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Mobileye party event lit with Robe Tetras
01/04/2025
Martin Audio WPS supports “Top Gun: Maverick - In Concert” at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall
31/03/2025
Klang immerses Max Mutzke’s tour experience
27/03/2025
I Art Nouveau transforms with Chauvet Professional Well STX 360 fixtures from AudioMaster
25/03/2025
Robe helps unmask in Brazil
20/03/2025
RAF Camora tours with Ayrton Zonda 9 FX
11/03/2025
DiGiCo consoles selected for Charli XCX worldwide touring
Charli XCX’s “Brat Tour” started in July 2024 and continues throughout 2025 with dates all over the world. Charli commands the stage, with only occasional guests and minimal set pieces, so all eyes are on her for the entire performance.
Front-of-house engineer Mat Collis, who has worked with Charli XCX for thirteen years, and monitor engineer Barry “Baz” Tymms chose the DiGiCo SD12-96 for the monitor position and the DiGiCo Quantum 338 for FOH, both supplied by Eighth Day Sound. At the FOH position there are 32 channels of playback arriving via MADI to an Orange Box, DiGiCo’s bi-direction audio format conversion unit.
“In addition to the audio needed for the show, we also have timecode and an internal BLDS (Buffer Loop Detection Signal) for redundant switching”, explains. “We also have analogue back-up signals, talkback for the sound team and for Charli if she needs it. The increased channel count on the Quantum 338 is useful; even with a vocal and track gig, you can quickly rack up the channel count, especially when you take the effects returns and duplicated inputs into account.”
Charli XCX garners a lot of media interest, so additional feeds for broadcast, recordings, or social media are often required. Additional channels are also needed for guest artists. Collis says he appreciates the three banks of faders available on the surface of the Quantum 338. “I tend to send broadcast stems from the stage rack, but occasionally it’s just a left and right instrumental, with Charli’s vocal separated, or a direct MADI split”, he adds.
At monitors, Barry Tymms’ SD12-96 has 96 channels at 48 kHz/96 kHz and benefits from 155 Dynamic EQ processors that can be assigned to any input or output channel. The master section offers sixteen graphic EQs, twelve digital effects, and up to twelve control groups. The main show is entirely to track, with guest artists such as Lorde, Yung Lean and Addison Rae making surprise appearances to perform remixes. Special guests also perform solo throughout the tour, something that kept things exciting for the audience and Tymms, as he continues.
“I started with Charli XCX for the latest run of UK Arena shows, so I’ve been with the tour just a few months”, he says. “I use loads of Snapshots during the shows and when we have guest singers, I have additional Snapshots that I can incorporate for the extra checks we need.”
(Photos: DiGiCo)
Alex Mungal ignites Falling In Reverse 2025 touring schedule with Chauvet
Falling In Reverse’s five-city arena tour in Australia, their first of 2025, featured a lighting and production design by Alex Mungal. He turned the show’s generously proportioned rig into a large canvas of bright light and flames. “We had fixtures spanning from the deck floor to 46-feet high”, says Mungal. “We had them above the IMAG screen as well as throughout the stage.”
“Pyro was also a huge part of the show”, he continues. “We programmed lighting and SFX together. This let us really incorporate the two to make them work for each other. We used our SFX cues to hide lighting moves, accent hits in trade-offs, and of course, cause absolute chaos and carnage. Our incredible pyro crews - shout out to Howard+Sons - kept it safe and helped me create a perfect storm of danger without putting the artist at risk. Well, maybe there was a little sense of danger, enough to feel alive. It was definitely hot.”
A key part of Mungal’s lighting rig was the 72 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M motorized strobe-washes supplied by Showscreens and MPH for the Australian tour. Flown vertically and horizontally, the Color Strike M units created a geometrical reference point for the show. Some of the fixtures were arranged in two columns that gradually converged as they got higher, creating a towering effect.
Discussing the role of the Color Strike M, Mungal says: “The fixtures upstage provided our audience light. Our principal artist loves to interact with the crowd and see the sea of people while performing, so I wanted to be able to highlight the crowd without a standard blinder. Additionally, we relied on the vertical fixtures to add to the structure of the rig and give us some alternate shapes beyond just the linear feel from the audience light.”
Mungal created a range of colors with his fixtures, many of them inspired by the cinematic music videos and tones of the songs. For the hit “Bad Guy”, he called on color to suggest a sense of irony. “There is a bit of satire in that song, as the lyrics emphasize the terms people love to spew into the world about the artist”, he explains. “First time hearing the song, I said, ‘Oh were going Disney villain for sure’. So, this palette came straight from the Maleficent dragon in the original Snow White animated film.”
(Photos: Chauvet Professional)
GrandMA3 provides lighting control for Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show
A complement of MA Lighting GrandMA3 consoles were chosen to provide lighting control for the recent Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show produced by Roc Nation, DPS and Jesse Collins Productions. Provided by PRG, three GrandMA3 full-size systems and one light, which served as the tech desk, were deployed at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
This year, rapper Kendrick Lamar headlined the Super Bowl halftime show with guest appearances from R&B artist SZA, actor Samuel L. Jackson, tennis great Serena Williams and DJ/Record Producer Mustard. It was seen by a combined 133.5 million viewers domestically across broadcast television and streaming platforms, becoming the most viewed halftime show in the U.S.
Eric Marchwinski of Burbank-based Earlybird Visual LLC partnered with Mark Humphrey to program the lighting for the show. It marked Marchwinski’s fifth time as lighting programmer for the event. He and Humphrey teamed with Lighting Designer Al Gurdon and Lighting Directors Ben Green and Harry Forster; Cory FitzGerald was the Lighting Designer on the artist’s side.
“This was a unique show in that Mark and I didn’t have a clear division of labor like on other shows, which separate music and people”, Marchwinski explains. “Instead, it was a 12-minute experience that we worked on together, sharing the same workflow on the console and handing the workload back and forth.”
Marchwinski points out that there were only three rehearsal blocks when the entire set - scenery, stages and lighting carts - was on the field. “We did a lot of preproduction and pre-vis, so when we arrived it was a case of looking at what we’d done and making adjustments. We wanted to push play at the first rehearsal and have the show look like something.”
He also notes that this year’s halftime show was in a closed venue for the first time since his involvement, so lighting conditions were consistent at each rehearsal and “adjusting lighting levels meant we were always looking at what we could trust as ‘true’.”
In addition, the Caesars Superdome roof meant “there were trusses overhead and rigging opportunities for downlight, which were important for the artist who wanted an operatic, theatrical look to the show. I had worked with Cory on one of Kendrick’s previous tours, which was helpful in translating how to get the show their camp wanted on stage.”
Marchwinski was an early adopter of GrandMA3 software and has used it for the past three years on TV awards shows, theatrical installations, concert touring and previous Super Bowl halftime shows. “I love the platform”, he says. “GrandMA3 is a tool we choose all the time, for every corner of the industry we work in. For this halftime show, Viz-key proved to be a great help in pre-vis since we were dealing with such a large system.” Viz-key is a solution for stable and safe connectivity between third-party visualization tools and GrandMA3 lighting control.
(Photo: ACT Entertainment/MA Lighting)
Mobileye party event lit with Robe Tetras
Tel Aviv-based creative lighting design studio Lead, founded by Omer Israeli and Dor Aichner, produced a sculptural lighting design concept for the Israeli tech company Mobileye’s 2025 Purim party event, staged in Pavilion 2 at the Tel Aviv Expo, produced by ThisPlay and designed by Shlomi Ilani.
Robe Tetra2 and TetraX fixtures were used at the core of this production lighting design. The aesthetics involved a combination of lighting, automation and precise programming to produce “a dynamic composition of circular shapes and kinetic elements”, as Omer Israeli puts it, creating a “seamless flow of movement, light, and rhythm” to highlight and showcase the live artists performing in the vast barn-like venue space which has 22 metres of headroom.
Lead specifically wanted the ability to change the architectural appearance and atmospherics of the stage dramatically and efficiently flipping between a series of unique settings to accommodate the different artists. The design featured four moving semi-circular trussing sections rigged centrally above the stage - two outer and two inner - plus two upstage vertical static full circles, again outer and inner.
The perimeter of the 8-meter diameter inner back circle - masking a central circular LED screen surface - was rigged with twenty-four Tetra2s and the outer one was populated with beam lights. Twenty-four TetraXs were rigged on the two inner semi-circular trusses. All these semi-circles were automated via a Kinesys system supplied by Stage Design Ltd, and programmed by Tsah Eliahoo, which included three motors per truss - twelve in total - so they could move on all axes. Combined with the lights, they could be pitched and twisted into kaleidoscopic shapes and patterns.
This show was Omer Israeli and Dor Aichner’s first time using TetraXs, and they had only used Tetra 2s previously on a small show the week before, but having seen them in action in other places and contexts, they were confident that these were the right fixtures for this job. “Tetra is still relatively new in Israel”, notes Omer Israeli. “We love the light-curtain effects you can do with them, and we really wanted to maximise both types of fixture on this show as we knew they would make a great impact.”
All the Tetra fixtures were run in full pixel mode for the event and were supplied by Danor Systems to rental company Sincopa who provided all the other lighting kit and the sound system for the event, which featured performances by Omer Adam, Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai and DJ Tomer Maizner in front of 5000 Mobileye employees, partners, and guests.
The lighting style was clean, futuristic, and straightforward, yet geographically complex at the same time, with the multiple beams, effects and layered texturing. The versatility of the lighting design and the movement also facilitated drops and “breakdowns” for more intimate, stark and raw moments.
Lead worked closely with their head lighting programmer Shai Fruman and VJ Koren Barr from Studio Pixel.
(Photos: Eclipse Media/Omer Israeli/Or Doga)
La Raíz return to the stage with Ayrton Cobra light show
After six years away from the stage, Spanish band La Raíz made a triumphant return with two concerts at Madrid’s Movistar Arena. More than 30,000 people attended the shows on November 22 and December 6, 2024. A key element in this comeback was the dynamic lighting - a combination of gobos, prisms, and colour transitions that helped the band bring their visual narrative to life.
Caco García, the mastermind behind the lighting and video design, placed 100 Ayrton Cobra moving heads at the heart of the setup. The fixtures were strategically positioned all around: above the stage to cast expansive beams, on the floor to create upward fan effects and on the side screamers, adding depth and framing the stage design.
The lighting programming was handled by Miguel Hidalgo. With support for protocols like DMX and Art-Net, the fixtures synchronized with the music and every other aspect of the show. The production was backed by Use Sonido. Photographer Nacho Nabscab captured the essence of the event, with images that showcase how lighting became a protagonist.
(Photos: Nacho Nabscab)
Martin Audio WPS supports “Top Gun: Maverick - In Concert” at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall
Martin Audio partner dBS Solutions recently provided sound reinforcement for The Hallé Orchestra at their resident venue, The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. The focus was “Top Gun: Maverick - In Concert” - this brought back fond memories of the Tom Cruise blockbuster for a near sell-out audience in the 2,355-cap hall. The show originally premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in late summer, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, attended by Cruise.
In Manchester, under project manager James Roberts, dBS Solutions provided a Martin Audio scalable resolution WPS line array featuring fourteen elements a side, driven in 1-box resolution by Martin Audio iKon iK42 amplifiers. Martin Audio FlexPoint FP12 sidefills (two per side) provided foldback for the SFX and dialogue to accompany the score.
dBS worked closely with creative producers ESK Film Services, who oversaw all technical elements with the orchestration and track separation. According to Roberts, the principal musicians, percussion section and conductor were all on click tracks. But a large concert hall, with an unconventional shape and four-level tiered seating, presents its own difficulties where amplified music is concerned. “It’s obviously a more challenging acoustic environment than you’d expect in a venue that is designed for classical music”, says Roberts. “All the orchestra were miced, so the aim was to get optimum gain before feedback, which is why we used the Wavefront Precision.”
dBS also deployed the “Hard Avoid” feature on the stage to keep stage levels down. Rear rejection was further achieved by the deployment of four (2 x 2) SXCF118 cardioid subwoofers - a formula adopted by dBS for all their orchestral work. The trim height of the rigs was higher than they would have preferred. To avoid obscuring sightlines to the video screen, the splay angles were calculated using Martin Audio’s proprietary Display software.
“We’ve worked with dBS Solutions for some years now on our amplified concerts. The team there really understand what we and our players need when amplifying an orchestra”, states Lucy Turner of the Hallé. “The sound of the ‘Top Gun’ performance was a superb balance of orchestra and film, covering every seat in the hall. It was dynamic throughout without being too loud or bass heavy for our players on stage.”
(Photos: Martin Audio)
Chauvet helps Lüz Studio create vibes for Billy Strings
“Billy Strings’ shows are unique”, says Matthieu Larivée. “It’s not your regular Bluegrass show by any means. It’s more like a mix of Grateful Dead and EDM.” Larivée and his team of production and video designers at Lüz Studio, along with LD Roger Grant, are helping make this genre-busting mix happen night after night on the string virtuoso’s current 33-date North American arena and amphitheater tour.
“The show is an all-improv show”, continues Larivée. “There are no setlists. There are six looks within our virtual and real lighting rigs that correspond to the show’s six chapters. The crew decides which chapters they will use each night, and then stick to that chapter for a period of time, punting within that world. Those colorful worlds are defined within each chapter with lighting and video. So, it becomes cohesive, while still being very psychedelic and trippy.”
Supporting the transcendent design is a 52-foot-by-26-foot 8 mm pitch video wall that covers the entire backline. With content created by Lüz Studio, the wall immerses with a deep panorama of changing images, many of which create a 3D effect to evoke the feeling of traveling through space.
Above the stage are a series of UFO-like circular structures that shine, while projecting light down on the performers. These structures mirror their virtual counterparts that appear at times on the video wall. “We have designed those pods with Roger and made sure that we were using the same layout with the digital ones”, says Larivée. “Automation was also done within the screen, minimizing the rigging, truck space, and budget.”
Lighting Billy Strings and his bandmates from those pods is a collection of forty Chauvet Professional Outcast 1 BeamWashes. “The BeamWashes are positioned in the center of the PODs, so they can’t be seen”, says Larivée. “Only the UFO looking lights are visible, but the BeamWashes are critical to setting the mood on stage with their downlighting.”
Other Chauvet Professional fixtures in the rig, which was supplied by Bandit Lites, includes twenty Strike Array blinder-strobes, and ten OnAir Mini Panels. “The Strike units are our audience lights on the DS truss”, says Larivée. “The Chauvet Air Panel Mini IP fixtures are also positioned on the DS. They’re great compact footlights.”
Working with their lighting rig and the mesmerizing video content, the design team is creating a show that seamlessly blends evocative images and a rainbow of colors. At times, the choice of colors, like the music itself, transcends ordinary expectations with hues like jewel toned greens that typically aren’t seen on a concert stage, all to help transport fans to a different plane.
“In this show, there are extended 15-minute songs with crowds dancing and following along musically more than looking for a hit tune”, concludes Larivée. “Therefore, it’s okay to become trippy and follow the vibe that is going on stage.”
(Photos: Jesse Faatz)
Klang immerses Max Mutzke’s tour experience
Jan Brandt is an engineer with over twenty years’ experience. Co-owner of 040 Audio, alongside Eike Brameier, the pair supply the audio equipment for Brandt’s current client, German singer-songwriter and TV personality Max Mutzke. This year, they upgraded their setup by adding Klang:Vokal, adding the immersive monitor mix processor to their Yamaha DM7 Compact.
Since 2018, Brandt has toured with Mutzke. For the latest tour, Brandt was looking for a way to elevate the band’s monitor mixes. “I introduced the band to Klang”, he says. “We’d worked hard on the monitor mixes, and they were sounding great, but it felt like Klang was the next big upgrade achieving something no other products could do. After testing a demo, the improvement was undeniable, so we purchased a Klang:Vokal system.”
Brandt showcased Klang’s attributes with virtual soundcheck, which he says came in handy in encouraging the band to try something new. “The band were all open to explore new technical options, so whenever we had a free moment, I would invite a musician to experiment with the virtual soundcheck”, he furthers. “We listened together, playing with placement and from this, I created individual mixes for the band. Standing together at the desk, they were able to fine-tune their mix, just with their finger on my tablet.”
“The band’s trumpet player happens to be Max’s brother, Menzel Mutzke, who is a very accomplished player”, notes Brandt. “For him Klang was a game changer, and the best in-ear monitoring experience he has ever had. We positioned his trumpet front and centre, then positioned the other instruments to give him a much better experience and more space in his mix.”
“Klang has been a fantastic upgrade. Paired with our compact monitor desk, it’s the perfect setup”, he concludes. “The Vokal+ upgrades are interesting too - if there is an opportunity to do more, we will always use it.”
(Photos: Niklas Bieler/Snikbert/040 Audio GbR)
Kaytranada tourt mit GLP Impression X5 IP Bars
Auf der „Timeless“-Welttour des kanadischen DJs und Produzenten Kaytranada hat Lichtdesigner Jaycob Luque insgesamt 156 GLP Impression X5 IP Bars eingesetzt. Ergänzend nutzte er 24 GLP-JDC1-Hybrid-Strobes, bereitgestellt von Matt Brotz und LEC Event Technology.
„Ich habe mich gefragt: Was würde ich mir als Zuschauer bei diesen Shows wünschen? Welche Farben passen zu welchen Songs?“, erklärt Luque seine Herangehensweise. „Mit Kaytranadas künstlerischen Wachstum konnte auch ich mich weiterentwickeln und in den letzten drei Jahren die meisten seiner Shows gestalten.“ Die Zusammenarbeit mit dem Künstler sei dabei unkompliziert gewesen - Kaytranada ist seit seinem fünfzehnten Lebensjahr bekennender Lichttechnik-Fan.
Auch die Zusammenarbeit mit LEC, Luques bevorzugtem Partner, habe sich ausgezahlt, unter anderem in Bezug auf die Impression X5 IP Bars: „Matt (Brotz) hat spezielle Halterungen angefertigt, sodass sie an der Traverse perfekt ausgerichtet sind und eine durchgängige, gleichmäßige Linie bilden“, erklärt Luque. Das gesamte Set-Design ist auf diese Struktur abgestimmt: Vertikale Türme und horizontale Linien umhüllen die Bühne.
„Die X5 IP Bar bildet die Basis“, so Luque weiter. „Links und rechts ragen die Lichttürme von der Bühne bis zur Decke, horizontale Linien verlaufen von vorne nach hinten, während die gesamte Deckenkonstruktion auf automatisierten Traversen montiert ist.“ Auch die Bühnenkante wird von einer durchgehenden Lichtlinie gesäumt, während weitere fünf Reihen in die Tiefe führen und so ein dreidimensionales Lichtszenario schaffen.
Für Kaytranadas Key-Light nutzt Luque die Zoom-Funktion der X5 IP Bars, mit kreativer Freiheit, wie er erklärt: „Manchmal setze ich den Zoom ein, um ihn auf eine bestimmte Art zu beleuchten, die über die klassische Frontausleuchtung hinausgeht. Egal aus welcher Entfernung, ich erziele immer eine gleichmäßige Lichtwirkung.“ Was das Programmieren betrifft, sagt Luque: „Die X5 IP Bar fühlt sich an wie eine X4 Bar, nur mit mehr kreativen Möglichkeiten.“ Er nutzt hauptsächlich GLPs Mode 4 MultiPix Advanced mit 84 DMX-Kanälen und programmiert den Großteil selbst.
Unterstützt wurde er dabei von Jake Hett, der auch die Show steuerte, während Luque als Tour-Show-Director fungierte. Weitere Schlüsselfiguren des Teams waren Eddie Perez, Bethany Vargas, Tamir Schlanger und Von Ford (Kreativ- und Content-Design), Ivan Ceron (Visual Director), Nate Rogers (LEC-Produktionsleiter) sowie Olive Ball und Josh Gordon (Lichttechniker). Tourmanager war Tamir Schlanger, Eliza Willburger die Produktionskoordinatorin und Nate Rebolledo der Produktionsleiter.
(Fotos: Patrick Le/Sabrina Poei/Julio Torres/The Illiterate Eye/Mr Blank)
Corbin Alvae sets fun mood for Alexandra Kay tour with Chauvet
Alexandra Kay’s lighting designer, Corbin Alvae, saw a stylized heart in an advertisement - it struck him with a vision of the perfect set piece for his client’s current 30-city “Cupid’s A Cowgirl” tour. “The concept for this design really came when AK talked about this being the start of a new phase of her career”, recalls Alvae. “We called it the ‘Lover Girl Era’.”
“So, when I was designing this with her and her management, I wanted something to stand out as a good center prop to bring this show together”, he continues. “One day visiting home in Michigan for the holidays, I drove by a massive red heart, and it just hit me with a lot of inspiration to tie together not only the tour’s name, ‘Cupid’s A Cowgirl’, but also the love aspect that a heart can bring and the joy of what being loved feels like.”
Drawing up his idea in previz, Alvae took two curved aluminum pipes with extensions, and mounted them to a couple heavy duty base plates to bring his vision to life. “We went through two or three different versions until the final fabrication that’s seen on this tour stuck”, he says. “Considering that some of the rooms we’re playing have trim height restrictions, along with stage restrictions, we had to make sure it fit every venue. At the same time, the heart had to be big enough to have an impact.”
Helping to ensure that Cupid’s heart, along with the rest of the set, has the desired “big impact” is a collection of Chauvet Professional Colorado fixtures supplied by Bandit Lites. Most prominent in this group are twelve PXL Curve 12 RGBW motorized battens, which are positioned throughout the rig. “The PXL Curve 12s are a go-to fixture for us on this tour”, he says. “I have them scattered everywhere - six hang out downstage to give some really fun looks for fans, whereas the others are mid stage by the risers, and also are rigged inside of eight-foot truss.”
The remaining Colorado fixtures (PXL Bar 8 motorized battens and RGBAW pixel mappable Solo Battens) are also well represented in the rig.
(Photos: Chauvet Professional/Stephanie Siau/Steph Media LLC)
Claypaky Volero Cubes make Dutch debut at Son Mieux concerts in Amsterdam
Dutch indie pop group Son Mieux played two sold-out shows at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome recently where 32 Claypaky Volero Cubes, provided by AED Group Netherlands, made their country-wide debut. Lighting and Set Designer Jasper Nijholt of Jasper Nijholt Lighting Design was tasked with creating a lighting and stage design that would have an open and layered appearance with dynamic elements visible throughout the show.
His lighting design offered ways to evolve throughout the evening beginning with just floor lighting, a centerpiece above the band and light from the band riser. “In the first part of the show, the Volero Cubes were a real eye-catcher creating backlighting behind the band”, says Nijholt. “They were also used for narrow beam effects in the air and to add power to the musical accents with the strobe lines.”
It was his intention to use only white tones of light, ranging from CTB to CTO and everything in between. “The ability to connect the fixtures very closely together was exactly what I needed for this design”, he says. “The overall setup consisted of blocks of fixtures, and I was looking for an eye-catching element near the band, a row of lights that would connect the band riser to the surrounding design.”
By illuminating the venue from the band riser, the Volero Cubes had a prominent position in Nijholt’s lighting design. “They provided exactly what I hoped for: beautiful looks with high output. In relation to the entire lighting rig, I sometimes had to reduce the intensity on the lighting console to keep everything balanced, as the Cubes have plenty of power.”
Nijholt gives kudos to Hans van de Wiel and Jelmer Dijkshoorn at AED Group Netherlands for providing the fixtures and Ampco Flashlight Group for their installation on site. Special thanks go to Claypaky, he says, for being “incredibly helpful from the moment I reached out to them about using their fixtures for the shows and for allowing me to be the first lighting designer in the Netherlands to use the Volero Cubes”.
Members of Nijholt’s team at the Ziggo Dome included Lighting Programmers Bob Walraven and Mike Driessen, Associate Lighting Designer Glenn Neyndorff and Assistant Lighting Designer Stef Oude Nijhuis.
(Photos: Jessie Kamp)
Follow-Me brings performer tracking to “Mamma Mia! The Party” Rotterdam
“Mamma Mia! The Party” in Rotterdam is an immersive theatrical show that combines the successful “Mamma Mia!” theatre production with a dining experience. Set in a Greek taverna with the entire venue being used as the set, the show invites audiences to become part of the action, interacting with the cast and enjoying a meal while the story unfolds around them.
With lively performances, ABBA music, and a mix of comedy and drama, “Mamma Mia! The Party” creates an environment that blurs the line between audience and performers. The Follow-Me Track-iT system was chosen to track the performers through the venue, adjust lighting automatically and replace the need for manual follow-spots. The system combines RF tags worn by performers and strategically placed anchors to provide real-time positioning data, and its capabilities perfectly aligned with the vision of industry legend Patrick Woodroffe.
“We needed a robust system that could handle the complexity of this show, with its constant movement of cast members across the audience and stage”, says Woodroffe. “The Follow-Me Track-iT system provides exactly that, allowing us to use multiple or individual lighting units in a way that would have been impossible with conventional follow-spotting.”
Woodroffe also highlights the system’s adaptability: “One of the standout features of the Follow-Me Track-iT system is its ability to integrate seamlessly into any lighting rig, no matter how complicated. The system gives us more creative flexibility and ensures that no matter where the action goes, the lighting remains as dynamic as the performance itself. It’s truly a game-changer for shows that push the limits of live lighting.”
The production’s lighting team worked under Technical Direction of Jeroen Frijters, along with Alex Marshall as Associate Designer, Greg Iannarilli as Show Operator, and Jasper van Eyck as System Tech, with Pascal Schutijser serving as the main Lighting Systems Tech for the show. The Follow-Me system was supplied by Events Light.
(Photos: Follow-Me)
I Art Nouveau transforms with Chauvet Professional Well STX 360 fixtures from AudioMaster
The Parisian period of painter-illustrator Alfons (Alphonse) Mucha’s life serves as the inspiration for I Art Nouveau, a visual experience from the creators of the show Vivaldianno, led by Michal Dvorak, a member of the Czech rock band Lucie.
The 90-minute I Art Nouveau show takes 21st century audiences at Prague’s Hybernia Theatre on a journey back in time to Art Nouveau’s golden age in Paris. There is music, dance, animation, acrobatics - all of them seamlessly blended together to create an immersive sense of a lost world.
Lighting designer Lukas Patzenhauer uses a collection of twenty-four Chauvet Professional Well STX 360 tubular fixtures supplied by AudioMaster CZ a.s. The battery operated Well STX fill several roles in I Art Nouveau’s stage - arranged in a variety of configurations depending on the performance, the pixel mappable RGB fixtures create a colorful geometric backdrop to fit the theme of each particular act.
For one dance the fixtures may be arranged horizontally, only to be reconfigured vertically for the next. Symmetrical configurations that define the stage at one point may give way to asymmetrical arrangements, depending on the mood of the moment. At times, the fixtures are held by the dancers as they become a dynamic part of their choreography.
“During the performance, we create a luminous scene from the tubes, where they are in a different position or formation for each painting”, says Patzenhauer. “This flexibility was especially crucial during frequent scene changes, when tubes were used not only as part of a static scene, but also as a dynamic element in the dances.”
(Photos: Zuzana Havlinova, Fotohavlin.cz)
Professional Wireless Systems delivers seamless audio support at Premio Lo Nuestro
When Univision presented the 37th annual Premio Lo Nuestro at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) was onsite to handle frequency coordination and supply all wireless microphones, IFBs, IEMs and intercom for this year’s Latin music awards show. PWS managed frequency coordination and equipment for the entertainment program, including the red-carpet festivities, livestream and main event.
“We have supported this event for thirty consecutive years and continue to evolve our technology package to meet the challenges of the changing RF environment and the needs of the event”, says Jim Van Winkle, General Manager, PWS. “Our team continues to provide seamless frequency management and select optimum equipment to make certain the show runs smoothly in Miami’s complex RF environment.”
For this year’s production, the PWS intercom team, which consisted of Kasey Gchachu and Justin Van Winkle, ensured seamless communication and performance between the main event and the pre-show red carpet. The team utilized ninety packs of Riedel Bolero wireless intercom. PWS also provided specially licensed antennas, deploying twenty units throughout the arena, red carpet, media center and backstage dressing rooms. These antennas were strategically placed to guarantee comprehensive coverage across all key areas.
RF mics, IEMs and IFBs were handled by James and Elise Stoffo with James Stoffo handling overall coordination for the main show and livestream. He called for the use of seven different frequency bands, which included Shure Axient Digital G57, K54, X55 and Sennheiser A1 to A4 for mics, G10 for Shure IEMs, Comtek TV5/6 for IFBs and Lectrosonics Block 24 for IFBlue listen-only packs.
Pictured: PWS team - Elise Stoffo, Kasey Gchachu (standing), James Stoffo (seated), Jim Van Winkle, Justin Van Winkle (left to right). (Photos: PWS)
Minigigs and Martin Audio turn sports arena into gala awards and party venue
The Sportcampus Zuiderpark is an indoor sports arena located in The Hague, The Netherlands. Opened in 2017, it is used for several indoor sports and the main 3,500-cap hall is the home arena of professional basketball club The Hague Royals. Every year, just before Christmas, the venue hosts the annual Sportgala, which recognises the achievements of local athletes and sports teams, as well as coaches, referees and volunteers.
Also based in the Hague region is Roel Bik’s rental supply company Minigigs, who were contracted to provide sound, light, video and rigging. While Bik has reinforced many sports events at the arena, the challenge this time was to convert a cavernous and reverberant multipurpose sports hall into a chameleon “theatre” type venue by providing a constantly changing technical infrastructure. This would initially support the formal awards presentation, before enabling the audience of 1100 people to make its way from the stalls and bleachers down to the main floor for the after-party.
A curtain then lowered to form a partition between those wishing to engage with the dance sounds of the DJ (replacing the live band of earlier), and the corporate dignitaries preferring to engage in polite conversation on the other side of the curtain, immune from the high SPL. Minigigs had to maintain intelligibility and mitigate against reflections and feedback from roaming presenters with head-worn mics.
The rental company had replaced its previous frontline speaker inventory a year ago with Martin Audio. “The main reason for moving to Martin Audio is that they have a solution for each of the projects we do”, says Bik. “We use Torus for a number of venues where we need the width of coverage, and the ceilings are low, and we need to direct the angle of the speaker. CDD-Live we use for applications where we need little cabling, and use Dante for getting the sound to the speakers. But just as important as good equipment is good service and our relationship with Martijn de Jong (at distributors Ampco) - and their experience with Martin Audio - was key.”
Minigigs had previously used their old line array in earlier editions. “But it had two downsides”, says Bik. “First, we needed an awful lot of speakers to achieve the coverage across the entire room, and with so many we sacrificed a lot of height so people walking in the area of the speakers with their headset microphones risked feedback. Now with the wide coverage and small boxes of Torus we can adjust the horn angle to optimise the sound and project directly at the audience instead of the walls.”
For this event, main L/R hangs comprised three Torus T1215 a side. “We then used a pair of 8in Torus speakers (T820) for centre fill and six for delays. We could deploy them above the LED screen without being in line of sight”, says Bik. Minigigs also deployed eight SXCF115 cardioid subwoofers in the centre of the arena. “We want to use cardioid subs for all our events”, he continues. “Low end coming back onto the stage when you have a presentation is not nice for the people presenting, nor at a live event when you want to get the lows to the audience without disturbing the neighbourhood.” This entire rig was driven by a combination of five iKon iK42 process-controlled amps.
Reflecting on the event and how the sound had remained continuously optimised and without coloration, Bik attributes the success largely to the prep work carried out by Martijn de Jong in Martin Audio’s Display3 visualisation software. “We made several renders and that’s how we determined all the subs should be positioned in the centre”, he says. De Jong, who worked as de facto system engineer on the night, adds: “We would only just get the first row in the coverage area and that was exactly the case when we were tuning the system. If we took one step forward from the first row, we would walk out of the coverage area.”
Minigigs serviced everything mostly from their own inventory, with the exception of some minor support from fellow Martin Audio network members Stairway.
(Photos: Martin Audio/Wouter Vellekoop)
Ayrton lighting, MDG atmospherics and GrandMA3 lighting control selected for Luke Combs’ fourth Australian tour
Lighting designer Kevin Northrup chose an array of Ayrton fixtures, MDG TheOne and Atmosphere HO foggers/hazers and GrandMA3 consoles for singer-songwriter Luke Combs’ recent stadium tour of Australia and New Zealand.
The Winston Salem, North Carolina-based Northrup has been working with Combs since his headline arena show in Asheville in 2017 and was lighting designer for Combs’ 2023 Australian arena tour. The new tour, the first for a country artist headlining a full stadium tour in Australia and New Zealand, played eight dates in January and February 2025 in Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
The show continued the look established by production designer Ollie Metcalfe for Combs’ 2023 North American stadium tour. “We knew that looked good, would work and fit the timeline we had”, says Northrup. “Luke likes to do really big colour looks: He’s a fan of red and white and the stronger and more saturated the colour the better. He plays everything from ballads to solo acoustic to heavy-hitting honky tonk, and I try to build moments and match the energy of what he’s doing while never overstepping.”
Northrup had used Ayrton Khamsin, Zonda 9 FX, Perseo Beam and Domino LT fixtures on Combs’ North American stadium tour. He reprised the Domino LTs for Australia, added Perseo Profiles and utilized Rivale Profiles for the first time. “I used the Rivales as audience eye-candy”, he explains. “We had six on each of six ladders plus 20-odd on the downstage truss. They were way brighter than the fixtures we had previously, so they gave us extra fire power.”
Northrup mounted two lines of 34 Perseo Profiles in an arc above the set. “I used them as band down lights, audience light and for stage washes”, he says. “I also pulled out twelve and dedicated them to rear follow spot action. Kind of a hallmark for Luke is having light from above that’s like an arrow pointing to where he is onstage.”
Northrup placed eight Domino LT fixtures on the floor on each side of the stage and hung eight more, six of which acted as FOH spots and two as specials on the end of the tuning fork-shaped thrust. The New Zealand rig was slightly different with the Ayrton fixtures consisting of Domino LT spots and Rivale Profiles mounted on ladders.
The New Zealand and Australian dates all used MDG hazers. Two MDG TheOne foggers/hazers were deployed in Auckland and six active Atmosphere HO haze machines in the Australian stadiums. “MDG TheOne is my go-to hazer, but they were hard to get in quantity”, Northrup says of the different units used. “TheOne has a variable output in fog mode. I like to have a constant flowing haze and build in fog bursts with TheOnes.”
Northrup brought a GrandMA3 full-size system and two processing units from SES in the US, and added another full and a light once on site. The full-size units controlled lighting from FOH while the light served as a tech desk. An OnPC system ran as part of the follow spot process. Lighting in New Zealand was supplied by Spot-light Systems; lighting in Australia was furnished by PRG.
(Photos: Kevin Northrup)
Robe helps unmask in Brazil
Lighting designer and DOP Alexandre “Alê” Augusto created a lighting scheme for the latest series of “The Masked Singer” in Brazil, with his rental company, Spectrun Design e Iluminação, supplying the lighting equipment and production.
The fifth season of the music TV show was recorded at Banijay Studios in the Guarulhos area of Sao Paulo, and Augusto collaborated closely on the design side of this project with another of Brazil’s leading lighting designers, Serginho Antonio. Both are keen users of Robe moving lights and LED products.
Prominent on Augusto’s lighting plot were twenty TetraXs - the first in Brazil - which were rigged on a shaped and automated truss that moved in and out to create different architectural looks in the studio. Augusto used MMX WashBeams for key lighting the judges and six of Spectrun’s 24 new Paintes which replaced bulkier spotlights from another brand as “deck candy” on the floor behind the artists, and often visible in shots.
Augusto has lit “The Masked Singer” since it started in Brazil, but the 2024 series was the first in this specific studio. He and Antonio worked with set designer Ludmila Machado and director Marcelo Amiky to create Brazil’s own look for the “Masked Singer” franchise. Augusto, Machado and Amiky regularly work as a creative team and have designed some of the highest-profile shows on Brazilian television.
Lighting needed to be big and pop-tastic, fitting to a sumptuous glossy-floor production with plenty of theatrical twists. Flexibility was the cornerstone of the lighting design for Augusto, who endeavours to make each series look different and within that, each of the individual artist performances. Time is always the challenge with this show, with four weeks of recording sandwiched in between eight rehearsal sessions to produce the twelve episodes, from which one winner emerges from sixteen finalists. Combining the moving lights (including others on the rig) with the automation enabled a set of unique structural looks to be achieved for each performance.
Positioning the TetraXs on a moving truss meant Augusto could get far more out of the fixtures than them just being effects in their own right. He leaned into the potential of the pixel and flower effects and the continuous pan. The Paintes - also recently delivered by Robe’s Sao Paulo-based distributor HPL - were on the floor, set up close to the many LED screens that made up the set structural elements.
Used for backlighting the artists, they were in shot much of the time. Augusto notes that the output of the previous fixtures in this position almost disappeared as soon as a colour went in. “It is vital for the cameras that we don’t suddenly lose intensity”, he says. Ten MMX WashBeam fixtures were rigged to come in from the front with three from each side to nicely key the judges, with the framing shutters being handy here as some of the fixtures were around thirty metres away.
Augusto worked on programming the show with operator Kelton “Ere” John - the pair have worked together on it for two years. Taking on the DOP role as well as lighting designer meant that Augusto looked after the key lighting, while John took care of programming all the moving and effects fixtures.
Augusto has been a lighting professional since 2006 and started working at Spectrun in 2014. The company was originally founded in the 1980s, and he has been the sole director of the company since 2020, when his then-business partner retired. Spectrun’s first Robe acquisitions were MMX WashBeams and LEDWash 600s around ten years ago. The Paintes and the TetraXs were purchased new for this “Masked Singer” show, and they currently have totals of 24 of each fixture.
(Photos: João Pedro Martins)
Claypaky fixtures used at Bahrain’s celebration of football team’s Arabian Gulf Cup win
A large complement of Claypaky lighting fixtures was on hand for the celebration hosted by the State of Kuwait at Bahrain National Stadium following the victory of the Bahrain national team at football’s 26th Arabian Gulf Cup.
Faalyat Event Management were the main event organizer. Showtech Productions W.L.L., an event management company in Bahrain, produced the gala event and provided the lighting design and fixtures for it. Lawrence Rodricks, CEO of Showtech, was the Lighting Designer for the celebration. Claypaky fixtures included forty Skylos, forty Xtylos, and forty Scenius Profiles.
Alex Douglas, a freelance Lighting Programmer and Operator in the Gulf region, has used Claypaky fixtures on a number of installs in the Middle East. The Arabian Gulf Cup celebration marked the first time he utilized Skylos, Claypaky’s all-weather, laser-powered beam.
“All the beam fixtures were behind a big rectangular stage in four lines of twenty each”, he explains. “They displayed the national colors of red and white and delivered beams for a region which likes them as far as the eye can see: In the Middle East the bigger the beam, the better.”
The array of Xtylos created a particularly “bright red, which was key when showing the national colors”, he notes. “Since the event was televised, everything had to look good on camera, and the lights had to hold their own against the fireworks finale.”
Douglas points out that the Skylos’s IP66 rating came in especially handy at the event. “The heat of the day combined with the cold of the night in the desert make the condensation level insane, especially in winter”, he says. “So the fixtures were constantly wet from condensation, but we had zero problems.”
The Scenius Profiles were positioned twenty on each side of the stage to act as front lights and base lights for the presentations.
(Photos: Claypaky)
DiGiCo Quantum consoles for Mazowsze National Folk Song and Dance Ensemble
The Mazowsze National Folk Song and Dance Ensemble was established in 1948 and is dedicated to the preservation and performance of traditional Polish folklore. In 2024, the venue completed extensive audio upgrades, with major changes to the sound system in the concert hall, designed by sound designer Krzysztof Polesinski.
Powering the upgrades are two DiGiCo Quantum 852T consoles and two further DiGiCo Quantum338 consoles, also equipped with Theatre software and Pulse upgrades for touring use, all supplied by Polsound, DiGiCo’s distributor in Poland. “Today’s audience’s demands are very different to even ten years ago, so our investmenmust reflect that”, says Jacek Boniecki, Maestro and Director of Mazowsze. “We want the beautiful sound of Mazowsze to represent the next t step up in what is possible.”
Krzysztof Polesinski, Head of Audio Technology at the Mazowsze Auditorium, assembled a team that would be able to provide a fully immersive experience for the musicians and performers. Piotr Przedbora, FOH Engineer and Head of Sound Engineers at the Mazowsze Auditorium, is an expert in the field of Dolby Atmos immersive mixes and mastering.
To deliver an immersive experience, the system utilises three Fourier Audio Transform.Engines, two at the front-of-house position, and the third dedicated for touring. Training for this system was provided by Polsound. The monitor system is powered by Klang:Konductor, offering engineers complete control from the console.
“With the immersive sound system in the main auditorium, we anticipated the need for immersive monitoring for the company, so we have prepared for this with Klang:Konductor”, notes Monitor Engineer Miklaj Grzebieniowski. “The flexibility of the DiGiCo consoles allows us to control multiple devices from a single position”, adds Przedbora. “For example, we can integrate the Quantum 852 with the L-ISA system, Klang, Fourier and Waves servers, seamlessly controlling everything with just a few clicks.”
“The Mazowsze Ensemble has made incredible changes and our DiGiCo consoles are at the heart of them,” concludes Polesinski. “The Theatre software has been a great choice for us. Piotr came up with a very cool idea for the use of Liquid Sonics plugins, Seventh Heaven and Cinematic Room in particular, and it does a tremendous job via the Fourier Transform.Engine in creating the correct feel for our artists.”
(Photos: DiGiCo)
GrandMA3 for “Jesus Christ Superstar” production in Oslo
Scenekvelder at the Folketeateret venue in Oslo, Norway, staged a new production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” bringing fresh and contemporary urban/industrial twists to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s classic rock musical. Lighting designer Matt Haskins used the venue’s GrandMA3 lighting console to control his design.
Haskins has previously worked in the theatre on a production of “Miss Saigon”, and was asked back to light this show, together with director and choreographer Cressida Carré, who, he explains, wanted “a playground of possibility” with this lighting design. It was also the first time that Haskins, who works extensively in theatre and opera, has lit this popular musical, and the first time he used a full GrandMA3 system set up.
Haskins has always been an MA Lighting user, but this was the first year he had used the GrandMA3 in full 3 mode, having opted to run their GrandMA3 console in GrandMA2 mode when he was last working there for the “Miss Saigon” show. The set was minimal and industrial, with lots of scaffolding structures and wooden platforms to the sides, all used by artists throughout, and a large open space in the middle. Dramatic props, including a huge cross, came on and off for specific scenes.
The lighting rig comprised over 250 fixtures, a combination of moving lights from Martin Lighting and Chauvet Professional, plus 46 vintage PAR 64s cans for the “Jesus Christ Superstar” number, together with Astera PixelBricks and custom LED strips, all controlled via the GrandMA3.
Haskins thought the time was right for him to make the transition to full GrandMA3, having talked to numerous other LDs who had already completed the process. No pre-viz time was allocated, but the onstage tech rehearsal period was a generous five weeks, kicking off with a week of rehearsals with cast onstage, followed by four solid weeks of programming, then a week of dress rehearsals and previews.
One significant change was utilising CuePoints software during pre-production to align all cues in musical numbers with timecode, which were then imported into the GrandMA3 console. The GrandMA3 was programmed in “hybrid” style, combining theatre and rock show techniques and treatments, underpinned by a theatrical cue structure with multiple playbacks for instant recall. This was also handy for the many recurring narrative and character motifs that ran through the performance. All the main characters had their own lighting motif.
Haskins worked closely with set designer Sara Perks, and some of his multilayered lighting treatments involved the integration of different palettes, with a nod to the old skool large banks of PAR 64s, blended with the more modern look and output of the inbuilt LED set lights. On site at Folketeateret, all their lighting needs were looked after by Chief LX Lars Lunder together with Fredrikke Folvik and Marius Ilerød who tech’d the follow spots.
(Photo: Fredrik Arff)
Swedish production of “Dear Evan Hansen” lit with Ayrton Rivale Profiles
“Dear Evan Hansen”, a musical about a high school senior with social anxiety, received its Swedish premiere in Stockholm on January 23, 2025, at the Intiman Theatre. The show has been lit by Swedish lighting designer Palle Palmé, using only Ayrton Rivale Profiles.
“My first design intention was to create different sized ‘rooms’ using light”, says Palmé. “I was very happy with Rivale’s shutters. They allowed me to sharply shutter the ‘rooms’ and focus the audience on where the action takes place. I also found Rivale’s colour mix to be a game changer. I don’t see any flags coming in on low percentages in the CMY, and the CTP channels help me to get the best skin tones that I have ever been able to achieve. I also find the two different frost filters very usable in producing delicate edges.”
“I hardly use gobos in the show at all - only at the end when they create a lovely dapple as we enter the apple orchard - but I must mention Rivale’s dimmer system”, he continues. “When you have a very slow fade, it dims more or less like a tungsten unit.” Palmé rigged a total of thirty Rivale Profiles at distances from 5 m to 6 m: four on the front truss, two as side front light, two as low side front light, five per side on on-stage ladders and 5, 4 and 3 in the roof on LX1, 2 and 3, respectively. Given the small size of the 600-capacity venue and the close proximity of the audience, Palmé used the Rivales on normal fan mode. “They are so quiet anyway that even when the different parameters were running you could not hear them”, he notes.
The Ayrton fixtures were supplied for “Dear Evan Hansen” by Soundforce of Linköping, Sweden. “We’ve noticed an increased demand within the Swedish market and have therefore invested in several batches of these luminaires”, says Soundforce’s Michael Karlsson, adding that Topstage, Ayrton’s exclusive distributor in Sweden, provided Rivale trainings and updates.
“Dear Evan Hansen” runs at the Intiman Theatre until April 12, 2025.
(Photos: Mats Bäcker)
Nick Jevons chooses Chauvet’s Colorado PXL Bar 16 for Fly Festival
Drawing up plans to light the 40-meter long main stage at Edinburgh’s Fly Festival, lighting designer Nick Jevons opted to go with a single lighting fixture model: the Chauvet Professional Colorado PXL Bar 16 supplied by Liteup. The two-day festival was held at Princes Gardens.
“Convincing others that the concept of having one fixture type would work to deliver enough different looks for a two-day dance festival was a challenge”, says Jevons. “I’m proud to say the results did not disappoint.” Persuading everyone to go alone with his one fixture plan was one of the challenges Jevons faced, the other was to ensure that the two rows of 1000 x 139 x 273 mm (39.37 x 5.47 x 10.75 in) fixtures in his design, each consisting of forty units, were aligned in two straight lines. He credits the production team, notably Chris Canavan from 19MIL “who come up with the stage design and had faith in my lighting design”, with making this arrangement work.
The two rows of PXL Bar 16 battens, flanking a large horizontal video wall on either side ran across the entire width of the stage. There were also some atmospheric effects, but from a lighting standpoint, no other fixtures were there to help. A row of mirrored panels, angled at 40-degrees, reflected the light from the fixtures, adding to the depth of the show.
“Drawing on this fixture’s full pixel mode gave us incredible creative flexibility when it came to programming”, says Jevons of his 23-universe show. “My programmer, Steve Mac, fully mixed everything live to follow the ebb and flow of the music.” With the Colorado PXL Bar 16s, “we could get huge looks with full intensity, and then break the lighting down into individual pixels for really small intimate looks”, he adds.
Working with the video content and atmospheric effects, the PXL battens helped Jevons and his team come up with the desired visuals throughout the festival, whether it was a glowing purple haze for Mr. G’s heartfelt funk, or ice cool looks for UK wave maker Max Dean.
(Photos: Chauvet Professional/Michael C. Hunter)
Claypaky fixtures selected for World Table Tennis Grand Smash Singapore
A large complement of Sharpy X Frames and Sharpy Washes from Claypaky were deployed on the field of play at the 2025 World Table Tennis Grand Smash Singapore for competition lighting and audience-pleasing sports presentations.
The World Table Tennis (WTT) series started its Singapore leg in 2021 with Gabriel Chan acting as Lighting Designer/Programmer. Singapore hosted the inaugural WTT Grand Smash tournament in 2022 and has since been the cradle of Grand Smash tournaments around the world, where sports presentation ideas are birthed, researched and tested before being exported to other countries holding tournaments.
According to Gabriel Chan, the lighting design for the Singapore Grand Smash needs to fulfill three functions. The field of play lighting for the actual competition has to be bright yet soft to illuminate the playing field without glare that might affect the athletes’ performance. Lighting must also be broadcast-ready and accommodate slow-motion footage that requires even field lighting at high lux output. For the sports presentation, light and sound shows amp up spectators pre-match and for athletes’ entrances. In addition, lighting creates theatrical moods and atmosphere for time outs and other out-of-match periods for dramatic effect.
Michael Chan joined the lighting team in 2023 when the design workload became too heavy for a single person given the delivery timelines. Since 2024 Gabriel Chan has focused primarily on field of play (competition) lighting as well as lighting for broadcast while Michael Chan acts as Sports Presentation Lighting Designer.
There are usually five 45-second light shows with music and multimedia in each match. “They are meant to hype up the audience before the players walk in and to keep the energy levels high”, says Michael Chan. “The light shows have become a prominent and integral part of the event experience and are now a highly choreographed design with lots of cues responding to all the attacks and beats.”
In addition, there are opening and closing shows of two to two-and-a-half-minute’s duration. “Similar to the light shows, they are packed with cues, but normally interlaced with more storytelling”, says Michael Chan. “We also have used the lights to enhance the sound and video effects, such as a lion’s roar or a ball being hit.”
Back in 2021, the Grand Smash’s original lighting design featured older hybrid fixtures from other brands whose beam functions were used primarily in the light and sound shows while their wash functions served as soft fill light for broadcast. They performed well for their time but it was decided they were in need of a refresh. At the same time, lighting vendor MediaPix was looking to update its inventory. The design intent sought to exploit both the beam and wash functions of hybrid fixtures for different key requirements of the sporting event, and Claypaky Sharpy X Frames were chosen to achieve this.
A total of 83 Sharpy X Frames was deployed for the Grand Smash. For competition lighting at the recent Grand Smash, six Sharpy X Frames were mounted on each of four diagonal trusses as camera fill lights. Eight were on the mother truss as athletes’ bench/umpire chair specials. Eighteen were positioned on the rear truss above the 24-meter LED screen. Sixteen more units were on the floor with an extra fixture dedicated to backlighting athletes in the tunnel.
The Sharpy X Frames also replaced two rows of eight Claypaky Mythos fixtures previously used above the catwalk to add punch and beam effects. “I think the Sharpy X Frames stand out in a market where all the new and upcoming fixtures are either LED or laser-based”, says Michael Chan. “The use of a discharge lamp creates a solid, punchy looking beam that is hard to replicate with current LED and laser technology.”
Sharpy Washes have been a mainstay in competition lighting from the beginning. At this Grand Smash, 29 Sharpy Washes were mounted on the perimeter of the mother truss to act as audience wash lights. “I appreciate the saturated reds, the thematic color for the event, that the fixture is able to produce, which I use to light up audiences during competition”, says Gabriel Chan.
For the Grand Smash, Zach Leo served as Lighting Operator and Frankie Yee at MediaPix was the lighting vendor. Acoustic and Lighting System is the Claypaky distributor for Singapore.
(Photos: Claypaky)
Tascam helps filmmaker Jean Melesaine create audio
As a filmmaker who works on documentaries and is also gaining traction with narrative features, Jean Melesaine got the opportunity to work on a national documentary following various community organizers across America. She uses the DR-10L ultra-compact audio field recorder with a lavalier microphone and the Portacapture X8 8-channel 32-bit float portable audio field recorder - both from Tascam - to capture her audio.
Along with her Tascam TH-06 headphones, these two products were used on a documentary project that focuses on community organizers from all over the U.S. As part of her efforts, Melesaine used the DR-10L lavalier mics to capture “backup” dialog in what she refers to as particularly moving scenes.
“The DR-10L’s key feature that makes it so well-suited for documentaries is its self-contained design that encompasses both audio recorder and microphone”, she explains. “We now use AI (Artificial Intelligence) to match audio waves in post, so it’s really the way to go for capturing perfect dialogue in documentary projects.”
“The DR-10L’s ability to capture good audio in ambient environments is also very important”, she adds. “As we were standing outside in a bustling Chicago street, we were able to capture a clear conversation with our character’s friend who was standing next to him.”
In addition to the DR-10L, the Tascam Portacapture X8 is also an important tool for Melesaine’s documentary work. “Because of its 8-channel design, we were able to capture four separate takes and later determine which of those takes we would ultimately use”, she shares. “I can honestly say that each take sounded great. The various icons on the launcher system enable you to optimize the recorder for a particular type of recording task. Further, you can use these presets as a starting point and then fine-tune the settings to your preference.”
“These products have given me more interest in sound design and its capabilities to expand film not only through dialogue, but also for capturing sound effects and building out proper environments to bring an audience ‘place’ in a phonetic way”, she concludes. “Tascam is an important part of my creative endeavors.”
(Photo: Tascam)
RAF Camora tours with Ayrton Zonda 9 FX
Austrian rapper, singer and producer RAF Camora recently completed his 10-date “Anthrazit Forever” tour of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland under a ceiling of Ayrton Zonda 9 FX fixtures. A total of ninety Ayrton fixtures were chosen by lighting designers Raphael Grebenstein and Ole Güllich of Light Art Studios as the centrepiece of their design.
54 Zonda 9 FX were arranged in a central 18x3 matrix above and parallel to the stage runway extending into the audience, and the remaining 36 fixtures rigged in four small 3x3 pods to the left and right of the centrepiece, with all the pods and matrices slightly tilted.
“The design concept was aimed at extending the urban-style content from the LED wall up into the roof, creating a cohesive look while also emphasizing the stage shape”, says Grebenstein. “We didn’t want a beam show but rather a well-structured and highly detailed show with a lot of variation that would appear seamless as part of one unified design.”
“For this we wanted a large LED wash light with a wide output to match the scale of the set”, he continues. “We chose the Zonda 9 FX as our main effect fixture, primarily due to its brightness and size, but we also made good use of the LiquidEffects feature, which we controlled via the media server alongside the Zonda’s LEDs.”
“The LiquidEffects allowed us to create some unique looks that haven’t been seen very often: we mapped the video content onto the LiquidEffects, effectively extending the LED wall into the ceiling”, he details. “Another major advantage was Zonda’s zoom range, which gave us the flexibility to create large ‘blinder’ effects while still achieving a beautiful wash beam.”
“For ‘Out Of The Dark’ we programmed the windows from the content onto Zonda’s LEDs using pixel mapping”, he adds. “The windows in the content were animated to the beat, creating a perfect interplay between content and light. Another standout moment was during ‘Maschine’, where we mapped fire effects onto the LiquidEffects, and in ‘Risiko’, where we mapped palm fronds onto it to create a roof of palm leaves, enhancing the visual storytelling.”
Working alongside Grebenstein and Güllich were lighting operator Raphael Knetsch, mediaserver programmer/operator Lucas Hoyer, content designer Andreas Babenko and photographer Tino Wichmann. The Zonda 9 FX fixtures were supplied for the RAF Camora tour by BBM Clair and TDA Clair GmbH, Germany.
(Photos: Tino Wichmann Fotografie)
