Interior designer Mark Bithrey of B3 Designers has immersed the 450-capacity venue in a world of concrete, brick, steel, mesh and leather (peppered with industrial artefacts and extremely rare champagnes) to achieve a low-key, sultry Shoreditch style vibe.
Having worked with the Sound Division Group on a previous bar project he again tasked the A/V specialists with creating the aural ambience in the four-zoned venue. This is divided between the main ground floor bar, lounge, the separate bookable Chain Room and the suspended Mezzanine Bar upstairs.
Under the project management of Jon Carey, Sound Division worked quickly and diligently on site, according to general manager Eliza Sloane. "I was fortunate to have arrived here back back in January and the first thing we did was consult the DJs to find out their ideal system," she said. Sound Division Group then took over.
Up in the booth, sound control is from a pair of Technics SL-1210s, Pioneer CDJ-800s and Allen & Heath XONE:62 mixer - stationed in a flying DJ box over the bar - with the signals fed to Martin Audio's AQ series architectural loudspeakers. A further Martin AQ8 is also provided as the DJ reference monitor.
During the early evening (from 4pm when the bar opens) cocktails are served against a backdrop of lounge music generated from an iPod. The programme then goes through a cycle of bar grooves, soulful lounge music and funky house until 1am.
Servicing the main bar are six Martin Audio AQ8 loudspeakers and a pair of AQ212 (2 x 12) subs, which are also flown equidistant, one at each end of the bar. Four further AQ8s are evenly distributed across the Chain Lounge area, while upstairs, three Martin Audio AQ6s operate on a separate zone, among the vintage bottles of champagne (with a further three AQ6s covering the under-balcony) again as a separate zone.
All power in the venue is provided by Crown Xti 1000 and 2000 and XLS800 power amplifiers. System processing takes place in a BSS Soundweb Lite SW3088 DSP, with five SW9012 remote volume and source select panels fixed behind the bar wall adjacent to the door.
An overhead Sanyo PLCXU87 4000 ANSI lumen projector is provided but rather than fire onto the drop down electric screen provided the giant 14m bar back wall as a backdrop for movies, among the graffiti.
The Sound Division Group MD, David Graham, comments: "We are aware that the Cumberland is Guoman's flagship hotel and we are delighted they have given such high priority to the DJ's and music quality. The loudspeaker design and signal processing reflect a carefully-evolved solution, in a difficult venue, where the prevention of sound leakage was a major issue. Careful placement of the enclosures means that we are now able to underrun the system to provide a smooth, even coverage."
(Jim Evans)
