Det Kongelige Teater (The Royal Theatre) in Copenhagen recently invested in a compact Allen & Heath dLive Wings system in seeking to add flexibility in its newly repurposed A-Salen contemporary dance space.
Formerly a rehearsal area, the theatre’s A-Salen is a true black box venue, giving numerous reconfiguration options for a variety of dance performances. In-house audio engineer and sound designer Jonas Jensen set out to find a mixing system that could keep up with the versatility of the space itself. The greatest challenge was that the mix position would often need to share an intimate three-square-meter footprint with the lighting desk, so a typical 36-fader, full-format console was never on the shopping list.
Following a recommendation from colleague Sebastian Eskildsen, Jensen opted for a 19-inch Allen & Heath dLive C1500 surface with 12 faders over six layers, paired with a CDM32 MixRack. An IP8 remote controller provides an extra six layers of eight faders, bringing the total number of available fader strips to 120. A Dante 128 x 128 card in the C1500 completes the setup, integrating the dLive system with the theatre’s comprehensive Dante network.
“I often run quite complex speaker layouts, like multiple surround setups, or immersive systems, and I do most speaker distribution within the console,” Jensen explains. “So I need a lot of buses with delays and filters. The versatility in the ways you can set up the dLive system makes it a great hub, and as we range from small Ableton-focused surround-installations to full on rock bands playing, I really appreciate the effortless configuring, routing and setup.”
When not in use in A-Salen, the dLive system has already been earmarked for monitor duties for larger performances, and for use on touring shows. All elements of the setup were supplied by Allen & Heath Danish distributor Lightpartner.
