PK Sound Trinity systems with remote controlled technology helped electronic music fans howl in late October at USC’s Freaknight in Tacoma, WA, Insomniac’s BOO! in San Francisco, and HARD’s Day of the Dead in Pomona, CA.
For USC Freaknight, which attracted more than 4,000 to Room C of the Tacoma Dome on two consecutive nights, the sound team faced the challenge of a single-point-rigging hang instead of two points, which meant using six Trinity boxes per side due to weight restrictions.
“This led to a bit of worry about the 250-foot throw in the room,” explains Kyle Van Yzerloo, front of house engineer. “As it turned out, not only were the boxes powerful enough, but by using Trinity’s unique 3D wavefront control, we were also able to make sure that the sound was traveling far enough to cover the entire sound field and still be clear and clean for everyone in front. I’m convinced Trinity is the only system that can perform to that level with only six boxes per side.”
Artists expressed satisfaction with the performance of the system as well, with UK’s Troyboi stating he was, “absolutely blown away. I’ve never heard anything like it before in my life.”
For Insomniac’s BOO! at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, with a crowd capacity of 8,800, PK Sound’s main array consisted of 12 Trinity boxes per side, along with 30 of PK’s CX800 subwoofers. These components were joined by an out fill line array of eight VX10 cabinets per side for the side balcony, and a set of five VX12 for front fills. The sub configuration was set as three distinct delay zones, to achieve satisfactory coverage to fill the room.
FOH engineer Sebastien Pallisso-Poux dealt with some tricky issues: “The first challenge was the width of the stage, which was 90 feet, due to the lighting rig. These events are famous for their lighting and other visual effects, so compromises had to be made to ensure the line array didn’t obstruct any sightlines to the screens and lighting. Thanks to the flexibility of Trinity, the box delivered a nice, wide spread of 120 degrees down to 60 degrees – so we could make adjustments after flying the array, even during the show.”
Trinity also helped solve the issue of shooting at the reflective six-foot balcony face above the main floor. “We didn’t have a separate line array for the back of the house portion of the balcony,” notes Pallisso-Poux, “but we could adjust the angles of the boxes at any time to shoot under and above this undesired portion, as well as the main dance floor. The spread between two boxes can be as wide as 5.5. degrees vertically.”
Meanwhile, at southern California’s Fairplex for HARD’s Day of the Dead, audio production manager Adam Lewis was contending with a long, narrow metal and concrete structure demanding 780-foot-long coverage. Adding to this was a steeply pitched roof with further obstructions waiting to bounce back the sound.
“With that long of a throw, we had to bring the horizontal angle of the Trinity array in 60 degrees at the top and flair it out to 120 degrees at the bottom. We also had two sets of stereo delay hangs plus the main. Adjusting to these challenges was made possible because of Trinity’s versatility,” Lewis explains.
The event also showcased the system’s ability in the midrange to optimize the power of vocal performances of live bands such as Hot Chip and Club Cheval, who delve into various genres, while being easily adjusted to deliver the EDM wizardry of Skrillex, Nero and other major performers.
