Part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the French Futuroscope theme park, 1,000 choristers from 40 different choirs, four soloists and a 40-piece philharmonic orchestra assembled for an open-air performance of Etienne Perruchon’s epic score for Dogora in front of nearly 10,000 people.
Handling the audio was local (Poitiers-based) rental and audio solutions company, Agora Audio, who provided an Innovason Eclipse digital mixing console for FoH and an Sy80 for monitors, along with the main PA and microphones –which included 16 KM 184D digital microphones from Neumann.
The scale of the event brought a number technical of challenges: ‘Apart from the sheer scale of the show, the main issues arose from the fact that we were working against the clock,’ explains Agora’s David Rocher. ‘We had an hour to EQ and line check 64 open microphones for a total of 96 inputs prior to the full dress rehearsal, where everything was expected to work perfectly. This is where the Virtual Soundcheck function of the Eclipse is invaluable as it allows me to fine-tune the mix between the dress rehearsal and the main show. However, the Virtual Soundcheck function is only one of many features that makes Eclipse an ideal product for this type of event.
‘We had 16 KM 184D digital microphones from Neumann for the choir, managed by a pair of Neumann DMI-8 interfaces, which in turn are managed by the Eclipse, giving me full control of the digital mic parameters from the console. That is a big plus if you want to use digital microphones on your event.
‘I also like the stereo faders for managing pairs, and the ganging of the mic preamps which enables me to adjust the gain of a group of microphones from a single encoder.
‘I find the Smart Panel and PCB (Personal Console Builder) features to be invaluable as it means that I can construct my mix interface in such a way that it mirrors the stage plan perfectly. Some people prefer to have their console laid out the same way for every show, but I really appreciate the flexibility to adjust my control surface according to the requirements and constraints of each show. Finally, the EtherSound network capabilities enable us to offer a completely digital solution at a very reasonable budget for the production.
‘The show was set up and performed without a hitch, which was quite an achievement given the number of people involved and the extremely limited time frame,’ Rocher says. ‘Both technically and culturally, the event was a great success.’
More: www.innovason.com
