meleksoul: 2015

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

Avolites consoles and Fader Wing are a Titan solution for Gary Numan

UK - Gary Numan recently returned to London for an emphatic show at London's Royal Festival Hall, with lighting designer Luke Edwards running lights from a Tiger Touch II and Wing, and using a Quartz networked in Multiuser for backup.

New Wave legend Numan, formerly of Tubeway Army, played in front of a crowded hall of loyal devotees, with Edwards contributing to the electric atmosphere with an industrial themed lighting show that perfectly matched Numan's catalogue of hits. The show used a Robe lighting rig, supplied by TSL, which included five of their new BMFL fixtures, as well as twelve Pointes and eight 600 LED washes.

For this show, Edwards decided to extend the control surface of his Tiger Touch II with Multiuser, utilising a Tiger Touch Fader Wing and Quartz for the first time. "I was really impressed by something so small offering so much as it runs the complete Titan software," he says of the Quartz.

USA - Avolites Ltd. will appear on the popular US TV series "World's Greatest!..." next week after having been recently selected and filmed to appear on the show by its creators, How2Media.

Avolites, which works with New York-based Group One as its exclusive US distribution partner for lighting, was chosen for she show thanks to its innovative Titan and Ai range of lighting and video control products, enabling their users to create stunning displays in a range of applications, such as concerts & touring, theatre, temporary & permanent installations, nightclubs, and houses of worship. With Avolites, lighting and video professionals can be assured that they have the latest and greatest technology, along with unmatched support.

UK - Boston-based lighting designer Jeff Maker has utilised Avolites' Sapphire Touch consoles to control 'epic' looks, both pre-programmed and on the fly, for All Time Low's recent UK arena tour.

Co-headlining with You Me At Six, the American pop punks played such major venues as the Manchester Phones 4u Arena, and London's O2 and Wembley Arena.

Maker specified a powerful rig which included Clay Paky Mythos, Showline SL NITRO 510C and Robe BMFL fixtures, all controlled by an Avolites Sapphire Touch, alongside a second Sapphire Touch as backup. A high performance console, it has more submasters, more flash and executor buttons and the power to control larger, more challenging shows.

USA - Market America touched down in Miami's American Airlines Arena for their World Conference, with Quince Imaging specifying Avolites' Ai media server for the event's video needs.

For this show Eric Gazzillo, Display Designer for Quince Imaging, used two Ai Miami software licences, running version 8 on custom built hardware. As Gazzillo recalls: "I've had my eye on Avolites for some time, and having done this particular event several times in the past, I knew it would be a perfect fit right away.

Avolites provides the punch for Fightstar's 10th anniversary tour

UK: Post hardcore band Fightstar celebrated their 10th anniversary with a series of grand performances around the UK, with LD Will Dart designing and operated an epic light show to match using an Avolites Tiger Touch Pro.

Clay Paky will put on a multimedia show at Prolight+Sound 2015 with the most successful lights of the year: the MYTHOS, the SUPERSHARPY, the STORMY and the B-EYE. It will also present the latest addition to the 'light superhero range' THE PROJECTORS:

SCENIUS is the new moving head spotlight at the top of the Clay Paky range. Its advanced optical unit and the new 1400W OSRAM discharge lamp provide a much higher light output than with previous generation 1500W lamps.

A travel into mythology

Kullervo staged a the Finnish National Opera with grandMA2
Kullervo, Op. 7, is a suite of symphonic movements by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Although often referred to as a "choral symphony," the work avoids traditional symphonic structure, and its five movements constitute a set of related but independent tone poems.

Based on the character of Kullervo in the epic poem Kalevala and using texts from that poem, the work premiered to critical acclaim on 28 April 1892. Now lighting, screen and set designer Miki Kunttu has given the work, currently being performed at the Finnish National Opera, Helsinki, a completely new look.

Kunttu explained, why the grandMA2 was his favourite choice for the project: “grandMA2 and MA 3D were the perfect tools for the production

Clay Paky illuminates Milan's Piccolo Teatro

The lighting designer and lighting department manager Claudio De Pace explained how he made his choice: "I had recently used Clay Paky 700s in some shows staged outside our theatre, especially in conjunction with the Milan Furniture Fair for a production at the Teatro dell’Arte. I was very satisfied with their reliability and luminous efficiency.When it came to equipping the Teatro Piccolo with a new set of lights, I decided to do several tests on site with other brands, but in the end I opted for Alpha Profile 800s. First, Clay Paky is an Italian company known worldwide for the excellence of its products. Second, I chose them for their reliability and small size. What they can do in such a compact case is truly remarkable."

lighting effects and ice: Clay Paky and MA Lighting at the Wiener Eistraum

AUSTRIA - Vienna has hosted the Wiener Eistraum (Vienna Ice Dream) every year since 1996. This huge mobile ice rink measures over 75,300 square feet. It is assembled in Rathausplatz, the square in front of the town hall, and is one of the largest public attractions in the city. Nearly 250 miles of pipes are laid and connected to three chillers to chill the rink. Along side the always long awaited skating and curling rinks, the "Traumpfad" (path of dreams) made its debut in 2005. This 2460-foot-long path leads visitors through the southern part of the city park.

Michael Gill and built by Gearhouse SDS

Featuring this amount of talent meant that the set and production had to be on point. Designed by Michael Gill and built by Gearhouse SDS, the set was the perfect balance of light and metal finishes. The lighting was conceptualised and programmed by Mauritz Jacobs of Dream Sets. Jacobs thoroughly enjoyed the task. His basic objective was to light for a live show that had five LED walls to compete with, and also light for the DVD recording.

The show used 1 x grandMA2 full-size, 1 x grandMA2 light and 1 x MA VPU plus MK2 (Video Processing Unit) for control while in the rig 24 x Clay Paky Sharpy, 24 x Alpha Spot HPE 1500, 12 x Clay Paky A.leda B-Eye K10 and 12 x Clay Paky A.leda B-Eye K20 as well as multiple Robe fixtures could be found.

Tuesday, 14 April 2015

HARMAN Martin Professional’s “Top-Notch Customer Support” and Lighting Products Make Harvest America Event an Incredible Success

DALLAS, Texas – Among the many forms of technology Harvest’s Pastor Greg Laurie uses to bring his Harvest America events to millions of people across the U.S. is high-quality lighting provided by HARMAN’s Martin Professional. In fact, during last year’s event, the ability to quickly synchronize across hundreds of Martin lighting fixtures was key to the staff’s ability to work within an unusually aggressive load-in schedule.

AARHUS, Denmark — HARMAN’s Martin Professional today announced the kickoff of their annual Young Lighting Designer Contest that offers aspiring LDs from around the world a chance to have their work internationally recognized. The winner will be awarded an all-inclusive trip to the Prolight+Sound 2015 show in Frankfurt, Germany, the Martin M-Touch™ controller and an M-PC kit. The runner up also receives an M-Touch controller and third place wins an M-PC kit.

FRANKFURT, Germany — HARMAN’s Martin Professional will be exhibiting in Hall 9, stand A93 at Prolight+Sound 2015, taking place April 15-18 at Messe, Frankfurt. On display and available for in-person demonstrations will be a comprehensive offering of classic Martin lighting fixtures like the MAC Quantum Profile™ as well as new ones like the Martin M-Touch™ controller and VDO Fenix™ creative lighting solutions. Several new additions to the RUSH line and the winner of Martin’s annual Young Lighting Designer contest and will also be announced on the stand.

Products rely on passionate people
A true companion is someone who brings out the best in people – someone who inspires a sense of companionship. Martin products rely on their owner’s passion, creativity and skills in order to shine. In return they offer advanced technology to make ideas come alive. This is true companionship.

HARMAN Martin Professional’s Compact and Efficient M2GO Console is a Tremendously Versatile Tour Companion

NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia – In November 2014, Alexey Zhivanov, Lighting Designer for Russian stage rental and install firm Grand Show, was tasked with supporting two distinct events: a rock concert at a nightclub and a ballet staged in a traditional opera house. To accommodate the needs of each production, he brought along the versatile HARMAN Martin Professional M2GO lighting controller.

Maximilians, the Siberian restaurant and venue where Russian rock band Chizh & Co performed, is equipped with a small array of fixtures including projectors, LED Wash Zoom fixtures, LED spots, strobes and smoke machines. Zhivanov didn’t need any additional touchscreen monitors or gear to control the lighting fixtures. He simply connected the M2GO to his laptop.

BONN, Germany — The long-running cult musical The Rocky Horror Show is back on stage for a 6-month tour of Germany and features an array of HARMAN Martin Professional lighting fixtures to underscore the production’s more distinctive elements.

Since its first performance at the Royal Court Theatre in London 40 years ago, more than 20 million people have seen Richard O’Brien’s bizarre story about a newly engaged couple, the mad transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his artificial creature, Rocky Horror.

For the German tour, lighting designer David Howe specified a rig mostly comprised of fixtures from Martin Professional, including MAC Viper Washes, MAC Viper Performances, MAC Auras, MAC 700 Profiles and Stagebars.

US Lighting Companies Declare Avolites' New Quartz A Real Gem

FARMINGDALE, New York - March 2015 -- Group One Ltd., the US distributor for Avolites, is pleased to announce that the manufacturer's ultra-compact new Quartz lighting console is fast being adopted by numerous lighting services companies.

In the short time since its official launch, the desk has already been purchased by: Blue Haze Entertainment (Huntington Beach, CA), CB Designs, Dillon Production Services (Norcross, GA), Off the Wall Audiovisual (Miami, FL), Palmetto Sound Works (Spartanburg, SC), Paragon Productions (Rock Hill, SC), Pulse Lighting (Raleigh, NC), RZI Productions (New Orleans, LA), S&L Integrated Systems (Cairo, GA) and Las Vegas' hottest new nightclub, OMNIA at Caesars Palace, among others.

Twice a year, our grandMAgazine will be available in PDF format. The grandMAgazine informs you on latest product news, software-updates as well as outstanding installations and productions around the word.

grandMA2 dances with Morphed
Morphed is a work by Tero Saarinen circulating around eight dancers showing the expressive power of the human body and liberating movements in their performances. While Esa-Pekka Salonen created the music, Mikki Kunttu, who has been working with Saarinen for many years, was responsible for the set and lighting design. Morphed is currently touring through different venues in Europe accompanied by a grandMA2 light console that is owned by the Tero Saarinen Company.

The Atlanta, Georgia nightclub Gold Room is a luxurious, elegantly designed bar with a reputation for high-class events and an unbeatable party atmosphere. However, the team behind the venue felt that their lightshow needed something that has never been done in Atlanta before; not only to make it more effective, but to make it low maintenance and more green too. When they contacted Scott Waterbury at Atlanta Sound & Lighting and asked him to take on the job of designing a “4D” elegant, super-technical enviroment, he opted for a highly effective mix of ADJ and Elation gear to give the Gold Room a new, super-efficient, “all LED,” lightshow of epic proportions!

Clay Paky opens a Technical Service Centre in Dubai Clay Paky opens a Technical Service Centre in Dubai

Dubai - Clay Paky has recently opened a Technical Service Centre in Dubai in order to provide all Clay Paky customers in Gulf countries with support and assistance. The office is manned by specialized professional technicians, under the guidance of Gordon Carr, who has recently obtained a certificate from Clay Paky for attending an intensive specialization course in Clay Paky product support.
The technicians can travel through the Gulf Area and provide assistance at the customer's request for Clay Paky products both under and out of warranty.

Clay Paky drives amazing looks on BMW X6 launch

SOUTH AFRICA - Within just six hours of ticket sales opening, the Pretoria leg of ‘Afrikaans is Groot’ was sold out. Just goes to show how Groot Afrikaans is’! The Cape Town leg followed suite with its three performances selling out by the end of that day.

With the calibre of such artists as Juanita Du Plessis, Theuns Jordaan, Steve Hofmeyr, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Bok van Blerk, Robbie Wessels, Lianie May, Karlien van Jaarsveld, Jay, Riana Nel, Jannie Moolman, Arno Jordaan, Jak de Priester, Corlea Botha, EDEN, Dewald Wasserfall and more, the show promised to be a hit.

Avolites appoints Music & Lights as new Italian distributor

UK/Italy – Avolites has announced that its industry-leading range of lighting and Ai video and multimedia control technologies will be distributed in Italy by Music & Lights.

The deal has been welcomed by both companies.

"We are confident that the appointment Music & Lights as our distributor is our most effective step to ensure our continued growth in the Italian market,” says Avolites Managing Director, Steve Warren. “We are extremely impressed with the potential of Music & Lights and CEO Fabio Sorabella's highly effective team are enthusiastic, dynamic and focused on growth.”

UK / The Netherlands - Lighting and visual control expert Avolites has appointed South Holland-based Improve as its new Digital Media Reseller in The Netherlands.

The announcement comes just weeks before Avolites and Improve team up at the Amsterdam tradeshow Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) to exhibit Avolites' range of control consoles and servers and unveil the incredible new features of its new Ai V8 software.

Polish distributor Prolight hosted 'Awareness of Light' this past week, which included presentations from Avolites' Managing Director Steve Warren, and MIRRAD's Bryan Leitch, winner of awards such as UK Lighting Designer of the Year 2009 and Knights of Illumination Lifetime Achievement Award 2012.

Topics discussed during the event included: practical and artistic aspects of lighting design, effective use of budget, fixture choice, "in the round", and integration of lighting and video.

Steve Warren also presented the Avolites product family of lighting control surfaces and media consoles.

Friends new and old join Avolites for first Curry Club of the year!

This week we opened the doors at Avolites HQ to a large group of clients, business partners, and friends, for an evening of fun, food, and familiarisation for Avolites MD Steve Warren’s birthday Curry Club.

Our first Curry Club of 2015 also gave attendees the chance to get a sneak peek at the as yet unreleased Avolites Arena console for the first time, ahead of its Prolight & Sound debut next month.

Leading Southeast Asia Rental Houses Commit to HARMAN’s Martin Professional With Addition of MAC Viper Fixtures

SINGAPORE — HARMAN’s Martin Professional today announced Martin’s MAC Viper family is now widely available throughout Southeast Asia via several of the region’s largest rental houses. Singapore-based companies CSP Production, Trio AV and Highlight Systems as well as Malaysia-based Orange Events have added more than 170 MAC Viper fixtures to their portfolios, putting the latest in intelligent lighting at the fingertips of lighting designers throughout the region.

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

HARMAN’s Martin Professional Announces Availability of RUSH Gobo Projector 1™

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands — HARMAN’s Martin Professional announces the availability of the RUSH Gobo Projector 1™, part of Martin’s comprehensive offering of new lighting fixtures on display at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2015 February 10-12. The new member of the install-oriented RUSH family will be shipping at the end of February and on display at ISE at HARMAN’s stand #1-F6.

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands — Today at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2015, HARMAN’s Martin Professional introduced the RUSH PAR 2 CT Zoom lighting fixture, the latest addition to the RUSH by Martin line for the installation and entertainment markets. The RUSH PAR 2 CT Zoom is a bright single-lens LED PAR can that offers fully pre-mixed white color temperatures for a range of applications.

HARMAN’s Martin Professional Announces RUSH PAR 2 CT Zoom Lighting Fixture Is Now Shipping

LONDON — It’s the band that provides the entertainment during a live concert, but a show’s aesthetics are often as important as the sounds. So when members of the British progressive rock band Lifesigns decided to make a live show DVD, they called on Lighting Designer Chris Curran to make them look as good as they sound, a feat he accomplished with the help of HARMAN’s Martin Professional MAC Quantum Wash light and M6 controller.

HARMAN’s Martin Professional Lighting Fixtures Reinforce Mirror Lounge & Club’s Prestige and High-Profile Status

Bali, INDONESIA — With the opening late last year of The Mirror Lounge & Club, Seminyak, the international vacation hotspot on the west coast of Bali, has become an even more popular tourist destination. With a capacity of 1,000, the club is the latest, and one of the largest, high-profile additions to the Seminyak scene. To accentuate the club’s distinct layout and features, local integration firm Monalisa Tunggal Jaya (MJT) selected a wide array of HARMAN Martin Professional lighting fixtures, which they’ve been installing across Indonesia since 1996.
Owned by Indonesian entertainment organization All In, Mirror caters to an eclectic mix of both local and foreign clubbers who are drawn to its unique layout design. Paneled mirrors are mounted in the corners of the club, which features high ceilings and a rectangular floor plan oriented around the DJ, dispersing the crowd to the sides of the stage.

AARHUS, Denmark — HARMAN’s Martin Professional today announced the VC-Grid and VC-Strip LED Video family is now shipping in 15, 30, and 60 mm pixel pitches. Ideal for architectural installations, stage design, and television set elements, Martin’s VC family ensures design freedom for lighting designers and integrators on any creative LED Video project.

Martin’s VC-Grid is a compact and powerful LED video panel that offers individually controllable pixels in RGB and cool, medium and warm white colors. The VC-Grid can be controlled via DMX or Martin’s awarding-winning P3 protocol that provides high-quality image processing that eliminates the need for DMX pixelmapping, loose power supplies, and cabling. A hybrid power/data cabling systems also allows multiple VC-Grids to be easily daisy-chained for more creative designs.

HARMAN’s Martin Professional Lighting Fixtures Are Crucial Design Elements, Enhance Creative Process for Kylie Minogue’s “Kiss Me Once” Tour

LONDON – Australian pop sensation Kylie Minogue recently completed the first leg of her Kiss Me Once tour, which included stops throughout Europe. The second leg of the tour begins in March 2015 with five shows in Kylie’s native Australia. Following the successful tour of Europe, Lighting Designer Rob Sinclair and Lighting Director Louisa Smurthwaite provided insight into the creative processes behind the tour’s extensive lighting design, which prominently featured fixtures from HARMAN’s Martin Professional

BLACKBURN, UK – Tenor Alfie Boe’s career has only gained strong momentum ever since he was famously discovered polishing cars at Blackpool’s TVR Factory at age 17. He recently undertook a major UK tour, where HARMAN Martin Professional’s newest MAC Quantum Profile fixtures proved that they are perfectly at home in live arena-sized productions.

Running from November 29 to December 13, 2014, the 11-show tour stopped at most of the UK’s major arenas. Lite Alternative supplied lighting, with the rig including five Martin Professional MAC Quantum profiles and 15 Mac Vipers.

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

Monday, 20 April 2015

Friday, 17 April 2015

Tuesday, 14 April 2015

Tuesday, 7 April 2015

Saturday, 4 April 2015

Monday, 30 March 2015

Saturday, 28 March 2015

Thursday, 26 March 2015

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

Sunday, 22 March 2015

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Wednesday, 18 March 2015