Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Christmas Under The Stars is a Stellar Success with L-Acoustics

12/01/2021

Christmas Under The Stars is a Stellar Success with L-Acoustics posted: 12/01/2021

Rehearsing on the Kara/SB28 rig at North Phoenix

Christ's Church of the Valley's annual holiday spectacular spread out across its ten Phoenix-area campuses this December, and Clearwing Productions deployed 210 L-Acoustics loudspeakers with P1 and M1 for maximum consistency across all locations

January 2021 - Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV), a non-denominational Christian church located in and around Phoenix, likes to do things in a big way. Founded in 1982, CCV was able to raise over $1 million in a single day back in 1996 to purchase 50 acres in the northwest suburb of Peoria where it would build its main 3,000-seat campus, the first of what are now ten worship locations, and soon to be an even dozen in 2021.

Soundcheck for Christmas Under The Stars at CCV's Peoria campus where Clearwing flew four L-Acoustics Kara arrays over KS28 subs

When it came to its annual Christmastime event for 2020, the church wasn't about to let COVID-19 permanently halt the production. Instead, it produced Christmas Under The Stars outdoors and safely spaced at all of its campuses over six nights during the holiday. Enjoyed by an estimated 50,000 people, each campus had fantastic sound thanks to the deployment of an astounding 210 L-Acoustics loudspeaker enclosures and components provided by the Phoenix office of Clearwing Productions.

It was pretty incredible, recalls Clearwing Audio Engineer/Designer Joe Spitzer, who is also a certified and accomplished L-Acoustics K System Engineer (KSE). We approached this as we would a music festival with ten separate stages. L-Acoustics had the perfect mix of speakers and technologies to let us design and build PA systems that were exactly matched to each location's acoustical and coverage needs, as well as make sure we had consistent sound quality across all ten sites. Plus, it was consistent with the sound the church is used to hearing because they have L-Acoustics Kara or Kiva II systems in more than half of their campuses. So the system performance was very familiar to their own engineers.

The main Peoria campus had the largest single system, consisting of a flown PA using seven Kara boxes per side for the main arrays and six more per hang for the side arrays. Six SB28 subs provided low end, and the whole system was powered by four LA-RAK II amplified controllers, each containing three LA12X amplifiers.

Another view of the Peoria site's setup

The other nine campuses had combinations of six Kara or eight Kiva II speakers per side, most stacked atop a pair of either SB28 or KS28 subs, while two locations had six-Kara hangs flown per side. One location, an auditorium with a wide, fan-shaped seating area, utilized two A15 Wide and two A15 Focus enclosures per side. In all, Clearwing's technicians deployed a sum of 74 Kara, 48 Kiva II, ten X8, six X15 HiQ, six ARCS II, four A15 Focus, four A15 Wide, eight 12XT, and two Syva, paired with a total of 28 SB28, 16 KS28, and four KS21 subs, plus 25 amplified controller racks.

CCV's Scottsdale location utilized a ground-stacked setup of ARCS II enclosures atop SB28 subs

But there was far more to this sprawling project than speakers and amplifiers-the right digital tools from L-Acoustics and a good logistical plan were also critical. Spitzer explains, We wanted to achieve the same tonality and low-frequency contours that they get indoors in all of the outdoor locations. Spitzer supervised his installation crews over five days as they set up systems in each location, then stepped in for the final tunings and calibration. For that, he utilized L-Acoustics Soundvision acoustic prediction software paired with the M1 calibration suite bundled with LA Network Manager on a P1 processor. Together, these platforms created a seamless workflow that began with systems design and extended through tuning and critical listening, providing maximum consistency in system performance across all sites night after night.

One particular application of the LA Network Manager control and monitoring software that was heavily used for Christmas Under The Stars was the Autoclimate feature, which allows for the simultaneous adjustment of air-compensation filters based on measured temperature and humidity conditions. The band would do its soundcheck during the day, but by the time the show was to go on, the temperature had dropped, and there was more moisture in the air, he says. The change in humidity, in particular, accentuates high frequencies, and Autoclimate allowed us to automatically compensate for changing air conditions, dialing high frequencies back as needed. It is an awesome capability to have for a set of shows like this.

The church agreed. Production Director Blair Drake was impressed by how consistent the sound quality was between the various outdoor performance locations and how closely it matched what the audience members hear inside the churches. The Soundvision modeling was extremely accurate-what the software predicted was very true to the end result, says Drake, who mixed FOH sound at the Peoria campus in addition to overseeing all of the audio crews at the other event locations. It's one of the many reasons we've been using L-Acoustics for so long.

Pre-show soundcheck at the Verrado site using A15/KS21

He adds that all of CCV's new locations in the last six years have had Kara and Kiva II PA systems installed, and the pending new locations for 2021, in Phoenix suburbs of Laveen and Queen Creek, will have L-Acoustics A Series sound systems. Clearwing did a fantastic job on this project, making it work under very challenging conditions, he says. But L-Acoustics gave us the right tools to make it all happen.

About L-Acoustics

Founded in 1984 near Paris, France, L-Acou
LINK: https://www.live-production.tv/news/shows/christmas-under-stars-stella...
See more stories from liveproduction

Most recent headlines

08/12/2025

SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 1

SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 1By SVG Staff Monday, December 8, 2025 - 6:56 am Print This Story | Subscribe Story Highlights The 2025...

08/12/2025

2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Bill Rasmussen, the Entrepreneur Who Dreamed Sports Into a New World

2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Bill Rasmussen, the Entrepreneur Who Drea...

08/12/2025

SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Live Production Innovation Workshop Goes Deep on ST 2110, MXL, AR/XR, and More

SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Live Production Innovation Workshop Goes Deep on ST 211...

08/12/2025

#GALSNGEAR Announces East, West Leadership Retreats for 2026

#GALSNGEAR Announces East, West Leadership Retreats for 2026By Ken Kerschbaumer Monday, December 8, 2025 - 9:10 am Print This Story | Subscribe Story High...

08/12/2025

MediaKind Acquiring Harmonic's Video Business to Create New Streaming-Video Heavyweight

MediaKind Acquiring Harmonic's Video Business to Create New Streaming-Video ...

08/12/2025

Platinum White Paper: Sony HDR/SDR Camera Shading Techniques for Live Production Applications

Platinum White Paper: Sony HDR/SDR Camera Shading Techniques for Live Production...

08/12/2025

SVG Sit-Down: NESN's Kenny Elcock and Harmonic's Jean Macher Talk Next-Gen Distribution for Live Sports

SVG Sit-Down: NESN's Kenny Elcock and Harmonic's Jean Macher Talk Next-G...

08/12/2025

Monsters Funday Football,' ESPN's Latest Live Animation Effort, Advances the Altcast Art Form Again

Monsters Funday Football,' ESPN's Latest Live Animation Effort, Advances...

08/12/2025

SVG Sit-Down: ESPN Director Jeff Nelson on Calling the (Animated) Action on Monsters Funday Football'

SVG Sit-Down: ESPN Director Jeff Nelson on Calling the (Animated) Action on Mon...

08/12/2025

Monsters Funday Football': Louisiana Philharmonic Delivers Again With Orchestral Mashup of MNF' Theme and Monsters, Inc.' Score

Monsters Funday Football': Louisiana Philharmonic Delivers Again With Orches...

08/12/2025

Always Was, Always Will Be Strength, Survival and Pride this January 26 on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand

Always Was, Always Will Be Strength, Survival and Pride this January 26 on NITV,...

08/12/2025

Nielsen Audience Segments Now Available in Amazon DSP & Amazon Marketing Cloud

Nielsen's robust data offering enables marketers to connect with their target audience more effectively and drive better results throughout Amazon's adv...

08/12/2025

Paramount Launches Hostile Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery

LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK Paramount has launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with an all-cash tender offer to acquire all of the outstandin...

08/12/2025

ASG Names Macky Beheshti Director, Enterprise Storage and Systems

EMERYVILLE, Calif. Media and entertainment technology and services provider Advanced Systems Group has named Macky Beheshti as director, enterprise storage and ...

08/12/2025

MediaKind to Acquire Harmonic's Video Business for $145M

DENVER MediaKind, a global provider of cloud-based video streaming technology announced today that it is acquiring the video business of Harmonic Inc. for appro...

08/12/2025

Nielsen Audience Segments Now Available in Amazon Ads Marketplace

NEW YORK Nielsen has announced that its Audience Segments from Nielsen Marketing Cloud (NMC) are now available across the Amazon Ads marketplace, including the ...

08/12/2025

Marshall Electronics Highlights CV355 27X ND3 Camera With...

Marshall Electronics showcases the CV355-27X-ND3 Optical Zoom NDI (NDI HX2, NDI HX3) Camera at ISE 2026 (Booth 4N900). Designed for users seeking high-quality ...

08/12/2025

Cinnafilm Launches Tachyon LIVE and IPx LIVE - Real-Time...

Cinnafilm today announced the immediate availability of IPx LIVE and Tachyon LIVE, delivering broadcast-grade, real-time IP video transcoding and motion-compens...

08/12/2025

Hiltron Sees Expanding Demand for Satcom Systems Througho...

Following a successful 45th anniversary year in 2024, Hiltron reports increasing demand for its wide range of satellite communication equipment manufacturing, p...

08/12/2025

Your Holiday Checklist Essentials

When was the last time you updated your default playlist(s)? A default playlist keeps your station(s) on the air should your team ever miss a step in sending mu...

08/12/2025

VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Breaks Ground for Hyper Cloud Data Center to Offer Sovereign Enterprise, AI and Digital Services

08 Dec 2025 VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Breaks Ground for Hyper Cloud Data Ce...

08/12/2025

Netflix ISP Speed Index for November 2025

Back to All News Netflix ISP Speed Index for November 2025 Product 08 December 2025 Global Link copied to clipboard This month marks 15 years of the Netfl...

08/12/2025

Another Exciting Chapter in Our Book-to-Screen Journey and What's to Come

Back to All News Another Exciting Chapter in Our Book-to-Screen Journey and What's to Come Entertainment 08 December 2025 Global Link copied to clipboa...

08/12/2025

Harmonic Announces Pending Sale of Its Video Business to MediaKind

Strategic and transformative transaction would sharpen Harmonic's focus on its core Broadband business and advance its growth initiatives Ensures continued...

08/12/2025

N-Series elevates performances at one-of-a kind jazz gastropub - The Epicurus

Copenhagen's The Epicurus is a one-of-a-kind Jazz Gastropub that presents exclusive performances curated by Jazz Pianist and Producer Sir Niels Lan Doky. Fe...

08/12/2025

Arvato Systems receives gematik approval for TI-Messenger tim+

Arvato Systems Receives gematik-approval for TI-Messenger tim Approval secured for TI Messenger tim - paving the way for secure and interoperable communicat...

08/12/2025

Eurovision legend Niamh Kavanagh revealed as first contestant for Dancing with the Stars 2026

Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh is the first celebrity to be revealed for the s...

08/12/2025

The RT Toy Show Appeal raises over 30 million in 6 Years

Changing children's lives for good: A staggering 4.6 million raised in the 2025 appeal The people of Ireland and people all over the world have once again...

08/12/2025

Daddy's dancing: Paudie Moloney revealed as second contestant for Dancing with the Stars 2026

It's murder on the dancefloor as The Traitors Ireland legend Paudie Moloney ...

07/12/2025

Netflix Takes Over the Oslo Skyline With Celebratory 'Troll 2' Light Show

Back to All News Netflix Takes Over the Oslo Skyline With Celebratory Troll 2 L...

06/12/2025

L3Harris Chair and CEO Appears on CNBC at Reagan National Defense Forum

In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...

06/12/2025

Survey: M&E Embraces Horizontally Integrated Media Archiving Approach

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...

06/12/2025

Czech TV Deploys LiveU Solutions in 10 OB Vans

HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...

06/12/2025

NATAS Celebrates 76th Technology & Engineering Emmy Award Honorees

NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...

05/12/2025

2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and Regionally

2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...

05/12/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio Data

SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...

05/12/2025

Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Scalable Production System with Ross Video

Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...

05/12/2025

Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD Split

Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...

05/12/2025

FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championship

FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...

05/12/2025

SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the Future of the Viewer Experience

SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...

05/12/2025

Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast for World Cup Draw

Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...

05/12/2025

As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ever

As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...

05/12/2025

ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows for Championship Week

ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...

05/12/2025

Sorry, Baby, Peter Hujar's Day, Among Sundance Institute-Supported Projects Nominated for 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards

It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...

05/12/2025

Surprised by Your 2025 Wrapped? Here's a Look at How the Data Comes to Life

Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...

05/12/2025

Celebrating Spotify's GLOW, RADAR, and EQUAL Artists of 2025

In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...

05/12/2025

Wi-Fi 7 - Go Beyond Speed to Deliver Security, Trust and Value

In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...

05/12/2025

Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros. in Deal Worth $82.7 Billon

LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....

05/12/2025

Gracenote Launches New CTV Ad Platform

NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...