Norway’s new Konserthuset Kilden (Kilden Performing Arts Centre) is being billed as one of the largest and most technologically sophisticated arts venues in Scandinavia. Equipping the four halls on the 15,000-sq-m was a demanding job, and one that fell to territorial distributor. LydRommet.
The centre provides the home for the Agder Regional Theater, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and Opera Sør – the regional opera company.
Located in the city of Kristiansand and costing NOK1.7bn (US$287.3m), the complex is owned by the Kristiansand Local Council and Vest-Agder County Council, which helped to fund it. To meet its technical requirements, LydRommet turned to Harman audio’s catalogue of sound reinforcement systems for each space, including JBL VerTec line array elements, BSS Soundweb London digital networking, Crown CTs Series amplifiers and Soundcraft Vi Series consoles.
ALA Architects of Finland designed the complex so that all halls can be used simultaneously. The Concert Hall is the largest space with 1,185 seats, while the Theater accommodates 700 seats, and the Multi Hall and Small Auditorium can seat 235 and 150 seats, respectively.
The Concert Hall is equipped with 24 JBL VerTec VT4887DP-DA powered compact line array elements, a centre cluster of two JBL VP7212/64DP-DA and one JBL VP7212/95DP-DA powered loudspeaker, eight JBL VPSB7118DP powered subwoofers, four JBL AC28 compact loudspeakers, 14 JBL AC2212/00 compact loudspeakers, four JBL AC26 ultra-compact loudspeakers, with Crown CTs amplifiers assigned to the non-powered loudspeakers. Processing was carried out in a BSS Soundweb London environment, with a Soundcraft Vi6 for FOH mixing.
The Theater features 32 JBL VerTec VT4886 subcompact line array elements powered by Crown VRack systems, a centre cluster of two JBL VP7212/95DP-DA and one JBL VP7212/64DP-DA powered loudspeaker. An additional eight JBL AC26 ultra-compact loudspeakers and 12 JBL 8350 cinema surround loudspeakers round out the system, powered by Crown CTs amplifiers. The same Soundweb components were installed as in the Concert Hall, along with a second Soundcraft Vi6.
The Multi Hall is equipped with three JBL VP7212/95DP-DA powered loudspeakers, with two JBL VPSB7118DP powered subwoofers, BSS Blu-800 and Blu-120 digital signal routers and a Soundcraft Vi4 digital mixing desk. The Small Auditorium, meanwhile, features a pair each of JBL VP7212/95DP-DA powered loudspeakers and VPSB7118DP powered subwoofers, complemented by a BSS Blu-800 and BSS Blu-120, and Soundcraft Vi1 (along with Vi6 stage box).
Monitoring resources for all stages comprise 24 JBL VP7212MDP powered stage monitors, 14 JBL VP7210/95DP powered loudspeakers, ten JBL AC15 ultra-compact loudspeakers, a Crown CTs 8200 amplifier and a Soundcraft Vi6 desk.
Recording
In addition to these, LydRommet has equipped a 5.1 recording studio and control room with five JBL LSR6328P studio monitors and an LSR6312SP studio monitor subwoofer. The room also features a Soundcraft Vi4 desk and BSS Blu-100 processing.The control room can pick up the Madi from the mixers in each of the four halls to record the performances. Patching can be either manual, or via an RME Madi bridge if also routed to either of the two OB vehicles outside, for which provision has been made in LydRommet’s cabling architecture.
The central sound distribution consists of a BSS Blu-800 and BSS Blu-120, with four BSS Blu-16, and 50 JBL Control 25AV surface-mount loudspeakers. Kilden also features 30 channels of AKG DMS 700 wireless microphone systems.
The inauguration of the centre too place in in January, when national broadcaster NRK brought its HD2 large TV bus and TR23 Soundbus in to cover the event. This saw NRK using the trucks’ Studer Vista 9 and Vista 8 consoles running in conjunction with the Soundcraft Vi6 and Vi4 (and three Soundcraft Si Compact boards) installed in the Konserthuset Kilden.
The main music mix was handled by the Vista 8, while a temporary control room inside the building housed 32-channel, 24-channel and 16-channel Soundcraft Si Compacts producing submixes for the TR23 OB – sending groups of strings from the symphony orchestra as well as groups from the 100-voice choir.
LydRommet had originally been invited to tender for the contract five years ago in a bid involving five companies. The company successfully responded to a specification produced by Ivar Thommasen at Brekke & Strand Akustikk for a contract that included a video and digital signage section, a paging/show monitoring system and a stage management system in addition to the core speech and music reinforcement systems and complete cable infrastructure.
‘The client asked for half-year adjustments to make the solution work in the best way defined for the job,’ LydRommet Project Manager Alf Christian Hvidsteen explains. ‘This allowed us to optimise the system and make full use of the integrated solutions that Harman can provide.’
Working directly for the Kilden Project Group and alongside main contractor, AF Gruppen, LydRommet product specialists, Espen Andersen and Pål Solli designed the sound reinforcement and distribution systems with the aid of AutoCAD, Harman HiQnet Performance Manager, System Architect, London Architect and JBL’s Line Array Calculator. The result was a show relay system incorporating 200 speaker stations fed and controlled by IP over Ethernet.
‘The results, to put it mildly, were stunning,’ Hvidsteen reports. ‘The preview concerts as well as the opening ceremony were a very good test of both the acoustics and our loudspeaker choices. All systems worked very well and the customer and audience were very pleased with the results.’
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