L-Acoustics Goes Outdoors With The ASO
Novatech deploys K2, Kara, and Syva for Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s performances at Festival of Orchestra
16 March 2022
The first Festival of Orchestra (FOFO) was held at the Adelaide Showground and featured six themed concerts performed over ten nights by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO). With grant support from the Australian government’s RISE fund ASO’s goal for FOFO was to showcase the symphony orchestra in new surroundings, through diverse performances.
The outdoor concerts saw ASO perform music ranging from electronic dance, classical, Broadway, rock and film-score, and on its return to large-scale commercial audiences ASO turned to L-Acoustics Certified Rental Partner Novatech to deliver the novel outdoor orchestral experience.
The event created challenges to the Novatech team. The stage was positioned on the green pitch of the showgrounds and due to social distancing regulations an adjacent grandstand was left empty. SPL needed to be precisely oriented over the pitch, avoiding the empty metal stand area, as well as considering the impact on surrounding suburbs and a local central business district. The accompanying urban hum of city train lines, flight paths, and motorways, also posed a challenge. Unstable weather patterns also meant that sound reinforcement would require close monitoring.
Novatech used L-Acoustics Soundvision software to design a suitable system accurately based on the layout of the area and its surrounding structures.
The system comprised L/R hangs of 15 K2 per side. Two centre arrays of six Kara each, provided coverage to the centre audience area. Filtering specific content to these centre arrays allowed Novatech to achieve an immersive experience in the mix.
A total of 16 SB28 subwoofers ground stacked in groups of four distributed across the front of stage provided power to the low-end. A cardioid configuration helped mitigate low-end spill on to the stage, where sensitive orchestral microphones were in play. Six Kara boxes deployed across the front of the stage acted as in-fill, while six ARCS II were used as out-fill. The delay system consisted of 26 Kara distributed across four delay towers, with additional support by four Syva at the rear of the arena space. The orchestra received monitoring through 28 X8 and X15 HiQ. A total of 45 LA8 amplified controllers drove the entire system.
Feedback was positive from both the ASO team and sound engineers mixing the programme throughout the 10-day event. Vince Ciccarello, the Managing Director of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra commented that, “Orchestras are unique beasts with special needs. It’s hard to imagine how we would’ve delivered this project without a local partner like Novatech on the ground.”
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