LAS VEGAS — Jonathan Deans, sound designer for Broadway’s 2013 Pippin and Cirque du Soleil resident productions in Las Vegas including LOVE, KA, Zumanity, O and Mystere, has specified a Meyer sound system for Michael Jackson: One, the forthcoming production based on Cirque’s Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. Previews for the show are set to begin May 23, with an opening date set for June 21.
Although Meyer Sound did not mention Michael Jackson: One by name, in an early May press release noting the use of their 1100-LFC element in a variety of productions, the company had referred to a “forthcoming resident Cirque du Soleil production” where the 1100-LFC element would be making its Las Vegas debut.
When asked to confirm that the production being referenced was indeed Michael Jackson: One, a spokesman simply responded, “Good guess!”
The release also noted that the 1100-LFC, which has been incorporated into LEO systems used for large live concerts since its June 2012 launch, has also been used to test the human response to extreme low frequencies in an episode on TV’s Mythbusters, and that the “forthcoming resident Cirque du Soleil production” represents the product’s Las Vegas debut. It will be used, the release noted, with a sound system that includes MILO, MICA, and M’elodie line array elements.
More details from the Meyer Sound (www.meyersound.com) press release follow:
[Sound designer Jonathan Deans] recalls the first time he heard the 1100-LFC: “I was standing about 15 feet away and, as the 1100-LFC gracefully reproduced the low frequencies, my stomach and clothes jumped to the rhythm of the music. At both high and low SPLs, instead of hearing the usual straining of components, I heard a very musical sound with the dynamic depth of the instruments.”
The 1100-LFC has also been added to Big Thrill Productions’ inventory, and has proven to be a perfect low-frequency companion to their M’elodie line array loudspeaker systems in churches and small theatres.
“Some people might think the 1100-LFC is too powerful to go with M’elodies, but we feel it’s a great complement to a smaller line array,” says Shaun Bennett, vice president and COO of Big Thrill. “We’ve found that the 1100-LFC is more than just a sub. It generates feeling and energy without being overpowering.”
George Relles of Eugene, Ore.-based George Relles Sound was one of the first companies to deploy the 1100-LFC with a MICA system. “The 1100-LFC is highly powerful,” Relles says. “I never saw a limit light come on during the entire summer, not even with acts like Slightly Stoopid.”
Relles also appreciates its logistical benefits. “I need fewer boxes, and that translates into less weight and truck space,” he adds. “My trucks have to stay under 26,000 lbs, and before [the 1100-LFC] there were times when I needed a second truck. Now everything goes into one truck, and I have the same—or even more—impact in the low frequencies.”
A number of other rental companies have also added the 1100-LFC to their rental inventory in recent months. These include Rock ‘n’ Road Audio of Tucker, Ga., and Mid-Coast Sound of Nashville, Tenn., which used the 1100-LFC at a concert for the rap artist Wale, and as musical support for Thunder over Louisville, North America’s largest annual fireworks show.
