'Fusion', as he has called it, is literally that. And to serve bands' and DJs' technological interests, Stevenson has enlisted top-quality project management and leading pro audio brands. This, he believes, will give bands the comfort factor should they wish to play a secret gig prior to embarking on a major tour, and obviate the need to carry their own production, other than backline.
He thus turned to LMC Audio's Birmingham branch, whereupon the experienced Mark Bromfield set about putting together a sound and vision spec, based around Martin Audio Blackline loudspeakers and BSS Audio's proprietary Soundweb DSP platform. Neil Stevenson has established a two-room venue in a converted fish-smoking factory - with respective capacities of 600 and 200 on the ground and first floor. Each space will have the capability of staging DJs and bands and, via Soundweb, the sound signal from each zone is routable to either space.
While Fusion has been equipped with a separate mixing desk and outboard rack, specifically for use when bands appear, the LMC-supplied Blackline system will be in use full time. In the three-sectioned main room a pair of Blackline H3/S218s are ground-stacked on either side of the stage, while flown Blackline H2s fire back from the rear of the room and there is an intermediate delay position, with further left/right H2s. To the right of the entrance is a 'chillout' area, which is served by a pair of Martin Audio EM15s, with an EM120 articulating the low frequencies, while elsewhere other EM15s are used as infills. In the upstairs room a single, portable stack of Martin Blackline H3/S218s is positioned either side of the stage.
Martin Audio have also provided all the monitoring - with six F12s deployed as conventional floor wedges, and an additional pair of F12s providing the downstairs DJ monitoring and a pair of F10s upstairs. While the main system EQ is provided by Soundweb, the floor monitors are processed by BSS Opal EQs. The entire sound reinforcement is time-aligned in the three Soundweb 9088LL units and powered by Crown Pulse amplifiers. Soundweb will automatically switch the input source selection and signal routing, as well as contain the processing parameters for the EM15s.
In addition, a BSS 9010 'Jellyfish', used for master control, resides in the manager's office and is mounted in a specially-configured desktop box, linked by CAT5 cable and RS232 serial connection straight into the box. "This means that when I'm setting up the Soundweb system I can plug into a socket at FOH and at the same time plug in the Jellyfish and configure the settings in the manager's office," says Mark Bromfield. "I'm using the Jellyfish as a way of getting the serial information to and from the main unit - it will be used for reconfiguring the system."
DJs will also have local control via a BSS 9011 'Shrimp' - with one positioned in the ground and first floor booths and one at the main bar. Outside Soundweb's control scope are the Martin H3/S218 stacks, to which are assigned Martin's dedicated M3 system controller.
LMC Audio has also specified plasma screens in the chill-out area, fed from DVD sources, while moving lighting heads and strobes are from Pearl River FAL and Strong, powered from a PC-based Showmaster. The stage lighting is based around pre-wired Par 64 lighting bars, with presets recallable at the desk.
Thus bands visiting the Orkneys will now be able to rely on a recognizable stage rig and audio infrastructure to plug into - and Neil Stevenson will no longer have to deal with the hire logistics he had to in the past.
(Ruth Rossington)
