Consultants to the Arts and Culture
47TH UAE NATIONAL DAY CEREMONY
Immersive audio-visual experience
Done + Dusted UK followed up their work on the 46th UAE National Day with a more traditional stadium show for the 47th. However the show was all but traditional from a sound perspective with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from London performing live throughout the event. Scroll down for more details.
Two L-ISA systems and a stereo stadium system
Our loudspeaker system consisted of various parts to deliver specific elements of the show. We used a 6-element L-ISA system to provide primary coverage for the royal tribune and a distributed ground stacked stereo arrangement for primary coverage for the rest of the stadium.
The L-ISA system for the Royal tribune consisted of six arrays of three K2 with a horizontal sub-bass array of eight K1-SB. This was augmented with five delay arrays of six KARA for the upper bowl above the Royal Tribune.
The distributed ground stacked system consisted of 12 arrays of six K2 and four SB28 subwoofers for a total of 72 K2 and 48 SB28's.
In addition we also had a 5-element L-ISA system mounted within the projection screen at the back of stage. This system consisted of five arrays of six K1 distributed along the 80m width of the screen and mounted behind the projection scrim.
The L-ISA Control environment
The unusual element of the control system for this project was the implementation of two L-ISA environments in a single L-ISA controller session.
The objects at the top of the scene are routed to the 5-element L-ISA system within the projection screen. This consists mainly of sound effects objects and some pre-recorded dialog. The objects at the bottom of the scene are routed to the 6-element L-ISA system located at the front of the stage for the Royal Tribune. This system was used for music, vocals, live voice and any character-based dialog. The video below shows the placement of the groups of sources.
Audio control system
We used a mirrored pair of DiGiCo SD5 consoles with a pair of L-ISA Processors, one per console, connected using MADI. The signal distribution system consisted of multiple DiGiCo SD Racks for inputs and various Optocore network devices distributing the outputs to LA-Rack's around the venue.
Show Control Systems
We used a dual-redundant pair of Ovation systems by Merging Technologies operated by Steve Logan, probably the most experienced playback operator in the world. The system consists of a purpose-built Windows 10 computer running Ovation, the Horus audio interface delivering 128-channels via MADI, the Ovation keyboard, Avid Artist control surface and KVM per system.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The people and companies that made it happen.
A huge thanks Ian, Simon, Hamish, Nick and the whole team at Done + Dusted for involving us in this project. Congratulations on delivering a really amazing project that was a joy to deliver.
Our Client
The Audio system was designed by Scott Willsallen. Our team also included Justin Arthur on FOH, Steve Logan and Luis Miranda on replay, Martin Dineley on systems and Andy Rose sub-mixing the orchestra.
Our Team
Thanks to Andy Jackson and his team from Delta Sound Dubai for supplying, installing and maintaining the system for us including managing to make an 80-piece orchestra work in an outdoor environment.