For the fourth successive year, Duran Audio provided all PA systems for Open Source Festival, which took place at the picturesque Grafenburg race course in the heart of Düsseldorf, Germany.
Founded in 1981 and currently headquartered in Zaltbommel, The Netherlands, Duran Audio is a loudspeaker manufacturer that looks to provide solutions to real-life electro acoustic problems such as poor intelligibility and distortion.
This year, Duran Audio used its WinControl and DDA software to control its AXYS line systems and steerable Target line arrays on all three festival stages.
3,000 for 30+ Acts
A 3,000-strong audience (three times as many as 2009's festival) was treated to a mixed music genre festival that ran from lunch time until late evening. For the real hardcore clientele, late night after-parties were hosted at some of Düsseldorf's hot spots, which ran into the small hours.
Over 30 acts took to the three outdoor stages: the main stage, the Carhartt stage, and the new bands stage. PCs with WinControl running were on all three stages, each overviewed by a Duran Audio System Tech.
A 99dB Noise Limit
Local authorities were pretty hot around the location and implemented a significant 99dB LEQ environmental noise restriction. Despite this drawback, Duran Audio's Uli Ritter says that using DDA (Digital Directive Analyser) software and having WinControl onsite was an enormous help in meeting these stringent requirements.
"DDA calculates all the settings, and WinControl uploads the files and changes them on the system," says Ritter. "We managed to achieve an amazing 20dB reduction in the sub frequencies at the back of the Carhartt stage; and at the main stage we took even more out."
I witnessed the 20dB reduction myself directly behind the Carhartt stage – it was impressive – and I decided to take a walk round the back of the main stage during one of the headline artists' sets, and was astonished at how much of a drop in SPL I was witnessing; at the back, the low-end felt almost non-existent.
Adjustments on the Fly
DDA was used the day prior to the festival to set up the PA, but when the rains came mid-afternoon, the punters by the main stage ran for cover in the grandstand opposite, which meant immediate adjustments had to be made. Thanks to WinControl, Ritter says, this posed no problem.
"All we had to do was switch in the main PA system and adjust the throw of the line array into the grandstand," he says. "We opened it up to a wider angle using one of the eight pre-configured presets; WinControl enabled us to do this in seconds."
The Stage Setups
The main stage PA was an AXYS Target line array system configured L/R: a hang of seven T-280s and seven B-215s each side; a mono sub block consisting of four pairs of B-121s with a single U-16 speaker on top; and a pair of T-2820s positioned L/R for frontfill. UFM monitor speakers were used on stage.
The Carhartt stage PA was also an AXYS Target system – a hang of eight U-16s on each side and a stack of five B-215s per side in a cardioid setup. A pair of U-16s were also used for the frontfills.
The new bands stage consisted of a Source G2 system; one T07 sat on top of a pair of B-07s on each side.
FOH Consoles and Processing
Crest Audio provided all FOH consoles, which included a GT, a GTX and an X8. Main stage FOH engineer Dirk Fleck ran 48 channels, and his outboard included Drawmer gates, Tube Tech compressors and Lexicon PCM 70s, 80s and 90s. All microphones used on stage were by Sennheiser and Shure.
A Yamaha M7CL console was assigned to monitors, operated by engineer Mathias Hentschel from stage left. Although his preferred console is a DiGiCo SD8, he was satisfied enough working from the M7CL – somewhat of a festival standard for monitoring.
An Eclectic Mix
The four acts on the main stage were totally different in style. There was a strange mixture of music including a set of bizarre poetry being screamed over heavy rock music and a performance by popular local rap act Dendemann, which was a bit more bearable.
Surprisingly, Hentschel says his role at monitors never changes, no matter what style of music. "I have a routine, as I have been a monitor engineer for 15 years now," he says. "I adapt the way I mix depending on which console I'm using, but the different styles of music don't affect me; every musician is different, and my job is just to keep each one happy."
Hentschel ran 48 channels from the M7CL (using no outboard whatsoever) and generated eight separate monitor mixes and one stereo mix for a set of [Sennheiser] in-ears; there were also eight wedges on stage.
On the Carhartt Stage, which featured instrumental acts and DJs, Michael Ochs operated a 24-channel Crest Audio Century console at FOH position. His outboard included Klark Teknik stereo compression and a Lexicon PCM 90 reverb.
Controlling the SPL
Ochs had previously worked with the Duran Audio gear at Open Source 2008 with a similar cardioid rig, so he already had a good understanding of its SPL beam shaping capabilities.
"At around 20 to 25 meters from the stage, there was a strong drop down in SPL level because there were a number of market tents close by," says Ochs. "If you crouched down on your knees at that point, you could literally hear that you were still in the beam; and when you stood up again, the frequencies in the high and mid ranges just fell out."
Due to the Duran Audio directional bass system, Ochs says he was also able to eliminate a lot of the low-mid and bass frequencies on stage.
"Even with analog turntables on stage, I don't get much feedback from the needle," says Ochs. "In 2008, I had six analog DJs to deal with, and I had no problems at all; this year, we had mostly electronic music, so it's been even easier."
Duran Audio recently launched its latest cardioid subwoofer (B-215-diff bass loudspeaker) at PLASA 2010, which was featured in FOH's show report (FOH, Sept. 2010, page 14).
