Slovakia - For almost half a century, Jean Michel Jarre has pushed the boundaries of studio production and live performance.
Jarre’s most recent appearance saw him take to the stage in the Slovakian capital Bratislava to perform his Bridge From the Future show in front of 100,000. The gig opened STARMUS, a science and music festival founded by Queen guitarist Brian May and astrophysicist Dr Garik Israelian, with the aim of uniting science, art, and music to explore critical questions about the future of the planet.
For what would be an audio tour-de-force involving additional contributions from Brian May, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and a 19-strong chorus form the Slovak Philharmonic Choir, delivered from the largest stage ever constructed in Slovakia, Jean Michel Jarre specified a Coda Audio system to meet the challenge.
Experienced audio engineer Christophe Dupin and his team were responsible for creating the system, which deployed Coda’s flagship AiRAY system, supplemented by CiRAY, N-RAY, ViRAY, HOPS8 (for monitoring) and SC2-F and SCP sensor controlled subs. A total of 288 loudspeakers from across the CODA Audio range were used. This took care of the main stage as well as two delay setups which ensured total coverage of the audience area.
Given the visually spectacular nature of the performance, it was important to the production that the audio system was discreet and as much as was possible did not interfere with audience sight-lines, fireworks, drone footage and AI-generated visuals.
Christophe Dupin comments: “The reaction from everyone was to say that it was amazing and that people had never heard that kind of power from such small boxes! With the AiRAY, only 12 boxes per side covered around 100m and we still had plenty of headroom - the music is very punchy.”
Textbook use of Coda Audio’s proprietary prediction tool System Optimiser enabled the team to achieve even coverage and impressive throw, as well as tonal balance throughout. Coda’s patented technologies mean that the ‘family’ of loudspeakers which make up its range are designed to be used together and interchangeably, retaining a consistent sonic signature.
David Webster, global sales and marketing director for Coda Audio states, “This was a real challenge for system and engineers alike. The show was on a huge scale and extremely varied - from a masterclass in electronic music to the orchestra, choir and Brian May’s distinctive guitar - but the team ensured that everyone in the audience, no matter what their position, heard everything with fantastic clarity.
“Even when Jean-Michel took to the mic to address the crowd, the quality was consistent for even the most distant listener. We are very proud to have been responsible for a key part in the delivery of the stunning Bridge From the Future show.”
