Texas-based rental/installation company LD Systems has takendelivery of multiple Lake Contour digital speaker processors, whichwere used to provide processing and control of the company’ssound reinforcement setup at the annual Houston Livestock Show andRodeo (March 2-21, 2004).
LD Systems’ Robert Ausmus reported that the company’s soundreinforcement system serves the rodeo competitions and the nightlymusic concerts. This year, LD Systems put together a high-tech systemthat includes a trio of digital consoles (two Total Recall digitalDiGiCo D5-56 consoles at front-of-house and monitor positions) andfiber-optic drive lines, fielding six audio technicians, seven lightingtechs, three video techs and a production event coordinator.
“It’s an intense setup,” Ausmus said of the sound system. “In total,39 drive lines service five separate speaker types in eight separatetime domains. We bought eight Contour units and are using one unit as adrive/global EQ and the other modules for the various speaker products.Lake Contour was intuitive to set up and easy to use, and we areextremely happy with the end results. I did feel that it was going todo exactly everything I wanted, and it’s done that and more. In fact,we’re blown away!”
The 136-cabinet speaker system, configured in 16 arrays in the lowerbowl (trimmed at 55 feet) with another 16 in the upper bowl (at 125feet) comprises medium-throw, long-throw and ultralong-throw cabinetsplus downfill boxes, and includes custom EAW trap boxes andElectro-Voice X-Line line array units.
“We time-aligned and tuned one quadrant of the arena then mirroredthat to the other three quadrants,” Ausmus continued. “In all, we’reusing 13 separate Contour crossover modules, along with a View Sonicwireless touchscreen tablet and Cisco access point.”
Nightly concerts take place on a mobile stage in the center of therodeo arena. “It’s logistically a unique job. It’s probably the world’sbiggest mono P.A., as it’s in the round with a rotating stage. Thestage is portable and is moved into a parked position so that they cando rodeo on the dirt. Then, it drives itself out for the performances.”Performances this year included those from Beyoncé, Brooks &Dunn, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, George Strait, Martina McBride, AlanJackson, Enrique Iglesias, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, and KellyClarkson, among many others.
For more information on LD Systems, visit www.ldsystems.com.For more information on the Lake Contour, visit www.contour.lake.com.
