Maxxyz a ‘Sense-ation’ at “Linz Cloud of Sound”

The Linzer Klangwolke or “Linz Cloud of Sound” festival in Linz, Austria has become a trademark of the city. Both musical adventure and family affair, Linzer Klangwolke attracts some 100,000 guests to Danube Park each year.

Held in early September, Christian Weisskircher (visualization) and Peter Wolf (composition) arranged a sensuous prelude for this year’s Klangwolke, which featured Wolf’s “Symphony of Seven Senses”.

Wolf, an Austrian American – famous as a producer of eight Number 1 hits, film music composer of “Pretty Woman” and “Top Gun”, and composer and arranger for Santana and Natalie Cole - worked as producer and composer on the project. Entitled “Sense-ation”, Wolf’s work expands the number of senses from five to seven.

The technical realization of his idea was a particular challenge, as it required the distribution of DMX-data for the complete lighting installation from a central FOH to either side of the Danube River and onto a huge pontoon 600 meters in the middle of the waterway. As a normal wiring solution was unthinkable, LTK Lukas Kaltenbäck GmbH – supplier and installer of the lighting equipment – charged Martin Professional Germany with providing a control solution that fulfilled the challenging requirements.

FOH was therefore equipped with two Maxxyz lighting consoles (one as backup) to control 140 MAC moving heads, more than 300 generics and 8 rotatable water pumps. The audience side of the Danube was supplied with DMX directly out of the Maxxyz whereas the pontoon and opposite shore received the Artnet signal from the Maxxyz via Wireless LAN. Using ordinary access points completed with special 8db omni-directional beam radio antennas, it was possible to supply two Martin Ether2DMX routers with the Maxxyz Artnet data – one 200m across the Danube and one on a ship that traveled 600m along the Danube – providing four independent DMX outs at each location. The entire show was synchronized via SMPTE time code, which was distributed over the entire area by Austrian television ORF.

Through the combination of sound, video, fireworks and lighting, spectators were treated to an unusual and exciting 90-minute show, both fascinating and thoughtful. After a perfect show Andreas Leopold, Project Manager for LTK GmbH, commented, “What first looked like a complex problem was finally solvable through the use of Maxxyz and simple W-LAN components. The network installation, together with a well thought-out programming Maxxyz interface, made control of the lighting both easy and reliable. Everything worked fine.”

Visualization:                      Christian Weisskircher
Supplier:                            LTK GmbH, Project Manager Andreas Leopold
Operator:                           Florian Schreiter
W-LAN Supplier:                  Partnersoft GmbH – www.partnersoft.de
Maxxyz installation:              Martin Professional GmbH
Music:                               Peter Wolf
Lyrics & Texts:                    Michelle Wolf

Gear:                                20 MAC 2000 Profile
                                       12 MAC 2000 Performance
                                       8 MAC 2000 Wash
                                       20 MAC 500
                                       80 MAC 600
                                       2 Maxxyz
                                       Ether2DMX
                                       app. 300 Generics
                                       8 DMX controlled water pumps