T
HE INSTALLED SYSTEM
THAT
’
S GOOD TO GO
.
The Pantages front-of-house system has one capability not
often found in fixed installations: It’s easy to move.
The Pantages is one of three historical theaters in
downtown Minneapolis that share staff and equipment.
So if the Orpheum Theater three blocks down
the street needs the Pantages sound
system, everything can be moved
in a couple of hours.
Portability is one reason
why X
LC
linear arrays
were chosen for the
Pantages. Not only
do they offer
quick, one-person
rigging, they
provide the high
SPLs needed to
fill the 2600-seat
Orpheum.
A
LL IN
THE MIX
.
The nerve center of the
Pantages front-of-house system is
its Midas Heritage 1000 mixing console.
Everything a theatrical sound designer or concert
FOH engineer would need is packed into the 48-frame
package: an automation system controlling over 1500
faders and switch functions, four-band parametric EQ on
each channel, ten aux sends, a 13 x 8 output matrix, and
legendary Midas XL4 mic preamps. The Heritage 1000 is
surprisingly compact, and is easily moved to one of two
mix positions in the Pantages house, or even down the
street to another theater.
While the Midas name is most often associated with
concert touring systems, its mixing consoles are favorites
for installed live performance and broadcasting systems
around the world. Midas offers sound contractors a wide
choice of consoles from the awesome Legend 3000 to the
amazingly versatile and compact Venice consoles.
The 16-, 24-, and 32-channel Venice boards in particular
bring the legendary “Midas sound” to applications as
diverse as churches, hotels, recital halls, theme parks,
corporate presentation rooms, and many more.
D
IGITAL INNOVATIONS
.
When the Pantages opened in 1916, it was the first theater in
Minneapolis to offer air conditioning — using blocks of ice —
and one of the first anywhere with a second-floor mezzanine.
That spirit of innovation is alive today in the signal processing and
amplification sections of the Pantages sound system.
For equalization, the Pantages systems uses the
remarkable new Klark Teknik DN9340 Helix
digital equalizer. It combines common
EQ functions (such as a 31-band graphic
EQ, 12-band parametric EQ, filters,
and delays) with “T-DEQ” advanced
real-time dynamic controls into a
2RU dual-channel device. Not only
does the Helix allow stacking its
different processing functions
together, it can also talk to the Midas
Heritage console to provide an
“auto-solo” function.
At the powerhouse end of the system,
the Pantages uses the new Electro-Voice
DSP remote-controlled amplifiers. These
amps deliver the incredibly clean and
powerful performance of EV
®
P-Series
amplifiers along with the tremendous flexibility of
digital remote control. With a laptop computer, a
sound engineer can sit in the middle of the Pantages house,
tweak any audio parameter, and run diagnostics on the speaker
systems. The remote-controlled amps make daily system maintenance a snap:
There’s no climbing up to the equipment gallery (14 feet above stage left)
to check an amplifier, or bringing an entire X
LC
array down to test for a
damaged cone. The amps’ integrated impedance testing documents any
out-of-tolerance conditions or components.
T
HE SOUND STARTS HERE
.
It’s no surprise that all three of the historic theaters along Hennepin
Avenue in Minneapolis make extensive use of Electro-Voice
microphones. EV mics are industry legends, beautifully capturing
every type of performance— from vocals and acoustic instruments
to thundering heavy metal—with clarity and hard-as-nails reliability.
The EV microphone selection at the Pantages starts with its
12-channel, frequency-agile RE-1 wireless mic system, employing
six handheld and six bodypack transmitters. For wired mics,
Pantages has a full complement of N/DYM Series
microphones, including the superb N/D767a vocal mic and
the indispensable N/D868 kick drum mic.
