D.A.S. AUDIO THE SONIC FORCE BEHIND BEERFEST 2010

beerfest_hi.jpgSingapore - August 2010… Featuring live performances by several of the region's best known musical acts, giant screen broadcasts of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and an outdoor bazaar with enticing foods and a wide range of activities, the recently completed Beerfest Asia 2010 was a resounding success. Running June 16th through the 20th, the celebration provided festival attendees the opportunity to find and enjoy beers from around the world that consumers may never, otherwise, encounter locally and it also served as a trade event for industry colleagues to exchange dialogue and promote their products. Live music was a key attraction during Beerfest and to ensure the audiences would be treated to the most robust and musical sound available, the live sound reinforcement setup consisted of a substantial loudspeaker system from Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.

Ron Koh, Technical Support Representative for D.A.S. Audio Asia, was on-site and provided logistical support for this year's Beerfest. He discussed the nature of the event. “This year's Beerfest took place at the Marina Promenade,” Koh explained. “This is an outdoor venue located on the Singapore Grand Prix F1 tracks that overlooks the beautiful Marina Barrage with a backdrop against the Singapore Flyer—one of Asia's most iconic visitor attractions. Knowing that roughly 30,000 spectators were scheduled to attend during the event's five days, it was critical that the sound system be capable of handling the sizeable crowds. Furthermore, the musical acts were all tribute bands that played the songs of their favorite artists, so it was essential this be a concert level system. These factors led to the deployment of the D.A.S. Audio loudspeaker system and the hiring of well-known sound engineer Alex Carrasco, who recently re-located to Singapore to further his career, to run the system.”

The primary sound system consisted of twelve D.A.S. Audio Aero 12A self-powered, 2-way, mid-high line array elements—flown six enclosures on each side of the stage. A relatively new offering and part of D.A.S. Audio's Aero Series 2 catalog, these loudspeakers were augmented by six LX-218A self-powered high performance subwoofers. These enclosures—also a member of the Aero Series 2 product line—were ground stacked three units across and two units high in the lower center stage area.

D.A.S. Audio SM-15A and SML-15A stage monitors were also on-hand. Six SM-15A self-powered, 2-way floor wedges were used—five for the performers and one for the monitor engineer—while a single SML-15A self-powered, 2-way floor multipurpose monitor was used for the drum monitor.

A sizeable contingency of D.A.S. Audio's Avant 15A compact, full-range loudspeakers were also used during Beerfest 2010. Two enclosures were used as frontfills to ensure even coverage for the stage's front, center audience area. To provide sound for the two of the three large projection screens showing the World Cup Matches in South Africa, four Avant 15A's—two each setup, left and right—were deployed. Further, a single Avant 15A handled announcements for the event's VIP area while another single Avant 15A was used for a third screen in a tent where announcements were also made.

This year's Beerfest 2010 was a hugely successful event and all who experienced the performances were extremely enthusiastic. “This was a very fast set-up for us,” explained Koh, “as the Aero-12A system is compact and very easy to rig. Both the event organizers and the crew were amazed at how fast we got the system up and running. The Aero-12A's covered 40 meters very evenly and being an active system, the cabling was effortless. As the venue was narrow, the LX-218A center-mono subs provided even sub bass frequency coverage.”

“Everyone who encountered the system was very complimentary of its performance,” Koh continued. “Alex Carrasco, who has engineered for many world-class artists including Luis Miguel, the Eagles, Sheryl Crow, and many others, mixed all the acts and was very impressed, as were the musicians themselves. This year's artist roster included The Killer Queen Show (a tribute to Freddie Mercury) and The U2 Show - Achtung Baby , both from Australia, as well as Hell's Belles from the U.S. Beerfest 2010 had it all—great entertainment, first rate food and beverage, and a rockin' sound system to keep everything humming along.”

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