MONTE CARLO — Outside of Paris, it is unusual to find a club-style live music venue in France. Moods, however, is one such place. It boasts an intimate atmosphere that lends itself very nicely to the task, and an audio system that features a DiGiCo D1 Live and XTA DP448 digital signal processing.
Located in the exclusive surroundings of Monte Carlo—Moods is a multi-layered venue which, despite having acoustics that were carefully taken in to consideration during its construction, has proved challenging to provide full audio coverage. Its plethora of nooks and crannies, while adding very nicely to the overall atmosphere, are not particularly audio friendly.
Philippe Barguirdjian, of French sales and rental company Arpège Son Lumiere, carried out the specification and installation of the system. “We specified the D1 because it is a great sounding console, because the space it has to fit into is very tight so the small footprint of the D1 is good and because of the price,” he says.
Another factor in Barguirdjian’s console decision was that the engineers at Monaco SBM (Société des Bains de Mer) were already familiar with DiGiCo consoles. “During the summer, an SD7 and a D5 were used at Monaco Sporting Club,” he explains. “We needed a console with the capabilities of the SD7 there because there is a resident show that runs for the whole summer and that uses around 60/70 inputs.”
This in itself is not excessive, but in addition, three or four times a week, the Sporting Club hosts additional shows. Sometimes acts brought in their own desks, sometimes not, in which case the second band also had to be mixed on the SD7, necessitating a large amount of available inputs.
“Also, the change over time between acts is extremely short,” continues Barguirdjian. “There is a mobile stage beneath and behind the main stage, as well as another stage and both can be brought in. Sometimes there is less than a minute change over time between acts. To bring in another console under those circumstances would be technically dangerous, so we used the first 60 inputs for the Sporting’s resident band and then the visiting artists, such as Diana Ross, Santana, Alicia Keys, Chicago, Alanis Morrissette, Eric Clapton, could have the rest of the inputs as necessary.
The main PA comprises an L’ACOUSTICS DV-Dosc system, with KIVA cabinets.
“The acoustics at Moods bar are good because the place was designed to give the best result,” adds Philippe Dagau, resident engineer at the club. “However, its still not easy to mix there because the FOH booth is upstairs on a raised platform looking down onto the stage, so we don’t have the same sound at the desk as we do in the room. Nevertheless, the D1 is very easy to use with great ergonomics. Visiting engineers are usually very happy to work with the desk and they love the sound of the system.”
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For more information, please visit www.digico.org or www.xta.co.uk
