ORONO, ME — When the Maine Center for the Arts at the University of Maine (Orono, Maine) announced they were planning a major auditorium renovation in the fall of 2006, Moonlighting Production Services, LLC (Portland, Maine) presented a sound solution to a logistical challenge: the Dynacord Cobra system, which needed to be operational before construction began, and it needed to be easily portable during construction for use in another school venue on a per-show basis. In a nutshell, they needed a line array that balanced big-rig performance with plug & play portability. Nick Pires of Moonlighting explained: "The technical director of the theatre (Jeff Richards) had the final say in what system they would purchase, and we went in with a bid confident Cobra would impress."
Moonlighting (Nick Pires, Gary Massey and Ted Dunbar) designed a system composed of four flown Cobra-2 Tops per side with four Cobra PWH subs per side for stacking on or in front of the stage, depending upon application. Existing front fills are still used. "When I brought the system in for the first of three shows/demos, Jeff Richards was understandably skeptical," Pires says. "He questioned me as to whether four passive high packs would provide the coverage, throw, frequency response and headroom that would be needed for doing everything from speech to pop shows in the 1600+ seat venue. As it turned out, the system worked very well for the space. In fact, we felt that using only two subs per side would provide ample low end, so we cut the other four subs from the package."
Pires and Dunbar installed the system on December 5, 2006, using EASE Focus software to determine splay angles and Crossmax/Race, in conjunction with SMAART Live, to create a custom set of processor parameters specifically tailored to the room. Existing factory settings were referenced as the foundation for the design. Pires added. "There were very few reflections from the side and back walls, and the accuracy of the aiming software helped us keep a lot of energy from hitting the large balcony face and back wall."
"The system will be used for speech, playback, symphony, jazz, blues, opera and Broadway-style theatre on a regular basis, not to mention the occasional pop or rock show sponsored by UMaine's student concert committee," Richards stated.
For more information, visit www.dynacord.com.
