Meyer is always my go-to solution. Quiet time is often limited with performance installations. I had to tune the entire Armory system in a little over an hour and with Meyer speakers pretty much ready-to-go out of the box, I can quickly, and wirelessly, tweak Galaxy to tune and time align the whole system. With Meyer, we are up and ready to go in no time.”
Garth MacAleaveySound Designer & Technical Director, National Sawdust
Renowned American multi-disciplinary artist Nick Cave’s The Let Go – part performance art, part dance hall and part community gathering – is bringing audiences together in Park Avenue Armory through July 1. Audiences are encouraged to let go as “chase,” a massive, multi-colored Mylar sculpture, glides gracefully through the space, creating a visual spectacle and, as The New York Times said, “rallying New Yorkers toward playful, sweaty abandon.”
Sound for The Let Go was critical to the project’s success, yet complicated. Sound designer Garth MacAleavey needed a superior system with power and a long throw to create a 360-degree immersive audio experience in the cavernous Wade Thompson Drill Hall. The system had to be flexible enough to move between the live and more ceremonial “Up Right” performances featuring dancers and gospel choir, and the free spirited dance parties featuring popular New York DJ’s.
“Meyer is always my go-to solution. Quiet time is often limited with performance installations. I had to tune the entire Armory system in a little over an hour and with Meyer speakers pretty much ready-to-go out of the box, I can quickly, and wirelessly, tweak Galaxy to tune and time align the whole system. With Meyer, we are up and ready to go in no time.”
Working in partnership with Meyer and Sound Associates, MacAleavey specified 24 MICA compact high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers and four 600-HP subwoofers, divided into four line arrays and hung in a center cluster. Positioned out of view above the glittering “chase”, the center arrays deliver a feeling of immersive sound “raining” down on audiences throughout the drill hall in 360 degrees. To deliver the physical sensation of the music for the dance parties, MacAleavey deployed four corner ground stacks comprised of three M2D loudspeakers on top of two M3D-Sub. These stacks, time aligned with the center array, tie the room together giving audiences a sensational experience no matter where they are in the huge space. Regarding the choice of sub, MacAleavey added “the M3D cardioid subs worked great for us directing the low energy back towards the room rather than in all directions – it’s so cool to see dancers at the front of the stack reveling in the powerful low end sound while just behind the stack folks are gathered in conversation.”
Garth MacAleavey specializes in site-specific sound design and serves as Technical Director at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust. Equipment was provided by Sound Associates.