FEATURES: INSTALLATION
Upgrading a classic
Esplanade Theatres on the Bay is one of Singapore’s
most iconic destinations, but the work to improve it
never stops, as Richard Lawn reports
The Concourse in use
of d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker
systems in most of its venues,
including a C7 and Ci series in the
Theatre, so it’s quite tting that the
Concourse, with its T10 series, now
exempli es quite accurately what
is going on behind closed doors in
terms of audio quality,’ continues
Mr Shuttleworth. ‘The T10 is a
great product and is perfect for the
Concourse.’
A Cadac CDC four has been provided for mobile mixing
SINCE HIS ARRIVAL INTO SINGAPORE
in 2001, Robin Shuttleworth has
witnessed the state’s skyline
transform beyond his imagination.
As a technical manager for
Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay,
he has played his own part by
ensuring that the audio technology
keeps pace with the ever growing
and dynamic nature of the venues
during that spell. The modernist yet
undeniably impressive arts centre
hosts a recital studio, theatre studio
and outdoor theatre in addition to
the 2,000-seat theatre and 1,600seat concert hall. The arts centre
opened of cially on October 12th
2002.
Often featuring visual arts
installations, Esplanade’s Concourse
is anked by information counters
at the entrances to the centre’s two
main performing venues, serving as
a central meeting point for visitors
to the centre. For a number of years,
dance, music and theatre have
been performed free of charge here
every evening, to showcase talented
amateur, semi-professional and
professional artists from Singapore
and around the world. It is this
small, but highly signi cant stage
that has received Mr Shuttleworth’s
attention of late.
‘Since Esplanade opened, we have
seen Singapore’s arts community
quickly grow around us,’ explains
Mr Shuttleworth. ‘Showcasing our
venue is important and what better
way than showcasing free nightly
performances at Esplanade’s
Concourse? Not only does it
provide passers-by with a sample of
what’s going on, it also gives young
performers a platform to perform.’
The small loudspeaker system
serving the Concourse was recently
upgraded. ‘Of all the venues, this
is probably the most important one
for us to get right as it provides an
insight to the rest of Esplanade,’
furthers Mr Shuttleworth. ‘It’s a
reverberant space with irregular
dimensions and with lots of concrete
and glass, so you cannot create
excessive SPLs. We decided that
a small line array would be the
best possible solution by providing
narrow vertical dispersion. The
criteria of loudspeaker we sought
were that the solution rstly had to
be small and compact. Secondly,
96 PRO AUDIO ASIA July–August 2014
The Esplanade’s Robin Shuttleworth and Emmanuel Poh with one of
the new GDS Stage Manager desks
it had to be sonically better than
the loudspeakers we already have
otherwise there’s no point replacing
them. Finally, it had to work well
within this space and come within
the budget provided.’
Five loudspeaker demonstrations
were set up over a ve week period
in early 2014. ‘The performances
differ from one night to the next,
yet the same technicians work
here every night, so by evaluating
the ve systems over a seven night
period, it allowed us to give a better
appraisal,’ Mr Shuttleworth explains.
‘We scored the loudspeakers
according to various criteria and
ultimately selected the loudspeakers
that got the top marks.’
The winning demonstration was
provided by a d&b audiotechnik
T10 system consisting of three dual
6.5-inch speakers per side pole
mounted onto an 18-inch woofer
V-Sub. Driven by D12 ampli ers rack
mounted next to the small stage,
M6 monitors also provide stage
monitoring and serve as front lls.
‘Esplanade hosts a large inventory
‘Showcasing
our venue is
important and
what better
way than
showcasing
free nightly
performances
at Esplanade’s
Concourse’
The d&b audiotechnik SEA team
has also supplied a V-series
loudspeaker system for the concert
hall, to be suspended as a central
cluster in place of the existing C7
series when a new projection screen
is lowered into place. The new
cluster consists of six V12 and two
V8 down- ll cabinets, and is more
compact than the C7 series models.
As a result it does not obstruct the