The huge tree at New York’s Rockefeller Center switched on: the sound rig was Outline
New York, 2nd December 2009 – Butterfly and mini-COM.P.A.S.S., two of the Vertical Line Arrays manufactured by Brescia’s Outline, were used on the occasion of the lighting ceremony of the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center in New York, at the crossroads of 50th Street and Fifth Avenue.
America has celebrated Christmas round this tree – the most famous in the world and decorated with 20,000 coloured lights – since far-off 1931. Once again this year, there was a show that attracted thousands of people: this was also thanks to the spectacular ice rink, which, since it was opened in 1936, continues to draw people of all ages.
On stage to celebrate the event, amplified by the “Outlinearrays” – as well as other world-famous systems – stars such as Aretha Franklin, Shakira, Alicia Keys, Rod Stewart and even the Muppets, all performing great Christmas classics.
The show, transmitted live on NBC, was dedicated to US servicemen and women, who, along with the Big Apple’s mayor Michael Bloomberg, turned on the lights of tree, which will remain in front of the Rockefeller Center until January 7th 2010.
The company responsible for the audio was PRG (www.prg.com) – a famous American firm with branches worldwide that works at top level in the entertainment sector.
The work of fine tuning the Outline rig was entrusted to PRG sound engineer Matt Bell, who stated: “I chose the Butterfly system because we needed a line array that was compact in design and high powered. We hung all of the systems from Genie lifts, so we were limited to how much weight we had available. The Butterfly system allowed us to hang the correct amount of cabinets to cover the space. We were all very impressed with the coherence and intelligibility at 70 meters for such a small array. The frequency response was very flat and stable which allowed me good SPL levels without interfering with the broadcast mix. This added to the success of the event. My thanks go out to everyone at Outline for their help and support.”
