Colito
Productions Rolls Out dBTechnologies DVA at the Oktoberfest

This
year more than six million visitors flocked to the Oktoberfest,
surely the world's most famous fair. The rides and booths attracted
many to Munich's 'Wiesn,' but the 14 big beer tents were the main
crowd magnet.

One of these
tents, the
Fischer Vroni, accommodates
more than 3,400 people. Revelers in the central seating area in front
of the stage can enjoy the show full on, while guest in the outlying
gallery enjoy the festival tent atmosphere from a lofty, 2.5 meter
perch.

The catering
is a treat. Although the Fischer
Vroni offers the standard Oktoberfest fare of
pork knuckle and veal shank, its specialty is fish, and skewered fish
in particular. Entertainment is also
a top priority, and the featured classic Oktoberfest brass band knows
how to put crowds in a partying mood.

Noise
levels rise over the day as the conversation heats up and spirits run
high. Colito Productions, a company based in Neunmarkt,
developed a special sound reinforcement concept to ensure even the
rowdiest audiences would be able to hear the PA. The tent operator
wanted music and announcements to come across loud and clear
throughout the tent, so excellent best speech and syllable
intelligibility and consistent sound pressure levels were a must.
What's more, it was vital that the signal would not spill over to
neighboring areas outside the tent. And finally, service staff was to
have the means to control the volume in the VIP area, with the FOH
desk retaining the ability to monitor and limit those signals.

The
main PA consisted of two flown line arrays equipped with seven
dBTechnologies T8 DVA line array modules each. They were angled for
100 degrees directivity to provide uniform horizontal coverage and
dispense with front-fills altogether. Two further flown stacks with
five DVA T8 line array modules each served as the delay line to
support the main PA and cover the upper tier at the back. Networked,
powered enclosures covered the balconies, gallery and the area behind
and beside the stage in support of the main PA. Service staff was
indeed able to adjust the volume individually to suit the respective
guests' wishes, but the signal was monitored and limited at the FOH
desk to rule out any risk of exceeding the maximum level of 90dB (A)
in the evening.

Production
manager Michael Meister of Colito Productions says, "This year,
we were asked to pay particular attention to low-frequency
directivity and response, so we flew two DVA S1518s behind the DVA T8
line array. We configured an end-fire array in combination with
fullrange-enabled DVA T8 modules to achieve the desired directivity
and ended up with a sharp looking rig. Two 2x18" subs were
integrated into the stage to optimize bass response, thereby ensuring
uniform coverage throughout the tent." Meister is delighted with
the result: "The sound design, which we have developed jointly
with dBTechnologies Germany, worked out very well. We got nothing but
praise from the operator and audiences."