The Australian War Memorial (AWM) in Canberra recently embarked on a major exhibit, recording and reproducing the very-real exploits of Australian pilots in the skies over the Western Front in France and in the Middle East.
Bruce Brown, Project Manager with Mental Media in Sydney, oversaw the AV installation, which included consulting on the hardware design, specs, and documentation in collaboration with Alex Smythe, AV Manager at the Memorial.
The technical infrastructure drew heavily on cinema loudspeakers from Martin Audio.
The exhibit itself featured five aircraft––three Allied types and two rare German fighter planes––along with other artifacts including the left boot of The Red Baron (Baron von Richthofen).
Aside from the AV, the aircraft and collection objects were displayed in an exhibition designed by Freeman Ryan Design, and including a 21m x 3.5m curved projection screen.
Suspended behind the curved screen in L/C/R configuration were three Martin Audio Screen 5 THX-approved cinema active three-way systems, with dual 15-inch low frequency drivers, a large-format mid/high horn containing six-inch horn-loaded midrange, and a one-inch compression driver.
The surround speakers, consisting of two Martin Audio Screen Sub 1A high-powered 18-inch sub-bass units, to THX spec, were suspended far left and right of the space with an overhead dead center effect speaker.
The sound was produced in 7.1 Dolby Digital Cinema surround sound and once the seven channels left the decoder they were duly processed in the system’s DSP.
Using the Martin Audio system components Russo knew he could achieve a sense of realism.
“It’s mostly about putting sound exactly where you want it and nowhere else,” explains Russo. “The choice of speakers gave me genuine pattern control down to 300Hz, which helped me conquer the space.
“The Screen 5 from Martin Audio is a THX Hollywood cinema-size cabinet and stands well over two meters high. The large format mid/high horn gives hi-fi-sounding results but at concert levels.
“I wanted the people to feel like they were in the cockpit during the air battles, such that the fly-bys really felt like a plane had just buzzed through the Memorial and over their heads.
“It’s a fine line between too much volume and effect, and making it realistic. It’s no different to riding a major theatre show – a quarter of a dB here or there can make all the difference.”
And with a nine-month turn-around from concept to completion, the display has been a high-flying success.
As Bruce Brown summed up: “It looks good, it sounds good, everything works as expected, the client is happy – what more could you ask for?”
