I’m coming off the bat to say that I’m a great fan of the World of Yamaha.
Where else can jet skis, motorcycles, sophisticated sound equipment and delicately crafted musical instruments all mingle into one magical place? And as if that couldn’t be more impressive, they somehow pulled a theatre out of nowhere and placed it behind the coffee bar.
But to call it just a theatre is a misnomer. It’s so much more and was purpose built to handle almost any event including theatre acts, live music, industry training and broadcast events with equal precision. It’s an event managers’ dream, to be sure. Another arm of the initiative is to offer technical support and to test and display new technologies, which seems to be a symbiotic relationship for all and a welcome gift to the industry.
Upon my arrival at the building I was greeted by Bryan Michael of Global Music. Bryan is the man behind the installation at the facility and he had a big hand in its construction and configuration. He kindly obliged to give me a peek into the inner workings of the theatre and it’s coming into being.
The Yamaha Theatre is a dedicated music venue with a fully integrated AV setup and is quite large. It can accommodate about 300 people in a standing event and 200 sitting. The room is fully sound proofed, has high ceilings and contains a permanently installed movable stage, a projection wall and HD projector for events such as DVD launches or HD film viewing. There are four utility panels, one for each wall which are connected to a routing matrix that makes them available at any time in the control room. This also means that an event can be orientated in which ever direction you prefer. There is three phase power available on each utility panel as well and, thankfully, the power grids between audio and lighting are separated, a welcome feature of the venue.
The audio system, all Yamaha of course, is set up in 5.1 surround sound and incorporates two DSR 115s for the front right and left stacks, five flown DSR 115s for the surround array (LCR, SL, SR), and two DSR118 subwoofers. Speaking of the DSRs, this new series of speakers were of particular interest to me because they are manufactured in a joint venture between acclaimed speaker giant Nexo and Yamaha. Incorporating what Yamaha terms its Xtreme D technology, these speakers integrate several technologies, namely Integral Digital Tuning, Intelligent Dynamic Control, Powerful Digital Drive and Extensive DSP Protection.
The audio control centrepiece of the theatre is the ubiquitous Yamaha M7CL, a very versatile mainstay of the audio industry and a great looking helm.
Probably the slickest part of the whole operation is the utilisation of the Ethersound protocol to interconnect each system and distribute the audio throughout the facility.
An efficient and powerful system to manage high channel counts of high resolution digital audio. Three DME64s handle DSP duties for the theatre, the studio showroom and background music, and are configured via DME Designer software. In addition, on the multi-track recording side, the DANTE protocol has been selected which handles recording duties via a DANTE expansion card installed into the back of the M7CL, all on one CAT5 cable. As long as you have the virtual DANTE sound card software installed on the destination computer, you can record up to 64 channels of multi-track, high resolution audio straight from the M7CL. Although, currently the Ethersound network at the Yamaha Theatre can currently only supply 48 channels but that’s more than enough for most applications and, as always, its upgradeable if need be.
Moving into the control room you are met with a large desk containing three consoles namely (all Yamaha of course), an O1V96, an O2R and a DM2000, the main control console for mixing and recording events from the theatre – and the entire range of Yamaha studio monitors. Once again, the Ethersound and DANTE protocols work seamlessly hand in hand to feed and record the audio from the Theatre: Ethersound into the console; DANTE out into the recorder via the DANTE expansion card in the back of the DM2000. Neat!
The Yamaha Theatre is a shining bastion of professional audio and AV. It’s slick and clean and can certainly accommodate anything from live music broadcasts to a cosy film premiere. Not to mention, the rental cost of the venue is very affordable and includes the complete facility of the building and many amenities. Yahama have done the entertainment and AV industries a great service with this theatre and I wish them many years of success.
By Greg Bester
ProSystems magazine 3rd Quarter 2012
