The Grand Hall of the Carmen Würth Forum was designed as a flexible multipurpose venue for events, conferences and concerts. For large orchestral ensembles, however, the hall’s acoustic conditions presented particular challenges: while the room is very well controlled for speech and event technology, it is comparatively highly damped for symphonic concerts with large audiences.
VIVACE has supported the hall’s musical use since it opened. For the Würth Philharmonic’s annual summer concerts, an orchestra platform tailored to the respective ensemble is installed each year. VIVACE.maestro extends the hall’s natural acoustics while also providing multichannel sound support, without creating the impression of conventional electroacoustic amplification.
The system captures both room and orchestral signals using permanently installed and mobile microphones. These signals are reproduced, among other things, via loudspeakers above the orchestra platform, creating a virtual orchestra shell, while simultaneously being integrated into the hall-wide electronic room acoustics system. Individual instrumental sections can also be supported directionally via selected loudspeaker groups, ensuring that the orchestra retains its spatial presence, power and vitality even at seats far from the stage.
In combination with VIVACE.fx, additional 3D audio and immersive functions are available, for example for spatial effects, choir reinforcement or music theatre productions. For the summer concert featuring a musical theatre programme, the system was combined with the sound reinforcement system and wireless microphones for the vocalists. The reverberation for the miked voices was generated by VIVACE’s reverb engine and integrated into the hall’s multichannel loudspeaker system. This enables the amplified voice to blend more naturally into the overall sound of the room.
Since: 2017
Location: Künzelsau, Germany
Venue: Grand Hall, Carmen Würth Forum
Uses: Concerts, orchestra, choir, musical theatre, events, conferences
System: Combined VIVACE.maestro and VIVACE.fx system
Microphones: 32 permanently installed room microphones and 16 mobile microphones on the orchestra platform
Audio connectivity: Microphone connections via a fibre-optic MADI network
Special features: Electronic orchestra shell, multichannel sound support, 3D audio, reverb engine for miked voices
Image copyrights: MBBM-ASO
