Norwegian Christmas with Seman pro XT

Ringsaker/Straubing, January 2014 In few places is the Christmas tradition as alive as in the Norwegian region of Ringsaker. The highlight of this 2013’s advent in the small Scandinavian municipality was marked by two concerts given by Hans Aaseth in the Church of Saint Olav. Both guitarist and bandleader, Aaseth is one of the best-known musicians in the country, due not least to his many television appearances. Together with a keyboard player and two singers, the celebrity musician gave two Christmas concerts on December 16th, 2013 in the church, which is almost a thousand years old.

Responsibility for the sound production for these reverential performances was assumed – with support from seman pro partner Multitechnic AS – by the Hamar-based rental company 3K Live. Sound engineer Björn Thomassen and sales manager Ole Marius Randgaard deployed for this acoustically demanding production a Seman pro XT218B Vertical Array System: two TS 400 loudspeakers and two XT15A subwoofers functioning as an active PA. As sidefill and monitors, Seman pro XT12A loudspeakers were used, the requisite power being provided by SL 14 amplifiers.

“The church poses an enormous challenge to sound reinforcement providers,” explains Erik Sordal Landsem of Multitechnic AC. “The architecture has no straight lines and the interior is divided into three naves of different sizes. A further difficulty is the seven-second reverberation time.” On the other hand, there could be few more magnificent settings for a moving Christmas concert than that provided by the elegant, brick-built edifice – provided, always, the sound reinforcement system is up to the task. “This was the first time that I ’d worked with the Seman pro Vertical Array System,” confesses Björn Thomassen, “but I have to say: I was mightily impressed. The system delivered just the right amount of sound pressure and the coverage and audio quality were both excellent.” Even the long reverberation time turned out to pose ‘no real problem’ for the slim, column-like system. The key to the high sound quality was the optimal control over the dispersion pattern that the XT15A provides. “The vertically arranged woofers as array elements make it possible to achieve a very high level of intelligibility,” explains Björn Thomassen, “as well as even coverage even in acoustically difficult surroundings such as those provided by Saint Olav’s Church.”

As a vantage point from which to control the sound reinforcement, Björn
Thomassen opted for a FOH position at the back of the church. The sound engineer decided to dispense with a delay line. “It was simply unnecessary,” says Landsem. “The sound was already clear and powerful and the vocals could be heard perfectly even in the furthest row. I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback from the concertgoers. Days like that make me love my job! ”