Thunersee, Switzerland - The perennial TiMax sojurn in the stunning Swiss lakeside setting featured the visual spectacle that is AIDA the Musical. Contemporised by Elton John and Tim Rice originally for a Broadway outing in 2001, the Thunersee production accessed a new dimension with sound design by the award-winning Tom Strebel and audiopool.
As in previous years, Strebel deployed the TiMax SoundHub and TiMax Tracker combination to bring vocal clarity and authenticity to the mammoth amphitheatre's audiences.
Strebel explains, "We simply cannot put on these Thun productions each year without TiMax SoundHub and Tracker. The audience is again and again enraptured with each performance and TiMax is a big part of the successful sound design that each year makes this event work."
Basel, Switzerland - Elsewhere in Switzerland, Strebel's Audiopool team again applied its TiMax dynamic delay-based magic to Basel's Military Tattoo for the ninth consecutive year. Triggered live by the operator, the distributed PA system's localised sound follows the path of the marching bands and soloists via moves drawn graphically in the TiMax Panspace effects programming screen.
The acts at this year's tattoo were as diverse as Australia's OzScot Dance and The Rats of Tobruk Memorial Pipes and Drums, Changxing Lotus Dragon Folklore Group from China and Singapore's Armed Forces band, alongside the more traditional Queen's colour Squadron and of course, the Swiss Highlanders.
Out Board's Robin Whittaker provided design and programming support on-site for both Swiss events.
Schwerin, Germany - Leading opera and theatre specialists Neumann & Muller filled Schwerin's open air stage with Verdi's Nabucco. Keeping a metaphorical lid on the acoustics and optimising speech intelligibility through consistent vocal localisation for the 1700-strong daily audiences, TiMax SoundHub and TiMax Tracker systems were a fundamental control element for the d&b Audiotechnik sound system.
Schwerin's Schlossfestspiele open air opera festival is staged at the heart of town, set against a backdrop of the magnificent castle and its gates.
Erfurt, Germany - The DomStufen-Festspiele also takes a stunning landmark for its setting, this time the 70-metre long staircase beside the impressive cathedral. This year the festival boasted an event of some distinction with the staging of a musical theatre version of the medieval morality play, Jedermann - rewritten by Peter Lund and newly composed by Wolfgang Bohner as a rock opera.
The show's high production values were matched by Neumann & Miller's sound design and audio infrastructure. Utilising TiMax Tracker and TiMax Soundhub systems vitally assisted the audio imaging of amplified vocals to sync with performers positions across the vast stage.
(Jim Evans)
