Replacing the analogue mixer previously used in the chapel at the Royal Palace of Stockholm in Sweden is a new GLD-80 digital mixing system from Allen & Heath.
The Chapel hosts a weekly mass for the Royal Parish, attended by members of the Royal Family and employees of the court, as well as a regular music programme featuring organ recitals and classical music concerts. There are also frequent broadcasts of Royal events such as baptisms and weddings.
‘We choose the GLD because of its flexibility,’ explains Christoffer Wetterström, from audio services provider Music Solutions Sweden AB. ‘It’s a powerful tool for the experienced mix engineer, but also easy to use by novices. It’s great to be able to lock out inexperienced users from the more integral settings. Another reason why we choose the GLD was for the Madi option card, which makes it easy to send broadcast feeds to the media during special services and Royal events. With the introduction of GLD, everything has improved.’
As the old analogue mixer had few routing possibilities, and equipment had to be hired in for larger events, Music Solutions had been called on to manage the installation of a new digital system that could handle live sound reinforcement requiring high quality speech and musical intelligibility, as well as live broadcast feeds for television and radio.
In a standard set-up, the GLD-80 handles all the EQ for room acoustics and speaker delays and four wireless microphones plugged straight into the back of the GLD. There are two AB168 remote I/O audio racks, which expand the system during events involving live music. The most recent major events to use the new A&H system are the celebration of King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 70th birthday and the baptism of Prince Oscar.
