In what he describes as one of his ‘biggest and most ambitious sound design yet’, sound designer Gareth Owen is using four d&b Soundscape DS100 signal engines and more than 350 d&b loudspeakers on the 40th anniversary production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express at the Troubador Theatre in London’s Wembley Park.
Having used d&b Soundscape on more than a dozen musical theatre sound designs to date, Owen has played a significant role in Soundscape’s development. En-Snap, the cue automation software that provides show control workflow features for Soundscape, is the result of a collaboration between Gareth Owen Sound and d&b. Now in V3, one of En-Snap’s latest advances is the integration and support of advanced tracking systems. It’s a feature used to great effect here to enable the accurate movement of vocal reinforcement – a unique challenge for this fast-paced show.
In this arena-style configuration, with performer action and audience listening zones in all directions, the challenges for coverage and coherence were considerable. However, time and budget proved the only effective limitations.
‘I’m not sure I could tell you what the creative limits are for this show,’ Owen says. ‘Even on a show with a budget and a design remit like Starlight Express, at a certain point common sense has to come into play – I’m really happy with the results.
‘In what is a complicated room, with a complicated seating arrangement and performance area, we’ve achieved everything we could possibly achieve.’
The extensive loudspeaker set-up includes Y-Series line arrays across the stage front, plus V-Series point source cabinets and a number of smaller additional loudspeakers. The production also sees Owen’s first use of d&b’s XSL-Sub, the small/medium format flyable cardioid subwoofer – which he calls ‘a massive step forward’.
Owen praises the ‘exceptional’ support from d&b, with Application Support specialist Steve Jones singled out in particular. He also highlights the contribution from Phil Hurley and Stage Sound Services. ‘He just makes it work,’ says Owen. ‘I’m pretty sure we couldn’t achieve half of what we do without his support.’
‘I think we achieved exactly what we wanted to do,’ he adds. ‘You know, it’s hugely important with all shows – and even more so with an Andrew Lloyd Webber show – to not screw it up. We don’t want anyone to say ‘it could have sounded better’. Happily, no-one did, and I’m very pleased with that.’
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