Music . Its list of awards and achievements is notably impressive , and the venue continues to champion the importance of the arts , culture , and community both within its hallowed walls and beyond .
Enhancing Productions
“ I lucked out to get into the hall about 13 years ago now ,” begins Christoph Babin , house sound and lighting technician at The Aeolian . “ I was working at [ the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology ] and met up with Clark Bryan , who asked me if I did live sound . I told him I was sort of retired but liked to dabble , so he asked me to help out a few weekends each month . Those were famous last words ,” he says with a chuckle . “ Once I was there , it was pretty much full-on , and I knew it was a good thing so I didn ’ t want to let it go .”
He elaborates on what he means by “ good thing ,” explaining that The Aeolian ’ s operations are all about the music , the artists , the audience , and the community . “ To me , that was a really pleasant surprise , because most venue owners I ran into over the years while touring were in it for the money ; Clark was in it for the love of the arts , and a love of the community . He wanted everyone in this building to treat each other the way he wanted to be treated , and that kind of environment was right up my alley .”
When Babin first began his stint with the venue , the hall ’ s audio system was serving it well enough , though as The Aeolian got busier and began attracting higherprofile touring artists to its stage , it got to the point that they couldn ’ t meet rider requests anymore and needed to supplement the system .
Through some fundraising campaigns , they were able to update the FOH console to a future-forward Midas M32 and build out the mic locker ; however , by 2018 , the need for a new house PA system was clear and The Aeolian subsequently vied for the Trillium Foundation grant .
Upon hearing their application was successful , Babin cast a wide net to tender the gear , broke it down into segments for audio , video , and lighting , and had the bidding process underway halfway through 2019 .
“ What it came down to for us was very good service on the back end ,” Babin explains about what informed the team ’ s decisions . “ We started narrowing it down to be a bit more local , and we were looking for gear from certain manufacturers that I knew we could count on . At that point , it came down to The PA Shop for the majority of the gear supplied and installed .”
In fact , Babin ’ s relationship with The PA Shop , a division of the newly-established parent company Music City Canada , and its founder , Ron Schroeyens , goes back to the company ’ s early years , when Babin would often freelance for them . “ So I knew the company , knew the family , and knew that we ’ d have outstanding support ,” he asserts .
Ryan Schroeyens , Ron ’ s son and the current head of PA Shop AV Solutions and Music City Canada , is proud to have been given the opportunity to work on such a storied venue .
“ It ’ s definitely full of history and an amazing room to physically be in , let alone watch a show . Just thinking of the style of the roof trusses and those old hand-cut wood beams , the history is so apparent ; in fact , that was one of the pieces early on in the project – they got an engineer involved to ensure those beams could stay intact and handle the added weight [ from the PA and lighting equipment ],” Schroeyens explains . “ There are a lot of places around town where you can play to 300 people , but the feel in that room is very intimate and unique .”
For Kyle McCann , PA Shop AV Solutions ’ lead account rep and system designer , the venue and its house technician played a special part on his career path . “ It goes back to when I was in college here at OIART for audio engineering ,” he explains . “ Chris was actually one of my professors , so this was one of the first venues where I did live sound , with Chris showing me the ropes . We had a concert pianist in and the sound
Aeolian Hall Exterior
of the room was just exceptional for that kind of performance .”
As for the specific manufacturers the venue favoured , Babin explains that Adamson Systems Engineering was a top choice from the outset . He knew that The PA Shop had invested in Adamson inventory for its Live Event Production division and had a chance to hear the flagship large-format E-Series on a few local stages .
“ The Aeolian has legendary acoustics in large part due to its heritage opera house design . We wanted a sound system that would complement and not change this characteristic . The system also needed to align with our vision to be at the forefront of recorded and virtual productions . The Adamson system fulfills these needs and will keep us on the trajectory of attracting Grammy- and Juno-winning artists .”
Clark Bryan , Founder & Executive & Artistic Director , The Aeolian
“ I was gobsmacked ,” he recalls . “ It ’ s fantastic product . The voicing on the largeformat [ E-Series ] PA was just phenomenal , and I knew they could deliver the same voicing in the smaller boxes that would work perfectly for our needs .”
In the end , it came down to the Adamson system and another from a competing
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