The show goes on with a Soundscape enabled virtual acoustic shell at Edinburgh International Festival.
Almost every summer since 1947, Scotland’s capital gives itself to the performing arts. The long-established Edinburgh International Festival brings audiences and artists together from far and wide for what is now undoubtedly one of the world’s most anticipated cultural events. For three weeks, festival-goers immerse themselves in live performance, in venues as illustrious as Usher Hall – the nation’s only five-star concert hall.
Like many public events, the outlook for the International Festival in 2021 was a little different. With Covid restrictions limiting the use of indoor venues, the festival looked to d&b Soundscape – and its acoustic shell – to unite the disparate worlds of classical music and sound reinforcement; to recreate the comfort and quality of the concert hall in a temporary open air environment.
Knowing they had a longstanding reputation for delivering exceptional classical performances, Edinburgh International Festival initiated an informal, exploratory, chat with sound design consultants, Sound Intermedia. With thousands of discerning listeners in mind, especially those accustomed to unamplified music, the necessary sound reinforcement would need to be imperceptible to the ears.
“A PA often brings an element of anxiety to classical musicians,” says founder Ian Dearden. “Of course, we’re always thinking about the audience experience, but you’re three quarters of the way there if you have performers who are comfortable and feel supported. And this year’s artists needed to feel at home playing in a tent.”
Early on Soundscape piqued the interest of Dearden and his colleague at Sound Intermedia, David Sheppard.
“Generally speaking, the acoustic properties of a concert hall are essential for the natural amplification of acoustic and orchestral music,” explains d&b’s Adam Hockley. “So, what we’re really doing is asking audiences to suspend their disbelief. Not only to believe they’re sat inside a concert hall, but to experience music acoustically, as if it were unamplified from distances far greater than is typical in such venues. In this way Edinburgh has really demonstrated the power - and the subtlety - of the Soundscape toolkit.”
Zwitserlood describes further how the system can be used for everything from classical to cabaret.
“Personally, I’m very pleased that everything worked out so well,” concludes Zwitserlood. “I think we can all pat each other on the back for the achievement. It was always going to be an International Festival year to remember for many reasons, but now, within that, it’ll also be a big golden positive memory for amazing sound too. Festival Director, Fergus Linehan recently touched on it, calling it a ‘miracle, universally lauded as an outstanding audio experience’. A big thanks to everyone for their hard work and dedication to make it work!”