St. Louis-based The Muny, dubbed "America's Oldest and Largest Outdoor Musical Theater, kicked off its 106th season this year. Though the venue is old, the sound system is not: patrons were treated to an enhanced and immersive audio experience featuring brand new Meyer Sound PANTHER large-format linear line array loudspeakers that were provided by Masque Sound for the new season. This PANTHER system was specified by resident co-sound designers John Shivers and David Patridge, bringing their creative visions to life with unprecedented clarity and impact.
“Over the course of 10 years as resident co-sound designers at The Muny, John (Shivers) and I had made all of the possible improvements with the audio package we could think of,” said Patridge. “Thankfully, Masque Sound has been an amazing partner and has allowed us to improve loudspeakers, consoles, radios and infrastructure, year after year. Various stages of new construction on the venue campus have allowed us to go to a 100% AoIP network using a fiber backbone. We were also able to include better rigging for flying the line arrays and this led to being able to enlarge the main arrays for an even wider coverage area.”
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Up until last season, the designers were using Meyer Sound LYON loudspeakers together with LEOPARD compact linear line array loudspeakers for the venue. “We wanted to eliminate relying on two different cabinets, so I approached Scott Kalata at Masque Sound to discuss replacing the LEOPARD part of the system by increasing the count of LYON,” added Patridge. “At the same time, Meyer Sound had been getting rave reviews for PANTHER and it made sense to consider a wholesale change rather than asking Masque to acquire a larger inventory of the LYON, which was nearing end of life.”
Upon discussing the idea of updating the rig, Patridge asked Masque Sound’s Scott Kalata to arrange an in-shop demo at its facility in East Rutherford, NJ. According to Patridge, “Before we asked The Muny to invest in added rental costs, I wanted to hear the LYON and PANTHER side-by-side. Masque Sound was able to coordinate this for us and there was an incredible difference! The improved detail and wider soundstage of PANTHER was immediately evident. The other game changer was the far-field projection. With a 300-plus-foot throw to the rear seating area, that projection made a difference that even non-audio professionals can hear. We have had many compliments on how much better the sound is with the new rig.”
With the PANTHER loudspeakers, the designers can finally provide spectators in the free seats at the very back and the people all along the side coverage area with the same sound quality that is heard in the premium box seats closer to the stage. Shivers and Patridge have also been able to leverage the venue’s AoIP infrastructure to send outputs from the DiGiCo Quantum SD7 console to the Meyer Sound Galileo GALAXY 816 network platforms and onto the arrays via AVB (Audio, Video, Bridging) networking.
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The designers could not have made this season such a success without the hard work of a dedicated team. According to Patridge, “So many people came together to make this happen from our Associate Sound Designer Kevin Kennedy and Josh Hummel, our Production Sound Engineer, to the season mixers, the entire audio crew at The Muny, The Muny technical director Todd Moore, as well as the other Muny departments heads and the entire house crew, whom all deserve a major thanks. I also want to give a shoutout to Bob McCarthy and the team at Meyer Sound’s Technical Services department for the invaluable advice that they offered on the project.”
Patridge also acknowledges his collaboration with Masque Sound. “Masque Sound had the contract for The Muny audio system before we came along and they continue to be a valuable partner,” added Patridge. “Every season their technical team comes through for us. Scott Kalata and our Masque Sound project manager Leslie Stong are by our side year after year in making The Muny a complete success. They are a great company to work with and we rely on them. It may sound cliché, but it really does take a village, and John and I feel supported and welcomed back every year for one of the best gigs that I have ever been involved with.”
