Adamson Systems was called on to deliver the power and synchronicity needed for the 2017 Virgin Money Fireworks Concert in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens, all delivered by pro-audio specialist, The Warehouse Sound Services.

The Warehouse Sound Services used over 100 Adamson speakers to bring to a close this year’s Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) in conjunction with live music and fireworks.

Working with Tammo Schuelke, concerts and projects manager for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and production manager Wesley Cameron, The Warehouse had to design a pretty complex system to get the job done.

The main challenge was to ensure perfect synchronicity between the sound of the concert and the visuals of the fireworks. In addition, power, clarity and perfect coverage across the event was critical.
The Virgin Money Fireworks Concert used over 400,000 fireworks from fireworks company Pyrovision choreographed to live orchestral music performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra set against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

Renowned Scottish folk singer Karen Matheson, vocalist of Celtic supergroup Capercaillie, joined the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for traditional Scottish tunes and the world premiere of a new work composed for Karen by Capercaillie founder Donald Shaw.

The evening continued with a 40 minute fireworks display specially choreographed to classics – including music from Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty. The annual festival finale is one of the largest fireworks concerts in the world with an audience of 250,000 people, so the pressure was definitely on to deliver.

The Warehouse has worked with for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on all 35 previous fireworks concerts and as each one becomes more exciting and challenging than the last.

This year, The Warehouse used over 100 Adamson loudspeakers, including E15 and S10 line array loudspeakers with E119 and S119 subs deployed as a distributed system within Princes Street Gardens and Princes Street, all powered with Lab Gruppen PLM20K44 amplifiers using Lake Processing. Adamson’s design software Blueprint AV was used to assist in the design using simulations of system performance.

A Digico SD10 mixer at front of house alongside Shure Axient and PSM1000 RF Systems and over 80 microphones from AKG, Beyer, DPA, Sennheiser, Shure and Neumann.

Derek Blair, director of The Warehouse comments: “Over the 35 years that The Warehouse has been supplying audio for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s fireworks concert we have used many different brands and configurations of loudspeaker systems as technology has evolved.

“Over the last 12 months our hire department has been using various Adamson systems on a whole range of diverse projects and shows including musical theatre, corporate, broadcast, a ship launch, rock and classical shows with great results. With the experience that we have gained using these systems, we felt that it was time to change the fireworks concert over to a new, more technologically advanced better sounding loudspeaker system.

“We pitched the idea to Tammo Schuelke Concerts and Projects Manager for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and he was more than happy to go with our recommendation based upon our close working relationship over the years and the trust he has in The Warehouse to produce the required high quality results for this large show.”

Douglas Martin, hire manager of The Warehouse adds: “The system performed impeccably, providing consistent and even coverage with exceptional sound quality. This further showcases the true scalability of the Adamson E15/S10 systems. The E15 provides the optimal solution for touring and rental houses that need system flexibility, fast setup / teardown speeds and superior sonic performance. The S10 has so much detail and power so it’s incredible for this kind of event. The system is much more compact, easier to fly, with higher sound pressure levels and more controlled dispersion.

“Our hire department has used Adamson loudspeaker systems extensively over the last year and everyone from customers to staff are more than happy with the results. We only use products in our hire department that meet our customer expectations and our high standards.”

Douglas adds: “Our company policy is supplying the right equipment for the job whether we sell these products or not. The hire department is very happy with Adamson on a number of fronts from great sound, easy deployment, reliability and customer acceptance. It’s very clear that the products they are developing are innovative and ahead of the competition with service and training to match, so much so that we have recently ordered more as we move the department forward.”