USA - Registration is now open for the 2022 New World Rigging Symposium, which will take place online on 5-7 April 2022. Produced by ESTA and USITT, the NWRS brings together professional riggers, engineers, manufacturers, venue managers, educators and students to further their rigging knowledge, hear about challenging projects, get up to speed on new technologies, discuss current industry challenges, and get their questions answered by a host of subject matter experts.
The NWRS also offers valuable information to those working in other areas of the industry who want to further their knowledge of rigging. The three-day symposium will also include breakout rooms where attendees can get in-depth information from our sponsors as well as virtual networking opportunities with attend

Belgium - The Big Fire That Never Happened drew much attention and widespread praise at Ghent’s internationally acclaimed Lichtfestival in November. Conceived by Belgium-based Austrian artist, Michael Langeder, the exhibit set the tower of St. Nicholas Church in the city centre ablaze in simulated flames, a conflagration that looked so authentic, it prompted calls to the fire brigade.
Creating this realistic scene was no simple task. Aside from having to hoist gear up the church’s 40m high tower (a 15 minute journey each time), the design team had to do extensive trial and error tweaking to get make their fire frighteningly believable. Helping them in this undertaking was the extensive colour-rendering prowess of their IP65 rated Chauvet Professional COLORado and COLORdash fixtures, supplied by John & Jane Premium Technical Event Support.
Liam van Tornho

USA - Miami-based lighting and creative director Yamil Charif who heads up design company YC3 delivered a high impact stage production for Pitbull’s recent I Feel Good tour, with 32 shows across the US and 100 Robe moving lights - MegaPointes and BMFL WashBeams - as the backbone of the lighting rig.
Yamil has worked with the artist for the last four years as lighting and video director and for this one, he was offered the chance to work on the full production design, together with a talented team whose collaborative effort embraced all technical disciplines plus associated areas like wardrobe and choreography.
The result was a live performance experience delighting fans nationwide, and a tight logistical operation under the production management of Victor Martinez.
The tour’s lighting, video and rigging vendor, LPS Production, had Robe fixtures in stock whi
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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.
www.cameolight.com

Genelec has further expanded its Nordic sales operation with the recent appointments of Mirko Ekberg and Fredrik Setterberg, both of whom bring with them a considerable professional audio experience.
Ekberg joins Genelec’s Finnish team as pro audio sales manager, with responsibility for developing both studio and MI dealer networks and building closer relationships with key studio customers. With a combined 20-year track record of sales management with both Fender and the Luthman distribution group, Ekberg steadily progressed to the role of chief sales officer for Finland and the Baltics for Luthman Nordic.
With over two decades of industry experience in both sales and technical solutions, Setterberg joins Genelec’s own Swedish distribution team as sales engineer, focussing on pre-sales and sales support across the studio, AV and home audio segments
“We’re extr

UK - Martin Audio has extended its list of patents with the addition of a United Kingdom Patent for its XE stage monitor waveguide.
The patent covers the use of Martin Audio’s differential dispersion coaxial drive units and the continuation of their waveguide shape to form the baffle, as seen in the XE monitors to achieve the desired HF coverage. The geometry of the static HF horn, the LF cone/moving waveguides and the static baffle combine to form a single HF horn.
The XE stage monitor series comprises the XE300 and XE500, both delivering perfect monitor sound with a defined coverage pattern that allows the artist freedom of movement, while reducing overlap with adjacent monitors.
Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology allows the artist to stand directly over the monitor or further back, without significant changes in SPL or tonal balance. It produces the

Canada - When construction began on Ontario’s new luxury hotel LEA Professional was chosen. Located just steps from Lake Ontario, The Pearle Hotel & Spa officially opened to guests in November. The hotel, which is part of Marriott's Autograph Collection, boasts 151 guestrooms, two dining facilities, expansion meeting space, two large ballrooms and a spa.
Branch AV, one Canada’s newest audiovisual solutions company, was tasked with designing and integrating the entire AV system from the ground up. The company, which was established in 2020 by Bob Guy and George Puthenkulam supported by a team of experienced audiovisual professionals, works across various industries including performing arts, government, education and entertainment. The team are laser focused on providing the best user experience for their clients.
For The Pearle hotel’s AV needs, the integrato

USA - No one is quite sure, where or when the custom of wearing ugly Christmas sweaters started. Some say it began in the 1950s when TV singers tried to set a cozy tone on their holiday specials by wearing corny cardigans. Others trace its origins to the ‘80s when it became a staple of TV sitcoms every December.
Either way, one thing is certain, ugly sweater parties and events pop up everywhere across North America this time of year. Among the most popular is the annual Ugly Holiday Sweater Concert at the Mesa Amphitheatre sponsored every December by radio station 99.3 FM.
Except for a 2020 hiatus due to COVID, the concert has been held every year since 2015, featuring national acts like Silversun Pickups and Kings of Leon. On Saturday 11 December, the magic returned to Mesa with an Ugly Sweater concert by Grammy winning headliners Weezer, supported by up-and-coming
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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.

UK - Bluesound Professional has announced the addition of a distribution partner serving European Baltic States, further expanding their global distribution. The new distribution partner, Audiotonas, is the regional distributor serving Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
“We are delighted to be able to welcome Audiotonas as a new distributor for the Bluesound Professional team, as they are a key leader in the industry and in their respective market,” says Graeme Harrison, vice-president and general manager of Bluesound Professional. “This new relationship will help strengthen our strategic Bluesound Professional European distribution and growth. We are extremely fortunate to be able to work with some of the best distributors in the business.”

UK - In the latest instalment of the conneCT education sessions, Creative Technology invited a diverse group of designers, creatives, and users from various industries to a special UK presentation of Holoplot X1, the Berlin-based pro audio company's latest offering in the world of immersive audio.
With no visual content to pull focus on this occasion, audio was given the opportunity to step into the limelight. Holoplot treated everyone in attendance to a comprehensive demonstration sequence curated to showcase the system's possible uses in various configurations. A real mix of content across different market sectors provided familiarity and context for those assembled in the room.
The immediacy of feedback and response from guests was evident. “Having been in this industry for over 45 years, one can become a little jaded and cynical when it comes to new equipment. 'O

Turkey - Shure worked with Patchwork Events, to deliver a live party in the sky with 18 hot air balloons in Cappadocia.
Patchwork, a specialist events and touring company based in London, were approached by a client who wanted to bring to life the idea of a live gig, in hot air balloons, in the sky. The brief was to provide high quality live audio to 18 hot air balloons, which took off from one location. One of the hot air balloons acting as the stage, with a live performance from DJ Bedouin. The other 17 guest balloons received live audio from the broadcasting balloon, to provide a different live event experience.
This project brought a number of challenges, such as how to transmit high quality audio over such a large distance, without latency. Hot air balloons are almost entirely reliant on the wind to move across the landscape and therefore, altitude was the only re

UK - Audiologic has welcomed Jessica Raraty as internal business manager. Her role has a strong focus on relationship-building with Audiologic’s widening direct customer base. The company has also promoted Vicky Clayden to sales support supervisor, overseeing the structuring of the internal sales team.
The growth of Audiologic and its customers also sees a continued focus on procurement and processes. Anne Broadley, senior operations manager, continues to make sure the business has the support structure, processes, and best practises in place. To support this, Nicola Boyle takes on the role of procurement administrator.
Stuart Leader, senior sales manager, comments: “As a business and an industry, we have all had challenges to face and to overcome in the past year. Since joining Audiologic, we have been working hard on a strategy to help drive the company forward.

USA - Elation Professional’s LightJockey is one of the longest available lighting control software solutions on the market. Now, after over two decades of service and with tens of thousands of systems in the market, the time has come for LightJockey to gracefully retire, says Elation.
“As ongoing security changes to Windows prevent LightJockey from functioning reliably, the decision was made to phase out the lighting control software with the release of Windows 11 in October,” says Elation. The last LightJockey kit has been sold and this iconic software - the starting point for many professionals in the business - will no longer evolve.”
The transition to a new and modern software solution, however, is simple. LightJockey USB DMX hardware is recognised by Onyx, the lighting control platform by Obsidian Control Systems.
Plug-and-play drivers unlock any of

USA - Technical Arts Group (TAG) has invested in Ayrton Perseo Beam and Ayrton Domino fixtures, both IP65-rated, for its inventory. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America.
TAG was formed earlier this year and specialises in lighting, audio, video, staging, special effects and event management. The company has offices in Secaucus, New Jersey and Miami, Florida.
“We were getting more post-COVID event work than we had equipment for, so we needed to increase our overall fixture count and quickly,” says Kevin Mignone, CRO at TAG. “We are also seeing more outdoor festivals happening than ever before, where IP-rated fixtures are a necessity. Doug Mekanik at ACT arranged an Ayrton demo and we liked what we saw. The gear was in stock and we placed our order, increasing our inventory by a hundred fixtures nearly overnight.”

Thailand - To provide spectators at the Nakhon Ratchasima Sports Complex an immersive entertainment experience, Mahajak Development Co., installed a range of Harman Professional audio solutions.
Home to the Nakhonratchasima Mazda Football Club, the Nakhon Ratchasima Sports Complex is the fourth biggest stadium in Thailand and hosted the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2007. The stadium area comprises the Nakhon Ratchasima FC football field, which is surrounded by a grandstand with a single roof on one side. The facility currently has a seating capacity of 25,000, but will be upgraded to 45,000 in the future.
The main challenge was that the audio system needed to be installed on the roof, which only covered one side of the complex, but also had to deliver sound coverage to every seat in the stadium. To meet these challenges and requirements, Mahajak deployed dynamic an

USA - In October, Penn State University welcomed audience members to see Simon Stephen's adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, directed by Rick Lombardo with sensory-friendly performances at the Playhouse Theatre on the University Park campus using BlackTrax Real-Time Tracking.
The Tony Award-winning play is about 15-year-old Christopher, who has an extraordinary brain. Two sensory-friendly performances provided a welcoming space for all patrons with or without neurodivergent needs.
The characters in this production portray that neurodivergence is when a person’s brain does not function in a way that is considered “typical”. In telling this story about a neurodivergent character, Penn State has been helped along the way by various consultants and experts who helped deepen their understanding of various aspects of the experience

USA - Sometimes what is old can become new again. Such was the case with the red brick building at 3700 Canal Street in the historic New Orleans Mid-City neighbourhood. Recognised by the New Orleans Historic District Landmark Commission, the building had been a church for six decades, until it was closed in 2012 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Eventually its owners put the spacious structure up for sale, and in 2019 it was reborn as a house of worship, slated to become the fifth campus of Baton Rouge-based Bethany Church. Led by pastors Jonathan and Angie Stockstill, Bethany planned to open the new church in 2020 until the COVID pandemic got in the way.
This August, the building finally began its new life as a church when it opened its doors to worshippers, after extensive renovations and repairs. Some of the stain glass windows and wrought iron from the original ch

USA/Belgium - Audinate, developer of the Dante media networking technology, has signed an agreement to acquire the video business of Silex Insight SA (Silex), based in Belgium. The Silex video business produces video networking products for manufacturers of AV equipment.
The acquisition includes a range of AV-over-IP products, including IP Cores, the VIPER Board, Video ASSP and Design Services, as well as three Silex implementations of video codecs: Colibri, JPEG 2000 and VC-2 HQ. Audinate will also acquire a team of eight engineers with extensive video implementation expertise and remains committed to supporting the existing Silex products and customers.
The acquisition of the Silex video business will “allow Audinate to accelerate its strategic vision for integrated audio and video over IP”.
“Since the development of our first Dante AV product we have bee

Record Spend - A record £4bn was spent making TV shows in the UK in the past year - almost double the figure before the pandemic. TV production slumped during lockdown but rebounded to a new high between October 2020 and September 2021, the British Film Institute (BFI) has said.
Some £4.14bn was spent filming British and foreign shows like Bridgerton and Peaky Blinders in the UK in that time. That compares with the £2.3bn spent in the same period in 2018-19 and is 10 times more than was spent in 2013. The latest figure includes money spent by British TV channels on home-made series like Doctor Who, The Bay, Shetland and Ghosts.
It also includes forthcoming streaming shows like The Essex Serpent from Apple TV+, Andor from Disney+ and Netflix productions like The Sandman and the new series of Bridgerton.
Ne

Germany - Berlin-based Holoplot has announced a partnership with ALC NetworX, developer of the Ravenna technology for ultra-low latency real-time distribution of audio and other media content in IP-based network environments.
The partnership will allow all Holoplot products to share a single IP-based network infrastructure with other network traffic when used for installation or mobile projects. Ravenna allows for seamless coexistence with other network traffic, removing the need for a separate network to transport audio and its associated metadata - allowing Holoplot users greater scalability, flexibility and efficiency when using Audio-over-IP (AoIP) networks.
Michael Hlatky, head of engineering, Holoplot said: “AoIP solutions have increasingly become the only option for the transfer of control and audio signals for live audio and complex sound environments. We be

USA - Located in the heart of San Diego, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, operated by the San Diego Symphony, was looking for a reliable follow-spot system they could use during the symphony, concerts, and events held at venue.
Jason Rothberg, technical director, and lighting designer at The Rady Shell understood the challenges that his venue faced. Being an outdoor venue, Jason knew that a traditional follow-spot would not be an option. While the original design centred around a brand-specific moving light and tracking system, the venue, sitting on the San Diego Bay wanted a system that would meet IP65 standards for outdoor use.
The team at The Rady Shell worked closely with Jason Reberski, CEO of Chicago-based JRLX, and identified Follow-Me as the solution that would allow them to use any IP65 rated moving light to meet their unique challenges.
Jason Reberski, C

Thailand - To create an efficient meeting space that supports collaboration and efficiency for guests, financial services provider Srisawad Power 1979 Co teamed up with Mahajak Development Co to equip its facility with a Harman Professional Solutions AV system.
Originally founded in 2008 by the Kaewbootta family as an automobile title loan business in Petchaboon province, Srisawad Power 1979 Co has since opened branches in other provinces to expand their service coverage. The company offers financial services to those who need aid but have limited access to services offered by banks and financial institutions.
Today, the company offers auto-backed loans and home-backed loans through its 1,627 branches. To provide a suitable environment for meetings and collaborations at the company’s main headquarters in Bangkok, Mahajak installed a comprehensive networked audio-visu

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