The musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang opened at the Hilton Center Theatre (Manhattan) in April 2005 to positive reviews. The show boasting a leading-edge sound system that incorporates some of the best in digital and analog technology, including 16 XTA DP224 and DP226 digital system controllers used in every aspect of the signal path to the theater’s main P.A. and monitoring systems.
The sound systems for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were designed by Andrew Bruce of London-based Autograph Sound, working with Autograph associate designer Simon Baker and Mark Menard, associate designer at Acme Partners in New York City. The FOH mixer is Scott Sanders. Equipment was supplied by Westchester County-based Sound Associates.
The gear list includes a DiGiCo D5T FOH console and an LDS800 ribbon speaker line array system. The theater’s P.A. and monitoring signal path is processed by a complement of XTA DP224 and DP226 digital system controllers. “We used the XTA 224 and 226 systems for time delay and equalization on every single circuit in the sound systems,” explains Peter Fitzgerald, president of Sound Associates, adding that several of the units are fitted with AES/EBU I/Os to accommodate the digital outputs of the FOH console. “They’re incredibly quiet and ultimately reliable. And that’s what you need on a show on Broadway that has to be perfect every time out, eight shows a week, day in and day out. The Hilton Center Theatre is a large, live room and the show uses a big orchestra. They’re running a lot of signal in there and all of it sounds incredibly natural, and the XTA 224 and 226 processors contribute greatly to that sound.”
For more information, please visit www.autograph.co.uk, www.acmesoundpartners.com and www.soundassociates.com.
