In response to the call to provide sound reinforcement for David Gilmour’s Rattle That Lock tour of North American, Clearwing Productions produced its A-Game and its best gear – a full L-Acoustics K1/K2 rig complemented by the company’s new KS28 subwoofer.
This tour represented the official US debut of the KS28, which was introduced at the 2016ProLight & Sound, show and used by Clearwing on a North American pilot programme. With its extended frequency response (down to 25Hz), reduced weight (174lbs) and 3dB greater output than its predecessor, the KS28 reckons to handle everything from classical to EDM, with all rigging integrated into the box.
‘KS28 is a marked improvement on the SB28, and I was not at all unhappy with the SB28,’ reports Gregg Brunclik, President and CEO of the Milwaukee-based production specialist .
Colin Norfield is the engineer tasked with bringing Gilmour’s characteristic sound to audiences around the world – and was impressed with the KS28: ‘They have a tighter, deeper and richer sound, which helped to enhance David’s show,’ he says. ‘The KS28 is great all-round and I’m looking forward to using them again on the next leg of the tour.’
The KS28 is exclusively powered by the LA12X, a new amplified controller with 12kW of power with a four-input/four-output architecture that offers up to 3.3kW/channel with record hold times. Capable of operating with any supplied power between 100 and 240 volts the LA12X is, again, ideal for touring. And the inclusion of the open-standard AVB protocol for input of digital signals — instead of relying solely on any proprietary format — makes the LA12X futureproof
Brunclik called out the LA12X as a big part of the success of the KS28 on the Gilmour tour. ‘It takes a sharper tack to deploy systems today than it ever did back in the day when we pointed speakers at the audience and that was pretty much the limit of the science behind it. What L-Acoustics has done with the DSP is voodoo we are not privy to, but it works. It rounds out the bottom end of the system really nicely and the LA12X certainly has something to do with it. It’s 50 per cent more amplifier than before.’
Describing the overall sound of the system, Brunclik says: In addition to being 3dB louder, the KS28 is both more musical and more concussive than the SB28. And the combination of the new sub with the already established K1 and K2 boxes in the hands of a truly great engineer like Colin is an immensely powerful tool.
‘He did an awesome job mixing this, by the way. The sound of this tour was nothing less than stellar. It’s been quite some time since I stood in front of a rig grinning like a schoolboy.’
The full system complement for the 11-date, four-city tour (LA, Toronto, Chicago and New York) included left and right main PA hangs of 14 K1 over four K2 per side, each backed by an array of 12 K1-SB subs. Out fill arrays comprised ten K1 over eight K2 per side, with left and right extreme out fill arrays each made up of 12 Kara. Two dozen KS28 subs ground-stacked double high across the face of the stage and driven by six LA12X amplified controllers (in two new LA-Rak II racks) generously filled out the show’s low end, while an LCR delay system of three hangs of six K2 covered the farthest seats in the largest venues. Aside from the KS28 subs, the full system was powered and processed by 58 LA8 housed in 18 LA-Rak touring racks.
With Gilmour’s entourage soon heading to Europe and the UK, international sound reinforcement duties will switch back over to Britannia Row Productions, who supplied the mixing consoles and monitors for the North American leg. Like Clearwing, Brit Row will be carrying the new KS28 subs in addition to the rest of the K1/K2 package overseas.
