LIGHT & SOUND INTERNATIONAL • DECEMBER 2020

ENTERTAINMENT • PRESENTATION • INSTALLATION

IN THIS ISSUE:
Theatre: Death of England - Delroy
In-the-round at the National
Broadcast: Virtual Audiences
Clair Global’s new solution
Tech Focus: ERA 800 Performance
www.lsionline.com Martin’s brightest moving head

DIGITAL
EDITION

Andrea Bocelli
Singing for Sicily

EVENT: JOE BIDEN’S VICTORY SHOW • BLENHEIM PALACE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS • MICS IN SPACE
LIVE FROM REYKJAVÍK • PROFILE: HOLOGRAMICA • FUTURE TECH: SPATIAL REALITY DISPLAYS
REVIEWS: BLACKOUT APP AND DRAFTY 4.0 • PROFILE: SEBASTIAN FROST - AND MUCH MORE . . .
WHILE OUR WORLD IS ON

WE STAND WITH YOU

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 contents
ISSUE #402 DECEMBER 2020

FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE

Photo: Marinari Stefano (courtesy of Massimo Tomasino)

44 34
COVER STORY
Death of England : Delroy
Singing for Sicily Rob Halliday discovers how the National
Theatre reconfigured the Olivier to host
Mike Clark reports on an outdoor spectacular starring tenor Andrea Bocelli a COVID-safe solo performance -
and a large choir and orchestra performing on the steps of a UNESCO world heritage before lockdown struck again . . .
site in the Sicilian city of Noto . . .

50 56 66
Biden his time TF : ERA 800
Playing to the gallery
As the 46th US president was finally
confirmed, the sky above Wilmington erupted Phil Ward discovers Clair Global’s plans to
Performance
with an impressive firework and drone show. augment reality . . . Mike Wood reviews Martin by Harman’s
Rob Halliday reports . . . LED-powered white-light workhorse . . .

04 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

 READ LSi ONLINE FOR FREE. DOWNLOAD THE ‘LSi-VIEW’ APP -
AVAILABLE FOR BOTH APPLE AND ANDROID DEVICES

NEWS REGULARS
08 In the News
Latest business news & developments,
30 Early Stagers
Conor Thornton
D8plus Ultra
association news, events, training &
education, standards & safety 32 Future Tech
Spatial reality displays
250 - 2 000kg
g
40 Audio File
Streaming my life away

42 Between The Lines

Walt Disney Concert Hall: The
Backstage Story

49 Crew Cuts
Jerry Hawkins

54 The Conductor
18 A very Blenheim Christmas
Jo Boyd explores the extra planning Testing, testing . . .
required for this year’s Blenheim Palace 55 Classic Gear
Illuminated Light Trail . . .
PVC tape

60 Second Fix
Last in: getting the job done on time

61 Tools From Beyond

Beyond Compare

62 Technology Focus
Drafty 4.0

64 Help Desk
20 From the island to the globe Christmas blunders
A one-off global event for both streaming
and TV viewing, Live From Reykjavík 74 In Profile
showcased Iceland’s finest live acts. Phil Sebastian Frost
Ward reports . . . Ultrasafe
22 Chess : a musical grandmaster NEXT ISSUE
LSi talks to the Cold War-era musical’s
sound designer to uncover the Ultralight
production’s complex aural Coming up in the Next issue*:
soundscape . . .
• Theatre: Pantoland at the Palladium
• Venue: The Gillian Lynne Theatre Ultraprotected
• Live: Dua Lipa at the RAH
• Event: Streaming from the Eternal City
• Venue: Andermatt Concert Hall, Switzerland Ultracompact
• Plus all of your regular favourites . . .
*Subject to change

24 Martian audio For advertising enquiries: Safety factor 8/ (static) | Direct or

Teodora Lyubomirova charts one giant
leap for pro audio as NASA’s latest rover
sets out to record the sound of the red
planet . . .
26 Entrepreneurial spirit
LSi talks to lighting designer Liz Berry
about her company Hologramica and
the future of holographic effects . . .
advertise@lsionline.com
low voltage control | optional
Copy deadline: with protection class IP 66 |
Wednesday 20 January 2021 Original EU DAT matt black-grey
chain according to DIN EN818-7 |
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28 Lighting? There’s an app for that . . . Light&Sound International Online - published 11

Richard Cadena reviews the new times a year by PLASA Media Ltd.
Blackout Lighting Console app . . . © Copyright PLASA Media Ltd.
ISSN 1759-6343

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 05

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 f FOREWORD
LIGHT & SOUND

LSeye
INTERNATIONAL

PLASA Media, Redoubt House,

1 Edward Road, Eastbourne,
East Sussex, BN23 8AS, UK. Claire Beeson editor
Tel: +44 (0)1323 524120
www.lsionline.com claire.beeson@plasa.org

Editor
Claire Beeson
claire.beeson@plasa.org “It’s hard not to look back at 2020 and ask -
Assistant Editor
Teodora Lyubomirova
WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?”
teodora@plasa.org
Technical Editor

C
Richard Cadena
richard.cadena@plasa.org As what has without doubt been
Sales Executive
one of the single most challenging
Greg Morley years in our industry’s history
greg.morley@plasa.org draws to a close, it’s hard not to look
Sales Executive back and ask: WHAT THE HELL JUST
Kelly Williams HAPPENED!? Thankfully, over the past
kelly.williams@plasa.org month, a glimmer of light has appeared on
Production Manager the horizon in the form of three effective
Sonja Walker vaccines. At the time of writing, one of
sonja.walker@plasa.org these - Pfizer’s - has just been approved
Subscriptions for use in the UK, with quick roll-out to the
subs@lsionline.com most vulnerable planned as we move into
PLASA MD the new year. This is undeniably good news,
Peter Heath and hopefully signals a return to relative
peter.heath@plasa.org ‘normality’ at some point in 2021.
PLASA FD This month, however, we continue
Shane McGreevy to detail live events and technological
accounts@plasa.org advances that have managed to forge ahead
despite adversity . . .
Our cover story concerns Italian tenor
Andrea Bocelli’s recent spectacular al fresco
performance on the steps of a beautiful
Sicilian cathedral (pages 44-48).
We also visit the National Theatre,
Regular Contributors:
where Rob Halliday learns how the Olivier
Simon Allen, Mike Clark, James Eade, Jim Evans,
Rob Halliday, Roland Hemming, Julie Harper, was transformed into an in-the-round
Chris Henry, Mark Johnson, Mel Lambert, space for Death of England: Delroy (pages
Kate Lyon, Steve Moles, Sarah Rushton-Read, 34-39). Sadly, the one-man show’s run was
The Shend, James Simpson, Louise Stickland,
Phil Ward, Mike Wood. cut short by England’s second national
lockdown, but the work was not in vain - the
production was recorded and streamed as
Annual Subscription: UK: £38.00 - Europe part of NT Live and is set to return to the
(Airmail): £60.00 (€77 - US$96) - RoW Airmail: Olivier next year.
£70.00 (€90 - US$111) - RoW standard: £50.00
Also inside, we look to the skies for an
(€64 - US$80) Single copy price: £3.50 (€5 - US$6)
impressive firework and drone show staged
Every effort has been made to ensure that the in celebration of Joe Biden’s victory in the
information carried in LSi is accurate, but the
Publisher cannot accept responsibility for its
US presidential election (pages 50-53).
contents or any consequential loss or damage arising
as a result of the use of material printed. The views
expressed in LSi are not necessarily those of the
Editor or PLASA Media.
Then we’re up, up and away on a mission
to Mars as we meet the team responsible
for sending microphones into space (pages
24-25).
Closer to home, Phil Ward discovers
how Clair Global and Britannia Row have
successfully deployed new software to keep
live audiences present at events, virtually
(pages 56-59). Plus: Jo Boyd takes a walk
through the Blenheim Palace Illuminated
Light Trail, providing some much needed
festive cheer this Christmas (pages 18-19);
we report on the audio systems at use for
the first staging of Chess in Russia (pages
22-23); Phil Ward reports on Live From
Reykjavík (pages 20-21); and we catch up
with Hologramica’s Liz Berry (pages 26-27)
and sound designer Sebastian Frost (page
74).
On the tech front, Mike Wood provides
an in-depth review of Martin by Harman’s
ERA 800 Performance LED profile, billed
as the brand’s brightest moving head yet
(pages 66-73), and Richard Cadena gets to
grips with the Blackout lighting control app
(pages 28-29) and Drafty 4.0 (pages 62-63).
Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity
to personally thank you for your continued
readership and support. It is our sincere
hope that these pages have provided
a small sense of normality for you
throughout this very strange and unsettled
year.
Let’s hope 2021 is a brighter, healthier,
happier year all round . . . and one with
plenty more live events! Until then, take care
- and Merry Christmas! I

The editor’s consent must be obtained before any

part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form
whatsoever. LSi reserves the right to edit news and
35 years
features as required.
by your side
LSi is published by PLASA Media Ltd, a commercial
arm of PLASA. While LSi works to promote the as the industry’s
interests of PLASA’s Members, and the activities and
initiatives of the Association itself, it is not positioned favourite magazine . . .
as a service to PLASA members. Our aim is to
continually improve and refine LSi to ensure that it
continues to offer industry-leading coverage.
You make events
PLASA Media aims to produce LSi with an We share the stories
approximate 60/40 split between editorial content
and advertising respectively.

www.lsionline.com

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 07

IN THE NEWS
INDUSTRY ISSUES

#WeMakeEvents hosts seasonal Speakeasy

[UK] #WeMakeEvents is hosting an online Speakeasy throughout the festive
season until Friday, 8 January 2021. This new virtual space promises to deliver
skills workshops, support sessions for finance and wellbeing, chats with some
of the industry’s greats, and plenty of entertainment. The Speakeasy will also
run regular quizzes, webinars, Q&A clinics and training sessions, and will host
a forum on Discord which will be open at all hours for people to seek and share
advice.
Also on the agenda is a highly anticipated live conversation between former
Cirque du Soleil artists Laura-Ann Chong and Andy Buchanan, plus technical
sessions covering topics such as COVID health and safety for events,
temporary power and site electrics, and an introduction to noise management
for events.
During December, quiz nights will be held every Monday, along with weekly
yoga classes with Becky Pell of Rock ‘n’ Roll Yogi and regular live music sets,
including DJ sets with Martin Audio MD Dom Harter. There will also be plenty of
programme highlights from PLASA Online, PLASA’s recent webinar programme.
P www.wemakeevents.com/speakeasy
P //discord.com/invite/m4vwB8Vpg8

BUSINESS
JAM Industries acquires TMP
[USA] JAM Industries has acquired
Connecticut-based The Music People (TMP),
parent company of the On-Stage and
TMP-Pro divisions. Founded in 1979 by Jim
Hennessey, TMP will operate as a division of
JAM, managed by TMP’s co-presidents
John and Sharon Hennessey, who now
report directly to JAM Industries president
and CEO, Martin Szpiro.
Consumers know TMP as the parent
company of the On-Stage brand of musical
instrument accessories whilst MI retailers,
production houses and AV contractors
know TMP as the parent company of
TMP-Pro.
TMP’s John Hennessey comments:
“Joining the JAM family really does bring us
full circle. Our father Jim began his career
at what became KMC Music, another
division of JAM, and he’s thrilled to see us
return.”
P //jamindustries.com
P //tmppro.com
All the latest business,
people & project
news available daily at :
www.lsionline.com
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
AES rewards
outstanding service DAS Audio appoints
VP of sales
[USA] DAS Audio
of America has
appointed Scott
Pizzo as vice-
president of sales,
pro audio, North
America. He brings considerable
experience to the role, having
Agnieszka Roginska, AES president, presents previously worked at Harman
awards for outstanding service and Professional Solutions, L-Acoustics US,
contributions EAW and Renkus-Heinz.
P www.dasaudio.com
[USA] The Audio Engineering Society
(AES) has announced the winners of this
year’s AES Awards for distinguished
achievement in the field of audio and
wireless mic system education”.
service to the Society.
Other winners include Thomas Miller, for
The AES Board of Governors Award,
“valuable contributions to the development
given to members rendering exceptional
of miniature transducer design” and
service to the AES, was presented to Jorge
Umberto Zanghieri, for his work “advancing
Azama for chairing the successful AES
the application of audio design and digital
Latin American Conference in September
interconnectivity”.
2019 in Lima, Peru.
P www.aes.org
The AES Honorary Membership Award
was given to Imogen Heap, for outstanding
contributions to the world of music and
technology, and to Karrie Keyes for her
leadership in creating opportunities for girls
and women in the field of live sound.
The AES Fellowship Award went to Peter Send your business,
Graham Craven, for “decades of
commitment to the growth and ongoing project, training, event &
health of the professional audio industry
and for unflagging advocacy for, and personnel news to :
dedication to, the AES”. Also receiving this
news@lsionline.com
award was Jackie Green, for “contributions
to the sciences of microphone design and
manufacture, microphone performance
measurement and to microphone and

08 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

 Werner “Vier” Bayer, Product Management and Matthias “Matze” Christner, R&D System Design
We live
for these days.
Every time a system leaves the factory a new story starts. Bringing thoughts and raw materials
to life for a more connected listening world. This is our collective purpose, to be part of a much
bigger global picture. Where light and sound and people create unforgettable moments.

dbaudio.com/weliveforthesedays

These days will come again.

IN THE NEWS
BUSINESS

STNDBY set to dress crew and creatives

[UK] Apparel and tech brand STNDBY has launched a range of
sustainable clothes and accessories designed for crew and
creatives, with a portion of the profits set to benefit Backup.
The brand, conceived by lighting and production designer Tom
Campbell and producer and entrepreneur James Murden, offers
clothing and accessories that are “as functional as they are
fashionable”. With partnerships in place with companies such as
Avolites and Dirty Rigger and plenty of customisation and gifting
options, STNDBY’s products are “designed to work and built to last”.
Two years in development, STNDBY’s flagship range includes
T-shirts, rigging gloves, power banks and digital storage solutions, as
well as their signature launch product, the Leitch Security Backpack.
Named after the late LD Bryan Leitch, this travel-friendly bag
embodies the STNDBY philosophy by packing in hidden
compartments, charging ports, water resistance and even
a stab-proof protective layer.
“With STNDBY, we set out to create clothes and accessories that
are fit for purpose but still look good in the bar after the show,” says go directly to this cause. Backup chairman John Simpson
Murden. “In our industry, ‘stand-by’ means ‘get ready for action’, so comments: “It’s fantastic to see a new brand launching, particularly
it was the perfect name for us - a brand that’s ready for anything. in such a tough climate, and we’re delighted they have chosen to
Whether you’re a sound engineer, theatre technician or camera support Backup. Every donation helps us to help our colleagues who
operator, you’re part of the STNDBY crew.” are in desperate need, and we know this generous gesture will be
STNDBY is a platinum supporter of Backup, the technical appreciated by the industry as a whole.”
entertainment charity, and a percentage of the company’s profits will P www.STNDBYworld.com

BUSINESS
Elation Europe celebrates
first decade
[Europe] Elation Europe turned 10 this year,
but is taking the celebrations in to 2021 due
to the pandemic. The company opened its
European HQ in Kerkrade, the Netherlands,
in 2010. In 2011, it began to cooperate with
Philips Lighting in the development of the
Platinum lamp and was among the first in
Europe to launch an LED moving head
panel. Another product milestone came in
2017 when the IP65-rated Proteus series
were introduced.
Marc Librecht, sales and marketing
manager who leads the European office,
comments: “From day one, we’ve made an
effort to create a leading brand by offering
value and taking care of customers. (...) The
fact that we’ve kept our core team together
over the years says a lot about who we are.
We’re a team that genuinely cares about
each other and supports and relies on one
another. That’s a big reason behind our
success.”
P www.elationlighting.com
All the latest
industry news :
www.lsionline.com
PEOPLE
CHARITY
Duo join CFE Lighting
Powersoft Crew Nation
[UK] Lancashire-
total nears €50,000 based LED lighting
manufacturer CFE
Lighting has made
two senior
appointments.
Amanda Speight (top)
takes the role of
national business
development
manager, whilst
David Clews joins as
[Italy] Since pledging to donate
general manager and
a percentage of the proceeds from the sale
northwest area sales manager.
of its touring amplifiers to the Crew Nation
P www.cfe-lighting.co.uk
charitable fund, Powersoft’s three-month
campaign has generated €48,437 - and the
company has now vowed to continue the
incentive until the end of 2020.
BUSINESS
Nurit Siegel Smith, executive director of
the Music Forward Foundation - the Shure acquisitions
charitable organisation that administers
and powers the fund, comments: “We are
strengthen portfolio
amazed by the incredible pledge Powersoft [Europe] Shure has purchased the Finnish
made toward the Crew Nation fund and for software company Ab Wavemark Oy and
the crew members who are the backbone of US-based Stem Audio to strengthen its
the live music industry. Live music inspires conferencing and streaming offering.
millions around the world, but the concerts Wavemark is known for its software
we all enjoy wouldn’t be possible without solutions for theatre and broadcast, and for
the countless crew members working content streaming applications such as
behind the scenes. Their pledged donation Wavetool and WTAutomixer. Stem Audio
will be instrumental in ensuring our crew specialises in table, ceiling and wall
members are taken care of during this microphones as well as loudspeakers,
intermission so they will be ready to work control interfaces and hubs.
and enjoy the show with us.” To donate, visit P www.shure.com
the web address below . . . P www.stemaudio.com
P www.livenation.com/crewnation P www.wavemark.fi

10 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

TRAINING/EDUCATION
VOICES IN
THIS ISSUE
Claypaky and CAST launch
“Once I’d mixed the
Wackit contest principal, I realised
the ensemble should
[UK] Claypaky and CAST Group of Companies have come up in 10 seconds
launched the Wackit virtual lighting design competition, and I’d forgotten to
based on a concept by lighting designer Durham Marenghi
programme it . . .”
and his partner Jennie. Two side-by-side competitions
require professional and student lighting designers from p22 Mikhail Sokolik on the
UK and Ireland to create a virtual video of their work from challenges of mixing Chess
a model of the prestigious Royal Albert Hall. CAST will
support Wackit with free WYSIWYG Educational Licences
for the period of the competition for professional LDs, as “. . . it would be the
well as a 12-month free Design Educational Licence for first true sound to
students. be captured on the
There are three prizes to be won in each competition surface of Mars . . .”
(professional and student) and the initial judging will be
done online via social media to define 10 finalists from p24 Jason Achilles on
each group. The finalists will be judged in January 2021 by a VIP jury of LDs including Paule Constable, rigging the 2020 Mars Rover
with a suitable microphone
David Bishop and Davy Sherwin, chaired by Durham Marenghi.
P www.wackit-contest.com

“. . . it’s natural if
you see someone
struggling with
CHARITY EVENT a moving light that you
rush over to help, but
BTS launches Stop Bullying Virtual summit considers future you just can’t . . .”
[USA] US-based industry charity Behind the of live entertainment p34 Jack Williams on
Scenes has launched an information campaign to
making Death of England -
tackle bullying, harassment and intimidation in
Delroy in COVID times
the live events industry. Stop Bullying helps
workers and employees to understand and
recognise the signs and consequences of these “One of the main
behaviours and encourages those who experience
problems . . . was
them to speak out. The campaign was prompted
by responses to the charity’s 2019 mental health
having to work in
survey, which showed that bullying was commonly a location that was
experienced by industry professionals. For more partially open to
information and to access campaign resources, tourists . . .”
[Germany] Top executives from d&b audiotechnik,
please visit the web address below . . .
the Royal Albert Hall, Audiotonix and Live Nation p44 Fabrizio Marchi on
P //btshelp.org/stopbullying
recently came together to address the future of Andrea Bocelli’s latest
shared entertainment experiences at the Horizons al fresco live spectacular
Summit: Entertainment, Technology and Beyond.
BUSINESS
The panel, led by journalist and author Dan
Daley, included Amnon Harman (group CEO of “Our 10-person special
Audiologic finds Perfect partner
d&b audiotechnik), Jackie Wilgar (senior effects team didn’t
vice-president of Live Nation); Craig Hassall (CEO know if we were even
of Royal Albert Hall), and James Gordon (CEO of going to be doing the
Audiotonix). They discussed how the COVID-19
event . . .”
pandemic has affected the live events industry
and how shared entertainment experiences might p50 Ted Maccabee on the
look in the future. challenges of working on an
The summit also addressed common partner impressive drone show for
and customer concerns as well as industry trends the Joe Biden campaign
including: the pivots required to keep live
[UK] Audiologic has partnered with background entertainment companies alive; the future of
music service provider Perfect Octave. The drive-in and virtual concerts; government support “I can see it being
agreement “capitalises on a module available during the pandemic; and the indicators of used in packed
within QSC’s Q-SYS software-based ecosystem industry recovery. You can watch the panel theatres, halls and
and recognises the move to fully digital distributed discussion via the link below . . . arenas to provide
audio is gaining pace,” says Audiologic. P www.facebook.com/dbaudiotechnikgmbh/ another revenue
The solution allows for multiple zones of videos/181864380152043
curated, fully-licensed music for businesses to be stream . . .”
run directly from the audio processor. p56 Brit Row’s Josh Lloyd
P www.audiologic.co.uk speaks of Clair Global’s
P //perfectoctave.co.uk P www.lsionline.com Virtual Live Audience

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 11

IN THE NEWS
BUSINESS

Carallon becomes employee-owned firm

[UK] Carallon Limited has become an employee-owned business.
The Employee Ownership Trust took over in May and now acts “for
the benefit of all current and future employees, and through elected
employee trustees gives all staff a say in major strategic decisions”.
Carallon was founded in 2004 by seven colleagues who enjoyed
creating new control products for the entertainment industry. All
seven founders still work for Carallon today, including Nick
Archdale, Chris Hunt and Richard Mead, who remain on the board
of directors. Over 16 years, the company has grown substantially
from seven to over 70 employees, spawning spin-off companies
Pharos Architectural Controls, Brompton Technology, and remote
management start-up SixEye.
MD Richard Mead explains: “On day one, Carallon was set up as
a business owned and run by its original seven employees.
Although we’ve got bigger, we wanted to make sure that ethos was
preserved and that there was a clear structure in place for the industry, who runs his own consulting service and has advised
long-term future of Carallon. Employee ownership fosters a spirit of Carallon on intellectual property matters for many years. He is
teamwork and less hierarchical management structures, so it fits joined by board trustees Chris Hunt, Leo Khale (director of
with our style very well.” engineering), Sarah Darby (group HR manager), and Philip Smith
The board responsible for managing the trust is chaired by Mike (engineering manager).
Wood, a well-known figure within the entertainment technology P www.carallon.com

BUSINESS CHARITY BUSINESS

DWR to distribute Sharp Prints for Music aids
NEC and tvONE Stagehand fund
[UK] Several respected photographers have
donated prints of iconic music artists to
raise money for Stagehand’s COVID-19
Crew Relief fund. More than 100 iconic
photographs of the likes of David Bowie,
Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Kate Bush, Bob
Marley, Mick Jagger, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The
Streets, Florence and the Machine, Liam
Gallagher, Jonny Greenwood, The Cure, Tina
Robert Izzett (DWR) and Jason Rall (Sharp NEC) Turner, Brett Anderson, Alice Cooper, Sting
and Stormzy are available for purchase over
[South Africa] DWR a four-week period in the run up to the
Distribution has struck holidays. Available for £95 each, all
new distribution deals proceeds go to the charity.
with Sharp NEC P //printsformusic.com
Display Solutions and
P www.stagehand.org.uk
tvONE. The company
will now distribute
Sharp NEC’s range of
Andrew Rodgers,
professional
DWR’s tvONE brand
projectors as well as PEOPLE
manager
tvONE and Magenta
brand products, which New ESTA directors named
include video wall processors, scalers and
switchers, multi-window processors, signal [USA] Four new directors have been
elected to the ESTA board of
extenders, matrix routers, distribution
amplifiers, racking solutions, and more. directors. Tracey Cosgrove will fill the
office of vice-president; Elmer Veith
P //dwrdistribution.co.za
of Reliable Design Services will serve
P www.sharpnecdisplays.com
as secretary; Evan Williams of
P //tvone.com
Riverview Systems Group is the new
production services director, and
Mark Wofford of PC&E was elected to
serve as rental company director. All
will begin their three-year terms of
Daily industry news :
office on 1 January 2021.
P www.lsionline.com P www.esta.org
Jands celebrates 50th
anniversary
[Australia] Jands,
Australia’s largest
theatre and AV
technology distribution
company, recently
marked 50 years of
continual ownership. The operation was
started by brothers David and Paul
Mulholland, who - joined by the late Eric
Robinson - went on to buy J and S Research
Electronics on 27 November 1970. Over the
years, the business adapted to a landscape
of changing technology and high import
tariffs by manufacturing its own equipment,
such as the JM series of mixing consoles
and speaker cabinets with JBL transducers.
“There is no better example of the strength
of Jands expertise than when we were asked
to provide audio for the first Elton John tour of
Australia and New Zealand,” recalls chairman
Paul Mulholland. “All of the sound equipment
was designed and manufactured by Jands
and the technical crew were all our staff. This
can-do culture developed in our formative
years has been the driving force behind the
company for the past 50 years.”
Paul Mulholland and Eric Robinson
continued to lead the company, which grew
and diversified through parallel enterprises,
Robinson running Concert Production and
Mulholland - Electronics and Distribution.
Robinson was also key to securing the sale of
Jands’ live sound business to Clair Global in
2015. Today, Jands’ portfolio comprises leading
brands across lighting, pro audio, retail, audio
visual, ICT, and theatre hardware.
P //jands.com.au

12 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

 PEOPLE
Senior hires for Production
Park development
[UK] Production Park has announced
four senior hires to lead its Wakefield-
based innovation centre, XPLOR. Jim
Farmery, former partnerships lead at
Creative England, has been named
development director, overseeing the
day-to-day running of the facility. He will
be supported by Matt Glynn, concept and
product designer; Peter Nye, software
controls engineer; and Ben Schweitzer,
digital content designer.
Currently under construction, XPLOR is a £7m R&D facility born out of a partnership
between Production Park’s Backstage Academy and Wakefield Council. Upon completion in
2022, the scheme will become UK’s first specialist innovation centre in the live events
industry, offering a support programme to facilitate growth for SMEs across the sector.
P www.productionpark.co.uk
TRAINING/EDUCATION
grandMA training
a hit in South Africa
Thumbs up from the UJ Theatre crew
[South Africa] DWR Distribution recently
hosted free grandMA Basic Training
sessions in Johannesburg and Durban as
part of the MA University Training
Programme. In Durban, Aubrey Ndaba and
Bongani Makhanya wanted to create
a training opportunity for technicians
based in KwaZulu Natal. The Playhouse
Company kindly opened its doors and
made a venue available to host a two-day
grandMA2 workshop, presented by
certified MA trainer Olebogeng Boinamo,
on 9 and 10 November. The training was
attended by 16 technicians and was made
possible thanks to Nosipho Bophela who
worked behind the scenes to secure the
venue, promote the event, and was
available on both days to lend a helping
hand.
In Johannesburg, Jannie de Jager
orchestrated and presented grandMA3
basic training, with three workshops taking
place in November (including a workshop
dedicated to the UJ Theatre crew), and an
extra date pencilled in for the Jo’burg
Theatre this month.
P //dwrdistribution.co.za
Fog
is our
passion!
Cobra 3.1
XNew, extremely silent nozzle.
Noise at max. output: 82.5
BUSINESS dBA
ClearOne appoints in India XConstant fog output at any
pump level due to the use of
[India] ClearOne has bolstered its sales
two pumps
network throughout India with the
appointment of distribution partner Trustech
XControl via Ethernet, DMX512,
Audio Visual Solution LLP. “As the breadth of analogue (0-10V) or directly at
ClearOne solutions continues to expand, we the machine
are tasked with finding those outstanding X RDM-capable
distribution partners around the globe with XTouchscreen with simple
the history and industry knowledge upon navigation
which customers can rely,” says ClearOne
XAdjustable pump characteris-
chair and CEO Zee Hakimoglu. “Trustech
stands out in India as a trusted authority for
tic: Impulse, Extended, Flood,
AV solutions and customer service.” Continuous
P www.clearone.com XInternal Timer
P www.trustechav.in XInternal operating hours
counter
X3100 W, 230V/50Hz
PEOPLE
PPDS appoints Marion
Chaignon in EMEA role
[The Netherlands]
Philips Professional
Display Solutions
(PPDS) has hired
Marion Chaignon as
marketing campaign
manager, EMEA.
Chaignon has executed
major campaigns for some of the world’s
most recognised technology brands,
including Samsung Electronics, Asus,
Nikon, HP, Lenovo and Logitech. She
Look
joins the company from marketing
agency Red Pimiento, where she spent
almost six years in various EMEA roles,
Solutions
including account director, project Fog machines made in Germany
director and team manager. Buenteweg 33 · DE-30989 Gehrden
P www.philips.com Phone +49-(0)5108 - 91 22 10 · Fax 91 22 111
www.looksolutions.com · info@looksolutions.com
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 13
IN THE NEWS
TRAINING/EDUCATION

Brit Row Training gets government lifeline

[UK] Britannia Row Productions Training (BRPT) has been awarded
£152,000 as part of the UK government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery
Fund. BRPT training activities have been suspended since March,
with no alternative arrangements in place. Thanks to the grant,
however, Brit Row will be able to offer the courses online from
January.
BRPT MD Mike Lowe comments: “I see the Culture Recovery
Grant as not only being a lifeline for our training efforts and for those
involved in the project over the coming months, but for the whole
industry. In normal times, sound engineers and technicians retire;
others move on to a whole variety of different roles such as
production, technical support or in development for audio
equipment manufacturers. This shrinkage in the talent / labour pool
at the top end is fed by the pipeline of young people, equipped with
the required knowledge and skills, entering the workplace at the
beginning of their careers. This pipeline has already been broken by
a year. The prognosis is such that it will be broken by at least two
years. The natural rate at which sound engineers and technicians COVID-safe distanced learning should help enormously with this
move on is accelerating due to the current crisis.” oncoming problem.”
“When our industry is in a position to return to normal levels of The Culture Recovery Fund grants programme is being
activity, the activity will be big,” he adds. “All artists, promoters and administered by the Arts Council England on behalf of the
venues want to and need to get back to work. Live events industry Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
workers are needed to allow them to do so. Being able to offer P www.britanniarowtraining.com

TRAINING/EDUCATION
disguise launches online
learning platform
[UK] disguise’s full complement of training
courses can now be accessed for free via
a new online learning system. The new
approach allows disguise users to learn
concepts anytime, anywhere at their own
pace and recap material easily after they
have taken the classroom courses.
The disguise training team has
redesigned the entire training programme
in order to facilitate remote and flexible
learning. The new programme splits each
major course up into two parts; one taught
online on the new system, and the second,
more practical part, carried out in-person.
The programme will also allow students to
test their knowledge on specialist disguise
equipment, and students will also have the
option to undertake entire courses in
a classroom setting should they request.
The launch of the online platform
coincides with disguise’s decision to extend
the free licence for its Designer software
until June 2021 in an initiative to extend
learning opportunities to all.
P www.disguise.one
BUSINESS
PEOPLE
Powersoft appoints Kinovox
for Denmark Mac Johnson joins Point
[Denmark] Kinovox
Source Audio
is the latest [USA] Point Source
distributor to join the Audio has named
Powersoft family in Mac Johnson as its
the Scandinavian new market
region. Founded in development
1943 and based just manager. Johnson
outside Copenhagen, previously toured as a production
Kinovox began as Jesper Kirkegaard of sound engineer on a variety of
a rental staging Kinovox Broadway productions, as well as
distributor before working as a sound designer for
expanding over the years to include theatrical productions, music festivals
broadcast, retail and digital visual recording and corporate events. Prior to joining
products. Today, the company is supplies of Point Source Audio, he was the
high-quality pro audio products and offers managing partner of an event
a vast support system for its customers. production company in Charleston,
P www.kinovox.com South Carolina and became an integral
P www.powersoft.com part of Meyer Sound’s team in 2007
where he spent 13 years working in
various roles across multiple
EVENT departments, markets segments and
all sales regions.
GSA’s livestream P www.point-sourceaudio.com
theatre project
[UK] A project that created four COVID-
compliant livestreamed theatrical featured seminars that delved into the
productions was hosted by the Guildford challenges and possibilities of producing
School of Acting (GSA) in November. theatre within the context of a pandemic.
Developed alongside Fuse Arts, Creation P //gsa.org.uk
Theatre and Fray Studio, Creating Theatre in a
COVID Landscape explored how theatre can
be produced whilst maintaining a COVID-
secure environment. Besides the four P www.lsionline.com
livestreamed theatre shows, the programme

14 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

BUSINESS

3LR Lighting to represent Rosco

[UK] 3LR Lighting has become the sole UK and Ireland
manufacturer’s representative for Rosco’s architectural lighting
range. To ensure service continuity and increase exposure for
both businesses, Sean O’Callaghan, formerly Rosco’s
architectural manager EMEA, has joined 3LR as business
development manager for architectural lighting and control.
3LR MD Matthew Lloyd comments: “We’re very excited to be
adding Rosco to our portfolio and welcoming Sean to the team.
His industry expertise and vast experience will be invaluable in
helping to develop new and existing customer relationships,
NEO COMPACT 10
further enhancing 3LR’s visibility in the market.”
P //3lrlighting.com
P //rosco.com

TRAINING/EDUCATION

COVID-19 Supervisor course launches

TAKE
THE
[UK] Safety consultant First Option has launched advanced level
STAGE
training for Event COVID-19 Supervisors / Compliance Officers. The
course trains individuals to implement, monitor and oversee WITH THE MOST
COVID-19 arrangements on event productions, whilst candidates
have access to learning resources to support their ongoing POWERFUL CONSOLE
education. The training material is written by event safety expert
and course leader Martin Barraclough and incorporates IN ITS CLASS
procedures outlined in Tour Production Group’s COVID-19
Working Procedures Guidance.
The course costs £90 plus VAT and can be booked via the web
address below . . .
P www.firstoption.group

PEOPLE
BUSINESS

Villiers chairs events

parliamentary group
[UK] The All Party Parliamentary Group
(APPG) for the UK events industry has
been re-established as an official group in
parliament following the appointment of a new chair and
vice-chair. Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, has
been appointed chair of the group, taking over from James
Heappey MP, whilst Robert Largan, MP for High Peak, will
be vice-chair. Villiers has served her constituency since 2005
and has previously held the positions of secretary of state
for environment, food and rural affairs, secretary of state for
Northern Ireland and minister of state for transport.
The APPG acts as the industry’s voice in parliament and
has been credited with establishing stronger links between the
events industry, parliament and government in recent years.
P www.parliament.uk S T R A N D L I G H T I N G .C O M

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 15

IN THE NEWS
CHARITY

GoboPlus.com sales boost Backup

[UK] GoboPlus.com has partnered with Rosco to bring to market a new
range of gobos in support of technical entertainment charity, Backup.
Designed by Exactly13 Ltd and exclusively licensed to GoboPlus.com, the
new gobos join the company’s existing range of charity gobos, which now
total 15 aerial, breakup and texture designs. A £3 donation to Backup will be
generated for every glass gobo sold and £1 for every metal one.
“The aim is to create a legacy income stream for Backup which stretches
far into the future, beyond current troubles, and to emphasise the importance
of continued support for those in need within our industry,” explains Paul de
Ville, CEO of GoboPlus.com. “We would like to invite all lighting
manufacturers with their own in-house gobo supply capabilities to support
Backup by incorporating one of the new designs into their fixtures. GoboPlus.
com is happy to waive any license fee (...) and arrange for manufacturers to
enter a standalone agreement directly with Backup. GoboPlus.com will then
supply gobo-ready artworks to the manufacturer, which then pays the
royalties directly to Backup in the manufacturer’s own name.”
P www.backuptech.uk
P www.goboplus.com

BUSINESS
BroaMan appoints in Canada
Contact Distribution’s Brandon and Bill Coons
with BroaMan interface
[Canada] BroaMan has appointed Contact
Distribution as its exclusive Canadian
distributor. Contact was first introduced to
BroaMan’s sister company Optocore in
2005 and has since enjoyed a successful
working relationship on several prestigious
projects.
P www.broadcastmanufactur.com
P www.contactdistribution.com
CHARITY
Backup launches
Christmas Challenge
[UK] Following the success of the Backup
Pumpkin Challenge this Halloween, the
technical entertainment charity has
launched a Christmas Challenge. Members
of the creative and technical entertainment
industries will compete in several categories
and put their lighting, design and comedy
skills to the test. The categories are: Best
Exterior House Xmas Design; Best Xmas
Tree Design; Best Xmas Pet Outfit; Best
Gingerbread Design; Cheesiest/Funniest
Xmas Jumper.
Participants can enter by posting an
image on social media detailing the relevant
category with the hashtag
#backupxmaschallenge by 20 December.
The competition is free to enter, but those
wishing to donate can do so via Backup’s
website, below.
P www.backuptech.uk
BUSINESS
Absen picks Fairlight
for Benelux
[The Netherlands] LED display specialist
Absen has signed a distribution partnership
with Fairlight for the Benelux region. The
partnership will allow prospective
customers in the region to experience
Absen LED at Fairlight’s Bemmel
showroom, as well as taking part in product-
specific training and making use of the
company’s on-site maintenance and repair
services.
Fairlight’s existing product range
includes Epson, L-Acoustics, Martin
Professional, CLF Lighting, Aurora, RGBlink,
I3, Avolites, and Luminex. The company
offers its services to a variety of customers
including theatres, pop venues, TV studios,
live events, and architainment.
P www.absen.com
P www.fairlight.nl
Daily Industry News : www.lsionline.com
PEOPLE
IPS appoints
project
manager
[UK] IPS has
appointed experienced
staging specialist Phil Addyman as
a project manager. Addyman will help
lead the deployment of the company’s
outdoor roof systems and staging
projects across the broad IPS
customer base. He has extensive
experience, having spent many years
working for Star Live (formerly Star
Events) and having been involved with
many different projects all over the UK
and further afield.
P www.ips.co.uk
BUSINESS
Player to distribute ARX
in Balkan states
[Serbia] ARX Systems has appointed
Player Music Shops to distribute its
professional USB audio interfaces and
signal processing solutions in Serbia,
Montenegro, Bosnia and Hercegovina,
Slovenia, Macedonia and Albania. As one of
the more long-established companies in
this region, Player represents over 50
brands covering pro audio, DJ, studio, hi-fi,
lighting and MI sectors.
P www.arx.com.au
P www.player.rs

16 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

OBITUARY OBITUARY

Elation Professional Remembering Jerry

mourns Joe Adams Hodgson
[USA] Elation Professional [UK] To the generation that passed
and the ADJ Group of through the National Youth Theatre’s
Companies have announced (NYT) electrics department between
the passing of friend and 1983 and 1994, indeed to everyone
colleague Joe Adams on who knew him, the passing of Jerry
14 November due to COVID-19 Hodgson on 21 November will bring
related complications. an equal mix of shock, and enormous
He was 53. sadness.
Adams worked as Having trained at RADA, in 1981
a regional sales rep for Elation Jerry - as he described it -
Professional from 2017. He ‘accidentally’ became chief electrician
began in the lighting industry at the Shaw Theatre, the NYT’s home base, despite company
in 1998 with his own company founder Michael Croft’s objections to a ‘boy with long hair’. When
as an American DJ dealer and came to the Elation family from the NYT left the Shaw in 1983, Jerry became the company’s chief
manufacturers rep firm PSLP. Most recently, he operated his own electrician.
firm Epic Pro Sales. In total, he represented the ADJ Group of In that role, he helped the company put on renowned
Companies’ products for over 20 years. productions across the UK and, indeed, the world, including shows
“On behalf of Elation Professional and everyone at the ADJ at the Edinburgh Festival and the Moscow Arts Theatre, both as
Group of Companies, we express our sincerest condolences to the electrician and, occasionally, lighting designer. He also provided a
Adams family as we keep his wife Kim and their three children in bridge from the company’s original era under Michael Croft to the
our thoughts and prayers,” comments Eric Loader, Elation’s director next as Edward Wilson took over after Croft’s death - and remained
of sales and marketing. “Like so many others, we are heartbroken. involved with the company, in the background, ever since.
Joe was a positive, genuinely kind-hearted person and a much-loved But, if the shows interested him, I think the people interested
member of the Elation and ADJ family. Joe had a passion for life him more: every year another round of teenagers who thought they
and work that was infectious and inspiring and he always found knew everything, discovered they didn’t - then realised that they
something to smile about. He was a true beacon of light and will be could get a bit closer to that if they just followed Jerry’s calm,
sorely missed. We are thankful for the time we had with Joe and the patient lead. I think his attitude that getting the show on and having
memories we made together with him.” a good time doing it were equally important lives on in us all. Piers
For information about planned public services and to offer Shepperd of Wonder Works sums it up well: “We had some great
condolences, please visit the web address below . . . times with Jerry, who always treated us with good humour, respect
P www.gofundme.com/f/joe-adams-memorial and always had time to listen to our inevitable nonsense as we
started learning our trade. He was one of the first people who
taught me that being part of the team was more important than
working as an individual.” Production electrician Martin Chisnall
adds: “It was all his fault and I’m not sure I ever thanked him
enough.”
All the latest business, people Jerry is survived by his long-term partner Elaine Grimes, the
couple having met when the NYT played at the Bloomsbury Theatre
& project news : www.lsionline.com in 1989 while she was the chief electrician there.
(Rob Halliday)
P www.nyt.org.uk

OBITUARY

Nexo remembers Sergio Caprara

[Europe] Nexo has announced the
passing of Sergio Caprara, the company’s
sales manager in Italy and a long-time
employee.
Caprara started working as the exclusive
distributor for Nexo in Italy in 1982, just
three years after the company was
founded, and he quickly became a key
player in the young loudspeaker
manufacturing business. A former FOH
engineer, he was able to bring real-world
influence to his collaborations with Nexo’s
charismatic technical director, Eric
Vincenot.
In 2002, he moved into a full-time role
managing sales in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia
and Albania.
As one of the four subsidiary sales
managers, Caprara played a key role in the
Nexo team. “Sergio had a special combination
of technical expertise and people skills,” says
Gareth Collyer, Nexo’s sales and marketing
director. “He was one of the most experienced
members of the sales team, but his passing
affects us all more than professionally; he was
a valued friend and one of the true characters
in our industry.”
P //nexo-sa.com

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 17

IN THE NEWS
A very Blenheim Christmas
Jo Boyd explores the extra planning required by the technical team for this year’s
Blenheim Palace Illuminated Light Trail . . .
[UK] Christmas light trails
remain a perennially popular
family pursuit, and the
illuminated trail and feature
light artworks at the heart of
Blenheim Palace’s Christmas
experience is among the UK’s
most iconic. In 2020, the fact
that it is selling out faster than
ever underlines its popularity.
Edinburgh-based outdoor
lighting design specialists
Lightworks are regularly
commissioned by producers
Culture Creative to design both
the trail lighting and a bespoke
installation at Blenheim. This
year, it’s a spectacular courtyard
light show.
Lightworks, run by design
duo Kate Bonney and her
business partner Simon Hayes,
has earned a solid reputation for
its successful execution of
exquisite outdoor installations
and designs. Due to the
increased demand for outdoor
displays this year, the company
has seen the season much
extended: a situation Bonney
took full advantage of by
co-opting lighting designer Rory
Beaton, usually too busy in
warm and dry West End
theatres, on to the team.
CHANGES APLENTY
Even for outdoor events, 2020
has been a year of changes.
“Obviously, we always keep the
visitor experience at the
forefront of our minds when
planning a trail or a light show,”
Bonney explains, “but this year
we really had to think about how
people might behave differently
and encourage them not to
crowd and bunch, so we’ve
planned the Blenheim light
show accordingly.”
Staged in the courtyard of
the Palace, where originally
a Christmas market was
planned, Blenheim’s courtyard
light show acts as a socially-
distanced revolving door,
delivering visitors onto and out
of the mile-long trail. Lightworks
designed the connective
elements of this trail, lighting
the way creatively to support
and complement the light art
works supplied by other artists.
Whilst the lighting for the trail is
18 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
supplied by White Light, the
courtyard show is equipped with
inventory from Adlib Audio,
who, in the shape of Tom Kaye,
also handled the programming
via a grandMA lighting desk.
In keeping artistically with
the palatial surroundings, the
courtyard show is a traditional
and purely light and sound
show. “There are no tricks,”
Bonney confirms. Blenheim at
capacity - and that’s the
scaled-down 2020 capacity - will
cater to over 140,000 visitors this
year. “We decided it was a better
use of budget to concentrate on
staging light and sound
professionally, rather than to
spread ourselves thin with
gimmicks,” she adds.
LIGHTING SPECTACULAR
The specification for the
spectacular show includes
a total of 20 SGM G-7 BeaSts,
dual-purpose LED moving heads
with a central white LED beam
and strobe. A row of six on the
ground in front of the palace are
bolstered by a further four
clusters on the roof. Eight
Martin MAC Viper profiles,
complete with inflatable
weatherproof domes, cross the
front of the building, creating
the action alongside 10 Chauvet
Rogue R2X moving wash
fixtures, also with weatherproof
domes. Finally, 16 SGM P5
RGBW LED wash lights are
scattered around the
architecture at ground level to
launch up the side of the
building for colour blocking.
Bonney explains that
whereas often the music chosen
would fit a particular story
which visitors would be
encouraged to watch in full
before heading onto the trail,
“this year the show is
continuous with highs and lows
and a finale piece that once
finished, should motivate some
people to move on.”
The keystone piece that the
show was constructed around is
Tchaikovsky’s Opus 71 from The
Nutcracker, which she admits is
“so much fun to programme
lights to because there’s so
many snap points.” The lighting
to this section of the show
includes a big, single-colour
wash rolling from gold to silver,
with the snaps and chase
sequences building in light to
the crescendo of the music. At
the height of the musical build,
which she describes as
“uncertainty and chaos”, bursts
of ‘fireworks’ are created using
simple gobos on a zoom effect,
with added sparkle from the
SGM G-7’s central strobes, to
launch multi-layered sparkle
effects into the sky.
The next pivotally contrasting
LAMPY creative lighting consoles by Showtec - showtec-lampy.com
P 01249 819494 E uksales@highlite.com I www.highlite.com
movement is the gentle and
minimal scene created to fit
Prologue from the Harry Potter
film franchise. Designed as
a background tune, Bonney
complements it with a suitably
deep blue colourscape and UV
beamwork that picks out
window details, transforming
them into piano keys being
played.
FROM MODERN
TO TRADITIONAL
The rest of the show has
something for everyone, as
Bonney explains: “We need a bit Papa Elf from the movie Elf and skill and devoted dedication of
of Christmas and a recognisable back down to the traditional, Bonney and the team at
movie . . . We include a classy, with sweeping colours for the Lightworks. She simply states:
gentler element, then Christmas carol We Wish You a “At Lightworks, we always try to
something for the X Factor Merry Christmas; every moment create what people will be
generation who are used to chosen as carefully as this delighted by. We rarely refer to
more.” With that in mind, the year’s Christmas family group. ourselves as artists because we
score moves through the bold Having battled delays and don’t practice self-expression.
traditional red and gold palette new deadlines due to We strive to create experiences
on Andy Williams’ The Most November’s national lockdown, that generate big feelings, and
Wonderful Time of the Year, to the Bonney is now delighted to see this season we hope that big
magical musical box effects for the event opening for visitors to feeling is joy!”
Silent Night from Miracle on 34th enjoy. The Blenheim Palace
Street. Then into the chaos of The experience at Blenheim Illuminated Light Trail runs until
Santa’s workshop with candy is a truly magical and 4 January 2021. I
canes in primary colours set to memorable one because of the P www.makinglight.work
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 19
IN THE NEWS

From the island to the globe

A one-off global event for both streaming and TV viewing, Live From Reykjavík showcased
Iceland’s finest live acts. Phil Ward reports . . .
[Iceland] It’s fitting that Iceland
Airwaves, the island’s boutique
yet highly prestigious annual
music festival, has always been
sponsored by Iceland Air, the
national carrier. Not only that;
the first festival some 20 years
ago actually took place in an
aircraft hangar, so corroborating
the myth that Iceland’s live
music scene was originally
tanked up from Europe and the
US by refuelling rock stars and
their tour gear.
How else they refuelled can
be left to the imagination, but
today Iceland Airwaves
infiltrates multiple venues
across capital city Reykjavík and
lights up the sub-Arctic dark for
four days every November.
Although, not this year.
Naturally. Instead, the festival,
organisers have mounted
something called Live From
Reykjavík, which is almost what
it says on the tin.
The thing about virtual
festivals is that they can be
produced in several different
ways but should always
maximise global access. In the
case of Live From Reykjavík,
there was a fairly conventional
broadcast on national TV and
radio, plus pay-per-view access

Photos: Martin Bagnol

via internet streaming. Unlike
Wireless Connect in the UK this
summer (see LSi September
2020), there was no VR
rendering. But that doesn’t
mean there was no shifting of
time - both to accommodate
different time zones and to allow
judicious editing before release.
ALL TIME ZONES
Here’s how Iceland Airwaves
previewed the event: “The
performances will be streamed
as a live experience and will
not be available to view online
following the event. Please pay
extra attention to the event
time zones and be careful to
choose the most relevant event
for your location.” In other
words, it was designed to
appear as a one-off occasion,
but was time-aligned, if you
will, to a rotating planet.
Finnur Ragnarsson is
a project manager at Reykjavík-
based Exton, a leading light in
Icelandic supply, rental and
installation. Ragnarsson is an
experienced hand at Iceland
Airwaves’ sound reinforcement
and networking requirements,
but this year, of course, the
latter almost completely
usurped the former. He explains
how the festival was prepared
for a specific 24-hour period in
November staggered across
Greenwich Mean Time, Eastern
Time, Pacific Time and
Australian Eastern Daily Time.
“All the individual sets were
filmed by the national radio and
TV station RÚV over 10 days and
recorded by us. Then we gave
the multitrack audio to each
artist to let them mix, while RÚV
handled the video post- B Top: The duo Asgeir performing in
production. Everything was Gamla Bio
ready for the national broadcast
Above: Singer Auður performing
and the online streaming.”
at the Listasafn Reykjavikur
For the streaming, Iceland
Airways recommended use of
the DICE.fm app, which also
handled ticketing. This involves
registering with the app,
verifying your iOS device and
obtaining an access code,
although standard browser-
based purchase and access was
available as well. The
experiential differences between
these two options should be
subject of another article, but
either way, Exton had to capture
the performances for both
broadcast and streaming
purposes.

20 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

 D The band Of Monsters and Men during
soundcheck at the venue Idnó

E Allen & Heath’s dLive S7000 was

shipped from venue to venue

Photos: Martin Bagnol

PAINTING THE TOWN
At each respective venue, Exton’s control
system comprised an Allen & Heath dLive
S7000 surface with DM64 rack and DX168
input boxes; Dante network cards in the
DM64 rack connected to two MacBook Pro
laptops running Logic, recording up to 64
channels of multitrack audio; Shure Axient
Digital wireless mics; and further vocal and
instrument mics from Shure, Sennheiser,
Neumann, DPA and Audix. Most bands
opted to use Shure PSM900 IEMs, but Exton
also provided Nexo PS-15R2 wedges with
NX4x4 amplifiers for those who required the
full Nordic kerrang.
As presented, it was a straightforward
programme beginning at 19:30 in each time
zone and lasting for four hours. The notional
switch from one act to another appeared
logically as a jump from one venue to
another, as most of the usual venues for
Iceland Airwaves were used across
Reykjavík, although in truth, one OB truck audio was recorded, we placed the files in
moved from one venue to the next Dropbox and they were picked up by the
sequentially over several days to capture the bands - some of whom took them into
content. Locals would immediately spot, a professional studio, and some mixed them
however, that the audience areas were at home on their laptops.”
deployed to accommodate the bands and Normally Exton literally empties its
the backline in each case, as opposed to warehouses of Meyer Sound hardware for
the stages. this festival, but not on this occasion. The “All this took place
“The main difference in terms of shelves remained full, the inventory
staging,” confirms Ragnarsson, “is that in undergoing scrupulous maintenance. during a third wave
most places we set up the bands down on Instead, Exton is navigating the pandemic
the floor in the auditorium, and not on the with installation work, staff on part time with of the pandemic
stage, in order to show off the interiors of benefits and freelancers working in the wider
the buildings. If they were all filmed in construction industry, while the support in Iceland, so
a dark corner, it wouldn’t matter which skills for online events such as Live From
venue was which and you wouldn’t get the Reykjavík are honed for a different future. production had to
experience of travelling through the city, “We do a lot of conferences too,” muses
which is so important to this festival. It was Ragnarsson, “and I don’t think the corporate be achieved with
important that viewers recognised each world will return to flying everybody around
place. We also staged different bands the world in the same way as before. The
a maximum of 20
virtual events have really increased, but the
variously around each space to make the
most of new angles of the venue.” experience is important for when we return
people in each
to productions with live audiences because
All this took place during a third wave of
the pandemic in Iceland, so production had I think this is a new part of the industry.
venue . . .”
to be achieved with a maximum of 20 Touring is a small piece of the jigsaw here
people in each venue. “We built a really anyway, so we already do a lot of other
compact monitor package,” Ragnarsson things. In the meantime, we’re just waiting to
says, “so all of the audio and lighting could get those loudspeakers out there again.” I
be set up by just three people. Once the P www.exton.is

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 21

IN THE NEWS

Chess: a musical grandmaster

As it makes its Russian debut, LSi talks to the Cold War-era musical’s sound designer to
uncover the production’s complex aural soundscape . . .
[Russia] Staged for the first
time in Moscow, the musical
Chess, with lyrics by Tim Rice
and a score from ABBA’s
Benny Andersson and Bjorn
Ulvaeus, has received rave
reviews. Opening in October
with limited, but highly
enthusiastic, audiences due to
current restrictions, this
high-octane production is
equally hi-tech . . .
Originally produced in the
1980s and reflecting the
tensions of the Cold War era,
the show follows a chess
tournament between two
grandmasters, one American,
the other Soviet Russian.
Sound designer Richard
Brooker notes that the
production has a complicated
and exciting musical score that
is unlike any other in theatre
and requires a powerful audio
system that can deliver its full
musical spectrum - a mix of
symphonic orchestral music “We had a fully
and full-on rock and pop - all
with equal clarity. Russian creative
The show is staged in the
MDM Theatre in Moscow’s team with a little bit of
central Khamovniki district, a
venue that is familiar to Brooker, international injection
who has previously designed
two shows there. The idea of from sound design and
staging Chess in the MDM was
first mooted to Brooker two music supervision, and
years ago. He received a call
from the production’s general what they managed to
manager last December asking
if he would like to do the sound achieve in just over a
design for it. “I’ve always
enjoyed working in Russia, but month is magical . . .”
the idea of doing Chess there
was something special,” he
- Richard Brooker
smiles. “It’s not a show that’s
produced very often. This is the
first time it’s ever been done by SOUND DESIGN AND GEAR inventory includes a d&b B Top, from left: Associate sound
a Russian director, it’s never The audio inventory for the show V-Series loudspeaker system, designer Kelsh Buckman-Drage,
been done in Russian before, is supplied by UK rental chosen by Brooker to account sound designer Richard Brooker
company Southby Productions, and sound #1 Mikhail Sokolik
and to get the opportunity to do for the size of the auditorium,
something with as big a sound working closely with Southby’s which is on one level with Above: Richard Brooker at FOH
as this was really exciting. Then, technical director Digby Shaw, a continuous rake of seating, on his Quantum7 console
of course, COVID struck and and associate sound designer and a combination of DPA,
just about every show was Kelsh Buckman-Drage to put Sennheiser, and Neumann
cancelled. For quite a few the project together. The show microphones.
months, I thought ‘I won’t be was prepped over three weeks in “I always choose DiGiCo as
going to do it in Russia’. But we the UK before it was shipped to a central part of my audio
kept talking about it, the Russia in August, with load-in designs,” states Brooker. “There
producer kept saying it was starting on 5 September. isn’t another manufacturer that
going to be alright, and here we Along with a DiGiCo covers what we do in theatre in
are!” Quantum7 at FOH, the audio the way we need it. Here, we’re

22 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

using an Quantum7 with ‘T’ [theatre]
software. All DiGiCo’s consoles have a very
flexible layout, great onboard dynamics and
the touchscreens are excellent visually, but
once you have ‘T’ software, it becomes
a completely different animal; it makes our
workflow much more practical and accurate
and means we only have to do things once
rather than repeating them. We can also
store information as we go via the Auto
Update function, which is a real bonus.”
Buckman-Drage adds: “The ‘T’ software
addresses very specific needs for things
that happen in theatres. For example, I can
add an Alias to a channel with a specific
EQ, which I can recall any time I want.” For
Chess, there are a multitude of ‘80s sounds’
for which classic gated drum reverbs are
used, creating a dynamics Alias for his
reverb return, allowing him to insert a gate
over the reverb return. “I can do that very
quickly, just by recalling the alias and doing
it for every scene,” he explains. “Every time
I update the Alias, those settings are stored
in every instance of that throughout the
show.”
This, along with Players, a handy
function that accounts for character
changes and changes of cast and allows
operators to select which actor is playing
a particular role, has proved particularly
useful at Chess as it features two different
casts.
EASE OF PROGRAMMING
Sound #1 Mikhail Sokolik notes that Control
Group Cues allow him to programme the
show on-the-fly. “There’s a scene called The
Deal,” he says. “Once I’d mixed the
principal, I realised the ensemble should
come up in 10 seconds and I’d forgotten to
programme it. With only three touches on
the console, it was there. It would take me
between two and five minutes to do the
same thing on another desk, or even
a DiGiCo without ‘T’ software.”
Chess has either six or seven principals,
depending on which version of the show is
being staged, plus a 19-ensemble cast,
19-piece orchestra, plus a drummer with
a full drum kit and electric drum triggers.
With around 130 inputs and 38 auxes to
account for, along with 10 groups and
B Top left: Moscow’s MDM Theatre ready for
Chess
Top right: UK rental company Southby
Productions supplied the audio inventory for
the show
C A view of the action from the backroom thanks
to a pair of Marshall V-R63P-SDI triple LCD
screens
around 18 matrixes, including surrounds,
the SD7 Quantum, along with multiple
SD-racks to enable all the inputs, has really
come into its own.
“We are fortunate to have a very clever
keyboard programmer on the show, Stuart
Andrews, who has come up with some
amazing sounds for the show,” says
Brooker. “With the use of sampled strings
allowing them to go back and listen to
that will sit with the real strings just on top,
a singer or snare drum, or teach other
it sounds like a much bigger orchestra than
engineers to mix the show.
it is. Also, our musical supervisor, John
Rigby, is very good at balancing the
‘MAGICAL’
orchestra, which makes our life easier.”
Brooker explains how one never gets tired
“We’re lucky to have so many channels
of the process of putting together a show
available, as each principal also has
such as this. “It’s amazing what happens in
a backup microphone,” adds Buckman-
five weeks,” he concludes. “You go from an
Drage. “Mikhail and I have programmed
macros between us, so we can switch to empty theatre to a show that we are ready to
a backup if ever there’s a problem, which is put in front of the audience. We had a fully
a real comfort factor.” Bricasti M7s are used Russian creative team with a little bit of
for the main vocal and main orchestra international injection from sound design
sound, along with internal reverbs and FX in and music supervision, and what they
the DiGiCo. “Because the console is so managed to achieve in just over a month is
flexible, and with so many effects engines magical. I think we can all feel very proud
available, we can add whatever we want,” and excited about the end result.
says Brooker. “I always start with basic band “The producer, Dmitry Bogachev, has
reverb and vocal reverb, and then we add done a wonderful thing by getting this
effects reverbs and a delay into the basic together, and in such difficult times. It’s
show programming. QLab is to fire the a one off, if not the only large-scale musical
Sound FX and click tracks for the band, production going on in the world at the
which are minimal in this show.” moment. I am sure the Russian audience
The show is recorded live using shares our excitement and will enjoy a
DiGiGrid’s MGB and both MADI streams. beautiful evening of music and acting - this
Up to 120 channels can be recorded, which is definitely a show worth coming to see!” I
is really helpful for the team’s reference, P www.digico.biz
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 23
IN THE NEWS
Martian audio
Teodora Lyubomirova charts one giant leap for pro audio as NASA’s latest
rover sets out to record the sound of the red planet . . .
[USA] NASA’s Mars 2020
Perseverance rover is currently
hurtling through outer space,
due to land on Mars in February
2021, with a choice selection of
pro audio kit on board. Whilst
this isn’t NASA’s first attempt at
capturing the sound on Mars, it
could be the first to deliver
a true, unadulterated audio
recording from the red planet . . .
Previous attempts date back
to 1999 and 2008 with the Mars
Polar Lander and the Phoenix
Mars Lander - but the Polar
crashed, and NASA had turned
off the microphone on the
Phoenix prior to landing due to
electrical issues. In 2018, the
InSight Lander’s air pressure
sensor and seismometer
captured and manipulated data
to create an ‘audible impression
of the sound’ of Martian winds.
However, as yet, no one has been
able to capture the real thing . . .
MISSION TO MARS
Back in 2016, LA-based musician
and record producer Jason
Achilles wondered if NASA
would be keen to send a video
system into space on a Mars
rover to record its landing. “It
was an idea I’d had while talking
to a friend of mine who works at
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
We were discussing the idea of
a remotely-deployed video
system that could capture
footage of touchdowns [more on
this later], which he was
adamant they wouldn’t have
funded at the time. And then
I thought, well, what about
audio? How hard could that be?
Sometime later that summer, my
friend called me up and told me
that NASA was indeed talking
about two microphones that
were going to be on the (as yet
unnamed) Mars 2020 rover . . .”
One of those microphones
was set to be part of the rover’s
Entry, Descent and Landing
integrated video camera system
(EDLCAM). Knowing this,
Achilles ‘cold-emailed’ NASA.
“I looked up the email address
of the Mars 2020 deputy project
manager - I had read an
interview with him and
something about the way he
discussed the project led me to
24 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
believe he’d be receptive to my
ideas. So, I emailed him. He
wrote back two hours later
saying they would be in touch.”
Achilles’ ideas ranged from
data compression and
calibration techniques, to
considerations about the
adverse effects the Martian
environment could have on
various microphone designs.
With a potential meeting with
NASA on the cards, he decided
to bring in a partner to help him
flesh out the proposals.
“I initially spoke to Brad
Avenson from Avenson Audio,
who’s a brilliant audio designer
and also designs high-fidelity
seismometers for use on
volcanic and off-world research.
He wasn’t available, but
recommended his co-worker,
another brilliant audio
technician - and former 2004
USA Olympic diver - Caesar
Garcia.”
B Top: DPA d:dicate 4006
LIFT OFF omnidirectional microphone will
capture out-of-this-world audio
In October 2016, Achilles and
Garcia got the thumbs-up, the Above, from left: Jason Achilles,
musician receiving the lead consultant for the EDL
all-important phone call whilst microphone; David Gruel (JPL)
out on tour on the East Coast. ATLO manager, EDL microphone
The two were officially hired in supervisor; and Caesar Garcia,
technical consultant
January 2017 and tasked with
drafting plans for a bespoke D The DPA MMA-A Digital Audio
microphone that would form Interface will record and send
part of the EDLCAM system. audio to a computer via USB
“It had to fit inside a one-inch connection
cube, so we opted for a
two-capsule design - a half-inch
condenser and a Vesper MEMS
for both redundancy and
potential stereo operation,”
explains Achilles. “We spent two
months on that study, presented
our report, and didn’t hear
anything for months.” The
silence was ominous - four
months later, NASA responded
saying they wouldn’t fund the
custom mic . . .
Though their mission had hit
a bump in the road, Achilles and
Garcia were soon re-hired to
help select the most suitable
off-the-shelf microphone for the
rover. “Around that time, DPA
had just released its MMA-A
Digital Audio Interface,” Achilles
recalls. “Our supervisor Dave
Gruel [JPL Mars 2020 ATLO
manager] had come across the
DPA product and encouraged
us to review the company’s
catalogue. As it turned out, the
capsule we liked was virtually
identical to the condenser we
had planned to use in our
custom solution.”
He continues: “We
shortlisted and tested the 4006
and the 4007 capsule, and liked
the 4006 better. It featured
a better signal-to-noise ratio and
still had a very wide dynamic
range - since the retrorockets on
board the rover’s Sky Crane in
the Descent Stage would be
very close to the mic, we didn’t
want the sound to clip. Typically,
the Martian atmosphere alters
the frequency response, so that
above 10kHz everything’s gone,
and things get rapidly muffled
with distance. We studied prior
research and compiled graphs
predicting how the 4006 would
sound on Mars; it looked pretty
good. Overall, we needed
a microphone that could
capture the loud as well as the
very quiet stuff, and that was
made of materials that wouldn’t
suffer in the Martian
atmosphere or on the six month
journey through outer space.”
He adds: “The appeal of
DPA’s system was also in that
the only thing that had to be
mounted externally was the
capsule - the MMA interface is
located internally, meaning it is
thermally-protected and
radiation-shielded by the
housing of the rover.”
WHERE’S THE KABOOM?
With the microphone now en
route to the red planet, what can
the world expect to hear if the
technology, quite literally, holds
its ground? “Initially, you’ll hear
rockets firing,” says Achilles.
“You might hear the parachute
being deployed, and we’ll
definitely hear wind rushing by.
You might also hear a bit of
crunch as the rover touches
down. And that’s just during the
landing sequence. Once the
SuperCam microphone
activates as well, we’ll be able to
potentially hear many of the
rover’s operations on the
Martian surface.”
On being involved in one of
the most important intergalactic
milestones in audio, Achilles
says, half-jokingly: “I really like
the idea of being able to write
‘Extra-terrestrial Audio Engineer’
on a business card. If this mic
works, it would be the first true
sound that will be captured on
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020
the surface of Mars. There’s
a brilliant legacy of dedicated
scientists who have laboured for
decades to bring this about, and
it’s important we get it right. I am
a big believer in capturing the
real thing. I want to represent the
sonic footprint on Mars as
accurately as possible, and get
young people excited about it.
Capturing this audio is a huge
step towards getting our next
generation of explorers excited
about space travel.”
Beyond sound, Achilles is
also now working on Lunar
ExoCam - the aforementioned
remotely deployed imaging
system designed to eject from
landers during final descent and
record video of their
touchdowns. The project
recently won grant funding from
NASA and, while it is still in
development, the plan is for it to
fly aboard some of the private
robotic landers that are set to
travel to the moon in the next
few years. Quite literally, watch
this space . . . I
P www.dpamicrophones.com
25
IN THE NEWS

Entrepreneurial spirit
LSi talks to lighting designer Liz Berry about her company Hologramica and the future
of holographic effects . . .
[UK] Rare is the individual who exchanges
an internationally-acclaimed reputation as
a creative director and lighting designer in
the live music industry for the considerable
risks associated with developing and
manufacturing an effect product. This is
especially true when that product seeks to
turn the stuff of science fiction into tourable
AV. Rarer still does such an individual
actually succeed . . .
Nevertheless, that is exactly what
creative visionary Liz Berry did when, in
2009, she left behind a highly successful

Photo: BASE Hologram

international career and established
Hologramica. Today the business is
a world-renowned holographic production
company and home to the finely-tuned,
patent protected, ever-developing, ultra-
bright, super-sharp hologram gauze - 3D
Holonet.

SWITCHING SPECIALISMS
So how did Berry get into something as
seemingly obscure as Holograms? “It
started when I was creative director for
Robbie Williams,” explains Berry. “He had
a song on the Finding Nemo soundtrack,
and I was asked to create a photo op that
would grab headlines at the film’s London
Photo: Liz Berry

premiere. I wanted to have the cartoon fish

swimming around Robbie in person, and

© Twitter
found a company offering Pepper’s Ghost
holograms that could deliver that.”
For the uninitiated, Pepper’s Ghost is
a theatrical effect from Victorian times. The
a resilient businesswoman to her eclectic, B Top: BASE Hologram’s ground-breaking
modern incarnation projects video onto sometimes challenging early years working An Evening with Whitney hologram tour

a screen and suspends a transparent mylar
foil at 45º to the screen to reflect the
projections. Correctly designed and lit, the
audience views the reflection of the video,
and it looks highly realistic and 3D.
Berry continues: “In the end, that event
didn’t happen, but I stayed in touch with the
company, ultimately becoming their
technical consultant. For the next few years
I project managed shows globally, including
The Black Eyed Peas for French TV, and a
spectacular Burberry launch in Shanghai.”
A few years later, Berry’s ambition to
create her own full production shows led
her to establish Hologramica. Berry has
always zigzagged between art and tech, an
important USP of her new enterprise. “I did
half of an English and Philosophy degree,
then ditched that for an HNC in
electronics,” she explains. “Pepper’s Ghost
is an exacting master, you can’t negotiate
with the laws of physics. It was right up my
street to create technically viable hardware
designs, but find ways to make them
elegant, and of course, beautifully lit. For
me that was a compelling combination.”
Berry credits much of her success as
for Vari-Lite, which was, at the time, the first
Above, left: Liz Berry
and only moving light manufacturer. “The
team at Vari-Lite were brave! Hiring a female Above, right: Holopops Ultra’s debut for
tech in 1987 was really bold, and I was very Kim Kardashian’s birthday gained over 35
million social media views
young. They were crazy times,” she laughs.
“We were fixing lights in cupboards C Facing page: Bollywood magic in 4K on
to protect the IP. In 1987, touring had Holopops Ultra
a somewhat different culture and it was Autonomous holograms you can chat
unusual to see female techs. I quickly with, courtesy of Robots of London
toughened up.”
Kitty Durham of the band Kitty, Daisy &
Thrown in at the deep end, Berry Lewis in 4K on Holopops Ultra
embarked on a whirlwind of international,
high-profile productions across every genre:
TV, touring, theatre, parties, activations,
events and conferences. Her second live
music tour was with Elton John. To this day,
you can also still see her signature moving
light sequences on syndicated versions of
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
“I had landed on my feet but had to learn
how to think on them too,” laughs Berry.
“When 20 years later I came across
holograms, there was so much
I recognised: a disruptive, patented
technology operating worldwide, in markets
I understood, that required good lighting
and stage design, plus clear technical

26 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

Photos: Hologramica
understanding. It felt like everything I’d ever
done had come together, and Vari-Lite had
already shown me how the future could
work out.”
Berry realised she was in the rare
position of having the essential 360°
knowledge of the production and logistical
processes associated with live music, TV,
theatre and events. Through Hologramica,
she set about seamlessly and affordably
integrating holograms into those
entertainment genres. 12 years later, the
company has grown and is thriving.
QUALITY CONTROL
Remarkably, there are still very few people
who understand the technology, despite the
old and cumbersome Pepper’s Ghost
technology largely being replaced by
simpler, easier to use, hologram scrim
alternatives. “There is a culture of making
holograms a ‘dark art’,” says Berry. “I am
not an advocate of such secrecy and do my
utmost to educate clients, helping them to
be as self-sufficient as possible. Sometimes
that will be at cost to the production side of
my business if it is the right thing to do.”
In the last five years, unwavering Berry
has also expanded from producing and
designing shows to manufacturing her own
brand of holographic gauze, 3D Holonet:
“The move from Pepper’s Ghost to more
convenient gauze projections was a huge
advance for hologram technology. The
problem for me was that with many of the
gauze products you get diagonal lines
visible in the image, meaning they have to
be viewed from a distance. It’s fair to say I’d
built a reputation as a picky designer, and
I didn’t want to offer something to my
clients that I wasn’t completely satisfied
with.”
So, armed with a few ideas for
improvements to the technology, Berry
boldly approached a manufacturer with her
proposal. Sadly, their response was neither
positive nor polite, and made the can-do,
go-getting Liz Berry quite cross (an
understatement!). “I thought, sod you, I’ll do
it on my own!” Berry wryly comments.
“I blundered off, knowing nothing about
textile design or manufacturing, but
determined that I’d find a way. Miraculously,
I stumbled across someone who had just
retired from that industry, with the all the
experience and knowledge I needed. I think
he thought a lunatic like me would at least
provide amusement value, as well as some
spare cash, so he agreed to come on board.
We hit it off, and 3D Holonet is the result.
He’s incredible, I’d have nothing without
him. We’ve created a product that’s robust,
with an impressively bright, high quality
image. I’m very happy with what we now
offer.”
Today, Hologramica offers everything
from dry sales of 3D Holonet, to
consultancy, full production and content
creation services. “I believe that the future
success of Hologramica depends on
a mature, educated industry,” says Berry.
“Just as moving lights went from exclusive
to ubiquitous, so will holographic effects.”
And proving her right, 3D Holonet has
been used for hundreds of shows and
events, allowing stars of the past such as
Whitney Houston and Roy Orbison to once
more grace stages around the world, whilst
adding mind-blowing magic to high-end
fashion shows, product launches, parties,
live theatre and dance.
HOLOPOPS
In addition to Hologramica’s impressive
resumé of shows, the company has also
developed a new product that combines 3D
Holonet technology with Berry’s neat and
clever hologram design - the Holopops
series of portable holographic display
systems.
“It was weird, one morning I just woke up
with the whole Holopops system fully
formed in my head - including a way to
control the secondary image,” says
a delighted Berry. “We built the whole thing
in our studio in less than three weeks and it
just worked! It’s about 3m wide, 2.7m high
and 2.5m deep and capable of creating
roughly a 3m by 2m image. We’re now on
V2, which has a better designed frame that
puts the projector overhead rather than on
the floor, and we’ve even got a 4K option.”
What is most remarkable about
Holopops is how small its physical footprint
is, Berry discusses: “Achieving a small
footprint is no easy task. Primarily because
when video content is projected onto
a gauze, where it hits the yarns, it creates
an image - the hologram. However, some of
the light from the projection inevitably
passes through the holes, making a second
repeated image on whatever is behind it.
This ruins the effect if it’s visible. A compact
system needs to overcome this issue, and
I found a way to do this.” The most recent
version, the Holopops Ultra, made its viral
debut on social media when Kanye West
gave Kim Kardashian a hologram of her late
father for her 40th birthday.
For Berry, the development of Holopops
shifts the company’s capabilities into new
markets - everything from training
environments to corporate presentations and
communications. This is something she
never previously imagined but is delighted to
find it generating considerable interest.
What also promotes wider adoption of
Holopops across diverse markets is that it is
a preconfigured solution. “It needs
considerably less expertise to install than
a bespoke system for a full stage show,”
says Berry. “You just need the space to
accommodate it and someone who can
manage the projector.”
Holopops is often used to create
life-sized people, potentially avoiding the
need for travel for live appearances and
allowing one person to appear in multiple
places simultaneously. Keynote speakers
can be livestreamed in realtime into
a conference; alternatively, pre-recorded
performances and presentations offer
repeatability, multiple locations and easy
distribution like any other video. Especially
relevant during times when travel is difficult
due to COVID, or undesirable for
environmental reasons.
As for the future of hologram technology,
the possibilities are endless. With new
generations of phones packed with LiDAR
tech allowing backgrounds to be easily
removed from subject matter, almost
anyone will be able to produce good
holographic images. Crucially, both the cost
and size of super-bright, high-resolution
projectors has reduced hugely in the last 20
years, making the whole setup more
affordable to a wider demographic of
potential end users.
With education, corporate comms,
training and entertainment all moving into
the digital space, holograms promise to
bring a more life-like and engaging
experience than standard video solutions.
Maybe one day we will all have our own
personal Holopops system in our homes
replacing phones, computers and TVs . . . I
P www.hologramica.com
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 27
IN THE NEWS

Lighting? There’s an app for that . . .

Richard Cadena reviews the new Blackout Lighting Console app . . .
[USA] I’ve been in the industry
long enough to have seen
lighting control go from 0-10V to
DMX to DMX-over-Ethernet.
When I started, the bigger your
lighting console was, the more
important you were. Over time,
things evolved to the point
where most people just wanted
it to fit on a cart or in the
overhead locker. What didn’t
change is the one-size-fits-all
approach; it doesn’t matter if
you’re working in theatre,
concert touring, or in motion
picture or TV production, the
same lighting consoles are used
in any situation.
But form factor matters. In
theatre or concert production,
the lighting console is locked
down at the front of house
where the programmer has
a prime view of the stage. When
you’re making a movie or
shooting TV, you’re much more
likely to want to move around
the set or from set-to-set or
stage-to-stage. So, why would
you want a lighting console that “Why would you
is designed to be planted like
a tree? Why not use one that you want a lighting
can carry in your backpack or
hold in your hands as you walk console that’s
around? How about one that
works on your iPad? designed to be
There are options for gaffers,
CLTs, and electricians to
planted like a tree?
programme and operate lights
using a tablet, but there’s a new
Why not use one
console app that is gaining
market share less than one year
that you can carry
after being launched, and for
good reason. It’s reasonably
in your backpack
priced, and it has a very familiar or hold in your
and comfortable programming
approach that feels similar to hands . . .”
a more conventional lighting
console. The app is the Blackout
Lighting Console, and it runs on meaning channel 1 is patched adapter, then you can hard-wire B The Blackout Lighting Console
iOS. to DMX address 1, channel 2 to right into the gateway using app runs on iOS and is available
Rather than reinvent the DMX 2, etc . . . a Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable. Or you for up to 256 universes of DMX
encoder wheel, it uses similar Of course, you need to have can go wireless by connecting
syntax and terminology to other the hardware in place and set to a wireless router that has
consoles that we know and love up in order to actually control Ethernet outputs to connect to
to work with. If you can bring up anything. In addition to the iPad a gateway. You can also connect
dimmer levels on an Avolites, and app, you need an Art-Net or via WiFi or Ethernet to a RatPac
ETC, Hog or MA console with sACN node or gateway to AKS wireless CRMX transmitter
the familiar “Channel 1 Thru 25 convert the signal to DMX, and to wirelessly connect to any
@ 100 Time 3” syntax, then you to get the signal from the iPad receiver that accepts CRMX.
can programme with Blackout. to the gateway. Depending on Alternatively, you can hook to
And you can do that right out of which version of iPad you have, CRMX receivers with a Cintenna
the box, so to speak, because if you have a USB-C to Ethernet 2 or LumenRadio Moonlite using
the app defaults to a 1:1 patch, or Thunderbolt to Ethernet Bluetooth.

28 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

The developer, Jeff Brink (no
relation to Craig Brink, the
founder and CEO of RatPac
Controls), wrote in the Blackout
user guide that he set out to
create a touch-friendly (thus the
iPad platform), simple way to
control lights on film sets. And
I think that’s an apt description.
The home screen devotes
most of the real estate to the
Channel View, which represents
each fixture as a small
rectangular icon showing the
fixture number and type, as well
as the dimmer level. So, you can
tell at a quick glance which
lights are at what level and
easily set the channel levels
using the keypad along the
bottom of the screen.
The keypad will be familiar to
many users. It looks a little like
a regular keypad with some
extra buttons like Flash, XFAD,
CCT, and TINT, all of which are
pretty self-explanatory. In the
left-hand column are tabs for
Groups, Looks, Favourites,
Effects, Macros, and Fixture
Controls, and along the bottom
are buttons to swap between
Channel View and the Patch
function. Patching is very easy -
you simply press the designated
key along the bottom of the
display and then Add Fixtures,
and that takes you to the fixture
library, which has a lot of the
most popular fixtures used in TV
and film production.
Interestingly, the developer
has devoted a lot of resources to
creating some fixture profiles
that, as far as I know, work like
no other controller. For example,
the fixture profile for the ARRI
Skypanel in Mode 30 not only
allows you to choose the colour
mode using DMX channel 2, but
it also goes deeper when you
select, for example, gel mode. It
then gives you the option to
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020
choose between Rosco and Lee
colours, and then you can pick
the category of colour (Lee 600
series, 700 series, etc) from
a drop-down menu.
I am told the developers are
working on adding thumbnails
gobos and colour swatches for
colour wheels in moving lights.
You can also create custom
profiles should you need one
that is not in the library. These
custom profiles can be synced
to the admin panel to be
reviewed and approved for all
users.
Without getting into the
details of how to record groups,
ColorSource Spot jr
favourites (palettes or presets),
effects, looks, and macros, I’ll
just say that they look like they
are quick to learn, easy to use,
and powerful enough for many
projects. Of course, you never
really know a console until
someone is breathing down the
back of your neck impatiently
Small Price
waiting for you to execute a look
or an effect, and I’m looking
forward to the day I can be in
that position with this controller.
Small Size
Small Performance
Until then, I’ll keep practicing,
at least for 30 days while I still
have the free trial version on my
third generation iPad Air. If you
think you would like this app,
you can join the Blackout
Lighting Console Facebook Read more at
page and watch the tutorials on
YouTube. etcconnect.com/ColorSourceSpotjr
The app costs $500 for
a single DMX universe and $100
per additional universe.
Alternatively, you can pay $1,000
for 256 universes of DMX.
Meanwhile, a gateway can cost
anywhere from $129 to a couple
thousand dollars depending on
the brand, model, and number
of ports. When you put it all
visual environment technologies
together, it seems to be a great etcconnect.com
value. I
P www.blackout-app.com
29
f INTERVIEW
early stagers
Conor Thornton, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
“I’d love to be part of the original creative team or crew on a big new musical -
it would be so special to be a part of something from the very beginning . . .”
Name, age, place of study & course?
Conor Thornton, 20, Mountview Academy,
Theatre Production Arts (Lighting).
What attracted you to this business?
I’ve always been interested in lighting for
theatre and live events. My memories of
going to the theatre when I was younger
are of always being more interested in
what was going on above the stage rather
than the actual performance! I would go
looking for the lighting desk after the
show and look at the crew thinking
“that’s what I want to be when I grow up”.
What do you think of the course?
I absolutely love my course at Mountview.
I’m now in my third and final year and I’ve
learned so much and met so many great
friends and industry contacts. It’s not an
easy course by any means, you have to be
committed to working long hours to get
shows up and turned around. Particularly
now more than ever with the situation of the
pandemic. We have been putting on a new
show every two weeks in our main house
theatre at our new building in Peckham.
There are no audiences, but we are filming
and streaming each show for free. This is
a perfect example of Mountview’s
commitment to give us as much in-person
training as possible, as well as giving the
public a chance to see our work online.
What work experience have you had?
I have worked on many of our shows at
Mountview in various external venues as
well as our own two theatres. I’ve been
followspot operator, board operator,
programmer, production electrician, and
most recently, assistant lighting designer.
I’ve also had the opportunity to gain work
experience in the West End on shows
including Come From Away and Waitress.
Who has been your biggest mentor/s?
I’ve built up my knowledge with the help
of many, but I’d say the people who’ve
helped me the most are Andie Dew,
Louisa Smurthwaite, Adam King and
Adam Mottley.
What’s the best career advice you’ve
received so far?
Be nice to people! In theatre we work
30 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
really long hours and often with the same
people over and over again. Who wants to
work with people who aren’t good to work
with? Nobody. It makes working so much
more enjoyable and productive if we all
respect each other.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve
learned so far?
Always ask the question. If you’re unsure
about something, don’t be scared to
double check or ask someone to explain
something again. If you try to do
something when you don’t completely
understand, it’s probably going to cause
a problem in the long run when you’re all
trying to frantically problem-solve. The
best thing about asking questions? You’ll
always learn something new.
Who would you most like to emulate?
If I ever go down the route of designing,
I’d love to become someone as
well-respected as Howell Binkley. I think
his work is absolutely beautiful. The way
he tells stories through light is such an
incredible thing. I’ve heard he was also
an amazing person to work with. What
a great legacy he’s left behind.
What would be your dream project?
I’d love to be part of the original creative
team or crew on a big new musical.
I think it would be so special to be a part
of something from the very beginning.
What’s the toughest thing about entering
this business?
For me, it’s the unsociable hours. Not
being able to attend things with family or
friends who work ‘regular’ jobs is
something I really struggled with when
I started working on shows. It’s frustrating
but you get used to it, and in the end, it
doesn’t matter because you’re doing what
you love. You can always work around it!
What’s your experience of the industry’s
attitudes towards students?
I think the industry is really open to new
people coming in, particularly those
who’ve studied intensively at drama
schools. Mountview has a great
reputation in the theatre industry and I’m
proud to be entering it after training here.
What advice would you give to anyone
following in your footsteps?
If you really have a passion for this, do it.
My mum read me a quote years ago and
it said: “Choose a job you love, and you’ll
never have to work a day in your life”. That
stuck with me. I encourage anyone
coming out of school to apply to colleges
that do a technical course, apply to
drama schools, apply for jobs at your
local theatres, work for free, get as much
experience as you can. Never let an
opportunity pass, and stay positive. It’s
not easy, but it’s so rewarding.
What do you want your job title to be in
10 years’ time?
I’d like to be chief LX on a West End or
touring theatre production. By that point,
I’d also like to have programmed a lot
and maybe even have a design credit
or two. I
STATS
MOUNTVIEW ACADEMY OF
THEATRE ARTS
Location: London
Industry courses: FDA/BA (Hons) Theatre
Production Arts courses in Lighting, Sound
and Stage Management; Postgraduate
diploma in Theatre Production Arts
Industry relevance: Strong emphasis is
placed on learning through practice. There
is continuous assessment across all the
compulsory modules. Assessment is
based on coursework covering the skills
elements of the course and marking of
practical show roles
Average number of students: “Our
vocational hands-on course has seen
graduates go on to be chief electrician at
the Royal Shakespeare Company,
freelance production electricians, and
notable lighting designers.”
P www.mountview.org.uk
 WUDQV IHUDEOHHQJLQH

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PMKLXMRK
MRRSZEXMSR
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VSFIXIGSQ
f VIEWPOINT

future tech
Spatial reality displays | James Simpson predicts the shape of tech to come . . .

“Sony has created a holographic monitor that allows you to see 3D models
and objects as if they were physically in front of you . . .”

C
Princess Leia’s hologram - that’s our North Star, our you bend them - it can maintain one screen image on one eye
Mecca; what we, technologists working with extended and the other on another. No matter how you move your head, it
reality, are looking for technology to give us. keeps a version of the image for each eye, allowing you to look
In this column over the last couple of years I have shown around the object and see it from different angles. (I should
several examples of technology that could simulate this ideal, stress for openness that Sony hasn’t revealed exactly how its
but we have never got there entirely. If you are waiting for me to technology works, but a few of us have extrapolated the science
say “well, finally it’s here,” I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. from the little we have seen and heard).
Yet, as we travel the technological road to science-fiction-made- The result is a display that one person at a time can view and
real, we keep creating solutions that 10 years earlier would have get a holographic image of an object streamed over HDMI from
seemed unimaginable to us. These incremental steps forward gaming engines like Unity or Unreal.
appear to us more as evolution than innovation, but each one is
important on the path to future technology. REVOLUTION IN DESIGN AND CONTROL
Which brings me to this month’s evolutionary innovation; The reason why I want this so-called Princess Leia tech is
spatial reality displays. Many forms of this technology have because I am so passionate about pre-visualisation in theatre
appeared in recent years, for example as novelty objects to and live events. Imagine if you could see your model box as a 3D
display 3D photos on a tradeshow stand, or, at the other end of hologram whilst you are designing it? You could manipulate it
the scale, as something you can only experience in a laboratory. in space, make realtime changes and take different viewpoints
Despite having seen a similar solution displayed at an event in order to look at it from different angles just by moving
last year, I credit this month’s technology leap to Sony, who your head. For many creatives, the screen or monitor isn’t as
has made into a product something we have all been wanting accessible as a physical model box because it doesn’t respond
to see. And I don’t need to strap my head into a machine that in pixels as it does in real life. Although this monitor doesn’t
buzzes in an alarming way to be able to experience it! solve all of their issues, it is certainly more compelling as
a way of viewing design information than a CAD plan or even
WHAT IS A SPATIAL DISPLAY? a 3D model on a conventional screen. It also has the advantage
This technology leans on lessons learned from stereoscopic of not having to be worn by the user; wearing a headset may
3D technology (3D glasses for films) and mixed-reality glasses be something I enjoy for a time, but not if I’m designing a 3D
such as Hololens and Magic Leap, only this time, we don’t object for several hours. Lighting and sound desks could be
need to wear glasses to experience it. What Sony has created revolutionised with holographic interfaces that allow you to see
is a holographic monitor that allows you to see 3D models and your lights and speakers. Their outputs would be visualised as
objects as if they were physically in front of you. Take a product a virtual 3D model which you could interact with by placing your
designer creating a car, for instance - you would see it sitting finger into the space and clicking and dragging in the empty air.
in front of you like it was a model on your desk with the ability We have also spent a long time discussing the effectiveness
to spin it, scale it up (within the extents of the screens size), of technology to display virtual theatre experiences to new
manipulate the lighting, colour - everything about it. The effect audiences. These are 3D avatars that have been motion
isn’t a trick of the eye, because you are using your eyes’ natural captured and displayed on a virtual 3D set in a game engine for
characteristics to create something spatial. If you think about viewing in a browser or a head-mounted display. With a monitor
how you see everything in real life, it is always spatial and the capable of displaying an entire production as a hologram,
screens and monitors we use are incorrectly flat because both audiences could sit back and enjoy an experience that appears
eyes see the same thing at the same time. to be performed to them as a fully-realised production.
What makes stereoscopic 3D work, as well as all XR
headwear such as VR and AR/MR glasses, is that it separates NOT SO FAST
the view of both eyes into separate streams. When you wear Before you get too excited and reach out to order one from
your 3D glasses at the cinema, each lens is polarised to show Amazon, the price is being set at $4,999. This technology isn’t
each eye separate versions of the image, which your brain ready for everyday consumers just yet, but I can see it being
stitches together in the way we have evolved to do, to recreate integrated into museum or gallery experiences quite soon
the scene with depth and solidity. Our eyes are apart from each and maybe into high-end technology such as our lighting
other in order to calculate the depth of desks. Technology that seems exclusive
something - we call it parallax - and all and unavailable at the start of its life is
stereoscopic technologies make use of this going to become more affordable and
condition of human evolution. more ‘everyday’ after a while. These early
The spatial display can transmit two James is a creative technologist and versions of it, however, give us a taste
separate video streams to your eyes designer working in the world of digital of what is coming, and I can’t wait to sit
independently by tracking your eyes. By theatre. He is a pioneer in the use of VR down with a design team and share the 3D
using an effect that splits the image - you and AR in theatre and is trying to evolve model of their production with them on
know, those bookmarks you get in museum the production design process with his a spatial reality display . . . I
gift shops that show different images when research in design visualisation. P //plasa.me/sonysrd

32 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

 Has your life been turned
upside down by illness
or an accident?

Backup The Technical Entertainment Charity If you, or someone you know is in need of help,
– provides financial support to industry technical please get in contact at www.backuptech.uk
professionals working in live events, theatre, Backup offers support and help to get you back
TV and film. on your feet.
THEATRE
Death of England:
Delroy
Rob Halliday discovers how the National Theatre
reconfigured the Olivier to host a COVID-safe solo
performance - before lockdown struck again . . .
So close, and yet . . . This, I’d imagine, was the feeling
inside the National Theatre building on 4 November. After
months of being entirely closed, they got a new show on -
only for the government to announce England’s lockdown
#2, with theatres told to close again. Death of England:
Delroy made it to press night, but since lockdown would
last for the entirety of the show’s scheduled run, every
other performance was lost.
Frustrating. Disappointing. And yet, the building still
reopened, a brand new play still made it on stage, people
got to see it - and those who made it got to learn the new
ways of working that COVID demands. Anyone who’s
achieved this has lessons to share with anyone who hasn’t
got to do it yet . . .
REOPENING AN INSTITUTION
It’s a strange thing: while many of those who work in
our industry have been at home idle, a few have been
frantically, non-stop busy. Paul Handley, the National’s
production and technical director, falls into the latter group,
flat out trying to figure out how to help his organisation
not just get shows back on, but actually to survive. “We
fought as hard as we possibly could to protect our staff,”
he explains, “but ultimately, as the furlough scheme
ended [we spoke before this scheme was extended at the
last minute] and we still hadn’t heard about what we’d
received from the Cultural Recovery Fund, we had to start
letting people go. We have lost 25% of our workforce by
salary. That’s a lot of people in this organisation; since
there’s also a sense that some members of staff who have
worked at the National for a long time took the chance
to take voluntary redundancy, it’s also a huge amount
of experience we’ve lost. But through all of that, artistic
director Rufus Norris was very committed to getting us
open. He felt we had a duty to do that - for the people who
work here, for our audiences. But money was very tight, so
we needed to do things differently.”
One physical advantage the National has is space: big
buildings, big theatres, ample foyer space for managing
audiences, plus workshops and rehearsal rooms backstage
that were always reasonably-sized but probably felt bigger
as the number of people working in them was reduced. The
National chose to re-open its biggest theatre, the Olivier,
first - but in a new configuration. “It’s has the most space,”
Handley explains, “so it’s the easiest to work out a way of
social distancing for. We decided to create an in-the-round
performance space because it lets us get more people in
while maintaining distancing in the audience. And on
a practical level, I think everyone who’s worked in-
the-round will agree, it generally means less scenery,
particularly in a world with tight budgets . . .”
To adapt the space, the National turned to key members of
its team of associate artists: Katrina Lindsay designed the
new environment, with Paule Constable and Paul Arditti
designing core lighting and sound rigs. It provides a raked
arc of seating on-stage, constructed out of Steeldeck to
reflect the curve of the Olivier’s main seating, and detailed
to emulate the auditorium’s board-marked concrete
surfaces. It is positioned so that its front edge just sits
on the rotating disc of the Olivier’s famous drum revolve;
having one of the elevators downstage allows the creation
of traps if required. In the main auditorium, drinks tables
have been built over seats to help enforce distancing
without it just feeling like there were lots of empty seats.
Overhead, a series of trusses work around the fact that the
location of the stage effectively breaks many of the Olivier’s
standard lighting positions. This environment is not just for
Delroy, but also for the upcoming series of shows including
the National’s first pantomime, which will hopefully get
to open just after lockdown ends. In a major shift for the
National, these will be presented one at a time rather
than in an overlapping rep. “We won’t be doing rep for the
foreseeable future,” Handley explains. “Those changeovers
are a big part of our crewing requirements and of our costs.
We just can’t afford it.”
To get Delroy on, the National started bringing people back
from furlough. “Everyone was really pleased to be back,”
comments the National’s lighting supervisor for the Olivier,
Jack Williams, “though it was interesting to hear the different
reactions from different people after lockdown - those who’d
been stuck in flats on their own were delighted to be back
with people, those with families were maybe pleased to get
away from the kids for a bit, though they also all talked of
appreciating the time they’d got to spend with them.”
 THEATRE

Photo: Normski Photography

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 35

THEATRE
Photo: Dominic Bilkey
The National took a slightly different
approach to COVID-management
compared to other theatres, with an
emphasis on social distancing rather
“We decided to create than mask-wearing. “A lot of the evidence
seems to be that the best way to avoid
an in-the-round contamination is to be far away from
people, and the advice on masks and
performance space face coverings is quite inconsistent,”
the National’s head of sound and video
because it lets us Dominic Bilkey explains. “We also
made a conscious decision that all of
get more people in these people wearing disposable masks
everywhere is going to be a disaster,
while maintaining environmentally.”
distancing . . .” Instead, the approach was “always
aiming to have people two metres
- Paul Handley apart, and only requiring masks if it
was necessary for people to be closer
than this,” Anna Fox, who shared the
production management duties on
Delroy with Richard Eustace, explains.
36 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
Photo: Normski Photography
“We also felt that with face coverings the
danger is you’ll drop other mechanisms
of defence - with a mask on, you’ll get
closer together and if someone drops
something, it’s likely the other person will
just pick it up and hand it back without
cleaning it”.
To encourage safe distance working, Bilkey
brought in 240 of Riedel’s DisTag proximity
alert units. “There was lots of joking about
this, particularly in a corridor, when it
vibrates, beeps and you do a little dance
backwards - but what you’ve done is exactly
what we’ve asked you to do, which is to
maintain the distance.”
There were also changes to the way
groups of staff were organised, to try to
keep people separate and to be able to
isolate people should anyone pick up
COVID. Departments were separated
from each other where possible. Within
that, “for lighting, we had cohort working,
two groups, with a shift system so one
team was in during the day, the other in
from the afternoon and then to run the
show with a handover in the middle,”
Jack Williams explains.
The stage crew ran a similar shift
system. Sound had a smaller team,
but particular care was required for
their mic technician: the show’s solo
performer - Michael Balogun - was taught
to fit his own microphone plus backup
mic, but PPE such as masks and face
shields were required to perform final
adjustments and to resolve any issues
where close contact was required. All
involved talk about a willingness to do
things properly, and safely: “If someone
did develop symptoms, we knew we’d

Photo: Paul Handley
have to have honest, look-in-the-eye
discussions about who they’d been
working closely with, mask or not,”
Handley explains. “And if it had happened,
we knew we’d all want to be sure we’d
done things properly.”
SEPARATION IN REHEARSAL
Anna Fox, PM working on the show
immediately before stepping away on
maternity leave, reiterates this: “I think it
really helped on Death of England that the
creative team were really responsive to it.
I genuinely don’t think things were ever
compromised. We’re lucky with the space
we have - it’s a one-man show, but it
rehearsed in our biggest rehearsal room.”
Sound designers Pete Malkin and
Benjamin Grant describe the new
challenges that a socially-distanced
rehearsal period brought: “The set was in
the centre; then we were all two metres
part in a big circle, each desk with a
big screen in front of it,” Malkin recalls.
“Clint, the director’s, usual approach in
rehearsals is just to come up to you and
say something in your ear as something
is happening. But we couldn’t do that -
you’d end up shouting across the room in
the middle of rehearsals.”
“It made me realise how much
communication, just little chats, there
THEATRE
Photo: Cameron Slater Photography
normally is in rehearsal,” Grant adds, with B Prep and planning for turning the
Malkin noting that “even though we were National’s Olivier into an in-the-round
in the same room, Ben and I often found space for the production
we were just texting each other on our D Facing page: The view from one of the
laptops.” sound design production desks as
audiences are welcomed back to the
Similar changes took place as the show National
moved into the theatre and into tech. “We
spent a lot of time planning out the tech
period, with the desks all further apart and
with a one way system through the rows,”
Fox notes. “We really wanted to avoid
people coming to sit behind others at “With little scenery, it
their desks - so the lighting programmers
we put in the back row, for example. Even is lighting and sound
our two set designers and two sound
designers had their own separate desks.” that do the work of
To help keep the separation, particularly transforming the
between departments, the National’s
green room and canteen were closed; space repeatedly
with the reduced staff size and many of
the office staff still working from home, and rapidly,
the National did feel a bit like a ghost ship
for anyone used to the normal bustle of delineating both the
the place.
jumps in time and in
LIGHTING
Death of England: Delroy is a sequel to
character . . .”
Death of England, which starred Rafe Spall
and ran in the National’s smallest theatre,
the Dorfman, immediately before the first
lockdown. The production re-unites the
creative team from that show: co-writer
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 37
 THEATRE
Photo: Normski Photography
Roy Williams, co-writer and director Clint
Dyer, set and costume designers Ultz
and Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey, sound
designers Pete Malkin and Benjamin Grant,
and lighting designer Jackie Shemesh.
Like many others, Shemesh seemed
delighted to be back at work after so
long an enforced down period - though
he, too, cited the joy of getting to spend
more time than usual with his family. He
also seemed unphased by the challenges
presented by mounting a one-person
show in the huge space of the Olivier,
taking the core season rig then filling in
the gaps, paying particular attention to
the angles required to isolate the show’s
single performer within the set’s rostra
walkways. He then refined and refined
his work to keep that performer in sharp,
intense focus.
With little scenery, it is lighting and
sound that do the work of transforming
the space repeatedly and rapidly,
delineating both the jumps in time and
in character. That required close co-
operation between the two departments
sharing show-control triggers, but also
38 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
with Delroy’s show caller Ben Donoghue,
who Shemesh cites for his understanding
of the show and support and precision in
calling cues that would trigger both the
interlinked sound and lighting systems.
Lighting both benefitted from and was
complicated by the ongoing upgrade
process the National was in the middle of
when coronavirus struck. “We’re lucky that
we’d bought a lot of new lights,” Williams
explains, “mostly Martin MAC Encores,
all LED, so we’re not having to spend
money on arc lamps, and the gear is in
good condition and reliable.” Unfortunately,
the Olivier was also halfway through
a big dimmer upgrade, which came to
a halt. “Frustratingly, the dimmers are in,
the outlets are in, they were about to start
pulling cable - but for now, everything is
running from Avolites temp dimmers!”
Shemesh was keen to bring in a piece
of technology used in the earlier show
to help keep the solo performer in sharp
focus at all times, the ZacTrack tracking
followspot system. This time around, the
National’s team encouraged him to use
the Robert Juliat SpotMe system that
they had invested in, which has proved
particularly useful since the lighting
trusses wipe out the Olivier’s usual front
bridge followspot positions. The system
controls four Ayrton Diablo LED spots.
Practical precautions included having
“two programmers, two ETC Eos Ti
consoles with a big perspex screen
between them in the control room,
each person only touching their own
desk and no-one else allowed in there,”
Williams explains. “Similarly with the
front followspot, the operator wipes down
and disinfects when they’ve finished,
ready for another operator. And through
all of that it’s just constantly reminding
people: distancing, hand washing - it’s
easy to forget, and it’s natural if you see
someone struggling with a moving light
that you rush over to help, but you just
can’t.”
SOUND
Delroy sees sound designers Pete
Malkin and Benjamin Grant continue
a collaboration honed over several shows,
including the first Death of England, plus
the shared language that comes from
having both worked as an associate to
sound designer Gareth Fry. Working
together, Malkin describes as being about
“letting go, trusting one another to do
something that we both like, and allowing
the other person to have a point of view
about it - we’re always happy to comment
on each other’s work and, as a lot of what
we do ends up being reactive to what’s
happening in rehearsals and is going to
have to be refined over time, we’re both
involved in that refinement.”
The pair took the base season sound
rig, refining it slightly to suit the show.
Designing sound when the audience
surrounds the show always presents
particular challenges (particularly here
with the small groups of side seats which
have perspex screens because of their
proximity to the action), and there’s
a danger that parts of the audience
might suffer in comparison to others, but
Malkin notes that he “really loved being
on stage listening to the show, because it
feels a bit more intimate, a bit more like
the first show, which was in the smaller
Dorfman theatre and was really intimate.”
The challenge then was keeping up with
a very busy show. Malkin explains: “There
would be a section where there was
a particular sound when Delroy was in the
past, another when he turned into
a different character, 30 or 40 cues within
a few pages, and Clint would turn to us
and say ‘right, are you ready to go?’. So we
ended up with a lot of busking, just trying
to keep up in the moment, presenting
a rough version knowing we’d take it and
make it more precise afterwards. We
figured out with Clint that it’s not going to
be perfect straight away, but we’ll give you

the gist of it to see if that language works,
then work on it and refine it.”
In the background, the sound department
was also learning new working practices.
“We’ve put additional measures around
the sound position, to protect the
operator,” Dominic Bilkey explains, “with
polycarb panels around them. Everyone
in the auditorium - ushers and audience -
has to wear a mask, so we’ve adopted
that for the operator too for their own
good but also because I think having
one person not wearing a covering when
everyone else is would send a strange
message.”
The other big change was about the
second operator, usually trained up
once a show has opened. “Fortunately,
we have a sidecar console in the Olivier,
so we effectively tech’d the show with
two operators, one live, the other one
mirroring,” Bilkey explains. “This has
interesting ramifications for the future,
but here it was important to not just learn
the show for cover, but also so they were
ready if one person was suddenly told
to isolate, for whatever reason. Though
we made it clear that if that happened,
we wouldn’t just be able to start tech
the next morning, we’d need time to
thoroughly clean everything.”
ADD AN AUDIENCE . . .
The COVID-related challenges don’t
end with getting the production open,
of course: in some ways, that is the
most controllable part. Things get more
complicated when an audience arrives.
At the National, that is managed by
giving people assigned 10-minute arrival
slots when they book their tickets, with
group bookings only allowed within
family groups. After arrival, groups are
led to allocated tables in the foyers where
they can collect their pre-ordered drinks
and programmes. Audience members
do have to wear masks while inside the
building. From there, they are led into
the theatre, along a slightly circuitous
route for those on-stage seats. The
National’s air handling system had
upgraded filters fitted, was set to full
fresh air/non-recirculation mode and
run for two hours before and two hours
after the theatre was occupied. Though
this only happened for a relatively small
number of performances, it did provide
a good practice run for the pantomime,
Dick Whittington, on which work is still
going ahead. That will, of course, bring
new challenges - a bigger cast, all of
the staging complications panto always
brings, plus the problem of keeping the
cast two metres apart even during the
performance. One suspects there will
be no traditional pantomime cow in this
version.
. . . AND OPEN A SHOW
The problem of not doing something for
a while is you get a bit out of practice
at doing it. Grant admits to first-night
nerves: “I’d completely forgotten how
jittery it can be, doing it for the first time
after so long.”
“We haven’t felt that for a while, people
coming in to see your work,” Malkin adds.
However, there was a definite sense of
relief that the show had at least made
THEATRE
B Above and left: Screengrabs from the
NT Live YouTube broadcast
D Opposite: Star of the show, Michael
Balogun
it to opening night. “Had we not made
it, it would have felt very weird because
that’s our usual cut-off point anyway,”
Malkin adds. “For it all to be taken away
is frustrating. To put anything on would
have been an achievement, but we made
a really cool show too. When the first
audience came in, it was a weird feeling
because you don’t get a full-house vibe,
people were a bit quiet, a bit tentative
- but when Rufus Norris came on and
welcomed people back, there was a huge
round of applause, cheers - everyone was
so excited to be back.”
With lockdown #2 landing on the
opening, the National took all it had
learned from the years it has now spent
capturing shows for its NT Live cinema
(and, during lockdown, web-streamed)
performances: at almost no notice, the
cameras were brought in on that opening
night to record the show, which was
made available for streaming for a limited
period at the end of November. During
the lockdown period without an audience,
they’ve been taking that further still,
turning the pros-arch Lyttelton Theatre
into a movie sound stage, where what
was to have been a stage production of
Romeo and Juliet is being made as a film
instead.
Delroy, they promise, will be back,
live, in the spring - something to look
forward to as, hopefully, a return to
normality. Standing outside the building
it might look, once again, like nothing is
happening inside. There is - but even if
there weren’t, just providing this beacon
of hope is a valuable service to us all. I
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 39
f VIEWPOINT

audio file
Streaming my life away | Phil Ward speaks volumes . . .

“An industry worth $30.4bn by 2024? Somebody’s doing OK out of it.

Meanwhile everyone in show business has stopped earning from the very
sector that, until 2020, generated the most direct income to them . . .”

C
So you thought streaming was new? Technically radio, One such is Nadine Shah, who has grabbed the headlines by
television and cinema are all streaming services admitting openly that she struggles to pay the rent, despite
because you consume without ownership. Way back, scoring a Record Of The Year at prestigious radio station BBC
even Muzak was considered streaming - and it was more like 6 Music. Without touring, even in the modest venues she
today’s in that it used cable as the backbone for delivery. As would inhabit, and relying solely on royalties from streams and
usual, we have technology making no distinction between sense downloads of her recordings, there is barely enough for her to
and drivel. AI? P-lease . . . make a living. In her position as a new artist with a small but
In 2020, internet media streaming is the very embodiment of loyal following, the economics of online media work against her,
the metaphor ‘double-edged sword’. At the moment, it’s and there’s a reason why . . .
a lifeline for the events industry and, especially in terms of gigs Once Windows released Media Player and Apple launched
and concerts, promises an augmented reality future by which its QuickTime Player in 1991, the track was laid for a route
audiences inside venues may be joined by potentially millions that would take content away from CD, VHS and later DVD
online. The concept is well underway: The Berlin Philharmonic players. Eventually, of course, we get Netflix, Amazon Prime
Orchestra markets its own Digital Concert Hall via YouTube; Video, Hulu and the rest, and it’s ‘bye ‘bye, Blockbusters. Along
whilst others such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York the way Napster, as noted, shook things up but there was one
stream to cinemas and other satellite locations. surprisingly altruistic motive: “the passion people had for being
The problem with YouTube is that loss-leader promotional able to find all this music, particularly a lot of the obscure stuff
streams and even entire shows can be captured by anyone which wouldn’t be something you go to a record store and
with the relevant know-how, placing them in exactly the same purchase,” as co-founder Shawn Fanning put it in 2009. Access
category as the original Naptser file-sharing bonanza. If to arcane rarities is one of YouTube’s “miracles”, as Guy Garvey
unregulated, any online traffic can be embezzled in a way that has said, but it comes at a price paid by the creatives who are
inevitably erodes revenues and abuses rights holders, and the headwaters of the entire entertainment drainage system.
even though Napter’s iconoclastic model was superseded - Even though peer-to-peer sharing has been largely monetised
after much legal wrangling - it wasn’t before a generation of and rampant ‘legal piracy’ overcome, streaming platforms
Millennials had grown up with the honest assumption that all have turned music and video into what economists call club
content was free. goods: those that are exclusive to the purchaser, but which
The damage done by that episode continues to haunt cannot prevent simultaneous consumption by others. When
online media. Lockdown has exposed several inequities in the it first happened, and Napster was in its ascendancy, the
revenue chain, even though streaming is now the pre-eminent recording industry closed ranks and drew up a defensive policy
medium for all entertainment and makes huge profits for the of stringent contracts, minimal support for new artists and an
most powerful organisations. An industry worth $30.4bn by exclusive commitment to big, safe names. It was, in truth,
2024? Somebody’s doing OK out of it. Meanwhile, everyone in a perfectly understandable response. But it took several years
show business from the artist to the rigger has stopped earning before the idea of negotiating with streaming platforms even
from the very sector that, until 2020, generated the most direct occurred to them.
income to them. However, there still has been no compensation in price
It means that the artists and the teams they support cannot fall structuring for these changes, as if the majority of sales were
back on record or video sales unless they are at or near the top of still on disc - hence the record industry’s lack of agitation
the tree. Beginning last month, the UK government’s department since winning all the court cases. They’re back in the position
for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) launched an enquiry into that they were in when vinyl ruled the day and presented an
streaming revenues, hearing from all interested parties, including enormous physical barrier to budding artists. They were the
several high-profile artists such as Elbow’s Guy Garvey and Ed gatekeepers then and they are the gatekeepers again - until the
O’Brien of Radiohead. Significantly, source dries up, that is. Going back
there has also been testimony from to the drainage system metaphor:
independent artists who garner much if it doesn’t rain enough in the
critical acclaim while unable even to After turning a simple 8-track home studio into a mountains (artists getting paid),
approach the sales figures of hugely successful Miss Factory, Phil Ward turned water levels fall (record companies
a Radiohead or a U2, relying heavily to pro audio journalism and became an editor and struggle). Then, God help us, we’ll
on paid live appearances and barely now freelance writer. He lives in Cambridgeshire get more Muzak. Maybe these
breaking even from recordings, where he also runs a small taxi firm for the lockdown loggerheads will finally
however much admired. exclusive use of family members expose the truth . . . I

40 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

b BOOK REVIEW
between the lines
Simon Duff reviews Walt Disney Concert Hall: The Backstage Story . . .
“Pilbrow and MacKay’s book is a fascinating first-hand account of an
iconic project build . . .”
C
Richard Pilbrow and Patricial MacKay,
the co-authors of the book reviewed
here, are well-suited to delve into the
rich history of the iconic Walt Disney Concert
Hall. Pilbrow was in the role of theatre consultant
on the Hall, leading the team from his company
Theatre Projects Consultants; MacKay is
a highly respected writer and producer. Their book
spans the 16-year history of the planning and
construction of the Frank Gehry-designed home
of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, from project
inception in 1987 to the venue’s opening on 23
October 2003, providing an engaging and detailed
account from a variety of viewpoints.
The book details the process of designing
a concert hall, exploring along the way
the possibilities and reality of a new era for architecture,
engineering and art. The design of the performance equipment,
stage engineering, stage lighting, sound communications and
how the infrastructure provision for more elaborate production
challenges were integrated into the building are all covered.
Featured are interviews with key members of the design
team and representatives of the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
extracts from Pilbrow’s consultant diary, and contributions from
other installers and manufacturers.
BACKGROUND
The completed Hall has been likened to a silver galleon with
full sails billowing in the wind, its abstract shapes contrasting
with the conventional high-rise towers of downtown LA. The
auditorium seats 2,265 in a vineyard style, with the orchestra
stage surrounded by staggered seating groups backed by low
walls to aid in acoustic reflection. Skylights in each corner and
a 36ft tall window at the back allow natural light to pour in.
Dominating the wall behind the orchestra is an organ
designed by organist Manuel Rosales. Built at a cost of some
$274m, after the series of musical galas that opened it, the
Hall hosted the premiere of The Matrix Revolutions. But its
main purpose has always been as a concert hall designed for
music; primarily, unamplified music. Esa-Pekka Salonen, LA
Philharmonic director in 2003, said after opening: “It’s one of the
finest halls in the world, at least the ones I have experienced, and
I have experience of most of them. It really is a masterpiece.”
A DESIGN AHEAD OF ITS TIME
As is often the case with highly ambitious new venue builds,
the road to acclaim was not easy. The Hall’s journey started in
1987 with a $50m funding gift from Lilian Disney, wife of Walt.
But the project was beset by problems, and in 1994, work was
temporarily shut down as budgets spiralled upwards.
A key question the authors ask in the book is how do the
millions of decisions that go into creating a performance arts
building get made? Almost every project is shaped by choices
arrived at in the opening months of the scheme. For the Walt
Disney Concert Hall, this period stretched on for several years,
with Theatre Projects Consultants closely involved in the
42 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.CO.UK
evolution of the design. The challenge was getting
the building’s 3D, sculptural form accurately
documented on paper (instead of, for example, in
BIM models that architects use today).
Pilbrow’s diary describes the initial briefing
meetings that took place at the start of the design
process. An entry from 19 June 1989 gives valuable
insight: “I arrive at Frank’s office after being invited
to an informal and private meeting, and am shown
into the conference room. I am a little surprised to
find 20 or 30 people present, architects, orchestra
members and acousticians. The meeting is being
recorded for posterity.” Gehry himself comes
across well, as a designer of huge ambition,
courage, deep empathy and humanity.
EXCELLENCE IN LIGHTING AND ACOUSTICS
According to the design brief, the lighting design should
work for all symphonic performances, with the stage lighting
scheme divided into 34 areas that allow division of each part
of the orchestra and choir into sections, which can be varied
in brightness. The original lighting installation included Strand
CD80 series digital dimmers with a Strand Lighting 500 Series
console used for stage lighting.
The book dedicates a chapter to the moving platform system
designed by Protech Theatrical Services. Early in the planning
phase, it was determined that a series of platform lifts was
needed and a flat floor across the complete concert platform
area, whilst changes between lift configurations could be
easily achievable using minimum labour. In conjunction with
the LA Philharmonic, significant research was undertaken by
Theatre Projects Consultants to determine the most appropriate
arrangements of lifts.
Acoustic design is detailed in another chapter. Yasuhisa
Toyota, the project’s chief acoustician, is quoted saying:
“Usually the architect shows you what the hall is going to look
like and it’s your job as the acoustician to make it sound great.
Not so for the Disney Hall. This was to be a real collaboration.”
Like most aspects of the project, the acoustics mirrored
the growing use and sophistication of computers in the world
of design. Gehry’s office rough layouts were either sent by
overnight courier or faxed. They would then be input into the
Nagata Acoustic propriety analysis software called NAES. What
finally emerged from the design process was one of the Hall’s
most distinctive features - a ceiling seemingly formed in three
convex scallops running from organ wall to followspot booth.
These are further segmented horizontally into many convex
shapes, formed of Douglas fir. In terms of audio equipment
installed in 2003, the audio console was Yamaha PM-ID for FOH
and monitors; the main LR hang a JBL Vertec VT-4888, and
wireless mics included Sennhesier 3000.
Pilbrow and MacKay’s book is a fascinating first-hand
account of an iconic project build and a must-read for anyone
thinking of going into theatre design, installation or production
at any level. I
P www.etbooks.co.uk
 plasa

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National Event
Lifting Training (NELT)
A standardised training programme for production
technicians in the event and entertainment industries
Technicians from the Royal Albert Hall, PSI, Whitelight,
PSAV/Hawthorn have already completed NELT, here is what
they say…

“The course content and quality of the

COVID-19
training was absolutely fantastic”
%QORNKCPV “What I liked about the course was
%GPVTGU learning about safe systems of work”
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H LIVE MUSIC
Singing for
Sicily
Mike Clark reports on an outdoor spectacular
starring tenor Andrea Bocelli and a large
choir and orchestra . . .
Since being discovered by the general public when he won
the Sanremo song festival in 1994, tenor Andrea Bocelli has
sold over 90 million records. His more recent opera recordings
include Manon Lescaut conducted by Plácido Domingo, and
Turandot and Aida conducted by Zubin Mehta. Bocelli has also
chalked up multiple award wins, including a Golden Globe,
seven Classical BRITs and seven World Music Awards, plus
five Grammy and six Latin Grammy nominations.
The Tuscan-born artist has also performed for the British
Royal Family, four US presidents and at Olympic Games
ceremonies. His new album Believe was released in
November and features a duet with Alison Krauss, the
most-awarded singer in Grammy history, plus a never-
before-heard track from Ennio Morricone.
44 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
Following his record-breaking Music for Hope performance
from Milan’s historic Duomo cathedral on Easter Sunday
(see LSi May-June 2020), which was watched more than 28
million times in 24 hours, making it the biggest classical
music livestream of all time, Bocelli made a similar
performance this autumn. For this, he sang on the steps
of Noto’s cathedral at an event designed to promote
Sicily’s seven UNESCO-listed sites. Completed in 1770, the
cathedral is one such site; it stands atop a monumental
stairway, with a façade combining baroque motifs and
classical elements.
Besides the famous tenor, the spectacle featured soloists,
an orchestra and choir, plus 100 extras, 16 dancers, and
special performances from soprano Maria Aleida and

American dancer Brittany O’Connor. Also awe-inspiring
were the carriers of the Cili, huge votive torches decorated
with scenes representing the life of the city’s patron saint,
Corrado. The costumes of choir members and extras -
large tunics, hand-painted shawls and headwear - were
designed for Palermo’s Massimo Theatre by Claudia
Tortora using recycled materials, whilst the show was
directed by Alberto Bartalini, who was assisted by his
daughter Ilaria Bartalini.
The Noto event stood out for its unique combination of
music and art, as Bocelli performed surrounded by several
works by Igor Mitoraj, a Polish artist best known for his
monumental fragmented sculptures of the human body
(visitors to London’s Canary Wharf may be familiar with
H LIVE MUSIC
his work Head Lulled to Sleep, depicting a large bandaged
female head on its side).
With COVID-19 still disrupting the normal rhythm of live
events, key members of the show’s production team
offered candid insights into the difficulties of staging this
type of open-air concert in a such a complex environment,
along with the solutions adopted to overcome the
difficulties involved in doing so during the pandemic . . .
GREATER SOUND SEPARATION
Local technical production was handled by a team from
Conchi Srl comprising Giovanni Chinnici, Giovanni
Photo: Stefano Marinari
Contino and Giuseppe Sabatino, whilst the audio and
lighting contractor was L’Aquila-based Agorà. The
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 45
H LIVE MUSIC

Photo: Stefano Marinari

L-Acoustics PA supplied by Agorà comprised 12 (6+6) Kara

enclosures, 21 K1-SB subs and six more Karas on front-fill duty,
powered by 12 LA12X amplifiers.

Andrea Taglia, sound engineer for Bocelli’s live and promotional

events since 2006, was at FOH, where a pair of DiGiCo SD7
Quantum consoles were deployed. From one of the desks,
orchestra sound engineer Francesco La Camera fed his mix to the
console manned by Taglia via the system’s fibre loop and with an
AES stereo digital channel as physical back-up, to which Taglia
added a choir mix, the soloists’ voices and a Pro Tools track. Avid’s
Pro Tools HD 12 system was also used to reproduce the sound of
bells chiming whilst members of the orchestra and choir came
out of the cathedral doors and walked down the steps to take their
place on stage, but the rest of the concert was all strictly live.

“The distancing of the 76 members of the orchestra and 64 choir

members had a considerable influence on our work,” explains
Taglia. “As far as the musicians were concerned, having them
further apart meant a better separation of the coverage by the
Schoeps area microphones - these were less influenced by
sound spill from other instruments, so it was less necessary to
use proximity microphones, in this case DPA 4061 for violins
#1 and #2, violas and cellos and Schertler Dyn-B P48 dynamic
contact microphones for the double basses, which we often
use precisely to achieve greater separation and enable us to
highlight solos and individual instruments better.”
Photos: Stefano Marinari

To safely distance choir members during the performance,

they were placed 1m x 2m apart, forming very deep platforms
to ensure sufficient space between individuals. This prompted
Taglia to use eight Schoeps CMC6s with MK21 subcardioid
capsules for the row closest to the microphones and eight
K-Array Capture-KMC50 for the other two rows furthest from
B Top (back, from left): Francesco the microphones. The K-Array mic is designed for voice and
La Camera, Andrea Taglia, instrument amplification and for capturing environmental sound
Gabriele Turra; front: Giovanni thanks to its 16 x 6mm electret condenser cardioid capsules
Contino, Davide Grilli, Luca placed in an approximately 50cm line array configuration.
Nobilini and Giovanni Chinnici

Above: LDs Massimo Tomasino GOING MONO

and Aldo Visentin Due to the approx. 20m distance between the left and right PA
stacks and the wide rather than deep layout of the audience
D Sound engineer Andrea Taglia seating, the audio was mono; however, since orchestras
normally play with musicians facing the conductor, creating

46 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM


Photo: Stefano Marinari
a sort of single-point sound source, a stereo PA was not
a logical choice. To strengthen the sound image towards the
centre, there were two Kara enclosures on centre front-fill duty
and two at either end of the sub array to boost the coverage at
the edge of the audience, where the main L/R system tended to
lose a little energy. Whilst Taglia used the SD7’s onboard matrix
to send a mono feed to the PA, the orchestra was mixed in
stereo, in preparation for any future release of the recording.
The show began with the orchestra of Catania’s Massimo Bellini
theatre conducted by Carlo Bernini playing the intermezzo
from Cavalleria Rusticana, and featured some of the greatest
compositions by Mascagni, Bellini and Puccini, with an emblematic
reference to faith and reflecting the artist’s close bonds with Sicily.
Bocelli opened his performance with the famous Sicilian
serenade E vui durmiti ancora and concluded the evening
with three encores, the last of which was the tenor’s aria par
excellence, Puccini’s Nessun dorma from the final act of Turandot.
The rest of the programme featured a marvellous Casta diva by
Cuban soprano Maria Aleida; Riz Ortolani’s Brother Sun Sister
Moon; Nino Rota’s Gattopardo; Handel’s Hallelujah chorus, and a
Pater Noster and Ave Maria, both composed by the tenor himself.
Discussing the outboards he uses with the artist, Taglia says:
“I use a dbx 162SL solid state compressor, to avoid valves’
excessive colouring, which I find unsuited to operatic repertoire,
where I always try to work as a ‘magnifying glass’ in order to give
audiences a concert hall experience, overcoming as much as
possible the problems associated with large open-air locations or
indoor venues not intended for hosting acoustic performances.
The compression ratio is, however, very bland, about 1.5:1 and with
a very high threshold in order to reduce peaks which, if amplified
by the PA, would be annoying and clash with the dynamics of the
orchestra. But, at the end of the day, the compression is never
more than approximately 5dB, so it’s a case of really fine tuning!”
“As far as reverb is concerned, on the voices, we start off with
the Lexicon 960L’s Large Hall programme,” continues Taglia.
“Then we tweak pre-delay and decay, but only very occasionally
change any other parameters to adapt to the acoustic space
in question - if we are indoors - in order to make the reverb as
natural as possible, avoiding it being perceived by spectators
as an ‘effect’, but enabling it to seem like a venue’s natural
reverb. For the same reason we use the same type of reverb for
any singers duetting with Bocelli. The choices are based on
the intention of enabling spectators to experience an intimate
performance as if they were in a theatre, not in a location not
normally dedicated to acoustic music.”
Taglia also mixed the feed to the stage monitors, three d&b E8
enclosures (L/C/R) for Bocelli, two E8 (L/R) for Maria Aleida,
three Meyer Sound UM1P (one for the conductor, one for the
H LIVE MUSIC
D The L-Acoustics Kara system in-situ, alongside
sculptures by Polish artist, Igor Mitoraj
E Seating choir members further apart meant better
separation of the coverage by the area microphones
keyboard player stage right, one stage left, plus two stand-
mounted L-Acoustics X12 as L/R for the choir.
The other members of the audio team at FOH were Gabriele
Turra, responsible for supervising the PA system for Bocelli,
controlling the amplifiers’ LA Network Manager software,
Meyer Sound’s Galileo Galaxy matrix and Rational Acoustics’
Smaart measurement software, Davide Grilli from Agorà (FOH
assistant) and PA assistant Luca Nobilini (also Agorà).
HEAD-TO-TOE SANITISATION
As far as COVID precautions with microphones were concerned,
the windshield was replaced on the Shure UR2/KSM9 wireless
microphone between the introductory speeches by the city’s
mayor and the president of the region, and all the on-stage
microphones were removed after the dress rehearsal and
disinfected with 90% isopropyl alcohol before being remounted
the following day for the show by the three Agorà mic techs at the
event: Felice Gosta, Alessandro Morella and Giulio Tortoli, under
the watchful eye of stage manager Domenico Scaricamazza.
Veteran production manager Fabrizio ‘Bicio’ Marchi comments:
“One of the main problems faced in Noto during move-in and
set-up was having to work in a location that was partially open
to tourists and residents. However, as well as the standard
safety measures in place for everybody, all the staff involved in
the production were ensured a safe working environment, with
compulsory face masks and body temperature checks when
entering and leaving the worksite through the two access points,
and columns with hand gel distributors strategically positioned
throughout the site. I would say that the precautions in place
increased move-in and set-up times by around 20 or 30%.”
On the night of the show, there was a high-tech sanitisation
gate at the audience entrance, which was manned by hostesses
supported by paramedic staff, who also checked body temperature.
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 47
H LIVE MUSIC
Safegate Pro, manufactured by Pescara’s
Smart Projects, is an all-in-one system with
an ultrasonic nebuliser that enables it to
automatically sanitise people and objects
without the use of aggressive chemicals,
but with a hydroalcoholic formula
(hydrogen peroxide and lactic acid).
Spectators approached the display sensor
with their forehead or hand, and body
temperature was detected and displayed on
the screen. If within the norm (up to 37.5°),
they entered the gate and, rotating through
360°, enabled the nebulisation to take
place; then, raising one foot at a time, they
pointed the soles of their shoes towards the
walls to enable a head-to-toe sanitisation.
To further lower the risk of infection,
audience seating was distanced
according to the latest regulations, and
entry and exit took place according to
the current social distancing measures.
The audience left after the show from
the opposite side of the area from the
entrance, with flow being handled by
security staff who told people when to
leave their seats, in small groups.
SENSITIVE LIGHTING
Regular LSi readers may remember
the show’s lighting designer Massimo
Tomasino for his work on the huge Radio
Capital birthday celebrations that took
place in 2016 in Rome. Tomasino liaised
on-site with Aldo Visentin, Bocelli’s
long-standing LD, who was called in by
the artist’s management to supervise the
photographic aspects of the show for the
video shoot of the event.
Tomasino did not use any truss structures or
towers to fly the fixtures, instead positioning
them either on the cathedral steps or
the buildings adjacent to the church.
“I didn’t want to detract from the location’s
48 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
marvellous setting,” he says, “so tried to
keep the fixtures as invisible as possible.”
The show’s director, Alberto Bartalini,
said he wanted the evening to have
a “crescendo with a volcanic eruption
at the end,” and the LD’s brief from the
show’s producers was to also highlight
the large statues by Mitoraj, enabling
them to become key elements of the show.
Regarding his choice of Elation Proteus
Maximus fixtures, Tomasino explains:
“I needed FOH profiles with a punch, as
they had to be installed approximately
60m from the stage. Agorà suggested the
Elation units which, after reading their
spec sheets, I tested with WYSIWYG. As
well as their power, I appreciated the
colour temperature and, in the end, used
two for Bocelli, two on the orchestra
conductor, two on the soprano, and
another six on the orchestra and choir.”
Instead of conventional followspots,
Tomasino decided to delegate two of the
rig’s 28 Vari-Lite VL10s to the task, disabling
the electronic pan and tilt, but maintaining
control of the dimmer, zoom, focus and
colour temperature from the console and
communicating with the operators via
headphone for cues and movements. The
fixtures were mounted on the terrace of the
municipality offices on the opposite side of
the square from the cathedral.
“I used 28 VL10s as spots and beam
units as they are powerful, reliable hybrid
fixtures,” he says. “There are 49 VL 4000
for low backlighting and side lighting to
colour the entire orchestra, the choir and
the rest of the stage, and 45 SGM Q7 - 20
for the cathedral, 15 as backlighting for
the orchestra and choir and 12 on the
statues.”
Photo: Stefano Marinari (courtesy of Massimo Tomasino)
Tomasino also deployed 39 Prolights
ArenaCob 4FC IP65 RGB full-colour LED
units, 10 of which were used as backlighting
under the orchestra musicians’ seats for a
silhouette effect and 29 for the upper part
of the cathedral (cupola and roof), chosen
for their tighter beam aperture compared to
other similar fixtures.
The Agorà team supporting Tomasino
comprised Alessandro Saralli, Michele
Donninelli and Nicola Visentini, with
Donninelli on console assistant duty
at the MA Lighting grandMA3 full-size
desk (used in mode two), configured
using WYSUWYG Release 45. The LD
describes the latter as “indispensable for
presenting the show’s rendering, as well
as preparing the whole plot in a virtual
environment, which I’ve done for many
years - I began using it with Release 10.”
Thanks to this pre-production work, at
the venue, Tomasino just fine-tuned some
of the side lighting to avoid disturbing
the orchestra musicians, and installed
mini-lights on the musicians’ and choir
members’ music stands.
CULTURAL LEGACY
With the truly unique Noto show, Bocelli
once again confirmed his commitment
to supporting UNESCO projects. In fact,
the artist sang at the organisation’s
2019 general conference and the
Andrea Bocelli Foundation has signed
a memorandum of understanding
to collaborate on musical education
projects as an empowerment tool
based on UNESCO’s experience in
implementing educational projects
for psychosocial support in countries
affected by disasters and conflicts, in
line with the Seoul Programme for Arts
Education. Bravo! I
f INTERVIEW
crew cuts
The Shend interrogates . . .
Jerry Hawkins, drum tech
“On the Spandau Ballet tour I had a little cocktail bar behind the drum -
it became quite popular as the tour progressed . . .”
Name, Age, Job?
Jerry Hawkins, 56, primarily a drum tech,
but I was also the stage manager for the
iTunes Festival for 10 years or so.
Recent Activity?
David Gray. I’m currently standing by for
the rescheduled dates to kick off next
year, fingers crossed . . .
Worthy Past Glories?
Gomez, Tony Hadley/Spandau Ballet,
ABC, Go West, Madness, The National,
Tricky, Elbow and about 600 or so festival
acts, large and small.
Why are you what you are?
I started off playing drums in various
bands and basically realised that I didn’t
really cut the mustard to make enough
money. So, I crossed the line and it just
went from there.
Three best things about your job?
The travel and I get paid to tinker about
with drums all day long - luxury! It’s also
satisfying being part of the big team that
creates a great show.
Three worst things about your job?
Lack of sleep. Also, gratuitous noise and,
as a stage manager, having to be nice to
grumpy/angry/disrespectful visiting crew.
Detail the equipment you use?
I don’t really use specialist equipment
as a drum tech, so my ears are probably
my most important asset. At a gig I will
always have in my pocket: drum key,
torch, earplugs/IEMs.
Most crucial invention since you started?
Mobile phones (I remember using
a pager when I started out). Also IEM
custom moulds and ear plugs; I have
tinnitus from all the years drumming, but
musicians and touring professionals are
far more aware of the dangers now and
look after their hearing a lot more.
Proudest moment?
Gomez winning the Mercury Prize in
1998. All was very exciting at the time.
Best gig while working?
Gomez’ Bring It On 20th anniversary
concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
Best gig as a punter?
Ministry, Brixton Academy 1992.
Biggest nightmare on the job?
There have been a few! Once, an
internationally renowned female singer
was the main festival act. The plan was
that after the support band, a curtain
would descend from above and hide the
scene change so she could get her set,
musicians and dancers in place, behind
the curtain, ready for the big reveal at
the start of her show. However, when it
dropped down, it was too small for the
venue and came to rest a somewhat
inadequate 6ft above the stage, not really
hiding anything at all!
Most irritating request from a member of
the public, artist or promoter?
Sometimes fans approach me when I’m
taping down set lists before the gig, and
attempt to “reserve” one, as if I’m going
look for them after the show and hand it
to them!
Artist from the past you’d most like to
have worked for?
The Clash.
What phrase sends a chill down your
spine while working?
“Are you happy with that?”
What other member of the crew would
you least like to be?
Monitor engineer - high-pressure gig!
Which other member of the crew do you
take your hat off to?
Local crew. A good local crew are
proactive and always helpful and are the
first there in the morning and the last to
leave at the end of a long, hard load-out.
Best hotel you’ve stayed at while
working?
The Cordis in Auckland, New Zealand.
Members of the audience you loathe?
Shouty ones at the end of the gig.
Artists you’d spend time with socially?
Gomez are like family really, and we have
shared many experiences together, but
most musicians and crew are in general
a very sociable bunch of guys and girls.
Best passing through customs anecdote?
Years ago, some crew mates and I,
bizarrely, found a toilet seat lying around
at an airport. We jokingly secreted it into
the TM’s suitcase, fully expecting it to
Turn someone in for questioning:
crewcuts@lsionline.com
be found when the bag was X-rayed and
imagining his embarrassed face when
it was pulled out! Even more bizarrely, it
was never discovered by customs until
several weeks later after band, crew and
toilet seat had all completed a round trip
half-way round the world!
Most bizarre sight you’ve seen at work?
A car on fire, rising up through a hole
in the stage at Alexandra Palace. I was
surprised this got past H&S, especially
since the venue had already preciously
burned down twice before . . .
Favourite artist to work for?
Gomez - I’ve been with them pretty much
since they started.
Favourite / Most hated venue?
Favourite: The Fillmore, San Francisco;
Worst: Anywhere with a filthy stage.
Open air or under a roof?
Indoors. Festivals are nice in the
sunshine or on a warm evening, but
wind, rain and people wandering about
backstage can make for a stressful gig.
Best festival?
Fuji Rock, Japan.
Best item of clothing when working?
Roadie uniform: anything black, and
Blundstone boots.
Closest you’ve come to death on tour?
We did a Christmas show in Egypt a few
years back. Dilapidated, rickety lighting
rig above the stage? Check. Nice, heavy
mains cables in the dressing room area,
joined together with a bit parcel tape over
the wire connections and a cardboard
box placed over it as a disguise? Check.
Glad to put that show behind us.
Most outrageous thing you did on tour?
Ah, nothing too outrageous. On the
Spandau Ballet tour I had a little cocktail
bar behind the drum riser with optics,
a range of beers and a cocktail menu.
It became quite popular as the tour
progressed . . .
Most sensible thing you did on tour?
I feel privileged to have made a living this
way. This pandemic has been the biggest
disaster the industry has faced. I
P Email: gel9000@gmail.com
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 49
a EVENT

BIDEN
his time

As the 46th US president was finally confirmed, the sky

above Wilmington, Delaware erupted with an impressive
firework and drone show.
Rob Halliday meets the team behind the tech . . .
50 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

“I was working at Hillary Clinton’s 2016 event at the Javits
Center which didn’t go well, as we know,” says lighting
designer Ben Green of Full Flood, describing his biggest fear
about working on an event that, potentially, might just never
have happened. “I’m not sure I had it in me to go through that
again.” And yet, for four long days, as votes were meticulously
counted across the country, he must have had a nagging fear
of history repeating itself as he sat in a hotel in Wilmington,
Delaware waiting for the result to be called; waiting to be
given the go; waiting to put on a show to declare Joe Biden
the country’s choice to be the 46th US president.
That call finally came on Saturday, 7 November. “I was sitting
in my hotel room working on some drafting when I heard
screaming through the walls from the campaign staff staying
in our hotel,” he recalls. “That was a wild energy . . .”
SHOW TIME
And then it was show time. It was a show that had been
planned relatively quickly by a team put together by Ricky
Kirshner of Kirshner Events, “the call made only about 10
days out, which made for a quick rallying of troops and
orchestrating a design,” according to Ben Green. As he
describes it, the show itself wasn’t particularly challenging in
scope: “The president and vice-president elect will walk out,
give a speech and invite the family out for a photo op.” There
are practical lighting challenges to that, of course: “How can
we key-light both of these figures outdoors with as soft a light
source as possible from 100ft away? How can we light all of
the architecture of the Westin Chase Center and adjacent
buildings to give scale and context to the show? How can it
be weatherproof?” But there are also the worries of lighting
an extraordinarily high-profile event, watched worldwide:
“What happens if we lose the key light while we’re on the
air to nine networks and around the world. . . ?” And the
complications particular to these participants at this moment
in time: “the Secret Service is exactly that, and often you
don’t know what to expect . . .”
Green worked through the challenges one at a time, figuring
out lighting positions within the podium and blue velour
covered scenic walls designed by Bruce Rodgers of Tribe, Inc
and built by PRG Scenic, overseen by project manager Alvin
DeLeon.
“We ended up having two ColorBlasts nestled in between
the ones uplighting the flags to give us some fill in the cross
shots, and luckily Biden’s white hair, Harris’ bright outfit and
a vibrant background gave for some dimension on camera,”
Green explains. “For the keylight, we had six lights on the
lectern and six lights illuminating the Jeeps along the ground
a EVENT
from the same position; if we lost one of the keylights we had
the focuses built and could sneak one of the others in. Plus,
our entire rig was on a UPS generator backup.”
“The part that did allow me to sleep at night was knowing
that I got to work with some of the best production crew
in the world to pull it off,” he adds. They include lighting
directors Andrew Lott, Sal Nicosia and Ron Martin; gaffer
Richie Beck Jr; best boys Chris Moeller and Joe Beck, with
techs Matt Geneczko and Josh Davenport from PRG, which
provided the gear (including Martin MAC Encore CLD, Color
Kinetics ColorBlast TRX, ETC Lustr 2, Chroma-Q ColorForce II,
Claypaky Sharpys, GLP JDC1 Strobes and x4-Atoms) for the
outdoor stage and a backup inside stage, and Darrin Bruce
from Light Action, which provided the fixtures (Martin MAC
Vipers, Elation’s Protron Eclypse, Vari-Lite VL4000 Beamwash
and Claypaky Mythos) lighting the building exteriors. Control
was from ETC Eos Ti consoles.
A SKY FULL OF DRONES
Victory claimed, the evening segued into a spectacular
fireworks and drone show, for which Kirshner turned to
another regular collaborator, the effects company StrictlyFX.
“Ricky approached me about three weeks before the actual
event, looking for ideas and different, new things we could
do,” explains StrictlyFX’s show designer, Adam Biscow. “We
proposed a combination of fireworks and drones, using our
fleet of Verge Aero drones.”
The drone element of the show was created using Verge’s
custom drone programming/pre-visualisation software, which
allows groups of drones to quickly be assigned to follow
shapes and colours from imported
graphics, or to be set to
dynamic movement
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER Dettman 51
Photo: Ross 2020 & StrictlyFX
a EVENT
Images courtesy of Verge Aero
patterns - the system taking care of routing the drones and
ensuring they don’t collide. A timeline allows easy synchronisation
to music - Coldplay’s A Sky Full of Stars in this case.
Nils Thorjussen of Verge, formerly one of the team behind the
Whole Hog consoles that reshaped lighting control, describes
this all as being like the “VL1 era of lighting” - and while it
feels a little more advanced than that in terms of the control
technology, it does feel very similar in terms of the way those
who know the technology have to provide the interface between
the unique possibilities the drones offer and the aspirations of
those who want to take advantage of those possibilities.
Here, the StrictlyFX and Verge teams collaborated to deliver
that, with a sequence of images including the Biden campaign
logo, the American flag, a ‘46’ circled by stars, Biden/Harris text
and more. “Because of the efficiency of the Verge design studio,
52 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
Photo: Ross Dettman & StrictlyFX
the team was able to produce highly accurate renders for the
client in a short amount of time,” Biscow notes.
Those renderings of the drones, merged into renderings of
the fireworks created by StrictlyFX using Showsim and other
software tools, were sent to the Campaign for approval - but
also to nudge the Campaign to give a push to the Secret Service
to allow the show at all. Virtual dots dancing on a screen is
one thing, a swarm of 200 real drones flying through the air is
quite another, particularly here. As soon as Biden was declared
president-elect, the airspace around him came under the
control of the secret service and was tightly restricted, as it is
around the president.
“The paperwork for this doesn’t really exist - it’s never been done
before,” explains Biscow. “It involved a lot of phone calls, a lot
of explaining about the product, numerous inspections of the
drones organised by our team. It was no small feat to pull this
together.”
“I think the keys ultimately were our ability to choose where
our system operates in the spectrum, our redundancy, and our
super-secure communications so we couldn’t be hacked, which
allowed us to meet every security request and scenario that was
posed to us,” adds Thorjussen.
Even when cleared by the Secret Service, “we still needed
the clearance to fly in this Temporary Flight Restriction zone,
and because we were close to an airport in Class D airspace
we needed an additional Certificate of Authorisation; those
are usually reserved for law enforcement and a few other
government operations. ‘Light show’ certainly didn’t fall into any
of their categories,” Biscow explains. “That said, I don’t think
I have ever met an unwilling person at the FAA. Several long
explanations and transferred phone calls later, we were able
to explain our position. A few hours of paperwork later, we had
authorisation to fly.”
LIFT OFF
Though allowed to fly, in the US drone swarms aren’t allowed
to fly over people. Fortunately, the site for the presentation
included both the Daniel S Frawley baseball stadium and then
a car park behind it which provided a suitably-distanced launch
site for both drones and fireworks - the two crammed close
 a EVENT

Photo: courtesy of PRG

B The stage is set for the COVID-safe Biden / Harris victory show
DC The drone display included a range of patriotic motifs, seen here
as previsualisations (facing page, inset) and on the night (right)

together at times just 20 yards apart. With the campaign aiming

to keep this grand finale a secret, there were no rehearsals.
And of course, there were those days of uncertainty. “It was
an amazing team effort by everyone, six days of madness just
waiting for something to happen while at the same time dealing
with COVID testing and all the other new challenges this year
has brought,” notes Biscow.
Photo: Ross Dettman & StrictlyFX

The team who lived through it alongside him were: drone lead/
design and FAA compliance liason Justin Seedle; drone crew
chief Ciro Scotto Dantuano; chief pilot Tony Samaritano; drone
engineers Chris Franzwa and Anthony Merlino; pyro crew chief/
design Chris Santore; and pyrotechnicians James Ballantyne,
Jose Santamaria and Rob Paduganao. “Our 10-person east
coast special effects team didn’t know if we were even going to
be doing the event until we got the green light from a member
of the Biden camp on Saturday night,” adds StrictlyFX’s Ted
Maccabee.
But when it did happen: what a show. Though drone shows
are no longer ‘new’, it’s likely this one will be a milestone for
the genre because it exposed what the technology can do to
a massive audience, many of whom may not have seen this
kind of show before. But the key to it was the tight integration
between drones and pyro, a cunningly constructed series of
reveals, led by StrictlyFX’s dramatic, exuberant fireworks.
If you didn’t know, the first drone cue - red, white and blue
stars dissolving out of a big percussive salvo - could have
been cleverly constructed pyrotechnics . . . except how did
they hang in the sky for just that little bit too long? The next
moment, the Biden campaign logo, made it clear this was
something else entirely, appearing from nowhere and just
floating in space.
The candidate, now the president-elect, pointed in astonished
surprise. A pause in the pyro let the message stand out clearly.
“I really wanted the logos and the different designs to stay
around, so we programmed in little breaks in the fireworks to
see that, and the brightness of the LEDs on Verge’s drones let
them cut through; it worked better that I had even imagined,”
Biscow explains. Then, more fireworks erupted behind it,
swallowing it up; was that it? And then dots drawing the outline
of America. Then ‘President Elect’. And on, and on - lights,
drones, music and pyros bringing exuberant life to what could -
with a smaller crowd, masked, distanced, some in their cars -
have been a far quieter event than the equivalent evenings after
other elections.
Joe Biden faces many challenges from now until January,
and then during his four years in office: helping the country
recover from the coronavirus; helping heal what the election
has confirmed as deep national divisions. But the joy on his
face, on the face of his vice-president, and on all those around
them suggested that at least for just that moment, just the time
the drones and the sparkles of fireworks and the glow of light
surrounded them on the stage, they could relax, and celebrate
before the serious work begins.
P //verge.aero
P www.strictlyfx.com
P www.prg.com

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 53

f VIEWPOINT
the conductor
Testing, testing . . .
Electrical safety consultant James Eade lets sparks fly . . .
“The new guidance is much more geared towards risk-assessing the
workplace and the equipment within . . .”
C
I recently hosted a webinar for PLASA on the changes
to the latest IET Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection
and Testing of Electrical Equipment (formerly also known
as ‘PAT testing’). For such a very unsexy subject, it was very well-
attended - thank you to those who logged in, it was appreciated.
As expected, there were many questions afterwards and
a common theme is around the frequency of testing, especially
given that equipment up and down the country is sadly not as
busy as it was before the COVID crisis took hold . . .
A significant change in the new Code (perhaps the most
significant, depending on your view) is a complete review of
the frequency of testing, previously listed in Table 7.1 of the 4th
Edition. This table has now disappeared in the 5th Edition and
hasn’t been replaced. This will come as a shock to many, but if
the rationale for its removal is understood, it becomes apparent
that providing examples will always be a vexed subject and it
often actually leads to people making the wrong choices.
The Code exists to aid those responsible for electrical
equipment in the workplace to not only understand their duties
in respect of maintaining it, but also to give guidance on how
to do it. Legislation requires equipment that may be subject
to deterioration, damage or other effects that could cause
danger to be maintained. Danger (in the context of electrical
Regulations) is the risk of injury. Such injury could arise not
only from electric shock, but also electrical arcing, explosions,
burning or even smoke inhalation from an electrical fire, for
example.
To varying degrees, all electrical equipment is subject to wear
and tear such as thermal damage to insulation or components
(electricity is largely dissipated as heat in most equipment),
accidental damage, or damage caused by electrical faults.
Hence, maintenance is necessary, typically carried out by
inspecting kit and, where appropriate, conducting electrical
tests to ascertain if it is suitable for continued use and not likely
to give rise to danger, as defined.
So, kit should be inspected and maybe also tested. The
next question of course is: how often? The answer is: no idea.
To explain this, let me use a tale of two theatres. The first one
is quite a new building in a modern town, owned by the local
authority. The electrical installation is 20 years old and checked
every five years. All the staff undergo electrical awareness
training when they join and have regular refreshers on health
and safety matters. Reporting of damaged equipment is very
good and rarely are there any failures during routine inspection
and testing. The second theatre is an old
Victorian building with a mix of old, legacy
electrical installations and equipment,
checked partly by the chief LX periodically, James Eade is a Chartered
and sometimes, an external electrical Engineer with a 25 year career
contractor is engaged. Staff do not have in entertainment technology and
any electrical safety training when they join, events, with electrical engineering
and the staff manual doesn’t mention much being a particular specialism.
54 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
about the subject. Equipment is tested annually by an external
contractor who manages to do the entire theatre’s stock within
two days*.
Now, if the Code of Practice stated that theatres should
inspect equipment every six months, such an interval might be
appropriate for the second venue but clearly over the top for the
first. So, is it fair to lump all theatres together in the same line in
a table? No, clearly not.
I’ve exampled two fictitious theatres, but the principle
applies for, say, two lighting companies, two production
companies, two rigging companies, two audio companies,
and so on. What works for one does not necessarily work for
the next, even if they are doing ostensibly the same job. It’s
for this reason that the table was removed as, being blunt, it
doesn’t work. Despite saying in bold type that the intervals
were guidance for initial periods and should be reviewed, many
can’t get away from trying to pigeonhole themselves, finding
the closest representation of their business and sticking to
the recommendation religiously - because “that’s what the
guidance requires”.
It’s a discussion I’ve had with many rental companies who
have equipment flying in and out the door to different jobs on
a daily basis. They say that theirs are commercial premises and
the table says to test annually so that’s what happens, despite
it being totally inappropriate in practice. The new guidance is
much more geared towards risk-assessing the workplace and
the equipment within. It considers the users, the frequency of
use of the equipment, its construction and service life, as well
as environmental factors and more.
There is also guidance for hire companies, which has been
a source of questions recently. Given the kit is not being used as
much, should hire companies maintain the same inspection/test
intervals? Well, using a risk-based model, it can be seen that the
equipment is not subject to the same risk of damage because
it’s not being used. Therefore, it is quite reasonable to extend the
period accordingly; such an approach mirrors the requirements
for maintenance in the Electricity at Work Regulations.
As to what is an appropriate interval, there is no right or
wrong answer. I’m not aware of any company that has been
prosecuted for not testing their equipment every year, but
I do know (and have been involved in) prosecutions where
companies don’t have a coherent electrical maintenance policy.
So, who is best placed to decide on a suitable interval for
inspection and testing? The duty holder can easily answer
this question - they just need to look in
a mirror. I
*In the second example, the venue clearly has
an inappropriate approach to electrical safety
management in the workplace - such a method
is not recommended! It is, however, a fair
reflection of some venues I’ve come across . . .
i TECH

classic gear
PVC tape | by Rob Halliday . . .

C
A good thing to have 33 Electrical Tape.
come out of the The tape was patented in 1946,
various lockdowns is the application revealing key
the re-awakening of SIPA, the elements that are now so familiar
Sustainability in Production to us we never really stop to
Alliance; take a look at the new consider them. Stretchable to be
website, www.sipa.global. The made 50% longer by just hand-
biggest surprise of this: just how pulling. Elasticity, so the ability to
long it took (five Zooms!) before the return to its original length after
subject of PVC tape came up . . . stretching. Thinness. A pressure-
It’s tricky: the lumps of this sensitive adhesive backing, able
non-degradable, non-reusable to let the tape be unwound from
plastic all over the stage floor after a roll without losing that backing.
a get-out are probably not a huge Conformability - the ability for the
quantity in terms of global plastic tape to make complete contact
waste, but are clearly waste nonetheless. Elsewhere in the even with irregularly shaped surfaces. Plus of course that key
world, other things - Velcro, bungees, tie-line - are used to hold property of insulation.
cables together or onto bars. But PVC tape - our ‘LX tape’ - still Interestingly, the patent also anticipated our main use:
rules for many, for good reason. Though interestingly, we often “the adhesive tape may be used to bind together a number of
don’t use it for the property it was actually created for: electrical insulated electrical conductors into a permanently compact,
insulation . . . flexible bundle or harness, by spirally winding such a bundle
PVC wasn’t the first tape used for this purpose. Its with a single overlapping strip of the tape applied under
predecessors included the likes of cloth tape impregnated with considerable tension.”
tar - messy, rot-prone, and problematic as the insulation around Originally, this new tape was available in just yellow, white
cables moved from natural material such as rubber to synthetic following a little later; but 20 years later, 3M improved it,
polymers. The traditional tapes often wouldn’t stick to them launching it in a new, UV-resistant black colour with a higher
reliably. maximum operating temperature and re-branding it Super 33.
Polyvinyl chloride - PVC - had first been produced in 1872, 3M even offers instructions, doubtless rarely read. A key one:
and attempts were made to commercialise it from the 1920s “keep fingers close together when tearing tape. The farther apart
on. World War II brought new applications; it’s now found they are, the more the tape will stretch before it tears.”
everywhere from pipes and window frames to vinyl records. Little guidance is given on recycling, though. Maybe the
But attempts to use it as a tape floundered: the plasticisers point is that your insulation should last and last? If only our
needed to make vinyl flexible tended to migrate to the surface, shows never ended. Sadly, they do; maybe it’s time for a new
degrading the adhesive. generation of smart chemists to create a new tape with all of
A team at the Minnesota Mining and the properties of PVC, plus the ability to
Manufacturing Co (later known as 3M) set biodegrade safely over time? I
out to overcome these issues. The first step, 3M’s Brief History of PVC Tape:
in 1944, was the discovery by chemist Esther Rob has been working in and P //plasa.me/tapehistory
Eastwold of an adhesive-friendly plasticiser. writing about lighting for more than PVC Tape Patent:
With her colleagues Ralph Oace and Robert 25 years, on shows around the P //plasa.me/pvcpatent
Snell she went on to create the product that world. He wonders if this makes Tape Terminology and Instructions:
would be known as 3M’s Scotch Brand No. him a classic... or just old! P //plasa.me/tapingterms

DIN
SMOOTH RGB+LIME COLOR MIXING
IP65 RATING
11-50° ZOOM RANGE
POWERFUL OUTDOOR HIGH CRI & R9 VALUES
SILENT OPERATION
ZOOM PAR DEFINABLE USER MODES

CLFLIGHTING WWW.CLF-LIGHTING.COM

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 55

w BROADCAST
Playing to the gallery
The BBC’s early television studios at Alexandra Palace in
London had an ornate bridge above proceedings where the
world’s first TV directors honed their nascent craft. It was
nicknamed the minstrel’s gallery, and the term ‘gallery’ stuck:
most studio control rooms go by this shorthand today. In the
theatre, it’s where the ‘cheap’ seats were - although there’s
nothing commonplace about a new technology rental package
developed by Clair Global called Virtual Live Audience (VLA). In
no uncertain terms, VLA seeks to transform the experience, the
economics and the footprint of live performance by combining
video and theatre in a way that would make Muffin The Mule
choke on his carrot cake.
OUT ON THE TILES
VLA has already been successfully deployed in the US, where
Clair has a dedicated division called Data Services (to “connect
live events”), and also in the UK with Britannia Row. It will now
be rolled out across all 18-plus of Clair Global’s various satellite
operations - from audio rent in Switzerland, to JPJ Audio
in Australia, via Argentina, Japan and further. Brit Row has
blooded the system on TV programmes like The Graham Norton
Show and Have I Got News For You, but it is equally adaptable to
gigs, concerts and even conferences, especially those corporate
events with a bit of razzamatazz.
At Brit Row, technical project manager Josh Lloyd has
been turning himself into a thoroughly post-COVID hybrid
of producer, director and moderator - because this is what
handling the system in anger requires. Once the bundle of
virtual machines is up and running on site, he can access it at
server level for remote control, or attend the event and build
packages to suit. “We have two hardware racks on site,” he
explains, “inputting the audio and video and outputting it to
production, and everything else is cloud-based. In terms of
management, you don’t necessarily need anyone on site; you
56 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
can join from anywhere in the world and talk to local production
via comms tied into our rack; you can remotely access the
servers to do any administration; and in terms of running the
actual show, we have our Producer Panel.”
This is the gallery of video feeds under the control of what
Clair calls the VLA Producer and consists of a range of
talking heads unique to each show on the day. A grid of
‘tiles’ is customisable to each production: onto these tiles,
accessible via a drop-down menu, you can drop the live feeds
of up to 200 audience members - scalable up to as many as
a production requires. Once selected, each individual input
can be manipulated and filtered according to your directorial
instincts.
“You can collate them aesthetically,” continues Lloyd, “or
perhaps select the best audio feeds, and then ‘ride’ the
audience responses as part of the flow of the event. A preview is
also available, and I can mute audio, video or both according to
what they’re up to in their living rooms! It helps you to manage
echo cancellation as well, of course. Finally, I can ‘solo’ any
feed and make them full screen, for any audience participation
features or perhaps with boardroom conferencing in mind. I can
also call these individuals discretely to provide cues, prompts or
any other kind of preview dialogue.”
The overall ‘performance’ of the virtual audience becomes part
of the production, with audio and video criteria applied to the
total output. Add in the Clear Seat, Kick and Ban functions, by
which one video feed can be replaced by another, and you can
see how the Producer can even become - probably for the first
time anywhere in the world - a virtual bouncer.
For the viewer, there are some controls to vary camera angles,
adjust audio and to mute themselves for privacy, as well as to

Phil Ward discovers Clair Global’s
plans to augment reality . . .
manipulate screen size. The level of access can be price-tiered,
offering more options according to how much you pay - on the
royal box rather than in the royal box, you might say - including
cams in the green room, should the virtual after-show party
appeal, or isolated shots of individual musicians and stars.
These variables also offer dedicated audio mixes, such as
a slight boost for the instrument played by the object of your
desires.
In case users have any difficulty in accessing what they’ve
bought or signed up for, various diagnostic tools have been
built into VLA to help the Producer identify IT and networking
problems and deal with remote operating systems, device
anomalies and other variables to ensure maximum efficiency
and minimum frustration.
THE CLAIR CLAP-O-METER
A ‘super user’ ticket offers feeds as soon as the system is on
the cloud, enabling the interaction during set-up - often with
comms - of production participants, management, guests and
other observers who need not, or cannot, be there in person.
This is clearly a necessity during the pandemic, but VLA is
a system conceived in a world before - and designed for a world
after - COVID-19.
“It was borne out of a few different things,” confirms Lloyd.
“People have tried Zoom concerts, and to be fair under
lockdown it has developed a lot both for domestic and
professional use. But it has limitations, not least audio,
and fundamentally we are an audio company. VLA uses
uncompressed 48kHz sound, as in uncompressed by a voice
codec, so what we give back to show production is superior -
subject to the qualities of the end user’s device. Systems
designed only for meetings can sound very squashed and
‘codec-y’ when you have 200 members of an audience . . .”
w BROADCAST
Early experiments did try feeding all 200 lines to individual
channels of the console, but this has now been streamlined
into buss-like groupings. “They do provide a proper sound bed,”
Lloyd points out, “not some narrow-bandwidth compromise.”
For streamed concerts, though, some extraordinary things can
happen. Using a Solo function, the artists can enter into video
dialogue with any individual member of the virtual audience,
taking audience participation to a whole new level.
The way that the screens are arrayed around the sound stage
is another production decision. They can be made to look like
Polaroids pegged up on a line, as used on the US version of
The Voice, or turned into a bank of Max Headroom-style stalls to
approximate the rows of seating in a theatre. More imaginative
deployment can match the flow and function of any given show,
safe in the knowledge that AV quality is assured, and adequate
control is provided over the content.
Britannia Row uses its own data centres to host the VLA
throughput, using cloud-based servers as well as local servers
on site to accept the incoming signals and render the video
output to production. The Producer Panel is stored on the cloud,
where the servers are also used for the distribution to the end
users, while the AoIP rental hardware is remarkably compact
and completely portable - “the quickest load-out I’ve done in
a long time,” says Lloyd - needing nothing more than an internet
connection with sufficient bandwidth. Naturally, Brit Row can
also supply the complete control system for a band if necessary,
but the VLA racks themselves are independently deployable.
They comprise two servers, network switches, firewalls and
backup, video input units, monitoring, audio I/O and UPS.
It’s easy to understand why TV has embraced VLA already,
while gigging remains more uncertain during lockdown. Once
the pandemic is over, and full production begins to claw back
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 57
w BROADCAST

some much-needed revenue, Clair Global foresees that VLA

will take a natural place alongside the more conventional
inventory of touring to provide new dimensions of monetising
and merchandising. For now, apart from intimate, ‘laptop-live’
appearances from home, and the occasional charity fundraiser,
streamed gigs can be difficult to justify if everything but the
FOH system has to be wheeled out to entertain an invisible
market.

VLA makes audiences visible, it’s true, but it does add to that
cost and there is a cap on capacity at the moment. “Observing
this throughout lockdown,” Lloyd says, “while we’ve been doing
everything we can to help people stream concerts, it’s often
a difficult financial model. It will be very interesting to see how
the business develops given this new technology. I can see
it being used in packed theatres, halls and arenas to provide
another revenue stream - I’ve already had interest in this from
the industry - and of course it will be useful for anyone who “I can see it being used
can’t get to a show or for those in territories that the tour
doesn’t reach. And die-hard fans might go to their hometown in packed theatres,
show and then pay to be in the virtual live audience for every
other night! Unlike some streaming, that depends on one app or halls and arenas
another, this is browser-based so anyone can access it.”
to provide another
It also has unique security features, such as digitally
watermarked tickets, to deter copying, uploading and other revenue stream, and of
forms of virtual touting and piracy that already loom over this
young dimension to the industry. course by anyone who
AUGMENTED CORDS can’t get to a show . . .”
If it seems as though Clair Global has developed the art and
science of live streaming further than any other operator in this
- Josh Lloyd
field, that - according to VP of sales Shaun Clair - is because the
company had a considerable head start.

“We didn’t start thinking about this in March,” he reveals. “In fact,
since the origins of Clair Data Services 10 years ago, it has been
moving towards the intersection of consumer and professional
technology that we have today in the live event environment. We

58 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM


built that initiative upon a few important pillars, two of which
were wide area networking and low latency media streaming - the
basis, as it turns out, for Virtual Live Audience.”
The toolset was largely in place well before the outbreak of
the pandemic, although naturally it refocused the goals and
configurations according to the new reality. And when it’s over,
the original course will continue. “There is a fundamental belief
at Clair Data Services,” Clair continues, “that mixed reality in its
many different forms will play a key part in the live experience.
Even what we’re doing now is pretty rudimentary, in our opinion,
and we believe it has far greater potential. There’s a lot of fun
stuff on the way.”
One short-term possibility is simply making reduced-capacity
events more profitable by supplementing the allowable
audience with revenue from the VLA. Clair believes that tours
that can only sell to half capacity could still go ahead, rescuing
the business model from the current confines that have more or
less shut down the whole sector. “It is our hope,” he says, “that
as people become more familiar with this technology in 2021
- even if we are all hamstrung by this reduced capacity - it will
become the tipping point that allows promoters to sell the few
thousand extra tickets needed to sustain the market.”
Further into the future, Clair has a very ‘uptown’ vision of
VLA’s possibilities. “Let’s take the example of, say, Billy Joel
at Madison Square Garden,” he says. “It is the quintessential
New York City concert and a phenomenal experience for 20,000
people. But there is a significant number of people across the
globe who would love to share that experience, and who simply
can’t be there. As we see virtual reality, augmented reality and
other interfaces become a more regular part of our daily lives,
Virtual Live Audience is a system that makes that possible.”
Clair Global is under no illusion that VLA could ever claim to
replace the real thing, and indeed its very existence reinforces
the value of Clair’s - and every other rental company’s - core
business. “The one silver lining with this terrible cloud,” Shaun
Clair states, “is that it has taught everybody that you cannot
replace the live event experience. It’s just that VLA exposes
an event to a larger number of people and provides them with
something they would never otherwise experience. I do believe
that has the ability to sustain.”
w BROADCAST
D Facing page, top: Virtual Live Audience
in use on the BBC’s Have I Got News
For You
Facing page, inset: Brit Row’s technical
project manager Josh Lloyd at work
Left: Brit Row’s VLA racks at the BBC’s
television studios
Getting the half-time gig at the Superbowl has long been
among the world’s most prestigious appearances, but things
are changing. Early forays into the bridges between virtual
reality and the music business have included the extraordinary
example of rapper Travis Scott performing inside the graphical
dream world of Epic Games’ pugnacious video game Fortnite,
attracting an estimated 12 million viewers. “Something like
30 million people are playing that game online at any given
point in the day,” Clair suggests, “and then there’s a break in
the game when an avatar of Travis Scott relays a genuinely live
performance. Let’s think about that for a moment: how many
stadiums do you have to fill to reach that many people?
“It is our belief that future tours will somehow incorporate
appearances somewhere inside the gaming community, and
other virtual communities. Alternatively, an act could roll in an
expensive production to one iconic place and play there, with
80,000 people present and a further 100,000 people in
a virtual audience. And what’s really exciting about that is the
potential to develop the system creatively and integrate the
virtual audience with the event in unlimited ways, far more
intimately than the current basic video-and-sound streaming.
The possibilities for tiered access, interactive choice and a really
personal connection are endless.”
RELIABLE DATA
The most encouraging thing for audiophiles about all of this is
that VLA is the brainchild of a sound company - not Epic Games,
Disney or any other pixelated franchise. This promotes audio
through the greasy poles of production and ensures that, in one
quarter at least, this early step into Virtual Reality for live events
is in safe hands.
“There’s a great story that illustrates people’s expectations,”
Shaun Clair reflects with a smile. “VLA is being used on The
Ellen DeGeneres Show here in the US, and the team was setting
up the audio and video interfaces. Our guy Brent Dannen
needed to get some stems from the console and asked if he
could step in and use it briefly to capture the audio that our
system required. Sure, says the broadcast engineer, so Brent
does some programming and re-patching, really getting to
grips with the console, the rack and the whole system. When
he’s ready, he steps back and says thanks, all done - and the
technical director of The Ellen DeGeneres Show says ‘Wow,
Brent, you’re pretty good at audio for a computer guy . . .”
This is exactly how clients are beginning to realise the far-
reaching consequences of Clair Global’s ability to solve
networking issues and extend the role of rental company way
beyond many assumptions. “That’s the core of VLA,” concludes
Clair. “It’s a monumental wide area networking challenge - to
facilitate low latency media streaming across the globe. That’s
not trivial, and the team we have here is the secret sauce - with
a decade-long start in how to achieve that with broadcast
quality. It’s working.” I
P //clairglobal.com
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 59
f VIEWPOINT

second fix
Last in: getting the job done on time
Roland Hemming discusses the business of installations . . .

“Audio, AV and lighting installers are always the last people to arrive on site,
yet the client always expects us to be ready on time . . .”

C
There is a familiar pattern to many installations,
especially those on construction sites. When you are
bidding for them, the client asks you to put together
a project programme, which you would diligently do using your
favourite project management software. Only when you win the
job you are given the up-to-date construction programme.
However, it soon becomes clear that despite all the planning,
the reality of the work that need to be done bears little relation to
any of the timings set out on paper. This would all be fine if we
could play the same game as the other contractors on site. The
trouble is, audio, AV and lighting installers are always the last
people to arrive, yet the client always expects us to be ready on
time, even though the project is always held up by others. This
is exacerbated by the fact that our equipment is valuable and
sensitive, so we can’t install it too early, and, on a more basic
level, we can’t nail the loudspeaker to the wall if they haven’t
built the wall yet.
What’s more, there is real pressure on us to get the work
done to the original deadline. In many cases, without the sound,
AV or lighting system, the client doesn’t have a business to run.
In the case of installing a voice alarm system, he can’t let the
public in anyway because he wouldn’t have a licence to operate.
Despite us working in the installation industry, the vast majority
of us don’t have the same attitude as builders; we all come from
or know about the production industry and have a “show must
go on” attitude. We care about our deadline and will work hard
to achieve it, sometimes at great cost to ourselves.
So, why does this always happen? Is there anything we can
do to improve the planning and timing of our work on projects?
Is there anything we can do to take the pressure of us and our
clients, and still get the job done on time?
I’m reminded of the man in rural Ireland asking a local for
directions to Dublin. “I wouldn’t start from here,” was the reply.
All too often we find ourselves with a tight deadline and we are
keen to blame the client or other contractors, when perhaps the
blame should lie closer to home.
Those of you who agreed with my opening paragraphs
describing how many projects get delayed and then
subsequently put enormous pressure on us, should ask
yourselves the simple question: if you knew it was going to be
like that before you even started, why didn’t you tell anyone or
do something about it right from the start? We are often guilty of
failing to manage expectations.
This all comes back to explaining risk to the client. All too
often, clients give all contractors a contract that passes the
risk on to them. This gives them the warm feeling that if things
go wrong, then they can blame you. However, this is often a bit
short-sighted, as the risk will always lie with them in the end
when they can’t open the doors to the public.
I can give two examples where this has been handled
differently. For the Millennium Dome, it may surprise you
to know, that, in most cases, despite the obvious deadline,
there were no penalty clauses for late delivery. When I first
discovered this, it sounded crazy, but there was a good
reasoning behind it. It was pointless on 1 January 2000 to say
that the systems weren’t ready, ‘but don’t worry, there’s loads
of people we can sue’. The issue was to get the job done by the
deadline.
The contracts were put together to encourage and
sometimes force co-operation. Where normally a contractor
might ask for exclusive access to an area, with the Dome,
they had to agree to work on top of other people. If they had
problems with supply or problems with their suppliers, they
were obliged to say at that time, not when it was too late.
Otherwise, they were in breech of contract. I’m not saying that
people don’t co-operate on building sites, but at the Dome, it
was a requirement.
A British Airports Authority study concluded that every
UK construction project over £1bn over the previous 10 years
and every international airport over the previous 15 years
had all gone over their deadline and over budget. This lead to
the imaginative approach taken by Terminal 5 at Heathrow.
Normally when you price a job, you add in an allowance of some
money for ‘unforeseens’; risk money.
In this case, the client asked bidders not to include any
allowance for risk. The client decided to keep all the risk money
to themselves. When a problem arose, as they always do, the
contractors had to find the best way to solve it by collaborating.
If it costed money, the client spent it. However, all the risk
money left over at the end of the project was shared out, so it
was in everyone’s interest to work together.
Terminal 5 completed on time and below budget. There were
small problems with the baggage system and later the roof, but
none of this was close to the huge problems with other projects
we so often hear about.
Sometimes, our kind of work is too far down the food chain to
deal with more innovative methods of contracting, but there are
times when being proactive about making people work together
and communicate properly will stop us from being left in a mess
at the end of it. I

Roland Hemming approaches 30 years of

industry experience having managed two of
Europe’s largest audio projects and helping the
industry with the latest technology and ideas.

60 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

i TECH

tools from beyond

Beyond Compare | by Rob Halliday

“Point it at two folders full of files and it’ll show you the differences between
them, neatly arranging things so that matching files line up . . .”

C
Despite the supposed organisational powers of
computers, digital life can quickly become
a dysfunctional disaster. It’s far too easy to have far
too many files - multiple versions of something, backup copies
made for safety, minor variants on the same photo, each with
a minor edit. Ironically, advances in technology sometimes
make things worse: SSD storage is faster, but often means
computers with less onboard storage and so a need to shuffle
content off to external thumb drives or hard drives, or online
storage. Keeping track of what’s where and what the difference
is between all those versions becomes harder. You really want
to be sure all those precious pictures are on that external drive
before you delete them from your laptop - but are they?
We’ve talked about backup services before: you do have
an automated backup system in place, right? They’re a safety
net, but not a tool to help you organise - and it’s the lack of
organisation that’s hard to unpick later. it’ll visually highlight the differences between them.
If you, like me, are spending some of your enforced downtime And it can do more than just spot differences, it can help you
trying to have a digital declutter, can I introduce you to a tool resolve them: it can sync the contents of two folders for you. Or
that might become your best ally in all this? One that definitely merge contents intelligently, helping you choose which versions
falls into the “I didn’t know I needed it until I found I needed it” from different folders to carry into a new folder.
category of software. It’s called Beyond Compare. Plus, like all the most powerful software tools, there are
In effect, it’s a spot-the-difference tool for files. It can spot many, many other options that you don’t have a clue what they
the difference at many levels. Point it at two folders full of files do, until you think ‘wouldn’t it be useful if I could just . . .’ - and
(even across different devices including FTP and other cloud then discover that you can. So, for example, excluding certain
sites, or zip compressed files), and it’ll show you the differences filenames, or aligning folders to compare even if they have
between them, neatly arranging things so that matching files different names, or comparing files even if they have different
line up. Those that exist in one place but not in the other are file types (so comparing .gif with .png images with same
highlighted in purple; folders where the contents are different filename, for example).
marked red. Need to dig deeper than that? It’s available for Mac, PC and even Linux.
It can make more detailed comparisons, not It’s remarkably reasonably priced: $30, with
just comparing names but also content, size some specific features only available in the
or modification dates. Deeper still? Feed it two Rob has been working in and $60 Pro edition. But the quite generous 30-day
text, Word or PDF files, and it’ll show you the writing about lighting for more free trial period gives you access to everything.
difference between the content. Two audio than 25 years, on shows around You may never have known you needed this,
files, it’ll show you the differences in file type, the world. He wonders if this but I bet it could help you with something. I
metadata and size. Most fun, two pictures and makes him a classic... or just old! P www.scootersoftware.com

6833257<285
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WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 61

i TECH

technology focus
Drafty 4.0 | By Richard Cadena

“Drafty probably has the easiest learning curve of any lighting/AV CAD
software I’ve ever used, yet it still has many of the features you would expect
in a CAD program . . .”

C
Charlie Hulme was the first person in the lighting
industry I ever met who knew how to use AutoCAD, and
in my eyes, that made him a rock star. He was lucky
enough to be in the right place at the right time in one of his
previous jobs with a lighting systems integrator where he had
access to the software and the intelligence to use it. At the time,
AutoCAD was very expensive and came with a steep learning
curve, but it was a game changer for the lighting industry when
it came out in the 1980s.
Today, it’s hard to imagine how we could ever design larger,
more complex lighting systems without the benefit of a CAD
program, and luckily, there are now many available for the live
event production industry. Drafty, from Lumax Software LLC,
is a CAD software app that is unique in its approach - it allows
you to design and document theatrical lighting systems, audio
systems, video systems and sets, and one of its best attributes B Drafty 4.0 adds a number of new features that help bring it into
is its easy learning curve. a 3D environment and speed the design process
When I last reviewed the software in 2016, it was strictly
a 2D program with no visualisation. Since then, the developers
have been busy adding many new features, including a beam
visualiser with shutter cuts, and essentially converting the
software to a 3D model with a 2D interface, which means it
maintains its ease of use.

SPEED YOUR DESIGN

Drafty 4.0 was released in October and among its many
improvements is a new Auto-Worksheeting tool. It helps to
speed your design by automatically generating a plot based
on the focus and hang positions that you select. You need only
provide basic information about the focus positions, including
the focus height, interval spacing, the desired beam diameter,
and the angle of projection, and the tool will automatically
place luminaires at the ideal hang location. You can name the
hanging positions, label the focus points, add colour and the
starting channel, and it will do the rest. The software is aware of B The new Beams Visualizer illustrates beam angles, focus angles, and
shutter cuts based on the throw, the type of fixture, and the lens, or in
the location of other lights, so they will not be placed to collide
the case of moving lights, the attributes of the fixture as taken from
with each other. All this really shortens the amount of time
the built-in database
needed to create a complete light plot.
The new Beams Visualizer illustrates beam and focus angles,
as well as shutter cuts, based on the throw, the type of fixture, element (pipe, border, legs, scenery, etc.), and it draws them in
and the lens, or in the case of moving lights, the attributes of the plot. The scheduler is dynamically linked with the drawing,
the fixture as taken from the built-in database. Each shutter can so, any changes to one are automatically updated in the other.
be manually adjusted and rotated as needed to illustrate the Move the lineset on the plot, and you’ll see the schedule change
desired coverage on the stage floor or at head height. along with it.
Other new features include the ability to import DXF files,
scale an imported PDF file to points A BETTER VIEW
in the plot, and grouping/ungrouping. The Smart Section is another feature
Although it’s not new to this version, the that is not exactly new in this version,
Lineset Scheduler is a great feature. It but is worth mentioning. It automatically
automatically builds a schedule using converts your plot from a plan view to
For Richard Cadena, the road to authoring
variables that can be customised for a section view when it is turned on in the
books and magazine articles ran through
your application. You fill in the number High End Systems and Martin, took a left scenery layer. Besides showing stage-
of linesets, the spacing in imperial turn at designer, tech, and electrician, and is right or stage-left section views, it gives
or metric units, trim, and the scenic still under construction. you a moveable marker that you can use

62 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

to see how sightlines look, so you can gauge the visibility
of staging elements from any row in the house. Like the
Lineset Scheduler, the Smart Section view is dynamically
linked so any changes are automatically updated in the
scheduler and views are updated.
Many of the features of the software are self-
explanatory, but there are a series of videos to help you
better understand. Having said that, Drafty probably
has the easiest learning curve of any lighting/AV CAD
software I’ve ever used, yet it still has many of the
features you would expect in a CAD program. You can
duplicate fixtures (enter the quantity and spacing in
inches, feet, or meters), mirror, move, align, space, etc. It
manages layers for you based on the element with which
you are working, and it can automatically number and
assign channels. The Database Manager also helps you
manage your paperwork and it is dynamically linked to
the plot. The software includes a border and a legend
that auto-populates based on your log-in information and
the objects you place in the drawing. You can also add
your logo for a more professional look.

THOUSANDS OF LIBRARY OPTIONS

When I last reviewed the software, the fixture library
was limited, but growing. Now it comes with thousands
of lighting and audio symbols from all the major
manufacturers, including lights, speakers, accessories,
rigging, and more. The Pro package includes tables,
chairs, doors, windows, and other items. The Team
Sound Libraries and SoftSymbols by Field Template are
available for an extra charge. SoftSymbols includes
fixtures from ETC, USITT, Altman, Strand, Martin,
Claypaky, and Vari-Lite, and more are soon to be added.

COST
Drafty uses a subscription model, and there are three
options. The AV version is $14.99 per month or $149.99
per year and includes speaker symbols, signal flow
tools, a rack builder, and more. The LX version is
$19.99 per month or $199.99 per year and includes
auto-numbering, boom and truss tools, lighting
symbols, and more. Both of these versions include
PDF importing and scaling, 2D tools, and 30 “plates”
or layers. The Pro version is $29.99 monthly or $299.99
annually and includes everything in the AV and LX
versions plus Smart Section, DXF import, Database
Manager, and scenic tools.
I’ve always liked the look and feel of this program, and
it definitely helps save on one of the greatest assets you
have - time. The price is affordable, the features are solid
and growing all the time, and overall, it’s a great tool for
designing lighting plots, audio systems, video systems,
and sets. I
P www.drafty-app.com

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 63

i TECH
help desk
Christmas blunders | By Wayne Howell
“I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard people say they don’t
use RDM because it makes fixtures flicker. For the last time: it’s not
the RDM - it’s the fixture . . .”
C
The end of the year is accelerating towards us and
indeed, this is your last LSi of 2020. Last December, my
column was entitled Top 10 Lighting Control Blunders.
Feedback suggests it was well received and so I thought it was
time to bring it up-to-date. Some of last year’s culprits remain
in this year’s selection, but there are also some impressive
newcomers . . .
My DALI power supply damages the DALI devices . . .
DALI uses two wires and sends the digital signal by shorting
the two wires together. The shorting and then un-shorting of
the wires allows the binary data to be transmitted, but this
only works if there is a voltage across the two DALI wires. This
voltage is nominally 16V and is supplied by a device called a
DALI bus power supply, a device which ensures that the 16V is
current limited to around 250mA.
Some users that were new to DALI have assumed that any
old 16V power supply will do. Sadly, that is not the case. When
the DALI devices try to talk, all the current that the power supply
can provide tries to flow through the DALI interface. This can
cause damage and will certainly stop the DALI working.
RDM makes DMX512 fixtures flicker . . .
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard people say that
they don’t use RDM (Remote Device Management) because it
makes the fixtures flicker. I’m tempted to type this sentence in
72pt uppercase: it is not the RDM - it’s the fixture.
DMX512 carries 513 bytes of information. The first byte is the
start code. This is a simple identifier that tells you the meaning
of the next 512 bytes. If the start code is zero, it means that the
following data is lighting levels. If the start code is any other
value, the data is something else. Many other start codes exist,
for carrying manufacturer specific information, text diagnostics
and patch information. But the most widely used is RDM, which
uses start code 204. Some badly-designed fixtures, however,
neglect to check the start code. That means that any data will be
interpreted as levels. The result is flicker.
So, does RDM make your fixture flicker? If your fixture is
subpar in terms of quality, that’s quite likely!
All LED fixtures were out-of-box failures: they came on briefly
but very brightly . . .
I suspect you are way ahead of me on this one. DC-powered LED
fixtures come in two types: constant voltage (CV) and constant
current (CC). CV types, as the name suggests, are designed to
be powered by a constant voltage power supply of a specified
voltage. For example, most LED tape is CV and is generally
Wayne Howell is the CEO of Artistic Licence, the
lighting controls company that he founded in 1988.
Wayne invented Art-Net and is actively involved in the
ESTA technical standards programme.
64 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
designed to be driven from a 12V or 24V power supply.
CC requires an external current controller to ensure that
the fixture gets the right amount of current. If a CC fixture is
connected to a standard power supply, it will attempt to draw all
available current. The result will be a brief and bright flash
of light.
I thought you needed a splitter output for every fixture . . .
I must admit that this one left me with a slight moral dilemma.
A customer had purchased a large quantity of DMX/RDM
splitters. When chatting with the customer after the successful
completion of a project, I asked about the application - it must
have been huge to need that many splitters.
Apparently not; the customer thought that you could only
connect one DMX fixture to each output. The dilemma was
whether to tell him - we liked those big splitter orders!
Each output of a DMX/RDM splitter can drive up to 32
devices with a total cable length of 300m. When mixing
equipment from different manufacturers it is wise to reduce
those numbers somewhat. I generally design projects with no
more than 25 devices per splitter output.
DALI fixtures can’t be made to come on at the same time . . .
I’ve seen numerous DALI installations that explain why so many
people think this is true: You press the ‘On’ switch and watch
the lights all switch on in sequence, with a slight delay between
each. These are badly thought-out installations - it is not DALI!
DALI is around 200 times slower than DMX512. However, it
has some clever addressing modes that allow the lights to be
controlled elegantly and in synchronism.
I wired all the fixtures I wanted grouped to different outputs of
the splitter - why isn’t this working?
When first faced with this question, I was pretty confused.
However, the industry is seeing increasing cross-over
between DMX and DALI. This can lead to engineers bringing
assumptions with them.
In simple DALI systems, broadcast is often used. This means
that all DALI fixtures on a given circuit will respond as a group.
While this negates most of the available DALI features, it has
the benefit that the fixtures do not need to be commissioned
(addressed).
A DALI engineer looking at a DMX splitter could be forgiven
for assuming the same is true. It is not. It does not matter
which output of a splitter a fixture is connected to - only the
DMX start address counts. Indeed, a quick way to group DMX
fixtures is to set each fixture for a given group to have the same
 What’s Next.
Advanced results for advanced expectations.
studio.etcconnect.com

start address. I set all the IP addresses to the correct multicast

address, but they are still not receiving sACN, which itself uses
a system called multicast addressing to distribute data for
different universes over a network. The multicast IP addresses
are a special range of ‘virtual’ addresses which range from
224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. sACN uses the sub range 239.255.
xxx.yyy - where xxx and yyy represent the sACN universe number.
So, the IP address of the first sACN universe is 239.255.0.1.
However, these addresses must never be entered into the IP
address setting of a product.

RDM needs all five wires in the DMX cable . . .

RDM is the sister protocol to DMX512 which allows bi-directional
data flow. The best-known feature offered by RDM is the ability to
remotely set the start-address of a fixture. The DMX512 connector
is the five-pin XLR. Pin one is used for signal-common and pins
two and three are used for the balanced data signal. Pins four
and five are not used.
I remain amazed at the number of people that assume pins
four and five are used for RDM. This is not true - RDM uses the
same wires as DMX512 and switches direction when return data
flow is needed.

DMX512 fixtures come on at full if there is no signal . . .

This is a misunderstanding driven by people that are familiar
with DALI and assume DMX512 is similar. A DALI fixture, by
default, comes on at full if there is no DALI signal. The value is
programmable, so DALI fixtures can actually be programmed
to come on at any level, or indeed do nothing in the event of no
control signal. DMX512, meanwhile, requires that the last level
is held during loss of signal. At power-on, most DMX512 fixtures
will not illuminate.

Meanwell confusion . . .
I notice that a number of my Top 10 potentially involve blowing
up gear; here’s another . . .
Over the last decade, Meanwell has become the go-to
supplier for DC power supplies, particularly for driving CV
LED tape. Meanwell part numbers are usually formatted:
Part-Power-OutputVoltage. So, a DR-120-48 is a DIN rail 48V,
120W power supply. A DR-240-24 is a DIN rail 24V, 240W power
supply. Some users have incorrectly assumed that the number
in the middle is the mains voltage - which is not the case. It
is not helped by the fact that RS Components, a Meanwell
reseller, makes the same mistake. The RS entry for DR-120-48
states the product is 120VAC input. In fact, the product is
a switched multi-voltage input. I

visual environment technologies

etcconnect.com

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 65

i TECHNICAL FOCUS

ON TEST
Martin by Harman
ERA 800 Performance
Mike Wood reviews Martin’s LED-powered white-light workhorse . . .

LED-based lights aren’t always small or lightweight;
they aren’t always about additive colour mixing. An
LED light could be the Martin by Harman ERA 800
Performance . . .
The ERA 800 is clearly very much a workhorse
product and, in the much wished-for
post-COVID days to come, I believe those
ABOUT THE EXPERT are the automated lighting products that
MIKE WOOD will recover first. When money is tight and
A technical, design and intellectual rental companies are
property consultant offering services struggling to survive,
to the entertainment technology then special
industry.
P mike@mikewoodconsulting.com
effects and one-tricky-pony custom lights (you know
the ones I mean) are going to be passed by in favour
of spending what little cap-ex there is on lights that
have the potential for high usage and long rentals in
as wide a range of productions as possible. What
that means as of today, I believe, is a high-powered
white LED engine spot with good colour mixing and
framing. That’s about as close to a ubiquitous
product as you can get in 2020.
I’m sure Martin didn’t design the ERA 800
Performance with a post-COVID economy in
mind, but serendipity has perhaps taken them
on the right path here.
For the first time in quite a while,
I needed help in getting a light onto my
test bench - the ERA 800 Performance
weighs 90lb (41kg). Although, I have
to admit, that’s perhaps as much to
do with me getting older and less
willing to put my back out than I was . . .

There’s no shortage of competitive

workhorse luminaires on the market, so
how did the ERA 800 Performance get on
in my testing? As always, I’ve tried to test and
measure everything I can, from power input to
light output, and report the raw data so you have
information to help you make your own
determination.

The results presented here are based on the testing

of a single ERA 800 Performance supplied to me by
Martin by Harman in the US. Although I ran my tests
with the fixture operating on a nominal 120V 60Hz
supply, the unit is rated to run on voltages from
100-240V 50/60Hz.

D The ERA 800 Performance

C 2 Colour mixing module
3 Colour mixing module rear

66 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

 ON TEST MARTIN ERA 800 PERFORMANCE

“I’m sure Martin didn’t design the

ERA 800 Performance with
a post-COVID economy in mind,
but serendipity has perhaps
taken them on the right path
LIGHT SOURCE AND COOLING
The ERA 800 Performance uses an 800W white light LED engine
here . . .”
of a familiar design. I suspect that it’s from Appotronics/YLX, but
I didn’t dismantle it to confirm. It certainly uses the familiar
layout of an array of white LEDs with a tandem fly-eye lens array
and condenser lens. Cooling is also familiar, with heat pipes
leading out to a large heatsink cooled by four thermostatically-
controlled fans drawing air from bottom to top. All this
performed well and, in fact, exhibited minimal droop.

The main optical and colour components of the ERA 800

Performance are mounted on three removable modules for
colour mixing, colour wheel and gobo, and framing.

COLOUR SYSTEMS You can see from the figures that the colour wheels allow mixing
The fixture has both CMY colour mixing and colour wheels. First very saturated colours. In addition, the CTO wheel allowed
in the optical train is the colour mixing module. This contains adjusting the colour temperature from a warm 3,318K up to the
four sets of dichroic mixing flags (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and native 6,750K when fully out of the beam. As you can see from
CTO) each comprising two dichroic filters etched with a dot the spectral distribution charts, and as is common with white
pattern. Each pair runs on its own linear rails and open and LEDs, there is not very much deep red in the source (see Figures
close across the beam like a pair of curtains. Colour mixing is 4 and 5). These optical systems using an Appotronics engine
very smooth and even, with only a small amount of colour plus dichroic colour mixing all suffer from a common problem,
fringing around the beam edges when trying to mix some tricky and the ERA 800 Performance is no exception. If a gobo is
pastels (see Figures 2 and 3). slightly defocused when a pastel colour is mixed, then the
colours separate, giving coloured rings around the gobo pattern
edges; Figure 6 shows the issue. As I said, this is not unique to
Martin - every fixture I’ve seen using the Appotronics-style LED
engine shows this same aberration.
COLOUR MIXING
Immediately after the colour mix system, but included in the
Colour Cyan Magenta Yellow Red Green Blue gobo module and visible in Figure 7, is the fixed colour wheel.
Transmission 16% 5.8% 81% 4.9% 8.2% 0.3% This contains six trapezoidal dichroic filters and an open
position. The gaps between the colours are narrow and don’t
interfere with half colours as shown in Figure 8.
Colour change speed (worst case) 0.2 sec
Colour wheel movement was smooth and accurate.

2 3

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 67

ON TEST MARTIN ERA 800 PERFORMANCE
4 5
6 7
COLOUR WHEEL
Colour Red Medium Blue
Transmission 5.1% 9.8%
COLOUR WHEEL SPEED
Colour change speed (adjacent)
Colour change speed (worst case)
Maximum wheel spin speed
Minimum wheel spin speed
FIXED GOBO SPEEDS
Gobo change speed (adjacent)
Gobo change speed (worst case)
Maximum wheel spin speed
Minimum wheel spin speed
68 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
4 3,318K spectral
distribution
5 6,750K spectral
distribution
6 Colour breakup when
defocused
7 Gobo module
8 Half colour
9 Gobo
8
Dark Green Lavender Deep Orange Deep Blue
28% 27% 32% 2.3%
0.2 sec
0.3 sec
9
0.75 sec/rev = 80rpm
263 sec/rev = 0.23rpm ANIMATION WHEEL
Apart from the fixed colour wheel already discussed, the gobo
module contains three systems. An animation wheel, and both
fixed and rotating gobo wheels.
The ERA 800 Performance has a single animation wheel that can
0.3 sec be moved in and out of the beam and then rotated or indexed. It
took approximately 0.4 sec to insert or remove the wheel. Once in
0.6 sec place it can be rotated at speeds up to 1 sec/rev (60 rpm).
0.99 sec/rev = 61rpm
GOBO WHEELS
353 sec/rev = 0.2rpm
Next in the optical train is the fixed gobo wheel. This has seven
patterns plus an open hole.
Next to this is the rotating gobo wheel which has six replaceable
glass gobos and an open slot. Figure 9 shows a gobo in its
carrier. Gobo removal and replacement while the unit is in the
rig is possible, although a little tricky - it requires very small
fingers or some delicate manoeuvring with long-nosed pliers.
Rotation and indexing were smooth with a good range of
rotation speeds. Movement was clean when changing direction

10
11
ROTATING GOBO SPEEDS
Gobo change speed (adjacent) 0.5 sec
Gobo change speed (worst case) 0.7 sec
Maximum gobo spin speed 0.4 sec/rev = 160rpm
Minimum gobo spin speed 480 sec/rev = 0.125rpm
Maximum wheel spin speed 12.3 sec/rev = 4.9rpm
Minimum wheel spin speed3 52 sec/rev = 0.2rpm
with very little hysteresis. I measured the accuracy at
0.12° of hysteresis error which equates to 0.5” at a throw
of 20ft (21mm at 10m). Both wheels use a quick-path
algorithm to minimize change times.
Figure 10 shows the progress of a gobo morph whilst
pulling focus from one wheel to the other. Typical focus
quality achievable from the two wheels was very good
with very acceptable edge to centre difference (just
visible on the far left image) and almost no colour
fringing.
FRAMING
Framing and iris are on the last removable module, as
shown in Figure 11 where you can clearly see the
framing system. The iris is buried in the centre of the
assembly. Martin has gone with a familiar design for the
framing mechanics, but it’s lengthened the arms to
allow each blade to fully cover the beam. The amount
each blade can tilt depends on how far it is inserted -
from no adjustment when on the beam edge, to
approximately +/- 25º when inserted by about 2/3. The
insert and tilt channels interact such that you have to
set the tilt angle to zero to get full beam coverage. The
ON TEST MARTIN ERA 800 PERFORMANCE
12
13
entire assembly can then be rotated
a further +/- 60º - Figure 12 shows the
mechanism with a blade at the two
extremes of tilt angle and Figure 13
shows the same movement as seen
in the output beam.
The blades took a maximum of about
0.4 sec from fully open to fully closed.
Rotation is slower, at 1.3 sec for a full
14 120º. Shutter cuts were straight with
very little pincushion or barrel
10 Gobo morph distortion. Figure 14 shows the focus quality with all four
blades inserted; in this image, I focused on the
11 Framing module
right-hand blade.
12 Blade motion
13 Frame rotation Finally for imaging effects, the ERA 800 Performance
has an iris. This reduces the aperture to 21% of its full
14 Framing focus
size which gives equivalent field angles of 1.2° at
minimum zoom and 13° at maximum zoom. I measured
the opening/closing time at around 0.6sec. Figure 15
shows the reverse of the framing and iris module. The
iris is in the centre. Also visible is the circular circuit
board containing the drivers for the framing system.
FROST AND PRISM
The final optical elements are the projection lenses and
the frost and prism systems. There are the usual three
lens groups, the first two of which move and provide
zoom and focus, while the last element is fixed as the
large output lens. The ERA 800 Performance has two
prisms and two separate frost filters, all of which can be
WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 69
ON TEST MARTIN ERA 800 PERFORMANCE

15 Iris & framing board inserted between lens groups one and two and which
16 Prisms and frosts ride back and forth with lens group one. Figure 16 shows
the prisms and frost flags with lens group two at the top
17 Frost
of the picture.

The ERA 800 Performance offers a six-facet linear prism

and a four-facet circular prism. Although they are on
separate arms, these occupy the same optical position,
so only one at a time can be inserted. Once in place,
either prism can be rotated and indexed. Prism insertion
or removal took approximately 0.75sec, once in place
they can be rotated at speeds varying from 0.67 sec/rev
(90 rpm) down to 312 sec/rev (0.19 rpm).

15 Similarly, there are two separate frost flags, each offering

variable frost up to its individual maximum frost. Insertion
or removal of either of the frost filters took 0.3 sec. The
effect provided by these filters is, as is often the case with
automated lights, not a true softening frost when only
partially inserted. Instead, they act as contrast reducers
with no effect on edge sharpness until fully inserted when
they finally soften the image. Figure 17 shows the effect as
a frost flag is inserted. It’s only in the last picture with the
frost fully in place that the image is truly softened.

LENSES AND OUTPUT

I’ve already mentioned the three lens groups that provide
zoom and focus. I measured zoom as taking 1.7 sec to
move end-to-end, while focus took 0.8 sec. Some shuffling
goes on when prisms or frost are used to prevent collisions.
16

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70 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
 ON TEST MARTIN ERA 800 PERFORMANCE

ERA 800 PERFORMANCE

TECH SPEC

FEATURES
M Dimensions (H x W x L) :
801 x 290 x 431mm
17
M Weight : 41kg
M Power : 100-240V 50/60Hz
As to output, I measured the ERA 800 I measured the colour rendering with CTO both in
M Light source : 800W 6,500K
Performance as providing a zoom range with field and out. The native 6750K beam had TM-30-18 Rf
LED
angles ranging from 5.9º to 62º. The output in as 71 and Rg as 98 (CRI 72). With full CTO the
M Output : 34,000lm
wide angle was 36,153lm ramping down to 3318K beam dropped to Rf of 55 and Rg of 84 (CRI
M Colour mixing : CMY 14,287lm in narrow. Such ramping at the narrow 51). Figures 21 and 22 show the TM-30-18 vector
M Colour wheel : 6 colour filters end is typical as the output lenses, large as they graphics where you can see that it is the lack of
plus open
may be, aren’t large enough to prevent vignetting red and the dip in the cyan/aqua that are the
M Effects : 7 static / 6 rotating at these narrow angles (Figure 18 and 19). The field primary concerns.
gobos, 2 prisms, 2 frost
is extremely flat at all angles.
filters, animation wheel
PAN AND TILT
M Colour temp control : 6500
Dimming and LED control was very smooth. Figure The pan and tilt ranges of the ERA 800
- 2700K
20 shows the default dimming curve. It’s quite Performance are 540° and 260°, respectively.
M Ta max : 40° C
a steep curve, steeper than a normal square law, A full range 540° pan move took 4.5 sec to
M Zoom : 7° - 56°
but looked good to the eye. Electronic strobe is complete, while a more typical 180° move finished
M Pan/tilt : 540° / 260° provided with speeds up to 20Hz and I also in 2.6 sec. Tilt took 2.9 sec for a full 260° move and
M Dimming : 0-100% measured the PWM rate of the LEDs at 3,600Hz. 2.2 sec for 180°. All movements were very smooth
M Power in : Neutrik powerCON with very little bounce and no visible steppiness.
TRUE1 As I mentioned earlier when discussing thermal I measured hysteresis on both pan and tilt at
M Control : DMX, 42 channels control, the ERA 800 Performance showed fairly little 0.05°, equivalent to 0.2” at 20ft (9mm at 10m).
droop as it warmed up. I measured a loss of 7% over Martin uses magnetic encoders for error
10 minutes as it heated up from room temperature. correction on both axes.

   
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WWW.LSIONLINE.COM •• SEPTEMBER
WWW.LSIONLINE.CO.UK DECEMBER 2020
2016 71
ON TEST MARTIN ERA 800 PERFORMANCE

21

18

22

NOISE
The fixture has 800W of heat to dissipate, so the cooling
fans provide a constant background noise level with
most motor functions quieter than the fan noise. As is
nearly always the case, zoom and focus were the noisiest
movement functions.

19
SOUND LEVELS

Normal Mode
Ambient <35 dBA at 1m
Stationary 50.0 dBA at 1m
Homing/Initialisation 63.5 dBA at 1m
Pan 51.0 dBA at 1m
Tilt 50.6 dBA at 1m
Colour 50.1 dBA at 1m
Gobo 50.1 dBA at 1m
Gobo rotate 50.2 dBA at 1m
Zoom 52.5 dBA at 1m
Focus 50.9 dBA at 1m
Animation wheel 50.2 dBA at 1m
20
Iris 50.1 dBA at 1m

18 Minimum Zoom Frost 50.0 dBA at 1m

19 Maximum Zoom Prism 50.4 dBA at 1m
20 Dimming Curve

HOMING/INITIALISATION TIME
Full initialisation took 61 sec from a cold start and 57 sec
from a DMX512 reset command. Homing is well-behaved

72 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM

 ON TEST MARTIN ERA 800 PERFORMANCE

21 TM-30-18 at 6750K
22 TM-30-18 at 3318K
23 Head assembly
24 Yoke arms
25 Menu

23 24

from a DMX512 reset in that the fixture fades out smoothly, resets
and keeps its shutter closed before fading up again after all reset
movement is finished.

CONSTRUCTION
As is usual from Martin, the ERA 800 performance has a neat modular
construction. One change I noticed is that all three modules are held in
by single retaining bars (you can see these labelled ‘Service Here’ in
Figure 23). This means you have to be careful when removing a single
module as, perhaps without realising it, you have also released the
other two and they could fall out. (No, I didn’t do this, I noticed . . .). My
guess as to the reason for this change is that a single small punched
retaining bar is likely more accurate than holes drilled and tapped into
a larger chassis and serves to hold the modules in very accurate
alignment.
Figure 24 shows the two yoke arms. One with the power and data
cabling, motor drivers, and pan motor, the other with the tilt
mechanism.
POWER AND CONTROL
In my tests the ERA 800 Performance consumed 10.1A, 1156W,
1169VA with a power factor of 0.98 when running at 120V at full
output. The quiescent load with the LEDs off was 0.89A, 101W,
110VA with a power factor of 0.92.
25
The unit has a screen and menu system providing access to
a comprehensive array of set-up and service functions (see Figure
25). This includes full RDM functionality which I tested.
Finally, the connector panel contains Neutrik powerCON TRUE1
input and output for power along with standard five-pin DMX512
connections as well as a USB socket (next to the display) for
diagnostic and service access.
That just about covers it for the Martin by Harman ERA 800
Performance. This is a straightforward unit - good light output and
a standard set of features. Does your rig have a space that it could
fill? I’ve tried to give you the raw facts and figures to help you make
a decision, but ultimately, as always, it’s you who gets to decide. I
P www.martin.com

B ADVERTISERS INDEX

Ayrton 3 Harlequin 41 Martin by Harman OBC

Backstage Academy 6 Harman International IFC/OBC PLASA 43

Backup 33 Highlite 19 Robe 31
ChainMaster 5 IPS 70 ROE Visual 71
CLF Lighting 55 JBL Professional by Harman IFC Staging Concepts 70

d&b audiotechnik 9 Link Srl 63 Strictly FX 25

Drafty 43 Look Solutions 13 Vari-Lite & Strand 15
ETC 29/65 Lumax Software LLC 43 We Make Events 61/IBC

WWW.LSIONLINE.COM • DECEMBER 2020 73

f INTERVIEW
in profile
Phil Ward talks to sound designer Sebastian Frost . . .
“I find myself trying to make commercial and experiential events more
theatrical while bringing more modern show control into theatre . . .”
C
If pro audio is a global village,
theatre sound is a local
community. There are rivalries,
of course, but mostly there is a support
network that works towards the common
good, sharing ideas and experiences that
shape a better service. And if on occasion
a pillar of that community - say, Sebastian
Frost - takes leave and crosses the county
line into commercial and corporate
sound, he returns with yet more to offer
from his travels.
With theatres dark, the extra-curricular
is particularly useful. While some of us
were watching Dante’s webinar on the
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
(GSMD)’s new networks of distributed live
sound, Frost was glued to Chase
Distillery’s forum on vodka and gin, plus
another one on how to make a great
sourdough starter. Well, he already knows
GSMD quite well, having been a student
there before landing formative crew stints
on tour with both The Woman In Black and
Pickwick. We can be sure he’ll catch up
with the Audinate archive soon.
These were both Orbital Sound
outings, and the beginning of Frost’s long
and fruitful association with Chris
Headlam. Musical theatre came naturally
to a young musician schooled in the
brass section to County level while being
entranced by the coming of the Andrew
Lloyd Webber era and finding an affinity
with acoustic sound on stage. An
awareness of the symbiotic link between
theatre and commercial sound came
early, too, not least through the influence
of mentor John Del’ Nero with whom
Frost worked on VE Day anniversary
celebrations, the Royal Tournament and
the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
But it was Del’ Nero’s role at
experience design company Imagination
that showed Frost another path. “Through
John, I began doing sound designs at
automobile shows for all the leading car
brands,” Frost recounts, “plus many other
corporate events, alongside theatre.
Working with composers to bring music
74 DECEMBER 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
to life for these occasions is a very
different discipline - but each has
something to learn from the other. It’s
about touching the whole of the audience
with the music and the sound.”
As creative director at Orbital for some
eight years, Frost was in a team of
consistently early adopters of digital
innovation. In many ways, it’s the
commercial world that has shown the
fleetest ways forward. “We’re on the cusp of
breaking away from all the old analogue
modelling,” Frost believes, “and
commercial audio is always hungry for new
techniques. Personally, I can feel hemmed
in by the four walls of a theatre and I’m
drawn to those experiences where
audiences aren’t limited by seating blocks.
It’s a challenge, because visitors are
moving around, but we’re beyond stereo, or
stems, and we’re now working with
hundreds of individual multitrack sources.”
Frost’s penchant for themed,
visitor-experience projects only deepened
after sound-designing Secret Cinema’s
typically engrossing montage of Star
Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, for which
Frost procured genuine soundtrack
elements from Skywalker Sound. “That’s
the kind of extensive playback system we
need,” he says, “to balance audio delivery
to everyone in a dispersed way. Even
without any object-based audio, you
manage a vast network of speakers and
subs - blowing plenty of them with the
enveloping sound of an X-wing
starfighter, by the way - to make sure
every experience is amazing even if the
precise diffusion varies.”
For this, Frost deployed four large
QLab machines, each running 64 outputs
and playing up to 200 stereo files at any
one point. Here, cinema and live sound
cross-pollinate and, whatever your
definition of immersive, this sector is
already way beyond loops and spot
effects and is delivering ever-evolving,
highly interactive programmes.
Even more symbiosis exists between
‘experience’ sound and theatre sound, as
Frost explains. “I find myself trying to
make commercial and experiential events
more theatrical while bringing more
modern show control into theatre!
However good your DSM is, it’s more
reliable via timecode or OSC.”
Although versed in L-ISA, Soundscape
and Astro Spatial Audio, Frost has a very
broad interpretation of immersive audio.
He also makes a clear distinction
between the open-source solutions
popular for playback applications and the
bespoke, hopefully tracked packages
needed for live performance - “especially
TiMax,” he points out, “which has
effectively been ahead of the game all
along, and still is if you have the
resources to use it. I’m looking at it now
with a fresh appraisal, and, in truth, there
are several projects for which it is the
only tool I can use for the job.”
As lockdown grinds on, Frost has
hopeful eyes on projects with both Welsh
National Opera and Opera North next
spring, with a giant tartan question mark
still hanging over next August’s
Edinburgh Tattoo. New horizons beckon
with immersive content pioneer
Sonosphere, whilst work continues on
a database of acoustic modelling derived
from key venues and aimed at
applications like d&b audiotechnik’s
ArrayCalc. “I’m not saying to colleagues,
‘I can design your show’, but it
streamlines a complex process and,
I sincerely believe, if sound is better in
every venue, that’s only going to make
the world a better place.
“I’m not charging for it, because this
industry’s been very good to me and,
well, I do have some time on my hands!
I’m doing some Care in the Community
around my neighbourhood, while
preparing for next year’s paid projects.
Overall, it would be good to be a little
more ‘together’ in what we’re doing.”
There’s that word ‘community’ again.
Cue Harry Secombe: “If I ruled the
wooorld . . .” I
P www.sebastianfrost.net
 Live events have stopped in their
Don’t let tracks. The entire festival season
was wiped out, the West End
went dark, and venues of all
events sizes closed their doors.

Without urgent support from

go dark! government the entire event
supply chain could collapse.

Join the collective effort to

amplify the industry’s voice and
help us get the support we need.

#WeMakeEvents

WWW.WEMAKEEVENTS.COM
SUPPORTING THE INDUSTRY
FROM 1987

SUPPORTING THE INDUSTRY

THROUGH 2020

SUPPORTING THE INDUSTRY

IN 2021 AND BEYOND

#Mar tinEME A

www.martin.com