Allen & Heath dLive ignites Mannheim Castle
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Schloss in Flammen – a classical music highlight in the festival season in Germany – is a stunning mixture of classical music and synchronised fireworks. The orchestra and solo singers from the National Theatre of Mannheim perform arias and other parts of various famous operas.
“The big challenge of this production is that we have nearly no time for rehearsals and soundcheck,” explains FOH engineer Rolf Dressler. “This is where the easy handling and flexibility of the dLive shines and it got even better with firmware 1.4 and 1.5 and new features like DCA spill and the improved scene management. I also love the sound, the compact size and the low latency of the dLive – that’s why I mixed over 100 concerts and events last year on dLive.”
As an open-air event lacks the familiar acoustics of a concert hall, Dressler uses dLive’s internal FX library to simulate them. “The reverb programs of dLive sound really convincing and natural,“ says Dressler. “I’m using six different reverbs for high and low strings, woodwind and brass instruments, percussion and vocals.”
Even very dynamic signals like high forte voices with headsets can be handled easily by the dLive FX. “Normal compressors don’t help here anymore,“ explains Dressler. “But the frequency dependent multiband dynamics of dLive let me tame such difficult signals with ease.”
For many of the classical instruments, Dressler is relying on microphones from Audio-Technica. “For violins, violas and woodwind, we use AT4021, for cello and basses Pro35 and for percussion condenser microphones like AT4021 and AT2013.”
(Jim Evans)
