LAGOS, Nigeria – Meyer Sound gear helped organizers for "The Experience," a non-denominational gospel music concert, bring the message and the music to some 450,000 jammed into the Tafawa Balewa Square and an adjacent cricket field.
The spiritual celebration featured 14 American and Nigerian gospel artists, including headliners Kirk Franklin, Phil Driscoll, and Bebe and Cece Winans.
The event's ongoing sound system supplier, GQ Acoustics of Lagos, used an expanded Meyer Sound system that had been boosted with more MILO line array loudspeakers and 700-HP subwoofers, plus a new complement of JM-1P arrayable loudspeakers.
"The main venue is an open quadrangle about 170 meters across, with the stage on one long side, grandstands opposite, and three-story pavilions on the short sides," said David "dB Dave" Dennison, a consultant engineer who assisted with system design and technical support.
"The extreme width made it impossible to cover the far corners effectively with only the line arrays. Fortunately, the JM-1Ps were perfect for delays and fills because I could add 20 degrees of horizontal coverage by simply adding another box until I had exactly what I needed. That was priceless."
Of the 16 JM-1P loudspeakers, four were placed on each of the two delay towers for back corner coverage, three per side were aimed far off-stage toward seating areas beyond the coverage of the side arrays, and one per side was used for VIP areas adjacent to the stage.
The main stage system included 14 MILO line array loudspeakers plus 14 MICA line array loudspeakers per side for side fill. Two UPA-1P loudspeakers covered immediate front-center while 36 700-HP subwoofers at the stage arranged for cardioid response plus two at each delay tower supplied bass impact. The stage monitoring complement included 16 MJF-212A stage monitors, four MTS-4A full range loudspeakers, and two USW-1P subwoofers. A Galileo® loudspeaker management system with two Galileo 616 processors was employed for signal processing, and the system was aligned using GQ Acoustics' own SIM® 3 audio analyzer.
Except for a few groups bringing their own engineers, FOH mixing was entrusted to GQ Acoustics' Andrew Adesina and Ifeanyi Achibiri of House on the Rock, the organizer of the event.
"The sound this year was awesome, absolutely out of the world," said Achibiri. "I'm certain we will have GQ Acoustics and Meyer Sound back again next year. No other company in the region can do this kind of work."
Peter Iriah, managing director of GQ Acoustics, was pleased that his bolstered system stayed one step ahead of the swelling attendance. "Also, the high level of technical support we received from Meyer Sound was invaluable, going far beyond what most companies provide," added Iriah.
As in past years, the 2009 Experience was convened by Paul Adefarasin, founder and senior pastor of the House on the Rock. Based in Lagos, House on the Rock is a multi-racial, multi-tribal church with 35 sites in Nigeria as well as branch ministries throughout Africa and Europe.
For more information, please visit www.meyersound.com.
