Having used the same RF format for more than a decade, the international production of We Will Rock You arrived the Stadsschouwburg in Antwerp, Belgium – ran into trouble…

With 12 radio comms channels, as well as numerous radio mic frequencies, the reducing RF spectrum available across Europe brought about by the growth of digital TV meant that there was insufficient clear radio space available.

The sound for We Will Rock You – a Stage Entertainment production – is being supplied by Orbital Sound, with Orbital’s Dan Bailey serving as Production Sound Engineer and Richard Sharratt as the show’s Associate Sound Designer.

‘We foresee this kind of problem becoming increasingly commonplace for the larger productions, as the available spectrum – particularly for analogue radio comms – is a diminishing resource,’ says Tom Byrne, Sales Director at Orbital Sound. ‘Handling the sound for a big musical, for example, will become more of a challenge, and in some regions it will be practically impossible. The fit-out for We Will Rock You effectively hit a spectrum roadblock in Antwerp, and the only solution was to move the radio comms frequencies up into the GHz area.’

Orbital turned to HME’s DX210 digital wireless communication system to rcover the production.

‘We identified that the recently-introduced HME DX210 two-channel digital comms system would be the most appropriate tool for the job,’ Byrne confirms. ‘Operating in the 2.4GHz band, the fully-duplex DX210 is therefore in a safe spectral zone. Comprising a base station and 12 belt-packs, we dispatched the system by the quickest courier we could find. It arrived in Antwerp, they switched it on, it worked straight out of the box – problem solved.

‘So now the new 12-way HME digital system has replaced the show’s previous technology, which was some ten years old and, due to the growing spectrum restrictions, had quite simply run out of road.’

More: 
www.orbitalsound.com
More: www.hmewireless.com