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Blushes all round for CP Sound

Creative sound design and installation specialists CP Sound have completed their latest installation – at ‘Blush’, the newest venue to open in central Cheltenham.

The new club is part owned by Glendola Leisure and part by operator/manager Stuart Hunt. The space – previously a club - has been completely gutted, re-fitted and installed with new sound proofing, aligning the building as a stylish downtown ‘chameleon’ venue.

The key to running this specific type of operation is its ability to have the facilities to react quickly to the diverse demands of a dynamic and mixed clientele, all of whom may want slightly varying elements out of the same space. CP Sound’s Colin Pattenden is experienced in this type of installation, and has an extremely good ear for the acoustic properties that the different ambiences within it might require.

Colin comments: “The disco needed to be powerful but the bass bins needed to be short throw to control sound leakage.”

Blush is divided into three socialising areas – the downstairs bar, the upstairs nightclub and the VIP area. The club features a fixed DJ box and the bar and VIP areas both have a mobile DJ set up.

Audio for the Bar needed to be assertive but not dominant, so Pattenden chose the JBL JRX speaker range – six JRX115s, containing a 15 inch driver with a 1 inch horn. There’s also two DAS 18 subs, and all are driven with RSE amplifiers – one of CP Sound’s trademark installation products. “The JRX is a highly efficient box both sonically and budget-wise,” says Pattenden.

CP Sound also supplied a 31-band graphic EQ across the system. Background music is supplied via a C-Burn MP3 hard disk system, and the DJ set up was specially designed by CP Sound. “We’ve experimented with many DJ scenarios,” says Pattenden. “And have come up with a fixed and a portable formula for large, medium or small venues which works every time.”

At Blush, this consists of a fully flight cased Citronic 10:4 Mk 2 mixer, a Denon twin CD player and two Technics SL1210 dex that pug into the mixer. The DJ rig plugs into the wall via two XLR sockets and feeds into a Cloud Z4 MK11 zoner, which also has a remote volume control in the bar.

The Club needed a bit more sonic impact in terms of loudness and speakers, so Pattenden chose DAS R115 15 inch, co-ax and horn speakers, complete with DAS 118 folded-horn bass enclosures – which give plenty of kick.

There’s a fixed DJ booth in the club area, kitted out with Technics SL1210 dex, a Denon twin CD player and an Allen & Heath Xone 62 mixer, all fitted into one of CP Sound’s angled racks. This goes through a 31-band graphic and a two-way electronic crossover and is also powered by RSE amps. The DJ monitor is a JBL JRX 115 cabinet.

Blush features a variety of musical styles from chart to happy house, so it was imperative to have a good “all round” system, says Pattenden.

CP Sound also designed and installed a “Simple but effective” lighting system in the club area, comprising EVL Prostar 150s, an EVL Roller effect and a Pro Strobe, complete with an EVL Micro Controller and JGem smoke machine. This is more than enough to fill the space with colour, excitement and additional atmosphere.

In the VIP area, the speakers are DAS M I12s – a 12 inch and a horn, chosen for their compactness. They are run with a DAS 118 sub which sounds excellent. DJ’s performing in the VIP area are encouraged to use PCs for their music sources – which can just plug into the Cloud 10:4 mixer - and they also have a Denon twin CD player at their disposal.

The 4 week ‘from fit to finish’ period meant everyone had to work quickly and efficiently in a small area whilst jostling for space with all the other trades involved in the build.

Colin comments: “Nice job, nice sound, nice people to work with!”

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Blushes all round for CP Sound

13th May 2005

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