LONDON — Along with the famously colorful, elaborate costumes, music is a vital ingredient of London’s Notting Hill Carnival. This year, Turbosound Aspect loudspeakers and XTA processing provided sound for several thousand people who attended the event.
Jeff Woodford of NBS Audio provided his NineBar Sound System to Pineapple Tribe, whose eclectic mixture of DJ styles — including dub reggae, breakbeat, techno and drum & bass — makes them a favorite at a wide range of dance-orientated events.
Located on the corner of Ledbury Road and Lonsdale Road, the NineBar Sound System was arrayed as a mono stack comprising eight Turbosound Aspect TA-880H mid-highs on 12 custom-built subs. An XTA DP448 processor managing the system.
“We were doing a club event with the system up until 6 a.m. on the first day of the Notting Hill Carnival,” says Woodford. “So the speed and ease with which we can set up is a real benefit. It really helps that the cabinets are light and, being a point source system, we can align the cabinets by eye. We control the DP448 via AudioCore on a wireless laptop to fine-tune it, so the whole set up only took a couple of hours.
“With the wireless kit, it is a very straightforward job to stand 50m back and fine tune the system, getting the frequencies exactly where they are required,” he continues.
“That is incredibly useful at the kind of events we do, where there is no traditional front-of-house position. I use the combination of XTA processors, AudioCore and the wireless kit at everything we do.”
Another key facet of the system is how controllable it is — power and punch are not about sheer volume alone, something that is of key importance when a system is set up outdoors on the corner of two residential streets.
“At Notting Hill, the noise limit is 95 dB at the nearest residential property and it is strictly enforced,” says Woodford. “But the controllability of the system means that we can be putting out 135 dB, which drops off to within the limits by the time the sound reaches the nearest house. And there is no spill behind the cabinets, which is essential in this situation.”
This was the first year Jeff has used the Turbosound Aspect cabinets, which he bought earlier in the year to bring a more modern vibe to the NineBar Sound System.
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