Press Release PDF File - JBL Professional

For additional information, contact:
Travis McGee
Definition Branding & Marketing
(212) 660-2555 ext. 24
travis.mcgee@definitionbam.com
November 14, 2011 – For Immediate Release
Gabisom Delivers World-Class Sound at Rock in Rio 2011 With HARMAN’s JBL
VERTEC® Line Arrays
NORTHRIDGE, California – The Rock In Rio festival celebrated its 10 th anniversary in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in
spectacular fashion: it was the world’s biggest music festival of the year, with almost 700,000 fans attending the
week-long event. Rock In Rio 2011 took place in the City of Rock, a specially built venue on the site of where
Olympic Village will be located for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Dozens of rock’s biggest names performed at Rock
in Rio, including Guns N’ Roses, Shakira, Katy Perry, Stevie Wonder, Ke$ha, Metallica, Rihanna, Coldplay, Elton
John, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and many other top artists.
The massive event required a sound system to match, which Gabisom Audio Equipment provided with a
monumental assortment of HARMAN’s JBL VERTEC® line arrays. The main stage PA system included no less than
120 VERTEC VT4889 line array elements and 84 VT4880A fullsize arrayable subwoofers deployed in the main
suspended arrays.
“In a festival as large as this, the system simply had to deliver, and there was no room for uncertainty or
underperformance,” noted Peter Racy, Chief Engineer of Brazil-based Gabisom Audio Equipment. “We had used the
VT4889 and VT4880A line arrays at previous Rock In Rio shows and they can provide the expansive high-volume
sound we need over this extremely large coverage area.”
“We wanted to make sure that the people at the front of the stage weren’t blown away by excessive volume, but that
the people all the way in the back could still hear everything clearly,” said Racy. “The configuration we used enabled
us to achieve this.”
Installing and operating this Goliath-sized rig was only part of Gabisom’s challenge. “The festival had very little time
between acts, and Gabisom had to constantly change each artist’s complete stage setup including backline, stage
props and monitor wedges,” stated Jaime Albors, Senior Director, Sales –
Intercontinental for HARMAN Professional. “When Katy Perry finished on
opening night, Elton John went on just 20 minutes later, with a completely
different stage setup, and Gabisom pulled it off without a hitch.”
“I was extremely impressed by the SPL capability of the system,” Albors
continued. “When you have 100,000 people clapping and screaming, they
can literally be louder than the level of the PA, but this was not the case for
this event. With 120 VT4889’s and 84 VT4880A’s, the system had enough
power to be heard well above the crowd.”
Gabisom Audio Equipment
provided a JBL VERTEC line
array system for Rock in Rio
2011 in Brazil.
“The most impressive attributes of the JBL VERTEC line arrays are their
effortless power and clarity,” said Racy. “This is because of their ability to
deliver high output while maintaining smooth frequency response and high
resolution without distortion. In addition, their predictable coverage pattern
lets us optimize their placement in any outdoor – or indoor – concert sound
installation.”
HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment
solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including
AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across
multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More

than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems.
HARMAN has a workforce of about 12,500 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales
of $4.0 billion for twelve months ending September 30, 2011.
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