The 1972 Summer Olympic Games shaped the Bavarian capital of Munich like no other event. By way of commemoration, the City hosted a series of events this summer to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of their staging. The celebrations began with a gala evening held inside the iconic Olympic Hall, designed by the architects Behnisch & Partner, and used for the last half-century as a venue for premier sporting and entertainment events.
With a capacity of 15,500 the legacy arena hosts a who’s-who of global superstars from the worlds of pop, rock, jazz and classical music, and was the natural home for such a prestigious event. Munich’s Lord Mayor, Dieter Reiter, welcomed star guests and guests of honour from across the spectrum of the Games, including Olympic High Jump champion Ulrike Nasse-Meyfahrt, Javelin Gold Medallist Klaus Wolfermann and IOC President Thomas Bach. Complementing the star guests were contemporary witness such as ice-cream vendors and other ancillary workers, who contributed very personal, often emotional video testimonies.
Experienced event technology specialist Wilhelm and Willhalm of Aschheim (near Munich) was entrusted with the technical implementation of the event, including all audio provision. The DPVT-certified full-service provider chose a CODA Audio system to best meet the requirements of the show. Tobias Förster was in charge of sound production: “A full-range frequency reproduction through a flown main system was required. It had to be taken into account that the visual axes for the video screens were not impaired.”
The challenge to deliver a sufficiently powerful yet discreet system was according to Förster, made for CODA: “The sound reproduction is absolutely neutral and natural, and the ratio of size to performance is unrivalled in the industry. This advantage not only allows an unobstructed view of the stage and screens but adds economic value – anyone who does a production with CODA Audio needs significantly less truck space and therefore reduces costs accordingly.”
At the Olympic Hall, Wilhelm & Willhalm deployed a system based around CODA Audio’s flagship dual 12-inch line array system AiRAY, with 2 main hangs of 12 units used in combination with four SCP sensor controlled subwoofers. Six N-RAY each were used for front and side fills with two CUE FOUR stage monitors completing a system that was driven by 3 x CODA Audio LINUS T-RACKS , each consisting of threeLINUS 14D amplifiers.
Ton Groen, Managing Director for CODA Audio Deutschland, concluded: “Wilhelm & Willhalm are doing some fantastic work with CODA systems across Germany. We’re very proud to see AiRAY being deployed for what was a very important event in a truly iconic venue.”