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Lighting & Sound America is an American entertainment technology magazine published in New York City by PLASA Media Inc, a commercial arm of the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA). Lighting & Sound America covers the broad range of the entertainment, presentation and events industries worldwide, including theatre, live touring, clubs, themed venues, corporate events and presentations, as well as in-depth profiles of people and companies involved in the lighting and sound industry.

Lighting & Sound America is circulated to 12,000 subscribers each month, the vast majority of which are in North America.

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Published by Read My eBook for FREE!, 2020-02-18 22:54:31

Lighting & Sound America (December 2019) Magazine

Lighting & Sound America is an American entertainment technology magazine published in New York City by PLASA Media Inc, a commercial arm of the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA). Lighting & Sound America covers the broad range of the entertainment, presentation and events industries worldwide, including theatre, live touring, clubs, themed venues, corporate events and presentations, as well as in-depth profiles of people and companies involved in the lighting and sound industry.

Lighting & Sound America is circulated to 12,000 subscribers each month, the vast majority of which are in North America.

Managing expectations for utilization of the Sceptrons Williams continues, “With that being said, I’ll admit I had
was a challenge for Williams. “With them, everyone wants an initial bias against the Scenius, but it’s growing on me. I
to have that gag every song, and there were moments dur- am the co-owner of a production company out of Chicago,
ing production rehearsals when they said, ‘Maybe we can and we’re a Robe/Martin house, so I’m used to those fix-
add the Sceptrons.’ They are a special effect, and if you do tures. The Scenius has the footprint but was initially differ-
it every time, it’s not special.” With 120 Sceptrons upstage ent in its output handling; we did some lamp swaps and
in a clean linear arrangement, the natural tendency is to try got things a little more even throughout the rig.”
and fill the space. As preproduction continued, Williams found the key to
In terms of lighting design, Williams says, “Fantasia’s making the Scenius work for him: “Trying to take the anti-
mantra is rock/soul, so she wanted to have a departure quated approach of lighting an R&B show, beautiful wash-
from the everyday R&B show, and make sure there were es and pretty pictures, and applying it, the Scenius was not
some explosive moments that matched the energy that she necessarily shining. By altering my approach and looking
and the band were putting off. There is the notion that R&B more into what the artist initial vison was, which was creat-
music is very smooth, mellow, and there are always ing an edgy, depth-filled scene going from washes to bold-




































moments of undeniable beauty, but she wanted this tour to statement looks, the Scenius was more than appropriate
be raw and edgy. Although she has a demonstrably for what we wanted to make happen. Sometimes we are an
pumped-up and exciting show, it still remains true to R&B impediment to allowing our tools to show their full poten-
roots through her song selection and arrangements—she is tial.”
actually telling a story. Another element proved crucial for this application. “On
“The truss configuration is three straight sticks, and they the production end of things,” Williams says, “if you pump
all have the exact same fixtures: the Claypaky Scenius a little more haze than normal, it fills the space quite well. It
Profile and, lining the front fascia of each stick, the [TMB] was just getting the right ratio of haze to work for the
Solaris Flare Q+ LR,” Williams says. The Scenius is a new show; that helped out with the vision that Fantasia was
fixture for him. “I believe that Michael used Solotech for a looking for. Once I started getting more toward a rock show
few of his Chance the Rapper shows,” he says, “and he and away from R&B—trying to make it a bit hazier, a little
just used them at the United Center, so he spec’d them for edgier, and thicker with more grunge—the Scenius was
able to shine a lot better.”
this show. I said, ‘Let’s see what the Scenius has to offer
Photos: Adam Jomant us.’ We may be doing our clients a disservice if we don’t and programmer—Williams now has more experience with
After taking it on the road—he is also lighting director,
branch out and try different products. My job isn’t just to
the Scenius. “This is most definitely a worthwhile fixture,”
light a show, it’s to be able to light a show effectively with
he says. “Claypaky has been a leader in the lighting indus-
the resources that I have.”


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Fantasia uses a DPA 2028 mic with a Sennheiser Digital 6000 wireless system.




try for quite some time, and I don’t think they’re putting Floor lighting wasn’t part of the original plot. “When we
anything out that’s bad. The Scenius has an amazing started, there were no floor fixtures or side light at all,”
zoom on it, it’s certainly bright enough and it is most defi- Williams says. “I struggled with that. I added some down-
nitely holding its own out on the road.” stage left and right to sweep across the background
For haze, he says, “I have two of the best damn hazers singers, because they were doing a lot more dancing and
that money can buy; with two MDG theONE hazers, you moving than before.” This package consists of “another
can fill a room—and by a room, I mean an arena—instan- ten Claypaky Scenius units. Two are down left, two are
taneously, and those units are indispensable. Any MDG downstage right, and six are placed on Fantasia’s set, to
hazer I have come across has been the life source of being add another layer of depth to the rig. The possibility of los-
able to do my job; I can see beams and I can see the ing dimensionality in the lighting is very easy. I use the
light.” The hazers are located upstage left and right and floor units to add depth and dimensionality.”
are used consistently throughout the show. An MA Lighting grandMA2 console was Williams’
“This is my first time using the Solaris Flare as well, and choice for programming and controlling the show.
it is surprisingly amazing,” Williams says. “With similar fix- “Fantasia is a very organic performer,” he says, “so a lot of
tures, like the X-Bar 20, you can get some movement, with the intro hits and big moments driven by musical arrange-
subtle zoom effects making wide and narrow beams, so I ments are time-coded, but our starts and stops are not
initially looked at the Flare units as limited. There’s no tilt necessarily in time code. Fantasia is not your typical pop
and no zoom on them. It took me back to my theatrical act, who will do the same thing in every show. One show
roots in terms of being effective with fixtures that are fixed; early in the run, we had a programmed time code that
they allow us to make that departure from subtle wash went into another song, and she told the band, ‘Tune it
light to in-your-face rock-and-roll light; they became the again, I want to do a few more bars of it.’ I immediately
unsung heroes in the show. I am surprised that I absolutely had to drop the time code, because I knew it would kill the
love this fixture. They are almost as bright as the sun.” look onstage and go into the next moment, which involved Photo: Johnny Louis/Getty Images
Apostolos adds, “There is a good number of blinder talking.”
moments, but I definitely did not want to overuse them. Williams is using between two and four house fol-
We use them sparingly and intentionally.” lowspots, depending on the venue; there are no truss




52 • December 2019 • Lighting&Sound America

spots. “I do a fair amount of highlighting her with the fix- fix it in preproduction or during rehearsals, or there is a
tures from the rig,” he says. “I’m always prepared with a problem.” Working this way has another advantage, espe-
mix of dedicated positions to maintain it should she feel cially when traveling overseas, he notes. “The most horri-
compelled to move from one of our predetermined posi- ble feeling is when you’re used to something and you
tions.” The singer invariably walks out of the fixed spots, don’t have it; you wonder, How am I going to pull it off? I
he says. “She will sometimes come to me after a show to start from there and fix it, so I don’t have that problem
see how we can continually play off of each other. It’s the later.”
difference between a performer and an entertainer.” In terms of mics, Mack says, “I have a [Sennheiser]
In terms of color choices, Williams says, “I’m all over e906 on the toms, some [Shure SM] 57as on the snare and
the place. I don’t shy away from being controversial and I a [Shure Beta] 98A on the inside of the snare drum for the
am not a designer who fits into a box. You will never see rim shot. For the kick, there’s a [Shure Beta] 91A and a
two different artists of mine painted using the same brush [Shure Beta] 52A.” The bass is a DI, “and a regular 57,” he
strokes. Many, seeing an African American artist on stage, adds. “We have two keys that are direct and an organ
are afraid to use anything in the green palette. I’m okay stereo and mono; we have a 57 on top of the cabinet for
with green; it’s my favorite color. No color in this was off the organ and [Shure] Beta 52 for the low.” Muzquiz, who
limits. Depending on the mood of her song, we use one, is also an audio engineer, notes that Fantasia uses “a
two, or maybe a third color for each palette.” Williams also Sennheiser Digital 6000 handheld with a DPA 2028 super-
took the star’s choices into consideration: “Her favorite cardioid capsule; the background vocalists are using
color is purple, and, in some of the intimate moments, Shure UHD handhelds with SM58s.”
when Fantasia is alone, talking to her audience, I lean In terms of mixing the singer, Mack says, “She is
toward purple and magenta hues. Congo is used for some incredibly dynamic, and goes from talking incredibly softly
of her talking moments, and once we get toward the end to literally redlining the channel. The challenge is getting
of the show, we do more intimate purple and magenta the right input volume; you have to ride her on the lower
hues, as it’s her personal testimony.” stuff to keep the louder stuff from crunching the channel.
The opening of the show came from Fantasia. “She And, honestly, I would rather ride the vocals than artificially
really wanted to have a back spot that wipes out every- squash it.”
thing else out onstage,” Apostolos says. “That look was Solotech has provided a CODA Audio line array. The
really specific.” Williams adds, “The top of the show starts main hang consists of ten AiRAY and four ViRAY cabinets
off dark, transitioning to no-color; it’s a cold steel look and, per side while the side hang features four AiRAYs and
in the lulls of that moment, we go into some reds. At the eight ViRAYs. Six Coda APS cabinets are used as front
very opening, there is an animation of the cover of her new fills.
album: It’s a plain sketch on white paper and she’s wear- The AiRAYs are Coda’s high-range, full-output series,
ing a red hat. We incorporate that into that opening num- which includes DDP-Driver (Dual Diaphragm Planar-wave-
ber, where the only color you see besides white is that red. driver) technology. The compact ViRAY series also features
It’s those subtle choices that tie the entire production the DDP-Driver. The company says that, discarding the
together.” traditional dome diaphragm compression driver design, it
uses a two-way coaxial system employing two concentric
Audio annular ring diaphragms, each of which covers a smaller
At the front of house, audio engineer Gordon Mack is on a frequency range for increased power handling, high
DiGiCo SD5. “It’s been my console of choice lately, com- dynamics, and extremely low distortion. Among its billed
ing from Lionel Richie and Maxwell,” he says. “It’s an advantages, the diaphragms move in phase, creating far
incredibly good-sounding console in terms of what it can less audible and measurable intermodulation distortion
do and it’s incredibly diverse. Those two things alone than speakers equipped with traditional drives, especially
make it a winner for me.” at high frequencies. Also, the drivers are said to be more
In terms of plug-ins, Mack says, “I don’t build a show efficient, offer 3dB—5dB higher sensitivity than the com-
around Waves; the console is cake and Waves is the frost- petition.
ing on top of it. If I don’t have the frosting, I can still eat The sub system consists of 15 Coda SCP-F SUB cabi-
the cake.” In this case, he’s working without outboard nets; these are extreme high-excursion woofers with inte-
gear. “My theory for mixing is what the band is giving you grated velocity sensors to measure the voice coil move-
is what the audience wants to hear, so trying to color or ment and features ultra-low distortion. “I do like the Coda
paint or fix it is not really what I’m supposed to do. I’m just system,” notes Muzquiz.
supposed to turn it up, make sure it’s nice and loud, and Fantasia’s Sketchbook Tour concluded earlier this
make sure everything is playing nicely in terms of the fre- month.
quencies. I don’t believe in a lot of processing; either we




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54 • December 2019 • Lighting&Sound America

Left: The stage extends through a 20' thrust that flows into a 24' B stage. Above: The Globe of Death.


Inside the singular spectacle of The Chainsmokers’ new tour


By: Sharon Stancavage
Photos: Danilo Lewis



rtists often pick idiosyncratic names for show that was cohesive and packed a punch,” he says.
their albums and tours. The “It also had to fit in a load-in/load-out schedule for back-
Chainsmokers have gone that route with to-back arenas, which sometimes can limit how far you
their current offering, World War Joy. can go, as there are only so many hours until you have to
According to creative director and produc- open doors.”
tion designer Miguel Risueño, of Production Club, “World “They asked us to come up with an iconic piece to rep-
War Joy is a concept The Chainsmokers came up with, resent them forever and ever,” Risueño says. “This is not
and it follows a dual narrative of a world divided into exactly a logo but something else; it’s an icon that exists
opposing sides: It has joy and war, it has happiness and across different media and dimensions.” The visual choic-
sadness, it has a bright side and a dark side, it has the es were almost endless, McGuire says. “We went through
obscure and the colorful.” hundreds of different designs and landed on what is actu-
The production process also involved Matt McGuire, ally called a ‘hedgehog,’ a tank stopper from World War II,
musical director and drummer for The Chainsmokers. which we love; it consists of three pieces of metal, essen-
“The concept was built from the ground up to provide a tially joining together, working to stop a tank.”






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The icon, fabricated by the tour’s scenic vendor, SGPS, studies, with renders and diagrams, for the band to look at
is automated using the Navigator control system, operated and choose,” Risueño says. “Because we needed to
by Jeff Lunsford. “The three pieces extend across the quickly name so many designs for the presentation, they
three coordinate axes and meet in the center,” Risueño ended up being absurd Spanish words—El Cangrejo [The
says. “Each arm is 60', covered in distressed acrylic, Crab], La Gamba [The Prawn], El Camino [The Path]—to
which is wrapped with a dichroic material from 3M and finally end up with the design called Bleacher Preacher,
edged by LED tape.” The dichroic material is called DF named because it looks like a bleacher, but it is dedicated
Chill. “It’s used on architecture,” he adds, “and we chose it to our three preachers.” He adds, “Bleacher Preacher
as a way of bringing some unexpected color nuances to a looks like a cascade of weathered staging decks divided
very crude structure. This material is the joy in our war.” into four steps. The piece lives downstage center during
The icon does more than simply move, Risueño says. the show and it gets into place during the changeover in a
“One of the legs has a staircase. For the song ‘Save matter of seconds.” Inside the Bleacher Preacher are ten
Yourself,’ Drew [Taggart], the singer, goes up there. We JDC1 strobes, and, under the upstage portion, six GLP
also have some pyro in there. It’s a very multifaceted impression X4s and Robe Spikies.
design.” Lighting is also embedded in the piece. “We have The stage extends through a 20' thrust that flows into a
strobes [20 GLP JDC1s] and a few [Robe] Spikies [22], 24' B stage. The latter includes hidden flames and a lift for
and, at the end, [PRG] Icon EDGEs [4]. All these lights shift a fiery drum solo. “It is reinforced so the Globe of Death of
color, depending on their angle of incidence with the the motorcyclists can land on it,” Risueño says.
dichroic material; it’s like magic.” A Globe of Death for motorcycles? The tour’s executive
Also onstage is a large riser with the improbable name producer, Corey Johnson, provides the explanation: “We
of Bleacher Preacher, which developed for the band’s wanted to create this evolving sequence of moments and
European dates. “We did 32 different stage deck layout spectacle that embraced and enhanced the World War Joy























































56 • December 2019 • Lighting&Sound America

Opposite: The icon. “Each arm is 60', covered in distressed acrylic, which is wrapped with a dichroic material from 3M and edged by
LED tape,” Risueño says. Above: Effects include C02 jets for the high-energy dance moments.



theme; in our brainstorm process, we came across these thrust controlled by Navigator. Once Drew is on the flying
guys called the Urias [Family Daredevils’] Globe of Death. thrust at the end of the arena, the platform angles and rises
They are a third-generation family. We partnered with them, to an approximate height of 40'. He can get out there and
and they are an amazing group.” address all the people at the back of the arena who
He adds, “The globe is 60 or 70 years old. We reengi- thought they would not have an opportunity to see the
neered and built it, so it was able to be flown. It flies in the artist from this close.”
center, just shy of the Jumbotron, then lands on the B stage.
Then the motorcycles come out and we have this moment.” Video
“We choreographed the motorcycles to appear twice in Located upstage are three ROE Visual CB8 eight-millimeter
the show; both happen during musical transition moments LED screens, which, Risueño says, “are angled in two
where the tension rises,” Risueño notes. “After the song axes, similar to what you would get if you cut a funnel in
called ‘Hope’ ends and its remix starts, the motorcycles two. Originally, they were designed to reach an extreme
come in for the first time. They do burnouts, spitting col- rotation angle of 17°, but some technical difficulties pushed
ored smoke while interacting and bullying the band. They back. Finally, [production manager] Wob Roberts found a
wear all-black costumes and represent the dark side of sweet spot, balancing build time and aesthetics.” Video
World War Joy. The next time they appear represents the and lighting gear are provided by PRG.
bright side of World War Joy, after the song ‘Something Video content was created by Production Club, led by
Just Like This.’ That’s when the Globe of Death comes art directors deployed in three locations: Max Nicklas
down, the motorcycles go in, and do a 360 in it.” McGuire (United States), Hugo Bermudez (aka Sadgas)/Fran
adds, “During ‘Something Just Like This,’ the production Zurita/Juan Civera (Spain), and Kadavre Exquis (France).
really pushes its limits; the icon is moving via automation, Risueño notes, “It is a very video-heavy show. We were a
the globe is being lowered, multiple special effects cues team of 12 artists, working on everything from storyboard-
happen, and lighting and video are going full throttle. It’s ing to renders. This time, the approach to the content was
very immersive. There’s something so satisfying seeing a more environmental than in previous shows. We created
massive, 5,000lb ball being lowered while a 60' megastruc- responsive environments inspired by the emotions we
ture is moving at the same time.” wanted to trigger in the audience. It’s more like a theatre
Out in the house, Risueño says, “We have a 32' flying play, where the environment in the background sets the




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The trusses in the above photo trim out at 58' and are hung with 31 PRG Icon EDGEs, 15 TMB Solaris Flare Q+ units, and 14 Elation
Professional Cuepix WW2s.

context and the mood.” The video is controlled by VJ Lighting
Kevin Longwell, using an Arena media server from the “One of the lighting design goals was to make the audience
Netherlands-based company Resolume. in the house feel involved,” explains lighting designer Griffin
Behm, of Production Club. “We wanted to create more of a




58 • December 2019 • Lighting&Sound America

stacked pair of trusses is placed directly upstage of the
main stage area and two pairs of stacked trusses frame
the video walls at left and right. The original idea was to
hang these trusses away from the stage, to lend more of a
perspective; in the end, we reconfigured them to hang
closer to the other staging elements, creating a more effi-
cient and practical package that could be implemented in
arenas.” The trusses trim out at 58' and are hung with 31
[PRG] Icon EDGEs, 15 [TMB] Solaris Flare Q+ units, and
14 [Elation Professional] Cuepix WW2s. “It was important
that the moving lights we chose for these positions could
provide backlight for performers as well as aerial/beam
effects throughout the show,” he adds, “so we went with a
hybrid fixture that can fulfill both duties. The Icon Edge
does a fine job of cutting through the other action onstage
and has a nice gobo load as well, which came in handy
when creating large, textured looks behind the scenery.
“Moving downstage,” Behm continues, “we have four
vertical trusses comprised of two 10' segments of [Tyler]
GT Truss hung with [Claypaky] Sharpys along with Flares
and WW2s. The intent of these positions was to provide
strong accent looks during the songs, so the Sharpy was a
great choice to punch through the other action. When
combined with the upstage trusses, the Flares and WW2s
on the vertical trusses create a consistent look across the
entire upstage area.”
Two large, static lighting pods are located downstage
right and left. “These positions are loaded with Flares,
WW2s, and Claypaky A.leda B-EYE K20s,” Behm says.
“We have 23 [B-EYEs] per side for a total of 46, hung in an
offset configuration, which allows us to use different selec-
tions of fixtures to achieve unique looks. Though they’re
used for side washes in portions of the show, we take full
advantage of the fixtures’ effects capabilities through pixel
mapping, the beam shaper, and many days of meticulous
programming at the hands of Davey Martinez.”
Three front-of-house trusses extend outward from the
Globe of Death. “Each of those positions has four [Vari-
Lite] VL4000 Beamwashes; we have another four VL4000s
hung on the underside of the automated catwalk in the
house. We were excited to move forward with the VL4000
on the tour, as it has a great gobo selection, zoom range,
and impressive beam characteristics.”
The stage floor is home to more VL4000s. “We have
eight fixtures at the upstage edge, which is a nice back-
light shot for the performers and does a great job silhouet-
ting the Bleacher Preacher structure,” Behm says. “In
addition, we have ten [GLP] impression X4s positioned
around the deck in strategic locations to provide key light-
ing for band members. We’ve also placed four more
large club vibe. We knew we wanted to get fixtures into the impression X4s and ten X4 Bar 20s on the B stage for per-
house to create energy throughout the show.” formers and to light the Globe of Death as it descends.”
The lighting rig, Behm notes, consists of “several truss- The time-coded show was programmed by Davey
es, which have a high trim that frames the stage. A Martinez on an MA Lighting grandMA2, with oversight from




www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • December 2019 • 59

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Corey FitzGerald; Josh Beard is the touring lighting direc-
tor. The production also uses four house spotlights.
Color was an important overall theme. “The show starts
with an aggressive, warm palette of red and orange, which
broadens into more pastel tones to convey the joy theme,”
Behm says. “We also begin fairly monochromatically, to
constrain the color shift from the acrylic on the icon. As time
goes on and we build into looks that utilize more white light,
the reflections created by the acrylic become more dramat-
ic; we use that to our advantage to support the more uplift-
ing moments of the show.
“Rigging was one of the most interesting challenges,”
Behm admits. “There are quite a few elements on that
stage that are unique and want to sit at a specific angle.
The icon is a large piece that needs to move throughout
the course of the show, so it changes the real estate avail-
able in the air and on the deck. It was a fun challenge to
get the equipment we needed in a position that works for
the show while making sure it can be flown from the grid
in a reasonable amount of time on a daily basis.” Key to
the process are production manager Wob Roberts and
head rigger Jez Craddick.

Above: “There are eight full-color Kvant 22W lasers—six of them
Special effects onstage and two mounted in the air left and right of the globe,”
Vitale says. Opposite: Located upstage are three ROE Visual
The production is loaded with special effects. “The band CB8 eight-millimeter LED screens, which, Risueño says, “are
angled in two axes, similar to what you would get if you cut a
wanted to shy away from the traditional over-the-top pyro
funnel in two.”
extravaganza that EDM artists usually employ,” explains
Clancy Silver, tour manager and special effects
designer/pyro shooter. “The special effects chosen for
specific parts of the show accompany the mood and vibe ed by 30 Next FX orange-strobing flares.
of the music at the time—from flames for darker moments; Overall, Silver adds, “Pyro is typically fired on the drop
pyro for key musical moments; CO2 for high-energy dance of the biggest songs in the show. We have a variety of
moments; low fog for moodier, more emotional moments; comets for chases and then mines and gerbs for all the fire
and confetti for the finale.” McGuire adds, “I worked very lift moments;” these are delivered from eight positions.
closely with Rocco [Vitale, VP/director of live events, “There are 12 pyro moments,” Vitale says. “Toward the
Pyrotecnico, the band’s longtime vendor] and Clancy end, Drew is on the staircase on the icon, and we do a
months in advance while I was designing the show script. cool gerb chase up the stairs.” The effect comes courtesy
It was all about strategically placing moments throughout of 11 Le Maitre gerbs.
the 95-minute show to keep energy and maintain a con- Also included, Vitale says, are nine Galaxis G-Flames.
stant aesthetic no matter what was happening sonically. “There are five under the thrust that shoot through the
The placement of all special effects is designed to feel grating deck and four in the air, inverted upside-down.”
very grade with lots of horizontal and vertical scale to Silver adds, “They are employed during various moments
magnify any production design that was included.” on the thrust, including a drum solo that takes place on
“The show starts with the three principals holding hand- the B stage lift, in which the drummer [McGuire] is sur-
held flares,” Silver says. “The lead singer walks to our icon rounded with fire while playing drums, also with his sticks
and ‘lights a wick’ of essentially another three solid flares on fire.”
located at the base; as the music builds, a comet chase Another element consists of 12 Explo X2 Wave Flames,
and all fire of mines ensue on the stage. That’s followed by each of which, Vitale notes, “have an articulating head
over two dozen strobing flares, laced around our icon, that inside; we can create motion with the flames, as opposed
run for that part of the intro.” McGuire adds, “This is one to them being 90° straight up. We can change the orienta-
of those wow moments in which special effects are in per- tion and do multiple angles and waves and so forth.”
fect symmetry with the production design—not only mag- And, Vitale says, “There are eight full-color Kvant 22W
nifying it, but making it grand though not overshading the lasers—six of them onstage and two mounted in the air
core element of the icon.” The opening icon effect is creat- left and right of the globe; they really showcase Matt’s




60 • December 2019 • Lighting&Sound America

drum solo.” only the top end but the consistent and accurate cover-
He adds, “We have 12 [Pyrotecnico proprietary] age with the low end is critical to the show. The
Stadium Shot [IIs] on the show; they line the thrust and are Chainsmokers have a very dynamic sound that covers the
pointed at a 90° angle. In the last cue of the show, on full spectrum of the frequency range and being able to
‘Closer,’ there are five big beats at the end and we lock the replicate it is very crucial.”
Stadium Shots on that.” Ten cryojets are placed on the Specifically, there are fourteen K1s and six K2s per side
downstage edge of the main stage, with six surrounding for the mains, eight K1s and eight K2s per side for the side
the B stage, along with two Le Maitre Freezefogs. “Clancy, hang, eight flown subs per side and eight ground subs per
Matt, Miguel, Corey, and I come up with really cool ideas,” side. “We are using all KS28s,” Nelson-Hauer says. “The
Vitale says, “but I have four guys on the road who have to ground subs are in four blocks of four across the front car-
do it every night and I’m proud of the effort they put in to dioid. For the flown subs, we tried a new configuration,
execute the plan that we put forth. We can come up with which I have never tried before, with the cardioid sub at
stuff until the cows come home, but if you can’t execute it, the top; it seems to do a great job for coverage. It also
then what good is it?” keeps the sub energy out of the roof, which is hard to con-
trol in some of these bigger rooms. We are very happy
Audio with the results.”
The front-of-house sound engineer Tristan Nelson-Hauer The PA is provided by Rat Sound. “Working closely with
is using an L-Acoustics K1/K2 PA, with KS28 subs. He Rat Sound Systems—Tom Worley and my system tech,
says, “We don’t like, we love the L-Acoustics system! It Justin Lenards—we have come up with a great design that
was the best PA for the show. The overall coverage of not is getting us the best possible result for everyone in the


























































www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • December 2019 • 61

Speaking of the L-Acoustic speaker rig, Tristan-Hauer says, “The Chainsmokers have a very dynamic sound that covers the full spec-
trum of the frequency range and being able to replicate it was very crucial.”




venue,” Nelson-Hauer explains. “The new auto FIR feature perature and humidity on the fly has been amazing, espe-
in Soundvision [L-Acoustics’ 3D design software] has cially when we get into some venues where we will do
saved my system tech a ton of time as far as system tun- soundcheck at one temperature, then do the show at a dif-
ing, and on this particular show we don’t have much time ferent temperature.”
allocated for actual tuning. We get the PA some days as For control, Nelson-Hauer has “a DiGiCo SD5 console,
late as 3pm and must be ready by 4pm for a VIP sound- fully loaded and running at 96K/96K. I have two SD racks
check, and with the entire system being 100% accurate as with 32-bit cards for taking care of all inputs from both the
we expect from Soundvision, I have complete confidence A and B stages. The input count is 112. I have been using
that this is not going to be an issue.” DiGiCo consoles for many, many years. I find them to be
reliable and constant. I run the console relatively hard, and
“ World War Joy is a concept The there is a real sweet spot where you get the warmth to
come through. On top of this I have two DiGiCo Nano
Chainsmokers came up with, and it
racks at the front of house, taking care of all the I/O duties
follows a dual narrative of a world for my outboard.”
divided into opposing sides. It has As for plug-ins, he says, “I don’t run any Waves what-
soever for the show. I do have a DiGiGrid MGR [quad
joy and war, it has happiness and
MADI interface], allowing me to record 128 channels over
sadness, it has a bright side and a four MADI streams at 96K, as I multi-track every show for
dark side, it has the obscure and the band and also provide them with a left/right bounce for
the colorful. ” —Risueño reference. The show file is around 200GB per show. I use
a 2012 Mac Mini with 2TB solid-state drive and 32GB ram.
For recording software, I use [Waves] Tracks Live and
Nelson-Hauer adds, “This is our first time using the [L- [Apple] Logic ProX.”
Acoustics] P1 processor; its autoclimate feature has really His effects gear, he says, includes “an Avalon [VT] 737
taken this PA to the next level; being able to adjust to tem- [channel strip], running into an Empirical Labs EL8




62 • December 2019 • Lighting&Sound America

Distressor for my Alex [Pall] and Drew vocals, Avalon 737 the bottom. The combination of the two top mics is
for each of my guest vocals, and a TC Electronic TC2290 because my drummer hits extremely hard and is very con-
digital delay for vocal delay throws. I’m also using a sistent—so the drum is tuned slightly lower than I would
Yamaha SPX990 for vocal effects—distortion, etc.—and usually prefer. I am able to move between the 57 and the
also a doubler preset for the acoustic guitar, along with a 207 to get the snare to cut through on a song-by-song
Yamaha SPX2000 for vocal reverb. I prefer a nice chamber basis; I’m only talking 1 or 2dB increments.” For the sec-
vocal reverb for this band, as I am able to find room in the ond snare, there’s a SM57 on the top and bottom; for the
spectrum to allow me to place it in without clouding any of toms, he’s using Shure Beta 98As. “All main cymbals are
the other programs, so to speak.” He also has an Eventide individually miked underneath with [Shure] KSM137s. I do
H3000-D/SX [ultra-harmonizer] and a Yamaha SPX990 this so I can run with the lowest gain possible, due to the
[effects processor] for drum reverb. “I use a [Rupert] Neve hard-hitting nature, to prevent bleed from everything else
5045 [Primary Source Enhancer] on my main two vocals. going on around. For the splash cymbals, I have Beta
This is a very important tool, as the SPL onstage is quite 98sA.” The drum kit on the B stage uses the same mic
high at times, and when the vocal mics are sitting in package. For vocals, he’s using the Shure Axient AD
keys/DJ world, I am able to use the Neve to transparently Series with KSM9 capsules.
close the mics off to prevent bleed. I run the entire mix In the end, McGuire says, “The most important part of the
through an API2500 [stereo compressor]. I use it gently, as production is that everything always has to work in symme-
a master bus compressor for minimal compression ratio try to provide the ultimate experience. It’s a show that has
and gain reduction.” been designed for a specific purpose, and it’s extremely fun
Talking about the onstage mic package, he says, “On to play every night and watch people’s reactions.” The
the kick drum, I use a [Shure] Beta 91A and an Audix D6. Chainsmokers’ World War Joy Tour concluded earlier this
For the main snare top, I have a combination of a Shure month.
SM57 and Beyerdynamic MS201, with just an SM57 on

















































The graphic gives a sense of the production’s color strategy. “The show starts with an aggressive, warm palette of red and orange,
which broadens into more pastel tones as the show progresses to convey the joy theme,” Behm says.

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • December 2019 • 63

TECHNICAL FOCUS: AUDIO




International Resolution

Benefits Wireless


Microphone Operators



By: Joe Ciaudelli




Joe Ciaudelli, Sennheiser’s director ITU-R 59 is the fruit of a multi-year
of spectrum affairs, was selected to collective effort by audio industry man-
be a member of the US State ufacturers, associations, and thought
Department delegation to the interna- leaders. With their support, Sennheiser
tional Radiocommunication Assembly, has been active in the relevant ITU
leading the effort to enact Resolution working parties during the past four
ITU-R 59, which could prove highly years leading up to RA-19/WRC-19,
beneficial to future wireless micro- contributing technical reports and rec-
phone operations. This article ommendations that document the
explains the process and significance exponential growth of news and enter-
of the resolution. tainment programming during this era
when radio frequency spectrum avail-
Every three to five years, government able for wireless microphones has
delegations from around the globe been constrained. Within the US ITU
gather at the Radiocommunication delegation, many practical solutions,
Assembly (RA) and World developed through industry collabora-
Radiocommunication Conference tion with the Federal Communications
Joe Ciaudelli.
(WRC), conducted by the International Commission (FCC), were integrated
Telecommunications Union (ITU) — into ITU reports and recommenda-
the United Nations (UN) specialized tions. These include allowing wireless Department; and private sector dele-
agency for information and communi- microphones to operate in suitable gates from industries that often have
cation technologies. Their mission is alternate frequency bands and refining conflicting interests other than those
to review emerging technologies, regulations that factor in real-world of the content-creation industries. A
negotiate use of radio frequencies conditions, such as permitting wireless convincing point is the preeminent
(RF) that enable wireless devices, har- microphone transmission on channels role that content creation plays in the
monize frequency bands to specific used for TV broadcast if the local ter- economic vibrance of the nation. The
applications, and codify binding inter- rain or building shielding makes such United States is the undisputed
national treaties. This facilitates cross- operation feasible. These efforts were leader in TV/radio broadcasting,
border, interference-free wireless com- reinforced in Europe through the ITU motion pictures, professional sports,
munications among different services delegation from Germany and the performing arts, and other live cultural
such as broadcasting, live events, Association of Professional Wireless events. Copyrighted programming
mobile broadband, satellite, aviation, Production Technology (APWPT). contributes well over a trillion dollars
ship-to-shore, public safety, and new ITU reports, recommendations, to the US economy, supports more
applications such as smart cars. This and resolutions become global stan- than five million high-paying jobs, and
year, these events, designated RA-19 dards. Their ratification is very difficult has the highest export-to-import ratio
and WRC-19, took pace from October and time-consuming because they of any American-made product or
21 to November 22 in Sharm El- require full consensus at every stage. service. Wireless microphones are
Sheikh, Egypt. They must be reviewed and approved indispensable tools that fuel this
A primary issue at RA-19 was without objections, first domestically; ecosystem. In promoting Resolution
Resolution ITU-R 59. Calling for har- by the US delegation comprised of ITU-R 59 in particular, the fact that
monization of radio frequency bands the FCC, the National Telecommuni- electronic news gathering is an
used for electronic news gathering cations and Information Admini- essential service during emergency
(ENG) and related content, Resolution stration (NTIA); the US State situations, such as natural disasters,




64 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America

The Radiocommunication Assembly (RA) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) met this year at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.


was emphasized. At such times, wire- the proposal from the United States Telecommunications
less microphones are the front end of was ratified with only minor edits. Commission (CITEL), which took
a broadcast chain that delivers life- Resolution ITU 59-2 now instructs the place in August. CITEL is a regional
critical information to the public. ITU to post a publicly accessible data- coalition for North, Central, and South
Regional and global harmonization is base of links to the relevant regulatory America that forms ITU proposals
essential for cross-border, sponta- information regarding wireless micro- with consensus from the Americas.
neous, newsworthy events and will phones from the UN member nations. It’s noteworthy that Canada recently
benefit any production team that It also calls for charts and other docu- finalized a proceeding that largely
operates internationally. mentation that will aid in harmoniza- harmonizes wireless microphone
If consensus for a proposed ITU tion of permitted frequency bands operation with the United States,
contribution is gained within the US among countries. including portions of the 941.5 —
delegation, it is submitted to the ITU The next step is to encourage 960MHz band. Also, an invitation to
for debate, possible refinement, and other countries to contribute their provide the information for the ITU
(hopefully) adoption by the entire 200- information for inclusion in the ITU database was distributed to the
plus members of this UN agency. database. The ITU only accepts infor- member nations attending WRC-19.
International approval of a contribution mation about a country if it comes This is all part of a grassroots effort
is an extremely high hurdle because it directly from that country’s adminis- by a wide variety of stakeholders with-
is scrutinized through the ears and tration. Wide international participa- in the content-creation industries.
eyes of the gamut of global view- tion throughout the four-year study Milestones such as this resolution
points. The US proposal for Resolution cycle leading up to the next RA and would not have been achieved without
ITU-R 59 was vigorously debated dur- WRC in 2023 will be a key element to the backing of individuals and associa-
ing the Radiocommunication harmonization. Towards that goal, an tions who included their names in
Assembly, with points raised by many informational technical paper was industry petitions or, better yet, wrote
administrations, including the Russian presented through the US State to the FCC, the State Department, or
Federation, Japan, Germany, United Department delegation to the confer- their elected officials directly.
Kingdom, and Australia. In the end, ence of the Inter-American

























www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • December 2019 • 65

TECHNICAL FOCUS: PRODUCT IN DEPTH




ETC Relevé Spot



By: Richard Cadena

That ETC is an initialism for “Electronic
Theatre Controls” is the worst-kept
secret in the industry. Although the
company started strictly as a manu-
facturer of lighting control systems, I’m
guessing that its luminaire sales prob-
ably easily surpassed its console and
dimmer sales with the introduction of
the Source Four in the early 1990s. I
distinctly remember visiting many pro-
duction companies back then and
seeing pallets of Source Fours coming
in the front door and pallets of the fix-
tures they replaced going out the back
door. But the company’s relationship
with automated lighting is a bit differ-
ent.
After acquiring automated lighting
manufacturer High End Systems in
2017, ETC jumped into the moving
light pool for the second time. The
company helped forge the way for the
acceptance of LED-based luminaires
in the theatre after acquiring the
Selador product line and subsequently
introducing the Source Four LED and
Source Four LED Series 2; the new
Relevé Spot could help theatres with-
out unlimited resources to acquire
automated lights.
True to the company’s theatre roots,
ETC’s newest automated moving light
is designed for the theatre. It is an
LED-based fixture, which should come
as no surprise, and it has a calibrated
four-color additive mixing system simi-
lar to the ColorSource Deep Blue,
which is one of the keys to its appeal.
To theatrical lighting designers,
color is everything. Early LED color- The ETC Relevé excels at producing a wide gamut of pastel colors; it’s very quiet, and
it’s priced right for educational and regional theatre.
mixing fixtures used red, green, and
blue LEDs, which, in theory, provide a
means of mixing any color. But ago, Rob Gerlach, a founding owner of relentless pursuit on the part of manu-
because LEDs are narrow-band emit- Selador, theorized that adding a lime facturers of LED emitters, this
ters, this scheme actually yields a fairly LED to the RGB mix would help realize changed in 2014, when Lumileds and
small color gamut; it also tends to pro- a more complete color spectrum and OSRAM both launched lime LEDs. It
duce very saturated colors, less-than- thus a more extensive color palette. turned out that Gerlach was right, and
ideal color rendering, and lower color There was only one problem—lime now, like the ColorSource Deep Blue
quality—not great for the theatre. Long LEDs didn’t exist. But, thanks to the fixture, the Relevé Spot has red, green,




66 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America

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pastel colors very well and scores well in color quality.


indigo, and lime emitters, resulting in a come to understand that it does a few 30.7dBA at 1m with all LED emitters at
larger color gamut and better color things really well; it produces great full, no movement, and the fan in auto
quality. colors that theatre lighting designers mode), and it’s affordable enough at
When I first turned on the fixture, I like and use, it’s very quiet (the noise $6,900 retail to be within reach of edu-
wasn’t dazzled by the intensity or by specs are almost identical to the High cational theatres, regional theatres,
sexy effects and features, but I have End Systems SolaFrame Theatre— and houses of worship.




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68 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America



TECHNICAL FOCUS: PRODUCT IN DEPTH




With a 20' throw, I measured a beam diameter of 6'6"
and a white light illuminance of 1,029 lux (about 96fc)
zoomed in all the way. In the widest zoom position, I meas-
ured a beam diameter of 20'6" (6.25m) and an illuminance of
298 lux (about 28fc). This translates to a zoom range of
about 18° to about 54°. I took measurements at the native
correlated color temperature, which I found to be 5,277K,
but the unit has the ability to vary the CCT between 2,700K
and 7,000K.
The CQS measured 86, and the spectral power distribu-
tion curve shows peaks at about 440nm (blue), 530nm
(green), and about 650 (red). As you might expect by looking
at the spectrum, the fixture produces beautiful deep blues,
nice reds, and great yellows and lavenders, but it can also
create subtle shades of many pastels. And because it uses
additive, not subtractive, mixing, the intensity doesn’t drop
when you dial up a more saturated color and there are no jar-
ring color transitions. Like the ColorSource, the Relevé has
droop compensation, which keeps the intensity and color
constant as the LED emitters heat up and cool down. This
works to keep the color mixing more accurate.
The dimming curve is extremely smooth, just as you
would expect. (Some theatrical designers I know would not
just expect it, but they would demand it). Besides RGIL
color mixing and remote zoom, it also has a light frost, iris,
strobe, rotating, indexable gobos, and an “Ani-gobo” effect
wheel, which is, as the name implies, a cross between an
animation wheel and a gobo wheel. It has six distinct pat-
terns, but they blend into each other, so they can create
continuous, uninterrupted movement through the beam.
This gives you the option to park it on one pattern, mix with
a fixed gobo, or throw it out of focus and animate it to cre-
to the winners ate water, fire, or abstract texture effects.
of the 2016 The Relevé Spot also has a unique feature that ETC calls
“Whisper Home,” which uses absolute encoders so the fix-
ture can find home without having to go to extreme posi-
tions. This makes for a very quiet homing process, which is
awesome and weird for people like me who are used to very
noisy homing routines. It also homes very quickly —in less
than 30 seconds. And it has a menu setting that enables
you to limit the pan and tilt in case it is mounted in a
restricted space and you don’t want it bumping into scenery
or other fixtures.
The model I reviewed didn’t yet have RDM, but Matt
Stoner, product manager for automated lighting, told me,
“ETC takes the quality of RDM control seriously and didn’t
want to release the feature before it completed the months of
testing in our integration lab.” At last check, Stoner con-
firmed that Relevé Spot is now shipping with RDM.
The fixture weighs about 68lb and measures about 19"
wide, 23" deep, and 26" tall with the head focused
forward.







70 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America



TECHNICAL FOCUS: TOOLS




City Theatrical Multiverse



By: Richard Cadena

In 2016, Gary Fails, founder and CEO
of City Theatrical, held a press confer-
ence on the show floor of LDI to
announce the launch of a new wireless
DMX product called Multiverse. At its
heart was a tiny integrated circuit chip
mounted on a very small circuit board.
It looked very promising, but we would
all have to wait to get our hands on it.
A few years later, the full product line
is finally here.
The range includes the Multiverse
5910 Transmitter, Multiverse Node,
Multiverse Gateway, and Multiverse
Module. I was finally able to get my
grubby hands on them and test them
out and, in short, they are easy to set
up and use, and they work really well.
The longer version is that the system
is well-thought-out and has lots of fea- The Multiverse Transmitter can transmit nine universes of DMX, five in the 2.4GHz
range, and four in the 900MHz range. It uses several techniques that help make it work
tures. well even in the most challenging of conditions, like a trade show environment, as illus-
The Multiverse 5910 Transmitter trated by the screen capture of a Wi-Fi scan.
can wirelessly transmits up to nine uni-
verses of DMX/RDM: five in the
2.4GHz band and four in the 900MHz
band. Someone asked me why this is
a big deal, and I can think of at least
two reasons: First, it replaces nine
transmitters with one, saving space
and setup time; second, it automati-
cally coordinates the frequencies so
that it minimizes interference, using
something called SHoW Key Security
to ensure that other City Theatrical
SHoW wireless DMX systems do not
interfere. The Ethernet input port
allows it to receive sACN or Art-Net,
obviating the need for multiple DMX
inputs. It even has power over
Ethernet (POE), so you can avoid hav-
One of my favorite features is the configuration screens in RDM. It shows you easily leg-
ing to use the power cable, powering it ible configuration settings in a simple layout format.
through the Ethernet cable if it’s fed
from an Ethernet switch that has a
POE power supply. Fails talked about this feature two a console repeats the DMX data up to
Even though it outputs nine times years ago during a presentation at LDI. 44 times per second, regardless of
more universes than other wireless It can be set up so that it only trans- whether any of the values have
DMX systems, it uses some clever mits changes in DMX values instead of changed. With a wired system, this
compression techniques to reduce the repeating the same, unchanged DMX has no ill consequences but when
amount of radio energy that it outputs. values over and over again. Ordinarily, you’re trying to share the wireless




72 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America

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visual environment technologies | etcconnect.com

TECHNICAL FOCUS: TOOLS




Transmitter and the Multiverse Node 900MHz, but it was actually 2.4GHz,
as a receiver was very easy. I already and I was using the omnidirectional
had the DMXcat app on my iPhone, antennas that came with the units. If
and since the transmitter has a built-in you need greater transmission dis-
DMXcat, I was able to connect it to my tances, you can always use directional
phone via Bluetooth and discover it antennas.
using RDM. It was so intuitive that I The reception was strong and
never had to break out the user manu- steady, despite the crowded frequency
al, with one small exception. When I band. There are a few reasons for this.
accidentally connected a device to the First, I was using the highest power
input of the node instead of the out- setting. You can dial it down if you
put, it automatically went into transmit don’t need to transmit over extremely
mode. I didn’t realize my mistake until long distances and this will lessen the
I read the manual. As soon as I dis- likelihood of interfering with other wire-
connected it, it went back into receive less. This is an important feature in
mode. today’s production environments,
Then I walked it away from the where other crews are working hard to
transmitter to see if I could get a signal get their own wireless (audio, monitor-
in the middle of the trade show. At a ing, lens focus, etc.) to work. Second,
distance of about 175', transmitting Multiverse also has user-selectable
through dry wall and two sets of glass adaptive spread spectrum rrequency
walls, the handy signal strength icon hopping, which changes the transmis-
on the backlit LCD screen on the face sion frequency several hundreds of
of the node was showing three out of times every second, and it monitors
four bars, which means 50% or better. the spectrum to avoid frequencies that
I thought I was using 900MHz but have a lot of interference. Third, it uses
when I later looked at the pictures I forward error correction.
took, I realized it was actually the There are many more features in the
2.4GHz band. I would likely have got- system; one of my favorites is the
ten much better results with 900MHz, built-in Wi-Fi that allows you to con-
because the lower frequencies travel nect to it to a tablet and use Luminair
farther and penetrate obstacles better or any other tablet-based app to con-
At a distance of approximately 500' or
more, I had good signal strength using than 2.4GHz. There is also a lot less trol your lighting system. One thing hat
the 2.4GHz band in a crowded space.
interference in the 900MHz band. makes its configuration easy is that it
Next, I walked the node all the way has RDM. It gives you quick access to
spectrum with other wireless sys- down the hallway, as far as I could go, a number of settings and options so
tems—like audio, Wi-Fi, wireless moni- which I estimate was about 500' or you can, for example, turn DHCP on
toring, etc.—it’s not a very effective more. It was easy to do because the or off, change the IP address and sub-
use of bandwidth. node is only about 4" tall by about 2- net mask, assign DMX universes, label
But how well does it actually work? 1 /4" wide and weighs about 6oz. I did the settings, and more.
That’s the question I set out to answer have to find an AC outlet to power it. Another component of the
when I received the demo package. In a perfect scenario, I would have Multiverse family of products that I
As with all wireless systems, one of elevated the transmitter and receiver think is really interesting is the
the biggest potential problems is inter- about 8' above the floor, because Multiverse Module, which is an inte-
ference. Trade shows are the worst. that’s the best location for the grated circuit chip that manufacturers
Fortunately, I happened to be in the strongest signal. The transmitter and mount on a tiny circuit board to inte-
Boston Convention and Exhibition node both come with an attachment grate wireless DMX into their fixtures.
Center during a medium-sized trade plate that makes it easy to mount on a It’s inexpensive enough that it’s likely
show, so I could test the system in a grip stand, truss, pipe, or some other to become ubiquitous. The wireless
fairly harsh environment. I scanned the structure. In this instance, I just set the revolution will not be televised, but it
2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and found transmitter on the floor and the receiv- will be broadcast, and it’s now under
that they were both very crowded. er still showed three out of four bars of way. Stay tuned.
(See illustration.) Perfect. reception.
Setting up the Multiverse Again, I thought I was using




74 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America

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Sennheiser IE 500

PRO In-Ear Monitor



By: Mark Johnson



A few months ago, I had an opportuni- and silicone ear adapters.
ty to review Sennheiser’s first pro IEM Some of the innovations introduced
product, the IE 40 PRO. (Since then, in the IE 40 are carried on through to
the company has followed up with the the IE 500, notably the patent-applied-
release of the IE 400 PRO and IE 500 for cable-routing method for a secure
PRO in-ear monitor systems.) In the and comfortable fit. The IE 500 carries
review, I stated that, based on my on the relatively utilitarian look of the
experience with the IE 40, I was hop- IE40, though the latter unit comes in
ing, at some point in the future, to try opaque black or frosted clear, and the
out the IE 400. I need to be careful IE 500 earpieces are available in clear
what I wish for. I ended up skipping or “smokey black.” The IE 500 fea-
the IE 400 when I was offered an tures the braided type of cable, desig-
opportunity to audition the top-of-the- nated as “twisted pair,” compared to
line IE 500 PRO. the IE 40, in which all the wires are
The form factor of the three models contained within the insulation. The
is very similar, and the specifications cables (either style) are listed as
for the IE 400 and the IE 500 are very optional accessories on the boxes of
close. The primary differences both models. In each case, however,
between them is a frequency response the majority of the listed optional
of 6Hz—20kHz for the IE 500, as accessories are, in fact, included.
opposed to 6Hz—19kHz for the IE
400, and a maximum sound pressure Keeping it simple
level of 126dB for the IE 500 com- Compared to the multiple-driver IEMs
pared to 123dB for the IE 400. The IE on the market, the IE 500 looks basic;
500 weighs in at a mere 18 grams; it’s just a single 7mm driver. The interi-
sonically, it is a horse of a different or of the earpiece is amazingly unclut-
color. It uses a SYS7 seven-millimeter tered. The IE 500 (as well as the IE
dynamic driver and clocks in with less 400) utilizes a two-chamber absorber
than 0.08% total harmonic distortion. to help reduce resonance peaks. The
With a good fit, you can expect about method used to create the new 7mm
26dB of noise attenuation. The funda- drivers has been dubbed
mental difference between the IE 400 “TrueResponse” technology. This is
and the IE 500, in terms of perform- the marketing buzzword for the new
ance, is the mid-frequency response driver and system, with the resultant
(with more “presence” in the mid fre- low distortion and wide bandwidth,
quencies, between 1—2.5kHz), as well which helps to create a natural sound-
as the ability to get 3dB louder, which stage and reduce listener fatigue. The
is probably why the IE 500 is adver- benefits of a single driver system are ably few components, which combine
tised on the box as “the monitor engi- full-bandwidth frequency response, to make up the driver assembly. You
neer’s choice.” without the artifacts or distortion from are basically looking at a miniaturized
The biggest visual distinction is, multiple crossover points, and better loudspeaker that has been fitted in the
actually, not the IEM proper; it’s the phase response. earpiece.
container that it arrives in. The IE 500 The back of the box for the IE 500 List price for the IE 500 is $599.
comes with a hard-shell transport case features an “exploded view” photo of The IE 400 (which also incorporates
1
1
and a 3.5mm—6.3mm ( /8"— /4") jack. the product. In the graphic (and, pre- the 7mm driver) lists for $349.95 and,
It also offers more choices of foam sumably, in the earpiece) are remark- as noted in the IE 40 review, the list for



76 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America

Next Generation


www.codaaudio.com

See more in the LSA December
Fantasia feature on page 48!

TECHNICAL FOCUS: PRODUCT IN DEPTH




























Note “twisted pair” braided cable. Note reinforced connection at the ear- The earpiece, which holds only one 7mm
piece and the formed cable routing. driver, is quite small.



the entry-level model is $99.95. borne noise, which is generated when trimmer than the IE 40’s earpiece.
And, as mentioned, the IE 500 the cable hits or rubs against another Of course, Sennheiser has been
incorporates the clear, braided “twist- object. building microphones for over 70
ed pair” cable, as opposed to the IE The earpiece, given that it only years, so the company does have a lit-
400, which comes with the black, holds one 7mm driver, is pretty small, tle bit of experience designing and
straight cable. The twisted pair cable especially when compared to custom- building dynamic drivers, which is
is said to help in reducing structure- fit multi-driver IEMs. It is even a mite another reason why it chose to focus
















































78 • December 2019 • Lighting&Sound America



TECHNICAL FOCUS: PRODUCT IN DEPTH




also manufactured in-ear monitor sys-
tems for the consumer market. The IE
series is the company’s first IEM
designed and built with the profession-
al market in mind.
As you can see, Sennheiser has
had a long and successful history in
developing and marketing drivers and
headphones.
The compact design fits unobtru-
sively in the ear. And the cable routing
method (patent application in
progress) does a great job of helping
to keep the IEMs in place and com-
fortable. A thin piece wire runs through
the cable routing system, helping to
guide the cable run over the ears—
and, once you determine the fit, it
helps to keep the cable in place.
Carton with hard-shell case accessory. IE 500 with foam and silicon ear adapters
and ¼" audio adapter. The earpiece enclosure—I’m not
sure what else you’d call it—is a
“clamshell” design, with both halves
its efforts on single dynamic driver cast industry took a liking to it. I fitted together. There is even a small
designs. Actually, the company started remember looking at album photogra- port on the outside of the earpiece.
manufacturing miniature magnetic phy back in the ‘70s and seeing them The packaging is a bit more
headphones in 1955, so it has had used in recording environments. I still upscale than that of the IE 40. The
plenty of time to develop its expertise. have my pair! I don’t have the first- Iatter has a foam insert and the sys-
In 1968, Sennheiser introduced the generation white plastic headband tem is fitted into appropriately shaped
first open headphone (the marketing with blue ear pads; mine are the black cutouts (for the earpieces, with chan-
materials coined the phrase “open headband with bright yellow earpads. nels for the cables). For the IE 500,
aire”), and that model, the HD 414, The HD 414 has been discontinued there is a black cardboard box (with a
remains the best-selling headphone of for a while now, but, of course, tone-on-tone Sennheiser logo) within
all time, with over 10,000,000 units Sennheiser continues to design and the branded IE 500 outer box. There is
sold. The HD 414 was originally build other models, although no “open also a foam insert, with cutouts, in the
designed and sold as a consumer aire” headphone variant is included in black box, but the IE 500 system also
product, but the professional broad- the current model lineup. Sennheiser includes a hard-shell carrying case.




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Als, the accessory foam and silicon ear
Theatre ▾ Television ▾ Film ▾ Themed ▾ Architecture adapters are mounted to a plastic
Experience Products plate (as opposed to coming in a small
Ideas OVER YEARS Resources Ziploc bag, as does the IE 40). Small,
Solutions Possibilities medium, and large foam adapters and
small and large silicone adapters are
affixed to the plate. The IE 500 comes
with medium silicone adapters
installed on the earpieces. Also avail-
able is a cleaning tool, a standard
accessory with just about every IEM
on the market.
The hard-shell case is nice. There is
a reel with a largish opening where the
earpieces can be stored, and the
cables wound around the reel. There is
also an elastic net in the lid of the case
where accessories can be stored.
To distinguish which earpiece is
which, the right earpiece has a red
Whether it’s a sheet of gel or a building-wide lighting network. One thing remains constant: grommet where the cable is affixed to
Barbizon Lighting’s dedication to understanding our customer’s needs. the connector, and a red band where
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Atlanta Boston Charlotte Chicago Dallas Denver Miami New York
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The IE 500 frequency response
extends higher than both the IE 40 and
400, while the low-frequency respons-
es for the IE 400 and 500 are identical.
While one can argue that it’s all outside
the range of the average person’s
hearing, the extended low frequencies
help to enhance how you “feel” the
sound. I listened to a broad range of
source material through the IE 500s.
The lows are solid and well defined,
and yes, you can feel them. Vocal
reproduction is spot-on, and the highs
are present, but not harsh. I’d say that
this is because of the single driver
design.
Overall, the IE 500 is comfortable to
wear and fun to listen to, which is
important when you need to wear and
use an in-ear monitor system for an
extended period of time. If you are in
the market for a high-quality, profes-
sional, universal-fit IEM system, the
Sennheiser IE 500 Pro is worth your
consideration.










82 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America



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Abracadabra




By: Phil Ward








When people in theatre refer to consecutive gigs by Muse, in a venue inside a venue is “a whole other mon-
“smoke and mirrors,” they’re not talk- near Nijmegen: One year, the band ster,” as Vier puts it, with no defined
ing about drugs. There is, quite literal- was handed penalties every half an prediction technology yet on the mar-
ly, the 250-year old illusion technique hour; the next, the officials were back- ket to calculate that kind of threat. It
involving the magic lantern and a stage when the show started and can, of course, be monitored—just like
gullible crowd but, metaphorically, all didn’t notice. Nothing to do with any show—but it’s a much blunter
theatrical suspension of disbelief can Soundscape, which wasn’t used; instrument and there’s virtually nothing
be described with the same phrase. everything to do with d&b’s new GSL that can be done at the front of house
Usually, it’s visual, but audio has its system. to address any issues.
moments. An immersive system is always a Anyway, there will be no festivals,
Object-based audio is a trick—as is very distributed system, so it has the no beer drunk in bucolic glades, no
stereo, come to think of it—a bit of potential to help with noise control. lights glowing or video screens flash-
phantom sonics. That makes it rather But it depends on how you deploy it, ing as the sun goes down over a ley
wonderful, but it does boil down to just like a conventional setup. In fact, line, no rites of passage nor rights of
more equipment—to buy, to sell, to the software packages integrate in the workers for pay and conditions, if the
rent, and to bolster with more motors, same way: If you feed an ArrayCalc sound people don’t get it right. Like
more crew, more everything. I’ve heard project, for which you are using walls, licensing has ears.
it described as “an interesting proposi- Soundscape, into the NoizCalc predic- As for ordinary punters, well. Vier
tion” by some in the business of deliv- tion software, you get exactly the tells the story of a social media app in
ering it, where “interesting” can be same type of results that you would if the States that invites audiences to
translated as “potentially lucrative but there was no Soundscape. It could be comment on the sound specifically at
not an easy sell down the line.” In par- a single line array or 64 channels the spot they occupy. Having quoted
ticular, the typical real estate for one worth of clustered speakers: It works block and seat number, a concerned
leading service provider’s immersive in the same way. What this means is member of the production team turns
system is “right where your main light- that there’s no intrinsic advantage to up minutes later with a decibel meter,
ing truss is,” which means bringing deploying immersive sound in terms of an iPhone, and a techy-looking combo
audio to the forefront of production noise control. The improvements you of headphones and comms, nodding
and jumping it to the top of the peck- can make are a function of the quality in agreement with whatever is being
ing order in meetings. of the enclosures and the skill of the remonstrated, and then appears to
Now that would be a neat trick. Nor crew, object-based or not. speak in authority to someone in a
can we continue in the hope that one It’s worth pointing out that NoizCalc position to make adjustments.
assumed beneficial side effect will help is not an active part of mixing a show, Surprisingly often, he reports, the
in this task—namely, noise manage- in the manner of monitoring systems punter is satisfied that something has
ment, which turns out to be a total red such as 10Eazy or SPLTrack. It will been done about the original griev-
herring. “Do not confuse directivity predict issues that are addressed in ance—and done in a most breathtak-
with source orientation,” d&b’s Werner the system design and configuration, ing social-media way—when, in fact, it
“Vier” Bayer told me recently. “If it’s but then a different set of tools takes hasn’t. The entire exchange is a mere
too loud, it’s too loud.” over in order to keep the show on stunt. Smoke and mirrors? Plus ça
This is borne out by a year-on-year track. Furthermore, NoizCalc is only change…
comparison undertaken by Event used for outdoor environments. The
Acoustics in Holland, using annual challenge of audio leaking out from

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • December 2019 • 93

BOOK OF THE MONTH











Screens Producing & Media

Operations by Laura Frank


By: Richard Cadena








In her new book, Screens Producing & Media Operations:
Advanced Practice for Media Server and Video Content
Preparation, (CRC Press, ISBN 978-1138338074), Laura
Frank says that multi-screen live production is “magic.” I
say it’s the artful application of really great technology.
Arthur C. Clarke might say it’s really the same thing and
we’re arguing semantics. “Any sufficiently advanced tech-
nology,” he once said, “is indistinguishable from magic.”
And, like any good magic trick, a lot goes on behind the
scenes to pull it off effectively. Nobody knows this better
than Laura Frank. She has honed her craft over a long
career, starting as a moving light tech, then a lighting con-
sole programmer, moving methodically through a number of
positions before arriving at her current position as a screens
producer. As her official bio notes, some of her projects
include rock tours with David Bowie and Madonna,
Broadway shows like Spamalot, and television events like
The Concert for New York City, to name a few. When the
convergence of lighting and video led to the development of
DMX-controlled media servers, she was in the right place at
the right time with the right skill set, primed and ready to
take her place developing and controlling screen content.
Over the next several years, she hammered out a solid
workflow based on her experience, expertly documenting
the process of taking a video project from zero to delivery spate of DMX-controlled media servers made it clear that
and emerging as one of the top screen producers in the the industry was changing rapidly, and video was the cata-
industry. lyst (no pun intended). The technology has moved so far, so
With that strong background, she was the logical choice fast, that it has become one of the most challenging from a
to write a book about screens producing and media ops. technology standpoint, and also in terms of trying to figure
And the time is exactly right for an in-depth book on the out how to document it quickly, easily, and effectively. It’s
subject, written by someone on the front lines of the cutting all-new territory and there is—no, strike that—there was no
edge, because video has taken a prime role in live event playbook until now. Frank’s book is the new playbook for
production and continues to hold a lot of promise for the the video industry.
future. New roles have emerged in the industry, including
Ever since the development of the blue LED paved the screens producer, screens associate, media server pro-
way for RGB LED display panels, and U2 became the first grammer, media server engineer, projection designer, con-
band to tour with an LED video backdrop in 1997, video has tent creator, and screens engineer. Frank begins by describ-
taken an increasingly substantive role in all varieties of ing them, their responsibilities, how they fit into the media
shows, both live and preproduced. By the early 2000s, the operations department, and how they interact with each




94 • December 2019 • Lighting&Sound America



BOOK OF THE MONTH




other. If you’re like me, you might be and documentation. Many of them — into explaining how to create design
learning about some of these roles for like Final Cut, After Effects, Cinema rasters, delivery rasters, and signal
the first time because, as she points 4D, and Blender—will be familiar to rasters, with real-world examples
out, “Media operations is a new disci- anyone who has been involved in taken from projects in which she was
pline.” video, while others—like OmniGraffle involved. There are plenty of practical
After describing the team and defin- and Sketchfab (wow!)—sent me scur- applications of the processes she
ing key terms that are critical to the rying to the Internet to check them describes, and Frank doesn’t shy
success of a project, Frank lays out out. Luckily, she provides ample illus- away from technical details about
the requirements for creating effective trations that show what screen sched- things like genlock, time code, and
documentation, including scenic docu- ules and screen logs look like, and lots more.
mentation, renders, and build draw- more, including renderings, design My favorite part of the book is
ings. Along the way, she also spells rasters, and elevation drawings, buried in the appendices. In Appendix
out some of the software tools that are among others. 2 is a workflow outline, which basically
commonly used for content creation The book takes a pretty deep dive summarizes the workflow in an easy-
to-follow-and-understand list of 13
steps. These include reviewing render-
ings, discussing goals with producers
and directors, reviewing preliminary
shop drawings, building a team budg-
et, confirming the budget and securing
shop drawings, creating a 3D model,
comparing the 3D model to shop/build
drawings, outlining the screens log,
determining pixel density, building a
master template for the design raster,
building a delivery raster, drafting sig-
nal rasters, and finalizing the gear
budget. It’s quick to read and is a
BTG is Lighting Done Right: great overview of the entire book.
Once you see how everything is laid
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Lamps Color Filters I was fortunate enough to have
Moving Light Lamps, Theatrical Gel / Diffusion, Sheets, Rolls,
Lamps, LCD/DLP Projection, Sleeves, Panels worked in live entertainment during the
TV & Film Lamps development of DMX-controlled media
servers, LED displays, and pixel-map-
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Lighting Fixtures into the nitty-gritty of what can be a
Gobos Led Lighting, Work Lights, Moving complicated workflow. If you’re
Glass, Metal, Custom, Holders, Lights, Followspots, LED Panels,
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96 • December 2019 • Lighting&Sound America

ADVERTISING INDEX

ELC Lighting ............................Poster, 11, 86 LightParts ....................................................86 Serapid USA................................................89

A Theatre Project, by R. Pilbrow ................85 ETC ......................................................73, 89 Link............................................Poster, 20, 85 Showlight ....................................................11
A.C. Lighting................................................17 ETCP ..........................................................90 Littlite ..........................................................84 Shure ....................................................69, 85
Academy of Frank Gatto Lighting ..................................89 Martin by Harman ................................81, 87 The Sound of Theatre ................................85
Production Technology ..................Poster, 31 GearSource ................................................65 Mole-Richardson ........................................89 Stage Equipment & Lighting ......................88
Adam Hall..........................................3, 86, 89 Gilbert Hemsley Internship, Murphy Lighting ..........................................87 Stage Lighting Super Saturday ..................31
ADJ..........................................................9, 88 Portfolio Review ..........................................12 NAMM ......................................13, 19, 85, 90 Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas ................91
Antari ..............................................Poster, 90 GLP ......................................................10, 86 Northern Illinois University Staging Dimensions ..................................90
Applied Electronics ....................Poster, 4, 91 H&H Specialties ..........................................90 School of Theatre and Dance ....................31 Swisson ................................................82, 91
Barbizon....................................Poster, 82, 88 Harlequin Floors....................................68, 90 Obsidian ................................................86, 88 Syracuse Scenery & Stage Lighting............89
BCi ..............................................................86 Infinite Optics ..............................................88 Ohio University Theater ..............................30 Theatre Effects ............................................91
Bulbtronics ............................................88, 96 InLight Gobos..................................Poster, 87 OmniSistem Lights & Effects ......................86 Theatre Projects Consultants..................8, 91
Chauvet Professional........Inside Front Cover, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2020 ......92 Pathway Connectivity ..............25, 27, 29, 87 Ultratec..................................................26, 91
............................................................ 89, 95 Interactive Technologies........................28, 89 PLASA Show ..............................................78 URTA ..............................................30, 31, 86
Chroma-Q..............................................15, 86 Interamerica Stage ......................................90 Pro Tapes & Specialties ..............................91 USITT ....................................................70, 85
City Theatrical..........................Belly Band, 87 Johnson Systems........................................86 ProductionHub ............................................70 Vari-Lite ................................................67, 87
CODA Audio..........................................77, 85 Lectrosonics................................................85 RC4 Wireless Dimming ............Poster, 23, 91 Vincent Lighting Systems............................86
CommuniLux Productions ..........................88 Leprecon ....................................................87 Reed Rigging ..............................................91 Wayne State University
Control Freak Systems................................90 The Light Source ................24, 71, 83, 88, 90 Renkus-Heinz........................................80, 85 Dept. of Theatre & Dance............................30
Doug Fleenor Design ............................16, 89 Light Source ................................................87 Robe ................Poster, Inside Back Cover, 88 Whirlwind ..............................................79, 85
Elation Professional ....................Back Cover, LightFactory ................................................87 ROE Visual ..............................................7, 91
....................................................6, 21, 86, 88 Lighting&Sound America ............................97 Sennheiser ............................................75, 85



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(REQUIRED) (REQUIRED) (REQUIRED) (REQUIRED) (REQUIRED)
A. Lighting Designer A. Lighting Designer A. Concerts & Touring A. Concerts & Touring A. Designer
B. Sound Designer B. Sound Designer B. Clubs B. Clubs B. Engineer/Technician
C. Programmer C. Programmer C. Theatre C. Theatre C. Educator
D. Technician D. Technician D. Houses of Worship D. Houses of Worship D. Chairman, Owner, Partner,
E. Production Manager/Technical E. Production Manager/Technical E. Presentation/Events E. Presentation/Events President, CEO
Director Director F. Themed Entertainment F. Themed Entertainment E. VP, CFO, COO, CIO, MD
F. Rental & Staging Professional F. Rental & Staging Professional G. TV/Film G. TV/Film F. Director, Manager, Supervisor
G. Manufacturer G. Manufacturer H. Other (please specify) H. Other (please specify) G. Sales &/or Marketing Manager
H. Distributor H. Distributor H. Producer or Director
I. Consultant I. Consultant I. Student
J. Other (please specify) J. Other (please specify) J. Other (please specify)
CODE: PLASA1219

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • December 2019 • 97

PEOPLE WORTH KNOWING






Chad Tiller



The new vice president, global live entertainment market
at Rosco talks about the company’s evolution and what

makes an effective salesperson.








LSA: How did you get started in the industry? oping products. My story is not unique: I started as a boots-
: While my degree is in acting, I got a day job at on-the-ground salesperson, moved to sales manager, then
Norcostco in Dallas in 2002 and fell in love with sales. My to director of sales, and now into a VP role where I’m
mentor, Paul Callihan, taught me how to help customers get focused on live entertainment. People have worked for the
what they need. Our goal was to be the place for answers, company for 25, 30, 35, even 40 years or more; it is a place
whether or not we sell something. It was less about closing where people will have not just a job but a career.
a deal and more about consultation and collaboration.
LSA: What does your new position entail?
LSA: How did you join Rosco? : The official title is vice president, global live entertain-
: In 2007, we moved to New York so my wife could pur- ment market. This is the first time Rosco has opted for spe-
sue a graduate degree. I started at Rosco as account repre- cialization in the sales team. I’m looking at theatre, concert
sentative. Until recently, Rosco has been structured as a touring, and special events lighting, and we have a team of
team of generalists; I covered the theatrical industry but also specialists who are sales reps. In this new organizational
broadcast, film/TV, and architecture, and supported our structure, we, similarly, have a film/TV and broadcast team
dealer network of retailers and rental shops. I jokingly tell and an architectural market team. Because my background
people I had five full-time jobs! is theatre and because my heart and passion lie in the the-
atre, it’s a kind of homecoming, if you will.
LSA: How has the company adapted to changing times? For the past seven years we’ve focused on growing our
: We’ve always been adapting, for over 100 years. Rosco presence as an LED manufacturer. A lot of our development
was founded in 1910 by Mr. Rosenstein, a chemist. The has been in the film and TV segments; at the same time, we
company made paint thinner, turpentines, and other chemi- were focused on building up our architectural brand associ-
cals, including a dipping lacquer to color the glass ation and recognition. Now we’re rebalancing our focus on
envelopes of light bulbs. Rosco became the ubiquitous col- the theatrical and live entertainment customer base, along
orant for the screw-in light bulbs in Times Square marquees. with core products like gel and paint and gobos.
That led to making sheets of gelatin that became the ubiqui-
tous color gel. When plastic came along, it became colored LSA: Do you think the relationship between sales and cus-
plastic. Over 109 years, we’ve picked up a number of prod- tomers has changed over the years?
ucts, including full lines of scenic paint and dance floors. We : A lot has changed as far as how people buy stuff, but I
manufacture our own dichroic filters. We manufacture don’t think there’s ever been a replacement for the fact that
gobos, both custom and standard. We have the largest customers have problems and you are trying to solve them
standard pattern catalog in the industry. And we’re in anoth- in the easiest way possible. I can make their lives easier,
er reinvention period as LEDs take to the forefront. either by presenting the right solution or connecting them to
someone who has that knowledge. Once, at a party, I had
LSA: What is it like working at Rosco, now that Stan Miller one lighting designer, recently out of a graduate program,
has transitioned to chairman and Mark Engel is CEO? tell me they were hoping to assist at a higher level. About 30
: Mr. Miller still comes into the office every day. It’s nice minutes later, I talked to another designer, who said, “You
to work at a company where the cultural figurehead of the know, I’m just looking for a good assistant who’s got XYZ
organization is down the hallway. The first thing Mark did skillset.” And I said, “Hold that thought!” I grabbed the first
when he stepped into the role of CEO was enumerate designer and said, “Have you guys met?” That has nothing
Rosco’s values. We have eight formal values, but Mr. Miller to do with selling a Rosco product, but that is exactly the
embodies them; he is the heart and soul at Rosco. role of a salesperson. That was probably true in 1950 and
Rosco is as interested in developing people as in devel- will probably be true in 2050.

98 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America

THE WORLD'S FIRST


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