Meyer Sound MILO and SF Opera Set Record Attendance with Tosca Simulcast at AT&T Ballpark
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Beer, hotdogs, and … Puccini? Cultural worlds collided in the best way possible when Opera at the Ballpark returned to AT&T Park on June 5th with a free simulcast of Tosca, setting a new ballpark attendance record for San Francisco Opera with an estimated 27,000 viewers. For its fourth simulcast, Bay Area rental house Pro Media / UltraSound turned to Meyer Sound products for the reliability, clarity, and power required to knock the job out of the proverbial park (and literal home to the San Francisco Giants baseball team). The unique task of broadcasting a live performance from the stage of the War Memorial Opera House to a crowded outdoor venue was no easy feat, but David Bowers of Pro Media / UltraSound felt that the decision to go with a Meyer Sound system was a relatively simple one: "It's just the way it is. There's nothing that works better for opera. It's absolutely, purely linear. It predicts well, and there's very low distortion." The PA system included 28 MILO line array loudspeakers (two arrays of 14 each), along with eight legacy MSL-2A loudspeakers, eight M3D-Sub directional subwoofers, a Galileo loudspeaker management system, and a SIM 3 audio analyzer for system tuning. Pulling off opera without a hitch on the Giants' home field was a tall order, and knowing what works was of the highest importance when over 20,000 attendees expected an Italian tragedy by 8:00 pm sharp. "We showed up at 1:00 pm to load in yesterday," said Bowers on the day of the show. "By 7:00 pm last night, we were doing our first pass for optimization. It was so expeditious. That's a credit to self-powered systems—they're very easy to rig." Bowers, who has a wealth of experience when it comes to mixing opera and classical music, recognizes the benefits of choosing Meyer Sound for this project. "We love the M3D subwoofer for the opera," said Bowers. "It's the most musical-sounding sub for opera and classical music. We want the sound system to be invisible, even if the stage is 400 feet away from the audience. M3D-Sub, MILO, and Meyer allow us to do that." A fan of our pristine sound and reliable results, Bowers isn't the only Meyer Sound enthusiast. "I am overwhelmed and gratified by the Bay Area's enthusiastic response to our third simulcast of live opera to AT&T Park," commented Opera General Director David Gockley. "Our presentation of Tosca onto the scoreboard in high def transmission was fantastic and was matched by the superior sound quality under the careful guidance of Meyer Sound , ProMedia Ultra Sound and the SF Opera Sound Dept. From the outfield and the infield to stadium seating, more than 27,000 guests enjoyed this growing San Francisco tradition of Opera at the Ballpark. It truly was a grand night for singing!" In the case of an event that involves arias and garlic fries, it's safe to say that this was no ordinary evening at the ballpark. Aside from the obvious successes of the evening (great sound, beautiful music, and a happy audience), Bowers found amusement in the subtleties that made the job so unusual, and so enjoyable: "The clean-up was much easier than when Kenny Chesney played here." Now that is music to our ears. By Kasi Miller June, 2009 |
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