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SA Event Safety Council works towards recovery

Mike Lord – ‘COVID-19 is a complex problem, and there is no single, simple solution’

Details: 11 June 2021

South Africa - Although the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic brought the live events industry to a virtual standstill, the past 15 months have been busier than ever for SACIA’s Events Safety Council. The Council is an association of event safety specialists and event safety companies providing event safety solutions for the South African event sector. It is part of a global network of event safety professionals dealing with health and safety in the events industry.
The advent of the pandemic saw council members, unable to earn a living under lockdown restrictions, volunteering their time to drive the recovery of the event sector in South Africa instead. "It has been a rollercoaster ride, keeping one's wits about you, staying motivated and positive, and pressurising the gover

When installed, these products will be auto-configured

AMX fibre boards offer security and support

Details: 10 June 2021

USA - Harman Professional Solutions has announced an addition to its secure 4K60 4:4:4 distance transport switching solution with the release of four new AMX by Harman DXLink 4K60 fibre input/output (I/O) boards, transmitters and receivers.
The new fibre modules offer security and support for extended distances and are fully compatible with AMX Enova DGX 100 Series enclosures. This offers a simple upgrade of existing systems to the most secure, highest-quality technology without investing in an entirely new system architecture. These new modules accompany the twisted pair boards, endpoints and Enova DGX enclosures released previously.
Government entities, universities, casinos and other security-focused installations will benefit greatly by using the new DGX 4K60 fibre products, says Harman.
Previously, high-security operations had to settle for either reduced r

Jordi Amate, head of sales; Elena Massagué, customer service export division; Paco Rodriguez, application engineer & regional manager; Joan Amate, VP & chief technical officer

Amate Audio reports positive ISE Live

Details: 10 June 2021

Spain - Amate Audio has expressed overall positive conclusions about exhibiting at ISE Live in Barcelona in a statement today.
Selected to exhibit in the Catalan Innovation Zone in the Fira Barcelona Gran Via, as the region’s premier pro-audio loudspeaker manufacturer, in association with ACCIÓ, the Government of Catalunya’s agency promoting Business Competitiveness, the Terrassa, Barcelona based company was one of just three major PA loudspeaker manufacturers exhibiting live at the show.
Vice president and chief technical officer Joan Amate reflected that the local focus of the event was, of itself, of value: “Although large-scale PA manufacturers were under represented, there were a significant number of visitors from the sector among attendees. We had valuable conversations and exchanges with people; some of whom we had not met before and others we had not s

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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

Rogues ramp up Cody Johnson Memorial Day show

Details: 10 June 2021

USA - As a rule, Jimmy Davidson favours intense looks in his lighting designs. But sometimes rules are not made to be broken; they’re made to be doubled down on. Such was this case this Memorial Day Weekend, when the Texas designer lit a three-show concert series by chart-topping country artist Cody Johnson.
Employing a torrent of intense colour washes (mainly in red and blue) accented by sharp beams of white light and blinding blasts, he set a frenetic pace for his client’s 21-song set without repeating the same look twice. Helping him serve up this visual eruption was a beefy Texas Stage supplied rig that featured a collection of 54 Chauvet Professional Rogue, STRIKE, Ovation, and COLORdash fixtures.
“I absolutely wanted to put something extra in this show,” said Davidson. “It was nice to have a little time off to be at home during the pandemic, but now it

Creative Technology’s LED studios rely on Elation

Details: 10 June 2021

USA - Specialist solutions supplier, Creative Technology Group, has increasingly turned to Elation Professional’s KL Panel LED soft light for use in their US-based LED studios and has added a number of the full-colour-spectrum fixtures to their rental inventory.
In the United States, Creative Technology (CT) operates virtual event LED studios in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. Each is equipped with xR and camera tracking technology that works with powerful graphics engines to create dynamic scenes that put a presenter or product virtually into any environment. The results are truly spectacular. In late spring of 2020, Creative Technology contacted Elation about a high-quality LED soft light for the studios and eventually purchased 75 of the units with snap grids and snap bags.
CT has used the KL Panels on many of their studio projects, inclu

Galleria Sacconi is located inside the Vittoriano (photo: AudioFactory)

Powersoft drives high-profile Rome exhibition

Details: 10 June 2021

Italy - The Vittoriano was built at the turn of the 20th Century to honour Italy's first king, Vittorio Emanuele II, and has since become a must-see for anyone visiting the Eternal City. Prior to the pandemic, Galleria Sacconi (which is located inside the Vittoriano) was chosen to host a temporary exhibition - named Lessico Italiano - composed by 19 different installations designed to celebrate Italian values.
Once the planning was complete, the exhibition’s creator and producer, Palzom Films, contacted Italian audio specialist, AudioFactory, to assist integrator AMP di Fabrizio Dovidio with the installation of a sound system that could live up to the expectations of such an important exhibition.
“The head of audio of Palzom Films, Alessandro Di Maio asked us an audio sound system with three main characteristics,” explained Oreste Parmentola, AudioFactory’s C

Suzi Green - ‘We will all need to take our health seriously to survive

Back Lounge offers resilience workshops

Details: 10 June 2021

UK - Tour manager and The Back Lounge founder Suzi Green has commissioned a series of resilience workshops for the live music industry as the touring sector begins its transition back into the demands of event production.
The three free sessions will cover: Mindfulness for Touring with Craig Ali (Monday 21 June 6pm), Healthy Boundaries with Laura Ferguson (Wednesday 14July), and Sleep & Jet Lag with Matt Kansy (Wednesday 4 August).
The workshops will explore a range of topics from coping strategies for dealing with 'heated' moments in high pressure situations, how to naturally wind down at the end of an intense day, rate negotiation, managing workload and effective communication, maximising the quality of your sleep and techniques to combat jet lag and shift work.
The workshops were made possible through the Culture Recovery Fund and, although open to anyon

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.

Mike Blackman: ‘We’ll be back in Barcelona in February 2022’

ISE Live & Online heralds return to business

Details: 10 June 2021

Spain - Making its Barcelona debut, ISE Live & Online (1-2 June) safely welcomed the AV industry to the first in-person and hybrid event to take place at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via venue since November 2019.
Integrated Systems Events Managing Director, Mike Blackman opened the show and said: “This event is important for the AV and live events industries, and for the city. It’s been a 17-year journey to get to Barcelona so it’s bittersweet not to make the big bang we’d hoped for our debut, but we know the value of live events for forging trust, deeper business relationships and driving business. I hope this sends a message of confidence to cities around the world that live events can be safe and successful. We’ll be back in Barcelona, with all our might, in February 2022.”
The first hybrid event from ISE, which combined live and digital content, ac

Levels AV’s Daniel Ball (left) and Hassan Alwan with a selection of their L-Acoustics equipment

Levels AV joins L-Acoustics installer network

Details: 10 June 2021

UAE - Dubai-based Levels Audio Visual was established in 2015, with a primary focus on specialised high quality AV solutions for the entertainment and leisure industry. Its work focuses almost exclusively on permanent installations in restaurants, bars, beach clubs and nightclubs, along with AV rental and production solutions for DJs, live music, festivals and wedding events. It has recently become part of the L-Acoustics certified provider install (CPi) network.
“Over the years, we have built a reputation as one of the leading providers of AV solutions for these industries, largely stemming from our strong personal passion for music and live entertainment,” says managing partner, Hassan Alwan. “This passion has and continues to drive us to be the best in all disciplines and capabilities.”
The company’s portfolio of clients and projects includes some of the l

The ‘in vision’ curve is constructed from ROE Visual Ruby 2.3 panels

ARRI opens mixed reality studio in London

Details: 10 June 2021

UK - ARRI has announced the opening of its new mixed reality studio in the UK. Equipped with an LED volume comprising 343sq.m of LED wall, installed in partnership with NEP Live Events production and technical specialist firm Creative Technology, the studio is one of the biggest permanent mixed reality production spaces in Europe.
Located at ARRI’s UK premises in Uxbridge, with camera, grip, and lighting packages available on site from ARRI Rental, the 708sq.m studio is being offered for hire to short and long-form productions of any kind, as well as for events, education, and R&D.
The volume consists of a main, ‘in vision’ curve that is 30m wide by 5m high; two moveable and tiltable side screens, each 3m wide by 4.2m high and a height-adjustable ceiling of 9.6m by 9.6m. A back curve measuring 18m wide by 4.2m high completes the fully encapsulated yet adaptab

Users will now be able to add Smart Emergency Lighting Control to their SmartCore platform

amBX adds new features to SmartCore

Details: 09 June 2021

UK - amBX, has announced the details of the latest updates to its smart lighting control platform, SmartCore.   
Users will now be able to add Smart Emergency Lighting Control to their SmartCore platform. The new amBX Emergency Lighting Monitoring Dashboard will allow users to input and manage test results, check scheduled fixture tests and record and monitor ongoing actions needed to achieve compliance. Results can be exported to provide a hard-copy records. This will aid with supporting regulatory compliance while simultaneously making the audit process easier.
The update has also introduced a number of new protocol support options to SmartCore, including publishing data to MQTT topics for IoT applications to access. This allows for connectivity to the cloud and provides lightweight, efficient and reliable data management.
Introducing the new features

The disguise workflow enables users to update their content in real-time

disguise rx II unlocks graphics processing power

Details: 09 June 2021

UK - disguise has unveiled its new rx II hardware release. The new rendering node unlocks 40% more graphics processing power than its rx predecessor to reliably render larger and higher quality scenes in real-time engines such as Unreal Engine, on any display canvas and across any industry application.
When working on any type of creative project, whether it be fixed installations, virtual production, broadcast or even live shows, the disguise workflow enables users to update their content in real-time, delivering astonishingly detailed scenes on the fly whilst also saving time and money on post-production.
Although GPUs are getting dramatically more powerful, the processing power needed to drive the most detailed images means it can still be a struggle to keep frame rates high. The new rx II enhances disguise’s existing cluster rendering solution, which has been eng

The Christie FHD554-X is available in the third quarter of 2021.

Christie extends LCD display Ultra Series

Details: 09 June 2021

USA - Christie has announced the launch of the Christie FHD554-X 55-inch LCD display. Part of the Ultra Series, a line of performance-driven LCD displays for tiled video walls, it is designed for a range of spaces including military and government control rooms, security and surveillance centres, briefing centres and critical viewing environments such as oil and gas exploration.
With a combined 3.5mm bezel width for near-seamless viewing, and an ultra-thin profile, the FHD554-X keeps the focus on the content. A high-performance electronic features set that includes high-bandwidth, HDCP 2.2-compliant HDMI 2.0 and Display Port 1.2 inputs supports streaming of 4K content and 4K UHD signals at 60Hz to deliver content to video walls with less flicker, and subsequently reduced eyestrain in critical viewing environments, says Christie.
“For users looking for a commercial-gr

Nexo unveils versatile column loudspeaker

Details: 09 June 2021

France - The ID84 is Nexo’s first column speaker design, introducing the company’s trademark characteristics of size-to-power ratio, variable directivities and flexible scalable configurations to a loudspeaker category that is relevant for a wide variety of applications.
The ID84 is a performance loudspeaker with peak SPL output of 135dB, and a frequency response of 90Hz-20kHz.
This slender metre-high package is presented with two companion products, a low-frequency extension module (ID84L) and a partner subbass (IDS312), which can easily be configured to provide an innovative scalable solution for acoustically challenging architectures. Potential markets include all kinds of public spaces, particularly transport hubs, houses of worship, theatres and sports venues, says Nexo.
Weighing just 15kg (33 lbs), the ID84 measures 990mm x 150mm x 215mm (39.0” x 5

The NT has invested in a Kinesys load measuring system

AC-ET helps National Theatre load safely

Details: 09 June 2021

UK - The National Theatre, London, has recently invested in a Kinesys load measuring system to help monitor their loads more carefully and add an additional level of safety.
Since its opening in 1963, the National Theatre has produced well over 800 plays, staging a broad range of productions in London as well as touring extensively across the UK and internationally. Their wide-spread nationwide learning and participation programme supports creative education for young people through performance and writing programmes. In addition, their programme of talks, events and workshops opens up theatre to people of all ages.
Mike Rungen, the National Theatre’s stage resources manager commented; “After looking at a number of systems, we decided the Kinesys LibraCELL was the product for us. Having had experience of working with Kinesys products on a variety of projects previ

Laurent Watgen (head of technical division) and Hagen Tschek (senior manager stage operations) with the Yamaha Rivage PM7

Philharmonie Luxembourg doubles up on Rivage

Details: 09 June 2021

Luxembourg - In 2016, Luxembourg City’s Philharmonie Luxembourg became the first European classical concert venue to permanently install a Yamaha Rivage PM10 digital mixing system. It proved such a success that it has now added a Rivage PM7.
With raked stalls and four seating ‘towers’ on each side, the 1328-capacity Grand Auditorium at Philharmonie Luxembourg combines the acoustics of classic shoe-box concert halls with the atmosphere of a Shakespearean theatre. The smaller Salle de Musique de Chambre features curved walls and can host audiences of 313 people, while the venue’s four foyers can also be used for performances.
The venue has featured Yamaha digital mixing systems since it opened in 2005; initially a PM5D and M7CL-32, then a CL5 and the Rivage PM10.
“The audio quality of the Rivage PM10 system is excellent. We have been working with it sinc

AAPTLE is seeking data to better understand the impact of the pandemic on the wellbeing of the backstage workforce

AAPTLE launches latest backstage industry mental health evaluation

Details: 08 June 2021

UK - AAPTLE (The Alliance of Associations and Professionals in Theatre & Live Events), Wellbeing Group has launched a follow up evaluation study on the mental health and wellbeing of backstage professionals across all entertainment sectors.
This follows a similar survey in 2019 - funded and conducted by the ABTT, ALD, ASD, PSA and PLASA - which gave a valuable insight into the wellbeing of industry professionals and can be downloaded

The Week in Light & Sound

Details: 08 June 2021

Prohibitive Pricing - Theatre companies are warning that prohibitively high prices and uncertainty over COVID-19 are hindering their efforts to stage outdoor work this summer, with reports that some venues are hesitant to hire their spaces to theatre producers while others have withdrawn entirely. Mid-scale companies are being especially hard hit, producers are warning, with a lack of available digs also making producing shows particularly difficult to stage.
Companies including Oxford-based Creation Theatre and touring theatre group Handlebards, as well as the Association of Circus Proprietors of Great Britain, have said the knock-on effects of the pandemic are generating new challenges to booking outdoor venues. Creation Theatre is planning to stage a production of The Wind in the Willows this summer, but told The Stage it was struggling to find a suitable sp

Audio Precision tackles rub & buzz detection

Details: 08 June 2021

USA - Audio Precision has released the latest update to APx500 audio measurement software, version 6.1. With this release, AP is adding new measurement results, options, and test signals. APx software now offers the broadest set of methodologies available for detecting rub and buzz defects.
New features include: rub & buzz – Previously available in APx software, this method uses high-pass tracking filters to remove the fundamental signal and detect defects as excursions in the residual waveform’s crest factor or peak ratio; SoneTrac – A Bose-developed improvement to the Rub & Buzz, this method filters the residual signal and ratios it to the RMS of the total signal to reduce the noisiness of the measurement result; High-Order Harmonic Distortion - a classic method for rub & buzz detection, HOHD uses the THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) ratio but only of harm

Memorial Day at the Shawnee Cave Amphitheatre

Chauvet lights Shawnee Cave Amphitheatre

Details: 08 June 2021

USA - The Shawnee Cave Amphitheatre, 100 miles southeast of St. Louis, bills itself as “a venue like no other.” Tucked into the base of a massive 100ft high sandstone rock formation sits in the middle of 60 rugged acres of craggy paths, creeks and waterfalls.
Kyle Curtis had a hand in creating just such memories Memorial Day weekend when he lit the site for an event featuring a line-up of jam bands that included The Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon, Keller Williams, Kyle Tuttle Banjo, and Chicken Wire Empire. Enlivening the surroundings with vivid colours and making the cave wall come alive with gobo patterns, he enhanced the evocative effect of the setting without distracting from the artists on stage.
Helping him accomplish this feat was a collection of 54 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Chris Parton and his team at Midwest Music Supply

The dBS Solutions team (photo: Nathan Garwood)

dBS Solutions adds Martin Audio WPS

Details: 08 June 2021

UK - dBS Solutions’ roadmap through Martin Audio’s evolutionary control technology shows no sign of abating.
In 2014 they purchased an XD/DD combination rig for deployment on a successful theatre tour. This was followed by the acquisition of a 40-box Wavefront Precision Mini (WPM) system, specifically for the Mercury at Abbey Field pop-up theatre space in Colchester. This ran for an entire outdoor season and was a direct replacement for their old Martin Audio W8LM rig.
Then in February 2020 - immediately before lockdown - two hangs of 16 WPM, supported by flown SXF115 subwoofers and DD6 front-fills, went out on the Queen Symphonic tour.
Now, the company made its first investment in Martin Audio’s more powerful WPS system. “We’ve dipped our toe in the water with a package that will enable us to provide coverage for 2,000-plus capacity concert halls,”

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