Most nights of the year, Banffy Castle sits dark in the heart of Transylvania. After centuries of hosting only the most elite in Romanian society, the fortress has been left to face recent years alone.
That is, until the castle was plugged into the current generation earlier this summer when nearly 80,000 people flooded what was transformed into the Electric Castle for a weekend of DJs and dance music, with entertainment on five stages from 130 artists.
“To get ready for Electric Castle, we traveled to many different festivals throughout Europe,” says Teodor Negrea, autistic director of the Electric Castle Festival. “I always pay attention to the sound. I have to say, once we got Set Up, the local d&b audiotechnik system provider on our team, we were able to bring our festival to the next level. Our audio was on par or better than any festival I’ve been to.”
Andy Loy, front of house engineer for Slovenian/American DJ artist Gramatik, walked the audience before his show. “I heard everything from a full orchestra to EDM acts and the rig performed great throughout the whole audience space. I have always really liked d&b systems, the B2 is still one of my favorite sub cabinets because of its nice, punchy, round low end. But now, with the J-SUB I can really get the super low frequencies that come along with working with an EDM artist like Gramatik.”
According to Dan Belivan of distributor dB Technolight, who first sold the d&b J-Series system to Set Up, “Romania has been gaining
increasing traction in the EDM market, our own Sasha ranks easily alongside DJ Fresh, while Subcarpati find themselves on many a live stage around Europe these days. Set Up saw the potential of this emerging market in Eastern Europe and moved in to action. I was really glad when they finally made their choice to buy the first d&b J-Series for Romania.”
Set Up system technician Ionut Croitoru adds, “The cardioid J-SUBs are immense. We had to cover an area of 70 by 35 meters, so decided the J-Series was best for the space and the electronic music. Working with the ArrayCalc and R1 Remote control software, it was so easy to set up the arrays in a smooth and accurate design.”
“It was such a wonderful week,” concludes Negrea. “This year the Electric Castle Festival was one of the biggest in Eastern Europe. People couldn’t help but dance and have fun, which was our goal from the start. One great party.”