An extensive technical renovation of the 561-seat Alexander Theatre at Monash University in Melbourne, has seen a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system installed as its centrepiece – the first in a dedicated performing arts venue in Australia.
Designed and built for spoken word dramatic presentation, the theatre is now capable of hosting acoustic music performances and now, with the Leopard line array direct reinforcement system, amplified performances as well.
The move to renovate and repurpose the 50-year-old auditorium originated with Professor Paul Grabowsky who, in addition to serving as Executive Director of the University’s Academy of Performing Arts, is a jazz pianist and music composer for opera, film and television. Recognising that the theatre’s physical acoustics were poorly suited to musical performance, university administrators engaged the international consulting firm Arup to evaluate possible solutions.
‘We were given two options,’ says Grabowsky. ‘One was to create an acoustical environment suitable for music through physical means by use of materials and slightly reconfiguring the space. But no matter what was done it could never be great acoustically because of the existing constraints of the building structure.’
The other solution presented was an active acoustic system. ‘Initially I was very sceptical,’ admits Grabowsky. ‘When you talk about intervening in a space with electro-acoustic devices, your mind immediately goes to, ‘Well, why would you want to do that? It’s not genuine.’ But the potential was intriguing so I decided to give it a listen.’
Grabowsky organised a delegation to audition several different active acoustic systems in Europe, the US and Japan, at times bringing along a string quartet to perform the same pieces in evaluating each system. Visiting SoundBox, the San Francisco Symphony’s conceptually innovative and acclaimed alternative venue, proved decisive.
‘Other than for us, the room was empty,’ Grabowsky recalls. ‘The quartet set up and played at one end of the room, which is quite a large space. I was amazed that it didn’t matter where I was in the room, or which direction I was facing. The clarity of the music remained true, but more importantly the quality of the music did not suggest any kind of electronic intervention. It simply sounded clear, crisp and warm, as if you were in a very good concert hall.’
Grabowsky’s preference for a Constellation solution was endorsed by a later visit to SoundBox, this time for a full concert programme: ‘Again, I moved throughout the room and that experience convinced me that, in terms of what the system was doing, it allowed for more flexibility and more musical detail than the others we had heard.’
With a DiGiCo SD9 console serving FH, the Alexander Theatre Constellation system comprises three elements – sensing of the ambient acoustics, high-resolution digital processing using the patented VRAS acoustical algorithm, and distribution of early reflections and reverberant signals using more than 150 loudspeakers. For ambient sensing, 16 compact cardioid microphones are placed on stage, 16 miniature cardioid microphones are placed in the auditorium, and eight boundary-mounted omnidirectional microphones in the orchestra pit. Processing is via a D-Mitri digital audio platform with 18 modules for input and output, core processing and creation of acoustic presets. The loudspeaker complement includes 133 full-range Meyer Sound systems (MM-4XP, UPM-1XP, UP-4XP, and UPJunior-XP) along with 19 compact subwoofers (UMS-1XPSM and MM-10XP).
Because all Constellation loudspeakers are active receive discrete input signals from D-Mitri, the hardware component also provides a dynamic, immersive sound environment with Meyer Sound’s SpaceMap 3D panning software. Using SpaceMap with the Constellation infrastructure allows dynamic movement of multiple sounds in three dimensions throughout the auditorium.
‘The possibility of using the spatiality of the system enables one to add a new dimension to a musical composition that has been talked about for perhaps a half a century, but has never been realised to this extent,’ Grabowsky says. ‘When I talked with John Meyer, he referred to Constellation as an instrument, not just equipment, and that’s a profound indicator of this system’s potential. It allows a degree of spatial flexibility beyond any other system I have experienced.’
In the initial months since reopening, the Alexander Theatre has used Constellation to optimise acoustics for a wide spectrum of events, including acoustical musical ensembles, musical theatre, and amplified concerts as well as conferences and lectures. Two notable events were a recital by classical pianist Stephen Hough and a recording session by Branford Marsalis.
To support amplified concerts, the theatre offers a direct reinforcement system anchored by 12 Leopard compact line array loudspeakers along with six 900-LFC low frequency control elements for deep bass support and eight MM-4XP miniature loudspeakers for front fill.
The renovated Alexander Theatre is the largest of three venues in Monash University’s Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts. The new complex was designed by Peter Elliott Architecture and Urban Design in collaboration with Irwinconsult Engineers and Marshall Day Acoustics, with the latter firm’s Peter Exton responsible for physical acoustics in the Alexander Theatre. Exton worked closely with the team at Marshall Day Entertech, the firm’s theatrical consulting division, to ensure seamless integration into the wider scope of the project. The centre will soon offer two more venues: a 190-seat Jazz Club and 130-seat Sound Gallery, both scheduled to open in 2019. Also equipped with a Constellation system, the Sound Gallery will provide a free-form environment for innovations in musical composition and performance.
Founded in 1958, Monash University has a total enrolment of more than 70,000 students at campuses in the Melbourne area and at overseas locations.
More: www.meyersound.com
