Exposed      Expo ’98 in Lisbon
Pro Sound News Europe      December 1998
by Jim Evans

Both Meyer Sound and Community speakers figured extensively in staged events surrounding Lisbon’s civic beano

Lisbon’s Expo ’98, which ran in the Portuguese capital from May through September, was staged under the banner “The Ocean...Heritage For The Future’ as a joint salute to today’s environmental movement and the 500th anniversary of Vasco de Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India. Five years in the planning, this international extravaganza featured participation from around 150 nations. As might be expected, more than one sound system was involved, and Expo ’98 provided both business opportunities and a global showcase for pro audio players.

Nearly 500 Meyer Sound speakers were used for sound reinforcement. Over 300 speakers from the recently-introduced Self-Powered UltraSeries™ joined a variety of other Meyer self-powered and conventionally powered equipment shipped to Portugal from far and wide.

“Expo ’98 was a tremendous project for us,” said Jean-David Rodriguez of Dispatch, Meyer’s French distributor. “After our bid for 16 stages at Expo was accepted, we shipped three 38 ton truckloads of gear to Portugal.” The equipment included 158 UPA-1P loudspeakers, 100 UM-100P and 50 UM-1P monitors, 78 USW-1P loudspeakers, 40 MSL-4 loudspeakers, and 20 PSW-2 Subwoofers.

“We provided a 24-hour a day, seven-day a week service to the event,” added Rodriguez. “With as many as 70 shows per day, technical problems had to be solved in pretty quick time.” Miguel Lourtie, of Portuguese company Audio Pro Live acted as Dispatch’s representative in Lisbon for the duration of the six-month event.

Meyer dealers from around the world provided speakers for many of the pavilions dotting the exposition site, which covered a 60-hectare area in eastern Lisbon and stretched for five kilometres along the Tagus river. The pavilions hosted thousands of musical, theatrical and film events organised around the Expo’s nautical heritage theme. The shows supplemented blockbuster Expo attractions like the $65 million Oceanarium aquarium, claimed to be the largest of its kind in Europe.

Expo personnel and engineers from Dispatch, Meyer Sound Europe, and Audio Pro Live worked closely together in the Spring to set up the various systems. In March, tests were conducted to ensure that the system for Aquamatrix, a show which ran for all six months of the Expo, did not disturb the animals housed in the neighbouring Oceanarium. The system for the waterfront show consisted of 44 MSL-4 self-powered loudspeakers and 22 650-P self-powered subwoofers set on a barge in a man-made marina.

One of the largest systems at the Expo was in the Sony Plaza. Dispatch supplied the system, which consisted of UPA-1 loudspeakers, paired with USW-1P subwoofers, and MSL-4 loudspeakers, paired with PSW-2 subwoofers.UM-1P and UM-100Ps provided on-stage monitoring for the Plaza. Numerous smaller stages throughout the Expo grounds used UPA-1P/USW-P systems.

Additional Meyer cabinets came from across the Atlantic and from as far away as the Pacific Rim. Solotech, a Canadian sound company whose clients include Celine Dion and Cirque du Soleil, provided an MSL-5 system for use in the Utopia show. Avix Trading, Meyer’s Korean distributor, supplied an all self-powered surround system for a 3-D film about Korea. The system for the Korea Centre consisted of four CQ-1 loudspeakers, two 650-P subwoofers, 10 HM-1 loudspeakers, three CP-10 parametric equalisers, and one LD-1A line driver.

Also making a strong showing at Expo was Community Professional. An AirForce Concert system was used for the lavish opening ceremonies. More than 3,800 dignitaries, politicians and business leaders were present for the opening speeches and presentations at one of Expo’s larger venues. The ceremony was broadcast live in Portugal (where a record-breaking 73% of the population tuned in), Spain and parts of South America, including Brazil. The total worldwide viewing figure was estimated at 200 million.

The speeches and formalities were followed by live performances by Michael Nyman, Jose Carreras and the Portuguese acoustic band Madredeus, culminating in a spectacular duet between Carreras and Madredeus vocalist Teresa Salgueiro.

Professionals involved in the production included the Portuguese branch of Dutch broadcaster Sonotech and veteran sound designer Marc Ruesen. Margarida Adonis handled the live broadcast and recording, while Production Partners took charge of the sound and lighting.

Owing to the acoustically reflective surfaces of the venue, Production Partners’ Ed de Bree determined that only an extremely directive system could be specified for the house system. Further, the auditorium’s architecture did not allow for a distribution system and no equipment could be hung from the filigrane concrete ceiling.

The Community AirForce system was installed as the main public address system, with support from the Communbity Solutions Series SLS960s in the centre cluster, and the Solutions Series SLS915s providing the centre fill. On either side of the main PA, two AirForce AF2 medium-throw speakers and two AF10 bass horns were used to cover the far seats, while a single AF3 short-throw and two additional AF10s handled the main audience area. To augment the AirForce system while avoiding any ceiling contact, the four SL960’s in the centre cluster were suspended from the tip of the same crane that held the lighting trusses. The SLS915s were positioned on the floor in front of the stage to cover the front rows of VIP seats. On-stage monitoring was primarily through Community RM220s. For Madredeus, five additional XLT-48E single 15-inch/1-inch stage monitors were used to add clarity to the acoustic instruments. The group’s FOH engineer George Barata noted, “I like the sound of Community. It is natural and, simply, real.” Eric Martha of Holland’s Alpha Audio & Light added, “I am very satisfied with the results of the AirForce system, and I hope to work with it again. You do not need to equalize a lot. When you have a good signal from the stage, you just fine-tune it a little to get a good sound.”