Both concerts are outdoors, but pose different challenges for sound crews. Rock im Park's Zeppelinfeld has neighbouring residential areas so sound restrictions are a big consideration. Rock am Ring takes place at the world-famous Nürburgring racetrack, a narrow and very long audio field that requires a powerful, directional PA system to deliver the best coverage for an extended audience.
Premier event production services provider satis&fy AG created two distinct sound designs and system deployments, turning to L-Acoustics K1 to create a flagship system that was tailored to meet the very different coverage requirements and production constraints of each venue.
For Rock im Park promoter Marek Lieberberg, noise control was the key hurdle, as complaints from neighbours in past years had led to headline acts being restricted to 96dB at FOH. "There have always been issues with noise pollution at Rock im Park, and the council threatened to revoke the festival's permit, so in previous years sound was dialled down so much that the audience complained it was too quiet!" explains Johan Schreuder, Rock im Park sound engineer.
"Traditionally, the bands get a contract where it says they are allowed 96dB over a 10 minute period, which is really conservative for a rock show. They asked me if I could have a look at a solution to the problem, and using L-Acoustics, we were able to raise that to 100dB over 10 minutes.
"Because the venue is essentially a very wide field, with the mix position off to one side, Schreuder opted for a L/R four- hang system with 12 K1 per hang. As the venue is diamond shaped, L/L and R/R stacks were also positioned at 25m from the main PA, pointed directly outwards to the audience, not to the sides of the park. Fourty-eight SB28s, and 52 VDOSC enclosures were used for five delay towers, spread into two rows.
"Instead of using a classic large PA system to cover the entire audience, we divided the audience into smaller sections and deployed smaller systems," explains Schreuder. "This allowed us to ease up on the low sub capabilities of the system, meaning we didn't have to get too loud in the farfield. Then, we put up the first row of V-DOSC delays about 20-30 metres closer to the main rig than normal, raising them up and pointing them downwards to decrease noise overspill. Our SB28s were set up as cardioid to avoid the low frequencies infringing on the dBa ratings. We did a lot of measuring, and we discovered that if we let up on the bass, we were able to get quality sound without exploding the permit level."
In Nu?rburgring, Rock am Ring provided some totally different challenges. In a less residential area, noise was less of a problem, however, the venue is a massive race track requiring coverage amounting to 280 metres in length and 60m wide... a huge area to cater for. "It's a narrow audio path, and obviously very long, so we put up a throw arrangement: a L/R system with four K1-SB on top, which increases the height of the array, and allows greater energy to the back. We then had four V-DOSC arrays.
"K1 is just phenomenal, and has more dynamics and more low end in the backfield than any other system," reveals Arnd Wagner, long-time sound designer for Rock am Ring. "Because of K1's power and accurate long throw, we didn't need our first delay line until 75m; and then we had the rest positioned every 80m in stereo mode, until the end. V-DOSC gives you the low end in the delays too, so provides a consistency in sound - it's such a versatile box. For the sides, we opted for six Kudo."
(Jim Evan
