Richard Nowell Sound Services (RNSS), together with renowned live sound consultant Roger Lindsay, was responsible for the live sound before and during the match. Lindsay was the audio consultant for the Saracens when they commissioned a high-performance music system for the East Stand at their new ground at Allianz Park, London, a few years ago, and brought in RNSS at that time to carry out the installation. Consequently, when the Saracens wanted to improve the sound quality they were achieving at their Wembley games, it wasn't long before they called on RNSS and Roger Lindsay to make that possible.
"I've mixed the live sound and provided broadcast feeds for the past seven years at Wembley for all the NFL games," explains Lindsay, "so the Saracens CEO, Edward Griffiths, thought I would be the ideal person to talk to. Edward is a big believer in making each Saracens game a spectacle involving music, light and sound, in the interests of giving the fans something extra. Hence this year's Rock Choir and tribute acts."
"There was a lot happening at this match in audio terms, and as usual, none of it could go wrong," explains Richard Nowell. "What's more, the organisers at Wembley had warned us that they often have RF interference problems, particularly once broadcasters come in, as there are so many of them. One problem at Wembley games is that you set up and test your RF systems the day before the match - but that's before the broadcasters arrive."
"I have used Shure's Axient wireless systems during NFL games at Wembley for three years now, which with all the broadcasters, entertainment systems and security is about the most hostile RF environment you can imagine outside of Las Vegas or London's West End," adds Roger Lindsay. "Axient's target market was always the mission-critical applications. It's what you turn to for the President's inaugural speech, or the Queen's address to Parliament, when failure isn't an option. So on the Saracens Wembley game, Axient was always going to be the choice for the critical performers, alongside UHF-R, which is already so good, you can use it in pretty much any other application without any performance concerns."
According to Richard Nowell, four channels of Shure UHF-R wireless was used for the soloists in the Rock Choir, with Beta 58 handhelds, whilst the Oasis tribute act played live and used a standard live setup with cabled Shure SM58s. Four channels of Axient wireless were employed for the key soloists, the singers in the tribute acts, and the match commentator, and there were eight channels of PSM1000 in-ear monitoring sending to 22 P10R receivers, which were used by all of the performers, including the commentator. The entire setup was managed through Shure's Wireless Workbench 6.
"In the end, despite the warnings about Wembley, we didn't have a single dropout, and had no RF problems at all," concludes Richard Nowell. "It all worked perfectly, and sounded terrific. The Saracens were delighted, and we hope to be of service to them again in the future."
(Jim Evans)
