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It’s Day of the Triffids for Allen & Heath
Leicester based animation, automation and audio visual specialists, AAAV Systems, supplied, installed and commissioned all the audio and supervisory control systems for the water feature on a new roller coaster in Legoland, Windsor. The company selected Allen & Heath's DR66 digital installation mixer to manage interactive sound reinforcement on the ride. The new coaster, which was opened ready for the visitor season by Pop Idol Judge and DJ, Neil Fox in March, is a jungle theme with voice interactive triffids, Aztec ruins and a resident god, Tlaloc.
Working with Mice International and Milner Project Services, AAAV Systems designed and installed the water control and voice interactive features at the entrance to the ride, which involves a large Aztec head, the god Tlaloc, situated on a bridge over a waterfall, with two triffids either side of the waterfall at ground level, one of which contains a
proximity sensor and squirts water at the unsuspecting public when visitors are in range.
Using the DR66 remote controlled patch functionality, Tlaloc is programmed with two modes. One mode is a timed automated display that sequences the water features to an audio track of the god talking. The other mode is a voice changer; the first triffid contains a microphone and when a visitor speaks into it, their voice is channelled through an effects processor to emerge through the sound system as Tlaloc's voice.
The DR66 acts as a crossover and mixer, switching between the two programmed patches. One patch controls the first triffid's mic, while the second patch, triggered via a programmable logic controller, mutes the mic and activates the audio track from a digital sound store, which then sequences the water features from Tlaloc's head and the pool, to the sound track.
All the audio kit was supplied by SSE Hire, except for the amplifiers which were supplied by Meteor Electronics. There are four EV Evid 6.2 mid/top speakers - two positioned in Tlaloc's head and one either side of the waterfall - and a large JBL SB210 sub, mounted to the underside of the wooden decking in front of the feature, the low frequencies of which give a rumble effect on the ground.
"It is automated features with an interactive element, which are increasingly in demand for many audio application installations, such as conference centres, hotels, lecture theatres and in this case, leisure parks," commented AAAV System's MD, Simon Mitchell.
"Allen & Heath's DR66 allows us to set up many functions such as gates, compressors, EQs and limiters on multiple inputs and outputs in a very lexible way, on the mixer itself or on a PC using Allen & Heath's WinDR software. In this particular application the real bonus was the ability to re-allocate processing in different patches. The multi-functionality in a compact 1u rackmount, not only means no manual control is required, it also means less equipment is needed, less wiring and less storage space!"
In picture: the interactive features on the new Jungle roller coaster at Legoland, Windsor.
13th April 2004
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