UK - Last year, Astera Titan Tubes were at the heart of a lighting scheme designed by Ben Donoghue, now of Flare Lighting, for Beyond the Road, an immersive exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery.
Featuring the music of Unkle, the experience merged the worlds of visual arts, music and film, offering visitors a chance to lose themselves in a multi-sensory world led by sound. Together with music pioneer James Lavelle (Unkle), the overall work was curated by creative producer Colin Nightingale, and sound designer/creative director Stephen Dobbie (both of the Punchdrunk theatre company).
Lighting designer Ben Donoghue - who has recently joined Ben Cash, David Amos and the team at Flare Lighting from global creative agency Imagination - has worked regularly with Nightingale and Dobbie and was asked to collaborate on the project to create a lighting design for the experience which ran for a highly successful 12 weeks.
Dobbie, along with sound designer Salvador Garza Fishburn, deconstructed the last two Unkle albums, The Road: Part 1 and The Road: Part II / Lost Highway, re-arranging and re-interpreting the work within a curated environment featuring a range of artistic and filmic works. Contributions artists including Danny Boyle, Jonas Burgert, Alfonso Cuarón, Toby Dye, Doug Foster, Norbert Schoerner, Warren Du Preez & Nick Thornton Jones ranged from painting to film, sculpture to photography, tracing influences in Lavelle’s work.
Beyond the Road took over the entire top floor of the Saatchi Gallery. Visitors fl
USA - The city of Nashville was already well-known as a centre for artists and artisans, but due to a 2009 fire that robbed the community of its music centre (known affectionately as the Little Opry) county officials sought to build a venue that would draw top touring artists.
In an effort to craft a lighting system that would match the talent they sought, Brown County commissioned Bandit Lites, trusting the sales and integration team to make the space usable for touring acts. From rigging to backstage layout and ultimately the lighting controls, Bandit’s team elevated the lighting to match the vision of the centre.
“We wanted the stage to be a first class, state of the art lighting package,” explains project manager Doug Harden of Miller Architects. “Bandit delivered exactly that.”
Bandit Lites provided all the fixtures for the building, including the stage work lights, lobby lights and more, right down to the bathroom sconces. The facility seats 2,000 people but the venue’s designers made sure that the farthest seat is only 106ft from the stage, meaning every fan is able to experience a stellar show. Furthermore, with a stage measuring almost eighty feet wide, Bandit’s team knew the fixture selection would have to be precise.
Bandit supplied Ayrton Mistrals, HES SolaFrame 1000s, Elation Professional DARTZ 360, Chauvet Professional STRIKE 4 blinder and strobes, Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Washes and ETC ColorSource Spots. In addition to the venue’s fixtures, Bandit’s team provided the Tyler Truss, Chainmaster Hoists fro
Croatia - House music pioneer David Morales continues to produce and to play to packed clubs all over the world and his current rider specifies a KV2 Audio ES System as his preferred monitoring setup.
Morales has also been using a KV2 setup at home for a while - he currently has two EX10s and two EX2.2 subs which he loves - but hadn’t used a KV2 system on a gig until his show at the Boogaloo club in Zagreb, Croatia on St Valentine’s Day this year. He tried out a full ES System comprising an ES1.0 high power active mid/hi loudspeaker stacked on a pair of ES1.8 high output subs per side, powered by two EPAK2500R control and amplification units (one per side).
“These speakers sound amazing!” he enthused, “and I’m in a big room – this is not a small intimate club!” Indeed, Boogaloo has been a cult club in Zagreb since the mid-80’s and with a capacity of 1500 ranks as one of the country’s largest clubs. As a result of his experience at Boogaloo, Morales decided that henceforth, the ES System from KV2 Audio would feature as the designated monitor system on his technical rider.
“I love the clarity and power of the ES System,” he says. “The ES1.0 top stacked over a pair of ES1.8 subs is a killer monitoring set. The ES1.0 packs a 6-inch and a 12-inch driver topped with a 1.75-inch compression driver. I’ve not heard anything else with the same size components sound as good as the KV2s. I’m such a fan, I even have KV2 EX10 monitors in my studio.
“I’ve been listening to all kinds of speakers over the years,” he adds.
Portugal - Located on the bustling boulevard of the Avenida de República in the Saldanha district of the Portuguese capital, Mercantina Bistro 37 is the third Mercantina restaurant to open in Lisbon. The elegant building was formerly home to Café Cubana, the favourite watering hole of a coterie of Portugal’s famed surrealist artists.
Seven decades later, the interior with its striking murals and rich colours designed by architect Tiago Silva Dias, offers echoes of the building’s surrealist past. Distribution and AV integration specialists, Garrett Audiovisuais, designed and installed a zoned audio and control system across all areas of the bar and restaurant, based on Genelec 4000 Series installation loudspeakers.
According to Garrett’s Alain Pierre who managed the project, Mercantina’s owners were frequent clients at JncQUOI - a Lisbon restaurant already equipped by Garrett using Genelec loudspeakers - and were very impressed with the audio system. “We were approached by José Bartolomé Duarte, one of the founding partners of the Mercantina brand, who asked if we could deliver a similar experience to JNcQUOI in their own new, high class Italian restaurant,” explains Pierre. “We responded to the tender with a Genelec solution which convinced the client to award us the AV contract.”
The brief was to create a multi-room, zoned solution to deliver high quality ambient sound throughout the various spaces of the restaurant, as well as the cocktail bar. The owners also wanted the possibility to create more of a ‘club’ atmosphere w
Canada - Every day when health care professionals enter Chicoutimi Hospital, Saguenay, Quebec, they get ready to face the realities involved in caring for patients afflicted with COVID-19. Now, they are also greeted with a rainbow of colours intended as an expression of gratitude from the Fondation de ma Vie (Foundation of my Life) and LSM Ambiocréateurs.
Spearheaded by project leader Ricky Ricken of LSM, working closely with the Fondation de ma Vie, the display covers the entire width of the hospital’s entrance side in brilliant blues, oranges, yellows and purples from a collection of over 70 Chauvet Professional COLORado 1 Tri Tour IP fixtures from LSM’s own inventory.
Placed at the base of the building and on ledges at various heights, the RGB fixtures cast their glow to the top of the hospital’s two the six-story wings. Light from the COLORado units also shines to the top of the complex’s main tower, which at 39 meters is the fourth highest building in Saguenay. The IP-rated lights illuminate the building every night.
In keeping with the selfless spirit of cooperation that has brought this community together amidst the pandemic, the illumination project was an all-volunteer effort on the part of LSM, master electrician Gabriel Chaperon and lighting programmer Dany Bouchard, as well as Alexandra Girard, Jean-Philippe Beaulieu, and Remi Larouche.
Denmark - The annual music competition to find Denmark’s Eurovision entry reached its finale in March at Copenhagen’s 16,000-capacity Royal Arena. Known as the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, hopefuls battled it out against a striking stage design made up of 450sq.m of LED screen, shaped into ever-expanding triangular shapes. These were fed visuals by a chorus of Green Hippo Hippotizer Karst+ Media Servers.
Hippotizer aficionado 4K Projects, which is based in Copenhagen, was commissioned by Danish national broadcaster Danmarks Radio to project manage the video and lighting aspects of the show. The company’s Mikkel Samuelsen and Balder Thorrud have been involved with Dansk Melodi Grand Prix for a decade, and are well-versed in creating memorable visual feasts.
The 2020 heats were held without an audience, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this, TV viewers at home were treated to a full production, which went ahead to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. All performances were backed by The Antonelli Orchestra, heightening the vibe and spectacle.
“We used four Hippotizer Karst+ Media Servers with a wall controller for the show – using two as main and two for full backup,” explains Thorrud, who served as Hippotizer operator for the show. “All outputs were connected to DVI matrix for easy switching between main and backup system.
“We love using Hippotizer, especially because the VideoMapper, easy content sync and simple way to connect to a grandMA for control, makes our lives much easier and the visuals more e
South Korea - TechDataPS recently equipped Incheon Seongsan Methodist Church with a Harman Professional networked AV and control solution.
Previously named Hwajeong Church, the house of worship took its current name in 1968 and consist of three separate buildings: the chapel, training centre and parking structure. Previously using an audio system that was equipped for small events and speeches, the church contracted TechDataPS to install a world-class audio solution that can accommodate bigger productions.
“Seongsan Methodist Church asked us to deliver a modern audio system that enhances the main chapel with high-quality sound and is suitable for hosting large-scale events,” said a spokesperson at TechDataPS. “The previous system consisted of an ageing JBL SR 4733 main speaker as well as ceiling speakers that matched the color of the walls and complimented the church’s aesthetics.”
TechDataPS installed Intellivox HP-DS170 active beam-shaping, self-powered column loudspeakers to provide crystal-clear sound and even distribution. Complimenting those speakers, JBL AC16 and AC15 ultra-compact 2-way loudspeakers reproduce high-fidelity, full-range sound, while JBL CBT 50LA-1 Constant Beamwidth Technology line array column loudspeakers deliver acoustical performance and consistent vertical coverage.
JBL Control CRV architectural speakers were installed to reinforce speech and music intelligibility, while JBL 104 monitors were used to offer enhanced sonic detail and accurate presentation. To fill out the arsenal of speakers, TechDataPS also
UK - The charismatic singer/song writer Mika’s Revelation tour in support of his fifth studio album, My Name is Michael Holbrook, may have been postponed midway through due to the current coronavirus crisis, but it wowed audiences from autumn through to this spring. Lighting designer for the tour was Vince Foster who, with an impressive CV which spans well over thirty years, requires little introduction.
Foster’s design for Mika’s ‘Revelation’ was clean and uncomplicated: plenty of floor lighting, significant numbers of side fixtures and trusses in the most effective of locations. His choice of fixtures was similarly unambiguous: just four different fixtures and overwhelmingly from Ayrton. Alongside around thirty Ayrton Magic Blade-FX fixtures were approximately one hundred and twenty of one of Ayrton’s newest moving heads, Khamsin-S.
“Every moving light is a Khamsin,” opened Foster when we spoke to him about his design. “I have always been a big fan of Ayrton, using a variety of their fixtures over the years and their move into developing moving heads that have that Ayrton combination of feature-rich technology and quality engineering is really exciting. The Khamsin-S are everywhere on the rig: the floor, the side hangs, the ‘B’ thrust stage and on both the stage trusses and the one downstage of the B stage. The rig was designed with input from both Mika and his sister Yasmine. We wanted an unfussy but solid music hall look to allow the audience to focus on Mika himself. The brief was essentially to create somet
USA - Audio and AV integration specialists North American Theatrix (NAT) services a wide range of distinguished clients on a host of installations across theatre, cinema, conference, education, stadium and house of worship applications. Some of its recent installations in the education sector featured the deployment of systems from Coda Audio.
Set in a 50-acre campus and founded in 1925 by the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs, Albertus Magnus College is a Catholic private liberal arts college in New Haven, Connecticut, that offers education to around 1,200 undergraduate students. Last year the college renovated and refurbished its Hubert Campus Center - NAT was appointed to supply and install audio for the project.
Contained within the Center, the Behan Community room is a large, multi-function space used for a variety of college and external functions. This relatively low-ceilinged space which can comfortably seat more than three hundred, required flexible, high quality audio system for speech and music reinforcement. The system needed sufficient power to obtain the necessary throw, whilst being simultaneously discreet. Small and powerful was the order of the day and NAT chose to install a Coda Audio N-APS system to meet the challenge.
N-APS is a unique category of ultra-compact loudspeaker for small to medium size venues that combines the versatility of a point source with the perfect arrayability of a line array, to offer sound designers the absolute maximum in power, flexibility and versatility. With incredible dynamic range and vari
USA - Michael Longfellow from NBC TV’s Bring The Funny show at the Drive-In Comedy Night represented the first step in bringing live entertainment back to Phoenix, USA’s fifth largest city.
Lighting the stage in the car parking lot where Longfellow and fellow comics Joe Carden and Mike B Dapper performed was a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue and WELL Fit fixtures supplied by Creative BackStage. John Garberson, who served as the LD for the show, relied on the fixtures to help enliven the stage and create a comedy club feel with deeply saturated colours and a few well-chosen ‘ballyhoo moments’.
At the same time, the lighting also ensured that attention was focused on branding material from the evening’s sponsors, Rick Bronson's House of Comedy and the High Street Association.
“This was a first, a very different experience,” said Garberson of Creative BackStage. “But it was also a lot of fun. You could feel the energy in the air. People were excited. We had the WELL Fits on trees stage left and stage right to create a nice warm glow. The Rogue R2 Washes were also on trees. They gave us evocative stage washes, in addition to creating some punchy aerial patterns at key moments.”
Garberson placed additional WELL Fit fixtures in front and behind the stage. Those in front were used to keep constant light on the prominent sponsor banner. The rear fixtures provided back lighting and also set an inviting tone by lighting the trees behind the improvised stage.
Keeping the stage well lit and maintaining good s
USA - Mars Music Hall in Huntsville is changing the landscape of the music scene in northern Alabama. The latest success in an ongoing expansion project at the multi-purpose Von Braun Centre (VBC), Mars Music Hall debuted its Elation Professional lighting rig in early January, an occasion that set an upbeat tone for the next eight weeks of shows before the venue went into COVID-19 hibernation.
The inaugural show, a 3 January sold-out performance featuring Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, highlighted the intimate character of the venue’s broad design with its wrapping balcony overlooking a 50ft wide stage. A variety of events ranging from concerts to comedy acts and everything in between play the new venue.
Justin Young, production supervisor at VBC, designed the lighting system for the new space and worked with Freed Sales to secure an Elation lighting package. Having developed a relationship with the rep firm that goes back many years, he says he knew Dustin Pesnell and his team would take good care of them.
“At the theatrical lighting shop I was at before I came to VBC, I saw how well Freed took care of us and over time we bought a lot of Elation gear,” he comments. “I know the brand well and knew I wanted to deal with a company that I could trust. I’m perfectly happy with the equipment but that wasn’t my driving factor in choosing Elation. Relationship and experience were key.”
First opened in 1975, Von Braun Centre, with an indoor arena, concert hall, playhouse, convention spaces, banquet halls, and a full-service restaurant h
Azerbaijan - When Paul Azerbaijan embarked on their latest restaurant projects in Baku, they again approached PROAV, the Martin Audio distributors for their audio requirements.
The management of the global brand, which specialises in French cuisine, has opted for Martin Audio’s CDD series for its latest two projects: Paul Azerbaijan Cinema and Paul Caspian.
PROAV managing partner Elshan Aliyev says, “The client was looking for high quality background music, and we specified CDD series speakers because of the amazing sound quality for this purpose. CDD series speakers have a very specific sound and are our number one choice for background music applications.”
As a result they installed 14 of the ultra-compact but powerful CDD5 and four SX110 (1 x 10”) discreet subwoofers, as well as 10 C6.8T 6.5” flush-mount ceiling speakers.
The CDD5 is a two-way passive speaker designed for unobtrusive positioning in architectural installations - including bars, museums, foyers and restaurants such as this.
Stated a spokesman for the venue management, “This Martin Audio sound system installation from the team at PROAV perfectly fits our requirements - and has also met the approval of our clientele.”
Belgium - In the heart of Brussels, an award-winning AV solution combining TiMax SoundHub and control, realised from concept by integrator, FACE Projects, creates a vintage atmosphere and jazzy vibe to private members' bar, Impérial.
The vision of Carl de Moncharline, owner and manager of several successful Brussels venues was for an “immersive environment creating spherical sound experiences”, as well as a stylish lighting system in keeping with the historical façade and vintage ambience of the venue, that was versatile enough for live jazz concerts, a DJ clubbing experience, or even as a cocktail bar. The challenge to create this in a low-ceiling and small, 300sq.m space fell to FACE Projects, working in conjunction with refurbishment project manager, Laurent Grietens, of Wisely Ltd.
Simplicity was key to the specification for the venue. Dramatically different sound environments would need to be recreated at the flick of a switch which for FACE, made TiMax a necessity. As FACE CEO, Karel De Piere confides, “I do not even want to think how we would set up the sound system without TiMax, no other product could provide this level of precise control.”
The TiMax SoundHub-32S spatial audio matrix controls a total of 38 discrete speakers from Electro-Voice. Effective sound control without spillage is a deliberate consequence of the many distributed speaker sources, which help avoid noise pollution for the neighbouring buildings. The speakers integrated into the walls and ceilings of the venue are powered by three 8-channel Powersoft Ottocanali
Germany - Lux Partum (Emission of Light) was a sculpted interactive lighting installation and live stream staged at the Motorwerk event space in Berlin, created by lighting and show designer Chris Moylan and his team.
This comprised Lars Musasch, Andreas Schindler, and Matthias Schöffmann together with DJ and music producer Paul van Dyk who composed a special soundtrack and played a three-hour live concert during the first weekend.
The work utilised 54 x Robe moving lights including MegaPointes, Pointes plus Tetra2 moving LED battens which were installed in the venue with LED screen elements, and all rigged, programmed and set up to be accessed by the public via the https://lighting.stream website and ‘played’ in real-time.
By the end of the 10-day run, over 43,000 visitors from 94 countries had engaged with the art work in 6.355 registered sessions utilising lighting.stream’s bespoke user interface technology. They chose over 200.000 different combinations of lighting / video which were viewed over 528,404 minutes of activity.
Visitors could select the colour and patterns of the lighting and video effects as they played out to the music track, changing at pre-determined points to keep the groove flowing harmoniously.
Running over two weekends and the intervening week, Paul van Dyk played a three-hour live set at the Motorwerk on the first Sunday night, enabling his massive fanbase to tune into the stream and be part of making the concert visuals look spectacular – each visitor to the site having a three-minute sl
Germany - Club culture continues to thrive in Germany even amidst the COVID-19 lockdown. The country’s world-famous night spots may be closed to the public, but they are still reaching out to clubbers thanks to United We Stream.
Run in alliance with ARTE Concert, United We Stream hosts a series of online shows from event organizers and artists that showcase the rich diversity of German club culture. In addition to streaming live DJ sets, live music and other performances, the initiative serves as a platform for discussion sessions, presentations and club culture-oriented films.
The alliance was started to support Berlin’s club culture and expanded internationally. Hamburg was the first city outside of Berlin. It was here that Koyo, the designer behind many Hamburg’s well-known clubs, a group that includes Uebel & Gefährlich, a venue located in an old-World War II bunker, where the livestream show took place.
Aiding Koyo in her endeavour was a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures. Key among them were 12 ÉPIX Strip IP linear units. “It it was important to be able to show a very different image with every content, which is what our VJ Mateo did with the ÉPIX Strips,” said Koyo. “They are a still fixture of course, but we made them look flexible and moving by having them floating behind the DJ playing.”
“The ÉPIX fixtures have a truly beautiful dimming curve which made it possible to have them visually in the dark, making them look like they were floating in the middle of the huge space,” continued Koyo. “The cre
USA - The largest cast iron statue in the world shines brightly over Birmingham, Alabama, thanks to lighting design by Schuler Shook and lighting design revisions, control system design, and programming by Marc Brickman and Tactical Manoeuvre, Inc. The essence of the 56-foot Vulcan statue overlooking the city is the 124-foot pedestal on which it stands, highlighted and enhanced with seven Solaris Flare IP HR dual-head outdoor fixtures.
Lighting for the project was provided by 4Wall Nashville. “The Flare IPs have an incredible amount of firepower and are killer bright,” says 4Wall account executive, Damon Herbert. “We used the dual-head version of the Flare IP outdoor lights, with narrow 8-degree lenses for maximum throw.”
Damon adds, “At night, the statue can be seen for miles and Tactical Manoeuvre’s programming is exquisite. Over two years in development, the clients are extremely happy with the results. Flares make us look good.”
Schuler Shook worked with the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham to develop concepts for re-energising Vulcan’s presence over Birmingham through a dynamic use of light. The statue’s inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places led the team to design fixture mounting locations concealed around the base of the pedestal and on tall poles strategically placed around the park.
Tactical Manoeuvre (TactMan) was brought on to the Vulcan project toward the end of the design and construction process. After viewing the proposals for programming services from several other companies, Wayne Gillis of t
Poland - Founded in 2012, Media Service is one of the most dynamically developing companies in Poland’s event technology market. Whilst still relatively young, the company has been able to solidify its strong position in the industry and earn the trust of its customers thanks to a skilled team and first-class product portfolio, which includes Syva loudspeaker system among other sound products from L-Acoustics.
Bartosz Kordas, the founder and CEO at Media Service, explains how the company has managed to achieve such impressive results. “Our story began with the purchase of an L-Acoustics sound system back in 2012,” says Kordas. “I have always had a passion for collecting high quality AV equipment, and this has steadily translated into acquiring lighting, multimedia and, most recently, stage decoration solutions. As is usually the case, the first steps were difficult and slightly uncertain, but each subsequent step seemed to be easier and naturally complemented the range of services we offered.”
Now in its eighth year, the Media Service team consists of 60 individuals, among them Karolina Piątek and Tomasz Stykowski, who are both part of the management board. The company has a large 1500sq.m warehouse (including 750sq.m for Studio 360º equipped with L-Acoustics X5 and X8 speakers) as well as an office in Sokołów near Warsaw, a service centre, a studio and a team of highly skilled specialists.
Whilst making its purchasing decisions, the team had to choose their equipment carefully in order to stay competitive. “I knew from the very begi
USA - With over 3,000 students, nearly 1,000 of which are in seminary, Andrews University is the flagship institution in the expansive Seventh-day Adventist school system. It is located in Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Pioneer Memorial Church is situated on the Andrews University campus and serves a vital role in the school’s spiritual and social life. Its congregants are diverse, young, and fired up. Global technology solutions provider, New Era Technology (Mishawaka-branch), recently revitalised the sound reinforcement in the church with Danley Sound Labs SBH10 and SBH20 columnar loudspeakers, Danley TH212 tapped-horn subwoofers, and Danley DNA amplifiers with integrated DSP using Danley model pre-sets.
The audio engineering experts at New Era Technology discovered Pioneer’s old system was sorely lacking evenness and coverage. “It was a cluster of units placed 50ft up in the air, at the top of the sanctuary’s large A-frame ceiling,” explains Paul Black, account executive with New Era Technology. “Not everyone could clearly hear what was going on, and the system lacked overall intelligibility. The frequency response was limited.”
In short, Pioneer Memorial Church needed smooth, even coverage across an expanse of pews capable of accommodating approximately 1,000 people. That includes a loft section at the back of the sanctuary and the pews below it.
“When we saw that Pioneer Memorial Church had requested an RFP for Danley Sound Labs, we knew they had done their homework,” Black says.
“Every aspect of a Danley box and th
Denmark/USA - Everything from broadcasts, webinars, classes and interviews to worship sermons, theatrical performances and musical concerts are now being streamed to (and from) living rooms. As a result, production organisers are quickly developing new ways to provide valuable replacements for everyday communication and entertainment. In light of these latest trends, DPA Microphones has seen a rapid surge in popularity for its MMA-A Digital Audio Interface.
Touted as a “sound engineer in your pocket”, DPA’s MMA-A pre-amp was designed for live and mobile productions. In recent weeks, this has expanded to those working from home due to social distancing. Compatible with any iOS device, Mac or PC computer, the MMA-A, combined with any DPA microphone, can broadcast and record crystal clear audio to, and from, anywhere in the world.
An exclusive DPA app, available for download from the Apple App store, provides specialised functionalities. This includes the ability to store gain settings and low-cut filters for ongoing and future personalized use in dedicated pre-sets. The simple-to-use device can also be used in an app-independent format with existing recording programs on a Mac or PC, making it easily adaptable to any streaming, broadcasting or recording application.
“I love adapting to the different ways people consume music,” says singer Marc Martel, the voice of Freddy Mercury in 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody, who uses the device with DPA’s 4099 Instrument and 6061 Subminiature Mics. “I shouldn’t have to sacrifice good audio w
South Africa - The first South Africa and Ghana editions of the hit TV game show Family Feud brought to SA and produced by Rapid Blue were recorded in December & January at the Urban Brew Studios in Johannesburg, with lighting designed by Joshua Cutts and supplied by Blond Productions, including 12 Robe Esprite LED profiles newly purchased by Blond and making their African TV production debut.
The popular American Family Feud show has been syndicated worldwide to over 50 different countries and is one of the longest-running and most popular TV games shows, having started in 1976. Since 2010, it’s been hosted successfully by Steve Harvey.
Blond Productions, based in Midrand, is a busy South African rental company specialising in supplying lighting, video and audio production to the television, film and commercial sectors.
They asked Josh to come onboard working with Mauritz Neethling as his associate LD and collaborated on a joint pitch with scenic specialist Dream Sets and set designer Michael Gill to present a full technical / creative package to Rapid Blue.
Once their bid was selected, a collective decision was made to use the Esprites which arrived just in time from Robe’s SA distributor DWR to make the show for which lighting was programmed and operated by Ryan Lombard, who also designed the lighting system.
Some basic style guidelines from the American show were applied to the lighting and Josh also drew inspiration from previous iterations as a formula that had worked well over the years, which included keepin
UK - Phil Wright has enjoyed a 25-year career in the pro audio industry, specialising as a live sound designer and mix engineer for large scale classical, concert, broadcast, dance, cinema and operatic productions.
Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he spent the early part of his career at Sound by Design, during which time he handled the Royal Albert Hall in-house sound contract, including taking responsibility for the BBC Proms live requirements.
In 2012, Phil went freelance, creating Phil Wright Sound Limited and has since worked on a very wide range of projects. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been keenly felt throughout the industry, but creative solutions for audio conundrums are never far from Phil’s mind, as was the case recently when his friend Jaap Pronk of TM Audio in the Netherlands, reached out for help.
At the beginning of this year, British-Jamaican soul singer Celeste won BBC Music’s Sound of 2020. The annual award is given to artists tipped to be successful during the year and its previous recipients include Adele, Haim and Ellie Goulding.
For Celeste, whilst lockdown has meant the suspension of live concerts, it hasn’t meant withdrawing from the public eye. The artist and her management team have found creative ways to stay in touch with her growing audience. As well as broadcasting via social media platforms, she is in demand for radio and TV appearances, which is where Phil Wright enters the story...
Phil became involved when Dutch national radio station 3FM was seeking an audio solutio
USA - North American Spanish-language television network Univision has been working with Orlando-based Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) to handle their production and broadcast wireless needs for more than 20 years.
“I started working with Professional Wireless when James Stoffo first started out and was lugging around gear in cardboard boxes,” explains Mike Karsch, Univision technical manage for events. “They have been my go-to wireless services partner for large and small broadcast events ever since.”
The list of annual projects is long starting off with PWS providing RF coordination, products and services for Premio Lo Nuestro, the awards show established by the network to honour the previous year's top artists in Latin music followed by Premios Juventud, a viewer-decided awards show honouring Hispanics and Latinos in film, music, sports, fashion and pop culture. They have been onsite for the Latin Grammy Awards since Univision became the Latin Recording Academy’s network of choice in 2005.
“We rely upon Professional Wireless to provide wireless coordination and gear along with a team of extremely talented individuals to assist with all of these events and more,” adds Karsch. “I also work with them when making decisions about purchasing new gear to ensure our internal needs are met. If I am in New York City and need a tech with a couple of wireless microphones last minute? I know I can call Professional Wireless and they take care of me. They’re national in their scope, which is another terrific advantage
USA - New York City house and EDM DJs come to Norwalk,Connecticut’s ARC Sound Stage and Lighting three times a week to perform livestream shows as part of ARC Live.
“We are big on using art to touch the lives of people in a positive way,” says Gene Morrell, owner of ARC. “This is why we are always eager to get involved in community art projects, whether it’s putting on block parties or commissioning local artists for graffiti – and it’s why we do the livestreams.”
Morrell and his team got the idea to produce their thrice-weekly live streams “about 10 seconds” after the government’s lockdown order went into effect. “We couldn’t sit idly by,” he recalls. “So, we had to do something to express ourselves.”
Once this decision was made, the details for ARC Live fell neatly into place. First was the question of finding a location for the livestreams. ARC is located right next door to the historic Wall Street Theatre (built in 1915), which the production company installed sound and lights in as part of a recent renovation. With the theatre’s regular programming on hold because of the lockdown, its owners agreed to lease the venue to ARC for livestreamed shows.
Next was the question of talent for the livestreams. With about 90-percent of ARC’s business coming from Manhattan, the company has deep roots in the New York entertainment world. ARC lists Madison Square Garden, Disney Theatrical Group and NBC Sports as clients, while Morrell and his team members Dylan Scott and John Ospina, are L
USA - As online resources become a more important part of today’s workflow, Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has users covered with its education-based website. Located at www.education.eaw.com, customers can find detailed training, tutorials, FAQ’s and knowledge-based support twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
“The goal of the EAW Education site is to empower the pro audio industry by providing the information necessary to understand, operate and design EAW sound systems,” says EAW president, T.J. Smith.
EAW’s training section allows audio pros to stay up-to-date with the latest EAW technology. The section features the Intro to ADAPTive Training series, which prepares individuals for the level 1 certification test. Level 1 certification means users are well versed in the basics of ADAPTive technology and system deployment.
EAW’s Tutorials section offers step-by-step video walkthroughs of EAW products and software including its Resolution software, ADAPTive Systems, EAWmosaic and RADIUS. The tutorials include system design, setup and startup, coverage explanation, going online and exporting settings.
EAW’s ‘Knowledge Base’ section is where visitors can find information and frequently asked questions on all EAW product lines.