Two of the hottest musicals playing on London’s West End presently call on Meyer Sound systems provided by Autograph Sound with logistical coordination by Scott Arnold.
Where Andrew Lloyd Webber’s frenetic School of Rock employs the sound design skills of Mick Potter, the soulful Motown: The Musical is the work of Peter Hylenski
Potter (Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, Miss Saigon and Sunset Boulevard) tweaked the system template he created in 2015 for the still-running Broadway production, with both systems anchored by main left and right hangs each comprising ten Lyon-W wide coverage line array loudspeakers.
‘The linearity and complete lack of coloration of Lyon is critical to delivering the dynamic range of this show, from quiet dialogue to full-on rock and roll,’ comments Potter. ‘In musical theatre, getting out exactly what you put in – only louder – is absolutely key when you are trying to tell a story while, at times, keeping the sound reinforcement absolutely invisible.’
The production also showcases the bass qualities of the Leo Family’s 1100-LFC and 900-LFC low frequency control elements. ‘Both the 1100-LFC and the 900-LFC sound fantastic, with unbelievable detail,’ Potter reports. ‘Also, the new 900-LFC provides a lot of flexibility in theatre applications due to its modularity.’
Another unique feature of both the Broadway and West End designs is a central horizontal array of small Mina line array loudspeakers, with an arc of 11 speakers suspended over the stage in London. ‘It was a necessity because of the scenic design but it works out very well, covering the whole auditorium horizontally and vertically,’ says Potter.
To augment the Leo Family components, the sound system incorporates an additional 44 loudspeakers and seven subwoofers, mostly drawn from the versatile UltraSeries. Drive and optimization is provided by a Galileo loudspeaker management system with nine Galileo and two Galileo Callisto processors.
‘I’ve been designing sound for major musicals for nearly twenty years and every design has been built around a Meyer Sound system,’ Potter says. ‘For School of Rock, it was simply a matter of finding the right Meyer loudspeakers for the style of the show – in this case a combination that could deliver rock concert levels yet with the detail and transparency of a theatre system.’
Motown: The Musical opened to rave reviews in 2016 at the 1,400-seat Shaftesbury Theatre and continues its extended run. For the London production, sound designer Peter Hylenski upgraded his Meyer Sound system to 14-per-side Leopard line array loudspeakers with deep bass solidified by a half dozen 900-LFC low-frequency control elements. The full system complement also includes 12 UPM-1P, 14 UPM-2P, eight UPM-1, 10 UPJunior, four UPQ-1P, and eight MM-4 loudspeakers along with two M1D-Sub and two 700-HP subwoofers.
More: www.meyersound.com
