Jason Tawkin & John Leimseider
convinced to move a projected underpass by
roughly 25 ft. to save it. “And it was all because
one of the city aldermen was a big fan of the
blues,” Tawkin says – “an ally on council who
wanted to see something become of the build-
ing rather than it being hit by the wrecking ball.”
The plan was always to incorporate the RSM
and install a new sound system, but the spe-
cifics of the systems weren’t definitive beyond
the fact that an analog run to the mobile truck
was required so the truck could be used to its
fullest capabilities.
LONG LIVE THE KING
While the former King Edward Hotel is physi-
cally integrated into Studio Bell, the King Eddy,
or the Eddy as it’s affectionately known, oper-
ates as an independent venue. The structure
was restored much like an artifact by NMC, a
project that included the retrofitting of the
building’s audiovisual systems and the “con-
nective tissue” between the venue and Studio
Bell’s fourth recording space, the Rolling Stones
Mobile Studio.
Work on the Eddy had to be done in phases,
explains Jason Tawkin, NMC’s manager of
building audio. “When you’re a grassroots
charity opening a huge cultural institution,
you have to crawl before you walk, and walk
before you run. We wanted a location that was
grounded in the roots of Calgary for our new
home – something central and, most impor-
tantly, that was tied into the roots of Calgary’s
musical heritage.”
If not for NMC and CMLC – an entity that’s
working to revitalize downtown Calgary – the
Eddy, which was still operating as a hotel and
venue when it was condemned, would have
been wiped off the face of the Earth. Ultimate-
ly, Calgary’s engineering department had to be
When Studio Bell first opened, however,
there was too much to do to fully revitalize the
Eddy – including opening five floors of exhibi-
tion spaces, a performance hall, and commis-
sioning and wiring three full recording studios.
Consequently, the Eddy remained a basic black
box space used occasionally for events.
Now officially open, the Eddy boasts a
restaurant, bar, and 158-capacity venue that
features bands Thursday through Saturday
nights, with plans for more events on week-
days. The venue and RSM have also been used
for shows ranging from local bands to a recent
Road Hammers live recording.
“We always knew it was going to be a re-
cording space with live music and a kitchen
to support that. We just didn’t know how we
were going to get there,” Tawkin continues.
“Being a non-profit, we had to be clever in
outfitting the space and looked to community
partners to help and to cross-promote our
brand and theirs.” They found those partners
in loudspeaker manufacturer PK Sound, Xilica
networked audio and DSP solutions, and mu-
sic retailer Long & McQuade.
Tawkin’s primary concern was to design
a system that spoke to the historic venue’s
unique challenges. “We found that with the
small room and diversity of acts, it didn’t make
sense to have a wall of speakers out front.” In-
stead, to provide nuanced sound throughout
for patrons ranging from “eight to eighty,” he
opted for a distributed approach.
In total, 10 PK Klarity loudspeakers were
deployed: two Klarity 12s for mains and four
Klarity 8s – two as mid room fills and two as
Bonjay performs at the NMC’s King Eddy
rear room fills – flown from central pillars that
are an integral part of the historic 1905 layout.
Additionally, two Klarity 218 subs were placed
on each side of the roughly 20 x 30-ft. stage
with two Klarity 8s for stage fills. All processing
is achieved via one Xilica UNO 1616 DSP box.
With a strong reputation in EDM circles,
Calgary-based PK Sound’s speakers were a lock
for the venue. “There’s one speaker per pillar,
six in stereo in the room,” Tawkin says. “Then,
between the first set of pillars and the stage,
are the dual mono fills for people in front of
the stage. The other challenge we had with fly-
ing the PA is there’s limited headroom because
you’re dealing with historic floor plans and we
had a lot of retrofitted mechanical systems to
work around. Basically, we went for a little bit
smaller speaker on the farther pillars because
they fit the room better.”
Given the layout of the room and the
distributed approach, processing was also a
major concern. “Xilica were so good to us,” he
continues. “I wasn’t familiar with them until it
came time to get crossovers for our control
room, but Revolution Recording, who did all
the wiring on the recording side, including the
snake to the King Eddy stage, introduced me
to Xilica.”
Edwin Dolby of Laser Productions, who in-
stalled the PK system, also recommended Xil-
ica, specifically the UNO. “Essentially, it’s 16 ins/
outs on an unlimited, configurable DSP within
the software platform,” Tawkin explains, “so it
allowed us to custom build the processing and
DSP for the install. More importantly, because
it doesn’t have any buttons or switches, it
PROFESSIONAL SOUND • 35