A look behind the mask – how the immersive sound design for Masquerade was created

Unique Broadway project
Masquerade is an immersive overall experience: viewers walk through various rooms, scenes and perspectives in a multi-storey building. Sometimes they stand right next to actors, sometimes they move through soundscapes, sometimes they hear dialogue from a distance. There is no classic front-of-house sound system. This poses enormous challenges for the sound design and the audio technology used:

“The special thing about this project is that the audience and performers share the same space,” explains Brett Jarvis. "So the speakers are mostly pointing directly at the microphones, which required extreme feedback control." In addition, Masquerade's sound design team had to find a way to move the microphone and audio signals through the building with the audience. For this, Brett Jarvis relied on the ShowPulse Automix software, which was developed over many years for immersive theatre formats together with software designer Sean Beach.

Brett Jarvis, sound designer for Masquerade

From the idea to the system
“It was clear to us from the outset that we needed a sound system setup that would sound equally good in any room size and be able to reproduce the richness of the Phantom score in any room, from a bedroom to a large ballroom,” explains Brett Jarvis. In this context, scalability and modularity played a decisive role – not least in order to be able to flexibly adapt the vertical dispersion of the systems to different room heights and at the same time prevent the sound from spilling over into neighbouring rooms.

The search for suitable manufacturers also led Brett Jarvis to LD Systems. “I had only heard the MAUI series before and after a quick online search I realised that the portfolio covered all my needs.” After an initial CURV 500 demo in the USA by Adam Hall North America Sales Director Rob Olsen, the sound designer travelled to Germany together with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s producer Lee McCutcheon to hear the complete LD Systems portfolio at the Adam Hall Group Experience Centre in Neu-Anspach. “At one point, Lee turned to me and said, ‘This sounds really, really good’. We both smiled and the rest is history.”

The two Field Application Engineers Jens Kleinhuis and Ivan Klepac were responsible for the live demos in the Experience Centre – Jens as the expert in the LD Systems MAILA line array system and Ivan as the expert in the installation speakers and the amplification.

One brand, several systems, many tasks
Based on the audio and functional requirements for the sound design of Masquerade, Brett Jarvis and his team developed a versatile setup that utilises the entire LD Systems speaker portfolio:

The MAILA line array systems are used in the largest rooms of the multi-storey building – each as array hangs consisting of 8 x MAILA SAT satellite loudspeakers with a MAILA SPA power amplifier. “I wanted the audience to be able to feel the music from every angle with their whole body, without blasting the people standing particularly close to the arrays,” says Brett Jarvis. “For me, MAILA can easily compete with any other compact line array on the market.” In addition to the MAILA SUB subwoofers, Jarvis also relies on the ICOA PRO SUB 21 in the large rooms, which contribute even more low-frequency power and precision in cardioid mode in clusters of three. “The ICOA PRO SUB 21s give the score more weight without booming or being too intrusive in quieter passages.”

The CURV 500 miniature array systems form the basis of the entire sound design and can be used in almost any room. With the two satellite types S2 (single satellite) and D SAT (duplex satellite), the Masquerade team was able to create J arrays with any desired vertical dispersion. “The CURV 500 is very cleverly designed and also impresses with its clean, architectural look without any cables between the individual components,” confirms Brett Jarvis. “I don't know of anything comparable in this price range.”

The DQOR installation speakers in the sizes DQOR 3 (3") and DQOR 5 (5") were used as effect loudspeakers and supported the immersive sound impression in the smaller rooms. Brett Jarvis: “I’m always amazed at how powerful, detailed and neutral these small systems sound.”

For outdoor scenes, the team opted for the IP65-capable MAUI i1 installation column loudspeakers – for speech and singing as well as for music. Here, it was particularly important to seamlessly continue the sound experienced in the interior spaces to the outside. An impression that the renowned Washington Post also emphasised in its review of Masquerade: “The sound (designed by Brett Jarvis) was especially impressive outdoors, where the piped-in orchestra managed to feel lush.”

The battery-powered ANNY 10 Bluetooth PA speakers are used as mobile rehearsal speakers. With their integrated wireless microphones, they are the ideal choice for straightforward GOD announcements and are always used when there is no need to power up the permanently installed main sound system during technical runs.

A total of 68 IPA 424 T 4-channel DSP installation amplifiers were used to drive the more than 1,000 LD Systems speakers – with the exception of the MAILA and ICOA PRO SUB 21 active systems. To integrate these into the higher-level Dante network, each amplifier was equipped with an X-EDAI Ethernet & Dante expansion card. Although dedicated training of the team could not be realised due to time constraints, the technicians on site used the LD Systems QUESTRA design and management software to configure and monitor the IPA 424 T amplifiers.

Project support at all levels
The Adam Hall Integrated Systems Support Team was on hand from the outset to support Brett Jarvis and his audio team at every stage of the project. During the peak phase of the project, there were regular e-mails and messages between the teams. Ivan Klepac, Field Application Engineer at the Adam Hall Group, describes it like this: “We didn’t just contact the customer, we were available at all times. Even at weekends, we took the time to find solutions quickly and respond to the customer promptly. This was no ordinary product support, but real project support.”

An example of the technical depth of the support: when the customer planned the integration of CURV 500 arrays with five satellites per WMB wall mount bracket, there were initially concerns about the mechanical load-bearing capacity. Although the permissible total load specified in the documentation was adhered to, they wanted additional protection. A two-day laboratory test with different assembly scenarios was then carried out in Neu-Anspach. The result: the configuration was successfully tested under real conditions and approved by a test report from LD Systems.

In another case, it was necessary to provide a specific firmware update for the IPA power amplifiers. The project support team worked with the R&D department to quickly analyse the situation, develop new firmware and make it available to the Masquerade team within a few days. 

“Ivan, Jens and Rob Olsen supported us every step of the way, were always available and showed tremendous patience with our endless revisions to the ever-evolving plans,” recalls Brett Jarvis. "It’s just really great fun to work with them. I can’t praise the support team enough and hope that this is the first of many projects that we will realise together.”

Sir Andrew is also delighted
In addition to the consistently positive press reports, the creator of the original musical “Phantom of the Opera” – Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber – was also enthusiastic about the Masquerade sound. This is confirmed by a quote from the New York Times, which attended the performance together with the composer: “Half the time I'm thinking, ‘Am I happy about the sound here?’ But really, I’m very pleased with it”.

#LDSystems #YourSoundOurMission #ProAudio #AdamHallIntegratedSystems #EventTech #ExperienceEventTechnology

Photos © Oscar Ouk / Rosario Arcuri / Matthew Murphy / Evan Zimmerman

Further information:

masqueradenyc.com
ld-systems.com
adamhall.com/integrated-systems