COLOGNE, Germany — Adamson Systems Engineering held a joint technical seminar with Lawo at Tonmeistertagung (TMT), a trade event spanning broadcast, studio and live sound that was staged here in late November.
More details from Adamson Systems (www.adamsonsystems.com):
TMT, similar to the EAS conventions, offers a program rich in education and technical seminars. This year’s 27th edition (the show is being every 2 years) took place in Cologne end of November. Canadian speaker manufacturer, a German manufacturer of networking audio systems and ‘Innovason’ mixing consoles, in addition to a technical seminar of their own, plus a showcase concert sponsored by Adamson Europe GmbH and Lawo.
Adamson Europe’s Applications Engineer David Dohrmann held the first seminar in which detailed why Line Arrays are a fundamental part of contemporary sound designs for live events and fixed installations. He canvassed line source principles, and dove into details on how to properly utilize their benefits in everyday applications. The also touched upon limitations associated with ‘true’ line source systems to identify situations where designs based on conventional systems can be a preferred solution. Various examples were demonstrated to establish a practical workflow and different simulation tools were used to achieve reliable results within a reasonable timeframe.
The second workshop was titled: Classical Live Sound – Creating a distinctive sonic image for classical performances. The lecture was hosted by Jochen Sommer (Director of Operations, Adamson Europe GmbH) and Marcel Babazadeh (International Sales Director, Lawo), and directed by Dipl. Tonmeister Carsten Kümmel (Thurn & Taxis Schloßfestspiele, Szeged Classical Festival). The seminar concentrated on high quality classical live sound production of events not held in concert halls. A demanding task, the obstacles include maintaining the natural timbre of instruments and valid source localization in the stereo image for larger audiences. Another objective is to create a convincing acoustic environment while providing fragile orchestra transients. Solutions were presented to thoroughly fulfill the expectations of discerning listeners, whose sonic reference has been fine-tuned in a concert hall, and who often react critically to deviations from their usual hearing impressions. The general details covered in the seminar included system design for classical events, console layout for orchestra mixing, and system setup & tuning. Mr Kümmel gave firsthand information about mixing orchestras in live environments. This included preparation, microphone placement and mix strategies, followed by a step by step demonstration on how to finalize a mix, each step supported by listening examples. The progress in clarity was easily intelligible. The workshop utilized the linear and clean Adamson Metrix system and the new Innovason eclipse console featuring the new innovative ‘pandora’ panning feature. Pandora was the final step in Mr Kümmel’s presentation and added a tremendous perfection to the mix.
“The cooperation between Adamson, Lawo and Mr Kümmel has been fruitful from the very beginning.
There was a common passion and thread that carried through the discussions up to the very moment of our joint presentation which obviously caught people’s attention and interest. The lecture lasted nearly 2 hours and the seminar room was full from the beginning to the very end.” comments Jochen Sommer.
“We all shared the same idea about the importance of complete solutions rather than the individual products benefits for this subject matter. It was ideal that Mr Kümmel included the expert knowledge from Adamson about loudspeaker system design and the Innovason console layout into his lecture. We are looking forward to the next opportunity of a common project.” Marcel Babazadeh adds.
The shopwcase concert and seminar demonstration PA were an identical configuration. The room capacity of 160 people listened to a flown stereo setup of 5 Metrix 5° degree with a single Metrix W 15° underhang flown underneath a Metrix Sub. A single T21 was located on the ground at center position. 2 Point 8 passive enclosures served as near fills and delivered spatial orientation to stage. On stage Adamson M12 wedges were used for the concert musicians monitoring. During both seminars various music styles such as Rock (AC/DC), Pop (Sarah McLachlan) and obviously a lots of classical program material were put through the system. In the evening a Live Jazz Quartet with leading German Jazz artists performed an exclusive sold-out concert, sponsored by Adamson and Lawo.
At the Adamson booth, the German headquarters decided to offer a preview of latest Blueprint AV software and displayed brand new coax boxes and elements of project Energia.
David Dohrmann concludes: “TMT 2012 was a great success for us. We have now significantly increased public attention to the Adamson brand, both at the tradeshow and seminar parts of the symposium since its previous edition in Leipzig. We had contact with a decent number of high quality visitors from various markets including rental, theatre and consulting, and to top it we garnered raving reviews of our seminars.”
