Download our FREE iPhone & iPad app now at www.lsionline.co.uk/digital

April 2012 entertainment, presentation, installation

www.lsionline.co.uk

NoelGallagher’sHigh Flying

BirdsLSi visits the production at

Sheffield’s Motorpoint Arena

PLUS!Future-proofing Installations • Soundforms LaunchesTF: DPA’s d:fine Headworn Mic • The 2012 BRIT AwardsThe Value of Trade Shows • Martin Audio’s MLA CompactVerona’s Ristori Restored • Ateis Solution for Nice AirportJohn Drummond Montgomery • Richard Pilbrow InterviewedLighthouse VideoBlades • Mix Position • Video Matters . . . and more!

NSA C&C 2012The Annual Skills Conference

Also Inside:

Martin in FocusLSi visits the Denmark HQ

Oman Opera HouseBehind the jewel in the sand

Apr_Cover:Cover 17/04/2012 10:18 Page 1

LSi - April 2012

venu

eins

talla

tion

ww

w.ls

ionl

ine.

co.u

k

72

A glittering palace of culture in the desert sand, a shrine to the

arts endowed with gold and marble, an improbable dream

made real, like so many others, in a land where budgets for

big dreams are more realisable than almost anywhere else . . .

Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman is the incarnation of His

Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said’s vision of creating an

energetic, creative, community-outreaching arts and culture

organisation, second to none in the region.

So where do you start when you want to build an opera house in themiddle of the desert in Oman? In this case, you start 3620 miles(5825km) away in Covent Garden, home to your hallowed UKnamesake. Donald Cox, head of lighting at ROH Muscat, explains

that a team was hand-picked from the UK to head up operations,with technical director Geoff Wheel from the ROH in London; AndyLoveday, assistant head of lighting; Barry Hudson, head of stageand operations; and Collin Chivers, head of sound and broadcast.Cox’s deputies Ged Kelly and Chris Pye were joined by deputiesJurgen Volckaerts and John Turner, broadcast deputies Bruno Silva,from Kings Place, and joint deputy manager of sound andbroadcast, Mike Compton from the RSC.

The original concept had been for a house of musical art, says Cox:“His Majesty wanted to give the people an entertainment venue. Atsome point during the planning process they decided to change itsfocus, and its name, into the Royal Opera House Muscat - and thenthat’s when I got involved.”

A Jewel in the Sand

Oman_Opera_House:On tour.qxd 11/04/2012 15:21 Page 72

venu

eins

talla

tion

LSi - April 2012

ww

w.ls

ionl

ine.

co.u

k

73

Mike Lethby reports on how a team of experts from the UK equipped a brand new, world-class opera house in the middle of the Omani desert.

Photography: M. Al Zubair

The house and its methodology were substantially based on theCovent Garden model, with the exception that the main performancespace, although primarily intended for opera, can be morphed fromtheatre mode to a world-class concert and organ recital hall at a single button press, retracting two rows of seats to create anorchestra pit and a proscenium thrust. It’s also equipped to perform3D cinema via two 15k Christie projectors.

When the new team was appointed, a newly built venue with lightinginfrastructure and dimming installed already awaited them - alongwith a FOH lighting rig spec’d for the original concept of a multi-purpose music venue. At this point, Wheel and Cox began anupgrade that would equip the house for its newly confirmed role. He says: “All of the original lighting equipment purchased is still very

much in use, as we have found some lighting designers prefer to usethe ADB profiles as per the original installation in the front-of-houseareas. We purchased more lighting equipment from Stage Electricsto add to our stock as there would not have been enough units tolight an international ballet company or opera.”

Stepping into the role of preferred sole supplier for what was effectivelyphase 2 of the installation, Stage Electrics was brought in by Cox andLoveday who, presented with an empty shell of a building withdimmers, networks and FOH lighting in place, realised that to keep theprocess as simple as possible, the team wanted to deal with just onesupplier to provide the loose lighting equipment requirements, future-proofing as much as possible. But Cox and his team also worked withlocal dealers to ensure a flow of ready support.

Oman_Opera_House:On tour.qxd 11/04/2012 16:12 Page 73

LSi - April 2012

venu

eins

talla

tion

ww

w.ls

ionl

ine.

co.u

k

74

Says Anna Western, sales director for Stage Electrics: “There was no supplier in Omancapable of providing all the extra equipment needed, to the standard required, nor thelocal technicians to maintain it, and the client didn’t want to run around many differentmanufacturers and wanted to hand over responsibility to one supplier.

“We supplied all the loose lighting equipment. Donald Cox and his team put together a list of requirements based on their experience working at the ROH in Covent Garden,with Theatre Projects Consultants who advised on the building.

“They bought a lot of equipment because it’s not readily available in Oman for rental. Theybought everything they thought they were going to need for the foreseeable future, to bemore or less self-sufficient. As part of the package, our manufacturing department designedand produced a number of bespoke items including custom power distribution boxes.”

Stage Electrics then assembled all the equipment from the various manufacturers,making it ready to go - fitting hook clamps and designing a barcode-based assetmanagement system. Products were tested, plugs were fitted, the whole shipmentlabeled and boxed up, ready for plug-and-play use once unpacked.

Lighting the wayThe control and dimming system, which was already installed, comprises three ETC EOSconsoles and 3kW Sensor dimmers. Stage Electrics supplied the loose lighting inventoryincluding one GrandMA 2 and three ETC Ions along with substantial quantities of ETC,Robert Juliat, James Thomas and Selecon lanterns, ETC portable dimming, 5 Star Cases,and Stage Electrics’ own in-house manufactured cable and internally wired bars.

Moving lights are from Vari*Lite, Martin Professional and Clay Paky while the LEDcomplement includes Pixel Pars, and ETC Selador and Pulsar ChromaFlood LEDfixtures. LDDE dimmable fluorescent battens, Arri compact HMI Theatre Fresnels,Rainbow scrollers, smoke machines and hazers from Jem, plus Lee and Rosco filterscomplete the line-up.

“We’re basically a receiving house,” comments Cox. “We rig according to whatevershow is coming in, although I’m trying to establish a sort of basic lighting rig for smallercompanies who come in and who aren’t sure how the rig should be configured - toaccommodate any basic rig or shows. Most of it’s wash lighting, because with concert

Equipment List Lighting Control

ETC Eos

ETC Ion x 2

GrandMa 2 control desk

ETC Sensor dimmers

ETC Smartpack dimmers

Moving HeadsVari*Lite VL1000TS

Vari*Lite VL3500

Vari*Lite VL100AS

Martin Professional MAC TW1

Clay Paky Alpha Spots & Washes

Lighting FixturesRobert Juliat Aramis followspots

Robert Juliat Manon followspots

Robert Juliat 611SX profile zooms

Robert Juliat 614SX & 613SX profile

spots

Robert Juliat 310 & 329 PC Fresnels

Robert Juliat 713 & 714SX2 profile

spots

Robert Juliat 850 Horus lanterns

Robert Juliat D’Artagnan profiles

Robert Juliat Le Cink spotlights

ETC Source Four profiles

ETC Selador Vivid-Rs

James Thomas P16 Batterns

James Thomas Four-cell PAR 64s

James Thomas PixelPars

Selecon Acclaims

Pulsar ChromaFlood 200

LDDE dimmable fluorescent battens

Arri compact HMI Fresnels

Accessories & Effects Mirrorballs

Jem AF fans

Jem K1 Hazer machines

Jem Glaciator

Jem ZR44 Fog machines

Rainbow Colour Scrollers

Gel from both Lee Filters & Rosco

Acoustic TreatmentJ&C Joel motorised acoustic roller

banners

J&C Joel acoustic curtains

Audio SystemMidas XL8 FOH console x 2

Meyer Sound PA system

Zaxcom TRL900LT digital wireless

microphone system

Optocore DD32R-FX digital I/O module

Optocore DD2FR-FX digital I/O module

Optocore X6R-TP converter units

Optocore X6R-FX converter units

Optocore LX4B FOH network converter

Klark Teknik DN9650 processors

RME MADI bridge

Lawo mc90 desk

Avid Pro Tools capture suite

“The lighting equipment originally spec’d wasn’t

sufficient to meet their final vision of full international

opera and ballet, so, through Stage Electrics, we

purchased enough to put on the biggest

productions, which integrates with a lot of the

existing ADB fixtures at front-of-house, including the

VL3500s which are good for opera - they’re very

quiet, plus they have good punch.”

Donald Cox

L-R: Members of the sound team with Midas XL8: Steven Coyle, Mike Compton, Collin Chivers,Bruno Silva, Mariu Rodriguez and Diego Biagioni. (Photo: Orbital)

Oman_Opera_House:On tour.qxd 11/04/2012 15:24 Page 74

venu

eins

talla

tion

LSi - April 2012

ww

w.ls

ionl

ine.

co.u

k

75

Demand more from your network

www.coopercontrol.com

For further information call your local Zero 88 dealer or visit our new website at:

www.zero88.comT: +44 (0)1633 838088

Stand RA - D12

Discover the new network and

data distribution range by Cooper Controls

lighting you have to be careful you don’t blind the orchestraor performers.”

Two sound baffles inside the concert shell are fitted with 12permanently rigged SeaChangers with mirrored ends, headingthe list of the phase 1 installation of ETC Source Four PARs andProfiles, ADB Profiles, Robe, Robert Juliat, LDDE and MartinTW1 luminaires.

Says Cox: “The lighting equipment originally spec’d wasn’tsufficient to meet their final vision of full international operaand ballet, so, through Stage Electrics, we purchased enoughto put on the biggest productions, which integrates with a lotof the existing ADB fixtures at front-of-house, including theVL3500s which are good for opera - they’re very quiet, plusthey have good punch.

“LDs have lots of different requests so we do manage to useeverything! I always go on the assumption of five batten barsand a couple of effects bars; it all depends on each LD’srequirements.

“We’ve four lighting bridges at FOH, and two box towers a side at FOH. We also have an ARCs system that controls allthe house and work lights around the building, so we cancontrol and preset levels around the building.”

Sound thinkingMoving on to the acoustics, Cox says: “It’s probably the bestbuilding acoustically for any modern opera house, finished inteak wood with gold leaf and crystal; the design precision isunbelievable, and we have Nick Edwards-designed acousticbaffles and curtains behind wooden panels to give you theoptimum acoustic. And the lighting has to match that.”

The main auditorium’s acoustics are adjustable, with J&C Joelproviding the ROHM with a variable acoustic environmentthrough the installation of acoustic motorised roller bannerswithin each of the venue’s 18 VIP boxes. Sound reverberationwas further reduced by hanging black Premier Wool Serge(WS090) acoustic curtains in strategic areas around thetheatre space.

A 22.5 meter motorised diamond track installed to the front ofthe stage allows the front-of-house curtains, manufacturedfrom a custom dyed Vegas Velvet Velour, to be opened in a traditional traveller movement or as a tableau curtain. A fullcomplement of stage curtains was also manufactured in blackPremier Wool Serge.

An Optocore optical fibre network system enhancesconnectivity and routes signals to the many different

L-R: Mike Compton, Collin Chivers and Bruno Silva pictured outsidethe Opera House. (Photo: Orbital)

Oman_Opera_House:On tour.qxd 11/04/2012 15:25 Page 75

LSi - April 2012

venu

eins

talla

tion

ww

w.ls

ionl

ine.

co.u

k

76

performance spaces within the complex, while a MADI bridge willenable recording from the proposed capture/production suite whilstusing Optocore converters to link with a Midas XL8 front-of-housemixing console and thence to the extensive Meyer Sound PA system.The Optocore components were sourced from UK Optocorespecialists HD Pro Audio. A Zaxcom digital wireless microphonesystem was supplied by London-based Orbital.

In addition to the main auditorium, the Optocore network extendscoverage to the smaller 80-seat studio theatre, the front of housefoyer spaces and to a large outside marbled space. The two mainstage racks offer 48 channels, so that one or both racks can bedeployed for the orchestra or split across other areas of the building.“The whole idea behind Optocore is to enable us to relay audio andrecord, across the stage areas,” says Silva.

The design was a collaboration between a UK based design team,including Acoustic Dimensions and architects WATG, working withthe in-house interior designers and the client (The Royal Court ofAffairs Oman).

The artistic program of ROH Muscat’s inaugural season majors onopera productions, ballet performances and music concerts. A specially commissioned production of Turandot for the grandopening day saw Franco Zeffirelli direct Puccini’s last masterpiece,followed in the season by Bizet’s Carmen. Also on the openingcalendar are The American Ballet Theater with Don Quixote, Giselleby Teatro Alla Scala Ballet Company, Shim Chung - The Blindman’s

Daughter by the Universal Ballet of Korea; and Swan Lake by theMariinsky Ballet. Plácido Domingo and the Royal Oman SymphonyOrchestra, soprano Renée Fleming and the Royal PhilharmonicOrchestra, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma with the London PhilharmonicOrchestra fill out the impressive bill.

In addition to the artistic content, the program of the inauguralseason will also include intellectual exchanges that will highlight theimportance of dialogue and candid debate among arts and culturestakeholders. In collaboration with The Aspen Institute, the ROHMuscat - Aspen Creative Arts World Summit will be organised underthe theme of ‘Arts in Motion’.

Of course, a project like this doesn’t come without a few challenges -including the location itself, as Cox explains. “Where you have anopera house situated in the middle of the desert, you need massivegenerators and we had some problems with voltages, but wemanaged to overcome them.”

But, he goes on, the biggest challenge was the cultural difference.“We were implementing a brand new concept, never carried out inthe Middle East before, so explaining theatre technology and tryingto organise something so massive in a completely different culturecould be challenging at times. We had a big crew behind us trainingthe Omani team in automated lighting and control. It’s amazing thatthe team has carried it off.”

> www.stage-electrics.co.uk

The spectacular interior, looking toward the stage from the auditorium.

Oman_Opera_House:On tour.qxd 11/04/2012 15:24 Page 76