A Q-SYS control platform has been installed in Egner Hall at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, giving the West Point Glee Club, the academy’s choral ensemble, the ability to record and play back its own rehearsals, following an upgrade by AV and IT systems integrator Metinteractive. Egner Hall, home to the Glee Club, the West Point Band and the Spirit Band, underwent a major renovation adding rehearsal spaces, an acoustic system and recording capabilities to the 1932 building. Metinteractive’s design-build scope added the ability to record rehearsals in the large rehearsal room, with connectivity to the control room upstairs.
Scott Tunkel, project supervisor at Metinteractive, said: “We redesigned the gear to put less on the cart and make things easier for the end user. We specified a Q-SYS Core 8 Flex control processor, which was the right choice for the room and gives them the ability to expand in the future.” The system includes the Core processor, an audio/video conferencing bridge and a camera with digital zoom, all accessed through a Q-SYS touch panel, with an owner-furnished 75in monitor controlled by CEC commands.
Existing infrastructure kept construction to a minimum. Tunkel added: “The room had a wallplate for data connections to the equipment rack, so we used its audio tie lines and data lines, which eliminated the need for a network switch and for pulling new cable. It really reduced any physical construction.”
Users start and stop recordings from the touch panel, with files stored on the Core processor; onboard storage holds around 200 hours of stereo 24-bit/48kHz WAV audio, or 1,480 hours at 192kbps, while video is recorded via a user-provided computer connected by USB-C.
The Rev. Daniel Toven, who has directed the West Point Glee Club for the past two years, said: “The rehearsal room has challenging acoustics, and there was no other space on campus that would be better. The goal was to change the acoustics so that when we rehearse, we can hear ourselves, which is vital to the quality of our performance.”
He added: “The system has been a game changer. The installation has been transformative and produced immediate, noticeable results in the quality of the Glee Club’s performance.”
You can subscribe to Installation magazine for free here and the daily newsletter here.
