Sydney Gilgamesh production comes to life with d&b Soundscape

Australia:

Sound designer Bob Scott leveraged a d&b audiotechnik Soundscape system to bring his vision to life for the Sydney Chamber Opera’s contemporary production of Gilgamesh. The show was staged at Carriageworks, a non-traditional performance venue housed in a vast industrial building in Sydney, which posed significant hurdles in terms of audio.

Due to the nature of the building, it possesses no inherent acoustic qualities and, therefore, the project required a solution that could provide clarity, spatial realism and immersion. The five vocalists performed on a large flat-floor stage, often moving dynamically through the space. Without adequate sound reinforcement, the scale of the performance would be lost, as the venue’s size made it difficult to pinpoint which performer was singing. Furthermore, it was imperative that the sound system made the amplified sound feel natural and seamlessly integrate with the performers’ movements, while ensuring the spatial positioning of the performers’ voices was believable in the space. Lastly, the team had to overcome limitations posed by the costumes, which prevented the use of automated tracking systems like BlackTrax.

To address these challenges, Scott turned to d&b’s Soundscape spatial audio system that combines real-time sound object placement (via En-Scene) with a 64x64 DS100 matrix and the advanced En-Space convolution reverb for spatial depth.

The loudspeaker design was based around a five-hang Y-Series frontal system with additional surround and Y-Series for front fill . The entire PA, which included Y-12 and AL90 units, was supplied and deployed by global audio provider, Eighth Day Sound. Each speaker was individually amplified with d&b Array Processing for control of pattern dispersion and phase alignment.

The En-Scene feature was leveraged to enable the performers’ voices to be accurately positioned in the physical space. John Hall, the system engineer, manually followed the performers with touchscreens, adjusting the spatial placement in real time. To enhance the sense of immersion, En-Space convolution reverb was utilised, adding depth without overwhelming the natural sound of the performers.

This design aimed to anchor the performers’ voices in the space, making it feel as though the sound was coming directly from their physical locations. The incorporation of the front fill speakers further enhanced this illusion by offering a higher resolution spatial image for the audience.

According to the team, the production’s sound design was widely praised, with Scott’s implementation of Soundscape proving an immersive audio experience for the audience.