Vancouver-based, China-born Wanting Qu sings and writes
songs in both English and Chinese to bring together East and the West with her
singular style of melodic alternative pop. The artist recently took China by
storm on her “Say the Words Asian Tour”, a 22-city whirlwind which Wanting Qu
kicked off in her hometown of Harbin. Thousands of fans packed the Harbin
Sports City Center Stadium to hear their native darling perform live, and
superb sound was provided by a range of D.A.S. Audio professional sound
systems.
When Wanting Qu decided to organize her Asian tour she
called in long-time partner S.A.G. (Sound Arts Group) to help ensure the
crystal clear sound she knew she needed at all 22 concerts. S.A.G., a sound
rental company and post-producer that provides recording and mixing services
and a range of first-class audio equipment for concerts and other events, had
previously worked with Wanting Qu at the S.A.G. recording studio Jiang BeiShen
and Zhang Bo own in Beijing and knew that D.A.S. Audio systems would give the
artist precisely the sound she expected to hear.
The packed schedule put the pressure on the S.A.G. sound
team, who had limited time to set up between concerts. They also had to design
two separate sound configurations, one for Harbin’s large indoor arena and
another for the more intimate theater venues on the rest of the tour. The
engineers opted to bring in systems from D.A.S. Audio’s catalogue of Aero
Series 2 products for the kick-off concert in Harbin, rolling out 24
large-format Aero 50 systems for the FOH. These systems were rigged in two
clusters of 12 units per side in a classic left/right set up and were augmented
with 16 D.A.S. LX-218C subwoofers, ground stacked under each hang in eight unit
blocks.
Side fill duties were assigned to 24 Aero 12A compact
line arrays, which were also flown in a left/right configuration. Four D.A.S.
Road 15A were set up to ensure top-notch sound for Wanting Qu’s “down-in-front”
fans, and D.A.S. DSP-2060A and DSP-4080 monitors handled the management and
control of the entire system.
The S.A.G. technicians decided to take 12 of their
compact Aero 12As on the road for the remaining concerts on the “Say the Words
Asian Tour”, which were held in smaller, more intimate venues. These systems
were also rigged in two clusters of six units per side on opposite sides of the
stage. A total of six LX-218CA were brought along for the crucial low frequency
support, and on stage Wanting Qu had a battery of D.A.S. Road 15A powered
monitors at her disposal.
Sound engineer and S.A.G. co-founder Zhang Bo commented
on the advantages of deploying the D.A.S. systems for the “Say the Words Asian
Tour”: “We have extensive experience with the D.A.S. systems and are fully
aware of what they’re capable of in a range of different venues, and they made
set up and getting the right sound quite fast and simple for us on this tour.”
