London’s Exclusive Tape Club Upgrades with d&b.
Exclusive London nightlife venue Tape, in the city’s upmarket Mayfair district, attracts household-name DJs who spin for the hottest celebrities and ‘it’ clubbers in town. Aiming for a clientele of ‘influential members of the music industry and true enthusiasts’, it places audio quality at the forefront of its operation. Recently, it upgraded to a complete d&b solution with the goal of becoming the best sounding club in London.
Sound Reviews
Reviews of Tape London regularly mention not only the on-trend customers and solid soundtrack but also the superb sound quality. Tape is a place that prides itself on how it sounds, how it looks and how it feels.
Stuart Wright from global audio solutions specialist Eighth Day Sound oversaw the club’s upgrade after being approached by two of Tape’s key people: Team Leader, Heff Moraes, and AV and Production Manager, Sam Hunwicke.
‘Industrial’ Bass
“Tape London is a venue that plays mainly hip-hop, so we needed a system that could handle ‘industrial’ bass end with accuracy and punch,” says Hunwicke. “The club is an unusual shape, so designing a system that delivered a great sonic experience throughout the club was a challenge.”
Step forward, Stuart Wright: “d&b was definitely the correct tool for this project, given the size and dimensions of Tape’s main room. It was also clear from the start that a point source solution was the best way forward.
“Eighth Day Sound is one of the largest stockists and users of d&b products in the world, and we have grown together as companies. I had heard the d&b 24S-D loudspeakers at the Global Partner Meeting and knew they were what the club needed. We went ahead and provided demonstrations at our London facility, including the loudspeakers we thought would suit the install.”
Following the showcase, Moraes and Hunwicke specified a system of d&b 24S-D and 10S-D loudspeakers, with low end reinforcement from B22-SUBs, V-SUBs and B6-SUBs, and driven by D80 amplifiers.
The loudspeakers and subwoofers are flown from the roof of the venue to give as much clear line of sight as possible. They are configured in a classic left, right and outfill layout with delay positions to lift the HF, as it naturally starts to tail off towards the rear of the room.
R1 Optimisation
“We utilised d&b ArrayCalc and R1 software for system design, settings, optimisation and control, as well as timing and tuning,” Wright continues.“Of course, our ears also played a big part in the fine tuning of the system, with Heff’s and the club’s requirements taken into consideration.
“Cardioid has its place in the world, there is no doubt, but for the hottest hip-hop club in London the B22-SUB was always going to be the smart move. Eighth Day Sound has had many years of providing sound solutions for tours the world over and our success in rap and hip-hop touring is undoubtedly down to one of the best subwoofers ever made - the B2. With that knowledge, its successor, the B22 was an easy choice.”
London’s Best Sound
Hunwicke concludes: “Since the installation, Tape has become known as the best sounding nightclub in London. The system delivers exactly what we were looking for - punchy, exciting bass, with a smooth, high fidelity top end.”
In addition to a clubbing space, Tape functions as a standalone, three hundred capacity performance venue and has hosted exclusive sets from artists including Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Drake. The exclusive Tape Members room is an intimate one hundred capacity venue that hosts regular live “unplugged” events with MTV and other music industry brands. It also houses a world-class recording studio which is home to some of the hottest producers and artists on the planet.
Wright concludes: “The feedback from the clients and the London club scene is very positive. The belief is that Tape is now the best sounding club in London and I do not doubt it.”
