Vanemuine Theatre

62 VENUE - EMEA

VANEMUINE THEATRE

TARTU, ESTONIA

EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

Estonians love the theatre, with every major city having at least one or two stages. Tartu, Estonia’s second largest city after the capital Talllinn, is home to the country’s oldest theatre, Vanemuine. It is the only one of its kind with three different buildings at its disposal; the larger grand building, which is the refurbishment project, the historic small building and the black box-style Harbour Theatre. The Vanemuine cultivates all possible genres of performance art, such as opera, classical drama, musicals, children’s shows, contemporary ballet and symphonic concerts. One season lasts from September to May, but, with various summer projects often planned, the theatre is, essentially, open all year round. The grand building, rebuilt in 1967, is a modernist-style theatre, which has a 700- seat capacity auditorium, rehearsal rooms, cloakrooms, workshops, a café and an administrative wing that was renovated in 2004. To be able to hold such a wide range of events meant that modernisation of the Vanemuine was required, which was a major project

www.mondodr.com

63 VENUE - EMEA

that saw some parts completely renovated and modified. Wibbeke & Penders, a Berlin-based engineering company, was commissioned to plan and implement the modernisation project, with theatre and media technology planner, Dr. Reiner Chemnitius also consulted. Dutch company, Trekwerk, was responsible for the theatre rigging, stage lifts, floor and the complete renovation of the upper and lower machinery. With its experience in large-scale projects, systems solutions in theatres and stage management technology, as well as international expertise as an entertainment technology integrator on cruise ships, Amptown System Company (ASC) was enlisted to assist with the Vanemuine project. Within the European tender, ASC was the only system integrator to recommend itself as a technical service provider for the project even in the final phase, despite critical requirements. The reconstruction work was split into two phases, during which the events at the venues were suspended. In 2016, the infrastructure for the lighting of

the stage tower was created and the blue and working light installed, the lighting equipment supplemented and the upper machinery installed. In 2017, the stage was gutted, the infrastructure for the stage lighting was implemented, the blue and working light for the stage installed, the revolving stage replaced, the lower machinery installed and the media and stage management technology installed. The opening took place after the pre-acceptance on 29 September 2017. With significant experience in integrating the lighting infrastructure, ASC was trusted with the preliminary works in the theatre building during the first phase of construction. The ASC team, project managed by Jan Vandrei and the engineer responsible for commissioning of media equipment, Rüdiger Aue, supported Dr. Reiner Chemnitius with the coordination of all works during the second phase of construction, focussing on the sound system and stage management technology. For the audio at the Vanemuine, Meyer Sound loudspeakers are used, with the main sound system using two Leopard line arrays, each made up of seven loudspeakers and three 900-LFC

subwoofers. There is a two-part centre cluster comprising two of Meyer Sound’s Leopard loudspeakers, which deliver the sound to the parquet and position. For the hall, there are 24 Meyer Sound UPJ-1XP loudspeakers, while the monitoring system on the stage consists of two Meyer Sound CAL 64 beam-stearing loudspeakers. For the frontfill sound in the parquet, eight Meyer Sound UPM-1P loudspeakers are utilised, with the delay beneath the balcony using eight Meyer Sound MM4-XP loudspeakers. Two full-range UPQ-2P loudspeakers, also from Meyer Sound are used backstage, providing acoustic framework, as well as special effects. The stage monitoring comes from four Meyer Sound MJF 210. The sound system is controlled using four Galileo Calisto 616 processors and a Meyer Sound remote monitoring server keeps track of the line arrays. Two DiGiCo mixing consoles are utilised, along with a redundant Waves server system with ProShow plug-in collection. A DiGiCo SD7 console is used with the theatre software for scene management as the main console in the hall. Elsewhere, there is a DiGiCo SD10 console in

www.mondodr.com

64 VENUE - EMEA

• Above left The RTS system in place

• Bottom left The DiGiCo SD7 console

• Right The exterior of Vanemuine Theatre

the control room, too. Both consoles are connected redundantly via a fibre-opticbased digital Optocore audio network - and are also connected in FOH and production, which can be used in combination or individually. There are numerous connection points for microphone inputs installed in the venue and mobile DiGiCo stage boxes - DiGiCo SD-Racks and DiGiCo Mini-Racks - are used. The Optocore audio network can process 504 audio channels at 96kHz - the Vanemuine has over 700 inputs. The use of DiGiCo T software enables any number of interfaces to be connected and disconnected. The ensemble regularly goes on tour and, as such, the mobile equipment is also used for guest performances at other locations. The audio / video fibre optic network was developed by ASC and Dr. Reiner Chemnitius as a special specification, using Optocore and BroaMan components. The fibre optic network for audio transmission is set up as a virtual ring network topology (redundancy) with autorouting, while the video and fibre optic network is designed as a redundant star-shaped network topology. The state-of-the-art system is equipped with high-resolution signals for audiovisual at all offset boxes in the theatre - allowing access to 3G-SDI video signals - and is transmitted via a fibre optic interface below the turntable. There are connection points in the entire stage area, the galleries and on the drawing floor for connecting video sources and sinks. BroaMan’s video network contains a

video matrix with 36 inputs on 40 outputs for the distribution of high-resolution video signal in the house. In parallel, a stage manager video system from BroaMan with 12 inputs on 22 outputs organises the video signals of the eight Panasonic full HD cameras AW-HE-130 and control / co-foam monitors in the stage house to be able to receive pictures there as well. With productions at the theatre becoming increasingly complex, there is a demand for high-end intercom systems to enable perfect communication - this led to a a modern IP-based intercom system from RTS being chosen. Stefan Thomsen, ASC Senior Sales Manager for Communication Systems,

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

SOUND & VIDEO 9 x Meyer Sound Leopard loudspeaker; 3 x Meyer Sound 900-LFC subwoofer; 24 x Meyer Sound UPJ-1XP loudspeaker; 2 x Meyer Sound CAL 64 beam-stearing loudspeaker; 8 x Meyer Sound UPM-1P loudspeaker; 8 x Meyer Sound MM4-XP loudspeaker; 2 x Meyer Sound UPQ-2P loudspeaker; 4 x Meyer Sound MJF 210 monitor; 4 x Meyer Sound Galileo Calisto 616 processor; 1 x Meyer Sound remote monitoring server; 1 x DiGiCo SD7 mixing console; 1 x DiGiCo SD10 mixing console; DiGiCo SD-Rack I/O racks; DiGiCo Mini-Rack stage boxes; Optocore audio network; Broaman video network; 8 x Panasonic Full HD AW-HE-130 camera

INTERCOM & MICROPHONE RTS OMNEO media network; Adam M intercom matrix; 4 x RTS KP Series microphone; RTS ROAMEO DECT wireless intercom system; 35 x RTS ROAMEO beltpack; 2 x adunas stage management console; Shure Axient system; 30 x Shure AXT-100 pocket transmitter; 30 x Countryman clip-on microphone

www.vanemuine.ee

explained how the RTS system works at Vanemuine: “RTS’ OMNEO media network architecture is fully integrated into the intercom system of the Vanemuine Theatre. Standard TCP-IP network infrastructures can be used for connection to the central, redundantly designed Adam M intercom matrix. This makes it currently the most modern IPbased intercom system available on the market. An additional dedicated intercom cabling is no longer necessary. “At the same time, the temporary use of microphone stations in the theatre becomes significantly more flexible and location-independent, which is a real benefit in daily theatre operations. “OMNEO uses the widely used Dante

www.mondodr.com

66 VENUE - EMEA

network for audio transmission and AES70 for the transmission of control signals. This considerably simplifies the transparent integration of external components and audio signals into the intercom system. The Adam M intercom matrix is connected to the four RTS KP Series microphone units distributed throughout the theatre via the company’s TCP-IP infrastructure. “The access points of the recently introduced RTS ROAMEO DECT wireless intercom system are integrated transparently into the overall system via the same infrastructure. A total of 13 access points in Vanemuine provide the connection of a total of 35 ROAMEO beltpacks, with which a building-wide wireless full-duplex communication for rehearsal and performance operation beside, behind, under and above the stage is ensured. With AZEDIT and IPEDIT, the customer also has two convenient Windows user interfaces for configuring, managing and monitoring the entire system.” ASC also consulted with the technical managers and Dr. Reiner Chemnitius to implement two stage management consoles with adunas’ real-time media control. The larger main console, which is to the right of the stage, contains two adunas 22-inch touch panels, with convenient control for audio, light, video, curtain, clock functions (stopwatch, timer, time), player and gong – it also communicates with the light control panel, too. The most important lighting circuits, such as the

regulation of the conductor’s spot and the working lights in front of and below the stage, as well as in the galleries are also controlled. For rehearsals, a smaller, mobile console is used, which delivers almost all the same functions as the main console, with the exception being curtain control. The microphone system was given a total revamp, too, with a Shure Axient system – with 30 channels - introduced. A total of 30 AXT-100 pocket transmitters and almost-invisible clip-on microphones from Countryman are used to match. The advantage of the Axient system is an integrated frequency management, which continuously scans the available frequency spectrum for possible interference. In the event of a problem, another frequency is switched within 500 milliseconds, so that a high level of operational reliability is guaranteed. The end result has seen a huge improvement at Vanemuine, though it wasn’t without its challenges - highlighting the need for clear communication between all parties. Dr. Reiner Chemnitius explained further: “Especially in a project abroad, professional teamwork is important and the good feeling of being able to rely 100% on each other. “I have now had good international experiences with ASC. My colleagues gave me intensive support and, thanks to the close manufacturer relationships, we were able to implement changes promptly through state-of-the-art products and intelligent system solutions. These are fully in

keeping with the range of artistic productions in Tartu and are sustainably oriented towards the future.” Toomas Peterson, Director at Vanemuine Theatre, was left impressed with the work completed at the venue: “In accordance with the international tender and the planning of Dr. Reiner Chemnitius, Amptown System Company supplied and installed sound, lighting, video and communication technology for the Vanemuine Theatre. These systems were installed in summer 2016 and 2017 and the collaboration with ASC ran smoothly. All work was carried out professionally and on schedule. “The system integration took place during the renewal of the entire stage technology, which was carried out by the Dutch stage technology company, Trekwerk, from Holland. As a result, products, their positions and settings very often had to be reconciled - in some cases it was even necessary to change the product and the system solution. ASC acted confidently and flexibly and integrated the best possible technical solution for our theatre. Conclusion: we are very satisfied with the result!” The modern, state-of-the-art technology installed at Vanemuine enhances the range of artistic productions, delivering a theatre that is ready to host whole range of events for a long time to come.

www.mondodr.com