‘In an historic venue like the Little Gem Saloon, the sound system should be pleasing to the eye but invisible to the ear,’ says Outline North America Senior VP and MD, Tom Bensen.
Located at the head of New Orleans’ Jazz Alley, the Little Gem Saloon has been resurrected on the site of its original 1903 location. Jazz historians unanimously agree that no other single location is more significant to the founding and evolution of jazz than the Little Gem Saloon. Central to its operatioon as a live music venue is its Outline sound system.
‘When I was approached to provide a sound design for the Little Gem Saloon, I immediately thought of Outline,’ says New Orleans sound designer and music industry veteran, Michael Paz. ‘Knowing that we would have two separate performance spaces one floor apart, Outline’s iMode technology was the clear and obvious choice. The ability to monitor, control and, if need be, run the same programme material through both systems simultaneously, was really appealing. Plus having all that control at the engineer’s fingertips via Outline’s iMode app for iPad and iPhone really gave Outline an advantage over other systems.’
The upper and lower performance spaces of the Little Gem Saloon have almost identical front-of-house systems based on three Outline DVS12P-iSP self-powered, 12-inch, two-way trapezoidal cabinets arrayed in an LCR configuration. A total of five Outline iSM112-iSP cabinets, two on the ground floor and three in the upper level space act as floor monitors. In addition, one Outline DVS118SW-iSP single 18-inch subwoofer rounds out the installation. All iSP designated speakers are iMode-capable.
The iMode technology embeds a Linux-based CPU with an integrated DSP chip, parameter control software and web server into powered speaker systems, eliminating outboard gear between the console and power amplifier. Audio conversion is done at 192kHz, 24-bit resolution, with users having real-time control over levels, delay, EQ and shelving filters per speaker. iMode also allows the user to monitor performance parameters across the system, including vu metering, selected preset parameters, clip and limiter status, amplifier overheating and protection. These parameters can be accessed using an iPad with a dedicated Outline software app or via any standard web browser on any internet-capable device.
‘When it comes to sound reinforcement needs, traditional jazz music is akin to classical music,’ Bensen says. ‘The transparent, crisp and natural sound that the DVS12P-iSP delivers is perfectly suited to reproducing and reinforcing each instrument and performance nuance note for note, without coloration. I was very pleased with the way the systems blended in each of the performance spaces both visually and sonically.’
From 1903 to 1909, Frank Doroux’s original Little Gem Saloon linked a series of three late-1880s Italianate terrace houses at 445-449 South Rampart Street to the birth of jazz. The club became the watering hole for legends such as Buddy Bolden, Freddie Keppard and other early performers of the neighboring Back-of-Town district (known today as Mid-City and Central City). The original Little Gem closed its doors in 1909, re-opening in 2013.More: www.outline.it
