Blowing up
Published: ASIA
Two weeks before Ramadan, in Jakarta’s City Plaza Mall, an icon of the city’s nightclub scene reopened its doors after five months of ambitious renovation. For many venues, a break of that length of time might have proven hard to overcome. But for the team working to reinvent one of Indonesia’s longest-lasting clubbing brands, such concerns were nothing in comparison to the challenge of creating a truly unique audiovisual experience. For everyone concerned, only the best was good enough when it came to recreating Blowfish.
‘We wanted to improve a club that was already very reputable – to create something new and unique,’ explains Eric Haslim of PT Rhema Multi Perkasa (RMP), whose own connection with Blowfish goes back to its beginnings as a Japanese-styled lounge and restaurant. Since then, the venue has undergone a number of transformations. For both Mr Haslim and his colleague, project manager Dax M Wenas, this latest reinvention was particularly personal.
‘We’ve tackled many projects over the years, some really big and spectacular ones,’ he says. ‘But Blowfish has a very strong reputation in Indonesia, in the whole South East Asian region. I took this project very personally and treated it with a lot of care and attention because I wanted to make it the best Martin Audio club project.’
Indeed, the system residing within the new Blowfish is based on Martin Audio – a tradition stretching back to the venue’s first days. But it is the implementation of that system and its integration with lighting and video elements the separates the club from its peers. Mr Haslim was far from alone in his dedication to achieving the best possible result – the venue’s owner, Ismaya Group, declared a no-comprises policy for the refurbishment. Accordingly, everyone involved worked in extraordinarily close collaboration.
‘It all comes back to close cooperation with the lighting designer, the interior designer and the owner,’ Mr Haslim confirms. ‘There was a lot of communication between us – hundreds of emails passing between all of the designers and the owners.’
Put simply, Blowfish is an example of what can be achieved when cooperation is a project’s guiding principle. While Mr Haslim’s audio installation delivers precisely the performance he intended, its integration is defiantly subtle – enclosures have been positioned discreetly, never interfering with the overall décor. Equally, the interior design is as acoustically impressive as it is luxurious, with the advice of acoustic consultant Vincent Lee (of Vertical Acoustics) having been fully adopted. But none of this detracts from the star of the show – the lighting system. Positioned above the two-tiered VIP area is an enormous grid studded with thousands of LEDs. Operated via Madrix Ultimate software and using more than 150 DMX universes, the grid forms the basis of a lighting design unlike any other in Indonesia. A giant mirror-ball is suspended in the centre of the space, surrounded by 10 Clay Paky Sharpy moving beams, 10 LED K10 washes and a wealth of smaller fixtures. Beside the DJ booth, meanwhile, five lasers fire across the dance floor, while a bank of LED screens have been installed above. The overall effect is spectacular.
‘We are one of only two clubs in Jakarta using Clay Paky,’ says lighting technician Rambo Harasagita. ‘It’s a very big investment but we chose the best – we mean business and this is for real.’
Mr Harasagita is understandably enthusiastic regarding the overall design and the possibilities it affords. ‘It makes the difference between Blowfish and other clubs,’ he reasons. ‘It’s like driving a Ferrari! It’s exciting because when a DJ is playing a particular song I always have in mind what kind of lights I should match to it – I can do pretty much anything I want.’
With so much emphasis having been placed on the club’s visual appeal, Mr Haslim found himself having to create an audio installation capable of delivering the best possible quality in the least impactive manner. ‘It was very important that the audio system didn’t interfere with the lighting,’ he agrees, adding that rather than competing against one another, the two elements are intended to be integrated as closely as possible. ‘Right now we’re working with the lighting designer to synchronise the sound system with the lighting,’ he explains. ‘This is one of the first clubs in Indonesia to carry out this kind of arrangement.’
Were it not for the deep level of cooperation that took place during the design phase, none of this integration would have been possible. ‘The owner assembled the right team and built synergy between us,’ Mr Haslim insists. ‘Everybody was able to speak their mind and we found the solutions rather than just voiced the problems. There was certainly give and take in the process and we all compromised, but not so much that we sacrificed the quality of either the lighting or the sound system.’
Though not strictly split into zones, Blowfish does offer a varied sonic experience to its clientele. Those who choose to occupy one of the exclusive VIP tables will enjoy not just a peerless lighting and video show, but an audio experience arguably the match of anything in South East Asia. On the other side of the venue, meanwhile, the long bar gradually leads the way towards a quieter area where customers can talk more easily.
To demonstrate, Mr Haslim leads Pro Audio Asia on a tour of the installation, beginning in the VIP area. The higher of the two tiers is known as VIP One, and it is covered by two hard-to-spot ceiling-mounted Blackline H3H enclosures. Low-end extension is delivered by an AQ215 subwoofer which has been discreetly installed within the furniture that surrounds the VIP tables.
‘That was one of the requirements from the start – to install the system so it would provide optimal quality and coverage but without being too obvious in terms of the aesthetics,’ Mr Haslim explains. ‘We spoke with the contractors and ensured that the proper materials were available to build cabinets which would reduce vibration, rattling and acoustic issues.’
A similar philosophy has been applied to VIP Two – home to the tables most popular with visiting celebrities. ‘It’s probably one of the best spots in the club,’ agrees Mr Haslim. Again, low-end is via a discreetly positioned AQ215 sub, and while the area benefits from the vertical dispersion of the ceiling-mounted H3H enclosures, it is additionally served by two further H3H units positioned within the nest of LED screens above the DJ booth. They are almost invisible.
‘We really worked hard with the interior designer and the lighting designer to put our speakers up there,’ Mr Haslim recalls. ‘It takes away certain spots where they can put LED panels but it really is essential. An advantage of having the speakers that high is that you get a very even spread of sound.’ A table area to the side of the DJ booth is only partially covered by the H3Hs, so a pair of AQ12s have been wall-mounted to provide side-fill. Similarly, a third AQ12 has been mounted near the dance floor and the club’s secondary entrance, again to act as a fill. Completing the area are two S218 double 18-inch subs.
However, stepping on to the dance-floor reveals the true power in the installation – four WSX bass horns installed within the DJ podium. ‘When we first installed WSX there was a concern that there might be cancellations because of the AQ215s within the VIP areas and the S218s,’ says Mr Haslim. ‘It wasn’t easy to position the subs without them cancelling each other. We had to reverse the phase on some of the subs to ensure they were on the correct polarity so they would work in terms of summation to give that low-end that everybody wants.’
In total, he recalls, the tuning process took ‘the better part of around two or three weeks because we also had to let the system run in. Everything in here is brand new – there are some existing boxes but we changed the drivers inside.’ Pioneer decks and Rane mixers occupy the booth itself while two FBT EvoMaxX cabinets are positioned at left and right as house monitors.
Deeper inside the club, four F10 enclosures are mounted two per-side at either end of the main bar, but you have to look hard to spot them – they have been positioned within a suspended metal lattice-work that also serves as an architectural lighting fixture. ‘We had to carefully calculate the size of the hollows that accommodate the speakers,’ Mr Haslim explains. ‘This was one of the biggest challenges.’
Finally, at the far end of the bar, visitors reach the lounge area, described by Mr Haslim as a place for ‘customers to come and chill out. I positioned the speakers in this area so that they don’t fire directly onto the people who are seated, meaning they can talk while still enjoying the music.’ Four corner-mounted F15 cabinets serve the area alongside three S218 subs – one in the centre of the space and two beneath the bar.
In the back of house area the rack contains two Powersoft Duecanali 5204 and seven Duecanali 3904 amplifiers plus a further four D4002 amps from the Italian manufacturer. A further M50Q and two K3 amps also serve the VIP and lounge areas respectively alongside Martin Audio MA 4.8 amps. Loudspeaker management is via Martin Audio DX2 processors, while two ARX MaxiSplit line distribution splitters and a Samson PowerBrite Pro10 power conditioner have also been incorporated. A Soundcraft FX16 mixer completes the rack.
For those customers wanting a slightly more restrained experience than Blowfish offers there is Puro, a lounge located next door which both acts as an independent venue in its own right and as an overflow room when necessary, complete with an LED screen to display everything that happens in the main club.
‘It has a different interior design – it’s a lot calmer,’ says Mr Haslim. Again, the newly finished room is all Martin Audio. ‘We have F12s at the back and the sides and we have two pairs of F15s mounted on the stage as the front of house system with a pair of S218s for low-end,’ he continues. ‘We also have AQ215s at the back to ensure that there are enough low-end frequencies to augment the full range systems, and single 18s on the sides, built into the pillars, to ensure an even spread of frequencies. Puro has its own identity and its own set of customers.’
The result of all this work is an icon recreated and an A/V installation that delivers on the high ambitions of all those involved. ‘I take satisfaction in people being happy with what we have done,’ Mr Haslim reflects. ‘One of the best things we can hear, whether it’s Dax or me, is people saying that the club sounds great. That means a lot.’