Meyer reinforces Outside Lands special
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Since the event’s inception, festival producer Another Planet Entertainment, Bay Area rental company UltraSound, and Meyer Sound have worked in close collaboration to provide a world-class audio experience.
Since the inaugural festival in 2008, Meyer Sound systems have supported the annual festival’s main stage, with strategic system designs meeting the duelling goals of providing clear, consistent sound and keeping the sound contained within the sprawling urban park, which is surrounded on three sides by residential neighbourhoods.
“In 2019 we did a system redesign, which really helped out with noise mitigation, which is something each year that we really work hard on to try and improve upon,” says Josh Osmond, director of operations at UltraSound. “This year we did a repeat of the same design, which includes a combination of Leo and Lyon main-hangs left and right and Lyon side-hangs. 1100‑LFC subwoofers are flown left and right, and we have a sub arc of 1100-LFCs in the pit and Leopard front-fills.”
The distributed system incorporates five delay towers. The front three employ Leo and Lyon loudspeakers, with the back row of two towers consisting of Mica loudspeakers to deliver consistent coverage throughout the audience area. Leopard, UPA, and UPJunior ground stacks and arrays cover the large, two-story VIP tent and cabanas lining the three-quarter-mile field.
Converting a large comedy tent into the full-time dance Soma Tent presented new sound-management challenges - namely, creating a high-energy environment with low-end-heavy programming without significantly impacting the surrounding neighbourhoods.
“After our successful efforts to control the sound leakage at the Lands End main stage, Another Planet asked us to drive this sound design,” says Bob McCarthy, director of system optimisation for Meyer Sound. “They were very clear: the sound design comes first; all of the lighting and everything else came second, because noise control is key to the event’s success.”
“We created a design where all of the mains are oriented on the side of the tent that faces away from the street,” he explains. “Then, we have loudspeakers mounted on the back of those, pointed toward the street, that are timed, phase-aligned, and set to cancel.” Downward-firing surround speakers created an immersive experience inside the tent, while acoustic draping helped contain sound.
Tightly controlled 1100-LFC and 900‑LFC low-frequency control elements brought critical low-end energy. “EDM has a need for maximum bass at all frequencies, to use an old phrase. And the 1100 is the king of dishing that out,” says McCarthy.
