Bespoke audio install for Cheshire East public events.

Audio Installation

Bespoke audio install for Cheshire East public events.

A challenging public space with 360 degree audio requirements and the requirement for a temporary long term install catering for a number of different configurations over a two month period. Cheshire East saw it necessary to bring DD Music Group in to design and deploy a system that stood up to the challenge.

Multi-Purpose event space

Outside the municipal buildings in Crewe, Cheshire there is memorial square; a large open public space with a war memorial in the centre taking pride of place. Over the years this area has hosted a number of events of all different types; From remembrance day parades to summer concerts, arts festivals and everything in between.

The space is both wide and deep with audiences often in 360 degrees of whatever is scheduled. With this fact driving the need for a bespoke system.

Two Month Install

The brief was to design a high power weatherproof system that could be installed from the beginning of November for the towns remembrance day service and stay in place until the first week of January.

During this time there would be a large "Light Art Festival" with arial acrobatics, A Christmas Light switch on event for more than 3,500 people and a three week nightly projection mapping of the municipal buildings opposite the square, with full audio.

One system to fit all scenarios

To cover such a large area a flown system was clearly the premium choice; However before the design phase, the client informed us that we could not make any permanent modifications to street furniture, buildings or structures in the event area, and that all elements of the system must remain temporary in nature.

Our team worked hard and after some careful planning, designed and fabricated custom rigging that used a clamp system on the existing street furniture, to "fly" a distributed system overhead. With steel wire connecting each of the "fly zones" for cabling.

A structural engineer worked with our team during this process to ensure that all calculations, weight ratings and safety factors were within ideal working limits and assisted in the commissioning of the final system.

Power vs. Weight

With weight limits a major part of the safety of the system, we set out to find a loudspeaker that could deliver the SPL and dispersion required that was light enough to be within the tolerances.

The final system consisted of our own modified 12" neodymium dual concentric loudspeakers with a 110 degree dispersion and max SPL of 134dBA. Delivering a smooth frequency response and enough low end to cope with music sources at high volume.

As this system was to be deployed in winter time it was essential to protect the components from the elements. We chose to use a local supplier who manufactured bespoke covers for each speaker with insulation against both water and frost.

Installing a successful system

The final install took just under a day for our team on site to complete and the time alignment and tuning was done that evening using SMAART 8 measurement tools.

Comments from the client after the install period mentioned the "Incredible clarity and intelligibility across the whole audience area" and since then DD Music Group have been approached by other towns in the municipality to design and install similar systems.