Three-piece Japanese rock band My Hair is Bad recently concluded their Ultimate Homerun Tour with concerts in the Osaka-Jo Hall and Tokyo arena. The tour began in the mid 2022 as Japan’s pandemic restrictions were eased, culminated in these two arena concerts that used L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Hyperreal Sound.

The band’s sound engineer Hironori Ochi had learned of L-ISA technology from Masaaki Nagayasu, Systems Engineer at L-Acoustics Certified Rental Agent Hibino Sound, who hosted an L-ISA workshop in his personal studio. He subequesntly began working on the design of an L-ISA Hyperreal Sound system for the 10,000-capacity Osaka-Jo Hall concert.

‘I received my L-ISA training in the spring of 2022,’ he says. ‘The impact of the pandemic meant that it would be some time until I could work on an L-ISA concert. When Ochi approached me with the My Hair is Bad concert project, I felt confident that this would be the the perfect time to introduce L-ISA to live music fans in Japan.’

After informing the production team that the concert would be presented in immersive audio, Nagayasu considered technical specifications for a system design that would adhere to loading and rigging limits of the venue. The final L-ISA configuration comprised a main Scene System of five hangs of 12 L-Acoustics elements K2 each. A cluster of 12 KS28 subwoofers was flown behind the main Scene System, with 15 Kara II boxes per side for out fill and 11 A10 Focus for front fill. Six KS28 subwoofers were also distributed across the front of the stage to reinforce the low end. Forty LA12X amplified controllers drove the system.

The L-ISA Processor II received Madi audio from a DiGiCo SD10 console via Luminex GigaCore, while an L-Acoustics LS10 distributed audio and control signals over Milan AVB.

The system was calibrated using an L-Acoustics P1 AVB processor, which took the same amount of time as for an LR array, enabling soundchecking and rehearsal sessions to follow a tight schedule.

The band’s mix engineer approached the mix differently from a left/right system, laying out elements within a deeper 3D immersive space, giving My Hair is Bad’s lead vocals a ‘localised’ feel.

For one song, Nagayasu and Ochi created a space focused on the stage centre for a few bars that used just vocals and guitar, and then expanding the immersive mix gradually as bass and drums were introduced eventually leading the mix into the band’s full sound.

‘It was a very enjoyable experience for me to mix on L-ISA. We took advantage of its capabilities and presented the music in a new way for the fans and concert-goers,’ Ochi says. ‘As the lights came on after the encore, the audience had smiles of delight and praise for the sound team.’

‘For the first time that L-ISA technology is used in Japan, it was undoubtedly a success and was fully accepted, especially by the artists,’ Nagayasu adds. ‘We managed to fully express the band’s musicality through an immersive sound mix in the large arena. I foresee L-ISA to be commonplace in a variety of concerts in the near future, no matter the genre.’