Consultants to the Arts and Culture
CLUSTERS OF LIGHT
Sharjah, UAE - 2014 and Cairo, Egypt - 2015
The Sharjah Media Centre commissioned the immersive piece of theatre to be created and performed to celebrate the opening of the Al Majaz Amphitheatre, a new outdoor venue in Sharjah. A year later the performance toured to a stadium venue in Cairo, Egypt. The video is a highlights package of the Sharjah production.
Loudspeaker system
The first production of Clusters of Light was staged in the Al Majaz Amphitheatre in Sharjah, UAE. This was an immersive show prior to immersive being a thing, but our design was always based on the venue layout and the visual impact of the 40m wide projection screen. It was important to provide localisation to the sound design content on the projection separate to the music and vocals which must localise to the case onstage.
Our design consisted of three systems: a main music system mounted into the front edge of stage with a delay ring, an LCR system mounted to the top of the projection wall and a 16-channel surround system mounted around the perimeter of the venue. The venue in Cairo was completely different but we used the same concept of three systems and modified them to suit the larger stadium venue.
Audio control system
In Sharjah and Cairo we used a dual-engine DiGiCo SD7 console for FOH and monitor mixing. The signal distribution system consisted of multiple SD racks and Optocore network devices distributed around the venue to collect inputs and feed the amplifiers.
Audio replay system
In Sharjah we used Pyramix for the audio replay system operated by Corrado Campanelli, and in Cairo we upgraded to the Ovation platform, operated by Luis Miranda, which provides far more precision in dealing with variable elements of a show.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The people and companies that made it happen.
A huge thanks to Richard, Hai and Stella for inviting us to be involved in this project and congratulations to the Multiple and Spinifex team for delivering a beautiful piece of theatre.
Our Client
The Audio system was designed by Scott Willsallen. Our Sharjah team included Ian Shapcott on FOH, Corrado Campaneli on replay and Ian Cooper on systems. Our Cairo team included Richard Sharratt on FOH, Luis Miranda on replay and Shannon Gobell as technical manager.
Our Team
Thanks to Andy Jackson and his team from PRG Delta Sound for supplying, installing and maintaining the system for us.