44 l November 2012


www.prosoundnewseurope.com www.prosoundnewseurope.com/installation For the latest installation news SOUNDBITES


The St James Theatre in London SW1, the first newly built theatre complex in central London for 30 years, features EM Acoustics products throughout. London-based consultancy firm Theatreplan specified a proscenium LCR system of EM Acoustics MSE- 159 two-way medium-format passive loudspeakers for the main theatre with three EMS-61s as delays. The Studio Theatre has a pair of MSE-159s as a main PA with a single EMS-81X compact full-range loudspeaker for balcony fill. www.emacoustics.co.uk www.theatreplan.co.uk


A DIS conferencing system has been chosen for the Landmark Hotel in Amman. Advanced Solutions, the exclusive distributor of DIS products in Jordan, has ordered three DDS 5900 Digital Discussion Systems for the venue, which features a large conference centre. www.dis.cc


London Waterloo, one of the UK’s busiest railway stations, has installed a TannoyVLS PA system. The series is the first from Tannoy to incorporate FAST (Focussed Asymmetrical Shaping Technology),


delivering acoustic performance benefits not previously seen across a full range of passive column loudspeakers. www.tannoy.com


d&b’s T-Series has been chosen as the new PA system at The Svenska Teaten (Swedish Theatre) in Helsinki, Finland. Helsinki-based Msonic via entertainment integrators Hedcomprovided the d&b system while the installation design was mostly the work of Andreas Lönqvist the theatre’s head of sound. In total 130 d&b loudspeakers were installed throughout the theatre, all driven from 50 D6 and D12 amplifiers. www.dbaudio.com www.hedkon.fi www.msonic.fi


installation UNITED KINGDOM L-Acoustics slays PA monster


Leading London theatre upgrades “mish-mash” of speakers with a flexible KARA/ARCS system, writes Dave Robinson


A FEW thousand people were lucky enough to see the run of Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein at the National Theatre on London’s South Bank two years ago. That show, for the record, employed a Funktion One system to carry Underworld’s “deep, dark, death-like” soundtrack. But everyone who has ever seen a production at the Olivier – the largest of the NT’s three venues – will have encountered the Frankenstein’s monster that is the in-house PA system. Ed Ferguson, head of sound for the Olivier, was responsible for wrangling the beast. “I inherited a system that had


grown organically – [Meyer] MSL2s and 650s for music, and a mixture of d&b E3 and E9s as a vocal system. Tannoy and Duran Audio were in there too for surround. The way that grew is, you’d find holes in the system and buy items on a show budget to ‘Polyfill’ those holes.” A roll-over on the NT’s


capital expenditure two years ago meant the sound team had the budget and the opportunity to revisit the Olivier’s design and replace it with something that was not created from a hybrid of parts. This upgrade project has been split into phases. First in was a new EM Acoustics PA to replace the “mish-mash” of stage and surround speakers. “On-stage speakers are used for anything from spot FX to giving focus to vocals or music,” says Ferguson. The boxes vary from the 5” compact EMS-51 to the


The KARA/ARCS set-up was put to the test on London Road


Ferguson says he was keen to


(L-R): Chris Vass, Ed Ferguson and Andy Huffer


15” EM152, all powered by Lab.gruppen C Series amps. But, says Ferguson, the


upgrade stalled when it came to the bigger ‘vocal and music’ system, because of the greater


move away from a fixed system, and arrive at a flexible solution that would hand the power of control and creativity back to the sound designer – rather than holding the designer hostage, which is what the old hotch- potch arrangement did. The final decision was


between Meyer, d&b and L-Acoustics. “We knew these brands would stand the test of time, and still be relevant in 15 years,” he says.


“Sometimes we mic up actors to ‘energise’ the space – rather than amplifying them – and that requires transparency in the PA”


budget commitment. Initial design considerations led to a number of demos to explore whether the concept of a line array would work in the theatre. “And it was such a headache, because in the Olivier we had to find a system that would satisfy the hugely different styles of plays. I had to look at what the old system had given us, how we’d used that – and more importantly, what it didn’t give us.”


Ed Ferguson, head of sound, Olivier Ideally the size and width of


the Olivier dictated that if a line source gave enough throw for ‘music’, then a point source centre cluster for the vocal system would be required to tie the whole together, “but the whole system needs to be flexible and capable of doing anything”. The ‘vocal’ system needed to


be adaptive, too. “Sometimes we mic up actors to ‘energise’ the space – rather than amplifying them – and that requires


transparency in the PA. [This is a case of: if you can hear the speaker, it’s too loud.] But in addition to that, when we need high SPL, it should supply that too.” Ultimately, then, the Olivier


was after a system that was capable of doing more or less anything. Not a small demand for any sound reinforcement system. The three finalists got


whittled down to two… and L-Acoustics emerged the winner. “We’ve got a tie-line


infrastructure in an amp room, whereas the Meyer speakers are self-powered and that would mean additional infrastructure which we didn’t have,” he reveals. “Also, there were questions of maintenance for such a powered system. “It was a hard decision to


make – but the ARCS tipped it.” The ARCS II point source array in the central cluster position, that is; and the ability to create a horizontally-coupled 120º dispersion by flying six 22.5º cabinets. “ARCS are designed for a wide space like the Olivier,” says Ferguson. Add that to two flying KARA line array columns on the proscenium and you have a winner.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60