Void chosen for Melbourne’s Forester’s Beer and Music Hall
Published: ASIA
AUSTRALIA: A new Void Acoustics sound reinforcement system has been installed into Forester’s Beer and Music Hall in Melbourne, Australia. Void’s Australian distributor, Audio Logistics, was invited to specify the new system by venue owner Russell Griggs.
‘I had worked with Russell on projects previously,’ explained Audio Logistics managing director Adam Dullens, ’And when the time came for the renovation at Forester’s Hall, Russell gave me a call to meet with him and the architect to have a walk-through of a proposed design.’
The initial proposal for the project included installing the manufacturer’s Venu 6, Venu 10 and Venu Bass speakers to provide consistent coverage for the club’s DJs. But on further consideration it was decided that live music would become a more prominent feature, radically altering the proposed design.
‘The first thing you notice as you enter the cavernous main room is the elevated gold “clamshell” in the back corner, an original piece from the 1920s,’ said Mr Dullens. The decision was made to retain this feature, and so as part of the renovation work, the entire venue was stripped back to the bare walls and clamshell. Under the guidance of Mr Dullens, the audio installation was carried out by Melbourne-based technology integrators, Pulse Audio Visual Technologies. The raised clamshell area now serves as the stage for bands, while a separate, smaller DJ booth was built in front at ground level. These areas are catered for by a pair of Air Motion V2 speakers – finished in gloss black – mounted on either side of the clamshell, and a pair of Mycro X subwoofers for LF reinforcement.
‘Usually I would recommend pairing larger subwoofers with the Air Motions, but I had specific reasons for not doing so,’ explained Mr Dullens. ‘Firstly the venue previously had major noise issues with nearby residential neighbours, and attempts had already been made to try and reduce audio spill outside. As such, there were originally no subwoofers there.
‘The venue does not play any dance music – the focus is actually on the mid-high frequencies rather than the low end,’ he continued. ‘Not only that, the Mycro X boxes are tiny and we had no problem building them into the DJ booth.’
Elsewhere in the main room, four Indigo 6 enclosures provide peripheral coverage, three at the back near the entrance and a fourth on the left hand side of the room to cover the bar seating area. The Mezzanine zone overlooking the main room has been installed with a pair of Venu 6 speakers that offer a delayed feed of the main system.
‘The venue has a lot of hard, bright surfaces which, when coupled with the soaring domed ceiling, made speaker selection and positioning very important,’ added Mr Dullens. ‘This was another consideration when specifying the Air Motion speakers with their relatively tight beam pattern.
‘As far as level goes, the system has more than enough. The design of the clamshell acts as a natural amplifier for any acoustic sounds produced in it. As it’s not a "club" system as such there is more emphasis on a detailed full range response as opposed to a bass-heavy sound, which seems to work really well for the venue and also for their neighbours. Room coverage is good throughout the main room, with the Indigo 6 speakers providing just the right amount of HF clarity at the outer edges.’