MSL ADDS MORE RENKUS-HEINZ FOR JOOLS HOLLAND

By Mike Lethby

UK – PA rental specialists Midland Sound & Light has added to its extensive stock of Renkus-Heinz cabinets as part of new PA system designs for Jools Holland’s sold-out winter tour.

Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra are touring the UK up to Christmas and, in what’s become an annual tradition for the renowned pianist and band-leader, a huge highlight was a pair of packed shows at the Royal Albert Hall in late November.

The Rhythm & Blues Orchestra – a finely-honed 18-piece band with Sam Brown and Ruby Turner as guest singers-in-residence – sells out hundreds of shows a year all over Britain and Europe, from Canterbury Cathedral and Kew Gardens to the Glastonbury Festival, while Jools has performed and recorded with some of the most talented musicians and songwriters in the world, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Sting, BB King, Luther Vandross and Paul Weller. His ‘Later’ television series recently completed its 22nd run.

Midland Sound & Light has provided Jool’s tour sound for many years, with director Andy Salmon on the road as crew chief and system engineer, and long-time front of house engineer Ron Burrow at the controls of a 48-channel Soundcraft Series 5 console.

For the Royal Albert Hall dates, once again in pursuit of even better results, Andy and Ron designed an unusual advancement of the ‘pineapple cluster’ PA configuration regularly deployed at the 5,200-seat venue. A central cluster of 36 Renkus-Heinz CE3T mid/high cabinets was flown about a third into the hall, the objective being to reduce the longest loudspeaker throw distance to minimise reflections from the balconies. The CE3Ts were flown with the top row inverted to make use of the cabinets’ asymmetrical vertical dispersion pattern – keeping the sound away from the roof void and the famous reflector ‘mushrooms’ – with a pair of extra side hangs to cover the choir seats comprising two CE3Ts a side.

Sub-bass was taken care of by eight Renkus-Heinz BPS Series subwoofers sited under the stage, four of which were newly purchased by MSL to add to their existing stocks. The whole system is powered by Camco amps and processed using XTA DP226 digital signal processors and Klark Teknik DN360 graphic equalisers.

Andy comments: “Renkus-Heinz has long been known for a combination of clarity and high power, and the system works extremely well for this band, with such a rich, complex mix and a very wide range of dynamics from solo harpsichord and blues vocals to the whole band in full flight. Even better, it works just as well for us in the Royal Albert Hall as it does on outdoor shows in the summer.”