DES MOINES, IA – The Temple for Performing Arts (TPA), originally built in 1911, fell on hard times. Restoration began in 2002, and the building, recognized by the National Historical Register, now offers three performance areas, all equipped with gear from d&b. The three performance spaces include the Grand Hall, the Recital Hall and the Temple Theater.
Like the opulent Grand Hall, the Temple Theater has a seating capacity of about 300 people and "a nice natural acoustic," according to Jason Kartak from Audio Logic Systems.
The performance spaces have been used for a variety of events, ranging educational sessions to musical performances and comedy, including a 68-week run for Triple Espresso.
To support the variety of uses, the management sought a flexible PA system was required.
"After a seven year time span, it was decided to upgrade our existing equipment in the Temple Theater," noted Greg Tracy, assistant production manager for the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. "Both staff and audiences had been consistently impressed with the quality of the sound during the Triple Espresso run, and so we immediately contacted John Markiewicz, their sound designer."
Markiewicz is also the owner and president of Audio Logic Systems.
"John brought down three different d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker systems for us to compare: the Q-Series, the C-Series and the T-Series," said Tracy. "We also asked him to prepare quotes for two other brands of loudspeaker systems, but it didn't take long before those possibilities were eliminated."
Although the room is a relatively friendly environment, acoustically, there were other factors to consider. "Today's sophisticated touring shows demand an increasingly high standard of audio fidelity," noted Kartak. "A quality sound system solution was needed, but it had to be one that didn't compromise the visual aesthetic of the room."
The unobtrusive visual design of the T-Series from d&b seemed to fit the bill. "When I demonstrated the system, TPA saw them immediately as the ideal solution to their needs. Small, lightweight, yet extremely powerful in line array configuration; what makes this system stand out is its ability to deliver full bandwidth reproduction at much lower levels, say for speech, without the need for re-addressing the EQ structure."
Tracy agreed. "As in most retrofit installations, there were inconvenient walls, poor cable routes and acoustically unfriendly surfaces to deal with. A particularly tricky area here is an overhang that puts the last half dozen rows of seats under a much-lower ceiling than the rest of the seating. The d&b T-Series arrays did a beautiful job of punching the sound into that area with no discernable loss of response."
The first to use the system was a local singer/guitarist Mary McAdams and her band in September. Since January 2010, the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines has presented the Prairie Meadows Temple Theatre Series, which offers a variety of performances including Dixie's Tupperware Party, Runt of the Litter, The Wonder Bread Years, and Girls Night: The Musical.
For the Temple Theater, the new system "allows for a much wider range of performances, both in size and complexity, from meetings and acoustic performances to comedy club type events and full blown musicals," Tracy said. "I was impressed," he added. "Impressed with the d&b products; impressed with Audio Logic's expertise. Everything went like clockwork."
For more information, please visit www.audiologicsystems.com and www.dbaudio.com.
