Solotech showcases the talent that underpins its unmatched expertise. We spoke to Charlie Marchand, Project Manager, Systems Integration.

Q: Could you describe your typical workday?

CM: A typical day is a busy day! I need to make sure everyone’s on the same page and act as the communications contact between our customers and Solotech’s various teams. I’ll have several meetings to review Solotech’s solutions and ensure that the client’s needs and expectations are met, and that everyone understands what’s required. Moreover, I need to pass on information to our teams, find solutions, and ensure they’re implemented. Within a large team, it’s essential for everyone to pitch in; I often put on my boots and deliver equipment myself to make sure our technicians have everything they need on site.

Q: How did your career path lead you to Solotech?

CM: I came to Solotech with project management experience. Originally, I acquired my skills in the medical equipment manufacturing industry, completely unrelated to AV. This background honed my rigor and sharpened my curiosity. Project management is my passion.

Q: What’s the best part of your job?

CM: I love being able to break down a major project into distinct, precise parts. I love gathering information and bringing it together, leading a team to deliver the final “big picture”.

Q: Is there a favourite project you’ve worked on?

CM: My favourite project is currently ongoing: the M.A.A. club. This project has been handled by several people, but I’ve been able to put the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle. It’s very motivating to see the progress as the months go by and what our team can achieve. Supporting our customers during the roll-out of this project has also been a highlight of this project. This client loves its historic building, and being able to take part in a project like this with a passionate client is one of the best perks of my job.

Q: What sets Solotech apart as a workplace?

CM: Enthusiasm, creativity, but above all, mutual support. From design to drawings, coordination to warehousing, there’s always someone willing to listen and help. To me, that’s where the Solotech team’s strength lies.

Congratulations to Victoria (Vic) Hofflin, Solotech UK’s deputy head of Audio at ABBA Voyage, for being awarded the 2023 L-Acoustics L-ISA grant.

L-Acoustics in association with SoundGirls organisation have awarded four grants for courses in the official L-Acoustics Education Program. SoundGirls is a global organisation with a mission to inspire and empower the next generation of women in audio by providing tools, knowledge and support to further their careers.

The L-ISA grant provides the funding to sign up for all the applicable L-ISA associated training courses with L-Acoustics. L-ISA is the L-Acoustics immersive audio platform and the training perfects an engineer’s understanding of line source behaviour, optimizing mechanical design and use of electronic settings, as well as allowing them to develop a comprehensive approach to calibration in the entire workflow of a project.

“Vic has been a great addition to the team, she joined as a General Swing Technician with a bias in sound and has worked incredibly hard to progress to Deputy Head of Audio.” says Tara Brady, the senior project coordinator at ABBA voyage. “Vic’s commitment to learning and self development is inspiring, I am incredibly proud to have her on my team and part of the Solotech Family.”

Vic Hofflin added, “I am a musician at heart and am incredibly passionate about working in the production industry as a female identifying creative and engineer. I not only want a seat at the table, but I want to make the table bigger and more diverse. To me, the only way to do that is to keep on providing opportunities (like these) and to continue educating and inviting new diverse people to be a part of the conversation. It is important to me to continue to engage with, and to learn about new ways of designing, supporting, and managing a system.”

Vic is extremely excited about this new opportunity for her to expand her knowledge and claims that it is just the start of her extensive career in specialised immersive audio production.

Visit the SoundGirls.org website

Discover L-Acoustics Education

As Solotech geared up for a series of exhilarating festivals at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, starting with the iconic Osheaga Music and Arts Festival, CTV Montreal stepped behind the scenes to discover the intricate process that brings these inspiring events to life.

For several weeks leading up to the festival’s launch, Parc Jean-Drapeau was abuzz with activity as Solotech’s teams set up stages, ensuring that every detail was perfect before the tour buses and crowds rolled in. Our logistics experts meticulously plan every step, from packing and loading equipment to setting up stages on-site. It’s a delicate dance of coordination and precision that ensures the show starts without a hitch.

Technology plays a crucial role in enhancing the fan experience. While Solotech stays true to traditional methods, we’re also embracing innovation. Augmented reality and immersive environments are transforming how audiences engage with live performances. By combining these new technologies with our time-tested approach, Solotech elevates the festival experience to new heights.

From Osheaga, ÎLESONIQ, and LASSO Montreal, three major Montreal music festivals in three straight weekends, Solotech is at the heart of it all, ensuring that the show goes on.

Learn more about Solotech’s efforts behind Montreal’s festival season here.

Source: CTV Montreal (August 3, 2023), Preparations at Parc Jean-Drapeau ramp up for back-to-back festivals, starting with Osheaga

Contact: media@solotech.com

A 360-Degree, Sonic Evolution by Solotech.

Matchbox Twenty‘s long-awaited Slow Dream Tour is finally up and running; the realization of the band’s postponed 2020 tour, which was impacted by the pandemic. The tour, in support of their new album “Where the Light Goes,” has taken them across North America, with plans for future shows in Australia and New Zealand.

Solotech, working from their Nashville office, has provided audio, video, lighting, and rigging solutions. A versatile L-Acoustics-based sound system allows the performance to adapt to a range of venues, from arenas seating 19,000 to smaller theaters with a capacity of 6,000. The system also supports Matchbox Twenty’s evolving sonic palette while maintaining tonal consistency.

The tour does pose its challenges, particularly in RF coordination, due to the planning of 53 channels that include IEMs, backline wireless, wireless mics, and wireless reference mics. The team utilizes creative solutions to ensure a flawless performance from venue to venue.

To read the full article, and discover how the Slow Dream Tour has consistently delivered outstanding productions, click here.

Source: Live Sound International (July, 2023), Staying in Balance; Matchbox Twenty’s sonic evolution unfolds on the Slow Dream Tour

Contact

media@solotech.com 

Solotech pilots revolutionary L Series system; deploys the technology for the first time on Helene Fischer’s tour.

In an article detailing the launch of the L-Acoustics L Series line source array, TPI Magazine highlighted the crucial role Solotech played in the technology’s deployment. As an important L-Acoustics partner, Solotech piloted the L Series, using it for the first time ever at Helene Fischer’s “Live 2023” kickoff show at Barclays Arena Hamburg on April 11th.

The concert sound system met the needs of Helene Fischer’s team due to its power, control, and consistency in a format that is almost half the size and weight of an equivalent traditional line source array.

“L-Acoustics is a long-term partner, and we are quite proud to be the first company to pilot L Series on tour with Helene Fischer, for whom we are providing audio, lighting, lighting, and video,” said John Probyn, Head of Business Development, Live Productions Division, Europe, Solotech.

For more details, read the full article here.

Source: TPI Magazine (April 18, 2023), L-Acoustics Launches L Series

Contact:

media@solotech.com

Montreal, Quebec, April 19, 2023 –

Solotech, a global leader in audiovisual and entertainment technology, is thrilled to have received the 2022 Parnelli award for Video Production Company of the Year.

Solotech won for its work on The Weeknd – After Hours Til Dawn Tour. The stadium production requiring unprecedented amounts of technology became one of the largest tours Solotech had ever put on the road. It was thanks to Solotech’s world-class team that the project was executed to such an industry-leading standard.

“I feel honoured for Solotech to have won this award,” said Rob Kennedy, Solotech Account Executive. “The After Hours Til Dawn project was the culmination of rigorous planning, collaboration, and execution. Everyone on the team contributed to getting a tour of that magnitude up and running, and I know they will feel proud to have their hard work recognized.”

The Parnelli awards are among the live event industry’s highest honours. The awards recognize pioneering, influential companies and professionals. Their contributions are recognized annually at the gala production, where more than 25 awards are handed out.

Solotech, as well as its clients and partners, received a high number of nominations this year. Solotech was nominated for the Lighting Company of the Year Award, and many clients and partners were also recognized for their exceptional work. Solotech projects drew nominations for productions of Harry Styles (Media Content Creator of the Year, Production Manager of the Year), The Weeknd (Production Manager of the Year, Production Designer of the Year, Lighting Designer of the Year), Jason Aldean (Media Content Creator of the Year) and Elton John (Media Content Creator of the Year).

You can learn more about the Parnelli awards here.

Contact

media@solotech.com

Frankfurt, Germany, April 17, 2023 – Known for her spectacularly acrobatic shows, German superstar Helene Fischer kicked off her 71-date ‘Live 2023’ tour on April 11th at Barclays Arena Hamburg for a 15-city run through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and the Netherlands. Although Solotech has long provided technological solutions globally, this is among the first times Solotech’s Live Productions Division, Europe, provides a complete 360-degree solution in Germany.

Produced by Live Nation and created by Cirque du Soleil, the tour comprises multi-night mini-residencies, with audio, lighting and video production needs provided by Solotech’s Live Productions Division, Europe, including L-Acoustics’ new compact and powerful L Series line source array. Additionally, Solotech provided Avid S6L and Yamaha consoles, wireless in-ear/microphone packages, Roe Visual Vanish 8T LED panels, robotic cameras, a full-blown lighting rig, and other related infrastructure.

Significantly, Solotech and Fischer are also the first to use the L Series Progressive, Ultra-Dense Line Source by L-Acoustics on tour. This concert sound system meets the needs of Helene Fischer’s team due to its power, control, and consistency in a format that is almost half the size and weight of an equivalent traditional line source array.

“On a show like this, technical aspects dictate what you deploy and how it’s deployed,” says Holger Schader – Senior Consultant, Touring and Special Events, Solotech in Germany. “Here, we had problematic weight limits in every venue, so we were looking for options to reduce weight and speed up load in and load out times.” L Series also leaves plenty of real estate for other system elements and limits the type of visual distractions a larger system often results in, he adds.

In addition to being smaller, lighter and easier to deploy, the L-Acoustics L2 and L2D elements provide substantial audio benefits. They offer significantly enhanced power density, consistency over the audience area, and improved rejection everywhere else. They are powered by the new L-Acoustics LA-RAK III platform, which provides 48 channels of amplification and DSP in a 9U touring rack package, enabling high resolution control and power to each L2 and L2D speaker.

All of these elements were critical for Fischer’s tour. “There’s so much other infrastructure, so many lighting and video elements, that a high-density, low-weight system, with the full benefit of L-Acoustics’ proven technology behind it, plays a big role in a show like this,” Schader notes.

Solotech’s partnership with L-Acoustics and long-term association with Cirque du Soleil, as well as the company’s willingness to adapt and innovate relentlessly in service to its clients, was a significant benefit for this project. The creative process was enhanced by enabling a more fluent dialogue than would ever be possible if using multiple equipment providers. Solotech was involved early in the creative process in May-June 2022 so that Live Nation and Cirque du Soleil could refine their needs for lighting, video, and audio fluently and seamlessly, with Solotech providing real-world solutions, no matter how complex or ambitious the design concept.

“As a client, you’ve got to look for a company that can adapt to all your needs, especially on a show where so many changes are made during the creative process. Not every company can do that,” says John Probyn, Head of Business Development, Live Productions Division, Europe, Solotech. “But because we are used to doing 360-degree shows of this size, if one option doesn’t work, we can easily provide multiple options to adapt to any artistic or creative changes down the line. Whereas other companies might struggle to enable designers to fulfill their vision.” 

Solotech’s provision of a full 360-degree live production solution speaks volumes in terms of the company’s willingness to go the extra mile and leverage its relationships with manufacturers to get ahead of new technologies and get the job done.

Contact

media@solotech.com

Photo Credits

Joern Pollex