Consultants to the Arts and Culture
ROYAL EDINBURGH MILITARY TATTOO 2023
We were engaged by the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo as the Sound Designers for the 2023 edition of the event which has been running since 1950 on the Esplanade in front of the spectacular Edinburgh Castle.
The technology behind the Tattoo featured in the Tattoo Tech episode of BBC Click.
MAIN LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM
The loudspeaker system consisted of a main stereo system of L-Acoustics Kara II for primary coverage for the theatre. In addition we added L-Acoustics 5XT and Syva front fill systems for localisation to the performers and hosts onstage.
CASTLE LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM
A pair of L-Acoustics K2 ground stacks and KS28 subwoofers were deployed either side of the drawbridge on the gatehouse to provide localisation for the opening fanfare and the entrance of the massed pipes and drums.
AUDIO CONTROL SYSTEM
The audio control system consisted of a pair of dual engine DiGiCo Quantum 7 consoles, one at FOH and one in the band room for monitors.
A dual redundant pair of Qlab replay systems were used for backing tracks, clicks, voice cues and time code. Signal was distributed using a dual redundant pair of Optocore networks delivering AES to the amplifiers.
TiMax SoundHub was programmed with the movements of the cast to time code. The tracking system was used as a programming tool to understand the movement of the players and inform the programming process.
STAGE SYSTEMS
The stage band provides accompaniment to many of the acts and allows the use of some electronic instrumentation that’s too bulky to deploy on the esplanade.
The band were located in a separate room with a dedicated console to provide sub-mixes to the FOH console and provide monitoring to the band and performers in the show.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The people and companies that made it happen.
A huge thanks to Michael, Ed and Harry from REMT for inviting us into the Tattoo family and to the rest of the creative team for welcoming us in our first year.
Our Client
The system was designed by Scott Willsallen and Ethan Curry with editing support from Joe Callister. Toby Chester and Martin Dineley are the mix engineers for the show.
Our Team
Our thanks to Solotech for supplying, installing and maintaining the system for us and thanks to James for leading the team onsite.