NBC's 'Showtime In Harlem' Relies on XTA Audio Processing
(XTA | Posted 2003-03-22)
NBC’s hit late-night variety series Showtime In Harlem recently made a switch in venues from the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem to the larger space of the Hammerstein Ballroom in Midtown. The move was made easier and the intimate sound of the original venue was retained thanks to the use of XTA Series 2 technology. One Dream Sound, the New York-based company that provided the large PA system used for the program, brought in a wide array of XTA processing equipment that allowed complete control over the audio in the cavernous 3,000-seat venue. Furthermore, the ease of use and reliability of the XTA equipment assured that the show could meet its deadline of an entire season’s taping in four strenuous days of production, with between three and four shows taped per day.
One Dream Sound provided a large Martin Audio PA with 10 mid-high boxes per side on a stage that was set up to recreate the Apollo’s, right down to the famous “Lucky Stump” that performers touch as they go onstage. “It is a big PA, but we specialize in large systems for broadcast and live events.” remarks David Ferdinand, CEO of One Dream Sound. Housed in 25,000 square feet of Manhattan production space, One Dream Sound also provides PA services for a dozen Off-Broadway shows and national tours, including Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk and Stomp, as well as recent performances by artists including Patti LaBelle and Christina Aguilera. Ferdinand continues, “The space is quite large, and the trick in doing music for television is to get the room under control — keep the volume in check but still get the excitement level up.” To achieve that, One Dream Sound brought in a broad array of XTA processing equipment, including six XTA C2 dual/stereo compressors, six G2 gates, a pair of GQ600 dual/stereo 30-band EQs, four each of the DP200 and DP224 speaker management systems, two DP226 systems, and a pair of XTA SIDDs. The C2, with its “look-ahead” attack times for instantaneous transient control, automatic time constants, and enhanced de-essing abilities, was used on all vocal microphones. The G2, with its fully adjustable envelope including hold time, was employed on the entire drum kit. The SIDDs were utilized, in Ferdinand’s words, to “act as a ’mastering system’ for the overall PA.”
Citing an example of how the XTA gear gave the crew — including One Dream Sound’s Greg Rosenkranz and Thom Wright, and FOH Mixer Kevin Hartman of client Good Brothers Sound — control of the venue, Ferdinand explains, “One of the key things is not to let the room get away from you. That takes compression and limiting. But with most comp/limiters, you can hear them ‘breathing,’ or even hear distortion when the compression kicks in. That’s never the case with the XTA C2 compressor. It’s incredibly clean and transparent in its operation and its sound. The XTA gear is so good and predictable in performance that it really made a difference in getting the production to move along quickly and stay on schedule — and never stop sounding good. The client was extremely happy with the system’s performance.”
