The Irish première of the hit musical comedy, Spamalot (School Edition), took place recently in County Mayo. The show, written by Eric Idle and based around the hit film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, has been a favourite of audiences all over the world since its Broadway debut in 2005. The run of five shows took place in the newly built multi-purpose hall of the Sancta Maria College in Louisburgh. Whilst the setting might suggest a modest production, limited by the technical and financial resources of a school, the reality was anything but. The college’s production of Spamalot, directed…
Author: Jacob Waite
Martin Audio has grown its team in the US with the appointment of Will Harris as Product Support Engineer. As the latest addition to the manufacturer’s Product Support Group, Harris will be supporting the Martin Audio team and resellers with demos, system design and implementation. He will also commission installations and provide technical support to customers. Harris has experienced all aspects of the pro audio industry, from musician on stage to live sound engineer as well as technical support for a high-profile manufacturer. Based in Las Vegas, he will ensure that Martin Audio’s technical support will now cover US customers…
Today’s current circumstances called for a shift from in-person seminars to virtual classrooms. Due to overwhelming response to an initial daily offering of online training content the past few weeks, the Meyer Sound education team is now launching an ongoing comprehensive webinar program starting 14 April. The content blocks will offer a natural progression of subject matter, providing attendees both practical knowledge for honing skills as well case studies for reference. The instructors will review specialty tools that cover a diverse set of solutions across all industry verticals. The education team also welcomes attendees to choose from an à la carte…
Studio Technologies launches the new Model 5421 Dante Intercom Engine, a high-performance yet cost-effective Dante Audio-over-IP (AoIP) party-line intercom solution for up to 16 users. It incorporates a sophisticated intercom-specific Auto Mix algorithm that optimizes party-line audio quality and significantly reduces ambient interference from open mics. The compact “1/2-rack” enclosure is intended for use with Studio Technologies’ 370-series of Dante-enabled intercom beltpacks. Traditional analog party-line intercom systems, where users can both talk and listen simultaneously in designated production groups, typically require an extensive and dedicated cable infrastructure and often suffer from a high noise-floor and poor voice intelligibility. Studio Technologies…
Audinate has announced a catalog of free, live webinars and online learning opportunities – some available in a variety of languages – over the coming month. The webinars will allow participants to officially obtain new Dante Certifications, learn about Dante Domain Manager and other Audinate solutions, and join interesting discussions on case studies and Dante design principles. Registration for the webinars is available at www.go.audinate.com/lp-events/webinar-series-20 The webinars are currently scheduled between April 14 and April 30. Additional courses may be announced at a future date. Topics in the series include: Designing and Managing the World’s Largest Single-Room Speaker System at…
The strength and power of PR Lighting’s AQUA 580 Beam was again put to the test by major event specialist Kvant Show Production, when they projected onto the 111-metre high National Bank of Slovakia HQ in Bratislava. Complementing Kvant’s own Laser Spectrum 30W lasers, 24 of PR Lighting’s IP66-rated fixtures were deployed as searchlights, with 12 positioned directly on each side of the Bank building terrace and firing into the night sky. Due to the tight and well-focused 2° beam, with output generated from a Philips 25R 550W engine, calibrated at 7800K, two infinite fat white beams of light from…
Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning, genre-defying LA band Tool are in the midst of a world tour following the 2019 release of their latest album Fear Inoculum, their first recording since 10,000 Days some thirteen years previously. Tool’s dense, multi-layered and polyrhythmic sound is mixed at FOH by Alan ‘Nobby’ Hopkinson while the very complex audio system (an all-d&b audiotechnik rig provided by Eighth Day Sound) is managed by System Technician Liam Halpin. No stranger to arena-sized, multi-zone PA systems and having worked with the band since 2015, Halpin was also an early adopter of Outline’s extraordinary Newton FPGA-based processor (patent pending).…
With lockdowns continuing worldwide in a global attempt to beat the Coronavirus pandemic, UK lighting control manufacturer Zero 88 has seriously ramped up its available online consultations and training opportunities. A busy and dynamic schedule includes 42 Zoom training sessions each month which will run for as long as the crisis lasts. Zero 88 product manager Jon Hole commented, “With the whole live music, events and performance industry shut down … we want to be as positive, forward-thinking and helpful as we can to anyone who is already using or keen to know more about some of the core Zero 88…
Thousands of college students of faith descend on Oklahoma City each year for the Student Mobilization Conference (SMC), four days of worship, camaraderie, inspiration and, in the evening, lively entertainment. Relevant Audio + Visual has collaborated with SMC the past eight years to create an inspiring audiovisual experience for attendees and this year tapped into its inventory of state-of-the-art Elation Professional luminaires to help create the uplifting atmosphere. The 2020 Student Mobilisation Conference took place 2-5 January at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City. Relevant Audio + Visual’s challenge was to create an engaging, impactful environment to motivate…
Powersoft has committed to continue its online training drive with a pair of hour-long Deva webinars that will take place on Wednesday 15 April at 14:00 (CEST) and 18:00 (CEST). The sessions will be led by Powersoft’s Deva unit sales manager, Cosimo Cecchi, and used to demonstrate all of the functionalities that make Deva such a powerful safety device for modern towns, cities and companies. Cecchi will walk attendees through all of Deva’s features such as facial recognition, queue countering, and SOS and public warning messaging – all abilities that have proven the product to be eminently useful, particularly in…
It is a sad, ugly side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. With lockdown orders in effect everywhere, there has been a spike in domestic violence. Like so many such centers, The Women’s Community, Inc of Wausau has remained open as an essential service during this period to aid victims of this crime. On Saturday 28 March, the group received a much-needed boost to its morale, not to mention added funds and raised public awareness, thanks to a 90-minute livestreamed concert broadcast from JEM Productions’ warehouse-turned-makeshift studio. With Substyle, an energetic funk band, providing the entertainment and JEM taking care of…
As was announced at the end of 2019, Prolyte is now a member of the largest manufacturing group of aluminum truss, support structures, peripheral products and related services in the world – Area Four Industries. Looking toward the future, you can count on the DNA of Prolyte remaining intact, its products continuing to set industry benchmarks in quality and performance while focusing on customer satisfaction to inspire industry professionals and riggers. This is also the start of an expanded presence in North America for Prolyte, which will now be included in the Area Four Industries Direct America offices in Knoxville,…
Brad Katz, founder of California audio company Waveworks, has spent his career searching for a true high-fidelity audio system for use at events ranging from block parties to dance events, which can be anything from all-night raves to multi-day festivals. He found what he was looking for in Alcons Audio pro-ribbon technology. Based in Oakland, Brad founded Waveworks in 2016. “The dance music industry tends to stick with what it knows, and a lot of the competition is racing to be the loudest. I’ve spent my career searching for a true ‘3D’ sound that does not hurt after hours of…
A large complement of Claypaky lighting fixtures helped illuminate Hungarian alternative rock band Hiperkarma’s 20th anniversary concert, which was held on 7 February 2020 after almost two months of rehearsals. Soul Light Kft. provided the Claypaky fixtures for the event with Attila Kolozsi the Crew Chief. Bence Nagy was the Lighting Designer and Console Operator. “The rental company only had eight hours to build the whole stage, rigging and lighting so I needed to focus on the simplicity of the design,” Nagy explained. “It looked like a regular festival setup, but it was a bit different because I tried to make…
UK-based specialists in immersive spatial audio for performance, presentation and experiential AV installation markets, Out Board, have appointed Hi-Tech Media to distribute TiMax SoundHub spatial audio processors and TiMax TrackerD4 stagetracking systems throughout Russia. Hi-Tech Media represents an enviable network of partners and dealers whose end-customers rely on state-of-the art technical solutions to complement the status of their projects and take them to a completely new technological level. Hand in hand with Hi-Tech Media’s technical support and educational programs, dealers can now benefit from the integration of TiMax spatial audio and showcontrol to realise cost-effective and versatile immersive live performance…
Acting & Theatre Production students at London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art rigged a dynamic and impressive scene change using an Electro Kabuki drop in a recent performance of Oscar’s Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The play calls for a scene change between Act 1, based in the Piccadilly rooms of character Algernon Moncrief and Act 2, set in the garden of the Manor House in Woolton belonging to character Jack Worthing (a.k.a. Earnest). In this lively and engaging production, the creative team came up with an innovative and memorable idea to mark the transition. With Electro Kabuki…
Although Avolites’ heritage is very much in lighting control, the company has made significant steps into the world of video control over the past decade. With products such as the Q3 media server, not to mention its acclaimed Ai software with protocols such as Synergy, Avolites increasingly caters to an entertainment world where lighting and video are ever more integrated. https://issuu.com/mondiale/docs/tpiapr20_digitallr/60 www.avolites.com
CHAUVET Professional has added a new Thursday Tech Talk Series to its extensive training library to help lighting designers and programmers acquire new skills and sharpen existing ones. The series will be streamed every Thursday at 2 pm EST (7 pm GMT) on Facebook Live, Instagram Live, YouTube Live and LinkedIn Live Conducted by CHAUVET Professional product managers, Thursday Tech Talks will feature “How To,” “New Tech,” and “Design Tip” formats covering a wide-range of lighting and video wall subjects. The recorded sessions will also be available anytime at www.chauvetprofessional.com/training. The April schedule of Thursday Tech Talks includes: •Field Servicing…
