Twenty years ago, the city of Kumagaya in Japan’a Saitama Prefecture opened its Cultural & Creative Centre to offer cultural entertainment to locals and tourists. The Centre is named Sakura MATE – Sakura referencing the cherry blossom that signify Kumagaya, and MATE for Music, Art, Theatre and Expression. In the intervening time, the venue has hosted a diverse mix of traditional and contemporary performances using a sound system that has now become inadequate. The city turned to Sigma Communications to recommend an upgrade, which has taken place over the past place over three years.
The Centre boasts an open-air Wind Theatre, the small Moon Hall, and principal Sun Hall, which seats 1,000 people in its shoebox-shaped auditorium. The multi-storey space was built with side and rear balconies to create a sense of unity between performers and the audience.
Curtains and other devices allow the Sun Hall’s room to be adapted to different performance genres, and a large door on the rear wall can be opened to the outdoor Wind Theatre.
‘The original sound system deteriorated to the point where it was no longer safe to use. It was also placed in a way that resulted in irregular SPL coverage and areas with poor intelligibility,’ explains Sigma Communications sound engineer, Hiroyuki Kurita. ‘Constant volume and equalisation adjustments were necessary to compensate for this degradation. ‘We needed to ensure that the new system would deliver clean, clear sound, no matter where you are in the hall,’ he says.
When the time came to upgrade, L-Acoustics was selected after consultation with the city, and based on Kurita’s experience and the opinions of his peers. The Kiva II-based sound system was integrated over three years, culminating with the migration of the network from analogue to AES. The entire system was purchased through L-Acoustics Certified Provider Distributor for Japan, Bestec Audio.
In the first year, three ARCS Focus per side were installed, with a single SB18m subwoofer recessed in the auditorium wall. The following year, a single flown array of one SB15m with six Kiva II was rigged in the proscenium centre, all in white, to blend in with the design of the hall’s architecture. One X8 short-throw enclosure per side was mounted stage left and stage right for monitoring. These are driven by a single LA2Xi, while three LA4X amplified controllers drive the main centre and LR hangs.
Since completing the system upgrade, Kurita has found fewer requests from visiting mix engineers to increase the overall volume and feels that this has added value to work processes. ‘Finally, all speakers have been upgraded with a consistent L-Acoustics signature sound, enhancing clarity throughout the hall,’ he says. ‘The sound now feels closer and more intimate, as though a curtain has been removed. The quality of the entire system inspires me to continue crafting and designing detailed live sound so that the citizens of Kumagaya are proud of their MATE.’
