Among the most exciting acts currently on the Italian music scene, Coez & Frah Quintale’s album Lovebars recently saw them selling out arenas throughout the country. They chose to use immersive audio for the shows, pairing L-Acoustics’ L-ISA spatial audio with the L Series line array for the first time.

‘The use of L-ISA was a huge upgrade in terms of spatialisation, focus, sound impact and sound definition,’ says Sound Designer Valerio Motta, who worked to help adopt the two technologies. ‘Adding L Series was the icing on the cake. L2 is a huge advance in many ways – small footprint, easy to rig and low weight which is crucial for several hangs in an immersive configuration.’

Both artists have established careers in their own right, blending poignant songwriting and hip-pop beats. The opportunity to offer fans an immersive experience was accompanied by a significant step up in terms of venue size. ‘I was a little afraid of the size of the arena, because other shows I’ve seen in my life, they could be a little cold,’ Frah notes. ‘This system allowed us to create the vibe and the atmosphere of a smaller venue, on a bigger level.’

‘The use of L-ISA was a huge upgrade in terms of spatialisation, focus, sound impact and sound definition,’ Sound Designer Valerio Motta, who worked with the artists to help them adopt both L-ISA and L Series, agrees. ‘Adding L Series was the icing on the cake. L2 is a huge advance in many ways: smaller footprint, easy to rig, and lighter weight which is crucial when you are using several hangs in an immersive configuration.’

Compact, lightweight, and using up to 60 per cent less material to build, the L Series is designed to occupy 30 per cent less space than other products capable of the same output, minimising trucks on the road, and lightening the carbon footprint of the tour.

‘In many ways, L Series was developed with L-ISA in mind,’ explains L-Acoustics Application Engineer, Tom Laveuf. ‘L Series was designed for rapid deployment and lower margins for error. It’s also unobtrusive, integrating discreetly into the set. Combine that with vast advancements in the quality of concert sound reinforcement, and these features make it more feasible for our industry to adopt L-ISA technology for live sound – which is the way of the future.

‘Coez and Frah Quintale are hip-hop artists with a very reactive audience, and the most important aspects of the genre are the vocals and the beat,’ he adds. ‘It was obvious to me that the whole of the audience was unified in the experience, you could tell that every fan was hearing, and feeling, the same things.’

The 5.1 Scene System, provided by L-Acoustics Certified Provider AgorÀ, comprised five hangs of two L2 over one L2D, with eight KS28 subwoofers in two hangs of eight flown behind the central L2/L2D hang. Twenty-four K2 were used as out fill, while 14 Kara II on the stage lip provided spatial in fill. Six further KS28 were placed in two LR groundstacks in front of the stage provided the extra punch necessary for a hip-hop audience. LA7.16 and LA12X amplified controllers drove the system.

The sense of intimacy brought to the tour by the L-ISA technology is something that Motta was keenly aware of. ‘Coez & Frah Quintale found a connection with the audience that allowed them to experience the shows at another level,’ he explains. ‘The front of house engineer was able to spatialise the mix and immerse the whole of the audience in the same experience.’

Coez & Frah were so engaged in the choice of an L-ISA immersive experience that they took time out of the show to explain the technology to fans each night. ‘They themselves felt the difference and wanted their audience to understand it. I believe they also feel that it is the way of the future, and that this is simply a better way to experience live music,’ Motta says.

‘Aside from putting a bit of a flag on a new technology and being able to say that we did it first, we know now that our investment, rather than being on fireworks on the stage, is more about the quality of the sound and the music,’ says Frah Quintale.

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