Intended primarily as a development and performance space for dance, the £3.3m Bournemouth Borough Council and Arts Council England project had to be able to host an array of events, including interactive workshops, film showings, conferences, theatre and live music. This is a not-uncommon demand nowadays, to maximise a venue's incoming revenue and make the most of the investment. A Yamaha DME64N was chosen to allow Pavilion Dance's audio system to be used for a range of purposes, yet keeping it very simple to operate.
The venue is located in a formerly-disused part of the town's Pavilion Theatre. Because of its listed status, nothing could be attached directly to the building's fabric. The solution - chosen by theatre consultant Andy Stone of Bracknell-based Drama By Design, supplied and installed by specialist contractor Audio Light Systems of Edinburgh - was to install a ground-supported truss system, from which all the equipment and cabling were hung.
As well as the DME64N, the audio system features a wide selection of Yamaha equipment. This includes an LS9-32 mixing console, RX V2065 Cinema Processor, two BD-S1900 Blu-ray players, CD600 multiplay CD unit, MSP5 control room monitors, MLA8 and MG16 mixers.
The DME64N allows the entire audio system - which also features an L-C-R front of house PA plus subs, surround cinema speakers and onstage monitors - to be reconfigured for any use in seconds.
"It was very important that anyone could use the system," says Andy Stone. "So we specified the DME for system control and processing, with Crestron touch screens, allowing the entire rig to be configured for different uses with a simple touch on the screen.
(Jim Evans)
