International News Rock in Rio Festival Supported Once Again by Gabisom Audio RIO DE JANEIRO — The 10th annual and high resolution without week-long Rock In Rio festival returned distortion. In addition, their pre- to Brazil after spending even years of the dictable coverage pattern lets us past decade in Lisbon and Madrid, draw- optimize their placement in any ing 700,000 to the site planned for the 2016 outdoor — or indoor — concert Summer Olympics to hear Guns N’ Roses, sound installation.” Shakira, Katy Perry, Stevie Wonder, Ke$ha, Metallica, Rihanna, Coldplay, Elton John, the Sunset Stage Red Hot Chili Peppers and many other top For the “secondary” Sunset artists perform. Stage — which still served audi- Gabisom Audio once again provided the ences of up to 60,000 people — massive sound system, which included a the diverse array of acts including main PA hang of 120 VerTec VT4889 line array Joss Stone, Sepultura, Titãs+Xutos The main hang included 120 VerTec VT4889 and 84 VT4880A elements and 84 VT4880A subwoofers and, Pontapés, Afrika Bambaataa, for the secondary Sunset stage, a 12-per- Matanza and Milton Nascimento. side Outline GTO system, supplemented Gabisom employed a 12-per-side with GTO Low bass extension and GTO-DF Outline GTO system, supple- downll elements and eight ground-stacked menting with three GTO Low bass Lab 21 subwoofers. extension cabinets and a GTO-DF down-ll element per side as well Main Stage as eight ground-stacked Lab 21 “We had used the VT4889 and VT4880A subwoofers. The system drew line arrays at previous Rock In Rio shows, praise from sound engineer Fer- and they can provide the expansive high- nando Luis Leite, who mixed FOH volume sound we need over this extremely for the rock jam session featuring large coverage area,” said Peter Racy, Gabi- Ed Motta and Andreas Kisser of som’s chief engineer. “We wanted to make Sepultura and also for Baile do sure that the people at the front of the stage Simonal, a Brazilian act. weren’t blown away by excessive volume, “The Outline GTO was a very Sepultura at the Sunset Stage but that the people all the way in the back pleasant surprise for me,” Leite could still hear everything clearly. The con- said. “The two bands I mixed are guration we used enabled us to achieve totally dierent — one playing this.” classic rock with ve guitars, and Installing and operating the Goliath- the other a pure Brazilian sound sized rig was only part of Gabisom’s chal- with lots of percussion and horns. lenge. “The festival had very little time be- But the GTO system handled tween acts, and Gabisom had to constantly them both really well…The Rock change each artist’s complete stage setup In Rio crowds expect it to be loud, including backline, stage props and monitor and it was — we were working at wedges,” noted Jaime Albors, senior director, around 115dBA at the mix posi- Sales — Intercontinental for Harman Profes- tion,” Leite added, crediting the sional. “When Katy Perry nished on open- gear’s ability to maintain intelligi- ing night, Elton John went on just 20 min- bility at full volume. utes later, with a completely dierent stage “We didn’t have a soundcheck setup, and Gabisom pulled it o without a at Rock in Rio, only a quick line- hitch.” check,” said Jorge Guerreiro, FOH “I was extremely impressed by the SPL engineer for local band Matanza capability of the system,” Albors continued. “It was like ‘one, two, three, four “When you have 100,000 people clapping and go! The GTO system really and screaming, they can literally be louder saved me, because it sounded than the level of the PA, but this was not the like very good studio monitors, case for this event. With 120 VT4889s and 84 but for a live sound. So it was just VT4880As, the system had enough power to a matter of doing a fast balance be heard well above the crowd.” and a little bit of EQ on individual Outline GTO at the Sunset Stage “The most impressive attributes of the channels. We also had excellent was also impressed. “Very clear and tons of JBL VerTec line arrays are their eortless feedback about this show.” pressure,” he noted. “I had a good time.” power and clarity,” said Racy.“This is because Stanley Soares, who mixed Brazilian Rock in Rio is scheduled to alternate of their ability to deliver high output while metal band Sepultura, along with French “sides of the pond” between Lisbon, Madrid maintaining smooth frequency response industrial percussionists Tambour du Bronx, and Rio over the next four years. ZZZIRKRQOLQHFRP '(&(0%(5 .