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The Warehouse Deploys Adamson For Power & Synchronicity At Virgin Money Fireworks Concert

Finale of this year's Edinburgh International Festival in UK served by more than 100 Adamson loudspeakers, including E- and S-Series line arrays

The Warehouse Sound Services (Edinburgh, UK) deployed more than 100 Adamson loudspeakers in support of the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert finale at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) held at Princes Street Gardens.

The Virgin Money Fireworks Concert brought the festival season to a close in style with a display of over 400,000 fireworks from renowned fireworks company Pyrovision choreographed to live orchestral music performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra set against the spectacular backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. The annual finale is one of the largest fireworks concerts in the world with an audience of 250,000.

Working with Tammo Schuelke, concerts and project manager for Scottish Chamber Orchestra, as well as production manager Wesley Cameron, The Warehouse Sound Services developed complex system designed to ensure synchronicity between the sound of the concert and the visuals of the fireworks. In addition, power, clarity and coverage across the event was critical.

Scottish folk singer Karen Matheson, vocalist of Celtic supergroup Capercaillie, joined the orchestra for traditional tunes and the premiere of a new work composed for Matherson by Capercaillie founder Donald Shaw.

Specifically, The Warehouse utilized Adamson E15 and S10 line arrays with E119 and S119 subwoofers deployed as a distributed system within Princes Street Gardens and Princes Street. The loudspeakers were driven with Lab Gruppen PLM20K44 amplifiers using Lake Processing. Adamson design software Blueprint AV was used to assist in the design using simulations of system performance.

A DiGiCo SD10 mixer at front of house alongside Shure Axient and PSM1000 wireless systems and over 80 microphones from AKG, Beyer, DPA, Sennheiser, Shure and Neumann.

“The system performed impeccably, providing consistent and even coverage with exceptional sound quality,” states Douglas Martin, hire manager of The Warehouse. “This further showcases the true scalability of the Adamson E15/S10 systems. The E15 provides the optimal solution for touring and rental houses that need system flexibility, fast setup / teardown speeds and superior sonic performance. The S10 has so much detail and power so it’s incredible for this kind of event. The system is much more compact, easier to fly, with higher sound pressure levels and more controlled dispersion.

“Our hire department has used Adamson loudspeaker systems extensively over the last year and everyone from customers to staff are more than happy with the results. We only use products in our hire department that meet our customer expectations and our high standards. Our company policy is supplying the right equipment for the job whether we sell these products or not. The hire department is very happy with Adamson on a number of fronts from great sound, easy deployment, reliability and customer acceptance. It’s very clear that the products they are developing are innovative and ahead of the competition with service and training to match, so much so that we have recently ordered more as we move the department forward.”

Derek Blair, director of The Warehouse, adds, “Over the 35 years that The Warehouse has been supplying audio for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s fireworks concert we have used many different brands and configurations of loudspeaker systems as technology has evolved. Over the last 12 months our hire department has been using various Adamson systems on a whole range of diverse projects and shows including musical theatre, corporate, broadcast, a ship launch, rock and classical shows with great results. With the experience that we have gained using these systems, we felt that it was time to change the fireworks concert over to a new, more technologically advanced better sounding loudspeaker system.”

Adamson
The Warehouse Sound Services

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