Celebrating the Reformation far and wide
Celebrating the Reformation far and wide
Germany:
On 31 October 1517, it is said that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church, laying the groundwork for the formation of the Protestant Church; the Reformation. To mark the 500th anniversary of this event, celebrations were held across Germany, including a festival at Stuttgart’s Schlossplatz square, which drew a crowd of 8,000 people and was dubbed Das Festival: Da ist Freiheit (There is Freedom).
PML Veranstaltungstechnik was engaged as the rental company charged with providing a sound solution for Da ist Freiheit. This presented several challenges due to shape of the square and the number of activities taking place. ‘The entire Schlossplatz was filled with various stands as well as two additional small stages,’ recalls Berthold Blocher from PML Veranstaltungstechnik. ‘A lot of other activities were happening while the ecumenical festival on the main stage was also taking place and we had to be considerate of that fact with the main stage’s sound reinforcement system.’
Mr Blocher and his team conducted system alignment using Smaart software; however, there was no chance for a sound check because of the activities in the square. Despite this, speech intelligibility was of high importance, as addresses were given by the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, and the regional bishop. ‘We had to evenly cover an audience width of approximately 96m plus a throw of 50m from the main stage to the front-of-house tower,’ notes Mr Blocher.
PML Veranstaltungstechnik ultimately deployed a TW Audio system for sound reinforcement, comprising 12 per side hangs of Vera36 cabinets with a near-fill system formed of 24 Vera20 elements, also flown 12 per side. Front-fill was delivered by eight T20 enclosures, while side-fill was catered for by a pair of T24Ns. Handling low end were eight S33 and 12 BSX subwoofers. C15 wedges were employed for monitoring. The setup was powered by nine Lab.gruppen 20KQ amplifiers and four Powersoft K3 units. Meanwhile, four Lab.gruppen 12K44s drove the monitors.
‘Because no soundcheck was possible, it was great to be able to align the system before the festival began, although my experience with TW Audio meant that I knew precisely what to expect,’ reveals Mr Blocher. ‘Although the width of the venue was worrying to begin with, the system performed flawlessly and we were very happy.’
www.pml-veranstaltungstechnik.de
www.twaudio.de
PML Veranstaltungstechnik was engaged as the rental company charged with providing a sound solution for Da ist Freiheit. This presented several challenges due to shape of the square and the number of activities taking place. ‘The entire Schlossplatz was filled with various stands as well as two additional small stages,’ recalls Berthold Blocher from PML Veranstaltungstechnik. ‘A lot of other activities were happening while the ecumenical festival on the main stage was also taking place and we had to be considerate of that fact with the main stage’s sound reinforcement system.’
Mr Blocher and his team conducted system alignment using Smaart software; however, there was no chance for a sound check because of the activities in the square. Despite this, speech intelligibility was of high importance, as addresses were given by the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, and the regional bishop. ‘We had to evenly cover an audience width of approximately 96m plus a throw of 50m from the main stage to the front-of-house tower,’ notes Mr Blocher.
PML Veranstaltungstechnik ultimately deployed a TW Audio system for sound reinforcement, comprising 12 per side hangs of Vera36 cabinets with a near-fill system formed of 24 Vera20 elements, also flown 12 per side. Front-fill was delivered by eight T20 enclosures, while side-fill was catered for by a pair of T24Ns. Handling low end were eight S33 and 12 BSX subwoofers. C15 wedges were employed for monitoring. The setup was powered by nine Lab.gruppen 20KQ amplifiers and four Powersoft K3 units. Meanwhile, four Lab.gruppen 12K44s drove the monitors.
‘Because no soundcheck was possible, it was great to be able to align the system before the festival began, although my experience with TW Audio meant that I knew precisely what to expect,’ reveals Mr Blocher. ‘Although the width of the venue was worrying to begin with, the system performed flawlessly and we were very happy.’
www.pml-veranstaltungstechnik.de
www.twaudio.de