Spain - Denon UK has supplied UK house aficionados MYNC Project with two Denon S-5000 single CD players for their summer party season at Cream Balearica, Ibiza. This kicked off spectacularly last week with a MYNC Project's eclectic mix utilizing their trademark 4 decks, 2 mixers, 2 FX units and the two S5000 CD players.
Whilst in Ibiza this summer, Mark Younghead and Nick Corelli (MYNC) are also organizing DJ workshops to run at the venue each afternoon before their party. Here they'll highlight the features and advantages of the Denon S-5000 in sessions that are open to the island's myriad of visiting DJs over the summer.
(Ruth Rossington)
Europe - On June 28, Robbie Williams started one of this summer's most anticipated European tours. In one of the most unusual and creative set-ups seen to date, Williams will wow audiences throughout Europe's major cities.
Renowned for his quirky approach to his performances, the true Williams fan will not be disappointed by the artist's spectacular stage set this year, which was designed by Mark Fisher and built by Brilliant Stages. It features a futuristic stage backed by columns of Barco's DLite 10 LED displays, as well as a scissor-lift, supplied by Star Hire (Event Services), which raises Williams and his team of dancers into the air as part of the performance.
The show-stopping columns of Barco LED were supplied by XL Video via Blink TV. Each column is seven metres high and although hung from a railing that surrounds the stage, moves up and down, as well as coming together to form one giant videowall. Additionally, each column also rotates 360 degrees on its own axis, as well as moving from its starting position behind the artist to a position on the front-end of the rail. The live video director for the show is Ruary MacPhie who is utilizing siz of XL's new Sony E10 broadcast cameras, and mixing from XL's OB truck.
The screen automation system was designed and built by Kinesys in close collaboration with Brilliant Stages. Starting in the downstage position butted up as a full block, the screen opens dramatically to reveal Williams hanging upside down, suspended by his feet, in a dramatic moment of operatic proportions!
This massive project (video equi
France - For the first time in its 110-year history, the Eiffel Tower has become a permanently illuminated landmark on the Paris skyline, following the success of the New Year's Eve Millennium celebrations in 2000.
Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë was guest of honour at the inaugural event on the 21 June, timed to coincide with a popular music festival in the Champs de Mars gardens surrounding the tower. At the stroke of midnight, the 500,000-strong local festival audience, together with viewers of the live broadcast from television station France 2, watched as the 1000s of light bulbs that make up the installation were turned on. The Eiffel Tower shimmered in blues and golds behind the festival stage, where the new Vari*Lite Series 3000 luminaires, mounted on a circular truss, were focused to shine on the tower, adding dynamic colour for the impressive ceremony.
The innovative zoom and powerful output of these 1200W units meant that just 24 VL3000 Spots were needed, supplied by Phase Four via VLPS Lighting Services' French Dealer, CSI. The project was supervised by Fredérique Dorieux.
(Ruth Rossington)
UK - The Stage Management Association, founded in 1954 to support and represent professional stage management in the UK, has announced that His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex, formerly a production assistant at the Really Useful Group, has agreed to become patron of the organization.
"It is marvellous to have a Royal Patron who has a real knowledge of what goes on backstage," commented Sue Banner, director of the Stage Management Association and former stage manager on Starlight Express where she met His Royal Highness. "We are particularly honoured to receive this very public seal of recognition in the form of a Royal Patronage, added John Lonergan, chairman of the Association. "This should help raise public awareness of the part we play in bringing live performances to the public."
(Ruth Rossington)
USA - Celine Dion's spectacular new show has opened at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Designed by Franco Dragone, creator of some of Cirque du Soleil's most critically-acclaimed shows, A New Day is the showcase production of The Colosseum, a newly-built 4,000-seat theatre attached to Caesars Palace, which took two years to build and cost $95 million.The new show will run five days a week, 40 weeks a year, for three years.
Dion is performing on a 36 x 24 metre stage, along with her 12-piece band, 48 dancers, a mega LED screen and an impressive lighting system masterminded by Yves Aucoin, Dion's lighting designer for 14 years. Aucoin has specified 60 Stage Profile Plus SVs, the new moving body beam shapers from Clay Paky.
From the start, Aucoin saw this show as a new challenge: "We needed a more theatrical approach - one distinct from the other lighting designs used for Celine's concerts in the past. I had already lit events in theatres, stadiums and arenas, so it was simply a question of designing at a totally new level." Aucoin's aim was to create a dynamic light show with a series of moving lights which it took four months to design and programme. "This is an extremely varied design, full of special effects and movement: I took time to study Celine's tracks and gave my own interpretation. I wanted to give the lighting a 'personality' and make it an integral part of the theatrical performance."
Aucoin has depended on Clay Paky technology for many years now - in fact the company's fixtures have been used in all of Celine Dion's tours ove
UK - Allen & Heath has developed the PL Designer and PL Client software for the company's new DSP iDR system, enabling the user to design and operate virtual 'wall plates'. The software runs on Windows operating systems and provides the user with PC remote control of the iDR system over an Ethernet link, which can be used in place of, or in combination with, the hardware PL range of wall plates.
The PL Designer application allows the installer to configure virtual wall plates to control all the functions of the iDR system, including input and output levels, zoning facilities and paging systems, as well as triggering external systems interfacing with the iDR such as curtains, lighting, alarms, a jukebox or CD player. The installer can set the functions to be controlled by the end user and also limit certain functions that may harm the system.
The saved configuration can be opened in PL Client, the access package which provides the end user with control of the iDR system, through a single PC or multiple-networked computers. Both PL Designer and PL Client are bundled with a new release of the iDR System Manager software (Version 3.2) and accessed through a link in the toolbar menu. Users can now configure an entire iDR system through a single Windows PC software package.
Further information and a free trial download of Version 3.2 is available at the website below.
(Ruth Rossington)
Switzerland - Situated in idyllic surroundings at the edge of Lake Geneva and with breathtaking views of the Alps, the town of Montreux in Switzerland is a destination guaranteed to draw visitors in their masses. But while its offerings of vineyards and skiing are crowd-pullers in themselves, the famous jazz festival, held in the Montreux Centre de Congrès for two weeks each July, is one of the most popular events on the town's calendar.
While the festival features predominantly in its annual schedule, the Montreux Centre also hosts a diverse range of other events, from conferences and exhibitions, to product launches and various other concerts and festivals. Consisting of two main buildings, the older of the two recently underwent an extensive refurbishment with ETC brought on board to provide the lighting and dimming control systems.
ETC Europe's David Gray met with Didier Rocipon, lighting director at the Centre de Congrès, to discuss the requirements for the Miles Davis auditorium and the Conference Centre. Didier explains: "I needed a system which could handle both architectural and stage lighting. It had to be flexible enough to allow me to manage and monitor the lighting in many different rooms and in many different fashions." To meet these needs, Gray specified four ETC Sensor 36 module dimmer racks, each with 72 channels, an ETCNet2 DMX networking system, eight DMX 2-port Nodes, a Unison ER4 control rack, 28 Unison Control stations and Unison Light Manager software. WYSIWYG Design and WYSILink software programs were also part of the package.<
UK - Lighting Technology Projects, a member of the PAI Group of companies, has recently secured UK authorized dealership of Advanced Fiber Optics' range of products. Members of the LTP team have been to AFO's Barcelona training facility to learn about design concepts, product knowledge and installation.
The AFO range offers Dry Fusion Termination which provides a stable and optically perfect common end. High quality end fittings, using a patented termination and coupling system, mean that the products can be quickly installed. Additionally, diverse ranges of illuminators, including Halogen and Discharge, and full animation for use with harnesses in 'kit-form' for achieving effects, are available.
Terry Reeves, director of LTP, commented: "The AFO range of products will enable us to offer novel, cost-effective, low maintenance solutions in many applications where fibre optic technology has been considered too expensive, and traditional neon or cold cathode have provided the only alternative."
(Ruth Rossington)
UK - Audace Ltd, manufacturers of the Intelliplate programmable control system for audio-visual installations, has appointed Audio Telex Communications Pty Ltd of Sydney to distribute its products exclusively in Australia and New Zealand. The deal, which was brokered by Audace's global distribution partner Comsec International, will see Audace benefit from Audio Telex's profile as an established distributor in the professional audio field, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Auckland.
Following the appointment, Audace's managing director, Bryan Waters, recently visited the distributors' Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane facilities. The visit provided Audio Telex staff and key dealers with an opportunity to view the system first-hand, receive technical training and gain an glimpse into the future of the Intelliplate product range.
(Ruth Rossington)
UK - Autograph Sound Recording's Chris Full was recently called in by Bill Kenwright to redesign the sound system for his new production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at the New London Theatre. The show had been open a number of weeks when Kenwright went to see the Autograph-designed production of Ragtime at the Piccadilly. He was impressed with the quality of the sound on that production and commissioned Chris Full to recreate the same quality on Joseph.
Kenwright's revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical features gold lamé sweeping staircases, huge cut-out pharaohs and pop-up inflatable sheep and stars ex-Boyzone Stephen Gately in the leading role.It retains the exuberance of Lloyd Webber's original musical score, which borrows musical styles from Elvis and calypso. "The system is designed to deliver an exciting audio experience to complement the other production values," says Full. "The major challenge presented by the venue was a wide auditorium, with little in the way of good speaker positions. This required more attention to be paid to the system set-up in order to achieve coherent and even coverage of the seating."
The PA system consists of seven d&b E3 frontfills, with six E9s and eight C6s for vocal coverage, with C7s and two C7 subs, two B1s and 2E118s for the band. The front-of-house console is a Yamaha PM1D, and TC Electronic M2000 Reverb units and Trantec 5000 series radio microphones are also being used.Bill Kenwright's record-breaking touring production has attracted an audi
Japan - Audio post-production specialist Office Terra has become the first facility in the world to place an order for Solid State Logic's new C200 digital production console. The facility, which is affiliated to key Japanese broadcaster NTV (Nippon Television Network Corporation), handles video sound sweetening for a range of television programmes including news and documentaries.
At present, Office Terra engineers work on a Solid State Logic SL4000 G Series console, but have decided to upgrade to the new digital desk because it offers greater flexibility and versatility. Office Terra's engineers say they chose the C200 because it is ergonomically very similar to the SL4000 G they were used to, and therefore immediately felt familiar to them. Once installed, it will be used in conjunction with hard disk audio systems and digital VTRs.
The C200 provides the latest adaptation of SSL's popular in-line console heritage with a dedicated 'knob per function' control surface. It is particularly well suited to creative mixing applications, such as music or entertainment, where 'hands-on' access to a large number of controls is essential. In-line versatility and the provision of both snapshot and dynamic automation make the console ideal for both live-to-air and post production-mixing applications. A special 'Mobile' configuration is also available for compact studio or mobile installations.
Office Terra's C200 was ordered soon after its worldwide launch at the NAB Convention in Las Vegas. It will be installed in September in the facility's central Tokyo premises.
(Sa
UK - DHA Lighting may be best known for its gobos, however it's the company's fibre optic effects which are in use on the new smash-hit musical Jerry Springer - The Opera at the National Theatre.
DHA supplied six harnesses, with 405 fibre tails and six DHA Lightsource Mark 2 light sources, which were specified by set designer Julian Crouch in collaboration with lighting designer Rick Fisher and the Lyttelton Theatre's chief lighting technician Paul McLeish.
"DHA have been providing fibre optic effects to theatres for a long time - it was one of the earliest product ranges the company offered," comments DHA's UK & Eire sales manager Louise Tester. For a new production of Pinocchio at the Teatro Della Luna in Milan, lighting designer Chris Ellis will be using fibre optics to create a whole range of effects, including starcloths. DHA provided the production with five fibre optic harnesses supplying a total of 738 tails, and two DHA Lightsource Mark 2 fibre optic light sources. Ellis will also be using 126 catalogue and 71 custom gobos.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
UK - HW International, the leading UK pro audio distributor, has announced that it will commence trading as Shure Distribution UK, after recently being acquired by USA-based manufacturer Shure Incorporated.
As a Shure subsidiary, Shure Distribution UK will continue to carry Shure, Phonic, PreSonus and QSC Audio brands, plus the latest addition to its portfolio, Aviom. The name change will not affect customers' day-to-day dealings with the company, as the staff and structure of the company will remain unchanged. At the forthcoming PLASA Show on stand F50, Shure Distribution UK will officially unveil the company's new identity including new website and product catalogue.
(Ruth Rossington)
USA - Corvette celebrated half a century of being one of America's most recognized Sports Car on June 30, 2003. All eyes were on Nashville, Tennessee, for the celebrations where Bandit Lites provided the lighting for several events, including the concert by ZZ Top on Saturday June 28th. The company was also responsible for transforming the Nashville Coliseum's parking lot into an indoor showroom, highlighting Corvette's from past and present.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
UK - XL Video is supplying the Royal Court's acclaimed production of Hitchcock Blonde, written and directed by Terry Johnson, with video equipment to realize a series of projected sets, backdrops and special effects.
The show has now transferred to The Lyric Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue, for a West End run. XL was approached by Dick Straker of Mesmer, a theatre video specialist, who co-ordinated and produced the show's video for designers Bill Dudley and Terry Johnson. Dudley is a pioneer in the use pf computer generated images and projection to create integrated and dramatic onstage locations or scenic effects.
The fascinating Hitchcock Blonde plot's dark intricacies unfold around a university professor and one of his students, ensconced in a villa on a Greek Island, restoring what they believe is a rare unseen reel of Hitchcock film. Both front and rear projection is utilized and is projected onto a series of flats and gauzes on stage. XL has thus supplied 2 Barco G5s and two Barco 6400 projectors, 3 Doremi hard drives and a Dataton Trax control system, plus all cabling and monitoring. The two G5s are rigged above the stage and front project onto the main upstage backdrop, with one of the 6400s is integrated into the set and back projects, whilst the other is rigged at the front of the circle. Video also runs throughout the performance, providing the show's scenery and backdrops.
Dudley supplied all the scenic material and artwork, while Johnson shot the insert footage. Straker asked editor Richard Kenyon to edit and format the two pieces and load
UK - Innovations set to have a major impact throughout the building and construction industry will be given pride of place at Interbuild 2004. New Product Zones are being introduced in four dedicated areas of the exhibition (which takes place at the Birmingham NEC from April 25-29), and each of the items featured will be automatically entered for a new product award. There will be seven categories - Best Lighting and Electrical Product, Best Interior Product, Best Exterior Product, Best On-Site Product, Energy Efficiency Award, Disability Access Award and Best Overall Product.
Steve Webb, event director for Interbuild said: "Interbuild has always been regarded within the industry as the perfect place to introduce new ideas, and we feel it is only right to give them a greater profile. That's why we have devised a scheme to promote the new products before and during the event - including an Awards Dinner on Monday April 28 at the Birmingham Metropole at which the best will be officially recognized."
The closing date for entries to the Awards scheme is Friday November 28 and a distinguished panel of independent judges will meet in January to draw up a short-list of contenders. The New Product Awards is not the only scheme being promoted at that time because the winners of the 'Master Builder of the Year' scheme, run by the Federation of Master Builders, will also be unveiled during Interbuild.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
UK - A few years ago The Cabinet War Rooms (CWR) in London were opened to the public. These are the rooms, in a former government storage basement, from which Churchill and his ministers continued the work of government during the bombing raids of World War II.
A team of specialists, including the Imperial War Museum (of which CWR is a part), architects HOK and managing contractors Bovis Lend Lease, recently opened up additional areas that have been hidden since the war - a move which also paved the way for an extension of the education facilities and the creation of a new conference and meeting area.
Electrosonic worked with the team to provide AV facilities for the new spaces. The principal space is a flexible room that can seat up to 140 people in auditorium-style. When used as an auditorium the room is set out 'sideways' which brings the presenter nearer the audience and enables them to appreciate the original features of the room better. However, it does require the use of two projection screens to ensure legibility of projected images. The two screens are, in fact, interactive whiteboards, sited either side of a lectern position. This latter can be moved for alternative room layouts. A small control room, with a viewing window into the main space, houses a rack fitted with the AV source and control equipment.
Room control is provided by an AMX unit (run either from the rack or from a wireless touch panel), which can be placed anywhere in the room, but usually resides on the lectern. The microphones installed are mainly wireless, however a number of wired
Sweden - Swedish sound rental company Lagom & Gött has installed a Nexo GEO T Tangent Array System in the famous Kungsträdgården in central Stockholm, which hosts free concerts throughout the summer months.
The Kungsträdgården, or Kings Garden, is a well-established outdoor venue in one of the city's parks. There has been a permanent stage at the venue for 50 years, and, for the last 5 years, Lagom & Gött has provided a sound system for the summer events. As many as 20,000 people will turn up for a show, although the audience size is usually around 1,500.
The varying attendance provided one of the reasons why Lagom & Gött specified GEO T for the installation at the venue. "GEO T offers the same level of output to someone 5 metres from the stage, as to someone 50 metres from the stage," says engineer LG Larsson. "It's small but it has a big capacity, allowing me to expand its capability very easily for more popular shows." Larsson has specified left and right arrays, each with six GEO T4805 cabinets per side. In addition to four Nexo NX241 digital controllers, Lagom & Gött has purchased six CD18 sub-bass units. "When we ordered the GEO T system, we had only heard it at its launch demo at the Frankfurt MusikMesse," explains Larsson. "We didn't know what we would get out of the CD18s, and when the Nexo distributor, Intersonic AB, suggested we needed two subs a side, we thought that might not be enough so we bought six! Although we have used three subs a side for some larger events, normally we use just one or two.".
UK - ARB beamed live skateboard and BMX action across London's Millennium Dome throughout the Snickers 'Game On' festival this June. Over 25,000 people flocked to the two-day weekend event, billed as "the largest SK8, BMX, Rock and Hip Hop party in Europe".
Presented by Kerrang!, the event featured some of the most influential names in extreme sport and music, with over 30 bands playing across the two stages, including Cypress Hill, The Vandals, Electric Six and Kellie Osbourne.
A giant bowl was constructed to accommodate the skate and BMX competition. Competing skaters and BMX riders, surrounded by grandstand seating for 1,500 fans, included Shaun White, Matt Hoffman, and Jake Brown, fighting to win the £30,000 prize fund.
ARB supplied two of its Barco 7 D-Lite LED screens, allowing those attendees who couldn't get a seat in the arena to watch from outside. ARB's project manager, Anthony Lynn, managed the installation of the two 10sq.m LED mobile screens units and the four cameras feeding the live action into an outside broadcast unit. The four live feeds were edited in the OB unit throughout the event.
Lynn was impressed with the organization of the event: "The organizers had the foresight to provide screens for those who couldn't get into the arena. There were always a few hundred people sat around watching the action while they listened to the live bands across on the main stage. We received a lot of comments about how good the camera work and the quality of the screens was. I must admit though, these large screens were dwarfed against th
UK - Turbosound monitor loudspeakers have been installed in two new rehearsal rooms at Music Bank - one of London's main rehearsal facilities. The choice of TFM-450 floor monitors for the project (together with a pair of THL-2 systems as side-fills), reflects the product's growing popularity in the live sound market, with a total of eight systems being installed by UK specialist Crystal Pro Audio.
Music Bank's new facilities - the East and West rooms - offer over 3,500sq.ft of rehearsal space, and are part of a major expansion programme at Music Bank. Nunu Whiting, director and manager of Music Bank, commented: "After an extremely successful install with TMS-3s in our original studios, it seemed logical to contact Turbosound again when it came to fitting outthe new rehearsal studios and programming suites. Crystal Pro Audio and Bryan Grant (Britannia Row) both recommended the TFM-450 wedge, and after a demo it was very obvious which way to go. We believe it is to the musician's advantage to work with the same high standard of products during rehearsals that they get when out on tour."
Macy Gray, Westlife and The Stereophonics have been among Music Bank's first customers for the new rehearsal rooms, which have been constructed by the facility's regular design-and-build specialist, Mick Fitzgerald of KFA, with Crystal Pro Audio responsible for equipment supply and installation.
(Ruth Rossington)
UK - With German pro audio concern HK Audio having made huge inroads into the UK & Eire pro audio market in recent years, the JHS Event 2003 was the ideal opportunity for HK Audio to demonstrate the versatility and power of its range.
For the first time in its six-year run, Event had live bands on the main stage, with 12 boxes of HK's stadium-friendly R Series on a separate stage this time. Elsewhere on the JHS site, the dedicated HK Audio demo theatre featured many pro audio systems and components from the HK catalogue, including the highly successful LUCAS, ELIAS and ACTOR self-powered active PAs.
Also included were recent additions to the HK Audio line-up - the passive Linear 3, the respected Installation Line, HK's portable active monitor, DART, and the compact, but powerful, LUCAS XT.HK Audio's Installation Line in particular, has made a real mark in a number of recent high profile projects: designed for all kinds of indoor installations, from bars and shops to theatres and live clubs, the Installation Line features eight different full-range and/or mid-high cabinets.
The main stage provided much of the action, however. Good weather again allowed a full rota of acts to perform throughout the show's three-day duration. With HK Audio's self-powered 2.4kW ACTOR system having proved itself to be a popular choice with bands who play medium-sized venues, it was chosen as the main stage system, presented in double format for impact.
(Ruth Rossington)
UK - Liverpool-based Adlib Audio emptied their warehouse of people and kit last weekend, servicing no less than four major events around the North West.
The Coral played to a packed and excited 5,000 capacity marquee on The Front at New Brighton, the Wirral. Their regular engineers, Adlib's Dave Kay at FOH and Paul Roberts on monitors, were in action using a JBL Vertec line array system supplied by Adlib. This came complete with a Soundcraft Series 5 console front of house, and a Midas XL3 onstage, plus another pair of consoles to deal with the support bands.
Adlib's Andy Dockerty and Nick Bellis also engineered the Southport Jazz Festival, staged at Southport Theatre. For this they used Midas Heritage 3000 consoles at both ends of the multicore and another Vertec line array system. The two-day event featured a number of international acts, including Snake Davis, Heather Small and the BBC Jazz Orchestra.
Adlib were also at work on the Morecombe Punk Festival, where contemporary and retro punks turned out in force. The three-day event was held at three separate venues in the town - the Dome, The Platform (part of the old railway station) and the Market Arena. This latter area featured a Nexo Alpha audio system, whilst the other two venues utilized Adlib FD systems. To prevent history repeating itself, Adlib's engineers ensured that the monitors were covered in Clingfilm to weather the legendary punk assault of spit and beer.
Adlib also supplied various venues throughout Liverpool with equipment for the Africa Oyé Festival. A variety of different African perfo
Germany - Acoustic Design Ahnert (ADA) of Germany, creator of the EASE Acoustical Analysis software package, has announced the establishment of the ADA Foundation. Its first aim is to make EASE more readily available to the educational world.
Based in Berlin, Germany, the ADA Foundation was officially founded earlier this year by Dr. Wolfgang Ahnert, Dr. Rainer Feistel and Stefan Feistel. The main purpose of the Foundation is to initiate and support education in room acoustics, electro acoustics, sound reinforcement, acoustic simulation and the development of scientific software for these areas. As such, the Foundation actively supports universities, colleges and other educational establishments by supplying software for the simulation of acoustics.
Dr. Ahnert explains: "Many young architects, acousticians and audio system designers finish their degree courses and enter their chosen profession where they will, in the majority of cases, work with EASE software as part of their day-to-day work. Because of this we have decided to make EASE available to them during their education, through the establishments that train them."
The architecture and architectural engineering programmes at the University of Kansas have been using EASE as a teaching tool for several years now. Dr. Michael Swann, associate dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Design at Kansas, said: "This is an excellent development by ADA which means that schools of architecture and engineering can introduce students to this widely used software design tool during their university
UK - One of the more interesting developments to come out of this year's Glastonbury Festival was the launch of a UK trade union for road and backstage crew. The formation of the Roadcrew Provident Syndicate (already short-handed to the Roadies Provy) was announced at a special session at Glastonbury on the Left Field Stage on Friday 27 June.
The union will be a branch of the GMB, one of the UK's biggest trade unions, and will provide financial advice and support to its members, as well the usual union benefits. You can read a full report on this in the July issue of Lighting&Sound International - out next week.
(Ruth Rossington)