Each year, the Royal Albert Hall (RAH) hosts the BBC Proms, an eight weeks series of concerts that is a highlight of the British music’s summer season. Delta Live has had an association with the Proms for over 20 years, this year deploying DiGiCo consoles at all mix positions – an SD5 at Front of House, an SD7 at monitors and an SD9 mixing the string section of the orchestra – with the SD5’s native L-ISA Desk Link interfacehelping the company to bring a completely new listening experience to the BBC Proms audiences.
“This was the first time we had used L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Hyperreal Sound system,” says Delta account director Stephen Hughes, who has worked on every Proms season since 2004 and has an intimate knowledge of the Royal Albert Hall. “The RAH is an acoustically challenging venue and although we’ve had great success using traditional left/ right systems, using L-ISA allowed us deliver something different and give the performances a real sense of space.”
Stephen states that working with L-ISA requires you to think more creatively. “It may seem like that adds to the workload slightly, but it brings huge benefits with it,” he says. “It makes it easier to get a clear mix without overpowering the room or deafening the audience.”
Hughes set up included an L-ISA controller at front of house, which interfaced with the SD5 via the aforementioned L-ISA Desk Link interface, enabling everything he did with the mixing console to flow through the L-ISA controller and output to the amps.
“It is a brilliant interface,” says Stephen. “L-ISA is very adaptable and, with 96 inputs, using an SD5 for a show like this means you don’t have to think too much about pairing to Groups. As far as I’m concerned, DiGiCo is the most flexible console on the market and our setup allowed us to connect the SD5 to the monitor SD7 and the SD9 that was doing a string sub mix via Optocore. That then interfaced with the rack the broadcast guys were using in the OB truck.”
“By using DiGiCo’s Snapshot function, we had the ability to localise the positions of the artists on the stage, which meant we didn’t actually have to look at the controller,” adds Delta system technician Art Sereika. “By using Snapshots, you know that everything is in the right place, which simplifies the process.”
“The whole system has been absolutely amazing,” concludes Stephen. “DiGiCo consoles are very flexible and are of the highest standard possible, which is vital for something as important as this. It all worked perfectly and delivered a truly exceptional listening experience.”
