Screened in front of 6,000 people to the accompaniment of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra complete with a 24-strong choir, the Zenith de Strasbourg recently hosted to a cine-concert of the first film of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie series.
The Zenith de Strasbourg – the largest indoor arena in France – was filled to capacity for the one-off event, which brought Klaus Badelt’s The Curse of The Black Pearl soundtrack to life. Local rental company Lagoona supplied the PA system for the show, calling in digital audio networking specialists, Espace Concept, to supply and manage the FOH console, microphones and networking – and, for the first time, a Lawo mc256 mixing console.
Espace Concept’s Alain Roy was prompted by Lawo’s Hervé de Caro on how best to network his Innovason Eclipse GT consoles to enable him to record 124 audio channels: ‘Hervé suggested that we use an mc256 from Lawo instead, as everything could then be managed from one control surface,’ Roy explains. ‘It seemed an ideal opportunity, so I agreed.’
The resulting system comprised a 32-fader mc256 with a 16-fader extension, connected via fibre-optic cable to two Lawo Dallis interface boxes on stage, which provided 72 mic inputs and 16 monitor outputs, plus two Innovason DioMadiES Madi-to-EtherSound converters for the 60 digital microphones connected to the console via EtherSound over fibre. In order to provide Roy, who mixed and recorded the entire event, with a console on which he would feel at ease, de Caro and the Lawo team configured the mc²56 to meet his requirements.
‘Alain is one of France’s foremost experts in digital technology and digital networking for live shows, ‘de Caro says. ‘Given that this was the first time he’d even seen an mc256, let alone used one, we felt that the best approach was to simply set up the mc256 with all those features Alain is familiar with from the Eclipse. By the time we’d finished, Alain had his SmartFad functionality for VCA allocation and control; Broadway mode for seamless switching between live sound and playback; Virtual Soundcheck for fine-tuning the mix without the musicians having to be present; a digital multitrack recorder with now 128 channels instead of 64, and all with full visualisation and control from the central touchscreen of the console. Furthermore, we set up the Pandora functionality for creating a natural stereo image for all the audience.’
‘Eclipse is special precisely because it is so configurable and you can create whatever you want based on the requirements of the show or the desires of the operator,’ Roy responds. ‘What completely took my breath away with the mc256 was that the console is every bit as configurable, but it takes place at a completely different level – within the operating system of the console itself – which ultimately gives you even more options and flexibility.
‘I only started using the console on the Friday morning, once it was installed in the Zenith,’ he adds. ‘I hadn’t really taken part at all in the setup/configuration phase other than to say what I wanted – and, frankly, I wasn’t looking forward to it. But once I actually got down to work, within no time at all, I had completely forgotten that I was using a brand new console – it was unbelievably transparent to use, it sounded fantastic and I loved the extra power and redundancy. All the functionality that I had asked for was right there and more besides, and everything just worked perfectly. Often, it feels as if a new console is an obstacle between you and the sound until you get used to it and learn how to get the best out of it. In this case, it was as if the console simply ‘disappeared’ right from the outset – I didn’t think about it once, I just got on with my job of producing the best possible sound.’
The show was a complex production with a full philharmonic orchestra, a 24-piece choir, 124 inputs including 60 digital microphones and all synchronised to the film. Monitors were also being run from FOH, yet according to Roy, it couldn’t have been easier on the night. ‘The audience was treated to a real audio-visual feast,’ he says. ‘It looked good, and sounded amazing, and for my part, I can’t wait to get back behind an mc²56.’
More: www.lawo.com
