When several students of the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, had the opportunity to design the audio system for an open-air concert by the Italian Orchestra dell'Insubria, Yamaha’s regional office was more than happy to help.
The concert took place at Vallemaggia in the Swiss Alps and the stage was located in an amphitheatre-like bowl at the base of the mountains.
As this was an orchestral show, the sound reinforcement needed to accurately relay both the drama and subtleties of the music, but the team also wanted to create an acoustic environment which would complement the spectacular surroundings.
Marc Andreae, Orchestra dell'Insubria’s founder and conductor, was enthusiastic about the idea so he decided to include special sound effects in some pieces of music, including Strauss’s Explosion Polka and Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite.
More than ninety inputs and thirty outputs would be necessary on the system, plus a mix for a television broadcast of the concert. Here Yamaha’s Juergen Wilhelm and Jean-Pierre Decollogny stepped in to help, providing a PM1D console for front of house sound and a DM2000 for the television mix - both from Audio-Rent Clair-Brothers stock in Aesch, Switzerland.
“It was really great to have a console like the PM1D, because the 28-bit AD conversion substantially helped us to keep the noise floor down, even with a large number of microphones on quiet instruments,” says system designer and FOH engineer Volker Werner. “Also, the now-integrated REV-X reverb was a wonderful sound tool.”
To achieve the required even coverage, ten horn speakers were used, mounted in an evenly-spaced pattern above the orchestra and used as discrete signal sources to eliminate the problems of phantom imaging. The main PA system was delayed to the horns, so the initial wave front was always from them.
Twelve surround speakers were also used for the sound effects and reverb, along with five front fills and two side fills.
“The whole concept worked really well,” says Volker. “The sound effects were spectacular and really appreciated by the audience. The surround sound concept also helped to integrate the audience into the overall concert experience.”
