Know-how

Hall of Fame

On an almost daily basis, the Berlin-based radio stations come to the hall for live recordings. Sometimes there may even be two stations, such as the SFB and Deutschlandradio, covering the same event, simultaneously.

Deutschlandradio, incidentally, sources the majority of its live recordings from the hall. Not suprisingly then, broadcast considerations were high on the agenda when the hall's audio system was renewed in late 2000 and early 2001. And the result was that the hall opted for a big NEXUS network and several CANTUS consoles in a flexible setup.

Telecom Link Included

Three main stages of the Concert Hall – the big hall, the small hall and the Music Club – are covered by five NEXUS base devices. All microphones can thus be connected to a near-by NEXUS unit and routed to the house network. Live recordings take place in the two fixed studios, each with its own base device. Alternatively, the radio station can use an OB Truck, and connect it to a dedicated base device, which doubles as broadcast output for the telecom link.

This already impressive audio network is built around yet another base device that acts as a central router. For this, it contains only NEXUS-FOC cards, which are used for connecting the various base devices to one another. The audio network, with its 11 base devices – together with a mobile base device with three connection locations in the house, and one device for public address applications – is extremely impressive.

Two Plus One

For broadcasting purposes, the two production control rooms have been fitted with CANTUS consoles – a big, 64-channel console in the main control room, and a 48-channel console for the smaller production control room. These control rooms are mainly used for productions rather than for public address purposes. Nevertheless, they are linked to the stage via a video line, and so provide at least indirect visual contact.

More sophisticated public address applications and musical cues can be better controlled directly from the hall. There are several possibilities for doing so: for a start, the engineer in the hall can use a laptop for remotely controlling the DSP resources of the NEXUS. For small-scale speech PA applications, this approach is most suitable, because the laptop system not only allows the user to balance the levels, but also to set the delays and equalization. In the event that this simple, mouse-driven operation of individual parameters is not enough, a slave console can be set up at various spots in the hall – with a twist: in split mode, the slave console can be operated independently of one of the two main consoles.

This allows best use of the two control rooms and increases the venue's flexibility for the radio stations that wish to work on-site. To ensure that connecting the slave console is as simple as possible when things get stressful, the Concert Hall uses an OMUX unit. This is an optical multiplexer with various slave console sockets that automatically route the currently selected connector to the respective main console.

The Concert Hall Berlin

The name »Concert Hall« is misleading, because this venue not only hosts concert performances, but also many other events. The Music Club, the smallest of the three halls, for example, is also used as a small studio stage, where afternoon performances for children and families take place. The main hall, with its majestic organ, is used for a variety of events, although concerts certainly account for most. All kinds of concerts, from piano recitals to symphonic works with big orchestras, are staged here. The small hall, which despite its name still has 450 seats, is perfect for chamber music and ensembles of up to 20 musicians.

Synchronicity in Three Rooms

Audio engineers can work from three different locations: the main control room; the small control room; or the locally installed slave console. For the venue's regular operations, this system would probably seem over the top. However, such is the level of interest among broadcasting stations, that even the current setup can become tight. If only one radio station covers a live event, while two events requiring audio support take place simultaneously, the flexibility of the slave console becomes indispensable.
That desk is then used as an almost independent unit, which, of course, is no problem when working in split configuration. This allows for working on three different events simultaneously at the Concert Hall. And if the current setup is not enough, two smaller events can share a console.

Service Provider

The staff of the broadcasting stations that regularly work at the Concert Hall Berlin are intimately familiar with the CANTUS control rooms. In fact, Deutschlandradio, the station that uses the commercial studio at Concert Hall most often, sent its audio engineers to Stage Tec for additional training.


But even »untrained« sound engineers have little problem working with the desk, since the audio department at Concert Hall takes pride in thoroughly preparing each project. Installing the microphones, setting up the NEXUS, and configuring the CANTUS are all tasks handled by Concert Hall engineers – so that Concert Hall not only renders services to the audience but also to broadcasting corporations.