"We have also purchased the Que Audio Performance Series (Da-Cappo) microphones from Orbital as well, as a perfect complement to the Zaxcom. While the Zaxcom ERX1T audio and video timecode receiver with the Shure SE 425 is a good solution, the STA100 stereo adapters give us more in-ears. When you combine the STA150s, attached to the TRX 900, with the Da Cappo DA-15s, you get a great pairing – a mic with in-ear, all on the same beltpack. With the TRX700's transmission to camera capabilities we can handle the whole process wirelessly, giving us a truly future-proof system that can be easily expanded, as well as allowing us to capture orchestras in the concert shell cable free."
Bruno's relationship with Orbital is long-standing, originally working with the team on the Kings Place Music Foundation project, commenting: "they have been great. We sat down at ABTT last year and worked out the best approach for our long-term requirements, and it is now all coming together. This is the first element in what we plan to be an evolving system."
As the team roll up their sleeves for the major task of moving into ROHM and getting everything up and running, we wish them every success! More on their progress in the next issue of The Spin in the autumn.
Orbital has just shipped a massive quantity of Zaxcom digital wireless microphone systems to the prestigious Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) in Oman, due to open officially later this year. The £150,000+ order includes the new Zaxcom TRL900LT third-generation transmitters, with Zaxcom to form the backbone of the ROHM's wireless solution across the multiple performance spaces.
The new venue, which primarily is a theatrical Opera House, with the ability to transform itself into a world class concert hall, is one of the most spectacular to be constructed in recent times, comprising an eight hectare site complete with a cultural souk, museums, retail centre, village square and coffee shops. The architecture reflects the grand style of Omani public buildings, using traditional design cues and a fantastic gilded interior.
Pictured left to right: Mike Compton, Collin Chivers and Bruno Silva
A key element is that ROHM can be reconfigured from a theatre into an 1100-seat concert hall, for different productions, thanks to the ROHM's mobile "shell". This can be detached with the aid of vast movable structures, to allow an adjustable proscenium to drop into place, creating a conventional theatre layout. The result is a uniquely adaptable volume that gives the concert hall an unparalleled natural acoustic, according to the international design firm, WATG and Theatre Projects. The theatre stage incorporates a 32-metre high fly tower, equipping the venue for the most adventurous large-scale productions. Construction started in 2007, with the formal opening scheduled for late 2011.
Augmenting the core audio equipment has fallen to the recently-appointed resident sound team, managed by Collin Chivers - formerly Deputy Head of Sound & Broadcast at Royal Opera House Convent Garden. The team includes Bruno Silva – formerly Head of Sound at Kings Place Music Foundation in London, and now Deputy Head of Sound & Broadcast at ROHM, plus Mike Compton, who was formerly Senior Sound Engineer at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is now also Deputy Head of Sound and Broadcast at ROHM. The team is eagerly waiting to move into the new venue and start commissioning all of the equipment, ahead of a soft launch in the autumn. The preparatory time has been well-spent, according to Bruno, in working out what additional systems are required to expand the core audio kit specified by the consultants.
He explains:
"We are currently based in separate facilities, which comprise the main project offices from where we have been conducting regular visits on site, and liaising with consultants and contractors - keeping a close involvement with the evolution of the main works at the Royal Opera House, in regards to the installation of our technical equipment. In addition to these facilities, we also have stores located about 15 minutes from the ROHM, where we are now storing the equipment that we have added to the project since we first started. These store facilities will be expanded in the near future to provide support to the functionality of the ROHM technical departments.
"Currently, this is the base where we can set up and test out all of the kit, giving us an important head start for the move in just a few weeks' time. Expanding the consultant-specced radio mic system, which is a Sennheiser (5000, 3000, 300 series), was a priority for us, particularly as a key element in providing the state of the art broadcast facilities designed by Collin and his team. I had used the Zaxcom digital wireless systems at Kings Place Music Foundation and was very impressed with their quality, flexibility and performance. It seemed a natural choice for ROHM – although you can run cables just about anywhere in the venue, we wanted to have a clean, flexible wireless system that we can use to cover pretty much any of the spaces. We have specified a wide cross-section of different plug-in transmitter and beltpack options, enabling us to work with just about anything that comes up.
"We have also purchased the Que Audio Performance Series (Da-Cappo) microphones from Orbital as well, as a perfect complement to the Zaxcom. While the Zaxcom ERX1T audio and video timecode receiver with the Shure SE 425 is a good solution, the STA100 stereo adapters give us more in-ears. When you combine the STA150s, attached to the TRX 900, with the Da Cappo DA-15s, you get a great pairing – a mic with in-ear, all on the same beltpack. With the TRX700's transmission to camera capabilities we can handle the whole process wirelessly, giving us a truly future-proof system that can be easily expanded, as well as allowing us to capture orchestras in the concert shell cable free."
Bruno's relationship with Orbital is long-standing, originally working with the team on the Kings Place Music Foundation project, commenting: "they have been great. We sat down at ABTT last year and worked out the best approach for our long-term requirements, and it is now all coming together. This is the first element in what we plan to be an evolving system."
As the team roll up their sleeves for the major task of moving into ROHM and getting everything up and running, we wish them every success! More on their progress in the next issue of The Spin in the autumn.
