2013: Part 2
LSO in Derry
As part of the 2013 City of Culture the London Symphony Orchestra was invited to perform in Derry. Their performance to a “standing room only” audience was acclaimed as a roaring success but it was not without its technical challenges in the preparation.
Derry does not have a suitable permanent concert hall and for the festival a temporary structure was erected to house some of the larger events – including the LSO performance in March. Part of the structure’s build requirement was to minimize external noise and so a “duvet” lined the roof, which made the internal acoustics very challenging. In order to perform at all the orchestra need to be able to hear themselves properly.
In their hour of need the LSO did not hesitate to call RNSS and we were straight out to assess the venue and the sound requirements. Richard felt strongly that the stage sound had to be improved in as natural a way as possible. Rather than approach it in a conventional way, he designed a completely standalone system that just dealt with the stage acoustic. Mics were hung above the platform and each was sent to its own discrete reverb processor. Delay times were calculated to provide early reflections similar to those found in the best concert halls whilst the reverb applied to each was coloured to match its function. Each mic went, via the processing, to an individual speaker also suspended overhead onstage. To make it even more challenging the Orchestra was scheduled for a two hour rehearsal directly before the show so there was no time to make correction.
The Orchestra was then close mic’d using predominantly DPA and Scheops microphones and mixed live into a flown L’acoustics KIVA system, complete with delay speakers to cover the rear seating. Because of the nature of the space Richard also designed a separate reverb system for the auditorium, using multiple speakers throughout the space. A TC M6000 was pressed into service and its outputs routed throughout the space to provide a truly natural acoustic feel.
Frank Strobel, conducting, was kind enough to announce after the soundcheck: ‘Although I can’t hear what it sounds like out there (in the auditorium) it sounds fantastic up here’. The audience confirmed their appreciation with a standing ovation at the end of the show.