acoustics for intelligibility, a problem that had previously been dealt unsatisfactorily with several lines of delay loudspeakers. Recently, local AV integration firm Concept Professional Systems designed and installed a simple new sound reinforcement system at the church. Ditching the delays and relying on Danley Sound Labs’ pattern control and phase-coherent, long distance throw, the church now enjoys intelligible speech and lively music reinforcement from the front pew to the back pew. “We originally got involved at St. Leo the Great when they called us to service their old system,” explains Don Gspann, owner of Concept Professional Systems. “After several years
South Africa - Robert Grobler, a lighting designer for Gearhouse Group South Africa is a Vectorworks Spotlight enthusiast who has used the programme to design some of the country’s biggest shows. One of the recent concepts that Robert designed was the Castle Lite Unlocks Post Malone concert held at the TicketPro Dome Johannesburg on 18 June. An event with international acts comes with its own pre-requisites and between the expectation of the audience and the client, Robert Grobler had to ensure the planning and execution of concept would be world-class. Glenn 21, the events consultation company that organised this event, came to Gearhouse with an idea and Robert was tasked with taking this idea and making it happen. Robert has used Spotlight for all his drawings 2009 and his experience drawing in Vectorworks offered up a sketch for Castle Lite that was massively deta
Australia - B&H Australia equipped Bunurong Memorial Park with a complete AMX by Harman networked AV solution. Created in 1996 by the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, Bunurong Memorial Park offers settings for a variety of celebratory and commemorative events. Nestled beneath a protective tree canopy, a series of intimate indoor spaces and sensory-rich gardens provides an inspirational environment for funerals, visitations, memorial services and more. At the heart of the 247-acre site is a complex housing two visitation rooms, three chapels, five multi-function rooms, offices for funeral directors, a café and a florist shop. In order to support services and functions in a wide range of spaces, Bunurong officials hired B&H Australia to outfit the building with a comprehensive, easy-to-use AV and building control solution. B&H Australia chose AMX med
Germany - The Great Tropical House lives up to its name. Completed in 1907, it remains one of the largest and most impressive self-supporting greenhouses in the world, housing more than 1,400 exotic plant species. On Friday 19 July, the impressive structure took on another important function when it served as the centre of the Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden’s Botanische Nacht, an annual one-day summer festival organized by TLT Event AG that features music, magic shows, fantastical tales and non-stop fun in the heart of the German capital. Glowing like a giant space ship, the massive domed structure that turned out for this night-time event. Outlining the building’s architectural features captivated the large crowd and adding to its stunning appearance were 110 Chauvet Professional ÉPIX Strip IP fixtures that Denny Arndt featured in his lighting design. Coordinati
UK - The Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place in the grounds of Goodwood house in Sussex and brings together every aspect of the past, present and future of the automotive industry. Two eye-catching stands at the 2019 show which took place in early July, were those of Mini and BMW, who both worked with leading marketing agency TRO to realise their visions. Video provision was an essential promotional part of both stand-designs and TRO contacted Hertfordshire based specialists pixl evolution to deliver solutions. Recently-launched sister company audio evolution was brought in to supply sound systems for both areas. Paul Wood acted as pixl evolution’s project manager for the week-long build and four-day show, with Peter Russell managing events on behalf of audio evolution. High value aesthetics were the order of the day and it was essential that all provision was del
Russia - Recent years have seen the Russian Orthodox church expand its programme of church building. At Moscow’s Khodynka Field, worshippers at the new Church Of Saint Sergius of Radonezh were distracted by having problems hearing services, but Yamaha’s VXL Series slim line array speakers have solved the issue. Khodynka Field, a few kilometres north-west of Moscow city centre, saw the first Russian flight in 1910 and quickly became the city’s first commercial airport. Finally closing to aviation in the early 2000s, since then the site has been redeveloped as housing, offices, sports venues and open spaces for Moscow’s expanding population. Located at the end of one of the former airport runways, the Church Of Saint Sergius of Radonezh was opened in 2017 to honour one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints, as well as the many airmen and w
USA - Dynamic Productions USA recently made a significant investment in the new Chauvet Professional Maverick MK3 Profile. “Our main reason for purchasing the Maverick MK3 Profile was to expand our inventory so we can continue to offer clients a wide range of lighting solutions,” says John Fitzgerald, the company’s technical director. “There are many ways that we will be using these fixtures. They will be on our festival stages throughout the summer, as well as with some of our A-list touring acts. We also see the MK3 Profile being a big help on our corporate side for events.” “The Maverick MK3 Profile is an exciting breakthrough product, one that is the result of a long and dedicated R&D effort on the part of our entire team,” says Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “We’re very pleased that a universally respected quality-driven company like Dynam
USA - For rock or pop shows with large, exalted audiences, it is common for engineers to face the challenge of audience leakage. For Eddie ‘El Brujo’ Caipo, monitor engineer for Gwen Stefani’s Just a Girl residency at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theatre in Las Vegas, that’s not the case. Recognising the importance of delivering pristine sound in every performance of the popular show, Caipo employed DPA Microphones’ d:facto 4018V Vocal Microphone to deliver clear, natural sound. “Throughout her 20-year career, Gwen has tried many microphone brands and she has definitely noticed a difference with DPA,” he says. “She has told me that she can hear herself more clearly on her in-ears, and this allows me to keep her volume lower and protect her hearing.” When Caipo was first introduced to DPA’s d:facto, he was blown away by the capsules’
UK - In the late 1980s, the Theatre Royal Windsor underwent a minor refurbishment in which Stage Electrics provided new production lighting panels, moved and refurbished the existing dimmers, ensuring the theatre was operating in line with health and safety standards of the time. Nearly 30 years later, the company has returned to the theatre to upgrade their mains supply and 50 year-old dimmers. “After a long period of service, the theatre’s dimmers were finally coming to the end of their lives,” explains Saul Eagles, business development manager at Stage Electrics. “With some of the dimmers being nearly 50 years old, the theatre contacted us to discuss their options for replacement. “As the theatre is dependent on ticket sales to operate, the option of an extended dark period was unfeasible,” Eagles adds. “The project needed to be completed rapidly, wi
UK - HK Audio’s Linear series of loudspeakers have been specified as part of the sound system at Nightrain, a new live music venue in Bradford. Founded by Bradford trio Chris Dove, Andy Kettle and Keith Tempest, the club transformed the former Yates and Arena sports bar on Queensgate into a 400 capacity venue that plugs the gap between smaller venues and larger ones, such as St George’s Hall. Nightrain, named after a Guns N’ Roses song, is set to host a diverse selection of live acts every week-end and select weekdays, welcoming local as well as touring acts. The venue is also open throughout the day as a bar and games room. Mike Smith and Brian Glover of Sound Alliance were commissioned to design and install an in-house sound and lighting system capable of satisfying the most demanding acts. Having themselves relied on a variety of solutions from German ma
South Africa - Johannesburg rental company MGG supplied the full technical production package for the Africa Play Conference. Hosted at The Maslow Time Square hotel in Pretoria earlier this year, the conference is a partnership between the Lego Foundation, the Department of Basic Education of the Republic of South Africa, UNICEF South Africa and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). Four hundred delegates from around the globe, including educators, policy-makers and researchers, joined together to share insights and come up with ideas to help equip children in Africa to become creative and life-long learners. The emphasis was to explore learning through play and how this could improve the quality of early childhood development and become an integral part of the education system. “To add an element of fun, MGG was asked to include L
France - Continuing a run of successful festivals as the house consoles of choice, Allen & Heath’s dLive and SQ digital mixing systems headed to Festival Musilac in Aix-les-Bains to provide audio support across FOH, monitors and comms. Charged with supplying audio for the entire festival, rental company Dushow worked with Allen & Heath’s French distributor, Algam Entreprises, to provide dLive as a house console option on two stages. The dLive systems supplied included S7000 and S5000 surfaces, paired with DM64 MixRacks and fitted with fibreACE cards for optical links with the stage. Bruno Dabard (application engineer at Algam) comments: “dLive is becoming more and more popular amongst the engineering community in France - it has an extraordinary balance between high-quality sound and powerful tools, all in a reliable package. It’s more than just a cons
The Netherlands - In late May and early June, Dutch star Marco Borsato became the first artist to play five sold-out stadium shows at De Kuip, home of Feyenoord Rotterdam football club. A Yamaha Rivage PM7 digital mixing system helped ensure that the performer, his band and an array of guest vocalists gave a quarter of a million fans an unforgettable experience. Borsato has consistently been one of the Netherlands biggest and most successful singers since winning Dutch TV talent contest Soundmixshow nearly 30 years ago. Playing to 50,000 people at each show, the four evening and one afternoon concerts ensured that fans of all ages were able to enjoy a huge and spectacular stadium production. It included an 80m wide stage set, pyrotechnics and a 1000sq.m. LED video screen, the largest ever used on a Dutch live show. The singer himself said: “It doesn’t get any bett
France - On 14 July 1789, troops stormed the Bastille in Paris during the French Revolution. Just one year later, the first Fête de la Fédération was held to celebrate the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in France, following the inspiration of a French textile worker, who presented his design for a festival celebrating the Bastille’s storming. Now formally La Fête Nationale, the tradition continues each year with parades, music and firework displays. More recently, Lawo has become an integral part of the celebration. Central to the Paris celebration is the Concert de Paris, held at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It is one of the largest classical music events held anywhere in the world and is followed by a spectacular fireworks display, attracting thousands of live spectators. The concert is broadcast on France Inter, on France 2, and to 3.13 mill
UK - Lighting designer Matt Tyler used Prolights LED fixtures to provide lighting for space-age performances by Orbital, Public Service Broadcasting and The Radiophonic Workshop at Apollo 50, a one-off event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Tyler utilised his own stock of Prolights Luma 700s, Diamond 19s and StudioCOB FC PARs to create the dynamic looks. “I needed to use quality fixtures that could truly do justice to this iconic event,” he explains. Millstone Sound provided lighting and sound production, whilst Tyler purchased the Prolights fixtures from exclusive UK distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies. Held at Cornwall’s Goonhilly Earth Station to celebrate the technological accomplishment of the Arthur satellite dish, which in 1969 beamed the moon landing footage live to 200m people in Europe, the anniversary was mark
USA - With most music festivals these days being multi-stage productions, sound reinforcement providers have become remarkably adept in speedily switching over backline setups and minimizing downtime between artists’ sets. But Wilkesboro, North Carolina’s annual Merlefest, reinforced by Greensboro-based SE Systems, was able to take that transition speed to a new level this year thanks, in part, to DiGiCo mixing consoles and the manufacturer’s new 4REA4 networked audio solution. Established in 1988 in memory of Eddie Merle Watson, the son of bluegrass icon Doc Watson, as a fundraiser for Wilkes Community College, the festival has pushed the boundaries of what Watson called “traditional-plus” music to feature acts as diverse as Elvis Costello, the Doobie Brothers, and Zac Brown Band. SE Systems has been the sound provider from the beginning, and the systems ha
USA - Based in the foothills of Colorado’s Pike’s Peak, Charis Bible College is the main Woodland Park campus of a Christian school that has more than 70 extension and satellite locations around the globe. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Wommack Ministries, the college’s latest major development is the completion of the Auditorium, a new 3,200-seat worship, performance, and teaching space that now serves as the heart of the picturesque campus and will soon host Charis’ 25th anniversary festivities this September. For the design and installation of the 150,000sq.ft auditorium’s audio, video, and lighting systems, Charis once again turned to Franktown, Colorado-based HOW systems integrator AcousTech, which installed three KLANG:vier immersive IEM mixing systems as part of the project. According to Roland Dutzmann, AcousTech’s president and founder, he had planned t
