Audio-Technica has announced the launch of its new ATS99 Hypercardioid Dynamic Microphone, designed to provide exemplary performance for vocalists on stage. The new microphone is engineered for responsiveness and fast transient delivery, with enhanced capture of low- to mid-range sounds at high volume, allowing singers to perform confidently across a broad frequency range. A combination of the ATS99’s high powered magnet and step-up transformer with a hypercardioid capsule ensures that its sonic performance is complemented by both impressive rejection of unwanted sound and feedback resistance, even in challenging live performance situations. The microphone’s internal shock mount structure also makes a…
Author: Jacob Waite
OSA International – which delivers entertainment technology, event production and systems integration from its base in Las Vegas – has added large complements of Ayrton Eurus and Diablo lighting fixtures to its rental inventory servicing its Las Vegas and Nashville offices. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America. The purchase is the one of the first Eurus buys in the US. Mark Fetto has a long history as an early Ayrton proponent including the purchase of a complement of Diablos for OSA International in February of 2020. Fetto, who is OSA International’s VP Lighting and…
Konstantinos Argyros recently concluded his Eleftheros tour of stadiums and theatres across Greece, culminating in a support slot for 50 Cent at Athens’ Olympic Stadium – what is considered Greece’s largest live music event of the year, with Allen & Heath mixers handling FOH and monitor duties. “When we were designing the tour, Allen & Heath was our first and only choice for this demanding production,” said Andreas Matrakos, Audio Specialist at Athens-based rental firm dbi AV Industry. “We needed a system that could go everywhere, could be set up in minutes and provide top-quality sound.” A 64-channel Avantis mixer,…
Israeli singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Asaf Avidan recently marked a special end to his tour, named after the album of the same name, Anagnorisis. The ancient theatre, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, at the foot of the Acropolis rock in Athens provided the perfect setting to bring the tour to a truly memorable conclusion. Felix Seidel created the lighting design for a tour that started back in spring 2022. However, production was scaled up for the concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, and included 27 GLP impression X4 Bars. “Asaf Avidan’s shows are very emotional,” noted Seidel. “He works a…
Universal Pixels (UP) has provided kit and crew for Robbie Williams’ 25 Years of Hits tour, which visited arenas across the UK and Ireland in autumn 2022. The campaign, which opened with two nights at London’s O2 arena, showcased the charismatic artist’s latest album, XXV, which features many of his greatest hits re-recorded and newly orchestrated courtesy of Dutch pop and jazz orchestra, the Metropole Orkest. In order to match Williams’ famously entertaining live show, Tour Director, Ade Bullock and Production Manager, John Lafferty brought in UP to provide an eye-catching and dynamic video setup; renewing a relationship that has…
Postponed from its traditional dates in April due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns, music fans were more than ready to make the most of three days of China’s highest profile rock and pop acts. With over 10,000 festival-goers every day, West Lake Music Festival remains one of the most important music festivals in China, and the 2022 edition was no exception. D&S Stage Technology – the largest rental company in Zhejiang Province, China – was responsible for supplying all of the FOH equipment for the festival. Having road-tested KV2’s flagship VHD5 high-definition Constant Power point source system for the first time…
Alongside a wide variety of recently released entertainment lighting products, ADJ’s LDI 2022 booth showcased the comprehensive and fully road-proven Hydro range of IP65-rated automated luminaires, including profile, spot, beam, and wash fixtures. The Hydro Wash X7 model was also chosen to illuminate the show’s focal meeting point, the Circle Bar, where 32 fixtures were utilised by AG Production Services, the company responsible for creating the feature. In addition, two previously unseen mini spotlight fixtures and a new hybrid moving head were displayed on the ADJ booth for the first time anywhere in the world. “It was great to be…
A20-Nexus is a compact, expandable digital wireless receiver that is designed to serve as the hub of the Astral wireless range which also includes the A20-Mini and A20-RX. A20-Nexus offers antuning range as well as NexLink integrated long distance remote control. The true diversity digital wireless receiver ships with eight-channels and can be expanded via software to 12 or 16 channels for larger productions. “The Astral Series is the culmination of years of research and development in wireless technology to design robust, versatile solutions for mobile RF professionals that can be used around the world,” said Sound Devices CEO Matt…
Held in Barcelona, Talent Knowledge Congress is the international forum for talent and knowledge management, organised by Impulsa Talentum Foundation. The event brings together companies, administrations, universities, research centres and professionals of recognised prestige in this field. The multi-sector event is to help organisations adapt and grow in this changing and highly competitive environment. Michael Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, was to be presented in person as a winner of the Talent Awards during Talent Knowledge Congress, among other honoured winners such as Mr. Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Ex Director of UNESCO. Unfortunately, Mr Blackman was already pre-booked to…
Renowned lighting designer and longtime lighting collaborator with Böhse Onkelz, Jerry Appelt, created a spectacular stage and lighting design for the stadium shows and ensured that the visual impact would be memorable using Elation Professional Proteus Excalibur beam moving head. Formed in Frankfurt in 1980, the band’s stadium shows were meant to be 40th anniversary events in 2020 but were postponed until this year. Appelt, who worked with the band earlier in its career and lit the band’s iconic farewell concert in 2005 before 120,000 fans, has continued to light shows for them after the band reunited in 2014. The…
disguise Learn’s new in-classroom and online courses provide an improved experience offering dedicated learning pathways for virtual production, extended reality, broadcast graphics, location-based experiences and live events so users can pick a learning pathway most relevant to their chosen industry application. “Within the last three years, we’ve helped power more than 600 real-time productions in over 50 countries. With disguise Learn, we want to share all we’ve learned with our 20 years of industry expertise, and make it as easy as possible for anyone to become an expert in disguise workflows. With our new, industry-tailored learning pathways, learners can apply…
Artists and technologists at Phoenix-based creative agency 3500 Kelvin help elevate film production and live and virtual event experiences with compelling, immersive content for LED display. The company operates Arizona’s largest virtual production LED volume, with more than 15,000 sq ft of capture space. Its talents have been tapped by diverse industries including film, music, corporate, concert touring, and experiential marketing. Behind the scenes, Brompton’s LED processor technology enables the team to showcase the highest quality visuals possible. “Companies are realising that stage presentation backgrounds can be so much more than a simple logo. Instead, they can offer an immersive…
Proteus Rayzor 1960 by Elation Professional is a compact yet extremely powerful IP65-rated Wash Effects fixture featuring Elation’s unique Spark LED system and fast continuous Pan and Tilt motion. With its wide zoom range from 5° to 55° it provides intense and well-defined mid-air beams at over 18.000 lumens as well as an exceptionally wide and even wash coverage, making it a perfect tool for any application, even in adverse outdoor conditions. SparkLEDs offer a prominent and innovative LED pixel effect with dedicated high-brightness pixels inside the large front lenses for additional layers of creativity. www.elationlighting.com/proteus-rayzor-1960
The combined forces of two of hard rock’s most totemic bands, Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe, turned this year’s The Stadium Tour into the biggest outing of either band’s career and the biggest rock tour of the year thus far. With special guests Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts along for the journey, the trek sold 1.3 million tickets, according to Billboard. It’s also significant to point out that the North American tour marked the first time that Def Leppard enjoyed the benefits of KLANG’s immersive in-ear monitor mixing solution, provided via a DMI-KLANG card-equipped DiGiCo Quantum5 monitor console…
Every year since 1998, the mass choir of Les Fous Chantants (The Singing Fools), has honoured French-speaking songwriters and composers with a choral concert devoted to their works. The musical programme generally includes 25 songs, including those of the guest artist, that are sung with the choir. This year’s event, honouring Pascal Obispo, took place in the Temperas Arena in Alès, France at the end of July. One thousand choristers were seated on bleachers around a 27m wide by 13m deep main stage, extending the performance area a further 35m by 20m by 8m high. Victor Lagiewski and Guillaume Fournier,…
This Autumn, Natalie Imbruglia embarked on a celebratory tour de force of her 1997 debut album Left of the Middle, the album that made her a global indie-pop star. After a 12-year hiatus from recording music and with a brand-new album in tow, fans were both expectant and suitably excited for her highly anticipated comeback tour. With a music career spanning a quarter of a century, it would be easy to rely on past hits to carry the show’s opener. Instead, fans were treated to a triumphant return with What it Feels Like, a track from Imbruglia’s latest, critically acclaimed…
With many venues sold out, Estopa’s Fuego tour has been a roaring success. Sixteen Showtec Sunstrips by Highlite have been used as part of the lighting setup throughout the tour. They were supplied by Fluge Audiovisuales, who were responsible for the tour’s sound, lighting and AV equipment. After performing a few dates in the USA earlier this year, Estopa have played over 20 dates throughout Spain. Their Fuego tour was originally planned to go ahead in 2019 and 2020 to support the release of the album that bears the same name but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour dates…
L-Acoustics has expanded access to spatial mixing with the launch of L-ISA Studio 2.5, now compatible with any PC and Windows OS in addition to Mac and macOS computers. With unlimited free binaural output capability, L-ISA Studio 2.5 can be downloaded from the L-Acoustics website. The new L-ISA Studio 2.5 on Windows includes both the L-ISA Controller and L-ISA Processor Desktop applications as well as L-ISA Audio Bridge, a custom virtual sound card for Windows. The Audio Bridge includes both Bridge Out and Device Out pathways for audio output. The Bridge Out allows 12 outputs to be sent through any…
