Mission Media, the PR company behind the launch of the Nokia Lumia last November, is a long-standing client for Orbital, and when Neil Keane asked us to supply the sound and communication equipment for the launch of Nokia's new smart phone, we knew we were in for something pretty special. The plan was to light up the London skyline with a 4D light show, projected onto the Millbank Tower – all accompanied by an original track and live mixing by Canadian electro DJ deadmau5.

After 2 months of planning, we came up with a plan and specification to handle the complex requirements of the various performance areas – from the main performance area on the 3rd floor of the Millbank Tower, to the base of the tower, and the embankment on the south side of the Thames. Part of the challenge involved transmitting the sound content and all comms several times across the Thames, which caused some anxious moments on the night!

We were also commissioned to handle the after show party on the 29th floor of the Tower, in the VIP and Media suites, and onboard "The Symphony" boat for Nokia's VIPs, as well as the main projection on the 7th and 8th floors or Hampton House, 300m away on the South Bank.

With the production split across the river, the comms and audio distribution systems had to be designed to work wirelessly so that the production crews could speak to each other seamlessly on a single comms ring. To add to this, a dining and entertainment boat sailing up the Thames had to stay in contact with the production base on both sides of the river, while also receiving and playing back the show audio. A technical tour-de-force was needed.

With Orbital engineers Tom Oakes and Charlie Garrick, I designed the comms and audio backbone with the Shure PSM1000 high power IEM transmitter system in mind. With the transmitter racks set to 100mW mode, we knew that spanning the Thames, as well as clearing trees and two busy main roads, was not going to be a problem. We chose Shure UR4D receivers for the reception of the programme material in all playback locations.

With the audio link between boat and tower blocks in place, the rest of the comms system came into the PSM1000s as 4-wire audio. The latest Clear-Com Digital Tempest radio comms system was our natural choice for the main production ring both north and south of the river, due to its configurable nature, audio quality, and flexibility with regards to interfacing between standards. Also talking on the same ring was a 2-wire partyline for static operators, plus a Tait TB7100 high-powered repeater that acted as a walkie-talkie interface for the 60 x Motorola GP340s on-site, as well as the Motorola 25w high power unit sited on the boat. For all wired communications, we used the Clear-Com 602 system. In addition, we also fully inter-connected the Visions' (Broadcast TV) own comms system to enable the director to communicate all the production areas.

On the day the system worked fantastically. Everyone involved was very happy with the systems integration, and especially the ability to change or add parts at short notice. The Tempest was particularly well-received by the senior production staff, who got to grips with it in a flash.

The resulting video is impressive to say the least - check it out on the link to the right.