Meeting Topic: Take Me Out To The Ballgame: Sound System Design for a Ballpark
Moderator Name: David Prentice
Speaker Name: Sam Berkow - SIA Acoustics, Will Parry — AVI/SPL
Meeting Location: The New School for Social Research, Jazz Performance Space, NYC
45,000+ seats, irregular shape, three levels, hard surfaces (brick, concrete, steel), and open to the elements. How do you design a sound system to reach all the fans with all the sounds of the game; from the opening line-ups to Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2"?
At the January meeting Sam Berkow of SIA Acoustics and Will Parry of AVI/SPL looked at the problems and the design solutions reached at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore. This talk addressed the design process and issues one confronts when designing, specifying, bidding, awarding, installing, commissioning and operating a sound system for a major league sports facility.
It takes a combination of software and expertise to translate the two dimensional architectural drawings into a three dimensional audio environment with predictable and pleasing results. Large-scale sound reinforcement requires balancing the fixed acoustics of the space with the flexible electronic and transducer elements to create intelligibility and excitement in what can charitably be called a challenging environment. Camden Yards opened in 1992, 17 years later the sound system was considered dated and not acceptable for the present state of the art for stadium sound. Camden Yards originally cost 117 million dollars to build and accommodates 48 thousand people. It originally utilized the 1980's concept of one big sound system offering power and durability. In 2009 the concept of stadium systems was now distributed systems that offered impactful music and sound. The challenge that both Sam and Will faced was the installation of a new sound reinforcement system for Oriole Park which would involve planning bidding ordering subcontracting, constructing, installing, aiming, voicing, testing, measuring, listening (measuring again) and servicing an audio system which will be exposed to the elements and operate through three seasons from spring rains through summer's heat and humidity, and into early autumn snowfalls. And of course, every fan dreams of an October Classic.
The process that both SIA Acoustics and AVI/SPL undertook first involved defining the functional requirements of the facility and attempting to utilize existing infrastructure while identifying unique structural requirements of the stadium and how they relate to the goal of producing an impactful music and sound experience for each fan in the park no matter where they are seated. The decision was made to both replace the now-dated discrete signal-processing units with a DSP-based system and to replace the present speaker system with a distributed-cluster system utilizing much of the present wiring and infrastructure. The system had to be installed in the off-season, which involves doing all the outdoor work in the cold of a Northeast winter and have everything tested and working for opening day. Sam Berlow pointed out that the sound system must be functional on opening day because the stadium sound system also acts as the emergency notification system for the facility and the stadium cannot legally open without this system in place. The final install included both EAW and JBL speakers and a new Yamaha console with additional Aphex vocal strips for the main vocal mics.
Report by Roger Johansen
