Harman JBL CBT loudspeakers and Soundcraft Si expression console installed by Upstage Theatre Supplies in 540 seat auditorium
Established in 1991 as an innovative state funded City Technology College, Brooke Weston Academy in Corby has a high reputation for academic achievement. Built on land donated by local land owner Hugh de Capell Brooke, and supported by Garry Weston, owner of Associated British Foods, in 2008 the school became an Academy. Although 22 years is relatively short in the life of a building, it is light years in the evolution of sound technology. And so school principal, Trish Stringer, recently ordered that the sound system in their flagship 540-seat purpose-built Weston Theatre be upgraded to improve coverage.
AV & Theatre Technician, Peter Jackson, who has been at the school since 1993, certainly had no objection, and became part of the tender process which resulted in Leicester-based Upstage Theatre Supplies being awarded the contract.
Set up 14 years ago by David Brooks, Upstage specified an integrated Harman Professional solution, supported by Sound Technology, UK & Eire distributors of the brand portfolio.
With raked, retractable seating to allow for a reconfigurable flat floor, and the requirement to partition off the front areas for smaller groups in more intimate learning environments, Upstage was alerted to JBL’s versatile CBT70J-1 Constant Beamwidth Technology™ loudspeaker. This represents a breakthrough in pattern control consistency, utilising complex analogue delay beam-forming and amplitude tapering to accomplish superior, consistent vertical coverage.
One pair down each side operate as stand-alone full range speakers while another pair — wall mounted at the bottom of the raked seating — is combined with CBT70JE-1’s; these double length columns provide additional bass response, extended pattern control, and increased sound output levels.
Further down — in front of the stage is a large 12ft x 9ft retractable video screen — are two of the smaller wall-mounted CBT50LA-1 columns, which tend to be used for soundtrack reproduction at film showings. A floor-mounted PRX618X-XLF powered subwoofer can also be switched in and out at will. Four scene sets are stored in a dbx 1261M 12x6 Zone Processor (with ZC8 rotary zone controller).
Via the presets the Academy can activate various soundscapes for everything from morning assembly to stage presentations, and third party gatherings ranging from the Women's Institute meetings to conferences.
Crown XTi 4002, 2002 and 1002 amplifiers power the system and handle the processing internally, while up in the control room, a Soundcraft Si Expression 2 24-input mixing desk, with Mini Stage Box 32 (providing 32 analogue inputs and 8 analogue line outputs with four pairs of AES outputs) has replaced the former analogue desk.
Peter Jackson says this solution meets all criteria for flexibility from a discreet column system functioning as a vertical line array — which is far more elegant than the previous highly visible black boxes — and praised Sound Technology’s Danny Kyte, for the wisdom of his product selection and subsequent proof of concept, which immediately convinced the school.
This was confirmed by Jackson himself. “I was requested to update a system that had become tired after 20 years — and the look and the style were almost as important as the sound quality and flexibility. Upstage proposed the JBL solution and Sound Technology gave a fantastic onsite demonstration.
“The old system wouldn't provide even coverage into all four corners — and at the back of the stage you couldn't hear. Aside from improving the coverage pattern we also needed to ensure that our handheld radio mics would work without feedback when used in front of the speakers — and we now have 99% feedback rejection.
“As for the Soundcraft console, we have a 32 channel analogue desk as part of a fully-equipped music department but this was our chance to bring digital into the building.”
Nevertheless David Brooks’ team only had a four-week installation window since the school operates a five-term policy, and the new Autumn term was looming. But the fit-out couldn’t have gone more smoothly, he said.
If the installation had been 100% straightforward, then the operation and set-up times for the respective performances matches this. While the old mixing desk has been repurposed, the new Si Expression 2 will accommodate all their mic inputs and handle monitor mixes at the stage with a total capacity of 66 channels (via the expansion cards).
“What’s really cool is the iPad [Soundcraft’s ViSi Remote which allows wireless remote control of the desk from an iPad] as we can operate mics while in rehearsal and can control from the auditorium. We can also bring the desk into the auditorium because the mixer is on Cat 5 and we have two 16/4 analogue snakes.”
The dbx Zone Controller enables the school to access the four different scene sets — which had been part of the original brief.
“Whichever set up we use I have a mixer set-up ready to go. Whether we are staging a musical showcase, or playing out from line devices such as DVD, TV, CD or computer the clarity and quality of the sound is superb — as has been the after-sales service from Sound Technology,” says Peter Jackson.
The system was commissioned by Ben Todd, Head of Sound Technology’s Project Team, and the result is a slick, intuitive system installation that will see Brooke Weston well into the future.
For more information please contact Sound Technology Ltd on 01462 480000, www.soundtech.co.uk, info@soundtech.co.uk
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