SAN FRANCISCO — YouTube staged its first live event at San Francisco’s Fort Mason recently, using Meyer Sound systems supplied by Pro Media/UltraSound of Hercules, Calif. Part concert, part variety show, YouTube Live included the music of will.i.am, Joe Satriani and DJ Mike Relm, plus Mythbusters and Will It Blend host Tom Dickson. With stages at either end of the 400-foot long Herbst Pavilion, and a third in the middle, Pro Media/UltraSound sound designer Mike Brady outfitted both end stages with left and right hangs of six M’elodie line array loudspeakers and two 700-HP subwoofers. Three staggered stereo pairs of legacy MSL-2A loudspeakers in either direction provided distributed delay for each stage. A Galileo™ loudspeaker management system using two Galileo 616 processors controlled system drive and processing, allowing for instant recall of three different delay snapshots, one for each stage.
“For the center stage, each of the middle delays essentially became the mains,” Brady explains. “We were broadcasting live, with production cues down to the second, and the Galileo allowed us to throw it to any stage at the touch of a button. It was seamless.” The house and visiting FOH engineers mixed on two Yamaha PM5D consoles from a mezzanine level above the center stage.
Brady says the long hall’s 30-foot windowed ceiling made the space challenging. “It’s certainly a very live room, and you have to watch your levels,” adds Brady. “The MSL-2 works great for the space, because it’s got an asymmetrical vertical coverage pattern that’s perfect for focusing the sound down on the floor and keeping it off the walls. And it’s a nice, low-profile box that doesn’t get in the camera shots.”
Outside the pavilion, the two-hour preshow event encompassed seven stages with a diverse roster of performers. Each of the outdoor stages was also equipped with Meyer Sound systems.
YouTube reports the event was an unqualified success, and plans to do more like it in the future. Other reviews around the Web agree, as does Brady. “For our part, the system performed great, the sound was great, and the audience was happy. That’s what it’s all about.”
YouTube Live was produced by Mountain View, Calif.-based e2k. Clips of the event can be seen on YouTube’s Live channel.
For more information, please visit www.meyersound.com.
