MAIDSTONE, England – Since the long-running BBC Radio 1 Roadshow morphed into the One Big Weekend series of outdoor festival-style shows in 2000, the production values have progressively increased to a point where nothing less than the most cutting-edge audio systems are now acceptable. This year, four separate stages and thousands of music fans descended on Mote Park to enjoy a bill headlined by no less than Madonna herself. But more true to the traditional Roadshow ethos was the Outdoor Stage, which featured a range of DJ performances and a large Turbosound Aspect PA system.
Headlined by Fatboy Slim and Zane Lowe respectively, the Saturday and Sunday bills on the Outdoor Stage featured a wide cross-section of DJ talent – of both the musical and radio presenter varieties.
The ground-stacked audio system was supplied by Britannia Row and comprised an FOH system of nine TA-890H and nine TA-890L per side, with eight TSW-218 subs. Onstage monitoring was by six TFM-450 wedges, two TQ-308DP and three TQ-425SP. Control was by a pair of XTA DP448s, with Powersoft amplifiers driving the system.
“It was a straightforward system,” says Brit Row’s Roly Oliver. “Set up time was limited, but the sound quality was great.”
With thudding bass being a fundamental requirement of DJ sets, yet residential areas surrounding Mote Park, the Turbosound PA was required to perform two opposing functions at the same time – to provide a big bass sound that shouldn’t be heard halfway across the county. But the Aspect system coped extremely well, keeping both the festival-goers and local authorities happy.
“The TA-890L and TSW-218 cabinets were extremely efficient at pumping out the bass and ensuring that it didn’t simply get lost in the open air environment,” says Roly. “The system was extremely controllable. There was an off site noise limit of 75dB and we reached 74.6dB at points, but we never went above the limit.”
As part of his on-going mission to ensure that its products continue to meet the requirements and the demands put on them out in the field, Turbosound’s director of R&D, Dominic Harter, was on site throughout the weekend.
“Britannia Row has really put its Aspect system to the test since it took delivery of it at the beginning of 2006,” he says. “It’s good to know that it’s still doing a great job, but we’re keen to make sure that we keep abreast of any new requirements and the only way to do that is to listen to what the people who are using it think and want.”
“The system performed fantastically well,” concludes Roly. “It did everything that was asked of it and everyone loved it.”
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