ViRAY on tour...
“ViRAY is flexible enough to use in all the theatres we visit and I’d say that one of its advantages over other systems is the possibility to use it with asymmetrical dispersion in the horn. As for the new presets, well they were really astonishing!"
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Nathalie Meskens is a class act. This versatile Flemish performer is always at the top of her game, whether it’s acting, presenting or effortlessly singing across any musical style. Her soul music tour ‘Meskens in Motown’ has proved hugely popular, selling out shows in theatres and concert halls across Belgium in addition to rocking numerous festivals. The show spans the whole spectrum of Motown music and succeeds in recreating the authentic sonic feel of the genre, something that was an important determinant in selecting the sound system for the tour. Front of House engineer Peter Claes chose Studio Haifax, a customer of CODA Audio’s Belgian distributor Viladco, to supply the audio and in consultation with the Dilbeek-based rental company, settled on a CODA Audio ViRAY system. Peter takes up the story:
“First of all, I chose to use Studio Haifax because they consistently deliver great service and have a fantastic crew. I’ve used CODA Audio AiRAY and ViRAY systems in the past and the flexibility they offer is key. This particular tour presented a mixture of venue types and sizes, so I was confident the ViRAY system could be tailored to meet the varying needs, without compromising the very specific Motown sound I would be trying to represent.”
Although Peter had used ViRAY before, on this latest tour, the system’s new presets more than met with his approval:
“ViRAY is flexible enough to use in all the theatres we visit and I’d say that one of its advantages over other systems is the possibility to use it with asymmetrical dispersion in the horn. As for the new presets, well they were really astonishing! My mix sounds punchy with great clarity and definition, without any sense of being thin. The low-mid is super warm sounding, which I really like and with the sub sensing system, I’m astounded by how deep the single 18” subs will go! We use 3 subs in cardio mode and a stack of 5 ViRAY cabs per side as well as 4 frontfills at the lip of the stage. This gives us the perfect system for the medium to large venues of around 650 capacity – if we’re playing bigger shows we expand that to 6 subs and 9 ViRAY cabs per side.”
Peter’s system tech on the tour was Tim Martens, who offered this very positive assessment:
“Peter is a hard taskmaster and demands perfection at every show. The system’s consistency enables me to keep him happy day after day on the tour. The system runs digital by converting AES from FOH to LINET with the LINET Master and it sounds great. We use the analog fallback system (which works perfectly) although we haven’t had a digital drop yet! Since the update to V1.2.3 it’s a pleasure to tune the system. I’m running LINUS live/remote software together with a Smaart measuring set up on a MacBook Pro and that works a treat – every show is plug’n play! As Peter says, the system presets are fantastic. It’s my job to time and phase align the system – if we need to EQ it’s because of room modes but at each venue we quickly get the result we want. Put simply, the CODA Audio system does a great job every night!”
