INNOVASON sets stage aflame with Bowfire:

Acclaimed as one of the hottest new shows to hit the stage in North America, Bowfire, the total string experience which combines step and tap dancing with virtuoso fiddle-playing, is rapidly becoming a major international success. On May 17th Bowfire played a special one-off show at the 2000-seat Centre in the Square theatre in Kitchener, Ontario which was recorded in HDTV for national broadcast in the US and for the upcoming live DVD. The entire show was run from an INNOVASON Sy80 digital console at FoH in the capable hands of Dennis Mortson with an Sy48 on monitors piloted by monitor engineer/wireless tech John Smith.

All audio was supplied by Apex Sound & Light based in Pickering, Ontario, a long time and prominent INNOVASON dealer. Event production was under the guidance of Apex’s Chris James who also serves as Bowfire’s technical co-coordinator for touring and live projects and appreciates the flexibility of INNOVASON consoles. “We’ve been using a Sy80 at FOH for Bowfire tours for a while now and thought this was the perfect project to introduce the Sy48 for monitors, as the previous digital console could not keep up with the automation required for expansion of the show," noted James. "Now both consoles are able to share a single stage rack loaded with 56 pre-amps. This is not the case with other digital consoles which come loaded with mic pre’s but cannot be directly linked or removed from the console to share in one rack like the INNOVASON.”

“Another huge consideration was the finely tuned hearing of these virtuoso performers,” continued James. "They immediately noticed better audio quality when we changed to the Sy48 on monitors." He also added a word of praise for his suppliers: “INNOVASON distributor, Sennheiser Canada, and Richard Hagan of Sennheiser’s pro audio division provided rock solid support behind the consoles and wireless used during production. Sennheiser Canada truly understands touring productions.”

The speaker system chosen by Mortson for this project and all Bowfire touring is the new d&b Audiotechnik Q series, Q1 line array with Q7 under-fill, Qsubs for lows and B2 subs for ultra low. Faced with his own unique set of challenges, Smith loves the Smartfad feature of the INNOVASON Sy48 and insists on the new d&b M4 and E3 speakers to handle the daunting task of monitors. Power is provided by d&b D12 amplifiers, complete with internal processing.

James concluded by saying, "The d&b loudspeaker system combined with INNOVASON consoles and their great-sounding preamps has allowed for a show with nearly 60 channels of audio, without a single graphic equalizer or crossover existing at either FOH or monitor positions… proof that if consistency is maintained from top to bottom, digital audio quality not only equals analog but surpasses it, making traditional methods of EQ compensation unnecessary."