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Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Invests with ETC
When Glasgow Royal Concert Hall was looking to replace some luminaires at the end of last year, they chose six ETC Source Four Revolutions. They were so happy with the new moving lights that when they then decided to refurbish most of the rest of their equipment, only ETC would do.
Chief stage and lighting engineer Graeme Ironside tested three lighting control consoles. “ETC’s Congo won on simplicity and power,” he said. “We have had two desks since the hall opened in 1990 and wanted a replacement which we were sure would last at least that long again.”
In addition to the Congo – which was the first installed in the UK – Graeme also chose a SmartFade from ETC as a compact backup console, a further eight Source Four Revolutions, 20 Source Four Junior zooms, eight Source Four 10º profile spotlights and 80 Source Four PARs, all supplied by A.C. Lighting.
“We can use the Revolutions as specials if necessary for the soloist, without the orchestra complaining about the noise from the lights,” adds Graeme, “and we were aware that for the desk, simplicity is key. We have a lot of visiting lighting operators, and they need to be able to get lights up and running easily and quickly. The Congo allows them to do that, yet it still has a huge amount of programming power.
“We had a tight schedule for getting in the equipment. The desk, which was shipped from Germany, arrived after a children’s orchestral concert at 1.30pm, and Jeremy Roberts, ETC’s field project manager for UK & Ireland, had it up and running by 3.15pm. We hosted the Scottish Power Proms from the following day for the next two and a half weeks, so it really was a baptism of fire.”
The ETC equipment was purchased as part of a larger order to bring the hall into the 21st century, according to Graeme, which included major investments in upgrading the sound system, stage lifts and auditorium acoustics.
Opened in 1990 as part of the city’s tenure as European City of Culture, the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall comprises two halls: a larger main hall has a capacity of 2,500 while the Strathclyde Suite accommodates 500.
Meanwhile, demonstrating Congo’s truly pan-European popularity, David Gray, ETC’s field project manager for southern Europe, has recently commissioned the continent’s first Congo console at the brand new Teatro Municipal de Faro on Portugal’s south coast. The opening of the 800-seat theatre at the beginning of July, which was celebrated with a performance by the London Symphony Orchestra, hailed the city’s status as National Capital of Culture 2005.
23rd September 2005
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