From an arts perspective, the Empire Music Festival is Guatemala’s biggest show. It was also the country’s first multi-stage festival. Primarily focused on electronica and dance music, it attracts artists from around the world. Held at the Guatemala Raceway in Escuintla over the country’s Easter-related national holidays on April 16 and 17, this year’s festival had three stages. The gargantuan 115-foot Main Stage was reserved for the biggest names on the global electronica scene; the Live Stage focused on various live acts, while the third Back to Basics Stage featured emerging and underground artists.
This year’s festival featured more than 40 artists from around the world. The better-known acts included Netherlands DJ sensation Afrojack (Nick van de Wall), who wrapped up the show’s last evening with a spirited set that began just after midnight and ran until 2 a.m. on April 18. The festival also spotlighted performances by Alesso, a Swedish DJ and electronic dance music producer; British DJ/musician/rapper Fatboy Slim; Capital Cities (a U.S. indie pop duo from Los Angeles); Showtek, a Dutch electronic dance music act, and many more. These acts were among the performers who appeared on the Main Stage, which was outfitted to the max for this hugely popular music festival with a large system including Aero 40A 3-way powered line array enclosures from Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.
Handling the Empire Music Festival’s three stages, already a big job, is made tougher when combined with other challenges, such as the weather. April temperatures in Guatemala tend to hover in the quite pleasant 80-degrees Fahrenheit range, and while it’s not yet hurricane season, the threat of sudden thunderstorms is ever-present. Meanwhile, the average humidity — in the 90-plus percentages — can create problems for audio gear. Fortunately, the weather for this year’s festival cooperated.
Big Show, Big Sound
Well acquainted with local customs and conditions, Guatemala City-based Casa Instrumental (casainstrumental.com). Casa Instrumental, which provides equipment sales and rentals, worked with Empire Promotions, the production company that hosts the Empire Music Festival, to help it secure the sound reinforcement system to be used on the Main Stage. Giovanni Merida, the vice president of sales at Casa Instrumental, worked with key representatives of Empire Promotions on the project.
“We worked very closely with the Empire team to ensure the best possible equipment for them,” said Merida. “As part of this effort, we actually traveled with our client to the Miami, offices of D.A.S. USA — specifically for the purpose of demonstrating the Aero 40A loudspeakers. While there, the D.A.S. sales and technical staff ran an impressive demo and was very thorough in terms of answering any questions from the Empire Promotions representatives. The Empire team was very impressed and made the purchase.”
The D.A.S. Audio Aero 40A consists of a single 12-inch neodymium woofer, paired with an 8-inch cone midrange driver (also neodymium) and twin D.A.S. M-75N 1.5-inch-exit neodymium compression drivers. Power is provided by a Class-D power amplifier, providing 1000 watts for the low frequencies, 500W for the midrange and 500W for the high frequencies. Remote monitoring and control is available via D.A.S.net, which offers users instant and intuitive control over a range of parameters for either a single enclosure or a network of them.
The area directly in front of the Main Stage measured 147 by 230 feet (WxD) while the width of the stage itself was 115 feet. For the house mains, the Empire Promotions crew — with onsite assistance from D.A.S. Audio’s Miami-based specialists Vicent Olucha and Roberto Almodovar — erected a system consisting of 28 D.A.S. Aero 40A enclosures — with 14 elements per side in a L-R hang configuration, flown at a height of 36 feet for the top box. These loudspeakers were augmented by a delay system positioned 115 feet out from the stage — two clusters L-R, each with six Aero 40A loudspeakers.
Gotta Have Bottom
For any kind of electronic dance music (EDM) performance, a substantial amount of bass is essential. For LF support, the Aero 40A line arrays were augmented by 26 D.A.S. LX-218CA.net high-output, D.A.S.net-capable double-18 subwoofers. The LX-218CA.net sub bass system utilizes dual D.A.S. 18LXN long-excursion transducers in a front-loaded bass-reflex configuration. The internal powering is a 2,400W Class-D amplifier. For the Main Stage setup, these subs were arranged with 13 cabinets each for the left and right — ground stacked underneath the two main Aero 40A clusters flown overhead.
For sidefills, the Empire crew utilized four D.A.S. Convert-1560A point source powered loudspeakers. The Convert-1560A features user-definable dispersion characteristics, allowing the system to be deployed as either a curved source array or used individually as a point source. The system incorporates internal DSP, a 4000 W Class D power amplifier, and support for DASnet.
As the Main Stage was for DJ performances who typically submix their music through the house system, no traditional floor monitor wedges were employed. Instead, the monitor system consisted of two LX218CA.net subwoofers and two Convert-1560A enclosures per side.
Out at FOH
Merida discussed the consoles used for the project. “For this event, we positioned FOH about 98 feet from the stage,” he explained. “We used a Yamaha PM5D digital mixing console for the mains while, for monitorworld, located at the back of the stage, we had a Soundcraft Si Expression 3-32 digital console.”
Rational Acoustics’ Smaart Live handled acoustical measurements, system alignment and EQ, used with a D.A.S. Audio DSP-4080 4-in/8-out digital signal processor for loudspeaker management. The DSP-4080 was used for everything except for the sidefills. “While we did use a delay system on this project, there were no outfills, as it wasn’t necessary with the broad horizontal dispersion provided by the Aero 40A loudspeaker system,” adds Merida.
In addition to the DSP-4080 processor, the Main Stage setup also took advantage of D.A.S. Audio’s DASnet control software. “We used the DASnet system to our advantage for the throw of the system,” Merida reports. “For the main left/right hangs, the first two speakers were in long-throw mode. We then set up three in long-mid throw, followed by five in mid, two in mid-short, and two in short-throw to balance the system SPL’s evenly to the audience.”
“I was really impressed with DASnet,” Merida continued. “We used the DASnet software for real-time monitoring of both the Aero 40A line arrays and the LX-218CA.net subs. With this system, we could monitor the temperature, voltage, load and each component individually for each line array enclosure. This was a great tool to have because of the weather in Guatemala and the more than 12 hours of continuous usage of the equipment. We were very careful to ensure everything was working to factory standards. This gave us the peace of mind necessary for operating in the extreme temperatures and working conditions we encountered in Guatemala.”
Unlike the stage setups for bands, the DJ setups on the Main Stage were essentially all self-contained. For this reason there weren’t many microphones deployed. “We had two Shure wireless microphones,” says Merida. “One of these was used by the MC who ran the show while the other one was used by the DJ’s when they addressed the crowd.”
Good Show, Great Sound
When queried about the performance of the D.A.S. sound system, Merida offered the following thoughts, “There were numerous features that impressed us. For starters, the vertical and horizontal dispersion of the Aero 40A’s was very impressive, and with the DSP-4080 and DASnet systems controlling the setup, there was a tremendous amount of control at our fingertips. The sound was not only focused with a high level of precision, the sound itself was clear, natural, and very musical. The fact that the entire sound reinforcement system was self-powered was another big advantage. Because of this, system cabling was more streamlined, we didn’t have to transport racks of heavy power amplifiers, nor did we have to find a place to position the amp racks. Combine these benefits with first rate flying hardware and you’ve got a really impressive system. It took 30 minutes to fly the system, and the local company was really impressed with the ease of rigging the setup.”
Before redirecting his attention to an upcoming project, Merida shared these final thoughts. “The SPL of the system and the clarity of the high end were very impressive,” he said. “We averaged almost 108 dB at FOH consistently and peak at 113-114 dB. The artists were really impressed and the locals had nothing but praise for the system and the quality of the product. Our client was very pleased, and we were all grateful for the level of on-site support D.A.S. provided. The Empire Music Festival was a huge success for everyone involved.”
Title/Headline: Empire Music Festival (Main Stage)
Sound Company: Casa Instrumental, Guatemala City
Mains: (28) D.A.S. Audio Aero 40A line arrays (14/side)
Subs: (26) D.A.S. LX-218CA.net (13/side)
Delay Towers: (12) Aero 40A’s (six/side L/R)
FOH Console: Yamaha PM5D
System Analysis: Rational Acoustics SMAART
System Processing: DSP-4080 under D.A.S.net control
Monitor Console: Soundcraft Si Expression 3-32
Wedges: None used.
Sidefills: (4) D.A.S. Convert-1560A (two/side) with two LX-218CA.net subs.
