The entertainment might be light-hearted, but the business of Crazy Pianos audio system is very serious indeed. A Yamaha DME24N and DM1000 console are at the heart of a flexible system which is designed to give the club's clientele the best possible audio experience.
The system was designed by Jeroen ten Brinke of Audio Design International and installed by More Stage Services. With Crazy Pianos manager Bjorn being a serious audiophile, updating the venue's eight year old sound system had to be done to the highest possible specification.
"When Crazy Pianos installed the first system, eight years ago, they didn't know how successful the bar would be. So they rented the equipment," says Brinke. "But with the bar proving extremely popular, the owner Bjorn wanted to buy a system. And because Crazy Pianos has been such a success, it had to be of very high quality."
Brinke chose a Yamaha DM1000 digital console, with control by a DME24N Digital Mixing Engine driving JBL VP series self-powered loudspeakers via a CobraNet network running on 1.33 mS/96kHz. The system uses a simple MIDI controller on stage to select each of eight levels (or states) which are pre-programmed in the DME24N and DM1000 and which set the entire system, appropriate to the time of day and clientele that is in the bar at any given time.
During the day, the system is set to Level Eight, which plays recorded background music from an MP3 player. In the evening, when the pianists perform, the system can then be switched through six more levels, depending on how busy the club is.
"The DME is the brains of the system and allows us to make complex system changes very easily," says Brinke. "For example, on Level One the loudspeakers are all at the same level throughout the venue. But as the levels increase, the amplification is increased more in the speakers which cover the dance floor than in other areas of the club."
(Jim Evans)
