Manumission, undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous superclub brands, this year diversified its summer party programme in the Balearics with the launch of “Ibiza Rocks” every Friday night at Privilege ? the worlds largest capacity club venue.
The project is a collaboration between Manumission and The Barfly, tapping into the growing ‘convergence’ audience of clubbers who enjoy both dance and indie/rock music whilst sizzling in Ibiza’s summer sun. The Friday night is in addition to Manumission’s legendary decadent Monday club night at the island’s hotspot ……
The ‘Manumission Music Box’ is also Ibiza’s first dedicated live music venue. It’s inaugural season has featured some of the most exciting bands of the moment including Babyshambles (their 4 a.m. slot rumoured to be a first time they have been onstage at the allotted time), Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, Maximo Park and many others.
The arty and theatrical Fisherspooner are Manumission’s resident main stage show artists this season, and others playing the big stage have included dance gurus Mylo and Faithless.
The launch of this radical new direction facilitated the need to change and upgrade the sound and lighting systems in the main venue.
On the audio side, Manumission approached Harman Pro UK who recommended Liverpool based ADLIB Audio to supply a suitably kick-ass system. ADLIB has a wealth of experience of club installations. Manumission wanted a fantastic sounding system that fitted their budget and would impress top calibre touring artists who’d be happy to play there without having to bring any of their own production.
ADLIB’s Andy Dockerty decided that JBL VerTec was the route to go at. With Privilege being such a vast space, it basically needed an arena sized system to achieve the power and coverage for live music as well as the raw energy and thunderous low end demanded by dance music and DJ performers. “the job demanded all the dynamics of both live & DJ requirements along with zone & control way above and beyond the average arena or gig” he states.
Dockerty worked with Harman Pro UK’s Max Lindsay-Johnson on the project. The first site visit revealed many challenges including the acoustic nature of the multi-surface room which also features a massive central swimming pool, throwing another complete set of sonic curved balls into the equation.
Another challenge was designing a sound system that worked both for Manumission and Privilege’s other club nights. The DJ booth is on a raised platform above the middle of the pool and in front of the main speaker arrays for most of these, so they surrounded the booth with Perspex screens to allow DJs to hear more of the monitors and less of the front stacks.
Dockerty chose which speakers went where very carefully. They wanted an above average level of control in the space so different sections of it could be opened up or contain=ed according to how many people are in …. And this requirement dictated the basic system design.
The system also included several other Harman brands from the ADLIB rental and touring stock, like Crown amplification, BSS system processing and dbx compressors.
The full system is a mix of all three sizes of JBL VerTec line array VT4889, VT4888s and VT 4887s. The main hangs, either side of stage are 16 VT4889s, complimented with ADLIB Audio DF4 (double 18 inch) subs. The ADLIB subs have proved an excellent low frequency cohort to play with the VerTec system and this is no exception.
These are all powered by Crown Macrotech 5002VZ amplifiers.
The first delay hangs are behind the pool, covering the rear dancefloor & VIP area, consisting of 16 JBL VerTec VT4888 (midi) enclosures, plus 10 JBL AS6128V double 18 inch subs. The VerTecs are powered by Crown Macrotech 5002VZ amps and the subs by Crown I-Tech 6000s.
The second set of delay hangs ? covering the rear balcony - are 16 JBL VerTec VT4887s ? the smallest VerTec enclosure ? joined by four JBL V subs and 4 ADLIB bass bins with double 15s.
There are many JBL SRX range cabinets & control 29’s in other bar and under balcony areas all aligned as part of the main room system.
All of the arrays are managed by BSS FDS 366T Omnidrive Compact Plus processors located at the amp racks rather then the FOH position.
During the set up, some modifications to the building infrastructure were necessary to accommodate the new installation, including upgraded mains for the general room and a generator added when necessary.
ADLIB supplied a Soundcraft Series 5 FOH desk, complete with dbx compressors including the well loved 160s, 160a and 1066. The FOH effects rack also includes a Lexicon PCM 81 reverb, Yamaha SPX 1000 and 990s. TC D2 delays and Drawmer gates.
Monitors are 20 x AA152w ADLIB Active wedges and 4 ADLIB FD2 and four FD4 side fills, powered by C-Audio, managed by dbx Drive Rack processors and remote graphic EQ. The monitor desk is a 32-channel Soundcraft SM20 and the FX rack includes dbx IEM processors & compressors.
In the Manumission Music Box, there’s another JBL VerTec system consisting of 8 x VT4888 elements, complete with 6 ADLIB DF4 subs. The console is a 48 channel Soundcraft Series 5, with dbx compressors and Drawmer gates, a selection of effects and another pair of BSS 366T Omnidrive Compact Plus processor.
The system was babysat for the season by ADLIB’s crew chief and monitor babysitter James Neale, with Danny Castree and then Steve Pattison also working on the system.
Lighting
Lighting is supplied by Brackley, Oxfordshire-based Production Hire Ltd (PHL). The new rig is designed by Alan King who’s been out for the duration enjoying the cool Ibiza seasonal vibes.
The rig had to be as versatile as possible to cater for Manumission’s Monday megamix, the other Privilege nights and Ibiza Rocks.
Manumission features a giant white set with a large flashing ‘M’ centrepiece made up with over 600 bulbs on 24 dimmer channels. It’s constructed from ‘blown’ white foam and fills the entire stage. It’s lit with 24 short nosed PARs and scrollers, and all the rest of the lighting is on three overhead trusses.
The energetic Manumission show itself includes lots of set pick ups, dancers silhouetted behind gauzes and numerous other highly theatrical effects.
The lighting rig includes 16 High End Cyberlights, on the back truss; 8 HES PC Beams, four Martin Atomic strobes, 10 bars of 6 PARs for general washing, 10 Moles on upright truss sections at the rear and 5 CCT Profiles on the front truss for key lighting bands and highlighting other moments onstage.
All of this is controlled by an Avolites Diamond 4 console. King specified this because he wanted something with enough power to control the stage and the club moving lights, plus video, as they were originally looking into running a digital media server. He approached Avo decided on the Diamond 4.
As it turned out, they decided against combining the club and stage lighting, so the club dancefloor lights ? 60 Coef moving lights of various types ? have stayed under the separate control of an Avolites Pearl.
King likes the Diamond 4 a lot. It’s the first time he’s used one, so it’s been a steep but positive learning curve and a real chance for him to explore the depths of the console, “The D4 is a great move from Avo” he says. Functions he specifically likes include setting the times, breaking down chases, offsetting fixture, cue stacking chases easily and shared paletting which offers the ability to build a palette using one unit and copy across to other fixtures.
Ibiza Rocks has been a great success and there’s already talk of building the season for next year.