USA - GLP highlighted its latest products and claimed an LDI Awards at the annual trade show in Las Vegas last month.
GLP products were both on static display and incorporated into a light show, while the award for Best Large Booth recognised the German manufacturer’s stand, designed and programmed by Matt Shimamoto (Volt Lites) in conjunction with GLP Inc. president Mark Ravenhill.
Ravenhill comments: “We were hugely busy throughout the show and saw a great number of people from across the country and abroad. We designed a brand new “Licht!’ bar which became the central attraction of the booth and was surrounded by eight new product launches, all making their debut, which received a fantastic reaction.”
The product array included impression E350 and S350, KNV Cube and KNV Arc, impression FR1, X4 atom Rackmount PSU and products from distributed brands, Cosmic Truss and Scenex Lighting.
Another change for GLP this year was the adoption of a rolling presentation, whereby customers were presented with one of GLP’s new products at regular intervals without interrupting the collective ambience and hospitality of the booth. “This worked extremely well,” adds Ravenhill.
Away from the stand, GLP sponsored the Knight of Illumination Awards category, Award for Arena, at the inaugural US ceremony, which was staged in conjunction with LDI.
The North American GLP Inc team were in non-stop action throughout the show, supported by senior members of the parent company in Karlsbad, including MD Udo Kuenzler and key account manager

Europe - Laserworld has released PL-5500RGB Outdoor, a professional laser system dedicated to the outdoor use of logo, text and architecture projections.
The laser has a waterproof enclosure and has a built-in control interface that can also be loaded laser frames and animations to. The system can either be computer controlled or switched with a timer clock or a timed show playback.
The outdoor laser highly visible in the dark, due to its high power. The scanner system is fast and well-suited to graphics projections, logos or texts. It comes with a special wall mounting bracket, which is designed to be used for fixed installation.
The Laserworld PL-5500RGB Outdoor comes as a complete system including built-in LAN control interface and suitable professional control software.
(Jim Evans)

UK - Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rex Orange County (Alexander O'Connor) has been on a UK tour, with LD Will Kinnaird looking after the lighting for the musician’s first full production.
Kinnaird took 24 Robe’s LEDBeam 150 moving lights on the bus-and-trailer tour; the fixtures proved the right tool for the low-profile aesthetic he crafted for the tour as he worked closely with show designer Jed Skrzypczak. The LEDbeam 150s and some other lighting were used at every show in conjunction with the 'top' rigs at each venue.
At the musician’s London gig at the Hammersmith Apollo, the LEDBeam 150 count was boosted to 51 and six MegaPointes were added to the rig, all supplied by High Wycombe rental company, Siyan.
For the main tour, the 24 LEDBeam 150s were deployed in three horizontal lines across the stage - upstage, mid-stage and downstage - where they accentuated the clean and straightforward appearance of the performance space, adding depth, dimension and a degree of structural shaping.
For the Hammersmith Apollo, Kinnaird added 25 x LEDBeam 150s in the air on five LX trusses overhead, which were combined with 26 on the floor. Together these proved great for constructing numerous scenes, lighting the set pieces and providing an array of bright beamy looks and aerial effects. He programmed and ran the lightshow using an Avolites Sapphire Touch console.
(Jim Evans)

UK - Full technical production services provider Pearce Hire has added a Prolyte Arc Roof staging system, supplied by Stage Electrics, to its hire stock.
The Prolyte Arc Roof System is a fixed construction, based on three inward-curving trusses which are mounted to side masts. Since its delivery, the system has been used for a festival and an urban running event and has also been specified for several Christmas Light switch-ons and outdoor winter festivals.
Jim Brown, general manager at Pearce Hire, comments: “We’ve got a significant amount of Prolyte kit already - trusses, towers, rigging towers and accessories. So we were already familiar with the quality of Prolyte products and ease of handling. We were particularly attracted to the Arc Roof system because of its well-considered assembly process which is critical to the challenging set-up times our client projects often involve.”
Brown adds: “It is perfect for a broad range of installations, and with the diversity of our clients and their production requirements for a stage roof of this nature, an investment in this type of structure makes a lot of sense. In fact, I would go as far as saying it was an easy decision to make. It is ideal for live production, product launches, awards ceremonies and more besides.”
James Cookson of Stage Electrics says: “Our relationship with Pearce Hire goes back at least 10 years and we were delighted to be working with them again to fulfil their requirements, and to provide an after-sales service which included training for the Pearce Hire team

UK - Technical event production provider Blitz has invested in Yamaha’s flagship digital mixing system, Rivage PM10.
The company has a long association with Yamaha and a substantial inventory of QL and TF series digital consoles, as well as CL5s and the legendary PM1D, one of which was used for over a decade on Phantom of the Opera in London’s West End.
As a former touring and theatre mix engineer, Blitz director of sound Aron Ross appreciates the advanced capabilities of Yamaha digital mixers. Working alongside the company’s chief sound engineer, Rob Handyside and head of theatre and sound project development, Martyn Hunt, all were keen to work with the Rivage PM10 digital mixing system.
“We are really excited about the new technology and the enhanced capabilities that Rivage PM10 offers,” says Aron. “The Rupert Neve Designs SILK processing is a big draw for us and, since investing in the system, the latest firmware update has added key features for the theatre market. It broadens the scope of current offering to our clients and we are very happy to build on our longstanding relationship with Yamaha.”
When the PM10 system was delivered during October, Yamaha’s Chris Irvine, Tom Rundle and Reece Stead headed to Blitz’s premises in Elstree to run through some of its deeper functions. The Blitz team could also compare it with the company's other Yamaha mixers - including a PM1D, still working perfectly nearly 20 years after its introduction!
“Yamaha’s support has been great all the way through, from our first

Sweden - Lights in Alingsås, the experimental architectural lighting installation, started when students from Ljuscentrum Gothenburg University came to Alingsås in 1998. Ten years later, the urban exhibition attracts more than 85,000 visitors every year and has become the largest lighting event in public spaces in Northern Europe.
W-DMX has become a frequent sponsor of the project and is proud of being able to showcase its technology in a real-life scenario, to well-established and new designers in the industry.
“In total, we used five WhiteBox F-1 transceivers, in three different sites”, says Dierk Hartmann, from Lights in Alingsås. The first site featured a set of WhiteBox units configured as transmitter and receiver, with lighting designed by Diana Joels (Brazil) and programmed by Oscar Bertenius (Stockholm Lighting). The control was supplied by Pharos and fixtures by Lumenpulse and Traxon.
The second site had a transmitter directly sending Wireless DMX to SGM fixtures – this was designed by Steven Rosen (USA) and programmed by Bertil Göransson (Luxera).
Lastly, the Whitebox units were configured as transmitter/receiver, sending data across a street, to fixtures by iGuzzini and Lumenpulse. This last installation was designed by Nikoletta Theodoridi (Greece) and programmed by Ian Fanning (Stockholm Lighting).
“The most wonderful thing with wireless DMX is its simplicity. Just power up, link the units and you’re on the run!”, said Bertil Göransson, programmer from Luxera, who used W-DMX on the second site.

Romania - Romania’s five-star Black Sea hotel, Nyota, offers luxurious accommodation coupled with conference and theatre facilities to cater for tourism and business.
A premium solution was required, according to systems integrator and Powersoft distributor Marius Craiu, sales & marketing manager of AudioVision Store, who spec’d Powersoft Ottocanali power amplification systems to manage the zoning and room audio systems.
The hotel needed the AV system to cover all areas, with priority for EVAC announcements and both local and remote control of the zones.
Systems integrator and Powersoft distributor Marius Craiu explains: “The hotel’s prime objective was for it to be simple to use and reliable. We began working with the hotel before building was started and although the initial specification was settled early on, there were inevitable modifications along the way. Fortunately, the Ottocanali range is well-suited to system design changes on the fly.”
AudioVision were invited to specify the system by Low Voltage, the installation contractor with whom they had worked on many previous projects. Overall, the installation took nearly four months to complete, taking place as the hotel building work was being finished.
“The first request was to properly cover all the areas for music and messages and for some zones to also have the possibility to play music from a local source as well as centralised playback. EVAC messages were to have the highest priority, and they also requested the ability to make announcements to different indi

UK - Formed at the turn of the century, with the aim of providing lighting and production services to the theatre and events industry, Edinburgh-based Blue Parrot has enjoyed a long association with Martin lighting over the years. This has taken them from MAC 500s and 600s right through to today’s Auras and Vipers.
As their own theatre work increased, with MD Jonnie Clough himself a theatre lighting designer in his own right, the love affair continued, and just over a year ago the company invested in 12 MAC Encore Performance WRM moving heads specifically for a Christmas show at the local Royal Lyceum Theatre.
Of their purchasing decision at the time, Clough says: “It was our success with the Viper Performance that gave us the faith and confidence to invest in the Warm White Encores. I was impressed with the demo and we ordered them even before they were available.
“However, as a sales company we have also sold some Cold White (CLD) fixtures and I love those equally. The return on investment with the MAC Encore Performances has been higher than any other fixture we’ve stocked, with a lot of these spec’d on our own shows.”
He says the timing of the latest acquisition, an initial batch of Martin MAC Encore Wash WRM from Sound Technology, the Martin by Harman UK distributor, couldn’t have been better, and reflects their growing theatre production work. He added that it will be a natural replacement from the now obsolete Martin MAC TW1 (tungsten wash).
“These will complement our existing stock of MAC Encore Performance WRM, f

USA - Fusion band Intocable have enjoyed a 25-year career, winning three Grammy awards and and playing record-breaking stadium concerts. Their latest Highway tour has taken them all over the US since June and culminates in November in Houston, Texas.
The band's tools of choice at both FOH and monitors are SSL L300 consoles, and Jose Ramon Quintero has engineered with both, previously as monitor engineer, and now as FOH engineer. "When I started with the L300 on monitors, the band immediately noticed a huge change in the mix and in the 'room image',” he says. “There is a great separation between the instruments, and there’s a much warmer, more analogue sound than the console we were using before."
According to Quintero, the band's reaction to the technology was an important moment, as they are all accomplished musicians, and most have their own personal studios. “They can really play,” he says. “And they can hear too. I think the SSL Pre-amps have made the biggest difference.”
There are seven members of Intocable and Quintero has a 52-channel input list across drums, percussion, bass, Bajo Sexto, accordion, vocals, and comms. He uses the console's 32 x 36 output matrix for the seven PA outputs, with subs driven from an auxiliary. All 36 matrix outputs of the console have filters, 4-band EQ, delay, all-pass-filters, and insert points for internal and external processing.
The journey from monitors to FOH with the same band has been an enlightening one for Quintero; having honed mixes for the individual band members, he was i

UK - On 25 October at London’s St. Bartholomew-the-Great at Smithfield, storytelling singer-songwriter Hazel Iris celebrated the release of her first full-length album, Nine Sisters.
Shure supported the event with KSM8, BETA52, SM137, SM81, KSM141, BETA98, SM57’s and SM58 microphones and PSM300 in ear monitoring systems.
Peter Junge, engineer in charge of recording and filming the event, comments: “For the Hazel Iris album launch, we used Shure microphones on every instrument. Not only was the live-sound superb but the recording also came out really well. Listening back I was very surprised by how focused it all sounds and how little issue with bleed or ambience we have on the signals. Very often, when using that many condenser microphones in a church, there can be a problem. However, the sound is nicely separated and I’m pleased I'll be able to make a studio quality mix from it.”
Marc Henshall, senior marketing specialist, pro audio, adds: “For the industry to thrive, it’s imperative that we support truly unique talent. Shure have a proud history of supporting great music over many decades, and when Hazel approached us with the ambitious concept for her next album launch, it was clear this was an event we wanted to support.
“Far from a standard album launch, Hazel has worked hard to bring in broader creative aspects, including theatrical elements. We’re a huge advocate of theatre at Shure, and we recognise the importance of this sector in what it brings to the UK creative industries, both culturally and fiscally. Haz

Denmark - Lighting designer Mike Holm has been in charge of many light installations throughout his career but had his first encounter with SGMs G-4 Wash for the successful Danish musical Seebach. After almost a year-long run with over 200,000 tickets sold, Seebach became the best-selling musical in Denmark in 15 years.
“Besides living up to all our performance demands, we chose the G-4 Wash because of its compact size that makes it easy to adapt to various staging designs,” says Mike Holm.
In the past, Holm has used moving-head fixtures that were a lot more difficult to install due to their bigger physical size. With great performance in a compact size, the G-4 Wash turned out to be the perfect luminaire for both the Seebach and Tarzan musicals.
“The G-4 Wash has a Fresnel lens, which avoids having to work with multiple shadows that you get from fixtures that uses multiple light sources. On top of this, the G-4 Wash has great colour rendering with a CRI over 90, providing the perfect conditions to beautifully highlight the actors on stage. Quality light with perfectly matching colours is absolutely necessary for theatrical installations but having all this in an IP65-rated and compact sized fixture, makes our job a lot easier,” explains Holm.
(Jim Evans)

Japan - Astro Spatial Audio (ASA) has announced its entry into the Japanese market with the appointment of Audio Brains. As the official Japanese solutions partner for ASA, Audio Brains will provide training and support whilst spearheading the expansion of Astro Spatial Audio’s immersive audio technology into the country’s live entertainment sector.
As part of the renowned MSI Japan group, Audio Brains has a portfolio of brands including Powersoft, AVID, Symetrix and Martin Audio – including the Sound Adventures immersive audio package, which is driven by Astro Spatial Audio.
Audio Brains director, Sam Yamashita comments, “Astro Spatial Audio can be used with any loudspeaker you choose, whereas other systems are made by specific manufacturers for use exclusively with their own speakers. It is the best solution for achieving a fully immersive audio experience while having the freedom to use the equipment you choose.”
“We are both delighted and honoured to welcome Audio Brains into our global family,” enthused Astro Spatial Audio managing director, Bjorn Van Munster. “Few companies within our industry possess the experience or prestige of our new solutions partner, and I’m very confident that we will achieve great things together in Japan. I look forward to a long and fruitful friendship.”
While Astro Spatial Audio will receive its official Japanese debut at InterBEE 2018, taking place at Tokyo’s Makuhari Messe from 14-16 November, Audio Brains is already planning dedicated demonstrations and training workshops for early 20

UK - Martin Audio has announce the promotion of Bradley Watson to the new position of international sales director.
One of the company’s longest serving executives, Watson was instrumental in building domestic sales during the first decade of the millennium before leaving in 2010, but maintaining a close relationship in his capacity as an installer.
Presented with the opportunity to re-join the company in September 2016, and assume the new role as sales manager EMEA he described the opportunity as “a perfect scenario”.
Speaking of the latest promotion, Watson said, “Since my return to Martin Audio I have been proud to be part of a team that’s been instrumental in bringing over 30 new products to market in just over 24 months.
“As EMEA sales manager, I inherited many long-standing relationships and distribution partnerships that my predecessor and good friend Martin Kelly worked hard to forge prior to his retirement, and I have greatly enjoyed the role to date.”
Dom Harter, managing director, added, “Brad has been instrumental in driving sales growth in EMEA and fostering strong relationships throughout the territory. As Martin Audio has grown around the world, the need to introduce an international sales director role is prudent to help plan and execute our next wave of commercial success, and Brad is perfect to take on that responsibility.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - Down Hall Hotel & Spa was the early autumn setting for the Green Hippo SHAPE 3D projection mapping masterclass. The sessions took place on two September days with over 30 places taken and attendees travelling from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well the UK.
The first day offered a fundamental introduction to SHAPE 3D projection mapping. Opening with talks covering models and basic content, topics progressed to Hippotizer set-up, closing in the evening with both building alignment and blending practice. Day two shifted up the gears, delivering an advanced-level masterclass – participants took part in a detailed look at complex SHAPE products and setting up complex projects. The advanced syllabus also involved creating content with Notch, as well as building practice and demo station work.
Both days involved access to an impressive selection of kit – outside, as well as in. Additionally, Stage Sound Services provided eight Panasonic PT-RZ21k laser projectors in Tempest weatherproof enclosures. Green Hippo’s media partner for the masterclass was LSi magazine.
"This year’s SHAPE 3D Projection Mapping Masterclass was a great success; our delegates learned a lot and gained valuable hands-on experience mapping the hotel. It was very exciting to work closely with our users; showing them SHAPE’s new features and exploring 3D workflows."
Read more about the recent masterclass in the November issue of LSi - out now!
(Jim Evans)

World - The Lenny Kravitz 2018 Raise Vibration tour, in support of his new album of the same name, kicked off earlier this year in Mexico City. The tour has created a lot of excitement around the world. The stage show is a large and lively affair with lighting designer, Leroy Bennett, incorporating 224 Ayrton MagicDot-XT fixtures into his multi-layered design.
The main set changes at different venues, but the backdrop setting and lighting design stays the same and consists of 14 diamond-shaped pods with 16 MagicDot-XT fixtures tightly packed into each one, with just a 250mm offset between each fixture within each matrix. The pods are rigged in two rows of seven and partially concealed behind a massive louvre blind back wall.
Bennett, who was keen to use the MagicDot-XT fixtures for this particular lighting design, explained, “The idea for the design was based on Lenny’s being inspired by the venetian blinds set I designed for Prince’s Controversy Tour. I have been using the MagicDot-XT for quite a while and like their reliability and versatility. They are small and quick, and I like their continual pan and tilt feature the best. We were able to get multiple looks from them including using them in a cluster to emulate a large lighting fixture. I think that was my favourite use of the light here, to create a large beam.”
Throughout the shows, which are mostly held in large arenas, the MagicDot-XT fixtures have demonstrated their versatility. At times they can be seen twinkling through the louvre slats, refracting the light to cr

Lithuania - At the end of September, Pope Francis kicked off his four-day Baltic tour, which included Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, with a holy mass in Sàntakos Park in Kaunas, Lithuania. The event attracted over 100,000 faithful to the park where local rental company, NGR Service, provided an extensive sound system, deploying two SD12s for the live mix, as well as the broadcast and press feeds.
“NGR was chosen for this important event because of the quality of its equipment, of which DiGiCo is an important part, and its exemplary service,” says Ramūnas Alenskas from DiGiCo’s Lithuanian distributor Sonus, which supported NGR with additional stage boxes and cabling. “They used the two DiGiCo SD12s along with two SD-Racks, a D2-Rack and an SD-Mini Rack, which were deployed for their sound quality and their ability to connect to all six racks in fully redundant mode.”
NGR owner Valdemaras Karpuška was sound director for the event, with Tomas Ždanovičius manning the FOH position and producing all the sound system designs.
“For the show, we had two stages - the main stage was just used for speeches, so the SD-Mini Rack was employed for the connection of 16 microphones,” explains Valdemaras. “For the orchestra/chorus stage, we had a total of 54 inputs for main program, which comprised 86 musicians and more than 300 singers plus two soloists, as well as 60 outputs provided for OB truck to mix the live broadcast. In addition, we had an extra 20 channels in the input list for the band that was playing from 5am to 10am as a warm up perf

Estonia - Recreating the dark and gruesome world of Sweeney Todd, the fictional Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Vanemuine Theatre in Tartu, Estonia, was a tricky task requiring the juxtaposition of a classic Victorian east London docklands ambiance as the historical industrial backdrop, shot through with lighting and effects to recreate multiple locations.
It laid down a few challenges for lighting designer Margus Vaigur who had the house Robe luminaires at his disposal including 20 x MMX Spots, 52 x LEDWash 1200s, 16 x LEDWash 600s and 12 x CitySkape Xtreme’s together with 12 new Robe DL7S Profiles which are a recent addition to the venue’s Big Theatre house lighting inventory.
Margus lit the entire production with the Robe moving lights together with some other LEDs, around 200 in total, using no conventionals at all.
The production - the first time the musical has been staged in Estonia - was directed by rising star director and actor Janel Jonas. The imposingly stark industrial set was created by Iir Hermelin, and both took a keen interest in how the space was lit and how the atmospherics played a vital role in the unfolding the ultimate story of a man who became bigger than his own destiny!
This was also the first time Sweeny Todd had been sung in Estonian - Vanemuine has a healthy reputation for breaking through cultural and traditional barriers - and with a large cast of around 40 onstage during the busy scenes, this all presented more challenges to Margus who had to craft exactly the right ambience for each scene.
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China - Shanghai Tower, China’s tallest building (and the world’s second tallest), measuring 632m high, has been brought to life by powerful beams from PR Lighting’s IP65-rated AQUA 480 Beam -from 128 storeys up.
It was selected following comparative tests with other leading brands by Beijing Fengshangshiji Culture Media Co. They were tasked with finding a solution, having been approached by the builders, Shanghai Construction Group. As a result, 129 of the waterproof heads have been installed on the top three of eight interlayers, installed in the body of the tower to store building cleaning devices. There are 43 fixtures mounted at each level.
The contractors have enjoyed a long-term relationship with PR Lighting having collaborated with the Guandong based company most notably in the construction of the Birds Nest Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games, followed by APEC-2014 in Beijing, G20-2016 in Hangzhou and SCO Qingdao Summit in Qingdao earlier this year.
Owned by Shanghai Tower Construction and Development the skyscraper was originally constructed in the Lujiazui Pudong district between 2008-2014 at a cost of 20 billion yuan (US$3.14 billion). But the lighting installation was considered to lack impact.
The AQUA 480 Beam was seen as the appropriate all-weather alternative … and highly visible - a fact proven beyond doubt when it threw beams from the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris during the recent French National Day. This is due to the powerful Ushio PR 480W lamp and large aperture beam making it perfect for long-range, razor s

Curaçao – Since it started in 2015, the Flying Dutch festival has employed a novel method of spreading DJ wealth in The Netherlands. Taking place simultaneously in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven, it shuttles the country’s leading DJs from city to city by helicopter throughout the day, so every fan in each location gets to see the entire all-star line-up of performers. This year, the festival added a fourth site to its roster - the island of Curaçao.
Taking place 25 October, a stone’s throw away from the white sanded Seaquarium Beach (aka Mambo Beach), Flying Dutch Curaçao offered breathtaking vistas, a nonstop party atmosphere, and a chance to take in performances by artists like Armin van Buuren, Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano, as well as local stars DJ Menasa and multi Latin Grammy-nominated Jeon and other leading DJs on a massive 45m wide by 19m high stage. Supporting their performance with some dazzling and colourful visuals was a lightshow designed by Dutch LD André Beekmans that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures, supplied by Massive Productions.
Beekmans deployed 32 Rogue R2 Spot, 16 Rogue R2 Wash and 16 Rogue R2 Beam fixtures, along with 16 Q-Wash 560Z units and 48 Chauvet DJ Colorband PiX linear lights on the massive festival stage. “The look he created was huge,” said Massive Production’s Jimmy Lo-A-NJoe, who oversaw the project. “We got a lot of very positive comments on how the stage drew people into the performance. It had the Flying Dutch look, so it fit into the theme of the festival, but at the same time we also

Christie has announced the launch of the Christie Mirage SST, a high-performance RGB laser projection solution featuring Christie TruLife electronics.
Featuring an ultra-compact, fibre-coupled projection head, the Mirage SST is suitable for complex, demanding applications including theme park attractions, dome theatres and planetariums. Weighting just 110 pounds (50 kilograms) and with its small form factor, the Mirage SST projection head enables installation where space constraints have previously been a barrier. The remote light source allows the chilling equipment to be placed away from the projector head, saving space and ensuring a whisper-quiet experience for audiences.
With TruLife electronics, the Mirage SST delivers 4K resolution at 120fps, or, with an optional license, 480fps at 2K resolution. High frame rates remove blurring and strobing effects in fast-moving images, critical to creating an immersive experience for audiences.
“The Mirage SST joins the recently released D4K40-RGB in Christie’s line up of RGB laser projectors,” says Mike Garrido, senior product manager, Christie. “The Mirage SST brings flexibility to system design and incredible image fidelity, and, as a result, we believe the creation of the next generation of spectacular, immersive visual experiences is now possible.”
The Christie Mirage SST can be installed in single or multi-projector configurations and is compatible with Christie Mystique Install, which simplifies the design, installation and maintenance of multi-projector arrays, and Christie Guardian, whi