Germany - The city of Bielefeld has been marking its 800th anniversary throughout 2014, with a highlight of the celebrations a 'time travelling' production which featured 800 performers. A Yamaha CL5 digital mixing system helped ensure that the complex show was a fitting tribute to the city's history.

Titled 800 Jahre Bielefeld - Bi Motion, the production took place in the city's Stadthalle on 19 and 21 June, with two performances on each day. David Heuer of DH ProSound was asked to design and mix the show's sound. He chose a Yamaha CL5 digital console, with two Rio3224-D i/o units and an additional Ro8.

David is familiar with both complex events and Yamaha consoles, having been heavily involved with Dusseldorf's 2011 Eurovision Song Contest spectacular, amongst many othe

Belgium - The 14-18 Spektakel Musical in Mechelen's Nekkerhal unites a world class production team including Luc Peumans and Painting With Light to commemorate the death and destruction of the First World War which started a century ago in 1914.

Painting With Light has worked on many previous projects with show producers Studio 100, and the first conversations with Peumans took place about the then very embryonic work around three years ago.

With the venue already earmarked, the idea of using mobile scenery trucks evolved, so Luc suggested simple lighting trickery to conceal these massive pieces when offstage ... by creating virtual wing space with light curtains.

The same concept is utilised to mask off different depths along the 'field of play' / performance space as the seating tribune and the location of the action shifts up and down the hall.

The light curtains

USA - Nearly 250 consultants, integrators, sound engineers and IT managers from all over the world came together in Las Vegas on 17 June, 2014 for the AV Networking World Conference to learn about Dante, the market leading audio networking solution. This year's event was sponsored by Atlas Sound, Attero Tech, Audinate, BSS Audio by Harman, Bosch, Bose Professional Systems, Focusrite Rednet, Innovative Electronic Designs, TC Group, Lectrosonics, Peavey Commercial Audio, Powersoft, Presonus, Shure, Stewart Audio, Studio Technologies and Yamaha Commercial Audio.

"Attending AVNW from a broadcasting and live sound perspective, it was amazing to see the different ways companies and people are using Dante" remarked John Ball, systems engineer from Microsoft Product Studios. "For us at Microsoft Production Studios (MPS), the IP platform is giving us new ways to transport

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Case Study: Hans Zimmer Live

When award winning film composer Hans Zimmer brought his smash-hit tour Hans Zimmer Live to North America fall 2024, the show's audio team sought out to bring infrafrequency bass to the show to add new depth to the show's audio experience. The team chose Danley Sound Labs.

USA - It's an all too familiar story: a beloved historic theatre slowly falls into disrepair, and where music and dancing used to reverberate off its rafters, cobwebs now hang in silence. And while it may be the end for some theatres across the nation, The Civic Theatre in New Orleans was given a second chance and revitalization, thanks to the Solomon Group and Bandit Lites, in an effort that was recognized with the Seventh Annual Excellence in Live Design Awards for Venue - Theatre.

In what is being hailed as "the first modern historic theatre", The Civic Theatre received an entire overhaul, while still maintaining the historic characteristics that make it so special. The Solomon Group took painstaking care to ensure that no detail, down to the plaster on the balcony, kept the architectural integrity remained intact.

The execution of the design for every aspect of t

Germany - Attracting around 70,000 visitors, Hurricane is one of the most successful music festivals in Germany. Held in Scheeßel, this year's headliners included Arcade Fire, Volbeat, Seeed, Kraftklub, and Fettes Brot among others. TVN Mobile Production was in attendance with its Ü3 OB truck (equipped with a Lawo mc²66) and a mobile control room (with a Lawo mc²56) to mix the live broadcast sound from the two main stages and make multitrack recordings for later broadcast. "The festival was perfect! We got the releases from all the bands for TV broadcasts," says Stephan Thyssen, audio manager at TVN.

TVN first mixed festivals for live broadcast and recording in 2005. Since 2006, the company has also handled the Wacken Open Air event (the largest heavy metal festival in the world), and in 2008 took on the Hurricane festival. While his senior position puts Thyssen in

Nicaragua - Having survived the earthquake of 1972 that devastated much of Nicaragua's capital city Managua, there has been little that has shaken Teatro Nacional since; until that is, time came to re-equip the venue in the modern vernacular.

"Function is core to our art at the Teatro," said Licenciado Ramon Rodriguez, director of the theatre (Licenciado is a term of respect, one Señor Rodriguez has earned during his time at the theatre), "and technology forms a big part of that." Teatro Nacional had been surviving on a bequeathed audio system for many years, "But now we needed a system that can manage all forms of performance; musical theatre; classical concert, rock and folk concerts; these were not even considered when the venue was first built."

Teatro Nacional, named Teatro Rubén Dario after a national poet, was built as a concert hal

UK - Chaos Visual Productions provided the essential backdrop to Kasabian's homecoming gig at Leicester's Victoria Park last month. In a specially constructed festival arena that accommodated approximately a 50,000 strong audience, Kasabian opted for a massive white 9mm WinVision screen of 235sq.m from Chaos as the central vehicle for their show.

With the rest of the stage dressed in soft white - along with the crew in their white boiler suits - the screen provided the focal point for the dynamic and energetic creative content that reflected the artistic concept of their 48:13 album.

As all the previous artists had performed on a plain black stage throughout the afternoon, the unfurling of the white drapery and the start of the numerical countdown in vibrant pink was a perfect example of how to deliver colour juxtaposition to maximum effect.

Project director, Alex Leinster h

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OPUS X4 PROFILE – the most powerful LED moving head from Cameo to date

The OPUS® X4 PROFILE is the new flagship model from Cameo and is among the most powerful LED moving heads on the market. Equipped with a 1,400-watt LED white light engine, this spot profile moving head produces an enormous light output of 50,000 lm, providing powerful spot and gobo projections on even the largest stages and much more.
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UK - Held at the beginning of July each year, Sennheiser's 2014 charity golf day proved as popular as ever, with a total of £16,000 raised at the evening dinner's charity auction.

An annual highlight on the Sennheiser UK calendar, this year saw a change of venue to the stunning Bearwood Lakes Golf Course in Wokingham, Berkshire for an exciting, fun filled day for its customers and suppliers, with entertainment from Sennheiser UK's own Ken Morrison during the evening.

As in previous years, the majority of the auction money raised was donated to the Caron Keating Foundation, which was set up in memory of the late television presenter Caron Keating and provides a range of support services for cancer patients and their families, with £2,000 being given to Diabetes UK.

"The day was another great success," says Paul Whiting, president, global sales at Sennhei

Germany / Australia - Astera has appointed Bluebottle as the exclusive distributor of its wireless event lights in Australasia. Bluebottle is based in Melbourne, Australia, and will serve mainland Australia, New Zealand and other Australasian islands. Bluebottle has been working with Astera since 2010 and this partnership will serve to enhance the sales, distribution and support of Astera's wireless event lighting range in the Australian market.

"The addition of Astera to our current portfolio significantly enhances our sales outlook as it allows us to provide an even more comprehensive array of audio/visual solutions to our customers," commented John Salisbury, associate director at Bluebottle. "We are committed to bringing this expanded offering to new and existing customers while also ensuring they receive the same level of service and support that they always

UK - Milton Keynes-based hire company, Impact Production Services (IPS) has invested in Chauvet Professional PVP S5 LED video panels, taking 196 for its hire inventory. IPS had already investigated the LED screen options available in the market and a summer series of confirmed jobs was the push needed to make the investment.

Tom Warden, project manager for IPS, explained the choice of Chauvet Professional. "The most important thing was that Chauvet guarantee all panels go through a rigorous quality control. UK-based spare parts and support made this a safe choice. And the product features were appealing, with the high resolution pixel pitch, intelligent rigging system and easy to use inter-panel connections."

Chauvet's service scored high with IPS at every point of contact, "Chauvet offered a demo and relatively short lead time for delivery to fit in with our pr

The Netherlands - TC Group has announced the appointment of Fairlight as the exclusive distributor of Tannoy, Lab.gruppen and Lake for the Netherlands

The deal will see Fairlight, located in Bemmel become the primary contact for all three brands in the country, with exclusive access to Tannoy professional loudspeakers, as well as access to the extensive library of Lab.gruppen and Lake amplification and processing products.

Michel Arntz, director of Fairlight , commented, "We are extremely happy to begin this new partnership with TC Group's professional install and tour brands. Tannoy is an innovative company with many leading product lines, and one which we are excited about working with. Along with Lab.gruppen and Lake, we are sure that these new additions will help us to continue to deliver the very best to our customer base."

Stephan Grawe, TC Group's internatio

UK - Panasonic has launched a new range of network LED displays aimed at the corporate and education markets.

The LFC70 series is designed with the next-generation wireless technology Miracast, allowing seamless high speed wireless transmission of content, including Full HD video files, from Miracast compatible devices to the displays.

The series is also compatible with Panasonic's Wireless Projector App for iOS, for wireless transmission from iOS devices to the displays, as well as Panasonic's Wireless Manager software, which allows wireless presentation from a PC.

Enrique Robledo, marketing manager at Panasonic, said, "We believe these displays present an opportunity for professionals to consider the future of digital equipment for meetings or classrooms.

"Miracast is a powerful tool for sharing media. Fast connection and very high bandwidth means you can displ

UK - Allen & Heath has released a new firmware update for its Qu Series of compact digital mixers with a wealth of core new features to enhance functionality of the pioneering range. As well as support for the newly launched Qu-32 mixer and AB168 Audio Rack, v1.5 introduces DCA Groups, custom channel naming, flexible dSNAKE output patching, improved routing for studio recording applications, and additional MIDI control soft keys.

Four DCA groups have been added, which can be assigned to fader strips in the custom layer on Qu-16 and Qu-24, whilst the new Qu-32 has 4 dedicated DCA master strips in the upper layer. Furthermore, all Input channels, FX returns, Mixes, DCA and Mute Groups now have custom naming functionality, which can be shared with the QuPad remote app and with any connected ME-1 personal mixers. Also, dSNAKE outputs to remote Audio Racks and monitor sends to ME-1 m

Canada - The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre in British Columbia has installed a Meyer Sound Mina line array loudspeaker system to reinforce its theatrical and music productions. Together with its existing Meyer Sound mono centre cluster, the 750-seat theatre now provides an exceptional listening experience to every guest. The Mina loudspeaker arrays were specified and installed by James Dreyer of Kamloops, BC-based Dreyer Bros. Sound.

"It's a wonderful improvement," says Eric Pells, technical director for the venue. "The clarity of Mina is excellent, and there's very little difference now in levels from front to back. Even on shows when we have to mix from the booth in the back balcony, we still get a true representation of the sound."

Nine Mina loudspeakers each flank the existing overhead centre cluster, comprised of two each CQ-1 and CQ-2 lou

UK - The European leg of Arcade Fire's Reflektor tour came to an emotional end at this year's British Summertime Festival, held in London's Hyde Park. Audiences danced to the band's rhythmic indie-rock, superbly magnified by lighting designer Chris Bushell's impressive light show programmed and controlled using an Avolites Sapphire Touch.

Bushell's stage lighting worked seamlessly with the multi faceted set, devised by set designer Richard Stembride, and the on-stage video content. Combined, these factors brilliantly echoed the bombastic mood of the band's art-house electronica with the mass enthusiasm of the crowd.

Nevertheless this show has been no easy ride for the creative team, which has seen them deliver a complex show design capable of fitting into every kind of venue from big US sheds, to European arenas and weekend music festivals, often with limited time and not alwa

Australia - The State Library of New South Wales is one of the major locations on the Sydney tourist trail, having opened in 1910 thanks to funding from David Scott Mitchell. Its location in the heart of Sydney means that as well as housing one of Australia's premier collections of books, it is also the start of many of the cities sightseeing tours.

LumenRadio, working with Enttec and Sylvania Lighting Australasia provided a wireless control scheme to update the building facade lighting and add color controls, wireless monitoring and integration into the building LAN. Enttec supplied the LumenRadio products along with a selection of their Aleph product portfolio to the project, which installed during the heat of the Australian summer.

Steve Furzey, technical manager at Sylvania Lighting Australasia commented, "The LumenRadio products are well constructed, simple to setup,

South Africa - Canadian singer / songwriter Tamia played three dates on her recent South African tour and for the two Johannesburg shows staged at the Carnival City Big Top Arena, lighting was designed by Magz Schoeman who used Robe moving lights at the core of her rig, including the venue's new Robin Pointes.

Schoeman is head of lighting at Carnival City and lights many performers visiting the venue with a schedule that includes a steady flow of international artists.

For Tamia, Schoeman had a free rein to come up with the design, and started with the music, which embraces multi genres including R 'n' B, pop, hip hop soul, neo soul and gospel jazz - and so has a wide dynamic range for lighting as well as the performance.

"R 'n' B / pop suggested to me lots of crystal pastel colours, gobos and texturing and flowing movement so that's the way it went. It was huge fun lig

USA - Before Joe Bonamassa hit the road this spring for the initial North American leg of his latest world tour, the production team at Special Event Services (SES) knew they needed a highly versatile loudspeaker rig that could handle anything they could throw at it over most of a year and three continents. To ensure that they were well prepared for everything - acoustic sets, electric sets, large theatres, small arenas, the US, Europe, and Australia - SES chose to specify L-Acoustics' new K2 system for its first official tour as a main PA.

Jason Farah of SES says that the venues on this tour made K2 the right rig for the gig and that there are zero sonic compromises due to the K2's smaller size compared to the vaunted K1. "The K1 with its 15s can feel a bit deeper, but there is no shortage of low end in the K2. In fact, the 12s in the K2 are so potent that they can easily

USA - Country music icon Tim McGraw embarked on his Sundown Heaven Town 2014 tour in May, with Silent House production designer, Baz Halpin orchestrating a typically inventive set that evolves as the show unwinds.

Having been approached by production manager, John 'Lug' Zajonc and tour manager Nick Cua, Halpin was soon discussing concepts with the artist himself. "He wanted this show to look unlike anything he had done before - moving away from the traditional imagery of country music and into something more modern looking." He also wanted to display abstract 'light and shape' imagery and integrate the lighting with a multiple LED screen canvas."

To help him implement this, Halpin, in conjunction with lighting director Pat Brannon, selected 134 of GLP's impression X4 LED moving heads to create a highly imaginative lighting dynamic.

Along with colleagues

UK - Utopium contributed to the stunning setting for the inaugural Bristol Summer Series, 25-26 June, 2014, for Metropolis Music when it supplied a comprehensive lighting production, including newly acquired fixtures.

These were the first major music events in Bristol's Harbourside for 10 years: open air concerts featuring Paolo Nutini on 25 June, with The Pogues 26 June and the promoters have since announced their intention to establish an annual Bristol Summer Series event.

The stage was framed by a tall ship, the Kaskelot, where Paolo Nutini played a combination of his hits with tunes from his latest album Caustic Love to a sell-out crowd of 5000, while The Pogues were also a huge hit, attracting 3500 people who danced the night away to Irish punk-folk classics.

Utopium's Colin Bodenham and John Newman combined their skills to design and deliver the stage lighting

New Zealand - Park Road Post Production, a premier post production facility based in Wellington, has recently invested in a new MADI solution from DirectOut Technologies to improve working conditions in the mix area.

Owned by Academy award-winning film director, Sir Peter Jackson, best known for having directed and produced The Hobbit' and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Park Road was established as a one-stop shop with world-class integrated picture and sound departments all under one roof. Park Road is uniquely placed to supply all post services for a feature from on-set support, rushes, stereoscopic alignment, digital intermediate, foley and sound mixing through to the final completion of all film and digital deliverables for distribution

The facility forms part of a creative community that includes the Academy award-winning Weta Digital and Weta Workshop and t

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