Covid relief Solutions for the new normal


Despite the spread of the vi- rus, the uncertain future of the economy and the currently fruit- less search for a vaccine, the AV sector is forging ahead with solutions for the new normal. In our interview with Tim Griffin he alludes to opportunities that ex- ist for integrators and resellers, including drive-in cinemas. the- atres and restaurants – and just to underline the point, here is an example.


Meyer Sound powers drive-In experience


Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, New Hampshire transformed their business operations and parking lot into the “Tupelo Drive-In Ex- perience”, producing some of the first live concerts in the United States with the new social dis- tancing requirements. The music venue’s debut shows in mid-May were powered by a LEOPARD system provided by Meyer Sound rental partner, UltraSound, show- casing one of the early innova- tions that explores new ways to deliver performances to a safely distanced live audience. UltraSound’s Scott Tkachuk has been working alongside Tu- pelo Music Hall’s owner Scott Hayward and production man- ager Paul Higgins since the con- ception of the drive-in shows in March. “About a week or two af- ter the shelter-in-place order was issued, we began brainstorming. When the first phase of re-open- ing New Hampshire


included


drive-in theatres, we thought why not concerts? It had to happen,” Tkachuk said. The Tupelo Music Hall team implemented creative methods of enforcing safety mea- sures, while Tkachuk worked on providing an audio solution that was right for the job. Each “car- load” is provided with two park- ing spots - one for the car and an adjacent space to stand or lounge in lawn chairs. One challenge the audio team faced when setting up the audio solutions for the drive-in experi- ence was addressing delay issues between the sound system and the car’s


radio frequency. Al-


though patrons had the option to sit in their car’s adjacent parking space, it was imperative that the PA system align with the local ra- dio station’s output. “We’re only about a mile from the radio station and are on the same network node, so we used a web browser extension, Clean- feed, that transmits high quality digital audio. We managed to get the roundtrip, point-to-point au- dio measured to around 70 mil- liseconds and, naturally, matched the latency to the second row of cars,” Production manager Paul Higgins explained. “It is not pos- sible to match exactly, but we could make it early for everyone else. So, if the radio is turned up and could make noise before the PA hits the audience, they won’t notice the latency.”


Social distancing


With the new social distancing format, the venue’s outdoor ca- pacity holds about 75 vehicles. The UltraSound-provided system consisted of four flown LEOPARD compact linear line array loud- speakers per side with two 900- LFC compact low-frequency con- trol elements ground-stacked per


side. Two MSL-4 reinforcement loudspeakers served as L/R side hangs.


“I talked to Scott [Hayward] and said, ‘if we are doing this until the snow falls in October, we should do this right.’ LEOPARD is tight, light, and has a compact foot-


print, but it’s very powerful. It is the most versatile speaker enclo- sure out there. I call it the Swiss Army knife of PA,” Tkachuk said. In response to a successful first weekend, the Tupelo Drive-In Ex- perience now has events sched- uled for every weekend through


mid-June with more shows ex- pected to be added.“The shows turned out fantastic and it’s really the best-sounding outdoor con- cert venue,” Tupelo Music Hall Owner Scott Hayward reflected. “There is something about going out and hearing live music. Peo-


ple were teary-eyed because it was a stress relief to sit in the sun and enjoy live music. It gave peo- ple hope and something remotely normal, so it was a big success.” As the entertainment industry adjusts to the changing land- scape of live performances, Tk-


achuk and the UltraSound crew plans to “collaborate with pro- duction companies, promoters, and artists. The good thing is we deal with very creative people who think outside the box and we will work together to think of solu- tions during this time.”


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