VENUE 071
CLIVE WILSON DISCOVERED HOW ITALIAN DESIGN IS PROVIDING THE STUDENTS OF LONDON COLLEGE OF MUSIC WITH THE TOOLS TO GET AHEAD IN THE ARTS.
recent £350,000 technical overhaul, masterminded with colleague Richard Liggins, Specialist Subject Resource & Technical Manager, took shape. The tools they have given their students to work with are both inventive and far from what one might expect. Although used for Performance, Music Technology, Composition, Musical Theatre and Music Theatre up to BA, the new three-year module in Live Sound Production, has already been proving popular. The course covers everything from lighting and sound through to music management and touring logistics, and other music industry topics such as contract law. It’s a small wonder that industry professionals are lining up to support this initiative. The first phase of a multi-part project - with the new Heart space and theatre still to be built for the next academic year - was nothing but a fast fit, and Richard wisely brought in experienced theatre consultant / integrator Kave Theatre Services to write the specification and work
with main building contractor, Willmott Dixon. Interestingly, for a versatile sound reinforcement system that matched performance with budget, they turned to an unlikely source in FBT, an Italian manufacturer, that despite having celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, has only had a UK base for two years, under Managing Director, Mark Parkhouse. Kave helped organise a demonstration at a local Horsham school, which was all the convincing Andrew required. As a result, two hangs of five process-controlled FBT Mitus 206LA compact line array elements - on Neutrik powerCON connectors - were specified. These feature two B&C 6.5-inch woofers and 1.4-inch exit compression horn with a 1.7-inch coil. Also in the hangs are two FBT Mitus 212FSA subwoofers either side, with a pair of FBT Mitus 118SA groundstacked subwoofers. Andrew had considered more household brands but was mindful both of the heavy utilisation of the system and the need for flexibility
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