London-based, Orbital Sound, leading suppliers and designers of audio systems for Theatre and Musical productions have most recently supplied Pola Productions with a complex system designed by Rick Clarke, comprised of D&B and EAW loudspeakers, 22 Trantec S5000 radio microphones, and Amek Recall Sound desk and a battery of remotely controlled XTA DP226 Delay/ EQ units, for their latest West End Musical, Spend, Spend, Spend, starring Barbara Dickson.

After the huge success of Pola Jones' West End Musical, West Side Story, the acclaimed reviews are already setting Spend in a league of its own. Orbital, having supplied the sound system for West Side Story, were the preferred choice for Pola Jones as Vanessa Stone commented:

" We have found that Orbital give us the sound system to match the calibre of our productions, with a committed and dedicated approach that counts for everything."

Understanding the acoustic demands of any Theatre auditorium is one of Orbital's objectives, as it is to push the realms of audio technology to its maximum. Every stage production requires a subtly different audio combination and, as Theatre Auditorium's are renowned for their acoustic variability, contrast tuning and alignment of the speakers must take place to ensure the best sound coverage, for every production.

For this specific reason, Tim Sherratt, Orbital's Technical Support Manager devised an innovative solution (by way of broadening the application of wireless network links) for Sound Designers to control the accuracy of equalisation, delay and levels from any speaker within the auditorium. Multi-zone systems can also be simply accessed, very discreetly, without wires, even with the audience in place. From a Sound Design perspective, this is invaluable: it is possible to tune and realign the speakers in realtime, giving increased control, precision and ultimately the best sound quality.

Tim Sherratt explained that he was not entirely satisfied with the existing means of either connecting control units or the relevant data through radio frequencies, and liaised with Rick Clarke to provide an efficient and reliable alternative: "One of the great things about Rick is that he never becomes complacent about technology. He is always pushing us- Rick was determined that we find a better way of remote control; so we took on this challenge."

Orbital's system does not transfer program data, but simply communicates screen, keyboard and mouse data to other computers which operate the equaliser/ delay software directly. This makes
for a much more effective radio transmission, and also allows for a wide variety of Windows control programs to be remoted. In fact, the system is so versatile that Rick Clarke can remotely view and interrogate the 32 channel Trantec Radio Microphone Software from anywhere in the building, including the backstage dressing rooms.


Rick Clarke explained:
"Previous radio modems I have used were very limited in their transmission range and speed. So far, with this system, from Orbital, I have not experienced any problems with the transmission range. Working on deregulated frequencies high above the mobile phone band,the transceiver itself is a PCM ICA card, instead of an external 2-way radio which makes for a neater and easily managed package as I move aro
und the auditorium. It also enables me to work more efficiently and add a precision to the control of any sound design. I have the freedom to experiment with different options as I can receive an instant response, by working in a realtime situation.


Tim Sherratt has found his product extremely useful on touring productions, when the variety of venues and the lack of time in certain situations necessitates maximum efficiency: there is no time for delays or errors. The product is currently proving its weight in gold on the Orbital European tour of Olivier Awards winner "Kat and the Kings", now also a Broadway hit.