STOCKHOLM, Sweden – The Stockholm Jazz Festival celebrated its 30th anniversary this year with performances from an eclectic mix ranging from John Scofield, Wayne Shorter and Courtney Pine to Elliot, Kool and the Gang and the Brand New Heavies. Bromma-based rental company Electrosound had provided the festival's audio system, which included an Alcons Audio system.
This was the first year that Electrosound provided the audio system, working as a part of the complete sound/light/stage production by Live Media Group. Designed by Electrosound's Brollan Söderström and LMG's Robert Karlsson, a unique Alcons LR16 rig was able to overcome a significant lack of space without compromising on sound quality.
The festival features two parallel stages which flip flop between artists – while one has a performance underway, the other one is being set up for the next artist. The Alcons system featured three clusters, that on the left being the left stage's left hang, the one on the right the right stage's right hang, while that in the middle functioned as the left stage's right hang and right stage's left hang.
"Because the site is constricted, there was no space to fly the LR16B bass cabinets on the side of the LR16s, so we flew them behind the LR16s and time delayed the LR16 arrays back to the LR16Bs," said Brollan. "Similarly, we had three ground stacks of 2 x 18" subs, each one designed as an ‘end fire' array, with four boxes in one row and another set of four boxes behind. These were spaced with the distance matching half a wavelength at 55hz and time aligned accordingly."
Due to the space limitations, Electrosound couldn't position the PA towers at the ideal position of in line with, or just behind, the stage front. They had to be positioned a few meters forward but, with two clusters of three LR14 enclosures stacked on each stage, nobody at the front lost out on any of the sonic experience.
"We stacked them on each side of the centre monitors, so the audience at the front really felt that the sound was coming from the stage and not from the sides," says Brollan.
Despite its billing as a jazz festival, the event caters for broad musical tastes, and the Alcons system helped enhance styles ranging from R&B to the most impenetrable jazz improvisation, ensuring that the enthusiastic audience didn't miss a single note.
"We were limited to 105dB, but the system provided excellent coverage and clarity, with plenty of punch," Brollan continued. "The biggest challenge was having bands playing more-or-less non stop, so we had very limited opportunities for soundchecks.
"We had Alcons VR8s for FOH nearfills and the engineers had to trust what they heard in them during a quick sound / line check before each act. Thanks to the similarity in the construction of the VR8 and the LR16, the sound in the VR8s matched the main system sound remarkably well, which gave each engineer a very good starting point.
"Everyone was very happy," Brollan added. "I was talking a few days later to Kool and The Gang's FOH engineer. He said that he wished he'd had an Alcons system at the show they did the day after Stockholm Jazz. I think that says a lot."
For more information, please visit www.alconsaudio.com.
