BASEL, SWITZERLAND:
Commonly known as 'tis to six generations of fans, the Atlantis Basel's ‘live long and prosper' policy has kept it one of Switzerland's largest and most popular music halls for 63 years. The recipe for this longevity: keep pace with changing times and tastes via equal measures of culinary and entertainment treats. Founded as a café in 1947, ‘tis became a unique jazz restaurant in 1957. In 1975 it morphed into a rock club featuring concerts by Black Sabbath and other mega stars. In the late ‘90's‘tis revitalized for the DJ generation. Today, the Atlantis continues to cook as a club, lounge and restaurant,To modernize and maximize its acoustic potential Atlantis host Jürg Wartmann and resident DJ Cedric Eichenberger were committed to replacing their ten-year-old audio system. Their goal was not only improving the sound in the club, but to feeding the music to the popular upstairs gallery and other key zones. Beyond club nights, a full range of concerts, carnival and business events needed to be accommodated. Equally important to sound quality the system in the restaurant area needed to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Dirk Noy, General Manager of WSDG Europe, explains, “We are longtime fans of ‘tis, and very pleased to be asked to collaborate on their sound upgrade To properly address a multiplicity of issues, we initiated an early planning round table with Jürg Arpagaus from Audio Partner, a specialist in noise limiting and recording and Alain Müller and Christoph Ritter from system installer M&R Multimedia Productions. Requirements were defined, and a comprehensive sound system design was developed by WSDG engineers Gabriel Hauser and Carlo Fickler.
The most visible (and audible) components of the new system are the loudspeakers. The front system is comprised of two JBL AM6212 – and a 12''/ 3'' Application Engineered Series two-way speaker which was determined to be optimal choice for the application in a comparative hearing and measurement test. The gallery – critical for ceiling height – and the auxiliary zones are covered by a total of twelve JBL AC 28/26 systems - very compact, horizontally installable dual 8''/ 1'' two-way systems. Kling & Freitag 15-inch subwoofer systems were installed under the stage. Electronic signal processing and distribution is handled by a BSS Soundweb London processor with a BLU-160 and BLU-BOB Break Out Box. Various distributed zone volume controls and a selector switch for operating mode are provided for simple system control. The amplifier rack is stacked with eight Crown I-Tech HD devices.
Graced with beautiful, centuries-old architecture, 'tis is a privileged place. However, this historic distinction is accompanied by certain ‘sensitivities.' “The beautiful old buildings in the neighborhood are residential,” Noy points out. “And, while no one can expect total silence in the midst of a city center at night, maintaining peace and quiet was critical.”
To accomplish this ‘mixed dwelling miracle,' WSDG recommended the Martin Audio Engineer – an innovative audio processor, which employs ‘Residual Pitch,' a proprietary psychoacoustic effect which permits the audience to ‘discern' low frequency energy not actually produced by the system. The overtones of this missing, suppressed or ‘phantom' fundamental frequency lack a specific sound component BUT the brain perceives the pitch of a tone by the ratio of its higher harmonics. Ultimately, listeners in the club are unaware of the ‘Residual Pitch' effect, but the club's neighbors benefit from a subtle adjustment in volume. The installation is a first for the processor in Switzerland.
As a ‘fail safe' loudness emergency brake, the install includes a Cesva LRF-05 processor and limiter which receives its sense input from a black box that provides isolation from audience noise and simultaneously records noise levels for logging purposes, a legal requirement in Switzerland.
Because ‘tis is open six nights a week, the install by M&R Multimedia Productions had to be meticulously planned and implemented. M&R project manager Christoph Ritter reports the primary challenge was the time constraint – the entire installation had to be accomplished within 48 hours. "At 5AM Saturday night we began dismantling the old equipment. By mid-afternoon, all the loudspeakers and old amplifier racks were dismantled. By Monday evening, we had installed18 new loudspeaker systems, set up and rewired the new amplifiers and system racks and completed fine tuning," Ritter says.
WSDG, M&R and Audio Partner collaborated fully on the system calibration and measurement. "Despite the extremely tight schedule we could play background music as early as noon on Tuesday and launch full power Club Night on Friday," comments Alain Müller of M&R. The following weekend ‘tis reopened. The occasion was marked by the ring of striking ‘Golden' champagne glasses provided by the event sponsor, a fitting symbol for Atlantis Basel's next generation of "Golden Years."
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Photos: Club Atlantis Project team l-t-r WSG Partner/European GM Dirk Noy, Club Tis GM Timo Ruiesch, M&R Multimedia Productions GM Alain Mueller
Martin Audio Engineer in rack. Unit employs Residual Pitch proprietary psychoacoustic effect to permit audience to discern low frequency energy not actually produced by the system.
Club Atlantis dance floor (All photos by Dirk Noy)
The Walters-Storyk Design Group www.wsdg.com has designed over 3000 media production facilities in the U.S., Europe, the Far East and Latin America. WSDG credits range from the original Jimi Hendrix Electric Lady Studio in Greenwich Village to NYC's Jazz At Lincoln Center performance complex, broadcast facilities for The Food Network, CBS and WNET, and corporate clients such as Hoffman La Roche. Recent credits include private studios for the Goo Goo Dolls, Jay-Z, Timbaland's Tim Mosley, film composer Carter Burwell, Aerosmith; Green Day, Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen and Alicia Keys. WSDG principals John Storyk, Beth Walters, and Dirk Noy lecture frequently at universities and industry events, and contribute regularly to industry publications. WSDG is a six-time winner of the prestigious TEC Award for outstanding achievement in Acoustics/Facility Design. The firm maintains offices in NY, SF, Miami, Argentina, Brazil, Beijing, Germany, Mexico City and Switzerland.