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The
Mojave Tent was filled to
capacity during the festival,
with some 5000 people inside,
and a further 1000 or so
listening in at the doorways.
Held in the desert area of
Indio, California, the event
enabled many thousands of
festival-goers to enjoy a
massive cross section of US
and European music from more
than 90 acts, with the
listings for the Mojave Tent
including Bloc Party, The
Bravery, The Kills, Roots
Manuva and
Stereophonics.
Rat
Sound's Turbosound Aspect
system utilised a total of 12
x TA-890H mid-highs and 18 x
TA-890L 2 x 15" bass cabinets,
plus a further 4 x TA-890H
units as fills, with their
waveguides rotated through
90º to enable vertical
orientation. The main system
design comprised left and
right hangs of TA-890H boxes,
arrayed two wide and three
deep, plus ground-stacked
TA-890L 2 x 15 bass cabinets,
arranged in two three-by-three
stacks.
Dave
Rat, of Rat Sound, outlined
the task of creating a
high-level dynamic sound in
the 64m x 36m tent, while
minimising any acoustic
issues:
 We
have been involved with the
Coachella festival for several
years and were contracted to
provide sound for three of the
festival's five stages. Sound
reinforcement for the high
volume Mojave Tent Stage was
especially challenging due to
its location directly between
two other Tent Stages. We
considered a line array
system, but the fixed
90-degree horizontal
dispersion would have put a
lot of sound into the side
tent walls. We decided that
the unique capabilities of the
Turbosound Aspect system would
be an ideal match for the
application. Unlike a line
array, the Aspect system
offers precise control over
the horizontal dispersion, as
well as the vertical. Aspect's
tight control over the
horizontal dispersion allowed
us to focus the sound inside
the tent and minimise bleed to
the other stages. We took some
measurements, and it worked!
Over 120dB(C) at the mix
position and, in view of the
number of people listening
around the doorways - over 60
metres from the stage - the
clarity at this long-throw
distance was not an
issue.
From
our experience at Coachella,
the Aspect rig does offer some
clear advantages, and having
such control over the
horizontal dispersion can be
of significant benefit in many
situations. It represents an
important resource in a sound
company's toolbox and it
offers awesome potential. It's
a very compact box, easy to
rig and transport, and clearly
fills the void left by the
total over-run of
line-arrays."
On
hand to assist with the rig's
design and deployment was
Turbosound's sales director
Rik Kirby and development
engineer Danny Cooklin,
together with Paul Giansante,
Turbosound product manager
from the company's US
distributor, Sennheiser
Electronic Corporation.
Following the success of the
Coachella Festival project,
Rat Sound retained 24 Aspect
cabinets for its
inventory.
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