Sound Effects Crafts Sound Impressive Acoustic at Ellora
Caves
Trikaal Festival energized with JBL VTX V25-II line array modules of the stage
The Aurangabad circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) hosted an elaborate
programme to
celebrate World Heritage Day; with the organization choose the visually stunning and historically
compelling Ellora Caves as the host venue. With the heritage nature of the venue and the
lineup of
musicians invited to perform with their brand of music, it was vital to have an audio reinforcement
that would deliver an optimum audience experience that would befit the theme of the event and the
objective that it looked to achieve. Field Production assisting the production responsibilities of
Trikaal reached out to Uday Shah, Director of Sound Effects, to execute the acoustic design
and
setup.
The Ellora Caves is a UNESCO World Heritage site that was built during 600 to 1000 CE; comprising
Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples in addition to over 100 caves which at one point in history acted
as lodging and abode to the travelling Buddhist and Jain monks.
Since this year i.e. 2022, coincides with the 'Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' i.e. the celebration of 75
years of India's independence - the ASI Aurangabad circle decided to spotlight a rather detailed
photo exhibition, along with an extensive 'cultural festival' that emphasized the exceptional
diversity in Indian classical music and the several transcendent artists that have left an indelible
mark on the art form. The aim of doing so, according to the ASI Aurangabad Circle, was to adopt a
unique way to not just educate the youth to carry forward the legacy and do their bit to safeguard
the rich culture of our country, but also inform the masses about the hard work and efforts that
architects, engineers, geographers, civil engineers, artists and archaeologists put in towards
constructing and conserving various heritage sites.
The Cultural Festival - titled 'Trikaal' (which literally translates to past, present and future) -
was organized in collaboration with artistic Director Birwa Qureshi, and was accentuated by
stellar
performances from music virtuosos and maestros like Ustad Fazal Qureshi on the tabla,
vocalist Anand
Bhate, Rakesh Chaurasia on the flute, Dilshad Khan on the sarangi, Sridhar
Parthasarthy on the
mridangam, Sangeet Haldipur on the keyboard, Gino Banks on drums and Sheldon
D'Silva on the bass
guitar. The musical spectacle was hosted by special guest artist Sachin Khedekar, was held in
front
of the famous rock-cut Kailas Temple, leveraging the awe-inspiring facade to act as a truly
enchanting backdrop for the musical wizardry that captivated the audience till the very end.
As Aditya Gupte, from Field Production, shares, "A live concert has three important aspects...
stage,
lights and perhaps the most important - sound. We wanted to have Lakir Mehta as the
Monitor Engineer
for this event, as we trust him to be an excellent sound engineer. His understanding of the various
nuances of his craft is unparalleled, and this is what made our work easier in terms of the kind of
approach we needed to take with the sound reinforcement. For this festival, reputed Pune based
rental services company Sound Effects by Uday Shah, came on-board along with Lakir; and we found
that the Sound Effects team's level of commitment to the event was as high as we expected it to be.
Their inventory is up to date with all the latest equipment; and so, as organizers, we knew that the
technical requirements in terms of sound would be well taken care. They did do a fabulous job
indeed. The event was flawless - the music experience was impeccable, and everyone was really
pleased!"
Uday reveals that his team designed and commissioned the entire technical setup with the
utmost
amount of care and caution, keeping in mind the 'world heritage' stature of the venue, and the fact
that the site has its own set of limitations and sensitivity when it came to possibilities of
putting together a formidable sound architecture.
"While the famous rock-cut Kailas Temple added to the beauty of the stage and the classical fusion
genre of the music - we had to ensure that the loudspeaker system was designed and placed in a
manner that would not compromise the visual appeal of the stage yet enhance the aural experience for
the audience. This coincidentally, was also the brief provided by the show producer; and so, we had
to spend a fair bit of time analyzing the site to account for various architectural and spatial
factors that could impact overall sound experience, and go about putting together a system that
would reproduce even the most nuanced musical notes that could be expected from the line-up of world
class musicians who graced the event stage. We began setting up at the site in the wee hours of the
morning, as we knew we had to be extra careful and extra precise with every single move. However, as
the day progressed and the temperature soared to almost 43`C, it did make the process a little more
challenging for the team," explains Uday.
For the event, the Sound Effects team deployed a comprehensive JBL loudspeaker system, with
the FOH
comprising six units of the JBL VTX V25-II line array modules with 4 units JBL VTX
G-28 on either
side of the stage, complemented by four units of the versatile JBL VRX932LA line array
modules that
acted as the center fill reinforcement. Rounding off the audio system were a total of ten units of
the JBL VRX915M wedges that were placed strategically on stage to act as the stage-monitoring
system. The entire loudspeaker system was powered through multiple units of Crown IT12000HD power
amplifiers. Alongside, the Sound Effects team also provided the Backline system for the
event, which
comprised world-class gear like a Markbass Little Mark 800 Tube with 104HR, a Pearl
Masters 7 Piece
Drum Kit, and a keyboard each of the Yamaha Montage 6 and Montage 8; in
addition to two sets of the
6000 series wireless microphone system from Sennheiser along with mix of several corded and cordless
microphones from Shure and Sennheiser respectively. And to enable unparalleled
control over the
sound output, the Sound Effects team offered the leading-edge SD10 full-format mixing console
from
DiGiCo at FOH that was operated by sound engineer Jayakrishnan Nalinkumar(JK), while a unit
of the
ever-reliable SC-48 mixing AVID console was provided by Lakir to fulfil the artist monitor
mix
exigencies.
Recounting his personal experience of the event, Lakir shares, "Since it was a large-scale classical
fusion concert with some of the most noted music maestros of India, and that too at a venue that's
regarded as a world heritage site - it was indeed an overwhelming experience. But thanks to the
Sound Effects team, everything went smoothly. Their backline was amazing, and the artists too were
all praise about the quality and performance of the equipment. JK -who was at FOH did an amazing job
to sort inputs and output patch-list, and so it was extremely easy for me to work my part. Overall,
my experience was great and looking forward to doing more work with the team."
It's safe to note that the several stunning performances at Trikaal played a vital role in the
qualitative and quantitative success of the overall endeavor. As Uday sums up, "At the end of it
all, it is so heartening to receive a flurry of compliments from the artists, organizers and
audience members for a job well-done. I'm extremely proud of the efforts that every single member of
Sound Effects has put into bringing this magnificent event together, and I would like to express my
sincerest gratitude to the immensely talented Lakir Mehta for his unwavering support throughout the
entire project. This is an event that will hold a special place in my memories for years to come!"