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Meyer and Sound By Design for Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall (RAH) is one of the world’s best-known venues, having seen countless historic performances and live recordings, as well as being immortalized by the Beatles in their epic piece, ‘A Day in the Life’. The task of providing sound reinforcement in such a prestigious hall is a sobering responsibility amply shouldered in recent years by Woking, UK’s Sound By Design Limited (SBD). As part of their ongoing development of sound services available in the RAH, SBD has installed an assortment of Meyer Sound self-powered systems — highlighted by a new centre cluster of M2D compact curvilinear array loudspeakers — as well as upgrading the existing permanent loudspeaker installation in the building.
After an intensive assessment period, the company took delivery of the package of M2D cabinets to complement their existing stock of M1D ultra-compact curvilinear array loudspeakers. A new three-hang centre cluster was designed, constituted of eight central M2D units with outer hangs of eight M1Ds each, all driven by LD-3 compensating line drivers. The centre cluster is complimented by two new truss-mounted fill systems and a ground-stacked system comprising two CQ-1 wide coverage main loudspeakers, two UPA-1P compact wide coverage loudspeakers, two UPJ-1P compact VariO loudspeakers, four UPM-1P ultra-compact wide coverage loudspeakers and two 650-P high-power subwoofers. The whole installation was aligned by SBD senior engineer Phil Wright using a Meyer Sound SIM audio analyzer.
The upgrades went to the conventionally-powered, legacy Meyer Sound loudspeakers residing in the hall. The MSL-2-based centre cluster system received amplification and cabling upgrades, enabling the addition of UPA-1A loudspeakers as truss-mounted fills for the balcony ends and choir areas, replacing the MPS-355 loudspeakers which formed part of the original installation. The upgrades eliminate the need for Sound By Design to swap the fill speakers hanging on the trusses when they utilize one of their upgraded centre cluster designs for a larger show. The result is a much faster turnaround for shows, an important consideration given the company’s intense schedule at the venue.
Additional improvements to the existing permanent installation also include a new ground-floor infrastructure with custom hybrid cables running all of the permanent self-powered fills and subwoofers, so that SBD engineers can have ground-floor systems up and running in a matter of minutes, complimenting any of the flown options they supply.
Utilizing both the new and existing infrastructures, the company can now have a fully flown, aligned and functioning concert system ready to rehearse in just two hours, saving valuable rehearsal time for double-show day clients such as BBC Proms and Raymond Gubbay Ltd.
On a “stacks and racks” basis, the system has already found favour with FOH engineers and managers alike, and has been kept busy with work ranging from Jose Carreras at the classical end of the spectrum, to Icelandic progressive rockers Studmenn, proving that the system can deliver a full-on rock and roll show.
SBD in-house productions with the new system have encompassed a range of large-scale classical concerts including the UNHCR’s ‘Refugee Voices for Darfur’; Siti Nurhaliza in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra; and the ‘Classic Response’ Tsunami relief concert benefiting the global children’s charity SOS Children; as well as corporate work including the Institute of Directors Annual Annual Convention
22nd June 2005
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