A Christmas tale of Dolly Parton, Charles Dickens and d&b

A production of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London’s Southbank Centre is making good use of d&B Soundscape technology.

This is a show that takes the tale by Charles Dickens and transplants it to 1930s Tennessee.

Sound designer Richard Brooker has previously dabbled with what he calls “hybrid” use of the d&b Soundscape system but this production marks his first “full-Soundscape” production.

“This, for me,” he said, “is the type of venue and show where Soundscape is the ideal choice. It’s not a natural home for a theatrical piece – it’s a concert hall with a concert hall’s acoustic and seating plan.”

With the furthest seats up to 45 metres away from the stage, Soundscape helps with providing the appropriate level and image of sound.

With Soundscape’s En-Scene module, Brooker can precisely locate up to 64 sound images. A ZacTrack performer tracking system from Ambersphere Solutions also helps him relay a precise sound image of every voice and instrument to the audience.

The sound system, supplied by Autograph Sound, also includes the d&B Y Series (line array and point source), T10P, V-SUB and B22-SUB.