Derrick Zieba is the sound designer for the event, coordinating Britannia Row's team and the freelance engineers that regularly work with him on these televised spectaculars. The Classical Brits includes eight live acts - Vanessa Mae, Bryn Terfel, Nigel Kennedy, the Kings Choir and Hayley Westenra are amongst those on stage - and the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Simon Wright; the show is being broadcast by ITV.
For Zieba, this show is relatively relaxed. Thanks to the success of the EV X-Line system at last year's event, Zieba is using essentially the same design, with the PA cabinets flown high above the stage lighting grid to facilitate camera sightlines. The X-Line S and T cabinets are deployed in a splayed L,C and R formation, the outer hangs consisting of eight Xvls and four Xvlt boxes, and the centre hang, which addresses the floor of the Hall all the way through to the back, uses seven Xvlx and three Xvlt cabinets. "Because the orchestra is on the floor, the line arrays are set up to fire from the second half onwards, and we've placed the subs halfway down the floor, in front of the orchestra," explains Zieba, referring to the Albert Hall's famous promenaders' floor which will seat the English Chamber Orchestra as well as a number of tables for the celebrities of the classical music business.
As one of the pioneers of the ElectroVoice IRIS remote control software, Zieba has been instrumental in providing user feedback, which has guided its development. However, these Awards are the first opportunity he has had to try out the new Version 1 software. "I've been looking forward to this. The old software was actually too complicated for our requirements, it allowed too many parameters to be altered. This version has been honed down, pared to just the functionality we need which will make it easier and faster to use, and much less complex."
The IRIS V.1 software will control 10 racks of ElectroVoice Precisions Series amplifiers. "We've got shorter runs in this Hall, so we can up the baud rates and get pretty instant feedback and feel for what's going on at the amp end," explains Zieba.
The Britannia Row X-Line array has been rigged by Jock Bain, the front-of-house engineer is Richard Sharratt; both are regulars in Zieba's team. "We have Yamaha PM1D's on monitors and FOH, which enables Richard to mix all of these acts by himself," says Zieba, "and, with the new IRIS system coupled with the X-Line boxes, this rig will produce the best possible combination of power, punch and clarity." Zieba has also specified EV X-Line for Fashion Rocks, the Brit Awards and the MTV Awards. "I do use other line arrays sometimes, but I prefer X-Line for most situations. Some may be easier to use, some may offer better vocal clarity, but nothing delivers the bandwidth that this system can deliver effortlessly. When it's on song, nothing can beat it."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
