Orbital Sound Ltd

Motors & Shows 2004

Ford uses its imagination  Steve Moles reports

Arguably thats one reason why Del Nero called the services of Orbital (well-known for their efforts in this area on West End stages). It was really important to make sure they, the audience, had the geography of the event.

This was not the only complexity, Del Nero explained: Seb has been 100% responsible for creating the soundtrack. Orbitals Sebastian Frost worked many hours at Orbitals in-house studio in Brixton to do so. We took the 90 minutes of incidental music composed y Hans Zimmer for the movie, explained Frost. But being a movie soundtrack meant little of it ran continuously for more than about 30 seconds; we were working on a storyboard from Jane Brighton that ran for 20 minutes, with several action sequences within it requiring at least three minutes of continuous sound. An audio knitting job of labyrinthine complexity, Frost was still adapting it as rehearsals got underway at the NEC. We did at least know that nothing would be fixed, time-wise, until we got here, so we were prepared for this. Meaning a few quick trips back to Brixton each night.

There are three main focuses of action, Del Nero explained, the rear LED screen, Tracey Island, and Thunderbird 2 [T2], and to position the speakers we were limited by the confines of the grid.  a typical 6m by 6m truss lattice. Frost delineated the specifics of the PA system. Weve used five sets of speakers around T2, a pair of d&b Q1s and a Q7 beneath in each position. These give us a really compact array  you cant have long hangs of speakers spoiling the view of T2.

Theres also a surround system of C7s; C9s in the control gantries, and a C4 above the island for the helicopter effect There were lots more speakers, but who needs an equipment list? The real issue being control of disparate elements. Weve used an LCS system so we can re-configure scene to scene explained Del Nero, Plus were using d&bs Rope V3.0 which means absolutely no external processing is required, all the functions of the D12, EQ delay etc, can all be accessed remotely.

I watched a couple of repeated rehearsal sequences where the action moved from Island to T2 over a three-minute span, and was able to walk around the 250 degree perimeter of the set; certainly even from this limited exposure it was possible to close my eyes and discern the action location from the audio. That probably would not have been so important had it not been for Del Neros earlier observation about linking to live action effects. Had the soundtrack not conformed to all of the on-set explosions and general pyrotechnics, then the aural experience could have appeared ridiculous.

If proof were ever needed that cars are ultimately big boys toys, then this was it. Shimmering, dark blue at the far end of Hall 4 was a lake  but no ordinary lake. Just left of centre, towards its furthest shore, was a small island with some strange-looking structures upon it, not least a tall, sharply tapering spire, and above, a huge green vessel that resembled nothing less than an oversized frog. Tracey Island of Thunderbirds fame may not immediately conjure associations with the Ford Motor Corporation, but as Gary Withers himself said: One of Fords strongest themes is family and Thunderbirds is nothing if not the epitome of family entertainment.

The staging, spectacular in itself, is no mere static feature: Imagination, true to their name, have scripted a performance event that will surely made this corner of the NEC a must see for all Motor Show visitors. Involving actors, stunt performers and some hefty pyro, this is Boys Own action right before your eyes, and great fun it is too. To realize such a concept has involved a fair chunk of technology, some straight out of the textbook, some quite ground-breaking.

Sound

The brief was for a complete theatrical experience, explained sound designer John Del Nero. There are lots of special effects that are integral to the musical score, and yet we have to link them to the live action effects. A great deal of that linkage is through sound imaging to enhance spatial awareness, keeping the sound effects with the action location.

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Arguably thats one reason why Del Nero called the services of Orbital (well-known for their efforts in this area on West End stages). It was really important to make sure they, the audience, had the geography of the event.

This was not the only complexity, Del Nero explained: Seb has been 100% responsible for creating the soundtrack. Orbitals Sebastian Frost worked many hours at Orbitals in-house studio in Brixton to do so. We took the 90 minutes of incidental music composed y Hans Zimmer for the movie, explained Frost. But being a movie soundtrack meant little of it ran continuously for more than about 30 seconds; we were working on a storyboard from Jane Brighton that ran for 20 minutes, with several action sequences within it requiring at least three minutes of continuous sound. An audio knitting job of labyrinthine complexity, Frost was still adapting it as rehearsals got underway at the NEC. We did at least know that nothing would be fixed, time-wise, until we got here, so we were prepared for this. Meaning a few quick trips back to Brixton each night.

There are three main focuses of action, Del Nero explained, the rear LED screen, Tracey Island, and Thunderbird 2 [T2], and to position the speakers we were limited by the confines of the grid.  a typical 6m by 6m truss lattice. Frost delineated the specifics of the PA system. Weve used five sets of speakers around T2, a pair of d&b Q1s and a Q7 beneath in each position. These give us a really compact array  you cant have long hangs of speakers spoiling the view of T2.

Theres also a surround system of C7s; C9s in the control gantries, and a C4 above the island for the helicopter effect There were lots more speakers, but who needs an equipment list? The real issue being control of disparate elements. Weve used an LCS system so we can re-configure scene to scene explained Del Nero, Plus were using d&bs Rope V3.0 which means absolutely no external processing is required, all the functions of the D12, EQ delay etc, can all be accessed remotely.

I watched a couple of repeated rehearsal sequences where the action moved from Island to T2 over a three-minute span, and was able to walk around the 250 degree perimeter of the set; certainly even from this limited exposure it was possible to close my eyes and discern the action location from the audio. That probably would not have been so important had it not been for Del Neros earlier observation about linking to live action effects. Had the soundtrack not conformed to all of the on-set explosions and general pyrotechnics, then the aural experience could have appeared ridiculous.