Combined restaurant and venue hypnotises Kuta Beach with Martin Audio
Published: ASIA
INDONESIA: The beach front overlooking the Indian Ocean in front of Bali’s famous Kuta Beach has witnessed large capital investments and resulting developments in recent years. A new addition to the Sahid Kuta Lifestyle Resort is Beach Walk, a newly opened three-storey retail and lifestyle complex located on the Jalan Pantai Kuta. Located on the strategic third floor terrace of Beach Walk, the hyphenated name of Velvet-Hypnotized suggests a split personality.
Velvet is a restaurant and entertainment outlet, providing a welcoming stopover with its offshore breezes and breath-taking views. Architecturally inspired by the gentle contours of the rice terraces, it features an eco-friendly, low-rise design that is characterised by a traditional thatched roof, recycled hardwoods and an open-air walkway. As the sun goes down, the BGM makes way for a DJ, who gently increases the SPLs as the night progresses for diners enjoying the fusion-style cuisine. As Velvet closes its doors at 11pm,the indoor club of Hypnotized opens, enticing a completely different type of customer with the heavily reinforced dBs that emit from within.
Surabaya-based sound designer and system integrator DempoMusik was contracted to provide the audio systems to both facets of the Beach Walk club and restaurant. Although Pioneer CDJ2000 turntables and DJM mixers adorn both DJ booths, the similarities end there. With the emphasis for Velvet being BGM and gentle sound reinforcement so as not to upset the neighbours, a weatherproofed Martin Audio loudspeaker system comprising eight ceiling mounted F8 speakers together with four pillar-mounted F12+ speakers has been installed. Supplementing the lower frequencies, four AQ12 12-inch subwoofers have been inserted below the contoured seating area adjacent to the windows that divide Velvet from Hypnotized. The entire system is powered by FFA 4004, Powersoft M50Q and M28Q amplifiers, whilst an Allen & Heath Zed22FX analogue console mixes various BGM sources for its patrons prior to the DJ set. A single Funktion One X-02 digital controller manages the loudspeaker DSP parameters.
The circular, domed Hypnotized has a 1,200 standing capacity and an interior vista that is broken by rising pillars. The stage can host live bands, for which an Allen & Heath T-112 digital console has been installed into the overhead balcony control room, sharing space with MA Lighting PC command and fader wings, together with an MA Lighting 2Port node Pro. However, the venue’s forte is very much DJ entertainment and dramatic low frequencies. The FOH system consists of four H3 and four AQ12 speakers in an L-R configuration supplemented by a total of four S218+, four S18+ and two AQ215 subwoofers powered by a combination of five FFA 6004/6000/10000 amplifiers. Loudspeaker processing is handled by Funktion One X-02 and X-04a processors.
‘We have to be delicate with the outdoor speaker system as it could easily upset the neighbouring hotels and retail outlets if we pushed it too much,’ explained chief ME Nurito Hendro. ‘Once we completed the set-up, we realised that the DJs required a very powerful monitoring system to hear their sets.’ As such a QSC Audio system consisting of L-R KW181 subwoofers and dual pole mounted K12 speakers has been set up on stage to assist both the in-house and guest DJs.
For those Velvet customers who prefer air conditioning to semi-tropical temperatures, Hypnotized is open to diners before 11pm. To cater for the non-sun worshipping diners, a Martin Audio BGM system consisting 10 horizontally deployed wall-mounted AQ5 and four C6.8T ceiling speakers has been installed, further supplemented by four AQ210 subwoofers. Powered by Powersoft M28Q and M50Q amplifiers, the BGM is managed via an Allen & Heath iDR8 zone processor, for which a PL10 wall panel has been integrated, allowing the restaurant staff to select the source and control the volume.