L-Acoustics has the answer for Boston Calling
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The previous year’s event, held in a new location at the Harvard Athletic Complex, drew not only raves from the attendees but also a wave of protests from residents of the surrounding Cambridge area who complained about noise levels, a situation a number of area media outlets reported in depth.
This year, though, Boston-based production company Crash Line Productions found the solution: an L-Acoustics K1/K2 system, provided by Clearwing Productions, with a system design created using L-Acoustics’ Soundvision modelling software, that kept the sound on the audience and out of the surrounding neighbourhoods.
“After Boston Calling 2017, there were complaints from the surrounding area that the noise levels were too high, so we tasked Scott Sugden at L-Acoustics to help us design a PA deployment that would mitigate perimeter noise as effectively as possible while still maintaining acceptable levels and coverage for the world’s best acts and a demanding paying public,” explains Clearwing key accounts executive Stephen Harvey.
He, in turn, recommended Marcus Ross, co-owner with associate Sara Even of audio consultancy Crest Factor, who would bring a battery of sound-measurement devices to bear on the problem. “I took one look at this and knew that L-Acoustics was the only workable solution, starting with Soundvision modelling,” says Ross.
He worked with site maps supplied by the event producer inside Soundvision, which determined which loudspeaker types should be used and exactly where they needed to be placed. “L-Acoustics and I worked together on the approach of the system and then I verified the design and articulated the capabilities to the producers of the festival,” he explains.
What they came up with for the main Green Stage system was a combination of K1 and K2 with K1-SB flown behind the main arrays to create a cardioid behaviour. The sub frequencies were handled by 32 KS28 subs also deployed in a cardioid configuration. Kara was used for out-fill and front-fill, and the delay towers were outfitted with K2 speakers.
“The distributed system design allowed us to focus the SPL towards the audience and using the rejection created by the cardioid fields combined with the polar stability of the L-Acoustics K systems concentrated the audio on the festival grounds,” says Ross. “It was very different from the single array design they had used in the past.”
In addition, K2 and K1-SB boxes were deployed on the Red and Blue stages along with KS28 subs and Kara for fill boxes, while coaxial 12XT speakers were used in the VIP areas.
Brian Appel, festival co-founder and principal at Crash Line Productions, says that the outcome of this year’s Boston Calling was “significantly better” than the year before, thanks to the ability of the K1/K2 sound system to keep the energy within the boundaries of the festival’s footprint.
“Clearwing and Marcus Ross really did an incredible job in picking the tools to make sure that the sound was managed as well as it could have been,” he says.
(Jim Evans)
