Kernersville, NC – April 2013 … In an effort to both revitalize their sanctuary and make worship services more engaging, the Summit Church recently completed a major facility enhancement that included multiple 60-inch LED displays and a variety of lighting fixtures. Of course, audio also played a significant role in the renovation and, to ensure worshippers could clearly hear every last detail, a new sound reinforcement system consisting of loudspeakers from the Aero Series 2 and Artec catalogs of Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio were placed into service. more

Cyprus, CA – April 2013… From rental and staging to Hollywood’s most lavish theaters, Christie Digital Systems USA is recognized as one of the most visual technology companies in the world. The company’s display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences everywhere. Maintaining that global presence requires regular planning and strategizing—much of which takes place at the company’s Cyprus, CA USA headquarters. That’s precisely why their new Executive Boardroom is equipped with state-of-the-art TNP (Tilt ‘N Plug) interconnect solutions from Brea, CA-based Altinex. more

When it came time to host this year’s annual K-LOVE Friends & Family Music Cruise, featuring musical acts such as TobyMac, MercyMe, Big Daddy Weave and David Crowder, Premier Christian Cruises tapped PixelFLEX to provide its industry-leading, lightweight and ultra-flexible LED curtain video screens as a backdrop for the musical performances. Having used the PixelFLEX screens in the past, the company decided to take advantage of the product’s ease of use and set-up by using them in the ship’s atrium to provide information to its guests during the cruise.

“For past cruises, we’ve used PixelFLEX to enhance the live concert experience and we were eager to come up with other ways to utilize the technology,” said Zach Thomas, marketing director for Premier Christian Cruises. “This year, we hung a PixelFLEX panel in the main atrium to feature announcements and a brief video to keep our passengers up to date on activities. It was a valuable tool for us, and our passengers, and we expect to use it again on future cruises.”

Founded in 2003 and having served more than 50,000 passengers, Premier Christian Cruises brings top Christian musical artists together for a four to seven night spiritual journey featuring music, Bible studies, marriage enrichment and an assortment of other entertaining experiences.

For the K-LOVE Friends & Family Music Cruise, PixelFLEX supplied 8- 20mm panels for use in two different locations on the ship. Each typical screen panel is approximately 8×4, but modifications can be made easily to meet specific needs of the consumer – panels can be attached together with PixelFLEX’s proprietary quicklock system.

“The primary benefit of the PixelFLEX technology for us was the weight of the curtain screens,” Thomas continued. “Cruise ships aren’t designed to support a large amount of weight – excluding passengers and belongings – so we need to limit additional weight wherever possible.”

Videos and images can be sent to PixelFLEX’s screens using any computer with a DVI-D connection. This simplicity was an added bonus to Thomas and his team.

“We were able to use a laptop to run a slide show to the atrium screens along with videos and song lyrics to the screen in the concert theatre,” Thomas remarked. “It was a really simple and easy process. No difficulties at all, which is great for us because on a cruise ship there is a lot to do to entertain guests for the week and we didn’t want to have to deal with any additional overhead from having to hire more labor to handle video and effects.”

For more information on PixelFLEX and its growing line of lightweight LED video screens, visit www.LEDCurtain.com. Follow PixelFLEX at www.Facebook.com/PixelFLEXUSA and @LEDCurtain.

Chicago Spotlight, Inc. is shedding some light on United Center, the largest arena in the U.S., with help from Robert Juliat Cyrano followspots. Home of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and the NFL’s Chicago Blackhawks and a venue for top musical artists, the United Center has hosted over 40 million guests since it opened in 1994.

“The United Center is in the process of replacing their current followspots,” says Chicago Spotlight president Marty Lazarus. “Their existing fixtures have been there since the arena opened. Their goal is to replace two each year until 8 are replaced with Victors and 4 with Cyranos.”

Cyrano is a compact and efficient 2500-watt HMI followspot with a high-performance quartz condenser optical system. It features a 100% closing iris; 100% closing dimmer; B-size gobo holder , variable frost, dichroic blue filter; and 6-way boomerang color changer with removable filter frames.

Lazarus explains that Chicago Spotlight demo’d the Cyranos for the arena and staged a shoot out comparing them to the current fixtures. “The customer was impressed with the Cyranos’ features, the even field and the sturdy construction of the unit,” he reports. “The Cyrano’s light output was comparable to the spotlights it was replacing – we’re talking about 2,500W HMI vs 3,000W Xenon with a more even field. They felt that by purchasing two Cyranos they were getting a lot of value for their dollar.”

United Center organized a training session with 14 local stagehands to familiarize them with the new fixtures, the first of an expected dozen units. At United Center Rob Staverman is senior director of event operations and Bob Grmusich the house electrician.

About Robert Juliat

Robert Juliat is a three-generation, independent family-run company dedicated to the manufacturing of professional stage lighting products. Robert Juliat lights are used by customers who include Cirque du Soleil, Celine Dion, New York’s Lincoln Center, LA’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Bruce Springsteen, Disney Theme Parks, Carnegie Hall, The San Francisco Opera and Ballet, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Comedie Francaise, The Sydney Opera House, plus theatres, schools and public venues around the world.

R&D, production and the company headquarters are based in the village of Fresnoy-en-Thelle, 50 km north of Paris. Robert Juliat USA is located in Wallingford, Connecticut. For more information visit www.robertjuliat.com.

Researcher and eco-acoustic composer David Monacchi has been using DPA Microphones’ 4060 miniature microphones to capture the sounds of the rainforest as part of his long-term environmental sound-art project entitled Fragments of Extinction.

David Monacchi, who is Professor of Electroacoustic Music at the Conservatorio G.Rossini in Pesaro, Italy, is collaborating with various institutions on this project, which involves traveling to some of the world’s most remote areas of intact rainforest to record complex soundscape portraits.

“I use several microphone techniques in the field, most of which involve quite heavy and complex systems,� Monacchi explains. “DPA miniature microphones are extremely lightweight and this makes them highly suitable to field work where I may have to hike long distances in extreme terrain.�

David Monacchi’s two Hi-Sens DPA 4060s omnidirectional miniature microphones with accessories were supplied by DPA’s Italian distributor M. Casale Bauer.

“The DPA 4060 microphones are so small that, if appropriately arranged in a handmade stand, they can be used for self-worn binaural recordings,� he explains. “When used in this way they give optimum results because their dimensions are perfectly suited to being placed at the entrance of the ear canal.�

Originally designed for use with wireless systems in theatre, television and close-miked instrument applications, DPA’s 4060 miniature microphones exhibit a highly accurate omnidirectional pattern and therefore do not need to be aimed directly at the sound source to achieve quality pickup.

“This feature is especially useful for binaural recordings,� says Monacchi, “where, in order to collect the three-dimensional information, it is important that all the sound reflections from the pinna are picked up in a linear way.

David Monacchi adds that the sound quality delivered by his DPA 4060 miniature microphones is excellent.

“They have very good tonal quality, linear behaviour and immunity to infrasound vibration-driven noises – all of which are very positive characteristics in the field,� he says. “Considering their dimensions, the signal to noise ratio of these capsules is extremely high, making them suitable for low intensity biophonies and distant sound sources. In addition, their extended high frequency response to around 40khz make them suitable for recording non-audible biophonies like some species of insects and bats.�

David Monacchi’s most recent trip was to Borneo, but he has also visited rainforests in remote areas of the Amazon and Africa. He usually travels alone or with one assistant and relies on local research Institutions or NGOs for field support and rainforest explorations.

“The project embraces collaborations with Greenpeace and several academic Institutions and Organizations around the world,� he says. “Its aim is to collect sound data and complex soundscape portraits of some of the oldest ecosystems on Earth, many of which are being damaged and are disappearing at an exceptionally fast rate.�

Working in rain forests brings its own particular set of issues, not least very high humidity that can oscillate between 70% and 99%.

“My DPA 4060 miniature microphones perform very well in high humidity condition and are very stable in their performance, even when quick humidity and temperature changes occur,� Monacchi says. “Also, compared to bigger and heavier condenser microphones, they are extremely resistant to unwanted impacts so they are very reliable in the uncertain conditions of remote field trips.�

David Monacchi adds that although a larger diaphragm microphone would provide a better signal to noise ratio, he always carries his DPA 4060 miniature microphones because they are so portable and reliable.

“Considered their dimensions, I think DPA’s 4060 microphones are a true miracle of electroacoustic engineering,� he says. “Without doubt, they are the most adaptable microphones in the world for recording binaural in extreme conditions.�

-ends-

Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Nashville’s Country Radio Seminar (CRS) is an annual showcase week for the industry where new artists and music that will be released over the course of the year is presented to top country radio people and industry heavyweights. This year’s CRS took place at the Nashville Convention Center, February 27 through March 1 and wowed the more than 5,000 attendees with live performances by Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, Darius Rucker, Gary Allan, Kellie Pickler and many more–all heard through HARMAN’s JBL VTX Series line arrays powered by Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers.

Live sound for the event was provided by Franklin, Tennessee-based CTS Audio, working with event production company DeLux Productions. CTS staff for the event included CTS vice president Mike Taylor, front of house engineer Jon Schwarz, monitor engineer Scott Heyniger and system techs Jeremy Bayne and Joey Eaker.

“We’ve supplied the sound for CRS for nine years and this is the first time we used JBL’s VTX line arrays for the event, so we were stoked to hear what they could do in this room,â€� Taylor said. CTS flew nine VTX V25 fullsize line array elements and eight VTX S28 subwoofers on each side of the 30×40-foot stage, complemented by four JBL VERTEC® VT4888 midsize line array elements used as delay speakers.

The V25 speakers and S28 subwoofers were driven by 32 Crown I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers, with 16 Crown VRACK 12000HD and four VRACK 4X3500HD complete amplifier management rack systems powering the VT4888 delay speakers. Because there wasn’t much room for the delay amp racks, the VRACK’s self-contained design, which houses three I-Tech 12000HD amps, an input panel and power management, proved ideal for the application thanks to its high 27000 watts of total power (into 4 ohms) contained in a smaller-footprint package. CTS used JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software and BSS Soundweb London BLU-80 signal processors for system control and tuning.

CTS Audio has been a JBL VERTEC user for many years and Taylor was impressed by the VTX line arrays. “We got a tremendous amount of headroom using the VTX, and as much as we continue to rely on VERTEC, the improvement in clarity, coverage and power output from these boxes was noticeable,� Taylor said. He also found the Crown amps to be an ideal match with the VTX speakers, thanks to their built-in DSP and HiQnet compatibility that enabled the amps to be easily and precisely tuned to get the most out of the VTX arrays during the event.

“The system performed flawlessly,� Taylor noted. “We didn’t have a single problem with the audio and got a lot of compliments from the other engineers in attendance. Even the front of house engineer at the Grand Ole Opry was raving about how good everything sounded.�

For more information on CTS Audio, please visit www.ctsaudio.com

Photo Credit: Kristen England

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for the twelve months ending June 30, 2012.

A Christie® digital projector was chosen to honor Barbra Streisand at the 40th Anniversary Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center on April 22, 2013. Former President Bill Clinton presented the pop culture icon with the prestigious Chaplin Award for her lifetime of achievements and contributions to the art of film. The Christie projection system screened a tribute montage of Streisand’s illustrious career, which includes her Academy Award®-winning performance in “Funny Girl� and her role as director, co-producer, co-writer, and star of the film “Yentl.�

A 40-year tradition, the Chaplin Award Gala is The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s major fundraising event, which helps support the organization’s “ongoing work in education, artist development, and cross-cultural film outreach,� according to the Film Society. Special guests included actors Pierce Brosnan, Blythe Danner, Amy Irving, and Kris Kristofferson, with musical performances by Tony Bennett, Wynton Marsalis, and Liza Minnelli.

“We were thrilled that Christie technology was chosen to deliver the visual experience that honored Barbra Streisand with this deserving award at Lincoln Center,� said Kathryn Cress, vice president, Global & Corporate Marketing, Christie. “We recognize that, with a sold-out audience filled with distinguished guests, a visual solution worthy of showcasing Ms. Streisand’s legendary performances was needed. And that we delivered, as our projectors are recognized for delivering the most brilliant, high-definition images in the industry today and with the reliability expected from the Christie brand.�

The Film Society of Lincoln Center chose Digital Media Systems to install a powerful and reliable projection solution for the gala at Avery Fisher Hall, one of Lincoln Center’s largest venues with a capacity of over 2,700 people. Digital Media Systems in turn selected a Christie Roadster HD18K 1080 HD DLP® Projector to light up a 32ft. screen throughout the event, confident that it would deliver an image that was bright and powerful enough to meet the demanding needs of the high-profile evening.

According to Gregg Paliotta, president and owner of Digital Media Systems, “We have done other projects for various Lincoln Center venues and events, and we always ensure that any projection and sound solution we use is world premiere standard. Quality and reliability are paramount. Absolutely nothing can go wrong once the curtains go up, which is why we choose Christie to deliver at these prestigious events. The Christie HD18K projector was the perfect solution for the challenging distance, angle, and space limitations of the projection booth.�

“This is an incredibly important event for us each year, as it helps support our organization through the celebration of those who have advanced the art and culture of film,� said Lesli Klainberg, managing director, The Film Society of Lincoln Center. “For the 40th Anniversary Chaplin Award Gala, we really wanted the clips from Barbra Streisand’s career to pop with bright, sharp images. We have worked with Gregg Paliotta of Digital Media Systems in the past, and are always impressed with the quality of the Christie projectors and the exceptional services he provides in setting them up for our most important functions.�

Part of the Christie HD Series, the Christie Roadster HD18K features full 1920 x 1080 resolution, proven 3-chip DLP® technology with Xenon® illumination, high quality optics and 10-bit image processing for the brightest, clearest HD imaging available in the industry today.

About The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center works to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Among its yearly programming of film festivals, film series and special events, the Film Society presents two film festivals in particular that annually attract global attention: the New York Film Festival which just celebrated its 50th edition, and New Directors/New Films which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with MoMA. The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment Magazine and a year-round calendar of programming, panels, lectures, educational and transmedia programs and specialty film releases at the famous Walter Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. For more information, visit www.filmlinc.com.

About Digital Media Systems
Digital Media Systems, Inc. represents the motion picture post production, distribution and exhibition communities for complete projection and sound services. It specializes in equipment and engineering support for world premieres and event screenings. It also provides multiplex and screening room installation service and maintenance. For more information, visit www.dmediainc.com.

NORTHRIDGE, California – New Zealand’s oldest and largest public art gallery, the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, recently underwent a massive restoration that transformed the building into a world-class cultural facility that now features a world-class audio system with HARMAN’s JBL loudspeakers. The upgrade was designed and installed by two New Zealand-based companies, Jands and Provision, working together to provide a networked audio system as part of the AV upgrade.

Opening in February 1888, the gallery has increasingly become a focal point of Auckland’s art scene, and now lies at the heart of the New Zealand art experience for both the local community and visitors alike. Stephen Ward, project manager and lead designer for the project, commented, “This project was unique, in that two of the buildings we were cabling were Heritage Buildings over 100 years old, and not linked, while demolition and construction continued around us. I was able to draw from my knowledge and experience from working and maintaining similar heritage sites in the UK, such as the Royal Society of Art and Tait Britain to assist with the planning and implementation of this project, allowing me the insight and understanding as to how the client would ideally use the spaces.â€�

In total, over 250 HARMAN JBL speakers were installed throughout the complex including Control 26CT, Control 24C and JBL Control 52 satellite speakers.

One of the design challenges was to provide an audio network with up to 25 discrete zones and over 100 patchable inputs (four per zone), as well as a separate BGM and paging level control per zone. Each of the 25 zones then needed the flexibility to be virtually patched to any combination of other zones. Fortunately the BSS Audio Soundweb London BLU-100 signal processors, featuring a 48-channel digital audio bus, gave the flexibility required to make this work within the tight budget.

Ward continued, “The audio was of high importance due to the changing nature of the open spaces in the art gallery and varying exhibitions and the use of Soundweb London allowed us complete flexibility in its design and linking. This provides the ability to expand the AV systems in a modular way and meet the users ever changing needs.â€�

Provision went about installing 10 Soundweb London BLU-100 devices between the five AV plant rooms. An audio network was setup between the plant rooms using fiber optic cable, which linked the digital audio bus and Ethernet control.

The mammoth task of mapping the level controls from 10 different Soundweb London DSP devices began.

Logan Bent, programmer for Provision with 15 years’ experience and dozens of existing projects involving BSS Audio went about the task of integrating the whole system. Logan comments, “The actual programming was relatively straight forward once a clear scope of works and client discussions in developing the interface were conducted. The most time consuming component during implementation and commissioning was the grand scale of the project. The greatest challenge with the interface was coming up with a way to overflow any of the inputs to any of the output zones. Along with that a simple way to disable a certain link was needed.â€�

For more information on ProVision, please visit www.provision.co.nz

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for the twelve months ending June 30, 2012.

The unusual lighting demands of the world premiere of “Borderlands,” a modern dance piece performed by the San Francisco Ballet at the War Memorial Opera House, were facilitated when Maria T. Mendoza took advantage of Prelite Studios’ previsualization services before arriving on stage.

Mendoza, key lighting programmer and Assistant Master Electrician with the San Francisco Ballet, had worked successfully with Prelite on a number of corporate productions. “I was very excited to finally be able to introduce Prelite to the Ballet and apply the process to a more theatrical environment,” she says.

Mendoza set up the full Prelite system in the Ballet’s electrical shop ten days in advance of hitting the stage. “Choreographer Wayne McGregor’s ‘Borderlands’ was an unusual case for us. We usually use our lighting inventory of 600-700 conventional fixtures to which we add movers, HMIs and other lights depending on the designer’s request and production budget,” she explains. “The lighting designer for ‘Borderlands,’ Lucy Carter, came up with a rig consisting of 32 six-foot RGBAW ColorBlaze TRX fixtures that spanned the stage; they were configured eight each on four system pipes about ten feet apart.

“The set featured three large gray canvas frames, about 50×30 feet, that basically created a three-wall boxed set,” Mendoza continues. “Once San Francisco Ballet Master Electrician, Kelly Corter, and I saw the lighting plot and Lucy’s intentions, we immediately thought of Prelite given the limited on-stage time we’d have once the lights and set were physically set up. There was no way my fellow board op Anna McGriff and I could be programming on-stage for ten days with a full crew standing by.”

Prelite was especially helpful in supporting the pixel-mapping feature on ETC’s EOS lighting console. “We used pixel mapping in conjunction with the standard console protocol; cues would use one or the other. This was the first time for the Ballet and myself using the EOS Pixel Mapper, and it was very effective,” Mendoza reports. “I have used various media servers and consoles in this application before, but we decided to stick with the EOS in-house and for the ballet’s eventual tour. There was a bit of a learning curve, but the folks at ETC tech support were incredibly helpful, and Prelite tech Adam Rechner was with us on site at all times so that any issues that might have come up could be addressed immediately. With Prelite we were able to tackle the EOS Pixel Mapper learning curve without using up precious stage tech time.”

Mendoza found many other advantages to using Prelite as well. “Once Lucy arrived on site we spent days recording and creating every imaginable way of loading media, grouping and building effects for hundreds of individual channels. Prelite allowed us to then take all of the content clips, groups and effects and see how they interacted before actual live cueing began.”

She is convinced that “there was absolutely no way that we would have been able to be prepared for a rehearsal one day after install without all the work we did with Prelite. I’d recommend Prelite to anyone who has a time-consuming programming project and very limited on-site time. We would not have had the same outcome without it.”

About Prelite

Prelite was founded in San Francisco February 2000 by Tom Thompson and Norm Schwab as a place for lighting designers and programmers to use technologies to previsualize lighting projects. Its success led to the launch of Prelite NY in June 2001 by Kim Grethen and Rodd McLaughlin. The bicoastal company provides studios where previsualization and creativity take center stage away from the distractions and interruptions of a chaotic work environment and where clients save time and money and minimize stress. Prelite also offers on-site previsualization services for those who prefer the convenience of working at the venue. For more information, visit www.prelite.com or contact Thomas Thompson at 415-883-7727.

Johannesburg-based Prosound adds HQView and FoveaHD ranges of image-processors to impressive brand roster

Calibre UK has extended its global reach still further with the appointment of Prosound as its new distribution partner for sub-Saharan Africa. Based in South Africa, Prosound is a hugely experienced distributor and rental company with several decades of expertise in supplying professional sound and lighting equipment under its belt.

With more and more of its customers also requiring hardware solutions for multi-screen shows and installations, the link with Calibre UK was a natural progression, according to Prosound’s Technical Director, Mark Malherbe:

“Our reputation has been built on using only market-leading products in both our sales and hire departments, so when the opportunity arose to add Calibre to our roster, we jumped at the chance.

“We supply a number of high-end production companies not just in South Africa but in East and West African countries as well. Whether they are putting on a small conference or a 10-screen, multi-input show, we believe we will have a Calibre UK image-processing solution that meets their needs, and which they can trust to be seamless and stable.�

Pauline Brooksbank, Managing Director, Calibre UK, adds: “The market for high-quality image processing in sub-Saharan Africa is growing very fast, and we believe Prosound is perfectly positioned to offer our entire range to this market including the HQView and FoveaHD ranges.

“The synergy between video production, sound and light is growing not just in the rental arena but in fixed installations as well, and we look forward to seeing more of our products being sold into all these sectors through the good auspices of the team at Prosound.�

www.calibreuk.com