QATAR: Auditoria was responsible for the design of the audio and comms for ceremonies and sports presentations at the recent 2015 World Men’s Handball Championships in Qatar. The company called on support from around the region and around the world to ensure it delivered the expected results.
David Atkins Enterprises was contracted to create and deliver the ceremonies for the championships while Great Big Events was contracted to deliver the sports presentations. Both companies contacted Auditoria to cover the audio and comms for the respective portions of the tournament. ‘We’ve been working with DAE for years on projects including Doha 2006, Vancouver 2010, Shanghai Expo 2010, Doha 2011 Arab Games and the 2011 Rugby World Cup in Auckland,’ said Auditoria director Scott Willsallen. ‘We were contracted on a design, supply and operate basis. So we subcontracted the various equipment suppliers and the operational team directly, providing a single contract to DAE.’
This approach meant the event called on the skills and equipment from a number of regional and international suppliers. ‘The bulk of the comms systems was provided by The PA People from Australia, they prepared the system to our requirements and were ready to ship the goods within a couple of days of finalising the design,’ noted Mr Willsallen. ‘The audio systems supply was divided primarily between Delta Sound Dubai and Agora from Italy. Our operational and engineering team was from Australia, the UK, Dubai and Doha.
‘Auditoria provided an international operational team with vast experience in ceremonial events. The team consisted of Steve Logan and Luis Miranda on replay, Chris Johnson was the senior systems engineer, Martyn Ward mixed, Marie White managed the team, Rachel Caldwell and Tracey Bravo took care of the distribution of radios and the management of wireless in-ears and microphones,’ continued Mr Willsallen. ‘We all worked extremely well as a team in some often difficult circumstances.’
The communications system supplied by The PA People was based on a Clear-Com Eclipse matrix with around 40 V-Series key stations, 16 HelixNet digital beltpacks, a five-user Tempest system, 16 analogue duplex repeaters, eight simplex interfaces and about 200 two-way radios. ‘The system was installed, engineered and programmed by Campbell Waller, Liam McKeown and Scott Davidson who did an amazing job,’ said Mr Willsallen.
‘The majority of the audio system was supplied by Delta Sound, with specialist equipment supplied by Agora,’ continued the Auditoria director. ‘Agora provided the Fairlight replay systems, timecode readers, Shure Axient wireless microphones and the in-ear monitor system with customised RF amplification hardware. Andrea Tesini was our RF engineer and brilliantly managed Agora’s contribution to the event.
‘Delta provided a ground-stacked 36-element L-Acoustics K2 loudspeaker system, with 24 SB28 placed beneath the seating, all powered with LA-Racks,’ furthered Mr Willsallen. ‘Delta also supplied the majority of the audio control system including DiGiCo SD7, SD11, Optocore network, monitors and a variety of other equipment. The crew from Delta was led by Craig Harvey and Andy Jackson who did an amazing job in keeping up with the changes, remaining consistently positive and willing to do anything to make it work.’
While not short of challenges, the end result was one that Mr Willsallen was very happy with. ‘It sounded great. Our clients (DAE and GBE) were both full of praise for how well everything went.’
WORDS: ProAudio Middle East 5-6/2015
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