After 15 years of intense use, the audio system at the Courtyard was due for a refresh. With funding available, the venue's production manager Carl Hulme took the time to choose equipment that would take the venue far into the future, without the need for further significant investment.
"We run a diverse venue, with many art forms being presented on stage," he says. "They can range from single-handed plays to full on rock shows, from conferences to orchestras. We also regularly show films, so our biggest concern was that there might not be a 'one size fits all' solution to our needs."
Carl needn't have worried because, in the Yamaha CL series, just such a solution is available. Delivering all the processing power of the top-of-the-range CL5, the CL3 is ideal for regional values where a more compact footprint and smaller channel count are suitable, but the investment has to be for the long term.
The console was supplied by SSE Audio Group, together with a pair of R-series i/o units - a Rio3224-D in the venue's control room and an Rio1608-D on stage. Another factor in Carl's choice of the CL3 was the large format analogue console which had served the venue since its opening - digital mixing would be a new experience for some of his technical team.
"Having looked at a number of desks, the CL series impressed us with its ease of use and flexibility," he says. "For those who'd only experienced using analogue desks before, the transition was painless and all-but foolproof. And with the Rio units integrating seamlessly into our existing infrastructure, the changeover to an all-digital system was incredibly smooth.
"The system has already been used by a number of incoming companies who have complimented us on the excellent sound. In-house use has been frequent and intuitive, and the ability to reset the system back to a generic setup at the touch of a button has proved itself time and time again."
(Jim Evans)
