ZURICH, Switzerland – For the touring musical comedy, Die Patienten, audiopool sound designer Thomas Strebel specified Out Board's TiMax2 SoundHub and TiMax Tracker system. Sugar Veranstaltungstechnik supplied the gear, sourced through Out Board's German distributor, Pro Audio Technik.
Die Patienten, by Switzerland's Marco Rima, is the story of a group of patients within an insane asylum who form a rock band but need to escape to compete in a band competition. The production includes choreographed, on-stage rock performances.
Up to 10 actors and chorus members wore miniature TT Tags, which allowed their locations on stage to be continuously tracked by the three TT sensors – two mounted proscenium left and right, pointing back and across the stage, with a rear center-positioned TT Sensor pointing forward.
The TiMax2 SoundHub then converted this information into delay-matrix changes in the vocal PA to achieve the corresponding vocal localizations in real-time.
TiMax2 SoundHub R16 received the headset radio-mic feeds and band mix via MADI from a DiGiCo SD8 console, with the TiMax outputs going direct to d&b D12 amplifiers to drive the vocal and music systems.
TiMax provided all system routing, level-profiling and EQ as well as the delay-matrix vocal localisation controlled by TiMax Tracker.
Three d&b Q7 speakers mounted on an upstage truss at left, center and right positions provided a dual purpose: performers' foldback and first wavefront references to anchor the vocal PA's TiMax imaging delays.
The main vocal PA, which comprised two channels of d&b Q1 array, was flown from front truss at mid-left and mid-right positions. Four d&b E3 enclosures mounted under the front lip of the stage supplemented front fill.
A separate music system – flown d&b Q1 line array system with ground stacked subs left and right – served the live rock band and playback.
Audiopool's soundmix crew on-site were Felix Hohl and Laurenz Zshokke on the DiGiCo SD8, with TiMax at FOH. Mixing the monitoring on the Yamaha LS9 were Lukas Neuenschwander and Ronan Huber.
"A tour like Die Patienten will always benefit from the addition of TiMax2 Soundhub and Tracker System," noted Strebel. "The performance is very high energy and the tracking system really helps to automatically keep up with what is going on where.
"The TiMax2 ensured that the sound system really packed a punch through the d&b systems – the acting and the sound support were very well suited – and the set up at each venue was so simple – TiMax is such a natural part of this kind of sound system."
For more information, please visit www.outboard.co.uk.
