The Engine Shed Sound & Light Installation

The overall level of service and support we received through what was a protracted and demanding process was excellent. Every member of Adlib staff involved in the implementation of our new system has been a pleasure to work with, and the continuing after-sales support has proven invaluable.

- Matt Benton, Technical Manager

The Requirement

The Engine Shed is Lincoln’s largest live music and entertainment venue and is part of Lincoln University’s campus. The venue is used for a wide range of events including live music, comedy, club nights and conferences. When the in-house production was due for an upgrade, technical manager Matthew Benton contacted a number of Students' Unions for advice on rider friendly systems and certified installers. After consulting with the likes of Leeds University, Manchester Academy, Leicester University and Sheffield Academy. Adlib were highly recommended, not only for their install work but also for their aftercare support.

The Solution

To take into account the wide variety of events that are hosted at the venue, the sound and lighting solution would have to be flexible and robust enough to be used for a multitude of events. A detailed site survey was undertaken to determine the acoustic properties of the venue and the layout with regard to lighting. After consultation with Adlib’s leading audio and lighting designers an L-Acoustics KARA system was decided to be the best audio solution along with a hand picked selection of rider-friendly lighting equipment.

Audio

The solution comprised of a main left and right PA system consisting of nine flown KARA loudspeakers per side, along with three SB18 sub-bass cabinets. There are also four SB28 ground stacked sub bass speakers per side. Two L-Acoustics ARCS Focus and two L-Acoustics ARCS Wide loudspeakers were used as delays together with two additional ARCS Focus loudspeakers which were used as center fills. Seven L-Acoustics LA8 Amplifiers power the loudspeakers. Again for attracting touring artistes without the need to sub-hire equipment, a Midas PRO2 was chosen as the house console, complete with a DL-251 stage box to add 48 inputs and 16 outputs to the standard PRO2 I/O.

Lighting

After consultation with Adlib's lighting designers and the in-house lighting technician, sixteen Chauvet COLORado Batten 72 together with 8 Pro-Can 2 Lite Molephay units were used to light the stage area. This combination allows the venue to light for ambiance for music events or to light clearly for conferences. 2 Martin Atomic 3000 DMX Strobe lighting units work in conjunction with 2 Martin Magnum 2500 Hazers to create atmosphere and the correct ambiance for live music and club nights.

The Result

The client now has a fully operational system that is functional for the vast array of styles of performance. To ensure full product awareness intensive training was provided on-site as well as at Adlib’s dedicated training facility at their headquarters in Liverpool. Adlib also supplied a ‘system’ engineer for the initial run of events utilising the new equipment. A specialist training day was also provided at Midas’ training facility in Kidderminster.

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