Dominating the skyline over the city of Nuremberg, the 292m-high Fernmeldeturm Nürnberg telecoms tower provided a striking backdrop for two livestreamed events in July, under the title Dein Sommermoment. At the heart of their audio management were Allen & Heath dLive and SQ systems.
The first Dein Sommermoment featured seven solo artists performing in the tower’s distinctive egg-shaped viewing area, while the second added a pair of outdoor stages at the foot of the structure for rock bands, presided over by presenters in the tower above. Both events were created by EMS (Experts Managed Services GmbH), with Konrad Wurster and Ole Langhans from A/V provider, SL-Works Gbr heading the technical team.
For the second Dein Sommermoment, an SQ-5 console was employed for presenter mics and monitoring, as well as providing backup for the intercom. With all equipment used in the tower having to make an 189m elevator ride to the viewing area, the SQ’s compact footprint made it an ideal mixer for the job.
A dLive system was selected for live and streaming mixing: ‘dLive is the natural choice for this type of event,’ freelance audio engineer, Johannes Minichmayr explains. ‘The system is so flexible and expandable; whatever challenge you encounter, you know there’s a way to handle it. When you’re looking after multiple stages and artists it’s also great to have a system that is really quick and easy to set up – everything just works.’
The core of the audio system was a dLive DM32 MixRack, fitted with a pair of GigaAce cards and a 64-channel Dante card. Dante was employed throughout the system to overcome the challenges of long cable runs and latency inherent in this type of event. Johannes mixed monitors for performers on both live stages from an S7000 Surface, while a 19-inch C1500 took care of linechecks on whichever stage was not currently in use. The livestream mix was managed from a DM0 MixRack with a Dante 128 card, fed from the DM32 and controlled from a C2500 Surface. A GLD80 mixer in an OB truck took care of the final mix summing. Portable DX168 expanders were deployed across the site, including four on the stages, one in the OB truck and one providing connectivity for a Universal Audio Apollo interface.
Dein Sommermoment was streamed free of charge, with viewers invited to donate to a fund supporting artists and cultural workers in hardship.
More: www.allen-heath.com
