For the fourth consecutive year, B&R Communications chose Orlando, Fla.-based LMG, Inc. to provide the audio and video for PartyLite's National Sales Conference. As audio services manager for LMG, and this being an audio trade publication, I will focus on those particular aspects that went into this challenging endeavor.
Challenges
When speaking of this show, the phrase about "pounds of unmentionables in a too-small bag" comes to mind. In previous years, this event was held in a football-size indoor stadium. For 2005, the show moved to Washington, D.C. and a basketball-size arena was chosen, offering a lack of space for the backstage areas. Prior to 2005, the stage was set up around the 50-yard line, leaving an extra 50 yards for the setup of audio, video, lighting and scenic. With the stage end on the court of a basketball arena, we were left with little to no space. Enter the Meyer MICA system. LMG, which was founded in 1984 and is named for the initials of founder Les Goldberg, had been in the market for a mid-sized line array system for a few months and had listened to several competing products. The MICA fit the bill and definitely saved the day for this show. We went from needing four 53-foot tractor trailers to three due to the MICAs being selfpowered, resulting in the reduction of our backstage footprint by a great margin.
Logistics were still quite daunting when dealing with an event of this size. After initial calculations were completed, it was discovered that more than 1,000 feet of snake would be needed to interconnect Front of House, monitor land and video village. The thought of humping that much 56-pair cable together is not what I consider a leisure-time pursuit, especially since the audio signal might suffer as well. The answer to this problem came in the form of the Whirlwind E-Snake. Frames were placed in the three strategic areas and interconnected via fiberoptic cabling. By simply assigning CobraNet bundles, we could receive or deliver signal path helped maintain fidelity and eliminate any ground loop issues. Also, the use of non-copper cable had an additional bonus in that we could power FOH from a local drop and not have to run 2Ø cable the aforementioned distance.
The System
What exactly did we do before the line array? I cannot imagine doing a show of this magnitude using conventional speaker technology. With a throw of 330 feet, the number and zones of boxes would boggle the mind. I have been involved with large-scale shows using conventional technology, but I like to think of them as the "dark ages" of my career. John Meyer and his capable staff have designed quite a gem in the form of their new MICA compact line array. System design was also greatly aided by the use of Meyer's MAPP online prediction tool. We were able to import the CAD for the show, place boxes in the room and make what would later be proven to be very accurate predictions. The final system design for the show consisted of 40 MICAs–two columns of 18 for mains and a center cluster of four. On-site, we were able to confirm our previous predictions using our new SIM System 3. Placing eight microphones around the room, we were amazed to find that the traces from MAPP were very close to our actual findings on-site. Most interesting, the measurements taken from 330 feet away showed a very flat trace before any EQ had been applied.
Outside of the MICAs, we made use of a subwoofer trick that one of our staff engineers, Jim Yakabuski, had used on a Avril Lavigne tour. A center column of 10 Meyer 700 HPs was flown to avoid the typical build of low frequency in the sections closest to the stage and provide even coverage throughout the venue. With 10 cabinets at 259 pounds a piece, we were dealing with more than a literal ton of low end. The result–no one in the front row felt queasy while those seated hundreds of feet away still felt it in their chest.
Electronics
At Front of House, we chose a Midas Heritage 3000 console. In the midst of all of the whiz-bang digital technology, a nice, comforting console can be reassuring. We know from past experience with the PartyLite show that things come at you fast and frantic. Having a knob for everything within easy reach can be a lifesaver. Coupled with the Midas was one of our newly-retooled dynamics insert racks featuring a TC Electronic Finalizer 96K, two Meyer CP-10 parametric EQs, two Summit TLA-50s and, most notably, two Millennia TCL-2 "Twincom" compressor limiters. The Millennias are very interesting in that they have tubes AND solid-state signal paths. With the push of a button, you can select between the best of both worlds on this mastering grade piece. We also chose the PM5D to mix to the talent's personal monitors as well as eight L-ACOUSTICS 115FM stage monitors and dV-DOSC side fills. As mentioned earlier, we were faced with a very limited backstage area, and being able to do the entire monitor mix and processing with the 5D worked out very well.
Most Importantly
As anyone in my position can attest to, you can have all of the latest technology and fail miserably without having the right people. At Front of House for this event was Billy Walsh, who brought with him years of mixing experience, not to mention his extreme likeability. Handling system design, SIM engineering and everything in between was Evan Hall, a gear junky and all-knower of cutting-edge technology. Kris "Wildman" Walters did an incredible job of wrangling 18 wireless systems and making sure that everyone had the proper mic at the right time. Making sure that the no-less-than-50 people on comm at any one time could hear each other was Evan's father, Louie Hall. Everyone pulled off a very technically-challenging show and did so with an exceptionally high level of professionalism.
Lastly
When the event is all said and done, the best thing we can hope for is that no one outside of the audio department will have a sense of the difficulty level that went into making it a successful show. In the case of PartyLite 2005, the audience was oblivious to the fact that extensive technology was in use–they just knew that they had seen and heard a great show. And that is fine by us.
Crew & Gear
Front of House Engineer: Billy Walsh
Systems, SIM and Monitor Engineer: Evan Hall
Wireless and A2: Kris "Wildman" Walters
Communications: Louie Hall
Gear
40 Meyer MICA Compact High Power Curvilinear Array Loudspeakers
12 Meyer 700HP High Power Subwoofers
8 L-ACOUSTICS 115FM Stage Monitors
Midas Heritage 3000 Front of House Console
Yamaha PM5D Monitor Console
2 Millennia TCL-2 Compressor Limiters
2 Summit TLA-50 Leveling Amplifiers
TC Electronic Finalizer 96K
Meyer SIM System 3
Whirlwind E-Snake
2 Dan Dugan D2 Automatic
Microphone Mixers
Klark Teknik 9340 Helix Digital EQs
Clearcom Matrix Plus 3
Shure UHF wireless microphones
Shure PSM 700 and PSM 600 PMs
Countryman E6 Earset Microphones
Professional Wireless Helical Antenna System
