“La Fabuleuse Histoire d’un Royaume” (The Fabulous History of a Kingdom), held annually at the 2,300-seat Théâtre du Palais in the Quebec City of Saguenay for the past 35 years, is supported by an immersive sound reinforcement system delivered by event suppliers LSM Ambiocréateurs that’s headed by CODA Audio loudspeakers and subwoofers.
Serge Lachance, the founder and president of LSM, began his involvement with La Fabuleuse more than a decade ago when the company became the show’s technical equipment supplier, and for the past seven years has been its sound designer and front of house engineer. The technical growth of the production has been a continuing process across the years, and with music and dialogue completely re-recorded for the 2022 run (the original recordings dated back 30 years), the production team, headed by Jimmy Doucet, wanted to elevate it further. With a soundtrack now comprised of 196 tracks, the possibility of using of an immersive system was attractive.
“It was something of a happy accident for the team,” Lachance says. “CODA wasn’t my first choice for the production, largely because I was unfamiliar with the brand, but supply chain issues wreaked havoc with the original plans. While other companies were nervous about delivery, CODA was the company who came to the table and could deliver.”
He adds, “For the size of the boxes there was a lot of output. The CODA option offered solid rigging and construction and they had their control system together. They could deliver a complete package that worked. The efficiency of the subs is amazing — we only had four sub modules for this big theatre — they really move a lot of air.”
Installed with on-site support from Arif Nathu and Bradley Fox of CODA Audio distributor SC Media Canada, the system at the Théâtre du Palais comprises five sets sets of four APS cabinets for the wavefront, with SCV-F bass enclosures suspended behind each set. In addition, 18 HOPS8 loudspeakers cover the rear and side of the bleachers, with a further 12 HOPS8s for the rear and side coverage of the floor. The front stage proximity loudspeakers are six HOPS5 loudspeakers joined by four SCP series subwoofers for added low end. The loudspeaker set of 67 pieces is driven by 14 LINUS14 DSP amplifiers.
CODA Audio global sales and marketing director David Webster concludes, “We’re very proud to have a CODA system at the heart of this spectacular production and applaud the work of SC Media’s expert team in supporting the project. The supply chain challenges that plagued other manufacturers during (and since) the pandemic were alleviated by the fact that we manufacture every component of CODA systems ourselves, so we were not dependent on anyone else. This ensured that the system was delivered on time.
“Whilst this was a crucial part of the project’s success, it’s ultimately the power and intelligibility of our systems that is most important. For an immersive production of this magnitude and complexity, every element of the show is carefully designed to enhance the audience experience – CODA Audio ensures that it achieves its ambitions.”
