KA

Debuting in the completely rebuilt 1,951-seat theatre of Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel is KÀ, Cirque du Soleil's fifth Las Vegas extravaganza. Created and directed by acclaimed Québécois theatre and film director Robert Lepage, KÀ is one of the largest technical productions ever put together, combining acrobatics, martial arts, puppetry, multimedia, pyrotechnics, an original score and an elaborate sound design by Jonathan Deans. KÀ departs from previous Cirque productions by featuring a strongly defined story with clearly identified characters. Described by Cirque founder and CEO Guy Laliberte as "the most theatrical show we've ever done," KÀ is based on the ancient Egyptian belief in the ka, an invisible spiritual duplicate of the body that accompanies each person through this life and into the next. The tale is told as the saga of separated twins–a boy and a girl–who embark on a journey to fulfill their destinies, facing perils and danger through a succession of changing landscapes.

Just prior to KÀ's November previews, sound designer Jonathan Deans, who, in addition to his 12-year association with Cirque, has worked on such Broadway events as A Chorus Line, Le Misérables and Fosse, filled FOH in on what it's like to work on such a mammoth and unusual production. "Because of the size of the auditorium, and because we've made the feeling of the room cavernous," he comments, "the sound design has to work hard here at the MGM Grand."

Much of that cavernous feeling comes from the actual abyss–a large open space with a 60-foot drop, and, according to Deans, a sonic life of its own–that yawns at the edge of the larger-than-usual proscenium-style stage. In fact, thanks to lighting design by Luc Lafortune, no stage is actually visible. "It's really one big space with the hall on one side and seating on the other," explains Deans. "At the beginning of the performance, the structure of the theatre itself speaks. It's an eerie, big space, and we use Level Control Systems' VRAS (Variable Room Acoustic System) to change the acoustics of the room."

Pelton Marsh Kinsella (PMK) served as acousticians for the KÀ Theatre, and were instrumental in choosing the VRAS system. "They were out to design an auditorium

that could change its acoustics from cinema-style to six seconds of reverb and everything in between," says Deans. "Depending on what we see on stage or what we want the audience to feel, the acoustics change something like 30 times throughout the performance."

Because of the size and space of the theatre and the elaborate scenic elements of the production (by set designer Mark Fisher), the sound system is primarily

oriented "concert-style" for stereo from the front of the theatre, with a Meyer Sound Labs MILO line array system split into two systems that also work together as one. "We have two sets of line arrays," Deans notes, "with separate LCS SpaceMap control over the outputs of the console and the inputs to the arrays. We can switch one whole set of arrays, one pair of them or sections of them off, depending on what's happening. So instead of having a basic left/right system all the time, we design the operation cue by cue. There are also about 60 speakers in the ceiling, as well as the 3,800 speakers in the seats: two speakers for each seat."

Deans is a longtime Meyer user, explaining, "Because I move sound around a lot, from one speaker to another within the theatre, it's very important that the speakers have a similar quality. In order to do that, I need a company that can supply a whole toolbox of speakers. When I'm moving from the huge MILO array, going down to a UPA, there's a level change but the quality is the same. Meyer does that for us. They also understand what we do. Unlike a lot of companies I've come across, they don't try to sell you something that you don't want. They actually listen to you!"

The array is made of 52 Meyer MILO units; eight SB2s are spread around the auditorium in a left/right, front/rear configuration. Three UPAs are on each side of the auditorium, with CQ1s on the extreme audience sides for fill. Eight PSW2s are overhead for subwoofers. Additional elements by Turbosound, NEXO and EAW round out the loudspeakers.

KÀ's FOH and monitor console system is by LCS, the digital and modular CueConsole. FOH is configured with 14 LX-300 modules for 190 inputs: 78 for musicians, 32 for sound effects and body mics, the rest for playback and reverb treatments. Deans chose the CueConsole, which Cirque also uses on Zumanity and O, in part because of its modular nature. "The console is designed by what components we use," he comments. "It's up to us how we'll operate the board, and how many inputs, outputs and faders we want. It's a tactile console, with no audio going through it. All the audio is stored in the basement, with a CAT 5 connection between the control surface at FOH and the main I/O section.

"The Level Control Systems focus very much on what's needed in a truly live console, and it keeps the possibilities wide open," he continues. "My goal is to never say "no" to my producers and directors; certainly with the LCS I'm in that position."

"With about 200 channels and 4,000 loudspeakers, it's probably the biggest surround system ever deployed," comments John McMahon of LCS. "It's not just 5.1. Obviously it requires a very sophisticated panner to move the sound around, through and up above the audience. SpaceMap is part of what the CueConsole has access to. It's got a highly creative programming value, where you can draw in the movement and the console can trigger it. You can also have individual faders remapped on the fly so you don't have to page through the console."

The small footprint of the modular desk is also a major asset. According to Deans, when a CueConsole was retrofitted into O, an extra 16 seats were gained for the house, resulting in a significant income increase.

Seven musicians contribute to the score, sometimes playing on stage, at other times from two specially built off-stage studio spaces. "Because of the nature of the show," explains Deans, "and because there's no real stage, there's no place for the musicians to be. They play in a studio unless they're part of a scene." With no dialogue, narration or lyrics, the sound design can be, Dean points out, much more free-form. "As soon as you start using spoken word, you have the pressure to make sure that's what's heard and everything else is thrown out. With Cirque, of course, that's not an issue."

For reverbs Deans has chosen all outboard TC Electronic units, including a System 6000, two M4000s, one M3000s, two Fireworx and a Voiceworx. Microphones are by Shure, Neumann, AKG, Sennheiser and Audio-Technica; wireless systems are by Shure and DPA. Personal monitors are Ultimate Ears. Overall theatrical audio consulting was by Auerbach Consultants; Solotech, Inc. was sound contractor and installer, under the auspices of project manager Bob Barbagallo. "Solotech and Bob Barbagallo did a fantastic installation," Deans states, "on what has turned out to be probably one of the biggest projects ever done."

Traditionally, Cirque's artistic designers, called conceptors, get together early on in a project. For KÀ, it was almost three years ago that key players first sat down with Robert Lepage in Quebec City, Canada to toss around ideas.

"We were all able to give our points of view," Deans recalls. "Of course, between then and now a lot of things have come out of nowhere and bloomed; a lot of other things have disappeared. On a Cirque show, the length of involvement is similar to a film, where it takes years to formulate something. That's part of the process of painting an abstract picture, where you're not copying anything.

"Part of my job is to make sure that the production is always going to have what it needs, so that we don't end up with an eight-lane highway going into a one-lane tunnel. You have to anticipate thoughts and ideas so that it ends up eight lanes all the way. Even now, certain things are being adapted and changed. Even though KÀ is the most structured show Cirque has done, it's not at all like a Broadway show. You have no clue what's going to happen until you're all in the theatre working on it. Ultimately, it's all part of one package. Rather than being about fantastic costumes, or lighting or sound effects, it's a whole experience. That's the beauty of Cirque du Soleil."

LCS' Variable Room Acoustic System

Approximately 40 microphones in the KÀ Theatre feed a set of VRAS frames–standard Matrix3 hardware units, controlled by either a Macintosh computer or the CueConsole and fitted with VRAS processor modules. The VRAS frames feed an analog combiner that sends signal to 128 of the venue's speakers.

"The VRAS enhances the experience for the audience, so that they feel part of the environment," explains John McMahon of LCS. "With traditional reverb, the performers sound great, and reverberant, but when the audience applauds they're in a dead hall, a different environment. With VRAS, they can be part of any kind of sonic environment that you choose."

For setup, a room's natural acoustics are measured and parameters are entered into the VRAS; tuning at the

KÀ Theatre took approximately 10 days. "It's the biggest system we've done," notes McMahon. "Some of the settings are really incredible. Traditionally, our system has been used strictly for acoustic enhancement, but sound designers can use it for effects as well. If there are scenes where they want the audience to feel like they're in a big chamber or canyon, they can choose settings to create that effect. For KÀ, that was part of the whole tuning process, to work out with Jonathan what settings would be really useful."

LCS' SpaceMap

LCS' Stephen Ellison developed SpaceMap in the mid-'80s while working with multi-channel sound in a Geodesic dome equipped with 16 loudspeakers. The technique has evolved and is now used in a wide variety of venues, all with unique loudspeaker configurations. He elaborates: "Matrix 3 is the LCS product series built on the LX-300 audio engine, which is a three-rack space unit that includes processing and I/O slots that support analog and digital audio formats. Multiple LX-300s are linked to build a mixing and signal processing system (mix, EQ, delay, dynamics, variable acoustics) for the show. Matrix3 is programmed with CueStation 4 software, and a feature built into CueStation is SpaceMap, a custom panning surface. A project programmed with CueStation software can have any number of SpaceMaps, which can be used for different sound sources at different points in the show.

"One of the benefits of this technique is that SpaceMap adapts to the loudspeaker layout, rather than the other way around. Sound designers can determine the loudspeaker locations first, and then program one or more SpaceMaps appropriate to the show. Movements of sound are programmed as trajectories, then triggered in a cue by an operator pressing a button, or by timecode reaching a designated point. Every input in the console can be panned independently at any time."

Leon Rothenberg worked with Deans on KÀ, and programmed the SpaceMaps that are used in the show. Sounds are panned, for instance, from the line arrays to the surrounds, or from the seat speakers to the side loudspeakers.

Sound Designer: Jonathan Deans, Cirque Du Soleil

Audio Consultant: Auerbach Consultants

Senior Audio Consultant: Paul Garrity

Audio Consultant: Matt Ezold

Sound Contractor: Solotech Inc

Project Manager: Bob Barbagallo

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