Attracting more than 30,000 party people to Singapore’s Siloso Beach in December, ZoukOut saw DJ sets from some of the world’s superstar DJs supported by sound from a d&b audiotechnik GSL loudspeaker system.
Staged by Singapore’s internationally famous Zouk nightclub in the Clarke Quay district included sets by Tiësto, Zedd, Armin Van Burren, Slander and Gryffin. Preparations for their appearances began more than six months prior to the festival, when AEG Presents, the live-entertainment division of Los Angeles-based AEG, and co-organisers the Zouk Group approached d&b Singapore for a sound solution for the event.
ZoukOut had changed its main stage orientation such that it was side-on to the ocean, directing sound along the beach towards the audience but also towards the luxury Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa hotel and its grounds, just 400m distant. Adjacent to the site is the Imbiah Nature Trail, where rare birds and wildlife find sanctuary. Accoringly, the team conducted an impact study, and needed to direct sound to just the beach festival site, minimising spill into the surrounding areas as the music ran from 6pm on both days to 5am on the Friday and 7am on the Saturday.
‘The new positioning of the festival’s main stage, crowd areas and backstage area fits much more neatly into the new location, which is why we moved it there,’ explains AEG Production & Operations Director, Dan Mosley. ‘As soon as we started planning the event I contacted Gareth Kelbrick at d&b in Singapore to discuss the ambitious sound requirements and the limitations, and he invited me to the d&b offices. We had been using an old Google Maps drawing of the site but then Gareth introduced me to NoizCalc, which changed everything.’
Mosley conducted multiple meetings with stakeholders, including the hotel’s management team, Government officials and local residents. In previous years, there had been reports of rattling windows and sound spill into forested areas, so a solution needed to allay concern.
‘NoizCalc was the perfect solution, tying nicely into ArrayCalc to help us not only design the GSL system, but also visually map sound levels, dispersion and predict sound propagation,’ Mosley says. ‘It delivered an easy-to-read picture of audio levels within the site and environment, enabling me to reassure everyone involved that we would have great sound for those who wanted to hear it, and minimise volume for those who didn’t. Gareth even shared a NoizCalc video which made it look clear and simple, leading to no objections to the new festival layout.’
The Show Company (ShowCo) supplied the d&b GSL system to ZoukOut, which comprised GSL8 and GSL12 loudspeakers to form LR line arrays either side of the main stage, with SL-Sub subwoofers for low-end. ‘During the festival, we hit 102 dBA at the FOH position, and it sounded awesome,’ says Mosley. ‘And the good news is that we had the acoustic experts from our independent partner company Electronics & Engineering with sound meters in the surrounding areas and we were well within the allowed limits.’
Overseeing FOH mixing for the festival was CT from ShowCo, while some of the big-name DJs also brought their own sound engineers. ‘We had two very successful nights with all the acts loving the d&b system – artists Zedd and Armin Van Burin were all complimentary about the sounds at the FOH position, with peaks at 102dBA -120dBC,’ he says. ‘The GSL system performed extremely well.’
Mosley adds: ‘It was fantastic to see the crowds in front of the d&b GSL system, dancing and enjoying the party. And it was great to see the visiting FOH guys feeling comfortable and loving the sound, giving the thumbs up.’
‘Having a superior sound system goes hand-in-hand when showcasing many of the best DJs in the world,’ says Andrew Li, CEO of Zouk Group. ‘This year, we wanted to level up the experience – visuals, sound, activities, food and beverage, and of course the artiste programming. The experience is only as strong as the weakest link, so they all need to be ironclad.’
