SOUND SENSE ISSUE004
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Networking with no limits
at London’s Southbank Centre
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High end hospitality
BGM at Petit Palace Hotels
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The virtues of variable acoustics Yamaha announces AFC4
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
Banking on Yamaha
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Matrix processors help to make Southbank Centre’s 364 day programme possible
AFC4 Enhanced acoustic excellence
Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo Health and wellness at a luxury spa
Introducing Audioversity Yamaha’s new school of thought for audio training
Petit Palace Hotels Bespoke background music makes a big difference
Stylish sound for Coulommiers church With VXL series line array loudspeakers
Rivage PM10 brings freedom to Leonora Christina Denmark’s biggest musical is a star-studded success
Prins of the road A profile of sales engineer Jan Prins
t’s summer again... and, as well as long, light evenings and (hopefully) some sunshine, the fourth issue of Sound Sense. We have been pleasantly surprised at the positive reaction to the first three issues of the magazine. Although feedback is, of course, usually something all we try to avoid, for Sound Sense it’s invaluable. We are grateful to all of you who have taken the time to share your thoughts. Every area of Yamaha’s business continually strives to improve and Sound Sense is no different, so you may notice a few subtle tweaks to the design of this issue. We will continue to improve and adapt the magazine so, if you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact any of the team at the email addresses below. In the meantime, this issue again shows how busy every sector of the Commercial Audio business is. As well as the exciting news of AFC4, the ongoing success of MTX matrix processors and RIVAGE mixing systems, the demand for systems based on VXL and VXS loudspeakers and much more, we also have a trip back to the past, when the instant recall of entire mixes was just a futuristic dream. Our fast-moving world of professional audio is nothing if not varied!
Big beats for fitmess freaks
SOUND SENSE
VondelGym works out to Yamaha
Editor and Scribe: Robin Johnson | robin@9016.uk Commissioning Co-ordinator: Karl Christmas | karl.christmas@music.yamaha.com
Images in this issue are courtesy of: Alamy, Karl Christmas, James Cumpsty, Jan Prins, Emilia Therese (Odense Theater).
Sound Sense is published by The Yamaha Corporation of Japan. Any views expressed within are those of the individual authors and contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the publishers. All contents © 2019 Yamaha Corporation of Japan or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. The publishers cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information.
Contributors: Johnny Andreasen, Ron Bakker, Frederic Borde, Enrique Bravo Peco, Andy Cooper, Stan van Ettikhoven, Jesper Findshøj, Ruben ven der Goor, Felipe Morales, Richard Nowell, Ruth Pelopida, Jan Prins, Pierre Vandekerckhove, Christine Zoliec. Executive Publisher: Ron Bakker | ron.bakker@music.yamaha.com
COVER | STORY
BANKING ON YAMAHA Matrix processors help make London landmark’s 364 day programme possible.
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he Royal Festival Hall (RFH) was the only major structure retained from the 1951 Festival of Britain, but the event’s spirit of progress lives on at what is now London’s Southbank Centre. The complex has recently been the subject of a three-year internal refurbishment programme, which included a major upgrade of the technical infrastructure. Yamaha professional audio equipment and a Dante network are, as you might expect, at the heart of it. After the Festival of Britain, the RFH was later extended and joined by the Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH), Purcell Room and additional foyers, public spaces and bars to form one of London’s best-known entertainment facilities. The most recent programme of enhancements was the latest in a number of projects to improve and update the complex. Open 364 days a year, Southbank Centre has a very broad range of programming. It includes a wide array of music, dance, performance art, comedy, theatre, spoken word, club nights and much more. In addition, the venues are available for corporate presentations, parties, graduations and other private events. A key part of its remit is free programming, so there are regular walk-in performances in the open-plan foyers and circulation areas, with outdoor entertainment provided during the summer.
Queen Elizabeth Hall
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Royal Festival Hall
Richard Nowell Sound Services (RNSS) is the Southbank Centre’s official audio partner. The company maintains the sound infrastructure throughout the complex, working closely with a team of 40 in-house technicians, six production managers, a production co-ordinator and technical manager - all under the leadership of technical director Ruth Pelopida. The refurbishment project was an opportunity to modernise the system because, as Ruth says, “It needs to handle literally anything.”
Up-to-date “The previous system had worked satisfactorily, but we didn’t want to simply re-install it because the industry had moved on,” says Richard. “At the same time we had to strike the right balance - it is important that Southbank Centre is up-to-date, but without being so far ahead that we are effectively beta-testing products on live shows.” He continues, “For venues like this, it’s critical that you have equipment which is universally acceptable, robust, easy to obtain, easy to service and with high reliability. It was also important that the system was visually unobtrusive. We felt that a Yamaha and Dante-based system offered the best solution. This infrastructure enabled us to isolate the venues from each other, whilst still
COVER | STORY
being able to access everything from the central recording and patch room.” The new system is based on a Dante network with Yamaha MRX7-D matrix processors in the RFH and QEH, which handle a stereo mix from all Southbank Centre mixing consoles and ambient microphones. The feeds are matrixed via the network to seven show relay locations, each featuring Yamaha VX1ML and VXS3S loudspeakers and a video screen. “There are a huge number of requests for audio feeds for various reasons, from show relay to recording options, latecomer screens, assisted listening systems, advertising screens and more,” says Richard. “It’s not always possible to hang a couple of microphones for an ambient feed, so taking audio direct from the installed mixing consoles - and those brought in for visiting productions - made sense.” Design of the system design fell to Tony Birch at RNSS, who found that the Yamaha MRX7-D could do everything needed ‘in the box’, with capacity to spare. “The two units communicate across 300m of fibre, they give us a fully redundant system and have got rid of a truly horrible collection of DA converters, compressors, delays and more which were trying to cope with rock’n’roll one minute and solo piano the next. Now we can give everyone the feed they want, reliably and consistently,” says Richard. “The MRX7-Ds deliver consistently high quality sound and it’s easy to add visiting consoles to the Dante network. It all had the knock-on effect of letting us make the most of the system and put in decent show relay speakers. We had to be sensitive and deliver an aesthetically acceptable solution, so we chose the VX1ML and VXS3Ss for this. They deliver great sound quality from visually discreet units.”
The 1951 Festival of Britain with the Royal Festival Hall in the centre. To the left is the former shot tower, demolished to make way for the Queen Elizabeth Hall, to the right the Dome of Discovery and Skylon on the site now occupied by the London Eye.
“The QL series was a natural fit for the permanently-installed mixers, because they are rider-friendly and sit on the network. We also wanted something to fit with our CL series rental stock for bigger events and, with the physical space constraints of the performance spaces, their size and ability to be moved by two people was important.” The Dante network also means that the movable QL1 mixer, with a Rio3224-D I/O unit, can be used to mix events in spaces like the QEH foyer, champagne bar and Clore Ballroom, as well as the outdoor terrace in summer. “The biggest challenge is that our programme is so wide and we don’t do long runs except over Christmas, so our guys are switching daily between art forms or types of performance,” says Ruth. “Our engineers like Yamaha consoles because they are very user-friendly and the techs trust the reliability. We do a lot of free, daytime music with little time to set the performances up, so consoles that are quick and intuitive to use are essential. “We also use a lot of freelance engineers and, importantly, No-brainer they and other incoming engineers know Yamaha consoles. So RNSS installed Yamaha QL5 digital mixing consoles in the QEH and when we bring in extra equipment, or when broadcasters need Purcell Room, with a movable QL1 to patch in to the system, they for performances in the open plan know that it will all work together public areas, plus a TF1 which is seamlessly. Overall we’re really used as a submixer and, where happy with the Yamaha/Dante necessary, for direct-to-video feed. solution.” “We had been bringing “Tony deserves a lot of credit Yamaha PM5D and then CL5 for the system,” adds Richard. “The consoles into the venues for control gear and radio mics were bigger events over many years, all bought three months ahead so it was a no-brainer to put of the expected installation date The movable QL1 console for Southbank Centre’s public areas Yamaha consoles in,” says Richard. and set up in our warehouse.
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COVER | STORY
Ruth Pelopida and Richard Nowell
He spent many hours configuring the network switches correctly to ensure each venue within the Southbank Centre complex was kept separate, yet all were available on the main network. We routinely unplugged and
Rooms with a view O
n the roof of the Royal Festival Hall are two rooms with floor-to-ceiling views over the River Thames, which have been upgraded with standalone Yamaha audio systems. “The original ethos of the RFH was to be a ‘people’s palace’ that should be accessible and enjoyed by all,” says Ruth. “Over the years that somehow got lost a bit and many of the breakout spaces ended up in utilitarian, back of house use. People had incredible views from their offices, which wasn’t the designer’s intention. “We realised that the roof rooms had a lot of commercial potential as spaces for conferences, parties and other functions. Initially they had fairly hotch-potch sound and lighting systems, but more recently we put Yamaha audio systems in, upgraded the lighting and made them into more sophisticated spaces.” Each room features VXS5 and VXS10 loudspeakers, powered by PX series amplifiers and with a TF-Rack mixer. “With the RFH being Grade 1 listed, it had to be systems that were in keeping with the aesthetic,” adds Richard. “The previous speakers bounced sound off the roof, because they had to be hidden, and we wanted to make a noticeable improvement. It was a big relief for us that Yamaha had started to make speakers like the VXS series, which are unobtrusive and can be placed where we need them for good quality coverage.”
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re-plugged items during this period to check that the system recovered correctly and preprogrammed the MRX7-Ds, so that once the equipment arrived in the venues, installation was quick and relatively painless. “The QL consoles were the right choice. They work very well and there have been no reliability issues. Quality-wise Yamaha mixers continue to get better and better, they have moved on a long way from LS9s and M7CLs. The system does everything that we hoped it would and we are sure that it will continue to do so well into the future.”
The rooms are continually used in different formats, so it was critical that the systems are easy for customers to use, with no need for a technician. The TF-Rack mixers are programmed with a range of presets, allowing anyone to walk in, plug in a microphone, playback or another input source and get a good sound. “It’s testament to the system that it will cope with pretty much anything required of it. Even those who have no experience of using microphones will be audible without being on the edge of feedback,” says Richard. “Southbank Centre is so popular that there is never enough space for everything we want to do. Having these spaces available and being able to satisfy customer expectations for everything from rehearsals and meetings to parties and receptions for big events in the main spaces is really beneficial,” concludes Ruth.
NEW | PRODUCTS
AFC4: ENHANCED ACOUSTIC EXCELLENCE
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une 2019 has seen the announcement of AFC4, the latest version of Yamaha’s innovative Active Field Control (AFC) acoustic conditioning system. A combination of architectural acoustics and electro-acoustic signal processing, AFC allows users to manipulate and enhance the acoustics of a space in order to improve the sound for both audiences and performers, as well as to accommodate a wider range of applications. AFC4 sees significant upgrades in performance, sound quality and flexibility, greatly expanding the system’s range of applications to include a much wider range of event types. The first Active Field Control system debuted in 1985, in response to a growing number of venues wanting to become more multi-purpose. AFC was designed to create a scalable reverberation system, using optimally-placed microphones and speakers to produce an acoustic feedback loop that delivered a much more natural, organic sound and feel than the more commonly used digital reverb room simulations of the time. It quickly proved a more cost-effective and flexible alternative to renovations or mechanical modifications in houses of worship, theatres, concert halls and other venues, while still maintaining the natural sonic characteristics of the space. The most recent version of the system - AFC3 - incorporated powerful DSP to add versatility and improved performance, yet needed only a few core devices to create a full system. It meant
different, high quality acoustic environments could be created with the simple push of a button. AFC4 sees significant upgrades in sound quality and DSP power, making it possible to enhance an acoustic environment even further, or even to create one - for example in an outdoor or roofless venue. The processor’s sampling rate, fixed FIR taps, FIR presets, and configurable FIR tap settings have all been significantly upgraded and it is now equipped with a FIR EQ. Combined with greater connectivity - 32 mic inputs and 96 output channels - the upgraded DSP will give users much greater flexibility and control over the acoustic architecture of a space. This will make it possible to achieve a much broader range of sonic ‘experiences’, from subtle and nuanced to more dramatic. “As a manufacturer of a vast range of musical instruments and innovative professional audio products, and also having designed performance halls and theatres, I believe Yamaha has a unique insight into the nature and behaviour of sound and acoustics,” says Yoshi Tsugawa, Senior General Manager of the Yamaha Audio Products Business Division. “With AFC we have been making it possible to create very natural, immersive experiences for both audience members and performers. At the same time, Yamaha’s dedication to quality and support is reassuring for users who want to get the very best sonic experience from an acoustic environment. We are constantly exploring new avenues to implement this technology and look forward to the exciting possibilities that the future holds for AFC4.”
Opera singer Gosha Kowalinska and pianist Olga Bila at Szczecin Opera.
Current AFC3 installations: Mińsk Mazowiecki Art School (above left) and Szczecin Opera (below).
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SPA | SOUND
Health and wellness at Monte Carlo’s luxury spa Priding itself on a 100-year heritage, the award-winning Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo is a high quality spa and fitness club with an international clientele. Overlooking the iconic harbour, it is the perfect place for everything from a stimulating workout to a revitalising health treatment.
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inner of the 2016 Prix Villégiature award for Best Hotel Spa in Europe, Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo was the first ‘wellbeing’ spa in Monaco and is located between the prestigious Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo and the Hotel Hermitage Monte-Carlo. It is owned by Société de Bains de Mer, which owns and manages 52 hospitality venues in the principality, including the Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Le Casino de Monte Carlo and Opéra Garnier Monte Carlo. The spa and fitness club includes two heated indoor seawater pools plus a cold pool, high specification gymnasium and cardio fitness room, male and female saunas, solarium and jacuzzi. “We offer a great variety of wellbeing treatments,” says managing director Christine Zoliec. “Our treatments can be thematic, slimming or anti-ageing and include all types of body care. We can design individual tailor-made activities and are also partners with cosmetics brand La Prairie and Cellcosmet for high quality facial treatments.”
The spa also includes L’Hirondelle health food restaurant, a poolside bar, outdoor terrace with views over Monte Carlo’s iconic harbour and a shop selling a wide range of fitness and fashion clothing. As well as being able to enjoy a relaxing tea or coffee, customers can enjoy a wide range of healthy food and drink from the extensive bar and restaurant menus. These range from fresh fruit and vegetable juices to breakfasts and lunches, with dishes that are especially prepared to provide the ideal balance for energy, health and wellbeing. An equally important part of the experience is the carefully-managed ambience, which relies on a Yamaha audio system to deliver a subtle background soundtrack, which is designed to make customers feel relaxed but refreshed. “We pledge excellence to all our clients in all areas of our customer relations, the quality of our products and service,” says Christine. “We aim to give years to their life and life to their years.”
Christine Zoliec
System profile
At Thermes Marins, Yamaha VXC6 ceiling loudspeakers are installed throughout the bar, restaurant and reception areas, with VXS8 surface mount loudspeakers covering the pool areas. The system is powered by XMV8280 amplifiers and managed by an MTX5-D matrix processor.
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INTERACTIVE | LEARNING
Yamaha’s new school of thought for audio training Introducing Audioversity, a brand new series of free seminars and interactive webinars on audio technology and operation, aimed at professional audio engineers, systems integrators and venue technicians.
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or many years Yamaha has been renowned for its range “Additionally, sound engineers face an abundance of of training initiatives, helping tens of thousands of functionality in mixing consoles and immersive or matrix audio engineers in more than 50 countries worldwide to deliver processors. To cope with all of these areas, training is crucial, the best audio experience to audiences. including some form of certification to support the process of Previously known as Yamaha Commercial Audio Seminars, selecting staff and suppliers for investors in these systems.” or YCATS, the new Audioversity programme has been completely rebuilt from the ground up, fully embracing the latest Structured approach developments in the world of professional audio and AV. Because of the way that audio and AV technology is changing, In total, more than 100 Audioversity seminars per year will professional audio is becoming an inherently more complex be offered in more than 20 European countries, hosted by a business, so a key part of how Audioversity works is its carefully network of over 20 Yamaha product specialists, all with either a structured approach. BSc / MSc (or equivalent) qualification in audio engineering, or “To deliver a clear and organised education programme, a corresponding level of experience obtained in many years of Audioversity features a series of standardized modules that are service in the high-end professional the same all over Europe. These are audio field. based on five key topics: Basic sound Importantly, to support certification, reinforcement; Networked mixing most of the seminars are accredited to systems; Dante audio networking; * provide Avixa CTS Revision Units (RU) , Digital signal processing and Acoustic with the possibility of obtaining formal enhancement systems,” adds Ruben van certificates from Avixa and Audinate der Goor, senior applications engineer. (Dante modules). Remote learning is also a “The Audioversity programme is not fundamental part of the Audioversity Audioversity webinar presenters Andy Cooper and Karl Christmas about just adopting a new name. It’s training initiative, so the seminars are the result of a complete re-evaluation supported by a series of live, interactive of the role of training in the professional audio world,” says Ron webinars, accessible to anyone worldwide. On the days that they Bakker, systems marketing manager of Yamaha Music Europe’s take place, each webinar will usually be run twice (around seven Commercial Audio division. hours apart), to ensure as many people as possible around the “Where, in the past, most audio systems were analogue, mainly world can participate at a reasonable local time. comprising one component such as a mixing console, now a Audioversity seminars and webinars are free of charge, but sound reinforcement or AV system uses many decentralised participants need to register in advance. Seminar places are components, all tied together with networking technology. limited and can be reserved on a first come, first served basis “In addition, similar to the migration of video from analogue via the Eventbrite ticketing system. Webinar numbers are to digital HD quality, the quality of audio systems has increased unrestricted and can be registered for via the relevant hosting to levels that we could not imagine before. It’s this higher quality page on the Zoom platform. that demands greater skills from project managers, planners, All will be announced on the Yamaha web sites, as well as system designers, sound engineers and operators - for example in the Yamaha Commercial Audio Europe LinkedIn and Facebook DSP programming, network design, user interface design, electroprofiles. * Please note that participation in Audioversity webinars does not count towards Avixa CTS RU. acoustics, room acoustics and more.
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ACOUSTIC | AESTHETICS
BESPOKE BACKGROUND MUSIC MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE AT PETIT PALACE HOTELS Maintaining a steady level of income can be a challenge for many hotels. To meet it, Spanish chain Petit Palace is trying a different approach, in which individually-tailored, high quality background music systems play a vital role.
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n city tourist destinations, weekend occupation of hotels is usually high, whereas midweek it can be much lower and so rates need to be lower to attract custom. Petit Palace Hotels (PPH) is using carefully-chosen background audio to, as PPH Madrid Superhost Felipe Morales describes it, "help provide an experience that our customers cannot get elsewhere", which means guests will return at all times of the week and year. PPH is establishing hotels in areas where there are good communication routes and high commercial activity - such as Madrid and Barcelona - to attract both business and leisure customers, adopting historic buildings and sensitively converting them for hospitality use. Although ‘experience’ is a much-used - and sometimes misused - word in the hospitality industry, it is entirely appropriate for what PPH (and it’s more ‘luxury’ marque, ICON) is aiming to achieve. “For us it means every aspect of a guest’s interaction with the hotel,” says Felipe. “From the minute that the booking is confirmed, we go out of our way to make sure that our guest expectations are catered for. Whether it’s a business person who is seeking a quiet place to relax or prepare for their busy schedule, or a long haul tourist visitor who is planning to immerse
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themselves in luxury shopping opportunities. We are there to help prepare their trip and advise.” Carefully chosen, high quality background audio is fundamental to creating the right ambience and, with converted historic buildings that often feature interesting and attractive architecture, establishing it without visually intrusive modern equipment is all the more important. A discreet, architecturally-sympathetic background music system needs to be heard almost subconsciously, working in harmony with other sensory elements like décor, lighting and aroma to help the guest immediately feel at home. All of these elements are finely-balanced at every PPH hotel. Installation company COM2000 has worked with PPH for many years and the company’s Managing & Technical Director Enrique Bravo
ACOUSTIC | AESTHETICS
Peco has made it his personal task to constantly monitor the technology available for the hotel industry and to advise PPH on the best way to achieve their goals, as well as installing and maintaining the equipment. “As part of PPH’s ongoing programme of new and refurbished hotels, we have been asked to specify a background music system that would blend in with the décor, as well as provide a clear and balanced sound,” he says. “Yamaha CIS loudspeakers are tastefully designed and very discreet. Despite their small size, they also sound very good, even at low levels. One of the problems with so many speaker systems is that they lose definition at low levels. With the Yamaha speakers we don’t have this problem.” Hand-in-hand with aesthetics and audio quality, the choice of soundtrack is very important. The PPH marketing department individually selects playlists for each public area of every hotel, which are streamed from Spotify. Throughout the day, the atmosphere in these areas is tailored to suit the mood, with all the sensory elements subtly changing as time progresses, working seamlessly together to deliver the perfect ambience for each moment of every 24 hour period.
“It’s all about creating a luxurious, relaxed and approachable atmosphere, carefully planned at all times to match the expectations of our guests,” says Felipe. “Having made so much effort to choose the right music in our hotels, we want our guests to enjoy it. However, if instead they want to focus on something else, such as an intimate conversation or writing an email, the music shouldn’t interfere. Getting the balance right is really important. The music should never interfere; it is there to enhance the customer experience, not dominate it.” As well as the aesthetics and audio quality of the speakers, a comprehensive ‘behind the scenes’ infrastructure ensures that this careful balancing act is maintained at all times. “Yamaha audio processors and amplifiers are equally important to the success of PPH installations,” says Enrique. “The whole system means that we are able to deliver the aesthetics and sound quality that they are looking for. Dedicated iPad controls also mean that, whenever necessary, the management teams are able to discreetly control the system manually to suit the occasion.” Proof of the success of the PPH concept is in the way that its hotels attract repeat visits from both local and international business travellers, as well as discerning tourists from around the world, particularly from Latin America and Russia. “Only recently, our president Cristian Andersen visited the ICON Wipton Hotel in Madrid and remarked, without prompting, how good he thought the sound was,” says Felipe. “I think this shows that COM2000 has got it just right.”
Nils-Peter Keller (Senior Director Pro Audio & AV Group, Yamaha Music Europe) with Felipe Morales
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It’s all about creating a luxurious, relaxed and approachable atmosphere, carefully planned at all times to match the expectations of our guests
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WORSHIP | AUDIO
Stylish sound for Coulommiers church Many houses of worship are historic buildings with elegant interiors but difficult acoustics. Yamaha VXL series slim line array loudspeakers make it possible to radically improve the sound, with minimal impact on visual appearance.
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tanding on the eastern side of Coulommiers, 65km east of central Paris, Eglise Saint-DenisSainte-Foy is the town’s main Catholic place of worship and an important community asset. The church needed to improve its sound for worshippers, while not compromising the appearance of its brick and stone interior. Local systems integrator MDS Audio was asked to find a solution. “I initially looked at an inferior solution by another manufacturer, but then I became aware of the Yamaha VXL series,” says MDS Audio technical director Pierre Vandekerckhove. “I realised that the 170º horizontal coverage would make high quality sound in the side aisles possible, helping to deliver an economical solution that would perform very well.” In common with the wide horizontal coverage, the VXL series is vertically very directional, meaning that no unnecessary sound would be reflected from the walls and vaulted ceiling. Pierre installed two VXL1W24 and four VXL1W-16s, installed as three rows of pairs along the nave, plus a pair of VXL1W-8s covering the altar. The system is powered by XMV4280 and P3500S power amplifiers, managed by an MTX3 matrix processor and controlled from an DCP1V4S surface-mount unit. “With the MTX3’s VXL EQ bank, Dan Dugan automixing and the ease of programming delays
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for each row, we have a well-tuned system that has produced much better overall coverage of the church. The directivity of the VXL1-8s at the altar has also proved very impressive at preventing annoying feedback,” says Pierre. “The DCP1V4S makes the system incredibly easy for church staff,
but the slim size of the VXL1s make them blend beautifully into the decor.” He continues, “The church is very happy with the Yamaha system. The intelligibility for parishioners is so much better, it’s incomparable to the previous system. They will definitely recommend the system and installation to their peers. Personally, I think the VXL series delivers genuinely new opportunities for sound reinforcement systems in ambient spaces.”
RIVAGE | REVIEW
RIVAGE PM10 brings freedom to Leonora Christina With a star-studded cast and 70-member orchestra, 2019’s Leonora Christina was Denmark’s largest ever musical production. A RIVAGE PM10 digital mixing system was an essential part of making the show possible.
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erformed during January and February at ODEON in Odense, Leonora Christina is a musical extravaganza telling the 17th century story of one of Denmark’s greatest political intrigues, which included the title character being imprisoned for 22 years. Directed by Peter Langdal, it includes all the plot elements of love, power and treason essential for a great musical production. Staged by Odense Theatre in collaboration with The Funen Opera and Odense Symphony Orchestra, the performances featured high profile Danish actors Xenia Lach-Nielsen and Troels Lyby in the lead roles, alongside many of the country’s other well-known stars of stage and screen. AV CENTER is one of Denmark’s leading production rental companies and a long-term user of Yamaha digital mixing consoles. It has a number of CL and QL mixers in its inventory, but a higher capacity system was needed for Leonora Christina. It was the perfect production for the company to invest in a RIVAGE PM10 system. AV CENTER’S Jesper Findshøj was the sound designer and Front of House mix engineer for the show, which included more than 30 channels of digital wireless microphones, a comprehensive wired microphone package for the symphony orchestra and a large main PA. “We have been using Yamaha consoles
for many years and the natural sound, ease of use and rock-solid reliability make this mixing platform a perfect choice for classical productions” says Jesper. “I want to put all my energy and concentration into listening and focusing on the music and the RIVAGE PM10 system is especially fast and intuitive. Together with its huge sound stage and comprehensive package of dynamics and reverb plug-ins, it gives me the freedom to make musical and artistic choices, delivering a great cinematic sound experience to the audience.” Although Odense Theatre has roots dating back almost to the era of Leonora Christina herself, the production has been widely praised as its greatest musical triumph, helped by the power of the RIVAGE PM10 system.
Jesper Findshøj with the RIVAGE PM10 system
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S TA F F | P R O F I L E
Prins of the road J
an Prins was 14 years old when his father told him to get a job to pay for the bass guitar he wanted. Employed by Saris - a large Rotterdam music store - as a part-time guitar technician, it only took a month to discover that he was too young to be paid in cash. Instead they started paying him in equipment. Given that he had quickly changed his mind and wanted to be a sound engineer, this meant he was soon mixing the band he had originally wanted to join... with his own equipment. “I was friendly with engineer Ad Groeneveld, who ran Saris’ large rental department, and was soon working as a stage hand on a range of shows and festivals,” says Jan. “When I finished high school, I went to study photography at the Academy of Art in Breda and, in my free time, Ad taught me all about sound.” In 1978, Jan left college to become a professional monitor engineer, but his passion for photography ensured that it would always be his most important hobby. Soon on the road with American gospel singer Andrae Crouch, Jan quickly began working with several rental companies, touring with Dutch acts like Transister, Harrie Saksioni and Gruppo Sportivo, then artists including The Dubliners, Fats Domino, Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, Dionne Warwick, Larry Norman, Everly Brothers, Ray Charles, Meatloaf, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Tammy Wynett and more. “These were intense periods of traveling around the globe, 250 nights in hotels every year, never available for family events, travelling, working days and nights... and I loved it!” he smiles. In the days before in-ear monitors, Jan gained a reputation for his high quality wedge mixes on a wide range of analogue systems. “I was good at doing ‘analogue snapshots’ at festivals, when several bands were using the same monitor console. I made overlay papers for different mixers, with holes where the knobs were, so I could write down the setting of each control
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Renowned for both his technical and photography skills, Netherlands sales engineer Jan Prins has toured with many high profile names. with a different coloured Sharpie pen for each act,” he says. “That could be nerve shredding. I’m so glad we have digital mixers now!” It was also around this time that he relates the story of meeting Kate Bush, while on tour with The Dubliners. “I had bought the first Sony Discman and used it to Sharpie in hand, Jan plots console settings check the monitors during show build-up. I played a lot of Kate Bush - I liked the music and kind of fancied her a bit. I guess we all did,” he grins. “One night Dubliners band leader John Sheahan told me there was a ‘present’ in the dressing room... so I went in and there was Kate! It turned out that he had played on her latest album, so he invited her to come to see their show. I sat next to her at the after-show meal, it was a very pleasant (and late) evening.” Jan cites the mid-1980s as his happiest days on the road, touring with jazz guitarist Larry Carlton and fusion band Koinonia. “They were the best musicians I ever worked with. I was spoiled!” he says. By now married, Jan quit touring The night Jan met Kate Bush... when he and his wife had a family. He got a job at Dutch television studio Aalsmeer, where he worked on the sound for live productions, before becoming head of its AV department. In the 1990s the company became Endemol, a name quickly familiar to viewers of high profile reality, talent and game show franchises worldwide. Later moving on to work in the AV rental industry, in 2011 he ran into Yamaha Music Europe’s Ron Bakker. “Ron asked me if I was interested in a job at Yamaha, which meant going back to audio only, which I knew would be nice,” he says. “I’m glad I chose to work for Yamaha. Nowadays we live near the beach, with the best weather in the Netherlands. To be honest, it’s the best job so far...”
FITNESS | FOCUS
Big Beats For Fitness Freaks Yamaha audio systems help health-conscious Amsterdammers to work out better.
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hether you’re pushing for the perfect six-pack or just want to keep in trim, music is a key part of the modern gym experience. Since 2015, VondelGym has opened three highly successful clubs in Amsterdam and all rely on Yamaha to help participants work that bit harder. Opened in 2015, VondelGym West proved an immediate success and was followed by VondelGym Oost a year later. A third facility, VondelGym Zuid, opened in 2019. When VondelGym Oost was in development, Stan van Ettikhoven of installation company Rock ‘n’ Roll Engineering was approached to design and supply the audio system. Based on his previous positive experience with Yamaha, Stan specified a system based on the MTX3 matrix processor, XMV series power amplifiers and VXS series loudspeakers. This proved so successful that he was asked to take out the existing system at VondelGym West - which was just two years old - and retrofit it with a similar Yamaha system. So there was no question that the newest facility would use anything else. The speaker choice depends on the space and layout of each club. For example, at VondelGym Oost, 21 VXS8s are distributed throughout the space, whereas at VondelGym Zuid 14 VXS8, 16 VXS5 and four VXS1s are used. A vital part of all three systems is the HS8S subwoofer, which delivers the all-important lowend for the clubs’ predominantly hip-hop soundtrack, prompting special praise from VondelGym co-owner Marvin
Michel, who says, “The low frequencies produced by the HS8S are spread evenly throughout the gyms. This is particularly impressive, considering how small the HS8S is.” The zoned systems are designed to provide different SPLs in the various areas, such as lower volume in the entrance and the food/drink and meeting areas. “You could have different music sources for each zone, but we were concerned they might end up competing with each other. So at VondelGym Zuid, for example, it was decided that only the Pilates and yoga rooms would have their own inputs for different audio sources,” says Stan. Delivering high quality sound at a fairly low level during the day, the volume increases in the evening when many of Amsterdam’s office workers swap their desks for a gym session. “I chose Yamaha for these projects because all of the installations I have done with Yamaha systems have worked so well,” says Stan. “They are really high quality and so reliable. I haven’t had a single piece of equipment fail in the six years that I have been installing them. And whether you use wireless ProVisionaire tablet/iPad control or the DCP series / MCP1 surface-mount controllers, they are really straightforward to use, which is great for the customer.” “Another thing I really like is that, if there is anything that I think can be done better, or I need help with, Yamaha is always there. It feels really good that I’m being taken care of and that my experience has some input to future product development. That means a lot.”
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They are really high quality and are so reliable. I haven’t had a single piece of equipment fail in the six years that I have been installing them
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SOUND | SENSE
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