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TECH PROFILE
BRINGING THE SOUND OF UNITY TO THE UAE IN LINE WITH THE REGION’S YEAR OF TOLERANCE AND SPREADING THE MESSAGE OF INTERFAITH RELATIONS - DUBAI-BASED DELTA SOUND PROVIDES AUDIO INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A SELECTION OF THE PONTIFF, POPE FRANCIS’ APPEARANCES TO ABU DHABI.
The Pope’s recent UAE tour included three official engagements including a rare display of Christian worship in the Muslim-majority region with a Papal Mass at Zayed Sports City Stadium for 135,000 people as well as official visits at the Presidential Palace and The Founder’s Memorial in Abu Dhabi. The Pope was officially welcomed by horsemounted guards, the UAE’s military marching band, an artillery salute and a military flyover trailing the yellow and white smoke of the Vatican flag as he arrived at the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi. The visit, which was historically the first by the Roman Catholic Church leader to the Arabian Peninsula, was celebrated by the UAEs unique population of people from a large mix of nationalities, races and religions who have come to call the UAE their home. Dubai-based audio and event communications specialist Delta Sound were commissioned to provide coverage across all three events. A discreet audio system was required for this occasion, the full PA system was operated
ME
wirelessly with Delta Sound deploying a series of L-Acoustic Kara and SB28’s draped to blend into the surrounding structures. A variety of mics with an RF base were used for the marching band, as no cable mics were able to be used in the space. Lead Engineer Mahesh Ramdin was on site. He picked up the story: “The main challenge was a two-metre-high, sub-surface ground-based air-condition system which we needed to work through for the musicians as they moved across it.” He began, adding, “Our configuration handled it well and the result was refined.” One of the Pope’s most significant appearances was at an interfaith meeting at The Founders Memorial with His Holiness and notable figures from the UAE, including Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, sign a commemorative stone at The Founders Memorial (TFM). The event required impeccable sound and a quality delivery for the PA and the event communications. TFM’s onsite Audio Project Manager was James Ghamlouch. He said: “Having worked at the inauguration of the memorial we are familiar with the acoustics and the infrastructure
at the site. This allowed us to provide the PA specification for the meeting,” he commented. The rig consisted of 12 L-Acoustics K2s, 8 SB28s subwoofers and 42 5XT loudspeakers. The main control was run through LA Network manager on an Avid S6L. Ghamlouch continued: “Throughout the tiered seating we deployed 6 ground stacked L-Acoustics K2s and 4 SB28s subs per-side. The delay system was 42 5XTs divided across seven audience rows.” The event communications consisted of wireless and wired comms for the production and show-calling teams. “We supplied a number of digital DP4400 Motorola Radios, ClearCom Helix wired comms and ClearCom Freespeak II wireless packs for the show-callers and stage managers,” said Technical Manager Liam McGrath. The UAE’s first ever Papal Mass was a widely anticipated event with thousands of worshippers converging on Zayed Sports City Stadium to witness the Pontiff’s historical Mass. With a very short lead-time for preparation of only three weeks (something typical in the UAE)
