Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Business

Details
UK - 2014 has been a full-tilt year for UK rock band Kasabian with a massive homecoming gig in Victoria Park, Leicester in the summer followed by their acclaimed Sunday night headliner slot at Glasto. The year ended with equal style and gusto with a sold out European and UK arena tour, complete with a daring and ambitious show design by Nick Gray from Renegade whose creative magic ensured something radical.

Kasabian's reputation for spectacular live performance continued with this maelstrom of shows, storming their way thought a set action-packed with energy, hits and material from their newest album, 48:13.

Nick Gray's starting point for the stage, lighting and visual design was in developing a video aesthetic. He and Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno discussed the initial concepts based on wanting something that was related to the band's performance, non-conventional, innovat

Details
USA - Calling the Pebble Beach Auctions an "automobile auction" is akin to describing a Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider as a mere "sports car". The annual event, which has been part of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance since 1990, is to the luxury auto world what the Cannes Film Festival is to the movie industry. Featuring some of the more valuable automobiles in the world - a 1961 edition of the aforementioned Ferrari fetched over $15m at this year's auction - the five-day event draws celebrities like Jay Leno and A-List collectors from around the world.

An elegant setting is essential to showcasing these automotive jewels, which is why LD James Schipper of Kinetic Lighting deployed 36 COLORado Batten 72 Tour fixtures from Chauvet Professional to wash the lavish drapery on the auction's stage. "This show is all about the cars, but our focus with

Details
USA - Production Resource Group LLC, (PRG) one of the world's leading providers of entertainment and event technology solutions, has acquired Chaos Visual Productions. Headquartered in Burbank, CA, with an office in Bedfordshire, UK, Chaos provides full service video production for live events. Both PRG and Chaos have built a solid reputation in the industry for combining innovative technology with an international team of highly experienced industry professionals.

"Chaos Visual Productions will be joining forces with PRG Nocturne," says Mickey Curbishley, CEO, PRG Concert Touring. "It is very exciting to consider the creative and technical solutions that will result from this acquisition which brings together the world's two most innovative touring video companies. It also creates a single team of the most respected; experienced; and talented minds working in vid

Details
USA - Whether Danny Michael is working on the set of a television pilot or the next box-office hit, the veteran production sound mixer relies on DPA Microphones for his diverse miking needs. Using his trusted d:dicate 4017B Shotgun for traditional booming situations, Michael occasionally turns to a variety of the company's other mics for the wide range of productions he works on.

After first discovering DPA Microphones in 2011 during pre-production for Now You See Me, Michael's admiration for the company quickly grew. "I was tasked with finding a headset mic to use during the on-stage magic scenes in the movie," he says. "We received a few different samples, but the DPA d:fine stood out as it provided the best sound. Since it was ultimately an artistic decision, I left it to the director to make the final call and, luckily, he also preferred the d:fine. Tha

Details
Denmark - BroaMan's Danish distributor Danmon has been providing broadcast solutions to the country's public service broadcaster TV2 for nearly two decades.

But when last year the company decided to upgrade its SNG OB truck (DNK-47) from SD to HD, the Odense based facility moved its commentator intercom onto a Clear-Com platform and added a BroaMan Mux22 transmission device for signal routing.

This has enabled them to transport multiple data and video signals down a single fibre in the SNG truck, including 6/2 HD-SDI, RS422 and sync network, using Dante as their audio platform.

Explained TV2 workflow specialist (and project manager), Kim Hansen, "For years, the trucks have been a key component in our technical setup for major sporting events (such as Tour de France, Handball World Cup etc.) where it acted not simply as an SNG, but a small OB truck."

This latest u

Details
Norway - The Fosnavag Cultural Centre is now the latest and largest showcase of Meyer Sound solutions in Norway. With technology covering concert sound reinforcement, cinema, and active acoustics from a Constellation acoustic system, the complex is the premium arts and entertainment destination on the Norwegian coast.

In designing the 490-seat Fosnavag Konserthus, the focal point of the FosnavagCultural Centre, the technology committee had a clear vision to create a high-performance multipurpose space. "We wanted a perfect room for acoustic music and a perfect room for amplified music, but with conventional physical acoustics we couldn't have both," says Bjørn Holum, event manager for the Municipality of Herøy and the lead of the technology committee.

Following his first experience with Constellation in Estonia's Nordea Concert Hall [formerly Nokia Conc

Details
France - ELC Lighting's Buddy has been making waves in Paris, turning one of the world's most famous skylines orange as it helped mobile phone giant Orange celebrate its 20th anniversary. With over 1,800 guests gathered for a reception at a venue a short distance from Orange's building on Parc Des Exposition Porte de Versailles, the event's organisers wanted to illuminate their office tower with the figure 20, visible for all to see in the night sky.

Thierry Bernin, project manager at Impact Evenement, which conducted the event, was brought on board to devise a solution for lighting the windows. He selected Arcaline LED lamps from Aryton and to ensure seamless communications between the lights on different floors, he chose ELC's Buddy.

He explained, "Buddy was recommended to me by Axente who were very enthusiastic about a new product on the market that was very easy to us

Details
Egypt - Hi-Lights Egypt are using more than 800 fixtures from the PR Lighting catalogue to build the atmosphere on one of the country's most popular TV cookery programmes, The Taste Egypt.

The largest rental company in Egypt, Hi-Lights became involved from the outset, working closely with both SYNC-MEDIA, the production company, and lighting designer Fouad Haddad of Hand Made Image (HMI).

The programme is a worldwide franchise and although the production format had been pre-arranged, according to Hi-Lights Egypt's Hamad Arafa his company had no problem in convincing the LD that PR Lighting fixtures would fulfill all his requirements - particularly after undergoing camera tests to demonstrate colour temperature, CRI etc.

The schedule of equipment deployed on the set - which was built in one of the principle studios of Al Nahar TV - included 80 of PR Lighting's recently

Details
UK - d&b audiotechnik has restructured its UK Sales network, appointing SSE Audio and Wigwam as Sales and Installations Partners for the UK.

With d&b deciding to streamline their UK Sales network, SSE Audio Group, backed by the experience of Wigwam, are seen as ideal partners for the German manufacturer. The new Sales and Installation partnership means SSE and Wigwam are the only suppliers based in England that are able to supply d&b directly to Trade Users across the UK. SSE Audio Group has offices in the north, south and midlands, along with a highly experienced and integrated sales team.

Wigwam Acoustics, part of SSE Audio Group since 2013, has been an established d&b supplier for Hire, Sales and Installations for many years, building up a vast pool of knowledge and experience with the full d&b product range. Since the acquisition SSE has been able, via Wigwam, to provide d

Details
UK - Orbital Sound is staging the first Flare Audio seminar on 20 January, at its dedicated training centre in Brixton, with Flare Audio's Davies Roberts presenting The Path to Better Sound. The seminar will focus on discussing the issues that have affected loudspeaker performance since its invention some 90 years ago, including a detailed technical explanation of the science behind loudspeaker design.

The half day training session is tailored to provide engineers, designers and technicians with an insight into the key issues surrounding loudspeaker technology, including: The hidden distortions inside loudspeakers; The challenges behind achieving total accuracy in loudspeaker design; Loudspeaker behaviour and its lack of predictability; A comparison between the evolution of video picture quality versus loudspeaker sound quality.

The emphasis is on providing an interacti

Details
UK - Ashly Audio, a division of Jam Industries, based in NY, USA, a manufacturer of high-quality commercial audio signal processors and power amplifiers, has appointed Sound Directions Ltd of Chessington, Surrey as its exclusive distributor for the UK.

A specialist distributor for audio brands in the UK catering to consultants, commercial integrators and systems installers working in AV, theatre, retail and hospitality, Sound Directions was founded by Stanislas Boivin-Champeaux in 1998. The Chessington-based company sees the addition of the Ashly Audio range as integral to its continued growth plans.

"The Ashly Audio range complements our existing partner brands perfectly and with the ne and Pema range of Ashly amplifiers I think we can offer some really serious, high-end, networked commercial contracting solutions"

Stanislas adds: "We try and make life easier

Details
UK - PLASA is delighted to announce the launch of the UK Trainee Rigger Scheme.

PLASA have developed a way in which those who wish to pursue a career in rigging can identify and record the necessary training and experience. They will also be able to demonstrate their commitment to rigging to potential employers.

The scheme will provide a way of logging experience against specific rigging tasks, building a picture of the trainee's practical rigging development and training undertaken. Over time they will be able to track their development and readiness to register for competence-based assessment at Level 2 of the National Rigging Certificate.

Training providers and trainees will have access to a syllabus of learning and the National Rigging Certificate Handbook. Each trainee will have attended a health and safety course recognised by the National Rigging Advisory Group as des

Details
UK - Organized for the 11th year in a row by global experience agency Jack Morton Worldwide and watched by millions across the globe, lighting design for the Mayor of London's New Year's Eve fireworks extravaganza was created by lighting designers Durham Marenghi and Paul Cook exclusively using wysiwyg lighting design software from CAST Software. The lighting design ensured that the New Year was truly spectacular.

"We were tasked with putting London on the map alongside Sydney Harbour Bridge and Times Square, NYC," explained Marenghi. "The fantastic fireworks by Darryl Fleming at Titanium are what the public recognize but, like all good lighting, our design is subliminal but would be very much missed if not there."

Marenghi and Cook designed a two and one half hour light show in the lead up to and including a 10-minute fireworks spectacular at midnight whic

Details
Nigeria - The Experience, an interdenominational gospel concert organized by The House on the Rock Church, went live again on 5 December (2014) at Tafawa-Balewa Square in Lagos with the theme One God, One Voice.

Convened and hosted by Pastor Paul Adefarasin, the 2014 edition of the world's largest gospel concert brought together some of today's best-known artists such as Donnie McClurkin, Don Moen, Israel Houghton, Chevelle Franklin, Micah Stampley, Midnight Crew, Freke Umoh, Frank Edwards, Sinach, Nathaniel Bassey, Angella Christie, Onos Ariyo and Chioma Jesus, among others.

For the second time, Nigeria-based Cytech World Communication provided a complete audio solution by Italian manufacturer Outline for the event.

The Experience's FOH audio set-up comprised 30 GTO C-12 line-source systems plus two underhung GTO-DF (down-fill) modules, while 16 DBS 18-

Details
USA - The educational seminar programme of PLASA Focus: Orlando will kick off on Tuesday, 17 February at 9am with Light and Theatre - 50 Years of Change. Presented by ElektraLite, speaker Richard Pilbrow will describe and discuss 50 years of revolutionary change that has occurred in stage lighting, theatre technology and theatre architecture, and explore the rich possibilities that lie around the corner.

Immediately following the seminar, Richard Pilbrow will be signing books on the show floor at the Group One booth #408. "High-calibre education is critical to the process of sharing ideas in design and technology, and bringing these kinds of resources to regional events such as PLASA Focus: Orlando are essential for our ever-evolving market," said Tyler Wise of Group One Limited.

Free registration to both the show floor and educational seminars can be obtained

Details
UAE - Al Rashid Events - headed by Taleb Rashid Al Zaabi - is based in Sharjah in the UAE and is a busy and dynamic technical solutions provider throughout the region.

The company supplies lighting, audio, video, staging, draping, etc., to a wide range of clients and projects, and attribute their continuing success at least in part due to investments in premium brand equipment, which saw an early decision to adopt Robe and create an all-Robe lighting rental house.

Taleb has known Elie Battah - general manager of Robe Middle East for many years - in fact before Elie was even involved with Robe. As soon as Elie joined the Robe international team, Taleb started buying the product with great enthusiasm, commencing with the various ColorSpot and Color Wash ranges. This was in around 2007, and he has continued with new purchases year-on-year.

"When we decided to invest in mov

Details
USA - ETC is gearing up for its biennial CUE professional development conference, which will be held in Wisconsin, USA, from 26-28 June 2015. Registration for the conference will open on Monday 19 January, with a special early bird discount offered until Saturday 28 February. ETC will also offer several sponsorships to help offset the cost of the conference, transportation and/or lodging. Sponsorship applications will become available on Monday 19 January.

The CUE conference is a great way for lighting professionals of all skill levels to gain knowledge that can be used in their careers. It also gives students the opportunity to get hands on experience with the technology they'll use when they enter the workforce. At CUE 2015, ETC will offer two special tracks: a Technical Theatre Continuing Education track geared toward students and educators, and a Console Training and Certifi

Details
Germany - Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der Künste Berlin) has built a light installation at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin together with noted Japanese artist and photographer Yuichiro Tamura. Tamura's Long Exposure of the Lonely Explorer has been integrated into David Chipperfield's installation artwork Sticks and Stones, currently on display at the gallery.

To build the installation, the lighting designer and operator Björn Hermann fitted a Clay Paky Supersharpy to a supporting structure three metres above the ground. With the help of an eps Club Car, the structure was moved on a trailer around the Nationalgalerie at 20-minute intervals. The size of the installation was calculated in such a way that the entire structure could go around the building in a perfect circle to provide uniform light intensity. A 2kW generator provided the power nece

Details
UK - Richard Martin Lighting (RML) regularly supports local community charities and events.

The Questors Theatre is a community theatre in Ealing that has a main auditorium and studio space which is used for staging drama, panto and skills classes.

Last November it was host to Harker Productions version of Club Vertigo. A spectacular dance show with a romantic story, great songs and comedy - it has the style of a West End musical at half the price.

Starring former Strictly Come Dancing's Hanna Haara and other award-winning dancers, street performers and singers, Club Vertigo was a memorable night out, suitable for all ages.

Lighting designer Nigel Lewis of LXDL was on hand to create an energetic and vibrant look to compliment that of the dancing, support by RML. He used Robe Robin 100 LEDBeam, Clay Paky Sharpy and GLP Impressions to enhance the spirit

Details
b>UK - Better known for its use in the studio, the Audient USB AD/DA interface and monitoring system, iD22 has had its first few outings with new owner, bass player Dave Troke - on stage.

"Yes, the iD22 on stage is great," confirms Troke in a recent interview with Audient. "I play a lot of synth bass on pop gigs especially with Professor Green. I run a MacBook Pro with a flash drive, Logic X and a synth plugin called 'Massive' through the iD22, stereo out of the iD22 into a Ridge Farm Gas Cooker valve DI box to warm it all up. It sounds huge!! I love how simple the iD22 is to use, very stable."

Having worked with top acts including The Overtones, Sister Sledge, Bette Midler and Tony Christie, as well as English rapper Professor Green, Troke describes himself as "...very lucky to have worked with such a wide range of artists." Last year saw him adding

Details
UK - FE Live Audio is a young, dynamic audio company from Glasgow headed up by Andrew McMillan and Ryan McIlravey who have been partners in enterprise since their school days. They have recently appointed a new co-director, Andrew Baillie, who, brings with him a wealth of problem solving and system tech expertise. Together they are committed to developing FE Live as a pro-audio company, building on their successes since they first ventured into full sound production with sold out Twin Atlantic shows at the Glasgow Barrowlands in 2012.

McIlravey elaborates on the company's philosophy. "After establishing FE Live as a limited company, we took the decision to invest any profits into purchasing the very best equipment possible. It was clearly apparent that there was a growing demand for quality audio solutions in an industry where audiences are demanding a superior live sound.<

Details
USA - "These days, I feel like the only way for a band to succeed is to be self-contained - the band has to be able to take care of everything for itself. The Metric Halo ULN-8 contains mic pre's, converters, routing logic, and DSP, and it's absolutely world-class." So says producer/engineer/musician Brandon Rush, who, together with longtime friend Kyle Sears, fronts Priory, an up-and-coming band from Portland, Oregon that recently signed to Warner Bros.

"Electropop" aptly describes Priory. Rush and Sears fuse hard-hitting electronic elements that are larger than life with organic-sounding acoustic elements that bring an appropriate measure of warmth and personality to the band's wickedly catchy tunes. The duo, that studied audio engineering in college, self-recorded their Warner Bros. debut in a converted studio space, relying on the Metric Halo ULN-8 at alm

Details
Norway - The long days see the Norwegian port of Langesund play host to the annual Skjaergardsgospel worship conference, a weekend-long festival of music, meetings and spiritual togetherness. Alcons equipment has helped to overcome the event's difficult acoustics for the past three years.

The event takes place at Langesund's Skjaergardsgospel, a multi-purpose arena and conference facility on the waterfront.

"It is a difficult event for sound reinforcement, because the side and rear walls of Skjaergardsgospel are highly reflective. It's made worse by the fact that the Skjaergardsgospel stage is located on one of the 'long' sides," says Eivind Fossnes Dahl, general manager and sound engineer at Audiopol Live, the company tasked with the event's sound production.

Founded in 2007, Audiopol Live is a sister business to recording facility Audiopol Studio, based in Skien.

Details
USA - A church is first and foremost a house of worship, but beyond that oftentimes it is also many other things to its congregation. Such is certainly the case with the Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph. A majestic 103-year-old building in Prospect Heights, the church is more than the spiritual hub for the 1.9m Catholics in the Brooklyn diocese; it is also a gleaming symbol of hope for a neighbourhood that is clearly moving into a brighter future. When Pope Benedict elevated the church to a cathedral shortly before his retirement in 2013, the diocese began an extensive renovation project that included a new lighting system from The LightTech Group of Jamaica, NY.

Central to the LightTech Group's design were 18 Ovation E-190WW LED ellipsoidal fixtures that are used to cover the altar and key worship areas with flat, even fields of warm white light. Illumination from the Ovation fixtu

  1. MLA meets the challenge of Alfie Boe's Serenata
  2. A new era of electrical safety in the workplace
  3. Ashly amp upgrades fire station audio
  4. Audient appoints distributor for Germany
  5. Robe BMFLs on Die Fantastischen Vier tour
  6. DPA rings in the New Year at the Rainbow Room
Page 1644 of 1776
GLP - MPU - May-June 2024
Robe - Large MPU

Latest Issue. . .