A major requirement of the venue is hosting a wide variety of productions but, at the same time, addressing that most thorny of issues - amplifying classical and operatic music, while making the audience feel that what they're hearing is purely acoustic. With Yamaha digital mixing engines at the heart of its two main spaces, this has been very successfully achieved.
The two spaces in question are Studio 1 and Studio 2, seating audiences of up to 1,800 and 500 respectively. Both feature Yamaha DME units, a DME64N in Studio 1 and DME24N in Studio 2.
The DMEs are literally the centrepiece of the sound reinforcement system in each hall, used for managing the entire audio system to make it best serve the many different types of performance that are staged. The functions include allowing seamless digital integration with DR's digital mixing consoles, interfacing as required with small analogue consoles and managing auxiliary systems such as Aviom monitoring and house announcements.
The technical infrastructure for the project was designed by L°kken Productions, in consultation with audio systems specialists, Hvidore-based Moto Audio Sales.
"The DME units were chosen because of their inherent flexibility," says Henrik Bonné, technical sales manager at Moto Audio Sales. "DME24Ns were originally specified in both halls, but when the possibilities of the system were realised by the customer, the bigger Studio 1 was upgraded to an DME64N in order that it could to fulfil everything that was required."
Control for the audio system in each hall is configured on two levels. The first is for day-to-day use, which is facilitated by a Yamaha CP4SF control panel in each hall. Each allows instant control over two channels of wireless microphones for announcements, two additional channels of wired mics and a stereo line input for small mixers, DJ setups, iPods and personal computers. This allows the basic use of the system to be controlled by any non-technical member of staff.
The second stage of control is for more advanced use, using a PC running Yamaha DME Manager software in two security levels, one allowing the recall of preset system states, the other allowing more comprehensive control of EQ, levels, delays and many other functions.
"The DMEs are rock solid in daily use, they are totally reliable and their flexibility has given Studio 1 and Studio 2 a level of adaptability that would have been very difficult to achieve with other products," says Bonné. "The fact that they offer such powerful facilities, yet at the same time non-technical staff can have very easy access to a basic setup of announcement mics and line inputs, is priceless."
(Jim Evans)
