standards news

Black Light’s Summer Training Schedule Has Some Exciting New Additions

Black Light has announced its schedule of Summer Training courses, which has two exciting new additions. The programme will deliver Black Light’s usual mix of ‘hands-on training’ and expert tuition and covers a wide range of equipment and techniques.

One of the new highlights is a series of courses on the award-winning Green Hippo range of Media Servers. The courses will provide an overview of the company’s technology, which offers a powerful tool for anyone in the live entertainment sector who works with video and images.

"Media Servers, such as Green Hippo’s Hippotizer, are where the industry is heading," says Claire Södergren, Black Light’s customer relations manager who is organising the training courses. "It’s the creative opportunities that this technology offers that made us set up our courses. We want more people to find out how this technology works and to see what it’s capable of."

The training courses will take place at Black Light’s Edinburgh HQ. Each course can only take 12 people. Numbers are limited to ensure a good ratio between attendees and equipment and to allow lots of opportunities for one-to-one, hands-on tuition.

Another exciting addition is Black Light’s Vectorworks course. This progressive two-day course begins with an introduction to using Vectorworks. The second day focuses specifically on the lighting design capabilities of the software.

Full details of Black Light’s Summer Training Schedule are as follows:

Ion training:

2 x 2 day courses – 19th/20th and 21st/22nd June at Black Light

The courses require a £25 booking fee. This fee shall be returned when the course has been attended in the form of a voucher to be used with Black Light. Booking is on a first come first serve basis as places are limited.

Vectorworks training:

1 x 2 day course – 26th/ 27th June at Black Light

£120 for 1 day and £190 for both days.

FST members will get a reduced rate of £100 for 1 day and £170 for both days.

Green Hippo Media Servers:

2 x 1 day course – 10th and 11th July at Black Light

£95 per person and £80 for FST members.

Working at Height:

3 day course 17th – 19th July at Edinburgh Festival Theatre

£390 per person and £312 for FST members.

All prices are ex vat.

For more details or to book your place, please contact Claire Södergren

at Black Light on 0131 551 2337 or email at claires@black-light.com

22nd May 2012

AC-ET To Host Yamaha CL Series Open Days

A.C Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd’s audio division will be hosting two dedicated open day events in conjunction with Yamaha to showcase the manufacturer’s highly anticipated new Yamaha CL series of digital mixing consoles, which were recently unveiled for the first time at the ProLight+Sound exhibition in Frankfurt.

The open days will be held on Tuesday 29th May in Leeds and Thursday 28th June in High Wycombe, at AC-ET’s state-of-the-art demonstration facilities.

AC-ET is amongst the first of a selection of high-end UK Yamaha dealers to take stock of these brand new cutting-edge consoles, recently receiving delivery of the CL5 flagship model.

The open days will each consist of three identical sessions, scheduled for 11am, 1pm and 3pm, designed to give maximum flexibility for interested parties to fit into their busy schedules.

The programme for each session will include showing the CL Series launch presentation, a question and answer session and a hands-on workshop, which will allow attendees to discover for themselves the innovative and advanced features making the CL series a new standard in digital live engineering.

A.C. Audio’s team will conduct the open day sessions in conjunction with Yamaha, bringing their vast knowledge and expertise from all professional audio sectors to the equation.

Continuing Yamaha’s reputation as a leading innovator in this sector, the CL Series provides accessible, intuitive mixing for the most imaginative and creative engineers and artists, combining sonic purity with advanced sound shaping capabilities in an ultimate user interface.

The CL Series’ comprises three consoles, for all scales of show – CL1, CL3 and CL5 - ranging from 48 to 72 mono, plus eight stereo inputs, all featuring 16 DCAs and 24 mix/eight matrix output busses.

Some of the many innovations and refinements include enhanced channel select functions and user defined knobs, all based around the Centralogic interface.

Developed in close collaboration with audio console guru, Rupert Neve himself, the CL Series includes a premium rack with a Rupert Neve Designs five band Portico 5033 equaliser and a Portico 5043 compressor/limiter. An effects rack with VCM analogue circuitry modelling technology is also standard.

Two new rack-mountable I/O units – Rio3224-D and Rio1608-D – can be used in a variety of combinations and configurations running via Dante protocol. The console is also optimised for very straightforward live multitrack recording at the touch of a button, utilising Steinberg’s Nuendo Live DAW software for Mac or PC.

The open days are completely free and will include lunch and refreshments provided throughout the day, and a prize draw to win various branded swag and other goodies.

AC-ET’s dedicated audio sales representatives will also be available to visit customers’ premises for CL Series demonstrations, should they not be able to attend one of the open day sessions.

For further details and to register your interest in the open days or a demo at your premises, please visit http://www.ac-et.com/audio/events/yamaha-cl5-opendays.asp or contact AC-ET’s Audio division on +44 113 255 7666 / audio@ac-et.com

www.ac-et.com

17th May 2012

AC-ET Provides Lighting & Media Control Masterclass for Backstage Academy with Jands Vista

A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd. provided two one-day Jands Vista v2 ‘Masterclass’ seminars to students taking the Lighting Module of Backstage Academy’s Foundation Degree in Live Events Production.

The 16-month fast-track intensive course, led by chief operations Officer Robin Watkinson, provides students with the core practical skills needed to pursue a successful career in the professional events production industry. The invitation to participate underlined the fast growing popularity of the Jands Vista system in live events.

AC-ET’s Andy Mahaffey conducted the training at the LS-Live Studios in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. A range of different sized consoles from the Vista family allowed the two separate groups of students to have full hands-on training and see how flexible and accessible the system is.

The Masterclasses gave students an introduction to the Vista’s simple, consistent and powerful control of lighting fixtures, LED and media. Impressing them most were its ease of use and the intuitive nature of creating very accurate and detailed sequences.

Andy commented: "Watching how easily a group of people with a wide range of experience and backgrounds picked up the Vista v2 software was both rewarding and reinforces just how good the Vista v2 software now is."

Robin Watkinson adds: "The Jands Vista Masterclass is an important component of the Lighting Module and the practical training that students receive following the theory of light and the application of lighting design and programming. We are very privileged to have gained AC-ET’s support."

The students’ comments really spoke for themselves. Rob South enthused: "The Jands Vista is a great lighting desk - so simple and user friendly. Coming from another console background, I can safely say that Andy's converted me."

Harry Harrison said, "Having trained on other consoles, I was amazed at how easy it was to create a show on the Vista. After Andy's training it will definitely be a desk I’ll choose in the future."

Following the overwhelming positive feedback for the Vista control platform from the training days, a Vista T2 console was one of the desks chosen by students for their end of module lighting practical assessment.

Backstage Academy’s first intake will graduate in early 2013 and the next will start in November.

www.ac-et.com

10th May 2012

Course News: Backstage Academy Events Safety Passport

The Event Safety Passport is a scheme designed for people in the events industries in order to demonstrate that they have a fundamental understanding of health and safety before they step onto site. More and more events are becoming passport controlled, with Glastonbury being one of the first large events to adopt the scheme; increasingly other companies and events will follow.

Courses will be held on Thursday 24th May 2012 and Wednesday 27th June 2012 at Backstage Academy, based at the renowned LS-Live rehearsal studio in Wakefield. It is an Apple Authorised Training Centre with a fully equipped, state of the art Apple training suite.

Anyone who is interested in enrolling on one or more of the courses can do so at www.backstage-academy.co.uk or alternatively contact Kate White at the Backstage office on 01977 659881.

8th May 2012

Backstage Training in Focus at PLASA

Backstage Academy, one of the UK’s leading destinations for skills training in live events, enjoyed one of the busiest stands at the PLASA Focus exhibition in Leeds, where it led a well-attended debate on the future of training with a panel of industry experts and education professionals, and took over 100 enquiries for courses.

The Academy shared an exhibition space with specialist live events insurance broker Doodsons at The Royal Armouries Museum Centre on April 17-18, where the team spoke to students and those working in the entertainment industry about its roster of short courses in backstage skills and its Live Events Production Foundation Degree.

“We had an overwhelmingly positive response from students keen to hear more about our Foundation Degree in Live Events Production,” said COO Robin Watkinson. “Many of them could see the benefits of studying in such close proximity to a real working environment as offered by the LS-Live rehearsal studio facility.”

Backstage Academy’s Live Events Production Foundation Degree, which is validated by The University of Bolton, launched last November and is a 16-month course designed to provide an overview of all aspects of working on live events, with optimum hands-on experience. The Academy also runs a wide-ranging roster of short courses in different backstage and technical skills.

“We are pleased that the effort we have put in over the last few years to create a degree that’s more than just a piece of paper, a degree that’s about practical, relevant training dictated by industry demand and current trends, has paid off and we are starting to see real demand for this course,” said Watkinson.

Backstage Academy students currently on the first ever FdA also attended the show to talk to prospective students and do some valuable networking. Said FdA Student Harry Harrison: “Over the two days I met a huge number of people from lots of different businesses, all that could be vital to my future; the words ‘It's not what you know, it's who you know,’ keep popping up!”

Backstage Academy’s panel session, ‘The Big Training Debate. Less Talk More Chalk’, put a spotlight on speculative shortfalls in current live events training and featured discussion on how, by bridging the gap between education and employers, we can create a cohesive strategy for raising standards and delivering up graduates that match the industry’s expectations.

Chaired by Joanna Hartle (production manager and Backstage Academy Industry Specialist Lecturer), the panel comprised Backstage Academy COO and FdA Course Leader Robin Watkinson, GCB (G Force Crew), Brian Warrens (Lecturer in Production Arts, and Creative and Cultural Apprenticeship Assessor at South Essex College), Rachel Haughey (production manager, Founder of International Production Youth Network) and Martin Roberts (Learning Organiser for BECTU).

GCB of crewing company G Force Crew, and stage manager for festivals such as Download, Wireless, Wakestock and Hard Rock Calling, stressed that many stage management courses gave “false prophecy” to students that they could secure a stage manager’s position upon graduation. He suggested closer links to industry and more practical experience was needed to better prepare students for the real world. “The people that teach in this industry should be the people that have worked in the industry and have the experience to pass on their knowledge.”

BECTU’s Martin Roberts said colleges were releasing graduates into the job sector with little knowledge about how they would go about setting up as a freelancer and managing their own accounts. “We try and ease this pressure for our members and make sure that people on work placements actually get training and aren’t just used as a skivvy.”

Rachel Haughey (IPYN) agreed that although training starts in the classroom, the key to it was on-site experience at live events. “You can’t teach the vibe. When you’re in the middle of Glastonbury festival manning the main controls and site production at 6am and the rain comes flooding in - you can’t teach what that’s like on a live site.”

Brian Warrens said the industry needed to address its duty of care and direct students along the right path. The panel all agreed that there was a saturation of technical production courses in the UK and that some form of regulation was needed.

Said GCB: “I’m quite new to what Backstage Academy is doing, but I think it’s a great idea. I sit on the council for the PSA too and we have been having discussions about what would be a recognisable qualification or experience for employers, so that when young people approach me they can say they’ve done the Backstage Academy course or done this, so I know they’ve had some kind of training at a certain level.”

Haughey called for more accountability from colleges and universities, suggesting that industry professionals give feedback on the level of competence of graduates.

Roberts proposed that Creative and Cultural Skills should pledge to only endorse a certain number of courses in the country to avoid every college rolling them out.

Audience member Will Hahns, Education Partnerships Manager for the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural, implied that CCSkills should and are taking on the responsibility of improving training in the backstage sector in the UK. He noted schemes such as the writing of the new National Occupational Standards (NOS) and the Employer Ownership of Skills pilot. The latter scheme calls for employers to bid for part of a £50 million pot of funding to invest in innovative, employer-led skills and training solutions.

Joanna Hartle posed the question: “How do we integrate the industry, the education, the experience and the attitude to create something across the board that means people can understand where everyone’s at, regardless of the educational institution, taking out the politics and celebrating the work being done, so that employers can recognise what level a student is at? Is it looking at the National Occupational Standards? Or is it that we need to act as an industry to say what our expectations are from students coming out of university?”

At the end of the session, Watkinson announced they would create an online forum for continued discussion and debate on these topics. This now exists on LinkedIn: 'Backstage Academy Live Events Production Training Forum'.

www.backstage-academy.co.uk

3rd May 2012

Training Tops the Bill with Orbital’s 11th ‘Sound Fundamentals for Theatre’ Week

Orbital Sound’s annual Easter ‘Sound Fundamentals for Theatre’ training course was fully subscribed, with over 20 students taking part in the four-day programme. Now in its 11th year, Orbital reports that to date it has helped prepare more than 250 theatre sound and technical theatre students for careers in live entertainment, with the latest contingent principally drawn from the UK’s leading drama schools, as well as freelancers and the corporate sector.

The course took place at Orbital’s purpose-built Brixton training facility, with the students guided through the essentials of theatre sound by course leader Richard Carter, supported by Orbital’s technical director, Bill Addison.

Richard Carter explains the course’s rationale: "This course is very much about combining a solid grounding in theory with practical skills, aiming to cater for a varied mix of skill levels. We focus on providing as much of the training as possible from the in-house team, with expert support from a number of manufacturers to give students access to the latest equipment. We also introduced a new module this year – on rigging, which proved to be very popular, and we had guest lectures from sound designers including the National Theatre’s Rich Walsh and Rick Clarke. The feedback from the students has been very positive – with the emphasis on how much they got out of the course in just four days, and the inspiration and confidence gained as a result. This is perhaps the most rewarding aspect for everyone involved in the tuition, providing the motivation to train future generations of sound professionals."

Orbital’s team was supported by presentations from d&b audiotechnik, Yamaha Commercial Audio, and for the first time this year, Shure, providing the students with the opportunity to use some of the latest audio equipment and gain hands-on experience. The week concluded with the chance to go backstage on two West End productions – Blood Brothers and Dreamboats and Petticoats - providing an in-depth insight into the real-world challenges of big modern musicals.

The annual Easter ‘Sound Fundamentals for Theatre’ week forms a key component of Orbital’s long-standing training contribution, which now includes a brand new training course for later this year – Mixing Musicals. Focusing on FOH mixing and the critical backstage roles of No 2 and No 3 operators in the sound department, the course is designed to help aspiring theatre sound operators take their musical mixing skills to the next level. Taking place in late October, it will be taught by experienced operators using the latest big board digital mixing technology.

In picture: the Rigging Module in progress.

2nd May 2012

Audient Workshop at SAE Institute Rotterdam

Audient distributor, Maarten's Sound & Vision is organising a workshop to be held at the SAE Institute, Rotterdam on Friday 27th April. Collaborating with Audient and Sonnox, the afternoon will be split into two with a view to introducing the brand new Audient ASP4816 compact console as well as Sonnox Plug-ins, and giving attendees an insight into recording and mixing from the perspective of industry stalwarts.

Kicking off at 2pm, Audient's Luke Baldry will be running a live recording and mix session with local band CrowdedBEATS. The demonstration will include general mixing tips and tricks for analogue in-line recording, whilst highlighting the benefits of working wth the Audient flagship console ASP8024 as well as the more compact, recently launched ASP4816. The smaller desk will be connected to a multitrack HD recorder, giving visitors the opportunity to get hands on with the desk and make their own mix.

Mixing, mastering, repairing and delivery will be the topics discussed by Josep M. Solà of Sonnox Oxford, who will demonstrate how Sonnox Plug-Ins can be used effectively.

In order to secure your place at this invaluable workshop and be in with a chance to win a MiCO Dual mic preamp from Audient, sign up using the registration form here:

http://www.msv.nl/nieuws/nieuwsitem.php?categorieID=316&itemID=2380&menuitemID[]=1

19th April 2012

The Security Training School – Hitting New Heights in the Pit

The summer festival season is fast approaching, the excitement is building and the daily countdown from the Isle of Wight tweets, one of the earliest festivals of the year, keeps us all in a state of anticipation for what 2012 has to offer. The diversity of venues hosting music events is ever expanding; parks, stately homes, forests, motor racing circuits, purpose built venues and disused aerodromes will all be readying themselves to welcome thousands of enthusiastic music fans. At the top of every security agenda is the issue of ensuring the safety of those enjoying the event.

One of the most critical areas at any festival or standing concert is the area at the front of the audience, often termed as the front of stage area or pit area. At present there is very little in terms of consistent standards. This disparity between different venues and events, even those staffed by the same company, is a serious issue and inevitably leads to poor and dangerous handing of emergency situations. It is surprising then, in this health and safety obsessed modern age, that there is so little attention given to the personal development of staff placed inside the pit area. It is with these issues in mind that the Hertfordshire based company, The Security Training School Ltd (TSTS), has developed its new Pit training course.

“The problem with Pit crews is that even within established companies every manager has a slightly different way of doing something, simply because that’s the way they’ve done it for years,” suggests Josh o’Riordan, Media Manager at TSTS.

Accredited as a level 2 award by NCFE it is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. The Level 2 Spectator Events Pit Operator award, that The Security Training School has created, aims to instigate a new standard of practice into the events industry and develop the learner’s knowledge, skills and understanding required for working as part of a functional and safe Pit crew. TSTS state that their “main focus for designing and delivering the course has been to massively improve the existing training and practices found within the security industry”.

They intend to do so by promoting simple warm up techniques and basic manual handling skills in order to protect those undertaking what is one of the most physically demanding roles at any event. The accumulation of injuries sustained when working in the Pit is becoming increasingly regular, causing companies to battle the consequences of injured staff. Furthermore, the course aims to push standardisation of hand signals for communicating in the Pit environment, teach staff how to engage with artists and promoters, and how to conduct efficient inspections of the Pit area and equipment. TSTS believe that the differences between an event steward and a Pit operative warrant a completely separate course; though many individuals may attend the course as an extension of qualifications they already hold.

Tommy Michalis, Senior Trainer at TSTS and long serving veteran of the events industry with over 30 years experience explains: “We often find when consulting with venues that staff are confused in their job role, believing they are there to protect the stage and equipment from the audience. Although this is a tiny percentage of their role we firmly believe that their focus for the vast majority of the time should be the welfare of the audience members. The course covers topics such as customer care and welfare, learning to spot distressed and injured spectators. Ultimately we want to add to the enjoyment of the audience, not treat them like the enemy. In turn this aids the popularity of the venue and its reputation; everyone’s a winner.”

The course is subsequently generating a lot of interest throughout the events and security industry with many major venues and companies showing interest. Richard Limb, president of the National Outdoor Event Association (NOEA), participated in one of the initial courses and was so impressed that he recommended that NOEA endorse the award. Limb went on record to say: “NOEA believes that this course enhances the existing training and practice in the events industry and will lead to an improvement in the safety of spectators at outdoor events through the provision of correctly trained staff able to deal with any emergency and incident professionally and correctly. NOEA commends this course to all companies and operatives working within the front of stage (PIT) area.”

19th April 2012

Stage Technologies Automation Training

The Stage Technologies 2012 schedule of UK training courses started off recently featuring A Beginner's Introduction to Automation and An Introduction to Stage Technologies' eChameleon Software, both of which took place at our London office.

There are still some spots available for the June and September sessions of these popular courses, so visit our website to book.

The suite of hands-on events also includes the Chameleon 5 to eChameleon Conversion Course. All three courses aim to provide complete beginners right through to experienced automation practitioners with the key concepts and latest updates. Participants may choose from dates in June and September 2012.

The events are competitively priced: each one day course costs £75 + VAT while the two day Introduction to Stage Technologies’ eChameleon Software is £150 + VAT. A 10% discount is available for members of the Stage Management Association, Stage Jobs Pro, The Association of British Theatre Technicians, and The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph & Theatre Union (BECTU).

Stage Technologies’ training development manager, Alex Hitchcock said: "There is continued demand for skilled automation operators in the theatre sector as well as cruise ships, large circus type shows and rock music tours. Our courses help a range of participants, from technical theatre students to experienced operators looking to upgrade their skills. Our trainers have a wealth of experience operating programming and training right across the globe and will attempt to inspire the participants with a range of media and training techniques including slide presentations, film, real-world application examples, and anecdotal knowledge drawn from personal experience. Whether an operator aspires to work backstage in the West End or on the road with a pop star, our courses will make sure they enter the job market with confidence."

To book your place or for further information go to www.stagetech.com/training/latest-courses to complete an online application form or email training@stagetech.com for more information.

www.stagetech.com

10th April 2012

200th Pyro Training Course for the ASP

Pyrotechnics, when used safely, play an important part in any show or event and on 28th March 2012, Stage Electrics hosted the Association of Stage Pyrotechnicians 200th training course.

The one day Pyrotechnic Safety Awareness course was presented by well-known industry trainer Lincoln Parkhouse and took place at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham. The course takes participants through practical hands on training sessions on the safe use and identification of pyrotechnics and their effects.

Twenty-four delegates enjoyed the one day training event and were all presented with a certificate confirming their membership to the Association of Stage Pyrotechnicians and completion of the training course.

Hannah Parkinson who attended the course from the Redgrave Theatre, Bristol said: “The day gave me a good all round experience and knowledge and we’ll all be safer in our workplace after being on this training”.

“Stage Electrics sell a lot of pyrotechnics throughout the year and offering our customers and freelancers this training was a natural progression. We have been hosting these courses all over the UK for five years, Lincoln Parkhouse is a brilliant trainer, fun, informative and extremely knowledgeable and the courses are always very successful. The feedback is excellent. Congratulations to Lincoln and his team for all their hard work and enthusiasm and to the Association of Stage Pyrotechnicians on its 200th course,” said Jenny Redman, administrator for the customer training courses at Stage Electrics.

The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) has also recognised the importance of this safety training, as late last year it made a decision to adjust its Public Liability Insurance policy with immediate effect to ensure that any members seeking cover for their work with pyrotechnics special effects at theatrical and live events have appropriate accreditation from the Joint Industry Grading Scheme (www.jigs.org.uk) or have attended an appropriate Operational Safety Awareness course.

Stage Electrics is hosting the next course with Lincoln Parkhouse at The Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton on 14th May 2012.

In picture: Lincoln Parkhouse with Jenny Redman from Stage Electrics

www.stage-electrics.co.uk

5th April 2012

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