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ADLIB at the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic

ADLIB Audio has completed the design, specification and installation of a new sound system at Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Hall.

The prestigious 1700-capacity concert hall venue is one of the city’s landmarks, and its music programme encompasses a huge variety of events – classical, orchestral, choral, cabaret, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll covering virtually every imaginable musical genre, and ADLIB has been a regular supplier of sound systems for concerts there over the years.

The venue’s existing audio system was last upgraded in 2000, but six years down the line, this is no longer appropriate for the type of productions they are staging.

Adlib received a detailed brief from Simon Glinn, executive producer of the Philharmonic. The system had to reflect the quality and stature of the venue, be able to deal with lots of orchestral shows and also be capable of providing reinforcement for the plethora of small-to-medium shows, thereby avoiding the hassle and disruption of bringing in their own productions. However, it also had to be able to dovetail with touring systems if artists chose to bring in part of their own. In addition, due to the hall’s busy schedule all of the installation work needed to be completed within 15 days. It was also important that the Philharmonic staff could be trained to a level of confidence in their ability to operate and run the audio on their own.

Adlib’s Andy Dockerty and Roger Kirby designed the system, and the installation project was co-ordinated by Mark Burnley. “Knowing the brief to be to be as much as possible for as little as possible and as small as possible installed in the minimal time possible, we had to produce a system capable of catering for all the musical genres that the venue staff could operate with minimum stress,” said Andy Dockerty. Consequently the system is based around a nine-a-side Nexo GeoD line array, with two Adlib AA 218 HL subs a side. The Nexo was chosen by the venue for its neat, tailored appearance that would cause minimal intrusion in the room and provide sufficient SPL for the various events held within the hall.

Across the front of the stage, the old Nexo PS10 speakers have been re-utilised for centre stalls infills and onstage there are eight AA1214w floor monitor, Adlib's latest 650W/12” wedges. To the rear of the stage supplying coverage across the choir stalls area, there are two AA81 full range speakers and six stand mounted AA61's. The latter are used for monitoring, but can also broadcast the FOH mix via a Soundweb. The choir seating is often used to accommodate audience during certain shows.

For control, Dockerty picked a 24 channel Soundcraft GB4. “We favoured a renowned quality basic console to provide ease of operation for all in house shows to run by house technicians,” he said. Larger shows would still see Adlib hire stock in the venue accompanied by Adlib engineers. It’s all powered by a combination of Camco and Crown amplifiers, with QSC’s on the monitors.

Building a comprehensive multi-core for both live and recorded sound was also integral to the project - the venue is popular for recording due to its excellent natural acoustics. This consists of 48 input channels fed from satellite boxes on stage. A flexible patch then routes selected channels to monitor desk and either of the FOH mix positions, one located downstairs to the rear of the stalls and another up at the LX box. The length of the existing cable run to front of house was in excess of 120m so an alternative path was required.

Recording feeds for all multi-core channels are available with a link through to the green room to be implemented soon. Microphone input points are also present above the roof of the hall where drop-mic points can be positioned when recording room ambience during live performances.

This multi-core had to be cleverly routed to each of the potential front of house positions to prevent the repeat of interference suffered with the old in-house multi-core system due to excessive RF broadcasts created by poor earth grounding on the fire alarm network. Adlib has also supplied a comprehensive selection of microphones including Shure, AKG and Sennheiser.

All processing for the system is managed via Nexo 242 processors and BSS Soundweb 9088ii devices for distribution and switched routing options on the choir stalls and infill loudspeakers.

The Philharmonic’s technical manager Steve Burke enthuses: “The response to the new system has been incredible. We have had lots of feedback from our audience about how much of an improved experience it is . . . and of course from visiting engineers and performers as well who all want to use it because it’s state-of-the-art!”

A whole layer of concerts now have the flexibility of using the complete in-house rig without augmentation. Those recently taking advantage of this option have included Van Morrison, The Gypsy Kings, Tango Fire and Womak & Womak.

Burke says he was impressed with the fact that ADLIB have been so meticulous in ensuring that the reinforced sound is equally good everywhere in the room, not just in the key areas. And as mentioned earlier, ADLIB is undertaking a training programme with Philharmonic staff, and will continue to work closely with the venue in providing additional gear when needed for specific shows.

ADLIB has also supplied the Philharmonic with a small portable system consisting of AA 151 top and 15 HL bass speakers plus control – all contained in two cases, for use in The Rodewold Suite and other 300 – 400 capacity local venues.

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ADLIB at the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic

31st October 2006

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