Cirque Du Solei Sound

[Hughesie]

Hey does anyone what the sound rigs are like for cirque du solei shows?

i know one permanant show has two speakers per seat it's on in Las Vegas

and also does anyone know one the sound tech's because i think it would be a unique job to do and a great one

 

[Footer]

One of my friends is picking up asst head elec in may for delerium, if I see him before then I might be able to point you in that direction.

 

[kovacika]

When I saw them at the Pepsi Arena (Albany NY) they had smaller sized line arrays every 20-30ft around the edge of the stadium. It had to be somehting like 25-30 arrays.

 

[Eboy87]

Just about everything you need to know about the technical side of Ka. http://www.totalproductionus.com/SiteFiles/dec_ka.htm They also have some cool interviews with the crew on Cirque Du Soleil's website (including the SM).

 

[Van]

A friend of mine ,Eric Waldsted, who used to be TD for the Portland Opera Assoc., just transferred down to LV to become TD for "O". I think, It might be "Ka" but I believe it's "O". Anyway I'll see if I can't get a hold of him and see if they have an info packet or perhaps he'd like to write an Article or two for CB ? I'll check today and repost later.

 

[soundlight]

Delerium was being mixed on a PM5D-RH when I went to see it. That could change with the engineer, though...

I have read all of the articles on the KA website, and they're really good. They've got some in-depth looks in to what goes in to making one of those shows.

 

[Eboy87]

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/KA/main.htm?bandWidth=Hi

It's under the Extras link. There'll be a menu on the right that lets you navigate what interviews to read.

 

[Hughesie]

hehehe i get fact sheet on the productions everytime they are about to release a new show because im signed up press on their website, i can tell you they currently have two new shows in production the working titles are cirque 2006 and 2007 so there not doing too badly i think their shows are great and very unque

 

[soundlight]

Yeah, I can't wait for Cirque 2007. I'm hoping to go see their winter residency show at MSG next November or December. I've watched all of their videos and done dozens of searches - yeah, I'm basically a Cirque du Soleil geek. I've been to Delerium, and have contemplated going overseas to see Alegria, which is my favorite so far, just by looking at the stuff. I love their stuff. I also really want to get the Midnight Sun DVD...acquisition time!

And oh boy do the forums need a spell checker. (Firefox has one built in, folks!)

 

[Chris15]

(Firefox has one built in, folks!)

Amen to that...

And with that, Van starts arguing that IE is better...

 

[Van]

Nope I won't, Promise. 'sides My Google toolbar has one. I just don't use it 'cause I don't nead won.

 

[gafftaper]

I downloaded firefox just to see what it was like. As soon as those little read lines started appearing as I posted here I was hooked. It's worth the switch just for the spell checker.

Oh yeah and Cirque is cool. I found this on the Live Design Magazine Archives.

"For KÀ, Montréal-based company Solotech won the installation contract and, according to the entire sound team, have done an excellent job of installing what is probably one of the largest sound designs ever attempted for a venue of this size. I can't resist rhyming off some of the specs. The venue, comprising 1,951 seats, contains a total of 1,980,000 cubic feet of air space covered by the 43,868lbs. of PA. Total wattage of the system (at maximum published output) is 524,150W. Deans tells me that this is 689 horsepower which, when converted to kinetic energy, could propel a 175-lb. person straight up at 1,477mph, or mach 2! (The things that you think of while watching the lighting being programmed.) The sound design for KÀ utilizes a total of 4,774 individual loudspeaker drivers placed in a total of 2,139 boxes. The mixing console, which is a large LCS system utilizing the Cue Console, includes a show file which, to date, has 1.5 million control points. The RF system is immense. There are 246 carriers used in the show which, when added to the building and other local RF brings the total frequency coordination to 622 carriers! Telex mentioned to me during the recent ETS-LDI show in Las Vegas that KÀ is using 44 drops of their BTR-800 systems, which is unprecedented.
For this new show, Deans is most proud of his use of a seat speaker system and probably also the use of interactive sound effects. Each of the seats in the auditorium is equipped with a custom module in the headrest consisting of a stereo pair of drivers. The seating area is divided into zones of between 100 and 140 seats for the sake of time aligning these speakers. The addition of a comprehensive surround system as well as a ceiling system which is actually the entire PA from EFX allows the movement of sound to and from the listener in many directions. The seat speakers can also be used to add ambiance or to misdirect the perception of where a sound originates. The possibilities are endless and for the traditional theatre this is a completely new concept."

The rest of the story is here.

 

[scarlco]

A friend of mine ,Eric Waldsted, who used to be TD for the Portland Opera Assoc., just transferred down to LV to become TD for "O". I think, It might be "Ka" but I believe it's "O". Anyway I'll see if I can't get a hold of him and see if they have an info packet or perhaps he'd like to write an Article or two for CB ? I'll check today and repost later.

Eric's over here at Ka. Great guy.

Ka's sound system is pretty impressive - if that article doesn't answer your questions, let me know... I'll try to find the info you need.

 

[rapscaLLion]

I know some of these articles don't relate entirely to sound, but there is a TON of information on the articles here:

http://www.zircondesigns.com/

Especially the KA and LOVE articles.

Happy reading, they are loooong!

 

[Hughesie]

ok i went to see varekai (im melbourne tonight)

from a audience memember's pov i couldn't find out much sound stuff
little bit on lighting

four followspot op's (unknown followspot, check my lighting post)
most of the lights were generics, source 4's with DMX colour changers attached
some movers (less than 10)
really cool media project thing that lights up cloth and forest
yeah
anyone else know much about them

thanks for current replies btw

 

[Hughesie]

Whenever i get asked where i want to be in a few years (like 10) i say i want to be working sound for a cirque show but as i have grown up that idea has become more of a dream

 

[waynehoskins]

I went to USITT back in '05, and the lighting keynote was from Luc Lafortune. He made some really good points in terms of lighting design (yeah, we're in the Sound forum, I know). The biggest thing I took from it, very revolutionary if you've always had textbook lighting design hammered in your head, is that every light must have a purpose, a reason for being. If it's just there because the equations tell you to put one there, it doesn't need to be there. I take the same principle to cueing (and I think he may have even said this about cueing), if there are too many lights on in a cue (lights that are in it just because), it's time to rewrite that cue from scratch. Cool stuff.

I don't expect to be a noise or lighting guy for Cirque any time in the foreseeable future, but I would like to become that good over time.

 

[Hughesie]

Hello Technical Cirque Supporters, i bring you more news from the land of cirque

A youtube video (rather useless really) that shows the sm's position

 

[LightStud]

Whenever i get asked where i want to be in a few years (like 10) i say i want to be working sound for a cirque show but as i have grown up that idea has become more of a dream

Completing UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television MFA program, where Jonathan Deans is a visiting professor, would make you an excellent candidate for a position with Cirque.

 

[avkid]

im signed up press on their website

Impersonating a member of the press?