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Robe Pointes to Chayanne

Chayanne is currently touring with a lighting design by Belgian-based designers Alain Corthout and Ignace D'Haese (photo: Olga Carillo)

Details: 14 March 2016

Puerto Rico - Pop singer, composer and actor Chayanne is currently touring with a lighting design by Belgian-based designers Alain Corthout and Ignace D'Haese, who have many top Latin stars in their current portfolio, and the skill of lighting this lively and demanding genre honed to a fine art.

They designed the lighting - including 59 Robe Pointe moving lights - set and video for the tour, his first for the artist, based on an integrated package that is ultimately flexible and can be set up in multiple formats according to the available stage space. He also wanted to create multiple levels onstage and a playground for the musicians and dancers.

Fifty-five of the 59 Pointes are positioned over the stage, rigged on four triangular trusses which move into different positions thro

Devasis Barkataki, managing director of Alphatec Audio Video and Karan Kathuria, senior manager, customer management, APAC at Music Group.

Music Group appoints Alphatec as Indian distributor

Details: 14 March 2016

India - Music Group has announced the appointment of Alphatec Audio Video Pvt Ltd as distributor for Midas, Klark Teknik, Turbosound, Behringer and Bugera for India.

Alphatec director, Mr. Devasis Barkataki, commented, "We are proud and excited to be given this opportunity to represent such prestigious brands in India. These world class brands are strongly recognised and favoured by the Indian market. We will heavily invest in our our customer service to further open the Indian market to provide comprehensive solutions for our clients." Prior to Alphatec, Devasis spearheaded Ace Acoustics which is Harman's master distributor in the Indian Eastern Region.

Graham Rowlands (VP sales, professional division at MUSIC Group) commented, "The Alphatec team comes with great experience in both the installed and distribution domains, which ensures the MUSIC Group brands wil

Billy and the Kids' at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC

Dead's Bill Kreutzmann goes Rogue with Chauvet

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Drummer Bill Kreutzmann knows a thing or two about helping friends. A founding member of the Grateful Dead along with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir and Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan, Kreutzmann made rock history when he invited fellow percussionist Mickey Hart to join the band. This made the Dead one of the first rock groups to have two drummers. The synchronicity between this pair of percussionists helped forge a new sound and earned them the nickname, the Rhythm Devils

Given his penchant for friendship, Kreutzmann (who played in all 2,300 Grateful Dead performances during the group's lifespan) could undoubtedly appreciate the bond between lighting designer Manny Newman and his friend Ronny RedRocks. This is especially true since that friendship resulted in a collection of Rogue R1 Spot fixtures from Chauvet Professional adding an eye-popping visual element to his performance

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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.

Spectacular views across the River Inn in Schärding

HB-Laser enables multimedia city installation

Details: 14 March 2016

Austria - The city of Schärding on the Inn River on the border with Germany, had the whole city illuminated with a multimedia spectacular over the winter season. The bridge crossing the Inn was illuminated as well as the monastery and the water front.

However, it was not only conventional illumination effects that lit up Schärding. The whole city centre was covered with a multimedia projection, the facades of the buildings were covered with video mapping and video projections and the orchard was covered with laser projections.

Additionally, multiple information projections were displayed alongside the ring road in the city centre. HB-Laser, a company that specializes in multimedia and laser projects, set up the whole show installation. The video projections in the city centre were created with six video projectors, all controlled with two special Titan multimedia workstation

This is the first AES International Conference to focus on sound reinforcement in over 25 years

AES sound reinforcement conference set for Montreal

Details: 14 March 2016

Canada - The Audio Engineering Society (AES) will hold its 59th International Conference, focusing on Sound Reinforcement Engineering and Technology, on 15-17 July, 2015, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

This is the first AES International Conference to focus on sound reinforcement in over 25 years. A select group of leading technologists, scientists, developers and users in the sound reinforcement industry will gather to discuss the latest innovations in sound amplification and control systems for live performance, to share their insight on current and advanced techniques and technologies, and to present their visions for the future of the industry.

The programme will include tutorials, papers and workshops covering topics of practical approaches to system design; case study analysis; and the measurement, optimization, installation, and testing of sound systems. Topics to be addr

Brixton was a slightly unusual setup in that it was a split system

Britannia Row takes L-Acoustics on tour with Sam Smith

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Since his breakthrough in 2012, the career of singer/songwriter Sam Smith has skyrocketed from relative unknown to household name. The four-time Grammy winner recently embarked on a world tour with an L-Acoustics K1 and K2 sound system that made a potentially difficult range of venues a straightforward proposition for the audio team.

Sound provider for the UK and Europe was Britannia Row. With the tour playing a wide range of venue sizes, they turned to L-Acoustics for a system that could be easily and quickly adapted to any circumstance.

Brit Row systems engineer for the tour, Adam Smith (no relation to Sam) explains, "We were doing arenas like the Brussels Forest National or the Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, and the next night, scaling down to theatres, Academy-sized and even club shows. Capacities literally ranged from 10,000 to a few hundred, so it was a challenge."

Monitor engineer Dave Guerin and Front of House man Matt Butcher

DiGiCo SD10s whip Blur into shape

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - The end of April saw Blur release The Magic Whip, their first album for 12 years. To celebrate, the Britpop legends played two secret shows at London's Mode club, where a pair of DiGiCo SD10 consoles helped tame the acoustically tricky venue.

With both shows - one for friends and family, the other for 300 competition-winners - taking place at the Westbourne Park venue on the same day, monitor engineer Dave Guerin, Front of House man Matt Butcher and PA tech James 'Kedge' Kerridge had a very busy time. But with Dave and Matt each mixing on a DiGiCo SD10, supplied by rental company Entec Sound and Light, what could have been a very challenging event ran very smoothly.

"When we tour, there's a balancing act between what we need and the available budget," says Dave. "We decided on the SD10 for these shows because it's a big enough console to do what we n

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Koy Neminathan, Kekul Sheth, Stephen Baird-Smith, Rasesh Parekh and Steve Warren

Avolites appoints IES as distributor for India

Details: 14 March 2016

UK / India - Lighting and video control specialist Avolites has appointed Integrated Entertainment Solutions (IES) as its sole distributor for the Indian market. The announcement comes ahead of the two companies combining their efforts to exhibit the latest from Avolites at the PALM Expo at the end of May.

IES is an 18-year-old distribution & trading company based in Mumbai, pioneering in the fields of intelligent lighting, pro-sound & control systems. Their expertise stretches beyond distribution to encompass solutions from entertainment-related venues such as nightclubs to architectural installations.

Avolites' story in India stems back over 20 years, and directors Steve Warren and Koy Neminathan conducted the first workshop there in 2002. Regular training opportunities continued, and so grew the relationships with the local LDs and rental companies.

As the sole distributo

Dave Whitehouse from DWR with Andre Roussouw from SABC TV Outside Broadcasts

DWR supplies Avolites and LumenRadio to SABC

Details: 14 March 2016

South Africa - SABC TV Outside Broadcasts has invested in an Avolites Quartz console, part of the Titan Mobile Family, and a Lumen Radio CRMX Nova FX RDM transmitter and receiver, their second LumenRadio acquisition. South African based DWR Distribution supplied the equipment.

Andre Rossouw, the specialist production lighting electrician for the SABC TV Outside Broadcasts, was introduced to LumenRadio a couple of years ago when Peter Kirkup visited South Africa for a LumenRadio Roadshow. "The system is rock solid," said Andre. He used LumenRadio for the second time at the South African elections in 2014. "I had two different areas which needed camera lighting and it was no hassle. I have sat under an escalator before with dimmers around the corner and the rig set up inside a hall. LumenRadio has a decent frequency." He also used LumenRadio, working with Kurt

Barco expands product training programme

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Barco is establishing a national footprint for its factory certified training programmes, collaborating with AV partners to provide a course for the E2 4K screen management system in select locations throughout the United States.

Barco is launching the expanded training programme with its E2 courses, with plans to add additional classes at authorized training centres in Orlando, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; and, Las Vegas, Nevada. Orlando is an especially advantageous location because of its popularity as a business meeting destination and live show venue.

"With the immensely growing popularity of the new E2 screen management system, we want to ensure that our customers can quickly get up to speed on the product at a place and time that is convenient for them," comments Scott Nipper, technical training manager for Barco. "Based on our excelle

Denison High School's newly created Smith Auditorium

Philips Strand takes school theatre to new level

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - In many educational theatre environments, students are often confronted with the challenges of learning their craft on outdated equipment, but every so often, a school district gets the opportunity to create a performance space filled with all the latest technologies available. At Denison High School, the newly created Smith Auditorium is one such case as Batts AVL was given the chance to install a completely new lighting system filled with lighting, dimming and control from Philips Strand Lighting.

"In the design of the new space, we were very fortunate to not only get what we needed, but also what we wanted," began Amy Jordan, Denison High School Theater Arts Department chair. "For the new Smith Auditorium, I wanted the students to have the most advanced lighting technologies so they could be best prepared to move onto careers in the theatre industry once

Bandit goes beach front with Hangout

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - - A weekend at the ocean can be entertainment enough, but Alabama's Hangout Music Festival took that sentiment and expounded upon with multiple stages scattered across the sandy beaches and ocean backdrop with lighting from Bandit Lites.

The event provided not only a view of paradise, but the sounds of the Foo Fighters, Beck, the Zac Brown Band, Umphrey's McGee, Skrillex, My Morning Jacket, Foster the People, Paramore and Spoon. With a Ferris wheel, a beach house hangout, VIP areas, gourmet beach fare and a viewing tower known as the Mega Drop, this year's festival also touted a hip craft beer courtyard that boasted draughts from Goose Island, Lagunitas, New Belgium, Straight to Ale, Southern Tier and Abita.

Designed by Dizzy Gosnell, Bandit provided six trusses for the main stage's overhead lighting rig loaded with VL 3000 Spots, VL3000 washes, VL 3500 washes, Sharpys,

Thronecast can be caught on Monday nights on Sky Atlantic and Sky Atlantic HD, following the episode of Game of Thrones

Philips Vari-Lite delivers versatility to Thronecast

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Sky TV lighting designer Iain Davidson is using one of the latest additions to the Philips Vari-Lite product line, the feature-packed VL4000 Spot, to deliver smooth, precise effects and stunning colour to popular Sky Atlantic show Thronecast.

The official fan companion series to widely-watched fantasy drama Game of Thrones (GoT), Thronecast follows shortly after each new instalment of GoT on a Monday night. Presented by Jamie East and Sue Perkins, the show sees a live discussion of the episode's events with various members of the cast and crew. Iain is employing six of the award-winning Vari-Lite luminaire, supplied by Richard Martin Lighting (RML), to give depth and texture to the chat show set up.

"My original brief was for a glossy set in front of a white cyc and, as the look was going to be high key, the standard beams and smoke approa

Anastacia performing with her SKM 5200-II coupled with an MD 5235 capsule (photo: Matthew Picken)

Anastacia back on the road with Sennheiser

Details: 14 March 2016

World - Anastacia, a long-time user of Sennheiser, has re-emerged for her Resurrection Tour, with her voice sounding better than ever following her courageous battle with cancer. Once again, Sennheiser proves to be the right choice for her voice, as she delivers intimate and exciting performances night after night with an all new set list and a special Q&A session where she talks about her experiences in overcoming cancer.

For the Resurrection Tour, which includes stops everywhere from Paris to Belarus to Brisbane, Anastacia's voice is better than ever as she sings through a Sennheiser SKM 5200-II coupled with an MD 5235 capsule, running in combination with an EM 3732-II receiver.

Front-of-house mixing engineer, Gerard Albo, who has been working with Anastacia for over four years, and appreciates the sound quality and flexibility he gets night after night with the SKM 5200 / M

Calvary Chapel Melbourne serves over 10,000 members with three campuses spread across east-central Florida

Danley delivers for Calvary Chapel Melbourne

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - As it heads into its third decade, Calvary Chapel Melbourne (CCM) in Florida has grown from a handful of believers assembled in a hotel conference room to a mega-church that serves over 10,000 members with three campuses spread across east-central Florida.

In addition to its main campus in West Melbourne, CCM operates a 1,100-seat location in Sebastian River High School's auditorium and a 1,099-seat, purpose-built sanctuary in Viera, Florida. Beginning with the commons area at its main campus, CCM has been turning to natural-sounding, well-controlled Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers and subwoofers and, in many cases, powerful Danley amplifiers and DSP to convey the full high-energy dynamics of its services.

"I've been impressed with Danley's philosophy and products for some time now," said CCM associate audio engineer David Hoover. "I got into pro audio via

The Mica system has already supported events that include Telluride's Mountain Town Get Down festival

Snob Productions' business booms with Meyer Sound

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Less than a year after purchasing its Meyer Sound MIna and Mica line array loudspeaker systems, Snob Productions of Grand Junction, Colo. reports a steep climb in business activity, profitability, and customer satisfaction. It has become a dominant sound company in western Colorado and eastern Utah, and a favoured provider for events in the nearby resort town of Telluride.

"I can honestly say that, from the first time we brought Mina to Telluride, our business exploded," states David Wall, CEO of Snob Productions. "After 18 years in business we were well-known in the area, but this quantum leap in sound quality and setup efficiency has paid off 10 times over. The sound quality alone has landed us job after job."

Wall recalls the first time he used a Mina system for a Telluride event. "The quality just blew everybody away," he says. "We

Ed Allday joins Marquee AV as project manager

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Marquee AV has announced the appointment of Ed Allday as project manager. An experienced engineer and project manager, Allday's previous career includes positions with SLR, AT&C and, most recently, Twisted Pear Consultancy.

"This is an additional position that expands our capacity for managing our increasing portfolio of projects", said Mark Brown, MD of Marquee AV. "Ed has a lot of experience and works to the standard of quality we expect, and he has the enthusiasm and sense of humour to fit in well. We're pleased to welcome him to the team."

"I'm very excited to be joining Marquee AV", adds Allday. "It's a company I've always respected, with a great ethic and atmosphere. The projects they handle are varied and substantial, giving me the opportunity to be involved in a key role and make a valuable contribution to the continued success a

Studio 15 incorporates a high-specification infrastructure

White Light opens studio facility

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Complete production solution specialists White Light is set to launch a new studio facility at its Wimbledon premises. Featuring its own dedicated entrance and hospitality suite, Studio 15 incorporates a high-specification infrastructure including large format meeting space with video conferencing, pre and post productions audio and video editing suites, and a 120m2 dedicated rehearsal, teaching and product demonstration space.

The multi-purpose venue offers the market accessible space facilitating full technical rehearsals, with the resource to make up-to-the-minute final edits to material. Studio 15 will also be utilised as a hub for White Light's clients to develop bespoke creative content for their events, as well as host industry masterclasses. With a capacity of 60 pax theatre-style, or 30 cabaret, the versatile hire options will include competitive rates.

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Chauvet COLORados colorize Centerpoint church

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Stroll down Grant Place or Webster Street in Old Towne Arvada,CO, and you might find it hard to believe that you're less than a half hour away from Denver. Although this picturesque village, which traces its roots back to the 1850 Colorado gold rush, has grown into a sizable commuting suburb, it's managed to retain much of its old-fashioned hometown feeling. This is evident in Arvada's many homegrown festivals; and it's also plain to see in the warm attitude that prevails at the city's Centerpoint Community Church, which welcomes visitors with refreshments before services every Sunday morning.

As deeply rooted as it is in tradition, however, Centerpoint is also committed to creating an engaging worship environment for modern sensibilities. With this in mind, church leaders contacted Roland Dutzmann of AcousTech (Franktown, CO) to give their 500-seat house of worship a majo

OffRamp's José Luis López (left) with Daniel Lema from Robe's Argentinian distributor, TSD Group

Robe goes OffRamp in Buenos Aires

Details: 14 March 2016

Argentina - OffRamp is a production company based in the San Andres area of Buenos Aires headed by José Luis López. He started this company four years ago, and himself has 20 years of experience at the sharp end of the entertainment technology industry.

Recently, OffRamp invested in Robe MMX WashBeams which were supplied through Argentinean distributor, TSD Group.

The company owns a carefully selected quantity of sound, lighting and video equipment that is utilized on their own shows, for which they will usually provide the full technical production including design. They have a portfolio of many high profile corporate clients and brands and service numerous prestigious events.

Jose Luis explains that they chose Robe after much careful deliberation, primarily because of the brand's reputation for "reliability and quality engineering".

"Being able to

Morrissey will play festivals throughout the summer and a U.S and Latin American tour are both on the cards for later in the year (photo: Louise Stickland)

HSL supplies lights and visuals for Morrissey tour

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - HSL continues its busy spring 2015 season supplying lighting & visuals designer Max Conwell for Morrissey's touring work.

Without the constraints of management or record company, Morrissey tours and performs prolifically without being tied in to any album cycles and other more conventional commercial considerations.

This means that his touring work has to be cost-efficient and self-supporting. Things like truck size is an important factor, onstage visual elements have to work hard and be multi-purpose and he challenges his technical team to be constantly imaginative and to deliver the best production values.

He takes an active interest in the look, sound and feel of his stage presentation, and has built an honest and heartfelt rapport with a loyal worldwide fanbase.

Since 2014, Max has turned to rental company HSL from Blackburn to supply all his touring lighting, whi