The brothers found the popular Jumeirah Zabeel Saray Hotel on The Palm in Dubai, which was looking to expand on their large event space and saw MusicHall as a good fit. The space already had an adequate stage, lounge area and dining facility, so it just needed an interior makeover and new lighting scheme.
In addition to the proper areas in place, the venue had a good existing infrastructure which included four over-stage trusses with winch control and some existing power and dimming provision through a hard-wired cable management system. DMX distribution was limited to a single universe across various hard-wired ports.
With limited time available and a request to not change the existing infrastructure, a wireless data system was the only solution and Wireless Solution W-DMX was the system of choice. Lighting and visual designer Ben Rogers was brought in to tackle the project and said, "After using Wireless Solution's W-DMX system without fault on gigs for the last five years, this was a simple choice that also went hand-in-hand with the final fixture specification to include W-DMX receivers."
Rogers wanted the lighting and visual design to be multi-layered, where each lighting element could stand alone or work together to form a richly textured whole. His aim was that each type of fixture in the flown rig should be able to light the stage in its own right.
On Rogers' checklist was the need to strike a balance between brightness and long life versus power consumption and he chose the Elation Platinum series discharge sources. The Elation Platinum 5R Pro Beam and 15R Pro Spot fit his wishes perfectly, fulfilling his design ideals, while providing optimal size and weight with an attractive price that fit his budget. Most conveniently, the Elation
Pro products feature on-board W-DMX that fit within his data distribution solution. "In fact," adds Rogers, "All of the Elation Pro series fixtures have on board W-DMX and act as both a receiver and a node for outputting the received universe - which is how I used them for this application so that the moving heads provide DMX feeds to the non wireless fixtures on the bars as well."
He explained, "For my part the lead time for lighting and video was a mere five weeks from concept to completion - a reasonably tight turnaround, which included working around the holidays for placing orders and shipping goods. There was also, as might be expected, a need to be cost-conscious on the new inventory both in terms of initial investment and operating outlay.
"It's a testament to the manufacturers and installation team that we were able to get it right the first time. MusicHall Dubai proved to be an instant success and has played to packed houses since it opened. The show continues to evolve, with resident programmer Adam Street pushing the system further each week."
"This is a perfect use of W-DMX, where it's flexibility and wide OEM partner range can solve a number of challenges," says Niclas Arvidsson, CEO of Wireless Solution. "Ben has a keen eye for creative solutions using W-DMX technology. We look forward to seeing more successful projects from him."
(Jim Evans)
