production news

Stage One Kit Out Nike Summit

Nike chose the dramatic setting of Battersea Power Station for their 2010 Innovation Summit and Stage One were chosen - as the event's scenic supplier. Brought in by experiential and event management agency, Slice Events, Stage One were asked to provide the internal fit out for The Boiler House, a temporary venue installed within the power station.

This high profile event, launching Nike's new Mercurial Vapor Superfly II boot and the new National Team jerseys, required Stage One to work very closely with Slice, Patrick Donohue, Slice Events' design co-ordinator and the Nike design team, to deliver a themed environment in keeping with Nike's iconic brand.

"This project evolved greatly during the design and build process and we worked closely with the design team to accommodate any changes and offer practical construction solutions - demonstrating our can-do attitude and ability to form excellent working partnerships with our clients," said Simon Wood, sales director, Stage One.

Stage One created a number of different environments within the venue. These included a reception area, a number of backstage rooms, a theatre and several key areas entitled; The History of Football, the Mercurial Gallery and the Locker Room, along with graphics and light installations. With an overall scenic theme of the old traditional concrete terracing, the most challenging area to create was the History of Football. This required the construction of both a terraced and mezzanine area, upon which the Mercurial Gallery, a 10m x 2.5m Perspex display structure was sited and below which the Locker Room was positioned. These areas housed display items such as football kits, balls and boots.

"This was a huge project with many challenges but because of the broad range of skills and services we are able to offer our clients we were in the unique position of being able to deliver it in less than seven weeks, something that sets us apart from our competitors," concluded Simon.

photo: Paul Greenleaf

Billy Elliot on US tour with ETC Eos

Billy Elliot, the musical that has become a runaway success in London, Sydney and New York, is set to go worldwide this year, with shows in Korea and Chicago already agreed. By the end of 2010 there will also be a touring production moving to a different US city every three or four weeks.

Until now, productions have always included set pieces which revolve and emerge through trap doors, requiring extensive digging through the floor of theatres, which will not be possible on tour, so the set has been suitably modified. Lighting designer Rick Fisher also took the opportunity to consolidate some of the lighting on the show. He explains: "We needed to be able to keep the get in and get out times as short as possible, so that the first performance in a new venue could be within the week of moving.

"We've packaged the lighting to stay on the trusses as far as possible, while preserving the useful mix of equipment in the show, keeping the look as theatrical as it is at the moment. Even after some consolidation, we still have some 50 ETC Source Four Revolutions among the total of 120 moving lights - there are now as many movers as conventionals.

"Each time we do a new show, I look at where the lights are and see if we can remove some or replace them with different types of lighting - so, for example, last time I looked at the rig and realised that some fixtures had just two or three focus positions while others rarely moved. This meant I could reduce the number of movers by 10-15% for the Chicago show."

For the new shows, Fisher has also decided to move the show onto a new control desk: an ETC Eos. "It was a hard decision to make," he explains, "but we were thinking of the future. The show might be running for another five or 10 years and we wanted to have a future proofed control system. Eos seemed to be a good choice, especially since we'll be spending a lot of time in the US where ETC is a key player in the lighting control market."

Eos continues to make strong inroads into the theatrical market across the world, alongside its smaller siblings Ion and Element. The latter is ETC's newest control desk, aimed at smaller theatrical venues and schools that depend on single desk operators or volunteer staff. It is designed to handle rigs kitted out predominantly with conventional luminaires, while also accommodating some LED fixtures and/or a small number of simple moving lights.

In picture: an ETC Eos control desk will be used for the new touring production of Billy Elliot

www.etcconnect.com

Strictly grandMA2 for Come Dancing Live

An MA Lighting grandMA2 light console and three MA NPUs (Network Processing Units) are being used to control 18 universes of DMX running all the lighting and a Catalyst media server for the 2010 ‘Strictly Come Dancing Live' UK arena tour. The tour's lighting has been designed by Mark Kenyon, who also lights the high profile BBC TV series which has constantly topped the ratings and is one of the most popular programmes in recent history.

The grandMA2 light was programmed during production and technical rehearsals in Manchester Arena by David Bishop, and is being operated on the tour by lighting director Alex Murphy, who very much pushed to go with grandMA, having used a grandMA ‘series 1' on U2's seminal 360 tour in 2009. He has been a firm fan of the desk ever since.

All lighting equipment for the Strictly Live tour is being supplied by south Wales-based Sonalyst, who also looked to the future and invested in grandMA2 last year, for many reasons including the fantastic support from MA Lighting in Germany and the UK. Sonalyst's Rory Madden has been delighted with the lighting control, and states, "It is great to see an experienced lighting team using the latest gear from MA with such spectacular results."

During the tech week, the networking power of the MA system really manifested itself explains Alex Murphy as they ran three consoles, all simultaneously updating. Dave Bishop programmed on one, Murphy patched on another, while assistant LD Roger Williams sorted out chases on another - which proved a highly efficient way of maximising their limited time, and something for which the MA system and its reliability is renowned.

They are touring with two grandMA2 light consoles and grandMA onPC running on a laptop, which Murphy also uses as a wireless remote to focus from onstage. The rig contains over 200 moving lights, amongst others Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1200s, Vari*Lite 3500 Washes and Robe moving lights. The Strictly logos are projected onto the dancefloor via some of the Clay Paky Alpha Washes.

There is also a sprinkling of generic lighting units, including PARs, 4-lites and 8-lites, plus several hundred channels of set practicals including Pulsar ChromaStrips lining the stairways flanking each side of the band stage and edging the upstage video 'fan', together with JTE PixelLine battens around the dance floor and framing the shallow steps and platform at the far end. In addition to all this are eight scenic chandeliers which have their own light sources as well as being wrapped in flexible LED strips, all of which are run from the grandMA light.

The console is used to trigger a Catalyst media server sending content to the five-segment video fan upstage of the band - one of Strictly's trademark visuals along with the framed pros arch stage.

This is the third ‘Strictly Come Dancing Live' tour - and the first for grandMA2. It is being produced by Phil McIntyre Entertainments and production managed by Andy Colby. It runs for six weeks and is once again proving every bit as popular as the TV series.

Each show features eight couples - celebrities paired with professional dancers - four judges and a real competition which is voted on 'live' by members of the audience.

photo: Louise Stickland

www.malighting.com

DPA Mics Record World's Biggest Cathedral Organ

DPA 4006 omnidirectional microphones have been used to record the organ at Passau, Germany, the world's largest cathedral organ, for a charity SACD in aid of the German Heart Foundation. The performance, by cardiologist Dr Hans-Joachim Trappe of Ruhr-Universität Bochum, was recorded in stereo as well as in surround sound.

The giant instrument, which is split into five sections throughout the baroque basilica, was a challenge for recording engineer and Tonmeister Ulrich Lorscheider, from German specialist classical recording company Aeolus. He chose to use mainly DPA 4006 and 4006-TL microphones for the recording, having worked with them in the past.

"Here at Aeolus we are able to run two full surround recording setups simultaneously," says Lorscheider. "For this reason we own a large number of DPA 4006s as it is our main microphone of choice for this work, and they fully met my expectations again on this project. We particularly succeeded in reproducing the depth of the large cathedral in a three-dimensional way. The microphone setup was chosen mainly with a stereo mix in mind, but it delivered excellent results for the surround mix, too."

The 10 DPA 4006s were used as main pair with a further pair for each of the two organs located on the left and right side of the main organ. A further two pairs were used as room mics for ambience: this provided two different ‘layers' of ambience. "This was interesting as we could use them for both front and rear channels in the surround mix, which gave us a very nice rendering of the cathedral room," says Lorscheider. "As expected, in the stereo mix this arrangement proved to be very flexible, as we could make a choice of ambience situation according to the musical piece in question."

In picture: DPA 4006s recording the Passau Cathedral organ.

Ard Soilse Lights the Kilfenora Ceili Band

Irish lighting rental company Ard Soilse Productions Ltd was hired by the major Irish traditional group the Kilfenora Ceili Band to light their Irish shows for 2010, the most recent of which was at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. The rig designed by Joe Betts featured 14 Elation Design 300E spots and washes as well as 10 Vari*Lite VL2500 spots.

The Elation fixtures were used on the floor, with the spots providing a flower bed effect across the back of the stage, and the washes providing side light and shin busters. The VL2500's were flown on trusses along with several bars of six PARcans.

Joe Betts of Ard Soilse commented: "Im always impressed by the Elations, and this was no exception, their brightness was incredible, and washed out every other fixture in the rig."

Ard Soilse invested heavily in Elation fixtures in 2009, and another expansion of the moving light stock is on the horizon in 2010, with the release of Elation's new Platinum Spot 5R, which uses a platinum bulb, giving more than 300% more brightness than other fixtures in its power category.

Joe Betts commented: "Elation are always pioneering new fixtures, and I am delighted to be involved, and look forward to trying some of their new fixtures out in the field."

PSI Invests in Vari*Lite

Belfast-based lighting rental company Production Services Ireland (PSI) has made its first investment in Vari*Lite moving lights with the purchase of 12 VL2500 Spots. These were specified by LD John Gallagher for the ‘All Ireland Talent Show', the second series of which is being shot on Stage B at Ardmore Studios outside Dublin and broadcast live every Sunday evening on Ireland's RTE1.

PSI had been considering Vari*Lites for some time explains PSI's Brian Reilly, due to an increasing number of requests for them from designers. "As a premium brand, we wanted to start building a stock, so when John specified them for the Talent Show, it made sense rather than cross-hiring." He adds that he thinks that Vari*Lites will also complement their existing extensive stock of Robe moving lights very well

Many features have impressed him about Vari*Lites, in particular the fast and seamless colour bumps, the gobos, and the excellent optics.

The purchase is part of an ongoing programme of investment in the latest kit by PSI. They have recently expanded their stock of ChromaQ ColorWeb 125 and 250 and JTE PixelPARs, together with 32 new 1 tonne CM Lodestar hoists and Outboard motor controls for the rigging department. Other new equipment includes Hippotizer digital media servers, two more Avolites 48-way ART dimmers and an Avo T2 24-way dimmer with 12 x 5K channels, which is always in huge demand.

This has been necessary due to a busy end to 2009 and a strong start to 2010.

In addition to the All Ireland Talent Show, other major PSI shows have been the dance event ‘Into The Light' in Belfast Kings Hall and a theatre tour for the Coisceim Dance Company.

In picture: The All Ireland Talent Show.

TiMax and Shakira pitch SEAT at Geneva Motor Show

TiMax2 SoundHub recently helped launch several new models from Spanish car manufacturer SEAT, taking control of the multi-channel sound system plus a variety of talent and content sources on their lavish stand at the Geneva Motor Show.

TiMax was specified by Pere Capell of BTM Sound in Gerona as the system matrix to tie together a complex hook up of the exhibition stand's distributed presentation system and a full concert sound system used in the press launch which featured a live performance by Grammy Award-winning Latin pop diva Shakira.

The press launch system consisted of five Meyer M'Elodie line arrays and two M1D arrays including subs, which the TiMax delay-matrix blended with a distributed system consisting of fourteen Meyer CQ1 and nine Meyer UPA powered enclosures. TiMax also provided grouped system EQ and level-profiling across the booth's multiple overlapping zones.

Audio sources into TiMax included live microphones for presenters and Shakira via Yamaha digital consoles, 7.1 surround playback stems from HD video players, plus music and effects stings from Protools and Denon CD decks.

The principle creatives and system designers were Jorg Rapp and Michael Schwartzer of Adhoc based in Koln; the main AV contractor was Avega of Madrid.

Vasco Goes Martin for European Tour

Martin luminaires again play a leading role in Giovanni Pinna's lighting design for the latest Vasco Rossi tour. Vasco, Italy's most popular singer-songwriter, is playing dates across Europe beneath a large Martin rig of 41 MAC 700 Profiles, 27 MAC 700 Washes, 16 MAC 2000 Washes, 10 MAC 2000 Performances, 16 Stagebar 54s and 38 Atomic 3000 strobes. All Martin gear was provided by Limelite of Rome.

"The Profiles and Performance are the only spots on the show so they are very busy in all cues and placed to give me full coverage of stage, scenery and audience," explains Pinna, who has served as Vasco's LD for years.

Pinna has the wash fixtures well integrated as backlight for the band with washes along with MAC 700s dedicated to lighting scenery, a big part of the show. The Martin Stagebars are rigged over the audience in clusters of 8x2 along with MAC 700 Washes.

"This was my first time using the MAC 700s indoors (Vasco's stadium tours in 2007 and 2008 featured over 100 MAC 700s) and I was completely satisfied with them," he comments. "For indoor touring I believe there are not many fixtures that can compete with them in terms of features, reliability and weight."

Pinna calls the MAC 2kWs "classic" lights that give him that extra power when needed. "They even blend perfectly colorwise with the rest of the rig so I'm completely satisfied with them," he says.

Pinna is quite a fan of the animation feature on both the 700s and the 2kWs. "Using it without gobos is really cool," he states, "especially on audience cues. The zoom in the 700s is really good and is used on many cues."

And, as the show is rock 'n' roll, Martin Atomics played an integral role. "It's the only choice on the market in terms of a professional strobe," he says of Martin's industry standard strobe. "I'm fully satisfied with the reliability of the whole system."

Pinna thanks the crew for the great job they do to keep everything working perfectly. "Limelite is no doubt among the few professional lighting companies in Italy capable of dealing with such a job," he concludes.

The Phantom Returns

It's been ten years since that poignant day at the Paris Opera House, Christine has a secret and the Phantom lives on.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-awaited continuation of the story of The Phantom of the Opera has finally arrived in the West End at the Adelphi Theatre and fans have been looking forward to the revival of all the principal characters in a world of new hope and old obsessions.

The story unfolds at the turn of the 20th century in Phantasma, a fabulous showground in Coney Island, New York - home to freaks and entertainers. Bob Crowley's set and costumes combine the colours and thrills of the fair with the dark longing and macabre mania of the Phantom. A series of projections on layered tabs creates an immersive experience that opens up elaborate illusions of space and dimension, reality and fantasy, past and present.

The Really Useful Group, producers of the show, approached Stage Technologies and Delstar Engineering for the automation system because of their long history of manufacturing and automation for West End shows and beyond. The Stage Technologies group of companies has worked on technical solutions for a number of The Really Useful Group's productions including the original production of The Phantom of the Opera in 1986 and the show's first major UK tour in the early 90s. Delstar Engineering built the main travelator and its motorisation in London, followed by a higher-speed chandelier drop system. On the tour, Delstar built all the major items of the set including the touring showdeck, travelator, ball staircase, front and reverse tabs, rising candles, candelabra mechanisms, front proscenium, portcullis, portals, stair trap, dive trap, opera boxes and chandelier mechanism, working alongside the Stage Technologies team. While Andrew Lloyd Webber has been quoted as saying that Love Never Dies is intended to be a standalone show, the years of valuable experience gained by Delstar and Stage Technologies since the original The Phantom of the Opera have been enormously valuable for this follow-on production.

The extensive automation system for Love Never Dies comprises around 60 automated axes and is programmed via the new-series Acrobat∙G6 control desk, with motor control from seven AU:tour quick-install, plug-and-play, touring control racks. After a successful launch at Viva ELVIS by Cirque du Soleil at ARIA Resort & Casino in CityCenter, Las Vegas, the eChameleon next generation automation software is making its West End debut in this production.

The artistic ambitions of the show required a number of purpose-built pieces to be designed and manufactured by Stage Technologies, including custom trusses and tracks for the trapeze artists and two wireless stage trucks. The trucks (used to move two set pieces - a tavern counter and Christine's dressing table) are friction-driven to enable them to cross onto and over the revolves from their stage guidance tracks. As part of the install the Adelphi also contracted the manufacture of a custom-built gallery to improve the theatre facilities; in Love Never Dies it houses approximately 20 Stage Technologies counterweight assists.

The revolve, also controlled by the Acrobat∙G6, provides the essential scenic flow: a doughnut revolve with a centre lift and drop-and-slide traps is used artfully to expose the audience to different angles of both the scenery and the characters, with a smaller one-person revolve providing additional focus.

The aerial choreography is relatively simple: along with the two trapeze acts, there are a modest two point hoists for performer flying, a 4m/s MiniTow winch for a prop flying effect and a BigTow 390 winch that carries a hot air balloon basket and passengers. The real workhorses of the show are the second BT390, used to fly a Martin EvenLED wall in and out of the stage area during every scenery change, and a BT490 that brings in the huge set piece for the "Aerie" scenes. Other axes include rotating light boxes that allow the curved cyclorama to extend all the way to the proscenium for certain scenes. In addition, the AU:tour product family offers the ability to control simple fixed-speed axes; in Love Never Dies this facility is used to automate ascending front-of-stage footlights, used when Christine is performing the title song at a special concert held by the Phantom.

After having made its first appearance with a production of A Midsummer's Nights Dream by the Royal Shakespeare Company last year, Stage Technologies' award-winning F:light system was selected by lighting designer Paule Constable to synchronise lighting and automation. F:light enables lighting fixtures to track any piece of scenery under the control of the automation system smoothly and with minimum effort. In Love Never Dies, individual performers and set pieces on the revolve are the key elements to which F:light links moving lights with meticulous precision. F:light is a powerful tool, as demonstrated during the preview period when the speed of the revolve cues was changing frequently. This would normally have caused a major headache for the lighting programmer but using F:light meant nothing had to change; the lights just kept following based on the new speed.

Time will tell if London audiences embrace Love Never Dies as enthusiastically as its much-loved predecessor; it is certainly visually satisfying and Lloyd Webber's score is diverse, covering rock opera, Vaudeville acts and a traditional aria. The previews have been running since the 20th February with a press night scheduled for 9th March. Love Never Dies is currently due to open on Broadway later this year and in Australia in 2011.

In picture: Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo as Christine and The Phantom. Photo: Catherine Ashmore, RUG.

www.stagetech.com 

Robe is Eurovision Choice for Slovakia

Robe was the moving light of choice for a series of live TV shows staged to select Slovakia's 2010 Eurovision Song Contest entry. Broadcast live on STV1 from Slovakian Television's number 4 Studio in Bratislava, the shows were directed by Thomas Eibner and attended by a large live audience in addition to all those tuning in to watch.

Slovakian's leading lighting rental company Q-99 once again supplied lighting and LED for the shows, which were designed by Martin Kubanka, who has lit Slovakia's Eurovision song competitions on several previous occasions.

Kubanka - one of the country's leading and most prolific lighting designers - always uses Robe on his major shows. "Robe products are very reliable and offer all the creative scope and functionality I need to make a popular light entertainment show like this look dynamic and interesting," he states.

Twenty-four Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs and 12 ColorSpot 575E ATs were used by Kubanka for the six preliminary rounds of the song selection process. These each featured 10 contestants from which the top four were voted into the two semi-final rounds which spawned the 12 finalists.

The challenge was to design a rig to compliment Daniel Šithman's set with enough flexibility to offer each contender a unique and distinctive look and feel for their big stage "moment".

The ColorSpot 1200E ATs were rigged in six rows over the top of the stage, hung on subtley raked upstage/downstage trusses and sandwiched between six strips of Schnick-Schnack video surface forming a roof. They were used to illuminate the seated audience members at the back and those in special 'fan pens' who were standing and dancing nearer to the front of the stage.

The ColorSpot 575E ATs were hung on trusses above two LED video walls that were offset stage left and right, and used to provide side and back lighting and effects for all the performers.

The overall design concept was to produce an intense 'arena' of light across the whole stage and performance space where the numerous LED surfaces were matched with corresponding rows of moving lights.

Kubanka utilised multiple features on the Robe fixtures throughout the show including fast and precise strobing for specific songs and for stings like the winner announcement sections. Dark, moody saturated colours and dreamy frost filters were applied for the ballads and slower numbers.

The sharp, bright well defined beams of the ColorSpot 1200E ATs were also used as hard-edged 'contra' lighting for the contestants and presenters from behind, the crisp beams powerfully cutting through the often intense layers of fog.

Kubanka concludes, "In my opinion, Robe is definitely the best moving light on the market right now - and that's why I keep specifying them time and time again".

He used a grandMA full size console for lighting control which was programmed and operated by Michael Schmidt. Another grandMA full size operated by Thomas Lecky was used for running video through all the LED surfaces.

The Slovakian 2010 Eurovision Song Contest competition was won by Kristina with the song "Horehronie", and she will represent the Slovak Republic at the final in Oslo on May 29th.

www.robe.cz

Three's Company for DiGiCo SD8 At ISE

February's Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) trade show saw yet more success for the DiGiCo SD8 mixing console, with three more added to the inventories of Dutch rental companies.

Purple Group, one of the country's leading rental facilities, already owned three SD8s and increased that number to no less than five at ISE. The company is a long-term DiGiCo user and, when asked to supply equipment for tours by top Dutch acts VanVelzen and Kane, the decision to invest in further SD8s was a straightforward one.

"For VanVelzen we use a double SD8 setup, a standard console and SD8-24," says Purple Group's Robert de Loey. "In venues with small Front of House position, the 24 channel console is used at FOH with the standard console on monitors, while in venues with small stages the consoles are swapped over."

Taking full advantage of the SD8's recording facilities, an RME Madiface is used for virtual soundchecking, integrated with the RME MADI bridge.

Leading Dutch rockers Kane have also chosen the SD8 for FOH duties, with a D5 at the monitor position.

"Being able to soundcheck before a band arrives makes touring so easy," says Robert. "The great sound quality, flexibility and small footprint of the SD8 is the ideal way to work for our engineers. The DiGiCo family continues to grow at Purple Group and these latest purchases are definitely not the last."

Haastrecht-based Klaproos Cultural Support also invested in an SD8, plus a 56 input Digirack, at ISE. The company specialises in musicals, choir events and corporate parties, but is also well known in the Dutch contemporary music industry. It was the SD8's combination of high specification in a small footprint, which made it the ideal addition to the Klaproos inventory.

"The amount of channels used in musicals gets higher and higher, which means mixing consoles and racks of outboard also have to get proportionally bigger." says company managing director Teun Oskam. "But with the SD8 we can do more mixing, have more FX, dynamics and EQs that we ever dreamed of... and all in a much smaller footprint.

"Combined with the RME Madiface for multi-track recording and virtual soundcheck, we can offer the best possible service to our clients. We are now ready for when future productions get even bigger."

In picture: (top) DiGiCo managing director James Gordon, Teun Oskam from Kalproos, Jaap Pronk from TM Audio and Kalproos' John Oskam; (lower) James Gordon, Robert de Loey (Purple Group) and Jaap Pronk.

www.digico.org

 

Rule BRITannia - Sennheiser Plays Major Role in BRIT Awards Audio

The annual BRIT Awards is as well renown for its celebrity shenanigans - this year Liam Gallagher lobbed his microphone into the audience after accepting his award for BRITS Album of 30 Years for (What's the Story) Morning Glory? - as it is for honouring of the very best in music. The high jinks do not, however, eclipse the performances and great audio is high on the list of production priorities.

For the 8thyear, Sennheiser UK's Mark Saunders and Andy Lillywhite offered the comprehensive technical support that BRITS' sound designer Derrick Zieba has come to rely on for this and other major events he is involved with.

The evening featured stunning performances from double BRIT Award winner Lady Gaga (International Female Solo Artist and International Breakthrough Act), duets from Florence and the Machine (MasterCard British Album for Lungs) and Dizzee Rascal (British Male Solo Artist) and Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, as well as performances by Cheryl Cole, Lily Allen, Kasabian, JLS and Robbie Williams, many of whom are regular Sennheiser users.

"The BRITS is a very similar type of show to the MTV European Music Awards and relies on similar support," says Zieba. "The RF requirements are very complex and for that reason having the Sennheiser team on hand is essential in order to have access to all the bands we need to licence on site for the show."

All audio requirements, including its own Sennheiser-based shout system, were supplied via Britannia Row Productions. An EW 300 G2 with Vulcan IEM launch system was available for all artists using in ear monitoring, as well as for the pyrotechnics operator. EM 550 dual receivers, plus G3 handheld transmitters, were used by Lily Allen (SKM 945 G3), Dizzee Rascal (SKM 935 G3 custom Gold) and Florence Welch (SKM 935 custom Gold), whilst EM 3532 dual receivers, plus SKM 5200 with either Neumann or Sennheiser heads, were employed for all presenters, including host Peter Kay whose mic sported a Neumann KK 105 head.

Fearne Cotton, who hosted the backstage artist interviews, used a custom Swarovski crystal encrusted SKM 5200 handheld. Alicia Keys used an EM 3532 dual receiver, plus SKM 5200 with MD 5235 head, whilst Cheryl Cole utilized an EM 3532 dual receiver with SK 5212 miniature transmitter and HSP 4 custom headset. The show also featured a Sennheiser first, with Robbie Williams and his monitor engineer Charlie Bradley using the new EW 300 G3 in ear monitoring system.

"As well as the usual high level of service they provide, Mark and Andy did some extraordinary things for us that we just wouldn't have time to do ourselves, and that no other supplier would do," recalls Zieba. "For example, a highlight of the show was the duet between Dizzee and Florence. Dizzee has a special mic, but Florence doesn't. However, her management decided they would like to have one.

"So Andy stripped out a mic, gave the shell to one of the Blackfriars team, who took it away and sprayed it gold. Florence used it for the show and it was virtually indistinguishable from Dizzee's mic.

"This was a request that came upon us instantly and without warning, at a time when all my sound crew were extremely busy. It's something we just couldn't do without someone like Andy who can make that sort of thing happen."

"Having been involved with many artists who have performed at large shows over the years, it is always good to know that Sennheiser is on site assisting when and if required, with what is clearly a very RF heavy show," adds visiting engineer Andy ‘Baggy' Robinson, monitor "Both of the acts I came in to mix monitors for at the BRITS used Sennheiser products and, as ever, both the products and the support made things run very smoothly in an environment where radio is a very high priority thing."

"It's always an honour to be part of the team that works at The BRIT Awards," concludes Mark Saunders. "It's a high pressure environment, so using equipment we have the utmost confidence in is of paramount importance. The SKM 5200 radio mics used by the presenters have performed flawlessly again this year and we know they can even carry on even after being thrown into the crowd."

 In picture: Lily Allen, photo: John Marshall, JMEnternational

iLive Manages the Pope's Visit to Czech Republic

An Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system was recently employed to manage the celebration of Mass held during an official visit by the Pope to Brno, the Czech Republic's second largest city.

The event was attended by 120,000 members of the public and VIP's including the Czech President, Václav Klaus. The ceremony was held in the grounds of the city's airport, and included seating for the public worshippers, a VIP stage for the Pope and dignitaries, and a second stage for musicians.

Audio was managed by PA company, Audioblue, which selected an iLive system, comprising an iDR10 MixRack and iLive-144 Control Surface, and an RCF speaker system. Audio requirements needed to cover FOH sound, including three delay zones, as well as monitors for the VIP stage and the musicians on the second stage. Due to architectural restrictions, FOH position was located next to the music stage at monitor position.

Audioblue's owner, Tomáš Barták, mixed the event, commenting: "Thanks to its flexible design, iLive fulfilled its role as a centrepiece of the whole sound system, handling both FOH and monitor mixing, processing and EQ. The matrix outputs were used to drive the delay zones, and iLive proved that it is possible to run a simple sound system for a large event ‘just with a mixer and some active speakers'!"

The day-long event began with mass held by the Pope, followed by a musical programme of traditional folk bands and choirs, including the Olomouc Garisson military brass band, Hradištan South Moravian traditional Dulcimer band, and the Kyjovánek South Moravian traditional children's folk group.

"Everything went very smoothly thanks to the excellent, flexible and reliable equipment employed. iLive was the optimum solution for such a demanding event, managing the multiple performers and extensive sound reinforcement area with ease," concludes Barták.

A Glamorous First Night for Love Never Dies

Perfectly reflecting the complete spectrum of projects that White Light now supplies lighting to, the company lit the impressive opening night party for Love Never Dies, the new sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, having also supplied the entire lighting rig to the show itself.

Held at the Old Billingsgate Market, the party was themed on Coney Island, attended by the cast, creative and production teams of the show, the show's producers, plus their guests and countless other celebrities to mark the debut of the sequel to the most successful stage show of all time. White Light's Live Events team, already familiar with the venue from having lit many other parties there, used lighting to transform it into a lavish, opulent space.

As with many of the other events with which White Light is involved, the company used a wide range of equipment from its extensive rental stock, including moving lights protected by weatherproof domes and Source Four low-energy spotlights. White Light's team provided a complete service, including design, set-up, operation during the evening and then load-out once the guests (finally!) retired for the evening.

The party launches Love Never Dies onto a run that will hopefully be as long and successful as that of its predecessor: Phantom has been seen in more than 25 countries and by more than 100 million people. The new show has been created by a multiple-award-winning creative team, including director Jack O'Brien, designer Bob Crowley and lighting designer Paule Constable. White Light has supplied Paule's rig for Love Never Dies, as they have for many of her other recent shows including Evita, War Horse and the current touring production of Les Misérables.

Love Never Dies is playing now at London's Adelphi Theatre; productions in New York and Australia are scheduled to follow.

www.whitelight.ltd.uk

photo James McKenzie

Madness Go Crazy with Avolites D4

Pete Hosier of Big Ant Productions recently completed a suitably insane UK tour with Madness while operating an Avolites D4 Vision. The tour lasted a two-month stretch over the winter season, bringing an end to a year which marked the bands incredible 30th anniversary. The tour took place at a mixture of arenas throughout the UK and Ireland, culminating in Edinburgh on New Years Eve.

With no single two arenas the same, lighting designer Pete Hosier explained how the design changed daily, while crew aimed to keep a consistent look: "We put virtually the same rig in Southend Cliffs Pavilion as we did the o2 in London, That kind of sums up our daily challenges." The versatile Diamond 4 Vision allowed Hosier to compensate for the shifting venues and changing configurations of each rig.

The show consisted of five main elements; the lighting rig, video screens, LED backdrop and, of course, the backline and artists. Pete commented that this meant it was a daily battle to figure out the best possible configuration to maintain the show's finely tuned performance. However, advanced forward planning from the crew meant all the logistics were almost effortlessly pulled together.

The video screens from XL Video were one of the main elements given as a brief. Made up of F30 panels in various shapes and sizes, it was clear that the screen was hugely important to the artist. Therefore, the design had to incorporate this and complement, rather than detract, from the act.

Truss numbers, loads and trims were different on most days. Lights, supplied by Neg Earth, were normally rigged to consist of three 50' trusses. The upstage was very bare with just six Robe 1200s, and the downstage truss held the wash lights, key lights and crowd blinders. It was all very clean in the air so the main look was all on the floor where there were eight Manfrottos with two BB7s on each and a Sunstrip as well . These all sat upstage behind the screen. With various floor specials underneath the perspex risers - Atomics, mirror balls and dry ice all added to the fun.

Photos: Pete Hosier, Mark Scarratt and Charlie Day.

Barco and Digital Stage Paint Las Vegas with Light

Digital and automated lighting pioneer Barco announced today that 30 Barco/High End Systems DL.3 Digital Lights were used to create a seamless, 600 foot circular blend of graphics - the first time a collage of this scale has ever been staged. Sponsored by a major pharmaceutical company, the remarkable corporate product launch was held in January at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada - a facility large enough to accommodate the over 3000 sales representatives and executives in attendance.
For production and staging services, the client enlisted the help of New York City-based Todd Street Productions, who in turn reached out to Joe West, Senior Creative and Lighting Director for Digital Stage Chicago. West's challenge was not only to create a seamless ultra large-scale 600 x 20 foot circular blend, but to create a design that could transform into two other completely different sets over the course of the conference - and all within the client's budget.
To accomplish the blend, West selected the Barco DL.3, the fixture he'd been using successfully since the product's introduction, yet not to this scale of implementation. West's choice was based in large part upon the DL.3's high output light engine, on-board media server, and unique Collage GeneratorTM - a feature that enables multiple DL.3s to create seamless horizontal and vertical panoramic projections, and to control them synchronously from a lighting console. "The output of the device is phenomenal," said West, "and for the amount of lumens it pushes, we decided that it was the absolute right product to paint this event. The other major reason is the DL.3's ability to instantaneously change its position and 'collaging' on the fly. You simply can't do that with static projectors, and run all the cues in synch from the lighting board."
In addition to the 30 DL.3 Digital Lights used to create the seamless ring, the team also used four DL.3 units for additional stage effects, ten DL.2 Digital Lights that functioned as remote screens outside the ring, a Wholehog lighting console, and an Axon Media Server as the central content archive. "For years, we had the separate video world and the lighting world," continued West, "but now, the lines are blurred, and we're painting with graphics, video and light."
Adam Dunaway, Associate Lighting Designer for Digital Stage Chicago, has worked with Joe West for over ten years, and has witnessed firsthand how High End Systems' gear has changed the industry. "When the DL.2 was first released, we realized how much it would challenge our creativity," explained Dunaway, "so much, in fact, that we saw the need to re-imagine our design studio. And once the DL.3 was released, we found we could take things even further. Now, the DLs and Axon media servers are on practically every show we do, and they've become an integral part of our creative arsenal."
"We're just delighted that Todd Street Productions, Digital Stage Chicago and Joe West selected the DL.3 for this major corporate event," said Chris Colpaert, VP of Creative Lighting for Barco. "Not only is it the largest number of DL.3s ever assembled to create a synchronous blend of this size, but Joe's vision truly pushes the boundaries of our creative lighting tools, way beyond the spec sheet."
"My job as a lighting designer is to explore my art on every angle," noted West, "and if technology is a new part of that, I should explore it. My gift is the ability to visualize and create, and to find the necessary tools with which to do it, and we've never had a tool as powerful as a DL.3

HSL Supplies JLS UK Tour

Blackburn UK based lighting rental company HSL is supplying all lighting equipment and crew to Production North for the current six week UK tour by massively popular boyband JLS.

HSL's project manager Mike Oates says: "It's good to be back on the road with the Production North team and working alongside production manager Karen Ringland on this. The design is straightforward and uncomplicated, well thought out and works perfectly for the band and the style of presentation."

The lighting was designed by Peter Barnes. He and show producer Beth Honan - who have previously worked together on Blazing Squad and Girls Aloud - collaborated closely during production rehearsals at Rhyl Pavilion in Wales, together with lighting programmer/operator Dave Lee. Lee is overseeing lighting the show on tour, working alongside HSL technician Johnny Harper.

Barnes had to maximise an expediently sized rig in terms of effect, and says, "HSL as always were extremely helpful in cutting a great deal that allowed plenty of creative latitude".

The basic visual style combines elements from the television environment that catapulted JLS to fame as runners up on the 2008 series of X-Factor, with a clean looking stage for their slickly choreographed, vibrant pop show, complete with twist of live theatre. The overall emphasis is very much being on the four boys - Aston, Marvin, JB and Oritsé.

The set was supplied by Production North and consists of four sets of steps connected by a raised walkway at the back. Upstage of this is a 30ft wide by 10ft deep MiTrix video screen which shows specially created content throughout the show. Ensuring that lighting and video complimented one another was another aspect of the visual design.

There are 23 PixelLine LED battens ensconced in the treads of the set steps and the top of the set walkway is mesh grilled, allowing up-lighting from four Molefey units beneath. Also below the set are four smoke machines and four high powered fans, used to make vertical smoke jet effects. A powerful 2kW Space Flower effect nestles underneath the central staircase arch - and that's it for the floor lighting - reflecting the brief to keep the stage clear and uncluttered.

In the air is a back truss containing seven Robe ColorSpot 700E AT moving lights and six of the new Robe ROBIN 300E Beams - in which HSL has recently heavily invested. Says Lee: "They are excellent - extremely bright."

The mid truss has another four ROBIN 300E Beams and four i-Pix BB4 LED blinders, while the front truss has eight Robe ColorWash 700E ATs, three Martin Professional Atomic strobes and four 4-way Moles.

Framing the video screen are 10 GLP Impression LED moving lights.

In terms of lamps it's in keeping with the minimal concept, but it is one of those rigs that is flexible and dynamic enough with good programming and thought to offer up a wide range of looks and atmospheres with ease.

Lee operates the show using a Hog iPC console - his desk of choice for a show of this size. He says, "As always the support and back up from HSL has been second to none, and Mike (Oates) is brilliant, paying lots of attention to detail and ensuring that we have everything needed for a smooth running tour."

PixelRange Hits the Street with Arcola Theatre

The Ashwin Street Christmas Street Party was part of a £750,000 London Development Agency funded project to revitalise parts of central Dalston. Organised by project architects MUF and J&L Gibbons - the event brought together local youth, community, performing arts, visual arts and creative industry organisations to create a snapshot of how the presently run-down area could be.

Arcola Theatre provided 18 PixelRange Micro Es and eight 50w birdies for the architectural lighting of the Colourworks and Print House buildings designed by Haberdashery London.

Arcola Theatre's David Salter states: "The Micros were perfect for this event and produced the desired effect with ease. The event required a small unit that was easy to transport and discrete to install. The Micros benefit from an integrated power supply, silent operation and very low 31 watt power consumption. Their yoke doubles as a stand for floor mounting reducing the need for floor stands - and their ability to operate independently means they can be "thrown in" easily without the need to run DMX or set up a lighting desk."

The Micros were mounted near the windows to illuminate the ceilings and windows of the rooms using their built in yoke/stands and powered from 13amp wall sockets. The installation needed to be unobtrusive as the offices were in use during the rigging and initial part of the event. LEDs were also placed on window ledges inside the stairwells.

Due to the temporary nature of the installation and the short set up time it was impractical to link and control the units using DMX. Instead the Micros were used in standalone mode and colour picked manually. Selected units were also placed into colour-changing mode to produce a subtle chase effect.

Building on the success of the party, more outdoor events are planned for the summer 2010 Create Festival after the improvement works are completed and the new Dalston Square station is completed.

Photographs: Arcola Theatre

www.pixelrange.com

RSC Lightlock Goes on the Road with Bon Jovi Circle Tour

For its touring debut in North America, the RSC Lightlock is on the road with Bon Jovi on the group's The Circle Tour. Lititz, PA based Tait Towers was the first production company to make use of the revolutionary motion dampening technology for two different portions of the production. Being used in its traditional role, two RSC Lightlocks working in tandem are providing the needed stability on each of the tour's Syncrolite MX4 fixtures. Suspended from custom point lifts designed and manufactured by Tait Towers, the lights are flown in and out throughout the show.

Once rehearsals began, an unusual application was discovered for this new technology. With moving video walls used throughout the show's set, the tour's production team found a need to stabilise the 12 video columns which move over the stage area. RSC Lightlocks attached to the bottom of the video units provide motion stabilisation, allowing the audience to clearly view the images on the screens.

With the decision to add the equipment coming just before rehearsals began, timing was critical. Thanks to many years experience working on tight deadlines, Total Structures was prepared for the challenge, having an extensive inventory of units on hand. This enabled the manufacturing, testing and shipment of 50 units in time for the start of the tour. This package represents the single largest use of RSC Lightlock technology to date in North America and kicks off what is sure to be the beginning of an incredible touring career.

Lighthouse LED Screen Points the Way for Nokia

Flying 35m in the air for up to 11 hours a day, late 2009 saw a large format Lighthouse LED screen play a major role in a promotion for mobile phone giant Nokia's Ovi maps service and entertained thousands of Londoners in the process.

Taking place over a two-week period, the 14 x 4 panel (14.22m x 3.04m) Rn7-ER 7mm screen was suspended from a crane in the city's Potters Fields Park, near Tower Bridge. Mounted in a frame forming a giant arrow, it provided a unique form of interactive entertainment.

Passers by were encouraged to send a text message, which would be displayed on the screen along with the sender's distance, calculated by Ovi maps positioning technology. Also using that technology, the crane would be instructed to rotate and point the arrow in the direction of the sender.

Pod Bluman of Bluman Associates devised the technical solution from an original idea by Nokia's creative department and production managed by Neil Keane of EPMD, the biggest challenges of the project were the weight loading and the weather.

"The combined weight of the arrow frame and screen was approximately six tons," says Pod. "The crane and rigging companies set a wind speed limit, and if the wind went above that speed we had to drop the structure. But the Rn7-ER screen was great - pretty much perfect."

Another challenge was that the screen's feed had to be transmitted over 120m of cable, but it proved extremely stable. "We ran the signal HD/SDi and it was very robust," says Pod.

Culminating in a competition for Alexandra Burke to play a show in any UK town or city - ultimately won by Peterhead in Scotland - the Ovi maps promotion was a great success. One Nokia executive commented to Pod, "There are not many teams in the world that could have pulled off what you have achieved. Add to that the location that you built it in. I just wanted to congratulate you on your achievement."

"This use of Rn7-ER in a project such as this shows how effective the use of LED screen can be in such an unusual situation," adds Lighthouse's general manager for the UK. "The robustness and reliability of Lighthouse products also came to the fore to produce a great overall result."

Photo: Bluman Associates.

tarm Showlaser at Winter Olympics

The organisers were bent on making the events and official ceremonies at the Vancouver Winter Olympics the best ever. They hired no less than Australian producer and director David Atkins, who put on the opening ceremony at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, to outdo himself at Vancouver.

Atkins then banked on the expertise of the same team of worldwide-active laser specialists from Bochum, Germany, who had made impressive contributions to the opening ceremonies at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 2006 Paralympics in Turin to come up with some attention-getting laser sequences.

Preparations for the opening, victory, and closing ceremonies, which went on for 15 months, took place under the strictest secrecy. Following a reconnaissance visit to Vancouver and rehearsals conducted on a test set-up in the company's own facilities, tarm Showlaser's three-man team was ready to roll three weeks before the opening ceremony, which allowed them plenty of time to install their equipment on site, add the final touches to the programming, and conduct rehearsals before the deadline. A total of four tons of laser equipment was air freighted to Vancouver for the ceremonies.

tarm Showlaser's managing director, Ralf Lottig, stated: "It is a great honour to be selected to put on a laser show at the official Olympics ceremonies for the third time and this was surely this year's most sought-after laser-show job, worldwide."

In picture: technical director Ian Baldwin (right) and Ralf Lottig at the rehearsals in tarm Showlaser's Bochum studio; laser effects during the closing ceremonies at BC Place.

MAC Luminaires and LC Series Panels for Swedish Band Takida

Swedish alt-rock band Takida recently toured their home country beneath a Martin rig that featured P3-100 driven LC Series LED panels and Martin MAC luminaires.

Tomas Sagersten of Rentsound AB handled stage and set design for the tour and also served as lighting designer and operator. He comments: "I had the chance to try the LC Series when Swedish lighting company Music and Lights bought them. I was hooked pretty quickly.

"I had been talking for some time with the band about doing something with an LED backdrop and this was the time to do it. We talked fairly early about having the LED screen in two sections and using the transparency of the screen in order to hide the band for a cool intro."

Sagersten created a 9x6 meter LC backdrop plus a 9x2 meter section that could maneuver up and down in front of the stage set. This was used during the intro where the band was hidden behind the screen.

"I liked the simple rigging of the screen which allowed us to keep construction and tear down periods to a minimum. It gave me more time to program the lights and the video and get more special effects," Sagersten comments. "I like the power of the screen as well. We ran it at about 70% output and it was enough!"

The LC panels were driven by Martin's P3-100 System Controller, an intelligent interface between the source and the screen used for video signal processing and integration with lighting control. It lets users treat LED screens like lighting instruments; brightness, image position, image rotation, etc. can be adjusted and changed instantly.

"The P3 made our job much easier when it came to getting custom graphics to work properly," Sagersten says. "Ceiling height was pretty limited in some of the venues we were in so sometimes we had to leave the mobile screen in the truck. But thanks to the P3 everything looked as if it were shaped to the size of the screen we used that day!" Media content, some of it custom made, was sent to the LED panels via a Martin Maxedia media server.

Ard Soilse on Gospel at the Movies

The Ennis Gospel Choir has been a client of Ard Soilse Productions for the past four years, favouring their creative and boundary-less approach to production design. In November 2009 Fiona Walsh of EGC approached Ard Soilse designer Joe Betts to design a set and rig based around their theme "Gospel at the movies". The project was a challenging one, integrating video and lighting systems, with tight scene change times and complex choreography.

Joe Designed a set based on a series of concentric semi-circles forming the tiers for the choir, with a central semi circle in the opposite direction allowing the band to be situated in the centre of the stage, without blocking view of the choir. The lighting rig was designed to mirror the set, with concentric curved trusses, that gave a clam shell effect. The lighting rig was based around 16 Elation Design 300E spots and washes, which leant their versatile features to the show. The show moved into ASP Rehearsal Studios in Shannon in December, and rehearsed on set for four weeks.

The next challenge to was to allow the video screen at the back of the stage to be seen, when in use. The venue has limited height at 6m, and between the trusses and the set there was only 2.5m left for the screen.

Joe Decided to implement a moving truss system which moved the trusses up, and rotated them to curve up instead of down to the centre; this allowed the truss to seem to disappear during video scenes, and fly back in for stage scenes.

Joe commented: "The show was complicated and busy, and as lighting director I was calling move cues, video cues, spot cues and operating the board, so i didn't get a break until the show was over!"

The show was controlled from a Jands Vista i3, which allowed Joe to see the complicated plot as it appeared on stage, making on the fly changes quick, easy and seamless.

SIRIUS Showequipment Generates ‘PURe' sound with two DiGiCo SD7s

German band PUR's new album Wünsche (Wishes) was released in September and gave its name to their November/December arena tour. PUR front man, Hartmut Engler, and his band performed their latest songs, as well as old favourites such as Abenteuerland, Funkelperlenaugen und Irgendwo in dieser Welt, in 12 large venues, with capacities ranging from 10,000 to 20,000. SIRIUS Showequipment, based in Niederdorfelden near Frankfurt, was the technical event service partner for rigging, sound and lighting, with PA and system engineer Frank Müller responsible for local project management. Patrick Eckerlin and Dirk Happel used DiGiCo SD7 consoles to provide the perfect mix for both front of house and monitors.

For more than 25 years, PUR have been well known for their live performances and place complete trust in the comprehensive planning and production service that SIRIUS provides for their tours. For the Wünsche tour, PA and system engineers Frank Müller and Klaus ‘Bob' Bolender worked with the stage designers' ultra-modern concept, positioning the system to the right and left of the rigging to ensure wide coverage without impeding audience site lines. Müller developed the audio design for the tour alongside Happel and Eckerlin, the latter having worked with the SD7 since the console's launch.

"The SD7 was the linchpin for everything and was an essential component for PUR's system," says Eckerlin. "Dirk and I used two stage racks with 56 inputs each, with all relevant inputs for the band patched on the first stage rack. We recorded every show with Concert Online, which was the reason I sent a MADI stream of all the important ‘hand-made' stage signals and all dry and effect sum signals from my SD7 to an outside broadcast vehicle. The live recording that was made was immediately available for sale to PUR's fans on a USB stick at the end of the show.

"Additional channels such as clicks, talkback, remote replay to the pyro technics, etc, were patched on the second stage rack. I connected further remote re-players like my Mac, cd player or AV by cable directly to the internal inputs and outputs of the SD7. In total, I could handle approximately 80 input channels."

Dirk Happel adds: "DiGiCo´s decision to use MADI is brilliant. There is a lot of hardware, which works as standard, and intercom systems can be included easily."

"For PUR, I have applied the E-guitars and the backing vocals twice to give more depth to the sound," Eckerlin continues. "As a result, I had nine backing vocal channels instead of just three! These were built in a panorama to a very wide stereo figure. I used the fourfold to apply guitar channels for the solo parts and could slightly retard the double patched channels with the input delay. For some channels, such as guitars, bass and organ, I provided tube simulation, which isn't a standard option on the majority of digital consoles.

"Internally, I use 12 of the SD7's internal effects, which I augmented with four Lexicon 960Ls. I digitally integrated the last one with an AES/EBU interface into the console. As PUR performs arrangements that have a lot of delays in miscellaneous piano parts, I could program all these effects with my SD7 and send them over the internal communication system."

"I used Patrick´s current delays for the musicians' in ears, so that the artists on stage could play with the programmed effects," says Happel. "An option, which vastly improved the gain structure for keyboard player and composer Ingo Reidl, because he could also enjoy the luxury of hearing the delays on stage."

"My SD7 had approximately 110 input channels in total. The functions "assign" and "unassign" fader are features for the management and arrangement of so many channels that I couldn't do without them now. They are one of my favourite features," Patrick smiles.

From a monitoring perspective, Dirk Happel finds that mixing on the SD7 is easy because of the intuitive program operation: "You can place all channels on the user interface exactly where you need them for the work-flow, it does not matter which ones - inputs, outputs, effects, DCA. Once installed, channels stay the same, even if they are removed from the worksurface, which is simply fantastic. A further plus factor is the extraordinary sound of the console. Inevitably, one can´t help but compare to another English manufacturer...

"For me, the multiband compressors are an important characteristic of the SD7, as are the dynamic EQs and the tube simulation in every channel, IN and OUT. Together with 31 bands of EQ, they obviate the need for external equipment. I like the option to build so-called macros. You can activate or change every function of the console, or every combination of functions, with a simple key-press. A very helpful feature for monitoring is the option to put the input ports on the master fader. They remain in the channel level, even when you switch the rest of the console into an AUX level. The practical advantage of this is that I can provide atmosphere-microphones in mixes without calling these mixes, or without necessarily changing the channel level."

Dirk Happel was in control of the system's Gain Tracking, with the FOH and monitor consoles connected via a fibre optic loop. Patrick Eckerlin´s SD7 was linked to a mini rack for local play via MADI, which he used to run six outputs for the sound matrix and to provide diverse inputs and outputs for any kind of sums: mono- and stereo sums for EB and TV teams; recording sums for the video department; mono sums for listen to wiretap special final inspections; for example lighting; pyro technics, etc. The mini rack also contained eight channels of AES/EBU for the Lexicon 960L. Eckerlin sent a signal over a defined AUX channel as a further ‘special' to the LED team, who used this input as a trigger signal for the LED stage floor to ensure that the graphics on the floor corresponded exactly to a bass drum or the single snare beat.

Frank Müller, SIRIUS project manager, is already planning the PUR's next project.

"The band will tour again in summer 2010, topping off their ‘Wishes' year by playing in locations of different sizes and in locations that PUR hasn't been to for a long time. The tour will end with a performance in Schalke Stadium on 4th September where the band is planning an exciting update to their legendary PUR & Friends show."

"We are already working on the technical details of the rigging, lighting and sound equipment for the open air events that are scheduled and we will once again be relying on the all round excellence of the DiGiCo SD7."

In picture: DiGiCo SD7 in the monitoring position in front of the four-squared main stage with Martin Audio wedges and LED screens

photo: Sirius Showequipment, photographer Klaus "Bob" Bolender

www.digico.org

Thames Audio Backs Optocore for West End Shows

HD Pro Audio have supplied Thames Audio with a comprehensive Optocore fibre and recording system for use on the London West End stage - and the theatre specialists report that it has immediately made "a massive difference" to the performance of their Yamaha M7CL digital FOH consoles.

They first commissioned the system from Optocore's UK distributors for use on the one-off musical Through The Door before Christmas, and were so delighted with the result that they have standardized on the system for this ongoing series of special productions.

Said Thames Audio's sound designer, James Tebb: "We were aware of the limitations of Yamaha's AD+DA converters and knew that by replacing this, and the preamps, with Optocore the quality would be improved. But we had no idea to what extent. From the second we heard the first mic, we couldn't believe the difference to our AES outputs."

At the front end of their set-up is an LX4A-96k stage network device feeding the M7CL console - this is loaded with YG2/YS2 digital I/O interface cards running in Yamaha emulation mode. A DD32E Network I/O Device, with 32 AES ports and external word clock handle the AES returns, which are fed to XTA 448 processors, while a DD4ME Dual MADI/Video/Data Network Device provides a pair of MADI I/O feeds to redundant recording systems.

In addition, DD6ME network units allow communication via IP to other parts of the audio network - a feature which is becoming increasingly important with networked audio. It also allows remote control of the mobile studio.

This architecture also presented the perfect digital solution for James Tebb, when designing the sound for the latest week-long show, Megan Mullaly & Supreme Music Program at London's Vaudeville Theatre.

"The producers [Neil Eckersley and Paul Spicer for Speckulation Entertainment] like to have recordings of the shows, which we mix down afterwards," he said. "Now we can deliver this simply and cost effectively."

In fact Thames Audio's mobile recording set up comprises two RME MADI HDSPe cards, with two Quad-Core MacPro's running the multitrack recording software, Boom Recorder - providing an extremely workable solution for musicals of this type.

Thanks to Optocore's DD4ME recording has become a big plus, says James. "It's great to be able to multitrack the band and at the same time do virtual soundchecks, scene recall and double check your patching. It's the sheer simplicity of having MADI outputs that can go straight to Boom Recorder - allowing us to offer cost effective multi-tracks for the producer."

As to the auditorium sound, James Tebb says: "While people might turn their noses up at an M7 we now know how good the input stage is with Optocore.

With the ability to network audio and data around the building, with the option to have inputs and outputs in the orchestra pit, on the stage and so on, we no longer need to run large amounts of copper multicore everywhere - which can become a cabling nightmare."

Finally, he highlights Optocore's scalability. "Using the Yamaha MY cards we can use the system with all sizes of Yamaha consoles, and if extra inputs are needed, we can use the original inputs on the consoles."

Thames Audio will continue their supply to West End productions knowing that, thanks to Optocore, they can not only achieve a vastly superior sound but simplicity of multitrack recording.

In picture: Optocore control at the Vaudeville Theatre; Megan Mullaly delivers her Supreme Music Programme.

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