Meyer Sound News : Meyer Sound M'elodie Delivers Rock'n' Roll and Intelligibility at Germany's Bambi Awards Show

Meyer Sound M'elodie Delivers Rock'n' Roll and Intelligibility at Germany's Bambi Awards Show

"The M'elodie is really one of the few systems that could have worked for this show, as it delivered the power we needed for the music, as well as the intelligibility for the spoken word. We were able to achieve the levels we needed without affecting the TV audio feed."

- André Aspelmeier
Project Manager, Procon Event Engineering GmbH

The Bambi Awards are one of Germany's most popular events. Akin to the American Oscars, Bambi Awards' red carpet draws a Who's Who list of international celebrities that include guests such as Sophia Loren, Eva Longoria and Queen Rania of Jordan. This year, the 59th annual Bambi Awards were held for the first time in Düsseldorf, with long-time host Harald Schmidt holding court at the city's Congress Centrum CCD.

Intelligible sound for the event was entrusted to a Meyer Sound M'elodie line array loudspeaker system, provided by Hamburg-based Procon Event Engineering GmbH and designed by Procon's project manager André Aspelmeier and the company's head of sound Klaus Rahe. "Designing a sound system for this type of event is quite different from a typical TV show," Aspelmeier observes. "The audience is very attentive and focused on the presenters, and intelligibility is of utmost importance. Therefore, the M'elodie is the ideal choice for this application."

The sound system for the event comprised a total of 54 Meyer Sound loudspeakers. The production brief dictated minimal visibility for all loudspeakers, making it necessary to fly the arrays above the cameras' range. Two main hangs of eight M'elodies were complemented by 22 UPA-2P loudspeakers, with four 700-HP subwoofers handling low end. Three UPA-2Ps, four small MM-4 loudspeakers and a pair of UPJunior VariO loudspeakers provided onstage monitoring.

Aspelmeier says that M'elodies delivered the Awards' presentations exceptionally, including Bon Jovi's. "Bon Jovi should not sound like they're coming from a home stereo system," said Aspelmeier. "The M'elodie is really one of the few systems that could have worked for this show, as it delivered the power we needed for the music, as well as the intelligibility for the spoken word. We were able to achieve the levels we needed without affecting the TV audio feed."

Indeed, FOH engineer Michael Häck was able to drive the sound system at moderate levels for most of the show, only pushing it to its limits for the very soft-spoken Tom Cruise, whose long acceptance speech for his "Courage Award" had the German press buzzing for days afterward.

April, 2008