TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL
www.tpiawards.com
TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL
WWW.TPiMAGAZINE.COM JANUARY 2015
ISSUE 185
LIVE EVENT DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY • JANUARY 2015 • ISSUE 185
LADY GAGA OBSESSIVELY OPPOSED TO THE TYPICAL
INSIDE THE GLOBAL ICON’S ARTRAVE EXTRAVAGANZA
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: EAW’S ANYA • ON THE ROAD: DENMARK • UK FESTIVAL AWARDS • KASABIAN IN PROFILE: L-ACOUSTICS • CELEBRATING THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL • LINKIN PARK • PSA
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PRELUDE
FULL STEAM(ING) AHEAD 2014 was a huge year for Mondiale Publishing. We enjoyed the most successful year in TPi’s history, we became a part of the PRO tradeshow, we threw another excellent bash for the UK Festival Awards and we welcomed the lovely Charlotte, who has been a great addition to the team. We’re sending her to the west side this month to get acquainted with the US market as the rest of us tackle the last few weeks of the TPi Awards planning. There’s no telling what 2015 will bring, but we’re already off to an exciting start. In this issue, cover star Lady Gaga graces our pages starting on Pg.22. artRave: The ARTPOP Ball is a sonic journey through smoke machines and neon excellence. Production Manager, Jason Danter led the crew into a touring success with a show designed by LeRoy Bennett. The ice kingdom style production was a slick beast, moving in and out of arenas daily in a road worthy 26 trucks. Thanks for having us! Also this issue, we have production reports on Linkin Park, Kasabian and the celebratory feat of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Speaking of noteworthy outdoor events, we also have a run down of the UK Festival Awards on Pg.12. In conjunction with our sister website, Festival Insights, the TPi team look at the trends and lessons from the last UK festival season. Elsewhere, Patrick takes us on a Nordic journey through Denmark in which you can read about his top picks of the country’s manufacturers, designers and rental houses. Start your Danish education on Pg.66. This month has taken somewhat of an audio focus over all; In The Spotlight features EAW’s “The ice kingdom style Anya system, and both d&b audiotechnik and production was a slick K-array feature in successful outdoor gigs. The beast,moving in and out latter being the Firenze Series in action in Asia. of arenas daily in a road The TPi and mondo*dr crews went to London’s Barbican theatre at the start of the month to hear worthy 26 trucks...” the system in use at the venue’s beautifully crafted main concert hall. Plus, French manufacturer L-Acoustics is turning 30, so to pay homage to three decades of history, I went to Marcoussis, Paris, to take a look - quite literally inside - the company’s K2 loudspeaker. You can discover the thinking behind this audio design on Pg.76. Now let’s get the obvious out of the way; I thought I’d try and get through a leader without mentioning our industry’s penchant for ‘networking with alcohol’ but alas, that seems like a lot of effort. I’m pictured here with a face you won’t recognise, the brilliant Mel (I’m somewhat convinced she’s a superhero) from our production team at our Christmas party (and no, I don’t know what I’m drinking either). Just like every cog in a tour, let’s not forget their important roles on this magazine. If you’re reading this edition of TPi at our Awards (I know, I know, you can’t pick a copy up because you’re holding so many prosecco glasses), please ensure Hannah is not drinking water. Yes, you read that correctly; she’s taken on the challenge of a dry January and has even extended the pledge until our Awards. Gulp. Until next time, I hope you don’t lose your car keys / shoes / mind at the event, and if you do, I definitely want to hear all about it! Kelly Murray Editor
info@chainmaster.de
CHAINMASTER BÜHNENTECHNIK GMBH
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ITINERARY
CREW
a member of
Editor Kelly Murray Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7738 154689 e-mail: k.murray@mondiale.co.uk Assistant Editor Patrick McCumiskey Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8385 Mobile: +44 (0)7929 249169 e-mail: p.mccumiskey@mondiale.co.uk
TRUSS YOU CAN TRUST
CONTENTS 01/2015 EVENT FOCUS 08 UK Festival Awards
A run down of the UK Festival Awards 2014.
14 K-array takes on Asia International Advertising & Sponsorship Hannah Eakins Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)7760 485230 e-mail: h.eakins@mondiale.co.uk
K-array’s Firenze system is tried and tested.
18 Leisuretec Distribution
Leisuretec welcomes Mackie into the fold.
20 The d&b audiotechnik Machine Advertising Sales Charlotte Goodlass Tel: +44 (0)161 476 8360 Mobile: +44 (0)788 0208 226 e-mail: c.goodlass@mondiale.co.uk
Graphic Design & Production Dan Seaton: d.seaton@mondiale.co.uk Mel Robinson: m.robinson@mondiale.co.uk
The Y-Series goes live with The Vinyl Factory.
PRODUCTION PROFILE 22 Lady Gaga artRave: The ARTPOP Ball in all its Haus of Gaga Glory.
38 Linkin Park The US nu metalers hit the road with a PRG
General Manager Justin Gawne
Mondiale Group Chairman Damian Walsh
48 Kasabian The Brit rockers’ live mix is a rock ‘n’ roll
www.tpimagazine.com • www.tpiawards.com
Cover Photography Lady Gaga by Sarah Rushton-Read
58 The Fall of the Berlin Wall The ‘Mut Zur Freiheit’ 25th celebrations.
Contributors Sarah Rushton-Read Editorial Intern Jamie Medwell
Nocturne supplied visual feast.
Issue 185 / January 2015 TOTAL PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL is a controlled circulation magazine, published 12 times a year by Mondiale Publishing Limited under licence. ISSN 1461-3786 Copyright © 2015 Mondiale Publishing 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 Publishing 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 Publishing Limited United Kingdom. The 2015 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 Publishing Ltd. Waterloo Place, Watson Square, Stockport, SK1 3AZ, UK.
AVAILABILITY RELIABILITY
CLOCKING OFF 64 Steph Dell goes Walking for William.
Printed by Buxton Press Annual subscriptions (including P&P): £42 (UK), £60 (Europe), £78/$125 (RoW). Subscription enquiries to: Subscriptions, Mondiale Publishing Limited, Waterloo Place, Watson Square, Stockport SK1 3AZ, UK; Tel: +44 (0)161 476 5580; Fax: +44 (0)161 476 0456; e-mail: subscriptions@mondiale.co.uk
QUALITY
haven.
INNOVATION
ON THE ROAD 66 Patrick unveils Denmark’s industry picks.
MEET US: 10. - 12. February 2015
STAND: 7-C195
COMPANY PROFILE 76 Inside the engineering world of L-Acoustics.
www.GlobalTruss.cn phone: +886-2-2577-6608
IN THE SPOTLIGHT 82 The technology behind EAW’s Anya is revealed.
PSA
84 Sustainability - how clued up are you?
MOVERS & SHAKERS 86 The latest industry appointments.
VITAL STATS 90 Steve Sunderland of Audiolease has been
keeping Motörhead happy on tour for 36 years.
International distribution Europe: Germany: France: Spain: India: Australia: Americas: Chile: India: S.E.Asia: Singapore: Lebanon: Japan: Taiwan: Dubai: Saudi-Arabia:
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EVENT FOCUS: UK Festival Awards
UK FESTIVAL AWARDS 2014 THE UK FESTIVAL AWARDS - THE ‘OSCARS OF THE FESTIVAL INDUSTRY’, ACCORDING TO GREEN MAN’S FIONA STUART - TOOK PLACE ONCE AGAIN AT CAMDEN’S ROUNDHOUSE ON 1 DECEMBER. NOW IN ITS 10TH YEAR, THE UK FESTIVAL AWARDS IS TURNING OUT TO BE AN UNMISSABLE INDUSTRY EVENT, BRINGING TOGETHER ALL KINDS OF FESTIVAL CHARACTERS FOR A NIGHT OF ACCOLADES AND WILD CELEBRATION. TPi AND SISTER WEBSITE FESTIVAL INSIGHTS WERE OUT IN FULL FORCE, TRYING (AND SUCCEEDING) TO BLAG A PHOTO WITH THE GODFATHER OF FESTIVALS, MR MICHAEL EAVIS HIMSELF... The Festival Awards UK 2014 was an unforgettable event: the fantastic Huey Morgan hosted evening awards ceremony was preceded by the Festival Awards Conference which tackled a number of relevant topics. The Pills, Thrills & Keeping the Punters Safe panel - whose purpose was to discuss methods of harm reduction and the suppression of criminal elements at festivals - kicked off the proceedings. Richard Church, Showsec’s Regional Manager for the Midlands, asserted that: “Now is the time for the police to hand over peripheral duties to security firms [at festivals].” Intelligence, Investigation and Security Consultant Cameron Addicott ostensibly concurred, 08
adding: “Sharing information [between security and police] is a good thing, but it has to be a two-way street’. Durham University’s Professor Fiona Measham revealed research pertaining to the proliferation of legal highs, the purity of various illicit substances, and the most popular narcotics at both dance clubs and festivals. In the latter case, MDMA was believed to be the most widespread in both spheres, supposedly accounting for 29% of all drug usage in dance clubs (excluding alcohol), and 22% at festivals. The purity of ecstasy pills was purported to have increased by a factor of five in half a decade, posing additional challenges for security and medics on-site as festival-goers are unknowingly
EVENT FOCUS: UK Festival Awards
Opposite: The UK Festival Awards - the ‘oscars of the festival industry’, was held once again at The Roundhouse on 1 December 2014. Below: Festival Number 6 received the award for Line-Up Of The Year; Michael Baker, Festival Insights with Chris McCormick of Blue Peg; Host and Fun Lovin’ Criminal Huey Morgan; Mondiale Publishing’s Amanda Giles and Mondo*dr’s Jamie Dixon.
putting themselves at increased risk. Concurrent with this trend, in the last year there have been approximately 80 new varieties of new psychoactive substances’ - colloquially referred to as ‘legal highs’ - many of which have associated dangers that exceed their illegal counterpoints. Measham commented that: “Pharmacologically, festival-goers do not know what they’re getting.” The most viable prevention strategy for drug dealing
and organised crime is a combination of “information sharing and covert operations,” according to Church. The Fat Bottom Line panel comprised a debate on how to make the most of lucrative secondary revenue streams, touching upon cashless RFID systems, VIP camping, and cultivating year-round communities in order to foster brand loyalty and boost merchandise sales. Jon Sprank of iZettle’s assertion that
onsite card payment facilities caused a 30% boost in sales was indirectly expanded upon by James Cobb of Crowd Connected in the following panel, who stated that “the time for a fully cashless festival is now”. Multiple speakers on the Disruptive Innovation panel agreed that connectivity issues - necessary for RFID systems and social media initiatives to function - would hopefully be solved within the next three years. Optimistic
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EVENT FOCUS: UK Festival Awards
maybe, but with the exponential acceleration of technological advancement then who knows? In three years we could be living in a retro-futuristic dystopia in which cybernetic augmentation and the hegemony of faceless interplanetary giga-corporations has altered the human condition beyond the comprehension of individuals existing in a pre-singularity milieu. So yeah, we could have festivals all connected and stuff around then.
incentivising a reduction in carbon emissions of their audiences. Melvin Benn (Festival Republic) and Katie Maddison (Bestival) disagreed on the impetus for this sort of change, and whether it originates from their audiences or not. Benn opposed the notion that it did, although this disagreement may have stemmed from the fairly sizeable differences in the demographics their respective festivals attract. Following a drinks reception and a pretty
“In three years we could be living in a retro-futuristic dystopia in which cybernetic augmentation and the hegemony of faceless interplanetary giga-corporations has altered the human condition beyond the comprehension of individuals existing in a pre-singularity milieu....” Michael Baker, Festival Insights
Attempting to prevent this kind of bleak post-apocalyptic future was the Powerful Thinking panel, discussing ways in which the festival industry can curb the ever-present threat of climate change, whether that takes the form of lobbying for legislative change or somehow
banging sit-down dinner, Huey Morgan took to the stage to host the Awards ceremony. Facilitated by an open bar, the atmosphere was jovial, convivial, insouciant, and other ridiculous synonyms for ‘friendly’ and ‘carefree’. Highlights of the Awards included Pete
Doherty sending a video acceptance speech for the Libertines’ Headline Performance of the Year accolade, Rob Da Bank being presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Festivals award from his hero Michael Eavis, and said hero’s nifty and entirely incongruous shorts. Michael Eavis himself - along with his daughter Emily accepted Glastonbury’s award for Best Major Festival. We Are FSTVL - whose name Morgan comically failed to pronounce - took home the award for Best Medium Festival, and V Festival were granted the prestigious designation of ‘Best Toilets’. Best Use of New Technology - In association with White Light - went to Manchester’s very own The Parklife Weekender for their revolutionary portable substance-analysis system supplied by The Loop and working with Greater Manchester Police. The Greener Festival Award (one of the most important categories in Mondiale’s humble opinion) - conducted in association with Bucks New University - was awarded to Shambala Festival in Northhamptonshire. TPi
Photos: Patrick McCumiskey, Sara Bowrey and Pete Corkhill www.festivalawards.com
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Thinking. Inside the box. 15/08/2014 15:45
EVENT FOCUS: UK Festival Awards
Below: TPi’s Patrick McCumiskey with Michael Eavis; Green Hippo’s crew were out in full force; Andy Rust and Nicola Tannoy; Best Toilets went to V Festival; The Secret Festival won the Best New Festival award; Michael and Emily Eavis accepting their award for Best Major Festival; Michiel Beers of ID&T collecting Best Overseas Festival for Tomorrowland.
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EVENT FOCUS: K-array in Asia
K-ARRAY’S FIRENZE SERIES BILLED AS ‘THE NEXT GENERATION OF TOURING LINE ARRAY SPEAKERS’, K-ARRAY’S FIRENZE SERIES OFFERS DIGITAL STEER-ABLE, SLIM ARRAY TECHNOLOGY IN A COMPACT AND PRICE-COMPETITIVE PACKAGE. THE FIRENZE SYSTEM - MADE UP OF KH8 AND KS8 MODULES - COMBINES 145 DB SPL OUTPUT AND A NEW DESIGN TO SPEED SETUP AND SOUND. IN ASIA, THE SYSTEM HAS ALREADY BEEN PROVEN TO BE A HUGE SUCCESS AT TWO FESTIVALS; THE JZ FESTIVAL IN OCTOBER 2014 AND THE CLOCKENFLAP FESTIVAL IN HONG KONG IN NOVEMBER. TPi INVESTIGATES THE FINDINGS... Designing a sound reinforcement system for a large-scale music festival is no straight forward task. Fresh out of Beta testing, the JZ Festival in Shanghai, China - with 30,000 guests - proved the ultimate test for the Italian manufacturer’s new series. Once again, the festival relied on Sennheiser and K-array to provide systems for all 10 stages. The digitally steerable Firenze series featured within the main configuration of the stages, which hosted a wide range of music styles including music legends such as Pat Metheny, Boosty Collins and the Funk Band Unity, Snarky Pup-py and Marcus Miller. DIGITAL STEERING OPTIMISATION The use of K-array and AFMG FIRmaker Software were of considerable benefit from the outset of the festival design process. FIRmaker allows for digital steering - built especially for the KH8 and KS8 - which lets the system engineer present 14
different options to the production beforehand and set up the whole festival configuration from home before the weekend for optimum results, ideal for the festival. HANG ON...WHAT IS DIGITAL STEERING? Theoretically the line array should be rectilinear to ensure an optimal relationship between sound sources. However, in many cases, to adequately cover the entire listening area the array needs to be curved in a ‘J’ or ‘banana’ shape. Through controlling the angle of each speaker in relation to the other, the entire audience, whether sitting or standing, is in proximity to the PA’s feet. The ‘J’ configuration is currently the most widespread and produces the highest performance but it also has many limitations in terms of practicality. With the KH8 and KS8’s ability to digitally steer the sound, there is no need to model the ‘J’ shape, instead sound can be distributed
more consistetly over a greater distance. At the JZ Festival in the VIP area - positioned approximately 50 meters from the stage - the difference in frequencies are greatly reduced and allow for further EQ refining for a smoother sound. For small crowds of less than 10,000 people, it was possible to utilise just the main system in the afternoon, then scale it up for crowds of over 30,000 people in the evening. In addition, the FIRmaker software allows a system to be easily calibrated ahead of load-in and match the offline design to the physical units onsite. As parts of the system come online, they can be synchronised instantly without having to rebuild the layout. MINIMAL SET UP TIME AND MAN POWER After using the KH8 and KS8 at the JZ Festival in 2013, Sennheiser deployed them again to fulfil their full potential in 2014. One of the key features of the Firenze series and K-array
EVENT FOCUS: K-array In Asia
Opposite and below: Clockenflap festivals in China used K-Array’s new Firenze system, which combines 145 db SPL output and a new flat design to enable ease of set-up and configuration.
speakers is quick set up time. The production team were able to consolidate the full event production and audio setup in just four days thanks to the K-array easy set up designs. To hang a cluster of 24 KH8 speakers took just 15 minutes per side with little configuring required due to the pre-loaded settings installed before the concert. The whole set up required just 26 Technicians for all 10 stages to be set up and taken down over the whole weekend. “With the Firenze Series I had a different sensation: that this is the beginning of a new era,” enthused Blake Smith, bass player Bootsy Collins, FOH Engineer. “Since the KH8 is strongly software dependent, I personally think that it can be further developed to achieve much more important results.” The main Green Note stage hung left-right arrays each comprised (top to bottom) of 24 KH8 full-range elements, 16 KS8 subs and 8eight KF12s for front fill. The systems ability to control the vertical angle digitally meant there was no need for front fill speakers. Without the need for delay towers, the audience could view the performance clearly from almost anywhere - and have more room to dance (although this was not compulsory). Parallel to the main stage The River Side stage offered an almost equally powerful sound which included six KH8s, six KS8’s and four KF12MT Subs. The KO40 was used as the active drum fill bass speaker and an important element for Tia Ray, Ding Shaohua and Lisa Guo who headlined here. At the nearby Earth Lounge, the main arrays each consisted of an unannounced K-array touring speaker joined by six KO70s for the bass. With the Main stage side arrays symmetrical allowing for spatial coverage, it avoided impacting other stages such as the Earth Lounge which was the nearest to the main stage. At the Master Hall where a variety of Jazz
legends including Snarky Puppy, Marcus Miller and Tommy Emmanuel performed at the indoor arena, the stage was kitted with 24 KH15 complemented by six KF12’s for front fill. The system was completed with as many as six KO70’s subs that kept the over capacity crowd fully energised. Finally, the smaller stages including Love my Music, JZ School, JZ Live Square and Drum Zone used a combination of K-array’s portable series KR402s and KR102s providing more than enough power for the smaller performances. The KH8 has been built to deliver a significant balance of throw through it’s intelligent software and optimum power. The digital steering optimisation allows the sound engineer to smooth and lower the SPL reducing the amount of dB loss significantly and in addition, the optimisation allows more room to refine the EQ balance to perfect a balanced tonal range and consistent SPL - an incredible step forward for Pro Audio. In a configuration such as Shanghai where the temperature is humid, the KH8 system registered an audio level of 123dB from 50 meters away from the main stage still delivering a fine balance and creating perfect clarity. The FOH position was placed 50 meters away from the stage but it is believed with the Firenze Series you could position the FOH at 150 meters without the need for delay towers. “I had a special moment when using the system. My System Technician told me that at 50-meters, audio levels were at 123dB and at that level the system was smooth and very hi fi,” commented Michael Apodaca, FOH Engineer. Another consideration was the noise pollution in the surrounding areas. With the KS8 system, the use of FIRmaker software reduced the rearward sound pressure level and directivity of KH8 arrays provided significant rejection 15
EVENT FOCUS: K-array In Asia
Below: James Mak, Sales Manager at Sennheiser Hong Kong, spoke of the organisers of the Clockenflap Festival: “We are always confident when we suggest K-array, they love the flexibility of the Firenze Series”; With the KH8 and KS8’s ability to digitally steer the sound, there is no need to model the ‘J’ shape, instead sound can be distributed more consistently over a greater distance.
across all frequencies outside of the desired coverage area due to their proprietary wavefront. As a result, rejection outside the listening area is considerably focused. The array has an incredibly true 120° dispersion pattern with little to no diminishment in the highs or midrange frequencies. “It throws very far. I don’t know how far exactly, but it hit the back of our venue with barely any colouring at all,” said Blake Smith. CLOCKENFLAP FESTIVAL Just one month after the JZ festival, the Firenze series returned to action in Hong Kong at the Clockenflap 2014 to provide the sound for another spectacular music festival. The Clockenflap is a music and arts festival in its seventh year. Clockenflap is a festival where music and arts come together, creating an utterly mysterious and supremely infectious uni-verse, all set against the city’s luminous skyline. This time around the Firenze Series featured at the festival on several stages with an equipment list that boasted 30 KH8’s, 22 KS8’s, 60 KH15’s, 9 KH4’s, 6 KS4’s, 23 KMT12’s, 13 KR402’s and 10 KR202’s. The festival organisers wanted to create a memorable sound for the audience in Hong Kong, a task which Sennheiser Hong Kong was all to glad to assist with. “The Clockenflap organisers are always looking to push the limits of sound, art and music. They have big expectations of the equipment however, we are always confident when we suggest K-array, they love the flexibility of the Firenze Series. It allows their ambitious imaginations to be fulfilled,” commented James Mak, Sales Manager at Sennheiser Hong Kong. Monitors and speakers were piled high on six separate stages throughout the festival, which was held at the West Kowloon Cultural District Waterfront
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Promenade. The main stage which was fitted with 24 KH8’s and 16 KS8’s for big names including comedic rockers Tenacious D and golden oldies Kool & the Gang, who blasted hit songs Celebration and Ladies’ Night. Festival-goers were treated to the sights and sounds of the ‘70s, complete with glittering outfits which lit up the stage like nothing else. A total of KH15’s on either side of the stage provided front fill and side fill along with four KH4’s for front fill, four KO70’s for side fill, two KO40’s for drum fill and 14 KF12MTs all used for monitoring. A little further down the field was the Replay Stage, which welcomed The Vaccines and Rudimental. This stage was fitted with 12 of the new speakers from the Firenze Series which were launched this month 2015. An additional six KH15 for front fill, KH4 and KS4 for side fill were implemented, including six KF12MTs for monitoring and six KO70’s for additional subs. Time Out Magazine, who reviewed the festival, went so far as to give a special mention to the new K-Array line up: “Most bands delivered buzzing pop rock and especially Rudimental who pushed deep club beats, these powerhouse artists needed sound systems that packed a punch! The stage was fully decked out with new and unannounced K-array speakers capable of producing a whopping 141 decibels.” K-array is doing its best to live up to its promise of ‘the pursuit of perfect sound’ and proving their new audio innovation. Let’s see what this year brings for this interesting alternative to the conventional line-array set-up. TPi Photos: Sennheiser www.jzmg.net/en/jzfestival www.clockenflap.com www.sennheiser.com www.k-array.com
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13/08/2014 09:09
EVENT FOCUS: Leisuretec
LEISURETEC BECOMES NEW TRADE DISTRIBUTION PARTNER FOR MACKIE Leisuretec Distribution is delighted to announce its new trade partnership with Mackie, world leader in the development of mixers, monitors, loudspeakers and other professional audio equipment, effective 1 December 2014. Leighton Buzzard-based Leisuretec is a distributor of professional and commercial audio, lighting, video and special effects to the trade. Cliff Dounting, Managing Director, commented on the new partnership: “We have been long time partners with Polar Audio distributing their brands very successfully over the years. Mackie is an extremely good fit to Leisuretec’s portfolio enhancing even further
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our offering to the trade in the MI retail sector. “Indeed our roots are from retail and we are strong supporters of this very important sector of the industry and passionately believe in providing all the retail shops up and down the country with a great service and excellent products from stock. The addition of Mackie strengthens Leisuretec’s offering to the whole of the trade including hire and event plus installation companies, it really is a great value for money brand.” Mackie is renowned for its fanatical attention to quality and reliability at an affordable price point. Managing Director for Polar Audio, the UK Distributor of Mackie, John Midgley,
commented: “Leisuretec is a long standing partner of Polar Audio and as such has proved its ability to reach key trade customers in the DJ and installation markets successfully over many years. Adding the Mackie range of products to the Leisuretec portfolio will ensure the continued growth into these key target markets, backed by the Leisuretec team. The timing of this new cooperation could not be better with the introduction of the new THUMP and SRM powered loudspeaker ranges that are in huge demand with both mobile DJ’s and bands.” TPi www.leisuretec.co.uk www.mackie.com
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EVENT FOCUS: Music and a Machine
THE D&B AUDIOTECHNIK Y-SERIES DEBUTS WITH MUSIC AND A MACHINE In the 19th Century, Ada Lovelace, a renowned mathematician predicted the advent of mechanically programmed music. Inspired by her foresight, The ADA Project by artist Conrad Shawcross, invited four distinctly different female musicians to respond to the movements of an industrial robot. Thought provoking and demanding in equal measure, the event was presented by The Vinyl Factory in the unlikely confines of a disused multi-storey car park behind London’s Regent Street: posing a unique challenge for the sound reproduction equipment. It is not unexpected that the entire audio system came from the d&b audiotechnik catalogue, the company has a well-documented association with the more challenging frontiers of contemporary musical composition. Encore Pro Audio is fearless when it comes to audio obstacles, and known to deploy loudspeakers on dog sleds in the service of the arts, provided the equipment and expertise, “they are fantastic,” said Event Producer, Joana Seguro. To attempt such things requires a depth of experience and total understanding of the equipment. So it was testament to the company’s knowledge of d&b systems that they chose to use a brand new product from d&b straight from the factory. “We installed a quad system of pole mounted Y10 loudspeakers on top of Y-SUBs from the new Y-Series, around the rectangle of the performance area,” explained Luke Turnbull from Encore. “All were facing inwards, the audience sat within the field of propagation on the perimeter of the performance space, the loudspeakers projecting across a 20-metre listening area, enabling a spatial dimension to sound reproduction. Literally the ability to move the audience’s listening perception around in 20
much the same way as the robot drew our eyes around the space. For the vocal elements we rigged a separate cluster of d&b E8’s localised overhead to the position of the singers, so that the audience might always perceive the vocals as emanating naturally from that point.” The man charged with controlling this sound environment was specialist mix engineer Jamie Harley. “An unusual scenario but Conrad had a very clear picture of how he wanted it to sound, having already performed the piece in Tasmania last year. So although you might characterise this as having an element of jazz in the conception - in the sense that it is a piece where the vocalists especially, take stimulus from the robot and the way it moves - the performance nevertheless is done to a rehearsed score. “I chose d&b for cohesion. I’m a bit of a hi-fi buff really, I like things to sound solid with no discernible gaps unless they are intentional. d&b systems always provide that. I was brought in by Joana because she has seen me work before with this sort of mix of acoustic and electronic music. She and I sat with the performers and spent a lot of time discussing the best way to put this across. The system Encore provided meant we had the ability to put any sound anywhere, the constant directivity of d&b products is absolute - the new Y-Series was no exception - so I dealt with the pieces as they were presented to me, setting level and location to that proscribed by the various composers.” It is the realisation of that concept which requires the audience’s complete attention, as Harley explained. “Quad is usually configured as surround sound, with things moving spatially within the field; this was different. Mira Calix for example, scored her piece with strings where a cello, or say violin, would be placed very specifically to come from one position, so the audience were sat around the performance
area within the quad field listening to a cello part from outside. That sounds a bit odd, but it actually worked very well. The centre cluster localised the vocal and was just to give some lift, a bit of top end presence, and I also worked with the acoustic of the room, putting the vocals into the quad system too, with just the addition of a gentle reverb to match the room. The drum kit was interesting. I put that through the centre cluster as well, with the kick drum into the Y-SUBs for some low-end heft. The room acoustic was not as bad as I thought it would be, for the top floor of an NCP car park it sounded okay. We put lots of curtains around the walls, and at one side of the quad we created a false wall to give a sort of backstage area. Between all the soft goods and the audience the local acoustic was quite dry.” And what of the new Y-Series loudspeaker system? “Basically I was augmenting a natural, intimate sound, the d&b system wasn’t there to burn people; it needed to be transparent, not overt. I do a lot of events like this where I’m mixing an intimate acoustic performance, be that vocal or instrumental, with electronic music. I find d&b is excellent for these things, gently lifting in an unobtrusive fashion and sounding very natural. The Y-Series was perfect really. The cabinets Encore supplied were straight out of the box and were just what the client wanted: small, discreet and very, very clear. As for my relationship with Encore, that goes way back. They are one of the most pleasurable sound companies to work with and are always accommodating. I can’t say enough good things about John Tinline and what his company does.” TPi www.encorepa.co.uk www.dbaudio.com www.thevinylfactory.com
GAME CHANGER
BRIGHT MULTI FUNCTIONAL LIGHT
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
ARTRAVE: THE ARTPOP BALL WHEN INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ICON LADY GAGA EMBARKED ON THE FOURTH HEADLINE TOUR OF HER CAREER, SHE ONCE AGAIN STEERED THE WAY IN TERMS OF ARTISTIC VISION AND LOOKED TO LIGHTING AND PRODUCTION DESIGNER, LEROY BENNETT, TO REALISE THE CONCEPT. TPi’S KELLY MURRAY SPOKE TO THE CREATIVES AND PRODUCTION CREW, LED BY PRODUCTION MANAGER JASON ‘JD’ DANTER, ABOUT HOW ARTRAVE: THE ARTPOP BALL BECAME A TOURING FRIENDLY SUCCESS. It was a meeting on the Britney Spears Circus tour in 2009 that would lead Production Manager Jason ‘JD’ Danter into the artistic realm of Lady Gaga and her intrinsic live productions. Spears’ Tour Director, the late Mo Morrison, asked Danter to get involved, an opportunity he still relishes. When TPi met Danter in the busy backstage area of Birmingham’s NIA Arena, the PM - although clearly very busy - immediately set the scene, enabling us to feel at home. This atmosphere was felt throughout the various rooms and hallways for the duration of the evening; there’s dancers warming up in corridors who are fascinated by the idea of this magazine, bus drivers we’ve met on countless tours before, who want to catch up over a ‘proper brew’ and personal security guards that hold 22
industrial doors open without so much as causing the slightest suit wrinkle. PRODUCTION Over the course of the last three arena and stadium tours that Danter has worked on for Lady Gaga, a couple of the production suppliers have remained in place: Eighth Day Sound for audio and TAIT Towers for staging needs. “Nobody is locked in, it’s always been put out to bid,” he told TPi. “With suppliers it’s all about their service and the price - who can provide what we need for the duration at a budget conscious price? Finding the right balance between value for money and quality.” For artRave: The ARTPOP Ball, Danter also chose Pyrotek again for special effects, lighting from PRG, Solotech for video, Phoenix Bussing,
Fly by Nite trucking, caterers Eat To The Beat, freighting by Sound Moves, Jet Sets for stage props, Air Works for its inflatable expertise and The Appointment Group for hotel and travel bookings. “This was actually an easy tour to get on the road, it all ran very smoothly,” he explained. “It was all indoor shows - 70-plus arena shows across the world - and then a few weird and wonderful festival dates in between.” Rehearsals took place in Chicago, with the live tour beginning on May 4 in Florida. By the time TPi saw the show, it’s a well-oiled pop explosion, but according to Danter, this production was always met with ease: “We had a very successful rehearsal period and the tour settled down very quickly, it always loaded in and out quite fast so it wasn’t difficult to take on the road. That was partially down
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
Opposite: TAIT Towers created a stage design which took a total of six weeks to build. Below: Netherlands-based Airworks created the incredible ice kingdom style inflatable structure for the set.
to the design being so crew friendly. People had the ability to work on different areas of the production at the same time, which really helps.” The stage design sets the scene for a magical glacial neon landscape. As is to be expected from a success such as Lady Gaga (or LG as Danter fondly refers to her) she is a young woman with a lot of very creative ideas. This led to a period of whittling down the ones that could be transformed into something tourable. “It’s always good to work with people who work in the same way as you and for this tour, LeRoy Bennett was the man who could turn LG’s dream into a reality. Having done three completely different tours with LG now, I know that you never know where she’s going to
take you; it’s an unexpected journey. It’s very colourful because she has such great ideas, and you can never second-guess what she’s going to do, which is always interesting. She might come and look at a part of the production, decide she wants a bit changing that you hadn’t thought of and after that change has been made, you stand back and say ‘yeah, she nailed that!’ It’s very enjoyable to work with her, because she’s so spontaneous like that.” LIGHTING DESIGN Globally renowned Lighting Designer, LeRoy Bennett, has visually caressed the ice kingdom themed set with a stunning and well thought out light display. A main feature fixture wise is Clay Paky’s latest moving head, the A.leda
B-EYE K20, of which there are 107 on tour. Bennett chose the B-EYE and 83 Clay Paky Sharpys as the main basis for the design. “My first thought when it came to creating the rave style concept was that the audience has to be fully immersed in the show and become part of it,” he said. “I chose the Clay Paky B-EYEs for their versatility and unique personality, they are the icing on the cake tools that add all the detail.” Supported by Lighting Director, Whitney Hoversten, who has taken the show on the road, Bennett also specified 37 PRG Best Boys, 66 Philips Vari-Lite 3500’s, 104 Martin Professional Stagebar 54’s, three Lycian M2 short throw follow spots and four DF-50 Hazers, all supplied by lighting vendor, PRG. Yet it’s the
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
Below: The Video crew, including Video Engineer Tim Brenann and Video Director, Bertrand Pare; The audio crew, with FOH Engineer Chris Rabold at the helm.
B-EYE once again, which has impressed the lighting department on this tour, as Hoversten also enthused about the B-EYEs: “They’ve certainly been a creatively fun tool, They’ve offered endless artistic possibilities and LeRoy has pushed their creative potential all the way.” The artRave extravaganza certainly looked like a magical ice kingdom, painted with decadence at every opportunity. “LeRoy loves to break down every little nuance in the music, he has an amazing ear,” explained Hoversten. “Having a fixture like the B-EYE gave him countless creative ideas and has allowed him to explore some remarkably fresh new looks. It’s fantastic to have individual control of each of the cells. Every single one can be a different colour, or we can divide each fixture in half and
signature look of the show, so much so that even where we weren’t doing full production we still brought the mega pod with us. I can’t imagine this show without it,” continued Hoversten. “They are just amazing to play with, they were a brand new fixture when the tour started so we basically had them all as soon as they were made! We had the majority of whatever existed in the world. I think we have 108 in total now. They are spectacular fixtures, they’ve defined the look of the show. “Production and Lighting Designer, LeRoy Bennett’s approach to the show was to make it an immersive rave that reflected Gaga’s nonstop party aesthetic,” added Programmer Jason Baeri. “That means active, alive, vibrant and high energy, it requires us to be just as active
“Gaga has always been a visual artist so the video is an integral part of what she does…” Video Director, Bertrand Pare.
have one half doing the snare beat and one half doing the bass beat. It’s so cool.” In fact Bennett’s design sees the B-EYEs used in a multitude of ways including rigging them in large clusters overhead and combining them in a 72 strong ‘mega pod’ to create one huge light or low res graphics screen, which sits above the high resolution, stage wide video screen upstage. “When LeRoy told Lady Gaga about the fixtures, she was as excited as him, so we knew we needed a prominent place for them in the rig. The mega pod of B-EYEs is by far the 24
on stage as in the crowd. The audience is every bit as much a set piece as they are a room of spectators, so we had to include them as part of Gaga’s same party not just watching the spectacle from afar. Cue wise, that’s almost like programming two shows at once: Both had to behave as one cohesive element.” For control, two full size MA Lighting grandMA full size consoles were the desk of choice, one as a main board and one as a back up. This desk was chosen for its reliability, ease of use and simple layout design. Having
taken the reigns on the road for the first time with both Lady Gaga and PRG, Hoverston is delighted with both how the tour has gone, and with the lighting supplier’s back up: “Because they have reps all over the world, there’s always someone to help out if needed. Not that I’ve had any problems really, but if I do need them PRG are very responsive.” STAGING AND AUTOMATION It took staging giants TAIT Towers a total of six weeks in which to complete the build of the set pieces complete with inflatable sculptures, scenic pods and translucent runways. The set incorporated 96 pieces of clear acrylic, 478ft of airhose, 110ft of runway (spanning over the audience below) 1,850 sq ft of carved foam surfaces, 65 gallons of white paint to coat fascia and 21,346 man-hours to design and build. The stage was project-managed by TAIT’s Brian Levine. Within the set, there were three motorpowered lifts which were hidden under each of the three stage sections and some inflatable flowers which rise out of the stage for the song Venus. These gags were controlled by a Fisher Technical Services Navigator by Automation Operator, Robin Henry. Once up and running, 30 VIP guests could be seated in TAIT’s custom, full-service bar area. Hoversten commented: “One of the best parts of the show is the set and stage, what TAIT has done is amazing. The runways which allow the artist to go into the audience is something I’ve not seen done in this way before; you’re completely surrounded and the audience really becomes part of the show just as much as the dancers, it’s all integrated which is how she likes it. The fans are an important part of this design too.” Alongside TAIT which also built some of the stage props, Netherlands-based Airworks built an inflatable 18-metre wide snow ‘sculpture’ which cemented the ice kingdom style
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
Below: Eighth Day Sound supplied the tour’s audio for its duration, including a d&b audiotechnik J-Series PA.
landscape. The sculpture was created using 3D software. Once printed, the mesh is unfolded and sewn together with a light weight polyester material. A big advantage of making inflatables in this way, is explained by Airworks’ Matthew Whitehead: “By taking the analogue industry of building artistic inflatables into the digital world, we are able to create far more complex sculptures and also save a lot of truck space because it packs down so easily. You can even leave a design in a flight case for 10 years and then re-use it again if you wanted. “It’s an exciting time for the creative arts part of touring. Every year it seems like there is a new technology to grab on to, but what we create is not the norm yet, it’s very unique. A lot of people have a misleading impression of inflatables but with tours like this and Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz [for which the company made a giant husky in the vain of the singer’s pet dog] can show artists and designers that the quality of product we make doesn’t look like an inflatable.” Staging soft goods were provided by Jet Sets. VIDEO Another newcomer to the tour is Bertrand Pare, Video Director: “When Solotech became
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
Below: PRG supplied the lighitng rig, which LeRoy Bennett designed. He opted for Clay Paky a.Leda B-EYE K20’s as his main fixture of choice.
the video vendor, they reached out to me. We’d wanted to work on a project together for some time but I was always booked on something else. My position was solidified for this tour when my friend at Live Nation, Ciaran Flaherty, saw my name on the short list. It was a production team I had never worked before, so I imagine JD was probably a little weary of bringing a new video director on board but Ciaran vouched for me, luckily. It’s worked out great!” Pare soon found his feet with this artist: “Female divas are quickly becoming my specialty; I’ve worked with Whitney Houston, Rihanna and now Lady Gaga. I’m very conscious of how women look through the lens, which is always difficult in a live setting. The standards of [perfect] beauty and pressures on female performers are often out of control. It takes just one bad angle at the wrong time to go viral. As a director you have to be very sensitive to that.” In order to fit seamlessly into Gaga’s production team, Pare worked closely with Lacee Franks, Creative Coordinator at Haus of Gaga. “Lacee is really great to work with. She’s usually the direct link to Gaga and her vision,” he noted. A great deal of the visual content was directed and designed by Ruth Hogben, a fashion photographer and filmmaker from London. “Gaga has always been a visual artist so the 28
video is an integral part of what she does, and that goes without saying. One of the challenges was that because of the way the stage was created, when she would be in the middle of the room, much of the crowd would only see her back for entire parts of the show. Therefore it was important that we use the middle upstage screen during those moments, so that the people in the front row could still feel connected to the show. Tim Brennan, Video Engineer had previously worked with Pare last year on Rhianna’s Diamonds tour, and as the union went well, he asked me to come back out on tour for Lady Gaga, a job which he described as “kind of groovy!” Solotech has supplied a Sony MU6 3000 Video Switcher, six Barco HDF-W26 projectors (placed in the roof truss for projection mapping), four Christie 20K J Series I-MAG projectors, Solotech’s own SL PRO 8 video wall (70ft by 15ft), six Green Hippo Hippotizer media servers, a BlackMagic 40 by 40 matrix, two AJA KI pro recorders and four AJA FS2 AV processors and four Sony HXC 100 hand held cameras. The tour’s Video Programmer is Loren K. Barton. Said Brennan: “The video switcher is somewhat unusual for a tour such as this: “It’s Sony MU6 3000 is normally used in a studio environment but it’s got quite a lot of interesting items within it; you can do a lot of
layering and it’s ideal for straplines. We use an overhead shot for certain aspects of the video look, for example there’s a rotating part on the stage which she sits on so we get an overhead shot of that. We also get some nice back shots when she’s out on the catwalk areas, so we can see the audience in the background and her in the foreground, that’s a good composition for people watching the screens.” Pare concluded: “Solotech have been lovely to deal with, absolute professionals that really know their stuff. They had all the gear we needed, and they provided a great team to go with it. It’s been a whirlwind of a year, but a pleasure to work with everyone involved.” SPECIAL EFFECTS Reid Derne, Crew Chief and Hayden Hale, Laser Programmer and Operator of Las Vegas-based Pyrotek were new to the tour, but Pyrotek has been the go-to special effects company three tours in a row. “It’s definitely been a lot of fun to do this tour,” said Derne. “This was our first time working with JD too, and that’s been a great experience.” Although there are a lot of visually stimulating aspects to this show, the production doesn’t carry any pyrotechnics per se. artRave boasts a display of lasers predominantly, as far as the effects go. There is also an array of smoke effects and, of course, techno rave style
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
Below: Lady Gaga worked closely with Production Designer, LeRoy Bennett and the Haus of Gaga creative team to deliver a road-worthy world-class tour.
confetti. Continued Derne: “There are nine songs which make use of confetti and each one has a different type of confetti ready for each queue. A big thing for us is the use of smoke effects. The smoke machines are actually a low-lying fog, which makes the set look like it’s dry ice. We use LeMaitre LSG Low Smoke Generators, which roll off the edge of the stage and rise a couple of feet, as if the stage is one big ice cube.” In addition, there are eight full colour 20W lasers from Pyrotek in use, six on the main stage and two around the piano area, which plays an intimate part in Gaga’s performance. “Software for this particular laser design was done using Pagolin LD2000. It’s an older software, but it’s very reliable,” added Hale. “The software has been the industry go-to for around 15 years now so it’s pretty common on tours like this. It’s very important to know that we have a reliable system that’s tried and tested; you don’t want to crash in the mother ship!” Dave Harkness completed the touring pyrotechnics team. AUDIO Mike Hackman, known as Stacker to the rest of the crew, is the tour’s PA System Engineer who joined the camp for the Born This Way 30
tour, upon which he developed a good working relationship with FOH Engineer, Chris Rabold. “For the very first part of that tour, there was a different FOH engineer, then Chris came in and we struck up a good relationship. When this tour came up, it seemed like a good idea to do it all over again!” The PA system is a d&b audiotechnik J-Series. “We’re using J8’s with J12’s as down fill on the front and the sides of the design. There are 20 J8’s with a J12 combination on the front and 16 J12’s on the side hangs with eight J-SUBs flown between them. Larger venues have a rear hang of V8’s and V12’s - 12 aside flown - to do a 270° coverage. For subwoofers on the ground we use 18 d&b B2’s in a cardioid format and they’re in an arc across the front of the stage. We also have a set of E8’s doing infill duty, which are fitted to the set pieces across the front, alongside a couple of Q7’s. “We use two aside, just as like an outfill on the ground, to bring the focus down a little bit, so it doesn’t sound like it’s all coming from the air. We carry a few extras too, for if we get some of those difficult venues. Occasionally you get those difficult venues where you just can’t hit the seats properly without an extra box.” The system is driven by the new d&b D80
amplifiers and runs at 96k. “It sounds pretty great, particularly with the [DiGiCo] SD7 desks on the end. We like to keep it in the digital domain,” he added. For extra processing, Stacker uses a Lake LM44 system on the front end for EQ system zoning. “The main system EQ is actually on the Lake tablet and Lake system and we have two of those aside, covering eight different zones of the PA. This set up is definitely one of my systems of choice,” he enthused. “It works well for this kind of music.” On the road, the support felt from audio supplier Eighth Day is certainly a talking point for Stacker. “They’re great because they can now offer worldwide support so their service is second to none. We’ve had three different rigs: one in the US, a rig based in Australia and one in Europe which are all put together from our identical spec. Considering the size of this tour, they’re also a very amenable company because nothing is too much trouble for their clients,” he concluded. FOH POSITION Chris Rabold, FOH Engineer joined the Gaga nation originally as a fill-in engineer. “They needed someone to bridge a gap of about three weeks during rehearsals for the Monster
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
Below: Fly By Nite handled the tour’s trucking needs; Phoenix Bussing transported the crew throughout the UK and Europe.
Ball tour, including a few promo stints. I hadn’t done pop music before her, other than for a quick one off. I came in and it ended up going pretty well, then I befriended JD so I went on to do some other gigs for him, such as a Beyonce tour. Eventually Lady Gaga needed an engineer change, so they called me up. Needless to say I ran out here! That was three years ago and this is now my second tour with her. Once again Rabold specified a DiGiCo SD7 “The only thing I’ve done differently on this tour - and it’s not because I disliked them - but I did
away with plugins so it’s all either on the desk or in the rack. There are a lot of good desks out there, I’m not exclusive in any way, but I do really like the DiGiCo SD7 because it has features galore! The input count is amazing. Even on a tour like this, I never have to worry about having enough space. “Sonically, it’s just as clean as it can be. In fact, it’s so clean that I’ve put some pieces across the stereo bus to ‘dirty it up’ a little. I also like that it’s laid out kind of sensibly like an analogue desk would have been, it’s a very cool
desk.” Microphones on the instruments are a mixture of Telefunken, Shure and Neumann. Lady Gaga uses a Sennheiser e900 Series microphone, the MD 5235. “We have about 10 different mics for her, customised, of course. Her headset is by far the best one out there; it’s a Shure Beta 54 and is [no pun intended] head and shoulders above anything else out there. With the right equipment in tow, Rabold operates a mix, which “doesn’t sound like every other pop act out there.” In other words, Gaga
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
Below: The Eat to the Beat catering crew; The Pyrotek Special Effects team; Monitor Engineer, Ramon Morales; Production Manager, Jason Danter.
needs a live sounding show, rocky in places, clubby in others. “It needs to sound very full of life so the live drums are the loudest element in the mix next to her vocals. The guitars do a lot of neat stuff too, they’re not doubling anything on the track, but rather doing their own live things all around it. She’s a talented musician as well as a performer, so she’s just wild to mix, and I want the rest of the show to sound equally as wild!” Does the wild nature of the artist mean there’s some grey areas for the engineers? “She’s pretty trusting with what we do, but when she wants something, she’s dead set in that she knows exactly what she wants to happen!” he laughed. As for Eighth Day, Rabold is also a fan: “Not only do they have good gear, but all of their guys know how to use it. I think they’ve always been ahead of the game with products and training their people to understand why those products do exactly what they do. The owner, Tom Arko is a good friend of mine and in a business of sharks, he’s definitely someone I don’t mind swimming with!”
this his third tour with her. “The SD7 is my desk of choice. Because it has so much flexibility, I can do pretty much anything I need to do on this and have almost no limitations on what I need. That seems to work out. It’s got enough input and output, I can route anything wherever I need to route it. It just does the job. It sounds great on top of that. It’s very robust, yeah. Very robust, when you’re doing this for such a long time, you need to find something robust. It’s got to keep up with everything else. For Gaga it’s more of a full mix, I would say, she kind of gets everything. Of course, she has to hear herself on top of everything and make sure she can still hear it all, so there’s a balance you have to find between all that. That goes for everybody else.” Also working out of monitor world is Daniel Bluhm, an RF Tech with a decent supply of Jammy Dodger biscuits. Working closely with Morales and managing 45 channels of RF daily, he told TPi: “We’re using Sennheiser 3732 wireless receivers mainly, and her Shure PSM 1000 in-ears and that combination is working out great.”
MONITOR WORLD Ramon Morales, Monitor Engineer has worked for Lady Gaga for the last four years, making
RIGGING As always, the rigging crew is first in the venue on a morning. Mike Farese, Head Rigger
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explained their routine: “We come in and mark the floor at about 7am and then we figure out our bridles for the different venues. Once we unload the trucks, we build the steel, hang the motors and run the gear, checking everything is in perfect working order. We’re using 128 Columbus McKinnon one and two tonne motors; they’re what I really like to use.” The tour runs an average of 50 tonnes in rigging weight, depending on the size of the venue and its needs. Truss is a standard package from lighting vendor PRG. Continued Farese: “This show works really well, it comes down and goes into the carts easily, which is very useful for us. ”The rigging crew is completed by Danny Machado, Rick Wilmot and Kenny ‘Skippy’ Ruhman. “This has been a great experience for me, I like it out here; we have a really nice team who work great together.” CATERING Backstage in the foodie hub of Birmingham’s NIA, the Eat To The Beat (ETTB) catering crew have made the arena kitchen into a scene from a busy family home; there’s a hum of friendly chattering, a hug a minute atmosphere and plates of tour grub being dished out to every kind of appetite. Susanne Howe, Operations Manager for ETTB and Susanne Power, Event
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
Below: Lighting Director, Whitney Hoverston; The rigging dept, led by Mike Farese; Some of Lady Gaga’s dancers backstage in warm up mode.
Manager, both of whom we managed to grab for a quick chat before the busy dinner service ensued, lead the company’s catering crew. Said Power: “We feed 150 by the time it comes to the evening meal, so it starts out with a basic crew of 80 in the morning and then it goes up during the day as the dancers and band arrive, and then it’s the full production crew by dinner at 5.30pm. “We do a choice of everything so there’s a healthy option for every meal time, but there’s also the stodgy option; we’re more like a moving restaurant in that respect. Tonight we have grilled chicken with brown rice and kale as
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the healthy option and chicken breast of chicken stuffed with mozzarella, wrapped in Parma ham with roast potatoes,” she noted. For the non meat-eaters, there is smoked haddock Florentine and a vegetarian option of caramelised onion tart and a selection of vegetables and side dishes. Deserts include hot and cold options and a plethora of fresh fruit. We have a few vegans and gluten-free and lactose-free dietary requirements but there have been no issues with diets. They’re a really nice, laid back group on this tour; relaxed and happy. “It’s been a good run throughout Europe but the UK is always easier for us produce-wise. It’s
much faster to get specialist Asian ingredients for example.” Howe added: “We’ve been looking after Lady Gaga tours for some years now in Europe and the UK but as we’ve also been to the US, Singapore and Hong Kong with them. We’ve travelled a lot with them and we know it’s a really fluid operation from the top down.” LOGISTICS To quite literally get the show on the road, a team of logistic experts were drafted in. Sound Moves provided freighting for the tour throughout its duration.
www.dbaudio.com
From. To.
Spanning from performing arts to conferences, religious events and live shows, a Series which can do everything in flexible solutions: whether configured as stand alone systems, distributed point sources, or medium scale line arrays. From. To. In the very best sense: the d&b Y-Series.
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Lady Gaga
Below: Pyrotek utilised laser technology in the design, operated by Pangolin software.
“It was a pleasure to be working again with [Road Manager] Philip ‘Ky’ Cabot and Jason Danter and continuing the working relationship we’ve built up since 2009 when we supplied Lady Gaga’s very first tour bus. This time we also worked with production staff Alicia Geist and MaryJo Spillane,” said Phoenix Bussing’s Andy Gray. “For this tour we supplied 11 double decker sleeper buses: six for the crew, two for the band and dancers and three for the artist party, one of which was in artist configuration with a king size bed in its own suite.” TPi Award winner Phoenix worked closely with Ky and Danter to make sure that drivers hours didn’t interfere with any of the journeys and therefore supplied second drivers wherever needed to cover legal breaks and longer shifts. “Some of the drivers we supplied have worked on Lady Gaga tours before including the lead driver Chris Moulson who organised the crew drivers and dealt with Jason and Alicia for the production requirements on a daily basis. Lady Gaga’s bus driver, Carl Mackenzie, has driven her bus personally for the last three tours so has a great understanding of how the ‘A Party’ rolls while on tour. This makes life easier for road and production management, as they can rely on the drivers to get the job done professionally,” he said. 36
Fly by Nite supplied the production logistics with a fleet of 26 Megacube arctic trucks. The company started working with the artist in early 2009 before the mega fame of Just Dance hit the charts, beginning with promo runs in London and other European capital cities with a single arctic truck. This relationship carried on when the singer needed almost 40 trucks at the height of the Monsters Ball tour (a five storey castle for a set will do that!). For the ARTPOP tour, Fly By Nite provided 26 mega cubes production trucks and a smaller truck for luggage transportation. Said Fly By Nite’s Matt Jackson: “We’ve worked with Lady Gaga for a good few years now, and it’s always a big production. The point is that everybody knows their roles and each of those roles plays an important part in the tour.” The lead driver was Paul Brooks, with Assistant Lead Jim Stewart, both of whom have also worked with the production since the start of Gaga’s touring career. GAGA, OOH LA LA! Speaking to the crew involved, it’s easy to see how an artist’s vision can be seamlessly transitioned with the minimal of fuss on a global scale like this. There’s a consistent state of practicality and technical know-how, working
alongside some of the most creative and innovative minds in the industry. When artRave: The ARTPOP Ball played its last show in Paris in late November 2014 after a seven month run across the world, almost a million fans had been to see the arena-sized production in support of the singer’s third studio album, ARTPOP. Boasting revenue figures of around $83m USD, the tour was deemed a success from continent to continent with both the fans and the touring crew who enabled it to happen safely. TPi Photos: Sarah Rushton-Read and Jade Dannielle Martin http://ladygaga.co.uk www.leroybennett.com www.8thdaysound.com http://jetsets.com www.taittowers.com, http://pyrotekfx.com www.airworksinflatables.com www.prg.com www.solotech.com www.phoenix-bussing.co.uk www.flybynite.co.uk www.soundmoves.com www.eattothebeat.com www.appointmentgroup.com
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
LINKIN PARK PERFORM THE HUNTING PARTY TOUR US NU-METAL MEGA-STARS LINKIN PARK RECENTLY RETURNED TO HEAD-BANGING BASICS WITH THE BAND’S SOLD OUT EUROPEAN TOUR, THE HUNTING PARTY. A CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT THE RELEASE OF THE BAND’S LATEST ALBUM OF THE SAME NAME, THE TOURING SHOW’S LOOK AND SOUND IS VISCERAL, TEXTURAL AND DEFIANT. SARAH RUSHTON-READ REPORTS FROM A VERY SWEATY MOSH PIT AT THE O2 ARENA, LONDON... The epitome of arena rock, Linkin Park’s latest tour sees sharply angled semi-transparent screens deliver layer upon layer of dynamic content that effortlessly mixes pre-recorded video with live cameras. As the screens move up and down, sometimes revealing and sometimes masking band members on plinths, they transmit vibrant, fast moving curtains of sharp image and light. Video colludes with stark, edgy angular beams that combine to deliver everything from stinging explosions of stage-wide blinders to intimate low-lit tableaus, masterfully echoing Linkin Park’s richly layered sound, packed as ever with bassy synth-scapes, breakneck drumming, aggressive, fast-fingered guitar riffs and deliciously confrontational lyrics. 38
VISUALS A key element of the show design, which is based on previous designs by Tour Director and Production Manager Jim Digby and Lighting Designer Oli Metcalfe, is the visuals. Video Director and Content Producer Brandon Parvini of LA based Ghost Town Media worked closely with Linkin Park’s DJ and creative director Joseph Hahn on the initial concept, pre-visualisation and mood boards. Parvini, who is also responsible for Linkin Park’s promotional music videos, elaborates: “We worked alongside Joe for about four months solid, rebuilding the show from the ground up, developing the overall look and feel right up to defining the mood and tone for the lighting. From there we developed 18 unique pieces of video content, at times pulling assets and video
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Opposite: PRG Supplied the tour’s incredible hanging video elements. Singer Chester Bennington with his Sennheiser e865 microphone. Below: Monitor Engineer, Kevin ‘Tater’ McCathy in front of his Sound Image-supplied DiGiCo SD7 console.
clips from some of the bands more recent music videos and at others generating the visuals from scratch.” Parvini and Hahn decided they wanted to abandon the mini music video style and take a more environmentally reflective approach treating the stage as a character. “Many of the fans have seen Linkin Park a number of times, so we wanted to bring a fresh look yet still be recognisable,” explained Parvini. “The band went to great pains to re-imagine their set list, creating medleys of songs where the music runs constantly. We wanted to maintain that
momentum with the content.” During this development period Michael Fullman and Vartan Tchekmedyian of VT Pro Design came on the scene and the role of Parvini and the team from Ghost Town shifted to that of transition team. “We ensured they had all the assets they required to realise Joe’s creative goal.” VT Pro then took over the lighting redesign and re-imagined the live video content styles and executions for the show. Fullman then engaged lighting designer and programmer, Scott Chmielewski of DMDS7UDIOS, to assist
in the realisation and together they launched a re-energised version of the visual elements, drawing from a fresh non-rock-and-roll perspective. “Our goal was to create a visual story arc that evolved throughout the performance, allowing each element to breathe as the show progressed,” explained Fullman. “Video content, staging and lighting all work seamlessly together and help to enhance the energy of the band and push that energy out to the audience.” Built around three on-stage platforms, (TAIT
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Below: TAIT Towers built the three on stage platforms of epic proportions; Tom Robb and Seth Fromberg, venue security; Four Martin Professional MAC Vipers positioned close to the stage were used as followspots, giving a dramatic theatrical feel to the show.
Towers created the stage itself) the video is a three-dimensional element that at times fully encapsulates band members, boxing them in with semi-transparent video screens and at others sits at varying heights above the stage. These carry a combination of content from digitally treated I-MAG to pre-recorded video. Digby, along with Video Director Skip Twitchell and Hahn, specified PRG Nocturne’s V-Thru. With 66% transparency, the screen
‘Spikey’ Harvey. “Joe was fascinated by the transparency, so we put together this cube design with a rear and front surface, which surrounds Joe, the drum riser and an area in the middle of the stage. By manipulating content on the front and back, it can generate some fantastic 3D looks and effects.” PRG Nocturne also provided four Ikegami (manned) cameras, which shoot in standard definition but are processed as 16:9. There are
“Forming the backbone of the multi look generating lighting design are numerous arrays of Martin Professional MAC Vipers, Clay Paky Sharpy Washes and the new a.Leda B-EYEs and Solaris Flares.”
offers a plethora of creative options. In addition PRG Nocturne’s V-28 LED video modules were secured to the front fascia of the band’s three risers. “It was Joe Hahn who initially saw the potential,” says Skip Twitchell, who pilots a Panasonic AV-HS400A switcher during the show, alongside Video Engineer Jason 40
six unmanned GoPro cameras covering the risers and each set of instruments, with an extra one [manned] down in the pit to shoot right on top of the crowd when the band is on the barricade. An interesting addition to this arsenal is a ‘K-Cam’ - an Xbox 360 USB connector camera that uses infrared as screen tech Jordan
Goodfellow explained: “We built a programme with Quartz Composer to gain use of the camera outside of the Xbox domain. The programme enables us to control the type of information received, plus its colour and depth.” To handle the extensive HD camera feeds and deliver them to the array of PRG Nocturne V-28 LED screens, VT Pro Design chose and spec’d two Avolites Ai Infinity Servers for redundancy. “Skip Twitchell wanted to use multiple video inputs and mix them live,” explained Chmielewski. “In addition, every instrument that the band plays, including the DJ rig and the guitars, are sending some kind of signal across the system. We use these to trigger content, be it live camera, the unmanned GoPros and the X-Box Kinects or pre-existing media. I can also manipulate those images in real time, add effects and blend them together in layers.” Fullman adds that he specified the Ai media server because of its ability to provide an accurate pre-visualisation solution as well as its ability to quickly and easily map screen formats and provide accurate timecode playback. LIGHTS Lighting brings an added layer of richness, scale, structure and perspective to the video elements of the show. Forming the backbone of the multi
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Below: Chmielewski chose Clay Paky B-EYEs as his ‘workhorse’ fixture. He stated: “They’re currently my favourite fixtures. The lack of moving parts makes them ideal to tour.”
look generating lighting design are numerous arrays of Martin Professional MAC Vipers, Clay Paky Sharpy Washes and the new a.Leda B-EYEs and Solaris Flares. Black Box Music in Germany, where Linkin Park held their technical rehearsals, supplied the kit. Metcalfe’s design, modified for this tour by Fulman and Tchekmedyian, and realised by Chmielewski, was built around the number three - three risers, three moving screens. “Our
Sharpys were then used in banks of three for over audience aerial effects: “We put in two trusses up-stage that follow the prism look of the screens and force a strong sense of perspective,” explained Chmielewski. Clay Paky B-EYES were the workhorse fixture and although Chmielewski had the capability to pixel map these he chose not to, using them in individual pixel mode instead. “They’re currently my favourite fixtures. The lack of moving parts
“The energy of the show is in the crowd. If you can get that going the band will feed on it. It’s served on a silver platter with this band...” Lighting Operator, William Anglin.
aim was to create contrast, with strong key lighting from the down stage truss,” explained Chmielewski. “We hung four Mac vipers and disabled the pan and tilt to use them as followspots, still controlling the fixtures output parameters from FOH.” The close proximity, dramatic effects and the steep angle of the spots bring a stark, edgy - almost theatrical look to the stage. 42
makes them ideal to tour.” On the road with the tour is Lighting Operator William Anglin: “Linkin Park’s set has a touch of EDM, Heavy Metal, Rap and even theatrical points,” said Anglin. “I love some of the avant-garde lighting shows I’ve seen but the important thing with Linkin Park is feeding on the crowd energy. The energy of the show is in the crowd. If you can get that going the band
will feed on it. It’s served on a silver platter with this band. So, while it’s important to be artsy and moody at points, we don’t forget the basics.” RIGGING AND AUTOMATION Ensuring the moving elements fly without issue is automation and rigging specialist Chris Wilson: “When this campaign began in the US we used a Kinesys system. I’m a huge fan. When we moved into Europe we used the new generation of Cyberhoists. They’re amazing, really fast and really precise but there were challenges in changing hoist systems half way through a tour. We went quite wide with the hang so if we’re off just a fraction all the screens could be cock eyed or not fit together or go up and down. Luckily for me there were only 12 points where this could happen.” And when it came to safety, Wilson worked closely with Tour Director and Production Manager, Jim Digby: “Because of his close involvement with the Safety Alliance, Jim is a great support and he really trusts my judgement. This takes a lot of the personal burden away. If I see something that’s unsafe Jim always has my back. For example, if I turn in a rigging plot and the venue says we’re too heavy then it doesn’t escalate into an argument, we trust the building and we make another plan.”
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Below: Ken ‘Pooch’ Van Druten, FOH Engineer; Paul White Monitor Assistant Wireless; All work and no play makes Seth Fromberg, Venue Security pull interesting faces; The dramatic look of the show gave the audience a sense of live rock ‘n’ roll theatre.
SOUND ADVICE Ken ‘Pooch’ Van Druten has been with Linkin Park for eight years and works intimately with the band. “We spent many hours in collaboration during extensive rehearsals for the tour. I have creative input into how the band should sound live and that is very satisfying.” The primary goal for Pooch is to deliver a record quality mix that has maximum impact in the live environment. To that end Pooch
They also wanted to avoid the split and share the head amps.” Pooch is a keen observer of developments in pro-audio technology: “We want to achieve the best sound possible so I spend a lot of time keeping up with the industry. I go to trade shows like Musik Messe, NAMM, and AES on behalf of the band, looking for what is new and upcoming, so that on the next cycle we can implement it.”
“I go to trade shows like Musik Messe, NAMM, and AES on behalf of the band, looking for what is new and upcoming, so that on the next cycle we can implement it...” Ken ‘Pooch’ Van Druten, FOH Engineer
works closely with system technician Victor Wagner: “We’re using a JBL PVTX A, which is a system I’ve toured with before,” said Wagner. “In addition Pooch and Monitor Engineer Kevin ‘Tater’ McCarthy were moving over to DiGiCo consoles for the first time, and because I specialise in setting up DiGiCo networks I was asked to join the team. Pooch is a big Waves fan so they needed a lot of inputs and outputs. 44
All equipment is supplied to the tour by the touring division of US company Sound Image. “We’re using JBL’s VTX 25 PA, the latest, and in my opinion the best, PA that JBL has to offer. It’s amazing technology. There’s a new mid / high driver in the D2 Box. No other manufacturer has this driver; every other PA on the planet has some sort of high-end harmonic distortion or resonance that colours the top end. JBL’s driver
that is flat all the way out, and subsequently delivers the highest quality sound.” In addition, Crown Audio I-Tech amps have been specified, bringing plenty of headroom and keeping things super clear. “The VTX system is wired in performance mode, where the V25 are configured in two box circuits with amps circuits running at 8 Ohms, explained Wagner. “I had one to one ratio flown subs behind the V25’s. I found that with the flown subs crossed over 80 hertz, low frequency energy sums with the waveform coming off the V25’s, when they are time aligned properly it all comes together to gives plenty of lowmid warmth. For some people that’s hard to manage, however Pooch is really sensitive to that frequency range because of his studio background. There’s a certain tonal quality from 1- 3k that JBL compression drivers have. It’s kind of throaty and particularly suits distorted guitars, especially when you push the system.” Pooch is also determined that the best mix possible reaches every seat. “We want every person to walk out of a Linkin Park gig talking about how it was the best sounding show that they’ve been too. Some of the tools I use to achieve that are the Waves plug-in products, alongside the DiGiCo SD7 console. I believe the combination of the two things is the best front end mixing solution out there, both sonically,
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
Below: Sound Image supplied a JBL VTX 25 PA system for a consistent sound in the arena; Jim Digby, Director of Touring; The show view from FOH; Will Anglin, Lighting Director.
and in ease of use.” The toughest thing for Pooch, from a mix standpoint, is that Linkin Park has a large repertoire. “The band have been going a long time so the songs from their first few records are mostly guitar, bass and drums recordings. However the later records contain vast
Both Pooch and Tater wanted to get a 96k 24-bit resolution on all their inputs and outputs: “DiGiCo had the only system in place to do this, concludes Wagner. “We also wanted to have a high quality bit-rate for the recording so we can cut it out to a master. The Lake LM 44’s for matrix splitting and analogue fall back and
“All staff members are encouraged to proactively engage in their role and to present ideas to improve practice at every turn...” Director of touring and Production Manager, Jim Digby.
soundscapes of synths and low-end information. Marrying those two worlds is the hardest thing I’ve to overcome. They have a tendency to play an old song right next to a newer song, and then back to an older song. Making sure that the old songs don’t sound ‘thin’ after a more recent, lush sounding song can be challenging. Again, the Waves SoundGrid and DiGiCo SD7 play a gigantic role in that. 46
Crown amps, all run at 24 / 96. We’re looking at an entire network where there’s no sample rate conversion, no fidelity loss or colouration and minimal latency from input to output.” And on monitors Kevin ‘Tater’ McCarthy also recently switched to the DiGiCo SD7 and is delighted with the outcome: “It sounds amazing. The SD7 has all the features we need to meet the bands requirements: 128 inputs, 48
outputs, Waves enabled, 96k, and four MADI streams.” With Linkin Park, Tater has a lot going on: “We have 10 stereo mixes of In Ear Monitors (IEMs) for the five band members with three Matrix Mixes, Cue and Guest. For monitor wedges I have 10 mixes including stereo side fills, four pairs downstage, one upstage mix, a drum seat shaker, and a cue wedge.” In terms of how the band like their mix, Tater said: “Pretty much all the band members that are on IEMs like a full band mix with their vocals and or instrument on top. Guitar player Brad wears foam earplugs and gun muffs over the top. All the traditional speakers are really for him. He doesn’t like a loud stage, but he does want it really clear. I follow him wherever he is for all his cues.” Tater uses Shure PSM1000 transmitters and receivers with a Professional Wireless GX-8 combiner and a Wireless First Fractual antenna. IEMs are from JH Audio. JH-16’s (Chester and Mike) JH Audio Roxanne’s for the rest of the band. Adamson SX-18s for side fills and Adamson M12’s for the wedges, with Lab Gruppen PLM10000 amps. “I love the Shure IEM gear because I think it sounds good, and the Axient Spectrum Manager really makes it easy to do the frequency coordination,” he
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Linkin Park
explained. “Plus the rechargeable batteries are awesome. Similar thing goes for the Adamson gear. The wedges are small, powerful, light, and very easy to hang on our grill decks under the stage.” Singer Chester Bennington uses a Sennheiser e865 mic for his main vocal duties. POSITIVE PRODUCTION Long-term Director of touring and Production Manager, Jim Digby, coolly governs back stage, production and logistics. “The band and the organisation behind it are a family-first enterprise,” stressed Digby. “They recognise that music touring is a business and requires a ‘home team’ that can provide stability.” This positive viewpoint extends to the vendors, suppliers and staff Digby chooses to work with: “Over the last decade we’ve had the pleasure of steadily building and finetuning our team. First and foremost we chose to work with people and vendors on the basis of safe practices, their ability to provide highly competent and functioning crew alongside well cared for equipment. Lastly, we strive to find enthusiastic partners in everything we do.” There’s no denying that this team is packed with boundless energy and enthusiasm: “As their leader, I can confidently say that no one on this team is micromanaged,” concluded
Digby. “All staff members are encouraged to proactively engage in their role and to present ideas to improve practice at every turn.” Linkin Park are a long-standing customer of event logistics specialists, EFM. The company handles all the band’s international shipping for both tours and the festival season. When the band were in Europe for the summer Festival run in May 2014, EFM handled their three 40ft containers from Los Angeles and a 40ft container from New York, in addition to the airfreight of their audio gear for the A rig. Linkin Park have three touring systems but the audio components are essential to all three of their rigs, so often have to be air freighted at short notice to wherever the next touring leg may be. On arrival in UK, the EFM crew split two rigs, the A rig went to Lisbon, Portugal, once the video had been pre-programmed at LH2 Studios, ready for the rest of their European shows, whilst the B rig went straight to Moscow. “Timeframes were extremely tight, so everyone had to work around the clock to get the equipment customs cleared and onto the waiting tour trucks. At the end of the Summer, everything was shipped back to LA and Miami, ready for the US tour, before returning once again back to Europe for the band’s autumn arena tour which began in October, following
pre-production work at Black Box Music in Berlin, also joined by an urgent airfreight shipment from Brazil,” explained EFM’s Lisa Ryan. Once the European tour ended, in November, EFM loaded out overnight straight from the final show at the 02 Arena into six 40ft containers which were shipped back to Miami again for the beginning of another US tour this month. Other suppliers include TransAm UK for trucking duties, Beat The Street for tour crew and artist bussing. Linkin Park continues to tour in the USA until 14th February 2015 and will be returning to Europe for festival dates throughout the summer. TPi
Photos: http://thefifthestate.co.uk and Scott Davies www.linkinpark.com www.nocturneproductions.com www.sound-image.com www.black-box-music.de www.beatthestreet.net www.transamtruck.com www.taittowers.com www.efm-worldwide.com
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
KASABIAN’S 48:13 LIVE RENOWNED FOR THEIR ROLLERCOASTER ANTHEMIC BUILDS AND GUT TINGLING DROPS, KASABIAN AND THEIR CREATIVE TEAM WORK THEIR AUDIENCE HARD AND FAST FROM THE MOMENT THE FIRST NOTE IS STRUCK TO THE FINAL FADE TO BLACK. SARAH RUSHTON-READ CAUGHT UP WITH THE BRITISH BAND’S EYEBALL TREMBLING UK TOUR. Pumped up and hedonistic, Kasabian’s atmospherically designed, psychedelic show is peppered with a twist of digital rave and packed with stroboscopic sci-fi visuals. This optical banquet serves up a compelling backdrop to the bands sometimes melodic, often banging but invariably euphoric catalogue of songs. Phew! Celebrating the release of their fifth Album, 48:13, Kasabian’s show is as much of an artistic departure for the design team as Kasabian’s latest album is musically for the band. Show Designer Nick Gray of Renegade Design brings a sense of visual purpose to the mix, skillfully grafting throbbing strobes and piercing lasers to layer upon layer of dazzling, dynamic, fast paced, flickering light. The looks morph from murky to super bright and effortlessly sync with eye popping 3D visuals that bloom from the stage wide video screen. Despite such visceral imagery, at no point is the band’s relationship with its audience upstaged or compromised. Instead the super48
real, 3D mindbender skillfully crystalises what Kasabian does best live on stage and transposes it, in various states of intoxicating distortion, to the screen behind. Gray has worked with Kasabian for eight years; his creative relationship with singer and lead guitarist, Sergio Pizzorno, is longstanding. The men share similar artistic tastes, which has enabled them to make a ‘brave’ departure when it comes to the look of the bands most recent UK and European tour. For boundary pushing Gray, creative departures are part for the course: “We wanted to build the design around the video element,” explained Gray. “Our aspiration was to create visuals that had a tangible connection to the band, the music they play and how they behave on stage.” VISUAL CREATIVITY To that end the video content is constructed around live action in real time. Gray assembled a creative team that included Sam Pattinson
from visual design and production specialists Treatment; creative technologist Matt Swoboda, who recently developed a new stand alone software called Demolition that can plug in to the D3 Media Server and Damian Hale, creative content designer and developer. Between them they capture the live action on stage, transform it graphically and transfer it to the big screen. Swoboda explained: “I used software previously applied in gaming technology and created a live rendering plugin, which can work with the d3 Technologies media server. At a basic level Demolition enables designers to create effects around real time video content captured by any kind of camera. Previously the option was to statically build a look in After Effects and then render that video out. That took time and was obviously impossible to change on the fly.” Content Designer Hale continued: “I worked alongside Nick Gray to create the content layers and effects parameters, which we used in conjunction with Xbox Kinect 3D Cameras to
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Opposite and Below: The tour’s spectacular visual design was a blend of work from the great minds behind Renegade and Treatment Studios.
distort the live filmed image.” Inspired by the 2009 Gaspar Noé film Enter The Void, the imagery reflects and echoes the sound, mood and atmosphere of Kasabian’s music in a 3D graphic style, sometimes sharp, other times gritty and abstract. “Our aim was to encapsulate raw performance, and emulate the sound of the music graphically,” explained Gray. “The video is textural, it’s certainly not about telling a four minute story for each song on an oversized telly!” This was initially challenging for Hale: “As an illustrator and filmmaker the Demolition and live action approach was out of my comfort zone. My method is generally more traditional and linear. I’d worked with Matt (Swoboda) on Ed Sheeran in the summer, and we’d used Demolition then. It certainly got the creative juices flowing.” As far as Treatment’s Sam Pattinson is concerned the exodus from the content he’s used to commissioning was really exciting.
“There will always be a need for linear content. We’ve worked with a lot of artists on many unique productions and we’re constantly inviting new people to work with us, so our output is varied. Having this new tool has opened up numerous possibilities. Ed (Sheeran) and Kasabian are the first taste of that. It’s exhilarating to see designers question the accepted format of shows and the relationship bands have with audiences. We need to encourage that, try new things and keep our work fresh and interesting.” And there are many benefits as Swoboda details: “The real time aspect is good for the show and for the production process. It gives us much more scope to react quickly and we can make edits very late in the day. We don’t have to wait 12 hours for everything to be rerendered or to transfer files.” The team uses eight unmanned, Xbox infrared Kinect cameras strategically positioned on the stage filming the band. The range of each camera is minimal and the depth of field
limited. “It took time to make it a foolproof,” explains Gray. “If the band don’t stand in front of the right camera at the right time then there will be nothing meaningful on the screen! Obviously we have a choice of eight cameras so we can cut between them.” For Hale and the rest of the team, watching Kasabian see themselves for the first time on screen and play up to it was immensely satisfying. “That was a great feeling and actually it’s those unpredictable moments, especially in the first few shows that help fine-tune the ideas. As the tour progressed everyone worked out how to get the best out of it.” Of course someone has to make all this happen on the night so in a dark corner behind the huge 22.2-metre by nine-metre high WinVision 9mm pitch screen sits a relaxed Gilbert Roper. “I’m in charge of the d3 Technologies media server. My job is to cut from one camera to the other to ensure we always have the best shots on screen. The Demolition DFX template layer is basically
visit us at the Panasonic stand. 1-P20, ISE, 10-12 Feb, RAI Amsterdam. www.d3technologies.com
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Below: A DiGiCo SD7 console was the desk of choice for FOH; Kasabian toured in support of their fifth studio album; Renegade and Chaos Visual supplied the tour’s visual equipment.
another content layer but instead of using a bit map or video its source is a DFX file. This has key farmable parameters from which we can create the output image. This means we can adjust things like the resolution, rotate and change parameters.” Content is triggered using a mix of timecode from the band and Roper cutting between the Kinect cameras live. The whole video package including a d3, four camera four channel PPU and screens plus the full stage width WinVision 9mm screen was supplied by Chaos Visual Productions, which is now part of the PRG Group. But it doesn’t end there; either side of the stage there is a dynamic I-MAG output. In charge video director Paul Eggerton (Eggy): “We have four manned Sony HXC-100’s cameras, two in the pit - on track and dolly - and two long lenses at FOH. It’s pretty lively and there are a lot of cuts from camera to camera to keep lead singer Tom (Meighan) in shot. We also have a number of unmanned Bradley Engineering robo cameras for drums, a reverse view of Serge and 50
the string quartet. Screen projection is provided by two 26k Barco projectors.” All this visual wizardry is expertly supported by Nick Gray’s hip hop / rave style lighting and laser design, which intertwines with the images, helping them to pop right out of the screen. Gray is renowned for his precision programmed lighting, which can feature up to 150 cues in a single song. Lighting runs to time code in beat-perfect synchronicity with the musical builds and drops. Like the band Gray often leaves you wanting more... and then wham bam thank you mam, gives it to you, smack in the face, when you least expect it! LIGHTING AND LASERS Central to Nick’s creative team was Lighting Operator Rob Gawler who programmed and ran everything from a High End Systems Hog 4 console. “I cannot pretend that I could have done any of this without Rob,” said Gray. “He spent hours programming and fine tuning this show - he’s a very patient and talented man!”
Although the lighting budget had to be paired back to accommodate the interactive video it didn’t stop Gray including 25 ER Productions RGB BEAMBURST Lasers along with three TRIPAN RGB OPSL systems - one positioned on the upstage centre lighting pod and two flown upstage for downstage looks. “I wanted a multi-layered effect, everything had to balance out. It’s about careful choice of fixtures. I work with Julian Lavender at Neg Earth and always include Clay Paky in my rig. This time Sharpys and Shapy Washes. They’re compact, robust but at the same time they pack a punch and offer plenty of tools for effects plus lots of strong colours. In particular I used the Sharpy Wash 330’s stunning texturising effects to add 3D effect to the overall look.” Gray’s rig comprises three 10ft trusses upstage carrying Clay Paky Sharpy Beams and Sharpy Washes and vertically mounted to each are three scaff pipes with Atomic Colors and 2-lite Moles. Two side towers loaded with Martin Professional MAC Viper Wash DXs were used for punchy low-level cross light and packed
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Below: Adam Smith of Britannia Row; Paul ‘Eggy’ Eggerton.
with even more blinders and strobes. On the advance truss 12 Viper Wash DXs provided key lighting - chosen for their crisp optics and smooth shuttering system - alongside Martin Atomic Colors, generic 2-lites and Sharpys. Overhead three trusses were rigged with MAC Quantum LED washes, Sharpys and Sharpy Washes, more Atomic Colors plus an array of of 2-lites. A total of nine ER Productions’ RGB Beamburst were positioned on the top of each of the upstage truss pods and 12 on the
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upstage truss with four on the downstage left and right towers. For the flown units ER Productions manufactured Chrome Plates positioned on the downstage edge for a bounce reflection. The result was a parallel structure of laser beams that encapsulated the band. Operator Nick Ross used a High End Systems Road Hog 4 to control the BEAMBURST: “The main Laser track of the show was ‘Treat’ and Nick wanted maximum impact from the lasers so he dropped back on lighting levels. We’re using Pangolin Beyond for control, which
offers flexibility when it comes to programming palettes. Of course this would all be wasted if the right atmospherics were not generated so we have four Viper delux units plus two Unique Hazers.” THE SOUND DIMENSION The atmosphere adds dimension to the addictive catalogue of Kasabian songs, which deftly unite electro-synth, string quartets, pounding guitar and roaring vocals with a string of unearthly transitional tracks. Keeping the sound big with a
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Below: Paul Ramsay, FOH Engineer; Monitor Engineer, yogi; Damien Hale Content Designer; Kasabian frontman, Tom Meighan with his Shure Beta 58A vocal microphone; The band’s Sergio Pizzorno enjoying the show.
banging heartbeat, is FOH Engineer Paul Ramsay who has toured with Kasabian for three years. “They’re a great live act musically to mix and the crowd is the best I’ve experienced anywhere,” he said. Ramsay’s console of choice is a DiGiCo SD7, which spends most of its time protected under its own beer resistant mackintosh. Ramsay says the band give him the freedom to mix the show as he sees fit. “I’m running 56 channels from stage. The drummer has a regular five-piece kit with an electronic pad, there’s a bass player, two guitarists, keyboardist and Tom singing with most of the rest of band doing backing vocals. There’s also a trumpet player and a string quartet for certain songs.” Ramsay is a long time DiGiCo user and said: “I choose to use the console for its fantastic sound, the most user-friendly surface of all digital consoles, plus the backup support is phenomenal. It’s common for beer to get thrown around during the show and one night a full pint hit the console. The next day the guys at DiGiCo had a new fader bank sent out to us with Keith from Britannia Row at the venue to fit and then clean the console. We were back on track before we knew we were off it!” In preparation for this tour Ramsay says his first port of call is to listen to the album over and over identifying the effects used for each 54
song. “I speak to Serge and ask him if there’s anything extra he wants me to add on top of what’s on the album and then I spend a lot of time with virtual soundcheck setting up snapshots for each song. Ramsay uses virtually no external outboard: “I’m using the full waves package with a pair of Soundgrid Extreme servers on the SD7. The only external outboard is an Avalon VT737SP on the vocal. I’ve been really happy using the Waves plug ins to emulate the much larger external outboard package that I previously carried, which comprised fragile valve gear and high end reverbs.” To replicate the effects on the albums Ramsay wanted to get some particular distortions on key phrases on the vocals, telephone effects, extreme modulation and delays. “I’ve been using the Waves REDD .17 to get a nice subtle distortion on the vocal when required and this, blended with the Q10 EQ for telephone effect, works well. Then using the macros on the desk I drop these effects in and out as required with snapshots changing the parameters song to song. “My choice of PA is the fantastic L-Acoustics K1 from Britannia Row Productions. Today we have 14 K1 on the main hang with three K2 as downfill. Side hangs comprise 10 K1 and five K2, and there are also eight K2 for the 240-degree
hangs. Flown behind the main hang are eight K1SB subwoofer, which gives us a really nice punchy sub. On the ground we’ve got 24 SB28 subs and eight Kara for lip fills plus ten Arcs for in and out fills used as required depending on the venue. We’re using LA Network Manager and Lake LM44 for system EQ and delay running at 96K AES from the SD7 desk to L-Acoustics’ LA8 amplifiers”. Ramsay’s microphones of choice include a number of Shure, AKG, Royer, Heil, AudioTechnica and Sennheiser models. Singer Tom Meighan uses a Shure Beta 58A vocal microphone. Ramsay’s long time System Tech is Adam Smith from Britannia Row who looks after the prediction for the L-Acoustics system each day. “He does an amazing job with K1 and it always sounds stunning, with myself having to do very little EQ each day.” A loud stage is part of the course for Monitor Engineer Yogi, who is a Kasabian veteran. Relaxed and comfortably positioned on the side of stage he uses the Midas PRO2C for the band and a PRO1 for the string section. “The PRO2 is basically full up with mixes for the band, explained Yogi. “Because the strings aren’t always with us I put them on a separate package. Excluding the strings there are seven in the band. Most are on stereo in ear monitoring
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Below: As the visual content would suggest, all of the band members like their live mix loud and rock ‘n’ roll heavy.
but we also have wedges and side fills so there’s a lot going on.” Yogi says he often knows what each member of the band wants before they do themselves! “They all like it loud and rock ‘n’ roll. They have the choice of IEMs or using the wedges and they tend to use both. We have 10 d&b audiotechnik M2’s along the front of the stage and everyone knows they aren’t quiet!
launched: “I make good use of the POP Groups and the VCAs. To me, the Midas sound is still the best. Both consoles are tiny yet offer an impressive 56 inputs and 27 outputs, I couldn’t ask for much more beyond some more inputs for the strings. The graphic feed set up is great and I can grab it regardless of what I am looking at, I don’t have to go through layer upon layer to find it. For example if I select a mix then the
“I make good use of the POP Groups and the VCAs. To me, the Midas sound is still the best.”
That’s what the band like so that’s what we do.” Past keeping the artists happy and being able to hear himself think Yogi says his biggest challenge is “not getting vibrated off the riser by the sub that’s coming from out front. “Beyond that there aren’t many challenges that remain unresolved when you’ve been working with a band for so long,” he laughed. Yogi has used the Midas PRO Series since it 56
graphic will follow and if I select a wedge feed then the graphic will follow that - fantastic, nothing more to say really!” SMOOTH PRODUCTION COGS Overseeing the whole tour is Production Manager Tyrone Brunton who keeps the cogs of the touring machine well oiled and finely tuned, managing the day-to-day logistics and ensuring
that all the necessary pre-planning is taken care of. However it is clear he trusts his team implicitly to get on with their jobs, in particular head rigger Phil Broad. The band and touring team are kept well fed by Eat to the Beat and are transported from venue to venue by Phoenix Bussing. Production logistics and trucking came via Fly By Nite. 2014 saw Kasabian pack arenas and festivals the world over, motivating its highly charged audiences to remain firmly on their springy toes, hurling beer and keeping the mosh pit boiling throughout. Having staggered out of one of the best nights of the year, my eyballs still pulsating with stroboscopic memories, TPi wonders what next year could possibly bring... TPi Photos: Sarah Rushton-Read http://thefifthestate.co.uk www.kasabian.co.uk www.er-productions.com www.negearth.com www.chaosvisual.com www.prg.com www.britanniarow.com www.renegadedesign.co.uk www.treatmentstudio.com www.flybynite.co.uk www.phoenix-bussing.co.uk www.eattothebeat.com
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mut Zur Freiheit
MUT ZUR FREIHEIT 9 NOVEMBER 2014 MARKED THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL - THE EVENT THAT SAW THE DIVIDED PEOPLE OF BERLIN UNITED FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE WALL WAS HASTILY ASSEMBLED OVERNIGHT IN ATTEMPT TO CURB THE MASS POPULATION EXODUS FROM EAST BERLIN IN AUGUST 1961. IN CELEBRATION OF THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL, A HUGE CONCERT FOR 300,000 PEOPLE WAS REALISED AT THE BRANDENBURGER TOR, HOME TO THOSE ICONIC SCENES OF 1989 WITNESSED ON TELEVISION SCREENS THE WORLD OVER. TPi REPORTS ON THE FITTINGLY MOMENTOUS PRODUCTION NAMED ‘MUT ZUR FREIHEIT’ (COURAGE FOR FREEDOM)... The Brandenburger Tor has certainly been no stranger to hosting large symbolic concerts of the magnitude experienced at the Mut zur Freiheit concert. In 1987, two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, David Bowie played a concert on the western side of the Brandenburger Tor, playing his iconic anthem Heroes - which tells the tale of two lovers separated by the Berlin wall - to hundreds of thousands of fans on both sides of the wall. The concert, which took place as part of Berlin’s 750th birthday celebrations, was deliberately pointed towards the eastern side of the wall, prompting the East German secret police to arrest and imprison thousands of gathering fans. Months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1990 Roger 58
Waters played Pink Floyd’s iconic album The Wall in its entirety, a concert charged with symbolism in the heady months following the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the ensuing years, countless artists have performed at the Brandenburger Tor. With a line up of artists including Peter Gabriel, Udo Lindenberg, and Berlin DJ Paul Kalkbrenner, the 2014 Mut zur Freiheit concert certainly promised to continue on the musical pedigree of the historic location. The production was, fittingly, grandiose. STAGE The stage set up was intricate and multifaceted. Belgian-based Wicreations designed a custom tracking system - built by Stageco - moving
six giant columns of XL Video-supplied LED screen over a whopping 70-metre area. The screen idea was designed by the creative team of Berlin based Mediapool, who designed and coordinated all lighting, video, and pyrotechnics for the event. Headed by Production Manager, Marcus Mechelhoff, the goal was to create an ‘open look’ which would reveal and conceal the Brandenburger Tor with no supporting structure in sight. When in the ‘closed position’ as one large surface area, the Brandenburger Tor was completely concealed, allowing spectators to feast their eyes on the two performance stages built abrest of it. When the LED screens tracked out, they allowed a full view of the neoclassical landmark in all its imposing majesty - which was
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mut Zur Freiheit
Opposite: Belgian-based Wicreations built a one-off moveable stage which could both cover and reveal the Brandenburger Tor. Below: Meyer Sound’s LEO system provided aural power for the celebrations.
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specially lit for the occasion by Björn Hermann. The screens each measured 11-metres high and 4.8-metres wide and weighed 9.2 tonnes, giving a total of 55 tonnes of screen - including its processing equipment - that was required to be moved smoothly into various positions depending on the performances. The bespoke carts that moved the screens were based on WI’s standard WI-Tower base frames and trussing sections. The drives and automation system to power the servo-motors were based on UK manufacturer Kinesys’ Evo system - each motor powering a master drive unit per cart. A second slave drive unit was needed to steer the carts smoothly through the two curved sections of the track and to handle resulting horizontal wind loads on the LED screens. Although Wicreations’ heavy-duty floorbased track system was custom designed for this particular project, the set up is intended for use in the future on other productions, and would indeed be suitable for further events of this magnitude. The track elements were evolved by the combined efforts and resources of Wicreations’ and Stageco’s R&D, and based on standard Layher system lengths for future use and practicality. The maximum speed of
movement for the screens was 300mm per second, with a positional accuracy of 10mm ensured. The carts were moved extremely smoothly and precisely via a Kinesys Vector control system operated for the show by Ross Maynard. LIGHTING The focal point of the entire show was undoubtedly the spectacularly lit Brandenburger Tor - a lankmark also featuring prominently in the annual Berlin Festival of Lights, in which various historic buildings around the city become illuminated and projection mapped. Lighting Designer Björn Hermann was commissioned by Show Director, Sven Sören Beyer of phase7, the Berlin artists company responsible for setting the programme to come up with a fitting lighting concept. “The Brandenburger Tor was the star of the many events happening in Berlin that weekend, and this needed to be emphasised,” said Hermann. “It was especially important for me to make a three dimensional impression, and using LED flood lights, blinders and strobes we could illuminate multiple surfaces and create this effect. Because of the Clay Paky Supersharpy and Mythos fixtures it was possible to illuminate
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mut Zur Freiheit
Below: PRG took care of supplying the historic event with lighting. From Clay Paky to GLP and MA Lighting, no expense was spared for this lavish production.
the Brandenburger Tor from both the sides and the front as well as shining right through the Gate. Thanks to the light weight of these new Clay Paky moving lights, we built 13-metre high free-standing towers behind the gate and rigged them with Supersharpy. When the symbolic ‘fall’ of the wall took place in the show, the sun literally rose behind the Brandenburger Tor!” He continued: “Of course this was a very special event for me, not just because of the international attention, but also as a German and more recently as a Berliner.” Hermann used wysiwyg R33 to design and previsualise lighting concept, which was completed by a further six Robert Juliat Cyrano and two Lancelot follow spots, all controlled via four MA Lighting grandMA2 full-size consoles, in addition to two MA VPU plus MK2 Video Processing Units. The ensuing abundance of light sources ensured that the Brandenburger Tor was washed in vibrant colours, the pillars and architecture of the Brandenburg Gate stood out against the night sky as intense beams of light emanated from varying heights and distances. PRG Germany supplied Hermann with 12 Clay Paky Mythos, 60 x Clay Paky Sharpy, 36 Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 1500, 40 Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash, 32 Philips Vari-Lite VL5 Arc, 32 Philips Vari-Lite VL6c+ fixtures and a whole array of GLP X4, X4 S and X4 XL fixtures for the event. Hermann’s concept also saw five 13-metre high freestanding towers from which the 27 Clay Paky Supersharpys projected a plethora of parallel beams through the historical structure, adding another level to the design 60
and symbolising among other visual evocations the sun rising behind the Gate. “Thanks to the relatively compact size and low weight of the Clay Paky fixtures, we were able to pack the towers with SuperSharpys,” added Hermann. “Their size also meant they were very discrete and couldn’t be seen by the public or the TV cameras, plus their minimal power consumption helped lower our costs.” The fixtures’ range of effects and high output also offered Hermann a great deal for his budgetary constraints. “I used all the features including the CMY mixing, the blur (Freeze Mode) and gobos. However even without all the functions the lamps are perfect as they are.” Hermann - a long-time user of GLP’s evolving impression LED platform - sourced more than 150 GLP fixtures for the show divided into the workhorse X4, the smaller X4 S and newly launched super-sized X4 XL. “Ever since the first impression 90 came onto the market, I have been fascinated by the lamp,” he said. “With the further development of the RZ120 Zoom the possible applications expanded again. And now with the X Series GLP covers all areas of small, medium and large lighting sources. In terms of LED wash light they are among my favourites.” The Mut zur Freiheit concert marked the first time in which Hermann had utilised GLP’s X4 series. He had apparently requested the X4 (19 x 15W high power RGBW LEDs) for evaluation, and as soon as it had tested positively, he specified it for the show, working closely with GLP to complement the fixture with the smaller
X4 S (7 x 15W RGBW LEDs) and X4 XL, the output of which he was particularly keen to experience. “The X Series played an important role in the overall concept; the lamps both read well to camera and yet are completely suitable for use in a live context, delivering a very high light output,” continued Hermann. “Since I illuminated the Brandenburg Gate with LED floodlights I wanted to use the same technique to recreate the design of the stage platforms and walkways, using additional colour mixing - and thereby emphasise the size of the stages.” In view of their compact size, he said, the X4 could be set into the scenic architecture, including the walkways and at the front of the stage area, while due to their high output, the X4 XL fixtures were positioned on the leading edges of the two main stages to produce additional impact. Concluding his GLP selection, Hermann stated: “These lamps completely met my expectations. I like the product design, the light output, the colours and the zoom range… actually everything!” SOUND To provide utmost clarity for the music and speeches at this monumental milestone, the event organisers chose the Meyer Sound LEO large-scale linear reinforcement system. “LEO has a slim profile, yet it has a massive sound and incredible output,” noted Production Manager, Mechelhoff. “It was the perfect tool for every requirement. Speeches were clearly heard everywhere, while rock, pop, and classical music were perfectly reproduced. I received only
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Mut Zur Freiheit
Below: Kinetic Lights assisted in the production of Lichtgrenze, in which 8,000 helium filled balloons were positioned along the route of the former Berlin wall and released at the climax of the concert.
positive feedback about the sound quality from the FOH engineers for very different musical artists.” To cover a crowd spread across a 150-by500-metre area, four arrays of 12 LEO-M line array loudspeakers and 34 1100-LFC lowfrequency control elements were configured. Four delay towers comprised a total of 16 MILO and 16 MICA line array loudspeakers, with 12 UPQ-1P loudspeakers as near fills. 12 MJF-212A stage monitors and 12 CQ-1 and four UPA-1P loudspeakers provided onstage foldback. A Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system with one Galileo AES 616 and four Galileo Callisto 616 array processors supplied system drive and optimisation. Sound system configuration and equipment supply were handled by POOLgroup of Emsdetten, Germany, a full-service production provider that has supported other high-profile events including two German visits by President Obama and a G8 Summit. “With such a massive crowd, LEO’s extraordinary long-throw capability was much appreciated by the production,” said Tim Humpe, Project Manager of POOLgroup. “LEO once again proved to be the ideal solution for a high-caliber multimedia event.” POOLgroup also provided a DiGiCo SD7 and two Soundcraft Vi4 digital mixing consoles, 16 channels of Shure UR4D wireless microphones systems with KSM9 handhelds, and 14 channels of Shure PSM 1000 in-ear monitoring. Audio 62
reinforcement specification for the tender was commissioned by mediapool to Ivo König and Til Schwartz from Berlin’s IT AUDIO, who also served as audio coordinator for the worldwide television broadcast. LICHTGRENZE Arguably the icing on the cake for the evening’s events was Lichtgrenze (Light barrier), which saw 8000 white helium-filled balloons stationed
for the German Language) went so far as to announce the term ‘Lichtgrenze’ its word of 2014. It’s clear, then, the significance of the event for Germany and also the wider world. Hermann concluded: “I would also like to mention the great cooperation with all involved. Companies like mediapool event services for the overall production, phase7 for the show production, PRG as the technical supplier and of course my team. All helped
“This was a very special event for me, not just because of the international attention, but also as a German and more recently as a Berliner...” Lighting Designer, Björn Hermann.
along a 15.3km section of the former route of the Berlin Wall released into the night sky. Berlin-based Kinetic Lights were responsible for creating the installation, which was the brainchild of brothers Christopher und Marc Bauder of WHITEvoid interactive art and design - since named ‘Berliners of the Year’ for their installation by the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper. If this accolade wasn’t enough, the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (Association
deliver an extraordinary piece of work which is truly memorable. Additionally I would like to thank Lightpower (MA Lighting’s distributor in Germany and Austria) as well as MA Lighting themselves for their great support.” TPi Photos: Ralph Larmann and Daniel Büche www.prg.com www.meyersound.com www.kinetic-lights.com
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CLOCKING OFF: Walking for William Below: Steph Dell; William in recovery.
WALKING FOR WILLIAM WHEN STEPH DELL FROM INDUSTRY MARKETING CONSULTANCY SOUND MARKETING DISCOVERED THAT THE SON OF A CHILDHOOD FRIEND HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH AN INOPERABLE BRAIN TUMOUR IT HAD A PROFOUND EFFECT ON HER. SHE TELLS TPi ABOUT A JOURNEY TO RAISE MONEY FOR A BRAVE LITTLE BOY FACING CHILDHOOD CANCER. In early 2010 by the power of social media I rekindled an old friendship with my childhood friend Gemma. Gemma had just had a little boy (William) and I was pregnant with my first child (Beatrice) and she was now living 100 miles away. We kept in touch sharing stories of our little ones and their progress. WILLIAM’S STORY… In October 2013 Gemma noticed some changes in her little boy. William had become unable to use his right hand and the right side of his top lip had drooped slightly. Concerned, his parents took him to A&E. The doctors referred him immediately to St. George’s in London where they undertook an MRI scan. It was there that they received the devastating news that their little boy had a large tumour deep within the thalamus region of his brain and that it was inoperable. William was later diagnosed with a glioma and is currently undertaking 18 months of aggressive chemotherapy. Despite all he is going through, William always has a smile on his face! His treatment is painful and makes him 64
really unwell, often resulting in hospitalisation for complications but he continually amazes his family and friends with his endless positivity and courage (not to mention his infectious smile). It was in the summer of 2014, after seeing a post from Gemma about Williams latest round of chemotherampy that I decided I wanted to do something to help this inspirational little boy. After some thought, I determined that walking to the summit of Snowdon in Wales would be a fitting challenge and the fundraising began. The date was set, October 29 2014, the walking boots were worn in, the practice walks had been completed and I was ready to take on the mountain when disaster struck… On the night before the walk the whole family (husband, daughter, one year old son and I) were struck down with norovirus, which completely wiped us out. I was so disappointed that I was unable to complete the challenge and really didn’t want to let little William down! Feeling deflated I called John, my step father (who was also my walking guide) to confirm that I would be unable to complete the walk. Five minutes later John called me back to tell me that my little
brother had offered to walk in my place. I was overjoyed and hoped all my sponsors would be happy to sponsor him by proxy. At 6am, little Charlie Jones, my 13 year old brother took on Snowdon and walked for William (and for me). He reached the summit in under two hours and between us we raised almost £3,000. The money raised is going to be spent on a trip to Disneyland Paris for William and his little brother Henry once his chemo has finished later this year. William’s story has moved me in so many ways - his incredible resolve, bravery and relentless optimism should serve as a lesson to us all. We are all incredibly proud of my little brother for stepping in and grateful to all of my generous industry colleagues and friends who supported us both. I will be walking to the summit of Snowdon (as promised) in the spring. I am honoured to have been able to help in some small way and hope to organise an additional challenge this year. TPi You can read more about William or donate here: www.pleasehelpwilliam.org
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1/6/15 11:17 AM
ON THE ROAD: Denmark
GREAT DANES TPi’S PATRICK MCCUMISKEY WENT ON THE ROAD IN DENMARK TO DISCOVER THE VIBRANT COMMUNITY OF MANUFACTURERS, DESIGNERS AND RENTAL HOUSES PUTTING THIS LITTLE COUNTRY FIRMLY ON THE LIVE PRODUCTION MAP. THERE MAY HAVE BEEN A BIT OF ØL INVOLVED... “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” said Marcellus to Hamlet in one of the most famous lines ever penned by the Bard. Whatever foul play Shakespeare imagined was going on in Denmark certainly doesn’t bode true of the present. Denmark, quite frankly, couldn’t be any less rotten. The country is a joyous place to visit, and an even better place to live - the city of Copenhagen is often cited as having one of the best living standards in the world. Denmark, a country of a mere 5.5 million inhabitants, punches high above its weight in terms of industrial output. First and foremost, lets not forget this is the country which brought Lego to the world - and what a better place it is for it! Danish design has also put the country firmly on the map in the 20th Century, with its own 66
gorgeous breed of modernism permeating all aspects of design, most notably in furniture and architecture - the Sydney Opera House, designed by Jørn Utzon being one example. Since the 1970s, however, the Danes have really made their mark in industrial design and specialist manufacturing. The live event industry has, of course, added to the proliferation of Danish industry in the past three decades. For this instalment of On The Road, we detail five of Denmark’s most successful companies - namely, Martin Professional, SGM, DPA, Victory Tour Production and Studio Zier - in the live entertainment industry. Ultimately, the efforts of these companies ensure Denmark’s place as a serious player on the world’s stage is guaranteed.
ON THE ROAD: Denmark
www.martin.com
The Knife, supported with Martin fixtures; James Blunt on tour with Martin at the Royal Albert Hall, London; Lars Dige Knudsen, Vice President and David Ravnkilde, Director of Marketing.
Martin Professional’s headquarters in Aarhus, Denmark are nothing short of impressive. Behind the momentous glass fronted façade in the entrance stands an equally monolithic Martin Professional LED wall, offering a glimpse of the company to those driving past on the road outside. Martin’s reputation for high quality, innovative and robust lighting fixtures really does speak for itself. Founded in Aarhus in 1987, the company has been at the forefront of lighting technology for the live entertainment industry ever since - one doesn’t have to look far to find a MAC Aura, Viper or Quantum in the lighting rigs of Lighting Designers on tour all over the world. In a recent turn of events, Martin Professional was acquired by American conglomerate Harman, prompting many questions about the future of the company. On our visit to Martin’s Aarhus headquarters, we were, naturally,
eager to hear what the people at Martin Professional had to say about this latest twist in the Martin story. “Our clients are curious about what the Harman takeover has done to Martin Professional,” said Lars Dige Knudsen, VP & General Manager at Martin Professional. “Changes have been brought in, yes, but it’s quite clear for everyone here that the takeover will ultimately benefit Martin. The most obvious advantage to being a part of the Harman enterprise is the enormous mutual benefit from each other’s resources when it comes to distribution setups, market relations and knowledge.” Indeed, a quick browse through Harman’s entourage of companies presents a wideranging selection of companies, mostly from the install side, from which a pool of expertise and knowledge can be cross-pollinated. “While the ratio of install to rental turnover at Harman is roughly 70:30, at Martin it is more like 30:70 in
favour of rental. Transferring entertainment DNA into other markets, for example into cruise ships and theme parks - and vice versa - will benefit all parties,” said Dige Knudsen. David Ravnkilde, Director of Marketing at Martin Professional, said: “At the end of the day, Martin is all about the relationships we have with people in the industry. We are passionate about our high-quality products, and so are our clients. This isn’t something that anybody wants to change.” Martin’s latest advertising campaign slogan, ‘Products rely on passionate people’ sums up this ethos perfectly. There is certainly a sense of optimism at the Martin HQ about recent events and the prospects for the future. With 50 staff working on R&D, and a whole raft of new products released in the past year (and set to be released in the coming year), the evolution of Martin and its products is an inevitability - and an optimistic one. 67
ON THE ROAD: Denmark
http://sgmlight.com
Peter Johansen with his G-Spot; The brand new SGM HQ in Aarhus.
2015 promises to be an exciting year for SGM, currently celebrating its 40th year in business. To mark this occasion, the company has just moved into its new purposely-built open plan premises in Aarhus, Denmark, housing both state-of-theart production and management facilities. The history of the now Danish company has been colourful to say the least. In 2009, SGM was bought by Italian Group RCF, only to be bought by R&D expert, serial entrepreneur and current owner, Peter Johansen back in 2012. Johansen - the aforementioned former owner and mastermind behind Martin Professional’s development - brought an extensive entourage of investors, staff and expertise with SGM’s relocation to Denmark in 2012, ensuring the company is now poised at the forefront of the lighting industry. Since Johansen’s takeover, the company has been led with a focus very much on innovation and experimentation, developing exclusively LED powered fixtures, which have quickly found an enviable market share. “In terms of our products, this quarter has had special devotion to innovation in every sense of the word. Maintaining our focus on quality assurance to the highest possible level, we are adding to that new product releases, still more qualified with highly competent resources, and 68
we are expanding SGM subsidiary platforms.” SGM’s products are to be found on numerous tours, shows, events and buildings. Perhaps most memorably, in last year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark, over 350 SixPacks were employed to create an LED back wall measuring 110-metres wide by 13-metres high. Arguably SGM’s most successful launch to date, the G-Spot is quite a feat of engineering; offering an LED lamp which delivers a brightness that outperforms most 1500W discharge lamps whilst being fully water, dirt and sand proof. According to one of SGM’s advertisements, the G-Spot is a ‘true multi-environmental and maintenance free LED-moving head’. As Johansen showed us around SGM’s headquarters and factory, this statement proved to be true in every sense of the word. Drawing our attention to a very lonely looking G-Spot in a dark corner of SGM’s R&D laboratories which was swirling around and flashing manically as if possessed, Johansen said: “We’re waiting till it dies. This is the first G-Spot which came off the production line, and it’s been left performing at full function ever since. We’re waiting to see when - and if - it’ll stop working. For our customers, it’s the most thorough test there is.” SGM’s G-range has recently been expanded further with the G-Profile. Continued Johansen: “I have always been a very firm believer in
developing the very best products which do not cannibalise each other. Of course, the same applies to the G-Range. Therefore a G-Spot can be transformed into a G-Profile by a simple interchange of gobo and framing modules (and vice versa) matching the needs of the lighting designer. “Extending the lead of the product line and following in the footsteps of the G-Spot and G-Profiles great technology, I can reveal that we have something very exciting up our sleeves which we will be revealing later in the year…” SGM’s highly qualified distributor network and branded subsidiary companies continues to grow around the world. Concluded Johansen: “Our US activities are currently increasing, and we are currently establishing SGM Inc. in our endeavour to further strengthen our ability to offer further support and service at any time, any place.” In such a short space of time, SGM’s reputation has grown enormously and is without any doubt one of the most respected developers of LED fixtures. Together with Martin Professional, SGM’s contribution to the lighting industry has ensured that Denmark’s presence on the world stage is not just a notable one, but also a very respected one. We speak for everyone, we believe, when we say that we are looking forward to seeing what SGM has in store in the future…
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ON THE ROAD: Denmark
www.dpamicrophones.com
DPA HQ north of Copenhagen; The handmade making process; Jesper Binzer performs with the d:facto microphone.
DPA Microphones builds on the foundation of a strong Danish audio and design tradition. Originating from the audio measurement industry and the extreme precision of Brüel & Kjær, the company has been carrying the torch of audio perfection since 1992. As a result of collaboration with the Danish hearing aid manufacturer Muphone, DPA also claims to produce the world’s best miniature microphones. The company, which employs more than 150 people, is represented by professional audio distributors and dealers in more than 50 countries around the world. In the past five years alone, they have experienced an average annual growth of 25 percent, and, in 2007, were presented with the prestigious King Frederik IX’s award for outstanding contribution to Danish export. “The reason for our success is simple,” said DPA’s CEO, Christian Poulsen: “DPA’s ultimate goal is to provide its customers - whether they are in broadcast, installation, live sound, recording or theatre - with the finest possible microphone solutions for their tasks. We take no shortcuts in our design processes nor make any compromises in our manufacturing, which is all done in Denmark. As a result, our products are globally praised for their 70
exceptional clarity and transparency, superb specifications, supreme reliability and, above all, pure, uncoloured and undistorted sound. “The requirements and the expectations from the professional audio industry are rapidly increasing. Coupled with an incremental increase in the number of very demanding live events, the market for the world’s best microphones is increasing fast. Our mics are the best solution for demanding audio environments. They are more accurate, more isolating, have higher max SPL, and are more stable. We are very proud to set the industry standard and drive the development of high quality microphones and the expectations of end users, and we will continue to do so,” he added. DPA has a great presence within Denmark, which is evident with the 70+ microphones in use at the Copenhagen Opera Festival. Also, the Danish staging of Disney’s Aladdin were performed to perfection, using only DPA Mics - a decision that was subsequently mirrored on Broadway. Internationally there have been many instances of high profile artists and performers endorsing DPA including Sting, Ellie Goulding, Royal Blood, Bombay Bicycle Club, Level 42 and Metallica. Indeed, last summer Metallica played a gig in a former Danish prison - Horsens Prison - and used
DPA microphones to amplify the sound of Lars Ulrik’s drums. Even the Dalai Lama is using DPA’s d:fine Headset mic. DPA’s company ethos is clear: To provide the world’s best microphones to the world’s most demanding performers. Continued Poulsen: “Our plans for the future are to drive the development of extremely good mics for critical use. We always challenge the status quo with more accurate and more amazing mics. Especially in the area of miniature mics, where we will soon be announcing groundbreaking news.”
+ THE NEW TOURING ICON Lab.gruppen introduces Rational Power Management (RPM), on top of the outstanding performance users have come to expect from a PLM, a proprietary Lab.gruppen technology that gives system designers and techs unprecedented freedom to allocate the output power available on each channel for optimum performance with specifi c load conditions. This enables the user to minimize equipment costs, reduce rack space and improve long-term energy effi ciency – all without compromising sonic performance.
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ON THE ROAD: Denmark
www.clauszier.dk
The set design of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest (below) was inspired by this very photograph...
Photo: Jakob Boserup
Studio Zier is Denmark’s leading provider of set designs for the Danish and European television industry and provides designs for many different genres within the industry, ranging from news, talk shows, morning shows, late night shows and special event shows, such as X-Faktor (The X-Factor), Voice (The Voice), Vild med Dans (Dancing with the Stars) and the Eurovision Song Contest, for the major broadcasters in Denmark; DR, TV2 and TV3. The brainchild of Production Designer Claus Zier, each project of Studio Zier takes control of all aspects of the set design; from defining the target group, pitching, providing materials for presentations, detailing, providing materials for inviting tenders, the studio supervises the construction of the set design - and the final delivery to the client. This complicated process involves the cooperation of different contractors in various fields, aiming to ensure that the germ of the project is unfolded to its full potential. The goal is always to raise the bar or to take the project in a new direction. In addition to these large-scale productions, Studio Zier devotes much of its creative energy to designing summer residences, additions to one-family dwellings, major refurbishing projects 72
and interior designs. If an abstract idea needs visualisation, Studio Zier assists in defining the needs in a specific production, be it the design, the target group or the visual values embedded in the construction of a building design or a television show, big or small. We couldn’t mention Studio Zier without talking about one of its greatest feats designing the set of the 2014 Eurovision song contest - which took place in the spectacular B&W Hallerne on home turf in Copenhagen in May last year. The 11,000-seater venue in the centre of Copenhagen was formerly a shipyard, and Claus Zier utilised the history of the building to inspire the design concept. “I didn’t dare believe it when I was asked if I wanted to design the stage for the Eurovision Song Contest. For a few days, I had to keep pinching myself. This is a dream. I was so proud. “I wanted to build something where the audience could feel the DNA of the place,” commented Zier. “I saw a picture of the shipyard and I thought it would be a good idea to recreate a ship. Shipping has been an important part of Danish history, so it was very natural to work in this direction.” The 120 light cubes made up the monolithic structure on the stage,
akin to the front of a ship. It was: “built to emulate the way ships are built - steel structure underneath and (in this case) acrylic to dress it,” said Zier. The acrylic surface which adorned the 20-metre high by 40-metre wide steel cube was topped with an opaque ‘magic’ polycarbonate film to receive projections. When charged with an electric current, the film became transparent and thus unveiled the 100-metre long LED screen in the background, which looked, according to Zier, “like a horizon.” Right this moment Studio Zier is busy designing the huge production design for the birthday celebrations of the Queen of Denmark, Queen Magrete, who turns 75 on 16 April 2015.
ON THE ROAD: Denmark
http://victory.dk
LOC (Danish Hip Hop Act, 2 time Danish Music Award Winner); Top Gear Live Oslo 2014.
Photos: Nalle Wikström
Victory Tour Production is one of the leading suppliers of custom built touring productions; specialising in concerts, international tour productions, complete festival productions, special projects, dry hire cooperate events and TV productions. Hailing from the lovely Aarhus, Denmark, with a second base in Copenhagen, during the last few years the company’s increasing reputation has brought its productions to a whole new level throughout Europe. To date, Victory Tour Production has been involved with some of the following productions: Top Gear Live, The Jackson 5, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Tom Jones, Roskilde Festival and the Royal Beer Rock Festival Tour. That’s just a small selection! “We put a lot of effort into being equipped with the newest and best equipment 74
in our rental service. We also employ some of the leading technicians in industry,” said Victory Tour Productions’ Theis Romme. “As one of Scandinavians leading suppliers of equipment and workforce for any type of event, we are ready to give our customers technical knowhow and service at the highest level. “We try to deliver the best product for artists and productions that are the easiest to handle and, of course, the best performing. All our equipment is, of course, optimised for the touring industry.” With over 25 years of experience in rental and sales for the entertainment industry, Victory Tour Production is a ‘One Stop Shop’ with full service in Sound, Light, Stage and Transport solutions. Its 14 full time employees cover all areas of production: from sound and
light to stage and transport. The Sound department is built up around products from Meyer sound, DiGiCo, Midas, Shure and Sennheiser. Continued Romme: “Victory Tour Production became a Meyer Sound LEO Collaborator in 2014. We now have LEO-M, LYON-M, LYON-W and 1100-LFC systems at its disposal.” In the lighting department, a great deal of fixtures are offered to its clients, including those from Martin, Vari-Lite, Clay Paky, SGM, ELC, High End Systems and Chamsys. Victory Tour Production also delivers a wide range of staging solutions - mobile or truss, also offering specially designed or one off stages. The stage department is built up around truss stages from Thomas Truss, mobile stages from Alphastage and Stageline with the stage floor from Prolyte.
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COMPANY PROFILE: L-Acoustics
A NEW ERA FOR L-ACOUSTICS 1984 WAS AN INTERESTING YEAR IN MUSIC; MARVIN GAYE WAS FATALLY SHOT, ALICE COOPER WENT ON HIATUS, BBC RADIO BANNED THE PLAYING OF RELAX BY FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, MICHAEL JACKSON WON EIGHT GRAMMYS - BREAKING ALL PREVIOUS RECORDS - AND THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS RELEASED THEIR DEBUT ALBUM. IT WAS ALSO THE YEAR DR. CHRISTIAN HEIL FOUNDED A COMPANY IN A PARISIAN SUBURB THAT WENT ON TO SHAPE THE WAY IN WHICH THE PRO AUDIO INDUSTRY THINKS ABOUT LINE SOURCE DESIGN. TPi’S KELLY MURRAY REPORTS FROM MARCOUSSIS ON HOW L-ACOUSTICS’ LATEST PRODUCT, THE K2, IS YET ANOTHER TRIUMPH FOR THE L-ACOUSTICS LEGACY. 30 years ago Heil, a particle physicist with a keen interest in live music, founded C.HEIL.TEA, an electro-acoustic engineering business that would later be re-named L-Acoustics. Four years of research and development later, L-Acoustics unveiled its MTD115 / LLC coaxial loudspeaker system. The product was quickly deemed a success and enabled the company to respond to the needs of the industry with further innovation, cemented in 1993 with the arrival of the V-DOSC line array system. Heil and colleague Professor Marcel Urban pioneered the use of their Wavefront Sculpture Technology (WST) theory as the basis for the design. This meant stacked loudspeakers would become a thing of the past and the ‘true’ line source was born. As a result of this engineering excellence, L-Acoustics is today debatably one of the top three pro audio manufacturers in the world. 76
Notable products that followed include the dV-DOSC modular line source, the KUDO variable directivity system, the ARCS constant curvature system, the flagship K1 - a large format WST line source system commonly used in grand scale outdoor events - and its new, smaller sibling, the K2 variable curvature line source PA. It is this product, launched in 2014 and taken on tour with world-class artists which has most recently caught the attention of system specifiers the globe over. To better understand the success of the technological innovation displayed by L-Acoustics over the last three decades, TPi travelled to Marcoussis, Paris, to the company’s HQ to see behind the scenes and insist on building a K2 (more on that later). In a glass meeting room - which allows staff and visitors to feel part of an open environment - we met Florent Bernard, Head of Touring Rental /
Applications with a background in international touring. As a sound engineer for the likes of Radiohead, Peter Gabriel and NIN, Bernard certainly knows how to handle the live audio world. Like Heil, Bernard also studied science (biochemistry in his case) and gravitated toward his passion for music. “I very quickly started working in this industry as a FOH and monitor engineer, and soon met Christian Heil. This was around the time V-DOSC was being introduced and there was a lot of interest surrounding this technology… as an outside engineer, I could finally find the kind of fidelity in direct sound that I’d been looking for,” Bernard explained. After 15 years on the road, he was lured home to France to become part of the L-Acoustics family from within. “One of the best motivations for me was working within a team and develop products for the long run, not just use them for a short term tour,” he continued. “It’s been a very interesting eight years for me here.
COMPANY PROFILE: L-Acoustics
Opposite: The L-Acoustics HQ in Marcoussis, Paris. Below: Dr. Christian Heil in 1984, working on the first incremental sound system (incremental was the name of the first system he built); One of the first concerts that was held using the incremental system; Johnny Clegg in 1988 in Nîmes; 1997 World Youth Day, in the Bois de Boulogne; Dr. Christian Heil, L-Acoustics Founder, with Sound Designer and Engineer Sherif el Barbari, AKA ‘The Egyption Magician’.
I’ve learned a lot and I’ve given them my field experience and vision for the products.” DIRECTIVITY, ADDRESSED When Bernard joined the company, the flagship K1 was in the early stages of its development. “With K1 we wanted to create a system able to cover the biggest spaces out there, such as very large festivals. The K1 championed SPL density because we wanted to address the main issue of very large audience by providing a consistent SPL and tonal balance throughout the entire crowd.” The control of vertical directivity for high frequencies was solved some 20 years previously with the V-DOSC but the K1 soon became a standard combination when paired with the K1SB subwoofer. “With the K1 and K1-SB together, we are able to also control low frequency directivity,” said Bernard. “This combination has now become a worldwide standard. We decided that we would only partner with people who are involved with these kinds of big outdoor events. We initially thought we might get 30 rental partners for the K1, but six years later, we have more like 60 partners that have
adopted the K1/K1-SB system standard.” More recently on the application side, L-Acoustics wanted to bring the same level of performance from the K1 into a smaller box. “K2 had to make sense economically speaking. This system allows productions to save truck space and its efficiency means less power consumption and the weight on the roof structure is lighter. This is what makes the K2 a technological solution that is also viable long term.” “K2 can be used as a standalone system in small applications but is also suitable for large applications, as a distributed system. This was the case for the Sochi Olympics and it can also of course be used in combination with K1. One of the main target objectives with the K2 design was to have complete mechanical and acoustical compatibility with K1,” he said. But the most important feature we were looking for with K2 is horizontal directivity. “With a complex audience shape, the result can be addressed much better if you can control both the horizontal and the vertical planes. With distributed system, the amount of overlap between systems can also be set and designed
to improve intelligibility, or avoiding reflections from walls. The applications are endless.” Today there are 80 active K2 partners and engineers who have had the system delivered and been trained to use it, showing the industry response has been a tremendous success. Jochen Frohn, L-Acoustics’ International Business Development Director furthered: “When we finally launched K2, we were sure that it would be a successful product because it was based on the genetics of K1 but in a compact and lightweight package, for production and rental companies which don’t supply stadium shows every week.” End users on the road immediately noticed the K2 too, as TPi found out on Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience tour. Montreal-based Solotech supplied the tour with a K1 system, which upon arrival in the UK was supplemented by SSE Audio Group’s K2 inventory (Solotech already had some K2 boxes on the road with Arcade Fire in the US). Justin Timberlake’s System Tech, Solotech’s Étienne Lapre commented: “For the last four years, my system preference has been L-Acoustics. I like this system for its simplicity, it’s easy for 77
COMPANY PROFILE: L-Acoustics
Below: Jochen Frohn, L-Acoustics’ International Business Development Director; Florent Bernard, Head of Touring Rental / Applications with Stéphane Ecalle, Marketing Director, and Mary Beth Henson, Head of Communications; Tomorrowland Festival is a typical example of how a huge outdoor event can easily rely on L-Acoustics for consistently clear event sound; TPi got hands-on with a K2 on the production line, thanks to the watchful eyes of Hervé LeGall, Director of Production.
us because it goes up really well and it sounds great, so you can do whatever you want to with it. Saying that, you have to know your job out here, because in fact, this system is so clear, that if one thing goes wrong, you will hear it. “I noticed a difference straight away with the K2 sound, as soon as we got it. The highs are really bright and it can throw the sound way more than I ever imagined it could. The signature transition between the K1 and the K2 is really nice and smooth. For the average
past with the V-DOSC, and the K1, now the K2 is a complete product range for whatever you need,” continued Lapre. “It is truly unbelievable for the size and weight of the box. They’ve really out-done themselves! It’s still a very new product so I’m sure it can be improved somehow but it’s already perfect for me. Plus the fact that it is very easy to rig is a really important feature; it makes all the difference for a big production like this. Seriously, it takes 10 minutes to get in the air!”
“Accumulating practical experience is good but it’s even better when you can understand why things are happening, that knowledge is when you really start to contribute as an engineer...” - Florent Bernard.
person in the crowd, as long as it sounds clear for their favourite artist, they don’t notice anything like that, but for us, it makes a big difference. We’re the perfectionists! “The tonality of L-Acoustics boxes has always been amazing; they got it right in the 78
PIVITOL TRAINING AND UNIQUE PARTNERSHIPS For rental partners such as Solotech and SSE their relationship in becoming an L-Acoustics partner began with initial training programmes, an aspect of the company which is continually
being developed and improved. The programmes are subdivided it into three levels: technical, engineering and design. Each time a rental company - anywhere in the world orders a line source system from L-Acoustics, they must be trained to the correct level, as is the L-Acoustics philosophy. This ranges from seminars and practical classes to deploying staff to train the crew on site. Continued Bernard: “The audio business has changed throughout the years. It’s becoming more and more ‘professionalised’ and those entering it now are typically from a more academic background than we used to see. With training we are not trying to make things more complicated, we are simplifying and adding practical experience to the formal academic education, which is vital too. The winning combination is when you can combine the two, as one helps you to understand the other. Accumulating practical experience is good but it’s even better when you can understand why things are happening, that knowledge is when you really start to contribute as an engineer.” According to Frohn, the heritage of the company has always been technical spearheading. “When I joined the company there were already plans to change our
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COMPANY PROFILE: L-Acoustics
Below: Justin Timberlake’s world tour used an L-Acoustics rig for its duration, utilising both the K1 and K2 systems.
distribution methods by bringing in technical leadership and specialists into the sales area. We work in a close and formal partnership with a number of companies with technical expertise and these are what we call ‘certified providers’. We have certified providers in both the rental and installation markets. These partners allow us to reach out to third party clients, essentially allowing us to expand our outreach. A big rental company can create a local network of smaller companies, for example and this can come in handy for cross-rental purposes.
“Our strategy is to work with a limited number of providers in each market. In some markets we have even reduces the number or certified providers while still growing the business.. Because each of our market managers spend time with consultants, designers, venue owners, we are able to get direct feed back that our marketing and application departments use, as well as our clients. All of our external partners are actively embedded into our company structure. We create long-term relationships.”
“We don’t make promises that do not exist. It’s a very a truthful company in that sense....” - Jochen Frohn.
“Fundamentally, we partner only with companies that embrace the L-Acoustics full-system approach and I think that this is perhaps different from other brands. We won’t sell a couple of speakers; we sell full systems, including rigging, cabling and controls in order to ensure that users achieve consistent and predictable results and you can only achieve predictable results if you know each part of the system inside out,” said Frohn. 80
2015 AND BEYOND With a business model that is clearly generating a solid network foundation for global success already firmly in place, 2015 will see L-Acoustics develop its brand further in the southern hemisphere including Central Latin America and Africa. With a total of 14 sales managers around the world, and 50 engineers within the company, it shows the scale to which Heil’s operation has successfully developed.
It was this on-going commitment to engineering perfection - forming the backbone of the company - which initially drew Frohn in, but it is the proven reliability of the staff ethos which has also made L-Acoustics his professional home. “L-Acoustics is an innovative company, but it’s also a company that has been very driven by providing solutions to the end-user, as well as training them to be sure they can get the best out of our products. “When we present a solution to a potential client, we always make sure it is the best for the application at hand. We don’t make promises that we cannot keep, we are a very a truthful company in that sense. This is what I think makes this company very special, it’s a company that is very straightforward in its communication and that is a value you cannot measure,” he concluded. TPi can certainly vouch for the incredible knowledge a day at L-Acoustics can provide to a writer with zero engineering experience and a lot of questions. Apparently after a seminar, demo and production line tour, nobody who has walked through L-Acoustics premises had ever asked to make a speaker before. But with this level of education quite literally in the palm of your hand, it seemed like the most natural of curiosities. After all, who knows what legend this company will create next… TPi www.l-acoustics.com
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: EAW
EAW’S ANYA FIRST SHOWN AT COACHELLA FESTIVAL IN 2013, THE FIRST TIME EAW’S ANYA SYSTEM WAS SEEN BY TPi WAS AT THE PROLIFIC PROLIGHT+SOUND TRADESHOW IN FRANKFURT WHERE IT CAUSED QUITE A BUZZ. A COMPLETE, SELF-CONTAINED, HIGH-POWER SOUND REINFORCEMENT SYSTEM THAT ADAPTS ALL PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS ELECTRONICALLY, ALLOWING IT TO BE USED IN VIRTUALLY ANY APPLICATION, ANYA HAS BEEN GAINING MOMENTUM IN THE UNITED STATES LIVE DOMAIN FOR SOME TIME. TPi’S KELLY MURRAY SPEAKS TO EAW PRESIDENT, JEFF ROCHA, ABOUT THE THINKING BEHIND AND FLEXIBILITY OF THIS NEW SYSTEM AND THE RESPONSE SO FAR. . . More than 15 years ago, EAW began the development of a sophisticated ‘acoustical mathematics engine’ that provided the ability to model arrays of independently driven transducers, and how their output relates to physical spaces. “A wide variety of algorithms were developed to calculate processing parameters that optimally match the coverage of an array to the requirements of a space, and these have been continuously refined within this environment. “Over the years, a variety of mostly smaller-format core production and some custom products were developed to deliver aspects of these algorithms in the vertical plane,” explained Jeff Rocha, EAW President. “Yet from the very beginning, we believed that we could develop a larger-format system that would be able to perfectly and very quickly match the three-dimensional requirements of a space. Anya is the first product in EAW’s Adaptive Systems technology category. It has been joined by a companion subwoofer named Otto, which extends the ability to readily 82
predict, define and control system coverage into the subwoofer pass band. Anya and Otto now sits as the premier large-format product offering from EAW. These systems incorporate a vast array of features targeting the touring sound reinforcement market into an aesthetic that is equally appealing in an installation environment. Each Anya module incorporates 22 independently powered and processed transducers - so a typical touring system is comprised of over 1,000 discretely controlled components. This extreme device resolution enables Anya to offer very high-resolution coverage of the audience, and to radically alter the vertical coverage of the system via processing alone after it is flown in any given scenario. As a result, no vertical angles are required. Continued Rocha: “Compare this to a traditional mechanically-articulated array, which might only offer 50 or 60 discretely controlled elements in a large-scale touring system. Likening this concept to pixels, this would be like comparing a standard-definition VGA monitor to a high-definition LCD display. “One benefit of this approach is mechanical
simplicity. Conventional arrays require lots of detailed planning before the system is flown. The modelled array must then be flown in a very specific configuration and predefined box-to-box angles must be locked in place one module at a time,” he explained. “Anya modules roll in four boxes tall and can be locked together in seconds. The system directivity is then programmed into the array after it is flown. The process is simple, fast and eliminates the potential for errors. “Another benefit of the straight hang lies in the co-location of side hangs. In a 270-degree arena show, a conventional mechanically articulated system requires physical separation between the main, side hang and wrap hang. This requires at least six motors and creates a scenario where large sections of seating between arrays are subject to inconsistencies as they receive multiple arrivals of sound. Anya solves this issue by physically interlocking multiple columns to form larger, wide-coverage arrays and then electronically integrating them for the optimal horizontal pattern.” Every aspect of Anya has been meticulously
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: EAW
Opposite: Anya utilises EAW’s Adaptive Systems tehcnology. Below: The system was in use for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ US touring production, supplied by rental partner, Sound Image; EAW President, Jeff Rocha.
engineered as a result of a massive R&D and technical leadership effort. Rocha believes every component is at the forefront of technological capability. Additionally, the system incorporates revolutionary features like an on-board measurement microphone that is used for comprehensive self-diagnostics, an internal inclinometer to ensure that even the slightest tilt is compensated for in processing, and a system of on-board infrared transceivers that enable modules to communicate with one another and present themselves to the software as an array with known configuration, eliminating the need for potentially time-consuming network assignments. The system can adapt coverage to perfectly match the requirements of any shape or size of venue. Said Rocha: “Beyond all of that, perhaps the biggest benefit is the ability to quickly adapt the performance of the system when things change. And things always change. Anyone who has ever experienced the last-minute need to change trim height, move barricades, cover or not cover the balcony seats, add more fill, address noise complaints,
modify the stage volume or even compensate for the weather in a festival or stadium environment, is all too familiar with the chaos and compromise that can follow. Anya and Otto can be optimised to perfectly match a new set of requirements in minutes - and the only thing that has to be moved is a computer mouse.” The system has supported numerous highprofile events since its introduction in 2013. RAT Sound first used the system at Coachella festival in 2013 and Tom Petty’s Hypnotic Eye tour took the system on the road in North America via Sound Image. Petty’s FOH Engineer, Robert Scovill said of Anya: “I haven’t been this excited about a new approach to PA technology in a couple of decades now. The approach that EAW has taken with Anya is a leap forward in the quality and the way in which audio can be presented to a large audience. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to be an early adopter of Anya.” Rocha added: “EAW has continuously maintained strong relationships with a network of tour sound vendors around the world. Anya
represents a revolutionary step in the way that audio is deployed, optimised and monitored for live events. The only way to truly gain a full appreciation for the entire system is to experience it directly, interact with our team, ask lots of questions and ultimately push your mix through the end result. RAT Sound and Sound Image form the core of the US rental network - and more will follow this year and we also have around 12 systems placed in countries around the world. “The response to this product so far has been overwhelmingly positive. In many respects it feels as if the market has been waiting for ‘what’s next’ after the prevalence of mechanically articulated line arrays for the last few decades. We have tried to do our part by pushing the technological envelope in every facet of the design to ensure that this moment represents a true transformation in sound reinforcement technology and not a small iterative step,” he concluded. TPi www.eaw.com/anya-sound-system
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
THE BIGGER PICTURE SUSTAINING SUSTAINABILITY I’ve been to more than my fair share of meetings about sustainability; initiatives abound, working groups and think tanks work and think away, but what’s the result and are all these groups, well, sustainable? Of course, it’s the ‘S’ word that can conjure up images of tree hugging do-gooders, warning of impending gloom unless we turn vegan and drive wicker cars fuelled by hemp. These people have been known to smoke tobacco grown using pesticides on land that used to be rainforest, but they mean well. But in our sector, those involved in encouraging sustainability are keen to help everyone to consider resources, both globally and closer to home, the finite stuff, the stuff that will run out one day. There’s more talk in terms of simply using less stuff; spending less money and wearing out fewer people. Let’s round up a few of the initiatives, explaining what they’re trying to achieve and how they’re doing.
FOCUS ON POWER From a discussion amongst music industry types to a respected global resource, Julie’s Bicycle’s reach is vast. A more focussed initiative, backed in part by them, is Powerful Thinking. We’ve talked about them before in this column but progress has been made in the drive to help reduce fuel use at festivals. Again, Chairman Chris Johnson, walks the walk with 2014 seeing him oversee a 100% renewable energy powered Shambala festival, proving that it can be done. To help others achieve similar results, Powerful Thinking has produced a number of factsheets for both festival organisers and power suppliers, from identifying quick wins to preparing for changing market demands; also in the pipeline is a festival energy rating scheme.
PEDALLING THE FUTURE At the hub of the UK creative industry, cranking up the pressure on the sector to clean up its act is Julie’s Bicycle, the tour de force not-for-profit organisation working within the industry to provide the tools, support and advice to achieve its aims of a sector leading by example rather than flying artists half way around the world to wag their fingers at us. In its seven year history Julies Bicycle, in their own words: “has conducted 169 Industry Green certifications and provided consultancy to 65 organisations. More than 2000 arts and cultural organisations internationally use the IG Tools, our suite of calculators bespoke to the arts and cultural sectors. Our work has prompted profound changes in operational and artistic practice, delivering (omits bit about c word) financial savings of over £3.7m” seems that Julie’s Bicycle’s expertise has helped people use less stuff and therefore less money. Much of their resources are free and cover a vast swathe of the creative sector, advising on production, energy, waste and water management, travel, touring, festivals, governance, commissioning, marketing and communications, staff and audience engagement.
A GREENER AWARD The Greener Festival Awards Scheme has been in place since 2007, helping Festivals green up their acts by assessing and advising as well as awarding excellence. 16 awards were handed out in their first year, with 48 festivals earning their stripes in 2014. The scheme, supported by Robertson Taylor Insurance Brokers, now operates in the UK, Europe, North America, South America, Australasia and Africa. Over the years they have seen some outstanding initiatives introduced by festival organisers, in particular Boom Festival for their STAR waste water recycling scheme in Portugal, Shambala Festival for their ‘Surplus Supper Club’ food recycling scheme in the UK, The Food and farming alliance Sustain for their ‘Good Food For Festivals Guide’ (UK) and the Open Air Festival in the Czech Republic for their on-site biodigesters. Co-Founder Ben Challis commented: “This year has been an encouraging year for environmentally aware events and a record year for our Awards scheme, with more festivals than ever before taking part. Each year we see new initiatives, better policies and improved
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implementation of those policies and initiatives. Rising fuel costs prove the good sense in reducing power use, and the ever increasing costs in disposing of waste prove the importance of managing waste and having sensible recycling policies. Problems remain of course - from England to Australia one of the biggest problems is the appalling sight of acres of left behind tents and camping gear at festivals, and we will be prioritising this again in 2015. On a positive front, many of our participating events have raised the bar yet again - and we are seeing some amazing initiatives where festivals reach out and spread the green message in a friendly and practical way.” At the highly commended Bonnaroo (US), A Greener Festival’s independent environmental assessor commented that the festival’s “investment in long term energy from their solar panels is second to none.” At the commended DGTL festival in Amsterdam, organisers used significant efforts to raise environmental awareness and brought in a design-focussed environmental coordinator, undertaking a prefestival study to understand their own, and their neighbours’ priorities. This led to a key design feature of an on-site “recycling factory” which turned waste plastic bottles and containers into recycled plastic bins during the festival in front
www.psa.org.uk of the audience’s eyes. At another commended festival, Planeta Madrid in Spain, the City Council has instigated a plan called Madrid Compensa which allows trees to be planted to offset the CO2 emissions from the festival - and PlanetaMadrid also has a free bicycle workshop not just to learn - festival goers can take their bikes to be fixed. At the Shambala festival in the UK, rated ‘outstanding by A Greener Festival, organisers achieved (the aforementioned) 100% renewable power and a ‘zero to landfill’ unrecycled waste target - as waste streams were diverted from landfill to a MBT (mechanical biological treatment) plant, whilst a plastic water bottle ban was a continued success - as were the ever popular Thunderbox compost toilets. At the commended Body and Soul festival in Ireland, the environmental assessors were very impressed by imaginative use of the spaces, including woodland groves, saying that the site and stages were beautifully decorated with recycled materials. The highly commended Northside Festival in Germany encourages people to travel to the event using low carbon methods of transport - Northside offers bike stands for more than 10 000 bikes and organises festival buses - as well as the “Camino” - a decorative pathway through a park from the town of Aarhus to the festival site, encouraging visitors to walk or cycle from the town centre to the festival. The highly commended Malmo Festivalen in Sweden was praised for its
efforts to demonstrate social inclusion, well being, environmental consideration and wider sustainability, whilst the commended Calgary Folk Music festival has emerged as a leader and model for public events in Calgary in terms of its waste management and recycling, water bottle ban, and the encouragement of sustainability. GOAL SETTING FOR PRODUCTION The new kid on the block, the Sustainability in Production Alliance (SIPA) brings focus to our greatest area of interest. In its own words: “Whilst great progress has been made over the last decade towards introducing concepts of sustainability, significant change across the whole production industry has not yet arisen. Sustainability has entered our practice in the form of rhetoric and discussion. Discussion has been great; however, to really move forward ,our culture must change. In terms of Elkington’s “triple bottom line” - People, Profit, Planet, our industry has missed the people element. In a broad sense we do, of course, support the sustainability of people; the point here is that we have not fully inspired the people and culture of our industry to actively deliver a sustainable future. Too often money is thrown at the problem or a lone “green fanatic” is left shouting into the wind!” Some bold statements there, and some would disagree with some elements, especially
some of the people from award winning festivals mentioned earlier, but the crucial element of SIPA’s work will be to agree targets for our sector that line up with internationally agreed sustainability targets, focussing global targets into our workplace. Thankfully this is not just your day to day ‘use more LEDs’ drive, it is a holistic approach that includes the financial and human elements of sustainability and will deliver something to aim for and tools to achieve those goals. NOT EXACTLY FRACKATTACK INC. Let’s not beat ourselves up too much though. Back at the dawn of time, when bands had their own touring PA they did a very green thing, they reused it, and let others pay for its use when they were not on the road. So began an industry dedicated to not throwing stuff away, and the development of products that were repairable. Sure, the next best thing is always around the corner but nowadays much of that is software based, new algorithms to be contained in an existing box. Hoists, chains, decking, stages, they last for ages; amplifiers are smaller and lighter, lights are more power efficient and those that aren’t do more tricks so fewer are needed. We were on the road to sustainability before we knew what it was but it’s always good to check the map every now and then. www.psa.org.uk
LASERWORLD SALES EXECUTIVE ROLE This is your chance to become part of the Laserworld Group who are one of the largest and most successful show Laser manufacturers worldwide with Manufacturing in Germany and Switzerland and over 75 employees worldwide. The Sales Executive Role for the UK office requires a wellconnected experienced salesperson with good knowledge of the UK event entertainment industry to achieve sales targets and account Management support to an existing client base for daily sales to long term project sales. Salary and benefits will be commensurate with ability and experience A detailed job description can be found at: www.laserworld.com/company/jobs Please apply with your CV’s to: Denis Phoenix, dp@laserworld.com www.laserworld.com
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MOVERS & SHAKERS Sponsored by www.interfacio.com • +44 208 986 5002
MOVERS & SHAKERS
ArKaos PRO has announced the appointment of Music & Lights as its exclusive distributor for Italy. With immediate effect, Music & Lights will handle the full portfolio of ArKaos products which includes ArKaos Stage, Studio and Stadium media servers, the dynamic MediaMaster PRO and MediaMaster Express software and Kling-Net, ArKaos’ user-friendly control protocol. “We are happy to increase the range of our solutions for the AVL market through the ArKaos brand,” said Fabio Sorabella, Product Manager at Music & Lights. Fabio went on to say: “Video is now a key element in any kind of event or installation and ArKaos, thanks to its complete range of software and hardware solutions for the processing of multimedia content in real time, is the ideal answer for the needs of professionals and VJs. Our goal is to inject into the market the same enthusiasm that ArKaos lent to the team of M&L when we found ourselves to be in front of a platform so powerful but, at the same time, extremely simple.” Music & Lights has also been chosen as the Italian distributor for Avolites and its range of lighting and Ai video and multimedia control technologies. Avolites Managing Director, Steve Warren said: “We are extremely impressed with Fabio Sorabella’s highly effective team, who are enthusiastic, dynamic and focussed on growth.” Steve’s sentiments were echoed by Avolites Sales Director Koy Neminathan: “Music & Lights have proved that they are capable of providing excellent service training and support, both pre and post-sale. Avolites have invested in the development of new and unique features for both lighting and video control and it is of the upmost importance that we work with the most capable partners to support our customers.” Elation Professional EU has named Damon Crisp as the company’s new sales representative for the south of England, which includes London and surrounding counties. Crisp, who operates 86
DAC Pro-Media, a distribution company for entertainment technology, has a wealth of experience in the industry having operated as Sales Director for LAMBA, Managing Director for Numark Alesis Europe (Now In-Music) and Managing Director for Monacor International at their UK operation. Crisp enthused: “I am truly delighted to be representing a brand that I have watched from afar get better and better. In truth, if you are looking for superbly engineered professional lighting products, look no further. After all, the PLASA Award for the Sniper 2R says it all!” Candice Robinson, who has worked in sales for Honeywell and as head of administration in the dispatch department at Kondor, has been appointed as the newest member of Doughty Engineering’s UK sales team. Speaking of Candice’s appointment, Laurence Dyer, Doughty’s Sales and Customer Services Manager, said: “In the short time that Candice has been with us, her enthusiasm, efficiency and initiative has been impressive. She took the reins on day one and has demonstrated excellent customer service skills, and a good technical know how. Candice will be a real asset to the UK sales team and to our customers too.” Creative Technology (CT) has announced the recruitment of Tom Casey to its Asia Pacific operation. Casey, who has covered project production and technical management over a variety of special events, corporate, music and touring projects, will join CT’s Singapore business as Project Manager reporting directly to Managing Director Chris Burke and will cover the Asia Pacific region. Procom ME has been named as the exclusive Philips supplier for UAE in a move to further expand its offering to the high profile Middle Eastern market. Rami Harfouch, Procom’s Business Development Manager said: “We are confident Philips will have a significant share of the new-build market, for several reasons,” going on to say: “It is a highly recognised brand
name, and its catalogue of high quality products is extensive, with a strong LED offering which meets the increasing requirement for energysaving solutions. Philips also has strong local support in terms of design, commissioning and servicing of the equipment and Procom is excited to be a part of it.” Audiosales takes over as the exclusive Powersoft distributor for the Italian market, adding the audio manufacturer to its portfolio of prestigious brands. “We are very pleased to begin this collaboration with Powersoft,” said Stefano Rocchi, Owner of Audiosales, “The products and technology embraced by Powersoft perfectly match the requirements of the market in both the touring and installation sectors. With the addition of Powersoft to our brand portfolio, we can now provide our clients with solutions at the very cutting edge of innovation. Our goal is to make Powersoft amplifiers the standard on the Italian market.” Production Resource Group (PRG) has announced the acquisition of Chaos Visual Productions. “It is very exciting to consider the creative and technical solutions that will result from this acquisition which brings together the world’s two most innovative touring video companies,” said Mickey Curbishley, CEO, PRG Concert Touring. “It also creates a single team of the most respected, experienced, and talented minds working in video production today. PRG Nocturne and Chaos, under PRG’s one roof, will create a powerful production resource for our clients in the music industry.” Meyer Sound has promoted Michael Creason to the newly created position of Product Manager - System Applications and Training, while Ashley Hanson moves to the Design Services Manager role. The former head of the design services department, Michael now joins the growing product management group to expand the company’s technical content and training resources. Ashley’s work at Meyer Sound has led to acclaimed listening experiences at Oregon
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MOVERS & SHAKERS
Opposite: Elation names Damon Crisp sales representative for the south of England, Audiosales is named Italian distrubutor for Powersoft, Ashley Hanson moves to the Design Services Manager role at Meyer Sound, Music & Lights chosen as Italian distributor for Avolites. Below: Candice Robinson has appointed to Doughty’s UK Sales team, SGM has named Ben Diaz Area Sales Manager for South America.
Shakespeare Festival, Pixar, and the Houston Airport, as well as premium movie screening rooms at Megabox in Korea and the Seattle Cinerama Theatre. She will now lead a design team that works with audio consultants and integrators to create high-quality audio system designs for professional audio, cinema, and other commercial markets. SGM has appointed prominent Spanish Lighting Designer Ben Diaz as its Area Sales Manager for South America with immediate effect, in a role that also includes product training on the Continent. Since 2000, Diaz has been involved in many creative roles within the entertainment industry, including lighting / production design and operation, video programming for media servers, cinematography and technical education. SGM CEO Peter Johansen said: We are fortunate to be able to recruit someone with Ben’s experience who already had a working knowledge of our fixtures and was committed to the brand,” explaining: “He has the perfect credentials for representing us in this strategically important and fast developing part of the world.” Showsec is expanding its operation once again with the aim of maximising the potential for further growth and prosperity in the
Manchester, UK, area. The crowd management and event security specialists has implemented a restructure to create two distinct geographical areas in a new-look Manchester office which has featured prominently in the sustained growth and success of the company over the past decade. In an attempt to build upon that success, the new operational areas sit either side of the inner city ring road - central Manchester inside it and Greater Manchester outside it. “This is an exciting development which reflects the continued growth of the company and the important part which the expansion of the Manchester operation has played in that progress,” commented Alan Wallace, Showsec’s Regional Manager in the North. “It is crucial that we maintain high standards of service so that we not only manage the expectations of our clients, but more often than not exceed them wherever possible,” he concluded. Finally, Adamson Systems have announced the appointment of BG Media Solutions and MM Technologies as sales representatives for the Ontario and Quebec, Canada territories respectively. TPi www.tpimagazine.com/jobs/
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The TPi Production Guide
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VITAL STATS
VITAL STATS 166 Steve Sunderland Profession: Audio Consultant, Audiolease Date & place of birth: October 4, 1952 Bedford, UK How did you initially start out working in live production? I have always been interested in live sound and started working for a folk rock band called Halcyon. We actually had a small horn loaded Altec Lansing system which was very unusual at that time! everybody else was using four by 10-inch columns and valve amps...
“when we have successfully supplied audio to “the loudest band in the world” for 36 years, we like to think that we must have been doing something right!...”
Did you have a mentor of sorts? I moved to a rental company called Tecsonic who were pioneers in horn loaded PA systems, along with people like Electrosound and IES. Transistor amps were just becoming available - I remember the revolutionary Crown DC300 which delivered 155W per channel into 8 ohms! Never before had we had such power. At that time, electronic crossovers were not really produced by anybody - we had to custom build our own. You formed Audiolease, one of the UK’s longest serving rental houses, in 1978, punk’s prime years! When you founded the company, what was the goal? Quite simply, we wanted to create the best live sound around. They were exciting years in music, and also in professional audio. People like BSS started producing things we could buy, like DI units and compressors.... heady days indeed! The company has since been sold and re-bought. what is it about the pro audio world that keeps people coming back to this industry? It is still a small industry in a lot of ways, and a lot of business relationships are founded on personal contact. Because of that I think people like to stay involved.
Motörhead was your first client when the company first started out, and you’ve recently just finished another European tour with the band. Are long-standing relationships a key part of your business? We have been supplying audio for Motörhead continuously for 36 years, which must be some sort of world record. Lemmy is the ultimate professional in this business, and rightly expects the same from contractors and crew. You only get longstanding relationships if you excel at what you do, which is our goal on every single show. What did you provide to that tour? We supplied a full d&b audiotechnik PA system. In the larger venues they played we used 48 J8 and J12 units with 24 JSUBs, all powered with D12 amps. Onstage we used six J8’s for sidefills and two J8’s and a single JSUB for drumfill. All of these were mounted on custom-designed mobile platforms. Stage wedges were Audiolease’s own BW2 and d&b M2 boxes. The FOH desk was a Midas XL3 and the monitor position utilised a Yamaha PM5D90
RH. It sounded tremendous, and we received a lot of positive comments on the quality of the sound thanks to a combination of great gear and Arnie Annables, their superb FOH Engineer. What can you tell us about the cold rooms, your new associated rehearsal space? We have recently moved to our new premises just outside of cambridge and this move presented us with the opportunity to create rehearsal and recording space. Part of our new premises is effectively a building within a building, and this was actually built as cold rooms storage (hence the name!) The nature of this construction and its decoupling from the external structure means we have significant acoustic isolation as a starting point. We are currently in the process of fitting out a total of six large live rooms all of which will be connected to the main control room. We aim to offer professional quality rehearsal space at affordable rates, build connections and support upcoming talent and the next generation of audio professionals coming through the ranks at the nearby universities and colleges. The company is going through some changes at present, what can we expect from you in 2015? Well, when we have successfully supplied audio to ‘the loudest band in the world’ for almost 40 years, we like to think that we must have been doing something right! So I would say the changes are more evolutionary than revolutionary! We will continue to strive for excellence at every show, and will continue to offer a full range of services to our clients from the hire of a single item right through to fully inclusive tour / show production packages. Our new premises give us much improved logistics, with plenty of workspace to ensure kit is maintained to the highest possible levels whilst at the same time providing plenty of space for show / tour preparation as well as additional office / workspace for visiting clients, engineers and production managers to work on site if necessary. We are always happy to discuss opportunities with new clients and we are confident that we can deliver to them the same service that our existing clients enjoy.
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