The new Jaguar XE was recently—and spectacularly—launched in the UK amidst a fully produced musical theatre-style show staged in a 3,000-seat proscenium theatre within London’s Earls Court.
The 90-minute performance involved 17 different Jaguars through the ages. A Morris Minor, a cast of West End performers, a 30-piece orchestra positioned upstage on a moving riser, and musical performances from the likes of Emeli Sandé, Eliza Doolittle and the Kaiser Chiefs were woven in to the narrative fabric of the show.
Freelance sound designer Sebastian Frost worked closely with Imagination’s head of sound John Del Nero to create natural theatre sound on the 53-meter by 30-meter stage, utilizing an Outboard TiMax SoundHub audio showcontrol delay-matrix, supplied by London-based production hire company, Orbital Sound, not only to contain the sound but also to ensure the audience in the raised auditorium seating could “pin sounds to the source.”
Frost explains, “Without TiMax the performance would have been flat and the intelligibility severely hampered in such a big space. There were so many different sources of sound – bands were positioned downstage, some over to the side, some upstage, as well as individual performers – and we needed to cope with those different inputs on a quickly changing basis.”
With such a complex build into Earls Court – involving over 85 tons of truss and equipment and possibly the largest load to have ever hung from the building’s roof – technical and dress rehearsal time was short. Time was at a premium and Frost did the initial set up and calculations [for TiMax] as soon as the load-in was done, and then “trained up” Chris Whybrow as his TiMax operator.
Well versed in the capabilities of TiMax, Frost set up seven zones on the stage, allowing Whybrow to work through rehearsals allocating buttons and resources in TiMax to every point of the show. “It was the first time Chris had used TiMax but he was able to just get on and built 50-60 cues very easily,” Frost notes. “He’s a very good engineer, which helped, but it was still easier than expected.”
The sound system for the show comprised four arrays of d&b audiotechnik J-series positioned as a row over the downstage, with four delay arrays of d&b V-series half way back in the audience stands. Main front of house consoles were DiGiCo SD10s, which also triggered the TiMax Soundhub Cues via MIDI.
Frost concludes, “TiMax really helped cement the believability of the performers on stage and create a theatrical environment for the entire production which in Earls Court is no mean feat.”