Claiming a 45 per cent reduction in power usage over alternative systems, the loudspeakers at this summer’s Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Montréal helped the Green Stage deliver on its environmental promise.

With sponsorship as well as equipment from Sennheiser Canada, it was energy-efficient K-array loudspeaker and subwoofer technology and the Innovason Eclipse all-in-one console and signal processor that helped keep things green.

The Green Stage was conceived by Evenko (formerly the Gillette Group) who worked to bring partners and pieces together – Solotech delivered both forward-thinking lighting technology and the sound engineering that ensured the production value of the Green Stage competed with the best of the conventional stages, while Infinite Island Power, which specialises in producing live green events, added other renewable energy technologies. For ist part, Sennheiser Canada designed an efficient sound reinforcement system using K-array technologies and the Innovason Eclipse console.

‘The K-array products are remarkably efficient,’ says Vaino Gennaro, Business Director for Live Sound Products at Sennheiser Canada.

‘For the same output and even greater fidelity, the K-array system drew 45 per cent less power,’ says Infinite Island Power engineer Dan Fletcher. ‘Some concert promoters are reluctant to go green because they see it as a trade-off, but with K-array, there is no sacrifice in performance. It’s a very easy decision, as the K-array production value is high, the energy savings are substantial and greater efficiency is the direction we need to be moving in as a society.’

Gennaro designed the Sennheiser Green Stage’s PA system with three K-array KH4 two-way line arrays per side in a true stereo configuration. Six K-array KS4 dipole subwoofers and two KO70 sub-bass speakers per side. Finally, four K-array KH15 two-way line arrays spread evenly across the front of the stage provided front fill. All of the K-array units that were used are self-powered, which contributes to their energy efficiency.

‘The Innovason Eclipse is a comprehensive and deeply functional digital console,’ says Gennaro. ‘On the input side, it has all of the necessary EQ, filtering, compression, gating and delay. On the output side, it has all the signal processing required of the K-array system, including crossovers and time alignment. So, with just one box, we can run the whole show without any need for power-hungry output gear.’

‘The Eclipse’s intuitive interface made set changes easy,’ Monk McClements, chief sound engineer at the Green Stage, adds. ‘When a sound engineer can walk up to a board cold, with only a line check before the set, and then walk away beaming after the set, you know it’s a good board! People were very impressed.’

Sennheiser also supplied the microphones, which included three e935 wired vocal mics, six e906 guitar cabinet mics and two MD 421 II bass cabinet mics. Dual drum risers each had four e904 clip-on tom mics – one e905 snare mic, one 901 and 902 bass drum mic combo, and three small-diaphragm e914 condensers for overheads and hi-hats. Four channels of ew500-935 G3 wireless microphones and four channels of ew300 IEM G3 wireless personal monitors gave artists the freedom to move around for maximum theatrical impact.

Infinite Island Power, meanwhile, brought a sustainable energy arsenal that included the latest and best Sharp solar panels, WindTronics wind turbines, clean gas generators and battery storage devices, together with the computer control technology that optimised the output.

Hamlet Heavy Timberwork underscored the 'true life-cycle' carbon impact of the materials used for live events by building the lighting and sound deck out of locally harvested and recycled timber. In addition, Solotech contributed show-grade LED lighting systems, which operated on a fraction of the energy required by conventional stage lighting.

‘The Sennheiser Green Stage dropped our carbon footprint a few sizes,’ says Patrick Brayley of Evenko.

With Indie rock heroes Beach House and We Are Wolves joining The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Devo, on a diverse bill, the event went well for both audience and crew. ‘All 13 of the sound engineers who worked with this system were impressed by the sound, from the lowest lows to the highest highs and the evenness in between,’ says Monk McClements. ‘The sound quality rivaled any stage with any system.’

‘Everyone who was involved was thrilled with the sound and what we accomplished,’ adds Gennaro. ‘We’re already looking forward to making the stage even greener next year.’

More: www.sennheiser.ca