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A Big Cheer for Turbosound Aspect
Cheersport was founded in 1993 by enterprising sports coaches with a passion for competitive cheerleading and dance, who believed they could conduct more rewarding competitions for kids, coaches and spectators alike.
The company is now a leader and innovator in the cheer industry, and prides itself on pioneering many of the practices widely used today - such as the use of sprung floors, and giving every team member a trophy in recognition of their efforts. Cheersport has grown substantially since its first National Championships in 1997, and is currently hosting a series of dance events all over the U.S. that kicked off in Atlanta in late September 2009 and go through to April 2010, including the world's largest National Cheerleading and Dance Championship to be held in Atlanta, GA in February.
The production contractor for the tour is Richmond, VA based Lite-Tek Entertainment. Formed in 2000 as a local lighting company, Lite-Tek has grown rapidly over the last decade and has benefited from a synergistic collaboration with longtime Turbosound audio supplier Soundworks who are providing audio reinforcement in the shape of an Aspect TA-500 loudspeaker system.
So why Turbosound? Darren Lewis, Lite-Tek's president, explains: "While I am primarily a lighting guy I started out in sound, so I trust my audio vendor Soundworks to have the best equipment for the job. I always like what I hear with Turbosound when it's on my jobs."
The Cheersport events are staged all around the country from coast to coast in venues ranging from convention centers to basketball arenas, and as a result spectator numbers can vary from 1,000 to over 5,000 depending on how many teams compete in each event. For all venues Soundworks' PA system is configured to be fast to set up and give predictably repeatable results: ground stacked each side of the dance area is a pair of Aspect TA-500 wide dispersion trapezoidal three-way mid-highs on top of four TSW-721 single 21" horn-loaded subs. System control is provided by Turbosound LMS-D6 loudspeaker management systems, while the rig is powered by Lab Gruppen FP series amplifiers.
"Under these widely differing conditions the most important factor is volume and intelligibility," emphasises Darren. "We tend to get variable music quality from the competitors, and I think the Aspects handle it all really well. The music is full of dynamics, with lots of peaks and sound effects such as the bells and explosions that are part of the music. The speaker system can also get a lot of abuse - we can go for as much as 12 hours a day - and they've never let me down."
According to Grant Howard, vice-president and senior engineer at Soundworks, there is precious little time on this tour for a leisurely and meticulous setup, and this is where the Aspect TA-500s score: "I love using the Aspect rig on the Cheersport events," enthuses Grant. "Because set up constraints are usually severe, throw and go is the name of the game. There is no time to be tweaking a finicky PA. The Aspect Wides always provide clear, consistent sound with minimal system set up and EQ. The side angles on the cabinets really are the coverage angles! Just bang ‘em together and the coverage pattern is perfect - quick and easy! The system never becomes fatiguing, even after ten or more hours of constant high level remixes. It's really a great little rig."
But amid the frenetic pre-show activity Grant does take a few moments to sound check with a more relaxing reference before the cheer teams start rolling through: "I like to play some Sinatra just before doors open," he muses, "It's like the calm before the storm!"
11th February 2010
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