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d&b Y-Series helped Abu Dhabi Volvo Ocean Yacht Race
2015-05-15 16:32:38
The first outing of the d&b Y-Series might easily have passed unnoticed, were it not for audio specialists, eclipse.
The Dubai-based company was so confident in the quality of d&b systems that they pushed the Y-Series straight into the public eye for the Abu Dhabi Volvo Ocean Yacht Race.
A sporting event held at sea and surrounded by a 30-day series of concerts which featured rock, pop and Arabic music, plus prestige performances by the Dubai Orchestra and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
“In terms of imaging a symphonic performance, normally there are issues with achieving balance because part of the audience is in proximity to the horn section, while others are closer to the strings,” explained Sound Engineer, Marc Lewis, on one of the more unexpected aspects of this event.
“But in this instance, the 15m from front of stage to audience worked in our favour. The longer the distance, the more balanced the stereo image. At most, I did do some very conservative stereo panning.”
“The stage was mounted directly to the sea floor on the shoreline, hence the distance to the first row,” explained eclipse’s Head of Audio, John Parkhouse.
“Audience area overall was approximately 80m wide and 25 rows deep, so we covered an area some 25m deep front to back. We chose sound engineer Marc Lewis specifically for his expertise working with orchestras, though he mixed every concert bar the night of Arabic music. He was very focused and did excellent work. Simply put, from the day of its arrival, the Y-Series never ceased to amaze us on every event on which it was used.”
“An open stage on the water meant it was about as anechoic as it could be,” continued Lewis.
“So I reached for some ‘hall’ EQ, again bleeding that in conservatively, otherwise the sound was too dry. We close mic’d every other instrument: nearly all Neumann. For the soloists, again, because of the throw distances involved, the need to work on localising the sound image to them was moderated.”
Not that Lewis didn’t encounter some difficulties: “James Ehnes, the violinist with the Birmingham Symphony, did step slightly off his mark when he came to the front stage edge to solo. He has a ludicrously expensive violin so I mic’d it much as I would in a studio, using a stand from behind, leaning toward the F hole at about a foot to eighteen inches. When I saw he was off his mark I did have to request a tech go onstage and shift the mic. I had already instinctively reached for the gain so I didn’t lose him, here I was really helped by the rear rejection off the d&b system, it meant I could really up the gain more than I had expected. In that sense, the combination of the d&b system and that idealised mic position was the perfect combination.”
There were other unexpected benefits from placing the stage at sea.
“When John and I first looked at the job we imagined the subs would be a mono bloc on the dockside. So far in front of the flown main PA this was not ideal, and I foresaw all kinds of issues with delay and phase shift. But eclipse indulged us, putting the system in six days ahead of the rehearsals. That meant we had time to experiment. I’ve worked with John Parkhouse before and he and I decided it would be well worth trying the Y-SUBs flown above the main Y8 and Y12 line array. It would mean the whole system would be totally phase and time aligned and the crossover between the different elements within the system would be effectively invisible by the time they had reached the first rows of the audience.”
“We had six or seven hours to play with this configuration, using a variety of program material, but we knew almost immediately it would work, we were just being thorough. And that’s how it proved, completely clear to mix off. The Y-Series was the closest I have ever come to mixing a live orchestral show off something that sounded like studio monitors.”
Parkhouse also sought out a specialist engineer to handle monitor duties.
“Putting an orchestra on an open stage with no concert hall acoustic to work from meant monitors would be mission critical to performance. I contacted d&b Germany and their Education and Application Support department recommended Wissam Shaheen from Seebeck Audio based in Lebanon.
The Dubai Orchestra, drawn from musicians across the UAE performed on this occasion as the ‘Blue Planet’ Orchestra. Conducted by composer George Fenton, this was a performance of Fenton’s compositions for the David Attenborough BBC television series of the same name. Fenton has toured and performed this work through Europe and further afield.
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Michael Seal. They performed Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes, Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 - lead violinist James Ehnes.
Knowing the impact of the Orchestra would be highly based off audio, Shaheen thought, “My mixes were based exactly on the question: ‘What would that section of the orchestra hear while performing in a concert hall?’
"To achieve that, we placed 4 x d&b M4 wedges on the corners of the stage and 2 x M4s in 'house mode', stand mounted, with their horns rotated 90-degrees to get the 50° x 70° dispersion for the choir side fills. Each of the wedges had a separate mix and both of the side fills were linked together on a single mix.”
“Musicians would typically hear the direct, dry sound of their instruments, mixed with a ‘wet’ mix of the total orchestra, with respect to the different dynamics of the different instruments and to their seating plan on stage,” he continued.
“For example, downstage right wedge had a bigger portion of violas, cellos and double basses, a fair amount of the 'firsts’ and a hint of woodwinds.
That, mixed with what was acoustically reaching that section, gave the ‘hall’ feel to that area. The constant directive dispersion of the M4 combined with its phenomenal SPL and response, allowed me to shoot exactly what I wanted where I wanted with zero to minor processing. It made my experience as enjoyable as mixing for my own ears.”
Parkhouse reported: “All I saw were musicians smiling and that's always good news for a monitor engineer.” Possibly one reason why Shaheen has recently moved to eclipse to take up a senior audio engineer appointment. “That said, I am still a member of the Seebeck Audio family and I will keep on flying in to work with them during their peak season. Fortunately it is the opposite of eclipse's peak season.”
The series of concerts has now reached a successful conclusion. Chris Szuberla, the Technical Director for Blue Planet in Concert was impressed, “Our experience of working with eclipse and their team on this event was extremely enjoyable and the show sounded fantastic. Despite being outdoors, with the orchestra floating out on the water, the sound was so natural. Congratulations to John and his crew for making it happen in what was a technically challenging location.”
Lewis was similarly enthused, “The shows were quite an emotional ride, especially the orchestral performances. John and the team he assembled from eclipse did a stunning job. This was my first live concert with the d&b Y-Series. I had used d&b before in corporate events, but not like this. My first time using them was mind blowing, in no small part due to flying the subs. For a concert of this magnitude it was as hi-fi as it’s possible to be.”
*Source from ETA magazine Issue 2015 MAY-JUNE
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