The Lyric Theatre at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts has been installed with a new d&b system. Caroline Moss listens carefully
Situated on the Wan Chai waterfront, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts has, since 1984, been one of Asia’s leading higher institutions for the performing arts, providing undergraduates with education and practice-based studies in one of six disciplines of dance, drama, film and television, music, theatre and entertainment arts, and Chinese traditional theatre. In addition to its educational programme, the APA also provides the city with some of its leading performing arts venues, including the 1,100-seat Lyric Theatre, one of Hong Kong’s premier venues for large scale dance, drama, musical and opera performances. Aside from student and local productions, the theatre consistently attracts international tours from across the globe, including the UK and US, and consequently needs to be at the cutting edge of theatre technology.

Recently it was decided to renew the sound system in the Lyric Theatre, which features a large stage with side and rear stage extensions, and a proscenium opening which can be adjusted over a wide range to accommodate a variety of dance and musical events. Two years ago the theatre was installed with an Avid Venue D-Show console and an Optocore fibre-optic network to bring it into the digital age. More recently, in late 2012, it was the turn of the house PA system.

Sanco Lee, chief sound technician of the APA’s technical department, venues, was familiar with the sound of d&b. Back in 2010, a Qi7 system was installed into the APA’s new amphitheatre, and Mr Lee knew it would work in the Lyric also. Additionally, d&b audiotechnik’s EAS staff had conducted some seminar sessions at the invitation of APA’s head of sound to train students in electro acoustics. This has also reinforced the venue’s belief in the brand, and the training and after sales support it offers.

‘I find d&b to produce a big, clear and powerful sound, but it’s also quiet where it needs to be,’ says Mr Lee, who has worked at the APA for 19 years. Other brands were invited in to demo their systems, but Mr Lee’s conviction remained true, and a d&b system was commissioned for the Lyric Theatre.

‘We finally selected d&b for the house speaker system as it demonstrated all the necessary criteria: natural sound, light, compact cabinets and a rigging system that is safe, easy and swift to install, especially for flown arrays,’ says Mr Lee. ‘The system is multi-channel and designed to provide smooth and even coverage. We were confident that it would provide us with the high powered, clear, articulate and natural sound and music reinforcement that we required.’

d&b China accordingly set to work designing a system which would provide the theatre with the flexibility it required. Stefan Goertz, senior project manager and trainer from d&b audiotechnik in Germany, was involved in the system design and final commissioning.

‘As usual, my colleagues from d&b China worked out their own solution, which was handed over to me to double check their d&b ArrayCalc and EASE designs,’ explains Mr Goertz. ‘They asked me for my comments and suggestions regarding possible improvements. At this stage, the placement, types and amount of speakers was more or less fixed and not changeable anymore, but they already offered a more than reasonable concept to start with.’

The system consists of a main fill and centre array of seven per side d&b Qi1 line array modules for left and right fill, with a centre cluster of eight Ti10s. To boost the system’s low end, four Qi-Subs have also been installed, which combine to provide sufficient low frequency power to the house auditorium. Due to acoustic shading created by the theatre’s architechture, four 8S speakers are being used to provide side-fill to the extreme side stalls seating. This maintains consistent coverage and SPLs in these areas. For the upper levels, two 8S and two 10S speakers have been installed at the theatre light bridges for upper balcony fill and side box gallery fill to provide enough volume to those area. The entire system is powered by d&b’s D6 and D12 amplifiers.

‘When I reviewed the system design, I understood the need to have an LCR system with a centre channel which was able to reach every seat in the venue to project the voice everywhere, in relation to stage’s centre,’ says Mr Goertz. ‘The left and right channels had to be a split system for the stalls, first balcony and upper balconies due to the restrictions of speaker placement within the proscenium towers. However, the requirement of splitting the main arrays did give the opportunity of placing the Qi-Subs in the middle of both Qi1 array modules on each side. This keeps the path length differences to a minimum around the crossover point between the Qi1s and Qi-Subs for all areas.

‘Moreover, I reviewed the array length of the upper part versus the lower part and optimized the distribution and the angling to match the system’s power and coverage to differences in the stall and the balcony areas.’

Another challenge was presented by the need for a flexible front-fill system to cater for an orchestra pit, and for the orchestra pit floor being raised to provide a stage extension. Accordingly, five 4S enclosures have been installed along the front of the stage, providing front –fill for the first five rows. These are fixed mounted into the front and rear apron to be used in either scenario.

The d&b team used the company’s proprietary ArrayCalc acoustic prediction software to fine tune the Ti-and Qi-Series array design. ‘I exported the results back into EASE 4.3 to match with all fill components,’ says Mr Goertz. ‘Additionally I was able to reassure the customer that our smallest speaker, the 4S, would be able to cope with being used as front-fill for the aprons in conjunction with the main PA. Later on site, we used Room Capture from Swedish manufactuer Wave Capture for measuring the system and tuning the EQ and time alignment.

For Mr Goertz, the APA installation was one of his first to be commissioned using combined speakers from the d&b Black range (Qi,Ti) together with the d&b Black Range (fill and delay speakers such as the 4S, 8S and 10S). ‘I was excited to see whether we could end up with a reasonable gain structure within the system components,’ he says. ‘There have been some concerns about the 4S or 8S standing up to the job in an environment with a powerful Qi main PA. This installation has demonstrated that they work really well together, even at higher levels. The consistency in coverage and sound quality convinced the customer and our distributor as well as myself that this combination works. The client is very happy, and the high sound quality is consistent all over the venue, from the first to the last row.’

The team at the APA certainly seems very pleased with the new system. ‘We’re finding that the advantage of a line array over a conventional system is the accuracy and control over the vertical coverage it allows us,’ says Mr Lee. ‘The length of these arrays allows exacting focus to deliver even coverage and consistent SPL’s to the very back seating.’

Mr Lee is clearly excited about the possibilities the new system offers. ‘We’re looking forward to trying it out on many different styles of shows, such as plays, operas, and musicals,’ he says. ‘In May a rock show is coming from Australia, and we’re really looking forward to that! We’ve already used it on Chinese opera, Italian opera, drama and musicals, and it is everything we wanted from our new system.’

The d&b installation, combined with the Lyric Theatre’s digital console and distribution system, is providing the venue with the clear and powerful sound and even coverage required for its rich diversity of programming. But even more to the point, the theatre has also been future-proofed to cope with the demands of the fast developing entertainment world.

*Source from Pro Audio Asia magazine Issue 2013 July-August