One of the most popular family attractions in Branson, Mo, is Celebration City, a multimedia nighttime theme park for young adults and families. The centerpiece is “Celebrate,” a one-hour multimedia laser show that caps the show by taking the audience on a journey through five-and-a-half decades of life in the United States, covering significant historic and pop culture events from the 1950s and culminating in a tribute for “everyday American heroes” such as firefighters, teachers and nurses.
The audio was a significant technical challenge as coverage needed to span an area that measures the width of two football fields, or 500 feet, and 300 feet deep, requiring cabinets with a wide horizontal but narrow vertical, spread were required. The specifications were forwarded to Martin Audio, which recommended its W8L line array system. They ended up with six W8L cabinets per side, concealed in the rock wall, along with six WSX bass cabinets per side for smooth, linear coverage and maximum bass impact with a detailed sound.
Because of the large listening area, they needed a long-throw system with smooth, wide dispersion to provide clarity for each position in the seating area, all the way to the back row, without causing excessive SPLs in the first row.
As project manager Joel Foster said when asked about the sound of Martin Audio, “I would compare Martin Audio to a fine wine compared to other systems that sound like Ripple. The clarity and smoothness of the sound without any rough edges is what distinguishes their systems. On a clear night, they can hear the show up to 10 miles away.”
For more information about the W8L line array, visit www.martin-audio.com. For more touring news, visit mixonline.com/live_sound_tour_profiles/index.htm.
