Sysco Productions has created an ambient audio background to support the Second World War Galleries at London’s Imperial War Museum (IWM) using near-invisible line arrays from K-array.
In order to maximise the realism that the IWM’s collection of exhibits evokes, Sysco pushed the boundaries of A/V technology to create an immersive, digitally controlled audio system that takes full advantage of the discreet Vyper and Lyzard micro line arrays, hide them within the structure of the exhibits and provide a ambience without being visible
‘The purpose of the audio is to support the messaging of the exhibition without detracting from it or being obtrusive,’ says Sysco R&D Director, Ben Rochlin, who was lead engineer on the project during its design phase. ‘We had equipped a neighbouring gallery at the IWM with conventional 5-inch and 7-inch loudspeaker boxes that sound superb but are more visible within the space. In contrast however, the soundtrack for the Second World War Galleries is predominantly ambient that required a different approach, in that we wanted to avoid any possible distraction that could be caused by visual impact of the speakers.’
To achieve that aim the Sysco team specified a combination of K-array Azimut systems to be set around the gallery, comprising Lyzard-KZ14 arrays matched with Rumble-KU44 subwoofers and Vyper-KV25 arrays supported by Truffle-KTR26 subwoofers. All the line arrays are visually discreet and partially concealed within the exhibit structures and so are essentially invisible, helping to build an ambience that enhances visitors’ appreciation of this iconic museum’s experience. The loudspeaker systems are powered by K-array Kommander-KA02 four-channel DSP amplifiers.
The 100mm long Lyzard-K14 arrays in particular play a key role in bringing the soundtrack to life, projecting audio confidently despite their diminutive size into some of the gallery’s wider landscapes thanks to their narrow vertical and wide horizontal dispersion. Additionally, their well defined coverage pattern provides good separation as visitors move from one exhibit to another.
The backbone of the audio system is fully digital, centred on Dante-connected Q-Sys control and dedicated to the job of supplying the best possible quality audio with rock-solid reliability. Alongside archival recordings from the WWII era, much of the soundtrack was painstakingly assembled from modern-day, real-world clips, some of it captured on location in forests in Belgium with high-quality microphones and recorders. All this effort demands realism in reproduction, and the combination of controlled speaker system dispersion and precise processing has produced a result that impresses while allowing the presence of the technology to simply fade into the background.
‘It just works,’ Rochlin says. ‘As you walk around the gallery you are immersed in the emotion that the soundtrack evokes, but not particularly aware where it’s coming from – you just don’t think about it. My overall aim was that I wanted it to sound natural without ever really noticing the speakers, and I think that’s what we achieved. I’m really pleased with the outcome; it was a satisfying project for us and it was nice to have the opportunity to really think about the sound system and to be able to design the whole thing without limitations.
‘You have to remember that most of these types of exhibitions are designed by architects,’ he adds. ‘They don’t know the ins and outs of line array technology neither we do know the specifics of architecture, but when you collaborate together you get the most interesting results – and this is a prime example.’
