USA - Packed seminars, busy booths and new product launches confirmed PLASA Focus: Austin as an unmissable industry event for Texas.

Over 700 attendees gathered on the show floor at the Palmer Events Centre to see over 50 of the biggest brands showcasing the latest products and technology. High End Systems launched Version 2.0 of Hog Software, to be used in conjunction with their HOG4 range of lighting consoles; Aeson Event Technologies launched the RPM Wash 720, a new 7x15W LED moving head; Martin Professional had two new products on their booth; the MAC Viper Quadray and the Jem Ready 365 Hazer; and Group One had some of the latest products from Avolites, DiGiCo and ElektraLite on display.

The free to attend Professional Development Programme was as popular as ever, with sessions offered from some of the industry's leading talents including the Eurovision Song Contest's Tech

UK - This autumn sees the return of Stage Electrics annual regional exhibitions in Newcastle and Manchester and is aimed at amateurs, students, professionals and technician working in education, the arts, theatre, broadcast and entertainment. Over 25 of the industry's leading manufacturers of audio, lighting, video and staging equipment will be there to offer them a warm welcome.

New exhibitors for 2013 sees 5 Star Cases, Doughty and Le Maitre joining ETC, ARRI, Sennheiser, Rosco, EM Acoustics, DiGiCo, Martin Professional, Pulsar, AnalogWay, Philips Selecon, Strand and Vari*Lite, Yamaha, RCF, Avolites, Zero 88, Chauvet, Highlite, Swisson, Lee Filters, GDS, Prolyte and Ambersphere who will be displaying Clay Paky, MA Lighting and Robert Juliat.

These one day events will be at Newcastle College on 22 October and Royal Northern College of Music on 24 October, are designed to crea

Argentina - Prolyte Group announces that TSD Group has joined its partner network to become its distributing partner for Argentina. The partnership was unofficially engaged at InfoComm, where Daniel Lema, managing director from TSD met Prolyte representatives to discuss the last details of the partnership.

Already having a loyal partner network in a number of Latin-American countries, Prolyte Group is becoming a key brand in the region. Having Buenos Aires-based TSD on-board to represent the Prolyte products, means Prolyte products now are available from stock in Argentina as well.

Lee Brooks, CCO for Prolyte, comments on the partnership with TSD: "The addition of Argentina to our Latin American partner network is a great asset. TSD are known for their expertise and commitment to the brands they represent and have a renowned after-sales service. The quality and support th

UK - XL Video are the multi-award winning AV experts responsible for the projection of video director Richard Turner's innovative video display on Roger Waters' The Wall Live concert tour.

To help XL Video bring the shows to life, forty units of Panasonic 20,000 lumens PT-DZ21KE and PT-DS20KE projectors are being installed into the grand scale stadiums and arenas, as the musician delivers 27 electrifying rendition performances across Europe running until autumn 2013.

Roger Waters comments on the technology of the show, "This wide wall stadium show couldn't have been done 40 years ago. We couldn't have filled the space in a way that would have been emotionally, musically and theatrically satisfying. Technology has changed. Now we can."

The Panasonic PT-DZ21 models project exceptional brightness levels and crystal clear imagery onto the colossal 20,000 sq.ft o

UK - Production Resource Group, L.L.C. (PRG), supported the recently wrapped up Robbie Williams' Take The Crown tour, providing the lighting and crew. Williams' highly successful summer tour included 26 dates playing European stadiums. The lighting design was by the production's creative director Willie Williams, who also collaborated on the production design with scene designer/architect Mark Fisher and Ric Lipson of Stufish.

Williams and Fisher took design inspiration from the original album artwork that had of a golden bust of Robbie Williams' head. The stadium tour included a 41' sculptural head coming out of a massive back video wall along with seven more enormous three-dimensional heads that moved around the stage. With so much automation, video, and larger than life scenery it was important that the lighting work with the overall production design in support of the

UK - Lewitt has signed on as the sole provider of microphones for Open Mic UK, one of the biggest music competitions in the UK for singers and solo artists.

The Austrian brand will be the sole provider of microphones for Open Mic 2013's live shows, and is giving a professional quality LCT640 vocal mic - worth £749 - as a prize to the competition's winner.

Open Mic UK's Dave Payne said, "Open Mic UK is very excited to team up with this young mic brand as we ensure we use the best equipment on all of ours shows across the UK. We feel that the Lewitt microphone range will get the very best sound quality from the thousands of singers who enter our competition this year as they compete to make it to the Grand Final within the O2."

A nationwide singing contest, Open Mic saw more than 9,000 acts audition last year. This year's auditions began in August, with regiona

UK - The new partnership between Powersoft and Traction Sound chose the perfect showcase for previewing the potential synergy on offer by harnessing these two brands, when this year's Bestival kicked off on the Isle of Wight.

The Italian amplification manufacturer supplied six of their flagship K10 switch-mode amplifiers to drive both the powerhouse Hidden Disco tent and more sublime, soothing grooves of the Ambient Forest, bringing the best out of Traction Sound's passive soft dome loudspeaker technology.

Powersoft provided 72kW of muscle in just 6RU spaces (12kW per amp).

It was Traction Sound's Jonny Goodwillie's friendship with festival owner Rob Da Bank that delivered the opportunity for both brands to showcase the products and what is one of the most high profile events in the UK, having won the title of Best Major Festival 2012 in the UK Festival awards. Having got th

USA - Continuing its mission to present the professional audio community with a comprehensive knowledge platform, the 135th Audio Engineering Society Convention (Thursday, 17 October, through Sunday, 20 October, 2013, at the Javits Center in New York City) this year will again feature an increasingly popular event focused on pro audio products. T

he Product Design Track (taking place all four days of the convention), assembled and moderated by Dan Foley, director of European sales for Audio Precision, will focus broadly on product design, with an emphasis on system-performance measurement. New for this year is a special presentation on the importance of properly branding and marketing new professional audio products. Presented by noted industrial designer Adrian Weidmann, The Power of the Brand will define the meaning of branding and explore its power and importance for t

Germany - Amptown System Company (ASC) has taken on a dedicated dealership for Munich based fibre network specialists Optocore and BroaMan. The new partnership, which was confirmed at IBC 2013 in Amsterdam this month, will see ASC representing both brands in the system integration and live sectors, such as musicals and theatre.

Headquartered in Hamburg, ASC's ability to provide integrated solutions for media technologies draws on a rich company heritage within the group. Founded in 1973 by Peter Matthes and Ulrich (Uli) Müller as a music store for instruments and large scale sound reinforcement it was this passion for music and technology that sowed the seeds for the birth of ASC in 1990, which soon saw them working on major world famous musicals.

The two men, along with Leif Witte, have subsequently developed ASC into an experienced media engineering system house, which will

China - For the band's first-ever performances in China, Metallica delivered two packed shows at Shanghai's Mercedes-Benz Arena. A Meyer Sound Leo linear large-scale sound reinforcement system was deployed by Ling Hua ProSLV.

"I was immediately struck by the linearity of the Leo system, even when it was pushed to very high levels," says Freddy Kot, chief engineer for Ling Hua ProSLV. "Even with sustained readings of over 112 dB at FOH, there was no distortion. And of course, the audience was just ecstatic with what they heard."

The system configuration for the show was handled by 'Big Mick' Hughes, Metallica's long-time FOH engineer, with assistance from consultant 'dB Dave' Dennison. The core flown LEO system comprised main front-hangs of 18-each Leo-M line array loudspeakers, 32 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements deployed in dual steerable arrays, an

UK - Lighting Designer Tom Sutherland - one of the UK's emerging talents - utilised 60 Robe LEDBeam 100s to great effect on the 2013 X-Factor Auditions which were staged at London's Wembley Arena.

Around 250 hopefuls gave it their all in front of the judges - each was allowed up to about 10 minutes of potential fame - in four very intense days during which they were ruthlessly culled to 100! These then progressed to the next stage - boot camp - of selecting the 12 finalists for the 2013 edition of the popular reality TV series.

His lighting rig was based on several curved trusses at different levels. The concept was to create one very dynamic lighting look which had to look fabulous - and appear different but complimentary - from multiple camera angles.

It was the first time he'd used Robe's LEDBeam 100s on this scale and also the first time in an arena.

They were p

UK - Projection and digital art specialist Ross Ashton collaborated with Russian artist Maria Rud to present Dark Matter a dynamic 'AniMotion' live performance painting projected in giant format on to the Institute of Astronomy library in Cambridge. The event embraced painting, music and projection mapping It was the world-wide launch of this concept, complete with live music from flautist David Heath, vocalist Fay Fife and DJ / producer Dolphin Boy (Andy Levy).

The one-off event also coincided with the launch of the 2014 e-Luminate Festival in Cambridge - which in February will celebrate the fusion of lighting and technology to show the city literally 'in a different light' - with a fundamental emphasis on eco-sustainability.

Ashton was approached by Rud, who had heard about his work and wanted to take AniMotion to a different level.

Ashton immediately saw the potent

France - An essential French military complex for more than 400 years, the famous Fort Saint Jean has recently undertaken a massive renovation to return the legendary monument to its former glory. Located at the entrance of the Vieux Port of Marseille, Fort Saint Jean dates back to the 17th century and maintained a strong military role for the country.

Now integrated into the museograhic entity of MuCEM, a museum of Europe and the Mediterranean, the structure and landscape offers visitors numerous Mediterranean style gardens to visit. In order to continue the experience after nightfall, lighting design company, L'Agence Lumière, designed and installed a Martin lighting rig to brighten the symbolic monument.

Based on the intricate landscape design, the main challenge was transforming Fort Saint Jean into a new living space and night time walk area in Marseille. The lighting de

Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden AB recently held open days with sales and technical training on 27-28 August. Guests from 11 countries including distributors and partners attended the event. The event was a success with plenty of networking including social activities, giving guests a chance to meet others from the industry.

Three training session were held for each group of technical and sales staff including service & support, project planning, RDM & Ethernet over wireless, product planning for the future and sales training.

The open days also included a factory visit, with a demonstration of the complete automated SMT line, QC Control with X-Ray Machine as well as the production line of the final products.

The event finished with an on-site visit to the W-DMX installation in the amusement park LIseberg where five DMX Universes control 24 W-DMX receivers on Sweden's larg

UK - From Thursday 19 September, a derelict Southwark building will play host to an interactive light sculpture by artists Marcus Lyall and Mark Logue.

The public will be invited to have a cathartic yell or scream inside the building. Each scream will generate an instant light composition that illuminates the entire building.

The unique quality of each scream will create the colour and movement of the light composition through a unique computer program which will analyse the sounds in real-time.

The installation will be visible to thousands of passers-by on Borough High Street between 5pm and 10pm each night.

House Of Pain is a centrepiece in the 2013 Merge Festival, an arts festival in the Bankside area of London.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Bruno Mars is riding high off the success of his sold-out Moonshine Jungle outing. Sporting a diverse set-list with a mix of eclectic covers, radio hits, originals (many from his latest outing, Unorthodox Jukebox CD), the tour recently made Rolling Stone magazine's list of "50 greatest live acts right now."

The Clair Global tour is outfitted with dual DiGiCo SD7s at FOH and monitor world, both running redundant Waves SoundGrid servers. Each desk has two SD racks for individual control of preamps and are connected completely via digital Optocore fibre cable-a big change from the 2011 tour.

FOH engineer Derek Brener sends MADI lines direct from FOH to the record rig, handled by Charles Moniz, who records 96 channels to a Pro Tools rig seamlessly without the need for an expensive audio router for archival purposes.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The National Rigging Advisory Group (NRAG) is pleased to announce its newly expanded remit to become a representative body for the entertainment rigging industry in the UK. Whilst created to oversee the development of the National Rigging Certificate, the success of that program allows the NRAG to now focus on additional initiatives to increase safety and competency in the industry. These include representing the interests of the rigging community on national committees and industry groups, promoting best practice and adherence to technical and safety standards, and acting as the source of information on rigging to the entertainment industry.

To further this vision, the membership of the NRAG has been enlarged to include a cross-section of companies, organisations and individuals representing the UK rigging community. The breadth of experience and level of expertise now gat

Australia - Communication technology for today's productions must be highly advanced and more dynamic than ever before, and yet continue to deliver the simplicity of the plug-and-play intercom systems of the past. Clear-Com's HelixNet is a platform of intercom products designed to offer simplified user operations and cabling requirements, ease-of-set-up and system management, unparalleled voice intelligibility, networking flexibility and system intelligence.

Crystal Productions, a Sydney-based AV Production and event company, required an updated communications system to maintain their technical capabilities and the Clear-Com HelixNet was the clear winner.

"Basically HelixNet simplifies the setup, management and use of intercom systems," commented David Thomas, project manager at Crystal Productions. "It offers cabling simplicity, ease-of-use, networking flexibil

South Africa - The Gearhouse Group of Companies recently provided comprehensive technical support, in the form of rigging, audio, lighting, trussing, structures and power, for the successful execution of the electronic dance production Sensation Innerspace, which took place at the Coca Cola Dome in Northriding on 7 September.

This was the debut event for Sensation in South Africa and the staging of it brought about quite a few "firsts" for technical supplier, Gearhouse SA, as well.

Gearhouse was contracted to G and G Productions, through technical consultants Strike Productions and worked hand in hand with technical production manager, Dave Tudor and Mushroom Productions, who handled the overall local production of the event. Project manager Anthony Banks, handled the onsite co-ordination of Gearhouse's technical elements with the assistance of Madelein

Switzerland - Several Allen & Heath iLive, GLD and Qu-16 digital mixing systems were in use across Switzerland throughout festival season.

PA company, Audiotronic, employed two GLD-80 mixers and an iLive-T system comprising an iLive-T112 Control Surface with iDR-48 MixRack. The GLD mixers were installed at the Interceltic Festival in Lausanne and FΩte de la Musique in Châtel-St-Denis, while the iLive system managed the FΩte Multiculturelle in Vevey.

Sound Lights PA company also used two iLive-T112 systems at the Festival des 5 Continents in Martigny, which attracts a 30,000 capacity audience.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Following the 2010 release of Sigh No More and relentless international touring, Mumford & Sons' rise to fame has been nothing short of meteoric. Currently supporting its newest album, Babel, the band has once again been back on the road with The Full English tour, which marks its second sweep across North America this year.

Montreal, Canada-based Solotech has been providing L-Acoustics concert sound systems and support for The Full English as well as the band's May/June Summer Stampedeleg. Systems and support for August/September's Gentlemen of the Road (GOTR) two-day stopover shows have been provided by fellow Rental Network company LD Systems of Houston, Texas.

According to Jamie Howieson, Mumford & Sons' audio system engineer and sound designer, the production crew has been deploying 28 K1 mains and six Kara down-fills, plus 16 K1-SB flown

UK - Lighting designer Richard Lambert of Lambco Lighting recently used his DTS Nick and Jack moving lights for two new productions - Miss Saigon at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury and Shadowlands at Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre in Devon.

These were selected to be right at the centre of the lighting action for both shows, which required very different approaches and lighting treatments, showing off the versatility of the fixtures.

The DTS Nick 600 LED Wash and Jack Spot luminaires were chosen for their small size, brightness, low power and feature-packed capabilities.

On the Jack, Lambert comments, "This is extremely versatile as you can expand the iris and it becomes a wash," while on the Nick, he says, "It's a really powerful LED wash fixture, fast, with an excellent zoom and very light in weight - so it ticks a lot of boxes."

H

Belgium - De Grote Post Theatre in the popular seaside resort of Oostende in Belgium is a busy culture centre housed in the city's former post office building. It's primarily a receiving house hosting a lively performance programme encompassing drama, musicals, dance performances, music, comedy, live arts, etc., involving around 250 shows a year.

It's also the first culture centre in Belgium to invest in Robe's Actor 6 range of LED luminaires, with 32 fixtures newly purchased from Benelux distributor, Controllux.

The theatre has two auditoriums, with 400 seats and 200 seats respectively, plus several studios and conference rooms which are frequently used for arts-related workshops, lectures, talks and telecasts.

The sale of the Robes was handled for Controllux by theatre specialist Jeff de Clerck, who comments, "The theatre wanted a flexible power-and-cost-saving soluti

UK - StratCrowd Associates has announced the launch of a specialised response to the increasingly complex field of crowd safety management. "It is all very well to have the resources available, but without a coherent crowd management plan, implementation can be troublesome at best, a positive liability at worst," claim the directors of StratCrowd Associates.

StratCrowd Associates comprise of crowd management experts Colin Lish, Tony Duncan, David White and Morten Therkildsen.

Says the company, "Crowd management is an evolving science as public events, festivals and concert tours become ever more complex and spectacular. We take the view that a more thorough approach is required to maximise the elimination of potential risk."

The four directors of StratCrowd Associates combine over eighty years of industry/event experience and are supported by Dr Mick Upto

Latest Issue. . .

Save
Cookies user preferences
We use cookies to ensure you to get the best experience on our website. If you decline the use of cookies, this website may not function as expected.
Accept all
Decline all
Analytics
Tools used to analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of a website and to understand how it works.
Google Analytics
Accept
Decline
Advertisement
If you accept, the ads on the page will be adapted to your preferences.
Google Ad
Accept
Decline