The Mojave Tent was filled to capacity during the festival, with some 5,000 people inside, and a further 1,000 or so listening in at the doorways. Rat Sound's Turbosound Aspect system utilized a total of 12 TA-890H mid/highs and 18 TA-890L (2 x 15") bass cabinets, plus a further four TA-890H units as fills, with their waveguides rotated through 90º to enable vertical orientation. The main system design comprised left and right hangs of TA-890H boxes, arrayed two wide and three deep, plus ground-stacked TA-890L bass cabinets, arranged in two 3x3 stacks.
Dave Rat, of Rat Sound, outlined the task of creating a high-level dynamic sound in the 64m x 36m tent, while minimizing any acoustic issues: "We have been involved with the Coachella festival for several years and were contracted to provide sound for three of the festival's five stages. Sound reinforcement for the high volume Mojave Tent Stage was especially challenging due to its location directly between two other Tent Stages. We considered a line array system, but the fixed 90° horizontal dispersion would have put a lot of sound into the side tent walls. We decided that the unique capabilities of the Turbosound Aspect system would be an ideal match for the application. Unlike a line array, the Aspect system offers precise control over the horizontal dispersion, as well as the vertical. Aspect . . . allowed us to focus the sound inside the tent and minimize bleed to the other stages.
"From our experience at Coachella, the Aspect rig does offer some clear advantages, and having such control over the horizontal dispersion can be of significant benefit in many situations. It represents an important resource in a sound company's toolbox and it offers awesome potential. It's a very compact box, easy to rig and transport, and clearly fills the void left by the total over-run of line-arrays."
On hand to assist with the rig's design and deployment was Turbosound's sales director Rik Kirby and development engineer Danny Cooklin, together with Paul Giansante, Turbosound product manager from the company's US distributor, Sennheiser Electronic Corporation. Following the success of the Coachella Festival project, Rat Sound retained 24 Aspect cabinets for its inventory.
(Lee Baldock)
