TCI - Theatre Crafts International - September 1996
By David Johnson
"...Usually what we try to do is to bounce it off the canvas," Francois Bergeron,
sound designer explains. "Part of the feeling of Cirque is that it's always
a reverberant and very dreamy kind of sound. But the sound checks there are
very hard, because when it's empty it's very reverberant. But then the public
comes in, and everything is absorbed, there's no reverb, no dreamlike effect.
So this year, at least sound-wise, the accent was put on quality components
in order to beat the acoustics."
The components in question included 15 Meyer Sound MSL-4
loudspeakers; it was the first time he'd tried self-powered speakers, and
overall he was pleased with the result. "The Meyers made it easier to focus
on the crowd, and not bounce off the canvas. Then if we wanted reverb, we could
induce a dreamy kind of environment."
Quidams' speaker system comprises five smaller systems. The PAs left and right,
primarily used for music, consist of four MSL-4s, two Meyer 650-P
self powered sub-woofers and one Meyer UPM-2
per side, the UPM-2s being used mostly for stage coverage. The second system,
hung from the tent's cupola, comprises seven MSL-4s (one for each seating zone)
and carries mostly vocals. The third system is made up of eight Meyer UPL-1s
and two UPL-2s hung in the tent masts and used as delay and fills for the upper
seating areas..."
"...Usually what we try to do is to bounce it off the canvas," Francois Bergeron,
sound designer explains. "Part of the feeling of Cirque is that it's always
a reverberant and very dreamy kind of sound. But the sound checks there are
very hard, because when it's empty it's very reverberant. But then the public
comes in, and everything is absorbed, there's no reverb, no dreamlike effect.
So this year, at least sound-wise, the accent was put on quality components
in order to beat the acoustics."
