This year’s edition of the four-day CMA Fest in Nashville — the 50th anniversary of the event — saw production company DCR Nashville return to again equip the Dr Pepper Amp stage with a main sound reinforcement system headed by Alcons Audio LR24 pro-ribbon touring arrays.
“How a system sounds is only half the story,” says Alcons Audio North American sales manager David Rahn. “How does it pack in a truck? How much does it weigh? Does it load in, fly and load out quickly, safely and easily? Is it easy to set up? What about operation during the show? The easiest and best way to prove these things is by doing it for real.”
Rahn traveled to Nashville as part of the initial set up team, accompanied by certified Alcons Audio systems engineer Martin Reeves and staff from DCR Nashville. Because of scheduling conflicts, the advance team had to deliver, fly and prepare the system before the arrival of Erik Rogers, who would again be the stage’s dedicated front of house engineer.
The Alcons loudspeaker contingent comprised eight flown LR24/90 three-way mid-size line array modules per side, plus six BC543 triple 18-inch cardioid subwoofers arrayed in front of the stage. They were complemented by six LR18 compact line array modules as single element front fills, evenly spread across the stage front. The system was powered and controlled by 36 channels of Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers.
“Having experience with many smaller Alcons pro-ribbon systems, I was really excited to be part of the support team deploying the LR24 at CMA Fest,” says Reeves. “The systems are all so well thought out. Packaging and transport, ease and versatility of rigging, the network control interface — it all comes together so seamlessly that, as an engineer, you get to spend more time focusing on show production and not worrying about system issues.”
Rahn adds, “The new patent-pending rigging system allows for pre-rigging of the array angles, without any lifting, resulting in safer and faster set up. Upon Erik’s arrival, we were able to focus on system tuning and other festival-related aspects such as input lists and patching, to make sure the quick stage turnarounds went as smoothly as possible.”
Rogers concludes, “The LR24 and its pro-ribbon driver maintains that in-your-face full range sound with plenty of detail and nuance in the mix, while the BC543 cardioid subs covered the audience seamlessly while also keeping the low-end off of the stage. This is the most accurate system I’ve ever mixed on; it allows me to really focus on the creative side of the show and not worry about any system-related challenges. And once again, every guest mixing engineer was very complimentary about the system!”
