SYDNEY — During their recent sevenstop Australian tour, the two-piece Brit band Goldfrapp stopped at the famous Sydney Opera House for a side show. In the grand setting of the Sydney Opera House, Goldfrapp emerged as a six-piece band dressed entirely in white, and were fittingly accompanied by a 14-piece string section including two harps on a stage set consisting of bunting and a maypole. Sydney’s own Norwest productions provided the PA system for the stop, as well as for Parklife Sydney and Parklife Brisbane Festivals. Sydney gig’s sound design was executed by the multi-tasking System Tech Justin Arthur, using Adamson’s latest version of Adamson Shooter software (2.7.0), which allows accurate predictions of all Adamson line array systems set-up in any venue. Arthur’s design placed a flown ste- 12 International News Paul McCartney Delivers Historic Concert in Tel Aviv TEL AVIV, Israel — Paul McCartney delivered a historic performance in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, nearly 43 years after the Israeli government banned The Beatles’ show in 1965 for being too subversive. The highly anticipated occasion was held at the city’s Hayarkon Park, the site of concerts by Michael Jackson, U2 and Elton John. Slovenia-based Festival Novo Mesto and Israel’s Kilim Electronics provided a Meyer Sound system for the event. The main system comprises two hangs of 14 MILO line array loudspeakers each, augmented by two sidefill arrays of 10 more MILO boxes each and several UPA-1P loudspeakers for frontfill. Forty-eight 700-HP subwoofers cover the low frequency, and two towers of 10 MICA line array loudspeakers each serve as delays. “Paul’s very much a live rock ‘n’ roll player, and he approaches the songs from a very straightforward, old-school perspective,” explains Mc- Cartney’s longtime <strong>FOH</strong> engineer Paul “Pab” Boothroyd. “People have an attachment to these songs, and it’s my job to reproduce it faithfully, with the vocals and the hooks as they expect to hear them. The MILO array does a great job of delivering that degree of accuracy, with a focus that will cover every seat in the house. And the MILO handles the full dynamic range, from the intimacy of Paul Sydney Opera House Brings Goldfrapp to Light Goldfrapp performing at the Sydney Opera House reo mains system, each array with 12 Y10s, a single SpekTrix with a 15° SpekTrix W (Wide Angle Vertical Enclosure) as an under-hang, to highlight the first few rows of the audience. Two sets of side-fills had six Y10 and five Y10 enclosures hung per side, covering the multiple balconies off to the sides of the stage. Another six SpekTrix enclosures were places on stage as front fills, with a four stack of T21 Subs aside. A total of 48 Lab.gruppen FP6400 powered the system and processing was handled by five Dolby Lake 4-12s. At <strong>FOH</strong>, a Digidesign Profile provided ample mixing room for both <strong>FOH</strong> engineer Ben Findlay and Arthur, who stood in for the opening act, the Australian songstress Bertie Blackman. As the 4th show of the seven Australian dates, Findlay commented that it had been the best sounding show on the tour thus far. For Arthur, the venue was perfect. “If one had to find a ‘problem’ (with the Opera House), the only thing that comes to mind is that the room is so live, but that cleans up as soon as the room is filled with punters.” At monitors, gear consisted of a Yamaha PM1D, 14 Sennheiser G2 systems and a single EAW KF850 with a SB850 per side, processed with EAW UX8800s and powered by three Lab.gruppen FP+10000Qs. ROJO Rocks in Peru PERU — Allen & Heath’s iLive digital mixing system recently made its debut in Peru when it was employed in Lima’s Exhibition Park amphitheatre for the concert of Christian pop/rock band ROJO. Comprising the iDR10 mix rack loaded with 48 inputs and 16 outputs and an iLive-144 control surface, the system managed <strong>FOH</strong> and Monitor sound for the four-piece band. Hailing from Mexico, ROJO is popular in Hispanic-speaking communities and regularly performs at venues across South, Central and North America. “The iLive digital mixer was easy to use, intuitive and provided direct and quick access to all functions, which makes it a great system for live use,” comments <strong>FOH</strong> operator, Christian Jesus Montenegro Giraldo. “The PA company offered us various EQ and compressor units, but iLive already has dynamics processors built in, which is a huge advantage. In addition to the main mix, in-ear and wedge monitor mixes were controlled from <strong>FOH</strong> and iLive was complemented by EAW speaker systems and Crest Audio amplification. <strong>FOH</strong> mixer Christian Jesus Montenegro Giraldo mixing the ROJO concert Paul McCartney performing in Tel Aviv 43 years after the Israeli government banned The Beatles’ from performing. NOVEMBER 2008 www.fohonline.com playing solo with an acoustic guitar to the whole band rocking full on.” Maroon 5 Goes Mobile on World Tour Maroon 5’s <strong>FOH</strong> mixer Jim Ebdon ENGLAND — These days, archiving nightly shows on tour is standard fare, with many A-list bands spending upwards of $50,000 at the drop of a hat to build a touring recording rig. But as Jim Ebdon found on the current world tour with Maroon 5, he was able to turn his DiGiCo D5 and Apple Mac PowerBook into a mobile workstation with RME’s HDSPe MADIface 128-Channel 192 kHz MADI PCI ExpressCard. “With this setup, I’m able to have a fully functioning recording studio on the road,” Ebdon explains. “The MADIface card takes up virtually no space and I can get it in my computer bag. With that, along with the D5’s fantastic functionality and very small footprint — I’ve got one small rack at <strong>FOH</strong> and one on stage with one thin cable linking it all — I can get great results.” Ebdon continues, “The MADIface is basically two cables and I can record and play back up to 56 straight, pre-EQ, pre-compressors, pre-mute, straight-from-the-mic pre -amp right into the computer. I’m using Apple Logic, but there are half a dozen other programs you can use just as a recording platform. And it’s rock solid. Out of the box, with the plug-ins it comes with for $499, it’s a fantastic program. It was so easy to set up for the first time, and the recordings sound great. We also have 6-7 cameras shooting the show every night on this tour, so we can easily sync up to the video, too.” Ebdon’s been able to get most of what he needs from the DiGiCo D5’s onboard sound palette, and is carrying only a handful of additional external effects for this tour including a Focusrite Producer Pack, a TC6000 for extra and different-sounding reverbs and a De-Esser for Adam Levine’s lead vocals. First OmniLine Micro-Line Array Installed in Ireland BELFAST, Ireland — Magheralin Parish Church, located 20 miles south of Belfast, is the first installation in Ireland with Martin Audio’s new OmniLine micro-line array system. As with many rural areas in Ireland, large churches sprang up in the late 19th century during the Ulster revival period; and although originally built in 699 AD, Magheralin was rebuilt in 1891. The Parish Church first approached Rea Sound in December 2007 to discuss the possibility of installing a new PA and visual system. After numerous meetings, site visits and a tender process, Rea Sound was awarded the contract. The original sound specification was for the Martin Audio Blackline Series as the preferred speaker system — but it soon became clear that the new OmniLine was the better way forward. Rea Sound were also aware that this would be the first OmniLine install in a church anywhere in the UK or Ireland — and possibly Europe. Following a full sound study using the OmniLine software, the optimum position was calculated. The furniture was designed, agreed to and built locally, then subsequently fitted in early August, allowing Rea Sound to begin the installation. Getting the proper setup was challenging in terms of positioning the OmniLine — but due to the flexibility of the speakers, they were able to adjust the height of install and the angles of the arrays to gain secure fixings. Powered from a single Martin Audio MA1400 power amp and a DX1 system controller, the OmniLine provides sound quality throughout the church. The Chancel is provided for by way of two AQ5s for infills. Like many churches today, Magheralin is using more and more live praise instruments, necessitating an Allen & Heath GL2400 32-channel desk located in the rear left hand side of the church, situated in the newly created technical area, to provide main PA mixing. Martin Omniline Micro-Line Array in the Magheralin Parish Church in Ireland
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