Solotech and SSE Audio equip Rammstein tour
- Details
Solotech’s Holger Schader, senior consultant, concert touring and special events for the Live Productions division oversaw the account for Solotech and SSE Audio.
The sold-out European stadium tour supported the release of the band’s seventh album, which is the first Rammstein studio album in a decade.
The tour’s audio spec, put together by Rammstein´s longtime FOH engineer Olsen Involtini and systems engineer Andreas Vater, called for L-Acoustics speakers and Avid Venue control.
Assisting Vater was SSE audio crew Chief Nick Pain, and audio technician Nils Knecht, who oversaw the L-Acoustics’ Soundvision system and system alignment.
The control system for FOH consisted of two Avid Venue S6L systems including two S6L-32D control surfaces; two Avid Venue E6L-192 Engine for S6L; two Waves SoundGrid Server Extreme; and two Avid Venue Stage 64 stage boxes.
For the monitor system SSE Audio provided two S6L systems with matching components, which was similar to the FOH setup. To accommodate the different sized stadiums, the audio rig could be expanded. In the bigger cities production used up to four delay towers, and up to eight positions for roof delays with 12 L-Acoustics’ K2s to get rid of unwanted reflections.
The audio package’s full L-Acoustics speaker system comprised of 140 L-Acoustics K1 large format WST (Wavefront Sculpture Technology) line source elements; 128 L-Acoustics K2 full range WST line source elements; 40 L-Acoustics K1-SB flyable high-power subwoofers; 68 L-Acoustics KS28 high-power subwoofers; 16 LAcoustics ARCS II constant curvature WST line source elements; and 16 L-Acoustics KARA WST system modular line source elements.
The line array rig included some rigging challenges which SSE Audio helped solve at the request of the production to improve the load-ins and -outs. Production wanted SSE Audio to keep the hoists for the main hangs on the floor. Technical consultant Jeremy Lloyd of Wonder Works and WIcreations, came up with a cage solution holding four hoists on the floor. Each hoist was capable of lifting 2.5 tons.
A video system consisting of a massive LED video screen, control, and camera package was specified by designers Patrick Woodroffe and Roland Greil of Woodroffe Bassett Design. For this stadium tour the design team opted for a main screen, which was automated to go up and down on the massive centre tower of the set.
Solotech provided 600 tiles of their proprietary 9mm Solotech/Saco S9 LED modules, with Solotech/Saco Nano processing to create the centrepiece HD LED video screen, which was able to move 27m up and down the centre scenic tower travelling at speeds of up to 0.4 meters per second. The automation was handled by entertainment engineering specialists WIcreations.
To feed the content to the screen, the video crew deployed two disguise GX2 Pro media servers driven from MA Lighting grandMA2 light consoles along with a Barco ImagePRO Dual multi-format image processor/scaler. Solotech also supplied an extensive camera package.
The video package also included a Solotech Flypack system centred around a Grass Valley Korona switching system, a Ross Video 32x32 SDI router along with Ross Video terminal gear and video control products from Brainstorm Electronics, DirectOut, and Tektronix. The Solotech video team on the tour consisted of three technicians led by video crew chief, Steve Tomanek.
“With the size of this 2019 tour and the fact that it will be touring Europe again in 2020; they already have sold-out most dates for next spring and summer,” comments Schader. “I believe the production knew they wanted an international partner. Solotech and SSE Audio are able to offer that partnership globally.”
(Jim Evans)
