London, UK (June 19, 2012)—The Queen’s recent Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in many ways, but one of the most visible was the pageant of 1,000 boats on the River Thames. Delta Sound provided audio along the route, from Putney Bridge to Greenwich, with hangs of JBL VTX line arrays along the way.
The event—a tribute to Britain’s maritime history—had the Queen’s royal barge as the centerpiece of the pageant. The flotilla was divided into 10 sections that were separated by musical herald barges playing contemporary and classical music, with around 20,000 people taking part. It was led by a hand-built, 88-foot row-barge called Glorianam, while the new royal barge appeared in the third section from the front.
Receiving satellite downlinks, the JBL loudspeakers relayed program feeds, BBC commentary (and other background) for the approximately one-million spectators who gathered on the north and south banks of the Thames along the seven-mile route.
Delta Sound has worked for the Royal Family before, having provided relays for the 2011 Royal Wedding, and has likewise handled high-profile events on the Thames. Accordingly, the company fielded a crew of 33 technicians, working under joint project managers Mark Sawyer and Ben Milton.
The sound design company set up 27 separate areas along the route, involving 45 individual hangs (with control position at each hang). Of these, 35 featured JBL and included a total of 156 VTX V25 line array elements and an additional 54 JBL VerTec line array loudspeakers, spread 70 meters apart and mounted on Type 1 and Type 2 masts, with six elements per hang.
The JBL enclosures were supplied by Belgium-based dry hire company, AED Rent. Delta Sound managing director, Paul Keating, explained, “Due to an extremely busy summer schedule, AED offered a welcome solution in providing the 210 boxes needed in total for the pageant.”
Harman
www.harman.com
