Coldplay On Tour

Jan Cover:Cover
14/01/2009
09:19
Page 1
January 2009
entertainment, presentation, communication
www.lsionline.co.uk
Coldplay On Tour
L&SI catches up with the show in Sheffield
Sound Technology
Harman’s new UK partner
Iconyx for an Icon
A new sound for St Pio
Technical Focus
The PixelLine Micro W
PLUS! Komedia in Bath, Muziekkwartier in Enschede,
Fred Heuves & AFG, Rigging Call, ADS Worldwide . . .
BMW’s Wonderwall
LED technology in Münich
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Padre Pio:News DPS
12/01/2009
14:51
Page 24
worshipinstall ••••••
News
Photo: Archivio Voce di Padre Pio
Iconyx for an Icon
A Renkus-Heinz Iconyx
Italy - The shrine of St Pio in San Giovanni
steerable line array system
shrine in the world and is centred on the
was recently installed in the
friar, priest and mystic known for his devotion
impressive St. Pio church
Rotondo is the second-most visited Catholic
tomb of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, a Capuchin
to God, care for the sick and supernatural
gifts. The tomb of St. Pio, who died in 1968
and was declared a saint in 2002, is in the
Church of Our Lady of Grace, in the friary on
designed by the Genoa
the outskirts of the town, behind which the
new St Pio church stands: completed in 2004,
architect Renzo Piano at San
it can seat 6,500, with 30,000 more pilgrims in
the huge courtyard outdoors.
Giovanni Rotondo, in the
southern Italian province of
Foggia. Mike Clark travelled
www.lsionline.co.uk
south . . .
24 Lighting&Sound - January 2009
brands for the new install and the Renkus-Heinz
units supplied by Adeo won, not only for their
performance, but also because we managed to
recover some of the previous components, as ‘fill’
speakers when the perimeter doors are opened
round the shell-shaped church’s hall.”
Incredibly, the church’s congregation and pilgrims
alike are now able to hear the ceremonies perfectly
thanks to just three Iconyx systems installed by a
partner contractor of Adeo Group, US manufacturer
Renkus-Heinz’s Italian distributor.
Engineer Giuseppe Muciaccia, the friary’s works
manager for the construction of the new church
explains: “Thanks to the work by specialist acoustic
firm Müller BBM for the Renzo Piano Building
Workshop, including special acoustic panels
installed in the suspended ceiling, the church has
wonderful acoustics as far as non-amplified events
are concerned. Problems, however, arose with the
sound reinforcement system originally installed.”
Nicola Palazzo, the technical consultant called in by
the friars who run the sanctuary, the shrine, TV and
radio channels, continues: “We considered three
Palazzo, whose firm is also a key player in the
broadcast sector and works with almost all the most
important TV networks in southern Italy, particularly
Mediaset, continues: “We opted for the Iconyx, as
they’re wide-range speakers (120Hz to 18kHz), so
they also enable excellent music reinforcement,
whereas the others focused mainly on speech
frequencies.”
Behind its perforated steel grille, each tall, slim IC32
(377 x 15.3 x 17.8cm) aluminium enclosure houses
32 coaxial transducers with a 4” woofer and dual 1”
tweeters, divided into four sections, each powered
by an eight-channel Class D amplifier/DSP
processor with a power rating of 50W RMS per
channel. Despite their slender lines, the IC32
produce 100dB peak SPL at 100ft and ensure
consistent pattern control down to 200Hz. The
eight-channel modules greatly simplify shipping and
transport and are quickly joined together on-site: in
fact, the IC8A alongside the majestic Pinchi organ
(the largest in Italy, with no less than 5,814 pipes!) is
a single module, identical to each of the four
sections forming the two IC32, installed on either
side of the altar. The enclosures’ vertical alignment
maintains consistently broad horizontal dispersion,
allowing each array to cover a wider section of the
congregation.
Padre Pio:News DPS
12/01/2009
14:51
Page 25
Photo: Archivio Voce di Padre Pio
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Photo: Archivio Voce di Padre Pio
worshipinstall ••••••
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In the church’s control room, the desk
hosts six Symetrix SymNet 8x8 DSP units,
which form the matrix controlling the audio
set-up, with a total of 40 incoming signals,
as Palazzo explains: “As well as the Astatic
GN20VPD gooseneck mics on the pulpit,
altar and at the celebrant’s chair, and
Sennheiser SKM565 G2 wireless mics used
by the officiants, I had the idea of installing
a ‘tree’ of Neumann KMR 81i shotgun mics
to ensure the best possible sound for the
organ and the choir. Two are for the organ,
the others for the choir - with three for the
treble voices, sopranos and contraltos and
three for the male voices. Two more KMR
81i are used when there is a smaller choir
or for instruments, such as flute and violin.”
Other inputs include media players and
feeds from a series of multimedia rooms on
the floor below. Recording facilities are also
implemented and, although the facility has
not yet been integrated, the system is IPready for remote control.
A Crestron MC2E Professional Media
Controller is the core of the audio
automation solution and a Crestron TPS15B is one of two Isis touchpanels giving
access to various levels of control (with
a GUI by Adeo). Small Symetrix ARC-SW4
control panels are mounted on the main
desk and a small room adjacent to the hall
and, in the event of a hitch with the main
control network, enable the system to be
switched on and off or muted.
Karl-Gustaf Kahlau, Renkus-Heinz export
sales manager for Europe and the Middle
East, accompanied Adeo Group’s MD
Sasha Defranceschi to the demo in the
prestige location and said: “Adeo did
a splendid job on this project and took
advantage of the consultant support we
offer, hiring Karen Irmscher from ADA
Acoustic Design in Berlin to do the
simulation.”
De Francheschi measured STI in near field
(approx 15m) to 0.66 and in far field
(approx 35m) to 0.59 - quite astonishing,
considering the volume of the hall which,
when empty, has a reverb time of around
5.5 seconds.
The members of the friars’ technical
commission were visibly impressed with
the demo’s results and, now the system
has been installed and successfully
operating for several months, Muciaccia
says: “As well as merging very well with the
décor - at a distance they’re almost
unnoticeable - the result achieved is like the
difference between day and night,
compared to the previous set-up.”
Stefano Campanella, head of the Friary’s
press office and director of Tele Radio
Padre Pio’s program content, added:
“I wish to express the friars’ satisfaction.
Following the good results achieved, they
intend asking the supplier to provide
a similar system for the Sanctuary of Santa
Maria delle Grazie, where the mortal
remains of Saint Pio are kept. I must say
that the faithful and pilgrims, who previously
had difficulty understanding sermons in the
new church, have also expressed their
appreciation of the tangible difference.”
>>> www.renkus-heinz.com
>>> www.adeogroup.it
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Lighting&Sound - January 2009
www.lsionline.co.uk
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