ProAudio Review - November 2008 - (Page 60)

installation profile by Strother Bullins Hard Rock Park Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Kid Rock graces the "Hard Rock Live" main stage Hard Rock Park (HRP) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina could easily be considered the hardest rocking theme park ever built. After all, its 55-acre plot features more than 130 zones of rather loud audio, and the decades-spanning soundtrack of Hard Rock Park is sure to please rock fans young, old, and somewhere in between. The newest large tourist attraction in a beach town that gets more than 10 million visitors each summer, HRP is designed to deliver the goods for more than the black T-shirt set. A proper theme park, it offers breathtaking rides, most notably the “Led Zeppelin: The Ride” and “Eagles: Life in the Fast Lane” roller coasters. Yet, most importantly, there are live performance stages and venues spread evenly throughout the park. Hard Rockin’ With Peavey From a pro audio gear perspective, HRP could also be best described as a “Peavey Fest.” The Mississippi-based pro audio manufacturer worked very closely with Electrosonic, Hard Rock Park’s systems integrator, to help in building an intricately networked audio distribution system based on MediaMatrix NION processors, intertwined via fiber optics, and nearly 1,000 Peavey PR Series and Impulse Series loudspeakers, the “Hard Rock Live” features a stage configuration not unlike major amphitheaters latter of which are weatherized and permanently installed in the rather humid outdoor coastal environment. Stated simply, the park’s background music and paging system delivers audio digitally via nine MediaMatrix NION n3 processors, 26 MediaMatrix CAB 4n CobraNet breakout boxes that convert the uncompressed CobraNet digital audio to analog signals, and the bevy of Peavey speakers throughout the park. Additionally, the system is augmented and assisted by various other MediaMatrix and Architectural Acoustics By Peavey components. “Each morning, we wake up the park with Jimi Hendrix’s version of ‘The StarSpangled Banner,’” explains Jeff Ledford, technical advisor for HRP. “We manually play that just to make sure we start each day on track, then we begin the playlists per zone. From the PCM music network, each playlist is sent fiber-optic out to a room in each AV building per zone. Inside that AV room is another MediaMatrix component, where it is converted and spread out to 8-channel amplifiers.” For each distinct “country” within the world of HRP, unique playlists help define the sound, vibe, and theme of the zone. Thanks to careful programming by Electrosonic, HRP brings seamless and sophisticated program audio to attendees while “ducking” for unique live performances that happen each day. “Depending on the era of the zone, each have different and appropriate playlists—‘Rock and Roll Heaven,’ ‘British Invasion,’ and so on,” offers Ledford. “We have a programmed schedule that 60 ProAudioReview | November 2008 www.proaudioreview.com http://www.proaudioreview.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - November 2008

ProAudio Review - November 2008 Contents Technically Speaking First Look 2008 PAR Excellence Awards New Studio Products Studio Sense Review: Solid State Logic Matrix Review: Arsenal Audio by API R24, V14, and R20 Mini-Review Review, Second Opinion, and Benchtest Review: A-Designs HM2EQ HAMMER Review: Sontronics Sigma Phantom Powered Ribbon Microphone Analog In The Studio: Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used To Be New Live Products Worship Audio Review: Community VERIS Series Loudspeakers Installation Profile Single Slice

ProAudio Review - November 2008

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