MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 2008: As the MacPhail Center For Music prepared for its second century of distinguished music instruction, music
performance, and cultural enrichment, the Minneapolis-based organization realized that their aging facility would not fulfill their vision for the
future, which recognized the integral role of technology in both the production and enjoyment of modern music.
MacPhail raised an amazing $25
million to build a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Minneapolis'
arts district and hired Audio Video Electronics (AVE) to design and install
a sound, video, and lighting system that is as integrated into the
building's structure as is the electricity and plumbing. The crown jewel of
the building, Antonello Hall, features uncompromised acoustics,
fully-modular seating and stage placement, and a beefy complement of Danley
full-range loudspeakers that deliver both transcendent fidelity for acoustic
music and fatigue-free, chest-thumping SPLs for rock concerts.
The building itself is expansive. As a complement to stately Antonello Hall,
the lobby of the building serves as an informal concert hall, with seating
on the wide staircase leading to the second floor. Fifty-six studios fill
the second to sixth floors, with several acoustically-isolated rooms
reserved for bands, percussion, and the like. AVE president Stefan Svard
designed the building's audio system with a focus on cutting-edge, yet
enduring sound recording and reproduction technology and unprecedented
flexibility. All of the major performance and rehearsal spaces have the
ability to send audio signals to each other or, more frequently, to the
building's Pro Tools-centered recording studio located adjacent to Antonello
Hall via an Aviom Pro64 digital networking system.
The architecture of Antonello Hall embraces the same motif of flexibility by
employing modular seating and stage arrangements that retain a grace worthy
of MacPhail (i.e. not with cinder-block risers and card chairs!). The room
seats between two and three-hundred spectators depending on the arrangement.
For a variety of traditional setups with the stage on one side of the room
and rows of seats in front of it, Svard flew six Danley SH-50 full-range
loudspeakers from the 25-foot ceilings in a left-center-right configuration.
With Danley's patented Synergy Horn design, the SH-50s array seamlessly and
provide smooth coverage across the entire room with stereo imaging that
would rival a dedicated listening room and carefully-placed monitors.
In another common arrangement, the school configures Antonello Hall as a
stage in the round. Svard flew four Danley SH-100 full-range loudspeakers in
a 10-foot circle from the center of the room, firing out in all directions.
Since the SH-100 has a 110-degree conical dispersion pattern, Svard's clever
positioning again covered the entire room without any perceptible bumps or
valleys. Because neither the SH-50 nor the SH-100 is bi- or tri-amped, Svard
was able to specify a modest, but still tremendously powerful, rack of QSC
CS-series amps to drive the Danleys. A Digidesign Venue console at the
front-of-house feeds the rest of the building and the minimal QSC Basis
processor needed for the Danley complement.
"There were two critical features of the Antonello Hall sound system that
could only be met by Danley's unique loudspeaker design," said Svard."First, the school and its prestigious schedule of world-renowned performers
demanded absolute fidelity. This was to be sound reinforcement in the purest
sense, the sort you don't even notice. Danley's phase coherent design
delivers fidelity that conventional loudspeaker designs can't even approach.
Second, the system had to be powerful enough to make good on rock and heavy
metal shows. Again, the phase coherence and efficiency of the Danley designs
permit tremendous SPLs without distortion."
QSC ceiling-mounted speakers throughout the building pipe user-controlled
sources from one location to any number of others. A similar collection of
soffit-mounted speakers entertain passers-by outside the building with the
music generated within. Tannoy I9 column speakers provide reinforcement for
the informal performance space. Despite its "anything-to-anywhere"
flexibility, Svard built the Crestron user interface to be simple and
intuitive so that MacPhail can make full use of the design features that he
built into the system.
The new MacPhail Center for Music opened in early January 2008 with a
marathon of performances from students, regional celebrities like Minnesota
Orchestra director Osmo Vanska and the hall's namesake Michael Antonello,
international performers like Japan's taiko drummers, local indie favorites White Light Riot, and a high-school "battle of the bands." By all accounts,
the Danley sound system ranged from wonderfully unobtrusive to completely
rockin', depending on the style of music being performed!
Tom Danley is one of the most innovative loudspeaker designers in the
industry today and is recognized worldwide as a pioneer for "outside the
box" thinking in professional audio technology. His legendary designs have
been utilized in projects ranging from ground zero bombing simulation, jet
engine active noise cancellation, and sonic boom generators to critical
listening mastering studios, high-end home theatre, and houses of worship
around the world.
Danley Sound Labs
danley sound labs
