Designed by architect Ratio Arkitekter, the 13,800m2 venue has been designed to host all types of cultural event in its two concert halls – the Fartein Valen (symphony hall) and the (multipurpose hall). Both are equipped with GiGiCo consoles for their sound systems.
Using independent soundproofing and load bearing systems, the venue’s isolation is so efficient that a rock concert and classical event can be staged simultaneously with no disturbance between the two halls. They share a foyer and restaurant, and are complemented by 180 other rooms which include rehearsal spaces, dressing rooms, meeting venues, cafes, bars, community facilities and an outdoor amphitheatre.
The Fartein Valen has 1,500 seats and the ceiling can be lowered up to 6m to alter its acoustics along with 13 adjustable acoustic reflectors. The Zetlitz accommodates 700 seats for opera, 800 for musicals, 1,400 for conferences and 1,900 (with a flat floor) for music concerts.
Designed and supplied by DiGiCo’s Norwegian distributor Bright A/S, the sound installation features two DiGiCo SD7s, two SD8-24s, an SD10 and six SD Racks (both fixed and portable). Both halls have a normal set-up of 112 input lines and 64 output lines, and can easily be expanded when needed. A full fibre-optic network has connection points spread throughout the venues, providing a flexible set-up and easy accommodation of different events.
The venue’s Head of Sound is Johan Berntsen, who is an experienced touring engineer and spent several months working with Bright A/S to train the venue’s engineers and set up the system, ready for the ten day-long grand opening.
‘For many of the in-house engineers, this has been their first experience with DiGiCo consoles and their feedback is very positive,’ says Truls Birkeland of Bright A/S. ‘The stability and flexibility of the system has been highly praised and the engineers loves the functionality of the consoles.’
‘The ability to share resources on the optical loop is fantastic,’ says Berntsen ‘Sum mixes are sent on the virtual tie-line system, being picked up where needed. The time needed for doing a soundcheck of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra has been halved. It’s absolutely brilliant.
‘To have 24/7 support from both DiGiCo and Bright A/S has been crucial for us,’ he adds. ‘As well as overseeing the installation and helping to train the engineers, staff from Bright A/S also spent the entire ten days of the opening celebrations overseeing the audio production. This was very reassuring for everybody involved.
The opening events saw the system used to its fullest extent, with both halls used in different configurations and the DiGiCo consoles being used for everything from front of house only to FOH, monitors and a separate submixer for the symphony orchestra. More than 25,000 attended the performances, with local and national commentators alike complementing the venue.
More: www.digico.org
