This year as last, the festival's sound production was the responsibility of a team from rental company MSE Tontechnik. As well as the variety of the acts performing, the medieval venue - a 60 x 20m courtyard - also posed challenges for the crew of technicians. "It's no easy matter here," commented MSE chief Johannes Schilling, "to deliver sufficient information in the midrange and high-frequency area, as well as a clear bass foundation to the furthest rows."
MSE Tontechnik's specialists were, however, familiar with the problem from previous events. "The compact XLVC line-array system with XLD281 loudspeakers from Electro-Voice is ideal for the purpose," Schilling says. "It also carries long distances. In this case, the furthest row was over 60 metres away, yet, even there, the sound was powerful and precise." The quality of the projection, in fact, was something that startled other sound engineers attending the event. "They were amazed also at how much bass pressure the eight-inch woofers of the twenty-four XLD enclosures were able to generate," he added.
For their main PA, the MSE Tontechnik crew opted for 12 flown EV XLD281 array modules per side, with nearfield coverage provided by four EV T221M loudspeakers. EV Xi-1152/64F loudspeakers served as outfills; twelve EV Xsubs reinforced the bass.
(Jim Evans)
