The Penang World Music Festival had its second run this year and frigglive was there to witness the action. Instead of taking the lazy way out and rewording the press release into an article as most journalists are prone to do (click here for a perfect example of that) or writing the standard yadda yadda review (click here for an example) we decided to work hard to give you something different.
Yes folks, for three days Johan and myself stalked the various people behind the festival, sweated in the humid heat with the army of people working in the background, partied until morning with the bands and interviewed just about everybody to bring you…
The Making of…The
Part 1. The technical components behind the concert:
The set consisted of two huge stages side by side to facilitate the smooth transition of performances, with bands performing on alternate stages to avoid the delay caused by equipment set-ups. Equally huge screens ensured that no one in the audience missed out on the action happening on stage.
Artistic Director Ms Yeoh Jun-Lin informed me that her crew was careful not to disturb or destroy the natural flora and fauna of the Botanical Gardens and on closer inspection I found her claim to be perfectly true.
For sound power, there are clusters or rows of baffles of 4, 6 and 8 speakers
mounted in towers and on both sides of the scene. These reach till 250,000 sound watts. The mixer boasts a massive 124 channels.
Light power: The light show is equal to the sound with 300,000 light watts, which was really astonishing in its variety. The numbers included: intelligent lights like Gobos, Martins, 500 static lights, 170 varilites, 80 icons, filters with more than 70 colors in the stroboscopic lights, and so on.
The screens reached 10 m (30 feet) in diameter and can complete the show with many types of video clips and projections.
The montage: After setting the basic frame, the light console tables are installed. After that, the sound equipments are installed. The whole process can last 12 and a half hours.
Set against a perfect backdrop of rustic lush green hills the scene’s dimensions varied greatly. The height oscillated between 5 and 25 m (15 to 75 feet). This is an engineering marvel, a piece of work that can spin, hide in smoke, has flying platforms, telescopic bridges and even a crane.
The neuralgic center of the concert was situated in a control called "house", where illumination and sound are tuned through an expanded computerized control table, fundamental for the sound to perfectly reach all the audience.
To EQ the sound for 1 band is difficult enough. Imagine 15 bands from all over the world armed with a plethora of ethnic instruments. Although the concert was held in an open air venue, the sound was remarkably true and consistent, a testimony to the expertise of Scotsman Niall Macaulay, producer and sound engineer extraordinaire.
In order to avoid energy cuts during the concert, two or more three-phase generators of 500 kW each are used. A hose, called a snake, connects the central console table with the scene. Almost 8 km of cable are employed.
Publicity and awareness for the festival were undertaken by the Penang Tourism Action Council. There were banners and signages all over the island, and a couple of newspaper ads in the weeks preceding the event.
This being a
Trailers and transport consisted of caravan trailers, buses, private cars and vans, the identity marks of big tours. Revelers were ferried in shuttles from the car parks to the concert venue. The concert itself moved more than 50 trucks and 350 material tonnes of equipment.
Behind the scene, a small complex is hidden, including dressing rooms, dining room, a rest room, a make-up room, bathrooms, storage area and a host of other requirements for the musicians.
For a busybody press person like me, there was an air-conditioned media center equipped with 10 wifi connected laptops, an interview area with a casual café table and chair set-up, free mineral water, hot beverages, instant noodles, biscuits and burgers, run by the good people of Smascom PR.
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