LONDON – Wigwam Acoustics provided a d&b audiotechnik J-Series loudspeaker system for Hillsong Conference Europe 2011, a religious gathering that filled the O2 Arena for three days of conferences, keynote speeches, rock ‘n' roll-style celebrations and presentations in the form of dance and theatre.
Mick Spratt from Wigwam noted that, under the guidance of lead audio engineer Chris Johnson, the largely-volunteer Hillsong sound crew handles most of the sound-system duties; Wigwam's crew of five was primarily there to "ensure the system was in and up on time and properly rigged, with one specialist to assist with what is, even by Wigwam's standards, a large radio mic setup."
"Hillsong has a lot of its own d&b equipment, and we have a longstanding relationship with Wigwam to support us," concurred Johnson, also noting that "the church manages a high level of production itself.
"Hillsong holds regular Sunday services at the Dominion in Tottenham Court Road and have around 100 volunteers who all help with the various disciplines of sound, lights and video," Johnson said. "Being voluntary, they rotate through Sundays, so at any given service there will be approximately 30 of them working.
"Despite being volunteers their experience is large," Johnson added. "We also present occasional events at the Royal Albert Hall (RAH), Wembley Arena, and Wembley Conference Centre; even the Hammersmith Apollo quite regularly each year," he noted, adding that "our own systems comprise Q, C and E-Series from d&b."
"In some ways, these people have as much experience as any of our own technicians," confirmed Wigwam's Spratt. "From the point of view of using a system for speech and live music on the same day, maybe more so. They are well-accustomed to switching formats, and Chris is a very experienced sound engineer."
"My team have all the required knowledge, it's just a matter of scale," Johnson said. "At the Dominion, they might handle 12 channels of radio mics; for the O2 we needed 50 channels, so Wigwam sent us a specialist. That's a good learning experience for us, and Wigwam's people are very instructive."
Johnson's choice of PA was also made with care. "Wigwam has a choice of three, but I find the d&b J-Series best for my purpose. I have used a lot of other large format line arrays and find J-Series fits the bill perfectly for the varying demands we put upon it."
Johnson noted a few reasons for his choice. "For one thing I can have a physically shorter array to cover my audience, reducing interference with the video and people's view of the stage. Secondly, because there are large numbers of people wearing lapel mics, I do need exact pattern control from the array and hands-on control of the front fills (d&b Q7 and Q10), so I do have a fair bit of group processing going on at the desk.
"For example," Johnson continued, "I have a specific band EQ that suits the rock ‘n' roll style, and another untouched system EQ for when the band play for the dramatic presentations. I also add EQ to taste with the various speech elements that occur during each day. We have great speakers and guest presenters, but that still means I need to make fine adjustments to sustain vocal clarity."
Johnson summarized his satisfaction with the O2 event. "For my money, the J-Series is best for handling this program material – it's good for rock ‘n' roll, equally capable for speech segments, and handles the more hi-fi content very nicely. The precise pattern control allows the system to handle head worn and lapel mics with ease, which allows me to incorporate them into the event simply.
"This is Hillsong's largest annual gathering in the UK; production has to be both excellent and transparent, so focus can be fixed on content. Making the correct system choice and having the experience and support of the Wigwam team allowed us to stage a complex event in the UK's premier arena without compromise."
For more information, please visit www.dbaudio.com and www.wigwamacoustics.co.uk.
