The world-renowned Vienna State Opera House in Austria – also home to the Vienna State Ballet – has invested in new Robe Forte HCF LED moving lights and Forte HCF FollowSpots, selecting the high CRI LED engine option for these powerful fixtures which utilize Robe’s unique TE (Transferable Engine) technology.
TE is a powerful, intelligent, and eco-friendly lighting solution enabling different engines – high powered, high CRI, ‘tungsten’ etc., – to be used in the same fixtures. They can be changed quickly and easily in 5 – 7 minutes! Vienna State Opera purchased 10 x Forte HCF luminaires and 4 x Forte HCF FollowSpots which work in conjunction with a customised RoboSpot control system, explained Deputy head of lighting Robert Eisenstein.
The Opera House has a busy repertory schedule, and these Robe luminaires – delivered via Robe’s Austrian distributor Signal – replace the old manual-focus generic FOH tungsten fixtures with brighter, more adaptable, and more sustainable lights, and have upgraded the traditional follow spots in this impressive 1,709 seat and 567 standing capacity Renaissance Revival styled venue which opened in 1869, when it was the first building to be erected on the Vienna ring road!
Deputy head of lighting Robert Eisenstein.
With a throw distance of 50 metres to the stage from the FOH positions, they needed the most powerful and the quietest fixtures. All the other options tested were either too physically large, too noisy, or not bright enough. While the FOH positions are not directly exposed to the audience, the 10 fixtures are in a partial boxed area and the noise does escape and reverberate around the venue!
The HCF LED engine version Forte were required for achieving perfect skin tones, for the excellent colour rendering and “fantastic” range of tuneable whites. The fact that the FOH gallery lights no longer have to be manually focussed means valuable between-production changeover times can be saved by having moving lights, and that the system is hugely more flexible for accommodating the needs of all productions.
Robert and his colleagues are all delighted with the results, as are the visiting lighting designers who have so far benefitted from using the new system. RoboSpots were first tested in the house three years ago when a system was rented in for the Vienna Opera Ball. This was a big success, and they knew it worked.
However, it wasn’t until the Forte was launched earlier this year, together with the FollowSpot version, that all the stars finally aligned to offer an impeccable match between follow spots and FOH lighting. Everyone was super excited to be able to use the same luminaire with the same quality light. The Opera House follow spot slots rooms are in the high gallery in the middle of the FOH lighting positions which were already very tight for space, so having a small fixture was essential.
Photo Ingo Dombrowski
They wanted the human touch of the operator being involved rather than having a tracking system, so the Forte FollowSpots are fitted with Robe’s LightMaster kit handles which enable the follow spot operators to control the size and the intensity of the fixtures, while the other parameters are run via the venue’s main ETC GIO lighting console.
Some custom software allows the output of the inbuilt Forte FollowSpot cameras to appear on monitor screens attached to the wall of the follow spot box together with some of the RoboSpot system features, but essentially allowing the spotters to simultaneously see the stage in classic style.
They can turn the crosshair marker on or off via the LightMaster buttons and can zoom the camera in and out. “Robe was flexible and willing for us to work with their RoboSpot software to get the precise solution we needed,” stated Robert. He thinks that Forte is a powerful, viable and “highly effective” moving light for bigger performance houses and venues like this and mentions that all the visiting lighting designers so far to use the new system have been “very satisfied”.
As a brand, Robert thinks Robe is focused on delivering quality innovative products, especially with the Esprite and Forte and other TE range fixtures utilising a powerful white LED engine and CMY colour mixing.
For more information about Robe lighting, you can visit www.robe.cz
The titanium housing of the microphone. You can clearly see the nylon and rubber attachment to the gooseneck and the screw-mounted section with the diaphragm and the polarization circuit. The classic openings at the back provide the directional characteristic and are shielded to ensure the insusceptibility of the transducer to RF noise.
Though we are going through the most uncertain of times, and our morale may be on a roller-coaster ride, Neumann’s R&D is giving us a great 2022 surprise, and it may be that a star is born – sorry, dass ein Stern geboren wurde.
After years of work – six, we’re told – the venerable German brand has just unveiled the MCM, a microphone system that is going to do a lot of good for our ears and for the Neumann brand, which seemed to be resting on its laurels, or even lapsing, with their digital range.
Together with its comprehensive set of accessories, the Miniature Clip Mic System or MCM was presented to us at the Pin Galant, in Mérignac near Bordeaux in France, with the help of OdinO, an orchestra that nicely combines classical and pop music, featuring six violins, two violas, two cellos, two contrabasses, as well as brass instruments, a piano, an electric guitar, electronic drums, and more. It was a dream come true for testing out an instrument microphone.
A big “Thank You” to all the musicians and to the conductor of OdinO, Sylvain Audinovski, but also to the teams of the Pin Galant and to Laurent Balutet, the general manager, for their collaboration and hospitality.
From left to right: Charly Fourcade, Hadrien Soulimant and Stephan Maurer.
We were able to see, touch and, above all, listen to this new transducer, and all the better because accompanying OdinO on tour was Espace Concept, from Besançon, with Alain Roy, a true microphones heroe at FoH.
Also on hand were: Charly Fourcade, Custom Development & Application Engineer at Sennheiser; Hadrien Soulimant, Pro Audio Business Development Manager at Sennheiser and Neumann; and particularly Stephan Mauer, Portfolio Manager of products dedicated to live and broadcast applications at Neumann.
The latter arrived with a trunk full of transducers, goosenecks and mounting accessories. We asked him a few questions.
A few of the mounting accessories, many of which are still in the prototype stage. Missing from the picture are the clamp for drum hoops and the magnetic frame for pianos.
SLU : The range of accessories looks pretty extensive…
Stephan Mauer : We did our best to make sure that the MCM can be mounted on virtually any instrument. So there are nine mounting clips, all capable of clamping the gooseneck using a groove that rotates in 90° increments. Some of them will be very slightly modified between now and the final release of the MCM system in the spring of 2022, but their number, shape and functionality have all been finalized.
SLU : The trick is having separated the transducer, gooseneck and output cable…
Stephan Mauer : Yes, the capsule can be unscrewed from the gooseneck and this is important, as it represents the principal investment. It will be easy to change one of the other two parts in the event of wear or breakage. It will also be possible in the future to change the pickup pattern by screwing on a new capsule.
SLU : For the time being, it’s a cardioid?
Stephan Mauer : Yes, but should we develop a hypercardioid or an omni, the investment will be smaller because you won’t have to buy everything again. We tested a hypercardioid but a cardioid polar pattern turns out to be the most natural sounding, and it provides the most effective rejection on stage.
The rear connector attached to the gooseneck onto which the capsule is screwed.
SLU : The KK14, a completely new capsule…
Stephan Mauer : Absolutely. It’s all new: the type of microphone, the technology of this capsule… for us it is a major step forward in the world of live performance. Getting back to our capsule, it has the electronics as close to the diaphragm as possible and the body is made of polished titanium, which makes it robust, light and non-reflective.
Its equivalent noise level is extremely low (23 dB A-weighted), while the maximum applicable SPL is 152 dB, which means that it is quite capable of capturing the softest as well as the loudest sounds. A single capsule covers the full range of dynamics required on stage, without any compromise in terms of noise or distortion.
A comparison between the frequency response of a very small electret capsule and the MCM. The response at the two extremes of the spectrum is much more smooth and full with the new Neumann transducer.
SLU : The output lead of the microphone is connected to the back of the gooseneck…
Stephan Mauer : And this connection has been successfully tested through more than 3000 cycles, which is equivalent to five years of regular use. On the other hand, since it is a jack type plug, it is possible to rotate it to unravel loops or twists in the wire without disconnecting it, which is convenient.
Installed using a contrabass adapter in a piano, an MCM with a clear view of the connection at the end of the gooseneck and the start of the cable. An optional lock will be available to hold these two components together.
SLU : This “extra” connection might scare some people.
Stephan Mauer : We have thought about that and a specific accessory has been designed to lock the two pieces together. We are thinking of delivering it with each cable or with each gooseneck. The contact is nevertheless solid and the plug holds very tightly, while allowing for it to be jerked out without damage, just in case (he smiles). The choice is left up to each technician.
The MCM100 XLR adaptor.
SLU : How many types of cables are there?
Stephan Mauer : There are four, in order to cover any requirement: LEMO, MicroDot, Mini-XLR4 and 3.5 mm stereo jack, the latter connecting to the MCM100, the XLR output adaptor. The one you see is a pre-production model, the final one will be slightly different.
SLU : So they are all available as separate components, but packages are also planned?
Stephan Mauer : Yes. There are eight in all, including one with a set of two microphones for the piano. They are designed specifically for each instrument and include everything except the output cable to the transmitter pack. It could make economic sense to get a number of them and then supplement with targeted purchases. There is only one color available, black for the accessories and the cable, and the microphone is dark grey.
SLU : Have you done testing for each instrument?
Stephan Mauer : Of course we have, but this is the first time we will hear it on a classical orchestra of this size live. This will allow us to further optimize its sonic characteristics to give it the highest versatility and ability to pick up everything with the least possible use of electronics and processing.
SLU : Let’s go back to the origin of this stage microphone system – this is your first electret capsule.
Stephan Mauer : Yes. This completely new capsule is the work of Neumann’s R&D. We became part of Sennheiser in 1991, but we retained our design department. When we started working on it, we quickly realized that, for obvious reasons of compatibility with transmitters that only supply 13 volts, condenser technology would be impossible. But we had to create the best possible electret transducer and give it a high level of consistency in its performance.
This transducer is mechanically similar to the KK184 which equips the 180 range, and is handmade in Germany in the special Neumann production at Sennheiser, like all the other Neumann microphones. The high manufacturing quality allows us to tighten the tolerances in terms of the sensitivity and the frequency response, defects that many users have noticed on other electret products. All MCM units sound the same.
SLU : Are there advantages that caused you to choose to make it not as small as others?
Stephan Mauer : Of course there are! The size of the transducer influences its directivity and performance. We tested 6 mm and 8 mm diameter capsules but opted for a larger size to get a better bottom end and a more uniform and slightly wider pickup pattern over the whole spectrum to avoid cutting off too much of the environment and deliver a more natural, rich and pleasant sound. Finally, the microphone’s self-noise or equivalent noise is correlated to the size of the golden part of the diaphragm, so the larger the diaphragm, the less noise. It is thanks to this choice that we are able to achieve 23 dBA of intrinsic noise with a maximum SPL of 152 dB!
The windscreen. Indispensable for outdoor use, it fits perfectly on the back of the capsule and prevents it from moving.
SLU : What about the windscreen…
Stephan Mauer : It comes in the kits as well as individually, just like every other component of the MCM system. We spent quite a bit of time working with a miniature wind tunnel to determine the size, material and shape to make it unobtrusive and effective. You only lose a tiny bit of the extreme high end when it is used.
SLU : How do you isolate the transducer from the instrument on which it is mounted?
Stephan Mauer : In three ways: first, each clamp has a rubber strip to protect the instrument and to provide a primary isolation against the transmission of vibrations; second, the microphone is isolated by two elastic legs at the top of the gooseneck. Finally, the output wire of the transducer forms a loop.
The transducer, unscrewed from its mount. We can see the surface mounted components, protected by a coating.
SLU : Now that you have a new electret capsule, are you going to offer it in other product lines, like a more affordable handheld microphone…
Stephan Mauer : It’s an idea, yes. I think it could also be used on a headset at the end of a mini-gooseneck for sports commentary!
Listening
An MCM unit with a Sennheiser transmitter from Espace Concept.
The MCMs were attached to all the strings and brass in place of the supercardioid mics usually used on the tour, and the gain settings of the Sennheiser 6000 and 9000 digital transmitter packs were carefully adjusted according to Alain’s requirements.
Let’s specify from the outset that Alain mixes in a very respectful way, using optimal transducer placement, gain levels that best isolate the source from the other instruments and the room, as little equalization as possible – or even none at all – and finally, in order to preserve the phase, no low cut. Contrary to what one might imagine, the feedback rejection is better and the sound is much fuller and more faithful.
A picture of the violin channel strip displays on the Vista. The EQs are getting dust…
Following the same approach, after having listened to the L-Acoustics dV-Dosc and SB18 system, and the central Kiva array at the Pin Galant, Alain asked that the central array be brought down a little, in order to assess the contribution of the front and lateral fills and, above all, to ease the equalization applied in the L-Acoustics universe and in the Meyer Sound matrix at the front end, which also has DSP resources.
From the very first notes, we are struck by the fullness of the strings and their number. A mute on Alain’s console removes some tracks that – enhance – the performance of the orchestra during certain pieces. The result is even better. The sound is open, natural, relaxed and, at the same time, massive.
We don’t get the impression at all that we are listening to a strict close miking, which is nevertheless the case. We look around for a stereo pair. Each desk in the string section is also well isolated with its own texture and can be worked on without any problem. The same is true for the brass, which has all the necessary attributes except for the aggressiveness.
Alain Roy, with his Vista 5, a console capable of handling stereo phase panning, incorporating Ethersound cards, and accepting DMI for digital microphones – suffice it to say that he’s happy. He just added a Vista FX rack to get the equivalent of two Lexicon PCM 96 or four stereo effects units.
Noticing my astonishment, Alain once again suggests that I check that his console has only one EQ point on the master, none on the microphone channels handling the inputs from the MCMs; there is no low cut and a single compressor per microphone set with a very high threshold. And it sounds great. The choirs emerge. The string players bring the violins up to their faces and sing a few bars into the instrument mic, one of OdinO’s many cool sonic performance innovations. This works, too, and it’s very nice.
So of course, a single listening in an empty and rather reverberant room (we were only present for the sound check) with a system that – although well maintained and in perfect condition – has become a rarity, is not enough. We will have to wait to encounter the MCM again to have confirmation, but it leaves us with a positive impression that is further corroborated by Alain who, while carefully minding his words, also liked what he had under his fingers and in his ears: “It’s clean, very clean, cleaner and smoother than we’re used to, with a very noticeable amount of room before feedback”.
However, there is still work to be done on the prototype accessories, some of which were actually produced by a 3D printer. The ball-and-socket joint of the part that couples the clamp to the gooseneck and allows it to rotate is not yet firm enough. This means that the gooseneck could rotate due to sudden movements by the musician and misalign the capsule. Stephan Mauer has reported this and this defect will be corrected on the production components, which will be available in the spring of 2022.
The good news is that the prices will be reasonable and competitive with other instrument mics, with the major advantage of allowing the addition or replacement of only worn or defective components, thus keeping your inventory in perfect condition at a lower cost.
Finally, we’d also like to thank Ann Vermont, Communications Manager for Europe at Sennheiser, for inviting us to this experience at the Pin Galant and for joining us there!
Technical characteristics of the MCM transducer
Acoustical operating principle: Pressure gradient transducer Directional Pattern: Cardioid Frequency Range: 20 Hz … 20 kHz Sensitivity at 1 kHz into 1 kohms: 3.5 mV/Pa +/- 2 dB (2.8 – 4.4 mV/Pa) Rated Impedance: 50 ohms Rated load impedance: 1 kohms Signal-to-noise ratio, CCIR (rel. 94 dB SPL): 63 dB Signal-to-noise ratio, A-weighted. (rel. 94 dB SPL): 71 dB Equivalent noise level, CCIR (peak): 31 dB Equivalent noise level, A-weighted: 23 dB Max. SPL = 153 dB
The PowerLink Truss & Stagebox by KLOTZ AIS is an extremely robust, ergonomic and easy-to-use new power distribution system. It’s various application possibilities are a big advantage.
The PowerLink presented by Nils Westerwell, European Sales Director.
This brand new product is at home not only in event technology, but also in theatres or TV studios.
The PowerLink has been designed with sufficient spacing to allow gloved hands to pass between the powerCONs.
The PowerLink Truss & Stagebox is equipped with one input and four outputs of the NEUTRIK powerCON True1 plug. It offers a power carrying capacity of up to 16A /250V. Due to the compact size and the ergonomic arrangement of the connections, easy handling is ensured in tough everyday stage use – even with work gloves.
The plastic housing is designed with rounded absorber edges and a robust surface to absorb shocks. This ensures that any external shocks are optimally diverted.
Inside the box, stiffening cross ribs, in conjunction with six housing screws, give the PowerLink Truss & Stagebox a very high level of resistance and provide compliance with current safety standards. A fall from truss height is easily absorbed, which underlines the robustness and durability. In addition, the housing is ultra-light.
Easily and quickly attached to a truss via two PowerLink Clamps.
The PowerLink Truss & Stagebox can be easily and quickly attached to a truss via two PowerLink Clamps; additional securing with two O-rings is also possible.
Alternatively, the box can be equipped with an optional metal bracket underneath. This has 2 pre-drilled holes as well as an M10 screw connection to ensure secure fastening.
As a useful accessory, KLOTZ AIS will add coloured rubber sleeves to the PowerLink’s portfolio. Fitted with these, the power distributor is optimally marked so that circuits can be quickly distinguished from one another even at a greater distance. KLOTZ AIS has protected the design and registered it with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) at the beginning of October 2021.
Klotz PowerLink Truss & Stagebox presentation video
The PowerLink Truss & Stagebox System will be available from the second quarter of 2022 at a MSRP of 154.70 € incl. German VAT and incl. postage within Germany.
Enquiries and pre-orders with the desired quantities can now be sent to KLOTZ AIS by e-mail :[email protected]
When Portland’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall reopened after a pandemic hiatus, those patrons attending the season debut of the resident Oregon Symphony were delighted to hear a striking difference in the sound of the orchestra. Following the installation of a Constellation® acoustic system, they experienced for the first time a rich and balanced natural reverberance distributed evenly throughout the hall.
The 2,776 seats Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
On stage, the musicians could hear each other clearly despite disappearance of the massive and ungainly physical stage shell. The Rose City’s beloved Italian Rococo Revival landmark had acquired a new and highly flexible acoustical signature.
With a current seating capacity of 2,776, the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall is one of a quintet of venues operated by the appropriately stylized Portland’5 Centers for the Arts. It was built in 1928 as a vaudeville house, transitioning to movies only two years later, and finally going dark in 1982. After a $10 million renovation project, the venue reopened in 1984 as a multipurpose concert hall and as the new home of the Oregon Symphony.
Robyn Williams
“Ours is the first vintage movie theater restoration to install Constellation, and that made it a bit of a learning curve,” says Portland’5 Executive Director Robyn Williams. “It’s a sophisticated system but it’s getting rave reviews. The audience experience is much better. Those who don’t even know Constellation is in here are saying the hall sound is very good now, and those who do know about it say it’s a game changer.”
The 1984 renovation did include significant changes to the architectural acoustics, including installation of a large stage shell, to make the baseline reverberation suitable for symphonic performances.
But problems remained. Seats under the deep balcony experienced noticeable sound imbalance and attenuation, for example, and the massive stage shell still fell short of distributing sound evenly throughout the hall. Also, the aging shell was difficult and time-consuming to move and store, and it was starting to raise safety concerns.
Look closely on the half top of this shot. The wires and the black dots hanging are part of the 86 ambient sound sensing microphones, in this case purposely placed vertically to the orchestra spot.
Williams and other key decision makers had initially set aside an active acoustic solution, based in part on experience with an earlier generation system from a different manufacturer at a hall elsewhere in Oregon. But Williams changed her mind after experiencing Constellation at the San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox venue.
Three UPM featuring the right color and delivering the right ambience. Three among 294 loudspeakers.
“I immediately realized this could be the solution we had been looking for,” says Williams. “The shell was at the end of its life, and we were reluctant to spend far into six figures for a solution that served only one arts organization.
Constellation would not only improve acoustics for the symphony on stage and in the audience, but it would afford flexibility for the wide variety of other musical genres we host here.”
Scott Showalter
Key decision makers, including Williams, Oregon Symphony President and CEO Scott Showalter, and symphony musicians made trips to Berkeley to hear Constellation at Meyer Sound’s headquarters and UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall.
Following a consensus decision, the wheels were set in motion. Historic preservation specialists Architectural Resources Group worked with The Shalleck Collaborative theatrical consultants on overall planning and providing the framework for technical specifics from Meyer Sound’s own Constellation team.
A couple of barely visible MM-4XP mini loudspeakers.
“It’s transcending, a night and day difference,” remarks the symphony’s Showalter. “The musicians can hear each other better, and the sound is more visceral in the audience. Regardless of where you are sitting, you hear a true balance of all the instruments.”
As installed, the Constellation system comprises 86 ambient sound sensing microphones and 294 meticulously positioned small loudspeakers, with various combinations assigned to four distinct acoustical zones on stage and in the hall.
A typical Constellation D-Mitri engine’s room sporting a lot of network-based digital audio processing and distribution units and many Meyer Smart Power racks called MPS -488HP, to feed with 48 V DC the small active speakers all over the venue.
Acoustical enhancements are created using the patented VRAS algorithm, hosted in a D-Mitri® digital audio platform. Installed by Sound Image, it is the largest Constellation system in the United States in terms of total loudspeaker and microphone deployment.
Meyer Sound Project Director for Constellation John Pellowe, formerly a classical recording engineer for Decca Records in London, supervised the exhaustive tuning process, using a variety of ensembles on stage as the musical source. The system’s debut came in early October with the Oregon Symphony’s first subscription concert under new Music Director David Danzmayr.
Aware that the venue serves a variety of clients other than the symphony, Robyn Williams applauds the expanded acoustical flexibility. “When they lowered the baseline reverberation for Constellation, it made the hall better for louder amplified music with Constellation off, while at intermediate settings the hall is better for jazz and light pop concerts.” Well aware that there are dozens of other movie palaces across the country now repurposed as multi-use concert venues, Williams expects the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall may become a mecca for her peers.
A very difficult room for the sound to travel under the balcony and give a good show at every seat. The Constellation helps a lot in such a case.
“Constellation is something that breathes new life into these grand old buildings,” she says. “It creates a new and flexible acoustic without large reflective panels or floating clouds, so it doesn’t impair the visual aesthetic. It is discreet and respectful of historic architecture.”
286 loudspeakers, some very easy to spot, some others cleverly hidden, all indispensable.
Based around a patented breakthrough in digital processing for acoustic spaces, Constellation places a multichannel reverberator between arrays of microphones and loudspeakers distributed throughout the room. The reverberator increases the apparent volume of the physical room while varying the gain on the microphones changes the apparent absorption or reflection of room surfaces.
By supplementing early reflections or extending reverberation, sound in the room behaves as if the room were larger, differently shaped or constructed with materials exhibiting varying degrees of absorption or reflection. The sound energy introduced into the room is continually recaptured, with the room reflections decaying in level according to the preset program to create the specifically desired reverberant effect.
All components of the system are supplied exclusively by Meyer Sound, with the Constellation team responsible for design and commissioning.
After consultation with the ISE exhibitor and visitor community and in the light of the increasing impact of the Omicron variant in Spain, Integrated Systems Events announces that ISE 2022, scheduled for 1-4 February, has been postponed and will now take place on 10-13 May 2022 at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía.
Mike Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, said today: “We’ve been closely monitoring the conditions in Europe and have been working hard on your behalf to balance health and safety concerns with the need for commerce and in-person interaction. It’s been a challenging time for so many over the past two years, and whilst we cannot wait to meet up with everyone at ISE 2022, listening to our exhibitors, owners and stakeholders, we have agreed the best course of action is to postpone the show edition for three months.
“By moving the event to the spring, it provides time for our community to rebalance and for confidence in international travel and meetings to resume. We will be working closely with all our exhibitors and stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition to the new dates. We look forward to hosting the global AV community at ISE 2022 in May in our new home in Barcelona.”
David Labuskes, CEO, AVIXA commented: “While balancing the commitment to both commerce and gathering has been difficult in these uncertain times, we believe the postponement of the ISE show until May does just that. Our community hungers for the opportunity to reconvene in 2022. This schedule makes that all the more possible for all of us. Beginning with ISE, we are looking forward to the summer of AV where we will have the opportunity to come together at InfoComm in June and InfoComm Beijing in July – it could not be a better way to gather and reinforce the opportunities and success for our industry.”
Daryl Friedman, CEO, CEDIA added: “We want to ensure ISE 2022 will be a great success for visitors and exhibitors alike as it has been for nearly two decades, and that starts with bringing together as much of our community as possible. We know the entire home technology industry is enthusiastic about coming together in-person, and we are confident this move to May will ensure the most vibrant return for all participants. We cannot wait to connect with all of you in Barcelona this spring.”
We look forward to making this event a success and would like to thank our stakeholders – exhibitors, sponsors, visitors, media partners, contractors, and the team at FIRA Barcelona – for continuing to support us through this difficult and ever-changing situation.
The ISE Conference programme runs from Monday 9 May through to Friday 13 May 2022.
Lighting, sound and video specialists, Colour Sound Experiment, supplied 48 Ayrton Karif LT LED beam spot fixtures to lighting designer Samuel Tozer of Vision Factory when he lit the drum and bass DJ duo, Hybrid Minds, for a one-off performance, produced by NTRP, at Brixton Academy in London in October. The recently-released Ayrton Karif LT was the main lighting fixture in Tozer’s rig which was almost exclusively composed of Ayrton Karif LT and Ayrton Eurus.
Ayrton Karif LT
Tozer specified Karif LT because he needed a multi-use hybrid fixture in a compact body, with the capacity for the narrow beam looks traditional to D&B music, but also able to deliver wide textured prism looks. “The Karif could give me all of these things and is small enough to use in large quantities to give me plenty of creative scope,” says Tozer.
Twenty-four Karif LTs were rigged evenly on 3 overhead trusses and the arrangement replicated at stage level with twenty-four Karif LT acting as floor units – the only fixtures on stage – sandwiching the DJ duo of Matthew Lowe and Josh White in between.
From here, Tozer used the Karif LTs to define the visual architecture of the show with big beam looks shooting out into the audience and creating wide open space and texture on stage. He used two Ayrton Eurus fixtures, chosen for their framing ability, as keylights on Lowe and White.
“I loved using the Karifs and found them very reliable,” he says. “The huge number of gobos gives me plenty of variety and choice, and the zoom range (2.8° – 47°) is great. They are just the right size for moving at speed and using in large numbers, and gave me the perfect range of options for the Brixton Academy. It’s good to try out the latest technology and they looked amazing. They are great, tiny, punchy units.”
Colour Sound Experiment now owns 160 Karif LT fixtures which it recently purchased from Ayrton’s exclusive UK distributor, Ambersphere Solutions, to expand its existing stock of Ayrton fixtures. “We originally invested in Karif as the smaller of the Ayrton units, since we already carry 50 Ayrton Eurus for mid-range and 80 Ayrton Huracan LT for long range applications,” says CSE’s Alex Ryan. “However, it quickly became apparent that Karif LT can hold its own in the medium size venues and is perfect for those such as the 10,000-capacity Brixton Academy. It really punches above its weight.
“We chose Ayrton because they have designed a standardised, homogenous range to cover all sizes of venue: small, medium and large. The fixtures are also extremely reliable – much more than most – which is very important when you are dealing with them on a daily basis. And the price point is such that we can afford to invest in good quantities of each, enough to service a couple of shows at any one time. For a rental house and production house they give us creative and financial flexibility.”
The full story can be found on the Ayrton website at: https://www.ayrton.eu/live/sam-tozer-chooses-ayrton-karif-lt-for-hybrid-minds-brixton-academy-show/
More information on Ayrton Karif LT and Eurus and Ayrton’s full range of LED lighting can be found at www.ayrton.eu
The Hybrid Minds performance at Brixton Academy was produced by NTRP.
Perinic Sistemi d.o.o. is the latest company to be appointed an exclusive distributor for SIXTY82, and will be covering the Croatian market with immediate effect.
Perinic Sistemi d.o.o. is a respected company that has been operating in the Croatian market for over 25 years. Beginning life as a rental company for sound systems, the company expanded its business over the years to include the full range of equipment needed for the entertainment industry. In order to succeed in the rental business, they were quick to recognize the need for high quality products that could both be durable and reliable, which is where SIXTY82 fits in.
“The main reason we chose to be a SIXTY82 distributor is because of the long term relations we have with the company’s top-quality and experienced personnel who have always been extremely professional, fast and patient with all our questions and requests,” says Iva Perinic from Perinic Sistemi. “The products are high quality, made to last, and at the same time easy to use.” Perinic Sistemi will distribute the whole SIXTY82 product line, selling as well as renting out the products. They believe that the Perinic Sistemi rental department itself is great promotion: “If it’s good enough for us – and we use only high-quality products – than you can be sure that the SIXTY82 is your right choice!’’ confirms Iva Perinic.
So how will Perinic Sistemi develop the SIXTY82 brand in their area? Perinic Sistemi believes that SIXTY82 products promote themselves and the best way to develop the brand in their market is by showing the products ‘in action’ to its customers. As a result, they invite customers along to live events or to their premises to discover the SIXTY82 products and show them its potential. “You need to have a product that you can rely on, and if you have great support from the company and factory as well, that gives you trust in the products. The best way to sell a product is if you really believe in it, and that you believe you can support your customers after the purchase,” says Iva Perinic. “We are very excited to be a part of the SIXTY82 team!’
Formidable Queen frontman Freddie Mercury took to the stage in the form of tribute performer Michael Kluch and his band in September, for a huge concert at Prague’s 18,000-capacity O2 Arena. The group, named Queenie, played the ‘Queen Relived’ show with a rock ‘n’ roll lighting design and a mix of pre-made and live feed visuals driven by Hippotizer Boreal+ and Karst+ Media servers.
The three-nighter, big budget production took more than a year to plan and programme, with the staging and tech taking 16 trucks to transport. Renowned show designer and creative Martin Hruška staged an impressive display of pyrotechnics and lighting pizazz, backed by a huge upstage LED screen.
The visuals depicted images of Mercury, played by Kluch, on stage. Lighting designer Lukáš Patzenhauer was in charge of the visuals, controlling the Hippotizer Boreal+ and Karst+ Media Servers via his ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M console.
“I fell in love with Hippotizer,” says Patzenhauer, who has worked with some of Czechia’s biggest music and TV stars. “It’s such a user-friendly platform, enabling me to harness the power of VideoMapper, effects and masks to create incredible visuals via DMX control from my desk, matching the colours often to complement my lighting design. The Timeline feature in Hippotizer V4 allowed me to playback the show simply, despite a complex array of visuals and effects.”
The Hippotizer Media Servers were supplied to the production by Prague-based distributor LightNeq, and their Hippotizer specialist Karel Bartak, who assisted Patzenhauer during show setup and programming.
Show designer Martin Hruška, who designed the visuals continues: “Some of the video content was created in other programs, such as Cinema 4D, Adobe After Effects and others. Some songs were manufactured in the form of livecam and colour corrections and effects adjusted within Hippotizer. “Hippotizer gave us reliability, speed and great synchronization with the lighting. It’s a really great product.”
The production team were also supported by Green Hippo’s Central Europe Sales Manager Evzen Zomer. “The team were really impressed by the Boreal+ and Karst+ Media Servers, and ZooKeeper,” says Zomer. “Both Martin Hruška and Lukáš Patzenhauer used many of Hippotizer V4’s powerful features, including a creative use of LED blocks using VideoMapper which optimised output use, reducing the number of LED processors needed to drive the content to the screens, which looked fantastic.”
The three-nights of shows, which had been delayed due to the pandemic, rocked the O2 Arena with the buzz and drama of Queen’s music and performance, reinterpreted by Queenie for the Queen Relived show. On the back of its success in Prague, the show is now gearing up for international dates.
Awakening of the Giants: Back in the old days, in an era of PAR bars, strobes and floppy disks, we all had our first rough encounter with discharge monsters. An overly massive flight case rolls in a zigzag pattern, carried away by the weight of its contents, charging out of the truck like a lion.
The hinges creak and, crouched in a poor crushed foam insert, a colossus of a fixture, far too big, too heavy and too powerful. It could have been a Golden Scan, a MAC 2000, a VL 3000, an Alpha Beam 1500, depending on when you started out. At the dawn of the new millennium, a shiver ran through us, mechanical pride, a challenge to carry, a test of virility, memorable illumination.
Then, the future arrived, and with it progress, the mother of all things lightweight and efficient, with smooth-curved LEDs, easy to handle, and to rig on your own without breaking a sweat. The behemoths of yesteryear no longer exist, except in nostalgic stories from the days of crooners, conventional rigs, K7 albums and Tiags.
Yet, right here where they’ve been celebrating diodes in all their forms for the past 20 years, the minds at Ayrton have brought to life a new giant, a legend in the making. A hurricane of light, a monster of unseen proportions, a new sensation, the Huracán-LT.
[private]
The 9 Series
It is the cheerful Vincent Billard, his official title “Customer Service Manager”, who welcomes me to the resplendent Ayrton headquarters. Over a coffee and a croissant, I hold back my journalistic questions while we chat about everything and nothing. News about some folks and others, the return to business, the fading last rays of the sun. We go from the cafeteria to their huge showroom, designed as an open stage, with curtains, cyclorama, motorized trusses and seating.
The entrance is at the back of the stands, immersed in semi-darkness my memory quarrels with my eyes. Why has this room shrunk? There are indeed the three trusses, equipped with a dozen Ghibli units, running from wall to wall. Iʼm still perplexed. The proportions donʼt add up. I examine the structure, it seems more frail now, valiantly resisting the… immense spot fixtures… that stare at me through huge lenses. They are not Ghibli, nor Khamsin, but something far larger, a monster fixture comes into focus.
The Huracán-LT dwarfs the trusses.
“Come on,” Vincent urges me, “letʼs get them in place, where do you want them for your tests?” He looks me up and down, and gives me an all but mocking “I hope youʼre in shape!” I walk up to the first of these Super-Ayrtons, which looks exactly like a Ghibli, except that some magic wand has made it one third bigger, including the weight!
We grab it as best we can by its handles, which have somehow been excluded from the metamorphosis, and bring it to the front of the stage. I jump back two decades, when I encountered, shy and curious, my first big spots. Tight muscles, short breath, already the Huracán-LT impresses me. As if it were the fixture that was testing me, not the other way around!
Tristan (the author) in contemplative mode, while Cyril (with his back turned) diligently disassembles this extraordinary fixture.
Cyril Union, the head of the design department, joins us – looking more “zen” than ever – with a twinkle of pride in his eyes. He spares me the mocking look at my fluttering arms, following the installation of three of these diabolical fixtures. “More than 150 kg in less than two minutes, bravo! So what do you think of our 9 Series?”
From their explanations, I learn the new Ayrton denominations for their fixtures. In front of this multitude of types and names – Mistral, Bora, Karif etc. – their pedigree is now articulated into two main lines: ʻClassicʼ and ʻMultisourceʼ fixtures distinguish their new, more conventional sources from the LED arrays that have made Ayrton famous, such as the MagicPanel.
Each type of fixture is then classified by power, from the smallest to the largest, according to series numbers. Thus, the 3 Series includes the Diablo and Karif, the 5 Series the Ghibli and Eurus, the 7 Series the Khamsin and Bora, and finally, at the top of the range, the Huracán. Water-resistant IP models, such as the Perseo and Domino, are also part of this series. This reconstruction of the range, which doesnʼt supersede the names of each fixture, reveals a clear and simple hierarchy in a few moments.
The incredible resemblance between the Ayrton models, which differ only in size and a few elements, such as the stippled skin of the IP65 models.
The 9 Series Huracán-LT is the biggest matryoshka doll of the lot, the culmination of this breed of super-fixtures. The appearance is all curves, streamlined like a dolphin held by two sleek arms to a minimalist base. All of the Ayrton fixtures share this common design and technology: high-powered white LED sources, cooling via heat pipes and push/pull fans, high efficiency condenser lenses and optical systems, a vast zoom range, a plethora of functions and precise colorimetry… but also, admittedly, with some rather curious choices in terms of the menu and general ergonomics.
The models from Ayrton are all visibly similar, except for their size and the logo on their back.
Despite their presentation having been spread out over time, and their names that are not always so obvious, the different types that Ayrton has introduced have one fundamental thing in common: their capability to transcend the usual spot, wash and beam stereotypes.
So, with the exception of the Mistral, the spots are almost all uncompromising profile fixtures with framing modules, rich in gobos, prisms, animation wheels, frosts and with a wide range of colors. The washes are more like wash-beams: clear lenses, zoom from a tight to a wide beam with a soft frost, and equipped, in addition to their color mixing, with gobos and shapes and internal shutters.
As for the beams, Karif and Perseo, identified by the suffix LT (for “Long Throw”), they are almost everything at once, capable of clenching their fists for punch or opening up wide for ambience, super-equipped with functions, with an enhanced hot spot for maximum impact. The Huracán-LT is of this latter category, a complete hybrid, one that defies modesty and rationality.
A quick overview
Cyril comes back with a sort of wheeled gurney, armed with some screwdrivers. Weʼre going to take advantage of this monsterʼs slumber to study it under all the seams, and remove its organs. We take the 53 kg of the Huracán-LT with effort, especially with these minimalist handles, where a slightly broad hand can hardly fit. Lying on the table, itʼs impressive. 90 cm high, 50 cm wide – a torpedo.
For the moment, no accessories are available – no filter holder or anti-reflection cone. The huge front lens would leave little room for them, and there is no need for them.
A superb 225 mm lens takes up the entire face of the head, a 7 kg component all by itself, almost heavier than the small base of the fixture, which measures only 30 cm per side. Like a nest, its single-unit flight case is perfectly adapted, with a molded protective insert supplied with it, which has lowered edges for a better grip.
The menu display is stabilized, with its color screen and its multi-function wheel. It still has an internal battery to configure and store the settings without power. A new feature is a directly accessible hatch to change the battery without disassembling the base of the projector.
On the side where the battery is, we find the XLR5 DMX connectors, the PowerCON True1 mains connector and two RJ45 Ethernet ports. Not only does it incorporate an ArtNet and sACN node, capable of sending out a DMX signal, but it also acts as a switch to relay the Ethernet. In case of power failure, Cyril explains, a relay keeps the signal to the output intact.
All the connectors are managed by a passive driver board from the display circuit board, the brain of the projector is integrated into the interface circuitry. The battery hatch houses the internal battery, an INR 14650, 3.7 V Li-Ion type.
Another innovation is that the rear panel also features a dedicated USB update port, protected by a rubber cover. A simple USB key containing the new firmware will allow you to perform an update in a few minutes. While the integration of a LumenRadio wireless DMX receiver as standard is a firmly established Ayrton practice, it has been completely camouflaged in recent versions, using an antenna incorporated around the menu display.
Underneath the base there are four shock-absorbing pads and eight quarter-turn omega brackets, for the installation of rigging clamps to the inside, outside, transversally or at 90° angles. The Huracán-LT can be positioned or suspended in many configurations, but will have to be deployed vertically because of its weight. You can forget about offset or perpendicular installation: the weight of this behemoth will get the better of the pan motor, as well as your arms. Two safety cable lugs are attached directly to the frame of the base, wide enough to accommodate cable thimble clamps. These are a clear testament to the size and weight that needs to be attached to a truss.
The yoke of this beast, relatively slender and with no particular embellishment, houses two large pan and tilt locks, which fit naturally in the hand, with numerous locking angles: 30°, 45°, 60° or even 90° for the tilt. Inside, just the power and signal lines are routed, as well as the positional PCB and the tilt motor. The Huracánʼs body, made of jet-black injection molded plastic, is practically smooth, except for the rear grille, which is ridged for better cooling, and the huge air intake vents on the sides and bottom of the unit.
After this examination, we can begin the dissection of this giant
The two covers that make up the cowling are held in place by two ¼-turn captive screws, with the front being held in place by the flange around the lens. Each is secured by a safety cable, which slides onto a cradle support.
A shell of phase-transition heat pipe and copper dissipation fins surround the heart of the beast.
Once itʼs opened up, we can see the source module, sandwiched between two rows of three push/pull fans each, some of which blow air out while others draw it in. The dragonʼs breath is composed of white LEDs that draw more than 1000 watts, natively emitting 75,000 lumens (!) at 8,200 K. Quite a feat, considering the shallow depth of the module.
A glass condenser lens, rather than a PMMA one, propels the photons forward, with minimal losses. In the end, Ayrton declares more than 51,000 lumens of output at 6700 K, using the integrated sphere measurement method – a limit that would have been impossible to surmount even just a few months ago.
Along the inside of the head are the two effects modules, followed by the zoom system of the optical train. To protect them from the internal barrage of fire, each driver circuit board is equipped with a ventilation duct and is located as far away from the central axis as possible, as are the other sensitive components, such as belts and sensors. Impellers cool down the elements that are positioned closest to the light path, such as gobos, shutters, effect wheels and colors.
Air from the outside is drawn in through the micro-fabric filters located on the sides of the unit.
All of these fans are regulated by a global ventilation control. Some of them are only activated when the modules are in use (like the framing shutters), unless otherwise configured. When the ventilation is running at full capacity, the noise level is very low: 57 dB at 1 meter. In spite of all these features, the heat inside the unit is so high that it takes almost an hour for the fixture to cool down completely before disassembly. Externally, some parts of the housing can easily reach 56°C.
The two mechanical modules are like magnificent timepieces, perfectly adjusted and rich with innovative details. They are attached by two pairs of screws to the side braces, and can be removed by sliding them on catches, paying attention to the focal lenses. There is no need to fuss with untangling the power or signal cables, they are condensed into a single connector. A driver PCB is assigned to each function, controlled from the motherboard in the base.
Once the modules are removed, we examine them in detail, fascinated
The surprising DB9 connector, top left, is a wise choice, as durable as it is practical. The aluminum plates on the sides protect the passage of the wiring. In the center are the frost and the prisms.
The first organ we remove combines a number of functions. First of all, the CMYPOB flags of the hexachromy color system – the six microdot color filters on high temperature glass, patented by Ayrton.
In addition to the Cyan, Magenta and Yellow filters, the Huracán includes three additional gradients for pastels: Pink, a light pink similar to minus-green, a slightly sepia CTO and a CTB that can draw out lavender.
The color filters are each divided into two halves with a dual overlap and an oval cutout for maximum uniformity. On the other side, the module contains the gobos and the animation effects.
The six filters of the color wheel are mounted in slots and can be replaced with specific filters or custom hues. The two wheels of rotating gobos are next, followed by the animation discs.
There are seven patterns on each of the wheels, which can be accessed without removing the sprockets. They are simply held in place by a coiled circlip. A metal index marker indicates the zero point of each, so they can be indexed correctly for quick changes.
This first module is impressive both for its workmanship and for its very compact integration. From top to bottom you can see the multicolor animation disk, the color wheel, the gobos, and the pattern of the animation wheel. The latter features an offset, so you can choose which part of the disk to insert into the light path.
The animation effects are created by two types of patterns on two large glass discs, which move and position themselves in the beam before rotating. The first one is a nice swirling color scheme, while the second one features a more traditional axial pattern.
The second section of the guts of the Huracán-LT presents a large mechanical diaphragm, composed of a number of beveled blades.
The whole module rotates to index the shutter blades, including the iris part, which makes it the first rotating iris!
The first four are the transversal framing shutters, each mounted on two arms with dual-axis movement, connected by a sliding slot. The beautiful iris, very fine, spirals around its sixteen blades at the edges of the module.
The final section, integrated into the walls of the head, consists of the thirteen-lens optical system. This one covers an unbelievable range of 3.5° to 53°, an incredible ratio of 15:1.
On the plate of the focus lens carriage, five lever arms surround the lens. Each of them holds a frost or a prism. The two frosts are different in terms of intensity. The first one is a light frost that is inserted all at once, while the second one is composed of two denser frosts that are progressive and saw-toothed. The two prisms, one linear and radial, can then overlap, if the frosts are not engaged. The final component is the zoom carriage rail, the course of which ends just before the output lens, a huge, crystal-clear cornea.
DM512
Itʼs time to resurrect this Goliath, reassembling it and plugging it into the mains. With a 110 V to 220 V power supply, the power draw can go up to 1600 watts at peak, with an average of 1200 watts when running. Before long, weʼll have to resort to a 32 A mono-phase.
The menu display illuminates, the fixture starts to move, and after exactly 1 minute and 22 seconds, it is ready to work. First, letʼs go through the different menus. “Mode” allows us to choose our DMX template, from Basic to Extended, ranging from 44 to 70 control channels. We can also map the parameters to the same as those of the Domino, the IP65 version of the Huracán. This high number of channels is a result of a large number of 16-bit parameters, due to the use of 16-bit electronics and motors as well. The Standard mode is, in fact, the “reduced” mode, except for Pan and Tilt.
In the “Options” section you will find Signal Select and Wireless DMX. The first one to choose the control signal: DMX, Wireless-DMX, ArtNet or sACN. The second one allows you to activate or reset the built-in LumenRadio receiver. Pairing is extremely easy, just by searching with a CRMX transmitter, and unpairing if necessary. The color scheme of the menu LED indicates if the operation was successful.
Ayrton now offers a welcome consistency with respect to menu settings, with clear identification of the parameters.
For ArtNet or sACN, IP settings are available in the Service PIN but, by default, the fixture communicates in Class A. Of course, RDM is available automatically if required, with a large number of PiDs, including ventilation and temperature sensors. The “Status” menu manages several important features.
For the movements of this Goliath, we can handle the P/T reversals, the pan travel, the deactivation of the motors for use as a manual followspot, and, most importantly, the speed. The movement speed parameter is initially set to Medium, to ensure a majestic and smooth gait; Slow and Fast modes exist to modify the reaction time. The movements will be more or less dramatic, but the time gains (and the noise level!) will be drastic depending on the context: theater or rock stage.
The Hibernation option allows you to maintain the last value, to return to zero or to a memory preset when DMX is not available. When using ArtNet or sACN protocols, it is possible, with DMX Output, to re-transmit the signal in DMX. There are other menus to get to know, such as “Fan Control”, to set the ventilation to “Stage”, “Silent” or “Super Silent” modes, which will progressively limit the intensity of the output but reduce the noise of the ventilation as well. In “Constant Fan” setting, the ventilation will remain constant and will avoid variations.
Of course the brightness and the orientation of the display can be modified (Display Settings), as well as the dimming response curve (Dimmer Curve) or the PWM LED driver frequency to avoid flickering, at the expense, however, of the dimming precision at low levels (refresh rate at 1.6 kHz, 2.4 kHz or 25 kHz). More uncommon, instead, is the “Gobo Correction” parameter, which will remove the Yellow Shift filter when inserting a gobo, and the frost can be progressive or not (Frost).
Video presentation
3 in 1
The Huracán-LT is ready to pounce, we take it off its leash by switching to wireless, with a natural simplicity. No slowdown, no hesitation is noticed when choosing the W-DMX option. It starts to show its teeth. The dimmer starts very gently, with a rare finesse at low level. The non-linear curve (thanks to the electronic dimmer) is a treat. Pushing the watts up, the beam hits you with force, a bright white, a noticeable but not excessive hot spot, with a uniformity that improves as you zoom in.
A plot of the dimming curve from 0 to 10%…
… and from 0 to 100%. The unique dimming curve provides precise intensity control.
The zoom range is insane, spanning from a concentrated beam, to the wide mouth of a wash, at more than 50°. A 15-fold multiplication that takes its time: more than two seconds in normal mode, compared with one second when boosting the zoom speed via the menu.
The zoom, with the help of the spectacular front lens, goes from 3.5° to 53° very smoothly.
The shutter is also electronic, with the typical styles: constant, pulse and random. It strobes fast and well. A little disappointed, I realize that the effects of the LED module have disappeared, a competitor having patented the idea. When it moves, the inertia due to the weight of this titan is significant. Its speed is far from fast but it stays fluid. If the 5 seconds minimum to make a complete turn annoys you, you can switch the speed in the menu. You will gain 2 seconds on the turn, but you will lose the repositioning at the end of the course. Basically, the Huracán-LT will shake when it comes to a stop.
The gobos are faithful to the Ayrton philosophy, with a first wheel for aerial effects and a second one for projection. For aerial effects, the first seven designs are simple and have been studied to work with a narrow or wide beam. A ring of dots, windows, stars, multi-holes… the classics are there. Surprisingly, an off-center hole allows for some very interesting combinations.
At the end of the first gobo wheel, the bar can be used with frost to illuminate a catwalk or as a front light with shutters.
The other seven designs are more detailed, suitable for more theatrical atmospheres. “Starry Night”, ripples, “crosswalk”, rose, foliage, colored rays and Ayrtonʼs signature, the popular circle of color. Each one is well defined, with a unique focal plane. The yellow diffraction associated with the insertion of gobos is automatically corrected by the application of a corrective filter.
Between well-known gobos and new ones, every possible taste is covered.
Regarding focusing, the mechanical stacking of the effects in dense layers requires a lot of finesse when adjusting the zoom and focus, especially at the extremes of the range. The focal point is to the millimeter and, for once, the autofocus parameter is more than welcome. By indicating the projection distance, the sharpness remains constant at any zoom value and also adapts to changing from one gobo wheel to another. Very impressive. A separate adjustment channel is even available for defocusing, if needed.
The two animation wheels bring some delightful freshness to the concept, combining simplicity and efficiency.
The two continuously scrolling discs are rich in animations. The first one is a revival of the colored oil bath effect, while the other one is an aerial animation wheel on two channels. The first channel allows you to choose the position of the wheel for horizontal, vertical or axial scrolling, while the second channel allows you to choose the speed. The combinations offer a wealth of possibilities.
The two prisms offer a radial or linear dispersion, or even an overlapping combination of the two, and they can be indexed and rotated. As is often the case today, the divergence of the prisms remains fairly tight, so that they do not spread outside of the throat of the luminaire. A slight insertion delay occurs with a moment of defocussing, when the focus lenses move aside to let them through, as though it were taking a deep breath.
The radial prism, the linear prism and the combined prisms with the cage gobo.
The 16-blade iris is remarkable, both fast and exceptionally sharp. The projection delivers a dazzling coin when it reaches its target. The two frosts are carefully chosen. The light one is there to “wash out” the gobos, and is inserted all at once, while the second one is worthy of a Fresnel lens, and transforms the Beam into a Wash with little loss of intensity. The beam is diffuse and uniform, worthy of a theater key light.
Practically everything is available in pairs, such as this duo of frosts, a light one and a more diffused one, which goes so far as to make the gobo disappear.
The four framing shutters are capable of complete closure and are mounted on two motors. Each channel drives one of the corners of the blade, while sliding it slightly.
The framing shutters are on different focal planes, which causes a slight green or purple diffraction around the edges.
It takes some practice to master them well. The very generous optical system is less gentle with the lines: at wide zoom settings, the edges of the shutters start to curve. The entire framing and iris module can be rotated ±60°.
The color management is a pleasure with this huge chameleon. CMY color mixing plus three progressive correctors, a 6-color wheel and a macro channel, nothing is lacking. The CMY goes after saturated tones, with a yellow like an egg, a green like a fir tree and a cyan like tropical waters. The correctors are complementary pastels, with a CTO that is almost sepia, going down to 3000 K, a CTB that tends toward lavender and a pink gradient, serving as both a progressive CRI and a minus-green, which elegantly brings out skin tones.
A few dense solid colors are available on the color wheel, Congo, Green, Orange, Blue and Red; after a ¼-CTB, the famous Yellow-Shift that is introduced when Gobos are inserted. To save time, a channel of macros, 93 virtual LEE Filter gelatins, with DMX values that match the numbers of the gelatins. Last but not least, the control channel incorporates control of many of the menu settings. Display on, ventilation, PWM frequency, dimming curve, Yellow-Shift filter, motor reset and so on. This avoids the need to use the RDM, which is very advanced, with a large number of variables.
A selection of aerial gobos.
Measurements
Measurements at the tightest sharp-focused beam
Measurements at the widest sharp-focused beam
Like scientists fascinated by a new giant predator, after having observed, handled and tamed it, we end up submitting it to a battery of tests to gauge its strength, consumed by curiosity.
derating curve
In the lab, the data comes out. The flux goes from 13,200 lumens at the tightest beam, with an illuminance of 50,000 lux, to 35,700 lumens at the widest wash. The light distribution is amazing for a Beam. While there is a hot spot in the center, it is well contained, and the rest of the beam is very uniform. The derating is well controlled, with a 10% drop in the first five minutes, before stabilizing after ten minutes.
Measurements at a 20° beam
At 20°, our reference setting, the Huracán-LT reaches 36,700 lumens of flux, with a center illuminance of 24,700 lux. The color temperature is quite high, 6740 K, and despite a CRI of 70, the white is very balanced, with a nice vibrance. Engaging the CTP flags at maximum, the CRI climbs to 89, the hue warms up and drops to a color temperature of 5400 K, ideal for frontal work. However, the intensity drops by 2/3. The CTO makes it possible to go down to 3000 K, there again with 35% of the flux preserved, while the CTB sends up the degrees Kelvin like a rocket, but only allows 18% of the photons to pass. The standard CMY system is less greedy on the yellow, reducing the intensity by “only” 34%, while cyan and magenta absorb 86% and 97% of the flux.
Inserting a gobo, which triggers the Yellow-Shift filter to avoid amber diffractions, also reduces intensity, as it absorbs 30% of light. Keep this in mind, as well as the possibility to deactivate this filter through the control channels, especially for warm hues. Beyond its fearsome appearance, the most pleasant aspect of the Huracán-LT is the use of the Fresnel frost, which provides a soft fluff to the beam, while absorbing only 17% of the lux.
The Huracán-LT is not a simple clone of the Huracán Profile, a sort of super-Ghibli with a tighter zoom. Instead, it represents a new development in the Ayrton ecosystem. An evolution towards that utopia, almost within reach, of a fixture capable of switching from Beam to Spot, from Profile to Wash. Incredibly complete, precise and full of subtle novelties; an exaggeration in every way, including weight, heat and channel count. This gentle monster, with its majestic walk, will thrill Ayrton fans with its many dazzling facets.
PRG, the world’s leading provider of production solutions for entertainment and live events, has named Stephan Paridaen as CEO, effective Jan. 3, 2022. Paridaen currently holds the role of President & COO at PRG, leading its operations in EMEA & APAC since 2010. Simultaneously, Jeremiah J. (Jere) Harris will become the company’s Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer.
“There’s no one better prepared and able to lead the company than Stephan Paridaen,” Harris said. “Since arriving at PRG 12 years ago, he has demonstrated an exceptional passion for our mission and has focused on the continual growth of our business in the EMEA and APAC regions, while improving our operations and expanding our offerings.”
As Executive Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, Harris will work with and support Paridaen and the leadership team on continued excellence in areas that established the company in the first place and define its legacy: customer experience, technology and the mentoring and development of the best industry talent.
Harris felt that the timing was right for the CEO transition. He said, “We are at an inflection point for the company, the industry and indeed the world. After leading the company through the most difficult period in our history, we are now on solid footing. There is still much work to do, and I am confident in Stephan’s ability to realize the tremendous opportunity ahead.”
Speaking on behalf of the PRG Board of Directors, Lauren Krueger, Managing Director, KKR, said, “We thank Jere for his exceptional leadership of PRG and look forward to his contributions as Executive Chairman & Chief Creative Officer. We are confident that Stephan brings the strategic vision and operational focus needed to accelerate growth and profitability at PRG.”
Paridaen has led PRG’s growth in the EMEA region, establishing the company as a major presence on the entertainment and event production landscape there. Recent achievements include the development of new markets, such as esports; a network of digital and virtual production facilities across EMEA and APAC; and a significant expansion in the Middle East, a region actively positioning itself as a destination for entertainment and sports. Before arriving at PRG, Paridaen was President, Media & Entertainment at the leading visual technology & systems provider Barco. While there, he played a transformative role in the converging technologies of video and lighting, the digitization of cinema theatres and LED display innovation.
Paridaen said, “It is a true honor to lead a company as rich in legacy and innovation as PRG. Jere Harris was among the first to see the tremendous power of technology to transform how audiences engage with music, TV and film, theatre, corporate events and more, and his founding mission now has greater relevance than ever. PRG is uniquely positioned for growth with its industry-leading team of people and global resources.”
Harris is a legendary figure in entertainment and event production. He began his career on Broadway as a carpenter’s apprentice and has since earned a Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award, four Tony Awards, multiple Drama Desk Awards, an Olivier Award, and an Emmy Award for engineering. PRG, the company he founded in 1995, has grown into a global presence with 62 offices in 28 countries and an unsurpassed diversity of technologies and skillsets. In addition, it holds over 250 patents and trademarks and is responsible for innovation that has reshaped production practice in theatre, concert touring, TV, and film and more.
UK-based rental, and production company HPSS Ltd, invested in Robe MegaPointes to provide spectacular results for the city’s 2021-22 festive illuminations of Hull, which feature 16 of these super-bright multifunctional fixtures. These were distributed on the rooftops of three landmark city centre buildings in a concept and system design by HPSS’s Graham Roberts.
Graham and HPSS Ltd have delivered this project for the past few years, working alongside Jonathan Black from Hull City Council. Each time the challenge is to create something new, fresh, and different, but based on the same principle of energising the heart of the city, and bringing it alive with vibrance, colour and movement in a visual scheme that can be enjoyed by all.
The festive lighting system was also integrated with some of the city centre’s existing lighting and AV control infrastructure which was installed by HPSS a couple of years ago to facilitate municipal events, comprising both wired and a wireless Luminex network with Avo TNP control.
The three buildings utilised are Hull City Hall – designed by City architect Joseph Hirst in the Baroque Revival style and built between 1903 and 1909; The Ferens Art Gallery, donated to the city by Thomas Ferens, and opened in 1927; and the magnificent Maritime Museum, a striking piece of classic Victorian architecture originally constructed in 1872, dedicated to exploring the seafaring heritage of the city. The latter is currently closed for extensive refurbishment.
It was the first time that Graham had used MegaPointes for the festive illuminations! He had explored some other options in past years, but for this year, Hull City Council decided to extend the illuminations beyond the festive season for another couple of months as the buzz they create is very much appreciated, so with this longer period in mind, Graham needed “flexibility, brightness and above all reliability” when it came to light sources.
MegaPointe ticked all the boxes, and due to the length of the installation, investing in more MegaPointes to cover the period was an easy decision to make. Eight MegaPointes are positioned on the City Hall with four each on the Art Gallery and the Maritime Museum, each cross-projecting gobos and wash lighting onto the other buildings, with some of the throw distances around 40 – 50 metres.
“I really needed a properly multi-purpose fixture for beam-work, spot effects and washes plus texturing / gobo projections, and MegaPointe was perfect,” said Graham. Also informed by the “excellent” experience with HPSS’s existing stock of MegaPointes, when the duration of the lightshow increased, it made financial sense to invest in more Robe.
The lights are in static states most of the time, however every half hour, a QLab system triggers the Avo Quartz master console, and they fire up and perform a timecoded lightshow to one of six randomly selected Christmas songs, which blast out from a small PA system located on the City Hall balcony. This will be changed after mid-January when the festive period officially ends.
For more info. on Robe lighting you can visit www.robe.cz
There are two different ways of being (a) patient.
– While being battered by the oncoming waves, be it the third, the fourth and now the fifth, we wait and be patient securing our vessel. Closing the port-holes and hatches, checking our life rafts, and doing everything needed to continue our journey once the storm has blown over. – The other is in a packed hospital, because we thought we knew better than an expert from 24/7 news channel, used good ol’ remedies passed down through generations, and found new ones every day on social media, we have become a patient.
We do not know what future is awaiting us. In 2022 we must keep patient, united, generous, and rational to continue our fight against this tiny and deadly thing. The virus and its mutations, are stronger than we think and will be coming at us after and after again, we must stay strong and learn to live with it.
2022 is also the year that, in France, we choose which Captain will be at the helm of our vessel. He will need to have enough experience and give him/her a crew seaworthy for us to sail the high seas side by side with other countries around the world. Their mission is to heal the wounds in society, rebuild Europe, and most importantly having a new and different relationship with our planet.
Celebrate 2022, the year of the Tiger, with courage and strength, be safe rather than sorry. We must continue to enhance our artistic culture with technical advances, as we have done, even with the pandemic. Art, in all its shapes, is what we need most in these difficult times, it gives one that nice feeling we all strive for.
Edinburgh-based production services and dry hire company, Blue Parrot, has become the first company in the UK to take stock of one of Ayrton’s latest products, Perseo Beam, having purchased 10 of the brand new fixtures from Ambersphere Solutions, Ayrton’s exclusive distributor in the UK.
Released in July, Perseo Beam is the first compact, waterproof multi-function beam effect LED luminaire and the latest in Ayrton’s family of IP65 rated fixtures. Well-suited for use indoors as well as outdoors, the fixture is equipped with an ultra-intensive 2° beam and 21x zoom ratio, making it an extraordinary tool that will help achieve some incredible effects.
“We are extremely excited to add Perseo Beam to our line up alongside our pre-existing stock of Ayrton Perseo Profile,” says Blue Parrot managing director, Rebecca Clough, who explained that the reasons for selecting Perseo Beam were the same as for their first investment in 2019.
“They were everything we were looking for: LED-sourced, IP65-rated and compact enough to use indoors as well as out. They have SO many gobos we haven’t had the chance to use them all yet, but its most impressive feature is the intensity of the 2° beam – outstanding from an LED source – and the zoom that allows you to change from a beam to a profile. It has a flexibility unmatched by anything else.
“I’d been contemplating beam fixtures when I saw Ayrton was bringing out the Perseo Beam. I contacted Ian Green at Ambersphere to ask to see them as soon as they were available. We have trust in the Ayrton brand from having good experience with the Perseo Profile units, so I only had to look at them for a matter of minutes before I decided we would buy them!”
Blue Parrot’s Perseo Beams were immediately put to use on a Halloween event at Lochore in Fife, where they illuminated the Horr’Ore night walk. Based on popular horror movies, this 20-minute themed walk through the forest saw brave souls separated into small groups with timed starts to increase their sense of isolation. The walkways between action sites were deliberately kept very dark and populated by live performers whose purpose was to frighten the passers-by. Blue Parrot was tasked to light the route in such a way that it was safe enough to walk through the trees in the dark, but using as little light as possible until each group triggered lightshows as they moved into the live action areas.
Perseo Beam fitted into this scenario very well: “We took advantage of that tremendous beam by siting three Perseo Beams at the walk entrance where they shot their beams into the sky,” says Clough. “People reported being able to see them from the Firth of Forth bridge, some 12-13 miles distance. But Perseo Beam is more of a hybrid fixture and capable of much more. It was great to be able to switch between beam and profile functions and even use it as a wash in places too.”
For one installation – a tunnel with very loud, pulsating music and disorientating lighting – Clough used them as a combination of a standard spot with gobos to texture the light and add to the confusion before the walkers were jumped by an actor. “We used more Perseo Beams for a backlight wash at another site, triggered by the approach of the group to create a massive burst of dramatic red light. With most lights you lose much of the intensity when you add red, but the red in the Perseo Beam is really punchy and provided some great red beams as backlight for the man with the chainsaw!
“None of us at Blue Parrot really like horror movies – our production manager, Rhys Turner, had a very nervous time doing the preshow walk around! However, one of the most satisfying part of the event was standing in the forest on the trail and hearing people screaming their heads off all around you! We knew then we made something that worked!”
Perseo Beam’s IP65 rating was also put to extreme test for the event: “We had horrendous weather with the first night cancelled due to torrential rain but we had no concerns about the Perseo Beams. The units were getting pounded with water but I had full faith from our experience with Perseo Profile that they would be absolutely fine – which they were. They were filthy and very muddy when they returned to the warehouse but we just hosed them down and they were ready to go again!”
“We are delighted that Blue Parrot was so impressed with its original Perseo Profile fixtures that they decided to invest in Perseo Beam,” says Amberphere Solution’s Ian Green. “It’s fair to say the weather here in Scotland can be a little challenging at times, even in the summer! The Blue Parrot team works on a wide variety of creative events and I can see these new Ayrton fixtures are destined for an interesting and demanding life – which is exactly what they were designed for.”
Following a 17-month hiatus from the road, pop rock band shakes off the cobwebs on 8-week tour across North America. Lighting supply by Upstaging.
Photo Steve Jennings
Three-time Grammy Award-winning band Maroon 5 wrapped an early fall tour on October 8th in Concord, California, the conclusion to an 8-week return to the road lit by Brian Jenkins using Upstaging-supplied Elation lighting. The pop rock band played sheds across North America in support of “Jordi,” a summer release dedicated to band manager Jordan Feldstein, who passed away in 2017.
Part-time full-time gig
Maroon 5 has proved to be one of the most successful acts of the past 20 years with at least one top five single on the Billboard Hot 100 on every album since their 2002 debut release. That staying power echoes a consistency that has defined the tightly bonded group, a constancy that includes the production crew.
Lighting designer/director Brian Jenkins is in his ninth year with the band, a collaboration he calls “my part-time full-time gig,” explaining that the band will “knock out a block of shows, and then retreat into the shadows for a bit.” It’s a schedule that has worked out well over the years, allowing him to work on other shows and with other designers. “We have a friendly, tight-knit crew and mostly everyone has been with the organization for some time,” he says.
Like old times
With touring in limbo, the band had shelved its 2020 North American tour but already in early 2021 murmurings emerged of a shed tour and by late March, it was apparent that a fall tour was going forward. “Nothing was 100% with pandemic reports and restrictions,” Jenkins said, “but we had to get the ball moving and would figure things out as we went along.”
Photo Steve Jennings
The tour kicked off on August 10 in Auburn, Washington, with an eager production crew thrilled to be back working. “During the first week of shows, everyone found their groove again and it was like (new) old times,” the designer states. “Kudos to our production team and the Live Nation staff that did a lot of leg work to make it smooth and safe. Covid protocols threw a bit of a curveball sometimes, but overall we had a safe tour and everyone was thankful to be doing live shows again.”
New 2021 design
Although they could have relied on a postponed 2020 tour design (the band had played a string of South American shows in early 2020 and was planning a North American tour before the plug was pulled), Jenkins says that this 2021 tour design turned out to be quite different. “Originally, Adam [lead singer Adam Levine] and the band were going for a very polished, modern look with clean lines, slick content, integrated camera work with notch effects, and automated lighting/video pods,” Jenkins says.
“Given a year to gather new ideas, they did a 180 after working with Sophie Muller on a music video for American Express. The new direction requested was a deconstructed, post-apocalyptic world. So we ended up with old cars, dead trees, a massive horse head, and Roman arches to name a few set elements. Oh, and tumbleweeds.”
Photo Steve Jennings
Working together with the band during the initial concepts and renderings, Jenkins then relies on his familiarity of the band, their music and aesthetic to flesh out the lighting looks. “They’re pretty easy-going, honestly,” he says. “Being with the band for this amount of time, I have a sense of the style and energy the show needs to display. We certainly exposed a different color aesthetic for this tour with Sophie Muller’s direction, and I think it worked well with the content and overall feel with the set.”
Design looks
Being a pop show, Jenkins says there were a lot of “cues, pops, bloops, and occasional whistles” together with a number of beamy looks, high-side sculpting, and silhouette moments speckled throughout the set list. “LEDs and strobes are loaded-up and used frequently,” he said, before providing a further peek into his design schemes.
“We generally lean into heavy color saturation for the higher energy songs and then reset the palette for more of the slower tempo segments. For each song, I tend to create a base look that rides through the song and layer on top with effects and timecode hits. Once the guys start, they usually do 5 to 8 songs back-to-back so there’s a lot of energy and not much downtime with blackouts, talking, guitar changes, etc. It’s a lot of fun. After 25 minutes, they come up to take a quick breather and then go after it again.”
Proteus, Fuze, Volt
Elation Proteus Hybrid
An integral part of the color and effects package consists of 14 Proteus Hybrid LED moving heads, 40 Fuze Wash Z350 LED wash lights and 24 Volt Q5E battery-powered LED wash lights. “We use the Proteus Hybrid primarily as key light,” Jenkins explains. “Considering that they’re occasionally exposed to the elements on the downstage truss, the IP rating was a key in choosing this fixture.”
Elation Fuze Wash Z350
The Fuze Wash Z350s with their single source RGBW color mixing and non-pixelated lens face the designer calls his “workhorse” fixtures. “The large aperture face with a homogenized LED color engine made this a new favorite light of mine.
Elation Q5E
It’s nice to get a look out of the face of the fixture at 5%. With LED engines on fixtures, dimmer and color curves are certainly important and I was especially happy with the performance we achieved from the Fuze Washes. Great lights!” Meanwhile, the unobtrusive, battery-powered Volt Q5E fixtures helped light all the floor set elements. “We added a bit of frost and they worked out nicely with the DMX transmitter. Our guys charged them during load-in and we fired them up during set change.”
Trusted gear, Upstaging
Sensitive to the needs of a hard-working crew that had the show up at every stop and back in the trucks after every encore, Jenkins names reliability as a particularly important aspect of the lighting gear. “The techs have long enough days, as it is,” he says, and then quips, “If we can keep them from climbing around the rig, they tend to give me less hell.”
Lighting vendor for the tour and the company keeping the gear in good shape was Upstaging, “a lovely company to have as a touring partner,” Jenkins says. “John Huddleston and the colleagues he surrounds himself with are top in the game – they run a tight ship. They take great pride in offering a polished touring product and supporting it to all degrees. Their combined years of experience really pays off when it comes to brainstorming and figuring out solutions to problems.”
Photo Steve Jennings
Jenkins gives a shout out to Touring Manager Fred Kharrazi and Production Manager Alan Hornall “for supporting the design and working together through it all. Our crew chief Mike Green and his band of technicians are top notch and indispensable! John Dacosta, our media server guru (who also fills in running M5 lighting from time to time), is one of the best people you’ll meet on the planet. Finally, kudos to my good friends and colleagues Matt Geasey for the PreViz and drawings, plus my co-conspirator Jason Baeri for work in the initial design phases.”
Lighting designer, Tim Deiling, used 35 Ayrton MagicDot SX fixtures to help construct the visual narrative for the Broadway production of SIX The Musical when it transferred from London’s West End in October. Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s multi award-winning musical follows the story of Henry VIII’s six wives, expanding on each of their stories and translating their historic power struggles into a modern day pop contest which breathes dynamic new life into the story.
@Joan Marcus
Tim Deiling’s associate lighting designer, Tim Reed, tells us more: “The show takes place on a standing set with no set moves throughout. Instead, we chose to use a rock concert style of lighting with lots of beam looks at all times to determine the visual architecture of the show and to identify and delineate the Queens and their individual looks.
“The MagicDots were an important part of this process, providing striking mid-air effects as well as enabling us to open up the room when all the Queens are present, carve the performance space into different areas, or give each Queen a definitive look. Jane Seymour, for example, is lit in mainly in white using MagicDots with which we are able to create a very ‘closed down’ state, using the architecture of the lighting to really pull the eye towards her.”
The MagicDot SX fixtures are sited on upstage towers where their compact form proved a real advantage: “The towers are narrow with not much real estate, so a big part of the decision process was the size of the MagicDot SX and how they fitted into the set,” says Reed. “Also, I’d used them before on several shows and they are the most reliable fixture I know for their continuous rotation and their constant ability to return to a specific position. I would definitely recommend Ayrton for that!”
“Originally the MagicDot SX came to be on SIX because it was an offering from Stage Electrics, our supplier in the UK,” states Tim Deiling. “But I now can’t imagine doing the show without them. They are so small and easy to hide in the set, however, they are so bright, so fast, and so punchy that they can really dominate a scene. You can mix them in with much larger fixtures and not know the difference.”
“Because we were using them to create great beams and effects rather than lighting the performers themselves, it was really nice to have continuous rotation and a few other effects that we don’t normally use,” continues Tim Reed. “We also took advantage of the SX model’s zoom feature, zooming them out to light the towers and give them a glow, and really frame the trussing. “They behaved fantastically, they are super quick and they gave us the beams we want.”
SIX The Musical continues its run on Broadway and in the West End, and is currently touring the UK, with a US tour scheduled to start in spring 2022.
More information on MagicDot SX and Ayrton’s full range of LED lighting fixtures, can be found at www.ayrton.eu
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