OCCIDENTAL, CA – Sound Expressions installed JBL VerTec loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers recently as part of a larger renovation project for a gymnasium at the Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds, which has served as a camp for families, churches and schools since 1946.
"In recent years, Alliance Redwoods has been upgrading the camp's technology and infrastructure to revitalize it almost beyond recognition," said Sound Expression's Greg Adams. "A need has arisen to create a larger music venue, and management decided the existing gymnasium should be adapted to create a functional live music space."
Facing some hurdles in the design process, Adams noted, "First of all, it still had to be able to be used as a gym – we couldn't just gut it and build a dedicated music venue. Also, most people think of gyms as spaces with bad acoustics, and this one absolutely fit the stereotype. It was an echo chamber, a 100 percent unusable space for music as it originally stood."
Sound Expressions brought in Rocky Giannetta of Perform Acoustics, a Roseville, CA-based acoustical consultant and manufacturer, to conduct a study using EASE models of the space. "Based on the models and Perform Acoustics' recommendations for using their room treatment products, we determined we could tame the echo and make the space work," said Adams.
Sound Expressions then used the JBL VerTec Line Array Calculator II loudspeaker configuration and acoustic modeling software to determine what loudspeakers would work best, and where they should be placed. They specified two line array clusters, each containing JBL VerTec VT4886 subcompact line array elements, paired with JBL SRX728S subwoofers and JBL MRX512M stage monitors.
"Because of structural and space limitations and the fact that the room had to be dual-purpose, we had to be able to move all the AV and lighting out of the way when not in use – not just the VerTec line arrays, subs and monitors, but also the video projector and LED lighting array towers," Adams explained. "We could not permanently mount anything." A custom truss was constructed that can move using chain hoists. The loudspeakers, lighting system and video projector are permanently mounted on this structure, which disassembles into 10-foot pieces that drop onto rollaway carts.
Crown I-Tech amplifiers, including I-T2000HD, I-T9000HD and XTi 2000 amps, power the system.
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