www.psneurope.com
July 2014 l 37
live ITALY
A new front in Ravenna
Mike Clark reports on a new Wave Field Synthesis system, deployed at the famous classical festival
SINCE ITS inauguration in 1990, the Ravenna Festival on the Adriatic coast has gained a reputation as one of Europe’s most prestigious events, hosting a wide range of performing arts in equally varied venues. Eight of the city’s historic buildings are on the UNESCO World Heritage list and several of them – including Byzantine basilicas – participate in the occasion. Other venues range from the Dante Alighieri Theatre, a gem of traditional architecture, to a 15th-century fortress and a modern indoor sports arena. This year, the last of these is also offering classical music and ballet fans a new listening experience. No matter where they are sitting – even in stageside seats only covered by side hangs – spectators at the classical concerts are able to hear the sound of the orchestra’s instruments, as if they were coming from their position on stage. This is down to the application of psychoacoustic principles, the use of a new wave field synthesis (WFS) system (the brand name is still currently
under wraps) and an unusual d&b sound rig. For other events, such as ballets, with recorded music, spectators seated everywhere (not only those in the centre of the room) hear a stereo sound front. The company using the new system is BH Audio, founded in 1979 and headquartered in the Italian province of Ferrara. BH specialises mainly in classical and contemporary music, opera and jazz, providing both sound reinforcement and recording facilities, as well as working on a regular basis with several festivals. Its other activities include assessment of acoustic
impact on the environment and solutions for acoustic pollution. Company owner Massimo Carli explains: “There were already other similar set-ups on the market, but although their latency has been reduced through time, we considered them unsuitable for this type of application, with full classical orchestras, not just actors, on stage.”
The d&b PA fielded by BH is also unusual: the main front system comprises ten T10 PS enclosures, installed two metres apart on custom stands along the stage front, and five hangs with seven T10 each flown at a
BH Audio’s Massimo Carli likes to be front of house
height of 11m over the second row of seats. According to the event, floor-installed subwoofers vary from two V-SUBs to eight in sub array configuration. Carli adds: “To ensure the same results for spectators at the side of the stage, we’ve flown two d&b 12SD from the lighting truss ring and installed four E6 frontfills along both sides of the stage.” Carli personally helms the FOH/control system, a CADAC S Series analogue desk, with a DirectOut Andiamo. XT AES/MADI A-D/D-A converter, Drawmer DA-6 signal distributor for TV coverage and backstage requirements and a d&b R70 Ethernet-to- CAN interface. A number of MacBook Pros run Figure 53’s QLab3 show control software for ballet music playback; d&b’s R1 software; controlled remotely via VNC with an iPad; and dedicated software for the 64-in/64-out WFS processor. “For the ballet’s recorded soundtracks, we create a stereo signal, positioning two virtual left and right sound sources on
stage, about 10m apart. This enables everybody to hear a stereo soundfront, thanks to the WFS processor, even those in the side seats. According to the show being staged, we add outboard, monitors, microphones, and so on.” This year’s classical concerts include performances by from a number of orchestras (St Petersburg Philharmonic and the Luigi Cherubini Juvenile Orchestra, to name but two). “For them, we normally use a combination of about thirty DPA, Schoeps and Neumann mics,” says Carli.
BH Audio will also field the set-up for a modern, “almost jazz” concert by Ute Lemper. Carli has worked as FOH sound engineer with the singer for 15 years. “As well as positive feedback from spectators, the Festival’s technical and production teams are extremely pleased with the results obtained with the WFS system, which should be officially presented by the manufacturer in a few months’ time.”
www.bhaudio.it
The St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Yuri Temirkanov
Photo: Zani – Casadio
Photo: Zani – Casadio
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