HAMILTON, Ontario – The Studio at Hamilton Place isn't just a recording studio, it includes a 500-seat theatre and concert space known for its sound quality. Artists including Bruce Cockburn, The Cowboy Junkies, Billy Bragg and others have performed there, and the venue also hosts theatrical events ranging from comedy shows to boxing.
Today, the performance space's gear is dominated Sennheiser and Sennheiser-distributed equipment.
"When I came to Hamilton Place six years ago, we were looking for greater intelligibility as well as better overall frequency response throughout the hall," said studio technician Steve Foster. "We tested a lot of equipment over the years, and time and time again the Sennheiser and Neumann mics came out superior."
At Hamilton Place, Foster relies on a full Sennheiser hard-wired mic kit including 30 pieces: one e901, one e902, one e905, four e904s, three e914s, six e935s, eight MD 421s, two MKE 2 Golds and two Neumann TLM 103s. He also uses the e900 series for drums and percussion instruments, among other things.
"I appreciate the accuracy and transparency of the evolution 900 series. I don't have to compensate much EQ-wise, and this is a huge time saver." Foster also credited the Neumann TLM103s for their versatility. "I like to use them as overheads on drums, on guitar cabinets, acoustic instruments, strings and as an ambient mic for percussion as well."
The performance hall has been equipped with an L-Acoustics KIVA line array, and Foster also has four sets of the EM 550 G2 wireless microphone systems on hand. "These wireless models have excellent tonality and are really durable. I've had artists handle them pretty roughly yet they have survived."
Over the past three years, Foster has focused on rebuilding the FOH setup, starting with the installation of the L-Acoustics KIVA line array for the PA system. It's driven by two LA4 amplifiers for the array and one LA 8 for the subs and front fills.
"I have every type of music in here, from heavy metal to classical," Foster explained. "The fidelity on the L-Acoustics is spectacular and they can easily accommodate acoustic music as well as louder stuff." Foster is currently in the process of installing the L-Acoustic SB 18 subs.
The first phase of the venue's sound system upgrade also included upgrading the console to an Innovason SY 48 digital mixing console. Over the past few years it served Foster very well at FOH, but he has since moved it to serve as the monitoring console. The Eclipse by Innovason – the first digital console with fully integrated multi-track recording – now operates in the FOH position.
"Both of the Innovason consoles are very clean, and have a nice analog warmth to them," said Foster. "They just keep improving their product all the time. With the new Eclipse, I can access outboard effects very quickly; the entire process takes about half a minute. I just patch it in, assign it and go."
Now that the FOH install is complete, Foster has turned his attention to the stage and has been demo-ing several different brands of monitoring systems. "We have pretty much settled on getting the Kling & Freitag Scena 15s with CD44 processors," he said. "I like them a lot because they have fantastic gain before feedback. They also have bigger drivers than what we've been using, so they can really handle the drum kit."
At the end of a show at Hamilton Place, folks invariably stop by the FOH console and offer their compliments. "I get a lot of road technicians telling me how great the system sounded, but the patrons come by and tell me that, too. And you know, we also always love to hear it from the punters, because they're the one's buying tickets."
For more information, please visit www.sennheiser.ca.
