La Seine Musicale installs Amadeus systems
- Details
As the sole speaker manufacturer chosen for the momentous project, Amadeus also installed their speakers in multiple rehearsal spaces throughout the new music centre. La Seine Musicale is a large-scale cultural public infrastructure, over 36,000 square meters, committed to host every type of musical performance.
The building houses two main concert halls, five recording studios, and several rehearsal spaces - the main 'Auditorium' has seating for 1,150 guests. This hall is the symbol and the signature of the building with acoustics designed by acousticians Nagata Acoustics and Jean-Paul Lamoureux, and features a speaker system custom designed by Amadeus.
Mickael Dinant, the head of the scenography department and concert halls construction at Bouygues Construction, elaborates on the particular electro-acoustical challenges of the new sound system install: "We attached a great importance to the equipment reliability, performance, and flexibility for the Auditorium and the Grande Seine. These aspects were very challenging, and the modularity as well, because we had to be able to change from one configuration to another, very quickly and easily. In this sense, the manufacturer's involvement, as well as their professional integrity, were key aspects to guarantee a final result matching the Seine Musicale's goal, of both prestige and ambition."
To create a solution for the Seine Musicale project, Amadeus completely redesigned its middle format 'DIVA' speaker array series, which already equips some of the major musical, theatrical and public institutions - both national and international - including the Philharmonie de Paris, La Gaîté Lyrique, the National Assembly of South Korea, and the National Theatre of Brittany, among many others. The Seine Musicale is the first install anywhere in the world featuring the newly released DIVA M² array speakers.
Gaetan Byk, marketing manager at Amadeus explains: "The DIVA M² is not a simple evolution of the DIVA M speaker series created in 2006, it is a revolution, a total and radical reinvention. This new version raises the bar much higher. Its new design incorporates a dramatic collection of over one hundred major changes, compared to the previous DIVA model.
"The structure of the low, medium, and high frequency transducers, the geometry of the cabinets, their internal and external structures, the active filtering design, and more - basically all major acoustic, electro-acoustic, electronic, and mechanical components have been completely rethought, reinvented," adds Byk.
The design of La Seine Musicale building was tasked to Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who partnered with Jean de Gastines. Outside, its rounded shape evokes an egg. Inside, the concert hall is in the style of a 'vineyard'. Listeners are spread on several levels surrounding the stage, thus creating a proximity feeling with the musicians.
The surfaces on which the seats are banked create early reflections radiating from the orchestra to the audience, enhancing the intimacy. Designed with the same precision used for a musical instrument, with painstaking work on the materials, the auditorium evokes an art of craftsmanship. Treated like a jewel, the rounded shell of the auditorium is protected by an outer envelope made of a lacing of glued laminated spruce wood, mimicking the image of a bird's nest.
Besides the main Auditorium, dedicated to acoustical music, La Seine Musicale can host a wide range of shows. The Grande Seine performance space was designed to be simple and versatile, and it hosts every type of equipment needed for any type of modern pop music concert, musical, or other live or corporate event. Equipped with three different stages and retractable tiers, the Grande Seine performance space has a capacity of 4,000-seats, or up to 6,000 utilizing sitting and standing areas.
(Jim Evans)
