Sound Engineer Ryan Doordan has worked for several bands in various positions such as front-of-house mixer, monitor engineer, RF coordinator and audio recording engineer. But in recent years he has mainly concentrated his efforts on mixing in-ear monitors for various artists including My Morning Jacket and Father John Misty. Recently, Doordan was made aware of the Sensaphonics dB Check Pro sound level analyser, designed to show real-time in-ear SPL and safe exposure times for professional IEMs and headphones from 12 major brands. “I’ve been curious about how loud we’ve all been listening to our in-ear packs, and I’ve been deafened…
Author: Alicia Pollitt
Audience & Brands, and drone display company, AeroAVA, has announced an innovation in live event technology at The Media Production & Technology Show 2024. The two UK-based companies unveiled Augmented Drone Shows, a concept that elevates drone performances into a mixed reality experience for live event broadcast audiences. Drone shows are the emerging performance technology for the 2020’s, and Audience & Brands has worked with AeroAVA to push digital boundaries further by introducing the ability to live track, generate and overlay digital content accurately, in real-time. Tom Rees, AeroAVA Managing Director, said “This innovation offers a never-seen-before enhancement to existing…
“As one might imagine, this band are heavily invested in their sound. There is a lot of sonic language on the records, and they expect this to translate to the live shows,” began Britannia Row Productions’ Simon Hodge, who pulls double duty as both Production Manager and FOH Engineer for The Smile. “I’m very busy while mixing this show – spinning in a lot of live tape echoes, delays, spring reverbs and all manner of things. Everything is analogue in the FX rack [apart from a Bricasti M7] so there are no pre-sets. I spent some time in the studio…
Behind the scenes at the Eurovision Song Contest is veteran Eurovision technical show director, Ola Melzig, the production designer, Florian Wieder, and lighting and screen content designer Fredrik Stormby of Green Wall Designs, who worked closely with associate lighting designers Mike Smith and Michael Straun. “As this was the 3rd time Sweden had hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in ten years, we set ourselves the challenge of doing something new and brave that would respectfully challenge the traditional Eurovision concept a little, and introduce a more large-scale concert tour feel to the familiar ‘studio show’ concept,” explained Stormby. Taking inspiration…
Elation introduced the SIX+ Series, with each unit powered by seven 20W RGBLA+UV LEDs. The SIX+ PAR S has IP65 rating, ensuring adaptability for both indoor and outdoor applications, and a C4-M marine-grade coating for resilience against severe coastal conditions. The SIX+ PAR S also boasts a six-colour LED array and a high CRI of 93, the SIX+ PAR S has color fidelity. Users can also embrace colour rendering and performance with the SIX+ Series.
KING STAGE will take over the distribution of professional pro audio solutions from Dörverden in Taiwan. KING STAGE, based in Taichung City and with two further branches in New Taipei City and Kaohsiung City, was founded in 1999 by Mr. Alex Luan. “For more than 20 years, we have been an experienced audio wholesaler for high-quality pro audio products in Taiwan”, commented Alex Luan, founder and owner of KING STAGE. “When I heard Voice-Acoustic for the first time at the outdoor demo at Prolight + Sound 2023, I was immediately impressed by the outstanding sound quality and performance. We were…
ETC announced two software releases for the Hog 4 console’s operating system. Hog 4 OS v3.21 and v4.1 are the bridging releases with export/import features to get old show files into Hog desks running v4.x software. Senior Product Manager Sarah Clausen commented, “We recognise the value of our users’ hard work overtime and the cost of having to recreate shows to move forward with Hog into the future. These two releases create the bridge needed to bring older show data into the v4 world and beyond.” Hog OS v3.21 is required for users to import / export existing show files.…
Terminal V Festival celebrated its 10th edition which took place in April 2024 at the Royal Highland Centre. Taking their V2 Stage and turning it into a 360-stage, making it “unrecognisable from years gone by.” The team at 19MIL, which designed the V2 Stage and the adjacent Terminal Stage were aware of how important lighting would be to making both stages come alive. Nick Jevons, Lighting Designer, was enlisted to share his vision for the V2 Stage and the Terminal Stage. Working in Depence 3, Jevons created 3D renders of his design to share his vision for the two stages.…
The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest set design featured Claypaky Tambora Linear 100 high-power LEDs and Skylos white-laser source searchlights. Fredrik Stormby from Stockholm-based Green Wall Designs, selected the Claypaky fixtures. He joined Production Designer Florian Wieder and the senior production team to help create, design and deliver the show. The set was a 360-degree experience placed in the middle of the audience and shaped like an equilateral cross with movable LED cubes, LED floors, lighting, video and stage technology creating an array of visual variations for the artists. The centrepiece of the design was a video and light installation suspended…
Supporting the music on stage at the MOBO Awards was a lighting design by SJ Grevett and operated by Liam Griffiths and Kris Goodman that featured 98 CHAUVET Professional fixtures. Drawn from the company’s inventory, the kit included 24 Maverick Storm 4 Profiles, 30 Maverick Storm 3 BeamWashes, 32 STRIKE 1 units and 12 COLORado PXL16 motorised tilting battens. “We went for the big and bold look with brightest fixtures, so we could really punch through against so much LED screen space on camera,” said Grevett. Throughout the show, Griffiths changed colour combinations, careful to coordinate them with video content.…
Focusrite Group US announced the recruitment of Sound Designer, Brad Berridge, previously Director of Sound Operations for Feld Entertainment. As the newly-appointed Market Development Manager, Berridge will bring his experience to the role to call on theatrical sound designers, venues, theatre production providers and audio engineers, whilst in the education space he’ll be calling on those that offer live sound as well as theatre degrees and training. “I have been a very happy end user and part of the #MartinAudioFamily for the past eight years. I am familiar with a great deal of the Martin Audio portfolio and have extensive…
JLGroup announced the appointment of Scott Rooney-Ashby as the new Group Account Director. Rooney-Ashby joined JLGroup with a wealth of knowledge and skills honed over an extensive career. Previously serving as Account Director for Encore for over seven years, Rooney-Ashby has demonstrated a deep understanding of live events and technical production. His career journey included roles such as Event Manager, Senior Account Manager, and Head of Account Management. “Scott’s appointment marks an exciting chapter for JLGroup,” said Jack Linaker, Group Managing Director at JLGroup. “His extensive background and expertise will be invaluable as we continue to deliver exceptional audience experiences…
Dry Hire Lighting invested in GLP’s new JDC2 IP and impression X5 IP Maxx premium LED fixtures. The company already owned quantities of the German manufacturer’s impression X5 IP Bars, JDC1, JDC Line, X4 Bar 20 and FUSION X-PAR 12Z, among other items. DHL confirmed that it has a stock level of over 700 GLP products. DHL’s MD, Nic Tolkien and business development director, Rael Hancock said the driving factors had been a combination of the IP ratings, the solid build quality of GLP products, and the fact they can always expect a four-to-six-year life cycle, “unlike other brands who…
With the ORON H2, Cameo presents the world’s first IP65 hybrid moving head with a phosphor-laser engine. The ORON H2 is also a sustainable alternative for the upcoming EU ban on discharge lamps from 2027. The Cameo ORON H2 is based on a 260-watt phosphor laser engine, which acts as a replacement for discharge lamps in the 480-watt class. The laser engine of the ORON H2 has a light output of 330,000 lux at a distance of 20 metres and a minimum beam angle of 0.6°, which is achieved without the use of a beam reducer. The ORON H2 offers…
HOF has added Megalight to its distribution network as a new sales partner for Belgium. Juan de Walque, Sales Manager of Megalight, commented: ‘We are known for our excellent industry knowledge and our close relationships with our customers. This enables us to offer our customers high-quality products from well-known brands. HOF’s innovative and high-quality products fit in perfectly with this.’ Edwin Duivelaar, Export & Sales Manager at HOF, added: ‘Megalight is recognised as a successful and important supplier on the Belgian market. I am sure that the HOF products will be a successful addition to the existing portfolio.’ Megalight will…
Gondek Sound provided the audio infrastructure and sound design for Dreamstate, the trance music festival in Eastern Europe. Dreamstate Europe 2024 featured a lineup of international and local artists, spanning various subgenres from uplifting to psytrance, progressive to tech. Gondek Sound designed and deployed an Outline audio system comprising GTO C-12 and Superfly line arrays, Eidos 265s for DJ monitoring, and DBS 18-2 subwoofers. These were all powered by GTA amplifiers and controlled via the Newton (patented, FPGA-based) processing platform. Gondek Sound’s team of skilled audio technicians, Mark Frankiewicz, Bartek Paliński, Igor Grzeskowiak, Leszek Jakubowski, and Peter Banasik, ensured execution…
DVT Light welcomed Theis Wermuth as its new commercial director. DVT Light was founded in 2021 by Mikkel Bandholm and production industry legend Peter Johansen who has been inventing products for entertainment since the 1970s. As commercial director, Wermuth will be focussing on sales, marketing, and building a distribution network to assist in helping to establish the brand globally. He stated, “I am thrilled to join DVT Light. It is a fantastic opportunity to work with such an innovative and dynamic team. I look forward to contributing to the company’s growth and development and to strengthening our market position with many…
TES (Technical Event Solutions) has invested in Robe ESPRITE moving lights. The company was started in 2017 by Alex Wilson, initially working from a 12 x 6-meter storage unit, and now occupies a 1000 square metre warehouse with 15 full-time staff. Wilson’s background is in stage lighting while his business partner Brett Armstrong comes from the world of broadcast AV and IT. TES grew throughout the COVID-19 period, “I have a brilliant team here, and we can all multitask at times,” stated Wilson. They have also acquired a couple of other businesses in recent years, one is an audiospecialist, plus…
