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D.A.S. Aero Systems at New York’s Madison Square Garden
Considered to be the world’s largest “reggaeton” event, the Megatón 2004 brought together some of the biggest names of this ground-breaking musical genre that originated in Puerto Rico and is influenced by hip-hop. The four hour long concert was held on the 27th of October in New York’s emblematic Madison Square Garden. D.A.S. Aero line array systems provided the sound reinforcement for reggaeton’s leading artists such as Tego Calderon, Daddy Yankee and Don Omar, to name but a few. Invited guests included rappers Pitbull and Fat Joe.
The New York based sound reinforcement specialist Abe, V Systems Inc., headed by Abraham Viera, deployed a large selection of D.A.S. Aero line arrays for the event. Well-known by audio professionals both inside and outside the U.S., Abe, V Systems Inc. has worked with such well-known artists as Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony. They offer complete production services, as well as technical consulting, and installation. At the Garden event, the company chose to rig 24 Aero 48 large format line arrays, flown 12 per side from a height of 65 feet (20 metres). Flown beneath each of the main arrays by means of the AX-Combo rigging adapter, were four Aero CA-28A powered compact line array systems, used as down-fills to cover the rows closest to the stage. According to Hector Morel, D.A.S. Audio sales representative, “Even though a small centre-fill system was provided, the wide dispersion of the Aero 28 systems made the fill unnecessary.”
Reggaeton’s characteristic predominance of heavy bass, made the low frequency band a key issue for the success of the event. To make sure there was enough low-end punch, 16 Aero 218 Subs, dual-18” front loaded subwoofers, were distributed below the front of the stage. Crest Pro 10001 amplifiers provided ample power to drive the Aero 218’s.
Three racks of Crest Pro series power amplifiers drove the Aero 48 systems. Pro 7001’s were used for the high frequency bands; Pro 8002’s for the mids and Pro 9001’s to drive the dual 15´s of the Aero 48’s low frequency band. Loudspeaker management and signal processing was accomplished using XTA DP226 digital processors. Abe V Systems provided Klark Teknick DN360’s for equalization along with Drawmer compressors. The FOH console used for the Garden event was a Crest X-Eight.
Two additional arrays were flown to provide coverage for the large audience areas that were located to the extreme left and right hand sides of the stage. A total of twelve Aero 28 powered compact line array systems comprising of six CA-28A mid-hi modules and three CA-215A powered bass units were flown on each side of the stage. According to D.A.S.’s Morel, “The uniformity of the coverage through out the whole venue was impressive. There are seating areas higher up in the Garden that are known for a lack of bass. The CA-215’s reached those areas making that problem history.”
On stage, D.A.S. powered Compact systems were chosen for side-fills. Covering the forward most portion of the stage, two Compact 2 mid-high systems were flown on each wing. To cover the rear portion of the stage, four Compact systems comprising of two Compact 2 mid-high units and two Compact 218 Subs were located on each side of the stage. Abe, V Systems provided the DJ’s with powered Compact 015’s powered stage monitors. Passive stage monitors were powered by Crown Micro-Tech series of touring amps.
More than 15,000 reggaeton fans, know as the "very loud people", took over the Garden, supporting their favourite artists and dancing to the throbbing rhythms of this cross-cultural musical style. For D.A.S. and its Aero line array systems, the Megaton 2004 event was no doubt a baptism of fire. Used for the first time in a large-scale U.S. event, the Aero systems performed flawlessly in one of music’s most equipment punishing genres.
The Megaton is a joint production of the Spanish-speaking radio station Mega 97.9 F.M., Ralph Mercado, Félix Cabrera and John Sepúlveda for the Spanish Broadcasting System.
20th December 2004
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