The World Cultural Festival, held at the Yamuna floodplains in New Delhi from 11th March to 13th March 2016, proved to be a unique platform for spiritual and religious leaders, politicians, peacemakers and artists to spread the message of global peace and harmony in diversity. Organized by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to celebrate the Art of Living foundation’s 35 years in service, the cultural extravaganza witnessed the attendance of over 172 leaders from across the globe. More than 20,000 international guests attended the event, with sizable contingents from South America, Mongolia, Russia, U.S., Europe, Middle East, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, and Pakistan being among others who were present.
By showcasing the rich cultural traditions of dance, music and the arts from around the world as well as Yoga, the Festival fostered a deeper understanding between people of different faiths, nationalities and backgrounds. And with enthralling performances from over 37,000 artists (musicians and dancers) from around the world taking place live on the 7-acre stage – the largest ever oval shaped performance stage thus far – the performers exhibited their talent with grace and poise to echo the message of unity in diversity.
The enchanting on-stage live music and dance performances were overwhelming to say the very least, as they left the multitudes of attendees in a state of awe and wonder. This mega celebration of culture and unity in diversity required to be reinforced by a world-class live sound architecture which was equally massive in its scale and expanse. And it comes as no surprise that the live audio system design, calibration and execution for the event was commissioned by Mumbai based ace sound rental solutions experts – Electrocraft – under the leadership of the acclaimed industry stalwart, Roger Drego.
Obviously enough, the audio system for an event of this magnitude needed to be custom designed to perfectly suit the needs of the venue per the expanse of the stage, the number of performers, the audience capacity and of course, the physical dimensions of the venue.
Roger explains, “The World Cultural Festival was, and still is, a monumental event in every right of the word. The sheer scale and expanse of the event was something unheard of ever before. Attended by lakhs of people, and graced by over 37000 performers itself, the event needed an audio architecture that was meticulous, extremely efficient, and of course, massive. It is a matter of great pride that the Art of Living Foundation chose to work with team Electrocraft for this iconic event, and we at Electrocraft thank them for counting us as a part of their family for such a monumental event. It has been our privilege to be hailed as the official audio partner for the World Cultural Festival!”
The world-class mega production witnessed an amalgam of products from noted pro audio brands like L Acoustics, AVID and Roger Drego’s very own signature series of products, being deployed across the venue to assure consistent, crystal clear and impactful audio coverage throughout. A total of over 100 units of the RD208LA line array elements driven by RD4.14 power amplifiers comprised the stage FOH solution, with 16 units of SB28 subwoofers providing the much necessary low frequency fidelity, driven through 4 units of the powerful LA8 amplifiers – all from L’Acoustics. Over 20 units of the RD10M and 24 units of the RD212M monitors deployed as the on-stage monitoring solution. Over 120 units of custom designed dual 15” columns from RD formed the delay reinforcement solution which was strategically positioned across the venue to ensure every inch of the space received crystal clear audio playback. The RD loudspeaker setup comprising FOH, stage monitoring and delays, was powered through a complex amplification rack consisting of RD4.14, RD4.08, and RD2.22 power amplifiers, with processing and loudspeaker system management commissioned through multiple units of the DbMark XCA24 crossovers. Multiple world-class mixing consoles formed the heart of the signal chain, with two units of the AVID Profile 96 deployed as the centre of the FOH solution, and with a single unit each of the AVID SC48, Soundcraft Vi3000, Yamaha LS9-32 and Behringer QU-32 deployed sub-mixes to the FOH, all of which were placed at key strategical locations across the stage. A plethora of top notch microphones (wired and wireless) spanning over 600 in numbers were used for the event, with over 16units of the iconic Shure UR4D true diversity wireless system comprising the up-close and personal audio reinforcement that artists and performers enjoyed while performing on-stage.
A senior administrative member of the Art of Living Foundation showers praises on the unparalleled sound experience The World Cultural Festival celebrations, as he quotes, “The World Cultural Festival signifies hope, faith, love and belief in the fact that we can all live together as one, despite our uniqueness and differences. In many ways, the initiative bought the world together as one through sharing of culture by the medium of song and dance, and we must say that team Electrocraft played a huge role in ensuring that this was made possible. They took great care of the celebrations and ensured that the performances were experienced with a great degree of clarity and impact across the entire venue; which in-itself is testimony to their expertise and knowledge. Team Electrocraft did brilliantly with the sound at the World Cultural Festival, and we are so pleased to have partnered with them.”
