Electronic music
duo The Pet Shop Boys have received rave reviews for the first two dates of
their 2013 Electric tour. Capital Sound Hire deployed its NEXO STM
system for the shows in London and Manchester, the largest they have undertaken
to date, using the first three-wide configuration of the modular line array,
requested by FOH engineer Holger Schwark.
For both the O2
Arena and MEN Arena, Capital’s sound design presented a main left/right system
in a ‘double bass’ configuration, with each array having a hang of 15x STM M46
main cabinets in the centre, and two hangs of 15x STM B112 bass units, one on
each side of the mains. The outfill arrays covering the sides of the arenas used
15x M46 main cabinets per side. There
was also a flown line of 9x STM S118 subs per side, and 9x S118s ground-stacked
per side.
Holger Schwark
explains his decision to go with STM for the two concerts. “Since Capital is
our supplier for the control gear, its new STM system was an obvious choice,’
he says. “I had to think about whether I was happy to use such a new system on
a big gig like this, so we had a small version of it with three tops, basses
and subs per side to play with in rehearsals, and I got a good idea of the
tonality of the system and how it behaves. The sound it produces is very clear,
and I like the clarity of the top end; in the Arena, it covers well right up to
the last rows. It’s also very consistent – during sound check, I wasn’t hearing
any drastic changes walking around so it seems to be mechanically well designed.”
“I do like its performance,”
Schwark added, after two arena shows in front of the STM system. “I could hear
pretty much every detail I mixed at FOH, while it had a punchy, exciting
overall sound quality. I also got quite a few positive comments after each
concert, so I can safely assume that many others liked the sound.”
The unusual three-wide
configuration of the main hangs was designed at the request of Schwark,
exploiting the flexibility of NEXO’s modular design. “Often, a proper full range setup on the side
has adverse effects in front of the main PA – things get too ‘boomy’, so I use
EQ to reduce the low mids and lows on the side PA. It felt logical to move the
LF elements from the side hangs to the main hangs, maintaining the total number
of required speakers, amps etc. And using the same box for the mids and highs,
between the main and side hangs, brings exceptional uniformity in the tonal
balance when walking from the main zone into the sides.\”
Describing his subwoofer setup, Schwark explained, \”I am a big
fan of flown subs, as the bottom end is usually more evenly distributed for a
larger part of the audience, whereas ground-stacked designs tend to massively
massage the fans in the first rows, much more than I would personally feel
comfortable with. We went for a combination of flown and groundstacked subs, with the flown ones running at a slightly higher
volume. They sounded great – a massive, punchy bottom end.\”
Ian Colville, Capital Sound Hire’s technical manager, offers the
company’s perspective: \”Capital Sound has been involved with the STM
project from day one and it\’s very rewarding to be able to introduce the system
to our clients and for it to be so well received. These two shows are the
largest that we have undertaken with STM to date and I think that the speed
with which the system can be rigged and de-rigged was particularly impressive.
“The ability to tailor a STM system design to suit a particular type
of programme material or just the engineer\’s personal taste is also a massive
advantage and I\’m looking forward to creating bespoke designs utilizing the
four STM building blocks, as we\’ve done with The Pet Shop Boys.\”
Schwark looks ahead to more STM events: \”I am looking forward
to seeing a great new system entering the scene. Usually the Pet Shop Boys tour
with only desks and control gear, using local PA systems as we travel around
the world. I will happily add STM to the next revision of our list of preferred
PA systems.\”
