Singapore - September 2010… As the former lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses, British-American “axeman” extraordinaire Slash is now flying solo and making quite an impression everywhere he travels. Considered among the best guitarists of all time, his current endeavor, Slash's World Tour featuring Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, is playing to rave reviews throughout Asia. On two recent tour stopovers in Surabaya and Jakarta, Indonesia—July 31st and August 3rd, respectively—Slash dazzled the crowds with his musicianship. On both occasions, the sound reinforcement system of choice consisted of Aero and Avant Series loudspeaker systems from Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.
Jakarta-based DSS (Don Sistem Suara), a music and sound equipment rental house that supplies much of the pro audio equipment to music, audio, and broadcast professionals throughout Indonesia, was contracted to provide sound reinforcement services for the two Slash performances. Donny Hardono, the firm's owner and a highly recognized figure among the region's music community, compiled a massive D.A.S. Audio sound system for these concerts and turned the mixing controls over to Slash's three-time Grammy® Award nominated Producer/Engineer Ken “Pooch” van Druten.
In Surabaya, the D.A.S. Audio sound system deployed by the DSS crew consisted of thirty-two Aero-38 line arrays—flown sixteen elements per side. For low frequency support, these loudspeaker clusters were accompanied by sixteen LX-218A active subwoofers that were ground stacked in a left-right configuration with eight enclosures per side. The Aero-38 line arrays were driven by a combination of twenty-four D.A.S. SLA-4000 power amps and eight SLA-2600 amplifiers.
D.A.S. Audio Avant-12A compact, active 2-way multipurpose loudspeaker enclosures were deployed for stage monitors and drum monitor (8 units). Another four Avant-12A's were used as front fills for those audience members close to the center/front stage area. Sidefill responsibilities were handled by four Avant-215A 2-way, dual 15-inch full-range loudspeaker systems while four Avant-18A powered subwoofers provided sub bass support for the sidefills. Loudspeaker processing and management chores were handled by D.A.S. Audio's DSP-4080 and DSP-2060 loudspeaker processors.
At the Jakarta show, the DSS team flew twenty-four Aero-38 enclosures, twelve units per side. These loudspeaker clusters were accompanied by sixteen LX-218A subwoofers that were ground stacked eight enclosures each left and right. The line arrays were driven by a combination of eighteen D.A.S. SLA-4000 power amps and six SLA-2600 amplifiers.
For stage monitors and drum monitor, eight D.A.S. Avant-12A loudspeaker enclosures were placed into service along while another six Avant-12A's for used for front fills. Four Avant-215A's were deployed for side fills while four Avant-18A powered subwoofers provided sub bass support for the sidefills. D.A.S. Audio's DSP-4080 and DSP-2060 loudspeaker processors handled loudspeaker processing.
Efficient truck pack and the ease of assembling and flying a line array system are crucial concerns for all live sound reinforcement professionals. Donny Hardono of DSS is firmly of the opinion that the fully captive rigging hardware found on the D.A.S. Aero-38 is among the best-in-class. “When it comes to ease of use and the ability to get the equipment up in the air and operational,” says Hardono, nothing beats D.A.S. This equipment's rigging system enables us to get the system running quickly and securely. This optimizes our time during set-up and provides us with more time for the crew to rest.”
In addition to big, full, and consistent sound no matter where one was located throughout the audience area, the performers and engineers were particularly complimentary of the D.A.S. equipment's performance. “Pooch” van Druten summed it up best. “These sound systems are great,” van Druten says. “There's minimal EQ needed and that's the way it should be. I popped in a CD, played Pink Floyd's ‘Time' and it sounded terrific. The way these systems were being set-up gave me a lot of options—farfield, nearfield, left and right subs, and front-fills—all on different faders. That's all I needed, thanks!”
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