Meyer Sound's sound accompanies the Sydney Theatre Company as it reopens

The renovation of the headquarters of the Sydney Theatre Company, The Wharf, has had the installation of 32 Speakers, mostly Meyer Sound Ultra-X, and the implementation of Spacemap Go for surround sound design and mixing.

After being closed for two years for a complete renovation, the Sydney Company Theatre (STC) has reopened its headquarters, The Wharf, on Walsh Harbour in Sydney (Australia). One of the highlights of the technical upgrade has been the installation of 32 Meyer Sound speakers, brand that distributes in Spain RMS Proaudio, Mostly from the series Ultra-X.

The system was designed by Bob McCarthy and Josh Dorn-Fehrmann with the implementation of Spacemap Go, Meyer Sound's New Tool for Surround Sound Design and Mixing.

When 'Playing Beatie Bow' was released at the end of February, STC's new show, became one of the first theatrical productions in the world to use the dynamic surround audio effects provided by technology based on the Galaxy network platform, using Milan and a new user interface for iPad.

For the Theatre Sound & Video Director, Ben Lightowlers, Choosing the right solution was critical, Maintaining full control of the budget for sound systems, From specification to installation. At last, the revamp of the system extended a decades-long relationship with Meyer Sound.

"We explored options from other manufacturers, but over the years we have been happy with the UPJ and UPM loudspeakers that we were able to easily integrate into the new systems. And we were impressed by the new Ultra-X speakers. They're great for vocal clarity, which is paramount as dialogue must be in the foreground, but they're also exceptional for music.", says Lightowlers.

The flexibility and scalability of Spacemap Go allows the system to be easily reconfigured to suit the different seating configurations of the Wharf Theatre 1, of 420 Squares, as well as the locations of specific sound effects sources in each particular production.

The systems were supplied by Soundcorp, A Diversified Company. In any configuration, sound designers can easily take advantage of the surround sound potential of Spacemap Go.

"Being able to control Spacemap Go from QLab through OSC made Meyer Sound's solution easy for users to accept.", adds Lightowlers.

David Bergman, sound designer for 'Playing Beatie Bow', He was the first to harness the power of new technology, assigning up to 20 QLab outputs as direct objects for Spacemap Go.

"To the composer, Clemence Williams, And I've loved the way we can execute various trajectories throughout the show. Some trajectories draw slow circles around the audience, while others zig-zag randomly. It's been great to move sounds like the wind, the reverberations and solo instruments that, otherwise, would be static.". says Bergman.

Spacemap Go was introduced when Bergman's sound design was already well underway, But in the future, he hopes to rethink the possibilities of dynamic sound from the ground up. "We've just started exploring the capabilities. Next time I'd love to build more specific spatial maps and trajectories.".

Other articles on Meyer Sound, QLab, RMS Proaudio, Soundcorp, Sydney Company Theatre