The Cardiff-based rental company Stage Sound Services is one of the first companies to invest in the DiGiCo’s latest Quantum 7 engine for its seven SD7s, stating that their unwavering belief in DiGiCo’s ability to continually upgrade its product.

One of SSS’s SD7 Quantum 7 powered !

“As well as the SD7s, we have a large stock of SD10s,” says Stage Sound Services Phil Hurley. “When it was time to add more consoles to our inventory, we wanted to invest in the very latest technology and having seen the capabilities of the Quantum 7, it was an natural choice. We knew that as soon as our customers saw Quantum 7 was available, they’d want to use its new features and capability to enhance their sound designs.”

Two of the Quantum 7s were put to immediate use on the UK theatre tour of Dr Doolittle and the London production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Playhouse Theatre, additional consoles are being put to use on two versions of the Blue Man Group world tours and Matilda International Tour.
“We’ve been using DiGiCo for at least 10 years and we’ve been very happy with how they continually update them, without making the product obsolete” says Phil. “The recent upgrade for the SD10s helped our decision as it underlines DiGiCo’s ethos of ensuring longevity for its products and a good return on investment. It is a policy that has paid dividends over the past decade, and with our new SD7 Quantum 7s, it’s one we are sure will continue to serve us well.” ”

More on Digico website

First contact with the MagicQ MQ70

We join Ugo Knaff on the Sonoss (Chamsys distributor in France) stand at Paris’ JTSE exhibition. He presents the very recent MQ70, a compact and easily transportable DMX console.

Ugo Knaff: “One of the main criteria for this console’s specs was to be able to maintain the ease of transport that we had with the MQ60, an aspect that has succeeded in convincing many customers. ” We are talking more specifically about being able to take this desk with you on an airplane as cabin luggage.
The result is a control surface of restricted proportions, just like the MQ60 (or even more, its thickness having been reduced). But this is where the analogies stop, we quickly notice that we are in the presence of a much more modern device!

One of the new features of this console, the backlit fader slides.

For the hardware part, the tilt of the console is now modifiable in order to improve the working position, the restitution area now benefits from backlit faders (but whose color is not modifiable – option which will be reserved for future higher end consoles).

The computing part inside this new device, much faster than its predecessor, brings an instant response to the user. It also allows the management of 24 DMX universes, a number that may even reach up to 48 in the future. The rear panel now has an audio in/out port, a MIDI in/out port and an LTC connector.

The rear face is fully equipped, there is also the sliding foot adjusting the inclination of the desk.

Complementary detail, the console has its own internal Wi-Fi network (without external antenna) to be controlled wirelessly via a remote device. Finally, Chamsys engineers have integrated an inverter in order to avoid any unexpected power cut (autonomy of 10/15 minutes).
The physical buttons to select the playbacks have disappeared in order to be able to offer a larger multi touch screen, enlarged from 7 to 10 inches. Same goes for its resolution, which has been improved from 800 x 600 pixels to full HD.

All these elements are crammed into a console that displays only 7 kg on the scale, great performance! The first deliveries of the MagicQ MQ70 will begin in January.
A final word to announce the imminent arrival of the MQ50, future replacement of the MQ40 which will be a “light” version of the MQ70, without backlighting, with 6 universes instead of 24 and no inverter.

More info on the Chamsys Website

Roni Nevo on the left and TJ Smith at EAW headquarters.

EAW has announced the appointment of Roni Nevo as its new Chief Executive Officer. Key figure in the RCF Group, he will remain President of RCF USA and help the EAW team fine tune operations and expand its customer base in the USA and around the world.

Roni Nevo, stated: “I am delighted to be given the opportunity to further expand the EAW brand. Together with TJ Smith and the rest of the team we will continue EAW’s reliable and competitive product range in the production and integration sectors we serve.”

Arturo Vicari on the left and Roni Nevo.

TJ Smith, President of EAW, added, “Roni brings a depth of experience and a proven track record to the team that will go a long way in accelerating our growth and bring greater efficiency to our operations. As EAW learns how to operate on its own again I can think of no better person to lead the board.”

RCF Group CEO, Arturo Vicari, agreed. “Roni Nevo has been a key figure in RCF’s success in North America for many years. He will now carry this experience forward in his new role at EAW.”

More on the EAW website

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church of Newport Beach, California has purchased Ayrton Khamsin-TC profile luminaires to improve its lighting gear for worship services and special events.

Les Khamsin-TC utilisés à la face.

St. Andrew’s has been in the Newport Beach community for about 70 years and is known as a neighborhood church with global impact. It holds three weekend worship services, both modern and classic, and maintains a staff to handle AV production needs.
“It’s been our long-term goal to offer live streaming on the internet, and our recent camera and lighting purchases are intended to help us in live streaming services and events,” says Erik Alkire, lighting designer at St. Andrew’s.

The church has six Panasonic cameras, four of them remotely controlled by the technical director and two manned on tripods. Its extensive lighting counterpart includes 90 conventional fixtures plus some ageing moving heads.
“The entire roof of the church is glass,” notes Alkire, “so beautiful sunlight streams in during Sunday morning services in the sanctuary. But the sun creates a lot of shadows on faces when we’re shooting video. We were looking for some really bright lights to reduce those shadows and provide a quality of light that mimics tungsten sources and can be used as a key light if necessary.”

A gauche sans l’utilisation des Khamsin, à droite avec.

Alkire launched “quite a research project” to find the right fixtures. “None of the lamp options were going to work because we don’t have a budget to regularly relamp a set of moving lights, so we knew we needed LEDs. That narrowed the field.”

Alkire discovered that Ayrton’s Khamsin “ticked all the boxes with no compromise.” He was especially impressed by Khamsin’s 6000 Kelvin light engine that required less colour correction to achieve a high light output. St. Andrew’s purchased a complement of Khamsin-TC models with custom white bodies that match the enclosures of the church’s other fixtures.
While St. Andrews has been live streaming its services since January 2019 the new fixtures, which were installed in October, have significantly upgraded the quality of live streaming for worshippers following services on the web.

“The Khamsins are mounted as front lights,” Alkire explains. “They give the pastor a massive boost of intensity during sermons; he can walk through the sunlight and shadows, and we still see his face.” In addition, the Khamsin fixtures “take the place of follow spots for the singers with the praise band in our modern services, and they bring up the intensity of speakers or the liturgy during the classic service.”

Pendant les louanges à 17 h.

The Khamsin fixtures are expected “to play a big part” in St. Andrew’s upcoming Christmas concerts. “In the past we’ve tried to make the sanctuary more magical for Christmas,” notes Alkire. “The concerts are generally at night so we’re not fighting sunlight. We bring in haze and additional lighting equipment to get an extra layer of prettiness. But we also need to light faces for special moments in the concert, and the Khamsins will give us that ability.”

More information on Khamsin at Ayrton Website

See the Khamsin Test at SoundLightUp : Ayrton Khamsin-S and Bora-S, the winds of madness

The historic Istrian People’s Theatre (INK), Pula, Croatia has recently replaced all of its sound reinforcement and monitoring systems with L-Acoustics Syva and X Series technologies, as well as LA4X amplification.

The theatre benefits from four L-Acoustics Syva, four Syva Low, and two Syva Sub for the main stage left and right reinforcement. The two Syva subs are below the balcony Syva and the Lows are on the stage.

This iconic European venue has had an eventful life. Its origins lay with the much smaller Teatro Nuovo (New Theatre), built in 1854 when Pula was part of the Austrian Empire. That was replaced in 1879 by a much a grander version, which itself has stood the test of time through various governments.
In 2004 the theatre was officially renamed the Istrian People’s Theatre, City Theatre Pula, and is now generally branded as ‘INK’ (Istarsko Narodno Kazalište). Its main auditorium has a capacity of 699, spread across the main siting area, lodges for spectators on the first and second floor and on the balcony on the third floor.

The stage right Syva with a couple of Syva Lows.

Miodrag Flego is the sound manager at the venue, and largely responsible for specifying the new L-Acoustics PA. After many years of coping with a very tired audio system that, according to Flego, was poorly specified for a theatre of INK’s calibre and quality, the decision was made to invest in new audio infrastructure.
The theatre turned to the L-Acoustics distributor for Croatia, Dicroic d.o.o. “We were looking for something with fantastic sound quality that would also blend in with the spectacular historic architecture,” he explains. “We decided that Syva had the best of both worlds.”

Syva is a colinear system that features six MF and three HF drivers loaded by DOSC waveguides, for wide coverage with extended throw. The solution at INK uses four Syva, four Syva Low, and two Syva Sub for the main stage left and right reinforcement, as well as four 5XT coaxial enclosures as left and right fills for the row of theatre boxes.
All of the enclosures are custom coloured from the RAL colour matching standard to blend with the theatre’s proscenium and balcony railings. In the near future the theatre will also have L-Acoustics ARCS Wide, ARCS Focus, and X12 for its stage monitoring system, as well as ARCS Wide, ARCS Focus, and SB18 for its additional small stage.

“We had a lot of help from L-Acoustics engineers in specifying the new systems,” says Flego. “We would not have been able to achieve such a great result without their input, or the design assistance of L-Acoustics Soundvision software. It was Soundvision that highlighted the need for the extra first level fills, which have made a big difference to the coverage for the boxes at the extreme left and right ends.”

Four L-Acoustics 5XT coaxial enclosures oriented backwards provide left and right fills for the row of theatre boxes.

As well as a busy dramatic programme, INK has recently hosted several high-profile jazz acts since installing the new system, including Charlie Hunter & Lucy Woodward, the Mingus Big Band, and Jason Moran & The Bandwagon. “All the musicians were delighted with the sound,” notes Flego. “They all asked about the PA, unprompted, because they were so impressed. That tells me we’ve got it right.”

INK’s history is one of constant reinvention and cultural commentary through over 160 years of social and political change. Thankfully, the theatre continues to look forward to a bright future of presenting the best that international and local creative and dramatic arts have to offer.

More on L-Acoustics website

American rapper Logic toured 26 towns through North America this fall on his “The Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Tour” with lighting design by Mitchell Schellenger and lighting supply by Volt Lites of Burbank, California.
Schellenger employed a rig of Elation Professional Artiste Monet™ moving heads as the workhorse fixture in his design.

Photo: Marc Chambers, @MAUIMARCC

Logic is a multi-platinum selling, Grammy nominated artist whose positive message has endeared him to an ever-growing fan base. Perhaps best known for his six-time Platinum single 1-800-273-8255, which spotlights mental health and suicide prevention awareness, he released a new album “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” in May, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200.

Seeking a fresh look for the artist’s on-stage performances, Logic’s manager contacted Schellenger after seeing an Imagine Dragons performance and liking what he saw. Schellenger has designed lighting for Imagine Dragons since 2018. That led to Schellenger putting a festival rig together for Logic earlier this year, something he describes as easy that could move around, “almost a one-off style rig,” he said. “Then we took those ideas from the festival show and built it into a full blown arena tour.”

That festival rig featured sets of parallel, automated trusses, a component that Logic liked that Schellenger built the rest of the arena show around. “We wanted to keep the look clean with few fixture types in the air,” he explains, “so we chose to use one fixture above the stage and that’s where the Monet came into play.”

Photo: Marc Chambers, @MAUIMARCC

Perfect sense

Schellenger had visited the Volt Lites shop in LA to demo the Monet and found the fixture’s multiple capabilities to his liking. “I didn’t want to use the typical wash, profile, beam configuration,” he says. “I wanted this to be a simplified look and by doing so I needed a fixture that was capable of doing a lot of things with the power and capacity to light the entire show from above. The Monet just made perfect sense.”

What first caught his eye however was the moving head’s design itself. He comments: “It’s a proportionate fixture. The housing is really clean and modern looking, which is something that I personally take into consideration because even when a fixture isn’t being used there’s still ambient light that’s catching it and you can still see its silhouette.
I knew there would be times with Logic when we were lighting a song with just the floor lights and you’d still be able to see the Monets up in the rig. Having a nice shape to the moving light was important.”

Photo: Marc Chambers, @MAUIMARCC

When the designer turned the unit on, both the output and evenness of light made an immediate impression. “Although it was incredibly punchy, there was no hot spot,” he said.
“We put it up against some other fixtures and it was uniform and bright. As a white LED source, when using it in open white it has a pure white color. If you didn’t know that it was LED, there’s no way to tell.”

He then started incorporating colors using the fixture’s SpectraColor CMYRGB color mixing system, along with CTO color correction and color wheel. “When we started integrating the colors, you can get so much saturation out of them and still maintain punchiness. We dropped Congo into it and it was still bright, which other fixtures have trouble with. Knowing that this fixture had to be my primary source of light, that was key in the decision to use them.” As the designer continued to play with the fixture, he took notice of the gobo selection, which he describes as “beautiful, sharp, clean and modern.”

“The Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”

On the Logic show, an overhead rectangular rig holds 24 Artiste Monets in six rows of four fixtures each. Across the backline and lined up with the six overhead finger trusses are six more Monet fixtures used for aerial effects and to shape the band. Running perpendicular to the Monet truss fingers are four automated finger trusses, which at times disappear completely to leave the Monet fixtures alone.
Despite the large arena settings, Logic wanted the show to have an intimate feel so Schellenger refrained from LED video graphics and used IMAG with a supporting light show. While two monolithic screens (each 15ft wide by 32 ft tall) project live images of the artist, the upstage center is left intentionally void.

Schellenger explains: “I didn’t want the IMAG upstage center because having a big LED surface on for 100% of the show wouldn’t allow the beams to have their moment. Even though the IMAG is on all the time it is so far off stage that you always see beams of light and the automation moving.
The upstage center is literally a hole of negative space that gives us big real estate for the light show.” In addition, because the show relied heavily on IMAG it was important that the lights played nicely with the camera, which, according to Schellenger, they did.

Photo: Marc Chambers, @MAUIMARCC

The designer also placed a Monet fixture at each downstage edge of the stage for sidelight, a position that he typically would use two fixtures to get the intensity he wants. “This was the first time I’ve ever done a show with a single fixture downstage left and downstage right and it was more than enough,” he said. “We could zoom them wide to get the full shot then shutter them down with the framing system so we weren’t blowing out the video wall.”

More on the Elation website

AVID announce the availability of the Avid S1 audio control surface designed for music mixing, audio post and video production artists. Avid S1 delivers the unparalleled speed, rich visual feedback, and software integration of Avid’s high-end consoles in a portable, slimline surface that’s an easy fit for any space or budget.

Avid S1 gives audio specialists the hands-on speed, precision, and software integration needed to deliver better-sounding mixes faster. From recording and editing tracks to mixing and monitoring in stereo or surround, Avid S1 provides the comprehensive control and visual feedback to accelerate any music workflow.

Like the industry-standard Avid S6 and Avid S4, Avid S1 is powered by EUCON™ to offer deep integration with Pro Tools and Media Composer, plus native support for third-party audio and video applications like Logic Pro, Cubase, Premiere Pro, and more. Users can even switch between multiple applications, and workstations, at the touch of a button, providing the most fluid editing and mixing experience.

Avid S1 tightly integrates with the free Avid Control app for iOS and Android tablets and smartphones, providing rich visual feedback to enhance workflows, ergonomic efficiency, and Avid S6-style metering and processing views so users can navigate large sessions quickly, mix more intuitively, and quickly turn around better sounding mixes.

From touch-sensitive motorized faders and knobs to fast-access touchscreen workflows and Soft Keys for completing complex tasks with a single touch, Avid S1 provides the speed and versatility to accelerate any music, audio post, or video project. Users also can easily scale the surface as their needs grow by connecting up to four units together and even add an Avid Dock to create a single extended and integrated surface.

“We designed the Avid S1 control surface with home or smaller studios and budgets in mind,” said Rob D’Amico, Director of Product Marketing, Audio & Video Solutions at Avid. “We strive to give customers the integrated hardware and software workflows they need to create the best sounding mixes. The Avid S1 enables users to create complex mixes without having to compromise on quality and opens up a world of capabilities never before possible with a control surface at this price (1295 USD PDSF).”

Avid S1 will be on display at Avid’s NAMM Show 2020 booth (#15502), January 16-19, 2020.

For more information, visit the Avid website

Meyer Sound and Bright Group supported the Avicii Tribute Concert anchored by a massive LEO family system. More than 58,000 admirers streamed into Stockholm’s vast Friends Arena, setting a new all-time attendance record for the venue.

Thousands of mobile phones illuminating the Friends Arena, a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium including a turf pitch.

This event was truly a celebration of the life and work of beloved DJ and producer Tim Bergling — known professionally as Avicii. The evening’s stellar lineup included 20 collaborators and peers, including vocalists Rita Ora, Aloe Blacc, Adam Lambert and Dan Tyminski along with DJ sets from David Guetta, Kygo, Laidback Luke, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Nicky Romero. The Bright Group, Scandinavia’s leading provider of event technologies, supplied a complete audio, video and lighting production package anchored by a massive Meyer Sound LEO Family reinforcement system.

The event entailed numerous challenges for audio production, including visual profile limitations due to the live YouTube streaming, noise level restrictions, the sheer volume of the indoor stadium, and a combination of acoustic dampening and reflective surfaces that had bedeviled previous concerts.
Further complicating matters was a program blending a 30-piece orchestra with bass-heavy EDM tracks. Heading the team assigned to this task were Production Manager Daniel Hellsten, Audio Systems Tech Anton Söderberg, and System Designer Theis Romme of Meyer Sound European Technical Support.

Teamwork was the key, according to Production Manager Hellsten: “We had tremendous support from Meyer Sound. The close collaboration between Meyer Sound and the Bright Group was fundamental to the success of this project.”
“It’s quite a difficult arena since it’s so huge and there is a lot of dampening,” notes Söderberg, “so it takes a lot of effort from the loudspeaker system to deliver the power and the clarity that we need. But with the Meyer Sound LEO Family system we achieved results that exceeded my expectations.”

The combination of long throw distances, 270-degree seating and strict noise limits required a distributed approach with multiple delay systems, according to Romme. “The distance from stage to rear topmost seats is about 150 meters and 30 meters high, so we configured the system with delays for both the main front and the out arrays. The coverage turned out to be excellent, with smooth transitions between arrays thanks to the common LEO Family characteristics and great work by Anton.”

The flown delay arrays at seven hang points.

The system’s main front arrays each comprised 16 LEO-M loudspeakers over two LYON™-W wide coverage loudspeakers, with dual out arrays each configured with 16 LEO-M, four LYON-M and two LYON-W loudspeakers. The front fill system deployed 12 LEOPARD™ loudspeakers while the 270-degree far out fills were each 22 LEOPARD loudspeakers. Full range delay arrays, flown at seven hang points, comprised a total of 104 LYON-M and 20 LYON-W loudspeakers and 18 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements.

For uniform visceral bass throughout the venue, Romme laid a foundation with dual end-fire arrays of 9-each 1100-LFC low frequency control elements augmented by 18 1100-LFC elements at center. Another 12 1100-LFC elements were flown in cardioid arrays on each side. System optimization and drive was supplied by 16 GALAXY™ 816 and three GALAXY 816-AES3 processors linked via an AVB network running the new Milan protocol. All loudspeaker inventory was drawn from Bright Group’s operations in Sweden and Norway.

“The coverage is very smooth with uniform transition between arrays,” observes Söderberg. “The LEO loudspeakers have the throw so we can push the first layer over downstage a bit more, and coverage with the LEOPARD arrays is just excellent. We also have LEOPARDs as front fills, so the transition from the mains was easy to achieve. Overall, the coverage is above my expectations. The clarity at the top row seats is great.”

As for the AVB network and MILAN protocol, there wasn’t much to say, according to Söderberg. “It’s been rock solid,” he says. “Everything pops up on the screen and works like it’s supposed to.”

The main and outfill hangs.

After the guest DJs finished the opening section of the concert, the YouTube live stream launched for the live performance part of the show. Mixing the band, orchestra and parade of dynamic vocalists was Wayne Sargeant, who came on board as Avicii’s FOH mixer in 2014 with the tour supporting the multi-platinum True album. Sergeant was tasked with corralling 128 inputs for the parade of vocalists and shifting instrumental combinations. In the end, he was delighted with the outcome.

“The performance of the system was quite, quite surprising,” he says. “It’s an incredibly difficult venue, so I thought overall the Meyer Sound system performed remarkably well. Of course with the orchestra on stage I was concerned about bass spill, but flying the cardioid sub arrays and putting more cardioid subs out with the delays really pushed the whole show evenly into the back of the room.
It was really great having more delays than you can shake a stick at because when you have a noise restriction of around 97 dB, you want a distributed system that takes over from the mains. And it worked. We had buckets of headroom, and the intelligibility was fantastic in a room that’s really tough.”

The success of the show was particularly gratifying to Production Manager Daniel Hellsten in light of the underlying purpose of the event, as both a tribute to the artist and a fundraiser for a foundation established by the Bergling family to support mental health research and treatment.

The 7 delay hangs.

“I really want to emphasize that we’re doing this for Tim,” he says. “We’re all in this together. We have 300 people working on the production team and I haven’t heard one complaint. Everybody knows why we are doing this, and everybody is working hard and doing an amazing job.”
For Fredric Holmgren, CEO of Bright Rental Sweden, the event was more than another assignment for his company. “We have many of our technicians who have worked either directly with Avicii or his production staff, so a lot of them are doing this from their hearts,” he says.
Stockholm native Tim Bergling (Avicii) achieved global success as an electronic musician, songwriter, producer and remixer. He is credited among the few artists who brought electronic music into widespread popularity in the early 2010’s. Battling stress and deteriorating mental health, he took his life in April 2018.

More information on Meyer Sound website

A jungle of nearly 100 Astera Titan Tubes were used by lighting designer Nook Schoenfeld to create some high impact lighting effects during a sizzle-reel shoot to get player highlights for NHL ice hockey team Minnesota Wild, who are based in the Excel Center Arena, St Paul, Minneapolis.

©Tony Mahmood

These are shown when the players’ names flash up onscreen before and during a game and are also used to highlight players on televised ads, interstitials and other promotions through a season. These clips are shot during a designated ‘media day’ about two weeks ahead of the season opening each season.
Creative designer Chad Gilmour of the Minnesota Wild worked directly with creatives Mark Hussey and Nook to come up with a new look to produce the footage. Chad brought in DoP Robert Durland who found he needed very little lighting other than four ellipsoidals to shoot through the forest of Titans.

Scott Saja edited the whole piece together. Much of this footage was assembled to be played live on the big scoreboard at the Excel Center during game ceremonies. Production was overseen and managed by Game Operations Manager Sean Zeller (director of Game presentation). Secondary cameras were run by Matt Hussey and Chris Dougherty.
Nook has worked on several lighting projects for the ‘Wild’ together with Legacy Production Group account handler Tony Mahmood. Legacy is the largest full production rental company operating in the famous ‘Twin Cities’ of Minneapolis and St Paul, and coordinates the in-house lighting at the Excel Center Arena.

Chad Gilmour wanted lighting that was “totally different” to last year when Nook had specified moving light beams and strobes. In their advance meetings, Chad showed a couple of clips he liked that featured – sporadically – some horizontally hanging tubes and wondered if they could find a new and original way of using these, as he likes their quality of light output.

©Tony Mahmood

Nook, himself a bit of an Astera fan, was not short of ideas! The two brainstormed and Nook imagined a ‘forest’ of different length tubes hanging vertically with the players weaving their way through to a predetermined spot, stopping to tee up a slapshot!
Chad was thinking more of aerial views with the tubes forming shapes and colors reproducing the team logo and colors. In the end, he was able to achieve just that. They both liked the idea of a kinetic effect through players colliding with the Tubes and setting them swinging!

As it transpired, the players are so skilled at maneuvering on the ice that they could negotiate at speed through the tubes managing the puck “like a surgeon” remarked Nook, initially a little surprised! He enjoyed the chance to be experimental and suggesting ideas without quite knowing how the results would look.

So, 96 x Titan Tubes were sourced from The Legacy Production Group of Minneapolis and arranged in a forest formation and behind these were a series of 4-inch-wide by 3ft long Fatron video strips that acted as a background. They also contrasted with the Tubes, accentuating the rich diversity of colors emitted by the Titans and their positioning added depth to the forest look.
The footage was shot in the middle of the ice rink under the central scoreboard. Astera’s neat attachment enabled Tubes to be butted together into different length strips, and these were hung, seemingly randomly, from a truss gird that the creative team designed which extended just outside the scoreboard’s footprint over the ice.

Around a third of the Tubes were 3 meters long, another third were conjoined in two meters lengths and these were interspersed with the remainder as single 1-meter units.
The trussing was flown about 16ft off the ice and the Tubes attached via black tie-lines in prearranged positions exactly where Nook wanted the ‘trees’ to hang!
The tie line was attached to the screwed-in eyebolt of each Titan Tube and safely secured to the truss by the crew, a process which Nook described as “stupid easy!” and the tubes were all orientated for the cameras. Once each tube was in its resting position, the eyebolt was twisted for fine-tuning and an exact focus.

The Tubes ended up centered in the middle with the singles hanging around 5ft off the ice and the longer ones reaching right down to within an inch of the ice. In addition to the hung tubes, another dozen were placed on the ice. Some of the floor-mounted Tubes were two high, so Tony and Legacy Production Group had some sturdier floor stands fabricated which sat on the ice and were not knocked over by one skater.

Completing the load-in and set up on the day before the shoot, Nook and his team were slightly concerned when they arrived the next morning to find the Titan Tube brains frozen to the touch by being so close to the ice – “but they all fired up like a champ and continued to work,” explained Nook … and they were flashing on for the next six hours. Utilizing the Astera App, the Legacy team could meter the use – it turned out they barely consumed half the allotted battery time in that six-hour shoot.

©Tony Mahmood

Nook has been impressed by Astera products since he first encountered them in Germany four years ago and describes their design team as “smart” and “thinking of everything, even with their little LED puck, there’s an option to set an alarm that sounds every time anyone tried to move – or swipe – a Tube!”
On this job, in cold conditions, he really wanted a basic product with great colors and 100% reliability. “On these film shoots you don’t have time to set up for a day and check all the images overnight … we had a five-hour setup call and at the end of that we needed to have all our levels correct and everything had to be ready for shoot director Chad Gilmour as well as the DoP in the AM.”

All 96 tubes ran on one DMX universe as some were double or triple addressed. The director needed to be able to call out a fixture number to Nook at any time and have him change the color instantly. They were run through a grandMA2 console with a very small wireless transmitter which came from Inner Circle Distribution along with half of the rental tubes. “This transmitter was no larger than a pack of smokes, we sat it right in the tray of the console,” Schoenfeld tells.

Prior to setting up, they realized that within the forest of Tubes there was no easy way to utilize white key light to illuminate the players. A handful of ellipsoidals set up in the corners of the truss provided a base, but it wasn’t really what DoP Robert Durland needed for his shots.
Immediately the gaffers grabbed some of the single tubes on bases and had Nook turn them white, so they were used as key light literally inches from the players’ faces. “With no heat, this was a great function that we discovered in situ. Jeremy would also sometimes request that I strobe a key light, and the end results of this action look fantastic on the playbacks.”

©Tony Mahmood

For Nook, the REALLY cool thing about using Titan Tubes on a shoot was that, with lighting coming out at 180-degrees, the gaffer could start a quick clip by having the light face toward the ice, then roll the tube upwards with the camera to a close up on the skater’s face.
“We got some sexy shots we may have missed had we not decided to put the Titans on double duty as hand-held keys,” he concludes, adding that – with no cables to worry about – “the system was fast, simple and absolutely THE right tool for the job.”

More to the Astera Website

James Gordon, Audiotonix CEO, is pleased to announce an agreement for a next stage investment from Ardian, the world-leading private investment house. Audiotonix is a global market leader in professional audio mixing consoles.

James Gordon, Audiotonix CEO

James Gordon, Audiotonix CEO, is clear on the benefits the new investment agreement will bring. “This is an outstanding opportunity to partner with Ardian to enable further growth, and it represents a significant step in the future development.
We have built an incredible infrastructure within the group in the past five years, which has clearly benefited all our brands.
Ardian’s financial support and advice, combined with Astorg’s, who are also remaining as an investor for this next phase, will help expand our brands and product portfolio even further.”

Olivier Personnaz, Managing Director, Ardian Buyout, comments: “How people enjoy live, televised and streamed entertainment is going through a revolution. The world’s top acts, performers, broadcasters and supporting creative industries, want to give audiences the very best experience. Events, music and media content are becoming more immersive, embracing new technology and relying even more on great sound.
That’s why we are excited about how this new partnership will help Audiotonix differentiate itself even further through the undisputed quality of its audio technology and service to customers. The highly experienced management team are well placed to grow the scope and reach of the business, delivering outstanding audio experiences to more and more people worldwide.”

François de Mitry, Managing Partner, and Stéphane Epin, Partner, Astorg, said: “We’re very proud to have supported Audiotonix during an acceleration phase of their history, at a time when private equity was not so familiar with professional audio. Under our tenure, the group launched an amazing series of very successful new products, acquired the brilliant brand SSL and the exciting new technology of KLANG.
Many new projects have their coat and hat on and are ready to go out. No less importantly, many new senior talents joined Audiotonix, and have strengthened the team ahead of a new phase of expansion. We’re thrilled to go on supporting the journey.”

Since its initial formation with leading pro audio brands Allen & Heath, Calrec and DiGiCo in 2014, Audiotonix has seen expansion of its business and portfolio with further acquisitions. In 2017, the group integrated leading US importer and distributor Group One Ltd, and in December of that year purchased prestige studio console brand, Solid State Logic. In December 2018, DiGiCo announced the acquisition of KLANG:technologies, a pioneer in immersive sound technology and personal In-Ear monitoring solutions.

D’autres informations sur Audiotonix website

Allen & Heath appointed Dubai-based NMK as its exclusive distributor for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Responsible for all A&H products, NMK will offer a broad range of solutions to customers, from MI and Pro Audio, through to AV installation.

The A&H NMK team !

“We are extremely proud to partner with such a legendary brand. NMK has witnessed Allen & Heath grow at an increasing rate over the last few years,” comments Dino Drimakis, Business Development Manager at NMK. “Thanks to the highly talented and friendly team at A&H and with the addition of Avantis joining the flagship dLive, SQ and Qu Series, we feel A&H perfectly complements the NMK portfolio and feel confident that we can continue to raise the profile of A&H in the Middle East and provide exceptional audio solutions for our clients.”

Manfred Quesada, Allen & Heath’s EMEA Sales Manager, adds, “As our product range grows, we continue to seek out the very best distribution partners to represent our products around the world. NMK is a dynamic company, which has rapidly built an impressive standing in the region and we are very pleased to be working together to further strengthen the brand in the Middle East.”

The partnership takes immediate effect, with plans for regular training and product support activities.

More information on Allen & Heath website and on NKM Electronics website

Focusrite plc. which comprises Focusrite, ADAM Audio, Novation and Ampify, announced the acquisition of LDC-backed Martin Audio Ltd, the British designer and manufacturer of high-performance loudspeaker systems for the touring and installation markets.

From left to right : Focusrite founder and chairman, Philip Dudderidge, Martin Audio Managing Director, Dominic Harter, and Focusrite CEO, Tim Carroll.

This acquisition follows hot on the heels of Berlin-based studio loudspeaker manufacturer ADAM Audio, but has been a consideration for Focusrite Founder and Chairman Phil Dudderidge for years, who comments: “I have known Martin Audio since its beginnings in Covent Garden in 1971. Founder Dave Martin and I became close friends in 1989 when I served as an advisor to him and non-executive chairman for a year or so as we prepared the company for sale to Tannoy Goodman International plc (TGI) in 1990.

Martin Audio is a close neighbour to Focusrite Audio Engineering in High Wycombe and their current management recognised that Focusrite plc was the obvious trade candidate to acquire the business from its private equity and management ownership structure. My conviction as to the outstanding performance of the Martin MLA system was cemented at BST Hyde Park concerts in recent years, notably Tom Petty in 2017 and Eric Clapton in 2018.”

Martin Audio MLA system in use with Lionel Richie performing at the 2019 British Summer Time concert, Hyde Park

The Focusrite Group’s criteria for acquisitions remain both strict and targeted, as Tim Carroll, Focusrite CEO states; “The acquisition of Martin Audio is a strong demonstration of our strategic aim to expand into new markets. Martin Audio is also an established brand with solid financials that instantly add value. More importantly though, they’re culturally aligned with a clear part to play in our unfolding narrative.

The Focusrite Group is, first and foremost, a professional music technology company, focused on enriching lives through music by removing barriers to creativity; from that first spark of musical inspiration, to delivering an emotionally charged performance on stage. Martin Audio completes that journey, uniting the audience by creating the ultimate live sound experience. The Martin Audio family share our hunger to innovate and our passion as music and sound enthusiasts. That we’re just a stone’s throw away will only further help unite us in achieving our common goal.”

Dominic Harter

Martin Audio will continue to operate from their headquarter offices and factory in High Wycombe, England, under the leadership of Managing Director Dominic Harter, who looks forward to an exciting future, leading Martin Audio as part of the Focusrite Group;
“Martin Audio has been uniting audiences through great sound for almost five decades. Our continued success has been down to a clear, well-executed strategy with over sixty new products launched over the last four years and double-digit growth each year.
In Focusrite we have an industry neighbour of the finest pedigree; a global leader in its own right. Their culture mirrors our own and, getting to know the team, I sense a strong similarity with the deep-rooted values of our own Martin Audio Family.
Focusrite are the perfect partner to help Martin Audio continue the innovations that have driven its success. So it is with great pride and enthusiasm that we take this next step; a momentous occasion as the Martin Audio brand enters its 50th year. Working with Tim, Phil and the Focusrite team, I look forward to seeing all our staff and the wider family grow together, continuing to bring our unique optimised sonic experience to more and more audiences across the globe.”

More on Martin Audio website

Adamson Systems Engineering welcomes BaSys CS s.r.o. as its exclusive distributor for Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Based in Prague, BaSys CS is a division of Swiss-based technology distributor BaSys.

Ondřej Tureček, Adamson Brand Manager for BaSys CS s.r.o.

“We’re proud to represent a prestigious brand like Adamson in the Czech and Slovak markets,” begins Ondřej Tureček, the Adamson Brand Manager for BaSys CS s.r.o. “Having worked closely with Adamson products and representatives through ZL Production, one of the biggest Adamson rental partners in Central Europe, I’m very familiar with the brand and its many competitive advantages, and see plenty of exciting opportunities and potential for growth in our region.”

In late September 2019, BaSys CS s.r.o. partnered with ZL Production for a formal launch event in celebration of the new agreement, held at BaSys CS Pro’s headquarters in Prague.
ZL Production set up a large outdoor stage to showcase Adamson’s tour-proven S-Series of sub- and ultra-compact loudspeaker products and M-Series monitor solutions; meanwhile, attendees were also able to experience the flagship large-format E-Series products in showrooms inside the building.

“We were very encouraged by the positive response to our new agreement with Adamson from the market,” adds Tureček. “With such a respected professional loudspeaker brand now on our line card, we’re able to offer complete technological solutions from A to Z for rental and integration clients, and look forward to growing our business in close partnership with Adamson and our complementary brands.”

Founded in Switzerland in 1990, BaSys has since grown to include satellite offices in several Central European countries. Since the beginning, the company has focused on top-quality sound products as its core business for both the consumer and professional markets. The Pro division of BaSys CS s.r.o. represents other industry-leading brands like Midas, Lab.gruppen, Lake, Pioneer DJ, Neutrik, and more in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

“Adamson has some great, well-established partners in the Czech Republic and we’re glad to be able to better support them in close coordination with BaSys” says Jasper Ravesteijn, Adamson’s Sales Director for the EMEA region. “BaSys has an outstanding reputation in the pro and consumer audio communities in Central Europe, and Ondřej has been a longtime champion of Adamson, so we’re very excited about the potential of this new arrangement.”

D’autres informations sur le site Adamson

After its first product introduction at the NAMM Show 2019 in Anaheim, California, USA, and at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt am Main, the Adam Hall Group announces the immediate availability of the Palmer® MONICON® XL.

The MONICON® XL studio monitor controller is one of the first Palmer® products to embody the revamped appearance of the brand and represent the new brand claim “PALMER® – Be true to your sound” in all its facets. High-quality audio products with professional functions and intuitive operation fulfill the requirements of musicians and studio fans.

Equipped with many professional functions, the Palmer® MONICON® XL may be used in both professional studio environments and home studios.
Its clearly structured control interface and innovative console design is divided into two levels, facilitating flexible table positioning and comfortable work.

Professional Studio functions

The MONICON® XL features a correlation meter that displays the phase difference between both stereo channels to evaluate mono compatibility issues in a mix. The coaxial S/PDIF signals are converted directly in the input. In addition, the entire analog audio circuit means that there is no noticeable latency when monitoring.

Users who want to set up their L/R studio monitors more flexibly also benefit from the additional sub out on the back of the housing. The wideband, unfiltered mono-summed output is not only suitable for connecting to a subwoofer, but also to a separate mono speaker in order to monitor the mix in mono, both acoustically and visually with the correlation meter.

“The Monicon facilitates a fast and intuitive workflow,” says Robin Henlich, Senior Product Manager, Pro Audio at the Adam Hall Group.
“The division of the MONICON® XL’s user face into two levels as well as the configurability let users adapt it to their own workflow – and not the other way around. The latency-free signal transmission plus the correlation meter highlight the professional standard from a technical point of view.
It’s simply fascinating to follow what’s happening with the stereo signal’s phase relationship in real time.”

Vidéo de présentation produit :

Companion Monitor STUDIMON 5 also Available

The Adam Hall Group also announces availability of the active 5″ studio monitor STUDIMON 5. Enclosed in a particularly compact bass reflex housing with wooden side walls, the STUDIMON 5 is a two-way active monitor with an output power of 2 x 30 W (RMS).

With its 5″ ferrite custom subwoofer and its 0.75″ neodymium silk diaphragm tweeter, it exhibits a frequency response of 70 Hz to 20 kHz. The rear side of the STUDIMON 5 enclosure features bass reflex opening, 1/4 inch jack and XLR inputs, and a volume controller for accurately trimming stereo balance.
The 2-way monitor fits not only in sound, project and home studios, but also in professional audio environments.

Vidéo de présentation produit :

The Palmer® MONICON® XL studio monitor controller and the Palmer® STUDIMON 5 5″ studio monitor are now available for RRP 360 EUR / 399 USD and 218 EUR / 241 USD respectively.

More information on Palmer® MONICON® XL and on Palmer® STUDIMON 5

And other information on Adam Hall website

Thanks to the Hambourg PM Blue Gmbh, the famous producer and sound engineer Alan Parsons toured eight days through Germany with the proven pro ribbon systems LR18 and LR7 from Alcons Audio.
As far as the sound of his songs is concerned, Alan Parsons is probably one of the most demanding artists ever. In the late ’60s / early’ 70s, he worked as a sound engineer on milestones in music history, including the Beatles albums Abbey Road and Let it be as well as on Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother and Dark Side of the Moon.
As a musician he experienced in the 80’s the highlight of his career with his Alan Parsons Project. At that time, however, he barely performed live, as the technology at that time was unable to reproduce the sound of his songs as he had produced them in the studio.

Meanwhile, professional audio technology has caught up, and so dared Alan Parsons to tour again with his recent album The Secret. PM Blue GmbH from Hamburg was responsible for the eight day tour of the exceptional musician through Germany. Due to the fully booked PM Blue, the lighting concept was realized in cooperation with the company AVM from Schwanewede.
As to be expected, the requirements for the sound engineering in this case were particularly high, as Timo Hille, junior project manager and audio specialist at PM Blue confirms: Since Alan Parsons was and still is very successful as a producer and recording engineer, his requirements with regards to the sound quality are particularly high.

In addition, musically there’s a lot going on with Alan and his seven member band. The complex arrangements of the songs, in which many instruments overlap, especially in the low mid range between 120 Hz and 800 Hz, demand a good mix on one hand, but also a really high resolution sound system on the other hand.

The LR18 sporting the famous ribbon in the very middle of the cabinet

The latter found PM Blue in the proven pro ribbon systems from Alcons Audio. 30 x LR18 compact mid size pro ribbon line array systems were used as main PA, with 12 x LR7 micro line arrays distributed evenly along the edge of the stage for the near field.

The LR7 with a ribbon and one single 7 for the lows. Being 16 Ohms and passive, up to 6 units can be wired in parallel on each channel of a Sentinel10 and deliver 129 dB Max per box

4 x RR12 point source array systems were placed at the outer edge of the stage, directly under the main arrays and 1x RR12 flown left / right were used as outfill.

9 pcs of Alcons BF302 mkII dual 15 subwoofers were placed in the centre as a cardioid sub array, combined with left and right 2 x 2 BQ211 single 21 subwoofer systems at the outer edge of the stage

Timo Hille, who accompanied the tour as a PA system technician, was very satisfied with the performance of the Alcons systems: I had good tools at my disposal to adequately cover the halls. The very high resolution pro ribbon tweeters are initially somewhat unfamiliar to many FOH technicians, because of course much more high frequency information can be transmitted cleanly than with conventional compression drivers. Also on the tour with Alan Parsons, Tyson Montgomery Leonard FOH Engineer and I had to get acquainted with the system initially. After a short ‘introductory phase’ the systems offered just sheer fun and mixing pleasure

Also nice is the new VHIR processing in the Sentinel10 system amplified loudspeaker controllers, which made it easy for me to match the different speakers. The transitions between the different sound sources were extremely even and almost imperceptible. In addition, I was very surprised by the very potent Alcons BQ211 subwoofers Especially the combination of 15 bass reflex and 21 bandpass subwoofers was really convincing

Always interested in new technologies, Mr. Parsons eagerly received a full explanation of the Alcons pro ribbon transducer technology after the concert in Dusseldorf by Alcons Audio co-founder and managing director Tom Back

For more info, please visit the PM Group website and the Alcons Audio website