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»Stages« 2002 realeased

This year's issue of the STAGES magazine was published just in time for the Kloster Banz seminar. The most interesting essays (and a few more) are available online:

 

PRINCO's Project

Claudio Masci's company Princo is one of Italy's best-known distributors and consultants. Together with the SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP, Claudio Masci won the contract to build the new audio and communication systems – including the definition of the architecture of the full system, the installation, the training of the staff and an on-site commission for the first three-months at Auditorium Roma. PRINCO will also take care of the whole video system including video control rooms for each theater, allowing a connection to an O.B. van.

Piano's Auditorium of Modern Times

On April 21st, the 2,755th anniversary of the founding of Rome, the first phase of one of the biggest concert buildings ever constructed will be inaugurated: the Nuovo Auditorium di Roma including an explicitly designed good sound

»Rome didn't have an appropriate place for classical music performances,« said Renzo Piano, one of Italy's star architects, explaining the origin of his extensive project, dubbed »Nuovo Auditorium di Roma.« Under Piano's supervision, a campus of several concert halls that are architecturally, acoustically and technically innovative is being developed.

With three concert halls able to accommodate audiences ranging from 750 to 2,700 people, and an amphitheatre capable of holding to 3,000 visitors, there will be stages for classical music events of all types and sizes.

Architecture and Sound

An architect specializing in acoustics, Piano devised plans for buildings with shapes, dimensions and precise measurements that provide optimal and natural acoustics. However, had the largest hall been any bigger, electroacoustical amplification would have been needed. To make three concert halls, each acoustically independent of the others, Piano designed three separate buildings, or »containers«, architecturally reminiscent of classical Roman antiquity. There have been exacting research and several tests conducted, starting with laser reflection models and ending with large models in which sound reflection could be measured.

From the very beginning, Piano made sure, the room's acoustics would be perfect. Each of the three halls was designed with flexible acoustics. For instance, the smallest theater – the most flexible on campus – has a movable ceiling and floor with variable walls. The mid-size hall also has a movable stage and a variable ceiling. That hall is similar to one that Piano designed with the assistance of famous acoustic designer Helmut Müller, who is also participating in the Auditorium Roma project.

Auditorium Roma's mid-size hall was designed specifically for chamber orchestras and dance. The large amphitheatre is designed for open-air events. The large hall, designed for ballets and big orchestras, is the only venue that is not acoustically flexible.

More than 30 Routers

Thanks to good room acoustics, individual halls don't need a PA system, but since the city required an archive of performances by well-known artist, Auditorium Roma would require a large recording system. For this purpose, every theater needed its own control room. At the same time another control room was designed for use by all of the theaters. That increases the recording flexibility and making it possible to produce two different recordings of the same concert and also provides a redundancy backup for technical service. Since it was important to Piano to find an integrated system based on a fibre-optic network, the choice was easy: equip all of the Auditorium Roma's control rooms with CANTUS consoles and to connect them via NEXUS audio nets.

The network consists of eight base devices per theater, allowing each hall to have its own system while at the same time being part of one big audio installation encompassing the whole campus! The Auditorium Roma also offers connections for up to three individual O.B. vans per theater, supported by three additional NEXUS base devices. But that's not all. Other base devices are planned for satellite uplinks, for central digital video and for audio storage of all recordings, for the rehearsal rooms and even for the dressing rooms. In total, there will be 37 NEXUS base devices employed – this is by far, the biggest NEXUS installation in the world!

Strict rules for the design

Each area – say a hall with its control room – build a separate NEXUS audio net. In total, there will be four individual NEXUS networks. MADI-lines connecting different audio networks need to be routed very flexibly between the control rooms and the other devices of the Auditorium Roma.

That link is best made by a NEXUS STAR. The STAR is equipped only with MADI I/O cards and can switch the individual lines of 24 MADI ports with 64 I/O signals each – the basic requirement for such an installation.

This huge sound system is not just for recordings and on-air transmissions, it can also be used as an intercom, communication and signalization system.

Each hall gets a stage management system of the C.A.S. series, which is also based on NEXUS. Using the system, the stage manager can control the order of events during a performance. For example, artists can be called via light signs or loudspeakers. The manager can also control communication during a show. The rehearsal rooms and even the dressing rooms are connected to the NEXUS net, because those are rooms where the artists are waiting for their cue. There is also an independent intercom and paging system that allows the technical staff to communicate separately.

In several steps

It's always been said that »Rome was not build in a day.« That is especially true for large technical installations. The Auditorium Roma was planned precisely in that philosophy. When the Auditorium Roma opens this April, the mid-size hall, its control room, one connection for the O.B. vans and the dressing rooms will be completed. The other stages will follow in sequence. The project should be completed by the end of 2003. The first thing, however, is finalize the central switching system – so that not only the star architect Renzo Piano, but also another STAR will be able to switch and turn on the opening ceremony!

 

Skiing with the STARs

The skier throws himself down the steep hill, nearly flying for the first few yards of the run then rushing into a sharp left turn at close to 90 mph! Centrifugal force puts a strain on his body while the sharp edges of his skis cut through the crunching snow of the hard flattened course. In moments he is out of sight, and a mere 103 seconds later, it's all over. The skier finds himself at the finish line, 809 meters below the world's legendary steepest start!

During his short race, he has rushed past 18 TV cameras and 33 stereo microphones and shotguns while being monitored from above by still another camera – this one in a helicopter. This single ski run kept a 65-member production crew busy providing the video and audio broadcasting of the event.

The Hardwired Mountain

Unnoticed by TV spectators – and even by many experts – sport-event broadcasting is becoming one of the most interesting and innovative fields of technology. The Alpine Skiing World Cup Races at the Swiss resort of St. Moritz is one such example.

Considered the final technical practice for the Alpine World Championships scheduled for 2003, this event was carried out with all the latest gadgets. Preparation began in the summer of 2000.

First, existing ski-lift supply pipes were fitted with fibre-optic cables. Next ducts were dug into the mountain along the courses to house even more cables. Then support containers or »hubs« used to receive camera and microphones signals, air-lifted by special helicopters, were strategically positioned along the courses. A crew member was assigned to each hub to supervise the CCUs.

Another purpose of the hub was to convert camera and sound signals to fibre-optic and then transfer them down the hill to the Technical Operation Center (TOC) using a 270-mbps line. The TOC is located in a facility near the finish area used for all races, from the Women's Downhill to the Men's Super-G. During the races, all TV technology is concentrated in this little house. Here, one finds not only a fully mobile TV studio but also a multitude of modularly interconnected flight-cased components.

NEXUS in the Snow

The enormous technical effort would not be worth it for just a few World Cup races, or even a World Championship. However, the City of St. Moritz and the Swiss SRG SSR, the host broadcaster, consider it an investment for the future. The technical infrastructure could be used for all future World Cup events. The fibre-optic lines will remain in their ducts but all other technical equipment will be reinstalled for each new sporting event. For the sake of flexibility and reliability, sound and image will be transmitted on the same lines. Additionally audio signals and the entire intercom system will be handled via the audio network.

That is not a simple task, however it could be made easier by using Philips components and a NEXUS network for sound and intercom. This concept has one big advantage. Each time the single components are restructured into a network, the special requirements of each event can be given full consideration. For example, a total of ten NEXUS base units and one NEXUS STAR unit were leased from Stage Tec for the World Cup program. These units were interconnected with NEXUS base units originating from the broadcaster's own O.B. van fleet to form an audio network. Many more units will be required for the World Championship in 2003.

Audio and Intercom

During a race, the base units located inside the hubs (and sometimes even outdoors) are used as microphone patchboxes and as I/O matrices for monitoring and intercom signals. To make wiring inside the hubs as easy as possible, NEXUS is controlled exclusively from a laptop operated in the hub. This design eliminates the need for dedicated monitor-routing controls, since a crewmember stationed at a hub can quickly and easily patch monitoring points by a mouse click.

SRG used a special technique for intercom routing. The Hugel brand intercom system allows to switch the communication lines via telephone by push-button dialing. This system is also used inhouse and on live locations.

Thus, one may speed-dial an intercom station to set up a connection with the producer, or even consult a staff member located in a remote SRG branch anywhere in Switzerland – or the world for that matter.

This underlying system is also used in mobile operations. In addition to the NEXUS and the camera-level fader, the engineers in the hubs need only an appropriate duplex-communication station for intercom routing. Transmitting these signals via the NEXUS network, a common feature in other installations such as the control center of the German HR broadcaster, has become a standard function. Very unique to the Worldcup event was that NEXUS was equipped with an additional adapter for routing tally signals via the audio network. This feature allows for routing the red lights of all participating cameras from the video mixer at the TOC and the O.B. vans.

NEXUS O.B. Vans

Takes the Lead At the TOC, fibre-optic cables from the hubs are connected to a NEXUS STAR providing 1,400 inputs. This unit acts as a temporary control center, distributing the various lines to the O.B. vans of the participating broadcasters. The vans which are equipped with CANTUS or NEXUS units such as those owned by broadcasters RAI of Italy or a lot of vans by ARD of Germany seamlessly connect to the STAR. Additional NEXUS base units are available for all other vans without direct NEXUS connections. Wiring is much simpler, thanks to fibre-optics (a real novelty in skiing broadcasting), NEXUS, and NEXUS STAR.

tpc zürich ag, a production subsidiary of the SRG SSR, can offer more value to their customers as the different video and audio feeds, individual audio signals and mixes are routed to the NEXUS STAR – every participating TV station has the choice. Though there's more work to be done for the World Championships in 2003: then NEXUS STAR will provide approximately 3,000 freely routable inputs – which would have been not an easy feat with a traditional standard base unit.

The Sound of Speed

Some of the audio signals are fed to a CANTUS console located at the TOC. The tpc crew knows this console well, as it is the standard desk both at the Zurich broadcasting center and on the larger O.B. vans. During the race there is not much time for thinking. Various microphone signals must be faded in and out in split seconds as the skiers quickly rush in and out of each microphone's coverage area.

For ambient sound, two manually operated, 15 fixed and 16 stereo camera-mounted microphones and shotguns were used along the course. Wireless microphone signals were received at the hub and fed to the NEXUS. Some locations used BigEar directional systems – large Plexiglas dishes with a microphone positioned in their focus for extreme directional use.

Harder Conditions

In World Cup competition, there are very short intervals between starts. While one skier is on the course, the next is going. This is, of course, a challenge for live broadcasting. If only one image is to be broadcasted (omitting split-screen images), it's impossible to show the entire race of each skier. Live broadcasting is done from only the most interesting spots of the course, for example the starting gate and the finish line. While less interesting spots are prerecorded, edited and broadcast fractionally time delayed and the least interesting spots are completely skipped. The technical aspect of broadcasting this live or deferred footage is quite complex and can only be achieved using multiple control rooms. Two such rooms were set up for the World Cup race. There will be three of them for the World Championships.

One will be the main control room, the other two will be »local« control rooms, supplying the main control room with a live-cut and buffered signal from their assigned course section. The control rooms are based on tpc's digital O.B. vans, with their CANTUS and NEXUS systems integrated into the TOC audio network using fibre-optics.

Skiing NEXUS

The World Cup outdoor broadcasting was a new extreme for both staff and equipment. Such enormous temperature fluctuation – from stone-cold minus 24 degrees and the strong winds during the Women's Downhill in December to the February thaw at the Men's Downhill – are hardly typical of any workplace. Additionally many of the the locations, for example, the camera setups or some of the hubs, were accessible only by ski. This was, by the way, how quite a few NEXUS base units were transported up the hill – fairly appropriate for such a sporting event!

World Championship 2003:

A fibre-optic City When the Alpine Skiing World Championships opens in St. Moritz next year, even more technical equipment will be on hand. Thirty cameras, ten special-FX cameras, one cable railway in the last section of the course, and one helicopter will be used to deliver the required images. The audio equipment – especially the NEXUS network considered the system's backbone – will be extended down to the village. Provisional studios in hotels will be used for interviews and will also require a NEXUS base unit. A second NEXUS STAR will connect these individual base units to the TOC audio network and will also serve as an interface for other studios and video-processing facilities in the IBC. There may be still another novelty. The first Alpine Skiing World Championship broadcasted in 5.1 surround. Thanks to CANTUS and NEXUS, the system should be able to easily handle that!

 

BBC Sound 3 OB-Van

Jack-of-all-Trades

A simple rule governs the field of broadcasting: No two things are equal! In compliance with this rule and with regard to O.B. vans, CANTUS and NEXUS allow for developing new ideas.

Today a show, tomorrow a concert, and a sports event the day after. The agenda of a well-booked O.B. van is truly an allaround document. Such a van needs a flexible mixing desk to meet all the diverse requirements. Free configurability up to a stage where each channel strip can have its own structure, storability for recurring projects, and intuitive operation are basic demands. The ability to meet and exceed these demands is why CANTUS is becoming the console of choice in modern O.B. vans.

Talkback Taken Along

The NEXUS routing system, as an I/O matrix is an integral part of the CANTUS system. The NEXUS can even be extended and split to the spot using external base units and mobile fibre-optic wiring. It's no longer just microphone signals being forwarded within this network.

Today's technology allows talkback and external pager signals, red-light control signals for the cameras, timecode, and RS-422/RS-232 signals for remote-controlling external units to be routed with NEXUS. Even better, the days of multiple lines and unruly cables are over, today everything is connected by one thin lightweight fibre-optic cable.

Beyond the Horizon

Nowadays, hardwired fibre-optics can be leased in almost every large city. This cabling may also be used for outdoor broadcasting by extending the NEXUS network to multiple remote locations which, in turn, may eliminate the need for a second O.B. van. The German »hr« broadcaster in Frankfurt employed this concept in transmitting audio, talkback, and a ATM network in a passive wave multiplex on leased single-mode lines.

The Convertible

Thanks to its open-ended architecture, every CANTUS can be expanded to any number of inputs by simply adding an extra base device. This may even result in a base-unit pool of base devices distributed among several vans for every new production. If the base units are equipped with different types of I/O boards, they can even be used as format converters, thus solving the issue of Babel in digital audio.

Basic Rules for O.B.

Vans The construction of O.B. vans is kept within definite bounds of gross weight and dimensions specified by law. Thus, the equipment must be compact and lightweight – just like CANTUS and NEXUS. The same is true for air conditioning and the power supply. The less power dissipated, the less heat generated, and therefore less air conditioning is needed. Cabling also affects the weight. However in a CANTUS/NEXUS installation only a single fibre-optic is required. Therefore, if one base unit is set up in the van's front control compartment, and a second is in the rear, the entire system can be connected with minimal effort and weight.

 

Audio in SDI: Divided and Reunited

Many things became simpler with Serial Digital Interconnect (SDI). Quite a few things, however, have become more complex. This is true, for example, for audio routing – where there are entirely different requirements.

What is SDI?

SDI (or, to be more precise, SMPTE 259M) is a standard for serial transmission of digital video. In addition to the plain video data, it provides space for ancillary data including time-code data, user-specific control data, and digitized audio. SMPTE 291 M defines the generic format and location of ancillary data. Audio embedding is specified in SMPTE 272M. The image shows the various data areas of a composite video signal. A data rate of 270 Mbps is standard for traditional TV formats (4:2:2 Video). This rate is equal for 525-line systems (29.97 Hz) and 625-line systems (25 Hz). New standards with higher data rates have been developed after the introduction of new image formats and HDTV.

The world of digital TV-studio technology has an international standard for transmitting video, audio, and ancillary data: SDI (Serial Digital Interconnect). SDI not only makes studio wiring simpler but it is a compact transmission standard, especially when sending a video signal to the broadcasting center via satellite. Image and sound use the same transmission path, not only reducing the costs but also preventing delays between video and audio. Moreover, SDI provides up to 16 audio tracks for each video signal that audio can easy be included with the video stream by SDI video routers. That eliminates the need for separate audio routing and simplifies the signal handling within large systems. The benefits of SDI are numerous. However, because it has evolved from the first days of digital video, some issues are created, particularly in the area of audio routing, e.g. sound processing.

Embedded Audio

SDI is a digital format, essentially a digitized version of the analog line signal. Additional data may be included into the blankings of the composite signal. Basically, the SDI signal has three elements: The line signal which holds the actual image information; the HANC (Horizontal Ancillary Data) at the end of each line (horizontal blank); and the VANC (Vertical Ancillary Data) between two video fields (Vertical Blanking). While VANC is used, for example, for time-code information, digital audio is exclusively transmitted within the HANC, so the audio information has to be split into data packets that must be integrated or embedded into the line signals. A total bandwidth of approx. 42.2 Mbps (NTSC, 525 lines) or 43.8 Mbps (PAL, 625 lines) can be achieved. These data rates are impressive, compared to the 2-channel AES/EBU interface with a rate of 3.072 Mbps.

Packet Distribution …

Three different types of data packets are proposed for HANC: audio data, ancillary, and control data distinguished by IDs contained in the packet header. All three types have a similar structure and all have one special feature in common: their length is variable, depending on the contents. The audio data is capsulated in packets each with four channels or two stereo channels plus extra data (C, U, V from the AES/EBU signal). This is the plest form of audio embedding.

However, the capacity of such an audio packet is only appropriate for signals with a maximum resolution of 20 bits only. If 24-bit audio is to be transmitted, the ancillary-data packets are set up to carry the remaining four bits. The control-data packets may hold additional information such as the sample rate or a delay setting. These three packet types make up a »group« in this transmission scheme, and a maximum of four groups can be embedded into an SDI signal, allowing for transmitting 16 audio tracks with a sample rate of 48 KHz each within an SDI signal.

… Delayed

Video and audio are digitized with different rates that lack a common divider. The relation between both signal types at a 48-KHz sample rate becomes obvious in the table right. This means each video line can hold a little more than three audio samples per channel. That is generally considered unsuitable, since a fixed integral allocation of audio samples to lines is preferable. To solve this, audio packets can be of variable length – a certain number of audio packets carry three samples and a certain number of packets carry four samples. To accommodate the maximum number of channels, four of these packets must be inserted at the end of each line in a way that the entire available data rate per line is exploited.

This distribution scheme is repeated with every image in a 625-line system; in a 525-line system, it recurs with each fifth image only. The receiver uses a buffer to rebuild a continuous audio stream from the data distributed to the packets. The existence of this buffer causes an audio-signal latency familiar in other areas of digital technology. Delays of 40…64 samples are standard; however, this value can be decreased using intelligent techniques for distributing packets to video lines. The packet distribution is not defined in the standard, so it is up to the designer of the SDI embedder to determine the optimum solution. This can causes compatibility issues between devices of different makes!

Three Against Four

Even if the embedding at the sender and the demultiplexing at the receiver comply with one another, the resulting latency must be considered at any rate. This is even truer if the audio is extracted from the SDI signal, externally processed, then reintegrated into the SDI stream. Another issue is a surround signal with five or more audio channels. As each group contains only four audio channels, two groups that must not show any shift in time are required for surround sound. An even more difficult problem caused by the different packet lengths – three or four audio samples respectively – occurs if one track is to be removed or added. Removing one block creates a gap in the data flow and wastes bandwidth. An even more drastic situation occurs if packets are overwritten. In a case where a packet with three samples is overwritten with a four-sample packet – data is lost!

Proper Organization

Therefore, many devices extracting audio tracks, de-embedders, from the SDI signal process only a single group. The other three specified groups are simply lost! This means that only four audio tracks are utilized/extracted instead of 16 tracks. This is insufficient for a single 5.1 surround signal, not to mention more extensive productions (e.g. multilingual soundtracks). The number of possible compatibility problems can be legion.

For example, what if you're using a limited embedding device but want to integrate an audio group into an SDI signal that already carries two audio-data groups? An intelligent system processing all four groups will check the received data stream for existing audio data before trying to add a new one. In addition, devices to exploit the maximum channel amount will relocate the packets, reorganizing the entire structure. This is true especially if audio data are to be routed within the SDI stream, or between different SDI signals.

The Simple Solution

As soon as you start working creatively with SDI, you will feel the need for such flexible compatible audio routing. For example, when preparing for the Olympic Winter Games at Salt Lake City, Switzerland's SF-DRS faced the usual dilemma broadcasting to a multilingual country: they had to transmit each video signal with German, French and Italian commentary plus the international sound system. When the signal reached Switzerland, the audio signals had to be processed differently to each broadcasting station, since the broadcast commentary had to be in the language of that particular region. The demand arose for external deembedders and embedders to extract and reintegrate the signal quickly and all of the devices had to be compatible with one another as well as with their O.B. van fleet and numerous studios that are fully based on CANTUS and NEXUS systems. On this example one can see an obvious solution: An SDI board for NEXUS, the expert in audio-routing!

 

New Freedom in Munich

One expects grandeur when the opera house with Europe's secondlargest stage implements new technologies. But along with its new technology the Bavarian State Opera in Munich discovered another advantage: flexibility.

In just a few seconds, the fanfare will sound. A fully engrossed sound engineer intensely counts the bars, his hand rests anxiously on the fader. A few moments later, he pushes up the control activating a digital playback machine all in perfect synchronisation to the live orchestra. Unbeknownst to the audience, this performance of Verdi's »Aida« is just one example where a pre-recorded playback from backstage is neccessary. Applications such as these require a flexible, premium technology that gives the realistic impression of trumpet blasts played behind the scenes.

Great Expectations

Last year, just in time for the new season, the Bavarian State Opera's sound system was renewed and enlarged. The old installation lasted 20 years but had been repeatedly extended during the prior decades; it was obvious a complete renovation was inevitable. As a general contractor, SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP went to work, dismantling the old systems, disposing of approximately 3.7 tons of electronic garbage. Then they installed a new preproduction and recording studio, replacing all technical components in the audio-control booth of the opera hall.

The next step was setting up a fibre-optic network, installing an extensive video system, and last, but not least, fitting a natural-sounding P.A. system for the hall and stage. Because of its overall flexibility the CANTUS console and NEXUS router were chosen as the basis of the installation. The benefit of this approach was a quasi-standard system that can be immediately operated by both new staff members and freelance engineers.

Console Scattering

The audio-control booth in the opera hall that, by the way, features an electronically closing soundproof window, includes a full-fledged CANTUS system with 48 channel faders that connects to a slave console. During the rehearsals, the slave console is positioned in the center of aisle row 13.

However, if the slave console is required during the show, it is positioned in the rear of the hall. A third slave-console terminal is located in a banquet hall called Königssaal.

To further maximize the system's features, Thomas Rott, Managing Sound Engineer of the State Opera added another feature to mix. In addition to the small slave console with only a few channel strips, Rott also demanded a portable central control unit. Today, both devices are mounted to transport wagons, so only a single staff member is needed to relocate and install them. Connections are through two fibre-optic cables – one per unit. This trick significantly increases the flexibility of the system, from the simplicity of a single application to the full remote control of the CANTUS desk.

Video and 5.1

With CANTUS, the interaction between the main and slave consoles can be defined in two distinct ways: split or parallel operation. In split operation, each input signal is »hard-wired« to only one of the consoles. However, like most opera houses and theaters, the Bavarian State Opera opted for parallel operation, with both consoles having access to all input signals. Thus, the console in the booth and in the hall can be simultaneously deployed to complement one another.

The second independent CANTUS system was installed in the sound studio. This studio, which also houses an extensive video-processing system with cutting facilities, was designed and built from the scratch in space separated from the large rehearsal hall. It is here where the playbacks and other pre-productions are recorded. Since it is used for live recordings, it is equipped with a 5.1 system and a CANTUS module for multichannel sound – certainly a signs of our times.

Cross-connections in the main hall are indispensable for producing tape recordings in the geographically remote sound studio. A NEXUS network was installed because audio signals need to be flexibly routed between the opera hall, the rehearsal hall, the audio-control booth, and the production studio. This network has 12 base devices in various locations on the premises for use as patch terminals for the stage and the orchestra, to forward signals to the P.A. amplifiers, and naturally, to provide routing within the two studios.

Sound Without a Sound System

The individual base devices are interconnected using fibre-optics in such a way that combination or parallel operations of audio components can be set up without creating a routing-capacity bottleneck. By design, no routing limitations were intended, and no input routings were reserved for a single workplace. Only the amplifier-feeding lines of the sound-reinforcement system in the opera hall are password-protected from the production studio to prevent someone from disrupting the sound in the hall by mistake, or changing its level. A standalone base device was implemented for operation from the hall.

During the rehearsals, when sound staff is not always a must, the assistant producer may start CD or tape playbacks – no additional personnel is required in the sound studio! Plus, the sound system does not even have to be switched on expressly.

Coexistence

An extensive analog wiring system was already present on the premises. Again for reasons of flexibility, these cables were not removed despite the new NEXUS network. After all, 180 analog microphone lines are distributed in the house, and up to 30 of them may be connected to a NEXUS base device at the same time using a specially designed STAR concentrator.

This analog network is still in use today, for instance when a single microphone is installed at a remote location. Obviously, another motive was the redundancy aspect provided by a second cable net. Luckily, there has been no need to use this redundancy feature. Since its start-up in October 2001, the system has once more proven its flexibility and reliability!

The Project

Often, many partners contribute to the success of a big project. This is true for the Bavarian State Opera. Technical installations were organized by the Building Surveyor's Office in Munich. Managing Sound Engineer, Thomas Rott designed the system specifications that were then documented by Huneke + Partner Planning Office, specialists in stage design. Finally, SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP was appointed general contractor to fine-tune the plans and execute the renovation.

 

Swabian Security

Swabians are often a contradiction. Security, for example, is one of their principle values. While on the other hand, Swabians often support the most progressive technologies. With a new installation in Swabia's capital Stuttgart, the regional SWR offers a solution, just be: all-inclusive!

In April 2002, the SWR broadcaster will celebrate the opening of its new audiocontrol room in the PK1 TV-production complex in Stuttgart. Joining in the celebration will be SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP who installed the CANTUS/NEXUS system, a compact and reliable audio-control system.
As the grand opening nears, only a few minor details still need to be addressed. While all the technical elements have been tested and approved, some acoustics- related details are still being finalized.

One-Man Show

SWR, a the result of merging the former SDR and SWF broadcasters, maintains production facilities in Baden-Baden, Stuttgart, and Mainz. The Stuttgart branch is primarily responsible for regional programs, news and info features, as well as for live sports programs and large-scale programs about elections taking place in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Therefore the audio-control room of the multipurpose studio in the PK1, used mainly for bigger productions, has to be flexible and adaptable to the most versatile demands of various production needs.

This is not a problem for the freely configurable CANTUS system. However, there were two requirements. First, the system has to be easy and quick to operate. Second, it has to be totally reliable because it will be operated by a single engineer who sometimes has to control the P.A. system from inside the TV studio.

A Short Learning Curve

When a station's main control room goes offline the spare control room usually takes over. But the SWR complex doesn't have a spare control room. However, that risk could be taken because there are already four CANTUS consoles plus a CANTUS-based O.B. van in use at the local TV-sound installations. SWR was basically introducing known technology into the audio facility, since their sound engineers are already familiar with the CANTUS, the need to retrain was minimal.

Record Time

During the transition from old to new technology, a temporary spare control room was set up and technical efforts were held to a minimum. The trick was to prepare all cables in advance, so they could be directly installed on the spot. The CANTUS/NEXUS System is fast and easy to install and requires little cabling.

Thanks to SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP's ability to install the components in record time, the downtime was dramatically reduced. A quick installation period coupled with minimal downtime saves money and, after all, economy is yet another principle value that sets the Swabians apart!

 

Salt Lake City 2002

When acrobatic jumps and saltos were shown in the snowboard halfpipe in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, CANTUS and NEXUS were there. Swiss broadcaster, SRG SSR used a portable Stage Tec audio system to air the 19th annual games to the ski-enthusiastic people of Switzerland.

 

Pavarotti and Friends

Every year, the celebrated Italian singer Luciano Pavarotti organizes a benefit show for helpless children all over the world. These annual performances in the Parco Novi Sad located in his Italian hometown Modena have become a real tradition, and the audience can listen to world's most famous voices from classic and pop music.

The 8th Pavarotti and Friends Night took place on 29 May 2001, this time titled »Pavarotti & Friends for Afghanistan«. The sales of the concert will help two projects – one taking care for Afghan women and children in refugee camps, the second one supporting the construction of schools and medical facilities.

Once again, numerous stars from the music scene joined the event, and old as well as young artists were eager to contribute.

After duetting with celebrities such as Bono, George Michael, the Spice Girls, Celine Dion, Sting, Mariah Carey, or Jon Bon Jovi during the years before, Luciano Pavarotti sang with the 60-year old Welsh singer Tom Jones, the British cult act Deep Purple, and the soul and jazz legends Barry White and George Benson this year – all of them successful musicians during the last decades. On the other hand, artists such as Morcheeba and Anastacia who joined the all-star spectacular, too, have taken the charts much more recently.

A choir of 30 Afghan children accompanied the various musicians during their performances.

Amongst others, the US actor Catherine Zeta-Jones and her husband Michael Douglas were present and, both being honorary Ambassadors of Peace of the United Nations, addressed to the audience. All the artists ensured for proper entertainment.

More than 1.5 millions US dollars from ticket sales (priced up to 500 EUR) and extra donations were collected.

For his commitment to the support of indigent children, 65-year old Pavarotti will soon receive the Nanson medal that has previously been awarded to kings and presidents only.

Pavarotti and Friends was not only broadcasted by the Italian RAI broadcasting service but was at the same time recorded to a multitude of digital multitrack recorders using two Cantus/Nexus systems.

 

Quirinale – the »Occasione Della Festa Nazionale della Repubblica«

A New Broom Sweeps Clean

It is a tradition that the Concerto In Occasione Della Festa Nazionale della Repubblica is held in Rome on the eve of the Day of the Republic (i.e. June 2). The location of the event is the Quirinale, the highest of the seven »classical« hills of Rome where the President of Italy resides.

Broadcasting and sound reinforcement of this concert is always up to the Italian broadcasting service RAI. In 2000, four digital consumer desks were employed for this purpose, which then resulted in a disaster thanks to lacking reliability. The PA performance was so bad that the RAI had to accept an official protest letter. Its sender: Azeglio Ciampi, the Italian President himself!

Therefore, reliability was a must for this year's performance. And after the successful open-air playing of La Traviata, everything called for the equipment that had been utilized there: Nexus and Cantus.

There were some more sophisticated components to be employed beside the Stage Tec systems. For example, all instruments, the solo singers, and the choir were recorded using Schöps microphones, while the ambience was transmitted by a Neumann stereo microphone. An amusing fact: Two of the choir microphones failed due to a heavy shower occurring immediately before the start of the show; a short-circuit was caused by the phantom power that was already being applied to the condenser microphones, so the microphones could not be returned to operation.

However, the concert was performed (and broadcasted) even with just two choir microphones and (unlike the year before) was a huge success. And even the President was reportedly very satisfied.