1. art and entertainment
2. theatre

LIVE SOUND
RECORDING
INSTALLATION
A/V
BROADCAST
POSTPRODUCTION
March–April 2015
SEEING STARS
The Theatre at Solaire Resort & Casino
brings Constellation to the Philippines
POWERSOFT
TURNS 20
KOREA’S
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Amadeus makes
itself heard in Seoul
Celebrating two
decades of innovation
UNITED BY DANTE
Audio-Technica, Biamp and Symetrix
collaborate with Dante Ultimo
Singapore: MICA (P) 012/05/2014
NEW 5 Series
DP544 Dynamic Audio Management
Sharpen up your act.
Surgically precise dynamic EQ. The new DP544.
Why tailor your audio with a blunt instrument, when you could use a precision tool? In addition to the diverse array of filtering you'd
expect of an XTA processor, the new DP544 offers multiple bands of dynamic EQ, subtly adapting your sound, only when required.
So you can say goodbye to EQ compromises, and hello to audio that’s great at all levels – wherever you’re operating.
www.xta.co.uk
FEATURES: INSTALLATION
The Theatre is fast becoming the centrepiece of the Solaire Resort & Casino
Seeing stars
The Theatre within Manila’s Solaire Resort & Casino has been
completed to spectacular effect, including a Meyer Sound
Constellation system, writes Bruce Borgeson
BILLED AS A ‘HARBINGER OF THE FUTURE’,
the new Theatre at Solaire Resort & Casino in
Manila’s expanding Entertainment City complex
has earned instant acclaim for bringing
Àrstclass amenities and cXttingedge theatre
technology to aXdiences in the 3hilippines
$lthoXgh perhaps too isolated to forecast a
trend or place any bets the new seat
YenXe ² which celebrated its grand opening in
late 1oYember ² may portend a gradXal shift in
$sia’s gamingrelated entertainment indXstry
away from near total dominance by MacaX
The Theatre at Solaire is the centrepiece of
the recently laXnched SNy Tower of Solaire
Resort & Casino a 8S billionplXs proMect
operated by Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels,
,nc, phase one of which preYioXsly featXred
in Pro Audio Asia’s 1oYember'ecember
edition $lthoXgh Manila’s modest
Entertainment City falls short of the fabled
Cotai Strip in size and scope, with The Theatre
at Solaire, at least it is moving into the same
realm of technical excellence
¶TrXth be told, ,’d have to say it’s the most
advanced theatre in the 3hilippines,’ states
Shax Siasoco, technical director for the venXe
¶,t might be prematXre to maNe claims aboXt
competing with MacaX, bXt we expect to attract
more international attention $nd certainly
with the Constellation system, we can offer the
optimXm acoXstical environment for any type of
performance’
The Constellation reference is to the
sophisticated system of active acoXstics
from Meyer SoXnd, and it’s a featXre that
distingXishes The Theatre at Solaire from
nearly all similar venXes in the region ,t is
100 PRO AUDIO ASIA March²$pril Left and right hangs of Mica line array
enclosures provide the main reinforcement
Technical director Shax Siasoco
only the Àfth general performance venXe in
$sia ² the Àrst being a smaller hall at .orea’s
'ongseo 8niversity ² to have the architectXral
acoXstics, active electronic acoXstics and
direct reinforcement system all designed from
the oXtset as an integrated whole The ¶general
performance’ caveat exclXdes a few theatrical
spectacXlars in which Constellation served a
somewhat different pXrpose
¶,ntegrating active acoXstics and 3$ design
into a constrXction proMect from the earliest
design phases is still a relatively new concept,’
says Bob McCarthy, director of system
optimisation at Meyer SoXnd ¶The beneÀts
are signiÀcant and farreaching 1ow we Ànally
have the dream of a trXe mXltipXrpose hall,
withoXt compromises $t Solaire, we have none
of the sXrfaces introdXced to generate early
reÁections for stage soXnd, a featXre that only
caXses problems for ampliÀed soXnd There is
no tonal modiÀcation from sXrfaces aroXnd the
main arrays, so we have sXperclear, Xniform,
and XncoloXred reprodXction’
The entire theatre technology pacNage was
designed and speciÀed by /as 9egas and Hong
.ongbased Coherent 'esign with principals
'avid StarcN and .evin 3otts worNing in
consXltation with theatre design architects
$edas :orldwide Singapore ofÀce Coherent’s
Mr StarcN also designed the room’s physical
acoXstics as well as the direct reinforcement
system, the latter in consXltation with Mr
McCarthy Mr StarcN’s liaison with the proMect
owners and other contractors was via an
independent constrXction management team,
worNing on behalf of the owners, that was
headed by Marc 3alaroan with 'ale SchXlz
acting as the proMect manager for technical
systems
‘I was familiar with Constellation from several
spectacle shows in MacaX,’ says Mr ShXlz, who
is now Solaire’s technology director ‘However,
nobody in top management here had heard it
before, so there was some initial scepticism
They wanted a Áexible theatre bXt they were not
sXre how to achieve it :hen Constellation was
proposed by Coherent for the proMect, I had to
pXt my repXtation on the line, and fortXnately I
was fXlly sXpported by Marc 3alaroan It wasn’t
Xntil the system was installed and tXned that
they were convinced it was the right way to go,
bXt since then it’s become a prime calling card
of the venXe’
A view underneath the wide balcony
$s a starting point for acoXstics, Mr StarcN
targeted a reverberation time of approximately
s ‘I worNed with the architects early on
to maNe sXre their design avoided reÁective
sXrfaces and also coXld accommodate an
enormoXs amoXnt of absorption,’ he notes ‘2n
FEATURES: INSTALLATION
completion we measured the room
at under 1s when empty, and likely
somewhat less than that when full.’
Working within this favourable
acoustical milieu, the Meyer Sound
Constellation team devised an
active system solution for supplying
variable acoustics with a uniform
and completely natural response
throughout the auditorium. A total
of 63 ambient microphones (16
compact cardioid, 16 mini omni and
31 mini gooseneck cardioid) are
placed over and around the stage
and seating areas, with signals
feeding a D-Mitri digital audio
platform hosting the patented VRAS
acoustical algorithms.
the supervision of Marvic Ramos.
‘The AVLS crew did an excellent
job, working alongside the Meyer
Sound and Coherent personnel,’
notes Solaire’s Dale Schulz. ‘We feel
fortunate to have their talent and
expertise available here locally.’
For Bob McCarthy, The Theatre at
Solaire marks yet another turning
point in his storied career as an audio
system design consultant and tuning
specialist whose credits range from
the Harpa concert hall in Iceland
to more than 10 Cirque du Soleil
productions. ‘This is a benchmark
installation for me,’ he maintains.
‘I can recall no other project where
the architectural acoustics, active
acoustics and PA were so fully
and seamlessly integrated from
the outset. This room is ready
for anything from symphonies to
musicals to full-on rock concerts, and
with acoustics that are ready to go
and fully intuitive to the user.’
Mr McCarthy is particularly pleased
by the absolute neutrality of the
room, with no coloration of the
reinforced sound from surfaces in
Mica line arrays form the main
FOH system
At the front of the balcony
On the output side, for introducing
calculated early reÁections and
late reverberations into the space,
Constellation employs a total of 213
small Meyer Sound self-powered
loudspeakers (55 Stella-4C, 41
Stella-8C, 93 MM-4XP, 24 UPJuniorXP) along with 16 UMS-SMXP
compact subwoofers to extend the
reverberation envelope to the lowest
octaves. The loudspeakers receive
DC power (for the ampliÀers) and
balanced audio signals over a single
Àve-conductor cable from 28 remote
power supply/signal distribution
units.
‘We left them with about a dozen
basic presets,’ says Coherent’s David
Starck, ‘to work with everything
from hard rock – basically off – to
jazz, pop, symphonic and Broadway
shows. For demonstration purposes,
we also left them with an extremely
long ‘cathedral’ setting. Additionally,
we gave them the option to route
console outputs into the system for
special surround effects if desired.’
To accommodate the broad range
of performance requirements
with complementary ampliÀed
reinforcement, Mr Starck and
Mr McCarthy speciÀed a system
anchored by dual main arrays of
Meyer Sound’s Mica line array
loudspeakers. A single UPQ-2P
loudspeaker supplies centre-Àll, six
UPM-1XP loudspeakers provide frontÀll, and a centre Áown directional
array of six 1100-LFC low-frequency
control elements reproduces the
lowest bass octaves. The Galileo
Callisto loudspeaker management
system takes care of loudspeaker
drive and optimisation.
Both the Constellation and direct
reinforcement systems were supplied
and installed by All Visual & Lights
Systems (AVLS) of Manila, under
Acoustic treatment within The Theatre
Meyer boxes firing down from
the balcony
proximity to the loudspeaker arrays.
‘The beauty of it is how the clarity
of the direct sound is unchallenged
by the room, so you can simply dial
in as much spatiality as you want.
You never lose control of the direct
sound, regardless of the amount of
acoustical ambience you decide to
introduce into the space.’
Although The Theatre at Solaire has
ample facilities for accommodating
front-of-house gear on touring
productions, the in-house equipment
roster should prove rider-friendly
for most international visitors.
The FOH console is a Yamaha
CL5 with 96 inputs. The house
wireless microphone system is
102 PRO AUDIO ASIA March–April 2015
The Theatre’s upper balcony
built around Shure ULXD4Q quad
channel digital receivers paired
with either handheld transmitters
(with Beta 58 heads) or body-pack
transmitters normally equipped with
DPA headset microphones. The full
complement of wired microphones
includes popular models from AKG,
Audio-Technica, DPA, Sennheiser
and Shure. The intercom system
encompasses both wired digital and
wireless options from Clear-Com.
The Theatre’s audio capabilities
were showcased for the Philippine
press and special guests at a gala
grand opening celebration on
November 26th, 2014. With popular
Philippine entertainer (and now
Solaire’s director of entertainment)
Audie Gemora serving as host,
the evening’s festivities included
a parade of well-known Filipino
artists and ensembles presenting
everything from opera and
orchestral music to OPM
(Original Pilipino Music), pop
and Broadway hits.
At one point in the program,
maestro Gerard Salonga left his
podium in front of the ABS-CBN
symphony orchestra and invited
trumpeter Robert de Pano to the
front of the stage. Midway through
the trumpet solo, the Constellation
system was turned off, and then
back on. ‘You could see the
audience react with astonishment,’
recalls Solaire’s Dale Schulz. ‘It was
a satisfying moment for all those
involved in the project.’
It was also a vindication for Mr
Starck, who Àrst proposed the
new technology. ‘Solaire’s top
Behind the FOH position
management really had no idea
what they were getting,’ he reports.
‘You can explain it conceptually,
but you don’t really get it until you
experience it in the room, and hear
the difference when it’s off and on.
That’s when people who don’t have
an in-depth knowledge of acoustics
understand what they have, and
usually you’ll see their faces light up
with delight.’
The Àrst show booked for The
Theatre was an international tour of
the hit Broadway musical Chicago,
which took to the stage for a three
week run in December 2014.
According to technical director Shax
Siasoco, The Theatre is largely
booked through 2015. Though some
bookings have yet to be Ànalised,
the mix of shows looks to be about
80 per cent Filipino acts and 20 per
cent international touring shows,
with limited runs of Singin’ in the
Rain, Sister Act, and Saturday Night
Fever tentatively scheduled.
Morever, according to Dale Schulz,
The Theatre at Solaire may soon be
adding yet another enticement to
attract the world’s premier musical
tours. ‘Right now we only have
Constellation in the auditorium, but
we’re already considering adding
the virtual orchestral shell to the
stage area,’ he says. ‘We’ve already
started the process, and perhaps
soon we’ll be able to book a tour
stop of the Berlin Philharmonic
between a Broadway show and an
OPM pop concert.’
www.meyersound.com
www.solaireresort.com