German specialist Neumann presents MA 1, an integrated hard/software tool for acoustic calibration and room correction for Neumann monitors. Calibration algorithms, jointly developed with the world’s leading institute for audio signal processing, the Fraunhofer IIS.

Le système se compose d’un micro de mesure Neumann calibré individuellement et du logiciel correspondant pour Mac et PC.

Ralf Oehl

“The Neumann studio monitor portfolio is experiencing an enormous increase in demand; in some cases more than 60% compared to the previous year.
According to user feedback, one of the main reasons is that our monitors have the highest acoustic consistency on the market; i.e. different models deliver identical mixing results in varying listening environments.
This is of crucial importance, especially when different decentralized monitoring processes are involved. To further perfect this advantage for our customers, automatic room correction is the next logical step,” explains Ralf Oehl, CEO of Neumann.Berlin.

“Together with our partner, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS), we want to create our own absolute reference for room correction in studio monitors, regardless of whether it is for small home studios or large control rooms of the highest professional standards.”

Neumann’s Automatic Monitor Alignment is available for all DSP-controlled stereo systems of the KH line, i.e. currently the KH 80 DSP as well as the analog studio monitors KH 120, KH 310, and KH 420 in combination with the subwoofer KH 750 DSP.

Three assemblies depending on the speakers and the presence or not of a DSP on board. When this is not the case, the KH 750 DSP sub serves as a filter, processor and also corrects the phase of the heads. Attention, you must add a quality audio interface and a switch to the MA 1 kit.

Markus Wolff

“It is an integrated system; all components are perfectly matched,” explains Portfolio Manager Markus Wolff. “This enables us to make much more accurate adjustments than third-party solutions, since only we have a deeper knowledge of all system-inherent parameters of our monitors and can take them into account accordingly.

In addition, the Automatic Monitor Alignment uses novel calibration algorithms that generate a room-adaptive target curve and make precise adjustments to correct the respective acoustic problem. Depending on your preferences, the target curve can be further adjusted manually.”

The Automatic Monitor Alignment where brown is the target and white is the response. A hell of a result by the way…

Neumann’s Room Correction: A Simple Solution to Complex Problems

Neumann’s decades of experience in the calibration of studio monitoring systems has been incorporated into the software. Like a personal assistant, it guides the user step by step through the measurements and analyzes the respective listening environment; unnecessary “eye candy” has been deliberately omitted. The resulting correction data is stored and processed directly in the DSP-controlled monitors.

The step of taking measurements. With only one microphone available, the software guides this essential step and determines the mike locations and the number of iterations.

“This handling advantage is extremely important to us,” emphasizes Markus Wolff. “The user does not have to load a plug-in and deactivate it again for audio export, nor is potentially bug-ridden driver software required. After the alignment, the familiar workflow remains completely unaffected except for the drastically improved sound!”

KH 80 DSP stereo pairs can be controlled directly by the software. All other non-DSP-equipped stereo pairs of the KH Line can be aligned by connecting them to the analog outputs of the KH 750 DSP subwoofer. Owners of KH 120, KH 310 and KH 420 monitors thus benefit not only from an extended bass response, but also from the room correction and, this is unique, the phase linearization of the analog speakers.

The calibrated Neumann mike MA 1.

Ralf Oehl: “The Automatic Monitor Alignment MA 1 is the beginning of a new era in Neumann monitoring. The feedback from our test listeners has been very promising.
Starting with a simple user interface and a focus on stereo systems we will, step by step, extend the user guidance and functionality with updates, based on our customers’ wishes. This will include an expansion to multichannel systems.”
The software contained in the MA 1 package is available for macOS and Windows 10.

The MSRP of the MA 1 package including a high quality Neumann measuring microphone is 
€ 249,00 EUR.

Further product information at the Neumann website

Drive-in shows may be the order of the day this year, but Big Wreck isn’t the kind of band you want to listen to live with your car’s FM radio on and your windows up.
To get the maximum impact you need a full-on PA that provides power and detail in equal measure qualities Adamson Systems Engineering’s class-leading CS-Series powered loudspeakers brought in abundance to the band’s recent show at Canada’s Ancaster Fairgrounds.

While drive-in concerts have become commonplace during the pandemic, increasingly they require traditional live sound reinforcement and the ability to transmit over FM, explains Colin Moore of Soundbox: “It’s all about the experience, so it’s becoming a mandatory part of the production specifications, and bands and audiences prefer it that way.”
You can still socially distance and have great sound, he continues, adding, “Maybe one out of every ten cars had their doors closed and the radio on, but most people were listening to the PA.”

Big Wreck FOH engineer, Dan Preston.

And for good reason, puts in Big Wreck FOH engineer, Dan Preston. “With some rigs, the guitars are producing frequencies through the cabinets that they’re not producing through the actual amp and, as far as the guitars, in particular, Ian Thornley has an expansive sound a big, wide tone that needs to be reproduced accurately.

I was able to do that here without having to fight the PA. I actually had to dial back my effects from a prior mix considerably. I use a lot of rolling and trap delays with Big Wreck and, with this PA, I didn’t have to fight for them to be heard or separate at all.”

Soon after Adamson officially launched the CS-Series, Soundbox purchased CS Upgrade kits for their entire Adamson S-Series inventory; twenty-eight CS10, eight CS7, and six CS119 kits in all. “And based on their performance we’re really happy we did,” Moore adds. In all, for Y108 Presents Live at The Drive-In with Big Wreck, Soundbox deployed eight CS10s and six CS 119s per side and three racks (one Network Distribution System, one Power Distribution System, and a CS Gateway rack at FOH for tuning and control).

Four out of six CS10.

While the decision to upgrade wasn’t specifically motivated by the changes Covid has brought about in the live concert industry, the CS-Series on-board amplification and DSP, Milan-ready AVB connectivity, and compact footprint all speak to both current and pre-pandemic challenges.

“Having efficient, light weight equipment we can package and transport quickly, for less expense, is more important than ever,” Moore explains. “We’re shaving a lot of weight off our truck packs by moving to this new infrastructure.
As far as efficiency goes, this benefits Soundbox because we don’t need to send thousands of pounds of amp racks out and that also funnels down into an application-to-application scenario. For instance, say a band touring in a bus and trailer want a side-fill rig, they don’t need an amp rack. At the most basic level, they just plug-in power and an XLR and there’s your side-fill package. That’s impressive.”

Granted, the core reason for the upgrade was performance: “It’s pure physics,” Moore adds. “The power wiring has gone from 100-feet to roughly 6-inches between the amp and the box, which plays a huge part in terms of how much horsepower these speakers have.” Beyond that, it also cuts down substantially on the amount of infrastructure and effort, in terms of packing, transporting, and running the cabling and additional racks a passive system requires.

Jeremiah Karni, Adamson’s Head of Education & Applications.

Further, the amplifiers themselves have been built specifically to drive the components in that loudspeaker. “That’s the beauty of the CS-Series,” says Jeremiah Karni, Adamson’s Head of Education & Applications. “You have the benefits of minimized speaker cabling which means less signal loss through long cable runs, and over a decade of R&D aimed at creating the best possible amplifier and signal processing; an amp that’s designed, built and manufactured, by Adamson, in-house here in Port Perry, Ontario.”

And to keep both weight and overall infrastructure as lean as possible, he adds. “What required four 10-U racks before is now two 6-U racks, and the amplifiers only add about 6 lb per cabinet, whereas other powered loudspeakers in a similar range are quite a bit heavier.”

Colin Moore of Soundbox

There’s also a day-to-day benefit for smaller events; namely, cutting down on the complexity of the rig for the end-user and, for Soundbox, the need to reconfigure amp racks on a per-project basis. “Not that we can’t or won’t do that,” Moore says, “but it helps make our systems more turnkey and user-friendly.”

From the standpoint of the on-site production team regardless of the size or scope of the gig the CS-Series provide substantial time-saving benefits when it comes to getting the rig wired and flown. “Anything smaller and lighter on stage is great. That’s also a plus with this rig,” Preston puts in.

Ultimately, however, the primary consideration with any sound system is how it sounds. “Right out of the gate (to my delight) when I was checking my L+R+Sub matrix sends individually, the hang itself produced so much of the lows. If it wasn’t configured already, I’d have dropped the subs down to 60 Hz or 50 Hz right away. For what I do this was a treat. I like to push my snare and guitars down pretty low with rock bands to make sure that they (and not just bass and drums) have some level of concussive force when required, and I was easily able to do that,” Preston adds, enthusiastically.

While other PAs Preston’s mixed through do react similarly: “Not in this size format. I was very pleased and impressed. The lows were produced with clarity and tightness and let me place instruments exactly where I wanted them without convoluting my mix, and without pushing some elements into the subs, which is unheard of for this type of component sizing.”

Big Wreck perform at Live at The Drive-In in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada.

Additionally, the option to purchase CS-Series loudspeakers as a standalone solution or upgrade existing S-Series loudspeakers by simply switching out the cabinet’s rear module, speaks to Adamson’s ongoing commitment to aid users in leveraging their existing inventory and future-proofing that inventory via a complete system platform encompassing loudspeakers, software, and rack-mounted power, network and control elements.

The software dramatically enhances user’s capabilities in terms of design, deployment, and control in both live and fixed install applications, Moore notes: “Sonically speaking we’re very impressed, but we’re equally impressed by the CS control software Adamson has developed and continues to add feature sets to – it provides a lot of flexibility.”
Gateway is also extremely helpful for tweaking and troubleshooting and tweaking on the fly, says Preston: “Because everything is in one interface, instead of having to flip through pages and maybe use more than one computer, I can do everything I need using one software platform – which is ground-breaking.”

Jamal Bleasdell Soundbox’s Head of Audio

Jamal Bleasdell, Soundbox’s Head of Audio, concurs: “From design, you can switch right over to deploying all the settings to the boxes, and since each box has its own amplifier you can see how all the components are doing. If something is failing, you get a report saying that this horn or that driver isn’t working the way it should be. So, you get a lot of information right off the top.”

Housed in a single compact rack at FOH, and custom-created for the CS-Series. “Gateway is a big part of Adamson’s future,” Karni explains. “It’s a single, uniform system control platform, not just for monitoring amplifiers, but with the design software and control architecture behind the DSP platform included, which makes for a simplified and unified workflow for the end-user.”

“There’s an optimization window so you can determine the best way to hang the PA, and a metering window so you can see everything metered right where you want it,” Bleasdell says. Adding that he’s is particularly impressed with Gateway’s Optimization functionality.

“That smooths out the curvature of the PA and calculates that according to the number of boxes you have, so you have a smooth listening field throughout the whole venue. And you can adjust individual cabinets, so if the bottom box in the array is only a few feet away from the front row, you can turn that box down to the desired volume. Before, you could only do that in groups of two or three or four. It’s way better having individual gain control for each loudspeaker.”
“The array optimization algorithm is a recent addition to Gateway,” Karni explains. “It’s not a new concept. But it is a unique implementation that uses a series of FIR filters to smooth out the tonal response of the line array, and you have the ability – not just to change level – but to adjust the phase response of individual boxes, which is also a huge benefit.”

The CS Gateway, the CS NDS, the CS PDS and the CS Bridge, four rack-mounted products designed to provide the necessary tools to get the highest level of performance out of the CS-Series.

The new offering from Adamson was a perfect fit for the gig, Bleasdell says: “I definitely heard a difference in the mid-range and the top end. It’s amazing.” Beyond that, the CS-Series components are heavily weatherized, which was particularly important for this show, owing to weather that bordered on ‘biblical’.
“We were delayed an hour and a half and had a lightning strike about a kilometer from the stage. So, we asked everyone to stay in their cars, evacuated the stage, and just hunkered down and waited. But when the storm passed – even with the amps and all the electronics in them – the boxes worked great. We had no issues at all.”

While this was Preston’s first time mixing on a CS-Series PA, if he has his way, it won’t be the last. “Overall, I found the rig properly balanced and clean. My main bus EQ had minimal tweaks, and honestly, that was to taste, not to alter my start point; I’m looking forward to working on this rig again down the road.”

Additional info on the Adamson website

Sweden’s Malmo Opera presented an acclaimed production of musical classic “Funny Girl” as part of the autumn / winter repertory programme which continued to run despite the pandemic! Audience figures were dramatically reduced to 50 plus a livestream which could be enjoyed by all who had bought a ticket for each performance.

©Malin Arnesson

Planned two years earlier and fully sold out many months in advance, Malmo Opera decided to go ahead in delivering all their dynamic seasonal main house productions as the budgets were already allocated and spent. Leading Swedish lighting designer Fredrik Jonsson was delighted to be back working on a live show and helping to create the aesthetic for this vibrant, funny, and poignant piece known for its intricate production numbers.

AX3 LightDrops

Malmo Opera has a quantity of Astera fixtures in its lighting inventory which are used for multiple situations and solutions across their range of productions, and Fredrik made the most of the tiny Astera AX3 LightDrops to highlight important details on the elaborate Funny Girl sets designed by Martin Chocholousek.

Ten AX3s were hidden behind custom golden shell casings that emulated classic 1930’s Ziegfeld Follies era footlights in line with period setting of the piece. The AX3s were attached magnetically to metallic plates behind the plastic shell shapes, slightly angled up to authentically simulate footlights coming from the orchestra pit area. The AX3’s magnetic fixing option is one of many neat features for this incredibly versatile little luminaire.

Fredrik added some AX3s inside the two large ventilation funnels of the battleship set to highlight the interior of the funnel ends and give these more prominence. AX3s positioned in the bottom of the ventilation tubes allowed Fredrik to achieve a highlight in the bend at the top of the funnel which faced the audience.

©Malin Arnesson

More AX3s were utilised on a striking chandelier that sat on the floor for the first scene at Nicky Arnstein’s mansion when he and ‘funny girl’ Fanny Brice move in as newlyweds. In the narrative, the building has been mothballed for some time so at the start of the scene, the furniture and chandelier were covered in white ‘dust sheets’.
These were removed after a while by the chorus, and the chandelier lit up as they launched into ”Sadie, Sadie”, the musical number that follows. All these AX3s were controlled through the Operas’ main grandMA lighting console.

Fredrik really enjoys adding lighting features like this and bringing more texture, depth and focus to specific set elements. “Apart from adding nice detail to the overall look, it and makes the whole picture richer and more luxurious” he stated. He thinks that ensconcing AX3s inside the funnel pipes, for example, is a small touch but one that was “hugely satisfying.”
Generally, he thinks Astera products are “powerful, robust, quality engineered and very easy to use”. He’s used AX5s on some projects and is waiting for an opportunity to spec the newest Astera Titan Tube product family, “I hear the CRI levels are outstanding” he commented.

©Malin Arnesson

Malmo Opera in the fortunate position of receiving state and regional funding rather than being fully reliant on ticket revenue which has made this current season viable and massively appreciated by cast and crew for the ability to work! This seriously boosted morale for at least some in an industry experiencing extremely tough economic fallout of the pandemic.
The first 50 first to book their tickets for Funny Girl on each of the days it played were allocated the 50 available socially-distanced seats in the massive 1232 seat auditorium, while everyone else booked for that show had the option of a live stream via the
Malmo Opera website for free.

©Malin Arnesson

Fredrik was initially approached in 2018 by director Ronny Danielsson to work on the production, having collaborated with him previously on “Kinky Boots” also at Malmo Opera, and “Shakespeare In Love” at Stockholm’s Stadsteater. Fredrik also worked with Martin Chocholousek on “Kinky Boots”, so this talented and imaginative creative team were reunited once more to deliver multiple visually exciting environments to frame this popular and successful show.

For more information about Astera LED range of products, check the Astera website

DNEG is one of the world’s leading visual effects and animation companies, honoured with five Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects for its visionary work on Inception, Interstellar, Ex Machina, Blade Runner 2049 and First Man.
In 2013, it set up a TV episodic arm to expand its offering, which has grown exponentially with the boom of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV Plus. In recent years, and further driven by the impact of COVID-19, the company has developed its offering in virtual production, an exciting venture that has led to a close collaboration with Brompton Technology.

DNEG’s amplified focus in the area, and an upscaling in its work on episodic shows in addition to its traditional film work, involved creating a new in-house studio environment tailored to virtual production. This required the company to do some due diligence on the tech they were bringing into the fold.
“We are seeing more and more filmmakers becoming interested in the developing possibilities for virtual production,” explains Paul Salvini, Global CTO, DNEG. “This interest has intensified in the last few months due to the effects of social distancing on travel and the number of people that can safely be on set. Our team was excited to work with Brompton because of their expertise and a shared passion for excellence and innovation.”

The Brompton team has worked closely with DNEG’s virtual production team, and particularly Head of Virtual Production Isaac Partouche, for the past nine months.
“We’ve developed a great working relationship with DNEG, working closely with the entire virtual production team from the start to give them a thorough understanding of how to get the best out of their LED panels on set,” says Brompton Technology’s Technical Project Manager, Adam Callaway.

Partouche has been supervising DNEG’s virtual staging requirements for its upcoming shows and remarks on the importance of having Brompton on set with the team.
“The Tessera SX40 4K processors have been a great addition to our virtual production set-up,” says Partouche. “The image processing is impressively fast, the ‘Genlock’ options synchronize the content correctly across the LED volume with significantly less latency response and by using Brompton’s Hydra dynamic calibration tools we’re able to get the best HDR results from the wall.”

Brompton SX40

DNEG’s technology requirements are moving rapidly to cater to client demand, and the company has already provided virtual production services for Kenneth Branagh’s new take on Death On The Nile and Andy Serkis’ sequel to blockbuster Venom, as well as director Denis Villeneve’s highly anticipated re-imagining of Dune.

“We’ve also recently completed some exciting new LED volume tests,” continues Partouche. “Brompton has been very closely involved in these, and the Tessera processing has made a big difference to how easily we’ve been able to set everything up and get it looking great.
The initial tests were completed at Dimension Studios in Wimbledon the footage of our Gunslinger test is online, shot by our Creative Director Paul Franklin, and we have completed subsequent tests on a larger scale at Shepperton Studios. We also have an in-house creative lab setup, which is a useful proof of concept facility.”

This in-house set up has allowed DNEG to push the technology to see exactly how far they can go when on set. “Working with Brompton on our virtual production offering has been exciting,” concludes Partouche. “Brompton products have become an integral part of us being able to create real-time worlds and environments, allowing us to create a new way of working and giving both our filmmaking partners and our creative teams free rein to unleash their imaginations.”

For more info about Brompton Technology range of products, check the Brompton website

ETC is pleased to introduce the SolaFrame Studio automated luminaire, a fanless, convection-cooled fixture that prioritizes high quality features, great spectral output and silent operation.

Audibly invisible and visually impactful, the fixture’s feature set is designed for exquisite projection control and gorgeous color in a compact package.
A good fit for theatres, concert halls, opera houses, film/TV broadcast studios and houses of worship, it uses a 300 watt High CRI Bright White engine to produce 10,000 lumens. The fixture’s convection-cooled engine allows for completely fanless operation.

SolaFrame Studio is packed with features including a high quality 13-lens optic system with patented Lens Defogger, extremely powerful 5.5 – 57° zoom, CMY / CTO-Linear color mixing system, seven position plus open replaceable color wheel, full-curtain framing system for total control of beam shaping, 16-blade iris for tight beam effects, light diffusion with additional, optional heavy diffusion, seven position plus open rotating gobo wheel and linear prism for controlled pattern replication across a stage.

The SolaFrame Studio on the left is much more compact and less heavy than the SolaFrame Theater on the right.

Automated Lighting Product Manager Matt Stoner commented, “The SolaFrame Theatre has been an exceptional fixture for us. Our customers have often requested a smaller version to expand the applications where fanless fixtures can be used. This led to the development of the SolaFrame Studio, with its broad feature set and smaller footprint it improves the silence made famous by the SolaFrame Theatre.”

The animation wheel.

High End Systems Brand Manager Tania Lesage added, “With pioneering technology in moving lights and more recently in LED fixtures, our expertise in fanless technology is unmatched and has been demonstrated in countless installations worldwide.
The unique blend of our years of experience, technical expertise and customer service has come together in the creation of our new fixture SolaFrame Studio, which we are incredibly proud to add to our product portfolio.”

Video presentation

For more information about High End System range of products, check the High End website

©Mandylights

Festivals have fast become an elusive dream in the Covid era so the 2020 Parrtjima Festival of Light at Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory provided a rare reminder of the community, camaraderie, magic and imagination evoked by lighting art.
The 10-day event organised by the Northern Territories Major Event Company (NTMEC), and produced and curated by AGB, went ahead due to the state’s highly successful Covid-19 management strategy.

Featuring a carefully picked collection of amazing and fun light artworks together with a spectacular nightly lightshow designed by Richard Neville from Mandylights delivered to a locally produced soundtrack, 80 x Robe MegaPointes were used to throw lighting and effects onto a section of the West MacDonnell mountain range.
The lighting equipment was supplied by Melbourne-based MPH Australia, who’ve been involved as event suppliers for moving lights, LED, and other specialist fixtures in conjunction with Mandylights, for the last four years.

©MPH Australia

The first year MPH was involved, their Robe BMFLs were utilised for the task of lighting the mountains. However, in 2018 these were all in Jakarta on the Asian Games, so MPH’s founder and MD Matt Hansen made a decisive investment in the MegaPointes … which do the job brilliantly due to their impressive brightness!

When the new Parrtjima 2020 dates were confirmed as going ahead, Matt and his team re-prepped everything in their Melbourne HQ, it had been two days away from loading for the original dates when lockdown was imposed and the kit journeyed from Victoria by rail, while Matt and MPH’s production manager Michael Parsons flew to Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory.

There they did the mandatory 14-days quarantine required for interstate travel from Victoria and New South Wales (or in fact currently any other Australian state) at Howard Springs Accommodation Village, a 3500 capacity compound originally built in 2012 for construction workers building the gas processing facilities at Blaydin Point.
Despite some dodgy internet connections and food, Matt was generally impressed with the experience. After their 14 days was up, they flew from Darwin down to Alice Springs and started rigging for the Festival.

The MegaPointes were positioned on four scaffolding structures 20 fixtures each distanced 1-1.5km apart, and between 250 and 400 metres away from the base of the mountains. Width-wise their light covered an area of around 2.5 kilometres along the mountain range.
The nearby ground areas involved in the lightshow including the Festival site are traditionally covered by projected images plus some additional lightsources which this year included 12 x BMFL Spots focussed on the park area and fairground.

©Mandylights

MPH also supplied around 200 other luminaires for the event – including some Robe LEDWash 600s which were used inside a giant inflatable sphere projection surface.
Data to the fixtures site-wide was run via Art-Net and ACN. The MegaPointes used a Ubiquiti point-to-point wireless ethernet (Art-Net over Ethernet) network comprising a central omnidirectional antenna located in the main desert park site and smaller nanobeams at each MegaPointe scaffold tower.

Matt stated, “It was just fantastic to be getting our hands dirty, putting up lights, running power data to the MegaPointes was wireless and generally working hard at a festival doing the things we love that we once took for granted … and now nothing is certain!
“It was also great to see the event unfold and be enjoyed so enthusiastically by the public! Some of the lighting art was fantastic and truly unique!” On site everyone working ‘backstage’ followed the golden Covid rules of “hands, face & space” wore masks, frequently washed hands, and practised social distancing.

©Mandylights

Like everywhere else in the world, the events and live entertainment industry in Australia has been devastated by the pandemic. Businesses have received some government support to help them survive the crisis until it is deemed safe to re-start the industry.
“Events like this are a lifeline right now … apart from the much-needed cashflow, it’s the morale boost more than anything else. It will be interesting to see what the Australian Government has on their roadmap for the entertainment industry’s road out of all of this!” Matt concluded.

©Mandylights

For more info, check the Robe lighting website

One of the more acclaimed, and viewed, virtual concerts during lockdown has been the recent live internet performance from psych-pop stars, Glass Animals. The Oxford-based quartet were all set to tour their chart-topping Dreamland album this Spring until lockdown came along.
When their lighting team (Cassius Creative) were eventually called into play (by Tour/Production Manager, Simon Lutkin), it was to produce a viewable online show only (Live In The Internet)—a dynamic concert masterminded by the band’s inventive front-man, Dave Bayley.

Set up nearly five years ago by Chris ‘Squib’ Swain and Dan Hill, Cassius Creative dipped into their armoury of GLP fixtures and at the same time became one of the first adopters of the new JDC Line hybrid strobe batten. This combines a powerful linear white strobe element and two separate RGB LED pixel mapping lines, all in a slimline format that complements the classic JDC1. To Swain and Hill it simply seemed like “a natural extension”.
The virtual venue chosen for this unique showcase was the LH3 rehearsal/prep space at Neg Earth, the lighting hire company who would have been delivering the tour inventory. During the hour long performance the band reimagined their renowned live show for streaming, and were joined along the way by singer songwriter Arlo Parks and rapper Denzel Curry.

Using inspired video content from Russian company Sila Sveta to create an ever-changing immersive environment, the show tested the lighting artists’ ability to combine the dynamic impact of a pop video, or TV promo, with a full length concert. “The band didn’t want it to feel like a music video, they wanted it to be as live as possible.” state the two LDs.

Cassius Creative explained how they helped convert performance space into what was described as a “vibrant paradise” to represent Dreamland, with the aid of 14 JDC Lines on the downstage edge on the floor and 36 JDC1 in the roof, with the visuals constantly transforming the stage scenically via a number of “miniature sets within a set”, as Dave Bayley put it. They also suggested the use of foliage, working in conjunction with the lighting to produce an organic feel, taking inspiration from mixed media artist, Nam June Paik.

Both Dan and Squib refer to Bayley as “one of our most creative clients. What he wanted was a video game element, moving between analogue and digital, organically merging screen with nature.”
Cassius Creative have used GLP tools regularly over the years, and despite the short time frame did have the luxury of a few days of pre-viz (using Depence 2 lighting visualisation, which has the JDC Line in its fixture library).

“We’ve always had a good relationship with GLP and used a lot of their products, particularly the JDC1 strobes,” confirms Dan Hill. “These are great fixtures and were perfect in the overhead rig. “We didn’t want to use beams and moving lights really, but instead the JDC’s act as a ‘roof’, forming an extension of the video screen which mimics the light source.”

As for the JDC Lines they were deployed as a downstage border, helping to frame the edge of the stage. “We chose them for their colour element, making it a great and interesting product. What you can achieve with pixels made it a really good fit with the musicality.”

Having access to the JDC Lines also gave them a versatile alternative to GLP’s X4 Bars which had originally been specified for the tour. “We were given an introduction to the product virtually from David and Simon [at GLP UK]. One advantage is, because of how it’s set up, it sits nicely alongside the strobe. And in terms of what it can do with pixels, colours and dimmer effects, it’s very easy to rig as an architectural extension of the JDC1. We tried to mimic the mode of the JDC1.”
Squib states that GLP are one of the companies redefining the batten for the modern era, believing there had been a gap in the market for too long. “Rather than eye candy and light curtains with products like the JDC Line we can see the impact it can now have.”

It is a credit to the versatility of GLP’s advanced LED fixtures when Dan Hill states, “We have never set out to make a light show.” Explaining, he says, “These lights were supposed to feel a natural part of the world that was created [onstage] and only be called on to provide impact when needed; the more subliminal the better.
“In fact for the TV world it looked great, and read brilliantly to camera.”

Other credits for ‘Live In The Internet’ include James Barnes (director); Marcus Domleo (DoP); Amy James (producer); Daniel Richardson (lighting programmer); Sam Henderson (video programmer).

For more info about GLP range of product, check the GLP website

The organizers of the 21st edition of the annual MUTEK electronic music and arts festival in Montréal navigated a delicate pathway between virtual and live performances at the two venues hosting in-person/live-streamed performances: the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) and Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts.

The event adapted to the times with a hybrid model that depended heavily on Meyer Sound products and highlighted the company’s new spatial sound design and mixing tool, Spacemap® Go for iPad.
According to MUTEK sound designer Jonathan LaFontaine of One Wave, the festival’s approach had to adapt to the evolving restrictions on live performances. Once the venues were confirmed, One Wave worked closely with GerrAudio Distribution and Meyer Sound to put together effective solutions.

At Place des Arts, the system consisted of eight Meyer Sound LINA® line array loudspeakers per side, two ULTRA-X40™ front fills and six 900-LFC™ low-frequency control elements flown in a straight line at roughly the same level as the LINA boxes. LINA, the smallest and lightest member of the LEO® Family, addressed specific challenges in Cinquième Salle, according to Gaetan Bouffard, the venue’s head of audio.

Little audience but great 360° show, here with LEOPARD and 900-LFC subs, plus eight ULTRA-X40 spread around the room for surrounds.

“Normally we do theatre, dance and opera and we have a Meyer PA system we can adapt to fit those applications,” he explains, “but for electronic music you have to have a system powerful enough to deliver more SPL. The LINA line array was the perfect fit. It’s compact and light enough to hang without overloading the weight capacity of the hall, and the coverage is amazing.”

The SAT venue also presented challenges. First of all, the 50-person audience was seated low to the ground in beanbag chairs. “We needed a system that had a lot of punch in the low end, but we didn’t want to block the video on the 360-degree projection dome,” says LaFontaine, “so we ground-stacked one 900-LFC sub with four LEOPARDs on top per side, plus three more 900-LFCs for additional low-end reinforcement. We also had eight ULTRA-X40 point source loudspeakers spread around the room for surrounds.”

Meyer Sound’s MAPP 3D™, the company’s new prediction software, was used in both venues, which aided in delivering precise, high-resolution audio for these challenging applications.
But it was the deployment of Meyer Sound’s new Spacemap Go, a spatial sound design and mixing tool that leverages the company’s highly successful GALAXY™ Network Platform that took a starring role in SAT.

Spacemap Go provides smaller venues, normally mounting less sophisticated productions, with a highly adaptable tool to create a highly immersive experience at relatively low cost. MUTEK deployed a late pre-release version of Spacemap Go.

“The way the software works is you basically draw a map on an iPad, you can use the existing loudspeaker layout or not, to direct where and how you want the sound to move around. There’s really no limit to what you can do,” LaFontaine explains.

Given that none of the engineers would have experience with the tool, a few pre-programmed Spacemaps were provided, though users were encouraged to come up with their own. At first some were gun shy, but those who took the opportunity were suitably impressed.
As Mathieu Parisien, longtime FOH mixer for Patrick Watson, puts it: “We didn’t have a lot of time to set up and I have to say I wasn’t sure about it.
This was the first show we’ve done with new music that wasn’t played in front of people before, but I was able to make Spacemap Go work pretty rapidly.”

In addition to the pre-programmed patterns, Parisien also drew one of his own. “I was impressed and surprised with how easy it was,” he says. “These kinds of things can sometimes sound gimmicky. It’s like when you mix an album; if you process everything too much it doesn’t feel right. But Spacemap Go did the opposite, actually, so I was amazed and really enjoyed using it.”

Overall, the systems proved a perfect match for the unique demands of the festival, says LaFontaine. “Meyer Sound is a good fit for electronic music due to the linearity of the system, especially the subs,” he notes. “People tend to forget that sub frequencies aren’t only a frequency range, they’re also musical notes.
Some products are what I call ‘one-note’ subs. They’re efficient at reproducing the frequency at which they’re ported, which means that that one note will come out louder. And that is anything but musical. Meyer Sound loudspeakers reproduce all notes evenly, without distortion, and can go very loud if you want them to.”

D’autres informations sur le site Meyer Sound

An effective way to raise awareness for those in need is through a benefit concert where artists, sponsors, technical crew and an appreciative public come together in a spirit of solidarity to shed light on a noble cause.
Such was the case earlier this year when a large Elation rig was used to light up the 2020 edition of the Noche del Sabor benefit show in Honduras with proceeds going to support the Honduran Foundation for Children with Cancer.

Held at Expo Centro, a renowned venue in the city of San Pedro Sula, Noche del Sabor is an open air party boasting top musical entertainment and the best of Honduran food.
Despite a bit of rain at show time, nothing could dampen the enthusiastic crowd of some 10,000 who gathered for the emotional evening amid the sounds of Colombian musician Juanes and pop group Piso 21.

Technical aspects of the production, including the lighting set up, was handled by Pro504, a reputed rental company based in San Pedro Sula whose professional team is experienced in the production, design, set up and operation of large events.
Pro504 works on many of the most prestigious events in Honduras, including most of the big concerts, and has worked on earlier editions of Noche del Sabor.

For this year’s benefit, Pro504 created a large, symmetrical setup with linear layers of Elation lighting surrounding an expansive LED screen backdrop with vertical screens and lighting extending the design to both sides of the stage. Complementing screen graphics while penetrating through its ambient light were mid-air effects from Platinum FLX™, Platinum Beam 5R Extreme™, and Platinum Beam 5R™ moving heads.

Rows of ACL 360 Bar™ LED moving battens, mounted on the lowest LED screens’ bottom edge, filled the stage left and right as SixBar 1000™ battens added color from the downstage edge. A row of SixPar Z19 IP™ color changers along with DTW series blinders worked from high downstage truss positions while Protron 3K Color™ strobes added impact from several angles.

This is the fourth year Noche del Sabor has taken place and the event’s success is always measured twofold. Not only was it a spectacular visual treat for those in attendance but most importantly the event raised funds to provide free cancer treatment to children from low-income families nationwide.

For more information, check Elation Website

Based in London’s Fitzrovia, Epic Games’ London Innovation Lab is a hub for the creative community, offering creators across industries a platform to produce real-time content and immersive virtual experiences, using Epic’s Unreal Engine (UE) software.
The new curved LED Volume, recently installed at the Lab and running on Brompton Technology processing, is a testament to the company’s continuous commitment to empower new ways of content creation using the latest technology advances.

©David Levy ARRI

Whilst UE has been at the forefront of Virtual Production (VP) since the first workflows began to emerge, it is the first time that the company has introduced its state-of-the-art virtual studio, working with partners such as Brompton Technology, ARRI and creative technical production company 80six, to bring the magic of virtual production to life.

“Our initial conversations with Brompton took place at this year’s ISE, where we met with several other vendors to discuss our needs to create a virtual production studio at our Innovation Lab in London,” says Epic’s Technical Artist, Ben Kidd. “Brompton’s Tessera processing ticked all our boxes, so we were very keen to go ahead and test the full LED solution in situ.”
The arrangement was made between teams at 80six, Brompton and Epic to have demo ROE LED screens and Brompton Tessera S8 LED processors delivered to the Lab facility. However, due to the lockdown the project had to be postponed until late April. Following eased restrictions, the equipment was finally shipped to Epic and further tested by Kidd and his team on site for over a month.

“Following the initial testing phase, we were very pleased with the ROE and Brompton combo and its performance, and so it was an easy choice to make the full investment,” continued Kidd. “We acquired three of Brompton’s latest Tessera S8 LED processors to drive the entire Volume.”

The complete LED fleet – including 144 ROE Black Pearl 2 LED panels, 38 CB3 Carbon 3 full-size and eight half-size panels – has been calibrated with Brompton’s Hydra advanced measurement system to take full advantage of Dynamic Calibration features and Brompton HDR (High Dynamic Range).
The space is a mix of lighting emitted by LED panels and also traditional lighting fixtures that one would normally find on a professional film set, with all of the traditional fixtures provided by ARRI. Additionally, the company offered its high-end AMIRA camera system with various lens packages for the studio.

“At ARRI it’s been clear to us for some time that Virtual Production with LED will be a key part of many of the projects we see and work on going forward and the interplay between cameras, video and lighting is crucial to the success of these projects,” says ARRI’s Regional Business Development Director, David Levy.
“We have seen our cameras work brilliantly with Brompton processors in the most demanding environments and this project has been no exception. It’s been a pleasure to work on the London Lab with Epic, Brompton and 80Six to deliver a facility which can be a proving ground for more ground-breaking developments in this field and we are excited to see the content it will produce.”

Whilst the design service has been managed by the team of ARRI’s System Group, the technical service for Epic’s Lab has been provided by the team at 80six.
“We were very pleased to have been asked to deliver this permanent installation for Epic alongside ARRI,” comments Ben Annibal, Project Manager at 80six. “It’s always extremely satisfying to install equipment from our long-standing partners at Brompton and ROE.”
“Ben (Kidd) has made an excellent choice investing in both brands, not only for the build quality and performance of their products, but also for the level of technical support that both companies provide their clients,” adds 80six’s Director, Jack James.

With all the technical elements coming together to create a beautiful high-spec curved LED screen, the driving power, the Tessera S8, has been chosen by Kidd for several reasons.
“The main reason we chose to use the new Tessera S8 was because we wanted to send a smaller number of pixels out of the GPU. Rather than using all of the GPU’s overhead to deliver a 4K signal it now outputs only half of that, with the remaining 50 percent of the GPU’s capacity used to significantly enhance image quality,” explains Kidd.
“We have more grunt inside of the GPU and can still take full advantage of a wide range of the S8’s features, including its full support of Brompton HDR to provide stunning realistic imagery, which was another key consideration for the team.”

With all final testing sessions completed, Kidd and the rest of the team at Epic cannot wait to put the LED Volume to its full use by opening it up to their Unreal Engine community of creators.
“What we stand for here at Epic is empowering people to create content,” concludes Kidd. “Our new facility is another way of breaking down the barriers in content production and allowing great things to happen. Thanks to our close-knit community of virtual production partners like Brompton Technology, we have been able to create a platform that delivers a new level of immersive visual experience.
The Innovation Lab with its LED Volume, expert processing and our Unreal Engine software can support all the latest technology advances in virtual production, and we’re excited to see how it continues to transform the art and craft of filmmaking.”

For more info about Brompton range of products, check the Brompton Technology website

Transformed into an online experience, the 2020 edition of Defqon.1 was still one to notice. Three days of madness with more than 80 artists and featuring every key element of Defqon.1 resulted in one of the most spectacular live streams so far.

Together with the Q-Dance team, LD Robbert Jan Vernooij was in charge of lighting. The design features a significant amount of CLF fixtures. The deviant, 360-degree perspective asked for a full waterproof lighting package. Since the design was based on a flat surface of 160x200m, rain covers and domes were not desired.

CLF Lighting Ledbar Pro

Centrally located on this surface is the well-known Defqon.1 sign, fitted with 96 CLF LEDbar PRO fixtures.
Q-Dance’s Jonas Schmidt, Dennis van Harten en Tamil van Draanen were responsible for set design.

CLF Lighting Poseidon

In order to create spectacular aerial and geometric effects, LD Robbert-Jan Vernooij chose the brand-new IP65 rated CLF Poseidon outdoor beam.

“We are used to working with the CLF Aorun beam. The Poseidon certainly lives up to his indoor brother.
We were really surprised about the movement speed and the fact that the double prism can be used to create a wide spot-like effect.”

CLF Ares and CLF Yara fixtures were used as floodlights to illuminate decoration and large surfaces.
“A wide area needed to be covered, so we included a large amount of these fixtures. Both fixtures feature high intensity and beautiful saturated colors, which is exactly what we were looking for”, concludes Vernooij.

Just like every other Defqon.1 event, the 2020 online edition ended with a bang. A three-minute time coded closing-show with fireworks concluded a three day online experience full of highlights.

CLF Lighting Yara

CLF Lighting Ares

More information on the CLF Lighting website

Rivers often act as the lifelines of a city both biogeographically and socially. Life emanates from here, and people meet along rivers in a variety of ways. Until the end of 2020, residents of the Spanish city of Murcia will be able to experience their Rio Segura river in a very special light.

Since March, the promenades have been showcased on both sides by a lighting installation covering several kilometres.
The responsible lighting designer José Luis Martinez Brocal used 161 Cameo FLAT PRO® 7 IP65 RGBWA outdoor PAR spotlights for this purpose.

The lighting installation lasting a lot of time at the Rio Segura is a joint concept between José Luis Martinez Brocal (Sonido 1) and Francisco Sandoval, Technical Director for the City Council. Together, the two lighting enthusiasts were looking for an opportunity to make the river bank even more vibrant, while simultaneously promoting sports and cultural activities.

From the very beginning of their collaboration, the team provided multi-colored lighting for various festivals and holidays, including the Spanish national holiday in mid-October.

“It was not easy to find a spotlight that met all our requirements for powerful light, high-quality colors, low power consumption, and comprehensive outdoor suitability,” explains José Luis Martinez Brocal.

“The FLAT PRO 7 has a beautifully focused beam to light the six meter-high columns along the promenade from the ground.“
As an additional highlight, the people responsible illuminated the futuristic Santiago-Calatrava bridge with 18 FLAT PRO 12 IP65 units.

A team from the Spanish construction company Ferrovial was responsible for the installation of around 180 Cameo spotlights on site.
As IP65-certified spotlights, the two RGBWA FLAT PRO 7 and FLAP PRO 12 spotlights make it possible to design creative lighting effects outdoors.

With light intensities of 10,000 (FLAT PRO 7) or 15,000 lux (FLAT PRO 12) and a beam angle of 30°, the extremely flat spotlights are particularly suitable for applications in confined spaces. For outdoor applications, IP65 models are fully protected against dust and spraying water.

The following products are used:

– 161x Cameo FLAT PRO 7 IP65 outdoor PAR spotlights
– 18x Cameo FLAT PRO 12 IP65 outdoor PAR spotlights

Cameo Flat Pro 7

Cameo Flat Pro 12

More d’information on:

– The Sonido 1 website
– The Ferrovial website
– The Cameo website

– The Adam Hall website
– The blog Adam Hall
– The Event Tech website

Through regular software updates to its RIVAGE PM digital mixing systems, Yamaha is able to bring sound engineers the very best quality and most user-friendly features.
The latest of these, to be released with Firmware V4.7 in mid-December, is the premium Y7 reverb, developed in close collaboration with Bricasti Design.

Bricasti Design is known for being the world’s premier manufacturer of hand crafted, hardware digital reverbs.
The delicate expressiveness, exceptional sound quality and ease of use of Bricasti Design is characterized by the rackmount M7. Considered to be the company’s masterpiece reverb, it is widely used by many professional studios and live sound engineers.

Yamaha and Bricasti have now collaborated to design a revolutionary new reverb for RIVAGE PM digital mixing systems.
The superb Y7 will be available at no cost as part of the Firmware V4.7 update, bringing the highest level of expressiveness, sound quality and operability to live sound engineers, further expanding the high quality options available to RIVAGE PM users.

Brian Zolner

“Together with Yamaha we are pleased to announce the release of the Y7 reverb. By working closely with the Yamaha development team, the Y7 was specifically designed for use in Yamaha RIVAGE PM digital mixing systems,” says Brian Zolner, CEO of Bricasti Design.

“It brings to the live market a Bricasti reverb that is integrated in the console for simple, fast, and familiar operation, as well as bringing the renowned ‘Bricasti sound’ to users of Yamaha products. We feel the Y7 will offer new art to the sound engineers and fulfil their requests for a premium reverb product from us for their consoles.”

Motome Tanaka

Motome Tanaka, Yamaha Group Manager, PA Marketing & Sales Group, adds, “We are very pleased to announce the release of the Y7, which we have co-developed with Bricasti Design.
“All Yamaha mixers are built on the philosophy of allowing engineers to capture the on-stage sound accurately, without colouration. Plug-ins play a vital role in allowing engineers to take this transparent sound and apply their artistry to the mix.
High quality reverb is one of the most important tools to achieve this and we are confident that the Y7 will become a key part of the creative expression for many sound engineers.

“We at Yamaha will continue to listen to the opinions of our customers and work hard to provide the most flexible systems and comfortable mixing environments.”

More on the Yamaha website

This August saw a magnificent production of The Flying Dutchman, Richard Wagner’s fifth masterpiece, brought to Lithuanian opera fans for the very first time.
Staged in a unique open-air setting by the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre and featuring leading Lithuanian soloists including Sandra Janušaitė, the event became one of the most celebrated musical productions of the year, selling out all of its socially distanced 1,000 seats to lucky spectators.

Dual DiGiCo SD12 96-channel consoles with two SD-Racks and D2-Racks were selected by one of the largest audio rental companies in the Baltics, NGR Service, to bring the magic of this one-act opera to life.

Fitting its original theme, the opera production took place on the slipway of Paul Willy Lindenau shipyard complex in Klaipėda, with its colossal structures and hoists, as well as frequently changing weather conditions, presenting the NGR team with some major challenges right from the start.
“The setting in the historic cruise ship terminal made for a unique and spectacular location, but it also meant dealing with rain and winds of up to 20 m/s whilst thinking of how to make the orchestra and soloists sound as natural as possible, as this would be staged in an acoustic concert hall,” reminisces NGR’s FOH Engineer, Tomas Ždanovičius.

“On top of the weather challenge, we also had to deal with constantly moving actors across a 50-metre stage, or even outside the stage at time, as well as special effects such as falling water and a real-life ship appearing during the performance. There were definitely one or two ‘firsts’ for us in this production.”

FOH Engineer, Tomas Ždanovičius.

In order to deal with such a challenging odyssey, NGR chose the DiGiCo SD12 console, which offered their team the ease of operation, fast function selection, and “without doubt, the best sound of any console currently on the market,” adds Ždanovičius.
Deploying their best technical minds and top-quality sound equipment on the site allowed the team to fully realise the creative production ideas of Concept and Artistic Director, Dalius Abaris.

“When it came to sound, it seemed that everything was against the NGR team,” says Abaris. “On location, the sound engineers repeatedly analyzed and evaluated wind speeds as well as rigging positions of the sound system depending on where the audience would sit, which would sometimes change on a daily basis due to the latest COVID restrictions. One day we had one ground floor layout, the next day another.”

Impressed by the professionalism the NGR team showed in the face of such adversities, Abaris explains how the team worked relentlessly to ensure they could transmit every sound to each member of the audience.
“Another complexity was, of course, the stage size,” he adds. “This was a big challenge, not just for the sound team but also for the performers. When people are separated by over 40-metres distance, the monitoring systems visibility and relationship with the conductor all have to be watertight, so to speak, not to mention the main PA and the delay systems.”

The « ground zero » orchestra and first floor choir and placed even further away.

NGR deployed two SD12 consoles, with the main one serving the soloists, orchestra, and special effects and submixer return groups; the other was used as a submixer for the choir’s 48 personal headsets. In total, between two consoles, 146 channels were utilized, not including FX returns.

“The scale of this production was just immense, and I didn’t hear a single artist saying that they felt uncomfortable singing, which is a major credit to the team’s abilities,” shares Abaris. “The installation of the sound equipment was a long process, as the team had to rig the system on an over-a-century-old shipyard construction.
They had to measure everything very precisely before putting up the three main PA clusters and the delay lines. The panning of the soloists was so accurate that the audience’s attention was focused on where the sound was coming from. It was definitely a feat to behold.”

The entire set-up included 70 wireless systems for the opera performers with omni-directional headsets, and a further 50 systems for the orchestra with clip-on lavalier mics and more. DiGiCo’s SD12 became invaluable when dealing with the soloists, who were in seven fixed positions across the stage, which was configured in ‘layers’ of around 50 metres in width.

The ghost boat, the stage and singers quite everywhere. Wireless is your friend !

“This was all dealt with by having pre-programmed panoramas in different Snapshots, with manual pan movements as necessary,” explains Ždanovičius. “The audio material for the entire show was recorded in multitrack and having the ability to expand the console with DMI cards was very convenient.”

Speaking about the functions on the SD12 that were particularly useful in this complex production, Ždanovičius notes the importance of the ergonomics of the console, as well the easy accessibility of the worksurface, which helped him react fast.
“Additionally, it was useful to be able to arrange the layout of the console in any way needed, as well as having all necessary channels next to each other independently of the input list positions. Finally, having two separate touch sensitive screens made my work as fluid as it can ever be,” he adds.

No way to mimic such extraordinary sky colors palette elsewhere than in the open air when and if the weather wants it.

Broadcast live on Lithuanian national television, LRT (Lietuvos radijas ir televizija), Wagner’s operatic feast passed with flying colours and was met with standing ovations by the fascinated audience.
“This was probably the first opera in Lithuania where there was no criticism from musicologists, critics or sound professionals certainly that I’m aware of so it was a complete success all the way,” states Abaris proudly.
“Working with the best orchestra and leading soloists of Lithuania requires the best sound quality, because everyone, from production directors to choir members, knows how the orchestra should sound,” concludes Ždanovičius.

“This is why DiGiCo consoles are chosen for these types of events, we can always trust the equipment. We particularly valued the system flexibility we gained with DMI cards: in this particular production, with the help of DMI cards and UB MADI we could split all the inputs to the OBVan, multitrack recording (main and backup), submixer and FX computer, which made the entire workflow seem like a serene ocean breeze amidst the storms and salvation of this magnificent production.”

Below, to watch the video of the story of the production:

More information on the Digico website

The new Chauvet Professional COLORado Batten Q15, RGBW LED bar, rated IP65, comes with a range of mounting options that adapt it to a wide variety of configurations.
The adjustable trunnions on this one-meter long RGBW LED batten, which can be adjust without tools on its integrated track, have been given an even greater degree of versatility with the addition of ¼ turn omega brackets.

Les différentes possibilités de montage de la Colorado Batten Q15.

Adding to the COLORado BattenQ15’s adaptability is a new system for joining different units together. Integrated into the end caps of the fixture is a system to connect units seamlessly for perfect row alignment. Since these attachments are weight bearing, the COLORado Batten Q15 can be hung “icicle style,” or arranged in tower configurations using the included hanging/floor mount plate.

“Given the demands of today’s market, when lighting rigs are being set up in many different types of settings, we feel that adaptable rigging options have never been more important,” said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “The COLORado Batten Q15 combines a high degree of rigging versatility with outstanding performance features.”

Video presentation

Among those performance features is the intense output from the new fixture’s 15 20-watt LEDs, which render beautiful and vivid colors and lend themselves to sizzling pixel mapped displays without the “skittle” look often associated with battens.

Capable of transitioning quickly from a smooth color wall wash to a stunning effect, the COLORado Batten Q15 features an elliptical 42 – 15-degree beam spread, a stowable glare shield, color temperature presets from 3200 K to 10000 K, and selectable smooth dimming curves. Designed to excel indoors or out, and in broadcast studios as well as on concert stages, the COLORado Batten Q15 is intended to be as versatile as it is reliable.

“Our customers are being asked to be more flexible and imaginative than ever today,” said Chauvet. “We developed this product to help them meet that challenge.”

More on the Chauvet Professional website