Hundreds of thousands of people traveled to Guayaquil, Ecuador to witness Pope Francis celebrate an outdoor mass at Samanes Park reinforced by Adamson line arrays.
Sound production company C. Vilar, headquartered in Bogota, Colombia, provided an Adamson sound reinforcement system, as well as video support, for mass performed recently by the Pope in Samanes Park, located in the port town of Guayaquil, Ecuador.
“People are expecting perfection from one microphone, there’s no room for mistakes,” explains Mauricio Vilar, co-owner of C. Vilar. “Fortunately we are longtime users of Adamson loudspeakers and we were able to ensure the clarity necessary utilizing their loudspeaker systems.”
Samanes Park is an ongoing project that will ultimately provide the Guayaquil community with more than 2,102 acres of recreational space. The area set aside for the Papal mass used 118 acres, of which a large portion was an undeveloped open field that could accommodate the anticipated 1.2 million Catholics onsite for the mass.
In preparation for the event, a large pavilion (800×800 meters) with a seating capacity of 600, was constructed at the front of an undeveloped, 188 acre field at the Park. Beyond the pavilion the area was divided into 28 100×100-meter sections, each providing space and amenities for up to 30,000 people.
Vilar worked with his system design team to create a large main P.A. as well as several delay lines to ensure the entire 118 acres were covered. Because the main P.A. as well as the first line of delays were made up of Adamson line array enclosures, he used Adamson’s Blueprint AV software in conjunction with AutoCad to build the listening area. Blueprint AV allows designers to hang multiple arrays, simulate response with a variety of acoustic measurement tools and provide a detailed and accurate rigging plot for the primary systems.
“Blueprint AV is a tool that we can rely on to create a system design that will deliver what the client requires,” he continues. “This was a particularly important event without much room for error. Using Blueprint AV helped ensure a flawless event.”
The system comprised a main P.A. with two sets of outfill arrays to cover the pavilion and first 125 meters of the field. From there three more lines of delay towers, each made up of six line arrays, covered the rest of the field. The C. Vilar team hung a total of 24 line arrays to blanket the listening area.
The main P.A. was hung under the eaves of the pavilion in the far left and right corners. Each array was made up of 12 Adamson S10 line array enclosures. The first pair of outfill towers were placed roughly 80 meters from left and right of the pavilion. Each consisted of nine E15 enclosures and nine E12 enclosures. A total of 20 Adamson Y10 enclosures, 10 per side, were hung 180 meters to the left and right of the pavilion to cover the far-front seating areas. Eight Adamson SpekTrix, stacked four high to the left and right of the stage offered sidefill coverage.
The first delay line was placed 125 meters out from the main P.A.. The primary rig comprised left-right line arrays made up of nine E15s per side located 60 meters apart. The first pair of outfill towers, placed 80 meters out from the center system, were equipped with 12 Adamson Y18 enclosures each. Additional outfill was provided by another set of towers, this time located another 100 meters out, with eight Adamson SpekTrix enclosures hung from each.
In order to continue coverage for the second half of the field, Vilar set up the third delay line approximately 120 meters from the first and placed another six line arrays spread equally across 300 meters. The fourth delay was placed another 100 meters out.
The entire system was powered by Lab.gruppen amplifiers. Amplifier racks as well as Adamson’s E-Racks were positioned throughout the listening area in close proximity to the arrays they powered.
“Having a P.A. that can be consistent at close, medium and large ranges is mandatory in this business,” adds Cesar Vilar, co-owner and founder.“It was such an honor for our company to be chosen to provide sound reinforcement for this event. I was grateful we could exceed all expectations with our Adamson systems.”
For more information, visit www.adamsonsystems.com and cvilar.com.
