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SOLUTIONS: ARTS CLUB, LONDON UNITED KINGDOM An artful installation


This central London venue has a nearly 150-year history – but its audiovisual specification is right up to date, suiting its high-end clientele. Paddy Baker reports


The basement club frequently hosts gigs, music industry showcases, art and fashion events, and private parties


[INSTALLED] However, one significant


An Allen & Heath iLive system has been installed to better meet the needs of visiting musicians


THE ARTS Club is an exclusive venue in London’s Mayfair district – founded in 1863 by Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope and Lord Leighton. The venue has, of course, moved with the times, but still attracts a top-end clientele, with the club in its basement frequently hosting gigs, music industry showcases, art and fashion events, and private parties. Consequently the club has an AV specification that belies its small size. In 2011, the Arts Club commissioned Marquee Installations to design and install the AV infrastructure and systems throughout the venue. In the basement club, the main room features a live stage and a movable DJ booth. The main floor is covered by four L-Acoustics 12XTi coaxial speakers, with one 8XTi over the stage. These are supplemented by two L-Acoustics SB18i 18in dual bass-reflex tuned subs. The system is powered by L-Acoustics amplification, while two 8XTis are used to cover the bar. The system is configured to be able to switch between a live sound and surround sound.


www.installation-international.com


change was made to the audio side of the installation in mid-2012. Dave McDonald is a visiting sound engineer who has been acting in a consultancy role for the venue. Under his direction, an Allen & Heath iLive modular system was installed in place of the original FOH mixing console. He has spec’d a similar system for use on tour with acts such as Florence & The Machine and AIR – and the desk now installed at the Arts Club is the same one that he previously took on tour with Adele. The main reason for the change is that McDonald wanted to better meet the audio requirements of visiting artists. He explains: “The bands are quite high end and some of the work can be complex for such a tiny stage. So we needed more processing power, more effects returns – and a desk that was easy to use and sounded good.”


EASE OF USE While McDonald was familiar with the iLive, Jonathan Lewis, the resident house tech, had never used one before – but he soon got the hang of it. “I think it was two gigs and I was away,” he says. “Once you get your head around the mix button architecture, it’s easy.


We’ve had a few guest engineers come in – they’ve all been really happy with it.” With the only access to the basement for equipment being through the kitchens or down a stairwell, it is greatly preferable to have an installed system that caters for all the needs of visiting musicians. “So far I think only one person has asked to change it,” says Lewis. An iLive 112 surface and iDR10 MixRack, located stage left in the extremely compact technical area, provide six wedge and eight stereo in-ear mixes (using Sennheiser G3 IEMs). The FOH mix has to be done from the stage, so the ability to use iLive Editor and iLive MixPad software over WiFi is a real bonus in the always-crowded venue. With the audio system being


used for everything from 11- piece bands to speech, adaptability is essential. “For the bands, we’ve split it so that everything is basically doubled – we can have separate EQ and compression for FOH and monitors,” says Lewis. A PL-10 remote control


mixer interface can control the system, or make adjustments to, for instance, individual in-ear or wedge levels, even when the surface is switched off. An M-Dante module allows 64 channels of recording. “It’s fantastic for that – you just Ethernet into a laptop, open


up Logic, and you’re done. All the bands really like that.” With some bands returning to the club on a regular basis, being able to recall settings from their previous visit is a real timesaver. “We save a scene or a show file for every band that we have – you just recall whichever band it is and it’s all done – especially with the in-ears,” enthuses Lewis.


ON THE MOVE The DJ booth is mobile so that it can be used in two locations. Equipment in this area includes twin Pioneer CDJ 2000 CD players, twin Technics SL1210 Mk5 turntables and a Pioneer DJM 2000 pro mixer with LAN hub. The club’s reception, bar, corridors and toilets all have high-end audio, with a combination of Amina flatpanel loudspeakers and K- array ultra-slim subs built in. The background music is handled by a Biamp AudiaFLEX system using CobraNet. The video spec, meanwhile, includes an Axis HD IP camera for the stage that facilitates streaming to any chosen location. The club is also fitted out with a 3m screen, a Christie HD projector on a Future Automation drop mechanism, and DVD facilities. McDonald concludes: “I’m pleased with the way the system has turned out, but


AUDIO  Allen & Heath iLive-112 control surface  Allen & Heath iDR10 MixRack  Allen & Heath PL-10 remote control mixer interface  L-Acoustics 8XTi and 12XTi coaxial speakers  L-Acoustics SB18i dual bass-reflex subs  L-Acoustics LA4 amps  Biamp AudiaFLEX CM CobraNet modules  Biamp RED-1 wall controller  XTA DP448 digital audio processor  Sennheiser EW300 IEM G3 in-ear monitoring system  Sennheiser 945 wireless microphones  Sennheiser 3000 wireless mic receiver  Pioneer CDJ 2000 CD players  Technics SL1210 Mk5 turntables  Pioneer DJM 2000 pro mixer with LAN hub


VIDEO  Christie LWU505 HD projector  Future Automation projector drop mechanism  Screenint Major acoustically transparent screen  Axis P1346 network camera


the striking thing is that all the musicians who have been regulars there have instantly noticed in the sound quality they’re getting in their ears and also at FOH.” 


www.allen-heath.com www.amina.co.uk www.axis.com www.biamp.com www.christiedigital.com www.futureautomation.co.uk www.k-array.com www.l-acoustics.com www.marqueeav.com www.panasonic.com/consumer_ electronics/technics_dj www.pioneerdj.com www.screenint.com www.sennheiser.com


January 2013 63


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