David DaviesA recent celebratory event in MachuPicchu – which is regarded as one ofthe New Seven Wonders of the World– featured a DiGiCo SD8 digital mixing console and Meyer Sound loudspeakers at the core of the audio specification.

To celebrate the 100-year anniver-sary of Machu Picchu’s rediscovery byNorth American adventurer and archae-ologist Hiram Bingham, the city held aspectacular show involving dance,lights, fireworks and music.

Andrés Cuadros and GuillermoRiera, owners of rental company RedPower, provided sound and lightingequipment for the event.

The 15th century Inca site is locat-ed around 2,430m above sea levelFirst, so Cuadros and Riera had toarrange transport for the sizeable production inventory – including 24Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeak-ers, the SD8, more than 100 lightingdevices, two lighting consoles, andfour 200kW generators – by train and

truck to a staging area near the site.From there, most loudspeakers andlights had to be carried by local work-ers, sometimes more than 500m, upsteep slopes and often through pelt-ing downpours.

The Meyer Sound complementcomprised 10 UPQ-1P loudspeakers

and four 500-HP subwoofers for FOHand effects systems, 10 UM-1P stagemonitors for foldback, and a Galileoloudspeaker management system withone Galileo 616 processor.

“The Meyer Sound self-powered sys-tems are the ideal solution for applica-tions like this,” insists Cuadros.

“Because of their sound quality, versa-tility and reliability, we didn’t have todeal with heavy amp racks, and we couldmake the most of the limited setup timeunder extremely difficult conditions.The SD8, with its versatility, compactform factor and ease of transportationalso played an integral part here.”

“The producers were thrilled by thesound quality, and they were equallypleased by how quickly and easily thesystem was put in place and removed,”concludes Cuadros.

Festivities included a reenactmentof Machu Picchu’s history, accompa-nied by spectacular lighting effectsand a pre-recorded soundtrack, as pre-sented by a cast of 200 under thedirection of renowned Peruvian filmdirector Luis Llosa. A concert by musi-cians of the Andean SymphonyOrchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonicadel Cusco featuring guest vocalistTania Libertad wrapped up the his-toric occasion. Qwww.digico.orgwww.meyersound.com

live 35October 2011 ! www.prosoundnewseurope.com

fStefano Carboni, FOH engi-neer since 2006 with Italiancontemporary classic pianist/

composer Giovanni Allevi, explainshis mic placement to meet the artist’srequests on the Italian leg of his Alienworld tour, which visited some of thecountry’s most spectacular monu-ments. “He wants top-grade sound –classic, very smooth, never aggressiveon the high notes, with a full-bodiednatural bottom end – all at quite highvolumes. DPA 4021s are among themost suited to amplifying classicalinstruments, ensuring precision andextremely linear frequency response,no matter what the dynamics of themusic. Allevi’s music can vary from

an almost inaudible pianissimo to afortissimo with a full orchestra.”!

Carboni’s placement features one4021 in the tail, in the area of the bassstrings, and another at the centre,more or less at the height of thebentside curve, in the middle of thesound board (both mounted onFlamingo active floor stands).

“The tail mic does about 70% of thework and is extremely precise, not onlyin the low range, but also the rest ofthe frequencies.!The other adds a touchof ‘freshness’ and definition in the mid-high zone, and a bit of naturalreverb.! If, for broadcast reasons,Giovanni plays with the lid closed orremoved, two more 4021 are mount-

ed with magnetic bases on the sound-board – and, in spite of being so closeto the strings, they’ve astonishing soft-ness and definition.”

On his first outing with a DiGiCoSD11, Carboni enthused: “The sound’sexcellent, the preamps and EQ workvery well and I’ve everything I need onone layer. Considering the locations,having a small console with such highquality and Cat5 signal transport solveda lot of problems. Sound reinforcementin these contexts is quite basic –ancient Greeks and Romans knew therules of acoustics better than manypresent-day architects and engineers!”!

Audio contractor BH Audio fromSan Giuseppe (Ferrara), which hasbeen in the trade since 1979 and is aspecialist in acoustic music, fielded ad&b T-Series rig. The company’sMassimo Carli adds: “I chose them

because they’re compact and could berapidly adapted to suit the wide vari-ety of venues – many were classifiedmonuments, with no designs, oftenno flying possibilities and seats roundboth sides of the stage.

We had up to 12 T10 and two T-SUB ready to fly per side, but at theTaormina Greek Theatre (built in3BC) we had to stack the T10 and usefour B4 subs we also had on tour withus on the stage. We used an iPad witha VNC to control a laptop running R1 remote control software and an R70 Ethernet to CAN interface,which in turn remote controlled theenclosures’ processors.

The T-Series are very neutral andnatural – almost like studio monitors –so the grand piano sounds just like itshould, not like an electric instrument,as happens with other PAs.” Qwww.bhaudio.itwww.dbaudio.comwww.digico.bizwww.dpamicrophones.com

A d&b T-Series rig was used alongside DPA 4021s

Stefano Carboni: The DiGiCo SD11 ‘solved a lot of problems’

Andrés Cuadros’ Red Power supplied sound and lighting kit for the event

DPA mics and d&b T-Series on piano ace’s monumental concerts, writes Mike Clark

Piano and forteITALY

Tales of wonder for DiGiCo and Meyer PERU

PSNE Oct P27-39 Live 3JRDR_D 04/10/2011 12:33 Page 35