English singer-songwriter and global superstar, Ed Sheeran’s current world tour in support of his third studio album ‘÷’, is a huge 187-date tour which started in Turin, Italy in March 2017, and will play stadiums across Europe, North and Latin America, Asia, and Australasia before returning for a second European leg throughout summer 2018.
This is a mammoth adventure by the solo singer whose every move on stage will be followed by two of Robert Juliat’s heroic Lancelot followspots, supplied by UK-based lighting hire company, Lights Control Rigging (LCR). Lancelot is a 4000W HTI followspot designed for very long throw applications, with a 2°-5° zoom and an innovative optical train that delivers an extremely flat beam and improves on the power of its smaller counterparts.

Photo Ralph Larmann

The two Lancelot followspots were specified for the ÷ tour by production designer, Mark Cunniffe, who has worked with Sheeran as lighting and production designer since the star first broke onto the music scene in 2011. It was clear Cunniffe needed a quality fixture to pick out the singer to his best advantage against the massive, video-heavy set that surrounds him.
“I chose the Lancelots for a number of reasons,” says Cunniffe. “Firstly, I love the optics of the Robert Juliat products which guarantee a flat field and good output. Secondly, the Lancelot is always a rock solid followspot to take on tour. It is great to be able to travel with the lamp in situ in the spot and, with 187 dates, we needed something we could trust to be truly durable.” Six months into the tour, Cunniffe has been proved right: “The Lancelots have been very reliable and shown themselves to be extremely technician-friendly in terms of maintenance and road-worthiness. As expected they have been excellent all round.”

Photo Ralph Larmann

Robert Juliat prides itself in designing its fixtures with all its end users in mind: in addition to the optical and build quality, the comfort of the followspot operators is paramount. “Our spot operators love the Lancelot for all the usual RJ reasons,” says Cunniffe. “The ergonomics of the unit and the weight balance are superb for a start, and the ability to attach sights to the side is a crucial aspect. Sights are invaluable when covering the throw distances of an arena or stadium-sized venue – and when there is only one singer and his guitar to focus on, it’s extremely important for the pick ups to be accurate.”

“As a rental company, investing in products such as the Robert Juliat Lancelot is essential to ensure our clients receive a strong reliable touring product,” says Mike Oates of Lights Control Rigging. “It is also great to deal with Robert Juliat and Ambersphere again who offer a great service and a speedy and knowledgable support network.”
Ed Sheeran’s Divide tour is not the only large-scale extravaganza for which Cunniffe has opted to use Robert Juliat followspots. Four RJ Lancelot and two RJ Merlin 2500W HMI followspots have just toured Europe with Robbie Williams The Heavy Entertainment Show tour where Cunniffe employed them as front-of-house spots and side spots respectively.

Photo Ralph Larmann

Merlin is a powerful, rugged followspot designed for touring: easy to transport, install and maintain, with an output that belies its 2500W HMI lamp, it has a massive 3°-12° beam range that covers both long and medium throw ranges in one unit.
The Heavy Entertainment Show set comprises a multi-layered stage, with a mass of video and LED set pieces, staging gags, and backing performers, so the accuracy and output of the Robert Juliat followspots is essential if they are to hold their own in this environment. “In stadium settings such as this, there is a cross over from daytime to night time and we need lighting fixtures that are man enough to cope with both,” says Cunniffe.

Lighting supplier for Robbie Williams’ tour is UK-based Neg Earth Lights. “Following our initial investment in Lancelots in 2011 we have seen them become the followspot of choice for the majority of the work we do, to the extent we now have 28 in our inventory,” says Neg Earth Lights’ Dave Ridgway.
“The commitment and support from Robert Juliat and Ambersphere was an important factor in our decision to invest in the Merlin in 2015 when we were looking to replace our stock of Supertroopers. Robbie Williams’ The Heavy Entertainment Show ran for 35 dates from June to September across all major European cities.

For more information on Robert Juliat Lancelot and Merlin followspots and the full portfolio of lighting fixtures, visit the Robert Juliat website

Robbie Williams’ latest European tour takes in all points east and west of the continent throughout the summer, culminating in two shows in the Russian cities of St Petersburg and Moscow in early September. Touring in support of Williams’ 11th studio album, The Heavy Entertainment Show, the production reflects the nature of both the artist and the album, mixing full-on schmaltz with in-your-face entertainment in an atmosphere that is cheeky, loud and proud to be brash.
In a design set to dazzle in keeping with the effervescent star, lighting designer, Mark Cunniffe, opted to use 200 Ayrton IntelliPix-XT™ LED matrix fixtures to line the front edges of the stage, which is – what else – star-shaped.

Ayrton IntelliPix-XT outline the star-shaped stage for Robbie Williams’ The Heavy Entertainment Show Tour © Robbie Williams Management.

“One of the major challenges of a stadium show is that 50%-60% of the show is played in daylight, before transitioning into night-time later on. The further north in Europe, the longer the sun lingers, so it is important that we have a visual show for that first portion of the show, as well as beyond into full darkness.
Whether it was lighting-based or screen-based, I wanted something that would work in daylight and was looking for a punchy pixel-based source that provided REALLY serious impact which IntelliPix-XT does in spades! “I wanted there to be no separation between the staging and the lighting. By rigging IntelliPix-XT on the front of the band risers, the main stage and the star shaped forestage, I could clearly delineate the three stage levels and tie in the overall look and feel of the show.”

The IntelliPix-XT is a development on from the original IntelliPix-R delivering six times greater efficiency from its nine independently-controlled RGBW multi-chip high-power LEDs which emit narrow 2° beams from their 126mm diameter optics. These are configured in a three by three matrix, with a pixel pitch of 175mm, each of which can be aligned precisely to form highly complex assemblies that deliver large-dimension 3D volumetric lighting effects. An efficiency rating in excess of 95% of its PSU enables IntelliPix-XT to run continuously at full power without any loss of performance.
Cunniffe had not used the IntelliPix-XT before so his choice reflects a good deal of faith in the Ayrton brand, “I was looking for a really bright parallel beam to accent and clearly define the star-shaped stage edge; it is clearly an important visual indicator of the show’s character.
Other LED sources were considered but were far more wash-orientated making that sharp clarity difficult to achieve, whereas the IntelliPix-XT is much more of a beam light and provided the necessary ‘punctuation’, especially in a stadium-size show which requires a lot of LED. They did a great job!”

Intellipix-XT rear view. It remains semi transparent and above all, it receives a lyre of attachment which allows all the fantasies of configuration.

It isn’t only the brightness and clarity that has impressed Cunniffe as he explains: “I particularly like the pixel mapping facility of the IntelliPix-XT. The beauty of the feature is that you have nine separate cells to map which, multiplied by 200 units, gives you an awful lot of pixels to play with – eighteen hundred in all. When pixel-mapping them it is easy to match them into other products. I run a lot of video content through them but can pixel map many other effects too.”

As part of such a vibrant stage and light show, the IntelliPix-XT have more than proved their mettle and Cunniffe is enthusiastic about their performance: “The IntelliPix-XT are a signature unit of the show and are used on nearly half of the twenty-song list. In between, I run them at 20% as stage trim to delineate the edges of the star-shaped stage.
I’ve been really impressed with the fixtures, their output, the pixel mapping and their flexibility. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.” The 200 IntelliPix-XT units were supplied to Robbie Williams’ The Heavy Entertainment Tour by the UK’s company, Neg Earth Lights.

More information on all Ayrton’s LED lighting products can be found at Arton Website

From left to right: Sound engineer Andy Jackson, CEO of Sennheiser, Dr. Andreas Sennheiser, producer and sound engineer Simon Franglen, co-curator of the exhibition Aubrey Powell, producer and sound engineer Simon Rhodes And Daniel Sennheiser, co-CEO of Sennheiser.

Audio specialist Sennheiser has partnered with Pink Floyd to demonstrate its AMBEO 3D audio technology in action as part of the sound expert’s work for “The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains”, which opens to the public at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum on May 13. Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason makes a return to Abbey Road as part of Sennheiser’s immersive audio production

One of the most anticipated elements of the exhibition is a new immersive mix of “Comfortably Numb” from the Live 8 concert – the last time David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright played onstage with former member Roger Waters – created using Sennheiser’s AMBEO 3D technology in a brand-new format using 25 speakers. AMBEO 3D places sound both around and above the listener, delivering an immersive audio sensation unlike anything visitors have experienced before.

The 360 degree surround mix was presented earlier this month at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios in London, where Pink Floyd recorded a number of their albums including “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “Wish You Were Here”.
Pink Floyd associate, recording engineer Andy Jackson, who worked with Pink Floyd on several albums including “The Division Bell”, is collaborating closely on the project with Simon Rhodes and Simon Franglen, the mastermind producers behind the brand new AMBEO version of Pink Floyd’s music, creating new mixes which utilise many more discrete channels than were previously possible. Rhodes is a senior engineer at Abbey Road with over 18 years’ experience of working on productions for projects including the Avatar and Spectre movies, whilst Franglen is a Grammy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated composer and producer with credits on many of the biggest films of all time, including Titanic and Avatar.
As official audio partner for the Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains exhibition, a retrospective of the band’s history, connecting music, sound technology, live performance and more, Sennheiser will enable captivating audio experiences for the visitor using its innovative AMBEO 3D technology. Sennheiser systems will be used for audio elements throughout the exhibition, including the delivery of highest-quality arrangements from historic Pink Floyd documents.

Watch the video about the AMBEO 3D audio session at the Abbey Road studios here:

Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, who made a return to Abbey Road during the production of the AMBEO 3D mix, commented on the collaboration: “We have been using Sennheiser equipment ever since Pink Floyd started out as a live band and used the MD 409 microphones for our performances, so it is only fitting that they provide the audio experience at our exhibition. Sennheiser has been at the cutting edge of audio technology for a very long time, so we have no doubt that they will help make Their Mortal Remains something special.”

The Sennheiser MD 409

“Pink Floyd has worked with Sennheiser and Neumann microphones throughout their career. To come back to the Abbey Road studios to jointly work with the AMBEO 3D audio technology is a very special part within this collaboration”, said co-CEO Daniel Sennheiser.
“3D audio is the new frontier of sound excellence, set to transform the listening experience for users. We are very happy to bring that special audio experience to The Pink Floyd Exhibition”, adds Dr Andreas Sennheiser.

On the production of the AMBEO 3D version of Comfortably Numb from Live 8, Simon Franglen added: “I can’t think of a band that is better suited to Sennheiser’s AMBEO 3D technology than Pink Floyd. They pioneered surround sound in their live shows, now Sennheiser’s 3D immersive audio pioneers a completely new experience. It allows the audience to hear every detail inside the performance. I can’t wait to see what Pink Floyd fans make of the 3D audio version when they see the exhibition.”

The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains will open to the public at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum on May 13, 2017. Tickets to the exhibition are available now from the Pink Floyd Exhibition website

105 arena shows, multiple nights in virtually every venue (including six at Madison Square Garden, London’s O2 and the Los Angeles Staples Center) and every show sold out far in advance – Adele’s Live 2016 tour is big on both numbers and positive critical reviews.

Dave Bracey, Ingé façade

Those reviews have all focused on Adele’s voice. The production intentionally lacks dancers and hi-tech special effects to ensure the attention of every audience member is solely on Adele and her voice. In order to achieve that focus, sound provider Black Box Music provided an L-Acoustics K2 system.

The show design dictated that audio equipment stay invisible, yet provide powerful, clear sound and, above all, be unfailingly reliable. As Front of House engineer Dave Bracey notes, “It’s a classy show and, even more than usual, nothing is allowed to go wrong.”
“Designing the system was a challenge because there is a very clean look to the triangular main stage and strict requirements for sight lines and projection, so we had to fly all the K2 very high,” says system designer and technician Ulf Oeckel, who, like Dave, has previously worked on tours by Pink and Cher.

Ulf Oekel, Ingé système. On aperçoit derrière lui deux des 4 lignes de 18 K2 placées à la verticale de la scène B.

“The K2 was the perfect choice because, despite the sight line requirements, it gives us the projection needed to deliver Adele’s voice to each and every fan in the audience.” And to make things even more challenging, tickets for the show were in such high demand that seating was arranged in a 270º arc.

The production features 150 L-Acoustics K2 loudspeakers.
The main stage has L-R hangs of ten K2 each, with four K1-SB on top providing low end extension, plus side-hang arrays of an additional 18 K2 per side. To cover the extremities of the 270º arc, additional hangs of 12 K2 per side were used. Eight stacks of three SB28 each are spread in an arc beneath the stage in a cardioid pattern.
Ulf and the team used L-Acoustics Soundvision to create a clever sub arrangement to provide the maximum amount of cancellation onstage. Six white X8 are deployed as lip fills.

“Thank god we’ve got the X8s!” smiles Ulf. “Because the proscenium is closed at the back and lit from the inside, we couldn’t place any speakers on the inside of it. So we looked for the smallest speaker with the highest output, which was the X8. It’s the first time it’s been used on a tour and it’s fantastic, a really impressive speaker.”

Adèle en plein tour de chant. On distingue effectivement du public placé presque derrière elle. Les 270° sont une réalité. Observez bien aussi les bords du plateau. On voit les petites X8 effleurées par le kabuki et seules à même d’éviter aux premier rangs d’entendre le son des étoiles et pas d’UNE étoile. (© Ralph Larmann)

In addition to the main stage, the tour also features a B stage in the centre of the venue, which meant the audio system had to combine the main stage standard, end-on arena setup with a 360º system for the B stage, covering the entire audience. The B stage system comprises 72 further K2s flown in four hangs of 18. The entire system is powered by L-Acoustics LA8 amplified controllers.
“Adele starts the show on the B stage and then walks to the main stage. The system is designed so that there is a seamless fade in the music and vocals between the stages as she traverses,” says Ulf. “This created some major challenges with the time alignment. For example, while she is on the B stage the drummer was still going to be on the main stage, but this would have caused issues for audience members hearing the live versus the time-aligned drums. So for those segments he plays in an acoustically isolated room.
“There were also challenges with automating the delay times. Part of the B stage system is used for delays. It’s easy enough to add delay when the audio is coming from the main stage for the whole audience in front of it, but it’s more complex when the audio is coming from the B stage system – the audio trigger is already there but we’re fighting against the time. We’ve hidden any artefacts nicely in some fades and movements to make the transition from stage to stage completely seamless.”

Joe Campbell, Ingé retours.

Stage monitor duties are filled by the recently launched X15 HiQ. “I was very excited to try the new X15 HiQ,” expressed Joe Campbell, monitor engineer. “I use EQ sparingly, only applying it to individual source inputs and the X15 HiQ translates those sources beautifully, without needing additional filters.
The X15 HiQ gives me an extremely stable polar response across its operating bandwidth, and nice stereo imaging. Even at a distance, the vocals are smooth, not aggressive yet still in your face, with plenty of gain before feedback.
The X15 HiQ is a powerful and beautiful sounding wedge.” The X15s impressed Dave Bracey so much that he picked a pair to use as monitors during rehearsals, swapping to a pair of X8s at FOH for the tour.

Despite the challenges of the audio production, the L-Acoustics system has made a significant contribution to the tour’s universally positive reviews. “K2 was the perfect choice for this tour as it keeps all the transitions and overlap between the stages as clean as possible,” Ulf continues. “We are getting excellent results all the way to the very back row. And of course we have had great support from L-Acoustics throughout.”

“The tour has been fantastic,” adds Dave “Adele is singing incredibly, we’ve had great reviews and there have been lots of comments about the sound. It’s one of the best sounding shows I’ve ever mixed, if not the best… what more can I say.”

More informations on L-Acoustics Website

Just in time for AES 2015, MADI specialists DirectOut, have brought out MADI.MONI, a highly ergonomic MADI tester and mobile MADI monitoring tool.
MADI.MONI has been specifically designed for MADI testing and monitoring in the field and has the smallest footprint of any mobile MADI monitor on the market.

MADI.MONI offers a simple, uncluttered interface enabling users to see at a glance all format parameters as well as the signal quality of a MADI stream. Operation is extremely straightforward via four push buttons on the UI including a volume/channel selection to monitor individual channels of a MADI signal via the 3.5mm headphone jack.
The device is battery powered and provides one coaxial and one SFP MADI port. A traffic light like display delivers immediate information about the physical signal condition (amplitude/jitter). The state of the incoming MADI signal is displayed with dedicated LEDs for each parameter (sample rate, frame mode, channel format).

As a result, MADI.MONI is the perfect match for engineers in the field who need a handy, easy-to-use mobile device that offers comprehensive audio monitoring combined with instant, reliable information about the link quality.
For those who require a more sophisticated analysis tool, DirectOut’s compact MADI analyzer, ANNA-LISA, is the ideal choice. Furthermore, the device’s capabilities have just been expanded with the recent release of a remote control app for Android devices.

You can check out both devices at the AES convention in New York on booth #547. Orders for MADI.MONI can be taken from now with delivery scheduled from December 1^st 2015.

For further details, please visit www.directout.eu

About DirectOut GmbH
DirectOut GmbH was founded in 2008 by a team of professional sound engineers headed up by Stephan Flock, an award-winning classical music sound engineer with over 20 years’ experience in digital audio signal processing design.
The company specializes in developing essential pro audio connectivity, networking and bridging solutions for broadcast, studio, live and installed sound applications. Unique in that all members of the DirectOut development team are still active professional sound engineers, the company is thus fully focused on real-world demands and problem solving.
The product range, marketed under the brand of DirectOut Technologies^®, offers solutions that build bridges between different audio worlds and make systems and formats more flexible. Audio formats supported include MADI, AES67 and RAVENNA. Headquartered in Mittweida, Germany, DirectOut products are distributed worldwide.