The Dalai Lama Delivers Message to San Francisco Through Meyer Sound MILO System

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"The Civic has always been a rather unfriendly acoustic environment, but you could understand every word His Holiness said, whether during the sold out public seminars, or in the private sessions, where the hall was only partially full." - Howard Danchik FOH engineer

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama — spiritual and political leader of Tibet, Nobel Laureate, and global ambassador for peace — visited San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in late spring to give two days of teachings on Lama Tsongkhapa's text "In Praise of Dependent Origination." The Dalai Lama's message of non-violence and compassion was delivered clearly to more than 10,000 people through a powerful Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeaker system.

The Gyuto Vajrayana Center, a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in San Jose, Calif., and its founder, Venerable Thupten Donyo, played an integral role in organizing the event. Pro Media/UltraSound of Hercules, Calif., provided the Meyer Sound system, while Mike Brady, a systems engineer for the company, teamed with Meyer Sound associate, sound designer Dave Dennison to handle audio-visual coordination and stage management. Brady and freelance engineer Howard Danchik handled FOH duties for the event.

The Meyer Sound system comprised a center cluster of three arrays of 10 MILO high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers. The arrays were angled about 60 degrees apart. Eight M1D ultracompact curvilinear array loudspeakers were used for frontfill, while a pair of legacy, unpowered MSL-2A reinforcement loudspeakers sat on stage. A Galileo loudspeaker management system drove the system in a venue known for its challenging acoustics.

"The Civic has always been a rather unfriendly acoustic environment," says Danchik, "but you could understand every word His Holiness said, whether during the sold-out public seminars, or in the private sessions where the hall was only partially full. He was so inspirational. I came away with a great feeling that stayed with me long afterward."

"Speech intelligibility was the best I've ever heard in that venue," agreed Dennison, who acted as technical director for the event, "and the performance of the system certainly complemented the noble intention of the teachings. All in all, the MILO system worked exceptionally well, and system alignment was quick and painless."

Meyer Sound has enjoyed a close relationship with the Gyuto Vajrayana Center for more than a decade. The Berkeley, Calif.-based company has provided technical and audio resources for many of the Gyuto Monks' U.S. tours, as well as a sound system installed in their headquarters in India. Preceding their 2007 U.S. tour, the Gyuto Monks visited the Meyer Sound factory and conducted a ceremonial blessing.

"Being in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a striking experience," says Helen Meyer, executive vice president of Meyer Sound. "While his message is powerful, he is a soft-spoken man, so it was fulfilling to hear his teachings come through the MILO system clearly and know that people could hear what he had to say."

August, 2007

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