The Toronto Jazz Festival takes place every year during the ten days that bridge June and July.

A significant number of artists participate, performing in venues located throughout the Canadian city to some 500,000 attendees from around the world.

This year, the largest acts performed at the 1,200-seat Nathan Phillip Square main stage, where FOH engineer Brad Mulligan ran an Innovason Eclipse digital console.

An L-Acoustics dV-DOSC line array system provided amplification throughout the venue, while a large collection of Sennheiser and Neumann wired microphones were used on stage, in addition to Sennheiser wireless equipment.

“The most difficult thing about the Nathan Phillip Square’s main stage is that it is neither inside nor outside,” said Mulligan.

“Rather, it is a tent. I’ve got a vinyl structure above and around me, and concrete below. Both are highly reflective and together create a very live “room.”

“Without solid walls or ceiling, the bottom-end characteristics are that of an outdoor event. It’s challenging to say the least. Our objective was to deliver not just passable sound, but excellent sound, so we needed a line array with both accurate pattern control and superior fidelity.”

The L-Acoustics dV-DOSC system fit those requirements – as well as a few others – perfectly. There are weight restrictions on the tent structure, and at only 70 lbs. (32 kgs.) each, the dV-DOSC components were well within the limits.

“The compact boxes were able to accommodate everything from the most intimate jazz quartet like the Dave Young Quartet, to the hard rocking blues artists, like Taj Mahal,” said Mulligan.

“The fidelity was fantastic and the tightly controlled coverage pattern was even across a 260 degree seating area, with very little sound reflecting off the sides of the tent.” Six dV-DOSC HF/MF components adorned each side of the stage with four L-Acoustics KIVA loudspeakers added for side fill.

Two stacks of three L-Acoustics SB28 subwoofers supplemented the low end. To maximize their impact, Mulligan employed an electronically steerable cardioid output pattern for each subwoofer stack, which prevented low-end buildup in the center of the seating area.

The Innovason Eclipse digital console at FOH simplified the jobs of Brad Mulligan and for the various artists’ personal engineers with its digital recalability. Of particular help was the Innovason Eclipse’s integrated multitrack recording system (dubbed M.A.R.S.). Mulligan used it to record the soundchecks so that the engineers could finalize their mixes (using playback) after soundcheck, but before show time.

The stage’s collection of microphones included, from the Sennheiser catalog, a e 901 kick and e 902 kick drum mics, e 904 rack-drum mics, e 906 guitar/brass mics, e 908 gooseneck condensers, and e 935 & e 965 vocal mics at his disposal. From the Neumann catalog, Mulligan utilized a TLM 102 and TLM 103 large diaphragm condensers, KMS 105 live vocal mics, and KM 184 pencil condensers available. “It was a great opportunity to really match each instrument up with its ideal microphone,” said Mulligan.

“The compact and high-SPL Neumann TLM 102 was amazing,” he said. “On saxophone and drum overheads, it delivered a very warm and open sound. Other mics can make a sax take on a brittle edge, but the 102 was flat and warm.”

“With the Sennheiser e 901 and e 902 to deploy on kick drums, it was very easy to dial in an authoritative sound that ranged anywhere between a quick wallop and a nice, pillowy thud. The Sennheiser e 609 gave me a very big, warm sound for both trumpets and guitars.”

“And the Neumann KMS 105? What can I say about that mic? It’s already a classic, and for certain styles and singers, there’s nothing more magical than a 105. Also a standout mic was the e 908 clip-on condenser. From horn sections, to a wireless djembe for Angelique Kidjo and as tom mics, the 908s where fantastic in every application!”

L-Acoustics Website

Sennheiser Website

Neumann Website