Arditti put together the spec for a top-end system that could also cope with later plans to tour the ballet, recognising that the in-house system at Sadler's Wells would not be able to cope with the score's large dynamic range. The main system is configured with four hangs of eight T-10s, each with a T-SUB, plus a centre cluster of 10 T-10s, with the addition of four d&b Q-Subs and four B2s to boost the low end performance.
"The T-10s are awesomely compact at just 30cm wide - to the extent that when I first saw them, I started to wonder if I had made the right choice," says Arditti. "My concerns soon abated once I started to work with them, as the amount and quality of the sound they deliver is quite amazing, together with a very flat response. Their ultra-slim profile was also very popular with the set designers.
"I did most of the EQ'ing by ear, which is how I prefer to work, although we also did some SMAART measurements to help me blend the T-10s into the T-Subs, then into the Q-Subs and the B2s - and it all sounded very good. We used the d&b R1 software for all the internal balancing of the T10s and T-Subs, which is a very useful tool. We used a DiGiCo SD8 mixing console, which was great but proved to be too small. Fortunately, the SD8 allows you to have all 60 input channels as either stereo or mono, so we got round the lack of inputs by using a lot of the orchestral channels in stereo mode."
The delays and front-fills were predominantly L-Acoustics MTD108As, augmented by a couple of d&b E9s to cover the middle of the expansive upper circle. Arditti also made use of some of the in-house Control 1 delays that were already in place to cover the furthest reaches of the circles. The surround system comprised 40 d&b E0s. Matrix routing, delay and EQ was on a Yamaha DME64, and for playback, he used a pair of Mac Pros running QLab in 'Guaranteed Sychronisation' mode.
The creative team behind the production included the unorthodox Venezuelan choreographer, Javier De Frutos, and orchestrator Sven Helbig - a long-time collaborator with the Pet Shop Boys - as well as Tony Award-winning designer Katrina Lindsay and BAFTA-winning animator Tal Rosner. The world première took place at Sadler's Wells in March 2011, with plans to tour the ballet during 2012 after a return to Sadler's Wells.
(Jim Evans)
