Turbosound Aspect® brings the sounds of summer to Wellington College
Opened by Queen Victoria in 1859 as a national memorial to the Duke of Wellington, Wellington College in Berkshire is currently celebrating its 150th anniversary. The college is understandably proud of its heritage and has organised a series of commemorative events throughout the year, many of which feature Turbosound equipment supplied by Subfrantic Production Services.
Speech Day and the Summer Prom are always the two most important dates in its yearly calendar, a sense of which has only been heightened in 2009. Thus it was especially important for everything to be perfect at both events, which is why Subfrantic’s Turbosound Aspect® rig was the chosen sound reinforcement system.
“The system for Speech Day had to cover about 2,000 people, but there was no option to fly the rig so we had to use a ground stacked system,” says Subfrantic operations manager Sean Murphy.
“As the audio programme was predominantly speech, plus choral and classical music, it wasn’t a bass-heavy production so we put in six TA-890L and 12 TA-890H, rotating the mid-high section of the latter through 90º so we could stack them vertically as three stacks per side.”
Meanwhile, stage monitoring used four TQ-310s, with power and control by a combination of Turbosound T series amplifiers and LMS series controllers.
“The system worked perfectly. The event ran smoothly with clear, crisp audio for all the elements,” says Sean.
The Summer Prom had a somewhat bigger audience of around 6,500 and featured musicians from the school and the band of the Welsh Guards.
“We knew this system had to be flown, but budgetary constraints made it very difficult to do,” says Subfrantic proprietor and general manager Steve Davies. “But, having looked at a range of different options, we found a solution that worked really well.”
The solution Subfrantic settled on was six flown TA-890H, with eight TA-890L ground-stacked either side. Fills were provided by a pair of TA-890H stacked vertically on the low cabinets, again using T series amplifiers and LMS series controllers.
“I really enjoyed mixing the show,” says Steve. “Aspect is always a joy to work with, especially when it’s flown. We’ve known from day one that it is a great rock ‘n’ roll system, but it is equally at home doing orchestral or classical shows, just like it was with all the 130 or so Gospel gigs we did with it last year.
“The coverage was perfect, with no need for delays on what was a 100m throw, and it was as responsive and detailed as ever.”
Jamie Andrews, production manager of the event for Vision Event Solutions, adds, “We wanted to achieve definition and clarity up to 150m from FOH without using delays, as these were going to prove difficult to site due to the crowd positions and the tree line.
“The Aspect system allowed us to achieve this whilst maintaining tight control over SPLs, meaning that the crowd at the front was not deafened whilst achieving the appropriate volume at the back.
“We chose Subfrantic to supply the system for us as a result of the long running relationship we have developed with them. I have total confidence in their ability to supply not only a first class system, but to ensure that it is tailor made for the event from conception and planning right through to the event itself. This ensures that we have uncompromised sound quality at all times with a sound design tailored to the artist.
“Needless to say this is not simply down to the kit, but just as importantly down to the choice of engineer, in this case Steve Davies. Many thanks to him and all the team involved in the event. I look forward to the next successful collaboration.”
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