One of the venue's more creative features is the inspired use of Boolean logic, introduced to them by sound installation company Green-I, and featured in the new Soundweb London digital signal processing product range.
Faced with a 540-capacity venues, trading on two floors - with sound sources varying between a Rolec hard disk music manager and conventional DJ set-up - Green-I demonstrated how Soundweb London could either combine or separate the atmospheres in the two environments.
Ceiling speakers, recessed into the stairway which bridges the lower floor bar/club with the upstairs bar, provides this option. "As the venue is all open plan, and Urbium wanted to avoid a clash of music sources on the stairs, we have programmed the Logic within Soundweb London to work out which source is playing where," explained Green-I's Ian 'Woody' Woodall. "If the sound source is the same upstairs as down, then the ceiling speakers become active; if they are different, then the speakers automatically switch off."
At Apt he has used a BLU-80 processor (with BLU-32 expansion device) on a CobraNet network to create the requisite number of inputs and outputs - providing local control at three points via three 9012 'Shrimp' simple remote wall panels. Woody notes that this is just one of the Logic functions that can be programmed into the new Soundweb London. At another site he has turned to the Calendar/Clock feature to preset maximum daytime and night-time sound thresholds - in order to meet the requirements of the license. By linking the Logic to the calendar he can assess whether thresholds need to be increased.
The concept of 'room combining' can be taken further, with London automatically resetting EQs, delays and source and output routings depending on the physical states of the room dividers. Furthermore, the facility to link Soundweb London via ethernet to the local area network has radically reduced Green-I's call-out commitments. The comapany say it can simply continue to offer its customary high standard of support by remote access, carrying out system diagnostics and preset changes accordingly.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
