Max & Play ensures young musicians the maximum
A Yamaha sound system at the disposal of new talent
Cardito, a town with a population of approximately 20,600 on the outskirts of Naples, was 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: as well as keyboards, he 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 also 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 - 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, during which each band taking part, as well as a prize, also received a CD with the recording of its performance."
The common denominator of music also regards StartUp Audio, the company that installed the audio system: in fact it was founded by Michele Signore, musician, composer and producer with top Italian group La Nuova Compagnia Di Canto Popolare, and Fulvio Liuzzi, a talented jazz pianist, is also a partner. Signore followed the aspects if the design and sound treatment of the rooms, whereas 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 these indications, obviously trying to obtain the best quality:price ratio, but setting quality as the main goal, since the system to install was rather complicated."
Liuzzi continues: "We'd already heard the new Yamaha Installation Series loudspeaker enclosures and were very favourably 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."
The Yamaha sound system installed in the live room consists in a FOH comprising two IF2115/64 flown from the ceiling and a floor-mounted IS1215 subwoofer on either side of the stage. The IF2115 enclosures are two-way high-power multifunction systems fitted with a 15" woofer and, of the three types of "horn dispersion" available, those with 60° x 40° were chosen. The IS1215 subwoofers feature twin 15" speakers which, combined with the full-range speakers, offer the ideal solution for obtaining maximum power and best reproduction over the entire audio spectrum.
The amplifier rack in the wings includes three PC9501N (2x950W@8Ohms), one of which powers the two subs, while the other two are dedicated to the woofers of the IF2115. The horns of the satellites are powered by a pair of PC3301N (2x350W@8Ohms). The monitor system comprises two IF 2208 and four IF 2108, amplified by three XP3500 (350W + 350W), power amps featuring EEEngine technology, also on board the PC-N series, which effectively reduces consumption by 50% compared with traditional power amplifiers, without the slightest compromise in sound quality.
The system is controlled by an SP2060 digital speaker processor which, in spite of its compact dimensions, is able to fully and flexibly meet a variety of speaker processing demands, thanks to Yamaha's exclusive LSI: gain, delay, PEQ, comp, crossover, and limiter. They're fitted with a highly accurate All-Pass Filter which can minutely control just the phase without changing the gain and everything is controllable via Ethernet by 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, the other "Lounge", with the subs excluded and a "loudness curve" set on the sats, to avoid excessive volumes in a softer context, while still ensuring a full-bodied sound.
From his raised mixing platform, Max & Play' young sound engineer Gennaro helms a Yamaha LS9-32 digital console. In just 88 cm and slightly over 19 kilos, this desk is a real concentrate of functions and facilities: 32 Mic/pre-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 Multieffects. 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 GEQ units to be used simultaneously. The desk also features a built-in 2-track USB memory recorder enabling recording and playback in MP3 format directly to or from a USB drive-pen.
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 48kHz from the live mixing platform to the control room, for live multi-track recording. The Yamaha console has two MY16-CII CobraNetT expansion cards, from which the signals are fed along twenty metres of Cat 5 cable to the ACU16-Cs, which convert them to analogue and send them to the recording desk's 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 for control of the amps on stage. In fact, these units can provide comprehensive, wide-ranging control of up to thirty-two separate PC-N amplifiers. With a computer and the included NetworkAmp Manager software, it's possible to control and monitor settings and functions such as In/Out levels, limiting, protection circuit, heat sink temperature, PowerON/StandBy, attenuation, phase and muting of the loudspeakers.
Photo : Maurizio Di Domenico
