As a continuation of our years long relationship with Mainly Mozart, Event Wave has stepped into the brave new world of “Drive-in Concert” production. In an effort to meet the pent up demand for live music during a time when congregate gatherings aren’t possible, Mainly Mozart was the first organization of its type in the country to take on this challenge.
We began in the summer of 2020 providing our audio support for their outdoor concerts, with the addition of an FM broadcast, since all of the attendees were enjoying the show from the comfort of their cars. As these concerts grew in popularity and size throughout the fall and into the winter, Event Wave was asked to begin managing all of technical production aspects, including lighting, power, staging and ultimately, a tent. We called on our longtime production partners at Showtec to provide their beautiful Saddlespan tent, complete with orchestra extension, along with a 52’ by 44’ Steeldeck stage.
After the first few shows in summer 2020, we discovered that most of the audience were rolling down their windows, or sitting in the beds of trucks and SUV’s, to listen to the event through the PA system, rather than the FM broadcast. For the February shows we had a parking area of 275’ wide and 375’ deep. Two arrays of 12 L-Acoustics Karas were flown from the video wall truss structures to cover the audience. These were complemented by SB18 subwoofers and Kiva II front fills.
All of the instruments were close miked to minimize wind noise, and mixed on a Yamaha CL5 console. DPA 4060 miniature microphones were used on violins and violas, and DPA 4099 for cellos and basses. Shure KSM32’s and KSM137’s rounded out our wired mic selection for winds, brass and percussion. We also had a 12 channel rack of Shure Axient wireless handheld mics with KSM9 capsules to handle soloists, emcee’s and any other pop-up microphone needs. To further reduce wind interference, and overall ambient noise, we inserted Waves WNS noise suppression processors on each input. A single instance of Waves IR-Live Convolution reverb, running the excellent Bricasti M7 impulse responses, was used to simulate concert hall acoustics.
“The sound work and production Event Wave did for us helped take our event to the next level. Their team was top notch, talented, knowledgeable, and friendly. I want to specially thank and acknowledge Ross, Peter, Shane, Jeff, and Mike for being such a joy to work with and always being there when I needed them.”
Katie McBride-MuzquizDirector of Operations of Mainly Mozart
