DiGiCo SD desks power worship-music conference
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For the fourth year in a row, Brentwood-based integrator CTS AVL was the audio and lighting systems provider for the event. However, this year, the company also took on the conference’s broadcast and audio-recording tasks. That called for a more comprehensive approach to infrastructure, for which CTS AVL constructed an all-DiGiCo architecture, consisting of three SD5 consoles for front of house, monitors and broadcast, and an SD12 96 desk for production.
Utilising three SD-Racks and DiGiGrid MGB interfaces between consoles and computers, the system seamlessly handled over 160 inputs, managing over 50 separate mixes for bands, groups, choirs, and an orchestra.
“In past years, we had used an analogue infrastructure to break out signal for front of house, monitor and production, but with the addition of broadcast this year and the ever-growing input list we needed to create an all-digital infrastructure that was reliable and easy to use,” says Mike Taylor, CTS AVL vice president. “That meant DiGiCo, was an obvious choice because we were able to source all we needed to the growing system in town due to the readily available products in Nashville.”
The number of inputs was driven both by the size of the event, which draws participants from around the world, and by the fact that it focuses heavily on acoustical music and instruments, reflecting the Getty’s Irish-music heritage. Production, comprising speakers, pre-recorded audio, choir and orchestra, totalled 72 inputs alone.
Brooks Abbott, CTS AVL’s audio engineer supervising the event, says the DiGiCo SD environment is what allowed them to take the show to the next level. “Last time, we were still at around 120 inputs, but with a large band and choir and an orchestra the input count quickly went to 160 inputs, plus another 50 to 60 for monitors, so we knew we needed the kind of solution the SD consoles, along with the SD-Racks and Optocore network, offered,” he says. “It was all about capacity and workflow.”
At monitors, Abbott says the large number of guest artists were able to be handled easily on the SD5 as the engineer created presets for each one during soundchecks, with dozens of performers’ mixes about to recalled instantly, on the fly as each artist joined the house band. He also noted that being able to do all of this on a single Optocore network made cabling for the sprawling event far easier, including connecting to the SD5 broadcast console, which had been set up in a locker room in the venue.
