AUTOGRAPH PROVIDES A&H AUDIO SYSTEM FOR WEST LONDON SCHOOL

Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, West London, is progressive, forward thinking and continually looks at ways to improve its facilities. Its most recent project was to develop a centre of excellence in the performing arts, to which end a bespoke building was constructed, which includes an impressive distributed audio system designed and installed by leading professional audio company, Autograph Sales. The building, which owes its existence in large part to an anonymous donor, is connected to the existing arts centre by glass bridges, includes 110-seat recital hall, a dance/drama studio, a suite of teaching rooms that can house between one and six students and a music room that can accommodate a full orchestra. Autograph designed an extensive audio infrastructure allowing analogue and digital audio signals to be routed to and from any room in the building, allowing many digital and analogue audio/media formats to be accessed and utilised. An Allen & Heath iDR digital mixing system, a DiGiCo D1 and Allen & Heath iDR8 digital mixing processor and iLive digital mixing system form the hub of the system. Simeon Ludwell, Autograph’s system designer for the project explains: “The Allen & Heath iDR system offers exceptional flexibility compared with many other products on the market. Couple this with the integration of wall plate control, network and wireless control, as well as a digital mixing console with distributed audio - and it makes the iDR series a great tool.” In the recital hall, the DiGiCo D1 can provide 5.1 recording and playback capabilities from a 56-channel recording computer running Cubase through an RME MADI card. Inputs into the system include a Milab SRND360 microphone – the first to be installed anywhere in the country - as well as several Audix M1255 miniature overhead microphones. Provision for several DiGiCo Miniracks enable additional analogue and digital inputs and outputs to anywhere in the building via the MADI infrastructure. The dance/drama room utilises the Allen & Heath iLive-80 digital mixing surface, which acts as a remote control for the iDR system located in the rack room, two floors up. Local I/O is on the back of the iLive-80 and allows a combination of digital and analogue inputs and outputs to be accessed.

The multi-use status of the facility means both digital desks must be useable anywhere in the building, so the cabling infrastructure had to be particularly carefully considered. “Many manufacturers’ cables were extensively tested and many were not up to the technical specifications listed,” says Ludwell. “The restrictions on maximum cable length for some of the transmission protocols meant we had to push the boundaries to the limit. This was coupled with some complex cable routes which led us to carry out specific on site tests before being able to finalise the cable specification.” The infrastructure means that multi-digital and analogue transmission can be utilised throughout the building, coming back to the control room, where patching and digital routing can take place. “We wanted something close to the systems they offer in the West-End and Broadway shows,” says Tom Fisher, Latymer School’s facilities manager. “We gave Autograph a very tough brief to achieve, but we knew they could do it.” “Technology changes very quickly,” adds Tim Lynn from Showsound, who site managed the installation for Autograph. “We have made sure that this system can encompass any changes by gearing the infrastructure to deal with that. This includes a 100A single-phase power supply distributed from the control room. There is also a wireless network throughout the building so that re-routing and programming can be done from absolutely anywhere.” A raft of additional products have been integrated into the venue including EM Acoustics EMS81’s and i-8’s as well as Meyer Sound MM4 loudspeakers, Sennheiser radio microphones and infra-red assistive listening systems, MC2 Audio MC series and E series amplifiers, a large amount of K&M stands, Tascam playback and recording systems, Audix and Milab microphones, Clearcom Encore and Freespeak systems and Countryman DI boxes and head worn miniature microphones. “This system has revolutionised what our students can do and how they do it,” says Patrick Drumm, who teaches music technology at Latymer. “This is a very media friendly school and what we have now has opened up so many opportunities.” “We are delighted with the result,” concludes Hirst. “We have a venue that is a modern piece of architecture, with a modern sound system and facilities, which enables us to provide a level of music teaching and training not many schools in the country can offer.”