TPi August 2020 - #252

TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL LIVE EVENT DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY • AUGUST 2020 • ISSUE 252

JARV IS...

Live from the centre of the Earth SMOKE SOME FAGS AND PLAY SOME POOL

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GISBURNE PARK POP UP • SUZUKI PRESENTS @THEDRIVEIN • FESTIVALS REIMAGINED • PSA TPG MARS STUDIOS • SUBFRANTIC • TECHS ON THE DECKS • GEAR HEADS: WAVES FIT CONTROLLER

AUGUST 2020 #252

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EDITOR’S LETTER

D8plus Ultra One step forward, two back, three forward...

It seemed like a nice normal evening last Thursday when suddenly both mine and my girlfriend’s phones started buzzing with family and friends from across the UK asking the same thing: Had we seen the news?

One quick Google later and it turned out that Greater Manchester had implemented stricter guidelines to our current lockdown. Then, a few days later, the PM announced that planned easing of lockdown measures had been postponed after an increase in the number of cases. Now, I’m sure many of you had similar thoughts: Are we just going backwards? And what the hell does this mean for live events?

In the wake of these announcements, last month saw yet more sad news from our industry with a number of rental houses announcing that they had to make redundancies as the furlough scheme comes to an end. It’s no surprise then, that in the past few weeks, there has been a surge of activity, with numerous industry-based campaigns gaining much-needed social media clout.

There was #LetTheMusicPlay, which saw another day’s action with people spreading the frankly horrifying statistics on the impact COVID-19 is having on the events world. Then [at the time of writing] #WeMakeEvents is going into Red Alert, with a number of demonstrations taking place across the country on 11 August to draw attention to the wider public and the government for the need for action.

Also – as you can read on page 8 – the PSA has gathered together a number of industry experts to form the PSA Tour Production Group, an independent body that is attempting to provide the relevant information to the policy makers of the measures and the facts that must be considered if we are to see live music and touring return to our shores.

It’s a scary time – that much is clear. But we hope that this issue of TPi acts as something of a distraction – even if it’s for a few minutes – to read about some of the innovation that is still going on despite the clear strain on the entertainment sphere. From JARV IS… ultra-conceptual performance from Derbyshire’s Peak Cavern, and the team at Gisburne Park’s Pop Up producing one of the UK’s first socially distanced outdoor events, to the team at Liteup, who pulled together a number of industry-DJs for a 24hour stream to raise money for Backup. Innovation and ingenuity are still taking place.

We also check in with a number of festival organisers who have turned to new digital options to ensure festival-goers are still entertained from the comfort of their own homes, along with the team at Bild, which is pushing the limits of virtual studios to a whole new level.

Jacob and I have also launched a new version of TPi Talks named Crew Call. This has been an idea that we have batted around for a while, to create a podcast to allow some of this industry’s colourful characters to get their stories across on the airways. If there are any willing participants, please don’t be a stranger.

Till next time Stew Hume Editor

EDITOR Stew Hume Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8385 Mobile: +44 (0)7702 054344 e-mail: s.hume@mondiale.co.uk

ASSISTANT EDITOR Jacob Waite Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8352 Mobile: +44 (0)7592 679612 e-mail: j.waite@mondiale.co.uk

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Peter Iantorno Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7763 233637 e-mail: p.iantorno@mondiale.co.uk

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DIGITAL EDITORIAL ASSISTANT James Robertson Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7725 475819 e-mail: j.robertson@mondiale.co.uk

COVER JARV IS... courtesy of Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard

COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Hannah Eakins Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7760 485230 e-mail: h.eakins@mondiale.co.uk

Issue 252 – August 2020

CHIEF EXECUTIVE Justin Gawne Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7768 850767 e-mail: j.gawne@mondiale.co.uk GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRODUCTION Dan Seaton: d.seaton@mondiale.co.uk Mel Capper: m.capper@mondiale.co.uk

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TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL is a controlled circulation magazine, published 12 times a year by Mondiale Media Limited under licence. ISSN 1461-3786 Copyright © 2020 Mondiale Media Limited. All contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, in any form whatsoever, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Every effort is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication but neither Mondiale Media Ltd, nor the Editor, can be held responsible for its contents or any consequential loss or damage resulting from information published. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Publishers or Editor. The Publishers accept no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, illustrations, advertising materials or artwork. Total Production International USPS: (ISSN 1461 3786) is published 12 times a year by Mondiale Media Limited United Kingdom. The 2020 US annual subscription price is 117USD. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by Agent named Air Business, C/O WorldNet Shipping USA Inc., 155-11 146th Avenue, Jamaica, New York, NY11434. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Total Production International, Air Business Ltd, C/O WorldNet Shipping USA Inc., 155-11 146th Avenue, Jamaica, New York, NY11434. Subscription records are maintained at Mondiale Media Ltd. Waterloo Place, Watson Square, Stockport, SK1 3AZ, UK.

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ITINERARY

EVENT FOCUS

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22

32

08

PSA Tour Production Group A new body, unified to provide a response to the impact of COVID-19.

11

TPi Talks We look back at the past few Crew Calls, our new online video series.

12

Shure Round Table Shure’s Jack Drury asks the question: What is the future of live sound?

13

The History of Live Sound Podcast A new series of podcasts by Chris Snow, documenting the history of the industry.

14

Techs on the Decks Liteup hosts a 24-hour stream with crew members showing off their DJing skills.

16

Avolites: Industry Viewpoints Steve Warren speaks to a number of industry veterans to discuss the future.

18

MARS Studios Bild Studios launches its state-of-the- art, disguise xR ready studio space.

20

Subfrantic Steve Davies walks TPi through his new rehearsal, filming and training space.

PRODUCTION PROFILE 22

Gisburne Park Pop Up Stew speaks to the crew behind the UK’s first socially distanced outdoor event.

32

JARV IS...

Jacob goes behind the scenes of Jarvis Cocker’s shoot in a Derbyshire cave.

40

Suzuki Presents @TheDriveIn TPi chats to the team who pull the pieces together for this UK-wide tour.

FESTIVALS REIMAGINED 46

A look back at how festivals reinvented themselves in 2020.

INTERVIEW 56

MARKET FOCUS The latest projector offerings.

PRODUCTION FUTURES

40

65

Undergraduate Joel Luther-Braun, gives a student’s perspective of the lockdown.

FUTURE INSIGHTS 66

The latest product releases.

GEAR HEADS 72

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PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE 74

The formation of the PSA TPG.

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

46

76

The latest movers and shakers.

BACK CHAT 82

Emma Reynolds-Taylor discusses the importance of selfcare.

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ips.co.uk

EVENT FOCUS

PSA TPG LAUNCHES COVID-19 WORKING GUIDANCE Professionals from across the concert touring industry have joined forces to form the PSA Tour Production Group (PSA TPG), in order to provide a unified response to the impact of COVID-19 on live music events.

At a time when live event industry support and guidance is scarce, a group of dedicated professionals from across the global concert touring industry have joined forces to form the PSA Tour Production Group (PSA TPG), in order to provide a unified response to the impact of COVID-19 on live music events.

The group is a new arm of the Production Services Association – the largest UK trade body for the live event production industry – and includes tour managers, production managers, safety professionals, venue and festival managers, travel and logistics specialists, promoters, and leading industry suppliers, who work with artists at all levels of touring, from emerging acts to the biggest performers in the world. The PSA Tour

Production Group has an impressive record in live events and touring productions. Past and present clients of the team include Madonna, Queen + Adam Lambert, Sam Smith, P!nk, Kings of Leon, Robbie Williams, Spice Girls, One Direction, Adele, U2, BST Hyde Park, Reading Festival, Nile Rodgers, Anastacia, Fatboy Slim, Ed Sheeran, Neighbourhood, Bluedot Festival, Tool, Isle of Wight Festival, Eminem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lollapalooza and Underworld.

PSA TPG’s formation centres around the touring community getting back to work safely and supporting its survival in a pre-vaccine COVID-19 era. The Group acknowledges that tour-specific guidelines will become the norm for live production professionals to work and interact safely 08

PSA TPG

and offers workable solutions that scale in accordance with current, regionalised threat levels.

The COVID-19 Working Procedures Guidance outlines how touring productions – which include one-off shows, festivals and live events of any size that require moving personnel and equipment to a new destination – can better align with suppliers, venues and promoters through consistency and consultation to assist risk management relating to COVID-19 transmission.

Based around a hierarchy of control – including elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administration and PPE – and a responsive threat scale, the guidance details different levels of design, schedule and control measures appropriate to conditions. These measures include social distancing, health declarations and monitoring, hygiene and cleaning, and mitigation.

This responsive document is designed to add to existing guidance outlining practical measures that will inform tour-specific risk assessments and method statements. Production industry professionals are encouraged to provide feedback.

Take That’s touring productions operate under the helm of Production Manager, Chris Vaughan. He said: “We have brought together the leading experts in live music concert touring to agree on how tours should be run whilst the threat of COVID-19 remains with us. Production and Tour Managers are responsible for the operational, logistical, financial, creative

and technical delivery of concerts around the world and, as such, we are proposing a series of guidelines that can be practically and realistically implemented.”

Sam Smith’s Production Manager, Wob Roberts, commented: “COVID-19 is an unwelcome addition to the rider yet there’s no better group of people to find the solution than those that deliver shows for a living. More than a document, this is intended to be a responsive set of protocols that efficiently move with a changing environment.”

From the festival circuit, BST Hyde Park Production Director, Mark Ward, added: “From an industry whose timeless motto is ‘the show must go on’, the pandemic has been a devastating blow – both economically and for the mental wellbeing of the huge number of people who work behind the scenes. These new documents offer many of the answers those people are searching for.”

The procedures aim to offer unity and hope; a collective voice of peer support and best practice. If the live events industry pioneers can approach this change collectively, when audiences are safely able to return, production teams across the globe can be prepared behind the barrier.

The PSA TPG’s COVID-19 procedures is available to download by visiting the link below: www.psa.org.uk/pages/working-procedures-guidance TPi Photos: www.inthebagpro.com 10

EVENT FOCUS

In our latest podcast series - Crew Call - TPi Editor, Stew Hume and Assistant Editor, Jacob Waite chat to technical production professionals about life in lockdown and the future of live events. All the episodes of the podcast are now available to view on the TPi website.

Lighting Designer, Director, Roland Greil During the inaugural episode of TPi Talks – Crew Call, TPi Editor, Stew Hume and Assistant Editor, Jacob Waite welcomed Lighting Designer, Director and Programmer, Roland Greil. Having been featured in the pages of TPi several times for his work with artists including Rammstein, The Rolling Stones, and Adele – the German native discussed his ‘holistic’ approach to show design, his entry into the live events industry and looked to the uncertain future of what we might expect from live shows, once gigs return.

Production Manager, Andrew Thornton and Stage Manager, Duncan Ladkin Episode two of TPi Talks – Crew Call saw the introduction of Shawn Mendes’ Production Manager, Andrew Thornton of 24/7 Productions, and freelance Stage Manager, Duncan Ladkin. Familiar faces to readers – having been featured in TPi a number of times for their involvement with the Canadian singer-songwriter – the duo reminisced on their history within the touring industry, the logistical challenges of touring, the future of live shows and what the landscape may look like in the coming years.

AudioSystems Engineer, Johnny Keirle The latest episode of TPi Talks – Crew Call welcomed Audio Systems Engineer, Johnny Keirle. The last time we chatted to Johnny was this time last year at Olympiapark München, Germany, 149 dates into P!nk’s Beautiful Trauma World Tour. Recently, the New Zealand native was responsible for designing the audio system for L.A.B’s 6,000-cap Spark Arena show in New Zealand – one of the world’s first arena gigs to take place following the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode of TPi Talks, Johnny reviewed life in lockdown, his ‘back to work’ experience, and how the structure of live events may change moving forward.

11

EVENT FOCUS

SHURE ROUND TABLE Shure gathers six industry experts within the world of live audio to ask the question: What is the future of live sound? TPi sits among the digital audience, listening in to what the panel has to say.

Throwing its hat into the ring with an alternative panel to make up for the lack of trade shows and gatherings in 2020, Shure proudly launched its new Round Table series with a panel of distinguished audio professionals to muse over the future of live audio. The event’s host, Jack Drury, Market Development and Artist Relations at Shure UK, explained that the topic of the conversation had already been decided before the current state of the live events sector. However, due to the unprecedented times, with the future of live events hanging in the balance, the topic of conversation was all the more pertinent.

The panel boasted a range of audio specialists including: Bryony October, FOH Engineer for Katie Melua; Mike Woodhouse, FOH Engineer for Catfish and the Bottlemen and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes; Matteo Cifelli, Producer and FOH Engineer for Jess Glynne; Jon Burton, FOH for The Prodigy and Biffy Clyro and Lecturer and at the University of Derby; Freyja Lawson, Monitor Engineer for Mura Masa; and Tuomo Tolonen, Head of Shure’s Director for Western Europe.

To kick things of, Drury posed the question to the panel: “What positives or negative elements are going to remain with the current state of the world?” October kicked things off by expressing her thoughts on how the cut down of international travel, and only having the UK to potentially tour with did not present a financially viable solution for touring. However, Woodhouse was keen to point out the emergence of streaming within the pandemic. “With Frank Cater & The Rattlesnakes, we put on a streamed, pay-per-view event at the Underworld, London,” he stated. “I think this type of event is going to really become the norm and we’re likely to see more of these going forward.” He did admit though this was rather terrifying as, for him as a FOH Engineer, it involved learning a whole new set of skills. “We are essentially becoming broadcast engineers when working on this style of event. With the Frank Carter show, I worked with the album producer to make the performance sound as close to the album as possible.”

Jumping in and speaking for his decades of experience, Burton stated how this ‘multi-hat’ style of engineering was not too dissimilar from some of the tours he had done in the past. “Particularly in America, I remember I used to find myself doing these college radio shows where you’d roll-in and have to give the station a feed of the performance. That setup isn’t far from a streamed performance in terms of the skills you need. I don’t think

streaming will ever replace a live show but, as engineers, we need to learn more skills.” It’s something that, as an educator at the University of Derby, he has often tried to instil in his students. “I often say to them that you can’t just be a touring engineer and now, sadly, this is more evident then ever.”

Jumping on the streaming conversation, Shure’s Tuomo Tolonen was keen to remark how the development of touring could open up live music to a whole new audience. “It will never replace a live show, but you just have too look at shows like BTS’s performance, which was a paid-for event and had 750,000 viewers. The younger generation is far more comfortable watching content through their laptops and phones and it’s undeniable the uptake this form of entertainment has had.”

Cifelli also hypothesised that this demand could, in the future, lead to more departments within the touring party. “I think we’ll see new departments in a tour emerge to handle the streaming feeds. Probably not in the near future, but certainly in a few years.”

Away from the hypotheticals of show formats, Drury turned the panel’s focus on the real-world implications of crew wages and the worry that the pandemic could lead to technicians being undercut as shows start to return. “I think now, more than ever, it’s important for us as an industry to have some transparency in wages,” stated Burton. “The film industry, for example, has rate cards as well as unions. I know over the year I’ve certainly been played off with other engineers and I think having a clear indication of wages would be increasingly helpful.”

To close, Drury asked the panel to give their thoughts on what the first shows returning after lockdown may look like. “I think what has become clear, is that we can’t return until this whole situation is brought under control,” stated Lawson. “However, I do hope that some of the hygiene practices are carried over from this pandemic – especially when it comes to body packs and microphones.”

The full round table is still available to watch via the Shure Performance and Production YouTube channel, along with the second round table posing the same question to a collection of experts from the theatre world.

TPi Photo: Shure www.shure.com www.youtube.com/c/ShurePerformanceProduction/videos 12

THE HISTORY OF LIVE SOUND PODCAST

PURITY • DEPTH TEXTURE • DRAMA

REVEAL THE MAGIC

THE HISTORY OF LIVE SOUND PODCAST FOH Engineer, Chris Snow spends lockdown documenting stories from the burgeoning days of the live touring industry...

S T R A N D L I G H T I N G .C O M

Based a stone’s throw from the TPi office, FOH Engineer, Chris Snow, like many engineers across the globe, saw his usual income dry up overnight when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The man behind the faders for Cream Classical and PM for The Courteeners, Snow has taken his passion for audio and pushed his energy into a new podcast. Featuring interviews with engineers with decades of experience, the goal of the new project is not so much to be a deep dive into the latest gear and mixing methods – but more for crew members to paint a picture of the very beginning of the industry.

“Since everything live came to a halt, I’ve been able to keep busy doing some mixing in my spare room,” began Snow, recounting the past few months. “Prior to lockdown I had made live recordings of Australian band DMA’S, who had planned to release a few tracks to promote their forthcoming album. With no live events, they opted to just release a whole live performance, which I had previously recorded.”

With more time than usual on his hands, Snow also began to listen to some of the other podcasts out there dedicated to world of live audio.

“There were a number of them about, but there were quite a few that really focused into the technicalities of mixing. There is definitely a place for that type of content, but personally I was really keen to know more about the history of the industry to get a feel for what it was like in decades past.”

Snow started by getting in touch with a few engineers he was already familiar with to get some interviews under his belt, with the goal of producing a show every fortnight. So far, he has spoken to the likes of Phil Dudderidge, ‘Big Pete’ Russell and Steve Bedlam.

He furthered: “To use Pete’s interview as an example, I didn’t need him to tell me about why he used a certain console back in the day. What I found interesting was him explaining how he used to hang a sound system.

Especially compared to today when there is a right and wrong way of doing so, with all the array calculations software. Back in the day, it was more about the ‘art’ of hanging a system, with the only real question being, ‘does it sound good?’”

He also was keen to point out another highlight of the project – Steve Bedlam’s episode, where he regaled some of the stories from the days of illegal raves. “What is interesting about Steve is his journey from the rave scene to splitting his year between being Production Manager of the Common area at Glastonbury and helping run the Refugee Crisis Kitchen feeding refugees in Calais. While the podcast aims to tell the history of live sound [hence the name] it has been great to discover how people have progressed in their careers and diversified through the years.”

Snow is attempting to keep the shows coming throughout this year, all of which can be found at on Spotify, iTunes and Listen Notes.

TPi Photo: Chris Snow www.bandwidthproduction.com

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EVENT FOCUS

TECHS ON THE DECKS Gordon Torrington and the team at Liteup put on a unique event, with industry professionals offering their services for a 24-hour show, all streamed live on Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.

TPi finds out more…

Let’s be honest – there are more than a few roadies, technicians and people behind some of the biggest bands in the live events industry, who were musicians in a previous life. Perhaps the world wasn’t ready for their talent and they swapped the guitar and drums for a walkie-talkie and a crew T-shirt… And as it turns out, there are just as many crew professionals who are also fairly handy on the DJ decks.

For those who missed the livestreamed event in early July, the concept was simple: A 24-hour stream with individuals from across the live events spectrum putting in hour-long shifts, all in aid of Backup – the technical entertainment charity which provides financial support to industry technical professionals working in live events, theatre, TV and film.

“Obviously, in the past few months, we have not been working on any live events,” stated Gordon Torrington, as he was on route to make the final preparations for the 24-hour stream. He explained to TPi that the company had to diversify into some rather different realms, including utilising staging elements for the infrastructure of a temporary mortuary. “While this other work kept us going, we were interested in some of the streaming projects that were popping up online. It sparked the idea that we could use Liteup’s warehouse to create our own streaming studio for clients.”

The result was a two-stage streaming solution on the Liteup premises.

The smaller – Studio 2 – is a more compact setup, ideal for DJ sets and corporate events, with a second that could accommodate a live band.

The Studio 1 lighting setup is modelled on a festival main stage, although

scaled back somewhat to fit in the confines of a warehouse. The lighting setup for the Techs on the Decks livestream included 16 Robe ESPRITES – seven in the front truss, four on the mid for both back and front key lights plus effects, chosen for their “power, optics versatility and great on-camera look,” explained LD Warren Hutchison, who was brought in for the event.

A total of 24 Robe Spiiders were also utilised, while seven LEDBeam 150s and 12 Pointes across the back and mid trusses completed the moving light count. Added to that were four upstage truss towers, each fitted with 10 pixel-controllable LED battens – programmed and running via the lighting console – and some Flare strobes with the choice of a ChamSys MagicQ or an Avolites Arena console.

At the core of the video system in Studio 1 was a Grass Valley Korona, which received inputs from three GV LDX 86 4K cameras fitted with a variety of Fujinon lenses and two 4K Panasonic robo-cams. This was all coordinated by Paul ‘Macca’ McCauley for Solotech UK. “We were incredibly thankful for Solotech’s involvement,” stated Torrington. “The cameras and switcher form part of a larger fully 4K system that will support Solotech work here in the UK and the Global touring market when it returns.”

Torrington also commented on the advantage of the Robo camera setup, which avoided the need for cameramen in the space, with just one operator capturing the shots from a distance.

Studio 2, on the other hand, featured eight Robe MegaPointes on a goalpost truss above the DJ booth, a number of Magic Blades, some 14

TECHS ON THE DECKS

Liteup’s Senior Account Manager, Gordon Torrington.

LED washes and more Flare strobes, all controlled from an MA Lighting grandMA2 light. A back wall of Liteup’s 5.9 mm INFiLED screen was great for displaying eye-popping visuals and the complete length of the front of the DJ booth was clad with the same surface, bringing depth and dimension that maximised the space.

The camera system was one GV LDX 86 and four Panasonic robo-cams.

Playback graphics and visuals were running on one of Liteup’s Resolume media servers, operated live by a rota of VJs together with the robo-cams, ensuring stunning, different, and individual looks for every artist.

Although happy with the setup, Torrington explained that it had been challenging to get the studios in working order – especially when it came to the health and safety protocols.

“We completed an incredibly detailed COVID-19 risk assessment to ensure the safety of everyone in the building,” he explained, adding that once everything was in place, the team managed to create a good workflow in the end.

Torrington was happy to report the diverse departments and job roles that were on the line up for the project. “A number of the DJs are freelancers from all the disciplines, but we also have representatives from some of the

UK’s major rental houses and manufacturers, including Jim Liddiard from Creative Technology and Dom Harter from Martin Audio.”

Along with the army of DJs, the show also featured a live performance from Zone Fluffy. “I’ve known Al Ashford [one of the three members of the band] since my early theatre days,” stated Torrington. “We went our separate ways and he’s currently in backline tech and FOH Engineer for Bill Bailey. But he got the band back together for us.”

With the event going off without a hitch, Torrington gave his final thoughts: “I am absolutely delighted with everything – from the music, the camaraderie here in the studios, the viewing figures and, of course, the money raised. It has been an incredible and highly rewarding experience.”

Liteup’s MD, Marc Callaghan, also commented: “It’s been a tough few months for everyone in our industry and no doubt there is more of that to come, but it’s amazing to see people volunteering and uniting in the same place and headspace to do so enthusiastically what they love and do best.

It’s that spirit, collaboration and energy that makes this industry so great.”

TPi Photos: Louise Stickland www.liteup.co.uk

15

EVENT FOCUS

AVOLITES: INDUSTRY VIEWPOINTS At a time when the creative capabilities of the touring industry are put on hold, Shareholder and Original Director of Avolites, Steve Warren, tells TPi why he has created a platform for industry experts to share their pearls of wisdom…

As early pioneers of the high-end professional lighting control console, stage dimming equipment, and media server market, Avolites has accumulated a wealth of experience and resources, not only in the live events field, but also in technology, legal and logistics. At a time when thousands of creative resources and webinars are available at the click of button, with more eyes than ever before, Shareholder and Original Director of Avolites, Steve Warren, explains why discourse should be at the forefront of innovation.

“Many individuals in the live touring industry share views and an understanding of current trends, so we felt it would be a benefit if some of the important questions of the time could be put to individuals who are experts in each field,” Warren said, speaking from his home in London.

“At the same time, we felt that our role as one of the early pioneers in the industry (Avolites celebrates its 45th birthday on 7 May 2021), is to bring important topics and trends to the attention of our end users, customers

as well as the industry as a whole, to create debate and get different perspectives on the important topics and trends, that are affecting and will affect our industry.”

The Avolites team decided the best way to do this was with a series of articles, informed and shaped by leaders of the industry. “We hope this is just the start of an ongoing dialogue on these and other important topics that face our industry in the future,” Warren explained.

The list of contributors is open to “those of merit”, featuring experts and key decision makers from all corners of the live events sector, such as: Wayne Howell MD at Artistic License; Kinesys MD, Dave Weatherhead; Backstage Academy MD, Rachael Nicholson; Visual specialist, Nick Jevons; RES Tech Director, Dave Green; TPi Awards Lighting Designer of the Year, Tim Routledge; I-pix MD, Chris Ewington and Martin Professional Director of Product Management – Lighting, Peter Skytte. Topics will be separated to focus on key talking points in the industry, including: Innovation – Past, 16

AVOLITES: INDUSTRY VIEWPOINTS

Opposite: Steve Warren.

Present and Future, which delves into the topic of using video integration as key innovation driver example; Changing Roles Within the Lighting Control Industry, which will hypothesise on what the future may hold for tomorrow’s programmers, designers and controllers; Future Predictions in the Professional Lighting Control Industry; and Sustainability – How Will the Industry Change to Meet the Expectations of Ticket Buyers and Government Regulations?

“Our contact base centres around the lighting, video, training and logistics sectors of the industry, so that influenced the initial response groups,” Warren added. “Overall, the industry has been very receptive to the concept; I intend to pull in some audio contributors for future articles.”

With a host of columnists in the bag, Warren looked towards future topics such as The Big Pivot, which focuses on the changing commercial model, which software is driving. “Who are the winners and losers and how will the new technologies and developments in AR, VR and streaming directly affect the production industry?” he posed.

Warren explained that by consulting with a wide range of representatives from all corners of the industry, the articles will present a “balanced view that is helpful and of interest to readers”. He furthered: “As one of the earliest companies in the industry, we have a responsibility to stand up for our industry and look out for it. It is not enough just to stand by and watch things happen; we need to be active in creating positive change across the industry, for the good of all.”

According to Warren, readers can expect to receive insight and comment from respected peers and mentors that will help them to take decisions on their future and provoke further thought. “Our best guidance on the future of our industry is from looking at past developments and seeing how they impacted on our current lives and roles,” he reported.

“Corporate returns and responsibilities now play a greater part today and

that ripples throughout our industry. The different disciplines of audio, video, lighting and scenery come closer together as we all deliver on immersive and interactive projects. I believe that AR and VR will push this concept even further.”

The first set of articles will be shared on the Avolites website, social channels and platforms. “We hope others will pick them up and add their points of view,” Warren concluded. “They are intended to be starters, for discussion and debate, so we welcome everyone to take part.”

TPi Photos: Avolites www.avolites.com

Photo by Claire P on Unsplash * Original warranties expiring 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 are extended by 12 months

*

A Ghostlight burns in empty theaters as a beacon against the dark and as a promise to soon retake the stage.

We will all return to the stage. Until then, GLP will keep its own Ghostlight burning for all of you.

More at ghostlight.glp.de

 /GLP.German.Light.Products  /GermanLightProducts  www.glp.de

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EVENT FOCUS

MARS STUDIOS With a number of studios offering performance spaces behind closed doors, Bild Studios has taken the concept to a new level with a fully functional, COVID-19 ready warehouse, offering a top-of-the-line disguise xR performance space. TPi speaks to some of those responsible for bringing this new space into (extended) reality…

Since the global pandemic, there have been a number of companies and individuals who have turned their attention to the development of studio spaces for artists to film live performances. The scale of these projects has varied from stripped-back acoustic sessions, all the way to the cutting edge of live video rendered backgrounds and extended reality (xR) sets. But the space that Bild Studios has created offers something out of this world – it’s no wonder they named it MARS Studios.

With the aid of video rental house and LED supplier, 80six, Bild’s MARS project is a specially designed performance space in a secure location in Surrey Quays. With COVD-19 test stations on the door, plenty of room for social distancing for crew and a designated artist area to keep them at a distance, it’s the ideal facility in which every step for an artist or crew

member has been thoroughly thought out to ensure everyone’s safety.

Walking TPi through the past few months of work was Bild’s Rowan Pitts.

Speaking via Zoom from one of the MARS personal work pods, he discussed the history of the project.

“The technology we have at MARS – such as camera tracking data being used to drive real-time content with disguise xR technology – is something we have been investigating for the past four years,” stated Pitts. However, with COVID-19 putting an immediate end to live events, the company, alongside 80six, began in earnest to explore this technology and how it could be utilised in the studio environment.

“Like many others in our industry, the day lockdown happened, all our immediate work was put on hold, which led to a conversation with Rowan 18

MARS

Top Left, Ellie Goulding, New Heights, live xR performance; Bottom left and right, Rina Sawayama, xR music video.

and the entire Bild team about the idea of creating a performance space,” mused 80six Director, Dan Hamill. “Although this technology has been around for a number of years, now all of our clients are looking for this type of solution.”

Prior to this, Hamill suggested that people had never taken to the solution fully due to the fact that many of 80six’s clients created events for a live audience and the use of xR is not always on the top of show designers’ priorities list. “But in the past few months, we have had a number of conversations where we have looked at how the use of xR can increase the production value of a performance taking place on a virtual stage.”

The original MARS was going to be a smaller offering, with one potential location being 80six’s brand new warehouse. However, the end result was much grander, with a space that is 73m by 45m and a height of 7m – plenty of space for incoming productions to work with.

“We got a little carried away,” laughed Pitts. “But jokes aside, we looked around at the other offerings that were cropping up and one shortfall we saw with using established premises was that you wouldn’t be able to cater for big-name acts with the necessary green room spaces and the necessary safety measures.” In fact, MARS has already welcomed a number of top-tier artists, from newcomer Rina Sawayama all the way up to Ellie Goulding.

The performance space is centred around an LED backbone, which can be separated into two categories: in-camera LED and lighting LED. The rear wall, which acts as a backdrop to all performances, is ROE Visual Diamond 2.6, with the floor comprising ROE BM4. The curved LED wall measures 13m by 4m, with the floor measuring 5m by 10m.

LED is also used for all the scenic lighting. “We have a number of smaller screens that are placed on dollies and four smaller pods above the stage,” explained Pitts. “The idea is that the pixels on these surround screens light the performer with the same content that is also being streamed on the

rear wall. It’s a technique that has been used while making films, but it’s interesting to see how it has moved into these xR projects.”

Essential to the project was the disguise media server backbone with disguise gx 2cs running the screens. “We’ve been working alongside disguise for some time when it comes to xR,” stated Pitts. “Over the years, they have developed a whole range of features that makes the process much simpler.”

To capture the majority of the footage, Bild deployed an ARRI Amira camera on a jib. “This is the main camera we offer as an in-house package,” explained Pitts. “As most of the work we are doing is verging on a music video-type shoot, we needed a cinematic video package. But we are very flexible in terms of a camera package and have a number of Blackmagic cameras supplied by 80six that are also available if necessary.”

Pitts described some of the lessons that he’d learned from the project and what it could mean for Bild’s future. “Performances such as Dave’s at the BRITs showed the capability of this type of technology and how it can work in a live event,” he commented. “We have been looking into these offerings for some time, but the main challenge has been communicating to people how it might be able to be used. COVID-19 has helped people take the leap as there just are not that many options available right now.”

With MARS all set up and ready to go, the team from Bild are already in the midst of speaking to potential clients to use the space for a variety of shoots, with the creative crew poised to see just how far they are able to push xR and, who knows, perhaps even take this technology into the live events of the future.

TPi Photos: Bild Studios www.bildstudios.com www.80-six.com 19

EVENT FOCUS

SUBFRANTIC Capitalising on an unusual wealth of time during the lockdown, Subfrantic builds a new rehearsal, filming, and training space. Where London’s urban sprawl meets Kent’s beautiful countryside, the new space provides an environment to inspire and facilitate artists.

Subfrantic’s Steve Davies was supposed to be at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas looking after the British Music Embassy with Production Park when the COVID-19 crisis hit. As one of the first major casualties of the pandemic, the festival was cancelled and in the space of three days, the freelance touring professionals involved in proceedings witnessed their future work vanish – gig after gig, tour after tour.

“We had five tours that had just started, all of which were stopped in their tracks. We had big corporate events in advanced planning, which couldn’t go ahead. Optimistically, some shows have been re-scheduled for later in the year, but most have now moved to 2021 or cancelled,” Davies commented, going on to describe the pragmatic nature of touring crew.

“That doesn’t mean we’ve been sitting around doing nothing.”

Ever the optimist, Davies recalled a small, silver lining of governmentmandated lockdown – the luxury of time. “Lockdown has allowed us to throw ourselves into the building project wholeheartedly in a way that wouldn’t have been possible before.”

Although work on the studios had slowed to a snail’s pace in the wake of the lockdown, the Subfrantic team set about building the feature wall in its Live Room as the “centrepiece of the project”.

A small, socially distanced group of friends, family, and tradesmen safely spent the best part of three months building an 8m by 6m sound diffuser made up of over 4,500 4in by 4in wooden blocks, each of them individually cut, sanded, painted and fixed to the wall by hand to make a huge pixelated abstract mural.

“This was a mammoth task but, without lockdown and the complete evaporation of any work, there was no way that we would have been able to build it,” Davies enthused. “It’s testimony to the determination and belief in the project of those involved that it’s been done, and for that I am very

grateful to everyone who got involved.” Well-equipped with PPE and safe working practises, Subfrantic’s new studio’s primary focus, during this strange time, is to ensure that visitors are safe, and to account for changes in often unclear government guidelines.

“We have several options to control the movement of people in the building, so the first thing we do is speak to the client and work out how to manage the human side of their session safely,” Davies said, adding that with outdoor spaces to hang out in and for eating, along with a CCTV system with screens throughout the building, it’s possible to keep a track of who is where easily to avoid too many people being in one space at the same time.

“As you might expect, we also have hand sanitiser everywhere!” he exclaimed. “In every bathroom, by every door, by every sink, our sanitisation stations are clearly marked. We also offer people free masks and gloves. We clean everything thoroughly and religiously and that isn’t just the bathrooms, sofas, door handles and the kitchens – it’s the mics, mic stands, consoles and other equipment too.”

According to Davies, the design process for the new space involved a slow and organic development of ideas. “It started when some of our clients couldn’t find any rehearsal spaces for the pre-festival season in 2018, and asked if they could use our warehouse, so we set about transforming a part of it into a temporary black box rehearsal space.”

The following month saw numerous rehearsals and video or photo shoots, during which the team watched how different guests used spaces in the warehouse as mix rooms, dressing rooms and green rooms.

After that followed a lengthy research phase where Davies and the team asked a lot of people what they wanted from a rehearsal facility. “Most people felt unlimited free parking with no traffic wardens waiting to pounce 20

SUBFRANTIC

Subfrantic’s Stephen Davies.

was more important than a central London location. For others, their response was simply, ‘not a shithole’,” he laughed.

At a difficult time when neighbouring businesses folded, Subfrantic was inspired to keep business in the Bromley community thriving. “We took on the empty space, effectively doubling the size of our warehouse,” Davies explained. “This meant that we could start work on our own studios from the empty shell of a warehouse, allowing us to design and build exactly what we wanted.”

By now, the plan was to offer a lot more than just a black box rehearsal space. “We’ve spent the past year and a bit designing and building a facility that we feel encompasses every need of the touring industry – especially technicians and managers, not just artists,” Davies said. “Our designs have also had to work for filming and photography for showcases, training, product demos, and community or charity projects, and of course now live streaming is essential. We’re always open to discuss alternative uses, too, which so far have included private parties and TV shows.”

Subfrantic’s suitably socially distanced soft opening over the past few weeks saw Afterlive Music take over the space to shoot promos with a range of bands. “It’s been a hugely positive and encouraging experience with feedback from everyone involved,” he reported. “We’re currently working on our reception space, which has now had a 4m by 3m LED wall installed on the ceiling, and when the final few fixings arrive, we will have the disabled friendly bathroom finished, too.”

From day one, the team have set out to do things differently. Case in point, the décor and vibe of each room. The other three walls in our main room are clad in sanded scaffold boards stained different whites, greys and blacks, with a polished concrete floor that can be covered in carpet, rugs, or even AstroTurf. “We have a house lighting rig made of 16 RGBW cobs with some pre-programmed presets to give the room a selection of different feels, and there’s or a DMX merge unit if you want to do your own thing with them too,” Davies quipped during this virtual tour of his facilities.

The Mix Room is designed to pander to visiting audio engineers. “It’s just over 50 sq m, which allows us to handle any size of console with ease, leaving plenty of space for a decent-sized PA. There are comfy sofas and a plush carpet, slightly spangly wallpaper, and we have a similar lighting system to the Live Room, but with 20 RGBW fixtures allowing you complete creative control over your working environment.”

Davies described the largest and most social space in the building: “The Green Room has a high purple draped ceiling with modern large filament LED lamps hanging from it, a big kitchen with an American fridge freezer

plumbed in for filtered water and ice on demand, lots of huge sofas, three large TVs, as well as a selection of vintage keyboard instruments – including a harmonium from the late 19th Century.”

Key to the design of the space, Davies said, was to think about the project as technicians, tour or production managers, and putting in what he’d want to see – from huge doors to get set in and out easily to situating the production office close, but not too close to the Live Room.

“We’ve put a lot of thought and effort into workflow and facilities for the people who need the most out of our spaces,” he said. “We’d rather not have clients in for one session, we want to build relationships with production teams and artists. It’s the best way to get good results and a positive working environment.”

He employs the same ethos with equipment manufacturers. “Our industry is heavily technologically led and it’s only going to become more so in the future. We want to be able to offer our clients the latest, best, and most appropriate kit for their shows, so it’s paramount to have a good relationship with manufacturers to stay on top of the market can offer,” Davies noted. “I’m lucky that my team has good relationships with many of the leading brands – we either own or have played with and are familiar with a lot of their products and enjoy hanging out with some of their teams at tradeshows and industry events.”

With a full touring schedule due to return in January 2020, Davies looked to the uncertain future. “Like the majority of the industry, I’ve not done any gigs since March, but I’ve not stopped working 14-hour days, six days a week trying to improve the business, learn new skills, and push our building project forward whilst keeping our head above water,” he commented. “We’re now seasoned professionals at things we’ve been flirting with for a while – such as livestreaming and automated multicam environments. At the same time, I’m now the go-to-guy if you want to know the best tips and tricks for using a three-phase belt sander to shape angles on small blocks of wood!”

To close, Davies shared further plans for Subfrantic in 2021, including getting heavily involved in immersive audio, but before then he and the team are focused on expanding the facility’s arsenal – repurposing the Live Room as a Green Screen studio, which will go well with the PTZ camera rig that Subfrantic has just invested in. And at the heart of it all, Davies said, “We believe that creative people deserve creative spaces.”

TPi Photos: Subfrantic www.subfrantic.com 21

22

PRODUCTION PROFILE

GISBURNE PARK POP UP Marking one of the first live shows with an audience in months, TPi makes the short trip from Manchester to Gisburne Park to pick the brains of the hard-working team, finally, back on site...

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GISBURNE PARK POP UP

In a normal year, the idyllic setting of Gisburne Park would have already played host to several couples tying the knot in the stunning Ribble Valley. However, like many other industries, the wedding venue had to pivot its usual business while the UK entered lockdown. As the events sector as a whole began to turn their hands to livestreaming or even drive-in shows, the events team at Gisburne Park devised a plan to create the UK’s first post-pandemic events space – a safe, socially distanced outdoor event showcasing a variety of entertainment during an eightweek residency.

Once parked up and following strict instructions from the marshal staff, TPi descended the hill to the events space. The unique site has a river running through, which acts as a natural barrier between the audience and the stage. Upon entry, attendees are allocated a designated seat and zone – all of which are colour coordinated – for the entirety of the performance.

Save the use of toilets, all needs are catered for by the hospitality staff.

On the other side of the river, TPi managed to grab some time with some of the crew behind this latest project to get their thoughts on this unique event. First on our list was Production Manager, Mattie Evans.

Gisburne Park’s usual source of income comes from hosting weddings, but short of any bookings, the bridal house now doubled up as the main production centre for the event – certainly a change from the usual portacabins at a standard festival site. Speaking to us from the confines of

an elegant living room, Evans explained how he first entered the project.

“I was brought into this project by Robyn Isherwood, who is the Event Director for Gisburne Park.” he commented. “The idea was to have a socially distanced space that can host a range of events – from cinema screenings to DJ sets.”

Evans, who is a well-known face in the dance music world thanks to his company, Nocturnal Touring and Rooted Productions, and early this year held the mantle of Tour Director for Swedish House Mafia, commented: “One of the main reasons I was brought it was due to my connections in that world and to help out with the line-up for the evening performances.”

With a three-week lead time into the first weekend, the team had to work quickly while keeping a watchful eye on the various governmental announcements. The first night happened to coincide with the UK Prime Minister’s announcement that live events could take place from 11 July, providing they have a “limited and socially distanced audience”. Evans said: “We had heard hints by then that we would be able to put on this event, but we still had certain contingencies if not,” he stated, pleased that everything fell into place for the opening night.

The PM went on to describe the “very long checklist” of aspects they had to consider before opening the space to ensure it was a safe environment for both the crew and audience. “We’ve employed close to 150 people and we want to keep it that way,” he asserted, going on to explain 24

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Empty spaces,

we miss you ALL...

GISBURNE PARK POP UP

that making the space as safe as possible was the only way to guarantee that Gisburne Park’s gates remained open until August.

With such tight regulations to consider, it is only natural that Evans wanted to surround himself with suppliers he knew and trusted. Colour Sound Experiment provided the lighting, LED and staging elements, while audio duties were handled by Patchwork London.

“Being based in London, I have worked with both Patchwork and Colour Sound numerous times over the years,” reflected Evans. “We collaborated with Colour Sound at Camelphat in Brixton on several occasions and Patchwork were out with us on the latest Jonas Blue tour.”

Meanwhile, power generators were handled by Mather+Stuart Power Solutions, with security coming courtesy of Titan Security.

With most of the core crew working on the show until mid-August, many planned to stay on the site for the majority of the project. “Our production team get temperature checked each day and any new people have to sign in and out, so we are always aware of who is on site. Effectively, those staying here are in a bubble for the next few weeks,” explained Evans.

Despite not wanting to tempt fate, TPi asked Evans what the protocol was if one of the core team became ill. “It was a conversation we had quite early on,” stated the PM. “In short, we would have to switch out the crew and liaise with our health and safety team.”

‘KEEPING IT TICKING OVER’ Moving to the stage, TPi caught up with Colour Sound Experiment Crew Chief, James Hind. “Crew Chief might be bit of stretch, as there are only two of us,” laughed Hind. Like many of his fellow crew personnel, during

lockdown, Hind had turned his hand to another means of income: working for Tesco. “Then, out of the blue, I got a call from Haydn [Cruikshank, Founder of Colour Sound Experiment] asking if I would be keen on this,” said Hind, who jumped at the chance of two months confirmed work.

Collectively, Colour Sound Experiment was contracted to supply the stage, lighting, LED screen, structures and rigging. The company’s QH40 Layher stage provided the performance space and a 10m-wide screen of its BT7 LED created the cinema screen.

The team also went to town on the architectural and tree lighting, with Q40 LED floods, Novaflowers and Aquabeams all centrally controlled, creating a stunning environment after dark. Two JTE PA masts were carefully placed to keep the audio within the valley.

Handling the lighting day to day was Tom Taylor. Both Taylor and Audio Engineer, James Enevoldson controlled their respective setups on side of stage to avoid the crew having to be in amongst the crowd. Not only that, but the river that separated the stage from the audience meant sending cables out to a FOH position would have been that much trickier.

“I’ve got the trusty Avolites Tiger Touch II controlling everything,” stated Taylor. “As I’m side of stage, we have set up a Marshall 4K camera on a Magic Arm, which means I’m able to view the stage.” On the top of the screen, there were 10 AquaBeams with a further 12 on the stage. Also, on the stage were CHAUVET Professional Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures creating a “back lighting curtain” according to Taylor.

Taylor went on to describe the feeling of being back on an event site after such an extended break. “During the first weekend, when the first DJ went on stage, and the subs kicked in, it really just blew me away and 26

GISBURNE PARK POP UP

Colour Sound Experiments Crew Chief, James Hind; Audio Engineer, James Enevoldson; Production Manager, Mattie Evans; Lighting Operator, Tom Taylor.

proved that there is really nothing better than having music played in a live environment – you just can’t replace it.”

Colour Sound Project Manager, Alex Ryan commented: “In these very strange times, it is great to be involved with a team that has shown such innovation in the face of such challenges. We’ve all missed being out on site and this has been a really special one for all of us.”

events due to the potentially higher risk of transition via the musicians.

“We have screens set up to separate the performers that are ready to go,” interjected Evans. “To be clear, it’s a nine-piece orchestra, so it’s a slightly easier number to deal with. We’ve marked out the stage already and we are able to make sure each player is 2m away from the others.”

The prospect of mixing a more complex show was certainly exciting for Enevoldson. “They are bringing in their own monitor engineer, but I’ll be handling the FOH mix,” he commented. “After a few weeks of just dealing with DJ, it will be a nice change of pace.”

Although the stage was strictly monitored so only performers were allowed on, one consideration that had to be made was the cleanliness of all equipment that would pass from hand to hand on site. “For this event, I’ve got a whole ‘COVID-19 cleaning kit’ for all our microphones and body packs,” stated Enevoldson. “The kit has a number of things, including gloves and antibacterial wipes and sprays. Any time someone uses a microphone or a piece of equipment, I give it a good clean before sealing it up, so we know it’s disinfected.”

This level of cleanliness was apparent throughout the setup, with DJ decks and consoles being cleaned throughout the day and after each use.

“One of the things that will stick around once we get back to normal is the level of care given to microphone packages,” reflected Enevoldson.

“I think the days of rocking up to a small venue and having to clean a mouldy house microphone and cables will be well and truly behind us. Not only that, but as a tech, going up to test a microphones will now be done with an awful lot more care.”

Also giving his thoughts on the event was Patchwork Director Calum

SOUNDING IT OUT “I got the call from the guys at Patchwork three to four weeks before opening night,” FOH Engineer, Enevoldson reflected. “I must admit, when I was pitched the idea of a socially distanced festival, my first response was ‘are you sure this is even going to happen?’ There was a part of me that still thought this until we loaded in on the Thursday.”

Patchwork London provided all onsite audio deploying a d&b audiotechnik V-Series in a left centre configuration made up of two V8s and two V12s per side along with 12 V12s placed at the front of the stage. Due to surrounding residential area, Enevoldson had to pull back on the sound levels, which he admitted has been quite pleasant. “We get it to about 85dB. For most shows, we as engineers are more used to mixing shows at 98db, but after four months off, you find your ears relax. While we walked around and tested the PA during the build, it was quite nice thinking we had got our hearing back.”

During the opening weeks of shows, Enevoldson, on behalf of Patchwork London, dealt with a DJ mix, playback and microphone mixes.

During the third weekend, Gisburne Park welcomed the Ibiza Orchestra.

The topic of orchestras has been one of contention in the revival of live 27

GISBURNE PARK POP UP

Mordue. “This project has been fantastic, as it’s a collective of people we have a lot of experience working with. Not only that, but in a time when every phone call is a postponement or a cancellation, to get this call from Mattie was a welcome surprise.” During this time, the majority of the Patchwork team had been furloughed, but it was possible to take advantage of the flexi-furlough option. This gave the team the ability to take themselves off furlough if a job came in to keep the company going.

Mordue was on site to oversee the build of the audio system and oversaw the first show to ensure the client was happy. During the build, he explained that they were prepping to increase the audio capability of the stage, with more line-in options to broaden the type of artists that could potentially hit the stage. “From our first site visit, we were really impressed.

We could see what the organisers had envisioned for the show. If anyone can do this style of event, it’s a venue that already has a moat in place to keep distance between the crowd and the stage.”

have the audience seated – have been a great idea and worked really well.”

Warner explained how each coloured zone had its own dedicated security member, who ensured that all patrons stayed within their pod and zone and kept to the site-wide 2m rules.

“As much as we want to show presence, we don’t want to be too hard as we want to ensure people are enjoying themselves. After all, this is not a natural environment for an event and we want to make sure everyone is as comfortable as possible. The crowds so far have been fantastic and very understanding,” he stated.

What Gisburne Park and the hard-working crew have created in the space is certainly a long way from the usual event space that TPi is used to witnessing this time of year. Admittedly, this is still a long way from a normal festival. However, the ingenuity taking place on site did perhaps show a glimpse into the next few months of how the live events sector may be able to gain some semblance of normality and patrons can still enjoy a live event in a safe space.

TPi Photos: Oscar Bernstein and Nik Bryant - www.nikbryantphotography.co.uk www.gisburneparkpopup.com www.nt-rp.com www.coloursound.com www.patchworklondon.co.uk www.titanrisk.co.uk

KEEPING IT SAFE Before leaving the site, TPi managed to grab some time with Head of Security, Luke Warner. The Operations Director for Titan Risk Management discussed how he and his crew had found managing this socially distanced event. “This whole event has been a fantastic project to be involved in,” he said, outlining the level of thought that had gone into each procedure and point of potential contact for audience members. “The pods – where we 28

Coming Soon… www.productionfutures.co.uk

PRODUCTION PROFILE

JARV IS… BEYOND THE PALE: LIVE FROM THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH Encouraged to make their own entertainment in lockdown, JARV IS... led by former Pulp frontman, Jarvis Cocker, marks the release of their debut album with a unique performance in the underbelly of Peak Cavern, Derbyshire – backed by a core crew of creatives working to a tight deadline and an even tighter budget, as TPi’s Jacob Waite discovers…

JARV IS… BEYOND THE PALE: LIVE FROM THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

With all live events on hold in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jarvis Cocker, Serafina Steer, Emma Smith, Andrew McKinney, Jason Buckle, Adam Betts and Naala – known collectively as JARV IS… – performed the world’s first seven-song album launch party inside the underbelly of Peak Cavern, Derbyshire on 22 July, premiering for free on YouTube for 24 hours only, before dissolving from the digital ether.

With touring postponed, Jarvis Cocker was searching for a way to still play his new record, Beyond The Pale, live. He called upon Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard to direct the film JARV IS… Beyond The Pale: Live From The Centre Of The Earth. “We worked with Jarvis and his Manager, Jeannette Lee, to put this together. Directing a show like this means being involved in every aspect of the production, from creative ideas to budgeting. We’re responsible for what the audience sees when the film is broadcast.”

Forsyth and Pollard explained that their first step was to invite Prettybird to produce the film. “We knew they’d be responsive and able to work with the time and budget limitations of a project like this. They came on board immediately, and our Executive Producer, Ted Thornton, enlisted a service company in Manchester, Sugar Free TV, to assist with local crew and logistics and keep the costs down.”

The duo then brought Cinematographer and Director of Photography, Erik Wilson; Editor, Olly Stothert; Colourist, Katie Dymmock; and Lighting Designer, Douglas Green onboard. “Rather than bring on traditional film lighting, it made sense for us to work with Douglas, who had been working towards the postponed JARV IS… tour.”

The extensive technical supplier list included Christie Lites UK, ER Productions, Flare Lighting, Static Light Company, STS Touring Productions

and Shift 4. Post-production was handled by Coffee & TV, an independent visual content studio in London.

“Our process is to work with people we trust, keep crew numbers down, source local and consider the impact of the project,” Forsyth and Pollard said. “We’re very hands-on directors – the intention and spirit in which you set up and deliver a project always seeps onto the screen. This was an ambitious, fun, experimental project and we hope that shines through.”

Having performed in Peak Cavern, Derbyshire, as part of his last tour, excerpts of Beyond The Pale stem directly from that performance. With no audience, the team was able to delve deeper into the cave system. “The idea to shoot in the cave came from Jarvis – then we built on that, first starting the introduction in darkness, just Jarvis’s voice, then the strike of a match. We wanted to give each track a distinct look and feel, so that the film is a cinematic, immersive journey through the tracks on the album. We decided to use only in-camera effects that could be generated live.”

From there, Forsyth and Pollard were able to plug in the ideas Jarvis and Green were already planning for the postponed tour and form a complete shooting plan. “Throughout lockdown, we’ve all been robbed of human contact,” Forsyth and Pollard quipped. “Events and experiences like this are about trying to find a way to fill that gap. That’s as important for performers as it is for audiences. And as it seems unlikely that live music will return to anything we’d recognise as ‘normal’ anytime soon, it’s vital that we continue to experiment and find ways to build virtual communities.”

Shift 4 provided the camera package, while Camera Operators: Olly Driscoll and Tom Williams; First ACs: Simon Ospina and Sean Lomax; Second ACs: Henry Northrop and Sarah Hibbert; Camera Trainee, 34

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Cameron Browne; and Grip, Damien Roberts were recruited in and around Manchester for the unique project. “We’d worked with a number of them before as we were in Manchester on a BBC job last summer.”

The team shot 4K on Sony FS7s as well as a range of still lenses. “We have a box of tricks we take to every shoot, as does Erik. This enables us to produce all the visual effects in-camera,” Forsyth and Pollard commented.

“Our approach and ethos are very much aligned with Doug’s – who helped to carry across this approach into the lighting design.”

The space had to be not only fit for broadcast, but also COVID-19 safe.

“The humidity and low temperatures needed to be considered. However, the major issue was access. Reaching the chamber we were shooting in was only possible via a low tunnel, maybe 3-4ft high,” Forsyth and Pollard noted. “Everything and everyone had to go in and out via that tunnel.

Allowances were made for extra crew and a slow load-in and out, but this cut the amount of time we had. The biggest challenge was the turnaround time – we had less than two weeks from shoot to broadcast.”

Among Forsyth and Pollard’s favoured looks was the track, Swanky Modes. “We talked to Doug about creating a single laser tunnel effect using smoke. Doug really got it. Then Erik managed to get a beautiful, smooth single-shot of the whole song. It wasn’t the intention – all the other cameras were filming too – but we love how that one song really disrupts the format of the filmed performance, stripping it down to one continuous shot with sustained eye contact. And for a moment the cave disappears, to great effect. It’s a stunning performance from Jarvis.”

The track Children of the Echo was also one such happy, collaborative accident. “Doug ordered a hexagonal fish tank to experiment with lights.

When he shared his iPhone video tests with us, we knew we had to film through it. A camera shot through the tank, which has mirrors submerged in the water and is spinning on a lazy Susan. The result was a mixture of refracted light, blurs and warps, which brings these gorgeous vertical folding panels into the live visual.”

Summing up their experience, Forsyth and Pollard reported: “This ranks among one of the stranger places we’ve filmed a live performance.

However, we love a challenge and have directed sessions in many strange places. The show was a challenge, but a rewarding one. Long days of incredibly hard work,” they said. “It was great to work with Jarvis again, and a brilliant team of old and new faces. For most of us, this was our first job out of lockdown, which added an extra dimension to proceedings and seemed to mean everyone brought their A-game. We’re incredibly proud of the film we were able to make together.”

MUST I EVOLVE? “I was halfway through designing the Beyond the Pale album tour when we got the news it was going to be postponed because of COVID-19; I decided to turn the R&D I was doing into a bit of an extended art project to fill time during lockdown, hoping that the work would come in handy at when live shows returned,” Lighting Designer, Douglas Green described. “I kept the creative dialogue with Jarvis going, too – sending him videos of the lighting experiments I’d been doing in my living room with my irreplaceable associate, programmer and housemate, Aaron Veness.”

Veness was a week into the pre-programming and visualisation process for System of a Down’s latest tour before the crisis hit. “It felt natural to 35

JARV IS… BEYOND THE PALE: LIVE FROM THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

team up for this project. We started workshopping and doing the R&D at home, with light experiments, waving around bits of tin foil and laser pens in our living room,” Veness reminisced. “The cave opportunity came around, and we developed it further and took it from there.”

During the lockdown, Jarvis Cocker embarked on a series of Domestic Disco sets on Instagram Live – scrappy, D.I.Y mobile phone footage capturing his modish wit, disco lights draped on a plastic pineapple and even the occasional amplifier explosion were among the highlights.

However, it was these lockdown sets, complete with the release of lockdown anthem, House Music All Night Long and a reading list – books on the science of light, the history of colour and installation art, as well as caves, obviously – which were the starting points of Green’s lockdown research. “We get caught up with presenting perfection and keeping up appearances, when actually the real-life version of events is often more interesting,” he hypothesised. “I admire Jarvis’ confidence when presenting his ‘un-photoshopped’ self; it’s both magnificent and levelling. This project is an extension of that concept. We’re all just human beings doing things to pass the time and make ourselves happy.”

In fact, the day before the UK lockdown, Green visited ER Productions HQ in Dartford, armed with crystals, mirrors and broken glass. The LD worked closely with ER Productions Laser Tech and Programmer, Seth Griffiths to provide laser effects and haze to proceedings. “The cave inspired the whole album artwork, so it was nice to revisit that idea and bring it to life with Doug by providing a laser package,” Griffiths said.

The resulting laser packaged comprised five BB4s, Phaenon 30W RGBY lasers and hazers. For control, Griffiths employed Pangolin BEYOND

software. “We used new ER data racks at FOH, which were compact, and half the size of a normal rack – ideal given the cave,” Griffiths explained, his tone enthusiastic having completed his first project post-lockdown. “It was great to get out of the house and work with some friendly faces again. It was an interesting space to work in and the lasers looked fantastic.”

The show opened with Jarvis lighting a match, reciting the NuTroglodyte manifesto in his famed dulcet tones, up close and personal, where in front of an audience, the intimacy may have been lost. “I had some abstract ideas for the tour that I just didn’t know how to make impactful for a big live audience or feasible for a daily touring schedule,” Green explained.

“I shared them with Erik the DOP and he came up with some really great solutions in-camera. The possibilities that that collaboration created were amazing, I learned a lot from Erik, Iain and Jane.”

Among Green’s favoured looks was what he dubbed a ’60s James Bond meets sci-fi aesthetic, courtesy of a BB4 laser setup – a trick spawned directly from living room experiments, bouncing lasers off mirrors and melted plastic, to create a ‘northern lights’ inspired effect across the cave.

During Swanky Modes, the team harnessed a ‘classic’ laser cone effect.

“I wanted to see how minimal we could go, so we lit the whole song with just two natively monochromatic light sources – one low-pressure sodium street light from the front and the laser from behind. Iain and Jane’s genius decision to edit the song as one continuous shot brought the concept together magnificently,” Green explained, adding that sometimes the simplest techniques work the best.

ER Productions’ Marc Webber commented: “Working with Doug and seeing his enthusiasm and laser experiments come to life has been a 36

JARV IS… BEYOND THE PALE: LIVE FROM THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

pleasure. To witness what has been achieved on this job in such a relatively short turnaround and a limited budget is nothing short of brilliant.”

The LD referenced the similarities between creatives in lockdown, and creatives in caves. “The nation has been making their own entertainment at home during lockdown and caves were the earliest kind of human home and where the first forms of art were discovered – Jarvis loved the parallel, so we tried to make the most of it.”

On Beyond the Pale’s second track, Must I Evolve? Jarvis, bathed in a sea of red light, croons “the mind in the cave, out of your mind at a rave” – the former a reference to The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art, a 2002 study of Upper Palaeolithic European rock art written by the archaeologist David Lewis-Williams. “Jarvis purchased the book in a cave, which is where he first got inspired to do the gig. It unpacks the psychology of Palaeolithic people through art that has been discovered in caves; that book became one of the starting research points for the tour. A man walks into a cave with a flickering lamp, out of the darkness loom shadows that look like creatures, he becomes aware of tangled scratchings on the walls – there’s a lot of rich imagery in the book, which was great inspiration.”

The first time Green saw the cave was two weeks before the show. With no truss on site, lights were placed on rocks and spanned the sides of the cave’s walls, some housed on stands. “It was all about responding to the cave and using the shape and texture of the space to compose the mise en scène of the show.”

Behind the band, inside the cave, was a large tunnel, which “disappeared into darkness”. Green explained: “We used the tunnel to create visual depth that we couldn’t have done on an ordinary stage. We put

Jarvis’ mirror ball down there – which he acquired from the charity shop next to his house, and has been at every show we’ve ever done,” he added.

“There was also a huge flat bit of rock above the band, which we used as a projection surface for lasers and shadows.”

At either side of the band were rocky hills and slopes, which the team clambered up to place lights, utilising the cave as a central character of the show. “Safety was paramount, so I had to choose small and versatile lighting fixtures, which could not only fit into the cave but could do more than one job,” he added. “Available power was minimal too, we had to run it all about 200m into the cave. Tour and Production Manager, Liam Rippon handled the logistics brilliantly, so we could concentrate on the lights.”

Christie Lites provided a main lighting package, which included Martin

by Harman Aura XBs, Axiom Hybrids and an MA Lighting grandMA3 compact control console, as well as all the associated power distribution elements.

Christie Lites UK Account Manager, Mathew Ilott, commented: “It is an absolute pleasure to be asked by Dougie and Liam to work on this unusual and exciting project.”

The LD highlighted SGM P5 fixtures and Martin by Harman Mac Aura XBs as the main workhorse fixtures chosen to light the cave, along with batterypowered Astera LED Titan Tubes and AX3s, supplied by Flare Lighting.

“There are points where Aaron is on his hands and knees in front of Jarvis following him round with a Titan Tube, so it looks like he’s being lit by a computer screen,” he underlined. “It was all about versatility. Seven songs with seven, individual looks.”

For control, Veness utilised an MA Lighting grandMA3 compact control console, provided by Christie Lites. “The workflow of the MA3 is something 37

JARV IS… BEYOND THE PALE: LIVE FROM THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

Lighting experimenters: Lighting Designer, Douglas Green; Associate LD and Programmer, Aaron Veness.

I’ve always been familiar with,” he explained, having programmed the console. “Before going freelance full time, I worked for Ambersphere Solutions and was involved in the development of the MA3, so I feel fairly confident on the console. It was more the form factor than anything else because it’s easier to operate than a Command Wing. The size and weight of it meant we could fit it into the cave, given the tricky access to the space, through a 1.2m-high tunnel.”

When the team arrived on site each morning, they were briefed by an on-site medic, filled out health and safety forms, and had their temperatures taken regularly. “We were then given a wristband, as well as a mask and portable hand sanitiser,” Veness explained. “Each day, we followed the same process; it was a surreal experience, however, now I work part time at Tesco, I’m used to COVID-19 regulations and procedures...

The closest it comes to transferable skills is wearing a headset!”

Between shifts at Tesco, lighting experiments, and little to no support from the UK Government, Beyond The Pale: Live From The Centre Of The Earth was a much-welcomed project for Veness. “It was the perfect environment to return to gigs with your friends. It’s also on the list of oddest places I’ve ever done a gig. How many people have worked in a cave?”

For Green, Beyond The Pale: Live From The Centre Of The Earth, was much more than another project; it was a creative outlet at a time of international uncertainty in the live events industry.

“I tend to start shutting down if I’m not creating; it’s been pretty bad for my mental health, as it has for everyone on some level,” Green commented.

He referenced British Playwright, Lucy Prebble, who stated that she writes plays in order to bring people together and help them feel less alone.

“It’s the substance of life, coming together to experience music and art –

whether that’s through a screen or in person – I think it’s the stuff that we live for, right?”

In addition to Christie Lites and ER Productions’ contribution, Flare Lighting’s Ben Cash provided battery-powered lighting and production support, while Static Light Company’s Andy Mamas supplied additional lights. “The suppliers have been amazingly generous, especially so in this difficult time. They’re all so personable, supportive and enthusiastic. I’m totally indebted to them, Seth and Aaron for sharing my excitement for this curious little adventure in Jarvis’ favourite cave,” he concluded.

HOUSE MUSIC ALL NIGHT LONG “This was one of the first shows we have had since March, so it was great to get back to work,” began STS Touring Productions’ General Manager, Richard Knowles. “The logistics of the load-in and load-out made it very hard work, but Tour Manager, Liam Rippon had booked a superb crew from Sheffield Leadmill, who made the task much more bearable.”

Due to the route to the cave entrance, the kit had to be cross-loaded in the carpark, into a 4x4 pickup truck and trailer. Knowles explained: “Once the pickup truck had dropped the gear at the entrance to the main cave, everything then had to be manhandled to a second cave around 300m further in, including at one point through a tunnel around 3ft high.”

Monitor Engineer, Ilias Andrianatos is an Allen & Heath user, so STS supplied a dLive C3500 console and DM64 I/O Rack. “We needed to keep the console format to a minimum size in order to manoeuvre it through the cave,” Knowles stated. “Once in position, size wasn’t such a big deal.”

The DM64 I/O rack was a great solution for the job due to its vast output capacity in a relatively small format rack. “I like the sound, layout, and 38

JARV IS… BEYOND THE PALE: LIVE FROM THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

workflow of the dLive C3500,” Andrianatos reported. “The fact you can load your file across the spectrum of the desk from the smallest to the largest, from festivals to caves, you can pick a surface depending on the size of the venue. Although I don’t have a ginormous channel count, I can tailor the surface how I want.”

In the second cave area where the filming took place, there was not a lot of room for audio equipment. Rather than build everything into one large rack, the team decided to make each rack as small as possible, so that they could be carried through the cave and tunnel and put into position easily.

Andrianatos decided to put the band on IEMs, with Jarvis, as always, on a pair of wedges. “This was to limit the amount of noise reverberating in the cave area, to make the performance easier with a more defined sound,” he explained. “As well as fitting the aesthetic, the sound quality and typography of the space was just as important.” The challenging part for the engineer was the wet, muddy and uneven surfaces of the cave. “The sound quality made up for the strange surroundings – this was definitely one of the strangest venues I’ve mixed in,” he laughed.

STS supplied 11 Sennheiser EW300 G3 IEM transmitters and 18 Sennheiser EK300 IEM beltpacks, six of which were solely for the band.

The other five were used, alongside switch microphones, to allow lighting, sound, film crew and band management to monitor the performance during filming and communicate with each other and the band.

Andrianatos specified a pair of L-Acoustics 12XT coaxial wedges powered on an LA8 amplifier. “These were small enough in format to blend into the surroundings, while projecting to Jarvis’ position around 7m away.”

Backline Technicians, Andy Dimmack and Matty Wall made up the audio crew. While FOH Engineer, Andy Pink oversaw the recording side of things.

“We supplied the C3500 with a Dante card and a Yamaha SWP1-8 MMF L2 Switch, allowing Andy to record onto a JoeCo Blackbox Multitrack recorder and direct to Laptop to give a main and backup multitrack recording,” Knowles stated. “The JARV IS... band and production crew are a really great bunch of people to work with – they’re all very friendly, professional and real team players.”

Due to the size of the space, the lack of audience wasn’t apparent.

“It was quite an immersive experience; it was also one of the first times the band were in the same room together, following the lockdown of live events, so it was an emotional experience. For me, it was great to see some familiar faces that I have worked with before and bands and artists doing what they do best, and that’s creating art and performing live,” Andrianatos acknowledged. “It is very important to keep the connection between artists and fans alive. Whether that’s through virtual gigs or audience-less shows in a cave.”

TPi Photos: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard www.jarviscocker.net www.iainandjane.com www.douglasgreen.design www.asjveness.com www.christielites.com www.er-productions.com www.flarelighting.co.uk www.staticlightcompany.com www.ststouring.co.uk www.shift-4.com 39

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PRODUCTION PROFILE

SUZUKI PRESENTS @THEDRIVEIN The Mainstage Festival team takes its years of knowledge from green field sites to set up a touring drive-in concept that delivers entertainment to audiences up and down the country. TPi speaks to some of the team who make these events a reality.

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SUZUKI PRESENTS @THEDRIVEIN

While it may be a divisive issue in the live events industry, there is no denying that the drive-in concept offers a neat option for concertgoers to gather safely and adhere to COVID-19 restrictions. Adopted swiftly by event organisers in Europe and the United States, it was only a matter of time before the UK hosted its own brand of drive-in concerts and events. One of the first out of the gate was @TheDriveIn, which not only represented one of the first drive-in shows, but also presented one of the first examples of a touring production with multiple cities hosting a band of technical crew from July until October.

The production was brought to life by Mainstage Festivals – the team behind such events as Snowboxx, Kala, Explorations and ION. Mere days after having to turn his trucks back on the way to prep for Snowboxx and Anjunabeats Elevations in France, with the global pandemic putting paid to the company’s entire summer schedule, Festival Director, Alan Crofton began to hatch a plan to ensure that Mainstage would still be able to host at least one event this summer.

The result was Suzuki Presents @TheDriveIn – a multi-date, UK-wide tour to provide a safe and friendly event experience that offers fun, films and food. The retro-themed drive-in cinema experience brought a mixture of recent blockbusters and timeless classics to the big screen.

Hosting up to 130 cars per showing, the team hopes to give up to 15,000 customers a night of entertainment by the end of the run. As well as the film, each event also featured a selection of games including Lucky Licence

Plates, silent car discos, as well as live stand-up comedy. Taking up the story was Production Manager, Giles Bristow. “It’s really great to be back out working,” he began. The PM and his team had already successfully put on three nights of @TheDriveIn at Blackheath, South London – the first stop of the tour. “We’ve got a great site here and both the crew and the audience have loved the event so far,” he stated.

Winding the clocks back, the PM explained how the event came to pass.

“After turning around the 17 trucks that were on their way to the French Alps for Snowboxx and Anjunabeats Elevations, I had a conversation with Alan about the idea of the drive-in show. Three weeks after saying I was interested, the website was up and running with the marketing team primed and ready to promote the event.”

Preparing any multiple-date tour brings up myriad details and stumbling blocks. Factor in the number of COVID-19 lockdown regulations and suddenly this becomes a very challenging task. “Due to the lockdown, we were unable to visit all the sites, so we relied heavily on Google Maps to develop a plan for each site,” stated the PM. Key to the success of this operation has been the fact that Bristow was able to surround himself with a number of long-standing crew as well as key suppliers that Mainstage has used for a number of its other events.

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SATELLITE MODULAR LASER SYSTEM

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Every once in a while, something comes along that tears up the rulebook and revolutionises an industry. This is one of those moments: the Satellite Modular Laser System from the Visionaries of the display industry – Digital Projection.

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04/03/2020 11:18

SUZUKI PRESENTS @THEDRIVEIN

which allowed maximum visibility for the audience. “It’s an incredible piece for each city to ensure we are able to broadcast at each site,” Bristow of technology,” enthused the Production Manager. confirmed. For the transmission, the PM looked at all the various options During the build at Blackheath, a few of the ADI available but, in the end, opted to purchase a team came down to set up the system, with the brand-new system. goal of handing the reins over to the Mainstage “We purchased the system from a Dutch team once it was up and running, with a tech from company called Broadcast FM. It ended up being ADI also joining the crew on the road. cheaper to buy a new system than rent one for Thomas Taylor, ADI’s Business Development the 13-week run.” Bristow explained that this new “The first day I sat at my desk Manager commented: “Our continued investment system was “state of the art” offering both DSP and and innovation in event LED is bringing greater RDS. “The broadcast we have is the highest quality and started to pull everything choice and quality to organisers across the UK and audio signal and all of our content is DVD Blu-ray. together, I had forgotten Europe. The iCONIC 60C is particularly well suited The quality people have got from their cars is to the drive-in events that are so popular at the absolutely outstanding.” what it was like to advance moment since it delivers a huge HD LED screen Moving the conversation onto the logistics of something that was actually with secure container unit, and comparatively working on the site, TPi chatted to @TheDriveIn’s compact footprint. It’s great to see the new happening the following week Show Caller and Stage Manager, Heather McMillan. screens in action and entertaining audiences Brought in a week prior to opening night, McMillan rather than the hypothetical around the UK, starting with Suzuki Presents wasted no time into throwing herself into the @TheDriveIn.” project. “It was nice to be back working on an events that have taken up my The audio demands for the project were event again,” she enthused. “There was a slight time during lockdown. I forgot learning curve for the first show, working out how handled by Bristow’s own company, Acute Audio Productions. As with many of this style of show, how much I like the pressure!” to make the event work for an in-car audience and the audio solution selected was a transmitter that what shots would work for this kind of crowd.”

Show Caller and Stage Manager, could then be tuned into by the audiences’ car She went on to explain how there had been radios. “I’ve personally been in touch with Ofcom some trial and error in finding ways to engage Heather McMillan 44

SUZUKI PRESENTS @THEDRIVEIN

Production Manager, Giles Bristow; Show Caller and Stage Manager, Heather McMillan; Operations and Event Manager, Nat Taylor.

the live audiences. “Our first night of stand-up comedy before the movie screening was an interesting process,” she explained. “However, we have found so far that after a few minutes of finding their feet, the comics become accustomed to the setup, and the lack of normal response for a crowd in a venue.”

With a limited crew size, McMillan explained how most of the crew ended up wearing multiple hats throughout the production. “This event isn’t like a major festival where people have defined roles – it’s really just all hands-on deck,” she commented.

“It’s just been such a buzz,” she concluded. “The first day I sat at my desk and started to pull everything together, I had forgotten what it was like to advance something that was actually happening the following week rather than the hypothetical events that have taken up my time during lockdown. I forgot how much I like the pressure!”

Also giving her two cents on the project was Operations and Event Manager, Nat Taylor. A familiar face at a number of Mainstage Festivals’ other projects, Taylor was one of the key members responsible for ensuring the safety of crew and audiences alike.

“We have an advance safety email that goes out to all ticket holders, which provides them with all the information they need for the site,” she began. “Anyone due to attend these events submits their car registration.

This mean there is no need for any face-to-face interaction with audiences and our team on the doors.

“During the show, the only time people need to leave their cars is when they need to go to the toilets,” explained the Operations Manager. “For the

toilets, we have put in place a 2m queueing system with hand sanitiser on the entrance and the exit.”

Food could be ordered throughout the show via an app-based system with servers bringing the orders to the car in a zero-contact system similar to that adopted by delivery services throughout lockdown. “We are encouraging attendees to also take all rubbish with them to avoid any contaminating,” interjected Bristow, who joked that he hoped this habit continued when regular events returned. “It is the cleanest site I have ever seen with next to no litter.”

“The crowds have been very respectful of all the rules that are in place,” mused Taylor, “Almost everyone has followed the rules to the letter and been kind to our staff throughout.”

With the London dates coming to an end, @TheDriveIn is setting its sights on the rest of the UK. At the time of writing, the next stop on the itinerary is Newcastle, with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol, Southampton and Brighton following close behind.

TPi Photos: James North, @TheDriveIn and ADI www.atthedrive.in www.adi.tv www.aap.uk.com www.aph.uk.com www.rwslive.co.uk www.projectpower.co.uk www.fenceuk.co.uk 45

FESTIVAL FOCUS

FESTIVALS REIMAGINED Each year, TPi typically reports from muddy festival sites across Europe in August. This year, with live events postponed or cancelled, music festival organisers devise innovative ways to keep revellers entertained amid lockdown...

WIRELESS CONNECT Organisers of Wireless Festival go back to the drawing board to recreate a one-of-a-kind virtual experience with the help of virtual curators, MelodyVR…

Having cancelled the 2020 show in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers of Wireless Festival turned to MelodyVR to help launch a virtual version – Wireless Connect – from a bespoke location at Alexandra Palace in London and MelodyVR’s studio in LA. The threeday event, which took place on 3-5 July, featured new performances, exclusive footage and previous Wireless highlights.

Wireless Connect was broadcast to fans around the world and accessible to anyone with a smartphone or VR headset, and was free to watch, with fans encouraged to make a charity donation over the course of the weekend to Black Lives Matter.

MelodyVR began its relationship with Live Nation-owned Festival Republic in 2019, taking on the ambitious challenge of broadcasting Wireless Festival in its entirety live in 360° VR from London’s Finsbury Park.

With tickets to the festival having sold out in a record 30 minutes, the venture resulted in 250,000 additional music fans being able to experience the festival in an innovative new way as it happened.

This year, MelodyVR spent the start of 2020 gearing up for a summer of live broadcasts and captures in VR. Following the lockdown of live events,

the company changed from busy in one direction to busy in another, creating more of its own content, with less time spent capturing traditional gigs and festivals. “We have all worked remotely in the US and the UK since the lockdown, orchestrating new projects,” MelodyVR’s Mike Darling said.

“I’ve spent my time in Los Angeles, putting together a location in which to capture and stream US artist performances for our Live from LA series, building out our production team and set-up here, and making it work with the UK team contributing remotely to the creative and the captures.”

Then Wireless Connect came along, and things then worked the other way around to LA, with the team in the UK putting in the work on the ground and Darling working on it with them remotely. “The whole company has pulled together on these projects over this time while we have been working apart from one another,” Darling explained.

The recent Wireless Connect and Live from LA projects are a result of the combined efforts of all the company’s functions. “There’s a team creating the space and capturing the visual element with our proprietary in-house designed cameras, processing and recording, another taking care of audio then post-production, app development and testing teams 46

FESTIVALS REIMAGINED

constructing, promoting and delivering a high-quality format and end product that will be broadcast to viewers in the MelodyVR app via local content delivery networks.” The intensity, Darling said, was a result of “dedication and focus” – traits which are “company-wide, from top to bottom and start to finish.”

In addition, in the UK, Spiritland Productions provided an audio truck, Spiritland ONE, along with its years of experience in capturing and broadcasting some of the world’s most prominent and popular music concerts and festivals. “More specifically, Spiritland Productions delivered broadcast audio mixes in stereo and immersive formats.”

Recording of the festival was fully redundant, up to six times at multitrack/stem level. Spiritland ONE generated a number of compliance stems that were used for post-production, including vocal tuning on site; the onboard Riedel Communications system, which was integrated into the MelodyVR set-up; and the Blackmagic Design PTZ remote cameras housed inside of the vehicle, rigged in the venue and utilised by MelodyVR for 2D content.

With both the LA and London locations, every precaution was taken to make the space safe. “Artists and performers remain in isolation for the duration of the performance and do not come into contact with the public or on-site crew,” Darling reported.

MelodyVR’s cutting-edge technology in combination with its in-house technical experience allowed for the crew to communicate with artists and handle all technical and production needs from an entirely separate area.

“There is no direct, in-person interaction between artists, their teams and the MelodyVR team,” Darling furthered.

“Artists have a separate entrance to the building and to the performance to enable them to drive from door to door, enter the building, perform, and head home, with no cross-contamination,” he added. Having made waves

with Wireless Connect, Darling believed the event flicked on a switch in the heads of many of the live music industry’s key decision makers – “be they promoters, agents, managers, or artists. I imagine this is just the start of something,” he quipped.

“MelodyVR was founded with the vision of providing fans with a new and exciting way of experiencing the live music they love, regardless of their location, age or financial means, and with a view that our company or content would never seek to replace the thrill of attending concerts, festivals or tours in person. Due to the recent events, we’re now presented with a landscape where mass-gatherings or public events are prohibited, which is extremely damaging to both artists and to the music industry.”

As a company that has deep-rooted experience with virtual events and immersive content, MelodyVR is well positioned to benefit the music industry, with partners such as promoters, artists, managers and record labels; many of whom are unable to conduct their business operations as usual. Darling commented: “Our studio facility in LA and the production we have created for Wireless Connect, both custom designed to maintain stringent safety standards whilst creating the highest possible quality content, leverages our unique skillset of broadcasting immersive performances digitally via the MelodyVR platform.”

Throughout the course of the year ahead, MelodyVR will continue to serve its consumers and the music industry by creating and broadcasting performances to fans from the MelodyVR studio location in Los Angeles, venues like O2 Academy Brixton in London as well as from other locations in different territories.

TPi Photos: Luke Dyson www.wirelessfestival.co.uk/connect www.melodyvr.com 47

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LOST HORIZON The team involved in Glastonbury’s Shangri-La dust off their VJ kit for the debut of Lost Horizon Festival – a virtual production broadcast to a 4.36 million global audience.

Lost Horizon, recently crowned the world’s largest virtual reality music and arts festival, took place on 3-4 July 2020 to a huge worldwide audience of 4.36 million viewers from over 1,100 cities and 100 countries around the world across VR, PC, iOS and Android mobile app, plus online streams, via Beatport, Twitch and across social media platforms.

Behind the feat was a core crew of creatives and VJs with a longstanding relationship with Worthy Farm.

Having used visuals in the field for several years, from Glastonbury’s video-mapped Heaven Arena to the more recent Gas Tower, Creative Giants Digital Curator, Simon Vaughan was integral to getting this ambitious project off the ground. “We could see the opportunity to remain being creative in the COVID-19 world and work with our community to do something ground-breaking,” he said.

With the decision made to include the Gas Tower within Lost Horizon’s VR festival landscape, Creative Giants assembled a core crew of creatives in More Eyes’ Pete Thornton, We Are Midnight’s Daniel Shutt, We Are Not Content’s Malcolm Litson, and ddld design’s Nick Diacre. “Any project like this requires new ways of working, so it was key to have a dependable team that always succeed in adversity – something we are often against in a muddy field, but always deliver.”

While Thornton led the VJ programming and production charge, it was a team effort, with each member of the crew playing a key role in a project where “extreme timelines” were in place. Vaughan explained that despite his longstanding affiliation with Shangri-La, this project was “next level” on all accounts – firmly pushing the envelope of innovation. “Each year, we push ourselves through heatwaves and thunderstorms to produce a spectacular in the Shangri-La field, and Lost Horizon was no different.”

Pete Thornton, one half of TPi Award-winning visual outfit, More Eyes, picked up the story: “We were contacted by Simon from Creative Giants and our friends at Shangri-La back in March after Glastonbury 2020 was officially cancelled,” he reminisced. “We had all been talking about the real-world festival prior to this, but as it became clear that wasn’t going to be possible, the focus turned to a virtual-reality event instead. When they asked if we would be interested in getting involved, we all jumped at the chance.”

The event, devised by the team behind behind Glastonbury’s ShangriLa, in partnership with VRJAM and Sansar, and in collaboration with Orca Sound Project and Beatport, delivered a deep multilayered experience, filled with wild dancefloors, a visual feast of art and performance, and an interstellar line up of superstar DJs and underground artists, all taking part to raise money for The Big Issue and Amnesty International UK. Created using Sansar, Wookey Technologies’ photorealistic platform for virtual live events, Lost Horizon was a truly unique virtual and mixed-reality festival unlike any other, featuring computer-generated avatars and green screen ‘hologram’ performances from a line-up of global artists, including: Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim and Peggy Gou, to Frank Turner and Coldcut.

“The DJs visited their local green screen studios right across the world – London, Bristol, LA, and Tokyo, among others – to record themselves and their DJ sets,” reminisced Thornton. “For the acts on the Gas Tower stage, these pre-recorded sets were then handed over to our team of VJs to work with. In total, we had 24 leading VJs and visual artists create fully custom 360° content for this special one-off show.”

The final files were uploaded to Vimeo, integrated into the VR environment and mapped to the eight screens by the Sansar tech team led by Ollie Rankin. “Everything moves quickly, so you have to consider the 48

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viewpoint of spectators, devising content which isn’t too jarring. Creating and projecting 360° content in the real world is hard enough, but to deliver it within a live VR environment is a special achievement and a true first.”

With a total of 24, one-hour sets to get over the line, time was against the team. The collective devised a way to standardise the final delivery of the work by the VJs. “This involved processing all the green screen content so it was essentially the same format and could be dropped straight into the VR environment,” Thornton explained.

“DJs were scaled to be the same size and backgrounds were all keyed in the same way. That could then be combined with the 360° video content from our awesome line-up of VJs which included Enjoy Kaos, L’aubaine, Leds Akimbo and Joëlle. Very fortuitously, there was a Notch update halfway through production which was specifically for helping with green screen keying, which saved hours and hours of prep time.”

Vaughan believed the sheer amount of work involved to achieve the virtual festival was much the same as in the real world. “The artworks the VJs made blew my tiny little mind. How the team pulled through adversity and found every way to make it work was outstanding,” Vaughan said. “It really couldn’t have happened without the pure dedication the team put in – going that extra step to making something truly special.”

Performances from over 70 artists were captured in 12 countries across the world and production included custom merchandise for charities and custom avatars for performers, including Shangri-La legend Chris Tofu, in addition to the six-plus virtual worlds purpose-built for the occasion. “With it being broadcast in VR, we were wary of not overloading the optics of the viewer,” Thornton explained. During this first fully interactive, multi-stage two-day event, in-world attendees had access to move around inside the

space, chat and interact with other festival goers, just as if they were at a real-life festival.

“During the first day, I was just on the standard laptop version to witness some of the various stages and streams from a 2D perspective,” Thornton stated. “When the second day came around, I got my hands on a VR headset at More Eyes HQ to fully immerse myself into the digital world.”

Revellers had the ability to communicate with friends either in a chat room or speaking directly via headsets. People could watch the various acts from wherever they liked and even teleport across the dance floor. “My avatar donned a skeleton suit with a Lost Horizon T-shirt, which I managed to pick up from the digital merch stall, complete with pink light-up shoes and a pink pompadoured quiff,” laughed Thornton, recalling his threeyear-old daughter’s choice of outfit. Though despite his extravagant digital garms, the VJ wasn’t the most extravagantly dressed in the digital field.

“Like any festival, you got a sense of the fun from people dressing up. There were people dressed as a giant slice of toast, a floating turtle, a cow in a suit, a wireframe robot and some people just in their pants!”

In this new virtual horizon, acts performing on stage were also present in the virtual world, interacting with festivalgoers and experiencing this world-first event. Lost Horizon and Shangri-La Creative Director, Kaye Dunnings, commented: “I don’t think you can ever recreate the feeling of being in a crowd of people, and how powerful that is, but it was spooky how similar it was to the real thing. I met up with friends, made new ones, was able to make an avatar that could dance (moves I could never pull off in real life!) and the classic festival experience of bumbling between areas, overhearing conversations and marvelling at the wonderful looks people had created for themselves was just like people watching at a festival.”

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Fatboy Slim, who performed on the Gas Tower, programmed by Orca Sound Project, commented: “Thanks to the Lost Horizon crew for popping my VR cherry. The experience had almost the same euphoric feeling as being at a real festival. For those interested or in there with me, I was the one with Halle Berry’s body and a big smiley head, dancing my tits off, mind slightly blown by the experience of watching myself DJ. As surreal and trippy as a real late adventure in the Shangri-La.” With nine camera angles in each of the four Lost Horizon ‘worlds’, the online Beatport/YouTube/Twitch streams were live vision mixed by the team at Video Illusions, to create the engaging and surreal streams beamed live and direct into homes across the globe. “The static feeds via mobile phone apps were brilliant. The sound quality was excellent, and you were able to choose which one of the fixed camera positions to view from. By diving into any of the various broadcast platforms, you could have a totally different experience,” Thornton noted.

The VR team had the ability to turn on and of an ‘anti-gravity’ mode, where avatars were able to jump around as if they were in space. “One of the best things about being inside VR was the ability to create your own viewpoints. While anti-gravity was employed, I managed to scale the top of the Gas Tower for a birds-eye viewpoint of the festival and the revellers,” the VJ reported.

The virtual festival set a new benchmark for engagement of audiences in immersive content, with a total reach generated by live virtual reality content totalling 11,792,896 people across the two-day event. “I think there is a future in this type of event,” Thornton hypothesised.

“I can see things like this run in tandem with live events, it’s an option for festival organisers to get a larger, global reach online – and while a virtual audience can never replace the energy and excitement, it’s ideal for situations like this where we all can’t be in the same room together.”

Viewing figures aside, Vaughan said, that the DJs were impressed with the

experience and the efforts of the VJ team, “It was no different to anything they would perform in the real world,” he summed up. “Would I do it again?

Hell yeah, although I would hope that we can be all together when we are actually making it, and not over Zoom!”

Lost Horizon and Shangri-La Director, Robin Collings commented: “We are back in creative mode, dreaming up ways to develop and re-imagine the whole experience, expand our audiences and make the platform more accessible.”

To close, Thornton praised the Shangri-La production team – Kaye, Chris and Robin – who did a “fantastic” job in curating the stages and bringing together global artists and VJs in such a short space of time.

“There’s a lot of time and technology being invested into these types of shows now and nobody knows where it will ultimately lead to. The full VR experience felt surprisingly real, and close to a real-world event because of the immersive aspects. Being able to create an avatar, choose your outfit, look around in full 360°, meeting up with your friends inside VR and being able to chat directly with them was so much fun.”

Ed Jenkins and Jolyon Klean, Orca Sound Project, concluded: “Programming the Gas Tower in Lost Horizon felt like putting together a dream festival line-up. The goodwill and excitement surrounding such an innovative and experimental project just goes to show how the rule book has been re-written by the challenges we all face in the entertainment industry. Hopefully we’ve proven that there are new frontiers to explore and ways to communicate with fans that continue to push boundaries.”

TPi Photos: Shangri-La www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk www.shangrilaglastonbury.co.uk www.losthorizonfestival.com www.moreeyes.co.uk 50

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ROCK WERCHTER An Adamson PA system sounds out a series of intimate concerts at Rock Werchter’s new Zomerbar to raise funds for Live2020, a new industry solidarity fund for the Belgian live music industry…

Taking place at Festivalpark Werchter, under the North West Walls towers on 2-5 July, the organisers of Rock Werchter launched a series of intimate concerts at the festival’s new Zomerbar to raise funds for Live2020, a solidarity fund to support the Belgian live music industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tasked with bringing the unique sonic experience to life was Systems Engineer, Patrick Demoustier. As the only member of the Rock Werchter Live2020 audio crew, the Sound Designer reflected on where he was when the lockdown of live events came into effect.

“I was in Maastricht, the Netherlands, mixing a BLOF when the lockdown first happened,” he reported. “We were three days into a 35-date theatre tour when the news broke.”

Having been involved in previous incarnations of Rock Werchter – a stalwart of the audio team since 1986 – Demoustier has witnessed the evolution of the event from its heady days at Torhout to 2019’s five-stage extravaganza, with 60,000 festival revellers in attendance daily. “This year, of course, was completely different due to the pandemic,” he conceded.

“Attendees were seated at tables with one small stage. Instead of 60,000 faces, organisers suggested a 400-person maximum capacity each day.”

Despite the COVID-19 safety precautions and guidelines, the muchlauded ‘Werchter philosophy’ of technologically advanced shows and high-quality performances stayed the same.

“Although the stage was small, it was beautiful and expertly decorated, as were the dressing rooms,” Demoustier recalled. “While the field was

surrounded by containers, they were decorated with pieces of wood, so not only was it safe – it looked very pretty.”

Rock Werchter Live2020 marked Demoustier’s second foray into live events in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic – his first was a livestreamed TV broadcast from a beach for the Concert at Sea Festival, complete with a small, suitably socially distanced audience. “It is another large Belgian festival that is typically held on that beach for thousands of attendees every year,” he explained, before sharing some thoughts on getting back to work at Werchter. “It was a very emotional experience; it felt so unreal to be in the same place as you would be each year, but with added restrictions in place with a smaller audience.”

On site, health and safety precautions helped ensure the safety of the performing artists and the crew. “We all wore masks and alcohol hand gel was in abundance. PRG also built and deployed a UV-C device to disinfect talkies and microphones every night,” he explained. “The audience had to stay seated at tables that were 3m apart and drinks and food could only be ordered by scanning a barcode on the table, with table service. There were also more than 100 toilets available for attendees.”

With a “super tight” budget to contend with, the crew decided to harness a small in-house kit. “With one band per day, which played twice, there was plenty of time for set up and soundcheck with one sound engineer.”

The PA system comprised a main hang of 18 Adamson E15s and an under hang of six E12s. Subwoofers came in the shape of 12 Adamson 51

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E219s, while front fill duties were performed by eight CS7s with a pair of CS7ps in the centre. The entire system was driven by a pair of Lake LM44 processors and 12 Lab.gruppen PLM20K44s on a redundant Dante network.

“This is my preferred sound system,” the sound designer said. “It sounds so natural and powerful. There are many good systems on the market, but the sound of the Adamson E-Series and S-Series is the best you can get, in my opinion.”

Demoustier deployed an oversized rig for the size of the crowd. “When we built this PA system, the festival organiser was still hoping that we could broker an 800-capacity audience instead of 400,” he explained. “We received great comments on the sound from the crowd and the engineers that visited.”

For audio control, a DiGiCo SD12 96 was chosen for FOH and monitors. A range of wireless and wired IEMs were deployed for crew and artists, along with a litany of Shure (B52, B58, SM58, SM57, B91), Sennheiser (E906, E904, MD421), Neumann (KM184, KM185), and AKG 414 mics and BSS DIs. “When you are the only member of the sound team, being organised is paramount,” Demoustier said. “I prepared as much of the kit as I could in

advance, providing guest multis in all formats. Thankfully, with only one band a day, it was quite a peaceful process.”

While each band played twice a day, there was a one-hour DJ set before and after the gig – including an additional hour devoted to cleaning and disinfecting the tables for the next round of audience members. “The DJ rider included three Pioneer CDJ 2000s, a Pioneer DJM Nexus and two EMLEMW wedges,” Demoustier stated.

“In normal circumstances, my next gig would be a TV show with several bands at the beach with a large crowd. This year, given the arrival of COVID-19, it’s in an indoor casino for a 200-capacity crowd. The outbreak of the virus has caused all the events in my diary to be put on ice, or in most cases, cancelled,” he concluded. “I’m looking forward to the day we can go back to work when it is safe to do so.”

TPi Photos courtesy of Live Nation www.adamsonsystems.com www.live2020.be www.rockwerchter.be 52

L E D s o lu t io n s fo r

V ir t u a l s t u d io s

P ic tu re b y : F a b e r A u d io v is u a ls

A r e w e t o w i t n e s s t h e e n d o f t h e g r e e n -s c r e e n e r a ?

L E D p a n e ls a re th e id e a l s o lu tio n to p o r tra y s e t a n d b a c kg ro u n d s c re a te d in v ir tu a l re a lit y. C re a tin g th e rig h t c a n v a s is n o t ju s t b u ild in g a n y L E D s c re e n . It â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s w h e re th e L E D p a n e l, p ro c e s sin g a n d c a m e ra s e t tin g c o m e to g e th e r th a t s tu n n in g re su lt s a re a c h ie v e d . W ith it s h ig h -e n d m a n u fa c tu rin g a n d p re m iu m p a r t s th e R O E V isu a l L E D p ro d u c t s a re p e r fe c tly su ite d fo r v ir tu a l s ta g e s a n d p ro d u c tio n s . M o re in fo rm a tio n o n : w w w .r o e v is u a l.c o m

W W W .R O E V I S U A L .C O M

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RAVENNA FESTIVAL d&b Soundscape Powers Italy’s reimagined Ravenna Festival into its 31st edition.

Leading the way in a new era of live entertainment, Ravenna once again hosted its spectacular opera and classical music festival, deploying a d&b Soundscape immersive sound system to bring it to life.

Ravenna Festival, which is in its 31st edition, is a summer festival held in the city of Ravenna, Italy and the surrounding area. The festival ran from 21 June until 30 July, but this year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, it looked far different to previous years. For the organisers, cancelling the festival was never an option, instead new programmes were put in place to ensure they could offer the best cultural and artistic experience to an audience that was for months deprived of both.

“This is our most important festival yet; people in Italy and around the world have been waiting months to experience the joy of live music,” commented Giulia Artemisia Nicosia from BH Audio, who supplied the audio system for the festival.

This year, a large part of the programme took place in the open air of the Brancaleone Fortress in the centre of Ravenna. From here, some 300 people could enjoy the shows live. For those who missed out on these coveted seats, almost all the concerts were streamed online.

For the audience, as well as the performers, temperature checks and masks were in full effect.

To power the uniqueness of this year’s festival, BH audio turned to d&b’s Soundscape to provide a truly immersive sound experience both for the audience at the festival and those at home.

“We knew we needed a system that would provide the audiences – no matter where they were – with a truly immersive sound experience, and

d&b Soundscape was the only way to do that,” said Nicosia. “One of the main challenges for the orchestra was the distance between them – which, of course, has a huge impact on the sound. In order to combat this, we used the virtual acoustic shell with Soundscape to help the musicians to hear each other and simulate better acoustics on stage.”

Two DS100 processors with the d&b Soundscape software plus over 60 d&b loudspeakers were used for the live concert: one for the audience and one to create the “virtual acoustic shell” for the musicians. A third DS100 was used for the streaming service, to create an enhanced mix for the stereo stream. En-Scene was utilised to virtually position the objects in the stereo mix, while En-Space simulated the 360° loudspeakers at the venue to create the “concert hall acoustics” through an ambisonic plugin.

“We used a 360° En-Scene setup in the venue which, combined with En-Space, helped us to recreate the acoustics of different rooms depending on the type of performance,” commented Nicosia. “For example, we used the newly acquired ninth room San Vitale – the cathedral for sacred music – while for the orchestra on the opening concert, we used the classical large room, which has an open-air environment. The effect that we can achieve outdoors with En-Space really is a game-changer.”

The Ravenna Festival performances can be heard by audiences worldwide via the festival’s livestream.

TPi Photos: d&b audiotechnik www.ravennafestival.live www.dbaudio.com 54

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WOODSTOCK DER BLASMUSIK The popular Austrian music festival goes digital with Allen & Heath.

Since its inception in 2011, the Woodstock der Blasmusik festival has attracted crowds of up to 60,000 brass music fans each June, to Ort im Innkreis in Austria. With brass aficionados obliged to stay at home

by COVID-19, this year the organisers treated them to an evening of livestreamed performances from the festival site, featuring eight bands and mixed from an Allen & Heath dLive system.

The FOH and broadcast audio rig for this online incarnation of the festival was supplied and managed by Martin Bröll of Greenbee Records Studios, working closely with the festival’s technical manager, Mario Schwarz, who oversaw all aspects of the audio, video and streaming.

With eight bands, three stages and over 60 inputs to look after, Bröll chose his DM32 MixRack as the core of a dLive system running the PA sound, broadcast mix and intercoms. Portable DX168 expanders were added for local IO on the main stages, plus a modular DX32 expander for front of house IO and connection of outboard FX and compressors.

The DM32 was fitted with a Waves3 card for integration with a Soundgrid Server One for additional plugins. The performances were mixed on a dLive S5000 Surface, with a secondary mixer taking care of summing mixes, video sound and interview mics. A Dante 128x128 card in the S5000

allowed Bröll to capture multitrack recordings of the performances on two laptops running Dante Virtual Soundcard.

“With several bands performing on multiple stages over six hours, the main challenge with this event was managing the channel routing efficiently,” Bröll explained. “I had worked with iLive in the past and upgraded to dLive last September, so I knew it was the right solution.

Another really important factor for me is dLive’s easy integration with Waves plugins and Dante.”

Asked what the secret to mixing brass instruments is, Bröll confided: “You have to treat brass instruments like human voices. They have a huge dynamic range and many overtones. You need to be very sparing with equalisation and compression. You have to really ride the faders.”

The organisers of Woodstock der Blasmusik were pleased with the success of the livestream and the quality of the audio and are looking forward to welcoming the brass-loving audience once more in 2021.

TPi Photos: KM-photography www.allen-heath.com www.greenbee-records.at 55

INTERVIEW

ROCKPOOL CATERS FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY Having toured the world with Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, and Florence + The Machine, West Yorkshire catering company, Rockpool Tour Catering tells TPi’s Jacob Waite why feeding vulnerable communities in lockdown is their most rewarding post to date.

Following frequent meetings with Wakefield Council at Production Park in West Yorkshire, Rockpool Tour Catering Director, Peter Dillamore-Bailey, and the Directors of Production Park, Adrian, Lee and Ben Brooks, as well as Backstage Academy, set about creating a not-for-profit project to supply meals to underprivileged children in their local community.

“We read some articles in the press about children going to school without a nutritious breakfast,” Dillamore-Bailey told TPi. “Our initial thought, before the COVID-19 pandemic, was to utilise our network and

supply chain to provide the local community with healthy produce to deliver to schools, or drop-off points, where those in need can pick up care packages, to give them a nutritious start to the day.”

However, once the COVID-19 crisis hit, the collective decided to change tack. “We reached out to Wakefield Council and asked where we could help; after several Zoom meetings, we were granted access to six local community hubs,” Dillamore-Bailey explained.

“Our suppliers Dovecote Park in Pontefract and Aldi stores very kindly supplied us with as much sustenance as we required to maximise 56

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the items that we could send out.” Having picked up pallets of meat, previously sponsored a local student at Backstage Academy and various Rockpool Tour Catering chefs at Production Park Café voluntarily began industry-related events and food drives on a small scale, the current recreating meals for the community hubs and efforts mean that while touring is not an option, the food parcels. company can focus all its attention and resources “We’re up to nearly 14,000 meals so far since into providing sustenance to those in the community “We’ve always focussed on we started in mid-April, so we’ve been pretty who need it most. busy,” Dillamore-Bailey reported.

“We have been very busy with touring over the creating jobs in an area with In line with recent COVID-19 safety guidelines years, so this is the first food drive of this scale for very few opportunities for and regulations, each of the chefs has their own us,” Dillamore-Bailey said. “It is something we’re designated working area. going to continue to do.” young people. We want to “Luke, our Head Chef, and Dec, his Second In fact, at the time of writing, the company is change the mindset for how chef, and I set up the kitchen in two totally set to launch a ‘back to school’ initiative with local separate food preparation areas – the meat students, schools and summer camps set to be the people perceive the catering supplier arrives outside, and we unload the major beneficiaries. “We’re aiming to have around industry and show there van while keeping a 2m distance,” Dillamore50 students a week spending some time with one Bailey explained, adding that as well as social of our touring chefs, either at Production Park or are alternative pathways if distancing, hand sanitiser stations and face their school, where they will embark on a tutorial to you’re looking to work in the masks are in abundance. create a healthy meal from simple ingredients at a “The strict procedures haven’t changed safe a social distance.” live events sector.” our processes much; the café is closed to the The news comes following the company’s recent Peter Dillamore-Bailey general public, and we have recently launched video shoot Studio Kitchen at Production Park’s The a takeout option during lockdown.” Having Mill, London with Metallica’s Personal Chef, Simon Rockpool Tour Catering Director 57

INTERVIEW

Mitchell who has toured with the metal titans, on behalf of Rockpool Tour Catering, for a number of years.

“We are set to launch a video series, which will also feature our touring chefs, with a focus on mental health, touring and balancing relationships on the road,” – something which Dillamore-Bailey, as one half of Rockpool Tour Catering, along with his partner Charlotte, have first-hand experience of.

The next show is featuring Dillamore-Bailey cooking a classic dish from the Muse Drones tour he dished up for the band and talking about his experiences with his partner Charlotte.

For Dillamore-Bailey, reinventing the business and diversifying revenue streams has been not only a challenge, but ultimately, a necessity. “Touring is the core of our business. Unfortunately, not a lot of catering companies are going to come out of the other end because they don’t have the expenditure to set up a new revenue stream. Simply put, it’s tough for everybody and we want to encourage discourse with all the catering companies involved in tours, to help and support those that are struggling. Equally, devising a way to share the spoils when live events eventually return,” he underlined. “Although we are competitors, most of us are one big family, at the end of the day.”

While Italian cuisine seems to be the flavour of the month – the menu is complete with homemade pasta and restaurant-quality, stone-baked pizzas – the presentation and sustainability of the packaging is equally

important to Rockpool Tour Catering. “We’ve gone green across the board, which we have extended to our touring – there are no plastic water bottles, plant-based lids, all our packaging is biodegradable cardboard.”

Providing sustenance to those in need has always been on Rockpool Tour Catering’s radar. “We’ve always focussed on creating jobs in an area with very few opportunities for young people. We want to change the mindset for how people perceive the catering industry and show there are alternative pathways if you’re looking to work in the live events sector.”

Dillamore-Bailey dubbed partners, Production Park and Backstage Academy as “amazing” in facilitating the initiative. “To see the smiles on the faces on families who have lost everything or have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic makes it worthwhile. And on the other side of it, there are families who have always been in that position, which is now made twice as hard.”

At a time when politics is so divisive, to have confidence in local community and be able to provide for the community is more important than ever. Dillamore-Bailey concluded: “It’s probably the most rewarding and positive thing we have done in the whole time running this company.”

TPi Photos: Rockpool Tour Catering www.rockpooltourcatering.com www.productionpark.com www.backstage-academy.co.uk 58

INTERVIEW

FIX8GROUP: INNOVATING IN LOCKDOWN Following the launch of a brand-new virtual presentation solution, OctoCue, the Manchester-based creative and technical event solutions specialist discusses manufacturing new products, building a virtual studio, and the future of live events post-pandemic…

The quality of the delivery and the clear communication of the messaging behind an event has always been the driving force in the planning and execution of FIX8Group’s services. In the wake of a global pandemic, there has been a shift in the delivery of those messages, from a live environment to one via an electronic means. The company saw that presenters wanted to be able to focus on delivering their messages but with access to tools to deliver the high production values that they are used to in a live event– that was the driving force behind the development of OctoCue. No more ‘next slide please!’ like we have all heard over the past three months.

For over six years, FIX8Group has been developing an in-house content and 3D studio department to drive the improved design and visualisation of live events. “Creating complete realistic virtual environments has been a big part of our event planning and production service for both live and virtual event content delivery for some time now,” FIX8Group Technical Director, Paul Williams began, speaking to TPi on now-ubiquitous conferencing software tool, Zoom.

“We have also had extensive previous experience in extending our live event delivery to a wider audience, with additional livestreaming over the preceding years. This has meant that our existing event workflow has 59

FIX8GROUP

FIX8Group Senior Project Manager, Ben Hyman; FIX8Group Technical Director, Paul Williams.

managed to seamlessly switch from being predominately live in-person delivery, to now almost entirely remotely delivered events.”

FIX8Group delivers remote events just as it would a live event, where the technical team manages the delivery of the presentations, supporting video and presenter feedback (slide notes, timers, etc.) leaving the presenter to focus on delivering their presentation as smoothly as possible.

“We saw no reason why this should change for virtual events,” Williams stated. “Equally, where a small radio cueing device (slide clicker) connects the presenter to the technical team to keep the show in sync at a live event, we saw that at the time no such tool for remote presenters existed.”

Simply put, FIX8Group’s goal was to bring the same professional and smooth presentation delivery style that we are well accustomed to by facilitating for live events as well as the virtual meetings market. “Six months ago, there were two extremes of virtual live events: the standard Zoom call – informal and not technologically advanced; and the broadcast event – treated like a television broadcast with lots of rehearsal time and a much bigger budget,” he explained. “There was nothing that sat in the middle.” Williams’ realisation that there was a gulf and people’s desire and their budget was what drove the innovation of OctoCue, in line with the company’s ethos. “We want our clients to understand that there is a middle ground between an Oscars-style spectacular and a Zoom meeting.”

FIX8Group Senior Project Manager, Ben Hyman joined the conversation: “There is now a set of tools being made more widely available to help clients who previously wouldn’t have livestreamed events make impactful and engaging experiences for their audiences,” he said, adding that he believes that the average viewer relishes the ability to share content with people in real time.

“Technologies have been developed very quickly over the past few weeks and months and brought to the masses. End users can improve

what was a very conventional webinar, webcast or livestream – where the sophistication comes, is when the audience grows and begins contributing across the world – and production needs to be brought in as a proper remote production.”

Williams believes that the constantly improving toolset is allowing people to improve their DIY, domestic livestreams, however, the Manchester-based creative and technical event solutions specialist’s value starts to come into play by “transforming these digital events from disjointed web meetings into a smooth flowing quality event for the audiences,” he continued. “We’re extremely lucky that our investment and focus has always been in the technological glue that holds events together, so we have the advantage of being able to turn our control equipment and expertise of virtual events into a much more sophisticated end result, without having a juggernaut of warehouse kit to find work for.”

In an ever-changing, dynamic market, the speed of change in the sector brought on by COVID-19 and the resulting restrictions on movement and gatherings has meant that, after the initial concept was decided upon, R&D for OctoCue had to be accelerated to a much faster pace than usual. “The need for high-quality tools to assist virtual events became extremely great in a very short space of time.”

Williams reflected on the extremely busy period helping customers and clients get to grips with the disruption to their planned events schedules.

“It has been a very steep learning curve for many of our agency and direct customers, as their entire messaging strategy was based upon delivery at face-to-face events, so they have seen considerable upheaval in their ways of working,” he reported.

“It has not been without its significant challenges as, along with most events companies in our industry, we saw the same complete revenue collapse from the cancellation of all the live events we had been working on 60

FIX8GROUP

FIX8Group’s OctoCue software software tool for seamless management of video conferencing presentations.

for the rest of 2020, with question marks over some of the early 2021 events times is listening out for what clients want to achieve and what their as well.” challenges are in their ‘new normal’, and working out how we can adapt Whilst face-to-face meetings will undoubtably return to the events what we know and understand to meet those objectives in a robust and market over time, Williams predicted that there cost-effective way,” Williams commented. will be a fundamental shift to the inclusion of “The world we work in using technology people by remote link – both to contribute to and to further communication has always been consume – to even the most traditional of event fast-paced – what’s available, how technology is formats, as the reliable and lower cost of systems consumed. The pace has only ever accelerated to facilitate this become more mainstream. in the past 25 to 30 years, so anybody who sits “We’ll continue to work to develop professional and plugs away at the same old thing without and reliable tools to help the people putting on innovating is always going to be on the back foot,” these events deliver the best show and messaging Williams quipped, “and that was before 2020!”

“There is now a set of tools they can,” he said. “In the short term, we’re In 2020, Williams explained, adaptability and looking at enhancements to the feature set of innovation is key to succeeding both commercially being made more widely the initial OctoCue product and where we can and to meeting the customer’s needs. “Above available to help clients who provide hardware solutions and native software all, it’s challenging and mainly fun… When I left solutions to improve the presenter and technician university, I told myself that I didn’t want to work in previously wouldn’t have experience, with more exciting releases to the a job where I was doing the same thing every day livestreamed events make offering in the coming weeks and months.” and I think, after 25 years in this industry, [the past During the Zoom chat, the duo also exclusively seven years as part of FIX8Group] I have succeeded impactful and engaging revealed the development of a virtual studio, in that aspiration. It’s not necessarily always been experiences for their with a master control room and a gallery for the plain sailing, but I have succeeded in that at least – studio to create a robust, easy-to-use and socially and long may that continue.” audiences.” distanced solution for those looking to add more TPi Paul Williams production value to their live events, with a more Photos: FIX8Group FIX8Group’s Technical Director holistic approach. “Succeeding in these troubling www.fix8group.com 61

MARKET FOCUS

PROJECTORS This month we look at some of the latest offerings from the world of projectors from the top manufacturers in the industry.

BARCO Relying on the benefits of the tried-and-trusted platform – the UDX – last year Barco launched a brand-new compact, lightweight and rugged 22K laser projector: the UDM. The launch came with the promise of delivering technical superiority, efficient fleet management, astonishing versatility and more.

Minimising customer costs with the compact UDM, weighing less than 50kg, the projector facilitates easy installation and takes up less space on the shelf or during transport. And while a small and light design can save money and time, it doesn’t compromise on the quality or brightness of the projection – delivering 4K with one of the widest colour spectrums on the market. Just like the UDX, the UDM is specifically built to withstand the endurances of hard life on the road.

In addition, Barco’s UDM is also the undisputed champion in flexibility.

The projector can be rotated 360° without any restrictions. The UDM also boasts a wide lens shift with a unique 90° ultra-short-throw lens, and an extensive list of available accessories. www.barco.com

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PROJECTORS

CHRISTIE Christie’s two software solutions – Christie Mystique Lite and Christie Conductor – make it easier for customers to install and maintain seamlessly blended images and monitor and control their projection systems.

Multi-projector arrays, projection mapping, and complex screen shapes and surfaces require expert image configuration, alignment, warping and blending – processes that can take hours of painstaking work. Christie Mystique is a camera-based alignment and recalibration solution for supported Christie projectors that can quickly install, align, calibrate, and maintain multi-projection systems.

Christie Conductor is a free advanced monitoring and control software solution for up to 256 Christie 3DLP projectors. Conductor enables end users to proactively diagnose technical issues, execute repetitive processes with a single click, perform firmware updates, and keep projectors working optimally, reducing the risk of downtime and saving hours of manual work.

Exclusive to Christie projectors, Christie Mystique Lite is now available along with the Christie Conductor, both at no additional cost. www.christiedigital.com

DIGITAL PROJECTION The Satellite Modular Laser System (MLS) offers a small number of simple building blocks that allow users to address a wide range of applications, from single-projector installs to complex, multichannel live events.

Where RGB laser illumination used to be the preserve of only very high-end applications, the Digital Projection Satellite MLS system makes this technology accessible to the wider AV market, at a cost-effective price point. The projector ‘head’ is compact, quiet, lightweight and consumes very little power. This offers huge benefits at every stage of a system design, from transportation and installation to serviceability and lifespan.

By separating the projection ‘head’ from the light source and linking the two by robust and flexible fibre-optic cables up to 100m long, the installer has many more options, particularly where space and access are restricted.

Compare the installation and rigging of ‘heads’ weighing in at between 10kg and 35kg, with that of more traditional integrated projectors that can weigh as much as 150kg. www.digitalprojection.com

EPSON Promising spectacular levels of performance and reliability, the EBL20000U is a compact and powerful projector, with full-HD resolution and versatile features ideal for demanding installation environments.

The EB-L20000U is an incredibly bright, light and compact display solution, that brings eye-catching images to demanding environments.

From large-scale presenting to breath-taking exhibitions, it is simple to install and will give audiences a truly stunning performance every time.

The projector promises 20,000 hours of maintenance-free use, backed up by a five-year warranty, thanks to the newly designed laser light source and advanced electrostatic filters of the EB-L20000U. The inorganic LCD panels, inorganic phosphor wheel and triple-layer dustproof structure enable maximum reliability during use. The projector offers maximum flexibility in a range of display environments with a wide range of lenses to suit any setting or angle, comprehensive set-up and management tools, advanced imaging techniques and future-proof interfaces. www.epson.co.uk 63

PROJECTORS

PANASONIC The Panasonic PT-RQ50K is the world’s smallest 50,000-lumen laser projector with Native 4K resolution. It delivers new levels of immersive experience at live events and entertainment venues with half the effort and twice the reliability of existing solutions. Designed for the rental and staging market, where fast set-up and reliability are essential, the PT-RQ50K is a single body, three-chip DLP laser projector with groundbreaking image quality, swift set-up features and excellent resilience.

A single PT-RQ50K can match the output of two lower brightness projectors, reducing installation and set-up time. It delivers Native 4K resolution at 50,000 lumens with separate blue and red phosphor laser technology creating powerful colour reproduction. The addition of red laser technology delivers an enhanced colour gamut, delivering an image closer to Rec. 2020 and the SMPTE2120 colour specification.

The single-body PT-RQ50K does not require any additional external chillers or laser racks, reducing the time and cost of transport and installation. Other unique features that further reduce set-up times include Panasonic’s Geometry Manager Pro software and a Remote Preview function. www.business.panasonic.co.uk/visual-system

SONY Sony’s newest SXRD 4K professional projector, the VPL-GTZ380, delivers stunning imagery and an immersive viewing experience. The new model is ideal for large display applications and use in dark and bright environments across a range of live entertainment applications.

This flagship projector adopts a new liquid crystal material panel, which improves light stability and enables durability with 10,000 lumens brightness. It also has a new 0.74in Native 4K SXRD panel, providing detailed and radiant imagery with a typical value high of 16,000:1 contrast ratio.

The projector’s new laser light source enables a wide colour gamut of 100% DCI-P3 without any loss of brightness and is equipped with a highperformance picture processor optimised for projection. It also supports HDR formats including HDR 10 and HLG for natural colour reproduction.

Due to its compact body size and light weight (51kg), the VPL-GTZ380 can integrate seamlessly into a variety of installation environments and achieves 39dB for quiet operation. Through an optional license, it can also support 4K 120Hz and low transport delay, essential for displaying CG images for training simulators and large-screen displays of eSports events. www.pro.sony

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PRODUCTION FUTURES

Joel Luther-Braun University of Wales (BSC) Lighting Design and Technology student and Freelance Lighting Technician, Joel Luther-Braun talks lectures, lockdown and live events.

he has become accustomed to employing while on site. “I’ve found that it’s always best to pack as if you’re expecting something to break or go wrong.

For example, laptop for trouble shooting network issues, or pack a portable soldering iron in case you need to make a last-minute repair.”

He added: “Always have a backup show file. It’s always good to have the latest show file saved on another device in the case that your show corrupts, or someone deletes it. I’ve also found that it’s especially helpful when you need to offer technical support to the production crew when you’re not there. For instance, when you’re six hours into a plane journey – and yes... this did happen.”

The aspiring technician highlighted the importance of staying calm in stressful situations. “Doing a show where people around you don’t speak your language can be terrifying – you can’t understand if they are ready or if something has gone massively wrong, which can be extremely stressful.” He said ensuring that you are clear minded allows you to be in the best position for any eventuality. “It can also help calm other people before an event, as seeing that you are in control of what you are working on can be quite reassuring for others.”

On 23 March 2020, the UK Government declared a national lockdown, with live events greatly affected. “I was extremely lucky in relation to my work over the lockdown period,” Luther-Braun reported. “I’d been interning at JBS and had been working closely with the technical production team there to help code some of their installations. Unfortunately, due to lockdown, all scheduled installations were put on hold and instead we switched to working on coding our other upcoming projects.”

Although lockdown didn’t affect Luther-Braun greatly, since a lot of his work during March involved coding, which he discovered was easily transferable from a studio environment to a home office environment, he found the inability to easily bounce ideas off colleagues incredibly difficult.

“Although I was fortunate during the lockdown period, my heart went out to all of the employees and freelancers within the live events industry who lost their jobs or came into hardships during this time.”

At the start of the year, Luther-Braun was fortunate enough to travel to Xi’an, China, where he was tasked with operating a New Year’s Eve light show for a high-end shopping complex. As well as Shadow Wall – an installation for Quintain, outside of Wembley Arena, London.

Five years from now, Luther-Braun said he’d like to either be part of a studio or a collective of designers who are constantly experimenting with technologies and mediums to create installations for live events and permanent installs. “Being part of a creative team who engineers projects to bring a sense of amazement and magic to the audience would make me extremely happy,” he concluded. “I look forward to what the next five years bring and hopefully I can contribute to some amazing projects.”

TPi Photo: Joel Luther-Braun www.productionfutures.co.uk

With webinars, online tutorials and smaller in-person academic sessions filling the education-shaped void of the COVID-19 pandemic, academic institutions are now in the process of opening their doors, on a university by university basis, to students across UK. One such student looking to return to the University of Wales in September to complete the final year of a (BSC) Lighting Design and Technology is Freelance Lighting Technician, Joel Luther-Braun.

Since completing an internship at Jason Bruges Studio as a Creative Technologist in July – he was responsible for coding installations as well as assisting with lighting design ideas – Luther-Braun has been spending his reluctant, government-mandated downtime developing to improve his workflow and test out new ideas. “These tools include a GDTF system for Unity3D and Project Response software, which will allow me to receive and monitor live feedback from installed projects, which I hope to someday release,” he began. “University has helped me fill in gaps in my knowledge and raise my awareness about new areas of the industry.”

He continued: “The most valuable education is being able to put the skills that you’ve learned from class into practice, either in a practical element or by working.” He added that freelance work and internships have also been critical to his career progression. “Working in a live environment brings challenges that you didn’t expect and learning from others on the job has been invaluable to my knowledge. No matter how much theory you are taught and how prepared you think you are for site, there will always be something that you don’t expect.” He shared some tricks of the trade

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FUTURE INSIGHTS

FUTURE INSIGHTS The latest product releases and announcements.

ADJ Focus Spot 6Z is the new flagship of the Focus Series range, the fixture combines huge output with a comprehensive feature set to deliver a true lighting powerhouse. The Focus Spot 6Z features a potent 300W cool white LED engine that offers a 50,000-hour operational life. This is paired with a precision-engineered, high-quality optical system to deliver extremely punchy output, allowing for sharp aerial effects and crisp GOBO projections. Offering 50% more LED power than the 200W Focus Spot 4Z and 5Z models, the 6Z has an output of 10,500+ lumens, which represents a significant step up for the Focus Series. www.adj.com

ASTERA LED The same size as a standard LED bulb, the Astera LED NYX is the first colourtuneable LED bulb for professional film, stage, and event productions.

It comes complete with a CRMX receiver for wireless DMX, plus RF and Bluetooth modules for control via the Astera App on a smartphone or Tablet. It is lightweight, hugely flexible, and highly controllable. Powered via an E27 socket (E26 in the US version) or with a standard power bank, it is the first Astera light source with external battery options (rather than inbuilt).

Its Titan LED engine delivers precise colours and authentic white tones with an ultra-high CRI and TLCI and it emits an impressive 750 lumens, comparable to a conventional 60W bulb, yet drawing just 10W of power. www.astera-led.com

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FUTURE INSIGHTS

AYRTON Domino is latest unit in Ayrtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s series of IP65-rated fixtures. Delivering a massive 51,000 lumens from its 1,000W LED source, Domino is an extremely versatile fixture that combines the output and exceptional optics of HuracĂĄn-X with the feature set of Khamsin, in an IP65-rated body. Designed to operate in the most extreme situations, Domino can resist hot or cold temperatures, wind, rain, hail, salt fog, sand and dust. It can also withstand arid environments, heavy rainfall, and sudden climatic variations. Available in S and TC versions, Domino weighs in at 52kg, making it ideal for stadium-sized settings and intensive outdoor use. www.ayrton.eu

BLACKMAGIC DESIGN The ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel and the ATEM 4 M/E Advanced Panel are a new family of elegantly designed hardware control panels designed to work with all ATEM switchers. The ATEM Advanced Panels are large enough so the user has dedicated controls for the largest ATEM switchers. Features include up to four M/Es, up to 24 separate LCDs for custom button labels, four separate system control LCDs, four Tbar fader controls and much more. The new panel design allows both desktop use or inset mounting for a perfectly flat control surface. www.blackmagicdesign.com

CHAMSYS The MagicQ MQ500M Stadium console makes it easier and more seamless than ever for fades to be woven into a greater variety of massive lighting designs. Offering 256 universes of control direct from the console without the need for additional processing nodes, the console gives designers and programmers greater flexibility at the highest level of show control.

The MagicQ MQ500M Stadium incorporates a robust array of software features that support motorised playback faders, playback encoders and customisable illumination. www.chamsyslighting.com

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FUTURE INSIGHTS

CHAUVET PROFESSIONAL Measuring 1,000mm by 34.5mm by 68.2mm, the new CHAUVET Professional F6 Strip IP linear video panel is an outdoor-ready product that can fit into tight spaces, add an extra dimension to set pieces, and be arranged in unique patterns, making it well-suited for a wide variety of applications, including drive-in shows and livestream productions. A highresolution 6.9mm pitch strip, the F6 Strip IP is compatible with all CHAUVET Professional F series panels, allowing it to display the same images as other video pieces on the stage. www.chauvetprofessional.com

HK AUDIO HK Audio has unveiled its new PREMIUM PR:O D2 family of loudspeakers.

The new series consists of five DSP-controlled full-range and multifunctional speakers – the PR:O 110 XD2, PR:O 112 FD2, PR:O 112 XD2, PR:O 115 FD2 and PR:O 115 XD2 – as well as the PR:O 210 Sub D2 and PR:O 118 Sub D2 subwoofers. The PR:O D2 series uses premium components and DSP electronics with advanced FIR filtering for intuitive and practical operation, and their low-resonance wooden cabinets for powerful bass reproduction offer a maximum sound pressure of up to 132dB. www.hkaudio.com

GREEN HIPPO Featuring all the creative power of its well-known bigger brothers, the Green Hippo Hippotizer Nevis+ is designed to provide a smaller, inexpensive solution for video creation, visualisation and playback, with all of Hippotizer’s software features as standard. The Nevis+ is a half-rack or wallmount unit offering one display port 1.2 output with software-based EDID management, two network ports and the latest versions of Hippotizer’s user-friendly tools including SHAPE 3D Mapping, PixelMapper and the multipurpose pre-visualisation tool, all built into its Hippotizer V4 software. www.green-hippo.com

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FUTURE INSIGHTS

L-ACOUSTICS In tandem with the recent release of LA Network Manager 3, L-Acoustics has introduced the M1 suite – a comprehensive set of measurement and monitoring tools. From data acquisition through system tuning to live monitoring, M1 harnesses the power of the manufacturer’s Milan-certified P1 processor and amplified controller hardware to deliver a streamlined system calibration process as well as real-time performance monitoring.

The M1 suite is an industry first, pairing system measurement and control software to work natively as one seamless solution. www.l-acoustics.com

MA LIGHTING MA Lighting has launched a new member of its grandMA3 onPC solutions range: the grandMA3 onPC command wing XT. It is the grandMA3 onPC console solution. With the grandMA3 onPC software pre-installed on a built-in MA motherboard, the grandMA3 onPC command wing XT offers 4,096 parameters. grandMA3 onPC command wing XT is an extremely versatile solution for smaller and mid-sized installations and shows, streaming studios as well as a powerful pre-programming and backup tool on the road. With 10 motorised faders, 40 physical playbacks, 16 assignable x-keys and a dedicated master playback section, the grandMA3 onPC command wing XT provides plenty of playback options. www.malighting.com

MARSHALL ELECTRONICS Marshall Electronics has released its CV420-18X and CV355-10X zoom block cameras – one with an impressive 12.4 million pixels designed into a 1/1.7” 4K sensor and one with 2.5 million pixels with 1/2.8” covering the HD range in a very compact design. The CV420-18X features a compact 18X optical (3X digital) zoom block and flexible 12GSDI/HDMI simultaneous outputs with crystal clear 4K images up to 4,096x2,160p at 60fps, while the CV355-10X features 10X optical (12X digital) zoom block and flexible 3GSDI/HDMI simultaneous outputs with clear HD images up to 1,920x1,080 at 60fps. The CV355-10X replaces the existing CV350-10X camera and improves on every measure of performance. www.marshall-usa.com

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FUTURE INSIGHTS

MARTIN PROFESSIONAL Martin Professional has expanded the ELP Series of LED ellipsoidal fixtures with IP65-rated variants of the both the Martin ELP WW IP (Warm White) and ELP CL IP (Colour). Featuring optic assemblies designed in Denmark by the team behind MAC Encore, ELP IP are designed to maximise efficiency and deliver a flat field of illumination for smoother blending and mixing between fixtures. The ELP WW IP delivers 7,000 lumens of output and 97 CRI at 3000K-colour temperature. The ELP CL IP fixture offers 6,900 lumens and a CRI of 85 in High Output mode, and 5,900 lumens and 90 CRI in High Quality mode, with a colour temperature of 6,000K (open white). Both models offer flicker-free operation for consistent light output – on and off camera. www.pro.harman.com

NEXO Despite constraining regulations on its production processes, NEXO has unveiled a ground-breaking new point source speaker, taking its own reputation for impressive power:size ratios to a new level. The smallest loudspeaker design in the company’s 40-year history, the new ID14, and its S108 partner subbass, are the latest additions to the acclaimed ID Series of high-power compact cabinets. Like the larger ID24, the ID14 is lightweight, versatile and truly weather-resistant. The 5-inch Polyurethane enclosure contains a high-powered point source, capable of 116dB (peak) with a frequency response of 120Hz – 20kHz. Measuring 130mm x 130mm x 120mm, and weighing in at 1.7kg, the dual concentric design features a coaxial 4-inch LF driver with 1.3inch voice coil, and a 1.4inch diaphragm for the HF. ID14 is offered with two directivity options: a 100° x100° horn as standard, with an a symmetric alternative offering 90° x140° dispersion. www.nexo.sa

OPTOCORE Optocore has further extended its M-series of interfaces, with the MADISRC. This exists in the shape of two new hardware boards with either four fibre or four BNC MADI SRC (Sample Rate Converter) ports. This means that any combination of devices from the M-series (comprising M8-OPT, M8BNC, M12-OPT, M12-BNC, M12-OPT/BNC) can now be equipped with these Sample Rate Converters for MADI streams. With this new feature, standalone or networked MADI routers can be used, with streams in different sample rates. In addition, the new M-series SRC will be available in DiGiCo mode and can be connected to the DiGiCo optical loop providing MADI SRC streams. www.optocore.com

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SHURE Shure has introduced the newest addition to its digital wireless portfolio, the SLX-D Digital Wireless System. The new offering is the digital replacement of the Company’s popular SLX system, complete with new mechanical designs, exceptional audio quality, more reliable RF performance, streamlined setup, and more. The multi-faceted SLX-D Digital Wireless System provides end users with greater channel count than SLX, smart rechargeable options, and simplified ease-of-use for moments that matter most. The new system is offered in single and dual channel options, while transmitters run on standard AA batteries or an optional lithium-ion rechargeable battery solution with a dual-docking charging station. www.shure.eu

SONY Sony Professional has launched the HDC-P31 – a point of view (POV) system camera with remote functionality and 1080/50p HDR capability that complements the company’s versatile lineup of box and portable system camera options. This new model incorporates the latest generation of 2/3in Global Shutter CMOS sensor system for enhanced optical performance, providing high sensitivity and low noise. In addition, the camera is designed to be used as an integral part of Sony’s HDC series ecosystem. The camera creates a comprehensive system while working alongside Sony’s XVS series switchers and Sony’s powerful ELC Live Production Control Automation system. www.pro.sony.com

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GEAR HEADS

WAVES FIT CONTROLLER

Waves Senior Product Manager, Yaniv Litmanovitch discusses the FIT Controller, a surface co-engineered by Waves Audio and MIDIPLUS to offer live sound engineers hands-on control of the Waves eMotion LV1 live software mixer.

What was the original goal of the FIT Controller?

As a policy, Waves is always open to suggestions and feedback from our community of users. Within our large community of LV1 users, we were frequently requested to provide a tactile controller that will integrate into the eMotion LV1’s workflow. These users specifically wanted a hardware anchor to the LV1’s touchscreen-based interface and, in addition, users requested that it be as compact and robust as possible.

dedicated ‘Touch-n-Turn’ rotary encoder, which will control any parameter that’s selected on the screen. Also, the LV1’s User-Assignable Keys and Mute groups are always accessible with the ‘User’ toggle option, and FIT has its own dedicated Three User-Assignable Keys that can be set to a specific function out of a long list of options.

How long did it take to bring the FIT Controller to the market?

It took us a little over a year. We were forced to adapt to the COVID-19 limitations, which created quite an inevitable setback.

What parameters are you able to control with the surface?

Naturally, you can control all the faders for all of the LV1’s channels and mix busses, and their corresponding Mute/Solo/Cue/Pan/Gain/Select parameters as well; you can easily toggle between factory layers 1-8 and custom layers 1-8 and spill the DCA groups; you have control over Send levels with ‘fader-flip’ options, tap a tempo and save a new scene; there is a

Could you walk me through Waves’ collaboration with MIDIPLUS in developing the product? What was the discussion process?

At the start, we took a few months to plan the device, focusing initially on design iterations for layout sizes and functionality. At that stage, working 72

WAVES FIT CONTROLLER

Waves Senior Product Manager, Yaniv Litmanovitch.

Can we expect to see similar, hands-on products from Waves in the coming years? Was there an increasing demand to move away from touchscreen options?

I believe that what we will be seeing is more of a combination and variety of products aimed at different or complementing workflows. While for some users, getting used to touchscreens is a breeze, to others, hardware faders are extremely important and a vital component to their workflow. At Waves, our aim is to always ensure that every type of user finds a workflow that fits them best when working with the eMotion LV1 mixer.

with the MIDIPLUS development team, the original prototype was created, luckily before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Our team – including software developers and QA engineers – together with MIDIPLUS’ hardware and firmware engineers, got together in order to discuss and begin implementing details concerning protocol and mapping.

This type of joint integration session is a crucial step for these kinds of collaborations. It expedites the planning and production progress and getting to know the people behind the tasks tends to make everything work much better later on. From that point on, it involved a great deal of Development – QA cycles, which continued until we got it right.

How have you been introducing customers to new products in the wake of COVID-19?

COVID-19 has certainly created some major new challenges for everyone in the industry. Since FIT was presented at NAMM 2020, it has created quite a buzz and it is receiving quite a lot of attention from the media and within the industry.

As for additional new products released during this perplexing period, we have seen that customers are still keen to acquire products that can clearly benefit their workflow and creativity, and that assist them in solving significant issues. Despite the current lull in touring and live productions, due to the situation, there is an acute increase in streaming and broadcast, both of which benefit from using Waves tools.

In addition, although ‘live’ hands-on presentations are not currently possible due to the pandemic, we have put in an extra effort in doing online demos and educational events, which have proven to be in demand and valuable for all sides concerned.

TPi Photos: Waves www.waves.com

How has the feedback so far from live audio engineers helped shape the FIT Controller?

From the get-go, we had a lot of feedback from our users as to how they use other controllers with the LV1. What’s good and what to stay away from and, of course, what functions they desired to have in this unit. The FIT’s design is aimed to cater to as much of that user feedback as possible.

As an example: following user feedback that we received at NAMM when showcasing the prototypes, we actually did a last-minute change for some of the controls, changing their layout and function with user satisfaction in mind as a top priority.

How could this product change the workflow of a live audio engineer using plug-ins?

The use of a tactile fader bank can help engineers use the main touchscreen to edit plugins, while keeping a ‘blind-hand’ on the faders.

This workflow is something many people wished for. On the flip side, the dedicated ‘Touch-n-Turn’ rotary encoder will control any plugin parameter you touch, making tweaking plugins much easier and more fun.

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PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

THE PSA TOURING PRODUCTION GROUP Andy Lenthall discusses the formation of the PSA TPG.

They say that, if you want something doing, you should ask a busy person. That kind of works in normal times but in these strange times of lockdown and virtually no gigs (apart from the virtual ones), those normally busy people are not busy. You do find groups of them though, usually on a screen, discussing ‘the situation’.

To that end, what can only be described as a bunch of Premier League managers from the touring production profession had gravitated toward discussion in the new normal Zoomosphere to do… something? What if, said we, you all got together and collated your thoughts on just how a production might work in a COVID-19 secure kind of way. With apologies to those of a linguistically pure disposition, the reworking of the opening phrase should perhaps read; if you want shit doing, ask people whose job it is to get shit done.

This is supposed to be a story of how it all unfolded, but we’re not entirely sure. We spoke in earlier email missives about repurposing skills; you’ve probably seen the memes – ‘if crew ran the world/airport/space programme’ – but the end result was swift and decisive and it’s on the PSA website. Let’s just say it happened and it’s a list of procedures that you

might want to adopt if you’re going to work to guidance that may come from government before we’re allowed to proceed with ‘normal’ shows.

Of course, the most challenging part of the process was choosing a name for the group. Great suggestions were made, all variants of the People’s Front of Judea having been dismissed, the PSA Tour Production Group was born; the album had been written, the band had a name, only two or three remixes, a sleeve design and ready for release.

Featuring hits such as I’m Forever Touring Bubbles and 2,4,6,8 more trucks to enable 2m distancing whilst unloading, the guide is designed to enable working practices informed by risk assessments. It’s certainly not a ‘how to’ guide for every element of a show; this is designed to be tour safe and show ready. Early on in the process, it became clear that our part of the workplace, from warehouse to load out, could perhaps be managed utilising existing workplace guidance, including that aimed at the construction sector, hence the more job-specific nature of the guide, interpreting what exists into our language and our practices.

Perhaps it’s best encapsulated by the wise words of Wob Roberts who, in normal times, will be Sam Smith’s PM. “COVID-19 is an unwelcome 74

PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

addition to the rider, yet there’s no better group of people to find the solution than those that deliver shows for a living. More than a document, this is intended to be a responsive set of protocols that efficiently move with a changing environment.”

Of course, this is all a bit theoretical. At the time of writing, the five-step road map to cultural recovery has hopped back from stage four to three, and realistically, this guidance wouldn’t be used in any real-world context unless we’re in a position to hold shows with no social distancing. Recent ‘socially distanced’ test events, now stalled because of the retrograde step, were hailed a success by government by virtue of the fact that they happened; results so far seem to be that it made no money, nobody got infected and it was a bit rubbish. Roll on stage five.

Will we need COVID-19 secure production though? When we get to stage five? Surely, it’ll all be over and this exercise will be a waste of time. Well, maybe, and we’re sure that it would be deemed the most satisfying waste of time ever. But maybe not, because there may be a point at which a range of alternative measures is deemed to reduce transmission risk as far as is reasonably practicable in the audience context. Family groups, plus type of act, plus track and trace, plus extra hygiene, plus masks – pure conjecture on our part, but practice, application and science are still a movable feast.

Only today did we see a document arrive from the gov.uk update service looking at air flow in entertainment settings as well as a cheeky little number on UV and other disinfection measures. Maybe these will inform new proposals for test events, the delay may prove useful, and guidance may be forthcoming.

Back in the Zoom, what next for the PSA TPG? It would be a shame to waste that energy, expertise, experience and time. No matter which industry group you’re in (there’s a good few), conversation always switches to how we come out of this better, looking after each other and the planet, being recognised for the work we put in and the skills we’ve acquired and being more welcoming to all. Naturally, being a group that relies on people, wellbeing and diversity have been the first sub-groups formed. They’re not subjects that the PSA is unfamiliar with, and we’ve worked hard in groups to make improvements; to risk repeating ourselves, this is about capturing

currently available energy to create action and momentum, getting up to speed with current initiatives and delivering energy to ensure that production people are informed and acting accordingly.

Wellbeing has already been championed amongst the group; it’s the immediate priority, more people are being helped now and the need for help will grow before it diminishes. Music Support are more active than ever; without a doubt, they will inform and lead the immediate actions of the group. Our Welfare Fund, Stagehand, has stepped up activity in delivering Mental Health First Aid training; we’ll need every reader’s help with an upcoming fundraising mission. Immediate action required.

Diversity is another problem that needs addressing; our workforce survey makes depressing reading when it comes to… everything to do with diversity. It’s simply not enough to assume that anyone is welcome as long as they can do the job, that everyone fits in no matter what because, in reality, people are obviously thinking that this business is not for them and we’re missing out on talent. In cold, calculating business terms, talent makes money. Realistically, they’re just friends we haven’t made yet and lives we haven’t enriched. Aims, objectives and agendas are under discussion; we’ll be introducing people to people to add weight to existing projects. This will be no rant and rave group, no thought and talk echo chamber. We get the feeling that this will be an actions group and we’ll be there to support and enable. Short-term plans, medium-term actions, longterm improvements.

We end with the same subject we ended with last month: sustainability.

When we’re allowed to arrange gatherings for entertainment, there’ll need to be a world to tour and the plundering of resources will need to slow, even stop in some areas. A sustainable supply of people, a sustainable way of treating people, a sustainable supply of resources and the development of a circular economy where the old feeds the new are but a couple of elements that need to come into play if we are to give to our customers without taking too much from their world.

Production people – they get things done.

TPi www.psa.org.uk 75

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

AV Stumpfl’s Conor McGill; Brompton Technology expands its operation in China; 64 Audio’s Jazmin Moreno.

64 Audio has appointed Jazmin Moreno as Chief Marketing Officer. Moreno will lead 64 Audio’s worldwide marketing, sales, and communications initiatives in support of the company’s vision and product roadmap, reporting directly to founder and CEO, Vitaliy Belonozhko.

“During unprecedented times of a historic slowdown in live sound reinforcement, we are doubling down on our growth plans, which includes adding Jazmin as an integral team member during a very trying time for our global economy,” said Belonozhko. “As we continue to push forward in this new age of commerce, Jazmin’s impressive leadership skills and experience will be instrumental in supporting our current and future customers.”

Moreno is a music industry veteran and brings more than a decade’s experience to her new role. She is passionate about leveraging technology and relationships as a catalyst for change and driving exponential results, and she enjoys working with and developing dynamic people, teams, and organisations. Before joining 64 Audio, Moreno served as the Head of Digital Marketing and E-Commerce for Ultimate Ears Pro, a division of Logitech.

“I’m thrilled to be joining such an experienced leadership team and even more excited about the impact that 64 Audio brings to the market,” commented Moreno. “Through innovation and the use of unrivaled

technology, they’ve disrupted the CIEM and universal-fit industries. What drew me to 64 Audio was the company’s core values and customer centric approach. I’m looking forward to working closely with Vitaliy to take 64 Audio to the next level.”

AV Stumpfl has welcomed AV integration specialist, Conor McGill to its team of business development experts in the USA. “Although it is a cliché on one hand, it is true that a crisis offers opportunities,” CEO, Fabian Stumpfl, commented on the importance of hiring new staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since the early lockdown phase of the pandemic, our PIXERA team managed to train more than 300 AV professionals by way of our immersive online training courses. Many of the participants came from the US, which is another reason why we are very happy to welcome Conor to our team. His wide- ranging experience as an AV industry professional and his great enthusiasm for our PIXERA product family will help our next generation media server system become a household name in the US.” McGill added: “I first used an AV Stumpfl product for a projectionmapping project at a NFL football stadium in the USA four years ago. That project was a smashing success and every interaction I’ve had with the company since has been stellar. I feel very fortunate to have found my way 76

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CHAUVET Professional’s Eusebio ‘Sebi’ Romero Garcia; Green Hippo names DataVisual as its exclusive distributor for Canada.

Wash light – with an Edge

Get your Pix fix highend.com/solapix to the company and am looking forward to working with old and new customers alike on cutting-edge media projects with PIXERA.” Brompton Technology has expanded its operation in China, moving to larger offices and hiring three new members of staff to further support its customers in the territory. The new office is adjacent to Brompton’s previous facility in High Tech Industrial Park, Nanshan, in the modern metropolis of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

This facility is double the size, allowing space to calibrate and test prototype panels on site. New Calibration Support Engineers, Alex Guo and John Lee, both have an extensive understanding of the LED screen industry and are ideally placed to assist Brompton customers in China with Dynamic Calibration. Helping to run the office is new Office Assistant, Noora Xu, who has valuable experience in international trade and purchasing and takes over the role from Summer Zhang.

“The decision to increase both our office space and staff was made pre lockdown,” said Elijah Ebo, Brompton’s General Manager (Asia). “The incredible interest in Brompton HDR and panel recalibration, following its launch at the end of last year, had meant we were getting busier and busier, so we needed additional calibration specialists. They are very hard to find. We had to search for the right people and were very lucky to find them.”

CHAUVET Professional has appointed Eusebio ‘Sebi’ Romero Garcia as Product Specialist for Spain. “There are exciting opportunities for us in Spain,” said Michael Brooksbank, General Manager of CHAUVET Europe.

“Sebi’s experience and talent make him a valuable addition to our team as we continue to work with ACSON to build on our success and develop our brand in this vibrant market.”

Garcia will be based in Madrid but will coordinate his activities closely with ACSON in Barcelona. He will report directly to Sam Bowden,

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Harlequin Floors’ Sander Resnik; Powerful Thinking’s Tim Benson; L-Acoustics’ BJ Shaver, William Cornell and Alan Macpherson.

CHAUVET’s European Product Manager, but will also work closely with the Stéphane Gressier, International Sales Director, and Jon Petts, Business Development Manager at CHAUVET Lighting. “Working together with the teams at CHAUVET and ACSON, Sebi will bring a high level of educational resources and training in support of our products in Spain,” said Bowden.

“His extensive experience cuts across many segments of our market, including theatre and broadcast as well as concerts. He also has a passion for service, which will make him an excellent fit for the CHAUVET Professional team.”

Green Hippo has named DataVisual as its exclusive distributor for Canada. Having enjoyed a long relationship with Green Hippo’s sister brands, Magenta Research and tvONE, DataVisual found the Hippotizer range a perfect addition to its technology offering. “The fit between our two organisations has always been very good, as we both place a high value on the service and support required of more technically sophisticated products,” said DataVisual CEO, Lisa Kislich-Lemyre. “The addition of Green Hippo to that family was welcome news. We’ve had a lot of success with tvONE’s video wall processors, but media servers were the one piece of the content delivery puzzle that we were missing.”

Welcoming the new partnership, Green Hippo’s Sales and Marketing Director, David March, commented: “DataVisual really is a perfect fit for Green Hippo, not only for its impressively wide professional AV client list,

but also for its focus on personal, friendly service and understanding the needs of its customers.”

Halo Solutions has joined the Safe Event Scheme as an official partner.

“It is a privilege to join right at the beginning and play our part in supporting the scheme from the very outset,” commented Lloyd Major, Halo Solutions CEO and Co-founder. “This is an incredible concept that I can see going from strength to strength and one which will, without doubt, become the standard that events are proud to associate with. There is nothing else like this for our industry and it’s one of those superb initiatives that can only benefit everyone and do some real good.”

Safe Event Scheme Project Lead, Carl Thompson, added: “We are delighted to welcome Halo Solutions as a partner. They offer a globalleading solution aimed at improving crowd safety at events. Through creating greater efficiencies and effectiveness in operational management, the events sector can mitigate its historic reliance on civil resources. This empowers a more responsible and sustainable industry.”

Harlequin Floors has launched its new manufacturing plant and distribution centre in Liège. The company has also grown its team in the DACH market by appointing Sander Resnik as a new Commercial Director in Berlin. “Harlequin has experienced incredible global growth over the past year, providing internationally renowned brands, venues and performing arts schools with quality performance floors and stages,” said Guy Dagger, 78

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Riedel Communications’ Simon Roehrs; Audio-Technica Benelux’s Gineke van Urk.

CEO of the Harlequin Group. “We have seized the opportunity this growth brings to offer all our clients across the world the outstanding customer service that is synonymous with the Harlequin brand.”

Sander Resnik, new Commercial Director of Harlequin Germany, added: “I’m glad to be with Harlequin Floors and to be able to support the DACH region with my expertise. Working closely with Mr. Rüter and the team in Berlin, I aim to show our German-speaking customers how important it is to train and perform on a real dance floor as opposed to a generic sports floor.

We are sure that our customers will also welcome further improvements to our excellent service as well as new products we are currently developing.”

L-Acoustics has appointed Alan Macpherson as CEO Americas, as well as BJ Shaver and William Cornell to Business Development Director positions in the newly formed Americas division. Laurent Vaissié, L-Acoustics CEO commented: “L-Acoustics is committed to supporting and growing our presence on the American continent. As we navigate through one of the most challenging times for our industry, we feel incredibly fortunate to be able to bring onboard two outstanding and respected industry veterans, Alan and William, and confirm the well-deserved promotion of BJ. I’ve already witnessed Alan’s unflappable attitude, commitment, and long-term strategic outlook, which, combined with the ability to federate and inspire our teams, are the marks of a great leader.”

Macpherson added: “I’m delighted to join L-Acoustics. The brand has earned its reputation not just by developing quality products, but by focusing on the systemic quality of its global network of partners and consistent innovation in creating tools that improve the workflow of sound professionals and relentlessly raise the audio bar. L-Acoustics looks to the long game, developing processes and products for enduring success, and always with the improvement of live performance at the heart of what they do. That’s a perfect match for me and my vision.”

NEXO has appointed Audio-Technica Benelux – formerly known as lemke Roos – as its exclusive distributor for Belgium, the Netherlands and

Luxembourg. The appointment unifies NEXO’s representation in the three countries under one umbrella for the first time in 30 years, and draws upon the extensive expertise of Gineke van Urk’s team at Iemke Roos which has handled NEXO’s business in the Netherlands since the mid-1990s. “We are putting ourselves in a very safe pair of hands,” NEXO’s European Sales Manager, Celso Papadopulos, commented. “For decades, Iemke Roos was one of our leading independent distributors, and now they have new breadth and depth as part of the Audio-Technica Group. Having one central distribution operation for all three countries will bring many practical advantages for our customers in Benelux.”

Gineke van Urk added: “My team is looking forward to establishing an even larger presence for NEXO, which has always been a prominent brand in Belgium, both in live sound as well as the fixed installation sector.”

Powerful Thinking has restructured to provide specialist sustainable energy advice to live events, appointing a new Chair and Project Lead Tim Benson, heading up a new-look board. “I am delighted to be working with this diverse team of industry experts,” Benson stated. “We are going to focus on driving significant reductions in carbon emissions at events, producing a comprehensive library of resources to support the differing needs of all levels of organisers and suppliers.”

These resources will include ‘How to’ guides, energy monitoring tool kits and advice on how to get the most from power contractors. The group will also continue to profile power contractors with a proven track record in delivering emissions reductions, share features on fresh and innovative clean tech solutions and maintain a case study resource bank for inspiration. The new board brings together vastly experienced industry professionals, representing different sectors of the outdoor events market, together with representatives of key industry bodies, generator and tower light specialists, battery suppliers and monitoring experts.

Riedel Communications has appointed Simon Roehrs as Director of the company’s Asia-Pacific operations. “In the past couple of years, Riedel 79

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Synthax’s Mary Eisaman; WL’s Dave Isherwood and SFL’s Tom Jeffery.

has significantly increased its impact and investment in the APAC region.

We have successfully built a regional framework to support our growing customer base served by our subsidiaries in Japan, China, Singapore, and Australia, and by our network partners. Simon is the perfect person to take the helm,” said Martin Berger, Chief Sales Officer at Riedel. “Not only does he bring deep technical industry expertise and regional knowledge to this important role, but he is a believer in industry standards and a highly influential speaker at major Asian conferences such as SMPTE Hong Kong, BIRTV, InterBEE, and Broadcast Asia. We look forward to working with Simon as we continue to expand Riedel’s influence in Asia-Pacific.”

Roehrs added: “I am happy to be able to continue building on the great foundation Riedel has established within the APAC region, especially developing its talent, products, and vision. I am very excited to contribute to Riedel becoming an even more influential leader in IP and strengthening the brand in the APAC region. In addition, I will provide my team with a dynamic work environment in which they feel comfortable and happy so they can perform at the highest level. Freedom and responsibility are important aspects of my leadership, and I firmly believe it will help them to grow and push boundaries.”

RSH Audio has moved to new premises in South East London. A small number of staff returned to work to make productive use of the recent downtime to complete the move and get the new space organised and operational as quickly as possible.

“Many people know that we grew the business out of a shared building previously, and although it served us well, we were really starting to struggle with space – and running into some operational challenges when we were busy. The new warehouse is now much more fit for purpose; with space to grow into and to allow for clean, efficient equipment prep,” Director Joe Haycocks commented. “Although slightly marred by the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the positive is that we will be in a fantastic position to support

our clients as things begin to return to normal; as responding to last-minute requests is an area we pride ourselves on.”

Synthax has appointed Mary Eisaman to the role of Business Development Manager. Eisaman will be responsible for developing and growing the footprint of the Synthax brand portfolio in the Latin American market. “We are thrilled to welcome Mary to the Synthax family,” said Mathias von Heydekampf, Managing Director of Synthax US. “Mary’s unique background in the Latin American market coupled with her expertise in system integration and studio and live sound, will be integral as we move to grow our customer base in Latin America.”

“My experience in the pro-audio industry in Latin America will be very helpful as Synthax introduces its high-quality audio products to this market,” Eisaman said. “There are many unique challenges to doing business in the region with so many different countries, but the common goal of producing excellent audio makes it a rewarding and exciting experience.”

White Light (WL) and SFL have launched a strategic partnership. Both companies will continue to trade separately and keep their existing bases but will now share resources, in terms of both equipment and personnel, when delivering a full production service.

“At WL, the question we always ask ourselves is how can we provide the very best service possible for our customers? Therefore, when the opportunity arose to form a strategic partnership with SFL, we knew this was something we couldn’t turn down,” WL’s Managing Director, Bryan Raven, commented. SFL’s Managing Director, Tom Jeffery, added: “We are delighted to be able to support WL in delivering full-service production.

We know WL and the brilliant team there well and we know this will be a fantastic opportunity for both companies.”

TPi www.productionfutures.co.uk/job-opportunities 80

TPi PRODUCTION GUIDE

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BACK CHAT

EMMA REYNOLDS-TAYLOR The Head of Production for Glastonbury’s Pyramid & Other Stage, Co-Director of Library Productions Limited and 2020 TPi Award Winner, talks about life in lockdown and the importance of selfcare during this trying time.

My whole experience during this time has been pretty full-on. I suffered a personal tragedy just days before Glastonbury had to cancel. As with all of these things, before long you have to return back to work, so I had to set about tying up any lose ends I had with Glastonbury, as well as another project I work on annually – Black Deer Festival – which was also forced to cancel a couple of weeks after the news of Glastonbury broke.

My first priory with both cancelled shows, was to reassure both of my teams that any pre-production days done before the cancellation would be paid for. That was priority number one; to let the team know I have their backs and that I was going to get them paid. Then in the case of Black Deer, came the task of speaking to those who had been promised work, as well as talking to suppliers to negotiate if we could roll over deposits to the following year. The responsibility of having that many people being promised work that then gets taken away, was – and still is – a tough reality to deal with. The fact that you have so many crew who set up their whole summer around a big project like Glastonbury and to let them down was very hard to deal with.

Having said that, it has been a comfort that we are part of a community that understands what each other are going through. I can still get rather annoyed with neighbours or acquaintances saying ‘we are all in this together’. Well no, actually! While you’re getting paid 100% of your wages to stay at home, either working or on furlough, my entire industry’s work has disappeared overnight and will likely be one of the last industries to come back and see any sense of recovery. It’s a completely different scenario. But it was good that within this industry, we had each other to confide in and felt like we were all in the same boat. Throughout lockdown, I’ve continued to stay in touch with my team, trying to reassure them and letting them know I’m here to help in any way I can.

I’ve always subscribed to the theory that everyone operates better when they feel like they are part of something. Throughout this strange time, I’ve tried to keep that in mind while I speak to colleagues and my team and reinforce the idea that we are stronger together as an industry.

Over this time, one of the biggest things I have tried to do is to switch my mindset into seeing the positives of all of this, like having the time to keep in touch and spending time with my family and loved ones. A big focus for me over this time has been to exercise every single day. I’m not used to having so much time on my hands, so having exercise to schedule the day around

has really helped me. I think anything free you can do over a time you are not working – like cycling, walking, running and any online exercise classes – can be a real game-changer for your mental state. That’s definitely been the case for me.

Appreciating having the time to finally get through that big list of business and life admin has been my next big focus. Tying up all the things I never get time to do when I’m so busy planning a show or running from one project to the next. I’m sure it’s the same for many others from our world – I’ve had this long list of business and personal admin that I simply never have time to get through. I got married just over a year ago, but it’s taken this big pause in live music events for me to finally have the time, when I’m not travelling for work regularly, to be able to apply for a new passport in my new married name! I also got my company website set up and pretty much finished, finally! I’m also in the process of getting on top of my company accounting system – all things that have been at the back of my mind for ages and I hope will prove invaluable in the running of my business when we finally get back to full capacity with work, whenever that may be.

As well as keeping busy with all the exercise and getting myself and my business as organised as I can, this whole time has really taught me to appreciate some of the smaller things. I’m usually going a million miles an hour and, working in live events, the running around becomes such a big part of you. Something I’ve been speaking to some of my team about lately is that mindset of trying to appreciate the fact that you have a summer off and take stock of what’s really important to you. Moving forward, I’m going to hang on to a lot of those things I’ve learned over this time to help keep me grounded during the busiest times.

I’ve also been incredibly lucky in the past few months as there appears to be a small light at the end of the tunnel. We are just starting to talk about the planning for Glastonbury 2021, and earlier this year, my company was given the contract for the Production of the Hyundai Mercury Prize.

Although due to the constant change in government guidelines, there has a been a great deal of back and forth on what form the Mercury Prize show can actually take – I’m thankful to at least be part of some of those conversions.

TPi Photo: Joe Okpako www.libraryproductions.com 82

SUPPORTING THE INDUSTRY FROM 1987 SUPPORTING THE INDUSTRY THROUGH 2020 SUPPORTING THE INDUSTRY IN 2021 AND BEYOND

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