The recent Thurn & Taxis Classic Festival (Schlossfestspiele) found sound engineer Carsten Kümmel returning to take on the classical production once again, mixing the highlight performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto and a gala performance from star soprano Angela Gheorghiu and the Symphonic Orchestra from Hof, Germany, as well as a number of operas in the Bavarian dialect.
His mixing duties were performed an a Lawo mc²56 digital mixing console, which was also used by the event’s guest engineers. The most challenging production, Rigoletto used more than 60 microphones. As previously, he took a two-level approach to the console set-up – one level was used for inputs and outputs that did not change during the festival (including feeds to the stage manager, the interval bell and communication with the stage) with a second level dedicated to the various performances. These included the levels of singers’ mics, the band and orchestra.
The latest mc²56 software and Lawo’s mxGUI software enabled Kümmel to access all mixer parameters from his laptop at different positions around the venue, including sitting in the grandstand for the soundcheck. ‘During quiet passages, listeners should have to concentrate on the sound, sit on the edge of their seats and really get involved,’ he says. ‘The audience goes quiet and the music becomes somewhat mystical.’
Kümmel applied the console’s loudness metering to the inputs after faders. Rather than monitoring the overall programme level – as is common in broadcasting – he grouped instruments or singers’ voices to ensure that everything could be heard: ‘If 50 microphones are open, you can never be sure if all 50 microphones are also to be heard,’ he argues. ‘As soon as one is 10dB below the others, it disappears in the sum. Loudness metering gives you visual feedback as to whether all mics are evenly levelled.’
The snapshot feature of the mc²56 was invaluable for the Glenn Miller night, where three singers used the same microphone – the set-up for each was stored with as snapshot, and switched in at the touch of a button at the console. Kümmel also used the console’s Listen Sense function to audition different EQ settings.
Kümmel regards this collaboration with rental partner Audio Broadcast Services (ABS) as excellent – although he used a different mc²56 console from last year, he found all the productions and setups ready to use them or to build on. ‘Just a ‘blank’ system would have been perfectly fine, but this is really a first-class service,’ he says.
He believes that the Schlossfestspiele was a successful festival, not least because the equipment involved was at its best: ‘The mc²56 worked perfectly from the beginning. Only small changes to the configuration were necessary – Lawo’s service was super responsive and they were implemented within half a day.’
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