Commonwealth Games opening presents Harman India showcase
Published: ASIA
INDIA: The newly opened Harman India office recently used the opening ceremony of the XIX Commonwealth Games as an opportunity to announce its presence in the territory, with Harman brands including JBL and Crown used in the spectacular event.
Held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on 3rd October, the opening ceremony inaugurated India’s first ever participation in the Commonwealth Games, showcasing the best of Indian history and culture to a crowd of 60,000, in addition to TV viewers from all around the world.
Respected Australian consultant Scott Willsallen was appointed as the Audio Designer for the event, working alongside Wizcraft’s Viraf Sarkari as technical producer. The new Harman team – based in Bangalore – worked onsite with Norwest Productions and Sound.com. Norwest Productions has become synonymous with major sporting events having been appointed to handle the 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics in addition to the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar.
The main stadium system included 100 JBL Vertec VT4889 and VT4888 cabinets arranged in 25 stacks of four speakers spaced evenly around the stadium and aligned with the running track. Also integrated into the stacks were VT4880A and VT4880 double 18-inch subwoofers. The field of play was served by 25 JBL SRX712M speaker systems which allowed the performers to hear the music clearly, while the athletes area was equipped with 16 JBL CBT 70J and 16 SRX718S speakers, allowing the athletes to experience the finale. A further 14 JBL VRX915M monitors were deployed on-stage.
The entire system was powered by a total of 93 Crown IT HD and 10 Crown IT amplifiers, which were fed with AES digital audio signals with a full analogue backup for redundancy. The amplifiers were all controlled and monitored centrally using HiQnet System Architect software, while custom control panels allowed full and quick control of the system during the show.
Harman Professional’s Asian senior director of sales David McKinney is based in Kuala Lumpur but has probably spent more time in 2010 overseeing the stuttering development of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games together with the establishment of the new Harman India office. He described his participation in the opening ceremony as ‘a great honour’.
‘There was a lot of negativity in the press before the event and there was a lot of pressure to perform, so it was amazing to see how well everything came together in such a glitzy and professional performance,’ he continued. ‘Scott Willsallen together with the Norwest and Sound.com technical teams did an amazing job with a number of challenges thrown at them every step of the way. I was proud of the great sound they were able to produce from the JBL Vertec system using the V4 tunings in the Crown IT HD amplifiers. Even though there was a mix of VT4889 and VT4888 speakers across the venue, the sound coming out was the same even coverage at all points of the stadium. The sound really did contribute to the great atmosphere that the show ultimately created. I am looking forward to the closing ceremony where we will be employing two Soundcraft Vi6 digital consoles for the monitors.’
Alongside its participation in the New Delhi Commonwealth Games, Harman has also provided systems for the closing ceremony and installations at 11 stadiums in the Indian capital.