Café culture
Published: ASIA
After 20 years, Bali’s Hard Rock Café has undergone a major refurbishment including a new sound system, writes Richard Lawn
Nestled against the shores of Bali's famed Kuta beach, the Hard Rock Café- Bali recently celebrated its 20th year of operation. General manager Rudy Tjung has overseen the fortunes of the famed venue for half of those two decades, having witnessed considerable growth occur in the vicinity.
‘We’re packed on most nights and work long hours, but you cannot be complacent,’ he testifies before the unleashing of another evening’s entertainment of live music, DJs burgers and beer. ‘Considering the fact that we’re open seven days per week for more than 12 hours per day, the previous sound system that was installed in late 1997 had served us incredibly well. However, the time had arrived to upgrade.’
The upgrade was conducted by Singapore-based Electronics & Engineering Pte Ltd (E&E) – something of a specialist in this field having completed its first Hard Rock Café 20 years ago. For MD Ronald Goh, the Bali project is just another day’s work for his experienced team, but for Mr Tjung, his 103 staff and his patrons, it will ensure the Hard Rock Café’s status as the island’s must-visit entertainment outlet is maintained.
The heart was ripped out of the 900-capacity Hard Rock Café in 2013, as a complete refurbishment stripped it of its old design, décor, power, cabling, staging, lighting, video and audio infrastructure. Its new heart now beats to the rhythm of an impressive EAW loudspeaker system. Wall-mounted at a height of 3.5m to the side of the stage, L-R QX594 speakers provide even coverage to patrons on the main dance floor. In addition, 2.5m above these, L-R QX596 speakers cater to the diners and music lovers on the balcony. The four quadruple 12-inch speakers are powered by two Powersoft K8 and two M14D amplifiers, whilst speaker processing is provided by EAW UX8800 processors. Low frequencies are bolstered by four EAW SB528z 18-inch subwoofers located below the stage and powered by dual K8 amplifiers.
‘The venue is quite wide and getting even coverage was going to be a tough challenge, but the new speaker system has achieved that,’ explains Mr Tjung.
Music is a vital component of the venue’s business model. ‘Without music, there would be no Hard Rock Café,’ continues Mr Tjung. ‘Without clarity and power, patrons won’t stay. Mr Goh’s team is thoroughly professional and know that. As such they have provided us with a carefully balanced system that provides sufficient decibels on the dance floor when the DJ is operating or the bands are playing, but even distribution everywhere else without reverberation. There is a lot of wood in here, which provides good absorption, but the angular walls and other surfaces have provided harsh acoustics. However, these have been overcome as E&E precisely installed the speakers where required and without pushing the system too hard away from the dance floor.’
When the DJ is in operation the central dance floor is boosted by two wall-mounted, rear-facing JF59 15-inch speakers. Both the rear upstairs and central downstairs bar areas are out of the range of the FOH QX speaker systems and required higher SPLs. Powered by a single Powersoft M30D amplifier, four ceiling mounted MK8196i 8-inch speakers tick the boxes in both of these zones. Like most other Hard Rock Cafés in the region, the lower frequencies have been more than adequately addressed on both the ground and upper levels. Powered by two Powersoft M50Q amplifiers, a total of sixteen SB120zp 12-inch subwoofers have been installed into the ceiling voids and discretely hidden from view.
A distributed sound system serves the remainder of the Hard Rock Café and for these multiple zones, no fewer than 84 wall- and ceiling-mounted EAW SMS5 5-inch speakers powered by nine M28Q / M50Q amplifiers have been installed, including 10 in the Rock Shop. ‘It’s important to have good audio in the rock shop,’ furthers Mr Tjung. ‘ Often we get passers-by come in to buy a t-shirt or some other merchandise, but when they hear the music they want to explore further in the club and usually end up eating and drinking here.’ That philosophy is currently being extended to the upstairs balcony area, which is the location of the Sunset Bar. ‘We’re upgrading the audio system, which will include 20 SMS2990 speakers and four SB180zp 18-inch subwoofers – that will also be a good advertisement for us when pedestrians and drivers hear it outside!’
A Soundcraft Si1 48-channel digital console is now used for mixing the various bands that perform on stage. Like most venues, real estate equates to money. The old analogue model and its associated racks of gates, compressors, limiters and other outboard equipment occupied a greater capacity of valuable dining space on the dance floor in front of stage right. With the new compact model, more diners and patrons can be accommodated, whilst the engineer can mix from his iPad courtesy of ViSi software should he so wish.
Upstairs in the control room, the HRC further benefits from a Symetrix DSP system comprising of an 8x8 DSP Symnet processor linked to three Breakout 12 units. The EQ, compression, limiting and other processing parameters in all the various zones have been configured and stored as presets. The venue’s dedicated engineer Nurak flew to Singapore to obtain training in all facets of system management and servicing including the Symnet processing.
‘We want to ensure that the audio equipment is properly looked after, to ensure longevity whilst sounding like it did when it was first commissioned,’ explains Mr Tjung. ‘Therefore, we conduct weekly and monthly routine maintenance checks. After all, we have a reputation to maintain.’