A Flexible
Audio Solution
The 2017 World
Artistic Gymnastics
Championships
in Montreal
By Andrew King
M
ontreal’s Olympic Stadium is one of the city’s most
recognizable and iconic architectural feats; however, the
venue is notorious among audio professionals for the
less-than-ideal acoustics and antiquated sound system
in its massive main bowl.
That was part of the challenge facing the production team
behind the International Federation of Gymnastics (IFG)’s 2017
World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, which ran from Octo-
ber 2-8. The group was tasked with creating a “unique and inti-
mate amphitheatre” environment within the stadium for what was
to be “the ‘rock show’ of gymnastics,” according to one member
of the organizing committee, and deployed a unique and flexible
audio solution to help make that vision a reality.
Heading up that production team was Sylvain Tessier of Suite
302, a Montreal-based collective of production technologies pros
who’ve lent their expertise to major events like Montreal’s Bal en
34 • PROFESSIONAL SOUND
Blanc, the 2017 broadcast of the city’s Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day
festivities, Tele-Quebec’s Belle et Bum, and Montreal’s 375 th anni-
versary celebrations.
While Suite 302 is a relatively new firm, Tessier and his col-
laborators are veterans of the live production industry, so despite
the inherent challenges in transforming Olympic Stadium into an
intimate and engaging theatre-like environment, his team was up
to the task.
Suite 302 tapped Montreal audio consulting firm One Wave
with the design, calibration, and operation of the audio system
for the event. That team included principal designer Jonathan La-
fontaine working closely with David Vincent, the Montreal-based
senior technical support specialist for renowned loudspeaker
manufacturer Meyer Sound, and veteran FOH engineer and sys-
tem designer Pierre Tougas, a co-founder and associate with One
Wave. Tougas also manned the Yamaha CL5 during the event to
ensure pristine music playback and speech intelligibility for the
MC, judges, athletes, and audience.