090 VENUE
Image by Arno de la Chapelle © Helsinki Music Centre
total of 96 fixed inputs and up to 48 outputs. The Sibelius Academy Halls have, between them, one DiGiCo SD8 with two MaDiRacks, and three SD9 consoles with two D-Racks. As well as the sonic qualities offered by the DiGiCo consoles, there were practical reasons for their selection too, as Akukon’s Ari Lepoluoto explained: “DiGiCo fulfilled functional and technical requirements, and its price was within the budget frame. Another of DiGiCo’s advantages in Finland is that it is widely used by Finnish rental companies. Visiting staff are usually familiar with DiGiCo and they can use the house console instead of a rented one. That saves time and money.” Beyond the live technology, the main hall has been facilitated with recording studios. Here Studer mixing consoles, Genelec and Lipinski speakers, and Tascam, Avid, HHB and TC Electronics recording equipment has been installed. A range of microphones from Sennheiser, DPA, Neumann, AKG, Schoeps, Shure, Beyerdynamic and Radial are available. A Servoreeler Systems suspended microphone system allows mics to be deployed and retracted from the ceiling. When it came to choosing lighting, Akukon, in line with competition law, specified requirements rather than specific pieces of equipment. “We didn’t choose brands, but we specified functional and technical requirements,” confirmed Ari. “One special matter in the Finnish AV market is that, typically, importers are also contractors. In this case, importers of chosen brands made the best offers in the competitive bidding. An essential requirement was the noise level of the lighting consoles. Consoles are used in an open control areas inside the halls, and that’s why the noise level requirement was extremely low.” This consideration was, in fact, applied to all the entertainment equipment choices, as Antti Rehtijarvi detailed: “Helsinki Music Centre’s main product is sound. That sound needs to be delivered to audiences in its purest form by minimising any noise that might interfere with the listening experience. The main concert hall has an acoustic nature that you can hear even the weakest sound very well. This means that all entertainment technology in the hall needs to be as silent as possible and all fans should be avoided. In general, a lot of the noisy equipment can be located to the soundproofed technical rooms outside the hall, but not all. “There are only a few possibilities in the lighting fixture market which will work with strict acoustical demands, and when we add a long projection distance to the formula we ended up with two different lights - ADB Warp and Vari-Lite VL1100AS - suitable for the main
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“For me personally Helsinki Music Centre was a ‘once in the lifetime’ project that
took almost six years of my life. I am very proud of the final result and my team.”
concert hall. Our experience is that these moving lights are silent enough instruments to be used in sound sensitive productions.” Over 150 Philips Entertainment luminaires have been included in the fixture stock across the six halls. Philips Entertainment’s Finnish distributor, Hedcom, supplied and installed the selection of Philips Selecon SPX, Arena, Rama and Pacific fixtures and Vari-Lite VL1100 AS units. Hedcom’s Product Manager, Pekka Rytilahti, commented: “The Philips Entertainment fixtures were chosen because they are silent, low energy and therefore emit less heat. These factors ensure that there is considerably less impact on the acoustic of the room as a performance progresses.” Power was also a consideration. LPR-arkkitehdit’s design embraces the clean lines and airy atmosphere typical of Scandinavian design. Unusually, however, the auditorium features double-paned, insulated glass walls, which allow daylight in and the audience to see through to the foyer and into the park beyond. Nevertheless, if a blackout is required then there are curtains between the glass panels that can be deployed. Pekka elaborated: “It was crucial that the lighting worked well with the daylight, either by emulating it or by being strong enough to contrast with it. Another consideration was that YLE - Finnish Broadcast Company - broadcasts regularly from the main stage. Key to our specification decision was, therefore, consistent colour temperature and strong efficient output, and so for us the best solution was definitely Philips Entertainment fixtures.” The main hall has more than 300 lighting fixtures at its disposal.
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