Date: January 2007

DIGICO D1S HAVE A BALL AT SECRET POLICEMAN’S REVIVAL

Reviving an Amnesty International fundraiser that last took place 15 years ago, on 14th October The Secret Policeman's Ball comedy and music event was dusted down and given a 21st century airing at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Co-ordinated by comedian Eddie Izzard, comedy performers included Izzard himself, Richard E. Grant, Chevy Chase, Russell Brand, Jon Culshaw, Al Murray, Jo Brand and The Mighty Boosh. Music came from The Zutons, The Magic Numbers and Natalie Imbruglia. The show also featured animations highlighting global political issues, while actor Jeremy Irons spoke about the work of Amnesty International.

Regular Albert Hall audio contractor Sound By Design was responsible for fulfilling all in-house audio requirements, with the company’s pair of DiGiCo D1 Live consoles forming a key part of the system. One was used as the main Front of House console, with the other on monitors.

“The show featured bands and sketches on the main stage, with stand-up on a satellite stage in the arena,” says Sound By Design’s Phil Wright. “We built an in-the-round PA for the arena stage, and drove that from additional matrix outputs on the FOH D1. The main stage system was driven via LR to a system rack which controlled the main Meyer Sound M2D/M1D FOH PA at the stage end.”

Because of the show’s varied line-up and content, the FOH D1 was running 48 channels of band mics, 24 channels of wireless mics and eight stereo playbacks. The monitor console was running 48 channels.

“The big advantages of using the DiGiCo consoles at a show like this are the footprint and the audio processing capabilities,” says Phil. “96 channels in a loggia box seven feet wide - nothing else could even come close!”

He continues: “The snapshots feature was also vital, since once we started rehearsal we didn’t stop and there was a lot to do. Each act, whether it was a band or sketch had a snapshot, so I had a starting place with each act mapped out.”

The four hour show was recorded for television and DVD, while there was also a series of ‘cinecasts’ with it being shown live in 17 major cinemas throughout the UK. The wireless microphone feeds were split via MADI so, for the cinecast, Phil provided a house mix of the bands, meaning that the outside broadcast truck just had to do a live mix of the wireless mics.

“All in all it went very well,” says Phil. “It was a big, very varied show and the production rehearsals were intense, so having the D1 consoles on the job was vital. We couldn’t forseeably have done it any other way.”

[ENDS]

Press Contacts:

David Webster at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: webby@digiconsoles.com
Web: www.digiconsoles.com

Sarah James at Gasoline Media
Tel: +44 1372 471472
Email: info@gasolinemedia.com
Web: www.gasolinemedia.com