American heavy metal band Queensryche headlined ShiRock 2018. This year, the festival was held from 16th October to 19th October 2019. The government sponsored ticket-free music festival has grown much bigger in 2019 and the audience witnessed two legendary classic rock bands –Nazareth and Extreme.

Guru Somayaji, a Bangalore based Lighting designer was entrusted with handling ShiRock second year in row. Guru is a freelance lighting designer from Bangalore, India. He is the touring Lighting engineer for The Local Train, When Chai Met Toast, Skrat and Parekh & Singh. When he is not designing and operating lighting rigs, he is a cook, an avid terrace gardener and a beer connoisseur of sorts. This year, Guru used a grandMA3 light console to run lighting for Extreme’s performance at ShiRock 2019. ‘More Than Words’, ‘Decadence Dance’, ‘Get The Funk Out ‘, ‘Tragic Comic’ and many other chartbusting compositions by Extreme are popular among their fans , globally. Guru explained his planning for the festival’s lighting design. “The design ideology was keeping in mind early 90’s Rock concert rigs. The LED Par Cans were retrofitted on pipes to make them look like ACL Bars. Lots of Par Cans were fanned out to give an ACL Bar Look. Blinders were of course used aplenty to provide for grand sing along moments. We also shipped in 5X5 Matrix lights to ensure we had met Extreme’s lighting rider. Apart from meeting Extreme’s requirements, I also had to ensure all the participants of the prestigious ShiRock ‘Battle of the bands’ and the ‘voice’ competition had to look at their best.” He continues, “The entire design was conceptualised on Grand MA2on PC Command Wing & MA3D. I used the latest version of 3.7.0.5. Primary drawings were made on Claude Heintz Design’s LX Software”.

The technical support of MA is highly appreciated across the globe. Be it at any part of the world, MA never compromises its benchmark support. Guru also shared the challenges prior to the show. “Ukhrul is technically a very challenging location to produce any concert. Though, the entire state machinery is involved in producing this event, logistics is always a challenge, which I always strive to work with.” Audio Systems MA Product Manager /Tech Support Engineer Kakkaroda Ajay Teja from Hi-Tech Audio Systems stepped in to help with the overall logistics of shipping the MA console and programme the show for Extreme’s Lighting Designer Martin Favourite. Guru continued, “Ajay provided his technical expertise in making the MA air cargo ready. Ajay’s onsite tech support was a huge relief, especially in a place as remote as Ukhrul. His presence also made Martin at ease from shifting his regular preferred console to using MA console for Extreme. With Ajay’s experience in training people on MA software, he had Martin setup and show ready in super quick time.” Hi-Tech Audio Systems are the Authorized India Distributor of MA Lighting.

“Martin Favourite loved the work-flow of MA. I made him familiar with the console and during the show I, helped him with the programming. It was indeed a moment of pride for me to work with Mr. Martin, one of the global icons in lighting industry. I bet we managed to rock ShiRock with extreme fun and head-banging moments”, concludes Ajay Teja.

From the onset, the company has worked effectively with clients as partners in constructing successful events; from small boardroom meetings through to large-scale events. Focus Vision has continued to provide its partners with a precise level of technological achievement and client satisfaction. By on-boarding DiGiCo SD10, Focus Vision is boosting their services.

Sachin Nasre, Focus Vision’s Managing Director, explains why, for him, DiGiCo is the only choice. “DiGiGo has become an industry standard and the most wanted console in India, both for one-off shows and touring productions. Almost every production we supply demands DiGiCo,” says Sachin. “The console offers ample headroom for the user and with the 32 bit card it’s amazing as you can push the sound with ease. We are really happy with the decision to invest on SD10. The SD10 is currently part of Guru Randhawa and Darshan Rawal’s 6 cities tour across India.”

“The SD-series of DiGiCo are state-of-the-art consoles. Undoubtedly most mixing engineers of India are familiar with SD10 and its user-friendly features”, explains Rajan Gupta, Managing Director of Hi-Tech Audio Systems. He continues, “You can find DiGiCo in all major music festivals’ tech-ride across the country. Top mixing engineers prefer DiGiCo because they trust the brand and its world-wide reputation. Moreover the tech and after sales support we provide is at par with DiGiCo standards.

The Fashion Design Council of India has partnered with LIVA from the Aditya Birla Group, as the Associate Sponsor of the mega event. Delhi based rental company Modern Stage Services Pvt. Ltd., were responsible to handle the audio-video and lighting production during the mega event.

Davinder Wadhwa, Managing Director of Modern Stage Services says, “Lighting plays a major role in any fashion show, and a brand like LMIFW can never ignore the importance of impeccable lighting during the four-day fashion gala. The lighting inventory was massive for both the main stages (MSA1 & MSA2). This year for the first time at LMIFW edition, ETC Colorsource Spot Pearl was included in the inventory by Modern Stage. A variable white-light LED spot luminaire that utilizes a mix of two different white LEDs that enable a user to set the colour temperature anywhere between 2700 K and 6500 K. Thus Colorsource Spot Pearl gave the much needed organic and natural light on the ramp.”

India’s renowned lighting designer Viraf Pocha was associated with Lotus Makeup India Fashion Week (LMIFW) Autumn Winter 2019. His expertise, ideas and style of stage lighting made him choose ETC Colorsource Spot Pearl for LMIFW 2019. “I always prefer organic and subtle way of lighting. In a fashion show the light should enhance the fabric exhibited by the models on the ramp rather than dissolving the original nature of the attires. ETC offers the right scope of lighting that compliments a fashion show”, explains Viraf Pocha. He adds, “Being in the industry for more than 3 decades, I was well aware about ETC’s presence, globally. Everybody makes profile lights, but ETC just makes it better.”

Apt for venues where white light plays significant role, ColorSource Spot Pearl features flicker-free operation and an impressively smooth dimming curve. ETC has partnered with Hi-Tech Audio Systems Pvt. Ltd., who is now the India Distributor of the US manufactured lighting fixtures and controls. “The market reputation of ETC is highly acclaimed across the world. In India through regular ETC demos, we are able to create a niche clientele who appreciates cutting-edge and world class lighting products. Lotus Make-up India Fashion Week was a breakthrough event with Modern Stage Services World and ETC. With time we are sure that ETC products will be the first preferred choice in any live show inventory or installations,” shares Rajan Gupta, Managing Director, Hi-Tech Audio Systems.

To conclude Gaurav Sharma, Business Head-Lighting, Hi-Tech Audio Systems Pvt. Ltd., says “As a lighting designer, I found ETC is not a product, it is an insignia of lighting art which enhances the imaginative spectrum of a lighting engineer. Hi-Tech Audio Systems’ venture with ETC will surely help the Indian lighting industry to explore new avenues of business.”

“For the management of Sri Sathya Sai Premamrutham, the project is a milestone and the audio install was a prime consideration,” adds Sri Sathya Sai Premamrutham’s, Bharat Kumar. “We didn’t want anyone to blame the acoustics of the hall for bad sound; rather, we wanted a company that could fix the acoustic environment with their system. We found out about L-Acoustics and thought they could provide the solution we needed, then we discovered there was only one authorised distributor for India – HiTech Audio.”
 

“As the India distributor of L-Acoustics, we wanted to provide the best system to our client; one that would deliver the consistent audio quality they required,” explains Rajan Gupta, Managing Director of HiTech Audio Systems. “The auditorium has a high reverberation time and we wanted to achieve a very precise sound, particularly for music, to create a soothing spiritual ambience. A Kara system would allow us to do this.”

The installation comprises a main left and right PA with six Kara and three SB18 subs per side flown in a cardioid pattern next to the Kara, with a centre fill of three Kara. To accommodate the enormous size of the venue, delays of four Kara and two SB18 subs per side were added.

J Davis Prosound & Lighting, which has provided AV and lighting installations across India for over two decades, assisted HiTech Audio with the installation.

“L-Acoustics systems are based on a total solutions approach including all enclosures, rigging, amplification, and DSP,” says Santana Davis, owner of J Davis Prosound & Lighting. “This results in a highly predictive, standard system with control and monitoring that satisfies the performance requirements of the venue.” 

HiTech’s Senior Application Engineer, Kallol Nath adds, “The venue is a highly reflective zone with a reverb time of 4.5 seconds. This was the biggest challenge as we have to provide direct sound to the congregants who visit the auditorium. To ensure a clean, natural sound throughout the prayer hall we have also installed eight 5XT as front-fills and two X12 as side-fills, positioned directly under the main PA and at a close vicinity to the stage.” 

The expansive interior of the auditorium, which measures 60 x 40 metres features a high ceiling that houses hundreds of LED lights. This presented an additional challenge as there was a lack of rigging points, which needed to be created during the two-week installation period.

L-Acoustics Application Engineer, Germain Simon, who provided the system design using L-Acoustics Soundvision modelling software, also travelled to Muddenahalli to assist with final testing and tuning of the system.

The expansive interior of the auditorium, which measures 60 x 40 metres features a high ceiling that houses hundreds of LED lights. This presented an additional challenge as there was a lack of rigging points, which needed to be created during the two-week installation period.

L-Acoustics Application Engineer, Germain Simon, who provided the system design using L-Acoustics Soundvision modelling software, also travelled to Muddenahalli to assist with final testing and tuning of the system.

Started in 1999 by Cristovam (Cris) De Monte Furtado as an audio rental company, Audio Kris has expanded its business to include all aspect of live events. “We have been using DiGiCo consoles since the beginning. Their reliability, pristine audio quality and simplicity of setup were the main reason we chose them,” says Cris. “For many years, artist tech riders include DiGiCo consoles as a requirement and we always want to satisfy our client’s needs with DiGiCo. The entire team at Audio Kris is excited about the addition of the SD10, which is our third DiGiCo console.”

“Chris is determined to take his company to the next level of success by staying ahead of the competition, in terms of both knowledge and technology,” says Rajan Gupta, Managing Director of Hi-Tech Audio Systems. “The addition of the SD10 is a turning point for the company. The purchase was made in answer to the growing demand in and around Goa, which is one of the most happening destination for global artists and musicians.”

Cris and his technical team have found the combination of the SD10 and SD-Rack to be one of the best all-round packages available to the industry, offering the right balance of sound quality, versatility and all-round control. The system runs via an Optocore connection.

From live concerts to corporate events, conferences to gala dinners, Audio Kris caters to a wide range of clientele. Cris, a long-time SD user, starting with an SD9 eight years ago, says, “We quickly decided to add an SD10 to our inventory because of our growing list of clients, which includes various audio related events. With its high fader count, and high input and output buss counts the SD10 is the right addition for our rental stock. Plus, if you’re using an SD-Rack via Optocore, the audio quality is amazing and the final outcome superb.”

Karl Da Costa, Systems and Audio Engineer at Audio Kris, shares his experience of SD10. “Extra fader banks, additional user defined macro keys and a more elaborate control surface makes this console very hands on without having to toggle screens to get to specific functions,” he says.

“Audio Kris’s SD10 has the Optocore network already implemented to accommodate the growing demand for Optocore equipped DiGiCo solutions in the market now and in the future,” concludes Nirdosh Aggarwal, Hi-Tech Audio’s Director of Sales. “We are glad that we could deliver the best to Audio Kris and we are always there to provide after sales training and support.”

Press Contacts:

Maria Fiorellino at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: maria@digiconsoles.biz
Web: www.digico.org

Sarah James at Gasoline Media
Tel: +44 1483 223333
Email: sarahj@gasolinemedia.com
Web: www.gasolinemedia.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/sarah_gasoline

“We are glad that we could deliver the best to Audio Kris and we are always there to provide after sales training and support.”