The St Louis Symphony Orchestra has attracted audiences listeners to its annual outdoor concert on Art Hill in Forest Park for decades. With thousands of attendees each year, the Symphony aims to provide each with a memorable and immersive musical experience. However, achieving exceptional sound quality in such a large and uniquely shaped outdoor space has been a longstanding challenge.
Enter Switch, a creative agency and production house based in St Louis that has been supporting the Symphony for nearly 20 years. They recognized the need for a solution that ensures reliable and clear audio for every concertgoer.
‘With current audiences approaching 20,000+ people and now spanning the full 180° seating area with a 60ft rake and a radius of 550ft, solid coverage at the top of the hill has traditionally been difficult until we upgraded to EAW,’ Switch Director of Production Rentals, Ann Slayton, elaborates.
Harnessing the power of EAW ADAPTive sound system, Switch collaborated with Ron Bolte, the Symphony’s live audio engineer and Chris Anderson, owner of Anderson Audio, to configures an EAW ADAPTive system using Anna 3-way Full-range Array Modules, Otto Subwoofers and AC6 Column Speakers. This setup was designed to adjust seamlessly to the venue’s needs and the unique landscape of the hill. The full set-up included 20 Anna, ten per side, six Otto, 3threeper side, and AC6 used as fill.
‘ADAPTive was the right product for this because we were trying to cover a vast, unusual area and provide even coverage,’ Anderson explains. ‘The system deploys quickly, and we can fine-tune coverage using software later. We don’t have to do that when we put it up, and that’s great for an event like this. Also, it doesn’t take up a lot of space or dominate the environment.’
‘My responsibility is to make sure every one of the 20,000 plus people who show up here gets the same experience,’ Bolte offers. ‘The ADAPTive technology we have from EAW gives us that advantage. Everyone on the hill will get the same relative sound, whether you’re at the top or bottom.’
‘The clarity of speech and fullness of melodies from anywhere on the hill was astounding – as I listened from the top, it felt like a personal monitor was right in front of my face,’ adds Slayton. ‘The ability of the system to reproduce, with a natural quality, both the delicate frequencies of the violas and huge rumbles of the timpani at either 500-plus feet or downstage centre was utterly amazing.’
The Symphony plans to use EAW’s system for future performances, recognising its ability to elevate the crowd’s energy. They invite everyone to come and appreciate the unparalleled sound quality that now defines the outdoor concert. ‘The addition of ADAPTive to our annual event has helped increase the sophistication significantly over the past two years,’ Slayton says.
More: www.eaw.com
