Setting the music of composer John Williams to images displayed on a giant screen, the LA Philharmonic Orchestra provided a soundscape using L-Acoustics L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology.
Led by Music/Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, the event at the Seoul Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena’s KSPO Dome was part of the 2018/19 LA Phil 100 centennial programme, which includes runs at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, the free Celebrate LA open-air festival, and a global tour that includes seven residencies in seven cities, and performances on three continents.
It began with LA Phil’s 2019 spring tour of South Korea and Japan, and included a landmark performance of film music by Williams in Seoul. To do justice to a portfolio that includes the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ET, Harry Potter and Jurassic Park franchises, the show included cinema montages accompanied by an immersive soundscape from L-ISA. Grammy Award-winning Sound Designer, mixer and LA Phil regular, Fred Vogler, specified the system, which was supplied and set up by local agent, Seoul Sound.
When Vogler took on the sound design for the tour he knew that the Seoul show would be an opportunity for something spectacular: ‘I’ve attended several L-ISA shows and had already mixed deadmau5 with an orchestra in L-ISA a year ago,’ he says. ‘When I discovered there was strong L-Acoustics support in Seoul, I enlisted the L-ISA team for design and coordination. It was an opportunity to use a much bigger system and I was extremely excited to hear all of the possibilities.’
System design specifics fell to L-Acoustics specialists Alvin Koh (Head of Application, Asia) and Carlos Mosquera (Application Engineer, L-ISA). Both realised that the acoustics of the KSPO Dome would present challenges, but accurate modelling of the venue in L-Acoustics Soundvision software using the L-ISA Tools feature pack helped build the best-fit solution. ‘In addition to coverage, some great evaluation features have been added to Soundvision for elements relevant to perception, such as hyperrealism and immersion – all important for an impactful, certified L-ISA experience,’ notes Koh.
The final set-up used seven Kara arrays of 15 elements each for the main L-ISA Scene system above the stage, extended by two additional 12-element Kara arrays, along with two ten-element K2 out fill arrays to cover audience areas outside the main L-ISA zone. For subs, the team flew two arrays of six KS28 arranged in an end-fire configuration, located above the centre Kara scene array. With careful time alignment of the two arrays, they achieved excellent sub spectrum consistency for the whole audience area, and good rejection for the stage area.
It became clear that the set-up had not only achieved all the sonic ambitions of the design team but had provided a benchmark system for the venue. Doo Soo Park is the Team Leader at Seoul Sound: ‘This venue was designed for use as an athletics facility, not a music venue,’ he explains. ‘With a traditional LR system it is very hard to achieve linear sound pressure levels and frequency response from front to back. However, L-ISA technology solved that.’
The FOH mix for the Seoul event used L-ISA object-based positioning to emphasize the location of instruments in the orchestra and, according to Volger, this did much to enhance the connection between orchestra and the audience. ‘The conductor and the orchestra were extremely complimentary about the arena experience with L-ISA,’ he says. ‘Many members told me they felt like rock stars. They all felt the difference on stage. It gave them a lot of good energy back from the audience and many players asked me if we are planning to use L-ISA at the Hollywood Bowl, the summer home for the orchestra. I told them that we are working on it…’
‘This was one of the most impressive shows of my career,’ adds Park. ‘The LA Philharmonic’s performance was amazing, and thanks to L-ISA I heard every detail; the natural tone of every instrument came through. That show has changed my sound reference. I am pleased to have worked with Fred, Carlos and Alvin to make it happen.’
For Vogler, the experience was rewarding: ‘The Seoul Sound team was professional, good natured, responsive, and polite,’ he reports. ‘Everything worked the way it was supposed to work. They are a great group of people and I hope to do more with them in the future.
‘I came to Seoul for a new experience, hoping that it would go well. It exceeded my expectations and I left feeling immensely proud of all we accomplished.’
