Mexico City’s Bicentenario Park recently hosted Berlin electronic music label Keinemusik for a performance by its artists Adam Port and &ME. While the park’s natural, open-air venue Auditorio Bicentenario provided the perfect performance setting, its immediate proximity to a densely populated residential area meant that the audio team had its work cut out.
Funktion-One’s distributer for Mexico, Loto Audio, worked in conjunction with promoters Music Live Mexico to design a sound environment that delivered even coverage to the 15,000 strong audience, while providing the requisite control to meet the strict noise criteria set by the local authorities.
“One of Keinemusik’s goals is to foster inclusiveness and a deep connection between nature and people,” said Production Manager Arturo Ruiz Garcia. “Unlike most shows where the stage is positioned directly in front of the crowd, this one was designed to create a totally immersive experience. “Although the venue was a full 360° auditorium on a flat surface, it required very precise audio control. You can’t rely on just any sound system for this, the fidelity and the clarity of Funktion-One differentiates it from other loudspeaker systems. This system delivered on every level.”
Left and right hangs of 12 Vero vertically array-able elements formed the main audience PA, with two outfill hangs of Vero VX on either side of the stage for the VIP areas and a pair of Evo 7 for front fill. Low frequency dispersion was tightly controlled using three stacks of five F221 configured in an end-fire arrangement at either side of the stage, ensuring impactful bass power and dynamics for the audience without violating any noise regulations. With the main Vero system easily throwing beyond 80 metres, the two delay positions of three Res 5E and two F221 took advantage of the sizeable lighting towers to fill behind the structures and extend the audience area right to the back of the auditorium.
The backstage area was catered for by two hangs of four Vero VX, two stacks of six F124 subs and two Evo 6SH. On stage, artists Adam Port and &ME benefitted from a pair of PSM318 DJ Monitors.
“Vero was perfect for the main area where we needed to throw more than 80 metres and the Vero VX supplemented for the VIP wings at the outfill and helped create a huge sound backstage,” said Ruiz Garcia. “We wanted a clean, aesthetically pleasing and powerful system.”
Garcia explained that the latest version of Funktion One’s Projection design and prediction software made setup and planning with Keinemusik’s sound engineers incredibly straightforward, enabling both technical teams to collaborate in advance of the show. With the ability to easily build 3D venues with planes, listener offsets, sources and microphones, Projection helps Funktion-One users to design and optimise arrays for consistent audience coverage, and it enabled the team to generate a complete kit list long before arrival on site.
“Projection is extremely accurate; it made the setup process a breeze,” explained Garcia. “It was easy to get everything working smoothly and the whole system was incredibly efficient in terms of mounting, weight and overall performance. For electronic music events like this, where the visuals and lighting are minimal, audio must be the focal point. You simply can’t achieve this level of quality with other brands. In our experience, the sound quality and full spectrum that Funktion-One provides is ideal for this.”
