The sound reinforcement demands of the event were complex, the Millennium Stadium being divided into two for the dinner and concert elements. Audio company Capital Sound was required to treat both the dinner and concert as separate entities which were effectively competing against one another. Walk-in music was provided to mask the sounds of the dinner from the public filing into the concert seats but, at the same time, a performance by male choir Only Men Aloud in the dining area was masking the sounds of the public from the VIP diners, as the concert was supposed to be a surprise to them. Announcements were also discrete to both areas.
At the same time, however, certain elements needed to be audible to both sides, such as the audio for VT feeds by Ryder Cup sponsors.
Capital Sound's solution was to deploy three DiGiCo D5s, one feeding a distributed audio system in the dining area, with two at the traditional FoH and monitor positions in the concert area. The feed for all playback elements, voiceovers, VT sound and stings came via fibre optic link from a television OB truck - parked at the nearby Cardiff Arms Park - to the D5 in the dining area. This was then matrixed to the two consoles on the show side. That way, audio could be routed to any required console, while each could also mix the elements for their 'own' areas independently.
"We used the D5s because we wanted to keep the quality of the signal chain excellent all the way through, plus the guys working the event were familiar with them. So, for me, the D5 was first choice," says Capital Sound general manager Paul Timmins.
"The system design for the concert was put together before we knew which artists would be performing, so we dealt with it like a festival rig, knowing that various different styles of music would have to be accommodated. The D5s were ideal for that and, with the longest permitted changeover between acts being only 110 seconds, they were patched to their 96 channel maximum with everything saved as snapshots."
The concert featured an array of Welsh talent, including Katherine Jenkins, Lostprophets, Only Men Aloud, new teen talent Shaheen Jafargholi and students from the Mark Jermin Stage School. It climaxed with Dame Shirley Bassey performing with a full orchestra.
Keeping the Welsh connection well and truly alive, Capital project manager Charles Ellery called long-time Stereophonics FoH engineer Dave Roden to see if he was up for a new challenge.
"A few days before, I got a call from Charlie asking if I'd like to do Dame Shirley at the Millennium Stadium. I said 'Why not? Absolutely, great stuff!'" says Roden.
Having used a D5 for several years, the prospect of mixing, for the first time, such a high profile event's headliner left Roden undaunted. With a few hours of technical rehearsal under his belt, he was ready to ensure that the star turn sounded her best.
"It was fine, you've simply got to take care of the levels and put Shirley on top and that's it," he says. "With an orchestra I find less is more. You can't do too much with them - you've just got to set the gain, get a balance on the strings as a section, horns as a section and so on. Little bits of EQ where it counts and then just sit the vocal on top."
(Jim Evans)
