PRAGUE — One of Europe’s leading arts houses, The National Theatre in Prague has transformed its technical capability with the installation of a pair of Lawo mc266 consoles as part of a comprehensive audio management network, to suit the theatre’s current techniques and future needs.
The arrival of the two new audio mixing consoles completes a five-year program of refurbishment of the National Theatre’s whole sound system. In the final stages of installation this summer, Czech film director Milos Forman used one of the Lawo mc²66 consoles to record a live DVD, but officially Lawo made its operatic debut in the auditorium with Carmen and a drama production of Tom Stoppard’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’, which used both desks.
In conjunction with its Czech partner Mediatech, Lawo has given the National Theatre an audio control system that is flexible in its current configuration, yet still offers potential for future expansion. Based on the Nova73 HD central routing system and four DALLIS I/O systems, the network includes a 16-8-8 frame mc266 console in the front-of-house control room of the main auditorium, and a smaller mobile 8-8-8 frame mc266, which can be used in a variety of ways: for independent recording in a separate studio, as a stage monitoring console, or in the auditorium itself, where it may be used live as an extension of the main console for certain performances.
The Nova73 HD router, which offers a 3000 crosspoint matrix, is at the heart of the system, centrally connected to the DALLIS frames and all the I/Os; this central hub provides both consoles with access to all audio signals at any time. Access rights management allows all input signals to be shared between both consoles, although one will act as the main console for controlling I/O parameters and important functions; these can be switched between the two mc266 desks via User Keys or the GUI.
With 96 channels of DSP, the consoles also exploit the advantages of Lawo’s plug-in servers, which bring a wide variety of FX under their control, saving the Theatre’s sound operators from having to patch in external units. Effectively operating as a virtual effects rack, this facility allows any FX to be routed to any point in the desk, recalled and controlled via snapshot or dynamic automation, even selected via the console’s GUI.
Mediatech’s Roman Kasnik led the project, from programming the consoles to training the National Theatre’s engineers. Although they had to use existing cabling which had been there for many years and had no adequate documentation, the Mediatech team successfully completed the installation within a tight window during the Theatre’s summer holidays, ahead of the new 2008-2009 Season.
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For more information, please visit www.lawo.ca.
