Originally constructed in 1974, the Osceola Performing Arts Center (OPAC) in Kissimmee, FL, now owned by the local Osceola County School District, has a new Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system to meet a variety of needs.
OPAC is a mid-sized facility with approximately 2,000 seats on one level, an apron stage and a formal orchestra pit. It hosts a variety of musical, dance and other commercial events and is closely associated with the Osceola County School for the Arts, an award-winning middle school and high school.
About a year ago, the decision was made to replace OPAC’s analog mixer due to its age and poor spare parts availability with a new iLive-T112 control surface and an iDR-32 MixRack.
“We wanted a digital mixer for its flexibility,” says David Edgar, manager of OPAC. “We host a wide variety of performances, and we needed a mixer that could adapt quickly to the needs of each performance. The Allen and Heath iLive is perfect for that.”
Edgar adds, “Most of our performances are mixed by an outside engineer. These are experienced professionals and they appreciate the iLive because they can save their own setup on a thumb drive and recall it quickly when they come back for a new performance.”
OPAC purchased the iLive from Dan Lee at Signature Systems of Florida in Casselberry. Lee had installed an iLive in a local government facility and was able to show this installation to Edgar.
In addition, Edgar attended an iLive training session held by Allen & Heath’s Florida rep firm, Mainline Marketing. “We had looked at several different mixers,” says Edgar, “But, after seeing the iLive in use and attending the training session, I knew this was the right mixer for OPAC.”
He was also pleased to learn about the iLive’s built-in digital snake: “We had issues with the aging analog snake, and it’s great to be able to install Cat-5 cabling instead.”
Edgar makes good use of the iLive’s custom LCD channel labeling in each different profile and for commercial events such as the Nutcracker Ballet and the Orlando Philharmonic. He is also looking forward to adding a wireless router so they can take advantage of the iLive’s iPAD app and also use a pair of netbooks to control the system.
Allen & Heath
American Music & Sound
# # #
END
Notes for the Editor: