Manchester-based sound design specialist tube uk is currently supplying audio systems to eight popular Christmas trails throughout the UK and one in Germany this season – totalling an impressive 168 individual sound systems, comprising 1,681 loudspeakers!
The loudspeakers – the majority of which are majority are JBL Control – are connected using approximately 41 kilometres of speaker cable, and are supported by 166 mixing desks (mainly Yamaha MG06) 168 Sony Walkmans, 7 x QLab machines for time-coded elements, and 289 amplifiers – mostly Behringer NX1000s. All the kit is supplied out of tube uk’s base in Manchester.
Working closely with the production team from Culture Creative, a worldwide leader in creating trail experiences and numerous other live events, tube uk has developed a fully weatherised distributed sound system hardware concept for trail experiences, whilst optimising techniques for delivering the “very best” aural experiences.
UK sites this year include Leeds Castle in Kent, Dunham Massey in Cheshire, Stourhead in Wiltshire, Bedgebury in Surrey, Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, Chester Zoo and Heaton Park in Manchester, and Kew Gardens in London – which was one of the first sites to start the trend back in 2013 with its ‘Christmas at Kew’ concept.
The German trail, ‘Weihnachts Wunderwelt’, is located in Benrath, a large upscale residential suburb of Düsseldorf known for the 18th-century rococo Benrath Palace residence, complete with substantial landscaped gardens and lake.
Each location offers its own unique and magical setting which is enhanced by lighting, sound, and some installations by UK-based and international lighting designers and artists.
“We enjoy an excellent relationship with Culture Creative, and we all work very collaboratively on these projects and teamwork is a lot of fun as is seeing the end results and such a wide spectrum of people enjoying the experience of the festive trails,” said tube uk owner Melvyn Coote.
