In the expert hands of sound designer Gareth Owen, the power of the d&b Soundscape and the remarkable directivity of the new CCL loudspeaker system are playing their part in the heart-warming delivery of ‘Paddington The Musical’ at the Savoy Theatre. This world-premiere production, produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, STUDIOCANAL and Eliza Lumley Productions on behalf of Universal Music UK, directed by Luke Sheppard and with music and lyrics by McFly’s Tom Fletcher and book by Jessica Swale, is a warm, luxurious, enveloping experience. As WhatsOnStage puts it, it is a show “so emotionally and tonally perfect that the entire audience is enraptured from the moment the bear steps on stage”. The review is testament to all the elements of theatre craft that combine to produce this show – and within this masterful mix, sound plays a key supporting role.
Olivier and Tony Award-winning Owen, widely regarded as the most prolific sound designer in musical theatre today, has been an influential adopter and innovator of d&b Soundscape from its beginning, using it on many notable productions including Starlight Express in Bochum, Germany, Come from Away in the West End and MJ: The Musical on Broadway. Here again, he deftly employs the immersive capabilities of the d&b Soundscape, plus d&b’s new CCL (Compact Cardioid Line Array).
Bringing Paddington to life on stage is the fundamental aim of the show. “Soundscape,” says Owen, “is a key part of creating that reality, in enabling us to give Paddington his voice.” The system uses two DS100s, in main and redundant mode. Positional data is fed to the DS100s from a Zactrack SMART performer tracking system, ensuring accurate, real-time location of the moving cast members. Snapshots and cues were created with d&b En-Snap software, setting the sound ‘object’ locations and levels to deliver reliable repeatability, night after night. The result is the ‘natural’ listening experience typical of Soundscape, contributing to the show’s emotional engagement. With the reinforcement essentially transparent, the mind is able to step further into theatre’s suspension of disbelief.
Owen, whose familiarity with d&b Soundscape is clear, says the loudspeaker system is “much as you’d expect – apart from the CCL main arrays.” The main PA includes five unobtrusive arrays of CCL8 across the front of the stage, plus another five arrays on a forward truss for the gallery. Low-end support comes from a flown XSL-SUB array. “The CCL is arguably the most impressive new box I’ve heard since the [d&b] T-Series,” Owen enthuses. “The size of the box versus the amount of power, and the fidelity. And it does everything you expect from d&b. It’s constant directivity, so you walk from left to right, near and far, and there’s no change tonally. You walk behind it and there’s nothing coming out the back.”
At the Savoy Theatre, it pays dividends. “It’s an extremely challenging acoustic environment,” Owen explains. “The walls are effectively dozens of reflective surfaces, bouncing sound in all directions. And because it’s listed, you can’t treat it. That’s where a speaker system like d&b’s comes into its own: it’s so precise, so directional, that you can tightly focus to keep the sound off the walls and ceiling and put it where you want it.” He adds, “I know for absolute fact we wouldn’t have achieved the results we did without that constant directivity performance.”
