MTS Live has provided technical support and equipment for the Royal Northern College of Music’s (RNCM) Session Orchestra shows for a number of years now. Our Managing Director, Keith, studied at the RNCM and so has always had a strong connection with the college. The Session Orchestra is a 40-piece orchestra made up of students from the RNCM. It consists of a rhythm section, strings, horns, percussion and vocalists who perform various pop arrangements.
The colleges Sound & Video Manager, Stephen Guy requested a Front of House system that would provide a great sounding experience to every seat in their theatre venue. Flying PA was not an option so we deployed a d&b Audiotechnik ground stacked line array system consisting of Y8 and Y12 elements. Four T10’s were spaced across the front of the stage to provide fills and V-subs were used to provide the bottom end. The system could all be controlled remotely using the d&b Audiotechnik R1 software which allowed our technician to walk around the venue whilst making chnages to the system.
We were asked to supply an IEM package made up of a combination of wireless and wired systems. Sennheiser G3 systems were chosen as the wireless option along with antenna combiners and remote antennas to ensure rock solid RF performance across the whole stage area. These were paired with the Shure P6HW wired IEM systems and due to the size of the band, the college also utilised some of their own monitor wedges to ensure that every musician on stage was provided with the mix they needed.
Along with the IEM systems, we were also asked to supplement the colleges microphone stock with a wireless mic package and additional DPA 4099 microphones for the string section. A Shure QLX-D digital wireless microphone system was chosen to ensure quality sound from all the bands vocalists and the rechargeable battery option also provided a quick and easy way to charge microphones in between rehearsals. Shure Wireless Workbench was used to co-ordinate the wireless microphone and IEM frequencies to ensure only compatible frequencies were used. The QLX-D receivers could also be fully networked to allow engineers to remotely monitor the systems and adjust gain settings during rehearsals and shows.
Our on-going relationship with the RNCM continues as the Session Orchestra performances prove to be as popular as ever with numerous sold out shows across each year and collaborations with established musicians. If you get the chance we would highly recommend going to see on their shows, you are sure to see some of the stars of the future.