The Wasserschloss Klaffenbach in Chemnitz, Germany, is a sixteenth-century moated castle which this summer provided a stunning location for a series of four outdoor concerts featuring a variety of popular music acts. Artists as diverse as hit machine The BossHoss, actor and country singer Kiefer Sutherland, heavy metal favourites Blutengel, indie rockers Kaffkiez, and British song poet and electro musician Anne Clarke, all performed in the historic space.
The team from Chemnitz-based Schalldruck.Audio, led by Reinhard Tochtenhagen was responsible for sound and lights, and chose a CODA Audio system to meet the challenges presented by this heritage setting. Crew Chief Robert Bretschneider describes the brief: “The castle is a great location but it does have its pitfalls. The entire courtyard is paved with cobbles and surrounded by stone walls, so reflections are unavoidable. Added to this, the area is quite wide in relation to the throw distances, and the audio reinforcement hangs in front of the stage towers, with the potential to obstruct sight-lines.”
Schalldruck deployed a solution centred on CODA’s flagship AiRAY line array. 2 x 10 AiRAY (4 at 90°, 6 at 120°) formed the main hangs, with 2 x 2 clusters of ViRAY with 120-degree couplers covering the near field area. 2 x 2 clusters of N-APS on stands were used as outfill. The low frequency range was covered by a sub array of 10 x SCP-F and 4 x SCV-F sensor-controlled subwoofers. The system worked perfectly according to Robert Bretshcneider: “With all the components in the high and midrange being based on the same driver system, matching the phase response was a piece of cake and ensured even coverage to every corner of the site. The sound performance was exceptional and the slim profile of the AiRAY and ViRAY allowed for minimal impact on the sight-lines.”
The system was powered by CODA Audio LINUS14D DSP amplifiers which performed excellently under difficult conditions according Robert: “The conditions in the courtyard are unique – it gets very hot during the day and then cools down rapidly in the evening, so it’s very different between midday sound-checks and evening performances – the temperature fluctuations didn’t affect the amps at all. I’m always impressed by the resilience and robustness of the CODA products – we’ve carried out many shows in poor weather conditions and never experienced any impairment of function or sound. The N-APS in the outfill area don’t enjoy the benefit of a stage roof and consequently have to endure a lot, but they invariably perform reliably and deliver flawless sound. I’m always impressed!”
The flexibility of the system allowed for the wide variety of musical styles to be seamlessly adapted to, with rich low frequencies and clear intelligibility. Robert concludes: “The response we received from the customer was excellent but sometimes the best praise doesn’t need words – the happy faces of the engineers sitting at the console is the perfect endorsement for me. That tells us we’ve done a good job and that it was the right decision to rely on CODA Audio.”
