OPERA HOUSE AUDIO TECH WILL SCHATZ AT FRONT OF HOUSE
OPERA HOUSE HEAD AUDIO TECH DAN CUMMING WORKING MONITORS
paranoia in the back of your mind because you knew it was coming .”
The fact that nothing major ever did go wrong certainly speaks to the longevity of the previous rig , but its successor aims to push even further into the future . The rig features 10 of Adamson ’ s CS10 two-way , full-range line array loudspeakers flown on each side of the proscenium , as well as six CS119 subwoofers per side on the floor . To augment the main fixtures , under- and over-balcony delay system comprises two CS7p point-source speakers each , and the same point-source boxes are also in use for front-fills .
Detailing the comparison between the new and old rigs , Fraser explains , “ The Y10s that they originally had were groundstacked , and they only had around six per side . So , while the Y10 is a larger box – and it ’ s a three-way box whereas the CS10 is just a two-way box – the overall number of components that are delivering audio to the venue has greatly increased . The greater amount of boxes allows us to tailor the curvature of the array to suit the space much better .” Ellinas-Towers amusingly recounts about the ground-stacked system , “ With a lot of the moshpit-type shows , you ’ d sort of see the PA sway back and forth so it wasn ’ t very safe .”
Cumming then turns to me and jokes , “ She doesn ’ t like massive speaker stacks blocking everything .” “ No !” Ellinas-Towers responds in kind .
Luckily , with the new rig in place , the venue ’ s GM no longer needs to worry about speaker stacks either being in the way , or being swayed to the point of a cataclysmic tumble . What ’ s more than that , the CS10 rig has easily won over just about everyone on the venue ’ s staff .
“ The coverage is amazing ,” Schatz says . “ Just for myself , I do a lot of touring , and I just hope I start seeing Adamson a lot more in North America . I mostly run into [ their systems ] outside of North America and it ’ s such a treat . I ’ m very happy to have them here and hopefully more clubs start getting them , because they make such good rigs , and they ’ re Canadian .”
“ It ’ s getting that clarity , too ,” adds Cumming . “ Because with the old rig it would get to a certain point and you just had to go wild with it . With this new one , you don ’ t push it , but it ’ s everywhere .”
In terms of the tailoring of the system , Fraser explains “ The balcony is raked and deep , and it comes down into the venue pretty far . So , you need to be able to really tailor the frequency response of the system in order to get a nice level throughout the entire space … Also , they were lacking a bit in sub . I think they had four Y10 subs in there , it ’ s not a bad sub , but it didn ’ t provide anywhere near the lowend extension or the punch that the CS119 subs can .”
Cumming ultimately sums up the overall sentiment from the venue : “ Going from the 20-year-old Y10 rig with minimum processing to the CS10 system is like going from horse and carriage , to now we have a spaceship . Such an incredible upgrade .”
Between one of the more impressive venue-based live broadcast and streaming production setups we ’ ve seen since they became the go-to for pandemic production , and a brand-new PA that eagerly awaits to roar to life over a crowd , The Opera House has positioned itself excellently during the live industry ’ s worst period in history .
Fully leaning into the vacancy from patrons , other , smaller changes are also being made to the venue including fresh coats of paint , renovations to the stairs , and the purchasing of an all-new house lighting complement to augment the fresh PA and revitalized look for the hall .
“ In 31 years , there ’ s never been more than a couple weeks off in a row ,” Cumming explains . “ You got to make the most of this … There ’ s a bunch of clubs sitting empty where everyone ’ s like , ‘ Oh no , we ’ ll come back and dust it off .’ Now ’ s the time . We ’ re never going to have this opportunity again .”
Andrew Leyenhorst is a Niagara-based freelance producer , recording engineer , and mixer , and the Assistant Editor of Professional Sound .
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