Meyer Sound News : The Three Tenors And The M3D Reach a Sold-Out Crowd in Beijing's Forbidden City

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The Three Tenors And The M3D Reach a Sold-Out Crowd in Beijing's Forbidden City

Three 650-P subwoofers with two MSL-6s angled down 5 degrees. Below – three MSL-4s angled down 20 degrees, and lower – two UPA-1Ps angled down 40 degrees.

For Mr. Guo Cheng, Director of Audio for CCTV, the concert was a tremendously important event for CCTV and China. It was crucial that the show be stunning. "The success of this concert shows the excellent quality of Meyer Sound products," he said. "We appreciate very much the great support for the concert's sound system from Meyer Sound."

To support Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympics, the Three Tenors gave an extraordinary concert at the Forbidden City on June 23rd, World Olympic Day.

On the night of June 23, the Three Tenors, powered by Meyer Sound, performed at the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. Everything about this concert was extraordinary and symbolic. The mile-long Forbidden City, heart of Imperial China, made a stunning venue for the most expensive, elaborate hi-tech event ever staged in China.

It was in the second outer courtyard, which once held 100,000 members of the Imperial court, that Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras took the stage for what is rumored to be the last Three Tenors concert. Accompanying them were a 100-piece symphony orchestra and a 200-person chorus on a raised platform. The golden glazed, double eaved roof and vermilion lacquer columns of the Meridian Gate glowed in the night behind them.

The stakes were high. The aspirations of 1.2 billion people were riding on this concert, held on World Olympic Day. After losing out in 2000, Beijing is bravely trying again, this time for the 2008 Games. The race to beat Paris and Toronto is close, highly charged and emotional. So this proud and passionate country pulled out all the stops to show that they could handle a technically complex, high-profile event.

The gamble paid off. The sold-out concert was a staggering success. Over 30,000 people, including top Government officials, Olympic dignitaries and international VIPs, listened enthralled to the beautiful music, and went wild for an encore.

It was crucial that this event dazzle, and the organizers chose to use Meyer speakers, starring the new M3D Line Array with BroadbandQ.

Acoustic challenges in the Forbidden City

The 1000 by 330-foot walled stone courtyard in the world's largest palace complex posed unique problems. The organizer, Chinese National Culture and Arts, wanted to protect the historic venue and keep the sense of Imperial splendor. Sound designer Alexander Yuill—Thornton II (known as 'Thorny', or 'Sony' in China) had to accept restrictions on speaker heights (36 feet) and positions. "My first throw to my first point was about 300 feet," Thorny said. "Thirty-six feet is much lower than I would normally put an array for this kind of distance. I was at a fair disadvantage given the locations I had. So I came up with a system to do the best job given the positions I had to work from, which required speakers to cover very long distances. I went out to almost 600' because I had no other choice. And the Meyer product did that for me. The MSL-6s we used at the stage for the main system and all the M3Ds at the delays were able to cover that kind of range at the heights that I had. Without them, I would have been in serious trouble."

System configuration

Thorny used a mirror image plan. On the stage, the first cluster (per side) was three 650-P subwoofers with two MSL-6s angled down 4-5 degrees. The main MSL-6 pointed straight out, with the inside unit pointed slightly in. "In each array I used a pair of MSL-6s," Thorny said. "I didn't use any more of them because the stage was bounded on three sides by high stone walls. Putting energy against the walls would just create problems for myself. So by picking the MSL-6s and choosing their angle, I limited the energy that went onto the wall and still covered the public."

Below were three MSL-4s angled down about 20 degrees, and lower were two UPA-1Ps angled down about 40 degrees. The left and right screen line array comprised six M3Ds. The day of the concert, they hung a UPA-1P for VIP fill. The front fill speakers were two UPA-1Ps for center front, two UM-100Ps for main front fill, and two UM-100Ps.

Vertical arrays of six M3Ds were hung at the screen tower and on three delay towers at 250-foot intervals down each side of the courtyard. Thorny had never used M3Ds before, but he was so impressed with their throw that he scrapped the third delay tower a few days before the show.

Each tenor had a front and rear UM-1P monitor. "We had equalizers on the three front monitors because we pushed them pretty hard, and I needed to stabilize them," Thorny related. "We didn't equalize the rear monitors. We've found with the new UM-1Ps that we don't need EQ on them because they are so flat."

The chorus monitors were one MSL-4 per side, and the three sopranos and conductor each had a UM-100P.

The M3Ds perform superbly

What a time and place to showcase the new M3D! And it shone.

The M3D suited the unusual venue — a vast courtyard surrounded by high stone walls. Thorny wanted to eliminate contamination for those seated close to the delay towers; the M3D's BroadbandQ technology provides directional control down to 35 Hz, which made an enormous difference.

The M3D is designed as a dedicated medium-to-long-throw device. With usable coverage of about 90 degrees across the full audio spectrum, the self-powered speaker covered the crowd with high resolution, low distortion sound. The REM (Ribbon Emulation Manifold) provides a very short path between the compression driver and the horn, which minimizes distortion.

Thorny said, "The M3Ds gave me the ability to cover from the array to 360-400' with reasonable levels all the way. After doing some testing, I was convinced that given the height limitations, I could achieve what I wanted. And I did."

The perfect show in the perfect place

This was the biggest audio event ever staged in China, and so there were a few teething problems. Things got pretty hectic around the mix area at times. Dozens of Chinese workers in red hard hats were sawing and hammering to build a camera platform half an hour before the show. But Sound Engineering Director John Pellowe, moving deftly along his long Cadac board, coped brilliantly. Grammy award winner Pellowe has recorded most of the great orchestras in the world for Decca Records.

On the concert night, a rich, clear and magnificent sound filled the courtyard, which is bigger than four football fields. From the $2500 front VIP section, to the raised rows 800 feet back, the audience heard every lush tone and subtle nuance of the music. After the show, Thorny and Pellowe looked immensely relieved and pleased, and the Three Tenors themselves pronounced the sound "magnificent."

Site Co-ordinator Morris Lyda, who has production managed shows from Pink Floyd to Disney, said it was "one of the best shows I've ever heard."

John Pellowe said, "As is often the case, the most difficult projects to bring to fruition turn out unusually well. Fortunately, the Beijing concert turned out like this, and I feel all concerned can be justifiably proud of the results. The problem of delivering good sound over such a long distance was handled with ease by the new Meyer M3D. I was pleased with the way their sound integrated with the MSL-6/MSL-4 and UPA down fill loudspeakers that did a great job for the first 250 feet in front of the stage and covered the VIP area and mix position."

The International Olympic Committee will announce the winner of the 2008 Olympics on July 13th in Moscow. China, with its thrilling athletes, tremendous optimism and energy, deserves to win. If they do, Meyer Sound may have played a small role in the victory.

July, 2001

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