“We had a big P.A. that would rival any big rock show,” Fred Volger declares. “Lots of low end, lots of gain, surround sound speakers out in the house — we pumped.”
But it wasn’t a rock show — it was “movie music.” Last month in London’s O2 arena, the live stage treatment of the Star Wars series condensed 13 hours of films and music into a 90-minute event that combined video, an 86-piece orchestra, an 80 piece choir, and a suitable sound design to the delight of everyone in attendance, up to and including George Lucas himself.
“The heart of Star Wars: A Musical Journey is newly arranged music, cut by John Williams deftly and precisely to brilliant HD images,” says Patrick Stansfield, tour director/production supervisor. “The orchestra sound is thrilling and it required the apt hand of conductor Dirk Brosse to bring the nuance and complexity to the live audience. These iconic pieces were performed with immediacy, beauty, and presence.”
Big and Bad
“This’ll be the biggest, baddest sounding orchestra that anybody’s ever heard,” Spencer Churchill, tour producer for San Francisco-based Another Planet Entertainment, told Rolling Stone magazine just prior to the event.
“It was great — but very challenging,” says sound designer Fred Vogler of Sonitus. “They wanted to see how big an orchestra sound we could get,” and by all accounts, he indeed got a big one. “We got a lot of timbre, a lot of Sound Pressure Level (SPL).” Over 120 mics were used, both individual and area. “The challenge was trying to match the awesome reputation of Stars Wars and the awesome [LED] screen and video to the music,” he says. “The screen was super high-definition and we wanted to match it all with sonic quality, and I think we did so.”
A Sonic Match
Volger succeeded by mixing on a DiGiCo SD7 board and using a Meyer sound speaker system. The Meyer Sound audio team included Luke Jenks, director of European technical support; Miguel Lourtie, European technical services; and John Pellowe, projection director — Constellation. “Miguel and I provided design support before the event, and the tuning of the system on site in conjunction with Fred and Capital Productions,” Jenks says. “Miguel stayed on to provide system support during the shows.” Pellowe and Meyer’s John McMahon setup the Constellation system and John stayed on to support that system during the shows.
“The Constellation system used CueStation software and Constellation processors with a selection of UPJ and UPA loudspeakers hung above and to the sides of the orchestra as well as USW subwoofers,” Jenks adds.
“Director/designer Steven Cohen brought an encyclopedic understanding of the films and music to the project which enabled him to interpret the score and filmed elements together in a brilliant and accessible way,” Stansfield declared.
Now the plan is to trim the system, make it road-ready without losing the sonic hammer that they’ve created, and take it on the road in Europe and the U.S.
Gear
At the O2 Arena, Star Wars: A Musical Journey used 17 Milo units and one Milo 120 per side in the main LR hang. SIM 3 was used to tune the system. More details:
9 Mica in the center array
9 Milo per side in the main outfill array
10 700Hp per side flown behind each main Milo Hang
2 700 Hp per side on the floor
2 CQ-2 per side stacked on the 700HP
3 Milo per side as out fill (ground stacked)
3 Mica per side as extreme outfill (ground stacked)
6 UPQ-1P as delays for the rear upper tier
8 MSL-4 for surrounds total (Used in three arrays 3x 3x 2x)
4 g616 were used to manage the system
Crew
Producers: Gregg W. Perloff, Spencer Churchill, Steve Welkom
Director: Steven Cohen
Lighting/Production Designer: Steven Cohen
Video Editor: Jeremy Stuart
Sound Designer/Mixer: Frederick Volger
Tour Director/Production Supervisor: Patrick Stansfield
Production Manager: Michael Weiss
Orchestra Sound Technician: Richard Morris
Master Rigger: Michael Farese
