intelligentsoundsolutions
Project: Vietnam Airlines LSO
Artiste: London Symphony Orchestra
Venue: Hanoi
Date: 5th October 2019
Audience size: 2000 on the square, 20000 round the lake
Though this event was some time ago now, its significance in our relationship with London Symphony Orchestra remains important.
For the third year I (Richard) travelled to Hanoi to supervise sound for the London Symphony Orchestra. The stage was set up on Ly Thai To Square with its back to the road that surrounds Ho Hoan Kiem lake.
2000 VIPs were seated on the square . Twenty four hours before the event the Dinh Tien Hoaing road around the lake was closed to allow screens to be erected for relay to tens of thousands of people who could sit on the road and enjoy the show.
This year Nghia Chi Doan, head of the local audio company suggested using L ISA for the system on the square. A bold move and one that was fully supported by L’Acoustics. Alvin Koh , head of Applications for APAC came out to supervise along with Freida and Q from Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. Even Dave Cooper , head of sales turned up at one point. Never have so many engineers been committed to one show! In the middle of it all I was faced with providing a full L ISA mix for the square from two Digico SD8s whilst generating a true stereo mix from an SVID S6L. Sir Simon Rattle was conducting and the list of VIPs attending was long and varied. No pressure then.
The logistics of setting this up is not to be underestimated: getting five main hangs and two flown outfills in the right place took some serious metalwork 14m in the air and all this had to be done without damage to the square. That is before we started setting up front fills, subs and of course the systems round the lake.
The support and training from the L’Acoustics team was extraordinary. Blending pragmatism with theory they managed to get the best from the system-despite heaving rain and high humidity- and allow me to get the best from my mix.
Though I feel we barely scratched the surface of what is possible with L-ISA there can be no doubt the system provides a world of possibilities. The audio image was effortlessly correct and though it is easy to carried away with grand gestures for me the possibilities offered in terms of subtle placement and movement are equally fascinating.
It was a pleasure to work Alvin, Freida and Q and of course Nghia and his local team. The results spoke for the themselves.
