The FRONT of HOUSE Theater Installation Showcase profiles sound system installations that made a dramatic difference at the following venues: Human Nature Theater, Las Vegas, NV; Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at NYU, NYC; Eisenhower Hall Theatre, West Point, NY; The Rose Theatre, Brampton, Ontario; Palace Theatre and New Victory Theatre, New York, NY; Star Plaza Theatre, Merrillville, IN; Union Theater at LSU, Baton Rouge, LA; McCallum Theater, Palm Desert, CA; Budapest Cultural Centre, Budapest, Hungary.
Human Nature Theater, Las Vegas, NV
The venue’s D.A.S. Aero 8 and Aero 12A powered line array elements and LX-218A powered subwoofers are controlled via a DSP-4080 processor.
Located on the Las Vegas Strip, the Imperial Palace’s Human Nature Theater was recently upgraded with D.A.S. Audio gear. Technical director J. Eric D’Richards chose D.A.S. Audio’s Aero powered 2-way line array elements, Aero 12A powered two-way, mid-high line array modules and LX-218A powered high performance subwoofers. All are managed by a D.A.S. Audio DSP-4080 digital processor.
The system is configured with six Aero 12A loudspeakers per side, supplemented by five LX-218A subs — two per side, with the fifth underneath the front center of the stage. The Aero 8A fill speakers are positioned at an angle atop the pair of subs on each side.
“We have three shows each day here,” D’Richards says. “Name That Tune Live in the afternoon, Human Nature in the evening, and Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas as our late night entertainment. Given the diversity of our entertainment, we needed a system that was versatile and could handle everything from a cappella vocals and heavy dance-oriented music to the clear speech intelligibility necessary for a game show. Our new D.A.S. system delivers on all fronts.
“I couldn’t be happier with the new system,” D’Richards adds. “After the rigging was handled by In-House Production of Las Vegas, David Rudder, Craig Palcisko (the sound engineers for Human Nature and Name That Tune Live respectively) and I handled the rest of the project. I was particularly impressed with the fact that D.A.S. Audio sent Carlos Henao, the company’s U.S. Accounts Manager, to oversee the project. That level of customer service is rare these days.
“We do 72 shows per month in this room, so sound quality and reliability is vitally important,” D’Richards continues. “In the seven plus months we’ve had the equipment, I’ve encountered no issues whatsoever. In terms of performance, our D.A.S. system has been terrific and, as other sound reinforcement requirements evolve, D.A.S. Audio will be at the top of our list.”
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at NYU, NYC
Ethan Bade and Alan Busch at FOH with the Yamaha PM5D
New York University’s 860-seat Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts opened with a new sound system in 2003. The venue’s technical production team had been looking for a newer, digital alternative to the older analog console at front of house, however. They opted for a Yamaha PM5D digital audio console purchased from Scharff Weisberg.
“About once a month a client would have to rent a digital board, and it was almost always a Yamaha PM5D,” says Ethan Bade, head audio engineer. “Our purchasing decision was made pretty clear after speaking with engineers who had brought in various consoles in the past, that a PM5D would eliminate additional rental costs and save on setup time.”
Both Bade and his associate engineer, Alan Busch, are very familiar with Yamaha digital boards, noting that the recall features were what sold the Skirball staff on a digital console — several events that return on a monthly basis have the exact same set up each time.
“In addition to engineer familiarity, the Yamaha PM5D was particularly attractive due to its ease of connectivity to the DME (Yamaha digital mixing engine), which was upgraded from a DME32 to a DME64,” notes Bade. “We also have a DSP5D on the deck cascaded to the PM5D via a DCU5D. Drive lines to the DME in the amp room under the house are sent over Audinate Dante cards. Our signal paths are now digital all the way from the stage to the amps.”
Skirball handles about 120 in-house presentations and co-presentations each season and more than 100 events by other university departments and clients from the community. The performances and events include dance, popular and world music, corporate conferences, theatre, family entertainment, comedy, movie and live event viewings and television broadcasts.
Eisenhower Hall Theatre, West Point, NY
32 Powersoft K6 and K8 amps power the 72-box EM Acoustics line array system.
Eisenhower Hall at West Point Military Academy ranks as one of the largest proscenium theater in the U.S., and the sound system for the venue, which seats more than 4,000, includes a 72-box EM Acoustics line array system, driven by 32 Powersoft K6 and K8 series amplifiers.
“Powersoft has been my amplifier of choice since it was introduced to me five years ago,” says Greg Rosenkrans, co-owner and CEO of Big Mo Pro, crediting the overall system for its ability to produce “extremely tight and powerful bass response with loud and clear sound.”
Eisenhower Hall seats 2,970 on the orchestra level plus 730 on each of two balconies. The EM Acoustics system’s 72 Halo line array cabinets are configured 20 per side, with an 8-box center cluster and three 8-box delay clusters for the balcony.
The system also includes 16 EM61 under-balcony speakers, eight EM12 front-fills and eight Quake EMS118 subwoofers. There are also 16 EMM12 floor monitors and a pair of EM152 for side-fills.
The venue offers both the U.S. Corps of Cadets and Hudson Valley residents a variety of entertainment including Broadway plays, opera, dance productions, symphony orchestras, staged spectaculars and country and rock concerts. Recent staged productions include Fiddler on the Roof, Shen Yun Performing Arts, Toby Keith, comedian Jim Gaffigan, Celtic Thunder and the Moscow Ballet’s Nutcracker.
Rosenkrans says the Powersoft amps “really made a difference for this installation on many levels. Because they only take up one rack space, I was able to put the entire system into two 44-space racks. If we used traditional amplifiers, that would be three or four racks, and there was simply not enough room. We are also using Powersoft’s Armonía Pro Audio Suite amplifier control package, which is ideal for this fixed installation, allowing us to streamline our setup and eliminate outboard EQ and crossovers for more space saved.
“The K Series has power factor correction circuitry that really works,” Rosenkrans adds. “When we were testing out the amplifiers, we started with the subwoofers and the sonic results, in our opinion, crushed all the competition. We tried every way to make the amp fail, and it just kept on going.”
The Rose Theatre, Brampton, Ontario
The glass and brick Rose Theatre, built in 2006 in the very center of Brampton, Ontario, reflects this city of 500,000’s pride in itself. This brand new theatre, with a horseshoe-shaped interior that seats 876, came equipped with a brand new loudspeaker system but, as Trevor Nash, technical coordinator explains, all was not rosy.
“Plans on paper don’t always successfully translate into real world situations,” Nash notes. “There were coverage issues in several areas of the auditorium. Adding ground stacked subwoofers and two-way cabinets provided some acoustic improvement, but sight lines were compromised as a result.”
While comparing gear from different manufacturers, Nash says the Rose production crew was impressed by what d&b audiotechnik could offer in terms of cost-efficiency, including “the passive boxes that reduce the amplifier count, the internal processing in d&b amplifiers that reduce the need for external processors and the compatibility with our digital consoles.”
Before opting for a combination of d&b Q-Series and E-Series, Nash and others also made good use of d&b’s ArrayCalc simulator.
François Corbin, head of d&b Canada, explains. “They wanted to go with B2 subwoofers, but when we showed them the J-SUBs in ArrayCalc, they were able to reconsider their decision without incurring extra cost or wasting time at a later stage of the installation process. It’s what the ArrayCalc system is all about, providing that extra reassurance for our clients.”
The Rose Theatre’s horseshoe design means that the furthest seat is only 65 feet from the stage, so coverage has to be achieved without overwhelming the listener. The main array is flown high to avoid sight line issues, but Nash has been able to compensate for that with intelligent use of the other loudspeakers.
“The Q1’s horizontal and vertical dispersion does a great job of covering the main audience space,” he notes. “The E6s cover corners just outside of the array coverage, while the rotating horns of the Q10s allow us to completely cover under the balcony without conflicting with the main array.
“We’ve had great feedback from performers telling the audience how great everything sounds and playing longer sets as a result; engineers raving about what a pleasure it is to mix on the rig and last, but not least, audience appreciation,” Nash says. “We have very discerning customers here at Brampton and they have always been very quick to complain in the past.”
The installation has been so well received that The Rose has gone on to purchase a mobile Q-Series system to support outdoor events staged by local community groups and the City of Brampton.
Palace Theatre and New Victory Theatre, New York, NY
At the Palace Theatre, home of the disco-themed Broadway musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, sound designer Garth Helm has been using a Midas XL8 at FOH. “The automation features made it very easy to adjust to the large dynamic range of the show,” Helm says, also crediting the XL8 for its sound quality. “Between the preamps, the EQ and the time management system, the Midas digital platform is so close to their analog sound, I can’t really say that I can hear the difference between the two.”
Another New York theatre using Midas gear is the New Victory Theatre on 42nd Street. Matt Peskie, New Victory project manager, also credited the Midas PRO3 installed in the venue for its automation features. “The scene changes, snapshot automation and group assignments are great for theatre. A big key for the New Victory is that shows often come back, so they can build a library of every show and have everything stored for the next time. That’s a tremendous advantage.”
Just as significant for other theatre engineers is the ability to handle the enormous I/O counts for big musical productions. “In the theatre world, we’re very cue-based,” explains Brian Hsieh, associate designer/programmer who used a PRO9 on the Broadway-bound White Noise: A Cautionary Musical, produced by Whoopi Goldberg.
That production, last staged at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago, required more than 100 scenes to be programmed into the PRO9, with every scene carrying MIDI commands to at least seven devices with links and follows. (Priscilla’s Helm also worked on White Noise’s sound design.)
“We were able to take any number of the 24 wireless channels and put them on the VCAs needed for that scene,” notes Hsieh. “Every line was a fader move, and every scene changed the layout of the VCAs. So we used a lot of automation, and we were constantly on the VCAs throughout the show.”
Although Helm notes that one XL8 has been sufficient to cope with I/O demands of Priscilla, the particular I/O challenges of White Noise, with 88 input channels at FOH and 48 at monitors with 35 individual mix outputs from FOH and 24 from monitors, led the crew to use two consoles in tandem, with a PRO9 for primary mixing duties augmented by a backstage PRO3 for monitors.
Just three Cat5 cables handled the 144 channels of audio running between the two consoles. The PRO3 was the source for all the monitor mixes, which included IEMs as well as wedge mixes for the band, plus various stage foldback speakers. “Those mixes were static, so there was no need for an active monitor engineer for the show,” explains Hsieh. “We used the KVM switch on the PRO9 to access and program the PRO3 from the front of house.”
The small footprint of both cabling and consoles has tangible benefits on high-risk Broadway productions, notes Helm. “As a sound designer, sound quality and technical ability will always be first for me. But economics are also a factor; ask any producer on Broadway. At $150 a seat, if you can save six or more seats by having a smaller footprint at front of house, there’s your business case for Midas digital right there.”
Star Plaza Theatre, Merrillville, IN
The 3,400-seat venue was equipped with VerTec VT4888DP-DA and VRX932LAP loudspeakers and VT4880ADP-DA subwoofers.
With a diverse event schedule featuring appearances by major touring artists, Merrillville, Indiana’s Star Plaza Theatre recently turned to Broadway Music to upgrade its sound system with Harman’s JBL VerTec line arrays. Star Plaza Theatre decided to make the investment after repeatedly needing to rent loudspeaker systems to accommodate the needs of larger productions. The new VerTec 4888 system perfectly fills the 3,400-seat venue with crystal-clear sound, from the main floor through to the mezzanine level.
Brian Wynn of Merrillville-based Broadway Music, who has a 25-year relationship with the venue, provided a main PA system featuring left-right arrays, each with eight VerTec VT4888DP-DA midsize powered line array elements, and a center array of three VRX932LAP powered Constant Curvature loudspeakers. The setup also includes VT4880ADP-DA powered fullsize arrayable subwoofers, which are hung three per side above the stage.
With a full schedule that also includes theatrical and orchestral productions, it was important to keep the subwoofers off the stage so they would not affect performances. The self-powered speakers also eliminate the need for additional amplifiers behind the stage.
“We’ve seen plenty of systems go in and out of the Star Plaza Theatre, and we ended up at a point where there was no reason for the theatre to continue renting or dealing with acts hauling their own VerTec in, leaving the in-house system cold,” said Wynn. “Some of these bands already have saved settings for VerTec, so it’s almost a plug-and-play situation when they begin their setup and sound checks.”
Union Theater at LSU, Baton Rouge, LA
BAi LLC recommended Meyer Sound’s Constellation for the 1,100-seat venue’s relatively low roof.
The Union Theater, a 1,100-seat multipurpose venue at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, hosts events that range from touring shows and student assemblies to concerts by the university’s choral, orchestral, and wind ensembles. During renovation, it was apparent that the hall’s physical acoustics and low roof presented a significant hurdle for classical music presentations that required an extended reverberation time. To support the diverse programming in the auditorium, acoustical consultant BAi LLC of Austin, Texas, recommended Meyer Sound’s Constellation acoustic system as the most practical and flexible approach for the project.
“Active acoustics were the only solution for reverberation,” notes BAi president Charles Bonner, who originally proposed the integrated physical and electronic approach. “We could enhance some early reflections with physical treatments, but the only physical way to increase late reverberation would be raising the roof-at enormous cost.”
For Lawrence Kaptain, dean of LSU’s School of Music, the outcome was both surprising and gratifying. “In my mind, I had the impression that I might hear some discernible reverberation or echo. But instead, Constellation just does wondrous things. It gives everything a much fuller and deeper sound, almost like it takes the music from grayscale up to millions of colors.”
LSU’s Constellation system is among the first to employ Meyer Sound’s D-Mitri digital audio platform as the hardware host. The system includes one DCP core processor, three DVRAS processors (for running Constellation’s patented VRAS algorithms) and four DAIO-816 input/output frames.
Spaced throughout the auditorium, there are 10 cardioid and 14 omnidirectional microphones, along with 82 MM-4XP miniature self-powered loudspeakers and — for natural low-frequency reverberation — 10 MM-10 miniature subwoofers. The system was designed and calibrated by the Meyer Sound Constellation team, with installation by Technical Services Group, Inc. of Baton Rouge, LA. Operation of Constellation is entrusted to Ricky Berlin, the theatre’s audio engineer.
For Dean Lawrence Kaptain, Constellation supports the school’s efforts in building a repeat concert-going audience. “With more going on, more choices, we are always fighting to build an audience. If they come once and don’t have a positive, memorable experience, they may not come back. Constellation is another tool to make sure an audience leaves satisfied. It’s an integral part of creating a space that people want to come back to.”
McCallum Theater, Palm Desert, CA
The venue is using a Soundcraft Vi6 digital console.
Known for providing entertainment and education through a variety of performing arts events that reflect the diversity of people, interests, and tastes of the Coachella Valley in California, the McCallum Theater recently updated its all-Harman audio system by adding Soundcraft’s Vi6 digital audio mixing console for its front-of-house mixing needs.
The 24-year-old theater needed an update to replace an aging Soundcraft Series 5 console. With the Vi6 in mind, James D. Anderson, audio director at the theater, consulted with Bob Patrick, principal of Hacienda Heights, CA-based IPR Services, to install the console and ensure compatibility with the rest of the system, including JBL’s VerTec VT4888 midsize line arrays and Crown I-Tech amplifiers. The upgrade included BSS Soundweb London signal processing for digital routing and flexibility. Dennis M. Kornegay, CTO, IPR Services, developed the London programming and user interface software.
Patrick was the project manager when the original system was installed, and knew the details of the hardware. “He was the logical choice to go to, both for purchasing and integrating the console,” says Anderson. “I had done my research and knew I wanted the Vi6. I had never used a digital board before, but the ease of use and operation with Soundcraft’s Vistonics II was so good that I jumped right into it. I knew that my guest engineers would be satisfied.”
“It was a seamless transition going from the old analog wiring to the new digital system,” adds Anderson. “I am still learning the aspects of digital mixing, but the board is everything I imagined and more. I chose the 96 input option.”
To learn the new board, Anderson attended Soundcraft’s “Mixing with Professionals” session, conducted by Gert Sanner in Northridge, CA. “It was perfect,” Anderson says. “The class was four hours long and I came away with information that made everything easier. My favorite feature on the console is the Vistonics, which allows me to see all channel settings at the same time. I also like the GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) for starting playback devices with the function keys or from a cue. The GPIO contacts appear on my patch bay, along with user interface connections to all playback devices, for easy configuration.”
“I am extremely happy with the console and the support I’ve received from Harman and Soundcraft,” he concludes. “It is perfect for what we need and I am excited to keep learning more ways to use the board and discovering more functions and effects.”
Budapest Cultural Centre, Budapest, Hungary
Interton installed a QSC ILA line array system in the 700-seat venue.
A QSC ILA line array system has been installed at the MOM Cultural Center in Budapest, part of an audio-visual system integration undertaken by the loudspeaker company’s Hungarian distributor, Interton Electroacoustics. Interton was tasked with a complete renovation of the existing theatre, which now has a seating capacity of nearly 700.
Interton has a long relationship with both the acoustic consultant, András Kotschy, who specified QSC products in the original proposal document, and the main contractor, Market Ltd., and that was a factor in their ability to win the contract to both supply and install the gear.
Under the project management of Ákos Martinec, Interton set about designing a solution that would combine the main auditorium PA with full stage lighting and an intercom system to enable the government of the local district to stage a wide program of events, ranging from concerts to theatrical and ballet performance.
After discussing the operational requirements at length, Interton opted for an end-to-end QSC solution, using a dedicated SC28 system controller to optimize and control left/right hangs of six WL2082-I, the installation version of the WideLine8, and two WL118-sw single-18 subwoofers per side. The speakers and subwoofers are powered by a combination of RMX 5050HD, RMX 4050HD and RMX 2450 amplifiers.
“We ran the main system in a triamp-plus-sub configuration using the recommended settings, but with some EQ fine-tuning to meet the needs of the operators,” explains Interton design engineer, Ferenc Volár.
Additional theatre effects are provided by an additional eight QSC AcousticDesign AD-CI52ST ceiling speakers, which are used as ground floor under-balcony fills at the rear of the venue.
“The QSC SC28 speaker processor made the FOH system very easy to set up and fine tune,” concludes Volár. “It has provided an extremely user-friendly solution.”
