Installation Case
- category:
- Music Club
Max & Play
— Max & Play Ensures Maximum Exposure for Young Musicians —
Overview
Cardito, a town with a population of approximately 20,600 on the outskirts of Naples, recently hosted the launch of a unique venue: Max & Play. The venue takes its name from the owner, Massimo De Vita, a dynamic young man who has brilliantly overcome the problem of impaired sight, becoming a real multi-instrumentalist with his group, the Dioniso Folk Band. In addition to keyboards, Massimo De Vita plays flute, gaeta, sitar, guitar, bass, percussion, and clarinet.
Max & Play puts a live room at the disposal of emerging local musicians, with a layout that varies according to the evening (with or without tables and chairs), plus adjacent kitchen facilities and bar. As well as a leading edge Yamaha sound system, the stage is equipped with a complete backline, and the venue includes a control room and three recording rooms, one of which can also be used for rehearsals. There’s also a welcoming outdoor "relax" zone, complete with fountains, pools, sunshades, and tables.
Max & Play was designed by Massimo’s father, who studied architecture as a youngster and explains: "We also put other rooms at youngsters’ disposal, where they can meet and discuss — even via Internet — with other groups and venues. We’ve had very positive feedback from successful pro musicians, some of whom, such as Mario Insegna who is leader of Blue Stuff and a top Italian name in the Blues field, have undertaken to share their experience with the young musicians that come here. The event chosen for the venue’s inauguration was a three-day contest for emerging groups. Each band taking part received a prize as well as a CD containing a recording of its performance."
- Location:
- Cardito, Campania
Installed Products
- Mixers:
- LS9-32
- Processors:
- SP2060
- Interfaces:
- ACU16-C
- Power Amplifiers:
- PC9501N, PC3301N, XP3500
- Speakers:
- IF2108, IF2208, IF2115, IS1215
Details
A Yamaha Sound System at the Disposal of New Talent
The common denominator of music also encompasses StartUp Audio, the company that installed the audio system. The company was founded by Michele Signore, musician, composer, and producer with top Italian group La Nuova Compagnia Di Canto Popolare. Fulvio Liuzzi, a talented jazz pianist, is also a partner. Signore handled sound treatment of the rooms, while Liuzzi was responsible for the design and installation of the audio system. As far as the choice of the equipment was concerned, Liuzzi states: "The clients explained their requirements and we built the system according to those specifications, obviously trying to obtain the best quality-to-price ratio, but setting quality as the main goal since the system was rather complicated."
Liuzzi continues: "We’d already heard the new Yamaha Installation Series loudspeaker enclosures and were very favorably impressed. There were several reasons for choosing them — firstly, their very linear response, even at high frequencies — this is a very important feature for us, as it ensure fatigue-free listening over long periods. In short, they’re very pleasant to listen to."
Installation Series Speakers Deliver Maximum Power and Optimum Sound
The Yamaha sound system installed in the live room consists of two IF2115/64 flown from the ceiling and a floor-mounted IS1215 subwoofer on either side of the stage for FOH. The IF2115 enclosures are two-way high-power multifunction systems fitted with a 15" woofer and 60° x 40° horns. The IS1215 subwoofers feature dual 15" speakers that, in combination with the full-range speakers, offer the ideal solution for maximum power and optimum reproduction over the entire audio spectrum.
The amplifier rack in the wings includes three PC9501N amplifiers (2 x 950W @ 8 ohms), one of which powers the two subs while the other two are dedicated to the woofers of the IF2115. The satellite horns are powered by a pair of PC3301N amplifiers (2 x 350W @ 8 ohms). The monitor system comprises two IF2208 and four IF2108 units, amplified by three XP3500 amplifiers (350W + 350W). All of the Yamaha amplifiers feature EEEngine technology that effectively reduces power consumption by 50% compared to traditional power amplifiers, without the slightest compromise in sound quality.
SP2060 for Flexible, Programmable Speaker Processing
The system is controlled by a SP2060 digital speaker processor which, in spite of its compact dimensions, is able to fully and flexibly meet a variety of speaker processing demands with gain, delay, PEQ, comp, crossover, and limiter functions. The SP2060 includes a highly accurate All-Pass Filter which can minutely control just phase without changing gain, and everything is controllable via Ethernet from the dedicated DME Designer program. The SP2060s used at Max & Play include two presets: one is a "Live" setting with a flat configuration for the bands, and the other is "Lounge" with the subs excluded and a loudness curve set on the satellites, avoiding excessive levels in a softer context while still ensuring a full-bodied sound.
Enormous Mixing Power in a Compact Lightweight Console
From his raised mixing platform, Max & Play’s young sound engineer Gennaro operates a Yamaha LS9-32 digital console. In just 88 centimeters and slightly more than 19 kilos, this console provides a real concentration of functions and facilities: 32 mic/line inputs with storable/recallable gain, an additional 32-channel layer for incoming signals from the two Mini-YGDAI cards slots, 16 mix out and eight matrix assignable to 16 omni outputs, a virtual effect rack with four multi-effects. In addition to the standard 31-band single-channel GEQ units, there are also 2-channel Flex 15GEQ units that allow up to 16 15-point 31-band GEQ units to be used simultaneously. The console also features a built-in 2-track USB memory recorder enabling recording and playback in MP3 format directly to or from a solid-state USB memory device.
Digital Networking Completes the Picture
Liuzzi concludes, "To link the live room to the studio, Yamaha provided a reliable cost-effective solution — two Yamaha ACU16-C control units connected with the LS9 send 32 channels of 24-bit audio at 48 kHz from the live mixing platform to the control room for live multi-track recording. The Yamaha console has two MY16-CII CobraNet expansion cards, from which the signals are fed along twenty meters of Cat-5 cable to the ACU16-Cs, which convert them to analog and send them to the recording console patch bay. This means that 2-track MP3 recordings can be made of the live mix directly on the LS9, plus a 32-track dedicated recording mix done in the control room." StartUp Audio also configured the ACU16-Cs to control the amps on stage. In fact, these units can provide comprehensive, wide-ranging control of up to thirty-two separate PC-1N amplifiers. With a computer and the supplied NetworkAmp Manager software, it’s possible to control and monitor settings and functions such as in/out levels, limiting, protection status, heat sink temperature, power on/standby, attenuation, phase, and muting of the loudspeakers.
