Y-Series brings Gaiety back to Dublin.
The Gaiety Theatre on Dublin’s South King Street is the city’s longest established theatre in continuous operation. Since it opened in November 1871 it’s been entertaining Dublin audiences with a mix of musical shows, opera, ballet, dance and drama, including the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest. Since the millennium, the owners have invested over €7 million in the refurbishment and updating of this sumptuous theatre.
In 2013, d&b Partner, MOSCO, provided a pro audio installation of Q-Series and E-Series loudspeakers to the venue. It proved a resounding success across all entertainment genres, particularly from Riverdance, who, for ten summer seasons, employed the d&b Q-Series. Through that successful partnership, the Gaiety returned to MOSCO to update the Q system this year. A Y-Series solution, with E-Series as delays has since been installed.
The Gaiety’s Director of Technical Operations, Matthew Cregan explains: “We have a vast range of productions here at the Gaiety, from straight dramatic plays through to full musicals and artists such as Riverdance. The d&b system handles everything we can throw at it: the quality of vocal reproduction is second to none, whatever the genre. So when it came to upgrade, we had no hesitation in calling Mick O’Gorman at MOSCO. For me, quality and value for money is key. The team at MOSCO delivers a top quality product while keeping it affordable. Working with Kevin McGing and Mick O’Gorman, we designed a d&b system that was sympathetic to our beautiful auditorium, placing the PA cabinets in key areas where they worked for sound reinforcement but blended into the architecture of the auditorium. Y may be a small box but there is absolutely no compromise on sound.”
The parterre and grand circle levels are covered by Y8 and Y12 line array loudspeakers for the main left/right system, with the low frequency impact supplied by Q-SUBs, an additional B2-SUB for infra effects, and E5s for delays. The dress circle now has a Y-Series Y7P point source system with the little E5s utilized again as delays. On the upper circle the Q7s remain as robust as ever. The loudspeakers are driven by the d&b D12 and D6 amplifiers, and controlled via the d&b R1 Remote control software V2.
At the request of Matt Cregan and the Gaiety’s Technical Manager, Dan Egan, Oran Burns from the d&b GB EAS team, along with Kevin McGing, spent a full day optimizing the system. “The goal was to integrate all system elements in tonality, level and time, with an emphasis on coherency and intelligibility,” reports Burns. “Tuning-Capture measurement software was used to tune and align the elements. Tuning-Capture's MultiWin feature and the clear display of impulse response information made this process very smooth. The final optimized result gives both house and visiting engineers a very good starting point for their show.”
“We are very happy,” concludes Cregan. “This upgrade from the Q to the Y-Series is proof positive that d&b just keep delivering.”
Photograph courtesy of the The Gaiety Theatre.
