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USA - The feeling never gets old for Kenrick Fischer. It’s the one that happens at the end of every project, when all the work is done, and he gets to watch clients react to his finished lighting design for the first time. In the world of theatre, where he’s devoted much of his efforts, it is one of the highlights of an opening night.
“I often refer to this as ‘giving it away,’ in theatre,” said Fischer. “It’s why I do this. I love seeing the amazement on people’s faces when you transform a space into something wonderous and unexpected.”
Fischer experienced this feeling earlier this year, when he showed his completed work to the team at the Seattle Revival Centre.
The church had originally contacted him about upgrading its lighting system to make it more flexible, engaging, and broadcast-friendly. Drawing on his experience in theatre, Fischer

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China - Suzhou is one of the fastest growing major cities in the world, situated just 100km west of Shanghai on the lower Yangtze River. It boasts many interesting historic and modern attractions, not least its latest nightclub, the 800-capacity Vela, which opened its doors in December 2019.
Lighting designer, Andy Taylor of Gasoline Design, was called in to provide the dynamic lighting for the club and chose to use 174 Ayrton MiniPanel-FX for his design. He explains his choice: “I have used Ayrton products on nightclub install designs before, most notably DreamPanelTwin in Jewel, Las Vegas, and MagicPanel-R and MagicBlade-R in Omnia at Caesar’s Palace, also in Las Vegas.
The fittings worked with spectacular effect in both of those designs, so when I was looking for something different to use as the workhorse of the effect lighting for Vela, the MiniPanel-FX was a
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USA - COVID-19 has changed everything. “This pandemic has forced creative people to have to get creative about everything, even things we usually take for granted,” says Tom Worley, operations manager at 3G Productions, Inc. (3G), a live production, sales, and systems integration provider. Thus, this summer 3G turned its Los Angeles facility into Sixth Sense Creative House, a flexible production space able to accommodate live events, film and audio recordings, and live streaming from its sound stage.
Key elements in the success of this initiative are two DiGiCo SD12 consoles and a new Quantum7 console, as well as two SD-Racks fitted with 32-bit Stadius mic pres, all on a single Optocore network. The desks are also equipped with DiGiCo’s new DMI-KLANG card, an immersive in-ear mixing expansion that can be mounted directly into a console equipped with DMI slots for nativ

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UK - Sam Jones has his own show on Insanity Radio, an award-winning FM and online station based at Royal Holloway University in Surrey. Since March, he has hosted Insanity’s Friday night Lockdown show - from Cardiff - with flatmate Alex Williams.
Presenting a show remotely has its challenges, but Jones has done as much as possible to ‘studio-fy’ his spare room, excluding as much noise as possible. When the coronavirus lockdown struck, he had already taken the decision to invest in a new microphone, having suffered in the past from a few reliability issues. Looking for great value, great audio and a robust piece of equipment, he decided to go with the Mackie EM-91C large-diaphragm condenser microphone and loved what he got:
“Just taking the mic out of the box gives you that feeling of solidity. I figured that if the audio is as good as the build quality, it’

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France - “Elation luminaires meet more and more the lighting criteria demanded by top directors of photography” was the assessment of Alain Lheriteau of Elation’s French distributor Best Audio & Lighting after working with director of photography Jean-Louis Rousseaux on a reworked set at France Television Stage 2.
In spring 2019, the national broadcaster entrusted Rousseaux with the lighting design of Set 330, a virtual environment that spans 360° and covers almost the entire surface of the set.
The first live broadcast from Stage 2’s redesigned set took place last fall and marked the first programme produced in a virtual setting on France Television. “It was necessary that we review all of the lighting for several reasons,” said Rousseaux, who reports that France Television wanted to equip the set entirely with LED lights. “The versatility of movin

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Switzerland - Basel Music Academy’s renowned Electronic Studio Basel (ESB) is being upgraded with Lawo IP technology, enabling future prospective sound engineers to be trained on two Lawo mc²36 audio consoles and accompanying compact I/O units.
The Lawo installation at the Basel Music Academy (Musikakademie Basel) will also be used for recording contemporary electronic compositions, performed by ensembles small and large, as well as entire orchestras.
The new audio mixing system, which was installed by Swiss system integrator SLC Broadcast, includes two identical 24-fader Lawo mc²36 consoles and corresponding interfaces (supporting MADI, Ravenna, AES/EBU, analogue operation). The two stageboxes each provide 32 mic/line inputs, 32 line outputs, 8 digital AES3 inputs, eight digital AES3 outputs, eight GPIO, a Ravenna port, and a MADI Tie-Line Port (SFP).
Also p

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Japan - Alcons Audio pro-ribbon systems made a considerable impression on the Japanese professional audio market in July, as the company’s new Japanese distributor E’Spec Inc. held a demonstration event at the Abeno Ward Citizen Centre in Osaka
Despite the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, well over a hundred audio professionals attended the event on 14 July, which was split into three sessions to ensure effective social distancing. They included audio engineers, system designers, rental and sales companies.
Alongside PowerPoint and video presentations, practical demonstrations of Alcons pro-ribbon systems included the LR7 / LR7B micro line-array, LR18 / LR18B compact mid-size line-array, the VR8 compact versatile monitor, VR12 mid-size versatile monitor, RR12 point-source array module and the BF151mkII compact subwoofer.
A variety of sources

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Israel - Quiz show Who Wants to Be A Millionaire has been a TV favourite - and sometimes talking point - for years. For the 2020 Israeli edition, broadcast on Channel 12, lighting designer Ofer Jacobi was asked by producers July August Production to light the show again, 20 years after the last time he’d done so, which was the first roll out in Israel.
Ofer was delighted to be working again after the coronavirus pandemic has all but shut down the entertainment and production industry worldwide.
This time, he specified a Robe moving light rig and worked closely with set designer Oren Hanan and show director Amir Ukrainitz at Mizmor Petah Tikva Studios about 10km east of Tel Aviv.
They studied the UK’s latest Who Wants To Be A Millionaire format (where the show originated, first broadcast in 1998) and followed some of this style book with a few

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Germany - Headquartered in Hamburg, Fielmann AG is an ophthalmic optics specialist, with 780 branches spread throughout Germany and Europe. In July this year, the company invited its shareholders to attend its annual general meeting. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, this took place virtually, without the physical presence of the shareholders.
The stage was set up at the Cinegate Studios in Hamburg - and optimised for live streaming online. As a technical service provider, PRG Streaming Solutions was responsible for the entire technical infrastructure - including the stage and décor - as well as supplying the entire lighting, sound, video, and transmission technology. Lighting designer Jerry Appelt was responsible for the scenography, and overall look of the event.
The centrepiece of the stage design was a high-resolution 17m x 5m LED wall, onto which all came

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South Korea - The Ulsan Sports Complex hired audio integrators TechDataPS Co., and Daeseong Media to upgrade the sound system in its Ulsan Complex Stadium with a Harman Professional audio solution.
Built in 1970, the Ulsan Sports Complex includes Ulsan Complex Stadium, which was the original home of Ulsan Hyundai FC and features a capacity of 19,471. Today, the stadium is home to Ulsan Citizen FC, which competes in Korea’s K4 professional soccer league. Located between the Yaksacheon and Dongcheon rivers, Ulsan Sports Complex also includes an auxiliary stadium, the Dongcheon Gymnasium, Dongcheon National Sports Centre, a basketball court, foot volleyball court, futsal court as well as a youth concert hall.
To improve sound at sporting events and create an entertaining environment for fans, TechDataPS and Daeseong Media equipped Ulsan Complex Stadium with an audio s

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USA - At the last big event in Las Vegas before the lockdown, Bobby Grey of Notan Creative used 60 Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures to deliver a variety of looks for the 102 songs that rock band 311 performed in three marathon shows at the Park MGM’s Park Theatre. Felix Lighting in Los Angeles was the lighting vendor for the concerts.
Grey did the full production design for the series of concerts, 11-13 March, and created and curated the shows’ video content. The band annually celebrates ‘311 Day’ on 11 March, staging marathon live concerts in even-numbered years and playing a cruise for fans in odd-numbered years. Formed in 1988, 311 has released 13 studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, four EPs and four DVDs.
“Mythos 2 is my go-to for a beam and utility light,” says Grey. “A lot of lights claim to do a lot, but typically they do only one th

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Belgium - Lighting is often asked to perform a variety of functions, such as when it is called upon to illuminate a speaker, but also furnish a colorful background for the camera. Or, when it is relied on to accent the architectural features of a room, as well as highlight the event going on inside.
Seldom, though, does lighting fill roles that are as diverse as those that Blue Moon assigned to it at Zoo Antwerpen. The well-known production and system integrator company was asked to provide a system that could create ambient light for the zoo’s alligator enclosure, add dramatic effects to its thunder and lightning show, and (most importantly) provide nourishing lumens to the animals and live plants inside.
Visitors to the zoo can’t say how well the lighting system is doing in filling the latter role (the excellent health of the enclosure’s inhabitants attests to

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UK - On 11 August, as part of the PLASA-initiated UK-wide #WeMakeEvents day of action, the live events and production community in Manchester organised a silent and socially distanced flight case march across the city which culminated in a dramatic red flare exhibit.
Over 1,000 freelancers and supply companies attended the regional protest which collectively asked the Government to extend its furlough scheme and allow access to grants in order to help save an estimated 114,000 jobs.
The protest implemented the Tour Production Group (TPG) COVID-19 Working Guidance.
Acknowledging that tour-specific guidelines will become the norm in order for live production professionals to work and interact safely, the working guidance outlines how crews can better align through consistency and consultation to assist risk management relating to COVID-19 transmission.
Prod

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USA - If you’re in Northwest Georgia, it’s not hard to find a Rock Bridge Community Church campus. Its six locations, one of which is in a suburb of Chattanooga near the Tennessee state line, make it easy to be part of this contemporary worship-style church.
It’s also easy on the ears, as five of Rock Bridge’s venues - Calhoun, Chatsworth, Ringgold, and Dalton’s Stage 123 and historic 1,165-seat Wink Theatre - now have L-Acoustics A Series constant curvature line source sound systems, each of which sound nearly identical thanks to the use of the manufacturer’s new M1 measurement tool suite.
“The A Series is a very cohesive system,” says Steele Beaty of Skylark Audio Video, the Oklahoma City-based integrator that designed and installed the PA for all five worship spaces. “The Wide boxes have a 30-degree vertical pattern, and the Focus has a 10-degree v

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China - Located in Hong Kong, the 1,031-seat Ko Shan Theatre hosts traditional opera, dance, music, school functions or community gatherings. Already equipped with an advanced sound and staging system, the theatre also wanted to incorporate the latest in lighting technology as well. Looking to bring in a new LED theatrical luminaire to provide elegant colour-changing with a smooth, even wash, they worked with Pacific Lighting who installed a rig of AP-150 PAR LED luminaires from Altman Lighting.
“The Ko Shan Theatre has been a long-time client of ours and we have worked on many supply projects for them,” began Hugh Chinnick, Pacific lighting director. “When we were approached about this particular upgrade, they were looking for an LED colour-changing Fresnel or PAR to replace their existing two-colour Tungsten Fresnel downlights. After Nick Champion conducted a demo of

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Romania - The Expirat music venue brand was established in 2002 and is a popular open-format music club / live music venue in Bucharest. Owned by Andrei Șoșa and his wife Raluca, they opened their first location in Vama Veche (on the beach) and the following year a second venue appeared in the Romanian capital.
However, in 2016 the latter relocated from its city centre basement home to its current venue, a medium-size warehouse within the Halele Carol complex. This is an industrial architectural jewel similar in aspect and logistics to the Melkweg Oude Zaal in Amsterdam, located at the edge of one of Bucharest’s historic landmarks: Carol I Park.
Since its relocation, Expirat has become a flagship venue for both the local live music scene and the go-to dance club for Bucharest’s clubbers who revel to the sounds produced from a Martin Audio W8LM Mini Line Array in

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Greenland - A compact Allen & Heath SQ-6 console was on mixing duty for one of the world’s most remote festivals recently. The annual Qooqqut festival brings music and culture to an isolated shore in the Nuuk fjord complex, cradled by the dramatic mountains of western Greenland. Organised by Greenland’s cultural centre, Katuaq, this year’s festival was held on 14-15 August.
With no roads, no phone signal and no Internet onsite, Qooqqut 2020 offered a rare opportunity to step outside the everyday world and experience a diverse programme of music, workshops and traditional sports.Tickets were capped at an intimate 250 for each day and the event was planned in close cooperation with the authorities to ensure compliance with Covid 19 guidelines.
Katuaq’s sound technician, Angunnguaq Larsen, mixed FOH for the event from a 48 channel SQ-6 console, with an iPad ru

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USA - The history of Cary Alliance Church in Cary, North Carolina stretches back to the 1970s, and the church has occupied a few different properties and worship spaces in that time. Although arguably not the “churchiest” of its locations, Cary Alliance Church currently occupies a 600-seat multipurpose room.
As the times have changed, so has Cary Alliance’s service style. Local AV integration firm AVCON recently designed and installed a Danley Sound Labs sound reinforcement system that supports a more-contemporary service style.
“Cary Alliance Church moved into their new building about 12 years ago, and AVCON provided the sound system,” explained Frank Yarborough, president and CEO of AVCON. “At the time, the church’s style was more traditional, and the sound system met their more modest needs. But they’ve certainly evolved with the rest of the world i

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USA - The music of the Grateful Dead has a way of bringing people closer together, even when they have to stay socially distant. This was evident when tribute band Scarlet Begonias performed the group’s classic hits at the Columbia County Amphitheatre in Evans.
The concert’s organisers set up tables 10ft apart from one another, allowing only fans who came together to occupy each restricted zone. Distancing did not seem to bother the mask-wearing fans, as they enjoyed the music together at this drive-in-show-minus-the cars.
“We had a much smaller crowd than you’d typically find at this kind of concert because of social distancing, but the energy was all there,” said John Berret, of Quest Sound & Productions, who lit the show with an all Chauvet Professional rig that featured 20 Rogue and COLORado fixtures.
Berret did his part to convey the “spirit

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Indonesia - Wanting to upgrade its acoustic system and provide an enhanced guest experience, the Playmaker Café hired IMS Indonesia, to design and install Harman Professional audio solutions featuring JBL Professional loudspeakers.
The Playmaker Café is a dining and entertainment destination in Thamrin, Jakarta. Opened in October 2019 and founded by the football presenter Ophan Lamara, Playermaker Café is a popular hangout spot for locals and tourists alike. The establishment consists of a restaurant, meeting rooms for corporate professionals as well as a lounge, which hosts live music events twice a week and includes two mini billiard tables that add a sporty, energetic vibe.
“Playmaker Café required a world-class sound system that would allow customers to further enjoy the ambiance,” said a spokesperson for IMS Indonesia. “The system had to be dynamic and a

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Australia - In May 2020, The Voice Australia returned for Season Nine with coaches Delta Goodrem, Kelly Rowland, Guy Sebastian and Boy George going head to head to find Australia's best-unsigned singing talent.
This year it was more of a massive undertaking than usual as the show moved out of Fox Studios (which was fully occupied with the production of a Marvel movie) to a new temporary 13,000sqm warehouse location in Moorebank consisting of three studio spaces. Large super grids had to be installed, container walls used to separate areas, temporary buildings, art workshops, power, plumbing and air conditioning systems added to make the location TV friendly.
The base lighting inventory for the Playoff, Showdowns and Finals shows was entirely LED-based except for the Claypaky Sharpys and Robert Juliat followspots. This was a first for lighting designer Ian Ander

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UK - Taking place on a purpose-built site on the beach next to Brighton’s Palace Pier, The Warren Outdoor Season opened earlier this month, offering a range of live comedy, theatre, cabaret and family shows. Having supported the Brighton Fringe at The Warren for over five years, White Light was called upon to supply the lighting, rigging and power equipment for this new season, which is one of the first to open following the outbreak of COVID-19.
The Warren is a pop-up, multi-purpose site which consists of four venue spaces and four bar areas. Annually, it hosts Brighton Fringe festival events. As with so many other live performances, the outbreak of COVID-19 saw the cancellation of this year’s festival. As such, Otherplace Productions, the team who run The Warren, decided to look for an alternative, safe way to put on live entertainment.
Joshua Carr, technical d

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Germany - Allen & Heath dLive and SQ systems were at the heart of the AV solution for Dein Sommermoment – a pair of livestreamed events hosted in the vertigo-inducing Fernmeldeturm Nürnberg.
Dominating the skyline over the city of Nuremberg, the 292m telecoms tower provided a striking backdrop for the two events in July. The first Dein Sommermoment featured seven solo artists performing in the tower’s distinctive egg-shaped viewing area, while the second event added a pair of outdoor stages at the foot of the structure for rock bands, presided over by presenters in the tower above. Both events were created by EMS - Experts Managed Services GmbH, with Konrad Wurster and Ole Langhans from AV provider, SL-Works Gbr heading the technical team.
For the second Dein Sommermoment, an SQ-5 console was employed for presenter mics and monitoring, as

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USA - Excitement was in the air at Grace Bible Church, College Station, TX, on 10 July, 2018 when the building committee presented their first official rendering of the house of worship’s new 45,000sq.ft Creekside campus.
For years, the dynamic church had been looking to build a new facility to house its growing congregation in this area just to the southeast of the city.
If all went well, the congregation could expect to worship in their new building “by spring 2020”. But, as it has with so many other things around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the church’s plans to a halt in March.
As the construction crew continued to work on completing the campus, worshippers waited patiently for the restrictions on public gatherings to be eased. Then on Sunday 2 August, more than two years after viewing the architect’s plans, the congregation entered th
  1. Robe lights Auckland arena concert in post-lockdown return
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  3. Chauvet lights Andy Davis drive-in show
  4. University of Tasmania installs API Legacy
  5. Microflex enables socially-distanced meetings
  6. Prolights Stark1000 lights Sundance Festival
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