As the Indian economy grows the country is experiencing a wave of modernisation across its geographical expanse. In particular, the growth has resulted in the secondary cities and metropolitan areas beginning to invest in spaces and venues that cater to a newly empowered middle class. Hurrairah bin Sohail covers the audio installation at Once Upon a Terrace in Jaipur, India.
Karan Kathuria, customer X2B development leader at Music Group, elaborates the potential for growth: “In India, the pub bar cafe lounge market is speculated to reach a value of approximately USD3.5 billion by 2024, growing at a rate of around 9% during 2019 to 2024. Quality sound plays an integral part in these places both, in terms ROI for the owner by ensuring a great experience for the guests and hence aiding in revenue generation, and by creating a ‘wow’ experience for the Indian audience. We at Music Tribe ensure this via our best in class enterprise solutions via our brands, Tannoy, Lab Gruppen, Turbosound, Midas and Berhinger.”
Once Upon a Terrace is a 22,000 square feet venue in the city of Jaipur located in the state of Rajasthan, India. Complete audio systems for the venue were deployed by A to Z Solutions, serving as the integrator, and provided by Alphatec Audio Video, engaged in the capacity of distributor.
Nitin Thakur from A to Z Solutions says: “We started work on the Once Upon a Terrace project in August 2018. All the works were completed, and the venue was inaugurated on February 1, 2019.”
Mayank Gaurav from Alphatec Audio Video talks about his involvement with the project: “This was a complete design and built project. Alphatec Audio Video designed and supplied the audio systems for Once Upon a Terrace and then these were deployed by A to Z Solutions.”
Discussion with the end user formed the basis of design as Gaurav from Alphatec Audio Video details: “We started talking with the owners of the property and they wanted a unique solution which could withstand the harsh weather of Rajasthan as the venue is an outdoor venue. Rajasthan has really hot summers, a rainy season and the winters are also quite cold. The temperate can go from one degree Celsius in winter all the way to 50 degree Celsius in summer.”
Gaurav continues: “Seeing that withstanding the harsh, outdoor weather was the core requirement we organised a roadshow in Jaipur where the owners could come and experience the Tannoy systems in action. Once they heard the performance of the Tannoy speakers they were immediately sold on the audio system. None of the competition could give them the same level of performance or fit completely with their requests.”
Audio at the outdoor areas of Once Upon a Terrace is delivered by Tannoy AMS 5ICT and AMS 6ICT speakers which are powered by Behringer Class D amplifiers. All Tannoy AMS Series is IP65 rated for this kind of application only.
In addition, Once Upon a Terrace also features a facility for live bands where two Turbosound Milan M15 speakers and two Siena TSP118B-AN subwoofers are used in conjunction with a Behringer Xenyx QX2442USB mixer. Monitoring application has been achieved using two Behringer B115D. This particular setup can be moved and stowed away when the facility for the live band is not in use.
Lastly, the lounge and dance floor area at Once Upon a Terrace has been equipped with two Turbosound Milan M12 speakers and a Siena TSP118B-AN subwoofer along with two Tannoy AMS 5ICT wall mounted speakers with a Behringer amplifier and processor.
Gaurav from Alphatec Audio Video says: “A key consideration was to ensure that the sound remained inside the venue and did not bleed into the surrounding areas. We ensured this by orienting the system from outside to inside.”
Both Alphatec Audio Video and A to Z Solutions worked hard to ensure both these challenges were overcome. Gaurav from Alphatec Audio Video details: “When designing the audio system, we could not use EASE modelling because the speakers would be outdoors. But when doing the design in-house, we employed EASE Focus to ensure that the dispersion of the speakers was good and that they were spaced out properly for the most effective coverage.”
Special steps were also taken to ensure that the audio systems could withstand the harsh Rajasthan environment. Thakur from A to Z Solutions details: “We made sure that none of the speaker cables were exposed. All the cables are hidden and wherever the speakers have been installed we have made sure that the cables are encased in flexible pipes so that they are not exposed to the elements at any time.”
Recapping the project, Thakur from A to Z Solutions says: “This was an interesting project. When we were installing the system, the weather was one degree Celsius. If you look at the venue right now the temperature can be all the way up to 46 degree Celsius. But the system has been operational since the inauguration and we have had no complaints at all.”
Sunil Soni, managing director of Once Upon a Terrace, gives the end user perspective: “Once Upon a Terrace has always been envisioned for the lively place that it is. While powering such a huge space isn't easy, the team managed to put together some of the best brands and products to create the sound Once Upon a Terrace was made for. The venue has emerged as a dream come true.”
Kathuria from Music Group concludes: “Once Upon a Terrace was a unique project for us. Situated in Jaipur, a heritage destination in Northern India, we had to factor tropical whether conditions, specially at the areas exposed to sun and rain. We were immensely glad to deliver a very rich and embellishing experience to our Indian guests in association with A to Z Solutions.”