At the recent 30th birthday celebrations for HSL at the company’s Blackburn HQ, Lucid Technologies delivered the gifts of innovation and visual impact – the perfect present for HSL MD, Simon Stuart and his hard-working team who, across the span of 30 years in the lighting industry, have provided the very same gift to others. Lucid Technologies’ contribution sparked two main areas of the event. Delineating the event’s expo space with picture-frame gallery videowalls to highlight the companies supporting the event, the team also created an immersive and interactive demonstration of the latest in video technology, for attendees on the…
Author: Jacob Waite
For an upcoming tour with the guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, keyboardist Brett Tuggle and Buckingham opted for K10.2 powered loudspeakers from QSC. “I first became aware of QSC quite a few years back, when the powered speaker craze was beginning to get big,” Tuggle recalled. “I really wanted to find the right speaker to reproduce all the frequencies keyboards is capable of. Synths can produce a big bottom, and I wanted the midrange to be clear and the treble to have some sparkle. We keyboard players want to hear our stuff back pretty real. “I tried several brands — all the usual suspects — then…
Colour Sound Experiment – working via production company Bigabox – supplied lighting, video and rigging equipment plus crew to the recent Tash Sultana UK and European tour. Detroit-based LD Cam Anderson started working with Tash at the end of 2017 during a US tour and evolved the current stage design with the artist to complement the performance and style. It includes a distinctive flown triangular truss upstage, together with a series of staggered video panels behind the centre-stage position which brings structure and form to the performance space. These elements were crafted working closely with Tash and her international production…
Ayrton returns to LDI 2018 bringing yet more innovation with fabulous new products that include the newly launched BoraS and KhamsinS fixtures, alongside previews of its new DiabloS, DiabloTC, MerakS and MerakTC automated fixtures. The new products can be seen on Booth 1139 where Ayrton will be showcasing them in their now much-anticipated light show, alongside their exclusive US distributor, A.C.T. Lighting. The Ayrton portfolio will be also on display on Booth 2105, represented by Theatrixx Technologies, Ayrton’s exclusive distributor in Canada. Launched just last month at PLASA London 2018, BoraS is Ayrton’s exciting new high output, low power LED…
The NAMM TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) committee is pleased to announce that Leslie Ann Jones, the groundbreaking engineer, producer, and Director of Music and Scoring for Skywalker Sound will be inducted into the NAMM TEC Hall of Fame at the 34th Annual NAMM TEC Awards, January 26 in Anaheim, California. Jones joins luminaries Rose Mann Cherney, Skunk Baxter, Hal Blaine, Jack Douglas, Nathan East, Geoff Emerick, and others with her induction, the industry’s highest honour for pioneers of audio technology, as well as the music industry’s most accomplished producers and audio technicians. “I am so honoured to have been…
ADJ will unveil its latest technology breakthrough: IP65-rated moving head beam fixtures at the 2018 incarnation of LDI. The new ADJ Hydro Beam X1 and Hydro Beam X2 will bring weatherproof moving heads within the reach of a huge number of production companies and installers working on projects with budgets that up until now would not have allowed for IP-rated fixtures. With robust construction and IP65-ratings, the Hydro Series fixtures are designed for both indoor or outdoor use. Their durable casings protect them from dust, sand, moisture and liquids, making them ideal for use in all situations from dusty deserts…
ArKaos will preview its powerful and flexible MediaMaster 5.4 and GrandVJ 2.6 video and media control platforms. TrackDJ is a straightforward solution for better integration between DJs or LJs and their live visuals, while Full Fixture Control is a serious advancement for lighting designers and operators, allowing them to control LED screens / surfaces and treat them just as if they are lighting fixtures. Full Fixture Control An LD or lighting operator using MediaMaster will often be in a scenario where there are multiple video surfaces on a stage as part of the production design – especially at festivals where…
Among the first stops on Harbhajan Mann’s Tin Rang World Tour was an appearance at Arena Birmingham. Supporting the resonant mix of music and dialogue at that show was a lighting design by SJ Grevett of DMX Productions that featured 25 Chauvet Professional STRIKE 1 fixtures. The warm white light from the STRIKE 1 fixtures underscored the impact of Mann’s transformative message, which revolves around what its author describes as the “3 colours of life.” Hung on truss ladders that ran across the width of the stage, and flown from overhead truss, the STRIKE 1 units created an inviting glow over…
Ayrton is delighted to announce the appointment of Ampco Flashlight Sales as its latest exclusive distributor in its rapidly expanding international sales network. Based in Utrecht, Ampco Flashlight Sales will be responsible for the distribution of the entire portfolio of Ayrton products across The Netherlands, with immediate effect. With a history that stretches back 30 years, Ampco Flashlight Sales is a distributor, systems integrator and project house for both professional lighting and audio products. The company was responsible for the supply of all lighting, rigging, motion control and video to the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, including over 700 Ayrton fixtures,…
Meyer Sound has promoted and restructured roles for top-level marketing personnel. John McMahon has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Marketing; Steve Ellison has been named Director, Spatial Sound; Miles Rogers has been promoted to Business Development Manager, Cinema & Content Creation Markets; and Tim Boot has been tapped as Director of Digital Product Experience. ”The pro audio industry is evolving rapidly in both technologies and market developments,” said McMahon, ”and we want to make sure we are keeping ahead in terms of customer relations and marketing impact. Meyer Sound has an exceptionally strong brand image, so it’s not…
disguise has appointed the WOW Experience as its official Sales Partner for Spain. The WOW Experience is a technical and creative audio-visual consultancy that develops projects with the sole purpose of providing value in the audio-visual world, with technical support from the best brands on the market including disguise and BlackTrax. The WOW Experience also has a sister company, the Nation WOW, which is the creative arm and one of Spain’s most respected audio-visual production companies, offering AV solutions for a comprehensive range of events including theatre productions, music festivals and museum installations. The WOW Experience’s partnership with disguise means…
Around 500 industry family, friends, acquaintances and business associates rocked up to HSL’s Blackburn HQ to enjoy 2 days of celebration in the name of the company’s 30th anniversary. The event included an exhibition space which was dedicated to 32 of HSL’s key suppliers and partner companies including high profile brands and manufacturers: Avolites, Chauvet, High End Systems, J&C Joel, Martin by Harman, Robe, SGM, Philips Vari*Lite, Unilumin, among many more. HSL’s Simon Stuart worked closely and tirelessly to make HSL30 happen with a short lead time, just before the autumn touring season kicked in. Stuart worked alongside Jeff Demain…
ACT Lighting has announced that James Suit has joined the company as Northeast Regional Sales Manager. He will be representing all of the brands distributed by ACT Lighting to clients in the Northeastern US, which comprises Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and the New England states. At the same time, Doug Mekanik, former Eastern Regional Sales Manager for ACT Lighting, has been named Southeast Regional Sales Manager. His territory now extends from Delaware south to Florida. “Doug has been with the company for many years and exemplifies success at ACT Lighting,” said Ben Saltzman, President and CEO of ACT Lighting.…
Squeek Lights supplied a new narrow-beam LED beam/spot for 45-date headlining tour. Victor Zeiser of Squeek Lights utilised Elation Professional’s new DARTZ 360 LED moving head along with Elation Protron 3K Color LED strobes to support the diverse sounds of hardcore rock band Beartooth on their current North American tour. The headlining tour, in support of the band’s new studio album Disease, kicked off 14 September in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and plays a packed schedule of dates, concluding 17 November in Columbus, Ohio. Zeiser, who first met the dynamic hardcore rockers when they were an opening act for one of…
Lighting Designer Robert Sondergaard of Electric Aura Projects and Solotech recently deployed Martin by HARMAN VDO Sceptron10 LED lighting fixtures to create a dynamic and innovative stage design for Toronto’s VELD Music Festival. Now in its 7th year, the annual EDM and hip-hop music festival were held in Toronto’s Downsview Park. The eclectic lineup featured some of the biggest names in music, including Marshmello, Martin Garrix, DJ Snake, Benny Benassi, Lil Yachty and more. Each year the festival strives to create an ambitious and eye-catching stage design, and this year they wanted to incorporate the VELD logo as a dynamic…
Voted ‘Best Guitarist’ at the recent European Blues Awards (2017), Finnish guitarist and singer-songwriter, Erja Lyytinen, hits the road this Autumn to begin her exciting Another World tour across Europe, accompanied by an Allen & Heath SQ-5 digital mixing system. Supplied by Allen & Heath’s Finnish distributors, F-Musiikki-Oy, the single SQ-5 handles both FOH and Monitor duties for the tour, with Lyytinen herself commenting favourably on the sound of the SQ: “The new SQ mixer works great with the IEM and the whole band has been very satisfied with the improved sound quality.” The compact set-up comprises an SQ connected…
The annual Gold Rush Music Festival marked off another successful year last weekend with a no-holds-barred hootenanny at the Rawhide Western Town Events Complex in Chandler, Arizona, just a few miles southwest of Phoenix. With the wild-west style vibe of the venue as its backdrop, the weekend-long dance music and hip-hop mash-up was a high energy, and occasionally dusty outdoor dance party featuring more than 50 artists across 4 stages, including headliners Deadmau5 and Steve Aoki. This year, Sound Image Phoenix was tapped to provide PA and full production service at Gold Rush’s main stage. According to Sound Image Production…
In 2009, a friend introduced Jason Bullock to an early model of the ChamSys MQ100. It was pretty close to a case of love at first sight. After playing with the console, Bullock took it out on the Summer ’09 NINJA tour he did for Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction. “After the tour, I was convinced the ChamSys was the console for my style of show,” recalled the New York-based designer. That style, with all of its big looks, bold statements and roaring intensity was on full display this summer in Bullock’s work on the 27-city Wiz Khalifa and…
