For one day, the area was transformed into Colombian kiosks with vendors selling their wares while live music provided entertainment with the invigorating sounds of Cumbia, Vallenato, Salsa, and other Colombian musical rhythms. To help ensure a festive mood, the CCC wanted a potent sound system. They got their wish - with a sizeable setup based on components from the D.A.S. Audio catalogue.
AVS Production Group, a Bronx, NY-based production group that, in addition to being a design/build firm for the installed sound market, serves as a provider of live sound for concerts, tours, and special events, was contracted to provide sound reinforcement for the annual festival. Abraham Viera, AVS president, discussed the challenges of the event.
"The Colombian Independence Day Festival attracts a big crowd," said Viera. "While various conditions such as the economy, weather, and concerns about a flu epidemic curtailed some aspects of this year's event, it nonetheless attracted roughly 50,000 people. That's a huge crowd and a sound system for a group this large needs to have a lot of power, long throw, and broad, even coverage across a wide area."
To address these issues, the AVS crew deployed a large sound system drawn primarily from new models belonging to D.A.S. Audio's recently introduced Aero 2 Series product line. The main loudspeaker system consisted of 24 D.A.S. Audio Aero 50 large format, three-way line array enclosures - flown 12 per side at a height of 32ft for the top enclosure.
These loudspeakers were driven by Lab Gruppen PLM 10,000Q Series power amplifiers with Lake processing technology. In addition to the main left-right speaker clusters, the AVS team also erected two delay towers for supplemental coverage on the extreme sides of the area. Flown with Genie lifts, each tower consisted of six D.A.S. Audio Aero 12A self-powered, two-way, mid high line array modules.
(Jim Evans)
