A peaceful village on the beautiful east bank of the Rhône, Vienne has hosted the festival for 26 years. This year's two-week event played host to a number of world-renowned artists: George Benson, Sonny Rollins, Gilberto Gil, Bettye Lavette, Marcus Miller and many others. At the same time, at other historical sites and temporary venues around the town, numerous smaller scale performances are given.
Lyon-based rental company La Boîte à Son provides PA for the festival. FOH engineer/babysitter Jean Lyonnet discusses his audio solution: "As far as console goes, I choose to use the Innovason Sy80 at front-of-house. The amphitheatre is not a simple venue and we invariably have three or four very different acts on each night. There really is not time to reset an analogue console between each one. It's therefore essential that we offer an intuitive and simple control surface to all the visiting FOH engineers, as time for sound checking during the day can also be limited. The audio quality of the Sy80 is exceptional; the sensitivity of the EQs plus the potential to control all the parameters without complex menus or layers, makes using it very easy."
Bearing this out, George Benson's FOH engineer Tommy Sterling adds: "I've not come across an Innovason console before, let alone used one. Usually I can be found behind a Midas or Yamaha - I'm an analogue man through and through. In fact my ID on eBay is 'analogue FOH'! Having said that, the Sy80 has been pretty simple to get my head around. In the short time I've had to play with it, the input gains, EQ and compression are all easy to use and understand."
The Innovason carries all the dynamic processing but no effects, Lyonett explains: "This actually makes the desk much easier for first-timers to use, as there are not so many windows to deal with. I can explain how to use it ina few minutes and configuration can be done in around 10. Set-up is simple and all on one page. Also, by using the console's Sensoft 8 software, I can define the function of any fader on the console. I can literally build my own desk. 80 faders can be configured any way you want them. You can also create a deployment zone to manage all inputs - up to 104 - on the Sy80 in 48 bus."
Technical director for the festival, Dominique Bonvallet, was very pleased with the audio, and explained his decision to allow the festival to go completely digital FOH. "Jean Lyonnet first persuaded me to try an Innovason desk five years ago. Digital consoles were still a pretty new concept back then, so we worked closely with Innovason. Initially we had problems with a few engineers, but we stuck with it and we've been working together on this festival ever since - it has actually proved a great success."
Built into the side of a hill, the Théâtre Antique presents a 27m high, solid stone, stepped seating arena, which rises almost vertically from the 25m deep stalls. This arrangement can present problems in achieving even dispersion of audio. The furthest seat away is 50m from the stage.
Lyonnet explains: "Trying to achieve quality audio fidelity in a historic open air venue on the side of a hill can be tricky. We are affected by nature and humidity as much as we are by the venue itself. I use a combination of six L-Acoustic V-Dosc cabinets per side, with three DV-Doscs top and bottom of each array to target the higher audience and the front and side rows respectively. I also position three L-Acoustic Arcs on stage for the front centre rows of the audience. The highly predictable directivity of the V-Dosc and DV-Dosc system ensures that I can focus the audio and therefore deliver exceptional sound both to the main floor and arena area."
Sterling concurs: "To me, nothing sounds better than V-
