A crowd of more than 15,000 people assembled in the Comcast Center at the University of Maryland recently to see the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, receive an honorary degree in Letters, and give a lecture in the university’s Anwar Sadat Peace Series.

For the event’s sound, the university called on National Events and a d&b audiotechnik Q-Series PA system.

‘Though it was our first event with the U-of-M, National Events often works with spoken word shows,’ says Cody Bateman, Director of Audio for National Events. ‘It’s crucial to have excellent intelligibility, however, the goal is also to keep all the equipment out of the way, so the focus stays on the speaker.

‘Due to recent construction at the Comcast Center, we only had three motor points per side, but the d&b Rota clamp allowed us to adjust easily. Also, the Dalai Lama requires a 30-ft audience buffer, and with the help of the d&b ArrayCalc simulation software, we were able to find the ideal placement for each piece of the sound system, to make sure no energy was wasted.’

In total, more than 50 loudspeakers were used. With only half of this number available at the time of the event, National Events turned to fellow audio provider and d&b Sales partner, Overland Pro Audio to help.

‘That’s what’s nice about the d&b system reality design approach - there is an exact consistency among the equipment regardless of the supplier, which makes temporary expansion like this seamless,’ Bateman says. ‘Overland’s inventory worked perfectly to fill the gap between what was on hand and what was needed. Plus with amazing pattern and directional control, providing sonic clarity for such a large basketball arena was relatively easy.

‘There is no wonder the Dalai Lama is known around the world. He has the spirit of a child, but the knowledge and wisdom of a prophet,’ he adds. ‘It was a truly unique show to be a part of.’