Coverage from a solo acoustic act to a full festival
Plug-and-play simplicity for visiting performers
Infrastructure that lets major touring acts play
An open-air stage in a mixed-use development
A futureproof spec for the venue's long-term plans
Canal Turn, The Island Quarter, Nottingham
From solo acts to full festivals, one stage handles it all
Nottingham's Island Quarter is turning a 36-acre former industrial site into a mixed-use district, and the Canal Turn performance space is its cultural centerpiece. The open-air stage is planned to host everything from headline music and live theatre to locally created art and public speaking. The brief called for a system a solo acoustic performer could plug straight into, with the infrastructure to carry a full festival.
Case Study
Cultural / Theater
Electro-Voice
Dynacord
Europe
Canal Turn, The Island Quarter, Nottingham
From solo acts to full festivals, one stage handles it all
Case Study
Cultural / Theater
Electro-Voice
Dynacord
Europe
Nottingham's Island Quarter is turning a 36-acre former industrial site into a mixed-use district, and the Canal Turn performance space is its cultural centerpiece. The open-air stage is planned to host everything from headline music and live theatre to locally created art and public speaking. The brief called for a system a solo acoustic performer could plug straight into, with the infrastructure to carry a full festival.
- Venue
- Canal Turn, The Island Quarter
- Location
- Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Install partner
- Music Gear Installations
- Product highlights
- Electro-Voice X2, X12, MFX · Dynacord TGX, IPX, MXE5, SONICUE
The venue
A cultural centerpiece for a 36-acre regeneration
The Island Quarter regeneration project is converting a 36-acre former industrial site in Nottingham into a mixed-use space, with multi-functional public areas alongside places to live, work, and relax. Canal Turn is one of the first pieces of the new district: an open-air performance space set to be its cultural centerpiece.
Plans for the venue span headline music, live theatre, locally created art, and open-air public speaking. Local AV installers Music Gear Installations, part of the MGD Group, took on the job of designing a sound system versatile enough to enable that ambition.
“This was a future-proof selection that I was more than happy to recommend. I’ve been delighted with the results. Everything I have been promised has been delivered, together with the added bonus of working with local specialists.”
Ben HicklinProject Manager, Canal Turn
The challenge
Handle anything from a solo acoustic act to a full festival
The owner wanted to be able to put anyone on the stage. That meant a certain level of performance for tribute acts and mid-level touring bands, plus the infrastructure to let major acts play. At the other end of the scale, a solo acoustic performer had to be able to simply plug in and play, with their own mixing desk if required.
The spec also had to look ahead. Everything in the design is built around being futureproof, up to and including a potential full music festival on the site.
The solution
X2 line arrays, driven and controlled by Dynacord
Music Gear Installations enlisted Bosch consultant Neal Allen, who knew the X2 line array well from his time as a touring FOH engineer. The open-air stage is covered by 6 X2-212/90 line-array elements per side, from the X-Line Advance family, with 2 X12-128 subwoofers delivering the low frequencies. On stage, 8 Electro-Voice MFX-15MC multi-functional coax monitors support the artists.
Dynacord electronics drive and manage the system. TGX power amplifiers handle the main PA, IPX units power the MFX stage monitors, and an MXE5 Matrix Mix Engine delivers the routing and mixing. SONICUE Sound System Software made the system simple to tune and gives the venue precise, user-friendly control and configuration.
- Electro-Voice X2-212/90 line-array elements, 6 per side
- 2 Electro-Voice X12-128 subwoofers
- 8 Electro-Voice MFX-15MC coax stage monitors
- Dynacord TGX power amplifiers on the main PA
- Dynacord IPX power amplifiers on the stage monitors
- Dynacord MXE5 Matrix Mix Engine
- SONICUE Sound System Software
“It was simple to tune the system with SONICUE and the latest upgrade version has also made it very user-friendly for the venue staff and students, especially for general system operation. They only use the parts of SONICUE that they need – such as presets and level changes – which means that the system can be just as easily run by a sound engineer or by students on a day-to-day basis.”
Neal AllenBosch consultant
The result
A futureproof venue that sounds the way it was promised
Canal Turn now has a rig that copes with whatever the calendar brings. The X2 system delivers the detail the project needs across multiple styles of music, and it can run full range when the venue is only using the screen. Day to day, staff use just the parts of SONICUE they need, such as presets and level changes, so the system runs as easily under the venue's own people as under a sound engineer.
The result is a futureproof venue that integrates into the surrounding environment and the plans for the wider district. By the venue's own account, everything promised has been delivered, and everybody is pleased with the way it sounds.
One rig for solo performers, touring bands, and festivals
Full-range playback for screen-only events
Preset-based day-to-day operation via SONICUE
Infrastructure in place for major touring acts
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