[ live techs ]
Francisco López - Live Sound Performance
Infopack for Organizers and Technicians
[download this information as a pdf]
Live in Dundee - Kill Your Timid Notion Festival at Dundee Contemporary Arts. Organized by Arika (www.arika.org.uk).
Francisco López - Live Performance - DESCRIPTION:
Francisco López's sound performances are something beyond a "normal" music concert. An intense and rich sonic immersive experience in the dark, with a surround multi-channel sound system and blindfolds provided for the audience. Virtual worlds of sound created out of a myriad of original sources collected all over the world -from rainforests and deserts to factories and buildings from multiple locations in the five continents- and mutated and evolved during years of studio work through the master compositional skills of López's universe.
The space is reconfigured with a multi-channel surround system around the audience, which is placed in seats arranged in concentric circles facing the outside array of speakers. The performer operates from the center of the space (not on stage), in order to be able to control live the sound as is heard by the audience.
Important notes:
- Francisco López always works with multi-channel surround set-ups around the audience (NOT frontal stereo systems).
- This technical rider is for a standard space (approx. 15x15m or 50x50feet) with a 4-channel set-up. Different spaces might require larger or smaller systems, and an 8-channel system can also be worked out by doubling the system below.
- The set-up indicated below can be adapted to different spaces (dimensions, shapes), including traditional theatres with fixed seating (see illustrative examples below).
LIVE TECH RIDER:
- 1 x 16-channel ANALOG (not digital) mixer with at least 4 separate output sub-groups controlled by faders: type Behringer Eurorack MX3242X or Midas Venice 160 / 240 or Allen & Heath GL2400 or Soundcraft LX7ii 16 or equivalent of another brand.
- 2 x stereo 31-band graphic equalizers type Klark Teknik Square One Graphic or AshlyGQX3102 or DBX or equivalent of another brand.
- PAs with crossovers + cabling for the speaker system below.
- 4 x 18-inch active subwoofers type Electro Voice TX1181 or Mackie SWA1801 (800 watts RMS) or equivalent of another brand.
- 4 x Electro Voice ZX5 top speakers (15-inch, 2-way) or tri-amplified active speakers type Mackie SR1530z (300W RMS
low-frequency, 100W RMS mid-frequency and 100W high-frequency) or equivalent of another brand.
- Blindfolds for the audience. These can be either like the airline sleeping mask type or simply made from cut strips of black fabric (approx. 100-120 x 10-15 cm).
SET-UP:
Important note:
- A floorplan of the space with dimensions (scale) and general description of construction materials, plus a couple of photos (via email in small jpg attachments) would be quite useful to plan the details of the specific set-up for the space. Please, email this information to Francisco López (franciscolopez [at] franciscolopez.net) well in advance for the organization of the performance.
- Equipment: Mixing board on a table in the center of the space (NOT on stage). Graphic EQs on a side rack with faders at table level or on the same table, next to the mixing board. All this equipment covered with black fabric for the entrance and exit of the audienc.
- Speakers grouped in 4 stacks in the 4 corners of the room (each stack with 1 subwoofer + 1 low-mid-high speaker): stack 1= front Left, 2= front right, 3=rear left, 4=rear right.
- Wiring:4 mono channels of the mixing board to be used as inputs
-> these 4 channels are routed within the board to the 4 sub-groups
-> 4 outputs of the board sub-groups go to the graphic EQs
-> 4 outputs of the graphic EQs (L1, R 1, L2, R 2) go to PAs
-> 4 outputs from PAs go to the 4 stacks of speakers
All connected so each one of the board sub-group faders (1 to 4) controls one of the speaker stacks (1 to 4).
- Seats arranged in circles around the central table, facing outwards, NOT inwards (in the case of a traditional theatre space with fixed seats there will obviously be no change in the seats). The same configuration can be also arranged with matresses for the audience, instead of seats, if the space is large enough (or a combination of seats and matresses). No seats should be placed directly in front of the speakers, keeping a minimum safety distance that will depend on the power of the speakers but that can typically be established around 6-8 meters. To this end, aisles can be arranged in a straight line in front of each speaker stack. (In the case of a traditional theatre space with fixed seats, some of these can be cancelled to prevent the public from seating too close to the speakers.)
- Space as dark as possible (dim lights only for the entrance and exit of the audience) as as sound-proof as possible (from nearby spaces or street noise).
- Blindfolds provided for the audience right before the start of the show.
Example of set-up diagram:
