Located in the Alentejo Litoral region on the southwest coast of Portugal, ArtSpaceHotel is a unique resort that caters to musicians and artists seeking a creative space for recording.
Director Kai Vieweg’s background and experience in the recording industry led him to create this space that is ideal for musicians and other artists but that welcomes other types of guests for vacation as well.
Ray Finkenberger-Lewin from Deli Sound & Recording, recommended an Aviom Pro64 audio network that connects the spaces throughout the hotel. As a result Vieweg created a resort where artists can rehearse and record anywhere they are comfortable.
Vieweg recalls, “When I asked Ray how to do this technically in the best possible way, he said: Aviom.”
Finkenberger-Lewin designed the space based on the “nothing is impossible inside the ArtSpaceHotel” philosophy.
“Everything can happen at any time—any place. So that means the complete technical potential has to be available all over the place whenever you want it to be there,” he explains. “Anywhere in the space, an artist can record and the control room can be set up whether this is in the main room of the resort, in one of the suites, or next to the pool.”
While the ArtSpaceHotel has not officially opened its doors to the public, the resort has already welcomed a few talented groups to test the equipment and facilities.
Among those the hotel has hosted are Brazilian guitarist, singer, and songwriter Zélia Fonesca, who recorded her most recent album at the hotel, German jazz artist Wolfgang Haffner, and Portuguese percussion project Tocá Rufar Orquestra, which hosted a workshop at the resort.
The audio network that connects the creative spaces throughout the ArtSpaceHotel was designed by Finkenberger-Lewin with the help of Aviom distribution partner S.E.A. Vertrieb & Consulting.
The front-of-house console used in the space is a Yamaha DM2000 with two Aviom 6416Y2 A-Net Cards. These two cards send and receive 32 channels of audio from the Aviom Pro64 audio network. The cards are connected to two MH10 Merger Hubs that are installed at either end of the resort. These MH10s are connected to one another and to 10 other locations throughout the facility.
A rack containing two 6416m Mic Input Modules, one ASI A-Net Interface, one A-16R Rack-mounted Personal Mixer, and an A-16D Pro A-Net Distributor can be connected at any one of these locations. The console can also be positioned at any one of these connections.
From these locations, the 6416m units send audio to the Yamaha console while the ASI converts the Pro64 audio signal to a Pro16 one that is then sent to the A-16D Pro and distributed to up to eight A-16II Personal Mixers that musicians can use to create their own monitor mixes.
The A-16R Rack-mounted Personal Mixer is used to send a stereo signal to the resort’s PA system so that the performance or session can be shared throughout the space.
Finkenberger-Lewin describes the Aviom audio network as “plug and play,” and resort director Vieweg says, “The emotional response of guests and participants has surpassed our expectations. Artists feel comfortable and free to do what they want at any time, and the Aviom system has helped to make this possible.”
