Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the TPi Awards event brings together the great and the good from the live production industry � for one night only!

On 13th February, over 1,100 guests from all corners of the live music business gathered at the Novotel West London for what has become the industry event � and Orbital was there to play its part � handling all aspects of the evening�s sound as well as sponsoring an award in its own right � paying tribute to the best Monitor Engineer of the Year.

Orbital is no stranger to the TPi Awards night, acting as the sound and communications provider on a number of occasions over the past decade. This year saw Eric Simpson, Orbital�s Event & Comms Director, at the helm � specifying the compact and highly versatile d&b audiotechnik T10 line array loudspeaker system, powered by D12 amplifiers, to handle the two stages in the challenging Novotel environment. For the communications system, the team used the Clear-Com Tempest 4-channel wireless system interfaced to Eclipse multichannel matrix wired comms. Mixing was on a Yamaha LS9 32 console with full iPad remote control. Radio microphones were exclusively Shure.

Commenting on the Awards night, Orbital�s MD Chris Headlam explained the importance:
�The Novotel is a tricky venue, with the room height changing substantially as you move towards the back and it is always a challenge to make sure that there is good clear audio delivery throughout the room. It is pretty much running at full capacity, and with two hosts (Danny Baker from BBC 5 Live and BBC 7 Music�s Stuart Maconie) and two stages to contend with as well, we wanted to ensure there was exceptional coverage and clarity. The d&b audiotechnik T10 cabinet is an obvious choice � it is extremely compact without any compromise in terms of audio quality, and with just 20 cabinets, we had the room well and truly covered.

�For Orbital, the TPi Awards night is a very important showcase � after all, we are doing our job in front of our peers and there is only one result that is acceptable � perfection! It was also exciting to be sponsoring another strand of our industry � the Monitor Engineer of the Year category � and we were delighted to see the award go to Adam Taylor. A great personality and an amazing talent!�

Mondiale Publishing�s Event Manager, Ben Chadwick, is responsible for organising the TPi Awards night � he paid tribute to Orbital�s contribution on the night saying:
�The Orbital team has been amazing � with any Awards event, it is always a case of everything coming together at the last-minute, and in the run-up they dealt with everything and anything we asked for, just getting on with the job with maximum efficiency. Nothing appeared to present them with any problems at all and on the night it quite simply sounded fantastic!�

Orbital's team comprised:
Eric Simpson - System Design
Charlie Garrick - FOH Operator
Tom Oakes - System Tech & Comms
Lucy Jenkins - System Tech
Dan Bailey - System Tech