It was clear from the outset that enormous technical and logistical challenges would have to be overcome to make the event a success - in particular the sound quality with opera purists lining up to criticize an operatic performance that utilised radio microphones and amplification.
Fortunately this open-air production of Verdi's La Traviata has opened to much acclaim by critics and whilst Brian Thomson's open, sloping, diamond-shaped stage with its scene-stealing 9m x 9m crystal chandelier has grabbed initial attention, the sound quality has been universally praised.
Sound designer Tony David Cray, along with the team from audio provider Norwest Productions, has pulled off a coup with well-balanced sound engineering. The result is a lush soundscape that is an expertly mixed blend of instruments and voice with microphones picking up the full colour of the score from the orchestra and revealing extra detail in the vocals.
The main PA is an Adamson main line array consisting of six Y18 and four Y10 boxes flown either side of the stage with directional cardioid subwoofers positioned on a deck to deliver the low end. As the PA towers are 60m apart, a stack of three Y18 boxes are positioned at each side of the stage for additional fill.
In-fill for the middle front is delivered by a pair of Y10 boxes, in a left/right arrangement in front of the stage with a pair of subwoofers positioned in front of the sea wall, and time delayed.
At the finger tips of Tony is a 96-channel Digidesign D-Show console using a variety of inbuilt plug-ins plus additional reverbs and effects taking place outboard on a MacPro and a TC System6000 reverb unit. To assist in the limited rehearsal period a 96ch Pyramix multitrack record system was used so that virtual sound checks could take place without the talent being present and this also helped tidy up scene changes which were in excess of 165.
Norwest spent three days testing, commissioning, equalizing and time aligning the system with a combination of Smaart 7, recorded music and a few keen ears.
Monitor engineer John Watterson, who mixed on a Digico D5T audio console probably had the hardest job of the event with 16 individual in-ear monitor mixes, six monitor loudspeaker mixes and sixteen sub group mixes for the orchestra. As well as the technical side of the job, he also had much human interaction as the majority of the performers had never used in ear monitors before. John spent a lot of time getting the confidence of the cast to make them all happy.
Several weeks of rehearsals allowed the performers' familiarity with in-ear monitors, the 12 principals have custom moulds by Ear Monitors Australia and the 40 chorus-members rely on Shure SE115 earphones.
DPA 4060 omni directional head worn microphones were the microphone of choice. The two microphones on each principal performer are split into a Rational Acoustics Smaart 7 sound system measurement system, so that Norwest can check that each of the two DPA microphones is performing to specification prior to each performance.
Norwest's radio-supremo Steve Caldwell monitored and measured the frequency spectrum. There are over 60 RF channels in use, consisting of 45 channels of Shure UR series radio mic in use spread across two adjoining bands. Added to that are 16 transmit channels of Sennheiser IEM furnishing 52 receive packs. All radio microphone receivers are fed from a single pair of newly released high-performance tapered helical antennas from RFVenue, and IEM transmitters are fed through two custom weatherproof stainless log-periodic antennas.
"Working with Norwest has been an absolute treat, they have been awesome," commented Tony
