latest news headlines
Marquee Supervise Yamaha/Optocore Network at Mercurys
This year’s Nationwide Mercury Music Prize awards show was routed, mixed and controlled by a combination of Yamaha digital mixing consoles and Optocore’s fibre optic multicore system, supplied by Plus 4 Audio with support from Marquee Audio.
Plus 4’s Stewart Chaney takes up the story: “We’ve used various digital consoles in the past for this gig, but this year we wanted to take full advantage of the Yamaha range and the many benefits they offer for this type of show.”
The set-up consists of a pair of cascaded PM5Ds on monitors for the main stage with an independent pair of PM5Ds at the main mix position, servicing each of the stages. A DM2000 handles monitors on the second stage with a DM2000 as a control desk at front-of-house.
“And in case there wasn’t enough Yamaha digital kit,” continues Chaney, “the final link in the chain is a Yamaha DME64, configured as a 12x24 matrix with EQ and delay for all outputs. This feeds the entire speaker system.”
With this quantity of digital consoles, a digital multicore system was the logical means of connection, and the Optocore fibre optic network was designated.
“The ability to route audio to and from Yamaha devices via Optocore’s DD32 interface was of great interest to me”, says the sound engineer, “because we now have a substantial investment in Yamaha digital stock. I need a system that’s built for the road, highly flexible and, more than anything else, maintains Yamaha’s superior audio quality. The Optocore system has proved itself to be all of these things.”
Marquee Audio were well placed to support this project as Optocore distributor and long-serving Yamaha digital specialists.
States Marquee’s Andy Huffer: “I’d discussed this project with Stew, and he was very interested in giving the Optocore system a try. We designed the network architecture based on the stage layout and we worked out the best use of available devices, including Yamaha’s own AD8HR remote preamps connected to Optocore DD32s, as well as Optocore’s LX4A 48-input remote stagebox. These all went back to DD32s at the mix position.”
Marquee Audio also designed the substantial matrix for the Yamaha DME64. “I thought we had run out of DSP steam with the amount of processing being used, but there was tons of headroom. The complex stuff sat in the background, with just a simple user interface of meters and mutes for the engineers to use on the live show.”
Some people get ‘techno-fear’ about using digital technology on events of this type, believes Huffer. “But we’re lucky to have clients like Plus 4 who are prepared to fully embrace the latest technology and use it to their advantage.”
The Yamaha/Optocore combination proved to be a winner for this awards show with favourable comments from all parties.
Stewart Chaney concludes: “This is a high-pressure live event with no room for error. The equipment we used for this show performed flawlessly and is a system we will definitely be using again.”
Held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel, the Mercury Music Prize was won by Antony & The Johnsons.
9th September 2005
HEADLINES
news archive
search stories
FOOTNOTE: Select the news type you require in the red band above; this will enable you to see the current news stories from that section
© 1999 - 2012 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories
