Machu Picchu in Peru is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World
Peru - The famous Incan city of Machu Picchu in Peru is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. On 7 July this year, it celebrated the 100 year anniversary of its rediscovery by North American adventurer and archaeologist Hiram Bingham. Andrés Cuadros and Guillermo Riera, owners of rental company Red Power, provided a sound and light spectacular for the celebration, with a DiGiCo SD8 digital mixing console being pivotal to the audio design.

With overall direction from Peruvian movie director, Luis Llosa, 200 actors, under the direction of Eduardo San Roman, took part in the show of dance, lights, fireworks and music. A performance from Peruvian singer Tania Libertad was accompanied by the Cusco Symphony Orchestra, directed by Coco Salazar and a rhythm section, made up of drums, keyboards, electric guitar and bass, with Manuel Miranda on wind instruments.

Red Power is one of the leading audio/visual rental companies in Peru and has invested in the SD8 because of its sound quality, size, software and versatility. These qualities also determined the console's use for the Machu Picchu project, with size being of particular importance in the logistics of equipment transportation, as the 15th Century Inca site is located some 2,430m above sea level.

"I used 56 inputs on the SD8," explains Cuadros. "Two for playback, two for video sends, two for Tania Libertad, and two for FX audio. All of this was via the eight inputs in the console, with the other 48 via the MADI Rack for the orchestra and musicians.

"For outputs I used two for Tania Libertad for her Sennheiser in ear monitors, two for the main PA, one for an FX system, one for a monitor send that was 400m away from us using a wireless system, two for a TV recording and eight for orchestra and musicians' monitors.

"I handled the PA, TV recording and monitors all from the same console, using two snapshots for the recorded and live sections."

Lighting designer was Gian Franco Di Vitto and a grandMA2 ultra-light was used for control. "The reliability and versatility offered by the console was the key in the development of the programming of the show," says Cuadros.

The data transmission to the 40 Vari*Lite VL3500 Washes, 20 Vari*Lite VL3000 Spots, 20 Atomic 3000 strobes and two Strong Super Trouper 2K follow spots was facilitated by a Wireless Solution system, consisting of 2 x F-1 G4 Transmitter/Receivers. A WholeHog III was used to control the conventional lights.

(Jim Evans)


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