Flex Array At Manchester Academy 03/05/08

Arrive at Manchester Academy 1 on Oxford Rd just before 10am. Just driven 200 miles and need a coffee but it looks like its time to unload a truck - oh joy! All this is made even better by the fact last night (or is it this morning) I was up till about 2.30am having been to see a band down at the Scala (another Turbo Installation, TA-500s http://www.turbosound.com/newsroom/scala/index.html ) in Kings Cross with a freind who had flown in from Brazil just to see it. Further complicated by the Cachaca, Sugar and Limes packed in her luggage which made the best caipahrinas I've tasted for some time. But that was last night and 4 hours sleep seems scant reward. All this on a bank holiday weekend aswell!

Still my colleague Paul has just arrived with his mate Jeff, from one of our UK dealers, and gthere does seem to be a very efficient stage crew to offload the truck - so maybe things aren't so bad. We are working with a company called STS on this gig, they have a bit of previous with Turbosound having grown out of an earlier company called Phantom Power, and their mainstay system for many years being a Floodlight rig. One of their system tech's, Keith, also has quite a few connections with Turbo so it all makes for a nice freindly and efficient atmosphere.

Anyway once we've had chance to look at the room, seems they have spent a few quid on it since my last visit, we decide on a plan of action. The room is a bout 25m wide and roughly 35m deep with a 6m ceiling, rectangular with good draping but there is a new glass fronted balcony at the back for the VIP area. That might cause a few issues, so having been told no-one ever really uses it we decide to try to point the PA away from it.

So what have we got to use? Well we have 16x TFA-600H plus 8x TSW-218 along with 2x TA-500DP Aspect Wides for fills. We are running Turbo T-45 & T-25 amps and a networked system of LMS-D26 with a laptop at FoH for control and tweaking.

Once the points are in and the chain hoist, yes that's right chain hoist, is up plus the stage configured then we start to fly the PA. This proves to be a remarkably easy job. All the cabinets have come up individually (ie not pre rigged in cases) so its a simple matter of lying one cabinet down then putting the next on top, dropping the front links in, pinning them off and then dropping the rear angle arm and selecting the appropriate arm position. Repeat a further 5 times and cable up. Then we bring in the FB-600 flybar - a chunky-looking piece of kit that looks like a cross between an M-60 machine gun and a crossbow (see images below not from gig) - and attach the front pins then drop the rear arm to pick up the back of the cabinets and pin off

Then we decide on which will be the appropriate pick-up point on the bar top and attach the hoist hook. Taking the strain and winching away we take the array up to see how it hangs - pretty flat but we have few more cabs to add (only six on so far) and need to miss that balcony. Unfortunately we don't yet have the appropriate information on the Turbosound Predictive software - GIGMATE - which would ordinarily allow us to look at our options on the laptop and identify the weight of the array, appropriate pin positions and angles etc. Therefore a certain amount of trial & error was involved - but thankfully not much.

We added the extra two cabinets to the bottom of the array and then reposition the pick-point. This is where the full production feature of the FB-600 would have been a boon, in the fiull version you have a screw thread with handle that allows the pick-up point to be moved forwards or backwards under load, then pinned off. The pin not loadbearing but just secures the block in position.

Having found the correct angle then it was just the long, boring and tiring process of hauling the total array (approx 350Kg) up 4.5-5m in the air on a chain block. Times like that you really appreciate the old Lodestars and a pickle.

So if you have been following the process correctly, with the aid of a responsible adult, then you should end up with a very neat looking array. Repeating the process on the other side and ensuring the same settings are used on the complemenary cluster means you will have symetrical hangs, then it was just a matter of towing in the arrays to ensure maximum floor coverage and minimum wall reflections. So your clusters will look a little like the following ........

So now the PA clusters its time to add the subs and fill. We stack the TSW-218 left and right of stage two wide, two high and stick a TA-500DP on top by the stage for immediate stage front fill of the "mosh pit" - not that there's likely to be any moshing at an I Am Kloot gig. That's the band btw for more info check out http://www.iamkloot.com/ or this video from the Manchester Academy (but from an earlier gig I think) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=babgbInpYOI

Then just a matter of turning the system on, checking it through for any cabling or phase issues, then selecting the appropriate preset (yes there will be presets for the system for reasons that will be explained at a later date, to do with how a line source/array system works) and tweaking a little to deal with the room. As you can see from the picture below its very difficult to see the PA given the cabinets are black and there walls and drapes are all black aswell. Still very compact and discrete for all those corporate gigs etc. Certain amount of EQ, then we handed it over the 5 or 6 STS guys to have a quick play. Then Paul, boss man from STS (in left of this image), brings his copy of Thriller for his litmus test. All very happy once we sort out a small issue with a high impedance connection on the subs.

Lots of appreciative head nodding and positivity for the simplicity of the flying gear, the size of the cabinets, the weight of the cluster, the format and the audio quality. Then we're asked how much headroom is left in the system, "oooh, a good 10-12dB" we say. The faders push up and Paul's laptop at FoH starts to bounce across its perch. Eyeballs wobble but ears don't scream, and mouths all seem to smile.

So the system is up and running. We hand it over to the STS guys and IAK's FoH engineer and retreat to the local kebabshop for some lunch and a serious chat with Paul (STS).

More to follow.........