Supplied by SSE Audio Group, the new equipment comprises an M7CL-48ES and LS9-32 digital mixing consoles, MY16-ES64 Ethersound interface cards for the latter, three SB168-ES stage boxes and two Nexo PA systems.
"When I moved here just over a year ago, it was obvious that the equipment needed updating," says the university's technical manager David Mitchell. "Having never worked in education before, it surprised me that the technical theatre students were still using rather dated methods to run live shows."
He continues, "I knew that this was going to be a one-off opportunity to get the university to buy a system that would bring the learning experience of the students up to date. It was very important that we had something that will still be commonplace in the industry five years from now. I visited SSE earlier in the year and was blown away by just how versatile the LS9 and M7CL are."
University students stage productions in a variety of spaces, from the university's Studio 1 - an 'in the round' studio theatre - to a range of venues throughout the town, some of which are geared up for regular live performance and some which are not.
SSE Sales Manager Alex Penn (coincidentally an Aberystwyth University alumnus) made a site visit and suggested a permanent installation of eight Nexo PS10R2 with flexible sub locations (for either two RS15 or two RS18 speakers) for Studio 1. The M7CL48-ES and LS9-32 consoles were supplied with flightcases, so they can be used with either the permanent system or a mobile one comprising Nexo PS15R2s with RS15/8s. The latter can be used anywhere on campus or in external venues.
"I had constantly found myself setting up small PA systems in odd little venues around the town, using 8 -16 channel analogue mixers. After miking up and running playback from QLab and an eight way sound card, there were few (if any) channels / inputs available for anything else," says Mitchell. "The new mobile system is ideal for running shows in venues that are not necessarily designed to handle the demands of a live show."
(Jim Evans)
