Germany –Europe’s first museum dedicated exclusively to samurai history and culture, the Samurai Museum is the setting for more than 1,000 artefacts collected over 30 years by German entrepreneur Peter Janssen. The museum, situated in Berlin’s main gallery district, opened its doors in May this year and has already made an impression on its visitors.
Featuring modern technology and multimedia installations that bring the exhibits to life, the audio experience is delivered by L-Acoustics Syva and X Series sound systems, designed by consulting firm MMT-Network and installed by system integrator PIK AG.
Composer, producer and music director Christian Steinhäuser asked Ralf Bauer-Diefenbach, managing director at MMT-Network, to help with the conceptual design of the audio system. “Artistic projects like the Samurai Museum require extensive knowledge in content int

UK - Renovated just over 10 years ago, Ashington Church in West Susex hosts an array of events, from prayer evenings to live band concerts and has been doing everything they can to keep the congregation’s spirits high during the uncertain lockdown period.
As the needs of the church have grown of the years, for both live and online services, a new audio installation was needed as the original speakers in the ceiling beams and down the aisle often resulted in ‘dead zones’ and delay issues during performances.
“While it did mean we had a better signal to noise ratio, those speakers just couldn’t reproduce the sound we wanted,” explains Simon Barrett, sound engineer and consultant for Ashington Church. “I even had to bring in a sub from time to time just to balance everything out, which wasn’t ideal.”
After having several systems installed on a temp

UK - In preparation for the arrival of off-Broadway hit, Oklahoma!, and the world-premiere of Mandela this autumn to the boards of London’s The Young Vic, the theatre’s head of sound Kyle McPherson invested in the award-winning TiMax TrackerD4 stagetracking system from TiMax developers, Out Board.
Requests for a TiMax TrackerD4 system to control new Soundscape upgrade for the theatre’s d&b sound system were made by both the Oklahoma! design team comprised of sound designer Drew Levy and Associate Sam Lerner, as well as the forthcoming Mandela sound designer, Paul Gatehouse.
The requests sparked a thorough investigation into stagetracking systems by MacPherson and the Young Vic sound team, which subsequently led to the purchase of a TiMax TrackerD4 system with eight sensors and 16 tags for the actors.
MacPherson confirmed, “

USA - Claypaky Mini-B fixtures, the smallest LED moving light ever made by Claypaky for the professional market, are in constant demand at Burbank-based Volt Lites, Inc. where American Song Contest was among its latest users. Volt Lites was the first company in the US to acquire Mini-B and now boasts more than 200 of the fixtures – the largest inventory of Mini-Bs owned by a single vendor in the US.
Weighing a little over 15 pounds, Mini-B features a wide zoom, ranging from 4° to 55° for extremely versatile performance. At the narrow angle, the beam is very solid and concentrated, superb for aerial effects. At full aperture, the Mini-B becomes an excellent wash light replacing much heavier and bulkier equipment. The Mini-B's central LED may be controlled separately from the external ring of LEDs, making it ideal for graphic lighting effects, too.
“Mini-B

Germany - Production company OTD Global called on the imagination and flair of new Israeli-based creative visual design practice, LEAD, headed by Omer Israeli and Dor Aichner, to engineer lighting and atmospherics for a Hack the Galaxy special event that was staged in Berlin’s Kraftwerk venue for Israeli FinTech enterprise Rapyd.
Omer and Dor put Robe moving lights – MegaPointes, BMFL Blades & Spots, Spiiders and LEDBeam 100s – at the centre of the lighting design in the main performance space, once the towering turbine hall and core of the former power station. Another DJ line-up headlined by Tiesto entertained over 2000 guests for the evening.
This was the first of three Hack the Galaxy parties in Europe delivered by Rapyd’s experience brand The Moment and part of a recruiting drive creating a buzz to attract developers and programmers to t

UK - Active for over four decades, Duran Duran continue to be a major draw on the live sound circuit.
For their latest UK and European festival run, the band picked up where they left off with long-time audio vendor Britannia Row Productions, which supplied the crew with a DiGiCo-centric control package, as well as an assortment of microphones and Sennheiser IEMs.
“Brit Row have been great in providing the gear we needed, at a time when so much equipment is unavailable,” says production manager Wob Roberts, who first worked with the band in 2008 and returned to the role last year. “Part of this was because we booked well in advance, but the following US tour was a late addition and our account handler, Dave Compton, has managed to source the gear we need without having to ship anything, which is great as we try to reduce the carbon footprint of touring.”

USA - Nashville Life is a 10-year-old ministry founded by gospel artist and 15-time Grammy Award-winner CeCe Winans and her husband, Alvin Love II, and their son, Alvin Love III, is now lead pastor. While the church has been in existence for a decade, it has only this year found its own home, a newly renovated former church building in Nashville’s Nolensville Road neighbourhood.
Nashville Life has a flexible set of audio solutions to meet its particular needs: a DiGiCo Quantum225 console, buttressed with four Dante-enabled A168D stage boxes along with a DQ-Rack in the amp room, for switching and patching, all on a Dante network, as is the church’s new EAW KF810 sound system. In addition, an even one-dozen KLANG:kontrollers - six connected to Shure PSM 1000 IEMs and six hard-wired IEMs for the band members - provide the church’s musicians and vocalists on stage with a h

UK - Elliot Banes lit the Outlook Festival main stage at Cholmondeley Castle last month. Tasked with lighting dozens of different acts across the jungle, drum & bass, dubstep, and grime genres (none of whom brought visiting LDs), Baines devoted considerable time and energy into developing an advanced strategy. When the Manchester-based designer arrived at the festival site, however, he was in for a surprise.
“We were supposed to be working on a domed semi-circular stage, but when we got to the site, we encountered a square one,” said Baines, the owner of Spiral Stage Lighting. “This complicated things, especially since we had to change all of our rigging points in the original design by Wingnut. But the amazing team, as well as the people from Fineline Lighting, Wingnut Production Lighting and AF Live helped pull everything together.”
Faced with this unexpe

UK - London’s Four Seasons Hotel Park Lane was the setting for a pre-fight press conference by British boxer Anthony Joshua and his Ukrainian opponent, Oleksandr Usyk, with a stunning LED screen backdrop driven by a Hippotizer Nevis+ Media Server.
The heavyweight champions were giving interviews to the global sports press, prior to their match in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at the end of August. The questioning centred on the importance of winning; the real attraction of the press meet-up was purely visual, focusing on the plush surroundings, the famous photo-op face-off, and the video content that ramped up the spectacle.
Reading-based video production company Digital Insanity was commissioned to operate the visuals for the high-profile occasion by events company VME.
“We were hired for the playback job as we have a reputation for delivering shows as per the clien

UK - Amp-maker Marshall recently constructed a world-class recording studio – boasting a 273sq.m live room and a 40-channel vintage Neve 8048 mixer – next to their Milton Keynes factory.
The control room has been upgraded with a Quested monitoring system at its heart. “It was like fitting that last piece into a jigsaw, or getting the right key for a lock,” said Marshall studio manager Adam Beer. “The Quested Q212FS monitors are just perfect for the room, and for the type of music we record. The imaging is absolutely spot on, you can accurately pinpoint everything throughout the stereo field.”
The Q212FS design is based on one of Quested’s most popular main monitor enclosures. The free-standing system has been adapted to allow for the Q212 element to sit on top of the QSB118 sub-bass, and be at a perfect height for most mixing consoles, with the acoustic c

USA - There are three campuses of the thriving Hallows Church in Seattle, the latest of which is in the Wallingford area of the city. The church embraces technology to connect with its congregations both in person and through online livestreams, with music every bit as important in the celebrations as the spoken word.
To equip the church with a new sound system, The Hallows turned to local AV technology specialists Morgan Sound who have, over the course of 50+ years in business, successfully completed hundreds of similar installations in houses of worship and other venues, undertaken alongside a long-established and busy production services business for live events.
Associate engineer Fraser Brearley reports, “The Hallows is a very modern and technology-focussed church, with music at the heart of its services. They specifically asked for a custom-tailored audio and v

UK - For more than 30 years, Bradford-based Pro Audio Systems (PAS) has been supplying professional audio, lighting and AV equipment for purchase, hire and installation. One area which has seen consistent growth on the audio front is the house of worship sector, where PAS has assisted with the supply and design of a number of systems for mosques, both in the city and further afield.
Fastline specialises in mosque installations and began its relationship with PAS as far back as 2004. With a background in electrical engineering and a keen interest in sound, founder Wajid Baz felt at the time that audio provision in many mosques was simply not up to scratch. Clarity and adequate coverage are absolute essentials in houses of worship, and in many cases Wajid felt that both elements were inadequate. He created Fastline to deliver bespoke systems that could overcome the difficultie

USA - New York based lighting designer Myles Mangino used the stylish appearance of Robe’s PATT 2013 luminaires and the CRI and crisp optics of their Esprite moving lights to add a touch of class to a video shoot for music producer Mark Ronson featuring singer Lucky Daye.
The music video was for a special version of Too Much. Shot in Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse, a former industrial space in Brooklyn, Myles wanted a backdrop of large vintage looking light sources that would look great on camera and provide a warm tungsten glow so he decided on 32 x Robe PATT 2013s. These were sourced by the shoot’s production vendor, ATD Audio Visual.
Myles’ initial brief from the producers included a request for some tungsten warmth as background scenic to enhance an authentic retro vibe, and he “thought of PATT 2013s for their effect, and the way they look”. It was

USA - New York and LA based lighting and visual designer Rob Ross of technical production specialist, Studio RRD used his imagination and 160 Astera Titan Tubes to create a stunning light sculpture centrepiece for the SOMA Tent at the 2022 Outside Lands Festival staged in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
The vibrant, fun-filled event celebrates the spirit and energy of the city and the Bay Area with a diversity of music, dance, art, poetry, debates plus a myriad of other performances, interactions, and dialogues.
Rob has been involved with the festival in several different roles for over 10 years and was initially approached last year to light the new SOMA venue - named after the city’s lively SoMa - South of Market district - a haven for electronic dance music enthusiasts that debuted in 2021, which he did, working with some pre-existing décor elements.
T

Germany - Flexibility is a valuable attribute, not only in a lighting rig, but also in the designer who creates it. Cevin Richter offered convincing proof of that this August at the M’era Luna alternative music festival in Hildesheim.
Tasked with lighting The Disco Hangar, a large space within the two-day festival (it takes place in a former airbase), Richter had to create looks that supported a diverse range of artists and speakers on stage, including DJ performances, jam-packed warm up and after parties, a fashion show, and readings by an eclectic group of authors, including mystery and horror writers, as well as a noted criminologist describing case histories.
“We equipped and supervised the Disco Hangar with rigging, stage, sound, light and video,” said Richter “This not only included the disco with DJs on Friday and Saturday nights, but also the Academy, r

UK - Phoenix Arts Club in London has upgraded its technological offering thanks to Music Venue Trust (MVT)’s Sound + Vision initiative. As collaborative MVT partner and long-standing supporter of Phoenix Arts Club, technical solutions specialist White Light (WL), facilitated and managed the project. The scheme enabled Chauvet Professional to install its highest ever resolution LED video solution in the iconic venue, significantly elevating the production value for its diverse events programme.
Launched in 2017, MVT’s Sound + Vision initiative aims to deliver a 21st Century live entertainment experience to artists and audiences all over the UK. Having supported nearly 50 venues to date, the scheme supports venues that are seeking funding via the ACE, making industry leading technologies accessible to grassroots venues.
Jason Larcombe, WL’s senior project manager,

USA - To provide artists and audiences at Summerfest with immersive and impactful live sound, Clearwing once again enlisted JBL Professional VTX Series speakers for the job.
A long-time staple of the music festival season, Summerfest is a multi-week event that brings a wide variety of artists and fans to Henry Maier Festival Park in Milwaukee every year. With hundreds of performances taking place across 12 stages, Summerfest is historically one of the most-attended festivals in the world and earned the title of ‘World's Largest Music Festival’ by Guinness World Records in 1999.
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Summerfest returned for three consecutive weekends in June and July rather than 11 straight days like previous years, and featured Modest Mouse, 2 Chainz, Charli XCX, Dustin Lynch, among many others.
Despite this year’s schedule

USA - The University of Tennessee Volunteers roared into the football season defeating the Ball State Cardinals 59-10. Bandit Lites lighting director Alex Becker programmed a light show, integrating pattern washes on the field, movement chases and colour washes on the stands and field.
Bandit Lites provided Elation Proteus Maximus, two wireless solution black box for wireless DMX for fixtures across the stadium and a Chamsys Magic Q MQ500.
“I utilised the framing shutters on the Proteus Maximus to create the Power “T” at the top of the show and to highlight the VOLS spell out at the end of the halftime show,” said Becker, who shared the Elation Proteus Maximus fixtures were chosen for their high output and IP65 Rating.
“VOL nation is already the largest, loudest and most energetic stadium in the country and were enhancing it even more by adding a bett

UK - The sprawling Belgravia Sports Club in Harare was packed with fans this summer when Grammy winner Burna Boy stepped onto the stage a little after 10:30 as part of his Space Drift Tour. It didn’t take long, however, for the mood at the big outdoor facility to take on the intimate air of a cozy live music venue, as the Afrobeats superstar from Nigeria engaged the thousands of Zimbabwean fans in attendance with his magnetic personality and sing-alongs of hits like Last Last.
Contributing to the welcoming atmosphere at the show, which was organised by Hidden Culture, was a production and lighting design by Events Evolution. Blending light and video, the company’s design team, led by Blessing Bero and Tatenda Gaylord Rushwaya, turned the temporary outdoor stage with its high trim, into a glowing light box bathed in warm colours.
Helping them create this invi

Belgium - After two decades, six Grammy Awards, 80m record sales, and over 300 live concerts, the Black Eyed Peas haven’t lost a step, either in their exuberant hip-hop infused sound, or their get-up-and-dance stage presence. Both were on full display early this August at the Lokerse Feesten when the band electrified a packed house with a boisterous 16-song set that included hits from their early days, as well as tunes from their newest album, Translation.
Supporting the California-based quartet at the festival was a lively and colourful Alain Corthout-designed lightshow that was powered by a ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M Stadium Console supplied by Phlippo, Belgium.
Like the music of the band it supported, the lightshow flowed with a smooth, seamless rhythm, transitioning from soft moments to intense crescendos, always in sync with the performance on stage. Corthout,

Germany - The largest open-air concerts ever held in Munich, and the largest in Germany this year, took place at the Munich Exhibition Centre in August with over 300,000 fans total attending shows by Andreas Gabalier, Helene Fischer and Robbie Williams. Roland Greil lit the epic shows and massive 150m wide stage using a rig that included over 450 Elation Professional luminaires.
Austrian folk rocker Andreas Gabalier opened the concert series on 6 August with German pop queen Helene Fischer drawing over 130,000 for her performance on 20 August and Robbie Williams drawing nearly 100,000 to his show on 27 August.
Produced by Leutgeb Entertainment Group, the concerts were rare hometown gigs for Munich-based LD Roland Greil, a fact that made the shows even more special for the internationally respected lighting and production designer. With a huge 150m wide diamond-shaped

UK - Currently playing an extended run in London’s Garrick Theatre, The Drifters Girl tells the story of Faye Treadwell, the long-time manager of The Drifters, by interweaving her personal narrative with 20 concert-level performances of the seminal R&B/pop group’s chart-topping hits. To maintain the full impact of both the dramatic and musical elements, sound designer Tom Marshall deployed a strategically placed and balanced system of Meyer Sound point source loudspeakers and compact subwoofers.
The intimate Garrick Theatre is an acoustically and architecturally challenging venue that was built in 1889 and now seats 712 patrons on three levels.
“The Garrick has interesting challenges when it comes to putting a ‘pop’ musical in the space,” relates Marshall. “Loudspeaker positioning is tricky due to the nature of the proscenium opening and the fi

UK - Some 72 nations and territories came together 28 July – 8 August in Alexander Stadium in Birmingham for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Lighting the opening and closing ceremonies of the quadrennial multi-sport event was Al Gurdon of Incandescent Design who used over 300 Elation Professional IP65 Proteus luminaires to light the festivities.
The opening ceremony was a visually spectacular and at times emotional show that featured dance groups, dream sequences, cultural parables, humour and even a 10m tall mechanical bull. A cast of thousands traced Birmingham’s history through themes of unity, diversity and resilience with the evening capped by a medley of hits by local heroes Duran Duran. The closing, just as impactful, focused on the region's musical heritage with performances by UB40, Jorja Smith and Dexys Midnight Runners, among others, including a surprise appeara

UK - If there is a single festival that defines the English summer, it has to be Henley, which this year celebrated its 40th anniversary with a mix of music, comedy, art and grade A fun.
Production managed by John Harris, Henley’s main stage is placed in the River Thames, backed by a fleet of boats of all shapes and sizes. The site features a variety of other venues ranging from intimate comedy to cabaret and dance bands.
RG Jones has been providing audio at Henley since 1983 - most of it based around Martin Audio PA - and in a relationship surviving that long, the level of trust and commitment is obviously at its highest. Over the years, the style of the event has changed somewhat from the original, fully classical programme to what is now a much more commercial line-up, but with no less determination to deliver an unforgettable experience.
This year’s arti

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