Performing to an audience of national leaders and Nobel laureates will be artists including British soul singer Seal, Portuguese trio OqueStrada, Romanian Gypsy brass legends Fanfare Cioc?rlia, as well as Ne-Yo, Kylie Minogue and Milow. The show's diverse musical requirements certainly played a part in sound supplier AVAB CAC AS's audio selection, but above all, the call was for superlative audio quality and rock-solid reliability.
"The Nobel Peace Prize Concert is a very high-profile gig and is televised worldwide, so it is absolutely essential that we work with the highest possible quality sound system," says Asle Nilsen, head of pro audio at Oslo-based AVAB CAC, who has a near 30-year association with Meyer. He purchased his first non-powered UPA-1 loudspeaker in 1984, and has since added extensive stocks of MICA, MILO and M'elodie line array systems to his inventory. In 2007, AVAB CAC became an exclusive Meyer Sound distributor for Norway.
The latest addition to Meyer Sound's line array odyssey, LEO is the company's first live sound product to be delivered as a complete system. LEO is founded on the principle of linearity, whereby every element of the system performs consistently at high levels and with no change in tonality. Each LEO system consists of the LEO-M line array loudspeaker, 1100-LFC low-frequency control element, and Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system.
To fashion a suitably powerful specification for the celebration, Nilsen will deploy products from across the Meyer Sound range, resulting in a four-cluster configuration featuring two primary hangs of 12 LEO-M and four MICA loudspeakers per side, augmented by two side clusters of eight LEO-M and four MICA loudspeakers. The 84-cabinet system will feature 16 M'elodie loudspeakers to handle front fill and 12 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements for bass reinforcement.
One of the earliest adopters of LEO, Nilsen points out that the headroom, throw capacity, and ease of rigging delivered by LEO provide an ideal core system for the event. "LEO is a great product and we are thoroughly behind the principle of linearity," says Nilsen. "It's only natural to feel slightly anxious as the concert approaches - after all, it's one of the most high profile events of the year and there is no scope for error - but having LEO onboard has definitely helped to calm our nerves!"
(Lee Baldock)
