OSLO, Norway — A network of two Midas XL8s and three PRO6 consoles linked via AES50 (SuperMAC) reinforced the technical harmony of the Nobel Peace Prize concert at the Spektrum in Oslo. The Midas digital setup was implemented to handle 10 artists including Diana Ross, Il Divo, The Script and Robyn — each accompanied by a large orchestra — and to broadcast the event worldwide. The Midas consoles were supplied by Oslo-based AVAB-CAC, which has provided all audio requirements for the Nobel Peace Prize Concert for the past 17 years. In a new approach to the event’s audio network, the consoles were used to link three stages, produce live sound and provide a broadcast feed. A PRO6 was used on each stage for monitor mixes, with a pair of XL8s at front of house.
“Quite simply, we changed from a system that used many snakes, analogue and digital, running back and forth between the various performance areas and took us five to six hours to install and check, to a process that took barely half and hour,” said system designer Oystein Karlsen from AVAB-CAC. “Having experimented last year using the Midas XL8 console for front of house mixing, the benefits of the Midas AES50 audio transport technology were apparent in the mix domain.
“When the Midas PRO6 appeared I immediately saw an affordable set of tools to construct a complete solution to the routing of all these signals in multiple directions, with a rigorously maintained audio quality. The AES50 audio signal management brings two main advantages: a unified, stable and simple solution to multi-directional routing in complex systems, and sound quality, because all desks and routers know where the audio samples are at any one time. This means the network produces true phase coherency for all signals as they appear at the speakers, in the monitors, and at the broadcast truck, producing the Midas sound we know and love.”
Duties for the two front of house XL8s was divided between the three stages, with one desk handling orchestral inputs, VT feeds, and inputs from presenters Sir Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson, plus ancillary stage announcements. The second XL8 mixed down the bands performing on the left and right stages, then fed the resulting mixes into the first XL8 for the final mix, balancing them with the orchestra. Although some of the changeovers between bands were mere seconds, the Midas consoles’ automated routing helped the crew repatch and reconfigure hundreds of audio connections with each scene recall.
The system handled almost 100 inputs from the Norwegian Radio Orchestra performing on the central stage, plus inputs from guest artists on stages to the left and right. Signals from all three stages ran to racks of Midas DL431 mic splitters positioned stage left; here Karlsen positioned the DL371 PRO6 and DL471 XL8 mix engines, with all desks, splitters, mix engines, and routers (DL461s) linked together variously via Cat5, AES50, and fibre optic to front of house where the run to desk exceeded 100 metres. Splits went three ways, to broadcast, front of house and the three monitor desks.
The center PRO6 took the bulk of the orchestra into its 80 inputs and mixed them down for a generic orchestra mix to orchestra monitors, and to be picked up by the left and right PRO6 monitor mixers. These two desks took the mixed down orchestra and all individual feeds from their own respective stages to create the variety of mixes demanded. For example, Per Ola Holden mixing on stage left regularly used all 32 available outputs, sending multiple mixes, mono and stereo, to a variety of wedges and in ear systems.
The 2008 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to veteran peace broker Martti Ahtisaari, who over the past 30 years has helped resolve conflicts in trouble spots such as Indonesia, Namibia, Northern Ireland and the Balkans.
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