Festival Focus 2018

FESTIVAL FOCUS

FESTIVAL FOCUS 2018

As is the annual tradition, we at Team TPi have packed our tents and wellies to bring you this year’s Festival Focus. Running every issue from July - October, the editorial crew will be speaking to the wonderful men and women who make festival season what it is; busy, bonkers and brillaint.

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Black Light and High End Systems join forces for one of the newest additions to the festival - Light on the Shore.

New to Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) this year, Light on the Shore took people away from the city centre to the re-opened Leith Theatre, which has been closed for 30 years. With the theatre hosting the EIF from 1961 - 1968 and most of the ‘80s, there was great excitement for its return. Lighting Partner, Black Light, provided sponsorship for the events with support from High End Systems.

Light on the Shore honours Scottish music by celebrating the country’s global musical impact and recognising visitors who have made an unforgettable mark, featuring acts such as Mogwai, Django Django, The Jesus and Mary Chain and the grand finale of legendary Club Cumming hosted by Scottish star Alan Cumming.

Working with EIF for many years, it was a natural choice for Black Light to be lighting partner for the events. Black Light turned to High End Systems (HES) to provide additions to supplement its hire stock.

Back in March, Black Light invested in 26 HES SolaFrame 750’s. The entire fleet was out across Edinburgh this festival season, with further support from ETC that implemented further units from the range. The rig at Leith Theatre consists of 18 SolaSpot 2000, 18 SolaHyBeam 1000, 12 QUAD,

12 SolaFrame 750, and 6 Hex.

Primary control is from the HES Hog 4, with back up from a Road Hog 4, and a Hedgehog 4 provided control to a secondary space within the venue. Networking, venue wide power distribution, atmospheric effects, staging and rigging equipment is all also supplied by Black Light from its rental stock housed in Edinburgh.

HES latest innovations in the Sola Series bring modern efficiency to the timeless performance of its current fixture range. The bright white LED source contained within the units is generations ahead and even though the light is clean and crisp, the attitude is still sharp, bringing eye-popping visuals, punchy beams, saturated washes and spectacular effects.

Director of Black Light, Calder Sibbald, stated: “Working again with John Robb and his team at EIF has been a great experience. Light on the Shore has been full of amazing events for not just the people of Leith but the city as a whole. ETC are one of our major vendors and through this relationship and have allowed us access to the HES catalogue. In turn HES have played an integral part within our event sponsorship, the new additions to their product portfolio have shone for us at Leith Theatre.” Photo: Ryan Buchanan www.eif.co.uk www.black-light.com www.highend.com

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ROCKIN’ 1000

ROCKIN’ 1000

Powersoft and Outline keep the heat high at recording-breaking Florence show.

It all started back in the summer of 2015 in the Italian city of Cesena, when 1,000 musicians, recorded the Foo Fighters’ Learn to Fly in a local park, as an appeal to the rock band to play in the city. A YouTube clip of the performance soon went viral and sure enough frontman Dave Grohl humbly accepted the invitation. This year Rockin’ 1000 hit the headlines again with That’s Live in Florence, featuring the addition of brass and percussion sections and special guest, Courtney Love of Hole.

The location for the event was Florence’s Artemio Franchi soccer stadium, which hosted 1,454 performers from over 30 countries. The task of ensuring the 13,000+ spectators received a high-quality listening experience was entrusted to 2 key names in the international pro audio field, both headquartered in Italy - Powersoft and Outline. On the run-up to the show, the manufacturers’ specialists interacted with Rockin’ 1000 Sound Manager, Cisko Ridolfi, and the event’s Sound Designer, Francesco Penolazzi.

Penolazzi, who carried the mantel of Sound Designer and Head of RF, explained: “My role was to ensure the utmost quality and professionalism of the event, with a limited budget at our disposal.” Penolazzi counted on a team that included Laura Becchio in charge of cabling, Alfonso Barbiero, Pro Tools Technician and Monitor Programmer, Amek, and Vanis, who recorded the event, and FOH Engineer and System Tech, Luca Stefani.

Penolazzi outlined how the design of the PA was very much inspired by the Grateful Dead’s ‘Wall of Sound’ but, “with a more modern original approach.” This included a main Outline PA with 10 stacks (6 with 6 GTO C-12’s each and 4 with 5 GTO each) and 6 lines of subs, all in end fire array (4 lots of 4 DBS 18-2’s and 2 made up of 4 LAB 21 HSs). These were supplied by Outline rental partners Emporio on Stage and Soundtech.

The PA was powered by 16 Powersoft X8’s with monitors using 3 more Powersoft amps, all connected via Dante and with an analogue backup. The X8’s enabled the crew to monitor the status of the mains supply. “With mains feeds coming from various parts of the field, it was important to have a general overview,” explained Powersoft Application Engineer Thiago Terra. “The X8’s also enabled us to do a little tuning and alignment according to requests from Stefani and Outline tech support and R&D engineer, Giulio Gandini.”

Gandini continued: “This was anything but a run-of-the-mill gig! The brief received from Sound Engineers Luca and Francesco was for the PA to reinforce the sound arriving from the musicians and keep spectators’ listening experience as realistic as possible.” He explained how the show forced him and his crew to remember the “rules you’ve learned and used in standard situations and assess the need to apply them”.

He elaborated: “For example, in a standard situation of stadium amplification, you would try to achieve the most even coverage with as little overlapping as possible between the various groups of enclosures,

in order to ensure identical sound in every seat. For Rockin’ 1000, it was indispensable to obtain overlap between the various clusters to ensure a realistic sound image.”

At FOH were 2 Yamaha PM10 consoles manned by Stefani and Penolazzi. Stefani explained: “Francesco and I began working on the desks’ setup months before the event, exchanging show files via e-mail. We’ve collaborated frequently in the past on unusual projects, so when he started work on the first Rockin’ 1000 project we began corresponded regularly.”

Gandini added: “The loudspeaker systems were quite far from the spectators, so the use of line-array elements fitted with precise waveguides enabled to achieve extremely accurate sound coverage. Right from the drawing board stage, the brief was for clusters with 5 / 6 enclosures in order to have a suitable vertical configuration ensuring a good throw with the low frequencies - indispensible when amplifying the impact of a 1,500-strong band!”

As well as the headphone or in-ear monitoring used by the musicians, conductor and guest artist, on stage there were 2 Outline Vegas 12’s for additional monitoring and in the area occupied by the musicians, 6 Vegas 15 CX were deployed to communicate with them when they entered and left the pitch and during rehearsals.

The rig’s calibration and alignment was carried out using Powersoft’s intuitive proprietary Armonía software, with which the Powersoft amplifiers were controlled and managed. Armonía enabled the team to realise projects offline, and then match them with the hardware at the venue. The software also provided engineers numerous facilities for the realisation and calibration of their rigs. In addition it enabled direct interaction with Smaart.

An Outline Newton 16+8 system control and networking unit also received signals from the main FOH console and was on standby duty in the event of any network problems and for distribution. It received a Dante signal, carried out its computing, and distributed the Dante signal to the amplifiers on the pitch.

This was not Stefani’s first outing with Outline products. “I began using Outline back in the days of their Tripla enclosures, and since then I’ve had the opportunity of hearing and using their Butterfly, Mantas and GTO systems,” he stated. “The GTO is one of the few systems on the market that enables to obtain the sonic impact we want and above all, thanks to its lengthy pedigree, can ensure great reliability. In my opinion, the Outline systems are excellent for this type of event, at which SPL and pattern control are fundamental elements for achieving the necessary results.”

After the show, which ended with the 13,000-strong crowd singing Foo Fighters’ Learn To Fly with the mega band, there was tangible allround enthusiasm and Gandini stated: “It was really hot, hard work for all concerned, but amply repaid by the outcome of this unique event!” www.rockin1000.com www.powersoft-audio.com www.outline.it

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NEWARK FESTIVAL

NEWARK FESTIVAL

Rising UK-based production company, ASYS Events, recently celebrated an extraordinary 2 years of growth by fielding a substantial TW AUDiO VERA36 sound reinforcement system for the seventh annual Newark Festival.

Produced by the highly influential events promoter, Liz Hobbs Group (LHG), the Newark Festival is one of the UK’s most successful outdoor classic pop shows. Its success this year marked the culmination of a remarkable journey for ASYS Events, described by Managing Director Steve Jones as “lifting the company from one level to another with the help of TW AUDiO”.

The TW AUDiO VERA36 FOH system had high expectations to meet, as LHG weighed its performance against that of previous PA choices. “We are quite critical when it comes to sound systems because of course we are a PA company in our own right,” stated LHG Operations Director, Rupert Doogan-Hobbs. “But we’re really happy. We’ve used TW AUDiO before on some smaller DJ gigs and we were very happy with those results. So we asked Steve from ASYS Events to cover Newark Festival, which for us is a much bigger and more important job, requiring a full system.”

For Jones, the request represented a vote of confidence in both the rapid development of his own company and the investment he made in TW AUDiO just 2 years before. “Up until we bought that system 2 years ago we were doing smaller gigs. We had some line array but we didn’t use that much of it,” he explained. “So I was looking to invest in a new PA and from the beginning, TW AUDiO were brilliant to work with. We were invited out to Germany to preview the system, meet the team and get an overall feel for the company. The guys at TW kindly agreed to send out a demo system for a few upcoming events so we could get some hands on, real world experience with the boxes outside the demo room. I couldn’t fault it. The rigging, sound quality and the support received was superb.”

Since then the company has expanded dramatically. “The contacts that we’ve made as a result of buying the TW AUDiO system and the support that we’ve received from the company itself have really taken us from one level to another,” stated Jones. “It’s meant that we can bid on bigger jobs and we can handle much larger projects quite comfortably. The significant improvement over our previous equipment also enables us to do much larger jobs with a more compact solution. The native cardioid S33 sub reduces the need for additional boxes to complete a cardioid sub array and the VERA36 boxes comes packed with substantial audio output, in a box that weighs less than 40kg. We don’t need to send out a truck’s worth of gear when actually a 3.5 tonne van will do it. That has made a significant difference in reducing our costs – savings which we can then forward on to clients.”

ASYS has capitalised on its investment with a string of regional events around the UK. “Just over the last few weeks we’ve done the Spalding Beer &

Music Festival with a flown system of 6 VERA36’s per side over S33 subs, plus our TW AUDiO M10 boxes for front fill and out fill in a challenging, extremely reverberant environment. There was also Bourne Festival, an outdoor event with no option to fly a system. Instead we deployed a ground-stacked system using VERA36 over S33 combined with BSX subs. At both events, we also implemented a complete TW AUDiO stage package, including C12 and C15 wedges, and T24N over B30’s for side fill.”

For Newark Festival, a larger solution was required to meet client expectations, while overcoming the site’s unique challenges. “The site isn’t very wide but it requires significant throw, and we needed to provide a solution to match that of previous years. Delay towers were previously used but they were no longer an option,” Jones explained. In addition, the festival’s location in the heart of Newark-on-Trent meant that noise restrictions had to be strictly observed. “We were right next to the town centre,” he continued, “and there was rear offsite noise to consider as well because there are housing estates not too far from the back of the stage.”

The solution comprised left-right hangs of 12 per side VERA36’s flown beneath 2 S33’s subwoofers per side. “The S33’s added some low end extension to the bottom end of the arrays - VERA36 already goes low but the S33’s just gave the arrays a little bit extra,” said Jones. “For the groundstacked sub configuration we had 6 central BSX subwoofers, set up in 2 sets of 3 in cardioid format with 2 front facing and one rear facing. Moving wider from centre, we then spaced four stacks, each comprising 2 S33 cabinets per side.”

6 VERA20 enclosures were stacked on top of the subs to provide front-fill, while elsewhere on the site, 3 VERA10 cabinets served as HF fills for the VIP sponsors area, where a further 2 S33 subs added low-end extension. The entire system was powered by Lab.gruppen PLM12K44 amplifiers with Lake LM 44 FOH control.

“With 2 hangs of VERA36, we achieved what had previously been done with a much larger system and it still sounded impressive, even at a distance,” said Jones. “The VERA36 gives incredible definition and clarity without sounding harsh even when running at high SPL. The low frequency response of the dual 10-inch drivers in each box produces a smooth, clear and powerful low-mid range. In the sub range, the S33 / BSX sub array was incredibly punchy, yet defined and controlled with some of the best rear rejection we have heard.”

Most importantly, the client agreed: “After 2 days on the festival site we were absolutely thrilled with the coverage,” declared LHG’s Rupert Doogan- Hobbs. “It’s a nice system with very smooth audio and it’s exactly right for the crowd we wanted, so we’re very pleased.” www.newarkfestival.co.uk www.twaudio.de

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ELECTROBEACH

ELECTROBEACH

Funktion-One impressed with perfect PA for all 4 stages at France’s biggest electronic music festival.

For 3 days in mid-July, the port town of Le Barcarès on France’s southern coast became the focus for EDM-lovers from across Europe and beyond with the return of Electrobeach. Hailed as the country’s largest electronic music event, the festival drew close to 100,000 people over the course of the long weekend, there to soak up the sounds of more than 100 DJs performing across 4 stages on the town’s beachfront.

Having built a reputation as the biggest and best, Electrobeach could be forgiven for resting on its laurels and riding the waves of its reputation. Instead - ever striving for the ultimate festival experience - organisers this year undertook a first for French festivals by placing its faith entirely in Funktion-One. While the UK manufacturer’s Vero system took the headline position on the main stage, Evo sound systems provided audio for the other 3.

In truth, this was far from a blind leap of faith with the town of Le Barcarès itself a stakeholder in the festival, all elements of the event had to be put out to public tender. Ultimately, it wasn’t Funktion-One’s reputation for top quality sound that sealed the deal, but rather the bare facts of each system’s technical capabilities. Not least the ability to deliver precisely focused coverage.

As the festival’s Technical Manager, Jean Denis Rolland, explained: “It’s very important to have good sound, but we are in France and in France it’s very different. We work for a town so we must work with a public offer - it’s impossible to impose a brand in France. This year we have chosen the sound system of Funktion-One, but it’s not chosen for the brand but for the coverage. It offers the best coverage and we chose the system for this.” In addition to this, the sheer efficiency of the system was a factor. Indeed, it would later transpire that power draw for the main stage was reduced to a tenth of that required the previous year.

Though ultimate responsibility for the audio provision fell to Concept Group - a Funktion-One partner based in the south of France - the huge scale of the event meant additional support was required. In response, Concept Group drafted in Solution One from Montpellier, Remote from Paris and Think! AV from the Netherlands to provide the necessary equipment

and expertise needed to fulfil the demands of the festival. Further augmenting this super-group of suppliers was a crack team from Funktion- One HQ, including company co-founders and R&D masterminds Tony Andrews and John Newsham.

A driving force behind the adoption of Vero on the main stage was the organiser’s desire to avoid the use of delay towers, and so allow unobstructed views of the blazing, multi-screen visuals. The impressive throw achievable with Vero allowed the team to deliver good quality coverage all the way back to the huge landlocked steel boat that sits on the beach some 130m away.

Vero is comprised of a 3 x 15 mid-bass horn-loaded cabinet along with dedicated 90° and 60° mid-high - elements that can be configured in any arrangement to perfectly suit any given environment. While it shares the same easy-to-deploy convenience that has made line arrays so popular, this large format vertical array operates on a completely different set of acoustic principles - providing distinct advantages that were brought in to play for Electrobeach.

The ability to precisely tailor Vero was especially advantageous given the location of the festival’s Main Stage, as Newsham explained. “The festival site is surrounded by residential buildings, which we want to keep the sound away from as much as we can,” he said. “Being a completely horn-loaded system means Vero has a very accurate coverage pattern - we can control our output and keep it focussed on the audience, rather than it spreading to other parts of the environment.”

Vero’s Lambda rigging system also proved its worth during set-up, when it became clear that slap-back from the landlocked ship would be an issue. Adjustments were carried out without having to drop the array in, allowing the team to quickly raise the system and angle it down slightly to ensure minimal reflection. The Vero system loaded into a single artic and only required 4 flying points, whereas in previous years up to 16 rigging points were needed.

As well as behaving completely naturally (with no onboard system EQ), the Main Stage sound was unaffected by the coastal wind. “We’re noticing that, despite the site being really windy, we’re not getting any phasing problems because it’s not summing in the near field,” explained Andrews. The Main Stage hangs each comprised 5 V60 (mid-high loudspeaker providing 60° horizontal), 6 V315 (mid-bass horn loaded loudspeaker) and

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ELECTROBEACH

Below: Funktion-One Co-Founder, Tony Andrews.

8 V90 (mid-high loudspeaker providing 90° horizontal coverage). 8 stacks of V221 subs (32 in total) were spread evenly across the front of the stage, along with a column of 8 V132 super subs. 4 Evo 7TH were used as out fills and 2 Evo 7 for centre fills. Vero was powered by 22 Lab.gruppen PLM 20K44 touring amplifiers.

“The audio results are pretty spectacular,” noted Andrews. “Last night when we’d finished tuning the bass set up, John said he thought it’s probably the best he’s ever heard it - and I’d be inclined to agree. The stereo picture is just fantastic.”

Yannick Hoogerwerf of Think! AV concurred. “It sounds brilliant,” he said. “The stereo image is the widest I’ve ever heard on a PA and the bass is really deep and firm because of the F132’s - basically we have a 5-way system. It’s really even and it throws a lot further than any of my expectations.”

Paul Meskel of project leader Concept Group felt Vero had delivered on its promise. “It’s the first time I’ve worked with Vero and I really like it. The low ends are really punchy and tough, and it’s got so much projection - I really love the sound of this PA. The good thing about the system is you can play really loud, but the sound is never aggressive at all. It’s really pleasant to hear. There’s a lot of pressure - a lot of impact, especially in the low end - but it stays clear and not aggressive at all.”

For Chris Hawkes of Solution One, the response to Vero’s French debut surpassed his own high expectations. “We’ve had it up for a couple of days and we’ve had amazingly positive reactions,” he commented. “Everyone’s confident that we’re going to give the crowd a new experience. Certainly, the music we’ve been feeling in the soundchecks has been something that I’ve never experienced before.”

Though Hawkes was already well acquainted with Funktion-One’s hands-on approach to projects like this, for others on site the direct access to support from Newsham and Andrews was a bonus. “Personally, I’ve been working with Tony and John for 25 years,” noted Hawkes. “But today on a festival like this, all the crew that have never met John and Tony before are absolutely amazed how the bosses of Funktion-One are coming here and getting involved on every level, sharing their knowledge and finding every possible way of making the thing as perfect as imaginable.”

Emily Watson - Digital Design Engineer at Cadac - was also onsite throughout the setup and event days. A CDC six was specified as the main sound console. Watson said: “There was a second console on the main stage but there was a noticeable audio difference when ever this was in play - the stereo image shrank the moment it was used. The Cadac stole the show and was used for almost all of the DJs.

“Vero has impressively clear and defined bass response which the Cadac complimented nicely with its clarity. The stereo image was massive and felt open and far wider than the size of the Vero it was coming out of.”

Watson was also impressed by how intuitive the CDC six proved to be. She said: “The FOH engineers were new to the console but required little instruction or training to get mixing. I stayed close to offer support and answer questions when needed, but found they were quite happy working with the CDC six without too much input from me.

“It’s designed for simplicity and ease, and it showed that at this festival. Some engineers were unsure about having the CDC six at Electrobeach,

especially on main stage, but after hearing the console they became curious and we had both Think! AV engineers and Concept engineers working on it. They were impressed with the audio quality, and the console received many complements from different people among the crew.”

For the remaining 3 stages, Funktion-One Evo systems energised each audience. On the Techno Stage, the system comprised of 2 stacks of 3 Evo 7T / Evo 7TH / Evo 7TL-215, and 2 Evo 7TH in fills. 10 F121 and 4 F132 were used in an asymmetric combination giving seamless and high impact bass coverage.

Meanwhile, over on the Hardstyle Stage, 4 Evo 7Ts, 2 Evo 7THs, 2 F315’s, 12 F121’s and 6 BR221’s were on duty. PSM318 monitors were deployed on both stages which was most appreciated by the DJ’s

For the Beach Stage, 4 Evo6Es, 4 Evo6ELs, 8 F124’s and PSM12 Monitors with Minibass 212 were used. Notably, the F124’s were deployed as a mono centre bass stack, set up in an inverted delta array - another example of how the Funktion-One team were able to add its expertise to the project. So called for the D-shaped configuration of the boxes, the delta array provides a wider coverage than would otherwise be achieved. Stacked 4 subs wide, the centre section is horn-loaded by the outside boxes - the horn is extended using the sides of the outer boxes. “We then do an end-fire with the outer boxes - delaying them to be in time with the centre boxes,” explained Newsham. “By changing the delay very slightly, we can adjust the angle of dispersion of the array. We’ve got quite a nice short, wide area, so we’ve gone for a bit more spread.”

At the end of 3 full-on days of festival action, both Vero and Evo had delivered on the promises made in tender; achieving a French first and providing further proof that alternatives still exist for those willing to look beyond the party line. Photos: 432 Productions www.electrobeach.com www.funktion-one.com

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EDINBURGH FRINGE

EDINBURGH FRINGE

As has become an annual tradition, Eaton Zero 88 consoles were out in force across venues at this year’s Edinburgh Fridge with the full range of systems distributed across 300+ venues in the city. The Eaton team were also on site providing comprehensive training and support.

Over 100 Eaton Zero 88 lighting consoles from the new award winning FLX range and a variety of legacy products were distributed across the 300+ venues running in and around the city during The Edinburgh Fringe. The company has once again been at the forefront of offering comprehensive onsite training and support.

At least 25 of Eaton’s new Zero 88 FLX S range consoles were involved, just 9 months after the desk was launched. The desk has been designed for quick and intuitive control of moving lights and LED fixtures for this size and style of shows. In fact, Eaton enjoyed a bumper Fringe year in the lighting control department, with the Zero 88 brand’s trusty consoles running lighting for a diversity of venues - from the highest profile to the most exclusive and secretive.

Myriad venues, from the vaguely conventional to the truly idiosyncratic, popped-up as show spaces across Edinburgh for the duration, while numerous well-known established theatres and concert halls come alive with the buzz and excitement of the world’s largest arts festival.

Zero 88 consoles and control packages were featured at some of the busiest and most popular venues, with FLX range products at Assembly, Underbelly, Gilded Balloon, Summerhall and Pleasance, all of which offer multiple performance spaces throughout the festival.

There has been a big push for venues to switch to more LED lighting where possible, with all the extra creativity it offers LDs, plus additional powerful parameters like colour mixing that need to be easily controlled. All of this was perfect for the FLX S’s range being a control platform of choice.

Eaton’s Jon Hole and Edward Smith took to the technical front-line in the run up to the festival opening, giving face-to-face training and support to an estimated 150 technicians and operators as well as 25 dedicated console training sessions across the city.

The in-situ training is something for which Zero 88 has become renowned. “We all love the Fringe Festival for many reasons including the lively atmosphere together with the ambition and excellence of so many of the works,” stated Jon Hole, adding, “It’s greet to see the consoles pushed to new levels by multiple lighting designers and programmers from all sectors of the industry with assorted levels of knowledge and experience.”

At least 2 major UK rental companies invested in new FLX S consoles to service their Edinburgh shows. Bristol headquartered SLX, that purchased 9 FLX S consoles, and Hawthorn, that bought a mixture of 6 FLX and FLX S consoles.

For Martin McLachlan, Head of Lighting at Assembly, it’s the, “flexibility, ease of use and familiarity for incoming companies” that makes Eaton a goto console choice for Edinburgh Fringe. Not only that but the desks ability to deal with, “complex programming without confusing options for less advanced users” made them an ideal choice.

Assembly also hosted a range of performances for the 2018 Edinburgh Jazz Festival immediately prior to the Fringe, for which a Zero FLX console was used in its Picolo venue, included by Lighting Designer Tarzan Wood for American blues singer Earl Thomas.

Brian Hutchison, Production Manager for Summerhall stated that the most important lighting control considerations for Fringe events are, “reliability, ease of use and the excellent Eaton customer training and support”. He thought the Zero 88 consoles were, “stable and user friendly” and that the FLX S range has a “powerful feature set and a superior theatre cue stack compared to most others”. He continued: “But more importantly

it’s Eaton’s support and training which is vital for events like Edinburgh Fringe. We have numerous users of various abilities and very little room for error or downtime.”

Dan Last, Customer Service Senior Account Handler for lighting supplier White Light commented: “At a Fringe event you need a product that a wide number of people will be familiar with and that is easy to learn and use for those who aren’t, and of course it has to be cost effective for the venue provider.”

Jon Hole observed: “It’s a great testament to the flexibility, power and true user-friendliness of the FLX S range to see them in so many places, and we really pride ourselves on going that proverbial ‘extra mile’ and assisting and advising anyone using our kit how to maximise and get the most out of the tools at their fingertips!

“Every year we’re taken aback by the scale, enthusiasm and creativity shown throughout Edinburgh by designers, performers and technicians. We’re here to make their jobs as easy as possible - and we seem to be succeeding judging by the great feedback and seeing some venues after several years now returning to Zero 88 for their lighting control due to the intuitiveness, feature set and reliability.”

Key reasons making Zero 88 consoles a success in Fringe-like environments are the impressive power in an expediently sized and small footprint package; the speed and swiftness of programming - including having all the patented colour information on-board ready to be applied to LED rigs - as well as being exceptionally quick and easy for people to pick up and learn, even if it’s the first time they are using a Zero console!

So Eaton’s Zero 88 continued to tick multiple Fringe Festival production boxes and embrace a truly world class event with much enthusiasm and zest as well as provide some of the best practical working solutions for lighting control. www.edfringe.com www.zero88.com

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TALL SHIPS FESTIVAL

TALL SHIPS FESTIVAL

Hippotizer Karst Media Servers helped create stunning light shows, delivering cutting-edge projection mapping to huge crowds attending Tall Ships celebrations. Marking the fifth time Liverpool has hosted a Tall Ships event, extensive celebrations were very much captain’s orders.

Stage Sound Services, complete with Green Hippo tech, was on duty to deliver a brace of stunning projection-mapped light shows. The 2 events brought the power of projection mapping to huge audiences. In Birkenhead’s Hamilton Square, the Stage Sound Services team, working with the creative team at Illuminos, used a pair of Hippotizer Karst Media Servers to help map a spectacular show - inspired by Birkenhead’s people, places and history - on to the classically-designed Town Hall.

The same team also put on another supreme example of projection mapping in Liverpool’s Cunard Building. Both light shows formed key parts of the weekend’s celebrations, including being promoted as lead attractions; ones around which further activities - such as circus activities and street food offerings - rotated.

For both events the creative teams used Hippotizer Media Servers to control projections on to the buildings. Hippotizer also played back audio for the Birkenhead event’s sound team, and in Liverpool it chased timecode that was sent from sound, syncing the audio with the pyrotechnics. For both shows, the teams used SSS Midi Trigger Boxes to control the timeline in the machines.

“We chose Hippotizer for a few reasons, primarily the smooth playback the engine provides, especially the frame blending,” said Richard Gilbert of Stage Sound Services. “In many other systems, when tackling such

large scale projection including pans across buildings, you see the content jump across. The Hippotizer blends each frame together, meaning you get smooth playback where you would otherwise get that jump in content. We also like the visualiser within Hippotizer, as it means we can program a show in the light without the need for expensive multi-views. The customisable GUI is a real bonus, allowing you to see exactly what you want to see, and remove what you don’t. The support from Ned, Ryan and the rest of the Green Hippo team in London is also great; approachable, knowledgeable and always keen to make sure that the system works for our needs.”

The resulting video and light shows delivered impressive additions to the now traditional celebrations that accompany any Tall Ships event, wowing not just attendees, but also gaining extensive column inches in newspaper reports, as well as widespread online and TV video coverage. www.green-hippo.com

prolights.it

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TOMORROWLAND

TOMORROWLANDSHOWTEX

A familiar face at the annual dance festival, ShowTex supplied red StretchVelours for the Pussy Lounge, a brand new in-the-round stage reusing the famous carrousel of last year’s Main Stage.

To make sure the circus theme was respected, ShowTex added more velvet drapes to finish the 2 ceilings of the carrousel, spanning a 7m and 10m in diameter, respectively.

Furthermore ShowTex supplied tonnes of black Juncko and Molton, the perfect flame retardant fabrics for temporary stage skirting. While these fabrics are typically used for big surface masking they remain rather invisible to the untrained eye. But rest assured, each stage at the festival featured ShowTex fabrics.

“No matter the size of the project, the ShowTex team is always thinking ahead enthusiastically and 100% commitment to get the production to the next level,” commented Bart Denies, Technical Producer at Tomorrowland. “The word ‘no’, simply isn’t in their vocabulary, no matter how complex the challenge. This is what makes it great to work with ShowTex. You just know everything will turn out just fine when you’re sitting around the table together and this year’s in-the-round Pussy Lounge stage is a clear example of this.” www.tomorrowland.com www.showtex.com

PIONEER PRO AUDIO

The famous B-EAT Restaurant returned to Tomorrowland in 2018. Together with Las Vegas chefs, Tomorrowland’s DJs transformed an indoor restaurant into a tasteful journey for all the senses. Lasting an hour, visitors got to experience a private DJ session with appetisers and a special B-EAT cocktail. With 4 shows a day a total of 12,000 got to enjoy this high class experience throughout the festival.

KICK APS returned to the festival again to provide the area with a Pioneer Pro Audio XY Series for the B-EAT area. KICK APS’ Karel Geukens discussed the company’s long history with the festival. “We’ve been with Tomorrowland since the very beginning,” he began. “This year, preparations time was very short with Tomorrowland already deciding the placement of each of the speakers. This meant we were coming in to make minor adjustments on site.” He went on to explain that as important as CAD drawing were in the prep they are often “short on detail” and he prefers to be onsite to make the final adjustments to ensure the system

sounded its best.

The left and right hangs within the space were made up of 3 XY-3B’s and 3 XY-218HS. Front fills consisted on 2 XY-2’s and 2 XY-218HS. Finally for the DJ booth KICK APS opted for 2XY-122 and 2 XY-215S. Control came courtesy of a DiGiCo SD9. “The desk did some of the processing and multi band compression as the DJs tend to overload the LA EQ through the use of effects and gains,” commented Geukens. Driving the sound system was a selection of Powersoft amplifies including X4’s for the XY-3Bs with K3’s for monitors and K10’s for the XY-218HS.

“The main challenge this year was getting the equipment into the venue,” reminisced Geukens. “We had to use a 6m staircase to load 135kg subs and with width of the stairs was only 1m! So there was only one solution - bring in a crane.”

He concluded by giving his thoughts on the system. “KICK APS history with Pioneer Pro Audio date back to the early 2000’s when they brought out the CDJ 500. We have collaborated ever since. Pioneer made their speakers for dance festivals and clubs - they were the perfect choice for this event.” www.pioneerproaudio.com www.kick.be

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2000TRESS

2000TREES

The independent 10,000-capacity rock festival, took the plunge this summer to become 100% cashless for its 11th edition partnering with PlayPass.

The prospect of a cash-free site seems to have been as daunting as it is appealing to the UK’s festival industry, which has been highly tentative to date in its use of RFID technology. In contrast, many other countries across Europe have accepted the PlayPass technology as standard.

“We decided to make the leap this year and I’m delighted to say it’s everything we’d hoped for,” enthused 2000trees Festival Organiser Andy Rae following the event moving to a cashless system. “We spent a lot of time considering how it could affect our festival and spoke to numerous RFID providers before concluding that PlayPass had the most to offer. You can’t underestimate the convenience it adds to the customer experience not having to worry about bringing cash and keeping it safe.The tech helped render queues non-existent, allowing people to spend more time actually enjoying the festival.”

Rae did admit that debuting as a cashless festival is still a relatively bold move in the UK. However, with over 450 million global users of Apple Pay and contactless payments making up for 58% of all transactions in the retail industry, he and the 200trees team felt confident. “It’s now a part of everyday life, so it feels more organic that festivals and events will follow suit,” he commented. “But it’s important that moving over to the technology enhances the experience of both the traders and visitors of the festival and does not affect our festival culture. ”

One of the key elements to the system’s success was prior to the festival, when ticket buyers were encouraged to register their account, which they could top up in the months prior. Spreading their festival finance helps explain the increased customer spend at the event. PlayPass supplied the online top-up platform and supported by the proactive communication from 2000trees, offering incentives of extra cash bonuses. Collectively, 80% of attendees registered and loaded cash onto their wristbands before arriving on site.

The RFID system also allowed festival-goers to view their balance after each transaction as well as view their purchase history. PlayPass deployed over 100 point of sale terminals across 55 outlets at 2000trees. One perception, which seems to be unique to UK market, is that traders will resist a move to cashless, but 2000trees painted a very different story. Simon Cullum from Poffertjes, seller of traditional Dutch pancakes at many UK festivals, declared that, “going cashless has been a revelation. I don’t have to worry about storing cash, miscounting it or taking it to the bank. Most importantly, the system has reduced my anxiety about theft.”

Recent studies of 200 global events that have converted to PlayPass’ cashless solutions, have seen an average increase in visitor spend by 23% per event as a result. Alongside providing data on revenue and

consumption, a wealth of new business intelligence insights are available through the system, where organisers can monitor and understand every detail of the event in real-time. The organiser can also analyse peak times and compare this to the event schedule.

PlayPass have flourished across the globe - and now gaining a growing presence in the UK - by offering a solution that combines the resilience of an offline system. As such, its client events can utilise its powerful capabilities like automatic topup, online loading and a recently introduced ability to bundle cashless credits with other pre-event purchases (such as beer packs and portable phone charging) in a single online order basket. Behind this, they have the peace of mind that, if the internet fails or the power goes down, all of the bars and traders can carry on trading without any risk of disruption.

Steve Jenner, leading PlayPass’ business development in the UK and Ireland, explained: “At PlayPass, we have eliminated the risk of system failure as a possibility because - unlike with an online system that relies entirely on 1 or 2 connections to a cloud server - there is no single point of failure on which our whole platform rests. The very worst case scenario with us is that an individual scanner or RFID wristband gets damaged or lost, and that can be replaced by our on-site response team in a matter of moments. Alongside this, PlayPass is constantly reinvesting back into the technology to ensure we’re always improving our capabilities and the system itself. Unlike most of our competitors, we build and constantly refine all of our software in-house, so we can be more responsive to our client needs and innovate faster in line with the rapidly evolving events market.

Alongside PlayPass’ constant enhancements, other benefits of using RFID technology and becoming totally cashless include removing the need of cash on site which makes a significant saving on security and logistics. Visitors have the option to receive a refund after the event, or use their remaining funds towards future tickets.

While some cash-using festivals and outdoor events have made the headlines with excessive bar queues this summer, 2000trees by contrast experienced a major reduction in its bar queuing times - another notable benefit of the system.

The festival’s successful debut as a cashless event has shown that it is a viable - and profitable - option for festivals who want to embrace the future by implementing cashless solutions. Steve Jenner concluded: “2000trees have shown that, when you approach RFID and cashless in the right way, you can achieve incredible results in year one with your audience and traders fully embracing it. This is a landmark moment for the UK’s independent festival sector, we are very proud to have been a part of it and can’t wait to build on this positive start to scale great heights going forward.” www.twothousandtreesfestival.co.uk www.playpass.be

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WOMAD FESTIVAL

WOMAD FESTIVAL

This year’s festival offered an immersive audio experience thanks to the partnership with d&b audiotechnik’s Soundscape.

d&b audiotechnik added a striking dimension to its rollout of Soundscape - the next-generation audio processing platform that combines object-based mixing and room emulation. The audio specialists partnered with World of Music Arts & Dance (WOMAD) Festival on a dedicated 900sqm marquee stage and arena. The d&b Soundscape Stage used the remarkably eclectic programme of world music artists ranging from bands and singer songwriters to DJs and field recordists to reveal the versatility and the detail that the system commands.

Considering its range of artists who are often happy to play their sets on bamboo nose flutes, WOMAD has never shied away from technology. That’s because it was very much the brainchild of Peter Gabriel, the Dumbledore of hi-tech progressive rock and chromium-plated chart pop. It grew out of the sylvan tendrils of his West Country recording retreats, and by the time his famous Real World Studios opened at the end of the ‘80s WOMAD - the organisation, the record label, the festival - was established as a global outreach of this audio cathedral.

To make sure that Soundscape’s WOMAD debut went smoothly, the sound engineering services of Ben Findlay were secured. Findlay, now much in demand as a live sound engineer, learned his craft as a studio engineer at Real World and later on tour with Gabriel himself, among many other leading lights from Simply Red to Sting.

This was Findlay’s first encounter with Soundscape as a completely new live sound mixing paradigm now making its way in the realest of worlds and the toughest of acoustic conditions.

“It was immediately clear,” said Findlay, “That Soundscape has the ability to place each musician in the mix exactly as you see them on stage. But the most striking thing was that this localisation works for everyone in the audience, wherever they’re standing. Normally you have to stand right in the centre to have equal coverage from both sides and to get that sense that it’s coming from the middle. Step even a metre either side and it all starts to drift to that side.

“With Soundscape, if you pan something into the middle of the array of speakers across the front - in this case 7 V7P point-source - you still get that

sense of central localisation even you’re extreme downstage right, or left.”

This describes the 180° benefit of Soundscape’s object-based signal processing and mixing, but WOMAD also presented an opportunity to exploit its 360° dimensions and the potential to create what is increasingly being described as an immersive listening experience for the audience. To achieve this, a ring of 22 Y10’s was placed around the boundaries of the marquee.

Findlay described the workflow: “Every channel of audio that comes into the console goes out discretely to the d&b DS100 Signal Engine which houses a 64 x 64 signal matrix where it becomes a sound object,” he said. “In our case 48 input channels from the stage box became 48 objects and you can then use the interface to position each of these objects wherever you want in the sound field. It was fun and fascinating to be able to pull objects off the stage and fly them around the room, but for this context the most artistically satisfying effect was to select certain more ethereal sound sources, add reverb to those and feed the returns into the 360° space while keeping them dry off the stage. You get a lot of clarity at the front while establishing a really enveloping ambience.”

Findlay also found that it was quick and intuitive to observe the line-up of each act as it took to the stage, and make adjustments within Soundscape to connect the mix with the immediate visual impression of the musicians in situ - a particularly useful feature in a festival situation like this where the kaleidoscope of audio-visual impressions is such a rich part of the experience. “You can very quickly group the channels/objects too, enabling you to move a whole group - such as a drum kit - around the stage according to where it was set up. By the end of the weekend I was entirely comfortable with this approach.”

WOMAD has a very discerning audience. So much so, that d&b audiotechnik’s Bill Brooks and John Taylor conducted an informed and engaging presentation about the Soundscape concept every afternoon in a break between the acts. But you don’t have to be Leonardo Da Vinci to appreciate this renaissance. “We had a lot of very positive reactions from people,” Findlay said. “Even though you don’t expect them to follow all the technicalities. And I found the opportunity to be so precise about how things sat in the mix very rewarding. It sounded really, really good.” www.womad.co.uk www.dbaudio.com

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LOVEBOX

LOVEBOX

This year, the eclectic festival moved to its new home in Gunnersbury Park. SSE Audio were on site to ensure a painless transition.

The brainchild of legendary DJs Groove Armada, Lovebox can trace its roots back to the London party scene of the early noughties. What started as an album and a one-off party in an old strip club off Tottenham Court Road grew into the eclectic festival that it is today. Earlier this year, Lovebox announced it would be making a move from East to West, from its former home in Victoria Park across the capital to Gunnersbury Park near Acton. This would be the first large scale music festival ever to be held at Gunnersbury Park. As with many urban festivals one of the key concerns from the local authority, who licence the event, was the issue of off-site noise, with the park surrounded on all sides by residential properties. Strict offsite levels were set and acoustic consultants Vanguardia were employed to measure and ensure compliance.

Commenting on the weekend, SSE Project Manager, Miles Hillyard, said: “This was pretty much the gig they said couldn’t be done! From the outset people were sceptical that we would be able to achieve even 96dB at FOH without breaking the noise licensing. Figures across the weekend revealed we were achieving as high as 103dB at FOH and were comfortably within the off-site limits - proof that we got our calculations right long before we got to site.”

Although according to Hillyard it wasn’t just about the numbers. He explained: “The design also gave us a great sounding system, confirmed from the feedback we’ve had from the FOH engineers. The sub bass design, while influenced by the licence requirements, had excellent tonality with virtually no phase cancellation.”

Hillyard designed all the audio systems for the main, second and third stages at Lovebox. “From initial site visits, it was obvious that the close proximity of residential property was going to influence our system design - an audio footprint with a sharp drop off within the boundaries of the site was essential.” SSE presented 3 different designs using systems from 3 different manufacturers - each with its own merits. Promoter MAMA Festivals had every confidence in SSE as a supplier, so much so it left the final decision down to SSE.

“We decided to use L-Acoustics K2 as the main hangs on each of the three stages,” explained Hillyard. “Our experience has resulted in a huge knowledgebase of how the different elements of L-Acoustics K-Series interact and we were confident that the K2 was the right option.” On the main stage SSE’s system utilised 14 L-Acoustics K2 line array cabinets per side with outhangs and infill of L-Acoustics KARA. Hillyard produced a specific sub bass design, featuring L-Acoustics KS28 cabinets

configured as an end-fire sub array. Four delays of L-Acoustics KARA extended the stage’s footprint with minimal overspill.

Stages 2 and 3 also used main hangs of L-Acoustics K2, with a mixture of KARA and KIVA II for infill. Both these stages were in marquees, although the second stage also required delays of L-Acoustics KARA that were erected outside of the marquee. Hillyard commented: “We opted for K2 over K1 because the cabinet has a shorter overall throw - ideal in this application. The K-Series, from K1 right down to KIVA II, all have similar tonal characteristics, so you know you can mix and match to get the design you require.”

Covering the 3 largest stages meant SSE Hire could better manage the noise levels across the festival as a whole. Miles explained: “We have LA Network Manager monitoring each system, hosted on PCs in the FOH DriveRacks. For Lovebox we installed remote desktop software enabling us to monitor and make adjustments to all three systems from a central point. Rather than resorting to comms or mobile phones we had a holistic view that enabled us to make adjustments where necessary in real time.”

The main stage system came in for particular praise from the engineers who passed through the FOH tent over the course of the weekend. Gerry Parchment, Engineer for Friday night headliner, Skepta commented: “Thanks to SSE, the crew and everyone involved for an enjoyable day. The (system) design was perfect in that it let the public enjoy their day out - we can all take solace in a job well done.” Andy Boo from Skepta’s production added: “Thanks to you all for your help in making Friday’s show a great success - Skepta says this is the best show he has done.”

Headliner on Saturday was US rapper and DJ Childish Gambino. The artist’s FOH engineer Kenneth Williams was also delighted with how the weekend had panned out: “SSE had a great crew on site and we were well looked after at FOH by System Tech Adam Walker. The whole event was a technically enjoyable experience and I would gladly mix on the same system with the same personnel again.”

SSE Audio MD John Penn concluded: “This project shows that skill and experience are as important as having access to the right systems in order to achieve the best results. Features such as flying the main hangs lower, opting for K2 rather than K1; all this is down to the experience of our Hire department. It’s also about attention to detail - L-Acoustics Soundvision is only a tool, it doesn’t design the system for you. It’s about having the knowledge of what will and won’t produce the right results, coming up with a design and then painstakingly fine tuning it until the prediction software produces the desired results. It’s all about the public’s experience and at Urban festivals that’s got as much to do with the people who don’t attend as those that do.” www.loveboxfestival.com www.sseaudiogroup.com

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GRØN FESTIVAL

GRØN FESTIVAL

Blackmagic Design took the lead for Video Design for the Danish festival.

Since the early ‘80s, Denmark’s Grøn Festival has not only entertained hundreds of thousands of people, but has also raised funds for, and awareness of muscular dystrophy across the country. Taking place each summer, Grøn tours the country for 10 days, with concerts taking place on consecutive dates. Multiple rigging, derigging and transporting for a 3 stage live production on a daily basis is no mean feat, especially when the same crew and artists deliver the festival’s entire schedule. Taking responsibility for video production at Grøn is live events specialist Deadlight Lydiksen. This year, the team’s brand new 12G-SDI OB van, built on a live production workflow featuring Blackmagic Design, took centre stage as the hub of the festival’s video production.

“Working from the van has enormous advantages for the Grøn set up, as we can pack up and drive straight off to the next venue,” explained Casper Warnich of Deadlight. “When we decided to upgrade our OB capabilities, we wanted a complete 12G workflow, as this would allow us to produce live content up to 2160p60. Doing so allows us to take on a huge variety of work; from big screen production, to live-streaming to corporate events.”

As well as portability being a big requirement for the festival, Warnich and team have to be able to handle a huge variety of video production requirements for the main stage’s 3 acts, and this is where the van’s ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K comes into its own.

“One of our bands has 4 big screens behind them on stage, as well as an LED trailer screen at the side of the stage,” he explained. “For their backdrop, we have multiple cameras filming each band member, and these feeds are all mixed together using the ATEM’s SuperSource feature, so that each of the 4 screens has each of the 4 band members in perfect sync. That just wouldn’t be possible without a multi source, multi effect switcher that also offers enough low latency for a festival environment.”

Warnich explained that the next band on the stage’s line up then requires extensive use of media servers, mixed with live camera feeds from Deadlight’s 3 URSA Broadcast live production cameras to deliver a live mix for its screens, as well as a standalone mix for the trailer screen.

“Each of the bands want to make sure their performance is as creative and immersive as possible for the crowd, so as a production team, we don’t want to restrict their vision,” he continued. “For us this means we are essentially moving quickly between very different and often complex video set ups, so the van’s flexibility is critical. The van’s infrastructure is routed through a Smart Videohub, and this means we can switch between inputs and outputs extremely quickly and easily, with no need to rewire in between acts.”

The 3 URSA Broadcasts are paired with Canon 40x ENG zoom lenses, with 2 positioned FOH and 1 as a pit camera. “Our ability to sync the URSA Broadcast via SDI is very useful, and makes it possible to achieve very low latency without having to deal with sync generators and additional cabling,” explained Warnich.

“We also have HD remote cameras in the set up for Grøn, so we’ve kept to a 1080p60 production for big screen coverage at all of this summer’s dates. But as the URSA Broadcast sensor has been designed for both HD and Ultra HD scenarios, we still have fantastic details, accurate skin tones and textures that really translate the excitement and intensity of the band’s performance, regardless of which format we work in.”

With the festival covering 650 miles over the 8 days, Grøn’s schedule is tough, however the solution is robust enough for Warnich and his 8 person production team to have complete confidence regardless of the venue. “Blackmagic’s move towards broadcast SMPTE fiber simplifies our approach by removing unnecessary weight and cost,” concluded Warnich. “It also gives us talkback, tally and power through that one cable. Simplicity paired with flexibility helps us hugely when we are on the road touring.” Photo: Patrick Hussey www.groenkoncert.dk www.blackmagicdesign.com

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