Professional Sound - June 2018 | Page 29

cable running to each cabinet, “So it could be like a science project,” he jokes. Tour Tech tapped Montreal’s Theatrixx Technologies to fabricate the custom cabling and five-pin panels to accommodate the cross wiring. Throughout the process, Ryan was interfacing with Philippe Laframboise, Theatrixx's sales support and technical advi- sor, to bring his vision to life. The timing was less than ideal, as just at the outset of their collaborations, Ryan had to head out on a national tour with Johnny Reid. That led to him doing up drawings during rehearsals, taking pictures on his phone, and sending the images to Laframboise. Despite the circumstances, Ryan says he was more than pleased with the end result. “It’s a pretty complex set-up, but the way it is right now is really clean, and it’ll be very easy to troubleshoot going forward,” Ryan says. “You have your RMS network, so the signal comes out of the server and termi- nates at XLR at that point and goes straight into the five-pin from there.” He’s quick to give credit to Laframboise and Theatrixx as well. “In some cases with a project like that, you’d really need to explain every step,” Ryan shares, “but [Philippe] is an expert when it comes to unique connectivity designs and knew exactly what I was after pretty quickly.” The auditorium’s new package also included four channels of Shure Axient Wire- less, which Nelson believes to be only the second Axient system in Atlantic Canada. “Wireless frequency band traffic has been and still is a constantly-changing fron- tier for production companies and venues alike, mostly affected by the demands of the telecommunications industry,” offers Nelson. “Choosing a product with longevity in terms of frequency band and performance within that band is a big considering for an invest- ment like this, and Ian felt the Axient system covered all of the parameters.” The package, sold by SFM’s Atlantic Ca- nadian rep, Jodi Rhuland, also included a kit of belt pack and hand-held transmitters for various uses. The Cohn’s existing monitor package includes a Digico SD9 with an accompanying D Rack with 32 x 16 I/O, feeding a comple- ment of 10 JBL STX 812M wedges driven by five Crown XTi 4002 amplifiers, along with a QSC KS212C cardioid subwoofer. Again owing to its wide range of programming, including some reinforced symphony shows, the venue’s microphone collection is quite extensive and includes Meyer Galaxy control & networking units located stage right offerings from AKG, Audio-Technica, Crown, C-Ducer, Sennheiser, and Shure. Ryan was out with Reid until late April, and actually came off the road just over a week before the system went in. “So the timing couldn’t have been better to have Ken back and able to oversee the installation and last steps of his work,” Nelson enthuses. Robertson flew back to the coast in early May to assist with tuning and com- missioning, working closely with Fraser throughout the process. “It was great having the Galaxys to get really precise control of the delays on the front fills, the way the two Ians liked it,” Nelson says with a laugh. “They spent a lot of time on that. Ian [Robertson] was very insistent that it not sound like they stick out when you’re out in front of them, so the tonality curving was really important. They spent the better part of the day tuning the front fills alone.” Nelson explains that they’d originally intended to take advantage of the recently- introduced enhanced Precision Toolset in the Galaxy’s Compass control software for the Leo family, which offers proprietary low-mid beam control for uniform front-to- back coverage. The prospect was especially attractive considering the Cohn’s asymmet- rical interior, with one side of the balcony extending further into the hall than the other. In the end, though, Nelson says they forewent the step because “the room was just sounding so good.” Ryan says he’s particularly impressed with the system’s musicality. “I was blown away by the power and tone. The quality is just incredible,” he says, “and it’s just perfect for a room that handles everything from spoken word to acoustic performances to the symphony to full rock shows.” Richardson was more than pleased with the integration process, though he expected nothing less with the way he’d engineered the timeline. “It was very collaborative, and we kind of tailored the install around the schedules of the people that I wanted to be a part of it,” he says, referring specifically to Ryan, local freelance engineer Robb Hall, and Rob- ertson. “I knew they’d have the best interest of the venue at heart, because many of them have worked in the Cohn before, and it felt right having them be part of this new system and help usher in the future. “I can’t say enough about them,” Rich- ardson adds about his collaborators. “I just knew it was going to be done right. I trust- ed these people implicitly as we’ve worked together for a long time and they’re great at what they do.” He also acknowledges his heads of department who were integral to the instal- lation process – particularly Fraser and stage carpenter M.J. MacLeod, who was running cable through walls, coordinating the power distribution runs, and more. “The Cohn doesn’t have this kind of change very often – it’s once every 15 or 20 years, and I'll have retired the next time the system gets replaced, so I wanted to make sure it was done right,” concludes the TD. “It was very much a team effort, not just with co-workers, but with friends. In my 41 years in this industry, this is probably one of the best experiences of my career.” Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Sound. PROFESSIONAL SOUND • 29