The 300-seat Baby Grand is an intimate venue, which hosts a variety of different performances and features many small independent musical acts. Its stage stretches 56ft, and has a proscenium arch opening that measures approximately 36ft wide by 17ft high. The Baby Grand and The Grand combine to draw approximately 100,000 people to their shows each year.
The Baby Grand's configuration made the installation team's job challenging. Howard Fulton, audio engineer for the Grand Opera House, explained that horizontal coverage was difficult because the Baby Grand's seating area is wider than its proscenium.
"The Technical Applications Group at Community was instrumental in verifying the room response," said Fulton. "Based on the information we collected, they recommended specific loudspeakers and their placement. They also supplied the basic tuning data for each of the different devices which we entered into the Sabine Navigator. The settings were so accurate that only minor changes were needed when the installation was complete."
The installation team set out to cover the entire Baby Grand with quality sound. They used two i2W8 loudspeakers from Community Professional as stage-rail fill speakers. Two clusters, with two iHP-3594 three-way loudspeakers apiece, were hung on the left and right side of the proscenium to service the main audience area.
The team also used two iHP1296 loudspeakers as stage monitors, and a pair of TLF218 subwoofers to augment low frequencies for the entire audience. In addition, the system features a 40 channel Soundcraft K2 mixing console with meter bridge, located in a booth at the back of the house.
Fulton observes: "The i2W8 loudspeaker is an amazing and versatile full-range device in a compact package. The 120 degree horizontal dispersion and low profile make it ideal for stage-rail placement to warm up the first three rows. It also works well as a stage monitor when a wide area needs to be covered. I have a second pair mounted to the ceiling of a 2500sq.ft lobby. These are used as a full-range PA for pre-show performances by local music students."
Since the installation was completed in September 2009, visitors to the Baby Grand have enjoyed the improved intelligibility and better, more even, horizontal coverage.
(Jim Evans)
