Exact Parameters
For the recent concert by Sting at the Corferias Auditorium, the C. Vilar team was most concerned about the poor acoustics in the highly reverberant space.
They deployed Adamson Shooter Prediction software to assist in devising the line array structures, placement and aiming.
“Our experience is that this program comes very close to what you’re dealing with in the real-life environment,” Mauricio says.
“It’s very easy to use, with the key being to provide it with the most exact parameters possible in terms of height, length, distances and so on.”
The house system included main left and right line arrays hangs flanking the stage, each comprised of 10 Adamson Y-Axis Y-10 compact, 3-way modules supplying 100-degree horizontal coverage.
The Y-10 is marked by a drive module and trapezoidal cabinet design create a smooth, slightly curved, seamless wave front with no gaps between cabinets.
“Initially we thought about going with larger Y-18 boxes, but in really studying what was needed for the concert, and in talking with various production people, we decided to go with the smaller footprint,” says Mauricio, who served as a system engineer for the concert.
“So we ended up with a smaller system in terms of scale, and it turned out to be the smart choice.”
The side regions were covered by arrays made up of 12 SpekTrix 3-way line array modules offering 120-degree horizontal coverage, with a drive module chamber lending a slightly curved isophasic wavefront comparable to that of Y-Axis.
Four more SpekTrix cabinets supplied front fill, and two Adamson T-21 subwoofers per side, each dual-21-loaded, delivered plenty of low-end presence.
“We really like the T-21 because it has tons of headroom and sounds great as a complement to Y-Axis arrays,” Mauricio notes. “These subs are very efficient, and just a couple of units can replace several dual-18s.
When he first looked at our sub arrangement, the engineer for the opening act, Beto Cuevas, told me that at least 12 more subs were going to be needed. After hearing these subs, though, he quickly changed his mind.”
All loudspeakers were driven with C. Vilar’s complement of Lab.gruppen fP 6400 and fP 3400 power amplifiers, joined in the racks by XTA DP448 digital processors. Mauricio notes that the DP448 is the preference for several reasons, including “its very gentle and musical limiters.”
Sting’s Front of House Engineer, Howard Page, requested a Studer Vista 5 digital console for the show, and he provided the C. Vilar team with a look at its specific operating parameters.
Page applied little EQ for the show, other than high-pass filtering on some instruments, overheads, and vocals. He also brought in two TC Electronic M3000 digital processors for certain effects. All stage monitoring gear for the show was supplied by Sting’s organization.
A Yamaha PM5D digital console headed this system, serving Clair 12AM monitor wedges combined with Sennheiser in-ear monitoring systems on the performers.