New York (July 15, 2011)–First Lady Michelle Obama delivered the keynote graduation address to the 2011 class of Spelman College via EAW loudspeakers at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Convention Center hall is approximately 200 feet wide by 420 feet deep and able to hold in excess of 10,000 people. The P.A. system, provided by Atlanta-based AEE Productions, utilized 16 EAW KF740 line array boxes flown in two line arrays on either side of the 60-foot-wide stage. Another 16 EAW SB1000z subwoofers were set up and stacked on the stage itself.
In addition, a pair of the new EAW KF394 line array modules was used as an outfill on the wings of the main line array, positioned three feet behind and two feet to the side of the line array hangs, and eight EAW KF730 Compact Line Array Modules were used as delay speakers, set approximately 225 feet back from the front of the stage. The P.A. system was processed and controlled using EAW’s UX8800 Digital Signal Processor with proprietary EAW Focusing.
The event celebrated the newest graduating class of Spelman College, America’s oldest historically black college for women and ranked among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. The college is also placed among the top 50 four-year colleges and universities for producing Fulbright Scholars.
“The entire system sounded fantastic, particularly the new KF394 speakers,” states West Brothers, Co-Owner of AEE Productions. “You could hear every word clearly, and the 394s really filled up the sides of the room smoothly and evenly.”
Gregory Skeete, Head Systems Engineer for AEE Productions, agreed, saying that this was his first time using the KF394 but will not be his last. “Even at the FOH position, I could still hear the 394s,” he recalls. “The great thing about them was they offer high volume, but are never harsh sounding. You know how you can walk by a speaker and as you get closer, it gets louder to the point it hurts? That is not the case with the 394 – it’s incredibly smooth sounding but fills the space you want it to effortlessly and articulately. And they were an excellent complement for the KF740s.”
Skeete says the audio signal was all-digital, from the processors to the Avid Venue Profile FOH console, and that the EAW UX8800 processors kept the sound controlled and even-sounding. “It was a system that did everything it was called on to do – deliver great, intelligible sound and distribute it evenly,” says Skeete. “Everyone heard every word Mrs. Obama said.”
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