Experience: Seongnam Arts Center, Korea

• Features

• 07/01/2021

In a theatre the performers on stage are understandably the centre of attention. It is easy to see and appreciate their efforts in providing the audience with an enthralling experience. It is a bit more difficult to realise the contributions of the teams and technicians behind the scenes working to make the performance possible. The performers on stage and the teams behind the scenes need to be able to communicate in order for the best results.

Unsurprisingly, theatres pay great attention to the tools and technology that allow for communication between parties. Seongnam Arts Center prides itself on being a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose facility. Having recently installed an L-acoustics K2 system and AVID Venue Profile console together with SIAP electronic variable sound field system, the 1,808-seat capacity venue turned its attention to the intercom system for the three main performance halls; the Opera House, Concert Hall, and Ensemble Theatre.

Seongnam Arts Center chose One-Up Solutions to serve as the integrator for the upgrade of the intercom systems at the venue. Andy Jae Hyung Ryu, chief technical director of One-Up Solutions, talks about the expectations driving the project: “Seongnam Arts Center looked to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as a standard for their communications expectations. Clear-Com’s intercom equipment has been designated as the standard by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and has been developed to the extent that networking technologies and wireless transmission technologies make it possible to build very complex systems with steep requirements. Ease of use, durability and reliability of the equipment make it the preferred choice in Korea, and among many visiting performers.”

Ryu from One-Up continues: “Additionally, they were already using an analogue intercom system but it was a simple system and all the patching bay slots were in use. When Seongnam Arts Center had big performances and teams coming from abroad to use the venue they found that they needed a bigger system, more channels, more flexibility on both wired and wireless systems. So, they decided to upgrade.”

The Opera Hall is the biggest of the three spaces at Seongnam Arts Center and a multi-channel digital intercom system has been installed to elevate the capabilities of the space to world-class levels.

In the Opera House, the digital intercom system comprises a HelixNet system and a FreeSpeak II system.

The Clear-Com HelixNet system uses a single network backbone to support 12 configurable channels with 64 endpoints. A HelixNet HMS-4X main station is installed on the Stage Manager desk in the backstage. The desk station unit and belt pack are grouped in various channels, such as sound, lighting, video desk, and broadcasting. Two more HelixNet main stations can be added if more channels are needed.

For wireless communication, a FreeSpeak II FSII-Base-II wireless base station is also installed on the Stage Manager desk in the backstage, linked together with the HelixNet system. The FreeSpeak II wireless intercom system connects 25 wireless belt packs via a number of 2.4GHz antennas, distributed across stages, corridors, lobbies, orchestral fits, and other spaces.

The system supports seamless roaming between antennas. Was the switch from analogue to digital intercom an easy sell? Ryu from One-Up answers: “Reliability is the key requirement in Korea and it was one of the main concerns of Seongnam Arts Center. Considering that they were using the analogue intercom system which provides one, two or four channels they were aware that they did not have the capacity or the flexibility to address the needs of modern performances. But at the same time, they were concerned that moving from analogue to digital intercom might reduce the reliability of the system. To put their minds at ease, we referred them to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics where Clear-Com digital intercom systems were extensively used. Since ClearCom intercom systems can deliver a success for the Winter Olympics, this gave confidence and peace of mind to Seongnam Arts Center for its upgrade decision.”

During the course of the installation, the inherent features of the Clear-Com digital intercom systems helped One-Up complete the project. Brian Chow, regional sales manager for North Asia at Clear-Com, details: “When we design new digital IP systems for deployment, we take into consideration that many theatres have existing cable infrastructure for their intercom system and it is not very easy for them to take out everything and lay new cables. So, with most of our systems for example the HelixNet system, we can upgrade analogue system to a digital system with 12 channels while still using the already in place traditional three pins XLR cable infrastructure providing an easy upgrade path for venues.”

Regarding the switch to digital intercom in Korea Ryu from One-Up says: “In Europe and other Western markets, digital intercom system is a big trend. But in Korea and for us, Seongnam Arts Center is one of the first venue that has made the decision to go with a full digital intercom system. Based on the requirements of international and big performance teams we can predict that performance venues in Korea will need to provide larger systems which will mean that digital intercom systems will have higher demand. And with Seongnam Arts Center already taking the step to install digital intercom system, we are confident that other performance venues and theatres will also be benefited by such an upgrade of digital intercom systems in their space.”

Lee Byung-kook, the deputy director of the Seongnam Art Center stage management department shares his appraisal of the Clear-Com intercom system and the impact the upgrade has had: “High performance intercoms make the experience of the live performance completely different, for the production staff, the talent, and the audience. When everyone can communicate clearly and in real-time, it comes through in the performance. FreeSpeak II and HelixNet allow us to synchronise all aspects that make up the performance — lighting, sound, video, talent and more — the intercom is like the nervous system that connects the entire human body. If I need to modify the configuration at any time, it is only a few mouse clicks away, and for this I am very grateful. Our new ClearCom system is the cherry on top of our latest technological upgrades, making Seongnam Arts Center a superior, multipurpose performance space in Korea."