“ Suite 302 is a new business , though we ’ ve been working with Sylvain for years ,” begins Lafontaine . “ He ’ s very sensitive about sound quality , and is all about going the extra mile to make sure the sound for any event makes every person feel like a part of the show .”
Very familiar with Olympic Stadium ’ s acoustic properties and inherent challenges , Lafontaine and Vincent decided at the outset to prioritize intelligibility over volume for their design . “ We kind of created our own mandate , which was to get clear and intelligible audio to the athletes , judges , and crowd ,” Lafontaine offers . “ The stadium is a massive concrete structure , and that ’ s something people complain about when mixing in there . It ’ s very cold , acoustically speaking , and our goal was to bring an intimacy to it – to make everyone feel comfortable and cozy .”
Being more than familiar with the company ’ s product line , Vincent knew from the outset that Meyer Sound ’ s steerable CAL ( Column Array Loudspeaker ) products would be an optimal solution for reinforcement . The series , comprised of three models , is self-powered and designed to offer vocal clarity in challenging environments .
“ It ’ s a precision tool , designed for really reverberant rooms – churches , airports …” Lafontaine explains . “ It ’ s mainly designed for the vocal range , which is what we needed , though it ’ s also very musical .”
They initially considered a more straightforward system , but as Lafontaine explains , “ When the noise floor is high , with a regular system , you ’ re going over the noise floor , and therefore adding to it . We ’ d just be sending so much energy out that it ’ s a catch 22 , where you ’ re chasing your tail .”
The sound , lighting , video , and staging supplier for the event was Omnison , located in the Anjou borough of the city , with some gear sub-rented from VER ’ s Montreal location ; however , despite CAL boasting some success in the Canadian market , it ’ s more suited to permanent installations than touring and rentals . “ That meant it was a struggle to get them here because nobody has them in their rental fleet ,” Lafontaine says , “ so we had to get them directly from Meyer Sound , and [ Meyer ’ s Canadian distributor ] GerrAudio were great about helping us with that .”
A complement of only eight CAL units – four CAL 96s , two CAL 64s , and two CAL 32s – handled the primary reinforcement , suspended from each of the four lengths of truss framing the field of play from above . Owing to the unique and relatively limited rigging configuration in the venue , they didn ’ t have total control of how those four trusses could be flown , which made the steerable beams all the more valuable .
“ Arguably the biggest part of this show was the rigging ,” says Suite 302 ’ s Tessier . “ You can ’ t rig [ Olympic Stadium ] like a usual room .”
Subsequently , Suite 302 brought in Montreal ’ s Rig-Rite Productions to handle not just the rigging for the audio system , but also the tower built by Unisson Structures that essentially divided the bowl in half to create that more intimate setting . The structure was covered in black drape and , also owing to the venue ’ s rigging limitations , hosted the massive 10-ton video screen that relayed the action on the field .
“ In that bowl , you have to rig from one side to the other , and basically the weight you [ suspend ] in the middle [ almost equals ] the weight that ’ s pulling sideways , and you can ’ t put more than two tons between two arches ,” he explains about the stadium ’ s unique roof design . “ So when you ’ re pulling , let ’ s say , a ton down , you ’ re almost 800 pounds on each side , so you almost double up your weight in a way .”
One of the main stipulations for the system was synchronization , since some of the events are set to the athletes ’ chosen songs ; subsequently , it was imperative that the music supporting the floor routines was heard at the exact same time by the athletes , judges , and audience .
“ We needed to get direct sound to the athletes and judges , most importantly ,” Lafontaine stresses . “ They all needed to hear everything precisely .” Owing to Olympic Stadium ’ s instantly recognizable round bowl , sound from more typical systems – including the one currently installed there – significantly reflects back to the centre . “ We wanted everyone to have direct sound and hear it once ,” Lafontaine stresses , “ not 100 times .”
The design also included a complement of four Meyer UPQ-2Ps
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